מזמור שיר חנכת הבית לדוד

1“A psalm, a song of the dedication of the House, of David.” To understand the reason that a feast and rejoicing are made at the dedication of a house: now, there are three levels: food, garments and houses.

Food is inner life-force (chayus) for a person’s body. It becomes internal to him and life-force for him by means of the belly and the stomach, which cook the food, and the choicest part rises to the brain and becomes internal [nourishment] and life-force for the mind and the limbs, strengthening all his limbs.

And garments are encompassing [things] upon a person: they encompass him and clothe him and protect him from cold and heat only, and they do not become internal [to him] and life-force like food; yet it encompasses him right upon him.

Houses are also encompassing [things] upon a person, only not like garments, which are right upon him. Houses, by contrast, are entirely removed from the person.

2Now we see that food is bought more cheaply than garments, and garments more cheaply than houses. Seemingly it ought to have been the reverse, since food is internal and life-force for him,

absorbed and dissolved within him so that they become truly one, and it is the life of his soul, for it is impossible to live at all without food; so it ought to have been dearer than garments, which are not life-force for him but only encompass him.

And likewise garments compared to houses, in the same proportion as food compared to garments. (But the reason, according to the plain sense, is that food does not last long, for immediately after the time it takes to digest the food, one becomes hungry again.

Garments, by contrast, last about a year or more, and houses last longer even than garments. Therefore the price of houses is dearer than that of garments, because they last longer; and likewise garments are dearer than food, as said above.)

But in truth, as to the root above of the three above-mentioned levels: houses have their root higher above than garments, and garments than food, as is known that whatever has fallen lower in level has its root in a higher level and rank.

3The explanation is that these three levels are found in the dimensions of World, Year and Soul in the creation of the worlds, and also in Torah and mitzvos. For

it is known that there is the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin). The light that fills all worlds is the power of the Maker within the thing made: when the level of Malchus of Atzilus gives life to the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, it then actually clothes itself in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah as inwardness and life-force,

like the soul that gives life to the body in all the particular modes of the body: the power of sight, hearing, smell and speech in the head, and the hands and the heart and the belly and the stomach and the feet, according to the order of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus).

And likewise above: the level of Malchus of Atzilus that clothes itself in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah to give life to the worlds is also in the manner of the inner dimension of the life-force in all the particulars of the chain of descending worlds.

This is [the meaning of] “They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom and tell of Your might, to make known etc. His mighty acts”: [His] mighty acts are what are called gevuros and contractions (tzimtzumim), so that separate worlds come into being, divided into many particulars without end.

4Therefore it is called the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), for it is in the manner of inner life-force, the power of the Maker within the thing made, etc. And the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) is that which does not clothe itself within the worlds at all in an inner manner,

but only surrounds and encompasses them, as is written in Sefer Shel Beinonim, to give them life. For the main life-force is from the level of the encompassing [light] that is above the ten Sefiros of Atzilus, which clothe themselves within the ten Sefiros of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, Chesed of Atzilus in Chesed of Beriah, as above; and it is called Keser Elyon (the Supreme Crown).

(And this is [the meaning of] “Whatever G‑d desired, He did,” for the main [act of] bringing into being is from the level of G‑d’s desire and His supernal will; and as is explained in the Explanation on “They shall bring a royal garment,” that in every creature there is a drawing of life-force from the level of memalei kol almin and of sovev kol almin, and that the main bringing into being is from the level of sovev kol almin; see there.)

But in Keser there are two levels, namely, the lowest level of the Emanator and the very first of the emanated, as is known that Keser is the intermediary between the Emanator and the emanated. And it is known that every intermediary must comprise both of them, as is written in Etz Chaim (Sha’ar 41, chapter 3).

Now, the very first of the emanated is what is called Arich Anpin, which is the source from which is drawn the coming into being of the ten tikkunim, the ten Sefiros of Atzilus, in the manner of a chain of descent (hishtalshelus): “one long,” etc. Arich Anpin itself, by contrast, is an encompassing [light], sovev kol almin, equally [over all].

However, the lowest level of the Emanator is what is called Atik, from the expression “He who removes (ha-ma’tik) mountains,” for it bears no comparison at all to the ten emanated Sefiros, and it is not even fitting to call it by the name “encompassing,” for every encompassing [light] is one that has some relation [to what it encompasses]; rather it is called “an encompassing of an encompassing,” etc.

And this is like a house, which is not the level of an encompassing that is adjacent and close to the body, like a garment, but is an encompassing that is distant from a person’s body; that is,

like the level of an encompassing of an encompassing. (And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “The heavens are My throne,” on the subject of “What house could you build for Me?” And see what is written in Parshas Pinchas at the end of the discourse beginning “Command the children of Israel... My offering, My bread,” on the subject of the reason that the offerings are practiced only when the Temple stands; see there.)

Now, corresponding to the three levels above-mentioned, three levels came down below: food, garments and dwellings; and the higher anything is, the lower is its descent and its enclothement below.

Now food, which is inner life-force, is drawn from the level of memalei kol almin; therefore there are many tastes and many varieties, such as bitter, sweet, etc.,

and the great division into particular foods, that is, the whole inter-inclusion of the ten Sefiros, Chesed of Chesed, Gevurah of Gevurah, etc. Therefore food is subject to being used up, [coming] from the inner light that is clothed and limited in vessels, etc.

(And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Declaring the end from the beginning,” on the subject of “her food, her clothing,” etc.: that the level of “her food,” which is food, is drawn from the Name Elokim, that is, from the level of the vessels, etc.; see there.)

Therefore, below, they become united as one with the person as inner life-force, because its root is in the level of memalei kol almin, the power of the Maker, etc.

And therefore they are cheaper, and they are not so necessary in the matter of various delicacies, since it is possible [to manage] with dry bread, etc., for one can live on bread with salt,

and one can also eat various delicacies, because its root is from the level of the power of the Maker, etc., which is from the level of limit and vessel, limited in a vessel;

therefore it is so with food as well. Garments, by contrast, have their root above in the level of Keser, the head of the emanated, the level of an encompassing [light];

therefore below, too, they encompass the person and are not inner life-force, and they are more needed by a person, for it is impossible [to be] in winter without clothing, etc., and likewise in summer, etc.;

therefore they are dearer and last longer, because their root above is higher than food, which, as above, is from the light that is limited in vessels, whereas garments have their root in the level of sovev, which is not limited in vessels;

therefore it is not so subject to being used up. [And see what is written in the Explanation on “I have come into My garden,” on the subject of “I have gathered My myrrh,” that the difference between taste and smell is also along these lines; see there. And this is [the meaning of] “the smell of his garments,”

and this is also the meaning of “with the fragrance of your garments” in the Zohar, Parshas Balak (186a).] And houses, which are further from a person’s body, have their root above in the lowest level of the Emanator, which is the level of an encompassing of an encompassing, as above.

5Therefore it came down below to the very lowest level, stones and earth, the level of the inanimate, whereas garments are from the level of the vegetative.

Therefore they, below, are also distant from a person’s body, and they are more needed by a person even than garments, for it is impossible to live without a house even for a moment; and it is dearer and lasts the longest, because their root above is exceedingly high, from the level of an encompassing of an encompassing. And this suffices for one who understands.

62. And likewise the three above-mentioned levels are found in Torah and mitzvos. As is known, the Torah is the level of food for the soul and the mitzvos are garments for the soul (as is written in the discourse beginning “These are the journeys,” and in the discourse beginning “I am my Beloved’s,” and in the discourse beginning “My dove,” etc., and in other places).

Now, although below, in the chain of descent (hishtalshelus), the mitzvos are on a lower level than the Torah, since they are in physical action, nevertheless we see that they are higher in their root.

Therefore the whole Torah is an explanation of the mitzvos, both in the revealed [part] and in the hidden [part], such as the book of the Zohar. And so our Sages said, “Great is study, for it leads to action”; and likewise, “Not study is the main thing, but action,” etc. And likewise our Sages said (in Kesubos 86a):

“But with positive commandments, for example when they tell him, ‘Make a sukkah,’ and he does not make it, etc., they would beat him until his soul departs.”

