Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 6, scan section 55

even unto the Lord thy God." R. Johanan said : Penitence is great, so that it supersedes a negative commandment in the Torah. As it is written [Jerem. iii. 3] : " One could say, Behold, if a man send away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, can he return unto her again? Would not that land be greatly polluted? and thou hast played the harlot with many companions, and wilt yet return to me, saith the Lord." (So penitence is greater than the commandment not to take back one's wife, married to another.) * The passage is difficult, and Rashi is also uncertain. 136 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. R. Jonathan said : Penitence is great, so that it brings the redemption, as it is written [Is. lix. 20] : " But unto Zion shall come the redeemer, and unto those who return from transgres- sion in Jacob," which means, Why is the redeemer come ? Because Jacob has returned from transgressions. Resh Lakish says: Penitence is great: even the sins that have been done intentionally are considered as if they had been done uninten- tionally. As it is written [Hosea xiv. 2] : " For thou hast stumbled in thy iniquity." Iniquity is intentional, and yet it is called " stumbling." This is not so ? Did not Resh Lakish him- self say : Penitence is great, so that intentional sins come to be considered as merits, as it is written [Ezek. xxxiii. 19] : " And when the wicked returneth from his wickedness, and executeth justice and righteousness, he shall surely live for them " ? It presents no difficulty. One is from love, and the other from fear. R. Samuel b. Na'hmani in the name of R. Jonathan says: Penitence is great. It causes man to live long, as it is written : [ibid., ibid.] : " He shall surely live." R. Itz'hak said : In Pales- tine, they say in the name of Rabha b. Mari as follows : Come and see. The ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, are not like the ways of a man. When a man had incensed another man by his speech, it is doubtful whether he has really appeased him or not ; but the Holy One, blessed be He, even if a man commits a sin in secret, allows himself to be appeased, as it is written [Hosea xix. 3] : " Take with you words, and return to the Lord." And not this alone, but He takes it as a favor, as it is written [ibid., ibid.] : " Accept good " ; and not this only, but the verse makes him equal to one who has sacrificed bullocks, as it is written at the end of the verse : ** Let us repay the steers with our lips." Perhaps it will be thought like steers as sin- offerings. Therefore it is written [ibid. 5] : "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them voluntarily." We have learned in a Boraitha : R. Meir used to say : Repent- ance is great : when an individual repents, the whole world is pardoned, as it is written : " I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely ; for my anger is turned away from them." * It is not said from them, but from us, from all of us. What is a penitent man? Said R. Jehudah : When he had an opportunity to do a sin once, and a second time he did not * The Hebrew for " from them " is " Mehem," but here " Mimenu" (" from us ') is used. TRACT YOxMAH (DAY OF ATONEMENT). 137 do it. The same explains: That is meant, the same woman, the same place, the same time. R. Jehudah said again: Rabh found a contradiction in the following passages : It is written [Ps. xxxii. i] : " Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered," and [Prov. xxviii. 13] : " He that concealeth his transgressions will not prosper." It presents no difficulty : This refers to a sin publicly known : he ought to confess, and repent ; but that refers to one not yet known ; he ought to repent before it has become known. R. Zutra b. Tubia said in the name of R. Na'hman : The one refers to a sin toward a man : he must make it public, and appease the man ; but a sin toward God, one need not make public, but repent. We have learned in a Boraitha : R. Jose b. R. Jehudah said: When a man sins the first time he is pardoned ; the second time, he is pardoned ; the third time, he is pardoned ; the fourth time, he is not pardoned, as it is written [Amos ii. 6] : " Thus hath said the Lord, For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, will I not turn away their punishment." And it is written [Job xxxiii. 29] : " Lo, all these things doth God two or three times with man." [What is the second passage required for ? From the first we might think it is only the case with a congregation ; but the second shows to us that it is true in case of an individual also.] The rabbis taught : The sins one has confessed on one Day of Atonement, he need not confess on the next Day of Atone- ment. This is the case, if he has not repeated the sin ; but in that case, he should repeat the confession. If, without having sinned again, he confessed again, then to him applies the verse [Prov. xxvi. 11] : " As a dog returneth to his vomit, so doth a fool repeat his folly." R. Eliezer b. Jacob, however, said : So much the more may he be praised, as it is written [Ps. li. 5] : " For of my transgressions I have full knowledge, and my sin is before me continually." When he confesses, he must specify his sin, as it is written [Ex. xxxii. 31] : " This people hath sinned a great sin, and they have made themselves a god of gold." So said R. Jehudah b. Babha. R. Aqiba, however, said : " Happy is he whose trans- gression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." [Why, then, has Moses specified the sin? It is, according toR. Janai: Moses said to the Holy One, blessed be He : " Lord of the universe, thou hast given so much gold that they said, * Enough.' This has caused that they made a golden god."] 138 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. Two good leaders Israel had : Moses and David. Moses said : May my sins be inscribed, as it is written [Num. xxii. 12]: '' Because ye have not confided in me, to sanctify me." And David said : May my sins not be inscribed ; namely, " Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." Moses and David may be compared to two women punished in court : one, because she has really sinned, and the other, because she has eaten fruit of the Sabbatical year. The second said: Pray, proclaim what my transgression is, that it should not be thought I am punished for the same sin as the other woman. They took the fruit, and suspended it on her neck, and proclaimed : Be it known, she has been chastised for eating fruit of the Sabbatical year. The evil deeds of hypocrites should be made public, that the name of the Lord may not be profaned. As it is written [Ezek. iii. 20] : When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness and doeth what is wrong, then will I lay a stumbling-block