Abraham
Awakening and Desire
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
28) Since the Creator saw his awakening and his desire, He immediately revealed Himself to him and told him, “Go forth,” to know yourself and to correct yourself.
223) “Who has aroused one from the east” is Abraham, who took the awakening to the Creator only from the east because when he saw the sun rising in the morning from the east, he took an awakening for himself, which is the Creator. He said about the sun, “This is the King who created me,” and he worshipped the sun the whole day. In the evening, he saw that the sun was setting and the moon rose. He said about the moon, “This one must be ruling the worship that he was worshipping the whole of that day, the sun, since the sun had darkened before the moon and does not shine.” Thus, he worshipped the moon the whole of that night.
224) In the morning, he saw that the moon darkened and the east illuminated. He said, “There must be a king and a ruler over all those, who leads them.” When the Creator saw Abraham’s desire, He appeared before him and spoke to him, as it is written, “He calls in righteousness to His feet.” Righteousness is the Creator, who called him and spoke to him and appeared before him.
And Abram Took Sarai
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
58) “And Abram took Sarai his wife.” This is extension in good things because man is forbidden to take his wife out to another land against her will. It is also written, “Take Aaron,” meaning take the Levites. This is why “And Abram took” is extension in things, and he alerted her how evil were the ways of the people of the generation. This is why it writes, “And Abram took Sarai his wife.”
59) “And Lot his nephew.” Why did Abraham see fit to attach Lot to himself? It was because he saw in the spirit of holiness that David was destined to come out of him.
“And the souls that they had made in Haran” are the converted men and women who corrected their souls. Abraham would convert the men, and Sarah would convert the women, and this is why the writing speaks about them as though they had made them.
Abraham and Sarah Purifying the People of the World
VaYaera [And the Lord Appeared]
106) Abraham and Sarah were setting up Tevila for every person—he for the men and she for the women. The reason why Abraham engaged in purifying people is that he was pure and he was called “pure,” as it is written, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one,” and Abraham is pure who came out of Terah, who was unclean.
107) This is why Abraham engaged in Tevila, to correct the degree of Abraham. And his degree is water, Hassadim, for which he was made to purify all the people in the world with water.
Beer Sheba
New Zohar, Toldot [Generations]
28) Abraham named that well of water, Malchut, Beer Sheba…
31) Abraham dug that well. He established it because he taught all the people of the world to serve the Creator. And since he dug it, it put forth living waters that never end.
An Incarnation of Adam HaRishon
BaHar [On Mount Sinai]
69) Adam’s sin was that he broke the Creator’s commandment. But there are no commandments except on idol worshipping. He transgressed with idol worshipping, and He put him, meaning incarnated him in the seed of Terah, in which he fumed, meaning angered the Creator and broke the commandment of idol worshipping, for Terah was an idol worshipper. And he came out of the seed of Abraham, who was an incarnation of Adam HaRishon. Abraham repented and broke the statutes of idol worshipping and all the foods that were placed before them. He corrected what Adam and Terah sinned, and broke the sin and the evil structure that he built, the structure of the Klipot that Adam caused by his sin, and enthroned the Creator and His Divinity over the whole world.
Gifts to the Sons of the Concubines
Chayei Sarah [The Life of Sarah]
262) “But unto the sons of the concubines… gifts.” What are gifts? Those are lower degrees of holiness, which are uncorrected. They are names of types of spirits of impurity. He gave it to them to complete the degrees, so they would purify them and complement the degrees of holiness. And Isaac rose above all of them in the high faith, which is Bina.
263) “The sons of the concubines” are the sons of Keturah. She is called “concubines” since she was a concubine before he sent her away. And she is a concubine now since he took her again. “And he sent them away from Isaac his son,” so they would not rule over Isaac. “While he was still alive,” while Abraham still lived and exited in the world, so they would not quarrel with him later, and so that Isaac would be corrected in the side of the harsh, high Din, to prevail over all of them. And they all surrendered before him. “Eastward” means to the land in the east since there are various kinds of witchcraft and impurity there.
264) It is written, “And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east,” meaning all those who were from the sons of Abraham’s concubines. And in those mountains of the east are those who teach wizardry to people. And Laban, Beor, and Balaam, his son, and all the wizards came from that land in the east.
Book of Wisdom of the Predecessors
VaYaera [And the Lord Appeared]
80) Rabbi Aba said, “One day, I came across a city that was one of those that were in the east, and I was told of that wisdom that they knew since the old days. They found their books of wisdom and presented me with such a book.”
88) I told them, “My sons, the words in the book are close to words of Torah. But you must stay away from these books lest they will divert your hearts to these works and to all those sides it mentions here. You might stray from the work of the Creator.”
89) This is so because all those books mislead people, since the sons of the east were wise and inherited this wisdom from Abraham, who gave to the sons of the maidservants, as it is written, ‘But unto the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts,’ and afterwards they were drawn in this wisdom to several directions.
90) But the seed of Isaac, the share of Jacob, is not so, as it is written, “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.” This is the holy share of the faith to which Abraham adhered, and it is from this lot and from this side that Jacob came. It is written about it, “And behold, the Lord stood above him,” and it is written, “But you… My servant, Jacob.”
These Are the Generations of the Heaven and the Earth when They Were Created
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
225) “Speak righteousness and declare things that are right.” All of the Creator’s words are true. “And declare things that are right” because when the Creator created the world, the world did not stand, but collapsed to this side and to that side. The Creator said to the world, “Why are you falling?” It told Him, “Dear Lord, I cannot stand because I have no foundation [ Yesod] on which to stand.”
226) The Creator told it, “Thus, I will place a righteous one within you, Abraham, who will love Me.” And the world immediately stood and existed. It is written, “These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they were created.” Do not read it, BeHibar’am [when they were created], but BeAvraham [in Abraham, same letters in Hebrew], since the world existed in Abraham.
227) The world replied to the Creator, “Abraham is destined to beget sons who will destroy the Temple and burn the Torah.” The Creator told it, “One man will come out of him, Jacob, and twelve tribes will come out of him, all of which are righteous.” Promptly, the world existed for him.
Book of Creation
New Zohar, Yitro [Jethro]
309) Certainly, Jacob had the book of Adam HaRishon, as well as the book Enoch, and The Book of Creation by Abraham the patriarch. They commented that Masechet Avodah Zarah [the treatise Idolatry] by Abraham the patriarch constituted 400 chapters.
From all those books, Jacob the patriarch, the whole man, living in tents, learned much wisdom. And the beauty and lines of Jacob were as the lines of Adam HaRishon.
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebecca
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
76) The Creator implies to upper Hochma, in Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is Neshama to Neshama, light of Haya. Neshama is Sarah. Lot is the serpent, SAM’s mate. The spirit of holiness is Isaac. The holy Nefesh is Rebecca, and the evil inclination is the spirit of the beast. In his wisdom, Solomon says about him, “Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?” The spirit of the beast is a Nefesh from the side of the evil inclination.
77) Neshama to Neshama comes to man from the Sefira of Hochma, with fear and with wisdom. The Neshama comes to man in Bina, as it is written, “Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom.” Hence, Neshama to Neshama comes only through fear and wisdom. But the Neshama comes to a person through repentance, which is called Bina, and is called “Sarah.” Ruach [spirit/wind] is called “voice,” and it is called Daat, and it extends to a man who raises his voice in Torah. The Ruach is also called “Written Torah.” The good deeds extend from the Nefesh of the mind.
Neshama to Neshama and NRN extend from HBD:
- The Neshama to Neshama, Abraham, extends from the Sefira of Hochma.
- The Neshama, Sarah, extends from the Sefira of Bina.
- The Ruach, Isaac, extends from the Sefira of Daat; it is the right of the Daat.
- The Nefesh, Rebecca, extends from the Sefira of Daat, which is the left of the Daat.
78) Similarly, the Creator created the body out of four basic elements: Fire, wind, dust, and water, similar to Neshama to Neshama, Neshama, Ruach, and Nefesh. Neshama to Neshama is Water; Neshama is fire; Ruach is wind; and Nefesh is dust.
Water is male, like Neshama to Neshama, which comes from Hochma. This is sweet water of Kedusha, and opposite that is the water that causes a curse, which are the evil inclination, SAM.
There is a holy fire, female, like the Neshama that comes from Bina. Opposite it is the strange fire, of which it is written, “That he shall not enter at any time into the holy place,” which is the Nukva from the side of the evil inclination, the serpent, the Nukva of SAM.
The holy Ruach is male, like the wind that comes from the Sefira of Daat. Opposite it is an impure Ruach, the evil inclination. It is said about it, “Out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a basilisk,” meaning the spirit of the beast, which is called “a basilisk,” which is an offspring of the serpent of impurity, from the impure Bina.
And there is holy dust, like the Nefesh that comes from the left of Daat. Opposite it is the impure dust, the beastly Nefesh from the side of the evil inclination.
79) Hence, the Neshama, which is repentance, Bina, assails that serpent to break it by the power of enslavement of the penance, drawing him to the assembly houses and seminaries.
Love
May He Kiss Me with the Kisses of His Mouth
Teruma [Donation]
371) Why made King Solomon, who brought words of love between the upper world, Zeir Anpin, and the lower world, Malchut, and the beginning of the praise of the improvement of love that he introduced between them, “May he kiss me.” Indeed, there is love of Dvekut [adhesion] of spirit to spirit only in a kiss, and a kiss on the mouth, the outlet of the spirit and its outlet. When they kiss each other, these spirits cleave to one another and become one, and then it is one love.
372) The kiss of love spreads to the four directions, and the four directions cleave together, and they are inside the faith, Malchut. And the four spirits rise by four letters, which are the names upon which the holy name depends, and upon which the upper and lower depend. The praise of the Song of Songs depends on them, and they are the four letters of Ahava [“love, ”Aleph-Hey-Bet-Hey]. They are the upper Merkava [chariot/assembly], HGTM (Hesed and Gevura, Tifferet and Malchut), and they are bonding and Dvekut,and the wholeness of everything.
See Life with the Woman Whom You Love
Miketz [At the End]
70) “See life with the woman whom you love.” This verse is a sublime secret. “Enjoy life” is life of the next world, for happy is the man who is rewarded with it, as it should be.
71) “With the woman whom you love” is the assembly of Israel, which is the Nukva, since it is about her that love is written, as it is written, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” When? When the right side clings to her, as it is written, “Therefore with mercy have I drawn you,” and mercy [Hesed] is the right side.
Hall of Love
VaEtchanan [I Pleaded]
145) The righteous have several sections above sections in that world. The highest among those sections is for those to whom love is their Master is connected, since their section ties to the palace that rises above all because by that, the Creator is enriched with love.
146) This palace, the highest of all, is called “love,” and everything stands on love, as it is written, “Many waters cannot quench the love.” Everything stands with love because the holy name, HaVaYaH, is so. The upper tip, Keter of Yod of HaVaYaH, Hochma, never parts from it because the Keter is on it with love, and they never part from one another. Likewise is the Hey of HaVaYaH, as it is written, “And a river, Bina, comes out of Eden, Hochma.” Bina always comes out of Hochma, and they forever cling with love.
147) When Vav-Hey,Zeir Anpin and Malchut, cling to one another, they cling together in love, the groom with the bride, whose way is always in love. It follows that Yod with Hey, Hey with Vav, and Vav with the last Hey always connect to one another with love, and everything is called “love.” Hence, one who loves the King becomes tied to that love, and for this reason, “Love the Lord your God.”
Love Is the Whole of the Gratitude
VaEtchanan [I Pleaded]
138) “And you shall love the Lord your God.” “And you shall love” means that one should connect to Him with sublime love, that any work that one should do for the Creator should be done with love, as there is no work like the love of the Creator. These words, love, are the whole of the Torah, since the ten commandments in the Torah are included here.
139) There is nothing more favorable in the eyes of the Creator than one who loves Him properly, as it is written, “With all your heart.” What does “With all” mean? It should have said “With all your heart,” as well as “With all your soul,” and “With all your might”; what is “With all your heart”? It comes to include both hearts—one good and one bad. “With all your soul” means with two souls—one good and one bad. “With all your might” means whether one comes into wealth by inheritance or whether he has earned it.
140) One who loves the Creator is crowned with Hesed [grace/mercy] from all sides. He does Hesed to all and has no concern for his own body or wealth. From where do we know that? From Abraham, who had no mercy on his heart, his soul, and his wealth because of his love for his Master.
141) “On his heart” means that Abraham did not look after his own will for his love for his Master. “On his soul” means that he had no mercy for his son and his wife for his love for his Master. “On his wealth” means that he stood at a crossroads and offered food to the whole world. This is the reason why he was crowned with a crown of the Sefira Hesed, as it is written, “Mercy to Abraham.”
One who is tied with the love of his Master is rewarded with it, and moreover, all the worlds are blessed for him. This is the meaning of what is written, “And Your pious ones shall bless You.” Do not pronounce it “Shall bless You,” but “Shall bless Koh, ” since the pious ones, those who have been rewarded with the Sefira of Hesed, will bless Divinity, who is called Koh. Thus, even Divinity is blessed because of them.
Love Is as Strong as Death; Jealousy Is as Harsh as the Netherworld
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
730) “Set me as a seal upon your heart… its flashes are flashes of fire.” The assembly of Israel, Nukva, has complete desire and craving for the Creator only through the souls of the righteous, who awaken the springing of the lower water in the Nukva, opposite the upper water of ZA, which raise MAN to the Nukva. This is so because at that time, the complete desire and craving are in adhesion, to bear fruits.
731) And once ZON are clung to one another and she receives a desire for ZA, she says, “Set me as a seal upon thy heart.” It is the conduct of a seal that once it is attached to a place, it leaves its imprint there although it is removed from there. Thus, she does not move from him, and all of his impression and form remain there. Thus said the assembly of Israel, the Nukva: “Behold, I have clung unto you. And even though I will depart you and go into exile, set me as a seal upon your heart, so that my whole shape will remain in you,” like a seal that leaves its whole shape in the place where it had been attached.
732) “For love is as strong as death.” It is as strong as the separation of the spirit from the body. When a person’s time to depart the world arrives, and he has seen what he has seen, the spirit goes to all the organs in the body and raises its waves, as though sailing in a ship at sea without oars, futilely rising and falling, coming and seeking to bid farewell from all the organs of the body. There is nothing harder than the day when the spirit departs the body. Such is the power of the love of the assembly of Israel to the Creator, as the power of death at the time when the spirit wishes to depart the body.
733) “Jealousy is as harsh as the netherworld.” Any person who loves, and jealousy is not tied to it, his love is not love, since jealousy completes the love. From this we learn that a man must be envious for his wife, so he will connect with her in complete love, since as a result, he does not look at another woman. “Jealousy is as harsh as the netherworld.” As the netherworld is harsh in the eyes of the wicked—to go down it, jealousy is harsh in the eyes of the envious lover—to part from the love.
734) When the wicked are brought down to the netherworld, they are told why they are being brought down, and it is harsh for them. Thus, one who is envious demands for sins and thinks how many suspicious deeds she has done, and then a tie of love is tied in him.
735) “Its flashes are flashes of fire, the flame of the Lord.” “The flame of the Lord” is a burning flame that emerges from the Shofar [a ram’s horn], YesodIma, called Koh [Yod-Hey], which has awakened and burns. It is the left line of Ima, as it is written, “Let his left be under my head.” This burns the flame of love of the assembly of Israel, Divinity, for the Creator.
736) For this reason, much water will not be able to quench the love, since when the right—water, Hesed—comes, it adds to the burning of the love and does not quench the flame of the left, as it is written, “And his right shall embrace me.” This is so because during the illumination of Hochma in the left line of Ima to the Nukva, it is a burning fire, as it is without Hassadim. And when the right line comes with its Hassadim, called “water,” to quench the fire, it does not quench the illumination of Hochma by that. On the contrary, it adds and complements her illumination because it clothes the Hochma with Hassadim, and the Hochma shines in complete perfection.
739) In all the places, the male chases the Nukva and awakens the love toward her. But here it turns out that she awakens the love and chases him, as it is written, “Set me as a seal upon your heart.” Usually, however, it is not to the Nukva’s credit to chase the male. Indeed, this is an unclear matter and a sublime thing, hidden in the treasures of the King.
Love of Friends
From War To Brotherly love
Aharei Mot [After the Death]
65) How good and how pleasant. These are the friends, as they sit together inseparably. At first, they seem like people at war, wishing to kill each other. Then they revert back to a state of brotherly love. The Creator, what does He say about them? “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.” The word, “together” indicates the presence of Divinity with them. Moreover, the Creator listens to their words and He is pleased and content with them. This is the meaning of the words, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him.”
66) And you, the friends who are here, as you were in fondness and love before, you will not part henceforth, until the Creator rejoices with you and summons peace upon you. And by your merit, there will be peace in the world. This is the meaning of the words, “For the sake of my brothers and my friends let me say, ‘Let peace be in you.’”
Love of Friends
Ki Tissa [When You Take]
54) All those friends, who do not love each other, depart the world before their time. All the friends in Rashbi’s time had love of soul and love of spirit among them. This is why in his generation, the secrets of Torah were revealed. Rabbi Shimon would say, “All the friends who do not love each other cause themselves to stray from the right path. Moreover, they put a blemish in the Torah, since there is love, brotherhood, and truth in the Torah. Abraham loved Isaac; Isaac loved Abraham; and they were embraced. And they were both gripping Jacob with love and brotherhood, and were giving their spirits in one another. The friends should be like them, and not blemish them, for if love is lacking in them, they will blemish their value above, that is, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which are HGT.”
New Zohar, Hukot [statutes]
107) “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together.” Dwelling together means bonding of the brother, Zeir Anpin, with Tzedek [justice], Malchut. “Also” [the word appears only in the Hebrew text] comes to include Israel, who are the assembly for this unification.
Revealing the Secrets of Torah—to Friends
Pinhas
709) These words are unclear and need to be explained for the friends, for one who closes before them the secrets of the Torah pains them. For the wicked, the lights of the secrets become darkness to them.
This is like concealed money. For one who digs until he finds it, and it is not his, it turns in his mind into darkness and gloom. But for the one that it is his, it shines. This is the reason why one should reveal the hidden secrets of Torah to the friends.
Dwelling in a Place of Men of Action
Bo [Come unto Pharaoh]
138) For this reason, one should always dwell only in a place where men of action dwell, since woe unto one who dwells among the wicked, for he is caught for their transgression. And if one dwells among the righteous, he is rewarded for their merit.
Parting from the Wicked
VaEra [And I Appeared]
176) When the friends are on the way, they should go with one heart. If there are wicked ones walking among them or people who are not from the King’s palace, they should part them, as it is written, “But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him,” meaning that he separated from the spies, as it is written, “And they went up into the South, and came unto Hebron.” It should have said “came” in plural form. But because he parted with the spies and came to Hebron alone to visit the graves of the fathers, it writes “came” in singular form.
Drilling a Hole in the Boat
Nasso [Take]
18) Anyone who clings to the Creator and keeps the commandments of the Torah seemingly sustains the worlds—the world above and the world below, as it is written, “And do them.”
19) And anyone who breaches the commandments of the Torah seemingly blemishes above, blemishes below, blemishes himself, and blemishes all the worlds. There is an allegory about sailors who were sailing in a boat. One fool among them rose and wished to puncture the boat. His friend told him, “Why are you puncturing the boat?” He replied, “Why should you care? I am drilling under me!” He told him, “But we are both drowning in the boat together!”
Friends Who Engage in Torah Are Protected
VaEtchanan [I Pleaded]
32) In all of one’s actions, he should see the Creator before him. Anyone who is walking along the road, who fears robbers, should aim for three things—a gift, a prayer, and a war—as did Jacob when he feared Esau. However, the most important of them is the prayer. But even though prayer is the most important, two or three friends engaging in words of Torah is the most important of all, for they do not fear robbers because Divinity is connected to them, for they are engaged in Torah.
Light
Shines Gradually Brighter Until the Day Is Set
VaYishlach [Jacob Sent]
90) When the Creator erects Israel and delivers them from exile, a very small and thin vent of light shall open to them. And then another, a little bigger opening will open for them, until the Creator opens for them the upper gates that are open to the four directions of the world. It is so that their salvation will not appear at once, but like the dawn, which shines gradually brighter until the day is set.
91) And all that the Creator does to Israel and to the righteous among them, when He delivers them bit by bit and not all at once, is like a person who is in the dark and has always been in the dark. When you want to give him light, you first need to light a small light, like the eye of a needle, and then a little bigger. Thus, every time some more until all the light properly shines for him.
92) Such are Israel. And also, one who is healed is not healed at once. Rather, it comes bit by bit until he is healed. But for Esau, it shone at once, and gradually waned, until Israel grow strong and blot him out from the whole of this world and from the next world. And because the day lit up for him at once, he had ruin from everything. But the light of Israel gradually increases until they gain strength and the Creator shines for them forever.
Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama (NRN)
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
158) Nefesh is a low awakening that clings to the Guf, like candlelight, whose bottom light is black, clings to the wick, does not depart it, and is corrected only in it. And when the black light is corrected and grips to the wick, it becomes a throne to the white light atop it, for it hovers over the black light. And that white light corresponds to the light of Ruach.
159) Once they are both corrected, the black light and the white light atop it, the white light becomes a throne to a hidden light, and it is not seen or known that it hovers over the white light. It corresponds to the light of Neshama, and then it is a complete light. Thus, there are three lights one atop the other in a candlelight:
1) The black light that clings to the wick, below all the others;
2) the white light over the black light; and
3) the hidden, unknown light over the white light.
Similarly, a man who is complete in everything has three lights one atop the other, NRN, as with the candlelight. And then a man is called “holy,” as it is written, “As for the holy that are in the earth.”
The Hidden Light in which the World Exists
Emor [Speak]
3) “How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You.” “How great is Your goodness,” meaning how sublime and precious is the Upper Light called, “good,” as it is written, “And God saw the light, that it was good.” This is the hidden light, with which the Creator does good in the world. He does not deny it every day, for in it is the world sustained, and upon it does it stand.
“…which You have stored up for those who fear You.” The Creator made the Upper Light when He created the world, and hid it for the righteous in the future, as it is written, “…which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You.” There are two kinds of light: 1) the hidden light for the righteous in the future, which does not shine in the world; 2) the light that is called “good,” which extends from the hidden light and shines in the world every day, and which sustains the world.
Ein Sof—Having No End
Pekudei [Accounts]
360) Their Dvekut [adhesion] rises up to Ein Sof. This is so because every connection and unity and perfection is to hide and conceal that which is unattainable and unknown, that the desire of all desires is for him, meaning Ein Sof. Ein Sof is neither about to be known nor to become a Sof [end], nor to become a Rosh [head/beginning]. It is also not like the first absence, Keter, which educed Rosh and Sof— Rosh being the uppermost point. This is the concealed head of everything, and stands within the thought, Hochma, since Hochma emerged from Keter, as it is written, “But wisdom, where shall it be found?” It made an end, called “the end of the matter,” Malchut, the end of all the lights. But there, in Ein Sof, there is no end.
Letters
Creation of the World with Letters
VaYigash [Then Judah Approached]
2) Everything was created in the Torah, and everything was perfected in the Torah. And as the Torah begins with Bet, the world was created in Bet. This is so because before the Creator created the world, the Nukva, all the letters came before Him and entered one at a time in reverse order, in the order of Tav–Shin-Reish-Kof and not in the order of Aleph-Bet-Gimel-Dalet.
3) The letter Tav came before Him and said, “You wish to create the world with me.” The Creator replied, “I do not, since many righteous are destined to die in you. It is written about it, ‘And set a mark [Hebrew: Tav] upon the foreheads of the men,’ and it is written, ‘And begin at My sanctuary’; do not pronounce, ‘At My sanctuary,’ but rather, ‘At My sanctified,’ who are the righteous. This is why the world will not be created in you.”
4) The three letters, Shin–Kof-Reish, approached each on his own. The Creator told them, “You are unfit for the world to be created in you for you are the letters used for reading Sheker [deceit/falsehood], and a lie is unworthy of rising before Me.”
5) The letters Peh and Tzadik approached, and so did all of them until they reached the letter Chaf. When the Chaf descended from the Keter [Keter written with Chaf in Hebrew], the upper ones and the lower ones were shaken, until everything came to exist in the letter Bet, which is the sign for Beracha [blessing], and in it, the world was perfected and created.
6) But the Aleph is the head of all the letters, so should the world not have been created with it? Yes, indeed, but since Arur [cursed] is read with it, the world was not created in it. Thus, although Aleph is a letter from above, the world was not created in it so as to not give strength and fortification to the Sitra Achra, who is called “cursed,” hence the world was not created in her. Instead, the world was perfected and created in Bet.
The Letter Bet
Shmini [On the Eighth Day]
4) Why is the letter Bet [ב] open on one side and closed on the other side? When a person comes to join with the Torah, it is open to receive him and partake with him. And when a person shuts his eyes to her and goes by another way, she is blocked from the other side, like the Bet, as it is written, “If you forsake me for one day, I will forsake you for two days,” and he will not find the opening until he reconnects with the Torah face-to-face and will not depart it. Hence, the Torah opens, calling upon people and declaring and summoning them, “To you, O men, I call.”
5) Bet has a shape of two roofs and one line that connects them. One roof points up, toward the heaven, and this is ZA, and one roof points down toward the earth, and this is Malchut. And the Creator, Yesod, grips them and receives them.
6) The three upper lights, three lines, which are clung together are the whole of the Torah, and they open doors to all. They open doors and impart upon faith, meaning Malchut, and they are home to all. This is why they are called, “house,” since they are the three lines in the Bet, implying the three lines of ZA, which are a house. And this is why the Torah begins with Bet, since she is the Torah, and the cure for the world.
Five Outlets of the Mouth
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
79) …And those four elements, which are four Behinot [discernments], Hochma, Bina, Tifferet, and Malchut, spread into twenty-two letters that come out of the five outlets of the mouth: Aleph-Het-Hey-Ayin from the throat; Bet-Vav-Mem-Peh from the lips; Gimel-Yod-Chaf-Kof from the palate; Dalet-Tet-Lamed-Nun-Tav from the tongue; and Zayin-Samech-Shin-Reish-Tzadik from the teeth.
Those five outlets correspond to Keter. HB and TM are the four elements—water, fire, wind, and dust. The four elements are the five outlets of the mouth, in which the twenty-two letters spread.
Letters—Males and Females
VaYetze [Jacob Went Out]
261) All twenty-seven letters in the [Hebrew] alphabet are male and female, included in one another as one. The letters that belong to the right and to the left are males and those that belong to the middle line are females. The male letters impart upper water, and the female letters raise MAN, and everything bonds and becomes one. This is the complete unification. Hence, one who knows how to make those unifications and is cautious with aiming them, happy is he in this world and in the next world because this is the essence of the complete unification as it should be.
Men and Women
A Candle Is a Mitzva and Torah Is Light
Teruma [Donation]
729) A candle is a Mitzva [correction/good deed]. A candle is a Mitzva with which women are rewarded. It is a Sabbath candle. Although women are not rewarded with the Torah, since the men are rewarded with the Torah, they illuminate for that candle, which the women correct with this Mitzva. The women with the correction of this candle, the men with the Torah, to light and to illuminate this candle, which is a correction of a Mitzva to which women are obliged.
A Woman Is the Lord’s Fire
Beresheet [Genesis]
218) “The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘Woman.’” The meaning is that it is her of whom there is none other like her; she is the glory of the house. Compared to her, all the women are as a monkey compared to a man, but she shall be called “woman,” this one and not another.
The name Isha [woman] implies Esha [fire of the Creator], meaning the wholeness of the illumination of the left, called Esh [Aleph-Shin, but also “fire”], which is connected to the letter Hey, which is the Nukva. This is the meaning of his praising her, “She shall be called ‘Woman.’” Because of the illumination of Hochma that shines in her after she has been included in her husband’s Hassadim, she was given the name “woman,” which is illumination of Hochma, which is called Esh [fire], as it is written, “And the light of the Lord shall become fire.” And the name Isha is because Esh is connected to the Hey.
His Wife Is the Essence of the House
Beresheet [Genesis]
231) His wife is the essence of the house, since Divinity does not depart his house by merit of his wife. It is as we learned that it is written, “And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah.” The candle was relit, as it was at the time of Sarah, his mother, since Divinity came to the house thanks to Rebecca. Thus, Divinity is in the house by merit of his wife.
232) Upper Ima, Bina, is with the male, Zeir Anpin, only when the house is corrected and male and female, ZON, are connected. At that time, upper Ima imparts blessings to bless ZON. Similarly, lower Ima, Divinity, is with the male, meaning with a man below, only when the house is corrected and the male comes to the Nukva and they conjoin. At that time, lower Ima, Divinity, imparts blessings to bless them.
The Camp of Israel
VaYikahel [Assembled]
35) It is written, “So is the way of an adulterous woman.” But, “So is the way of an adulterous woman” is the angel of death. “She eats and wipes her mouth,” for it burns the world with its flames and puts people to death before their time. And she says, “I have done no evil,” for he sought judgment for them and they were caught in their iniquity and died by true judgment.
36) And when Israel had made the calf and all those multitudes died, the angel of death was among the women, inside the camp of Israel. Since Moses saw that the angel of death is among the women and the camp of Israel was among them, he immediately gathered all the men separately, as it is written, “Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel.” These were the men that he had congregated and separated to themselves.
37) And the angel of death was not separated from the women until the Temple was built.
The Flame of the Sword that Turns Every Way
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
325) On the day when Adam was born, they were commanded in regards to the tree of knowledge and broke their Master’s commandment. And since the woman sinned first and the serpent came upon her, as it is written, “And he shall rule over you,” henceforth, whenever men are guilty before the Creator, the women from the side of harsh Din will rule over them, as it is written, “As for My people, a babe is their master, and women rule over them.”
326) And those women are called, “The flaming sword that turns every way.” Yet, it is not that they are the turning sword. Rather, they are a flame from that sword, which is called, “A sword … that shall execute the vengeance of the covenant,” “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood.” And that flaming sword that turns every way is sometimes men and sometimes females.
327)…When the prophet of Israel saw that Israel were twisting their ways and performing iniquities before their Master, he said, “Women that are at ease, why do you keep quiet? Why do you sit and not awaken in the world? Rise up and take governance over the men.”
Deborah and Hannah
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
329) There were two women in the world, and they praised the Creator like all the men in the world will not. Those are Deborah and Hannah. Hannah said, “There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none besides You,” and all the writings that follow. She opened the door to faith in the world.
The Halls of the Female Souls
Shlach Lecha [Send Forth]
195) …They showed me six palaces with several pleasures and delights in the place where the curtain is spread out in the garden, since from that curtain onward, males do not enter at all.
196) In one palace, there is Batiah, daughter of Pharaoh, several tens of thousands of righteous women with her. Each of them has places of lights and delights without any pressure. Three times a day, the heralds call out, “Behold, the form of Moses, the loyal prophet, is coming,” and Batiah goes out to a place where there is one partition and sees the form of Moses. She bows before him and says, “Happy I am for having raised that light.” This is her most special pleasure.
197) Batiah returns to the women and engages in the Mitzvot of the Torah. all of them are in the forms that they had in this world, clothed in light, like the clothes of the males, except that they do not shine as much as the male garments. They engage in the flavors and Mitzvot of the Torah that they were not rewarded with keeping in that world, and all those women who sit in the same hall with Batiah, daughter of Pharaoh, are called “tranquil women,” for they were not afflicted at all by the affliction of Hell.
198) In another hall, there is Serah, daughter of Asher, and several tens of thousands and thousands of women are with her. Three times a day, it is declared before her, “Behold, here comes the form of the righteous Joseph.” She rejoices and comes out to one partition that she has, and sees the light of the form of Joseph. She is happy and bows to him, and says, “Happy is that day when I awoke the word of you to my old man.” Afterwards, she returns to the rest of the women and engages in praises of the Master of the world and to thank His name. And each and every one has several places and joy, and then they return to engaging in the commandments of the Torah and their flavors.
199) In another hall, there is Yoheved, the mother of Moses, the loyal prophet, with several thousands and tens of thousands with her. In that hall, there are no declarations at all. Rather, three times a day, she thanks and praises the Creator, she and all those women with her. They sing the song of the sea each day, and she alone begins from here. “Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the timbrel in her hand,” and all those righteous in the Garden of Eden listen to the voice of her singing, and several holy angels thank and praise the holy name with her.
200) In another hall, there is Prophetess Deborah. Here, too, all the women who are with her thank and chant in singing that she said in this world. Who has seen the joy of the righteous and righteous women who serve the Creator? There are four hidden palaces of the holy mothers who were not given to exile before those palaces, and there is none to see them. Each day they are alone.
201) Each night, they all gather together because the time for Zivug [coupling] is midnight, whether in this world or in that world. The Zivug of that world is the adhering of soul to soul, of light to light.
The Zivug of this world is of body to body, and all is as it should be, a kind with its kind, a Zivug by Zivug. A body by body is in this world. The Zivug of that world is light by light. The halls of the four mothers are called “halls of trusting daughters,” and I have not been rewarded with looking into them. Happy are the righteous, men and females, who follow on the right path in this world and are rewarded with all the pleasures of that world.
202) The Zivug in that world produces more fruits than a Zivug that is done in this world. In their Zivug—in the Zivug of that world, in their desire as one, when the souls cling to one another—they bear fruit and lights come out of them and become candles. These are the souls of the proselytes who convert.
Blessing for the Women Is through the Men
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
494) …“He will bless—He will bless the house of Israel.” Why does it write, “Bless,” twice? “The Lord has been mindful of us, He will bless” are the men, and “He will bless the house of Israel” are the women. This is so because the males need to be blessed first, and then the women, for women are blessed only by the blessing of the males. And when the males are blessed, the women are blessed, as it is written, “And made atonement for himself, and for his house.” Thus, one needs to make atonement for oneself first, and then for one’s home, since the male comes before the female so that she will be blessed from him.
495) Women are blessed only by males, when they are blessed first. And they are blessed from this blessing of the males. They do not need a special blessing of their own. Then why does the verse say, “Will bless the house of Israel,” if the women do not need a special blessing? Indeed, the Creator gives an additional blessing to a male who is married to a woman so that his wife will be blessed from him.
Similarly, in all places, the Creator gives additional blessing to a male who has married a woman so she will be blessed by this addition. And since a man marries a woman, He gives him two shares, one for himself and one for his wife. And he receives everything, his own share and his wife’s. This is why a special blessing is written for the women, “Will bless the house of Israel,” for this is their share. However, the males receive their share, as well, and give it to them later.
One Who Did Not Marry a Wife Is Flawed
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
63) “When any man of you brings an offering,” excluding one who did not marry a wife, since his offering is not an offering and blessings are not present in him, neither above nor below. This means that the verse, “When any man of you brings an offering” is different, for his is not a man and is not included among man, and Divinity is not over him, for he is flawed and he is called, “maimed,” and the maimed are removed from everything, all the more so from the altar, from offering a sacrifice.
64) Nadab and Abihu prove that the words, “Then fire came out from before the Lord” was because they were not married. This is why it is written, “When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord.” A man with male and female is worthy of making this sacrifice, and no other.
65) Although we spoke of Nadab and Abihu in a different way, it is certainly because they were not married, but incense is the highest of all the offerings in the world, for which the upper and lower are blessed. And they were not worthy of offering this offering, which is above all sacrifices, since they were unmarried. Hence, they were unfit to offer a sacrifice, all the more so such sublime things as incense, for they are not worthy of making the world blessed by them.
66) “Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them.” Why were they punished so harshly? It is like a man who comes to the queen to tell her that the king has come to her house to be with her and to rejoice with her. The man came before the king and the king saw that the man was crippled. The king said, “It is dishonorable to me that I will come to the queen through this crippled man.” In the meantime, the queen had fixed the house for the king, and since she saw that the king was ready to come to her, and that man caused the king to depart her, she commanded that this man would be put to death.
67) Similarly, when Nadab and Abihu entered with the incense in their hands, the queen (Malchut) was glad and fixed herself to receive the king’s face (ZA). When the king saw that these men were flawed, the king did not wish to come to be with the queen through them, and the king departed her. When the queen saw that the king had left because of them, promptly, “Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them.”
68) And all this is because one who is not married is flawed. He is maimed before the king, and the sanctity of the king departs him and does not remain in the flaw. It is written about that, “When any man of you brings an offering,” meaning those who are called “men” will bring an offering and those who are not called “men,” the unmarried, will not bring an offering.
Man Consists of Male and Female Together
Nasso [Take]
141) Man is an inclusion of male and female, since one in whom male and female have conjoined is called, “a man,” and then he is God-fearing. Moreover, there is humility in him. And still more, there is Hesed in him.
And one who does not have male and female, there is no fear in him, no humility, and no piousness. This is why man is regarded as including everything. And since he is called, “Adam” [man], there is Hesed in him, as it is written, “I have said, ‘Mercy will be built up forever.’” But the world cannot be built without a male and a female.
142) It is written, “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him.” “Those who fear Him” are the whole of man, male and female, for otherwise there is no fear in him. “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting” are the priests that come from the side of Hesed. And they inherit this lot, which comes from the upper world, ZA, to the lower world, Malchut. “On those who fear Him” means the priests below, who contain male and female, to be inclusive, as in man, which is male and female. “And His righteousness to children’s children,” since he has been rewarded with children’s children.
A Male Soul and a Female Soul
Ki Tazria [When a Woman Delivers]
9) “A woman who inseminates first, delivers a male child.” The Creator sentences whether a drop is male or female, and you say, “A woman who inseminates first, delivers a male child.” Thus, the Creator’s sentence is redundant. Indeed, it is certainly the Creator who decides between a drop of male and a drop of female. And because He has discerned it, He sentences whether it is to be a male or a female.
There are three partners to a man: the Creator, his father, and his mother. His father gives the white in him; his mother—the red in him; and the Creator gives the soul. If the drop is a male, the Creator gives the soul of a male. If it is a female, the Creator gives the soul of a female. It turns out that when the woman first inseminated, the drop has not become a male yet, if the Creator had not sent within her a soul of a male.
This discernment that the Creator discerns in a drop—that it is fit for a soul of a male or a female—is considered “the sentencing of the Creator.” Had He not discerned it and did not send a soul of a male, the drop would not have become a male. Thus, the two statements do not contradict one another.
10) And since she inseminates, does she deliver? After all, this requires pregnancy. It should have said, “If a woman is impregnated, she delivers a male child.” What is, “If she inseminates, she delivers”? Since the day of insemination and conception to the day of delivery, a woman has not a word in her mouth except her offspring, whether it will be a male. This is why it is written, “If a woman inseminates, she delivers a male child.”
To Be Rewarded with Sons
VaYeshev [And Jacob Sat]
163) Even if a man engages in the Torah day in and day out, but his origin and springing are in vain, for he does not bear sons, he has no place being in the presence of the Creator. If a spring does not enter a well of water, it is not a well, for the well and the origin are one, and one who has no sons is as one whose origin did not enter him and is not acting within him.
177) “Come to your brother’s wife.” He did not have to tell him that, since Judah and all the tribes knew it. But the main reason why he told him, “…and raise a seed,” is that that seed was needed for that thing to be corrected… Even though man has been sentenced to death, which separates him from the eternal root, he is still not completely separated, for he remains attached to his eternal root through the sons that each one has, since every son is a part of the father’s body. Thus, each person is like a link in the chain of life, which begins with Adam haRishon [the first man] and continues through the revival of the dead, forever and ever. And as long as man’s chain of life continues, for he leaves a son behind him, death does not separate him from eternity at all, and he is seemingly still alive.
188) Hence, it is written, “Behold, children are a heritage of the Lord.” It is the soul’s bundle of life, as it is written, “Yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life,” considered the next world.
This is what the text calls, “heritage” [can also mean land in Hebrew]. And who awards man with coming to this land? Sons. The sons award him with the land of the Lord; hence, happy is the man who has been rewarded with sons, to teach them the ways of Torah.
Exile and Redemption
On My Bed at Night
Ki Tazria [When a Woman Delivers]
1) “On my bed night after night I sought him whom my soul loves.” The assembly of Israel spoke before the Creator and asked Him about the exile, since she is seated among the rest of the nations with her children, and she lies in the dust. And because she is lying in another land, impure one, she said, “I ask on my bed, for I am lying in exile,” and exile is called “nights.” Hence, “I sought him whom my soul loves,” to deliver me from it.
2) “I sought him but did not find him,” since it is not His way to mate in me, but only in His palace, and not in exile. “I called him but he did not answer me,” for I was dwelling among other nations, who do not hear his voice, but only His sons. “Did ever a people hear the voice of God?”
3) “On my bed night after night,” said the assembly of Israel, Divinity. “On my bed I was angered before Him, asking Him to mate with me to delight me—from the left line—and to bless me—from the right line—with complete joy—from the middle line.” When the king, ZA, mates with the assembly of Israel, several righteous inherit inheritance of a holy legacy, upper Mochin, and several blessings are found in the world.
Exile of Divinity
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
344) On the day when the Temple was ruined below and Israel went into exile with millstone round their necks and their hands tied behind them, the assembly of Israel, Divinity, was expelled from the King’s house, to follow them into exile. And when Divinity came down she said, “First, I will go and weep for my abode, the Temple, for my sons, Israel, and for my husband, ZA,” who has drifted from her. When she came down she saw that her place was destroyed and all the blood of the followers that was shed in it, and the Holy Palace and the House were burnt in fire.
345) Then she raised her voice in weeping, and the upper and lower were moved, and the voice reached up to the place where the King, ZA, resides. But the King wished to return the world into chaos until several battalions and several camps of angels came down to comfort her, but she turned down their comforting. It is written about that, “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children, sherefuses to be comforted for her children,” since she did not receive comforting from them. “Because He is gone” means because the holy King went up and is not inside her.
346) “Rachel is weeping for her children.” It should have said that Divinity is weeping for her children. Rachel is the assembly of Israel, Divinity, Jacob’s wife, the wife of ZA, as it is written, “And Jacob loved Rachel.” It is also written, “but Rachel was barren,” and also, “Who makes the barren woman dwell in her house as a joyful mother of children.” All these verses relate to Divinity.
347) Another interpretation: “He is gone” means “none,” that is, there are none who are greater than Me in this house. “Gone,” since the Creator departed above and was removed from everything. “He is gone” means He is not in a Zivug with her. “Gone” means that His name, Divinity, is not His great Name. Rather, she is in exile.
348) From which place did Divinity begin to be disclosed? From the Temple, where she was present. Afterwards, she roamed the whole of the land of Israel. Then, when she departed the land, she stood inside the desert and sat there three days, leading the masses, the camps, and the residents from the King’s house, from Jerusalem, and calling about her, “How lonely sits the city.”
349) They were not exiled from the land of Israel and the Temple was not ruined before all of Israel were guilty before the King, and before all the leaders of the world were found guilty first, as it is written, “O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths.” And when the heads of the people went with evil, the whole people followed suit.
Four Exiles
Ki Tetze [If You Go Forth]
63) There were four exiles: three corresponding the three Klipot of the nut. The first is Tohu, a green line, the green shell of the nut. The second is Bohu, moist stones, strong rocks, from which the authors of the Mishnah sentenced several sentences, and they grip to them to bring out the waters of Torah. And this is why they are called “moist stones,” since water comes out of them. The third Klipa [shell] is the thin shell of the nut, the small third exile. This is “And darkness.” The fourth exile is the great deep, the hollow of the nut, “And darkness was over the face of the deep.”
64) The fourth Klipa, the deep, is called “a pit where an ox fell,” as it is written about Joseph, “The firstborn of his ox, majesty is his.” It is written, “And threw him into the pit,” the evil Nukva of the Klipa. The empty pit is the male of the Klipa. Empty means without Torah, which is called “water.”
However, there were serpents and scorpions there, and this is the fourth exile, which is empty, without Torah, a generation of wicked, filled with serpents and scorpions, meaning that they are as deceitful as serpents and scorpions because they have uprooted the words of sages and judge falsely. It is said about them, “Her adversaries became the head.”
65) “And he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one” from Israel among those wicked in that generation. Instead, they were mixed multitude. This will come about at the end of the exile, and for this reason, the end of redemption is stated as the great deep, which is the fourth exile. And Moses, you went down there. The deep [ Tehom] is death [ HaMavet] with the letters inverted, and there is no death but poverty, poverty of reason. But this was sorted above, before the Tannaim and the Amoraim, who all went down to the deep in the fourth exile because of her, to help you.
Hurry, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart
Shemot [Exodus]
235) “Hurry, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart.” Every yearning that Israel yearned for the Creator is the yearning of Israel that the Creator will not go and will not walk away, but run like a gazelle or a young hart.
236) No other animal in the world does what the gazelle or the hart does. When it runs, it turns its head slightly to the place from which it came. It always turns its head back. This is what Israel said, “God Almighty, if we cause You to depart from among us, may it be that You will run like the gazelle or the young hart.” This is because it runs and turns its head to the place it had left, the place where it was before and left it and fled from there.
This is the meaning of the words, “Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them.” Another thing: The gazelle sleeps with one eye and is awake with the other eye. This is what Israel said to the Creator, “Do as the gazelle does, for He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
And I Will Set My Tabernacle among You
BeHukotai [In My Statutes]
30) “And I will set My tabernacle among you.” My tabernacle is Divinity, My pawn, Divinity, was mortgaged by the iniquities of Israel because she goes into exile with them. There is an allegory about a man who loved his friend. He told him, “Certainly, because of the sublime love that I have for you, I wish to dwell with you.” His friend replied, “How will I know that you will dwell with me?” He went and took all the good things in his home and brought them to him and said, “My pawn is with you, so I will never part from you.”
31) So is the Creator. He wished to dwell with Israel. He took His treasure, Divinity, and lowered it down to Israel. He told them, “Israel, here is My pawn with you, so I will never part from you.” And although the Creator was removed from us, He left the pawn in our hands because Divinity is with us in exile and we keep His treasure. And when He asks for His pawn, He will come to dwell with us. This is why it is written, “And I will set My tabernacle among you.” “I will give you a pawn so I will dwell with you.” And even though Israel is in exile now, the Creator’s mortgage is with them and they have never left it.
32) “AndMy soul shall not abhor you.” This is similar to a man who loves his friend and wishes to dwell with him. What did he do? He took his bed and brought it to his house. He said, “Here, my bed is in your house, so I will not draw far from you, from your bed and from your vessels.” Thus said the Creator, “And I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you.” Thus, My bed, Divinity, is in your home. “And since My bed is with you, know that I will never part from you.” And for this reason, “My soul shall not abhor you,” I will not part from you.
33) “And I will walk among you, and will be your God.” Since my pawn is with you, you should know for certain that I am going with you, as it is written, “For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you; therefore shall your camp be holy.”
Length of the Exile
Ki Tissa [When You Take]
21) We see, and so can the strong ones in the world, meaning the nations, that the exile is continuing and the Son of David has not come. So it is, but what makes Israel suffer this exile? It is all the promises that the Creator had promised them. They enter synagogues and seminaries and see all the comforts in the holy books, and in their hearts they are happy to suffer all that comes upon them. Had it not been for that, they would not have been able to withstand.
22) Everything depends on repentance. But they cannot all awaken to repentance together because it is written, “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you.” It is also written, “And you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you.” Also, it is written, “And you shall return to the Lord your God.” And then, if the One who banished you will be at the end of the sky, from there will He gather you. And before all these things come true, they cannot be awakened by them for repentance.
23) O how You have sealed all the trails and paths from the children of the exile, and have left no possibility for them to speak, for they did not delve in redemption every single generation, did not suffer the exile, did not seek reward, departed the rules of Torah, and mingled with the rest of the nations.
24) “As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth, she writhes and cries out in her birth pangs,” since it is the nature of a pregnant woman to wait nine whole months. But there are quite a few in the world who go through only one or two days of the ninth month, while all the pains and pangs of the pregnant woman are on the ninth. Hence, even if she only went through one day of the ninth month, it is considered as though the whole of the ninth month had passed for her. So are Israel: since they tasted the taste of exile, if they repent, it is considered for them as though they had experienced all the troubles that are written in the Torah, especially that they had experienced several pangs since the beginning of the exile.
In Its Time, I Will Hasten It
VaYera [The Lord Appeared]
454) How long should we be in exile until that time? The Creator made redemption completely dependent on whether they repent. Thus, they will be rewarded or not rewarded with redemption by whether or not they repent, as it is written, “I the Lord will hasten it in its time.” If they merit, they will repent, and “I will hasten it.” If they do not merit, they will not repent, and “in its time.”
The Allegory of the King and the Queen
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
78) In all of Israel’s exiles, He set a time and an end to all of them. And in all of them, Israel return to the Creator, and the virgin of Israel, Malchut,returns to her place at the set time. But now, in the last exile, it is not so. She will not return as in the other exiles. This verse teaches, “She has fallen; she will not rise again—the virgin of Israel,” and it does not say, “She has fallen and I will not raise her again.”
79) It is like a king who was angry with the queen and expelled her from her palace for a certain period of time. When that time was through, the queen would immediately come and return before the king. This was so once, twice, and thrice. But on the last time, she became remote from the king’s palace and the king expelled her from his palace for a long time. The king said, “This time is not as like the other times, when she came before me. Instead, I and all my household will go and seek her.”
80) When he reached her, he saw that she was lying in the dust. Who saw the glory of the queen at that time, and the king’s requests of her? Finally, the king held her in his arms, raised her, and brought her to his palace. And he swore to her that he would never part from her again and will never be far from her.
81) It is similar with the Creator: every time the assembly of Israel were in exile, she would come and return before the King. But now, in this exile, it is not so. Rather, the Creator will hold her by the hand and will raise her, appease her, and bring her back to His palace.
To the Extent of Concealment, the Extent of Disclosure
VaYera [The Lord Appeared]
453) Vav and everything appears in it, for everything appears by the perfection of the Vav. This is so because in everything that is concealed, He reveals all that is hidden, and one who is revealed will not come and reveal what is concealed.
Man is created in utter wickedness and lowliness, as it is written, “When a wild ass’s foal is born a man.” And all the vessels in one’s body, meaning the senses and the qualities, and especially the thought serve him only wickedness and nothingness all day. And for one who is rewarded with adhering unto Him, the Creator does not create other tools instead, to be worthy and suitable for reception of the eternal spiritual abundance intended for him. Rather, the same lowly vessels that have thus far been used in a filthy and loathsome way are inverted to become vessels of reception of all the pleasantness and eternal gentleness.
Moreover, each Kli whose deficiencies had been the greatest has now become the most important. In other words, the measure that they reveal is the greatest. It is so much so that if he had a Kli in his body that had no deficiencies, it has now become seemingly redundant, for it does not serve him in any way. It is like a vessel of wood or clay: the greater its deficiency, meaning its carving, the greater its capacity and the greater its importance.
And this applies in the upper worlds, as well, since no revelation is dispensed upon the worlds except through concealed discernments. And by the measure of concealment in a degree, so is the measure of revelations in it, which is given to the world. If there is no concealment in it, it cannot bestow a thing.
This is the meaning of the Vav in the name, HaVaYaH. It is ZA, whose Mochin are always in covered Hassadim and are concealed from the illumination of Hochma. This is why it will reveal the complete redemption, as it is written, “The Vav will raise the Hey.” This is so because the measure of concealment and covering in it will determine the measure of its revealing in the future. And the bottom Hey of HaVaYaH, the Nukva, where the Hassadim appear, and all the discernments of disclosure of Hochma in the worlds come only from her. And since there is no concealment in her, she cannot reveal what is concealed, meaning redemption. And although there are other concealments in the Nukva, they are nonetheless insufficient for this great disclosure of the complete redemption, since by the measure of this revelation, so must be the measure of the concealment.
The Darkness before Redemption
Beresheet [Genesis]
308) As they were walking, they saw that the dawn has paled and then the light rose. Rabbi Hizkiya said to Rabbi Yosi, “Come and I will show you that so is Israel’s redemption: When the sun of redemption shines for them, trouble after trouble will come upon them, and darkness after darkness. And when the light of the Creator shines upon them, as it is said, ‘His going forth is as sure as the dawn,’ it is written, ‘But the sun or righteousness will rise for you who fear My name, with healing in its wings.’”
309) At that time, wars will awaken in the world—nation against nation, and city against city—and many troubles will surface over the enemies of Israel until their faces are darkened like the sides of a caldron. After that, their redemption will appear over them out of the roar of their pressure and stress.
BEIT LECHEM [BETHLEHEM]
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
87) And why is this holy place called “bread,” since the writing says that Ephrat is Beit Lechem [House of Bread]? This is because it is from the name of the Creator, for they will die there in fighting for His name, “The hand upon the throne of Koh [ Yod– Hey]: the Lord will have war against Amalek.” This means that they will die there to complement the name Yod– Hey. This is so because the name is not complete with HaVaYaH until the memory of Amalek is blotted out, and this is why the war is to complement the name Yod– Hey with Vav– Hey. This is why the name is called Lechem, from the word Milchamah [war], since he fought in exile because he came to complement the name of the Creator.
With The Zohar, We Will Come Out of Exile
Nasso [Take]
89) Such as that will be done, testing Israel in the last exile, as it is written, “Many will be purged, purified and refined,” which are from the side of the good, enduring the trial. “But the wicked will act wickedly,” from the side of the evil, and the verse, “Nor will they enter the land of Israel,” will come true in them, and he kills them.
Bina, the tree of life. It was for them that The Book of Zohar said, “And the wise will shine like the radiance of the firmament,” from the radiance of Upper Ima, who is called, “repentance.” These do not require testing, and because Israel are destined to taste of the tree of life, which is this Book of Zohar, they will be delivered from the exile with mercy through it.
Nature
Earth Is Round
New Zohar, Beresheet [Genesis]
619) The world is as round as a ball. When the sun comes out in the east, it goes in a circle until it reaches below the earth, and then it becomes evening. At that time, it gradually descends by circles of certain steps, descending and circling the whole earth and the whole world.
620) When the sun comes down and is covered by it, it grows dark upon us and lights up to those who are dwelling below us, those who are on the other side of the earth, below our feet. And so it grows dark on one side and shines on the other side, below it, following the world and circle of the earth, round and round.
621) And similarly, its light gradually descends and separates between the water below the water of the ocean and the water for those who go above, separating in the middle of the waters of the sea, detaining a pipe of water that comes out of Hell from passing through and harming people. For this reason, the sun is not called Shemesh [sun], but LeShamesh [to serve] people, as this is why it is called Shemesh, that is, MeShamesh [serving], for it serves everyone.
Had the light of the sun not bathed itself in the sea of the ocean, it would have burned and lit up the whole world.
Changes in the Air
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
141) The whole world revolves in a circle like a ball, some are above and some are below. The people all around the earth stand opposite each other and the seven parts in the ball are the seven lands. And all the people in the six lands differ in their appearances according to the different air in each place. And they persist as the rest of the people.
The Earth Quakes
Shemot [Exodus]
306) Rabbi Isaac came across a mountain and saw a man sleeping under a tree. Rabbi Isaac sat there. While he was sitting, he saw that the earth was quaking and that tree broke and fell, and he saw crevices and holes in the ground, and the ground was rising and falling.
307) That man awoke, yelled toward Rabbi Isaac and told him, “Jew, Jew, weep and wail, for a minister is being raised in the firmament, an appointee, a high governor, and he is destined to inflict much harm upon you. This quake of the earth was for you, since every time the earth quakes, it is because an appointee who will harm you rises in the firmament.”
When People Corrupt Their Ways
Noah
39) Why was the earth corrupted? Is the earth punishable? It is because every flesh corrupted its way. When people are righteous and keep the commandments of the Torah, the earth is strengthened and every joy is in it because Divinity is upon the earth. At that time, the upper ones and lower ones are all in joy.
40) When people corrupt their way, do not keep the commandments of the Torah, and sin before their Master, they seemingly repel Divinity from the world and the earth remains corrupted. Thus, Divinity is repelled from it and is not present on it, and then she is corrupted. At that time, it is corrupted because another spirit is over it, which corrupts the world.
The Generation of the Flood
Noah
58) Why does the Creator sentence the world—the generation of the flood—with water and not with fire or with something else? It is because they corrupted their ways by the upper water and lower water, not connecting male and female properly. This is so because anyone who corrupts his way, corrupts female and male waters, that is, he blemishes the upper MAD and MAN and causes them to not unite, hence they are sentenced in water, in what they sinned.
59) And the water was boiling and they stripped the skin off them, as though they had corrupted their ways with boiling water. Judgment for judgment means that he avenged them an eye for an eye. “All the fountains of the great deep burst open” is the lower water, and “The windows of heaven opened” is the upper water. Thus, they were afflicted by the upper water and the lower water.
The Stars
Pinhas
384) What do comets—stars that a tail of light stretches behind them, which run back and forth—imply?
385) The Creator created all the stars in the firmament, great and small, and all thank and praise the Creator. When their time to praise arrives, the Creator calls them by name, as it is written, “He calls them all by name.” Then, they run and stretch a tail of light to go and praise their Master in that place where they were counted, as it is written, “Raise up your eyes and see who created these?”
All the degrees in GAR (first three) are called “stars” or “stars of heaven.” No illumination of Hochma can be elicited from them, which is called numbering and counting from above to below. This is the meaning of the words, “Look now toward the heaven and count the stars, if you can count them.” Indeed, the Creator Himself reveals the number and calculation in them in their own place. This is illumination of Hochma, but they shine from below to above, and it counts the number of stars because the Creator Himself counts the number.
“He calls them all by name.” “By name” means attainment, as what we do not attain, we do not call by name. And when the Creator assembles them to disclose the number in them, then for all the light, they bring back Ohr Hozer [reflected light] from below to above, and this is considered a tail. It is that that the comets imply in the earth.
The Rite of the Sun
Ki Tissa [When You Take]
7) When the face of the east shines, all the sons of the east, of the mountains of light, bow before the light that shines instead of the sun, before it emerges over the face of the earth, and worship it. This is so because how many worship the sun after the sun comes out? They are those who worship this light of the illumination of the dawn, who call this light, “The God of the illuminating jewel.” And they swear by the God of the illuminating jewel.
8) And should you say that this work is in vain, then since the ancient days, they knew wisdom when the sun was shining, before it came out over the face of the earth, at which time that appointee that was appointed over the sun comes out with holy letters of the Upper Name written on his head. And by the power of these letters, he opens all the windows of the heavens, strikes them, and passes. And that appointee enters that radiance, which shines around the sun before it comes out and he is there until the sun comes out and spreads through the world.
9) And that appointee is appointed over gold and red jewels, and they worship that form which is in the light of the sun, which is the appointee. Then, in points and in signs that they inherited from the first, from ancient days, they walk and know the points of the sun, to find the places of gold and jewels. But how much longer will there be these many labors in the world? After all, the lie has no pillars to support it for its existence.
Man’s Eyes
VaYehi [Jacob Lived]
341) Because the view of the world is seen in a man’s eyes, and all the colors are in them, too, and the white color in them is like the great ocean that surrounds the world from all sides, the other color in them is like the land that the waters brought out, and the land stands between the waters. Similarly, this color stands between the waters, in this white color, which implies to the ocean water.
342) The other, third color, is in the middle of the eye. This is Jerusalem, the middle of the world. The fourth color in the eye—the black in the eye—is where all the power to see in the whole of the eye is found. It is called “pupil,” and in that pupil, the face is seen. And the most precious vision of all is Zion, the point in the middle of everything. The vision of the whole world is seen there, and Divinity—the beauty of everything and the view of everything—is present there. This eye is the inheritance of the world. For this reason, the one who dies leaves it and his son takes it and inherits it.
Man Is a Small World
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
330) How great are the deeds of the Creator? The art and painting of a man are like the artisanship and the depiction of the world. In other words, man comprises the entire deed of the world, and he is called “a small world.”
Zivug [Coupling]
The Creator Makes Zivugim
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
346) All the souls that are destined to come into the world stand in Zivugim, Zivugim[Zivugim—plural of Zivug (coupling)] before Him. Each divides into male and female, and when they come into this world, the Creator makes Zivugim, as it is written, “The daughter of so and so with so and so.”
