[Avodah] Praying to angels

[Zev Sero]

Yitzhak Grossman wrote:

> The one beginning "shelosh esreh midos" [2], which
> contains the line you mention "na kol middah nechonah ahaleh pnei malki
> betehinah", does not face any opposition, AFAIK, since the grammar of
> all the stanzas makes it clear that we are not actually addressing the
> middos; they are all written in either the first person ('ahaleh',
> 'avakesh', 'eshanen'), or in the second person but addressed to God
> ("na kol middah nechonah deheh osam Hashem lehastirah"), meaning (as
> translated by Weingarten, who appears to be correct) that we are
> beseeching God by invoking His attributes, but not the middos
> themselves.

You are referring to the bowdlerised version of the piyyut.  The
original version addresses "kol midah nechonah" in the second person
feminine.  "Chali", "bakshi", "dechi", "vehit'chaneni Lo", etc.


-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas