"Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob"

259. "And Hashem called to him from the mountain, saying, 'Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob'" (Shemot 19:3). Rabbi Yitzchak opened the discussion with the verse, "Happy is he whom You choose, and cause to approach to You, that he may dwell in Your court" (Tehilim 65:5). Happy is the portion of the man whom the Holy One, blessed be He, desires to bring near to Him to dwell in the Holy Palace, for he whom He desires to receive to worship Him is inscribed above, to make it known that he has been chosen by the Holy King to dwell in His apartment. And everyone who has upon him such a sign can pass through all the supernal gates without any hindrance.

260. Rabbi Yehuda said, Happy is the share of Moses, of whom it is written, "Happy is he whom You choose, and cause to approach to You," and of whom it is also written, "And Moses drew near to the mist" (Shemot 20:18), and, "And Moses alone shall come near Hashem, but they shall not come near" (Shemot 24:2). "Thus shall you say to the House of Jacob," are the women, and "the children of Yisrael" are the men.

261. Rabbi Shimon said, "Thus (Heb. koh) shall you say" has the same meaning as in the verse, "In this way (Heb. koh) shall you bless" (Bemidbar 6:22), and as in another verse, "And Your pious ones shall bless You (Heb. yevarchuchah)" (Tehilim 145:10), namely, bless (Heb. yevarchu) koh - KOH BEING MALCHUT WHICH IS CALLED 'KOH.' "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob," meaning by "saying," from the side of Judgment. "...And tell the children of Yisrael..." is the same as in the verse, "And He declared (told) to you His Covenant" (Devarim 4:13), and as in the verse, "I profess (tell) this day to Hashem your Elohim" (Devarim 26:3), FOR "TELLING" PERTAINS TO MERCY. "The children of Yisrael..." are the men who come from the side of Mercy, THEREFORE IT IS ADDRESSED TO THEM BY "TELLING."

262. Rabbi Yitzchak said, Since we have come upon this verse, why is it written, "I told this day to Hashem your Elohim," instead of 'Hashem our Elohim?' Rabbi Shimon replied, Not only this. For it is also written, "For Hashem your Elohim brings you into a good land" (Devarim 8:7), "that Hashem your Elohim gives you" (Devarim 7:16), and it is written, "For Hashem your Elohim is a consuming fire" (Devarim 4:24). And all of them are written the same way.

263. We have learned that he who resides in the land of Yisrael has Elohim, and he who resides outside of it is as he who is without Elohim. The reason for this is that the holy seed comes to the Holy Land and the Shechinah dwells in Her place, and they depend on each other. Therefore, Moses did not say "your Elohim" except to those who were going to settle in the Holy Land and to receive the Shechinah. And Moses did not say 'our Elohim' since he did not merit to enter into the Holy Land. Therefore, it is written "your Elohim" in all these verses, for they were to enter there.

264. He said to him, Assuredly it is so, but why is it written, "And you shall come to the priest that shall be in those days, and say to him, 'I profess this day to Hashem your Elohim'" (Devarim 26:3)? If they were already in the Holy Land, why did he say "your Elohim" and not 'our Elohim?' AND HE ANSWERS that they show and praise the supernal Chesed, for it granted them all that merit to enter and dwell in that Holy Land, and performed by them all that goodness. Therefore, they said those words to the priest, as it is written, "I profess this day to the Hashem your Elohim," for he comes from the side of the Chesed.

265. "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob," namely to that place which is appropriate TO THEIR GRADE; "And tell the children of Yisrael," namely to that place which is appropriate TO THEIR GRADE, for Jacob and Yisrael are two grades. JACOB IS THE LEVEL OF THE SIX ENDS AND YISRAEL IS THE GRADE OF THE FIRST THREE SFIROT, and both of them amount to one grade, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, but Yisrael is called 'the completeness of all.' Therefore, it is written, "And tell the children of Yisrael," MEANING to reveal Wisdom to them and to tell them in the spirit of Wisdom the grace and the Truth of what the Holy One, blessed be He, has done for them, FOR "TELLING" ALLUDES TO CHOCHMAH, as it is written, "And He declared (told) to you His Covenant."

