We continue in the 13 attributes of mercy, as delineated by Rav Moshe Cordovero in his sefer Tomar Devorah . We are up to trait number four, L‘She’erit Nachlato . She’er means relative, like She’er Besaro , and Nachlato means an inheritance. God looks at us as if we are She’er Basar/ we are related t o Him, and Nachlato , we are His inheritance. And therefore, God says, What should I do to the Jewish people? They're My relatives. As God refers to the Jewish people in Shir Hashirim , They’re My daughter and My sister, My mother. Tehilim 148, 14, calls the Jewish people relatives- ישראל עם קרובו Yisrael Am Kerovo Karovo can mean close to, and Karov is a relative. God says, We're related. And if I'm punishing My relative, it's hurting Me. What am I gaining? The pasuk in Yeshaya 63,9 says בכל צרתם לו צר In all of the Jewish people's pain, there's pain to God. Furthermore, it says in Shoftim , 10,16 ותקצר נפשו בעמל ישראל which Rashi explains as God , kal v’yachol, didn't have space in Hid soul in order to tolerate watching someone else suffer. He didn’t have room for it, so to say. God didn't have the space, even though they were wrong, and even though they deserved it, God couldn't see their suffering and therefore He had to end it. This is an unbelievable concept. We spoke about Savlanut , which was the beginning of this discussion. We have to be Sovel when our friend insults us or hurts us. But when it comes to seeing the Jewish people in pain, in his words, לפי שאינו סובל צערם וקלונם, מפני שהם שארית נחלתו: God cannot tolerate, God cannot hold seeing Jewish pain and disgrace because we're related . Sometimes you just can't watch. Recently, I had to go to a doctor with a male relative, and as he was being checked, I couldn't stand in the room, and not because of any tznuit reasons. I just couldn't bear to see the wound that he was showing to the doctor. It hurt too much. So too, Hashem, kal v’yachol , can't see the pain, but God can't walk out of the room. So what does God have to do? God has to relieve the pain. That is the trait of God called L’She’erit Nachlato. A nd before we apply it, let's just reiterate this concept. In a pasuk in Devarim, 4,7 it says, כִּ֚י מִי־ג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל אֲשֶׁר־ל֥וֹ אֱלֹקים קְרֹבִ֣ים אֵלָ֑יו Who is great like the Jewish people, like God, Who is (not close to us, says the midrash, but) related to us . And the Yerushalmi in Masechet Rosh Hashana says, People like to recognize their wealthy, prestigious relatives, not their poor unknown relatives. But Hashem doesn't work that way. He says, Am Kerovo . I don't care where the Jewish people are holding, they're My relatives. They're my close kin . And that's the way we have to deal with all Jewish people. B’Ezrat Hashem, we will apply this to the Jewish people, and develop this concept more at length. Have a wonderful day.