Kabbalah Library

11. “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘…take in your hand your staff with which you struck the river, and go.’” The staff was engraved with the holy name on both sides. On one side, they were the side of mercy and judgment in engraved letters. On the other side was a judgment in a judgment, a serpent on a rock.

12. “Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea.” “Stretch out” means stretch out on that side where it is engraved with mercy and judgment. It is written, “And Moses stretched out his hand.” It is not written “sent out his hand,” meaning that he leaned from one side.

13. Some say that a serpent on a rock was engraved beforehand since it was engraved in the bush, as it is written, “And he cast it to the ground and it became a serpent,” at that time, “a serpent on a rock” was engraved on the staff.

14. The Creator wanted His names that were engraved on the staff to make signs. Two signs were made in the sea in that side which Moses stretched out with mercy and with judgments: 1) It split the sea into twelve trails. 2) It returned the sea with judgments over the Egyptians and drowned them in the deep, as it is written, “And the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them.”

All the redemptions come from that middle line. Hence, when the Creator wanted Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt, He gave him the staff, for all the forces and operations in the middle line are engraved in it. For this reason, the Creator engraved in the staff all three lines, which are the names of the Creator: El, Elokim, HaVaYaH.

“And the Lord said to him, ‘What is in your hand?’ And he said, ‘a staff,’” which is an extension of the right line to Moses’ staff, Hassadim without Hochma. It is called Mateh [staff. In Heb: down] since it is Mateh [directs] downward toward Hesed, for the right line was made by the ascent of Malchut to Bina.

“And He said, ‘Cast it to the ground,’” meaning that now he should take Malchut out of Bina to the place of Malchut, earth, by which Bina and TM return to the degree, and the illumination of Hochma in the left, the left line with respect to the judgments in it, is called a “serpent.” It is written, “and it became a serpent.” By taking out the judgments of Malchut from Bina and throwing them to her place, to the earth, the left line went out, whose judgments are called “serpent,” in the dispute over the right line.

And then, “And Moses fled from it,” for he could not tolerate the judgments of the left, so he ran away from them. By this, the left line was engraved in the staff.

Then, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘stretch out your hand and grab hold of its tail,’” since at the end of the judgments of the left line, the judgments of the lock come out, the judgments in the screen of Malchut of the quality of judgment, as it is written, “Sin crouches at the door.”

“Grab hold of its tail,” meaning awaken the quality of judgment of the lock, which diminishes the Hochma on the left, by which the left unites with the right, by which they are both completed. However, the Hesed in the right shines from above downward, and the Hochma in the left shines only from below upward, for she is VAK of Hochma.

It is also known that the middle line awakens two operations in order to diminish the GAR of the left: First, it awakens the lock, and then, in order to be worthy of drawing the VAK of Hochma, it replaces the lock with the key.

It is written, “And he stretched out his hand and held it, and it turned into a staff in his hand,” in Moses’ hand, in the key, since at first, he held the serpent’s tail, which is the first operation of the middle line. Then, he replaced it in his own palm, the second operation of the middle line—that he replaced it with the key—which is judgments in the right line from the ascent of Malchut to Bina.

This explains the three lines that were engraved on the staff. The first staff, when he was asked “What is in your hand? And he said, ‘A staff,’” is the right line. When it becomes a serpent, it is the left line, which is engraved in the staff. “And grab hold of its tail,” “and it turned into a staff in his hand,” are two operations of the middle line that was engraved in the staff. All those phases remained engraved in the staff.

However, the gist of the staff is the second staff, the middle line. It is said inThe Zohar that when the staff was in the hands of Jacob, a whole man, the Torah called it a “stick.” When it was in the hands of Moses and Aaron, it called it a “staff.” When it is the middle line, or of HG, it is called a “stick,” or of NH, and it is called a “staff.”

It is known that the middle line contains in itself all the judgments in the right and in the left. Hence, two sides are discerned in the staff, and in each side, two discernments.