266. We learned that Rabbi Yosi said, Once I was on my way accompanied by Rabbi Chiya, my son. While walking we came upon a man who was collecting medicinal herbs in the field. We drew near him and I asked him, Tell us, what are these bundles of herbs for? He gave no reply and did not even raise his head. I asked him again but he gave no answer. Then I said to Rabbi Chiya, my son, This man is either deaf or mad or wise. So we sat down near him. Afterwards he collected all the herbs and made them into bundles and covered each bundle with fig leaves.

267. He turned to us and said, I see that you are Jews and Jews are said to be clever people. If I did not have pity for you now, you would be expelled from people as lepers are, for I perceive the odor of a certain herb which has entered your body. You would be outcasts FROM MEN for three days. But now eat this wild garlic and you will be healed.

268. So we ate from these that were before us and fell into a sleep, and we were bathed in perspiration for a long time. When we awakened that man said, Now your Elohim is with you, for you have found me and the cure of your bodies is accomplished through me.

269. As we went along he said to us, Every person must converse with his fellow according to their way. That is, to a woman according to her way, and to a man according to his way, and to a man among men according to his way. Then I was struck by this remark and said to Rabbi Chiya, my son, This accords with the verse, "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Yisrael."

270. The man said to us, You probably noticed that I did not raise my head, nor did I speak to you. This is because my father was a greater expert in herbs than any one else at his time, and I have learned from him the powers and the uses of all the herbs that are true, and I spend the whole year among them.

271. Now I will tell you of this herb you saw me cover with fig leaves. In a northern corner in my house there is a place in which there is a millstone from the hole of which a man with two heads emerges. He carries a sharp sword in his hands, and every day he distresses us. I gathered this herb on account of him. Now follow me and you shall see the power of this herb, and what the supreme Elohim has revealed in the world, and that there is no one that knows His ways.

272. So we followed him. On the way to his house we saw him bending to a hole in the ground in which he deposited some of that herb, and a serpent with an enormous head issued. The man took a rope and bound the serpent as though it was a lamb. We were afraid, but the man told us to follow him.

273. When we reached his house, we saw that place in the dark behind a wall. He took a candle and kindled a fire around that place of the millstone. Then he said to us, Do not be frightened at what you see and keep silent.

274. He then loosened the serpent's bonds and ground some of the herbs and sprinkled this upon the serpent's head. Then the serpent descended into the opening of that millstone and we heard a voice which caused the whole place to shake. We wanted to leave, but the man took hold of our hands saying: Fear not. Come close to me.

275. Meanwhile the serpent reappeared, and it was dripping blood. Again the man took some of that herb and sprinkled it upon the serpent's head. THE SERPENT entered the opening of that millstone. After a short time we saw a man with two heads came out from the millstone with a serpent wound about his neck. He came in and out of that millstone three times, saying: Chameleon, chameleon, woe to his mother who brought him to that place!

276. Then the millstone was torn from its place and both the man and the serpent came out, fell down, and died. We were terrified. Then that man said, Thus is the power of the herb which I collected in your presence. This was the reason why I did not speak to you or raise my head when you approached me.

277. He said to us, If men only knew the wisdom of all that the Holy One, blessed be He, has planted in the earth, and all the power of all that which is to be found in the world, they would acknowledge the power of their Master in His great wisdom. But the Holy One, blessed be He, has purposely hidden this wisdom from men in order that they do not turn from His ways by trusting in that wisdom alone, thus forgetting Him.

278. When I came and recounted those things to Rabbi Shimon, he said, Surely that was a wise man, for observe that there is no grass or herb that grows on the earth in which much wisdom and great power in heaven is not manifested. Come and observe this from the hyssop, for whenever the Holy One, blessed be He, desires that men purify themselves, they have to do it by the hyssop. What is the reason? To arouse that power above that is appointed over, for when it is aroused, it exterminates the Spirit of Impurity and the defiled person is cleansed. And to you I say: Blessed be the Merciful One who delivered you.