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SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Enveloped in the Thirteen Attributes of Divine Mercy BY RABBANIT YEMIMA MIZRACHI
P
rayer is a long channel which connects us to the Master of the Universe. But if so, why do so many of our prayers remain unanswered? Generation after generation of rabbis have offered various answers to this question, some of which have become well-worn clichés: It’s not that G-d doesn’t answer, but rather that sometimes G-d’s answer is no. G-d doesn’t answer to us. G-d has heard our prayer, and G-d will answer it at the right time. G-d knows that answering our prayer now will ultimately not be for our own benefit. Our prayer has been answered, but we just don’t know it yet. Our prayer has been answered, but for someone else’s sake. There are countless disappointing responses. At the end of the day, it is hard to find comfort when our prayers seem to fall upon deaf ears. And then, suddenly, on Yom Kippur, G-d reveals that there is one prayer that will not go unanswered: the Thirteen Attributes of Divine Mercy. The Talmud teaches that “a covenant has been made regarding the Thirteen Attributes that they will not return empty” (Rosh HaShana 17a). This prayer will not be returned empty to the sender; it will be filled and fulfilled. To understand how this prayer works, we must recall that the first Yom Kippur in history fell forty days after the seventeenth of Tammuz and the sin of the Golden Calf. No sooner than the Torah was given to Israel at Sinai, the people began dancing around the Golden Calf in a terrible act of betrayal. Forgiving them would require so much atonement, so much absolution. Moses once again ascended Mount Sinai, where he pleaded on behalf of his people for forty days. On the fortieth day, which was the tenth day of Tishrei, G-d bestowed upon Moses a tremendous gift: “G-d passed before him and proclaimed: A G-d
compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and truth, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, bearing iniquity, transgression, and sin; cleansing” (Ex. 34:6–7). These words have become pillars of the Yom Kippur liturgy. We recite them twenty-six times over the course of Yom Kippur – a number corresponding to the numerical equivalent of G-d’s four-letter name. We say these words aloud, reminding G-d that He passed before Moses and allowed compassion to bypass justice. In so doing, we remind ourselves that it is possible to start over again even after a terrible rupture. These words have tremendous power. Rabbeinu Bachya (1255–1340) writes: And you need to know that all who understand the Thirteen Attributes and know their meaning and their essence and pray them with intention – their prayers will not return empty. And behold, in our day, when we are in a state of exile and we have no high priest to atone for our sins and no altar to offer sacrifices upon , and no Temple, we will not be left standing before G-d devoid of our prayers and of the Thirteen Attributes. (Rabbeinu Bachya on Ex. 34:6) We return to that wondrous moment in which G-d gave Moses the Thirteen Attributes of Divine Mercy. R’ Yochanan says, “Were it not explicitly written, it would be impossible to say it.” The Talmud goes on to describe an image quite difficult for the human intellect to comprehend: The Holy One, blessed be He, wrapped Himself in a prayer shawl like a prayer leader and showed Moses the order of the prayer. He said to him: Whenever the Jewish people sin, let them act before Me in accordance with this order and I will forgive them. (Rosh HaShana 17a) After we sinned and transgressed with the Golden Calf, G-d wrapped Himself up like a prayer leader, as it were, and prayed on behalf of all of us.
This is the secret of the Thirteen Attributes, which will not return empty. And this is the secret of how to ensure that our prayers are accepted. If we want G-d to accept our prayers, we have to pray on behalf of others. As we recite in the Selichot service, “G-d, You taught us to speak Thirteen Attributes.” G-d instructs us: “Let them act before Me in accordance with this order.” The Hebrew word for prayer book, siddur, comes from the same word as “order.” When we come before G-d with our ordered prayer book, G-d will forgive us.
The Thirteen Attributes as an Alternative Confession Rabbi Ben-Tzion Mutzafi writes that the Thirteen Attri butes of Mercy are also a confession of sorts. When we recite them, we lament the fact that we are not guided by these attributes in our relationships with the other people in our lives. After all, we are commanded to walk in G-d’s ways, and the Thirteen Attributes of Divine Mercy are some of these ways. As the midrash teaches, “Just as G-d is merciful – so too should you be merciful. Just as G-d is gracious – so too must you be gracious” (Yalkut Shimoni, Eikev 473). As we recite this part of the liturgy, we must think: If only I were compassionate. If only I were gracious. “L-rd, L-rd, compassionate G-d” – If we were more compassionate, we would be better at reconciling with others. The Hebrew word for compassion, rachamim, comes from the word for womb, rechem. Compassion is the ability to grow and nurture and make space for others. If we were able to connect to those around us more expansively, everything would look different. “And gracious” – Graciousness is the ability to stop expect ing a reward for each instance of good behavior. We need to learn to give freely and to stop craving recognition. “Slow to anger” – We mourn our anger, which destroys all the goodness inside us. Anger burns away
