Chasidut sobre Exodo 2:26
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 11,1. Hashem spoke to Moses and Aaron to say to them: speak to the Children of Israel; saying: “this is the category of living creature that you are allowed to eat, etc.;” we must first concentrate on the meaning of the words לאמר אלהם, a combination not found elsewhere in the Torah.
In order to get a better understanding of the legislation that follows it is worthwhile to look at Rashi on Exodus 2,27 where Moses’ sister Miriam asks the daughter of Pharaoh if she should call for her a Hebrew wet nurse to suckle the infant Moses. Rashi explains that Moses had refused to be nursed by any of the Egyptian wet nurses, the reason being that in light of his destiny of communicating closely with G’d in the future, it was not appropriate that his body should have absorbed life-sustaining milk from a ritually impure wet nurse.
Nachmanides adds that what the Torah forbade the Jewish people to eat are those creatures that are cruel and insensitive by nature, and if we were to absorb their meat some of it would leave such tendencies behind in our bodies. The Jewish people being a holy nation must preserve this status and display love and compassion rather than cruelty or insensitivity to the needs of other creatures. We have it on the authority of the prophet Joel (Joel 3,1) that there will come a time when all members of the Jewish people will become endowed with prophetic powers and in order for G’d to communicate with them directly their bodies must retain the capacity to at all times respond lovingly to the needs of others. It would be most inappropriate for the mouth that has been fed ritually unclean and therefore abhorrent creatures, to be addressed by the Divine Presence. An allusion to this future state of affairs is contained in the words לאמר אלהם, “to speak to them,” at this point before the Torah lists the living creatures that are repeatedly referred to as abhorrent, and therefore not fit as food for the Jewish nation, [although, after the deluge all of them had become permitted for the descendants of Noach. Ed.]
In order to get a better understanding of the legislation that follows it is worthwhile to look at Rashi on Exodus 2,27 where Moses’ sister Miriam asks the daughter of Pharaoh if she should call for her a Hebrew wet nurse to suckle the infant Moses. Rashi explains that Moses had refused to be nursed by any of the Egyptian wet nurses, the reason being that in light of his destiny of communicating closely with G’d in the future, it was not appropriate that his body should have absorbed life-sustaining milk from a ritually impure wet nurse.
Nachmanides adds that what the Torah forbade the Jewish people to eat are those creatures that are cruel and insensitive by nature, and if we were to absorb their meat some of it would leave such tendencies behind in our bodies. The Jewish people being a holy nation must preserve this status and display love and compassion rather than cruelty or insensitivity to the needs of other creatures. We have it on the authority of the prophet Joel (Joel 3,1) that there will come a time when all members of the Jewish people will become endowed with prophetic powers and in order for G’d to communicate with them directly their bodies must retain the capacity to at all times respond lovingly to the needs of others. It would be most inappropriate for the mouth that has been fed ritually unclean and therefore abhorrent creatures, to be addressed by the Divine Presence. An allusion to this future state of affairs is contained in the words לאמר אלהם, “to speak to them,” at this point before the Torah lists the living creatures that are repeatedly referred to as abhorrent, and therefore not fit as food for the Jewish nation, [although, after the deluge all of them had become permitted for the descendants of Noach. Ed.]
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 18,12. “Aaron and all the elders of Israel joined in breaking bread with Yitro, etc.” At this point G’d’ rewarded Yitro for inviting Moses into his house (Exodus 2,2) and offering him a meal. He was doubly rewarded as he enjoyed eating a meal in the presence of G’d, לפני האלוקים, (verse 13)
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 18,12. “Aaron and all the elders of Israel joined in breaking bread with Yitro, etc.” At this point G’d’ rewarded Yitro for inviting Moses into his house (Exodus 2,2) and offering him a meal. He was doubly rewarded as he enjoyed eating a meal in the presence of G’d, לפני האלוקים, (verse 13)
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Kedushat Levi
Another look at “send for yourself men to tour the land of Canaan which I am about to give to the Children of Israel.”
