"Take wagons...for your little ones"

106. "Now, you are commanded, do this, take wagons out of the land of Egypt" (Beresheet 45:19). Rabbi Chiya opened the discussion with the verse, "Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her, rejoice for joy with her" (Yeshayah 66:10). Come and behold, When the Temple was destroyed and Yisrael were exiled from their land because of their sins, the Holy One, blessed be He, had ascended on high and did not notice the destruction of the Temple or His exiled people. The Shechinah then went into exile with them.

107. When He descended, He saw that his House was burnt. He looked for His people and behold, they were in exile. He asked for the Lady, NAMELY, THE SHECHINAH, and learned that She was exiled. Then, it is written, "And on that day did Hashem Elohim Tzva'ot call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth" (Yeshayah 22:12). And OF THE SHECHINAH, it is written, "Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth" (Yoel 1:8), because "he is gone," MEANING, HER HUSBAND. For He went away from Her, and they are apart.

108. Even heaven and earth themselves mourned, as it is written, "I clothe the heavens with blackness and I make sackcloth their covering" (Yeshayah 50:3). All the high angels mourned for Her, as it is written, "Behold, the mighty ones shall cry outside; the angels of peace weep bitterly" (Yeshayah. 33:7). The sun and moon were in mourning, their lights darkened, as it is written, "the sun shall be darkened in his going forth" (Yeshayah 13:10). Everyone high and low wept for Her and mourned, because the Other Side reigned over Her, on the Holy Land.

109. He opened the discussion with the verse, "You son of man, thus says Hashem Elohim to the land of Yisrael: An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land" (Yechezkel 7:2). This verse contains a deep mystery. What does "to the land of Yisrael: An end" mean? Does it mean an end to the land of Yisrael? HE ANSWERS, Surely this is true, as we have learned. There is an end on the right and an end on the left. HE EXPLAINED, An end on the right, as it is written, "at the end of days (lit. 'right')" (Daniel 12:13), and an end on the left, as it is written, "He puts an end to darkness, and searches out all perfection" (Iyov 28:3). This is the end of all flesh, as we have learned.

110. The end on the right is written of in the verse, "to the land of Yisrael: an end." " ...The end is come UPON THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE LAND" refers to the end on the left. The end on the right is the end through the Good Inclination, and the end on the left is the end through the Evil Inclination, which happened when, through the increase in sins, it was decreed that the evil kingdom would be given permission to rule and destroy His house and Temple, as it is written, "Thus says Hashem Elohim! An evil, a singular evil, behold, is come" (Yechezkel 7:5).

111. Therefore, there was mourning above and below, for reign was given to the end of the left. Thus, because the Kingdom of Holiness, the kingdom of heaven, was humbled and the kingdom of evil prevailed, it behooves any man to mourn with it, THE HOLY KINGDOM, and be abased with it. Also, when the Holy Kingdom rises, and the world rejoices, he shall also rejoice with her, as it is written, "Rejoice for joy with it, all you that did mourn for her" (Yeshayah 66:10).

112. Come and behold, It is written of Egypt "a very fair heifer" (Yirmeyah 46:20), and it is because of the secret of this heifer that Yisrael were under its rule for many years - THAT IS, FOR THE 210 YEARS THEY LIVED IN EGYPT. Because Yisrael would eventually rule over it in the future, they were now given a hint of this IN THE VERSE, "TAKE wagons (also: 'heifers') OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT FOR YOUR LITTLE ONES ..." (BERESHEET 45:19).

113. Rabbi Elazar said, Joseph reminded Jacob about breaking the heifer's neck, because he went away from him when they were studying this text. It has been explained that the ritual of the heifer was carried out when a man was found slain, but the killer was not known. The heifer is then offered to pacify the evil spirits, so they would not recognize him or rule over THE LAND.

114. Come and behold, All men die by the Angel of Death, except someone who is killed by other men before the time has arrived FOR THE ANGEL OF DEATH to take hold of him and receive permission TO TAKE HIS SOUL, for the Angel of Death does not have dominion over man until he is given permission FROM ABOVE.

115. Therefore the Angel of Death has the right to rule over him, as it is written, "and it be not known who has slain him" (Devarim 21:1). He also has permission, since it is unknown WHO HAS SLAIN THE VICTIM, to accuse that place, THE NUKVA. Therefore "the elders of that city shall take a heifer" (Ibid. 3), in order to remove judgment from that place and to fortify it against the Accuser's power, so it shall be saved from him.

116. Come and behold, When Joseph parted from his father, he was sent without escort or without food, and whatever happened then happened. When Jacob said, "Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces" (Beresheet 37:33), he added, "For I will go down to my son mourning into Sheol" (Ibid. 35), for I caused him TO BE KILLED, HAVING SENT HIM WITHOUT ESCORT. I CANNOT SAY, "OUR HANDS HAVE NOT SHED THIS BLOOD" (DEVARIM 21:7) CONCERNING THE BREAKING OF THE HEIFER'S NECK, WHICH MEANS, "WE HAVE NOT SENT HIM UNESCORTED." I also knew his brothers hated him, yet I sent him TO THEM. JOSEPH reminded him OF THIS BY SENDING THE WAGONS (BOTH 'WAGONS' AND 'HEIFERS' ARE WRITTEN 'AGALOT' IN HEBREW).

