Rosh Hashanah 17b — the Talmud in English

which bears only for

one who makes himself like “the secondary”".

Like a person who makes himself “secondary” and not “primary”.

And the Gemara continues to discuss the attributes of the Holy One, blessed is He:

Rav Huna raised a contradiction,

he asked about an apparent contradiction between the verses:

It is written [

Psalms 145]:

“The Lord is righteous in all His ways.”

And it is written

later in the verse:

“And gracious in all His deeds.”

“Righteous” implies that He judges with true and just judgment, whereas “gracious” implies that He acts with kindness, beyond the strict line of the law!

And Rav Huna himself answered:

At first

the Lord is

righteous,

and judges the world with the attribute of judgment.

And ultimately, when He sees that the world cannot endure under judgment, He is

when He sees that the world cannot endure under strict justice, He is

gracious.

Rabbi Elazar raised

an apparent contradiction between the verses:

It is written [

Psalms 62]:

“And Yours, O Lord, is kindness.”

And it is written

later:

“For You repay

a man

according to his deed.”

And it implies that the Holy One, blessed is He, judges the world with judgment and not with kindness.

And Rabbi Elazar answered:

At first

the verse

“For You repay a man according to his deed”

is fulfilled, with the attribute of judgment.

And ultimately, when the Lord sees that the world cannot endure under judgment, the verse

when the Lord sees that the world cannot endure under strict justice, the verse

“And Yours, O Lord, is kindness” is fulfilled.

Ilfei, and some say [

and some say]

Ilfa raised

a difficulty that there was an apparent contradiction between the verses:

It is written [

Exodus 34]:

“And abundant in kindness.”

And it is written

later in the verse:

“And truth.”

And it implies that the Holy One, blessed is He, judges the world with the precise attribute of truth and not with the attribute of kindness!

And he answered:

At first

the verse

“And truth” is fulfilled.

is fulfilled.

And ultimately —

“And abundant in kindness.”

Concerning the attributes of the Holy One, blessed is He, it is said [Exodus 34]:

“And the Lord passed before him [

Moses]

and proclaimed [

the Thirteen Attributes]”.

Rabbi Yohanan said: Had the verse not been written —

it would have been impossible

for a person

to say it

on his own.

The verse teaches

that

the Holy One, blessed is He, wrapped Himself like a prayer leader,

and commanded the angel to wrap himself like a prayer leader [R. H.],

and showed Moses the order of prayer.

He said to him:

the Holy One, blessed is He, said to Moses:

Whenever Israel sins —

let them perform before Me this order

so that they recite the Thirteen Attributes,

and I shall forgive them.

And the Gemara explains the beginning of the Thirteen Attributes:

“The Lord, the Lord”,

this Name is the attribute of mercy, and it is stated twice, to say:

I am He

the Lord, who acts with the attribute of mercy

before a person sins,

to write him for life.

And I am He

the Lord, who acts with the attribute of mercy also

after a person sins and performs repentance.

For I receive him as though he had not sinned.

And I am

“a compassionate and gracious God”,

and so on.

Rav Yehuda said: A covenant has been made concerning the Thirteen Attributes,

if Israel mention them [in their fast prayer. Rashi. And its source is unknown] —

that they do not return empty-handed.

As it is said [

Exodus 34] concerning the Thirteen Attributes:

“Behold, I am making a covenant”,

concerning the Thirteen Attributes stated above.

Rabbi Yohanan said: Great is repentance, for it tears up a person’s decree of judgment

after it has been sealed.

As it is said [

Isaiah 6]:

“Make the heart of this people fat, and make its ears heavy, and seal its eyes, lest it see with its eyes, and hear with its ears, and its heart understand, and it return and be healed.”

And it implies that if it returns, it will be healed.

He said,

Rav Pappa asked

Abaye: But perhaps,

perhaps this verse is speaking

before the decree of judgment?

He said to him,

Abaye said to him:

“And be healed” is written.

It implies that he had already become ill, and now he is being healed.

What is the thing that requires healing?

You must say that this is a

bad decree of judgment that has already been decreed upon the person.

He raised an objection

against Rabbi Yohanan, from that which was taught in a beraita:

One who repents in the interim,

between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur,

they forgive him.

If he did not repent in the interim —

even if he brought all the rams of Nebaioth [

a distinguished species of rams]

in the world

as offerings,

they do not forgive him,

since his judgment was decreed on Yom Kippur!

And it is proven that repentance does not help after the completion of the judgment, contrary to the words of Rabbi Yohanan.

And we answer:

It is not difficult.

This

which we learned, that it is impossible to tear up the decree of judgment after Yom Kippur, is speaking

of an individual,

of the decree of judgment of an individual, which is not torn up.

