Genesis 6,3. Hashem.” We need to understand where and when G’d “appeared” to the patriarchs in His capacity as the G’d of Shaddai. We do not find the word וירא, “Shaddai appeared,” in connection with G’d’s addressing any of the patriarchs. Moreover, why did G’d speak of ידיעה, a form of intimate knowledge, in connection with His communicating with Moses and the Israelites at this time?We have learned in Sifri, Mattot, 2 that all the prophetic revelations that subsequent prophets experienced were due to the residue of Moses’ prophetic experiences who had preceded them in this. In other words, no prophet was granted a type of vision that had not already been granted to Moses before him.
Elaborating on that subject, we read in Yevamot 49, that all the subsequent prophets were only granted blurred visions whereas Moses had been granted clear visions. It is not possible to absorb “clear” visions of the Creator unless the Creator had first garbed Himself in garments that diffuse the powerful light that emanates from Him. [Prophets of lesser stature than Moses would become too blinded by being exposed to G’d before he had thus screened Himself.
Ed.] G’d “garbs” Himself in accordance to whom He dispenses His blessings, the most minimal of these “screens” within which He garbs Himself is known in the language of our sages as מאירה, literally, “illuminating” but in the sense of hiding the minimum possible. It is this “minimal” screen that hid G’d’s essence from Moses when He communicated with him. All the other prophets received their visions as derivatives of the visions which Moses had received. Although Moses himself “dispersed” some of his prophetic powers, [notably when the 70 elders were chosen to assist him, and he “dispersed” some of his holy spirit to them. (Numbers 11,17) Ed.] Seeing that all the other prophets received their prophetic insights through an intermediary, i.e. Moses, it could not be as powerful as that of Moses who had received it directly from G’d, [but it had not been detached from its source, G’d, but was dependent on Moses’ continued close attachment to its source. Ed.]
Prior to Moses no one had as close a relationship, described also as G’d speaking to Moses “mouth to mouth,” i.e. directly, not by means of “visions,” i.e. images seen or nocturnally or at best when the recipient was awake. There had remained a gap between how Avraham had related to G’d and how Moses had related to Him, a gap which G’d here describes as a lower level of communication from Him. Another aspect of the words: וארא אל אברהם אל יצחק ואל יעקב, “I used to appear to Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, etc.” We find among the writings of the Ari z’al that he does not understand Exodus 34,7 נוצר חסד לאלפים “He extends loving kindness to thousands,” in the generally accepted meaning, but that he understands the word אלפים as attributes of G’d beginning with the letter aleph.
These attributes, though all being variations of the attribute Justice, are “sweetened” by G’d through an addition of a dose of חסד, loving kindness.In order to understand the Ari z’al we refer first to a statement in Sh’mot Rabbah 47,11 according to which Moses acquired the ability to make the skin of his forehead shine, give forth light, (Exodus 34,29) because a drop of ink was left over from his quill when he had completed recording the portion of the Torah in writing. [Difficult to understand as Moses did not write the Torah on Mount Sinai. Ed.]The author of the Or hachayim;Midrash had in mind when writing that Moses merited this reward from left over ink.In order to illustrate the difference between a “humble” person spelled with the letter י, and a “humble” person spelled without the letter י, we need to make a few introductory remarks.
On the Torah’s imperative for the Jewish people to strive to be “holy,”: (Leviticus 19,2) to be “holy,” i.e. קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני ה', “be holy for I the Lord am holy,” we could have misunderstood this line to mean that we must strive to be as holy as G’d. Midrash Rabbah Vayikra Rabbah 24,9 therefore writes that the words: כי קדוש אני, “for I am holy,” in that verse are a reminder that only G’d is truly holy.
G’d’s holiness transcends anyone else’s holiness. Anyone who endeavours to sincerely sanctify himself discovers that in spite of all the progress he makes in this direction that he is still far removed from his objective, i.e. total holiness. If a person is under the illusion that he is already a worthy servant of the Lord, this is proof that he is still far from having reached his goal, that in fact he has not even begun the journey leading to holiness.
Anyone who has begun this journey is painfully aware of how far he still has to travel on that road. This is what the Midrash had in mind when the author wrote, explaining the words: כי קדוש אני ה' אלוקיכם, “for I the Lord your G’d am holy, קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם, “My holiness is superior to your holiness.” [The author’s version of this Midrash apparently had the word מסתלקת, “is receding,” instead of the word: למעלה “is superior”.
Ed.] Alternatively, this concept, instead of being expressed negatively, may be expressed positively, as we find in Eychah rabbah 11,3 where the author writes that whenever the Jewish people sanctify themselves they thereby strengthen the celestial entourage of the Lord, i.e. they add holiness to His holiness. The Midrash quotes psalms 60,14 in support of this where the psalmist writes באלוקים נעשה חיל, “we will strengthen G’d by acting valiantly.” (Compare likutim on that statement in the Midrash) This leaves us with the task of explaining the word: כמוני, “just like Me,” attributed to the author of the Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 24,9.
In order to understand the subject under discussion, we must remember the terms קץ הימים and קץ הימין The latter refers to a positive phenomenon, i.e. a domain of holiness, whereas the former refers to the negative domain, also known as the sitra achara of the diagram of the 10 emanations, עשר ספירות, the ten stages by which pure spirit was transformed into a physical universe. [If I understand the author correctly, the popular expression קץ הימים, “end of time” or end of our physical universe as we know it, will mean different things for different people.
The wicked will die and face a void, no afterlife, whereas the just will experience that their souls will continue a “timeless” existence in the celestial, purely spiritual spheres.Ed.] Our task while on earth remains serving the Lord with deeds, charity, etc., as well as through prayer and the study of the Torah. While we do this, G’d rises higher and higher above the reach of any of the אותיות, the letters of the Torah which form a link between the physical and the spiritual domains of the universe.
In the region known in Kabbalah as the עולם האותיות, the world of the letters, the letter י is perceived as the one closest to the world of pure spirituality, but even the topmost tip of that letter does not penetrate that domain as we know from the Zohar. (Compare Sullam on Yaakov’s dream there) The “distance” between the highest point of the ten emanations and the domain that is purely spiritual may be described as the distance between white and black.
Entrance to that domain cannot be achieved except through our good deeds, our prayers and our study of Torah. Only by means of employing all these variants of service of the Lord can our souls hope to enter that lofty domain.If someone leaves this physical part of the universe and does not have any of the merits acquired through Torah study, prayer, or good deeds, he will not be admitted to the domains higher than the world of the “letters.”
Such a person concludes his earthly existence under the aegis of קץ הימים, the end of time, as decreed for this physical world since G’d had created that part of the universe. Optimal service of the Lord involves that the “servant” divests himself of all external influences that may distract him, i.e. from all earthly concerns. It is this that the Torah has in mind when calling upon us with the invitation/directive קדושים תהיו “try and become holy.”
It is an invitation to shed our personal concerns and to concentrate exclusively on what may best be described as “G’d’s concerns.” When the Midrash adds the word: כמוני “such as I,” it does not suggest that we become like G’d, but that we emulate His non concern with considerations that are essential for successful life on earth.An additional meaning of the call to be or become קדושים is the need to free one’s consciousness from earthly concerns to the extent that even the tip of the letter י should no longer shackle our consciousness to our earthly concerns.
Our preoccupation should consist exclusively of prayer, good deeds, and study of Torah.This brings us to the difference between the two spellings of the word: ענו and עניו though they both mean “humble.” According to the ארי ז'ל, the letter י, i.e. the first letter in the tetragram, G’d’s four-lettered name, symbolizes the ability to ��see” something in it true dimensions. Accordingly, when the word ענו, the “humble One,” i.e. G’d, is spelled without the letter י which alludes to the most humble being, G’d, a mortal human being on that level cannot attain his craving to become G’d-like in terms of holiness.[I recommend to the reader to acquire a book called “wisdom in the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet” by Rabbi Michael L. Munk, published by Art Scroll, which should be part of the library of any Torah observant Jew.
Ed.]Seeing that when ענו is spelled without the letter י it represents a low level of spiritual accomplishment, Moses wrote it in this way so as not to be accused of having concurred with the compliment to his person that spelling it with the letter י would have entailed.This also brings us to the Divine attribute (Exodus 34,7) of נוצר חסד לאלפים, commonly understood to mean “extending kindness to thousands of generations.”
This attribute is perceived as part of the celestial regions above the world of the אותיות, the domain of the physical universe. In that domain there reign exclusively the “virtues” טוב and חסד, “goodness and kindness,” and there is no room in that domain for the attribute of דין, “Justice.” The attribute of Justice is present only in the parts of the physical universe beginning with the topmost tip of the letter י, and from there “downwards.”
As soon as we speak about a domain in which Justice plays a role, there is a need to “sweeten” the application of that attribute by “delegating” to that domain some aspects of the attributes that rule exclusively in the spiritual regions above the topmost of the world of the אותיות, the domain of the “letters.” By allowing attributes such as טוב and חסד to infiltrate these lower regions of the universe, the Creator demonstrates His preference for these attributes, or, in the words of Michah 7,18, כי חפץ חסד הוא, “for He is fond of loving kindness.”The word הוא, “He,” at the end of that verse, is not really necessary for understanding the words of prophet; it is inserted as an allusion to the regions beyond the realm of the אותיות, a region normally concealed from us mortals.
