Matat

416. “And I saw the animals, and behold, a wheel on the earth.” “And I saw the animals” looking in a mirror that does not shine, in Malchut. Since he saw those animals, he looked at what was hidden and concealed.

417. “And behold, a wheel on the earth.” This is Matat, who is superior to the angels, five hundred years. He has five names: Matat, Meitat, Zvul, Slave, and Zvuel. According to the mission of his master that he does, so his names proliferate. Four names were added to his name, like the four sides of the world, HG TM, south, north, east, and west. On each side, he has a special mission.

418. Matat ties ties, unifying unifications to his master. He rules over 4,500 rivers of persimmon that are extended and come out from thirteen other hidden rivers of persimmon. 4,500 myriad [10,000] halls that are hidden within the lights stand before him, and he is appointed over them.

419. Each time he comes in and goes out, 1,500 firmaments shake before him. There are 12,000 myriad angels to his right, and to his left, before him, and behind him. All those camps shine from one glittering flame that comes out of Matat. The letters of the explicit name are engraved in the flame, and glitter and blaze from within that flame. And all of them, when they look at the illumination of the engraved and decorated letters, they tremble with fear and journey to the glittering of the letters.

It is known that all the screens and judgments discussed in the world of Atzilut, are not in Atzilut itself, but in the world of Beria. Matat and Sandalphon, ZA and Malchut of Beria, are the carriers of the screens and the judgments for ZA and Malchut of Atzilut—Matat for ZA and Sandalphon for Malchut.

The screen of Hirik with which ZA, the middle line works in order to unite the right and left of Bina and its own right and left, from which all the great Mochin come out, the place of that screen is in Matat, who carries it for ZA, and causes the emergence of all those Mochin. This is so because were it not for the screen of Hirik that Matat carries, all those Mochin would not have come out.

It is known that the whole measure of the lights that the lower one causes to the upper one, the lower one who caused it receives it, too. For this reason, Matat is rewarded with all those lights that his screen of Hirik worked in order to elicit.

And since the screen of Hirik of Matat caused in Atzilut the emergence of VAK of Hochma clothed in Hassadim, which are called HGT NH, since KHB TM that descended to VAK are called HGT NH, Matat is therefore also rewarded with them. These HGT NH of Hochma are called, with respect to Yesod of ZA, five thousand minus five hundred rivers of persimmon. From the perspective of Malchut, they are called five thousand myriad minus five hundred myriad halls.

This is so because each Sefira in the phase of Hochma is called “one thousand.” For this reason, five Sefirot HGT NH are five thousand. The Hassadim are called “myriad,” and they are five thousand myriad halls, except they lack five hundred myriads since the fifth Sefira, Hod, which corresponds to Malchut, lacks half the Sefira from the Chazeh and below. For this reason, there is only half a Sefira in Hod, five hundred.

The root of all this is the illumination of three lines and Malchut who receives them, which are incorporated in each other, and in each one there are three lines, and they are twelve. With the entirety, they are thirteen, and they emerge from thirteen other rivers of persimmon. Four thousand five hundred rivers of persimmon emerge from thirteen others, which are thirteen that emerge from the incorporation of three lines and Malchut, and when the entirety is not counted, they are twelve.

With respect to the Hochma and Hassadim that these twelve draw, they are called twelve thousand myriads. Thousands are named after the Hochma, and myriads [ten thousand] after the Hassadim. Because Matat caused the emergence of these lights, he was rewarded with them.

For this reason, Matat is rewarded with receiving the twelve thousand myriads in each Sefira of his four sides, HG TM. South and north, right and left, are called HG; east and west, anterior and posterior, are called TM; and twelve thousand myriad angels are to his right, to his left, before him, and behind him.

The three lines are divided into right and left. A line and a half are on the right. These are the right line and the right half of the middle line. The line and a half on the left are the left line and the left half of the middle line. The line and a half on the right bestow Hassadim, and the line and a half on the left bestow Hochma. The screen of Hirik diminishes the GAR of Hochma on the left, and it was said, “Each time he comes in and goes out, 1,500 firmaments shake before him.”

This is so because the three lines in illumination of Hochma are three thousand, since each line is one thousand, and therefore, upon its entry and its exit from ZA to awaken the unification of three lines through the screen of Hirik in him, those line and a half on the left side shiver because through the screen of Hirik, the GAR of Hochma on the left are diminished.

The screen of Hirik is called “flame,” and all those camps shine from one glittering flame that emerges from Matat, as all the lights shine from the screen of Hirik that comes out from Matat. This is so because were it not for the screen of Hirik, there would never be a unification of right and left.

The letters of the explicit name are engraved in the flame. The explicit name is HaVaYaH filled with letters Aleph, ZA, and the letters in it are its Sefirot. They are engraved through the screen of Hirik, which they receive in order to elicit the lights incorporated in HaVaYaH in a filling of letters Aleph, which do not come out without it. Hence, the letters receive it and they are the ones that glitter and blaze out of that flame, for they blaze because of the judgments in that screen.

When the Hochma shines, many judgments appear with her, which punish the wicked who want to draw Hochma from above downward. All of them, when they look in the light of the engraved letters of the explicit name in order to receive Hochma, they all shiver with fear, and journey to the sparking of the letters. They shiver with fear when they journey to receive from them the sparkling of Hochma due to the many judgments that accompany the illumination of Hochma.

420. Other Ophanim [wheels] shine from within that flame. They journey in other Merkavot [chariots/structures] below, inside the halls, integrated in each other, as it is written, “as it were a wheel within a wheel,” incorporated in each other, heads in heads, and the faces spread to their sides.

Within this flame, which is the screen of Hirik, there are the forces of two Malchuts: of the lock and of the key. In the beginning, the middle line operates in the lock in it, in order to diminish the left. Since the lock is unfit to receive the anterior light, it later conceals the lock and operates with the screen of the key.

There are two Malchuts—of the lock and of the key—in the Ophanim below, in the halls. They need the correction of concealing the lock inside, within the key, so only the key will be apparent on the outside, and then they will be fit to receive the anterior light. They receive this correction from the flame of Matat, in which it is arranged this way.

Other Ophanim shine from within that flame, the screen of Hirik where the lock is concealed, and only the key is apparent in it. They journey in other Merkavot below, inside the halls. Other Ophanim shine, which are below, which have two Malchuts in them, that of the lock and that of the key, and receive correction from the flame of Matat—to conceal the lock and reveal the key in a way that the force of the lock is not apparent in them.

The Malchuts of the lock and of the key are integrated in each other, “as it were a wheel within a wheel.” They are incorporated in each other and enter one another, heads in heads, where the head of the lock is concealed inside the head of the key, one within the other.

The anterior light to their sides means that they can receive the anterior light. If the head of the lock were not within the head of the key, they would be unfit to receive the anterior light, since the lock repels the lights.

421. All four animals journey to the same face, in the light that they see in that face, since when they look to go, they see the light of the face that shines, and to the place where it shines, they all go and journey. If the face of the lion shines, they all journey under the governance of the face of a lion. If the face of an ox shines, they all journey under the governance of the face of an ox. The letters of the engraved, holy name, shine on all the animals, and the holy name carries all of them inside that high spirit that carries all the camps.

422. Matat, the great appointee, stands under the command of the holy name HaVaYaH filled with letters Aleph, called “the explicit name,” and carries all the camps in his secret to his four faces in four forms—lion, ox, eagle, and man—which he contains within the four spirits of the world, HG TM. Matat contains the name called Shaddai, and everyone calls him that name, Shaddai, in the high and holy name HaVaYaH.

HaVaYaH is ZA, and Shaddai is Yesod of ZA. Matat, who is ZA of Beria, is a Merkava for HaVaYaH, ZA of Atzilut. However, with respect to clothing, he clothes only Yesod of ZA, for Matat is in the form of a righteous, the foundation of the world. The garment of Shaddai is Matat, which is why he is called Shaddai, after the Yesod of ZA, and he is called in the name HaVaYaH after being a Merkava for ZA.

423. Twelve high keys in the holy name were put in the hands of Matat. Four keys are four secrets of the dividing lights; one key is called “a concealed and hidden glittering light,” and it has no color. That sparkling does not stand so as to be looked at, and no color is seen in it. Rather it glitters a glittering for the eyes, and is concealed and unknown.

424. The second key is a light that shines. It is a joy to look at. At times, it is white, at times, it is green, and at times, neither.

425. The third key is called a glittering light, which glows and shines. This is the glow that shines to all the other lights. That light is embroidered with all the colors; that light is from that glow of the firmament that is over the animals, as it is written, “as the brightness of the firmament,” incorporated in ten trails that emerge from those thirty-two hidden paths.

426. The fourth key is called “light of Tevuna.” It places Tevuna [gumption/intelligence] in the heart, to know and to observe, and to comprehend high secrets. That light which delights the heart gives illumination of Hochma and Tevuna, to know and to look.

Daat [knowledge] is called “key,” since it opens the lights of right and left, HB, so they can shine. As long as the Daat does not open them to unify them with each other, they cannot shine.

There are four kinds of Daat, three in the Rosh [head] of ZA, which are concealed Daat that decides between upper AVI, and revealed Daat, which decides between YESHSUT, and Daat that expands from the Rosh of ZA to the Guf [body]. The fourth Daat is the Daat in the Guf, which is extended from the Daat that expands from the Rosh to the Guf.

