Ezekiel’s Merkava

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248) When Ezekiel saw the Shechina out of the Klipot, out of garments, he saw with her ten Sefirot without any separation. These are the brain in all of them. He saw them from the river Kvar, below, which is the vehicle that is below, in Matat, for Kvar has the letters of Rechev [vehicle], as it is written, “The vehicle of God is twenty-thousand, thousands of Shinnan.”

Each Riboh [myriad] is 10,000. Ribotaim [as the word is written in the verse in Hebrew] are 20,000. Take off from that two that are gone, since Shinnan has the letters of She Einan [that are gone]. “Thousands” are 2,000 that are gone, leaving 18,000, as the count of eighteen worlds, Yesod, called “living,” including ten Sefirot, having clothed in the letters Tet from Matat.

It is the letter Tet from Totafot [part of the Tefillin], as it is written about it, “And they will be as Tatafot between your eyes.” Who are the eyes? They are those of above, as it is written, “The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.” Visions are ten mirrors of Matat that Ezekiel saw as a candle in a lantern, nine mirrors open, and one concealed.

Although Ezekiel saw the Shechina wearing garments of BYA, he still saw the unification, the connection of the Sefirot ZA and Malchut. He saw the Shechina united with ZA. He saw with her ten Sefirot without any separation, where ZA is the upper nine, connected to Malchut without any separation.

These ten Sefirot are the brain that is clothed within. However, he saw them when they were clothed in Matat, since during the exile the Zivug of ZA and Malchut is clothed in Matat. He saw them in the clothing of the river Kvar, which is Matat.

Kvar has the letters of Rechev [vehicle]. This is why it is written about Matat, “The vehicle of God is twenty-thousand, thousands of Shinnan.” Deduct from that two that are gone and 18,000 remain, as the count of eighteen worlds, Yesod, called “living,” which includes ten Sefirot. It is so because when ZA and Malchut are in Zivug through the YesodYesod is called “eighteen worlds,” since then ten Sefirot de Ohr Yashar [Direct Light] descend from Yesod to Malchut, and ten Sefirot de Ohr Hozer [Reflected Light] rise from Malchut to ZA.

Because the Zivug is on Hochma, whose digits are thousands, they are regarded as 20,000, 10,000 of Ohr Yashar and 10,000 of Ohr Hozer, which are included in Matat. This is why it is written, “The vehicle of God is twenty-thousand,” for Matat, the Merkava of Elokim, has 20,000 lights.

However, even though the Zivug is with Malchut, the essence of Malchut is missing in Malchut, too, since the MalchutMan’ula [lock], has been concealed, and in her stead Yesod de Malchut is employed, the Miftacha [key]. This is why two Sefirot of the twenty are missing in her, since it lacks the Malchut of the ten Sefirot de Ohr Yashar, and the Malchut of the ten Sefirot de Ohr Hozer, and there are only eighteen Sefirot there.

“And they will be as Tatafot [Tefillin] between your eyes.” These are illuminations of Hochma in Malchut, called Eynaim, as it is written, “The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God,” since visions are illuminations of Hochma called Eynaim. Visions are ten visions of Matat, where the ten Sefirot of Malchut clothed in Matat are called “visions.” It is so because there is vision and seeing only in Malchut, since there is no disclosure of illumination of Hochma in any Sefira but Malchut.

Ezekiel did not receive the visions of Malchut from Malchut herself, but from the clothing in Matat, as a candle in a lantern, a candle that stands inside a lantern whose walls are made of glass, and he sees the illumination of the candle from within the glass walls. This is how Ezekiel saw the visions of the Shechina, the candle, out of the Kelim of Matat, the lantern.

But although we say that he saw the ten visions of Malchut, they are only nine visions, since Malchut de Malchut was concealed, and an illumination from Yesod, called Miftacha, serves in her stead. This is why he saw nine visions, the first nine of Malchut, but did not see the vision of Malchut de Malchut, as she is concealed and hidden.

249) One vision that he saw of those ten visions is as it is written, “And above the firmament that is over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone.”

250) The Creator said to the camps of above: “Anyone who prays, strong, wise, or rich. He is strong in merits, overcoming his inclination. He is wise in the Torah, rich in Mitzvot, his prayer will not enter this palace until you see in him these signs, that he has put in himself My corrections. For this reason, if the rav [teacher] resembles an angel of the Lord of hosts, they should seek Torah from him, meaning those in whose garments these signs are inscribed, his prayer you should accept.”

