היום הזה הוי״ה אלהיך מצוך לעשות את החוקים…

1“This day Havayah your G‑d commands you to do these statutes and the ordinances; and you shall keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul.” “You have caused Havayah to say this day,” etc., “and Havayah has caused you to say this day,” etc.

To understand the meaning of “this day,” when it does not say which day: [it is] because the verse is connected to the section above it, which ends “a land flowing with

milk and honey.” For before they entered the land there was the making of a covenant over the acceptance of the Torah, “besides the covenant which He made with them at Chorev”; and this is [the meaning of] “this day,” etc., that is, at the time of their entry into the land.

Therefore “and honey. This day Havayah”: their initial letters are one combination of [the letters of] Havayah, for the vav of “and honey” in the first section is joined to the verse below it, since it is all one matter.

2Now, the level of the Land of Israel is the level of the Oral Torah. For the level of Israel is the level of “man” (adam).

This is as it is written, “And upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man,” etc.; and this is the Written Torah. And the Land of Israel is the level of the Oral Torah, the level of “and the earth is My footstool”

(and see on this in the discourse beginning “The heavens are My throne,” at the beginning of Parshas Bereishis). For although the main body of the laws of the Oral Torah is at the level of physical action, nevertheless it is

like the level of the foot and the final deed in relation to the level of “man” mentioned above; only that it descended and was enclothed, from a high place to a low place. And it is called “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

For “honey and milk are under your tongue,” and these are the secrets of the Torah, because there is sweetness in it; and these are the very reasons of the Torah. And all of it is drawn and flows forth from the level of “land” mentioned above.

For “last in deed, first in thought”; and it is impossible to grasp the reasons of the Torah and its secrets except through knowledge of the Oral Torah,

as, for example, a king who builds a magnificent building: it is impossible to grasp his wisdom and his will in the building unless that building is completed in its wholeness.

3Now, this wholeness and completion is in the final deed, which is according to the Oral Torah, in which is the revelation of His will, may He be blessed.

For according to the Written Torah it is impossible to know any law clearly without the explanation of the Gemara: for example, the exposition of totafos in tefillin, etc., and the like;

and how they are written, and all the details of their fine points. (And see in Iggeres HaKodesh, near its end, in the discourse beginning “A woman of valor is the crown of her husband.” And this is the matter of “an extra measure of understanding (binah) was given to woman,” etc., which our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded in the fifth chapter of Niddah on the verse “And Havayah Elokim built the rib,” etc. And see in the Zohar, Bereishis)

(page 48b). And see what is written in Parshas Va’eira on the verse “Therefore say to the children of Israel,” in explaining the matter of “And I will bring you to the land,” etc. And also, “And He built” (vayiven) is a term of building, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said on the verse “And great shall be the peace of your children (banayich)”: do not read “your children,”

but “your builders (bonayich).” For the Oral Torah is also called a “house,” as is explained elsewhere; and it is known that the level of “house” has its root in a very high place, etc.

And see what is written in Parshas Naso, at the end of the discourse beginning “Thus shall you bless,” on the matter of “And great shall be the peace of your children,” etc. And therefore the vav of “and honey” is joined with “this day Havayah,” so as to be in the combination of one Name Havayah.

4Now, there is the aspect of world, year and soul: for just as this aspect exists in the world, so it exists in the year, and that is on Rosh HaShanah.

Therefore this section is read before Rosh HaShanah, for “this day,” etc., refers to Rosh HaShanah (see the commentary of the Ramaz on the Zohar, at the beginning of Parshas Bo) (page 32b),

on [the words] “‘the day’: this is Rosh HaShanah.” And every year before Rosh HaShanah a covenant must be made anew over the acceptance of the Torah, for on Rosh HaShanah is the level of “commands you to do the statutes,” etc.

