Moses' birth

309. "And Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Yisrael, and bid them that they make them fringes in the corners of their garments throughout their generations...'" (Bemidbar 15:37-38). Rabbi Chizkiyah opened the discussion saying, "And He showed me Joshua the High Priest..." (Zecharyah 3:1). How happy are Yisrael that He desires their glory above all the people, has granted them the Holy Torah and given them faithful prophets that lead them according to the Torah on the true path.

310. Come and see all the various groups of prophets that the Holy One, blessed be He, set up for Yisrael. The Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to them all on the highest holy levels and they beheld the King's holy radiance of Glory from a lofty location - but not as near as Moses, who was closer to the King than any of them since his lot was more blessed than that of any other man. About him, it is written: "With him I speak mouth to mouth, manifestly, and not in dark speeches" (Bemidbar 12:8). The rest of the prophets saw from a distant place, as you say, "Hashem appeared of old (also: 'from afar') to me" (Yirmeyah 31:2).

311. Rabbi Chizkiyah said, This is how I learned it. It is written: "And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife the daughter of Levi" (Shemot 2:1). "And there went a man:'' That is the Holy One, blessed be He, THAT IS ZEIR ANPIN, as it says, "Hashem is a man of war" (Shemot 15:3). "The house of Levi" is the Holy One, blessed be He, WHO WENT FROM the area where supernal Chochmah and that bright radiance, WHICH IS SUPERNAL BINAH, join together and never separate. HE INTERPRETS "LEVI" AS DERIVED FROM ATTACHMENT, AS IN 'LIVYUT' (ENG. 'ACCOMPANIMENT'). ANOTHER EXPLANATION OF: "Of the house of Levi" is that the Leviathan, THAT IS YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, has inspired all enjoyment in the world AND HE INTERPRETS "LEVI" AS DERIVED FROM LEVIATHAN, as it is written: "There is the Leviathan, whom You have made to play therein" (Tehilim 104:26). "And took to wife the daughter of Levi:'' That is the Holy One, blessed be He, which is the place where the moon is bright, THAT BEING MALCHUT.

312. "And the woman conceived, and bore a son" (Shemot 2:2). Surely, "the woman" IS MALCHUT, as it says, "she (Heb. zot) shall be called woman" (Beresheet 2:23) AND "ZOT" IS THE NAME OF MALCHUT. At first, SHE IS CALLED "the daughter of Levi" and certainly it is so. Why did he first CALL HER the daughter of Levi and now a woman? HE RESPONDS: This is what we have learned. Before she is married, a woman is referred to as the daughter of so-and-so, but after she is married, she is referred to as a woman. Here too, daughter and woman pertain to the same level, MEANING MALCHUT. HOWEVER, BEFORE HE TOOK HER IN MARRIAGE, SHE WAS REFERRED TO AS THE DAUGHTER OF LEVI, AND AFTER THAT, A WOMAN.

313. "She hid him three months" (Shemot 2:2): These are the three months when heavy Judgment rests in the world. Which ones are they? Tamuz, Av and Tevet. AND THEREFORE, THE SHECHINAH HID HIM. HE ASKS: What is it trying to tell us by this? HE REPLIES: IT LETS US KNOW that before Moses went down to the world, he was above. Therefore, the Shechinah joined him since the day he was born, AND PROTECTED HIM. From here, Rabbi Shimon took it to say that the spirits of the righteous are above before they descend into this world.

314. "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?'' (Ibid). HE REPLIES: She coated it with conserving ingredients to keep it safe from these sea fish, MEANING HIGH ANGELS, that swim in the great ocean, as it is written: "Wherein are creeping things innumerable" (Tehilim 104:25). She coated it so that he should be kept from them, with a coat from the precious Jubilee, THAT IS BINAH, in two colors, white and black. THAT IS THE SECRET OF CLAY AND TAR, WHICH CORRESPONDS TO THE TWO COLUMNS, RIGHT AND LEFT, SINCE TAR IS THE SECRET OF THE LEFT, EXCEPT THAT IT IS BLENDED WITH MALCHUT OF THE ATTRIBUTE OF JUDGMENT. THEREFORE, THE RED IN THE LEFT TURNS TO BLACK; THAT IS THE SECRET OF THAT BLACK IS ACTUALLY RED, EXCEPT THAT IT IS DEFECTIVE. She allowed Moses to sail among them, THE ANGELS, and to become known among them, because he was destined to go up among them at a later date to receive the Torah.

