Chasidut su Deuteronomio 34:78

An additional reason why the holy Torah starts with the letter Beis, which the numerical value is two, is to teach that there are two Torahs, there is written and oral.

Exodus 27,20. “and you shall command the Children of ‎Israel to take to you pure olive oil, etc.;” the expression ‎ויקחו אליך‎ instead of ‎ויביאו אליך‎, “they shall bring to you,” or ‎ויקחו ‏לי‎ “they shall take for Me,“ as at the beginning of Parshat ‎T’rumah, is unusual, to say the least. The point is that the ‎menorah together with all its details was part of a vision that ‎Moses had been shown by G’d while he had been on the ‎Mountain, just as he had been shown the other components of ‎the Tabernacle there. Being shown all this by G’d had been an ‎expression of G’d’s joy at the degree of awe and love for Him that ‎Moses had achieved, a level of closeness to the Creator not ‎achieved by any subsequent prophet. When Moses was instructed ‎to tell the people to bring the pure oil for lighting the ‎‎menorah “to you,” instead of “to Me,” [and he was ‎instructed to write this down in the Torah, Ed.] this was ‎to tell the reader to what exceptional spiritual heights Moses had ‎risen. This is why the Torah testified after Moses’ death ‎‎(Deuteronomy, 34,10) that no prophet who was as close to G’d as ‎Moses ever arose after him in history.‎

Having explained all this, the opening line of our portion, i.e. ‎Balak’s fear of the Israelites, which had baffled many in light of ‎G’d having forbidden the Israelites to harass the Moabites, much ‎less attack them, becomes more understandable.‎
It is true that Nachmanides had addressed this problem and ‎concluded that Balak’s fear was that the Moabites, on account of ‎their love or their being related to the founder of the Jewish ‎people, would voluntarily allow themselves to be conquered, as a ‎result of which the prohibition to attack and conquer their ‎territory would have become null and void, and the Israelites ‎would conquer that land, just as they had done with the land ‎owned by Sichon and Og, annex it. Nonetheless, this is not a very ‎plausible explanation as there were no nations nearby other than ‎the Canaanites, all of whom Israel had been commanded to wipe ‎out completely, so that the Moabites would not gain by becoming ‎their captives. [Since the author had introduced an even ‎less likely scenario than the example I mentioned, examples that ‎reflect Balak’s supposed fear of the Israelites through devious ‎means trying to elevate the Moabites spiritually, level by level, I ‎have omitted it. Ed.]‎
When commenting on Deut. 34,10, ‎ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל ‏כמשה‎, “and there never arose another prophet of the stature of ‎Moses in Israel,” our sages in Sifrey Vezot Habrachah, draw ‎our attention to the significance of the word ‎בישראל‎, “in Israel,” ‎in that verse, and suggest that it means that within other nations ‎there did arise at least one prophet of a stature equal or superior ‎to that of Moses. The statement is mind-boggling, and they ‎therefore add that any comparison of Moses and Bileam is limited ‎to certain aspects of their respective prophetic knowledge and ‎power.‎

When the Talmud in Sanhedrin 110 begins by stating ‎that the people of the generation who had left Egypt have no ‎share in the hereafter, the word ‎אין‎, normally translated as “not”, ‎means that these people considered themselves as totally ‎insignificant, devoid of ego; since this was so, the very fact that ‎they had acquired this level of humility qualified them for an ‎afterlife. The word ‎מדבר‎ used there in the Talmud, usually ‎translated as “desert,” is not used by the sages there in that sense, ‎but is derived from medaber,” they were only speaking,” i.e. ‎their worship of G’d expressed itself through their mouths, ‎prayer, praise and thanksgiving, and the word ‎יתמו‎ in the ‎quotation from Numbers 14,35 does not refer to their “expiring,” ‎but is derived from ‎תמים‎, “perfection,” the Torah testifying that ‎these people had, as a result of their grievous sin rejecting the ‎land of Israel as their future domicile, realized that they had ‎sinned and had accepted their fate without protest.‎
‎ They had tried to perfect their personalities by refining their ‎speech so that no improper words should cross their lips. When ‎the Torah adds in Numbers 14,35 ‎שם ימותו‎, normally translated as ‎‎“there they will die,” [which would be a repetition of what ‎the Torah had already said, Ed.], the meaning is that they ‎had achieved while on earth what the average person achieves ‎only by reason of his soul leaving its body behind on earth. Moses ‎had hoped that the men he had chosen to explore the goodness ‎of the land of Canaan would approach their task in a spirit that ‎would place them beyond material considerations that are ‎commonplace on earth. G’d was aware of Moses’ lofty aspirations, ‎but did not feel that He should deprive Moses of the opportunity ‎to realize his high hopes for his people. When the Torah writes ‎that the mission proceeded ‎על פי ה'‏‎, this does not literally mean ‎‎“at the command of G’d,” but rather: “in the spirit of G’d.” It ‎would be quite wrong for us to give G’d part of the blame for the ‎failure of these men to live up to the trust Moses had placed in ‎them.‎
The author proceeds to remind us that the sages have said ‎that wherever the Torah associates the death of a person with the ‎word ‎שם‎, as in Numbers 14,35, this is an allusion that the person ‎or persons concerned died by means of a heavenly kiss, i.e. a kiss ‎from G’d. Rashi spells this out in connection with the death ‎of Miriam, reported in Numbers 20,1, ‎‏ שםwhere the Torah, having ‎already told us of the location where this took place, adds the ‎word ‎שם‎ twice.
‎[Rashi adds that the reason the Torah did not ‎make this clear beyond doubt by writing: ‎על פי ה'‏‎, “by the mouth ‎of G’d,” as we find when Moses died in Deuteronomy, 34,5, is ‎seeing that G’d is masculine, it would have given some ‎blasphemer an opportunity to read a sexual nuance into that.” ‎Ed.]
At any rate, we are entitled to understand the ‎words ‎ושם ימותו‎ in Numbers 14,35 as promising each one of the ‎Israelites who had left Egypt as adults but did not get to the Holy ‎Land that they would be given a Divine “kiss” when their souls ‎would leave their bodies.‎
Whereas it is true that Moses had not had clear proof that ‎these men had already enjoyed a “heavenly” assist, as does every ‎Jew on the festivals we have discussed, he felt that they were of ‎the caliber that could generate this by their own efforts seeing ‎that the mission for which they had been selected was of such ‎significance.‎‎

Another approach among our sages to understanding the line ‎in Deut. 34,10 that there never arose in Israel a prophet of the ‎stature of Moses, implying that among the gentiles there did arise ‎such a prophet, also shares the conviction that Bileam on no ‎account could be compared to Moses on a moral basis.‎
The greatest difference between them, visible to all, was that ‎Moses during all of his life employed his gift of prophecy ‎beneficially at all times. He put his own life at risk on behalf of his ‎people many times when trying to save them from G’d’s ‎justifiable anger at them.‎
Bileam used his gift exactly in the opposite manner, as his ‎accomplishments were achieved by invoking curses. What then ‎did our sages mean when they implied that a prophet of similar ‎or even superior stature did arise among the gentiles?
According to the Ari z’al they compared the vantage ‎points from which both Moses and Bileam pronounced their ‎respective prophecies. Both of them endeavoured to procure the ‎fulfillment of their prophetic announcements from the same ‎lofty source in heaven; alas Bileam used his power destructively, ‎whereas Moses invariably used his power constructively.‎
Our sages in Yevamot 49 have stated that whereas all ‎other prophets saw indistinct visions, Moses saw a clear vision. ‎This can best be understood by a parable. When a king issues ‎orders to his servants, the servants hearing it only hear the voice ‎of the king when he issues his orders. However, it is clear that ‎each order before being issued had been preceded by the king ‎thinking about if first and formulating it afterwards. Any person ‎who has been privy to the considerations which preceded the ‎orders being issued, in other words, someone who is aware of the ‎motivation resulting in these orders, has an advantage over ‎someone who has only heard the actual order being issued. This ‎was basically the difference between Moses’ level of prophecy and ‎that of other prophets. Moses also understood the reason why G’d ‎had seen fit to issue the various commandments when He did so. ‎People who are unaware of the background to the orders they ‎have been ordered to perform are compared by the Talmud to ‎having experienced indistinct images. Another way of expressing ‎this distinction is the sages saying that other prophets ‎prophesied on a level introduced by ‎כה‎, whereas Moses ‎prophesied on a level introduced by ‎זה‎.

