Rosh Hashanah

and squeal1 and rise again, as it says, And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name and I will answer them.2 Of them, too, Hannah said, The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up.3 Beth Hillel, however, say: He that abounds in grace inclines [the scales] towards grace,4 and of them David said, I love that the Lord should hear my voice and my supplication,5 and on their behalf David composed the whole of the passage, I was brought low and he saved me.6 Wrongdoers of Israel who sin with their body7 and wrongdoers of the Gentiles who sin with their body go down to Gehinnom and are punished there for twelve months. After twelve months their body is consumed and their soul is burnt and the wind scatters them under the soles of the feet of the righteous as it says, And ye shall tread down the wicked, and they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet.8 But as for the minim9 and the informers and the scoffers,10 who rejected the Torah and denied the resurrection of the dead, and those who abandoned the ways of the community,11 and those who ‘spread their terror in the land of the living’,12 and who sinned and made the masses sin, like Jeroboam the son of Nebat and his fellows — these will go down to Gehinnom and be punished there for all generations, as it says, And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have rebelled against me13 etc. Gehinnom will be consumed but they will not be consumed, as it says, and their form shall wear away the nether world.14 Why all this? Because they laid hands on the habitation [zebul], as it says, that there be no habitation [zebul] for Him,15 and zebul signifies the Temple, as it says, I have surely built thee a house of habitation [zebul].16 Of them Hannah said, They that strive with the Lord shall be broken to pieces.17 R. Isaac b. Abin said: And their faces shall be black like the sides of a pot. Raba added: Among them are the most handsome of the inhabitants of Mahuza, and they shall be called ‘sons of Gehinnom’.18 The Master said [above]: ‘Beth Hillel say, He that abounds in grace inclines [the scales] towards grace’. [How can this be], seeing that it is written, And I shall bring the third part through the fire?19 That refers to wrongdoers of Israel who sin with their body. Wrongdoers of Israel who sin with their body! But you said that there is no remedy for them?20 — There is no remedy for them when their iniquities are more numerous [than their good deeds]. We now speak of those whose iniquities and good deeds are evenly balanced, but whose iniquities include that which is committed by sinners of Israel with their body. In that case they cannot escape the doom of ‘I shall bring the third through the fire’, but otherwise, [in regard to them], ‘He that is abundant in grace inclines towards grace’, and of them David said, I love that the Lord should hear. [On this verse] Raba discoursed as follows: What is meant by the words, ‘I love that the Lord should hear’? The Community of Israel exclaimed before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of the Universe, when am I beloved in thy sight? At the time when thou hearest the voice of my supplications. ‘I was brought low [dalothi] and he saved me’: although I am poor (dallah) in the performance of religious duties, yet it is fitting to save me. What is meant by ‘wrongdoers of Israel who sin with their body’? — Rab said: This refers to the cranium which does not put on the phylactery.21 Who are ‘the wrongdoers of the Gentiles who sin with their body’? — Rab said: This refers to [sexual] sin. ‘Who have spread their terror in the land of the living’: [who are these]? — R. Hisda said: This is a communal leader22 who makes himself unduly feared by the community for purposes other than religious.23 Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: Any communal leader who makes himself unduly feared by the community for purposes other than religious will never have a scholar for a son, as it says, Therefore if men fear him, he shall not see [among his sons] any wise of heart.24 ‘Beth Hillel say: He that abounds in grace inclines [the scales] to grace’. How does He do? — R . Eliezer25 says: He presses down [the scale of merit], as it says, He will again have compassion on us, he will press down our iniquities.26 R. Jose b. Hanina says: [He does so] by raising [the scale of iniquities], as it says, Raising27 iniquity and passing by transgression.28 In the school of R. Ishmael they taught: He puts aside every first iniquity;29 and herein lies the attribute [of grace]. Raba said: The iniquity itself is not obliterated, and if there is an excess of iniquities30 [God] reckons it with the others.31 Raba said: He who forgoes his right [to exact punishment]32 is forgiven all his iniquities, as it says, Forgiving iniquity and passing by transgression. Who is forgiven iniquity? One who passes by transgression [against himself]. R. Huna the son of R. Joshua was once ill. R. Papa went to inquire about him. He saw that he was very ill33 and said to those present, Make ready provisions for his [everlasting] journey.34 Eventually, however, he [R. Huna] recovered, and R. Papa felt ashamed to see him. He said to him, What did you see [in your illness]? He replied, It was indeed as you thought, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them [the angels]: Because he does not insist upon his rights, do not be particular with him, as it says, Forgiving iniquity and passing by transgression. Who is forgiven iniquity? He who passes by transgression. [The verse continues], ‘to the remnant of his heritage’. R. Aha son of R. Hanina said: We have here a fat tail with a thorn in it:35 ‘for the remnant of his inheritance’, but not for all his inheritance. and after this experience arise thence and be healed. V. Moore S.F. Judaism III, p. 198]. denied the resurrection’. insert with MS.M. the words ‘and those’ before the word ‘who’. all the classes mentioned. reference is to Jewish Christians it may allude to their repudiation of the claims of the Temple as the place where alone true and perfect worship could be offered, V. Herford, Christianity in Talmud p. 135]. said The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up". R. Isaac b. Abin said, And their faces (that is, of the intermediate class) shall (on rising from Gehinnom) be black like the sides of the pot. Raba added, And yet (despite this disfigurement) they shall be more beautiful than the most handsome men of Mahuza who shall be called the sons of Gehinnom’. V. D.S. a.l.]. iniquity is not put back in the scale. ground they often pick up thorns. Hence the proverbial expression, ‘a tail with a thorn in it’ for a good thing containing a snag.