"Broadly defined, teshuvah is more than just repentance from sin; it is a spiritual reawakening, a desire to strengthen the connection between oneself and the sacred. The effectiveness of teshuvah is thus frequently a function of one's sense of distance from the sacred. The greater the distance, the greater the potential movement towards renewed connectedness. As one Jewish sage put it, A rope that is cut and retied is doubly strong at the point where it was severed.... All forms of teshuvah, however diverse and complex, have a common core: the belief that human beings have it in their power to effect inward change.
-- Adin Steinsaltz, Teshuvah: A Guide for the Newly Observant Jew, ed. and trans. by Michael Swirsky (New York: Free Press, 1987), 3-4.
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Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म; IPA: [ˈkərmə] ( listen); Pali: kamma) means action, work or deed; it also refers to the principle of causality where intent and actions of an individual influence the future of that individual. Good intent and good deed contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deed contribute to bad karma and future suffering. Karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in some schools of Asian religions. In these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current life, as well as the nature and quality of future lives - or, one's saṃsāra.
With origins in ancient India, it is a key concept in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Taoism.
(כג) הֶחָפֹ֤ץ אֶחְפֹּץ֙ מ֣וֹת רָשָׁ֔ע נְאֻ֖ם אֲדֹנָ֣י יי הֲל֛וֹא בְּשׁוּב֥וֹ מִדְּרָכָ֖יו וְחָיָֽה׃ (ס)
(23) Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD; and not rather that he should return from his ways, and live?
Months of the Jewish Year - from Tracey R. Rich
The "first month" of the Jewish calendar is the month of Nissan, in the spring, when Passover occurs. However, the Jewish New Year is in Tishri, the seventh month, and that is when the year number is increased. This concept of different starting points for a year is not as strange as it might seem at first glance. The American "new year" starts in January, but the new "school year" starts in September, and many businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year. Similarly, the Jewish calendar has different starting points for different purposes.
The names of the months of the Jewish calendar were adopted during the time of Ezra, after the return from the Babylonian exile. The names are actually Babylonian month names, brought back to Israel by the returning exiles. Note that most of the Bible refers to months by number, not by name.
The Jewish calendar has the following months:
| Hebrew | English | Number | Length | Civil Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nissan | 1 | 30 days | March-April | |
| Iyar | 2 | 29 days | April-May | |
| Sivan | 3 | 30 days | May-June | |
| Tammuz | 4 | 29 days | June-July | |
| Av | 5 | 30 days | July-August | |
| Elul | 6 | 29 days | August-September | |
| Tishri | 7 | 30 days | September-October | |
| Cheshvan | 8 | 29 or 30 days | October-November | |
| Kislev | 9 | 30 or 29 days | November-December | |
| Tevet | 10 | 29 days | December-January | |
| Shevat | 11 | 30 days | January-February | |
| Adar I (leap years only) | 12 | 30 days | February-March | |
| Adar (called Adar Beit in leap years) |
12 (13 in leap years) |
29 days | February-March |
(ד) "בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים" ששה דברים קדמו לבריאת העולם יש מהן שנבראו ויש מהן שעלו במחשבה להבראות. ... רבי אהבה ברבי זעירא אמר אף התשובה שנאמר (שם צ, ב) "בטרם הרים יולדו" ואותה השעה (שם, ג) "תשב אנוש עד דכא וגו'" ...
(4) "In the beginning of God's creating..." - Six things preceded the creation of the world; some of them were created and some of them were decided to be created. ... Rabbi Ahavah said in the name of Rabbi Ze'ira: Even repentance was, as it says (Psalms 90:2): "Before the mountains were birthed," and at the same time (Psalms 90:3), "You turned man to contrition etc." ...
(כב) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ׀ יי אֱלֹהִ֗ים הֵ֤ן הָֽאָדָם֙ הָיָה֙ כְּאַחַ֣ד מִמֶּ֔נּוּ לָדַ֖עַת ט֣וֹב וָרָ֑ע וְעַתָּ֣ה ׀ פֶּן־יִשְׁלַ֣ח יָד֗וֹ וְלָקַח֙ גַּ֚ם מֵעֵ֣ץ הַֽחַיִּ֔ים וְאָכַ֖ל וָחַ֥י לְעֹלָֽם׃
(22) And the LORD God said: ‘Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.’
(ו) ועתה פן ישלח ידו - אמר רבי אבא בר כהנא: מלמד שפתח לו הקדוש ברוך הוא פתח של תשובה. ועתה, אין ועתה, אלא תשובה, שנאמר (דברים י): ועתה ישראל מה יי אלהיך וגו.' והוא אומר פן, ואין פן, אלא לאו. אמר הקב"ה: ישלח ידו ואכל גם מעץ החיים אתמהא, ואם אוכל הוא חי לעולם?! לפיכך, וישלחהו יי אלהים מגן עדן. כיון ששלחו, התחיל מקונן הן האדם :
And now (v'ata), lest (pen) he put forth his hand... R. Aba bar Kahana said: This teaches that the Holy One of Blessing opened for him an opening for repentance. And now can only refer to repentance, as it is said: And now, Israel, what does your God, etc. (Deut 10:12; see below); lest (pen) can only mean 'not' (i.e., Adam refused to repent). Then the Holy One of Blessing said: 'Shall he put forth his hand, and eat also of the tree of life? [for if he does eat] He will live forever. [Therefore] Adonai God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden.' Since God sent him forth, God began lamenting him: 'Behold the Adam..."
