G-d is Our Shadow? We are His Shadow? Who Controls the Strings? with Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston

foreign [Music] good evening everybody welcome to the postings and um we're going to be talking tonight not only about the Tomah Devore and how important how important it is a little bit about who wrote it and the Tash League service which is um a lot of people don't really know what that is and it's only going to be in a few weeks from now and I think it would be a great opportunity to explain what it is based on the term of divorce now this is all my notes from about almost 20 hours worth of classes on tourism so there's no way I'm going to do this tonight giving um do we only have about 45 minutes to an hour so it's more like an overview and at the very end we will get into the nitty-gritty uh the real uh meat and potatoes the nuts so to speak but not in Rosh Hashanah we don't eat nuts on Russia okay so on the cover which yes is very pretty and green I have a copy of the latest one of the best translations of the term of Deborah and now what I just said is not true I mean it is true that it's a great translation but it's only chapter one in other words the concept of the 13 attributes we're going to talk about is in chapter one the rest of the chapters are all talking about the spirit and it's all kabbalistic I'll explain later but anyways this that is if you only need the first chapter this is the book to get if you want to get a good translation of the entire devorah Target press put this out many years ago when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth uh what is the print date I don't know yeah okay not too long ago 1993. so it was you know that long ago now I also have for four shackles which if anybody wants just for free I picked up at um what's it called anyway Manny's bookstore but it's all in Hebrew but it's it's pretty much the entire the entire tell me the war it's a very short book so it's a very short book I'm going to talk about uh who is the uh the author okay so the author is known as the ramach as you see right there Moshe cordavera Ruby Moshe Cordova you all heard of the arizao he was the arzaz teacher hard to believe right wow so he was born in 1522 he lived in spot and he receives mikha along with Rob Joseph Cairo the one who wrote the shogunaro and his brother-in-law was Rick alphabets he's the one who wrote I mean it's called the heaven spot you know you wanted to be in so I I mentioned when I gave over the series how humbling an experience it is for me to share their Torah I mean who am I but I did read a little bit so I want to share because I think it's important I think it's more than just important I think it's absolutely fundamental and I'm glad you guys came so first of all he mastered the Czar like so as course the Rizal was a student so he knew the whole Zohar and who wrote the Zohar and so the the remark we're going to call him the remark remote he wrote several books more than just several books but the most famous the Uria car not the clear card but the the precious light another book called the uh the remonim was called the pardes really the part is remonium and of course he wrote the turbo devorah which utilizes the kabbalistic concepts of the spirit to illuminate a system of morals and ethics foreign among his many disciples were The Luminaries of spot including reply and Tita who was just became the student of the Ariza of um uh by the way this is a famous fantastic story so when the Ariza came to spot and he started learning with this group of men and then the the Ramat passed on it was only the remark who knew what potential the arizal had and so he didn't tell anybody but he told would I die I'm very old not actually quite young but when I die um he said that um it's a it's I have to read it it's almost too hard to believe so the remark said I shall soon leave this earth yet after my passing someone will replace me even though many of the person's statements may seem to contradict mine meaning like when we talk about these 13 principles of these 13 attributes of Mercy they divide them differently everyone agrees there's 13 and everyone reads the verses they're based on but how to divide them up and which ones are counted there's different opinions so he says first of all the person may even contradict me do not oppose him and do not argue with him uh we stem from the same source and whatever he's saying is absolutely true his soul is a spark of this is what the the remark said about well we know now that it's the AR resolve and whoever opposes him opposes the Shayna so they all wanted to know who it was he said I can't tell you at this point the person does not want to be known but I can tell you this much whoever sees the cloud at my funeral is going to precede my my casket my bed and it's gonna it's gonna go in front of us whoever can see it will be my my successor so uh first of all the our result did eulogize at the funeral of the remark and he described him as a person totally free of sin so that's what the arizao said about his teacher the ramach the author of this book so as they're going through the leviath the funeral procession the people cried out and said oh this is a good spot and the arizao said no look at you don't see the cloud it's moving so he uh he came up it became obvious he was the man and so they moved further on and they buried them where the Ariza said to bury him by the way the Aries I was buried next to him well actually just beloved but next in basically so he said don't bury him here the cloud is proceeding uh him and his computer on its path and that's when everyone knew who this new leader was and that's when the uh the fame of the arizal became known and everyone followed the eyes out at that point I think that's enough on that now the shopping artist itself says we're just going to start in this procedure in this there's so many ways I can go and try to explain but reviews of Cara writes so this is interesting it's in Simon 584 584 I love it two and it says regarding on Rosh Hashanah that we would eat the head of a sheep for those who are interested in eating the head of a sheep and um because we actually say that we should be ahead and not a tail right for those who are coming to our house on Rosh Hashanah will see that and that is to