Hashem Is Righteous: Awakening His Attributes Above

3aOr we may say that “Hashem appeared to him” came as the fruit of Avraham's service. We begin by explaining the verse “For Hashem is righteous; He loves righteous deeds …”¹ The Gemara tells of a man who went down before R' Chanina to lead the prayer and recited praise after praise, “the God …, the bold …” R' Chanina said to him, “Have you finished your Master's praise?”² At first glance this is puzzling. Do we not praise Hashem with many praises, even ones the Men of the Great Assembly, who fixed our prayers, never said? But it seems that Hashem, blessed be He, is called by the names Compassionate, Gracious and Righteous. In whatever attribute a person serves the Creator, he awakens that attribute above, in the worlds, and the Creator is called by the name of that attribute. So a person must serve the Creator with every attribute, to awaken each one above. When a person awakens the attribute called Righteous, Hashem is called Righteous in all the worlds, and likewise with each attribute. Then great compassion is aroused over the whole world, and all the harsh judgments are turned into compassion through the tzaddik who awakened it.

3bThat is “For Hashem is righteous”: when Hashem is called by the name Righteous, because the tzaddik has drawn it down through his service, then “He loves righteous deeds,” that is, compassion and righteous deeds shown to the world. Then comes “yashar yechezeh panimo,” “the upright shall behold His face.”³ Here the verse explains who it is that brings this about. “The upright one” is the one whose eyes are always set on drawing the Creator, blessed be He, into the inner core of the worlds: panimo (פנימו), “His face,” is read as penimiyus (פנימיות), the inner core. So the praises we add, beyond those of the Men of the Great Assembly, are true praise: each names an attribute that has its world above, where it is awakened and Hashem is called by it. But the man who went down before R' Chanina recited praises by names for which the Creator did not create such worlds. That is why R' Chanina said to him, “Have you finished your Master's praise?”

4That is “Hashem appeared elav, to him, in Elonei Mamre.” Elav, “to him,” means for his sake: through Avraham's service Hashem appeared with the attribute of compassion. Be'elonei (באלוני), “in the oaks,” means the olamos ha'elyonim (העליונים), the upper worlds, of which I wrote above. And Mamre (ממרא) speaks of amirah (אמירה), saying: it came through the pure sayings of Avraham Avinu, which were meant to draw the Creator, may He be exalted, into the worlds. This is easy to understand.