(כג) וַֽיְשַׁלְּחֵ֛הוּ יי אֱלֹהִ֖ים מִגַּן־עֵ֑דֶן לַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֻקַּ֖ח מִשָּֽׁם׃
(יג) ויצא קין מלפני יי - מהיכן יצא? רבי יודן בשם ר' איבו אמר: הפשיל דברים לאחוריו, ויצא כגונב דעת העליונה. רבי ברכיה בשם רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון אמר: יצא כמפריס וכמרמה בבוראו. רבי חמא בשם רבי חנינא בר רבי יצחק אמר: יצא שמח. היך מה דאת אמר (שמות ד): הנה הוא יוצא לקראתך וגו'. פגע בו אדם הראשון אמר לו: מה נעשה בדינך? אמר לו: עשיתי תשובה ונתפשרתי, התחיל אדם הראשון מטפח על פניו. אמר: כך היא כחה של תשובה, ואני לא הייתי יודע?! מיד עמד אדם הראשון ואמר: (תהלים צב): מזמור שיר ליום השבת וגו'. אמר רבי לוי: המזמור הזה אדם הראשון אמרו ונשתכח מדורו, ובא משה וחדשו על שמו. מזמור שיר ליום השבת טוב להודות ליי וגו'.
"And Cain went out from before [the presence/face of] Adonai..." (Gen. 4:16; see below): From where did he go (i.e., he has just asserted that he cannot escape God's presence)? R. Yudan in the name of R. Aibu said: he flung the words behind him and went out like one who wants to deceive the most high (i.e., rejecting God's reproof). R. Berekiah said in the name of R. Eleazar, who said in the name of R. Shmuel: he went out like [a swine] showing his cleft hoof to deceive his creator [i.e., a swine has the cleft hoof like a kosher animal but is not kosher]. R. Hama in the name of R. Hanina bar R. Yitzhak said: He went forth rejoicing. even as you read: "Behold he [Aaron] is going out to meet you [Moses]..." (Ex. 4:14; see below).
The first Adam ran into him and said: "How did your judgement go?" Cain said: "I made repentance and was pardoned." The first Adam began to smack his own face and said: "Thus is the power of repentance, and I didn't know!?"
Immediately, the first Adam stood up and said: "A Psalm, a song for the Sabbath day..." (Ps. 92:1; see below).
R. Levi said: [Regarding] that psalm: the first Adam said it and it was forgotten after his generation; and when Moses came, he revived it in his [the Adam's] name: "A Psalm, a song for the Sabbath day: It is good to acknowledge to Adonai..."
Baal, also rendered Baʿal (Biblical Hebrew בַּעַל, pronounced [ˈbaʕal]), is a North-West Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu. A Baalist or Baalite means a worshipper of Baal.
"Baal" may refer to any god and even to human officials. In some texts it is used for Hadad, a god of thunderstorms, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven. Baal is often represented by the symbol of the bull. Since only priests were allowed to utter his divine name, Hadad, Ba‛al was commonly used. Prior to the discovery of the Ugaritic texts it was sometimes thought that there were various and quite-separate gods called Baal. However, it is now generally accepted that there was one great Canaanite storm-and-fertility deity Baal-Hadad, and local manifestations of this one god. Despite the tendency in the Hebrew Bible to avoid the use of the word as a proper name, it is now quite clear that by pre-Israelite times the term had become the usual name of the weather-god of Syria-Palestine.
Moloch, also known as Molech, Molekh, Molok, Molek, Melek, Molock, Moloc, Melech, Milcom, or Molcom (representingSemitic מלך m-l-k, a Semitic root meaning "king") is the name of an ancient Ammonite god. Moloch worship was practiced by the Canaanites, Phoenicians, and related cultures in North Africa and the Levant.
As a god worshiped by the Phoenicians and Canaanites, Moloch had associations with a particular kind of propitiatory child sacrifice by parents. Moloch figures in the Book of Deuteronomy and in the Book of Leviticus as a form of idolatry (Leviticus 18:21: "And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Moloch").
(ט) האומר, אחטא ואשוב, אחטא ואשוב, אין מספיקין בידו לעשות תשובה. אחטא ויום הכפורים מכפר, אין יום הכפורים מכפר. עברות שבין אדם למקום, יום הכפורים מכפר. עברות שבין אדם לחברו, אין יום הכפורים מכפר, עד שירצה את חברו. את זו דרש רבי אלעזר בן עזריה, [ויקרא טז:ל] "מכל חטאתיכם לפני יי תטהרו," עברות שבין אדם למקום, יום הכפורים מכפר; עברות שבין אדם לחברו, אין יום הכפורים מכפר, עד שירצה את חברו. אמר רבי עקיבא, אשריכם ישראל, לפני מי אתם מטהרין, ומי מטהר אתכם, אביכם שבשמים, שנאמר, [יחזקאל לו:כה] "וזרקתי עליכם מים טהורים וטהרתם." ואומר, [ירמיה יז:יג] "מקוה ישראל יי", מה מקוה מטהר את הטמאים, אף הקדוש ברוך הוא מטהר את ישראל.
(9) One who says, "I will sin, and then repent, I will sin [again], and then repent," will not receive an opportunity to repent; [for one who says] "I will sin, and Yom Kipur will atone," Yom Kippur will not atone. Yom Kippur atones for transgressions between a person and God, but for a transgression against one's neighbor, Yom Kipur cannot atone, until he appeases his neighbor. Thus R. Eleazar ben Azariah expounds the text, "From all your sins before the Lord shall ye be clean": For transgressions between a person and God, Yom Kippur atones, for transgressions against one's neighbor, Yom Kippur cannot atone, until he appeases his neighbor. R. Akiva says, Happy are you, Israel! Before whom are you purified, and who purifies you [of your transgressions]? Your Father Who is in heaven. For it is said, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean"; and it is also said, "The ritual bath of Israel is the Lord"; even as a ritual bath purifies the unclean, so does the Holy One, Blessed be He, purify Israel.