Хасидус к Кохелет 1:9

“This month is for you” (Exodus 12:2). This idea is for the redemption from Egypt. Because in exile, this renewal is missing. As it says, “and a new king arose” (Exodus 1:8). And at the time of redemption, which is when it is made clear that everything is the life force of Hashem. And from this comes renewal. Because the life force of Hashem has constant renewal, as it says, “renews every day, constantly” (Morning Prayers). And the explanation of “constantly” is every day. Only one who forgets and who is enmeshed in nature, about him it is written that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). But someone who is clinging to the internality of the life force of Hashem has constant renewal. And that is what is written, “this month is for you” (Exodus 12:2). That every person from Israel can awaken this renewal through faith, when he clarifies in his heart that everything is from Hashem. And this is the difference between the Sabbath and Rosh Chodesh. That the Sabbath is a trace of the World to Come, established and standing, that there is no hiddenness. As it is written, “disappear from it” (Zohar Terumah). But Rosh Chodesh is to illuminate even the weekday with renewal. And this is dependent on Israel, as it is written “to the God who completes for me” (Psalms 57:3; Shemot Rabbah 15:2). And this is what Rashi says, and what is written in the midrash, that Moshe, our teacher, had difficulty, until He showed him, “like this, see and sanctify…” (Rashi on Exodus 12:2, Midrash Tanchuma Shmini 8). And didn’t He only speak to him during the day? Rather… He showed it to him at nightfall (Rashi on Exodus 12:2). Because the aspect of Moshe, our teacher, is a clear vision, the aspect of the Sabbath. And this is the meaning of “and Moshe will rejoice” (Sabbath Morning Prayers). But the aspect of month is by way of faith, as we said above. And He showed it to him at the time of dark, at twilight. And it says “this” to let him know that Hashem and His name are one. And sometimes it has to be by way of faith in order to awaken the renewal, as we said above.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai had our generation in mind when he said the following in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 69, page 111b), “‘My friends!’ said Rabbi Shimon, ‘certainly God agrees with us, in the upper realms and the lower realms, to be in this fellowship. Fortunate it the future generation who will be worthy of revealing our secret wisdom. Our teachings will be revealed by Moshe in the end of days, in fulfillment of the verse (Kohelet, 1:9), “what has passed is what shall be,”¹⁶⁹The first letters of the verse spell “Moshe” : מַה שֶּׁהָיָה הוּא שֶׁיִּהְיֶה and in it (Tehillim 33:14), “He watches from His dwelling place.”¹⁷⁰The first letters also spell, “Moshe” : מִמְּכוֹן שִׁבְתּוֹ הִשְׁגִּיח The first letters of the words (in Tehillim 144:15), “fortunate is the people for whom it is like this!” is the numerical equivalent of “Moshe.”¹⁷¹In the verse, אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם שֶׁכָּכָה לּוֹ , the word שֶׁכָּכָה is the numerical equivalent of משה, or 345. The same verse continues, “Fortunate is the people for whom Hashem is their God,” and on this it is said (Kohellet 1:4), “a generation comes, and a generation goes,” and there is no generation with less than sixty myriad (600,000). On this it is said, “He commanded His word for a thousand generations,” meaning that that Moshe’s influence is present in the Tsadikim and Torah scholars of every generation, whose efforts in the Torah reaches the level of, “sixty myriad.”¹⁷²The Talmud states that the soul of Moshe Rabeynu was equal to the 600,000 male Israelites who left Egypt during the redemption. The influence of these scholars, bearers of the soul of Moshe, fixes the blemish on the rest of the generation. And in the sixth Tikkun (Tikkunei Zohar, 23b): How many people will derive their spiritual sustenance from the teachings of the Zohar when it is revealed below in the end of days! So in this generation, there is no great worry about revealing the secrets of Kabbalah. In the first place, the Zohar itself predicts its eventual revelation in the sixth millennium. And second, there is no fear that the secret knowledge will be misappropriated and used as an excuse to justify sin. In our days, if one wants to sin, he does not present a proof from Torah ideas to justify his actions. For these reasons, the time has come to seek out the work of God and delve into the secrets of the Torah. In truth, the remnant of the faithful are small in numbers, and many do not feel worthy or confident to study the mysteries of the Torah. Still they may assuage their fears by connecting to the true scholars and recipients of the secret knowledge, those proven in their righteousness, who walk in the straight and honest way.