Slichot: 13 Attributes - a Covenant of Mercy

(17) Therefore, I pray, let my Lord’s forbearance be great, as You have declared, saying,

§ With regard to the verse from Exodus 34: “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed: The Lord, the Lord, compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving-kindness and truth, extending loving-kindness to thousands of generations…and Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and prostrated himself” (Exodus 34:6–8), the Gemara asks: What did Moses see in these attributes that caused him to hastily prostrate himself? Rabbi Ḥanina ben Gamla says: He saw the attribute of slow to anger; and the Rabbis say: He saw the attribute of truth.

It is taught in a baraita in accordance with the opinion of the one who said: He saw the attribute of slow to anger: When Moses ascended on high, he discovered the Holy One, Blessed be He, sitting and writing: "Slow to anger." Moses said before Him: Master of the Universe, is Your attribute of slow to anger only to be used for the righteous? God said to him: It is an attribute even for the wicked. Moses said to Him: Let the wicked be doomed. God said to him: Now, you will see that you will need this, as ultimately you will reconsider that statement. When the Jewish people sinned in the sin of the spies and Moses asked God to forgive them, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: Didn’t you say to Me that the attribute of slow to anger is for the righteous alone? They are not worthy of atonement. (Sanhedrin 111b)

Moses said before Him: Master of the Universe, and isn’t this what You said to me: It is an attribute even for the wicked? And that is the meaning of that which is written: “And now, I pray You, let the power of my Lord be great, as You have spoken, saying” (Numbers 14:17). Moses was repeating God’s promise with regard to His employment of the attribute of slow to anger.

a) That is to say, God forgives sins only for one who regards himself as a remainder, i.e., of only secondary importance. § Rav Huna raised a contradiction between the two halves of a verse. It is written: “The Lord is righteous [tzaddik] in all His ways” (Psalms 145:17), indicating that God acts in accordance with the attribute of strict justice [tzedek], and then it is written in the same verse: “And kind [ḥasid] in all His works,” implying that He acts with grace and loving-kindness [ḥesed], going beyond the letter of the law. Rav Huna explained: Initially, at the time of judgment, He is righteous, but in the end, at the time of punishment, He is gracious.

Rabbi Elazar and then Rav Ilfai then each raise a similar contradiction contrasting God's chessed (kindness) and tzedek (justice) or emet (truth)...

d) § The verse states: “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed” (Exodus 34:6). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Were it not explicitly written in the verse, it would be impossible to say this, as it would be insulting to God’s honor. The verse teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, wrapped Himself in a prayer shawl like a prayer leader and showed Moses the structure of the order of the prayer. He said to him: Whenever the Jewish people sin, let them act before Me in accordance with this order. Let the prayer leader wrap himself in a prayer shawl and publicly recite the thirteen attributes of mercy, and I will forgive them.

e) The verse continues: “The Lord, the Lord,” and it should be understood as follows: I am He before a person sins, and I am He after a person sins and performs repentance, as God does not recall for him his first sins, since He is always “God, merciful and gracious” (Exodus 34:6).

Rav Yehuda said: A covenant was made with the thirteen attributes that they will not return empty-handed, meaning that if one mentions them, he will certainly be answered, as it is stated in this regard: “Behold, I make a covenant” (Exodus 34:10). § Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Great is repentance, for it tears up the sentence issued against a person, as it is stated: “Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and smear over their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and they will return, and be healed” (Isaiah 6:10), implying that if indeed they return and repent, they will be healed from all their sins. Rav Pappa said to Abaye: But perhaps this was said before the sentence was issued, but after one’s sentence has been decreed repentance no longer helps. Abaye said to him: It is written here: “And they will return and be healed” (Isaiah 6:10). What requires healing? An illness does. Consequently, you must say that the reference here is to a sentence that has already been issued, and even so, after repentance, they will be healed. The Gemara raises an objection from a baraita: If one repents in the meantime, between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, he is forgiven; if he does not repent in the meantime, then even if he later brings as offerings all the rams of Nebaioth in the world, which are of the best quality, they do not forgive him in the Heavenly court. This implies that once one’s sentence has been decreed, even repentance cannot alter it. The Gemara answers: This is not difficult: Here, where repentance is effective only before the sentence on Yom Kippur, the baraita is referring to repentance of an individual; there, where forgiveness is granted even after a sentence is issued, it is referring to communal repentance.

