"The righteous will flourish like the date palm..." (Tehillim 92:13)
Tomer Devorah [Palm Tree of Devorah] - an ethical treatise devoted to a Kabbalistic understanding of the commandment to imitate G-d based on the Torah verse "...you shall go in His ways" (Devarim 28:9) and "to go in all His ways" (11:22).
The Sifri ("Eikev") explains: just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is called 'Compassionate,' you should be compassionate; just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is called 'Gracious,' you should be gracious; just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is called 'Righteous,' you should be righteous; just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is called 'Pious,' you should be pious."
Expounding the verse "Follow HaShem, your G-d..." (Devarim 13:5), the Gemara derives the practical implications of this concept: "Emulate the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed Be He. Just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, clothes the naked...so should you; just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, visits the sick..so should you; just as the Holy One, Blessed Be He, consoles the bereaved, so should you..." (Sotah 14a)
In Tomer Devorah, the Thirteen Supernal Attributes of Mercy mentioned in Michah 7:18-20 are analyzed in detail.
The following are the words of the holy Sanzer Rebbi, the Divrei Chaim זצ"ל, as heard by his grandson, Rav Moshe Halberstam זצ"ל from the Satmar Rebbi זצ"ל:
“…the learning from the Sefer Tomer Devorah is a segulah against the terrible sickness…”
It is recommended to learn from the sefer Tomer Devorah once a week or at least once a month, even though this sefer is not easy to understand. This segulah follows the principle of middah keneged middah (measure for measure). If we emulate G-d’s Attributes and act like He does with patience, compassion, forgiveness, etc, HaShem will act towards us in the manner of middah keneged middah and be patient, compassionate and forgiving with us.
To be privileged to channel G-d's blessing and benefit into the world, man must emulate his Creator. It is insufficient that man is created in the Divine likeness - he must constantly, consciously, and willingly cleave to G-d by emulating Him in every way.
"Who is G-d like You, Who pardons iniquity and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not maintain His anger forever, for He delights in kindness. He will again show us compassion, He will vanquish our iniquities, and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Show faithfulness to Yaakov, kindness to Avraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from days of old" (Michah 7:18-20)
Consequently, it is proper that these Thirteen Attributes should also be found in man.
Hitbodedut: "HaShem, I realize that I have no separate existence from you and therefore I yearn to be more like You. Please help me to rise above my nature and lead me in the path that I wish to go, which is to think, say and do only what is pleasing to You. May I merit to bring love and mercy to my interactions."
For He Delights in Kindness
Angels in a certain celestial chamber are appointed to receive the kind deeds man performs in this world. When the Attribute of severity accuses Yisrael, these angels immediately exhibit those acts of kindness before the Heavenly Court, and the Holy One, Blessed is He, shows compassion to Yisrael, since He delights in kindness. And even thought the people of Yisrael may be guilty, He shows them mercy if they are kind to one another.
This can be compared to when the Holy Temple was destoryed, when G-d said to the angel Gavriel: "Go in between the galgal, beneath the keruv, and fill your hands with burning coals from among the keruvim, and throw them on the city..." (Yechezkel 10:2). For Gavriel is the angel of judgment and severity, and G-d gave him permission to receive the powers of severity from the fire on the Altar, which is between the galgal (wheel) below the keruvim (cherubim). This is judgment according to the severities of *malchut, which became so severe that it sought to destroy everything and annihilate the seed of Yisrael, which had incurred the penalty of destruction. However, the passage continues, "The form of a man's hand appeared under the wings of the keruvim" (ibid. 10:8). The meaning of this is that the Holy One, Blessed is He, said to Gavriel, "Since they do kindness towards one another, even though they are guilty, they shall be saved, and a remnant of them will be left." The reason for this is the Attribute of "He delights in kindness," that is, the kindness that one Jew shows another, for He remembers it in [the Jews'] favor, even though, from another point of view, they are unworthy.
A person should emulate this Attribute in his own conduct. Even if one is aware that another person is doing him evil, and this angers him, if that person has some redeeming quality, e.g., he is kind to others, or he possesses some other virtue, this should be sufficient cause for one to dissipate his anger and find the other person pleasing, i.e., to delight in the kindness he does. One should say, "It is enough for me that he has this good quality." How much more so does all this apply to one's wife; as our Sages have said, "It is enough that they raise our children and save us from sin." So, too, should a person say to himself with regard to every man, "It is enough that he has been good to me or to someone else in such and such a way, or that he has such and such a positive quality." In this way, one should delight in kindness.
Hitbodedut: "HaShem please help me to be more like You, to shine love, kindness and benefit to those around me. Please help me to search my mind to give the benefit of the doubt, to see the good in every person, including myself, and to treat everyone with sincere kindness and benefit."
*Malchut definition: kingship, royalty, or sovereignty. Malchut is the last of the Ten Sefirot. It is uniquely "passive," having nothing but that which other sefirot pour into it (Eitz Chayim, Sha'ar 6, ch. 5, Sha'ar 8, ch. 5). Thus, the Zohar compares malchut to the moon, which has no light of its own (vol. 1, pp. 249b, 251b, vol. 2, pp. 245b; Tikkunei Zohar, tikkun 44, p. 82b). Nevertheless, malchut includes all the other sefirot, which pour their light into it. Malchut is therefore compared to the sea, into which all rivers flow. Malchut brings creation into being, for everything occurs among the lower beings by way of this sefirah (Tikkunei Zohar, tikkun 19, p. 40b; Zohar Chadash, p. 11a). Malchut is referred to as "the architect with which the entire creation was made" (Pardes, Sha'ar 11, ch. 2). Malchut also corresponds to the mouth (Tikkunei Zohar, intro., p. 17a) and thus represents the word of G-d (cf. Avot 5:1) and the revealed world (Zohar, vol. 1, p. 1b, and vol. 2, p. 127a).
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