The 13 Attributes of Mercy: The Divine Guidance Revealed

Moses, the greatest of all prophets—"Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses" (Deuteronomy 34:10), who communicated with Hashem directly "face to face" (Numbers 12:8), was the faithful servant of Hashem—"Moses is trusted in all my house" (ibid, 7). At a certain point, Moses desired to witness and comprehend the true glory and attributes of Hashem and His guidance of His creations. He supplicated to Hashem as a son implores a father, saying: "Now if I have found favor in Your eyes, let me know Your ways so that I may know You and continue to find favor in Your eyes" (Exodus 33:13). A unique request presented by Moses, to which Hashem responded: "I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, Hashem, before you. I will show favor to whom I will show favor, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy" (ibid, 19). Thus, Hashem revealed His true attributes to Moses, which are the 13 Attributes of Mercy:

"Hashem, Hashem, God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and truth, preserving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and pardon."

In a time of favor, when Moses realized it was an especially opportune moment, he sought to know the true guidance of Hashem. Consequently, Hashem fulfilled Moses' desire to reveal to him His true glory and guidance. Hence, it must follow that this revelation contains a fundamental and essential mystery. What was the unique revelation? That Hashem is compassionate and gracious, et cetera, and nothing but mercy and goodness—"I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you." Indeed, there is the attribute of judgment, but only for the purpose of leading the judged to the mercy and goodness intended for him, and judgment is not for its own sake! The judgment is solely for mercy and good.

The 13 Attributes of Mercy alone constitute the essence of Hashem's glory and guidance. With this, Hashem intended to inform Moses: If you want to know and inform others about Me, clarify that My attributes are solely mercy! The more the world understands My guidance, the more knowledgeable they become of Me.

Our Father, Our King...

Hashem is referred to by His people with two names—King and Father. King, as it is said: "Hashem reigns, Hashem has reigned, Hashem will reign forever and ever" (Exodus 15:18). He is also mentioned as Father (Deuteronomy 32:6): "Is He not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?" And further it says (ibid, 14:1): "You are children of Hashem your God," and many more verses. We also say in our prayers: "Our Father, Our King..."

It is much easier for people to feel Hashem as King, Judge, punisher for the sake of punishment deserving the sinner. Many feel Hashem as jealous and avenging those who offend His honor, but it is not so easy for people to feel Hashem as a compassionate Father, caring, loving, concerned for His children’s welfare, guarding them both at the time of punishment and during their downfall, to ensure they are not lost, doing everything for one purpose—to bring them to true goodness and eternal pleasure prepared for them, for their benefit in this world and the next. And as mentioned above, like a normal person not fitting to live with beasts, so too the soul is not suited to a body focused on materialism. Hence, Hashem will not spare His rod here, in this world, to prepare them for true goodness in the next world, and everything is done with kindness and compassion with foresight fitting for the wise Creator, who alone perceives what is best for mankind He created, who alone recognizes the soul relative to the body, who alone sees the body merely as a sheath for the jewel that is the soul, and therefore the Creator prefers to afflict the sheath only to preserve the jewel, as explained later the benefit of bodily affliction—to subdue and subjugate it under the soul so that the soul dominates the body, and thereby brings man eternal life over temporary life.

For this reason, the Fatherhood of Hashem is hidden from people and all they see is the "Kingship," feeling alienation from Hashem, for it is natural for humans to shirk from kingship as much as possible and avoid exposure to it, doing only as necessary not to be punished. Hence, most people serve Hashem from fear, merely to escape criticism, not truly accepting His authority, therefore, during punishment and judgment, they perceive Hashem as a tyrant. In times of failure and sin, they feel insecure in Hashem. The belief in the possibility of repentance and returning to Hashem's embrace is obscured from them, as only the title "King" is visible to their eyes and the title "Father" is hidden. Thus, they do not believe in the joy of Hashem, who rejoices when the sinner returns to Him as much as a father rejoices at the return of his lost son.

Knowing and recognizing the Fatherhood of Hashem is no easy task. The evil inclination strives greatly to obscure this from humanity, as by doing so it succeeds in discouraging the creatures and distancing them from hope, from repentance, and certainly from prayer to Hashem, considering how shall one dare during punishment or downfall to approach Hashem and request his plea when feeling in such states as rebuked, banished, distant, abandoned, and forsaken?! The prophet Isaiah reveals to us (49:14) that indeed this was the feeling of Zion in her state of exile: "But Zion said, 'Hashem has forsaken me, Hashem has forgotten me.'"

However, Hashem's desire is for us to truly know Him, and the truth is singular: Hashem is solely good, with nothing contrary to good within Him, only goodness, kindness, and mercy abound. Even when He acts with judgment, it is with the purpose of bringing good, and since our role in the world is to know Hashem as much as possible, as it is said (Deuteronomy 4:39): "Acknowledge and take to heart," thus, the more we know Him through His mercy, the more we are considered to truly know Him.

This article is taken from the book "Living with Faith". To purchase Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Lugasi's book click here.