Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot¹

1) It is written at the end of the Okatzin [final treatise in the Mishnah], “The Creator did not find a vessel that holds a blessing for Israel, but peace, as it is written, ‘The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.’”

There is a lot to learn here: First, how did they prove that nothing is better for Israel than peace? Second, the text explicitly states that peace is the blessing itself, as it is written, “giving in strength and blessing in peace.” According to them, it should have stated, “giving in peace.” Third, why was this phrase written for the conclusion of the Mishnah? Also, we need to understand the meaning of the words “peace,” “strength,” and what they mean.

To interpret this article in its true meaning, we must go by a long way, for the heart of sayers is too deep to search. The author of Afikey Yehuda correctly interpreted the words of our sages about the verse “Support me with raisin cakes” is laws, “Cushion me with apples” is sayings. Our sages said that all the issues of the Torah and the Mitzva [commandment] bear revealed and concealed, as it is written, “Apples of gold in settings of silver. A word fitly spoken.”

Indeed, the Halachot (laws) are like grails of wine. When one gives one’s friend a gift, a silver grail with wine, both the insides and the outside are important because the grail has its own value, like the wine inside it.

The legends, however, are as apples whose interior is eaten and their exterior is thrown away, as the exterior is completely worthless. You find that all the worth and importance are only in the interior, the insides.

So is the matter with legends; the apparent superficiality seems meaningless and worthless. However, the inner content concealed in the words is built solely on the bedrock of the wisdom of truth, given to virtuous few, thus far his words, with slight changes.

Who would dare extract it from the heart of the masses and scrutinize their ways, when their attainment is incomplete in both parts of the Torah called Peshat [literal] and Drush [interpretation]? In their view, the order of the four parts of the Torah, PARDESS, begins with the Peshat, then the Drush, then Remez [insinuated], and in the end the Sod [secret] is understood.

However, it is written in the Vilna Gaon prayer book that the attainment begins with the Sod. After the Sod part of the Torah is attained, it is possible to attain the Drush, and then the Remez. When one is granted complete knowledge of these three parts of the Torah, one is awarded the attainment of the Peshat of the Torah.

It is written in Masechet Taanit: “If one is rewarded, it becomes a potion of life to him. If he is not rewarded, it becomes a potion of death to him.” Great merit is required in order to understand the Peshat of the texts, since first we must attain the three parts of the internality of the Torah, which the Peshat robes, and the Peshat will not be parsed. If one has not been rewarded with it, one needs great mercy, so it will not become a potion of death for him.

It is the opposite of the argument of the negligent in attaining the internality, who say to themselves, “We settle for attaining the Peshat. If we attain that, we will be content.” Their words can be compared to one who wishes to step on the fourth step without first stepping on the first three steps.

2) However, accordingly, we need to understand the great concealing applied in the interior of the Torah, as it is said in Masechet Hagiga, one does not learn Maase Beresheet in pairs, and not the Merkava alone. Also, all the books at our disposal in this trade are sealed and blocked before the eyes of the masses. Only the few who are summoned by the Creator shall understand them, as they already understand the roots by themselves and in reception from mouth to mouth.

It is indeed surprising how the ways of wisdom and intelligence are denied of the people, for whom it is their life and the length of their days. It is seemingly a criminal offense, as about such our sages said in Midrash Rabbah, Beresheet, about Ahaz, that he was called Ahaz [lit. “held” or “seized”] for he seized synagogues and seminaries, and this was his great iniquity.

Also, it is a natural law that one is possessive concerning dispensing one’s capital and property to others. However, is there anyone who is possessive concerning dispensing one’s wisdom and intelligence to others? Quite the contrary, more than the calf wants to eat, the cow wants to feed, especially when it comes to the law of the Creator and His wish.

Indeed, we find such mysteries in the wisdom even in secular sages in previous generations. In Rav Butril’s introduction to his commentary on The Book of Creation, there is a text ascribed to Plato who warns his disciples as follows: “Do not convey the wisdom unto one who knows not its merit.”

Aristotle, too, warned, “Do not convey the wisdom to the unworthy, lest it shall be robbed.” He (Rav Butril) interprets that if a sage teaches wisdom to the unworthy, he robs the wisdom and destroys it.

The secular sages of our time do not do so. On the contrary, they exert in expanding the gates of their sagacity to the entire crowd without any boundaries or conditions. Seemingly, they strongly disagree with the first sages, who opened the doors of their wisdom to only a handful of virtuous few, which they had found worthy, leaving the rest of the people fumbling the walls.

3) Let me explain the matter. We distinguish four divisions in the Speaking species, arranged in gradations one atop the other. Those are the masses, the strong, the wealthy, and the sagacious. They are equal to the four degrees in the whole of reality, called 1) “still,” 2) “vegetative,” 3) “animate,” and 4) “speaking.”

The still can educe the three properties, vegetative, animate, and speaking, and we discern three values in the quantity of the force, from the beneficial and detrimental in them.

The smallest force among them is the vegetative. The flora operates by attracting what is beneficial to it and rejecting the harmful in much the same way as humans and animals do. However, there is no individual sensation in it, but a collective force, common to all types of plants in the world, which affects this operation in them.

Atop them is the animate. Each creature feels itself, concerning attracting what is beneficial to it and rejecting the harmful. It follows that one animal equalizes in value to all the plants in reality. It is so because the force that distinguishes the beneficial from the detrimental in the entire vegetative is found in one creature in the animate, separated to its own authority.

This sensing force in the animate is very limited in time and place, since the sensation does not operate at even the shortest distance outside its body. Also, it does not feel anything outside its own time, meaning in the past or in the future, but only at the present moment.

Atop them is the speaking, consisting of a feeling force and an intellectual force together. For this reason, its power is unlimited by time or place in attracting what is good for it and rejecting what is harmful to it like the animate.

This is so because of its science, which is a spiritual matter, unlimited by time or place. One can learn about others wherever they are in the whole of reality, and in the past and the future throughout the generations.

It follows that the value of one person from the speaking equalizes with the value of all the forces in the vegetative and the animate in the whole of reality at that time, and in all the past generations. This is so because its power encompasses them and contains them within its own self, along with all their forces.

This rule also applies to the four divisions in the human species, namely the masses, the strong, the wealthy, and the sagacious. Certainly, they all come from the masses, which are the first degree, as it is written, “all are of the dust.”

It is certain that the whole merit of the dust and its very right to exist are according to the merit of the three virtues it educes—vegetative, animate, and speaking. Also, the merit of the masses corresponds to the properties they educe from them. Thus, they, too, connect in the shape of a human face.

For this purpose, the Creator installed three inclinations in the masses, called “envy,” “lust,” and “honor.” Due to them, the masses develop degree by degree to educe a face of a whole man.

The inclination for lust educes the wealthy. The selected among them have a strong desire, and also lust. They excel in acquiring wealth, which is the first degree in the evolution of the masses. Like the vegetative degree in reality, they are governed by an alien force that deviates them to their inclination, as lust is an alien force in the human species borrowed from the animate.

The inclination for honor educes the famous heroes from among them, who govern the synagogues, the town, etc. The most strong-willed among them, which also have an inclination for honor, excel in obtaining dominion. These are the second degree in the evolution of the masses, similar to the animate degree in reality, whose operating force is present in their own essence, as we have said above. This is because the inclination for honor is unique to the human species, and along with it the craving for governance, as it is written, “You have put all things under his feet” (Psalms 8:7).

The inclination for envy elicits the sages from among them, as our sages said, “Author’s envy increases wisdom.” The strong-willed, with an inclination for envy, excel in acquiring wisdom and knowledge. It is like the speaking degree in reality, in which the operating force is not limited by time or place, but is collective and encompasses every item in the world, throughout all times.

Also, it is the nature of the fire of envy to be general, encompassing all times and the whole reality. This is because it is the conduct of envy: If one had not seen the object in one’s friend’s possession, the desire for it would not have awakened in one at all.

You find that the sensation of lack is not for what one does not have, but for what one’s friends have, who are the entire progeny of Adam and Eve throughout the generations. Thus, this force is unlimited and therefore fit for its sublime and elated role.

Yet, those who remain without any merit, it is because they do not have a strong desire. Hence, all three above-mentioned inclinations operate in them together, in mixture. Sometimes they are lustful, sometimes envious, and sometimes they crave honor. Their desire breaks to pieces, and they are like children who crave everything they see and cannot attain anything. Hence, their value is like the straw and bran that remain after the flour.

It is known that the beneficial force and the detrimental force go hand in hand. In other words, as much as something can benefit, so it can harm. Hence, since the force of one person is greater than all the beasts and the animals of all times, one’s harmful force supersedes them all, as well.

Thus, as long as one does not merit one’s degree in a way that one uses one’s force only to do good, one needs a careful watch so he does not acquire great amounts of the human level, which are wisdom and science.

For this reason, the first sages hid the wisdom from the masses for fear of taking indecent disciples who would use the power of the wisdom to harm and damage. These would break and destroy the entire world with their lust and beastly savageness, using man’s great powers.

When the generations have lessened and their sages themselves had started to crave both tables, meaning a good life for their corporeality, too, their views drew near to the masses. They traded with them and sold the wisdom as prostitutes for the price of a dog.

Since then, the fortified wall that the first had exerted on has been ruined and the masses have looted it. The savages have filled their hands with the force of men, seized the wisdom and tore it. Half was inherited by adulterers and half by murderers, and they have put it in eternal disgrace to this day.

4) From this you can deduce about the wisdom of truth, which contains all the external teachings within it, which are its seven little maids. This is the entirety of the human species and the purpose for which all the worlds were created, as it is written, “If My covenant be not day and night, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.”

