כְּבָר נִגְזְרָה הַגְּזֵירָה, אִם כְּבָר נִגְזְרָה הַגְּזֵירָה

ביטוי (אנגלית)

The Decree Has Already Been Decreed, If the Decree Has Already Been Decreed

הגדרה (אנגלית)

The hard decision has already been made. The severity of the decree cannot be changed. Figuratively: disaster is on the way ("decree" means a law or order).

("In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said: ... 'Set your house in order, for you are going to die' (2 Kings 20:1) ... the decree has already been decreed against you. He said to him: 'Son of Amoz, end your prophecy and leave. Thus I received from the house of my father and grandfather: even if a sharp sword is resting on a person's neck, he should not withhold himself from mercy'" - Berakhot 10a; and likewise: "And if a decree was issued against the generation of their fathers to fall in 'the great and terrible wilderness' - their children will fall within it" - Bialik, 'Our Young Poetry'; and likewise: "It is a sign for you that you do not yet know the nature of pots. Let me inform you that if a decree has been issued concerning the pots, the whole one will break and not the flawed one" - Shalom Aleichem, 'The Pot', p. 34.)