Chasidut zu Schemot 34:38

The Zohar writes concerning the goal of human completeness (Yitro 78b-79a): “You shall see the work of God that I shall do, it is awesome.” (Shemot, 34:10) Rabbi Elazar said, “It is the completion of everything.” … “It is awesome,” refers to Yaakov,²⁰³In the first of the eighteen benedictions we say, “God of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, the Great, the Mighty, and the Awesome God.” “Awesome” (norah) signifies the main quality of the patriarch Yaakov, who thus represents a complete fear of the awesome power of God. It was Yaakov, after his dream of the ladder, who said, “how awesome (norah) is this place!” (Bereshit, 28:17) the ish tam, the man complete in all his attributes.²⁰⁴Generally, in the Zohar, Yaakov Avinu represents the Torah, or the sefirah of Tiferet, which is beauty, balance, and pride. Yaakov and Tiferet also represent completeness. See Bereshit, 25:27, “Yaakov was an ish tam (wholehearted, simple, complete), dwelling in tents.” Yaakov further represents completeness, in that all of his children were completely righteous, as opposed to Avraham who begat Yishmael and Yitskhak who begat Eisav. Wherever you find completeness, it is called “awesome.” … The fear of God rests only in a place of completeness.²⁰⁵“A place of completeness” – see note 185. And in the Zohar, Parshat Shlach (51b): “You have established equity” (Tehillim, 99:4). This is the “middle bar” (Shemot, 26:28),²⁰⁶This was inserted in the midst of the boards comprising the walls of the tabernacle. signifying the Holy One, blessed be He.²⁰⁷In the Zohar, the term “the Holy One,” refers to the sefirah of Tiferet, which corresponds to Yaakov, the Torah, and the trait of “completeness.” Rabbi Yitzhak said, “This is Yaakov.” It is really all the same matter. If the king is complete in all aspects, clearly his knowledge is complete in all aspects. What is the way of this king? He shines continually as the sun, for he is complete. When he judges, he judges for the good and for the bad. When a wise person sees the king’s face shining, he says, “Certainly the king is complete in all aspects; his knowledge is complete and his completeness is above all others. In this shining light of his face I see that he is judging more than I see, yet it is covered.” … So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, is ever complete … For this reason, one must take great care to guard himself from Him.²⁰⁸Meaning to honor God and adhere to His commandments. Fear that is not rooted in the Torah can fall to the low level of the fear of deficiency, as mentioned above. This is as the Tikkunei Zohar, above, explained the verse, “Another withholds unduly, but only comes to lack.” However, the true fear of God, rooted in the Torah and based on faith, is called, “the completion of holy faith.” This is as it is written in the Zohar (Yitro, 79a): What is the meaning of the verse (Bereshit, 28:17), “And Yaakov feared, and said, how awesome (norah) is this place!” What did Yaakov see that he could only describe as dreadful and awe-inspiring (norah)? He saw the absolute completion of holy faith which existed in that place, just as it is above in the upper worlds. Every place that is at such a level of perfection is called, “awesome (norah).”²⁰⁹That is, perfect faith results in an exalted type of fear, more correctly known as “awe.” The Torah is the straight path, and is called the “book of yashar,”²¹⁰Yashar means straight, direct, even. as it is written (Shmuel 2, 1:18), “Is it not written in the book of yashar?” The Torah comes from the middle column,²¹¹There are three columns in the array of the ten Sefirot – right, left, and middle. The middle column joins and synthesizes the opposing forces of right and left, . and is whole, for one who grasps onto the Torah lacks nothing. This is because it straightens and balances a person’s attributes so that he is not steeped in any one extremity, which is what brings him to deficiency. If a person is subjugated to any one of his attributes, and thereby lacks the strength of mind to balance its power and prevent it from becoming extreme, then the attribute is deficient, even if it is a good trait that could otherwise be the source of good behavior. If this attribute is taken to its extremity, and then becomes an involuntary mode of behavior, without any reckoning or deliberation, then the attribute, albeit good, will be used in the wrong way.