He Sat Down by a Well

209) It is written, “And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. He looked this way and that, and saw that there was no one.” What does the twofold “saw” imply? He looked and saw everything with the spirit of holiness. And this is why he looked at him and killed him, meaning killed him by looking at him. This is why it is written, “saw” a second time.”

The Creator turned it all so that Moses would go to that well, as Jacob went to that same well, as it is written about Moses, “And settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.” With Jacob, it is written, “And he looked, and saw a well.” Why is it not written about Jacob, “And sat,” but it is written, “And looked”? It is because even though Moses and Jacob were of the same degree in the middle line, Moses rose higher than him, since Jacob is considered Tifferet and Moses is considered the Daat within Tifferet. The well is Malchut, the mate of Tifferet. And since Moses is the interior of Tifferet, it is written about him, “And sat” and “And saw,” only in regards to Jacob.

210) Is the well that Jacob and Moses saw the same well that was dug by Abraham and Isaac, who are the two lines—right and left—of ZA?

Malchut is called a “well.” Initially, before the creation of the world, she was in the quality of judgment, unfit to receive light there, until Abraham and Isaac dug it, meaning raised her to Bina—the quality of mercy—where she was corrected. This correction, making her a receptacle, was done in the creation of the world. And if this is the state of the well that Jacob and Moses saw, why was it not written about them that they dug it, or some other correction, but it is written, “Sat by the well,” without prior correction?

Indeed, the well of Jacob and Moses is not as the state of the well that Abraham and Isaac dug. Rather, this well was created at the time when the world was created, meaning that it was already in a state of after the correction. The mouth of the well, her Yesod, was created on the eve of the Sabbath, in the twilight, through her ascent to Bina at that time. In that state, she no longer needed correction. This was the well that Jacob and Moses saw, and this is why it is written, “And he sat by the well,” without any prior correction.

211) “You who pursue righteousness,” who pursue the correction of Malchut, called “righteousness,” through the three lines in ZA. They are the litigants—in the arm of faith, which is drawing of the left line to Malchut, which is called “faith.” They are the ones who clung to the connection of faith in the right line. They are the ones who know the ways of the upper King, ZA, the middle line. Come near and listen refers to all those who chase the correction of Malchut, to illuminate her in three lines, to hear how the order of this unification is done.

It is written about Jacob, “He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it.” “Well” is the name of Malchut when she receives from the GAR. However, she does not receive those GAR from GAR of GAR, but from NHY of GAR because HB of GAR are concealed by the decision of the middle line between them. They come down and become two arms, Hesed and Gevura, and the middle line is Tifferet, and they are called VAK of GAR. However, Malchut cannot receive Hochma from HGT, as well, since only Hassadim govern them.

Yet, once the two lines descend to Netzah and Hod, which are the place of disclosure of Hochma, Malchut will be able to receive the GAR from them, since she is only NHY of GAR. And because of the reception of GAR from those NHY, Malchut is called “well,” as it is written, “A well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep,” which are NHY, “Lying there beside it.” She is also called “a field of holy apples,” since NHY is called “a field of apples,” and the Mochin of HB in them are called “holy.”

212) When the two lines, HB, emerge toward the one middle line, they receive it between the two arms, which are Hesed and Gevura. Because of their acceptance of the middle line, HB descended and became Hesed and Gevura, since the GAR of GAR descended from them.

However, Malchut still cannot receive Hochma from them because there is dominion of the light of Hassadim, and Hochma is covered there until HG descend below, meaning become Netzah and Hod. They are two, the essence of the Mochin, right and left, which become Netzah and Hod. And there is one between them because they necessarily need the middle line, Yesod, to decide between them, since what determines between HG is called Tifferet and what determines between NH is called Yesod.

Those two that went down are the seat from which the prophets, Netzah and Hod, suckle. The one between them, Yesod, which connects to everything, the right line and the left line, takes Hochma and Hassadim from everyone. This is so because being the middle line, it sustains their illumination and hence receives their illumination for itself, as well. This is the rule: When he is complete, the lower one is rewarded with all the lights, whose existence he caused in the upper ones.

213) That holy well, Malchut, stands below NHY. It is a field of holy apples. The herds will drink from that well, meaning all those Merkavot [assemblies] of angels and all those winged angels. There are three who lie by this well, and they are the three Sefirot NHY. Also, this well is filled by the light of GAR, and it is called ADNI.

It is written, “Lord God, You have begun.” It is also written, “And cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake,” the Lord of the whole earth. This is so because when she has GAR, she is referred to in male form, as it is written, “Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth.” There is one, hidden, holy source in her—Yesod. It always springs in her and fills her, and it is called “The Lord of hosts.”

214) “And the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.” If this well is Jacob’s well, then it is written about Jacob, “When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well.” And why did the daughters of Jethro not need this? Rather, it is written, “They came and drew water,” without any trouble of removing the stone from over the well’s mouth.

215) Jacob removed the stone from the well, as it is written that when all the herds gathered there, they put the stone back on the well’s mouth. However, with Jacob, it does not say that he returned the stone since afterwards, they no longer needed the stone. This is so because initially, the waters were not rising. When Jacob came, the waters rose toward him because they increased. This is why that stone was not on the well’s mouth, since they did not need guarding, and this is why it was said of the daughters of Jethro, “They came and drew water” without the trouble of rolling off the stone.