remember the Isle of yitzhakt and some are very accustomed not to eat nuts the gomachi of of uh it goes is the sangamatria as Sin Chet and it says that um the reason you shouldn't eat them they besides that Gematria they cause you to cough and get all flemmed up and choke and that would um negate your prayers right we need to have a good smooth larynx then he writes the hoking we go to a river we'll see our body of water with fish to say this verse this verse is uh right out of mikha which I'll explain in a minute why this whole term of Devore the 13 principles are based on Mika and not the 13 principles that we find in Exodus chapter 34. I'll explain that surely but he says in order to say this verse which you find in mikha right the sashlik the mitsulos Yamato to cast into the depths of the sea all of our sins that's in the verse I hope you all heard that right to cast into the depths of the sea all of our sins okay so based on that going to the river going to the river the mission River brings down an interesting verse and we also say there Hoshi so we have here Psalms 69 verse 2. I just want to read it from here Psalm 69 verse 2 it says like this foreign for the conductor okay this is really verse one but okay for the conductor on the show shanim by David save me oh God for the waters have reached until the soul I am sunk in the mirror of the shadowy depths and there is no foothold and he goes on and on and on that the carrot sweeps me away this is talking about our sins are so many and only Hashem can save me but it's a Remnant The Miser talks about avraham on his way to Decatur to tie down Isaac and uh at that point the Sutton tries to stop him by making the uh the river uh very hard to pass but avram doesn't give up he's going forward he wants to do it so the mission of Brewer brings down the one should say these verses which is from mikha but we do this in order to remember the Acadia it's good to go to a place that has live fish of course that's not always possible and we should go where the fish are because that would be a place where there is no uh control by the iron Haram because it's a different dimension right the eyes cannot go beyond the uh the surface of the water and the fish represent uh near POV and nearby such as being fruitful and multiplying now it is written whether a Nahar or a bear you can even go to a well you can go to other places but he says here the best place is out in the wilderness outside of the city the best time to go is the first day of Rosh Hashanah after mimka however this year because it's Shabbos so we're going to go on day two okay so I just want to bring that out and he brings down to say which is the verse we're about to enter so that was an introduction to where we're at today do that here even though in numbers 34 when the Jews sinned with the golden calf and Moses Praise on our behalf which on the first of of um is when he was told we were forgiven 40 days later we received the second set of tablets which he broke on the first on the 17th of Thomas the first time around he prays and begs for our forgiveness and God tells him you want my forgiveness this is what you need to say that's what it says in the verse but the Gomorrah says this is what you need to do and we're going to see it with our own eyes it's like what a magical formula to say these 13 attributes of mercy and then Hashem forgives you no it doesn't mean you shouldn't say it but when you say him you have to have intent and the intent for what is what we're going to talk about but more than that you should incorporate them into your lives in other words well let me get to it I'm going to lay the foundation for that why it's so important to incorporate them to act on them these are attributes of God we are created in His image I wanted to go to this verse in Psalm 60 what was it sorry I'm sorry I'm going to go to miso to get the idea and then we'll go back to what we're talking about so in Nika chapter 7 see verse 15 says as in the days when you left the land of Egypt I will show it wonders so there's going to be in the most amazing Redemption and that's a personal Redemption and it's a national Redemption the Nations will see and be ashamed of all their unavailing power they will place a hand over their mouth their ears will become death then at the very end these are the verses we say at the tashlik ritual on Rosh Hashanah now these 13 attributes are in the prophets you have in chapter 34 a number of of Exodus the 13 attributes that God taught Moses which one is greater are they parallel are they equal without knowing anything I I would think that they're either parallel or Moses is greater he got it directly from God but the truth is this all prophecy comes from OSHA anyway so all the prophets only had the power of Prophecy because of the power of motion Moses prophecy was so powerful that's number one number two the sin that Moses was praying for at that time was for the sin of the golden calf which was a very terrible sin but according to the way we're going to understand it is that this is the end of days this is after all of history and this is talking about and I'll just read it real quick the truth is you wouldn't know how to break them up but I'll break them up for you if you go to the second side of the green page towards the bottom in the middle [Music] um see in the second paragraph it says Mika 7 18-20 who Hashem is like you that's going to be the first of the 13 attributes he Bears sin that's the second and removes iniquity that's the third and to the remnant of his inheritance that's the fourth he does not maintain his anger forever this is another attribute of Mercy that's five and number six he desires kindness after chuva he will have mercy on us that's all number six uh that's I'm sorry that the part where it says after truly who have mercy on us at seven uh he will suppress our sins that's number eight you may cast all their sins into the depths of the sea this is why we perform this uh interesting ritual that's number nine he gives truth to yaakov that's number 10. is 11. and the last one as you swore to our forefathers I'm sorry it's 12. you swear to our forefathers and number 13 is from days past so the Zohar brings down that this is a higher level how's that so when Hashem was forgiving us for the golden calf and he told