תורה 10

10. This is the explanation [of the opening verse]:

“V’eileh (And these) are the laws that you must place before them.”

The Mekhilta (21:1 ; Bava Kama 15a) comments: that you must place before them — Woman is equated with man in regard to all dinim (laws) of the Torah. The explanation is as follows: For all the dinim (Divine judgments/decrees) in the Torah which need to be mitigated, one must equate —i.e., unite the Holy One and His Divine Presence. This is the aspect of Mordekhai and Esther. Thus:

V’eileh — Wherever the term v’eileh (“and these”) is used, it comes to add to what went first (Bereishit Rabbah 30:3). [Thus, v’ eileh] indicates an increase and a multiplicity, which correspond to haughtiness and idolatry. As it is written (Deuteronomy 7:7), “It was not because you had great numbers that God embraced you”—[“great numbers”] being explained as haughtiness. This is the meaning of “it comes to add to what went first.” This is the aspect of Haman/Amalek, of whom it is written (Numbers 24:20), “First among nations is Amalek.” And [Haman/Amalek] is rectified by means of:

the laws — This corresponds to ruach, as is written (Isaiah 28:6), “And for a ruach (spirit) of judgment… to them that turn back the battle.” It is with the ruach [of the Torah] that haughtiness and idolatry are rectified. And through this:

that you must place before them — This is, “Woman is equated with man in regard to all dinim of the Torah”—i.e., mitigating all the Divine judgments/decrees. For “As long as there is idolatry in the world, there is Divine anger—i.e., Divine judgments/decrees—in the world.” But, by means of the abovementioned ruach there is a union between the Holy One and His Divine Presence, and the Divine judgments/decrees are mitigated. Divine anger then departs from the world.

Now, the sum of all this is as follows: Through the tzaddik, who corresponds to ruach, [belief in an] “other god” atheism disappear. And, as a result of the ruach, there is dancing and hand-clapping. As explained above, this is because through the tzaddik/the ruach, the feet are lifted up, the emanation of the hands is revealed, and faith increases. This is why of Yosef, who is the aspect of tzaddik, it is written (Genesis 41:44), “Without your permission, no man will lift up his hand or foot [in all of Egypt].” For without the aspect of Yosef, the tzaddik, it is impossible to lift up or raise either the hands or the feet.

And so, from all of this you can understand that revealed [Torah] corresponds to the hands, and hidden [Torah] corresponds to the feet—corresponding to Mordekhai and Esther. And even though the hidden is more exalted than the revealed, still, the revealed manifests in a higher position, i.e., the hands, whereas the hidden is in the feet, which are lower than the hands. This matter is complex, yet aligns with that which is written in the Zohar (II, 258a): The Tannaim (early Sages) are in the thighs and the Amoraim (later Sages) in the hands. Although the Tannaim are more exalted than the Amoraim, nevertheless, their position is lower than the position of the Amoraim . The same is true of the Books of the Prophets vis-à-vis the Sacred Writings. An answer for this has already been given.