ראו כי ה׳ נתן לכם השבת וגו׳

1“See, for G‑d has given you the Shabbos, etc.” In Midrash Tehillim (section 92): What is [the meaning of] “See”? Rabbi Yitzchak said: everything to do with Shabbos is double. The omer is double: “two omers for each one.”

Its offering is double: “And on the Shabbos day, two lambs, etc.” Its admonitions are double: “Remember” and “Keep,” etc. And in [Midrash] Rabbah on Beshalach, at the end of section 25, [it says] that Shabbos is equal to all the mitzvos, etc.; see there.

2And so it is in the Jerusalem Talmud, at the end of the third chapter of Nedarim. Now, [we need] to understand why on Shabbos we say, “Sanctify us with Your mitzvos,” in the form of a request for the future, etc.,

while in all the blessings of the weekdays, and also in all the blessings over the mitzvos, we say, “Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos”: that He has already sanctified us, in the past, etc.

But the matter will be understood through an introduction: to understand the reason that the Torah and the mitzvos are called by the name “the way of Havayah,” as it is written, “Its ways are ways of pleasantness, etc.”

3And likewise, “And they will keep the way of Havayah, etc.” For it is written, “For with Yah, Havayah formed (tzur) the worlds”: with the yud the World to Come was created, as is known.

And [we need] to understand how there can be any form of a letter Above, such as the form of the letter yud, with which [the World to Come] was created, etc., since there is no body or form there, heaven forbid. However, it is known that the world was created with ten (yud) utterances, etc.

4And their root is the ten words (dibros), “with wisdom, with understanding and with knowledge, etc.,” as is explained elsewhere. And even this [comes] to shine only through many contractions (tzimtzumim),

for in truth He, may He be blessed, is far, far above wisdom and understanding, etc., as in the saying, “Not that You have a known justice, etc.,” “and not of any of these attributes at all.”

For no emanated or created being bears any comparison at all to His essence, may He be blessed, even more so than the physical bears none to the spiritual, as is known and explained elsewhere.

And this is [the meaning of] “For I said, The world will be built with kindness”: the world must be built with the ten utterances through the raising of mayin nukvin (feminine waters), etc., as is explained elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “To my mare among the chariots [of Pharaoh].”

5Now, it is written, “For with You is the source of life, etc.” The meaning is this: the World to Come, as is known, is the souls’ taking pleasure in the radiance of the Shechinah (Divine Presence); and this pleasure that they take is

only through the comprehension with which they grasp G‑dliness specifically, as is plainly seen: whoever does not grasp the idea does not take pleasure or delight [in it] at all, etc.

6If so, the supernal, G‑dly delight has already come to be grasped, to be a yesh (an existent) and a “something” in the comprehension of the souls, to the point that they actually take pleasure [in it], etc.

And this is what is written, “To cause those who love me to inherit yesh (substance)”: the level of an actual yesh, as is explained elsewhere. And in truth, this level of the revelation of the supernal delight, which descended so far as to be a yesh and a thing, etc., is impossible except through a very great contraction (tzimtzum) of the essence of the supernal delight, as is known.

And this is [the meaning of] “For with You is the source of life”: the source of all delights and the source of all the life that the souls enjoy is “with You,” in Your essence

(and see the Zohar, Part III, Parshas Tzav, folio 34, end of side a, and Parshas Emor, [folio] 101a; and in the book Megaleh Amukos, [which] explains that mekor chayim (“source of life”) has the numerical value of Or Ein Sof). And the revelation of the delight drawn down to the souls has no comparison at all with You, for it descended through a great contraction, as mentioned above.

And this is the meaning of “With the yud the World to Come was created”: that is, through the great contraction of the letter yud, as, by way of analogy, the yud is written like a small point, as mentioned above.

So too, the manner of drawing down the delight from concealment into the revelation described above is the source of the entire World to Come, in which the souls take pleasure;

that is, because it includes all the finest particulars of the delights in which the souls delight in G‑d in Gan Eden. And this is [the meaning of] “With the yud [the World to Come] was created, etc.”

7And elsewhere it is explained that every drawing down is through the Name Havayah: that is, the yud is contraction, the hei expansion and the vav drawing down, etc.

The yud is contraction: for there to be a drawing down from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is the level of “the source of life” mentioned above, it must come through a contraction first, so that they will be able to receive [it], as is explained in Torah Ohr, at the end of Parshas Lech Lecha, in the discourse beginning “Sarai your wife, etc.”

8And this contraction is not a complete concealment and hiding, but rather in the manner of “A person should always teach his student in a concise way, etc.”

And as [with] the Written Torah, in which all that comes at length in the Oral Torah is alluded to concisely; for this reason the Written Torah is called “the instruction of your father” and the Oral Torah is called “the teaching of your mother”: just as the father’s drop contains the whole power of the child’s 248 limbs, in a concise way, etc.

9Therefore this level is likened to the letter yud. And from it the hei, which is expansion, is afterward drawn down, like the revelation of the Written Torah when it is revealed in the Oral Torah in length and breadth, etc. And as is explained on this in Biurei HaZohar, Parshas Acharei, on the saying there on folio 79b, “Bring an atonement for Me”; see there.

10And this is the meaning of “With the yud the World to Come was created”: the level of the World to Come is what has already been drawn down and revealed at the level of comprehension, and that is the level of the hei; and the source and root of the coming into being of this level is through the yud.

