Мусар к Дварим 33:8

And Matatyah [Matthaeus] is also hinted to in the sacrifice of the chieftains, in the [Torah] reading of the first day of Chanukah: And the chieftains of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, brought (Numbers 7:2). The numerical equivalent of "their fathers' houses," is Matatyah, and the miracle happened by way of the high priest, Matatyah. So the Holy One, blessed be He, hinted about this miracle to Aaron, who was the first high priest, with the matter of When you raise up the lights (Numbers 8:2), as was written by Ramban. And likewise, Aaron's place was originally in Majesty [Hod], but he rose up very high afterward. And so is it taught in Tractate Derekh Eretz (Zuta 1), "Seven forefathers were makers of covenants, and these are them: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Phinehas, and David." And they are the seven sefirot of the structure, and there are seven circles on Hoshana Rabba [based] in their secret. And the Sephardim have liturgical poems about this, one of them [for] each circle, [there] Aaron is in the aspect of Majesty, but afterward, he rises to Kindness [Chesed], as it is stated: Let Your Tummim and Urim be with Your man of kindnesses/piety (Deuteronomy 33:8). This is just like our teacher Moses, peace be upon him, arose to the trait of Splendor [Tiferet], in the secret of Knowledge [Daat] above. And behold that [God's] name [with the numerical equivalent] of 72, from the side of Kindness, is like the numerical count of Kindness. And so too [regarding] Judah the Maccabee, who did great heroic acts with the help of God, may He be blessed, Maccabee also equals 72. And the first initials of, Who is like you Lord (Exodus 15:11) are MaaCaBI. MaaCaBI is also the letters of BoChIM [crying], the first initials of blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place (Ezekiel 3:12). (And it appears to me that it hints to that which the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said [Sanhedrin 110a], "One who argues against the monarchy of the House of David is like one who argues against the divine presence." For behold, the sin of the Hasmoneans was that they took the monarchy for themselves. As monarchy had already been decreed for the tribe of Judah, as Ramban [discusses] at length in Parashat Vayechi, on the verse, The scepter shall not depart from Judah [Genesis 49:10]. And this is the hint from Maccabee crying, blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place, for blessed is the Lord forever, Amen and Amen [alluding to Psalms 89:53]. But the matter of the Hasmoneans did not blemish the glory of the divine presence through that which they took the monarchy, since their glory was for [the sake of] the Heavens. Their matter was rather only like an error that comes out from the ruler.) And great miracles were performed through these holy priests, and they brought back the crown of the Torah to its former [glory] and the performance of the commandments. And it is written: The commandment is a lamp and the Torah is light (Proverbs 6:23). That is why the miracle in the temple was revealed through the menorah.

I have already explained at length in Parshat Terumah how the Tabernacle was a re-enactment of the work of creation, i.e. a microcosm, and that it served as man's rehabilitation for the damage to G–d's universe brought about by Adam's sin. We have also explained that there was a parallel Tabernacle in the Celestial Regions. Aaron, as High Priest, symbolised the rehabilitation of man who had become distant from G–d as a result of Adam's sin. Concerning Aaron, the Torah writes: ואתה הקרב אליך את אהרון אחיך, "As for you (Moses), bring close Aaron your brother etc." (28,1) Here the Torah expresses a mystical dimension of the verse in Leviticus 16,17: וכל אדם לא יהיה באהל, "No man shall be inside the tent." This is a reference to original Adam. The universe was created under the aegis of חסד, loving-kindness, as we know from עולם חסד יבנה, "The universe was built with loving-kindness" (Psalms 89,3). The בנין של מעלה, "The structure corresponding to the physical universe in the Celestial Regions," contains the secret of the seven days of creation and commences with the emanation חסד down to the emanation מלכות, i.e. seven emanations. We find that in connection with Aaron, the Torah (Deut. 33,8) speaks about תומיך ואוריך לאיש חסידך, that Aaron represented the attribute of חסד. We have explained that the three groups of Israelites, i.e. the כהנים, לוים, ישראלים, corresponded to the three emanations חסד, גבורה, תפארת, respectively.

The subject of דבקות to the Ineffable Name can be approached from two directions. One approach is by pointing out how G–d employed His Ineffable Name to be active in the emanations which initiated the בנין, i.e. the work of the six days of creation commencing from the emanation תפארת "downwards," up to and including מלכות, the seventh emanation, the Sabbath. Israel's connection with the emanation תפארת through the choicest of the patriarchs -Jacob- in his capacity as ישראל, i.e. the major part of the מרכבה, (although the other patriarchs also serve as part of the מרכבה) because מטתו שלמה, his demonstrated ability to raise all his children loyal to G–d's precepts, has already been discussed elsewhere.