Sa. Akiva] avait également coutume de mentionner cinq choses comme étant d'une durée de douze mois: le jugement de la génération du déluge—douze mois. Le jugement des Egyptiens—douze mois. Le jugement de Job—douze mois. Le jugement de Gog et Magog dans le temps à venir—douze mois. Le jugement des méchants à Gehinnom—douze mois, à savoir. (Ésaïe 6:23): "Et ce sera, du mois [de sa mort] jusqu'à son mois" [un an plus tard à Gehinnom, qu'il viendra (de Gehinnom) se prosterner devant l'Éternel.] R Yochanan b. Nuri dit: [Il sera à Gehinnom] de Pessa'h [c'est-à-dire, le premier jour de Pessa'h, qui est appelé "Sabbat", il est écrit (Lévitique 23:15): "Et vous compterez pour vous-mêmes dès le lendemain du Sabbat, etc. "] jusqu'à Atzereth [(Lévitique, Ibid.)" Le lendemain de la septième semaine "], à savoir. (Isaïe, Ibid.): "Et du sabbat [(le premier jour de Pessa'h)] en son sabbat (Atzereth)."
Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
שנאמר והיה מדי חודש בחדשו – when the month comes in the same month that he died in it, he would leave from Gehinnom and come to worship before God.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
Introduction
Mishnayoth ten contains another statement of Rabbi Akiva.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eduyot
שנאמר ומדי שבת בשבתו – that is to say, after he would be in Gehinnom so many days like there are from the first day of Passover, which is called “Shabbat,” as it is written (Leviticus 23:15): “[And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering]– the day after the Sabbath – you shall count off seven weeks. [They must be complete],” until Atzeret/Shavuot which is the from the morrow of the seventh Sabbath, he left from Gehinnom and comes to worship.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
There are five heavenly judgements which according to Rabbi Akiva were meted out for one year.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
Also he used to say that there are five things that last twelve months: The judgment of the generation of the flood [continued] twelve months; The judgement of the generation of the flood lasted one year. According to Genesis 7:11 the flood began on the seventeenth of the second month of the 600th year of Noah’s life. According to 8:14, the earth was dry one year and ten days later. The extra ten days are the adjustment for the difference between a lunar and solar calendar.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
The judgment of Job [continued] twelve months; Job’s trial lasted a year. This is learned from Job 7:3 which states, “So have I been allotted months of futility; nights of misery have been apportioned to me.” According to a midrash the months of futility are the days of the summer which are long and the nights of misery which are also long. Together, it can be concluded that Job suffered for one whole year.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
The judgment of the Egyptians [continued] twelve months; The ten plagues lasted a year, according to Rabbi Akiva. This is learned through a midrash on Exodus 5:12. According to this verse the plagues began only after the Egyptians forced the Israelite slaves to search for their own straw. Since straw is found in the month of Iyyar, May, and the Israelites left Egypt in Nissan, April, the conclusion can be drawn that the plagues lasted one year.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
The judgment of Gog and Magog in the time to come [will continue] twelve months; Gog is a King and Magog is his country. According to Ezekiel 38-39, at the end of time Gog will fight a battle with Israel, at which point God will bring judgement upon Gog and his people. According to Rabbi Akiva, this judgement will last one year. This is learned in the midrash from Isaiah 18:6, “The kites shall summer on them and all the beasts of the earth shall winter on them”. This verse is understood as referring to the war of Gog at the end of days. The verse states that they will be punished for a summer and a winter, meaning for an entire year.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eduyot
The judgment of the wicked in gehinom [continues] twelve months, for it is said, and “It will be from one month until its [same] month” (Isaiah 66:23). Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri says: “[As long as] from Passover to Shavuoth, for it is said, “And from one Sabbath until its [next] Sabbath” (ibid.). The wicked are judged in Gehinom, which is a Jewish word for hell, for one year. This is learned from Isaiah 66:24 which states, “They shall go out and gaze on the corpses of the men who rebelled against Me.” The previous verse states that “Month after month and Sabbath after Sabbath all flesh shall come and worship me.” How can all flesh come and praise God if the corpses of the rebellious are being punished. To solve this problem, the Rabbis reverse the order of the verses, understanding that the wicked are first punished and then allowed to return to praising God. From the words “month after month” Rabbi Akiva concludes that the wicked shall be judged from one month until the next appearance of the same month, meaning twelve months. As an aside, this is where the Jewish custom of saying Kaddish over a parent for 11 months originates. If one were to say Kaddish for a full twelve months, it would be assuming that the parent was wicked. Since no one would want to make such a statement, we say Kaddish for eleven months. Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri learns from the words “Sabbath after Sabbath” in the above verse that the wicked are judged for a time period equal to the time between one holiday and the next. (Sabbath can sometimes mean holiday, as opposed to its usual meaning, the seventh day of the week). The shortest such period is the time between Passover and Shavuoth, which is seven weeks.
