by RABBI CHAIM FINK | September 15, 2026 3:47 pm
“For with You is forgiveness, that You may be feared”
There is a Psalm that is often recited throughout the High Holidays.
Psalm 130: A song of ascents. From the depths I called You, Hashem. My Lord, hear my voice, may Your ears be attentive to the sound of my pleas. If You preserve iniquities, O God, my Lord, who could survive? For with You is forgiveness, that You may be feared.
This last verse seems a bit hard to understand. It seems to say that because God is willing to forgive us for our mistakes, that is why God is to be feared. The opposite should be true. If God was unrelenting, unwilling to ever forgive, that would be cause to fear him to a greater extent?
I once attended a lecture in Jerusalem given by one of the great rabbis of our time, Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, of blessed memory. It was a packed house, and I managed to find an empty seat in the upper level balcony. Over the course of the evening, Rabbi Moshe Shaipro asked this question about Psalm 130, and he gave the following answer:
Imagine someone who has been sentenced to death and is awaiting execution. Appeals have already been made, but got the doomed inmate nowhere. The evidence was irrefutable, the crime witnessed by many, and a judge and a state who believe strongly in capital punishment. The condemned man has no chance of living past the end of the year. That man is one of the most dangerous people in the world. He has nothing more to lose, and therefore is afraid of nothing. He is fearless, because his situation is hopeless. When there is hope, when there is something still to be lost, then there can be fear. But if one’s fate is sealed, with no chance of changing, then there is no hope, and hence, no fear.
It is due to the very fact that Hashem is always willing to forgive us, that there will always be hope, and that is the reason why we fear God. We fear the possibility of failing to break down the barriers that we have erected distancing us from our Creator. We can cross the distance which we have drifted away from God, but we may not be willing to do so. It’s a lot of hard work, and we often shy away from things that are hard. But it is possible. We are afraid to fail, only because we know that we can succeed. Says Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, that this is the meaning of the verse, “For with You is forgiveness, that You may be feared.” We can always gain God’s forgiveness. That possibility will always exist. And that is why there is fear in our relationship with Hashem.
Hashem’s Attribute of Mercy
We often speak of Hashem as a merciful and compassionate God. A central part of Yom Kippur prayers are reciting Hashem’s 13 attributes of mercy. There is another thought we keep in our minds over the High Holidays, and that is the axiom that none of our actions are ever overlooked or forgotten about. No good deed is ever considered too small to be rewarded for, or too insignificant to be recorded. The same is true of our misdeeds. Hashem doesn’t overlook any of them, and one day, we will have to give an accounting for them all. So then how exactly do we understand God’s mercy? If he will never overlook, and just let go of our sins, then in what capacity is He considered to be merciful? This question is aksed and addressed by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, in his masterpiece work, Mesilas Yesharim, The Path of the Just (Chapter 4):
“If you ask: if so, for what does G-d’s attribute of mercy exist if He must be absolutely meticulous in judging every thing? The answer: The trait of mercy is certainly the pillar of the world. For the world could not endure without it at all whatsoever. But nevertheless, G-d’s attribute of justice is not negated. For according to strict justice it would be proper that:
For in truth, how can a man rectify what he has made crooked after committing the sin? If one murdered his fellow or committed adultery? How can he possibly rectify this? Can he undo a deed already done from existence?
But the attribute of mercy reverses the three aforementioned matters.
Thus when the penitent man recognizes his sin and admits it, and reflects on his evil, repents of it and completely regrets ever having done it, as he would regret [in annulling] a certain vow, in which case there is complete regret, and he desires and longs that this deed had never been committed, and pains himself strongly that the matter was done, and renounces it for the future, and flees from it – then the uprooting of the deed from his will is counted to him as the annulment of a vow and he gains atonement for it. As scripture says: “your iniquity is gone and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7) – that the sin is actually removed from existence, and uprooted through his paining himself and regretting in the present what he had done in the past.
This is certainly a kindness for it is not according to the letter of justice. But nevertheless, it does not negate the attribute of justice completely for there are ways to consider it justice. For in place of the will to consent to sin, and the pleasure that it provided, there is now regret and pain.
Providing him time is not an overlooking of the sin, but rather a small patience, to open for him an opening to rectify.
