Musar zu Schemot 34:36

Those who subdue their souls' anger and prevail upon their nature to restrain it, have been described as noble and characterized as exalted. Thus the sage said (Prov. xvi. 32), "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty." This is one of the thirteen attributes ascribed to God, exalted is He, in the passage (Ex. xxxiv. 6), "And the Lord passed by before him," etc. It is said that as scab is a disease of the body, so is wrath a disease of the soul. The moral man must not become wrathful often, because, by reason of his wrath, he is compelled to bear burdens. Thus saith the sage (Prov. xix. 19), "A man of great wrath shall bear punishment."

The one commandment in this portion which comprises all other commandments is the commandment to "walk in G–d's ways." Since man has been created in the image of G–d, it behooves him to emulate G–d to the extent he is able to. He has to see to it that every one of his limbs is in perfect condition, for each limb has been charged with the performance of some commandment. The same applies to our spiritual and emotional faculties. We know that G–d is gracious; hence we too must display this trait in our dealings with other people. Our sages quote G–d as saying: כל זמן שבני עוסקים כסדר הזה, "As long as My children conform to this order (of prayer) they will not leave empty-handed". [The reference is to the recital of the 13 attributes of G–d which He taught Moses in response to his request for knowledge how to assuage His anger. Ed.] We all know how many times we recite the thirteen attributes and nothing seems to happen and our sins do not seem to disappear. This is because we did not heed the wording of the promise. The sages spoke about G–d having demanded that we practice, עוסקים, the attributes of G–d, not merely recite them during a confessional [cf. Alshich and Tzror Hamor on Exodus 34,6. Ed.] והלכת בדרכיו, "and you will walk in His ways." Fulfilling this part of the Torah's blueprint for our relationship with G–d will qualify us to be the מרכבה, the carrier of G–d's Presence on earth. Man, in the way he was originally constructed, was after all the reflection of G–d on earth. Who could better qualify as the מרכבה? We have already described elsewhere how the 7 sections of our body represent the seven parts of the concept בנין. By sanctifying our body we will be able to recapture the lofty niveau Adam possessed and become like the דמות עליון, a replica of the form in the highest regions.

And the content of one who spurns the festivals, is that he does work on the intermediate days of the festival and spurns the punishment, because the prohibition of work on the intermediate days of the festival is not explicit in the Torah. And this is in the way of one who is a heretic for one thing, to anger - as we have explained, such that he has no share in the world to come. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Bekhorot 30b) [that] one who comes to convert and says, “Behold, I accept all of the Torah except for one matter from the words of the Sages” - we do not accept him. And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Makkot 23a), “One who spurns the holidays is like one who worships idolatry, as it is stated (Exodus 34:18), ‘You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread’; and adjacent to it is ‘You shall not make molten gods for yourselves’ (Exodus 34:17).” And they, may their memory be blessed, explained (Chagigah 18a), “‘You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread’ - observe it to not do work all of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” And we were warned with this about work on the intermediate days of the festival. And that which it is written (Leviticus 23:39), “a complete rest (shabbaton) on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day” is because there are many types of work that are permitted on the intermediate days of the festival, as is explained in their words, may they be blessed.

And the content of one who spurns the festivals, is that he does work on the intermediate days of the festival and spurns the punishment, because the prohibition of work on the intermediate days of the festival is not explicit in the Torah. And this is in the way of one who is a heretic for one thing, to anger - as we have explained, such that he has no share in the world to come. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Bekhorot 30b) [that] one who comes to convert and says, “Behold, I accept all of the Torah except for one matter from the words of the Sages” - we do not accept him. And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Makkot 23a), “One who spurns the holidays is like one who worships idolatry, as it is stated (Exodus 34:18), ‘You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread’; and adjacent to it is ‘You shall not make molten gods for yourselves’ (Exodus 34:17).” And they, may their memory be blessed, explained (Chagigah 18a), “‘You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread’ - observe it to not do work all of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” And we were warned with this about work on the intermediate days of the festival. And that which it is written (Leviticus 23:39), “a complete rest (shabbaton) on the first day, and a complete rest on the eighth day” is because there are many types of work that are permitted on the intermediate days of the festival, as is explained in their words, may they be blessed.

This concludes the list of the 613 commandments. According to Nachmanides the commandment to do תשובה is also alluded to in this portion in 30,11: "For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, etc." In the portion האזינו we find an allusion to the prohibition to drink wine intended as a libation for idolatrous cults. The Torah refers to this in 32,38: "who are the fat of their offerings and drank their libation wine." We have a similar allusion to this commandment in Exodus 34,15: "and he will invite you and you and will partake of his (idolatrous) offerings." The word "from" (his offerings) includes libations.

