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Rosh Hashanah 17b

ראש השנה י״ז ע״ב

Learn Rosh Hashanah 17b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

ה׳'s justice and kindness, the י״ג מדות, and the power of תשובה to tear up a גזר דין

Overview

The amud opens with the end of an earlier דרשה: ה׳ forgives the humble person who sees himself as a 'leftover'. Three אמוראים then point out פסוקים that call ה׳ both strictly just and kind. Each answers the same way: בתחלה ה׳ judges with strict justice, and לבסוף He acts with חסד. Next, רבי יוחנן explains that ה׳ showed משה the י״ג מדות as a set prayer for forgiveness, and רב יהודה adds that a ברית promises these מדות are never unanswered. רבי יוחנן then teaches that תשובה can tear up a גזר דין that has already been issued, and אביי proves this from the word ״ורפא לו״. The גמרא tests this teaching against a ברייתא about repenting before יום כיפור, a ברייתא about rain, and the sailors in תהלים 107. These tests lead to the rule that a צבור's תשובה can tear up a decree, while a יחיד's cannot after the decree is sealed. Finally, בלוריא הגיורת asks about two clashing פסוקים on ה׳ showing favor. רבי יוסי הכהן answers with a parable, and the amud ends just as רבי עקיבא's different answer is introduced on the next amud.

Opening lines

לְמִי שֶׁמֵּשִׂים עַצְמוֹ כְּשִׁירַיִם.

For one who makes himself like leftovers.

רַב הוּנָא רָמֵי,

Rav Huna raised a contradiction:

כְּתִיב: ״צַדִּיק ה׳ בְּכׇל דְּרָכָיו״,

It is written: 'ה׳ is righteous in all His ways,'

וּכְתִיב: ״וְחָסִיד בְּכׇל מַעֲשָׂיו״!

and it is written: 'and kind in all His works'!

The steps (25)

  1. ConclusionForgiveness is for the one who sees himself as a 'leftover'
  2. Challengeרב הונא: Is ה׳ righteous or kind?
  3. ResolutionAt first righteous, in the end kind
  4. Challengeרבי אלעזר: Kindness or exact payback?
  5. ResolutionAt first exact payback, in the end kindness
  6. Challengeאילפי: Abundant kindness or truth?
  7. ResolutionAt first truth, in the end abundant kindness
  8. Statementה׳ shows משה the order of prayer like a prayer leader
  9. StatementWhy ה׳'s name is said twice
  10. StatementA covenant that the thirteen מדות are always answered
  11. Statementתשובה can tear up a decree
  12. ChallengeMaybe תשובה only helps before the sentence is decreed
  13. ResolutionHealing means there is already a sickness
  14. ChallengeA ברייתא says only repentance before יום כיפור helps
  15. ResolutionAn individual is different from a community
  16. ChallengeA ברייתא on rain: even a repentant nation cannot get more rain
  17. ChallengeThe other side: a righteous nation that sinned cannot get less rain
  18. ChallengeWhy not tear up the sentence and add rain?
  19. ResolutionThere, a different solution was possible
  20. ChallengeThe sailors in תהלים 107
  21. ChallengeCrying out after the decree is not answered
  22. ResolutionSailors count as individuals
  23. Questionבלוריא asks about two clashing פסוקים
  24. Responseרבי יוסי הכהן's parable of the king and the loan
  25. Statementרבי עקיבא comes with a different answer