33. He continued with the verse, "Neither shall he profane his seed among his people, for I Hashem do sanctify him"(Vayikra 21:15). Come and see, whoever ejaculates semen in vain is not worthy of beholding the face of the Shechinah, and is considered evil, as it is written, "For You are not an El that has pleasure in wickedness; nor shall evil dwell with You" (Tehilim 5:5). THIS REFERS TO one who emits it by hand or through another, unworthy woman. You may argue that one who ejaculates it within a woman who does not conceive IS also CONSIDERED TO BE EMITTING SEMEN IN VAIN. This is not so, but only those we mentioned.

34. A man should therefore ask the Holy One, blessed be He, to summon him a worthy vessel, THAT IS A WORTHY WOMAN, so as not to blemish his seed. Whoever ejaculates his seed in an unworthy vessel blemishes his seed. Woe to him who causes damage in his seed. And if this is true for other people, it is much more so to a priest that is below, CORRESPONDING to a likeness of above in utmost holiness. IT IS THEREFORE WRITTEN, "NEITHER SHALL HE PROFANE HIS SEED AMONG HIS PEOPLE."

35. HE ASKS, What is the meaning of "among his people," seeing that it is written before, "A widow, or a divorced woman, or a profaned, or a harlot, these shall he not take" (Vayikra 21:14), and "Neither shall he profane his seed among his people." It should have said, 'among them.' Why "among his people?" HE ANSWERS, this MEANS this would be a disgrace among his people, a blemish among his people. Hence it is written, "but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife" (Ibid.), "of his own people" assuredly. Everything is in the likeness of above. "For I Hashem do sanctify him:" what is "sanctify him?" HE ANSWERS, it is I who daily sanctify him. Hence he must not blemish his seed and no blemish must be in him, "for I, Hashem do sanctify him," as I wish to sanctify him so that he shall be sanctified in every respect, and so that the holy will make use of what is holy.

36. Come and see, the Holy One, blessed be He, will make use of the priest, who is holy when he comes to serve. Since the Holy One, blessed be He will use the priest who is holy, the latter will be helped by a pure man, who is sanctified by his own purity. These are the Levites. Another MAN, NAMELY THE PRIEST, will be helped by another holy man, THE LEVITE, so they will all be in holiness to serve the Holy One, blessed be He. Happy are Yisrael in this world and in the World to Come, as it is written of them, "and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine" (Vayikra 20:26). Yisrael are separated by holiness in every respect, so as to serve the Holy One, blessed be He. This is the meaning of, "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Hashem your Elohim" (Ibid. 7).

37. He opened again and said, "Salvation belongs to Hashem; Your blessings be upon Your people. Selah" (Tehilim 3:9). "Salvation belongs to Hashem:" we have so learned, happy are Yisrael, for wherever they were exiled, the Shechinah went into exile with them. When Yisrael will come out of exile, whose salvation shall this be, that of Yisrael or of the Holy One, blessed be He, SEEING THAT THE SHECHINAH AS WELL WILL GO OUT OF EXILE? We have explained it in relation to several verses. Here, "Salvation belongs to Hashem," surely. When will that be? When "Your blessings be upon Your people." When the Holy One, blessed be He, cares for Yisrael with blessings so as to take them out of exile and help them, then "Salvation belongs to Hashem," BECAUSE THE SHECHINAH WILL GO OUT OF EXILE. We therefore learned that the Holy One, blessed be He, will return from exile with Yisrael. This is the meaning of, "then Hashem your Elohim will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you" (Devarim 30:3). 'TURN' CAN BE CONSTRUED TO MEAN HE WILL RETURN WITH YISRAEL FROM EXILE.