יסודות החסידות בספר דגל מחנה אפרים - כי תצא - גלות השכינה

(1) Chapter 1 - That it is fitting for a person to resemble his Creator: It is fitting for a person to resemble his Creator and then he will be [configured] in the secret of the Highest Form, [both] in image and likeness. As if he is alike in his body but not in his actions, he betrays the Form; and they will say about him, "A lovely form, but ugly deeds." As behold, the essence of the Highest Image and Likeness is His actions. And what will it benefit him to have the structure of his limbs like the Highest Form, but not resemble his Creator in his actions? Therefore it is fitting that he should [make his actions] resemble the actions of the Crown (Keter), which are the thirteen highest traits of mercy. And they are hinted to in the secret of the verses (Michah 7:18-20), "Who is a power like You; He will again have mercy on us; You shall give truth." If so, it is fitting that these thirteen traits [also] be found in man. And now we will explain these thirteen actions that are fitting to be with him.

(2) ‎The First: "Who is a power like You" instructs about the Holy One, blessed be He, being an insulted King [that] tolerates insult that is inconceivable. Behold, nothing is hidden from His oversight, without a doubt, and [yet] there is no moment ‎when a person is not nourished and preserved by the Highest force that flows upon him; and behold, you find that ‎there was never a person who sinned against God, without Him - at that very instant - [willing] the flow of his existence and the movement of his limbs. While this person sins with that force, He does not withhold it from him at all. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, tolerates such an insult - to flow the power for the movement of his ‎limbs into the person, and the person [uses] that power at that moment for sin and iniquity, and [to] anger ‎[Him]; and the Holy One, blessed be He, tolerates [it]. And you [should] not say that He is not able to withhold this goodness from him - God forbid. As behold, it is in His power to make his arms and legs rigid instantly, like His word - similar to what He did to Yerovam (I Kings 13:4). And even with all this, that He has the power in His hand to withdraw that flowing force, ‎and He could have said, "Since you sin against Me, sin with your own [strength], not with Mine" - He ‎does not withhold good from a person for this. Instead, He tolerates the insult, flows the force [to do this] ‎and gives the person of His goodness. Behold, this is insult and [its] toleration that cannot be told. And for this, the ministering angels call the Holy One, blessed be He, the insulted King. And this is [the meaning of] its stating, "Who is a power like You" - You ‎are a Power that is a Master of Kindness that benefits, a Power that is a Master of strength to take revenge and ‎take back what is Yours; and with all that, You tolerate [it] and are insulted until [the person] repents.

(3) Behold, this is a ‎trait that a person must practice - I mean tolerance; and, so, to be insulted, even to this extent, and nonetheless not to ‎withhold one’s goodness from the recipient.‎

(4) The second: "Who bears iniquity" - and behold, this is greater than the previous. As behold, a man does not do an iniquity without creating a destructive spirit (mashchit); as it is learned (Avot 4:11), "One who transgresses a single iniquity acquires a single prosecutor." And behold, this prosecutor stands in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, and says, "X made me." And no creature exists in the world except from the flow of the Holy One, blessed be He - and behold, this destructive spirit that stands in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, from what does he exist? It would be logical that the Holy One, blessed be He, would say, "I do not nourish destructive spirits - he should go to the one that made him and be sustained from him." And the destructive spirit would go down immediately and take his soul, excise him or have him punished according to his punishment - until this destructive spirit is nullified. But the Holy One, blessed be He, does not do this; but He rather bears and tolerates the iniquity - and [just] as He nourishes and sustains the whole world, [so too] does He nourish and sustain this destructive spirit until there be one of three things: Either the sinner repents and he finishes him and nullifies him with his mortifications; or that the righteous Judge nullifies him with afflictions and death; or [that the sinner] goes to Geihinom and he pays his debt there. And that is [the meaning of] that which Kain said (Genesis 4:13), "Is my iniquity too great to bear?" And the Sages, may their memory be blessed, explained it (Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit 9), "You tolerate the whole world" - meaning nourish and sustain - "and my iniquity is [so] heavy that you cannot tolerate it" - meaning to sustain it until I repent and repair [it]. If so, behold this is a great trait of tolerance - that He nourishes and sustains an evil creature, that the sinner created, until he repents.

