Musar su Giobbe 28:29

We find the Torah described as G–d's, i.e. תורת ה'; we also find it described as Moses' Torah, i.e. תורת משה. I have dealt with this apparent anomaly in the introduction to my treatise called תולדות אדם as well as in my treatise מסכת שבועות. G–d gave Moses a number of general rules when He gave him the Torah. This is alluded to in Exodus 31,18: ויתן אל משה ככלתו לדבר אתו הר סיני, "G–d gave to Moses when He finished speaking with him at Mount Sinai, etc." Our sages in Shemot Rabbah 41,6 comment that this gift refers to the principles of Torah exegesis that G–d gave to Moses at that time. Moses realized then that there is an oral Torah also. G–d confirmed to Moses that this was indeed so. This is why the oral Torah is called תורת משה, i.e. Moses' bride. Once Moses had formed this relationship with his spiritual bride he gave up his physical bride, i.e. he no longer lived with his wife as man and wife. This is why the Zohar describes Moses' title as איש האלוקים with the words בעלה דמטרניתא, "husband of this spiritual 'matron'" (who has her root in the emanation תפארת and whose mystical dimension דעת was previously refined by passing through the emanations חכמה and בינה). We find a further allusion to this concept in Job 28,12: והחכמה מאין תמצא ואיזה מקום בינה, "But where can wisdom be found; where is the source of understanding?" The Tziyoni writes that the word מאין is the mystical dimension of the letters in the name משה. The numerical value of the word זנגזגאל, Moses' teacher, is the same as that of the word מאין, i.e. 101. [the angel that called to Moses from the burning bush, cf. Targum Yonathan ben Uzziel Exodus 3,2. Ed.] This number 101 is reminiscent of the statement of our sages that in order to ensure that one understands what one has learned one has to study it 101 times (Chagigah 9b). While it is true that the title איש אלוקים has been accorded by the Bible not only to Moses but to a total of ten personalities namely Elkanah, Samuel, David, Shayah, Iddo, Elijah, Elisha, Michah and Amotz, yet there is a difference between the other nine men and Moses. Whenever Moses is described by this title he is referred to as איש אלוקים. This means that he was the "husband" of the Divine i.e. the emanation מלכות, much as Elimelech is described as the husband of Naomi, i.e. איש נעמי in Ruth 1,3. The same term with the other prophets means "a man of G–d," i.e. someone who has displayed close affinity with G–d. Another difference which marks the description of Moses as איש אלוקים is that whenever Moses' name is mentioned in such a connection Moses' own personal name always precedes his description as איש האלוקים, such as in our portion in 33,1. The same does not hold true with the other men who have been accorded the title איש אלוקים. When our Rabbis stated: אין בעל מת אלא לאשתו, "a husband's death affects primarily his wife" (Sanhedrin 22a), they may well have alluded to the "marriage" between Moses and Matronita. When the period of mourning observed by Israel after Moses' death is described in the Torah (34,8) we find the expression: ויתמו ימי בכל אבל משה, "The days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end." Note that the numerical value of the word בכי, weeping is 32, and the word אבל is 33. Adding these two words you arrive at the numerical value of the current name of G–d א-ד-נ-י=65. Allegorically speaking, this means that Moses was mourned by his "wife" i.e. the (junior) attribute of G–d Matronita with whom he shared the last 40 years of his life on earth.

The following Midrash will illustrate what I have in mind: "Moses said to G–d that the man who would be appointed his successor should "possess" the mind of all six hundred thousand Jews, since each one of them must be ready to accept him as his personal leader, seeing that no two Jews are of the same mind. G–d said to Moses: "Since you have spoken thus, I will show you all the future leaders of the Jewish people, all the Judges and Prophets I shall appoint for them from this time until the time of the Resurrection. Rabbi Simon said that this is the meaning of Deut.34,1: ויראהו ה' את כל הארץ, "G–d showed him the whole earth." He showed him Joshua who stood beneath him, Othniel who took over leadership of the Jewish people from Joshua, etc. G–d told Moses that all those people were of one mind and one spirit. Concerning what Moses had demanded at the very beginning however, namely, a man whose mind would evoke a 100% positive response from every Jew, such a man would not arise until the arrival of the Messiah of whom Isaiah (11,1) has written: "But a shoot shall grow out of Yishai, a twig shall sprout from his stock. The spirit of the Lord shall alight upon him, a spirit of wisdom and insight." This is also what is referred to in Job 28,25: לעשות לרוח משקל, "who can determine the weight of the spirit" (evaluate correctly the mind of every person). The Midrash describes Moses as saying to G–d that only He knows the minds of all His creatures. Since G–d is aware that each Jew has a mind of his own, seeing that he, Moses, is about to depart from the scene, he asks G–d to appoint someone who is able to put up with all these opinions represented by the Jewish nation. It is puzzling why such a well-meant request should be answered by G–d in the manner described by the Midrash. Why did G–d post-pone fulfilling Moses' request until the coming of the Messiah?

