| Summary: | The article focuses on the invocation of the matriarchs as a reference to divine loving-kindness (hesed) as embodied in the personal example of the acts of loving-kindness that the matriarchs of the Israelite nation brought to bear on their surroundings. These acts of loving-kindness are perceived in the midrash as an ultimate expression of the monotheisticethical perspective, in which loving-kindness is viewed as the epitome of the covenant between humans and the Divine. From a theological point of view, the version of the Avot blessing brought down in the traditional siddur emphasizes the memory of the acts of loving-kindness that God bestowed upon the patriarchs and of those that the patriarchs bestowed upon others.
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