us this is what you say but you incorporate them into your lives this is how I God manifest in this world which is pretty big yet and this is like the real kicker here we're creating the image of God we're like we're God like at a certain level there's no question about it and I'm going to talk about that this is how we need to act and we cause God to react and it sounds heretical I know we do something and God reacts you take a rope so it's called The Awakening From Below you remember in school when you were playing gym whatever you know physical Ed and you have something like 30 feet up in the air you're supposed to climb maybe they have knots maybe they don't have knots but you're supposed to climb it if you shook it so maybe you can shake three feet and as it goes up it's not shaking as much obviously because it's a it's a single well fortified row but it's still shaking that's what's happening that's that's what's happening this is a very metaphysical concept what I'm discussing here that we are eliciting a response like that we have more power than God no don't don't go there but it sounds like it because we're causing God to react a certain way so keeping that in mind uh we'll read the prologue so this is just the introduction as I said um I'm gonna read it in Hebrew and in English so it says like this it's just the back side of the green page first of all why are we called Adam a man it's fitting she is that he um represents that he imitates that he's similar it's fitting that he's similar he already is because what is the word I'm going to say in Hebrew domet you've all heard that word though meh in fact if you look just on the first White Page at the very bottom man which is Adam the root is dollid men which is blood but don't meh it's dumb ass similar so I just picked a I know what the translation is but I just wanted to show you according to Modern Hebrew I pulled it off Google it means what's domme reminiscent of something else in its appearance shape and characteristics we are created in the image of God now I want to take you to the top of that page it says in Psalms 121 5. says the Lord is your guardian the Lord is your what is your some translation or Refuge even sale shadow okay when I move my hand when I have the Sun right I'm creating ninja God I'm not really there I'm like more like a an image on the right when you look at the hand it's not my real hand on the ground someone can step on I wouldn't feel it right that's not my hand but yet it's an image of my hand like a hologram of some sort right we are created in the image of God God has no image so we're talking about free will we're talking about the power to think and that's that's really the bottom line and we'll talk about it also in perkyavotes what that means so we're creating the image of God but it says the Lord is your shadow he reacts to me when I move my hand as I said earlier and you can see this in the art scroll commentary just as man's shadow copies his every movement so do God's actions towards each man reflect that individual's action towards God and towards his fellow man to the man who acts with cruelty God will be cruel to a person who shows compassion which we're going to talk about a lot now soon that God will be compassionate so we can elicit God's reaction how we react how we Act and in fact in the Gomorrah Rosh Hashanah this is how the the al-shik explains it and so the gumar goes like this and the verse says in Exodus chapter 34 6 and the Lord passed by before Moshe and proclaimed says we're not explicitly written in the verse it would be impossible to say this as it would be insulting to God's honor the verse teaches the Holy One blessed me he wrapped himself in a prayer shul like a prayer leader and showed Moses the structure of the order of prayer it's true he told them about these 13 attributes of mercy and already the the slardium are saying it every night at midnight we have been always saying it uh Mondays and Thursdays no and holidays when the safer toes taken out of the art there's different times during the year if there's fast days and whatnot so we also save these uh 13 attributes of Mercy um but we will be saying it towards the end of the month and all through the 10 days of shuva of obviously and Rosh Hashanah and young people there's like going to be no end you're going to have it and drilled into your head right so it says he said to them he said to him whenever the true Jewish people sin let them doesn't say say it says let them act before me in accordance with this order and I will forgive them now the Hebrew I have bolded callsmanship so don't be mistaken that just saying these 13 attributes are going to do anything magical I'm not saying it it won't it may help but it'll hopefully help you realize how important these attributes are in order to incorporate them into your life I have here just a whatever it's from the Gamora it's kind of just more proof of those statements I'm sorry that it's very small and I have myself a larger a larger but basically where it says here on the right side the whole idea is to actually behave like these 13 attributes you know the commentator is actually yes what does it mean to act before me it doesn't say should probably lose that that you should just say them with your lips and pray them just skipping down to the right the race is he writes that one should not think that it's just since God put on a tolerance you should put on a Talus but rather you should yasu should you actually perform the Seder of character traits that's what me those are they're measured traits that God taught to motion that he's that he is so merciful the hainu just like it says in the verse he will be gracious to whom he will be gracious to and he will be merciful to who will be merciful to that's what he wants us to do but we're going to see the 13 attributes and how we're actually supposed to apply them and it'll rock your boat because you know sometimes you people think oh you have to be humble that means you're going to be a friar you're going to be taken advantage of well you have to know when to stand up the last two paragraphs Zen Lush and remaining bahaya so Robina bakai explains you know you absolutely must know anyone who understands these shallosh estremidos if you understand them take time to learn them and understand