תלמוד על שמות 34:7

He who has a preponderance of merit inherits paradise. He who has a preponderance of sins inherits hell. What if he is in equilibrium? Rebbi Yose ben Ḥanina said, it does not say “He lifts sins” but rather He lifts sin¹¹Ex. 34:7, Michal 7:18.. The Holy One, praise to Him, removes one document from the sins and the merits tilt. Rebbi Eleazar said, kindness is Yours, o Master, because You repay everyone according to his deeds¹²Ps. 62:13., and if he has none, You give him from Yours. This is the opinion of Rebbi Eleazar, because Rebbi Eleazar said, and much kindness¹³Ex. 34:7., He turns towards kindness.

Rebbi Huna said in the name of Rebbi Abbahu: There is no forgetting before the Holy One, but for Israel He becomes forgetful. What is the reason? He forgives sin¹¹Ex. 34:7, Michal 7:18.; “He forgets²¹Identifying the Hebrew root נשׂא “to carry” with the Aramaci נשׂי “to forget.”” is written. And so David said, You forgot Your people, You covered up all their misdeeds, Selah²²Ps. 85:3.”.

¹⁶⁹Babli 36b, Sifra Aḥare Parashah2(4–6), the entire paragraph. The starting sentence was added by the corrector, probably from one of the parallel sources.[It was stated: “How does he confess? “I acted criminally, I rebelled, I sinned;’ and it says¹⁷⁰Ex. 34:7., He forgives crime, rebellion, and sin; and it says¹⁷¹Lev. 16:21., and he shall confess over it all crimes of the Children of Israel, etc., the words of Rebbi Meïr. But the Sages say, criminal acts are intentional crimes, offenses are rebellions¹⁷²Sins intentionally committed as rebellion against God., sins are inadvertent actions¹⁷³Ševuot 1:3 (Note 114), Babli Ševuot12b, Keritut 25b.. After he confesses about criminal acts he turns around and confesses about inadvertent acts? But he confesses as follows: Please Hashem, I sinned, I acted criminally, I rebelled before You, I and my house (etc..) [and the sons of Aaron. As is written in the Torah of Moses as follows, for on that day he shall, etc. They, answer him: “Praised be the glory of His Kingdom forever and ever”.]¹⁷⁴The text in parentheses is the scribe’s, the one in brackets the corrector’s, probably added from one of the parallel sources. And so we find that confessors do confess. David said¹⁷⁵Ps. 106:6. The vaw added to the last word is from the synagogue service of the Day., we and our fathers sinned, we acted criminally and we led to bad behavior. His son Solomon said¹⁷⁶IK. 8:47., [we sinned,] we acted criminally, behaved badly. Daniel said¹⁷⁷Dan.9:5., we sinned, we actedcriminally, we led to bad behavior, and we rebelled. Also he was confessing thus: I sinned, I acted criminally, I rebelled before You. What means this which Moses said, He forgives crime, rebellion, and sin; and it says, and he shall confess over it all crimes of the Children of Israel, etc.¹⁷⁸How can one explain the illogical order?? But since he confesses to criminal rebellious acts, it is as if they were inadvertent sins before Him.”

