In His Mercy: Understanding the Thirteen Midot

Each year on Yom Kippur, fast days, and the days leading up to the High Holidays, Jews around the world recite the Thirteen Midot: "HaShem, HaShem, El Rahum veHanun, Erekh Apayim, veRav Hesed veEmet, Notzer Hesed laAlafim, Noseh Avon vaFesha veHata'a veNakeh." For many, the chanting of these divine attributes, qualities, or ways in which God governs the world is the pinnacle of the Selihot service. What is the secret power of these words? Why do we recite them? How are we to understand them? In His Mercy examines the Thirteen Midot and their philosophical underpinnings through the lenses of the Talmud, the Midrash and major commentaries. It offers an insightful introduction, and concise, illuminating essays on each Mida. Based on a series of lectures given over twenty years by Rabbi Ezra Bick, a leading scholar at Israel's Yeshivat Har Etzion, In His Mercy is the first English edition of this special work.