Musar do Liczb 11:36

We find that his service was out of love and not out of fear and this is the highest service. The Creator, blessed be He, did not praise him for fearing Him, nor did he say, “The seed of Abraham who fears me or is terrified,” but he said (Isaiah 41:8), “The seed of Abraham, My friend.” We have already said that fear is contained in love. Know that the service of the Creator, blessed be He, out of fear is not the service of the truly pious, but it is the service of the wicked or the nations of the world, as He has said to the wicked (Jeremiah 5:22), “Fear ye not Me?”, and He says concerning the Egyptians (Exodus 9:20), “He that feared the word of the Lord,” for they were not doing His command out of love, but out of fear. But to the pious he says (Deuteronomy 6:5), “And thou shalt love the Lord, thy God,” and (ibid., 11:13), “To love the Lord your God.” But he says in Job (Job 1:8), “A wholehearted and an upright man, one that feareth God, and shunneth evil,” and He did not say concerning him, “a lover of God.” And similarly it is said (Psalms 34:10), “O fear the Lord, by His holy ones,” and this is said of the wicked. For when the wicked cleave to the service of God and sanctify and cleanse themselves from their uncleanliness, they are called “holy ones” as it is said (Numbers 11:18), “Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow.” Whereas of the pious ones, whose heart is pure from the first day of their existence, it is said (Psalms 31:24), “O love the Lord all ye His godly ones; the Lord preserveth the faithful.” And of Enoch, it is said (Genesis 5:22), “And Enoch walked with God,” and it is not said, “And Enoch feared God.” And concerning Noah it is said (Genesis 6:9), “Noah was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted.”¹⁷Job was regarded by Jewish tradition as a gentile, as were Enoch and Noah. The latter two lived prior to the time of Abraham, the founder of Judaism. Thus the service of God through fear is not like the service of God through love.

The second: He [should] accustom himself to internalize the love of people into his heart - and even the evildoers - as if they were his brothers, and even more than this; until he fixes the love of all people into his heart. And he [should] even love the evildoers in his heart and say, "Who will give that they all be righteous penitents, and all be great ones and desirable to the Omnipresent," like the statement of the trusted friend of all of Israel. He stated (Numbers 11:29), "and who will give that all of the people of the Lord be prophets, etc?" And with what (how) will he love [them]? When he mentions in his thought the good [qualities] that they have and covers their blemish, and he not gaze at their scabs but rather at the good traits that they have. And he [should] say in his heart, "If this disgusting poor man was a man of much money, how happy I would be with his friendship - as I am with the friendship of x. And behold, if they would dress this one with nice clothes like x, behold there is no difference between them. If so, why [should] he lack honor in my eyes? And behold, in the eyes of God, he is more important than I - as he is stricken and downtrodden with poverty and afflictions, and [so] cleaned of iniquity. And why would I hate one that the Holy One, blessed be He, loves?" And through this, his heart will turn to the side of the good and accustom himself to think about all the good traits that we mentioned.

To be like a father: And Wisdom is also a Father to all that exist, as it is written (Psalms 104:24), "How many are Your creations, Lord; You made all of them with wisdom" - and they are living and survive from There. So [too,] must he be a father to all of the creations of the Holy One, blessed be He, and to Israel, the essence - as they are the holy souls emanated from There. And he [should] always seek mercy and blessing for the world - in the way that the Highest Father is a Merciful One upon His creatures - and always pray about the distress of those in distress, as if they were his actual children and as if he created them. As this is the will of the Holy One, blessed be He - in the way that the faithful shepherd stated (Numbers 11:12), "Did I conceive all this people, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom.'" And in this [way], he [should] carry all of the people of God 'as a nurse carries an infant' - 'with his forearm he gathers the lambs, with his bosom carries, leads the nurse-mothers.' He [should] remember the hidden, seek the young, heal the broken, sustain the needy and return the lost. And he [should] have mercy on Israel and carry their load with a pleasant countenance - like the Highest Merciful One, who tolerates everything and does not wither nor ignore nor get sick [of them], but [rather] leads each one according to his need.

Therefore, I exhort you to train yourself to sit as much as possible, because the sin of the tongue is the most severe, as our Sages said (Tosefta Pe'ah 1): "These are the things...and lashon hara is equivalent to them all." I don't have to elaborate on this most serious sin of all. "All man's toil is for his mouth" (Koheles 6:7). Our Sages said that all man's mitzvos and teachings are not enough to counterbalance what comes out of his mouth. "What should be a man's pursuit in this world? He should be silent" (Chullin 89a). One must seal his lips as tight as two millstones. Idle words are like powerful weapons which can reach from one end of the world to the other. Now, this is true concerning mere excessive speech. Where forbidden speech is concerned - e.g. lashon hara, mocking, swearing, vowing, fighting and cursing - especially in the synagogue, and on Shabbos and Yom Tov - for every utterance of this type it is impossible to imagine the pain and suffering one will receive (Zohar)! No word is lost; everything is recorded. Winged beings attach themselves to everyone, recording all they say. "For a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may tell the matter" (Koheles 10:20). "Let not your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that it was an error. Why should G-d be angered by your speech and destroy the work of your hands?" (ibid. 5:5). Purchase all your needs through a messenger, even if this would cost two or three times as much. "Is there a limit to what G-d can provide?" (Bamidbar 11:23). Hashem feeds all creatures, from the greatest to the smallest (see A.Z. 3), and provides all their needs. And on Shabbos and Yom Tov do not speak at all about things that are not urgent, and be brief even with what is important, for the Shabbos is very holy and our Sages barely permitted the exchange of greetings on it (Yerushalmi Shabbos, and Tosfos Shab. 113). See how strict they were concerning even a single expression! Continue to give great honor to the Shabbos as when I was there. Do not cut back [on your Shabbos] expenses, since "Man's entire sustenance [for the year is fixed for him from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur,] except [the expenditure for Sabbaths and Festivals,] etc." (Beitzah 16a).

ואם ככה את עושה לי, הרגני נא הרוג . Concerning this request of Moses in 11,15, the Zohar comments that the reason Moses addressed G–d using the feminine term for את, "You," is because at that time the power of the attribute of Justice was in the ascendancy, and, as we know, the emanation גבורה, or "Justice," is to the left of the emanation of חסד. Death had begun to rule the universe, concerning which it says in Proverbs 5,5: "her feet go down to death, her steps support she'ol."This is why Moses said: "kill me." G–d immediately said to Moses: "gather for Me seventy men, etc." (11,16). G–d continued to upbraid Moses for always asking to die, and as a result He decided to give some of Moses' spirit to these seventy men, thus partially fulfilling Moses' request. It was then that Moses realized he was going to die before he would see the Holy Land. He realized that what Eldad and Meidad had prophesied was indeed true.

As I have already mentioned the essence of blessing is the expansion of the abundance G–d has provided in this world and the assurance of its continuing indefinitely. This idea also applies to the light which has been "hidden." Although in our present state this source of light is not visible to us, yet it is the source of all blessing; the blessings we experience originate in that domain. This is the mystical dimension of אצילות, a domain beyond that of the עולם הבריאה, a domain in which the principle of אין סוף operates, in which nothing is finite. When G–d said to Moses (Numbers 11,17): ואצלתי מן הרוח אשר עליך ושמתי עליהם, "and I shall draw upon the spirit which rests on you and put it on them," this was not to be understood as a diminution of Moses' spirit but on the contrary, as an expansion of his spirit which G–d proceeded to allocate to the seventy elders. Onkelos underlines this when he renders these words as "I will provide additional spirit." Nowadays when we are in exile, the only expansion of Torah knowledge we can look forward to is by means of the study of the oral Torah. The hidden secrets i.e. the נשמה לנשמה still remain concealed from us. While it is true that there are in our midst מארי דסתרי תורה, masters of the Kabbalah, their knowledge of Torah secrets can only be classified as נשמות, not the secrets known as נשמה לנשמות. This will only be revealed to the righteous in the future. The whole subject matter may be better appreciated by comparison to the names of G–d. In these our days we limit ourselves to the enunciation of the name of G–d by sounding the letters א-ד-נ-י when mentioning the name of G–d. In the future, however, the Tetragrammaton, i.e. the name י-ה-ו-ה will be articulated by us as a matter of course. This name is known to us from the "written" Torah, but we must not as yet use it orally. Once we may do so the Torah may truly be described as תורת ה' תמימה, as being complete in all its aspects. This is the mystical dimension of the emanation תפארת. The name spelled א-ד-נ-י represents the kingdom of the oral Torah (emanation מלכות) as well as blessing, for it expands in accordance with the 13 acceptable methods of interpreting the Torah. The existence of these rules has given rise to many halachic discussions and therefore results in increased blessing for all those engaged in Torah exegesis. There is a statement in the Tractate Nedarim 38 that originally only Moses had been granted the facility of studying Torah by means of פלפול, dialectics, but that he taught this facility to the whole Jewish people.

ומשה היה רועה את הצאן. The shepherd displays kindness towards his flock in ensuring they do not eat what is not their master's, by enforcing his will with the staff. Similarly, G–d tends Israel and by the legislation in the Torah He sees to it that we stay on the right path.

Whenever we find Israel quarreling with Moses, such a quarrel can be viewed from two aspects, – negatively, that Israel was either ungrateful or too demanding, – or positively, that the very fact of Israel's constant demands represents a great compliment to Moses, for it showed that they looked upon him as a child does on his father, expecting the father to be able to fulfill every one of the child's wishes. As long as Israel did not refuse to go into battle after they had heard that doing so would hasten Moses' death, there was room to interpret their conduct in either direction. Now that they had refused to undertake a mission that would shorten Moses' life, it became clear that any negative character attributed to them was based only on their excessive expectations of Moses, whom they looked up to as a child would to his father.

Moses had not been careful in this respect, had said "please kill me." The previous occasion had not been so serious, since Moses asked to die if G–d would not forgive the Jewish people for their involvement in the golden calf. It was part of his prayer for someone else. This is why his punishment at that time consisted only of his name not being mentioned when the work of the Tabernacle was carried out. This time, however, there were no such extenuating circumstances. The reason that caused Joshua to report to Moses what Eldad and Meydad had said, was that they did so within the camp. He asked Moses to prevent them from prophesying. The word כלאם is the same as in Genesis 8,2, or in Exodus 36,6. In either case it means that something was prevented from happening. Moses did not want to prevent them from saying what was on their minds, and said to Joshua: "why are you jealous on my behalf?"

עד אשר יצא מאפכם והיה לכם לזרא . When we observe how severely those people who knew no bounds to their greed were punished we learn the lesson that we should restrain our appetites even when it pertains to matters that are permissible. We should learn from our patriarch Jacob who had asked only for "bread to eat and clothes to wear" (Genesis 28,20).

As for those with no desire to accept the responsibility on themselves, reasoning that the responsibility is more weight than the worker can handle, this is a mistake. We can bring a proof against this, in what we find in the Torah, that Moshe our master requested helpers from The Holy One Blessed is He, saying "I am not able to carry this burden alone etc." And The Holy One Blessed is He responded to him "Gather for me seventy men… and I will draw from the spirit which is on you etc." This is perplexing. Was it not his intention in his request that The Holy One Blessed is He give him helpers, as if to say, give additional strength from what he already has, and [in Hashem's response] what did he give him!? It is possible to answer that he supplied him seventy men, but he did not supply him with seventy additional units of power on top of his own strengths, because he drew from his Moshe's spirit and gave it to them!? What is this situation comparable to? To a vessel, compartmentalized by placing a second tube inside. The vessel is not widened by doing this. Similarly with this 'addition', it did not bring any more qualities, rather it is the measurement and weight that Moshe had on his own, just now it is made amongst seventy men as well, without increase. And we find that the power afforded them comes about through retraction from Moshe, as it writes "and I will draw…", even though there are those who say it is similar to one candle lighting another (Sifri), in any event, this is in the sense of a commandment like we find by the Chanukah lights, and he is puzzled, what was the intention of his question to add in strength?

