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572) A man’s table should not be empty, for there is no blessing on an empty table, but in a whole place, as it is written, “And in the hearts of every wise-hearted I have put wisdom.” Once he is already complete with wisdom, he is given wisdom. And also, “He gives wisdom to the wise.” About that is the table of the showbread that is not empty, as it is written, “And you shall set upon the table showbread before Me always.”
573) Tannaaim [pl. of Tanna], and Amoraim [pl. of Amorai] gather all, for it is time to correct the king’s Kelim to illumination so they will be corrected before Him. These are: the tabernacle, the menorah, the table, the altar, the basin and its pad, the ark, the ark-cover, and the Cherubim. And all are corrected in a Shekel. This is why He commanded Israel, “This they shall give.”
574) One Tanna arose and said, “Moses, it is certainly so, and He commanded you to do everything, as it is written, ‘And make a menorah,’ ‘And make a table.’ So was everything, he saw and he did. And out of all, only three things were hard for you to do, which are written with the letters of your name, Moses—menorah, Shekalim, this month. Why was it difficult for you?”
575) He replied, “Old man, old man. You learn this difficulty that I had from the words, ‘The menorah shall be made of hammered work.’ ‘The menorah shall be made’ indicates that it shall be made by itself, that Moses could not have done it. Indeed, the tool of the Creator is Divinity, who is a tool to serve her husband, ZA. She is his menorah, and it is written about her, ‘Seven times a day I praise You,’ which are the greatness, the Gevura, and the TNHYM, comprising seven.”
576) The menorah is from these seven degrees. The three candlesticks on her one side are Guf, Tifferet, and the two arms of the king, HG. Malchut is the candle of Mitzva to illuminate in them, the fourth to them, and the three sticks of the menorah on her other side are the two shins, NH, and the covenant, Yesod.
Malchut is a candle from the evening prayer, to illuminate in them. Malchut is in two Behinot [discernments], fourth after HGT, at which time it is the two great lights. She is seventh after NHY, which she receives from Yesod. The menorah of the king is called Malchut, and she is a candle in which to illuminate a candle of Mitzva, the fourth to HGT, from which she receives Hochma, as it is written about it, “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” Hochma is called “light of the eyes.”
577) The top of the menorah is Bina, the first Hey, GAR de Bina, upper AVI, which she has in her ZAT, YESHSUT, three sticks in this form of the letter Hey, which is three Vavs, and they are three patriarchs, HGT. The bottom Hey has three sticks, two in the shape of a Hey, which are NHY. Vav is the middle of the menorah, ZA, son of Yod–Hey, since ZA is the middle line that determines between the two lines of Bina. She is named Bina after him, since Bina has the letters of Ben Koh [son of God]. ZA comprises six sticks below, in his own place, in the number six in its six sticks.
When ZA rises to YESHSUT, which are HGT NHY de Bina, they illuminate for him in the menorah, where HGT are the three right-hand-side sticks, the first Hey de HaVaYaH, and ZA is after them, receiving from them. He is Vav de HaVaYaH, the middle line, and NHY are the bottom Hey of HaVaYaH that illuminate for him from the left side. The name HaVaYaH divides between AVI, GAR de Bina, Yod de HaVaYaH, and YESHSUT, ZAT de Bina, Hey–Vav–Hey de HaVaYaH.
When Malchut rose to Bina, in the Yod that entered the light of Bina, and the light diminished and became Avir [air], although at the time of Gadlut the Bina returns and descends to her place, this relates only to YESHSUT and not to upper AVI, in which the Malchut remains fixed and never leaves their Avir, becoming Malchut de AVI, Yod de HaVaYaH. It is known that the upper Malchut is Keter for the lower one. It follows that the Malchut became Keter for YESHSUT. Thus, when ZA rises to Bina to receive from her in the menorah, Malchut is present for his Keter, as it is written, “A virtuous woman is her husband’s crown,” as she is the Keter [crown] of YESHSUT.
578) Yod, “A virtuous woman is her husband’s crown,” is the crown of the book of Torah, ZA, in the shape of the letter Zayin [], which is Yod over Vav, meaning a Keter over a Vav, over ZA. On the part of the next world, Bina, Malchut is not a Kli to it, and serves only as a crown over his head. But in this world, which is the Malchut herself in her place, she is like the Vav–Hey–Yod. This combination indicates that she is a Kli instead of him, and she is his usage of each of his Sefirot and each of his organs, and each of his qualities. That is, the Malchut serves ZA to disclose all the qualities of ZA, which are called Sefira, “organ,” “quality.”
579) For this reason, Yod, the Malchut, is sometimes under ZA and sometimes over his head, and sometimes in the middle. Over his head is Yod de HaVaYaH, as it is written, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” This is the meaning of what is written, “To make a candle burn forever,” which is the Yod over the Hey–Vav–Hey on the part of the menorah, AVI over YESHSUT, for Malchut de AVI is Keter for ZA on the part of his ascent to YESHSUT, which was corrected in the menorah.
The middle of ZA is half the Shekel. She is as big as him, and both are two halves of the body—ZA is the right-hand-side of Bina, and Malchut is the left-hand-side of Bina. Then she is called half a Shekel, as it is written, “This they shall give … half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary.” It is similar to HaVaYaH, where the Yod is in the middle, after the Vav and before the bottom Hey, which is NHY, since at that time she receives from HGT de ZA, which is Vav, the fourth of the fathers.
At the end of ZA, in the tabernacle, she is as the Vav–Hey–Yod, descending under the Yesod in the bottom Hey, where she is established as a complete Partzuf. The text, “Five cubits long,” is from the first Hey, and “Five cubits wide” is from the bottom Hey. A cubit [Heb: Ammah] is Vav, ZA, and half a cubit is Yod, the Malchut that stands at the Sof. Everything is implied in the letter Vav, ZA—she either is his Keter, his middle, or his end.
580) It is written, “I am the first, and I am the last, and besides Me there is no God.” “I am the first” is the Malchut when she is Keter over the Rosh of ZA. “And I am the last” is when she is a point at the end of ZA. “And besides Me there is no God” is when she is in the middle of ZA, a fourth to the fathers, after HGT. She is implied in that name, Yod Hey Viv Hey, meaning that there is a Yod here in the Rosh, a Yod in the middle of the Viv, and a Yod in the end after the Hey.
Each name in which the Hey rules over the Yod is a Nukva from the left side. Even though on the part of the letter Yod she is at the Rosh of the name, male, still, because after the two letters Hey of the name she is at the Sof, Hey Hey, she is sentenced with the majority, and she is a Nukva. However, the Yod over the Hey is Keter, under the Hey is service, and all the more so under the Vav.
581) “And because I am not making a cut and separation in the upper unification, in Bina, and everything is one unification, it was hard for me to do the three things—menorah, Shekalim, this month—which are Malchut who is Keter ZA in the menorah, and his middle in the Shekalim and this month.” The Creator, who knows all thoughts, said, “Since he meant well, to avoid making a cut and separation, let the menorah be made by itself, like Divinity, let it be made of the Creator’s self without separation.” The rest of the Kelim of the tabernacle, in which Divinity is service, at the end of ZA, as it is written, “And Bezalel made,” and there was no need for her to be made by herself.
This is so because there is Divinity in Keter for ZA only through her ascent to Bina in the Yod that entered the Ohr and diminished the Ohr into Avir. That diminution is the cutting of the GAR from Bina, which is why Moses could not do it, for he could not make the cut above in Bina, but could in Malchut when she is in the middle of ZA and the half a Shekel, and in the month. At that time Malchut is half a body and parts from ZA, Hochma without Hassadim. For this reason, Moses could not cause separation between ZA and Malchut. This is the meaning of her being made by herself through ZA. But there is no cutting or separating in the rest of the Kelim in the tabernacle, in which the Malchut is at the end of ZA, servicing him. On the contrary, it is a unification, hence Bezalel could do it.
582) In every place, the lower Divinity is a crown over the middle pillar, ZA, when she is taken from the Bina—the next world—when Malchut rises to Bina in a Yod that enters the Avir. At that time a man certainly has no awareness of the Creator and all His qualities because then Bina is diminished into VAK, until he enters that gate on which it is written, “This is the gate to the Lord,” meaning with the letter Lamed [“to”], which implies the tower that flies in the air, that the Yod entered the Avir [air] and came out of it. At that time the GAR of Bina and of ZA return and there is knowing in Daat.
583) In terms of her being in the middle of ZA, she consists of all the Sefirot and all the letters of the explicit and hidden names; she receives from all of them and they are included in her. In terms of her being at the end of ZA, she is a point under each and every letter, for she is serving under her husband, ZA, since from there she is built for a Zivug with ZA. And in terms of her being a crown on the head of ZA, she is on the part of the Taamim above the letters.
She is a point, like the point of Segol, under the knees of the king, below NHY de ZA, which are called “knees,” as it is written, “And the earth is My footstool.” Malchut is called “earth,” and when she is in the middle, with ZA, she is called “half a Shekel,” “half a body,” at the point of Shuruk, Melafom, which is in the middle of the Vav. She is a crown over his head on the part of the Taam [singular of Taamim] called Segolta, which is above the letters.
584) When throwing and attaching Malchut to Bina, who is called “a Shofar” [a ram’s horn used for blowing and making special sounds], she becomes the Taam Segolta. At that time she is a crown on the king’s head, ZA. This is the meaning of “They will give you a crown, O Lord our God.” At that time she is known in the one that we learn, “Do not look into what is hidden from you, and do not research into what is covered from you.” This is upper AVI, in which the study and the research are forbidden. Malchut was included in them and became their Malchut, and in her it is known that he is of the highest degree in Keter, that she is the Taam Segolta, above the letters, that he is the last in Segol, below the letters, and besides Him there is no God, in Shuruk, in the middle of the letters, when she illuminates in illumination of Hochma.
585) One who clings to Malchut below the letters, she elevates him because from there she is built for a Zivug PBP [face-to-face] with ZA. One who wishes to mount her and attain her above the letters, she lowers him below her and he has no part in her. It is so because she is unattainable when she is above in upper AVI. And because Jacob is known in her, in her Behina [discernment] below the letters, he taught her to his sons and commanded them not to want to rise to the degree above her, for she is everything—included in all, from above, from below, and from the middle. It is written about it, “And this is what their father said to them,” meaning Malchut, who is called “this,” saying to them not to rise above them.
586) The prophet, who knows her, said to the authors of the Torah and the sages of the Torah, who are rich with her, who are content with their lot, that one who is content with his lot is rich. He said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, …let not a rich man boast of his riches. Rather, let him who boasts boast of this—that he understands and knows Me,’” in Malchut, who is called “this,” and not above her. David, who knew her, said, “If a host encamp against me … in this I trust.”
Jeremiah saw the length of the exile and SAM and the serpent, and all the appointees of the seventy nations descending over Israel in ten thousand ten thousands. He saw this verse that the Creator said, “Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies,” said the prophet, “This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope” that because the Malchut—called “this”—is with them in the exile, salvation awaits them.
And one who did not heed that, too, it is written about him, “A fool will not understand this.” It is also written, “And this for Judah, and he said: Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah,” for because Judah kept what his father had commanded him, he was rewarded with the kingship, and thanks to that, David rose to kingship, which he troubled all his life to correct.
587) Rabbi Shimon said to Moses, “It is written about her, ‘This is the law that Moses set.’ In it, you warned Israel at the time of your death. In it, you blessed Israel with each tribe, as it is written, ‘This is the blessing that Moses blessed.’ And because of that, the friends, the authors of the Mishnah, explained the verse, ‘This is the law, if a man should die in a tent.’ They said about her, ‘What is, ‘If he should die in a tent’? The Torah exists only in one who puts himself to death over her, and there is no death but poverty, for a poor man is as important as a dead one.’”
588) Malchut is an offering that goes up and down. On the part of the rich man, she goes up, rises over him, for all the good that the rich do is for their merit in the next world, where she is a crown over their heads. This is in regard to her being a crown over ZA. An intermediate one, who works to be rewarded with both worlds—this world, too—she is with him half a Shekel in the next world, like a Matza that was split—half under the map for the Afikoman [piece eaten after Passover meal] after the meal, and half for eating the Matza before the meal. In that regard, it is written about Esther, “What do you ask, for it shall be given to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” This is in regard to her being in the middle of ZA, at the point of Shuruk.
