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127) “And it came to pass, when the ark set out.” The [letter] Nun [] turns her face to the back [] in two places—before the Parasha [Torah portion], “When the Ark Set Out,” and after it. If you say that it implies to the bent Nun, then the bent Nun is the Nukva, Malchut. The stretched out Nun is both male and female, ZA and Malchut. And we explained about the bent Nun, of whom it was said, “And it came to pass, when the ark set out, that Moses said: ‘Return, O Lord,’” that “Return” was said about the bent Nun. This is why the two Nuns were written opposite, and this is why their faces were turned back again.
The verse about the Nun was not said concerning the Aleph of “Happy are they that dwell in Your house,” since the Nun, Malchut, is in exile. It is written about her, “The virgin of Israel is fallen, she shall no more rise.” But what does it say above? “And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting-place for them.” Since the ark was journeying, the Nun was journeying on it, for Divinity was seated on the ark. Come and see the Creator’s love for Israel: even though they strayed off the right path, the Creator does not wish to leave them and repeatedly turns His face to them, or else they will never have revival in the world.
129) The ark was traveling before them for three days. The Nun, which is Divinity, did not part from it but traveled with it. And out of the love of Israel, He turned His face to Israel and she turns herself from the ark. When that young deer walks, she turns her face to the place from which she came out. Hence, when the ark travels, the Nun turned her face toward Israel and the shoulders of her body toward the ark.
130) For this reason, when the ark was traveling, Moses said, “Return, O Lord,” meaning do not leave us and turn Your face to us. Then the Nun turned her face to them like this [], as one who turns his face toward the object of his love. And when the ark began to rest, He turned his face from Israel and returned His face toward the ark, and turned them back completely.
In the beginning he explains that the bent Nun, Malchut, is in falling prior to the Zivug with ZA. At that time it is as though she is in exile, and it was said about her, “Fallen, she shall no more rise.” Hence, in the beginning she must be raised from her falling. Afterwards she can mate with him. Falling means she lacks GAR, and rising means the returning of the GAR, which is illumination of Hochma in Malchut. And the ark with the plates within it is ZA and Malchut, where the plates are ZA and the ark is Malchut.
It turns out that before “And it came to pass, when the ark set out,” Malchut was not in Zivug with ZA due to the lack of Hochma. It is known that there is disclosure of Hochma only during traveling, which is the traveling of the three lines in three places. Hence, he preceded the journeying to the Zivug, as it is written, “And it came to pass, when the ark set out, that Moses said: ‘Return, O Lord,’” since then illumination of Hochma appeared and raised the Nun from her falling. Subsequently, after the journey was completed and she received illumination of Hochma, Moses said, “Return O Lord,” for then the illumination of Hochma had ceased and she returned to mating with ZA, which is Hassadim.
It was said, “And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting-place for them.” Rest means Zivug, ZA and Malchut. To prepare Malchut so she is ready for a Zivug with ZA, the ark of the covenant had to travel through three days, which are three lines in three places. Along those three days, she received illumination of Hochma that raised her from her falling, and then she was ready for rest, which is the Zivug. Similarly, Israel are not ready to receive from Zivug ZON before they receive the illumination of Hochma in Malchut.
It was written, “To seek out a resting-place for them,” so that Israel would be able to receive the rest from Zivug ZON, where even though they had strayed off the right path and are not worthy of receiving the rest from Zivug ZON, the Creator does not leave them like that. Instead, each time, Malchut turns her face to them and shines illumination of Hochma for them, to qualify them so they will later be able to receive from the rest. The ark went before them three days. The Nun was not separated from it but traveled with it, since the traveling of the three lines is in ZA, but the Malchut is not separated from ZA during the journey, and she, too, receives those three lines.
And out of the Creator’s love for Israel, He turns His face back. This means that the illumination of Hochma that she receives, called “Face,” as it is written, “A man’s wisdom illuminates his face,” turns its face back to Israel and imparts them with illumination of Hochma. It brings itself back from ZA, which is the plates in the ark, since ZA is considered covered Hassadim, and when Malchut receives Hochma, when she is not considered ZA, it is considered that the Malchut brings herself back from him. In other words, she retires from ZA and seemingly turns her face back.
And the reason why he says in the allegory about the deer that He turns His face back is that it implies that the Malchut, called “Deer,” comes out of the left line, which is her root, and hence turns her face back to the illumination of Hochma on the left line.