347) What does it mean when it says that the Creator says, “The daughter of so and so with so and so”? After all, it is written, “There is nothing new under the sun,” and all has already been done in the act of creation. Can it be that the matter of Zivugim is a new thing in each Zivug, that there is a need to declare, “The daughter of so and so with so and so”? Indeed, it is written, “There is nothing new under the sun.” However, above the sun there is news. So why does He declare here, “The daughter of so and so with so and so,” if it is said that at the very same time when one is born into the world, his mate is made ready for him?
348) Happy are the righteous, whose souls are crowned before the holy King before they come to the world to clothe in a body. At the time when the Creator elicits the souls to the world, all those spirits and souls consist of male and female, which conjoin.
349) They are given into the hands of that appointee, the emissary, who has been appointed over the impregnation of people, and whose name is “Night.” When they come down to the world and are given into the hands of that appointee, they part from one another. Sometimes, one comes down before the other and descends and clothes in people.
350) When their time to mate arrives, the Creator, who knows the males and females of those spirits and souls, brings them together as they were in the beginning, before they came to the world, and declares about them, “The daughter of so and so with so and so.” And when they unite, they become one body and one soul, and they are right and left, as it should be. The male is the right of the body and the soul, and the female is the left part in them.
For this reason, there is nothing new under the sun. Even though the Creator declares, “The daughter of so and so with so and so,” it is still nothing new but a return to how they were prior to their arrival in the world. And since it is known only to the Creator, He declares them.
351) But we learn that a person is given a mate according to his deeds and ways. Indeed, if his deeds are upright, he is rewarded with uniting with his mate as they were united at the time when they departed from the Creator, before they were clothed in a body.
352) Where will one whose deeds are upright seek his mate? It is written, “One should always sell all that he has and marry the daughter of a wise disciple.” This is so because the wise disciple has the deposit of his Master trusted in his hands, and he will certainly find his mate with him.
353) All those souls that come through reincarnation and have no mate can hurry their mate with mercy by hurrying and taking the mate of another person. The friends commented on that and said, “One does not wed a woman on a festival, but one does sanctify, lest another will come before him with mercy.” They also made a precision about “another,” that the one who incarnated without a mate, it is because he descended and became Achoraim [posterior], who is himself regarded as a Nukva [female]. This is why he has no mate. Hence, this incarnated one is called “another,” to indicate that he comes from Achoraim, and this is why the conduct about him is that he takes the mate of another.
This is why the Zivugim are difficult for the Creator, since because the mating male and female are two parts of one soul and they divided even before they came into the world, why is it said that man’s Zivug before the Creator is difficult? After all, it is only a repetition of something that was done before. However, from what has been explained, that there are incarnated souls that have no mate, who rush and take the mate of another through mercy, then afterwards, if his friend is rewarded through his actions with his mate being given back to him, the Creator must take from one and give to the other. And this is hard for Him—to reject one before the other. And yet, “The ways of the Lord are right,” for certain, and all that the Creator does is good and just.
354) Those who come by reincarnation and have no mate, where will they take their mate? The story of the sons of Benjamin proves that the incarnated souls must hurry with mercy and take their mate from another. This is why the writing says, “Lest another will precede him with mercy.”
355) Certainly, the Zivugim are hard for the Creator because He must take from one and give to the other. Happy are Israel, for the Torah teaches them the ways of the Creator and all the secrets that are hidden and concealed before Him.
356) “The law of the Lord is perfect” because it contains everything. Happy are those who engage in the Torah and do not part from it, for anyone who is separated from the Torah for even an hour, it is as though he has parted from life in the world. And it is written, “For it is your life and the length of your days,” and it is written, “For length of days, and years of life, and peace, will they add to you.”
Craving
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
205) The female’s craving for the male makes a soul. And also, the male’s craving for the female and his adhesion with her produces a soul, which includes the soul from the craving of the female and takes it. Thus, the craving of the lower one, the female, is included in the craving of the upper one, the male, and the two souls become one, without separation.
206) And then the female contains everything, taking both souls and becoming impregnated by the male in them. The craving of the both of them becomes attached and they become as one. Hence, everything is mingled with each other and when the souls come out, male and female are mingled in them as one.
207) Afterwards, when they descend to the world, the male and female separate from one another; one turns this way and the other turns that way, and later, the Creator mates them. But the key for the Zivug is given to none other than the Creator, for only He knows how to mate them, to unite them properly so they become male and female of the same soul.
One—the Complete Zivug
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
101) How does the word, “one,” indicate the complete Zivug? It is written, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” “One” is the assembly of Israel united with the Creator, ZA. The Zivug of male and female is called “one,” since a place where the Nukva is present is called “one,” for a male without a female is called “a half body,” and a half is not one. But when two half bodies unite, they become one body and they are called “one.”
Envy, Lust, Love
Noah
154) The awakening of the male to the female is when he envies for her. When there is a righteous in the world, Divinity does not depart from him and her desire is for him. At that time, the upper lust, from Zeir Anpin, is awakened toward her with love, as a male’s lust toward the female when he envies for her, as it is written, “And I will set up My covenant with you.” That is, the lust has awakened in Me because of you, as it is written, “And I will establish My covenant with Isaac,” for it is because of Isaac, as with Noah.
Everything is extended to the world through the Nukva, whether corrections or corruptions, as it is written, “And His kingdom rules over all.” When bestowal is corrected, it extends from a Zivug of Zeir Anpin and Nukva. When bestowal is corrupted, it extends from Zivug Zeir Anpin and Nukva of Tuma’a [impurity], which are called “another god,” which clings to Nukva de Zeir Anpin and draws toward it the abundance of Kedusha [holiness], turning it into Tuma’a and corruptions. This is the envy that Zeir Anpin envies for the Nukva, so another god will not cling to her.
And when there is a righteous in the world, due to the great desire of the Nukva to bestow upon the righteous, she stays far from another god and the love of Zeir Anpin to mate with Divinity, to bestow upon the righteous, grows extensively, as the love of a man for his wife grows when he is envious for her and fears that she will hide with another. Similarly, Zeir Anpin was afraid that she would cling to bestow upon another god.
I Washed My Legs
New Zohar, Beresheet [Genesis]
107) When the Creator confers with the Malchut and Israel are unfit to be a wick unto her, to shine, when they are unfit to raise MAN for the Zivug of Zeir Anpin and Malchut, it is written, “I have taken off my gown, how can I wear it again? I have washed my feet, how can I dirty them again?”
“I have taken off my gown” are the monikers, which are Netzah and Hod, the garments. When they all join, they are regarded as the Creator’s gown. When He confers with her, He is devoid of all those garments so as to bond with her. This is why the Creator said, “I have taken off my gown,” to be corrected and ready to benefit you, and you are not properly corrected. Now, “How can I wear it again,” how shall I put these garments back on, for they illuminate only in Achoraim, from afar, and by that I will depart from you once more?
108) “I have washed my feet, how can I dirty them again?” I have washed My feet from that filth. And what is it? When I was set up and made for you, I moved the other side, the impure one, from before My feet. Now, how shall I put that filth back on, covering the Temple, since you are not ready with your corrections to be corrected toward Me? We learn from this that when the spirit of impurity passes from the world, everything grows from above and below. For this reason, “I have washed my feet, how can I dirty them again,” as before?
When wishing to repel the Sitra Achra and correct the Malchut into being worthy of a Zivug with Zeir Anpin, an obstacle must be placed before the Sitra Achra, as it is written, “I will put hooks in your cheeks.” That is, first it is given a grip unto Kedusha [holiness], and by that it is later failed completely.
This is the meaning of what is written, “I have washed My feet from that filth,” when I was being corrected and made ready for you, meaning when Malchut was corrected into being fit for a Zivug. “I moved the other side, the impure one, from before My feet,” by first giving it a grip unto Kedusha, by which He later failed him and removed him completely. “Now, how shall I put that filth back on, covering the Temple,” should she drift away from Him again, and I will have to correct it once again. Thus, I will have to give the Sitra Achra a grip on the Temple once again in order to fail it, since that prior gripping is considered the dirtying of the feet.
As an Apple Tree among the Trees of the Wood
Aharei Mot [After the Death]
317) “As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men.” How fond is the Creator of the Assembly of Israel, for she praises Him with this verse. And why does she praise Him with an apple and not with something else, or with something that has color or fragrance or flavor?
318) Because it writes an apple, it follows that she praises Him with everything: colors, fragrance, and flavor. This is so because as an apple is a cure for everything, the Creator is the cure for everything. As the apple is colorful, for there are white, red, and green in it, the Creator has the upper colors, Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, which are white, red, and green. As an apple has a finer scent than all other trees, the Creator smells like the Lebanon. As an apple is tasty and sweet, the Creator is sweet to the palate.
Good and Evil
Tetzaveh [Command]
86) Moreover, words of Torah settle in only there, since there is no light except for that which comes out of that darkness. This is so because when that side surrenders, the Creator rises above and His glory grows. Also, the work of the Creator is only out of darkness, and there is no good except from within the bad. And when one enters a bad way and leaves it, the Creator rises in his glory. Hence, the perfection of everything is good and bad together, and to later depart to the good. And there is no good except for that which comes out of the bad. And in that good, the glory of the Creator increases, and this is complete work.
Nothing Is Superfluous
Aharei Mot [After the Death]
136) Ben Zoma was asked if it is permitted to castrate a dog. He replied, “Neither shall ye do thus in your land.” That is, anything that is in your land, you will not do, not even a dog, since as the world needs this, the world also needs that. This means that there is nothing superfluous in the land. This is why we learned, “And behold, it was very good” is the angel of death, who must not be revoked from the world because the world needs him. And even though it is written about the angel of death, “And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied,” it is not good that they will be revoked from the world. Everything is needed, both good and bad.
The Joy of Studying
Toldot [Generations]
57) The evil inclination is needed in the world like the rain is needed in the world. Without the evil inclination there would be no joy of studying in the world.
And Behold, It Was Very Good
Emor [Speak]
328) “And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” “And God saw all that He had made” was said generally, to include even snakes, scorpions and mosquitoes, and even those that are seen as the harm-doers of the world. About all of them, it is written, “And behold, it was very good.” They all serve the world, the leaders of the world, and people do not know.
329) While they were walking, they saw a serpent walking ahead of them. Rabbi Shimon said, “This one is going to make a miracle for us, for certain.” That serpent ran before then and was tied to an adder [extremely venomous snake] in the middle of the road. They fought each other and died. When they came to them, they saw them lying on the road. Rabbi Shimon said, “Blessed be the merciful One who made a miracle for us, for anyone who looks at that adder when it is alive—or if it looks at a person—is certain to not be saved from it, especially if it is close to him.” He called upon it, “No harm shall come to you and affliction shall not come near your tent. The Creator does His mission through everything, and we must not be contemptuous of anything that He has done. This is why it is written, ‘The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works,’ and ‘All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord.’”
Everything Is Required in the World.
Yitro [Jethro]
29) Everything that the Creator does above and below is true, and His work is true. There is nothing in the world that one should reject or despise, since they are all true works, and everything is needed in the world.
30) It is written, “If the serpent bites before being charmed.” The serpent does not bite people until it is whispered to from above. It is told, “Go and kill this or that person.”
31) Sometimes—as it does that—so it saves people from other things. Through it, the Creator works miracles to people; it all depends on the Creator; it is all the work of His hands. But the world needs them. If it did not need them, the Creator would not make them. Hence one need not be contemptuous toward things in the world, and certainly not toward the words and deeds of the Creator.
32) “And God saw all that He had done, and behold, it was very good.” “And God saw” is the living God, Bina. “Saw” means that He looked, to illuminate for them and to watch over them. “All that He had done” means it is all included as one, above and below. “And behold, it was very good” is the right side. “Very” is the left side, “Good” is the angel of life. “Very” is the angel of death, and it is all one matter for those who observe the wisdom.
Days of the Messiah
Children of Ishmael
VaEra [And I Appeared]
201) Four hundred years, the appointee of the sons of Ishmael stood and asked before the Creator. He told him, “Do those who were circumcised have a part in Your name?” The Creator told him, “Yes.” He told him, “But Ishmael was circumcised, why has he no share in you like Isaac?” He replied, “One was circumcised properly and with his corrections, and the other was not. Moreover, they adhere to Me properly for eight days, and the others are as far as several days away from Me.” The appointed minister told him, “And yet, since he was circumcised, will he not have a good reward for it?”
202) Woe unto that time when Ishmael was born in the world and was circumcised. What did the Creator do with regards to the complaint of Ishmael’s minister? He removed the sons of Ishmael from adhesion with the upper one and gave them a part in the holy land below, because of the circumcision in them.
203) And the children of Ishmael are destined to rule over the holy land for a long time, when it is empty of everything, as their circumcision is empty without perfection. And they will detain the children of Israel from returning to their places until the merit of the sons of Ishmael is complemented.
204) And the children of Ishmael are destined to evoke great wars in the world. And the children of Edom will gather against them and will wage war on them—one at sea, one on land, and one near Jerusalem. And they will rule over each other but the holy land will not be given to the children of Edom.
205) At that time, a nation will awaken against evil Rome from the end of the world and will wage war against it for three months. Nations will gather there and will fall into their hands until all the children of Edom gather to it from all corners of the world.
Then the Creator will awaken upon them, as it is written, “For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah.” And what does it say afterwards? “That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,” and obliterate the children of Ishmael from the land and break all the forces above, and no force will remain above over the nations of the world, which is Israel, except the force of Israel, as it is written, “The Lord is your shade upon your right hand.”
206) Because the Holy Name is in the right, and the Torah is in the right, everything depends on the right, and we must raise the right above the left, as it is written, “At His right hand was a fiery law.” And in the future, “Save with Your right hand and answer me,” “For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent,” and it is written, “In that day shall the Lord be One, and His name One.”
The Coming of the Messiah
Shemot [Exodus]
96) Rabbi Shimon raised his hands and wept. He said, “Woe unto he who will be at that time, and happy is he who will be and can be present at that time.” “Woe unto he who will be at that time” because when the Creator comes to visit the deer, meaning Divinity, He will look to see who are the ones that are standing with her, He will observe all the deeds of each and every one of those who are with her, and no righteous shall be found. It is written about that, “And I looked, and there was none to help.” At that time, many troubles will come over Israel.
97) “Happy is he who will be and will be present at that time.” This is because one who is in faith at that time will be rewarded with that light of the King’s joy. It is written about that time, “And [I] will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried.”
98) After these troubles awaken upon Israel, all the nations and their kings will seek counsel together against them. They will awaken several evil sentences, unite against them, and trouble after trouble will come, and the last makes the first forgotten. Then the pillar of fire that stands from above downwards will be seen for forty days and all the nations in the world will see it.
99) At that time, the Messiah King will awaken to come out of the Garden of Eden, from the place called “the bird’s nest,” and will appear in the land of the Galilee. And on the day when the Messiah goes out there, the whole world will be angered and all the people in the world will hide in caves and in crevices in stones and they will not know how to be saved. It is written about that time, “And men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake mightily the earth.”
100) “Before the terror of the Lord” is the angering of the whole world. “And from the glory of His majesty” is the Messiah. “When He arises to shake mightily the earth” is when the Messiah rises and will appear in the land of the Galilee, since this is the first place that was ruined in the Holy Land by Assyria. For this reason, he will appear there before all other places, and from there he will evoke wars upon the entire world.
101) After forty days, when the pillar rises from earth to heaven in the eyes of the whole world and the Messiah has appeared, a star will rise up on the east, blazing in all colors, and seven other stars will surround that star. And they will wage war on it from all sides, three times a day for seventy days, and all the people in the world will see.
102) And that star will make war with them with torches of blazing fire, sparkling in every direction, and it will strike them until it swallows them every single night. And at daytime, it lets them out again. They will make the war before the whole world repeatedly for seventy days. After seventy days, that star will be hidden and the Messiah will be hidden for twelve months, the pillar of fire will return as before, the Messiah will be hidden in it, and that pillar will not be seen.
103) After twelve months, the Messiah will be raised inside that pillar into the firmament, where he will receive strength and the crown of kingship. And when he descends to the earth, that pillar of fire will be seen again as before, in the eyes of the whole world. Afterwards, the Messiah will appear and many nations will gather unto him, and he will make wars throughout the world. At that time, the Creator will awaken all the peoples of the world with His might, the Messiah King will be known throughout the world, and all the kings in the world will awaken and unite to wage war against him.
104) Several rulers in Israel will revert and return to the gentiles and will come with them to wage war against the Messiah King. Then, the whole world will darken for fifteen days and many from the people of Israel will die in that darkness. This is why it is written, “For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth.”
The Messiah King—the Nukva
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
589) The Messiah King will be called “poor” because he has nothing of his own, for he is the Nukva de ZA, and she is called “the Messiah King.” However, this is the holy moon above, Nukva de ZA, who has no light of her own, except what she receives from the sun, ZA. This is why she is considered poor.
590) The Messiah King, the Nukva, will reign in His dominion, will unite in His place above. And then, as it is written, “Your king shall come to you,” precisely “King,” since he contains the Nukva above and the Messiah King below.
If below, he is poor, the moon, the upper Nukva, since it is discerned as the moon, which is the upper Nukva, since the Messiah King below extends from the Nukva and is therefore called, “poor,” like her. And if above, which is the Nukva herself, she is poor, since she is a mirror that does not shine by itself, but from ZA. For this reason, she is called, “bread of affliction.” Yet, the Messiah is riding on a donkey and a foal, the stronghold of the idol worshipping nations, to subdue them under him. And the Creator, the Nukva, will strengthen in His place above, for the words, “Your king shall come to you” contain them both.
Signs of the Messiah
VaYera [The Lord Appeared]
476) “Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob.” Why is Jacob spelled with a Vav [in Hebrew] when they are absent from the exile, in the Vav, in the sixth millennium, it implies that Jacob, the children of Israel, will be redeemed in the Vav.
477) The commandment concerning the Vav is six and a half minutes. And at the sixtieth year to the bar of the door, in the sixth millennium—the Vav, Tifferet, is the middle bar that bolts inside the boards from one end to the other, hence its name, “the door-bolt,”—the God of heaven will raise a count for the daughter of Jacob. And it will take six and a half years from that time until she has remembering. This is the length of time of the count. And from that time, it will take six other years, which is the length of time of remembering, and they are seventy-two and a half years.
This is so because each illumination appears in Katnut and in Gadlut. It begins in Katnut—VAK, which shines only from below upwards—female light, and this is the time of the count. Subsequently, the Gadlut appears, light of GAR, which shines from above downwards. This revelation is called, “remembering,” “male light.”
Your indication is that the female’s face turns upwards, and the male’s face turns downwards. This is why the birth of Isaac begins with the words, “Then the Lord took note of Sarah,” which is female light, called “counting,” when she was still unfit for delivery, until the remembering was extended to her. This is why it is written a second time, “And the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised,” which is the remembering. This is so because it mentions action here, and action is considered male, since there is no action in female light because a woman is the ground of the world.
Also, in the future redemption, when the Vav raises the Hey in the complete and great light, as it is written, “And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun,” the count of this great light will appear first, and then the remembering. The count, which extends in the form of Vav, will shine for only six minutes, HGT NHY, which shine in her by mingling with the male while with respect to herself she has only half a time, meaning half the Malchut, called, “time,” that is, only from the Chazeh up in her, and not from the Chazeh down. This is so because she is still in the form of counting, which is female light, which does not shine from above downwards; hence, half a moment is missing in her, meaning from the Chazeh down.
And for this reason, the years of the count will be six and a half years, from sixty years to sixty-five and a half. Then the light of remembering, the male light, will appear from the Vav, and then the Messiah King will appear, which is male and Vav, and his illumination will last six other years.
478) In sixty-six years will the Messiah King be revealed in the land of the Galilee, and it is the Messiah Son of Joseph. Hence, the place of his revelation is the Galilee, the lot of Joseph. And when a star on the east will swallow seven stars on the north, and a blaze of black fire will be hanging in the firmament for sixty days, wars will awaken in the world on the north side, and two kings will fall in these wars. And all the peoples will come together over the daughter of Jacob, to repel her from the world. It is written about that time, “it is a time of trouble unto Jacob, but he will be saved from it.” At that time, all the souls will perish from the body and will need to return and be renewed. And your sign is, “All the souls belonging to Jacob that came into Egypt,” all sixty six souls.
This is so because prior to the complete redemption, there were redemptions from Egypt and from Babylon by the force of the lights and Kelim de Ima [vessels of Ima]. But Malchut herself had had no redemption yet, in and of herself. This is the rainbow, in which only three colors shine—white, red, and green—while her black color does not shine, since Malchut has nothing of her own. Instead, she needs to receive from ZA, her husband, who gives her from the lights and Kelim de Ima. But complete redemption means that Malchut herself will be built with her own Kelim and lights, and will no longer need to receive the lights and Kelim de Ima from ZA, as it is written, “And the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun.”
As in Malchut’s previous redemptions, Malchut is built in three lines, and then she herself is built—the vessel of reception of the three lines. Similarly, in the future redemption, the light of redemption must correct the Malchut one at a time in three lines, and then her own self, which receives from three lines. Subsequently, she will have all the perfection suitable for the complete Zivug, which are the five discernments of correction.
This leads to an order of times:
- First correction—from sixty years to sixty-six and a half, only the right line in her will be corrected in the light of counting.
- Second correction—from sixty-six to seventy-three years, the left line in her will be corrected in the light of remembering. Hence, at that time, the Messiah Son of Joseph will appear in the land of the Galilee. All the signs at that time come from the Dinim [judgments], which apply during the illumination of the left.
- Third correction—from seventy-three years to 100 years, corrects the middle line in her, by which the Messiah Son of David will appear.
- Fourth correction—her self, to receive all that there is in the three lines, from 100 years to the end of the sixth millennium, in a Zivug of the Vav in the Hey. And all the old souls that came out since the days of the creation of the world through the end of the sixth millennium will then receive complete renewal.
- The fifth correction—the seventh millennium, when Malchut is completed in its entirety, and it will be one day for the Creator, for one Zivug for begetting new souls, which have never existed since the day of the creation of the world through the seventh millennium.
He said that on the 66th, the Messiah King will appear in the land of the Galilee, and it is the Messiah, Son of Joseph, who appears in his domain, and his time is seven years through seventy-three years. This is so because he comes to correct with the light of remembering, the half of Malchut that is still missing in the light of counting, whose time is six and a half years, since it is light of VAK. And now that the light of remembering—which is GAR—has arrived, the Messiah, Son of Joseph, appeared first, to correct the whole of the left line—seven years. This indicates that the Malchut has been completely corrected, even from the Chazeh down, since in the previous redemptions, her left line was corrected only by the force of her ascension to Ima, which received the left line of Ima. But now, her own left line will be corrected in her place below, and she no longer needs the left line of Ima.
It was said, “And one star from the east will swallow seven stars from the north.” This is so because of the four winds —HB TM—Bina is on the north and Tifferet is on the east. Remembering is the light of the Vav, Tifferet, the star on the east, which will correct the Malchut in the left line herself. Thus, by that it revokes the left side of Ima, the north side, which was in the structure of Malchut thus far. It is perceived as swallowing the seven stars of Bina within it, and the seven stars are the seven Sefirot, HGT NHYM, that are included in the left line.
It was said, “And a blaze of black fire will be hanging in the firmament for sixty days.” Dinim that come to the world by the illumination of the left are called, “a blaze of fire.” Thus far, the blaze was a red-color fire, from Bina and not from Malchut. This is because the four colors—white, red, green, and black—are HB TM, where red is Bina. But now that the Malchut has obtained lights and Kelim from her own self, and the left line extends to her in her own Kelim, which is the color black, the blaze of fire that comes by the illumination of the left is of the color black. This is why he says that a black fire will be hanging in the firmament. And the number sixty days is sixty heroes, for it is called, “illumination of the left,” where even though it is the light of GAR, it is still only GAR in VAK, where each tip consists of ten, and they are sixty. Also, days are Sefirot.
It was said, “And wars will awaken in the world on the north side, and two kings will fall in these wars.” By the force of the Dinim in the illumination of the left, wars will be extended to the world. And because the east will then swallow the north, the Dinim will stretch from the east to the north, as well. “And two kings will fall in these wars,” one from the nations of the world and one from Israel, which is the Messiah Son of Joseph.
It is written, “And all the peoples will come together, over the daughter of Jacob, to repel her from the world.” This is because after the fall of the Messiah Son of Joseph, the nations will greatly intensify and will want to repel Israel from the world, as it is written, “It is a time of trouble unto Jacob, but he will be saved from it.” This means that those Dinim and troubles will not come as punishments, but so as to afterwards become Kelim for the complete salvation. This is the meaning of, “He will be saved from it.”
It is written, “At that time, all the souls will perish from the body,” where by the Dinim and the troubles that they will suffer at that time, the power of the souls that were once in a body will be emptied, and not only the souls from that generation, but the souls from all the generations that were once in a body since the day of the creation of the world. All of them will weaken and their force will run out, until, “And will need to return and be renewed,” meaning that they will need to (and must) be renewed.
480) In seventy-three years, seven years after the disclosure of the Messiah Son of Joseph, all the kings of the world will gather in the big city, Rome, and the Creator will awaken upon them fire and hail and crystal stones, and they will perish from the world. And only those kings that did not come to Rome will remain in the world and will later return to wage other wars. At that time, the Messiah King will awaken throughout the world, and several nations and several armies will gather to him from the world over, and all the children of Israel will gather in their places.
Interpretation: Here is where the middle line is established, which is about the subjugation of the left so as to be included in the right line, as well as the right in the left. Then the degree is completed on all sides. This is the meaning of, “In seventy-three years… all the kings of the world,” all those whose strength is from the left will gather in the big city, Rome, which is the head of all the forces of the left. “And the Creator will awaken upon them… and they will perish from the world.” This is so because through the illumination of the middle line, all the Dinim [judgments] will be cancelled and the forces of the left will perish from the world. “And only those kings that did not come to Rome,” those who extend from the Klipot of the right, who did not come to Rome, which is left, “Will later return to wage other wars,” since during the fourth correction, there will be a time for the forces of the right to fight Israel, as is written below.
“At that time, the Messiah King will awaken,”—the Messiah Son of David—who extends from the middle line, and hence his time to appear has come, along with his correction. “And all the children of Israel will gather in their places,” to go to Jerusalem, for then begins the ingathering of the exiles and they will gather in their places to go to Jerusalem. But they will not go before the arrival of the fourth correction, which is the correction of the Malchut that will receive the illumination of the three lines within her. And then all of Israel will gather and come to Jerusalem.
481) Until the years were completed and came to 100 years in the sixth millennium. Then the Vav will bond with the Hey, bestowing the corrections of the three lines upon the Hey, Malchut, meaning the fourth correction. “Then they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord,” and then will be the ingathering of the exiles. And the children of Ishmael—the head of all the forces of the Klipot from the right (as is Rome with the forces of the left)—will awaken at that time along with all the peoples of the world who did not come to Rome, to come to Jerusalem for war, as it is written, “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle.” And it is also written, “The kings of the earth stand up,” and also, “He who sits in the heavens will laugh.”
482) After all the forces of the Sitra Achra on the right and on the left are gone, the small Vav will awaken, Yesod de ZA, to unite with the Hey and to renew the old souls, meaning all those who were in a body since the time of the creation of the world until then, so as to renew the world, Malchut, as it is written, “Let the Lord rejoice in His works.” It is also written, “May the glory of the Lord endure forever,” so the Hey will properly bond with the Vav, as it should be. “Let the Lord rejoice in His works,” to bring down His deeds, which are the renewed souls to the world, so they will all be new creations and all the worlds will unite as one.
483) Happy are all those who will remain in the world at the end of the sixth millennium, to enter the Sabbath, which is the seventh millennium. This is because then it is one day, for the Lord alone, to properly mate with the Hey and to assemble new souls to bestow upon the world, meaning souls that have never been to the world. They will be in the world along with the old souls that remained from the beginning and were renewed, as it is written, “And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remains in Jerusalem shall be called ‘holy,’ even every one that is written unto life in Jerusalem.”
The Secrets of the Torah are Revealed in the Days of the Messiah
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
387) After Moses died, it is written, “And this people will rise up, and go astray.” Woe unto the world when Rabbi Shimon departs it, when the fountains of wisdom are blocked in the world and a man seeks a word of wisdom, but none shall be found to speak. And the whole world will be erring in the Torah and there will be no one to evoke in the wisdom.
It is written about that time, “And if the whole congregation of Israel shall err,” meaning if they err in the Torah and do not know her ways and what they are because “and the matter is hidden from the eyes of the assembly,” meaning that there is none who knows how to reveal the depth of the Torah and her ways, woe unto those generations that will be in the world at that time.
388) At the time of the Messiah, the Creator will reveal profound secrets in the Torah, “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” It is written, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.”
The Appearance of the Wisdom to All the Nations
VaYera [The Lord Appeared]
460) When it is near the days of the Messiah, even infants in the world will find the secrets of the wisdom and know the ends and calculations of redemption in it. And at that time, it will be revealed to all. This is the meaning of the verse, “For then will I turn to the peoples.” What is “Then”? It is the time when the Assembly of Israel rises from the dust. When the Creator raises her, “Then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him shoulder to shoulder.”
Exodus from Egypt
As a Lily among Thorns
Ki Tissa [When You Take]
31) “As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.” The Creator wished to make Israel similar to what is above, so there would be one lily in the earth that is like the lily above, Malchut. And the fragrant lily, better than all the lilies in the world is only one who has grown among the thorns. This one smells as it should. Hence, He sowed seventy pairs, which are seventy souls, and brought them among the thorns, the Egyptians. And as soon as these thorns came, those pairs out there grew branches and leaves and dominated the world. Then the lily blossomed among them.
32) Since the Creator wished to take out the lily from among them, the thorns dried out and were thrown away and were corrupted until they were regarded as nothing. When He went to collect the lily, to bring out his firstborn son, the King went within several armies, ministers, and rulers with waved banners. He took out his firstborn son with several mighty ones and brought him to His palace to sit in the King’s house, as it should be.
