* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
Now that Jews all over the world are reciting Selichot, let us focus on the core of the Selichot prayers: the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy.
People chant, pray, shout, and sing these words that describe God’s way of directing the world again and again—how He is merciful and gives the sinner a second chance, how He treats us with kindness. These words were first spoken by God to Moshe after the sin of the golden calf when we regretted our sin and were granted forgiveness.
“God, God, Compassionate and Gracious. Slow to anger, and Abundant in Kindness and Truth, Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of iniquity, willful sin and error, and Who cleanses.”
But our Sages emphasize an important point. The purpose of reciting these divine attributes is not merely to proclaim how much God is merciful and compassionate, how much He is willing to pardon and forgive. The secret there is that we, too, should conduct our lives in accordance with these attributes. Our Sages wrote: “Just as His is merciful—so shall you be merciful.” God is teaching us to imitate His ways, to be compassionate and tolerant of others.
And there is another level here: In the same way that a person judges his fellow human being here in this world, so will he be judged on high. God mirrors our behavior: God treats a person the way that he treats others.
In other words, during these days of Selichot leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we should not only recite the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy but try to incorporate them into our own lives.
May we merit to walk in God’s ways.
