Summer Sabbath Themes at the Allied Jewish Chapel June 29August 31 2013.
1. Ex. 20:4-5
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4 thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate Me; 5 and showing mercy unto the thousandth
generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
2. Ex. 34:6-7
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6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed: 7 'The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and unto the fourth generation.'
3. Micah 7:18-20.
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18 Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth the iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of
His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy.19 He will again have
compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days
of old.
4. Ps. 103 13-14
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13 Like as a father hath compassion upon his children, so hath the LORD compassion upon them that fear Him.
14 For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust. (these verses immediately precede
Enosh).
5. Avot 1:2
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Simon the Righteous was among the last surviving members of the Great assembly. He used to say: The world
stands on three things: Torah, the service of G-d, and deeds of kindness.
6. Avot deRabbi Natan 4 (version B)
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Rabbi Judah says, The world stands on three things: on jealousy, on lust, and on mercy.
See yoma 69b Gen.R. 9:7. Eccl. R. 2
7. Pesikta Rabbati 40 and elsewhere on Gen 2:4
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"These are the chronicles of heaven and earth when they were created; on the day that the Lord God made earth
and heaven." (Gen. 2:4). Initially, God intended to create it with the attribute of Justice, but then saw that the
world cannot exist; so He gave priority to the attribute of Mercy, and joined it with the attribute of Justice.
8. Berakhot 7a.
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R. Johanan says in the name of R. Jose: How do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, says prayers?
Because it says: Even them will I bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer.1 It
is not said, 'their prayer', but 'My prayer'; hence [you learn] that the Holy One, blessed be He, says prayers.
What does He pray? R. Zutra b. Tobi said in the name of Rab: 'May it be My will that My mercy may
suppress My anger, and that My mercy may prevail over My [other] attributes, so that I may deal with My
children in the attribute of mercy and, on their behalf, stop short of the limit of strict justice'.2 It was taught: R.
Ishmael b. Elisha says: I once entered into the innermost part [of the Sanctuary] to offer incense and saw
Akathriel Jah,3 the Lord of Hosts, seated upon a high and exalted throne. He said to me: Ishmael, My son, bless
Me! I replied: May it be Thy will that Thy mercy may suppress Thy anger and Thy mercy may prevail over Thy
other attributes, so that Thou mayest deal with Thy children according to the attribute of mercy and mayest, on
their behalf, stop short of the limit of strict justice! And He nodded to me with His head. Here we learn
[incidentally] that the blessing of an ordinary man must not be considered lightly in your eyes.
9. Imitation Dei Shabbat 151
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It was taught R. Gamaliel Beribbi said: And he shall give thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and
multiply thee: (Deut 13:17) He Who is merciful to others, mercy is shown to him by Heaven, while he who is
not merciful to others, mercy is not shown to him by Heaven.
10. Jerusalem Talmud, Peah 3a (1:1) (with a number of parallels)
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Aba Shaul says: Be like Him. As He is merciful and compassionate, so you to be merciful and compassionate.
11. For comparison: Luke 6:35-36.
35. But love you your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great,
and you shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. 36. Be you
therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
12. Maimonides on Avot 1:2.
[Torah is science which Kafah translates as . Others translate as wisdom. Note that Maimonides
gives the second item as a gloss on Gemilut Hasadim: moral characteristics . He gives the third
aspect as a gloss on Ha-Avodah: . "fulfilling the commandments.]
NEXT WEEK: TRUTH.
