[Avodah] Writing on Yom Tov

[Akiva Miller]

.
A few days ago, my son Avi posted this to our family chat group:

> The great Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev was very calm when
> Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat and explained why it was so. It is
> known we are commanded as not to write on Shabbat, that it is
> a desecration of the holy Shabbat! Just for saving a life one
> is allowed to write. And therefore G-d can only write us in
> for a year of life as writing is only permitted for saving
> lives but for no other exception. We will surely be blessed
> and inscribed and sealed for a great year filled with all good
> both physically and spiritually!

When I spoke to him on Erev YK, I thanked him for the vort, but I told him
that I have heard something similar, but significantly different: I had
heard that on Rosh Hashana, Hashem can write us in the Sefer Chayim for the
same reason as above (pikuach nefesh), but if anyone is going into the
other book it would have to wait until after Yom Tov, because writing is
assur on Yom Tov. In this light, it seems that the Berditchever's vort
would apply on ANY Yom Kippur, not just when it happens to fall on Shabbos.

My son responded immediately: "Vayanach bayom hashvii" - The pasuk tells us
that Hashem rests on Shabbos, but who says He doesn't do melacha on Yom Tov?

I was stumped. It sounds like a perfectly good question. Perhaps the
Berditchever is right about Yom Kippur on Shabbos, and what I heard about
Rosh Hashana applies only when the first day is on Shabbos.

Has anyone ever heard anything about anything like this? Over the years,
I've heard snippets about halachos that Hashem Himself observes, but I
don't remember much of it. OBVIOUSLY we are VERY deep in the midrashic -
allegorical - poetic territory here. (If we took this stuff literally, we'd
point out that Hashem is *constantly* busy keeping the world running,
Shabbos included, and that is certainly a major melacha. And when I wrote
"Shabbos included", I meant even that very first Shabbos, at the beginning
of Bereshis. So any attempts to say that Hashem keeps Shabbos must use a
pretty fuzzy definition of "keeps".)

So... back to my question: To whatever extent "writing" in the "Book of
Life" is a melacha, should it matter whether it is Shabbos or Yom Tov?

Looking forward to your responses.

Akiva Miller
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