(Because Rosh HaShanah is one matter with the Oral Torah: for Rosh HaShanah is the level of “that you make Me King over you,” and “Malchus is the mouth; we call it the Oral Torah,” etc. Therefore,

just as in the Oral Torah there is the revelation of the Supreme Will, how the tefillin and the sukkah, etc., are to be made, so on Rosh HaShanah there is the revelation of the Supreme Will; and therefore on Rosh HaShanah is the level of “commands you to do,” etc.)

And therefore it is called Rosh HaShanah (the head of the year) and not the beginning of the year: for just as there is the level of the head in the soul, which is head and intellect in relation to the body, so there is the level of a head in the year, and that is Rosh HaShanah

(it is the level of the skull (gulgalta) that covers over the brain, which is the level of the revelation of the Supreme Will, as is explained elsewhere on the verse “Sound the shofar at the new moon,” etc. Now, just as in the Oral Torah there is the level of “an extra measure of understanding was given,” etc.,

so too in the level of awe, which is the level of Rosh HaShanah: even though awe is called the feminine level (Nukva) in relation to love, as it is written, “a woman who fears Havayah,” and it is written, “He remembered (zachar) His kindness,” nevertheless “this is the gate,” etc., and its root is from the higher awe, etc.

And likewise in the level of speech, which is the level of the building of Malchus, which is called “the word of Havayah,” which is the level of Rosh HaShanah: this level of “an extra measure of understanding was given,” etc., applies to it too. And this is [the point]: what is written, “And Havayah Elokim built the rib,” was on the sixth day of the work of creation, which is Rosh HaShanah.)

52. Now, on Shavuos the first Tablets were given, and on Yom Kippur the second Tablets were given. And the first Tablets were given with thunder and lightning, whereas the second Tablets were not. The explanation is that there are two kinds of love. The first is the level of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the heart, which is called “the desire of the heart” (reusa deliba).

6And the second is at the level of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus), in the revelation of the heart. By way of analogy: with a son and his father, there are two levels in his love for him.

For if he dwells with his father in his house, the level and attribute of love is not yet recognizable and revealed in him, and it is only at the level of the inner dimension of the heart. Whereas if his father has gone far from him,

then the level of love is revealed and goes outward, at the level of great revelation, so that his soul thirsts and pines for him. But when he dwells with him, the love is nullified and included in the abundant joy and delight of being in his father’s palace.

7And this is the matter of Yom Kippur, which is a semblance of the World to Come, the world of delight, in which there is no eating and drinking; because on it all Israel are raised to a great elevation, as it is written, “For on this day He shall atone for you,” etc., “before Havayah you shall be purified.”

That is, He atones for and purifies all the sins that separate, and tears all the screens, so that there is no screen at all separating Israel from their Father in heaven.

And this is [the meaning of] “before Havayah you shall be purified.” And then “Israel rejoices in its Maker,” without any hindrance or disturbance whatsoever; and from the abundance of joy and delight the attribute of love that is in them is included and nullified, and it suffices [for it to be] at the level of the inner dimension of the heart, in the desire of the heart (reusa deliba), alone. (As is explained in the discourse beginning “Give ear, O heavens.”)

Now, in order for a person to reach this level and rung: “The beginning of wisdom is the awe of Havayah,” which is the level of Rosh HaShanah — to bring down upon himself the level of awe, the level of His kingship (Malchus), for we call Him “the King,” so that awe and dread of Him be upon us

(see the Zohar, Pinchas, 214b; and see what is written above in the discourse beginning “I am my beloved’s”). And this is [the meaning of] “Say before Me [verses of] Kingship, so that you make Me King over you.” For

it is written, “Your kingship is the kingship of all worlds,” and He, may He be blessed, leaves the higher beings and lowers and draws down the level of His kingship below, upon Israel alone,

as it is written, “Havayah, the G‑d of Israel, is King,” and it is written, “Thus says Havayah, the King of Israel and his Redeemer,” etc. And this is [the meaning of] “Havayah reigns; He is clothed in majesty,” etc.,

which is the song of the sixth day: for on the sixth [day] of the work of creation the first man (Adam HaRishon) was created, and Rosh HaShanah was then, on the sixth day, for “This day is the beginning of Your works, a remembrance of the first day.”

