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37) “Come, my beloved, let us go out into the field; let us lodge in the villages.” One who sets out to the road should pray three prayers. To say these prayers, he does not need three separate blessings, for he can do it even in a single blessing. This is because man can include all of his wishes in the blessings, “Who hears a prayer.”
38) All of man’s actions are written in a book in the upper world, the good as well as the bad. And he is destined to be sentenced for all of them, for it is written, “Your eyes have seen my golem.” This means that those things that the golem does, meaning the body, which does not look after what will happen in the next world, Your eyes have seen all of them because You have observed them.
And they will all be written on Your book, to be accountable for them in the next world. Hence, one should always pray before one’s act, and it will do him good.
39) One does not commit transgressions unless he is a golem and not human. That man does not consider the needs of the holy soul but does all his deeds as a beast that does not consider and does not know. But was David, who said that verse, considered a golem who did not consider the soul?
Adam ha Rishon said to that verse, “Your eyes have seen my golem.” This is because golem means substance before its shape is completed. And he said, “Before You threw a soul in me, when I was a golem, Your eyes saw making people in my shape, who will be similar to me. And they will all be written on Your book.” They will be written by their names, who they are. “The days were fashioned,” they were fashioned as this form of His, “And not one among them,” meaning not one of them remained.
40) Why did none of those who were similar to the form of Adam ha Rishon remain? All those who were similar to Adam ha Rishon, even slightly resembling him, even vaguely, did not die by their own death. They were all struck in the very same thing: they were similar to Adam ha Rishon.
The shape of Adam ha Rishon and his beauty were as the brightness of the upper firmament over all the firmaments, and as that light that the Creator had concealed for the righteous for the next world. Hence, all those who had even a hint of Adam ha Rishon in their form were struck in it and died.
41) Such are the ways of the Creator. If He gives wealth to a person, it is to nourish the world and to do His commandments. If he does not do it, but takes pride in his wealth, he will be struck in it, as it is written, “Wealth kept for its owner is to his hurt.”
If He gives him sons, it is to teach them the ways of the Creator and to keep His commandments, as it is said in Abraham, “For I have known him, to the end that he may command.” If he does not do it, but takes pride in them, he is struck in them.
Similarly, when the Creator gave them of the beauty of the superior good of Adam ha Rishon, He gave it to them to keep His commandments and to do His will. They did not do it, but were proud; they were struck in that same beauty with which they were blessed.
42) When the Creator created Adam ha Rishon, while he was still a golem, before He cast the soul in him, He called that angel who is appointed over the forms of people and said to him, “Regard, and form six men in the form of this one.” And they are Samson, Saul, Asahel, Josiah, Zedekiah, and Absalom, as it is written, “And begot… in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth,” meaning six, six people.
43) The Creator created those six people out of that very same dust from which He created Adam ha Rishon. And He called him Seth, which means six. This means that He called and summoned six people, as it is written, “And begot… in his own likeness, after his image,” meaning of that dough from which his golem was created. This is why he said, “Your eyes have seen my golem,” which means that you considered making others similar to him.
And they will all be written on Your book. All, meaning those who did not keep what the Creator gave them and were expelled from the world.
44) We found that the night divides into three shifts, into three times four hours. In each shift, the Creator has a special dealing with man. When the soul departs him and that golem, the body, remains sleeping on its bed, his soul rises each night before the Creator. And He has special dealings with her in each and every shift. If she is rewarded, they rejoice with her above. If not, she is pushed outside.
50) The hard femur, the thighbone, which was struck and moved from its place and was dragged to and fro, walks and visits its place for twelve months. Similarly, that soul which is worthy of punishment walks out in the world and visits her place in the world and in the graveyard for twelve months.
51) “And Abraham rose up from before his dead.” When the soul is in the wholeness of the upper one, from Bina, the Hey is added to her and she is called Abraham. And here it is written as though he is not so righteous, as it is written, “And Abraham rose up,” and you make one who sat in a big chair descend and sit in a small, inferior chair.
But the Hey that was added to Abraham implies that he rose and obtained the great Mochin from Bina. And the words, “And Abraham rose up from before his dead” indicate Mochin de Katnut that shine to the body. This is because rising means reception of Mochin, which put one on one’s feet. “From before his dead” means from the face that belong to the body of the dead, who is called Sarah, which are Mochin de Katnut.