(5) A person [should] learn [from this] how much he needs to be tolerant, to carry the yoke of his fellow and his evils that he did against him; to the measure such that his evil that he sinned against him is still in existence - and he tolerates [it] until his fellow repairs [it], or that it is nullified by itself, and similar to it.

(6) The third: "And passes over transgression" - this is a great trait. As behold, the pardon is not through an emissary but rather actually through the Holy One, blessed be He - as it is written (Psalm 130:4), "For with You is forgiveness, etc." And what is that forgiveness? That He washes away the transgression, as it is written (Isaiah 4:4), "When the Lord will have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, etc." And so [too,] is it written (Ezekiel 36:25), "I will sprinkle upon you pure waters, etc." And this is [the meaning of] "and passes over transgression" - He sends forth waters of washing, and He passes and washes [away] the transgression.

(7) And behold, just like this likeness must a person be - such that he not say, "And shall I fix what x sinned or destroyed?" He should not say like this; for behold, a person sins and the Holy One, blessed be He - Himself, and not through an emissary - 'fixes the twisted,' and washes away the filth of his transgression.

(8) And from here, the person will be ashamed to sin again; for behold, the King, Himself, washes the dirt of his clothes.

(9) The fourth - "To the remnant of His inheritance" - behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, acts with His people in this way, to say, "What can I do with Israel, [as] they are My relatives - relation of flesh do I have with them." As they are the spouse to the Holy One, blessed be He; and He calls them, "My daughter" and "My sister," "My Mother" - as they, may their memory be blessed, explained (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 3:11:2). And it is written (Psalms 148:14), "Israel, His close (kerovo) nation" - He has actual closeness (kurvah) with them, and they are His children. And that is [the meaning of] the remnant of (she'erit) His inheritance" - it is an expression of relation (she'er) of flesh; and in the end, they are His (literal) inheritance. "And what shall I say? If I punish them, behold the pain is upon Me; as it is written (Isaiah 63:9), 'In all their distress, the distress (tsar) was to Him.'" And [to Him (lo)] is written with a [letter,] alef, to say that their pain reached the Highest Wonder (Wonder, peleh, being composed of the same letters as the spelling of alef, and representing Keter) - and all the more so, the two Faces through which is the central running [of the world] - but it is written with a [letter,] vav, [to mean that] the distress is to Him. And it is written (Judges 10:16), "and His soul could not bear the travail of Israel" - as He does not bear their pain and their disgrace, because they are "the she'erit [of] His inheritance."

(10) So is it [regarding] a man with his fellow: All Israel are relations of flesh, these with those. Since all of their souls are bound together, this one has a share in that and that one has a share in this. And hence it is not similar when the many do the commandments [to when they are only done by individuals]. And all of this is because of their being bound together. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, thus explained (Berakhot 47b) about the one who is counted from the first ten in the synagogue - [that] even if a hundred come after him, he recieves the reward that corresponds to all of them. It is actually a hundred, as per its understanding. Since the ten are included - these in those - behold, they are ten times ten, one hundred. And [so] each one of them is composed of a hundred [parts]. If so, even if one hundred come [afterwards], he has the reward of a hundred. As so from this reason, Israel are guarantors for each other. Since each one actually has a part of his fellow - when the one sins, he damages himself and he damages the part that his fellow has in him. It comes out from the side of that part that his fellow is his guarantor. If so, they are the relation, one of the other. And hence it is fitting that a person be desiring of the good of his fellow and his eye be good towards the good of his fellow, and that his honor should be as beloved to him as his [own] - as he is literally him[self]. And from this reason were we commanded (Leviticus 19:18), "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." And it is fitting that he desire the propriety of his fellow and not speak about his disgrace at all. And he [should] not want it, in the way that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not want our disgrace nor our pain - from the reason of relation. So too [should] he not want the disgrace of his fellow nor his pain, nor his corruption. And it [should] be bad for him on account of [his fellow], as if he was actually experiencing that pain, or [good for him from] that good [that he experiences].

