Talmud for Taanit 31:7
למה יוצאין לבית הקברות פליגי בה ר' לוי בר חמא ור' חנינא חד אמר הרי אנו חשובין לפניך כמתים וחד אמר כדי שיבקשו עלינו מתים רחמים מאי בינייהו איכא בינייהו קברי עכו"ם
One says: [To signify thereby], We are merely like ashes before Thee; and the other says: That [God] may remember for our sake the ashes of Isaac.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This refers to the sacrifice of Isaac. Cf. Gen. XXII.');"><sup>6</sup></span> What is the difference between them? - The difference is with regard to [the use of] ordinary dust.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For humiliation ordinary dust or earth could be used, but for recalling the sacrifice of Isaac only ashes would do.');"><sup>7</sup></span>
Jerusalem Talmud Taanit
Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, the people of Nineveh repented in trickery. What did they do53Babli 16a.? Rebbi Ḥuna in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Ḥalfuta54In A: R. Ḥanania in the name of Resh Laqish.: They put calves inside and their mothers outside, foals inside and their mothers outside; these were mooing from one side and those mooing from the other side. They said, if He does not have mercy on us we shall not have mercy on them. That is what is written55Joel 1:18., how the animals groan, are cattle herds confused, etc. Rebbi Aḥa said, that is what they do in Arabia. They should be covered by sack-cloth, humans and animals, and call on God in force56Jonah 3:8.. What means “in force”? Rebbi Simeon ben Ḥalfuta said, the brash one wins over the proper one57Cf. Babli Sanhedrin 105a., so much more if it is for the good of the world. Each man shall repent his evil ways and robbery in their hands. Rebbi Joḥanan said, what they had in their hands they returned, what was in a chest, a trunk and a cupboard they did not return.
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