And since the soul is called Abraham, it indicates that she already has Mochin de Gadlut from upper Bina. Thus, how does the verse say, “And Abraham rose up from before his dead,” which implies Mochin de Katnut? By that, you make one who sits in a big chair descend and sit in an inferior, small chair.
52) “And Abraham rose up from before his dead.” When the soul is worthy of rising to her place of Eden, she first protects the holy body that emerged from there and then rises to the place of her level. “And Abraham rose up from before his dead.” Before the soul departs the body to rise to the Garden of Eden, she extends the proper Mochin for the body so it may join the count with the rest of the bodies of the righteous. And these Mochin are implied in the words, “And Abraham rose up.”
53) “And spoke unto the children of Heth.” These are the rest of the bodies of the righteous, which are frightened and beaten in the world so as to fear their Maker. And they fear and dread because they dwell in the dust. This is why they are called “the children of Heth.” And why does the soul need the bodies of the righteous? They are all written in the count, for he takes them into account and brings them out to the revival of the dead in the calculation. This is why the soul spoke to them, so the body will be counted with them. And this is why it is written, “And spoke unto the children of Heth.”
54) And what did the soul, which is called Abraham, tell them? She spoke respectfully and by way of appeasement: “I am a stranger and a dweller with you.” He told them, “This body will be with you in the same count in this joining. It is written, “And the children of Heth answered Abraham,” meaning that they, too, answered him respectfully and by way of appeasement.
62) “And Sarah died in Kiriat Arba.” Such as that has never happened with any of the women in the world. The count of her days and years of life in the world and the place where she was buried was stated so as to show that in all the women in the world, there was none like Sarah.
63) And should you say that it is written about Miriam, “And Miriam died there, and was buried there,” as with Sarah, he says that it was written only to show Israel’s sin, as it is written, “And there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses.” This was so because the water did not go in Israel but only by the merit of Miriam. However, in her death, no days and years were mentioned as was said with Sarah.
64) “Happy are you, O land, for your king is free.” Happy are Israel, for the Creator gave them the Torah, to know all the hidden ways and to reveal to them the sublime secrets.
65) “Happy are you, O land” is the land of the living, the Nukva, who clothes the living God, which is Ima, since her king, ZA, has prepared all the blessings for her, which he was blessed by the upper patriarchs, upper AVI. This king is the Vav, who is always poised to pour blessings upon her. And he is called “free,” since he is the son of Yovel [50], Bina, meaning YESHSUT, whose Mochin sets slaves free, which are the Mochin of illumination of Hochma.
And he is a son of the upper world, upper AVI, who always impart from their perpetual Zivug, every life, every light, and every oil of greatness and glory. This is so because the king, ZA, is the son of Yovel, from which the Mochin of freedom is poured, meaning the illumination of Hochma. And he is also the son of AVI, whose Zivug is perpetual and never ceases, and all the Mochin come from them.
This is why he is called “free” and not “the son of freedom.” And the firstborn son, ZA, imparts all the Mochin of Yovel and of the upper AVI to this land, to the Nukva, as it is written, “My son, My firstborn, Israel.” This is said of ZA, who is called “Israel.” And he is called “firstborn son” when he has all those Mochin, which is why the text says about her, “Happy are you, O land.”
66) “Woe unto you, O land, when your king is a boy,” for then the bottom land and the world nourish off the government of the foreskin, and everything is drawn down only from a king who is called “a boy,” meaning Matat. Woe to a world that needs to nourish in this way.
67) This boy, Matat, has nothing of himself except for the blessings that he receives from the Nukva for a certain time. And every time he was deprived them—since the moon was flawed, meaning the Nukva, and she was darkened—Matat was denied the blessings. Woe to a time when the world needs to nourish its sustenance from him. Moreover, the world is judged by many judgments before it nourishes off him, from the Klipot, since then everything persists and is done in judgment.
68) “And Sarah died.” Her death was not by that Slant Serpent, the angel of death, and he did not rule over her as he rules over the rest of the people in the world, for all people die by him since the day Adam caused them the death. The exceptions are Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, who did not die by the angel of death but by a kiss, as it is written about them, “According to the word of the Lord.” And for the honor of Divinity, it did not say about Miriam, “According to the word of the Lord,” although she, too, died in a kiss.
69) But regarding Sarah, it is written that she died in Kiriat Arba, above and not by another. In Kiriat Arba and not in a serpent. In Kiriat Arba, which is Hebron, where David bonded with the patriarchs. Hence, her death was not by another but in Kiriat Arba.