Whereas

this,

where Rabbi Yohanan said that repentance tears up a person’s decree of judgment, is speaking

of the community,

of a decree of judgment decreed upon the community. For the community can repent and tear up its decree of judgment.

He raised an objection

against Rabbi Yohanan from a beraita, which also says that the decree of judgment of the community is not torn up:

For it was taught: It is stated [Deuteronomy 11]: “Always

the eyes of the Lord your God are upon it

from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”

At times

at the end of the year His eyes are

for good,

to lessen the calamity decreed upon the Land of Israel at the beginning of the year.

At times His eyes are

when His eyes are

for evil,

to lessen the goodness decreed at the beginning of the year.

At times for good —

how so?

If Israel were completely wicked on Rosh Hashana, and it was decreed for them

that there would be

little rain

that year. And

at the end —

they repented

of their wickedness.

To add to it

to the rain that had been decreed for them,

is impossible,

because

a decree has already been decreed.

Rather, the Holy One, blessed is He, brings it down at its proper time,

at the time when it is beneficial, after sowing,

upon the land that requires it,

fields, vineyards, and gardens —

everything according to

the quantity appropriate for that

land.

At times for evil —

how so?

If Israel were completely righteous on Rosh Hashana, and abundant rain was decreed for them.

At the end, they repented

and became wicked.

To lessen it is impossible,

because

a decree has already been decreed.

Rather, the Holy One, blessed is He, brings it down not at its proper time,

before sowing,

upon land that does not require it,

forests and deserts.

And according to what we said above, that even if the judgment of the community was decreed for evil, it is torn up through repentance, this is difficult:

In a case where Israel changed their deeds from evil

to good, at least,

in that case —

let Him tear up their decree of judgment and add to them.

For it is possible to tear up their decree of judgment when they repent, and to add more rain for them!

And we answer:

There it is different, for this is possible.

The matter of rain is different from other evil decrees, because where little rain was decreed, there is a remedy through its falling at its proper time and upon land suitable for it.

Come and hear

another proof that repentance does not tear up a person’s decree of judgment, from that which was taught in a beraita:

It is stated in the Book of Psalms [107:23–26]:

“Those who go down to the sea in ships, who perform work upon great waters —

they saw the deeds of the Lord.

And He said, and He raised a storm wind, and it lifted its waves.

They reeled and staggered like a drunkard.

And they cried out to the Lord in their distress —

He saved them from their straits.

They gave thanks to the Lord for His kindness.”

The verse

made for them

for those verses

markers,

an inverted letter nun between verse and verse.

And these markers are exclusions,

like “only” and “but” in the Torah,

like places where “only” or “but” is stated in the Torah, which are exclusions.

To tell you:

not every time that they cry out to the Lord in their distress does He deliver them from their straits. Rather, only if they

cried out before the decree of judgment,

then the verse says that they are

answered.

But if they

cried out after the decree of judgment —

they are not answered.

And from here there is a difficulty against what Rabbi Yohanan said, that repentance tears up a decree of judgment! And we answer:

These also,

the seafarers —

are considered like individuals.

For this is like a decree of judgment decreed upon individuals and not upon the entire community.

Come and hear

another proof that repentance does not tear up a person’s decree of judgment, from that which was taught in a beraita:

The convert Beluria asked Rabban Gamaliel:

It is written [

Deuteronomy 10] concerning the Holy One, blessed is He:

“Who shows no partiality.”

And it is written [

Numbers 6]:

“May the Lord lift His face toward you.”

Rabbi Yose the koen attached himself to her

to answer her.

He said to her: I will give you a parable. To what is the matter comparable?

To a person who is owed a hundred dinars by his fellow,

which he owes him.

And the borrower set for him

the borrower set for him

a time before the king

to repay his debt.

And he swore to him

the borrower swore to him

by the life of the king,

that he would pay at the time he had set for him.

The time arrived, and he did not repay him.

The borrower came

the borrower came

to appease the king.

And the king said to him

the king said to him:

My affront is forgiven you,

but

go and appease your fellow.

And the analogy is:

Here too,

it is possible to resolve it:

Here,

in “May the Lord lift His face toward you,” it is speaking

of sins between a person and the Omnipresent,

for the Holy One, blessed is He, forgives His affront.

Whereas

here,

where it is said that the Lord does not show partiality, it is speaking

of sins between a person and his fellow.

In these cases the Holy One, blessed is He, says to the person: Indeed, My affront is forgiven you, but go and appease your fellow.

Until Rabbi Akiva came and taught

another answer to the question of the convert Beluria: