[Avodah] Shlosh esre midot

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Oct 05, 2008 at 05:24:04PM -0400, Cantor Wolberg wrote:
: I recently saw a beautiful interpretation of the beginning, HaShem,  
: HaShem...
: The first HaShem is prior to committing a sin and the second HaShem is
: after committing a sin. The midas chesed is so powerful that there is
: compassion even prior to a sin....

In Tomer Devorah, R Moshe Cordovero says that this refers to Hashem
giving the person the existence and power by which he sins.

		       I Who is a God like unto Thee?

    This refers to the Holy One, Blessed is He, as a patient King[6]
    Who bears insult in a manner that is above human understanding. For
    behold, without doubt, there is nothing hidden from His providence.
    Furthermore, there is no moment when man is not nourished and does
    not exist by virtue of the divine power which flows down upon him.
    It follows that no man ever sins against God without the divine
    affluence pouring into him at that very moment, enabling him to exist
    and to move his limbs. Despite the fact that he uses it for sin,
    that power is not withheld from him in any way. But the Holy One,
    Blessed is He, bears this insult and continues to empower him to move
    his limbs even though he uses the power in that momeny for sin and
    perversity offending the Holy One, Blessed is He, who, nonetheless,
    suffer it. Nor must you say that He cannot withhold that good,
    God forfend, for it lies in His power in the moment it takes to
    say the word 'moment'[7] to wither the sinner's hand or foot, as he
    did to Jeroboam[8]. And yet though it lies in His power to arrest
    divine flow - and He might have said: 'If you sin against Me do so
    under your own power, not with Mine' - He does not, on this account,
    withold His goodness from man, bearing the insult, pouring out His
    power and bestowing of His goodness. This is to be insulted and bear
    the insult, beyond words. This is why the ministering angels[9] refer
    to the Holy One, Blessed is He, as 'the patient King.' And this is the
    meaning of the prophet's words: "Who is a God unto Thee?" He means:
    'Thou, the good and merciful, art God, with the power to avenge and
    claim Thy debt, yet Thou art patient and bearest insult until man
    repents.' Behold this is a virtue man shoul make his own, namely,
    to be patient and allow himself to be insulted even to this extent
    and yet not refuse to bestow of his goodness to the recipients.

    [6] Lit. a King Who is insulted, Heb. ne'elabh.

    [7] A Talmudic expression for a 'split second,' Ber. 7a

    [8] 'And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man
    of God, which he cried against the alter in Beth-el, that Jeroboam
    put forth his hand from the altar, saying: "Lay hold on him." And
    his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could
    not draw it back to him' (I Kings XIII. 4)

Translation from
<http://www.digital-brilliance.com/kab/deborah/c112.htm>, posted by
someone who did not know who did it. I do not know of an on-line Hebrew
copy.

Of course, this is more "during", than before.

Following RMC's basic approach that the 13 Middos exist primarily to be
emulated, I wrote a piece on them as a kavanah aid for YK. See
<http://www.aishdas.org/10YemeiTeshuvah.pdf>, the page numbered 29 (pg
31 of the PDF). In it, I describe the first middah as follows:

		    Set 1: Before the Sin, After the Sin 

    The gemara writes, "'Hashem, Hashem' -- He is the G-d of Mercy before
    one sins, and the G-d of Mercy after one sins and repents." What is
    the mercy necessary before one sins? Rashi explains that even though
    Hashem knows that we are going to sin, He still shows us mercy. How
    much more so we, who do not know how relationships will turn out,
    need to show kindness. It's sometimes difficult to be kind to someone
    we haven't yet met, someone with whom we do not yet have a history.

    Rather than following the original revelation of these attributes
    in seifer Shemos, Rav Moshe Cordevero uses the version found in
    seifer Mikhah (7:18-20) that we say during tashlikh. It begins by
    describing this first middah with the words "Mi Keil Kamokha --
    Who could be Divine like You..." Using that quote, he explains this
    attribute in a different but somewhat similar way.

    Picture a father determined to teach his son how to pitch a
    baseball. This boy starts picking up the basic skill while at the
    same time he develops anger toward his father, or perhaps simply gets
    so caught up in pitching that he altogether forgets his father is
    there. And so, each time the father returns the ball, the son throws
    the ball powerfully, right at his father. The father overlooks the
    offence once, twice... but how many times would he continue returning
    the ball just for it to be used as a weapon against him?

    Hashem sustains existence. We are here in this moment, with the
    energy to act and the wisdom to plan my actions because of His
    Mercy. When someone sins, he is using the very existence and power
    Hashem granted him to violate Hashem's Will. And yet, He gives us
    another opportunity again, and again, and again. Perhaps this is
    the motivation for the prohibition "lo siqom -- do not take revenge".

    Punishment for the sole sake of revenge can be pointless; it is only
    when punishment is instructional that it become constructive. Anger
    and impatience are usually not the path to the resolution of the
    problem, but rather convince us to stop traveling that road before
    we get there. The father in our parable should punish the son if that
    is educational and constructive. But not to stifle him out of anger.

    This, the Tomer Devorah tells us, is the meaning of "Mi Keil
    Kamokha..." and thus, of the first appearance of Hashem's name in
    the Middos. To have the patience to carry someone even while they
    offend you, to wait for someone to realize their foolishness. Allowing
    others the room to be partners in a resolution, rather than vengefully
    imposing one's will on them. When we are first starting a history with
    someone, or are starting a new stage in our relationship, do we give
    them time for the relationship to form or change? And after one sins,
    Hashem allows us to repent, to let the relationship heal. Do we too
    have the strength to let bygones be bygones? When someone asks for
    forgiveness, do we truly let go of the hurt, and treat them the way
    we did before?

GCT!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Weeds are flowers too
micha at aishdas.org        once you get to know them.
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