MAHARAL OF PRAGUE
GEVUROT HA’SHEM (full AI generated translation here)
Table of Contents (Outline)
[[world of Separation: God, Israel, Temple; above nature, coming into existence and the completion of nature]]
INTRODUCTION [[On the concealed and the revealed relating to God and relative to what remains beyond the limits of human understanding, which cannot grasp what is “separate” {nivdal} from it. “All understanding is a connection and combination to the understood.” Difference between wisdom and prophecy. Imagination is limited because it depends on attachment and connection. Intellect produces understanding of concealed and separate matters. “It is impossible to have attachment to the World to Come itself, but only to this world, and what reaches its existence in this world like.” The first cause is that “the existence of the Blessed Name is separate from all existents, and He has no participation with them. The second is that He, blessed be He, brought other existents into being. The third is that they are arranged by Him in their order. For the act of bringing them into being, which is bringing them into actuality, is one matter, and the arrangement of them according to what they are.]]
SECOND INTRODUCTION [[About miracle: everything is in an ordered system from the Blessed Name. God arranged the non-natural according to the intellect. “The prophets, by being connected to the separate world, opened the locked gate, which is the natural world that is closed to those with physical bodies. They opened the closed gates and entered the separate world, bringing from the separate world something that is not possible according to nature.”]
THIRD INTRODUCTION Kingship of God. On the greatness, power, and glory and victory and majesty of God, the explanation is that it mentions these things to say that the Blessed Name encompasses everything, and all changes in existence and changes in powers are all His
CHAPTER ONE [the {infinity} of god’s acts; Israel should fear God’s power and acknowledge what God did for us]
CHAPTER TWO [mitzvah of recounting the Exodus from Egypt]
CHAPTER THREE [[Exodus, is the foundation of faith upon which everything is built. Isreal is a unique people. Material slavery and {spiritual} affliction in Egypt]]
CHAPTER FOUR [“Man.” Steeped in immorality and abominations, Egypt, which is material and low, is the opposite of Israel, who is “man,” form and separate. The complete human (man) has dominion and the incomplete is enslaved]
CHAPTER FIVE [ABRAHAM, opposites; Abaraham is the beginning before which there is chaos and absence. Israel out of Egypt, its opposite, is the same as Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans. so too was it with our father Abraham, who was the foundation and cornerstone of creation, born in the land of the Chaldeans, about whom it is said that the Holy One, blessed be He, regrets every day that He created them, because they are a chaotic nation, and there is no completeness in their creation, and this will be further explained with God’s help. And the fact that Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldeans is a wondrous matter. For since Abraham was the beginning of the world, and before him, everything was chaos, and there was no creation at all, therefore Abraham was connected to the Chaldeans, who are a creation without substance]
CHAPTER SIX [Abraham is the shield, foundation of world. Abraham united and connected the whole world, like mending a tear.
CHAPTER SEVEN [Abraham and faith re: God’s prophecies vs. mere promises; the need to change Abram’s name because the constellations ruled he would have no children; at issue is astrology and change. To change the constellation and to be above the constellations, is the highest level. Similarly, our sages said that Israel merited redemption only because of their faith. This is because enslavement indicates a lack of existence, for one who is enslaved to others is dependent on another, and this is not called existence,]
CHAPTER EIGHT [Covenant] [Atonements sustains Israel] [Israel cleaves to God; [Covenant of Pieces; The 4 Kingdoms] [Faith of Abraham withstands the wave, sustained in face of opposing nations. {A great and terrifying vision. For the nations and Gehinnom are not existence, for it is said about the nations (see Isaiah 40:17), “All the nations are as nothing.” All the more so Gehinnom, which is desolation and darkness, and there is no existence there.]
