Why aim for strict justice even knowing you'll fall short
God's original intent to create the world through middat hadin (the attribute of judgment) reflects the proper standard for human will and intention—a person must aspire and intend to fulfill everything precisely according to din, even though in actual deed this is impossible to complete alone. Because thought touches its root while deed touches its own, one's will must remain aligned with strict judgment, and only then does middat harachamim (the attribute of mercy) join in from Above to help complete the deed, since Heavenly assistance comes specifically to one whose intention was rightly set according to din.AI summary · anthropic/claude-sonnet-5
Rashi comments: It arose in thought to create [the world] with middat hadin (the attribute of judgment), and He saw that the world could not endure, so He joined middat harachamim (the attribute of mercy) with it. Heaven forbid that this should be a reversal at the end [i.e., that God changed His mind after the fact].
Rather, it must certainly be so even below, for a person's will and thought must be to do and fulfill everything exactly according to din (law/judgment) and according to the will of the Creator. And even though he cannot actually complete everything in deed as it should be, afterward middat harachamim is joined in. But the will must be in accordance with din.
And it is known that a person's thought touches the root of thought, and his deeds touch the root of deed. Therefore it arose in thought with middat hadin, that the will should be in accordance with din, as above. And it is true that the deed is completed only with the help of the Creator, as it is written, "to the God who completes [His work] for me" — and this is through rachamim (mercy), for with middat hadin a person must do everything incumbent upon him by himself. Only if the will is as it should be, then he is helped from Heaven — and this is [what is meant by] joining middat harachamim with him.
ברש"י עלה במחשבה לבראות במה"ד וראה שאין העולם מתקיים שיתף מדת הרחמים. וח"ו שיהי' חזרה באחרונה. רק שבוודאי כך צריך להיות גם למטה כי רצון האדם ומחשבתו צריך להיות לעשות ולקיים הכל ממש כדין וכרצון הבורא. ואם כי אינו יכול לגמור במעשה הכל כראוי. אח"כ שיתף מדה"ר. אבל הרצון צריך להיות כדין. ונודע כי מחשבת האדם נוגע בשורש המחשבה ומעשיו בשורש המעשה. ולכן עלה במחשבה במדה"ד שהרצון יהי' בדין כנ"ל. ואמת כי המעשה אינו נגמר רק בעזר הבורא כמ"ש לאל גומר עלי וזה הוא ברחמים כי במדה"ד צריך האדם לעשות כל המוטל עליו בעצמו. רק אם הרצון כראוי אז מסייעין אותו משמים וזה שיתף עמו מדה"ר:
Translation: translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5)