There are two discernments to Malchut: fourth and seventh. Above the Parsa, from Chazeh de ZA upwards, she is called “fourth to the patriarchs,” which are HGT, and she is called “Malchut of David,” as well as “Kiriat Arba.” And she is the corrected one, called “The land of the living,” of whom it was said, “Happy are you, O land, for your king is free.”
And with respect to below the Parsa, from Chazeh de ZA, downwards, she is regarded as seventh to the sons, which are NHY, and she is called “Malchut of Joseph.” This is why it is written that the meaning of Kiriat Arba is the upper one, meaning Malchut of David, for she is the upper one, above Parsa de ZA, and not the other one, which is the lower Malchut below the Parsa, called “seventh.”
In Kiriat Arba and not in the serpent. This is why it is understood from the text that she did not die by the discernment of the serpent, which is the angel of death, for he has no authority and hold in the Malchut that is above the Parsa, called Kiriat Arba. “In Kiriat Arba, which is Hebron” means that King David connected to the patriarchs, which are HGT, above Parsa de ZA. Hence, her death was not by the angel of death, who extends from the lower Malchut, but in Kiriat Arba.
70) When one’s days exist in the upper degrees, HGT NHYM, one exists in the world. Since he still does not exist in the upper degrees, when he completes the life of seventy years, which extend from the seven Sefirot HGT NHYM, his days depart the Sefirot and descend below the Sefirot. Finally, they approach the degree where death is present, meaning the angel of death, who is below the Sefira of Malchut, where it is said, “Sin crouches at the door.”
And then he receives permission to take out the soul, and he flies the whole world in one flight and takes the soul and defiles the body, and the body remains impure. Happy are the righteous who were not defiled and no impurity remained in their bodies.
This is an evidence that the angel of death did not rule over Sarah, since it has been explained here that death comes to a person after he exits the seven Sefirot and goes below the bottom Malchut—the place of the angel of death—who then receives permission and takes out one’s soul. Thus, Sarah never descended below the bottom Malchut, but died in Kiriat Arba, which is the upper Malchut above the Parsa, at the place of Chazeh de ZA. Hence, it is certain that she did not die by the angel of death.
71) A bright path is tied in the middle of the firmament. This is the serpent of the firmament, called by astronomers, “The Milky Line,” where all the thin stars are tied and stand in it in great numbers. They are gathered and stand in it like myriad, innumerable mountains, and they are appointed over the secret deeds of the people in the world.
72) Similarly, several groups of lights of Klipot came out to the world from that first, upper serpent by which Adam was seduced. And they are all appointed over the secret deeds of the world. Therefore, when one comes to be purified he is assisted from above, and the help of his Master surrounds him and he is kept, and he is called “holy.”
73) When one comes to be defiled, several groups of lights of Klipot are intended for him, who are all in him and surround him.
74) All the deeds of wicked Balaam were from the side of impurity. All the types of serpents and witchcraft in the world are tied and stem from that primordial serpent, which is the filthy spirit of impurity. Hence, all the charms in the world are called “serpents” after the primordial serpent; they all emerge from that side, and all who follows witchcraft is defiled.
75) Moreover, if one wishes to perform a spell, one must first be defiled, so as to extend that side of impurity over himself. This is so because as a person awakens below, so he draws upon himself from above. If he awakens from below on the side of holiness, he draws upon him holiness from above and he is sanctified. And if he awakens below on the side of impurity, he draws upon him the spirit of impurity and is defiled. This is why it is said, “He who comes to be defiled is defiled.”
76) Thus, to extend upon himself the spirit of impurity from the upper serpent, wicked Balaam would defile himself every night with his mare, and would perform intercourse with her so as to be defiled and to draw upon himself the spirit of impurity. And subsequently, he would perform his deeds and magic.
77) In the beginning of his deeds he took a serpent from among the serpents and tied it before him. He split the head of the serpent and took out its tongue. Then he took certain herbs and burned them all and made a single incense out of them. Then he took the head of that serpent and split it into four sides and turned it into a single incense.
78) Around it, he drew a single circle and would say things and do other deeds until he drew upon himself the spirits of impurity, which informed him what was needed. And he acted by their words, according to what they knew from the side of that serpent of the firmament.
79) From this he had knowledge and knew magic and spells. And this is why it is written, “He did not go as on other times to seek serpents,” meaning actual serpents, since the essence and the root of impurity and the beginning of everything is only in the serpent.
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