Musar על חולין 120:21

This is alluded to in 26,19: ולתתך עליון על כל הגוים אשר עשה לתהלה לשם ולתפארת, "and He will set you supreme over all the nations He has made, to be for fame renown and glory, etc." The word תפארת refers to the emanation of that name, the level at which original man of the dual face emanated. The word תהילה, on the other hand, refers to the still higher emanation בינה, as Pardes Rimonim explains under the heading תהלה in the section ערכי הכנויים. Though there seems to be some doubt whether this expression refers to the emanation כתר or בינה, we may consider that all three emanations i.e. כתר, חכמה, בינה are meant. They represent the origin of בנין. Keeping this in mind we understand why the term עליה, ascent, is used not only in connection with the blessing, such as in 26,19, but also in connection with the warning or curse in 28,43 where the stranger in the land of Israel is described as ascending, whereas we will descend. That verse even repeats the expression מעלה מעלה "higher and higher," describing the progress made by the alien. How are we to understand this? Do we not have a tradition that the מדה טובה, the positive, is always in 500 times greater supply than the negative? (Sotah 11; Sanhedrin 100, Yuma 76 et al.) We therefore must not understand the words מעלה מעלה to mean that the alien will climb much higher than Israel but rather that he will only ascend two steps. The repetition acts as a limitation, (מיעוט), a common occurrence in Bible exegesis. The reference to the ascent of the Jewish people in 26,19, ולתתך עליון, however, is a comprehensive term.

We know that the sun and moon had originally been created equal in size and power (compare Genesis 1,16, את שני המאורות הגדולים, i.e. the two great lights). The Talmud, חולין 60 describes that the moon argued with G–d that two kings cannot reign simultaneously, and was told to diminish its size. Whereas the Talmud, of course, refers to the physical sun and moon, the ones we can see, the story mirrors a corresponding dichotomy in the higher Celestial Regions.

Women observe the New Moon more than their husbands, since, symbolically speaking, the moon (as the lesser of the luminaries) remains on the wane for no more than seven days before it begins to shine again. Similarly, a menstruating woman becomes pure again after seven days. The normal menstrual cycle of a woman is thirty days, similar to the cycle of the moon. We find in the Midrash Ha-nee-elam of the Zohar Chadash that whereas the Gentile nations arrange their calendar according to the orbit of the sun, the Jewish people count according to the orbit of the moon. At first glance we would have thought that the opposite should be true. When G–d told the moon to diminish itself, the moon was not placated until told that Israel would use it for its calendar calculations (Chulin 60). The moon was also promised that the צדיקים would bear its name.

Since we are already on the subject of the relative importance of the sun and the moon, I will now proceed to explain the discussion in Chulin 60b described as having taken place between the moon and G–d. So many commentators, and especially Kabbalists, have written on this subject that all I want to do is deal with it on the most fundamental basis, i.e. the פשט. I believe that the sun and moon in the story are to be accepted at face value; they may, however, be symbols of the relationship between study and performance at the same time. Just as the moon depends on the sun, so performance depends on the knowledge of what is to be performed, when it is to be performed, and where it is to be performed. The wording of the statement of Rabbi Shimon ben Pezzi in the Talmud illustrates this point. The Rabbi questioned the verse in Genesis 1,16 according to which G–d made "two large luminaries, the great luminary to dominate by day and the small luminary to dominate by night." In order to deal with the apparent contradiction of there being two great luminaries, the Rabbi tells us a parable in which the moon complained to G–d about two kings not being able to wear one single crown (to rule simultaneously). G–d thereupon invited the moon to reduce itself in size. The moon replied that it could not see why it should be punished for having made a valid observation. Thereupon G–d told the moon to dominate (shine) by day as well as by night. To this the moon replied that there was no point in shining by day since its light would not be noticed (after the sun already shone by day). G–d then consoled the moon by telling it that in the future Israel would base its calendar on the lunar cycles. The moon responded that Israel would not count its days according to the lunar cycles because the Torah already stated in Genesis 1,14 that the luminaries would determine the seasons, i.e. solstices. G–d then told the moon that the righteous, i.e. Jacob would share its adjective "small" also with Samuel and David, all of whom would be called "small" in the Bible, (cf. Amos 7,5, and Samuel I 17). When G–d realized that the moon was still not satisfied He told the Jewish people to offer a sin-offering on His behalf on every New Moon in order to expiate for His having reduced the moon in size.