²¹²This relates to the teaching of the Izhbitzer that there are no bad attributes, only bad applications of good attributes. For example, as R. Gershon Henokh explains here, kindness is neither an inherently good nor evil trait. Used correctly, it is good, but used improperly, as in the case of one who shows kindness to evil-doers, the trait becomes a sin. (This explains the Izhbitzer’s vindication of the sins of various biblical characters. According to him, they never intentionally sinned, but only mistimed the use of certain attributes.) The goal of the Torah is to produce perfected and balanced human beings (symbolized by Yaakov, Tiferet), who always know how to use their character traits in the right way, according to the needs of the situation. An imbalanced person, on the other hand, becomes stuck in a certain mode of behavior, and is unable to deviate from it, even when the situation calls for an alternative approach. This person is deficient in the other traits – a lack that engenders within him a fear of situations in which his innate character trait cannot apply. (See note 177, above.) According to Rav Mordechai Yosef, this person may objectify his lack in the form of an idol, which he will fear, though what he is actually fearing is his own, innate deficiency (his “dark side”). Thus, in praying to the idol to be saved from that which he fears, he is really only praying to his own fear and deficiency. This approach is most likely a Hasidic interpretation of the Kabbalistic concept of the death of the seven Edomite kings (based upon Genesis 36). Each king symbolizes a different trait, or sefirah, used by God to create the world. Nonetheless, these traits were flawed, inasmuch as each one sought to be an exclusive conduit for God’s creative energy: be it Hesed (Love), Gevurah (Severity), or Tiferet (Mercy). This led to the “breaking of the vessels,” and the current, fallen nature of reality, which demands repair. Each “king” said, “I, and only I, will rule.” However, the verses in Genesis do not record the death of the eighth king, Hadar, and they also mention that he had a wife (Meheitavel). In other words, he was the only one who made room for another perspective; thus he did not “die” (i.e. the trait did not shatter), and represents the attribute of “tikkun,” or rectification. This led to the new emanation of the sefirot in which each one contains all ten: love contains wisdom; understanding contains balance, and so forth. In this way, by adapting and being flexible, the vessels could contain God’s light and the world could survive. In the psychological terms used by R. Gershon Henokh, a person on the level of the seven kings will exhibit an inflexible commitment to one particular character trait, and lack the ability to negotiate situations that are not suited to that attribute; whereas the rectified approach means using the whole variety of shades of love, fear, etc, and adapting and relating to the plethora of stimuli one encounters in the world. Take, for example, the trait of kindness, which is clearly a good attribute. However, when it is used indiscriminately and bestowed generously upon cruel people, it becomes destructive; for there is no greater evil than acting kindly toward the cruel.²¹³This is based on the aphorisim of the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah 7:16): “One who is kind to the cruel will eventually be cruel to the kind.” One who errs in this way upholds and even strengthens destructive forces in the world. Clearly, every attribute must be used with clear and conscious deliberation, at the proper time and in the proper place. In this way, he may “establish equity”²¹⁴As in the verse from Tehillim, 99:4, cited above. in every aspect of his behavior, according to the approach of the Torah. Then, he will be complete and lack nothing.²¹⁵Lacking nothing, he will be free from the lower level of fear. His actions will all be balanced and in line with God’s will. His fear of God will be like that of Yaakov – norah – an expression of awe and faith. Above all, the greatest deficiency a person can have is a lack of emunah (faith). On this it is written in the Zohar (Vayikra, 16b): “And it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty…” (Vayikra, 5:23). Because of this, God withdraws from everything; then God, so to speak, does not exist in creation, and Knesset Yisrael²¹⁶Knesset Yisrael means the “Congregation of the people of Israel,” and is synonymous with the Shechinah, the sefirah of Malchut, the attribute of faith, and the Divine presence which rests upon the Israelite nation. One could say, “God/the Shechinah/faith is hidden from that place.” has left her place. This is as it is written (Yeshayahu, 7:28), “Emunah has perished.” That means that Knesset Yisrael has perished.²¹⁷Meaning, separated from her place. Of this it is said (Tehillim 92:3), “To speak of Your emunah in the nights.”²¹⁸“Speaking of your faith at night,” means that if one has true faith, then even after the sin, when man sits in darkness, so to speak, he can still amend his ways and return to God.

In Parshat Pinhas (257b) the Zohar discusses the meaning and function of God’s names and attributes: In this way, The Master of the World (was called by various names and appellations) even before He created His creations, who would eventually call Him “the Merciful One,” or, “the Judge.” All of God’s names are intended for His creation, in order that creation should have a way to call Him and relate to Him. Therefore, when the people of the generation are worthy, they call Him, “YHVH,” which is the name of mercy. And when the people of the generation are unworthy, they call Him, “A-donai,” which is the name of strict judgment. Each generation and each individual relates to God according to his particular qualities, yet it is clear that God Himself has no attribute or known name.²³²That is, on the highest level, God transcends names and letters. This is similar to the Sefirot, where each Sefirah has a known name; an attribute, measurement, and border. God ventures into these names and rules in them. He is called through them, concealed by them, and dwells in them, as the soul dwells in the limbs of the body. And later in this passage (158a): When God was alone before He created the world, why was it necessary for Him to be called by these name and appellations like, “the Merciful and Compassionate One,” “the Long Suffering,” or, “the Powerful Judge”?²³³There was not yet anyone to call God by name, so why did He have a name? There are many more such names, and they are all called in reference to the supernal worlds which existed prior to the existence of the physical world.²³⁴Even though names and appellations are born out of the relationship between God and man, they also serve a function in the emanation of the world, and thus, like the supernal Sefirot, they existed prior to the physical world. In reference to the “ten rectifications (Sefirot),” it is said in the second introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar, page 17a (Patach Eliyahu):You are the one who brought forth ten rectifications , and called them ten Sefirot, for the purpose of conducting worlds that are hidden and not revealed, and for conducting worlds that are revealed. This was all in order for the creation to be able to receive God’s light. This is mentioned in the Idra Rabbah Kadisha section of the Zohar (135b): When it arose in the desire of the Reisha Chivara²³⁵Literally, the “White Head,” referring to one of highest levels of creation. Kabbalistically, the image of the “head” is used to refer to sublime spiritual forces in the very beginnings of creation. The “hair” represents channels that allow the flow of of transcendent light emanating from the Godhead . Light flows through the “eyes,” or other facial orifices, representing divine energy (described with the terms “shefa,” abundance) flowing from the source of absolute will and compassion. The “beard” conveys the thirteen attributes of compassion, etc. to make the glory of all glories, it established and prepared … This is why all of the rectifications²³⁶Processes by which God’s infinite light is limited into vessels, so that the creation may be able to perceive it without being nullified by its power. are mentioned in the central section of the Zohar called the Idra Rabbah. Simply put, God’s light was clothed in garments, which enabled the creation to perceive the light. This is as it is said in the Zohar (Balak, 204b): The primordial light which God created shined with such intensity that the worlds could not withstand its power until the Holy One, blessed be He, created a light for this light (to be enclothed in a kind of luminous vessel), so one could dress within the other, and similarly with all of the lights, so that the worlds could stand in their place and endure it. The second introduction to the Zohar, quoted above, continues: You established garments for them, and from these garments souls fly down to mankind. … None of them know You at all, and besides You, there is no Oneness in the upper and lower realms. … You have no known name, for You fill all names, and You are the completion of everything. And when You withdraw from them, they all remain as a body without a soul. You are wise but not with a known wisdom.²³⁷Though the source of all wisdom, and everything for that matter, comes from God, for “there is none besides Him,” still, God told us through Yeshayahu, “My thoughts are not like your thoughts.” In other words, there is a revealed wisdom and also a transcendent wisdom. You understand but not with a known understanding. You have no known place, but rather You make your strength and power know to mankind, namely, how the world is managed through judgment and mercy … Yet it is not a known form of righteousness, which is din (judgment), nor is it a known form of justice, which is rahamim (mercy), nor with any of these attributes.²³⁸Though we call God, “the Compassionate,” the essence of compassion or any such attribute is beyond human understanding. Here it is perfectly clear that all of these names and attributes (Sefirot) exist only for the purpose of the creation, and that they are also created forces essential to the creation.