CHAPTER NINE [Why wasn’t Abraham punished with exile? Why was it the 70 who went down with Jacob whose descendants suffered exile??? ]
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN [Providence; brings Joseph to Egypt]
CHAPTER TWELVE [Israel multiplies in Egypt; A unique and powerful nation; power of procreation]
CHAPTER THIRTEEN [Israel in Egypt]
CHAPTER FOURTEEN [Water]
CHAPTER FIFTEEN [Harsh and bitter subjugation]
CHAPTER SIXTEEN [Particular individuals in Torah which is the Order of the World, The separate and spiritual manifest in Moses from tribe of Levi rules over the material manifest by Egypt]
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN [Birth of Moses; he unique and separate perfection of Moses; removed from evil; ranks of Moses’ perfection. Moses is hidden/concealed by Yocheved, Miriam, Pharoah’s daughter]
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN [Complete stature of Moses. Absence and existents, Moses sits in the city with Egypt. The Messiah sits at the gates of Rome. The holy kingdom of Israel, which has an inner divine rank, grows out of an unholy kingdom. The essence of Moses and his rank, which is separate and removed from the waters. Moses is perfect, a separate form drawn from the waters]
CHAPTER NINETEEN [Dathan and Abiram are the opposite of Moses and Aaron; Why is Israel enslaved? Slander, revealing secrets that are fit to be hidden. Moses is total and separate form and has no association with Israel. Moses in Midian. Opposites and fit connections. Tziporah is bird-like, the opposite of leprosy and death. Jethro is prepared to worship the Power of all the powers]
CHAPTER TWENTY [Moses saves daughters of Jethro, aroused by justice; Jethro’s connection to Israel and to God: sustaining people with food, sustaining all existents or created beings]
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE [Suffering, multiplicity, no order or connection; God brings Israel close and attaches them through 4 actions; hearing, remember, seeing, knowing (which is complete connection between knower and known)]
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO [Test of Moses is in his shepherding in the wilderness. Moses was prepared for redemption. When one sustains and provides, he precedes another, for he is the cause of the other, through whom the other is sustained and provided. Sustenance in the wilderness which is the special place for that which is separate from nature, also destructive and violent]
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE [Different names of Mt. Sinai. Burning Bush: God is with Israel in their troubles]
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR [God to Moses at Burning Bush; Land of Israel; a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, suitable for opposites]
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE [Names of God revealed at Burning Bush. “I am” + YHWH; the essential name, which is the name YHWH, He, blessed be He, is the form of all beings, and everything stands in its form, thus in it everything stands.]
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX [Remembrance and redemption]
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN [Signs given to Moses to show divine power when he comes to Pharoah]
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT [When the soul connects to the body, the person becomes a living, speaking being. Moses not a person of speech, which is physical and works through movement; unlike power of intellect]
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE [Israel is firstborn; distinct and separate—the beginning of the revelation of God’s power in this world, distinct from the material, outside and elevated above nature]
CHAPTER THIRTY [Tribe of Levi holy to God and exempt from hard labor of king]
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE [The lineage of Levi; Hardening of Pharoah’s heart: He will harden his heart to hasten the exodus of Israel, as the main mission was for this. Therefore, He said, to multiply My signs, I will harden his heart]
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO [Sign of the serpent; The kingdoms are compared to a serpent; reason for each of the 10 plagues, and making known God’s Unique Name]
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE [More on the plagues and powers of natural order and Moses’ prayer]
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR [Plagues: darkness, death, Gehinnom, deficiency in existence; Order of plagues: to show God rules from the low parts of nature to that which is above: beneath the earth, on the earth, above the earth; Plagues reflect the existence and essence of the world, their order is perfectly connected and orderly; existence is divided into three parts: the upper, the lower, and the middle. Therefore, the plagues were divided into these three parts]
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE [Redemption, first month, first things; essence of a thing is first; not subject to time, not subject to chance; Israel not worthy, so God gave them 2 mitzvot with which to secure redemption: blood of circumcision and blood of taking the lamb on the 10th of Nisan]
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX [Mitzvot of Pesach (matzah-redemption and maror-bondage) signify the uniqueness of God from whom diverse actions follow for good and for bad]
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN [Passover night in Egypt; Israel serves God and God passes over]
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT [The group and the individual and kingship of God and sanctity of the firstborn]
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE [Tefillin dedicated to Unique Name; Wonders; Connection of Israel to God Everything comes from God; He can destroy; so too does He arrange and unify everything, connects the parts to each other until they are one, linked together. From God comes order of the world’s existence. Israel is the first and at the center of existence]
CHAPTER FORTY [Splitting of Red Sea is the power of a separate [spiritual] force repelling nature]
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE [Philosophical anthropology: 3 soul-powers in the human: intellect, separate soul-nefesh, non-separate soul-nefesh. Natural material power operates continuously and never rests but operates according to its nature. The higher power is marked by choice, power to overcome nature, the capacity to do or not do. Higher separate powers overcome material obstacles, causing the waters to split. The entire matter of the splitting of the Red Sea was that Israel acquired the divine level separate from the material, and therefore they split the sea, which is material]
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO [Drowning of Egyptians; Israel rules completely over nature and became holy and separate. Israel emerges from the water]
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE [With the completion of the commentary to the Exodus narrative, some miscellaneous statements on the merits by which Israel was redeemed from Egypt, including miracle and sexual desire and union, and Israel maintaining its distinction and separation from Egypt without change]
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR [Exodus is foundation of true faith and religion. Derash on First Commandment; the distinction of Israel, form-intellect over matter, stiff-necked and completely human, superior to angels; Tefillin]
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE [Shabbat and other mitzvot that recall the Exodus and that you were slaves in Egypt and the discerning power of God]
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX [Time; 3 Festivals and Exodus. Connecting world to God. The main point is completion marked by Torah and Israel at the center of and above a cosmos in which time motion, and matter are interconnected]
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN [Israel believed in God after splitting of Red Sea. Belief in providence, power, and revelation are foundational beliefs of faith and religion. God redeems people in distress at the precise moment. Long excursus on Exodus 15 (Song of the Sea) This is my God and I will glorify/beautify Him]
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT [Mitzvot erev Pesach: eating; reclining; 4 cups of wine]
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE [4 cups of wine cont.]