them the adua pirushin the ikarin and you actually know what they mean and their principles and you actually use your Seiko when you're dominating and you're when you're diving these uh these 13 attributes ain't to fill out Jose your prayers will not be unanswered they will always be answered there will not never end up being empty um alien Kane um unless of course you do have sins and we do have sins don't we okay now behold nowadays we don't have the temple we don't have a kangaro we don't have carbonos what are we gonna do he neighbors man is there nowadays where Mom is living enveloped in the darkness of this long Exile ain't lot of conrado we don't have a high priest to atone for our sins we don't have the altar in which to sacrifice the low base we don't have that structure which is to pray inside it we no longer remaining close to God guilty aim to feel attenu the only thing we have is this that's all we have is these 13 attributes of Mercy and ability in to Filipino midos God himself taught us so why not use it okay why not figure out what it means I'm just you got to read it or you can listen to my 16 classes right and there's so many other people Rabbi bridowitz is in the middle of giving over I don't forget where he's at but you know I listened to a few of his classes in my preparation for this uh Royal Haber all the rabbis because this is the time especially during ello it's been brought down that this is a very opportune time to learn this uh the safer okay so now uh it happens to be that my wife just bought a a set of books and it's in English and Hebrew prop Hashem the caduceus Lady it's uh originally written by Lady yitzhakme bertichev and for those who are here in Shabbos I mentioned them might have been the last challenge to shop this before um so you'll turn to the main next page where it says page 137 right caduceus lady um he's bringing down these same ideas in the barship you know we just talked about parashat show team it's called opening the gates to righteousness so my friend Joseph spoke on Shabbos about the seven holes in your head a club holes in your head openings in your head I should say these are the gates right opening the gates through righteousness you have two eyes two nostrils two ears holes and uh and a mouth I can count okay so the pasik in shof team mentions right you're supposed to set up the judges and these Law Officers these policemen for yourself and all your cities and all the different districts all different tribes and then and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment besides this verse by the way in Leviticus 19 15 there's another directive it's not just to the judges I understand on a push-up shot it's still judges but it says in Leviticus 19 15. in righteousness you shall judge your people meaning you have to judge everybody favorably I know this is really hard to do it's a real Hard Exercise I get it I'm with you guys it's like a big struggle I get it but we're gonna have to learn how to do it because this is the way we're tugging the Rope God's going to react and open the spigot and the flow of compassion is going to come unto me and all of you in other words what I do affects all of you and what you do affects all of us so the uh yitza says daily the almighty judges us with great compassion and kindness but we have to arouse this compassion by conducting ourselves with kindness and by acting at the I'm Sorry by looking at the positive points of our fellow Jews judging them favorably by doing so we awaken the same trait on high he's saying the same thing we've been hearing from the rabbis from time immemorial and by doing so did I skip something judging the favor by doing so we awaken the same trait on eye then God also focuses on a person's merits and on the merits of all the Jewish people thus by serving God here below with kindness the person awakens and opens the portal that's the share right those are the gates of mishpat of mishpatic so you open up the portal of kindness above through which the blessings then rained down and we're talking you know we're getting up to the parches of you know of rain soon and down on the Jewish people this then is the deeper meaning of the verse you shall set up judges and Law Enforcement Officers why do you think you have teeth and lips you got like a double gate here right so before you open your mouth think twice right we all have to learn this um so you have these law enforcement officials for yourself in all your cities on all your Gates we ourselves through our gates determine the judgment and set up the judges is rendered above the word gates alludes to the portals which we make and open by our actions and I just want to finish this page off thus the verse concludes they shall judge the people with righteous judgment this means that each person should accustom himself to judge his fellow with a righteous judgment by emphasizing the righteousness and Merit of each and every Jew in this way a person opens the Heavenly portal he himself emerges Vindicated from judgment this is so because according to the way meaning the ways the me the media connected media the meat is the trait a person judges others that's how he himself is going to be judged by Hashem so in other words the trait the media that a person exhibits when judging others is the same trait which God exhibits uh when he judges the person so as an introduction right we're getting somewhere here Oprah I'm gonna skipped anything here okay so now I know it's going to be confusing because I don't really have page numbers but it says 16 on the bottom right and you can't barely see 17. uh these are for you to take home I I think that because time is limited and I want to get to the juicy stuff with the 13 attributes so just know that on the right side it mentions right says the guarantee um we mentioned this but I think I failed to mention there was a covenant God made a covenant that was involved in the search and attributes of Mercy it's called a Brit and he promised that uh they would never turn back unanswered those if you use them properly and properly does not mean just saying them it actually means that I can't in emphasis no emphasize this enough it somehow Incorporated them into your behavior into your Deeds on the left side it says imitate his ways so basically he's asking the