Parashat Bo and the Tzaddik

(8) “Then all these courtiers of yours shall come down to me and bow low to me, saying, ‘Depart, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will depart.” And he left Pharaoh’s presence in hot anger.

GEMARA: Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Tzadok, says: To what are the righteous in this world compared? To a tree that is standing entirely in a pure place and its branches hang over an impure place. If its branches are cut, it will stand entirely in a pure place. So too, the Holy One, Blessed be He, brings afflictions upon the righteous in this world to cleanse them of their few sins. He makes them suffer so that they will inherit the World-to-Come entirely, as it is stated: “And your beginning was in pain, your end shall greatly increase” (Job 8:7).

(4) The Rock!—whose deeds are perfect, Yea, all God’s ways are just; A faithful God, never false, Righteous and upright indeed.

(21) He used to say: At five years of age the study of Scripture; At ten the study of Mishnah; At thirteen subject to the commandments; At fifteen the study of Talmud; At eighteen the bridal canopy; At twenty for pursuit [of livelihood]; At thirty the peak of strength; At forty wisdom; At fifty able to give counsel; At sixty old age; At seventy fullness of years; At eighty the age of “strength”; At ninety a bent body; At one hundred, as good as dead and gone completely out of the world.

(13) lashuach: One who walks wisely, because from then on he walks [halakhicly] in submission. And others say: A person worthy of burial is not strong enough to go out and come back.

(3) It is also written (Proverbs 11:14), “In the RoV (multitude) of advisors there is salvation.” The tzaddik is called “RaV (many),” as our Sages teach: Moshe, because his merit was so great, was like many (Taanit 9a).

(7) Now, the only one who merits the aspect of the melody of this exalted faith is the tzaddik of the generation, who is the aspect of Moshe. He is on this level of faith, which is the aspect of silence, the aforementioned aspect of “Be silent! Thus has it arisen in thought.” That is, it is still higher than speech, because Moshe is the aspect of silence, as explained above.

(1) Remember what Moses did to you: A question to ask: if there's a Biblical commandment to erase Amalek all the time since it says that "G-d has a war with Amalek in every generation," why doesn't he mention this commandment until the time of Shmuel HaNavi and then until the times of Mordechai and Esther (400 year gap). And it also says that the mitzvah is "not to forget Amalek" and Hashem never forgets. This mitzvah comes from the power and inspiration of tzaddikim in this world and the kind of service which is needed comes from a level of tzaddik who is called "faithful." Like it says about Moshe Rabbeinu, "Moses is faithful in My House," and Shmuel is also called "faithful." What does faithful? Those who souls that have no intent for themselves. And by them being so faithful, Hashem is faithful in return, and this pushes away the attribute of falsehood. Falsehood has no feet [no sustainability]. It says that kelipa gets its nourishment from Netzach and Hod, and it destroying Amelek "His anger He guards forever [netzach]." It also says that "Netzach of Israel does not lie." This is the attribute of Moshe Rabbeinu, the Faithful Shepard, his entire intent is for the benefit of the Jewish people and he gives his soul to them and Moses said to the Jewish people erase me from the book. Even when Moses left the world there's still a spark of Moses in the tzaddik of the generation. As it says, when 'Moses passed away his eyes did not dim' and next verse say "he went and spoke to the Jewish people." Even though he left us, he still speaks to us via extension of Moshe in every generation (the tzaddik). This the meaning of the verse "she tasted the merchandise was good, her candlelight will not be put out at night." The goodness refers to the tzaddikim and the night to exile, and the candle light will not be put out. And so it says about Shmuel, "the candle of G-d, before it was put out, Shmuel was lying down in the chambers of Hashem." This means that even while Shmuel is lying down [passed away], he still in the chamber of Hashem as to ensure the candle doesn't go out. As it books, even after Shmuel passed away, he did not want to enter Gan Eden, he wants to help the Jewish people, so he lies down in that place during their exile in order to assist them. This is also the meaning of the posuk "Moses and Aaron are among his Cohenim and Shmuel is among those who invoke his name." And they call upon Hashem in the current times too (happening in the present). They call to him and He answers. This is the meaning of Chana's prayer "may you give your maidservant the seed of man." The seed of man refers to the light planted for the righteous to influence and illuminate the heart of Jews to create reverence and love for Hashem. She said "I am a woman of grievous spirit." Chana = 63, which is Bina, which is called "mother," which is a level of soul. She wanted to bring to him a soul from that place beyond the level of ruach. That's the meaning of a 'grievous spirit' because it's hard to make for her to make a nest, which the level of mother which hovers over her sons. This is the meaning of the verse "a small cloak his mother made him." Cloak = nest, which is the unity described in the verse "there is no man to work on the earth." Read this as "from the level of ayin, there is the earth." The first 'hei' of earth refers to Hashem's name. Then there is the word 'adam' and there is the last 'hei;' this is the unity of one world to another. And the one who merits to have the cloak in a similar way the Kohen Gadol does is from the level of Yosef, who got a cloak from his father, like Shmuel who made him a cloak. This is the meaning of the sound of the Kohen Gadol when he entered the Kodesh HaKodoshim. This is also the meaning of the verse "the old man wears the cloak," because this lets him daven for the Jewish people. So Moshe Rabbeinu is the level of netzach, Shmuel is netzach and hod, and Mordechai comes from Binyomin, who never bowed to Amalek (Eisav). And this is a tikkun for the thigh of Yaakov, which is netzach. This is the meaning of the destruction of Amalek. Mordechai never bowed down to Haman either. Therefore these three tzaddikim could cause the destruction of Amalek. So Moshe forced Amalek to come against him, and so did Shmuel and so did Mordechai, to give him the just punishment. The destruction of Amalek is the prelude to the building of the Temple. Therefore, it was delayed so long in order to destroy Amalek first, in order to build the Temple. When Shmuel saw the Temple being built, he needed to see the destruction of Amalek. Mordechai also needed to get rid of Amalek to prepare for the Second Temple. So to in the future it says "there salvation will be forever [netzach]" and the Temple will speedily built in our days, amen.

(3) Now Moses himself was very humble, more so than any other human being on earth.

The Gemara relates: Rava says, and some say Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Greater is that which is stated with regard to Moses and Aaron than that which is stated with regard to Abraham. As with regard to Abraham it is written: “And I am but dust and ashes,” while with regard to Moses and Aaron it is written: “And what are we,” i.e., we are not even dust and ashes. And Rava says, and some say Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The world endures only in the merit of Moses and Aaron. It is written here: “And what are we,” and it written elsewhere: “He hangs the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7). That is, the earth endures in the merit of those who said of themselves that they are nothing, i.e., Moses and Aaron.