And although they said that one whose Torah is his occupation, such as Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his colleagues, does not interrupt [his study] for prayer, and in the Jerusalem Talmud, chapter 1 of Shabbos, they said that the meaning is that for the recitation of the Shema they do not interrupt, that is only for the recitation of the Shema;

but for a positive commandment, such as for sukkah and lulav, he is obligated to interrupt, as is explained in the Jerusalem Talmud there, cited by the Baal HaMaor on chapter 1 of Shabbos: “Does not Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai concede that one interrupts to make a sukkah, etc.? The reason of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is: this is study

and that is study, and one does not set aside study for study.” And all the above [shows] that although below, in the chain of descent, they are lower, being the level of garments, their source and root above is higher. For the Torah,

which is the level of food, has its root in the level of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the ten Sefiros of Atzilus: “The Torah comes forth from Chochmah,” etc. Therefore the study of the Torah has no fixed measure,

for even with one chapter in the morning and one chapter in the evening one has fulfilled the obligation of Torah study, and [yet] also, “You shall meditate in it day and night.”

That is, it is the level of food, for which dry bread suffices and one can also eat various delicacies, for their root and source is from the level of memalei.

But the mitzvos are from the level of the supreme encompassing [light], the level of Keser, “one,” etc., which is above the Chochmah of Atzilus; therefore they become garments for the soul, as said above about garments.

7Now, just as in Keser Elyon, the intermediary between the Emanator and the emanated, there are two levels, as above, an encompassing and an encompassing of an encompassing, as above, so with the mitzvos there are two kinds of mitzvos. The first: ordinary mitzvos, all those that are [done] by a person’s will to do them,

such as sukkah and lulav and the like. And there are mitzvos that do not depend on his will at all, but [come about] specifically without his knowledge, such as the mitzvah of the forgotten sheaf and the like.

8As we find in the Tosefta, chapter 3 of Pe’ah: It once happened that a certain pious man forgot a sheaf in the midst of his field, and he said to his son, “Go and offer on my behalf a bull as a burnt-offering and a bull as a peace-offering.” He said to him, “Father, what

did you see to rejoice in the joy of this mitzvah more than all the mitzvos in the Torah?” He said to him, “All the mitzvos in the Torah the Omnipresent gave to us [to fulfill] with our knowledge; this one [is] without our knowledge. For had we done it willingly before the Omnipresent, this mitzvah would not have come into our hands.

Rather, it says, ‘When you reap,’ etc.; Scripture set a blessing for it.” [Thus far] the words of the Tosefta. And he meant: if so, the fulfillment of this mitzvah is a gift from above; therefore I offer a bull.

9That is, the mitzvos that depend on a person’s knowledge and will have their root above, likewise, in Keser, from the level of Arich Anpin, which is the level of the supreme will (ratzon), the root of the emanated: “You are He who brought forth,” etc.

Therefore below, too, they depend on his will, and by doing them he draws down from the level of the supreme will. And this is [the meaning of] “Who has sanctified us with His commandments.” And he can do them with great joy, for he draws down the level of the supreme will as an encompassing [light] upon him. By contrast, the mitzvos that are specifically without knowledge and will,

such as the above-mentioned mitzvah of the forgotten sheaf, have their root in the lowest level of the Emanator, which is above will and is called an encompassing of an encompassing

(and possibly this is the level of “the Will of all wills,” that is, a will for will, etc.); therefore below, too, it is above a person’s knowledge and will.

And similarly we find several mitzvos that are specifically not by will, such as Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach, who fled to Egypt because they wanted to appoint him Nasi, and it was not his will to accept the office of Nasi, and he fled, etc.;

and they pursued him, and he became Nasi. Had he not fled, and had it been his will to accept the office of Nasi, they would not have appointed him to be Nasi,

for whoever pursues honor, etc. That is, this mitzvah too has its root above in the level of an encompassing of an encompassing, as above.

(And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Go forth and see” on the subject of “We will do and we will hear”: that the level of “we will do” is a complete nullification (bittul) of will, above knowledge and intellect; and possibly this is the level drawn from “the Will of all wills,” which is the above-mentioned level.

And therefore they tied on them two crowns, one corresponding to “we will do” and one corresponding to “we will hear”: that is, the two levels in Keser Elyon, which are the level of an encompassing, drawn down through “we will hear,” and the level of an encompassing of an encompassing, drawn down through “we will do,” which is the nullification of will, in which one sets aside his knowledge and will entirely.

