Preface to the Seven Palaces

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1) We should understand the meaning of palaces, what they are, and why they are standing. These palaces are standing so as to establish in them the order of the praise of the Creator in all those orders in the palaces. They are one collective, to include the lower ones in the upper ones. All the orders in the palaces are orders of Hitkalelut [mingling/integration] of the lower ones with the upper ones, where the purpose of the Hitkalelut is to instill the Shechina in the world. What is left for us is to understand what is Hitkalelut.

2) The origin of Hitkalelut and ascent of the lower ones to the upper ones is the association of Midat ha Rachamim [quality of mercy] in Din, and the ascent and Hitkalelut of Malchut in Bina, which took place in Tzimtzum Bet [second restriction]. Through that ascent, Malchut and all the lower ones extending from her acquired a carving, a receptacle for receiving Bina’s great Mochin, which is the instillation of the Shechina in the world.

3) With respect to this general ascent, Malchut is called “the king’s palace,” where the lower ones that obtain the mitigated Malchut obtain through her Mochin de GAR, light of eyes, vision. It is so because the king is only in his palace, and the seers of the king’s face are there.

The first palace is a palace that was established below, in Malchut, to be as above, Bina. But not only the first palace is such; rather, such are all the palaces. The Zohar explains the palace, which is Malchut that mingled and became as Bina, and they are seven palaces according to the seven Sefirot in Malchut.

4) Concerning the construction of the degrees in the seven palaces, they extend from Bina. It is so because once Malchut is mitigated in Bina, she receives the Mochin and the degrees from her, which are the entire reality in those palaces.

On the whole, the Mochin divide into Mochin de Panim [anterior] and Mochin de Achoraim [posterior]. Likewise, the Kelim that receive the Mochin into them divide into Kelim de Panim and Kelim de Achoraim. The source of that division is that Bina herself, from whom come all the Mochin and the Kelim, divided into these two BehinotPanim and Achoraim.

5) Bina’s division in two was done back in the original BinaBina de AA. Once Malchut rose to the place of Bina de Rosh AA, and Bina departed because of it to Rosh AA and diminished into VAK without a Rosh, that diminution did not touch Bina herself, her KHB, but only where she was mingled with ZA, in her ZAT. It is so because Bina’s self is light of Hassadim without Hochma, and the extension of illumination of Hochma to Hassadim is already regarded as the Atzmut [essence/self] of ZA.

Therefore, the exit of Bina from Rosh AA to the place of the Guf, which is devoid of bestowal of Hochma, does not diminish Bina whatsoever, since even while she was in Rosh AA she did not receive Hochma there. Hence, she is regarded as still being in the Rosh of AA, clothing his HS [Hochma Stima’a (Aramaic: concealed Hochma)].

Only ZA, who is included in this Bina, needs illumination of Hochma. And now that he is in the place of the Guf de AA, he is deficient of the abundance of Hochma. He became greatly diminished and is regarded as having no RoshVAK without GAR, and is regarded as ZAT de Bina.

Thus, through the ascent of Malchut to Rosh AABina divided in two:

  1. Her own KHBAtzmut. Although she is Hassadim without Hochma, they are still considered complete GAR because they are regarded as still being in the Rosh of AA, even now. This Behina [discernment] was established in Partzuf upper AVI, who are always in a never ending Zivug Panim be Panim [face-to-face].
  2. ZA, who is included in her, who includes HGT NHYM, as he needs illumination of Hochma but has none. He is considered VAK without a Rosh. This Behina was established in Partzuf YESHSUT, who clothes the Chazeh and below of AA and is regarded as the Achoraim of Bina.

6) However, even at the time of Gadlut, when Bina returns to Rosh AA and receives Hochma, the Hochma is not received by upper AVI, who are the Panim de Bina, but only by YESHSUT, who are the Achoraim de Bina. Also, the Mochin de AVI are called Avira Dachia [pure air], Mochin de Hassadim, since they are always in light of Hassadim and the Yod never leaves their Avir.

Therefore, it is considered that ZA can receive two kinds of MochinMochin de Panim from AVI, and Mochin de Achoraim from YESHSUT, since when YESHSUT is outside the Rosh of AAZON and all the lower ones have only VAK without a Rosh, like YESHSUT. Therefore, the beginning of the correction is to raise MAN and return YESHSUT to Rosh de AA, at which time ZA receives from it illumination and is completed in the Rosh.

However, it is still incomplete because he is only Mochin de ZAT de BinaMochin de Achoraim. For this reason we need to raise MAN once more and raise YESHSUT to upper AVI. Then ZA receives from him Mochin de Panim from upper AVI, and the Mochin de Achoraim clothe in ZAT in his Kelim de Achoraim, in NHY, from his Chazeh and below, while the Mochin de Panim clothe in his Kelim de Panim, in HGT, from the Chazeh and above.

These Mochin are Ohr Hassadim without Hochma. Still, they are regarded as though they have never left the Rosh de AA, and are always regarded as clothing MS in Rosh AA. Also, the illumination of that MS in upper AVI is called “choice wine,” while the illumination of the Mochin of Atzmut AVI is called “eating.”

