Blame it on DAD

(6) Do you thus requite the LORD,
O dull and witless people?
Is not He the Father who created you—
Fashioned you and made you endure! (7) Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of ages past;
Ask your father, he will inform you,
Your elders, they will tell you:

(20) He said:
I will hide My countenance from them,
And see how they fare in the end.
For they are a treacherous breed,
Children with no loyalty in them.

(26) I might have reduced them to naught,^-h
Made their memory cease among men, (27) But for fear of the taunts of the foe,
Their enemies who might misjudge
And say, “Our own hand has prevailed;
None of this was wrought by the LORD!”

(17) Then My anger will flare up against them, and I will abandon them and hide My countenance from them. They shall be ready prey; and many evils and troubles shall befall them. And they shall say on that day, “Surely it is because our God is not in our midst that these evils have befallen us.” (18) Yet I will keep My countenance hidden on that day, because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods.

(23) Abraham came forward and said, “Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? (24) What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it? (25) Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”

(10) Now, let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation.” (11) But Moses implored the LORD his God, saying, “Let not Your anger, O LORD, blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. (12) Let not the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that He delivered them, only to kill them off in the mountains and annihilate them from the face of the earth.’ Turn from Your blazing anger, and renounce the plan to punish Your people. (13) Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, how You swore to them by Your Self and said to them: I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will give to your offspring this whole land of which I spoke, to possess forever.” (14) And the LORD renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon His people. (15) Thereupon Moses turned and went down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, tablets inscribed on both their surfaces: they were inscribed on the one side and on the other.

(11) And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me, and how long will they have no faith in Me despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst? (12) I will strike them with pestilence and disown them, and I will make of you a nation far more numerous than they!” (13) But Moses said to the LORD, “When the Egyptians, from whose midst You brought up this people in Your might, hear the news, (14) they will tell it to the inhabitants of that land. Now they have heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people; that You, O LORD, appear in plain sight when Your cloud rests over them and when You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. (15) If then You slay this people to a man, the nations who have heard Your fame will say, (16) ‘It must be because the LORD was powerless to bring that people into the land He had promised them on oath that He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ (17) Therefore, I pray, let my Lord’s forbearance be great, as You have declared, saying, (18) ‘The LORD! slow to anger and abounding in kindness; forgiving iniquity and transgression; yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity of parents upon children, upon the third and fourth generations.’ (19) Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to Your great kindness, as You have forgiven this people ever since Egypt.” (20) And the LORD said, “I pardon, as you have asked. (21) Nevertheless, as I live and as the LORD’s Presence fills the whole world,

(11) And Moses said to the LORD, “Why have You dealt ill with Your servant, and why have I not enjoyed Your favor, that You have laid the burden of all this people upon me? (12) Did I conceive all this people, did I bear them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You have promised on oath to their fathers? (13) Where am I to get meat to give to all this people, when they whine before me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ (14) I cannot carry all this people by myself, for it is too much for me. (15) If You would deal thus with me, kill me rather, I beg You, and let me see no more of my wretchedness!”

§ The Gemara returns to a verse cited above. The Sages taught with regard to the verse: “Who would give that they had such a heart as this always, to fear Me, and keep all My commandments, that it might be good for them, and with their children forever” (Deuteronomy 5:26). At a later stage, Moses said to the Jewish people: Ingrates, children of ingrates! When the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the Jewish people: “Who would give that they had such a heart as this always,” they should have said: You should give us a heart to fear You. The Gemara explains that Moses calls the Jewish people ingrates, as it is written that the Jewish people spoke disparagingly of the manna: “And our soul loathes this light bread” (Numbers 21:5), despite the fact it was the highest-quality food. Moses further called them children of ingrates, as it is written that after sinning and eating from the tree of knowledge, Adam said: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Genesis 3:12). Adam complained that the woman had been given to him in order to cause him to sin, whereas in fact she had been given to him to serve as a helpmate.

Our Father, our King! do it for Your sake if not for ours.

