Rosh Hashanah 18a (יח.) — the Talmud in English

Here, in the verse stating that the Lord shows favor, the reference is

before the verdict.

Whereas

here, in the verse stating that the Lord does not show favor, the reference is

after the verdict.

And this presents a difficulty to Rabbi Yohanan’s statement that repentance tears up a verdict!

The Gemara answers:

Here too, where we stated that repentance does not tear up a verdict, the reference is to

also to a case in which repentance was undertaken

a

verdict of an

individual; but a verdict concerning the community is indeed torn up.

And the Gemara proves that the tannaim disagreed concerning an individual who repented, as to whether his verdict is torn up:

And we say:

And the verdict of an individual—

it is the subject of a tannaitic dispute, as the tannaim disagreed about this matter:

as tannaim disagreed about this matter:

As it was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Meir would say: Two people who went to bed

because of illness,

and whose illnesses were identical,

and both prayed to be healed.

And likewise, two people who went up to the gallows

[of a gentile court where they are tried for execution]

to be judged, and whose judgments were identical,

and both were being judged for the same matter, and both prayed to be saved.

And ultimately,

this one descended

from his sickbed,

and that one did not descend.

Or,

this one was saved

from the gallows,

and that one was not saved.

If you ask:

Why did this one descend, while that one did not descend?

Or, why

was this one saved, while that one was not saved?

Your answer is:

This one prayed and his prayer was answered, while that one prayed and his prayer was not answered.

And perhaps you will continue and ask:

Why was this one’s prayer answered

in his prayer,

while that one’s prayer was not answered?

Your answer is:

This one prayed a complete prayer,

with concentration, and therefore

his prayer was answered.

But that one did not pray a complete prayer

with concentration, and therefore

his prayer was not answered.

Rabbi Elazar says: Here, the person whose prayer was answered prayed

before the verdict.

Whereas

here, the person whose prayer was not answered prayed

after the verdict.

From this it follows that Rabbi Meir maintains that repentance nullifies even the verdict of an individual, while Rabbi Elazar disagrees with him.

Rabbi Yitzhak said: Crying out is effective

[prayer]

for a person both before the verdict and after the verdict.

In any event, according to everyone, a verdict concerning the community is torn up through repentance.

The Gemara challenges this:

And the verdict of the community—

is it torn up!?

Does it, indeed, get torn up?!

But one verse

[Jeremiah 4] says:

“Wash your heart of wickedness,

Jerusalem, that you may be saved.”

And it is written

[there, 2]:

“For

[even]

if you wash yourself

with natron and use much soap

[types of cleaning agents],

your iniquity is marked before Me.”

But apparently, the verses contradict one another!

Is that not

what must be said:

Here, the verse stating that Jerusalem’s iniquities will be washed away through repentance speaks

of before the verdict.

Whereas

here, the verse stating that Jerusalem’s iniquities will not be washed away through repentance speaks

of after the verdict?!

It follows that even a verdict concerning the community is not torn up through repentance!

The Gemara answers:

No,

this is not how the contradiction between the verses is to be resolved.

Rather,

both this and that, both verses speak

both verses refer to

of after the verdict.

And it is not difficult:

Here, where their iniquities will not be washed away, the reference is

to a verdict accompanied by an oath.

Whereas

here, where their iniquities will be washed away, the reference is

to a verdict unaccompanied by an oath.

And this is

so

as

as

said by

Rav Shmuel bar Ami.

As Rav Shmuel bar Ami said, and some say

[that it was]

Rav Shmuel bar Naḥmani who said it in the name of Rav Yonatan:

From where is it derived that a verdict accompanied by an oath—

is not torn up!?

As it is stated

[I Samuel 3]:

“Therefore I swore to the house of Eli: The iniquity of the house of Eli shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.”

Rabba said:

Specifically,

by sacrifice or offering it cannot be atoned for, but it can be atoned for through Torah.

Abaye said:

Specifically,

by sacrifice or offering it cannot be atoned for, but it can be atoned for through Torah and acts of kindness.

Rabba and Abaye descended from the house of Eli,

they were descendants of Eli the priest, and it was said concerning the house of Eli [there, 2]: “All the increase of your house shall die as men.” That is, as young men, and they would not live beyond the age of twenty.

Rabba, who engaged in Torah, lived

[he lived]

forty years.

Whereas

Abaye, who engaged in Torah

and also

in acts of kindness, lived sixty years,

he lived sixty years.

The Sages taught

a baraita concerning the descendants of Eli:

There was one family in Jerusalem whose members died at the age of eighteen.

They came and informed Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai.

He said to them: Perhaps you are from the family of Eli, concerning whom it is written

[there]:

“All the increase of your house shall die as men,”

young men under twenty years of age [Rav Hai].

And therefore,

go and engage in Torah—

and live!

They went and engaged in Torah, and lived.

And they would call it “Rabban Yohanan’s family,” after him.

Rav Shmuel bar Inya said in the name of Rav: From where is it derived that a verdict concerning the community is not sealed?

And immediately the Gemara wonders: Is it indeed

not sealed?!

But it is written

[Jeremiah 2]:

“Your iniquity is marked before Me”!

Rather,

this is what Rav asked: From where is it derived that a verdict concerning the community,

even though it has been sealed,

is nevertheless

torn up?

As it is stated

[Deuteronomy 4]:

“For what great nation is there that has God

[who answers it]

as the Lord our God is whenever we call upon Him?”

