Хасидус к Шмот 6:12

My father, my master, my teacher and mentor, the righteous one who should be remembered for life in the World to Come said, that the reason there was a need for ten plagues was to remove the shell and hiddenness from the ten ma’amarot (sayings) to make them into the ten dibrot (utterances). Until here are the words of my father. The explanation is, that in this world it is hidden, the fact that the root of the life force of everything is only the letters of the Torah, the ma’amarim (sayings) that were created by Him. And this is what it means, that they give reward to the righteous who uphold the world that was created with ten ma’amarot (Avot 5:1). The explanation is that they know and cling to the essence of the life force which is hidden, that exists through the ten sayings. And through each plague, He removed the hiddenness of one ma’amar (saying). And they became the ten dibrot. The meaning of dibbur is a language of conducting. Like it is written, “there is one leader - “dabar" - for a generation" (Sanhedrin 8a). And like it is written in the holy Zohar, the explanation of “and you should speak (ve-dibarta) about them when you sit in your house and when you go on your way…” (Deuteronomy 6:7), that he should conduct all of his actions by the words of Hashem and His unity and His love, that all his actions should be for the sake of Heaven. And this is the explanation of “by His word (bidvaro) He brings on evening” (Evening Prayers). The aspect of the Kingdom of Heaven, that His honorable name should also be within the mixture and the hiddenness, through faith [like it says, “truth and faith” in the evening prayer (Brachot 12a), like we wrote elsewhere]. And during the time of exile, the truth is hidden. And that is what the holy Zohar writes, that the aspect of dibbur was in exile. And that is what Moshe, our teacher, said, “and I am of closed lips” (Exodus 6:12), “I am not a man of words” (Exodus 4:10). And at the time of the receiving of the Torah, the aspect of dibbur was revealed, as it is written, “and Hashem spoke (va-yidaber)” (Exodus 20:1). [And this is what is written in the midrash (Devarim Rabbah 1:1), once he merited the Torah, “these are the words that Moshe spoke…” (Deuteronomy 1:1).] And in the midrash, “the weight of a stone…” (Proverbs 27:3), that the creation of heavens and earth was not weariness for Hashem. What does weary Him? Those who anger him… (Shemot Rabbah 13:1). The explanation of weariness is only that which is hidden in this world. And it is found that it refers to one who says “my strength and the ability of my hand…” (Deuteronomy 8:17). And also Pharoah who said “mine is my river…” (Ezekiel 29:3). And we can learn from this, for on the holy Sabbath which is called “rest”, the One about whom it says “He does not tire” (Isaiah 40:28) ascribed rest to Himself! The explanation is that on the holy Sabbath it was revealed that everything is from the life force of Hashem, as it is written “even an ignorant man, the fear of the Sabbath is upon him” (Talmud Yerushalmi Demai 4:1). [And therefore, on the holy Sabbath the children of Israel testify that Hashem created the world, as it is written “the one who says “and He completed” becomes a partner… that this knowledge is more rest, as we said above].

“And I will take you out… from under the burden (sivlot) of Egypt… " (Exodus 6:6). I heard from my father an explanation of “sivlot” (burden), that they were not able to bear, in any manner, the impurity of Egypt. And from that came the redemption afterwards. And it seems that it is from this that Moshe, our teacher, took them out, as he said “Behold the children of Israel did not listen to me” (Exodus 6:12). Because afterwards it is written “and I will redeem…” (Exodus 6:6), if so, before they heard and it was not properly disgusting to them, and they did not leave from under the burden, consequently how will Pharaoh listen, which happens afterwards? But really they had left the burden of Egypt, but the attribute of Moshe was on a higher level, for he was further separated from the land of Egypt, and so it is written “they did not listen to me…” (Exodus 6:12). And this was the idea of having Aharon join, that their clinging to Moshe would be through Aharon [and that is what is written “and He commanded them…” (Exodus 6:13)], as we said above. And afterwards it is written, “and you should know that I am Hashem your God who takes you out from under the burden of Egypt” (Exodus 6:7), that after the whole redemption, one must know that if not for the help of Hashem, we would still be under the burden of Egypt, which is an bad aspect, as we said above. And this is advice for all of Israel, that one should habituate himself to hate evil with the utmost hatred. Like the Sages said, a person should incite his good inclination against his evil inclination (Berachot 5a). And this is the beginning of the redemption, as we said above.