And therefore they put “we will do” before “we will hear.” For so the level of Atik is from the level of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), prior to all that is prior, and from it the level of Arich Anpin is drawn. And along these lines is what our Sages said at the beginning of chapter 6 of Berachos, that [the verse] “and you shall gather in your grain” speaks

of when they do not do the will of the Omnipresent, even though it stands on [the passage] “And it will be, if you will diligently listen to My commandments,” etc. For the meaning of “doing His will” is to draw down the level of will from the level of “the Will of all wills,” and this is through “with all your might,” which is the nullification of will above knowledge.

Not so through “with all your heart and with all your soul,” etc. Therefore, relative to the drawing down from the level of Atik, which is the Infinite One Himself, they are not yet called “doing the will of the Omnipresent,” etc.

And close to this, one may also explain the superiority of the prohibitive commandments over the positive commandments: in fulfilling the prohibitive commandments there is the level of subduing (iskafya) the sitra achra (the other side), as our Sages said: “A person should not say, ‘I have no desire for it,’ etc.,

but rather, ‘I do desire it, but what can I do? My Father in heaven has decreed upon me.’” And through this, the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted above. And see what is written in the Explanation on “I am black yet comely,” and on “Set me as a seal,” and on “I saw, and behold, a menorah all of gold,” etc., on the subject of the prohibitive commandments.

And along these lines one will also understand what is written elsewhere, at the end of the discourse beginning “See, the smell of my son,” on the subject of the blessings that Yaakov received from Yitzchak, which were specifically without Yitzchak’s knowledge, but rather “your brother came with guile,” etc.,

for it is impossible [for them] to be clothed in the level of knowledge (Daas), etc.; see there. For this is along the lines of what was said above in the name of the Tosefta, “this one without our knowledge,” etc. That is, because the root of these blessings too is from the level of “the dew that drips from Atika.”

And this is what is said in the Midrash: “’The smell of his garments’ (begadav): the smell of his rebels (bogdav),” which is the level of teshuvah (return), which is above the level of “the smell of his garments,” which are the level of garments; and, as above, the garment is the close encompassing [light], etc.

And see what is written in the discourse beginning “And Yaakov sent,” on the explanation of “current with the merchant.” And see what is written in the Explanation on “When you go out,” on the subject of the two encompassing [lights], lamed and mem; see there.)

Therefore it is said of David, “And I will establish for you a faithful house.” Thus the level of Malchus is called by the name “house.” And this is because he said, “My heart was not haughty,” etc., “and I stilled (domamti) [my soul].”

And just as a house is made from the level of stones and earth, which is the level of the inanimate (domem), and its root is from the level of an encompassing of an encompassing, so Malchus is the level of the last Sefirah of the ten Sefiros of Atzilus, and its root is very exalted, from the level of an encompassing of an encompassing, as above.

10Therefore, at the dedication of the Holy Temple, when there is drawn there from the level of an encompassing of an encompassing, as above, which is above will, the level of Keser, etc.,

joy does not apply there at all, as it does with the mitzvos, which are by a person’s will, as it is written, “[Because] you did not serve with joy,” etc., [and] “Who has sanctified us with His commandments,” etc.,

because its root is from the level of the supreme will, as above. The dedication of the House, by contrast, a wall, the level of the inanimate, whose root is above will, as above: joy does not apply to it at all.

Therefore it was necessary to draw down the level of joy there. (And see what is written on “You shall draw water with joy”: that because the water libation is from a level that is above the level of the wine libation, for wine gladdens, etc., therefore it must be joined with the level of joy. And this is the meaning of “You shall draw water” specifically “with joy”; see there.)

And this is [the meaning of] “A psalm, a song of the dedication of the House”: to draw down the level of joy into the dedication of the House. And therefore a feast and rejoicing are made at the time of the dedication of a house.

(And this is also the meaning of “a psalm, a song,” which seems a doubling of the matter, as the Alshich writes. That is, along the lines of what was said above in the story of a certain pious man, etc., “What did you see to rejoice in the joy of this mitzvah more than all the mitzvos,” etc., and as above; and all the more so at the dedication of the Holy Temple, which is the general and collective expression of this level. And see what has been written about this above.)

