In 5784, HaRav Ginsburgh focused for many of the year’s Shabbatot on Ahavat Shalom, the teachings of Rebbe Menachem Mendel Hager, the founder of the Kosov Chasidic dynasty. In a note written on the 12th of Shevat 5784, he delved into a number of teachings on parashat Beshalach whose common theme is the special spiritual relationship revealed between Moses and Joseph.
The full text of this note was first published in Hebrew in the Nifla’ot issue for Beshalach 5784.
Moses is known as the unsurpassed prophet and leader of the Jewish people. Yet, before he led the people out of Egypt and into the wilderness, he made it a point to raise Joseph’s coffin and carried it with him, in his belongings for the duration of their 40-year journey. Though mentioned seemingly only in passing, the fact that Moses took Joseph’s bones with him is a foundation for many legal issues surrounding the Tabernacle and the laws of defilement from a body.
The Ahavat Shalom of Kosov provides us with insight about the spiritual relationship between Moses and Joseph and its necessity.
“And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him.”[1]
This can be explained by way of a parable concerning a king who had two army commanders. One was appointed over the storehouses, to provide his warriors with bread, food, and other necessities and provisions for war. The other was appointed to lead the war itself: to teach the tactics of war with the necessary intelligence and to arrange the troops formation against formation, as is the way of men of war.
Now, that second commander—the one appointed to teach the conduct of war—considered the matter, and a fear arose in his heart that perhaps the first commander, who was appointed to prepare the war’s provisions, might not fulfill his appointment with the requisite perfection. This would result in a deficiency in his own appointment, rendering him unable to lead his troops well, properly, and correctly, since they would not have their necessities. Therefore, a sound idea arose in his heart: to join himself with the first commander and assist him in his appointment, so that faintness of heart would not arise, and he would be able to lead them in the specific mission designated to him.
The analogue is self-evident. There are two types of tzaddikim whom Blessed God has appointed: One is for the guidance of the masses in the service of the Blessed God with intellect and knowledge; the other is to channel to them their sufficient needs regarding children, life, and sustenance (banei, chayei, mezonei).
The tzaddik appointed to guide them in God’s service needs to partner with the tzaddik appointed to channel to them all the good things of the world. For truly, the lack of physical livelihood is a great hindrance to God’s service.
This is the secret of “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him” specifically.
For Moses our Teacher was the collective knowledge or consciousness (da'at) of all Israel, and he channeled Torah, fear of Heaven, commandments, and good deeds to Israel. Joseph, however, channeled material abundance to Israel, as in the verse, “Joseph sustained”[2] and the verse, “And Joseph was the one who provided [grain].”[3]
Therefore, Moses our Teacher, peace be upon him—immediately and at first glance, upon seeing that he was appointed to be the "Faithful Shepherd" for Israel and to channel to them Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge—took the aspect of Joseph with him. He did this so that he would be able to channel to Israel children, life, and sustenance as well. And examine this closely.
When the Israelites left Egypt, they set out on the journey without sufficient food. The sages note that the verse, “And they had also not prepared provisions for themselves” recounts the praise of Israel, who did not ask, “How can we go out into the wilderness without provisions?” but rather believed in Moses and followed him. Nonetheless, Moses embodies “the wise man who foresees the future,” and he knew that later the people would need material sustenance; therefore, he made a special effort to take the bones of Joseph with him.
Joseph the Righteous channels material abundance to Israel for he is, “the one who provides to all the land,” children, life, and sustenance; he is God’s Minister of the Treasury.” Moses channels spiritual abundance; he is the “Faithful Shepherd” (רָעֲיָא מְהֵימָנָא) who gives faith and the Torah to Israel. Yet, Moses needs the material abundance of Joseph with him as well, just as every commander on the front lines in war needs to use all the equipment prepared by the Quartermaster. Thus, it was through Joseph that Moses brought down the manna for the Israelites (described later in the parashah). The manna was half spiritual half physical, it is known as the “bread of the Angels”[4] (לֶחֶם אַבִּירִים) that materialized and became human food yet remained pure and refined (that is why the Israelites complained about the manna, because it was not coarse enough in their eyes).
