“And from it Aharon and his sons shall wash their hands and feet.” (Shemot, 30:19) When the Cohanim washed from the laver (kiyor) in the Holy Temple they did so in order to remove and kind of negia (personal motive, partiality) Washing teaches of this, as we find in the passage of the beheaded heifer (Footnote Devarim, 21:6, the eiglah arufah, where the elders first take general responsibility for the death and then wash their hands, declaiming to God “our hands did not spill this blood), “and the elders of the city shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded.” Here they are saying that they are clean from negia associated with the death and have no portion in it. So too, the Cohen who serves needs to wash, meaning that he removes any negiain his life, nullifying his own mind and will before God’s will. This means that all his service is only what God desires. So it is with how we are commanded to wash in the morning and before a meal, for before one begins to fulfill the needs of the body he needs to pray. If some worldly matter comes upon him and leads him astray, God forbid, he then prays to God to remove any desire he might have not only from a sin, but even from something permitted that might be a mixture of good and its opposite. For if one were to eat in a way that is permitted to him and then go on and use the energy from this to transgress, then it is made clear that he did not receive any goodness from the food. Concerning this we have ritual washing, which is a kind of prayer that we only see goodness from our actions. We pray to God that our behavior is on condition, the condition being that only good comes out of it. It is for this reason that in the morning service our sages included this passage about washing from the laver before we say the daily sacrifices, meaning that we ask that even what we pray for is only what God desires.

“And Moshe turned and descended from the mountain, and two tablets of the testimony in his hand, written from both sides.” (Shemot, 32:15) It is written in the Gemara (Shabbat, 104a), “R. Chasda says, they were written from both sides for they were read from within and without. That is, ‘navuv [empty], boban,’ ‘rahav [arrogance or rage], behar [on the mountain],’ ‘saru, veras.’” (Footnote: Both Rashi and Tosafot ask why these words used as they don’t appear in the ten mitzvot? The Mei HaShiloah offers an answer.) R. Chasda is saying that the Torah has the power to change the heart of man from one side to the opposite. Navuv means one who is hollow, or empty of Torah, and so by means of them he is filled with understanding, and this is, “navuv, boban” (boban is connected to Binah, or understanding). Rahav means someone who is filled with desires and external lusts, as it is written (Zohar, Shemot, 170b), “the angel of Egypt was called rahav, and Egypt was steeped in perversity,” as it says (Amos, 8:8), “banished and immersed like the Nile of Egypt,” whose waters were brackish, which teaches of evil thoughts of desire. By means of the Torah he can be separated from all lusts, which is the inner meaning of behar (on the mountain), for you do not find moisture on the mountain that is deep in the valley. So too with Avraham Avinu, since he was separated from all lust, thus it was said (at the binding of Yitschak, Bereshit, 22:14), “for it is said to this day, on the mount Hashem was seen.” Saru, meaning anger, for sar is an expression of anger, as it is written Kings 1, 21:4), “and Achav came home ‘sar ve’zaef,’ sullen and angry,” and on this it says in the Gemara (Bava Metsia, 59b), “why does the Torah warn against distressing the convert in forty-eight places? For it may turn him [saro] to evil,” meaning he has anger, and by means of the Torah he may change his heart to the good, and separate himself from any anger, for moras, (veras, the opposite of saru) meaning rubbed or stirred, as the Gemara says, “did they ever stir the blood of the sacrifice before you?” for this occurs in a tender place (the opposite of anger), as it is said (Yechezkel, 46:14), “to stir [laros] the fine flour.”