This concludes the list of the 613 commandments. According to Nachmanides the commandment to do תשובה is also alluded to in this portion in 30,11: "For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, etc." In the portion האזינו we find an allusion to the prohibition to drink wine intended as a libation for idolatrous cults. The Torah refers to this in 32,38: "who are the fat of their offerings and drank their libation wine." We have a similar allusion to this commandment in Exodus 34,15: "and he will invite you and you and will partake of his (idolatrous) offerings." The word "from" (his offerings) includes libations.

By following this approach we can also understand the Midrash in Eichah Rabbati, 2,6, on Lamentations 2,3: "He has cut down in blazing anger כל קרן ישראל, all the might of Israel." The Midrash comments that there are ten קרנות, i.e. "strongholds" termed Keren. Abraham is one such קרן; he is referred to in Isaiah 5,1, as כרם היה לידידי בקרן בן שמן, "My beloved had a vineyard on a fruitful hill." Isaac is also known as a קרן, in Genesis 22,13 נאחז בסבך בקרניו, "caught in the thicket by its horns." We find a reference to Joseph as קרן in Deut. 33,17 where his קרן is described as וקרני ראם קרניו וכו' "He has thorns like the horns of a wild ox." Moses is referred to as קרן in Exodus 34,29: כי קרן עור פניו, "for the skin of his face emitted rays (like a horn)." The Torah is also described as קרן, since we read in Chabakuk 3,4: קרנים מידו לו, "it gives off rays of light in every direction." Priesthood is referred to as קרן, in Psalms 112,9, קרנו תרום בכבוד, "his horn is exalted in honor." (Possibly the word כבוד, used here which is also used in connection with the garments of the High Priest, is the reason the Midrash interprets this verse as alluding to the priesthood.) The Levites collectively are referred to as קרן in Chronicles 1 25,5: כל אלה בנים להימן חוזה המלך בדברי האלוקים להרים קרן. [The chapter traces the genealogy of the tribe of Levi Ed.] Prophecy is called קרן, in Samuel I 2,6: רמה קרני בה'. (Hannah prophesies about Samuel's future). The Holy Temple is also described as קרן, as in Psalms 22,22: מקרני רמים עניתני. Israel itself is also described as קרן in Psalms 148,14: וירם קרן לעמו. Some people add that the קרן of the Messiah should also be included, per Samuel I 2,10: ויתן עוז למלכו, וירם קרן משיחו. The Midrash continues that all of these "horns" were placed on the heads of the Jewish people, but they forfeited them due to their sins. This is alluded to in the verse we quoted earlier from Lamentations 2,3 that in His blazing anger G–d cut down every קרן of Israel. These "horns" subsequently were given to the Gentile nations, as is written in Daniel 7,20: ועל קרניא עשר די בראשה ואחרי די סלקת ונפלו מן קדמיה. "About the ten horns which were on its head, and the other one which came and fell." In verse 24 of the same chapter Daniel speaks about ten kings and kingdoms arising from the fallen horns. Provided Israel repents, G–d will restore these horns to their rightful place viz. Psalms 75,11: "And I will cut off all the horns of the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up." This refers to the horns that the “Righteous One of the world,” i.e. G–d, had cut off. When is the time that He will restore them to their righful position? It is when G–d will raise the horn of His anointed: "He will raise the horn of His anointed" (Samuel I 2,10). Thus far the Midrash in Eychah Rabbati.

Mercy is a most praiseworthy quality and is one of the thirteen attributes associated with the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is written: "Merciful and Gracious" (Exod. 34:6). A man should do as much as he can to conduct himself in this quality. And just as a person desires people to have mercy upon him in the hour of his need, so it is proper for him that he should have mercy upon anyone who is in need, as Scripture says: "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18).

And, in truth, how great is this mitzvah in the eyes of the Blessed L-rd, it being written (Michah 6:8): "He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the L-rd requires of you — but to do justice and to love chesed, etc." And Chazal have said (Succah 49b): "'to do justice' — this is din; 'and to love chesed' — this is gemiluth chasadim." And he also fulfills in this the mitzvah of (Devarim 29:9): "And you shall walk in His ways," as we find in Sifrei on the verse (Ibid. 10:12): "'to walk in all His ways' — these are the ways of the Holy One Blessed be He, as it is written (Shemoth 34:6): 'Hashem, Hashem, the G-d who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in chesed, etc.'" And Chazal say (Bava Metzia 30b): "R. Yosef taught (Shemoth 18:20): 'And you shall apprise them of the way' — this is gemiluth chasadim."

