Thirteen Divine Attributes

Next Saturday evening we will be getting together  for our special program of Selihot.      

The main prayer of this healing and soulful service is the chanting of the Thirteen Divine Attributes. This is the prayer God taught Moses after the people of Israel had committed the horrific sin of the Golden Calf.  Moses tried to gain atonement for their crime, and God responded by revealing to him the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, adding, “Whenever the people of Israel will sin, let them perform this service of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, and I will forgive them.” In other words, God’s mercy reassures us that repentance is ALWAYS possible, and God is always waiting for us to return the right path if we deviate from it. As I like to always reassure my early morning Mussar-Ethics classes on Saturday mornings, all we need to do is to open our hearts as wide as the eye of the needle, and God would stream through to be with us.  

A question is begged to be asked, why is it written in the Torah, “perform the service” and not “recite the service of the Thirteen Attributes?” One of the answers is that performance-action is what really counts. If a person tries the hardest to emulate God’s qualities, then according to our tradition, his wrong doings will be forgiven.  

Next week we will recite and do all we can to perform the special chanting of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. Our synagogue’s tradition is to recite the attributes and then perform it seven times, each time from a different inner voice within each of us. Every year we are all deeply affected by our soulful voices crying out to God to forgive and heal us.  

- Adonai is merciful before a person does wrong! Even though aware that future  evil lies dormant within him.
- Adonai is merciful after the wrong doer has gone astray.
- El Compassionate (rahum)--God is filled with loving sympathy for human frailty does not put people into situations of extreme temptation, and eases the punishment of the guilty.
- Gracious (v'hanun)--God shows mercy even to those who do not deserve it consoling the afflicted and raising up the oppressed.
- Slow to anger (ereh apayim)--God gives the sinner ample time to reflect, improve, and repent.
- Abundant in Kindness (v'rav hesed)--God is kind toward those who lack personal merits, providing more gifts and blessings than they deserve; if one's personal behavior is evenly balanced between virtue and sin, God tips the
scales of justice toward the good.
- Truth (v'emet)--God never reneges on His word to reward those who in a true relationship with Him.
- Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations (notzeir hesed la-alafim)--God remembers the deeds of the righteous for the benefit of their less virtuous generations of offspring (thus we constantly invoke the merit of the Patriarchs).
-  Forgiver of iniquity (nosei avon)--God forgives intentional sin resulting from
an evil disposition, as long as the sinner repents.
- Forgiver of willful sin (pesha)--God allows even those who commit a sin with the malicious intent of rebelling against and angering Him the opportunity to repent.
- Forgiver of error (v'hata'ah)--God forgives a sin committed out of carelessness,
thoughtlessness, or apathy.
- Who cleanses (v'nakeh)--God is merciful, gracious, and forgiving, wiping away the sins of those who truly repent; however, if one does not repent, God does not cleanse.
 
May we all be together in the healing and forgiving House of God next Saturday
evening. Amen. 

The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy are adapted from http://www.myjewishlearning.com