Voice and speech

66. Come and see, It is written, "Behold, the children of Yisrael did not listen to me; how than shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips" (Shemot 6:12). HE ASKS, What is "who am of uncircumcised lips"? At first it was it is written, "I am not an eloquent man... but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue" to which the Holy One, blessed be He, replied, "Who gave man a mouth" and He said, "And I will be with your mouth" (Shemot 4:10-12). Can you imagine that it was not so? Yet now he says, I "am of uncircumcised lips." If so, where is the previous assurance of the Holy One, blessed be He, to him, NAMELY THE ASSURANCE, "AND I WILL BE WITH YOUR MOUTH..."

67. AND HE ANSWERS, It is a secret. Moses IS voice, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN THAT IS CALLED VOICE, and speech, which is his words, NAMELY MALCHUT, was in exile. THEREFORE, Moses was impeded IN MOUTH from explaining things, and therefore he said, "How then shall Pharaoh hear me" when my speech, WHICH IS MALCHUT, is still in exile, and I am speechless, a speechless voice, for it is in exile. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, made Aaron a partner to him, INSTEAD OF MALCHUT, AS HE IS THE QUEEN'S BEST MAN.

68. Come and see, as long as speech, WHICH IS MALCHUT, was in exile, voice, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, was gone FROM SPEECH, and speech was uncircumcised, voiceless. When Moses came, the voice came BECAUSE HE WAS A CHARIOT TO ZEIR ANPIN, WHICH IS CALLED VOICE. Moses was voice without speech because SPEECH was in exile. And Moses went while speech was in exile to Mount Sinai and the Torah was given. At that time, voice joined with speech, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN WITH MALCHUT, and then he spoke words. This is the meaning of, "And Elohim spoke all these words" (Shemot 20:1) IN THE ASPECT OF VOICE WITHOUT SPEECH, AND SO HE WENT UNTIL THESE BECAME CLOSE. Then Moses became properly whole with speech, BECAUSE voice and speech were whole together.

69. And Moses complained that he lacked speech, except for the time when MALCHUT spoke to reproach him, NAMELY at the time that it is written, "for since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, HE HAD DONE EVIL TO THIS PEOPLE..." (Shemot 5:23). Immediately, "And Elohim spoke to Moses," SINCE MALCHUT, THE SECRET OF WORD, WHICH IS CALLED ELOHIM, SPOKE TO HIM STERNLY, AS THE WORD 'SPEAK' IMPLIES A STERN LANGUAGE. SHE REPROACHED HIM FOR SAYING, "FOR SINCE I CAME TO PHARAOH..." MALCHUT STARTED TO SPEAK TO HIM, EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS IN EXILE, THE REASON BEING THAT THE SPEECH WAS ONLY TO SHOW ANGER. Come and see that it was so, because speech started speaking and then stopped, and the voice, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, completed it. Hence the passage ENDS, "And said to him, I am Hashem" BECAUSE HASHEM IS ZEIR ANPIN. That is because speech was still in exile, and its time to speak had not yet come. THEREFORE ZEIR ANPIN SPOKE WITH HIM.

70. Because of this, Moses was not whole in the beginning, NOT HAVING THE WORD, THAT IS MALCHUT. For he was voice THAT NEEDS THE WORD, and came for speech to take it out of the exile. As soon as it emerged from the exile, and voice and speech united at Mount Sinai AS MENTIONED, Moses was perfected and was cured OF HIS SPEECH IMPEDIMENT. And then we find voice and word together wholly.

71. Come and see, All the days that Moses was in Egypt and wanted to take out the word from exile, the word, which is speech, did not speak. As soon as it emerged from the exile, and voice and speech combined, that word which is speech, NAMELY MALCHUT, led and guided Yisrael, but did not speak until YISRAEL approached Mount Sinai. It opened with the Torah, which is the proper way. You may claim IT IS WRITTEN, "For Elohim said, lest the people repent" (Shemot 13:17, and THE NAME ELOHIM DENOTES MALCHUT, SO IT SPOKE BEFORE TORAH WAS GIVEN. HE ANSWERS, It says "said," which is NOT SPEAKING BY MOUTH, BUT RATHER the silent wish of the heart, WHICH IS CALLED "SAYING" AS IN "HAMAN SAID IN HIS HEART" (ESTER 6:6), as we have already explained.

