I Went Down into the Garden of Nut Trees

259) “I went down into the garden of nut trees.” This garden comes out of Eden, and it is the Shechina. A nut is the high, holy Merkava [structure], the four heads of the rivers that part from the garden, meaning the four faces—faces of a lion, ox, eagle, and man. This nut has four holy heads inside, in its fruit. It also has four shells that cover the fruit, implying to the four shells—stormy wind, great cloud, blazing fire, and brightness—like the upper Merkava. And the reason why he said, “I went down,” meaning “I went down into the garden of nut trees” is as we learn, that it is as though a person goes down to the Merkava.

260) Thus, he should have said, “I went down to the nut,” which is the Merkava. Why is it written, “I went down into the garden of nut trees”? It is because the garden, Malchut, is all the praise in the nut, which grows and emerges from this garden. This is why the garden is mentioned primarily.

And why is the Merkava implied in the nut? As a nut is blocked and hidden from all sides inside its shell, the Merkava that emerges from the garden, from Malchut, is blocked from all its sides. As those four heads in the nut connect at their center and separate outwards, the four faces of the Merkava conjoin in unity, joy, and wholeness, and part each to the discernment on which it was appointed.

At their center, the four faces are united with each other. The illumination of the three lines, the unity from the right line, the joy in the left line, and the wholeness in the middle line are in each, without any differences. In that respect, they are united. However, with respect to their role in bestowing upon the lower ones, they are separated, and each enhances its own essence.

The face of a lion—right—imparts Hassadim.

The face of an ox—left—imparts Hochma.

The face of an eagle—middle—imparts merged abundance.

The face of a man has a role of disclosing the Hassadim in illumination of Hochma.

In that respect, each is separated from the other.

261) What does this dirt in the shell of the nut mean, that is, in the four shells that surround it? Even though the Torah did not reveal it, for it speaks only of the good in the nut, it reveals it in the almonds. This is because the Torah speaks of the four shells in almonds, which imply particularly the judgment, and not the good side in them.

262) In almonds, some are bitter because of their shells, and some are sweet. This implies that there are those of harsh judgment, implied by the bitter almonds. And some are of service, who serve holiness. Those are implied by the sweet almonds. However, we see that each intimation of them—disclosed in the Torah—is judgment, and she does not speak of the good in them, which are the sweet ones.

So it is with Jeremiah, who was shone the judgment in them, as it is written, “I see a rod of an almond-tree.” What is an almond? A real almond. The Creator told him, “For I watch over [Shoked, same letters as Shaked (almond)] My word to perform it”, meaning “to root out, to pull down, and to destroy.” In Aaron’s rod, too, it said, “And bore ripe almonds,” which became a symbol for those who are rebellious.

Thus, the Torah speaks only from the aspect of judgment in them. And from the word itself, “almonds [Shkedim],” it implies that it is harsh judgment, as it is written, “And so the Lord has watched over [Yshkod] the evil,” and also, “For I watch over My word to perform it.” Thus, the word Shaked [almond] implies harsh judgment. This means that all that the Creator does is to learn great wisdom from Him, as it is written, “The Lord has done all things for His own purpose.” It is also written, “And God saw all that He has done, and it was very good.” What is “very”? It is that it is good to learn the high wisdom from Him.