Further on (Ex. 14:7), we are told that Pharaoh regretted that he had let the people go, "and Pharaoh took six hundred choice chariots and all the chariots of Egypt, manned by militia."
The patron angel of Egypt summoned his entire chariot to prosecute…[Mystically, this means that] the patron angel of Egypt summoned his entire chariot to prosecute [the Jewish people].
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was the earthly manifestation of the "guardian angel" of Egypt, the spiritual distillation of the evil(s) embodied in Egypt. The imagery of the chariot [in Hebrew, "rechev"] evokes that of the celestial Chariot ["merkava", from the same root, reish-kaf-beit] Ezekiel saw in his famous prophetic vision. There, the "chariot" depicts the array of spiritual forces of holiness that were departing from the world as the Divine Presence was being banished from Earth with the destruction of the Temple. Here, the earthly chariots of Egypt that Pharaoh summoned represent the array of evil forces the patron angel of Egypt summoned to do battle with the Jewish people.
[There were] six hundred [angels] in order to oppose the six extremities.
The six hundred "choice chariots" correspond to the evil angels [or forces] that opposed the six holy middot [i.e. chesed to yesod]. These inter-include all ten sefirot, and these sub-sefirot again inter-include,
giving 6 x 10 x 10 = 600 sub-sub-sefirot.
"All the chariots of Egypt" opposed malchut.
Higher levels of inter-inclusion are associated with higher orders in the schema of sefirot…."All the chariots of Egypt", Rashi says, means all the other, non-choice chariots. Perhaps the words "of Egypt" are taken to mean "contracted", indicating a lower-grade evil force. Since malchut, as we know, does not possess its own intrinsic content, the force evil had to muster to battle it did not need to be as intense. Still, "all the [other] chariots of Egypt" presumably numbered more than the "six hundred choice chariots", in which case we could infer that although malchut embodies less qualitative intensity, it does embody more quantitative power.
"Manned by militia" opposed the first three sefirot, i.e. the intellect, which is subdivided into thirty [aspects].
The Hebrew for "militia", "shalishim", can be understood to mean "thirty", in Hebrew, "sheloshim"; this is especially because there is no yud between the lamed and the second shin, allowing the word to be vocalized as the word for "thirty". The words for "manned by" ["al kulo"] literally mean "over all of them". Thus, this phrase refers to the thirty that govern the midot and malchut, which are obviously the intellect. As we know, intellect comprises the three sefirot of chochma-bina-daat, which by virtue of their inter-inclusion comprise in turn thirty sub-sefirot.
We have seen previously that higher levels of inter-inclusion [by tens, hundreds, etc.] are associated with higher orders in the schema of sefirot. Here, the opposite is the case.
But the Holy One, blessed be He, "removed the wheels of his chariots". (Ex. 14:25)
G‑d lured the Egyptians into the sea, and they were followed by the pillar of fire which boiled the sea water, causing the wheels of the Egyptian's chariots to fall off. (See Rashi on Ex. 14:24 -25.)
[Another] interpretation: Pharaoh deducted the number 6 from the numerical value of the word for "chariot" [in Hebrew, "rechev", 222] leaving the numerical value of the word for "choice" ["bachur", 216] in holiness.
The phrase "Pharaoh took six hundred choice chariots" can be read, "And Pharaoh took six from the letter[-s of the word] 'chariot', leaving 'choice'". This is because the word for "hundred" ["mei'ot"] can be read "from the letter" [in Hebrew, "mei-ot"].
"Rechev" is spelled: reish-chaf-beit = 200 + 20 + 2 = 222.
"Bachur" is spelled: beit-chet-vav-reish = 2 + 8 + 6 + 200 = 216.
The significance of the number 216 is that it equals 3 x 72, which refers to the 72 'names' of G‑d, which are derived from three verses in the next chapter. (Ex. 14:19-21)
G‑d then subtracted another 1, leaving the numerical value of "cast" [in Hebrew, 215], which became: "He cast the horse and its rider into the sea." (Ex. 15:4)
By subtracting 1 from the power Pharaoh left in holiness, G‑d caused his downfall…The word for "cast" is "yarah", spelled yud-reish-hei = 10 + 200 + 5 = 215.
