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18) Happy are the righteous in this world and in the next world, who know the ways of Torah, and who follow it on the path of truth. It is written about them, “The Lord, by them they live.” “By them” are the ways of Torah. “Live” means that they will exist in this world and in the next world.
19) It is written, “This is the law of the burnt-offering.” “This is the law” is the assembly of Israel, Malchut. “The burnt-offering” rises and is crowned up above to connect, up to the place called “the holy of holies,” Bina.
20) “This is the law” is the assembly of Israel, Malchut. “The burnt-offering” is an evil thought that comes up in one’s thought to divert him from the way of truth. It is the burnt-offering that rises and slanders a person, and must be burned in fire to not allow it to slander.
21) This is why it is written, “On its firewood upon the altar all night.” “Night” is the assembly of Israel, Malchut, which comes to purify the man from that desire. “On its firewood,” since the river of fire is a place to burn all those who are not present in their existence, the Sitra Achra, for they are taken through the burning fire and their governance is removed from the world. To prevent it from ruling, it must be “On its firewood upon the altar all night,” and then it surrenders and does not rule.
22) Hence, when the Sitra Achra surrenders, the assembly of Israel, Malchut, rises. This is the spirit of holiness, for she rises and crowns above because her ascent is while that other force surrenders and parts from her. This is the reason why an offering is needed, to separate the Sitra Achra from the spirit of holiness, Malchut, and to give her a part, so the spirit of holiness will rise upward.
23) “And the fire upon the altar shall be kept burning in it; it shall not go out, and the priest shall kindle wood on it first thing in the morning.” Fire is Din [judgment]. The priest comes from the right side, far from the Din. The priest is never present in Din, and here he must light up the Din in the world, for he must burn the wood, as it is written, “And the priest shall kindle wood on it.”
24) A person who comes to sin before his Master burns himself in the flame of the evil inclination. The evil inclination comes from the side of the spirit of impurity. But the spirit of impurity is in him. Also, it is known that sometimes his offering comes from this side—a goat that must be sacrificed on the altar, which is akin to a sinner. It is not consumed and does not revoke that spirit of impurity, neither from the sinful person nor from that side from which it comes, but only in the fire of the altar. This fire uproots the spirit of impurity and evil kinds from the world, and the priest intends it—to establish the fire to clear out evil kinds from the world. This is why it requires a priest to do it, since he is from the right, and the right clears out the left.
25) Hence, it must never be put out, but an eternal fire must burn in it so that power and might in it will not wane and it will be able to break the power of the other, evil force from the world. This is why it is written, “It shall not go out,” and the priest will set up the fire on it “First thing in the morning,” when his side governs, for in the morning, the right side governs and awakens in the world, to perfume the world by setting up the fire on the altar. Thus, the Dinim [judgments] will surrender and will not awaken in the world.
We learned about it that there is fire that consumes fire. This is because the fire above, of Malchut, consumes another fire. The fire of the altar consumes another fire, that of the other side. For this reason, this fire will never go out and the priest sets it up each day.
26) It is a Mitzva [commandment/good deed] to make the offering according to the rule. It is said about it, “This is the law of the burnt offering.” Five kinds of fire would come down upon the offering:
- Fire that eats but does not drink;
- Fire that drinks but does not eat;
- Fire that eats and drinks;
- Fire that eats moist and dry;
- Fire that neither eats nor drinks.
Opposite that are:
- This is the law of the burnt offering;
- That which goes up on its firewood;
- Upon the altar;
- All night
- And by which the fire of the altar burns.
The five Dinim are called “five fires.” Three are in HGT above the Chazeh, extending from the three sowings, called Holam, Shuruk, and Hirik, and two are from the Chazeh down—the first is in NH and Yesod, extending from the Masach at the point of Chazeh, and the second is in Malchut.