And see what is written further on the subject of “With the yud the World to Come was created” in the discourse beginning “I am black, yet comely”: “black fire.” And since the yud afterward divides into many fine particulars, it is said,

“For with Yah [He] formed (tzur) the worlds”: with the yud were formed all the particulars of the delights of the souls in the World to Come, and with the hei were formed all the finest particulars of the coming into being of the created beings below, as it is written, behibaram, “with the hei He created them”

(see on this in Iggeres HaKodesh, in the letter beginning “And David made a name,” and see what is written in Torah Ohr, Parshas Lech Lecha, in the discourse beginning “Sarai your wife, etc., [for] Sarah is her name,” on the reason why, for Sarah to give birth, the power of the yud was taken from her and the power of the hei given to her in its place;

for although Above, in the drawing down from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) into the World of Atzilus (Emanation), it is specifically through the yud, which is the level of contraction, etc., nevertheless below, in the drawing down from the level of Sarah, which is Malchus (sovereignty) shining into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, it is the very opposite: if the light were contracted, there would be darkness and complete concealment, etc.

And see what is written along these lines in the Biur on “When you go out,” concerning “and she shall shave her head,” on the subject of the hairs: Above they are of immense holiness, the thirteen tikkunim of the beard (tikkunei dikna), and “the hair of His head like pure wool, etc.”

And of the nazirite: “He shall be holy; he shall let the locks grow, etc.” This is not so with a woman: “A woman’s hair is ervah (nakedness), etc.” For the hairs too are the level of contraction, etc.

And from all this the reason will be understood here too, why this world was created specifically with the hei; and from this will be understood what is written further on, that one must always draw down the level of the hei, with which this world was created, so that there will not be contraction and darkness but rather expansion and breadth, so that there will be a revelation of G‑dliness, etc.)

from nothing into something. And not only this lowly world, but all the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, which are called the separate worlds, [being] finite (ba’alei gevul), and included in this are also the higher worlds, which are at the level of limited comprehension, etc.;

and the only difference between the yud and the hei is that with the yud the hidden world (alma de’iskasya) was created, which is the World to Come, [where they] take pleasure in the radiance mentioned above, and with the hei the revealed world (alma de’isgalya) was created, etc.

These are the worlds that came into being from nothing into something and a thing, etc. And it is called “this world” because they are the revealed world; that is why it is called “this world”: “this” (zeh), on account of the level of revelation, to the point that one can point to it with a finger, etc.

So too, [when] it is said, “With the hei this world was created,” the point is the level of the revealed world, which is called “this” (zeh). (And it can be said further that it is called “this world” because it is written, “G‑d has also made this one (zeh) opposite that one (zeh),” in Ecclesiastes, chapter 7, [verse] 14.

And in this world the two levels are mixed together, for the G‑dly soul is enclothed in a body [made] from the skin of the serpent, etc. Therefore the two levels of zeh mentioned above are mixed together in it; that is why it is called “this world.”

And therefore too [it is] “today to do them,” specifically, and to draw down this level of zeh, which is what is written, “This (zeh) is my G‑d, and I will glorify Him”; whereas of the Time to Come our Sages, of blessed memory, said that “in them there is neither merit nor obligation,” in Shabbos, chapter 23, folio 151b.)

112. Now, [as for] this level of the revelation of the drawing down from concealment, whether with the yud, with which the World to Come was created, so that [the souls] take pleasure in the radiance, etc.,

or in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, which “with the hei He created,” etc.: for to draw down the revelation of the hei into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, so that “the world will be built with kindness,” and as it is written, behibaram, [read] be’Avraham (“through Avraham”), is through an arousal from below, as is explained in Iggeres HaKodesh, in the letter beginning “And David made a name.”

12And it is only through Torah and mitzvos specifically, as it is written, “And He placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it”: “to work it” — these are the 248 positive commandments, etc.

That is, the revelation of the level of the supernal delight in Gan Eden is increased specifically through the 248 positive commandments. And this is [the meaning of] “Let every soul praise Yah”: tehallel (“praise”) is a term of praise and a term of illumination, as it is written, “When His lamp shone (behilo).”

That is, the soul is to draw down the light and revelation of the Name Yah, so that there be a revelation and drawing down of the yud in the World to Come and a drawing down of the hei in this world.

Therefore the soul is called “the lamp of Havayah”: it is the level of a lamp that draws down the Name Havayah, so that “with Yah, Havayah formed (tzur) the worlds,” as is explained on this in Torah Ohr, Parshas Miketz, in the discourse beginning “Sing and rejoice, O daughter [of Zion].”

13Now, the reason that this drawing down is specifically through mitzvos will be understood from the fact that the root of the mitzvos is in the level of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the supernal delight, as it is written of the Torah, “And I was with Him, etc.,

a delight (sha’ashuim)”: that is, the level of the King’s delights in His own essence, as is explained elsewhere, which is the essential supernal delight called the source of all delights, etc., the level of “For with You is the source of life, etc.,” mentioned above.

But for this delight to be revealed, from concealment into revelation, in the souls in Gan Eden and the like, which is what is written, “and my delights are with the children of man, etc.,” this is

only through the Torah and the mitzvos, as one says, “Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos,” which are the level of essential delights, etc.; and through this intention of the blessing over the mitzvah, the supernal delight is drawn down and comes into revelation.