There was another incident involving Rabbi Eliezer, who descended to serve as prayer leader before the ark on a fast day. And he recited twenty-four blessings, but he was not answered. Rabbi Akiva descended before the ark after him and said: Our Father, our King, we have no king other than You. Our Father, our King, for Your sake, have mercy on us. And rain immediately fell. The Sages were whispering among themselves that Rabbi Akiva was answered while his teacher, Rabbi Eliezer, was not. A Divine Voice emerged and said: It is not because this Sage, Rabbi Akiva, is greater than that one, Rabbi Eliezer, but that this one is forgiving, and that one is not forgiving. God responded to Rabbi Akiva’s forgiving nature in kind by sending rain.

(78) Like clay in the hands of the potter, if he wills, he can expand it, if he wills, he can contract it; so too are we in Your hand, Preserver of kindliness Heed the covenant and not the accuser!

(79) Like stone in the hand of the mason, if he wills, he holds it [in position], if he wills, he smashes it; so too are we in Your hands, Causer of life and death. Heed the covenant and not the accuser!

(80) Like iron in the hand of the smith, if he wills, he puts it to the fire, if he wills, he removes it; so too are we in Your hand, Supporter of the poor and destitute Heed the covenant and not the accuser!

(81) Like the rudder in the hand of a seaman, if he wills, he holds it if he wills, he lets it go; so too are we in Your hand, Almighty, Who is good and pardons. Heed the covenant and not the accuser!

(82) Like glass in the hand of the glazier, if he wills, he shapes it, if he wills, he dissolves it; so too are we in Your hand, Absolver of intentional and unintentional sin. Heed the covenant and not the accuser!

(83) Like a tapestry in the hand of an embroiderer, if he wills, he makes it straight if he wills, he makes it crooked; so too are we in Your hand, jealous and vengeful Almighty heed the covenant and not the accuser!

(84) Like silver in the hand of the refiner if he wills, he adulterates it, if he wills, he keeps it pure; so too are we in Your hand, Who prepares a cure for our wounds. Heed the covenant and not the accuser!

What is the meaning of We are the clay, You are our Potter? Israel said: "Master of the universe, You have caused it to be written about us. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand, Israel. Therefore do not leave us even though we sin and provoke You, for we are merely the clay and You are the Potter. Consider: if a potter makes a jar and leaves a pebble in it, when it comes out of the furnace it will leak from the hole left by the pebble and lose the liquid poured into it. Who caused the jar to leak and lose its liquid? The potter who left the pebble in the jar as it was being made." This is how Israel pleaded before God: "Master of the universe, You created in us an evil inclination from our youth, as it says, for the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth, and it is this that has caused us to sin, since You have not removed from us the inclination that instigates us to sin"

See: The Koren Yom Kippur Mahzor with intro, translatinna dn bommentary by Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. lxiii-lxvi

Shmuel says that this was the convincing answer: Ten people came and sat before the prophet Ezekiel. He said to them: Repent. They said to Ezekiel: In the case of a slave sold by his owner to another master, or a woman divorced by her husband, does this person have any claim upon that person? Since God gave the Jewish people to other masters, the ties that existed between Him and us were severed. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the prophet: Go say to them: “Where is your mother’s scroll of severance, with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors have I sold you? For your iniquities you sold yourselves and for your transgressions was your mother sent away” (Isaiah 50:1). Learn from this that God did not sever His ties to the Jewish people.

Rav Naḥman says: Impudence is effective even toward Heaven. How so? Initially, it is written that God said to Balaam: “You shall not go with them” (Numbers 22:12), and ultimately after Balaam persisted and asked, it is written: “Rise up and go with them” (Numbers 22:20). Rav Sheshet says: Impudence is monarchy without a crown, as it is an assertion of leadership and lacks only the official coronation as king, as it is written: “And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me” (II Samuel 3:39). The sons of Zeruiah, due to their impudence, were as formidable as David himself.

(11) The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another. And he would then return to the camp; but his attendant, Joshua son of Nun, a youth, would not stir out of the Tent.