Hacham Yihya Moshe Abudi

"Pay homage in good faith, lest He be angered, and your way be doomed". The homage allowed by the sages is to flatter one's wife – because of domestic peace, one's master – so that he teach him Torah, and one's students – that they may learn from him. This much is clear. What is written here, "Do homage in purity, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way", may also be read with the following meaning: Kiss the hand of the son, flatter the son [bar] - this would mean the student. The letters, in reverse, spell rab [master]; kiss and flatter the rabbi so that he may teach you Torah. 'Bar' also means bread and food, and it could mean the woman, bread - in the sense of being nurtured. This also offers a meaning to the words: 'lest He be angered, and your way be doomed' – that is, concerning women, as in 'the way of a man with a young woman' and, concerning a rabbi and his student – the path of Torah and concerning the way: 'the way where they must walk'.

"Give to him readily and have no regrets when you do so, for in return the LORD your God will bless you…" I will interpret this according to what they said in the first chapter of Tractate Hagigah p.5b, in reference to the verse 'For G-d shall bring every work into the judgment concerning every hidden thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil'. What does 'whether it be good or whether it be evil' mean? Shmuel said: He who provides his charity to the poor in his hour of distress. And RASHI, of blessed memory, interpreted: He who provides – in the usual sense, he who provides charity to the poor in his hour of distress, and not in the hour before his distress, so that the poor person may choose the best moment to purchase his foods at a low cost. This implies that if one gave before 'his hour of distress', and then the poor person was again in need - in his hour of distress - that he can give him a second time, even in his hour of distress, and not that he provide for the poor person [only] in his hour of distress. This is what is meant by saying: if he already gave – before his hour of distress; 'readily' means to give him once again, in his hour of distress. '…and have no regrets when you do so' – thus refers to the second time, in his hour of distress, 'for in return' that you fulfill giving 'readily', that is, giving twice, 'the LORD your God will bless you'.

This will explain, "Not to us, not to us, but rather to Your name, give glory for Your kindness and for Your truth". 'Not to us, not to us' – we await the Redemption, ' but rather to Your name, give glory' – to redeem Your Shechina [the dwelling of the divine presence] from exile, because of 'Your kindness and for Your truth' – that You provide while we are the state of exile.

How pleasant are the poet's words when he says: 'Great peace have they that love Thy law; and there is no stumbling for them' – meaning to say: If there will be peace for the master and students and he presents a kindly countenance to them as is fitting – a smiling countenance. Firstly. And further, for he said: 'they that love Thy law' – to imply another interpretation, RASHI's, of blessed memory, that is: that the pupils also love Thy law, and deal with from love, in there being no 'stumbling for them', G-d forbid, by their erring in teaching. And I have heard that one of the sages interpreted this according to: ' And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children' – meaning to say: 'All thy children shall be taught of the LORD' that they become wise as they should, by 'great [rav] shall be the peace of thy children' – meaning to say: The rav [rabbi] shall be at peace with the children, that is: present a kindly countenance to them. His words so far. 'And this was the work of the candlestick, beaten work of gold; unto the base thereof, and unto the flowers thereof, it was beaten work; according unto the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses.' – Note that the matter [the Hebrew, in 'according to the pattern'] resembles reflecting mirrors, whereby when a person approaches a mirror to see his shape in it, when he laughs, the shape in the mirror laughs, and if he distorts – the shape also distorts. This is what our holy Torah implied: "And this is the work of the candlestick' – this means the Torah, which is as he writes: 'and Torah is light'. If it is 'beaten', meaning: his study is difficult for him, one must know whether it is he does not give it its due, or because his master does not present him with a kindly countenance. For this reason did he conclude with 'according to the pattern' – that is: This matter is like a mirror in which a person sees his face, that when he laughs it laughs, and when he distorts it distorts. This is the case for this matter as well.

'Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob'. I will explain this according to the commentators, of blessed memory. Since our holy fathers observed the Torah and took its yoke upon themselves, as we learned at the end of Tractate Kiddushin: Abraham our father fulfilled the Torah in its entirety, even before it was given, as it says 'Because Abraham listened to My voice, and he observed my commandments, laws, and teachings'. If so, we too are obligated to observe it, the reason being 'forsake not the teaching of thy mother', and cannot claim to having been forced [as in] the statement 'He held the mountain over their heads like a barrel'. This is why 'Moses commanded us a law' was said. Despite the claim of having been forced, since 'He held the mountain like a barrel', we are, in any case, obligated to observe it for the reason that it is 'an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob' – the chosen among our fathers. Therefore we undertook the obligation to it [law] on the basis of 'forsake not the teaching of thy mother' so that nothing remains of the statement claim, simple to understand.

"These were the marches of the Israelites who [asher] started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moses and Aaron". This can be understood according to our sages, of blessed memory: In His great mercy He took us out sooner, and Moses needed ten plagues for Pharaoh and Egypt so that they would release us. It is already known that DZ"K AD"SH BAH"B [the acronym of the ten plagues] in gematria [alphanumeric value] equals asher [501]. They, of blessed memory, also said, that the reason Pharaoh refused to release them [the Israelites] was because Pharaoh was wishing that the Holy One blessed be He would release them Himself, and that the owner of the pledge would arrive to take his pledge. But since it was through Moses and Aaron, this was the reason he had for refusing to let them go. This is what is meant by 'These were the marches of the Israelites who [asher] started out from the land of Egypt', that he brought plagues upon the Egyptians in Egypt according to the count of "asher", as previously mentioned. Should you ask what reason they had to refuse to release them until it was necessary to bring the plagues, asher [501] in number, upon them, it provides a reason by saying: 'in the charge of Moses and Aaron' – who were G-d's emissaries, but Pharaoh wanted that the Holy One, blessed be He, in all His splendor and glory release them Himself, and not an emissary…