342. Rabbi Elazar said, Come and behold the compassion of the Holy One, blessed be He. When He has mercy for Yisrael, He subjugates the attribute of Judgment, lowers it, and has compassion for them. We learned that the Holy One, blessed be He, drops two tears into the Great Sea. HE ASKS, What are the two tears? Rabbi Yosi said, It is not clear. We see that one should say to a medium who obtains information through the bones of the dead that he and his words are false.

343. Rabbi Elazar said, We do not follow the Klipah of necromancy. IT IS NOT SO, RATHER the clarification of the matter is, because we learned that in the ten Sfirot of the King there are two tears to the Holy One, blessed be He, and they are two attributes of Judgment. Judgment comes from both of them, as is written, "These two things have befallen you" (Yeshayah 51:19). And when the Holy One, blessed be He, remembers His children, He lowers them to the Great Sea, the Sea of Wisdom, WHICH IS MALCHUT, to sweeten them. THEN the attribute of Judgment IN MALCHUT is changed into the attribute of Mercy and has compassion for them. Rabbi Yehuda said, There are two tears, from where the tears come, and Judgment comes.

344. Rabbi Yehuda said, It is written, "And behold, Egypt marched after them" (Shemot 14:10). And Rabbi Yosi said, This is the minister of Egypt. IT APPEARS THAT HE WAS STILL IN AUTHORITY AT THE TIME THE CHILDREN OF YISRAEL LEFT EGYPT, yet you say that, "And the king of Egypt died" (Shemot 2:23), refers to the minister of Egypt, AND THIS WAS BEFORE YISRAEL LEFT EGYPT. Rabbi Yitzchak said these words OF RABBI YOSI ARE NOT CONTRADICTORY, BUT EVEN maintain the above explanation of the passage, WHICH IS THAT THE KING OF EGYPT DIED. For it is written here, "And, behold, Egypt," and there, "And the king of Egypt died." This teaches that AFTER THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT, there was no king, because BEFOREHAND they had removed him from his high position. Therefore, it is written, "And, behold, Egypt" instead of, 'And, behold, the king of Egypt.' "And...died" DOES NOT MEAN THAT HE WAS NULLIFIED ALTOGETHER, ONLY THAT THEY REMOVED HIM FROM HIS HIGH POSITION AND HE COULD NO LONGER DO HARM, as it is written, "For all the men are dead who sought your life" (Shemot 4:19). THIS MEANS THAT THEY CAN NO LONGER DO HARM; ALSO, "DIED" MEANS HERE THAT HE COULD NO LONGER DO HARM BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM HIS HIGH POSITION!

345. Said Rabbi Yitzchak, said Rabbi Yehoshua (meaning?): Come and behold. All the kings of Egypt were named Pharaoh, yet here it says merely that the king of Egypt DIED, AND DOES NOT SAY 'PHARAOH, THE KING OF EGYPT.' THAT IS BECAUSE WHAT IS BEING DISCUSSED IS THE MINISTER OF EGYPT, AS MENTIONED EARLIER, AND IF IT WERE WRITTEN 'Pharaoh' instead, then it would actually mean Pharaoh AND NOT THE MINISTER OF EGYPT. Come and behold, as long as there is rule over the nation above BY THE MINISTER, there is rule over the nation below. When dominion above is removed FROM THE MINISTER OF THE NATION, then dominion below is also removed.

346. Rabbi Yosi said, It is written, "Behold, the day of Hashem comes..." (Zecharyah 14:1), "but it shall one day be known as Hashem's..." (Ibid. 7). HE ASKS, And are not the rest of the days also Hashem's? Rabbi Aba said, It teaches that the other days are given over to the ministers, and that day will be of the Holy One, blessed be He, and not the ministers' in order to execute judgment upon the heathen. On that day, all the ministers will fall from their high positions and it is therefore written, "And Hashem alone will be exalted on that day" (Yeshayah 2:17). Because on that day, the ministers will have no exaltation.