The first side of the staff is the unification of right and left that it does. There are two phases in it: 1) Revelation of the lights of Hochma and Hassadim that are clothed in one another, which is done by its unification, and in general, that light is called “mercy.” 2) Diminution of the GAR of Hochma in the right and in the left, which is done by the unification of right and left.

The second side of the staff, the judgments in the right and in the left that were engraved in it, also contains two phases: 1) Judgments of the left, which emerged due to the drawing of Hochma from above downward. These judgments are called “serpent.” 2) Judgments of the left, which emerged due to the ascent of Malchut to Bina. These judgments are judgments of the key, regarded as having been replaced, from the serpent’s tail, lock, to the palm of Moses, the key.

The staff was engraved on both sides for because the staff is the middle line, it has two sides in it: On one side, they were the side of mercy and judgment, for the one side is from the unification of right and left that it does. There are two phases in it: 1) The light of mercy, Hassadim and Hochma from the right and from the left that have united with each other. 2) The judgment that was done due to the unification of right and left, the judgment of diminution of gar of Hochma of the left.

The second side of the staff, the judgments of right and left that were engraved in it, is judgment in judgment, two phases that tare two kinds of judgments that are connected to each other. One judgment in it is judgments of the left, which are called “serpent.” The other judgment in it is judgments on the right, the key, which are called “rock,” as it is written, “a serpent on a rock,” where these two judgments are connected to each other and are called “a serpent on a rock.”

“And you, lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea.” “Stretch out” means stretch on that side, where it is engraved with mercy and judgment, since for the tearing of the Red Sea, the first side was needed, where there are mercy and judgment from the unification of right and left. He had to draw mercy over Israel, so they would receive the Mochin of Rachamim [mercy] from the unification of the lights of Hochma and Hassadim, and there was a need for judgment: to drown the Egyptians. This was done through the judgment on that side, which is diminution of GAR.

Some say that “a serpent on a rock” was engraved beforehand, that the two judgments that are connected to each other, which are called “a serpent on a rock,” were engraved on the staff prior to the tearing of the Red Sea, as it is written, “and he cast it to the ground and it became a serpent,” which is the emergence of the left line with the judgments in it, which are called a “serpent.” And afterwards, “and it became a staff in his hand,” the judgments of the key, which are called “rock,” and those two judgments called “a serpent on a rock” were engraved there.

These three lines that were engraved on the staff on the occasion of the bush are the names of the Creator: El, Elokim, HaVaYaH. The right line is called El; the left line is called Elokim; and the middle line is called HaVaYaH, from whom they came out in the staff and two sides were engraved in it, where on each side there are two discernments.

The Creator wanted these names to make signs and miracles, meaning for the mercy and judgments in them to operate.

Two signs were made in the sea on that side that Moses stretched out with mercy and judgment. The side of mercy and judgments operated in the sea, and two miracles happened in it, one from mercy and one from judgment.

One was that it split the sea into twelve trails. These are the mercies, the lights that emerge from the unification of Hochma and Hassadim, and in this unification, twelve trails are discerned. These are three lines and the Malchut who receives them, which are four, and in each of them, there are three lines in general, and three times four are twelve. From these twelve in the unification of right and left, twelve trails were made in the sea, by which Israel passed.

And one—that He returned the sea over Egypt with judgment and drowned them in the deep, since that judgment is drawn from the diminution of GAR of the left, where there was all the grip and vitality of the Egyptians. And since the GAR of the left departed due to that unification, the Egyptians drowned, for their vitality was from those GAR, and not one of them remained.

15. At that time, he wanted to extract water. The Creator said to him, “Moses, stretch out the staff from the other side, the side where “a serpent on a rock” is engraved,” which are two kinds of judgment. Two signs were made in it, as they were made on the other side of the staff: One sign by the striking of the rock, which was done by the judgments in the rock, and one sign by the waters of a quarrel where the miracle from the judgments in the serpent was supposed to be done.

However, now, “and strike the rock,” only the judgments in the rock, and not the judgments in the serpent, in that rock where the serpent rises, as it is written about it, “the way of a serpent on a rock.”