CHAPTER FIFTY [Washing hands; Kiddush, dipping twice, bitter herbs, breaking matzah]
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE [Matzah/Bread of Affliction; redemption is separation and simplicity]
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO [Mah Nishtana, Maggid]
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE [Bnei Brak, 4 sons]
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR [Maggid: An Aramean sought to destroy my father. Laban is part of the system of opposites, the principle of non-existence, an adversary without reason, wanted to destroy everyone and everything]
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX [Plague, sword, divine presence/terror]
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN [Order of 10 Plagues* and the creation of the world and terror of total destruction and death]
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT [10 Plagues & Red Sea, hand of God, wrath and destruction against Egypt enter the world where they multiply]
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE [Dayeinu — Elevation of Israel out of Egypt, above nature at Red Sea, complete attachment to God in Temple]
CHAPTER SIXTY [Pesach Matzah Maror + 4 Cups] [Levels of Redemption] [Israel belongs to God is the meaning of Passover] [Freedom and servitude are opposites that both come from God, The one who redeemed us from slavery to freedom is the one who also subjected us to servitude.]
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE [Hallel: God redeems me today, but why are we in exile? God can do all actions, being separate from all existences, changing the order of nature. Hallel instituted by rabbis for when God saves Israel. Don’t say Hallel every day, which would be blasphemy because of human suffering. God saves the righteous for the sake of kindness, or God’s glory, or justice]
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO [Hallel continued, psalms 113, 114: praising God’s name in all three worlds, in eternity, in the heavens, and high and separate above the nations and their angels]
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE [Matzah, Maror, Charoset, Afikomen, Grace After Meal, 3rd and 4th cup]
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR [Hallel; praising God for the sake of God’s mercy against the attribute of justice, Psalm 115, reflecting on idols, the sense-organs which are separate from the human body and the limbs and throat which are not separate from the body, Psalm 116, delivered from enemies and bonds of death, tears, and stumbling, preserving my soul, Psalm 117 and Psalm 118 governance of kindness for Israel and nations, thanks and cleaving to God and completion.]
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE [Great Hallel, Psalm 136, “for His lovingkindness endures forever.” Sustenance of beings (from angels to luminaries, to Israel to all flesh) is greater than Creation itself and greater than redemption; Israel and lower beings clothe God in garment of glory]
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX [Final end or purpose of Exodus brings us back to Genesis: Israel accepting ordinances of God so that God can dwell among them, connecting divine Cause with creaturely effects as established in the 7 Noahide commandments]
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN [The image of God in “man”/Israel. God’s greatness is humility. Because God is separate from everything, separate also from the higher beings (angels and heavens), God associates with the lowly, extending justice and mercy in relation to poor, widow, and stranger, and especially Israel among the nations. Israel is a divine portion. Jacob received the divine image in completeness, without nullifying the form in matter. Purpose of Exodus is to restore the image of God in man in Jacob-Israel??]
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT [Israel and angels; Israel attains unique rank and status after splitting of Red Sea]
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE [Tabernacle and offerings; the beings return to the Cause]
CHAPTER SEVENTY [Place; the Temple should be in the lower world, not because of the earth itself, but because the earth is the completion of everything, completing existence; all matter has the extension of sides, which is the nature of matter—the extension of dimensions. The middle, which stands in the center, relates to something non-material, having no dimension, and is therefore called “the holy palace,” sanctified from the material]
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE [Life; Temple is the final completion of world; bright and separate from matter and material murkiness; place of supernatural miracle, Temple is heart, the essence of life, the outward expression of power]
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO [Exile does not nullify Israel’s preparation]
SUMMARY OF LAWS OF PESACH
LAWS OF YAYIN NESACH
