Chasidut su Esodo 8:18
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 8,5.Moses said to Pharaoh: ‘you may brag concerning me, ‘for when shall I pray on your behalf, etc;?” ויאמר למחר, ויאמר כדבריך למען תדע כי אין כה' אלוקינו “He said: ‘for tomorrow!” He replied: ‘just as you have said, so that you will know that there is no-one comparable to the Lord our G’d.’” It is worth noting that after the fourth plague, (the third not having been announced beforehand) in announcing the forthcoming plague, (Exodus 8,18) G’d uses the expression: והפלאתי when announcing beforehand that the wild beasts will not invade the land of Goshen, the home of most of the Children of Israel. At that point, Moses adds to his warning: “in order that you will know that there is no-one comparable to Me on the whole Earth.” A similar statement appears before the onset of the plague of hail, (9,14) and prior to Moses leaving the boundaries of the land of Egypt in order to pray to G’d to bring the plague of hail to a conclusion. (Exodus 9,29) Moses adds that his objective is to demonstrate to Pharaoh that the globe is G’d’s property, למען תדע כי לה' הארץ. We need to examine why G’d chose to use different reasons for the onset or removal of the various plagues we quoted.
With G’d’s help we hope to clarify the reasons behind these various nuances that appear so significant that the Torah bothers to list them individually.
The Zohar, in commenting on the verse: אני ראשון ואני אחרון ומבלעדי אין אלוקים, “I am the first and I am the last and apart from Me there is no Divine power,”(Isaiah 44,6) sees in that verse a synopsis of the functions of certain vowels (all three are dots but placed on top, in the middle, or beneath the consonants) If the dot is on top of the letter, as in the חולם, it refers to the ability of the Tzaddikim to cause decrees by the attribute of Justice to be converted to decrees dominated by the attribute of Mercy, the reason being that the concept of the Jewish nation had preceded the concept of creating a physical universe in G’d’s mind. The same dot appearing in the middle of the letter, known as שורוק, alludes to G’d’s intervention in the affairs of man in a covert manner, as He did during the period of Mordechai and Esther. Finally, the dot appearing beneath the letter, known as חיריק, alludes to the period of the wars preceding the arrival of the messiah when G’d will become manifest by His literally “turning the world upside down”, pouring out the wicked, who at that time will finally recognize His might in all its glory. The author derives all of this from the concise comments of the Zohar on the verse we quoted from Isaiah 44,6.
With G’d’s help we hope to clarify the reasons behind these various nuances that appear so significant that the Torah bothers to list them individually.
The Zohar, in commenting on the verse: אני ראשון ואני אחרון ומבלעדי אין אלוקים, “I am the first and I am the last and apart from Me there is no Divine power,”(Isaiah 44,6) sees in that verse a synopsis of the functions of certain vowels (all three are dots but placed on top, in the middle, or beneath the consonants) If the dot is on top of the letter, as in the חולם, it refers to the ability of the Tzaddikim to cause decrees by the attribute of Justice to be converted to decrees dominated by the attribute of Mercy, the reason being that the concept of the Jewish nation had preceded the concept of creating a physical universe in G’d’s mind. The same dot appearing in the middle of the letter, known as שורוק, alludes to G’d’s intervention in the affairs of man in a covert manner, as He did during the period of Mordechai and Esther. Finally, the dot appearing beneath the letter, known as חיריק, alludes to the period of the wars preceding the arrival of the messiah when G’d will become manifest by His literally “turning the world upside down”, pouring out the wicked, who at that time will finally recognize His might in all its glory. The author derives all of this from the concise comments of the Zohar on the verse we quoted from Isaiah 44,6.
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