“It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I’m right.” (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière)

Genesis 42: 1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” 2 He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. 5 So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also.

6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked.

“From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”

8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

10 “No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

12 “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

13 But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

14 Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies! 15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 17 And he put them all in custody for three days.

18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do.

21 They said to one another, “Surely we are guilty (Asheimim) because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.”

The brothers acknowledge their guilt for refusing to listen to Joseph’s cries even though they saw his distress. They did not say that they were guilty for not listening, but for not listening after they saw Joseph’s suffering.

We are approaching the Vidui as a way of learning from our mistakes: Did the brothers learn from this mistake? Did they change after acknowledging their sin?

The brothers “Knew” they were right when they threw their brother into the pit. They saw him as destructive, dangerous to the family’s unity. The Sages describe the brothers as convening a Court and sentencing Joseph to death!

They are do not openly state that they were wrong for getting rid of Joseph, only for ignoring his cries even after they saw his agony. It is difficult to pay attention when you know you are right!

Reuben attempts to have them consider that they were altogether wrong, “Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood,” but he is ignored. As far as the brothers are concerned, they were guilty only for ignoring Joseph’s cries even after seeing his suffering.

Did they attempt to repair their sin?

They did: “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father (50:15-16).” Rashi says that they sent the children of Bilhah to speak to Joseph, because he had always been very friendly with them.

I believe that the choice of the sons of Bilhah was an attempt to repair the sin described above. Joseph surely suffered when he realized that his brothers wanted to kill him, but suffered most from the hatred, or, at the very least, the silence of the brothers with whom he was friendly. The choice of these brothers, who had hurt Joseph the most was an indication that they were paying attention to Joseph’s experience; his pain, his response. They were attempting to repair the lack of sensitivity they displayed when they ignored his cries by demonstrating that they were now paying attention to his emotions. This was the rectification of their Ashamnu.

It is only when they attempt to repair the Ashamnu that they first acknowledge that they were wrong: “I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.”

The lack of sensitivity and compassion for Joseph prevented them from reconsidering their decision. Once they repaired the Ashamnu, they were able to reevaluate all their actions.

Application:

There are times when we reach a decision and act so convinced that we are correct that we ignore the effects of our decisions on others. That is Ashamnu. (Five of the six Asham Offerings are associated with the impact of our decisions on others. The sixth, Asham Talui, the Doubt Asham, is focused on dealing with doubting a “right” decision.)

A person is so careful with the laws of negative speech that he will not share information when asked for a recommendation for a Shidduch or a business transaction.

A person accepts new religious stringencies without considering the impact on his or her spouse.

The point of reciting Ashamnu is to identify such moments and commit to take specific action to rectify the lack of sensitivity. The Tikkun can be to commit to being a better listener, or to review important decisions with the people who will be most affected by the decision.

“Ashamnu; I have acted without being sufficiently sensitive to the impact of my decisions and actions on others. I commit to repair this sin by paying more attention to the reactions of others to my decisions.”

See: http://www.thefoundationstone.org/en/holidays/yom-kippur/1446-confessions-ashamnu.html

http://www.thefoundationstone.org/en/holidays/yom-kippur/4086-confessionsashamnu.html

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

David Morris writes in “The Culture of Pain” that to a doctor, pain is a puzzle, but to a patient it is a mystery, in the ancient sense of the word, a truth necessarily closed off from full understanding, which refuses to yield every quantum of its darkness: “a landscape where nothing looks entirely familiar and where even the familiar takes on an uncanny strangeness.”

I study the Vidui, the Yom Kippur Confession, and immediately experience the mystery of pain. I grew up observing people weeping as they recited the Vidui. When asked, they would describe the pain they felt over their mistakes, and how undeserving they were of God’s blessings. I never heard that approach from my father zt”l, but it left its mark. Here I am, pained over my imperfections and failings. I am viewing my life through the eyes of the Vidui, the things I could be doing better, and the landscape looks different from my regular perspective. I try to observe all that I do through the eyes of God’ Judgment, not my daily perspective, and everything becomes slightly unfamiliar. I become a mystery to myself. Why is it so difficult to change? Why do I repeat the same mistakes year after year? In my regular view, my anger was appropriate. In the Vidui’s view, the situation is different; there was no call for anger and resentment.