And this is (Ex. 1), “And it came to pass, when the midwives feared God, and He made them houses.” This is the aspect of the housings of the tefillin. For the midwives are the aspect of the children's mother, drawing the light of tefillin, which are the aspect of mother, upon the son, who are the aspect of giving birth to the brains, the aspect of (ibid. 13), “Sanctify to Me all the male firstborns, whatsoever opens any womb” as mentioned. And this is, “And it happened, when they feared” specifically. For tefillin are the aspect of fear, as written, “And all the people of the land shall see that Hashem's name is called upon you, and they will fear you.” And our Rabbis z”l explained these are the head tefillin. For the midwives are the mother of Aharon and Moshe. And Miriam their sister was the second midwife, from whom royalty issued, as Rashi explained there. For Moshe and Aharon are the essence of the tefillin. Aharon the Kohen Gadol is the aspect of the Eight Tiqunei Diqna of the Kohen Gadol, which are the aspect of the eight elders, the aspect of the eight head and arm tefillin passages as mentioned. Moshe Rabbeinu is the aspect of the Supernal Elder, who boasted that he is extremely old and yet is young and suckling entirely etc. and the whole world does not amount to him so much as an eyeblink etc. This is the aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu a”h who is the aspect of (ibid. 2), “And behold, a crying youth,” that even tough he reach what he reached, the perfect aspect of the Elder in Holiness, still he was entirely in the aspect of youth and suckling, in the aspect of (Ps. 37), “I have been young and also old,” that even though I have become so much an elder, still I am entirely young and suckling, which this is the aspect of the boasting of the foremost level elder who is the Blind One as mentioned. And therefore Moshe attained that it was written of him (Deut. 34), “His eye was not dim and his natural force was not abated” — even after death. For no oldness jumped upon him at all, even when dying at 120 years age. For he attained the ultimate elderliness, yet remained entirely suckling, as if he still had not begin living at all, as written (ibid. 3:24), “You have begun to show” etc.; that is, he still did not grasp at all; Hashem Yithbarakh only began showing him his greatness etc. Which, all this is the above aspect, always beginning anew as mentioned. For Moshe is the aspect of “MaN/Manna,” as is known, of which it says (Ex. 17:15), “For they did not know MaH/what it is.” It is impossible to at all know what he is, that someone born of a woman should attain what he attained. And this is the letters of MoSheH being Shin MaH — Shin, the three fathers who are the entirety of the brains, entirety of the tefillin; but everything is drawn from the aspect of MaH, the aspect of, “For they did not know what it is,” which this is the essence of the aspect of Moshe, who is the aspect of the aforementioned elder, who was elder and suckling etc. as mentioned, who is the root of everything and above everything as mentioned. As written (Num. 12), “And the man, Moshe, was extremely humble” etc., which is the aspect of (Ps. 131), “Like a weaned child with his mother; my soul is with me like a weaned child,” which David said. And this is that it is written in the Zohar, regarding Moshe, that amongst the Sabas/Supernal Elders he is the Elder, and amongst the sucklings he is the suckling, that is, as mentioned, that he is old and suckling etc. as mentioned. And this is his saying (Deut. 31), “I am one hundred and twenty years old today” — today my days and years are filled, for he can longer go, as our Rabbis z”l said (Sotah 13b), “this teaches that [the gates of wisdom] were closed to him. For he needed to live the aforementioned long life, going each time further and further, and when he cannot go further he was forced to pass away, as discerned in the holy talks of Rabbeinu z”l. And therefore (ibid. 34), “And no man knew his burial-chamber,” for they did not know what he is, as mentioned. Hence Moshe is the aspect of the aforementioned Supernal Elder, who is the root of tefillin, which are the aspect of the face's skin beaming, which Moshe attain, which are the aspect of the light of tefillin, as Rabbeinu z”l said in the torah, “Markevoth Par`oh..” (LM #38), from the aspect of that