Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: So even if they are guilty, Hashem
[00:00:02] Speaker B: has mercy on us when we deal kindly with one another.
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Therefore, it is proper for us to behave this way with one another who
[00:00:11] Speaker B: has angered us or wronged us.
[00:00:13] Speaker A: If a person who has wronged us
[00:00:15] Speaker B: has a positive side and they act
[00:00:18] Speaker A: kindly towards people or they have a good trait, it should be enough for
[00:00:24] Speaker B: us to subdue our anger and desire kindness.
Stating to ourselves, that good point that person has is enough for me.
I just thought about this as I was saying it. There's also a saying in the Talmud that says, hashem forgives idolaters if they are kind to one another, if they love one another.
And so you can see what's the most important to him.
[00:00:51] Speaker A: And we see in the New Testament, Yeshua teached this trait in Matthew 25, in the parable of the sheep and goat nations, at the final judgment, those who showed kindness to the least of these, whom he calls his brothers by feeding them, clothing them, and giving them water to drink, it is because they demonstrated kindness.
It doesn't say they had the right theology.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: It doesn't even say that they were good in general. It says because they demonstrated kindness to
[00:01:21] Speaker A: his brothers, even if they had been guilty in all other respects, they were treated as if they did this for
[00:01:29] Speaker B: the Master Himself and were honored with entry into his kingdom.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: As Dave said, we are now in the month of Elul, a month full of introspection and repentance. And so Elul is known as when the king is in the field, he
[00:01:48] Speaker B: is very near to us during this month, and during this month, it is
[00:01:53] Speaker A: common to do what's called heshbon hanefesh, this accounting of the soul. So we make all this time, we carve out all this time thinking about all of the wrongs we've been doing
[00:02:04] Speaker B: and the corrections that we need to make.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: And in addition, we spend extra time this month in prayer and repentance and recitation of psalms and sounding the shofar
[00:02:14] Speaker B: right in preparation for the high holidays.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: And all of that is good and necessary.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: But it can also cause us to miss the entire point of this month of Teshuvah, and that is becoming like Hashem.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: So teshuvah we usually translate as repent,
[00:02:34] Speaker B: but it more accurately means to return, right? Returning from where we have come.
And Hashem is where we have come from. And he created us in his image. And too often we fall from that standard.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: Teshuvah is about returning and becoming like
[00:02:55] Speaker B: the one who breathed us into existence.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: However, it is all too common.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: It is all too common that we actually do not know what Hashem is like.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: We have become unaware of his attributes and his ways.
So I do not want this to just be another Elul where we go through the repentance process and we say the things and we pray the prayers
[00:03:20] Speaker B: and yada, yada, yada, okay?
[00:03:22] Speaker A: For all of us in here, and
[00:03:23] Speaker B: frankly, for me, I want us to learn how to truly become like him, because that is true repentance.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: Becoming the best version of ourselves is
[00:03:35] Speaker B: becoming a clearer reflection of his image.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: So the question must be asked then,
[00:03:42] Speaker B: what are his attributes and his ways?
[00:03:45] Speaker A: And we find the answer in fitting
[00:03:48] Speaker B: passages in the Torah.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: The Israelites have just committed the egregious sin by worshiping the golden calf. And Moses at the beginning of the Elul, ascends Mount Sinai to petition and
[00:04:00] Speaker B: ask Hashem to show his mercy and forgive the Israelites.
[00:04:04] Speaker A: For 40 days, he is up on the mountain, intensely interceding on behalf of
[00:04:09] Speaker B: the children of Israel. And then the 40th day arrives, Yom Kippur, and Moses prays for a revelation of Hashem's attributes, desiring to understand the way in which Hashem runs and interacts with the world. And he says in Exodus 33:13, please reveal to me your way.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Hashem responds to this request and says, I will show you all of my
[00:04:33] Speaker B: attributes of goodness and call out with the divine name before you. That's later in verse 19 and then
[00:04:40] Speaker A: in the next chapter, chapter 34, instead of justice, judgment, and wrath, God reveals
[00:04:47] Speaker B: his character in the aftermath of Israel's greatest failure. And he responds to unfaithfulness by pronouncing and demonstrating his 13 attributes of mercy. He restores the tablet, their relationship, their covenant, and forgives the Jewish people.