Come and see how great is the power of peace. For in the beginning of the creation of the universe the Holy One Blessed be He employed Himself in the creation of an instrument of peace, as it is written (Bereshith 1:3): "And G-d said: 'Let there be light' — and there was light." And how do we know that light is peace? For it is written (Isaiah 45:7): "He fashions light and creates darkness; He makes peace and creates evil." On this basis, our teachers of blessed memory ruled (Shabbath 23b): "As between a candle for his house and wine for kiddush, to sanctify the Sabbath [if he can afford only one], a candle for his house takes precedence because of the peace of his household." What is more, our sages enacted many ordinances in pursuit of the paths of peace, viz. (Gittin 59a): "They declared the following in pursuit of the paths of peace: 'The Cohein reads first [in the Torah], then the Levite, then the Israelite, because of "the paths of peace."'" An eruv [a halachic enabling device] is placed in an old house, because of "the paths of peace." The pit nearest the irrigation canal is filled first because of "the paths of peace."'" And so is it written (Proverbs 3;17): "Its [Torah's] ways are ways of pleasantness and all of its paths are peace." And thus did our sages of blessed memory say in the aggadah (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:13, Tanchuma Beha'alothecha 11): "There are thirteen things that the Holy One Blessed be He loved, and of all of them, He "doubled" [in profusion of love], only "peace." They [(the thirteen)] are: Cohanim, Levites, Israel, Sanhedrin [the high court], the first-born, the offerings of the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the oil of anointment, the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple, the kingdom of the house of David, and the silver and the gold. The Cohanim — (Shemoth 28:41): "And they shall be priests unto Me." the Levites (Numbers 3:41): "And I shall take the Levites unto Me." Israel — (Shemoth 19:6): "And you [Israel] shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests." Sanhedrin — (Numbers 11:16): "Gather unto Me seventy men." The first-born — (Shemoth 13:2) "Sanctify unto Me every first-born." The offerings of the tabernacle — (Ibid. 25:2): "And they shall take unto Me an offering." The sacrifices — (Numbers 28:2): "You shall heed to sacrifice unto Me in its appointed time." The oil of anointment — (Shemoth 30:31): "The holy oil of anointment shall this be unto Me for your generations." The Land of Israel — (Ibid. 19:5): "For unto Me is all the land." Jerusalem — (I Kings 11:36): "The city that I have chosen unto Me." The Temple — (I Chronicles 17:12): "He shall build unto Me a habitation." The kingdom of the house of David — (I Samuel 16:1): "For I have seen in his sons a king unto Me." The silver and the gold — (Chaggai 2:8): "Mine is the silver, and Mine is the gold." But, of all of these, none was doubled [in profusion of love] but "peace," as it is written (Isaiah 27:5): "Or let him take hold of My strength. He shall make peace unto Me; peace shall he make unto Me." Great is peace, which takes precedence to praise of the Blessed One Himself. For when Yithro came to Moses, immediately (Exodus 18:7): "And each made inquiry of the other's peace," whereas only afterwards (Ibid. 8): "And Moses related to his father-in-law all of the miracles that the Holy One Blessed be He had wrought for Israel." What is more, for all of the mitzvoth that the wicked perform in this world, the Holy One Blessed be He gives them their reward in this world — such as wealth, property, years, honor, and the like — except peace, which He does not give them, as it is written (Isaiah 57:21): "There is no peace, says my G-d, for the wicked." And, what is more, the Holy One Blessed be He gives peace as a reward to the righteous, as it is written (Ibid. 32:17): "And the reward for righteousness shall be peace…" What is more, it is with peace that He draws near to Him converts and penitents, as it is written (Ibid. 57:19): "He creates the utterance of the lips: 'Peace, Peace,' for the far and the near, says the L-rd, and I will heal him." Great is peace, for in regard to all of the journeyings in the desert it is written "And they journeyed and they rested," journeying in strife and resting in strife. But when they came to Mount Sinai, they made one great "resting," as it is written (Shemoth 19:2): "And Israel rested there, before the mountain." (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "The Holy One Blessed be He said: 'The time has now arrived for Me to give Torah to My children.'" For as long as they are at peace with one another, the Shechinah is among them. And thus is it said (Devarim 33:5): "And He was a King in Yeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered, together with the tribes of Israel." When does the kingdom and the Shechinah of the Blessed One abide in Israel? When they are all gathered together as one. Come and see how great is the power of peace; for it is through the power of peace that the world endures. For thus have our sages of blessed memory said (Avoth 1:18): "On three things does the world stand: on judgment, on truth, and on peace, as it is written (Zechariah 8:16): 'Truth and a judgment of peace shall you judge in your gates.'" What is more, when there is peace among men, there is blessing in their fruits, as it is written (Ibid. 12): "For as the seed of peace, the vine shall give its fruit, and the earth shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give its dew, and I shall bequeath all of these to the remnant of this people." And thus is it written (Psalms 147:14): "He makes peace on your borders and sates you with the fatness of wheat." Our sages have said (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for if one erases one letter of G-d's name, he transgresses a negative commandment, as it is written (Devarim 12:3): 'And you shall wipe out their [the idols'] name from that place,' followed by (Ibid. 4): 'You shall not do so to the L-rd your G-d.' Yet to make peace between a man and his wife, the Torah says (Numbers 5:23): 'And the Cohein shall write these curses [containing G-d's name] in a book and erase them into the bitter waters.' The Holy One Blessed be He says: 'Let My name, which was written in holiness, be erased by the waters.'" And Chazal have said further (Vayikrah Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for all of the goodly blessings and consolations that the Holy One Blessed be He convokes upon Israel conclude with "peace." The Shema — "He spreads a canopy of peace." The Amidah — "He makes peace." The priestly blessing — "And He shall repose peace upon you." "Therefore, my sons, be circumspect in this trait — to love peace and to pursue peace. For there is no end to the reward for loving peace and pursuing peace." Until here, the language of Ma'aloth Hamiddoth.