If my Vidui causes me to see me and my life as mysteries, how will it help me change in practical ways? Are Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur about the mysteries of life or the way we deal with what we perceive?

I decided to take the physician’s perspective; that of a puzzle, not a mystery. I acknowledge the pain and attempt to understand it as a piece of the huge puzzle of a human being struggling with life: “Is the pain another piece in the complex puzzle of my life?”

For some people, the pain is how they experience Teshuva – they only feel that they are doing Teshuva when they feel pain over their mistakes. They want to feel the pain. It becomes an essential part of their religious life: “If I can’t live at a higher level, I will, at least, be pained that I cannot. The pain is my way of exculpating my inadequacies.” The pain has become part of the person’s service. It is one piece of the puzzle; a piece that adds pain to their spiritual lives. They do not believe in the pure joy of serving God; it must come with some pain.

That cannot be the intent of the Vidui.

The Vidui lays out a structure that describes our struggle with mastering a spiritual life challenged by the mundane. It lists the daunting challenges of living a God oriented life. It lays out the map of how spiritual yearnings may mislead us. It points out where we are straying from the path to success. I can pinpoint my mistakes and sigh in relief, not pain, as I realize where and how I can return to my path.

The Vidui helps me identify the source of my pain, and repair it. It is not intended to cause pain, but to identify it at its source. It restores the joy in my service of God. It heals me. It empowers me to move forward without pain.

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The philosopher Michel Foucault postulates that modern medicine began when doctors stopped asking patients, “What is the matter with you?” a question that invited a complex personal response, and began asking, “Where does it hurt?” instead, a question that focuses solely on biology.

What happens when we study the Vidui, the Yom Kippur Confession as a response to these two question?

If the Vidui is in response to “What is the matter with you?”, we offer a long list of all the things that are wrong with the way we behave, a personal response describing symptoms. We will beat our chests, perhaps even cry, and hopefully, promise to change.

However, if our confession is in response to, “Where does it hurt?” we are crying to God as the Ultimate Healer, listing the places within that pain us. We are describing our frustration with internal limitations and illnesses that prevent us from becoming the people we dream of being.

The first response is a psychotherapy session. We will literally “get it off our chests.” The latter is an appointment with a great diagnostician and healer. Such a Vidui is the opening round in a search for a cure.

Before 1882, when the tuberculosis bacterium was identified, consumptives were suspected to struggle with evil spirits, vampirism, vapors, a struggle between body and soul, or even a curse. The disease was personal. “What’s the matter with you?” was literal. It would be half a century before the cure, antibiotics, would appear, but the question changed. The patient could view himself without the crushing burden of personal responsibility for his illness.

We recite the Vidui as a community. We are not the consumptive coughing blood as we hide in a nineteenth century mountain sanatorium. We do not list our responses to “What is the matter with you?”, as if the problems are our own. We are the consumptives who know that the bacterium exists and present the illness to the Healer, requesting a diagnosis and cure. “This is where it hurts!” we declare. This is how we have been infected by dangerous bacteria.

The Vidui does not begin as a personal description of our faults. It is a reading of the diagnostic manual of illnesses and symptoms. It is a pathological report. It is a cry for healing.

We follow the Ashamnu-Bagadnu with the Al-Cheit, as a description of what we must change to be freed of the illnesses described in the opening Vidui. We suffer these diseases because we make ourselves vulnerable when we act with a stubborn heart, or without thinking.

We accept responsibility for making ourselves vulnerable. We acknowledge that our actions make us susceptible to the diseases listed in Ashamnu-Bagadnu, and then ask God as Healer, to cure the disease.