A person has two kinds of skin that serve as clothing/protection for man. One is the skin/leather of animals, i.e. shoes. The other is his own skin. We find in Job, 10,11, עור ובשר תלבישני, "You have dressed me with skin and flesh." The latter is the material part of man that he shares with the animal kingdom. Man whose physical origin was אדמה i.e. "holy soil" should have been garbed in כתנות אור, the word אור spelled with the letter א. The fact that this word was spelled with the letter ע instead, represented the demotion of man. He was now clothed in skin and flesh being compared to the animals since he had sinned. Moses ascended to a level where his face reflected אור as had been intended for all of mankind (compare Exodus 34,29 et al, כי קרן עור פניו). The word קרן אור suggests that the word for skin should have been spelled with the letter א in the first place. He gave off rays of light. He had been predisposed for such stature from the day he had been born, to wit his mother's comment at his birth "she saw that he was good" (Exodus 2,2). Our sages comment that this was in response to the whole house having been filled with light (Sotah 12). One of the superior qualities of Moses' prophecy was that he received communication from G–d without his body undergoing any kind of weakening, as we have explained elsewhere. This was a level Joshua had not attained. If Joshua stood on ground described as holy, then the ground Moses stood on must be viewed as the holiest of holy. This is why Moses had to take additional steps to sanctify himself.

But if one wants the Holy One Blessed be He to forgive him even for his offenses, let him take heed not to take offense at all, even if he knows for a certainty that what his friend did against him was done with malice and treachery, which is called "pesha' [offense], as they have said (Yoma 36b): "'Peshaim' — these are sins of rebellion." This is their intent in "Whose transgression does He forgive? The one who overlooks offense." (For, in truth, the Holy One Blessed be He forgives him even for his "offenses," as it is written: "All of his offenses are forgiven." And Scripture states first (Michah 7:18): "He forgives transgression" because of the order of the traits of the Holy One Blessed be He. For he [first] forgives transgression and also overlooks offense, as it is written in the Torah (Exodus 34:7): "He forgives transgression and offense.") And this trait sometimes avails a man to lengthen his life, even if it were already decreed upon him to die, as in the following instance (Rosh Hashanah 17a):

The prohibition of חמץ on Passover even in the minutest quantity, is an allusion to the power of the evil urge, the quintessence of idol worship, which was utterly destroyed during the days preceding the Exodus and must also be destroyed in our time. חמץ in turn confers its status on any other food or drink it comes in contact with, be it even the most minute quantity. The peculiar sequence of verses 17 and 18 in Exodus 34,: אלוקי מסכה לא תעשה לך את חג המצות תשמור, "You must not construct for yourself a cast deity; observe the festival of unleavened bread," is explained by the relationship between חמץ and עבודה זורה, idol worship. To come back to 12,12: "I shall execute judgments on all the deities of Egypt." This is a reference to the שר של מצרים and his whole system in the "lower" world. G–d announces that he will judge all of them. This is the reason why the word "all the deities of Egypt" is in the plural. When the Torah describes the month of Nissan as being לכם, "for you the Jewish people," the message is that the very month which is under the auspices of the zodiac sign of the lamb will now become "your" month.

Once Jacob died, Moses became the second "husband" of the relevant שכינה [presumably the "upper" one, בינה, seeing that Moses had attained 49 of the 50 levels of בינה Ed.]. However, this union could last only while Moses lived on this earth, since upon the death of a wife's second husband she "returns" to her former husband, having only been on "loan" during the interval. Since Jacob was by then in the Holy Land, Moses, automatically had to remain outside the Holy Land. The reason that Jacob was buried body and bones in ארץ ישראל is that he represented the גוף, body, of the ארץ של ישראל סבא, as we have mentioned before. Joseph, being the extension of his father, was the extension of the גוף, limbs or bones. These "bones" symbolize the spiritual forces or permutations of G–d's Ineffable Name that radiate in all directions from the emanation בינה, enabling a physical universe to take shape. A צדיק, as such is also called צבאות, part of G–d's armies or executive arm. It was therefore appropriate that Joseph's bones rather than his entire body were interred in ארץ ישראל. None of this reflects negatively on Moses. On the contrary, whereas Moses was able to establish a union with the "upper" level of the שכינה during his life on earth, Jacob established his union with that level of the שכינה only after he had departed. We find an allusion to Moses' intimacy with that part of the שכינה in Numbers 7,89, where the way the Torah describes Moses' being at home in the אהל מועד, the visible manifestation of the בינה on earth, is most striking. Moses did not need to be invited in; he acted as if he were the owner of that domain. The author finds in the number of the 600,000 Jews that left Egypt allusions to the radiations of the various combinations of G–d's Name in all the six directions of the compass, proof that Moses led the people by means of the power inherent in the emanation בינה. If Moses was already on such a level while his soul was still enshrined in his body, it is clear that once Moses died, his soul would ascend to an even higher region than the level represented by בינה. That level, which we have described elsewhere as יובל, is beyond any level associated with any of the three levels to which the term ארץ can be applied. Moses' being "buried" in what we commonly call חוץ לארץ is a compliment to him thus rather than a reminder of some inadequacy on his part. In fact, once Moses' life on earth had come to an end, he joined the souls of "his" 600,000 people who also had not been buried in the Holy Land. If we find that Moses separated from his terrestrial wife Tzipporah –something used by his sister Miriam as an accusation against him in Numbers 12,1 – the reason was simply that Moses had already "used" [in the sense that one has relations with one's wife. Ed.] the spiritual light from extra-terrestrial regions as we know from Exodus 34,29 where Moses is described as emitting supernatural light from his face. Having a "wife" in those regions, it is easy to understand that Moses could no longer share life with a wife on earth. Jacob, on the other hand, had married four wives and had shared a fully terrestrial life with them, one of the reasons that his bed, מטה, was called שלימה, "complete" by our sages. This means that only upon his death did his רוח ונשמה, soul and spirit, merit entry to the seventh level i.e. בינה.