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) ‎

For, the essence of tefillin is the flashing of the brains in the face, which is the aspect of Light of the Face, which is drawn from the aspect of Tiqunei Diqna Qadisha/Repair or Features of the Holy Beard, which is the essence of Dignity of the Face, as is known, which is the aspect of the aforementioned Elder in Holiness, as mentioned. And the Tiqunei Diqna are the aspect of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, the essence of which are the aspect of subjugating anger and sweetening harsh decrees and the Charon Af/Burning Nose (Anger), which is the aspect of Erekh Apayim/Extending Nose (Patience), which is the main thing, and therefore Chazal said (Sanh. 111) regarding the verse “Waymaher Moshe wayqod artzah/And Moshe made haste and bowed his head toward the earth” etc. [Ex. 34:8]: What did he see? He saw Erekh Apayim. For, the essence of the Thirteen Attributes are the Thirteen Tiqunei Diqna which H"Y [Hashem Yithbarakh] revealed to him then, the essence of which is Erekh Apayim, which is the aspect of subjugating the Panim/Interior (Face), and therefore Moshe became excited by this specifically, as also explained regarding the loftiness of Erekh Apayim in the words of Rabbeinu z"l (LM #155, see there), in the lesson that begins, “Sadness is a very worst trait” etc., see there the entire interest until the end, for it is a wondrous path in serving the Creator, and if you gaze and look thoroughly there, you can get very wondrous advices and great encouragement, endlessly, for His blessed service. And the rule is that a man needs to cling to Hashem Yithbarakh's attributes, as explained in the words of our Rabbis and in all the holy books. Therefore one most see to it that he should have the trait of Erekh Apayim, that is, extending his patience for everything, not getting angry, not being annoyed at anything, not looking at any obstacle or confusion in his devotions, whether they be confusions, obstacles and trials that he has from people of the world, such as his father, father-in-law, wife, relatives or the rest of mankind. As is known and seen tangibly, that every time some person wants to enter the service of Hashem, to begin praying with intent etc. and so forth, immediately he has great obstacles, without end, and then every one needs to “be bold as a tiger... and strong like a lion to perform the will of his Heavenly Father, to prevail against the obstacles and get through them, to not look at them at all, and to fortify himself a great deal to his part, to delve in Torah and prayer with intent and power etc. And this is the aspect of Arikhath Apayim, to not be short spirited, God forbid, to stop his devotion, God forbid, due to the obstacles and trials he has from them, but only strengthen himself and extend his patience for everything, and not gaze at any obstacle at all. And likewise, even the obstacles he has from himself, his evil and strange cravings and thoughts pursuing him constantly every moment, especially during prayer time, and he has great trials from them. And the main thing is the Erekh Apayim, which is the aspect of Emunah, as explained there, that the essence of Erekh Apayim one attains through Emunah, that is, having perfect Emunah in Hashem Yithbarakh and the True Kosher Tzaddiqim, and to strengthen himself in His service and not fall from anything, and to be indifferent, and not become short tempered on account of the evil deeds and faults that he has committed until now. For, one needs to not look at this at all, as explained in the words of Rabbeinu z"l and in our words many, many times regarding this, just how much a man needs to be strong. For, there is no despair at all in the world, and however it is, even though he has already fallen such a descent in himself many times, without bound, nevertheless there is no despairing at all in the world, and all the days he is alive on the face of the earth he needs to strengthen himself and each time begin new, and not fall into oldness of the Sitra Achra at all. For, all the descents in the world are the aspect of oldness of the Sitra Achra, as it seems in his eyes that he is already old in his mistakes and deeds that he is accustomed in, such that he cannot get out of them in any fashion, God forbid. But in truth, he needs to know and believe that every day, moment, and time, the power is in a man's hand to be new and be an actual new creation, for Hashem Yithbarakh is “doing new things” at all times, and no day or hours is like another etc. as mentioned. Therefore one needs to every time strengthen himself and begin every day anew, and sometimes even in one day one needs to begin many times, as explained elsewhere. And even if it will be that way for a long time, however it may be, every time and every hour he needs to remind himself of Hashem Yithbarakh and completely forget all the past until now, and really begin now from new, as much as he can, and not look at any confusion or weakness of mind at all. And all this is the aspect of Erekh Apayim, that one needs to extend his spirit and pass over the confusions and obstacles and not look at anything and let nothing affect him and not let his heart grow soft and not let his tempter get short from anything that happens to him, but only strengthen himself in Hashem Yithbarakh in whatever he can. For Hashem Yithbarakh is always full of compassion, and the mercies of Hashem are not finished and his compassion is never ceased. And we have already spoken about this many times — but such a matter needs