“Where does it hurt?” asks God. “It hurts here, and here, and here. It hurts that we cannot connect with You because of our diseases. It hurts that we are so ill that it is difficult to change the behaviors that make us susceptible to spiritual illness. Heal us!”

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We approach God on Rosh Hashanah on many levels. One approach is that of a subject participating in the coronation of his King, and relating as a subject to a King. This series, “King and Subject,” will focus on verses that describe the relationship between a King and His subjects.

“God, deliver us! The King will answer us on the day we call (Psalms 20:10).” What is the deliverance we seek? What do we want that must happen immediately, “on the day we call”? We look to God, the King, as using Is power to empower us with the intellect and perception to know how to properly address Him. We turn to the King and say, “We need You, as King, to teach us how to speak to You as King.” (Ohr haMeir, Miketz)

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One of the ways we approach God on the Day of Judgment is as a child approaching a parent. This series, Father and Child, will focus on versus that describe the relationship between a parent and a child.

“I will tell of the decree: God said to me, ‘ You are My son, I have this day given birth to you’ (Psalms 2:7).” “I will tell of the decree,” the following is to me a decree, without reason or rationale, for what am I, what is the meaning of my life, what is my importance, that God would say, “you are my son.”? I do not deserve this unless I hear the stress on the word “this day,” “Hayom,” that God is telling me, “Today I am looking at you the way a parent looks at a child in the 1st moments of the child’s life when everything is perfect and beautiful. This is the way I see you on Rosh Hashanah. Turn to Me and share in the beauty that I see in you.” (Yeitiv Lev, Re’ei)

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“Perhaps the history of the errors of mankind, all things considered, is more valuable and interesting than that of their discoveries. Truth is uniform and narrow; it constantly exists, and does not seem to require so much an active energy, as a passive aptitude of soul in order to encounter it. But error is endlessly diversified, it has no reality, but it is the pure and simple creation of the mind that invents it. In this field, the soul has room enough to expand herself, to display all her boundless faculties, and all her beautiful and interesting extravangancies and absurdities.” (Report of Dr Benjamin Franklin, and Other Commissioners, Charged by the King of France, with the Examination of the Animal Magnetism, as Now Practiced in Paris [1784])

“And this stumbling block is under your hand (Isaiah 3:6).” This verse discusses the time preceding the destruction of the First Temple, when the people of Jerusalem had become lax in the study of Torah, and experts capable of issuing halachic rulings were scarce. Whenever people would encounter someone who seemed well-versed in Torah, they would implore him to assume the position as their halachic authority. They would say, “Come, become our leader, for this stumbling block, the Torah, is under your hand,” meaning you are well versed in the Torah’s laws.

Rabbah bar Rav Huna wanted to retract one of his halachic rulings. “He assigned an announcer before him to broadcast his retraction, and he expounded: ‘And this stumbling block is under your hand.’ Why is the Torah referred to as a stumbling block? Because a person does not arrive at a full understanding of the words of Torah unless he has first stumbled in interpreting them (Gittin 43a).” Rashi explains that if a sage stumbles and rules incorrectly, and is rebuked by his colleagues, he will concentrate until he fully understands the matter.

I would like to take the approach this year to the Vidui, the confession of Ashamnu, Bagadnu, of acknowledging mistakes and articulating what we can learn from our mistakes. I believe that the physical action of pounding our chests during the Vidui contains both elements: we bring our fist to our chest as we acknowledge our sin, but then pull our fist away from us toward the future to indicate grow that we will because of, and through our mistakes.

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II Kings 23:1-9, 21-25: “Before him there had never been a king who returned to God with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his resources, according to the entire Torah of Moshe, and after him, no one arose like him.” This is a story of Pesach as a tale of the Shema; “with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his resources,” and Yom Kippur, “who returned to God.”