This also explains why this act was performed by a messenger and not by Abraham personally. Abraham represented the essence of that virtue, i.e. מים רבים. It would not have been appropriate for Abraham also to personally perform this secondary function of the waters. Even G–d provided purification for the people of Israel through an agent, i.e. the waters which came forth after Moses struck the rock, as distinct from the manna which G–d Himself supplied from the Heavenly Regions. We are taught here that man should do good and not need to be purified by waters except after he has committed sins. When man lives up to these criteria he can achieve דבקות בה' on what is known as a פנים אל פנים "face to face" basis rather than through an intermediary. This very characteristic is described in Job 28,25 as ומים תכן במדה, "He set the measure of the waters."

It is written of Moses that "I have drawn him from the water" (Exodus 2,10). When pondering the statements of our sages, we must remember that though they may be describing things physical, i.e. water, marble, etc., these are merely euphemisms for matters spiritual. The same applies to the verse "and the name of the one was Eliezer." The word "the one" refers to "The One," i.e. G–d. His name could not be revealed until the giving of the Torah, since only then did it become clear how Moses was particularly qualified to assume the role he had been assigned by G–d. Since he had already possessed all the basic qualifications, he could now ascend further, i.e. Mount Sinai, receive the tablets, etc. When Job in 28,12, asks rhetorically "where is חכמה, wisdom to be found?" this is an allusion to Moses; i.e. only people who are already spiritually and physically prepared, will achieve that stature (being the re-incarnation of הבל, (another meaning of whose name is "heat" which purifies). Being the re-incarnation of Abel meant having been purified by fire into being sinless. (Shabbat 89 describes Moses as being fearful of the heat, הבל, that emanates from the mouths of the angels since the latter are sin-free creatures, seeing they have no body). The immediate re-incarnation of Abel had been Shet, some of whose descendants survived the deluge, i.e. became the founders of mankind. The world's survival depends on Torah. The word me-ayin quoted previously in Job 28,12, equals 101 in numerical value (מאין). This is a hint at what our sages say when they claim that if one studies a subject matter one hundred times, this is not as good as when one studies it one hundred and one times (Chagigah 9).

The attribute of Justice is not to be confused with עקא, distress, rather it means that man is to be treated according to his just deserts, be it reward or punishment. The only reason it is a source of distress to be judged by is the fact that we are all unable to measure up to its yardstick. It is thus quite normal that both Jacob and Esau were offspring of Isaac. One of them was destined for oblivion, the other for eternal life. Both are alluded to in the name קצחי. The קץ, "end," part of the name alludes to Esau, the סטרא אחרא to which the Zohar has linked it when commenting on קץ כל בשר בא לפני, "I have decided to put an end to all flesh" (Genesis 6,13). Samael is also referred to as קץ הימים, the end of all days, seeing he puts an end to our "days." The same word is also used to describe חשך, darkness. We read in Job 28,3: קץ שם לחשך, ולכל תכלית הוא חוקר, "He (G–d) sets bounds to darkness, to every limit man probes." Jacob, on the other hand, represents life, i.e. חי as in חי רב פעלים איש, (Samuel II 28,20). The Talmud Taanit 5 makes a point of telling us that יעקב אבינו לא מת, that our patriarch Jacob did not die. We derive all this information from the name קצחי.

It is written in the Torah, "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God?" (Deut. 10:12). And it is writen, "You must revere the Lord your God" (ibid., 10:20). And it is written, "And the fear of the Lord which is His treasure" (Is. 33:6). And they said (Shabbath 31b, and see Berakoth 33b), "The Holy One has nought in His world save for the awe of Heaven," as it is written, "And unto man he said, "Behold (hen), the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom" (Job 28:28). (The fear of the Lord is unique in God's affections — Rashi, (ad. loc.) The Hebrew word hen can be interpreted to mean "one" for in Greek they pronounce the word "one" as "hen."