ויראו מגשת אליו. Our sages comment on the debilitating power of sin evident from this verse. Before the sin the Jewish people were able to face the שכינה without flinching. Now, after having sinned, they were afraid to even approach Moses who, after all, was only an intermediary. We must learn from this how important it is to purify ourselves, to sanctify ourselves so that all residues of impurities due to sin are expunged. Once we have removed all traces of sin, the good we do will have its desired impact.

The Zohar (Sullam edition Balak page 64), is very explicit in describing Bileam's low character, giving many examples of his appearing to credit himself with great insights and thereby misleading those who considered him a great Seer. Here are a few quotes from that passage in the Zohar "This wicked man took great pride in claiming to know everything. By doing so he misled people into believing that he had attained a very high stature. He blew up every little achievement of his. Whatever he said concerned the domain of the forces of impurity. He spoke the truth, literally speaking. Anyone listening to him would form the impression that he was the most outstanding of the prophets of the world. When he described himself as שומע אמרי קל, ויודע דעת עליון, "privy to the words of G–d, aware of the knowledge of the Supreme One," the impression is formed that he spoke about the G–d in Heaven, whereas in fact he was privy only to אמרי קל, as distinct from אמרי הקל. Had the Torah added the letter ה, we would have credited Bileam with being addressed directly by G–d. As it is, he communicated with the forces of טומאה, forces considered by the nations as deities, though they really were אל אחר, forces of nature that are no better than idols. When he speaks about knowing the דעת עלין, the listener forms the impression that Bileam claimed to be privy to G–d's range of knowledge, whereas in fact he was privy only to the עליון "the highest" of the forces of impurity that G–d has allowed to govern part of nature. Bileam, technically speaking, spoke truthfully, since he was privy to a power which in its field was considered supreme. However, the listener did not know that this power had no independent authority at all but was only an agent of G–d. When Bileam described himself in 24,4 as אשר מחזה שדי יחזה "someone who has visions of G–d, a reader would assume that this was really so, that Bileam could see what no one else could see. However the term מחזה שדי refers to a branch of the three branches that originate in the name Shaddai, corresponding to the three letters in that word. He would have some access to the domains of חסד, גבורה, תפארת. The Zohar continues that עמלק employed these three spiritual domains in his attack against Israel, and that Balak, whose name contained the last two letters of עמלק, felt encouraged that it would help him in his confrontation with the Patron of Israel.

And concerning all Israel, it is said : "Ye have been rebellious against the Lord" (Deut. 9:7), and more is written concerning their not being willing to listen, "For they are a stubborn and stiff-necked people" (Exod. 34:9).

When the Torah (16,16) commands that these pilgrimages have to be made on three occasions annually, this is an allusion to Isaac, an unblemished total offering. In connection with the עקדת יצחק the Torah mentions the word Yireh or Yera'eh three times (Genesis 22, 8-14-14). "Three times a year every male of yours shall be seen by the Lord your G–d in the place G–d will select," corresponds to Genesis 22,8: "G–d will select for Himself the lamb as the total offering my son." This is because the words in Exodus 34,23 "את פני האדון ה' אלוקי ישראל" are an expression of a decree by G–d the "Master" Who decreees that He wants to see them together in one spot. "Three times as year every one of your males shall be seen by the Lord your G–d" (Exodus 23,17), corresponds to the second time the word is used in connection with the עקדה. The third directive to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem is in our verse here and corresponds to the third time the Torah used the expression יראה in connection with the binding of Isaac. It is a reference to the Mountain of G–d, Moriah. The warning השמר לך (12,13) in this portion not to offer sacrifices anywhere else, corresponds to similar words used by Abraham in his instructions to Eliezer (Genesis 24,6) not to bring Isaac back to Ur Kasdim whence Abraham had emigrated to the land of Canaan. The common denominator to all this is that Isaac, as an unblemished total offering, was not allowed to leave ארץ ישראל.

Our sages in Baba Batra 75a comment on Numbers 27,20: ונתתה מהודך עליו, "you will invest him with some of your glory" (when Moses is told to appoint Joshua), that Moses was to invest Joshua only with part of his glory, not all of it. The elders of that generation are reported there as having compared Moses' face to that of the sun, whereas they compared Joshua's face to that of the moon. The change in the quality of leadership of the Jewish people was felt by these elders to be a shame and an affront. Why did G–d withhold some of His goodness from the people at that time? In the Midrash Shocher Tov 21, the author elaborates on the verse in Numbers 27,20 that Joshua experienced that part of Moses' glory granted to him on the occasion of the miraculous crossing of the river Jordan. We read in Joshua 4,14: "On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all of Israel, so that they revered him all his days as they had revered Moses." The Midrash continues that the glory of the Messiah will equal that of teacher and disciple (Moses and Joshua), since it is said of him in Psalms 21,6: הוד והדר תשוה עליו, You have endowed him with splendor and glory." This statement obviously needs clarification. Besides, since "one hundred" is part of "two hundred," how does the addition of Joshua's glory increase the glory of the Messiah?

