Chasidut על שמות 4:32

Deuteronomy 23,4. “No Ammonite or Moabite shall be ‎admitted to the congregation of the Lord……because they did ‎not meet you with food and water on your journey after you ‎left Egypt.”‎‏ ‏‎
We know that G’d has described the Jewish ‎people to Pharaoh as “My first born son”. (Exodus 4,22) What this ‎really means is that the Jewish people are the conduit through ‎which G’d channels His largesse to the world. Ammon and Moav ‎denied the principle that the major objective of channeling ‎largesse to mankind was for the glory of Israel, who would be ‎perceived as the most important single link in that chain, ‎indirectly benefiting all of mankind. By describing the Ammonites ‎and the Moabites as not offering “bread and water” to the Jewish ‎people, the Torah hints that they did not recognize the existence ‎of the Jewish people as something beneficial for all of mankind.‎

Therefore, the first redemption, which is the Exodus from Egypt, which includes all of the redemptions - because all of the redeemed are referred to by the name 'Egypt' as Rabbeinu z"l wrote in another place in Likutei Moharan 4. Therefore, the beginning of the redemption was in the middle of the night as it is written (Exodus 11:4) "Around midnight I will go out into Egypt". Because the essence of all the redemptions, especially the redemption from Egypt, came about through the aspect as seen above which was written in the lesson above. This was accomplished by means of divine providence which G-d drew down from the end of the earth, from the future world. At the time of the Exodus from Egypt, there was an upheaval in the constellations and then an overturning of nature, for G-d then revealed His divine providence through His awesome miracles and His overturning nature. All of this took place through the world of the future, for it came through the Yovel (Zohar I 21b, II 41b, 46b) which corresponds to the 50 gates of Binah, which corresponds to the world of the future. (Tikunei Zohar 79b). And therefore the redemption was specifically at midnight; in other words it broke the night and the darkness which are the aspect of the wisdom of nature, and it revealed divine providence in the world. Through this was the main essence of the revelation, as explained above. And this is the aspect of (Id.) “Every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, and G-d will pass over… And save the Israelites' first born”. Because the first born is first, the aspect of knowledge, the aspect of (Proverbs 1:7) “First thing, knowledge”. In other words, the knowledge of the Other Side, which is the aspect of natural sciences, was subdued, and the knowledge of holiness, the knowledge of divine providence, the aspect of "my firstborn, Israel" (Exodus 4:22) - which is the knowledge of faith in divine providence, from which the holy offspring of the Jewish people are drawn-was increased. The Jewish people are above nature, for they are rooted in "Look to the heavens and count the stars". G-d told him this will be your offspring (Genesis 15:5), upon which our sages comment G-d lifted Abraham above the heavens (Genesis Rabbah, there). Therefore, the Jewish people are above nature, for according to nature, according to the arrangement of the constellations, Abraham should not have been able to have any children. It was only because G-d said to him "let go of your astrology", and raised him above the heavens, that he was able to have a child, as in 'that will be your offspring'. Therefore Jewish offspring are drawn from its root from beyond nature, which is represented by 'My firstborn, Israel'. Because G-d struck the Egyptian first born at midnight to subdue and break the knowledge of natural sciences, and to intensify the knowledge of divine providence, the aspect of the firstborn of Israel, as explained above.

Exouds 28,5. “whereas they will take (receive) the gold, the ‎blue wool, the purple wool, the crimson yarns and the fine ‎linen.” Compare Rashi according to whom the subject ‎of the word: ‎והם‎, are the ‎חכמי לב‎, people endowed with skill, who ‎received the materials required from the Israelites who had ‎donated it. Keeping all this in mind, even the reversal of the ‎letters ‎דג‎ to read ‎גד‎ does not need to indicate something negative ‎as it does elsewhere, but is an allusion to the well known concept ‎of G’d sending the cure before He activates the disease, or ‎expressed differently: ‎גומל דלים‎ “He renders good to the poor.” (in ‎that order).‎
We need to understand why the priestly vestments should ‎have been constructed from public funds, seeing that although ‎the priest would perform the service in the Tabernacle, ‎presenting the offerings on behalf of the people, unless he ‎‎“dressed himself” personally, indicating that he loved the people ‎on behalf of whom he performed these services, he was not ‎considered as having performed his duties. [According to ‎the Zohar in Parshat Nasso, even nowadays when the priests ‎have pronounced the blessing on the people, and the members of ‎the congregation thank them for this, they do not thank the ‎priests for the blessing, but for the love with which this blessing ‎had been dispensed. This is why the benediction preceding the ‎blessing mentions that it is to be performed with love, something ‎that is unique in all such benedictions preceding fulfillment of a ‎commandment. Ed.]