Hence, our sages have stated (Avot 4, Mishnah 5), “He who uses the crown passes.” This is because they have prohibited us from using it for any sort of worldly pleasure.

This is what has sustained us thus far, to maintain the armies and the wall around the wisdom of truth, so no stranger or foreigner would break in or put it in their vessels to go and trade it in the market, as with the external sages. This was so because all who entered have already been tested by seven tests until it was certain beyond any concern and suspicion.

After these words and truth, we find what appears to be a great contradiction, from one extreme to the other, in the words of our sages. It is written in The Zohar that at the time of the Messiah, this wisdom will be revealed even to the young. However, according to the above, we learned that in the days of the Messiah, that whole generation will be at the highest level. We will need no guard at all, and the fountains of wisdom will open and water the whole nation.

Yet, in Masechet Sutah, 49, and Sanhedrin 97a, they said, “Impudence shall soar at the time of the Messiah, authors’ wisdom shall go astray, and righteous shall be cast away.” It interprets that there is none so evil as that generation. Thus, how do we reconcile the two statements, for both are certainly the words of the living God?

The thing is that this careful watch and door-locking on the hall of wisdom is for fear of people in whom the spirit of writers’ envy is mixed with the force of lust and honor. Their envy is not limited to wanting only wisdom and knowledge.

Hence, both texts are correct, and one comes and teaches of the other. The face of the generation is as the face of the dog, meaning they bark as dogs Hav, Hav [give, give] righteous are cast away and authors’ wisdom went astray in them.

It follows that it is permitted to open the gates of the wisdom and remove the careful guard, since it is naturally safe from theft and exploitation. There is no longer fear lest indecent disciples might take it and sell it in the market to the materialistic plebs, since they will find no buyers for this merchandise, as it is loathsome in their eyes.

Since they have no hope of acquiring lust or honor through it, it has become safe and guarded by itself. No stranger will approach except for lovers of wisdom and its dwellers. Hence, any examination shall be removed from those who enter, until even the very young will be able to attain it.

Now you can understand their words (Sanhedrin 98a): “The Son of David comes either in a generation that is all worthy, or all unworthy.” This is very perplexing. Seemingly, as long as there are a few righteous in the generation, they detain the redemption. So when the righteous perish from the land, the Messiah will be able to come? I wonder.

Indeed, we should thoroughly understand that this matter of redemption and the coming of the Messiah that we hope will be soon in our days, Amen, is the uppermost wholeness of attainment and knowledge, as it is written, “and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, saying: ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me, from the greatest of them unto the least of them.” And with the completeness of the mind, the bodies are completed, too, as it is written (Isaiah 65), “The youth, a hundred years old, shall die.”

When the children of Israel are complemented with the complete knowledge, the fountains of intelligence and knowledge shall flow beyond the boundaries of Israel and water all the nations of the world, as it is written (Isaiah 11), “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,” and as it is written, “and shall come unto the Lord and to His goodness.”

The proliferation of this knowledge is the matter of the expansion of the Messiah King to all the nations. Yet, it is the opposite with the crude, materialistic plebs. Since their imagination is attached to the complete power of the fist, the matter of the expansion of the kingdom of Israel over the nations is engraved in their imagination only as a sort of dominion of bodies over bodies, to take their full fee with great pride, and boast over all the people in the world.

What can I do for them if our sages have already rejected them, and the likes of them, from among the congregation of the Creator, saying, “All who is proud, the Creator says, ‘he and I cannot dwell in the same abode.’”

Conversely, some err and determine that as the body must exist prior to the existence of the soul and the complete perception, the perfection of the body and its needs precede in time the attainment of the soul and the complete perception. Hence, complete perception is denied of a weak body.

This is a grave mistake, harder than death, since a perfect body is inconceivable whatsoever before the complete perception has been obtained, since in itself, it is a punctured bag, a broken cistern. It cannot contain anything beneficial, neither for itself nor for others, except with the obtainment of the complete knowledge.

At that time the body, too, rises to its completeness with it, literally hand in hand. This rule applies both in individuals and in the whole, and see all this in The Zohar, portion Shlach, concerning the spies, where it elaborates on this.

5) Now you will understand what is written in The Zohar: “With this composition, the children of Israel will be redeemed from exile.” Also, in many other places, only through the expansion of the wisdom of Kabbalah in the masses will we obtain complete redemption.

Our sages also said, “The light in it reforms him.” They were intentionally meticulous about it, to show us that only the light enclosed within it, “like apples of gold in settings of silver,” in it lies the Segula [power/cure] that reforms a person. Both the individual and the nation will not complete the aim for which they were created, except by attaining the internality of the Torah and its secrets.

Although we hope for the complete attainment at the coming of the Messiah, it is written, “will give wisdom to the wise.” It also says, “I have put wisdom in the heart of every wise-at-heart.”

Hence, it is the great expansion of the wisdom of truth within the nation that we need first, so we may merit receiving the benefit from our Messiah. Consequently, the expansion of the wisdom and the coming of our Messiah are interdependent.

Therefore, we must establish seminaries and compose books to hasten the distribution of the wisdom throughout the nation. This was not the case before, for fear lest unworthy disciples would mingle, as we have elaborated above. This became the primary reason for the prolonging of the exile for our many sins, to this day.

Our sages said, “Messiah, Son of David comes only in a generation that is all worthy…” meaning when everyone retires from pursuit of honor and lust. At that time, it will be possible to establish seminaries among the masses to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah Son of David. “…or in a generation that is all unworthy,” meaning in such a generation when “the face of the generation is as the face of the dog, and righteous shall be cast away, and authors’ wisdom shall go astray in them.” At such a time, it will be possible to remove the careful guard and all who remain in the house of Jacob with their hearts pounding to attain the wisdom and the purpose, “Holy” will be said to them and they shall come and learn.

This is so because there will no longer be fear lest one might not sustain one’s merit and trade the wisdom in the market, as no one in the mob will buy it. The wisdom will be so loathsome in their eyes that neither glory nor lust will be obtainable in return for it.

Hence, all who wish to enter may come and enter. Many will roam, and the knowledge will increase among the worthy of it. And by this we will soon be rewarded with the coming of the Messiah, and the redemption of our souls.

With these words, I unbind myself from a considerable complaint, that I have dared more than all my predecessors in disclosing the usually covered rudiments of the wisdom in my book [Panim Meirot uMasbirot], which was thus far unexplored. This refers to the essence of the ten Sefirot and all that concerns them, Yashar [direct] and Hozer [reflected], Pnimi [inner] and Makif [surrounding], the meaning of Hakaa [beating/striking], and the meaning of Hizdakchut [purification/cleansing].

The authors that preceded me deliberately scattered the words here and there, and in subtle intimations so one’s hand would fail to gather them. I—through His light, which appeared upon me, and with the help of my teachers—have gathered them and disclosed the matters clearly enough and in their spiritual form, above place and above time.

They could have come to me with a great complaint: If there are no additions to my teachers here, then the ARI and Rav Chaim Vital themselves, and the genuine authors, the commentators on their words, could have disclosed and explained the matters as openly as I. And if you wish to say that it was revealed to them, then who is this writer, for whom it is certainly a great privilege to be dust and ashes under their feet, who says that the lot given to him by the Creator is more than their lot?

However, as you will see in the references, I neither added to my teachers nor innovated in the composition. All my words are already written in the Eight Gates, in The Tree of Life, and in Mavo Shearim [Entrance of the Gates] by the ARI. I did not add a single word to them, but they aimed to conceal matters; hence, they scattered them one here and one there, since their generation was not yet completely unworthy and required great care. We, however, for our many sins, all the words of our sages are already true in us. They had been said for the time of the Messiah to begin with, for in such a generation there is no longer fear of disclosing the wisdom, as we have elaborated above. Hence, my words are open and orderly.

6) And now sons do hear me: The “Wisdom cries aloud in the streets, she utters her voice,” “Whoso is on the Lord's side, let him come to me,” “For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and the length of your days.”

“You were not created to follow the act of the grain and the potato, you and your asses in one trough.” And as the purpose of the ass is not to serve all its contemporary asses, man’s purpose is not to serve all the bodies of the people of his time, the contemporaries of his physical body. Rather, the purpose of the ass is to serve and be of use to man, who is superior to it, and the purpose of man is to serve the Creator and complete His aim.

As Ben Zuma said, “All those were created only to serve me, and I, to serve my Maker.” He says, “All the works of the Lord are for His purpose,” since the Creator yearns and craves our completion.

It is said in Beresheet Rabbah, Chapter 8, that the angels said to Him: “‘What is man, that You are mindful of him, and the son of man, that You think of him?’ Why do You need this trouble? The Creator told them: ‘Therefore, why sheep and oxen?’” What is this like? It is like a king who had a tower filled abundantly but no guests. What pleasure has the king from his fill? They promptly said to Him: “O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is Your name in all the earth! Do that which seems good to You.”

Seemingly, we should doubt that allegory, since where does that tower filled abundantly stand? In our time, we really would fill it with guests to the rim.

Indeed, the words are earnest, since you see that the angels made no complaint about any of the creatures created during the six days of creation, except about man. This is because he was created in God’s image and consists of the upper and lower together.

When the angels saw it, they were startled and bewildered. How would the pure, spiritual soul descend from its sublime degree, and come and dwell in the same abode with this filthy, beastly body? In other words, they wondered, “Why do You need this trouble?”

The answer that came to them is that there is already a tower filled abundantly, and empty of guests. To fill it with guests, we need the existence of this man, made of upper and lower together. For this reason, this pure soul must clothe in the dress in this filthy body. They immediately understood it and said, “Do that which seems good to You.”

