Compassionate and Full of Grace

I have wondered why our sages explained the Mitzvah "to cleave to God" as asking us to imitate specific divine attributes; namely, the ones emphasizing God’s love, kindness and giving. For example, just as He is compassionate, so too you be compassionate and just as He is filled with grace, so too you be filled with grace. 

The list of divine attributes which are available for imitation is actually much broader than the two recommended. For example, it could be said that as He is wealthy, so too should you be wealthy or as He metes out justice, so too you should mete out justice. So, why did our sages choose compassion and grace as the main attributes we are supposed to focus on imitating?

Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashlag explained that since God created the world only because He wanted to "give", the creation of the whole world was really an act of love and kindness. Therefore, the attributes of compassion and grace express where He is coming from. They are His primary attributes.

Of course, whether divine or human,  any act of "giving" is a process. At times the journey between the heart of the giver and the hand of the recipient can be quite long. There can be many, many considerations and stages along the way. To aid with those considerations and stages, other  attributes also come into play; to act in secondary and supportive roles. 

However, our sages asked us to focus on being compassionate and filled with grace. This way we are imitating His primary attributes, as this is really the main way to imitate Him and thereby, draw ourselves closer to Him.

Every parent hopes his/her children will follow in his/her ways. There are ways which are core to a parent's identity and ways which are only present to support what's core. If the child primarily gravitates to and absorbs what is only secondary about the parent, the parent feels hurt. To one extent or another some level of dissonance has been introduced into their relationship. 

However, if the child primarily gravitates to and absorbs what is core to the parent's identity, their bond has been truly deepened. The parent and child share a deep resonance, so deep that words are too shallow to describe. When this happens, it almost doesn't matter too much if the child failed to pick up on what is secondary to the parent. 

Similarly, God is our Parent. He wants us to pick up on and absorb His primary attributes, what's core to His Identity. This is what He truly considers "imitating His ways". This is what draws us closest to Him! 

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