Musar su Deuteronomio 10:17

The seventeenth principle is to seek [to do] actions of kindness and truth, as it is stated (Proverbs 16:6), "Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth; and evil is shunned through fear of the Lord." And now reflect upon the secret of this verse. For surely if the sinner has not repented to God, his sin will not be atoned by doing kindness - as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:17), "who shows no favor and takes no bribe." And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, explained (Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 947) that [this means] that He will not take the bribe of [the fulfillment of] a commandment, to forgive and pass over iniquities. And they also said (Bava Kamma 50a), "Anyone who states that the Holy One, Blessed be He, is forgoing will have his life foregone." Rather He is slow to anger. But if they do not obey, he measures [the punishment] of their actions into their laps. Rather [regarding] that which King Solomon, peace be upon him, said, "Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth" - he was speaking about a penitent. For there are sins that repentance and Yom Kippur suspend, but afflictions absolve, as will be explained in the fourth chapter. But behold that kindness protects the sinner from afflictions, since it also surely saves him from death, as it is written, (Proverbs 10:2) "but righteousness (tsedekah, which can also mean, charity) saves from death." However there is yet an iniquity - and that is the iniquity of the desecration of [God's] name - which repentance and afflictions suspend but death absolves, as it is stated, (Isaiah 22:14), "This iniquity shall never be forgiven you until you die." But behold when a person makes efforts to support the truth, follow it through, be aroused by its words, present its light in the eyes of people, strengthen the hands of the men of truth and uplift their heads and to denigrate the circles of falsehood and bring them to the dirt - behold, these are the ways of sanctification of [God's] name, of majesty and beauty to His faith and worship in the world and of strength and splendor to the holiness of his Torah. Therefore in the increase of his actions to sanctify God, to arouse the truth and to set it up and assist it, he is forgiven the iniquity of the desecration with his repentance - with his placement of the truth across from the sin of the desecration, the measure of his repentance corresponding to the measure of his sin. This is the explanation of, "Iniquity is atoned by kindness and truth."

The name אלוקים, on the other hand, symbolises nature, i.e. the laws of nature. We have repeatedly mentioned that the Hebrew word for nature, הטבע, has the same numerical value as the word א-להים. According to the Zohar, that name represents a קו, line, the rule of law and order, i.e. justice. The characteristics of all living creatures were determined by G–d invoking His attribute אלוקים.[In the words of the Ari Zal: "After G–d had created the הרשימו, the "place" for a universe, He created all that was to fill that "place." This was accomplished by means of a קו, sort of a pipeline. The light G–d created entered and dissipated within the "place" designated for the universe by means of the קו. Ed.] The fact that the Ineffable Four-lettered Name is a "higher" attribute than that of אלוקים is documented in Exodus 18,11: כי גדול י-ה-ו-ה מכל הא-לקים, when Yitro acknowledges the superiority of that attribute of G–d over all others. All other attributes (names) of G–d are derived from the Ineffable Name.

And similarly, in Tanna d'bei Eliyahu Zuta 17: R. Yochanan b. Zakkai said: "Once, I was walking on the road, when I found a man collecting wood, and I spoke to him, but he did not answer me. Afterwards, he came and said to me: 'Rebbi, I am dead and not alive.' And I said to him: 'If you are dead, why do you need this wood?' He answered: 'Rebbi, listen to this one thing that I will tell you. Once, when I was alive, my friend and I were involved in sin in my palace. And when we came here, they decreed death by burning upon us. When I collect wood, they burn my friend; and when he collects wood, they burn me.' And I said to him: 'Until when is your din?' He answered: 'When I came here, I left my wife pregnant; and I know that she is pregnant with a male. Therefore, I beseech you to take care of him when he is born until he is five years old and [then] take him to school to [learn to] read. For when he says: 'Let us bless the blessed L-rd,' they will raise me from the din of Gehinnom. Also, all of the reward we wrote of above in respect to one who supports Torah scholars obtains also with one who supports his son for Torah study. And he also merits thereby that he finds favor in the eyes of the Holy One Blessed be He, as we find in Tanna d'bei Eliyahu Zuta 23, in respect to the query of the attribute of din as to why He favors Israel when it is written (Devarim 10:17): 'The great G-d… who does not show favor,'; and the Holy One Blessed be He answers: 'But do they not show Me favor, etc. And, furthermore, they teach Torah and set up groups to occupy themselves with Torah and pay a wage to the teachers to teach their sons Torah!'" And, conversely, the punishment of one who deprives his son of Torah study is explained in the holy Zohar, Parshath Pekudei 256: