“His hands were faith until the coming of the sun.” (Exodus 17:12)

There are various degrees of faith. There is faith that is only in the heart. Yet ideally a person’s faith should be so extensive that it spreads to all the limbs.

As is brought in the writings of the Ari, when washing one’s hands, one has to raise them opposite one’s head in order to receive holiness. From this we see that one must have faith in the hands—believing that lifting his hands to the level of the head incurs holiness.

For without faith, it is nothing, as it is written (Psalms 119:86), “All Your mitzvot are faith.” But when a person has such faith, he proceeds from faith to the intelligence within that thing. And the more he strengthens his faith, the more intelligence he attains. That thing which initially required his relying on faith, now that he has attained greater faith, he understands that first thing rationally.

This is the meaning of what is written of Moshe:

**His hands were faith—**He had such extensive faith that it spread to all the limbs. Even his hands contained such an abundance of faith.

**until the coming of the sun—**This alludes to the intelligence within the thing, for the sun corresponds to wisdom, as is brought here in our works (above, in Lesson #1) .