These Are the Generations of Isaac

1) When the Creator wished to create the world, He looked in the Torah and created it. And in each act that the Creator created in the world, He would look in the Torah and create it, as it is written, “Then I was beside Him, as a cadet, and I was daily His delight.” Do not read it as Amon [cadet], but as Oman [master craftsman], for it was his tool of craftsmanship.

2) When He wished to create man, the Torah said to Him, “If man is created and later sins, and You will sentence him, why should Your deeds be in vain? After all, he will never be able to tolerate Your judgments.” The Creator told her, “But I have created repentance before I created the world. If he sins, he will be able to repent and I will forgive him.”

The Creator said to the world when He created it and created man, “World, you and your nature persist only by the Torah. This is why I have created man within you, to engage in Torah. If he does not engage in Torah, I will revert you back to chaos.” Thus, all is for man and the Torah stands and calls before people to engage and exert in the Torah, but no one lends an ear.

3) Anyone who engages in Torah sustains the world and sustains each and every operation in the world in its proper way. Also, there is not an organ in a man’s body that does not have a corresponding creation in the world.

This is so because as man’s body divides into organs and they all stand degree over degree, established one atop the other and are all one body, similarly, the world, meaning all creations in the world are many organs standing one atop the other, and they are all one body. And when they are all corrected, they will actually be one body. And everything, man and the world, will be like the Torah because the whole of Torah is organs and joints standing one atop the other. And when the world is corrected, they will become one body.

4) The Torah holds all the hidden, sublime, and unattainable secrets. The Torah holds all the sublime, revealed, and unrevealed matters, that is, that for their profoundness, they appear to the eye of the one who observes them and soon after disappear. Then they briefly reappear and disappear, and so on and so forth, before those who scrutinize them. The Torah holds all the things that are above in the upper world and that are below. And everything in this world and everything in the next world is in the Torah, and there is no one to observe and to know them.

5) When Solomon came and wished to understand the words of Torah and the precisions of the Torah, he could not, and said, “I will get wisdom, but it was far from me.” David said, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.”

6) These are the generations of Ishmael, which are the twelve presidents. Afterwards he said, “These are the generations of Isaac.” Since it is written that Ishmael begot twelve presidents and Isaac begot two, can it be that because of this, one is superior in his righteousness, and hence begot twelve, and the other is inferior and hence begot only two? It is written, “Who can express the mighty acts of the Lord,” which is Isaac, since Isaac is Gevura of ZA, and Isaac begot Jacob, who alone was more important than all of them, for he begot the twelve tribes and was the sustenance above and below.

Isaac, however, was only the sustenance above, in the upper holiness, while Ishmael was only below. This is why it is written, “Who can express the mighty acts of the Lord,” which is Isaac, and it is written, “Or make all His praise to be heard,” which is Jacob, since the whole of Jacob’s glory is in being the sustenance above and below. And when the sun, ZA, clings to the moon, the Nukva, several stars shine from them, which are the twelve tribes Koh, presented in Joseph’s dream as stars.

Here are three divisions: 1) Jacob was the sustenance above and below; 2) Isaac was only above in the upper holiness; and 3) Ishmael was only below.

We should understand these differences. The thing is that Partzuf ZA is divided at the Chazeh because of the Parsa that is present there. From Chazeh and up, it is GAR, and from Chazeh down, it is VAK. And the lower ones have a hold only from the Chazeh of ZA downward and nothing at all from the Chazeh up, since they are the offspring of Nukva of ZA whose source begins in ZA only from the Chazeh down.

But the patriarchs were an assembly to HGT of ZA, Abraham and Isaac, the two arms of ZA, Hesed and Gevura, and Jacob—the Guf [body] of ZA, Tifferet. Thus, Abraham and Isaac are gripped above Chazeh of ZA, in the arms, and not at all from the Chazeh down. But since Jacob is a structure for Tifferet, which is a Guf whose Chazeh is in its middle, he grips above the Chazeh and below the Chazeh. Thus, he grips above the Chazeh and below the Chazeh. He grips above in GAR with the half of Tifferet that is above the Chazeh, and below in VAK, where all the lower ones come from, in the half of Tifferet that is below the Chazeh.

It was said that Isaac begot Jacob, who by himself was more important than all of them because he was the senior among the patriarchs, for he begot the twelve tribes, which are from the Chazeh of Tifferet downward, for he was the sustenance and the structure above Chazeh of ZA and below Chazeh of ZA, as he is an assembly for Tifferet and Tifferet contains them both. But Isaac was a structure to Gevura of ZA, which is entirely above the Chazeh and grips nothing below, and Ishmael was as all the lower ones, who have a grip only below the Chazeh and not at all above the Chazeh. Hence, Jacob is more important than all of them, for he alone contains all the discernments.

7) It is written, “And God blessed his son Isaac,” now that Abraham had died. He blessed and augmented the degree of Isaac, Gevura, after Abraham's death. Yet, the form of Abraham remained in Isaac, for Abraham's form, too, which is Hesed, remained included in Isaac to the point that anyone who saw Isaac would certainly say that this must be Abraham, and would testify and say, “Abraham begot Isaac.” This is so because he was incorporated and clothed in the form of Abraham, which is Hesed; hence, the text makes the precision of saying, “These are the generations of Isaac, the son of Abraham,” as well as, “Abraham begot Isaac.”

8) “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son.” The beginning of this verse is not as its end, and its end is not as its beginning. It begins with the death of Abraham and ends with the blessing of Isaac, between which there is no connection. Moreover, what is the difference that made the Creator bless Isaac and that he was not blessed by Abraham? It is because Abraham did not bless Isaac; hence, the Creator blessed him after his death. This is the connection in the words, “And it came to pass after the death.”