Know that this tower filled abundantly implies all the pleasure and the goodness for which He has created the creatures, as our sages said, “The conduct of the Good is to do good.” Hence, He created the worlds to delight His creatures.

(We have elaborated on our matter in Panim Masbirot, Branch 1, and learn it there.) And since there is no past or future in Him, we must realize that as soon as He thought to create creatures and delight them, they emerged and were instantly made before Him, they and all their fulfillments of delight and pleasure, as He had intended for them.

It is written in the book Heftzi Bah [My Delight Is in Her], by the ARI, that all the worlds, upper and lower together, are contained in the Ein Sof [Infinity], even before the Tzimtzum [restriction] by way of He is one and His name One, see there in Chapter 1.

The Tzimtzum, which is the root of the worlds ABYA, which reach up to this world, occurred because the roots of the souls themselves yearn to equalize their form with the Emanator. This is the meaning of Dvekut [adhesion], as separation and Dvekut in anything spiritual is possible only in values of equivalence of form or disparity of form.

Since He wanted to delight them, the will to receive pleasure was necessarily imprinted in the receivers. Thus, their form has been changed from His, since this form is not at all present in the Emanator, as from whom would He receive?

The Tzimtzum and the Gevul [boundary/limitation] were made for this correction, until the emergence of this world to a reality of a clothing of a soul in a corporeal body. When one engages in Torah and work in order to bestow contentment upon one’s Maker, the form of reception will be reunited in order to bestow once more.

This is the meaning of the text, “and to cleave unto Him,” since then one equalizes one’s form to one’s Maker, and as we have said, equivalence of form is Dvekut in spirituality. When the matter of Dvekut is completed in all the parts of the soul, the worlds will return to the state of Ein Sof, as prior to the Tzimtzum.

“In their land they will inherit doubly,” since then they will be able to receive once more all the pleasure and delight, prepared for them in advance in the world of Ein Sof. Moreover, now they are prepared for the real Dvekut without any disparity of form, since their reception is no longer for themselves, but to bestow contentment upon their Maker. You find that they have equalized in the form of bestowal with the Maker, and I have already elaborated on these matters suitably in Panim Masbirot, Branch 1.

7) Now you will understand their words, that the Shechina [Divinity] in the lower ones is a high need. This is a most perplexing statement, though it does go hand in hand with the above Midrash that compared the matter to a king who has a tower filled abundantly, but no guests. It is certain that he sits and waits for guests, or his whole preparation will be in vain.

This is like a great king who had a son when he was already old, and he was very fond of him. Hence, from the day he was born he thought favorable thoughts about him, collected all the books and the finest scholars in the land, and built schools for him. He gathered the finest builders in the land and built palaces of pleasure for him, collected all the musicians and singers and built concert halls for him. He assembled the best chefs and bakers in the land and served him every delicacy in the world, and so forth.

Alas, the boy grew up to be a fool with no wish for knowledge. He was also blind and could not see or feel the beauty of the buildings, and he was deaf and could not hear the singers. Sadly, he was diabetic and was permitted to eat only coarse-flour bread, arising contempt and wrath.

Now you can understand their words about the verse, “I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.” The Sanhedrin (98) interpreted, “Not rewarded—in its time; rewarded—I will hasten it.”

Thus, there are two ways to attain the above-mentioned goal: through their own attention, which is called a “path of repentance.” If they are rewarded with it, “I will hasten it” will be applied to them. This means that there is no set time for it, but when they are rewarded, the correction ends, of course.

If they are not awarded the attention, there is another way, called “path of suffering,” as our sages said, Sanhedrin 97, “I place upon them a king such as Haman, and they will repent against their will,” meaning in its time, for in that there is a set time, and they will want it.

By this, they wanted to show us that His ways are not our ways. For this reason, the case of the flesh-and-blood king who had troubled so to prepare those great things for his beloved son and was finally tormented in every way, and all his trouble was in vain, bringing contempt and wrath, will not happen to Him.

Instead, all the works of the Creator are guaranteed and true, and there is no fraud in Him. This is as our sages said, “Not rewarded—in its time.” What the will does not do, time will do, as it is written in Panim Masbirot, end of Branch 1, “Can you send forth lightning that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?”

There is a path of pain that can cleanse any defect and materialism until one realizes how to raise one’s head out of the beastly trough in order to soar and climb the rungs of the ladder of happiness and human success, for one will cleave to one’s root and complete the aim.

8) Therefore, come and see how grateful we should be to our teachers, who impart us their sacred lights and dedicate their souls to do good to our souls. They stand in the middle between the path of harsh torments and the path of repentance. They save us from the netherworld, which is harder than death, and accustom us to reach the heavenly pleasures, the sublime gentleness and the pleasantness that is our share, ready and waiting for us from the very beginning, as we have said above. Each of them operates in his generation, according to the power of the light of his teaching and sanctity.

Our sages have already said, “You have not a generation without such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Indeed, that Godly man, Rav [teacher/great one] Isaac Luria [the ARI], troubled and provided us the fullest measure. He did wondrously more than his predecessors, and if I had a tongue that praises, I would praise that day when his wisdom appeared almost as the day when the Torah was given to Israel.

There are not enough words to measure his holy work in our favor. The doors of attainment were locked and bolted, and he came and opened them for us. Thus, all who wish to enter the King’s palace need only purity and sanctity, and to go and bathe and shave their hair and wear clean clothes, to properly stand before the upper Kingship.

You find a thirty-eight-year-old who subdued with his wisdom all his predecessors through the Ge'onim [pl. for genius] and through all times. All the elders of the land, the gallant shepherds, friends and disciples of the Godly sage, the RAMAK, stood before him as disciples before the Rav.

All the sages of the generations following them to this day, none missing, have abandoned all the books and compositions that precede him: the Kabbalah of the RAMAK, the Kabbalah of the Rishonim [first], and the Kabbalah of the Ge'onim, blessed be the memory of them all. They have attached their spiritual life entirely and solely to his Holy Wisdom. Naturally, it is not without merit that a total victory is awarded, as this young in years father of wisdom has.

Alas, Satan’s work succeeded, and obstacles were placed along the path of expansion of his wisdom into a holy nation, and only very few have begun to conquer them.

This was so primarily because the words were written by hearsay, as he had interpreted the wisdom day by day before his disciples, who were already elderly and with great proficiency in The Zohar and the Tikkunim [Corrections]. In most cases, his holy sayings were arranged according to the profound questions that they asked him, each according to his own interest.

For this reason, he did not convey the wisdom in a proper order, as with compositions that preceded him. We find in the texts that the ARI himself had wished to put order in the issues. In that regard, see the beginning of the words of Rashbi in the interpretation to the Idra Zuta, in a short introduction by Rav Chaim Vital.

There is also the short time of his teaching, since the entire time of his seminary was some seventeen months, as is said in Gate to Reincarnations, Gate 8, since he arrived in Safed from Egypt shortly before Passover in the year 1571, and at that time, Rav Chaim Vital was twenty-nine years old. And in July 1572, on the eve of Shabbat, Parashat Matot-Masaey,² the beginning of the month of Av, he fell ill, and on Tuesday, fifth of Av on the following week he passed away.

It is also written in Gate to Reincarnations, Gate 8, that upon his demise, he ordered Rav Chaim Vital not to teach the wisdom to others and permitted him to learn only by himself and in a whisper. The rest of the friends were forbidden to engage in it altogether because he said that they did not understand the wisdom properly.

This is why Rav Chaim Vital did not arrange the texts at all and left them unorganized. Naturally, he did not explain the connections between the matters so it would not be as teaching others. This is why we find such great caution on his part, as is known to those proficient in the writings of the ARI.

The arrangements found in the writings of the ARI were arranged and organized by a third generation, three times, and by three compilers. The first compiler was the sage MAHARI Tzemach. He lived at the same time of MAHARA Azulai, who passed away in the year 1644.

A large portion of the texts came by him, and he compiled many books from them. The most important among them is the book Adam Yashar [Upright Man], in which he collected the root and the essential teachings that were at his disposal. However, some of the books that this rav compiled were lost. In the introduction to his book, Kol BeRama [A Loud Voice], he presents all the books that he had compiled.

The second compiler is his disciple, MAHARAM Paprish. He did more than his rav, since some of the books that were held by the sage MAHARASH Vital came by his hands, and he compiled many books. The most important among them are the books, Etz haChaim [The Tree of Life] and Pri Etz haChaim [Fruit of the Tree of Life]. They contain the entire scope of the wisdom in its fullest sense.

The third compiler was the sage MAHARASH Vital, the son of Rav Chaim Vital. He was a great and renowned sage, who compiled the famous Eight Gates from the patrimony his father had left him.

Thus, we see that each of the compilers did not have the complete writings. This heavily burdened the arrangement of the issues, which are unsuitable for those without true proficiency in The Zohar and the Tikkunim. Hence, few are those who ascend.

9) In return for that, we are privileged by Him to have been rewarded with the spirit of The Baal Shem Tov, whose greatness and sanctity are beyond any word and any utterance. He was not gazed upon and will not be gazed upon, except by those worthy that had served under his light, and they, too, only intermittently, each according to what he received in his heart.

It is true that the light of his Torah and Holy Wisdom are built primarily on the holy foundations of the ARI. However, they are not at all similar. I shall explain this with an allegory of a person drowning in the river, rising and sinking as drowning people do. Sometimes, only the hair is visible, and then a counsel is sought to catch him by his head. Other times, his body appears as well, and then a counsel is sought to catch him from opposite his heart.

