ביאור על הדרוש וספרתם לכם דחג השבועות

1An explanation of the discourse “And you shall count for yourselves” of the Festival of Shavuos.

2An explanation of the matter of se’orah (barley) [as] shiur hei (a measure of five). Now, it is written, “They shall walk after Havayah; like a lion,” etc., “an ox lowing,” etc. [That is, like the level of the face of the lion in the Chariot, which roars and says “Holy.”

And “an ox lowing” is the level of the face of the ox in the Chariot, whose service is in awe, the level of the camp of Gavriel; and the face of the lion is the level of love.]

3And the matter is this: the angels are emissaries [for an angel (malach) is called an emissary, as is known], as it is written, “And she called the name of Havayah who spoke to her,” and likewise, “I will surely return to you.”

For it is the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) itself, which unfolds downward and descends to each one according to his rank: Michael in Chesed (kindness), etc.; and there is a Michael of the World of Asiyah (Action), etc.

[That is: the angel is a vessel for the light from G‑dliness that spreads into him; and since he himself is only a vessel, and is nullified in relation to the light, and the light is the main thing, he can therefore speak of himself in the language of G‑dliness,

for they say so by means of the light that is enclothed in them, which is G‑dliness (as is written in the Pardes, Shaar 24, chapter 11). And the light is from the level of the combinations of letters of the attribute of Malchus (sovereignty) of the World of Atzilus (Emanation).

For example, Michael came into being from the combinations of letters of the attribute of Chesed within Malchus of Atzilus, and Gavriel from the combinations of letters of the level of Gevurah (restraint) within Malchus.] And [there are] the finest particulars within the Ten Sefiros: Chesed within Chesed, Chesed within Gevurah, etc.

4And each of the ten is comprised of ten: Chesed within Chesed of Chesed, Chesed within Chesed of Tiferes (beauty), etc. [and as is the measure of difference in the blending of the Sefiros, so is the measure of difference among the angels that come into being from them]; and as it is written, “Is there any number to His legions?”

And myriads of myriads of angels of the camp of Michael are comprised of Chesed in many kinds of aspects and differing levels [that is: Chesed within Chesed within Chesed, or Chesed within Gevurah within Chesed; and according to the Sefirah from which he receives, so is the level of the angel.

Therefore there are many myriads of angels in the camp of Michael alone, even though they are all from one level, namely Chesed; only, there are many kinds of aspects within Chesed, as mentioned above. And see what is written at the beginning of Parshas Shelach,

in the discourse beginning “The matter of the spies.”] And even though they are comprised of all the Ten Sefiros, they are nevertheless called, in general, the camp of Michael, the level of Chesed, for the predominance of Chesed in them is very great, and Chesed spreads through them.

5And likewise the camp of Gavriel is, in general, the attribute of awe. And from the sweat of the Chayos issues the River of Fire (Nehar Dinur); “it shall whirl upon the head of the wicked.”

The meaning: their sweat is the level of the waste that issues from the fire, which is from the attribute of Gevurah (restraint) in these angels. And just as sweat comes out by force of the heat, which pushes the sweat outward,

so the warmth of the angels above, who stand in awe and trembling, etc., becomes sweat below, which is the matter of the venom of the heat and the anger at what is contrary,

and “upon the head of the wicked”: for since they apprehend the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, wrath arises against those who transgress His will: how did their hearts embolden them, etc.

6And this is the matter of se’orah (barley) [as] shiur hei (a measure of five) [which is the food of the angels, who are called “beast”: lion and ox, etc.]: that a measure and limit is apportioned to them from the level of five,

namely, the five articulations of the mouth; and it is divided into four camps: the camp of Michael, the face of the lion; and the camp of Gavriel, the face of the ox; and the level of the face of the eagle is compassion, etc.

Now, below, in man, compassion is that he arouses great compassion over his distance from G‑d, and falls into melancholy over his distance; and as it is written, “In all sadness there shall be profit.”

