Mei Hashiloach - Parshat Shemot
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Mei Hashiloach - from the Holy Rebbe of Isbitza, Reb Mordechai Yosef. ZTSL

Parshat Shemot

     "And these are the names ...  And it was, because the midwives feared
G-d, that He made them houses."  (Shemot, 1:1,21)
     It is the nature of human fear that when one experiences it his mind
is unsettled, for fear is the opposite of a settled mind.  However, with
the fear of G-d, one experiences confidence and comfort.  "And He made them
houses," teaches of this, for, "houses," teaches of an organized, settled
mind, and then it follows that when they had a settled mind from the fear
of Elo-him they had no fear from the decree of Pharaoh.  This is, "and He
made them houses." This is the explanation of the verse (Bereshit, 49:13),
"Zevulun shall dwell on the ocean shore, and he shall be a shore for
ships," for, "ocean," teaches of fear, and, "ship," teaches of a settled
mind. As it is said in the Gemara (Bava Metsia, 9b), "a ship is at rest."=20

     "And Moshe said, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I
should bring forth the children of Israel?"  (Shemot, 3:11)
     Meaning, that he asked two questions.  One, " who am I," in other
words, he asked the blessed G-d to illuminate into him what made him more
fit to be the redeemer more than any one else in Israel.  Two, " that I
should bring out," meaning, it is true that they are being subjugated to
harsh slavery and they deserve to be redeemed, but nevertheless, what will
be with them when they are brought out?  That is, surely the intention of
the blessed G-d is not just to improve their life in this world. (As our
sages say in Avot, "this world is just a corridor," and what will become of
their more primary existence in the world to come?  Do you even need me for
their spiritual well being in the hereafter? btz) Concerning this the
blessed G-d answered him, to the question, "who am I?"  He answered him,
"for I will be with you," meaning that it is because I know that you do not
turn to anything from your own accord, but only from what I send to you.
The very name Moshe teaches of this, "for from the water was he drawn
('meshitihu' )," meaning that all the desires and personal interests were,
"drawn," out of him, (Water always symbolizes desires, as the greatest
desire is when one is thirsty and deprived of water. btz) and he felt no
arrogance in that the Divine presence spoke directly to him. (Here we
continue a theme from the previous weeks, that the highest possible level
for man to achieve is to be a pure vessel for the will of the blessed G-d,
as Yaakov always looked torward G-d's will to shine into him, this being
the only motivation for his action. It is similarly so with Yehuda and
David, one need only look for their names in the previous Parshiot to find
how this was their true nature. btz)   Concerning the question, "that I
should bring out," the intention of the blessed G-d is surely not for
benefit in this world. This being so, He answered him, "when I shall bring
you out ... You shall serve Elo-him=85" meaning that I shall place you under
the yokes of servitude to the Torah, and My dealings with you shall concern
things which live and endure for all of eternity.  On this He said, "and
this shall be your sign, that I ('Anochi') sent you," and He did not
formulate it by saying, "that I ('Ani ') sent you," for the additional
letter, "Caf ," in, "Anochi," teaches of something which lasts for all
eternity, as is known.  (It seems in my poor understanding, that as the
Zohar says, "the letter Caf  stands for Ceter, the divine crown," which in
a general sense, surrounds and is higher than all the other sefirot, as a
crown is above and surrounding the head. It is so supernal in nature that
it is not even counted among the ten sefirot, which rather start with
Chochma {see Eyts Haiim, Sha'ar 23, chapter 5}. Also, there is a basic
principle that the highest level of each world, Ceter, is actually the same
as the lowest level, Malchut, of the world above it, therefore being the
chain which connects everything to the Highest, connecting the finite with
the infinite - the blessed Ayn Sof. btz)

