Musar zu Schemot 13:26

... And on this the Torah says (Exodus 13:7) "there will not be seen and there will not be found" - it will not be seen b'maaseh (in action) and will not be found b'machshava (in thought), rather one should anul it in his heart. The mitzvot have 3 categories: mitzvot of speech, of the heart and of action, as it is written (Deuteronomy 30:14) "in your mouth and in your heart to do it". Comes the Torah (instructing us) to anul it in the heart, corresponding to the mitzvot which are dependent on the heart. Comes the 'kabbalah' (instructing us) to eradicate it from the house or to burn it, corresponding to the mitzvot of action. And to say 'kol chamira', corresponding to mitzvot of speech. In this way the 3 categories of mitzvot are fulfilled through the prohibition of chametz, teaching you that the prohibition of chametz incorporates all the mitzvot... Just as the 'kabbalah' comes (instructing us) to eradicate chametz and (livdok) to check the house in nooks and in cracks, so too we are obligated to search and check the chambers of our inner being for bad (machshavas) intentions and bad (hirhurim) thoughts. Just as bedikat chametz (checking for chametz) is not valid by sunlight, nor by moonlight, nor by the light of a torch, but only by the light of a candle, so too the bedikah (checking) of the yetzer hara must be by the light of the neshama (soul) which is called 'ner' (candle), this is what is written (Proverbs 20:27) "the candle of Hashem is the soul of man, which searches the chambers of one's inner being.

כי אמר אלהים פן ינחם העם בראותם מלחמה ושבו מצרימה. We can learn from here to what length a person has to go to make "fences," artificial safeguards to prevent himself from sinning. Even G–d Himself made such a "fence" when He decided to let the Israelites travel via an indirect route so as to preclude the people from having second thoughts and wanting to return to Egypt.

[And in this manner I have explained the verse in Psalms 81:10: "There shall not be in you a strange god and you shall not bow down to a foreign god. (11) I am the L-rd your G-d who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it." Now, ostensibly, it should first have been written "I am the L-rd your G-d, etc." and only then "There shall not be in you a strange god," as it is written in the Torah. Why is the order reversed? But, Chazal have told us (Shabbath 105b): "Which is the strange god in the body of a man? The yetzer hara." (In the beginning it incites him to commit transgressions which are not so severe; but, in the end, "transgression breeds transgression," and it permits him even to bow down to idols.) And the intent of the verse [in Psalms]: "I am the L-rd your G-d, etc." is: Have I not brought you up from the land of Egypt so that you receive the Torah, as it is written (Shemoth 3:12): "And this is the sign for you [Moses] that I have sent you. When you take out the people from Egypt, you will serve G-d on this mountain." For this [the receiving of the Torah] is the purpose of the exodus, as Rashi explains. Therefore, "open wide your mouth and I will fill it." This is like a rabbi's telling his disciple: "Open up your mouth and let your words shine forth." For the Holy One Blessed be He wishes to give each Jew a great share in the Torah. However, in truth, everything is dependent upon the power of the recipient, wherefore He says: "Open wide your mouth." That is, ready yourself to receive much, and I will fill it according to your widening. But this is prefaced by: When will this be fulfilled in you? When "there will not be in you a strange god," when the yetzer hara will not be a guest in your body. Then you will be able to open wide your mouth to Torah, and I will fill it. For it is to this end that I brought you up from the land of Egypt (As it is written (Ibid. 13:9): "And it shall be a sign upon your hand… so that the Torah of the L-rd shall be in your mouth.") But if there is a strange god in your body— that is, if it is full of lewd thoughts, G-d forbid, I will not be able to fulfill your wish to widen your mouth with Torah.

ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף. Shemot Rabbah 20,19 comments here that someone with a wise heart chooses to perform מצות. The reference is to Moses who, while all of Israel was busy collecting silver and gold, busied himself with locating the remains of Joseph to keep the promise made to him on his death-bed that his bones would be taken for permanent burial in ארץ ישראל. We must all learn the lesson to fulfil a מצוה when it is at hand, and to desist from the pursuit of riches during the time it takes to perform the מצוה in question.

This is hinted at in Exodus 13,4, היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב, "Today you are leaving, in the month of spring." The word "today" in this context seems superfluous. I have heard that the meaning is that on that day the sign of the Aries begins its ascendancy, signifying to Israel and to Egypt its helplessness against Israel. This is stressed since the appearance of that sign does not always coincide with this date. Sometimes it appears a day sooner, sometimes a day later. The Torah emphasizes that in that year the appearance coincided with the date of Passover, i.e. on the fifteenth of the month. The end of its dominance in the sky therefore, was on the 14th of lyar. Though this is not typical of most years, the determining consideration is the commencement, the root, as I explained elsewhere. Normally, Aries commences on the day of the spring equinox. In the year of the Exodus the sign of the ram took up its position in the sky starting on the fifteenth of Nissan. As a result of all this the 15th of ניסן and the 15th of אייר share something significant, so that it is logical that the observance of the "second" Passover should be fixed to occur on that date.

