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268) The nails in the back of the fingers are illuminations of the fire, and the fingers themselves, inside the hand, are illuminations of the light. The nails behind the fingers are other faces, which should illuminate from within the candle, Malchut. These faces are called Achoraim. The fingers inside the hand, which are without nails, are the inner faces, which are covered, and in which there is no seeing, Hochma, as it is written, “And you shall see My back,” which are the back of the fingers with their nails. It is also written “But My face shall not be seen.” These are the fingers inside the hand, which are without nails, being an inner face.
269) When blessing for the candle, one needs to show the back of the fingers with the nails, implying the four Merkavot, so they will illuminate from within the candle, which indicates Malchut. However, the front of the fingers does not need to be shown, illuminating out of that candle, Malchut, as it illuminates only out of the upper candle, up above, Hochma de ZA, who is covered and concealed, and whose Hochma is not revealed at all. It does not illuminate from within the candle that appears, Malchut, in which the Hochma is disclosed.
This is why the back of the fingers with the nails on them needs to be shown, as it extends Hochma from the candle, Malchut, and the front of the fingers does not need to be shown before that candle, as it is hidden and illuminates in hiding, not receiving Hochma from that candle because it is internality and illuminates from within. It is superior and illuminates from the upper ones.
Man is a Merkava for ZON. The hands are HG, which become HB at the time of Gadlut, as it is written, “Lift up your hands to the sanctuary.” In each hand are three joints, HBD. The three joints of the right are HBD de Hochma, and the three joints of the left are HBD de Bina. The biceps connected to the shoulder is Daat, the arm is Bina, and the joints of the fingers are Hochma. Thus, man’s fingers indicate Hochma.
It is known that there is no degree without Panim [anterior] and Achoraim [posterior]. This is because in each degree are ten Sefirot KHB TM, where KH and half of Bina are regarded as Panim of the degree, below which is a Parsa that, in Katnut, elicits half a degree to the degree below it, which are half of Bina and TM. In Gadlut, the Masach de Malchut descends from the Parsa to her place below, returning the half of Bina and TM to the degree. For this reason, those Bina and TM that fell in the Katnut of the degree are called Achoraim of the degree even during the Gadlut after they returned to the degree.
The degree of fingers is also divided into the two above-mentioned halves, Panim and Achoraim, where KH and half the Bina in them are considered the Panim of the fingers. These are the fingertips, on the side of the flesh. And Bina and TM that fell from the degree during the Katnut, and returned at the time of Gadlut, which are regarded as Achoraim, are the fingertips on the side of the nails. The nails, Parsa, separate between Kelim de Panim and Kelim de Achoraim.
In general, Malchut is regarded as Achoraim de ZA. In particular, all the Behinot of Achoraim in ZA were given to Malchut in regard to the sowing off. For this reason, each Behina in the fingers receives from its corresponding Behina. The Panim of the fingers receives from Hochma de ZA, who is Panim, and in which the Hochma does not appear, as it was said that the Panim of the fingers do not need to be shown so they would illuminate from within that candle because they have no relation to Malchut.
It was said that they illuminate only from within the upper candle up above, but receive from Hochma de ZA, who is the Behina [discernment] opposite them, which is related to them. But the Achoraim of the fingers receive from Hochma in Malchut, who is the Behina opposite them, which is related to them. When blessing on the candle, the back of the fingers with the nails should be down, illuminating from within the candle, since they receive from the candle, Malchut, as it is the Behina opposite them.
270) When the Sabbath ends, one should smell the perfumes because the spirit has departed from the man, meaning the addition of Neshama of the Sabbath, while the Nefesh of the man remains bare by that departure—that the Ruach [spirit] has departed from her.
271) It is written, “And he smelled the smell of his clothes and blessed him.” The smell is the keeping of the Nefesh because it enters the Nefesh and not the Guf [body]. “And he smelled the smell of his clothes” means that they were the clothes of Adam HaRishon that the Creator had given him.
272) When Adam sinned, the garment of honor—in which he was dressed initially, when the Creator admitted him into the Garden of Eden—was removed from him. After he sinned, He clothed him with a different garment. The first garment, which Adam wore at first, in the Garden of Eden, was of those blessings that are called Achoraim, which are the garments that are called “nail garments.”
273) When he was in the Garden of Eden, all those chariots and all those holy camps were circling Adam. He was guarded from everything, and no evil thing could reach him. When he sinned, these garments of nails were removed from him and he feared evil things and evil spirits, and those holy camps that surrounded him and guarded him had parted from him. Of all those attires, only the nails at his fingertips remained, surrounded by the filth of the Sitra Achra.
The nails are the Parsa that separates the Kelim of Panim [face] from the Kelim of Achoraim [back]. It is attached to the Kelim of Achoraim because it is the root of their illumination, as their whole illumination comes from the Parsa, lowering the ending Malchut from it to her own place. By that, the Kelim of Bina and TM rose from the place to which they fell to their own degree, where they became the left, and Kelim of Achoraim. Thus, the Parsa is the root of their illumination and is thus attached to them as the nails are attached to the fingertips.
As the Parsa is the root of the Kelim of Achoraim, it is the root of the illumination of the lower degree. This is because when the Kelim of Achoraim, Bina and TM, rise to their degree, they take the lower degree with them and elevate it to their degree. Thus, the Parsa has become the root of the lower degree, as well, as it is the root of the Kelim of Achoraim. For this reason, the Parsa is attached to the Kelim of the lower degree, as well.
The souls of Adam and Eve are from the degree below ZON because they emerge and cascade from them. It follows that when the Parsa of ZON raised their Kelim of Bina and TM, which were fallen in the souls of Adam and Eve, the souls of Adam and Eve rose along with them to the place of Malchut of Atzilut, “The Garden of Eden,” as it is written, “And the Lord God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden.” Thus, that same Parsa of Malchut of Atzilut, attached to the Kelim of Achoraim—which are her Bina and TM—is also attached to Adam, to whom she is the root, as she is the root of the Kelim of Achoraim.
It was said that the first clothing that Adam wore in the Garden of Eden was of those Merkavot called Achoraim, which are the garments called “nail garments.” This is so because as the nails cling to Malchut’s Kelim of Achoraim, they clothe the whole of the level of Adam HaRishon because the nails were the root of their illumination.
This attire was very important, as it is the Parsa of Malchut of Atzilut on her Kelim of Achoraim. And when he sinned and those nail garments were removed from him, he feared evil things and evil spirits, and those holy camps that surrounded and protected him departed. Of all those garments, only those nails in the fingertips remained.
After the sin, the soul—which had come to him from Atzilut through the Parsa—was lost. Naturally, the nail garment that comes from the Parsa was lost, as well. And befitting the small measure of his high soul that remained in him, a part of the nail garment remained in him, as well. This is the surplus of the nails on the fingertips. And since the nails are considered Kelim of Achoraim, the Sitra Achra has the strength to cling to them and suckle from them. The part of the nails that is not attached to the flesh of the finger, where there is always filth, is the place from which the Sitra Achra always sucks. This is why it is forbidden to grow them beyond the finger-flesh.
274) For this reason, one should not grow one’s nails, for there is filth in them. As they grow, the force of Din grows upon him, too, by the force of the Klipot that suckle from the nails that surpass the flesh. One should attend to it everyday. He should cut them but not throw them away, to not act disrespectfully in that place, since their root is a high place and one could be harmed by it.
It is all as it is above. The Sitra Achra surrounds all the Kelim of Achoraim above; hence, the nails, too, are surrounded by filth, since they extend from the Achoraim and must not be in the place of the world, in an inhabited place.
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