The two words "לאמר" that we mentioned earlier as apparently superfluous, have something in common. The repeated "דבור" suggests that there was an exoteric (נגלה) as well as an esoteric (נסתר) element in what the Torah tells us here. In 25,10 the exoteric meaning is to inform the people of the noble lineage Pinchas was descended from, whereas in 25,12 they are to be informed of an additional dimension of Pinchas' greatness, i.e. that he is equated with the prophet Elijah. This is alluded to in the words "because he displayed jealous fervor on behalf of his G–d" (25,13). The letters in the expression “לאל-היו,” are identical with the word “לאליהו,” “to Elijah.” The latter also excelled by displaying jealousy on behalf of G–d, something that he himself is quoted as saying to G–d in Kings I 19,10. He referred to his having slain four hundred Jewish priests who had forsaken the Torah to serve the idol Baal instead. Elijah's performance on Mount Carmel was similar to that of Pinchas at Shittim. The name אליהו (which in the Bible is frequently spelled without the letter Vav at the end) contains two names of G–d, i.e. El and Ya-h. In his encounter with Zimri Pinchas restored the honor of the name El, since the Israelites at the time had been guilty of insulting that name of G–d by serving the El of the Moabites and Midianites, "וישתחוו לאלהיהן" (Numbers 24,2). The second of the Ten Commandments specifically prohibits a Jew prostrating himself before an alien deity (Exodus 20,4). Pinchas' deed restored the relations between G–d and Israel which the people's behaviour had upset. His deed, when analysed, consisted of discrediting a man and a woman who respectively were leaders of their tribes, or, in the case of Cozbi, whose father was an ancestral tribal head. The Torah emphasizes the word איש and אשה, when referring to these two both in 25,8, and in 26,14-15, although there is no need for this. We have mentioned repeatedly that the letters "י and ה" in the Hebrew for "man" and "woman" teach us that only when they remain aware of G–d's Presence in this world are they safe from burning up in the passion of their sexuality, seeing that without those letters of G–d's name their names would signal merely masculine and feminine "fire" respectively. The name of G–d contained in those two people whom Pinchas slew was Ya-h. These two had disgraced the name of G–d by their conduct. The Torah in order to draw our attention to all this repeats: …. ושם … איש … ושם האשה, (26,14, 26,15). Rashi already explained that at the count of the people after this episode the peculiarly worded names of the tribes i.e. ה-ראובנ-י, and not simply ראובן demonstrated that the name of each tribe contained the name of G–d. G–d thus personally testified-that the members of all these tribes were conceived while their respective parents maintained absolute chastity. This too is the meaning of Psalms 122,4: שבטי י-ה עדות לישראל, "Israel are G–d's tribes, as per G–d's personal testimony." The letter ו in the word שלום, is "amputated" in 25,12. Baal Haturim points out that the numerical value of that word equals זהו משיח, "this is the Messiah." By diminishing the size of that letter, it is as if one had not thought about the last letter in the name of אליהו. Elijah is the prophet who announces the imminent arrival of the Messiah and prepares people for that. Removing part of the letter ו is meant to convey to us that Elijah (as alluded to by the absence of the last letter in his name), will materialise when one least thinks of him.. The letters added to the names of the tribes during this count therefore can be viewed as making up the second name of G–d contained in the name אליה, the name Ya-h. The Torah informs us in Exodus 6,25 that Pinchas' father had married one of the daughters of Putiel, who according to Midrash Hagadol fattened (play on word Putiel) all the idols in the world and the other tribes despised him on account of his ancestry. Since the name פוטיאל concludes with the letters of the name of G–d, however, the Torah alerts us to the fact that he converted to monotheism, i.e. El Ya-h. The whole verse is an allusion to Joseph who controlled his desire in his involvement with the wife of his master Potiphar, whose similarly sounding name reminds us of what took place then. Just as Joseph preserved the holy covenant with G–d at that time, so Pinchas, his descendant maternally, restored the holy covenant with G–d by taking G–d's revenge on Zimri. As a result, G–d granted him "My covenant Peace." Targum Yonathan on that verse says that Pinchas was made into an angel who would live until he could announce the final redemption. It is further written (of Pinchas) that G–d's covenant of life and well-being was with him (Malachi 2,5), that "the true Torah was in his mouth. He walked with Me in peace and equity, nothing perverse was on his lips. He served Me with complete loyalty; he held many back from committing iniquity, for the lips of a priest guard knowledge and people seek Torah from his mouth, seeing that he is an angel of the Lord G–d of Hosts" (Ibid 6). This verse clearly alludes to Pinchas, since Pinchas became an angel, as our sages comment on Joshua 2,4, (Tanchuma quoted by Rashi). Since Pinchas held back many from sinning, he is described by the prophet as having the true Torah issuing forth from his mouth. "Truth" is an element that reinforces and strengthens religious belief and practice. It is not something merely personal, but is something that must be demonstrated to the community in order to be capable of convincing such a community to do penitence. Such a result is called אמת, truth. Truth is something of an everlasting nature.

While the Sabbath with its gift of the נשמה יתירה, the additional soul which inhabits every Jew on that day, represents one sixtieth of what the Sabbath in the future will hold, the Tabernacle too is conceived of as affording us a glimpse of one sixtieth of what the World to Come will be like. This is the deeper meaning of the statement in Shabbat 10 where G–d is quoted as telling Moses that He had a wonderful gift for him and the Jewish people called Sabbath. This is the reason for Exodus 31,13. G–d announced that He was going to bestow that gift. From this Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel derived the rule that one must inform the mother of a child if one wishes to give the child some bread (ibid.). The Talmud challenges this deduction, citing Rabbi Chama who wants to prove that one does not need to inform the recipient of a gift he will receive. He points out that upon his descent from Mount Sinai Moses was unaware of G–d's gift and only covered his forehead -which by then was emitting rays of light- after he became aware that the people had become afraid to approach him (34,29 32). The Talmud does not recognise a contradiction here, saying that matters which become common knowledge need not be announced by the donor beforehand. This argument is challenged by a scholar who asks: "Is not also the Sabbath something that becomes common knowledge, and yet the prohibition of work had to be announced?" The answer given to this is that the reward for observing the Sabbath is certainly not something that becomes common knowledge without being announced. [Rashi assumes that the reward, though not spelled out in the text, was announced by Moses orally. Ed.]

In any event the term Elohim used in these two verses refers to Moses whom G–d had elevated to such a position. The reference to the Jewish people becoming His people refers to their appointment as G–d's צבאו, "army." The words: לשים לו שם, are to be understood in the same way as the verse in Samuel II 8,13, which speaks about David making a "name," in line with the Zohar which describes performing G–d's commandments as making a "name" for G–d, i.e. ועשיתם אותם-ועשיתם אתם. The words לעשות לכם הגדולה ונוראות, refer both to G–d and to Israel. As far as G–d is concerned, we are already familiar with the hints contained in the line ועשיתם אתם that such performance is tantamount to "making G–d," hence the word "הגדולה," "the (known) greatness." As far as the people of Israel is concerned, the word: ונוראות alludes to the spiritual elevation achieved by Israel as mentioned in Exodus 34,10: וראה כל העם אשר אתה בקרבו את מעשה השם כי נורא הוא אשר אני עושה עמך, "And the whole nation among whom you are will see the work of the Lord that I am about to do with you, that it is awesome."

[And this is the intent of Mishlei 4:7: "The beginning of wisdom is to acquire wisdom," and, the end of the verse: "and with all of your acquisitions, acquire understanding." This is self-explanatory: "Wisdom" connotes what is apparent, first principles, what one learns from others; and "understanding," what one reflects upon thereafter by himself, to understand one thing from another. Therefore, he says that first one must acquire wisdom, and then he must strengthen himself to understand one thing from another. As they said (Shabbath 31a): "At the time of judgment they ask a man: 'Did you discourse in wisdom? Did you understand one thing from another?''' As to "and with all your acquisitions, acquire understanding," this is understood according to Midrash Shir Hashirim 8 in the episode of R. Chiyya b. Abba and R. Yochanan, who were walking on the way and came upon a field, at which R. Yochanan said: "This was mine, but I sold it to toil in Torah," and thus, until the last field. At this, R. Chiyya began to cry, and said to him: "What will you leave over for your old age?" R. Yochanan answered: "Why does this disturb you? I sold something that was created in six days, as it is written (Shemoth 20:11): 'For six days the L-rd made, etc.', and I bought something which was learned in forty days, as it is written (Ibid. 39:28): 'And he was there with the L-rd for forty days.'" And this is what Scripture intimates to us in "and with all of your acquisitions acquire understanding." It is right that one give all he possesses to acquire understanding. That is, that he grow wise in all matters of Torah in order to understand one thing from another.]