[00:05:06] Speaker A: And perhaps some of us still carry traces of the idea that the God of the Old Testament, the God of the Tanakh, is primarily wrathful and cruel. That was an interesting discussion and conversation that was brought up last week.
And I just want to say, if that's you, then I'll say to you
[00:05:26] Speaker B: what Philip said to Nathaniel.
Come and see today, because I want
[00:05:32] Speaker A: you to behold and encounter something very
[00:05:34] Speaker B: different that the God who reveals his
[00:05:36] Speaker A: character in the aftermath of Israel's greatest
[00:05:39] Speaker B: sin and who responds to unfaithfulness with mercy and compassion.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: So first Moses prayed, reveal to me your ways, then I will know you.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: And finally, that I might find favor in your eyes.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: The Rambam, famous Jewish rabbi, draws a
[00:05:58] Speaker B: profound lesson from this.
[00:06:00] Speaker A: It is not the person who merely prays at great lengths, fasts or can
[00:06:04] Speaker B: Quote Scripture, who truly knows Hashem?
Knowledge of Hashem is demonstrated by the degree to which it produces good and compassionate deeds.
[00:06:15] Speaker A: So we are not studying God's mercy simply to know more about God.
We are studying Hashem's mercy because we are commanded to become merciful like Him.
I want that to be our goal
[00:06:27] Speaker B: over the next two weeks, because you've got me again for next week, if you notice. Part one.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: All right.
But also throughout the entirety of the
[00:06:35] Speaker B: month of Elul, to truly know Hashem's ways, the 13 attributes of mercy, and to reflect them in our daily lives.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: So we will be going through this book, Tomer Devorah, the palm tree of Deborah, written by the famous Rabbi Moshe Cordoviro. And in this book, Rabbi Cordoviro covers the 13 attributes of mercy in just chapter one.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: And yes, this is just chapter one.
[00:07:00] Speaker A: Okay, so these attributes are originally found in Exodus 34, 6 and 7, spoken
[00:07:09] Speaker B: to Moses on Yom Kippur.
[00:07:11] Speaker A: We pray them on various holidays. And as Rabbi chants in front of
[00:07:15] Speaker B: the ark, much more beautiful than I'm about to, Adonai, Adonai, rakum, vekhanun, erek, apayim.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Do y' all remember that? Okay, that's.
[00:07:27] Speaker B: He's chanting the 13 attributes of mercy found in Exodus 34, we chant them
[00:07:32] Speaker A: throughout the day of Yom Kippur as well. And while these attributes are found in Exodus 34, Jewish tradition also see these
[00:07:40] Speaker B: same attributes reflected in another passage, Micah 7, 18, 20.
[00:07:46] Speaker A: There the same themes of Hashem's mercy and forgiveness are expressed, though in different words and imagery. We encounter this passage from Micah in
[00:07:54] Speaker B: the Half Torah on Shabbat Shuva, nonetheless,
[00:07:58] Speaker A: the Sabbath of return.
And we also pray these verses during the Tashlik service on Rosh Hashanah, which
[00:08:05] Speaker B: all of you will be at. I'm sure glad you laughed, Dave. Thanks.
[00:08:10] Speaker A: It is this formulation.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: Maybe you will.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: It is this formulation of the attributes as expressed through Micah 7 that Rabbi
[00:08:18] Speaker B: Cordoviro develops, that he develops in Tomer Devorah, beginning in chapter one.
[00:08:23] Speaker A: So we are to resemble our Creator. And what is the benefit of being made in the image of God if
[00:08:30] Speaker B: our actions do not resemble His?
[00:08:33] Speaker A: Therefore, it is proper for us to
[00:08:35] Speaker B: resemble the deeds of the crown, which are the 13 attributes of divine mercy. And here is the passage from Micah, and I think we've got slides up here as well.
Who Hashem is like you, he bears sin and removes iniquity to the remnant of his inheritance.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: He does not maintain his anger forever,
[00:08:53] Speaker B: for he desires kindness. And after Teshuvah, he will have mercy on us.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: He suppresses our sins. May you cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: Give truth to Jacob, kindness to Abraham.
As you have sworn to our forefathers from the days of old, so at
[00:09:11] Speaker A: the moment humanity demonstrated its unfaithfulness, Hashem
[00:09:15] Speaker B: reveals that his response is mercy.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: If we are going to imitate him,
[00:09:20] Speaker B: what should our response be when other people demonstrate their unfaithfulness toward us?
Before we begin, and this is for
[00:09:29] Speaker A: this week and next week, I need to offer one caveat. Mercy does not pretend.
[00:09:34] Speaker B: Pretend mean pretending. Excuse me? Mercy does not mean pretending that evil is good, abandoning wisdom, or refusing appropriate boundaries. It means refusing to allow another person's sin to determine the condition of our own soul.
[00:09:52] Speaker A: So please do not take my words
[00:09:54] Speaker B: out of context, thinking that I am permitting abuse in any sort of way. Just as you would not take Yeshua's words of turning the other cheek as permitting abuse. Understand?
Okay. So with that being established, let's look at attribute number one. Who Hashem is like you.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: So the definition of this attribute is that it teaches us that Hashem bears insult and endures offense to an extent that we cannot understand.
Hashem knows everything, and nothing is hidden from his eyes, and every moment of existence is sustained by him.
No sin has ever been committed unless at the very instant that person was sinning. Hashem knowingly granted him the power to
[00:10:39] Speaker B: exist and move his limbs.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: He bears the disgrace of that sin
[00:10:44] Speaker B: by giving us life even while we are in the midst of the sin itself.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: Hashem gives us thought, speech, sight, and action. And he continues to sustain these faculties even when we use them for evil. He has the power to take revenge and gather what is his. Yet he endures.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: He tolerates disgrace until the sinner repents.
[00:11:07] Speaker A: Even in the face of insult and
[00:11:09] Speaker B: ingratitude, he continues to give the same goodness to the sinner, hoping they will repent.
[00:11:16] Speaker A: In an instant, he could unplug the sinner from the source of life, but
[00:11:20] Speaker B: he continues bearing the offense and granting life.
Yeshua taught we should do the same.
[00:11:26] Speaker A: Even when we are kind to others
[00:11:28] Speaker B: and they mistreat us, we are to bear the offense, waiting for them to make amends.
[00:11:34] Speaker A: In his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua says, to love
[00:11:39] Speaker B: your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and bless those who curse you.
[00:11:44] Speaker A: So I want you to imagine someone publicly humiliates you. Maybe this is through criticism. Maybe they question your competence or character,
[00:11:54] Speaker B: or a bit more personal, your parenting. Maybe your theology or your motives, and you know they are wrong.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: Your natural inclination is to defend yourself,
[00:12:06] Speaker B: not to forgive them.
[00:12:08] Speaker A: So you replay this conversation in your head, over and over. You tell your spouse what happened, and you imagine what you should have said, and before you know it, you have constructed an entire case against that person in your mind.
They said one sentence, and you have
[00:12:23] Speaker B: repeated it in your head 50 times over.
What would it mean to bear that offense?
It doesn't mean acting as if there is no hurt. Rather, it means refusing to become the judge, jury, and executioner.
Hashem gives every person breath even when they are offending him.
Can I give them another breath before I condemn them in my heart and cut them out of my life?
So let's move on to the second attribute. He bears sin.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: The definition of this attribute is greater than the previous one. You'll notice that theme.
[00:13:04] Speaker B: They keep going a little bit deeper.
[00:13:07] Speaker A: In Jewish thought, every sin that we commit creates this destructive spiritual reality.
Hashem could simply withdraw his sustaining power from that creation and allow the consequences
[00:13:20] Speaker B: to fall immediately upon the sinner. Yet he does not.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: He bears even the consequences of our
[00:13:26] Speaker B: sin until either teshuvah or judgment comes.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: A person should learn from here tolerance
[00:13:33] Speaker B: to endure the burden of his fellow man and the evil that he does,
[00:13:38] Speaker A: even while his evil is perpetrated against him, still stands before his eyes. He should be patient with the offender
[00:13:46] Speaker B: until he repairs the damage.
[00:13:48] Speaker A: A person might forgive an insult or injury done against him. As discussed in the previous attribute. However, the damage still exists.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: It has not been repaired.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: When the guilty party does not repair the damage, the victim controls their anger
[00:14:06] Speaker B: and bears the damage until it is repaired.
[00:14:09] Speaker A: And by doing so he awakens this
[00:14:11] Speaker B: attribute, and that level of mercy is drawn into the world.
[00:14:15] Speaker A: So what is the difference between the first and second attribute? The first teaches us to endure the offense itself, and the second teaches us
[00:14:23] Speaker B: to endure the consequences of the offense.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: In the New Testament, our challenge becomes as Shimon Peter writes in First Peter, Second Peter, First Peter Chapter 2.
For this is commendable. It is because of conscience towards God one endures grief and suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer,
[00:14:50] Speaker B: if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: For to you this you were called because Messiah also suffered for us, leaving
[00:14:59] Speaker B: us an example that you should follow his steps.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: So imagine a friend betrays you, they break your trust, and now you are the one who has to live with the consequences.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: They even apologize.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: But the damage doesn't magically disappear, does it?
So you are still hurt, struggling to trust them again.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: And you still have to rebuild what they destroyed.
They may be genuinely repentant, but you are still carrying the consequences that you did not create.
So what does mercy look like when repentance doesn't immediately remove the pain?
[00:15:38] Speaker A: Sometimes mercy means carrying a burden that
[00:15:40] Speaker B: someone else created without making that burden the foundation of your relationship with them forever.
So let's continue on to attribute number three.
He removes iniquity if Hashem himself is
[00:15:59] Speaker A: the one who Excuse me, it is Hashem himself who forgives the sin, not through an intermediary or angel as it is written in Psalm 130, verse 4,
[00:16:09] Speaker B: Forgiveness is with you.
[00:16:12] Speaker A: Hashem sends cleansing waters to go and wash away each of our sins, and
[00:16:16] Speaker B: we are called to do the same.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: We should not say, why should I fix someone else's faults or damages.
When a person sins, Hashem himself, not
[00:16:28] Speaker B: through an angel, fixes his crookedness and washes the filth of his sin, cleansing his soiled raiment.
[00:16:36] Speaker A: When we suffer damage and it hasn't been repaired, it would be fair for the one who caused the damage to repair it himself.
[00:16:45] Speaker B: As we discussed in the previous attribute,
[00:16:48] Speaker A: however, if the injured party can show their moral fiber and repair the damage with their own hands, not through an
[00:16:56] Speaker B: intermediary, he fulfills this attribute.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: The Rambam lists four steps in Teshuvah ceasing to sin, regretting the sin, confessing it to Hashem, and resolving not to sin again. And while these are all good, none of them actually have the power to destroy the evil that was created through the sin.
[00:17:17] Speaker B: Only Hashem can do that.
[00:17:19] Speaker A: So when Hashem sees the sinner doing
[00:17:22] Speaker B: sincere repentance, he himself repairs the effects of the sin, making it as if it had never occurred. And he cleanses the soul of the sinner from the stains left by his sin, leaving the person pure and clean.
[00:17:39] Speaker A: And we see this again demonstrated by the Messiah as he himself at the last seder, humbled himself in the form of a servant and personally washed the dirt and filth from his disciples feet.
[00:17:52] Speaker B: And the text seems to indicate even his betrayer's feet. Judas, he personally washes.
So he calls us to personally wash the filth of others.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: But imagine if someone has spread a false rumor about you publicly, maybe it was even something that was true, but from your distant past, and you're no longer that person.
But people begin to see you and treat you differently because of this rumor going around.
Eventually the person realizes they were wrong and comes and privately apologizes to you.
That is great.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: But the damage wasn't private.
[00:18:36] Speaker A: So they corrected the damage they did to you, but not what they said to everyone else. And in this social media world, this
[00:18:42] Speaker B: happens every single day.
What does mercy look like in this situation?
[00:18:48] Speaker A: It may mean going one step further
[00:18:51] Speaker B: and helping them repair the reputation they damaged.
[00:18:55] Speaker A: Not because they deserve it or because
[00:18:57] Speaker B: you caused it, but rather because this is how Hashem acts toward us.
So let's now move on to attribute 4 the remnant of His Inheritance so
[00:19:13] Speaker A: the definition of this trait this attribute is throughout the Scriptures we see and in Jewish writing, the children of Israel are viewed as if they themselves are relatives of God. As Psalm 148:14 states, Israel the nation related to him.
They are his children. And the Hebrew word for inheritance is also related to the word that means close relative.
So the Jewish people are his inheritance. And so what does Hashem say? If I punish them, their pain will be mine. As it is written, in all of
[00:19:46] Speaker B: their suffering he suffers. Isaiah 63:9 he cannot bear to see the remnant of his inheritance go through pain.
So should one treat another.
[00:19:58] Speaker A: The Talmud states, we are responsible for one another. So when a person sins, he harms not only himself, but also the portion
[00:20:07] Speaker B: of your fellow soul that's included within him. Because we are all like one flesh,
[00:20:14] Speaker A: therefore we must seek the benefit of our brother. Be pleased with their success and let
[00:20:21] Speaker B: your fellow's honor be as dear as your own.
[00:20:24] Speaker A: This is why we are commanded, and Yeshua says, it is one of the
[00:20:28] Speaker B: greatest commands given to love your neighbor as yourself.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: It is proper for one to seek
[00:20:34] Speaker B: the well being of your neighbor and never speak against him or her, or desire their disparagement. Just as Hashem doesn't want to see us disgraced or harmed, since we are
[00:20:47] Speaker A: his relatives, therefore we should never desire disgrace, pain, or failure to befall anybody. If these things happen to our neighbor, they are to affect us as if
[00:20:58] Speaker B: we suffered the same pain.
[00:21:00] Speaker A: When we are sensitive to others plight
[00:21:03] Speaker B: with a feeling like they are family, then their joy becomes our joy and their pain becomes our pain. And Hashem has mercy on us because he views us as close relatives, whether by natural means or by adoption.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: So while Cordova describes this trait in terms of the interconnectedness of Jewish souls, as Messianic believers we recognize the deep spiritual connection that exists between every branch
[00:21:34] Speaker B: of the olive tree. In Romans 11 we are all connected, being nourished by the same root.
[00:21:41] Speaker A: The very fact that it is another branch on the tree that harmed us
[00:21:46] Speaker B: is sufficient reason to forgive them.
[00:21:49] Speaker A: Because when we are grafted into one family, whether we know it or not,
[00:21:53] Speaker B: our souls become interwoven and we have a portion of each and every branch in our own soul.
So we see the same thing.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: Hebrews chapter 2 11:18 is summarized. Yeshua demonstrates this trait by identifying with
[00:22:10] Speaker B: his brothers and sisters, sharing in their temptations and sufferings. And he calls us to do the same with all of the branches of the olive tree, the Jewish people, and those of us from the nations.
[00:22:24] Speaker A: So imagine if a person here in
[00:22:28] Speaker B: the shalom making community hurts you, misunderstands you, criticizes you, or even treats you poorly. God forbid.
[00:22:37] Speaker A: Now, every Shabbat, when you see them, you intentionally avoid them.
You make sure to sit on the other side of the sanctuary.
You have decided, I'm done with that person, just done.
But then you are confronted with the
[00:22:52] Speaker B: attribute to the remnant of his inheritance.
They are your family.
So what will be your response?
[00:22:59] Speaker A: That person is a part of the
[00:23:01] Speaker B: people that God has bound himself to.
[00:23:04] Speaker A: And if you and they are both part of the family of God, then
[00:23:08] Speaker B: their pain is cannot be irrelevant to you.
[00:23:11] Speaker A: Compassion begins when someone else's pain, even if it is someone who has hurt you.
[00:23:17] Speaker B: When their pain stops becoming someone else's problem, it becomes yours.
[00:23:26] Speaker A: And as for us Gentiles grafted into Israel's story, this should radically change the
[00:23:31] Speaker B: way we think about the Jewish people in Israel.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: We cannot say that's their problem.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: If they are our family, their plight becomes our plight. And in this generation we need to act upon that more than ever before.
So let's continue on to attribute number five. He does not maintain his anger forever.
[00:23:55] Speaker A: So continuing to deepen his mercy. Although a person continues to sin, Hashem does not just maintain his anger, he
[00:24:02] Speaker B: lets his anger subside even when man does not repent.
[00:24:07] Speaker A: Just as the times of Jeroboam from 2 Kings 14, he displays his kindness.
So in this story, while Israel had fallen to a terrible low, Jeroboam led them into idolatries, causing them to worship two golden calves. And during this time, while in defiance and rebellion, the Israelites decide, hey, we're going to go out to war against Aram Hashem, even though Israel was in sin and unrepentant, granted them victory and let them reclaim land that had been
[00:24:40] Speaker B: lost to them in previous wars.
But why? Why would he do that?
[00:24:45] Speaker A: Hashem saw that suffering and sending judgment
[00:24:49] Speaker B: to them would not inspire them to do Teshuvah.
[00:24:53] Speaker A: On the contrary, their suffering was and more judgment led them further into sin and ultimately despair as they abandoned themselves
[00:25:03] Speaker B: to the darkest of realities.
[00:25:06] Speaker A: And since punishment would not bring them
[00:25:08] Speaker B: back, Hashem brought them back with kindness
[00:25:11] Speaker A: Instead, Hashem restores the borders of Israel,
[00:25:16] Speaker B: even though they were worshiping two golden calves.
[00:25:20] Speaker A: And this is the proper way a
[00:25:22] Speaker B: person should act toward his fellow.
[00:25:24] Speaker A: Even when he has the right to
[00:25:26] Speaker B: be angry, he should not maintain it. It must dissipate.
[00:25:31] Speaker A: For example, the sages say, quoting Exodus 23:5, when you see the donkey of the one you hate stumbling beneath its load, they say, what is the reason for this hatred? The person saw him sinning, but he cannot testify against him. Since he is only one witness, he hates the person for his sin.
[00:25:53] Speaker B: But the Torah says, further on, you must unload with him, meaning unload the hatred within your heart.
[00:26:02] Speaker A: Rather, it is a mitzvah.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: Instead of being angry at a person,
[00:26:07] Speaker A: it is a mitzvah to draw this
[00:26:09] Speaker B: person close with love. And perhaps this will help them do Teshuvah.
[00:26:14] Speaker A: We see this perfectly illustrated in the New Testament, where Paul states in Ephesians 4:26, Be angry, but do not sin.
[00:26:24] Speaker B: Do not let the sun go down on your wrath.
And in addition, it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance in Romans 2, 4.
[00:26:36] Speaker A: It is the restraint of anger and
[00:26:38] Speaker B: kindness and the bestowing of kindness that will lead others to repentance.
So maybe your spouse hurt you three years ago.
Do you weaponize it during your arguments?
[00:26:51] Speaker A: Maybe a parent made mistakes as you
[00:26:53] Speaker B: were growing up and you continue to punish them decades later.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: Or maybe there are people who hurt you and there will never be a chance for reconciliation between you and them because you continue to demand justice and
[00:27:07] Speaker B: exact punishment from them.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: So think about the last time someone hurt you.
[00:27:13] Speaker B: How long have you been angry?
Months?
Years?
Days?
Decades?
[00:27:24] Speaker A: Maybe they do not even know you
[00:27:26] Speaker B: are still angry with them.
Maybe you've forgiven them with your tongue, but when their name comes up, you
[00:27:34] Speaker A: bring their offense back up in your
[00:27:36] Speaker B: mind and ready to bring punishment.
[00:27:39] Speaker A: You have kept their case file open,
[00:27:41] Speaker B: so to speak, and sometimes that is fairness and justice.
[00:27:47] Speaker A: But Hashem asks each and every one
[00:27:50] Speaker B: of us, how long?
How long will you maintain this anger?
[00:27:57] Speaker A: If Hashem kept his anger from every offense we had ever committed against him,
[00:28:02] Speaker B: we would not stand a chance.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: It is not about whether they deserve anger. It is about becoming like Hashem, who
[00:28:10] Speaker B: does not maintain his anger.
So let's keep going. Attribute number six, for he desires kindness.
[00:28:22] Speaker A: So the definition here is, there is an understanding in Judaism. This is a little bit of an allegory that there is a chamber in heaven.
[00:28:30] Speaker B: Maybe it's not, I don't know, but
[00:28:31] Speaker A: there is a chamber in heaven where angels receive every kind deed that each person does.
And when a person sins and does not repent and justice is demanding punishment, Hashem looks at this chamber and sees the good each person has done.
And he remembers the kindness that that
[00:28:53] Speaker B: person demonstrated to others.
[00:28:56] Speaker A: So even if they are guilty of,
[00:28:58] Speaker B: Hashem has mercy on us when we deal kindly with one another.
[00:29:03] Speaker A: Therefore it is proper for us to behave this way with one another who
[00:29:07] Speaker B: has angered us or wronged us. If a person who has wronged us has a positive side and they act
[00:29:15] Speaker A: kindly towards people, or they have a good trait, it should be enough for
[00:29:20] Speaker B: us to subdue our anger and desire kindness.
Stating to ourselves that good point that person has is enough for me.
I just thought about this as I was saying it. There's also a saying in the Talmud that says, Hashem forgives idolaters if they are kind to one another, if they love one another.
And so you can see what's the most important to him.
[00:29:47] Speaker A: And we see in the New Testament, Yeshua teach this trait in Matthew 25, in the parable of the sheep and goat nations. At the final judgment, those who showed kindness to the least of these, whom he calls his brothers by feeding them, clothing them, and giving them water to drink, it is because they demonstrated kindness.
It doesn't say they had the right theology.
[00:30:10] Speaker B: It doesn't even say that they were good in general. It says because they demonstrated kindness to
[00:30:17] Speaker A: his brothers, even if they had been guilty in all other respects, they were treated as if they did this for
[00:30:25] Speaker B: the Master himself and were honored with entry into his kingdom.
[00:30:30] Speaker A: So implementing this involves hard work on our part.
Think about someone you do not like,
[00:30:36] Speaker B: and maybe even someone you hate.
[00:30:38] Speaker A: Maybe they are a difficult personality. Maybe they are haughty and arrogant.
Maybe they vote differently from you or have different theological beliefs.
Maybe they yell Free Palestine.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: Or maybe they dislike the color of your skin.
[00:30:56] Speaker A: When you make the decision that you do not like somebody, suddenly a darkness
[00:31:02] Speaker B: hovers over your mind and any good trait about the other person vanishes.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: They can have a hundred, a thousand good traits, but because of this one
[00:31:13] Speaker B: negative thing, we refuse to notice the good.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: We fuse that person's identity with their
[00:31:20] Speaker B: limited mistakes, leaving no room for goodness.
[00:31:25] Speaker A: However, Hashem does the reverse.
He calls us to look for the
[00:31:29] Speaker B: good in each person, and we are
[00:31:32] Speaker A: called to see each person as Hashem
[00:31:34] Speaker B: sees them, which is with a good
[00:31:36] Speaker A: eye and through that goodness, it inspires
[00:31:40] Speaker B: us to bestow kindness after kindness upon them.
[00:31:44] Speaker A: Because what if that person we have reduced to nothing more than their worst characteristic is someone who Hashem still continues
[00:31:52] Speaker B: to see numerous points of good in?
[00:31:55] Speaker A: Instead of praying that this person would change, our prayer should be that Hashem
[00:32:01] Speaker B: would change the way that we see them to help us to see the good that already exists within them.
[00:32:12] Speaker A: And so the last attribute that we're
[00:32:13] Speaker B: going to look at today, attribute 7 after Teshuvah, he will have mercy on us.
[00:32:21] Speaker A: So the definition here is Hashem's ways, in case you haven't noticed already, are
[00:32:26] Speaker B: not like those of humans.
[00:32:28] Speaker A: When a person is angry at his friend, even after they make peace, their friendship will not return to its former state.
However, when a person sins against Hashem and does Teshuvah, he reaches to an even greater level of closeness than before. The Talmud states a place where the bale Teshuva, or the Master of Return stands.
[00:32:49] Speaker B: A Tzaddik, even a righteous person does not stand.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: The idea is that when someone sins and falls to do complete and full Teshuvah, they must work really hard.
The things they used to be exposed to, they must go through extra lengths to avoid. They must discipline themselves more to overcome temptations. While someone who is righteous and didn't struggle with a certain sin, they have
[00:33:17] Speaker B: not had to dig deep to overcome that struggle. But when a person falls and pours
[00:33:22] Speaker A: out the depths of their soul to overcome certain sins, Hashem finds that soul
[00:33:27] Speaker B: extremely precious and actually draws them closer to him than before they ever committed the sin in the first place.
[00:33:36] Speaker A: And Yeshua demonstrated this as well. At the last seder, Peter, Yeshua's chief disciple, is told by the Master that he will deny him three times that night. And we know the story Peter denies him in the midst of the darkest moments of Yeshua's life.
But Yeshua is full of this attribute of compassion and that not only does he restore the relationship he had with Peter In John chapter 21, he restores Peter to a greater level of responsibility
[00:34:07] Speaker B: and calling than before his denial.
[00:34:10] Speaker A: As Peter confesses, he loves Yeshua three times.
[00:34:13] Speaker B: And Yeshua commissions him to feed his lambs, tend his sheep, and to feed his sheep, Yeshua brings Peter to a completely new responsibility than before his denial.
So the practical example for us today, the core principle of this attribute is mercy.
It gives other people a future after their failure.
[00:34:39] Speaker A: Who is the person you refuse to
[00:34:41] Speaker B: let become someone new?
Maybe they were an addict, maybe they
[00:34:46] Speaker A: were unfaithful, maybe they abandoned their family Maybe they spent years making terrible decisions.
[00:34:52] Speaker B: Maybe they are the worst of the worst.
But now they changed.
[00:34:58] Speaker A: Now they have gone through the deep process of teshuvah. They have rebuilt their life and are
[00:35:03] Speaker B: a completely new person, a new creation.
[00:35:08] Speaker A: Yet every time you see them or their name comes up, you remember the
[00:35:12] Speaker B: old man, the person they used to be.
They have done teshuvah, but you haven't.
[00:35:20] Speaker A: Not because you committed their sin, but
[00:35:23] Speaker B: because you will not allow them to have a future beyond the sins they committed in the past.
What would it mean if Hashem has forgiven and released someone you are still holding and punishing?
[00:35:40] Speaker A: Not only that, but Hashem calls us not only to see them as new,
[00:35:44] Speaker B: but to draw them even closer than before they fell.
[00:35:49] Speaker A: So in summation and in closing, these are the first seven attributes we have covered today.
[00:35:55] Speaker B: If you'll hit the last slide here, the next to last slide.
Number one, endure the offense.
Number two, bear the consequences.
Number three, repair what was damaged.
Number four, remember that the offender is family.
Number five, release and let go of your anger.
Number six, remember their goodness.
And number seven, restore them when they repent.
So I know this is a high calling.
[00:36:29] Speaker A: Mirroring Hashem's attributes calls us to pick
[00:36:32] Speaker B: up our cross and and carry it moment by moment.
[00:36:36] Speaker A: And even though this is difficult, we
[00:36:39] Speaker B: still have more levels to climb and deeper layers of our heart to uncover.
So, as a famous rabbi once said, stay with me.
As attributes 8 through 13 are next week, Shabbat Shalom.
[00:36:56] Speaker C: I'm Darren with Shalom Macon. If you enjoyed this teaching, I want to ask you to take the next step.
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