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134) Before the pure air was found and did not shine, the punctured stones were blocked. Three Ruchot [winds, plural of Ruach] that are included in three were sunken, and water was blocked under the holes. By seventy-two letters do these stones return to their place.
The order of elicitation of the lights is in the three points—Holam, Shuruk, and Hirik. First, Malchut rises to Bina, below her Hochma. Then Bina and TM fall below her degree to ZA, and she remains with only two Sefirot, Keter and Hochma, and two lights, Ruach and Nefesh. This is considered that the Bina was punctured and only the female light remained in her, shining from below upwards. Hence, her Sefirot are called “punctured stones,” and this is the point of Holam.
Afterwards, through the illumination of AB SAG de AK, Malchut returns and descends from Bina to her place, and Bina and TM return and rise from ZA to Bina. This completes the Bina with five Sefirot KHB TM once again, and with five lights NRNHY. Then the holes are closed because the femaleness in her has been cancelled. But the lights are blocked for lack of Hassadim, since Hochma cannot shine without clothing of Hassadim, and this is the point of Shuruk.
Before the complete Hassadim—called “empty air”—are revealed to clothe the Hochma in the left line of Bina, the punctured stones are blocked. This means that the holes were closed due to the return of Bina and TM to their degree, and she could already shine from above downwards as male light, but the lights were blocked in her, too, because Hochma does not shine without Hassadim.
It is known that when the Bina raises her Bina and TM to her, from inside ZA, HGT de ZA rise to her along with them, clothing these Bina and TM. Then, when ZA is in Bina, ZA is regarded as three Ruchot [plural of Ruach] included in three Ruchot, HGT de ZA, whose Sefirot are in the form of Ruach, included in three—Bina and TM de Bina—which are clothed on them. Their illumination was not apparent because if the illumination of Hassadim in ZA were apparent, the Hochma would clothe in Hassadim and the stones of Bina would not be blocked.
When it was said above, “And water was blocked,” it means that the Hassadim in ZA were blocked under the holes, although there is the Masach de Hirik in Nukva in ZA, on which the light of Hassadim later appears. But now the water was blocked because the whole of ZA was immersed. Later, however, ZA awakens with the Masach de Hirik in him and raises MAN, bringing out the Hassadim to clothe the Hochma.
It was said, “By seventy-two letters do these stones return to their place.” This means that the Hochma in the left line of Bina clothes in these Hassadim and the blocked stones in her return to their place, meaning their illumination opens in the seventy-two letters in the verse, “And the angel of God went,” which is the right line, the disclosure of Hassadim.
135) After seventy-two degrees, which are three times seventy-two letters, the stones were split and punctured under a sheaf that was carved, and the degrees gathered and became one group.
There are seventy-two letters in each of the three verses, “And the angel of God who went,” “And it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel,” “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,” and they are three lines. This is because the seventy-two letters in the verse, “And … went” are the right line, the seventy-two letters in the verse, “And it came” are the left line, and the seventy-two letters in the verse, “And … stretched” are the middle line.
It was written above that the stones return to their place by seventy-two letters. This refers to the letters in the verse, “And the angel of God who went,” which are the right line and Hassadim. But there are seventy-two combinations of three, three letters, from joining all three verses, and they are called “degrees” because there are three lines in each combination, and three lines are considered a degree.
It is also known that through the Masach de Hirik in the middle line, the left line of Bina diminishes from GAR to VAK de GAR and returns and elevates the Malchut to Bina, and the Bina splits again and becomes VAK, female light. After seventy-two degrees, which are three times—meaning once the three lines emerge, which are the seventy-two degrees implied in the verses, “And … went,” “And it came,” “And … stretched,”—the Sefirot de Bina, called “stones,” were split and punctured once more through the middle line in them, due to the sheaf that was carved in Dinim, in the Masach de Hirik in the middle line.