“And Moshe said to God, see, you say to me, bring this people up … And God said to Moshe, I will also do as you have spoken, for you have found favor in My sight, and I will know you by name.” (Shemot, 33:12–17) God addressed Moshe’s request by saying that God knows Moshe by name, which means that He created Moshe with good attributes in order to receive the Chein, the Grace of God. Chein itself is a free gift, that God created him with good attributes and owing to this he is in God’s favor (a play on words; to be in favor is also chein). First (for in verse 12 Moshe makes first mention of), “You said, I knew you by name,” that He chose him as he chose all the Patriarchs, even before they performed good deeds. And these attributes that were imprinted in their souls yet remain in us, for the three attributes that crown us (as a people), compassion, modesty, and giving loving-kindness, are not contingent on our good deeds but comes rather from the holiness of our Patriarchs, which they inherited to us. This is why Moshe first said that God knew him by name, and then after, he found favor with Him, whereas when God in His answer to Moshe formulates it in the opposite way, first saying that he has found favor in His eyes, and after saying that He knew him by name. This means that God recognized his attributes, which are a vessel for receiving the Torah. In this way he would at all times desire and long for new words of Torah, and this is how he finds favor with God, meaning that he will always desire and strive for the “free gifts” (the reception of Chein). Towards this He created him with good attributes, as it is written (Daniel, 2:21), “give wisdom to the wise.” This concerns what we find in the Gemara of Binyamin (Yoma, 12a), “Binyamin the Tsaddik was greatly concerned that the Holy of Holies fall in his domain. [For the Temple mount falls both in the portions of Yehuda and Binyamin, yet the Holy of Holies was in the portion of Binyamin, and because of his holy “distress” to take care of the area, the Altar was also allotted in his portion.] For this he was made a host for the Divine presence.” That is to say, since God recognized that if the Holy Temple (the house of the Holy of Holies) would be built in his portion then he would greatly desire that the outside Altar also be in his portion (the “free gift”). For this (desire) he was made its host.

“And He said, My presence shall go with you, and I shall give you rest.” (Shemot, 33:14) God answered Moshe that at a time that a “garment” goes forth from Him that seems like a face of anger, then Israel shall be at peace. God has garments to He shows His jealousy, and at the time when God is in this attribute then the Tsaddik, who is the pillar of his generation, also takes on this attribute, like Pinchas in his generation or Eliyahu in his generation. This is because the Tsaddik is the garment of God, and then it seems as if he is bringing accusations against Israel, as when Eliyahu said (Melachim 1, 19:10), “for the children of Israel have abandoned Your covenant.” Then when God removes this garment, and conducts the world through His goodness and compassion, then the Tsaddik shows that at the depth of his consciousness he was never angry, God forbid, and then the heart of the Tsaddikim will also be at peace with Israel.

“And I shall remove My hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” (Shemot, 33:23) It is said in the Gemara (Berachot, 7a), “this teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moshe the knot at the back of his head tefillin.”⁷⁹ tied at the base of the skull.Tefillin hints at intense closeness and connection, as it is said (Bereshit, 30:8), “the wrestlings of God.”⁸⁰—“wrestlings” has the same Hebrew letters as tefillin. This means that we are connected to the Holy One, blessed be He, and no matter what happens to us, we will not separate from Him. In the tefillin of the Master of the Universe it is written, “Who is a nation so great as to have God so close to it?” This means the God praises himself in that Israel is so connected to Him, and also that God is connected to them, even if they sin He will not disengage his love for them. “But My face shall not be seen” means that God showed Moshe all the events that happened in the past and saw clearly what God had built out of each action. This is “You shall see My back.”⁸¹ “But my face shall not be seen” means that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not show Moshe what was happening in the present, because all the acceptances of punishment were transmitted through him.⁸² Therefore He could not, as it were, show him the present, meaning how God was completely reconciled with Israel in the present. This is as it is said (Midrash Tanchuma, Chukat, 8), “that which was not said [revealed] to Moshe Rabeynu was said to Rabbi Akiva, as it is said [Iyov, 28:10], ‘his eye saw all the preciousness.’” This means that He showed Rabbi Akiva the whole Tefillin, and showed him how God was reconciled with Israel also in the present. This is as it is mentioned in the Gemara (Makkot, 7a), “Rabbi Akiva said, If I had been a member of a Sanhedrin, no one would ever have been sentenced to death.” This is because he saw how the Holy One, blessed be He, was always reconciled with Israel.

footnotes: ⁷⁹ The knot of the head tefillin ⁸⁰ Naftulei ⁸¹ “Back” represents the past; “face” the present. ⁸² And would thus confront irreconcilable differences.

“And he said to Him, if Your presence does not go with me, then do not raise us up from this.” (Shemot, 33:15) Moshe asked God that even while He is still dressed in this garment (see the previous discussion of “and He said, My presence shall go with you”) that even then, if any one of Israel sins, that the sin would not reach the depth of the heart. That even then, the sinner’s mind would not become so weak that he would, God forbid, remove himself from God, of whom he said (Shemot, 15:2), “this is my God,” and of whom he said, “and You have separated both Me and Your people from all the peoples on the face of the earth.” The difference between Israel and the nations is not only based on the performance of mitzvot and good deeds, for they too can perform actions that seem to be good. Yet the difference is, even when one of Israel sins, then the sin will not be like that of the nations.⁸³ Rather it will only have effect from the edge and outside, with the depth of the heart remaining connected, even united, with God. This is as it is written in the Gemara (Berachot, 32b) in the verse (Yeshayahu, 49:14), “And Zion said, has Hashem forsaken me? Has Hashem forgotten me? Can a woman forget her suckling child, the child of her womb? These too will be forgotten, but I will not forget you.” “The community of Israel said before God, Master of the Universe! Since there is no forgetfulness before Your Throne of Glory, perhaps you will not forget the sin of the golden calf? God answered, ‘these too will be forgotten.’ The Community of Israel said, ‘perhaps you will forget the day we stood at Mount Sinai?’ God answered, “but I [who said “I—Anochi” at Mount Sinai] will not forget you.’” It may be asked of this, why does God say that he will forget one incident and remember the other? Truly, the sin of the golden calf happened because God wanted to show them the order that He had arranged in His Divine plan for all His attributes for all generations. He showed them that at one time He would conduct the world through one attribute, and at another time through a different one. This way they would not have to pray at each moment for God to show them which mode and which attribute He was now choosing, but rather He gave them all of His attributes at once (Shemot, 34:6–7), and they could proceed on their way ever confident, and since the sin would only reach from the edge and outward it was therefore forgotten. The mitzvot, however, are from the depth of the heart, an eternal memorial. There is a special reason why the passage discussing Shabbat is juxtaposed to the sin of the golden calf. This is because the root of the sin of the golden calf came to them at the very moment that the Holy One, blessed be He, and Moshe Rabeynu were involved in the study of Shabbat. Shabbat hints at the day that is entirely Shabbat (the redemption), and at that time prayer will not be necessary because the Holy One, blessed be He, will make it clear to all the order of His attributes,⁸⁴ for without His will nothing at all could be done in the world. Down below they felt vibrations that God was preparing to bestow unto them this complete good, and the effect in their actions was the sin of the golden calf. This is because a calf is something that is not yet complete,⁸⁵ and one must wait for it to reach its completion. In the same way they wanted to receive the “day that is entirely Shabbat” before its time, for God will only bestow unto us this complete good in the future.

footnotes: ⁸³ With the nations the sin reaches the depth of their soul. ⁸⁴ And at that time all will know God’s will with clarity. ⁸⁵ It is not yet a cow.

“And He said, I will cause all of My good to pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of Hashem, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” (Shemot, 33:19) Since Moshe asked God to show him the depth of how He conducts the world, then why does each man have his own rank and level, where no one is equal to another?⁸⁶ To this the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, “I will cause all of My good to pass before you,” which means that no man knows his rank and the good that is his portion, and he shall see this through what he chooses for himself.⁸⁷ After this it says, “and I shall proclaim the name of Hashem,” meaning that I will show the depth of My consciousness in what I have apportioned for each one from the beginning of creation. This is because “the name of Hashem” teaches of the beginning of creation when He brings all into being.⁸⁸, has the same root as the word mehave, “bring into being.” Then you shall see that what each one chooses for himself is exactly the portion that God has prepared for him. This is “I will be gracious with whom I will be gracious,” meaning with that which I have been gracious and merciful with him from the beginning is exactly that which I will use to save him for his own good. By means of this one will not arrive at the portion of his fellow, as in the saying of the Midrash on the verse (Kohellet, 3:9), “what does one profit in working in that which he labors?”—“Each artisan is only permitted to dwell with his fellow craftsmen” (Kohellet Rabba, 3:9).

footnotes: ⁸⁶ If Moshe’s prayer was answered, the knowledge of God would be equally accessible to all. ⁸⁷ One can only arrive at knowing the portion God has prepared for him through the results of his efforts and achievements. ⁸⁸ The Tetragrammaton, Yud Hei Vav Hei