And this is [the meaning of] “And may your house be like the house of Peretz,” where [the verse] called the birth of a child by the term “house.” For [with] children, the matter does not depend on merit

but on mazal, etc. Merit is the level of the spreading forth of the ten Sefiros of Atzilus, which are in the level of inner light, intellectual understanding, reasoning to find merit, etc.;

but children have their root above intellect, in the level of mazal, which is the level of the supreme encompassing [light]. For the meaning of mazal is the source, which is what bestows and makes flow (mazil), so that “water shall flow,” etc., and “flowing from Lebanon,” etc.

And therefore it is called by the name “house,” whose root is also from the level of the supreme encompassing [light], etc. And this is what is said, “and prepared for him from him an everlasting edifice,” etc.

And see what is written in Parshas Va’eschanan, in the discourse beginning “And this is the commandment,” that the Oral Torah is called a “house”: “Do not read ‘your children’ (banayich) but ‘your builders’ (bonayich),” etc.; see there.

113. Now, according to this one will understand what is written, “For you have not yet come to the rest and to the inheritance”: “the rest” is the building of Shiloh, etc.

And [we need] to understand the difference between the building of the Mishkan and the building of Shiloh, for seemingly they were exactly equal in their length and in their width and in all details: as the form of the Mishkan, so was the building of Shiloh made.

But the difference is that in the Mishkan the boards were cedar wood overlaid with gold, whereas in the building of Shiloh the curtains were specifically of stones.

12And to understand this: surely the boards of the Mishkan were far more precious than the curtains in Shiloh, which were of stones; so why is the Mishkan not called “rest,” while the building of Shiloh is called “rest”?

The reason is as above: stones, which are the level of the truly inanimate, the lowest level, have their root in the highest level, an encompassing of an encompassing, as above.

Cedar wood, etc., by contrast, is the level of the vegetative, whose root is from the level of an encompassing, as above. Therefore “the rest” is Shiloh, which was a building

of stones, the level of the inanimate, in which there was no protruding wood at all, the level of the vegetative, and the level of an encompassing of an encompassing rested in it, as above. (And see what is written about this on “And Yehudah approached him”; see there.)

And therefore the Rambam, of blessed memory, and Sefer HaChinuch (section 492) counted among the prohibitions “You shall not plant for yourself an asherah,” etc., that it is forbidden to make any protruding wood in the building of the Holy Temple, and one transgresses the prohibition “You shall not plant,” etc.;

only sunken wood is permitted, such as the ceilings, etc., because it was specifically of stones, the level of the inanimate, whose root is exceedingly high, etc.

(And for the difference between protruding and sunken, see what is written on “Set me as a seal.”) And therefore our Sages said of Cyrus that he turned sour, for he commanded to make three [rows] of stone and one of wood, etc.;

and this is forbidden, as above, to have any protruding wood in it, only sunken wood, which is the inner level, and not protruding, which is the encompassing level; it had to be specifically of stones, as above.

13And this is [the meaning of] “acacia wood, standing”: boards standing, seraphim standing; and “the ofanim and the holy chayos with a great noise,” etc. That is, Pesukei Dezimra until

the recitation of the Shema is the level of “acacia wood, standing,” the level of the vegetative, as above. And the holy chayos are “with a great noise” because they sense the existence (yesh) of the world;

and therefore, when they grasp the self-nullification (bittul) of “Holy... is the G‑d of hosts,” etc., they are in a great noise. Not so the seraphim, who do not sense the yesh as the ofanim do;

therefore they stand “above Him,” above the Shechinah (Divine Presence). And this is until the recitation of the Shema; but the 248 words in the recitation of the Shema are called 248 stones, the level of the inanimate, as above.

14And this is [the meaning of] “And he took of the stones of the place”: the 248 words of the Shema, the level of Malchus, which is the lowest level. “And he put [them] at his head (mera’ashosav)”: do not say “under his head,” but “mera’ashosav,”

[meaning] that its root is from the highest level, above the level of the intellect (mochin), which is “his head.” And this is [the meaning of] “And he set it up as a pillar, and poured oil”: for at first it is

only a point beneath Yesod, and Yaakov raised it and made it a pillar, “and poured oil upon it”: he drew down the level of the supernal intellect, “oil of holy anointing,” the level of supernal Chochmah.