But above, this cannot be said; only, nevertheless, the compassion too comes from the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, and [from the fact] that a created being has no comparison whatever to the Creator, may He be blessed;

therefore the compassion over all the worlds grows great (and see what is written in Parshas Bamidbar, at the end of the discourse beginning “And He spoke,” etc., “by their families, by their fathers’ house,” and in Parshas Vayetzei, in the discourse beginning “And Lavan rose early in the morning”).

And this is [the meaning of] “And I bore you on eagles’ wings”: for since Israel were at that time in Egypt, in mortar and in bricks, and in order to merit the Giving of the Torah, “face to face Havayah spoke,” it was through eagles’ wings, which lift upward.

Therefore all four camps are from four articulations of the mouth. But the fifth articulation is the level of [the letters] gimmel, yud, kaf, kuf in the palate, and “all of them are refined through Chochmah (wisdom)”; it is this that “makes peace,” etc.

7And this is [the meaning of] “His palate is sweetness,” for there is the revelation of the sweetness; as in the physical, “the palate tastes food,” and tastes are in Chochmah (wisdom), etc.

And the letters gimmel, yud, kaf, kuf sweeten the Gevuros of the four articulations [and see the Zohar, Parshas Shemini, folio 39b; and see what is written in Parshas Vayechi on the verse “Chachlili (red) are the eyes,” etc.,

on the interpretation “every palate that tastes,” etc.; and see Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar HaShofar, chapter 1, concerning [the letters] gimmel, yud, kaf, kuf, [which are] from the palate, which is Chochmah, etc.;

see there; and in the Ramaz at the beginning of Parshas Acharei; and in the Zohar at the end of Parshas Mishpatim, folio 123a; and in the Idra Zuta, folio 295b.] Now, the explanation of the matter of the five articulations of the mouth:

The matter is that letters are a drawing forth, etc.; as in “And He blew into his nostrils the breath of life”: from the supernal breath (hevel) there was made and came into being, below, an intellect, namely the soul of Adam, the first man, etc.

For the matter and meaning of hevel (breath): it means the spreading forth of the soul’s life-force, like the spreading forth of the power in the hand to do any work; for when one is asleep he cannot do anything, etc.

And this level is the spreading forth of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of the soul, namely the level of the power of action. And along these lines it is also said above, “made the heavens and the earth,”

which is the spreading forth of the outer dimension into the World of Asiyah (Action) (and see about this in the discourse beginning “In the third month,” in Parshas Yisro, concerning “for all the praise of the work of Your hands”).

But “and by the breath of His mouth all their host” are from the level of the spreading forth of the life-force of the breath, which is more inward, etc. And there is the level of the spreading forth of thought, and above them the emotive attributes (middos), and above them the will; and similarly all the Ten Sefiros,

only that they are not revealed below except as five levels, as is written in Etz Chaim. And otiyos (letters) is from the term “morning comes (asa)”; “And G‑d said, ‘Let there be light’”: the drawing down of Chesed (kindness), etc.

For all is the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He: in souls, in the manner of the inner dimension (pnimiyus), “and a river goes forth from Eden to water the garden”; and in angels, in the manner of the outer dimension of each world, the keepers of the garden, etc.

8Now, the flow of influence to the angels, the “measure of five,” comes through Israel, by the meal offering of the Omer, which the kohen waves, etc.; and it is called “the Omer of the waving” (tenufah), which the Zohar, Balak, 188b, explains as tenu peh, “give a mouth,” “give honor,” etc.: the ascent of Nukva (the feminine) to her source and root, and from there the flow of influence descends, etc.

92. But on Shavuos, “the wheat harvest,” there is the drawing down and revelation of the concealed [level] that is above Daas (knowledge). For “the Tree of Knowledge was wheat,” [since] “a child does not know,” etc.; thus through wheat there is drawn down the revelation of the level of Daas, and it is the revelation of the concealed that is above Daas, etc.

That is, the level of “I am Havayah your G‑d”: Anochi (“I”), “who I am,” whom no thought can grasp, [drawn down] into the level of actually revealed Daas;

only, in the way that a child calls out “Abba” (Father), even though he does not grasp how he is his father. And this level of revelation is from the level of Anochi, His very being and essence, may He be blessed, far, far above the revelation of the level of barley, the food of the angels, which is the level of the word of G‑d, the level of the outer dimension alone.

10The explanation of the matter: it is written, “For not by bread alone does man live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of Havayah,” etc. The meaning is: [by] what comes forth from the mouth of Havayah, which has descended into the bread, from that man lives.

And although in man, too, what comes forth from the mouth of Havayah has descended and been drawn down, man is from the World of Tikkun (Rectification), from the union of Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes) and Nukva, etc., “like the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne; and upon the likeness of the throne, a likeness like the appearance of a man”: all is from the World of Tikkun.

But wheat is from what fell, in the breaking of the vessels, into nogah, “and a brightness (nogah) was around it”; and the level of nogah is from the World of Tohu (Chaos).

11And wheat is Bela, who is the first of the seven primordial kings of Tohu, the level of the Daas of Tohu; only, it descended below because it is from the outer dimension of the worlds of Tohu.

But nevertheless, since it is from the higher world, it becomes life-force for man. And its descent below is as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “There is no blade of grass below,” etc. [in Bereishis Rabbah, section 10]: that the influence comes from above, and “one higher than the high,” etc.

12Now, the child who knows how to call “Abba”: his Daas is not the Daas of revelation, for he does not know why he is his father;

rather, a bond to his father forms in him without reason or knowledge, and this bond is very strong; only, this is the revelation of the concealed itself [meaning: the revelation of the hidden Daas that is above the comprehended Daas,

and this is the Daas of Tohu, which is above the Daas of Tikkun, which is the comprehended Daas; and therefore it is born through wheat, whose root is from the Daas of Tohu.

Or it may be said that the hidden Daas is the higher Daas, which is above the comprehended Daas, which is the lower Daas. And see what is written about the matter of the higher Daas in the explanation on the verse “Thus shall you bless,” and on the verse “Arm from among yourselves”; and see what is written on the verse “And these are the ordinances”; and see what is written on the verse “Six days you shall eat matzos.”]

And in barley, too, there is “what comes forth from the mouth of Havayah,” which gives life to man; only, it does not impart to him the revelation of the concealed, which is the strong Daas that is from the world of concealment, etc.

13And the revelation of the concealed is “who brought you out of the land of Egypt,” far, far above the bounds of comprehension [as is written within]. Egypt (Mitzrayim) is called Binah (understanding), and Binah is in the throat,

which is a narrow strait (meitzar) that interposes between the brain and the heart; and it is the voice that arouses the intention. And likewise Pharaoh in Egypt, and his three officers: the windpipe, the gullet and the veins. And physically, between the head and the heart, [is] the throat, which interposes;

for in order that the heart and the emotive attributes be drawn from the brain, it must be narrowed, etc. [as is written above, Parshas Yisro, and in Parshas Va’eira on the verse “Therefore say”].

143. Now, the fifty gates of Binah (understanding) are “branches that separate”; but in their source they are included [together], when they are in Arich Anpin: the 370 lights, [that is,] 220 and 150, “a great reckoning,” the tikkun of Arich, etc.

[And as is written in Etz Chaim, Shaar Arich Anpin, chapter 14; and see Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar Sefiras HaOmer, chapter 7, concerning “My teacher, may his memory be for the life of the World to Come, would not cut his hair,” etc.; and see what is written about the meaning of “a great reckoning” in the explanation on the verse “Therefore the rulers say, ‘Come to Cheshbon.’”

15And see what is written in Iggeres HaKodesh, in the letter beginning “And He put on righteousness,” on the meaning of “every perutah adds up to a great reckoning,” etc.; and see Etz Chaim, Shaar Arich Anpin, at the end of chapter 5, that when they are above they are “a great reckoning,” etc.] And from there [it is drawn] to Malchus (sovereignty) of the World of Atzilus (Emanation), etc.: the illumination of the face, “may Havayah make His face shine,” the drawings-down of Keser (the Crown).

16And this is the matter of the Torah, that we recite the twenty-four books on the night of Shavuos. Although “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah (wisdom),” its source is the 613 paths, which are the whiteness from the skull (gulgalta) of Arich, Keser within Keser, etc.

And this is the matter of the two loaves of Shavuos, “Come, eat of my bread”: the drawing down of the intellect (mochin) from Netzach (victory) and Hod (splendor) of Abba. And on Pesach, matzah, because in Atzilus the Gevuros are not to be aroused;

but on Shavuos there is the revelation of Keser, which is the level that is above Atzilus: “they shall be baked leavened,” specifically, for there the Gevuros are included, etc.; “there is no left in this Atika”; “freedom from the Angel of Death”; and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Come, let us acknowledge the goodness of our fathers,” etc.

But it must be from below upward, little by little: “Today is one day,” “two days.” The meaning is: once one draws [it] down, there are here two days, for the drawing down of this day is not a different level from that of the other day,

but all is one level, little by little. And on the night of Erev Shavuos they are only forty-nine days; but once the day of Shavuos has come, they automatically become fifty days, since they have reached their source, etc.; and the fiftieth gate is what joins [them], etc.

17And through this the light of Keser is drawn down, and it is the illumination of the face: the revelation of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) through the vessel, so that the vessel does not interpose. And by way of “what comes forth from the mouth of Havayah,” too, there is a revelation of the inner dimension, but it is by way of an opening and a window, etc.

And the one is not like the other: by way of an opening there is more revelation, whereas the illumination of the face is only a mere illumination, etc., like the illumination of the forehead (mitzcha).

But the illumination of the face, at first, [was] “when it arose in the will,” etc. [see Etz Chaim, the Gate of Mayin Nukvin and Mayin Duchrin (feminine and masculine waters), Derush 2];

but now it depends on an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), as it is written, “May He make His face shine with us”: “with us,” specifically, through an arousal from below; for through the joy of the service, “with joy and with gladness of heart,” joy is aroused from above.

And the matter of joy, too, is the revelation of the inner dimension, as in “Rebbi’s face shone,” etc. [and see what is written in the discourse beginning “Go forth and see,” on the explanation of “and wine that gladdens,” etc., “to make the face shine more than oil”].

Now, first we draw down to the Omer, which is Nukva (the feminine): the drawing down of the 370 lights, arach and kan; and specifically at the time when the Holy Temple stood, for then they would offer the Omer. Whereas prayer applies even outside the Land, for [there are] many kinds of levels, etc. Through the waving of the Omer [come] the ascents of Nukva.

18Now, even so, this ascent is through the angels: “the lion that consumes the offerings,” etc. But in the Time to Come, “he shall be exalted and lifted up, and be very high,” even above the level of Moshe; and in the Mishkan of Moshe there was no lion.

And this is “At this time it shall be said to Yaakov and to Israel, ‘What has [G‑d] wrought,’” etc. And “the righteous are destined to have ‘Holy’ said before them,” etc. Then “the lion shall eat straw like the ox”: straw is the influence of the barley. And this is [why] now the angels crown the prayer: “he embraces it and kisses it and crowns it.”

For since prayer is in physical voice and speech, it cannot ascend except through the appointed angels (who are the intermediaries, “one higher than the high”; just as the soul enclothes itself in the blood through intermediaries, which are the vapors, etc.),

who give their own inner and encompassing [aspects]. But in the Time to Come, when “and the earth shall be full of knowledge” is fulfilled, all the levels will be in Israel themselves.

19A little additional explanation on the matter of “And you shall count for yourselves,” etc., “fifty days.” Now, according to what was written above, the matter of the Counting of the Omer is entirely the drawing down of the level and rank of the fiftieth gate, which is all-inclusive and united in its source; only, it is drawn down little by little, etc.,

until it joins and binds “the branches that separate,” etc.; see there. According to this, what is written, “you shall count fifty days,” is very precise: to say that this count is the drawing down of the fiftieth gate itself.

