Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Rachamim rabim
רחמים רבים
Great mercy (rachamim rabim)
Great mercy (rachamim rabim): G‑d’s boundless compassion, great because of His exaltation, before which even the highest worlds are naught; and the compassion a person arouses over his soul’s G‑dly spark, so far descended.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 1, ¶2Rachamim rabim comes from sovev kol almin, before which all is as naught. As a king, being exalted over all, pities them all the more for their lowliness, so before the Or Ein Sof even the higher worlds, even Gan Eden and Eden (Chochmah), are as nothing, and His mercy on them is very great.
ומשם נמשך בחי׳ רחמים רבים. דהיינו כמו למשל מלך בשר ודם שמפני גבהותו והתנשאותו על כל השרים והעמים יש בו מדת רחמנות יותר
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 1, ¶4Because rachamim rabim is without limit, it can be drawn into the worlds only through the contractions of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which give it a measure the worlds can receive. That is why Selichos and the Thirteen Attributes are said from Rosh Chodesh Elul on.
שלפי שהם רחמים רבים בלי גבול א״א להתלבש תוך העולמות אם לא ע״י צמצומים דרך י״ג מדות
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 6, ¶6There are two kinds of mercy. “The compassionate Father” (Av HaRachaman) forgives as far as reason requires; “the Father of mercy” (Av HaRachamim) is great mercy without measure, forgiving even after many sins, beyond what reason requires. We arouse it through the Thirteen Attributes, by a person setting his heart on how far he has strayed from his root.
אבל מדת אב הרחמים הוא רחמים גדולים בלי שיעור אף שאין השכל מחייב למחול לו ולרחם עליו
- Torah Ohr, Vayeitzei 5, ¶6Yaakov’s attribute is the supernal mercy, which applies even to all the worlds. The tribes, below him, arouse rachamim rabim on the spark of G‑dliness in their soul, by contemplating how it was nullified in the Or Ein Sof and has fallen so far; the longer the contemplation, the greater the mercy. The order of prayer is built for this.
לעורר רחמים רבים על ניצוץ אלקות השורה בנפשו ע״י התבוננותו בגדולת א״ס ב״ה
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 7, ¶14“In Your great mercy”: because G‑d is exalted beyond the world without limit, His mercy extends to all worlds, even the higher Gan Eden and above. In the worlds that descend, mercy lessens, until here we do not even grasp mercy on this world, since we are within it: mercy is of the great upon the small.
כי הרחמנות הוא אצל גדול על הקטן
Stated differently
Whether this great mercy is Yaakov’s own attribute (Tiferes) or a level above the Avos
פי׳ רחמים גדולים כי מדתו של יעקב הוא מדת רחמנות הנמשך ממדת יצחק“With great mercy (rachamim gedolim) I will gather you”: great mercy, because Yaakov’s attribute is mercy, drawn from Yitzchak’s attribute of judgment.
והנה ת״ת שהוא מדת הרחמים מדתו של יעקב עולה עד הכתר בחי׳ רחמים רביםRachamim rabim is the dew with which the dead will be revived, the source of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy; Tiferes, the attribute of mercy, Yaakov’s attribute, rises up to Keser, the level of rachamim rabim, as the middle bar that runs from end to end.
מבחי׳ רחמים גדולים דא״א שלמעלה גם מחג״ת דאצי׳ וכמ״ש וברחמים גדולים אקבצךYaakov’s attribute is the supernal mercy, Tiferes of Atzilus. In the future, the Avos’ own mercy revealed in all souls will draw down the great mercy of Arich Anpin, above even Chesed-Gevurah-Tiferes of Atzilus, as in “with great mercy I will gather you.”
והוא למעלה ממדרגת האבות שהן הן המרכבה“You, Havayah, are our Father”: this is rachamim rabim, above the level of the Avos, who are the chariot; they had no knowledge of it, nor of the manna, the dew of rachamim rabim.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Eikev 1, ¶2Likkutei Torah, Eikev 1, ¶4Likkutei Torah, Eikev 1, ¶5Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 6, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Tzav 12, ¶15Torah Ohr, Vayeitzei 5, ¶6Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 7, ¶14
Where it appears
In 145 paragraphs of 73 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 1 ¶8 ¶9 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 6 ¶29 ¶30 ¶31 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 8 ¶13 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 1 ¶1 ¶2 ¶3 ¶4 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 7 ¶11 ¶12 ¶13 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 2 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Pinchas 3 ¶16 ¶18 ¶19 ¶20 ¶22 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 11 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 4 ¶7 ¶8 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 5 ¶7 ¶11 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 6 ¶6 ¶7 ¶8 ¶10 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 7 ¶5 ¶6 ¶7 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 3 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 18 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 41 ¶8 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 5 ¶5 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 4 ¶10 ¶12 ¶20 ¶22
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 7 ¶22 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 6 ¶11 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4 ¶21
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 8 ¶41 ¶43
- Torah Ohr, Mishpatim 7 ¶14 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 10 ¶6 ¶7 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 1 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 4 ¶2 ¶3 ¶4 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 13 ¶14 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 36 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 37 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 12 ¶15 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 3 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Va’eira 1 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Vayeitzei 5 ¶6 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 6 ¶3 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 1 ¶28
- Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 1 ¶5 ¶6 ¶8 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 7 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 4 ¶10 ¶11 ¶12 ¶14 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 4 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 5 ¶4 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 1 ¶17
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 7 ¶31
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 2 ¶10 ¶13 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Rosh Hashanah 3 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 12 ¶9 ¶10
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 9 ¶3
- Torah Ohr, Vayechi 1 ¶15
- Likkutei Torah, Acharei 1 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 3 ¶8 ¶10 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Haazinu 4 ¶1 ¶6 ¶9 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 34 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Bechukosai 2 ¶29 ¶32
- Likkutei Torah, Devarim 2 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 1 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 8 ¶1
- Likkutei Torah, Shabbos Shuvah 2 ¶5 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 13 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Devarim 1 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 6 ¶26
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 2 ¶34
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 11 ¶2
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 15 ¶13 ¶15
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 8 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Chukas 6 ¶1 ¶4
- Torah Ohr, Vayeira 2 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 2 ¶12 ¶14 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Vayeira 1 ¶26
- Torah Ohr, Shemos 2 ¶4 ¶9 ¶11
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 8 ¶6 ¶7
- Likkutei Torah, Behar 1 ¶21
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Megillas Esther 6 ¶21
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.