אלה פקודי המשכן משכן העדות וגו׳

1“These are the accounts of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony,” etc. Now, the difficulty in these verses is well known. [First,] it says “Mishkan, Mishkan,” twice. Also, what is written, “which were reckoned at the word of Moshe”: it should have said, “which Moshe reckoned.”

Also, it says “the service of the Levites”: what is the point of the service of the Levites, which was during the journeys, to carry the Mishkan? What does this have to do with the accounts of the Mishkan?

Also, what is written, “the service of the Levites by the hand of Isamar”: why is what was by the hand of Elazar not mentioned as well? (These questions are set out in the Alshich.)

The explanation is this. The Mishkan is the dwelling of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) in Israel, as it is written, “And I will dwell within them,” and it is written, “The sanctuary of G‑d are they” (in Jeremiah, chapter 7[, verse] 4). This is as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to have a dwelling place among the lower realms.

This must be understood: surely, even without this, it is written, “I fill the heavens and the earth.” The explanation, however, is that this dwelling means that there should be the revelation of His G‑dliness, may He be blessed.

2And this is specifically among the lower realms. “Lower” does not mean in place, for He, may He be blessed, is not within the bounds of place, as it is written,

“Behold, there is a place with Me.” Rather, “upper” and “lower” are in rank and level: this lowly world is the lowest and most debased in level,

that is, it is the end and furthest point of all the levels of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), so that in it the apprehension of G‑dliness is in concealment and great tzimtzum (contraction), “and darkness shall cover the earth.” And the Holy One, blessed be He, desired that specifically in it there be a dwelling and a revelation of His G‑dliness, may He be blessed, to illuminate the darkness specifically.

This is through Torah and mitzvos, as is known from the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory: “One hour of teshuvah (return) and good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to Come,” because through this one draws down a revelation of G‑dliness greater than the life of the World to Come, etc.

Now, the drawing down of this dwelling and this revelation comes specifically through the subjugation (iskafya) of the sitra achra (the other side), which is the evil inclination, as is written in the Zohar, Parshas Terumah, folio 128: “When the sitra achra is subjugated, the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, rises above, over all,” etc.

(See also the beginning of Parshas Yisro.) First there must be subjugation (iskafya), and afterwards the level of transformation (is’hapcha), [turning] darkness into light. This subjugation applies to all five senses: as in sight, “he shuts his eyes from looking upon evil,” and likewise in hearing, etc.,

and likewise in speech and action, and likewise in thought and the emotive attributes (middos) of the soul: “Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you.” Through this he will come to the level of transformation (is’hapcha), so that his five senses and his thought become actually a vessel for the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He. This is what is said of Israel, “The sanctuary of G‑d are they”: the meaning of “the sanctuary of Havayah” is

that the positive commandments and the prohibitive commandments depend on the Name Havayah, as is explained below: the positive commandments in vav-hei, and the prohibitive commandments in yud-hei.

Therefore, through fulfilling the positive commandments and the prohibitions, they become a sanctuary and a vessel for the revelation of the Name Havayah itself. This is the meaning of “And I will dwell within them,” as is explained below concerning “the accounts of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony,” etc.

3This is the meaning of the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory: “In the future, ‘Holy’ will be said before the righteous.” This is because through Torah and mitzvos they draw down upon their souls the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), that which is [the level of] “holy” and set apart, etc.

Therefore, corresponding to the three times “Holy,” it is said of them, “The sanctuary of G‑d are they,” three times (in Jeremiah, chapter 7). These are the three garments of the soul, thought, speech and action, on which the fulfillment of all the mitzvos depends.

(See what is written in the discourse beginning “And Yehoshua sent,” on the haftarah of Parshas Shelach; see what is written about the three times “earth” in Torah Ohr, at the beginning of Parshas Bereishis, in the discourse beginning “The heaven is My throne”; see on this in the Shelah, at the beginning of Parshas Vayechi; see the Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Eikev, folio 272, end of side b, and the Ramaz there; and see what is written on the meaning of “sanctuary” at the end of the discourse beginning “For You are my lamp.”)