117. Rabbi Yehuda responded that the wagons were sent by the command of Pharaoh, as it is written, "and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh" (Beresheet 45:21). HOW CAN YOU THEN SAY THAT JOSEPH GAVE THEM A HINT BY SENDING THE WAGONS? RABBI ELAZAR replied, It is derived from the exact meaning of the verse, "Now you are commanded, do this," WHICH IS REDUNDANT, AS IT WAS PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN, "AND PHARAOH SAID TO JOSEPH, SAY TO YOUR BRETHREN..." YET "Now you are commanded" has a specific meaning and is therefore spelled with the letter Hei AT THE END. THIS TEACHES US THAT ITS EXACT MEANING IS that Joseph asked him TO GIVE HIM WAGONS. Thus, "and Joseph gave them wagons (also: 'heifers'), according to the commandment of Pharaoh," FOR IT WAS JOSEPH WHO GAVE, WHO ASKED OF PHARAOH. WHY DID HE DEMAND WAGONS OF PHARAOH? BECAUSE HE WISHED TO REMIND HIS FATHER OF THE PASSAGE OF THE BREAKING OF THE HEIFER'S NECK. Jacob therefore did not believe it until he saw the wagons AND TOOK THE HINT, as it is written, "And when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived."

118. Rabbi Shimon said, First it is written, "and the spirit of Jacob their father revived," and then it is written, "and Yisrael said, It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive." WHY DOES THE VERSE START WITH JACOB AND FINISH WITH YISRAEL? HE REPLIED, First the Torah calls him Jacob because the Shechinah took part in the vow THAT THE TRIBES TOOK NOT TO REVEAL THAT Joseph was sold. THE SHECHINAH WAS THEREFORE GONE FROM JACOB ALL THAT TIME. Now that the Shechinah has come back to him, it is written, "and the spirit of Jacob their father revived," which is the secret of the Shechinah, CALLED 'THE SPIRIT OF JACOB.' After THE SHECHINAH was established in him, the high grade went from the grade of Jacob to the grade Yisrael. From this we learn that the high grade is not awakened above until there is an awakening below. For here it is written, "and the spirit of Jacob their father revived first," WHICH REFERS TO THE AWAKENING BELOW, and then it is written, "and Yisrael said," WHICH IS THE AWAKENING ABOVE.

119. "And Elohim spoke to Yisrael in the visions (Heb. mar'ot) of the night" (Beresheet 46:2): The word mar'ot is spelled without the letter Vav, WHICH MAKES IT SINGULAR, THUS ALLUDING TO THE GRADE OF THE NUKVA CALLED 'VISION,' AND ALSO 'NIGHT.' Come and behold, the verse, "And offered sacrifices to the Elohim of his father Isaac" (Beresheet 46:1), is written first to awaken the left CALLED 'ISAAC' in the secret of love TO THE NUKVA, NUPTIAL LOVE THAT IS DRAWN FROM THE LEFT. Then "Elohim spoke to Yisrael in the visions of the night," WHICH MEANS THAT HE WAS REVEALED TO HIM, by the grade we mentioned, THE NUKVA, called "visions of the night."

120. "And he said, I am the El, the Elohim of your father." HE ASKS, Why DID HE MENTION HIS NAME? HE ANSWERS, Because the holy side above is wont to do so. But the side of defilement does not mention the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. Yet every side of holiness is mentioned by name. "I will go down with you into Egypt" (Beresheet 46:4). From here we understand that the Shechinah accompanied him into exile, and wherever Yisrael went into exile, the Shechinah went with them, as has already been explained.

121. Come and behold. HE ASKS, How many wagons were there? HE REPLIED, There were six, like the "six covered wagons" (Bemidbar 7:3). According to another explanation there were 60. All is one secret, FOR SIX ALLUDE TO THE SIX SFIROT - CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD - AND SIXTY ALSO ALLUDES TO THE SIX SFIROT, EACH OF WHICH INCLUDED TEN, WHICH TOTALS SIXTY. HE COMMENTED, First it is written, "the wagons which Joseph had sent" (Beresheet 45:27) and then, "the wagons which Pharaoh had sent" (Beresheet 46:5). HE ANSWERS, All the wagons that Joseph sent were in proper number, and those Pharaoh sent were supernumerary, not part of the secret or part of the reckoning.

122. All the wagons reached JACOB - THE WAGONS JOSEPH SENT WHICH WERE SUPERIOR TO THE ONES PHARAOH SENT. It is therefore written, "which Joseph had sent" and "which Pharaoh had sent." When Yisrael will come out from exile, it is written, "And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an offering to Hashem" (Yeshayah 66:20), FOR THEN ALL THE NATIONS WILL BRING AN OFFERING TO HASHEM LIKE PHARAOH DID.