to be repeated many times, without bound, for “it is your life,” for the majority of the world being far from Hashem Yithbarakh and losing what they lose, true everlasting life, is virtually all only on account of weakness of mind, being downcast, on account that most of them have experienced many times that they began a little in serving Hashem and then fell into what they fell, each person according to his fall, the Merciful One save us; and thereby they became discouraged from beginning again. And some of them once or a few times became somewhat aroused and began anew, but then when they saw that nevertheless fell afterwards, they became discouraged, since they saw themselves trying so much to get into serving Hashem and then falling in what they fell, the Merciful one save us, thus it seemed to them that their strength is exhausted to now begin any more. But really all this is the work of the Ba`al Davar himself, who is the aspect of the elder of the Sitra Achra, for he is called the “old and foolish king” [Eccl. 4], as he wants to cast a man down into oldness and exhaustion, God forbid, as if he already so aged in his mistakes and deeds that he can no longer change. And really it is not so, for every day a man is a new creature, just as we say the benediction every day over Netilath Yadayim and the rest of the benedictions, “Who has not made me a heathen.. a slave.. a woman” etc., where the codifiers have written the reason being because a man is made like a new creature every day, as explained in the Shulchan `Arukh. And similarly the benediction, “Who gives strength to the weary” we say over renewal of the brains and vitality every day, as brought in the Kawanoth. And therefore a man needs to be very careful to not fall into this oldness of the Sitra Achra, but only be strong and renewed all the time, as mentioned. And let it seem in his eyes every day and every hour that he is born today, and as if today he receives the Torah anew, as our Rabbis z"l have said, “every day let them be like new in your eyes,” as mentioned, which all of this is the aspect of Erekh Apayim, as he extends his patience for every thing, obstacle, and confusion in the world, and passes over everything, and strengthens himself each time in His service etc. as mentioned. And this trait of Erekh Apayim is the essence of the aspect of Tiqunei Diqna, which is the aspect of the Zaqen/Elder in holiness, who is truly old, for he truly lives long life, for every time he begins living anew. And precisely this is the aspect of holy elderliness, the aspect of long life, for when one falls in oldness of the Sitra Achra, that is, when his devotion becomes old for him, and all the more so when he falls from his devotions, God forbid, since it seems that he is so old in his mistakes that he can no longer go back, God forbid. Such “elderliness,” God forbid, is the essence of shortness of days, as mentioned in Rabbeinu z"l's words, that “elders” like this who do not add vitality and additional service all the time, are called “short of days and full of trouble” etc. (Job 14). (See the Torah “Uv'yom haBiqurim,” LM II #4).

Exodus 2:10, “She named him Moses, for I have pulled ‎him from the water.” There is a rule that when we have a ‎combination of light, water and fire, the creature whose soul ‎‎(essence) consists of fire can elevate itself to the level of water, ‎whereas the creature whose essence is water can elevate itself to ‎the level of light. Seeing that Moses was essentially connected to ‎water, having been “pulled from the water,” he can elevate itself ‎to the level of light. This principle is alluded to in Exodus 34,29 ‎ולא ידע משה כי קרן עור פניו‎, “Moses was unaware that the skin of his ‎face radiated light.”‎
‎[This “rule,” I have found explained in an article on ‎‎Parshat Miketz where Pharaoh is described as standing above ‎the water, and the expressions ‎יאור, נהר,אור‎ are explained also by ‎Onkelos as basically parts of one basic concept. When on different ‎levels of spiritual significance, they are called by correspondingly ‎different names. The interested reader will find a very ‎enlightening article about this written in 2004 in Google under ‎the heading ‎פרשת מקץ‎. The question I had asked Google, was: ‎אור, ‏אש, ומים‎. Ed.]‎

This verse make these afflictions depend upon the skin. This is based on the verse that says: "...the Lord God fashioned garments of skin for the man and his wife and God dressed them." (Genesis 3:21) The Midrash refers to a distinction between the "garments of skin" and "garments of light." It was because of sin that they came to be garbed in this coarse clothing, the skin of the snake. All of corporeality derives from there. Previously, they were in a spiritual state, as is said of the future. At the giving of the Torah, too, Israel were ready for this state. That is why it says of Moses that the skin of his face shone. (Exodus 34:29) He so redeemed "skin" that he was lit up through the shining speculum. But we did not remain at that rung. Therefore, the afflictions reappeared; the Midrash teaches that it was sin that made us again impaired. It is also known, however, that the skin is porous, containing many tiny holes. These allow the light to shine through its "shells." Only sin clogs up those pores, so that "darkness covers the earth." (Isaiah 60:2) That is why "the leprous affliction" is translated [into Aramaic] as segiru or "closing." Now we also understand why the purification rites are assigned to Aaron and his sons the priests; it was they who set right the sin of the Golden Calf.