The Torah is telling us that if only Adam had not sinned, his body would have been as holy as the כתנות אור, the garments of light that man was meant to wear in Gan Eden. Under the circumstances, these garments have become כתנות עור, garments of skin and flesh, something physical. As long as Adam did not need those garments, he was placed in גן עדן, to help preserve it since he was not a stranger, i.e. זר, in that environment. Once he had become forced to garb himself in garments made of materials that come out of the earth he had become a stranger in that environment, and this situation did not change until Aaron became anointed by holy anointing oil as High Priest. Compare what I have written earlier in Parshat Tetzaveh, concerning Moses performing priestly functions dressed only in a white tunic instead of in the High Priest's garments. This meant that he had never been a זר, stranger, at all; the whole house filled with light at the time he was born (Exodus 2,2, as quoted in Sotah 12). Moses' unblemished condition continued until, in the end, he himself radiated light, as we know from Exodus 34,29. This is as if he had been garbed in the כתנות אור, that we described as the state of man in his innocence in גן עדן. This is what was meant by the white tunic in which he performed the sacrificial service. It meant he did not need to do anything to rehabilitate himself in order to achieve the state of holiness necessary for a High Priest to perform sacrificial service, זרות, alienation, was a condition that did not come into existence till after the כתנות אור, garments woven out of light, had been withdrawn, to be kept in hiding until the future, the time of the Messiah, just as the original light G–d had created at the beginning of the creative process had also been "hidden" due to man's sin (Compare Tanchuma Noach 3). Moses did not have to wait for that light to re-appear.

This is what G–d showed Moses before he died, since Moses could be considered the ראש העולם "the head of the world, and the opening word of the Torah is בראשית, meaning בשביל משה רבנו שנקרא ראשית, "the world was created on account of Moses who is called ראשית." G–d commenced the creative process with the directive "let there be light," a reference to the light emitted by the forehead of Moses (Exodus 34,29). This kind of light was hidden (after Moses died). Moses is also considered the סוף העולם, the "end" of the world, i.e. when the world will finally renew itself it will draw on the qualities possessed by Moses. Such a world will be more perfect than the original world. The Zohar on Deut. 3,24: אתה החילות comments that Moses represents the beginning of this process, i.e. the first perfect human being, and the Messiah will represent its conclusion. The generations between these two find themselves surrounded by varying degrees of darkness, to compensate for which they will experience this excess of light at the time of the Messiah.

The symbolisms expressed by the use of בת-אחות-אם "daughter-sister-mother" relationship between G–d and the Jewish people, or the matriarchs and G–d, which we have described on page 137 and later, may be alluded to in the way the Torah divides the number of years Sarah lived into three distinct periods, i.e. "one hundred years, twenty years and seven years" (Genesis 23,1). Bereshit Rabbah 58,1 explains that Sarah was as beautiful at twenty as she had been at seven years of age, whereas she was as free from sin at a hundred years of age as she had been at twenty. The number seven may allegorically be explained as referring to the seven days of Creation (including the Sabbath) before the original light was withdrawn. This association gives Sarah the אם כל חי, "Mother Superior" image. When the Torah was given to the Jewish people and the serpent's pollutant was neutralised, the world was restored to a state when כתנות אור, garments woven of light, could have been worn. The passage dealing with the creation of light in Genesis 1, 3-5, mentions the word אור, light, five times, an allusion to the five Books of Moses, as pointed out in the Midrash. The Zohar sees in the verse commencing with Hashem Hashem in Exodus 34,6 an allusion to the number twenty, i.e. the Ten Commandments and the ten directives by which the universe was created. These complemented each other. When you spell the two letters Yud as words, i.e. יוד, their combined value is also 20. This idea is reflected in the "twenty years" the Torah here speaks of. Although the universe did not actually revert to the condition it had been in prior to withdrawal of the אור בראשית, the original light, the precondition existed, and, but for the sin of the golden calf, Israel would have achieved that status through Torah study and observance, and the original light would have been revealed to them. At the moment the Torah was revealed, the light appeared to them just as it had been during the seven days of Creation. This is the deeper meaning of Proverbs 7,4: אמור לחכמה אחותי את, "Say to wisdom 'you are my sister.'" Israel, due to the Revelation and Torah study, was on the level we have described as אחות. Afterwards, when the people made the golden calf, they ruined even that level of closeness to G–d with the result that the כ in 23,2 became reduced in size. When the Temple, which was one hundred cubits high, was built, this provided some degree of rehabilitation for the opportunity lost through the golden calf. [The Temple the author refers to must be the one of Herod; Solomon's Temple was only thirty cubits high. Ed.] When Bereshit Rabbah 58,1 on our verse next compares Sarah's innocence at one hundred to her innocence at twenty, this is an allusion to the partial rehabilitation during the period of the second Temple. There were public offerings which achieved atonement for the people. Nonetheless, the people were only on the level of בת, (the lowest of the three levels described on pages 137/138). This is why we find Israel referred to as בת ציון, בת ירושלים in Isaiah, Lamentations and elsewhere. The small letter כ in the word ולבכותה is a clear allusion to the aforegoing. When you remove the letter כ completely, you are left with the word לבתה, "to her daughter," i.e. the word בת, daughter. When the Temple was destroyed, the letter ק was also reduced in size, as pointed out by the Baaal Haturim in his commentray on Genesis 27,46 where Rebeccah expressed disdain for her own life if Jacob, too, were to marry a Canaanite girl. The cause of Rebeccah's desperate outcry, according to Baa l Haturim, was that in her mind's eye she saw the destruction of the hundred-cubit high Temple. When the Temple was destroyed the Jewish people forfeited even the status of בת in their relationship with G–d. For some time after that the most they could achieve in the way of direct communication with G–d was the בת קול, an echo of their former relationship. Nowadays, due to our sins, we do not even experience that form of communication with G–d. This situation will not improve until the Messiah will come, hopefully very soon. At such a time, אור חדש will shine over Zion.