And this is [the meaning of] “one who engages in Torah lishmah,” for the sake of the Torah: that is, he draws down the level of the essential delights that are in the Torah into revelation in the word of halachah. And therefore it is said of the Torah, “Its ways are ways of pleasantness, etc.,”

in Proverbs, chapter 3, [verse] 17. Noam (“pleasantness”) means sweetness, and noam Havayah (“the pleasantness of Havayah”) is the level of the essential supernal delight, the level of “For with You is the source of life”

(and see the Pardes, under the entry Noam; and the Zohar, Part III, Parshas Shelach Lecha, folio 161b, on “And now, let the power of Ado-nai be great,” explaining that noam Havayah is the matter of “the power of Ado-nai,” the power drawn from Atika Kadisha, the most hidden of all hidden, etc.; see there. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “And now, let [the power] be great.” And see Me’orei Or, the letter nun, section 13).

And the Torah is called a “way,” for in it are the ways, the paths and the course of the drawing down of the pleasantness of Havayah from concealment into revelation, like, by way of analogy, a road on which one goes from place to place, etc. And darchei (“ways of”) is a plural form.

Now, the Pardes, under the entry Derachim (“ways”), explains that they are Chesed (kindness), Gevurah (restraint) and Tiferes (beauty); and these are the levels of Torah, [divine] service and acts of kindness, which are the general categories of the Torah.

14And of this our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “A woman is acquired in three ways (derachim)”: the woman is the Community of Israel. “With money” — this is acts of kindness. “And with a document” — this is the letters of the Torah. “And with cohabitation” — this is [divine] service, which is the offerings (korbanos), the drawing near (kiruv) and union of the levels, etc.

And now prayer is in place of the offerings: the eighteen blessings of prayer correspond to the eighteen vertebrae of the spine, through which the flow (shefa) is drawn from the brain, etc. But in particular, each mitzvah is the level of a “way” for drawing down the pleasantness of Havayah.

Noam Havayah means that the level of pleasantness and supernal delight is drawn down through the contraction of the yud, the expansion of the hei and drawing down, which is the meaning of the Name Havayah, as explained above on “With the yud the World to Come was created,” etc.

15And that is through every mitzvah. And the explanation of the matter: we must further explain the meaning of “For with You is the source of life.” “With You” is not His actual being and essence, but the level of His Name, may He be blessed, which is called the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof),

which is the level of “with You”: included and nullified in You, like the light of the sun included within the body of the sun, as is written in Sefer Shel Beinonim [Tanya], Part II, chapter 3.

16And this level is called “the source of life,” that is, the source of delights, as is known that Atik is the source of delights, and it is the level of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), as is explained elsewhere.

And the meaning of “the source of delights” is that it is not like delight below, which is drawn from something outside oneself, such as from tasty food or from grasping a matter of wisdom.

This is not so Above: there is nothing at all outside of Him, may He be blessed; if so, the supernal delight is only in the manner that its existence is from its essence. So there is nothing at all like it among the delights in the world, and they are not of its order or kind at all.

Therefore this level is exalted far, far above even supernal Chochmah (wisdom), for in Chochmah too there is a compound of two levels: the wisdom, and the delight that is in the wisdom. If so, this delight in Chochmah bears no comparison at all to the essence of delight, which is simple in the utmost simplicity.

17And the explanation of the matter: we see, by way of analogy, below, that delight spreads in length and breadth more than all the powers of the soul;

that is, in all things the end and the purpose is that one takes delight and joy in it; and conversely, opposite this, is pain and suffering, heaven forbid, which are the opposite of delight.

18If so, this is [the meaning of] good and evil: delight is called good and life-force, as in [the blessing] “to give life with them to the soul of every living being,” whose meaning is: for sustaining life (pikuach) and for delight, as explained in Orach Chaim, in the Laws of Blessings. So this level of delight is also called actual life-force.

19And so it is with all of a person’s toil: for example, one who engages in commerce in order to profit and grow rich, because his delight comes from this; and there is one who wearies himself in wisdom, because from this comes his delight, etc.

And we also see that there are endlessly many kinds of delights. For example, in general, there is delight in the sense of taste, in eating a tasty food that is sweet to the palate;

and in this too there are very many delicacies and drinks, of all different kinds. And there is delight in the sense of smell, and it is a different kind of delight from the delight in the sense of taste.

And likewise there is delight in speech: one takes delight in purity of language, in reasoning, rhetoric and grammar, or even in a witty remark (milsa dibedichusa), or in other

words that he wishes to speak. And even “worry in a man’s heart — let him speak of it (yesichenah) to others”: by this the worry and the pain go out. So perforce he takes delight in this speech, and through it the pain, which is the opposite of delight, is pushed away.

And likewise there is delight in hearing a pleasant voice, vocal song (zimra difuma), or a sweet musical instrument and the like; and likewise in sight there are many delights; and all the more so the delight in the intellect and in the emotive attributes (middos), etc.

Now, all the delights of this world come only from what fell in the shattering of the vessels (sheviras hakeilim), and it is actual dross compared with the supernal delight, as is known from the matter of “Let there be a firmament, etc., and let it divide between water and water,”

and therefore all the delights of this world for a thousand years bear no comparison whatsoever to the delight of a single hour in the lower Gan Eden, the souls’ taking pleasure in the radiance of the Shechinah (Divine Presence); as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Better is one hour of bliss (koras ruach) in the World to Come than all the life of this world,”

that is: even if one lived in this world a thousand years in great delight and every good, this is not reckoned as anything even against one hour of the bliss of the World to Come, because it is a delight of a different kind, infinitely superior to the nature of the most precious delight in this world;

just as we see below, in the delights of this world, that the delight in the intellect, for example, is an entirely different kind of delight from the delight in the sense of taste.

20And similarly the delight in sight, etc.: so within delight there are several modes, entirely different from one another. In the same way it is understood that the delight even in the lower Gan Eden is a kind of delight of a different order, to which all the delights of this world bear no comparison at all.

21And therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said concerning Elisha Acher, “Better that he be judged and enter the World to Come”: that all the sufferings of Gehinnom for the full twelve months — and our fire is one sixtieth of the fire of Gehinnom — are worthwhile for the sake of receiving the delight even of the lower Gan Eden.

But the higher Gan Eden is a supernal delight far, far above the lower Gan Eden, so much so that there is a river of fire (nehar dinur) separating them, in which [the soul] must immerse in order to forget the delight of the lower Gan Eden when it comes to the higher Gan Eden,

so that [that delight] will not confuse it there; see what is written on this in Torah Ohr, in the discourse beginning “Their appearance and their workings.” And in this manner there are endless ascents, etc., “they will praise You, Selah,” and all of it is only in the spreading forth of a glimmer from His Name, may He be blessed.

And this is the meaning of Selah: it denotes the revelation of a glimmer from Atik that is enclothed in Binah (understanding); see the Pardes, in the Erchei HaKinuyim, under the entry Selah; and the Zohar, Parshas Vayikra, folio 20a, and the Mikdash Melech there.

That is, the source of all delights is the level of His light and radiance, may He be blessed; and this is the meaning of “taking pleasure in the radiance of the Shechinah.” That is,

all the delights mentioned above are the enclothing of a glimmer of the delight in Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah, from which some glimmer and revelation is drawn into Gan Eden; and the glimmer of the delight that is drawn into Chochmah and Binah is drawn from the level of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is the level of His Name, may He be blessed,

which is the source of delights, that is, the essence of delight, not like delight from something outside oneself, as mentioned above; rather, the level of the Infinite Light is itself truly infinite delight.

22And this is [the meaning of] “For with You is the source of life”: the actual source of life of all the worlds, and also in the sense of the explanation of “to give life with them to the soul of every living being,” that is, the level of delight, as mentioned above; for the source of all this is the level called “for with You,” that is, His Name, may He be blessed.

But of His very being and essence, may He be blessed, it is not at all fitting to say that He is a source for the flow of life and delight in the ten Sefiros and in the worlds; rather, this source is from the level of “for with You,” etc.

3. Now, the mitzvos are the supernal will; and the will is still at the level and rank of their outer dimension (chitzoniyus).

23As it is written, “And you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” But their inner dimension (pnimiyus) and essence is the supernal delight itself, blessed be He,

which is the inner dimension of the will, as is known; and of this it is said, “Back and front You have formed me.” And by way of analogy, “from my flesh I see”: delight is the main purpose, and the will follows the delight; because there is gratification (nachas ruach) and delight before him, he therefore wills and desires it.

24Therefore the will is called the level of the back (achorayim) and the outer level relative to the supernal delight, blessed be He, that is enclothed in it. And of this it is said, “And you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen”: the inner dimension of the delight is not revealed, only the level of the will,

just as in a person, nothing is seen and revealed to another but the level of will alone: he reveals to him his will that such and such should be.

But the inner delight enclothed in it, and the purpose of it, what delight and gratification he has from it, is not given to be made known and revealed. And it is this delight that is enclothed in the mitzvos, which are His will, may He be blessed.

25And this is [the meaning of] “Asher (Who) has sanctified us with His mitzvos”: asher is from the term “In my happiness (be’oshri), for they will call me happy (ishruni),” which is a term of acclaim and praise; and it is on account of the great abundance of the delight that there is in this,

enough to acclaim and praise it greatly. And of this level it is said of Asher, “and he dips his foot in oil”: only the level of his foot is enclothed in the level of oil, which is the level of supernal Chochmah (wisdom), etc.

26Now, the difference between the level of the back (achorayim) and the level of the face (panim), “from my flesh I see”: the nape of the neck has no division into organs, for one skin covers all of it.

This is not so with the face: there the form of the division into organs is seen and revealed, eyes to see, ears to hear, etc.; and the delight in seeing is a different level from [the delight in] hearing, etc.

So it is Above, as it were: the level of the supernal will, blessed be He, is called the level of the back, and it has no division at all. Therefore the will enclothed in the mitzvos includes all the mitzvos equally, for all of them are the level of His will, may He be blessed;

and this is one praise for all of them, except that it is a very great praise, as mentioned above, for the supernal will is above Chochmah (wisdom), etc.

Therefore the delight and joy drawn from this is called by the name zemiros (“songs”), like a song in which one very beautiful melody is sung many times, as mentioned above.

But as for the supernal delight, blessed be He, enclothed in the mitzvos, each mitzvah has a particular delight; for the delight is the inner purpose enclothed in the will, and the inner purpose enclothed in the will of this mitzvah is not enclothed in the will of another mitzvah,

for each mitzvah has a different intention, as is known. And as, by way of analogy, with the face: the delight in seeing, enclothed in the eyes, is not at all like the delight in hearing, in the ears; and likewise the delight in tastes, “the palate tastes food,” etc.: each kind of delight is a different essence.

So too the level of the supernal delight that is drawn down and revealed through the mitzvos: in tzitzis [there is] a special delight, different from the delight in another mitzvah, and likewise in tefillin, etc., and in all the mitzvos.

27This is unlike the quality of the will, which is one level for all of them. It follows that the mitzvos are the particular drawings down of the delight, like, by way of analogy, the delight in seeing and the delight in hearing, etc.;

and their root and source is the level of the source of delights, which is above the level of particular delight, etc. And see what is written in Torah Ohr, Parshas Yisro, in the discourse beginning “And all the people saw the sounds.”