The “silent” letter א in the word הוא is our hint from the Creator Who dwells in those regions not accessible to mortal human beings. The word הוא forms the boundary between the lower and the upper regions of these two parts of the universe. [Before continuing, it is important for the reader to remember that of all the sensory perceptions at our disposal, the eyes, i.e. “seeing,” are considered by the Torah as the most reliable, and therefore testimony given at court must always be based on what has been witnessed by one’s eyes.
Ed.]We need to appreciate also that there are two ways of examining what one has seen, i.e. ראיה. One is merely a category of visually perceiving the outline and colour of the object “seen,” whereas the other includes the person seeing being able to understand the deeper meaning of what his eyes have “seen.,” examining its essence, something known as ידיעה, “knowing”, understanding. This latter category of visual perception is known as בחינת אותיות, examining the “letters,” i.e. the structure of what the image consists of.
When Adam had marital relations with his wife Chavah for the first time, (Genesis 4,25), the Torah describes the experience with the words: וידע אדם את אשתו, “Adam gained intimate knowledge of the essence of his wife.” Whereas “seeing” implies that one perceives from the “outside,” ידיעה, understanding the essence of something, implies a much more intimate connection to the matter which is the subject of one’s knowledge.
This kind of intimate knowledge is possible only in domains that are completely spiritual, disembodied, i.e. beyond the world of the אותיות, “letters.” True “knowledge” (in the sense of identifying with the essence of the subject or object), presupposes negating any personal, ego-oriented relation to it. This also accounts for prophets appearing to act as if they had taken leave of their senses while they were receiving messages from the transcendental domains. As a result of these transcendental messages these prophets could feel greatly distressed when receiving messages concerning the gentile nations, as these messages originated in a domain that knows only “goodness,” (as we explained) so that the prophet would assume that what would be “good” for the gentiles in the long run would also be good for them in the immediate future, and therefore harmful for the people of Israel.
This is one of the limitations every prophet labours under, as G’d explained to Moses in Exodus 33,20, כי לא יראני האדם וחי, i.e. that as long as the prophet’s soul is still within his mortal body, he cannot “see” i.e. completely understand what G’d is doing.The difference between these two levels of “seeing,” is also the difference between כלל ופרט, “a general principle and its application to a specific situation.” [The 13 methods of exegesis of the Torah composed by Rabbi Yishmael, by means of which texts in the written Torah can be understood as halachically accepted.
Ed.]Our author explains this as the difference between “category 10 and not 11,” (Mishnah 4) a term used in the Sefer Yetzirah, the oldest kabbalistic text. When G’d tells Moses in Exodus 6,3 “I appeared to Avraham,” He means that the patriarchs were not privy to the “second” level of ראיה “seeing=understanding,” only to the level of revelations originating in a domain in which Justice, דין is at home.
This level is defined by G’d as ב-אל שדי, the power known as the “G’d Shaddai.” This name of G’d is widely known in many parts of the physical universe, and is an allusion to the G’d, Who, at the end of the sixth day of creation said: די, “enough,” before He sanctified the seventh day, the Sabbath. G’d added explicitly, that He had not revealed His name “Hashem” to the patriarchs, i.e. ושמי ה' לא נודעתי להם.
The precise meaning of the word נודעתי is “I became revealed on the level of man gaining intimate knowledge of Me,” the dimension of Me that is manifest only in the regions “above” the world of אותיות, “letters.” In that region, as we have explained already there is no דין, attribute of Justice,” but only חסד the attribute of love, kindness. G’d implies that it was impossible for Him to reveal this aspect of Himself to the patriarchs as long as He had not proven its existence through His having redeemed the Israelites from their miserable fate.This is also the reason why G’d did not say to Moses: לא הודעתי להם, “I have not made known to them,” (active mode), but He said לא נודעתי להם I have not become known to them, (passive mode). חסד, loving kindness, must be experienced by the recipient passively; doling it out when the recipient is not aware of it, i.e. something whose seed will take time to blossom and eventually ripen, cannot be defined at the outset in terms of its ultimate manifestation.
This dimension if and when it manifests itself, does not require intervention by G’d in the affairs of men through miracles, but is a natural development, easily recognized by those who are privileged to experience it. [Some of the words in this paragraph are mine. Ed.] Exodus 6,7. “I will acquire you to be My people,….and you will know that I am Hashem.” (The Merciful One) The new revelation to Moses here is that whereas other nations cannot grasp the concept of Hashem with their brains at all, the Jewish people have been granted this dimension of perception of Hashem.
