128. The same shade returned again and walked around the house like an image of a man. Rabbi Aba fell on his face. Rabbi Yosi said: I recall that in this spot I saw Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair. One day he was standing on this spot and asked as follows: In the verse "Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the priest" (Bemidbar 25:11): WHY IS PINCHAS HERE SPELLED with the addition of the small letter Yud?
129. AND HE ANSWERS, Because there are two sets of recorded alphabets, one alphabet of large letters and one of small letters. AND HE EXPLAINS: The large letters belong to the World to Come AND ARE IN THE ASPECT OF BINAH, WHICH IS CALLED 'THE WORLD TO COME,' while the small letters belong to this world AND ARE OF THE ASPECT OF MALCHUT, WHICH IS CALLED 'THIS WORLD.' HERE LIES THE REASON FOR the small letter Yud, which is a sign of the Holy Covenant, NAMELY MALCHUT. Since Pinchas was zealous for this Covenant, a small Yud was added to him, which is the secret of this Covenant, NAMELY MALCHUT.
130. At that time, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: What can I do with Moses, for this Covenant came from Moses, and the bride, WHO IS MALCHUT, is his. It is not nice to give her, MALCHUT, to another, unless Moses knows about it and desires it. It is not proper. The Holy One, blessed be He, started by saying to Moses: 'Moses, "Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the priest."' Moses asked Him: Master of the Universe, what of him? THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, answered him: 'You are the one who has given your soul for Yisrael a number of times so that they should not disappear from the world, while he, PINCHAS, "has turned My wrath away from the children of Yisrael"'(Bemidbar 25:11). Moses said: What do You want of me? Is not everything Yours? AND IF YOU WANT TO CAUSE MALCHUT TO REST ON HIM, WHO CAN TELL YOU WHAT YOU SHOULD DO?
131. Said THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, TO MOSES: 'Here: it is all yours! You tell PINCHAS THAT MY SHECHINAH will rest within him.' Moses said: In all sincerity, let MALCHUT be with him. Said THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, 'You tell him yourself, and in a loud voice, that you are handing THE SHECHINAH over to him, willingly and sincerely. Thus the verse "Wherefore say" - you say it willingly - "Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace" (Ibid. 12). Moses started to say: "Behold I give to him..." For if IT WAS REFERRING TO the Holy Blessed One, what should have been said was: 'Wherefore say to him, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace.' But this is not written, but rather "Wherefore say" WITHOUT 'TO HIM,' THE MEANING BEING THAT MOSES WAS COMMANDED TO SAY IT. Should you suggest that THE SHECHINAH was completely removed and taken away from Moses AND GIVEN TO HIM, you would be wrong, for it is like a candle that is used to light something else. The one gains the benefit of the light, while the other does not diminish.
132. The same shade came, sat down, and kissed him. They heard a certain voice saying: Make room, make room for Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, for he is among you. As we have learned: in every place where a righteous man made a new interpretation of a matter in the Torah while he was in this world, he comes from the World to Come and visits that place. And this is even more likely when there are other righteous men in that place, deriving new interpretations and speaking about the Torah. And so it was that Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair came to visit his place and found there a number of righteous men revealing new interpretations of the Torah, and that matter was renewed again in the presence of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair. IN OTHER WORDS, THAT SAME TORAH MATTER THAT RABBI PINCHAS HAD SPOKEN OF WAS REESTABLISHED IN HIS PRESENCE WHEN YOU MENTIONED IT IN HIS NAME.
133. Rabbi Aba said: This interpretation of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair is very nice, for it is indeed not written: 'Wherefore I give,' but "Wherefore say, Behold, I to give to him," MEANING THAT MOSES WAS COMMANDED TO SAY TO HIM, AS NOTED ABOVE. And just to think that this matter was hidden with you from that devout man, and you said nothing UNTIL NOW. Happy is our portion that we were privileged to be here with the help of the holy shade.