(11) The fifth - "He does not hold on to His fury forever" - this is a different trait: that even if a person holds on to his sin, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not hold on to His fury. And if He holds on to it, not forever. Rather, He nullifies His anger, even if the person does not repent. As we found in the days of Yerovam the son of Yoash, that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought back the boundary of Israel [from occupation] and they were [still] worshipping calves - He had mercy upon them, but they did not repent. If so, why did He have mercy? For the sake of this trait, that He does not hold on to his fury forever. Just the opposite, His fury weakens - even as the sin is still in existence, He does not punish, but rather He expects and has mercy that they may repent. And that is [the meaning of] "He will not contend forever, or begrudge for all time" (Psalms 103:9). Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, acts with softnesses and harshnesses, all for the good of Israel.

(12) And this is a trait that is fitting for a person to practice with his fellow. Even if he is permitted to rebuke his fellow or his sons with upbraiding and they [accept it], it is not because of this that he [should] increase his rebuke. And he [should] not hold on to his anger - even if he got angry - but rather nullify it. And he [should] not hold on to his rage forever, even if it is a [rage] that is permitted to a person, similar to that which they explained: "When you see the donkey of your fellow, etc." (Exodus 23:5); and they explained (Pesachim 113b) what is this anger - that he saw him transgressing a sin, but [the one seeing] is [alone, such that] he may not testify; and [so] he hates him for the matter of the sin. And even so, the Torah states, "you shall surely release with him" - leave that which is in your heart; rather it is a commandment to bring him close with love. [As] perhaps it will be beneficial [to act] in this way. And this is exactly the trait of, "He does not hold on to His fury forever."

(13) The sixth: "For He is One that desires kindness" - did we not already explain in its place that in the known chamber, there are angels appointed to receive the bestowing of kindness that a man does in this world? And when the trait of justice prosecutes against Israel, these angels immediately show this kindness, and the Holy One, blessed be He, has mercy upon Israel, since He desires kindness. And even with their being liable, if they bestow kindness - this one to that one - He has mercy upon them. And it is like it was at the time of the destruction [of the Temple]: That it was told to Gavriel (Ezekiel 10:2), "Go inside the wheelwork, etc." - as he is the minister of judgement and power; and He gave him authority to receive powers of judgement, inside the wheelwork from under the cherubs, from the fire of the altar. This is the judgement of the power of kingship (malkhut). And the judgement was intensified until it sought to finish everything off - to uproot the seed of Israel, since they were liable for destruction. And it is written (Ezekiel 10:8), "And by the cherubs there appeared the form of the hand of a man under their wings." And this is [meaning] that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Gavriel, "They are bestowing acts of kindness - these with those - and even if they are liable, they are saved and there shall be a remnant from them." And the reason is because of this trait - since He is One who desires kindness, He desires that which Israel does kindness. And He recalls that side for them, even as they are not fitting from another side.

(14) If so, it is fitting for a person to practice this approach. If he sees a person doing evil to him and angering him - if there is a good side to [that person], that he does good to others or [has] a good trait that he practice appropriately, that side should suffice for him to nullify his anger from upon him. And his heart [should] be appeased about him; and he [should] desire kindness and say, "It is enough for me with this goodness that he has." And all the more so [is this the case] with his wife; as our Rabbis explained (Yevamot 63a), "It is enough that they raise our children, and save us from sin." So should he say about every person, "It is enough for me with x goodness that he did for me," or "that he did with y," or "[with the] good trait z that he has." He will [hence] be desiring kindness.