The beginning of Malchut is in the two great lights, equal with ZA, when both are halves of the body, since ZA receives Hassadim from the right line of Bina, and Malchut receives Hochma without Hassadim from the left line of Bina. At that time, she illuminates to the externality, as well, which is this world. Then she is considered half a Shekel of Hochma without Hassadim, and the fourth to HGT, standing in the middle of ZA, from Chazeh and above. Afterwards the Malchut was diminished to a point below Yesod de ZA, and then she has only Hassadim without Hochma, and she is considered half a shekel of Hassadim without Hochma, illuminating only to the internality, who is the next world, and not to the externality, which is this world.
In the beginning, he extends the Malchut in the two great lights, at which time she illuminates to the externality, which is this world. Subsequently, he extends her from her own Behina after the diminution that descended to the Sof [end] of ZA, to a point under Yesod ZA, when she illuminates only to the internality, which is the next world. At that time she is half a Shekel in Hassadim without Hochma, which illuminates only to the internality.
This is why he compares her to a Matza, whose half is for eating as a Mitzva before the meal—half a Shekel of Hochma without Hassadim—and half is for after the meal, for Afikoman—half a Shekel of Hassadim without Hochma, as it is written, “Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” It is so because it is impossible to extend both halves of Malchut together, only one at a time.
Also, it is impossible for the upper half of Malchut to exist, as it is in deficiency of Hochma. For this reason, it is possible to keep only half of the lower Malchut, who is under Yesod ZA, while all that is spoken of here is that she is from GAR de Hochma, that she does not illuminate in the lower one. However, VAK de Hochma illuminates in the lower one, as well. But VAK de Hochma does not illuminate to the externality, which is this world.
589) But one who is poor, who puts himself to death over her, such as your Behina, Moses, the Malchut is an offering that descends below you, becoming a point under Yesod ZA, who is considered Moses. It is so because one who lowers himself for Divinity, the Creator comes down over him. This is the meaning of what David said, “For the Lord is high and the low will see.” And the prophet said, “For thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit.’” That is, even though I “Dwell on a high and holy place,” for the one who has become contrite and lowly of spirit, for Divinity, to raise her from her lowliness and make her a crown over His head, “I will come down to dwell with him.”
After the husband of Divinity, ZA, comes down upon the man, she descends from over his head and gives the place of the head to her husband, ZA, while she descends to the king’s legs, under his NHY, which are called “legs.” It is written about it, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool,” meaning Malchut, who is called “earth.”
590) From the day one inherits the soul, which comprises the Creator and His Divinity, from that time he is called “a son,” as David said in Psalms, “I will tell of the law of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My son, today I have begotten you.’” This applies to every person when obtaining the soul.
591) What is, “Today I have begotten you”? It would have been enough to say, “You are My son, whom I begot.” However, it is for you that David said in the spirit of holiness, “Today I have begotten you.” “I” is Divinity. “Today” is Moses, Tifferet, as it is written, “Behold, the day is still great,” in the one of whom it is written, “Never has a prophet such as Moses risen in Israel.” This is why the day is called “great.” You kept in Divinity, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,” which is the body, “And with all your soul,” which is the soul, since she has five names: NRNHY. “And with all your might” means with all your wealth, the Creator and His Divinity will not move from you with all of these.
592) You thought that even if all the worlds were under your authority, you would give them in order to establish Divinity in the Creator and to enthrone Him in His Divinity over all the appointees of the nations of the world, and then to raise Him and His Divinity. Your form consists of all the good qualities and all the worlds, and in camps of the high angels, and the lower ones, and all of Israel.
593) The Creator adds a good thought to an act. And since you are his son, everything which you have thought for your Master, He will keep through you, and you will never move from Him. Rather, you will be in His form in everything. At the time of exile, you vanish from people, while I, from this world, am an emissary of the Creator to say these words before you. I am commanded by Him never to move from you at any time and any hour that you wish. I and all the Tannaim and Amoraim of our seminary ask of you: “Go, arise and complete the commandment of your Master.”
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