I’m not happy when people observe Yom Kippur only as a serious day of trembling without the joy that comes with atonement, purity, and deep connection to God. I’m even unhappier when people treat Pesach as another one of those Yom Kippurs; not as a day of rejoicing in freedom and singing Hallel, but obsessing over the laws to the point that they are only happy with added strictures, terrified of making the slightest mistake. Our story, that of Yoshiyahu’s Pesach of Shema, Teshuva, and Covenant, is the real story of Pesach: “For such a Pesach Offering had not been offered since the days of the Judges who judged Israel, and all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah (Verse 22).” This Pesach was greater than King David’s, Solomon’s, Yehoshafat, and Chizkiyahu! What made it so special?

The young king, raised in a house of idol worshippers, understood that God’s House could not remain in disrepair. He ordered a remodeling, and during the process something rare was discovered; a Sefer Torah. It was the Torah written by Moshe. They opened the scroll and read Ki Tavo, describing the consequences of violating God’s covenant by serving Him without joy. Yoshiyahu revered the Torah as The Book of Covenant; the Book to which we said at Sinai, “We will do, and we will relate.” “Relate,” as in “Nishmah,” of Shema!

Yoshiyahu, “Stood on the platform and sealed a covenant before God: to follow God and to observe His commandments, His testimonies, and His decrees (Hints of the Wise Child) with a complete heart and a complete soul, to establish the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And the entire people accepted the covenant (Verse 3).”

Yoshiyahu began this Pesach with a Covenant of Relationship, just as did the Children of Israel begin their Pesach with the Covenant of Milah.

It was only after the people sealed their Covenant of Relationship with God that they began their Pesach cleaning: “The king instructed Hilkiyahu the Kohen Gadol, the Kohanim of the second rank, and the gate keepers to remove from the Temple of God all the vessels that had been made  for the Baal, the Asheirah, and all the heavenly hosts (Verse 4).” He Pesach cleaned all of Israel, “He brought all the Kohanim from the cities of Judah and he defiled the high places where the priests used to burn offerings (Verse 8).”

After the Covenant, and the Pesach cleaning of all that would interfere with the relationship he, “Commanded the entire nation, saying, ‘Bring the Pesach Offering to God, your Lord (Verse 21).”

This was a “whole” Pesach, “you shall not break a bone in it (Exodus 12:46),” as the original Pesach. It was an expression of Covenant, Relationship, Cleansing ( as in, “You shall nullify the leaven from your homes [12:15]), and Holy Convocation (as in, “On the first day shall be a holy convocation [12:16]). They returned to that first Pesach; Teshuvah, and celebrated a Pesach of the Freedom of Relationship.

This was Yoshiyahu’s Pesach, and this can be ours as well.

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He is sitting in his living room studying a scroll he inherited for Methusaleh, his wife preparing dinner, his kids in cheder, when God appears to Noah: “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with corruption through them; and behold, I am about to destroy them from the earth. Make for yourself an Ark…I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall enter the Ark…” (Genesis 6:13-21)

I don’t know about you, but if God appeared to me and gave those instruction, I would feel pretty good about myself. He is going to destroy the earth, but will save my family, me, and make a covenant with me!

I imagine that when God appears the person experiences total clarity, so, it is safe to assume that Noah knew that God liked him. Yet, the Sages question the Torah’s praises of Noah. Some say he was the real thing, while others say that he was only considered a righteous man in his generation; compared to his contemporaries. Why do the Sages qualify the Torah’s praises of Noah?

Because Noah did! “Then God said to Noah, ‘Come to the Ark, you and all your household, for it is you that I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation.’” (7:1) Why did God add “for it is you that I have seen to be righteous before Me” only at the point when Noah had to enter the Ark?

It seems as if Noah did not appreciate that God was saving him because of his righteousness. Even after receiving a prophecy, defined as absolute clarity (Derech Hashem, 3:3:4), Noah did not feel that God chose him because of his righteousness. Some clarity was missing. Noah, the “Righteous man, perfect in his generations (See “Noah, Man of Clarity”), Noah walked with the Lord,” (6:9) did not perceive himself as a Tzaddik, and refused to believe that God chose him because of his righteousness. Noah had a vision problem. (See “All Sorts of Arks,” and “The View From The Window”)

Noah had to learn to appreciate himself before he could successfully rebuild the earth. The Tzohar, that shone the Ark’s light outward, was to teach him to see his own inner light. He had to see, appreciate and honor the light of someone who could stand up to more than a century of ridicule, dedicate 120 years to building the Ark without hearing God’s voice again until just before the flood, and care for the animals day and night. The light in the Ark was Noah’s inner light. The Tzohar took that illumination and shone it outward. The world was dead, dark and empty. The inside of the Ark was teeming with life and filled with light. Noah had to see that light, for he would need it once he stepped out of the Ark.