Ben Azai preached: “A dead fly will permanently spoil perfumer’s oil.⁶⁵⁸Eccl. 10:1; the translation follows Ibn Ezra.” Does not one dead fly spoil perfumer’s oil? And this person⁶⁵⁹Who has exactly as many merits as he has demerits. The Babylonian sources, Babli 40b, Tosephta 1:14, base a formally similar agument on Eccl. 9:18; but the Babli does not make the difference between the Worlds that are the main thrust of this paragraph. by one sin spoiled all merits he had. Rebbi Aqiba preached: “⁶⁶⁰Is.. 5:14. So the abyss opened wide and its mouth swallowed the one without law.” It does not say “without laws”, but “without law”, him who has not a single merit that should help him on the scale of merit⁶⁶¹The image is always that the deeds of a person are weighed on scales in Heavenly court; the person is found innocent if the scale containing his merits tilts the balance in his favor. A different interpretation is in the Babli, Sanhedrin 111a.. That is, for the Future World. But in this world, even if 999 angels plead for his conviction and one angel pleads for his acquittal, the Holy One, praise to Him, lends His weight to the scale of merit. What is the reason? “If there is for him one angel out of a thousand, to tell a man his straightness. He will act with him in grace and say, let him be redeemed, not go down to destruction; I found weregilt⁶⁶²Job 33:23–24..” Rebbi Joḥanan said, if you find a saying of Rebbi Eliezer, son of Rebbi Yose the Galilean, bend your ear like this funnel and listen, since Rebbi Joḥanan reported that Rebbi Eliezer, the son of Rebbi Yose the Galilean, said: Even if 999 angles plead for his conviction and one angel pleads for his acquittal, the Holy One, praise to Him, lends His weight to the scale of merit. Not only this entire angel, but if 999 aspects of that angel plead for conviction and one aspect for acquittal, the Holy One, praise to Him, lends His weight to the scale of merit. What is the reason? It does not say, “if there is for him one angel of a thousand,” but “one out of a thousand”, one aspect out of a thousand aspects of that angel. What is written afterwards? “He will act with him in grace and say, let him be hurt, not go down to destruction; I found weregilt.” “Let him be hurt,” by suffering⁶⁶³R. Eliah Wilna points out that the Talmud reads פְּדָעֵהוּ as Aramaism, equivalent to Hebrew פְּצָעֵהוּ (cf. Onqelos and Pseudo-Jonathan to Ex. 21:25).. “I found weregilt,” he found means to redeem himself. That is, in this world. But in the Future World, if he has a majority of merits, he inherits paradise; a majority of sins, he inherits hell. If he was 50–50. Rebbi Yose ben Ḥanina said, “he carries his iniquity.⁶⁶⁴Ex. 34:7, Micah 7:18. R. Yose ben R. Ḥanina holds that the person with an equal number of merits and demerits is found guilty. But in Peah1:1, Sanhedrin 10:1, and the Babli, Roš Haššanah17a, R. Yose ben R. Ḥanina is credited with the opinion attributed here to R. Abbahu, who is not mentioned in the other sources. Everybody seems to agree that in the Heavenly Court, no more than one transgression will be forgiven.” Rebbi Abbahu said, it is written: “He carries.” What does the Holy One, praise to Him, do? He grabs one of his demerits, and the merits decide⁶⁶⁵R. Abbahu holds that the person with an equal number of merits and demerits is found not guilty.. ⁶⁶⁶Babli Roš Haššanah 17b. Rebbi Eleazar said: “You, Eternal, are acting in grace, for You will complete for everybody according to his deeds.⁶⁶⁷Ps. 62:13.” And if he has none, You will give him from Yours. That is Rebbi Eleazar’s opinion, for Rebbi Eleazar said, “You, Eternal, are acting in grace,” this teaches that He turns to the aspect of grace⁶⁶⁸He also holds that the person with an equal number of merits and demerits is found not guilty..

Rebbi Zeïra said, but only if the person does not revert⁶⁷⁸Here begins the discussion of the quote at the end of the Mishnah. What is the reason? It does not say “The triple thread will never snap” but rather “The triple thread will not quickly snap.” If you work on it, it will split. Rebbi Ḥuna said in the name of Rebbi Abbahu: There is no forgetting before the Holy One, praise to Him, but for Israel He becomes forgetful. What is the reason? It is written⁶⁶⁴Ex. 34:7, Micah 7:18. R. Yose ben R. Ḥanina holds that the person with an equal number of merits and demerits is found guilty. But in Peah1:1, Sanhedrin 10:1, and the Babli, Roš Haššanah17a, R. Yose ben R. Ḥanina is credited with the opinion attributed here to R. Abbahu, who is not mentioned in the other sources. Everybody seems to agree that in the Heavenly Court, no more than one transgression will be forgiven. “He forgets⁶⁷⁹Replacing נשׂא “to lift, carry” by נשׁה “to forget”. sin.” And so David says⁶⁸⁰Ps. 85:3.: “You forgot Your people’s sin, You covered up all their misdeeds, Selah.”