Rebbetzen Tziporah — Forty Treasures

 

Tomorrow is going to be Rosh Chodesh Elul. I am not sure exactly when you will receive this letter (or to tell you the truth, when I will actually send it out, and when Chavi will fix it up and make it readable…). Even so, there is something breathtaking about this kind of an ending and beginning.

Elul is the last month of the year, the one in which all of the yesterdays come together. No one could have dreamed that this past year would be the way it was – the events were unimaginable, and the responses far beyond anything I personally ever saw come forth from the Jewish People. One of the many ways in which we use the first letters of the word Elul to hint at what it is in essence is the phrase Ani Li’Dodi V’Dodi Li – I am for my Beloved, and my Beloved is for me.

The 40 days between Rosh Chodesh Elul and Yom Kippur are days of forgiveness. These are days in which the attributes of mercy are most accessible. What exactly are they? 

They are the revealed statements that Hashem made about Himself when Moshe pleaded with Him to forgive the Jews for the sin of the golden calf. The last letters of the words Ani Lidodi etc. are all yuds, equaling 40, the days in which the healing took place. 

The number 40 is used consistently in the Torah for times of re-definition and rebirth (the 40 days of the flood, for instance (and I am sure you will think of more)). Hashem doesn’t change, He is infinite, but He chooses to change His relationship to us when we change. The opportunity for change and rebirth is what these days are about. 

Moshe asked Hashem to let us know Him. Handing over our trust (and ultimately love and awe) to finite and observable causes was the reason that the Jews make the golden calf to begin with. It was a symbol of the force that they felt that they could draw down just by virtue of wanting to do so enough. 

This isn’t a problem that you or I face today (doesn’t it feel great to know that whatever else is on your list, making a golden calf just isn’t…). The way it plays out today is preferring to invest heart and soul in other brands of self-deception in order to try to hold onto having a sense of control over the events that govern our lives. Money. Political power. More…

Hashem told us that the way to draw down something of His infinity was by knowing Him in the only way that we humans can; by knowing and discovering what is G‑d-like in ourselves (since we are, after all, created in His image), and giving it expression so that there is a real bond between us and the One who created us.

He revealed 13 “Middot” literally measurements. Ways in which something of Him and something of us bond. The number 13 equals the word “one” in gematria, and this is no coincidence. The Middos are as follows:

1. י-ה-ו-ה / Hashem – compassion before a person sins; This means that His “default” is compassion. This is a trait that we are meant to enact by viewing everyone we encounter as worthy of our caring.
2. י-ה-ו-ה / Hashem – compassion after a person has sinned; Hashem doesn’t change because we do; we block His mercy by our deeds, but on His side the compassion never ends. From our perspective, you have to always figure out who YOU want to be when you are dealing with someone who is genuinely wrong…
3. א-ל / G-d – mighty in compassion, to give all creatures according to their need; the human parallel is not getting tired of giving when you have enough to share just because you fear being “taken advantage of”. Your only question ideally is whether you can spare what you are asked for or whether responding will actually hurt you or the recipient.
4. רַחוּם / rachum – merciful, that humankind may not be distressed; י-ה-ו-ה Hashem is the womb of the world, and can provide whatever is needed and does so. We can’t, but you can endeavor to be a “safe place” for others.
5. חַנוּן / chanun – and gracious if humankind is already in distress; The word is related to the word “chinam” which means gratis. Hashem doesn’t exact payment for air, the way your body works, your ability to feel love, etc. He is the hidden giver. All of His demands are only for our benefit
6. אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם / erech apayim – slow to anger; The words literally mean of long nose. He never forgets that He blew the breath of life into us and gave us spiritual souls
7. וְרַב-חֶסֶד / ve’rav chesed – and plenteous in kindness; He isn’t worried about being depleted. The human parallel is judging favorably.
8. וֶאֱמֶת / ve’emet – and truth; He doesn’t forget the good that we do when He judges us honestly- the bad doesn’t erase the good.
9. נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים / notzer chesed la’alafim – keeping kindness unto thousands; We still have the merit of the Avot and Imahot.
10. נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן / noseh avon – forgiving iniquity; sins of desire,
11. וָפֶשַׁע / vafeshah – and transgression; sins of rebellion,
12. וְחַטָּאָה / veChata'ah – and sin; sins of negligence. These three categories include the sins that we do when we defile our bodies, our minds (by failing to grasp G‑ds mercy and power and falling into the ego motivations that birth rebellion) and our emotions that lead us to lose track of what is important in life and what is transient, leading to failure to maintain honest value systems. This is the cause of negligence, which is not at all like things that are done because we don’t know, or because of factors beyond our control
13. וְנַקֵּה / veNakeh — and pardoning. He erases the damage that we cause by our sins.

Each day of Elul is a treasure. May we all use them well.

Love, 

Tziporah