ויאמר משה כה אמר ה' כחצות הלילה אני יוצא בתוך מצרים, העיקר אם יכוון מחשבת לבו לשמים, גם כי המעשה זר כמו בנות לוט וכו', אך דתקשי מן מעשה פעור שכוונו לשמים (זוה"ק פינחס דרל"ח ע"א) ונענשו, וצריך לומר שבאמת צריך ישוב רב וגורל אם הוא לה' או לעזאזל וכו' שיתבודד ויעסוק בתורה להיות מתון, ואז כתוב (בפ' בראשית) ויאמר אלהים יהי אור, ר"ל שיאיר ה' עיניו על ידי אור תורה אם לעשותו או לא, וכמו שכתבתי במקום אחר כחצות הלילה שהספק הוא בחצות לכאן ולכאן אז אני יוצא בתוך מצרים במצר שלו, להאיר עיניו, וכעין זה שמעתי ביאור (סוכה דנ"ב ע"ב) אם פגע בך מנוול זה משכהו לבית המדרש וכו': (בן פורת יוסף די"ח ע"ע)
And Moses said: ‘Thus says the L‑rd: At about midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt. (Exodus 11:4) The main thing is that one’s intentions be for the sake of G‑d, even when one’s deeds are questionable, such as in the case of Lot’s daughters.1After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s daughters engaged their father in an incestuous act; however, their intentions were for the best, as the verses say: “And the first-born said unto the younger: ‘Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.’ (Genesis 19:31-32). And if you raise a objection from the case of Baal Pe’or, where the people’s intentions were pure, but they were punished anyway,2“And Israel joined himself to Baal Pe’or, and the anger of the L‑rd was kindled against Israel” (Numbers 25:3). The Zohar (3:238a) explains that this was done unintentionally. The worship of Baal Pe’or included defecating in front of the idol. The Israelites saw this, and assumed it to be an act of desecration, and so unwittingly participated in the ceremony. we would have to say that deep contemplation and deliberation are needed, in order to know whether one is acting for the sake of G‑d, or not.3Literally, “If it is for G‑d or for Azazel” – a reference to the Yom Kippur service (Leviticus 16), in which two identical goats were used: one sacrificed in the Temple, and the other sent to a demon in the wilderness. The Baal Shem Tov uses the latter as a metaphor for one’s own ego. One should seclude oneself and study Torah to attain a level of objectivity. Then the verse will apply: “And G‑d said, Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). That is, G‑d will enlighten you from His Torah as to how to proceed. This corresponds to something I wrote elsewhere, on the verse: “At about midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt.” Doubt occurs at midnight – when an issue can go either way4I.e., midnight represents the mid-point between the two possibilities. – then “I will go out among Egypt” – into a person’s limited awareness,5The Hebrew word for Egypt, “Mitzrayim,” is related to the word metzer, which means narrowness or constriction. to enlighten him. Ben Poras Yosef, p. 18a
ויאמר משה כה אמר ה' כחצות הלילה אני יוצא בתוך מצרים, העיקר אם יכוון מחשבת לבו לשמים, גם כי המעשה זר כמו בנות לוט וכו', אך דתקשי מן מעשה פעור שכוונו לשמים (זוה"ק פינחס דרל"ח ע"א) ונענשו, וצריך לומר שבאמת צריך ישוב רב וגורל אם הוא לה' או לעזאזל וכו' שיתבודד ויעסוק בתורה להיות מתון, ואז כתוב (בפ' בראשית) ויאמר אלהים יהי אור, ר"ל שיאיר ה' עיניו על ידי אור תורה אם לעשותו או לא, וכמו שכתבתי במקום אחר כחצות הלילה שהספק הוא בחצות לכאן ולכאן אז אני יוצא בתוך מצרים במצר שלו, להאיר עיניו, וכעין זה שמעתי ביאור (סוכה דנ"ב ע"ב) אם פגע בך מנוול זה משכהו לבית המדרש וכו':
(בן פורת יוסף די"ח ע"ע)
And Moses said: ‘Thus says the L‑rd: At about midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt. (Exodus 11:4)
The main thing is that one’s intentions be for the sake of G‑d, even when one’s deeds are questionable, such as in the case of Lot’s daughters.1After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s daughters engaged their father in an incestuous act; however, their intentions were for the best, as the verses say: “And the first-born said unto the younger: ‘Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.’ (Genesis 19:31-32). And if you raise a objection from the case of Baal Pe’or, where the people’s intentions were pure, but they were punished anyway,2“And Israel joined himself to Baal Pe’or, and the anger of the L‑rd was kindled against Israel” (Numbers 25:3). The Zohar (3:238a) explains that this was done unintentionally. The worship of Baal Pe’or included defecating in front of the idol. The Israelites saw this, and assumed it to be an act of desecration, and so unwittingly participated in the ceremony. we would have to say that deep contemplation and deliberation are needed, in order to know whether one is acting for the sake of G‑d, or not.3Literally, “If it is for G‑d or for Azazel” – a reference to the Yom Kippur service (Leviticus 16), in which two identical goats were used: one sacrificed in the Temple, and the other sent to a demon in the wilderness. The Baal Shem Tov uses the latter as a metaphor for one’s own ego. One should seclude oneself and study Torah to attain a level of objectivity. Then the verse will apply: “And G‑d said, Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). That is, G‑d will enlighten you from His Torah as to how to proceed. This corresponds to something I wrote elsewhere, on the verse: “At about midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt.” Doubt occurs at midnight – when an issue can go either way4I.e., midnight represents the mid-point between the two possibilities. – then “I will go out among Egypt” – into a person’s limited awareness,5The Hebrew word for Egypt, “Mitzrayim,” is related to the word metzer, which means narrowness or constriction. to enlighten him.
Ben Poras Yosef, p. 18a