G’d has demonstrated His love for the Jewish people when He ‎chose them from among all the other nations to be His ‎‎“firstborn” son. (Exodus 4,22) Seeing that G’d loves us, He must ‎hate those who hate us. When He chose the priests for special ‎status among the Israelites He did not thereby remove them from ‎the people at large, but was at pains that this elevation was only ‎within the beloved Jewish people, i.e. ‎מתוך בני ישראל‎, as is clear ‎from Exodus 28,1 as well as regarding the Levites themselves in ‎Numbers 3,12. It is because He loved us collectively, that He ‎appointed the priests to act as means to achieve atonement for ‎our sins.‎ ‎

On the subject of the connection of faith, the Zohar writes (Beshalach, 52b): Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak, Pharaoh was smarter than all the sorcerers of his day. He looked into all of the crowns (Sefirot) and all of the knowledge, and didn’t see any sign of the Israel’s redemption. He did not see that the redemption was hinged on any of these crowns. However, though he looked into all the ways that Israel was connected to God, he failed to see the other connection – the connection of faith, which rules over all. For this reason his heart was hardened. Pharaoh knew that there was no place in the realm of Divine service³⁴⁶That is, within the created world, everything “under heaven,” as opposed to the level prior to creation, which he could not perceive. where Israel could overpower him. From this, he understood that he was given the authority to rule over them, enslaving Israel in their bodies and souls, and subjugating them to harsh labor. It is explained how he gradually accustomed the Israelites to ever greater levels of slavery, until they were thoroughly entrenched in bondage. This is as it is written in the Midrash (Mechilta Yitro 1), “No slave could ever escape from Egypt, because Egypt was filled with all the most powerful of worldly delights, to the point where it was more comfortable to be a slave in Egypt than a lord in another country.” In this way, he ruled over their minds and intellect.³⁴⁷It may be implied by this that even the Israelites themselves could not that escape from Egypt was possible, or even desirable – their minds and hearts having been so thoroughly enslaved. What they, and Pharaoh, did not realize is that Israel is connect to G-d on a level that transcends the intellect and the natural order - that is the dimension of faith and miracles. For this reason, he asserted that there was no way they could arouse the root of their souls in order to pray to God for deliverance, and as a result, God’s compassion would not be aroused to redeem them. To this, the Zohar responds, “He did not see the other connection – the connection of faith, which rules over all. ” All of the connection between Israel and God is through prayer and Divine service.³⁴⁸The author refers here to the revealed connection between Israel and G-d; not that of faith, which is concealed to the intellect. And all Divine service and prayer that is within man’s conscious grasp is only within the inclusion and unification of God’s revealed attributes (sefirot), as King David listed them when he said (Divrei HaYamim 1, 29), “Unto You, God, is the greatness, the strength, the splendor, the victory , and the majesty. For all that is in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, G-d, is the kingdom; and You are exalted over all.”³⁴⁹In this verse, King David alludes to the seven lower sefirot, from hesed to yesod: Greatness - hesed; strength - gevurah; , splendor - tiferet; victory - netzah; majesty - Hod; all - Yesod; kingdom - Malkhut. This is explained in the Sifri, on the verse (Devarim, 11), “If you keep all these commandments that I command you to do, to love the Lord, your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him.” Is it possible for man to cleave to God? asks the Sifri? Is it not written that God is a consuming fire? But the answer is: You should cleave to God’s attributes. Just as God is merciful, so you should be merciful (and in this way you cleave to Him).³⁵⁰The author is relying upon an implicit connection between the Divine attributes of loving-kindness, compassion, etc, their human parallels, and the sefirot. The seven lower sefirot are “revealed” – that is, their influence can be felt in the world. When man serves G-d by actualizing these potencies within himself (loving-kindness, mercy), so he clings to the supernal manifestation of these attributes. However, there are worlds far higher than these attributes, to which a human being cannot consciously connect to. Due to man’s limited knowledge, his Divine service only reaches these revealed attributes, which are included under the aegis of Tiferet (splendor), the Sefirah which contains the six lower attributes, which is also called Zeir Anpin (the microprosopus, or the “small face”). This attribute is Israel’s connection,³⁵¹Tiferet is in the center of the middle column and connects to all of the six lower Sefirot: Hesed is to its upper right; Gevurah, its upper left; Nezah, at the lower right, Hod, at the lower left, and Yesod directly below, on the middle column. for through Tiferet, Israel is called, “my firstborn son Israel” (Shemot, 4:). As it is written in the Zohar (Balak, 191b): The secret of the matter is the secret above, “What is his name and what is his son’s name that I should know him?” (Mishlei, 30:4). His name is known, and it is Hashem Tziva’ot (the Lord of Hosts). His son’s name is Israel, as it is written, “My firstborn son Israel.” All of the keys of faith depend on Israel, who takes pride in this and says (Tehillim, 2), “God said to me, you are My son.” It is certainly like this, in that Abba and Imma³⁵²“Father and Mother” – the supernal constellations of sefirot that correspond to Hokhmah and Binah. crowned their son and blessed him with many blessings, telling him and commanding him for everything. They kissed their son’s hand, as it were, and gave him dominion over all, that all should serve him. It is also written in the Zohar (Yitro, 79a), And how does the verse end? “What is his name and what is his son’s name that I should know him?” He told him the secret of this matter. It is written, “My firstborn son Israel,” and it is written (Yeshayahu), “Israel, I shall pride Myself in you.” His name is Hokhmah (wisdom), and His son’s name is Tiferet (Adornment, Pride).³⁵³Here, the Zohar links the supernal persona of Israel to the sefirah of Tiferet, which is connected to Hokhmah, a higher sefirah, representing the Divine.

When it is said in the Gemara (Avoda Zara, 10b), “Antoninus said to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, I know that even the smallest among the Jews can revive the dead,” he meant that for men of perfect faith, such miracles are no burden before God. But for a miracle to be shown to the general public, like the story about Rava praying for rain in Ta’anit 24b, including those who have not fixed perfect faith in their hearts and who look at nature as running according to its own order, then miraculous governance is indeed a burden before God.³⁷⁶For G-d must change the natural order, which He originally put into place in order to grant human beings free will. Thus, it is forbidden to pray for a change in nature, as this requires a revelation of supernal governance which is above man’s intellectual grasp. On this, the Zohar of the miracle that happened in Egypt³⁷⁷The Zohar here specifically discusses the splitting of the Red Sea. (Terumah, 170b): “It was difficult for God.” Why was it difficult? Because the miracle in Egypt happened before both believers and nonbelievers alike. It was good for the believers and bad for the nonbelievers, as was explained in the introduction to the subject of miracles. There was a revelation of the level of God’s governance beyond man’s intellectual grasp. Pharaoh did not know of the connection between God and Israel, from which Divine salvation can be aroused, as it exists beyond the grasp of the mortal mind. This is mentioned above, in chapter 12 (Zohar Beshalach 52b), “Pharaoh didn’t see that there was another connection, the connection of faith, which rules over all.” The Zohar calls this kind of connection, “the connection of faith,” because the main kind of connection between Israel and God is through emunah (faith) which reaches beyond the grasp of the human mind. Emunah is the inner aspect, even though it is not dressed in a garment. In the merit of emunah, Israel is worthy of receiving God’s salvation, even though they have no clear good deeds on record. The clear statement of this is written in the Torah where it says (Shemot, 4:32), “And the people believed and they heard.”³⁷⁸This is a foreshadowing of the famous statement of the Jewish people before the giving of the Torah (Shemot 24:7), “We will do, and we will hear (understand)”; meaning to say, the children of Israel had so much faith in God that they accepted the laws of the Torah even before understanding their meaning.

With the splitting of the Red Sea, it is written, “and [the people] believed in God and in Moshe, His servant.” This is as it is written in the Zohar (Beshalach, 53b): It is written, “and they believed in God and in Moshe, His servant.” Did they not believe in God until now? We find that when Moshe first told of the redemption to the children of Israel, the verse says (Shemot, 4:21), “And the people believed; and when they heard that the God had remembered the people of Israel… they bowed their heads and prayed.” Furthermore, they must have believed after witnessing all of the mighty acts God did in Egypt. If so, what does it mean when the Red Sea split that the Torah says, “and they believed?” [The difference is that here] God told them (Shemot, 14:13), “Do not fear, stand still, and see the salvation of the God which He will show to you today.” … Rabbi Yeisa asked, “It is written (ibid, 14:13), ‘Do not fear, stand still… for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall not see again forever (ad olam),’ and it is also written (ibid. 14:30), ‘And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.’”³⁷⁹In other words, there is a contradiction in the verses. In verse 14:13, Moshe promises the Jewish people that they will never see the Egyptians again, yet verse 14:30 states that they did see them again, albeit dead on the shore. (In the original Zohar passage, verse 30 is cited before verse 13. The order is reversed here for greater clarity.) Rabbi Yossi said, “In the second verse, they saw them dead.” Rabbi Yeisa said, “If so, the verse should have said, ‘you shall not see them again alive.’” Rabbi Abba said, “You have asked a good question, but come and see. It is written (Divrei HaYamim 1, 16:36), “Blessed is God forever and ever’ – ‘min ha-olam ve’ad ha-olam,’ which could also mean, ‘from the world to the world.’ On this we are taught, there is a world above, and a world below. ‘The world above,’ is the place from which the candle is first lit. ‘The world below,’ is the completion, which includes everything.³⁸⁰The “world below” refers to the sefirah of Malkhut (“Sovereignty”), which is the last of the ten sefirot. Positioned directly above our material world, Malkhut receives all the spiritual light and energy from the upper worlds, and transmits it to us. From ‘the world below,’ God’s mighty acts wake up for the denizens of the lower realm.³⁸¹Malkhut, being feminine, is also a world of dinim – strict judgments. In this lower world, God does wonders for Israel, bringing about a miracle. When this [lower] world is aroused to perform miracles, it had the effect of drowning all of the Egyptians, and produced a miracle for Israel with the splitting of the Red Sea. For this reason it is said, you shall not see them again forever– ad olam. That is to say, “until the world which is below is aroused’³⁸²Thus, Rabbi Abba interprets the verse’s use of the word “forever” as an allusion to the upper words, reading ad olam – (“forever”) as ad d’itar hahu olam – “until that world (Malkhut) is aroused” to destroy the Egyptians. and they are delivered into the hands of its judgment. And since they are given over to it to be judged, it is written, ‘And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the sea shore’ as it is written “min ha-olam v’ad ha-olam” – from the time the lower world is awoken. This is the meaning of, ‘And they believed in God and in Moshe, his servant.’” The children of Israel believed, in the beginning of Moshe mission, as it is written, “and the people believed.”³⁸³Even though the statement “and they believed” refers to the Israelites immediately after the splitting of the sea, that Zohar also applies it retroactively to the belief of the Israelites after meeting Moses and learning of G-d’s intention to redeem them from Egypt (Mtok M’dvash). The faith was fixed in their hearts, and through their faith they connected to God. Their faith aroused God’s salvation in a place beyond all human understanding. This is the meaning of the statement in Parshat Beshalach, at the splitting of the Red Sea, “and they believed in God and in Moshe, His servant.”³⁸⁴This is an ironic rereading of the verses. The straightforward meaning is that the Jewish people believed more in G-d after they passed through the sea. According to R. Gershon Hanokh, it was their faith in G-d that actually caused the sea to split, as faith reaches a level above the laws of nature. This is as it is written in the passage in the Zohar above, that they clearly saw the revelation of the supernal light.³⁸⁵During the splitting of the sea. It was from this place that miracles happened for the Jews and defeat for the Egyptians, to the point where their entire redemption was miraculous. This is because miracles are the revelation of the Supernal light far above any revealed governance.³⁸⁶That is, the way G-d runs the world through the revealed elements of creation. This is as it is written in the Zohar (Beshalach, 54a): “Then Moshe and the children of Israel sang this song to God.” Rabbi Abba opened and said: I looked into all of the praises sung to God and saw that they all started with, “az (then).” “Az – Then Israel sang.” (Bamidbar, 21); “Az – Then Yehoshua spoke” (Yehoshua 10); “Az – Then Shlomo said” (Melachim 1, 8). Why is this? It is taught that with all of the miracles and mighty actions are performed for Israel, when the light of Atika Kadisha³⁸⁷Atika, or Atikia Kaddisha (the “Holy, Ancient One”) is one of the highest levels of reality, in the order of the supernal worlds. It lies at the interface between creation and transcendent Divinity. It is reflected in the consciousness by that which transcends all cognitive perception. When the light of Atika breaks into reality, it breaks the bonds of nature, causing miracles, and illuminates human consciousness with the ability to grasp that which is paradoxical and impossible. illuminated in its crowns, they are carved and inscribed with “Az – Then.” With aleph, and then aleph with zayin, pierces the darkness and illuminates all sides. When the two letters are joined, the illumination of the aleph reaches the zayin, … this is how miracles and mighty actions happen. When we say that miracles happen from a place that is above man’s ability to comprehend, we call this the light of “Atika Kadisha.” When this light illuminates and breaks through the border of man’s understanding and enclothes itself in a lower garment, then the governance of the supernal light is revealed in the world, and we can clearly see miracles.

