תורה 64

6. And this is [the explanation of the opening verse]: God said to Moshe, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened [his heart and the heart of his servants, that I might set these otote (signs) of Mine in their midst ; and that you might recount in the ears of your children and your grandchildren how I have made a mockery of the Egyptians, and of My otote which I have wrought in their midst—that you might know that I am God.” Moshe and Aharon went to Pharaoh, and they said to him, “… tomorrow I will bring locusts into your borders.”]

Pharaoh—He is the aspect of the Vacated Space, since “PhaRaOh” connotes nullification, from the expression “taPhRiOo (stopping) the people” (Exodus 5:4). “Pharaoh” also connotes revelation—i.e., the aspect of the Vacated Space, which is void and vacated of everything and the entire creation is revealed within it, as explained above.

And there in the Vacated Space, since it is impossible to comprehend the aspect of the Vacated Space, as explained above, there is a hardening of the heart. Thus all the wisdoms that stem from there involve hard-heartedness. They leave one with questions about God, and it is impossible to find God there since He vacated His Godliness from there, so to speak, in order that the creation could come into existence, as explained above. Therefore:

God said to Moshe, Go…—That specifically Moshe should go to Pharaoh, the aspect of the Vacated Space, because entry to there is forbidden other than for someone who is the aspect of Moshe, as explained above. This is because it is impossible to find God there, as explained above. And this is:

for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants—“Servants” are the aspect of the introductions to all the wisdoms. Each wisdom has introductions, which are called servants and attendants to the wisdom. That is, all the wisdoms and introductions that come from there, from the Vacated Space, involve hard-heartedness, because one is left with questions, as explained above. And this is:

that I might set these OTOTe, signs, of Mine in their midst—In other words, the reason that “I hardened his heart…,” such that it is impossible to find God there, was “in order that I might set…”—in order to set into it the OTiyOTe (letters) of the creation. That is, in order that the creation might come into existence within the Vacated Space, He contracted and vacated His Godliness from there, so to speak, since if He had not contracted His Godliness from there, there would have been no place for the creation, as explained above. And this is:

and that you might recount …—For there, inside the creation that came into existence within the Vacated Space, you will be able to recount and speak. This is because the letters and speech through which the creation came into existence are there, as explained above. And this is:

in the ears of your children and your grandchildren—In the main, the entire creation was for the sake of His compassion, as explained above. And the creation was through the spoken word, as explained above. Thus, in each thing that was created within the Vacated Space there is a contraction of compassion. For God contracted His compassion and created that thing, in that shape and form in accordance with His compassion; with the measure of God’s compassion determining that this thing be as it is. This is because compassion is the root of the entire creation, since everything was created in order to reveal His compassion, as explained above.

This is, “You will then be able to recount in the ears of your children and your grandchildren”—thus is the extent of a father’s compassion for a child {as Rashi comments on the verse (Genesis 21:23): “that you will not deal falsely with me, or with my children, or with my grandchildren”}. With regard to that which is after Creation, you will be able to recount and speak and comprehend the contraction of His compassion that is in each thing. “Thus is the extent of a father’s compassion [for a child]”—i.e., that this thing contains this much compassion, and that thing contains that much compassion. And this is:

how I have made a mockery of the Egyptians…—This is the aspect of the forces of evil that come from an overload of the Light, from the Shattering of the Vessels. For Rashi explains that “I made a mockery” means “I made a parody”—i.e., I created parody and mockery in the world, namely the aspect of the evil forces. They parallel holiness only as one who imitates, parodies and mimics his friend; they are only like a monkey that parodies and imitates a human being. And this is:

and of My OTOTe which I have wrought in their midst—There are OTiyOTe there, because they stem from an overload of the Light, from the Shattering of the Vessels, as explained above. Therefore:

that you might know that I am God—In that place you will be able to recognize God, since there are holy sparks and letters there, as explained above. That is, even within the aspect of parody/the forces of evil—i.e., the aspect of the first heresy, which stems from an overload of the Light, as explained above—there too you will be able to recognize God. Of this it is said: “And know what to answer the heretic,” as explained above. For it is possible to find there letters and sparks to answer them, since they stem from the Shattering of the Vessels, as explained above.

And this is: Moshe [and Aharon] went to Pharaoh… tomorrow I will bring locusts into your borders—“Tomorrow” is the aspect of the Future, because “tomorrow is for receiving [their] reward” (Eruvin 22a), the aspect of “Tomorrow, my righteousness will bear witness for me” (Genesis 30:33)—i.e., the aspect of receiving reward in the Future. Then, they will understand the aspect of the Vacated Space produced by the contraction: how it is possible that in fact there is Godliness there and even so it is the Vacated Space, as explained above. This in itself is the receiving of reward, since the main receiving of reward in the Future is their comprehending deeply and understanding that which was impossible for them to understand in this world.

And then they will know that the Vacated Space is the aspect of “locusts”: “Like the grasshopper, whose garment is part of itself” (Bereishit Rabbah 21:5). {As the works of Kabbalah bring, this is the mystery of the Vacated Space.} “Garment” is the aspect of the contraction [that formed] the Vacated Space, which produces the aspect of garments. They will understand that it “is part of itself,” that in fact there is Godliness there and even so it is the aspect of a garment/contraction [that formed] the Vacated Space.

This is the aspect of “Tomorrow, my righteousness will bear witness for me.” “My righteousness” is the aspect of garments, the aspect of “I clothed myself in righteousness” (Job 29:14). For then, “tomorrow,” when reward will be received, the mystery of the aspect of garments, the aspect of the contraction [that formed] the Vacated Space, will be revealed, as explained above. This is because the aforementioned “summit of Amanah” will be revealed then—the aspect of “Come, sing from the summit of Amanah,” the aforementioned aspect of the exalted melody of the summit of Æmunah, through which all the conundrums of the Vacated Space are nullified, as explained above.

And this is “tomorrow I will bring arbeh (locusts).” [ARBeH] is an acronym for “Akhein Ruach Hu B’enosh (But it is the spirit in men)” (Job 32:8). This is the aspect of melody, which is the aspect of ruach. That is, the melody and song of the summit of faith will be revealed then, as explained above, and consequently all the heresy—even that of the Vacated Space—will be nullified, as explained above.