188. "And she hid him three months" (Shemot 2:2). HE ASKS, What is the significance of three months? Rabbi Yehuda said, It is an allusion to THE VIRTUE OF Moses not being recognized by the supernal radiance for three months, as is written, "In the third month" (Shemot 19:1). For then the Torah was given through him, and the Shechinah was revealed and dwelt upon him before everyone's eyes, as is written, "And Moses went up to the Elohim, and the Hashem called to him" (Ibid. 3). THIS IS WHAT IS WRITTEN, "And when she could no longer hide him" (Shemot 2:3). For until that time, his communication with the Holy One, blessed be He, was not known. And then it is written, "Moses speaks, and the Elohim answers him by a voice" (Shemot 19:19).

189. "She took for him a box (lit. 'ark') made of papyrus" (Shemot 2:3). This is an allusion to the ark in which the tablets of the Covenant came. "An ark made of papyrus" is the Ark of the Covenant. "And daubed it with slime clay and with pitch," because the ark was overlaid inside and out. Rabbi Yehuda said, This is the Torah that the Holy One, blessed be He, inscribed with positive commandments and negative commandments.

190. "...and put the child in it..." (Ibid. 3). These are Yisrael, as is said, "When Yisrael was still a youth, I loved him" (Hoshea 11:1). "And she laid it in the rushes (Heb. suf)" (Ibid.), so there was no obligation to perform the commandments of the Torah until the end (Heb. sof), when Yisrael came to the land at the end of forty years. "...by the river's brink (Heb. safah)..." meaning according to the speech of those who teach Torah and laws to Yisrael. BECAUSE THE WORD "SAFAH" IS LIKE THE WORD 'LANGUAGE' (HEB. SAFAH) AND SPEECH, AND THE WORD "YEOR" ('RIVER') HAS THE MEANING OF MOREH ('TEACHER').

191. Another explanation, "A man," refers to the Holy One, blessed be He, as is written, "Hashem is a Man of war" (Shemot 15:3). "Of the house of Levi," refers to the Holy One, blessed be He, WHO WENT FROM the place where the supernal Chochmah, THIS BEING SUPERNAL ABA, and that river, WHICH IS SUPERNAL IMA, join together and never separate. HE WENT FROM THE PLACE OF THE YESOD OF SUPERNAL ABA AND IMA. "Of the house of Levi" IS DERIVED FROM THE WORD LEVIATHAN, MEANING YESOD; He caused the Leviathan (lit. 'whale') to dwell in this world to bring joy into the world, WHICH IS THE SHECHINAH. It is written, "There is the Leviathan, whom You have made to play therein" (Tehilim 104:26). "And took to wife a daughter of Levi." This is the Holy One, blessed be He, MEANING the place where the light of the moon illuminates, WHICH IS THE SHECHINAH.

192. "And the woman conceived, and bore a son." The woman, MEANING THE SHECHINAH IS most certainly CALLED A 'WOMAN,' as is written, "She shall be called woman" (Beresheet 2:23), AND "THIS" IS THE NAME OF THE SHECHINAH. Originally she was a daughter of Levi, WHICH IS YESOD OF ABA AND IMA THAT IS CALLED 'LEVIATHAN,' AS MENTIONED EARLIER, and it is certainly so, AS ABA AND IMA BUILT THE NUKVA. THEREFORE, HE ASKS, Originally she was a daughter of Levi and now she is a woman? AND HE ANSWERS, It is certainly so, as we have learned, that a woman is called the daughter of so and so before she marries, MEANING BY THE NAME OF HER FATHER AND MOTHER. After she marries, she is called a woman BY HER OWN NAME and here, daughter, woman and bride, are all one level, MEANING THE SHECHINAH.

193. "She hid him three months" (Shemot 2:2). These are the three months in which Severe Judgment is prevalent in the world. And which are they? THEY ARE Tamuz, Av, and Tevet IN WHICH THERE IS NO REVELATION OF THE SHECHINAH BECAUSE OF THE JUDGMENTS IN THE WORLD. HE ASKS, What is he trying to tell us? AND HE ANSWERS THAT HE IS TELLING US THAT before Moses descended to this world, he was above WITH THE SHECHINAH. Therefore, the Shechinah joined with him from the day he was born. From this Rabbi Shimon derived that the spirits of the righteous were above IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN before they descended into this world.

194. "And when she could no longer hide him..." (Ibid. 3). HE ASKS, What is the meaning of, "She took for him a box made of papyrus?" HE ANSWERS, She covered him with signs, so that he should be protected from the fish that swam in the Great Sea, MEANING KLIPOT AND DEMONS, as is written, "Where there are creeping things innumerable" (Tehilim 104:25). She covered him, to be guarded against them, with a precious cover of two colors, white and black. THE SLIME IS WHITE, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE RIGHT COLUMN, AND THE PITCH IS BLACK, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE LEFT COLUMN THAT IS MIXED WITH MALCHUT OF THE ATTRIBUTE OF JUDGMENT. THEN THE RED IN IT CONVERTS TO BLACK, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF OUR SAGES - THAT BLACK IS REALLY RED THAT HAS BEEN AFFECTED. And she placed Moses, WHO IS THE SECRET OF THE CENTRAL COLUMN, among them so that he should be recognized with them AS THE SECRET OF DA'AT WHICH IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN, because he was going to ascend among them at a different time, to receive the Torah.

195. "And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river" (Shemot 2:5). This DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH came from the left side of the Strict Judgment as is written, "To wash herself at the river" - in the river and not in the sea. THE SEA ALLUDES TO MALCHUT OF HOLINESS, BUT THE RIVER IS THE ATTRIBUTE OF STRICT JUDGMENT OF THE LEFT SIDE. AND THE EGYPTIANS MADE IT THEIR IDOL, AND SINCE THE DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH BATHED THERE, SHE WAS ALSO OF STRICT JUDGMENT.

196. And you may ask why, then, it is written, "And your rod, with which you smote the river" (Shemot 17:5). Moses smote only the sea, which THE VERSE also calls a 'river.' SO THE TERM 'RIVER' IS NOT PRECISE. AND HE ANSWERS, Aaron smote the river through Moses, and the verse considers it as though he himself did it.

197. Similarly, it is written, "And seven days were completed, after Hashem had smitten the river" (Shemot 7:25), even though Aaron smote it. But since it came from the Holy One, blessed be He, the Torah refers to it as, "after Hashem smote." Thus, afterwards it is called in the name of Moses, BECAUSE AARON DID IT AT HIS INSTRUCTION. "And her maidens walked along by the river's side" (Shemot 2:5), are the other companies who came from that side OF THE RIVER.