And this is the aspect of the tunnel of the tefillin, which is where the straps pass through, which are the aspect of “crossing the YaBoQ,” as brought in the Kawanoth. For the straps are the aspect of drawing the brains of the tefillin, which is the aspect of the “Light of the Face,” which is the aspect of the Thirteen Tiqunei Diqna, the aspect of Erekh Apayim mentioned, and therefore ReTzU`AH is gematria 370, the aspect of

In A Student’s Obligation²⁷⁰Chapter 7. we spoke about the deceptive feeling of worthlessness that one could feel when he is the brunt of another man’s taunts or insults. The foundation of these feelings is the absence of bravery. Rav Ovadia of Bartenura zts’l, in his famous commentary on the Mishna, offers us a real key to the attribute of bravery. When the Mishna tells us, “who is mighty? A man who conquers his yetser,” we need to understand that it is war of attrition that we are fighting with the yetser.²⁷¹That is to say, the yetser wants us to give up or give in. It wants us to use our energy for pleasure or revenge. The Bartenura tells us, “The patience²⁷²The term the Bartenura uses is, “erech apayim.” See Shemos, 34:6, which describes God’s attribute of being, “Slow to anger,” (Kaplan, Margolin), and ”Long Suffering.” (Soncino) It is an ambiguous term that is gererally understood as patience. “Erech” means length or lengthening, and “apayim” carries the triple connotation of anger, the face, and the nostrils. “I will soften my anger,” or simply “taking a breather.” that you need when you hold back, using your strength to conquer the yetser is not to be confused with a weak spirit.” Bravery and might is also expressed in your own self-restraint, when you use your might to conquer the yetser by actually resisting its advice.²⁷³Mighty (“gibbur”) is the man or woman whose actions, words, and mind operate according to the activity of resistance as opposed to the passivity of resignation. This is not only, “a big man knows when to walk away from a fight,” but more often, “just do it,” and do away with it by just not doing it. Your might is good and well when it is put into the power of patience, as long as it is truly restraining your desire to enjoy something that will come to harm you, but not an kind of emotional paralysis brought on by cowardice.²⁷⁴The tell for cowardice is getting weak in the knees, sweaty palms, nervous laughter, or just about anything, as long as it a physical sign of your fear of confronting your true feelings with bravery. The tell for bravery might be clenching your fists, grinding your teeth, and so forth, as an expression of your will to refrain from transgression, including insincere behavior such as flattery.

Numbers 14,17. “Hashem’s forbearance is long ‎lasting;” when the Israelites committed the sin of the golden ‎calf, this was a sin of direct disobedience of the second of the Ten ‎Commandments, i.e. a sin that directly provoked G’d. In this ‎instance, the sin of the spies was a provocation of Israel’s image, ‎i.e. they did not believe that their fellow Jews had sufficient faith ‎in G’d to overturn the numerical and physical superiority of their ‎adversaries the Canaanites’, by the power of their prayers. This ‎attribute called ‎רחום‎, is G’d’s ability to attach Himself closely to ‎the “lower” parts of His universe, just as a rich man who displays ‎true empathy for the poor needs to share the poor man’s pain so ‎that he can truly have mercy on him. The two Divine attributes ‎of ‎רחום וחנון‎ are therefore practically inseparable, as the latter ‎implies that the victim in need of this attribute has found grace ‎in G’d’s eyes. Seeing that the spies underestimated the Jewish ‎people’s faith in G’d, Moses omitted coupling the attribute the ‎two attributes of ‎רחום וחנון‎ but appealed only to ‎ארך אפים‎, G’d’s ‎attribute of forbearance.