Deuteornomy 5,16. “honour your father and your ‎mother as the Lord your G’d has commanded you, etc.” ‎We need to understand why the words: ‎כאשר צוך ה' אלוקיך‎, “as the ‎Lord your G’d commanded you,” did not appear in the version of ‎the Ten Commandments in the Book of Exodus. It appears that ‎the version we have in Deuteronomy adds an additional ‎dimension to this commandment. Had these words not appeared ‎at least in the second version, we might have thought that even ‎when the father commands his child something that the Torah ‎had prohibited, the father’s command overrides the Torah’s ‎command. The Talmud Yevamot 5 explains this very simply. ‎Seeing that both father and mother had already been commanded ‎to observe the Sabbath themselves, how could their forbidding ‎the son to do so be relevant at all? In other words, the words “as ‎the Lord G’d commanded you,” mean “with the exception of ‎when father or mother ask you to violate one of My ‎commandments.” These words would not have been appropriate ‎in Exodus, since most of the Torah had not yet been given at the ‎time when the first version of the Ten Commandments was ‎revealed.‎

When the psalmist, in psalms 111,4 says of G’d: ‎זכר עשה ‏לנפלאותיו‎, “He has made a memory for His wonders,” the question ‎arises why ”wonders” need to be commemorated by a special ‎זכר‎? ‎We would have thought that their very having occurred is their ‎memorial! The psalmist answers this unspoken question in the ‎latter half of the same verse when he says: ‎חנון ורחום ה'‏‎, ‎‎“Hashem is gracious and compassionate.” At the sea of ‎reeds G’d demonstrated that in spite of His being compassionate ‎He deliberately suppressed this attribute by drowning the ‎Egyptians in order to “save” the Israelites. This “canceling” of one ‎of His major attributes on account of the interests of the Jewish ‎people is what are referred to both by the psalmist, and by Moses ‎in the shirat hayam, the song of thanksgiving, as ‎נפלאותיו‎ or ‎פלא‎, “wonderful, amazing.”‎
The second type of ‎ישועה‎, “rescue” is when G’d garbs Himself ‎in the “clothing” worn by nature, i.e. makes use of natural law ‎without disturbing its normal function. A well known example of ‎such an event is the “miracle” of Purim, which according to all ‎that we know about it did not contain any elements that could be ‎described as interference with the natural course of events.‎
Achashverosh married Esther, and due to his jealousy of ‎Haman who he thought had tried to rape his wife Esther, he ‎hanged Haman. A similar “miracle” resulted in the festival of ‎Chanukah, the king or chief general of the Seleucids lusting after ‎Yehudit and trying to rape her, resulting instead in his being ‎killed by her, and his army becoming demoralized. In both the ‎examples mentioned, many thousands of gentiles, antisemites, ‎were killed in due course.
