Among the additions to the shemone esrei during the Ten Days of Repentance is the insertion of the following prayer in the very first blessing: זכרנו לחיים מלך חפץ בחיים, וכתבנו בספר החיים למענך אלוקים חיים - "Remember us for life, O King who desires life, and inscribe us in the Book of Life for Your sake, Living G-d!" The last phrase, "for Your sake", at first glance, seems out of place. Are we not beseeching the Master of Life to grant us life for our sake not His?
Furthermore, a fundamental principle of Judaism is that the ultimate reward for Divine service is not in Olam Hazeh, this world, but in the next world, Olam Haba (see Avos 2:16). Clearly, though, in a significant number of places, the Torah promises reward in this world as well! What is the purpose of this seemingly extra reward?
Relatedly, Ramban (Sha'ar Hagemul), posits that the main judgment of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur focuses on bounty and dearth, life and death, health and illness and other physical phenomena in this world. This is clearly highlighted in the blessing of zichronos in the musaf prayer of Rosh Hashana as well as in the central piyut of "U'nesane Tokef." Should not the judgment of these Days of Awe focus on the more everlasting state of the future world?
Perhaps all of these questions can be resolved via a fundamental teaching of Rambam (Hilchos Teshuva 9:1). There he presents his view that the entire purpose of physical bounty, health, tranquility and other beneficial aspects of this world is to enable the recipient to more fully serve his Creator. Those who loyally follows the Torah demonstrating that they utilize the gifts of this world properly will generally merit an increase of their "expense account" in order to perform even greater acts of service. For example, one blessed with ample parnassa will have more time to devote to Torah study and more resources available for charitable and communal projects. One granted good health and a tranquil life will, all things being equal, be able to spend less time pursuing medical care and the like and more time on Torah and mitzvos. By contrast, one who does not utilize the blessings bestowed upon him for avodas Hashem runs the risk of their being lessened or even eliminated. In his introductory commentary to Sanhedrin (10), Rambam explains that this is the meaning of the statement of Ben Azzai (Pirkei Avos (4:2)): "one mitzvah brings another mitzvah in its wake; one sin brings another sin as a result." This passage means that if one does a mitzvah showing Hashem that he is a loyal "employee," he will be given greater opportunities to perform others by being blessed with additional physical resources. The opposite applies to the sinner. [1] This then is the meaning of all the Biblical verses promising physical blessing for serving G-d and the opposite for rebellion. In light of the above, reward in this world is not fundamentally reward per se, but rather enables the recipient to do more.[2] Once these resources are granted, the beneficiary can enjoy them as well.
An analogy may be given to an employee, who, being granted a $10,000 expense account to coordinate business sales in various cities in Europe, successfully utilizes these resources to secure several major clients for his company. The next time he travels, he is likely to be granted a $100,000 expense account to enable him to sign on even more deals for the company. Of course, he will simultaneously also enjoy the fringe benefits of this increased largesse.
A telling story about Rav Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman zt"l aptly demonstrates this teaching. Once a group of financially successful philanthropists visited his humble home in Bnei Brak. One of them complained that when word of their visit to Israel spread, a constant stream of needy visitors representing themselves or organization knocked on his hotel tour at all hours of the day, and he felt he was constantly writing out checks. "Is there ever a time when I can just not answer the door and just enjoy my stay in the Holy Land?", inquired the questioner. Surprisingly, Rav Shteinman answered in the affirmative that he could. Those assembled felt they now had Rabbinic sanction to cut back on their donations and just enjoy their stay! But Rav Shteinman was quick to add, "Hashem has appointed all of you as gabba'ei tzedaka by blessing you with wealth. You don't have to be the gabbai; you can allow someone else to do so!" Properly chastened, the visitors understood this important message: If they use Divine blessings properly, they may enjoy them as well; if not, they run the risk of losing them.
In the period of judgment, all of our individual and communal resources hang in the balance when the Melech Hamishpat decides how to apportion everything relevant to this world for the next year. Rav Shlomo Wolbe zt"l explains that this is the meaning of asking for life "for your sake, Living G-d." We plead and present before the ultimate Judge, "Please grant us life - and all other physical bounty - which we fully intend to utilize in Your service!" With this attitude, we can have greater confidence that our requests will be granted. Many sefarim quote a passage in the Zohar bemoaning the attitude of most individuals in their prayer for their needs: "Hav li, hav li," they cry, which can be colloquially translated as "Gimme, gimme!" They beseech, "Give me what I need because I need it" as opposed to "Give me what I need so I can utilize it to serve You!"
The Talmud (Rosh Hashana 16b) quotes the statement of R. Yitzchak: "Every year which is poor at its start, will be rich at its end." I once heard from Rav Yissocher Frand shlit"a that this passage can mean that every year in which we appreciate that we are starting from a position of "zero-based budgeting" as all is at stake, properly absorbing this truth and correctly channeling our requests "lema'ancha Elokim chaim," we are in a better position to open up the Gates of Mercy and Divine bounty. May we all be blessed with a year of physical and spiritual abundance.
[1] Of course the age-old question of צדיק ורע לו ורשע וטוב לו indicates that due to myriad, complex factors in Divine Providence, this system will not always apply exclusively, but the default Divine reward and punishment system follows this model.
[2] See Rambam (Hilchos Teshuva, ibid.) where he utilizes this same concept to conceptually explain the purpose of all of the physical blessings promised in the Messianic era, many of which we have been reading about in the seven haftaros of consolation we recently concluded.