Elder. And Aharon is the aspect of the eight Tiqunei Diqna, which are the aspect of the eight tefillin passages that are drawn from Moshe's aspect, from the aspect of that Elder. And this is, “And He made them houses” — houses of priesthood and royalty (Sh”R 1). Houses of priesthood are the aspect of tefillin, which are the aspect of the priesthood's sanctity as mentioned, the aspect of the sanctity of the firstborn, to give him to the Kohen as mentioned. And houses of royalty are the aspect of kingship of David Mashiach, the aspect of Emunah, which all this is the aspect of tefillin as mentioned. And the essence of tefillin's sanctity is the aspect of grasping Godliness, which the true tzaddiqim, who are from the aspect of Moshe, draw upon us, through many constrictions, which this is the main thing, that they manage to attain such a high and enormous perception, that they can constrict and clothe the perception in many constrictions and vestments until we too can manage to grasp Godliness as mentioned. And this is the aspect of tefillin housings, for it is impossible for us to receive the light of the passages themselves except by way of the housings and straps, which are the aspect of limitations and vessels of `Olam haTiqun, to receive the light by degree and measure. For they are able to enter the aspect of the “Empty Space" and reveal His Godliness there, and thereby make holy vessels. For the essence of these vessels' genesis is by means of repair of the Empty Space which is the beginning of the limitation, which is the root of all the vessels and masks generated from the coarsening of the light and its becoming distant from the Emanator. For if there was no Empty Space then the coarsening of the light and its distancing would be irrelevant etc., as explained and discerned in the Writings. Hence the essence of the vessels' genesis derives from the aspect of the Empty Space. But by means of Adam haRishon's failure he was seized in his vessels, the essence of which is in the aspect of the skin, which is the ultimate vessel, the exterior of the exterior; and that is where he was seized the most as mentioned, which this is the aspect of the “Serpent's bite,” from whence is the grip of all the Qelipoth/Husks, God forbid. And therefore the main repair is by means of purifying and processing the hide in sanctity, which is the aspect of repair of the imagination, repair of the Empty Space, which the aforementioned great Tzaddiqim attain repairing, to the point that from it, specifically, they make the aspect of holy vessels to receive the light in degree and measure. Which, this is the aspect of the hide of a pure beast, insofar as the essence of writing the Torah and tefillin is on the hide specifically, and as mentioned. And this is the aspect of the housings made of hide. For we need to receive the light through limitations and vessels that are made by the repair of the Empty Space which is the aspect of repairing the imagination, which is the aspect of hide, as mentioned. And this is the aspect of (Gen. 3), “And Hashem-God made Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them” — garments of skin specifically, for the main repair is repairing the skin etc. as mentioned. For, the garments of skin are the aspect of Tallith and Tefillin, which come from skin and from the hair that grows on the skin, as explained in the Etz Chayim. Which, this is the aspect of (Ex. 22:26), “ki hu kesutho levaddah/for that is his only covering” — this is tzitzith; “hi simlatho le`oro/it is his garment for his skin” — this is tefillin (Tiqqunim #69), which are more internal and lofty than tzitzith, as written there. And all this is the aspect of repair of the imagination, which is repair of the Empty Space, as the essence of the repair is by means of Emunah as mentioned. And this is, “And it came to pass, as the midwives feared God” — feared specifically. For holy piety is the aspect of repair of the constriction and stricture of the Empty Space, which is sweetened at it root by means of holy piety, which is the aspect of a “holy decree,” as is known. Therefore by the aspect of piety are made housings, which are the aspect of fixing the vessels and limitations to receive the tefillin's light by degree and measure as mentioned. And this is, “And it came to pass, as they feared... [God] made them housings” as mentioned.