Musar zu Rut 1:23

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.

We find the same with respect to Na'ami. 'It is written (Ruth 1:19): "And the entire city was astir over her. And they said: 'Is this Na'ami?'" Rashi comments that all had gone out to bury the wife of Boaz, and all of them said: "See what happened to her because she left Eretz Yisrael!" Indeed, why did it happen? The truth is that it is "measure for measure." For certainly when she and her husband left Beth Lechem at the time of the famine because of [all] of the paupers who had converged [upon them for food], undoubtedly all cried out, saying: "Who will support us now in the time of the famine?" And because of this it was decreed upon her that when she returned to Beth Lechem all the city would be astir and would say: "See what happened to her!" — until she herself accepted the din upon her by saying (Ibid. 20): "Do not call me Na'ami ("sweet"), call me Mara ("bitter") for the Almighty has sorely embittered me."

I have explained at length that "evil" is distilled from "good,” that it has only been created, נברא, for the sake of the good, i.e. הטוב. Without רע, "evil," there could not have been such a concept as טוב, "good." G–d arranged that people should fear him; this is why the advantage of light is something that is due to the potential power of darkness. This is the deeper meaning of the Torah saying that both luminaries were created equal in size even though the word מארת is spelled defective, without the letter ו indicating the plural. The idea is to tell us that the luminary later described as המאור הקטן, the smaller luminary, is really part of the overall expression "luminaries." The טוב must be understood as the "great luminary," whereas the "small luminary" refers to darkness, חשך. When you look closely at the letters in the word מאורות (when spelled plene), you will find the words for "light" and "death," i.e. אור and מות. The word מות is separated by the letters spelling אור, light. This is a hint that light (the light of Torah) separates or neutralises the power of מות, death. The same does not apply to the Gentiles or to the wicked. They walk in [unbroken] darkness, not in light, and in the language of our sages are referred to as "dead" even while their bodies are "alive" (Berachot 18). For them death is an ongoing experience, not broken or interrupted by light. Of the righteous the Psalmist says (Psalms 116,15): יקר בעיני ה' המותר לחסידיו, "The death of His pious ones is a precious event in the eyes of G—d." Elsewhere I explained the meaning and nature of death at length. The letter מ is an allusion to the angel of death. It is the very letter from the word מפריו from Genesis 3,6 :"ותרא האשה…ותקח מפריו ותאכל ותתן". We have the letter ו and ת four times in that verse plus the letter מ. This is an allusion to Eve having surrounded herself with the angel of death from all four sides. I have written more about this in my treatise תולדות האדם. Anyone who wants a deeper understanding of this must take the trouble to read the entire introduction even though it is lengthy.

We find a clear allusion to this in 13,9 where Abraham says to Lot: "Is not the whole land before you, separate yourself from me; if to the Left, I will go to the Right, and if to the Right, I will go to the Left." The meaning of the verse is that Abraham asks Lot why he quarrels needlessly, seeing there will be a time when he will have the entire land to choose from and does not now need to take things before they are ripe. When would that time come? At the time the kingdom of David will be established, seeing that David is descended from Ruth. That same Ruth had said to her mother-in-law Naomi "only death will part us" (Ruth 1,17). Abraham meant the same thing when he spoke to Lot about הפרד נא מעלי, "please separate from me." According to Rabbi Yitzchak Arama in his commentary on Ruth, the latter made a very significant statement, namely that when members of the other nations die, that does not create a disparity among them because all of them proceed towards an eternal void. Since every Jewish person however has a share in the world to come, death creates a disparity amongst them, seeing their shares in that World To Come are not the same. Bamidbar Rabbah 21,22 comments that any bridegroom who is "greater" than his fellow-bridegroom will be burned by the fire G–d provides for the wedding canopy of the other, [a penalty for being envious of somebody else's status, see Baba Batra 75. The whole discussion is about G–d bestowing honor on the righteous in the world of the future. Ed.]. Thus we see that not everyone's share in the World To Come is equal. Hence the division between people will occur when they die and move to different parts of a new world.

We know that the cause of Haman's decree was that the Jewish people at that time were guilty of two sins. One was a sin committed with their bodies, the other sin was committed with their souls. The sin committed with their souls was that they prostrated themselves before the image Nebuchadnezzar had constructed. The sin of committing idolatry is always considered as committed with one's soul, though one's body may have demonstrated it. As soon as one has made a conscious decision to make an obeisance to the idol, one's soul has already become guilty as if one had physically perpetrated the act. This is the only instance known in which G–d holds us culpable for the intention even though the act has not yet been committed. Our sages have derived this from למען תפוש את בית ישראל בלבם, "In order to take hold of the Family of Israel in their heart, etc." (Ezekiel 14,5). No such principle operates concerning any other kind of sins. Idol-worship is something that is committed primarily by the heart accepting an alien deity.

We read in our Parshah (22,27) אלוהים לא תקלל. The Midrash's connection with our Parshah is now clear.Once the rebellious palace guard in our parable, or Job in the counterpart, saw that the king, i.e. G–d, played no favourites, punished the aristocrats as well as ordinary mortals without regard to their station in life, his fear, i.e. respect for G–d, became real.