So is the matter before us. After Israel has drowned in the evil waters of the exile among the nations, since then until now they rise and fall, and not all times are the same. At the time of the ARI, only the head was visible. Hence, the ARI had troubled in our favor to save us through the mind. At the time of The Baal Shem Tov, there was relief. Hence, it was a blessing for us to save us from opposite the heart, and that was a great and true salvation for us.

And for our many sins, the wheel has been turned over again in our generation and we have declined tremendously, as though from the zenith to the nadir.

In addition, there is the collision of the nations, which has confused the entire world. The needs have increased and the mind grew short and corrupted in the filth of materialism which apprehends the lead. Servants ride horses and ministers walk on the earth, and everything that is said in our study in the above-mentioned Masechet Sutah has come true in us, for our many sins. Again, the iron wall has been erected, even on this great light the Baal Shem Tov, which we have said illuminated as far as the establishment of our complete redemption.

And the wise-at-heart did not believe in the possibility that a generation would come when they could not see by his light. Now, our eyes have darkened; we have been robbed of good, and when I saw this I said, “It is time to act!” Thus, I have come to open widely the gates of light of the ARI, for he is indeed capable and fit for our generation, too, and “Two are better than one.”

We should not be blamed for the brevity in my composition, since it corresponds and is adapted to any wisdom lover, as too much wine wears off the flavor, and the attainment becomes harder on the disciple.

Also, we are not responsible for those fat-at-heart, since the language to assist them has yet to be created. Wherever they cast their eyes, they find folly, and there is a rule that from the same source from which the wise draws his wisdom, the fool draws his folly.

Thus, I stand at the outset of my book and warn that I have not troubled at all for all those who love to look through the windows. Rather, it is for those who care for the words of the Creator, who long for the Creator and His goodness, to complete the purpose for which they were created, for by the will of the Creator, the verse, “All who seek Me shall find Me” will come true in them.

10) Come and see the words of the sage Rabbi Even Ezra in his book Yesod Mora: “And now note and know that all the Mitzvot [commandments] that are written in the Torah or the conventions that the fathers have established, although they are mostly in action or in speech, they are all in order to correct the heart, ‘for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts.’”

It is written, “to them who are upright in their hearts.” Its opposite is “A heart that devises wicked thoughts.” I have found one verse that contains all the Mitzvot, which is “You shall fear the Lord your God; and Him shall you serve.”

The word “fear” contains all the Mitzvot not-to-do in speech, in heart, and in action. It is the first degree from which one ascends to the work of the Creator, which contains all the Mitzvot to-do.

These will accustom one’s heart and guide one until one cleaves to the Creator, as for this was man created. He was not created for acquiring fortunes or for building buildings. Hence, one should seek everything that will bring one to love Him, to learn wisdom, and to seek faith.

And the Creator will open the eyes of his heart and will renew a different spirit within him. Then he will be loved by his Maker in his life.

Know that the Torah was given only to men of heart. Words are as corpses and the Taamim [flavors] as souls. If one does not understand the Taamim, one’s entire effort is in vain, labor blown away.

It is as though one exerts oneself to count the letters and the words in a medicine book. No cure will come from this labor. It is also like a camel carrying silk; it does not benefit the silk, nor does the silk benefit it.

We draw only this from his words; hold on to the goal for which man was created. He says about it that this is the matter of the Dvekut with the Creator.

Hence, he says that one must search every means to bring one to love Him, to learn wisdom and to seek faith, until the Creator rewards one with opening the eyes of one’s heart and renewing a different spirit within him. At that time, he shall be loved by his Maker.

He deliberately makes that precision, to be loved by his Maker in his life. It indicates that while he has not acquired this, his work is incomplete, and the work that was necessarily given to us to do today. It is as he ends it, that the Torah was only given to men of heart, meaning ones who have acquired the heart to love and covet Him. The sages call them “wise-at-heart,” since there is no longer a descending, beastly spirit there, for the evil inclination is present only in a heart vacant from wisdom.

He interprets and says that the words are as corpses and the Taamim, as souls. If one does not understand the Taamim, it is similar to exerting oneself counting pages and words in a medicine book. This exertion will not yield a remedy.

He wishes to say that one is compelled to find the means to acquire the above-mentioned possession, since then one can taste the flavors of Torah, which is the interior wisdom and its mysteries, and the flavors of Mitzva, which are the love and the desire for Him.

Without it, one has only the words and the actions, which are dead bodies without souls. It is like one who labors counting pages and words in a medicine book, etc. Certainly, he will not perfect himself in medicine before he understands the meaning of the written medicine.

Even after one purchases it, for whatever price is asked, if the conduct of the study and the actions are not arranged to bring him to it, it is like a camel carrying silk; it does not benefit the silk and the silk does not benefit it, to bring it to complete the aim for which it was created.

11) According to these words, our eyes have been opened concerning the words of Rabbi Simon in Midrash Rabbah, Chapter 6, about the verse, “Let us make man.” These are his words (When the Creator came to create man, He consulted the ministering angels), that they were divided into sects and groups. Some said, “Let him be created,” and some said, “Let him not be created,” as it is written, “Mercy and truth met; righteousness and peace kissed.” Mercy said, “Let him be created, for he does acts of mercy.” Truth said, “Let him not be created, for he is all lies.” Righteousness said, “Let him be created, for he performs righteousness.” Peace said, “Let him not be created, for he is all strife.” What did the Creator do? He took Truth and threw it to the earth, as it is written, “and it cast down truth to the earth.” The angels said to the Creator: “Why do You disgrace Your seal? Let truth come up from the earth, as it is written, ‘Truth shall spring forth from the earth.’”

This text is perplexing all around:

It does not explain the seriousness of the verse, “Let us make man.” Is it a counsel that He needs, as it is written, “Deliverance in the heart of a counsel”?
Regarding truth, how can it be said about the entire human species that it is all lies, when there is not a generation without such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
If the words of truth are earnest, how did the angels of mercy and righteousness agree to a world that is all lies?
Why is truth called “seal,” which comes at the edge of a letter? Certainly, the reality exists primarily outside the seal. Is there no reality at all outside the borders of truth?
Can true angels think of the true Operator that His operation is untrue?
Why did truth deserve such a harsh punishment to be thrown to the earth and into the earth?
Why is the angels’ reply not brought in the Torah, as their question is brought?

We must understand these two conducts set before our eyes, which are completely opposite. These are the conducts of the existence of the entire reality of this world and the conducts of the manners of existence for the sustenance of each and every one in the reality before us. From this end, we find a reliable conduct in utterly affirmed guidance, which controls the making of each and every creature in reality.

Let us take the making of a human being as an example. The love and pleasure are its first reason, certain and reliable for its task. As soon as it is uprooted from the father’s brain, Providence provides it a safe and guarded place among the beddings in the mother’s abdomen, so no stranger may touch it.

There, Providence provides it with its daily bread in the right measure. It tends to its every need without forgetting it for even a moment, until it gains strength to come out to the air of our world, which is full of obstacles.

At that time, Providence lends it power and strength, and like an armed, experienced hero, it opens gates and breaks walls until it comes to such people it can trust to help it through its days of weakness with love and great compassion to sustain its existence, as they are the most precious for it in the whole world.

Thus, Providence embraces it until it qualifies it to exist and to continue its existence onward. As is with man, so it is with the animate and the flora. All are wondrously watched, securing their existence, and every scientist of nature knows it.

On the other end, when we regard the order of existence and sustenance in the modes of existence of the whole of reality, large and small, we find confused orders, as if an army is fleeing the campaign sick, beaten, and afflicted by the Creator. Their whole life is as death, having no sustenance unless by tormenting first, risking their lives for their bread.

Even a tiny louse breaks its teeth when it sets off for a meal. How much frisking it frisks to attain enough food to sustain itself. As it is with it, so are all, great and small alike, and all the more so with humans, the elite of creation, who are involved in everything.

12) We discern two opposites in the ten Sefirot of Kedusha [Holiness]. The first nine Sefirot are in the form of bestowal, and Malchut is about reception. Also, the first nine are filled with light, and Malchut has nothing of her own.

This is the meaning of our discrimination of two discernments of light in each Partzuf: Ohr Pnimi [inner light] and Ohr Makif [surrounding light], and two discernments in the Kelim [vessels], which are the inner Kli [vessel] for Ohr Pnimi and an outer Kli for Ohr Makif.

This is so because of the two above-mentioned opposites, as it is impossible for two opposites to be in the same carrier. Thus, a specific carrier is required for the Ohr Pnimi and a specific carrier for the Ohr Makif, as I elaborated in Panim Masbirot¸ Branches 1 and 4.

However, they are not really opposite in Kedusha, since Malchut is in Zivug [copulation] with the first nine, and its quality is of bestowal, too, in the form of Ohr Hozer [reflected light], as written in Panim Masbirot, Branch 4, but the Sitra Achra [other side] have nothing of the first nine. They are built primarily from the vacant space, which is the complete form of reception, on which the Tzimtzum Aleph [first restriction] occurred. That root remained without light even after the illumination of the Kav [line] reached inside the Reshimo [recollection], as is written in Panim Masbirot, Branch 1.

For this reason, they are two complete opposites compared to life and Kedusha, as it is written, “God has made one opposite the other.” This is why they are called “dead.”

It has been explained above, Item 6, that the whole issue of the Tzimtzum was only for the adornment of the souls, concerning the equalizing of their form to their Maker, which is the inversion of the vessels of reception to the form of bestowal.

You find that this goal is still denied from the perspective of the Partzufim [pl. of Partzuf] of Kedusha, since there is nothing there of the vacant space, which is the form of Gadlut [greatness/adulthood] of reception, over which was the Tzimtzum. Hence, no correction will happen to it, as it does not exist in reality.