Come and see how great is the power of peace. For in the beginning of the creation of the universe the Holy One Blessed be He employed Himself in the creation of an instrument of peace, as it is written (Bereshith 1:3): "And G-d said: 'Let there be light' — and there was light." And how do we know that light is peace? For it is written (Isaiah 45:7): "He fashions light and creates darkness; He makes peace and creates evil." On this basis, our teachers of blessed memory ruled (Shabbath 23b): "As between a candle for his house and wine for kiddush, to sanctify the Sabbath [if he can afford only one], a candle for his house takes precedence because of the peace of his household." What is more, our sages enacted many ordinances in pursuit of the paths of peace, viz. (Gittin 59a): "They declared the following in pursuit of the paths of peace: 'The Cohein reads first [in the Torah], then the Levite, then the Israelite, because of "the paths of peace."'" An eruv [a halachic enabling device] is placed in an old house, because of "the paths of peace." The pit nearest the irrigation canal is filled first because of "the paths of peace."'" And so is it written (Proverbs 3;17): "Its [Torah's] ways are ways of pleasantness and all of its paths are peace." And thus did our sages of blessed memory say in the aggadah (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:13, Tanchuma Beha'alothecha 11): "There are thirteen things that the Holy One Blessed be He loved, and of all of them, He "doubled" [in profusion of love], only "peace." They [(the thirteen)] are: Cohanim, Levites, Israel, Sanhedrin [the high court], the first-born, the offerings of the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the oil of anointment, the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple, the kingdom of the house of David, and the silver and the gold. The Cohanim — (Shemoth 28:41): "And they shall be priests unto Me." the Levites (Numbers 3:41): "And I shall take the Levites unto Me." Israel — (Shemoth 19:6): "And you [Israel] shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests." Sanhedrin — (Numbers 11:16): "Gather unto Me seventy men." The first-born — (Shemoth 13:2) "Sanctify unto Me every first-born." The offerings of the tabernacle — (Ibid. 25:2): "And they shall take unto Me an offering." The sacrifices — (Numbers 28:2): "You shall heed to sacrifice unto Me in its appointed time." The oil of anointment — (Shemoth 30:31): "The holy oil of anointment shall this be unto Me for your generations." The Land of Israel — (Ibid. 19:5): "For unto Me is all the land." Jerusalem — (I Kings 11:36): "The city that I have chosen unto Me." The Temple — (I Chronicles 17:12): "He shall build unto Me a habitation." The kingdom of the house of David — (I Samuel 16:1): "For I have seen in his sons a king unto Me." The silver and the gold — (Chaggai 2:8): "Mine is the silver, and Mine is the gold." But, of all of these, none was doubled [in profusion of love] but "peace," as it is written (Isaiah 27:5): "Or let him take hold of My strength. He shall make peace unto Me; peace shall he make unto Me." Great is peace, which takes precedence to praise of the Blessed One Himself. For when Yithro came to Moses, immediately (Exodus 18:7): "And each made inquiry of the other's peace," whereas only afterwards (Ibid. 8): "And Moses related to his father-in-law all of the miracles that the Holy One Blessed be He had wrought for Israel." What is more, for all of the mitzvoth that the wicked perform in this world, the Holy One Blessed be He gives them their reward in this world — such as wealth, property, years, honor, and the like — except peace, which He does not give them, as it is written (Isaiah 57:21): "There is no peace, says my G-d, for the wicked." And, what is more, the Holy One Blessed be He gives peace as a reward to the righteous, as it is written (Ibid. 32:17): "And the reward for righteousness shall be peace…" What is more, it is with peace that He draws near to Him converts and penitents, as it is written (Ibid. 57:19): "He creates the utterance of the lips: 'Peace, Peace,' for the far and the near, says the L-rd, and I will heal him." Great is peace, for in regard to all of the journeyings in the desert it is written "And they journeyed and they rested," journeying in strife and resting in strife. But when they came to Mount Sinai, they made one great "resting," as it is written (Shemoth 19:2): "And Israel rested there, before the mountain." (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "The Holy One Blessed be He said: 'The time has now arrived for Me to give Torah to My children.'" For as long as they are at peace with one another, the Shechinah is among them. And thus is it said (Devarim 33:5): "And He was a King in Yeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered, together with the tribes of Israel." When does the kingdom and the Shechinah of the Blessed One abide in Israel? When they are all gathered together as one. Come and see how great is the power of peace; for it is through the power of peace that the world endures. For thus have our sages of blessed memory said (Avoth 1:18): "On three things does the world stand: on judgment, on truth, and on peace, as it is written (Zechariah 8:16): 'Truth and a judgment of peace shall you judge in your gates.'" What is more, when there is peace among men, there is blessing in their fruits, as it is written (Ibid. 12): "For as the seed of peace, the vine shall give its fruit, and the earth shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give its dew, and I shall bequeath all of these to the remnant of this people." And thus is it written (Psalms 147:14): "He makes peace on your borders and sates you with the fatness of wheat." Our sages have said (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for if one erases one letter of G-d's name, he transgresses a negative commandment, as it is written (Devarim 12:3): 'And you shall wipe out their [the idols'] name from that place,' followed by (Ibid. 4): 'You shall not do so to the L-rd your G-d.' Yet to make peace between a man and his wife, the Torah says (Numbers 5:23): 'And the Cohein shall write these curses [containing G-d's name] in a book and erase them into the bitter waters.' The Holy One Blessed be He says: 'Let My name, which was written in holiness, be erased by the waters.'" And Chazal have said further (Vayikrah Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for all of the goodly blessings and consolations that the Holy One Blessed be He convokes upon Israel conclude with "peace." The Shema — "He spreads a canopy of peace." The Amidah — "He makes peace." The priestly blessing — "And He shall repose peace upon you." "Therefore, my sons, be circumspect in this trait — to love peace and to pursue peace. For there is no end to the reward for loving peace and pursuing peace." Until here, the language of Ma'aloth Hamiddoth.

