BOOK OF LIFE

[Judaic] The book in which God inscribes the names of the righteous. According to the Talmud, on Rosh Ha-Shanah (the Jewish new year) the Book of Life is open for the righteous, the Book of Death for the wicked and an intermediate book which is only closed on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, the most holy day of the Jewish year). Thus during the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur, extra benedictions are said during the Amidah for inscription in the Book of Life.