Mei HaShiloach · Volume I, Prophets, Joshua, Chapter 4
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ויהי בעלות הכהנים נשאי ארון ברית ה' מתוך הירדן נתקו כפות רגלי הכהנים אל החרבה. הנה הירדן בעולם נגד הכבד בנפש שמורה על כעס כדאיתא (נדרים כ"ב:) אכתי לא עבר ירדנא, והים סוף בעולם נגד חוט השדרה בנפש שמורה על תאוה, ומרע"ה בקע את הים סוף היינו שישראל יהיו מנושאים על כל התאות שיוכלו להתגבר עליהם ולעבור בחרבה. ויהושע בקע את הירדן שהוא נגד כעס שיוכלו כל ישראל לגבור על כעסם, אך הכהנים עברו על כל מי הירדן היינו כי כהן הוא עובד ה' וכעסו הוא רותחא דרבנן שהוא טב בכל סיטרין(זוהר שמות קפ"ב:).
“And it was, when the Cohanim, carrying the ark of the covenant of God, came up out of the Jordan river, the soles of the feet of the Cohanim were transferred onto the dry land … [The Jordan had been split for the arrival of the children of Israel into the land].” (Yehoshua, 4:18) The Jordan river corresponds to anger. *Time, place, and soul are aligned, and each have counterparts to each other (Sefer Yetsirah.) For example, a location in space correspond to a part of the body [Hagahot Peretz]. This is as we find in the Gemara (Nedarim, 22b), “Ulla was entering Israel by way of the Jordan with two companions. One of the companions slew the other, not quite killing him. He then asked Ulla, ‘did I do well?’ Ulla told him to slit his throat [both in fearing that he would then slay Ulla, and also to end his pain]. Reb Yochanan asked Ulla, ‘how could you encourage such violence in the land of Israel?’ Ulla replied, ‘we had not yet crossed the Jordan.’”7Hence the Jordan signifies anger. The geographical entity of the Seà of Reeds (Yam Suf) corresponds to the spinal column in man, which represents desire. (The ancients and the kabbalists believe that semen, hence desire, travels from the brain to the organ via the spinal column. This may have some biological basis with hormones originating in the brain.) When Moshe Rabeynu had split the Sea of Reeds, he was elevating all of Israel above any desire that could overpower them, and thus they crossed over on dry land (signifying conquering desire).(FNSee Likutei Moharan 6, which mentions how the verse about Splitting the Sea, “He Who makes a path in the Sea…” in the book of Yeshayahu conveys special kavanaot [theurgic intentions] for rectifying the sin of promiscuity (Arizal) and how to use them in the straigtforward service of God.) When Yehoshua split the Jordan, which corresponds to anger, he enabled all of Israel to overcome their anger. Yet the Cohanim passed over all the waters of the Jordan for the Cohen is the servant of God, and their anger is the anger of Torah scholars (a kind of permitted anger in the honor of the Torah.) This is good in all respects (Zohar, Shemot, 182b).*Note: The Sages (Baba Batra Last Chapter enacted a special type of get [divorce] that takes a longer time to write for Cohanim, since they are hotheaded and prone to rash action. Also, “Kohanim are very astute serve God with zrizoot (zeal).” (Talmud) [Hagahot Peretz])
ויהי בעלות הכהנים נשאי ארון ברית ה' מתוך הירדן נתקו כפות רגלי הכהנים אל החרבה. הנה הירדן בעולם נגד הכבד בנפש שמורה על כעס כדאיתא (נדרים כ"ב:) אכתי לא עבר ירדנא, והים סוף בעולם נגד חוט השדרה בנפש שמורה על תאוה, ומרע"ה בקע את הים סוף היינו שישראל יהיו מנושאים על כל התאות שיוכלו להתגבר עליהם ולעבור בחרבה. ויהושע בקע את הירדן שהוא נגד כעס שיוכלו כל ישראל לגבור על כעסם, אך הכהנים עברו על כל מי הירדן היינו כי כהן הוא עובד ה' וכעסו הוא רותחא דרבנן שהוא טב בכל סיטרין(זוהר שמות קפ"ב:).
“And it was, when the Cohanim, carrying the ark of the covenant of God, came up out of the Jordan river, the soles of the feet of the Cohanim were transferred onto the dry land … [The Jordan had been split for the arrival of the children of Israel into the land].” (Yehoshua, 4:18)
The Jordan river corresponds to anger. *Time, place, and soul are aligned, and each have counterparts to each other (Sefer Yetsirah.) For example, a location in space correspond to a part of the body [Hagahot Peretz]. This is as we find in the Gemara (Nedarim, 22b), “Ulla was entering Israel by way of the Jordan with two companions. One of the companions slew the other, not quite killing him. He then asked Ulla, ‘did I do well?’ Ulla told him to slit his throat [both in fearing that he would then slay Ulla, and also to end his pain]. Reb Yochanan asked Ulla, ‘how could you encourage such violence in the land of Israel?’ Ulla replied, ‘we had not yet crossed the Jordan.’”7Hence the Jordan signifies anger. The geographical entity of the Seà of Reeds (Yam Suf) corresponds to the spinal column in man, which represents desire. (The ancients and the kabbalists believe that semen, hence desire, travels from the brain to the organ via the spinal column. This may have some biological basis with hormones originating in the brain.) When Moshe Rabeynu had split the Sea of Reeds, he was elevating all of Israel above any desire that could overpower them, and thus they crossed over on dry land (signifying conquering desire).(FNSee Likutei Moharan 6, which mentions how the verse about Splitting the Sea, “He Who makes a path in the Sea…” in the book of Yeshayahu conveys special kavanaot [theurgic intentions] for rectifying the sin of promiscuity (Arizal) and how to use them in the straigtforward service of God.) When Yehoshua split the Jordan, which corresponds to anger, he enabled all of Israel to overcome their anger. Yet the Cohanim passed over all the waters of the Jordan for the Cohen is the servant of God, and their anger is the anger of Torah scholars (a kind of permitted anger in the honor of the Torah.) This is good in all respects (Zohar, Shemot, 182b).*Note: The Sages (Baba Batra Last Chapter enacted a special type of get [divorce] that takes a longer time to write for Cohanim, since they are hotheaded and prone to rash action. Also, “Kohanim are very astute serve God with zrizoot (zeal).” (Talmud) [Hagahot Peretz])