15And this is [the meaning of] “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” For the level of Malchus is called the level of “stone,” the level of the inanimate, the level of letters: “two stones,” etc., which are the level of the inanimate. That is, the level of Malchus is the lowest level of all the ten Sefiros,

like the inanimate, which is lower than all the four elements; nevertheless it “has become the cornerstone,” for the root of the above-mentioned inanimate level is exceedingly high above all the ten Sefiros of Atzilus, the level of Keser Elyon (and see what is written about this in the Explanation on “This is the statute of the Torah”).

And the meaning of “the builders rejected”: for behold, Sarah gave her maidservant Hagar to Avraham and said, “Perhaps I will be built up through her”; and likewise Rachel [gave] her maidservant Bilhah and said, “Perhaps I too will be built up through her.” That is, the filling of the hei.

For there is the upper hei, the level of Binah, [and] the lower hei, the level of Malchus; and there is the filling of the hei, which is the lowest level within Malchus, which descends and clothes itself in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah to become “a head to foxes,” and it is called the level of a “maidservant” relative to the essence of Malchus.

(And see what is written on the subject of the filling of the hei in the discourse beginning “May He reveal to us its reasons,” and see the Zohar, Parshas Bereishis, 27b.) And along these lines will be understood what is written in the book Asarah Maamaros, in the Maamar Chakor Din, chapter 10, that they said in the Aggadah concerning David

that Yishai thought he was coming to his emancipated maidservant, but in truth the maidservant had passed the signs to his wife, in the manner of Rachel to Leah; see there.

(And in the Gemara and in the Midrash Rabbah this Aggadah is not found; on the contrary, from what is said in the Midrash Rabbah on Tazria, chapter 14, “Did father Yishai intend...,” etc., the implication is not like this exposition.)

In any case, the meaning and subject of this maidservant is the level of the filling of the hei, as above, which is the lowest level within Malchus, the level of the inanimate, and is called “stone.”

Therefore he said, “The stone the builders rejected”: the above-mentioned builders rejected it because it is “a head to foxes,” “her feet go down,” and it is the lowest level, the level of the truly inanimate.

And this level can be built only through the level of David, for the reason explained in Sefer HaGilgulim and for the reason explained in the book Asarah Maamaros there. Nevertheless, when this building is built,

then there is an extra elevation in it, and through it to the level of Malchus of Atzilus, so that thereby it becomes the cornerstone. That is, as the Ramaz writes on Parshas

Ki Sisa (189b): because all the refinements (beirurim) that are raised up from below by the lower Malchus rise up to Malchus of Atzilus, and it raises the refinements above, and by this power it became the cornerstone. That is, in Atzilus they are refined with a higher refinement.

Now, the refinements are from the World of Tohu, which is above the World of Tikkun (and as is written about this in the Explanation on “I am black yet comely,” mentioned above), and the main building is specifically through the refinements,

for “their beginning is wedged in their end and their end in their beginning.” And there are several levels of stones: kneaded stones, perforated stones, etc.

And with all this will be understood what our Sages said (in Yevamos 62b) on “to bring a blessing to rest upon your house” [Ezekiel, chapter 44], that a man’s blessing is on account of his wife.

And this is [the meaning of] “In all my days I did not call my wife ‘my wife,’ but [I called] my wife ‘my house’” (in Shabbos 118b). And it needs to be explained, for in the kesubah the man writes to his wife, “I will honor and sustain,” etc.

And seemingly it is puzzling: how does he write, “I will honor and sustain”? Surely they said, “A man is sustained only on account of his wife.”

But in truth both are true. For the main work of drawing down the level of the supernal kindnesses (chasadim) is from the level of the male; except that it could be that the kindnesses would be only in a revelation of G‑dliness and the like,

and would not descend below at all into physical livelihood. That there be drawn from the level of Chesed and compassion of Atzilus below, “He gives bread to all flesh,” physical [bread], this is on account of his wife, the level of Nukva, Malchus of Atzilus, which gives life to Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah,

which is called “my house,” which is the drawing down of the supreme encompassing [light], which gives the power for the drawing down to be below in physicality. And see what is written in Parshas Korach on “And it bore ripe almonds,” and see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “And you shall make garments of holiness.”

16Concluded.