There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
—Edith Wharton
ואפילו ימי הסליחות שקודם ר"ה אינם ימי דין אדרבה ימי רחמים ורצון והם ארבעים יום אחרונים שהיה משה רבינו בהר ונתרצה לו הקב"ה
Even the days of Selichot before Rosh haShanah are not days of judgment – just the opposite, they are days of mercy and desire, the last set of forty days when Moshe Rabbeinu was on the mountain and the Holy One showed him favour.
(ב) עָזִּ֤י וְזִמְרָת֙ יָ֔הּ וַֽיְהִי־לִ֖י לִֽישׁוּעָ֑ה זֶ֤ה אֵלִי֙ וְאַנְוֵ֔הוּ אֱלֹהֵ֥י אָבִ֖י וַאֲרֹמְמֶֽנְהוּ׃
(2) The LORD is my strength and might; He is become my deliverance. This is my God and I will enshrine Him; The God of my father, and I will exalt Him.
אַבָּא שָׁאוּל אוֹמֵר: ״וְאַנְוֵהוּ״ — הֱוֵי דּוֹמֶה לוֹ, מָה הוּא חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם — אַף אַתָּה הֱיֵה חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם.
Abba Shaul says: Ve’anveihu should be interpreted as if it were written in two words: Ani vaHu, me and Him [God]. Be similar, as it were, to Him, the Almighty: Just as He is compassionate and merciful, so too should you be compassionate and merciful.