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Yismach Yisroel · Chanukah – Second Night · Maamar יז From the Torah ofRav Yerachmiel Yisroel Yitzchok Danziger of Alexanderרבי ירחמיאל ישראל יצחק דנציגר מאלכסנדרProfile ›

Rachum on the Second Night: Mercy Received, Mercy Given

Devarim 13:18
וְלֹא יִדְבַּק בְּיָדְךָ מְאוּמָה מִן הַחֵרֶם לְמַעַן יָשׁוּב ה' מֵחֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ וְנָתַן לְךָ רַחֲמִים וְרִחַמְךָ וְהִרְבֶּךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ
And nothing of the banned property shall cling to your hand, so that Hashem may turn back from His burning anger, and He will grant you compassion and have compassion on you and multiply you, as He swore to your fathers.
45The holy Arizal set the kavanah, the inner intention, of the second of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy for the second night: the attribute of Rachum, "Merciful."1 "He will grant you compassion, and have compassion on you":2 the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows on you the attribute of mercy, so that you will have mercy on His creatures. "And have compassion on you," verichamcha, here in the sense of love [as in erchamcha, "I love You"]: in reward for this you will awaken Hashem's love, so that Hashem will love you.3 "And multiply you," from your fathers: you will awaken the flow of holy lights from the holy Avos, who bestowed them on us.
[יז] האר"י הַק' סִידֵּר בְּכַוָּונַת מִדָּה ב' מי"ג מְכִילִין דְּרַחֲמֵי בְּלַיְלָה ב' וְהוּא מִדַּת רַחוּם — וְנָתַן לְךָ רַחֲמִים וְרִחַמְךָ (פ' ראה) שהקב"ה מַשְׁפִּיעַ לְךָ מִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים שֶׁתְּרַחֵם עַל הַבְּרִיּוֹת. וְרִחַמְךָ בְּשָׂכָר זֹאת תְּעוֹרֵר אַהֲבַת ה' שֶׁיֶּאֱהַב ה' אוֹתְךָ. וְהִרְבֶּךָ מֵאֲבוֹתֶיךָ שֶׁתְּעוֹרֵר הַשְׁפָּעוֹת אוֹרוֹת קְדוֹשׁוֹת מֵהָאָבוֹת הַקְּדוֹשִׁים שֶׁהָיוּ מַשְׁפִּיעִים לָנוּ:
  1. Pri Etz Chaim, Sha'ar Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah and Purim, ch. 4, where the second night is intended toward Rachum, the second of the attributes, and the third toward Chanun. ↩
  2. Devarim 13:18. ↩
  3. Tehillim 18:2: "I love You (erchamcha), Hashem, my strength." ↩
In shortHashem first grants us mercy toward His creatures; in reward He loves us, and we awaken the holy light that the Avos pour down on us.
Takeaway

The mercy of the second night is given to us so that we will show mercy to others. One who has compassion on Hashem's creatures awakens Hashem's love for himself and opens the flow of holy light from the Avos.

Translated with AI assistance. Sources not yet mapped; not yet reviewed by a human editor.

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