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Yom Kippur
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם

“HaShem, HaShem, benevolent God, Who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth, preserving lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity, rebellion and sin, and He pardons.”

The thirteen attributes of mercy represent the age-old prayer said by Moshe Rabeinu which is re-evoked constantly throughout the ages especially on Yom Kippur, when Moshe Rabeinu received the second tablets with mercy, compassion and forgiveness for the Sin of the Calf. In truth, these thirteen attributes of mercy represent thirteen higher levels of mercy, according to our Sages, which were spoken by the prophet Micah beginning with the words: “Who is a God like You…” According to the Ramak in Tomer Devora the highest levels of mercy peak at the last two attributes of mercy of Micah: ‘as You have sworn to our Patriarchs (twelve) as of yore (thirteen).’ The term ‘as You have sworn to the Patriarchs’ evokes a level of mercy by which no Jew, however wicked, can be excluded, for all are descendants of our holy Patriarchs with which God made a binding covenant. ‘As of yore’ calls HaShem to remember man’s prenatal state when he has never sinned, essentially cleansing all whatsoever from iniquity.

Hebron stands as a testament before HaShem to these two attributes. The connection between the Patriarchs and Hebron is obvious. The linkage between man’s original state before sin and Hebron is also clear through the fact that Adam and Hava, who are also buried in Hebron, are the only people on earth who ever lived in the original human state free of cosmic sin in the Garden of Eden before they sinned. This explains why on Yom Kippur the priests would ask if the dawn has reached Hebron, in order to recall the merit of the Patriarchs. By our explanation, this question not only evokes the human merit of the Patriarchs, but also evokes the highest Divine attributes of mercy associated with Hebron. Indeed, Hebron is also the resting place of Moshe Rabeinu to whom these attributes were first revealed.

The Tomer Devorah not only explains some of the great depth attached to these Divine attributes, but also calls us to emulate these attributes ourselves, as the Torah calls for in the verse, ‘and you shall follow His (God’s) ways’. The name Tomer Devora is taken from the name of the tree/palm where Devora the prophetess judged Israel. This is the famous tree known for justice, and indeed the book Tomer Devorah calls us to judge our ways so that the Divine Way works through us. However, there is also a famous tree known for kindness. This is the tree of Avraham under which he hosted the angels in Hebron. Legend has it that this same tree stood at a site in Hebron known today as ‘Elonei Mamreh’ (unfortunately today not accessible to Jews). This again highlights Hebron’s special connection to the attribute of kindness. May we internalize the message of Hebron, emulating HaShem’s kind and merciful ways, and by so doing also awaken the Divine attributes of kindness and mercy upon us and all Israel for a good year.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #237

‘I grew up in Kiryat Arba, but my parents sold their house there and we moved to a different location. Many years later, I was dating a man from Kiryat Arba. ‘It turns out’ that he lived in the same house I did, for his parents bought the house from my parents! We married and live in Kiryat Arba today.’

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