The degrees gathered and became one group, where through that Masach, which diminished the left line into VAK de GAR, the three lines were gathered and united into one group in a way that they do not shine without each other. And this is why he calls the Masach “sheaf,” because it bundles up all three lines into a single sheaf.
136) Afterwards, they were divided and became two degrees of water. Half the water froze and half of it sank. Some went up and some went down. Henceforth, the world began to divide.
When the left line governs, the water in the sea freezes because Hochma does not shine without Hassadim. Afterwards, through the Hassadim, they open and become liquid again, meaning they return to shine. However, not all the Hochma returns to shine, but only the VAK in Hochma, and the GAR in it disappear. This is why it is considered here that the water of Hochma was split into two degrees: VAK and GAR. The VAK froze during the dominion of the left, and then by disclosing the Hassadim they shine once more, and the GAR did not freeze but completely disappeared, since they do not shine even after the disclosure of the Hassadim.
This is why it was said that they were divided and became two degrees of water, GAR and VAK. Half the water froze, meaning VAK de Hochma return to being revealed through the Hassadim, and half of it sank, meaning that GAR completely disappeared. Some went up, meaning those that were revealed were shining from below upwards, which is VAK. And some went down, meaning that those that sank were shining from above downwards, which is GAR. Henceforth, the world began to divide, since only the bottom half of Hochma remained in the world, which is VAK.
137) There is one sheaf above, and it is carved in seventy-two signatures from the strong ring, and the waves of the sea are immersed in them. As they travel, they divide into four angles: one part rises, shining from below upwards, and this is the Nukva, west. One part descends, shining from above downwards, with the light of Hassadim. This is ZA, east. One part is to the north, which is left line, Gevura, and one part is to the south, right line, Hesed. When they unite, sizzling embers stand in the flaming sword which turns every way.
The Masach in the middle line is called “a sheaf” and serves at the place of Bina. It also serves from Chazeh de ZA upwards because they are one degree. There is also a sheaf that serves from Chazeh de ZA downwards, subduing the two lines that are there with its force.
But there is a great difference between them. The sheaf that operates from Chazeh de ZA upwards does not reveal the Dinim in it there, since it is at the end of the lines and the Dinim cannot blemish above their own place. This is not so with the sheaf from Chazeh de ZA downwards, in which the Dinim from the upper sheaf—which stands above it, at the place of Chazeh—are already included.
The three lines, HGT, above the Chazeh are called seventy-two degrees. These are the three verses, “And … went,” “And it came,” and “And … stretched.” Hence, the Dinim in the upper sheaf that stand at the end of the seventy-two degrees are called “seventy-two signatures of a strong ring.” “Seventy-two” after its illumination; “signatures” mean endings, since they are at the ends of the degrees; and “a strong ring” is the sheaf itself, the Masach de Chazeh where there are the Dinim.
This is why it was said, “There is one sheaf above,” the sheaf in the middle line from the Chazeh downward,” “And it is carved in seventy-two signatures from the strong ring,” meaning the Dinim in the upper sheaf that stands at the place of Chazeh, which are called so and bestow upon the lower sheaf.
However, they are still not regarded as Dinim that would put any blemish on the degree because the Dinim that appear in the sea, which are called “the waves of the sea,” will be silenced by the Dinim in the middle line below the Chazeh. Were it not for these Dinim in the bottom sheaf, the waves would not have been silenced and the sea, Malchut, would have been unable to shine. For this reason, they are not regarded as Dinim but as corrections.
These three lines do not disclose Hochma except when they travel, when the illumination of each appears specifically, one at a time, as three points—Holam, then Shuruk, and then Hirik—and then Malchut receives the disclosure of Hochma from them. But when they complete their illumination one at a time, which is called “traveling,” they rest. In other words, their illumination joins under the domination of the light of Hassadim and Hochma does not appear any longer.
And when they journey to reveal the illumination of Hochma, they divide into four angles, each of the three lines revealing its unique illumination—first, the right, and when the illumination of the right ends, the illumination of the left begins. Then the left shines, and when the illumination of the left ends, the middle one illuminates.