    "Go then and gather the elders of Israel ... but behold, they will not
believe me..." (Shemot, 3:16-4:1)
     Moshe actually trusted that they would believe him, for if the blessed
G-d sent him surely he would succeed. Yet still, he said that it is not
befitting that the messenger sent from the blessed G-d should not posses
the power to coerce them into listening to him, yet should rather have to
plead with them.  "And G-d said to him, what is that in your hand? And he
said, a staff.  And He said, cast it to the ground, and he cast it to the
ground, and it became a snake..." (Shemot, 4:2-3).  "Staff," hints at the
source of life, as it is written in the Gemara (Pesachim, 68a), "In the
future the Tsadikim shall raise the dead, as it is written, each man, his
staff in his hand."  "And he cast it to the ground, and it became a snake,"
meaning that He showed him that these things did not come out of the source
of life, but were rather a surface appearance which seemed like life. At
the source they are nothing, for, "snake," hints at this. You must
understand, are not the hearts of Israel in My hands, to coerce them to My
will?  And if I sent you, then you must believe that I will also send into
their hearts the inclination to adhere to you.  "And Moshe fled from its
presence," means that he understood his mistake.  "And He said, put forth
your hand and grasp it at its tail," meaning, investigate deeply into this
very matter, how it occurred to you that they might not believe you, for is
this not in itself also the will of the blessed G-d?  In this He showed him
that there was a reason for his insecurities, for it entered his mind that
there would be times when they would fail to believe in Moshe, as in
Korach's controversy.  These three wonders hint at the three failures that
were to come about in Israel.  The staff corresponds to the complaints
murmured in Parshat Chukat (Bamidbar, 21:5), " and the people spoke against
G-d and against Moshe ... our soul despises this cheap bread ... and G-d
sent snakes among the people." For this the fixing was, "and all who are
bitten shall glance at the brass serpent, and live." Therefore (since there
was a fixing), here too the snake turned back into a staff.  The second
wonder, "place your hand on your chest (and it became leprous),"
corresponds to Miriam and Aaron speaking against Moshe, and since here too
there was a fixing (the healing of Miriam's leprosy), Moshe returned from
his leprosy to his normal state.  The third wonder, " take some water from
the Nile, and it became blood," corresponds to the, "waters of strife (When
the people complained for water, so Moshe lost control and hit the rock)."
Since it is clear to all that this was not fixed (and Moshe never could
enter the land), therefore we do not find that the blood was turned back
into water.=20