The subject becomes easier to ‎understand by means of a parable. A King built a palace for his ‎son; originally, he had meant for his son to live in that house. ‎After a while, some wicked people expelled the son from this ‎house. It would be appropriate for the house that had served as ‎the protector of its inhabitants to not only protest this action ‎but to take counter measures. However the house, i.e. the stones, ‎are immobile, as pointed put by Chabakuk 2,11. Seeing that the ‎stones of the house are immobile, they are powerless. The world ‎was created for the sake of the Jewish people, i.e. the world is our ‎‎“house,” as G’d has told Pharaoh that the Jewish people are His ‎firstborn son when viewed in terms of the parable. (Exodus 4,22) ‎When the gentile nations dispossess us or kill us, the “world” ‎ought by rights to rise up in our defense. As this is not possible, ‎the owner of the world, G’d, will do this instead. This is why the ‎numerical value of the word ‎טבע‎, nature loosely translated as ‎‎“world,” is the same as the numerical value of the word ‎אלה-ים‎, ‎G’d, i.e. 86. When “nature” smites the gentile nations, it is the ‎same as G’d smiting them. The world is the sum total of the ‎Creator’s creative activity. G’d may be perceived as its father. The ‎expression ‎מעשה בראשית‎, a simile for the 6 days of G’d’s creative ‎activity, contains the word ‎ראשית‎, “beginning,” i.e. that the final ‎product of G’d’s creative activity had been planned from the very ‎beginning, i.e. as a home for the Jewish people, who are the whole ‎purpose of G’d’s beginning the creation of the universe. At the ‎conclusion of this process, ‎אחרית‎, the Creator garbed Himself in ‎what we are fond of calling ‎טבע‎, “nature,” and all that this term ‎entails. When Moses said in Deuteronomy 32,18 ‎צור ילדך תשי‎, “you ‎‎(his people) neglected the Rock that begot you,” his words ‎expressed similar sentiments.‎
Before someone opens his mouth to say something, a person ‎considers if the words he is about to utter are the ones ‎appropriate for expressing his wish. If he wishes to make a ‎request, he thinks about how best to phrase such a request in ‎order that it may be granted. By changing his mode of speech, he ‎becomes a totally new person. When G’d issued directives to ‎create the universe, He created the whole world with these oral ‎directives. (Compare psalms 33,6 ‎בדבר ה' שמים נעשו‎, “the heavens ‎came into existence by a single word of the Lord”.) When it comes ‎to “saving” this world from impending destruction, using the ‎טבע‎, “nature,” as His instrument, He deals with something that is ‎established, and therefore employs a different means than the one ‎He had employed when bringing something into existence. ‎According to our author the word ‎טבע‎ is closely related to the ‎word ‎חנוכה‎, completing a training program, consecration, i.e. ‎establishing a kind of order, norms, imprinting a form on ‎something, as in ‎מטבע‎, coin. G’d no longer needs to resort to ‎something brand new, i.e. miracles.‎
When Esther is described as ‎אילה‎, a strong animal, (feminine ‎of ‎איל‎, ram) i.e. fully mature, our sages referred to the period of ‎overt miracles in Jewish history having come to an end in her ‎time, so that the salvation of the Jewish people in which she was ‎instrumental did not require G’d’s intervention by upsetting the ‎rules of nature through a miracle.