Also, there is certainly no correction here from the perspective of the Sitra Achra, although it does have a vacant space, since it is completely opposite, and everything it receives dies.

Hence, it is only a human in this world that we need. In infancy, he is sustained and supported by the Sitra Achra, inheriting the Kelim of the vacant space from it. When he grows, he connects to the structure of Kedusha through the power of Torah and Mitzvot to bestow contentment upon his Maker.

Thus, one turns the complete measure of reception he has already acquired to be solely arranged for bestowal. In that, he equalizes his form with his Maker and the aim comes true in him.

This is the meaning of the existence of time in this world. You find that first, these two above opposites were divided into two separate carriers, namely Kedusha and Sitra Achra, by way of “one opposite the other.” They are still devoid of the above correction, for they must be in the same subject, which is man.

Therefore, the existence of an order of time is necessary for us, since then the two opposites will come in a person one by one, meaning at a time of Katnut [smallness/infancy] and at a time of Gadlut.

13) Now you can understand the need for the breaking of the vessels and their properties, as it is written in The Zohar and in the writings of the ARI, that two kinds of light are present in each ten Sefirot, running back and forth. The first light is Ohr Ein Sof [light of infinity], which travels from above downward. It is called Ohr Yashar [direct light]. The second light is a result of the Kli of Malchut, returning from below upward, called Ohr Hozer [reflected light].

Both unite into one. Know that from the Tzimtzum downward, the point of Tzimtzum is devoid of any light and remains a vacant space. The upper light can no longer appear in the last Behina [discernment] before the end of correction, and this is said particularly about Ohr Ein Sof, called Ohr Yashar. However, the second light, called Ohr Hozer, can appear in the last Behina, since the case of the Tzimtzum did not apply to it at all.

Now we have learned that the system of the Sitra Achra and the Klipot [shells/peels] is a necessity for the purpose of the Tzimtzum, in order to instill in a person the great vessels of reception while in Katnut, when one is dependent on her.

Thus, the Sitra Achra, too, needs abundance. Where would she take it if she is made solely of the last Behina, which is a space that is vacant of any light, since from the Tzimtzum downward the upper light is completely separated from it?

Hence, the matter of the breaking of the vessels had been prepared. The breaking indicates that a part of the Ohr Hozer of ten Sefirot of the world of Nekudim descended from Atzilut out to the vacant space. And you already know that Ohr Hozer can appear in the vacant space, as well.

That part, the Ohr Hozer that descended from Atzilut outward, contains thirty-two special Behinot [discernments] of each and every Sefira of the ten Sefirot of Nekudim. Ten times thirty-two is 320, and these 320 Behinot that descended were prepared for the sustenance of the existence of the lower ones, which come to them in two systems, as it is written, “God has made one opposite the other,” meaning the worlds ABYA of Kedusha and opposite them the worlds ABYA of the Sitra Achra.

In the interpretation of the verse (Megillah 6a), “And one people shall be stronger than the other people,” our sages said that when one rises, the other falls, and Tzor is built only over the ruin of Jerusalem. This is so because all these 320 Behinot can appear for the Sitra Achra, at which time the structure of the system of Kedusha, with respect to the lower ones, is completely ruined.

Also, these 320 Behinot can connect solely to Kedusha. At that time, the system of the Sitra Achra is completely destroyed from the land, and they can divide more or less evenly between them, according to people’s actions. And so they roll in the two systems until the correction is completed.

After the breaking of the vessels and the decline of the 320 Behinot of sparks of light from Atzilut outward, 288 of them were sorted and rose, meaning everything that descended from the first nine Sefirot in the ten Sefirot of Nekudim. Nine times thirty-two are 288 Behinot, and they are the ones that reconnected to building the system of Kedusha.

You find that only thirty-two Behinot remained for the Sitra Achra from what had descended from Malchut of the world of Nekudim. This was the beginning of the structure of the Sitra Achra, in its utter smallness, when she is as yet unfit for her task. The completion of her construction ended later by the sin of Adam HaRishon with the Tree of Knowledge.

Thus we find that there are two systems, one opposite the other, operating in the persistence and sustenance of reality. The ration of light needed for this existence is 320 sparks. Those were prepared and allotted by the breaking of the vessels. This ration is to be swaying between the two systems, and that is what the conducts of sustenance and existence of reality depend on.

You should know that the system of Kedusha must contain at least a ration of 288 sparks to complete her first nine Sefirot, and then it can sustain and provide for the existence of the lower ones. This is what it had prior to the sin of Adam HaRishon, and for this reason the whole of reality was then conducted by the system of Kedusha, since it had the full 288 sparks.

14) Now we have found the opening to the above Midrash [treatise] regarding the four sects, Mercy, Righteousness, Truth, and Peace, which negotiated with the Creator regarding man’s creation. These angels are servants of man's soul (see Tree of Life, Shaar Drushey ABYA); hence, He negotiated with them, since the whole act of creation was created according to them, as each and every soul consists of ten Sefirot in Ohr Pnimi and Ohr Makif. Mercy is the Ohr Pnimi of the first nine of the soul. Righteousness is the Ohr Pnimi of Malchut of the soul. Truth is the Ohr Makif of the soul.

We have already said that Ohr Pnimi and Ohr Makif are opposites, since the Ohr Pnimi is drawn by the law of the illumination of the Kav [line], which is prevented from appearing at the point of the Tzimtzum, which is the Gadlut form of reception.

The Ohr Makif extends from Ohr Ein Sof, which surrounds all the worlds, since there, in Ein Sof, great and small are equal. For this reason, the Ohr Makif shines and bestows upon the point of Tzimtzum, too, much less for Malchut.

Since they are opposites, two Kelim are needed, since the Ohr Pnimi illuminates in the first nine. Even to Malchut, it shines only according to the law of the first nine, and not at all to her own quality. However, the Ohr Makif shines in the Kelim that extend specifically from the point of the Tzimtzum, which is called “external Kli.”

Now you can understand why Truth is called “Seal.” It is a borrowed name from a seal at the edge of a letter, at the end of the matters. However, it asserts them and gives them validity. Without the seal, they are worthless and the whole text is wasted.

It is the same with the Ohr Makif, which bestows upon the point of the Tzimtzum, which is the Gadlut measure of reception, until it equalizes its form with its Maker in bestowal. Indeed, this is the purpose of all the worlds, upper and lower, which are limited.

The protest of Truth regarding man's creation is its claim that he is all lies, since from the perspective of the creation of the Creator, man does not have an outer Kli, which must extend from the point of Tzimtzum, as she has already been separated from His light. Thus, the angels of Truth could not help man obtain the Ohr Makif.

All the limited worlds, upper and lower, which are limited, were created solely for this completion, and this man must be its only subject. But since this man is unfit for his role, they are all abyss and falsehood, and the labor in them—useless.

It is the opposite with the angels of Mercy and Righteousness, which belong specifically to the Ohr Pnimi of the soul. Because he has nothing of the vacant space, they could bestow upon him all the lights of Neshama abundantly, in the most sublime perfection.

Thus, they were happy to benefit him and wholeheartedly agreed to man's creation. (Because they are NHY that enter by Zivug de Hakaa [copulation by striking], they belong to the half of the Ohr Makif from the perspective of the Ohr Hozer in it.)

The angels of Peace claimed that he is all strife. In other words, how will he receive the Ohr Makif? In the end, they cannot come in the same subject with the Ohr Pnimi, as they are opposite from each other, as said above, “all strife.”

(The Ohr Makif is discerned by two: the future Ohr Hozer and the future Ohr Makif. The outer Kli for the Ohr Hozer is the Masach [screen] and the outer Kli for the Ohr Makif is the Aviut of Behina Dalet [fourth discernment] itself, namely the stony heart. You find that Adam HaRishon lacked only the outer Kli that belongs to the angels of Truth. He did not lack the outer Kli that belongs to the angels of Peace. Hence, they agreed to the creation, but claimed that he is all strife, meaning that the Ohr Yashar cannot enter the inner Kli since they are opposites.)

15) Now we have been granted the understanding of the rest of the verses in the sin of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, which are most profound. Our sages, who disclosed a portion of them, concealed ten portions with their words.

As a foreword, it is written, “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” Know that clothing means an outer Kli, as written in The Tree of Life, Shaar Drushey ABYA. Hence, the text precedes to demonstrate the reason for the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, as our sages said in the verse, “Libel is terrible for the sons of man, for in libel you came upon him.”

This means that his sin had been prepared in advance, and this is the meaning of the words that Adam and his wife did not have an outer Kli at the moment of creation, but only inner Kelim, which extend from the system of Kedusha. This is why they were not ashamed. They did not feel their deficiency, as shame is the matter of the sensation of a deficiency.

It is known that feeling the deficiency is the first reason for the fulfillment of the deficiency. It is similar to one who feels one’s illness and is willing to receive the medication. However, when one does not feel that he is ill, he will certainly avoid all medications.

Indeed, this task is for the outer Kli to do. Since it is in the construction of the body and is empty of light, as it comes from the vacant space, it begets the sensation of emptiness and deficiency in it, by which one becomes ashamed.

Hence, one is compelled to fill the deficiency once again and draw the lacking Ohr Makif, which is about to fill that Kli. This is the meaning of the verse, “And the man and his wife were both naked,” of the outer Kli. For this reason, they were not ashamed, since they did not feel their deficiency. In this manner, they are devoid of the purpose for which they were created.

Yet, we must thoroughly understand the sublimity of that man, the creation of the Creator, and also his wife, to whom the Creator administered greater intelligence than him, as they have written (Nidah 45) in the interpretation to the verse, “And the Lord made the rib.”