The Ahavat Shalom chose the imagery of battle and an army to describe the cooperative relationship between Moses and Joseph because prayer is likened to war in the Zohar[5] (שְׁעַת צְלוֹתָא שְׁעַת קְרָבָא). We find a hint of this already in the Onkelos translation of the verse, “with my sword and with my bow,” which is “with my prayer and with my supplication”[6] (בִּצְלוֹתִי וּבְבָעוּתִי). Moses prays for faith, but by taking Joseph’s bones with him, he prays for children, life, and sustenance (and all abundantly). Even though externally, Joseph had already died, his essence (עַצְמִיּוּת) is present and alive in his bones (עֲצָמוֹת). Indeed, the value of “Joseph’s bones” (עַצְמוֹת יוֹסֵף) is 3 times the value of “Joseph is still alive” (עוֹד יוֹסֵף חַי).
Moses is known as “the head [i.e., the leader] of the Israelites” (רֹאשׁ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל), whose initials spell “Rabbi” (רַבִּי). He needs Joseph’s special understanding of and ability to handle material needs. Adding together “Moses” (מֹשֶׁה) and “Joseph” (יוֹסֵף) gives us “head” (רֹאשׁ). The description of Joseph as the “provider” (הַמַּשְׁבִּיר) contains the exact letters as Rabbi Moses (רַבִּי מֹשֶׁה).
In fact, Joseph’s role is seen throughout parashat Beshalach: Moses does not depart before taking Joseph's bones. The Splitting of the Red Sea is achieved through Joseph as the sages explain that, “’the Sea saw and fled.’” What did it see? It saw Joseph’s coffin.” Afterwards, the manna descended through the power of Joseph the Provider. Finally, at the conclusion of the parashah, the war with Amalek was led by Joshua bin Nun, who connects Moses and Joseph since he is a descendant of Joseph on the one hand (from the tribe of Ephraim) and the most faithful student of Moses.
Bread from Heaven
Regarding the manna, it is said, “Behold, I will rain down for you bread from heaven. The Ahavat Shalom writes,
It is written that “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him.” The explanation is that Moses our Teacher who is the secret of the sefirah of knowledge (da'at) needed to take the attribute of Joseph who is the provider (mashpia) with him. Then, knowledge is complete. Because through the aspect of the provider, the provider becomes a receiver, and the receiver becomes a provider.
This follows the sages’ statement, “More than the homeowner does for the poor man [by giving him charity], the poor man does for the homeowner [by accepting the charity].”[7] This represents the inclusion of the feminine within the masculine, the receiver within the provider and creates a complete state of knowledge (דַּעַת הַשָּׁלֵם), when there is an inter-inclusion of the left side in the right side—judgments in kindness. However, without the provider [interacting with the receiver], the sefirah of knowledge is not complete.
Now, the one who merits complete knowledge (Moses’ attribute) merits manna (מָן) whose value is 90, the value of the letter tzaddik (צ), [alluding to Joseph] the provider…. He merits becoming a stream of abundance, through whom all good is channeled, whether in body, in soul, or in money… This was the intent of the sages’ statement, “the manna came down in the merit of Moses,” for he is the secret of the complete knowledge….
Now, the generation that left Egypt and walked through the wilderness also possessed complete knowledge because Moses our Teacher, who was the collective knowledge of the Israelites, the secret of complete knowledge, channeled it to Israel. Therefore, they merited receiving manna, which is “bread from heaven”—the masculine dimension [since it descends]. In contrast, “bread from the earth” is the dimension aspect, the aspect of the receiver [and ascends].
Let us go in a little more depth into the Ahavat Shalom’s holy words:
Moses is the archetypal soul of the sefirah of knowledge (da'at), but to be complete knowledge he requires Joseph the tzaddik, the provider who is the archetypal soul of the sefirah of foundation (yesod). The two together are an inter-inclusion of provider and receiver. Moses, who went up to God to receive the Torah and lived there for forty days and nights represents the heavens, the source of the heavenly bread. Indeed, Moses (מֹשֶׁה) plus his quintessential description of his self-nullification, “naught”[8] (מָה) equal “heavens” (שָׁמַיִם), which itself is 5 times “bread” (לֶחֶם).