וְאִם תֹּאמַר, אִם כֵּן, מִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים לְמָה הִיא עוֹמֶדֶת, כֵּיוָן שֶׁעַל כָּל פָּנִים צָרִיךְ לְדַקְדֵּק בַּדִּין עַל כָּל דָּבָר? הַתְּשׁוּבָה, וַדַּאי, מִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים הִיא קִיּוּמוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה עוֹמֵד זוּלָתוֹ כְּלָל וּכְלָל. וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן אֵין מִדַּת הַדִּין לוֹקָה, וְזֶה, כִּי לְפִי שׁוּרַת הַדִּין מַמָּשׁ,
הָיָה רָאוּי שֶׁהַחוֹטֵא יֵעָנֵשׁ מִיָּד תֵּכֶף לְחֶטְאוֹ בְּלִי הַמְתָּנָה כְּלָל.
וְגַם שֶׁהָעֹנֶשׁ עַצְמוֹ יִהְיֶה בַּחֲרוֹן אַף, כָּרָאוּי לְמִי שֶׁמַּמְרֶה פִּי הַבּוֹרֵא יִתְבָּרַךְ שְׁמוֹ.
וְשֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה תִּקּוּן לַחֵטְא כְּלָל.
כִּי הִנֵּה בֶּאֱמֶת, אֵיךְ יְתַקֵּן הָאָדָם אֶת אֲשֶׁר עִוֵּת וְהַחֵטְא כְּבָר נַעֲשָׂה? הֲרֵי שֶׁרָצַח הָאָדָם אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ, הֲרֵי שֶׁנָּאַף, אֵיךְ יוּכַל לְתַקֵּן הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה? הֲיוּכַל לְהָסִיר הַמַּעֲשֶׂה הֶעָשׂוּי מִן הַמְּצִיאוּת?
אָמְנָם, מִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים הִיא הַנּוֹתֶנֶת הֵפֶךְ הַשְּׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים שֶׁזָּכַרְנוּ:
דְּהַיְנוּ, שֶׁיֻּתַּן זְמַן לַחוֹטֵא וְלֹא יִכָּחֵד מִן הָאָרֶץ מִיָּד כְּשֶׁחָטָא.וְשֶׁהָעֹנֶשׁ עַצְמוֹ לֹא יִהְיֶה עַד לְכַלֵּה.
וְשֶׁהַתְּשׁוּבָה תִּנָּתֵן לַחוֹטְאִים בְּחֶסֶד גָּמוּר, שֶׁתֵּחָשֵׁב עֲקִירַת הָרָצוֹן כַּעֲקִירַת הַמַּעֲשֶׂה.דְּהַיְנוּ, שֶׁבִּהְיוֹת הַשָּׁב מַכִּיר אֶת חֶטְאוֹ וּמוֹדֶה בּוֹ וּמִתְבּוֹנֵן עַל רָעָתוֹ וְשָׁב וּמִתְחָרֵט עָלָיו חֲרָטָה גְּמוּרָה דְּמֵעִקָּרָא כַּחֲרָטַת הַנֶּדֶר מַמָּשׁ שֶׁהוּא מִתְנַחֵם לְגַמְרֵי וְהָיָה חָפֵץ וּמִשְׁתּוֹקֵק שֶׁמֵּעוֹלָם לֹא הָיָה נַעֲשֶׂה הַדָּבָר הַהוּא וּמִצְטַעֵר בְּלִבּוֹ צַעַר חָזָק עַל שֶׁכְּבָר נַעֲשָׂה הַדָּבָר וְעוֹזֵב אוֹתוֹ לְהַבָּא וּבוֹרֵחַ מִמֶּנּוּ, הִנֵּה עֲקִירַת הַדָּבָר מֵרְצוֹנוֹ, יֵחָשֵׁב לוֹ כַּעֲקִירַת הַנֶּדֶר וּמִתְכַּפֵּר לוֹ. וְהוּא מָה שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב (ישעיה ו): וְסָר עֲוֹנֶךָ וְחַטָּאתְךָ תְּכֻפָּר, שֶׁהֶעָוֹן סָר מַמָּשׁ מֵהַמְּצִיאוּת וְנֶעֱקַר בַּמֶּה שֶׁעַכְשָׁו מִצְטַעֵר וּמִתְנַחֵם עַל מָה שֶׁהָיָה לְמַפְרֵעַ.
וְזֶה חֶסֶד וַדַּאי שֶׁאֵינָהּ מִשּׁוּרַת הַדִּין, אַךְ עַל כָּל פָּנִים הִנֵּה הוּא חֶסֶד שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַכְחִישׁ הַדִּין לְגַמְרֵי, שֶׁהֲרֵי יֵשׁ צַד לִתְלוֹת בּוֹ.
