OU TORAH

Lucky #13

Moshe was to carve two tablets to replace those he had broken. He then had to climb Mt. Sinai again to repeat the process of receiving the Law. G-d's Presence manifested in a cloud and Moshe called out in His Name. G-d revealed His Divine attributes to Moshe, that He is all-powerful, merciful, kind, slow to anger, etc. (We'll list them all at the end of the aliyah. These verses may be a familiar from both the Selichos prayer and removing the from the Ark on Festivals.)

Moshe prayed that G-d indeed accompany them. The people may be stubborn, so may He always forgive them and make them His special nation.

Now, the 13 Divine attributes. G-d is: (1) merciful before a person sins; (2) merciful even after a person sins; (3) all-powerful; (4) compassionate; (5) gracious; (6) slow to anger; (7) full of kindness; (8) and full of truth. He: (9) stores up kindness for future generations, numbering into the thousands; (10) forgives intentional sins; (11) forgives sins intended to spite Him; (12) forgives sins committed through apathy; and (13) cleanses sin, although only if one repents. If not, the sin could be revisited for three or four generations, if a person's descendants persist in the same behavior. Still, all in all, it's a pretty sweet deal!