• Jethro
• Mount Sinai
• A People of Segula (chosen/virtuous/remedy).

Jethro

Jethro is the will to receive that can be sanctified and join Moses, and with him make the connection between the upper system—Keter, Hochma, and Bina—GAR of the soul, and the will to receive, which is the people below, ZAT of the soul. Jethro was included in Moses when Moses lived with him; he is like the force of Malchut that is included in Bina, which is why Bina can connect to Malchut and bring it the new system.

Mount Sinai

It is written, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice”^[7] because “the light in it reforms them.”^[8] The evil inclination is Mount Sinai, all the hatred that appears between the nations of the world and Israel. The nations of the world are our desires to receive, and Israel is our desire to bestow. Therefore, if a gap between them appears in a person—between the desire to receive and the desire to bestow—that person feels the hatred and can be said to be at the foot of Mount Sinai.

The hatred appears when we want to connect, when we are standing around the mountain and must achieve Arvut (mutual guarantee). This is why it is written, “He said to them, ‘If you receive the Torah, good. And if you do not, there will it be your grave.’”^[9] That is, if you do not connect as one man with one heart, here you will be buried.

The hatred is toward unity. If a person does not want to connect, that person will not discover one’s hatred of others and will not arrive at Mount Sinai, and will certainly not achieve corrections. This can tell us how far we all are from Mount Sinai.

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• Philistines
• The Song of the Sea
• MAN

Philistines

Philistines are our egoistic desires. Even once we escape the rule of the will to receive they are still connected to bestowal. It is called “bestowing in order to receive.” When we give, we reach out to others. But when we begin to give we see that we can also gain by it. Therefore, we must rise above the desires that are found outside the boundaries of Egypt, too, though the correction in them is different from the one that took place in Egypt.

We could not discover these desires while in Egypt because we were “buried” under our egos. When we emerge from the ego, we see how it pulled all of us through the forty years in the desert, and even afterward, in the land of Israel, when we conquer the land.

The Song of the Sea

The Song of the Sea is thanksgiving. It is gratitude for crossing the border, never to return to Egypt. At times we might cry over the past, as it happens in this portion, but there is no way back. We make the final exit from Egypt. After the escape, we begin to feel the spiritual world and not just the existence of this world, and this feeling induces an outburst of joy.

MAN

MAN is Mey Nukvin (Aramaic: female water). It is the will to receive wanting to rise to the level of Bina. When one feels that one can and must bestow in these desires, one requests that it will happen. Such a person needs the help of the upper force to make it happen, and then the force appears from above.

When one begins to use this force, it fills one with bestowal upon others, and this is called “eating manna.” But in this world we will never feel this way because in this world we are fulfilled by reception, while in the spiritual world we are fulfilled by bestowal.

From The Zohar: The Story of Haman

The most precious of all is the food that the friends who engage in Torah eat, food that comes from high Hochma, actual Hochma. This is because the Torah comes out of the upper Hochma, and those who engage in the Torah enter the essence of the roots, hence their food comes from the high and holy place.

Zohar for All, BeShalach (When Pharaoh Sent), item 3

• Locust
• Darkness
• Plague of the First Born
• The Cry of Egypt

Locust

In all the plagues of Egypt, a person feels how beneficial the plagues are. The plague comes because a person is immersed in the ego, in a special situation, and the plagues help one out of that state. The plague of Locust corresponds to Bina.

Darkness

In each state we have darkness. However, in states of darkness, it is a person’s personal darkness, from which one can escape to another state. Here the state of darkness comes when a person is confused, not knowing anything, as it is said in the Purim story when the people did not know who was right, Haman or Mordechai. In a state of darkness a person needs to obtain the light of Hassadim because the darkness comes from light of Hochma, and through the light of Hassadim a person comes out of it. That person needs Hassadim, understanding that one needs the light. And because that person is ready, the pillar of fire, or the cloud, appears.

Plague of the First Born

The Plague of the First-Born is the final, biggest blow. It is a blow that is the root, because the first-born is the man. It is the biggest will to receive at the level of Keter, after which there is nothing more to do in Egypt. It is here that Pharaoh surrenders.

Pharaoh is left without an army, without anything. Once the children of Israel leave Egypt, Pharaoh sends after them whatever he has left of his army, but afterward the mixed multitude join Israel, as well, and Pharaoh is left with nothing.

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• Prophet
• Moses
• Aaron
• Token

Prophet

A prophet is a person who speaks with the Creator, the upper force. It is one who is at a level of speaking. Speaking is disclosure, the emission of Hevel (fume, mist) from the mouth. Hevel of the mouth is the Ohr Hozer (Reflected Light) emitted from the Partzuf, from the soul, as the light of bestowal.

Also, there is a prophet who sees, who is at a higher level. Some prophets say, “I saw,” and some prophets say, “I heard.” It is a degree of a Kabbalist who is at two degrees—a degree of speaking or a degree of seeing.

Moses

Moses is the upper force in us, which pulls us toward bestowal, love of others, and thus to the love of the Creator. It is a force that gives us no rest. This force comes to us from the breaking of the soul as a spark of light within us. If the spark awakens in a person it is considered that the person received an invitation. It guarantees nothing, but the invitation to actually begin one’s holy work has been given.

Holy means bestowal. Climbing up the mountain of holiness means that a person rises above one’s ego with one’s point of Moses, and thus actualizes oneself.

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• Moses
• Burning Bush
• Pharaoh
• Nile

Moses

Moses is the force within us that pulls us out of this world and into the spiritual one.

Burning Bush

The burning bush is Malchut that rises to Bina and receives the light of Hochma.

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is the entirety of our ego. The word Pharaoh comes from the word Oref (back of the neck), which is the posterior of our will to receive. The will to receive is a substance; it is all the substance of Creation. That substance can aim toward its own benefit, but it can also aim toward the benefit of others, depending on how we use it.

For now we are receiving it, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination” (Kidushin, 30b), as Pharaoh. We must turn it into the good inclination through the spice of Torah, which is the upper light we draw through the study. This is how we shift from hatred of others to love of others.

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