The tool which enables us to have such insight is the Torah and the commandments contained in it which G’d has given to us as a gift. This “gift” is spelled out in verse 8. As a result of making proper use of these gifts we, the Jewish people, have a better understanding of the Shechinah, and what this term implies. Exodus 6,8.“I will bring you to the land that I have sworn, etc.;” this line can best be explained by means of a parable.
If it is someone’s nature to be a “do-gooder,” and to do so indiscriminately even for people who detest him and obstruct him, such a person will certainly be expected to dispense his generosity to those who are his friends and supporters. On the other hand, if that “do-gooder” is known to restrict his generosity to people who are his friends and have not harmed him in any way, he will not be expected to support those who actively obstruct him at every opportunity. Our sages (on Numbers 6,23 where the priests are commanded to bless the people), used this parable when commenting on the word להם, “to them,” i.e. that the priests are not to include the gentiles in their blessings. [Having already said that they should bless the Children of Israel, the extra words אמור להם would otherwise appear to have been superfluous.
Ed.] When G’d tells Moses in our verse here: אל הארץ אשר נשאתי את ידי לתת להם לאברהם וגו', “to the land that I have sworn to give to Avraham, etc.;” He had to explain that although up to now this land had enjoyed G’d’s generosity as the people on it had found it a good land to dwell in, from now on, this land would be “good” only for the Jewish people. The term: “Jewish people,” presupposes that these Jews keep the commandments they will undertake to observe at Mount Sinai, less than a year later.A different way of understanding G’d’s oath to give the land of the Canaanites to His people, the Jewish people: The author again turns to a parable to illustrate his point.
We must analyze the expression נשאתי את ידי, “I raised My hand (in an oath).” A prince was engaged in a war against the enemies of his father, the King’s kingdom. When the prince was victorious there was great joy in the King’s palace. As a result of the great joy, the King, who was normally not overly generous, now displayed great generosity to everyone who turned to him with a request.
Suddenly, while all these festivities were in progress, an enemy of the king’s son shows up with a request to his father, the king. The king is now faced with a dilemma. If the king ignores the root cause of the joy and the festivities he may G’d forbid also fulfill a request of his son’s arch enemy; on the other hand, if the king keeps the source of all the festivities in mind, i.e. his son’s victory in a life and death struggle, i.e. that his son had just vanquished this arch enemy of his, he will most certainly not pay any heed to the request made by his son’s enemy.It is written in Song of Songs 6,3 אני לדודי ודודי לי, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;” in other words: “my beloved yearns for me.”
According to Bereshit Rabbah 1,4 one of the 6 things that G’d contemplated before beginning to create the universe was the concept of a Jewish people and all that this entails. When the Jewish people perform His wishes He takes great delight in this. The joy G’d experiences when the Jewish people live up to His expectations results in His feeling justified in having created the universe, i.e. all the various universes.
He therefore dispenses some of His largesse to all other parts of the universe also. In order to dispense some of His largesse to the gentile nations He limits the outpourings of His largesse to the Jewish people. When the sinful creatures in the universe take note of G’d’s being so generous, they line up, so that they too will become beneficiaries of G’d’s “good mood.” At such a time G’d reminds Himself that originally He had only created the universe on account of wishing to see His “dream” of a Jewish nation performing all its tasks being realized.
As soon as He reminds Himself of this, He will turn off the “taps” i.e. the attribute of largesse that had been allowed to flow to the gentile nations also, and will concentrate all of His largesse on the Jewish people.The “attribute” dispensing this “largesse” is known as יד, “hand;” the reason for this is that in our terrestrial world largesse is “handed” out. This explains why G’d used the expression ידי, “My hand,” when referring to His oath to “hand over” the land of Canaan to Avraham’s descendants. This is also the meaning of G’d’s saying in Deuteronomy 32,40 כי אשא אל שמים ידי ואמרתי חי אנכי לעולם, ”for lo I raise My hand to the heavens and say: ‘as I live forever,’ etc.;” G’d’s original concept of a Jewish people populating earth, before the universe was even created, is referred to in this verse as חי אנכי לעולם, an attribute of חירות “unlimited freedom.,” and the purpose of raising His hand to the heavens is in order to activate the attribute of largesse, שפע which is dispensed by means of the attribute יד in this case ידי, “My hand.”
We must remember that the attribute from which G’d’s largesse emanates is neither the one called חי nor the one called חירות, as “life” [in the sense of what is needed to support life, Ed.] תלויה לה מנגד is hanging constantly in balance, so that when deserving G’d’s largesse for such people will insure that they remain alive, whereas if lacking basic merits, none of G’d’s largesse will reach them so that they will die.This idea is expressed when G’d says והבאתי אתכם אל הארץ, “I will bring you to the land, etc.” When G’d adds לתת לכם מורשה, He hints that when the Jewish people are deserving His largesse will be limited to this people. This is also the mystical element in the blessings given by the priests who raise their hands while pronouncing these blessings.