Thus, how did they fail and became as fools, not knowing to beware of the serpent’s cunningness? On the other hand, that serpent, of which the text testifies that it was more cunning than all the animals of the field, how did it utter such folly and emptiness that should they eat from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, they would be turned to God? Moreover, how did that folly settle in their hearts?

Also, it is said below that they did not eat because of their desire to become God, but simply because the tree is good to eat. This is seemingly a beastly desire!

16) We must know the nature of the two kinds of discernments customary for us: The first discernment is called “discernments of good and bad.” The second discernment is called “discernments of true and false.”

This means that the Creator has imprinted a discerning force in each creature that executes everything that is good for it and brings it to its desired completion. The first discernment is an active, physical force. It operates using the sensation of bitter and sweet, which loathes and repels the bitter form, since it is bad for it, and loves and attracts the sweet because it is good for it. This operating force is sufficient in the still, the vegetative, and the animate in reality, to bring them to their desired completion.

Atop them is the human species, in which the Creator instilled a rational operating force. It operates in sorting the above second discernment, rejecting falsehood and emptiness with loathing to the point of nausea, and attracts true matters and every benefit with great love.

This discernment is called “discernment of true and false.” It is implemented solely in the human species, each according to his own measure. Know that this second acting force was created and came to man because of the serpent. At the time of creation, he had only the first active force, from the discernments of good and bad, which was sufficient for him at that time.

Let me explain it to you with an allegory: If the righteous were rewarded according to their good deeds, and the wicked punished according their bad deeds in this world, Kedusha would be determined for us in the reality of sweet and good, and the Sitra Achra would be defined in the reality of bad and bitter.

In this state, the commandment of choice would come to us in the form of “Behold, I have set before you the sweet and the bitter, and you shall choose the sweet.” Thus, all the people would be guaranteed to achieve wholeness, for they would certainly run from the sin, as it is bad for them. They would be occupied in His Mitzvot day in and day out, ceaselessly, like today’s fools regarding the bodily matters and its filth, since it is good and sweet to them. So was the matter of Adam HaRishon when He created him.

“And put him into the Garden of Eden to work in it and keep it.” Our sages interpreted, “to work in it” are the Mitzvot to-do, “and to keep it” are the Mitzvot not-to-do. His Mitzvot to-do were to eat and delight in all the trees of the Garden, and his Mitzvot not-to-do were to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. The Mitzvot to-do were sweet and nice, and the Mitzvot not-to-do were retirement from the bitter fruit that is as hard as death.

Not surprisingly, these cannot be called Mitzvot and labor. We find the likes of this in our present work, where through the pleasures of Shabbat [Sabbath] and good days we are rewarded with the upper Kedusha. And we are also rewarded for retiring from reptiles and insects and everything that one finds loathsome.

You find that the choice in the work of Adam HaRishon was by way of “choose sweet.” It follows that the physical palate alone was sufficient for all he needed, to know what the Creator commanded and what He did not command.

17) Now we can understand the serpent’s cunningness, which our sages added, and notified us that SAM clothed in it, meaning because its words were very high. It started with, “Although God said: ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden,’” meaning it began to speak with her since the woman was not commanded by the Creator. Hence, it asked her about the modes of scrutiny, meaning how do you know that the Tree of Knowledge was prohibited? Perhaps all the fruits of the garden were forbidden for you, too? “And the woman said… ‘Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat’; …You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”

There are two great precisions here: 1) The touching was never forbidden; hence, why did she add to the prohibition? 2) Did she doubt the words of the Creator? The Creator said, “You will surely die,” and the woman said, “lest you die.” Could it be that she did not believe the words of the Creator even prior to the sin?

Yet, the woman answered it according to the serpent’s question. She knew what the Creator had prohibited, that all the trees of the garden are sweet and nice and good to eat. However, she was already close to touching that tree inside the garden, and tasted in it a taste that is as hard as death.

She herself had proven that by her own observation, there is fear of death, even from mere touching. For this reason, she understood the prohibition further than what she heard from her husband, as there is none so wise as the experienced.

“Lest you die” concerns the touching. The answer must have been quite sufficient, for who would interfere and deny another’s taste? However, the serpent contradicted her and said, “You shall not surely die; for God knows that in the day you eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened.”

We must make the precision concerning the matter of the opening of the eyes to this place. Indeed, it informed her of a new and sublime matter. It proved to them that it is folly to think that the Creator created something harmful and detrimental in His world. Thus, with respect to the Creator, it is certainly not a bad or harmful thing.

Instead, that bitterness that you will taste in it, when even close to touching, is only on your part, since this eating is to notify you of the height of your merit. Thus, it is additional Kedusha that you need during the act, so your sole aim will be to bring contentment to Him, to keep the aim for which you were created. For this reason, it seems to you as bad and harmful so you will understand the additional Kedusha required of you.

“For in the day you eat thereof,” meaning if the act is in Kedusha and purity as clear as day, “you shall be as God, knowing good and evil.” This means that as it is certainly sweet to the Creator and completely equal, so the good and bad will be to you, in complete equivalence, sweet and gentle.

It is still possible to doubt the credibility of the serpent, since the Creator did not tell it this Himself. Therefore, the serpent first said, “for God knows that in the day you eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened.”

This means that it is not necessary for the Creator to notify you of that, since He knows that if you pay attention to this, to eat on the side of Kedusha, your eyes shall be opened by themselves, to understand the measure of greatness in it. You will feel wondrous sweetness and gentleness in it; hence, He does not need to let you know, as for this He instilled in you the scrutinizing force, that you may know what is to your benefit by yourselves.

It is written right after that: “And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat and that it was a delight to the eyes.” This means that she did not rely on His words, but went and examined with her own mind and understanding and sanctified herself with additional Kedusha, to bring contentment to the Creator in order to complete the aim desired of her, and not at all for herself. At that time, her eyes were opened, as the serpent had said, “And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat.”

In other words, by seeing that “it was a delight to the eyes,” before she even touched it, she felt great sweetness and lust, when her eyes saw by themselves that she had not seen such a desirable thing in all the trees of the garden.

She also learned that the tree is good for knowledge, meaning that there is far more to crave and covet in this tree than in all the trees of the garden. This refers to knowing that they were created for this act of eating, and that this is the whole purpose, as the serpent had revealed to her.

After all these absolute scrutinies, “she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her man with her, and he ate.” The text accurately writes “with her,” meaning with the pure intention only to bestow and not for her own sake. This is the meaning of the words “and gave to her man with her,” with her in Kedusha.

18) Now we come to the heart of the matter and the mistake that concerned his leg. This Tree of Knowledge of good and evil was mixed with the vacant space, meaning with the Gadlut form of reception upon which the Tzimtzum was implemented, and from which the Ohr Elyon departed.

It has also been explained that Adam HaRishon did not have any of the Gadlut form of reception in his structure, which extends from the vacant space. Instead, he extended solely from the system of Kedusha, concerned only with bestowal.

It is written in The Zohar, Kedoshim, that Adam HaRishon had nothing of this world. For this reason, the Tree of Knowledge was forbidden to him, as his root and the whole system of Kedusha are separated from the Sitra Achra due to their disparity of form, which is the separation.

Thus, he, too, was commanded and warned about connecting to it, as thus he would be separated from his holy root and die like the Sitra Achra and the Klipot, which are dead due to their oppositeness and separation from the Kedusha and the Life of Lives.

However, Satan, which is SAM, the angel of death that clothed in the serpent, came down and enticed Eve with the lie in its mouth: “You shall not surely die.” It is known that any lie does not stand if it is not preceded by words of truth. Hence, it started with a true word and revealed to her the purpose of creation, that came only to correct this tree, meaning to invert the great vessels of reception to the side of bestowal.

This is the meaning of what our sages said to her, telling her that God had eaten from this tree and created the world, meaning looked at that matter in the form of “The end of an act is in the preliminary thought,” and therefore created the world. As we have seen above, the whole matter of the first Tzimtzum was only for man, who is destined to equalize the form of reception to bestowal, and this was the truth.

For this reason, it succeeded and the woman believed it when she prepared herself to receive and enjoy solely in order to bestow. You find that at any rate, evil vanished from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, and the Tree of Knowledge of good remained. This is because the evil there is only the disparity of form of reception for oneself, which was imprinted in him but with reception in order to bestow. Thus, he is brought to his complete perfection, and you find that she made the great unification as it should be at the end of the act.

However, that sublime Kedusha was still untimely. She was only fit to endure it in the first eating but not in the second eating (as The Zohar writes, “It is all a lie”). I will explain to you that one who avoids a passion before one has tasted and grown accustomed is not like one who avoids a passion having tasted and becomes connected to it. The first can certainly avoid once and for all, but the other must exert to retire from one’s craving bit by bit until he completes the matter.

So it is here. Since the woman had not yet tasted from the Tree of Knowledge and was completely in bestowal, it was easy for her to perform the first eating in order to bestow contentment upon the Creator in absolute Kedusha. But after she tasted it, a great desire and coveting for the Tree of Knowledge was made in her until she could not retire from her craving, since matters had gone out of her control.

This is why our sages said that she ate prematurely, meaning before it was ripe, before they acquired strength and power to rule over their desire. This is similar to what the sages said in Masechet Yevamot, according to Aba Shaul, who said that one who marries his dead brother’s wife for beauty and for lust is as one who blemishes the pubes. They said, “The first intercourse is forbidden because of the second intercourse.” This is the meaning of what our sages said, “I have eaten and I shall eat more.” This means that even when he had explicitly heard that the Creator was in wrath with him, he still could not retire from it, since the lust had already been connected to him. You find that the first eating was on the side of the Kedusha, and the second eating was in great filth.