28And this is why the mitzvos are called “ways of pleasantness”: they are particular ways drawn from the source of delights, which is called noam Havayah (“the pleasantness of Havayah”). And see Biurei HaZohar, Parshas Vayishlach, on [the verse] “For the ways of Havayah are straight.”

And this is why all the practical mitzvos are called “the paths of Havayah”: like a path and a trail on which one goes from place to place, so too through the mitzvah a path and way is made for drawing down the Name Havayah, through contraction and expansion, etc.,

from the level of the concealment of the supernal delight into revelation, as mentioned above. And this is why all the mitzvos in general are called by the name “way,” as it is written, “And they will keep the way of Havayah, to do charity, etc.” And this is also the meaning of noam Havayah, like the meaning of “the way of Havayah,” etc., as mentioned above.

But the reason charity in particular is mentioned is known: because it includes all the mitzvos. For the general principle of all the mitzvos is that they are 248 drawings down from concealment,

that is, nine times nine, etc., up to the five chasadim that bring growth; and charity is the drawing down of Chesed (kindness), etc., like a person’s right hand, after which the whole body is drawn, etc.

294. Now, it is written, “Six days you shall work, and on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest,” in Parshas Tisa (34:21). At first glance it is not understood why plowing and harvest specifically are mentioned.

But the matter is that “Six days you shall work” refers to the service of G‑d, may He be blessed, as it is written in the section “And it will be, if you listen,” “and to serve Him with all your heart, etc.” And in this there is plowing, sowing and reaping, as it is written, “Sow for yourselves for charity,” [and] “Light is sown for the righteous.”

30And see what is written on this on [the verse] “Those who come, Yaakov will take root,” and on “When you come into the land, etc., the land shall rest,” and in the discourse beginning “Listen, O heavens,” and in the discourse beginning “And you shall draw water with joy.” For

it is known that the thirty-nine labors, plowing and sowing, etc., just as they exist below, so do they exist Above. As, by way of analogy, one who sows makes the fruits of his crop grow with added blessing, etc.,

so too Above, the level of the drawings down of the supernal delight, that it come into revelation, which is only through a mitzvah, as mentioned above; and it is called by the name “labor” (melachah) because it is a level of descent and contraction, as mentioned above,

like labor, which is the spreading forth and descent of the life-force into the action of one’s hands, etc., as is explained elsewhere. But [the worker] intends benefit and improvement in the labor of his work, that there be added blessing, etc.

So too Above, the benefit of the service of charity is to bring added blessing from the concealment of the supernal delight, as in [the meaning of] “Blessed are You, G‑d,” etc., as is known.

31And this is [the meaning of] the blessings over the practical mitzvos, “Blessed … Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos,” etc.; and this is the meaning of “to serve Him,” etc. And this is also the meaning of “Six days you shall do your work,” to plow and to sow, etc.

These are all the deeds of the mitzvos on the weekdays, which arouse the drawings down of the supernal delight, etc. But “on the seventh day you shall rest,” “for on it He rested from all His work,”

and the matter is this: on the weekdays, although through the practical mitzvos the hidden supernal delight is aroused to come into a revelation of light in Gan Eden, etc.,

nevertheless it does not yet actually come into revelation until Shabbos; rather, it is prepared and ready to come into revelation, and it is still concealed.

But of Shabbos it is written, “And you shall call the Shabbos a delight”: the supernal delight comes into actual revelation. For the souls’ taking pleasure, etc.,

is specifically on Shabbos, as it is written, “And it shall be, from one new moon to the next and from one Shabbos to the next, all flesh shall come,” as is written in Sefer HaBahir, that there is a pillar, etc.;

and this is because on Shabbos the supernal delight comes into revelation, as mentioned above. However, there is nothing new in this revelation that is revealed on Shabbos,

for it was already prepared during the week, only it had not yet descended below; on the contrary, all the revelation of delight there is on Shabbos is nothing

but what was aroused Above through the mitzvos one did during the week, and no more, as mentioned above. And this is what [the Sages] said, “One who toiled on the eve of Shabbos” specifically “will eat on Shabbos,” etc.

32And this is [the meaning of] “And on the seventh day you shall rest”: what one toiled at in service during the week comes into revelation on Shabbos. If so, there is no need on Shabbos for service like the service of the weekdays, which is in the manner of plowing, to have a broken and crushed heart, and in the manner of subduing (iskafya).

Rather, on Shabbos the service is in the manner of delighting in G‑d, through the transformation of darkness into light (is’hapcha chashocha linehora). That is, the service of the weekdays is the drawing down in concealment, and on Shabbos it is drawn from concealment into revelation; and this is [the meaning of] “And you shall call the Shabbos a delight,” etc.

33And this is the reason that on Shabbos we say “Sanctify us with Your mitzvos” only as a request, that there come into revelation what has already been prepared and stands ready, etc. But on weekdays we say “Who has sanctified us,” in the past, that is, [what is] still at the level of concealment, as mentioned above.

And this is the very reason that we say “with Your mitzvos,” in the second person (nochach), on Shabbos: because it has come into revelation; while on weekdays, because it is still concealed, we say “with His mitzvos,” in the third person (nistar, “hidden”), etc.

And this is why our Sages, of blessed memory, said that Shabbos is equal to all the mitzvos together: for through the mitzvos that one does, the light still remains concealed, and its drawing down into revelation is through Shabbos, etc.

