T241 PNC - When Judgments Threaten — Mercy Sweetens Them

When divine judgments (dinim) are decreed, the attribute of judgment would, left to itself, destroy a person. Strict justice is too sharp for human survival; we are all too imperfect to withstand pure judgment. But the attribute of judgment has a sweetening — and this sweetening is the attribute of mercy (rachamim). Judgment and mercy are not opposites in the simple sense; they are partners. Mercy enters the very structure of judgment and softens its edges. Without this divine mechanism, no soul would survive. The hidden secret of existence is that mercy is built into the judgment system itself.