Most commentators already focused on the word לך, “for yourself,” in this verse, finding it difficult to understand
I believe that G’d’s principal purpose was that Moses should use the most G’d fearing individuals from each tribe to make up this delegation, men whose devotion and sincerity to the highest principles of Judaism was beyond doubt. The word לתור, usually translated as to “tour,” i.e. to examine visually, in this instance was not intended as an instruction for these men to examine the material benefits that the land of Canaan had to offer the Jewish people. By dispatching truly G’d fearing men to tour this land, G’d intended for this land to become attuned to the presence of G’d fearing human beings, [seeing that since the day Yaakov had left it there had not been anyone residing there who was a servant of the Creator. Ed.] It was hoped that after being visited by such individuals, the soil of the land of Canaan itself would experience a desire to become the home of the people who had sent such emissaries. The mere temporary presence of these “tourists,” would encourage the response from the celestial sources of G’d’s largesse to bestow it in generous measure on this land, much as it had done while the patriarchs had resided there.
We may therefore understand the word שלח in the sense of המשכה, extension, continuation, similar to Exodus where Pharaoh’s daughter whose arm was not long enough, dispatched her servant maid to bring her the basket that contained the infant Moses. One of the sages in Sotah 12 discussing that verse understands the word אמתה as referring to the princess’ arm and not to her maid servant.
We may extrapolate on this allegory somewhat further, following our approach when dealing with true service of the Lord, and understand Pharaoh’s daughter as “stripping herself” of material physical concerns when setting out to save the life of Jewish baby after seeing the basket had aroused maternal instincts in her. Similarly, in our portion, when Moses dispatched the twelve emissaries to examine the qualities of the land of Israel, he charged them with divesting themselves, שלח, of material concerns when setting out on a mission approved by the Lord Himself. (Numbers 13,1) The choice of the word ויתורו, instead of וירגלו, “and to spy out,” or ויחפרו, as in Deuteronomy 1,22 is an allusion to the word תורה, and points to the difference between what the people had demanded and what G’d had agreed to.
To repeat, G’d’s i.e. Moses’ purpose in agreeing to the people’s request to spy out the land of Canaan was to sublimate what was a material quest into becoming a spiritual quest and to thereby convert it into an act of worship. The word לך, “for you,” therefore simply means that Moses should select the kind of men for this mission that best guaranteed that G’d’s criteria for allowing it would be met. This is also the reason why G’d repeats to Moses: אשר אני נותן לבני ישראל, “that the land that I give to the Children of Israel” in order to perform His commandments when they are in that land, not for any other reason. The fact that this land is a gift from G’d for a purpose must never be absent from the minds of the men viewing the land for the first time. When Moses prayed that Joshua should remain steadfast against any attempt by his colleagues to abort the purpose of this mission by adding a letter ה as a reminder of G’d’s name to his name, this is what he had in mind. (Compare 13,16) He did not want him to become a מרגל, “spy.” The תורה element in this mission had to be preserved for it to be crowned with success.
Most commentators already focused on the word לך, “for yourself,” in this verse, finding it difficult to understand
I believe that G’d’s principal purpose was that Moses should use the most G’d fearing individuals from each tribe to make up this delegation, men whose devotion and sincerity to the highest principles of Judaism was beyond doubt. The word לתור, usually translated as to “tour,” i.e. to examine visually, in this instance was not intended as an instruction for these men to examine the material benefits that the land of Canaan had to offer the Jewish people. By dispatching truly G’d fearing men to tour this land, G’d intended for this land to become attuned to the presence of G’d fearing human beings, [seeing that since the day Yaakov had left it there had not been anyone residing there who was a servant of the Creator. Ed.] It was hoped that after being visited by such individuals, the soil of the land of Canaan itself would experience a desire to become the home of the people who had sent such emissaries. The mere temporary presence of these “tourists,” would encourage the response from the celestial sources of G’d’s largesse to bestow it in generous measure on this land, much as it had done while the patriarchs had resided there.