That is, on it the first man was created; and therefore he sang the words of this song, “Havayah reigns; He is clothed in majesty.”

The meaning, by way of analogy: just as a garment conceals and covers the person, so is the matter of the level of kingship, that He clothed and contracted Himself in many garments and contractions until He is called by the level of “King,” and so that His kingship be over Israel.

Now, Israel are likened to the moon, which shines specifically at a distance from the sun. So too, as it were, it is written, “From afar Havayah appeared to me”: through distance, the light of love for Him, may He be blessed, shines in him, so that his soul pines for Him, to cleave to Him.

(And see on the matter of “From afar Havayah appeared to me” in Rabbah, Shemos, section 1, regarding “And his sister stood from afar”; and in the Zohar, Part II, 12a, and in the Mikdash Melech there. This verse is also mentioned in the Zohar, Part I, 6a, 97a, 120a, 196b;

Part II, 125b, 126a; Part III, end of 20b, 35b, 58b, 64b, 174a, 248b; as all this is recorded in the book Beis Aharon.)

For Rosh HaShanah is called keseh (“covered”), for on it the new moon is covered; that is, it is nullified and included in His will. For because of the revelation of His G‑dliness and His kingship, the level of awe is aroused, and the self-nullification (bittul) of will, the level of a point that has no light at all; and with distance the light of love goes on shining in it more and more openly.

That is, by his making himself as if he were very far from the light of His countenance, may He be blessed, through considering all the thoughts, words and deeds that are not for G‑d which passed during the whole year;

and through this his love for G‑d will be revealed outwardly, at the level of “their heart cried out,” more than in all the year. For during all the year it is like the analogy of the father who has gone far from his son, as mentioned above; but of the Ten Days of Teshuvah it is written, “Call upon Him while He is near.”

8And our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded: “These are the Ten Days of Teshuvah,” when He is called “near,” only that He has gone far and hidden from him. And this is like, for example, a son who is with his father in his house,

only that the father hides his face from him, so that his son will take the love to heart and his love will be revealed with greater force. And when the son recognizes that the father is here and is hiding his face from him,

then his love will certainly grow, at the level of greater revelation. And this is why we say “Our Father, our King” during the Ten Days of Teshuvah: it is the level of the revelation of love, at the level of “their heart cried out”: “Father, Father!”

9Now, just as the moon, as it moves away from the light of the sun, goes around in its circuit until it returns and reaches the light of the sun, so, as it were, through distance, in that we make ourselves as though far away, the light of love goes on circling upon us, until

on Yom Kippur we return and rise to a great and mighty elevation, until we come to be “before Havayah,” where the love is at the level of the inner dimension of the heart and is included and nullified in rejoicing in G‑d; because then, on Yom Kippur, the Community of Israel (Knesses Yisrael) are at the level of “face” (panim). And see below, in the discourse beginning “On the eighth day he sent.”

103. However, it is impossible to reach this level and rung, the level of “face” mentioned above, except through searching and examining one’s deeds during the Ten Days of Teshuvah, as it is written, “Seek My face”: that it be like a lost object that is sought, which one must search after, and [so one must] examine one’s deeds, as mentioned above.

And this is [the meaning of] “You are standing this day, all of you,” etc., “that you may pass into the covenant of Havayah your G‑d,” etc.: for wherever “this day” is said, it is Rosh HaShanah. And on Rosh HaShanah He passes the covenant into you, which is the bond in the inner point of the heart

(for although on Rosh HaShanah there is the drawing down of the level of awe, as mentioned above, nevertheless “its inside is inlaid with love,” only that the love is in the inner dimension of the heart alone, in the manner of “and rejoice with trembling”; and as is explained below on the verse “I will greatly rejoice in Havayah; my soul shall exult in my G‑d,” etc.; see there).

