Talmud. Various Authors

court, and the invocation of divine judgment was not necessary. 2) R. Itz'hak preached: Four things avert the evil decree passed (by God) on man--viz.: charity, prayer, change of name, and improvement.

      Charity," as it is written [Prov. x. 2]: "Charity delivereth from death. Prayer," in accordance with [Psalms, cvii. 19]: "They cry unto the Lord when they are in distress, and He saveth them out of their afflictions." "Change of name," as it is written [Gen. xvii. 15]: "As for Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be," and the text continues by saying [ibid. 16]: "Then will I bless her, and give thee a son also of her." "Improvement," we deduce from Jonah, iii. 10: "And God saw their works that they had turned from their evil ways," and immediately adds: "And God bethought Himself of the evil He had said He would do unto them, and He did it not." Some add to these four a fifth, change of location, as it is written [Gen. xii. 1 and 2]: "And God said to Abraham, get thee out from thy land" (and afterwards), "I will make of thee a great nation."

      R. Kruspedai said in the name of R. Johanan: Three books are opened on New Year's Day: one for the utterly wicked, one for the wholly good, and one for the average class of people. The wholly righteous are at once inscribed, and life is decreed for them; the entirely wicked are at once inscribed, and destruction destined for them; the average class are held in the balance from New Year's Day till the Day of Atonement; if they prove themselves worthy they are inscribed for life, if not they are inscribed for destruction. Said R. Abhin: Whence this teaching? From the passage [Psalms, lxix. 29]: "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and they shall not be written down with the righteous."

      We have learned in a Boraitha: The school of Shammai said: There are three divisions of mankind at the Resurrection: the wholly righteous, the utterly wicked, and the average class. The wholly righteous are at once inscribed, and life is decreed for them; the utterly wicked are at once inscribed, and destined for Gehenna, as we read [Dan. xii. 2]: "And many of them that sleep in the dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." The third class, the men between the former two, descend to Gehenna, but they weep and come up again, in accordance with the passage [Zech. xiii. 9]: "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; and he shall call on My name, and I will answer him." Concerning this last class of men Hannah says [I Sam. ii. 6]: "The Lord causeth to die and maketh alive, He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up again." The school of Hillel says: The Merciful One inclines (the scale of justice) to the side of mercy, and of this third class of men David says [Psalms, cxvi. 1]: "It is lovely to me that the Lord heareth my voice"; in fact, David applies to them the Psalm mentioned down to the words, "Thou hast delivered my soul from death" [ibid. 8].

      Transgressors of Jewish birth and also of non-Jewish birth, who sin with their body descend to Gehenna, and are judged there for twelve months; after that time their bodies are destroyed and burnt, and the winds scatter their ashes under the soles of the feet of the righteous, as we read [Mal. iii. 23]: "And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet"; but as for Minim, informers and disbelievers, who deny the Torah, or Resurrection, or separate themselves from the congregation, or who inspire their fellowmen with dread of them, or who sin and cause others to sin, as did Jeroboam the son of Nebat and his followers, they all descend to Gehenna, and are judged there from generation to generation, as it is said [Isa. lxvi. 24]: "And they shall go forth and look upon the carcases of the men who have transgressed against Me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched." Even when Gehenna will be destroyed, they will not be consumed, as it is written [Psalms, xlix. 15]: "And their forms wasteth away in the nether world," which the sages comment upon to mean that their forms shall endure even when the grave is no more. Concerning them Hannah says [I Sam. ii. 10]: "The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces." R. Itz'hac b. Abhin says: "Their faces are black like the sides of a caldron"; while Rabha remarked: "Those who are now the handsomest of the people of Me'huzza will yet be called the children of Gehenna."

What is meant by Jews who transgress with their body? Says Rabh: The Qarqaphtha (frontal bone) on which the phylacteries are not placed. 1 And who are meant by non-Jews who transgress with the body? Those guilty of the sin (of adultery). Who are those who inspire their fellowmen with dread of them? A leader of a community who causes the people to fear him overmuch without furthering thereby a high purpose. R. Jehudah said in the name of Rabh: No such leader will ever have a learned son, as it is said [Job, xxxvii. 24]: "Men do therefore fear him: he will never see (in his family) any wise of heart."

      The school of Hillel said above: He who is full of compassion will incline the scale of justice to the side of mercy. How does He do it? Answered R. Eliezer: He presses on (the side containing our virtues), as it is said [Micah, vii. 19]: "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us, he will suppress our iniquities." R. Jose says: He lifts off (the sins), as it is said [ibid. 18]: "He pardoneth iniquity and forgiveth transgression." And it was taught in the school of R. Ishmael that this means that He removes each first sin (so that there is no second), and this is the correct interpretation. "But," Rabha remarked, "the sin itself is not blotted out, so that if one be found in later times with more sins (than virtues), the sin not blotted out will be added to the later ones; whoso treats with indulgence one who has wronged him (forms an exception to this rule), for he will have all his sins forgiven, as it is said [Micah, vii. r8]: "He pardoneth iniquity and forgiveth transgression." From whom does He remove iniquity? From him who forgiveth transgression (committed against him by his neighbor).

      R. Huna ben R. Jehoshua fell sick, and R. Papa went to visit him. The latter saw that the end was near, and said to those present: "Make ready his provisions (shrouds)." Finally he recovered, and R. Papa was ashamed to see him. "Why did you think him so sick?" said they. "He was so, indeed," he replied, "but the Holy One, blessed be He, said that since he was always indulgent (with every one), he shall be forgiven," as it is written: "He pardoneth iniquity and forgiveth transgression." From whom docs He remove iniquity? From him who forgiveth transgression.

      R. A'h the son of Hanina said: The phrase "of the remnant of his inheritance" [Micah, vii. 18] is like unto a fat tail (of an Arabian sheep) with a thorn through it (that will stick those that lay hold of it); (for He forgives) the remnant of His inheritance, and not all His inheritance. What is meant by remnant? Only those who deport themselves like a remnant (i.e., modestly). R. Huna points out a contradiction in these passages. It is written [Psalms, cxlv. 171: "The Lord is just in all his ways," and in the same passage, "and pious in all his works." It means, in the beginning He is only just, but in the end He is pious (when He finds that strict justice is too severe on mankind He tempers justice with piety or mercy). R. Elazar also points out a contradiction. It is written [Psalms, lxii. 12]: "Unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy;" and again, "thou renderest to every man according to his work." This can be explained as the above: In the beginning He rewards every man according to his works, but in the end He is merciful. Ilphi or Ilpha points out a similar contradiction in [Ex. xxxiv. 6], where it is written "abundant in goodness and truth," and gives a similar explanation.

      It is written [Ex. xxxiv. 6]: "And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed." R. Johanan said: Had this Passage not been written, it would have been impossible to have said it, for it teaches us that the Holy One, blessed be He, wrapped Himself, as does a minister who recites the prayers for a congregation, and pointing out to Moses the regular order of prayer, said to him: Whenever Israel sins, let him pray to Me, after this manner, and I shall pardon him.

      "The Lord, the Lord," (these words mean) I am the same God before a man sins as I am after he sins and does repentance. "God, merciful and gracious." R. Jehudah said (concerning these words): The covenant made through the thirteen attributes [Ex. xxxiv.] will never be made void, as it is said [ibid. 10]: "Behold I make a covenant."

      R. Johanan said: Great is repentance, for it averts the (evil) decreed against a man, as it is written [Isa. vi. 10]: "Obdurate will remain the heart of this people. . . . nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts, so that they repent