Rabbinic Jewish literature contains extensive discussions on the subject of repentance. Many rabbinic sources state that repentance is of paramount importance to the existence of this world, so that it was one of the seven provisions which God made before the Creation. "The Holy One, blessed be His name, said to Elijah, 'Behold, the precious gift which I have bestowed on my world: though a man sins again and again, but returns in penitence, I will receive him.' " "Great is repentance: it brings healing into the world"; "it reaches to the throne of the Lord"; "it brings redemption"; "it prolongs man's life"; Talmud Yoma 86a).