(15) The seventh: "He will again have mercy on us" - behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not follow the trait of flesh and blood. [That trait is that] if [someone] angers him - if he is appeased from him, he is a little appeased, [but] not like the previous love [he had for him]. But if a person sinned [to God] and he repents, his stature is greater with the Holy One, blessed be He, [than before]. And this is [the meaning of] "In the place that penitents stand, [even] completely righteous ones cannot stand" (Berakhot 34b). And the reason is like they explained in the chapter [entitled] HaBoneh (it is in Menachot 29b in our texts) regarding why [the letter,] hey is made like a portico: "Such that the one that wants to exit from his world [may] exit." The explanation is that the world was created with a hey. And the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world widely open to the side of evil and sin. There is no side that does not have physicality, the evil impulse and defect - like a type of portico. It does not have fences but rather has a large breach, open towards the side of evil, to the bottom side. How many openings are there for anyone who wants to exit from his world - he cannot turn to a side that he will not find a side of sin and iniquity to go out to the external forces (chitsonim)! But it is [also] open from above; so that if he repents, he will be accepted. And they asked, "Let him be taken back through [the bottom]!" [They answered,] "the matter will not help." They [meant] with this that one who repents will not suffice to be fenced from iniquity [with a fence] like the fence of the righteous ones, since they has did not sin - a small fence suffices for them. However a small fence will not suffice for the sinner that sinned and repented. Rather, he needs to fence himself with several difficult fences, since he already breached the small fence once. If he approaches there, his impulse seduces him easily. Rather he needs to distance himself with a very great distancing. And for this [reason], he does not enter through the opening of the portico, where the breach is there. Rather, he ascends and enters through the small opening, [such that] he makes several difficulties and mortifications for himself and [thereby] closes the breaches.

(16) And from this reason, "In the place that penitents stand, etc." - because they do not enter through the opening of the righteous ones, so that they will be with the righteous ones. Rather, they trudge and climb through the higher opening, and mortify themselves and become much more separated from sin than the righteous ones. Hence they climbed and stood on the level (or acclivity) of hey (the numerical equivalent of which is five) - the fifth chamber in the Garden of Eden, that is to say the roof of the hey - whereas the righteous ones are at the opening of the hey, at the entrance of the portico. And accordingly, when a person undergoes repentance (teshuvah) - which is [that] hey returns (teshuv hey) to its place - and the Holy One, blessed be He, brings back His Presence upon him, He does not come back [with a love] only like the first love, but rather much more. And this is [the meaning of] "He will again have mercy on us" - that He will add to His mercy on Israel and refine them more and bring them closer.

(17) And so must a person act towards his fellow. He should not begrudge enmity from the earlier anger. But rather when he sees that his fellow seeks his love, he should have a level of mercy and love [that is] much more than before. And he should say, "Behold, for me he is like penitents, that the completely righteous cannot stand next to them." And he [should] bring him the closest - closer than he brings those that are completely righteous with him, that have not sinned towards him.

(18) The eighth: "He suppresses our iniquities" - behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, acts with Israel with this trait, and that is the secret of the suppression of iniquities. As behold the commandment, 'it is like when it blossoms, its bud arises' and it pierces and climbs until no end, to enter in front of Him, may He be blessed. But the iniquities, however, do not have passage there, God forbid. Rather, He suppresses them, such that they not enter - as it is written (Psalms 5:5), "evil does not dwell [with] You (yegurcha)"; evil shall not dwell in Your domicile (megurcha). If so, the iniquity does not enter inside. And from this reason, "There is no reward for a commandment in this world" (Kiddushin 39a) - as [the commandments] are in front of Him, may He be blessed. And how can He give him from that which is in front of Him - a spiritual reward - in the world that is physical? And behold, the entire world is not worth one commandment and the satisfaction [from it] in front of Him. And for this reason, He does not take the bribe of commandments. The metaphor for this is that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not say, "He did forty commandments and ten sins; there remain thirty and the [other] ten go [away] with the ten" - God forbid! Rather, even if he was a completely righteous one and he committed one sin, it is similar in front of Him as if he burned the entire Torah, until he satisfies his debt. And afterwards, he can receive the reward for all of his commandments. And this is a great kindness that the Holy One, blessed be He, does with the righteous ones - that he does not reduce [the reward], as the commandments are very important and climb until [they reach] in front of Him, may He be blessed. And how could He reduce from them on account of sins - as the repayment of sins is from the share of Geihinom, from that which is disdained; whereas the reward of the commandments is from the honored, the radiance of the Divine Presence. How could these be reduced [on account of] those? Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, collects the debt of the sins and pays the reward of all of the commandments. And this is [the meaning of] "He suppresses our iniquities" - that the iniquities do not intensify in front of Him, like the commandments. Rather He suppresses them that they should not rise and not enter - even as He is supervising over the ways of a man, good and bad. Nonetheless, He does not suppress the good, but rather it blossoms and climbs until [it grows] very much. And [so] one commandment is grouped together with [another] commandment and a great edifice is built, and a fine suit [is formed]. But iniquities do not have this special quality, but He rather suppresses them, that they should not have this success, and [not] enter inside [in front of Him].