One sign that will be inscribed in his prayer in azure on the four edges of the Tzitzit—for azure is similar to the firmament—is Matat. It follows that he is similar to the angel of the Lord of hosts, whose form is the azure in the Tzitzit.

251) For this reason, the measure of the Tzitzit is as we learn, a Talit [prayer shawl] in which the little one is covered almost entirely. This is the one of whom it is written, “And a little child shall lead them,” Matat, called “little child.”

He is leading the four animals, which are four, and he includes the six steps to the throne, HGT NHY, which are six. And because he consists of ten, the ten Sefirot of ZA and Malchut de Atzilut, which are ten, clothe in him, and in him the Creator appears by his Shechina to the prophets, who consist of ten Sefirot.

On the part of the Shechina, which is clothed in Matat, who is the tenth Sefira, the azure in the Tzitzit, Matat, too, is the azure of all the colors, as all the colors are included in azure.

252) Malchut is called “azure,” the conclusion of the ten Sefirot. It is written about it, “Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting,” as it was the conclusion of everything. Techelet [azure] comes from the word Kalah [bride], as it is written, “And it came to pass on the day that Moses had concluded setting up the tabernacle.” Sages explain that Klot [concluded] comes from the word Kalah [bride], hence the Shechina is called Techelet [azure], and is the azure light in the candle, which consumes tallow and offerings.

The light of the left line in Malchut, the illumination of Hochma, is called “azure” because

  1. It is the conclusion of the ten Sefirot, as in the verse, “He searches every purpose” [synonymous with “conclusion”]. Also, we learn that the purpose of Hochma is repentance and good deeds, namely a result and a purpose, for the illumination of Hochma in Malchut is the result of every upper nine.
  2. From the words, “Thus was finished all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.” Azure means conclusion, since its illumination concludes all the Sefirot.
  3. Techelet [Azure] from the word Kalah [bride], for Malchut is the bride of ZA.
  4. She is called Techelet from the word Kelayah [annihilation], which is the azure light in the candle, consuming tallow and offerings. The Dinim that come with the illumination of Hochma in her consume and burn everything. Like the azure in the Tzitzit, the white threads are lights of Hassadim, and the azure wick is illumination of Hochma in Malchut.

253) Ezekiel said about the light of Hochma in her, which is called “azure”: “the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone.” The virtue of that stone is that one who inherits it, the light of Hell does not govern him. No fire in the world can spoil it, nor any kind of metal. If you hammer a sapphire stone with a hammer, the hammer will break on it, but it will not be harmed. Water certainly does not harm it, and all the upper and lower ones of the Sitra Achra fear it.

It is written about the azure of the sea, “If you pass through the water, I will be with you,” with this virtue of the azure light in Malchut, called “sapphire stone,” the horse and his rider drowned at sea, who is the appointee over Egypt, who drowned in the sea by the force of that azure light.

254) The upper and lower fear that azure color. The camps of the sea fear it, and the camps of the firmament, which is azure, fear it. The camps of the azure of the fire of Hell—the azure of the Sitra Achra—fear it.

When the light of azure in Malchut is revealed, the illumination of Hochma, very harsh Dinim appear with her, casting dread and tremor over all the outer ones.

255) Azure is Din, for the name of Malchut is ADNI, letters of Dina [Aramaic: Din (judgment)]. Two colors are written in the Talit: white and azure. It is written about those two colors, “And under his feet as it were a paved sapphire brick.” The Livnat [brick of] is the Lavan [white] of the sapphire, since sapphire consists of two colors, Rachamim and Din. White is Rachamim, and black is the blackness of azure.

Sages implied about those two colors: “When is the Shema read during the morning prayer? When he distinguishes between azure and white.” A king’s daughter, Malchut, is the Shema reading, the unification of the Creator, consisting of two colors, white and azure, HaVaYaH ADNIHaVaYaH is white and ADNI is azure, in order to be Rachamim and Din. It is as the Creator, ZA, consists of two colors, HaVaYaH ADNI, to be Rachamim and Din, a throne of Din and a throne of Rachamim.

