I dedicate this d’var Torah to the memory of Carol Daniels, zt”l, my Mussar teacher who opened up to me a new way of understanding human nature and how best to live through the lens of the Jewish Mussar tradition. She passed away on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, but her legacy lives on through her students.
There are a number of texts that get repeated throughout the High Holiday liturgy that help frame for us the meaning of the days. Avinu Malkeinu with its several haunting melodies. The viduy with the alphabetical list of sins that we have committed. The solemn and terrifying words of the U’netaneh Tokef that remind us of our mortality.
One of my favorite texts that gets repeated is the last section, three verses, of the book of the prophet Micah. It is the final section of the Haftarah not only for Shabbat Shuvah but also of Yom Kippur Minchah, being added onto the end of the book of Jonah. Not only is it usually recited at Tashlich, the custom of reciting prayers near a body of water, usually on Rosh Hashanah but permitted through Hoshanah Rabba, but the word tashlich, “you shall cast,” is taken from these verses.
Here are the words, in the majestic language of the 1917 JPS translation, slightly altered:
“Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth the iniquity, And passeth by the transgression of the remnant of G!d’s heritage? G!d retaineth not G!d’s anger for ever, Because G!d delighteth in mercy. G!d will again have compassion upon us; G!d will subdue our iniquities; And Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, As Thou hast sworn unto our ancestors from the days of old.”
Another text we recite multiple times during the High Holidays is the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy from Exodus 34. This text from Micah provides a higher version of them, the Thirteen Supernal Attributes of Mercy. The amazing work of Mussar and Kabbalah, Tomer Devorach, written by the sixteenth-century kabbalist from Tzfat, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, the Ramak, expounds these Thirteen Supernal Attributes in its first chapter.
However, this exposition is not just theological speculation about the nature of G!d – rather, as he states in the introduction to the chapter,
“That it is fitting for a person to resemble their Creator:
It is fitting for a person to resemble their Creator and then they will be
[configured] in the secret of the Highest Form, [both] in image and likeness.
As if they are alike in their body but not in their actions, they betray the
Form; and others will say about them, "A lovely form, but ugly
deeds." As behold, the essence of the Highest Image and Likeness is G!d’s
actions. And what will it benefit them to have the structure of their limbs
like the Highest Form, but not resemble their Creator in their actions?
Therefore it is fitting that they should [make their actions] resemble the
actions of the Crown (Keter), which are the thirteen highest traits of
mercy. And they are hinted to in the secret of the verses (Michah 7:18-20),
"Who is a power like You; G!d will again have mercy on us; You shall give
truth." If so, it is fitting that these thirteen traits [also] be found in
human beings. And now we will explain these thirteen actions that are fitting
to be with them.”
Drawing on the teaching of the creation story in Genesis that we are made in the image and likeness of G!d, the Ramak connects G!d’s Supernal Attributes to the middot, the character traits, we are to develop within ourselves so that our deeds can resemble G!d’s.
But here’s the interesting things, when you go through the chapter – much of what he teaches is about developing inward shifts in how we see other people, so that we can see them with compassion and then act compassionately and mercifully toward them in ways that draw from this new way of seeing. In one place, he suggests that for those whose deeds are very wicked, we go back and see them as a baby, innocent, before they began their troubling behavior. In another place, he even suggests that G!d – and we – treat evildoers with mercy based on their ancestors’ merits.
What the Ramak is teaching us through his magnificent exposition of these verses is to try to see others in the way that G!d their creator sees them, which will then change how we interact with them. We will see them with love. With mercy. With compassion.
Now, this is not easy to do. People will continue to do bad things. Created as we are in the image and likeness of G!d, we are still frail humans with limits. And even G!d gets angry – as it says in Psalm 7, G!d is provoked every day. However, it says in Psalm 30, G!d’s anger lasts only for a moment, but G!d’s favor for life. This section of Micah says “You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” – and Psalm 51 says “Do not cast me away from your presence.” Tashlich – Al tashlicheni. We are called to separate our anger at bad deeds from our anger at a person.
Of course, we are also obligated to care for ourselves, and none of this – heaven forbid – should be taken as advice to stay in unhealthy and abusive situations.
Nevertheless, our job is to find a way to see the outline of G!d’s image and likeness in everyone, even those we cannot be around, even in those who hurt us, even in those who have done destructive deeds. We are angry and reject their deeds, but we continue to hope and pray that, just as we are afforded the opportunity for teshuvah, for repentance, so they will be afforded that opportunity – and will take it. It is difficult work – I have certainly not mastered this and it will be a work in progress for the rest of my life – but it is work we are called to do.
Carol Daniels embodied the attributes taught in Tomer Devorah, which the Center for Contemporary Mussar describes as Tikkun Middot – middot which repair and expand the Tov, the Good, in our broken world as we bear the burden of the Other. My life is much better for having known her and learned from her. It is my brachah – my blessing – that all of us, in the coming year, work to emulate these middot – and our Creator – to build a better version of our world in partnership with G!d. Shanah tovah.