And it is called a “covenant” because it is impossible to cleave to Him in the inner dimension of the heart (even though this level certainly exists in every soul of Israel)

unless He removes the foreskin of the heart, as it is written, “You shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart.” And the foreskin is the attachment to cravings and the other physical things of the world. And as long as he has upon him this level of

foreskin in his heart, it covers and hides from him the light of His countenance, [keeping him] from cleaving to Him in the inner dimension of his heart, since his outer dimension is bound and attached to the vanities of the world. (And see in Parshas Shelach, on the verse “gathering wood.”)

And this is [the meaning of] “into the covenant of Havayah your G‑d”: that is, that the bond be that the level of Havayah becomes “your G‑d,” your own, so that you are nullified to Him from the depth of the heart.

And this is what Jeremiah the prophet said: “Remove the foreskin of your heart and circumcise yourselves to Havayah.” The meaning is that he taught the people knowledge, that a person’s heart should not fall within him when he sees the outer dimension of his heart bound to the physicality of the world, so that he says, G‑d forbid, “We are cut off; our hope is lost.”

Rather, “remove the foreskin of your heart”: that is, in each and every one of Israel there is the level of the inner dimension of the heart; only, since the foreskin rules over his outer dimension, the inner dimension too is hidden and concealed within him.

But when you remove the foreskin, the covenant and the bond will of itself be revealed, in “circumcise yourselves to Havayah”; and then even the outer dimension of his heart will be openly for G‑d, like flashes of fire, a flame that rises of itself.

(And this is the matter of “and unify our hearts,” as is explained in the discourse beginning “Who has counted”; and see what is written in Parshas Bereishis, at the end of the discourse beginning “To understand the matter of the blessings,” that for this reason there must be the drawing down of the seal, etc.; see there.

And from this the matter of the seal of Yom Kippur will be understood: because Yom Kippur is the level of the inner dimension of the heart, therefore we merit then the level of the seal, which is the level of “and unify our hearts” (see there); and it is also the level of the seal with “Blessed” of the Oral Torah, as is explained there on the matter of “Seal the Torah among My disciples.”

And this is the matter of the making of the covenant over the acceptance of the Torah before Rosh HaShanah, which includes that the study of Torah be for its own sake, in the manner of “If he merits, it becomes for him an elixir of life,” etc.; and upon this the completion of the seal is drawn down on Yom Kippur, etc. And see what is written in Parshas Eikev on the matter of “and he must mention covenant and Torah in the blessing of the land.”)

And this is [the meaning of] “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” which at first glance is not understood: surely He has no likeness of a body, G‑d forbid! And also, what is [the meaning of] “in our image,” in the plural?

It will be understood through what was said above. For the Holy One, blessed be He, is “hidden and revealed.” The meaning of “revealed” is as it is written, “You have been shown, to know that Havayah is G‑d; there is none else besides Him,”

because it is seen with the sight of the senses that “all before Him is considered as nothing,” and He constantly brings them into being and gives them life from nothing to something; and were His life-force to withdraw for an instant, they would revert to being nothing and utter nullity.

11If so, the nothingness and nullity in them is constantly seen, and “the glory of Havayah is revealed” openly, for “there is nothing besides Him.” Yet even so, He is “the most hidden of all hidden,” “no thought can grasp Him.” And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “And you shall know this day.”

So too He made man with two hearts, the levels of the inner and the outer dimension mentioned above. (In Rabbah the verse “Let us make man” is brought in Bereishis, at the end of section 8; at the beginning of Parshas Chukas; Parshas Va’eschanan; and in Koheles, on the verse “For there is not a righteous man.”