Now we can understand the severity of the punishment of the Tree of Knowledge, for which all people are put to death. This death extends from eating it, as the Creator had warned him, “in the day you eat from it you will surely die.”

The thing is that the Gadlut form of reception extends into his limbs from the vacant space, and from the Tzimtzum onward it is no longer possible for it to be under the same roof with the upper light. Hence, that eternal breath of life, expressed in the verse, “and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,” had to leave there and depend on a slice of bread for its transient sustenance.

This life is not eternal life as before, when it was for himself. Rather, it is similar to sweat of life, a life that has been divided into tiny drops, where each drop is a fragment of his previous life. This is the meaning of the sparks of souls that were spread throughout his progeny. Thus, in all his progeny, all the people in the world in all the generations, through the last generation, which concludes the purpose of creation, are one long chain.

It follows that the acts of the Creator did not change at all by the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. Rather, this light of life that came at once in Adam HaRishon extended and stretched into a long chain, revolving on the wheel of transformation of forms until the end of correction. There is no cessation for a moment, since the actions of the Creator must be alive and enduring, and “Sanctity is raised, not lowered.”

As is the case of man, so is the case with all the creatures in the world because they all descended from an eternal and general form, on the wheel of transformation of form, as did man.

Both man and the world have an inner value and an outer value. The external always ascends and descends according to the internal, and this is the meaning of “In the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread.” Instead of the previous breath of life that the Creator had breathed in his nostrils, there is now a sweat of life in his nostrils.

19) Our sages said (Babba Batra 17), “He is the evil inclination; he is Satan; he is the angel of death. He descends and incites, ascends and slanders, he comes and he takes his soul.” This is because two general corruptions occurred because of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.

The first corruption is the matter of “ascends and slanders.” He had been tempted to eat from the Tree of Knowledge and acquired a vessel of reception of the vacant space in the structure of his body. That, in turn, caused hatred and remoteness between the eternal light of life that the Creator had breathed in Adam’s nostrils, and Adam’s body.

It is similar to what our sages said, “All who is proud, the Creator says, ‘he and I cannot dwell in the same abode.’” This is so because pride stems from the vessels of reception of the vacant space, from which the upper light had already departed from the time of the Tzimtzum onward.

It is written in The Zohar that the Creator hates the bodies that are built only for themselves. For this reason, the light of life fled from him, and this is the first corruption.

The second corruption is the descent of the 288 sparks that were already connected in the system of Kedusha. They were given and descended to the system of Sitra Achra and the Klipot so the world would not be destroyed.

This is so because the system of Kedusha cannot sustain and nourish people and the world, due to the hatred that had been made between the Kedusha and the Kelim of the vacant space. This follows the law of opposites, “he and I cannot dwell in the same abode.” Hence, the 288 sparks were given to the system of the Sitra Achra so they would nurture and sustain man and the world all through the incarnations of the souls in the bodies, as it is written, “Ten thousand for a generation, and for a thousand generations,” until the end of correction.

Now you can see why they are called Klipot. It is because they are like the peel on a fruit. The hard peel envelops and covers the fruit to keep it from any filth and harm until the fruit is eaten. Without it, the fruit would be corrupted and would not fulfill its purpose. Thus, you find that the 288 sparks were given to the Klipot to sustain and qualify reality until they connect and attain their desired goal.

The above-mentioned second corruption is the matter of “comes and takes his soul.” I wish to say that even that tiny part of the soul that remains for a person, as “sweat of the previous life,” is also robbed by the Sitra Achra, through that same bestowal that she gives him from the 288 sparks that have fallen into her.

To understand this, you need a clear picture of the Sitra Achra as she really is. Thus, you will be able to examine all her ways. I have already shown in Panim Masbirot, Branch 6, that all the parts of reality of the lower world are branches, extending from their roots like an imprint from a seal from the upper world, and the upper from the one above it, and that upper from its own upper.

Know that any discernment in branches about the roots is only in the basis of their substance. This means that the substances in this world are corporeal bases, and the substances in the world of Yetzira are spiritual bases, relating to the spirituality in Yetzira. So it is in each and every world.

However, the occurrences and the conducts in them have the same value from each branch to its root, like two drops of water, equal to each other, and like the imprint whose form is identical to the seal from which it was imprinted. Once you know this, we can seek that branch that the upper Sitra Achra has in this world, and through it we will also know its root, the upper Sitra Achra.

We find in The Zohar, Portion Tazriya, that the afflictions in people’s bodies are branches of the upper Sitra Achra. Hence, let us take the animate level and learn from it. We find that the sprouting that occurs in its body through attainment of pleasure is what proliferates its life. For this reason, Providence has imprinted in the little ones, that every place they rest their eyes on gives them pleasure and contentment, even the most trifling things.

This is so because the level of the small must proliferate sufficiently to grow and sprout, and this is why their pleasure is copious. Thus, you find that the light of pleasure is the progenitor of life.

However, this law applies only in pleasures that come to the level as a whole. But in a pleasure of separation, when the pleasure is concentrated and received only by a separated part of the level of the animal, we find the opposite rule: If there is a defective place in its flesh, which demands scratching and rubbing, the act of scratching carries its reward with it, as one feels great pleasure pursuing it. However, this pleasure is sodden with a drop of the potion of death: If one does not govern one’s desire and pays the haunting demand, the payment will increase the debt.

In other words, according to the pleasure from scratching, so will the affliction increase and the pleasure will turn to pain. When it begins to heal again, a new demand for scratching appears, and at a greater extent than before. And if one still cannot govern one’s desire and pays to saturate the demand, the affliction will grow as well.

Finally, it brings it a bitter drop, poisoning all the blood in that animal. You find that it died by receiving pleasure, since it is a pleasure of separation, received only by a separate part of the level. Hence, death operates in the level in the opposite manner from the pleasure administered to the entire level.

Here we see before us the form of the upper Sitra Achra from head to toe. Her head is the will to receive only for herself, and not to bestow outside of herself, as is the property of the demand in the afflicted flesh with respect to the entire animal. The body of the Sitra Achra is a certain form of demand that is not going to be paid. The repayment one makes increases the debt and the affliction even more, as with the example of receiving pleasure by scratching.

The toe of the Sitra Achra is the drop of the potion of death, which robs it and separates it from the last spark of life it had left, like the drop of the potion of death that intoxicates all the blood in the animal.

This is the meaning of what our sages said, “In the end, it comes and takes his soul.” In other words, they said that the angel of death comes with a drawn sword and a drop of poison at its tip; the person opens his mouth, he throws the drop inside, and he dies.

The sword of the angel of death is the influence of the Sitra Achra, called Herev [sword/ruin] because of the separation that grows according to the measure of reception, and the separation destroys him. One is compelled to open one’s mouth, since one must receive the abundance for sustenance and persistence from her hands. In the end, the bitter drop at the tip of the sword reaches him, and this completes the separation to the last spark of his breath of life.

20) As a result of these two corruptions, man's body was corrupted, too, as it is precisely adapted by creation to receive the abundance of its sustenance from the system of Kedusha. This is so because in any viable act, its parts are guarded from any surplus or scarcity. An act that is not viable and sustainable is because its parts are unbalanced and there is some shortage or surplus in them.

As he says in the Poem of Unification: “Of all Your work, not a thing You have forgotten; You did not add, and You did not subtract.” It is a mandatory law that perfect operations stem from the perfect Operator.

However, when a person passes from the system of Kedusha to the system of the Sitra Achra, due to the barnacle attached to his construction by the Tree of Knowledge, many parts of him are already in surplus, needless, since they do not receive anything from the abundance of sustenance dispensed from the authority of the Sitra Achra. It is as we find with the Luz bone, see in The Zohar, Midrash HaNe’elam, Toladot, and also in a certain portion of each and every organ.

Hence, one must receive sustenance into one’s body more than is necessary, since the surplus joins every demand that rises from the body. Hence, the body receives for them. However, the surplus itself cannot receive its share; thus, its share remains in the body as surplus and litter that the body must later eject.

In consequence, the feeding and digesting tools exert in vain. They diminish and lessen to extinction because their sentence is predetermined, as that of any imbalanced act, destined to disintegrate. Thus you find that from the perspective of the construction of the body, too, its death depends on cause and effect from the Tree of Knowledge.

Now we have been awarded learning and knowing the two contradicting, opposite conducts (Item 11). The sustenance and keeping of the created beings has already passed from the system of Kedusha to the system of the Sitra Achra because of the barnacle of the great will to receive for oneself, connected to the created beings by the eating from the Tree of Knowledge. This induced separation, oppositeness, and hatred between the system of Kedusha and the structure of the bodies of the created beings in this world.

When the Kedusha can no longer sustain and nurture them from the high table, to not destroy reality and to induce an act of correction for them, it gives the collective abundance of the sustenance of reality—her 288 sparks—to the system of the Sitra Achra, so they will provide for all creations in the world during the correction period.

Hence, the conducts of existence are very confused, since evil sprouts from the wicked, and if the abundance is reduced to the created beings, it certainly brings ruin and destruction. And if abundance is increased, it brings excessive force of separation to the receivers, as our sages said, “He who has one hundred wants two hundred; he who has two hundred wants four hundred.”

It is like the separated pleasure that the separated and defected flesh senses, where increased pleasure increases separation and affliction. Thus, self-love greatly increases in the receivers, and one swallows one’s friend alive. Also, the life of the body shortens, since the accumulation of reception brings the bitter drop at the end sooner, and wherever they turn, they only condemn.

