The Letters

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607) Afterwards the letters are built. The Aleph, which was first on the right side, begot and elicited the letter Shin—which consists of the three sides, right, left, and middle—on the left. This is why there are three Vavs in her, and she partook in the letter Aleph, creating the combination Esh [“fire,” made of AlephShin]. On the left, these letters became further impregnated through the beating of the two sides right and left, and approached together in a dispute, for the right consists of water and the left of fire. Out of that dispute of fire in water and water in fire, they begot the letters ReishVav, and Het, and became Ruach [wind/spirit]. Then the Ruach entered between the two sides—water and fire—and sentenced and included them in one another. Then each and everyone of the first letters settled in their places in wholeness.

First, he explained the three lines of ZA in general, which are the three names, ElElokimElokeinu, and then he begins to explain the order of the hanging down of the degrees in the Mochin of ZA and Malchut in combinations of letters, gradually from above downward. These three Behinot here—water, fire, and Ruach—are three lines in GAR de ZA from upper AVI. Afterwards he explains the rest of the degrees by their order.

608) The letters impregnated further and incarnated together. Aleph elicited Mem from his side on the right, since she settled in the right, and now Aleph took her out to the left line. Mem elicited a Shin to the middle line because the Mem was initially included in the left, for she was a blocked Mem in the name Elokim on the left. Afterwards she was included in the right, when Aleph took her and made her an open Mem. Thus, she is completed on both sides—right and left. And once she is completed, the two sides in her were impregnated and begot the letter Shin together, which is comprised of both sides for she is the middle line that includes right and left within it, which the three lines of the Shin imply.

The hanging down of the three lines are the three MochinHBD de ZA from YESHSUT, which are the three letters AlephMemShin that were impregnated and begot each other. The roots of the three lines are three points, HolamShurukHirik. The ascent of the lower one with the three fallen Kelim of the upper one that was done at the point of Shuruk is the ascent of MAN. Also, the Masach in the lower one, on which the middle line comes out, which is done at the point of Hirik, is the MAN itself.

The inclusion of the two lines—right and left—through this Masach is the Zivug, and the illumination of wholeness, when the lower one receives from this Zivug while it is still in the upper one, is considered impregnation. When it comes out from there and descends to his place with the Mochin, when three come out of one and one is rewarded with all three, it is considered giving birth.

However, the lower one does not receive all three points from the upper one at once. Rather, it is born in Holam, in two Kelim KH, since the three bottom Kelim Bina and TM are still fallen in the degree after it, and through nursing from the upper one, it receives the point of Shuruk. Through the ascent of his lower one for MAN to him, he receives all the Behinot [discernments] of the point of Hirik, and all the degrees hang down from upper to lower similarly.

After the three lines were established for the first time in this order, they were included in one another, and each line contains three lines in three points, HolamShuruk, and Hirik. Therefore, once they were diminished into Holam once more, due to the sins of the lower ones, the diminution necessarily occurred in each line in a way that the ending Malchut rose to the place of Bina of the right line, and the three Kelim Bina and TM fell from her to the left line, which is regarded as lower. Thus, the left line ended in KH, and his three Kelim Bina and TM fell to the middle line, which is regarded as lower than it. Alongside that, a second discernment is made: the three Behinot of fallen Kelim from the three lines fall to the degree directly below them, and then it is considered that each Behina falls to its corresponding Behina in the lower one.

Thus, Bina and TM of the right line fall into the right line of the lower degree, and Bina and TM of the left line fall into the left line of the lower degree. Also, Bina and TM of the middle line fall into the middle line of the lower degree, like the first time, when Bina and TM of the upper one fell completely to the degree below it. However, in the first discernment, there is falling of the Kelim from line to line on the same degree. When the lower ones correct their works, the illumination of Zivug AB SAG de AK is extended once again, lowering the ending Malchut to her place, and the three fallen Kelim Bina and TM return to their places in all the Behinot, at the point of the Shuruk, for they raise the lower one to the upper one along with them, which is considered raising MAN.

Afterwards, the Masach in the lower one is regarded as MAN itself, the point of Hirik and inclusion of right and left in one another, where through the Masach, it is considered a Zivug, and the illumination of this Zivug that shines to the lower one while it is still in the upper one is impregnation. When it comes out of there to its place, it is birth.