315. "And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the River" (Shemot 2:5). This DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH came from the left aspect of harsh Judgment, as it is written: "To wash herself at the River." "At the River" is exact, instead of "at the sea," SINCE THE SEA INDICATES MALCHUT. HOWEVER, THE RIVER IS HARSH JUDGMENT FROM THE LEFT SIDE, WHICH THE EGYPTIANS HAVE MADE THEIR DEITY. If you wonder about this, that it is written: "And your rod, with which you smote the river" (Shemot 17:5), although Moses never struck the river but rather the sea. The verse refers to it as river INDICATING THAT THE TERM RIVER IS NOT ACCURATE. HE REPLIES: It is indeed the River which Aaron struck under Moses direction, and the scripture assigned it as if Moses himself did the striking.

316. Similarly, "And seven days were completed, after Hashem had smitten the River" (Shemot 7:25). EVEN THOUGH Aaron struck it, it is only because it came from the Holy One, blessed be He, WHO COMMANDED HIM, that the scripture referred to it as: "Hashem had smitten." Later on, it was referred to in the name of Moses, FOR THE SAME REASON. "And her maidens walked along" (Shemot 2:5): These are the rest of the camps that came from that LEFT side.

317. "And when she had opened it, she saw him, the child" (Ibid. 6). HE INQUIRES: What is: "she saw him?'' "She saw" was the proper way to use. Why "she saw him?'' Didn't Rabbi Shimon say that there was nothing in the Torah, or even one letter in the Torah, that does not contain highly valuable secrets? HE RESPONDS: That is how we have learned. The impression of the King and the Matron, THAT ARE ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT, THE SECRET OF VAV-HEI OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, was found upon him, and that is the impression of Vav-Hei THAT WERE ADDED TO "SHE SAW (HEB. VATERE)." THEREFORE, IT IS SPELLED "VATIR'EHU (ENG. 'SHE SAW HIM')." Instantly, "she had compassion on him..." (Ibid.). Up to here it relates to the higher, TO HIGHER REALMS. From here on, IT DISCUSSES THIS WORLD below, except for this verse, in which is written: "And his sister stood afar off" (Ibid. 4). HE INQUIRES: Whose sister, AND REPLIES: The sister of the one, MEANING ZEIR ANPIN, who called the Congregation of Yisrael my sister, as it says, "Open to me, my sister" (Shir Hashirim 5:2). "afar off" MEANS as in, "Hashem appeared from afar to me" (Yirmeyah 31:2).

318. HE INQUIRES: What is to be derived FROM THIS PASSAGE? HE REPLIES: It means that all these righteous, prior to their descent to the world, are made known to all above. THAT APPLIES TO ALL THE RIGHTEOUS, and most certainly to Moses. It means that the souls of the righteous are derived from a lofty place, SINCE "of the house of Levi" ALLUDES TO SUPERNAL CHOCHMAH AND BINAH, as we have explained. We learned the secret of the matter, which means that there are a father and a mother to the soul, as there are a father and mother to the body on earth, SINCE A MAN IS ZEIR ANPIN AND "DAUGHTER OF LEVI" IS MALCHUT. AND FROM THEIR UNION, THE SOUL OF MOSES WAS BORN.

319. It seems on all sides, both above, THE MALE AND FEMALE PRINCIPLES, and below, FATHER AND MOTHER OF THIS WORLD, that is comprised of male and female. That is how the secret of the scripture was explained: "Let the earth bring forth living creatures (Heb. Nefesh)" (Beresheet 1:24). "The earth" refers to the Congregation of Yisrael THAT IS MALCHUT; the living Soul (lit. 'Nefesh') IS the Soul (lit. 'Nefes') of supernal Adam, as we have learned, SINCE MALCHUT IS THE MOTHER OF THE SOUL (LIT. 'NEFESH') OF THE FIRST MAN. Rabbi Aba approached him and kissed him. He said, You certainly spoke properly, and it is as you say.

320. Moses, the faithful prophet, is praised above all the rest of the prophets. Therefore, when he departed, no one else dealt with him besides the Holy One, blessed be He, who raised him to His presence. Therefore, Moses has surpassed in his lofty prophecy and glorious levels all the prophets, while the other prophets saw as if behind many walls.