But elsewhere the meaning of “you shall count fifty days” was explained differently: namely, that the fiftieth day, which is the fiftieth gate, we do not have the power to draw down;

therefore it has no count; but nevertheless it is drawn down of itself and automatically, and this is specifically because the drawing down has already been completed in the forty-nine days;

and therefore it is said, “you shall count fifty days.” And close to this the Ramaz explained, on Parshas Bereishis (folio 8a), in the passage beginning “You are destined to be.”

And it may be said that what was explained there is along the lines of what the Ramaz wrote there, and in Parshas Emor, folio 96: that the Festival of Shavuos (Weeks) is so called because in it the forty-nine levels that are included in the fiftieth gate are revealed.

But the seven weeks of the Counting of the Omer are the forty-nine gates of Binah (understanding) themselves, and not the level of the fiftieth gate (and so it is implied in the Zohar, Part II, Tetzaveh, 183a; and in the Pardes, Shaar HaShearim, chapter 5; and so it is implied by what was written above, Parshas Yisro, in the discourse beginning “Their appearance and their workings”).

However, according to what is written [here], it seemingly follows that in the Counting of the Omer, the “seven weeks,” besides drawing down the level of the forty-nine gates of Binah, we further draw down upon them also an illumination of the fiftieth gate as well;

and this is the matter of “And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Shabbos,” that is, from the level that is above Shabbos, which is Binah, as is written above in Parshas Emor, in the discourse beginning “And you shall count for yourselves,” and in the discourse beginning “And the kohen shall wave the Omer.”

20And according to the words of the Pardes, Shaar HaShearim, chapter 5, the fiftieth gate is Binah itself, and the forty-nine gates of Binah are in the seven days of building; and see there, in Erchei HaKinuyim, the entry “Yovel” and the entry “Shabbos.”

And since in the Counting of the Omer we draw down the seven lower [Sefiros] of Imma, this is an illumination of the fiftieth gate, and on Shavuos the very essence of the fiftieth gate is drawn down and revealed. And also according to what is written in Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar 22, at the beginning of chapter 1, that in the Counting of the Omer we also draw down the mochin of gadlus (mature intellect) of Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah).

And also according to what is written elsewhere, on the matter of the zimun blessing, concerning “the wine preserved in its grapes since the six days of Creation”: that in the Counting of the Omer we draw down the six extremities (vav ketzavos) of Abba, which are enclothed in the six extremities of Binah. If so, according to this one can say that this, too, is an illumination of the fiftieth gate. Nevertheless, this requires examination.

21Now, if we say so, the matter of “you shall count fifty days” will be more precise; and likewise what we say, “Today is two days,” “three days,” and not “the second day,” “the third day,” etc.,

as mentioned above. And this does not contradict what is written elsewhere, that the fiftieth gate we do not have the power to draw down, but rather it is drawn down automatically on the Festival of Shavuos, etc.

And we must preface what our Sages, of blessed memory, said at the end of the first chapter of Sotah, on the verse “And no man knows his burial place”: to those who stood above, it appeared to them below; and to those who stood below, it appeared to them above. And the Maggid, whose soul is in Eden, explained this.

For Moshe our teacher, peace be upon him, attained in his lifetime the forty-nine gates of Binah (understanding), but the fiftieth gate “was not given to Moshe,” as is written in the Gemara and in the Tikkunim (end of Tikkun 22); and “the righteous are greater in their death than in their life,” for then he attained the fiftieth gate.

And this is the matter of “And no man knows his burial place,” and as is written in the Zohar, Parshas Yisro (folio 89a): “Just as Atika Kadisha is the most hidden of all hidden,” etc.; see there.

However, the meaning of “to those above it appeared below,” etc., is that the fiftieth gate of Binah is the intermediary between Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah;

for Chochmah is the level of ayin (nothing), and Binah is called yesh (something), and the intermediary between them, which joins them, is the fiftieth gate. Therefore “to those above,” that is, in relation to the level of ayin itself, it appeared below;

for since the fiftieth gate is the intermediary between ayin and yesh, it is then below the level of ayin; and in relation to those below, the level of yesh and comprehension, it appears to be above, that is, to be the level of ayin itself.

