Questions to Consider:
- How could you have understood Hashem Hashem as a single attribute?
- Why does the continued presence of this name after a person transgresses a separate attribute?
- Does Rabbeinu Tam's understanding mean that we should have a doubling of all the attributes
Questions to Consider:
- Why must this be true? More specifically, how do we know that Hashem must have created the world because of kindness and not judgement?
- Must judgement be a response to some other event?
- Does this answer help us understand why this is the first attribute?
- Does want transgression?
- Does God's kindness create transgression/ evil?
(ג) כִּֽי־אָמַ֗רְתִּי ע֭וֹלָם חֶ֣סֶד יִבָּנֶ֑ה...
(3) For I have said: The world is built with kindness...
...ויעבור יהוה על פניו ויקרא א"ר יוחנן אלמלא מקרא כתוב אי אפשר לאומרו מלמד שנתעטף הקב"ה כשליח צבור והראה לו למשה סדר תפלה אמר לו כל זמן שישראל חוטאין יעשו לפני כסדר הזה ואני מוחל להם יהוה יהוה אני הוא קודם שיחטא האדם ואני הוא לאחר שיחטא האדם ויעשה תשובה אל רחום וחנון
..."God passed over his face and called": Rabbi Yohanan said: If the text itself did not say this, no one would be able to! It teaches that the Holy Blessed One wrapped himself like a congregational leader and showed Moshe the sequence of prayer. God said to him: Every time that Israel sins, they should do this sequence before me and I will forgive them. "YHVH, YHVH": I am the One before a person sins and I am the One after a person sins and repents. "Merciful and compassionate God":
אומר רבינו תם דשני שמות הראשונים הם שני מדות כדאמרינן הכא אני ה' קודם שיחטא לרחם עליו ואני מרחם לאחר שיחטא אם ישוב ה' מדת רחמים הוא ולא כאלהים שהוא מדת הדין
Rabbeinu Tam says: the first two names represent two separate attributes, as it is stated here: I am hashem before transgression and I act with mercy and I am merciful after transgression and repentance. This is different than Elokim which is a attribute of judgement.
Question to Consider:
- Is there a good that was not in existence in when Hashem spoke these words?