Tolerance A Trait of God

In our previous lesson, we spoke of the trait of being Sovel , which we said has different meanings in English- either patience, tolerance of pain or carrying a load . And we explained from Rav Wolbe that there's really one theme. One who is patient, or one who is tolerating pain is, in essence, carrying a load. There's that that need to react, that uncomfortable feeling that you're just holding inside of you and being Sovel , carrying the fact that this person is dealing with you in a certain way. The Elder of Kelm says that this is the source of all good Middot and Rav Wolbe brings a source for the Elder of Kelm, from the Sefer Tomer Devorah , written by the great Kabbalist Rav Moshae Cordevero, where he discusses the 13 Attributes of Mercy delineated by the prophet of Micha. And the first trait is called Mi El Kamocha, Who is a God like You? He says that God is a King who is disgraced. He is Sovel Elbon / God carrie s or tolerates the disgrace in a way that's not humanly fathomable. And he makes two points. Point number one is that there is nothing that God does not supervise or see. Point number two is that there isn’t a second that man is not being sustained by God. So when we put that together, the equation comes out that at the very same moment that any one has ever sinned against God, God continued to pump energy into to the person. That means God allows the person to sin against Him, with the very energy that God gave him. Imagine someone driving a car that is controlled by you. You have to hold the button on you computer control system to control his car, and you're watching him on a video camera. He’s about to make a left turn, but you told him to make a right turn. What would you do? You’d take your finger off the button and not allow him to take the left turn. But God doesn't do that. God allows the person to sin. He says, Don't think God can't stop a person; He can cause a stroke in a millisecond, just a little microscopic brain clot and it's all over. And yet God continues to mashpia . That is, in his words, Savlanut / tolerance, patience and carrying, that cannot even be described. And that's Mi El Kamocha means. Who is a God like You? Who is a God that continues to bestow His bounty, even though He has the power to hold it back. And yet, God waits and is Sovel until the person repents. And he says, This is a trait that a human being has to have, Savlanut , to be disgraced and embarrassed to such an extent, and continue to bestow your bounty. And Rav Wolbe says, this is really a step further than the previous level. The first level is if somebody upsets you, someone says something that's upsetting or frustrating and you don't respond. You don't explode. This is more than that. He says, To continue to bestow goodness means you smile at that person. That's your goodness. He says, God is Noseh Avon/He carries the sin and without that the world would seize to exist. So too, he says, a person has a world around him; his coworkers, his siblings, his parents, his spouse, his teacher, his students. All of these people are his world, and they do upsetting, frustrating things and you have to hold it, he says. Otherwise you’re going destroy the world around you- just like there comes a time when a Hashem doesn't hold it, and that destroys the world, such as in the Dor HaMabul and Dor Hapalaga . For whatever reason, there comes a point in time where God doesn't hold it anymore, but we have to hold it, or it will destroy the world around us. And the example is, imagine you're having a meeting and somebody walks in 15 minutes late. So you could explode, but you didn't. But did you give him the same smile and hello as if he came on time? Sovel is to the extent that I continue to bestow my favor on that person, and he still gets the same warmth and smile, because I'm using the trait of God, Who continues to benefit us, even when we go against Him. And it takes the trait of Savlanut . Have a wonderful day.