“Rock” is judgments of the right, in the screen of the key in the middle line. A serpent is judgments of the left that emerge when the illumination of Hochma in the left is drawn from above downward.

16. In the second time, in the waters of a quarrel, it is written, “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron, gather the congregation together, and speak to the rock.”

What is “and speak”? Regarding the serpent, He commanded him to perform a miracle since he had already made a miracle in the striking of the rock. Now the miracle had to be done on the serpent in order to complete the name of the Creator with these signs.

17. The commandment was that the miracle would be done on the serpent, meaning, for it is written, “and speak to the rock,” and it is written, “And the people spoke against God and against Moses,” and it is written afterwards, “And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people.” As the power of the serpent is in its mouth, for it bites with its mouth, so it is here.

18. But Moses did not do so, but rather struck, and did not complete the name but returned to performing the miracle as in the beginning, in the name “rock,” and left the serpent, as it is written, “and struck.” It is not written, “and spoke,” as he was commanded, “and speak,” since “rock” means doing, and “serpent” means speaking, and it is written, “and he struck the rock with his staff” twice, once in the past, in the portion BeShalach, and once now, in the portion Hukat.

19. At that time, the name that was not completed by the striking of the rock remained since Moses had left the serpent, and not the whole name was completed.

20. On the one hand, it was completed at the sea. On the other hand, it began with the rock, but was not completed with the serpent. The Creator said to him, “You made it that it would begin with My name, and it was not completed to do the signs. Similarly, you began, and you will not complete bringing them to the land.” For this reason, “You will not bring it.”

Four phases were engraved on the staff: two phases, Rachamim [mercy] and judgment on one side, and two phases of judgment, which are rock and serpent, on its other side.

Three of these phases were established by Moses: the two phases on the first side shone in Egypt, and one phase on the other side, which is the rock, shone by the striking of a rock, which extracted much water, abundant Hassadim, for all of Israel. However, the second phase on the second side, the serpent, is the illumination of GAR of Hochma of the left, from which all the judgments in the world are drawn. This, Moses did not correct.

This is so because Moses is the middle line, which the GAR of the left diminishes, the serpent suckles from them, and it corrects only VAK of Hochma of the left. Hence, the serpent remains without correction. However, in the days to come, when the lock is corrected, the serpent will also be corrected, the GAR of Hochma that were concealed will be revealed, namely AVI that were concealed in the world of correction, and all the judgments and shells will be canceled.

In the second time, in the waters of a quarrel, it is written, “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron, gather the congregation together, and speak to the rock.”

What is “and speak”? He commanded him to correct the judgments of the serpent, since he had already performed the miracle by striking the rock, and the judgments of the rock had already been corrected by giving water to water the congregation. Now, a miracle needed to be done in the serpent, which would correct the judgments of the serpent, which are the judgments of GAR of Hochma in the left, in order to complete the names of the Creator with these signs, so there would be the end of correction and the inner AVI will be revealed. Then the gar of Hochma on the left will shines, and the judgments of the serpent will be canceled.

This means that when it is written “and speak to the rock,” the speaking is drawing of Hochma. The evidence from the text is “And the people spoke against God and against Moses,” which means that they drew illumination of GAR of the left against God and Moses, who is the middle line that diminishes illumination of GAR of the left, and by drawing GAR of the left, they sinned against God and against Moses.

For this reason, it is written afterwards, “And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people,” the judgments of GAR of the left, which are called “serpent.” Thus, the drawing of Hochma is called “speech” since speech that comes out of the mouth reveals all that there is in the Mochin, even the GAR, but the VAK of illumination of Hochma are heart.

As the power of the serpent is in its mouth, which is the judgments of Hochma that is revealed in the mouth, so it is here in the verse, “and speak to the rock,” the revelation through the mouth, for he was commanded to draw the end of correction, at which time GAR of Hochma would be revealed from the inner AVI by the revelation of the mouth.