We spent most of the month of Tishrei inside the Ark of intense holidays, all filled with light. The light we experienced was our inner light, and the Tzohar of the Succah, the open spaces in the S’chach reminded us that we can shine that light outward, beyond the walls of the Succah, the Ark of the Holidays.

We must spend time reflecting on the inner light we saw over Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succot and Simchat Torah, so that we are fully prepared to step away from the Ark back into the world and continue to shine as we build a better world.

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We continue to recite L’David; Hashem Ori, (Psalm 27) until Hoshanah Rabbah because of the verse, “He hides me in the covert of His tent (Sukkoh).” The nature of the Psalm changes after our Yom Kippur achievements, as do the thirteen mentions of God’s Name, corresponding to the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy.

The nature of the Covenant of The Thirteen Attributes also changes after Yom Kippur to carry us from the Judgment to Hoshanah Rabbah, when the ‘Piska,” or ‘Judge’s Ruling,’ is, so to speak, delivered and final.

We must therefore have different intentions when reciting the Thirteen Names while singing this Psalm. I offer the basic, intermediate and advanced presentations, based on the most common listing of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, followed by the Ari’s listing:

Note: 13 is the numerical value of “Echad,”:

Basic:

1. God’s Uniqueness (Level I),


2. Simplicity (Level II),


3. Unity (Level III),


4. The Only True Being (Level IV)

Intermediate:

1. “Echad,” God’s Uniqueness (Assiyah),


2. Simplicity  (Yetzirah),


3. Unity (Beriah),


4. The Only True Being (Atzilut)

Advanced

One should have in mind when concentrating on the Thirteen Attributes to unify them in each of the Four Levels of Existence:

From Yom Kippur – Succot: Assiyah,

First Day(s): Yetzirah,

Chol Hamoed: Beriah,

Hoshanah Rabbah: Atzilut.

Basic:

1 [A Psalm] of David. God (Hashem) is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

God (Hashem) is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When evil-doers came upon me to eat up my flesh,

even mine adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.

3 Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war should rise up against me, even then will I be confident.

4 One thing have I asked of God (Kail), that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of God (Rachum) all the days of my life,

to behold the graciousness of God (V’Chanun), and to visit early in His temple.

5 For He conceals me in His pavilion in the day of evil;

He hides me in the covert of His tent; He lifts me up upon a rock.

6 And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me; and I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices with trumpet-sound;

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto God (Erech Apayim).

7 Hear, O God (V’Rav Chesed), when I call with my voice, and be gracious unto me, and answer me.

8 In Your behalf my heart has said: ‘Seek you My face’; Your face, God (Ve’Emet), will I seek.

9 Hide not Your face from me; put not Your servant away in anger;

You have been my help; cast me not off, neither forsake me, O Lord of my salvation.

10 For though my father and my mother have forsaken me, God (Notzair Chesed La’alafim) will take me up.

11 Teach me Your way, O God (Nosei Avon); and lead me in an even path, because of them that lie in wait for me.

12 Deliver me not over to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out violence.

13 If I had not believed to look upon the goodness of God (VaFesha)in the land of the living!–

14 Wait on God (V’Chata’a); be strong, and let Your heart take courage; yea, wait You for God (Vinakei).

According To The Ari’s List of The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy:

1 [A Psalm] of David. God (Kail) is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

God (Rachum) is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When evil-doers came upon me to eat up my flesh,

even mine adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.

