188) “She hid him three months” implies that Moses’ merit was not recognized in the upper radiance for three months, since then the Torah was given through him and the Shechina became revealed and present before everyone’s eyes. It is written, “And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him.” Also, “And ... she could no longer hide him,” since until that moment, his speaking to the Creator was not known. Then it is written, “Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice.”
189) “She took for him an ark of bulrushes” implies to the ark where the tables of the covenant were placed. The ark of bulrushes is the ark of the covenant. “And covered it over with clay and tar,” since the ark was covered from within and from without. This is the Torah, which the Creator covered with positive Mitzvot [commandments that must be done] and with negative Mitzvot [commandments to avoid doing things].
190) “And she put the child therein” is Israel, as it is written, “When Israel was a child, then I loved him.” “And put it in the reeds.” There was no obligation to carry out the Mitzvot [commandments] of the Torah until the end [spelled the same as “reed” in Hebrew], when Israel came to the land at the end of the forty years. “By the bank [also language in Hebrew] of the Nile” means by the words of those who teach law and statutes to Israel, since the bank is like language and speech, and the Nile [Ye’or] comes from the word “teaching” [Hora’a].
191) “And there went a man” is the Creator, of whom it is written, “A man of war.” “Of the house of Levi” is the Creator, who went from the place where upper Hochma, meaning upper Aba, and that river, which is upper Ima, unite and never part. He went from the place of Yesod of upper AVI, from the house of Levi, from the word Leviathan, Yesod. He placed the Leviathan for joy in the world, which is the Shechina, as it is written, “There is leviathan, which You have formed to sport in.” “And took a daughter of Levi” is the Creator, the place where the light of the moon, which is the Shechina, shines.
192) “And the woman conceived,” meaning the Shechina, as it is written, “This shall be called Woman,” and “This” is the name of the Shechina. In the beginning, she was the daughter of the house of Levi, which is Yesod of AVI, called “Leviathan.” This is certainly so because AVI built the Nukva. Can it be that first she was a daughter of Levi and now a woman? Certainly. Before a woman is married, she is called “The daughter of so and so,” after her father and mother. After she is married, a woman is named after herself. Daughter, woman, and bride are all one degree, the Shechina.
193) “She hid him three months.” These are three months, Tamuz, Av, and Tevet [names of Hebrew months], when there is no disclosure of the Shechina in them because of the harsh judgments that are present in the world. Before Moses came down to the world, he was above with the Shechina. This is why the Shechina bonded with him since the day he was born. Hence, the spirits of the righteous are above in the Garden of Eden before they come down to the world.
194) What is, “Took for him an ark of bulrushes”? It means that she covered it in signs, to keep it from the fish of the sea that swim in the great sea, meaning the shells and harm-doers, as it is written, “Therein are creeping things innumerable.” She covered him so he would be kept from them by a precious coating of two colors—white and black.
White is clay, right, and the tar is black, left, mingled with Malchut of the quality of judgment, at which time the red in it becomes black. And she placed Moses, the middle line, between them, so he will be known with them as the Daat, middle line, since he was destined to rise between them at another time to receive the Torah.
195) “And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile.” The daughter of Pharaoh comes from the left side of the harsh judgment. “To bathe in the Nile,” and so it is precisely, the Nile, and not the sea, since sea implies Malchut of holiness, but the Nile is the harsh judgment from the left side, which the Egyptians had made into their idolatry. And since the daughter of Pharaoh was bathing there, she, too, is from that harsh judgment.
196) It is written, “Your staff with which you struck the Nile.” But did Moses not strike only the sea? And why does the text call it “Nile,” as well? and the text calls it, “Nile,” too? Indeed, the Nile is what Aaron struck through Moses, and compare the writing as he himself did.
197) It is written, “Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile,” although Aaron was the one who struck it. However, because it came from the Creator, the writings call it, “After the Lord had struck.” Likewise, afterwards, it names it after Moses because Aaron acted by his word. “With her maidens walking alongside the Nile” are the rest of the camps that come from that side of the Nile.
198) “She opened it and saw the child.” It is written, “Saw.” Should it not have said “Saw”? However, there is nothing in the Torah that does not contain sublime and precious secrets. However, the record of the king and queen, Tifferet and Malchut, meaning Vav and Hey was in him. This is why it is written, “Saw” with the added letters Hey and Vav. And as soon as she saw it, it is written, “She had pity on him.” Thus far the writing speaks of high in the upper worlds; henceforth it speaks of below, except in these words.