And Moses went and spoke the following words to all of Israel. And he said to them: “I am one hundred and twenty years old today . . .”
Today my days and years were fulfilled; on this day I was born, and on this day I shall die . . . This is to teach us that G‑d fulfills the years of the righteous to the day and to the month, as it is written (Exodus 23:26): “I shall fulfill the number of your days.”
Rashi, ibid.; Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 11a
A year is more than a quantity of time: it is a cycle, a sequence of transitions that runs its course only to repeat itself again and again. On the physical level, a year marks the completion of the solar cycle and the repeat of the sequence of seasons and the lifecycles they engender. On the spiritual plane, each year brings a repeat of the various spiritual influences unleashed by the festivals (freedom on Passover, joy on Sukkot, etc.) from their fixed position on the Jewish calendar.
Thus, the Hebrew word for “year,” shanah, means both “change” and “repetition.” For the year is an embodiment of the entire range of transformations that constitute the human experience. Each year of our lives only repeats this cycle, though on the higher level to which a year’s worth of maturity and achievement have elevated us. In other words, one can say that we all live for one year, and then relive our lives for as many times as we are enabled, each time on a more elevated level, like a spiral which repeats the same path with each revolution, but on a higher plane.
Therein lies the significance of a life that is “fulfilled” in the sense that it consists of complete calendar years. Moses was born on the seventh of Adar and passed away on the same date, as was the case with a number of other tzaddikim (perfectly righteous individuals).
The world we inhabit has both a spiritual and a physical dimension. While these are but the two faces of a single reality, not always is the one a precise mirror of the other. Thus there were many tzaddikim whose lives were “fulfilled” in the spiritual sense—in that the potential in each of their days and moments was optimally realized—yet this “fullness” did not find expression in the calendar dates of their birth and passing. Physically, their final year on earth was “incomplete.” But then there were those great men and women whose physical life was a crystalline vessel of its spiritual content, reflected in the fact that “G‑d fulfills their years to the day and to the month.”
Given Justice Bader Ginsberg's passing and all of the talk concerning her being a tzaddik based on it falling on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, I am wondering how this fits into the concept of a fulfilled 'year' when the date of passing does not fall on a person's birth date. I can't seem to put my hands on anything (Midrash?) that correlates passing on the eve of Rosh Hashanah with being a tzaddik.
Not casting any aspersions on RBG. Just want to delve into the matter and learn.
It is very laudable to speak only good of those who have passed on. That being said - there are many misunderstandings going around since her passing. The Talmud (Ketubot 103b) refers to passing away at the conclusion of Yom Kippur (as opposed to before Yom Kippur) being a good sign or omen. It doesn't speak about being a Tzaddik. It mentions other good omens, as in passing away out of laughter versus out tears. Yet, these are indicators - and in no way a guarantee of one's merits or Tzaddik status. This is in addition to the fact that there is no mention there about passing away on Rosh Hashanah. As far as dates of passing, the only other good omen concerning the time of passing is passing away before Shabbat begins. Similarly, the idea that a Tzaddik passes away on their birthday is not an absolute - not all righteous people pass away on their birthday.