3 Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

Though war should rise up against me, even then will I be confident.

4 One thing have I asked of God (V’Chanun)), that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of God (Erech) all the days of my life,

to behold the graciousness of God (Apayim)), and to visit early in His temple.

5 For He conceals me in His pavilion in the day of evil;

He hides me in the covert of His tent; He lifts me up upon a rock.

6 And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me; and I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices with trumpet-sound;

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto God (Rav Chesed).

7 Hear, O God (Emet), when I call with my voice, and be gracious unto me, and answer me.

8 In Your behalf my heart has said: ‘Seek you My face’; Your face, God (Notzair Chesed), will I seek.

9 Hide not Your face from me; put not Your servant away in anger;

You have been my help; cast me not off, neither forsake me, O Lord of my salvation.

10 For though my father and my mother have forsaken me, God (La’alafim) will take me up.

11 Teach me Your way, O God (Nosei Avon); and lead me in an even path, because of them that lie in wait for me.

12 Deliver me not over to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out violence.

13 If I had not believed to look upon the goodness of God (VaFesha)in the land of the living!–

14 Wait on God (V’Chata’a); be strong, and let Your heart take courage; yea, wait You for God (Vinakei).

Intermediate:



Ari:

1. “Kail,” I feel empowered by Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as in, “Eilei HaAretz,” “The mighty of the land.” (Ezekeil 17:13)


2. “Rachum,” although God is Infinite and awesome, He relates to us as we are, with full awareness and appreciation of our strengths and struggles. (See Kuzari I:I) He is thus, “the stronghold of my life.”


3. “Chanun” is the largest of the Treasure Houses in Heaven (Shemot Rabbah 45:6), the Treasure of “Matnat Chinam,” “Free Gifts,” that anable us to ask, as in, “One thing have I asked of God.”


4. “Erech” is long lasting, as in, “all the days of my life.” God uses “Erech” to delay punishment, even as He grants us “Erech” as “all the days of my life.”


5. “Apayim,”  God relates to us on multiple levels, so that even after we sin against Him we can still request, “to behold the graciousness of God, and to visit early in His temple.”


6. “Rav Chesed” points to our ability to receive God’s Chesed Life-Force, and share it with others. It is for this that, “I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto God.”


7. “Emet” gives meaning to all we do; Our choices matter. It is because we are active participants in God’s Creation that we can say, “Hear, O God (Emet), when I call with my voice, and be gracious unto me, and answer me.” God hears our prayers because we truly matter.


8. “Notzair Chesed” takes even our thoughts to do good and gives them substance. God listens even when, “In Your behalf my heart has said,” it was only in my heart, and raises the thought as if it were action.


9. “La’alafim,” for a thousand generations would seem to limit God’s Chesed; Only to a thousand generations, and no more? When God showers Chesed on the world, He directs it to those who will most effectively use it. “La’alafim” is the expression of God’s commitment to us each second of our existence, so that, “For though my father and my mother have forsaken me, God will take me up.”

10-12: “Nosei Avon, Vafesha, V’Chata’ah” describes how even after God has empowered us to act with meaning, our choices matter to existence, He is willing to “carry” our deliberate sins, our acts of rebellion, and our mistakes,” so that they will not burden us. I need Him to, “lead me in an even path, because of them that lie in wait for me,” my deliberate sins, so that I can, “look upon the goodness of God in the land of the living,” despite my rebellion and choosing to avoid looking upon His Face and walking in the Land of the Living, and I can take, “heart take courage.”

13. “Vinakei” is that God allows those who say, I only “wait You for God,” which is the reconnection of Teshuvah: Despite all I have done, I “wait You for God,” to reconnect to Him without any barriers.

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1. “Kail” as the embodiment of the initial Ratzon, or, Will, to create the world, bringing Life-Force – Chesed. This is the source of all the Light – Perceiving God’s Presence – in my life’s work.


2. “Rachum” corresponds to the umbilical cord that connects the fetus in the womb, or “Rechem.” It represents the pathways God offers us to achieve Eternal Life through our efforts in this limited world. He empowers us to achieve beyond our physical limitations.


