Devarim talks about the words of rebuke that Moshe Rabbenu gave towards the end of his life. T he entire Sefer is dedicated to words of rebuke . But before Moshe Rabbenu started to give them rebuke, he spoke of Hashem’s mercy on the Jewish people. In the Ramban’s words, “ As many times as they rebelled against H im, even so, Hash e m acted with Midot HaRachamim . Firstly, because Hashem wanted to say His kindness and secondly, because He wanted to strengthen their hearts. Because sometimes when a person gets rebuked, he says, “ There is no hope for me. I’m just going to go back to s inn ing. ” Therefore the Ramban says, “ God will forever act towards us with the trait of mercy. .” A person should not say, “ How can we inherit the land? We’re going to sin, and if we sin God‘s justice will come down against us and we will be wiped out.“ Therefore , Moshe Rabbenu wanted to tell us, “ God is merciful. He is full of mercy. God forgives and God atones. ” God does that to help people out . If you would only focus on what you did wrong, you would never move forward. So you have to remember that God forgives. As it says in Tehilim 130,4 “ F orgiveness is with you, so that we should fear Him.” What does this mean? It means God knows that if we don’t believe in forgiveness, we will never fear Him, because we will give up and throw in the towel. It is no coincidence that we read about this in Devarim , on the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av, b ecause after all of the three weeks and Tisha B’Av, a person could just walk out and throw in the towel. Therefore , Hashem wants to tell us that with everything, His M idd at Hadin/ trait of justice is not the overpowering trait. God ’s trait is the trait of mercy. This is a fundamental in Bitachon and relying on Hashem. One has to realize and know ( and this is one of the fundamentals that the Hovot Halevavot tells us ) , that we don’t understand how much Hessed Hashem has , we don’t understand His k indnes s. The Hovot Halevavot, in Shaar Bitachon (chapter 7) says that one of the reasons that people don’t rely on Hashem is because of their foolishness in understanding God’s good traits. “ One who does not understand God‘s mercy on his creations, and His protection and guarding over them, and His supervision and His control over them, and that they are totally tied in His shackles (i.e. no one can do anything to him without God’s say so ) , can’t have a heart that is calm and he can’t rely on Him . So in order to rely on Hashem, you have to really understand God‘s mercy. This is something that we don’t fully understand, because we see the Middat Hadin , and we don’t understand that , as we say, Hashem Echad/ Hashem is O ne. There is only one God. And when Hashem acts with justice , that is not God’s essence. God is called Rachum V’Hanum, in the thirteen attributes of mercy. God is not called HaDayan/ The Judge. That is not the attribute that He is known as. Of course, He will use justice, but that is not God’s essence. God essence is all goodness and mercy. The Gaon of Vilna wants to contrast Avraham Avinu with Yaakov Avinu. It says on Avraham, “ A fter God promised him , he trusted in Hashem. And he considered a righteousness. ” But is not a clear who m the “ he ,” is referring to. The Gaon o f Vilna understands it as, “ And Avraham considered to Him /to God , a righteousness.” This means that Hashem sometimes comes with Midat HaDin . Yaakov Avinu was very afraid , in case the sin would cause the promise not to come through. Yaakov Avinu, for various reasons, was going with Hashem ’s trait of justice. He said , “ If God’s justice is with me.” But the Gaon of Vilna says that Avraham Avinu, on the other hand, was relying on Hashem’s Sedaka, His charity- and not because of justice, he wasn’t afraid of the sin. Because God’s kindness is forever. Even if he sins. That is what it means, “ Hineh El Yeshuati, ” El is the name of God that is Middat HaHessed. God ’s kindness will save me - Not because of my deeds. Rather , because of God’s kindness . Therefore, I am not afraid that my sins will cause God’s promises not to come through. Because I’m not relying on my deeds, I’m not going with God’s trade of Justice, I am relying on God’s kindness . This this is the introduction to Dev arim . With all the mussar, and all the rebuke, the Ra mban says that Moshe wanted to tell us, in the name of God, not to forget that His mercy is forever. God is merciful, and full of mercy. Even on a Tisha b’Av. Because with God is forgiveness, and God has that trait of forgiveness. That is why, in Sephardic communities, in the Minhal of Tisha b’Av , we have a custom to read the beginning of the Selic hot , to remind us that after all the justice, we are ready for Selic hot , for the high holiday season to be forgiven. Have a wonderful day, A Shabbat Shalom and a meaningful Tisha BAv .