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The Be'er Yosef in Parshas Masei quotes the Arizal's Shaar HaMitzvos parshas Shoftim as follows:

‏ ...הרג את המצרי שהוא קין, היה שוגג, כי הוא חשב שהדין עמו על שהרג הבל, ולכן הרגו בשם המפורש כדי לתקן ע"י שם מ"ב וכו' אמנם חטא בזה כנז' בר"מ פ' משפטים

[Moshe] killed the Egyptian who was Kayin (a gilgul?), [and was therefore considered] a shogeg, since he thought he was justified, due to [Kayin's] murder of Hevel. Therefore [Moshe] killed [the Egyptian] with the explicit name in order to rectify [his soul] using the 42 letter name... however he sinned with this, as mentioned by R"M parshas Mishpatim.

Who is ר"מ, what was Moshe's sin, and why is he considered shogeg?

(The Be'er Yosef brings earlier from the Shaar Hapesukim parshas Mishpatim that he was considered shogeg since his intention was to correct his soul by killing him with the explicit name, still unclear why that is)

robev
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  • Well, no one was supposed to kill Kayin, right? Consider Lamech. – ezra Feb 07 '18 at 19:25
  • @ezra see my answer below, and then you can read the entire background. – רבות מחשבות Feb 07 '18 at 19:29
  • -1 because you clearly didn't read the paragraph before or after the one you quoted. The one before it explains the R"M's statement (and has its name), and the one after quotes the R"M (also by name) directly. – רבות מחשבות Feb 07 '18 at 19:33
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    @רבות מחשבות I think it's rather presumptuous I didn't read the paragraph before or after. I didn't see the Raya mehemnah mention that moshe sinned, and still don't, so I didn't put two and two together that RM = Raya mehemnah. Regardless if it does or not, it doesn't answer my other questions. – robev Feb 07 '18 at 19:47
  • @robev I deeply apologize. I would like to give you a Beracha (as I was Choshed a Kasher): May you be Zocheh to a long and healthy life, and keep up your Milchamta Shel Torah! – רבות מחשבות Feb 07 '18 at 20:35

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As it says directly in the link you provided (bottom right paragraph, Dibur Hamaschil Vihinei Beshaar), it is the Zohar in the R"M = Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Mishpatim.

That paragraph explains the background as well. For those interested in reading the Raaya Mehemna, it is the paragraph on the bottom left of the linked paper.

Edit: Apparently it is still unclear, so here is a rough translation from the previous paragraph and what it says:

...With this introduction, these Pesukim can be explained, when they say "He who hits a man and he dies" (מכה איש ומת מות יומת, which is an Aveirah that is punishable by death), this refers to Moshe Rabbeinu, who killed the Mitzri called "ISH Mitzri", and if this would have been purposeful, his judgment should have been to be killed. However, since the purpose of the intention of Moshe was to help and fix his Neshama by killing him with the Shem Hameforash, if so, he killed him Beshogeg (i.e. since his intentions were for good, even though he killed him, it is not punishable by death, rather by Galus), and this is why it continues "Vaasher Lo Tzadah", which refers to Moshe...

