ספר שמות

In the midrash (Shemot Rabbah 5:6) " and I turned to see… that which he already did…” (Ecclesiastes 2:12). For a person should know that every action affects his essence in a place so high that a person’s understanding cannot reach there at all. And because of this, it is necessary that all the intellect and all the desires are nullified to the will of Hashem. Similarly, I heard from my father, my master, my teacher and mentor, the righteous one who should be remembered for life in the World to Come, about what the midrash says, that if Reuven had known that the Torah had written about him “in order to save him” (Genesis 37:22), he would have carried Yosef on his shoulders back to his father (Rus Rabbah 5:6, Vayikra Rabbah 34:8). God forbid that he would have done this because of the honor that the verse would attest to him, but if he had known that the matter affected so much that the verse would write… Until here are the words of my father. And every action of a person is already decreed in heaven. And that is what the verse means, “that which he already did” (Ecclesiastes 2:12). Because on high, every action that a person will do is already decreed before Hashem; if so, it is not pertinent to question Him. And certainly it seemed obvious to King Solomon that his heart would not be led astray. But a person's actions affect that which is above his ability to understand. And consequently, there can be a change in the essence of a person. And if so, a person cannot know this at all. And it is written (Shemot Rabbah 5:6) that the letter yud in the word “yirbeh” (increase) went up before Hashem and said, Solomon is nullifying me! And is it true that someone who performs a sin nullifies a letter? But certainly through sin a person is cut off from clinging. But King Solomon knew that through the power of the Torah that was in him and the life force of Hashem which he was connected to without separation, he said “I will increase and not be led astray [and that's what the verse says, “God is with me and I will prevail” (Proverbs 30:1)]. And therefore, the yud, which signifies thought [which is the essence, as we say “the end is action, the beginning is thought” (Friday night prayers)], went up and said… And similarly by Moshe. He said, “Why did You do evil to Your nation?" (Exodus 5:22). Certainly he was not able to depict, God forbid, the evil of Israel. And Hashem responded to Him, “I am God” (Exodus 6:2), that all existences are through My will; if so, questions and challenges are not pertinent. And He also commanded him to say to the children of Israel, “I am Hashem” (Exodus 6:6), so that they will know that even the exile of Egypt was only through the life force of Hashem, because all existences are from Him. “And they didn’t listen to Moshe because of shortness of breath” (Exodus 6:9), because when they were in exile, this matter was not revealed [the meaning of “shortness of breath” is the life force of Hashem that is in a person, as it is written “and He blew into his nostrils a breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). And in exile the clinging to the essence of the life force is halted] and that is what is written in the midrash, that everything is from the Torah, He established in it positive commandments and negative commandments… (Shemot Rabbah 6:1), meaning that every action of a person of Israel has a life force in Torah and mitzvos that are dependent on action. And therefore the action of a person affects that which is above, and it draws from the life force of Hashem. And similarly what is written about the holy Sabbath, “that Hashem created to make” (Genesis 2:3), meaning that which is done even now through the desire of Hashem at the time of the creation, and on the Sabbath the children of Israel testify about this, that the truth was made clear. And this is what is written “and you should honor it from doing your desires…” (Isaiah 58:13), the Sages explained that all your work should be done. We can say as we said above, that one should know that also that which a person is doing is already done through the will of Hashem, as it is written “a person only injures a finger below if they decree so about him on high” (Chullin 7b), and that is what is written “that which was already done” (Ecclesiastes 2:12), as we said above. And on the Sabbath it is the aspect of nullification and the acceptance of the yoke of heaven, to nullify oneself to the essence of life. And through this, every action is drawn after its essence in heaven. Because it is written, “He did wonders” (Psalms 98:1). And the Rama in Orach Chaim explained “and does wondrous things” (Blessing of Asher Yatzar), that the action has in it an aspect of wonder, (see the Magen Avraham there, Orach Chaim 6:1). And also the wisdom of a person needs to be nullified to the aspect of the essence of wisdom, as it is written “from where is it found…” (Job 28:12). Because a person knows that when he grows and becomes wiser, he sees that that which he did not consider to be a sin beforehand was a mistake, and so too afterwards even more. If so, for true wisdom there is no measure, and all knowledge must be nullified to the word of Hashem, and everything will be drawn to the essence, as we said above.

