what's done cannot be undone/ you cannot put back the clock

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what's done cannot be undone/ you cannot put back the clock

what's done cannot be undone/ you cannot put back the clock

What has already been done cannot be changed. There is no way to 'turn back the wheel.' (The original source of the expression is in Esther 8:8: 'For a writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may not be reversed.')

("Only for those who have already rented a hall and incurred expenses for holding the wedding on Lag BaOmer, there is room to be lenient after the fact, for what is done cannot be undone"—Responsa Yabia Omer, Part 5, Orach Chaim, Siman 38. Also: "I left my home, I abandoned my wife... but what is done cannot be undone, and now I shall go and come"—S.Y. Agnon, 'These and Those,' And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight, p. 97)

Translation

Expression (Hebrew)

אֶת הַנַּעֲשָׂה אֵין לְהָשִׁיב

Definition (Hebrew)

אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְשַׁנּוֹת אֶת מָה שֶׁכְּבָר הִתְרַחֵשׁ. אֵין דֶּרֶךְ 'לְהַחֲזִיר אֶת הַגַּלְגַּל אָחוֹרָה' (מְקוֹרוֹ הָרִאשׁוֹנִי שֶׁל הַבִּטּוּי בַּפָּסוּק בְּאֶסְתֵּר ח ח: "כִּי כְתָב אֲשֶׁר נִכְתָּב בְּשֵׁם הַמֶּלֶךְ וְנַחְתּוֹם בְּטַבַּעַת הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵין לְהָשִׁיב")

("רַק לְאֵלֶּה שֶׁכְּבָר שְׂכָרוֹ אוּלָם ועשו הוֹצָאוֹת לעריכת הַנִּשּׂוּאִין בל"ג לְעֹמֶר, יֵשׁ לְהָקֵל בְּדִיעֲבַד, כִּי אֶת הַנַּעֲשָׂה אֵין לְהָשִׁיב"- שו"ת יביע אוֹמֵר חֵלֶק ה, אוֹרֵחַ חַיִּים סִימָן לַח, וְכֵן:"עזבתי אֶת בֵּיתִי נטשתי אֶת אִשְׁתִּי...אַךְ הַנַּעֲשָׂה אֵין לְהָשִׁיב וְעַתָּה אֵלֵךְ ואבוא"- עַגְנוֹן/ אֵלּוּ וְאֵלּוּ, וְהָיָה העקוב למישור, 97)

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