Musar zu Ijow 28:12

We find the Torah described as G–d's, i.e. תורת ה'; we also find it described as Moses' Torah, i.e. תורת משה. I have dealt with this apparent anomaly in the introduction to my treatise called תולדות אדם as well as in my treatise מסכת שבועות. G–d gave Moses a number of general rules when He gave him the Torah. This is alluded to in Exodus 31,18: ויתן אל משה ככלתו לדבר אתו הר סיני, "G–d gave to Moses when He finished speaking with him at Mount Sinai, etc." Our sages in Shemot Rabbah 41,6 comment that this gift refers to the principles of Torah exegesis that G–d gave to Moses at that time. Moses realized then that there is an oral Torah also. G–d confirmed to Moses that this was indeed so. This is why the oral Torah is called תורת משה, i.e. Moses' bride. Once Moses had formed this relationship with his spiritual bride he gave up his physical bride, i.e. he no longer lived with his wife as man and wife. This is why the Zohar describes Moses' title as איש האלוקים with the words בעלה דמטרניתא, "husband of this spiritual 'matron'" (who has her root in the emanation תפארת and whose mystical dimension דעת was previously refined by passing through the emanations חכמה and בינה). We find a further allusion to this concept in Job 28,12: והחכמה מאין תמצא ואיזה מקום בינה, "But where can wisdom be found; where is the source of understanding?" The Tziyoni writes that the word מאין is the mystical dimension of the letters in the name משה. The numerical value of the word זנגזגאל, Moses' teacher, is the same as that of the word מאין, i.e. 101. [the angel that called to Moses from the burning bush, cf. Targum Yonathan ben Uzziel Exodus 3,2. Ed.] This number 101 is reminiscent of the statement of our sages that in order to ensure that one understands what one has learned one has to study it 101 times (Chagigah 9b). While it is true that the title איש אלוקים has been accorded by the Bible not only to Moses but to a total of ten personalities namely Elkanah, Samuel, David, Shayah, Iddo, Elijah, Elisha, Michah and Amotz, yet there is a difference between the other nine men and Moses. Whenever Moses is described by this title he is referred to as איש אלוקים. This means that he was the "husband" of the Divine i.e. the emanation מלכות, much as Elimelech is described as the husband of Naomi, i.e. איש נעמי in Ruth 1,3. The same term with the other prophets means "a man of G–d," i.e. someone who has displayed close affinity with G–d. Another difference which marks the description of Moses as איש אלוקים is that whenever Moses' name is mentioned in such a connection Moses' own personal name always precedes his description as איש האלוקים, such as in our portion in 33,1. The same does not hold true with the other men who have been accorded the title איש אלוקים. When our Rabbis stated: אין בעל מת אלא לאשתו, "a husband's death affects primarily his wife" (Sanhedrin 22a), they may well have alluded to the "marriage" between Moses and Matronita. When the period of mourning observed by Israel after Moses' death is described in the Torah (34,8) we find the expression: ויתמו ימי בכל אבל משה, "The days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end." Note that the numerical value of the word בכי, weeping is 32, and the word אבל is 33. Adding these two words you arrive at the numerical value of the current name of G–d א-ד-נ-י=65. Allegorically speaking, this means that Moses was mourned by his "wife" i.e. the (junior) attribute of G–d Matronita with whom he shared the last 40 years of his life on earth.

It is written of Moses that "I have drawn him from the water" (Exodus 2,10). When pondering the statements of our sages, we must remember that though they may be describing things physical, i.e. water, marble, etc., these are merely euphemisms for matters spiritual. The same applies to the verse "and the name of the one was Eliezer." The word "the one" refers to "The One," i.e. G–d. His name could not be revealed until the giving of the Torah, since only then did it become clear how Moses was particularly qualified to assume the role he had been assigned by G–d. Since he had already possessed all the basic qualifications, he could now ascend further, i.e. Mount Sinai, receive the tablets, etc. When Job in 28,12, asks rhetorically "where is חכמה, wisdom to be found?" this is an allusion to Moses; i.e. only people who are already spiritually and physically prepared, will achieve that stature (being the re-incarnation of הבל, (another meaning of whose name is "heat" which purifies). Being the re-incarnation of Abel meant having been purified by fire into being sinless. (Shabbat 89 describes Moses as being fearful of the heat, הבל, that emanates from the mouths of the angels since the latter are sin-free creatures, seeing they have no body). The immediate re-incarnation of Abel had been Shet, some of whose descendants survived the deluge, i.e. became the founders of mankind. The world's survival depends on Torah. The word me-ayin quoted previously in Job 28,12, equals 101 in numerical value (מאין). This is a hint at what our sages say when they claim that if one studies a subject matter one hundred times, this is not as good as when one studies it one hundred and one times (Chagigah 9).

In this world the merit of the patriarchs is helpful to the sons; the reverse is true when one's parents have passed on into the world to Come, where the sons still on this earth are able to stand them in good stead by such merits as they accumulate. The reason that the father's merit can exert a favorable influence on the fate of the son is that the cause always influences the effect. In other words, the effect is mystically connected with its source even after it has parted company with it. There is an original common cause to both similar to the common raw material of the physical universe, the raw-material commonly known as hiyuli. This material is referred to in the Torah as תוהו. Nachmanides explains this at the beginning of his commentary on the Book of Genesis. The hiyuli in our world corresponds to a נקודה in the Celestial Regions which is called אין, nought. This is what Job (Job 28,12) referred to when he asked (rhetorically) והחכמה מאין נמצא? This verse is to be understood as a statement rather than as a question. In other words: The source of חכמה is אין. Bereshit Rabbah states that the universe was created for the sake of the אבות, i.e. for he sake of fathers. Now we can understand the sequence in the prayer under discussion. מה נאמר לפניך, "What can we say before You in view of the cessation of the merit of our patriarchs? Even assuming that the merits of our patriarchs had not expired, what did their accomplishments ever do for us except help us in this present world? Their influence was only centred in the Hiyuli. What are we going to do in the World to Come?

The author proceeds to explain that whereas the shape of the letter י symbolizes the concept of G–d creating יש מאין, the letters ד and ו, symbolize by their shape the development of the physical universe.