Open for Me, My Sister, My Wife
Emor [Speak]
128) “I am asleep but my heart is awake; A sound, my beloved is knocking.” The assembly of Israel said, “I sleep in the exile in Egypt.” This is because the exile was due to the domination of the left over the right, and the Mochin of Malchut, which are sleep,move away from the Dinim of the left. My sons were in harsh enslavement, and my heart is awake so as to keep them so they will not perish in the exile. “A sound, my beloved is knocking” is the Creator, who said, “And I have remembered My covenant.”
129) Open for me an opening like the tip of a needle, and I will open the high gates for you. Open for me, my sister, because the door for my entrance is in you. My sons can enter only in you. If you do not open your door, then I am locked; I will not be found. Hence, “Open for me.” Certainly, open for me. This is why when David wished to come into the King, he said, “Open to me the gates of righteousness… This is the gate of the Lord.” The gates of righteousness is Malchut; it is the way to enter the King. “This is the gate of the Lord,” to find Him and to adhere to Him. Hence, “Open to me, my sister, my love,” to mate with you and forever be at peace with you.
For itself, ZA is in Hassadim covered from Hochma. And Malchut in and of herself is in Hochma without Hassadim. She is called “night” because Hochma does not shine without Hassadim. Hence, there is complete abundance for the redemption of Israel only through Zivug of ZA and Malchut. This is because then the Hassadim of ZA are mingled with the Hochma of Malchut, and Israel receive the complete abundance from GAR.
Unleavened Bread and Matza
Tetzaveh [Command]
74) It is like a king who had an only son, who was sickened. One day, he wished to eat. They said, “Let the king’s son eat this medicine, and before he eats it, let no other food be in the house.” And so they did. When he ate that medicine he said, “Henceforth, let him eat whatever he chooses; it will not be able to harm him.”
75) Similarly, when Israel came out of Egypt, they did not know the meaning and the foundation of the faith. The Creator said, “Let Israel taste the cure, and as long as they eat that medicine let no other food be seen by them,” meaning leaven. When they ate the Matza, which is the medicine to come and to know the meaning of faith, which is Malchut, the Creator said, “Henceforth, they are fit for leaven. Let them eat it for it can no longer harm them.” And on the day of Shavuot, the high bread of ZA was found, meaning complete healing.
76) This is why leaven is offered, meaning the evil inclination, to be burnt at the altar through the sacrifices that are offered at the altar, and the two other breads are offered by waving them together. Two other breads means besides the sacrifices. The leaven, the evil inclination, is burned in the fire of the altar through the sacrifices and cannot rule and harm Israel. This is why the holy Israel adhere to the Creator on this day with the healing of the Torah
The Crossing of the Red Sea and the Doe that Must Give Birth
BeShalach [When Pharaoh Sent]
178) When Israel camped by the sea they saw several multitudes, several soldiers, and several camps above and below, and they all gathered over Israel. In their plight, Israel began to pray.
179) At that time, Israel saw adversity on all sides. The sea with its mounting waves was before them, behind them were all the appointees, all the camps of Egypt, and above them were several slanderers. They began to cry out to the Creator.
182) There is a doe [female deer] in the land and the Creator does a lot for her. When she cries out, the Creator hears her plight and accepts her voice. And when the world needs mercy for water, she makes a sound and the Creator hears her voice, and then the Creator has mercy over the world, as it is written, “As the deer craves for the water brooks.”
183) And when she needs to deliver, she is blocked from all sides. She places her head between her knees and cries out in a loud voice. Then the Creator has pity on her and sends her a serpent who bites her pudendum and opens her, tearing that place in her, and delivers her immediately. In this, do not ask or try the Creator.
The Commandment of Telling the Story of the Exodus from Egypt
Bo [Come unto Pharaoh]
179) The commandment that follows is to speak in the praise of the exodus from Egypt, which is mandatory for man for all time. Every man who tells the story of the exodus from Egypt and delights in that story will rejoice with Divinity (which is joy from all sides) in the next world. This is a man who is delighted with his master, and the Creator is delighted with that story of his.
180) When the Creator brings his company together and tells them, “Go and listen to the story of My praise, which my children tell, and rejoice in My redemption,” they all come and gather and bond with Israel, and listen to the story of the praise, that they are happy with the delight of redemption from their master, and come and thank the Creator for these miracles and mighty deeds, and thank Him for the holy nation that He has in the land. And they are happy with the joy of redemption of their Lord.
181) Then more power and might is added to him above. And with that story, Israel give strength to their Master, like a king who is given further power and might when his strength is praised and he is thanked, and all fear him and his honor rises above all. For this reason, this story and praise must be told. Similarly, man must always speak before the Creator and publicize the miracle with all those miracles that He had done.
182) But why is it a must to speak of the miracles? After all, the Creator knows everything—what came before and what will come after. So why the publication before Him of what He had done and knew? Indeed, man must make the miracle known and speak before Him of all that He had done because these words rise and the whole of the household of above gathers and sees them and thanks the Creator, and His honor rises in their eyes above and below.
The Destined Redemption
Ki Tazria [When a Woman Delivers]
186) “As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, I will show you miracles.” The Creator is destined to show redemption to His sons, such as in the days when the Creator sent to deliver Israel from Egypt. And He showed these plagues on the Egyptians and struck them for Israel.
What is the difference between the redemption at the end of days and the redemption from Egypt? The redemption from Egypt was in one king and in one kingdom, while here it is in all the kings in the world. At that time, the Creator will be honored throughout the world and everyone will know the reign of the Creator, and everyone will be struck by blows from above, twice for one, since they will all refuse to let Israel go.
187) Then will the reign of the Creator appear, as it is written, “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.” And then the nations will volunteer to bring Israel to the Creator, as it is written, “And they shall bring all your brothers.” Then the patriarchs will be revived in joy to see the redemption of their sons as in the beginning, as it is written, “As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, I will show you miracles.”
The Evil Inclination and the Good Inclination
At first, the Evil Inclination Is like a Guest
VaEtchanan [And I Pleaded]
150) What is the evil inclination similar to? When it comes to bond with a person, it is as iron before it is placed in fire. After it is heated, it is brought back entirely like fire.
151) When the evil inclination comes to bind with a person, it is like a person who sees the opening and sees that there is no one to stop him. He enters the house and becomes a guest there, and he sees that there is no one to stop him from leaving there to go on his way. Since he entered the house and there was no one to stop him, he became appointed over the house and became the landlord of the house, until he finds that the whole of the house is in his possession.
How the Evil Inclination Seduces a Person
VaYera [The Lord Appeared]
339) It is written that the leech has two daughters, Hav, Hav [give, give]. Those are the two daughters of the evil inclination, who evoke the evil inclination to rule over the body. One is a soul that always grows in the body, and one is a soul that craves evil lusts and all the ill desires in this world. This is the senior one, and the first one is the younger one.
340) The evil inclination bonds only to those two souls, to seduce people so they believe in him and he will lead them to a place where they throw arrows of death at them that pierce them, as it is written, “Until an arrow pierces through his liver.”
341) It is similar to robbers who rob in the mountains and hide themselves in a terrible place in the mountains, and know that people avoid going to those places. What did they do? They fled from them. He who is wittier than all, who knows how to seduce people, who departed them and sat on the right path, where all the people in the world go—once he comes to the people of the world he begins to connect with them there until he lures them into his net. He brings them to a terrible place where there are robbers who kill them. Such is the way of the evil inclination: it lures the people in the world until they believe it and then brings them to a place of death-arrows.
Coping with the Evil Inclination
Miketz [At the End]
195) One should always anger the good inclination over the evil inclination and exert after it. If it parts with him, good. If not, let him engage in Torah, since nothing breaks the evil inclination except the Torah. If it leaves, good. If not, let him remind it of the day of death, to break it.
196) We should observe here. After all, this is the evil inclination, the angel of death. Will the angel of death break before the day of death? He kills people, which means that his joy is to put people to death which is why he always fools them, to lure them toward death.
197) Indeed, one should remind him of the day of death to break the heart of man, for the evil inclination is present only in a place where there is joy of wine and pride. And when man’s spirit is broken, it parts with him and is not over him. This is why one should remind it of the day of death, so his body will break and it will depart.
198) The good inclination needs the joy of Torah, and the evil inclination needs the joy of wine, adultery, and pride. This is why man needs to always anger it from that great day, judgment day, the day of account, when all that protects a person are the good deeds that he does in this world so they will protect him at that time.
Two Angels
Ve’Eleh Toldot Itzhak [These Are the Generations of Isaac]
170) “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies be at peace with him.” There are two angels for a person, emissaries from above to unite with him, one to the right and one to the left. And they testify to a person, and they are present in everything he does. Their names are “the good inclination” and “the evil inclination.”
171) When a man comes to be purified and to exert in the Mitzvot of the Torah, that good inclination that has become connected to him has already prevailed over the evil inclination and reconciled with it, and the evil inclination has become a servant to the good inclination. And when a person comes to be defiled, that evil inclination intensifies and overcomes the good inclination.
When that person comes to be purified, he needs to overcome several intensifications. And when the good inclination prevails, his enemies, too, make peace with him, since the evil inclination, which is his enemy, surrenders before the good inclination. When a person goes by the Mitzvot of the Torah, his enemies make peace with him, meaning the evil inclination and all who come from his side make peace with him.
With All Your Heart
Teruma [Donation]
668) The love of the Creator, when a person loves Him, he awakens only from the heart, since the heart is the place of the awakening, to evoke love toward Him…
669) “With all your heart [with a double Bet in “heart” in Hebrew],” that is, with two hearts, which are two inclinations, the good inclination and the evil inclination. Each is called “a heart”—one is called “a good heart” and the other is called “a bad heart.” This is why it was said “With all your heart,” and does not say “With all your heart [with a single Bet],” for it implies two, which are the good inclination and the evil inclination.
671) The evil inclination, how can one love the Creator with it? After all, the evil inclination slanders so one will not approach the work of the Creator, so how can one love the Creator with it? However, the work of the Creator is more important when this evil inclination surrenders to Him and the person breaks it. This is the love of the Creator, for one knows how to bring the evil inclination into the work of the Creator.
672) This is the secret for those who know the Din [judgment]: Anything that the Creator does above and below is only to show His glory, and everything is to serve Him. And anyone who has seen a slave slandering his master becomes a slanderer so as to not do his master’s will in anything that is his master’s will. The Creator’s will is for people to always serve Him and to walk by the path of truth, to reward them with great good. And since this is the Creator’s will, how can a bad servant come and slander his master’s will, deflecting people toward the bad path and deviating them from the good path, making them not do their master’s will and deflecting people to the bad path?
673) Indeed, he certainly does his master’s will. It is like a king who had an only son, whom he loved dearly. For his love, he commanded him to stay away from an evil woman because anyone who comes near her is unworthy of entering the king’s palace. That son promised to do his father’s will with love.
675) And at the king’s house, on the outside, there was a harlot—beautiful to look at and beautiful in form. One day, the king said, “I wish to see my son’s desire toward me.” He summoned that harlot and told her, “Go seduce my son, to see his desire toward me.” The harlot followed the king’s son and began to embrace him and kiss him and seduce him with all sorts of seductions. If that son is decent and keeps his father’s commandment, he rebukes her, does not listen to her, and repels her from him. Then his father is happy with his son and brings him into his palace, giving gifts and presents and great honor. And who caused all that good to that son? It is that harlot.
675) Does that harlot get any praise for all that or not? Of course she is praised in every way: 1) For having done as the king commanded; 2) for having caused all that good to that son, all that love of the king toward him. This is why it is written, “And behold, it was very good.” “It was good” is the angel of life. “Very” is the angel of death, who is the evil inclination, who is certainly very good for one who keeps his master’s commandment. Were it not for that slanderer, the righteous would not have inherited those high treasures that they are destined to inherit in the next world.
A Tall Mountain or a Hair’s Breadth
VaYeshev [And Jacob Sat]
240) In the future, the righteous will see the evil inclination as a tall mountain. They will wonder and say, “How could we have conquered such a tall mountain?” Also in the future, the wicked will see the evil inclination as thin as a hair’s breadth. And they will wonder and say, “How could we not conquer this hair’s breadth thread?” These cry and those cry, and the Creator will uproot them from the world and He will slaughter them before their eyes, and it will no longer govern the world. Then the righteous will see and rejoice, as it is written, “Only the righteous will give thanks to Your name.”
Riding the Donkey
Pinhas
485) The Yod of Shadai is the letter of the covenant, a ring from a chain on the demon’s neck, meaning the evil inclination. This is so because Shadai has the letters of Shad and Yod [Shed means demon in Hebrew]. who will not harm a person. David said about him, “Deliver my soul from the sword, my only one from the dog,” since the evil inclination is a serpent, a dog, a lion. David said about it, “He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair,” and the prophet called it “a bear,” as it is written, “He is to me like a bear lying in wait, a lion in secret places.” It is compared to beasts, compared to all the prey animals, and it is compared to every person, to the extent of his iniquities, for according to the iniquity is one named “Lion” or “Bear,” etc..
486) The evil inclination is a God, a serpent, and a braying donkey on which the soul is placed. As soon as it is known that that rider upon it is wicked, it is written about it, “And his rider falls backward,” for one who falls off it shall fall. This is why Job said, “I am not inferior to you [in Hebrew, Noffel means both “inferior” and “fallen.”],” and the righteous who rides it ties it with a knot of the strap of the Tefillin, the token of the Tefillin, the Yod of Shadai, the ring on its neck. The Shin of the Tefillin is the chain on its neck.
487) Elijah rose with it to the heaven, as it is written, “And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.” In it, “The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,” and this is why they said about it, “Who is a hero? He who conquers his inclination.” Some become a donkey to it, not afflicting its rider, and they are the ones who exert in all the more so. This is why it was said regarding Abraham, “And saddled his donkey,” and this is why it was said about the Messiah, “A poor one, riding a donkey.”
This is so because the evil inclination receives its strength to harm and to deflect people from the left line. Through his times, the wicked increases the power of the left over the right, by which he falls into the authority of the evil inclination, which is called by many names, according to the substance of man’s sin. And one is called by the kind of iniquity that makes a person sin. The Yod of Shadai, the token of the covenant, is the middle line, in which there is the Masach de Hirik that diminishes the GAR of the left, which are the whole power of the evil inclination. And a righteous who guards the covenant ties it so it cannot make one sin. This is similar to one who drops a ring off a chain on one’s neck and governs it. Also, the Shin [ש] of Tefillin indicates three lines.
The evil inclination is given to every person to conquer it and to ride it. If one conquers it, all the perfection comes through the evil inclination, as it is written, “With all your heart,” meaning with both your inclinations, the good inclination and the evil inclination. It follows that if one is rewarded and rides over the evil inclination, he is rewarded. The whirlwind is the evil inclination, which he conquered and rode and was rewarded with rising up to heaven.
It is also written, “And the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind,” since he was rewarded with conquering the whirlwind. It is also written, “Who is a hero? He who conquers his inclination,” for if he conquers it, he is rewarded with the entire perfection. To one who is rewarded with conquering it partially, the evil inclination becomes a donkey on which to ride, and the evil inclination never afflicts him again, for he keeps the light Mitzvot [commandments] as well as the serious ones, and then the evil inclination becomes a donkey to them, for Homer [matter/substance] has the letters of Hamor [donkey]. It is as written about Abraham, “And he saddled his donkey,” a poor man riding a donkey, for they have been rewarded with conquering the evil inclination until it became a donkey for them to ride, to bring them to the perfection.
Fear
Fear—the First Commandment
Introduction of The Book of Zohar
189) “In the beginning God created.” This is the first Mitzva (commandment). This Mitzva is called “fear of the Creator,” called Resheet (beginning), as it is written, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Fear of the Creator is the beginning of knowledge because this fear is called “beginning.” And this is the gate that leads to faith. And the whole world exists on this Mitzva…
190) Fear is interpreted by three discernments, two of which have no proper root, and one is the root of fear. There is a man who fears the Creator so that his children may live and not die, or fears bodily punishment or punishment through money, hence he always fears Him. It follows that the fear he fears the Creator is not placed as the root because his own benefit is the root, and the fear is a result of it.
And there is a person who fears the Creator because he is afraid of a punishment in that world, and the punishment of Hell. These two fears—the fear of punishment in this world and in the next world—are not the essence of the fear and its root.
191) The real fear is when one fears one’s Master because He is great and ruling, the essence and the root of all the worlds, and all else is nothing compared to Him.
The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation; Whom Shall I Fear?
BaMidbar [In the Desert]
39) “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” Since Adam gazed in the upper light and the Creator shone upon him, he fears neither upper ones nor lower ones, as it is written, “But upon thee the Lord will arise, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.” “The Lord is the stronghold of my life.” When the Creator holds a person, he does not fear all the litigants in the world.
Jerusalem
No Torah, No Jerusalem
VaYetze [Jacob Went Out]
85) Rabbi Hiya and Rabbi Hizkiyah were sitting under the trees of the field of his strength. Rabbi Hiya dozed, and saw Elijah. Rabbi Hiya said to Elijah, “From my lord’s proof of the way, the field—which is the Nukva—shines.” Elijah said, “I have come to you now, to alert you that Jerusalem is nearing destruction, and all the cities of the sages along with it,” since Jerusalem, the Nukva, is Din [judgment]. It stands on Din and is ruined over the Din in it. And Sam’el has already been given permission over her and over the heroes of the world.
As long as the Torah awakens from below, when people engage in it, the tree of life will not depart Jerusalem above. The Torah below has stopped, since people have stopped engaging in it, in the tree of life, ZA, the tree of life from the world, the Nukva, which is called, “world,” as well as “Jerusalem.” And we must not say that this refers to the Jerusalem below, for the sages were many years after the ruin of Jerusalem.
86) Hence, as long as the sages rejoice in the practice of Torah, Sam’el cannot prevail over them, for it is written, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” This is the upper Torah, ZA, called, “the voice of Jacob,” and while the voice does not stop, the speech rules and triumphs. Hence, the Torah must not be stopped.
87) One who leans to the left destroys the Nukva, since it is written, “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” Those who engage in Torah, who cling to the middle line, called “Torah,” the holy city, Nukva, stands over them. At that time, HaVaYaH, which is the middle pillar, guards the city, and not the strong people of the world, meaning those who cling to the left. This is why it is written, “Unless the Lord,” the middle line, “guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain,” for it will finally be ruined.
Be Joyful with Jerusalem
Bamidbar [In the Desert]
21) “Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her.” How favored is the Torah by the Creator because wherever words of Torah are heard, the Creator and all His armies listen to His words. And the Creator comes to dwell with him, as it is written, “In every place where I cause My name to be mentioned.” Moreover, those who hate Him fall before him.
23) “Be joyful with Jerusalem,” since there is joy only when Israel are in the holy land, where a woman connects with her husband, ZA and Malchut. Then it is the joy of everyone, a joy above and below. And when Israel are not in the holy land, one is forbidden to rejoice and to display joy, as it is written, “Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her.” Rejoice for her, when Israel are in her.
26) “For you shall go out with joy.” This is the assembly of Israel. As long as she is in exile and lies in the dust, she is not called “joy,” until the Creator comes to her and raises her from the dust, and says, “Shake thyself from the dust; arise,” shine and they will bond together. Then she is called “joy,” the joy of everyone. And then, “For you shall go out with joy.” Then several armies will go out to welcome the mistress for the joy of the King’s meal.
Walls and Gates
Bo [Come unto Pharaoh]
126) The Creator made Jerusalem below, Malchut, such as Jerusalem above, Bina. And He had made the walls of the holy city and its gates. One who comes does not enter until the gates are opened to him, and one who climbs does not rise until the steps to the walls are fixed.
Who can open the gates of the holy city, and who fixes the high steps? It is Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai. He opens the gates to the secrets of the wisdom, and he fixes the high degrees. It is written, “All your males shall appear before the face of the Lord God.” Who is, “the face of the Lord God”? It is Rashbi.
Zion
Aharei Mot [After the Death]
175) When the Creator wished to create the lower world, He made it entirely as above. He made Jerusalem the middle of the whole of the earth, and a place on top of it, called Zion, Yesod, and from this place, she is blessed. From this place, Zion, the world began to be built and from it, it was built, as it is written, “God, the Lord, has spoken, and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.” God appeared from Zion, from the inclusive beauty. God appeared from Zion, who is the perfection of the beauty of the world. Jerusalem, Malchut, was blessed only out of Zion, who is Yesod, and Zion was blessed from above, who is Zeir Anpin. All is tied to one another, Zeir Anpin and Malchut to one another, united by Zion.
Jerusalem of Above and of Below
Chayei Sarah [The Life of Sarah]
113) The whole of the land of Israel is folded under Jerusalem, which is the Malchut. And she is above and below. Thus, there is Jerusalem above, which is Bina, and there is Jerusalem below, which is Malchut, for she is gripped above and she is gripped below. Jerusalem above is gripped by two sides—above and below. And Jerusalem below is gripped by two sides—above and below. This is why she is twofold.
Jerusalem above is Bina and Jerusalem below is Malchut. It is known that the association of the quality of Rachamim in Din means that they were mingled in one another. And four discernments emerged out of this mingling— Bina, Malchut in Bina, Bina, and Malchut in Malchut. It turns out that the quality of Malchut is twofold, since there is Malchut in Bina and there is Malchut in Malchut.
Israel and the Nations
The Creator Offered the Torah to Everyone
Balak
140) “The Lord came from Sinai” is as it is written, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud.” “[He] came from Sinai” and appeared to them, “And dawned on them from Seir,” from what the children of Seir said, that they did not wish to receive. From that, it shone for Israel and added much light and love to them. Similarly, “He shone forth from Mount Paran,” from what the children of Paran said, that they did not wish to receive. From that, Israel were given a great addition of love and illumination.
141) By whom was He revealed to them? This is a sublime secret and will be revealed through your question. The Torah came out from a sublime secret, from the head of the hidden king, Bina. When He reached the left arm, Isaac, Gevura, the Creator saw bad blood in that arm, which was proliferating from there, who is Esau, Sam’el. And the Sitra Achra said, “I should sort out and scrutinize this arm, and if I do not shed that bad blood, it will blemish everything. Indeed, every flaw must be cleared out from here.”
142) He called to Sam’el, Esau’s minister, and told him, “Would you like to have my law?” He replied, “What is written in it?” He said, “You shall not kill.” The Creator skipped to show him the right place, He skipped to the place that He knew he would not be able to tolerate. Sam’el said, “God forbid, this law is Yours, and Yours it shall stay. I have no wish for this law.” He pleaded with Him once more and said, “Lord of the world, if you give the law to me, all of my governance will be gone, for my whole governance is by killing. If I accept the law, there will be no wars, while my governance is on planet Mars, which indicates bloodshed. Thus, everything would be cancelled from the world.”
143) “Lord of the world, do take Your law and I will have no part of it. But if it pleases You, the people that are the sons of Jacob are worthy of the law.” He thought he was slandering them. This is the meaning of “And dawned on them from Seir,” meaning that the light came out for Israel from the very Seir [scapegoat], meaning from Sam’el, Seir’s minister.
Sam’el said to himself, “If Jacob’s children accept the law, they will probably vanish from the world and will never be able to govern.” The Creator replied to him several times, “For you are the firstborn and for you should the law be given.” He told Him, “But the birthright is his, for it was sold to him and I confessed.” The Creator told him, “Since you wish to have no part in the law, move away from it entirely.” He said, “Very well.”
144) The Creator told him, “Since this is so, advise Me—how should I make Jacob’s children accept it, as you say?” Sam’el replied to Him, “Lord of the world, they must be bribed. Take some light from the light of the hosts of heaven and pour it over them. By that they will accept it. And here, I will give of my light first.” He took the light that was covering him off himself and gave it to the Creator to give it to Israel, as it is written, “And dawned on them from Seir,” actually out of Seir, who is Sam’el, of whom it is written, “The goat shall bear on itself.” “On them” means on Israel.
145) Since he uprooted this Sam’el and removed the bad blood from the left arm, Isaac, Gevura, He returned to the right arm, Abraham, Hesed. In it, too, He saw bad blood—Ishmael. He said, “This arm, too, must be cleaned from bad blood.” The Creator summoned Rahav, Ishmael’s minister, and told him, “Would you like to have My law?” Rahav replied, “What is written in it?” He skipped over everything and told him, “You shall not commit adultery.” He said, Oh dear, should the Creator inherit me with this inheritance, it is a bad inheritance that will remove all my governance from me, which is based on adultery, for I have taken the blessings of the water, the blessing of the fish of the sea, as it is written, “Be fruitful and multiply.” And it is written, “I … will make him fruitful and will multiply him,” and it is written, “And he will be a wild donkey of a man.”
146) He began to plead before his Master. He told him, “Lord of the world, two sons came out of Abraham. Here, the children of Isaac, give it to them, it is right for them.” The Creator told him, “I cannot, for you are the elder, and the law should be given to you.” He began to implore Him and said, “Lord of the world, Let my birthright be his, and that light that I have inherited for the birthright, take it and give it to them.” So did the Creator, and this is the meaning of the verse, “He shone forth from Mount Paran…”
148) When the Creator took those gifts to Israel from those ministers that rule over Esau and Ishmael, He came and called upon all the holy tens of thousands of appointees over the rest of the nations, and they, too, replied to him as did Sam’el and Rahav. He took from all of them and received gifts to give to Israel.
We Shall Do and We Shall Hear
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
315) “Bless the Lord, you His angels… hearing unto the voice of His word.” Happier are Israel than all the other nations of the world, for the Creator has chosen them from among all nations, and has made them His share and His lot. Hence, He has given them the holy Torah, since they were all in one desire at Mount Sinai and preceded doing to hearing, as they said, “We shall do and we shall hear.”
316) And since they preceded doing to hearing, the Creator called upon the angels and told them: “Thus far, you were the only ones before Me in the world. Henceforth, My children on the earth are your friends in every way. You have no permission to sanctify My name until Israel bond with you in the earth, and all of you together will join to sanctify My name, since they preceded doing to hearing, as the high angels do in the firmament,” as it is written, “Bless the Lord, you His angels … They do His word,” first. And then it is written, “Hearing the voice of His word.”
317) “Bless the Lord, you His angels” are the righteous in the land. They are as important before the Creator as the high angels in the firmament, since they are mighty and powerful, for they overcome their inclination like a hero who triumphs over his enemies. “Hearing the voice of His word” means being rewarded hearing a voice from above every day and at any time they need.
318) Who can stand with them, these high, holy ones? Happy are they for they can stand before them. Happy are those who can be saved from them. The Creator’s guidance is over them each day. How can we stand before them? This is why it is written, “Choose, and bring near, so he may dwell in Your courts,” as well as, “Happy is the man whose strength is in You.”
My Beloved Is for Me and I am for Him
Noah
108) When the moon is filled with blessings above properly, Israel alone come and suckle from her. This is why it is written, “On the eighth day you shall have an assembly.” An assembly is a collection, since no other nations suckle from everything that was collected from the upper blessings but Israel alone. This is why it is written, “You shall have an assembly,” you and not other nations, you and not other appointees.
109) For this reason, Israel appease the Creator with water that they pour on the altar, to give to the appointees of the nations a part of the blessings, so they engage in it and do not mingle with Israel’s joy when Israel suckle the upper blessings. It is written about that day, “My beloved is for me and I am for him,” that no other mingles with us.
110) There is an allegory about a king who invited his loved one to a meal that he was having on a certain day, so that the king’s loved one would know that the king favored him. The king said, “Now I wish to be happy alone with my loved one and I fear that while I am at the meal with my loved one, all those officers and appointees will come and sit with us at the table, to dine in the meal of joy along with my loved one.”
What did the lover do? He made stews of vegetables and ox meat and offered it for those officers and appointees to eat, and then the king sat with his loved one for a more sublime meal than all the delicacies in the world. And while he was alone with the king, he asked of him for all his needs, and he gave them to him, and the king rejoiced with his loved one alone, and no stranger interfered between them. So are Israel with the Creator, and this is why it is written, “On the eighth day you shall have an assembly.”
The Slanderers Love Israel Again
Emor [Speak]
273) All those offerings, the seventy oxen, are to give nourishments to the appointees of the rest of the nations, since because the Creator loves His children, He wishes for all the ministers to love them, as it is written, “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies make peace with him.” This means that even all the upper slanderers become lovers of Israel once again. And when the forces above become lovers of Israel again, it is all the more so with all of them below.
Israel’s Actions Determine Everything
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
412) Had Israel gathered good deeds before the Creator, the idol worshipping nations would never have risen against them. But Israel cause the rest of the nations to raise their heads in the world, for if Israel had not sinned before the Creator, the rest of the idol worshipping nations would have surrendered before them.
413) If Israel had not extended bad deeds to the other side in the land of Israel, the rest of the idol worshipping nations would not have ruled in the land of Israel and they would not be exiled from the land. It is written about that, “For we are very poor” because we have no good deeds as we should.
In Exile, Israel Are Nourished On the Remains of the Nations
Teruma [Donation]
485) And you shall eat and be satisfied, and you shall bless the Lord your God. How happy are Israel because the Creator favored them and brought them near Him from among all other nations. For Israel, He gives His food and satiation to the whole world. Were it not for Israel, the Creator would not have given nourishment to the world. And now that Israel are in exile, it is all the more so: the world receives sevenfold nourishment and satiation so that an extract of that will suffice for Israel.
486) When Israel were in the holy land, nourishments would come down to them from a high place, and they gave an extract to the idol-worshipping nations, and all the nations were feeding on the extract. Now that Israel are in exile, the matter has been turned around in a different way: the food comes to the nations of the world and Israel receive an extract of that.
487) There is an allegory about a king who made a meal for his household. As long as they do his will, they eat at the meal with the king and give the part of the bones for the dogs to chew on. When his household do not do the king’s will, he gives the entire meal to the dogs and the bones to his household.
488) As long as Israel do their Master’s will, they eat at the King’s table and the entire meal is prepared for them. In their joy, they give the bones, which is the extract, to the idol-worshipping nations. And as long as Israel do not do their Master’s will, they are exiled and the meal is given to the dogs, while they are given the extract, as it is written, “Thus will the sons of Israel eat their bread unclean among the nations,” for they eat the extract of their disgust, their loathsome food. Woe unto a king’s son who sits and waits for the servant’s table, that what is left of his table is food.