Every Daat consists of HBD, since because it corrects the HB, it is incorporated with them. You find that there are four kinds of Daat here, where each consists of three, which are twelve kinds of Daat, and they are called twelve keys.

Twelve high keys in the holy name were given to Matat, twelve kinds of Daat that are called “twelve keys” that open all the lights in the holy name. And four keys are four secrets of the dividing lights.

The inclusive Daats [pl. of Daat] without regarding the three particular ones in each Daat are only four kinds of Daat. These are the hidden Daat, revealed Daat, expanding Daat, and the Daat in the Guf. Each of these four kinds of Daat has its unique manner of illumination.

One key is called glittering, hidden, and concealed light, the hidden Daat in upper AVI, where the Hochma is hidden and concealed since the Yod does not come out from the air of AVI, and they are always in covered Hassadim, as it is written, “because he desires mercy.” He has no color because since the Yod does not exit their air, the colors white and red are not there since there is red only from the exit of Malchut from Bina.

That sparkling is not poised to be looked at; it is not poised to receive Hochma, looking, since it is always desiring mercy and does not desire Hochma. Hence, even when AVI draw Hochma in order to bestow upon YESHSUT, no color is seen in her, for then, too, the Hochma is not in them, themselves. This is why they have no color, since no division of white and red colors is seen in them since white is Hassadim, and red is Hochma, and since there is no Hochma in them, there is no color in them.

When they bestow Hochma to YESHSUT, Hochma is not revealed in them, themselves, but rather glitters a glittering for the eyes, which are Hochma, which is called eyes, for YESHSUT, and the Hochma is promptly concealed and is not known in them. This explains the content of the light of the hidden Daat, who is the first key.

The second key is the light that shines, and that she is happy to look at. It is the revealed Daat, the Daat of YESHSUT, by which the Yod exits their air, and the Hochma is revealed in them. Hence, she is happy to look since revealing the light of Hochma is called “looking.”

At times, it is white, under the control of Hassadim; at times, it is green, under the control of itself, the middle line, which contains Hochma and Hassadim. At times, it is neither, during the Katnut [smallness/infancy], when the colors have not been revealed in it.

The third key is called a “glowing light,” which glows and shines, and it is the expanding Daat. This is so because Daat includes HBD, and HB in Daat do not expand to the Guf, but rather the Daat in Daat, and she is the one called “the expanding Daat.” Since the Hochma expands to the Guf from it, it is called a “glowing light,” since the light of Hochma is called “glow.”

When it is in Hochma and Hassadim together, as is the way of the middle line, it therefore glows and shines, for a glow is Hochma, and shining is Hassadim. It is the glow that shines to all the other lights, since it alone expands and shines in the Guf and fills rooms and corridors of the Guf. But the first two keys do not shine to the Guf.

That light is embroidered with all the colors, consisting all three colors white, red, and green. That light is from that glow of the firmament over the animals, as it is written, “as the brightness [or glow] of the firmament,” which is the Hochma that is extended from the Daat that is extended from the brightness of the firmament, from Daat of YESHSUT, which is the upper firmament that is over the animals of ZA.

It is known that thirty-two paths are ten Sefirot of Bina, and twenty-two letters of ZA. It follows that the expanding Daat, Daat of Daat of YESHSUT, is ten Sefirot of Bina, as it is in the Rosh of ZA. And what is extended from the Daat that is extended to the Guf is the twenty-two letters of ZA.

For this reason, that light, which is from that glow of the firmament that is over the animals, is incorporated in ten trails, which are the ten Sefirot of Bina, since it is Daat in Daat of Bina in the Rosh of ZA that emerge from these thirty-two hidden trails, since thirty-two trails contain ten of Bina and twenty-two of ZA.

The fourth key is called “light of Tevuna” [gumption/intelligence], which puts Tevuna in the heart, to know and to look and comprehend high secrets. The light of Tevuna is the Daat that is clothed in the Guf in the heart. It is called “the light of Tevuna” since it expands from the Daat in the Daat of Tevuna. It puts Tevuna in the heart, meaning dresses in the heart, to know and to look, and comprehend high secrets, for anyone who attains that light, knows and attains the high secrets, and this is the light that dresses and delights the heart, giving illumination of Hochma to know and to look.

427. These are the four high keys with which all other keys are incorporated, since each of these four keys consists of three, HBD, which is why they are twelve. Thus, all the keys are incorporated in these four, and all were placed in the hands of the great appointee Matat, the great minister over all the secrets of his master in the engravings of the secrets of the explicit holy name.