(19) A man needs to also practice this trait - to not suppress the good of his fellow and remember his evil that he did to him. Rather, just the opposite - he [should] suppress the evil, forget it and neglect it, and 'evil shall not dwell in his domicile.' And the good [should] always be ordered in front of him, and he [should] remember [his fellow's] good. And he [should] intensify it over all of the deeds that he has done to him. And he [should] not reduce [that] in his heart, and say, "If he did me good, behold he [also] did me evil," and forget the good. He should not do this. Rather, he [should] be appeased in any way of appeasement [possible]. And he [should] never neglect the good from [being] between his eyes; and avert his eye from the evil as much as he can, in the way that the Holy One, blessed be He, suppresses His iniquities, as I have explained.

(20) The ninth: "And You will hurl into the depths of the sea all of their sins" - this is a good trait of the Holy One, blessed be He. As behold, Israel sinned; He delivered them into the hand of Pharaoh, and they repented. Why [should] he punish Pharaoh? And likewise Sancheriv; and likewise Haman and those similar to them. The Holy One, blessed be He, is not only assuaged to say, "They have repented. If so, let them not have any more evil. If so, let Haman withdraw from them," or Pharaoh, or Sancheriv. This does not suffice. Rather, he puts the travail of Haman back on his head; and likewise Pharaoh; and likewise Sancheriv. And the reason for this practice is the secret of "And the goat carries upon him all of their iniquities to a desolate land" (Leviticus 16:22). And its explanation is that it carries the actual sins. But this is very difficult: And shall Israel sin and the goat carry [it]? Rather [this] trait is like this: A person confesses [sins], and his intention in the confession is to receive purification upon himself; like the matter that David stated (Psalms 51:4), "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity." And so, in our saying, "Purge [me] in Your great mercy," [one] is only praying that the afflictions be light, such that there not be a hindrance of Torah [study]; and this [is also the intention of] that which we say, "But not through bad (harsh) afflictions." And so, in his saying, "And You are righteous about all that happens to me" - he intends to truly accept afflictions with a pleasant countenance, in order to atone; as there are iniquities that [only] afflictions purge or that [only] death purges. And such is the trait: As soon as this one confesses in his prayer - they explained in the Zohar in Parshat Pekudei (p. 262b) that this is the portion of Samael, similar to the goat. What is his portion that the Holy One, blessed be He, decreed for him? Afflictions. And [so] Samael immediately arrives there and goes and collects his debt. And behold, [this is] the goat carrying the iniquities - that the Holy One, blessed be He, gives him authority to collect his debt, and Israel is [thus] purified. But, behold, it all devolves upon Samael. And the reason is because the Holy One, blessed be He, decreed upon His world, that anyone who does this, will be nullified. And this is the reason of, "and you shall kill the beast" (Leviticus 20:15). And likewise the stone of the commandment of those stoned; and the sword of the commandment of those killed, require burial (Sanhedrin 45b) to nullify their existence and power after their judgement is finished.