“And you should know that I am Hashem your God who takes you out…” (Exodus 6:7). This is a promise that they will know that Hashem took them out from the land of Egypt. And this is the reason for the entire exile, that a person should know that from his side he is set to be in exile. And this is the practice for every person from Israel. Similarly I heard from my father, my master, my teacher and mentor, whose memory should be a blessing, that if a person truly knew that everything is from Hashem, they would not hide from him anything, and all the hiddenness is so that it will not seem like it is from Him, and the words of the wise are grace. And a person needs to know, even during a time of favor when he has a little bit of clinging, with all that, it cannot be forgotten that he is set, from his side, for any sin and iniquity. Only with the help of Hashem. And this is what is written, “so that you will remember the day that you left Egypt all the days of your life” (Deuteronomy 16:3), meaning even when he is clinging to the living God. And similarly the Sages wrote that this comes to include the days of the messiah, which is a good time, when the evil inclination is not in control. Nevertheless, he has to remember well, that if not for His mercy we would still be in Egypt. As it is written, “if He hadn’t taken us out… we would still be enslaved…” (Passover Haggadah). And this Hashem wanted to ingrain in Israel at the time of the exile, that they should know that all this was so that they would know after the entire redemption and after the receiving of the Torah, that Hashem took them out of Egypt. And this is what it says by the Sabbath, “a remembrance for the exodus from Egypt” (Kiddush for Friday night), for it is a day of rest, and a person must know that it is from Hashem. And therefore, every day we mention the exodus from Egypt before the unification of krias Shema to know that if not for His mercy we would be in Egypt. And through making this truly clear, every day we leave from the meitzar (straits - same root as Mitzrayim which means Egypt) and we are able afterwards to accept the yoke of Heaven. And we say, “You brought us out from Egypt and You redeemed us from the house of slavery” (Morning Prayers). It seems that the explanation is that there were two things: the hard work of the slavery, and also that they were truly under the hand of Egypt. And it is written in the holy Zohar, that as long as a person has a different yoke, he cannot accept the yoke of Heaven. This is why slaves are exempt from accepting the yoke of Heaven. And therefore, after the exodus from Egypt we accept the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. And so too it is written, “and I will take out…” and then afterwards “and I will take you to Me as a nation…” (Exodus 6:6-7), as we said above. [Even so, after this he should also know that if not for His mercy we would be in Egypt, and this is why we mention also after krias Shema the exodus from Egypt and redemption. And afterwards we can come through that to prayer.]

“And I will take you out… from under the burden (sivlot) of Egypt… " (Exodus 6:6). I heard from my father an explanation of “sivlot” (burden), that they were not able to bear, in any manner, the impurity of Egypt. And from that came the redemption afterwards. And it seems that it is from this that Moshe, our teacher, took them out, as he said “Behold the children of Israel did not listen to me” (Exodus 6:12). Because afterwards it is written “and I will redeem…” (Exodus 6:6), if so, before they heard and it was not properly disgusting to them, and they did not leave from under the burden, consequently how will Pharaoh listen, which happens afterwards? But really they had left the burden of Egypt, but the attribute of Moshe was on a higher level, for he was further separated from the land of Egypt, and so it is written “they did not listen to me…” (Exodus 6:12). And this was the idea of having Aharon join, that their clinging to Moshe would be through Aharon [and that is what is written “and He commanded them…” (Exodus 6:13)], as we said above. And afterwards it is written, “and you should know that I am Hashem your God who takes you out from under the burden of Egypt” (Exodus 6:7), that after the whole redemption, one must know that if not for the help of Hashem, we would still be under the burden of Egypt, which is an bad aspect, as we said above. And this is advice for all of Israel, that one should habituate himself to hate evil with the utmost hatred. Like the Sages said, a person should incite his good inclination against his evil inclination (Berachot 5a). And this is the beginning of the redemption, as we said above.