All this applies only to the right line, which is regarded as superior over the left. Once the left is born and receives illumination of AB SAG de AK, it, too, lowers the ending Malchut to her own place. Then his Bina and TM, which are fallen in the middle line, rise and take with them the middle line itself, which is its lower one, and this is raising MAN. The Masach in the middle line is the MAN, and the inclusion of right and left on the Masach is the Zivug. Also, the illumination that the lower one—the middle line—receives is impregnation, and when it descends to its place, it is birth. This is according to the first discernment.

It is so in the second discernment, as well. The fallen Kelim from each line are opposite it in the lower one, and in them, too, raising of MAN is discerned—MANZivugIbur [impregnation], birth—from each Behina in the lower degree to its corresponding upper Behina, from right to right, from left to left, and from middle to middle.

This is why it was said, “The letters impregnated further,” since the lower degree rose to the upper one and received there the illumination of the Zivug, which is called Ibur [impregnation]. Aleph elicited Mem, for the Aleph—which is right line—was impregnated from the left line, Mem, and begot it, as the left line rises to the right line for Ibur and receives illumination, then returns to its place, which is called “birth.” Similarly, Mem—the left line—was impregnated and begot the middle line, Shin.

However, we should understand that since the lines are opposite from one another, that one is right and one is left, how can the Kelim Bina and TM of the right fall and be in the place of the left line, which is opposite to it, and likewise the left line to the middle line? Before the left is included in the right, it is regarded as blocked Mem, which is blocked and does not shine. After it is included in the right, it is considered that the blocked Mem opened and became an open Mem. And since here it speaks of after the three lines have been included in one another upon their correction for the first time, it follows that the left was already included in the right at one time, and the blocked Mem had already been opened. This is why the left is regarded as equal to the right in a way that the three Kelim Bina and TM of Aleph could fall into the left line, for it has already become an open Mem.

Mem elicited a Shin to the middle line because the Shin, the middle line, consists of right and left. Therefore, since the Mem, too, consists of right and left, she could be impregnated with the Shin because her Bina and TM could fall into the Shin, who is the middle line and similar to it.

It was said, “The letters impregnated further and incarnated together” because that Zivug that is done for the illumination of the Ibur, the inclusion of the two lines—right and left—through the middle line, their illumination comes by incarnation. This is why they incarnated.

609) The three letters AlephMemShin strengthened, impregnated, and begot three others in an incarnation. The Mem was established, impregnated, and begot a Reish. The Aleph was impregnated and begot a Vav, and the Shin was impregnated and begot the letter Het, and they were completed together.

After he explained the order of hanging down of Mochin de ZA from the three lines of AVI and YESHSUT in ZA, he now explains the three lines of the Moach of Daat de ZA, which is called ReishVavHet [Ruach]. This is why it was said that the three lines HBD de YESHSUT, which are the three letters AlephMemShin, impregnated and begot three lines of Moach of Daat de ZA, which are the three letters ReishVavHet.

610) These letters AlephMemShin impregnated further and incarnated as before. The Aleph was impregnated, begot, and elicited the letter Bet on the west side, Malchut. Then the Aleph settled on the south side, Hesed. The Mem was impregnated, begot, and elicited the letter Dalet on the north side, Gevura. Then the Mem rose between the north and south and is hanging in the air. The Shin was impregnated, begot, and elicited the letter Gimel, and settled on the east side, Tifferet. Then the Shin rose between west and east and is hanging in the air. Thus, the two letters Mem and Shin are hanging in the air.

He explains how the three lines, which are HBD de ZA, called AlephMemShin, were impregnated and begot HGTM de ZA, as well, according to the second discernment that each Behina of the three Behinot AlephMemShin was impregnated and begot its corresponding Behina in HGTM de ZA. This is why it was said that the Aleph, which is Hochma and right line, begot the Bet, which is west, the Malchut. This is the meaning of “Father established the daughter.” And the Mem, the left line, was impregnated and begot the letter Dalet on the north side, which is Gevura and the left line in the Guf [body]. And the Shin, the middle line, was impregnated and begot the letter Gimel on the east, which is Tifferet and the middle line in the Guf.

What was said, that the Aleph itself extended and settled on the south, Hesed, not begetting any other letters like the rest of the lines, is because the light of Hesed does not become any thicker upon its expansion from Rosh to Guf. For this reason, the Hesed in Aleph itself can expand into the Hesed de Guf without needing another letter. But the left line, the middle, and the Malchut even more so, become thicker by being in the Guf. For this reason they needed other letters, which are DaletGimelBet. Hence, the two letters, Mem and Shin, remained hanging in the air, meaning that they could not clothe in Kelim such as the Aleph.

