Pesach

When Does Thirteen Equal One?

Adapted from Rabbi Arthur Waskow

"HaShem! HaShem! A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; and absolving . . ." (Exodus/Shemot 34:6-7)

Towards the end of the Passover Seder, it is customary to sing the counting song Echad Mi Yodea (Who Knows One?). The first verse says, "Who knows one? I know one! One is our God, who is in heaven and on earth." Each subsequent verse links a Jewish idea with a number: two tablets of the law, three forefathers, four foremothers, five books of Torah . . . The final verse says, "Who knows thirteen? I know thirteen! Thirteen are the attributes of God."

The Gematriya (numerical value) of the letters in the Hebrew word echad (one) adds up to thirteen. Thus the song's end spirals back to its beginning: it begins with One God in heaven and on earth, and ends with One God acting on earth through the medium of the thirteen attributes.

The thirteen attributes, listed above, represent Moshe's experience of God when Moshe's wish to see "God's glory" is granted. Because God has just forgiven the Israelites for impatiently making and worshipping a golden calf, Moshe sees God as compassionate and just. Here the Gematriya found in the song Echad Mi Yodea acts as a poetic midrash (interpretation), unlocking a meaning of the text. The reason to cleave to this One God, and to busy oneself with all of the symbols and rituals listed in the song is to increase one's awareness and conscious practice of divine compassion.

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