On a Good Day and a Bad Day and What Cancels a Decree

"On a good day be in goodness, and on a bad day consider" (Ecclesiastes 7:14). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: if a good day comes your way, do it [the good] at once, as it is written, "On a good day be in goodness"; and if a bad day comes your way, consider how to do repentance and be saved from it. Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Lazar: three things annul a [harsh] decree, and these are they: prayer, charity, and repentance. And the three of them are in one verse: "If My people, who are called by My name, humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land" (II Chronicles 7:14). "And pray" -- this is prayer. "And seek My face" -- this is charity, as it is written, "I shall behold Your face in righteousness (tzedek)" (Psalms 17:15). "And turn from their evil ways" (II Chronicles ibid.) -- this is repentance; and what is written there? "Then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin" (ibid.). Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Yose: also a change of name and a change of deed. A change of name, from our father Abraham: "Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham" (Genesis 17:5) -- Abram does not beget, Abraham begets. And likewise, "Sarai your wife" (ibid. 15) -- Sarai did not bear, and Sarah bore. A change of deed, from the people of Nineveh: "And God saw their deeds, that they had turned from their evil way" (Jonah 3:10). And some say: also a change of place, from our father Abraham: "And the LORD said to Abram, Go forth from your land and your birthplace" (Genesis 12:1), and then, "And I will make you a great nation" (ibid. 2). Rabbi Mana said: also fasting, as it is written, "May the LORD answer you on a day of trouble" (Psalms 20:2). Rabbah bar Hama bar Gurya said in the name of Rav: a fast is as good for a [bad] dream as fire for stubble. Rav Hisda said: and on that very day. And Rav Yosef said: even on the Sabbath. "God has made the one corresponding to the other" (Ecclesiastes 7:14): the Holy One made righteous ones and wicked ones. This is what is written, "And afterward his brother came out, his hand grasping Esau's heel" (Genesis 25:26). Rabbi Pinhas, Rav Hilkiah in the name of Rabbi Simon: there was not even a wall between them, and this one came out righteous and that one wicked. Why did the Holy One create righteous and wicked? So that they might atone for one another, as it is said, "God has made the one corresponding to the other" (Ecclesiastes 7:14). Another interpretation: "On a good day be in goodness" (Ecclesiastes ibid.). Rabbi Tanhum son of Rabbi Hiyya said: on the good day of your fellow be with him in his goodness, and "on a bad day consider" -- if a bad day comes upon your fellow, consider how to do kindness with him and save him from it. So the mother of Rabbi Tanhum son of Rabbi Hiyya used to do: on a day when she bought him one pound of meat, she bought him two, one for him and one for the poor; on a day when she bought him one bundle of vegetables, she bought him two, one for him and one for the poor. Why did the Holy One create poor and rich? So that they might be sustained, these by those, as it is said, "God has made the one corresponding to the other" (Ecclesiastes ibid.). Another interpretation: "On a good day be in goodness" (Ecclesiastes ibid.). Rabbi Aha said: on the good day of the Torah be with it in goodness, and "on a bad day consider" -- when that day arrives of which it is written, "The sinners in Zion are afraid" (Isaiah 33:14), be among those who see and not among those who are seen, be among the spectators and not among those in the arena, be among those of whom it is written, "And they shall go out and look upon the corpses of the men" (Isaiah 66:24), and not among those of whom it is written, "For their worm shall not die" (ibid.). Why did the Holy One create Gehinnom and the Garden of Eden? So that they might save one from the other. And how much space is between them? Rabbi Yohanan said: a wall; Rabbi Hanina said: a handbreadth; and the rabbis said: the two are level with each other. Rabbi Levi said: the Holy One said to Israel, My children, be careful with those offerings that I have prescribed for you in the Torah, for there is no better advocate for the descent of rains than the offerings. Therefore Scripture must say, "On the eighth day shall be a solemn assembly" (Numbers 29:35).