From The Masters Of Kabbalah and Chumash (5 Books of
Moses)
13th century - "RambaN" - Rabbi Moshe ben
Nachman
14th century - "Bachya" - Rabbi Bachya ben
Asher
16th century - "Alsheich" - Rabbi Moshe
Alshech of Tsfat
18th century - "Ohr HaChayim" - Rabbi Chaim
Ben Attar
Ramban
"This is my G-d v'anveihu" [5:2]
'v'anveihu'-I will elevate [the Great Name, i.e., the Tetragrammaton],
to the G-d of the most high naveh [abode], this being the G-d of my fathers,
to whom He had appeared as Ei-l Sha-dai. And now I shall exalt
Him by the complete Name, for henceforth the Name will be ish milchamah
[literally, "man of war", but here alluding to the attribute
of justice]. And His Name will be the Eternal, [meaning that the name
comprises justice with mercy], similar in meaning to the verse "Now
I will be exalted, now I will lift Myself up" [Isaiah 33:10]. It
is possible that the word 'zeh' [this] alludes to the seven emanations
in wisdom, this being associated with the verse "..zeh [this]
is My Name for ever, v'zeh [and this] is My memorial" [Above
3:15] And in the Mechilta we read: "My G-d. - He dealt with me according
to the attribute of mercy, while with my fathers he dealt according to
the attribute of justice. And whence do we know that my G-d signifies
the attribute of mercy? Because it is said, My G-d, my G-d, why hast Thou
forsaken me?[Psalms 22:2, "And surely one would not say to the attribute
of justice, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" Rashi] Heal her now.
O G-d, I beseech thee.[Numbers 12:13] The Eternal is 'E-il' [G-d]
and He hath given us light." [Psalms 118:27] If so, Scripture her
says 'zeh E-ili' [this is my G-d], meaning that "with me He
is E-il [G-d in His aspect of mercy] in this matter, since He was
exalted with mercy to be compassionate in His justice."
"..And his hands were "emunah" "
Ex. 17:12
This means that they remained steadily uplifted. The usage of the world
is similar to the expression: "And yet for all this we make 'amamah'
[ a sure] covenant" [Nehemiah 10:1], meaning a provision "fixed"
by covenant. Similarly, "a peg fastened in a place"ne'eman"
means [sure and] strong.
By way of the Truth [the mystic lore of the Kabbalah], Moses lifted his
ten fingers to the height of heaven in order to allude to the ten emanations
and to cleave firmly to Him Who fights for Israel. Here is explained the
matter of uplifting of hand during the blessing of the priests, and its
secret.
(credits)
Rabbeinu Bachya
"As long as Moses held his hands up…" [17:11]
A kabbalistic approach: Moses' raising his hands was a matter of his
concentrating on his ten fingers being pointed at what is called rom
hashamayim. The kav ha'emtsha-ie, the central line in the emanations,
which we discussed earlier, is known as rom with the vowel shuruk.
Moshe did something similar to what the priests do when they raise their
hands in the priestly blessing. By concentrating on the number ten they
also concentrate on the ten emanations and the source of blessing, that
flows from that region to disembodied spirits. At such a time the power
of any force opposing such prayers is checked and its influence halted
(at least temporarily). At such moments the Israelite soldiers would be
victorious. The words "Israel had the upper hand" was therefore
something closely linked to Moses' continued ability or willingness to
raise his fingers and concentrate on the number ten. Whenever Moses' concentration
flagged, the accusing finger of the celestial representative of Amalek
made itself felt and the Israelites retreated. Moses was compelled to
lower his hands from time to time as it is not admissible to interfere
with opposing spiritual forces to such an extent that one neutralizes
them altogether. G-d has not created forces in the universe in order for
them to be totally ineffective. This is what the prophet Isaiah 45:18
also had in mind when he said of G-d creating the earth "He did not
create it a waste, but formed it for habitation." This statement
includes all the phenomena G-d has created, not just those that we appreciate
or are fond of. Consider the matter as if in order to have balance in
the world the forces of evil have a role assigned to them and it is not
up to any man to totally deny them unless the premise for their existence
has been removed, i.e. unless all people are good all the time. "The
Midrash expressed this by saying that it is forbidden to stand with outstretched
hands in prayer for more than three hours."
(credits)
Alsheich
"An omer is a tenth of an ephah." [16:36]
Why is the quantity of an omer described only at the end of the whole
chapter? And why is this information important to us nowadays?
Since there is a mystical element in the heavenly food manna, the meaning
of 'tenth' is a reference to those mystical properties. Similar considerations
underlie the 10 words in Psalms 104:14, describing the process resulting
in the production of bread. Also the 10 words in the benediction recited
over bread are based on the 10 stages of the process. For this reason,
we place our 10 fingers on the bread when reciting the benediction.
Based on Job 38:4, aipho hayita (where have you been), Rabbi Shimon
bar Yochai concludes that original Adam incorporated all future mankind
within his person. Anyone born subsequently would thus be, in a sense,
a part of Adam. Since the soul of the Jew is part of G-d, each Jew has
within him some minute replica of the 10 heavenly spheres which Kabbalists
view as the celestial power structure.
(credits)
Ohr HaChayim
"...Eat it today for today is G-d's Shabbat. You will not find
[anything] in the field today." (16:25)
Moses did not tell the people explicitly not to go out and collect manna.
He only told them that they would not find any manna in the field
if they went to collect it.
The last words in the verse may also be understood as the rationale for
the people not being able to find manna in the field on that day.
In other words: "the reason you will not find manna in the
field tomorrow is that tomorrow is a Shabbat for G-d." We may have
an allusion here to what Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said in the Zohar, page
88: "The food supply for the six weekdays descends from the celestial
spheres on the Shabbat; this supply then descends further on a daily basis."
Moses only excluded the manna from being found on the Shabbat in
our world, i.e. "in the field," in the celestial world it could
be found on the Shabbat.
(credits)
Sources
Ramban
- credits
Adapted from the 13th century classic by the illustrious scholar, philosopher
and defender of the faith, Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman-known as 'RAMBAN' or
'Nachmanides', a master kabbalist in his own right and a major link in
the transmission of Jewish mysticism-based on the excellent annotated
English translation, Nachmanides on the Torah, by Rabbi Dr. Charles B.
Chavel
Bachya
- credits
Selected with permission from the seven-volume English edition of The
Torah Commentary of Rabbeinu Bachya, as translated and annotated by Eliyahu
Munk. Rabbi Bachya ben Asher [1255-1340] of Saragosa, Spain, was the outstanding
pupil of Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (the "Rashba"), a main disciple
of Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (the "Ramban"). Several books have
been written about the Kabballah-based portions of R. Bachya's commentary.
Alsheich
- credits
Adapted from Torat Moshe - the 16th commentary of Rabbi Moshe Alshech,
the "Preacher of Zefat" on the Torah, as translated and condensed
in the English version of Eliyahu Munk)
Ohr HaChayim
- credits
Selected with permission from the five-volume English edition of Ohr HaChaim:
the Torah Commentary of Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar, as translated and annotated
by Eliyahu Munk.
The holy Rabbi Chayim ben Moses Attar was born in Sale, Western Morocco,
on the Atlantic in 1696. His immortal commentary on the Five Books Of
Moses, Or Hachayim, was printed in Venice in 1741, while the author was
on his way to the Holy Land. He acquired a reputation as a miracle worker,
hence his title "the holy," although some apply this title only
to his Torah commentary.
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