This implies that whenever the community cries out, their verdict is torn up.

The Gemara challenges this:

But it is written

[Isaiah 55]:

“Seek the Lord while He may be found,

call upon Him while He is near.” This implies that prayer is heard specifically when the Lord is found and near a person! [The Gemara will explain below when this time is].

The Gemara answers:

There, in that verse, the reference is

that verse refers to

to an individual,

whereas

here, where we stated that a sealed verdict concerning the community is torn up, the reference is

to the community.

The Gemara inquires:

With regard to an individual—

when!?

When is the time that the Lord is near a person and his prayer is heard?

Rabba bar Avuha said: These are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

It is stated [I Samuel 25]:

“And it came to pass after ten days

[after ten days had passed]

that the Lord struck Nabal

[for his sin].”

The Gemara inquires:

What is the significance of the ten days!?

Why did the Lord wait ten days before killing Nabal?

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Corresponding to the ten portions of food that Nabal gave to David’s servants.

David sent ten servants to Nabal, and Nabal gave each of them a meal; therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, waited ten days before killing him.

Rav Naḥman said

in the name of

Rabba bar Avuha: These are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, during which the Holy One, blessed be He, waited for Nabal to repent, but he did not repent.

We learned in the Mishna:

On Rosh Hashanah, all who come into the world pass before Him

[before the Lord]

like the children of maron.

The Gemara inquires:

What does “like the children of maron” mean?

And we explain:

Here in Babylonia they interpreted it: Like lambs.

In Babylonia they explained that this refers to the lambs passing through a narrow opening in the sheepfold, one by one, in order to designate the tenth lamb for the animal tithe. Similarly, on Rosh Hashanah each person passes before Him individually.

Reish Lakish said: Like the ascent of Beit Maron,

where the path is narrow, and two people cannot walk there side by side, because there is a steep slope on both sides of the path.

Rav Yehuda said

in the name of

Shmuel: “Maron” is an expression denoting authority and lordship.

And that is to say,

namely,

like the soldiers of the house of David,

who would go out one after another, and they would count them as they went out to battle.

Rabba bar bar Ḥana said:

Although each person is judged individually, nevertheless,

they are all examined with a single examination,

with a single glance.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: We too have learned this

from our Mishna, which proved that all who come into the world pass like the children of maron from the verse [Psalms 33]:

“He who fashions their hearts together, who understands all their deeds”: What is it saying?

What did this verse intend to say?

If you say that this is what it is saying,

if we say that this is its intent:

He speaks to all humanity, and unites their hearts with one another.

The Holy One, blessed be He, directs the entire world and unites the heart of one person so that it will be like the heart of another; this cannot be what the verse means:

For we see that this is not so,

as we plainly see that the matter is not so.

Rather, is it not

[necessarily that]

this is what it is saying:

The One who fashions sees together

the

hearts

of all people in a single examination, as it is stated in the preceding verse, “He watches all the inhabitants of the earth”; and concerning this the verse says: The One who fashions the inhabitants of the earth sees their hearts together,

and

nevertheless

understands all their deeds”—and judges each person according to his deeds.

and judges each person according to his deeds.

Mishna:

From here until the beginning of the third chapter, the subject is the sanctification of the new month and the matters associated with it.

In the time of the Mishna, the new months were sanctified on the basis of sighting the moon, and not on the basis of calculation as in our time.

Rosh Hashanah falls on the first day of the month of Tishrei, and they would sanctify the month on that very day:

For

six months

during the year,

the messengers

of the court

would go out

and inform those in the Diaspora when the court had sanctified the new month. For some months have twenty-nine days, and the following month is sanctified on the thirtieth day; and some months have thirty days, and the following month is sanctified on the thirty-first day:

1.

For Nisan,

the messengers would go out

because of Passover,

so that those in the Diaspora would know when Passover fell.

2.

For Av, because of the fast,

so that they would know when the fast of Tisha BeAv fell.

3.

For Elul, because of Rosh Hashanah.

Usually, the month of Elul is deficient [twenty-nine days], and Rosh Hashanah falls on the thirtieth day. But if they did not know when Rosh Chodesh Elul fell, they could not know when Rosh Hashanah fell.

Therefore, the messengers informed them when Rosh Chodesh Elul fell, and they observed Rosh Hashanah on the thirtieth day.

4.

For Tishrei,

after the court sanctified Tishrei, the messengers would go out the next day and travel as far as they could reach before Sukkot,

because of the ordinance concerning the Festivals.

They informed those in the Diaspora whether the court had intercalated Elul, in which case Rosh Hashanah was on the thirty-first day. Even if they had not intercalated the month, they would go out [although those in the Diaspora would in any event rely on the majority and assume that Elul had been deficient], so that they would not be troubled on Yom Kippur and Sukkot.

5.

For Kislev—

because of Hanukkah.

6.

And for Adar—

because of Purim.

And when the Temple was standing,

they

would also go out for Iyar because of the minor Passover,

the Second Passover [called the minor Passover because it is one day], which falls on the fourteenth of Iyar. One who was impure or on a distant journey on the fourteenth of Nisan and could not offer the first Passover sacrifice had to know when the fourteenth of Iyar fell, so that he could offer the Second Passover sacrifice.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: For six months the messengers go out. And the Gemara asks:

Why do they not also go out for Tammuz and Tevet!?

Why do the messengers not go out for Tammuz and Tevet, since they contain fast days just as Av does!