רבותיי, היסטוריה חוזרת?

With regard to the dates of these festivals, the Sages taught: When Adam the first man saw that the day was progressively diminishing, as the days become shorter from the autumnal equinox until the winter solstice, he did not yet know that this is a normal phenomenon, and therefore he said: Woe is me; perhaps because I sinned the world is becoming dark around me and will ultimately return to the primordial state of chaos and disorder. And this is the death that was sentenced upon me from Heaven, as it is written: “And to dust shall you return” (Genesis 3:19). He arose and spent eight days in fasting and in prayer. Once he saw that the season of Tevet, i.e., the winter solstice, had arrived, and saw that the day was progressively lengthening after the solstice, he said: Clearly, the days become shorter and then longer, and this is the order of the world. He went and observed a festival for eight days. Upon the next year, he observed both these eight days on which he had fasted on the previous year, and these eight days of his celebration, as days of festivities. He, Adam, established these festivals for the sake of Heaven, but they, the gentiles of later generations, established them for the sake of idol worship.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to seek, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; A time for war, and a time for peace.

The words of Koheleth, king in Jerusalem. Midrash: This is to say that this the writing is done with "ruach hakodesh" (divine inspiration) by the hand of King Solomon (Mishlei 22:29). You see [that the work of] a man [who is] adept at his trade will endure [when it is done] in front of kings. It happened that Rebbe Chanina ben Dosa saw people in his city taking up vow-offerings and free-will offerings to Jerusalem. He said, "Everyone is bringing up vow-offerings and free-will offerings to Jerusalem, and I don't have a thing to bring up." What did he do? He went to the walkway of his city and saw one stone and chipped it, chiseled it, and polished it and said: "Now I have something to bring up to Jerusalem." He sought to hire workers. Five men passed by him. He said to them "Will you take this stone for me up to Jerusalem?" They said to him, "Give us 5 Selayim [currency] and we will bring it up to Jerusalem." He sought it for them but he could not find a single thing... ... [R’ Yehoshua ben Qorchah asks], “Who was created for the sake of whom / mi nivra’ bish’vil mi? Was earth/arets created for the sake of a (human) generation, or a generation created for the sake of the arets?” ... R’ B’rakhyah said in the name of R’ Shimon ben Lakish: Whatever the Holy One created in the human, He created in the earth as a model for him / l’dugma lo. A person/adam has a head and so does the earth, as it is said, “and the head of the dirt/ `afar of the world/teivel” [Pr 8:26]. A person has eyes and so does the earth, as it is said, “And they will cover the eye of the earth” [Ex 10:5] (8) "All the streams flow to the sea" (Ecclesiastes 1) -- All of Israel only ever gather together in Jerusalem, and they go up at the time of the festivals each and every year."Yet the sea is never full" (Ecclesiastes 1) -- Yet Jerusalem is never filled. As it was taught "They stand crowded, [yet] they bow spaciously". Rav Shmuel Bar Chova said in the name of Rav Acha who said, "Four cubits space between each and every one of them, and one cubit on each side, so that no one would hear the prayer of his friend and come to err"."To the place the streams flow [there they shall return again]" -- To the place Israel gathers in this world, there they shall gather in the world to come, in the time to come, as it is said (Isaiah 27) "And it shall be in that day, that a great horn shall be blown; and they shall come, those that were lost in the land of Assyria and those that were dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship G-d at the holy mountain in Jerusalem" …R’ Berachia said in the name of R’ Yitzchak the last redeemer will be just as the first. Just as it says of the first redeemer “So Moses took his wife and his sons, mounted them upon the donkey…” (Shemot 4:20) so too the last redeemer, as it says “…humble, and riding a donkey…” (Zechariah 9:9) Just as the first redeemer brought down the manna, as it says “Behold! I am going to rain down for you bread from heaven…” (Shemot 16:4) so too the last redeemer will bring down manna, as it says “May there be an abundance of grain in the land…” (Tehillim 72:16) Just as the first redeemer brought up the well, so too the last redeemer will bring up the water, as it says “…and a spring will issue from the house of the Lord and will water the valley of Shittim…” (Yoel 4:18)