Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Mga Awit 139:12

The Exodus from Egypt: Remembrance and Self-Expression: “…I have not succeeded in offering a proof for mentioning the Exodus from Egypt”. (Page 61a) It is difficult to understand this controversy since the Talmud explicitly implies that one should recall the Exodus at all times. We have two passages which suggest that one should recall the Exodus from Egypt: “Remember this day on which you came forth from Egypt out of the house of bondage,” (Exodus 13:3) and “…In order that you may remember the day of your going forth from Egypt all the days of your life. ” (Deuteronomy 16:3) Everyone would appear to agree that one is always obligated to remember our Exodus from Egypt, both day and night. So what exactly do Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah and the sages disagree about? The first Tanna and Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah differ over whether one must apply verbal expression to this memory or not. According the first Tanna in the Mishnah, the Mitzvah is to simply to remember the Exodus; in order to strengthen our memories it is a good idea (but not obligatory) to mention the Exodus. Thus, a scholar of Torah who is deeply cognizant of the teachings of Judaism would not have to make verbal mention the Exodus in order to think about it or remember it. Rabbi Elazar, on the other hand, was of the opinion that the main way we remember the Exodus is by speaking about it. That is why we have two verses in the Torah: One is to remember and the other to teach us the obligation to explicitly mention the Exodus. Rabbi Elazar follows this point of view; he would say that a knowledgeable person has an obligation to mention the Exodus. There are many citations in the Torah which tells us to remember the Exodus. Why did the sages differ about whether we recite the passage dealing with tzitzit at night? Tzitzit is a ‘daytime’ commandment. Everyone agrees that the commandment of wearing fringes is commanded during the day. On the night of Passover, however, our tradition claims that the night was “bright like the day. It raises the question about tzitzit on this particular night. This is a theme we find throughout the Bible and later literature. In Psalm 139:12 we read, “But the night shines like the day…” In the Zohar we are taught that on the night of the Exodus the night was as bright as a day in the month of Tammuz so that the Israelites could experience God’s judgment.” That is why Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah taught that we should remember the Exodus day and night since the night was like day! When Ben Zoma says that “In order that you may remember the day of your going for from Egypt all the days of your life,” includes the nights, it is because the night was like daytime on this miraculous night. The sages disagreed with this interpretation and suggested that in the Messianic times the night will be like day so we will be commanded to remember the Exodus at night as well as in the day. Just as our ancestors lived in a time of darkness in the time of the Exodus and experienced a great light of redemption, so too, we are in living in the darkness of exile now but through our faith in god we will again experience the great light of redemption. Then, as in the past, the night will become bright as the day!! The sages, therefore, understood the expression “All the days of your life” as a reference to Messianic times. This world is not a place of wholeness and completeness. The expression, “all the days” implies a time of wholeness; the world to come is a place and a time of “All-ness.” In one of his poems, the Ari, Rabbi Isaac Luria speaks of the world to come a place which is filled with the “life of all. ” By telling the story of the Exodus, you will become worthy of making your soul cling to the “Bundle of Life ,” through the aspect of “All” in the days of your life and you will bring the end closer and the coming of the Messiah.

