I, I am He

168) Rabbi Shimon opened further and said, “Who is it who said, ‘See now that I, I am he, and there is no God with Me’? It is the cause of all the causes. And the one who is called ‘the cause of all the causes’ is not above all the causes, but a cause among the rest of the causes.”

The degrees hang down from one another by cause and consequence, where each lower one is caused and results from its superior. A cause means operator; a consequence means operated. This indicates that the lower one has nothing except what it receives from its upper one.

The friends who heard understood the words of Rabbi Shimon, who calls Partzuf ‎AK “the cause for all the causes,” above the worlds ABYA. Rabbi Shimon calls Partzuf ‎Atik of Atzilut “the cause of all causes,” who is a consequence of AK, and a cause for all the Partzufim ABYA. Rabbi Shimon rejected them, for each of those causes will do nothing before it receives permission from the cause above it, as is explained in the verse “Let us make man,” that Ima cannot do anything without permission from Aba. So it is in every cause and consequence—every lower one has no strength to do anything unless it receives the strength from the upper one.

169) The verse “Let us make man” certainly relates to two, for each lower one said to the superior above it, “Let us make man.” The lower one does not do anything without receiving permission and saying of that Partzuf ‎that is above it. Likewise, its superior does not do anything until it receives an advice from his friend above him, so that each Partzuf ‎from the Partzufim of Atzilut ‎said to its upper one, “Let us make man,” and the upper one to the one above it, for every innovation and emanation comes from Ein‎ ‎Sof and cascades through the degrees until it comes to its place.

The cascading is considered here that each lower one says, “Let us make man” to his superior when he receives from him the soul of man, to pass it on to the ones below him. But for a Partzuf called “the cause for all the causes,” there is no similar above or below, as it is written, “And to whom will you liken Me that I should be equal, shall be said, ‘holy’?” He said the verse “See now that I, I am He, and there is no God with Me,” from whom to receive counsel, such as every lower one said to its superior, “Let us make man.”

170) All the friends rose and said to Rabbi Shimon, “Rabbi, give us permission to speak in this place.” They said to him, “Did you not clarify above that the cause of causes said to Keter, ‘Let us make man’?” The friends understood in the words of Rabbi Shimon that the cause for all causes is AK, who is the Keter of all the worlds and above whom there are no degrees because he is the first degree that was emanated from Ein‎ ‎Sof. They also thought that the cause of causes is an appellation for Atik of Atzilut. But afterwards, when he said that each degree said to the one above it “Let us make man,” it follows that the cause of causes, Atik, also said to AK, Keter, “Let us make man.”

And that verse “See now that I, I am He,” the friends knew that it relates to Atik. This is why they asked him, “How come Atik said, ‘And there is no God with Me,’ from whom to receive counsel, since he can receive counsel from Keter, who is AK, as Rabbi Shimon said that each consequence said to its cause, ‘Let us make man’?” Rabbi Shimon told them, “May your ears hear what your mouths speak. Did I not tell you that there is he who is called by the name “the cause of causes,” and he is not the one called ‘the cause for all causes,’ for the cause for all the causes has no other from whom to take counsel, since he is unique, preceding all, and no one partakes with him?”

171) This is why he said, “See now that I, I am He, and there is no God with Me,” from whom to receive counsel, because he has no other, no partner, nor a calculation. There is one in partnering, such as a male and a female, of whom it is written, “But ‘One’ I called him.” But he is one without a calculation and without a partner. This is why he said, “And there is no God with Me.”

Explanation: He taught them to understand that he was speaking of the first giver to the worlds, of whom there is no higher. In that sense, Atik is the cause of all the upper ones because AK, who is above Atik, is not considered a giver because he is established in Malchut of the first restriction, and that Malchut ‎was concealed in Rosh of Atik, there is no coupling on her, and the worlds do not receive from her prior to the end of correction. For this reason, Atik was established in fissuring and not fissuring, which is in between AK and ABYA. This is why Atik is considered the first giver to the worlds, of whom there is no higher, since the worlds cannot receive anything from AK.

But at the end of correction, Malchut of the first restriction that was concealed in Rosh of Atik will appear and receive a coupling from Atik, and give to the worlds ABYA. Then it is written about her, “The stone that the builders loathed has become the cornerstone,” since Malchut ‎is called “a stone,” and as she is concealed in Rosh Atik without a coupling, wherever this Malchut ‎appears, judgment‎s and punishments extend from her. This is why the builders loathed her. But at the end of correction, when she receives the coupling there in Rosh Atik, she will appear and it will be seen to all that she was the cornerstone.

