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"You, [Moses], must command the Israelites to bring you clear illuminating oil, made from hand-crushed olives, to keep the lamp constantly burning."
The Rulership, or the Cosmic Female, is represented by the pure Menorah, and her companion is Zeir Anpin, the Cosmic Male. The Victory (Netzach) and Glory (Hod) of the Male, which corresponds to his right and left thighs, build the Female up.
Victory and Glory speedily fall into the Foundation of the Male and, having stricken it, come back up. The Light of the Female is not direct but all-encompassing Reflected or Returning Light. She receives this light when Victory and Glory return after hitting the Foundation, which is the only way she can accept it.
The olives thus represent Victory and Glory, which the Foundation strikes. Foundation is another name for the Righteous. Olives are crushed into small pieces and produce olive oil fit for Menorah, the Female.
Art: Luigi Ademollo - The Menorah
"...And you will take an offering for Me..."
The Trumah (offering) represents the Female secret in the world. There are two Female spiritual entities, Leah and Rachel, and they correspond to the two letters Hei in the name of God. The value of Hei is 5.
Each Female receives 10 aspects because she is connected to the Foundation of the Male, the letter Yud, whose value is 10. Thus, each Female has fifty different aspects, and together, the two of them have one hundred aspects.
Man (Adam) has the numerical value of 45, corresponding to the word Mah (What), as in "...What does God your Lord want of you but to recognize His presence..." However, the Sages interpreted it as not Mah (What) but Meah (Hundred). In fact, any blessing that comes to this world is connected to the number 100, or the two females, Leah and Rachel, as in "...a hundredfold, because God has blessed him."
For this reason, we give the Trumah (offering) – to return the blessing to its source so that the Evil Forces will have no hold on it. Thus, the word Trumah (offering) is related to Harama (uplifting).
Art: Ignace Henri Jean Fantin-Latour - Two Young Women, Embroidering and Reading
This is a hint to Cain who killed Abel - for when Abel was later reincarnated as Moses, he was called “a man,” as in “...this man Moses...” First time Cain was reincarnated as an Egyptian, whom Moses killed, and the second time Cain was reincarnated as Korah, and again Moses killed him.
“But if he did not lie in wait, only God caused this to happen through him, then you will separate for yourself a place of refuge.”
God told Moses to separate three cities of refuge - literally for Moses himself. Angel Samael was acting as an avenger of blood for the Egyptian. The angel's claim was that Moses did it intentionally, and therefore he should be killed. But in truth Moses' purpose was to help the Egyptian's soul and to correct it, and that is why Moses killed him by pronouncing the explicit name of God, which made his killing unintentional. This is why “he did not lie in wait” - talking about Moses, but “God caused this to happen” - still talking about Moses, and thus “you will separate for yourself a place of refuge to run there (שמה) ” for Moses (משה).
Art: Frederick Arthur Bridgman - By the City Gate
The Priest of Midian is the name of a high spiritual force of Evil. Every force of Good in the Kingdom of Holiness has a force corresponding to it in the Kingdom of Evil. The force corresponding to the Priest of Midian is the Foundation of the spiritual entity called the Father of the Cosmic Man. The earthly Yitro had a connection to this power, which is the source of jealousy and struggle. The opposite of it is Love.
Yitro took with him his daughter Tzipora, Moses' wife, and brought her to Moses. Yitro was the reincarnation of Cain. After he abandoned his connection to the power of Evil, he began correcting his killing of Abel in the previous life. Moses was the reincarnation of Abel, and Cain killed him because of an extra twin sister born with Abel. Tzipora was the reincarnation of this sister. In the previous life, Cain took her away from Abel, and in this life, Yitro brought her to Moses.
When Yitro came to Moses, he said, "I am your father-in-law Yitro." The first letters of this phrase constitute "achi" - (your brother), hinting to Moses that he is Moses' brother from before. As Cain, he denied that there is judgment in the world. As Yitro, he added to Torah laws dealing with judgments. Later he was reincarnated as Korach, and this was the "and Korach got a bad deal for himself," that is, he took the soul of Yitro. Korach then arose against Moses, corresponding to Cain, who arose against Abel. Once underground, Korach was forced to proclaim that his judgment was true.
Art: Sebastiano Ricci - Moses Defending the Daughters of Jethro
Every "and it was" (vayihi) sounds like a sigh and denotes some pain. Here the pain came about because Pharaoh sent "the People of Israel," the "mixed multitude" together with the nation.
When the Torah mentions "Bnei Israel," the Sons of Israel, it means the genuine part of the Jews. However, it calls them "Am Israel," the People of Israel; it means the people who do good for their own honor and as a means to achieve power. The People of Israel could turn back to Egypt, and it was because of them that God did not lead the nation directly to Israel. The mixed multitude is called "Erev Rav" because they achieve the positions of importance (Rav) through their desire for power throughout history.
When Moses saw that, he understood that he needed to take the remains of Joseph with him – because now Moses knew that it would be necessary to split the Red Sea, and it will happen in the merit of Joseph, "The sea saw and fled..."
Art: Antonio Fillol Granell - The glory of the people
What does the concept of “cut off” entail? It is known that when a righteous person dies, his soul immediately goes up at the time of his departure, making waves of desire emanate from the Cosmic Female (Nukva) toward the Cosmic Male (Zeir Anpin) and causing them to unite.
This is discussed in the Book of Zohar in the following way. When the Righteous One (Cosmic Male) dresses with Jealousy and unites with the Female, this is connected to the qualities of Joseph since the numerical values of Joseph and Jealousy are identical. That is why the Sages said, “A man may be jealous of his wife because a special spirit of purity entered him.” A man who especially loves his wife may become jealous because of their great love. We find then that Jealousy can be a virtue and a sign of completeness, not a defect. This is the complete union between the Cosmic Male and Female, encompassing all worlds. This love transcends physical love, and their souls are in constant union.
In contrast, those who are not righteous cannot ascend after their death and cannot create waves of pleasure, and this is the secret of being “cut off” since they do not return to Heaven from which they were formed and remain below.
Art: Paul Hermann - The Lovers
The reincarnations of Abel continued in the family of Abraham - in Lot, his nephew, and in Haran, his brother. The first letters of "Lot the son of Haran" (לוט בן הרן) constitute the name of Abel (הבל). Haran was burned by Nimrod when he refused to bow down to idols and was later reincarnated as Aharon. The letters of the name of Aharon contain the letters of the name of Haran.
When Haran was burned, it was not of his own choosing. Abraham was the first one to refuse to bow down to idols, and for this, he was thrown into the oven. Haran was waiting to see what would happen to Abraham. When he saw that Abraham was saved, he decided to be on the side of Abraham. They threw him in the oven, and he was burned. Therefore, this burning was not counted as an entirely meritorious deed for him.
When Haran returned as Aharon, an extra letter of Aleph was added to his name. His test was repeated when the people told him, "Come and make a god for us," and Aharon made an idol, a golden calf. Aharon should have refused and allowed himself to be killed, but he did not do it. Instead, his nephew, Hur, the son of Miriam, tried to stop the people from worshiping the calf and was killed by them. Hur's soul was from a different root, but a part of Haran was added to him.
Aharon then built (ויבן) the altar. The word ויבן can be translated as "understood." Aharon understood that Hur had already corrected that part of Haran and reasoned that he did not have to give up his life anymore. However, he was mistaken in this. Therefore, his two sons had to die by burning in front of Aharon, just as Haran died in front of his father.
Art: Nicolas Poussin - Adoration of the Golden Calf