‎[If G’d were forever to have to resort to miracles to ‎achieve His purpose in the universe, this would reflect a basic ‎flaw in that universe. When at the end of the Purim story the ‎Jews are described as voluntarily accepting what they had ‎accepted at Sinai under tremendous pressure, this too is a ‎compliment to G’d, whose children had matured. Ed.]‎
The sages (at the beginning of 40,10) are quoted as seeing in ‎one of the branches which the cup bearer saw in his dream, the ‎young priests, the ones who would perform the sacrificial service ‎in the Temple in due course. If we revert to the allegorical ‎approach that the author has adopted, the ‎פרחי כהונה‎ that the ‎Talmud spoke about are the sacrifices offered in the Temple, ‎which are symbolic of how miracles become converted into ‎norms, ‎טבע‎, seeing that most communal offerings are closely tied ‎to certain days, weeks, months, or years, and these in turn ‎symbolise how what had come into existence as an overt miracle ‎at the creation, had been transformed into what we call natural ‎phenomena, i.e. manifestations in nature that are not only ‎predictable but can be calculated thousands of years in advance.‎
‎[The author tries again to bring the subject of ‎Chanukah into this portion, as the portion is always read around ‎that time of year, draws on the Talmud Shabbat 21 where the ‎subject is Chanukah. Ed.] The Talmud there stipulates ‎that the best time for lighting the Chanukah candles is the period ‎immediately following sunset until it has become so dark that no ‎more pedestrians are about. (There was no street lighting in those ‎days) Our author sees in this a symbol of the gradual switchover ‎from G’d performing overt miracles to working through letting ‎טבע‎ perform most of His intervention in the affairs of man. The ‎expression for complete darkness, used by the Talmud is ‎עד שכלתה ‏רגל מן השוק‎, usually translated as “until the pedestrians have ‎ceased walking in the public domain.” Seeing that the word ‎רגל‎ ‎does not only mean “foot, but is also directly related to ‎רגילות‎, ‎something habitual, he understands the Talmud as hinting at this ‎‎“getting used to seeing no more brilliant miracles,” as the period ‎following “sunset.” The expression used by the Talmud for sunset ‎is ‎שקיעת החמה‎, the word ‎חמה‎, “sun,” referring to something overt, ‎highly visible.‎ ‎

While the Israelites were in Egypt they had not ‎attained more than the first virtue (attribute) i.e. ‎אמונה‎, ‎‎“faith,” as the Torah testifies in Exodus 4,31‎ויאמן העם‎, ‎‎“The people possessed faith.”‎
We have already explained that the feet (legs) ‎symbolize faith and that is why at the Exodus, (12,37) ‎the Torah describes the Jewish people leaving Egypt by ‎referring to them as ‎כשש מאות אלף רגלי‎, “approximately ‎‎600,000 pairs of feet.” The other virtues that the ‎Israelites did not yet possess at the time of the Exodus, ‎they would acquire at the “foot” of Mount Sinai, seven ‎weeks later, at the time when G’d gave them the Torah. ‎This progress of the Israelites’ spiritual development is ‎hinted at in the details with which the Torah describes ‎the Passover offering. The sequence of the words: ‎ראשו ‏על כרעיו ועל קרבו‎, suggests that at that time the virtues ‎other than faith, ‎כרעיו‎, were still as hidden as are the ‎entrails. When we keep this in mind, we can ‎understand a statement in the Talmud ‎‎Menachot 65, where the verse ‎וספרתם לכם ממחרת ‏השבת‎, ”you shall count for yourselves starting from the ‎day after the Sabbath,” is understood to refer to the ‎day after the first day of the Passover festival. This ‎contradicts the interpretation of the Sadducees who ‎understood the word ‎השבת‎ in that verse as referring ‎literally to the first Sabbath day during that festival.

Rabbi Yitzchok in Bereshit Rabbah 56,2 comments on ‎this as follows: “the only reason that Avraham was able to keep ‎his promise to the lads that he would return from Mount Moriah ‎‎(alive), is that he prostrated himself there before the Lord, ‎‎[something beyond what the Lord had asked of him when He ‎commanded him to offer his son Yitzchok as a burnt offering.” ‎Ed.] This is why hundreds of years later his descendants were ‎redeemed from Egypt, as G’d explained to Moses in Exodus 3,12 ‎and as the Israelites did in Exodus 4,31. This ‎השתחויה‎, ‎‎“prostration before the Lord,” symbolized that the person doing ‎so abandoned any claim that he might have had to the material ‎benefits that life on earth offers. This is also what enables G’d to ‎‎“sweeten” i.e. remove the sting, of any judgments man is ‎subjected to by the attribute of Justice. Avraham’s example of ‎reducing himself to ‎אין‎ or ‎אפס‎, “nothing,” paved the way for his ‎descendants to emulate him and to be redeemed from the yoke of ‎the Egyptians who had effectively reduced them to a similar state ‎of having to negate the attractions this world offered to others.‎
The Torah itself was only given to the Jewish people because ‎they voluntarily repeated this ‎השתחויה‎, prostrating themselves ‎before the Lord, as we know from Exodus 24,1 where all the elite ‎of the Jewish people are reported as having prostrated themselves ‎some distance away from Mount Sinai. [That chapter, though ‎written after the revelation, describes events that occurred before ‎the revelation, Ed.] The elite negating their claims on the material ‎benefits this world has to offer, made it possible for coming so ‎close to G’d during the revelation that He addressed them as if He ‎were speaking to an equal. In psalms 99,9 when Moses (the ‎author of this psalm) says: ‎רוממו ה' אלוקינו והשתחוו להר קדשו‎, ‎‎“Exalt the Lord our G’d and prostrate yourselves at the Mountain ‎of His holiness;” similar verses are found in Isaiah 27,13, and ‎Samuel I 1,19 where the wording is almost identical. Rabbi ‎Yitzchok concludes by saying that the resurrection when it will ‎occur, does so only in recognition of these voluntary prostrations ‎of the Jewish people on various occasions when they ‎demonstrated their absolute submission to G’d and His will. If we ‎needed proof of this we find in in Isaiah 27,13 where we read ‎והיה ‏ביום ההוא יתקע בשופר גדול ובאו האובדים בארץ אשור והנדכים בארץ ‏מצרים והשתחוו לה' בהר הקודש בירושלים‎, “it will be on that Day, ‎when a great ram’s horn will be sounded, and the strayed who are ‎in the land of Assyria, and the expelled who are in the land of ‎Egypt, shall come and prostrate themselves on the holy Mountain ‎in Jerusalem.”