     "And he went, and they met at the mountain of Elo-him, and he kissed
him."  (Shemot, 4:27)
     In the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba, 8:5), "Lovingkindness (Hesed) and
Truth have met, Righteousness (Tsedek) and Peace kissed, (Tehillim, 85:11)
Hesed is Aaron, Truth is Moshe, Tsedek is Moshe, Peace is Aharon." It is
also written in the Midrash (Tanchuma Shemot, 28), "With the creation of
the world, the Holy One, blessed be He, asked the opinion of Hesed.  Hesed
said, create it, for the world is filled with Lovingkindness.  Truth said,
do not create it, for the world is filled with lies.  Tsedek said, create
it, for the world is filled with righteousness.  Peace said do not create
it, for the world is filled with quarrels. What did he do?  The Holy One,
blessed be He, sent Truth earthward and created the world."  The famous
dilemma is; what did He do with Peace?  Do we not find that He also sent
Peace earthward?  Also, if Moshe was Truth and Tsedek, then on one side he
said, create it, and on the other side he said, do not create it.  The
matter is, "Truth says do not create it," and also Moshe whose attribute
was Truth was greatly disturbed in his soul that the way of evil ones would
succeed, and that Pharaoh could enslave the people of Israel. For is it not
complete falsehood? Pharaoh was completely evil. This disturbed Moshe at
the heart.  The attribute of his brother Aharon was Hesed (Lovingkindness),
and he learned to always have a mind that suffers and endured all, to
accept all with love without any accusations against the blessed G-d.  This
is as the Midrash explains (Tanchuma Shemot, 10), "Who gave man a mouth (as
G-d answered Moshe)? Rabbi Yochanan said, who gave the advice to flee from
before Pharaoh?"  Meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe,
"who sent it into your heart to flee?  Isn't that the attribute of Aharon,
which is contrary to your nature? And your attribute is that of Truth, and
according to your attribute there is no reason to flee from the evil
Pharaoh, yet I taught you the attribute of patience."  And after Moshe
Rabeynu fled from before Pharaoh he learned to have the mind of one who is
long suffering.  This is the very reason why the Holy One, blessed be He,
appeared before him in the burning bush. It was in order to teach him this
attribute, and He showed him that He dwelled in the bush. (This could be
explained, that either that the All Powerful would reside in a lowly bush
until the time was right, or that just as the bush was not consumed, so
would Moshe be patient until Pharaoh was subdued. btz) There he learned how
to be immensely patient, "for I am with him in times of trouble," (Tehillim
91:15) and he would be long suffering before Pharaoh.  For this reason
Moshe Rabeynu blessed Yosef (Devarim, 33:16) with, "the will of He who
dwelled in the bush." Here Moshe Rabeynu wanted to include the attribute of
patience into the attribute of Yosef the Tsaddik, so he would be filled
with good will torward Israel without any angry complaints against any soul
in Israel. In the tribe of Yosef severe judgments arise against Israel at
times when they turn away from the will of the blessed G-d.  Thus we find
the Prophet warning Israel and saying to them (Amos, 5:6), "Lest the house
of Yosef break forth like a fire," meaning that his nature may not be
angered and that act with good will torward Israel.  Therefore he said to
him, "the will of He who dwelled in the bush," meaning that the blessed G-d
will teach you the attribute of patience as He taught me with the bush.
Then when this attribute settled into the heart of Moshe, the peace
necessary to redeem Israel was made. This is the meaning of, "Hesed and
Truth have met," "meeting," meaning that they opposed one another, for
Aharon's attribute was Hesed, and he said, create it, while Moshe was
Truth, and he said, do not create it. So when it was necessary for Moshe to
flee from Pharaoh he was called (Daniel, 8:12), "and Truth was sent
earthward." This means that the attribute of Truth reached an equilibrium
with Hesed, and the attribute of Truth was made into Tsedek
(righteousness), meaning like Aharon, so then he also said, "create it."
When they reached this equilibrium, then, "Tsedek and Peace have kissed,"
for then truth also said, "create it." For when Peace initially said, "do
not create it," it wanted to be in opposition to the attribute of Truth,
for Aharon's attribute is Peace. But now that Truth was made into Tsedek
and said, "create it," then Peace would not say, "do not create it." In
this, "Tsedek and Peace have kissed," through the, "cleaving of soul to
soul."=20

    "(Moshe to G-d) Why have you done evil toward the people=85" (Shemot,=
 5:22)
     At first glance, it is a wonder that such a word against the blessed
G-d could come out of the mouth of Moshe. But truly, Moshe Rabeynu was a
great lover of Israel, so when he heard from the mouth of the Almighty that
they would need to remain in Egypt until all the plagues had passed through
Egypt, he then asked, "is it not in Your power to redeem the people in an
instant?  Why then must they be in Egypt for the twelve months, to see the
plagues and be terrified by them?" As it is written (Devarim, 28:60), "the
diseases of Egypt which you were afraid of," for truly Israel also feared
the plagues. So therefore he asked this of the Holy One, blessed be He, and
G-d showed him that even this was necessary for Israel. For in truth,
Israel had a connection to the Egyptians, as it is written (Devarim, 4:34),
"You took a nation from the midst of a nation," meaning, as a newborn
falling forth from the womb of his mother also has a connection to the
mother. Therefore they also needed refinement and to fear the plagues, for
the fear itself refined their hearts, as we find in the Gemara (Berachot,
59a), "Thunder was created only to remove the crookedness from the heart."
This is the meaning of the verse in the chapter of Tehillim against evil
spirits (Tehillim 91:8), "=F8you will only see with your eyes, and you will
see the recompense of the evil ones." In other words, that you need to see
that by means of this fear how the crookedness of the heart will be refined
into good.