256) “As the appearance of a sapphire stone … the likeness of the throne.” If the sapphire stone is the azure in the Tzitzit, what is the likeness of the throne? Opposite the throne—where she has seventy-two bridges, lights from the name AB—the man will be inscribed in seventy-two connections and rings of a Tzitzit, corresponding to the seventy-two bridges of the throne. Eighteen connections and lines to each side of the four sides of his garment are five connections and thirteen rings, and four times eighteen are seventy-two, since the throne, the letter HeyMalchut is to each side in the four animals of the throne, which are four, opposite the four edges of his cover.

257) The six edges of the throne, which are six, Matat, include four animals, as it is written, “And a little child leads them.” They are Michael, Gabriel, Nuriel, and Raphael. Matat is the six steps to the throne, HGT NHY, each comprising one hundred, which amount to 600. A Tzitzit filled with two letters Yod amounts to 600. If one Yod is missing from the Tzitzit, the Hirik complements in its stead, as it is like a Yod. On each side of the four edges of his garment is a Tzitzit that amounts to 600, and with the thirteen rings of the Tzitzit, they are 613.

258) The six steps to the throne is Vav, and in full, VavAlephVav, which amounts to thirteen. VavAlephVav is implied in three words of the combinations of seventy-two words that exist in the three verses, “And went,” “And came,” “And pitched,” which are the three words, VavHeyVav AlephNunYod VavHeyVav, whose initials are Vav Aleph Vav. There are five knots in the Tzitzit, which are five to each side of the four edges of the garment, and the filling of Hey, which is Aleph, is the garment itself, one for all.

Eighteen is completed in the letter Hey that connects to VavAlephVav, which is thirteen in Gematria, which are the letters Tet from Matat. Also, HeyYod [eighteen] implies Haya [animal], where there will be an animal to each of the four sides, and will consist of four animals, since the four sides are included in one another. Each animal has four faces and four wings. Together they are thirty-two faces and wings. They hang from the fourth of the four animals, which is the face of a man, a man who is dressed in a Tzitzit.

259) There are thirty-two Tzitziot [fringes], as the count of YodVavDalet HeyAleph HeyAleph, whose wholeness is VavAlephVav, thirteen rings in all four sides. VavAlephVav unites with all four animals in the four sides, completes the name YodVavDalet HeyAleph VavAlephVav HeyAleph above, in ZA and Malchut de Atzilut, and completes below in the animals.

The middle pillar, Matat, is to complement above, like Tifferet de Atzilut, for the name of Matat is as the name of his rav, Tifferet, and was created in his likeness, after his image, Matat, including all the degrees from above downward, since Tifferet and Malchut de Atzilut are clothed in him. From below upward means that he comprises all four holy animals, and he is gripped in the middle, as it is written, “And the middle bar inside the boards shall pass through from end to end.”

260) Matat comprises four faces and four wings of each animal above in ZON, which are YAHDONHY, the combination of HaVaYaH ADNI, ZA and Malchut, as it is written, “Then Moses sang.” In each of the animals of ZA, Moses, there are four faces and four wings, which in Gematria are Aleph-Zayin, eight. Likewise, “then” in the lion, “then” in the ox,” “then” in the eagle, and “then” in man. These are thirty-two faces and wings, which are four times “then” in Gematria.

261) These four faces, the four letters HaVaYaH, and the four wings, the four letters ADNI, correspond to the four gold garments, ADNI, and the four garments of white, HaVaYaH, which the priest wore in order to atone for Israel. They correspond to “ADNI [Lord], open my lips,” said at the start of the Standing Prayer. It also corresponds to the prayer itself because in each conclusion of the eighteen blessings of the prayer there is HaVaYaH. Eighteen times HaVaYaH consist of seventy-two letters, as the count of “And … concluded,” which is Yesod, called “all,” since eighteen HaVaYot [pl. of HaVaYaH] are included in “Righteous one who lives forever,” which is “And … concluded.”

262) In the four animals there are thirty-two letters, where in each animal there are HaVaYaH ADNI, eight letters to each side, and thirteen letters from the beginning of the words in the three words, VavHeyVav AlephNunYod VavHeyVav, which are thirteen in Gematria. The upper and lower thirteen are included in this VavAlephVav by which Adam—who is 45 in Gematria—was completed. He is the middle pillar, since the thirty-two letters of HaVaYaH ADNI on each side, with the thirteen letters in the Vav amount to MA, as the number Adam (45).

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