meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Musar/Sefer Tomer Devorah/English/YU Torah miTzion Beit Midrash.txt"}
text: Sefer Tomer Devorah
  ספר תומר דבורה
  YU Torah miTzion Beit Midrash
  
  
  Sefer Tomer Devorah
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Seif 1
  
  Man is suited to resemble his Creator,‎‏ ‏and through this he achieves the secret‏ ‏of the higher form,‎‏ ‏‏ ‏‎<i>tzelem</i> and‏ ‏‎<i>demut</i>. If‎‏ ‏he were to resemble physically, but not‏ ‏in his actions, he ‎would be making the‏ ‏form into a lie. They would say of him,‎‏ ‏‎“This is a pleasant form, but ugly‎‏ ‏deeds.” The essence of the higher‏ ‏‎<i>tzelem</i> and‏ ‏‎<i>demut</i>  is in His actions, and of what‏ ‏good is it to be like the higher form, the‏ ‏form of His “limbs”, and to not resemble‏ ‏his Creator in his ‎actions?‎‏ ‏Therefore, it would be suitable for a person to resemble the acts of‏ ‏‎<i>Keter</i>,‎‏ ‏which ‎are the thirteen higher attributes‏ ‏of mercy, hinted in Michah 7:18-20,‎‏ ‏‎“Who is a powerful G-d like ‎You …” And‎‏ ‏now we will explain those thirteen deeds‏ ‏which one should possess. ‎
  
  Seif 2
  
  ‎1. “Who is a powerful G-d like You” This teaches that G-d is a shamed King, bearing ‎incalculable shame. Without doubt, nothing is hidden from His oversight, and there is no moment ‎when a person is not nourished and supported by the higher force that flows upon him, so that ‎there was never a person who sinned against G-d without G-d, at that very instant, flowing into ‎him his existence and his ability to move his limbs. Even though this person sins with that force, G-‎d does not withhold it at all. G-d endures this shame, flowing into the person the power for his ‎limbs to move, and the person using that power at that moment for sin and iniquity, and to anger ‎G-d, and G-d endures it patiently … Even though He has the power to withdraw that flowing force, ‎and He should 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 endures the shame and flows strength ‎and gives a person of His goodness... This is the meaning of, “Who is a powerful G-d like You” – You ‎are a powerful G-d, giving and benefiting, and a powerful G-d, with strength to take revenge and ‎take back what is Yours, and yet You bear and are shamed until the person repents.  This is a ‎trait one must follow, meaning patience and being shamed, even to this extent, and yet not to ‎withhold one’s aid from the recipient.‎