Hashem Decrees His Mercy

במדרש כשם שנתן רחמיו על האדם כך על בהמה ועוף כי יקרא קן כו' ומקשין דאיתא במשנה האומר על ק"צ יגיעו רחמיך משתקין אותו ואמרו בגמ' הטעם שעושה מדתיו של הקב"ה רחמים ואינן אלא גזירות ונראה לפרש ע"פ מ"ש בס' חובת הלבבות בביאור ההפרש בטובת אלקים על האדם בין טובת איש לאיש שהם הכל לטובת עצמו ואפי' העשיר החומל על הרש מפני שכואב לו צער העני ה"ז מכוון לדחות הצער מעל עצמו ע"ש תחילת שער עבודת הא'

The Midrash teaches that just as Hashem extended His mercy upon man, so too He extended it upon beast and bird, as it says, "When a bird's nest happens to be before you..." (Devarim 22:6). Now, a difficulty is raised, for the Mishnah states that one who says in his prayer, "Your mercy reaches even upon a bird's nest," we silence him, and the Gemara explains the reason: because he makes the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed is He, into expressions of mercy, when in truth they are nothing but decrees. It seems this can be explained based on what the Chovos HaLevavos writes in clarifying the difference between Hashem's goodness toward man and the goodness of one person to another, for all human kindness is ultimately for one's own benefit. Even the wealthy man who has compassion on the poor man, since the poor man's pain causes him distress, his intent in helping is to push that distress away from himself, as is explained there at the beginning of Shaar Avodas HaElokim.

The Midrash says Hashem's mercy extends even to animals, learned from the mitzvah of sending away the mother bird. The Sfas Emes raises the well-known difficulty that the Mishnah silences one who attributes mercy to this mitzvah, and he begins to resolve it using the Chovos HaLevavos's point that all human kindness is really self-serving.

למדנו מדבריו כי אין רחמיו של הקב"ה מסוג רחמי אדם כי לא שייך בו ענין הרחמנות של ב"ו שהרי הכל מאתו ית' והצער שמגיע להברי' הכל במשפטו ולא שייך אצלו רחמנות רק שכך גזר הקב"ה להנהיג העולם במדת הרחמים

We learn from his words that the mercy of the Holy One, Blessed is He, is not of the same category as the mercy of man, for the matter of compassion that applies to flesh and blood does not apply to Him at all, for everything is from Him, may He be blessed, and the pain that comes to a creature is all according to His justice. Compassion in the human sense does not apply to Him; rather, it is simply that the Holy One, Blessed is He, decreed thus, to conduct the world with the attribute of mercy.

Since everything comes from Hashem and all suffering is part of His perfect justice, the human emotion of being moved by another's pain simply cannot apply to Him. His mercy is not a feeling welling up in Him, but a deliberate decree to run the world mercifully.

ולכן נק' הקב"ה בעל הרחמים שאינו כמו ב"ו שהרחמים גוברין עליו לשנות את רצונו

Therefore the Holy One, Blessed is He, is called the Master of mercy, for He is not like flesh and blood over whom mercy overpowers him and forces him to change his will.

Hashem is called the Master of mercy precisely because He controls mercy, unlike a person whose compassion overrides and changes his original will.

רק אדרבא הקב"ה שליט על הרחמים ונתן רחמיו על הכל וזה עצמו דברי המדרש כשם שנתן רחמיו על האדם כך על הבהמה כנ"ל שהכל גזירה מלפניו

On the contrary, the Holy One, Blessed is He, is the ruler over mercy, and He extended His mercy upon all. This itself is the meaning of the Midrash, that just as He extended His mercy upon man, so too upon the beast, as above, for everything is a decree from before Him.

Hashem rules over mercy and chose to extend it over all creation. This is exactly what the Midrash means: His mercy upon man and beast alike is His sovereign decree, not an emotional reaction.

וזה שאומר על ק"צ יגיעו רחמיך נראה שמשוה רחמיו של הקב"ה בסוג רחמי האדם אלא שמפליא לומר שגם על ק"צ הגיע רחמיו וז"ש שעושה מדותיו של הקב"ה רחמים כמדת ב"ו

And as for the one who says, "Your mercy reaches even upon a bird's nest" it seems that he is equating the mercy of the Holy One, Blessed is He, with the category of human mercy, except that he speaks in wonder, saying that even upon a bird's nest His mercy has reached. This is the meaning of the statement that he makes the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed is He, into mercy like the mercy of flesh and blood.

The person who praises Hashem's mercy on a bird's nest mistakenly casts Hashem's mercy as the same kind as human mercy, marveling that it reaches even so far. That is the error of treating Hashem's attributes as feelings like our own.

אבל רחמיו של הקב"ה הם גזירות כמ"ש

But the mercy of the Holy One, Blessed is He, are decrees, as has been explained.

In truth, Hashem's mercy is a decree rather than an emotion, as established above.

ורש"י נדחק לפרש מדותיו מצותיו

Rashi was forced to interpret "His attributes" as meaning "His commandments."

Rashi felt compelled to reinterpret the word "attributes" in the Gemara as referring to "commandments" to resolve the difficulty.

ולמ"ש יתכן לפרש כפשוטו שמדותיו עצמם הם גזירות כי חפץ חסד הוא והבן שוב ראיתי מזה בס' צדה לדרך ע"ש:

But according to what we have written, it is fitting to explain it according to its plain meaning, that His very attributes are themselves decrees, for "He desires kindness" (Michah 7:18) and understand this. I subsequently saw this matter discussed in the sefer Tzeidah LaDerech, see there.

But with the Sfas Emes's approach, the Gemara can be read plainly: Hashem's attributes themselves are decrees, since He is One who desires kindness. He notes he later found this idea in the sefer Tzeidah LaDerech.

Summary: The Sfas Emes confronts the apparent contradiction between the Midrash, which praises Hashem for extending His mercy even to birds and beasts, and the Mishnah, which silences one who attributes mercy to the mitzvah of shiluach haken. Drawing on the Chovos HaLevavos, he explains that all human compassion is ultimately self-serving, whereas Hashem stands entirely above the human emotion of mercy, since everything flows from Him and all suffering is part of His perfect justice. Therefore Hashem is the Master of mercy who rules over it as a deliberate decree to conduct the world, rather than a feeling that overpowers Him as it does flesh and blood. The Midrash's praise is precisely that this mercy upon all creatures is His sovereign decree, while the one silenced erred by casting it as human-style emotion. With this, the Gemara's phrase "His attributes are decrees" can be read plainly, without Rashi's need to reinterpret "attributes" as "commandments," for Hashem's very attributes are decrees, since He is One who desires kindness.