What is the reason that he did not bless Abraham? It was so that Esau, his son, would not be blessed with him, meaning that he would not draw illumination of the left from above downward according to his impure way. Hence, these blessings went on to the Creator, and the Creator blessed Isaac. The Creator is the middle line that unites the two lines in one another by limiting the left line so it shines only from below upward, and now Esau will not be blessed, for he will not be able to draw from above downward.

“And Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-Roi.” What is Lahai-Roi? It is that he connected with the Shechina, which is a well upon which the angel of the covenant, which is Yesod, was seen. Hence, He blessed him. Now we understand the connection between the three parts of this verse: “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham,” that he did not bless Isaac. “…that God blessed Isaac his son.” And why did He bless him? It is because he connected with the Shechina, as it is written, “And Isaac sat by the well Lahai-Roi.”

9) “A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, flowing streams from Lebanon.” “A fountain of gardens” is Abraham; “a well of living waters” is Isaac; and “flowing streams from Lebanon” is Jacob. Thus, a well of living waters is Isaac, as it is written, “And Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-Roi.” A well is the Shechina; Lehai [to the living] is He who lives forever, a righteous, which is Yesod, He who lives forever. And they are not to be separated. He lives in two worlds: He lives above, which is the upper world, Bina, and he lives in the lower world, Malchut, and the lower world exists and shines by his power.

10) The moon, Nukva, shines only when she sees the sun, ZA. And when she sees him, she shines, meaning receives from ZA Mochin of illumination of Hochma, which is seeing. This is why she is called “the well Lahai-Roi [Roi refers to seeing].” And then she shines and stands in the living waters. Lahai-Roi, to shine and to be filled by that Hay [living], Yesod of ZA.

11) It is written, “Benayah the son of Yehoyada, the son of a valiant man.” He was righteous and shone for his generation, like the living one above, Yesod of ZA, which shines to the world, which is the Nukva. And at all times, this well, the Nukva, looks into the Hay [living], Yesod, and sees, so as to shine.

“And Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-Roi” when he took Rebecca. This is so because a well is Rebecca, Nukva of ZA. He sat with her and united with her in the darkness of the night, as it is written, “Let his left hand be under my head.”

The left line of ZA, Isaac, is called “dark” because it is attained only in the dark. This is so because when it governs, the lights darken because it is Hochma without Hassadim. Also, the Nukva is called “night.” Hence, the illumination of the left to the Nukva is called “darkness” at night. He unites with her in the phase of darkness, at night, since the coupling of Isaac—left line—with the well, the Nukva—which receives from him—is called “darkness” at night.

Following Abraham's death, Isaac was in Kiriath-arba. “And Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-Roi.” But this is necessarily not his dwelling place, but rather the name of the Nukva with whom he united and made a coupling in that well, to evoke the love.

12) “The sun rises and the sun comes.” This is ZA, which shines to the moon, the Nukva. This is so because the sun shines when it is seen with her. The sun illuminates and shines from the place of the upper one who stands atop it, which is Bina. It receives its illumination from there and always shines.

“And the sun comes,” to make a coupling with the moon, the Nukva. It goes to the south, the right line of ZA, and places its strength in him, since it places its illumination primarily in the right, Hassadim [mercies]. And because its strength is in the right, man’s strength in the body is on the right side of the body, and this is what the strength of the body depends on.

Subsequently, it turns to the north, meaning it shines to the south, and to the north. Turning means it turns its illumination once to this side and once to the other side to show you that its strength is not primarily in the north, the left side of ZA, and does not shine there permanently, but that it turns this way and that.

It is written, “The wind turns about continually in its circuit.” ZA is the light of Ruach [wind], and he is called “the sun.” He “turns about continually in its circuit” so the moon will shine from him and they will unite, since the essence of the illumination of the moon is illumination of Hochma, who receives from the left. However, she cannot receive the Hochma without Hassadim; thus, ZA turns once toward the north for illumination of Hochma, and once toward the south for illumination of Hassadim, to clothe Hochma in Hassadim. Only in this way does the moon receive his illumination and bonds with him in a coupling.

13) When Abraham came to the world, he embraced the moon and drew her near. When Isaac came, he gripped her, held her properly, and drew her with love, as it is written, “Let his left hand be under my head.” When Jacob came, the sun, ZA, connected with the moon, the Nukva, and the Nukva illuminated. She received illumination of Hochma from Isaac, but it still did not shine in her due to lack of clothing in light of Hassadim. And when Jacob came, who is the middle line, he imparted her with the Hochma that is clothed in Hassadim. And then the Nukva illuminated.

Then Jacob was complete on all sides—with Hassadim on the right side and with Hochma on the left side. And the moon shone because now the Hochma and Hassadim clothed in one another through Jacob, and she could shine and be established in twelve tribes.

14) It is written, “Bless the Lord all the servants of the Lord who stand in the house of God at night.” Who are they who are worthy of blessing the Creator? All of the Creator’s servants. Even though all the people in the world are from Israel, they are all worthy of blessing the Creator.

But blessings for which upper and lower are blessed, who are they who bless Him? It is the servants of the Creator. And who are they whose blessing is a blessing? It is them who stand in the house of God at night, those who rise at midnight and awaken to read in the Torah. They are the ones who stand in the house of God at night. And they need both: to be servants of the Creator, as well as to rise at midnight, for then the Creator comes to entertain with the righteous in the Garden of Eden.