Come and see how great is the power of peace. For in the beginning of the creation of the universe the Holy One Blessed be He employed Himself in the creation of an instrument of peace, as it is written (Bereshith 1:3): "And G-d said: 'Let there be light' — and there was light." And how do we know that light is peace? For it is written (Isaiah 45:7): "He fashions light and creates darkness; He makes peace and creates evil." On this basis, our teachers of blessed memory ruled (Shabbath 23b): "As between a candle for his house and wine for kiddush, to sanctify the Sabbath [if he can afford only one], a candle for his house takes precedence because of the peace of his household." What is more, our sages enacted many ordinances in pursuit of the paths of peace, viz. (Gittin 59a): "They declared the following in pursuit of the paths of peace: 'The Cohein reads first [in the Torah], then the Levite, then the Israelite, because of "the paths of peace."'" An eruv [a halachic enabling device] is placed in an old house, because of "the paths of peace." The pit nearest the irrigation canal is filled first because of "the paths of peace."'" And so is it written (Proverbs 3;17): "Its [Torah's] ways are ways of pleasantness and all of its paths are peace." And thus did our sages of blessed memory say in the aggadah (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:13, Tanchuma Beha'alothecha 11): "There are thirteen things that the Holy One Blessed be He loved, and of all of them, He "doubled" [in profusion of love], only "peace." They [(the thirteen)] are: Cohanim, Levites, Israel, Sanhedrin [the high court], the first-born, the offerings of the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the oil of anointment, the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple, the kingdom of the house of David, and the silver and the gold. The Cohanim — (Shemoth 28:41): "And they shall be priests unto Me." the Levites (Numbers 3:41): "And I shall take the Levites unto Me." Israel — (Shemoth 19:6): "And you [Israel] shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests." Sanhedrin — (Numbers 11:16): "Gather unto Me seventy men." The first-born — (Shemoth 13:2) "Sanctify unto Me every first-born." The offerings of the tabernacle — (Ibid. 25:2): "And they shall take unto Me an offering." The sacrifices — (Numbers 28:2): "You shall heed to sacrifice unto Me in its appointed time." The oil of anointment — (Shemoth 30:31): "The holy oil of anointment shall this be unto Me for your generations." The Land of Israel — (Ibid. 19:5): "For unto Me is all the land." Jerusalem — (I Kings 11:36): "The city that I have chosen unto Me." The Temple — (I Chronicles 17:12): "He shall build unto Me a habitation." The kingdom of the house of David — (I Samuel 16:1): "For I have seen in his sons a king unto Me." The silver and the gold — (Chaggai 2:8): "Mine is the silver, and Mine is the gold." But, of all of these, none was doubled [in profusion of love] but "peace," as it is written (Isaiah 27:5): "Or let him take hold of My strength. He shall make peace unto Me; peace shall he make unto Me." Great is peace, which takes precedence to praise of the Blessed One Himself. For when Yithro came to Moses, immediately (Exodus 18:7): "And each made inquiry of the other's peace," whereas only afterwards (Ibid. 8): "And Moses related to his father-in-law all of the miracles that the Holy One Blessed be He had wrought for Israel." What is more, for all of the mitzvoth that the wicked perform in this world, the Holy One Blessed be He gives them their reward in this world — such as wealth, property, years, honor, and the like — except peace, which He does not give them, as it is written (Isaiah 57:21): "There is no peace, says my G-d, for the wicked." And, what is more, the Holy One Blessed be He gives peace as a reward to the righteous, as it is written (Ibid. 32:17): "And the reward for righteousness shall be peace…" What is more, it is with peace that He draws near to Him converts and penitents, as it is written (Ibid. 57:19): "He creates the utterance of the lips: 'Peace, Peace,' for the far and the near, says the L-rd, and I will heal him." Great is peace, for in regard to all of the journeyings in the desert it is written "And they journeyed and they rested," journeying in strife and resting in strife. But when they came to Mount Sinai, they made one great "resting," as it is written (Shemoth 19:2): "And Israel rested there, before the mountain." (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "The Holy One Blessed be He said: 'The time has now arrived for Me to give Torah to My children.'" For as long as they are at peace with one another, the Shechinah is among them. And thus is it said (Devarim 33:5): "And He was a King in Yeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered, together with the tribes of Israel." When does the kingdom and the Shechinah of the Blessed One abide in Israel? When they are all gathered together as one. Come and see how great is the power of peace; for it is through the power of peace that the world endures. For thus have our sages of blessed memory said (Avoth 1:18): "On three things does the world stand: on judgment, on truth, and on peace, as it is written (Zechariah 8:16): 'Truth and a judgment of peace shall you judge in your gates.'" What is more, when there is peace among men, there is blessing in their fruits, as it is written (Ibid. 12): "For as the seed of peace, the vine shall give its fruit, and the earth shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give its dew, and I shall bequeath all of these to the remnant of this people." And thus is it written (Psalms 147:14): "He makes peace on your borders and sates you with the fatness of wheat." Our sages have said (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for if one erases one letter of G-d's name, he transgresses a negative commandment, as it is written (Devarim 12:3): 'And you shall wipe out their [the idols'] name from that place,' followed by (Ibid. 4): 'You shall not do so to the L-rd your G-d.' Yet to make peace between a man and his wife, the Torah says (Numbers 5:23): 'And the Cohein shall write these curses [containing G-d's name] in a book and erase them into the bitter waters.' The Holy One Blessed be He says: 'Let My name, which was written in holiness, be erased by the waters.'" And Chazal have said further (Vayikrah Rabbah 9:9): "Great is peace, for all of the goodly blessings and consolations that the Holy One Blessed be He convokes upon Israel conclude with "peace." The Shema — "He spreads a canopy of peace." The Amidah — "He makes peace." The priestly blessing — "And He shall repose peace upon you." "Therefore, my sons, be circumspect in this trait — to love peace and to pursue peace. For there is no end to the reward for loving peace and pursuing peace." Until here, the language of Ma'aloth Hamiddoth.

