חסידות אויף תהילים 98:8

It is written,²⁵⁷Psalms 97:5 “The mountains melted like wax in the presence of HaShem.” A verse in the next Psalm states,²⁵⁸Psalms 98:8 “Let the mountains sing for joy together.” How can these two verses coexist? This can be explained as follows: As known, our sages, of blessed memory, stated,²⁵⁹Midrash Shemot Rabba 15:4 “The term mountains-Harim-הרים refers to the forefathers.” They also stated,²⁶⁰Midrash Bereishit Rabba 47:6 “The forefathers are the Divine Chariot-Merkavah.” Now, we need to understand. How is it that the forefathers, who were in the lower world, were the Divine Chariot-Merkavah? However, as known, Avraham is the quality of love, which is the attribute of kindness-Chessed, Yitzchak is the quality of fear-Yirah, which is the attribute of judgment-Din and Yaakov is the quality of mercy, which is attribute of beauty-Tiferet, that mediates between them. Our sages, of blessed memory, stated,²⁶¹Talmud Bavli, Yevamot 79a “There are three signs by which the Jewish people are recognizable: They are merciful, they are bashful, and they perform acts of lovingkindness.” These three qualities are the attributes of our forefathers, in ascending order. That is, the quality of mercy is the attribute of Yaakov, the quality of bashfulness is the attribute of Yitzchak, for a person who fears his fellow is embarrassed before him, and the quality of performing acts of lovingkindness is the attribute of Avraham, which is the attribute of love and kindness.