Kabbalah Library

260/1. “And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atarim, and he fought against Israel.” Three gifts were given to Israel through three brothers, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: MAN [the manna], thanks to Moses; clouds of glory, thanks to Aaron; a well, thanks to Miriam. All of them are gripped above: MAN, thanks to Moses, as it is written, “Behold, I will ‎rain bread from heaven for you.” This is Moses, who is a Merkava [chariot/structure] for ZA, who is called Moses and called heaven.

260/2. Clouds of glory are thanks to Aaron, who is a Merkava for Hesed, as it is ‎written, “You, O Lord, are seen eye to eye, and Your cloud stands over them.” It is also ‎written, “The cloud of incense will cover.” As there are seven clouds in the incense, here, ‎too, in the words, “and Your cloud stands over them,” they are also seven clouds because ‎there were seven clouds tied together in the incense, and Aaron is the head of all seven ‎clouds. The seven clouds are HGT NHYM, and Aaron is a Merkava for Hesed. He is the first ‎Sefira among them, and he is tied in it to the six other clouds—Gevura, Tifferet, NHYM—‎each day. For this reason, the clouds are regarded as being thanks to Aaron, since he is Hesed, the ‎head of the clouds and includes them.‎

261. The well is thanks to Miriam. Miriam was a Merkava for Malchut, since she is called a “well.” She is a well of living water, Malchut, and everything is one connection, since Miriam was connected to Malchut. Miriam died, the well departed, as it is written, “and there was no water for the congregation.” At that time, another well wanted to depart, Malchut, which was with Israel. But when it saw six clouds, HGT NHY, which were tied to it over the cloud of Malchut, Malchut connected to them.

262. When Aaron died, the clouds of glory departed, and the seventh cloud departed with them, to which the well, Malchut, connected. Moses came and returned them to them, as it is written, “You have ascended on high, You have taken captive; You have taken gifts for men.” You have taken gifts that were in the beginning, the well and the clouds.

263. The well is Isaac’s well, Malchut when she receives illumination of Hochma from the left, from Isaac. Clouds are the clouds of Aaron. Clouds are Hassadim [mercy], since they are the quality of Aaron, Hesed [also mercy]. By this we understand that the Malchut of the well connected to Malchut of the clouds, since they are difference from each other: Hesed of Malchut and Gevura of Malchut. Why was Aaron rewarded with the clouds of glory being drawn to Israel thanks to him? It is because he is connected to the clouds, as he is the quality of Hesed, like them. Since he is a Merkava for Hesed of ZA, the Rosh [head] of the clouds, he was connected and uniting everyone each day as one, so they would all be blessed by him.

264. For all the mercy that the Creator had done for Israel, He tied to Him seven clouds of glory, HGT NHYM, and connected them to the assembly of Israel, Malchut, since her cloud, Malchut of the clouds, is tied to the six other ones, HGT NHY. In all seven clouds, Israel walked in the desert, since they were all ties of faith, adhered to Malchut, who is called faith.

It is written, “You shall dwell in huts [Sukkot] for seven days,” which are the seven clouds of glory that went with Israel in the desert. It is also written, “I sat in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste,” as it is the shade of the clouds of glory, the shade of the Sukkah [hut], and one should see oneself sitting under the shade of faith.

265. All those years when Aaron was present, Israel were under the shade of faith, under the seven clouds. After Aaron died, one cloud departed, the cloud of Hesed, whose quality was the most right of all of them. They are all Hassadim included on the right side, but the Hesed in them is more right than all, since they are all incorporated in it, and they are seven Sefirot incorporated in Hesed. When the cloud of Hesed departed, all other clouds departed with it, since they are six Sefirot included in it, and they were all seen as deficient by Israel.

“And when the whole congregation saw that Aaron had perished,” do not read it as VaYir’u [they saw], but VaYera’u [they were seen], that the shade of the clouds had gone from them and they were seen. Promptly, “And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atarim.” He heard that the clouds of glory had departed and the great guide had died, to which all those clouds were connected.

266. The Canaanite, King of Arad, dwells in the Negev. When the spies that Moses had sent came, they said, “Amalek dwells in the land of the Negev,” to break their hearts, since initially, their force broke against Amalek.

267. The Canaanite heard that the clouds had departed. It is written, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” One who removes oneself from the shadow of faith deserves to be a slave, a slave to slaves, to the Canaanites. It is written, “And he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive,” meaning he took for himself slaves from among Israel.

268. This is why it is written, “All who are native Israelites shall dwell in huts [Sukkot],” anyone who is from the root and from the holy stem of Israel, shall dwell in Sukkot under the shadow of faith. One who is not from the stem and from the holy root of Israel will not dwell in them, and he removes himself from under the shadow of faith.

269. It is written, “Canaan, in whose hands are false balances.” This is Elizezr, Abraham’s servant. It is written, “cursed be Canaan,” since Canaan, who is Elizezr, was rewarded with serving Abraham. Since he served Abraham and dwelled under the shadow of faith, he was rewarded with emerging from that curse that he was cursed. Moreover, a blessing is written about him, as it is written, “And he said, ‘Come, the Lord’s blessed one.’” This teaches us that anyone who dwells under the shadow of faith bequeaths freedom for himself and for his children forever, and he is blessed with the high blessing. But one who removes himself from the shadow of faith bequeaths exile to himself and to his children, as it is written, “And he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.”