“And Moshe made haste, and bowed his head to the ground, and worshipped. And he said, if I have found favor in Your eyes I pray that Adonai shall go in our midst, for they are a stiff-necked people. Forgive our iniquities and sins and take us as Your inheritance.” (Shemot, 34:8) It is written in the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 111a), “What did Moshe see [that, immediately after receiving the thirteen attributes of mercy he ran and bowed in worship]? He saw the Long Suffering [patient].” Truly, what is the use of God’s attribute of patience if the sin is not erased? Is not the entire length of his life only temporary, and even all the mitzvot and good deeds that he does will not reach the depths, for they have not been done from the source of life? And even the children he fathers will only live out the number of their days, for their source is only in fleeting existence? However, the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him that in the depths He bears no anger towards Israel, and it is only from the edge and outward, for such anger could eradicate them, God forbid. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moshe that He would also be long-suffering with them, that eternal life would remain within them, and all the mitzvot and good deeds that they did would last forever, and the children that they would have would continue forever. For their mitzvot, good deeds, and progeny were all rooted in the source of life, and would endure forever. Upon seeing this, Moshe then asked, “I pray that Adonai will go in our midst,” for the name “Adonai” necessitates service, meaning, let such service dwell in our hearts that we may perform mitzvot and good deeds that endure forever. This is “pardon our iniquity,” meaning to slowly remove the sin from our heart that only the good will remain. “And take us for Your inheritance,” meaning, take us as an inheritance and then we will be able to serve God with all of our qualities.

“Do not make molten gods.” (Shemot, 34:17) “Molten or graven images” means principles. The verse is saying that at a time when your heart receives an explicit understanding, then do not look to the principles and act according to them; rather, you shall know down to the detail how to act according to the understanding of your heart. We find an example of this with Eliyahu at Mount Carmel. See below in Parshat Chukot on the section beginning, “and they camped at Ovot,” and there the matter is well explained.

“You shall keep the festival of matsot in the time of the month of Aviv, seven days shall you eat matsot as I command you, for in the month of Aviv you came out of Egypt.” (Shemot, 34:18) Aviv is related to the word Av, “father,” which includes all the generations, meaning all the good of all the other months and seasons, but not as much as in the month of Aviv itself, which is the father, which has in it even all the good of the month of Aviv. And this is why if you exchange the letters of Pesach through the atbash system⁸⁹ with tav, bet with shin (hence, atbash), gimel with reish, dalet with koof, and so forth. you arrive at the initial letters of Tisha B’Av, for in the future all the festivals will be nullified except for Tisha B’Av (which will be transformed into the ultimate festival), which contains all the festivals and is the father of them all. Also, the time of the month of Av that is now the father (first of the months), will also be in the time of the month of Av, and this is the meaning of “the time of the month of Aviv.”

footnotes: ⁸⁹ Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet is exchanged with its corresponding letter in the opposite order. Aleph

“All that opens the womb is Mine, and every firstborn among your cattle, whether ox or sheep.” (Shemot, 34:20) If you see that the Tsaddik suffers and worries over making a living, you may, God forbid, bring accusations against God concerning this. This is why it says, “all that opens the womb is Mine,”⁹⁰) is closely related to the word “compassion” (rachem). every time an opening of compassion is opened it is only from Me, because I am called the Father of Compassion. It is only that you do not understand My intentions. Nevertheless, (as the following verse ends), “none shall appear before Me empty-handed,” meaning you are required to give at least a small gift to a poor man, even if you see that I am not compassionate with him. Even though we find in the Gemara (Shabbat, 151b), “Rabbi Yosef said: We assert that a scholar will not suffer poverty. But we see that he does suffer poverty. Even if he suffers poverty, he does not engage in begging,” yet if he is not a scholar and he must resort to begging, then you are required to give him something small to sustain his life.

footnotes: ⁹⁰ The essence of this explanation is that the word “womb” (rechem

“Guard that which I command you today ….” (Shemot, 34:11) In this Parsha twelve kinds of guarding and warnings are mentioned corresponding to the twelve tribes, with each tribe having one essential point of guarding necessary for it.