Many religious Jews consider the 10 day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur  as a time for introspection and repentance before the coming year. They believe that during the 10 days, God writes those who are righteous in the “book of life” and those who are not righteous are condemned to death in the coming year. However, the condemned, or those whose fate is still undecided, can change their circumstances if they perform “teshuvah” – repentance, “tefillah” – prayer, and “tzedakah” – good deeds, during the Days of Awe.