The great commentator, Baal Haturim, culls a fascinating list of 70 Names that allude to G-d. Some of these Names of G-d have special holiness and we may not say them in vain. Ad-o-noy and E-lo-him are two of these special Names and these are mentioned most often in our blessings and prayers.
These two Names of G-d appear in the beginning of the Torah when the Torah describes creation. Each Name refers to a unique character trait of G-d. E-lo-him, connotes G-d in judgment mode, while Ad-o-noy, refers to G-d in merciful mode.
During the prayers associated with the High Holiday season we recite the 13 attributes of G-d’s mercy that were recited by our leader Moshe to save the Jewish nation after they committed the grave sin of the golden calf.
The 13 merciful characteristics of G-d are: “Ad-onoy, Ad-o-noy, E-l, 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.”
Because this powerful prayer consists of the number 13, whenever the number 13 comes up in any context our Sages make an association. For example, the Hebrew letters that spell out our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaacov, equal 13. We can understand this because whenever we express their righteous names it evokes a sense of mercy from on High.
The Talmud points out that when G-d gave Avraham the mitzvah of Bris – circumcision – the word Bris (treaty) appears 13 times in the verses. When a baby has a Bris, indicating he has entered into the fold, it evokes a feeling of mercy on High, and indeed, during a Bris is an auspicious time to pray for one’s needs.
In this week’s Parsha the Torah details the laws of Bikurim. Bikurim are the first fruits to bud of the seven fruits that the Land of Israel is noted for. The owner places these fruits in a vessel and brings them to the Temple in Jerusalem and presents them to the Kohain while reciting verses of gratitude to the Almighty.
Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk in his masterful work Meshach Chochma, points out that the merciful name of G-d, A-do-noy appears 13 times in the portion of Bikurim and he says that Bikurim has an association with the 13 attributes of G-d’s mercy – for where the 13 attributes appear in the Torah there is a brief mention of the Mitzvah of Bikurim nearby.
Thus the Mitzva of Bikurim, where one brings his first fruits and expresses his gratitude to G-d, evokes G-d’s mercy and triggers blessings to the owners.
Last week, I listened to a talk given by my Rebbe, Rabbi Yaacov Schnaidman and he related that he had posed the following question to a group of youngsters. “In the 13 attributes of mercy we find that one of them is Emes – truth. How can truth be understood as being merciful? After all, if one is dealt with truthfully, wouldn’t that fall into the category of judgement?
He said that a nine year old boy gave him the following profound answer. “Truth, is not necessarily referring to judging the deed that was done; the Truth in G-d’s mercy is that G-d looks at the underlying True essence of His people. Yes, we stumble and commit sins, however, when G-d looks at us in a merciful mode he looks at our True essence and sees, that by definition, we are good and are not connected with the sins we may have committed. The quintessence of a Jew is that he is good and wants to do G-d’s will – that is the truth that G-d sees in us in His merciful approach!”
This is a very welcoming, encouraging and hopeful outlook that we can embrace and think about as Rosh Hashana draws near. “Yes, during the course of the year we may have tripped up and displayed imperfect behavior, but this will not impede us from endeavoring to overcome our struggles because it does not define who we really are. G-d sees that our core and essence is good and pure, and wants to be connected with Him!”
