Commentaire de citation sur Le Deutéronome 4:11

בלבת אש means IN A FLAME OF FIRE, i. e. in the very heart of (לב) the fire. Similarly is לב used of inanimate objects in: (Deuteronomy 4:11) “in the heart of (לב) heaven”; (II Samuel 18:14) “in the midst of (לב) the terebinth”. Do not be puzzled by the ת, although the ordinary word for heart, לב. does not require the suffix ת in the construct form, because we have another example of this form, viz., (Ezekiel 16:30) “how weak is thy heart (לבתך)”.‎

Moses also had in mind the fact that there are two categories of souls. One kind of soul has descended directly from a very high region in heaven, and that is the type of soul referred to here as חלק ה׳, "part of G'd," so to speak. Other souls originate in a pool called נחלת שדי, the inheritance of the G'd known as שדי. These souls Moses refers to as חבל נחלתו, "tied by a rope to His inheritance." The word חבל was chosen by Moses deliberately to allude to something very important revealed by the Kabbalists. Every vital soul of man has a "string" connected with its root. This "string" begins at his nostrils and it is by means of this "string" that the soul derives its sustenance enabling it to live. Concerning the soul of the wicked, the Torah said in Numbers 15,31 (in connection with deliberate sinners) הכרת תכרת הנפש ההיא, עונה בה, "that person (soul) will surely be cut off, his sin is upon him." This means that the lifeline connecting that person's soul to its origin will be severed. Once the soul cannot derive sustenance from its source it dies. Of the righteous, on the other hand, the Torah stated in Deut. 4,11 "As to you who have cleaved to the Lord your G'd, you are all alive today."

בלב ים means IN THE VERY STRENGTH OF THE SEA. It is the way of Scripture-verses to speak thus (to use לב in a metaphorical sense); e. g., (Deuteronomy 4:11) “unto the very midst of (לב) heaven”; (II Samuel 18:14) “in the midst of (בלב) the terebinth”. It is an expression denoting the essence and strength of a thing.

בעב הענן signifies in the thickness of the cloud, and this is the ערפל, the thick darkness mentioned in Exodus 20:18 “And Moses stepped near unto the thick darkness where God was” (Mekhilta).