Exodus 13,1. “Hashem said to ‎Moses, saying; sanctify for me every firstborn, ‎etc.”
In order to better understand the ‎subject introduced here by the Torah it is well to go ‎back to Exodus 4,22 where G’d for the first time refers ‎to the Jewish people as: ‎בני בכורי ישראל‎, “My firstborn son, ‎Israel.” [G’d had referred to the Jewish people ‎as “My people,” already in Exodus 3,7, but He had not ‎referred to this people being G’d’s “firstborn.” ‎Ed.]‎
The following parable may help us understand the ‎difference between the two descriptions of the Jewish ‎people. There are people who devote time to the study ‎of Torah and after a certain number of hours of daily ‎study they turn their attention to business in order to ‎earn a living to support their families. This group of ‎people may be divided into 2 separate categories. A ‎member of category one, due to lack of understanding, ‎considers his preoccupation with trade and commerce ‎his principal occupation and purpose, whereas a ‎member of the second category is well aware that ‎preoccupation with the study of Torah, performing its ‎commandments, and performing deeds of loving ‎kindness for his peers, is his principal duty in life, but ‎seeing that he does not want to depend on miracles for ‎supporting his family, he sets aside time to secure his ‎livelihood with G’d’s support, of course, during the ‎time required for this.
The relationship between the gentile nations and ‎the Jewish nation is parallel to the above, in that the ‎gentiles by and large also devote some of their time to ‎duties prescribed by their respective religions. ‎However, except for a minute fraction, who devote ‎their lives to their deities as priests of some type, they ‎consider the demands made upon them by “life” on ‎earth as paramount. Seeing that the entire universe ‎including the gentiles were created in order to ‎somehow serve as an appendix to the Jewish people, ‎this people must not copy the gentiles by seeing in the ‎mundane tasks to be performed daily the essence of ‎their existence. Israel’s destiny is to serve as a holy ‎nation, and anyone wishing to sanctify itself with a ‎mirror like replica of G’d’s holiness, will in the process ‎draw down from the celestial domain not only G’d’s ‎attribute of Mercy, but also His largesse in helping to ‎make the mundane tasks such people have to perform ‎becoming crowned with success. By being accorded the ‎title: ‎בני בכורי‎, “My firstborn son,” G’d brings home to us ‎that we are the principal reason that G’d undertook the ‎creation of the universe. The author suggests that the ‎meaning of the word ‎רחם‎ in ‎פטר כל רחם‎, usually ‎translated as “each first opening of the womb,” should ‎be understood as a reference to the task of the Jewish ‎people to ensure that the source of Mercy, ‎רחמים‎, be ‎opened through the Jewish people’s prayers so that all ‎of mankind will be provided with its needs, be it ‎directly or indirectly through G’d’s largesse. He quotes ‎Proverbs 17,14 ‎פוטר מים ראשית‎, as an allusion to this idea ‎by Solomon. [possibly linked to Reshit ‎Chochmah, Teshuvah 7,14. Ed.]‎ ‎