They draw attention to the attribute from which the largesse emanates, i.e. the attribute of יד. The priests do not pronounce blessings applicable universally, but they commence with asking G’d to grant the blessings about to be pronounced exclusively to the Jewish people, i.e. יברכך, “may He bless you.” Exodus 6,13., “He commanded them to the Children of Israel and to Pharaoh the King of Egypt, etc.” The reason why Moses’ and Aaron’s mission here is portrayed as a “dual” mission, i.e. to the Children of Israel and to Pharaoh the King of Egypt, is that there are two types of צדיקים righteous people each of whom try to guide the people by remonstrating with them to follow in the ways of the Lord.
The first type of צדיק relies primarily on his eloquence in delivering inspiring words to the people. He does not need to give reasons for the need to keep the laws of the Torah. In this tzaddik’s opinion, telling the people which is the right path to pursue in serving G’d is sufficient to achieve the desired result. The second category of tzaddik is not so confident of his eloquence, and endeavors to demonstrate why the way of the Torah is the only way to serve the Lord. In our verse above we find both of these types of tzaddikim addressed by G’d, when the Torah commands the eloquent messenger of G’d Aaron, to deliver his rousing speeches, and Moses, the messenger suffering from a speech defect, to do what he knew how to do best, to prove to the people why it was in their interest to listen to G’d’s commandments as conveyed by him.
Both Aaron and Moses were intent on convincing the people that the all-powerful and totally self sufficient G’d nonetheless enjoys the prayers of the Jewish people and responds to their service positively. They were to explain that it was these prayers that opened the gates of G’d’s treasure chambers that contained the material blessing needed for successful life in the lower regions of the universe. Exodus 6,25. “the same Aaron and Moses to whom G’d had said: ‘take out the Children of Israel from Egypt.’”
In verse 27 the Torah repeats the same once more, listing Moses’ name ahead of that of Aaron. Rashi, basing himself on the Mechilta, comments that the Torah makes a point of alternating the order in which it refers to Moses and Aaron, in order to demonstrate that in G’d’s eyes they were both of equal stature.Since G’d addresses Moses alone, as we know from verse 29, וידבר ה' אל משה לאמור, “Hashem spoke to Moses, to say, etc;” we would have deduced that Moses was of greater stature than his older brother Aaron.
In order for us not to arrive at the conclusion that Moses was considered superior, the Torah mentioned the name of Aaron first in verse 27. In other words, the message of the Torah to us is this: although G’d reserved His words for Moses’ ears alone, this does not mean that in G’d’s eyes Moses was superior to Aaron. When we will be reading about the many audiences Moses had with Pharaoh, we will note that invariably it was Aaron who conveyed G’d’s words to Pharaoh.
This was because Moses had complained to G’d of his speech defect that in his opinion rendered him unfit to speak to Pharaoh in public. [In 7,15 when G’d sends Moses to speak Pharaoh privately, warning him of the plague of blood, it was not an insult for Pharaoh to be addressed by a messenger who had a speech defect. Ed.] In order to make the point clear that Aaron was to be Moses’ mouthpiece, the Torah writes in 4,16 that Aaron would be the person delivering G’d’s messages to Pharaoh, but that he would do so in his capacity as Moses’ “prophet.”
Seeing that the Torah used the expression אהרן אחיך יהיה נביאך, “your brother Aaron will serve as your prophet,” there was still room for thinking that Aaron was superior to Moses; in order to make quite clear that this was not the case, the Torah had to write הם המדברים אל פרעה “they were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh, etc.” (verse 27) Another approach to the last paragraph. it is the duty of every Jew to serve his Creator at all times from feelings of awe and fear and to look at fellow Jews with a benevolent attitude, interpreting actions that appear inappropriate in a favourable light, and not to harm any fellow Jew; the first step in serving G’d is always based on fear, awe.
Man’s awe when serving G’d results in a mixture of awe and satisfaction, pleasure. Moses had attained this level of possessing wisdom while at the same time remaining in awe of the Creator, as we know from psalms 111,10 ראשית חכמה יראת ה', “all wisdom has its beginning in a feeling of awe and respect of G’d,” and is therefore symbolic of יראה, while Aaron’s name contains the letters נהר א, i.e. the letter אלף of the word יראה, and the letters spelling “water” in the sense of a blissful stream, providing irrigation, the first such water that we find in Genesis 2,10 i.e. ונהר יוצא מעדן, “and a river originated from Eden, and irrigated, etc.” Awe and fear lead to satisfaction תענוג.
