13 Attributes of mercy

On the intermediate Shabbat of Sukkot we read from the Torah portion of Ki Tisa. It’s about the forgiveness that God gave us after the terrible sin of the Golden Calf and about revealing God’s 13 attributes of mercy.

Why do we need to read that portion on the Shabbat of Sukkot that is always before Hoshana Rabbah?
On Rosh Hashanah we were judged, On Yom Kippur we receive the verdict, which is the type of life that we will have in the coming year. On Sukkot we receive the Light using the tools of the Sukkah and the Lulav. The process is completed with the celebration of Simchat Torah, “The Joy of Torah” when we complete the reading of the Torah, which is the end of the process, and we immediately start from the beginning, which is the aspect of restarting our lives as it was planned for us on Yom Kippur, 12 days earlier. From Yom Kippur until Hoshana Rabbah, the upper court continues to evaluate all the little notes related to our actions. We wish each other ‘Pitka Tova’, ‘Good Note’ so we can get extra energy for the future.

On Shabbat we climb to the level of Binah and on the Shabbat of Sukkot we have final opportunity to clean our past and start with positive note.

When we read about the forgiveness of God, we benefit from this forgiveness on our inequities and impurities. The 13 attributes connect us to the supernal Light that comes from the root cause of Creation. It is only mercy and for us it’s like a spiritual Mikveh, washing our spiritual garments to have a clean year.

The Light of this Shabbat is forgiveness and mercy from the highest level possible.

With love and Shabbat Shalom to all.

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