Mishpatim: Chapter 7

Mem-Tet and Mot ('the rod')

Synopsis

Rabbi Shimon tells Moses that the staff given to him will be a Tree of Life, denoting Vav, which will become a rod. He explains that two precepts were validated, "you shall surely help him to lift them up again" and "You shall surely unload it with him." These allude to Messiah the son of David and Messiah the son of Joseph. The third precept is that of the gleaning, the forgotten sheaf and the poor man's tithe. The rising, meaning redemption, is in Moses' level.