The phrase quoted is from the first verse of the Song of the Sea, which the Jew people sang upon seeing the miraculous destruction of the Egyptians [and the evil they embodied] at the sea. By subtracting 1 from the power Pharaoh left in holiness, G‑d caused his downfall, beating him, so to speak, at his own game.
The initials of the words for "G‑d will fight for you" (Ex.14:14.) are yud-lamed-yud. This is the holy seal of the face of the ox in the [Divine] Chariot, the second of the 72 names derived from the three verses "He moved…," "He came…," and "He stretched…."
"G‑d will fight for you" in Hebrew is "Y-H-V-H yilachem lachem".
The three consecutive verses from Exodus 14:19-21 each contain 72 letters, an obviously rare phenomenon. The letters of these three verses can be arranged as 72 triplets of letters. But we are taught in Kabbala that if we reverse the order of the letters in the middle set, the 72 triplets become 72 "names" of G‑d.
The lamed…indicates Imma, the source of judgment that battles with Egypt…The name we are concerned with is the second of the 72. It presumably is associated with gevura since it is the second. The four faces of the beasts that carried the divine throne in Ezekiel's vision were that of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. The lion-face signified chesed, the ox-face gevura, the eagle-face tiferet (and the midot below it), and the man-face malchut. Thus, this name [yud-lamed-yud] and the ox-face are related by virtue of their mutual association with gevura.
The difference is that in [the initials from] this verse, the yud's are ascendant. They indicate the force of chesed. The lamed is left to be last. It indicates Imma, the source of judgment that battles with Egypt.
In the verse from which these initials are taken, the order of the initials is yud-yud-lamed. Thus, although this name indicates gevura, it is a gevura motivated by chesed. Yud is associated with chesed because when the name Havayah is spelled out with yud's, its numerical value is 72, the numerical value of "chesed" [spelled: chet-samech-dalet = 8 + 60 + 4 = 72].
The lamed originally was in the middle verse [and column], which as we said, is associated with gevura. The lamed is associated with Imma since in its form it towers above the other letters, just as bina, embodying the intellect in general - presides over the midot. (See Tikunei Zohar 55, 89a). The intellect is represented by the three sefirot of chochma-bina-daat, which inter-include to produce 30 sub-sefirot, as we mentioned above. 30 is the numerical value of the letter lamed.
This [manifestation of gevura] is followed by [a manifestation of] mercy, as it is written, "…smiting Egypt and healing Israel." (Zohar II:36a, on Isaiah 19:22.)
[The verse continues:] "…and you will be silent." G‑d told them to be silent since it was not proper that they awaken the face of the ox, inasmuch as they would later sin [by worshipping] the [golden] calf. They thereby unhitched one of the four animals of the chariot. (Shemot Rabba 43:8)
By sacrificing it, the Jewish people subdued the astrological power ascendant at that time….It would not be proper for the Jewish people to invoke the power signified by the ox when they themselves would misuse this manifestation later on. In the zodiac, the Bull [Taurus] follows the Ram [Aries]. The Exodus took place in the month of Nisan, the zodiacal sign of which is Aries. The Passover sacrifice was a ram; by sacrificing it, the Jewish people subdued the astrological power ascendent at that time. The Mixed Multitude, seeing that the sign of Aries had been overcome, thought to invoke the next icon, the Bull.
By abusing the ox, the Jewish people neutralized, so to speak, its power. The Midrash uses the imagery of a four-horsed chariot, one of whose horses has been unhitched. Since they weakened G‑d's power through their sin, it was not proper that they try to invoke that very power, G‑d's gevura, to judge the Egyptians.
Rather, [G‑d] acted with mercy at the sea, and judged [the Jews] only according to their deeds at that time.
Thus, the word for "will be silent" is written without [an expected] yud, so that it may be read, "the ox descended," i.e. in order to assist in their salvation.
In fact, in our text of the Bible, the word for "will be silent", "tacharishun", is written with a yud. Ignoring the yud, however, the word can be seen as a permutation of the two words for "ox" [in Hebrew, "shor"] and "descended" ["nachat"]:
Translated and adapted by Moshe-Yaakov Wisnefsky; subsequently published in "Apples From the Orchard."
Reprinted with permission from Chabad of California. Copyright 2004 by Chabad of California, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof, in any form, without permission, in writing, from Chabad of California, Inc.
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