When Israel Fall, They Are the Worst
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
196) What is the difference between Israel and the idol worshipping nations? In Israel, when a person dies, he defiles each body and the house is defiled. And the body of an idol worshipper does not defile another, nor is his body impure when he dies.
197) When one of Israel dies, all the sanctities of his master are removed from him, the holy Tzelem [semblance] is removed from him, the holy spirit is removed from him, and his body remains impure.
198) However, an idol worshipper, a foreigner, one who performs idolatry, who is impure in every way during his life, his Tzelem is impure and his Ruach [spirit] is impure, since these impurities are within him. It is forbidden to draw near him. Once he dies, all these impurities come out of him and the body remains without impurity so as to defile.
199) And although their Guf [body] is impure both in their lives and in their death, in their lives, all the impurities within them have the power to defile others. In their death, when all the impurities come out of them, they cannot defile. And the Guf of Israel can defile others after its death, since all the sanctities have departed it and the other side is on it.
Israel’s Presence In Other Nations Strengthens It
Shemot [Exodus]
75) “And a new king arose over Egypt.” All the nations in the world and all the kings in the world were strengthened in their government only because of Israel. Egypt did not rule the whole world until Israel came and entered there in the exile. Then they overcame all the peoples in the world. Babel was stronger than all the peoples in the world only because of Israel, when they were in exile among them. Edom were stronger than all the people in the world only because of Israel, when they were in exile among them. Those peoples were in lowliness among the rest of the nations, and were lower than all of them but grew strong because of Israel.
76) Egypt were lower than all the peoples; they were actually called, “slaves” because they, the Egyptians, were the lowest of all peoples. Babylon were low, as it is written, “Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people that was not.” Edom were lowly, as it is written, “Behold, I make you small among the nations, and greatly despised.”
77) They all receive strength only because of Israel, since when Israel are in exile with them, they immediately become stronger than all other nations in the world, since Israel alone are equal to all the nations in the world.
When Israel went into the exile in Egypt, Egypt immediately rose and their government strengthened above all the nations, as it is written, “And a new king arose over Egypt.” “Arose” means that they had rising, meaning that the angel appointed over the government of Egypt was strengthened and rose and was given strength and rule over all the appointees of all the other nations.
In the beginning, that appointee above was given governance, and subsequently his people below. And because of that the writing says, “And a new king arose over Egypt.” This was their appointee, who was new because until this day he had no governance over all the other nations, and now he was raised to rule over all the peoples in the world. And then the words, “Under three things the earth quakes … Under a slave when he becomes king” come true, since the Egyptians were slaves.
The Reason for Israel’s Affliction
Pinhas
143) One day, a sage from the nations came to Rabbi Eliezer. He told him, “Old man, old man…
144) “You say that you are closer to the High King than all other nations. One who is close to the King is always happy, without sorrow, fear, or troubles. But you are always afflicted, in trouble, and in more grief than all the people in the world. We, however, no affliction, trouble, or grief come upon us at all. Thus, we are close to the High King and you are far from Him, and this is why you are having sorrow, troubles, mourning, and grief, which we do not…”
152) The question that that gentile asked him was this: We are certainly closer to the High King than all other nations. Indeed, this is so, since Israel were made by the Creator, the heart of the whole world. Hence, so are Israel among the nations, like a heart among the organs. And as the organs of the body cannot exist even a minute without the heart, all the other nations cannot exist in the world without Israel. And so is Jerusalem among the rest of the countries, like a heart among the organs. Hence, it is in the middle of the whole world, like a heart, which is in the middle of the organs.
153) Also, Israel are lead within the rest of the nations as the heart is within the organs. The heart is soft and weak, and it is the sustenance of all the organs, and all the organs do not feel any sorrow, trouble, and grief, but only the heart, in which there are sustenance and intelligence. Sorrow and grief do not come near the rest of the organs whatsoever because there is no sustenance in them, and they do not know anything. All the other organs are not close to the King, who is wisdom and intelligence that are in the brain, except the heart, while the rest of the organs are far from it and do not know of it at all. So are Israel—close to the holy King, while the rest of the nations are far from Him.
He Who Spares His Rod Hates His Son
Shemot [Exodus]
304) It is written, “He that spares his rod hates his son.” It is also written, “I have loved you, says the Lord,” and it is written, “But Esau I hated.” “I hated” is as it is written, “He that spares his rod hates his son.” I hated him, hence I spared him the rod.
The Allegory about the Queen and the Maidservants
BeShalach [When Pharaoh Sent]
151) But is it respectable for the King, ZA, that the queen, Malchut, will go and make war and go on a mission? But like a king who mated with the upper queen, the king saw her merit, that she is above all the other queens in the world. He said, “They are all considered maidservants compared to this queen of Mine; she is above all of them. What shall I do for her? My whole house shall be in her hands.”
The King sent out an announcement: Henceforth, all the words of the King will be conveyed through the queen. And the King placed all His arms in her hands, all the warriors, all the King’s gems, and all the King’s treasures. He said, “Henceforth, anyone who wishes to speak with Me will not be able to speak with Me before he notifies the queen.”
152) Thus, for the Creator’s fondness and love for the assembly of Israel, Malchut, He placed everything in her possession. He said, “Everything else is considered by her as nothing.” He said, “Sixty is Malchut, one is My dove, My undefiled. What shall I do for her? Indeed, My whole house will be in her hands.” The king sent out an announcement: Henceforth, all the words of the king will be conveyed through the queen. He placed all his arms in her hands, as it is written, “Behold, it is the bed of Solomon, sixty mighty men around it, all are wielders of swords, trained in war.”
Fear Not, You Worm of Jacob
VaYishlach [Jacob Sent]
250) The Creator placed all the idol worshipping nations in the world under appointed ministers, and they all follow their gods. All shed blood and make war, steal, commit adultery, mingle among all who act to harm, and always increase their strength to harm.
251) Israel do not have the strength and might to defeat them, except with their mouths, with prayer, like a worm, whose only strength and might is in its mouth. But with the mouth, it breaks everything, and this is why Israel are called “a worm.”
252) “Fear not, thou worm of Jacob.” No other creature in the world is like that silk-weaving worm, from which all the garments of honor come, the attire of kings. And after weaving, she seeds and dies. Afterwards, from that very seed, she is revived as before and lives again. Such are Israel. Like that worm, even when they die, they come back and live in the world as before.
253) It is also said, “as clay in the hands of the potter, so you, the house of Israel, are in My hands.” The material is that glass; even though it breaks, it is corrected and can be corrected as before. Such are Israel: even though they die, they relive.
254) Israel is the tree of life, ZA. And because the children of Israel clung to the tree of life, they will have life, and they will rise from the dust and live in the world, and they will become one nation, serving the Creator.
Life’s Purpose
Contemplating in One’s Heart
New Zohar, Beresheet [Genesis]
741) “I went down to the garden of nuts to see the buds of the valley.” See how much there is for man to contemplate and make precisions on each day, to search one’s actions, and to scrutinize all of one’s matters. One should take it to one’s heart that the Creator created him and placed a high soul within them, above the rest of His creations, only to contemplate His work and to adhere to Him, and to not follow vanity.
Hardness of the Heart
BeHaalotcha [When You Mount]
140) How hard-hearted are people, for they do not watch over the words of that world at all. The evil in the heart, which clings to all organs of the body, does that to them. “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon men.” This evil is the force of the evil in the heart that wishes to dominate the worldly matters and does not watch over the matters of that world at all.
Eyes to See and a Heart to Look After
Aharei Mot [After the Death]
30) Rabbi Shimon said, “I wonder about the people in the world: they have neither eyes to see nor hearts to observe, and they do not know and are not attentive regarding their Master’s will. They sleep and are not awakening from their slumber before that day comes when darkness and gloom cover them and the lender demands His bill of them.
31) “And the herald calls to them everyday, their soul testifies to them each day and night, and the Torah calls out loud in all directions saying, ‘Until when, you fools, will you be loving folly? Whoever is naive, let him turn in here. To him who lacks understanding she says, ‘Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine that I have mixed.’ But no one lends an ear and there is no one who awakens his heart.”
32) In the last generations that will come, the law will be forgotten from among them. Then wise at heart will gather in their places, and none will be found who will close and open the Torah. Woe unto that generation. Henceforth there will not be as this generation until the arrival of the generation of the Messiah, the knowledge awakens in the world, as it is written, “For they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.”
Upper Wisdom [Hochma]
Toldot [Generations]
189) Everything that the Creator does in the land is with wisdom, and it is all in order to teach people the upper wisdom, so they will learn the secrets of the wisdom from those deeds. And everything is as it should be, and all His deeds are the ways of the Torah, since the ways of the Torah are the ways of the Creator, and there is no small thing that does not have several ways, routes, and secrets of the upper wisdom.
Opening of the Eyes
VaEtchanan [I Pleaded]
35) The Creator is destined to open the eyes, for there has never been wisdoms that would gaze upon the upper wisdom and attain what they did not attain in this world, so they would know their Master. Happy are the righteous who are rewarded with that wisdom, for there is no wisdom like that wisdom, no knowing like that knowing, and no adhesion like that adhesion.
The Wisdom that One Should Know
New Zohar, Song of Songs
482) The wisdom that one should know: to know and to observe the secret of his Master, to know himself, to know who he is, how he was created, where he comes from and where he is going, how the body is corrected, and how he will be judged by the King of All.
483) To know and to observe the secret of the soul. What is the soul within him? Where does it come from and why does it come into this body, which is a foul drop that is here today and in the grave tomorrow? To know the world one is in, and for what the world will be corrected, to gaze upon the sublime secrets of the Upper World, and to know one’s Master. And one observes all that from within the secrets of the Torah.
484) Anyone who walks into that world without knowing the secrets of the Torah will be sent out of all the gates of that world, even if he has acquired many good deeds.
485) The soul says to the Creator, “Tell me the secrets of the sublime wisdom, how You lead and govern the Upper World; teach me the secrets of the wisdom that I have not known and not learned thus far, so I will not be shamed among those High Degrees, among which I come.”
486) The Creator replies to the soul, “If you know not, O fairest among women,” if you have come and did not gaze in the wisdom before you came here, and you do not know the secrets of the Upper World, “go thy way,” for you are not worthy of entering here without knowledge. “Go thy way by the footsteps of the flock,” reincarnate in the world and become knowing by these “footsteps of the flock.” Those are human beings that people trample with their heels, for they consider them lowly; but they are the ones who know their Master’s sublime secrets. From them will you know how to observe and to know, and from them will you learn.
487) Little children in the Temple, studying Torah by the shepherds’ tents, more than in those synagogues and seminaries where they study the Higher Wisdom. And even though they do not know, for they are children, you will know and understand from the words of wisdom that they say.
Jonah, who Went Down to the Boat
VaYikahel [And Moses Assembled]
81) Jonah, who went down to the boat, is man’s soul that comes down to this world to be in man’s body. It is called Jonah [Heb: dove] because when it partakes in one’s body, it is a dove in this world, meaning it is deceived from the body, which Me’aneh [deceives] it, as it is written, “You shall not deceive one another.” Then, a person walks in this world as a ship about to break in the great sea, as it is written, “And the ship was about to break.”
82) When a person in this world sins and thinks that he has escaped his Master because his Master is not watching over in this world, the Creator throws in a strong stormy wind, which is the sentence of the Din that always stands before the Creator, asking Him to sentence man. The stormy wind reaches the boat and reminds one’s iniquities, to capture him.
83) When one is caught by the storm in the house where he is sick, it is written, “And Jonah went below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen asleep.” Even when one is in one’s house of sickness, the soul does not awaken to repent before its Master to redeem his iniquities.
It is written, “So the captain approached him.” the captain is the good inclination that leads everything. “And he said, ‘How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your God,’” it is not the time to sleep for you are being sentenced for everything you did in this world. repent from your iniquities.
84) Observe these matters and return to your Master. “What is your occupation,” which you were doing in this world? Confess it before your Master, observe where you have come from, from a foul drop, and do not be proud before Him. “What is your country,” meaning see that you are a creature from the earth and shall return to the earth. See if you have ancestral merit to protect you.
If a Man Hides Himself in Hiding Places
Noah
194) “‘If a man hides himself in hiding places, do I not see him?’ Says the Lord…”
195) It is similar to a king who built a palace, and underneath the palace built fortified hideouts. In time, the subjects rebelled against the king and the king surrounded them with his armies. What did they do? They hid themselves in the fortified tunnels. The king said, “I made those hideouts, and they want to use them to hide from me, as it is written, ‘If a man hides himself in hiding places, do I not see him?’ Says the Lord.’ I am the one who made those fortified tunnels, and I made light and darkness. So how can you hide from Me?”
Man and Beast
Shlach Lecha [Send Forth]
21) The fools, who do not know and do not observe with wisdom, say that this world is operating on chance and the Creator is not watching over them. Rather, man’s fate and the fate of the beast are the same.
22) When Solomon looked at those fools who were saying it, he called them “beasts,” for they actually make beasts of themselves, by saying these words … cursed be the spirit of those beasts, those fools, those faithless. Woe unto them and woe unto their souls; it would be better for them had they not been born.
Redeem Every First Offspring of a Donkey to Redeem One’s Soul
Korah
42) “Every thing that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer unto the Lord, both of man and beast, shall be yours … and the firstling of unclean beasts shall you redeem.” This Mitzva [commandment] is to redeem the firstborn of a beast, to redeem himself for the next world. And if he does not redeem his Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshama in the Torah before he goes to that world, he will reincarnate into this world as before, as it is written, “He returns to the days of his youth,” receiving Nefesh, and Ruach, and Neshama.
Souls
The Soul of Adam HaRishon
VaEra [And I Appeared]
32) “And I appeared unto Abraham.” “Happy is the man for whom the Lord does not count iniquity.” How dense are people for not knowing and not observing why they are in the world. After all, when the Creator created the world, He made man in His image and established him with His corrections, to engage in Torah and to walk in His ways.
33) When Adam ha Rishon was created, he was established out of the dust of the Temple below, Malchut, which is called “dust,” but Malchut that is mitigated in Bina, called “the dust of the Temple below.” And the four directions of the world, HGTM, connected in that place, called “The Temple,” in Malchut that was mitigated in Bina. And those four directions of the world conjoined in four sides, the foundations of the world—fire, wind, water, and dust—the internality of HGTM. The four directions of the world conjoined in the four foundations of the world and the Creator established out of them a single body in the upper correction, which is Bina, in which the Malchut was mitigated in Bina. It turns out that that body was made of two worlds from this bottom world, Malchut, and from the upper world, Bina. This is the meaning of the two points that were joined together.
Past, Present and Future—At Once
Aharei Mot [After the Death]
94) “That which is has been already, and that which will be…” “That which is has been already…” Before the Creator created this world, He created worlds and destroyed them. This is the breaking of the vessels. Finally, the Creator desired to create this world, and consulted with the Torah, the middle line. Then He was corrected in His corrections, decorated in His decorations, and created this world. And then, everything that exists in this world was before Him at the time of creation, and was established before Him.
95) All the leaders of the world in every generation stand before the Creator in their forms, before they come into the world. Even all the souls of people, before they come to the world, are engraved before Him in the heaven, in the very same form they have in this world. And all that they learn in this world, they know before they come into the world. And we learned that all this is in those who are true righteous.
96) And all those who are not righteous in this world are removed from the Creator even there, above, before they come to the world. They enter the hole of the great abyss and rush to descend to the world. And their soul is as obstinate in this world as it was before it came into the world.
Also, they throw that holy part that the Creator gave them from the side of holiness and wander and roam. They are defiled in that hole of the great abyss and take their share from there, and rush to descend to the world. If one is later rewarded and repents before his Master, he takes his very own piece, the part of holiness he had thrown above, as it is written, “That which is has been already, and that which will be has already been.”
This is so because when the souls are created, while they are still above, before they come into this world under time, they are in eternity, above time, where past, present, and future apply at once, as is the nature of eternity. It follows that all the deeds that the souls will do one at a time when they come into this world already exist there all at once, as their actions in this world.
This is so because the whole of the Torah that they will learn in this world during the years of their lives already exists there. And all their bad deeds are already depicted in their souls. And as they will throw the holy part in this world, they will there, too. And if they are destined to first sin and then repent in this world, it is depicted above as all at once, as is the nature of eternity, for this, too, is already pictured there.
And there is a difference between a soul that is destined to be in a righteous and one that is destined to be in a wicked. The one that is destined for the righteous is already there in all its sanctity, and therefore has no desire to come into this world, to the filthy material body, unless by the decree of the Creator. But a soul that is destined to be in a wicked rushes to come and clothe the filthy body, for she craves filth.
The Soul Comprises the Creator and Divinity
Teruma [Donation]
590) From the day one inherits the soul, which comprises the Creator and His Divinity, from that time he is called “a son.” This is the meaning of what David said in Psalms, “I will tell of the law of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’” This applies to every person when one obtains the soul.
My Dove, My Undefiled, Is but One
Chayei Sarah [The Life of Sarah]
141) “My dove, my undefiled, is but one; she is the only one,” the Neshama [soul]. Why is it that here, in Song of Songs, we call the soul in feminine form, “My dove, my undefiled,” and there, in the Torah, we call it in masculine form, Abraham?
142) In the Torah, the soul is called by masculine form, relating to the body. This is so because with respect to the body, the soul is as a woman toward a man. Also, toward a higher degree than itself, the soul is as a female before a male. And each inherits his merit according to the matter at hand. This is why in Song of Songs, when the king that peace is his speaks of the soul, which is a higher degree than her, it is considered a female and he refers to it as a female, “My dove, my undefiled.” But the Torah speaks of the soul in and of itself; hence, it refers to it as masculine form, Abraham.
Soul and Love
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
744) Thus, the souls are higher from two sides, from ZA and from Nukva, and they come from their internality. Therefore, why do they descend to this world and why do they depart it? It is like a king who had a son, whom he sent to some village to raise him until he is grown and to teach him the ways of the king’s palace. When the king heard that his son had grown, he sent his mother out of his love for his son and she brought him to his palace, and he rejoiced with his son.
745) Thus the Creator begot a son with its mother, which is the uppermost, holy soul, the generations of ZON. He sent him to atone, that is, to this world, to grow in it and to be taught the conducts of the King’s palace. Since the King knew that his son would grow in that village, and the time had arrived to bring him to his palace, out of his love, he sent his mother and she brought him to his palace. The soul does not depart this world until his mother comes for her and brings her to the King’s palace, where she sits forever.
746) Yet, it is the nature of the world that the people of the village cry over the departure of the King’s son from them. There was a sage there, who told them, “Why are you crying? Is he not a prince, who should not be living among you any longer, but in his father’s palace?” So was Moses, who was a sage. He saw that the people of the village were crying and hence said, “You are the children of the Lord your God: you shall not cut yourselves.”
747) If all the righteous knew that, they would be happy when their day came to depart from this world. Is it not the highest honor that the mistress comes for them to lead them to the King’s palace so the King will rejoice in them all day? After all, the Creator entertains only with the souls of the righteous.
748) The love ofthe assembly of Israel, the Nukva, to the Creator, ZA, awakens when the souls of the righteous below awaken it, since they come from the side of the King, ZA, from the male’s side. Thus, this awakening comes to the Nukva from the male, and the love awakens.
It turns out that the male awakens the fondness and love to the Nukva and then the Nukva becomes connected with love to the male. This settles the question that it is not good for the Nukva to chase after the male. Now it is clear that the souls of the righteous, which are males, awaken this love for ZA.
749) Similarly, the craving of the Nukva to shoot lower waters opposite upper waters is only in the souls of the righteous. Happy are the righteous in this world and in the next world, for the upper and lower stand over them. Hence, “A righteous is the foundation of the world” can be related to the upper righteous, Yesod de ZA, and can be related to the souls of the righteous; both are true.
750) The meaning of all that is that the righteous is the Yesod above, Yesod de ZA, and Yesod below, in the Nukva, and the souls of the righteous. And the assembly of Israel, the Nukva, is included in the righteous above and below. A righteous from the side of Yesod de ZA, and a righteous from the side of the soul of the righteous below, inherit her, meaning the Nukva. This is the meaning of, “The righteous shall inherit the land,” the Nukva. The righteous, Yesod de ZA, inherits the land, Nukva, imparts blessings upon her every day, and gives her pleasures and dainties extended from above, from Bina, which he draws to her.
People and Angels
Aharei Mot [After the Death]
220) Since the day the world was created, the souls of the great righteous stand before the Creator and pause before Him. And the Creator gazes upon them until it is time to bring them down to earth to clothe a body. And they govern above and below, as it is written, “As the Lord… lives, before whom I stood.” “…I stood,” meaning before he came into this world. Afterwards, he returned to his place in heaven and went up to his chamber.
But other souls do not rise to their places until they die because they did not stand before the Creator at the same degree, such as Enoch [Hanoch] and Elijah [Eliyahu], who were rewarded with rising to their places while they were still alive. This is why Elijah became an emissary and a messenger above, as did Enoch. Also, they adhered to the King more than an angel.
221) All the Holy Spirits above, meaning angels, work as the Creator’s emissaries, and they all come from one place. But the souls of the righteous come from two degrees that are included in one; hence, they rise higher than angels, and their degrees are more than those of angels. And all those who were hidden there descended and rose in their lives, like Enoch, in whom there was no death.
Two points are included in Malchut—a lock and a key. All the lights extend only through the key, and the point of the lock is concealed in it. And she is called, “The tree of knowledge of good and evil,” since the people, who extend from Malchut, are good if they are rewarded and do not sin, when the point of the lock does not appear and he is awarded all the lights. And if one is not rewarded, he is evil, and the point of the lock appears on him. At that time, all the lights depart at once and thus, death comes upon man, for Satan, who is the angel of death, awakens the point of the lock upon man, which causes the departure of the light of life.
There is a virtue in angels that does not exist in people: angels do not die. People, however, are made of the point of the lock, as well, and therefore die. But there is a virtue in people that does not exist in angels, since the angels have no burden of correction, as the key needs no correction, since it comes from Bina and it comes only to correct the lock. Thus, they always stand at the same degree as when they were created, and there are no ascents and descents in them.
But people, who contain a lock, carry the entire burden of correction; hence, when they are rewarded, they rise and attain degrees that do not exist in the angels. And there are great souls in whom the lock is so deeply hidden that it will never be fit of revealing. But they do not die, since the lock in them is hidden and concealed in their root.
Ups and Downs along the Way
As Light Excels Over Darkness
Ki Tazria [When a Woman Inseminates]
105) “As light excels over darkness.” The benefit of the light comes only out of the darkness. The correction of the white is black, for without the black, the white would be pointless. And because there is black, the white is elevated and respected. It is like sweet and bitter. A person cannot know the taste of sweetness before he has tasted bitterness. Thus, what makes it sweet is the bitter.
In things where there are opposites, the one reveals the other, such as in white and black, light and darkness, sick and healthy. If there were no sickness in the world, the term healthy would be unattainable, as it is written, “God has made the one opposite the other.” And it is also written, “It is good that you grasp the one, and also not let go of the other.”
Shimon from the Market
Beresheet [Genesis]
159) “And God said, ‘Let us make man,’” “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him.” In the verse, “And God said,” there is a secret that is revealed only to those who fear Him. The oldest among the elder started and said, “Shimon, Shimon, who is it who said, ‘Let us make man,’ of whom it is written, ‘And God said’? Who is this name Elokim [God]?”
In the meantime, that oldest among the elder fled and no one saw him. And as Rabbi Shimon heard, he called him Shimon, and not Rabbi Shimon. He said to his friends, “This must be the Creator, of whom it was said, ‘And Atik Yomin [Ancient of Days] sits.’ Thus, now is the time to disclose that secret, for there is a secret here that was not permitted to disclose, and now it means that permission to disclose has been given.”
It is known that the secrets that were revealed to the authors of The Zohar was by attainments of the lights of the high degrees, by inspiration. Also, there are Panim [anterior] and Achoraim [posterior] in them, which means concealment and disclosure. And by the measure of the Panim in the degree, so is the measure of its Achoraim. The instilling of the Achoraim is a call and invitation to instill the Panim. For this reason, they knew the measure of their destined disclosure according to the measure of the concealment of the Achoraim that they had attained.
This is the meaning of what is written, that Rabbi Shimon heard that he called him Shimon and not Rabbi Shimon, which means that the instilling of the Achoraim, the call, was so strong that all of his degrees were lost and he became an ordinary person, Shimon from the market. By that, he recognized it as a call and invitation to obtain a very high attainment of Panim. For this reason, he promptly said to his friends, “This must be the Creator, of whom it was said, ‘And Atik Yomin [Ancient of Days] sits,’” since there is no higher degree than Him.
Day to Day Pours Forth Speech, and Night to Night Reveals Knowledge
Introduction of the Book of the Zohar
140) “Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” This means a holy day, from among those upper days of the King, from the Sefirot de ZA, which are called “days,” praising the friends who engaged in Torah on the night of Shavuot… And “Night to night” means that each degree that governs in the night, the Sefirot of Malchut praises the other, and that knowledge is that each receives from his friend. And for all the wholeness, they have become friends and lovers…
This is so because prior to the end of correction, before we qualified our vessels of reception to receive only in order to give contentment to our Maker and not to our own benefit, Malchut is called “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” This is so because Malchut is the guidance of the world by people’s actions. And since we are unfit to receive all the delight and pleasure that the Creator had contemplated in our favor in the thought of creation, we must receive the guidance of good and evil from the Malchut. This guidance qualifies us to ultimately correct our vessels of reception in order to bestow and to be rewarded with the delight and pleasure He had contemplated in our favor…
Often, the guidance of good and evil causes us ascents and descents, each according to what he is. You should know that for this reason, each ascent is regarded as a separate day because due to the great descent that he had, doubting the beginning, during the ascent he is as a newly born child. Thus, in each ascent, it is as though he begins to serve the Creator anew. This is why each ascent is considered a specific day, and similarly, each descent is considered a specific night.
It is written, “Day to day pours forth speech”… This is so because through the great Zivug at the end of correction they will be rewarded with repentance from love, for they will complete the correction of all the vessels of reception, so they will be only in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator. In that Zivug, all of the great delight and pleasure of the thought of creation will appear to us.
At that time, we will evidently see that all those punishments from the time of descents, which brought us into doubting the beginning, were the things that purified us and were the direct causes of all the happiness and goodness that have come to us at the time of the end of correction. This is so because were it not for those terrible punishments, we would never have come to this delight and pleasure. Then these sins will be inverted into actual merits…
This is so because all those nights are the descents, the suffering, and the punishments that arrested the Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator until they became many days one after the other. Now, once the night and darkness have become merits and good deeds, as well, the night shines like the day and darkness like light, there are no more arrests, and all 6,000 years unite into a single great day.
Thus, all the Zivugim that came out one at a time and disclosed ascents and descents that were separate from one another have now assembled into a level of one, sublime, and transcendent level of Zivug, which shines from the end of the world through its end…. Thus, they all became one day for the Lord.
When it is said, “And night to night”… This is because all those words and sufferings that are called “nights,” for which the degrees became discrete, one at a time, now they, too, shine like the day, since they have all gathered and become a single receptacle for the great knowledge that fills the whole earth with knowledge of the Lord.
It follows that each night for itself would remain in the dark, had it not come into a gathering with all the nights. This is so because each night receives its share in the knowledge only out of the bonding with the rest of the nights… since only all of them together, assembled, became worthy of receiving that great knowledge. This is why it was said, “And for all the wholeness, they have become friends and lovers,” for in the great wholeness that they received together, all the nights become loving friends to one another.
And there Was Evening, and there Was Morning, One Day
Toldot [Generations]
119) “And God called the light Day” is Abraham, who is the light of day, the right line. His light grows stronger by the correction of the day, which is the light of Hassadim. This is why it is written, “Now Abraham was old, advanced in age” [the Hebrew text uses the word “days”], meaning with the shining lights of Hassadim. And he is old, as it is written, “That shines more and more unto the perfect day.” This is why it is written about it, “And God called the light Day.”
120) “And the darkness He called Night.” This is Isaac, who is dark, darkening so as to receive the night within him. Hence, when he grew old, it is written, “And it came to pass that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see,” since he was completely darkened. Certainly, he should be completely darkened and properly cling unto his degree.
The day is ZA and the night is the Nukva. At their root, ZA is regarded as being entirely from the right line and the Nukva is regarded as being entirely from the left line. It is known that the left line is Hochma without Hassadim, which cannot shine without mingling with Hassadim. Hence, at that time, it is regarded as darkness.
Also, the left line is in dispute with the right line and does not wish to be mingled with Hassadim whatsoever until the arrival of the middle line, which is the level of Hassadim that emerges on the Masach de Hirik that diminishes the left line. And then it decides between them and the Hochma dresses in Hassadim. At that time, she shines in full and ZA is regarded as including the right line that is mingled with the left, and the Nukva as being the left line that is mingled with the right, and they unite in one another, as it is written, “And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”
Poor and Rich
Alms for the Poor
BeHukotai [In My Statutes]
20) …Woe unto people who do not know and do not consider the glory of their Master, for who makes the Holy Name every day? One who gives righteousness to the poor.
21) The poor is gripped in Din and all his feeding is in Din, in a place called “justices,” which is Malchut, as it is written, “A prayer for the poor when he is weakened.” This prayer is the Tefillin of the hand, Malchut. When she is not in a Zivug with ZA, she is poor and she is called “justice,” and one who gives Tzedaka [alms, but also righteousness in Hebrew] to the poor makes the Holy Name above properly whole, connecting her with ZA, which gives her everything. Because Tzedaka is the tree of life, ZA, and Tzedaka gives and bestows upon justice, Malchut, when she gives to justice, ZA and Malchut connect with one another and the Holy Name is complete.
One who evokes that awakening below, who gives Tzedaka, it is certainly as though he performed the work of the Creator in completeness. As one does below, so it awakens above. This is why it is written, “Happy are they that keep justice, that do righteousness at all times.” The one who does righteousness is the Creator, as though he made Him.
22) The poor’s place is Malchut when she is not in Zivug with ZA. This is because the poor has nothing of his own, except what he is given. The moon, Malchut, has no light of her own but what the sun, ZA, gives her.