But Moses did not do so. Rather, he struck, meaning he did not draw the speech, the correction of GAR of Hochma and the cancelation of the judgments of the serpent, but rather struck the rock and did not complete the name. He did not complete the GAR, but returned to performing the miracle as before, in the name “rock,” meaning returned to draw Hassadim that consist of VAK of Hochma that are drawn from the rock that is engraved in the staff, and left the correction of the serpent, the correction of GAR.

It is written, “and struck,” and it is not written, “and spoke,” as he was commanded, “and speak,” since he did not extend the revelation from the mouth by speech. The correction of the rock is to do, meaning illumination of Malchut, which is called “doing,” by which only illumination of VAK of Hochma is revealed, while the correction of the serpent is through speech, the correction of GAR of Hochma.

At the same time, the name remained, for it was not completed by the striking of the rock. The sign that should be revealed by the correction of the serpent was not revealed. The Creator told him, “You made My name begin, but it was not completed since you did not correct the judgments of the serpent and did not bring My name into completion, which is the end of correction. Likewise, you, who began, will not complete bringing Israel into the land.”

Since Moses only began the correction, correcting the name in VAK of Hochma and not in GAR, Hochma cannot be revealed in ZA, which is the phase of Moses, since anything that is revealed in ZA is GAR, which is why Hochma is revealed only in Malchut, female light that shines from below upward. This is why Moses could not enter the Land of Israel, for it is revelation of Hochma, for had he entered the Land of Israel, GAR of Hochma would have been revealed, since he is the phase of ZA.

For this reason, only Joshua entered the land, who is the face of the moon, Malchut, the measure of VAK of Hochma that was corrected through the middle line. By this we understand that had Moses completed the correction and the GAR of Hochma would have been able to shine, Moses could have entered the land. And because he did not complete the correction, and only VAK of Hochma can shine, he could not enter the land, but rather Joshua, who is the light of the moon, VAK, will come and shine in the Land of Israel.

21. Moses’ heart knew in the beginning, for he feared when he saw the serpent, as it is written, “and Moses fled from it.” The heart saw and did not know, for then he still did not know that because of it, because he could not correct it, he would not be able to enter the Land of Israel.

22. “And Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on the pole.” It is not written “on a pole” but “on the pole,” meaning that he wanted to correct and complete the correction of the judgments of the serpent.

The Creator said to him, “Moses, it is written, ‘Sanctify Me with water,’ Hassadim, and not with something else. As I began with water, I want the miracle of the water to be completed in My name, that it will be completed through Hassadim, which are called ‘water.’”

That is, he did not complete the place that was lacking correction, but a miracle was done here, that another correction was done.

23. “Make for yourself a fiery serpent,” correct what you missed, meaning that he should correct the judgments of the serpent. Nevertheless, he corrected only by seeing, as it is written, “When he looks at it, [he] shall live,” for seeing is Hochma, life. but the name was not sanctified in water, where the Hassadim, called “water,” is revealed, and it remained deficient of it.

24. Since you corrected the judgments of the serpent in seeing, as it is written, “When he looks at it, [he] shall live,” “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people.” It is also written, “I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.”

Because he corrected the judgments of the serpent in seeing, he, too, was rewarded with seeing the Land of Israel. He was punished because he did not even correct the seeing completely, as it should be, since he did not draw water into there, Hassadim.

Yet, since he had made for Him seeing, as it is written, “When he looks at it, [he] shall live,” the Creator completed the seeing for him, the he would see the Land of Israel. But He did not complete His name in the water, Hassadim, through that miracle, like the rest of the name, like the first corrections in the tearing of the Red Sea and the striking of the rock.

25. When the Creator said, “You shall not bring this assembly into the land.” Moses said, that serpent is only an obstacle for the world. The Creator said to him, “This is not so; he is a judgment for the wicked, and life for truthful people, as it is written, ‘When he looks at it, [he] shall live.’” At that time, Moses knew his ways and justified the judgment upon him.