(And one can say that there is an example of this in what our Sages, of blessed memory, said at the beginning of the sixth chapter of Berachos: that the section “And it will be, if you listen” is called [a time when] “they are not yet doing the will of the Omnipresent (Makom),” and that is why it says in it, “and you will gather in your grain,” etc.; see there. Yet it says in it, “if you will diligently listen to My commandments.”

Rather, it must be said [that this is] because the light drawn down through the mitzvos remains in concealment and hiddenness, at the level of makif (encompassing light); but to be “doing the will of the Omnipresent” is when it is drawn down and shines from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) and makif into the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and inner light, so that the encompassing light is united with the inner light;

and therefore it is called “doing the will of the Makom,” for one draws the light into the level of the root of “place” (makom), which is the level of “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds,” etc., as is written in [Sefer Shel] Beinonim, Part II, chapter 7, and as it is written, “Blessed is the glory of Havayah from His place,” etc.; for this is the ultimate purpose: that there be a dwelling place among the lower realms.

And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “Return, O Israel, unto [Havayah].” And similarly with Shabbos in relation to the six days of work: on the weekdays the light drawn down through the mitzvos still shines at the level of makif, and is not drawn into revelation in the source of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah except on Shabbos, etc.

And therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “A person’s sustenance is allotted to him from Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, except for the expenses of Shabbos and Yom Tov”; for Shabbos and Yom Tov are like the level of “when Israel do the will of the Omnipresent,” for then “their work is done,” etc.)

345. Now, it is known that in every joining of upper and lower there must be something that joins them, as mentioned above. And here too, since there is upper and lower,

that is, the level of the essential supernal delight and the level of revelation to the lower beings, who receive and take pleasure in the radiance, etc., there must be something that joins and brings the hidden supernal delight to be joined with the lower beings in revealed form, etc.; and the joiner is the level of prayer.

For it is known that prayer is called a ladder, as is written in the Zohar on [the verse] “A ladder set up on the earth, and its top reaching to heaven,” etc. And like a ladder, it has many levels, by means of its rungs, as is known. And in general,

there are four worlds, Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, as is known, and they are like four rungs on a ladder, since they are one above the other and one ascends from level to level, from Asiyah to Yetzirah, as mentioned above. And it is known that prayer is divided, in general, into these four levels of Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, since

prayer is a matter of ascents through self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh), “To You, G‑d, I lift up my soul,” etc.; and in general there are four ascents, corresponding to the four worlds, from Asiyah to Yetzirah, as mentioned above. And this is like the analogy of the ladder with four rungs, etc.

35Now, of the ladder it is said, “and its top reaching to heaven,” etc. This is to show that the ladder is the intermediary that joins the upper with the lower: for just as one goes up it from below to above, so one goes down it from above to below.

It follows that through the ladder the upper can descend to the lower and the lower can ascend to the upper; if so, the ladder is what joins the upper with the lower, etc.

And this is [the meaning of] “and its top reaching to heaven”: by way of analogy, like a beam fixed from the ground to the roof, which thereby joins the roof with the ground; so too the ladder, because its top reaches heaven and it is fixed in the earth, therefore joins heaven with earth, etc.

(And see on the subject of “and behold, a ladder” in the Zohar, Part I, Vayetzei, folio 149b, and in the commentary of the Ramaz there: the eighteen vertebrae of the spine. And see what is written on the subject of the eighteen vertebrae of the spine, which correspond to the eighteen blessings of prayer,

in the discourse beginning “He has not beheld iniquity in Yaakov,” and in the discourse beginning “Let them bring royal apparel,” regarding “He rides on His light cherub and floats through eighteen thousand worlds”; and see Me’orei Or, the letter samech, section 28, on the subject of “ladder.”)

And the analogue will be understood in prayer, which is like a ladder in that it is an ascent and departure through self-sacrifice, etc. Yet this very thing is what makes prayer be called by the name of a joining intermediary: that through prayer, too, the light of the descent of the flow from above to below will come,

like the ladder, on which one also descends from above to below. And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “My dove, in the clefts of the rock,” and in the discourse beginning “And Moshe assembled.”

36And this is the reason that prayer is called a crown, as in the matter of “he binds crowns for his Maker from the prayers of Israel,” etc., and as it is written, “with the crown with which his mother crowned him”: this is prayer, which makes the level of a crown Above.

Now, a crown is placed on the head, above it, and is made of precious stones and pearls, as is known. And the analogue will be understood Above: from the level of the refinements (beirurim) of the 288 sparks, etc.,

which ascend through the self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) in prayer, there is made Above the level of a crown and diadem over the level of the head and the intellect (mochin), etc.; for it is called a ladder, and the ladder’s top reaches heaven and joins the level of the head with the end,

and this is the level of the crown and diadem in heaven, for the ladder reaches there and makes a diadem and crown, etc. (And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “The mezuzah on the right,” and in the Zohar, Part I, Vayishlach, [folio] 169; Zohar, Part III, Ki Seitzei, folio 278a.)

And since prayer is the joiner, raising the lower to the upper and bringing the upper to the lower, there are in it two aspects: the raising from below to above that is in it,

through which the deeds of the mitzvos done with physical things, into which the supernal delight fell in the shattering of the vessels, are elevated, so that they rise as mayin nukvin (feminine waters), as “a well of living waters,” as is explained elsewhere on “Then Israel sang,” etc.,

“Spring up, O well,” etc.; and in it and through it there is also drawn down the supernal delight, as mayin duchrin (masculine waters), from above to below.