Seeing that the term יראה, awe, cannot be an attribute of the Creator, and תענוג, the feeling of pleasurable satisfaction preceded the dispensation by G’d of His largesse to Israel, (the process being comparable to what our sages meant when they said that “the cow is more intent of nursing the calf than the calf is consciously looking for its mother’s milk,”) when it comes to the results of Moses and Aaron intervening in the process of preparing Pharaoh to release the Israelites, Moses is mentioned first when the Torah writes: הם המדברים אל פרעה מלך מצרים להוציא את בני ישראל ממצרים, “they were the ones speaking to Pharaoh to permit the Children of Israel to leave Egypt.”[By mentioning Aaron last, the Torah associated him with the execution directly; he was mentioned immediately before the word להוציא, “to release,” i.e. the type of largesse about to be dispensed by G’d to the Jewish people.
Ed.].I have heard in the name of my revered teacher Rabbi Dov Baer from Mezerich that he explained Proverbs 10,1 בן חכם משמח אב, “a wise son brings joy to his father,” as Solomon paraphrasing the relationship between Jews loyal to Torah and their Father in heaven. When a Jew serves his Father in heaven he causes Him satisfaction and joy. Similarly, when someone makes complimentary remarks about fellow Jews, G’d also derives pleasure from such compliments.
We are not to serve G’d for selfish reasons at all, such as the reward we have been promised for doing this. We must strive to provide G’d with satisfaction from our service to Him. This is so although there are a few benedictions in the 19 benedictions of the amidah, the central prayer, in which we ask for something for ourselves, such as intelligence to serve G’d properly, the ability to repent our sins, and a cure for our diseases.
Seeing that G’d derives pleasure from our prayers, even these benedictions in which we turn to Him for help, also give Him pleasure. G’d derives pleasure from the very fact that we, His people, enjoy our existence on earth. This is what the sages had in mind when they responded to the question (Bereshit Rabbah 3,4),מהיכן נבראת האורה “from where did the light in which G’d garbed Himself originate?”
The word for “light” in that Midrash is אורה as opposed to אור, the light G’d had created on the first day (Genesis 1,3) [There the word for “light” was in the masculine mode, whereas in the Midrash it is in the feminine mode, reminding us that it was something passive, received. Ed.] The answer given by Rabbi Shmuel ben Nachman in that Midrash is that it originates from the site on which the Holy Temple was built.
The Talmud, pursuing this subject also asked whence the light originated from.[I have not been able to authenticate what follows, supposedly in the Talmud. Ed.]The Talmud wonders whence the light in which G’d drapes Himself originates. Seeing that the word אורה used for “light,” is in the feminine mode it must have been created at some time, having been the recipient of input from another source.
Seeing that man needs to serve the Lord for the sake of providing Him with pleasurable satisfaction, תענוג, as opposed to our receiving blessings and material benefits in the earthly part of the universe, the question is logical. The answer given in the Talmud to the question posed is that G’d derives pleasure from man’s service which enables Him to dispense His largesse to man. He even enjoys prayer when it is offered as a means to secure this largesse.
The reason He does so is because the very fact that He has reason to dispense this largesse is a source of satisfaction for Him. Exodus 7,3-4. “but I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, etc.” “Pharaoh will not listen to you.” The Or Hachayim, in his commentary on this line questions why G’d had to repeat this statement in verse 4 when He had already said in verse 3 that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart? In order to answer this problem satisfactorily it is important to examine the plague of frogs.
Before decreeing this plague Moses had said to Pharaoh that if he were to refuse to let the Israelites go, G’d would smite his entire country with a plague of frogs which would invade even the most private parts of his bedroom, including the houses of all his servants. (Exodus 26-28) After the plague did strike and Pharaoh asked Moses to bring it to an end, Moses tells him that he will do so at a time of Pharaoh’s choosing, so that he would learn that there is no G’d like the G’d of the Israelites. (8,5) Later on when the wild beasts have been let loose in urban areas, Moses adds that Pharaoh should now learn that G’d’s domain is also the dry land of the earth. (8,18) The reason why two different domains of G’d’s power are mentioned on those two occasions is that two different types of miracles were involved.
One basic miracle applying to all the plagues was to demonstrate G’d’s power in His universe; the other miracle was that G’d could, if He wished, dominate man’s willpower so that he would foolishly self destruct in spite of the evidence before his eyes how his obstinacy would lead to his and his people’s ruin. Exodus 7,9. “if Pharaoh will say to you: ‘identify yourselves by means of a miracle, say to Aaron to take his staff etc.;’” at first glance the word לכם used by Pharaoh here was superfluous as Moses and Aaron did not need to identify themselves to each other.
