תורה 23

“Tell us something false.”

He said to them, “We had a mule. It gave birth and there was a note hanging on its neck. It read: Your father’s estate owes me one hundred thousand coins .”

They said to him, “Does a mule give birth?”

“That ’s the falsehood!” he answered.

“Salt, when it spoils, with what can it be preserved?”

“With the placenta of a mule.”

“Does a mule have a placenta ?”

“Does salt spoil?” (Bekhorot 8b).

“Tzivita Tzedek (You commanded the justice) of Your testimonies, and mighty faithfulness.” (Psalms 119:138)

There is a countenance of holiness—shining faces, the aspect of life, as it is written (Proverbs 16:15), “In the light of the Living King’s countenance.” It is [also] the aspect of joy, as in (Psalms 16:11), “[You will make known to me the path of life,] the fullness of joys in Your countenance.” It is also written (Genesis 45:27), “And Yaakov’s spirit came alive”—this is the aspect of joy.

And there is a countenance of the Other Side—darkened faces, melancholy, idolatry. As it is written (Exodus 20:3), “You shall have no other gods before My countenance.”

Now, those people who succumb to the desire for money and do not believe that the Holy One can provide man with a livelihood through an easy way, extend great effort in chasing after their sustenance. They eat their bread with sorrow, as in (Genesis 3:17), “with great sorrow you will eat,”—sorrow being melancholy. Such people are tied to the countenance of the Other Side, “other gods,” darkness, the aspect of death, as is written (Lamentations 3:6), “He set me in darkness [as those long dead].”

Of them it is said (Ezekiel 7:19), “… and their gold is as something impure.” This corresponds to idolatry, as our Sages taught (Shabbat 82a): How do we know that idolatry makes impure like a menstruating woman? For it is written (Isaiah 30:22), “…[and the gold binding of your molten images] you will cast away as a monstrous thing.”

But those who conduct their business matters faithfully are attached to the light of the countenance of holiness. For there is no faith without truth, as is brought in the Zohar (III, 198b): “That is justice; that is faith.” {And it is concluded there: “It is called faith only when attached to truth.” Thus faith comes essentially through truth.} And truth is the Light of the Face, as is known.

This is what our Sages said: “And he graced the city’s countenance” (Genesis 33:18) —one says he struck a coin for them, and one says that he established bathhouses for them (Shabbat 33b). These are one and the same, they do not disagree. This is because Yaakov is the personification of truth, as in (Micah 7:20), “Give truth to Yaakov.” He also corresponds to the Light of the Face. And as soon as he arrived [in Shekhem], faith was rectified.

This is the meaning of, “he struck a coin.” He rectified the desire for money. And when he rectified greed, the blemish of idolatry was also rectified. And this is the meaning of, “he established bathhouses for them.” As it is written (Exodus 2:5), “The daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe.” Our Sages expound that she went to cleanse herself from the idolatry of her father’s house (Megillah 13a).

This is the meaning of, “And he graced the city’s countenance.” Specifically “countenance,” the countenance of the Other Side, which is a coin—namely, the desire for money.

For all idolatry is based in money. This is why the word mamon (money) with its letters is numerically equivalent to one hundred forty; to counter the one hundred forty calls which the Divine Presence screams—“Heavy is My head! Heavy is My arm!” (Sanhedrin 46a) —over those who succumb to greed. This is idolatry, inclusive of all the idolatrous practices of the seventy nations. {This is why there are one hundred forty calls, twice seventy. For the Divine Presence screams a double call, corresponding to: “Heavy is My head! Heavy is My arm!”—an aspect of double calls. In other words, there are twice seventy calls that the Divine Presence screams for those who succumb to the desire for money, which is [the] idolatry inclusive of all the idolatrous practices of seventy nations.}

This is what our Sages taught: Earning one’s livelihood is twice as difficult as childbirth (Pesachim 118a). For the woman in labor screams seventy calls before giving birth. But here there are one hundred forty calls, which is twice seventy.

And this is: Be not wicked biphnei atz’mkha (before yourself) (Avot 2:13) — biPhNeI corresponds to the PNeI (the countenance) of the Other Side which comes as a result of the desire for money. For he does not believe in the Holy One, that He sustains and provides. But he thinks (Deuteronomy 8:17), “It was my own strength and the power of my hand that brought me all this prosperity.” And this is ATZ’Mkha, linguistically similar to “OTZeM (the power) of my hand.”