King Solomon compared the soul of a righteous person to אור, “a great light,” seeing that the soul provides spiritual light. It is derived directly from the celestial throne of glory. This light is not a derivative, but originates with G’d’s essence. By contrast, Solomon compared the soul of the wicked to a lamp, suggesting that it is merely a derivative, has no staying power of its own. It depends on oil and wick to keep it going. It is not a “self-starter.” As soon as either the oil supply fails or the wick develops some problem, the lamp is extinguished, i.e. the person dies. In other words, the body serves as the oil and wick of the soul of the wicked and it cannot survive the failure of his body. The reason is that the soul of the wicked does not derive his joy except from matters innately related to his body Although, technically speaking, a soul does not die, the punishment such a soul experiences may be far worse than death (compare author on Leviticus 18,29).
Seeing the wicked person did not pursue the path of light but the path of darkness, the attribute of darkness will be applied to him. This is a kind of destruction of the soul, an ongoing process involving unending painful afflictions.
Solomon stated this explicitly when he said in Proverbs 11,7: “when a wicked man dies his hopes perish.” Note that he did not say במות רשע, “when the wicked dies,” but במות אדם רשע, “when a wicked man dies.” The word אדם is meant to alert us that anyone who patterns his life after the attractions provided by what is earthly, אדמה, is considered a wicked individual. This is why, at the time of his death, he loses all the things he put his hopes in. After all, his hopes had focused only on matters of the body. He had not displayed any interest in matters spiritual, matters which should have been the prime concern of his soul. The word ידעך “will be extinguished,” is most appropriate to describe the demise of such a soul as it implies the cessation of light and constitutes the punishment of the sinful soul.
We may consider that the word דעיכה does not describe a total extinction of light but rather that the soul in question no longer experiences the amount of light which would be appropriate for it. We find the word used in Job 18,5 where Bildod speaks of the light of the wicked failing, (ידעך), “in that the flame of his fire does not shine.” In other words the meaning of that word is not exactly the same as כבוי, which would be a total extinction of the light. Isaiah 43,17 supports our point. The prophet says: ישכבו בל יקומו דעכו, כפשתה כבו, “they lay down to rise no more as they were extinguished; quenched like a wick.” It appears that the prophet speaks of two successive stages of light going out, the last stage כבו being the absolute extinction of any light.
However, in lauding the virtues of the righteous, Solomon mentions the word ישמח, “rejoice.” The righteous rejoices with the reward he receives for his righteousness. The expression שמחה is invariably applied to spiritual enjoyment due to the soul having attained new dimensions of Holy Spirit. Examples of such in Scripture are found in Psalms 104,31, ישמח ה' במעשיו, ”may the Lord rejoice in His works.” Another such example is found in Psalms 104,34 אנכי אשמח בו, “I will rejoice in Him (the Lord).” Seeing that the righteous serve the Lord joyfully while they are on earth they will enjoy an added degree of joy in the hereafter.
There is yet another reason why Solomon compared the soul of the righteous to light; the reason is that the souls were created on the first of the six days of creation simultaneously with the original light. (Compare author’s commentary on Genesis 1,4). There is a specific verse speaking about the souls in Chronicles I 4,23: ”These were the potters who dwelled at Netaim and Gederah; they dwelled in the king’s service.” (According to Bereshit Rabbah 8,6 the reference is to the souls of the righteous in the proximity of the King of Kings, the Lord). These souls were meant to benefit from this light which was created on the first day. In that particular passage in Genesis the Torah spoke of five different categories of light; we also find the נפש, “soul” appearing under five different names they are: רוח, נשמה, נפש, חיה, יחידה. Concerning this relationship between light and soul, David said in Psalms 119,130: פתח דבריך יאיר מבין פתיים, “the words You inscribe give light and understanding to the simple;” our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 3,1 comment on this verse that the opening words of the verse i.e. פתח דברים mean that as soon as G’d opened His mouth light came forth. The message is that as soon as “G‘d opens His mouth,” illumination, wisdom emerges. When the Torah writes; “G’d said let there be light, and there was light,” the meaning is that that this light came forth from the original darkness. It was quite unlike light produced by man. When man produces light he lights one candle from another, i.e. he adds light from an existing source of light. This matter is clear from the Torah’s description that there was only darkness over the entire expanse of the “deep” (Genesis 1,2). Job 12,22 confirms this state of affairs; “He draws mysteries out of the darkness and brings obscurities to light.” Another verse along the same lines is found in Daniel 2,22: הוא גלא עמיקתא ומסתרתא ידע מה בחשוכא ונהירא עמה שרא, “He reveals deep and hidden things, knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells within Him.” The word עמיקתא, “hidden things,” are understood by our sages as a reference to the מעשה מרכבה, “the mystical dimensions of what goes on in the celestial regions.” The word וסתרתא, on the other hand, refers to the mysteries of the process of creation. Seeing that G’d produced light out of darkness, it is quite clear that He does not need man-made light (such as supplied by the Menorah in the Tabernacle). In Psalms 139,12 David spelled this out when he said: ”darkness is not dark for You; night is as light as day; darkness and light are the same.” [the author quotes more such verses which I omitted. Ed.] Although we have seen that G’d is certainly not in any need of light supplied by man He legislated that the Tabernacle, His residence, be lit up internally by means of the lampstand, מנורה.

מאחת מהנה, “of one of these;” the first letter מ in this expression is unnecessary, whereas the second letter מ introduces examples. An example of a similar construction is found in Hoseah 4,9: כעם ככהן, “ordinary people (will fare) as well as priests.” Another such construction can be found in Kings II 3,7: כמוני כמוך, כעמי כעמך, כסוסי כסוסיך, “I will do what you do; my troops will be your troops; my horses will be your horses.” A third example of such a construction is found in Psalms 139,12: כחשכה כאורה, “darkness is like light.”