This is the dwelling among the lower realms: that the souls, in this world, specifically in the body, become a vessel for [the level of] the holy and set apart, as it is written, “The Holy One in your midst.”

This is “And I will dwell within them,” specifically. All this is accomplished through the subjugation (iskafya) of the sitra achra, in “turn away from evil and do good,” etc.

4Summary. The Mishkan and “I will dwell within them”: a dwelling among the lower realms, which comes through subjugation (iskafya) and transformation (is’hapcha). “The sanctuary of G‑d are they” three times, corresponding to the three times “Holy.”

52. Now, we must understand the reason why the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, rises specifically through the subjugation of the sitra achra. Surely the sitra achra occupies no place at all in the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), as is known, and as it is written, “The spider grasps with its hands,” etc. The matter will be understood by first explaining the root of the positive commandments and the prohibitive commandments.

For it is known what is written in the Tikkunei Zohar, in the Introduction, folio 4, end of side b, and folio 5, side a, on the verse “This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance”: “My Name” (shemi) with yud-hei is 365, the prohibitions; vav-hei with “My remembrance” (zichri) is 248, the positive commandments.

6Now, yud-hei is higher than [the level of] vav-hei, for Yah is a Name in its own right. Also, some explain “Yehei shemei rabba” (May His great Name) as “the Name Yah [be] great,” etc.,

as is written in the Tur, Orach Chayim, at the beginning of section 56. It is also as written regarding “The hidden things belong to Havayah our G‑d”: yud-hei; “and the revealed things”: vav-hei are revealed, etc.

Likewise, “My Name” is higher than [the level of] “My remembrance,” as is understood from what is said in the Gemara, at the end of chapter 3 of Pesachim. If so, the prohibitions are higher than the positive commandments.

Therefore, if one transgressed a positive commandment and did teshuvah, he does not move from there before he is forgiven, whereas with a prohibitive commandment, teshuvah suspends [the punishment], etc. This is because they are drawn from [the level of] yud-hei, as is explained elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “To explain the matter of Yom Kippur.”

7At first glance this is astonishing, for the positive commandments are [a matter of] revealing and drawing down G‑dliness through action; this is [the teaching that] “the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King.”

In the prohibitions, however, there is no action at all, only that one sits and does not commit a transgression. If so, how can this be greater than one who performs a positive commandment?

The explanation, however, is that, on the contrary, this is the very reason: because the root of the prohibitions is from a very high place, from [the level of] yud-hei, therefore they have no vessels below

except through “sit and do not do,” etc. This is the meaning of “in a land not sown”: that is, the sowing is [the aspect of] “not,” namely in fulfilling the aspect of “not,”

that is, keeping the prohibitive commandments. This draws down from [the level of] “where no man dwelt,” that is, above [the level of] the positive commandments, which are [the level of] “man,” the 248 limbs of the King, etc.

8This will be understood by first explaining [the matter of] the positive commandments, which are the 248 limbs of the King, while the 365 prohibitions are the 365 sinews, in which the blood is. See what is written in the discourse beginning “When Israel put ‘we will do’ before ‘we will hear,’” and in the discourse beginning “To My mare among the chariots.”

Now, the meaning of “limbs”: by way of analogy, a limb is a vessel for the life-force of the soul that is enclothed in it, as the power of intellect is enclothed in the head and the power of action in the hands.

9Now, it is explained in [the Book of] the Beinonim, Part I, chapter 51, that the life-force enclothed in the limbs is only [the level of] a revelation and radiance from the soul, for of the soul itself one cannot say that it divides into 248 limbs, etc.,

and also that the revelation from it shines and is enclothed in the brain, and from there a radiance is drawn to all the other limbs, and each limb receives the power and life-force fitting for it, according to its composition, etc. See there at length.

Nevertheless, it is understood that this radiance of the soul’s life-force in each limb is united with the essence of the soul, and they become truly one: it is the soul that thinks with the intellect in the brain, and it is the soul that speaks, etc.

(See what is written about this analogy at length on “And He spoke” of the Ten Commandments.) When the soul departs from the body, all the powers that were drawn from it into the limbs depart.