Then Atik will say as it is written, “See now that I, I am He and there is no God with Me.” Rabbi Shimon interpreted “There is no God with Me,” from whom to receive counsel, because He has no other, no partner, nor a calculation, for during the 6,000 years, AA is regarded as Keter of the world of Atzilut, and Atik is completely hidden due to the concealment of Malchut of the first restriction, on whom there is no coupling. The coupling is only in regard to the fissure, which is Malchut ‎that is associated with the quality of mercy, where the first Partzuf ‎that came out on that associated Malchut ‎is AA, who lacks Malchut of the first restriction, and who received the associated Malchut. This is why he is the one who gives to all the Partzufim of Atzilut. That is, he receives from Atik and gives to Atzilut, and Atik himself is not known prior to the end of correction.

At the end of correction, when the verse “[And she] became the cornerstone” appears, it is said, “See now that I, I am He.” Malchut ‎is called “I.” And because Malchut of the first restriction will receive the great coupling, it will be revealed in the world that “I” in the 6,000 years who was associated with the quality of mercy, and her self was hidden, “I am He,” meaning “I” of the first restriction, the disclosure of the self of Malchut. “And there is no God with Me,” meaning I have no other from whom to take counsel, for the “I” that is revealed in the 6,000 years needed a second degree, Bina, from whom to take counsel, meaning correction.

But now I do not need counsel from another because I am complete in all my needs for myself, and I am no longer associated with the quality of mercy because my judgment‎ is sweet by the sweetness of the wholeness. “...nor a calculation.” The screen ‎that is associated with the quality of mercy of Bina is called “calculation” because Heshbon [calculation] comes from the word Machshava [thought/contemplation], which is the name of Bina, who sweetens the screen and says that henceforth she does not need that calculation anymore, meaning the sweetened screen.

This is why it was said that there is one in association, such as a male or a female, of whom it is written, “But ‘One’ I called him.” It is so because prior to the correction, Malchut ‎was associated with the quality of mercy, such as ZA and Nukva, who are called “sun and moon,” where through the association with the quality of mercy, they received the Mochin ‎of the 13 qualities of mercy, which is one. Then it was said about ZON, “But ‘One’ I called him,” as it is written, “He is one and His name One.” But he is one without calculation and without association. Now Malchut ‎herself is one without calculation, which is a sweetened screen, and without the association of the quality of mercy, as it is written, “On that day the Lord will be one and His name One,” since the moon does not need to be included in ZA, as it is written, “He is one and His name One.” Rather, the moon would become an illuminating essence by herself in one. This is why He is one, the sun, and His name One, the moon, since the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun.

The friends all rose and prostrated before him and said, “Happy is the man whose Master agrees with him to disclose hidden secrets that were not revealed even to the holy angels.”

172) He said to them, “Friends, we should complete the verse, for there are several secrets hidden in this verse ‘I will put to death and make alive,’” meaning through the Sefirot, since life extends from the right line and death extends from the left line. But if both do not agree in the middle line, the judgment that they are three together in a seat does not hold. That is, the judgment is upheld only when there are three lines together.

Although life extends to the righteous from the right line, and death extends to the wicked from the left line, it is only once the middle line comes and decides between them, clothing the lines in one another. However, prior to the decision of the middle line, there is existence neither for life—which extends to the righteous from the right line—nor to death, which extends to the wicked from the left line, since the lines are disputed—once the left wins toward the judgment‎, and once the right wins toward the Hesed, without permanence and persistence.

173) Sometimes the three of them agree to pass judgment, and the stretched out hand will come to welcome the returning. Yad [hand] is Yod-Dalet (14) letters—four letters in simple HaVaYaH, and ten letters in HaVaYaH with a filling. The four letters of the simple HaVaYaH ‎are Yod-Hey Vav-Hey, implying the Sefira Keter. The ten letters in HaVaYaH ‎with a filling are Yod-Vav-Dalet Hey-Aleph Vav-Aleph-Vav Hey-Aleph, implying the Sefira Hochma.

In Katnut, the three Sefirot ‎Bina and TM descend from the Nukva to BYA and to the shells ‎and remain only in two Sefirot, KH of the vessels. Then the Nukva is implied in the name Yad [hand], implying the two Sefirot ‎KH, in whom there are fourteen letters, four in Keter and ten in Hochma. Then the three of them agree to pass judgment, and even the right line agrees to the judgment because there are only fourteen letters in each line from KH, and his Bina and TM fell to the shells.

Then the shells ‎acquire strength, the twenty-eight letters of the filling of filling, implying the vessel of Bina and TM included in her, which is the power to make the lower ones sin, and also to punish them. Those two are one, as we learn, “He is the devil, he is the evil inclination, he is the angel of death,” for he is the one who makes one sin, and he is the one who ascends and slanders, and he is the one who descends and takes his soul. Thus, the sin and its punishment are one.