22At any rate, according to this it is explained that the fiftieth gate is the level of an intermediary between ayin and yesh. And likewise, according to what is written in the Tikkunei Zohar and in Etz Chaim there, that the fiftieth gate is the Supreme Keser (Keser Elyon), it is also known that Keser is the intermediary between the Emanator and the emanated, as is written in Etz Chaim (Shaar 41, chapter 3).

And see what is written in the explanation on the verse “I am Havayah your G‑d” of the section of tzitzis, on the meaning of “Is Havayah in our midst, or not (ayin)?” (and see the Idra Zuta, folio 288b).

Now, it is explained in Etz Chaim there that the intermediary is comprised of the two levels between which it mediates: that is, in Keser there are two aspects. The first aspect is the lowest level of the Emanator, and the second aspect is the root of all the emanated, that is, it includes them all as one, etc.

23And along these lines, in every level of Keser there are these two aspects; as in the Keser of Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes), which is formed from the Tiferes (beauty) of Imma, there are also two aspects

of these: the first is called the lowest level of the higher one; the second is called the root and head of the lower one. And this is the matter of the three thirds that are in the Tiferes of Imma, etc. And see Mishnas Chassidim, at its beginning, on this matter.

24And so too in the matter of the fiftieth gate, which is the intermediary between the forty-nine gates of Binah and what is above Binah.

And as is explained, in it and through it the forty-nine gates are united with their Emanator, blessed be He, which is the revelation of “Anochi: who I am.” If so, there are in it the two aspects: the lower aspect in it is what includes all the forty-nine gates as one,

like what is written in Etz Chaim, that the aspect in Keser called the root of the emanated has in it the root of all ten Sefiros, in concealment and great subtlety, such that it is impossible for an emanated being to be more subtle than it,

25and far, far above the essence of the forty-nine gates that were afterward drawn from it, which is like the drawing forth of the Ten Sefiros from the root of the emanated. However, of the upper aspect of the fiftieth gate of Binah one cannot say

that it is the root of the forty-nine gates, for it is entirely above the bounds of the gates of Binah, since it is not within the bounds of understanding and comprehension.

26And this is the matter that in Keser there is the lowest level of the Emanator, whom “no thought can grasp” at all: it is the level of “Anochi: who I am.”

And from this it will also be understood why it is sometimes said that the fiftieth gate we have no power to draw down at all, but rather it is drawn down of itself and automatically on the Festival of Shavuos.

27And here it was explained that the Counting of the Omer is the drawing down of the level and rank of the fiftieth gate, etc. And this is as was explained elsewhere on the meaning of “My holiness is above

your holiness”: that what we have the power to draw down through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), by fulfilling the mitzvos, is from the lower aspect of Keser, which is called the root of the emanated; and this is the matter of “your holiness,” “who has sanctified us with His commandments.”

But the aspect in Keser that is the lowest level of the Emanator, this we cannot draw down; and this is the matter of “My holiness is above your holiness,” that is to say, that this is drawn down afterward from above as a gift, etc.

And possibly along these lines one may also explain what we say on Shabbos and Yom Tov, “Sanctify us with Your commandments,” even though we say “who has sanctified us with His commandments,” [meaning] that He has already sanctified us, etc.

28So too in the matter of the Counting of the Omer and the Festival of Shavuos: even according to what is written here, that through the Counting of the Omer we may also draw down from the level of the fiftieth gate, this is indeed only its lower aspect, that is, the aspect in it that includes the forty-nine gates;

and this we draw down little by little in the days of the Counting of the Omer, and this is the matter of “Today is two days,” “Today is three days,” etc.