We may therefore understand the word שלח in the sense of המשכה, extension, continuation, similar to Exodus where Pharaoh’s daughter whose arm was not long enough, dispatched her servant maid to bring her the basket that contained the infant Moses. One of the sages in Sotah 12 discussing that verse understands the word אמתה as referring to the princess’ arm and not to her maid servant.
We may extrapolate on this allegory somewhat further, following our approach when dealing with true service of the Lord, and understand Pharaoh’s daughter as “stripping herself” of material physical concerns when setting out to save the life of Jewish baby after seeing the basket had aroused maternal instincts in her. Similarly, in our portion, when Moses dispatched the twelve emissaries to examine the qualities of the land of Israel, he charged them with divesting themselves, שלח, of material concerns when setting out on a mission approved by the Lord Himself. (Numbers 13,1) The choice of the word ויתורו, instead of וירגלו, “and to spy out,” or ויחפרו, as in Deuteronomy 1,22 is an allusion to the word תורה, and points to the difference between what the people had demanded and what G’d had agreed to.
To repeat, G’d’s i.e. Moses’ purpose in agreeing to the people’s request to spy out the land of Canaan was to sublimate what was a material quest into becoming a spiritual quest and to thereby convert it into an act of worship. The word לך, “for you,” therefore simply means that Moses should select the kind of men for this mission that best guaranteed that G’d’s criteria for allowing it would be met. This is also the reason why G’d repeats to Moses: אשר אני נותן לבני ישראל, “that the land that I give to the Children of Israel” in order to perform His commandments when they are in that land, not for any other reason. The fact that this land is a gift from G’d for a purpose must never be absent from the minds of the men viewing the land for the first time. When Moses prayed that Joshua should remain steadfast against any attempt by his colleagues to abort the purpose of this mission by adding a letter ה as a reminder of G’d’s name to his name, this is what he had in mind. (Compare 13,16) He did not want him to become a מרגל, “spy.” The תורה element in this mission had to be preserved for it to be crowned with success.
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 2,1. “a man from the house of Levi went and married Levi’s daughter.” The deeper meaning of this verse is that from now on souls belonging to the family of Levi would be placed in children sired by Amram, who up to now had only sired Aaron, whose soul was from a family destined to produce priests. [I trust that I understood the meaning of our author correctly. Ed.] When Yocheved, at the time Moses was born said that she saw that the child “was good,” (Exodus 2,2) Moses‘ name (though given by Pharaoh’s daughter, כי מן המים משיתהו, “for I have drawn him from the water,” also alludes to this concept. The author refers to having elaborated on this in his commentary on psalms 132,9. [He does not say in what context he commented on that. Ed.]
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 2,1. “a man from the house of Levi went and married Levi’s daughter.” The deeper meaning of this verse is that from now on souls belonging to the family of Levi would be placed in children sired by Amram, who up to now had only sired Aaron, whose soul was from a family destined to produce priests. [I trust that I understood the meaning of our author correctly. Ed.] When Yocheved, at the time Moses was born said that she saw that the child “was good,” (Exodus 2,2) Moses‘ name (though given by Pharaoh’s daughter, כי מן המים משיתהו, “for I have drawn him from the water,” also alludes to this concept. The author refers to having elaborated on this in his commentary on psalms 132,9. [He does not say in what context he commented on that. Ed.]
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 2,4. “his sister positioned herself at a distance, in order to find out what would be done with him.” This verse helps us understand Jeremiah 31,2 “the Lord appeared to me from a distance, etc.;”
There is a general rule that when the people in the physical universe are fully preoccupied with their secular concerns, they will not be able to elevate themselves to true service of the Lord. This idea is hinted at when the Bible uses the term מרחוק. [The term does not describe distance in terms of kilometers. Ed.] Rapprochement to the Creator progresses at the same speed as distancing oneself from purely secular concerns. The Torah chose to describe Miriam as אחתו, “his sister,” as it wished to allude to the word מאחה, meaning “attached,” i.e. מדובק. Miriam was anxious to see if the attribute of אין, the eternal element of G’d, would continue to influence the baby’s fate. On some occasions this attribute אין is also known as מה, the word used in our verse.
