Distraction-Fasting, Monotasking & Hesed-Casting
Selichot 5782, Exodus 34:6–7
Rabbi Russ Resnik
As a well-worn saying goes, it’s the preacher’s job to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. They’re both challenging tasks, which is why Jewish tradition devotes, not just a day or two, but a whole season to affliction and comfort. For three weeks leading up to Tisha B’Av we read the Haftarot of Affliction, and for seven weeks afterwards the Haftarot of Comfort.
And if we pay attention to our readings and to the whole drama of this season, we might not be entirely comfortable as we approach the holy Yom Ha-Din, the Day of Judgment, or Rosh Hashanah. Accordingly, Jewish custom provides a final service of forgiveness or Selichot, starting on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashana, or if there are fewer than four days between Saturday and Rosh Hashana, on the previous Saturday night, as it is this year.
You can find Selichot prayers in a special prayer book or online, or you can read psalms of supplication like Psalms 32 and 51. The most important text for Selichot, though, is the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy from Exodus 34:6–7. Moses is speaking with Hashem after the incident of the golden calf. In response to Moses’ pleas, Hashem has agreed to show mercy to Israel and remain among them by his presence. Then Moses asks God to show him his glory and Hashem agrees—but it’s not a visual revelation that he gives. Instead, the Lord describes himself to Moses:
Adonai, Adonai, God, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace and truth; showing grace to the thousandth generation, forgiving offenses, crimes and sins; yet not exonerating the guilty . . .
In this ultimate moment of divine self-revelation, God’s “glory” is not a visual display, but a verbal declaration of mercy and compassion. Our sages discern Thirteen Attributes of Mercy that are especially comforting as we seek forgiveness at this time of year. The final four attributes all have to do with God’s forgiveness:
10. Forgiving offenses (nosei avon)—Avon refers to intentional sin, which God forgives if the sinner turns back to him.
11. Crimes (pesha)—Pesha is sin with malicious intent, rebellion against God. God allows teshuva, turning back, leading to forgiveness even for this.
12. And sins (v’hata’ah)—And God forgives sins committed out of carelessness, thoughtlessness, or apathy.
13. Exonerating (v’nakeh)—The actual text here says God does not exonerate the guilty, but this implies that he does exonerate those who truly turn back to him.
These final attributes call for teshuva, a U-turn from our own ways and back to God. But something within our human nature resists the sort of change that teshuva entails. We love routine and the status quo—especially when it comes to inward things. We might like to try out new experiences, new flavors and colors and places, but when it comes to changing the things closest to ourselves, we’re most likely to resist. Just ask anyone—including yourself—who’s tried to exercise more or eat less or phase out some unhealthy habit. We resist change.
As a rabbi I’ve noticed this sort of resistance when we talk about teshuva during this season, as we inevitably do. I can even imagine some of my readers groaning as I bring up that term. But please remember my job description: To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Yes, we emphasize teshuva during this whole season, because genuine comfort only comes after affliction.
Our tradition provides lengthy prayers of remorse and confession through the Days of Awe, and we might need to overcome inner resistance to really put our hearts into this practice. But as we do, we begin to see ourselves and our lives in light of God’s merciful presence. We might end up like Moses, who “bowed his head down to the earth and worshiped” after hearing the Thirteen Attributes (Exod 34:8), seeing not only who God was, but who he himself was too.
But we’re unlikely to respond like Moses amid our entertainment, distraction, and info-glutted lives, so let’s prepare ourselves during this season with practices like these:
Distraction-fasting. Distraction, entertainment, and information inflation characterize the day in which we live. Let’s turn something off from now through the Days of Awe. I think I’ll put a pause on my recently acquired Spelling Bee habit (it’s a New York Times vocabulary game—but I can live without it). We’re approaching the Days of Awe, so let’s simplify our mental-emotional surroundings and make room for awe.
Monotasking. We all know that you can’t really multitask, as in doing two or three things at the same time, but we keep trying. Let’s refrain for a while and instead give full attention to one thing at a time, hour by hour and day by day. Practice the kind of focus that will be required of us when we actually get into the prayers for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Hesed-casting. Hesed, as undeserved kindness or generosity, is a leading quality among the Thirteen Attributes, and we can reflect God’s self-description with small, barely noticeable acts of hesed. Give someone close to you a genuine, but unexpected, word of affirmation or encouragement. Decide not to criticize or minimize the efforts of someone else, even if you think they deserve it. Give relational freebies—and enjoy doing it!
In the prologue of his Besorah (Gospel), John highlights the paired attributes of hesed v’emet listed in Exodus 34: “The Torah was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Yeshua the Messiah” (1:17). Commentators often see this verse as a contrast between Moses and Yeshua, between law and grace. But it’s more accurate to think of it as fulfillment. Moses gave us Torah, which speaks of grace and truth. Yeshua the Messiah embodies the very same grace and truth, living them out among us and through us.
We’ll repeat the Thirteen Attributes in our prayers from the night of Selichot through Yom Kippur. They provide the essential backdrop for all our confessions of sin. Without the declaration of God’s mercy, however, we’d turn the liturgies of confession into a dreary, self-absorbed, and depressing mess. With it, confession leads to a deep encounter with the God of grace and truth, embodied in Messiah Yeshua—an encounter with the potential to change us from within.