DEUT601 When the Torah commands the Jew to follow the ways of God, the Talmud asks how it is possible for a man of flesh and blood to be like the Creator of the universe. It answers that Jews are commanded to imitate God's characteristics [this verse, Deuteronomy 28:9, Sotah 14a]. Which characteristics of God are we meant to imitate? The answer is that we should perform His acts of kindness that show caring about other people, such as giving clothing to those that lack clothes, visiting the sick, and comforting the mourning. Later on that same Talmudic page says that the beginning of the Torah has the story of God's kindness to man (when God gave clothing to undeserving Adam and Eve) and also at the end of the Torah is an instance of God's kindness to a man (when God buries Moses), implying that everything in between these two stories should also be connected to kindness, as this is the essence of God and the Torah (Sotah 14a). The Torah teaches us (the word "Torah" technically translates as "that which teaches us") to follow God's lead and be kind always. In the weekday Shmoneh Esreh, the Silent Prayer, traditional Jews recite three times daily that God's ongoing kindness to all human beings in the world every day, all the time, is lauded (First and second blessings of the daily Shmoneh Esreh). In the first lesson, God is described as a God who grants great kindnesses constantly, and in the second blessing, God is described in many ways, but in particular as One who sustains the world economically, lifts those who have fallen, heals the sick, and frees those who are bound. Chofetz Chaim summarizes all of the above ideas and urges the Jew to imitate God by practicing these traits shown to man by God (Shemirat HaLashon 1:7).