To rain bread from heaven to earth (unifying the provider and the receiver), Moses needs the power of Joseph, who is the “tzaddik the foundation of the world,”[9] described in the Zohar[10] as the one who connects heaven and earth.[11] This connection is illustrated in Joseph (יוֹסֵף) whose name equals 2 times “bread” (לֶחֶם), alluding to bread from heaven and bread from the earth. In Psalms, the manna is described as “bread of Heaven”[12] (לֶחֶם שָׁמַיִם), whose value, 468 is equal to the 6 possible permutations of “bread” (לֶחֶם) and it follows that it is also equal to 3 times “Joseph” (יוֹסֵף).[13]
The phrase, “bread from heaven” used by the Ahavat Shalom alludes to the manna in the word “from” (מִן), which can be read as “manna” (מָן). To change the reading, the chirik of “from” becomes a kamatz in “manna.” The vowel signs correspond to the sefirot. The chirik corresponds to victory (netzach), i.e., to Moses himself and the kamatz to the supernal crown (keter) suggesting that Moses ascends to the supernal realm of the crown to bring down the manna. The filling of the word “manna” (מם נון) has the same value as “space” (מָקוֹם) as in the verse, “behold, there is a space with Me” (הִנֵּה מָקוֹם אִתִּי), the source of the manna’s descent to the Israelites.
Moses, Joseph, and the War with Amalek
Moses is considered the higher unification, the supernal aspect of the sefirah of knowledge (דַּעַת עֶלְיוֹן), higher consciousness that true being (יֵשׁ) can only be found Above and our reality is non-being (אָיִן). Of all human beings, Moses was able to see reality this way, which is seeing it from God’s perspective. Joseph represents the lower aspect of knowledge (דַּעַת תַּחְתּוֹן), the lower consciousness that being is below and that all that is Above is like an ungraspable nothingness. This is the normal human perspective. These two perspectives or aspects of knowledge are described as the higher unification in God’s essential Name, Havayah, i.e., the unification of the two letters yud and hei, the unification of the sefirot of wisdom and understanding and the lower unification of the two letters vav and hei, the unification of the sefirot of beauty and kingdom. Thus, Moses is the higher unification yud–hei (י-ה)—Moses (מֹשֶׁה) is a multiple of yud–hei, 15 times “the living one” (חַיָּה)—and Joseph is the lower unification.
Amalek is the separator. This nation “severs at the neck” (i.e., beheads its victims), cutting apart the letters yud–hei from the vav–hei in God’s four-letter Name. That is why the sages state that, “the Name [i.e., God’s essential Name] is not complete until the name of Amalek is blotted out.” For this reason, the value of “Amalek” (עֲמָלֵק) is the same as “doubt” (סָפֵק), as taught by the Ba’al Shem Tov taught. Amalek cast doubt on whether there were sufficient material resources when the Israelites came out of Egypt and continues to spiritually cast doubt on each of us in our daily lives whether we have enough livelihood. Therefore, Joshua is needed to fight Amalek and the doubt it casts on us, for Joshua combines Moses and Joseph together.
[1]. Exodus 13:19.
[2]. Genesis 47:12.
[3]. Ibid. 42:6.
[4]. Psalms 78:25.
[5]. See Zohar 1:240b and 3:243a.
[6]. Genesis 48:22.
[7]. Vayikra Rabbah 34:10.
[8]. Exodus 16:7.
[9]. Proverbs 10:25.
[10]. Zohar 2:116a.
[11]. In the Bible, see 1 Chronicles 29:11.
[12]. Psalms 105:40.
[13]. The filling of “bread” (למד חית מם) equals 572, or 22 times Havayah (י-הוה), the value of “they shall be one flesh” (וְהָיוּ לְבָשָׂר אֶחָד). The filling of “heavens” (הא שין מם יוד מם) is 546, or 7 times “bread” (לֶחֶם). Together, the fillings of “bread [from]” and “heavens” is 1118, the value of the Shema, “Hear O’ Israel, Havayah is our God, Havayah is one” (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל י-הוה אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ י-הוה אֶחָד), the essential statement of Jewish faith. Faith (אֱמוּנָה) is a permutation of the Israelites words (Exodus 16:15), “[they said to each other: ‘It is man’ for they did not know] what it was” (מָן הוּא).
