Commentaire de citation sur Les Nombres 20:12

The above will help you understand why the sages when formulating our benedictions and mentioning the attributes of Hashem and Elohim in the benedictions we recite have at the same time not employed the grammatical formula we would have expected such as אשר קדשתנו במצותיך וצויתנו, “You have sanctified us and You have commanded us,” but have insisted on the formula “who has sanctified us and who has commanded us” in the third person. The reason is that the words ברוך אתה, “blessed are You” at the beginning of the benediction refer to the words מלך העולם in a later part of the benediction. This is an attribute more familiar to us by the name תפארת. It is a reference to a certain emanation and it is this emanation (the attribute it represents) which “has sanctified us and commanded us.” It is this emanation which is the repository of G’d’s commandments to us. You will find what I have said confirmed in the Sefer Habahir item 184 who queries אשר קדשנו במצותיו instead of אשר קדשתנו וצויתנו? The answer given is that all the commandments are found in two worlds. In His great Mercy G’d has given them to us in order to sanctify us so that we will merit to establish a claim to the hereafter, the עולם גדול, in the here and now. Thus far the quote from the Sefer Habahir. From there you can conclude that the relationship between the Shechinah and the people of Israel is not one based merely on the need of the common Israelite, but that it is a reciprocal relationship also satisfying a need of the celestial forces represented by the Shechinah. Seeing that the glory of the tetragram and all it stands for is disseminated by the attribute כבוד, “glory, honour,” whenever this occurs an additional element of Holy Spirit is added to the Shechinah. This is why a prayer (Psalms 104,31) such as יהי כבוד ה’ לעולם ישמח ה‘ במעשיו, makes sense. The meaning of these words is: “the glory of G’d is enhanced to the emanation עולם when the attribute we know as the tetragram has occasion to rejoice in the deeds of its creatures.” This means that every Israelite has the potential to strengthen or, G’d forbid, to “weaken” certain attributes of G’d by his deeds or lack of them. This idea is expressed succinctly in Deut. 32,18 as צור ילדך תשי, literally: “You neglected the Rock that begot you;” according to Kabbalists this means: “when Israel neglects the Torah, it weakens the power of the Torah.” A verse conveying a similar sentiment is Psalms 60,14 באלו-הים נעשה חיל, “we can perform valiant deeds which enhance Elohim.”
The attribute of כבוד which we have spoken about is expressed in our verse by the words וידבר אלו-הים, “The One who spoke was the One who both writes and gives, i.e. hands over what He has written.” It is the same attribute we find referred to in Exodus 32,16 והמכתב מכתב אלו-הים הוא, “and the writing was the writing of Elohim.” When we read in Exodus 31,18 ויתן אל משה וגו’, the unnamed subject is the same Elohim who did the writing on the Tablets. The reference is to the word אלו-הים which appears at the very end of that verse. It was also this attribute of G’d which Moses (Deut. 33,12) referred to when he described Benjamin as ידיד ה’ ישכון לבטח עליו, describing that while this attribute rested on the Holy Temple, Benjamin and the entire Jewish people would dwell securely. Moses singled out Benjamin as the Holy Temple would be built on his tribal territory. This attribute was also referred to as פי י-ה-ו-ה, in Exodus 17,11 at al. This expression, i.e. “The mouth of the tetragram” means that the instructions emanated from an attribute outside the core of Hashem.
It was the attribute described as פי ה’ which Moses and Aaron sinned against in Numbers 20,12 when instead of having spoken to the rock Moses struck the rock. G’d spelled this out when He said לא האמנתם בי ...אשר מריתם את פי, “you did not believe in Me....you rebelled against פי. (Numbers 20,24) I shall explain this in greater detail when we discuss that event.
You will now be able to understand the meaning of the word צור when this word refers to an aspect of G’d. We have verses such as הצור תמים פעלו, “the Rock, His works are perfect” (Deut. 32,4). Another verse of that category is Deut. 33,12: צור ילדך תשי. A third word featuring the word צור occurred in Exodus 17,6 הנני עומד לפניך שם על הצור בחורב; I will explain the last verse in detail in connection with Numbers 20,8 [where only the word סלע is mentioned in contrast with the word צור in Exodus 17,6 Ed.].

We have already discussed some of the many differences between Devarim and the books that come before it. We have pointed out that Moshe’s rendition here of some of the stories that took place in the first four books of the Torah will be different. But there is one story whose two versions are so markedly dissimilar that it requires its own separate treatment. In the first version, the Torah clearly states that Moshe is not allowed to take the Jews into the Land of Israel due to his lack of leadership while procuring water from a boulder (Bemidbar 20:12, 27:14; Devarim 32:51)⁹The latter is an example of one of the quotes from God Himself that are scattered throughout “Moshe’s book.” – and yet at the beginning of Devarim Moshe tells us otherwise.

Moshe, My servant is dead. But if he were alive,⁴According to Rashi, this is connected to what follows: Since he is dead, you must arouse yourself and cross this Jordan. I would have wanted him [as the leader].⁵According to Metsudas Dovid, Hashem said that if Moshe was still alive, you would be unable to cross the Jordon because of the decree preventing him from crossing the Jordon. See Bamidbar 20:12; Ibid 27:12,13. Our Sages explain [that this passage is a reference] [to the three thousand laws that were forgotten] during the period of mourning for Moshe. Yehoshua then came and asked.⁶When the Bnei Yisroel realized that they had forgotten so many laws of the Torah, they came to Yehoshua and asked him to teach them the laws, but he too had forgotten many of them. He wanted Hashem to reveal those forgotten laws to him. the Holy One blessed is He, said to him: “Moshe, My servant is dead, and the Torah is called on his name, which is like telling you that it is impossible.⁷Since the Torah is referred to as תּוֹרַת משֶׁה, the Torah of Moshe, and Moshe is dead, these laws cannot be reenacted. Go and burden them with battles.”⁸God told Yehoshua to get the people occupied with conquering the land. He told him to begin preparations to cross the Jordan and this would cause them to forget about the laws that were lost to them. This refers to the battles of conquest that were required to capture the land.

although they heard my words [my] pleasant [words], which I speak of the commandments, and they do not repent of their evil way. Our Rabbis in the Baraitha of Sifrei (Deut. 3: 23) interpreted it concerning Moses and Aaron, but I cannot reconcile the end of the verse with its beginning. I can perhaps reconcile it and say that in stubbornness, these people equal the stubbornness of those through whom Moses and Aaron died through the rock, for these too heard the pleasant words but do not repent.