611) The Aleph that remained in Kli de Hesed of the Guf rose in her place, rose up to the place of HBDYodHey of the name HaVaYaH, and was crowned there in the YodHey. The Aleph strengthened there in those YodHey, was impregnated, and begot the Vav, completing the name HaVaYaH. She stood in her place, in Hesed de Guf, illuminating there HaVaYaH in GufYodHeyVav in HGT de Guf, and the bottom Hey in Malchut. Then the Aleph was crowned and illuminated, and expanded in her light, begetting light and eliciting the letter Tet, which is a beating that the upper world, Bina, beat and illuminated in the light of HGT. That is, the letter Tet is the light of Yesod de Bina that was extended through the Aleph and clothed in the internality of HGT through the Chazeh.

612) At that time the Aleph rose, took to her the Mem and Shin that were in the air, and joined with her to become the combination AlephMemShin as before. The Aleph settled on the south side, which is Hesed, the Shin on the east side, Tifferet, and the Mem on the north side, Gevura. The Gimel, who was on the east side, rose and impregnated, and begot Tzadi and Tav. Then came the Bet, who was on the west side, which is Malchut, and rose and connected between the TzadiTavAleph and Vav rose—Aleph from the south and the Vav from the east, both connected with the Bet between the letters TzadiTav, and the name Tzevaot [hosts] was formed and illuminated.

The name Tzevaot illuminates in NH de ZA. To beget this illumination, the letters AlephMemShin expanded in HGT de ZA, which are called “south,” “north,” and “east.” Then the Gimel, which is Tifferet, obtained the strength to be impregnated and beget the two letters Rosh and Sof of the name Tzevaot, which are TzadiTav, since the illumination NH extend from Tifferet, which is Gimel. Then the Bet on the west and the Aleph on the south joined her, as well as the Vav, which is considered Tifferet, as well, and the letters Tzevaot were formed out of their illumination together. And the Dalet on the north also rose from the illumination of AlephMemShin and elicited the name Shadai [ShinDaletYod], which illuminates in Yesod.

613) When this name, Tzevaot, illuminated inside the tabernacle, which is Malchut, the letters were impregnated and begot ZayinBet, and Nun. These are the three Behinot of Malchut that came out in the order HolamShurukHirikZayin is Yod over Vav, and is considered HolamBet is Malchut from the Chazeh and above, which is the fourth to HGT, who is the middle of the Vav, the point of ShurukNun is Malchut at the end of the Vav, a point under the Yesod, the point of Hirik. The letters AlephMemShin rose as before, illuminated in HGT, were impregnated, and begot SamechAyinPeh, the Sefirot Tifferet NH from Chazeh de ZA and below, which expanded from the illumination of AlephMemShin in HGT de ZA. And the name Tzevaot illuminates in NH, and the name Shadai in Yesod.

614) The Kof remained alone. She rose and fell and stood inside the Nukva of the great deep. The Creator saw her mixed, without a Guf and without depiction, and she did not enter the tabernacle, which is Malchut. He made her a cover over the tabernacle. She is goat-hair curtains for a tent over the tabernacle, as it is written, “And you shall make curtains of goats-hair for a tent over the tabernacle.” It is written, “For a tent,” and not “A tent,” meaning a cover over the tent, which is a monkey, not a man.

The Kof contains within her the harsh Midat ha Din [quality of judgment] of Tzimtzum Aleph [first restriction]. This is why the leg of the Kof [] stretches below the line, to indicate the verse, “Her legs go down to death.” It was said that the Kof remained alone, that all the letters but the Kof had already come out and illuminated, that she rose to be mitigated in Bina and descended from Bina to her place, and the Dinim in her were recognized once more. Then she stood in the hole of the great deep, where there are the Klipot from the Malchut that is mitigated in Bina. The Creator saw that her strength from Midat ha Din is mingled with the Klipot of the great deep, and that she does not have a Kli called Guf, nor light—which is called “depiction”—and that she did not enter the tabernacle, which is Malchut. He made her a cover over the tabernacle, as it is written, “And you shall make curtains of goat-hair for a tent over the tabernacle,” since the name “goats” indicates strong and harsh Dinim in her.

