101. “And the Egyptian had a spear in his hand etc.” “And the Egyptian had a spear in his hand” (II Samuel 23:21). This is the staff of God, which was entrusted in his hand, as it says: “With the staff of God in my hand” (Exodus 17:9). This is the staff that was created at twilight on the eve of Shabbat, and a holy carving is engraved upon it, the holy name. With that staff**, he sinned with the rock, as it says: “And struck the rock with his staff twice”** (Numbers 20:11). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: “Moses, I did not give you My staff for this; by your life, it will no longer be in your hand from now onwards.”

Explanation: Twilight is the mystical meaning of the great tempering of Malkhut in Bina, until it cannot be discerned whether it is Malkhut or Bina. On Shabbat, Malkhut rises to Abba and Imma and becomes Bina. “At twilight on the eve of Shabbat” [Malkhut] is not yet actual Bina, but is not discerned as Malkhut either. This is the mystical meaning of the ten items that were created at twilight, as at that time their origin is undiscernible as to whether it is from Bina or Malkhut, since [at that twilight phase] the Nukba itself cannot be discerned.

This is the mystical meaning of the staff that was created at twilight, and for this reason “a holy carving is engraved upon it,” an engraving of “the holy name,” which represents the aspect of Bina, from which the holiness is drawn. The “holy carving” represents Malkhut, which is only an engraving for receiving “the holy name.” These two carvings were incorporated in the staff as a single, indistinguishable aspect, as stated, since [the staff] was created “at twilight on the eve of Shabbat.” Therefore, it had the power to draw forth all the lights and all the miracles and wonders for Israel, who are the mystical meaning of the drawing forth of the lights of Bina into Malkhut. Through [the staff], Moses merited the supernal Bina and the aspect of man of God, in the mystical meaning of “Moses the bride.” It is called “the staff of Elohim” in reference to Bina, and it is termed “a spear” in the mystical meaning of the vav of Havaya, which fuses with the lower heh.

Now, the Malkhut [alone] is called tzor [“boulder”], while [the Malkhut merged within] the mystical meaning of Bina is called sela [“rock”]. The inner fusion of [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba, when they ascend to Abba and Imma and the Nukba uses the garments of the Imma (as stated in section 17, above), that fusion through collision is called “speech.” The external fusion of [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba, that is, in their own place, is called fusion through collision [haka’ah]. ¹ have ascended to Abba and Imma, their fusion, called an “inner fusion,” is described as an interaction of speech. In contrast, the fusion of lower state of Ze’er Anpin and Nukba, called an “external fusion,” is a fusion through collision. This is the mystical meaning of the statement to Moses in Parashat Beshallaḥ (Exodus 17:6): “And you shall strike [ve’hikita] the tzor, and water shall come out of it...” since the tzor is the mystical meaning of Malkhut, in which striking [haka’ah] occurs. However, in Parashat Ḥukkat (Numbers 20:8) it states: “And you shall speak to the sela...” since the sela is when [Malkhut] is in the place of Bina, and thus, the fusion is called “speech.” This is the mystical meaning of the sin of Moses, as he used his staff twice, for in addition to striking the tzor with it, he also struck the sela, and that is the meaning of “twice” (Numbers 20:11). He thus “sinned with the rock [sela],” since striking does not apply to it, but only speech (as stated in the Zohar, Tetze, 76).

footnotes: ¹ When Ze’er Anpin

This is the meaning of the statement: “With that, he sinned with the rock.” Since there was no distinguishable mark on the staff of God determining whether it belonged to Malkhut or Bina, as stated, [Moses] ended up using it for the sela as well. “As it says, ‘and struck the rock with his staff twice, ’” that is, upon the tzor and the sela, as stated. “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: “Moses, I did not give you My staff for this” – I did not give you My staff for you to use it for the aspect of sela as well.