23) The poor is as good as dead because that place caused him, since he is in a place of death. Malchut is the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If one is rewarded, it is good and life. And if he is not rewarded, it is evil and death. This is why he is called “dead.” And one who pities him gives him alms and makes the tree of life, called “righteousness,” be over the tree of knowledge, which is the tree of death, as it is written, “But righteousness delivers from death.”
It turns out that as one does below, reviving the poor, who is called “dead,” precisely so he affects above, placing the tree of life over the tree of death. Happy is he for he is rewarded with making the Holy Name above, uniting her with ZA. For this reason, righteousness exceeds everything.
Giving Donation, Maaser [Tithing] and Hallah
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
119) Hunger comes to the world for the three sins of not giving “donation,” “tithing,” and Hallah [twist bread]. All these sins are only in the rich because their hearts are proud. They are absent in the poor. But what is the sentence? The Creator kills the poor and leaves the rich, for only the poor die of hunger, not the rich. Thus, the rich shall continue to sin before Him because they are not hurt. When the Creator wishes to avenge the wicked and obliterate them from the world, He gives them peace in this world and fulfills everything for them.
120) All the people in the world are not as close to the high King as those Kelim that He uses, which are, “A broken and a remorseful heart,” and “The contrite and lowly of spirit.” Those are the King’s vessels, and when there is drought and hunger in the world, and the Din over the poor intensifies, they cry and yell before the King and the Creator brings them closer than any man, as it is written, “For He has not despised nor abhorred the lowliness of the poor.” Then the Creator remembers why hunger has come to the world. Woe unto the wicked, who have caused it.
121) When the King awakens to watch over the world because of the sound of the cry of the poor, the Merciful one will save us from them and from their affront. Then it is written, “I will surely hear their cry.” It writes hear twice [in Hebrew], once to watch over with their voice, and once to avenge them who caused it to them, as it is written, “That I will hear; for I am gracious, and My anger will be kindled.” Hence, when there is hunger in the world, woe unto the wicked wealthy for the sound of the cry of the poor before the Creator.
Mixed Multitude
The Mixed Multitude Detain Israel in Exile More than All the Nations
Pinhas
377) The mixed multitude are like the leaven in the dough, for they are mingled in Israel like leaven in dough. The nations of the world are similar to chaff. The mixed multitude detain Israel in exile more than the idol-worshipping nations, as the sages said, “Who detains? The leaven in the dough detains.” This is so because the mixed multitude cling to Israel like leaven in dough, but the nations of the world are only like the chaff, which the wind carries.
Straying from the Internality of the Torah
Nasso [Take]
101) Elijah said to the loyal shepherd, “It is time to rise up and bring the complete redemption; speak of me in oath,” meaning adjure me to hurry the redemption. “It is for you that I wish to rise, since the Creator has given me permission to appear to you in your prison, in your grave, and to do good to you, for you are desecrated by the sins of the people,” since he is like a prisoner among them, as it is written, “And he is desecrated by our transgressions.”
102) The loyal shepherd replied, “I swear upon you in the name of the Lord that you will not delay the redemption with all your capability, for I am afflicted. It is written about me, And he looked this way and that way, and saw that there was no man, to help me out of this affliction, this burial. It is said about me, ‘And they made his grave with the wicked.’ But they do not know me; in their eyes I am considered among the mixed multitude and the wicked, like a dead dog that has reeked among them, for the wisdom of authors reeks among them in every city and in every place where Israel are scattered among them, among the kingdoms. And the mixed multitude have become the shepherds of Israel, who are the Creator’s flock, of whom it was said, ‘And you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men.’ And they are unable to do good with the disciples of the wise.”
Moses, called “the loyal shepherd,” is the Torah and the inner Daat [the Sefira but also knowledge], which will appear only in the complete redemption. Until then, it is said about him, “And he is desecrated by our transgressions,” since the Torah, which is the loyal shepherd, has been desecrated and was emptied, for its internality has disappeared and we are left with only the externality. And I am regarded in their eyes as being among the wicked mixed multitude, like a dead dog that has reeked. They turn away from the internality of the Torah as one turns away from stench, of which it was said, “And the wisdom of the wise shall reek.”
103) Men of valor and who fear sin wander from city to city and will not be pardoned, the mixed multitudeostracize them and in many places they are given only rations, so there will be no resurrection to their fall, not even temporary. And all the wise men, the brave, and them that fear sin are afflicted, poor, miserable, and are regarded as dogs. How are precious sons that are comparable to fine gold, valued as clay jars in public, and cannot find a place among them?
104) At the same time, the mixed multitude are wealthy, tranquil, joyous, sorrow-free, and without any grief at all. Thieves and bribers are judges and the heads of the people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them, and it is said about them, “Her adversaries have become her masters.” The Loyal shepherd said to Elijah, “I adjure you a second time, in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who dwells with the cherubim, that all these words will not fall out of your mouth, and you will say them before the Creator with all your might, to show their urgency.”
Beast and Man
Nasso [Take]
95) …Since the mixed multitude are the ignorant, which are darkness. And they are not called, “Israel,” but slaves who are sold to Israel because they are as beasts.
96) And Israel are called, “men.” But how do we know that there are beasts and men in Israel? It is written, “And you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men.” “And you, My sheep” are the ignorant who are good from the side of good. “You are men” are the disciples of the wise.
97) This text implies it, too, for it is written, “If My people heeded Me, Israel.” Why does it say, “Israel,” after it says, “My people”? It is that “My people” are the ignorant, and Israel are the disciples of the wise. And for them, it is said, “And the children of Israel were going out boldly.”
98) As the Creator divided them at Mount Sinai, He will divide them in the last redemption. This is so because it is said about Israel, “And the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.” “Armed,” from the side of the tree of life, ZA, which are fifty [spelled like “arms” in Hebrew] years of the Yovel [fifty years’ anniversary], Bina, which ZA receives from Bina. It is said about them, “They shall come up to the mount.” And among them was “the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel.” Also, it is they who were told, “And how I bore you on the wings of eagles,” which are clouds of glory, “And brought you unto Myself,” “And the children of Israel were going out boldly.” Thus, He will bring the disciples of the wise out with all this glory.
99) As it was said about the ignorant from the side of the good, “And they stood at the foot of the mountain,” so they will be in the last redemption—under the disciples of the wise, as a servant who walks by the feet of his master’s horse. At the foot of the mountain they were told, “If you accept the law, good. If not, there will be your burial place.” Similarly, they will be told in the last redemption, “If you take upon yourselves a disciple of the wise at the end of the exile, like a man who is riding a horse and his servant serves him, good. If not, there—in the exile—will be your burial.”
Five Kinds of Mixed Multitude
Beresheet [Genesis]
224) There are five kinds of mixed multitude: Nephillim [fallen], Mighty, Anakim [giants], Rephaim [ghosts], and Amaleks. Because of them, the small Hey fell from her place, from Bina, since “God has made one corresponding the other.” Thus, as there are five Behinot [discernments] KHB TM in holiness, they have their counterparts in the Klipot. And they are the five above-mentioned in the mixed multitude, whose acronym is Nega Ra [Hebrew: affliction or disease] or Oneg Ra [Hebrew: evil pleasure], since through the evil, pleasure is turned into affliction, and affliction becomes pleasure. And these are the five kinds of mixed multitude. They are mingled with Israel and cause them to sin. And for this reason, the small Hey falls from her place, from her mitigation place in the Bina.
Balaam and Balak were of the form of Amalek. This is because if you take the letters Ayin and Mem from the name, Balaam, and the letters Lamed and Kof from the name, Balak, the letters Bet, Bet, Lamed [which spell Babel in Hebrew] will remain, that is, Bet and Lamed from Balaam and Bet from Balak. It turns out that the two Klipot, Amalek and Babel, are implied in the names Balaam and Balak. By that, he tells us that Amalek is considered the Keterand Rosh [head] of the Klipot, like the Klipa of Babel, of which it was said, “Its head is made of fine gold,” for had they not come from equal discernments, they would not have been able to cling to Balaam and Balak in a single bonding.
225) And they are the ones that remained of those of whom it was said concerning the flood, “And He blotted out every living thing.” And those that remained from the Klipa of Amalek in the fourth exile, the exile in Edom, are heads in the world, with great force, since this Klipa is considered Rosh and Keter of the Klipot, and they become tools of destruction for Israel. It is said about them, in relation to the flood, “For the earth is filled with violence.” These are the Amaleks. And this clarifies the first of the five kinds of mixed multitude, the Amaleks, which are the Keterde [of] Klipot.
226) It is said about the Nephillim [fallen]of the mixed multitude, “And the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful.” These are the second kind of mixed multitude, meaning the discernment of Hochma deKlipot. And they are from the Nephillim above, meaning those who extend from Uza and Aza’el, who were angels above, and the Creator dropped them from the heaven, hence their name, Nephillim. And the Nephillim of the mixture extend from them.
When the Creator wished to make man, He told the angels, “Let us make man in our image.” The Creator wished to make him head of all the angels above, appointed over all the angels, and they would be subordinate to his governance, as it is said concerning Joseph, “Let him appoint overseers over the land.”
227) For this reason, the angels wished to complain about him and said, “What is man, that You are mindful of him?” After all, he is destined to sin before You; hence, why do You degrade us to be under him? The Creator told them, “If you were below in the earth, like man, you would sin more than him.” Promptly, “And the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful”; they lusted after them and the Creator dropped them down in chains.
228) And these sons of God are Uza and Aza’el, from which the souls of the second kind of mixed multitude extend. These are the Nephillim, since they had dropped themselves from holiness to lust after beautiful women. And this is also why the Creator dropped the mixed multitude from the next world, so they would have no share there, and gave them their reward in this world, as it is written, “And repays them that hate Him to their face.” This explains the second kind of mixed multitude, called Nephillim, which are considered Hochma de Klipot.
229) The Mighty are the third kind of the mixed multitude that was mingled with Israel. It was said about them, “Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown,” and they are drawn from the side of whom it was said, “Come, let us build us a city… and make us a name,” meaning from the side of the generation of Babel.
This kind of mixed multitude build synagogues and seminaries and place within them a book of Torah with a crown on its head, corresponding to the verse, “A city, and a tower, with its top in heaven.” They build synagogues and seminaries corresponding to, “A city,” and place a book of Torah there corresponding to, “A tower,” and a crown on its head corresponding to, “Its top in heaven.” And they do not intend it for the Creator, but to make a name for themselves, as it is written, “And let us make us a name.”
And the sons of the Sitra Achra overcome Israel, who were blessed with being like the dust of the earth, and rob them, and the work is ruined and destroyed, meaning the synagogues and seminaries that they made. It is said about them, “And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth.” In other words, the Klipot and the Sitra Achra, called “water,” destroyed the land as they intensified. This explains the third kind of mixed multitude, the mighty, which correspond to Bina de Klipa.
230) Rephaim [ghosts] are the fourth kind of mixed multitude that was mingled with Israel. If they see a troubled time in Israel, they leave them and depart from them. And even if they have the strength to save them, they do not wish to save them; they neglect the Torah, and depart from it and from all who engage in the Torah. This means that they depart from the Torah and from Israel to do good to idol worshippers. And they will not rise at the revival of the dead. When the calling comes to Israel and they are salvaged from their affliction, it is said about them, “And You have wiped out all memory of them,” since being an offspring of the darkness, they will necessarily be lost at the coming of the light to Israel. This explains the fourth kind of mixed multitude, the Rephaim, which correspond to ZA de Klipa.
231) Anakim [giants] are the fifth kind of mixed multitude. They disparage those of whom it was said, “And Anakim [Hebrew: necklaces, as well as giants] about your neck,” meaning the Israel who keep the Torah. It is said about them, “Rephaim are regarded as Anakim, as well,” since Rephaim and Anakim are equal to one another. They are the ones who revert the world back to being unformed and void.
And this is the meaning of the ruin of the Temple. It is said about it, “And the land was unformed and void,” since the Temple is the essence of the world and the settlement of the world. This is why it is considered that the whole earth was unformed and void. And the two kinds of mixed multitude that were mingled with Israel caused the ruin of the Temple. And as soon as the light—the Creator—comes to Israel, they will be obliterated and lost from the world. But Israel’s redemption does not depend on their obliteration, but only on the obliteration of Amalek, until they blot them out, for in it is the oath, meaning the words, “The hand upon the throne of the Lord.”
Idolatry
Ki Tetze [If You Go Out]
39) These foreign maidservants are from the side of the potion of death, for they are opposite Divinity, Sam’el’s Nukva, when the maidservant has become the queen, inheriting her mistress. Sam’el—who is another god—and his Nukva, were servants of the Creator, and then made themselves godliness. The Creator will remove them from the world and obliterate them
40) If people made them godliness, and not of their own will, why were they punished with removal from the world? But when the generation of the flood and the generation of Babel made charms in them, offered them incense and bowed to them, by that power, that they were offering them incense and bowing to them, they would come down to them and do their wish. And they would speak in those forms that they had made, and thus became godliness and idol worship. And this is why the Creator was about to remove them and obliterate them from the world, meaning their statutes, which they worshipped, and from which they absorbed spirits and images.
41) And when there is the mixed multitude in the world, Sam’el and Nukva come down through these images to be materialized in them. Hence, the Creator will remove them from the world, as it is written, “And I will remove the spirit of impurity from the land.” And should you say that there is no idolatry at the time of the last exile because people do not make charms in them, those who make charms there, in the mixed multitude, anger the Creator and His Divinity, and the Israel among them. And the mixed multitude succeed in them to keep what is written, “But repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them.”
Righteous and Wicked
The Righteous Must Buy the Wicked
Teruma [Donation]
38) “Raise a donation for Me from every man,” from those who are called “men,” who have overcome their inclination. “Whose heart moves him,” meaning whom the Creator desires, as it is written, “To You my heart said.” “The rock of my heart.” “And a good heart.” “And heart was merry.” All were said about the Creator, meaning the Creator’s heart, His will. Here, too, “Whose heart moves him” refers to the heart of the Creator. “From him shall you raise My donation,” for there the Creator is present, for He is in it, and nowhere else.
39) How do we know that the Creator desires it and places His abode in it? When we see that a person wishes to chase and to exert after the Creator with his heart, his soul, and his will, we know for certain that Divinity is there. At that time, we must buy that person for the full price, bond with him, and learn from him. The first ones said about it, “And buy yourself a friend.” One must buy him for the full price to be rewarded with the Divinity that is in him. Thus far one must chase a righteous man and buy him.
40) Just so, that righteous must chase after the wicked and buy him for the full price, to remove the filth from him and subdue the Sitra Achra, and make it, for it is considered for him as though he has created it. This is a praise by which the glory of the Creator rises more than on any other praise. Also, that rising is advantageous to all others because it causes the subjugation of the Sitra Achra and the elevation of the glory of the Creator. It is written about that in Aaron, “and he turned many back from iniquity,” and it is written, “My covenant was with him.”
41) Anyone who holds the hand of the wicked and implores him to leave the bad way rises by three ascensions that no other man has risen by before: he causes the subjugation of the Sitra Achra, causes the Creator Himself to rise, and causes the entire world to be sustained in its existence above and below. It is written about that person, “My covenant with him was life and peace.” He is rewarded with seeing children to children, and is rewarded with this world and with the next world. All the litigants will not be able to sentence him in this world and in the next world; he enters the twelve gates in the firmament and there is no one to protest against him.
A Righteous Who Suffers and a Wicked Who Rejoices
Mishpatim [Ordinances]
438) A righteous is judged by the good inclination. An evil one is judged by the evil inclination. An intermediate, both judge him. One who is from the tree of life, which extends from ZA, is not judged at all, for he has no evil inclination. He is a complete righteous. This is, “A righteous who is happy.” And there is no good except the Torah, as it is written, “For I give you good doctrine; do not forsake My teaching.” And a righteous who is suffering is from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Malchut. He is called “righteous” because he is suffering, which is the evil inclination. But because the good inclination governs him, he is called “A righteous who is suffering,” for he suffers under its authority.
439) A wicked who is happy. The Torah is called “good.” He is called “evil” because he rose to being a Rosh in his evil inclination, and the good is under his dominion, as a slave under his master. And even though a wicked is crowning the righteous, and a complete righteous can punish him, it is not good to punish the righteous, too. This is so because since that good one is under the feet of the wicked, he must not be punished, for perhaps he will repent and overcome his inclination, and the evil inclination will be dust under his feet.
Illnesses of the Righteous
Pinhas
110) The people of the world are organs with one another. When the Creator wishes to give healing to the world, He strikes a righteous one among them with diseases and afflictions, and for him, He gives healing to all. How do we know it? It is written, “And he was wounded because of our transgressions, oppressed because of our iniquities … and by his bruising we are healed.” “His bruising” means bloodletting, as one lets out blood from an arm, for by that bruise we are healed; it is healing for us, to all the organs of the body.
111) He never strikes the righteous, except to heal a generation and to atone for their iniquities, for it is the most convenient for the Sitra Achra when the Din [judgment] rules over the righteous, for then he does not mind the world and does not notice them for all his delight from ruling over the righteous. And that righteous, who is tormented for the generation, is rewarded with high governance in this world and in the next world. And if there is a righteous who is happy, it is because the Creator is not concerned with atoning for the world.
112) If the two righteous—the one who is righteous and suffers, and the other who is righteous and happy—were not at the same time, it would be fine. This is because a righteous is happy because the Creator is not mindful of atoning for the world, and a righteous is suffering because the Creator is mindful of atoning for the world. However, there are two righteous at the same time, one with diseases and afflictions and the other with all the abundance in the world.
However, when one or two righteous are enough to atone for the generation, the Creator does not need to strike all of them, just as it is enough to let out blood from one arm to heal all the organs in the body. Here, too, one righteous is enough.
113) And if the disease has attacked all the organs, blood must be let out from both arms. Thus, if harsh iniquities have multiplied in the world, all the righteous are stricken to give healing to the entire generation. But when they are not so many, only one righteous is stricken and the rest of the righteous are at peace, since the world does not need for all of them to be stricken. And if the people are healed, the righteous are healed, as well.
Sometimes the righteous are afflicted all the days of their lives, to protect the generation when the iniquities are very harsh. When the righteous die, everything is healed and atoned.
The King’s Loved One
Teruma [Donation]
86) Happy is the holy nation whose Master seeks them and calls upon them to bring them near Him.
87) At that time, the holy nation must come together and go to the assembly house, and all who are early conjoin with Divinity in a single bonding. The first one at the assembly house is happy, for he stands at the degree of righteous toward Divinity, as it is written, “And those who seek Me shall find Me.” He rises to a high degree. We learned that when the Creator comes to the assembly house and does not find ten who are present there, He immediately becomes angry. And you say that that one who was early bonds with Divinity and is at the degree of righteous?
88) It is like a king who invited all the town’s people to be with him on a certain day at a certain time. While the town’s people were preparing themselves, there was one who arrived early at that place. In the meantime, the king came there and found that man who was early. The king told him, “Mr. So-and-so, where are the town’s people?” He replied to him, “My lord, I was early; they are coming after me at the request of the king.” Then the king was pleased and he sat there with him and spoke to him, and he became the king’s loved one. In the meantime, the rest of the people came and the king was pleased with them and sent them in peace. But if the town’s people had not come, and that one did not come early to speak before the king and to show for them, and say that they are all coming, the king would have been angry at once.
89) Here, too, since one came early and was present at the assembly house, and Divinity came and found him, it is considered as though they are all there, for he is waiting for them there. Divinity promptly bonds with him and they sit in bonding and He comes to know him, and He places him at the degree of a righteous.
But if none had come and was there, it is written, “Why have I come and there was no one?” It does not say, “And there was not ten,” but “And there was no one,” meaning one person to bond with Me and to be with Me, as it is written, “A man of God,” which means being at the degree of a righteous.
Middle Line
Maase Merkava [The Act of Assembling]
Pekudei [Accounts], 777
777) One who assembles a kind in its kind and knows how to connect what is connected, a palace in its palace, a degree in its degree, has a share in the next world. This is the wholeness of everything. And when the left is completed with the right, and the male in the female, as well as the palaces, all becomes one deed, a kind in its kind. What emerges from that perfection is called Maase Merkava [the act of assembling]. The word Merkava comes from the words Markiv [assembling] and Murkav [assembled].
Light that Appeared Out of the Darkness
Tetzaveh [Command]
145) The Creator “Reveals the deep and secret things.” He reveals all the deep, upper secrets. The middle line reveals the depths in the two lines of Bina. It reveals them because it knows what is in the darkness of the left, where the light of Hochma sinks for absence of Hassadim. And were it not for the darkness, the light would not appear later through the middle line.
Bread and Wine
VaEra [And I Appeared]
138) “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works.” What did Solomon see that he said this verse?
139) All his words were with wisdom. “Go then, eat your bread in happiness” means that when a person goes in the ways of the Creator, the Creator brings him closer and gives him peace and tranquility. Then the bread and wine that a man eats and drinks are with joy in the heart since the Creator desires his works.
140) Where is the wisdom in this verse?
141) Solomon warned people to crown the assembly of Israel, Malchut, with joy on the right side, meaning with light of Hassadim, which is bread. This is so because bread implies to the light of Hassadim. Afterwards he will be crowned with wine, left side, illumination of Hochma in the left of Bina, so that the faith of all, meaning Malchut, would be in complete joy on the right and on the left. And when she is between the two of them, all the blessings will be in the world, since this is the complete perfection of Malchut, that the illumination of the left, Hochma, will clothe in the light of Hassadim on the right, at which time both shine in her, which are bread and wine. And this is the meaning of the Creator wanting people’s actions.
Importance of Salt
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
666) “Neither shall you lack the salt of the covenant of your God.” Why is salt so important? It is because it cleanses and perfumes the bitter, and makes it tasty. The salt of judgments in the Masach de [of] Hirik—on which the middle line emerges, which unites the right with the left—cleanses and perfumes the judgments of the left, which are bitter, with the Hassadim on the right. Had there not been salt, the middle line would not have been extended, and the world would not have been able to tolerate the bitterness, as it is written, “For when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” It is the law of Tifferet—the middle line from the Chazeh upwards—that the judgments in the Masach in it are called “salt.” Justice is the harsh judgments in Malchut, and when the law, which is salt, is to the earth, which is Nukva, then they “learn righteousness,” and can tolerate the bitterness of justice. It is also written, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Thy throne,” where righteousness is complemented through the justice, the salt.
667) Salt is a covenant, Yesod, middle line, from the Chazeh down, on which the world ( Nukva) persists. It is written, “If My covenant for day and night stands not, I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.” For this reason, because the middle line, which is Yesod, emerges on it, the salt is called “the covenant of your God.” Yesod is called “covenant,” and we call it the Sea of Salt [known in English as The Dead Sea], where the sea, which is the Nukva, is named after it, after the salt that sweetens it.
668) “For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness.” This is the salt, which is Yesod, at sea, which is Malchut. Righteous is Yesod; righteousness is Malchut. And one who separates them brings death upon himself. This is why it is written, “Neither shall you lack the salt… from your meal-offering,” so you will not separate the Yesod, which is salt, from the offering, which is the Nukva. One does not go without the other.
Waves of the Sea
Noah
217) “You rule the swelling of the sea.” When the sea jumps with its waves and the deep rise and fall, the Creator sends a thread of grace from the right side and pulls back its wheels, its anger subsides, and there is no one to attain it.
When the Nukva receives Hochma, she is called “sea.” When the Nukva receives only from the left line, which is abundance of Hochma without Hassadim, the waves of the sea rise. This indicates disclosure, since it implies that the waters of Hochma rise, appear, and are attainable. However, the sea cannot receive Hochma without Hassadim, hence the waves fall down again, for they rise to be disclosed and promptly descend and vanish from attainment for lack of Hassadim.
This is why it is considered that the sea is angry, for it strains to raise its waters with great strength, and descends with great strength, as well, and so on and so forth incessantly. This continues until the middle line comes and extends the right line, which is Hesed, and clothes the Hochma on the left with Hassadim on the right. At that time the waves return to their place and the anger of the sea subsides, for now the Hochma and the Hassadim shine together in all their correction in the desired wholeness.
Many Waters Cannot Quench the Love
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
735) “Its flashes are flashes of fire, the flame of the Lord.” “The flame of the Lord” is a burning flame that emerges from the Shofar [a special horn], Yesod Ima, called Yod-Hey, which has awakened and burns. It is the left line of Ima, as it is written, “Let his left hand be under my head.” This burns the flame of love of the assembly of Israel, Divinity, for the Creator.
736) For this reason, much water will not be able to quench the love, since when the right—water, Hesed—comes, it adds to the burning of the love and does not quench the flame of the left, as it is written, “And his right hand embrace me.” This is so because during the illumination of Hochma in the left line of Ima to the Nukva, it is burning fire, as it is without Hassadim. And when the right line comes with its Hassadim, called “water,” to quench the fire, it does not quench the illumination of Hochma by that. On the contrary, it adds and complements her illumination because it clothes the Hochma with Hassadim, and the Hochma shines in complete perfection.
739) In all the places, the male chases the Nukva and awakens the love toward her. But here it turns out that she awakens the love and chases him, as it is written, “Set me as a seal upon thy heart.” Usually, however, it is not praised when the Nukva chases the male. Indeed, this must be an unclear matter, and a sublime thing, hidden in the treasures of the King.
A Prayer that Includes Three Lines
VaYishlach [Jacob Sent]
45) A prayer of many rises before the Creator and the Creator crowns Himself with that prayer, since it rises in several ways. This is because one asks for Hassadim, the other for Gevurot, and a third for Rachamim. And it consists of several sides: the right side, the left, and the middle. This is so because Hassadim extend from the right side, Gevurot from the left side, and Rachamim from the middle side. And because it consists of several ways and sides, it becomes a crown over the head of the Righteous One That Lives Forever, Yesod, which imparts all the salvations to the Nukva, and from her to the whole public.
But a prayer of one does not comprise all the sides; it is only on one way. Either one asks for Hassadim or Gevurot or Rachamim. Hence, a prayer of one is not erected to be received like the prayer of many, as it does not include all three lines like the prayer of many.
David and Bat-Sheba
Noah
315) Bat-Sheba belonged to King David since the day the world was created. Thus, why did the Creator first give her to Uriah the Hittite?
316) Such are the ways of the Creator. Although a woman is destined for a man to become his, another precedes him and marries her before it is the time of the first. When his time came, the one who married her was rejected before the other one, who came later, and he departs from the world. And it is hard for the Creator to remove him from the world because of the other one before his time.
317) Why was Bat-Sheba first given to Uriah the Hittite? Go and see why the holy land was given to Canaan before Israel came, and then you will find all is one. Both Bat-Sheba and the land of Israel are the Nukva. The beginning of the construction of the Nukva is in Mochin of illumination of the left, and then she is built with Mochin de Panim [anterior Mochin] from all three lines.
Uriah is the Mochin of Hochma without Hassadim, which is the illumination of the left, and King David is the Mochin dePanim from the three lines. Hence, even though Bat-Sheba was David’s mate, to be able to receive the Mochin dePanim from David, she had to first marry Uriah, to receive from him the Mochin de Achoraim [posterior Mochin] from the illumination of the left, since she cannot receive Mochin de Panim before she receives the Mochin de Achoraim, which are the Mochin of the illumination of the left.
When a Woman Inseminates and Bears a Male Child
Ki Tazria [When a Woman Inseminates]
25) Everyone comes as male and female, included together, and then divide and come separately into the male and separately into the female. But “She delivers a male child” means that the male and female are included together from the right side, which is considered male.
If she delivered a female it would mean that the female and male are included together from the left side, which is considered a female. Then the left side would be ruling over the right side, and the male on the right would yield and not dominate. In that state, such a male, who emerged from the Nukva, Malchut, from her left side, all his ways are as a female, hence he would be called “female.” But a male that emerges from the right side of Malchut is the dominant, and the female that emerges with it surrenders, since the left side is not dominant. Hence, it is written about it, “She delivers a male child.”
The Sound of the Rolling Wheel
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
507) The sound of the rolling wheel rolls from below upwards. Hidden Merkavot [structures/chariots] go and roll. The sound of melodies rises and falls, wanders and roams the world; the sound of the Shofar [ram’s horn] stretches through the depth of the degrees and orbits around the wheel.
The Mochin come out in three places one at a time. They are called “the three points —Holam, Shuruk, Hirik,” and they are the three lines—right, left, and middle. Also, they shine by rolling in three places, in which they walk and roll one at a time. Hence, their mode of illumination is called “rolling.”
These three points are included in one another, hence there are three points in the Holam—the right line, three points in the Shuruk—the left line, and three points in the Hirik—the middle line. It follows that there is rolling in each of the three lines. Here The Zohar speaks of the three lines in Hirik, the middle line, which is ZA, which is called “Voice.” This is why it refers to them as “three voices.”
The sound of the wheel rolls from below upwards. This means that the rolling is from the right line to the left line. Yet, the illumination of the left is only from below upwards, which is why it was said, “Rolling from below upwards.” However, before the left line connects with the right, its illuminations are shut, for it cannot shine without Hassadim. Afterwards, the left line rolls to the right line and the sound of melodies rises and falls, meaning the abundance of pleasantness and Hassadim that appears from the right line and shines from above downwards, too. This is why it was said, “Walks and wanders in the world.”
Subsequently, it rolls from the right line to the middle line. ZA is the middle line, called “the voice of the Shofar.” It extends and comes out on the Masach de Hirik, which is Dinim, at the depth of the Dinim, and it is the essence that completes and discloses the illumination of the three lines, and mainly what orbits around the wheel, uniting the three lines in one another.
The Morning Deer
Pinhas
691) “As the deer longs for the water brooks, so my soul longs for You, O God.” Although there are masculine and feminine forms [in the Hebrew], it is all one, since “Deer” is read in masculine form and it is read in feminine form. It is written, “As the deer longs,” where “longs” is in feminine form. It does not say “long” in masculine form, since it is all one—the Malchut. However, in the first state, when she is with Zeir Anpin, the two great lights, she is called “a deer,” and in the second state, after she has been diminished, she is called “a deer.”
692) The morning deer is one merciful animal, the Malchut, of which there are none so merciful among all the animals in the world. When she is in a hurry and needs food for herself and for all the animals, which are all the hosts, BYA (Beria,Yetzira, Assiya), she goes far away to a far away road, and comes carrying food. She does not wish to eat until she comes and returns to her place, so that the rest of the animals will gather to her and she will dispense to them from that food. And when she comes, all the other animals gather to her and she stands in the middle, giving to each and everyone. And the sign is, “She rises while it is still night and gives prey to her household.” And from what she gives to them, she is satiated as if she has eaten more than all of them.
693) And when the morning comes, which is called “dawn,” the pangs of exile shall come to her, and this is why she is called “the morning deer,” after the darkness in the morning. At that time she suffers pangs as one who is in labor, as it is written, “As the expectant approaches the time of labor, she writhes and cries out in her pangs.”
694) She dispenses to them when the morning should come, while it is still night, and the darkness departs before the light, as it is written, “She rises while it is still night and gives prey to her household.” When the morning has risen, they are all satiated with her food.
695) At that time, a voice in the middle of the firmament awakens, calls out loud and says, “Those who are near, go into your places. Those who are far, go out. Each will gather unto his proper place.” When the sun shines, each gathers to his place, and she goes by the day, appears by night, and dispenses food in the morning. This is why she is called “the morning deer.”
696) Afterwards, she prevails as a mighty one and goes, and she is called “a buck,” a masculine name. She walks 60 parsas [parasangs, approx 2.5 miles] from the place from which she left, goes into the mountain of darkness, and walks inside the mountain of darkness. One slant serpent smells after her feet and walks at her feet, and she rises from there to the mountain of light. When she has arrived there, the Creator brings her a serpent and leaves. They fight each other and she is saved, and from there she takes food and returns to her place at midnight. And from midnight onward she begins to dispense until the morning dawn rises. When the morning rises she goes and she is not seen.
697) When the world needs rains, all the other animals gather to her and she rises to the top of a high mountain and covers her head between her knees and yells one yell. The Creator hears her voice and fills with mercy over the world, and she comes down from the top of the mountain and runs, hides herself, and all the other animals run after her but cannot find her, as it is written, “As the deer longs for the water brooks,” those water brooks that have gone dry, and the world is thirsty for water, then she longs.
698) When she is impregnated, she becomes blocked. When it is time for her to deliver, she yells and raises her voices, voice after voice, up to seventy voices, as the number of the words in “The Lord will answer you on a day of plight,” which is a poem of that impregnated one. And the Creator hears her and brings her salvation to her. Then, one large serpent comes out of the mountains of darkness and comes among the mountains, his mouth licking in the dust. He reaches that buck and comes and bites her in that place two times.
699) In the first time, blood comes out of her and the serpent licks; and in the second time, water comes out, and all those animals in the mountains drink. Then she opens and delivers. Your sign is “And struck the rock twice with his rod,” and it is written, “And the congregation and their beasts drank.”
700) At that time when the Creator pities her for the deed of that serpent, it is written, “The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve and strips the forests bare.” “The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve” are the pangs and the pains to evoke those seventy voices. Promptly, “And strips the forests bare,” to evoke a serpent and to disclose that animal, to walk among them in the Creator’s hall, which is the Malchut. All those multitudes in BYA start and say, “Glory,” meaning “Blessed is the glory of the Creator from His place,” which is the Malchut, who is called “the glory of the Lord.”
Here he explains to us a profound matter in regard to Malchut…
You already know that Zeir Anpin is the governance of the day, right, the governance of Hassadim. Malchut is the governance of the night, left, the governance of Hochma on the left. Hence, during the day, when Hochma cannot govern, time is pressing for Malchut and she does not have her food—the light of Hochma on the left. Later in the day, there is no disclosure of light of Hochma—her’s and her armies’ food, which extend from it—and she must extend her food because Hochma is dispensed only with Dinim. And as long as she is not clothed in Hassadim in a Zivug of the middle line, harsh Dinim extend from her and these Dinim appear through her appearance. They are regarded as far and as a far away road.
It is written, “His sister stood at a distance.” “His sister” implies Hochma. Also, “I said, ‘I will be wise,’ but it was far from me.” This is done right at the beginning of the night, hence at that time, the darkness spreads over the land, since the illumination of Hochma on the left without right is darkness. However, then her food, which is illumination of Hochma, is extended, and then she brings and takes the food, the Hochma of the left.
But then, when she extends the Hochma, she freezes from all the Dinim in the Hochma without Hassadim. This means that she cannot give anything, since Malchut does not wish to be in a left without a right, at the place of the elicitation of Hochma, which is a far away road, until she returns to her place in the middle line of Zeir Anpin, where the left unites with the right, for this is her perpetual place, between the two arms of the king.
Why must she return to her place? It is because before she arrives at her place in the middle line, her lights freeze in her and she cannot give anything to the rest of the animals, to her armies, which extend from her. But when she comes to her place, all the animals gather to her and she bestows upon them from the light of Hochma. She stands in a Zivug with the middle line, her lights open, and she can dispense to anyone. Also, reception of illumination is called “rising,” as it is written, “She rises while it is still night,” for then she receives Hochma, called “rising,” “And gives prey to her household,” meaning she gives to all her armies.
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai [Rashbi]
Dwelling in the Cave
Introduction of The Book of Zohar
187) Rabbi Pinhas, son of Yair, saw two birds coming and flying over the sea. He raised his voice and said, “Birds, birds, since you fly over the sea, have you seen the place where Yochai is?” He waited a little, then said, “Birds, birds, go and tell me.” They flew away into the sea and departed.
Rabbi Shimon fled from the kingship, which ordered that he should be killed. He and his son hid in a cave, and they did not know his whereabouts. This is why Rabbi Pinhas, son of Yair, went to look for him in the islands of the sea.
188) Before he went out to the ship, the birds came and one of them held a letter in her beak. It said, “Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai has come out of the cave with his son, Rabbi Elazar.” Rabbi Pinhas went to him and found that he had changed. His body was filled with holes and sores from sitting in the cave. He wept with him and said, “Woe that I have seen you so.” Rabbi Shimon told him, “Happy I am that you have seen me so, for had you not seen me so, I would not be so.”
…For all the years that he had to dwell in a cave, he had to sit there inside the sand to cover his nakedness and engage in Torah, and his flesh rusted because of it. He wept over him and said, “Woe unto me that I have seen you so.” Rabbi Shimon told him, “Happy I am that you have seen me so, for had you not seen me so, I would not be so,” meaning I would not have been rewarded with the revelations of the secrets of the Torah, for he was awarded all the great sublimity of his wisdom during those 13 years of hiding in the cave.
Owner of the Candles
Yitro [Jethro]
411) “For this is your life.” One who is rewarded with the Torah and does not part from it is rewarded with two lives: one in this world and one in the next world. It is written, “Your life” in plural form [in Hebrew], which are two. Anyone who parts from it, it is as though he parted from life. And one who parts from Rabbi Shimon, it is as though he parted from everything.
412) …Woe unto a generation from which Rabbi Shimon departs, since when we stand before Rabbi Shimon, the fountains of the heart open to all directions and everything becomes revealed. And when we part from him, we know nothing and all the fountains close.
413) It is written, “And He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders.” It is like that candle from which several candles are lit, while it remains whole, with nothing subtracted from it due to the lighting of candles from it. So is Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, owner of the candles: he shines for all and the light does not depart from him, and he remains complete.
The Book of Zohar—Noah’s ark
BeHaalotcha [When You Mount the Candles]
88) “And the wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament” are the authors of the Kabbalah. They are the ones who exert in this brightness, called The Book of Zohar, which is like Noah’s ark, gathering two from a town, and seven kingdoms, and sometimes one from a town and two from a family, in whom the words, “Every son that is born you shall cast into the river” come true. The Torah is called “a son.” The newborn is the attained. “Into the river” means the light of Torah. “Cast” is like “You will study it” [it’s an anagram in Hebrew], where you study each insight that is born in you by the light of Torah and by its soul. This is the light of this Book of Zohar, and it is all because of you.
The Creator Sentences and the Righteous Revokes
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
240) There was no decree that was sentenced on the world from above that Rabbi Shimon did not revoke, as it is written, “The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘Ruler over men shall be the righteous; a righteous rules the fear of God.’” The Creator rules over man. Who rules over the Creator? The righteous rules, for the Creator sentences and the righteous revokes.
241) Such was Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai. One day he was sitting at the door of the gate to the city of Lod. He raised his eyes and saw that the sun was shining. He blocked its light three times. Thus, the light was darkened and black and green were seen in the sun. He said to Rabbi Elazar, his son, “Follow me, my son, and we will see; a decree must have been declared above and the Creator wishes to inform me.” Indeed, that thing which was sentenced hangs above for thirty days and the Creator does not act before He alerts the righteous, as it is written, “For the Lord God will do nothing, but He reveals His counsel unto His servants the prophets.”
242) While they were walking in that vineyard, they saw a serpent that came with its mouth open, blazing in the dust of the earth. Rabbi Shimon was disturbed and his hands struck the serpent’s head. The serpent went silent and lowered its mouth, and Rabbi Shimon saw its tongue dangling. He told it, “Serpent, serpent, go and tell that high serpent, which incites and slanders, that Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai is in the world.” The serpent put its head into a hole in the ground and Rabbi Shimon said, “I declare that as the lower serpent returned to the hole in the ground, the upper serpent will return to the hole of the great deep.”
243) Rabbi Shimon whispered a prayer. While they were praying, they heard a voice saying, “The sentences have ceased; return to your places. The strikes of the saboteurs are gone from the world because Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai cancelled them. Happy are you Rabbi Shimon that your Master wishes for your best more than for all the people in the world.” It is written about Moses, “And Moses besought,” meaning that he was sickened [in Hebrew, “besought” can also mean “be sick”]. But you, Rabbi Shimon, sentence, and the Creator keeps; He sentences and you revoke.
244) In the meantime, he saw that the sun had shone and that black was removed. Rabbi Shimon said, “It must be that the world has been perfumed.” He went into his house and interpreted, “For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright shall behold His face.” What is “His face”? “For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness” because “The upright shall behold His face,” meaning the high faces of the people of the world, for they need to ask of the Creator for mercy for everything they need.
245) What is, “The upright shall behold His face”? These are the ancient days, the Sefirot of Atik, the hidden of all that are hidden, the Keter. And the days of the world are the Sefirot of ZA, which are called “His face.” They see each other in an upright way what they should see, meaning the Panim [face] of ZA sees the Panim of Atik, and the Panim of Atik sees the Panim of ZA in an upright way, without turning right or left.
246) When the Creator watches over the world and sees that the acts of people below are upright, Atik, which is Keter, appears in ZA, Tifferet, and all those Panim of ZA look at the hidden Panim of Atik. Then, all are blessed because they look at each other in an upright way, in the middle line, which leans neither to the right nor to the left. It is written about that, “The upright shall behold His face,” meaning that the faces of Atik and ZA look at each other in an upright way, in the middle line. And then they are all blessed and water each other until all the worlds are blessed and all the worlds are as one. At that time, it is considered that “The Lord is one and His name One.”
Beginning of the Idra Zuta
Haazinu [Give Ear]
26) Rabbi Shimon said, “It is a good time now and I would like to come to the next world without shame. Thus, I wish to disclose before Divinity sacred things that I have not disclosed thus far, lest it will be said that I departed from the world deficient. Thus far, they have been hidden in my heart to enter with them into the next world.
27) “This is how I am arranging you: Rabbi Aba will write, Rabbi Elazar will learn orally, and the rest of the friends will speak in their hearts.” Rabbi Aba rose behind his shoulders. Rabbi Elazar, his son, sat before him and Rabbi Shimon told him, “Arise, my son, for another will sit in this place.” Rabbi Elazar arose.
28) Rabbi Shimon cloaked in his garment and sat. He started and said, “The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down to Dumah.” Indeed, “The dead do not praise the Lord,” for they are called “dead,” since the Creator is called “living,” and He is among those who are called “living,” the righteous ones, and not among those who are called “dead,” the wicked ones. And the end of the verse proves, as it is written, “Nor do any who go down to Dumah,” meaning all those who go down to Angel Dumah, who will remain in Hell. But not so are those who are called “living.” They are the righteous ones and the Creator wants to honor…
31) Rabbi Shimon started and said, “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.” all the days that I have been tied to this world, I have been tied to the Creator with one knot. For this reason, now, “And his desire is for me,” for He and all His camp have come to joyfully hear hidden words and the praise of Holy Atik, the most hidden of all that are hidden, the most secluded and separated from all. But he is not separated, for everything clings to him and he clings to everything; he is everything.
The Departure of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai
Idra Zuta, Haazinu [Give Ear]
196) Rabbi Aba said, “The Holy Light did not complete saying life before his words abated. And I wrote, and thought that I would write some more, but I did not hear. I did not raise my head, for the light was great and I could not look. In the meantime, I was shaken; I heard a voice calling and saying, ‘Length of days and years of life.’ Then I heard another voice, ‘He asked life of You.’”
197) The whole of that day, the fire did not stop from the house, but there was none to reach him. They could not, since the light and the fire surrounded him. That whole day, I was fallen on the earth and cried bitterly. Once the fire went, I saw the Holy Light, the holy of holies, departed from the world, cloaked and lying on his right side, and his face was smiling.
198) Rabbi Elazar, his son, arose, took his hands, and kissed them. And I licked the dust under his feet. The friends wished to cry but could not speak. The friends began to cry, and Rabbi Elazar, his son, fell three times and could not open his mouth. Afterwards, he started and said, “My father, my father, they were three and they have become one again.” That is, there were three great ones in the land—Rabbi Elazar, his father, Rashbi, and his grandfather, Rabbi Pinhas, son of Yair—and now Rabbi Elazar remained orphaned from is grandfather and from his father, Rashbi. He remained alone in the world. Now that this great tree has left. Under it, the animals of the field would stroll, in its branches, the birds of the sky would dwell, and nourishments for all were in it. Now the animals migrated and the birds of the trees that sat on its branches settle in the holes of the great sea. And the friends, instead of the nourishment that they received from it, they drink blood.
199) Rabbi Hiya rose to his feet and said, “Thus far the Holy Light was watching over us. Now it is the time to toil only for his glory.”
Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Aba rose and took him from his place onto a bed that was made as a ladder, to raise him to his bed. Who saw the confusion of the friends? And the whole house was smelling of good fragrances. They raised him to his bed and only Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Aba served him.
200) Strikers and men with shields came from the village Tzippori, and wished to bury him in their place. They came to take him by force and by war. The children of Meron drove them away and yelled at them in hordes, for they did not want him buried there, but that he would be buried in their place. When the bed was out of the house, it rose in the air and fire was flaming before it. They heard a voice, “Come in, come and gather for the celebration of Rabbi Shimon, may peace come and they will rest in peace.”
201) When he entered the cave they heard a voice inside the cave. That man was quaking the land, irritating from Malchut, several slanderers in the firmament are quieted on this day for you. This is Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, whose Master praises every day. Happy is he above and below. Several high treasures are kept for him. It was said about him, “And you, go to the end and rest and rise again for your fate at the end of the right.”
Desire
Desire Reveals Sublime Secrets
New Zohar, Beresheet [Genesis]
110) Happy are those who look into their will, matters of high secrets, to walk in the path of truth, to be rewarded in this world and to shine for them for the next world. It is written about them, “And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn the many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” Happy are they in this world and in the next world.
Those who adhere to the Creator in truth, their will guides them to walk in their work as is established above in the upper worlds, as it is written, “And Abram went as the Lord commanded him.” Hence, when they later look into their will, they know the high secrets, for they are looking at the tilts in their desires and know how the high secrets are determined above.
They Who Govern the Will of Their Hearts
VaYera [The Lord Appeared]
239) “And these are the nations which the Lord left, to test Israel by them.” I was looking at that eternal world, and the world stood only on those righteous who reign over their hearts’ desire. It is said, “He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony.” Why was Joseph rewarded with that virtue and kingship? For he had conquered his inclination. This is because we learned that all who reign over their inclination, the kingdom of heaven awaits them.
The Tower of Babel and Common Will
Noah
384) “And the Lord said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language.’” “And it came to pass when they journeyed from the east.” “From the east means from the ancient one of the world.” “That they found” means that they found a finding from the secrets of the wisdom of the first ones, the generation of the flood, who were shaken there. In this wisdom that they found, they tried to do the work that they did to defy the Creator. Also, they would utter with their mouths swears to the high ministers. And they did the work—the construction of the city and the tower.
385) “They are one people, and they all have the same language.” And because they are all of the same heart and same will, and speak the holy tongue, “And now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them,” and there is no one who can prevent their actions. “But,” said the Creator, “What I shall do is I shall confuse the degrees above and their tongue below, and then their work will be arrested.”
386) Because they were of one will and one heart, and spoke the holy tongue, it is written, “Nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them,” and the upper Din [judgment] cannot rule over them, we, or the friends who are engaging in Torah. And we, who are of one heart and one will, it is several times more so: nothing which we purpose to do will be impossible for us.
Peace
Her Ways Are Pleasant and All Her Paths Are Peace
VaEra [And I Appeared]
183) “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” “Her ways are ways of pleasantness” are the ways of the Torah. Anyone who walks in the ways of Torah, the Creator brings upon him the pleasantness of Divinity, so it would never leave him. “And all her paths are peace” are the paths of the Torah, since all the paths of the Torah are peace—peace for him above, peace for him below, peace for him in this world, and peace for him in the next world.
One Who Disputes with Peace
Korah
6) The world stands only on peace. When the Creator created the world, it could not exist until He came and established peace on them, the Sabbath, which is the peace of upper and lower. Then the world persisted. Hence, one who disagrees with peace will be lost from the world.
If They Are at Peace, Judgment Does Not Rule Over Them
Miketz [At the End]
168) “Thus says the Lord, though they are at full strength and likewise many, Even so, they will be cut off and pass away.” When the whole people has peace in it, and no dispute is among them, the Creator has pity on them and the judgment does not govern them. And even though they are idol worshippers, if they are at peace, judgment does not rule over them, as it is written, “Joined idols,” idol worshipping, “Ephraim let him alone.” This means that even if one is serving idols, meaning idol worshipping, if they are nonetheless united, “Let him alone.”
Closeness of Righteous Increases Peace in the World
VaYigash [Then Judah Approached]
61) Happy are the righteous, whose closeness to each other brings peace to the world because they know how to unite the unification and to make nearness, to increase peace in the world. As long as Joseph and Judah were not close to one another, there was no peace. When Joseph and Judah drew close together, peace increased in the world and joy was added above and below while Joseph and Judah were brought closer. All the tribes were together with Joseph, and that closeness increased peace in the world, as it is written, “Then Judah approached him.”
He Who Walks on the Path of Truth
Miketz [At the End]
186) Rabbi Abba was sitting at the gate of the city of Lod. He saw a man coming and sitting on a protrusion that bulged at the side of the mountain. He was weary from the road and he sat and slept there. At that time, he saw a serpent approaching him, and a varmint came out and killed the serpent.
When the man woke, he saw the serpent dead in front of him. The man rose and the protrusion he had been sitting on was torn off the mountain and fell to the valley below it. But the man was saved. Had he been late standing up by even a minute, he would have fallen to the valley along with the protrusion and he would have been killed.
187) Rabbi Abba came to him and told him: “Tell me, what do you do?” for the Creator brought you these two miracles, saved you from the serpent and from the protrusion that fell. And that was not for nothing.
188) He told him. “Through my whole life, never has anyone done evil to me that I did not make peace with him and forgave him. Moreover, if I could not make peace with him, I did not go to my bed before I forgave him and all those who afflicted me, and I did not hold any grudge the whole day for that evil which he had done to me. And I do not suffice for that, but even more, from that day forth, I have tried to do them good.”
189) The deeds of this one are greater than Joseph’s, for with Joseph, the wrong doers were his brothers, and he certainly should have pitied them because of the brotherhood. But what this one did, when he did this with all the people, is greater than Joseph. He is worthy of the Creator bringing him a miracle over a miracle.
190) “He who walks in integrity walks securely” is a man who walks in the ways of the Torah. “Walks securely” means that the damagers of the world will not be able to harm him. “But he who perverts his ways will be found out.” Who will be found out? One who has strayed from the path of truth, and seeks to collect from his friend, who wishes to pay him evil for evil, and breaches “Thou shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge.” “Will be found out” means that it will be apparent to the eyes of all the litigants, that they will not lose the image of that person, so as to bring him to the place where they will avenge him, an eye for an eye. This is why it is written, “Will be found out.”
Joy
Serve the Lord with Gladness
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
109) “Serve the Lord with gladness.” Any work that a person wishes to do for the Creator should be done with gladness, willingly, so that his work will be whole.
Higher Joy
Tetzaveh [Command]
94) “Serve the Lord with gladness,” since man’s joy draws another joy, the higher one.
A Whole Place, a Place of Joy
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
116) “And the spirit of Jacob their father revived.” This means that in the beginning, his spirit was dead. He also did not intend to continue and receive another spirit, since the upper spirit is not present in an empty place. Divinity is present only in a whole place, and not in a deficient place, or a flawed place, or a place of sadness, but in a proper place—a place of joy. For this reason, all those years when Joseph was separated from his father and Jacob was sad, Divinity was not on him.
117) “Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with singing.” There is no service of the Creator unless out of joy. Divinity is not present in sadness, as it is written, “‘And now bring me a player.’ And it came to pass that when the player played.” It writes “Play” three times, to evoke the spirit from the source of wholeness, ZA, which includes three lines, which is the complete spirit. The threefold “play” corresponds to his three lines.
The Reason for the Joy of the Heart
VaEra [And I Appeared]
139) “Go then, eat your bread in happiness” means that when a person goes in the ways of the Creator, the Creator brings him closer and gives him peace and tranquility. Then the bread and wine that you eat and drink are with joy of the heart because the Creator is pleased with his deeds.
The Reward of One Who Delights the Creator
Pinhas
2) Anyone who engages in Torah in this world is rewarded with several gates being opened to him, several lights to that world. Hence, when he passes away from this world, the Torah walks before him and goes to all the gate-keepers, declares and says, “Open the gates and let the gentile righteous in, set up a chair for so and so, the King’s servant,” for there is no joy to the Creator except in one who engages in the Torah.
The King Has Brought Me to His Chambers
Aharei Mot [After the Death]
50) “The king has brought me to his chambers.” If the King brings me to His chambers, “We will rejoice in you and be glad,” Me and all My hosts. All the hosts, when the Assembly of Israel is glad and blessed, everyone is glad. At that time there is no Din [judgment] in the world. This is why it is written, “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice.”
Torah
All the Good
Chayei Sarah [The Life of Sarah]
219) “Open my eyes, that I may see wonders from Your law.” How foolish are people, for they do not know and do not consider engaging in the Torah. But the Torah is the whole of life, and every freedom and every goodness in this world and in the next world. Life in this world is to be rewarded with all their days in this world, as it is written, “The number of thy days I will fulfill.” And he will be rewarded with long days in the next world, for it is the perfect life, a life of joy, life without sadness, life that is life—freedom in this world and liberation from everything.
Freedom from the Angel of Death
Chayei Sarah [The Life of Sarah]
220) …the Torah is freedom from the angel of death, so he cannot control him.
Certainly, if Adam were to cling to the tree of life, which is the Torah, he would not cause death to himself or to the whole world. But because he left the tree of life, which is the Torah, and ate from the tree of knowledge, he caused death to himself and to the world. For this reason, the Creator gave the Torah to Israel.
It is written, “Harut [carved] on the tables; do not pronounce it Harut, but rather Herut [freedom],” for then they were liberated from the angel of death. Had Israel not sinned with the calf and not departed the tree of life, which is the Torah, they would not cause death to return to the world to begin with.
And the Creator said, “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High,’” meaning upon the reception of the Torah. And since you damaged yourselves, meaning sinned, you will indeed die as humans. Hence, that evil serpent that darkened the world cannot govern anyone who engages in the Torah.
Upper Life
VaYishlach [And Jacob Sent]
46) “Happy is the man that fears always; but he that hardens his heart shall fall into evil.” Happy are Israel, for the Creator desires them and gave them the true law, to be rewarded by it with everlasting life. The Creator draws the upper life upon anyone who engages in Torah, and brings him to the life of the next world, as it is written, “For He is your life, and the length of your days.” And it is written, “And through this thing ye shall prolong your days,” because she is life in this world and life in the next world.
The World Was Created with the Torah
Teruma [Donation]
635) When the Creator created the world, He looked in the Torah and created the world. The world was created with the Torah, as it is written, “And I was beside Him an Amon [apprentice].” Do not pronounce it, Amon, but Oman [craftsman], for the Torah is the craftsmanship of the world…
639) It is written in the Torah, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” He looked in this word and created the heaven. It is written in the Torah, “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’” He looked in this word and created the light. And so it was with each and every word that is written in the Torah: the Creator looked, and did that thing. This is why it is written, “And I was beside Him an Oman [craftsman],” as the whole world was created.
640) When the world was created, not a thing existed before there was the desire to create man, so he will engage in Torah, and for that, the world existed. Now, anyone who looks in the Torah and engages in it, seemingly sustains the entire world. The Creator looked in the Torah and created the world; man looks in the Torah and sustains the world. It follows that the deed and the keeping of the entire world is the Torah. For this reason, happy is he who engages in the Torah, for he sustains the world.
One Who Engages in Torah Sustains the World
Toldot [Generations]
3) Anyone who engages in Torah sustains the world and sustains each and every operation in the world in its proper way. Also, there is not an organ in a man’s body that does not have a corresponding creation in the world.
This is so because as man’s body divides into organs and they all stand degree over degree, established one atop the other and are all one body, similarly, the world, meaning all creations in the world are many organs standing one atop the other, and they are all one body. And when they are all corrected they will actually be one body. And everything, man and the world, will be like the Torah because the whole of Torah is organs and joints standing one atop the other. And when the world is corrected they will become one body.
Studying for the Creator
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
282) When Rabbi Abba came from Babel, he declared, “Whomever wishes for wealth and whomever wishes for long days in the next world will engage in the Torah!” The whole world gathered unto him to engage in the Torah.
A bachelor, a man vacant of a woman, was in his neighborhood. One day, he came to him and told him, “I want to learn Torah so as to have wealth.” Rabbi Abba told him, “You will certainly be rewarded with wealth through the Torah.” He sat, and engaged in the Torah.
283) In time, he said, “Rabbi, where is the wealth?” Rabbi Abba replied, “It means that you are not studying for the Creator,” and he walked into his room to consider what to do about him. He heard a voice saying, “Do not punish him, for he will be a great man.” He returned to him and told him, “Sit, my son, sit, and I will give you wealth.”
284) In the meantime, a man walked in holding a golden vessel. He took it out so it would be seen, and its shine radiated in the house. He said, “Rabbi, I want to be rewarded with the Torah. I myself have not been privileged with understanding the Torah, and I ask that someone will engage for me. I have great wealth, which my father had left for me.” While he was seated at his desk, he set up thirteen cups of gold on it. “I want to be rewarded with the Mitzva [good deed] of studying the Torah, and in return, I will give wealth.”
285) He said to that man, who did not have a wife, “You engage in Torah, and this man will give you wealth.” The man gave him that gold cup. Rabbi Abba said about him, “Gold or glass cannot equal it,nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.” He sat and engaged in Torah, and that man was giving him wealth.
286) In time, the beauty of Torah came within him. One day, he was sitting and crying. His rabbi found him crying and asked him, “Why are you crying?” He replied, “And what am I neglecting for this wealth—the life of the next world! I do not want to study for the man any longer; I want to be rewarded with the Torah for myself.” Rabbi Abba said, “Now it means that he is already studying for the Creator.”
287) He called upon that man and told him, “Take your wealth and give it to orphans and poor, and I will give you a greater share in the Torah, in everything we learn.” He gave him back the gold cup. There is no better reward in the world than one who engages in Torah. And there is no need for anything in return for it, as it is written, “Gold or glass cannot equal it,nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.”
Torah that Does Not Rise Up
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
293) “What advantage does man have in all his work, which he does under the sun?” The toil of Torah, too, means to toil under the sun. The toil of Torah is different; it is above the sun, from the upper ones. Thus, so is the toil of Torah. It is said about it, “What advantage does man have in all his work, which he does under the sun?” whether he toils in Torah for people or for his own honor. It is about that that the verse says, “Under the sun,” since this Torah does not rise, and even if one lived a thousand years, on the day he departs from the world, it will seem to him as though he lived only one day.
Words of Torah Require Intention
Noah
275) It is written, “Prepare to meet your God, O Israel,” and it is written, “Be silent and listen, O Israel,” for words of Torah require intention, and must be corrected in the body and will as one.
276) …Words of Torah require correction of the body and correction of the heart.
Sublime Secrets that Appear for a Moment and Disappear Once More
Toldot [Generations]
4) The Torah holds all the hidden, sublime, and unattainable secrets. The Torah holds all the sublime, revealed, and unrevealed matters, that is, that for their profoundness, they appear to the eye of the one who observes them and soon after disappear. Then they briefly reappear and disappear, and so on and so forth before those who scrutinize them. The Torah holds all the things that are above in the Upper World and that are below. And everything in this world and everything in the next world is in the Torah, and there is no one to observe and to know them.
Awaken the Love
Mishpatim [Ordinances]
99) A loved one, comely and beautiful, hides in her palace. She has a lover, of whom people do not know, but he is hiding. That lover, for the love that he loves her, always passes by the gate to her house and raises his eyes to every direction. She knows that her lover is always surrounding the gate to her house. She opens a little door in her palace and shows her face to her lover, and immediately covers herself again. All those who were with the lover did not see and did not look, only the lover alone, whose heart and soul cling after her. And he knows that for the love that she loves him, she appears to him for a moment, to evoke the love for him.
So is a word of Torah: she appears only for her lover. The Torah knows that that wise-of-heart surrounds the gate to her house each day. What did she do? She showed her face to him from within the palace and hinted him a hint, then promptly returned to her place and hid. All those from there neither knew nor looked, but he alone, and his heart and soul follow her. Hence, the Torah appears and disappears, and walks with love toward the one who loves her, to awaken the love with him.