very rhetorical question is this some kind of magical formula and it goes over and explains yasu right yasu that you actually have to do them it's not just about saying them and now I do mention I want to mention right in the middle it says therefore a person must emulate God as much as he possibly can um at the very last paragraph it says the schlachodes by the way the Shema was the one of the rabbonim one of the teachers of the cleocar okay perceives man's fulfillment can I skip something here of the 13 attributes as a cardinal Act of Faith in other words we say we're my meaning we believe in Hashem and we don't understand who he is we don't understand who we are it's it's so important if we want to claim to be Jews who observe in Jews uh uh fulfilled Jews righteous Jews how could it be if you don't even know who you are you're creating the image of God and what image is that what is that what is God so it's so important that one should learn all this but the Fulfillment of this is a cardinal Act of Faith according to him and the schlaw demonstrates that God's 13 attributes corresponds to the 13 articles of Faith which the rambam puts out and I found this as a time for me to put a plug-in my next major project is going to be giving over the 13 principles of Faith according to your Ramba um okay let's skip now to the following page which it should say on the bottom 18 and 19. I just want to mention over here the significance of 13 why is 13 insignificant we all know the word we have right there's five knots there's eight strings and I need to make a mistake that's also 13. and so anyway the word God is one that is 13 as I mentioned and so this is uh the 13 attributes that teach us that whoever concentrates the faith of his heart on The One and Only God deserves to be treated according to the 13 attributes of Mercy in other words in return the Hebrew names of the Patriarchs and I counted them they're not that hard Abraham Yitzhak and yaakov there's 13 letters um and there's 13 tribes right when you count when you count the either lady or you don't count Joseph and you count uh Ephraim and Menasha and you can't you're sorry you're not right okay now everyone agrees there's 13 but there's major arguments sort of see how do you count them and that's what that whole page is about let's continue and now we're on where it says I should say 2021 so on the left side this describes the difference between the first time God spoke about the 13 attributes which is in Exodus chapter 34 right after the sin the golden calf should know in numbers after the sin of the spies Moses used nine of the attributes not 13 because he knew that Hashem would hold uh it would not forgive fully and we're still to this day suffering because of the sin of the spies I'm talking to you know we're recording this so people will be watching this from living outside the land come home listen I understand it's hard you know you have parents you got to take care of you have a good job you got kids Special Needs I get it I get it but listen we're calling you it's better to come home now than later you might not make it I mean giving anybody what I'm saying is just know they can make a plan make a plan okay um so Moses did not invoke the full 13 because he knew that it wouldn't work um but then he goes into this whole idea of the Mika the zohi quotes the Zohar here the Supreme attributes on page 21 at the bottom right the Zohar explains how there are upper attributes and those are in mikha the lower attributes of the one that Moses gave and he explains what I had spoken about and we're almost getting to the 13. um just to know that Mika itself is a future prophecy of redemption as it says in number sevens and Mika 7 15 as in the days when you went forth from Egypt I will show them others just like I gave wonders then I'm gonna make wonders like this uh then too the sins of Israel initiated their exile when their sins are forgiven Israel will return then God will activate a measure of compassion which will surpass even the compassion described in Moses 13 answers of Mercy um just at the very bottom these verses from the very core of the partial service and that's what we're going to talk about the 13 attributes using the Tash League Service as opposed to the book Because as I mentioned in the beginning that's like hours and hours and hours of notes but when we're going to turn the page shortly you'll see it so I'm just one that's two pages it's succinctly it's so easy to understand but I I beg you to spend the time to go through the book and go through the classes online to see how activities exercises and patience and love for your fellow Jew how to think and I'm going to tell this now I hope they don't ban me from YouTube but psychology has so much to learn from the Torah Devore right because they think they're the most advanced in helping people change their character and people that I know are going to the same psychologists or whatever therapist for 30 40 years and maybe there's some change we can hope there's some change but this is the real way to change and it's it's grueling it can be quite grueling so let's just read the last paragraph on that page the interpretation of the second series of the attributes is the theme of The Classical worked over devorah by ramosa Cordova generally known as the remark one of the most profound and systematic teachers of the zoha and the leading figure in the circle of Mystics to assemble the 16th century spot even the Ariza referred to the remark as his teacher and master since the 13 attributes are meant to be emulated by man rather than just merely recited the term divorce takes pains to show how man can follow the example set by God in each of the attributes [Music] um okay so now this last page is the most important page of all so I had to put on two sides it's really four pages but it looks like two what you see on the top is the verses from Mika I say the top I should say bold large that's mikho okay and then above that in small letters you have the 13 attributes that were given to Moses in numbers uh sorry in Exodus chapter 34. so you have in mind when you go on Rosh Hashanah tashley to do it but also I'm using this as a guy because he brings down in a simple form what they each mean but obviously when we're saying these daily or every other day