אני לדודי ודודי לי

(3) I am my beloved’s And my beloved is mine; He browses among the lilies.

(1) Of David. The LORD is my light and my help; whom should I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life, whom should I dread?

(21) Take us back, O LORD, to Yourself, And let us come back; Renew our days as of old!

Reish Lakish said: Great is repentance, as the penitent’s intentional sins are counted for him as unwitting transgressions, as it is stated: “Return, Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity” (Hosea 14:2). The Gemara analyzes this: Doesn’t “iniquity” mean an intentional sin? Yet the prophet calls it stumbling, implying that one who repents is considered as though he only stumbled accidentally in his transgression. The Gemara asks: Is that so? Didn’t Reish Lakish himself say: Great is repentance, as one’s intentional sins are counted for him as merits, as it is stated: “And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby” (Ezekiel 33:19), and all his deeds, even his transgressions, will become praiseworthy? The Gemara reconciles: This is not difficult: Here, when one repents out of love, his sins become like merits; there, when one repents out of fear, his sins are counted as unwitting transgressions.

At four times of the year the world is judged: On Passover judgment is passed concerning grain; on Shavuot concerning fruits that grow on a tree on Rosh HaShana, all creatures pass before Him like sheep [benei maron], as it is stated: “He Who fashions their hearts alike, Who considers all their deeds” (Psalms 33:15); and on the festival of Sukkot they are judged concerning water, i.e., the rainfall of the coming year.

1 "On the seventh month on the first of the month" (Leviticus 23:24): This is [the understanding of] that which is written (Psalms 119:89), "Forever, O Lord, does Your word stand in the Heavens." It was taught in the name of Rabbi Eliezer, "The world was created on the twenty-fifth of Elul." And that of Rav comes out like that which Rabbi Eliezer taught. As we recite with the shofar blows of Rav, "This day is the beginning of Your works, a memorial for the first day, 'For it is a statute for Israel, etc.' (Psalms 81:5); and about the provinces it is said, which for the sword and which for peace, which for hunger and which for satiation; and for the creatures - on it are they remembered, to remember them for life or for death." It comes out that you say on Rosh Hashanah (the first of Tishrei in the first year) in the first hour, [man's creation] rose in thought; in the second, [God] consulted with the angels; in the third, He gathered his dirt; in the fourth, He kneaded it; in the fifth, He weaved it; in the sixth, He made it a form; in the seventh, He blew breath into it; in the eighth, He placed him into the Garden [of Eden]; in the ninth, he was commanded [about the fruit]; in the tenth, he transgressed; in the eleventh, he was judged; in the twelfth, he was pardoned. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Adam, "This is a sign for your children: In the same way that you stood in front of Me in judgement on this day and were pardoned, so too in the future will your children stand in front of Me in judgement on this day and be pardoned in front of Me." When? "On the seventh month on the first of the month"

‘תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם ביום עשות ה THESE ARE THE PRODUCTIONS OF THE HEAVEN AND OF THE EARTH WHEN THEY WERE CREATED, IN THE DAY THE LORD GOD MADE EARTH AND HEAVEN — The verse teaches you that all of them (the productions of heaven and earth) were created on the first day when God made earth and heaven. Another explanation of the word בהבראם: It may be divided as בה' בראם He created them with the letter ‘ה, as it is said, (Isaiah 26:4) כי ביה ה' צור עולמים “For in Jah, the Lord, is the rock of worlds”, which may be explained to mean (taking צור in sense of Former, Creator) “for by means of ב these two letters י ה of the Divine Name (יהוה) God formed the two worlds” (Menachot 29b), and this verse teaches that this world was created by means of the ‘ה — a suggestion that all created beings must descend to the nether world “to behold the pit” — the world being like this letter ‘ה , which is closed on all sides but open at the bottom, thus giving away by which they must descend.