He should simply have said: ‘prove your mission by performing a miracle!’”The Ari z’al writes that it is a rule that every human being is convinced that his words will make a favourable impression on his Creator, and as a result further G’d’s dispensing of benefits to His people. Because of this belief in the power of speech, every person has to be extremely careful not to abuse this power of speech by talking nonsense, or worse. Pharaoh invited, or challenged Moses and Aaron to say things which would serve as proof that due to their words their G’d of whose existence Pharaoh was well aware, would perform acts that would impress him. When Moses therefore instructed Aaron to take his staff, throw it to the ground and it would turn into a snake, he complied with exactly what Pharaoh had demanded of them.
The miracle was the result of Moses’ speaking to Aaron. Exodus 7,16. “and behold so far you have not listened.” The words: “so far,” appear strange, and sound as if G’d had already performed a number of miracles, whereas in fact He had only brought on one plague, i.e. the waters of the Nile turning into blood. We may be able to understand this turn of phrase when considering a statement by our sages when they compared Moses’ prophecies as characterized by the word זה and that of the other prophets by the word: כה. (Sifri Mattot, 2) On the face of it this statement appears strange as Moses frequently introduced his prophecies with the words: כה אמר ה'.This apparent contradiction has been dealt with by the Rivash, (Rabbi Yitzchok bar Rabbi Sheshet) in his commentary on Exodus 19, 9 בעבור ישמע העם בדברי עמך וגם בך יאמינו לעולם “in order that the people can hear when I speak with you (Moses( and they will also have complete faith in you forever.”
The Rivash writes that there is a difference between what a person sees with his own eyes and between what he knows through use of his intelligence to be the truth. In spite of what his brain tells him is the truth, he still tends to trust his eyes more than he trusts his intellect. This principle also became manifest during the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, and again during the revelation at Mount Sinai when they received the Torah.
In spite of the people having witnessed any number of miracles during the period immediately preceding the Exodus so that their faith in G’d should have become absolute, there was a further need to strengthen their belief at Mount Sinai. In spite of all the miracles that Moses had been instrumental in performing ever since he returned from Midian to Egypt, G’d still found it necessary to make the people hear Him speak to Moses directly, before they would believe in him absolutely. The famous proverb: “seeing is believing,” applied to the Jewish people also. When someone is convinced of the truth of something on account of miracles he has seen performed by G’d he is referred to as having witnessed on the basis of כה, “thus.”
He had not actually seen the truth with his eyes, but had experienced an indirect proof. The word כה implies that the essence is similar to what one had been shown. The word זה, on the other hand, suggests that one had seen the actual essence of something, therefore knowing it to be a truth. In retrospect he will always refer to “this matter which I have seen.”
At Mount Sinai Moses had attained the level of spirituality that enabled G’d to speak to him פנים אל פנים, usually translated as “face to face,” i.e. visually, so that the term זה, “this,” for the type of prophecy Moses engaged in became appropriate. When Moses prophesied under the “heading” of כה this had always been before the revelation at Mount Sinai. [The only exception is in Exodus 32,27 when he charged the Levites with the task of executing Israelites who had worshipped the golden calf.
This was not a prophetic pronouncement. Ed.]If Pharaoh had not artificially strengthened his willpower to resist his impulses thus delaying the Exodus by bringing upon himself the Ten Plagues, we would have stood at Mount Sinai and received the Torah much sooner so that all the instances in which the Torah had reported Moses as introducing his prophecies with the words: כה אמר ה' would not have been necessary.In His great mercy, extended to all His creatures, G’d warned Pharaoh to release the Children of Israel immediately in order that He would not have to subject him to the plagues; had He not done this the Jewish people would have stood at Mount Sinai and received the Torah much sooner.
This is what Moses referred to when he said to Pharaoh: “so far you have not listened to G’d’s warnings.” As a result of his obstinacy he became the victim of prophecies introduced with the word כה. Exodus 7,23. “Pharaoh turned and went to his palace and did not pay attention even to this.” Our sages, analyzing the word: לזאת, “to this,” cite Leviticus 16,3 where the Torah introduces the Temple service of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, with the words: בזאת יבא אהרן אל הקודש, “equipped with this Aaron is to enter the Sanctuary, etc;” as an allusion to the collective soul of the Jewish people.
We must always remember that the universe was created only for the sake, or on account of, the Jewish people (and their destiny on earth). In other words, the word זאת refers to the principal component of something. We find this repeated when Moses blesses the Jewish people for the last time before dying, in Deuteronomy 33,1 when the Torah writes: וזאת הברכה אשר ברך משה וגו', ”and this is the blessing which Moses invoked, etc.” When Moses, on the occasion of the first plague visited upon the Egyptians uses the word זאת, he does so to bring home to Pharaoh the idea that the Jewish people are the principal reason that the universe exists as it does.