There is a general rule that when the people in the physical universe are fully preoccupied with their secular concerns, they will not be able to elevate themselves to true service of the Lord. This idea is hinted at when the Bible uses the term מרחוק. [The term does not describe distance in terms of kilometers. Ed.] Rapprochement to the Creator progresses at the same speed as distancing oneself from purely secular concerns. The Torah chose to describe Miriam as אחתו, “his sister,” as it wished to allude to the word מאחה, meaning “attached,” i.e. מדובק. Miriam was anxious to see if the attribute of אין, the eternal element of G’d, would continue to influence the baby’s fate. On some occasions this attribute אין is also known as מה, the word used in our verse.
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Kedushat Levi
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 “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.]
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 2,25. “G’d looked upon the Children of Israel and took notice of them.” G’d foresaw that there would be Children of Israel who would accept the Torah in due course, although at this stage they were still worshipping idols, also. The word וידע always describes an intimate relationship to another person, so that when it is used here for G’d and His relationship to the Children of Israel, after previously the Torah only spoke of וישמע אלוקים, וישמע אלוקים, וירא אלוקים, the verb וידע introduces a more intimate relationship. G’d was now able to relate to the virtues of the Jewish people, whereas previously He had paid attention only to their shortcomings.
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Kedushat Levi
Exodus 2,25. “G’d looked upon the Children of Israel and took notice of them.” G’d foresaw that there would be Children of Israel who would accept the Torah in due course, although at this stage they were still worshipping idols, also. The word וידע always describes an intimate relationship to another person, so that when it is used here for G’d and His relationship to the Children of Israel, after previously the Torah only spoke of וישמע אלוקים, וישמע אלוקים, וירא אלוקים, the verb וידע introduces a more intimate relationship. G’d was now able to relate to the virtues of the Jewish people, whereas previously He had paid attention only to their shortcomings.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 14,14. “when Avram heard that his brother (nephew) had been taken captive, etc.” When the Torah continues and speaks about Avram taking with him 318 men in his pursuit of Kedorleomer and his armies as far north as the tribal territory of Dan (in the future), the number 318 is not accidental, but represents the numerical value of the word שיח, another word for דבור, suggesting that Avram defeated these armies by means of uttering the holy name of G’d. [The reader is referred to when Moses killed the Egyptian in Exodus 2,13, an act referred to in Exodus 2,14 as having been accomplished by a word, i.e. אומר. Ed.] The word דבור also means הנהגה, leadership; the word שיח=318 also occurs in the sense of השפלה, humiliation, i.e. Avram humiliated these boastful kings. The word occurs in Proverbs 23,27 in that sense, i.e. שוחה עמוקה זונה, “a harlot is a deep pit.” [The author is at pains to understand the number of men Avram took with him as also having profound symbolical meaning. Ed.]
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 14,14. “when Avram heard that his brother (nephew) had been taken captive, etc.” When the Torah continues and speaks about Avram taking with him 318 men in his pursuit of Kedorleomer and his armies as far north as the tribal territory of Dan (in the future), the number 318 is not accidental, but represents the numerical value of the word שיח, another word for דבור, suggesting that Avram defeated these armies by means of uttering the holy name of G’d. [The reader is referred to when Moses killed the Egyptian in Exodus 2,13, an act referred to in Exodus 2,14 as having been accomplished by a word, i.e. אומר. Ed.] The word דבור also means הנהגה, leadership; the word שיח=318 also occurs in the sense of השפלה, humiliation, i.e. Avram humiliated these boastful kings. The word occurs in Proverbs 23,27 in that sense, i.e. שוחה עמוקה זונה, “a harlot is a deep pit.” [The author is at pains to understand the number of men Avram took with him as also having profound symbolical meaning. Ed.]
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