Thus, she was set up for guarding the tabernacle, for because of the Dinim in her, the outer ones cannot suckle from the tabernacle. “For a tent” and not “A tent,” since “A tent” means light, from the words, “When His candle shone over my head,” and she was made only for guarding from without. This is why it is written, “For a tent.” And because the harsh Dinim are apparent in her, she was not established to be in Malchut, which is called Adam [man], for she is not similar to Malchut, but is like a monkey [Kof means “monkey” in Hebrew], who is similar to man. This is why it was said, Kof and not a man.

615) The letters AlephMemShin incarnated again in the work of the tabernacle as before—the Shin to the east, the Gimel, which was on the east, remained hanging in the air and the name Tzvaot came out of her, and the Mem incarnated and sat on the north side since it requires for the letters AlephMemShin to clothe in HGT in order to illuminate in NHY. The Dalet, who was in the north, came out and connected with the Shin on that side, creating the combination ShinDalet, and the Aleph incarnated and settled on the south side, rising to the Rosh, to the Yod that is there. She rose and strengthened with her, took her, and connected her with the ShinDalet, and the name Shadai [ShinDaletYod] came into a single bonding, shining in the Sefira Yesod. When this name is established inside the tabernacle, Malchut, she has persistence and stands, from within the tabernacle below. That is, her existence comes to her through establishing the tabernacle below.

616) The letters AlephMemShin incarnated again, as before, to settle in the tabernacle, and the letters rose—first Aleph, then Tav, creating the combination AlephTav; first Bet, then Shin, creating the combination BetShin. The combinations of letters were interchanged through the AlephTav BetShin, and AlephBetGimel YodTavTzadi came out and incarnated in the holy carvings, Aleph Kof. The Aleph of AlephTav BetShin elicited a Kof to keep the tabernacle, the Kof elicited a Reish, and the Reish elicited Ayin, creating the combination KofReishAyin.

617) The name KofReishAyin is the verse, “And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.” Similarly, “And you shall make curtains of goat-hair for a tent over the tabernacle,” since the name KofReishAyin, whose root is the Kof, contains the harsh and fierce Dinim, which are called “goats.” Hence, this part should be seen on the outside, to keep what is inside so the outer ones do not suckle from it.

The letters of the name ShinTetNun KofReishAyin, which is the second name of the name MemBet after AlephBetGimelYodTavTzadi, are written outside the tabernacle to keep the tabernacle, which is the holy covenant, and the foreskin was exposed through that cover. That is, the cutting of the foreskin was done by the fierce Dinim in the name KofReishAyin ShinTetNun through the Dinim in the Kof, which are from the harsh Midat ha Din of Tzimtzum Aleph.

618) The letters incarnated once again and elicited the combination AlephTav BetShin through ShinKofVavTzadiYodTavAlephTav BetShin elicited seven names of the name MemBet of Ana BeKoach [Please, with the strength] through ShinKofVavTzadiYodTav, which are AlephBetGimelYodTavTzadiKofReishAyin ShinTetNunNunGimelDaletYodChafShinBetTetReishTzadiTavGimelHetKofBetTetNunAyinYodGimelLamedPehZayinKofShinKofVavTzadiYodTav. These are the 42 letters of “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was unformed and void [Tohu ve Bohu],” through the Bet of ve Bohu. These 42 letters are the name MemBet.

In this incarnation of the letters it is “And the land was Tohu ve Bohu” by the letters KofReishAyin ShinTetNun, due to the fierce Dinim in it. It became, “And darkness on the face of the deep.” The Gimel elicited Reish and the Dalet Kof, making the combinations GimelReish DaletKof.

Thus far, after the four combinations AlephTav BetShin GimelReish and DaletKof came out, the letters incarnated and struck one another to be for a correction inside the tabernacle. This is so because the combination Aleph Bet of AlephTav BetShin, which are 11 combinations AlephTav BetShin GimelReish DaletKof HeyTzadi VavPeh ZayinAyin HetSamech TetNun YodMem ChafLamed, divided into three lines—right, left, and middle. The first four, AlephTav BetShin GimelReish DaletKof, are the right line in them, hence they are considered correction in the tabernacle.

