Are We Judged Once a Year — or Every Day?

The Gemara says:

״כל מזונותיו של אדם קצובים לו מראש השנה ועד יום הכפורים״ A person's livelihood is allotted to him from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur. — Beitzah 16a

But in another place, Rabbi Yosi says:

״אדם נידון בכל יום״ A person is judged every day. — Rosh Hashanah 16a

So which one is it?

Chassidus explains that both are true.

On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Hashem determines the overall blessing and potential that a person will receive for the coming year.

But that blessing still has to come down into our everyday lives.

So each day there is, in a sense, another judgment: will the blessing that was already given for this year actually become revealed in a practical way — through health, livelihood, success, family, and the other things we need?

It also helps explain why we pray every day for things like health and livelihood. If everything was already decided on Rosh Hashanah, why keep asking?

Because we are asking Hashem that the blessing already prepared for us should not remain only as spiritual potential, but should come down and become real, visible good in our lives.

Rosh Hashanah sets the potential for the year. Each day is an opportunity for that potential to become reality.