Maggid Devarav LeYaakov
Ohr Torah
Bo
“[Go unto Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants] that I might show these my signs [otottai/ אותותי] in their midst …” For the Holy Blessed One needed to clarify all of the sparks from Egypt from the breaking [of the vessels]. What is the matter of clarifying the sparks? It is all of Pharoh and Mitzraim’s piffling words# which are letters (otiot). For what for me is piffling words, and what for me are words of Torah? [It is] Only that the separation and difference is that the letters of piffling words are from the breaking [of the vessels]. The Holy Blessed One wanted to clarify these. And this is how there is clarrifying- that he put these letters and these words in the torah and he made of them another permutation of holiness-- and this is their clarrifying.This is one secret from the stories of the Torah. The remainder of the secrets that are hinted at in the stories are without end, and each and every letter tells a story. For the Holy Blessed One, the Torah, and Israel, are One. Let us return to the matter. If God hadn’t brought on these three other plagues, several stories would have been lacking, and they wouldn’t have been written in the Torah, and their sparks would not have been clarified. This is the hint in the pasuk, “In order that I may show these my signs (otottai).” This means that I need to clarify the broken letters (אותיות של השבירה) by means of the Torah. Therefore it is necessary to send on them another three plagues in order to put permuted letters into the Torah...