Now you can understand what is written in the Tosfot, Ktubot p 104: “Until one prays that Torah will enter one’s body, one should pray that no delicacies will enter one’s body.” This is because the form of self-reception, which is the opposite of Kedusha, increases and multiplies by the measure of pleasure that one’s body acquires.

Thus, how can one obtain the light of Torah within one’s body when he is separated and in complete oppositeness of form from the Kedusha, and there is great hatred between them, as with all opposites: They hate each other and cannot be under the same roof.

Therefore, one must first pray that no delights or pleasures will enter one’s body, and as the deeds in Torah and Mitzvot accumulate, one slowly purifies and inverts the form of reception to be in order to bestow. You find that one equalizes one’s form with the system of Kedusha, and the equivalence and love between them returns, as prior to the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. Thus, one is awarded the light of the Torah, since he entered the presence of the Creator.

21) Now it is thoroughly understood why the answer of the angels regarding man's creation, which we learned in the Midrash in Item 11, is not presented. It is because even the angels of Mercy and Righteousness did not agree to the present man, since he has gone completely out of their influence and has become completely dependent on the Sitra Achra.

The Midrash ends: “He took Truth and threw it to the earth. They all said immediately, ‘Let Truth rise from the earth.’” This means that even the angels of Mercy and Righteousness regretted their consent, as they never agreed that Truth would be disgraced.

This incident occurred at the time of the eating from the Tree of Knowledge, when Truth was absent from the management of the sustenance of reality, since the scrutinizing force imprinted in man by creation, which operates by the sensation of bitter and sweet, has weakened and failed, as it is written in Item 17.

This is so because the provision for sustenance, which are 288 different Behinot, were already as clear as day, connected in the system of Kedusha. And “the palate tastes its food” to attract in full all that is beloved and sweet, and reject all that is bitter and bad so no man will fail in them.

However, after the first tasting of the Tree of Knowledge, for which the Gadlut form of self- reception has stuck to them, their body and the Kedusha became two opposites. At that time, the abundance of sustenance, which is the 288 Behinot, went to the hands of the Sitra Achra.

You find that the 288 sparks that had already been sorted were remixed by the Sitra Achra. Thus, a new form was made in reality—the form whose beginning is sweet and whose end is bitter.

This was because the form of the 288 has been changed by the Sitra Achra, where the light of pleasure brings separation and a bitter drop. This is the form of falsehood, the first and foremost progenitor of every destruction and confusion.

It is written, “He took Truth and threw it to the earth.” Thus, because of the serpent, a new discernment was added to man—the active cognitive force. It operates by discernments of true and false, and one must use it throughout the correction period, for without it the benefit is impossible, as written in Item 17.

Come and see all the confusion caused by the fall of the 288 sparks into the hands of the Sitra Achra. Before they tasted from the Tree of Knowledge, the woman could not even touch the forbidden thing, as written in Item 17. By mere nearness to the Tree of Knowledge, she tasted bitterness that tasted like death. For this reason, she understood and added the prohibition on touching. After the first eating, when the Sitra Achra and falsehood already controlled the sustenance of reality, the prohibition became so sweet in its beginning that they could no longer retire from it. This is why he said, “I have eaten and I shall eat more.”

Now you understand why the reward in the Torah is intended only for the ripe bodies. It is because the whole purpose of the Torah is to correct the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, which induced the confusion of the conduct of the sustenance of reality.

It is for this correction that the Torah was given—to elevate the 288 sparks to Kedusha once more. At that time, the conduct of the sustenance will return to the Kedusha and confusions will cease from the modes of the sustenance of reality. Then, people will be brought to their desired wholeness by themselves, solely by the discernment of bitter and sweet, which was the first operator, prior to the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.

The prophets, too, speak only of this correction, as our sages said, “All the prophets prophesied only for the days of the Messiah.” This is the meaning of the restoration of the modes of sustenance of the world under sorted Providence, as it was prior to the sin. “But for the next world” implies the end of the matter, which is the equivalence of form with the Maker, “neither has the eye seen a God besides You.” It is also written that in the days of the Messiah, [if] Egypt does not rise, corporeality will not be on them, meaning through discernments of good and bad.

22) Now we understand the words of our sages that the Creator did not find a vessel that holds a blessing for Israel but peace. We asked, “Why was this statement chosen to end the Mishnah?”

According to the above, we understand that the eternal soul of life that the Creator had blown into his nostrils, only for the needs of Adam HaRishon, has departed because of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. It acquired a new form, called “Sweat of Life,” meaning the general has been divided into myriad parts, tiny drops, divided between Adam HaRishon and all his progeny through the end of time.

It follows, that there are no changes whatsoever in the acts of the Creator, but there is rather an additional form here. This common light of life, which was packed in the nose of Adam HaRishon, has expanded into a long chain, revolving on the wheel of transformation of form in many bodies, body after body, until the necessary end of correction.

It turns out that he died at the very day he ate from the Tree of Knowledge, and the eternal life departed him. Instead, he was tied to a long chain by the procreation organ (which is the meaning of the Zivug, called “Peace”).

You find that one does not live for oneself, but for the whole chain. Thus, each and every part of the chain does not receive the light of life into itself, but only distributes the light of life to the whole chain. This is also what you find in one’s days of life: At twenty, he is fit to marry a woman, and ten years he may wait to bear sons. Thus, he must certainly father by thirty.

Then he sits and waits for his son until he is forty years of age, the age of Bina [understanding], so he may pass onto him the fortune and knowledge he has acquired by himself, and everything he had learned and inherited from his forefathers, and he will trust him not to lose it for an ill matter. Then he promptly passes away and his son grips the continuation of the chain in his father’s place.

It has been explained in Item 15 that the incident of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge had to happen to Adam HaRishon, as it is written, “Libel is terrible for the children of men.” This is so because one must add to one’s structure an external Kli to receive the surrounding light, so the two opposites will come in the same carrier in two consecutive times. During his Katnut, he will be dependent on the Sitra Achra. His vessels of reception of the vacant space will grow to their desired measure by the separated pleasures that one receives because of them.

Finally, when one reaches Gadlut and engages in Torah and Mitzvot, the ability to turn the great vessels of reception in order to bestow will be readily available. This is the primary goal, called “The light of truth,” and “the seal,” as it is written in Item 14.

However, it is known that before one connects to the Kedusha, one must retire once more from any form of reception that he had received from the table of the Sitra Achra, as the commandment of love came to us, “with all your soul and with all your might.” Hence, what have the sages done by this correction if one loses everything he has acquired from the Sitra Achra?

For this reason, His Providence provided the proliferation of the bodies in each generation, as our sages said, “He saw that the righteous were few, He stood and planted them in each generation.” This means that He saw that in the end, the righteous will repel the matter of self-reception altogether and thus their surrounding light would diminish, since the external Kli that is fit for it will be repelled from them.

For this reason, He planted them in each and every generation, because in all generations, a large number of the people are created primarily for the righteous, to be the carriers of the Kelim of the vacant space for them. Thus, the external Kli would necessarily operate in the righteous involuntarily.

This is so because all the people in the world are attached to one another. They affect one another both in bodily inclinations and in opinions. Therefore, they necessarily bring the inclination for self-reception to the righteous, and in this manner, they can receive the desired surrounding light.

However, accordingly, the righteous and the wicked should have been of equal weight in each generation. Yet, this is not so, and for each righteous, we find many thousands of vain ones. Yet, you must know that there are two kinds of governance in creation: 1) a qualitative force, 2) a quantitative force.

The force of those that hang about the feet of the Sitra Achra is meager, contemptible, and low, undesirable, and purposeless, and they are blown like chaff in the wind. Thus, how can such as those do anything to wise-hearted people whose way is clear with desire and aim, and a pillar of upper light shines before them day and night sufficiently to bring the tiny inclinations in their hearts?

Hence, He provided the quantitative force in creation, as this force does not need any quality. I will explain it to you by the way we find the qualitative force in strength, such as in lions and tigers, where because of the great quality of their strength no man will fight them.

Opposite them, we find strength and power without any quality but only quantity, as in the flies. But because of their numbers, no man will fight them. These wanderers roam man's house and set table freely and it is man who feels weak against them.

However, with wild flies, insects, and other such uninvited guests, although the quality of their strength is greater than domestic flies, man will not rest until he banishes them from his domain entirely. This is so because nature did not allot them the reproduction ability of flies.

Accordingly, you can see that there must necessarily be a great multitude for every single righteous. They instill their crude inclinations in him through the power of their numbers, as they have no quality whatsoever.

This is the meaning of the verse, “The Lord will give strength unto His people.” It means that the eternal light of life, attained by the whole chain of creation, is called “strength.” The text guarantees that the Creator will surely give us this strength.

Yet, we should ask, “How so? Since every person is not whole in and of himself, as our sages have written, ‘It is better for one not to be born than to be born,’ why then are we sure of His eternity?”

And the verse ends, “The Lord will bless his people with peace,” meaning the blessing of the sons. It is as our sages said in Masechet Shabbat, “He who makes peace in the house is idle.” It is so because through the sons, this chain is tied and linked through the end of correction. At that time, all the parts will be in eternity.

This is why our sages said, “The Creator did not find a Kli that holds a blessing for Israel, but peace,” for as His blessing is eternal, the receivers should also be eternal.

Thus, you find that through the sons, the fathers hold and create among them the chain of eternity, fit to hold the eternal blessing. It follows that it is peace that holds and conducts the wholeness of the blessing.

Hence, our sages ended the Mishnah with this verse, since peace is the Kli that holds the blessing of the Torah and all the Mitzvot for us until the complete and eternal redemption soon in our days, Amen, and everything will come to its place in peace.

Shining and Welcoming Face↩
Translator’s note: name of the weekly Torah portion.↩

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