Just as the six days of creation being "G–d's days," are viewed as the equivalent of one thousand years each, so the Kabbalists view this as a reference to the six thousand years this physical world will exist before a period of one thousand years of ruin, i.e. a period without creative activity, ישבות. This process is supposed to repeat itself seven times until the year fifty thousand, which is the סוד, secret of the יובל, ultimate freedom. The Exodus is to be viewed as a branch of the tree which represents universal history. This idea was hinted at already at the time of the Exodus, when Israel escaped the power (limitations imposed on all creatures) of the fifty levels of בינה, insight. This is the deeper meaning of וחמושים עלו בני ישראל in Exodus 13,18, i.e. that the target of the ascent was "fifty." The idea is that when attaining the fiftieth level, one has achieved more than merely escaping a branch of the fifty levels of בינה. [These 50 gates of בינה are perhaps identical with the 50 gates of טומאה that we are all familiar with from Midrashic literature. At any rate, they represent different levels of restraint, exposure to the pull of the material universe. Ed.] The fact that יציאת מצרים is mentioned in the Torah exactly fifty times may further reinforce the idea that after reaching level fifty freedom becomes absolute. The author suggests that the average lifespan of man of seventy years is a further reminder of this concept, allowing for the fact that man is not judged by Heaven for misdemeanours committed during the first twenty years of his life. Even the male Jewish servant who has his ear pierced, must go free not later than in the fiftieth year, יובל, which is the meaning of Exodus 21,6, "he shall serve לעולם."

Memory is a very lofty quality and it is an instrument that strengthens all the commandments and all the Torah. Concerning the fringes, it is said, "And remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them … that ye may remember and do all My commandments" (Num. 15:39-40). Concerning the tefillin, it is said, "And it shall be for a sign upon thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth" (Ex. 13:9). And it is written, "And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt; and thou shalt observe and do these statutes (Deut. 16:12).

I will copy from the Tziyoni, who describes these flags in still greater detail: It is a tradition going back to Moses that in addition to the images mentioned on these four flags they also contained one letter each of the names of the three patriarchs, as well as three צירופים, permutations of the letters in the Ineffable Name. Reuben's flag contained the letter ב of Abraham's name, the letter צ of Isaac's name, and the letter ע of Jacob's name. To these letters were added 3 permutations of the letters in the Ineffable Name, such as heh-vav-heh-yud, heh-vav-yud-heh, and heh-heh-yud vav. The flag of Yehudah would have the letters "א", "י", "י", respectively, taken from the names of the patriarchs. To this would be added three more צירופים. When you continue in this fashion, namely the letters "ר", "ח", "ק" from the patriarchs' names on the flag of Ephrayim, with the respective permutations of the Ineffable Name added, and the letters "מ", "ק", "ב" from the patriarchs' names on the flag of Dan, again with the respective unused permutations in the letters of the Ineffable Name, you will remain with the last letter in Abraham's name, i.e. the letter "ה" unaccounted for. In order to solve this problem, G–d added the letter yud, so as to produce the two-lettered name of G–d, the one with which He created the universe, i.e. “י-ה”. G–d placed עמודים, a type of cloud (like the pillar of fire in Exodus 13,22) above, and ענן, another type of cloud, above and below the holy ark. These two letters were engraved on those two clouds. Whenever G–d wanted the camps to move, the columns of cloud containing the letters would rise from the ark, and the four ענני הכבוד, clouds depicting the Presence of G–d's glory on which the letters א-י-י, ב-צ-ע, ר-ח-ק, מ-ק-ב, were inscribed would start moving. So far the Tziyoni.