7) It is written, “Eat, friends; drink and intoxicate yourselves, O lovers.” In the upper ones, in AVI, it is written of eating without drinking, “Eat friends,” for one who has leather bags of wine needs only to eat. And because the choice wine is in AVI, only eating is written in regard to them. But in the lower ones, who need to drink, ZON, it writes drinking, “Drink and intoxicate yourselves, O lovers.”

All the plantings, the ZON and the lower ones, need watering from the deep stream, YESHSUT. This is why in regard to AVI it writes eating, and regarding ZON it writes drinking. “Friends” are AVI, and “lovers” are ZON.

8) Eating means Mochin de Hassadim, pure air, Mochin de AVI. Drinking is Mochin of illumination of Hochma, wine that delights God and people. Hence, “Eat friends” is AVI, who have barrels of wine, Hochma, as it is as though they are always standing at the Rosh of AA. And MS de AA, called “choice wine,” is always in AVI. This is why only light of Hassadim—called “eating”—is required, and they do not receive any more illumination of Hochma.

“Drink and intoxicate yourselves, O lovers” refers to ZON. As long as they do not receive illumination of Hochma from YESHSUT, who retuned to Rosh AA, they are regarded as VAK without a Rosh. Therefore, they must first drink wine that delights God and people, from Mochin de YESHSUT.

And because YESHSUT are VAK and Achoraim of upper AVI, their Mochin are regarded as VAK, and Mochin de Achoraim. Afterward YESHSUT rise and become included in AVI, and ZON obtain from them the Mochin de Panim, called eating. This ascent of YESHSUT to AVI is regarded as Hitkalelut of the lower one in the upper one, and without it the Mochin is not completed.

9) From here we should understand the two kinds of Mochin we extend to ZA, which are NRNHY de Achoraim and NRNHY de Panim, called IburYenikaMochin de Achoraim, and IburYenika-Mochin de Panim. In the constant state, he is only in IburYenika de Achoraim, meaning NR without NeshamaHayaYechida, meaning VAK without a Rosh. The rest must be extended by raising MAN through good deeds and prayer.

First, the Mochin de Achoraim is extended, GAR of illumination of Hochma from YESHSUT, which are called delighting wine. However, ZA must not be allowed to stay in these Mochin de Achoraim as they are primarily from the left, and there is a grip to the outer ones in them, as it is written about Noah, “He drank from the wine and was drunken and became exposed inside his tent.

However, we should promptly include the lower one in the upper one, raise YESHSUT to their Panim, who are upper AVI, the upper one of YESHSUT, then YESHSUT obtain the Mochin de Panim from AVI and give to ZA IburYenika-Mochin de Panim.

10) Still, it is forbidden for a man to enter these palaces for fear he would be taken after them, as Noah did, as it is written, “And he drank from the wine and was drunken and became exposed.” We should understand what is in there, in those palaces, that there is fear of being taken after them, which is the drunkenness under which Noah was.

It is the illumination of Mochin de Achoraim that illuminate in these palaces that extend from YESHSUT. We must be careful not to leave ZA in these Mochin, but promptly include the lower one in the upper one and extend the Mochin de Panim. One who leaves ZA in Mochin de Achoraim, who prolongs the extension of these Mochin, the delighting wine, is as one who drinks much wine and becomes intoxicated, losing one’s mind and becoming exposed to all the outer ones and Klipot.

This was Noah’s sin, of which it is written, “And he drank from the wine and was drunken.” This is the meaning of the palaces of Tuma’a [impurity] opposite the palaces of Kedusha [sanctity], since the path of Tuma’a is to increase the power of the left over the right, and they fail man into not including the lower one in the upper one, but rather to extend Mochin de Achoraim from YESHSUT while he is below. That was their entire strength, to defile people who follow them.

But the palaces of Kedusha are arranged in corrections of Hitkalelut of the lower one in the upper one. The righteous, who are cautious with them, are rewarded with receiving from the orders in the palaces of Kedusha, and they are rewarded with extending the complete Mochin from AVIIburYenika-Mochin de Panim, and they are rewarded with installing the Shechina in the world.

The Zohar tells us how to be meticulous about raising MAN by prayer and good deeds, extending Mochin according to the orders of Kedusha, and raising the lower one in the upper one.

11) By and large, the seven palaces divide into Panim and Achoraim. From Chazeh and above are the four palaces Bina and HGT, regarded as GAR and Panim of the palaces, and from their Chazeh and below are the three palaces NHY, regarded as VAK and Achoraim of the palaces. This is why the three palaces NHY must be raised and included in Bina and in HGT of the palaces.

We should discern this in each palace in particular, since every palace is included in all of them. Hence, it is considered that in each of them are GAR and Panim, and VAK and Achoraim. The VAK and Achoraim in each palace must be elevated to his GAR and Panim, and likewise in each Behina inside the palace.