The verse (26,5) we have just quoted contains ten words corresponding to the Ten Commandments. When you examine the wording of the Ten Commandments you will find that it contains 172 words, the same as the numerical value of the word עקב, as pointed out by Baal HaTurim. You may ask: If this is so why was יעקב not called עקב? The answer is already alluded to when we read about Jacob's birth, when he is described as holding on to עקב עשו, the heel of Esau (25,26). The last three letters in Jacob's name are an indication that the sanctity, holiness expressed by the letter י in his name will prevail in the world only at the end of history, at the עקב, or סוף. The heel of Esau, however, the one that Jacob held on to, is symbolic of the serpent which hisses: it is the end of life, signifies darkness and death, as we have explained earlier. When the enmity that exists between the serpent and man is described in the Torah in Genesis 3,15: הוא ישופך ראש ואתה תשופנו עקב, "He (man) will strike at your head, and you (the snake) will strike at his heel," the Zohar writes on this verse that the word ראש refers to the first letter in the name יעקב, an allusion to the Ten Commandments. If Jacob observes the Ten Commandments, then he can successfully strike at the ראש, the head of the serpent and all that the serpent represents; but והיה כאשר תריד (Genesis 27,40) "when you will backslide in your service of G–d," then you (the snake) will strike at עקב, the part of the name יעקב when detached from the י and all that this letter stands for." If Jacob had not had the letter י in his name his name would have been associated only with elements derived from the סטרא אחרא, the negative side of the diagram of the emanations. When the Torah reports that וידו אוחזת, that "his hand was holding on to," the letters in the word for "his hand,” i.e. ידו, are the same as the letter יוד. The potential contained in the name יעקב, enabled Jacob to become ישראל, a name that was accorded to Jacob only after his successful refinement through harassment at the hands of Esau. The name ישראל is the pinnacle that the spiritually most refined people can achieve. It indicates that he had been able to contend with Heavenly forces and to prevail (Genesis 32,29). Onkelos translates this verse: "You have fought before G–d with man and have succeeded."

In this world the merit of the patriarchs is helpful to the sons; the reverse is true when one's parents have passed on into the world to Come, where the sons still on this earth are able to stand them in good stead by such merits as they accumulate. The reason that the father's merit can exert a favorable influence on the fate of the son is that the cause always influences the effect. In other words, the effect is mystically connected with its source even after it has parted company with it. There is an original common cause to both similar to the common raw material of the physical universe, the raw-material commonly known as hiyuli. This material is referred to in the Torah as תוהו. Nachmanides explains this at the beginning of his commentary on the Book of Genesis. The hiyuli in our world corresponds to a נקודה in the Celestial Regions which is called אין, nought. This is what Job (Job 28,12) referred to when he asked (rhetorically) והחכמה מאין נמצא? This verse is to be understood as a statement rather than as a question. In other words: The source of חכמה is אין. Bereshit Rabbah states that the universe was created for the sake of the אבות, i.e. for he sake of fathers. Now we can understand the sequence in the prayer under discussion. מה נאמר לפניך, "What can we say before You in view of the cessation of the merit of our patriarchs? Even assuming that the merits of our patriarchs had not expired, what did their accomplishments ever do for us except help us in this present world? Their influence was only centred in the Hiyuli. What are we going to do in the World to Come?

In this world the merit of the patriarchs is helpful to the sons; the reverse is true when one's parents have passed on into the world to Come, where the sons still on this earth are able to stand them in good stead by such merits as they accumulate. The reason that the father's merit can exert a favorable influence on the fate of the son is that the cause always influences the effect. In other words, the effect is mystically connected with its source even after it has parted company with it. There is an original common cause to both similar to the common raw material of the physical universe, the raw-material commonly known as hiyuli. This material is referred to in the Torah as תוהו. Nachmanides explains this at the beginning of his commentary on the Book of Genesis. The hiyuli in our world corresponds to a נקודה in the Celestial Regions which is called אין, nought. This is what Job (Job 28,12) referred to when he asked (rhetorically) והחכמה מאין נמצא? This verse is to be understood as a statement rather than as a question. In other words: The source of חכמה is אין. Bereshit Rabbah states that the universe was created for the sake of the אבות, i.e. for he sake of fathers. Now we can understand the sequence in the prayer under discussion. מה נאמר לפניך, "What can we say before You in view of the cessation of the merit of our patriarchs? Even assuming that the merits of our patriarchs had not expired, what did their accomplishments ever do for us except help us in this present world? Their influence was only centred in the Hiyuli. What are we going to do in the World to Come?

The author proceeds to explain that whereas the shape of the letter י symbolizes the concept of G–d creating יש מאין, the letters ד and ו, symbolize by their shape the development of the physical universe.

In Leviticus, where G–d exhorts us to become holy, such an achievement is in our power because it is the result of our actions, the result of free choice given to man. Rabbi Shimon says: "Did you think כמוני that you could be like Me?" Here Rabbi Shimon does not think that the thought of becoming equal to G–d is so strange; this is why he does not add the word אתמהא. Man might have compared his own freedom of choice to G–d's freedom of choice; in that respect he might have considered himself as on a par with G–d, who has no one who interferes with His freedom to carry out His designs. After all our Rabbis have assured us that הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים, "Everything is within the domain of Heaven except the fear of Heaven" (Berachot 33b). We are told in Shabbat 31b, in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, that "the only thing G–d has in His world is the fear of Heaven." Rabbi Yochanan bases himself on Deuteronomy 10,12: "And now, what does the Lord G–d ask of you? Only to fear the Lord your G–d, to walk in His ways." We also have a verse in Job 28, 28: ויאמר לאדם הן יראת ה' חכמה, וסור מרע בינה. He said to man,: "Fear of the Lord is wisdom; to shun evil is understanding." The word הן in Greek means "one."