The Difference between Moses and the Rest of the World

(înapoi la pagina ZOHAR CUPRINS / Noah – click)

179) “Who leads the arm of His glory by Moses’ right.” “The arm of His glory” is Abraham’s merit, Hesed, who is at Moses’ right, the Tifferet of Moses. That is, Moses is Tifferet, and Hesed is at Moses’ right. The arm is the right arm, of Moses’ glory. This is why it is written, “Who divides water before them to make for Himself an everlasting name,” since Abraham’s merit is Hesed; he divides water, and it is all in order to make Himself an everlasting name.

180) What is the difference between Moses and the rest of the people in the world? When the Creator said to Moses, “And now leave Me, and My wrath will be against them and I will consume them, and I will make of you a great nation.” Promptly, Moses said, “Would I leave the judgment of Israel for my own good without asking for mercy on them? Now all the people of the world will say that I have killed Israel as Noah did.”

181) Because the Creator said that He would save him in the ark, and because He told him that he and his sons would be saved, he did not ask for mercy on the world and they were lost. This is why the water of the flood is named after him, as it is written, “For this is as the waters of Noah to Me.”

182) Moses said, “Now the people of the world will say that I have killed them because He said to me, ‘And I will make of you a great nation.’” I would prefer to die now and that Israel would not be consumed.” Promptly, “And Moses besought the Lord his God.” He asked for mercy on them and Rachamim awakened on the world.

183) When he initially asked for mercy on them he said, “Lord, why does Your wrath burn against Your people?” How did Moses say the word, “why,” since they were committing idol-worship, as it is written, “They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have bowed before it saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel’”? And Moses said, “Why.” However, one who appeases one’s friend for a friend who sinned against him does not need to perform the same grave sin. Instead, he should slight the sin before him, and then heighten the sin before the other sinner.

This is why Moses said to the Creator, “Lord, why does Your wrath burn against Your people?” He was slighting the sin. Subsequently, he turned to Israel and heightened the sin, as it is written, “You have sinned a grave sin.”

184) He would not leave the Creator until he gave himself to be put to death over Israel, as it is written, “And now, will You forgive their sin? And if not, do blot me out of Your book, which You have written.” And the Creator forgave them, as it is written, “And the Lord repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people.” And Noah did not do so, but sought to be saved and left the whole world.

185) Whenever the Din is on the world, the holy spirit says, “Woe that there is none other like Moses, as it is written, ‘And he remembered the days of old, Moses, his people, who lifts up from the sea the shepherds of His flock.’” It is written, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to Me?’” Because he raised them from the sea with prayer, and because he placed himself in prayer over Israel at sea, it is called after him, “Who lifts up from the sea,” that he raised them from the sea.

186) “Where is the one who places within him the spirit of His holiness?” It is Moses, who instilled the Shechina inside of Israel, and leads them through the deeps when the water divided and they walked inside the deeps on dry land, when the water froze. This is because he gave himself to Israel; hence all that is named after him.

187) Although Noah was righteous, he was not worthy of the Creator protecting the world for him. Moses did not attribute anything to his own merit, but to the merit of the first fathers. But Noah had no one to whom to attribute his merit like Moses.

188) And yet, because the Creator said to him, “I have established My covenant with you,” he should have asked for mercy on them. That sacrificed he sacrificed after the flood, he should have sacrificed before, perhaps he would pacify the anger from the world.

189) What could Noah do, since the wicked of the world were angering the Creator? Would he make an offering for them? Indeed, Noah feared for himself, that death would reach him among the wicked of the world, because he saw their evil deeds all day, and how they were angering the Creator all day long.

190) Whenever the wicked proliferate in the world, the righteous who is among them is punished first, as it is written, “And from My Temple you will begin.” Do not pronounce it “from My Temple,” but “from My holy ones” [same letters in Hebrew]. Accordingly, how did the Creator save Noah among all those wicked? Indeed, He saved him so he would produce generations in the world, for he was properly righteous, and was worthy of producing corrected generations.

191) Moreover, he warned them each day but they would not heed him. In his soul he kept the verse, “And you, if you have warned the wicked … but you saved your soul.” Thus, anyone who warns the wicked—even if he does not heed him—saves himself, and that wicked is caught by his sin. And how much must he warn him? Until he strikes him.

192) Why did the Creator see fit to consume all the animals of the field and all the birds in the sky along with the wicked? If people sinned, what was the sin of beasts, fowl, and the rest of the creations? It is written, “For all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth”; they were all corrupting their ways, leaving their kinds and clinging to another kind.

193) These wicked of the world caused all the creations to cling to that which was not their kind. They were seeking to deny the work of creation, meaning to mingle species with one another and deny their form. They caused all creations to corrupt their ways as they have corrupted. The Creator said, “You want to deny the work of My hand, I will complement your will; I will return the world to water, as the world was in the beginning, water in water, as it is written, “and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.” Henceforth, I will make other creations in the world, properly.

(înapoi la pagina ZOHAR CUPRINS / Noah – click)

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