26. Justifying the judgment is as it is written, “The rock, its work is complete.” This is a rock, a serpent on a rock, which he corrected by striking the rock and the extraction of the water. This is why its work is complete, so they would not die of thirst.

It is written, “A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,” meaning that the judgments of the serpent are not an iniquity, as it is written, “When he looks at it, [he] shall live,” that for truthful people, he is life.

It is also written, “God, His way is perfect.” That which God created, the judgments of the serpent, His way is perfect since it is only for the wicked, while for the righteous, it is life.

27. Can it be that God implies judgments of the serpent? Is God not a decree of mercy, as it is written, “God brings them out of Egypt,” and a merciful and gracious God? No. Rather, merciful God means that mercy [Rachamim] govern over the judgment. But God alone speaks of His ability and authority.

Ability means the governance of God, which prevailed and defeated His decree, as it is written, “It is within my hand,” meaning His ability and authority, the authority and ability of the evil eye that Lavan had.

But it is written, “the great and mighty God,” is great not Hesed? “Great God” means triumphant, and also, God in himself means triumphant.

28. It is written, “The rock, its work is complete, for all His ways are justice,” thus a rock.

“A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,” “behold a serpent on a rock.” It is also written, “Does God pervert justice?” since the way of the serpent is to incite his ways. This is why it is written, “A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,” since it is not that God perverts justice, but that He brings judgment upon the wicked. But to the righteous, He is life.

It is written, “I will hear what the Lord God says, for He will speak peace to His people and to His followers, and let them not return to folly.” To the righteous, He is peace and brings judgment upon the wicked so the righteous and the wicked to see and not turn back to folly.

29. “And he stretched out his hand and grabbed hold of it, and it became a staff in his hand.” A staff is toward Hesed. There were two staffs, one of Moses and one of the Creator, as it is written, “and the staff of God.” The staff of God is Malchut, who is called “God.” The staff of Moses is ZA, since Moses is a Merkava [chariot/structure] for ZA.

30. When Moses was taking the staff of God, it was purportedly in his possession and in his capability, as it is written, “And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.” “In his hand” means in his possession, as though it was his, that he ascended from Malchut to Bina.

31. It was in Moses’ possession until the tabernacle was established. When the tabernacle was established, he returned the staff before the Edut [the tablets], and would take it from there in order to perform miracles with it, as it is written, “and Moses took the staff from before the Lord.” Once he took it, it is in his possession, and was as if it was his.

32. That staff was that of Snapirinon, of a sapphire stone, and was created from the six days of creation. It was made of wood. The staff of the phase of Malchut was from sapphire stone since Malchut is called a “sapphire stone,” and the staff of ZA was of wood, ZA is called a “tree.”

33. We learn about the staff of Snapirinon from the verse, “as the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire,” and it is written, “the staff of the God.” For this reason, the staff is of sapphire stone, like the throne, Malchut. He who said that it was of wood, learns from the verse, “and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water,” which was the staff.

34. “There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them.” The Creator said, “From now on, it is a statute and ordinance to make miracles.” Statute and ordinance are as it is written, “a serpent on a rock” that is engraved on the staff. “There He tested them” because it is written, “the waters were made sweet.”

The Creator said, “From here on, statute and ordinance so that the name of the Creator will be sanctified only with water that were sweetened.

35. It is written, “for they [water] were bitter.” We learn from this that there is water that is murky, clear [lucid], sweet, and bitter.

“And he cried out to the Lord,” for he was in agony at that time over the bitter water. The Creator said to Moses that the serpent that turned from a staff at the bush must now be engraved with a rock. And the two of them, the serpent and the rock, stood by the bitter water. At that time, the rock was engraved in the serpent that was in it before, as it is written, “There He made a statute and an ordinance for them.”

The serpent is the judgments on the left line, which are drawn with the illumination of Hochma of the left. They are called “male judgments.” The rock is the judgments on the right line, which cancel the illumination of the GAR of Hochma. They contradict one another because therefore, when the left line emerges, a dispute is made between right and left, where the left wants to revoke the right, and the right wants to revoke the left.