Through MAN and repentance and good deeds, the Nukva raises her Bina and TM back from the shells, and they clothe the souls of the lower ones who repented. Afterward, she lowers the screen ‎from NE to the Peh, raises Bina and TM to Atzilut ‎together with the souls, is completed in ten Sefirot, and receives Mochin of Gadlut ‎for the souls of the lower ones who are attached to the vessels of Bina and TM that rose to her.

“And the stretched-out hand will come to welcome the returning.” The matter is clarified from its beginning, that from the beginning, the Nukva was diminished to staying in those fourteen letters, which are KH of each of her lines, only to later welcome the returning in repentance and to raise them to Atzilut, for it was not possible to give Mochin of Gadlut ‎to the lower ones anyway.

This is why the Shechina is called “right hand” on the part of the line of Hesed, and “left hand” on the part of the line of judgment‎, and “the hand of the Lord” on the part of the middle line, the line of mercy. Only fourteen letters remained in each line from Nukva in Katnut, KH in each line, while Bina and TM of each one fell into BYA. When he repents, those fourteen letters save him from the judgment‎. That is, after the Nukva lowers the screen ‎below Hochma ‎to its place as before and raises Bina and TM back to her, they also rise with them through repentance and receive Mochin of Gadlut, which is the light of mercy.

But when the cause for all the causes sentences, the hand is not stretched out to welcome the returning. Rather, it is to the contrary, as it is written, “And there is none that can deliver out of My hand.” Commentary: All this relates to the darkness of Ima. But in the darkness of the first restriction, which is concealed in Atik, who is called “the cause for all the causes,” as we learn, “And the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness,” then, as it is written, “There is none that can deliver out of My hand.”

174) “See now that I, I am He, and there is no God with Me. I will put to death and make alive.” “I” is written three times in this verse. There are three times Aleph in the beginning of the words, and three times Yod at the end of the words, since the beginning of the word Ani [I] is Aleph, and the end of the word is Yod. The three letters Yod imply the name SAG, which is the filling of the name HaVaYaH, Yod-Vav-Dalet Hey-Yod Vav-Aleph-Vav Hey-Yod, which are SAG (63) in Gematria. There are three letters Yod in it, and the three letters Aleph imply the filling of the name HaVaYaH in the number MA (45)—Yod-Vav-Dalet Hey-Aleph Vav-Aleph-Vav Hey-Aleph—which are MA in Gematria, in whom there are three letters Aleph.

We should also explain the words “See now that I, I am He.” At the end of correction, when the name BON, the Nukva, returns to being as the name SAG, as it is written, “See now that I,” who was included and receiving thus far only from the name HaVaYaH ‎filled with the letters Aleph, Yod-Vav-Dalet Hey-Aleph Vav-Aleph-Vav Hey-Aleph, in which there are three letters Aleph, implying ZA, now at the end of correction, “I am He,” in HaVaYaH ‎filled with SAG, in whom there are three letters Yod, implying upper Ima. The intimation three times “I” in which there are the fillings of the two HaVaYaH relates to that. The three letters Yod of SAG and the three letters Aleph of MA are as it is written, “And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun.”

There are also three letters Vav in the verse [in Hebrew] “And will make alive,” “And I,” “And there is no,” which are also implied in those two names SAG, Yod-Vav-Dalet Hey-Yod Vav-Aleph-Vav Hey-Yod, and MA, Yod-Vav-Dalet Hey-Aleph Vav-Aleph-Vav Hey-Aleph, meaning there are three letters Vav in each. Vav implies ZA, indicating that it, too, is included in those ascents that are implied in the two names. However, it amounts to HaVaYaH ‎filled with AB, Yod-Vav-Dalet Hey-Yod Vav-Yod-Vav Hey-Yod, upper Aba.

175) The words “See now that I, I am He” apply to the Creator and His Shechina, ZA and his Nukva. “I” is the Shechina. “He” is the Creator, who is called Vav-Hey-Vav. In the future, at the end of correction, the Nukva will say, “See that I,” Vav-Hey-Vav are one, as it is written, “And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun,” meaning that the Nukva is equal to ZA.

“And there is no God with Me” refers to other gods, SAM and the serpent, for then it will be revealed that SAM and the serpent never separated between the Creator and His Shechina, as it is written, “According to two witnesses shall the dead be put to death,” which applies to SAM, who was dead from his beginning and was but a servant to hurry the redemption of our souls.

This is as it is written, “I will put to death and make alive.” I will put to death with My Shechina the one who is guilty, and I will make alive with my Shechina the one who is innocent. The Creator’s guidance from the beginning will be revealed throughout the world, and then, as it is written, “Sinners will cease from the earth, and the wicked shall be no more.” That is, unlike what it seems to us during the 6,000 years, that there is a governance that objects to Kedusha, which are SAM and the serpent, as it is written, “When man rules over man it is to his harm,” then it will appear to all—“I will put to death and make alive” with My Shechina, and there is none else besides Him.