And although the palaces are included in one another, and all that there is in all of them exists in each of them, there is still a big difference between each two palaces. In each palace we should discern between what is in it from itself, and what is in it from the Hitkalelut with others, since the control is only on itself, except by assistance and completion from the rest of the Behinot that it received from the Hitkalelut in others. Hence, we need to know the essence of the Behina of each palace.

12) The first correction made in BYA is extension of the light of Hassadim, without which no correction is possible. That correction is the essence of the palace, Yesod. However, because BYA are ZAT, requiring illumination of Hochma, and without it, the light of Hassadim in them is regarded VAK without a Rosh. Hence, we necessarily need to extend the RoshGAR from the illumination of Hochma.

That correction of extension of GAR is corrected in the two palaces, NH, since GAR, too, divide themselves into GAR and VAK. Their VAK were established in the palace, Hod, and the GAR in them were established in the palace of Netzah. Thus, in the palace of Yesod the VAK were established without a Rosh, called IburYenika, meaning NR, since Ibur is light of Nefesh, and Yenika is light of Ruach. But GAR is still missing, being the three lights, NeshamaHayaYechida, which together are called Mochin. These Mochin also divide into GAR and VAK, where their VAK were corrected in the palace of Hod, and the GAR in the palace of Netzah.

The three Behinot IburYenika-Mochin, which are the five lights NRNHY, are completed by these three palaces. However, they are only lights of Achoraim, since they extend from the three palaces NHY, who are from Chazeh and below of the palaces, which are always regarded as lights of Achoraim. It follows that only IburYenika-Mochin de Achoraim were completed.
13) As IburYenika-Mochin de Achoraim were explained in the first three palaces from Chazeh and below, so are IburYenika-Mochin de Panim explained in the three palaces from Chazeh and above.

The fourth palace, VAK, is Ibur-Yenika-Mochin de Panim, light of Hassadim, like the first palace. The fifth palace, VAK de Mochin de Panim, is as the second palace in Achoraim. The sixth palace, GAR de Mochin de Panim, the place of emergence of Mochin, is like the third palace in Achoraim, and the seventh palace is Yechida.

Thus, each palace is unique in itself and different from the others. However, all the palaces are included in one another together, and what is found in all of them together exists in each of them. And yet, its own unique self controls the entire palace.

14) In essence, there are three kinds of Hitkalelut: 1) general Hitkalelut, which is Hitkalelut of Malchut in Bina; 2) Hitkalelut of IburYenikaMochin de Achoraim in IburYenikaMochin de Panim; 3) Hitkalelut of the lower one in the upper one, where each lower one is completed by, and complements the upper one.

In this way all seven palaces need one another because they are completed by one another. And because all seven palaces are included together, and all that there is in one of them exists in each of them, we should discern all three kinds of Hitkalelut in each palace, too.

15) Let us explain the third kind of Hitkalelut. It follows that the Hassadim in the palace Yesod are regarded as VAK without a Rosh. To obtain Rosh, the palace Yesod must rise to the second palace, Hod. It also follows that although the Mochin are received only in the measure of the palace Hod, which is VAK de GAR, still, the place where these Mochin emerge is not in the palace, Hod, but in the third palace, Netzah.

Accordingly, the palace, Hod, must rise and mingle in the palace of Netzah in order to receive its Mochin from it. This is why the palace, Yesod, must rise to the palace, Hod, and the palace, Hod, to the palace, Netzah. However, as the lower one is completed by the upper one through its ascent to it, the upper one is completed by the lower one, too, since the beginning and essence of the Mochin are light of Hassadim, without which no correction is possible. Therefore, the palace, Yesod, in which there is light of Hassadim, must rise to the palace, Hod, at which time the palace, Hod, is completed with the Hassadim of the palace, Yesod.

Likewise, although the place of emergence of the Mochin is in the palace, Netzah, as it is GAR de GAR de Mochin, were it not for the palace of Hod that rose to it, it would not be able to revel any Mochin there. This is so because the palace of Netzah itself, Mochin de GAR de GAR, promptly disappear leaving only the Mochin received in the palace, Hod, which is VAK de GAR. This is why the palace of Netzah needs the ascent of the palace of Hod, without which it would not be able to reveal any Mochin whatsoever.

This explains how the upper ones, too, require the Hitkalelut of the lower ones, since the palace Hod needs the light of Hassadim in the first palace, and the third palace needs the measuring of the VAK in the second palace.

16) As it has been explained in IburYenikaMochin de Achoraim, so it is in the three upper palaces, which are IburYenikaMochin de Panim. The fourth palace, light of Hassadim, is IburYenikaMochin de Panim, and needs Mochin, hence it rises to the fifth palace, where the Mochin de VAK de GAR de Panim that are received by the worlds is found.

However, the place of emergence of Mochin is in the sixth palace, hence the fifth palace is required to rise to the sixth palace. And likewise, the upper ones need the lower ones because the sixth palace needs the fifth palace for measuring VAK, such as in the second and third palaces.

Also, the fifth palace needs the fourth palace in order to receive the Hassadim from it. Thus the pillar pierces all the roofs of all the palaces so that all the spirits will unite to be as one spirit for all.

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