whenever we say them at least during the uh ello quite often okay so that's what you have in front of you I'm pretty sure that what we have on the right side I explained everything about so if you go to the left side if there's right attribute one through nine and we turn the page so that's we're going to go through now in the remaining time I hope you all you know have the uh excitement flowing through your through your veins um what we're going to do is really not Justice for the amount of time amount of time that I put into giving those classes what all these rabbis have you know the book I'm sure it took years to put that book together so when it says who oh God is like you which we said is the first attribute so the translation here follows the marble uh the targon paraphrases there's no one but you you alone are God the prophet expresses the recognition that God is incomparable but he patiently Bears man's sins you know that we sin day after day maybe we try maybe we even think about the machuva but how much patience does he have although the sinner has abused the life God is constantly give imagine you I wouldn't say a relative let's say you have a friend or neighbor you just keep giving him money and he keeps spending it on narskite I don't know candy bars or and you tell them you know get a healthier diet or he's doing other things with it you're saying you know you can prove your life you keep giving him God is keep giving us life and we are abusing it so how are we you know we judge people you see somebody you know what's God doing he's constantly giving you another chance right he's with such um mercy and compassion he gives me another chance every single day okay so we have to figure out how to be compassionate to people who we know are not changing uh what does it say here man should emulate the attribute of I'm Sorry by at you by learning to be patient and even kind to those who abuse him I mean imagine you're abusing Hashem in in as if he's giving you the life and you are whatever I'm not going to say spitting in his face but you know what I mean something uh quite not nice okay the second one he pardons the iniquity but it really means he carries it he's carrying their sin he's carrying our sin so every time someone sins an accusing Angel comes into being by the way I mean that is the reality that we are creating something that's long-lasting that is either going no they say when we go to heaven right who's going to have these defending angels and these Prosecuting angels and they're going to speak up on our behalf I don't think that's going to happen I'll describe it like this they're just going to show up we created them their very existence speaks volumes so I don't know if they have to say a word oh you know God he did this and this and this nicely you know where God he didn't behave nicely right I don't think they have to say a word the very fact that this energy however you want to call the angel exists is uh so it's uh it's there so that's what happens when we sin God compassionately sustains legal force not just is he giving me life he's keeping those energies alive think about it no he's keeping them alive he's whatever nourishment I don't know if they need the kind of nourishment we need but the fact that the angel anything that exists in this world came into existence where he learned the six constant Dimensions all existence exists because God causes to exist if he wished it out of you know existence who would cease to exist so even the angels that we created he continues their existence God compassionally sustains the evil force so that the sinner may continue to live and have the opportunity to repent so like we spoke about uh Boaz dying the day of or the day after right uh being with Ruth so we say well some people must have thought well maybe Boaz was wrong you know it was shows that he shouldn't have been with a moabite s and yet because I'll tell us knows the opposite that God kept him alive until that day so he could impregnate Ruth so we could have the mashiach come to love it you know the whole story um so from this man should learn to be tolerant even when his neighbor offends him how often are we offended and we whether we go home and tell our spouse or we actually do something not so nice the person defending us I mean there's all kinds of you know actions we could do but how about not just being tolerant somehow learning more tolerance and then helping figure that out in real terms uh what about God overlooks he passes over transgression he's either alpesha so God himself grants forgiveness he doesn't delegate this important function to a deputy I mean he's the one who's granting it so um as it says in Psalms 130 verse 4. for for with you is forgiveness so keep this in mind I mean any ex-christians out there anybody who thought well the only way to get forgiveness is through you know some intermediary God is the only one King David says for with you is forgiveness nobody else okay so what does this attribute teach us that man it teaches man that since every wrong is an affront to God we must strive to correct it no matter who committed it so that this brings us into giving rebuke perhaps we would would we hesitate to save our neighbor's house from fire because we didn't set the blaze we do see things that are obviously wrong in society or things that are being wrong to people not us doing the wrong but we're obligated to somehow fix it so you have to figure out the most effective way and of course we all know screaming and yelling and whatever holding up signs or protesting may not be may not be the most uh effective way inviting someone to ask for Shabbos or asking somebody who you have a problem with coffee and talk about whatever it is you have to be creative there's no question about it um attribute number four the remnant of his Heritage the prophet directs his words to the remnant of Israel which survived the long Exile just imagine I mean when I read I'd learned this I think to myself any Jew on this planet who's still Jewish it means their parents parents great great grandparents broke the ice in Siberia I mean they kept Jewish or could be they converted in the last few Generations but um I mean there's so much gratitude we have to give to our own ancestors because as the generations go on I mean you