Cain, Abel, and Shet

139. “And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.” Adam is the hidden Adam HaRishon, in whose engravings there are thin, upper lights, lights of Hassadim. “Knew” what he did not recognize in her before, since he “knew” to be with her face-to-face. When they look face-to-face so as to copulate, it is written “knew,” that he knew to water her, to plant a seed in her, to make offspring. This is for the better, by the awakening of Providence below.

The word “knew” implies extension of Hochma through the Daat. Adam implies ZA, who is called “the hidden Adam HaRishon,” in whose engravings are thin, upper lights, lights of Hassadim without Hochma, thin and small.

“Knew” what he did not recognize in her before means he knew to draw to Malchut lights of Hochma through the Daat, which he did not know before, since previously, there were thin, upper lights in his engravings.

He knew to be face-to-face with her, that the coupling of ZA and Malchut is called “coupling face-to-face.” When they look face-to-face so as to copulate, it is written “knew,” since “knew” means extension of Hochma through the Daat, when ZA and Malchut are face-to-face. Then it is written “knew,” that he knew to water her, to plant a seed in her, to make offspring, as through the coupling face-to-face the souls are born, and not in another matter.

This is for the better. All that has been said thus far is good, teaching that by his actions, Adam HaRishon caused the coupling face-to-face of ZA and Malchut, which is why he, too, merited being in a coupling face-to-face with Eve, which merits extension of holy souls by the awakening of the upper Providence downward, as through the upper coupling face-to-face, Providence is drawn down to the lower ones.

140. Once the serpent came over Eve, inciting her to eat from the tree of knowledge, he cast filth in her, the spirit of impurity. Cain emerged from that filth. How did he emerge from the filth of the serpent? After all, it is written, “And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain,” implying that Cain came out from Adam, and not from the other side. Thus, how is it possible that the serpent cast filth in her and Cain came out from it?

141. Indeed, the serpent cast filth in her, and from that filth, the spirit of impurity was sucked and swallowed in her, knocking in her abdomen, but did not have a body in which to clothe and be incorporated and come out to the world. When Adam came and bonded with his wife in the awakening of that filth, he made a body to that evil spirit that was in her abdomen.

The evil spirit clothed and was incorporated in that body, and came out to the world in the form of above and of below. It was mixed with two forms: the form of holiness from the side of the body, from Adam, and the form of impurity from the side of the spirit, from the filth of the serpent.

142. Eve looked at it, that it was mixed with the two forms, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord,” meaning with the Creator, since the man in him is from the side of the filth of the serpent. “With the Lord” means that the body in him was extended through Adam, for he was from the holiness, from the Creator. For this reason, all of Cain’s actions were from that other, evil side. When he brought his offering, he brought it from that other side, as it is written, “After some days [Yamim].” It is not written “After some right [Yamin],” since the other side is called “the end of days [Yamim],” and holiness is called “the end of days [Yamin].”

143. “And she bore again, this time his brother Abel,” for indeed, that evil spirit grew strong and prevailed over Cain with its actions, and the power and strength of the evil spirit broke in Abel through the deeds of Abel. It was not in Abel whatsoever since Abel was entirely from the right side, and did not have in him a grip to the other side. Thus far, everything was on the side of the serpent’s filth. Yet, even Abel was not on the side of completeness since he was all right, and did not have in him from the middle line, which is the form of man, and this is what the serpent’s filth caused him.

144. Since afterwards, Shet [Seth] came and was born, the world was sweetened with righteous ones and pious ones, who were later in the world and emerged from him. Shet [written with Shin-Tav] is the conclusion of the [Hebrew] alphabet, since Shin-Tav are the last letters in the alphabet. Although the world was sweetened, obstinacy and evil have not been removed from the world, but rather surrendered to the side of faith, Malchut, who is called “faith,” who is the conclusion of the letters, since the conclusion of the letters, Kof-Reish Shin-Tav, is the letters of Malchut.

145. Thus far, the worlds were created by the letters of the Torah, and the letters of the alphabet were not completed until Shet was born, who is called by the last letters of the alphabet. Once Shet was born, all the deeds of above and of below had been completed in the matter of the letters. Then the world was sweetened, and obstinacy and evil surrendered to holiness, since his corrections have been completed.

From here on, the world began to behave according to the ways of straightness, the middle line, which is straight and does not lean only to the right, as was Abel, or only to the left, as was Cain, but rather in the middle line, which contains both of them together.

146. The beginning of the names, which began after Shet was born, is from those letters that were left before. The name Adam begins with the letter Aleph and ends with Mem. After the alphabet was completed with the name Shet, the letters returned to the name Enosh [human].

Aleph of Enosh is as before, as in the name Adam, which is the beginning of the alphabet. The Nun of Enosh, after the Mem that was left from Adam, since he ends with Mem, was set in the Nun of Enosh. The Shin of Enosh was taken from the beginning of the letters of Shet, since Enosh took the letters from this and from that, the Aleph of Adam and the Shin from Shet. The Vav of Enosh is the form of the man in him, the middle line, to show that from Shet, the generations of the world were led in a path of straightness, in the middle line, in straightness, which does not lean to the right or to the left.