Zohar, Part I, 22a, 23a, 34b, and see there 47a; Part II, 55a, 120a; Part III, 12a, 33b, end of 35b, and see there in the Ramaz; 42a, 104a, and see there in the Ramaz; 219b, 238b, 278b.)

And this is [the meaning of] “and you shall keep and do them with all your heart,” that is, with the two hearts mentioned above; and this is the level of “in our image,” for “image” (tzelem) is the level of the very essence and being itself; and see what is written in the discourse beginning

“When you go out.” And “after our likeness” is the matter of “with all your soul”: for there are two souls, the intellectual soul and the speaking, life-giving soul; and the two souls are at the level of letters,

only that this one is the level of the letters of thought, and that one the level of the letters of speech. And this is [the meaning of] “and with all your soul”: that one must be entirely for G‑d with both souls;

that is, to deepen his mind in the Torah with all his intellect, as far as the hand of his intellect reaches, so that he be wholly bound and attached to the Torah of G‑d, to cleave to Him;

and also that his speech be in the Torah, to draw down the power of the Supernal Thought from concealment into revelation in his mouth, in his speech in the study of Torah. And this is [the meaning of] “after our likeness”: for the letters have the level of a likeness and a form, which depicts the intellect and clothes it, and is not the essence and being of the thing itself.

12And this is [the meaning of] “You have caused Havayah to say this day”: for he’emarta is a transitive verb; that is to say, you have caused G‑d to say this utterance, “in our image, after our likeness.”

For through his toiling in the Torah and bringing it out with his mouth, he draws down from concealment into revelation the word of G‑d, to say the utterance “Let us make man in our image,” etc.,

as is known, that “through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata),” etc., and “breath brings breath,” etc. (And see what is written on the matter of “You have caused Havayah to say” in the discourse beginning “To My mare among Pharaoh’s chariots,” on the Song of Songs, and on the verse “And I will betroth you to Me.”)

And why all this? In order “to be your G‑d”: that is, that He be your own G‑d; that is, that the matter of His G‑dliness be firmly fixed in your thought and in your heart, to be nullified and included in His will, may He be blessed. “And Havayah has caused you to say this day”:

for He will give His speech to you, to engage in give-and-take in the word of the Omnipresent, as it is written, “And I have put My words in your mouth”; and through this you will be raised to a great elevation.

(And see what is written on this matter in the discourse beginning “This is the statute of the Torah,” and in the second discourse on the verse “On the eighth day, a solemn assembly”; and see on the matter of “and Havayah has caused you to say” in Rabbah, Ki Sisa, at the beginning of section 45.) “And to set you high above all the nations,” etc.

That is, the nations and enemies within you: to subdue them, so that there be no hindrance from within or from without, and so that the wisdom and understanding of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, shine in you (and see Rabbah, Vayishlach, section 75). And this is [the meaning of] “for praise (tehillah), and for a name (shem), and for glory (tiferes)”:

for tehillah is from the term “when His lamp shone (b’hilo),” which is a term of light: the level of Chochmah, sight. And “name” is the level of Binah, which is called “the great Name.” And tiferes is the level of Daas, which includes Chesed and Gevurah, etc.

(And see in the Zohar on Mishpatim) (page 123a) that Daas is called by the name tiferes; and also as the Ramaz writes at the beginning of Parshas Vayikra, that “Daas testifies in the face”; and in the Idra Zuta (end of page 293b): “and from this his face shines,” etc.

And this is the level of “May Havayah make His face shine upon you,” from which is drawn “To You my heart said, ‘Seek My face,’” the desire of the heart (reusa deliba), etc.; and as is explained above on the verse “When you go out,” and in Parshas Vayeitzei, in the discourse beginning “If you do not know,” etc.

And see on the matter of “for praise” in what is written below on the verse “will cause righteousness and praise to sprout before all the nations,” and on the matter of “the great Name,” on the verse “I,” etc., of the section of tzitzis; and on the verse “See, I,” etc.