know I just think about like what it must be like to be a kid on a a campus a college campus today and if you're not really connected to Jewish people you don't want to be the monster right we're so bad and evil to the Palestinians and we're like you know what I mean like there's such anti-Semitism and Jew hatred that you want to hide your jewism and you want to meld melt in you know if you have no concept of how special and important it is to be a Jew so um for the remnant of his Heritage the prophet directs his words the remnant of Israel who survived the long Exile God cannot bear Israel's pain for it is his remnant all that he has in his universe so from God's love for us a Jew learns how to love his fellow man God loves his remnants all Jews are related to each other every one of us are interconnected in each cell there is a portion of all the others it follows therefore that when a Jew sins his wrong affects not only his own soul but also the portion that all the others possess in him so maybe you think twice about sinning maybe hopefully uh um right not from a God who has not retained his wrath eternally even though Israel does not make itself worthy of redemption like we're I'm not going to say far from it I've heard people say that maybe we're really close but it certainly seems at times that we're we got a way to go um God does not retain his wrath against him eternally so in dealing with your neighbors man should end his wrath as soon as possible even when he has just grievance right you know that you're 100 right it doesn't matter you have to pity on these people and number six for he desires kindness God desires kindness and it says he's abundantly kind it says in Exodus 34 6. so when the time arise from the Redemption of Israel God's kindness will overwhelm their sins so when a man is hurt or provoked let him look at the offender's qualities especially his kindness to others and say it's enough that he's kind or it has some fine trait this is a very interesting philosophy within brezloth hasidus it's called a zamra to really look for and I think it's not just them obviously with the Judaism itself it's a Jewish concept uh to find the virtue the good traits in the other and that will elicit love so that's what one has to do they have to sometimes get out of micro microscope or a magnifying glass hopefully not a microscope let's say a magnifying glass where you really have to try to examine find the good in the other person and number seven he will again be merciful to us everything we're saying is the quote from Mika right everyone's following right and so in God's eyes the repentant sinner enjoys a lofty status that's we know the talmud says that the place where a pen and you know someone who de truva stands even a side gum or someone who's perfectly righteous cannot stand so therefore if one's neighbor offended you so afterwards but in other words afterwards sought some type of reconciliation he should show him great degree of friendliness than he did previously can you imagine someone offended you you forgive them now they should have such great esteem in your eyes I doubt many of us do that quite easily but this should change the way you view your ex enemy not only is your ex enemy he's now your your best friend well not your best friend but you know what I mean you hold him in high regard because he came to you okay number eight he will suppress our iniquities foreign so God does not permit a person's sins to offset reward due to him this is like a good thing like you think okay so I did I did x amount of sins boom but I did a whole bunch of merits well you would think that would cancel it out you get zero no you keep your merits but you also keep your sins you have to pay I think it was Columbo maybe not I don't know but yeah you pay you play I'm sure there was a song similar to that that was on TV anybody remember it anyway uh anyway so this is a good thing actually thoughts although sins will result in punishment in the proper time of matter remember you can do trooping not have any punishment at all but just don't think that you're in other words I did all these good things they cancel out no you don't want that you will get reward god promise you get that reward and so you can do truva so you don't get no punishment okay so you're not like religiously relinquishing your reward in in luo of the sins and so he says let me just read thus although sins will result in punishment in the proper time and manner they're they are not permitted to detract from the reward of the missus similarly instead of dwelling on the evil that may have been done to the person one should keep good deals utmost in his mind go up I'm sorry good deeds utmost in his mind so that they may since so that he may sincerely appreciate them doesn't matter how much wrong the other person did focus on the good number nine this is that verse referring to throwing the sins into the depth of the sea and cast into on the right side page 632 by the way this is from this book everything we're reading right now this page is if you have an art scroll box or Rosh Hashanah so this that's what these last pages are okay so we said throwing all these sins into the depths of the sea a Jew's Essence does not become evil despite his having sinned you were created this is a very you know the Christians aren't aware they get this whole idea from but anyway we were created toward pure and the Soul remains pure the essence does not become evil despite his having sin therefore when a good man repents the evil departs from him leaving only his intrinsic goodness this is where the concept of the whole right let me just show this book also this is I don't know if it's in print anymore it's an old art school book called the tashlik um but that's that's the rich the rituals known as tashley from this phrase the wicked are like the Raging Sea as the prophet said in Isaiah 57 20 the wicked are like the troubled sea for cannot rest the waters cast up mire and dirt so here you have Prophet Mika he's saying in effect you will cast all of Israel's sins upon the wicked who are likened to the muddy depths of the sea so what is a man to do you have to feel the pain of the offender let's listen to this a man can emulate this attribute how if he notices that his neighbor is crushed by suffering so in