619) These three letters, AlephMemShin, elicited the offspring HeyTzadi VavPeh, continuing the alphabet of AlephTav BetShin. These are the letters that hang in the air. They knocked on others and elicited the depiction of the tabernacle, Zayin Ayin, the seventh combination of AlephTav BetShin. Thus far it stands in the verse, “And darkness was on the face of the deep.” All of them, all three combinations HeyTzadi VavPeh ZayinAyin are on his side, the side of the darkness, since those three combinations are on the left line in the alphabet of AlephTav BetShin. And before the left unites with the right, it is entirely dark.

The letter Het—the letter Samech came and joined her, creating the combination HetSamech, which is the first of the four combinations in the middle line, which are HetSamech TetNun YodMem ChafLamed. Then it is written, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light,” since the light came on the part of the middle line after it determines and unites the two lines, right and left.

620) The letters AlephBetGimel YodTavTzadi incarnated as before, became impregnated, and begot and elicited a depiction inside the tabernacle—one collective in the alphabet of AlephLamed BetMem. This is so because the Aleph was impregnated and begot the letter Lamed by the strength and the power, making the combination AlephLamed. The Aleph increased her strength, rose in her glory, and begot the letter Bet.

At that time the letters became impregnated and begot, and these other letters joined: the Mem joined the letter Bet in her engraving, creating the combination BetMem, and so they came out in bonding through the combinations TetReish YodShin ChafTav, so the letters will be rising in their places in the purification of the tabernacle. It is written about it, “The basin and its pad,” where the basin is Netzah and the pad is Hod.

After he explained the hanging down of the illumination of the letters in all the degrees of ZA from the upper HBD to his Yesod, he explains the hanging down of illuminations of the letters in the degrees of the tabernacle, the Malchut. The alphabet of AlephTav BetShin illuminate in the form of GAR of Malchut, where this alphabet is the one that extends the good from above downward. For this reason, the AlephTav BetShin elicited the name MemBet of Ana BeKoach [Please, with the strength], AlephBetGimelYodTavTzadi, etc., in HGT of Malchut, since the name MemBet of AlephBetGimelYodTavTzadi illuminates in Yetzira, which is HGT.

Also, that name, AlephBetGimel YodTavTzadi, elicited the entire combination AlephBet of AlephLamed BetMem, which is AlephLamed BetMem GimelNun DaletSamech HeyAyin VavPeh ZayinTzadi HetKof TetReish YodShin ChafTav. The meaning of this name is that there is illumination only from below upward and not from above downward, hence this name illuminates in NH of Malchut, whose illumination is from below upward.

621) “Let there be a firmament inside the water,” since the water was rising in the upper water and descending in the lower water. In the letters AlephLamed, the Aleph of AlephLamed elicited a Vav, and the Vav elicited a Kof. The letter Lamed of AlephLamed rose to them and the letters were carved in their engraving in one bonding, Kol [“voice,” consisting of KofVavLamed]. The Kof is the carrier of the Masach, hence the upper water were separated from the lower water by the letters Kol. This is the meaning of the words, “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory thunders.” The letters AlephLamed in the verse, “The God of glory thunders” were impregnated and begot, and were engraved in the engraving of the letters to elicit the depictions of the tabernacle. This is the meaning of the words, “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters,” that the voice separated the waters from one another, meaning it is the Masach in the separating firmament. This voice was born from the AlephLamed of the glory, the two letters AlephLamedKH, and the right line, the upper water.

622) The three letters AlephLamedShin became impregnated, begot, and were engraved in a carving of the letters to elicit the depictions of the tabernacle, Malchut. The Aleph elicited Gimel, the Shin elicited Nun, connecting her to the Gimel in the combination GimelNun, which is the third combination from Aleph Bet AlephLamed BetMem, as it is written, “Let the earth put forth grass.” The letters AlephLamedShin first incarnated in the combination BetMem in the alphabet of AlephLamed BetMem. In those, the water were gathered in a single place, as it is written, “Let the water be gathered under the heaven unto one place.”

Here he implies the three combinations AlephLamed BetMem GimelNun in the writings of the work of creation. AlephLamed are the upper water in the verse, “Let there be a firmament,” a point of HolamBetMem is “Let the water gather onto one place and let the land be seen,” which is the point of Shuruk, in which the lower water gathered onto one place, GAR, but which became dry, fruitless, due to the lack of clothing of HassadimGimelNun is “Let the earth put forth grass,” the point of Hirik. By being dry, she became a land to bear fruits and offshoots and for planting trees.

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