(înapoi la pagina ZOHAR CUPRINS / Beresheet Alef – click)
259) Once the old man explained the verses, “And a river comes out of Eden” concerning the Katnut and Gadlut of Adam HaRishon, Rabbi Shimon also explained, “And the Lord God took the man” in relation to Katnut and Gadlut of Adam HaRishon. He asks, “From where did He take the man, where he was before He placed him in the Garden of Eden?” He took him from the four separated Yesodot, of which it is written, “And from there it parted and became four heads,” implying the four Yesodot. The Creator parted the man from those four separated Yesodot and placed him in the Garden of Eden of Atzilut.
As the old man explained the verse, “And a river comes out of Eden” in relation to Adam HaRishon in Katnut, who came out of Atzilut, Eden, and came into the separated BYA, later in Gadlut, he rose to the Garden of Eden of Atzilut, where he received three ties—Neshama, Ruach, Nefesh—which are called “Eden,” “river,” and “garden.” Eden is the light of Bina, Neshama. A garden is the light of Malchut de Atzilut, Nefesh, and the man himself became a river that waters the garden, light of Ruach. This is also how Rabbi Shimon interpreted “And the Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden,” since previously, he was in the separated BYA and his Guf was from the four separated Yesodot, but at the time of Gadlut, the Creator separated him from the four separated Yesodot and raised him to the Garden of Eden of Atzilut, and he became the river of Atzilut, receiving from Eden and giving to the garden.
260) As with Adam HaRishon in his Gadlut, when He raised him from the separated BYA to the Garden of Eden of Atzilut, so the Creator will do to a man who repents and engages in Torah. At that time, the Creator takes he who repents from the separated BYA, and it is written about the four separated Yesodot, “And from there it parted.” He separates him from their lusts and places him in His garden, who is Divinity, Malchut, to serve Divinity with the positive Mitzvot [commandments to perform actions], and to keep Divinity with the negative Mitzvot [commandments to avoid actions], as it is written, “To serve her and to keep her,” to engage in positive Mitzvot and in negative Mitzvot.
If he is rewarded with keeping the Divinity, he will be a Rosh over the four Yesodot in his Guf and become a river by which they are watered, and not by the Sitra Achra. He is recognized as their Master and ruler because being in the Garden of Eden and keeping the Mitzvot of keeping the Garden of Eden, Divinity, the four Yesodot in his Guf are included in the garden because the garden is his Nefesh. The Guf and the Nefesh [body and mind, respectively] are always included in one another, and since the man himself is a river, receiving the abundance from Eden and watering the garden, it turns out that he waters the four Yesodot in his Guf. At that time he rules over them so they will not crave any lust for themselves and wherever they turn, they will give contentment to their Maker.
261) If he breaches the Mitzvot of the Torah, the four Yesodot in his Guf will be watered by the bitterness of the evil tree, which is the evil inclination. Then it is written about all his organs, which are from the four Yesodot in him, “And they made their lives bitter,” making it bitter with the bitterness of the gall-bladder. There are three harm-doers in the Klipot, opposite the NRN of the man. They are called “liver,” “spleen,” and “gall-bladder.” The liver is opposite the Nefesh, the spleen opposite the Ruach, and the gall-bladder opposite the Neshama, as we learn that a bitter drop [bitter also means gall-bladder in Hebrew] hangs on the sword of the angel of death. This is the precision that he makes here. “And they made their lives bitter” with the bitterness of the gall-bladder, which is the great harm-doer opposite the Neshama. And in regard to the holy organs of the Guf, which are from the side of the good, at that time it is written about them, “And when they came to Marah, they could not drink water from Marah.”
“And they made their lives bitter with hard work,” by asking questions, “With mortar,” by logical reasoning, “And with bricks,” by clarifications of the law, “And in any work of the field,” the Gemarah, “In all their work,” through the Mishnah. It is so because through their iniquities, they caused the Sitra Achra to grip all the parts of their Torah, and to one who was not rewarded, the Torah became a potion of death.
262) If they repent, it is written about them, “And the Lord showed him a tree,” the tree of life, and in it, “And the waters were made sweet [fresh],” for then the bitterness and the potion of death had departed from the Torah, and the sweetness in it, the potion of life, was revealed to him. The tree of life is Messiah Moses, meaning Moses’ soul, to be revealed with the coming of the Messiah. It is written about him prior to the arrival of the Messiah, “With the scepter of God in my hand.” The scepter of God is Matat, from whom there are life and death, as he turns from a serpent into a scepter, and from a scepter into a serpent. When he turned into a scepter, he helped Moses from the good side and life extended from him. When he turned into a serpent, he is opposite from Moses because then death is from his side and promptly, “And Moses fled from before it.”
263) The Creator placed Matat in Moses’ hand to use him as a scepter of God. It is so because in Moses’ hand he is a scepter. He becomes a serpent only when he is not in Moses’ hand. Matat is the oral Torah, in which there is prohibition and permission, a good side and a bad side, like Matat, who is the Torah of Beria. But in Atzilut, it is written, “No evil shall dwell with you,” and the whole of the Torah is the names of the Creator.
Explanation. As there are male and female in Atzilut, ZA and Nukva, there are male and female in Nukva herself because she consists of ten Sefirot. The male in her, who illuminates in her from below upward, is her own Behina [essence/self]. But the male in her, who illuminates from her and below, into the separated BYA, is called Matat.
Two points connected in the Nukva’s Masach—Midat ha Din and Midat ha Rachamim. When the lower ones are worthy, the point of Midat ha Din is concealed and unknown, and she acts from the point of Midat ha Rachamim. At that time only life and good extend from her. If the lower ones sin they disclose the point of Midat ha Din in the Nukva through sins, and the point of Midat ha Rachamim hides. Then death and wickedness extend from her.
It is known that the Dinim in the Masach do not act from below upward, but only from above downward. Therefore, Angel Matat, the male in her, is called “scepter” from her Masach downward because he consists of two points in Malchut. When the lower ones are worthy, he turns toward Hesed. When they are not worthy, he turns toward accusing. It is also considered that he turns from a serpent into a scepter when the lower ones are worthy, and when they are not worthy, he turns from a scepter into a serpent.
This is the meaning of the scepter of God. Moses was using Matat for the tokens and omens that he was making. It was said that the Nukva, the oral Torah, has two points, from which prohibition and permission extend, and Matat extends from those two points. When he struck the rock with it, the Creator took the scepter in His hand, and it is written about it, “And he came down to him with a scepter,” to strike him with it. The scepter is the evil inclination, the serpent, and all the troubles in the exile are because of it, for it is the source of all the afflictions and punishments in the exile.
264) “And from there it parted.” A man who engages in Torah when the Creator takes him from this body, from his four separated Yesodot, he parts from them and goes to become a Rosh in the four animals of the Merkava. It is written about them, “They shall carry you upon their hands.” Instead of being immersed in the four Yesodot of the separated Guf, by engaging in Torah he is rewarded with the Creator separating him from the lusts of the Yesodot of the Guf, raising him high, over the four animals of the Merkava, and the animals carry him, as it is written, “They shall carry you upon their hands, lest your foot stumbles on a stone.”
(înapoi la pagina ZOHAR CUPRINS / Beresheet Alef – click)