This brings us to the meaning of Exodus 13,2, where the Torah demands the sanctification of each Jewish male or even that of his livestock. The first difficulty in that legislation is that Moses does not appear to have complied with G–d's instructions. From verses 3-11 Moses tells the people about other matters, and only in verse 12 does Moses mention the legislation about the first-born, and then only in connection with entry into the Holy Land.

"Remember what the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam" — "Mention it with your mouth always" [Ramban]. And he writes there that this is an explicit positive commandment, just as (Shemoth 20:8): "Remember the day of Sabbath to sanctify it," (Ibid. 13:3): "Remember this day that you went out of Egypt, etc." And this, too, just as the former, is a positive commandment, to mention the great punishment that the L-rd brought upon the tzadeketh, the prophetess, who spoke only of her brother, the "redeemed of her soul," whom she loved as her soul, and who did not speak thus to his face, to embarrass him, and not in public, but only in private, to her holy brother [Aaron] — and all of this did not avail [to save her from leprosy.] You, too, if 'you sit and speak against your brother; if you slander your mother's son,' (Psalms 50:20), you will not be saved."

As a result of benefitting from all those miracles, the ערב רב were required to celebrate the Passover and to observe all the prohibitions connected with the leavened bread. You have already been made aware that the ערב רב do have a mystical bond with the emanation דעת עליון, or בינה. The mystical dimension of the מלכות של בינה contains the secret of the significance of המצה השמורה העליונה which is symbolised by the enlarged letter ד in the word אחד of Deuteronomy 6,4, as I have explained when discussing the deeper meaning of that מצוה. This is why the Jewish people were commanded to eat unleavened bread. This is also where you find the secret of why the Talmud (Shabbat 33) considers נשים דעתן קלה עליהן, "the minds of women are shallow." The numerical value of the word מצה is 135, the same as of the word קלה. Moses said to the ערב רב: "You are leaving Egypt this day," היום אתם יוצאים ממצרים. The reason Moses added these apparently superfluous words was to make them understand that there is one commandment which will be addressed only to the children of Israel and not to them. They should not be surprised at this, since they did not need this commandment; G–d did not select them as His people. They had already been given the commandment of מצה because that commandment had a significance which related to them. The reason that the original Jewish people needed the commandment of sanctifying their first-born was that G–d saved the first-born of the Jewish people when He slew the first-born of the Egyptians. An expression of eternal gratitude by those who were spared was indicated as a result. The ערב רב had not been spared; those surviving had joined the Jewish people only on the morrow at the time of their departure, i.e. היום!

The reason that these numbers need to be found in the construction of the תפילין is the statement of the Talmud Kidushin 35, based on: למען תהיה תורת השם בפיך that the entire Torah is compared to תפילין (Exodus 13,9).

The allusion to the study (למוד) of Torah is found in the letter ל. There are four letters in the alphabet which contain the letter ל when spelled out: אל"ף, גימ"ל, דלי"ת, למ"ד. The ל in the letter אל"ף alludes to Jacob, who is the "big" א of Adam, as we have pointed out earlier. He is the שר ואלוף ושורש העולם, the Prince, the Champion, the root of the whole world. The letter ל in the גימ"ל alludes to Levi, who was the third son born to Leah. This tribe may be considered as associating Torah study already with its formation within the mother's womb. Moses, who represents Torah more than anyone else, was also the third child of his mother. He handed us the Torah in the third month, a Torah intended for a people divided into the three groups of כהן-לוי-ישראל, viz. Shabbat 88a. [This allusion is expanded even further in the Talmud. Ed.] The letter ל in the דלי"ת alludes to Yehudah who was the fourth son of Leah. He provided the fourth leg of G–d's Throne. When the letter ל is spelled as a word, we have the word למוד, study, the essence of Torah. This is an allusion to Joseph who represents the "crown" of Torah. Another way of viewing the letter ל is to focus on its numerical value, i.e. 30 ,שלושים. When Joseph attained his position of power the Torah describes him as בן שלושים שנה בעמדו לפני פרעה, "Thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh (41,46). Thus the mystical dimension of the letter ל is the "crown" of Torah. The Torah reports (Exodus 13, 19) that Moses took the bones of Joseph, (when the Jews left Egypt. He fulfilled a promise given to Joseph on oath by his surviving brothers.) the word for "bones" in Hebrew being the same as the word for "essence," i.e. עצם. The Torah's report then has a dual meaning, i.e. Moses took Joseph's essence with the Jewish people when they left Egypt. Having acquired Joseph's essence, Moses was later able to give the Jewish people the Torah. To come back to the roots.