The deficiency of the water is extended from the judgments of the serpent since they freeze the Hassadim, the water, as it is written, “And there was no water for the congregation.” The departure of GAR and the grip of the bitter shells are extended from the rock because they are female judgments with respect to the screen.

“And he cried out to the Lord,” for at that time, he was in agony, in agony over the grip of the shells on the Hassadim, the water, until they became as it is written, “as bitter as wormwood,” and he did not know how to overcome and repel the shells from there.

The Creator said to Moses that the serpent that was turned from a staff at the bush, which are the judgments with the left line, must now be engraved with a rock, meaning that now there is a need to awaken the judgments of the left line, which are called “serpent,” so they would cancel the judgments in the rock, since they contradict one another.

“Then the waters were made sweet,” but not until they completely revoke the judgments of the rock, since then the waters will be canceled because under the governance of the left line, the waters freeze. However, to the extent that both of them would remain—the serpent, to cancel the grip of the bitter shells in the water, and the rock, to cancel the GAR of the left, so the left line would unite with the right and the VAK of illumination of Hochma in the left would not be canceled—the waters, which are Hassadim, will also not be canceled.

Both of them, the serpent and the rock, stood by the bitter waters. At that time, a rock was engraved in the serpent that was in it first. When the rock was engraved in the serpent, the bitter shells were canceled from it, since the judgments of the serpent cancel them, as it is written, “There He made a statute and an ordinance for them.” The statute is the rock, which is sweetened by the serpent, and the ordinance is the judgments of the serpent, which are corrected by the rock. These corrections were made in Marah.

37. The Creator said to Moses, “In Egypt, Moses’ staff was sufficient in order to repel the straw, the hard shells, which governs Israel in Egypt. But when they came out of Egypt, several slanderers were ready against Israel, to repel them to the sea. How much bitter waters will be for them, how much evil waters will slander them.

38. When they came to the sea, Rahav, the minister of Egypt and the minister of the sea, arrived. The Creator said, “Moses, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand.” Since He said, “Lift up your staff,” what is “stretch out your hand”? It is to subdue the minister of the sea. When they came to Marah, much bitter water came to them, and Moses was in agony and cried out, as it is written, “and he cried out to the Lord.”

39. The Creator said, “Moses, here is some advice for you: Cast your staff into the water, and a serpent on a rock will be engraved, both of them together, and they will be saved.” It is written, “And the Lord showed him a tree,” and it is written, “in the place where the tree falls,” which means advice. “And he cast into the water,” as he was commanded.

It is also written, “There He made a statute and an ordinance for them,” when a serpent on a rock was engraved. “And there He tested them,” crowning him with miracles. The Creator said, “From here on, here you go, so it will stand by the water, which is a rock, by which water is extracted.” Here you go, so that My name will be sanctified in the water by the engraving of the serpent in the rock, removing the shells from him, and the name is sanctified.

40. When they came to Elim, the waters came to slander against them from the judgments in the rock. The Creator said, “Moses, in this place, there is no need for a staff, to engrave the staff in the rock and cancel its judgments, as in Marah.

This is so because Jacob, the tree in seventy souls that went down to Egypt, is seventy dates, and twelve fountains of water are twelve tribes. They correspond to seventy pillars in ZA, in the name AB, which is seventy Sanhedrin and two witnesses. And corresponding the twelve tribes in Malchut, who receive from the twelve combinations of HaVaYaH in ZA, their merit will protect you in that place called “tree,” after Jacob, who is Elim, as it is written, “For they shall be ashamed of the terebinth trees Which you have desired,” meaning trees.

41. Promptly, “And they camped there by the waters.” They were not afraid. It is implied from the words “by the water,” that it is without fear of their slander. It is implied from what is written about Marah, “There He made … for them,” meaning not elsewhere. And there, in Elim, the children of Israel ruled over the waters, and the staff was not required. But henceforth, the staff was necessary in the serpent on a rock, at the waters.

