We want to wish everybody who writes, comments or reads Beyond BT, a L’Shana Tova, a good year.
As BT’s we know that even the greeting on Rosh Hoshana can be a challenge. The Art Scroll Machzor lists 4 different depending on whether your greeting a man, woman, men or women and then they have an optional piece in parenthesis.
They are mostly variations on “may you have a good year and be written and sealed in the book of life”. The written and sealed part is a reference to the Gemora in Rosh Hoshana (16b) which says that there are three books open on Rosh Hoshana, the righteous are sealed immediately for life, the wicked are sealed immediately for death and the in-betweeners are not sealed until Yom Kippur.
So this year consider going with the Rosh Hoshana greeting of the Rema and the Vilna Gaon (Gra) who say L’Shana Tova Tikoseiv, may you be written for a good year, because most of us are in-betweeners, our judgment is not sealed on Rosh Hoshana, so we should omit the part of the greeting that references sealed. If someone corrects you, tell them you’re going with the Gra and Rema.
But beyond the pilpul, we wish the best for everybody in the upcoming year.
Even some FFB’s don’t know all the different greetings. Honestly, if a shana tova is wished in with a smile and in a warm fashion, that is the best greeting, don’t you think?