It was this that Pharaoh refused to believe and that is why he chose to ignore the plague. Exodus 8,5.Moses said to Pharaoh: ‘you may brag concerning me, ‘for when shall I pray on your behalf, etc;?” ויאמר למחר, ויאמר כדבריך למען תדע כי אין כה' אלוקינו “He said: ‘for tomorrow!” He replied: ‘just as you have said, so that you will know that there is no-one comparable to the Lord our G’d.’”
It is worth noting that after the fourth plague, (the third not having been announced beforehand) in announcing the forthcoming plague, (Exodus 8,18) G’d uses the expression: והפלאתי when announcing beforehand that the wild beasts will not invade the land of Goshen, the home of most of the Children of Israel. At that point, Moses adds to his warning: “in order that you will know that there is no-one comparable to Me on the whole Earth.”
A similar statement appears before the onset of the plague of hail, (9,14) and prior to Moses leaving the boundaries of the land of Egypt in order to pray to G’d to bring the plague of hail to a conclusion. (Exodus 9,29) Moses adds that his objective is to demonstrate to Pharaoh that the globe is G’d’s property, למען תדע כי לה' הארץ. We need to examine why G’d chose to use different reasons for the onset or removal of the various plagues we quoted.With G’d’s help we hope to clarify the reasons behind these various nuances that appear so significant that the Torah bothers to list them individually.The Zohar, in commenting on the verse: אני ראשון ואני אחרון ומבלעדי אין אלוקים, “I am the first and I am the last and apart from Me there is no Divine power,”(Isaiah 44,6) sees in that verse a synopsis of the functions of certain vowels (all three are dots but placed on top, in the middle, or beneath the consonants) If the dot is on top of the letter, as in the חולם, it refers to the ability of the Tzaddikim to cause decrees by the attribute of Justice to be converted to decrees dominated by the attribute of Mercy, the reason being that the concept of the Jewish nation had preceded the concept of creating a physical universe in G’d’s mind.
The same dot appearing in the middle of the letter, known as שורוק, alludes to G’d’s intervention in the affairs of man in a covert manner, as He did during the period of Mordechai and Esther. Finally, the dot appearing beneath the letter, known as חיריק, alludes to the period of the wars preceding the arrival of the messiah when G’d will become manifest by His literally “turning the world upside down”, pouring out the wicked, who at that time will finally recognize His might in all its glory.
The author derives all of this from the concise comments of the Zohar on the verse we quoted from Isaiah 44,6. In other words, the three positions of the dot as a vowel are alluded to in G’d’s saying that He is first, last and that there is no deity bar Him. At the time of the coming of the messiah, the “fallen sparks from the Shechinah” which our author has spoken of repeatedly, will be restored o their original lofty status. When Moses, quoting G’d, refers to different levels of recognizing G’d’s power represented by different plagues, a similar point is being made.
Pharaoh is to become aware of G’d’s presence filling the entire universe on the ground, in the water and in the air. It was important to teach him that the plagues were not manifestations of different deities but they all were different facets of the same G’d, i.e. the Creator of the universe. He wanted Pharaoh to know that our G’d performs miracles for us in the different spheres of the universe.
By not smiting Goshen with an invasion of wild beasts, G’d proved that where and when He wanted he could maintain normal patterns of nature. In other words, although in the rest of the country the beasts’ natural instincts of avoiding human presence and exposing themselves to being hunted down continued unchanged, He could perform a miracle on behalf of His people. This was an example of the “miracle” being garbed in the guise of being a natural occurrence, just as G’d had not performed a single supernatural act when delivering his people from the decree of Haman in the Purim story.
The same is true of the pestilence, a plague that struck all the beasts while miraculously leaving the Jewish people untouched. Here too, the miracle performed for the Jewish people was that G’d allowed nature to run its course without interfering with the lifestyle of the beasts owned by the Jews. After the plague of hail when Pharaoh had only acknowledged that he had sinned and that Moses and his G’d were righteous, G’d demonstrated that He is not prejudiced racially against any nation, but that as soon as that nation and its leader acknowledges Him, He will answer their prayer for relief from their plagues.
The point that He had made at that time was that since the earth is His, He can treat it as such and dispense His blessings for the gentiles also. He hoped to persuade Pharaoh that the upsets that He had caused to the Egyptian population had only been for the sake of allowing Pharaoh to release His people. Had G’d wanted to, He could have bodily removed the Jewish people from Pharaoh’s grasp by transporting them to Mount Sinai on a flying carpe, but He was concerned with having Pharaoh and his servants acknowledge their impotence in the matter and have them discharge the people by their own volition.