Exodus 34,6. “Hashem passed before him and ‎proclaimed:” A look at Rashi’s commentary on these ‎words shows us that G’d wrapped Himself in a tallit, prayer ‎shawl, just like the reader in the synagogue. [This is not ‎taken from Rashi’s commentary on the Torah, but from the ‎Talmud’s allegorical interpretation of this verse in Rosh ‎Hashanah 17. Ed.]‎
Concerning the above, my late and revered teacher Rabbi Dov ‎Baer said that the 13 attributes the Torah mentions here are the ‎spiritual equivalent of the 13 principles of Rabbi Yishmael that ‎are considered as legitimate tools of exegesis of the written Torah. ‎For instance, the principle known as ‎קל וחומר‎, using logical ‎conclusions, is the counterpart of the attribute ‎א-ל‎, whereas the ‎principle known as ‎גזרה שוה‎, replicas of the same word used for ‎apparently divergent subjects, is the equivalent of the Divine ‎attribute ‎רחום‎.‎
When a wealthy person takes pity on a poor, destitute ‎person, he automatically begins to understand the pain and near ‎despair experienced by the poor so that he lowers himself ‎mentally to that level. He experiences the pain endured by the ‎poor and his feelings of being hemmed in from all sides. When ‎this happens, the wealthy person, -parallel to G’d-, extends pity ‎and mercy to the poor so that the poor and the rich have reached ‎the same level. A similar process occurs when G’d looks with ‎mercy on the Jewish people in distress. This is what Moses ‎referred to when he said in psalms 91,15: ‎עמו אנכי בצרה‎, “I am ‎with him in distress;” this is what is meant by “equating” the ‎Divine attribute of mercy to the exegetical tool known as ‎גזרה ‏שוה‎, “establishing common ground based on identical words used ‎in texts speaking of different subjects.”‎

Exodus 34,21. “you shall observe the Sabbath rest ‎regardless of whether it is the season of planting or ‎harvesting.” It is a rule that G’d shares out His largesse to ‎the various parts of His universes and it is also known that the ‎origin of that largesse is in the spiritual region known as ‎אין סוף‎, ‎the Infinite. It was the prophet Elisha who said (Kings II 4,2) ‎מה ‏יש לכי בבית‎, “what (containers) do you have in the house?” This ‎shows us that in order to take advantage of G’d’s largesse man has ‎to furnish the receptacle. He does so by providing the various ‎letters in the alphabet. Both the act of sowing and harvesting are ‎perceived as a manner of creating, When the largesse is provided ‎from the celestial regions directly, i.e. from the eyn sof, ‎there is no need for the human being to supply a ‎כלי‎, receptacle ‎Seeing that it is forbidden to write on the Sabbath, i.e. to put ‎together letters, on that day, no receptacle is required to receive ‎G’d’s largesse. This is hinted at in Deuteronomy 15,15 when the ‎Torah writes:‎וברכתיך בכל אשר תעשה ‏‎, “I will bless you in all your ‎undertakings. By writing that you are to rest (on the Sabbath) ‎both in the season of planting and the during season of ‎harvesting, the Torah explains that the Sabbath rest does not ‎only not interfere with our receiving G’d’s largesse, but, on the ‎contrary, it facilitates the process, i.e.‎בחריש ובקציר תשבות ‏‎ ‎

Exodus 20,5. “Who, while remembering the guilt of the ‎fathers to the children if the children continue to hate Him, ‎while at the same time showering thousands of generations ‎of those who have loved Him with His loving kindness.” ‎The essence of these words is that on the one hand, by exacting ‎retribution for sins G’d minimizes the impact of these sins, i.e. the ‎residue of the guilt.‎
The word ‎פקד‎, in the sense of diminishing, is familiar to us ‎already from Samuel I 20,25 when on the occasion of the festive ‎meal on the New Moon David’s chair was vacant, and the King ‎remarked on this as something lacking. The opposite is the case ‎when people are rewarded for meritorious deeds by G’d. Paying ‎them a reward does not detract from the good deeds they had ‎performed, so that they should consider themselves as having ‎been “paid off,” but, on the contrary, is a stimulus to such people ‎adding more meritorious deeds in the future. This idea is expressed ‎by the words ‎עשוה חסד‎, i.e. G’d does not only “repay” the just and ‎the pious, but He adds a “bonus.,” known as ‎חסד‎.‎