"And Moses gathered"

1. "And Moses gathered all the Congregation of the children of Yisrael..." (Shemot 35:1). Rabbi Chiya opened the discussion with, "and Saul said the Kenite: Go, depart..." (I Shmuel 15:6). Come and see, what is written about Amalek, "I remember that which Amalek did to Yisrael..." (Ibid. 2), but the Holy One, blessed be He, remembered all the wars that the other nations waged against Yisrael. Why mention this particular war? Because there was not a more difficult war before Him as the one waged by Amalek. HE EXPLAINS, but of course, this war, that Amalek waged, was on all sides; up above and down below, because at that time the evil serpent strengthened up above and strengthened down below IN THIS WORLD!

2. Like an evil serpent that lurks in ambush on the crossroads, so was Amalek an evil serpent before Yisrael, that lurked in wait to ambush them on the crossroads, as written: "how he laid in wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt" (I Shmuel 15:2). And he lurked in ambush up above to defile the Temple, WHICH IS MALCHUT, and lurked down below to defile Yisrael. Whence do we know that? From the verse, "met you by the way" (Devarim 25:18). It is written here: "how he met you (Heb. karcha) by the way," and there: "If there be among you any man, who is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chances (Heb. mikre) by night" (Devarim 23:11). IN BOTH VERSES THE WORDS RELATE TO UNCLEANNESS.

3. And therefore it is written about Bilaam: "and Elohim met (Heb. vayikar) Bilaam" (Bemidbar 23:4). The word 'vayikar' denotes impurity, NAMELY, NOCTURNAL POLLUTION AS MENTIONED ABOVE. You may say that Elohim is, WHICH IMPLIES HOLINESS; yet the Holy One, blessed be He, supplied him with that place of defilement, to be defiled in it, so that he (Bilaam) would be defiled by the same grade to which he cleaved. What did Bilaam do? He planned by the offerings he sacrificed to rise TO HOLINESS. Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, supplied him with that place OF DEFILEMENT. He said to him, 'Here is impurity upon you, as befits you.' Hence it is written: "and Elohim met Bilaam."

4. In the same manner, "met you (Heb. karcha) by the way," REFERS TO that supernal evil serpent that was sent to you to defile you on all sides. And if it had not been for Moses becoming strong up above, and Joshua down below, Yisrael would not have overcome it. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, bore a grudge against that one for ages. The reasonis that he planned to tear the member of the sign of the covenant from its place. And therefore it is written: "I remember (also: 'visit')" (I Shmuel 15:2), NAMELY, in remembrance (divine visitation), WHICH IS MALCHUT, because the secret of the holy covenant is implied in this word.

5. Come and look at the verse, "and Saul said to the Kenite" (I Shmuel 15:6). Who is the Kenite? It is Jethro. HE ASKS: Who placed the children of Jethro in here, to dwell in Amalek, their abode being in Jericho; AND ANSWERS: it is written "And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah" (Shoftim 1:16). And when they moved from there, they dwelt in the territory of Amalek until that time when King Saul came and removed the Kenite from Amalek.

6. For, when there are evil people, the righteous and pious that are among them are punished for their sins. This was already explained. THAT IS WHY SAUL REMOVED THE KENITE FROM AMONG AMALEK. In the same manner, if not for the mixed multitude who joined Yisrael, Yisrael would not have been punished for the sin of the golden calf.

7. Come and see what is written above: "of every man whose heart prompts him" (Shemot 25:2), which includes everyone, EVEN THE MIXED MULTITUDE. This is because the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to build the tabernacle from all sides, the inner part and the shell. And since there were a mixed multitude among them, it was said, "of every man whose heart prompts him," in order to include them in Yisrael who are the inner part. Thus, everyone was commanded TO TAKE A PART IN THETABERNACLE.

8. Afterwards, people came together according to their ilk, and the mixed multitude came and created the calf and those from among Yisrael were drawn towards them who eventually died. The mixed multitude brought upon Yisrael death and killings. The Holy One blessed be He, said: from now on the building of the tabernacle would be performed only on the part of Yisrael. At once, "Moses gathered all the Congregation of the children of Yisrael together..." (Shemot 35:1). Afterwards it is written: "Take from among you an offering to Hashem" (Ibid. 5). "From among you" surely, instead of as written before, "of every man whose heart prompts him" (Shemot 25:2). "And Moses gathered..." Where did he gather them from? Because the mixed multitude was among them, Moses had to gather and separate Yisrael from among them.

9. "And Moses gathered": Rabbi Aba opened the discussion with the scripture, "Gather the people together, men, and women, and children" (Devarim 31:12). What is to be from now on the community of Yisrael, is also here the community of Yisrael, that is six hundred thousand people.

10. Rabbi Elazar opened the discussion with Yisrael, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai. It is written: "And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted (Heb. bere'oh), he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp" (Shemot 32:17). HE ASKS: "Joshua heard"-could it be that Joshua heard and Moses did not? AND ANSWERS: until that time Joshua did not know and Moses did know, AND THEREFORE IT WAS WRITTEN: "JOSHUA HEARD." HE ASKS: What then does the word 'bere'oh' mean? AND ANSWERS: 'bere'oh' is spelled with Hei TO INDICATE that that voice was on the Other Side, THAT IS CALLED EVIL (HEB. RA'AH). And Joshua was the face of the moon, WHICH IS MALCHUT. He looked at the voice that was from the side of evil, and immediately "said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp."

11. At that time the first stone tablets broke. And we already explained that the stones in the hands of Moses became heavy, fell and broke. What is the reason? the letters have flown from the stone tablets AND THE STONES REMAINED WITHOUT SPIRIT AND THEREFORE GREW HEAVY.

12. Come and see, in the four seasons of the year, WHICH ARE CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET AND MALCHUT, a voice rises in the four winds of the worlds. THE SEASON OF NISSAN IS SOUTH AND CHESED; THE SEASON OF TISHREI IS NORTH AND GVURAH; THE SEASON OF TAMMUZ IS EAST AND TIFERET AND THE SEASON OF TEVET IS WEST AND MALCHUT. AND EACH SEASON INCORPORATES ALL THE OTHERS. By that voice the Other Side is aroused, and, by that arousal, enters between the voices, NAMELY, BETWEEN THE VOICE OF TIFERET AND THE VOICE OF MALCHUT, so the light in the lower voice darkens, NAMELY IN MALCHUT. This happens because the light of the upper voice-TIFERET-does not reach the lower voice -MALCHUT. Therefore this arousal OF THE OTHER SIDE comes early and the serpent that seduced the woman, EVE, enters between them, THAT IS, BETWEEN TIFERET AND MALCHUT and receives light. And that voice OF THE OTHER SIDE is the voice (noise) of war, the voice of evil (Heb. ra'ah). This is the meaning of 'bere'oh' NAMELY, IN THE VERSE: "AND WHEN JOSHUA HEARD THE NOISE OF THE PEOPLE AS THEY SHOUTED (HEB. BERE'OH)" (SHEMOT 32:17).

13. And therefore "Joshua heard" and not Moses, because that evil had seized the light of the moon, WHICH IS MALCHUT that Joshua was attached to. And Moses who was attached to the sun, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, did not hear. And all Yisrael, their light darkened, because of that evil that clung to them. Since the Holy One, blessed be He, had pardoned their iniquity, then "Moses gathered the congregation of the children of Yisrael together and said to them, these are the words..." For the mixed multitude was separated from them.