4) We need to explain to you the magnitude of God's mercy upon mortal beings, in that God has vouchsafed to us such powerful cosmic secrets - such that even when mortal beings have been condemned in the heavenly courts, and are deserving of all sorts of punishment, the [beings in the] lower realms are able to overturn and transmute all that strict judgment and punishment to goodness, as it says (Samuel II 23:3): "The righteous person shall rule, by awe of God" - which we can read as meaning "Who shall God be over-ruled by? The righteous person!" For I {God} issue a decree, and the righteous one annuls it.

How so?

Know that when there is such a righteous one in the world, who is able to get so deep in their contemplation and their prayer that they can reach all the way to the realm of pure divine desire and mercy, then even if something is decreed on high, when the prayer of such a righteous one ascends to the level of Keter [The Crown, the highest of all the sefirot in the Tree of Life], then the gates of the realm of Rachamim [grace, mercy] are opened, and when that happens, all the sentences that have been decreed are nullified since the lights of rachamim are lit and shining forth; and all the sefirot become flushed with divine grace and all sorts of supernal flow and blessing; and at such a time there is nowhere in the entire sefirotic system where Din [strict judgment] can get a foothold, and no aspect that is attaching to anger or agitation, since the Divine is situated in joy and desire, and all expressions of irritation pass away and all agents of Din are transformed to Rachamim.

And all of this transmission of Munificent Grace is enacted by means of 13 supernal channels, 13 attributes embedded within the realm of justice - and none of this is really coming from the side of executing justice but rather from the side of divine desire [ratzon] and grace [rachamim]. Even though humanity is not really deserving, this Statement uttered by the righteous one causes the gateways of grace to be open, and the divine to enact itself through mercy and not through strict justice. And this is what is being referred to when God says (Ex 33:19) "I shall be merciful to whom I shall be merciful" - even though it's not strictly just - "And I shall be gracious to whom I shall be gracious" - even though it's not what's decreed in strict justice: for you see, when the countenance of rachamim shines forth from the Crown, everything is transformed to rachamim.

This is something that can be enacted through prayer, and also through a few other specific mitzvot that can cause the gates of the realms of divine mercy to be opened, such as the priests' blessing of the people, and the mysteries of the incense and so forth. At such time as the gates of the dimension of divine rachamim are open, it is called an et ratzon, a propitious moment or time of divine desire: which is to say, at that time, all the realms above and below are filled up with chessed (lovingkindness) and rachamim (grace) and ratzon (divine desire), and there is no such thing as judgment or punishment there whatsoever, not a little and not a lot.

(Devarim 11:22) "to walk in His ways": Which are the ways of the Holy One, Blessed Be? (Exodus 34:6-7) "The Lord, the Lord, God of mercy and grace, slow to wrath and abundant in mercy and truth, keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving transgression, offense, and sin, and cleansing …" And it is written (Yoel 3:5) "All who will be called by the name of the L-rd will escape": Now how is it possible for a man to be called by the name of the Holy One Blessed be He? But, (the intent is) just as the L-rd is called "merciful and gracious," you, too, be merciful and gracious, and give gratuitously to all. Just as the Holy One Blessed be He is called "righteous," viz. (Psalms 145:17) — you, too, be righteous. Just as the Holy One Blessed be He is called "saintly," — you, too, be saintly. This is the intent of "All who will be called by the name of the L-rd will escape." And it is written (Isaiah 43:7) "… everyone that is called by My name. For My honor I have created him, and formed him, and fashioned him." And it is written (Proverbs 16:4) "The L-rd has created all for His sake." (Devarim, Ibid.)

Abba Shaul says: Ve’anveihu should be interpreted as if it were written in two words: Ani vaHu, me and God. Be similar, as it were, to God, the Almighty: Just as God is compassionate and merciful, so too should you be compassionate and merciful.

And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “After the Lord your God shall you walk, and Him shall you fear, and His commandments shall you keep, and unto His voice shall you hearken, and Him shall you serve, and unto Him shall you cleave” (Deuteronomy 13:5)? But is it actually possible for a person to follow the Divine Presence? But hasn’t it already been stated: “For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24), and one cannot approach fire. He explains: Rather, the meaning is that one should follow the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be He. He provides several examples. Just as He clothes the naked, as it is written: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21), so too, should you clothe the naked. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, visits the sick, as it is written with regard to God’s appearing to Abraham following his circumcision: “And the Lord appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre” (Genesis 18:1), so too, should you visit the sick. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, consoles mourners, as it is written: “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son” (Genesis 25:11), so too, should you console mourners. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, buried the dead, as it is written: “And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab” (Deuteronomy 34:6), so too, should you bury the dead.