בחר לנו אנשים. Rashi sees in the word לנו proof that Moses equated Joshua with himself in this task. The Rabbis deduced from this a rule that a teacher should always be as concerned with the honour of his student as with his own. The honour of someone of equal status to oneself, however, should be placed on a par with the honour of one's teacher. The source for this is found in Numbers 12,11 where Aaron, Moses' older brother, addresses him with the words: בי אדוני, "Please my lord!" The honour of one's teacher should be treated as equivalent to the honour of G–d Himself. We derive this from Numbers 11,28 where Joshua pleads with Moses to kill Eldod and Meydod for prophesying the death of Moses. The words used are: אדוני משה כלאם. Joshua felt that insubordination against his teacher Moses deserved the same penalty as insubordination against G–d Himself. We can now understand why we are taught in Avot 4,1: "Who is truly honoured? He who honours G–d's creatures."

So far about the first journey, which was meant to lead the people to the land of Israel, which in turn was compared to being a גן השם, a "garden of G–d." The Jewish people again became corrupted, however; they committed a sin similar in nature to that which had been committed by Adam at the time, inasmuch as it involved eating forbidden food. They התאוו תאוה (11,4), induced lust, greed in themselves demanding to be fed a diet of meat. They found themselves in a situation similar to Eve in Gan Eden, where the serpent was the seducer with the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Now Satan seduced the people. The Torah describes this as שטו, the letters of which when re-arranged spell ושט, "and spread out, lengthened." When you spread out the last letter, i.e. the letter ו, is perceived as having turned into a Nun, and reads שטן, Satan. The שלחן, table, that was לפני השם, in the Presence of the Lord, i.e. the altar, turned לנחש, into a serpent, the classical seducer, by a similar re-arrangement of the identical letters. I have discussed this at length when writing about the significance of the letter ק, in connection with the word and meaning of קדושה. The author refers to his section called שער האותיות in אות קו"ף – קדושה.

The Torah writes in 11,33, הבשר עודנו בין שניהם טרם יכרת, ואף ה' וכו'. "The meat was still between their teeth, had not been chewed up yet, when the anger of the Lord was kindled, etc." We know that the world is based on תורה ועבודה, Torah study and service of the Lord. I have found an interesting commentary by the Rekanati on Song of Songs 6,6. We find in that verse that the teeth are described as שכולם מתאימות, "all of them like twins,” and in the next half of the verse ושכלה אין בהם, "none of them has suffered a bereavement.” The overall description is that of a flock of ewes which these teeth are compared to. A similar verse in Song of Songs 4,2, compares these teeth to a flock that has come up from being well washed. The verses are understood to describe aspects of Torah and Avodah. When Abraham had asked G–d: “How will I know that I will inherit it? (Genesis 15,8), he was told that the merit of the sacrifices or even the recital of the sacrificial service when there is no Temple would ensure that G–d could fulfil His promise (compare Megillah 31b). It is a scientific fact that every Jew has 32 teeth, 16 upper ones and 16 lower ones. The statement that שניך כעדר הרחלים, "your teeth are like a flock of ewes,” refers to the 16 public offerings consisting of sheep that were offered in the holy Temple every week, 12 on weekdays and the regular 2 plus an extra 2 on the Sabbath. This is what we call עבודה.

The words: ויתעבר ה' בי למענכם in 3,26 also contain a mystical dimension. This also touches upon the subject of the great gift of Torah G–d has bestowed on the Jewish people. I have found the following comment among the writings of a great Kabbalistic scholar Rabbi Chayim, the leading disciple of the Arizal. [I will paraphrase his comments Ed.] "As a consequence of Moses' accepting the mixed multitude as converts, he became involved in the סוד העיבור, the calculations pertaining to leap months, leap years, etc., as well as their halachic implications of the time conceptions can take place. One of these calculations involves determining when a Jubilee year occurs (the fiftieth year after the conclusion of seven periods of seven years). G–d had not wanted to accept this mixed multitude as converts. Had they not been accepted, Israel would neither have experienced death nor exile, since the acceptance of the Tablets would have signified everlasting life, as our sages (Eruvin 54 on Exodus 32,16) have taught us when they said: אל תקרא חרות אלא חירות, "do not read 'engraved' i.e. Charut but 'Free' (from death) i.e. Cheyrut." Moses had not consulted G–d before accepting this mixed multitude, thinking that he was performing a good deed by bringing them closer to G–d (which had been Abraham's lifework). In addition he had developed a personal interest in the conduct of these people as he had hinted when he referred to them (Numbers 11,21) as העם אשר אנכי בקרבו, "the people amongst whom I find myself." He had also foretold that these people would convert when he told Pharaoh in Exodus 11,8 that כל העם אשר ברגליך ישתחוו לי, "all these people who now sit at your feet will bow down to me." This meant that Moses was anxious to convert these people. Alas, not only did Moses fail to truly convert them, but they also infected the Israelites proper with their lack of faith during the episode of the golden calf, so that G–d told Moses: לך רד כי שחת עמך, "Go and descend, for your people have become corrupt" (Exodus 32,7). These people and their offspring by now made up the majority of the Jews in the desert. This is why Moses was forced to insert an extra year after every 49 years. This extra year serves as a warning that Israel must not again err by accepting converts wholesale and be misled by them. [I suspect that the association between "freedom" which is emphasized in the יובל- year legislation of the Torah -although the Torah calls it דרור- (Leviticus 25,10), forms the background to the סוד העיבור which Rabbi Chayim calls "this involvement of Moses in each generation in the determination of the Jubilee year." He must mean that the need to proclaim freedom would not have arisen but for Moses' accepting the mixed multitude when he did Ed.]