72. "And Elohim spoke to Moses, and said to him, 'I am Hashem'" (Shemot 6:2). Rabbi Yehuda opened the discussion saying, "I rose to open to my beloved; but my beloved has turned away, and was gone..." (Shir Hashirim 5:6). "I rose to open to my beloved": This is voice, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, WHICH IS THE BELOVED OF MALCHUT. Come and see, When the Congregation of Yisrael, WHICH IS MALCHUT, is in exile, the voice was gone from it, and the words subsided from it, as it is written, "I was dumb with silence" (Tehilim 39:3). And if the word awakened, MEANING THAT IT WAS STIMULATED TO SPEAK, it is written, "But my beloved has turned away, and was gone," since the voice was gone from it and the word discontinued. Hence, "And Elohim spoke to Moses." It started to speak and then stopped and remained silent. And afterwards the voice finished the sentence, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, and said, "And said to him, 'I am Hashem.'"

73. "And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." By Jacob, there is an additional Vav (= and) AS IT IS SAID, "AND TO JACOB" TO SHOW that he is the selected of the patriarchs. VAV DENOTES TIFERET, WHICH IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN OF ZEIR ANPIN, AND JACOB WAS A CHARIOT FOR IT, AND ABRAHAM AND ISAAC ARE THE TWO COLUMNS, RIGHT AND LEFT OF ZEIR ANPIN, AND THEIR PERFECTION IS DEPENDENT ON THE CENTRAL COLUMN, WHICH IS JACOB. The same way, it is said, "The Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac and the Elohim of Jacob" (Shemot 3:6). By Jacob there is an additional Vav (= and). Rabbi Yosi said, If so, it is written, "I am Hashem, Elohim of Abraham your father, and Elohim of Isaac" (Beresheet 28:13). Here Isaac is written with an additional Vav. BUT SURELY IT IS THE CONJUNCTIVE VAV. IT DOES NOT CARRY A HOMILETICAL REASON.

74. He said to him, It is well, AND THERE IS NO DIFFICULTY because Jacob was alive, and THE VERSE included Jacob in Isaac, whose eyes were dim, and who was as one who is dead. Because as long as a person lives in this world, the Holy Name is not mentioned in relation to him. Therefore, he was included in Isaac. THEREFORE THERE IS AN ADDITIONAL VAV BY ISAAC, but now that Jacob has died, the matter has returned to its place. This is the meaning of, "And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" with an additional Vav.

75. "By the name of El Shadai" means I appeared to them from within the mirror that does not illuminate, WHICH IS MALCHUT THAT IS CALLED EL SHADAI, but did not appear through the illuminating mirror, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN CALLED YUD HEI VAV HEI. And if you say THE PATRIARCHS united with the Nukva only, NAMELY MALCHUT, and not more, come and see that ZEIR ANPIN never separated FROM THE NUKVA IN RELATION TO THE PATRIARCHS. This is the meaning of, "And I have also established my covenant with them" (Shemot 6:4), because the covenant THAT IS THE YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN joined with MALCHUT.

76. One should learn from the Holy One, blessed be He, NOT TO SEPARATE BETWEEN ZEIR ANPIN AND THE NUKVA because He did not separate them, as it is written, "El Shadai", WHICH IS THE NUKVA, as well as, "And also I have sustained My covenant with them", WHICH IS YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN THAT HAS JOINED WITH HER. And we learned that whoever has merited to a covenant, TO YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, merited the land, WHICH IS THE NUKVA, SINCE THEY ARE JOINED TOGETHER, AS MENTIONED.