other words you see somebody maybe he's even a sinner maybe he's not so righteous whatever but he is suffering maybe as a result of what he's doing and he's not doing true of us but he's suffering he should realize that the suffering itself cleanses sin and causes the evil to depart and to return to its source you may not see you don't know what's going on his small pain or large pain enough then you should have a lot of minut on this guy um and feel his pain okay number 10 Grant truth to Jacob people who do not go beyond the letter of the law are called Jacob so you have Jacob and then you have Israel Israel is like that's what you want to be that's the top yaka listen it's not so bad don't get me wrong and so Grant true to Jacob people who do not go beyond the letter of the law are called Jacob who are who was symbolized by exact honesty I know you say what do you mean even the word yako means deception and he filed his mother's instructions and he deceived his father and he stole the it says he acted with you know Isaac said who is this he said it it is I ASAP is your first part he didn't lie so it's me comma pause ASAP is your first sport anyway that's not for now it's the whole story in itself but yaakov is truth he's Amos Amos Lee Jacob and who is a symbol of exact honesty towards those who conduct themselves with precise truth as defined by the Allah you find these people they follow the to the T listen I know if that's where you want to be it says the the we were eggs out from Jerusalem because we found the it's not a great place to be although it's not so bad either right if you're like but the problem was they were following it to the T God wants us to get into the spirit of the law can I get a Hallelujah there you go come on all together God wants us to follow the spirit of the law which means beyond the letter of the law okay that's in Hebrew with name assurance and that's what we're talking about shortly one second towards those who conduct themselves with precise truth is defined by the god exercises comparison in accordance with his rigid standards of Truth so what should we do a man should treat his neighbor with truth thus even average people will be perfected in accordance with the quality of Truth No it's not so bad next 11 kindness to avraham ah s this refers to the righteous people who go beyond the letter of the law as did our patriarch Abra God reciprocates and behaves towards these people with kindness beyond the letter of the law this is where we really want to be I think right so what do you do when someone comes in contact with people whose Devotion to God is outstanding he should exceed the requirements of the law such people should be most beloved on high in other words to you you should honor these people more or show them you respect what they're doing okay as opposed to what made people do okay exercise attribute number 12. as you swore to our forefathers see God's showed Mercy even to the undeserved meaning he swore to who they were deserving but we're his children grandchildren right where his are we all deserving no but God promised even to the undeserving so God shows his Mercy even to the undeservant because he swore to their forefathers that he would care for their descendants he has a special Storehouse of Grace as it were for the Unworthy they received this Grace as an unearned gift so too how do we do it similarly one should be gracious even to evildoers I mean that's like a big gulp like no way no how how can we do that well we have to figure it out saying oh this man Remains the son of Abraham Isaac and Jacob if I were to disgrace him I'm bringing disgrace on their fathers I mean we share the same great-grandparents so if I shame a Jew I'm putting Abraham Isaac Jacob and all the 60 Generations between now and then to shame and that's not a good thing to do and let me just where did I leave off if I would disgrace him I would bring disgrace upon the fathers and I have no desire to place the holy Patriarchs uh humiliation humiliated through me that's for sure not so think twice the last attribute I would say at this point drum roll please okay there we go from ancient times uh we make Heaven even if the Merit of the forefathers were to be exhausted because there's a whole my focus can we even rely on that Merit of Abraham Isaac and Jacob or has it already been used up we don't know but there's an argument so even if the murder of the forefathers were to be exhausted God would be merciful because of the Good Deeds that Israel performed from the days of its Inception similarly when you encounter a person who seems to lack virtue and I'm sure we run into them numerous times a day one should say surely in his early youth this person performs some good deed he was probably cute probably brought his mother a lot of nachas maybe he even honored his parents at the age of three or four good maybe he even returned the Lost object once I mean you have to really come you have to be quite creative but it's okay thus no one will be found Unworthy of goodness and mercy remember when you do this this is how God we want God to react positive to us remember we're pulling his we're yanking his chain if I could say that right you know we're taught you know playing with the rope and listening a response and he's opening the water fountain or the the spigot of Shepherd it's going to come down to us so here's the last few lines and these are the 13 attributes by which man can initiate imitate the Creator if he does so on Earth he will cause Divine quality of Mercy to shine upon the world therefore exhorts the Tamar devorah repeat and remember these attributes so they may be a constant reminder to follow in God's ways and with that I wish you all a great week a great month a great upcoming year we're going to be judged for where we are now and where we want to be okay so hopefully we have dreams and hopefully this is our dream to be more like God because Adam man is similar he's been selling Elohim he's in the image of God he's got shadow we can go all the way back to the beginning of this year rewind what do they used to say when you used to get those little cassettes Be Kind Rewind I don't think I've do that anymore today but push replay and watch from the beginning and I wish you all shout out to all the best [Music] everybody love me