(21) And behold, there is actually the secret of the image of Nevuchadnetsar in this: Israel was given over to the hand of the king of Babylonia, "the head of gold" (Daniel 2:32). That head was humbled and given over to the hand of Persia, who are "the chest and the arms of silver." And likewise, these were pushed off for those, until Israel descended to "their feet, some of them were iron and some of them were clay" (Daniel 2:33). And what is the good finish? In the end, the Holy One, blessed be He, stands them up and carries out judgement upon them, as it is written (Deuteronomy 32:23), "I will finish My arrows upon them" - My arrows end, but Israel does not end (Sotah 9a). "All at once, the (bronze, silver, gold, etc.) were crushed" (Daniel 2:35). Behold at the beginning, it is written (Daniel 2:34), "and struck the image on its feet" - there is nothing of the image besides its feet, as the power of the head, its arms and its belly had already been nullified. And nonetheless at the end, it was crushed [entirely] as one. In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will stand up Samael and the evildoers that do his deeds and acts, and carry out the judgement upon them. And that is [the meaning of] "and You will hurl into the depths of the sea all of their sins" - it wants [to say], He will hurl the power of judgement to bring [it] down on the hands of these, who are "the depths of the sea." [As it is stated (Isaiah 57:20),] "But the wicked are like the troubled sea which cannot rest, whose waters toss up mire and mud" - these are the ones that enact judgement upon Israel, all the payment of whom falls back on their heads. And the reason is because after Israel has received their judgement, the Holy One, blessed be He, regrets even about what preceded, and He [avenges] their insult. And it is not enough [that they carried out the judgement on Israel], but rather, "I was a little mad, but they assisted for the bad" (Zechariah 1:15).

(22) Also this trait must a person practice with his fellow. Even if he is an evildoer that is plagued with afflictions, he shall not hate him - as once he has been debased, behold he is like your brother (Makkot 23a). And he [should] bring close the downtrodden and punished and have mercy upon them. And just the opposite, he should save them from the hand of the enemy, and he should not say, "It is his iniquity that caused it to him." But rather, he should have mercy upon him with this trait, as I have explained.

(23) The tenth: "You shall give truth to Yaakov" - this trait is that Israel has a virtue. Those average people that do not know how to act beyond the [letter] of the law - and they are called Yaakov, since they only act with true behavior; and also the Holy One, blessed be He, has a trait of truth, which is from the angle of the existence of straight judgement. And with these who act with straightness in the world, the Holy One, blessed be He, acts with truth. He has mercy upon them from the angle of straightness and judgement.

(24) A person must also behave with his fellow from the angle of straightness and truth, without inclining the judgement of his fellow - to have mercy upon him in truth; [just] like God, may He be blessed, has mercy upon the average creatures with the trait of truth [in order] to refine them.

(25) The eleventh: "Kindness to Avraham" - these are the ones that act beyond the [letter] of the law in the world, like Avraham, our father; also the Holy One, blessed be He, acts with them beyond the [letter] of the law. He does not take the law (judgement) to its [full] force, even in the way of straightness. Rather, He [seeks to] go beyond straightness with them, [just] like they act. And that is [the meaning of] "kindness to Avraham" - the Holy One, blessed be He, practices the trait of kindness with those that are like Avraham in their behavior.

(26) Also a person - even as he acts with righteousness, straightness and justice towards every person - his behavior towards the best and the pious [should] be beyond the [letter] of the law. And if he was a little patient with other people - towards these [he should be] much more [patient], and have mercy upon them; to go with them beyond the [letter] of the law that he follows with all other people. And these must be very, very important in front of him and [be] beloved to him. And they [should] be from the people of his entourage.