42. When they came to Horev, the waters came to slander—from the judgments of the left line, when the waters freeze and there are no water to drink. The Creator told him, “And you shall strike the rock.” Here the staff is necessary, “and you shall hit those with that rock,” which is judgments on the screen that cancel the illumination of Hochma on the left, for then waters come out, and not in the serpent since the judgments of the serpent freeze the water, while here they needed to open the water, which do not open unless with a rock.

Moses said, “Here we need more than the striking of the rock, since I see that the water is about to wash over,” meaning that the power of judgment that is concealed in them is destined to be revealed, and why are you saying, ‘Behold, I stand before you there on the rock at Horev, and you shall hit the rock?’”

43. The Creator said to Moses, “Still, in the waters of a quarrel, the waters are destined to slander more, since they are murky, evil, and malicious waters, and they will copulate in them openly, before their eyes, meaning that the power of judgment will be revealed in the water openly and grab hold of Israel. At that time, the staff is needed, and you will release the serpent on them openly before their eyes, and My name will be sanctified.”

“Before their eyes, openly,” as when they copulated openly. As the force of judgment that is hidden in the water was revealed and gripped Israel openly, so you will permit the judgments of the serpent openly, and then will be the end of correction.

44. This is what David saw, as it is written, “Were it not for the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us,” which is Pharaoh, “the evil waters would have gone over our souls.” And it is written, “Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers.”

The power of Pharaoh was in the judgments of the left. At that time, “the evil water passed over us,” the bitter waters that come at the end of the judgments of the left. “Our soul has escaped as a bird” through the correction of the serpent on a rock, as it is written, “and they went out to the desert of Shur,” which is judgments of the left, since Shur comes from the word seeing [in Hebrew], which implies Hochma of the left, where from all the judgments in it, it is a desert.

At its end, “And they came to Marah,” due to the judgments of the rock. At that time, “And He showed him a tree,” which is the correction of a serpent on a rock. “And the waters were made sweet,” which is as it is written, “The tin broke and we escaped.”

45. What did Moses see in the waters of a quarrel that he did not do with the serpent as he was commanded? Israel were urging Moses, “Give us water.” Moses consulted and said, “The Creator told me to stand in a serpent, and I see that the serpent in the water has no power, for its power is only in the dust, as it is written, “And dust shall you eat all the days of your life.”

This means that he will eat and consume dust his whole life, but not in the water. On the contrary, he causes the freezing of the water, and Israel are pressing me to give them water. Although a miracle will be done, and the serpent will not stop the water, it will not be done in this place, but at the end of correction.

This means that Moses saw that it was still not its time. Rather, when the staff was engraved on the serpent, it was engraved in the dust, and not in the water, as it is written, “And he cast it to the ground, and it became a serpent.” But a rock is engraved in water, in Marah, and had already performed a miracle in the water, in Horev. It is that I would do in this, for a different miracle was done in it, in Horev. Promptly, “And he struck the rock with his staff two times.”

The Creator said to Moses, “Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me, thinking that the serpent could not be with water, you will not bring this congregation to the land.” “And take in your hand your rod with which you struck the Nile.” What is the reason? It is because it was engraved with miracles, and the high and holy name was inscribed in it.

We should understand, since Moses, too, knew that at the end of correction, the serpent would be able to be with the water, but he saw that it was still not its time. So why was he punished? It cannot be said that Moses was wrong about that.

The thing is that the punishment was for not correcting Israel so they would be rewarded with the end of correction. In truth, it was not a punishment, but rather a cause and consequence. Since the serpent was not corrected in the water in a way that it could draw the GAR of Hochma without judgments, it caused Moses not to be able to come to the Land of Israel, for if he were to bestow in the Land of Israel, he would draw there GAR of Hochma of the left.

Accordingly, there is no difference whether he sinned or did not sin in this. But since he did not draw the end of correction, he could not come to the Land of Israel. And what the Creator said, “Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me,” it is that they did not correct Israel with the complete correction.