But its upper aspect, which is above the root of the forty-nine gates, this we have no power to draw down at all; rather, after we count and draw down the aspect that includes the forty-nine gates,

and this is the matter of “Today is forty-nine days,” etc., then automatically and of itself its upper aspect is revealed afterward, on the Festival of Shavuos, etc.,

which is the matter of the revelation of the lowest level of the Emanator. However, [we need] to understand how one can say that the fiftieth gate is the intermediary between Chochmah and Binah,

29and that “to those above,” that is, in relation to the supernal Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah), it appears to be below. But do not the Tikkunim and Etz Chaim say that the fiftieth gate is the Supreme Keser?

But in any case, even without this, we need to understand how one can say that it is the Supreme Keser and also the fiftieth gate of Binah.

30And from the Ramaz on Parshas Bereishis there, and on Parshas Pinchas, folio 253, it is implied that what is said, that it is the Supreme Keser (Keser Elyon), means the Keser of Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes), which is drawn to it from the level of the fiftieth gate of Binah (understanding) itself.

And if so, according to this one can also say that this fiftieth gate is an intermediary between Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah. However, even according to the plain sense of the wording of the Tikkunim, that it means the Supreme Keser itself, it is nevertheless possible to say

that it is an intermediary between Chochmah, which is the level of ayin, and the level of Binah, according to what is written in the book Emek HaMelech, Shaar 9, that the level of ayin is Chochmah

and it is above the level of Arich, which is the level of Binah, etc. And so it is in the Arizal’s explanation of the Idra, concerning “that path that divides into the 613 paths of the Torah”

(in the Idra, folio 129a); and these are his words: “And know that this skull (gulgalta), which surrounds the brain, is Binah, which is a chamber for Chochmah,” etc.

If so, it can well be said that the fiftieth gate of Binah is the intermediary between ayin and the level of Binah. And see what is written further on the matter of ayin in the explanation on the verse “You shall keep My Sabbaths.”

(One may further resolve what is said in the Tikkunim, that the Supreme Keser “is the completion of the fifty gates of Binah,” according to what was explained in Parshas Lech Lecha, that the revelation of Atik is specifically in Binah; and this is the matter of the hei that was added to Avraham, [so that] from Av-ram, which is the supernal Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah), [he became] Avraham, etc. And close to this the Pardes resolved it, there, chapter 7.)

Now, according to what was explained in the name of the Maggid, whose soul is in Eden, that the fiftieth gate is the intermediary between Binah, which is the level of yesh, and Chochmah, which is the level of ayin, the matter of the Counting of the Omer will be understood: that it is from the barley harvest to the wheat harvest.

For the matter of se’orah (barley) [as] shiur hei (a measure of five), which is the matter of the soul’s comprehension, “each one according to his own measure”: the root of this drawing down is from the level of Binah.

But wheat, which is the matter of the drawing down of the hidden Daas (knowledge) that is above the Daas that is comprehended and understood, this is the level of Chochmah; and as is explained elsewhere (in the discourse beginning “To understand what is said in the Haggadah, ‘This matzah’”), the matter of the mochin (intellect) of Abba, which are far, far above the mochin of Imma.

And the intermediary between them is the fiftieth gate of Binah; and this is the matter of the Counting of the Omer, which is the drawing down of the fiftieth gate to the level of barley, etc., along the lines mentioned above.

Now, according to what was said, that in the Counting of the Omer we also draw down from the fiftieth gate, and this drawing down is to the forty-nine gates of Binah themselves, to bind them and join them to the fiftieth gate, the intermediary, etc.: according to this it may be said that this is the matter of the forty-nine words in the psalm “May G‑d be gracious to us” and the forty-nine letters in the verse “Let them rejoice.”

That is, they allude to the forty-nine gates of Binah and to these forty-nine levels included in the fiftieth gate, which, through the Counting of the Omer, we draw down from the forty-nine levels in the fiftieth gate to the forty-nine gates of Binah, in order to raise them to their source and root and to unite them with their Emanator, blessed be He.

(In the book Emek HaMelech, Shaar 7, chapter 5, it is stated that wheat is in the Chochmah of the World of Tohu (Chaos), and barley in the Binah. And from the Chochmah and Binah mentioned, there were made afterward, in the World of Tikkun (Rectification), the level of ayin and Arich Anpin, etc.)