The implication in the Torah, in the portion, “When the ark set out” is considered the journeying ark of the covenant. And then comes the Zivug, which is rest. It writes an opposite Nun [] before because her back is to the portion, “When the ark set out,” and her face to the previous portions, which are considered Israel. Also, after the portion, “When the ark set out” there is an opposite Nun [] written, whose face is toward the portion “When the ark set out,” which is the ark of the covenant, and her back is to the other portions following her, which are considered as discernments of Israel, as in, “The Torah and Israel are one.”
In the words, “And it came to pass, when the ark set out,” the Nun was turning her face toward Israel, and the shoulders of her body toward the ark. Thus, you write Nun [] that turns her face toward the previous portions, which are Israel, and the shoulders of her body toward the portion, “When the ark set out,” which is ZA. This is so because during the next traveling she receives Hochma, which is her face, and she gives this face to Israel. And since ZA is considered covered Hassadim, it is considered that her back is toward ZA where back means that she does not receive his actual self from him. Hence, when the ark went, Moses said, “Return, O Lord,” meaning do not leave us, turn Your face back to us, that is, receive the rising, which is Hochma, and bestow the face of Hochma upon Israel so they will later be rewarded with receiving from a complete Zivug, which is rest.
And when the ark began to rest, after it completed receiving the three lines, which is the journey, and came to rest, which is the Zivug with ZA, He turned the face of the Nun from Israel, meaning the giving of Hochma had ceased and He turned His face back to the ark. This means that she received GAR de Hassadim from ZA, that is, she gave her face, which are GAR, to ZA, to the discernment of ZA, which is Hassadim, and completely returned to Hassadim de ZA.
This is so because there is disclosure of Hochma only during the traveling of the lines. After the traveling, they completely return to being Hassadim. This is why a second opposite Nun [] was written here, with her face toward the portion, “When the ark set out,” and her back toward the portions of the Torah that follow “When the ark set out,” which are Israel.
131) There must certainly be two opposite Nuns here, before it and after it. But after “When the ark set out,” Malchut did not return her face from Israel, meaning she did not cease her bestowal upon Israel. If she did, this Nun should have been written opposite, like the other Nun, the upper one, the Malchut. This is so because this reversed Nun toward Israel, and this upper one, Malchut, is aligned with the ark, meaning it is in Zivug with ZA, and then her face is certainly toward Israel.
132) But certainly, Malchut did not turn her face from Israel. Rather, what did she do when the ark began to rest? Then Moses said, “Return, O Lord,” so the illumination of Hochma would cease and she would return to illumination of Hassadim de ZA. Then the ark sat, meaning rested, and Divinity stood on the other side, the right line, Hassadim, and received GAR de Hassadim, Panim [face] from ZA.
And she turns this face of hers to Israel, opposite the ark, meaning that her face turns toward the ark to receive Hassadim from it, while her face is toward Israel, to impart them with these Hassadim that she receives from the ark of the covenant. And then she contains within her everything, the ark and Israel. But afterwards Israel cause Malchut to turn her back to them, which is why the Nun [] is written opposite between “When the ark set out” and the portion, “And the people were as those who complain.”
There is no dispute about the actual writing of the Nun. Everyone agrees that it should be opposite, with her face toward the portion, “When the ark set out” and her back to Israel, meaning toward the rest of the portions in the Torah. But there is a dispute about the reason. He says that during the rest, she arrests her bestowal upon Israel, hence her back is toward Israel and her face toward the ark of the covenant, to receive Hassadim from it. And he disagrees with it and says that during the rest, she not only turns her face back toward Israel, but it is a face of Hassadim. And yet, the Nun should be opposite, with her face toward “When the ark set out” and her back toward the rest of the portions. However, it is for another reason, since here Israel sinned in the portion, “And the people were as those who complain,” and this is why here she turned her back to Israel.
133) Whether on this side or on that side, the Nun turns her face back. Before “When the ark set out,” she turned her face to Israel. After “When the ark set out,” she turns her face to the ark and her back to Israel. It is good that the writing of the Nuns should be like that, but the reason why she turned her back to Israel is not because of the rest, but because of what is written after her, “And the people were as those who complain.” This is what you find in the book of Rav Hamnuna Saba.
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