37And therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “If the children of Israel kept two Shabbosos according to their laws (kehilchasan),” etc. Kehilchasan means, by way of analogy, the going (halichah) on the ladder mentioned above, on which there is going from below to above and from above to below;

and this is kehilchasan: [one going] in the manner of ascent from below to above, to arouse the level of the supernal delight Above through service and the deed of the mitzvos, as mentioned above; and the second, from above to below, that the upper come to the lower, which is the level of the revelation of the supernal delight below, etc.,

“they would immediately be redeemed.” This is because prayer is the joiner, bringing the lower to the upper and the upper to the lower, and this is what is called “uniting unions” (meyached yichudim), as is written in the books of the Kabbalists.

(And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Everything to do with Shabbos is double,” etc., “two lambs,” etc., “Remember” and “Keep,” etc.: for “Keep” is for the feminine (Nukva), which is the ascent from below to above, and “Remember” is for the masculine (dechura), which is the drawing down from above to below, as is explained in the discourse beginning “Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it.”

That is, this is the meaning of “two Shabbosos according to their laws”: in every Shabbos there is first the going from below to above, and afterward the drawing down from above to below, etc.;

and therefore everything to do with Shabbos is double. That is, according to the measure of the raising from below to above, by an arousal from below during all the six days of work, in the manner of “to work it and to guard it,” etc., so is the revelation from concealment and the drawing down from above to below on Shabbos afterward, etc.)

And this is [the meaning of] “Until Your people pass over, Havayah, until [the people] pass over,” etc.: these two passings. The first is from below to above, in the manner of self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh), in ascents and departure, as mentioned above; and then they pass beyond the Name Havayah that is revealed in Gan Eden only through contraction, as mentioned above,

for they arouse the level of the essential supernal delight, called the source of all delights, etc., as mentioned above. And the second passing is from above to below:

that is, the Name Havayah descends and is drawn down from the concealment of the supernal delight into revelation, and then the Name Havayah passes over Israel; for the descent is the reverse of the ascent, etc.

38And this is [the meaning of] “See, for G‑d has given you the Shabbos,” etc. For it was explained above that “one who toiled on the eve of Shabbos” specifically “will eat on Shabbos,” etc.;

that is, the revelation of the supernal delight on Shabbos is only according to the measure of what was prepared of the hidden supernal delight through the practical mitzvos they did during the week, as mentioned above.

39And this is what is said of the manna, “What you will bake, bake,” as mentioned above: the weekday prepares for Shabbos, and nothing is prepared on Shabbos; for the delight of Shabbos does not come of itself, but only from what was already prepared during the week through doing the mitzvos,

for they themselves are what come into revelation of the hidden supernal delight, and nothing besides them at all. If so, from where would the delight on Shabbos come? Therefore He gives them “on the sixth day bread for two days,” etc.

40And see on this in the Zohar, Part III, Parshas Behar, folio 110b. And this is [the meaning of] “See, for G‑d gives you”: “you,” precisely;

that is, according to the manner of your toil in service during the week, so He gives you the Shabbos, in the revelation of the supernal delight, as mentioned above. If so, the whole Shabbos is in your power, to add to it or to diminish from it,

that is, according to the measure of your service in the deed of the mitzvos during the week, as is written above on the subject of “Its ways are ways of pleasantness,” etc. And this is [the meaning of] “has given you,” etc. And see [Midrash] Rabbah on Bo, section 15, on “This month shall be for you.”

“Let no man go out of his place.” See on this in the Zohar, Part II, Beshalach, [folio] 63, end of side b, [and] Vayakhel, 207a; and it is like the matter mentioned above in the explanation of “doing the will of the Omnipresent (Makom),” etc.

And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “For over [all] the glory,” in the explanation of “Blessed is the glory of Havayah from His place,” and see what is written in the explanation of “Blessed is the Omnipresent (HaMakom)” in the discourse beginning “When I break for you the staff of bread.”

416. And to explain the matter a little, the meaning of “until [they] pass over” twice, etc.: it is known that in truth, “not that You have a known justice, etc.,”

and that the coming into being of the attributes (middos) from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) is only through Torah and mitzvos, by the raising of mayin nukvin (feminine waters) from the refinement of the 288 sparks in the practical mitzvos, such as the esrog and tefillin, from physical things, etc.

And “the 248 commandments become 248 limbs of the King,” meaning 248 vessels for the attributes of the World of Atzilus (Emanation), as explained in Etz Chaim: nine times nine is 81, and in each one there are three levels, head, middle and end, which makes 243; and the five chasadim that bring growth [make it] 248, etc.,

as is explained elsewhere. And therefore the Torah and the mitzvos are called by the name “the way of Havayah,” since they are the way for the drawings down of the Name Havayah into every attribute and Sefirah, etc.

And this is [the meaning of] “until Your people pass over, Havayah”: through their Torah and mitzvos they pass far, far above the level of the Name Havayah, until they draw down the Name Havayah, etc.

And the second “until [they] pass over” is from above to below: the Name Havayah passes over them and lifts them up, as in “the Ark carried its bearers,” as is explained elsewhere.

42And the root of the matter of prayer being like a ladder, etc.: it is known, concerning the order of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), that the level of Netzach (victory), Hod (splendor) and Yesod (foundation) of the higher becomes the intellect (mochin) of the lower; for example, Netzach, Hod and Yesod of Abba and Imma (Chochmah and Binah) [become] the mochin of Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes), and Netzach, Hod and Yesod of Z’eir Anpin the mochin of Nukva (the feminine / Malchus), etc.