3. “Chanun” is the ultimate Infinite gift of Eternal Life in Olam Habbah, the very thing we request in, “One thing have I asked of God.”


4. “Erech” is the Attribute God used to “extend” life despite the fact that He told Adam, “On the day you eat of it, you shall die.” “Erech” extends all our merits to become part of our being, “all the days of my life,” even if we act against God’s wishes, contradicting those merits. That extension is also used to extend our service beyond the actual work and accomplishment.


5. “Apayim,” or, “Faces,” is plural, at least two. It expands “Erech,” twofold, so that the “Erech” becomes three, corresponding to, “Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh,” Heaven, Earth, and Eternal Life. The three levels of Kadosh allow us “to behold the graciousness of God, and to visit early in His temple,” meaning, to live on Earth, yet touch Heaven, and see beyond time.


6. “Rav Chesed” describes the gift of being able to generate our own Life Force with the Chesed we receive from God. Rav means to increase, as in a Rav, or, Rabbi. When we learn how to use our Service of God to nurture our own Life Force, we emulate the Creator, and can expand His Presence in this world, the power to recite, “Baruch Ata Hashem,” as giving a Blessing to God, as in, “I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto God.”


7. “Emet” empowers all our actions, speech and prayer with the Truth of God’s Existence when we access that truth by constantly requesting, “Hear, O God (Emet), when I call with my voice, and be gracious unto me, and answer me.”


8. “Notzair Chesed” is related to “Tzinor,” the pipes that connect even our thoughts and desires to the Highest Worlds, with the ability to change realities as determined in our “Mazal.” (Sha’ar HaKavanot, Derushei ‘Va’Ya’avor,’ #5) “In Your behalf my heart has said,” even the thoughts of my heart are so connected.


9. “La’alafim” corresponds to, “You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19) God directs His unlimited Chesed toward our accomplishments even as He blocks it from our sins. He does this completely for us, with total focus on our needs, growth and development, so that even if, “For though my father and my mother have forsaken me, God will take me up.”

10-12. “Nosei Avon, Vafesha, V’Chata’ah”address the weaknesses in our service, “I can’t,” “I don’t want to,” and, “I’m confused.” God empowers our positive actions even when they suffer these weaknesses.

13. “Vinakei” incorporates and unifies the previous 12 Attributes, so that I can live my life, “wait You for God,” to attach to God in Olam Habbah.

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

Our prayers extended beyond the official closing moment of Yom Kippur. We were in a different dimension, a place beyond time. Heaven? I don’t know, but there was this smell wafting through the air, and for people who have been fasting for twenty- five hours, the smell was definitely heavenly. We assumed that the smell of fresh baked medialunas was just part of the heaven experience. (God prefers Argentines, so it had to be medialunas, and not the lowly croissant.) The problem was that we all began sniffing the air: “Forgive us!” Sniff. “Hear our prayers!” Sniff. “Don’t close the gates!” Sniff.  It was a strange heavenly experience. Was God testing us? Was He challenging us to maintain our concentration despite the heavenly fragrance?

When we finished our prayers and stepped toward the Break the Fast Table celebrating our Yom Kippur accomplishments (See “Poof! It was Gone.) we realized that the medialunas were heavenly, but the one testing us was not God, but Debbie. She wanted our Break the Fast to parallel the Kohen Gadol’s post Yom Kippur party, so she placed a few dozen of her treats into the oven the minute the day was officially over.

Everyone was so happy with the medialunas that they forgave her challenge of Neilah fragrances, everyone, that is, except for me! I can’t eat them. I had to eat gluten free cookies while everyone else was devouring a heavenly treat. Alas! Poor me.

Debbie had a different take on the experience when I complained: “Stop complaining!While everyone else was smelling medialunas, you were smelling the “Rei’ach Nichoa’ch,” the sweet smell of your prayers rising to heaven!”

If only my prayers had such a sweet fragrance…

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.