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The Attributes of God
Rabbi Ira Eisenstein (adapted)
We
cannot actually picture goodness. It is not a being; it is a force,
like electricity. Nobody ever actually saw electricity, but we can see
and feel what electricity does. If we have an electric heater and connect
it, we get heat. We get to know what electricity is by what it does. In
the same way, we get to know what God is by what God makes us do: when
people are, so to speak, connected with God, they do good things. We call
those people godly people, and their acts, godly acts. Whenever this force
is active, we say that God has exercised influence and power.
The Sages teach there are 13 attributes of God, based on Exodus 34:6-7:
6יְהוָ֥ה (ADONAI)[GN] passed before him and proclaimed: “יְהוָ֥ה! יְהוָ֥ה is God, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace and truth; 7showing grace to the thousandth generation, forgiving offenses, crimes and sins; yet not exonerating the guilty, but causing the negative effects of the parents’ offenses to be experienced by their children and grandchildren, and even by the third and fourth generations.”
The Thirteen Attributes of God in the Machzor[1]
“YHVH, YHVH, a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, bearing iniquity, transgression and sin, and acquitting. … Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your own!”
Unpacking the 13 Attributes (one version):
1. YHVH - I am God before people sin
2. YHVH - I am God after people sin if they repent
3. El - (All-powerful) God
4. Rahum - Compassionate
5. VeHanun - Gracious
6. Erekh Apayim - Slow to anger
7. Verav Hesed - Abounding in lovingkindness
8. Ve’emet - And in truth
9. Notzer hesed La’alafim - Maintaining lovingkindness for 1,000 generations
10. Nosei avon - Forgiving premeditated sins
11. Va’fesha - sins committed in rebellion
12. Va’hata’ah - sins made by mistake
13. Venakeh - acquitting the penitent.
(R. Tam, RH 17b, adapted by Max Arzt, Justice and Mercy)
1. The Machzor is the prayer book used by Jews on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many Jews also make use of specialized machzorim on the three pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. The machzor is a specialized form of the siddur, which is generally intended for use in weekday and Shabbat services. [BACK]
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