רבות מחשבות
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  • Oh I didn't realize that's what it stood for. although the quote he brings from it doesn't mention a sin, from what I can see – robev Feb 07 '18 at 19:26
  • @robev yes he does, Moshe is considered a Rotzeach Beshogeg, which is why Hashem says Vesamti Lecha Makom. He also says why he is considered a shogeg. Please read the full paragraph. – רבות מחשבות Feb 07 '18 at 19:27
  • The pasuk says he killed the mitzri, all the Raya mehemnah says is he was chayiv galus. How does that necessarily follow he was חטא? It doesn't say he was a shogeg or why it would be true. – robev Feb 07 '18 at 19:51
  • @robev Well, Galus is for those who were חוטא בשוגג. – HaLeiVi Feb 07 '18 at 20:11
  • @HaLeiVi the Arizal says that Moshe killed the mitzri beshogeg and was chayiv galus. Then he says that Moshe sinned, as stated in RM. I don't see the Raya Mehemnah stating it, and if he just means whoever goes to galus sinned, then the Arizal shouldn't have made it a separate comment that Moshe sinned, since he already said Moshe had to go to exile – robev Feb 07 '18 at 20:13
  • I read the Beer Yosef many times, and I still had my questions, that's why I posted it here. Just translating what he said without explanation isn't worth much. If the mitzri was chayiv misa, which the gemarra says is true, why is Moshe called shogeg, and if he wasn't chayiv misa, how does good intentions make someone a shogeg. I even mentioned this last point in the question itself. – robev Feb 07 '18 at 20:17
  • @robev This clearly goes against the Gemara - Arizal says Moshe did the Aveira of Makeh Ish Vameis - how could it be any clearer. If you want to ask the question as to how the Arizal('s interpretation of the Zohar) can argue on the Gemara's Peshat here, please do. – רבות מחשבות Feb 07 '18 at 20:20
  • Fine he argues on the gemarra but my original question still stands: how is this considered shogeg. Also, I knew why the Arizal says moshe sinned, he says so explicitly. But he ends with a separate point that the RM says he sinned, which I still don't see anywhere. As mentioned, saying he needed galus isn't sufficient. אמנם חטא בזה כנזכר בר"מ, ונתחייב משה גלות – robev Feb 07 '18 at 20:23
  • @Robev the Arizal also says in the portion that you quoted why he was considered a Shogeg! "[and was therefore considered] a shogeg, since he thought he was justified, due to [Kayin's] murder of Hevel. Therefore [Moshe] killed [the Egyptian] with the explicit name in order to rectify [his soul] using the 42 letter name" – רבות מחשבות Feb 07 '18 at 20:26
  • You aren't reading what I wrote. Why does good intentions make someone shogeg, I mentioned this three times now – robev Feb 07 '18 at 20:27
  • @Robev When the good intention is to kill someone Chayav Misa, which is "Metaken" them! The mistake was that he wasn't Chayav Misa, which makes Moshe a Shogeg because he did not mean to "Vaasher Lo Tzadah" - he only killed him because he thought he was Chayav Misa. The Arizal himself writes (quoted by Shelah) והיה שוגג כי נראה לו דמצוה קא עביד. – רבות מחשבות Feb 07 '18 at 20:32
  • @Robev see here for more sources, Kabbalistic or otherwise: http://www.alhatorah.com/Was_Moshe_a_Murderer/5 – רבות מחשבות Feb 07 '18 at 20:33
  • @Robev one more thing - here's the Raaya Mehemna. While I'm not sure exactly what the end means, it could imply that Moshe sinned: פקודא (חדא) להפריש ערי מקלט למאן דקטל בגין ההוא מצרי דקטלת במצרים דתמן הוה נחש הקדמוני וכל משרייתיה דהוו סחרין ליה וקטלת ליה בלא זמניה ולא דחלת מרודפין דיליה דבכמה אתרין רדפו אבתרך כמה נשין בנערותך דאינון נעמ"ה אגר"ת לילי"ת אוכמא, וקודשא בריך הוא יהיב לך ערי מקלט לאשתזבא מנהון, ואינון שערי תשובה. – רבות מחשבות Feb 07 '18 at 20:39
  • For future reference, the above link is now https://alhatorah.org/Moshe's_Killing_of_the_Egyptian/2/en#Unintentional – robev May 31 '20 at 18:10
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    Instead of writing a new answer which only addresses my problem of good intentions making someone a shogeg, since you answered the other issues I'll accept this as correct. For some sources on good intentions making someone a shogeg and chayav galus, see טעה בדבר מצוה and Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 336:1 with Yad Avraham – robev Jun 01 '20 at 16:36