ב"ה
THEMES of Featured Contemporary Kabbalists Articles
G-d could not oppose the idolatry of nature with a force that was itself part of Creation.
In order to extricate the Jewish people from Egyptian materialism, G-d could not just "send an emissary", i.e. any created being. The idolatry of nature must be opposed with a force that transcends Creation and its laws.
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Intermediate
The arm and head tefilin correspond to the heart and brain.
The brain is the place of thought which plans how to bring into action those desires which come from the heart. When one works for physical, material needs, one's will and thought are egotistically derived and he has become enslaved to the needs of his body.
Therefore, immediately after the children of Israel were delivered out of the land of Egypt, they were commanded the Mitzvah of tefilin which corresponds to the heart and brain. This is true redemption from slavery. |
Beginner
In the future redemption, even Jews who won't want to be redeemed will be taken out of exile.
In the exodus from Egypt, G-d did not force the Jews that did not want to leave to do so, since the only connection between G-d and the Jewish people at that time was a "natural" one, similar to the natural connection between parent and child.
In contrast, in the future redemption from the present exile, even those Jews who will not want to be redeemed will be taken out of exile. |
Intermediate
Wasn’t it G-d who “Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart”?
After Pharaoh had sinned in the most appalling manner, G‑d stripped him of his free choice. Although normally, the path of repentance is always open; Pharaoh sinned so severely that he was denied the ability to correct it through repentance. This is the ultimate punishment, since the person is denied any ultimate reward of the World to Come.
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Midnight defines a specific time, but it is a theoretical construct rather than an actual span of time.
Although midnight defines a specific time, it itself "takes up" no time, for the moment immediately before midnight is part of the first half of the night and the moment immediately after it is part of the second half. Midnight is thus beyond time. Hence it is a "moment" when G-d's transcendence is revealed.
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