Let me proceed to explain the nature of Benjamin's sanctity. Benjamin was on a loftier spiritual plane than his other brothers because he never bowed down to Esau who represented the סטרא דשמאלא, the left side of the diagram of emanations, the home of Samael. (At the time of the fateful encounter between Jacob and Esau he had not yet been born). The fact that his father Jacob bowed down to Esau cannot be held against Benjamin. The Zohar, commenting on the relevant verse in Genesis 33,3 (Sullam edition page 35), in which Jacob is described as prostrating himself before Esau seven times, writes as follows: "Rabbi Eliezer asked how Jacob, the choicest of the patriarchs, could contravene the injunction of the Torah in Exodus 34,14: 'do not prostrate yourself before any other deity for the Lord is a jealous G–d?' The answer given is that far from bowing down to the anti-G–d part that Esau represented, Jacob in fact prostrated himself before the שכינה, for we find at the beginning of the same verse: והוא עבר לפניהם, "It proceeded ahead of them." This excuse can be used only for Jacob, but not for his sons. The "11 stars," i.e. the other tribes bowed to Esau, not to the שכינה. The knees which bent to Esau, representative of Samael, were the cause that Samael succeeded in inflicting an injury on Jacob's thigh joint. That injury represented judgment מדה כנגד מדה, tit for tat, because Esau's thigh joint bore the imprint of the original serpent. We have pointed out that the Targum of יודע ציד, hunter, (Esau's profession) is נחשירכן. The Tziyoni reads this as two words נחש ירכן, seeing that the serpent's image [snake shaped birthmark? Ed.] was tattooed on Esau's thigh joint. We dealt with this in our commentary on Toldot. Because of this additional dimension of sanctity possessed by Benjamin even before his birth, G–d had prophesied to Jacob in 35, 11, ומלכים מחלציך יצאו, "Kings will emerge from your loins." People bending their knees to the kings from the tribe of Benjamin, will be the fitting contrast to the other tribes who had bent their knees to Esau instead. This stands out particularly in view of the list of kings descended from Esau that are listed in פרשת וישלח. I have mentioned that righteous Jewish kings represent the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.

The reason the Midrash picked these two examples was that they represent the two aspects of our ascent, that of the soul and that of the body, i.e. תלמוד ומעשה, theory and practice. When he descended from Mount Sinai Moses himself encountered the experience both of wearing garments woven of light and of the skin of his face radiating light; both his body and his soul had undergone similar refinement (Exodus 34, 29). When Moses prophesied he never had to prepare himself by first negating the importance of his body since his body was on a level permitting free communication with the Divine. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish mentioned Moses in the Midrash quoted in order to show us how Moses achieved the blending of body and soul in holiness.

The patriarch Jacob, who is described in the Torah as איש תם, as opposed to אדם מועד לעולם, was the first person since Adam who did not fit that mould. He was extremely careful not to waste even a single drop of his semen so that he was able to describe Reuben, who was born to him when he was 84 or 85 years old, as ראשית אוני, the product of his first drop of semen (49,3). As a result [of not being guilty of sins committed while asleep. Ed.] he had to pay only half the damage for any sins he committed, i.e. his death was not total, he did not die as Jacob, only as Israel, as we have explained at length in פרשת וישלח. Significantly, Jacob was 130 years old when he arrived in Egypt. Both he and his descendants made up for the 130 years that Adam had emitted semen nocturnally without sleeping with his wife. The redeemer (Moses), whose skin later on radiated light like a קרן, (Exodus 34,29) was born when his mother Yocheved was 130 years old (Sotah 12 on Exodus 2,2).

When David says in verse 9: ואל ה' אתחנן, this means that he pleaded on behalf of G–d, or the שכינה, Divine Presence, which is forced into exile alongside the Jewish people. When the time for salvation arrives, the שיכנה also experiences salvation, i.e. לה' הישועה על עמך (Psalms 3,9) and Israel experiences חנינה, compassion and favor. Berachot 7a, expresses this idea graphically when we are told that Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha (a High Priest) once entered the Holy of Holies in order to offer the incense offering. While inside, he had a vision of Akatriel (one of the names of G–d) sitting on a throne asking him: "Yishmael My son, bless Me!" The High Priest responded by saying: "May it be Your will to suppress Your anger etc…. and to treat Your children with the attribute of Mercy."