~ One Hundred Words on Yom Kippur

“Kama ya’avroon… Mi yichiyeh umi yamus.”

“How many will pass away…. Who will live and who will die.”

(U’Nesaneh Tokef from mussaf of Yamim Noraim)

Rav Itzaleh Blazer interpret as follows: “How many will pass away” means a general number of people. “Who will live and who will die” refers to specific people. He compares this to a draft where initially a number of people are decided as necessary for the army. Afterward specific individuals are chosen to fill the draft.

May we all be inscribed in the book of the living.