Judgment clothed in chesed

ולך ה' החסד כי אתה תשלם לאיש כמעשהו.

"And to You, Hashem, belongs kindness, for You repay each man according to his deeds" (Tehillim 62:13).

The Sefas Emes examines this pasuk, which seems to call Hashem's exact repayment an act of chesed (kindness).

ומקשין מה החסד כיון שמשלם דין הוא.

And they ask: where is the chesed, since paying each man what he deserves is strict justice (din)?

If Hashem repays a person precisely according to his deeds, that appears to be din, not chesed — so why does the pasuk call it kindness?

אכן הפירוש הוא כשהקב"ה שופט העולם הוא מתלבש בחסד.

But the explanation is that when HaKadosh Baruch Hu judges the world, He clothes Himself in chesed.

Even the act of judgment itself is enveloped in kindness; Hashem "wears" chesed as a garment while He judges.

כי בוודאי השופט כל הארץ צריך להיות מלא חסד ורחמים.

For surely the Judge of all the earth must be full of kindness and mercy.

A true judge of the whole world must be overflowing with chesed and rachamim (mercy) in order to judge rightly.

ורמז לזה מה שאמרו חכמים.

And a hint to this is what the Chachamim said.

He brings a halachic detail of judges as an allusion to this principle.

כי הדיינים מתעטפין בטליתות כמ"ש מאימתי התחלת דין משיתעטפו הדיינים.

that the judges wrap themselves in their tallisos, as it says: "From when is the start of judgment? From when the judges wrap themselves."

Chazal require dayanim to don their tallisos before judging — the "wrapping" symbolizes enveloping the judgment in dignity and mercy.

כי השונא פסול לדין מה"ט שצריך להיות והצילו העדה ושונא לא מצי חזי לי' זכותא כו'.

For one who hates is disqualified from judging, for this reason: that "the congregation shall rescue" (Bamidbar 35:25) is required, and one who hates is unable to see merit for him, etc.

A judge who bears hatred is unfit, because the court must seek to acquit, and a hateful judge cannot perceive the defendant's points of merit.

ולכן איתא במד' כי השי"ת אוהב את ישראל ואוהב את המשפט לכן נתן להם המשפט.

Therefore it is brought in the Midrash that Hashem loves Yisrael and loves justice, and therefore He gave them the judgment.

Because Hashem loves both Bnei Yisrael and true justice, He Himself judges them — for only one who loves the defendant can be the ideal judge who seeks his acquittal.

וז"ש ולך ה' החסד כשאתה משלם כו' כנ"ל.

This is the meaning of "And to You, Hashem, belongs kindness" — when You repay, etc., as above.

The chesed lies in the very fact that the One who judges and repays does so out of love, clothed in kindness.

וגם הפי' כמו ראי' כיון שאתה המשלם לאיש כו' מוכח כי לך ה' החסד כמ"ש כי השופט כל הארץ בוודאי הוא מלא חסד.

And the meaning is also like a proof: since You are the One who repays each man, etc., it is demonstrated that "to You, Hashem, belongs kindness," as we said, for the Judge of all the earth is surely full of chesed.

The pasuk can also be read as an inference: the very fact that Hashem Himself is the Judge proves that the judgment is full of chesed, since the Judge of all the earth must be overflowing with kindness.

ולכן איתא בזוה"ק כי בשביעאה מתגלין (חסר) והמה ימי סליחה ורחמים שהחסד מתגלה הואיל והמה ימי משפט כנ"ל:

Therefore it is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh that in the seventh [month] they are revealed (text missing), and these are days of forgiveness and mercy, for the chesed is revealed precisely because they are days of judgment, as above.

The seventh month (Tishrei), though it is the time of judgment, is davka when chesed is revealed — it is the season of selichah (forgiveness) and rachamim, because the judgment itself is wrapped in kindness.

Summary: Though repaying each person according to his deeds appears to be strict justice, the pasuk calls it chesed because when Hashem judges the world He clothes Himself in kindness — for the Judge of all the earth must be full of mercy. Just as a judge who hates is disqualified because he cannot see the defendant's merit, Hashem judges Bnei Yisrael precisely because He loves them and seeks their acquittal. This is why Tishrei, the season of judgment, is davka the time when chesed is revealed and is filled with forgiveness and mercy.