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Definition: Shelosh Esrei Middot. (she-lohsh es-ray meed-DOHT) After the Jews had committed the grievous sin with the golden calf, Moses despaired of the Jews ever being able to find favor in God’s eyes again. God, however (as explained in the Talmud (Tractate Rosh Hashanah 17b)) donned a tallit, and, in the role of a chazzan, showed Moses the order of the thirteen attributes of rachamim (mercy). God proclaims thirty-two words (Exod. 34:6-7) that have become known in Jewish tradition as the Shelosh Esrei Middot, the Thirteen Attributes of God’s Mercy:
"And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, 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 to the fourth generation." (KJV)
According to traditional interpretations, the thirteen attributes are articulated as follows:
- The LORD (YHVH) - I, the LORD, am the merciful source of life
- The LORD (the repetition of God's name indicates that God is merciful to one who has not yet sinned and also to one who has sinned but has repented)
- El - God the Mighty
- Rachum: God the compassionate;
- Vechanun: God is gracious;
- Erech Apayim: God is slow to anger, patient in waiting for our repentance;
- Verav Chesed: God is abundant in kindness to both the righteous and the wicked;
- Ve'emet: God is truthful and faithful in carrying out promises;
- Notzer Chesed La'alafim: God extends kindness for a thousand generations, taking into account the merit of our worthy ancestors (Zechut Avot);
- Nosei Avon: God forgives iniquity, defined in the tradition as wrongful deeds committed with premeditation;
- Vafesha: God forgives transgression, defined as wrongful deeds committed in a rebellious spirit;
- Vechata'ah: God forgives sin, those wrongful deeds that were inadvertent;
- Venakeh: God will not cancel all punishment, only for those who are repentent.
In addition to the Shelosh Esrei Middot, the chanting of a number of psalms and prayerful poems (piyyutim) are recited during services throughout the month of Elul. The tone of a Selichot service is set in Psalm 130:
“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”
As Messianic believers, we affirm that forgiveness is obtained by exercising emunah (faith) in the sacrifice of Yeshua as the kapparah for our sins, and by evidencing wholehearted teshuvah in our daily life. In Rabbinic Judaism, however, Selichot are said as a means of rendering a favorable verdict of “din,” or “judgment” by God during the Days of Awe.
“Sin” (chet in Hebrew) means “failure in our relationship with the LORD.” Our goal should be to continually move closer to the LORD, but chet causes us to move away from Him. Teshuvah means “return” and the period of Selichot is therefore set apart as a means of returning to the LORD:
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