The words “And there is none that can deliver out of My hand” is fourteen letters in the name HaVaYaH, which are four letters of simple HaVaYaH, and ten letters of HaVaYaH ‎filled with the letters Aleph, Yod-Vav-Dalet Hey-Aleph Vav-Aleph-Vav Hey-Aleph, and the fourteen letters in the names KOZO ‎BaMOChSaZ ‎KOZO [Kaf-Vav-Zayin-Vav Bet-Mem-Vav-Kaf-Samech-Zayin Kaf-Vav-Zayin-Vav]. That is, the three lines are called three hands because in each line are the fourteen letters of the name. There are fourteen letters HaVaYaH ‎Elokeinu HaVaYaH [the Lord our God, the Lord] on the right line. There are fourteen letters KOZO ‎BaMOChSaZ ‎KOZO on the left line, and there are fourteen letters from the simple HaVaYaH ‎and from the filled HaVaYaH ‎in the middle line.

Those are the names HaVaYaH ‎Elokeinu HaVaYaH and KOZO ‎BaMOChSaZ ‎KOZO, and the two lines that are drawn from Holam and from Shuruk, and they are GAR. But the middle line extends from the Hirik, VAK without a Rosh, which is extended over the screen of phase one. This is why there are fourteen letters there—simple HaVaYaH and filled HaVaYaH—implying KH of the vessels and Ruach Nefesh ‎of lights. Bina and TM of the vessels are missing, which are the twenty-eight letters of the filling of filling in HaVaYaH: Yod-Vav-Dalet Vav-Aleph-Vav Dalet-Lamed-Tav, Hey-Aleph Aleph-Lamed-Peh, Vav-Aleph-Vav Aleph-Lamed-Peh Vav-Aleph-Vav, Hey-Aleph Aleph-Lamed-Peh.

It is so because the filling of the filling of Yod is Yod-Vav-Dalet Vav-Aleph-Vav Dalet-Lamed-Tav, and the filling of the filling of Hey is Hey-Aleph Aleph-Lamed-Peh, and the filling of the filling of Vav is Vav-Aleph-Vav Aleph-Lamed-Peh Vav-Aleph-Vav, and the bottom Hey is Hey-Aleph Aleph-Lamed-Peh, as it is written, “The hand upon the throne of the Lord: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” It is so because there are only fourteen letters in the middle line. Therefore, there are only Yod-Hey there, lacking the letters Vav-Hey, which are twenty-eight letters of the filling of the filling. All that is because the Lord has war with Amalek. This is the prayer of Moses, as it is written, “And now let the power of the Lord be great,” meaning let the twenty-eight letters be extended to the fourteen letters, and the name HaVaYaH ‎will be completed with ten Sefirot of vessels and NRNHY of lights.

“And there is none that can deliver out of My hand” is the fourteen letters in the name HaVaYaH, referring to those two hands, which are fourteen letters in the middle line, which is deficient of GAR. This is why she avenges the wicked. The fourteen letters on the left line, which are KOZO ‎BaMOChSaZ ‎KOZO, which are also judgment‎s, and she avenges the wicked, and they disclose the complete unification. In the future, all will see that there is none that can deliver out of My hand because they had brought the end of correction.

It is all true, both the first interpretation and the second interpretation, and also what the friends said in explaining the verse. But what was said above, that the upper cause, the cause of all the causes, is the one who said, “I, I am He,” Atik of Atzilut, when the coupling of the hidden Malchut ‎appears as the cornerstone. That secret was not given to all the sages and prophets, meaning it was given only to a chosen few among them.

176) There are several causes, degrees, that are hidden and unknown. Rather, they are clothed and assembled into the Sefirot, and the Sefirot ‎are Merkavot to them. Like a Merkava [chariot/assembly] that discloses the presence of the one who rides it, the Sefirot ‎reveal the degrees clothed within them.

The degrees hang down and emerge from one another by way of cause and consequence, where each lower one is affected by its superior and exists through it. There are causes that are hidden from the lower ones. These are the first three Partzufim, AA and AVI. It is so because the disclosure is from YESHSUT ‎onward, and it is said about those first three, “There are several hidden causes and they are unknown.” Rather, they clothe in the Sefirot, which are YESHSUT ‎and ZON that become a Merkava ‎for them, appearing within them like a rider who is revealed only in his carriage.

Those first three are hidden from the thoughts of people, as it is written, “For one higher than the high watches, and there are higher than they.” The lights are polished by one another, where every one that is higher than the other is also more polished. And those who receive are darker than the ones above them, from whom they receive. That is, each one that is lower than the other is darker than him. And although with regard to the lower one, he is considered a sparkling light, with respect to the upper one, he is regarded as darkness, because so the degrees gradually diminish from one another. But the cause of all causes, there is no light that can stand before him, for all the lights darken and quench before him.