Musar sobre Êxodo 2:12

I have found a beautiful commentary concerning this amongst the writings of the Arizal. We must understand why Moses bothered to set aside these three cities, seeing they could not perform their function until the other three cities of refuge on the West Bank of the Jordan had been set aside also (Numbers 35,13; compare Makkot 9). When we understand the Arizal's commentary on the problem of the cities of refuge, we will also understand why the Torah interrupted the report about the gift of the Torah to the Jewish people by mentioning already at this point that Moses set aside the three cities of refuge which were to be on the East Bank of the Jordan. The Ari zal sees in Moses' action an attempt at rehabilitation for when he had committed manslaughter and had taken it upon himself to slay the Egyptian who had tortured a Jew (Exodus 2,12). He had considered this killing in the category of a murder inadvertently committed because he had felt at the time that he was performing a מצוה by doing so. The first letters of the words הירדן מזרחה שמה, which describe what Moses did, form the acronym משה. The following words, אשר ירצח את רעהו are also an allusion to Moses. We have already described that Moses was the re-incarnation of Abel. The Torah here alludes to the first murder i.e. fratricide, when Cain slew his brother Abel. This is also alluded to in Exodus 2,11, when the Torah describes Moses as observing an Egyptian man: מכה איש עברי מאחיו, "torturing a Jewish man, one of his brothers." The Torah hints that the Egyptian was a former brother of Moses, i.e. a re-incarnation of Cain. In this instance the evil which had been part of Cain's character had re-surfaced in the character of this Egyptian. We have explained on another occasion that the נפש of Cain, i.e. his lowest spiritual part, was re-incarnated in the body of this Egyptian, whereas Cain's רוח, the superior part of his soul, was re-incarnated in the body of Yitro. The highest part of Cain's soul, i.e. the נשמה, was re-incarnated in the body of Korach. Korach made the mistake of quarrelling with Moses; this resulted in his גלגול failing to achieve its ultimate purpose. Yitro was of mixed feelings. When he became aware that he was wrong, had sinned, he converted to Judaism. At the end of the paragraph dealing with the cities of refuge the Torah writes: וזאת התורה אשר שם משה. This means that Moses determined the need to set aside these three cities of refuge at this time for his own sake.

Moses was jealous of the Egyptian, as it is said, "And he smote the Egyptian" (Exod. 2:12). And so we find in the case of Elijah, when he said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant" (I Kings 19:10). And so is it said, "In that he was very jealous for My sake among them" (Num. 25:11), and the Lord, may He be Blessed, gave him his reward for this as it is said : "Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace!" (Num. 25:12). And it is said, "… Ye shall not be afraid of any man …" (Deut. 1:17). Now he who reveres the Lord, may He be Blessed, will gladly offer his life for the sanctification of God's name. As it is said, "Whoso is on the Lord's side, let him come unto me. And all the Levites rallied to him" (Exod. 32:26), and it is further said, "And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand" (Num. 25:7).

The allusion -רמז- to all this we find in the numerical value of the words המצרי [ויך את] the word hamitzri equalling 345, the same numerical value as that of משה. The word ויך itself equals 37 when you add an extra value of "1" for the word itself. This is the numerical value of the name הבל. After that Moses fled and joined Yitro.

it is well known that Kabbalists have said that Korach was the re-incarnation (גלגול) of Cain. Cain had to undergo three גלגולים, one each for his נפש, his רוח, and his נשמה. They were the Egyptian whom Moses had slain; Yitro, Moses' father-in-law,as alluded to in Judges 4,17. In that verse Yael is described as the wife of Chever Hakeyni, the word "Hakeyni" being a reference to her being descended from Cain." He reappeared in the guise of Korach. Moses, on the other hand, was a re-incarnation of Abel whom Cain had killed. Moses took revenge on behalf of Abel on three separate occasions. 1) When he killed the Egytian who was the re-incarnation of Cain's נפש. This is hinted at in the wording ויך את המצרי. The numerical value of ויך, when you add one digit for the word itself, equals the numerical value of הבל, i.e. 37. The word המצרי, equals the numerical value of משה, i.e. 345. 2) Yitro deferred to Moses by giving him his daughter Tzipporah as a wife. She was the (גלגול) of the extra twin that had been born with Abel, on whose account Cain had slain Abel out of jealousy. When Korach now started a quarrel he simply reverted to the pattern in which his original ancestor Cain had acted. 3) Moses then killed him (i.e. caused his death), fulfilling the Torah's commandment that if someone has shed innocent blood, his own blood will be spilled by human hand (Genesis 9,6). We must understand that verse as telling us that the very person who had been slain, will in due course slay his murderer. This is why we find Moses, who was in reality the re-incarnation of Abel, slaying Korach who was the re-incarnation of Cain. The fact that Korach's death was due to the earth swallowing him was also an example of the punishment fitting the crime, since the same earth had been remiss when it opened to hide the evil deed that Cain had committed, and "covered" his blood (compare Genesis 4, 10/11). All this is explained by the Tziyoni.