Midrash Tanchuma, Emor 22 | Jewish Mythology

(Lev. 23:40:) “And you shall take for yourselves on the first day.” Is it the first [day]?97Lev. R. 30:7; PRK 27:7. Is it not the fifteenth day? So how is it the first? It is simply the first for the reckoning (heshbon) of sins. R. Mani and R. Joshua of Sikhnin in the name of R. Levi said a parable, “To what is the matter comparable?98Eccl. R. 9:7:1. To a province which owed back taxes99Gk.: loipas. to the king. [When] the king sent to collect [the sum], they did not hand it over, because the bill was large. So it happened the first time, and a second time; when he sent [for it], they did not hand it over. What did the king do? He said to his courtiers,100Literally, “children of the palace (palation).” Cf. Lat.: palatium; Gk: palation. ‘Arise and let us move against them.’ While they were traveling about ten mil101Milin; cf. Lat.: mille passus. [away], the people of the province heard [what was happening]. What did they do? The nobles of the province began to go to a meeting102Gk.: apante. with the king. He said to them, ‘Who are you?’ They said to him, ‘We are people of such and such a province where you sent to collect our taxes.’ He said to them, ‘So what do you want?’ They said to him, ‘If you please, show us kindness, because we have nothing to hand over.’ He said to them, ‘I will remit half for you.’ While he was [still] coming, the ruffians of the province went out and greeted him about five mil [away]. He said to them, ‘Who are you?’ They said to him, ‘We are people of such and such a province where you sent to collect our taxes, but we don’t have the ability to stand [up to the demand]; if you please, have mercy upon us.’ He said to them, ‘I have already remitted half [your debt], but for your sake I am remitting half of [the remaining] half. While he was [still] coming, all the people of the province came out to him, [both] large and small. He said to them, ‘What do you want?’ They said to him, ‘Our Lord king, we don’t have the ability to remit what we owe you.’ He said to them, ‘I have already remitted half plus half of [the remaining] half, but for your sake I am remitting everything. However, from now on there [begins] a new account (heshbon).’ This king is [the supreme King of kings], the Holy One, blessed be He. The people of his province? These are Israel, who acquire sins during all of the whole year. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He says, ‘Do penance at the beginning of the year.’ So they come in submission on the Day of Atonement, when they humble themselves and do penance. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives them. And what do they do? The eve of Rosh Hashanah, the great ones of the generation fast, and the Holy One, blessed be He, relinquishes [Israel] a third of its sins. And from Rosh Hashanah to the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), individuals fast, and the Holy One, blessed be He, relinquishes [another] third of their sins. And on the Day of Atonement, all of Israel fasts and requests mercy, men, women and infants. And [so] the Holy One, blessed be He, relinquishes everything; as it is written (in Leviticus 16:30), ‘As upon this day, there will be atonement for you….’ What does Israel do [then]? They all take their lulavim on the first day of the festival and render praise to the Holy One, blessed be He. Thus He is reconciled to them and forgives them. He says to them, ‘See, I have relinquished all your former sins for you. However, from now on there is a new account (heshbon).’ Thus it is stated (in Lev. 23:40), ‘And you shall take for yourselves on the first day.’ [It is] first for the reckoning (heshbon) of sins.’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, “In this world I have told you to make a sukkah in order to pay me my remuneration for what I have done for you. It is so stated (in Lev. 23:42-43), ‘You shall dwell in sukkot for seven days […]. In order that your generations may know that I had [the Children of Israel] dwell in sukkot.’ So I reckon it to your credit, as if you are rendering payment to Me. But in the world to come I will appear over you like a sukkah, as stated (in Is. 4:6), ‘There shall be a sukkah as a shade from the heat by day.’”

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