They are called “south,” “north,” and “east.” Then the west, Malchut, receives the Hochma from them, and once they complete their journey and all shine together, sizzling embers stand in the left line, regarding the flaming sword that turns every way, guarding the Hochma from appearing during the journey. This is why at that time there is disclosure only to the light of Hassadim.
138) “A pillar is stuck inside the sea.” A degree that is an emissary of a part of the upper state, Malchut from the Chazeh upwards, rises up that pillar and looks to the distance, to see the connections of ships sailing at sea. Who saw the waves rising and falling because of the Dinim in them, the wind, the middle line, blowing in them and silencing them, and the fish at sea, the angels, pulling all those ships to all directions and in this way, the Hochma appears?
Through Malchut’s ascent to Bina, all the degrees split in two. Keter and Hochma remain in the degree, and Bina and TM fall off it, descend, and clothe the degree below it. At the time of Gadlut, the Malchut descends from Bina to her place, and Bina and TM in each degree rise from the lower one and return each to its own degree.
Along with their ascent from the lower one, they take the lower one with them and raise it to the place of the upper one. And because there is no absence in the spiritual, they are always in the place of the lower one even after they have risen to their degree. Thus, each lower one rises to its own superior, and this is why these Bina and TM are considered a pillar that exists in each degree, by which it rises to the degree above it.
“A pillar is stuck inside the sea.” The sea is the Nukva from Chazeh de ZA downwards. And those Bina and TM of the degree of Chazeh de ZA upwards, which descend there, are considered the pillar through which all the discernments from Chazeh de ZA downwards rise to the degree of Chazeh de ZA upwards.
Thus, initially, Malchut was above Chazeh de ZA, as a fourth one to the patriarchs, which is the place of disclosure of Hochma. Afterwards, she diminished and descended below Chazeh de ZA. And since the whole source of disclosure of Hochma is above Chazeh de ZA, she therefore has a messenger—the angel Matatron, who rises above the Chazeh and extends the Hochma from the Chazeh down into the four animals of the bottom Merkava [structure], called “thousands of years.”
A degree that is a messenger of part of the upper state, Malchut from the Chazeh and above, Matat, is a messenger to extend and receive Hochma from the upper Malchut from the Chazeh upwards for the Malchut from the Chazeh down. It rises ever upward in this pillar, looking far away, meaning receiving Hochma, which is called “Looking far away.” It is written about it, “From afar the Lord appeared unto me.” They sail to the four directions of the world and reveal Hochma through Matat.
139) When that degree, Matat, descended from above the Chazeh, a thousand stand to his right and a thousand to his left, and he extends Hochma, implied in the number 1,000, between his right and his left. And he returns to from the Chazeh down and sits in his place as a king on his throne. When the sea, Malchut, sails to the four directions of the world, with what he exits, he also returns; he returns with the existence of the king.
The lines reveal the Hochma only by traveling on three places one by one, in Holam, Shuruk, and Hirik, which is the “forth.” But when they complete their journey and unite in their illumination during rest, which is the “back,” there is the flaming sword which turns every way on the left line, which keeps Hochma from disclosing outwards. When the sea, Malchut, sails to the four directions of the world, disclosing Hochma as it journeys, that degree, Matat, journeys with him and returns with him from her journey. He returns to keep the Mochin of the king in illumination of Hassadim, in which the Mochin exist.
140) Then, when the sea is in a state of “back,” announcers come out, and those who have eyes will raise them up above, those who have wings will rise and exist, those with faces will cover their faces until he journeys in his travels, and then the angel of God will journey.
