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    Chapter 1 · Arba’ah Rashei Shanim

    The thirteen attributes

    Lesson 6 of 14 22 min

    The Gemara promises that a certain prayer has power that does not return empty.

    Lesson goals
    • 01Restate the source in your own words.
    • 02Identify the central distinction and explain its significance.
    • 03Apply the distinction in the exercise without adding a ruling absent from the source.
    01

    Source and decoding - Rosh Hashanah 17b

    Rosh Hashanah 17b
    בְּרִית כְּרוּתָה לִשְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה מִדּוֹת שֶׁאֵינָן חוֹזְרוֹת רֵיקָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי כּוֹרֵת בְּרִית״.

    Rav Yehudah said: a covenant was made with the thirteen attributes that they do not return empty, as it says "Behold, I make a covenant." The thirteen attributes are the attributes of mercy told to Moses after the golden calf, and they are the heart of the selichot prayers..

    Rav Yehudah said: a covenant was made with the thirteen attributes that they do not return empty, as it says "Behold, I make a covenant." The thirteen attributes are the attributes of mercy told to Moses after the golden calf, and they are the heart of the selichot prayers.

    02

    Building the reasoning

    1. 1Restate the source in your own words.
    2. 2Identify the central distinction and explain its significance.
    3. 3Apply the distinction in the exercise without adding a ruling absent from the source.
    03

    Terms to decode

    ברית כרותה
    a covenant is made
    ריקם
    empty-handed
    מדות
    attributes
    04

    Before moving on

    Insight

    This lesson is a study framework, not a halachic ruling. Check everything in the sources, and bring practical questions to a rabbi.

    Practice

    Write what "do not return empty" means in your own words.

    Lesson wrap-up

    The prayer rests on a covenant, not only a request.

    Check your understanding

    Test yourself before marking the lesson complete.

    Question 1 of 3

    Who said "a covenant was made with the thirteen attributes"?

    Previous lessonHe removes the first, the first
    Next lessonBeacons and messengers