[Regarding] the statement in the Holy Zohar, “Come to Pharaoh (Ex. 10:1) – it should have said ‘go to Pharaoh!’” (cf. Zohar Bo, 2:34a), as well as the question posed by the commentators, which I wrote above – the miracle of the Exodus from Egypt was that the Awareness was in exile with wicked Pharaoh in Egypt; and therefore Israel was exiled there to bring the Awareness from there. And the difficulty of the servitude made it whole, as is stated in Tikkunei Zohar: “And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve… in mortar [be-homer] (Ex. 1:13-14), that is [the logical argument of] ‘…and certainly…’ [kal ve-homer]; and in brick [oo-vil’venim] (Ex. 1:14), that is the heating [libbun] of halakhah; and in all manner of service in the field (Ex. 1:14), that is the external sources; in all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor [b’farekh] (Ex. 1:14), that is argumentation [pirkha]” (Tikkun 9, Supplement 147a), which is to say that all of this was in exile in Egypt. And through their servitude they took the Awareness, which is the Torah, out of the exile. When they served in mortar they brought [the logical argument of] “…and certainly…” out of the exile, and so on for all the other servitudes as we have stated. And therefore when Moses our Teacher, peace be upon him, said, Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me [ – How then shall Pharaoh listen to me] (Ex. 6:12), and Rashi explained, “This is one of ten ‘…and certainly…’ [arguments] in the Torah,” that is to say that when [Moses] said this “…and certainly…” [argument] he brought the “…and certainly…” [argument] in the Torah out of the exile. For the all of the Torah was in the Egyptian exile, since the Awareness was in exile; and the Awareness is the Torah. Now, the Torah begins with [the letter] bet, In the beginning [God] created etc. (Gen. 1:1); but why didn’t the Torah begin with aleph, which is the first of all the letters? Because [if that were the case] the world would not be able to exist for even one hour, and would be nullified from existence because of the letter aleph’s great brightness, since it alludes to the Champion [aluf] of the World, who is Blessed God in [God’s] Glory and [God’s] Essence, as if it were possible. But because the LORD God is a sun and shield (Psalm 84:12) – which is to say just like one can not look at the sun because of its great brightness, only by way of a shade or a shield can one look at the sun’s light – so too, as if it were possible, with a thousand thousands of thousands of distinctions without end or boundary, would it be impossible to exist because of the letter aleph’s great brightness, since it is the Champion of the World. Only by way of a shade or a shield, which is the letter bet – [only] through it does it become possible to constrain the letter aleph so that it can also be in the Torah. For after the letter bet in bereshit we find several alephs, in the word bereshit and in the words bara elohim, once it was constrained by the letter bet. And that is [the meaning of] Come [בא] to Pharaoh, which is to say through the bet the aleph will be in the Torah. And since now the Torah is in exile, therefore I have hardened his heart and [the heart of his servants] (Ex. 10:1) so that Israel will serve in mortar and in brick (Ex. 1:14) to bring the Torah out of exile. And as is stated in Tikkunei Zohar, “… in mortar [be-homer] (Ex. 1:13-14), that is [the logical argument of] ‘…and certainly…’ [kal ve-homer],” as we said above – through this they brought [the argument of] “…and certainly…” out of the exile, and so on for the other servitudes. And that is [the meaning of] that I may show these signs [otot] of mine among them (Ex. 10:1), that the letters [otiot], which belong to the Torah, must be taken out of exile. And the verse concludes, that you may tell … how I have toyed (Ex. 10:2), which is to say that I made Myself small since the Awareness was in smallness. And now you may know (Ex. 10:2), as was stated above.