Eyes are GAR de Hochma and Panim [face] is VAK de Hochma, as it is written, “A man’s wisdom [Hochma] illuminates his face.” “Those who have eyes will raise them up above,” meaning they will shine up above in Bina and will not be drawn below because they are GAR de Hochma and do not shine even while traveling. “Those who have wings,” the degrees of covered Hassadim, “Will rise and exist,” meaning extend their illumination. This is so because in a state of “back,” only the light of Hassadim shines, which is the illumination of those with wings. They should cover the illumination of the face during rest, which is “back,” since they shine only while traveling. “Those with faces will cover their faces,” meaning they will cover the illumination of Panim during the rest, for in a state of “forth,” they do not shine, but only while traveling. “Until he journeys in his travels, and then the light of Panim appears, as it is written, ‘And the angel of God, who went.’”
141) “She is like merchant ships; she brings her bread from afar.” “She is like merchant ships” is the assembly of Israel, Malchut. “She brings her bread from afar,” as it is written, “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar.” “She brings her bread” through the illumination of the middle line in the Masach de Hirik, which removes the GAR de Hochma and shines only in VAK. “She brings her bread” through one degree that is on it, the middle line, Yesod de ZA. And all those streams and springs that go by the sea are extended in it, as it is written, “All the rivers run into the sea.”
142) “All the rivers go into the sea … to the place where the rivers go, there they go again.” Even though all the rivers extend through Yesod, which lowers them into the sea, Malchut, do not say that it pours those rivers into the sea and others are not in it and they do not extend in it as in the beginning. This is why he repeated and said, “To the place where the rivers go, there they go again,” returning to the place of that degree from which the rivers once went.
“There they go again,” returning there from that upper place, meaning returning from Bina to Yesod, where the abundance never ends and all gather into that place in Yesod to go into the sea, Malchut. And that degree is called Tzadik [righteous], Yesod de ZA.
143) “There the ships go; You have formed this leviathan [whale] to play with.” “There the ships go,” meaning the ships go and sail in that sea until they come to join in Yesod. And then, “You have formed this leviathan [whale] to play with,” since leviathan is Yesod de ZA.
144) Very, very high, there is another Zivug that is in friendship and never parts—the Zivug of upper AVI, GAR de Bina. One who has a share in the next world, which is Bina, is rewarded with that Zivug.
145) “You have formed this leviathan [whale] to play with.” Ze [Hebrew: “this” in masculine form] is Yesod. Thus, even if he is not rewarded with Bina, he is still rewarded with receiving from the upper Zivug. The Creator has prepared everything to delight the righteous, as it is written, “Then shall you delight yourself in the Lord.”
146) The Creator has several thousands and several tens of thousands of holy camps: The upper “those who have faces,” those with eyes, those with arms [weapons], those who howl, those who wail, those with Rachamim, and those with Din. Above them, He placed the queen, Malchut, to serve before Him in his palace.
147) Correspondingly, the queen, Malchut, has camps of armed angels. The armed camps are in sixty faces, and they are all armed and stand around the Malchut. Some go and some come, and they fly throughout the world on six wings. There are burning embers before each of them, his clothes are blazing fire, on his back is the heat of the sword that is flaming throughout the world to guard before it, as it is written, “And the flaming sword which turns every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
148) Who is the one called “the way of the tree of life”? It is the great queen, Malchut, the way to the great and strong tree, ZA, called “the tree of life,” as it is written, “Behold, it is the bed of Solomon, sixty mighty men around it, of the mighty men of Israel,” ZA, “All are wielders swords.”
149) When the queen travels, they all travel with her, as it is written, “And the angel of God who went.” But is Malchut called “The angel of God”? The Creator established the palace of holiness before Him, the upper palace, a holy city, a superior city, Jerusalem the holy city. All those are names of Malchut. One who comes to the king enters only from the holy city, which is Malchut. From it, one takes the road to the king, for the road is set up from here.
150) “This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous will enter through it.” Each mission that the king, ZA, wishes, comes out through the house of the queen, Malchut. And each mission that comes from below the king, ZA, enters the queen first, and from there to the king. It turns out that the queen is everyone’s messenger, both from below upwards and from above downwards. Hence, she is everyone’s messenger, as it is written, “And the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel.”
