Happy new month! For the memory of Benyamin son of Jehie Graydi.
Rosh Hashana: “Rabbi Yehoshua says: In Nisan the world was created; in Nisan the Patriarchs were born; in Nisan the Patriarchs died; on Passover Isaac was born; on Rosh HaShana Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered on Rosh HaShana Joseph came out from prison; on Rosh HaShana our forefathers’ slavery in Egypt ceased; in Nisan [the Jewish people] were redeemed [from Egypt] and in Nisan in the future [the Jewish people] will be redeemed [in the final redemption].”
Sanhedrin: “Rav says: All the ends passed, and the matter depends only upon repentance and good deeds. And Shmuel says: It is sufficient for the mourner to endure in his mourning parallel to [a dispute between] tanna’im: Rabbi Eliezer says: If the Jewish people repent they are redeemed, and if not they are not redeemed. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: If they do not repent, will they not be redeemed at all? Rather, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will establish a king for them whose decrees are as harsh as [those issued by] Haman, and the Jewish people [will have no choice but to] repent, and [this will] restore them to the right path."
98a: “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi found Elijah [the prophet], who was standing at the entrance of the cave of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said to him: Will I come to the World-to-Come? Elijah said to him: If this Master, [the Holy One, Blessed be He], will wish [it so]. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: Two I saw, [Elijah and me], and the voice of three I heard, as the Divine Presence was also there, and it was in reference to Him that Elijah said: If this Master will wish it so.
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said to Elijah: When will the Messiah come? Elijah said to him: Go ask him. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked: And where is he sitting? Elijah said to him: At the entrance of the city of Rome. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked him: And what is his identifying sign by means of which I can recognize him? Elijah answered: He sits among the poor who suffer from illnesses. And all of them untie their bandages and tie them all at once, but the Messiah unties one bandage and ties one at a time. He says: Perhaps I will be needed to serve to bring about the redemption. Therefore, I will never tie more than one bandage, so that I will not be delayed.
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi went to the Messiah. He said to the Messiah: Greetings to you, my rabbi and my teacher. The Messiah said to him: Greetings to you, bar Leva’i. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said to him: When will the Master come? The Messiah said to him: Today. Sometime later, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi came to Elijah. Elijah said to him: What did the Messiah say to you? He said to Elijah that the Messiah said: Greetings [shalom] to you, bar Leva’i. Elijah said to him: He thereby guaranteed that you and your father will enter the World-to-Come, as he greeted you with shalom. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said to Elijah: The Messiah lied to me, as he said to me: I am coming today, and he did not come. Elijah said to him that this is what he said to you: He said that he will come “today, if you will listen to his voice” (Psalms 95:7).”
