״וַיַּעֲבוֹר ה׳ עַל פָּנָיו וַיִּקְרָא….״

אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: אִלְמָלֵא מִקְרָא כָּתוּב, אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְאוֹמְרוֹ. מְלַמֵּד שֶׁנִּתְעַטֵּף הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כִּשְׁלִיחַ צִבּוּר, וְהֶרְאָה לוֹ לְמֹשֶׁה סֵדֶר תְּפִלָּה.

אָמַר לוֹ: כׇּל זְמַן שֶׁיִּשְׂרָאֵל חוֹטְאִין — יַעֲשׂוּ לְפָנַי כַּסֵּדֶר הַזֶּה וַאֲנִי מוֹחֵל לָהֶם.

 

 

“And Hashem passed by before him, and proclaimed” (Shemos 34:6)

Rabbi Yochanan explains, “Had the Torah not said it, it would be prohibited to say. It teaches that Hashem wrapped Himself in a tallis like a chazzan, and taught Moshe an order of prayer. [Hashem] said to him, ‘Whenever Israel sin, they can perform this order before Me and I will forgive them. ‘Hashem Hashem…’ (ibid vv. 6-7)

He [Rav Yehudah] said to him, “Hashem made a covenant that the Thirteen Attributes will never return empty. As it says, ‘Behold I am making a covenant…’ (ibid v. 10)”

– Rosh haShanah 17b

Based on this gemara, the Thirteen Middos haRachamim were made the centerpiece of Selichos. Basically the “chorus” between the refrains of the Selichos lyrics. After all, they come with a guarantee of forgiveness.

And yet… We all know people who say these words with deep conviction and with every fiber of their being but that isn’t followed with a perfect year. In fact, the entire concept doesn’t seem to fit; are we really saying an unrepentant murderer simply recite a couple of verses and be forgiven?

We need to pick up on Rabbi Yochanan’s choice of verb to understand what we are doing during Selichos every time we repeat these words, He doesn’t say “יֹאמְרוּ לְפָנַי כַּסֵּדֶר הַזֶּה – say this order before Me”, he says “יַעֲשׂוּ – perform“.

It seems to me that the numerous repetitions of the Thirteen Middos is a Mussar practice. A constant reminder and recommitment to imitate the various aspects of the Almighty’s examples of Compassion. As though this were a Hispa’alus study, the Mussar student who repeats a line until it is beyond memorized and well internalized.

And this idea of the Thirteen Middos as a Mussar practice is also why they are broken down into a taxonomy of 13 subtly different things to work on.

If you need help finding out what it is to emulate them, I can offer three possibilities:

1. Tomer Devorah, by Rav Moshe Cordevero, explains how to emulate each of the Ten Sefiros. The first, Keser, corresponds to the Thirteen Middos haRachamim. So, I highly recommend studying chapter 1, in which the Ramac explains each Middah and how to emulate it.
   But this list uses a verse in Mikhah, “מִי־קֵ֣ל כָּמ֗וֹךָ”m and so while useful as a primary source of Middos to emulate, it’s hard to map them as “Tefillah Meanings” to the individual words said during Selichos.
2. Here is a link to a handy bookmark-shaped infographic made by NCSY of Thirteen Middos and ways to emulate them. Take it with you to Selichos. Again, the link is here.
3. Last, there is the list I made for in Aseres Yemei Teshuvah Reader (pg. 47). (Designed for people who have a hard time paying attention through the long Chazaros haSha”tz of the Yamim Nora’im and want something on-topic to read.)
   Unsurprisingly, I break the list down into four groups…

I wrote this piece for two reasons:
The obvious one was to share my own approach to this refrain of Selichos, in time for tonight’s recitation, in case it helps any of you.
Also, to be honest, I wrote this because if I didn’t fill the time by writing a post, I would be half-asleep for tonight’s midnight Selichos recitation!