מדרש על סוטה 3:16
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer
THE POWER OF REPENTANCE
REPENTANCE and good deeds are a shield against punishment. Rabbi Ishmael said: If repentance had not been created, the world would not stand. But since repentance has been created, the right hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, is stretched forth to receive the penitent every day, and He says, Repent, ye children of men. "Repent, ye children of men" (Ps. 90:8). Know thou the power of repentance. Come and see from Ahab, king of Israel, for he had robbed, coveted, and murdered, as it is said, "Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?" (1 Kings 21:19). He sent and called for Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, who gave him thrice daily forty stripes, and in fasting and with prayer he rose up early and retired late, before the Holy One, blessed be He, and he did not return any more to his evil deeds. His repentance was accepted, as it is said, || "Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days" (1 Kings 21:29).
REPENTANCE and good deeds are a shield against punishment. Rabbi Ishmael said: If repentance had not been created, the world would not stand. But since repentance has been created, the right hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, is stretched forth to receive the penitent every day, and He says, Repent, ye children of men. "Repent, ye children of men" (Ps. 90:8). Know thou the power of repentance. Come and see from Ahab, king of Israel, for he had robbed, coveted, and murdered, as it is said, "Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?" (1 Kings 21:19). He sent and called for Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, who gave him thrice daily forty stripes, and in fasting and with prayer he rose up early and retired late, before the Holy One, blessed be He, and he did not return any more to his evil deeds. His repentance was accepted, as it is said, || "Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days" (1 Kings 21:29).
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Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer
THE GOLDEN CALF
RABBI SIMEON BEN JOCHAI said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed to Moses out of the thorn-bush, in order to send him to Egypt, Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He (saying): Sovereign of all the worlds! Swear to me that all things which I desire to do, Thou wilt do, so that I should not speak words before Pharaoh, and Thou wilt not fulfil them, for then will he slay me. And He swore unto him that "whatsoever thou || desirest to do, I will do, except with reference to two things," (namely,) to let him enter the land (of Canaan), and (to postpone) the day of (his) death. Whence do we know that He swore unto him? Because it is said, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, the word is gone forth from my mouth in righteousness" (Isa. 45:23). When Israel received the commandments they forgot their God after forty days, and they said to Aaron: The Egyptians were carrying their god, and they were singing and uttering hymns before it, and they saw it before them. Make unto us a god like the gods of the Egyptians, and let us see it before us, as it is said, "Up, make us a god" (Ex. 32:1).
RABBI SIMEON BEN JOCHAI said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed to Moses out of the thorn-bush, in order to send him to Egypt, Moses spake before the Holy One, blessed be He (saying): Sovereign of all the worlds! Swear to me that all things which I desire to do, Thou wilt do, so that I should not speak words before Pharaoh, and Thou wilt not fulfil them, for then will he slay me. And He swore unto him that "whatsoever thou || desirest to do, I will do, except with reference to two things," (namely,) to let him enter the land (of Canaan), and (to postpone) the day of (his) death. Whence do we know that He swore unto him? Because it is said, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, the word is gone forth from my mouth in righteousness" (Isa. 45:23). When Israel received the commandments they forgot their God after forty days, and they said to Aaron: The Egyptians were carrying their god, and they were singing and uttering hymns before it, and they saw it before them. Make unto us a god like the gods of the Egyptians, and let us see it before us, as it is said, "Up, make us a god" (Ex. 32:1).
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