New Moons Weighed Against the Festivals and the Pilgrimage to a Rebuilt Jerusalem

Pesikta Rabbati 1:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to bow down before Me, says the LORD" (Isaiah 66:23). Let our master teach us: a person from Israel who recited the Grace after Meals on the New Moon and forgot to mention the New Moon, what must he do? Our masters taught us: if he forgot and did not mention the New Moon, and once he finished the Grace he remembered immediately, before he turned his mind away from the blessing, he need not return to the beginning, but completes it with a short blessing at the end: "Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, who gave New Moons to Israel His people, blessed are You, LORD, who sanctifies Israel and the New Moons." Shimon ben Abba in the name of Rabbi Yochanan said: [if it is doubtful whether he mentioned the New Moon or not, we do not make him return]. And one must say [in the Additional prayer], "And grant us, LORD our God," the blessing of the festivals. Thus we have learned that the New Moons are weighed equal to the festivals, as it is said, "and in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed seasons, and in your new moons" (Numbers 10:10), and they are even weighed equal to the Sabbath. From where do we know they are weighed even against the Sabbaths? From what the prophet concluded: "from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to bow down." ["And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another"] Rabbi Tanchuma opened thus: "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?" (Psalms 42:2). Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the world, when will You restore to us the glory we had, when we went up three times a year on the pilgrim festivals and saw the face of the Divine Presence? Rabbi Isaac said: just as they came to see, so they came to be seen. They said: how long is it that the House of our life lies in ruins? Behold, it is now a thousand one hundred fifty-one years. When shall I come and appear before the face of God? He said to them: My children, in this world you went up only three times a year. When the appointed time comes I will rebuild it, and you will not go up three times a year, but every single month and on every Sabbath you are destined to go up there, as it is said, "from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another." Another interpretation: "from one new moon to another" — how is it possible that all flesh come to Jerusalem every month and every Sabbath? Rabbi Levi said: Jerusalem is destined to become like the Land of Israel, and the Land of Israel like the whole world. And how will they come on the New Moon and the Sabbath from the ends of the earth? The clouds will come and lift them up and carry them to Jerusalem, and they will pray there in the morning, and this is what the prophet praises, "Who are these that fly as a cloud?" (Isaiah 60:8). "All flesh shall come" — it does not say "all Israel shall come" but "all flesh shall come." Rabbi Pinchas said: what is "all flesh"? Everyone who subdues the flesh of his inclination in this world merits to see the face of the Divine Presence, as it is written, "and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil" (Isaiah 33:15), and what is written after it? "Your eyes shall see the King in His beauty" (Isaiah 33:17). And by what merit do Israel attain all this glory? By the merit of dwelling in the Land of Israel, where they sat and suffered among the nations in this world. So too you find with the fathers of the world how endlessly they troubled themselves over burial in the Land of Israel. Abraham gave four hundred talents of silver for a burial place. And Jacob handed over all the gold he had gathered to keep Esau out of the cave, as it is said, "in my grave which I dug for myself" (Genesis 50:5). And Jacob at his departing made Joseph swear, "do not bury me in Egypt" (Genesis 47:29). Why so? Resh Lakish said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer ha-Kappar: because its dead will live in the days of the Messiah, as David said, "I will walk before the LORD in the lands of the living" (Psalms 116:9). For the Land of Israel is the land of the living, and its dead come to life in the days of the Messiah. The righteous who are outside the Land lose nothing, for the Holy One, blessed be He, makes tunnels for them in the earth, and they roll like wineskins and come to the Land of Israel, and when they arrive the Holy One, blessed be He, gives them back their souls, as it is said, "He gives breath to the people upon it" (Isaiah 42:5). And there is a full verse in Ezekiel: "And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, and brought you up out of your graves, and I will put My spirit in you, and you shall live" (Ezekiel 37:13-14). And how long are the days of the Messiah? Rabbi Akiva says forty years, as it is said, "He afflicted you and made you hunger" (Deuteronomy 8:3), and it is written, "Make us glad according to the days wherein You afflicted us" (Psalms 90:15). Rabbi Eliezer says four hundred years, as it is written, "they shall afflict them four hundred years" (Genesis 15:13). Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yose the Galilean says a thousand years, for a day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is a thousand years. Rabbi Yehoshua says two thousand. And when does the Messiah come? Rabbi Eliezer says: in a generation fit for destruction the Messiah comes.

Themes

RedemptionHoly LandResurrection

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