Israel above is ZA, and the angel of God is Malchut, as it is written, “And the Lord went before them … to illuminate their way … by day and by night.” “By day and by night” means ZA and Malchut. Thus, Malchut went before Israel, as it is written, “And the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel.”
151) But is it respectable for the King, ZA, that the queen, Malchut, will go and make war and go on a mission? But like a king who mated with the upper queen, the king saw her merit, that she is above all the other queens in the world. He said, “They are all considered maidservants compared to this queen of Mine; she is above all of them. What shall I do for her? My whole house shall be in her hands.”
The King sent out an announcement: Henceforth, all the words of the King will be conveyed through the queen. And the King placed all His arms in her hands, all the warriors, all the King’s gems, and all the King’s treasures. He said, “Henceforth, anyone who wishes to speak with Me will not be able to speak with Me before he notifies the queen.
152) Thus, for the Creator’s fondness and love for the assembly of Israel, Malchut, He placed everything in her possession. He said, “Everything else is considered by her as nothing.” He said, “Sixty is Malchut, one is My dove, My undefiled. What shall I do for her? Indeed, My whole house will be in her hands.” The king sent out an announcement: Henceforth, all the words of the king will be conveyed through the queen. He placed all his arms in her hands, as it is written, “Behold, it is the bed of Solomon, sixty mighty men around it, all are wielders of swords, trained in war.”
153) The king said, “Henceforth, all My wars will be delivered into your hand, My arms and warriors will be in your hands, and henceforth, you will be My guard,” as it is written, “He who keeps Israel,” which is ZA, called “Israel.” From now on anyone who needs Me will not be able to speak to Me before he notifies the queen, as it is written, “With this shall Aaron enter the holy place.” Zot [Hebrew: “this” in female form] is Malchut, the messenger for everyone. It turns out that everything is in her hands. This is the honor of the queen, as it is written, “And the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel went behind them.”
154) “He went behind them,” so the warriors will be in front of them and will be revealed to them. This is so because other camps were approaching from above to wage war on Israel. Hence, “He went behind them, to give room for the warriors from the side of Israel to fight them.
155) At that time, the appointed minister that rules over Egypt came and collected six hundred Merkavot [assemblies/chariots] of slanderers, and six hundred appointed rulers slandering upon each Merkava, as it is written, “And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt.” But were the six hundred chariots not the chariots of Egypt? Why does it say, “And all the chariots of Egypt”? Indeed, SAM lent the minister of Egypt six hundred Merkavot of slanderers to help him, as it is written, “And he took six hundred chosen chariots,” who were not of Egypt.
156) When did the Creator repay SAM? In the war of Sisera, when the Creator uprooted all those Merkavot and they were given into the hands of the queen, as it is written, “The brook Kishon swept them away, that ancient brook.” But in the future, they will all be given, as it is written, “Who is this who comes from Edom?” Hence, “And he went behind them” means that at the end of days, Divinity is destined to uproot them from the world.
157) “The pillar of cloud moved.” A cloud always appears with Divinity; it is the angel Michael. This is the cloud into which Moses went. It is written, “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud.” Thus, it is not Michael, who is Divinity, but the help of the righteous, who is Yesod de ZA. He spreads Hassadim over his Reshimo, which is the Masach, since Yesod spreads the Hassadim over the Hochma in Malchut, and then she can shine.
For this reason, this cloud goes by day—the time of illumination of Hassadim—as it is written, “By day the Lord will command His grace,” since this cloud comes from Hesed and it is called Hesed. And another cloud goes by night. It is called “a pillar of fire,” from the side of Malchut.
158) The pillar of cloud by day is Abraham, Hesed, and the pillar of fire by night is Isaac, Gevura. They are both in Divinity. The help of the righteous is that through that degree, they are in Divinity.
159) In this verse, “And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel went behind them,” “went” means that he went from the side of Hesed and clung to the side of Gevura. This is so because Hesed is Panim [anterior] and Gevura is Achoraim [posterior], since it was time to clothe in Din.
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