שֶׁתַּחַת הָרָצוֹן שֶׁנִּתְרַצָּה בַּחֵטְא וְהַהֲנָאָה שֶׁנֶּהֱנָה מִמֶּנּוּ בָּא עַתָּה הַנֶּחָמָה וְהַצַּעַר.
וְכֵן אֲרִיכוּת הַזְּמַן אֵינֶנּוּ וִתָּרוֹן עַל הַחֵטְא, אֶלָּא סַבְלָנוּת קְצָת לִפְתֹּחַ לוֹ פֶּתַח תִּקּוּן.
Embrace the Pain
Yom Kippur used to be a very difficult day for me. I was not very good at fasting, and by the time mid-afternoon came by, I felt more dead than alive. Yom Kippur was a day that I did not look forward to very much, and was quite relieved when it was over. Then, I learned something which changed the way I view the day and the discomfort that comes along with it. Yom Kippur is now one of my favorite days of the year. Allow me to explain:
The Torah doesn’t say explicitly, “Don’t eat or drink on Yom Kippur”. Instead, it says that on Yom Kippur you should afflict yourself. The Talmud explains that this affliction is accomplished primarily by depriving oneself of food and drink. The Talmud lists 4 other ways that we are meant to afflict ourselves on Yom Kippur, bringing the total forms of affliction to 5, and they are:
There are some commandments and prohibitions which the Torah repeats multiple times. By stating and restating a commandment, the Torah is placing greater emphasis on it, which makes a prohibition more severe and fulfilling a commandment more rewarding. The Torah tells us to afflict ourselves on Yom Kippur about half a dozen times! That means that we fulfill a mitzvah for each time the Torah mentions the commandment. We perform one act, but in that one act, we accomplish many mitzvot. For every moment of discomfort and affliction we feel on Yom Kippur, we accrue a huge amount of merits.
Now, Yom Kippur is not only a day of atonement, it is also a day of judgement. As we say in our High Holiday liturgy, “On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed and on Yom Kippur it is sealed, who will live and who will die”. The judgement of these days is greatly affected by the mitzvot we have performed in the previous year, and the misdeeds that we committed. There is something like a balance scale placed up in heaven, one side loaded up with our good deeds, and the other weighted with our mistakes. We so badly want the side of good to tip down, with more weight than the side of our sins. On this day of judgement, we need every single mitzvah we can get our hands on. And look how Hashem arranged it for us! We can sit in a synagogue, or at home, and do absolutely nothing. We don’t eat and we don’t drink. We don’t wash and we don’t moisturize, we can just sit by the table or on the couch and do nothing. After some time without food and water, we’ll begin to feel it. And for that very feeling of deprivation and affliction, we get the mitzvahs that we so desperately need! What an incredible kindness of the Almighty, to give us this opportunity to get some mitzvahs for doing absolutely nothing!
This mindset helped me to not only tolerate the discomfort better, but to embrace it! Of course, we do what we can to help us have an easy fast, so we can focus on our prayers and repentance. We eat the day before Yom Kippur, the only day of the year when we have a mitzvah to eat. We drink a lot of water to hydrate our bodies, because hydration is a real thing. But even with all that, we won’t feel well by mid-afternoon. We will feel the fast. And that very feeling, the feeling of affliction, will help us merit a favorable judgment in heaven.
A Closing Thought
I will never forget something that happened over 40 years ago. I was six years old, in the first grade of a Jewish Day School. It was 2 days before Yom Kippur, and our teacher told us to take out our pencils and a blank piece of paper. She then instructed us to mark up our papers with as many pencil scribbles as we could. She told us to push down really hard and make marks as dark as possible. For a first grader, this was a pretty exciting activity, and we all obliged her. Her next instruction was to take the eraser at the back of our pencils and restore the sheet of paper to its original pristine quality. Rid the paper of the pencil graphite. We all rubbed down the nibs at the back of our pencils, and reached into our pencil bags for the heavy guns, those big pink erasers. But try as we may, we could not turn those pieces of paper back to pure white. There were still streaks and smudges.
The teacher used this as a lesson to show us the wonder of Yom Kippur. Over the course of the year, we create all kinds of dark and ugly stains on our pure and pristine souls. Then, on Yom Kippur, we stand before Hashem in genuine regret for the wrongs we committed. We abashedly confess those sins and commit to never repeat them again. And through these 3 ingredients of repentance; regret, confession, and commitment to not do it again, Hashem takes our sullied soul and washes it completely clean. Not mostly clean, except for a few streaks and smudges, but completely clean, as pure and white as the day we were born. This is the miracle and the opportunity of Yom Kippur.
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