The Dinim in the three lines, HGT above the Chazeh, are considered fire that does not burn but only eats, meaning that it extends Hassadim. But the two fires from the Chazeh and below burn the external ones. It is known that extending Hassadim is called “eating,” and extension of the Hochma on the left line is called drinking.
Fire that eats and does not drink is the Dinim on the right line, extending from the point of Holam, which eats, extending the Mochin de Hassadim. And does not drink means that it does not extend Hochma.
Fire that drinks and does not eat is the Dinim on the left line, which extend from the point of Shuruk, which drinks, meaning that it extends Mochin de Hochma and does not eat, meaning that it does not extend Hassadim because the left is Hochma without Hassadim.
Fire that eats and drinks is the Dinim on the middle line—which extend from the point of Hirik—which eats, meaning extends Hassadim, as well as drinks, meaning extends Hochma, as well, since it consists of both lines—right and left—and has the merit of both of them. Thus far it refers to above the Chazeh.
However, below the Chazeh there is fire that eats moist and dry, meaning the Dinim in NHY, which extend from the Masach in the Chazeh, which eats and burns the Klipot on the right, which are moist, having some moisture of light. It eats and burns the Klipot on the left, which are completely dry. Also, there is fire that neither eats nor drinks. This is the Dinim in Malchut that do not extend any light, neither of Hochma nor of Hassadim, since Malchut itself has no light at all, except that which ZA gives to her.
And opposite that are the five divisions in the verse, “This is the law of the burnt offering”:
“This is the law of the burnt offering” is the right line, Hesed, opposite the first fire.
“It is that which goes up on its firewood” is the left line, Gevura, opposite the second fire. This is why “Its firewood” is mentioned here.
“Upon the altar” is the middle line, Tifferet, since the altar is Malchut, and on the altar is above the altar, Tifferet, corresponding to the third fire.
“All night” is the Masach that governs from the Chazeh down, which belongs to Malchut, who is called “night,” corresponding to the fourth fire.
“And by which the fire of the altar burns” is the Din of Malchut herself, who is called “altar,” corresponding to the fifth fire.
27) An offering rises entirely to the high one. This is Bina, the first Hey of HaVaYaH. She is named so after her five mirrors, the five fires that extend from Bina to ZON. Yod is an only daughter, the pupil of the eye, Malchut, of whom it was said, “The appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire.” However, for itself, Malchut is fire that neither eats nor drinks, but Vav, Tifferet, the middle line, eats and drinks; he is the light of the pupil of the eye.
And when Malchut receives from Vav, she is also fire that drinks all the waters of the Torah and eats all the offerings in the prayer, receiving from the Vav all three fires of HGT that are included in it. She also receives from the fourth fire in NHY, of the Vav from the Chazeh and below. Hence, she eats moist and dry, like the fourth fire. She continues the literals of the Torah, which are as dry wood, and extends the secrets of the Torah, which are as moist wood. By burning the Klipot on the left, which are dry, the literals of the Torah are extended. And by burning the Klipot on the right, which are moist, the secrets of Torah are extended. This is the fire that eats moist and dry.
28) We should interpret “Eats moist” as all the offerings that are offered for the positive Mitzvot [commandments to perform some action], through the prayer, as in, “So will we render for bullocks the offering of our lips.” “Eats dry” refers to all the offerings that were offered during prayer, for the negative Mitzvot [commandments to avoid certain actions], the one for which the punishment is four deaths: stoning, burning, killing, and suffocating.
These are the offerings for the positive Mitzvot and for the negative Mitzvot. These are the offerings of Divinity, which is called “prayer,” coming for the positive and negative Mitzvot. And opposite those five mirrors, which extend from Bina, five prayers have been established on Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement]. Opposite the pupil of the eye, the Malchut, Yod, are the ten penitential days. The first Hey of HaVaYaH is the light of the pupil of the eye, which extend to her from the Vav. The five torments on Yom Kippur, when they do not eat or drink, correspond to the bottom Hey of HaVaYaH, Malchut herself, which neither eats nor drinks.
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