Beshalach: Chapter 25

"You did stretch out Your right hand, the earth swallowed them"

Synopsis

The rabbis have some difficulty with the fact that God stretched out His right hand seemingly to perform judgment, yet the right hand is of Chesed. The explanation is that He separated the right hand so that the left hand performed the acts of judgment. We are told that He has guided the righteous with His strength and His arm to His holy habitation. Rabbi Shimon speaks about the latter generation that Joshua circumcised, and in whom He revealed the holy imprint of the Name of God; everyone who is circumcised and in whom the holy marking has been revealed is called 'righteous.' Rabbi Shimon reminds us that there is no word or letter in the Torah that does not contain supernal secrets.