Rav Huna presented a contradiction: It is written, God is just in all [God’s] ways, and it is written [in the same verse], and acts with loving kindness in all [God’s] deeds (Psalm 145:17). Initially, [God is] just, but in the end, [God acts with] loving kindness.
R. Elazar presented a contradiction: It is written, And to You, Adonai, is loving kindness, and [in the same verse] it is written, for you repay each person according to their deeds (Psalm 62:13). Initially [God acts from the standpoint of], for You repay each person according to their deeds, but in the end [God acts from the standpoint of], And to You, Adonai, is loving kindness.
Ilfai, and some say Ilfa, presented a contradiction: It is written, and abundant in kindness, and [in the same verse] it is written, and truth (Exodus 34:6). Initially, [God acts from the standpoint of] and truth, but in the end, [God acts out of] and abundant in kindness.
INTRODUCTION
Rosh Hashanah is conceived by the Rabbis as a day when the entire world is arrayed before God for judgment. Those whose merits outweighs their misdeeds are written into Sefer ha-Chaim (the Book of Life); those whose misdeeds outweigh their merits risk not being inscribed in the Book of Life. The Rabbis teach that God’s condemnation of the latter group is not a slam dunk, however, because the divine Judge of the universe is loving, forgiving, and merciful.
On the High Holy Days, two attributes of God are front and center: God’s sense of Justice (God is seen as the Judge on High who evaluates our deeds from the past year and passes sentence on us), as well as Mercy (God wants to forgive us and give us another chance to get it right). God’s Justice and Mercy sometimes appear to the Rabbis to be at odds with one another. They imagine God wrestling with these two divine inclinations: If God acts solely out of compassion, justice will not be served, but if God acts entirely according to the dictates of justice, who could survive? Will God come down on the side of strict justice or on the side of forgiving mercy? The Rabbis note three particularly verses where these two attributes seem to be at odds with one another.
When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah from God the second time, God descended in a cloud, passed before Moses, and proclaimed: Adonai! Adonai! A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet [God] does not remit all punishment, but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations. (Exodus 34:6-7) We recite the first part of this passage (up until the semi-colon) in synagogue on the High Holy Days before the open ark; the second part is dropped. The Rabbis were keenly aware that the full passage presents seemingly contradictory aspects of God: God is merciful, but also values justice and accordingly dispenses punishment; God prizes truth, but acts out of a love that sometimes ignores the truth of human behavior. What is more, there are other verses that present God’s seemingly contradictory inclinations.
COMMENTARY
For them, it is a sin qua non that God wants to forgive us and embrace us in love. In our passage, three rabbis present three verses—two from Psalms and one from the Exodus passage cited above—which are potentially self-contradictory. The Rabbis are determined to present God as favoring forgiveness and loving kindness over justice, truth, and punishment—even when doing so requires reversing the order of the phrases of a verse: taken in the verses’ original word order, two of the three might be used to “prove” that God favors judgment over forgiveness. In the hands of these sages, it is precisely the opposite.
Rav Huna finds a verse in Psalm 145 that ascribes to God both justice and kindness. What happens when these traits are in opposition to one another? Rav Huna tells us that God begins to evaluable human behavior from the perspective of justice, but moves to the attribute of loving kindness: ultimately God forgives. R. Elazar presents a verse from Psalm 62 that ascribes to God loving kindness followed by retribution—in that order. He tidily reverses the order of the attributes as presented in the verse to arrive at the same conclusion as Rav Huna: God initially plans retribution, but settles into loving kindness. Ilfai (or Ilfa), citing Exodus 34:6-7, follows the same pattern and performs the same slight of hand as R. Elazar, reversing the order of the attributes so that, once again, God begins with the attribute of harsh judgment (truth) and moves to a more forgiving stance (abundant kindness).
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER AND DISCUSS
- The High Holy Days can induce anxiety and fear in people who subscribe to the belief that God is a divine Being who keeps a ledger of their good and bad deeds, judges them, and determines their future. What might this passage say to people who hold that God-idea? What might this passage to people who, themselves, are inclined to judging others harshly?
- Are the Rabbis talking about God’s behavior or about ours? Could the Rabbis intent be more prescriptive than descriptive? That is to say, are the Rabbis signaling us that godlike behavior (imitatio dei) requires us to set aside our tendency to judge others and adopt a stance of compassion and forgiveness whenever possible—just like God? Can you recall occasions when you responded from the perspective of “justice” and “judgment,” but might have done better to have responded from the standpoint of “mercy” and “loving kindness?” Can you recall a time when someone responded to you from the perspective of “justice” and “judgment” rather than “mercy” and “loving kindness”?
- How is “truth” related to strict judgment? When is it appropriate to respond to someone from that perspective, and when is it important to respond with mercy and loving kindness and give them the benefit of the doubt?
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