(27) The twelfth: "Which You swore to our fathers" - there are people that are not proper, and the Holy One, blessed be He, has mercy on all of them. And they explained in the Gemara (Berakhot 7a), "and I will give grace to the one that I give grace" (Exodus 33:19) - "The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'This storehouse is for those that are not proper.'" There is a storehouse of those given grace that the Holy One, blessed be He, graces and gives them [as] a free present. As the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Behold, they have the merit of the fathers - I swore to the fathers. Therefore, even if they are not proper, they shall merit because they are from the seed of the fathers to whom I swore. Hence, I will lead them and guide them until they are refined."

(28) And so should a person be if he meets evildoers: He should not be cruel towards them or curse them and similar [to these things]. Rather, he should have mercy upon them and say, "In the end, they are the children of Avraham, Yitschak and Yaakov. If they are not fit, their fathers were fit and proper. And one who disgraces the children, disgraces the fathers. [Hence] I do not desire that they be disgraced through me." And he covers their insult and refines them according to his ability.

(29) The thirteenth: "From days of yore" - behold [this is] the trait that the Holy One, blessed be He, has with Israel when their merit and similar [to it] ends. What shall He do - behold, they are not proper in their own right? It is written (Jeremiah 2:2), "I remembered for you the kindness of your youth, your love as a bride" - the Holy One, blessed be He, actually remembers the days of the early ones, the love that He had from before, and has mercy upon Israel. And through this, He remembers for them all the commandments that they did from the day they were born and all of the good traits with which the Holy One, blessed be He, runs His world. And from all of them, He produces a special quality to have mercy for them. And behold, this trait includes all of the traits entirely, as they explained in the Idra (Zohar, Nasso, p. 134b).

(30) So [should] a person refine his behavior with people, such that even if he does not find an argument from those mentioned [in the other traits], he should say, "There were already times when they did not sin. And behold, that time, or those earlier days, they were fit." And he [should] remember for them that good that they did in their childhood, and remember for them the love of the 'ones weaned from milk, removed from the breasts.' And through this, there will not be a man who will not be fit to benefit, to pray for his welfare and to have mercy upon him.

(31) To now [we] have reached the thirteen traits though which a person should resemble his Creator, which are the highest traits of mercy. And their special quality is that [just] as a person acts below, so [too] will he merit to open for himself the highest trait above - exactly as he acts, so will there be a flow from above. And he will cause that trait to shine in the world. And so he should not have these thirteen traits escape from the eyes of [his] mind. And he [should] not stop the verse from his mouth, so that it will be a reminder - when a situation comes to him that he needs to uses one of the traits, he will remember and say, "Behold, that thing depends upon trait x; I do not want to move from it, so that this trait does not disappear and retreat from the world."

(4) Notwithstanding that the blowing of the ram's horn trumpet on Rosh ha-Shanah is a Scriptural statute, its blast is symbolic, as if saying: "Ye that sleep, bestir yourselves from your sleep, and ye slumbering, emerge from your slumber, examine your conduct, turn in repentance, and remember your Creator! They that forget the truth because of the vanities of the times, who err all of their years by pursuing vanity and idleness, which are of neither benefit nor of salvation, care for your souls, improve your ways and your tendencies, let each one of you abandon his evil path and his thought which is not pure! It is, therefore, necessary for every man to behold himself throughout the whole year in a light of being evenly balanced between innocence and guilt, and look upon the entire world as if evenly balanced between innocence and guilt; thus, if he commit one sin, he will overbalance himself and the whole world to the side of guilt, and be a cause of its destruction; but if he perform one duty, behold, he will overbalance himself and the whole world to the side of virtue, and bring about his own and their salvation and escape, even as it is said: "But the righteous is an everlasting foundation" (Prov. 10. 25), it is he, by whose righteousness he overbalanced the whole world to virtue and saved it. And, because of this matter, it became the custom of the whole house of Israel to excel in alms-giving, in good conduct and in the performance of duties during the intervening days of Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom ha-Kippurim above what they do during the whole year. It also became a universal custom to rise early during those ten days, to deliver in the synagogues prayers of supplication and ardor till the dawn of the day.