And this is the root of the matter of “a helping king” (melech ozer), which is at the level of Netzach, Hod and Yesod alone, etc. And this whole order never ceases, because “Abba and Imma, their union (zivug) is constant,” for the sake of drawing down mochin, etc.

However, from this constant delight there are not drawn entirely new mochin, but only [mochin] to renew the old ones, as is written in Etz Chaim.

But prayer, which is called a ladder, as mentioned above, is what draws down additional lights and the level of entirely new mochin; and this is [the meaning of] “with the crown with which his mother crowned him,” etc.

And this will be understood by way of analogy from birth, in which we see that there is an addition of new mochin: for the brain in the head, although the drop descends from it, the brain remains as before

and nothing is lacking. If so, it must be that this drop is new, from what was added in the brain; and it is specifically this that gives birth to something new, like the child formed from the drop, etc. And so too at the actual time of birth, when the woman gives birth to the child:

the woman sits on the birthstool, and the child is formed from her womb, which is reckoned as of the very substance of her body; and the child does not come forth from the level of Netzach, Hod and Yesod, which are the legs, according to the order of hishtalshelus, in which the Netzach, Hod and Yesod of the higher become the mochin of the lower, etc.

If so, this shows that at the time of birth there is a renewal of new mochin that did not yet exist at all; therefore it is impossible for them to come from the level of Netzach, Hod and Yesod,

for drawing down new mochin is impossible according to the order of hishtalshelus, but only from far, far above the order of hishtalshelus, since it is new from its very root, and in the order of hishtalshelus there is nothing new, etc.

And from this it will be understood that so it is Above as well: in the level of the constant union of Abba and Imma, from which comes the order of hishtalshelus, as is known, there is nothing new in the way of drawing down entirely new mochin, etc.;

therefore the order comes from the level of Netzach, Hod and Yesod of the higher to the lower, etc. But prayer, whose “top reaches heaven,” is what brings about a level of union

like the level of the procreative power in the masculine drop, which is above the level of the order of hishtalshelus and draws down entirely new mochin, as explained in Pri Etz Chaim, that in all the intentions (kavanos) of the unions in prayer [the aim] is to arouse the masculine drop, etc.

And it is also from the level of the mayin nukvin of the refinements of the 288 [sparks], etc.; for “the blood is the soul,” and from food the drop is formed, in the mochin of Nukva, as an addition,

that is, entirely new, etc. And these are the very diadems and crowns that are made from the prayers, as written above on “with the crown with which his mother crowned him,” etc.

43And with this will also be understood the matter of “the king stands and the Augustus sits,” mentioned in [Midrash] Rabbah on Beshalach, section [23]: for the level of “the king stands” is when [the light] is drawn according to the order of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), which is according to the constant union, in which there is nothing new, etc.; the hishtalshelus comes from the level of Netzach (victory), Hod (splendor) and Yesod (foundation), as mentioned above.

But “the Augustus sits” is when it is drawn from above the order of hishtalshelus, like the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, which is the level of birth, which “depends on Atika”;

that is, at the level of birth the flow does not come from the level of Netzach, Hod and Yesod — on the contrary, the thighs grow cold, etc. — but from the level of Chesed (kindness), Gevurah (restraint) and Tiferes (beauty), etc.

44Now, by way of analogy, a minor does not beget, because he does not have the vessel of the brain in completeness. If so, we see that even the procreative power, which draws down mochin

that are new, depends on the vessel of the brain: if the brain is not complete, he will not beget. And the same applies to the proper development of all the other limbs: if he is not whole in all his limbs, he cannot beget, and the like.

And the analogue is understood Above: although prayer is the drawing down of new mochin, at the level of the procreative power, as mentioned above, nevertheless, if the vessel of the brain and the vessels of the limbs are not whole in all their power, it is impossible to draw down new mochin through prayer alone.

And the matter is that through Torah and mitzvos the building of the whole body is made, in the 248 limbs of the King, as mentioned above; and afterward there can be

a drawing down of lights and new mochin through prayer. And the main thing is the mitzvah of Torah study, which is the level of the mochin themselves, etc.; and all this Israel draw down through the Torah and the mitzvos, as mentioned above.

45Now, during all the six days of work the structure of the body is built, which is all the lights and vessels in the 248 limbs, through the Torah and mitzvos that are done, as mentioned above;

but the light still remains in the World of Atzilus (Emanation) alone and has not come into revelation. And although through the prayer of the weekdays entirely new intellect (mochin) and lights are also drawn down, as mentioned above,

all of it is at the level of Atzilus alone and has not come into actual revelation. Therefore we say “Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos,” for it was still hidden in the mochin, like, by way of analogy, the arousal of the drop while it is still in the brain, etc.

But on Shabbos is the main union, to bring about something truly new, that is, that it be revealed actually below. And this is [the meaning of] “And you shall call the Shabbos a delight,” etc., and as it is written, “Then you shall delight in Havayah,” below, in actual revelation. And therefore one says “with Your mitzvos,” in the second person, etc.

And the main difference between the weekday and Shabbos is that of the weekday it is written, “with the crown with which his mother crowned him,” from the level of the supernal Imma, which is at the level of returning light (or chozer) going upward and does not descend and come below, as mentioned above in the matter of the difference between Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah (understanding), etc.

But on Shabbos [it is] the level of Abba, which descends from above to below, at the level of direct light (or yashar), as it is written, “holy convocations” (mikra’ei kodesh), the level of drawing down from above to below, etc., as is explained elsewhere.