The reason that men of military age who are engaged in building a house for themselves, or in the planting of a vineyard which has not yet borne fruit, or who have betrothed a bride without as yet having consummated the marriage are free to return to their homes to complete these endeavours is explained by the Rekanati. We are quoting verbatim: "Know that the three categories of people listed by the Torah in 20,5-8 are people who are especially prone to meet with disaster. The attribute of Justice is more likely to seek them out than others. We have proof for this from what happened during the episode of the golden calf. If you will examine the various occasions when the Torah reports the Jewish people as sinning while they were in the desert, you will find that it was almost invariably after they had experienced a spiritual "high." The first set of tablets were smashed because of the golden calf. Our sages explain that the עין הרע the evil eye, had focused on these tablets. After the Israelites had travelled only three days' journey from Mount Sinai, the very next verse (Numbers 10,36) ויהי העם כמתאוננים, רע באזני השם "The people were complaining before the Lord; they spoke evil within the hearing of G–d." All this in spite of the Torah having told us that the Presence of G–d rested over their encampment. The sin of the spies occurred at a time when the people were ready to conquer ארץ ישראל, i.e. they were at a spiritual "high." The sin of בעל פעור occurred immediately after G–d had made Bileam bless the people instead of cursing them as he had been hired to do (Cf. Numbers chapters 24 and 25). After all, Michah 6,5 reminds the Jewish people to remember the advice given to Bileam by Balak how to curse the Jewish people and how Bileam had responded to him. In that admonition of the prophet the Jewish people are addressed by G–d as "My people," i.e. they were on a morally high level at that time. This is the meaning of the statement of our sages in Shabbat 130 that ליכא כתובה דלא רמו בה תיגרא, "There is no marriage contract which does not give rise to some dispute." Thus far the Rekanati.

The three groups of rebels we have mentioned represented the three negative virtues of קנאה, תאוה, and כבוד, jealousy, greed, and craving for honour. These are the traits that contribute to man losing his life (both here and in the Hereafter). They are the very opposites of the good characteristics described earlier. Korach was afflicted by jealousy, Datan and Aviram were affected by greed, and the two hundred and fifty men suffered from the desire to achieve higher status. We shall now elaborate on this: Korach's jealousy was a trait due to the original serpent. The serpent had denied creation ex nihilo by holding out the hope that Eve would become like G–d, and suggesting that G–d had created the universe only after having eaten from that tree. Anyone who denies creatio ex nihilo, is in effect denying the existence of G–d and the existence of a system of justice and fairness, and therefore accountability, supervised by the Creator. When Cain had started his quarrel with Abel he had said that there was no judge, no justice, and no Hereafter, as is evident from the Targum Yonathan on Bereshit 4,8. Korach also denied the prophetic powers of Moses, that the Torah originated in Heaven and that the earth had been created because of the merit of Moses, as we have been told בראשית, בשביל משה, שנאמר וירא ראשית לו (Deut 33,21). Moses represented the very opposite of jealousy as we know from when he said to Joshua: "Are you going to practice jealousy on my behalf?" (Numbers 11,29) He was anxious that the spirit of prophecy should proliferate throughout the Jewish nation.