The Torah Does Not Tell Literal Stories
BeHaalotcha [When You Mount]
58) Woe unto one who says that the Torah comes to tell literal tales and the uneducated words of such as Esau and Laban. If this is so, even today we can turn the words of an uneducated person into a law, and even nicer than theirs. And if the Torah indicates to mundane matters, even the rulers of the world have among them better things, so let us follow them and turn them into a law in the same way. However, all the words of the Torah have the uppermost meaning.
59) The upper world and the lower world are judged the same. Israel below correspond to the high angels above. It is written of the high angels, “Who makes winds His messengers,” and when they come down, they clothe in dresses of this world. Had they not clothed in dresses such as in this world, they would not be able to stand in this world, and the world would not tolerate them. And if this is so with angels, it is all the more so with the law that created the angels and all the worlds, and they exist for it. Moreover, when it came down to this world, the world could not tolerate it if it had not clothed in these mundane clothes, which are the tales and words of the uneducated.
60) Hence, this story in the Torah is a clothing of the Torah. And one who considers this clothing as the actual Torah and nothing else, damned will be his spirit, and he will have no share in the next world. This is the reason why David said, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law,” that is, gaze upon what lies beneath the clothing of the Torah.
61) There is an openly visible clothing, and when fools see a person dressed handsomely, whose dress seems elegant, they look no further and judge him by his elegant clothes. They regard the clothes as the man’s body and regard the man’s body as his soul.
62) Such is the Torah. It has a body, which is the Mitzvot of the Torah, which are called “the bodies of the Torah.” This body clothes in dresses, which are mundane stories, and the fools in the world consider only that clothing, which is the story of the Torah. They do not know more and do not consider what exists underneath that clothing.
Those who know more do not consider the clothing, but the body under that clothing. But the sages, the servants of the High King, those who stood on Mount Sinai, consider only the soul in the Torah, which is the essence of it all, the actual law. In the future, they will gaze upon the soul within the soul of the Torah.
63) This is also how it is above. There is Levush [clothing], Guf [body], Neshama [soul], and Neshama to Neshama. The heavens and their hosts are the Levush, and the assembly of Israel is Malchut—the Guf that receives the Neshama, which is the Tifferet [glory] of Israel, ZA. Hence, Malchut is the Guf to the Neshama, for ZA clothes in her like a soul in the body. The Neshama is Tifferet,Israel, the actual law, the soul of the Torah, upon which the sages gaze.
And Neshama to Neshama is Atika Kadisha [the Holy, Ancient One], upon whom they will gaze in the future. All are intertwined: Atika Kadisha clothes in ZA, ZA clothes in Malchut, and Malchut in the worlds BYA and all their hosts.
64) Woe unto the wicked ones who say that the Torah is nothing more than fables and consider only the clothing. Happy are the righteous who consider the Torah as they should. As wine sits only in a jar, the Torah dwells only in that clothing. Hence, one needs to regard what is found under the clothing, which is why all these tales are dresses.
To Whom Does the Torah Seem Empty
VaYetze [Jacob Went Out]
341) Woe unto the wicked of the world who do not know and do not look at words of Torah. And when they do look at it, because there is no wisdom in them, the words of Torah seem to them as though they were empty and useless words. It is all because they are devoid of knowledge and wisdom, since all the words in the Torah are sublime and precious words, and each and every word that is written there is more precious than pearls, and no object can compare to it.
342) When all the fools whose heart is blocked see the words of Torah, not only do they not know, but they even say that the words are spoiled, useless words, woe unto them. When the Creator seeks them out for the disgrace of the Torah, they will be punished with a punishment fit for one who rebels against one’s Master.
343) It is written in the Torah, “For it is no vain thing.” And if it is vain, it is only vain for you, since the Torah is filled with every good stone and precious gem, from all the abundance in the world.
344) King Solomon said, “If you are wise, you are wise for yourself.” This is so because when one grows wise in the Torah, it is to his benefit, not for the Torah, since he cannot add even a single letter to the Torah. “And if you scorn, you alone shall bear it,” for nothing shall be subtracted from the praise of Torah because of that. His scorn is his alone and he will remain in it, to annihilate him from this world and from the next world.
A Healing for All the World’s Troubles
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
317) The people of the world will shout but no one will watch over them. Their heads will search in every direction for some salvation but they will not return with any cure for their plight. But I have found them one remedy in the world: Where they engage in Torah, and a book of Torah that is unflawed is among them, when they take it out, the upper ones and lower ones will awaken. And it is all the more so if the Holy Name is written in it properly.
Written Torah and Oral Torah
New Zohar, Toldot [Generations]
13) All the upper fathers who are gripped above—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and Joseph—are all implied in the written Torah, the Torah of HaVaYaH. This is because they are the six edges of Zeir Anpin, who is called HaVaYaH, and about whom it is written, “The law of the Lord [HaVaYaH].” Hence, they are all written Torah.
David, who is gripped outside of them, is the oral Torah, Malchut, and is implied in words of reception, meaning in the writings. This is the reason why Malchut is called “reception,” since she receives light from the written Torah, who is called Tzadik [righteous], Yesod, and it is called Joseph, and it is called “all.”
Torah – Night Study
Thread of Hesed [Mercy/Grace]
Miketz [At the End]
33) …When a person engages in Torah at night, a thread of mercy extends upon him during the day, as it is written, “By day the Lord will command His mercy, and in the night His song shall be with me.”
Great Love at Night
Aharei Mot [After the Death]
217) “My spirit within me seeks You,” to cling to you at night with great love. Man needs to rise each night because of the love of the Creator to engage in His work until the morning rises, and draw upon him a thread of Hesed [mercy/grace]. Happy is the man who loves the Creator with this love. And those true righteous, who love the Creator in this way, the world exists for them, and they govern all the harsh decrees above and below.
They Who Rise from Their Bed to Engage in Torah
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
379) “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” When the Creator comes to entertain with the righteous in the Garden of Eden, all things, meaning degrees in the lower world, Malchut, and all the upper ones and lower ones awaken toward Him. And all the trees, meaning degrees, in the Garden of Eden begin to praise before Him, as it is written, “Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joybefore the Lord, for He has come.” And even the birds in the land all utter praise before Him.
At that time, a flame comes out and strikes the wings of the rooster, who calls and praises the holy King. He calls upon people to exert in Torah, in praising their Master, and in His work. Happy are those who rise from their bed to engage in Torah.
380) When the morning comes, the doors on the south, meaning Hesed, open and the gates of healing come out to the world. And Eastern wind, ZA, awakens and Rachamim are present. And all those stars and signs, meaning degrees, which are appointed under the governance of that morning, which is Yesod that shines Hassadim, they all begin to praise and to sing for the High King. It is written about that, “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”
But what do the sons of God, who are Din, want here, summoning a shout on this morning, which is the time of Hesed? After all, all the Dinim are removed when the Hesed awakens in the world. However, “And all the sons of God shouted for joy” means that the authority of the harsh Dinim has been broken, their strength has been shattered, since “Shout” means that they broke, as it is written, “The earth is broken, broken down.”
Gifts for Members of the Palace
Beshalach [When Pharaoh Sent]
46) The Creator and all the righteous in the Garden of Eden, all listen to His voice. It is written, “You who sit in the gardens, friends listen to your voice; let me hear it.” “You who sit in the gardens” is the assembly of Israel, Malchut. At night, she praises the Creator with the praise of the Torah. Happy is he who partakes with her in praising the Creator in the praise of the Torah.
47) When the morning comes, the assembly of Israel, Malchut, comes and plays with the Creator, and He gives her the scepter of Hesed [grace/mercy]. But not only to her, but to her and to all those who partake with her. One who engages in Torah at night, the Creator draws to him a thread of Hesed during the day. This is why Malchut is called “The morning star,” for she praises the Creator at night with the praise of the Torah.
48) When the morning should rise, the light darkens and grows black, and the blackness is present. Then a woman clings to her Husband, which is the third watch, when a woman tells with her husband, meaning ZON, to tell with Him, and she comes to His palace.
49) Afterwards, when the sun should set, the night shines and comes and takes the sun. Then, all the gates close, donkeys bray, and dogs bark. When half the night is through, the King begins to rise and the queen, Malchut, begins to sing. The King, ZA, comes and knocks on the palace’s gate and says, “Open for me, my sister, my wife.” And then He plays with the souls of the righteous.
50) Happy is he who has awakened at that time with words of Torah. For this reason, all the children of the queen’s palace must rise at that time and praise the King. All praise before Him, and the praise rises from this world, which is far from Him, and this is more favorable to the Creator than anything.
51) When the night departs and the morning comes and dawns, the King and queen are in joy, in Zivug, and He gives her presents, as well as to all the dwellers of the palace. Happy is he who is numbered among the dwellers of the palace.
Sixty Breaths
VaYigash [Then Judah Approached]
34) King David would sleep as a horse; he slept little. Thus, how did he rise at midnight? After all, this measure of sixty breaths of the horse’s sleep is little and he would not rise even at a third of the night.
35) However, when the night came, he would sit with all the great ones of his house and he would sentence judgments and engage in words of Torah. This means that he did not go to sleep in the beginning of the night, but close to midnight. Afterwards, he would sleep his sleep until midnight, rise at midnight, awaken, and engage in the work of his Master, in song and in praise.
36) King David lives and exists forever and ever. King David kept himself all his life from tasting the taste of death, since sleep is one part of sixty of death. And David, because of his place, which is “alive,” slept only sixty breaths, since he lived only through sixty breaths, minus one, and from there on, man tastes the taste of death and the side of the spirit of impurity governs him.
37) This is why King David kept himself from tasting the taste of death and from being governed by the side of the other spirit. This is because sixty breaths minus one means that the life above—up to sixty breaths—are sixty high breaths, and life depends on them. And from there down it is death.
38) This is why King David was measuring the night until midnight, so he would remain alive and the taste of death would not govern him. And when half the night was through, David would exist in his place, in his degree, living and existing, since he had woken up from his sleep and sang and praised. This is so because when he awoke at midnight and the holy Keter—the Nukva, awakened—it must not find David connected to another place, the place of death.
39) When half the night was through and the upper holiness awakened, if a person who sleeps in his bed does not rise from his sleep to observe the glory of his Master, by that he connects to death and clings to another place, to the Sitra Achra. This is why King David would always rise at midnight to observe the glory of his Master, living in a living, and he would not sleep in slumber to the point of tasting the taste of death. This is the reason why he would sleep as a horse, sixty breaths, but not in completeness, for they lacked one.
Sleeping means shutting of the eyes, meaning the Mochin. This is as one who is lying mindlessly with his eyes shut. Its root extends from the domination of the illumination of the left line, Hochma, when it is in dispute with the right line, Hassadim, where because the Hochma cannot shine without Hassadim, the Mochin are blocked out.
Awakening from sleep extends from the middle line, since the state of sleep continues until the ascent of the middle line with the Masach deHirik in it. This is the point of Man’ula [lock], which diminishes the left line and includes it in the right, when the Hochma in the left is included in the Hassadim in the right. At that time, the Mochin open and the Hochma can shine.
Torah that Is Studied Together Is Purer
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
394) Torah that is studied at night is purer than Torah that is studied during the day, since the purity of the written Torah is in the oral Torah, in Malchut, which is called “night.” The oral Torah, Malchut, governs at night and awakens more than at daytime, and when Malchut governs, she is the purity in the Torah.
Children of Faith—Those Who Know How to Unite the Holy Name
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
200) “Bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord.” This is a praise for all those with faith. Who are those with faith? They are the ones who engage in Torah and know how to unite the Holy Name properly. And the praise of those with faith is that they stand at midnight to engage in Torah and adhere to the assembly of Israel, Malchut, to praise the Creator with words of Torah.
201) When one rises at midnight to engage in Torah, a Northern wind—meaning illumination of the left—awakens at midnight, which is the deer and Malchut, and stands and praises the Creator, ZA. And when she stands, several thousands and several tens of thousands stand with her in their existence, and they all begin to praise the holy King.
202) The Creator listens to he who was rewarded and rose at midnight to engage in Torah…And all that multitude above and those who praise their Master in song keep silent for the praises of those who engage in Torah. They declare and say, “Bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord.” In other words, you who engage in Torah, bless the Lord. You—praise the holy King; you—crown the King.
203) And the deer, Malchut, is crowned in that man. She rises before the King and says, “See in what son I have come to You, in what son I have awakened toward You.” And who are those that all their merit is before the King? It is they who stand in the house of the Creator in the nights. They are the ones who are called “servants of the Creator”; they are the ones who are worthy of blessing the King and whose blessing is a blessing, as it is written, “Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.” You, who merit the holy King being blessed by you, the blessing through you is a blessing.
Correction
Whatever You Find that You Have the Power to Do, Do
Pinhas
134) “Whatever you find that you have the power to do, do.” How good it is for a person to exert to do his Master’s will while the candle is lit and is present over his head, since the light of the candle is a power that is over him. It is written about it, “Let the power of the Lord grow.” This is the power of the Creator that is present over the head of the righteous and all those who engage in their Master’s will, who is Divinity.
Intermediate
Bo [Come unto Pharaoh]
211) “One should always consider oneself as though the whole world depends on him,” meaning he should consider himself and the whole world as intermediate. And if he keeps one commandment, he sentences himself and the whole world to a scale of merit. And if he commits one transgression, he sentences himself and the whole world to a scale of sin.
Support from the Creator
VaYetze [Jacob Went Out]
350) King David always attached himself to the Creator. He had no concern for any other thing in the world, but to adhere to Him with his soul and will, as it is written, “My soul clings to You.” And since he always clung to the Creator, He supported him and did not leave him, as it is written, “Your right supported me.” We learn from it that when one comes to cling to the Creator, the Creator holds him and does not leave him.
The Awakening of the Upper One
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
231) The awakening of the upper one is only through the awakening of the lower one because the awakening of the upper one depends on the craving of the lower one.
When One Comes to Purify
Lech Lecha [Go Forth]
268) It is written, “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.” In the beginning, “I am my beloved’s,” and afterwards, “And his desire is for me.” “I am my beloved’s” is to first set up a place for him with an awakening from below, and then, “And his desire is for me.”
269) Divinity is not present with the wicked. When a person comes to purify and bring himself closer to the Creator, Divinity is over him. It is written about it, “I am my beloved’s,” first, and then, “And his desire is for me,” since when one comes to purify, he is purified.
One Who Sanctifies Is Sanctified
VaYikra [The Lord Called]
423) Happy are the righteous, for they have a high share in the Creator, in the holy share, in the King’s sanctities, since they sanctify themselves in the sanctities of their Master. And anyone who sanctifies, the Creator sanctifies him, as it is written, “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy.” A person who sanctifies himself from below is sanctified from above. And when one sanctifies with the sanctity of his Master, his is clothed with a holy soul, which is the inheritance of the Creator and the assembly of Israel, for the soul is an offspring of ZON. And then he inherits everything. These are the ones who are called, “children of the Creator,” as it is written, “You are the children of the Lord your God.”
Building of the Temple
Noah
323) “The house, while it was being built, was built of a perfect stone carried.” “The house, while it was being built” means it was being built by itself. But did Solomon and all the craftsmen who were there not build it?
324) Indeed, so it is, as it is written, “The lamp shall be made of one piece.” If it is one piece, which means that the craftsmen were beating the bar with a sledge-hammer, then what is, “Shall be made”? It means it was made by itself. Of course, everything at the Temple was made by itself, by token and a miracle. When the craftsmen began to work, the work taught the craftsmen who to do it, which they did not know how to do prior to beginning it.
325) What is the reason? It is because the blessing of the Creator was on them. This is why it is written, “While it was being built,” for it was built by itself, since it taught the craftsmen the learning, how to begin to do it, and the registration of that work would literally be going out of their eyes, and they would look at that registration and work until the entire house was built.
Making the Sanctuary
Pekudei [Accounts]
15) When the Creator said unto Moses, “Make the Tabernacle,” Moses was bewildered; he did not know what to do until the Creator vividly showed him, as it is written, “And see and make them after their pattern, which is being shown to you in the mountain.” “In their pattern” means that the Creator showed Moses everything in its higher, spiritual shape, and each of the spiritual shapes above was making its shape similar to the fictitious shape that was made below, on earth. This is how Moses knew.
16) “Which is being shown to you in the mountain.” The mirror that does not shine, Malchut was showing him within her all the manners and forms that are being done below.
17) It is written, “Which is being shown to you.” “You” is the mirror that does not shine, Malchut, which showed him within her all these forms. And Moses saw each of them in its corrected form, as one who sees within a crystal lamp, within a mirror that shows all the forms.
And when Moses gazed upon them, he found them perplexing, since there, in Malchut, everything stood in its spiritual form, but each form equalized its shape to the fictitious shape in this world, in the Tabernacle. It turns out that two forms were apparent: the spiritual one and the fictitious one. This is why Moses was bewildered; he did not know which of them to grasp. The Creator told him, “You with your signs, and I with Mine,” that Moses would perceive the fictitious signs in every thing and the Creator perceives the spiritual signs of every thing, and then the spiritual form is placed over the fictitious form. Then Moses was settled in all the work of the Tabernacle.
The Donkey Driver
Teruma [Donation]
536) Rabbi Yosi and Rabbi Hiya were walking along the way and a donkey driver was leading the donkeys behind them. Rabbi Yosi said to Rabbi Hiya, “We should engage and exert in words of Torah because the Creator is walking ahead of us, hence it is time to make corrections for Him, so He will be with us on this way.” A donkey driver stings the donkeys with a piece of wood to make them walk faster.
537) Rabbi Hiya started and said, “It is time to do for the Lord; they have broken Your law.” Anytime when the Torah exists in the world and people engage in it, the Creator is seemingly happy with His works, there is joy in all the worlds, and heaven and earth maintain their existence. Moreover, the Creator gathers His entire household and tells them, “See the holy people that I have in the land, the Torah is crowned because of them, see My works, of whom you have said, ‘What is man, that I should remember him?’” And they, when they see their Master’s joy, they promptly start and say, “And who is as Your people, as Israel, one nation in the land.”
538) And when Israel idle away from the Torah, His might seemingly fades, as it is written, “You neglected the Rock who begot you,” and then it is written, “And all the host of heaven stand.” Hence, it is time to do for the Lord. Those righteous that remained should muster their strength and do good deeds so that the Creator will be strengthened with the righteous and with His camps and armies, since they have broken Your law and the people do not engage in it properly.
539) The donkey driver, who was leading the donkeys behind them, told them, “Please, I would like to know one question.” Rabbi Yosi replied, “Certainly, the road is set before us, ask your question.” He said, “This verse, had it said, ‘It should be done’ or ‘It was done,’ I would say so. What is ‘Time’? And also, it is written, ‘To do for the Lord.’ It should have said, ‘Before the Lord.’ What is ‘To do for the Lord’?” Rabbi Yosi said, “The road is set before us in several ways: One, that we were two and now we are three, for Divinity has been included with us. One, that I thought you were as a dry tree, while you are as fresh as an olive. And one, that you asked very well, and since you have begun to speak, do speak.”
540) He started and said, “Time to do for the Lord,” since there is a time and there is a time—a time to love and a time to hate. A time above, faith, Malchut, is called ‘Time.’ This is called ‘A time of good will,’ and it means that man must always love the Creator, as it is written, ‘And you shall love the Lord your God.’ About that, the time to love, it is a time, meaning that one must love.
541) “And there is another time, which is another god, which one must hate and not follow him with his heart. Hence, it is a time to hate. And this is why it is written, ‘Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place.’
542) “When Israel engage in Torah and in the Mitzvot [commandments] of the Torah, at that time the holy faith, Malchut, is corrected in her corrections and is fully adorned as it should be. And when Israel do not engage in Torah, at that time it is seemingly not corrected and is incomplete, and not in the light. Then it is time to do for the Lord.
543) “What is ‘To do for the Lord’? It is written, ‘That God has created to do.’ What is ‘To do’? It means that bodies of demons remained, which were not done because the day has been sanctified, and they remained to do because they are spirits without bodies. Here, too, it is time to do, the time remained without correction and without wholeness because they have broken Your law, for Israel have been idling away from words of Torah, for that time is so, either ascending or descending for Israel. If they engage in Torah, it ascends. If they idle away from the Torah, it descends.”
544) Rabbi Yosi said, “It is indeed beneath you to lead the donkeys behind us. Happy is this road, for we have been rewarded with hearing this. Happy is the generation that Rabbi Shimon is inside it, that wisdom is found even among the mountains.” Rabbi Yosi and Rabbi Hiya came down from their donkeys and the three of them walked along the way.
By What One Assumes in One’s Heart
VaYera [The Lord Appeared]
153) “Her husband is known in the gates” is the Creator, who is known and attained by what each assumes in his heart, to the extent that he can attain by the spirit of the wisdom. Thus, according to that which one assumes in one’s heart, He is known in his heart. This is why it is written, “Known in the gates,” in those measures [the same word as “gates” in Hebrew] that each assumes in his heart. But it should be properly known that there is no one who can attain and know Him.
154) “Her husband is known in the gates.” What are gates? It is written, “Lift up your heads, O gates.” By these gates, which are high degrees, by them is the Creator known. Were it not for these gates, they would not be able to attain in Him.
Correction Is Only in This World
Korah
31) One should not say, “When I come into that world, I will beg for mercy of the King, and will repent before Him.” Rather, it is written about that, “There is no deed or contemplation or knowledge or wisdom” once a person departs this world. If one wishes for the Holy King to shine for him in that world and give him a share in the next world, he should engage in including his deeds in the right in this world, and that all his actions will be for the Creator.
248 Organs of the Soul
Shoftim [Judges]
8) Happy is he who grips to the tree of life, ZA, with his body and with his organs, which is a candle. Each and every branch is a candle of Mitzva, in his 248 Mitzvot, which correspond to the 248 organs, a candle of Mitzva for each organ.
9) When both of them, the tree of life and the candle of Mitzva, meaning ZA and Malchut, grip the same person, the words, “And he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed,” come true, referring to man. And SAM and the serpent and all his appointees, which are thorns, grip to the man’s body and burn, while the branches of the bush, its fruits, and the leaves do not burn. This is what the Creator showed Moses.
365 Tendons of the Soul
Pekudei [Accounts]
151) Explaining the correction of Yesod of the Malchut, which was done by the effect of ZA. There are 365 tendons under the influence of the hoses—white, black, red, included in one another, and they have become one color. These tendons are reticulated in seventeen nets, and each net is called “tendons.” They are webbed in one another and descend at the end of the abyss, the Yesod in Malchut, called “abyss.” Under these, two nets stand in a mirror of iron and two other nets in a mirror of copper.
Tendons are illumination of Hochma on the left of Bina, which extends to Malchut. They are called tendons because they are from Bina, since KHB is called Mocha, Atzamot, Gidin.
A Goat for Azazel
Emor [speak]
236) “And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats.” This is an honor for Azazel because have you seen that a servant casts lots equally with his master? Usually, a servant receives what his master gives, but because on that day, Sam’el was ready to gossip about Israel, to prevent him from having something to say, he is given a share in it.
238) And not only that, each time the slanderer is ready and is given permission, it should be given something to deal with, and leave Israel alone.
Rebuke out of Love
Ki Tazria [When a Woman Delivers]
72) How do we know that? It is written, “Better is open rebuke than love that is hidden,” which means that open rebuke is better. And if the rebuke is out of love, it is hidden from people. Similarly, one who rebukes one’s friend with love must hide his words from people so his friend will not be shamed by them. And if his words are open before people, they are not with love.
73) So is the Creator. When He rebukes a person, He rebukes him with love in everything. First, He strikes him in his body, from within. If he repents, good. If not, He strikes him under his clothes. And these are called “Pangs of love.” If he repents, good. If not, He strikes him openly in his face, in front of everyone, so people will look at him and know that he is a sinner and is not loved by his Master.
A Year—a Cycle of Correction
Emor [Speak]
193) When this Shofar [festive horn] awakens and people repent from their iniquities, they must draw from below by the sound of a Shofar, and that sound rises up. At that time, another Shofar awakens above, meaning Bina, Rachamim [mercies] awaken, and the Din [judgment] departs…
Every Rosh Hashanah [Hebrew New Year’s Eve], the world returns to its beginning, as it was on the fourth day of creation, when Malchut was diminished. This is so because Malchut is called “a year,” and the twelve months of the year are the order of her corrections from her beginning to the end of correction. If the year is completed and its correction is not completed, she is given for us to correct on the next year, and we need to start over from initiation, as she was on the fourth day of creation. And so it is every single year until the end of correction.
A Prayer for the Poor
Yitro [Jethro]
414) “A Prayer for the poor, when he is cloaked, and pours out his complaint before the Lord.” All the prayers of Israel are prayers, and a prayer for the poor is the highest because it rises up to the King’s throne and crowns His head, and the Creator is praised indeed in that prayer. For this reason, a prayer for the poor is called “a prayer.”
415) “When he is cloaked.” This cloaking is not cloaking of clothes, since he has no clothes. Rather, it is written here “When he is cloaked,” and it is written there, “Who are cloaked in hunger.” Here, too, “When he is cloaked” is in hunger. “And pours out his complaint before the Lord” means that he will cry out before his Master. It is convenient for him before the Creator because the world exists in Him when there are no other sustainers of the world in the world. Woe unto one that that poor cries out about him to his Master, since the poor is the closest to the King, as it is written, “And it shall come to pass that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious.”
416) And as for the rest of the people in the world, at times He hears them, at times He does not hear, since the abode of the Creator is in those broken Kelim [vessels], as it is written, “And the oppressed and the low-spirited.” And it is written, “The Lord is near to the broken-hearted.” “A broken and an oppressed heart, O God, You will not despise.”
Gates of Tears
Pekudei [Accounts]
489) Above the palace door, there is another door, which the Creator dug out of Dinim [judgments] of Miftacha [key], which is “A well that the ministers have dug.” It opens three times a day, meaning that three lines illuminate in it, and it does not close, and stands open for those who repent, who have shed tears in their prayer before their Master.
And all the gates and the doors close until they enter the domain, except for these gates, which are called “gates of tears.” They are open and need no permission, since the first gate is “Sin crouches at the door,” and there the Malchut of Man’ula [lock] is present, ten thousand. In that discernment, repentance does not help, for it is the quality of judgment. However, the Creator dug a second door above it, from the Miftacha, which is Malchut that is mitigated in Bina, and there repentance helps.
490) When this prayer in tears rises through these gates, that Ofan, who is an angel from Malchut, comes. He is called Ofan, and he stands over six hundred big animals, and his name is Yerachmiel. He takes the prayer in tears, the prayer enters and is sanctified above, and the tears remain here. And they are written in a door that the Creator dug.
The prayer in tears raises MAN for correction of the key, to raise Malchut to Bina; hence, the prayer is accepted and the tears remain carved on the door, where they cause the mitigation of Malchut in Bina. Dema [tearing] comes from the word mixing, for it mixes and mingles Malchut in Bina.
Prayer of Many
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
514) Indeed, all the prayers in the world, meaning prayers of many, are prayers. But a solitary prayer does not enter before the Holy King, unless with great force. This is so because before the prayer enters to be crowned in its place, the Creator watches it, observes it, and observes the sins and merits of that person, which He does not do with a prayer of many, where several of the prayers are not from righteous, and they all enter before the Creator and He does not notice their iniquities.
515) “He has regarded the prayer of the destitute.” He turns the prayer and examines it from all sides, and considers with which desire the prayer was made, who is the person who prayed that prayer, and what are his deeds. Hence, one should pray one’s prayer in the collective, since He does not despise their prayer, even though they are not all with intent and the will of heart, as it is written, “He has regarded the prayer of the destitute.” Thus, He only observes the prayer of an individual, but with a prayer of many, He does not despise their prayer, even though they are unworthy.
516) “He has regarded the prayer of the destitute” means that He accepts his prayer, but it is an individual who is mingled with many. Hence, his prayer is as a prayer of many. And who is an individual who is mingled with many? It is Jacob, for he contains both sides—right and left, Abraham and Isaac, and he calls out to his sons and prays his prayer for them.
And what is the prayer that is fully granted above? It is a prayer that the children of Israel will not perish in the exile. This is because every prayer in favor of Divinity is received in full. And when Israel are in exile, Divinity is with them. This is why the prayer is regarded as being in favor of Divinity and is accepted in full.
I dwell among My Own People
VaYetze [Jacob Went Out]
284) Wherever a person prays his prayer, he should incorporate himself in the public, in the manifold public, as it is written about Shunammite when Elisha told her, “Would you be spoken for to the king or to the captain of the army?” “Would you be spoken for to the king,” since that day was the festival of the first day of the year, and the day when Malchut of the firmament rules and sentences the world. At that time, the Creator is called “The king of the sentence,” and this is why he told her, “Would you be spoken for to the king,” since he called the Creator “King.”
285) And she said, “I dwell among my own people.” In other words, she said, “I have no wish to be mentioned above, but to put my head among the masses and not leave the public.” Similarly, man should be included in the public and not stand out as unique, so the slanderers will not look at him and mention his sins.
Quantity and Quality
Teruma [Donation]
694) When the Creator comes to the house of gathering and the whole people come together, pray, thank, and praise the Creator, it is the glory of the King, for the Creator is established with beauty and correction to rise up to Aba and Ima.
695) When the Creator comes to the house of gathering early and the people did not come to pray and to praise the Creator, the whole of the governance above and all those upper appointees and camps break from that elevation of theirs, which they correct in the corrections of the King, the Creator.
696) The reason why they break from their elevation is that when Israel below establish their prayers and litanies, and praise the high King, all those upper camps praise and become corrected in the sacred correction, since all the upper camps are friends with Israel below, to praise the Creator together so that the rising of the Creator will be above and below at the same time.
697) And when the angels come to be friends with Israel, to praise the Creator together, and Israel below do not come to establish their prayers and litanies, and to praise their Master, all the holy camps in the upper government break from their corrections. It is so because they do not rise in an ascension, since they cannot praise their Master because the praises of the Creator must be above and below together, upper and lower at the same time. This is why it was said, “Deficiency of thinness,” and not “Deficient of a king,” as it concerns only the camps of angels, not the King Himself.
698) And even though not many came to the house of gathering, but only ten, the upper camps come into these ten, to be friends with them and to praise the Creator, since all the King’s corrections are in ten. Hence, ten are enough, if they are not more.