I am currently in Hollywood, Florida on a speaking engagement, and sitting right across to me is my Floridian agent Mr. Aaron Moses, whom I thank for helping me spread Torah to other areas.
Yesterday we started discussing the 13 Middot of Rachamim, Hashem’s 13 attributes of mercy. As we said, these are especially apropos for the month of Elul, because as we say Selichot and prepare for our Yom Kippur prayers, we say these 13 attributes many, many times.
And, as we said yesterday, from the Reshit Hochma, it’s not enough to just say it, we have to act on it. But we can't act on it until we understand it. There is a Tosafot in Masechet Rosh Hashanah (in the Hagga on the side), that explains some of these middot. There's a difference of opinion in how to count them. We say
A-donai, A-donai, El Rachum V’ Hanun… but where does the counting start? Are the two names of Hashem part of the list or not? There are many different opinions, but for our purposes today, we will go with the Arizal’s approach that the first trait of God is called El. What does El mean? Tosafot explains that El is the Middah of strength, as the pasuk says, Eleh haAretz, the strong ones, and another pasuk says, Mi Kamocha B’Elim Hashem.
Even the word Elohim comes from the word strong or strength. That’s why Elohim usually indicates judgment. So how did El turn into the first of the attributes of mercy? Tosafot has a beautiful hiddush: God uses the Yad Hazaka/ strong arm to prepare food for all the creations. The term Yad hazaka shows up in the open miracles of Yetziat Mitzrayim.
In order for God to bring food and sustenance to creation, God needs Yad hazaka. His source that the word El is referring specifically to parnasa is a pasuk in tehilim 104, where David Hamelech says
הַ֭כְּפִירִים שֹׁאֲגִ֣ים לַטָּ֑רֶף וּלְבַקֵּ֖שׁ מֵאֵ֣ל אׇכְלָֽם׃
The lions roar for sustenance and to request food from El
They're asking God's trait of power to feed them.
Rav Wolbe wrote a whole thesis on how the connection to our Creator is so instinctive that even animals have it. Who trained animals to call out to God for sustenance? It’s an instinct that even animals have.
But who do they know to ask from?
They ask from El.
Those that read Perek Shira know that animals connect to God. Every animal has a pasuk, and in this pasuk the lions roar and ask God for food. The term used in this pasuk, teref is sometimes used to mean torn up because lions eat things that are Teref, that they've torn up. So here teref can mean food, or it can mean a torn up carcass.
And what does it have to do with us? We see from here that God works hard, so to say. He needs a Yad hazaka in order to feed creation.
So if we want God to use His Yad hazaka to sustain us, with all the challenges in the economy today, then we also have to act with the Yad hazaka.
This means that if you hear that your friend doesn't have a job, you don't just sit by passively. You use your Yad hazaka/strong arm tactics.
How can I get this man a job? What am I going to do? I'm not going to sit by and wait. I'm going to use my Yad hazaka… and when I act with the trait of El for my fellow, that arouses the power of El for God to act with us.
That is Middah number one on the hit parade of the 13 Middot Hashem.
B’Ezrat Hashem, we will act with that Middah of El, and arouse God's power, His Yad hazaka, to sustain us.
Have a wonderful day.