I have used this approach to explain why the Manna did not have the taste of cucumbers and melons, etc. as in Numbers 11,5. The Talmud in Yuma 75, and the Sifri on that verse explain that these fruits were harmful to nursing mothers. Since the Rabbis are on record stating that the Manna was capable of assuming any taste a person wanted, we must ask whether nursing mothers are not included in the definition of כל אדם, i.e. anybody? The real reason then is that in its primordial state the Manna was capable of assuming any taste. This potential was activated by the thoughts of the person about to consume it. Because of the fact that at least a minute amount of the other possible tastes would have been present at all times, and this could have had harmful effects on nursing mothers, G–d already had to exclude the taste of cucumbers, etc. from the primordial potential, i.e. כח היולי, of the Manna. Since we have stated that the total potential reposing in each of the seven days of Creation was used on subsequent days to further the creative activity on such day, we have 7 times 7=49 such potentials. By adding the primordial potential of all these individual potentials we get 50. When you consider the individual potentials of the various acts of Creation and combine them with more generalised potentials you will get a total of fifty. Rashi on Genesis 1,14, already tells us that on the first day of Creation, everything was created in כח, in its potential, though it was not actualised, i.e. did not become functional until the day the Torah reports about it in detail. Similarly, the last day of Creation, i.e. the Sabbath, combined all the potential creative forces within it. This is why the Sabbath is also called "week," seeing it comprises all the elements that make up the week. We therefore have five days of creative activity left, each one of which comprised 7 of the potentials (known as שערי בינה) mentioned previously. This gives you 35. By adding a small part of the three "general potentials" to each of these five intermediate days, i.e. the general potential of the first day, the Sabbath, and the primordial כח היולי, you will get a total of fifty. In this fashion we arrive at a different aspect of the relationship between the spiritual and the physical, i. e. the relationship of "five" and "ten" respectively. Five multiplied by ten makes fifty. This is a very ancient allusion to the ספירות, emanations of יסוד, the lowest of the emanations of the world of יצירה, and the emanation מלכות, the world of עשיה, respectively. The verse in which this is alluded to is Chronicles I 29,11, לך ה' הגדולה, הגבורה, והתפארת, והנצח, וההוד. "Yours O Lord are the greatness, might, splendour, triumph and majesty, yes, all this is in Heaven and on earth." Every one of these five (emanations) is made up of ten aspects, so that between them they total the fifty שערי בינה. This is supported by the end of the verse כי כל בשמים ובארץ. According to the Pardes Rimonim, this is a clear allusion to the "lowest" two ספירות. The word כל has a numerical value of fifty, and as such alludes to those fifty שערי בינה that between them account for all the potentials that exist. This is also the mystical dimension of the letter ה in the word “הששי,” in Genesis 1,31. It alludes to the seven times 7 days plus the כולל, general potential, which combined makes 50. The number 50 must be understood as five times 10, i.e. with the creation of the Sabbath, the material world, עולם הזה, had, so to speak been stamped with the seal of the spiritual world, the עולם הבא.

Another allusion to this triple concept of G–d-Torah-Israel is found at the very beginning of Bereshit Rabbah, where Rabbi Aushiyah deals with Proverbs 8,30: ואהיה אצלו אמון, ואהיה שעשועים, יום משחקת לפני בכל עת, "Then I was with Him as an artisan; I was His delight daily, always rejoicing before Him." Rabbi Oshiyah says that the word אמון in that verse means both פדגוג, "a male nurse or tutor," a term used by Moses when he complained to G–d how he was expected to play nursemaid to the Jewish people (Numbers 11,12). He also understands the same word to mean something מוצנע, hidden, based on Esther 2,7 describing Mordechai as "hiding" Esther so that she would not have to participate in the Royal beauty contest. Rabbi Aushiyah adds that some understand the word אמון to mean "big." This is based on Nachum 3,8: התיטבי מנא אמון, "Were you any better than No Amon?" which the Targum renders as: הא את מבא מאלכסנדריא רבתא דיתבא בין נהרותא "are you better than the important city Alexandria which is situated between two rivers?"

Nonetheless it is difficult to see how the terms אמון, and פדגוג can be equated. The word that should have been used by the Midrash is אומן, the same word used by the Torah in Numbers 11,12. Posssibly the word אמון means tutor in the sense that the tutor is faithfully carrying out the master's instructions, much as Esther is described as maintaining her loyalty to Mordechai's instructions even when she was in the king's palace by the words כאשר באמנה אתו, "just as when she had still been in the house of Mordechai" (Esther 2,20). We would have to regard the letter ב in the word באמנה as something that could have been dispensed with just as it has been dispensed with in Psalms 45,8 משחך אלוקים שמן ששון, "the Lord anointed you with oil of gladness" (the letter ב in front of the word שמן being conspicuously absent, though implied). Alternatively, we can accept the view of Ibn Ezra that the word is a noun. Ibn Ezra explains that G–d had been Esther's tutor, that the word אתו refers to Him, that Esther's loyalty was to G–d. According to this view we deal with an allusion to the tremendous power of Torah and its exalted position in G–d's scheme of things. [I believe this is a printer's error as I have not found such an Ibn Ezra, and it is not his style at all. Perhaps the author means the קו ונקי, whose text I have not seen. Ed.]

And when the time comes to deliver the child to the charge of the school so that he may study with his teacher, the father should rise early and awaken the child and then take him personally to the teacher’s house. Even if the father is elderly or a man of stature or a communal leader or rabbi, let him not be ashamed to bring his son to the teacher’s house for the first time. And let him give praise and thanksgiving to the Holy One Blessed is He for granting him the merit of bringing his son under the wings of the Shechinah. Along the way either the father or the mother should cover the child with his garment so that he will not gaze upon any impure creature. Then after the child has been brought to the teacher’s house he should be delivered into the teacher’s lap, in keeping with the verse, “As a pedagogue bears a suckling child” (Bamidbar 11:12), and the verse, “And I have accustomed Efraim to take them upon his arms” (Hoshea 11:3).