Génesis 24:16 Cábala: Sha'ar HaKavanot

It is known that the Sages say that those early generations, namely, the generation of Enosh, [the generation of the Flood] and the generation of the Dispersion, caused the Shechinah to depart [and ascend] upward to the seventh firmament due to their sins. Know that the Israelites of the generation of the slavery in Egypt were the aspect of those drops of seed that Adam emitted during those 130 years before Seth was born, as the Sages said. Afterwards, they were reincarnated in the generation of the Flood, and therefore they also wasted their seed upon the ground, like the root from which they were formed and hewn out, until they were eradicated. This is what the verse says, “The Lord saw that the evil of the man (Ha’adam) was great upon the Earth” (Genesis 6:5), and it is known that wasting seed is called evil, and he who emits it is called evil, as the verse says, “Er, the firstborn of Yehuda, was evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 38:7), and it says, “Woe to the wicked [who does] evil” (Isaiah 3:11), and it says, “Evil shall not sojourn with You” (Psalms 5:5), as it is taught in the Zohar (Beresheet B verse 393). Thus, it is found that that generation was actually the evil of the known man, namely, Adam, the first man. This is what the verse says, “I will eradicate ‘the’ man whom I created” (Genesis 6:7), namely, Adam, the first man, himself, who was created by the hands of God Himself. These were his drops, and He wanted to eradicate them. Afterwards, these [drops] themselves were reincarnated in the generation of the Dispersion, regarding whom it is written, “The Lord came down to see the city and tower that the sons of the man (Ha’adam) had built” (Genesis 11:5). [This means] the sons of Adam, the first man; understand this. Therefore, they are called “the sons of the man” (lit. the sons of Adam), to allude that they were the drops of seed, and therefore, they were the sons of Adam, male without female. Also then, they continued to sin more, rebelling against the Most High, but they were not involved in the original sin of destroying seed like the generation of the Flood. You need to know that the concept of souls is analogous to the concept of gold that is formed in the belly of the Earth. When one extracts [gold from the earth], it is full of immeasurable amounts of dirt and dross, and it does not have the appearance of gold, nor [its] splendor, until the goldsmith, in his wisdom, separates “the dross from the silver,” (Proverbs 25:4) time after time, purification after purification, each time in a different manner, and with each purification it is purified gradually until all the dross is separated from the gold, after which it is recognizable as gold. Similarly, in the case of souls, as a result of the sin of Adam, the first man, good was mixed with evil, and especially with those drops of seed that he gave birth to during those 130 years. We already explained in the discourse regarding sleeping at night and the Bedtime Reading of the Shema that the drops of seed are very valuable and holy, but as they come out, they become mixed with the Klippot. Therefore, they require purification after purification in order to be rectified. In this way, those drops [from Adam] were rectified gradually, until they started being rectified [to the extent that] they revealed the aspect of gold that was within them. This took place during the generation of [the slavery in] Egypt. With this [explanation], you will understand a correct reason for why that harsh, unparalleled slavery was decreed upon them. Corresponding to how they sinned in the generation of the flood by destroying their seed, it was decreed upon them, “Every son who is born, you shall throw into the Nile” (Exodus 1:22), similar to the punishment of the Flood itself. Corresponding to how they sinned in the generation of the Dispersion, “Let us make bricks etc.” (Genesis 11:3), it says, “They embittered their lives with mortar and bricks” (Exodus 1:14). I already elaborated about this in other places, in the secret of “Shabbat and [monetary] laws [that] were commanded in Marah”; look there well. [Shmuel said: In another place, I found that they also sinned during the generation of the people of Sedom, but this is not cited here.] However, the reason why the bondage was in Egypt was because it is known that all souls come from the Chassadim and Gevurot that are in the Mo’ach of Da’at (knowledge), upon which the secret of Zivug depends, as the verse says, “Adam knew (Yada) Eve, his wife” (Genesis 4:1), “[and it says], “No man knew her” (Genesis 24:16). It is called Da’at (knowledge) to teach that the drop of Zivug is drawn from there, which is called by an expression of “knowing” (Yedi’ah), as was mentioned. This is especially so in light of the fact that those were the souls of the generation of Moshe our teacher, and we already explained that Moshe was from the aspect of Da’at (knowledge), and similarly, the entire generation was from the aspect of Da’at. However [there was a difference between Moshe and the other people of his generation], because they came out to the Klippot, as they were the drops of seed of the 130 years before Seth was born, but Moshe was from the aspect of Seth himself, as is known. Therefore, it says regarding him, “She saw him, that he is good” (Exodus 2:2). He was not like the other evil drops from Adam, the first man, of the 130 years, because after all of them, Seth was born in his form and his image. On the other hand, the others were in the form of demons and [evil] spirits, so Moshe said about them, “May I not see my evil” (Numbers 11:15); this was already explained elsewhere.