Thus it is understood that the powers and life-force in the 248 limbs are united with the soul itself, and nevertheless each one dwells in a particular vessel, each one separately, since they are a radiance from the soul, etc.

10In the same way, by analogy, one can understand above the 248 limbs of the King, which is as the well-known saying, “He and His life-forces are one; He and His vessels (ihu vegarmohi) are one.” “His life-forces” are the light and life-force drawn from the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, to be enclothed in [the attribute of] Chesed (kindness).

Now, Chesed is called “the arm,” which is a limb and vessel for this simple light and life-force drawn from the Infinite One, blessed be He, who is not of these attributes at all.

If so, then “He and His life-forces are one,” for this light and life-force is united with its source, the Infinite One, blessed be He, as [explained] above in the analogy of the union of the life-force in the limb with its source, the essence of the soul. And also “He and His vessels are one,” for He, may He be blessed, and His attribute of Chesed, etc., are utterly united.

11Now, this drawing down, that the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) be enclothed in the 248 limbs of the King, by way of analogy, so that “He and His life-forces and His vessels are one,” is through the 248 positive commandments. For example, through charity and acts of kindness (gemilus chassadim) it is drawn into [the attribute of] Chesed, the right arm;

through fulfilling the commandments of judgments (dinim) it is drawn into Gevurah (restraint), the left arm; and likewise through an arousal from below, when one conquers his inclination, which is also [the aspect of] Gevurah, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Who is mighty?” etc. See what is written on this at length in the discourse beginning “Moshe would speak.”

12According to this, one will also understand the superiority of Torah study over all the other mitzvos. For there are two levels in the 248 limbs:

the first, the outer limbs, and the second, the inner limbs. By way of analogy, in the lower man, the inner dimension of the life-force is enclothed in the inner limbs more than in the outer limbs. Therefore, most of the inner limbs [are rendered unfit] by a perforation of any size, which is not so with the outer limbs.

13The analogue will be understood: although He has no body nor the likeness of a body, nevertheless “the Torah speaks in the language of men,” and there, too, there is [the aspect of] an inner and an outer dimension. In general,

the mitzvah of Torah study is, as it were, of [the level of] the inner limbs, for “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah (wisdom),” and of wisdom it is written, “A man’s wisdom makes his face shine,” as in [the account that] Rabbi Abahu’s face beamed because he had found

a new Tosefta. Just as through this there is a shining of the face, so it is drawn above, [so] that “G‑d make His face shine upon you,” [the level of] the inner dimension.

14As our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Whoever reads and studies, the Holy One, blessed be He, reads and studies opposite him.” This, that the Holy One, blessed be He, reads and studies opposite him, is the revelation of [the level of] the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) in the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah),

for in Himself He is not of the order of [the level of] Chochmah at all. This is a revelation of [the level of] the inner dimension (pnimiyus), just as in the brain in the head there is the revelation of the inner dimension of the life-force. This is [the meaning of] “For by the light of Your face You gave us the Torah of life,” etc.

In the practice of the mitzvos, however, the drawing down is into [the level of] the outer limbs; for example, through acts of kindness (gemilus chassadim) it is drawn into [the level of] Chesed, the right arm, etc. Therefore “the study of Torah is equal to them all,” since it is of [the level of] the inner dimension.

(Just as, by way of analogy, the life-force in the brain includes the life-force of all the 248 limbs as a whole, as is written in the Book of the Beinonim, chapter 51, mentioned above, so the Torah is the mind of the mitzvos as a whole, as is written in the explanation on the verse “And there was a voice above the firmament,” etc.; that is, it is the intellect (mochin) of Z’eir Anpin, as is written on the verse “The heaven is My throne.”)

This is [the meaning of] “and the revealed things are for us and for our children”: they are Torah and mitzvos, the letters vav-hei of the Name Havayah. The vav is in Torah study, so that the Holy One, blessed be He, reads and studies opposite him, and the hei is in the performance of the mitzvos.

This is “My remembrance (zichri) with vav-hei,” which equals 248: that is, through the positive commandments the union of vav-hei is drawn down. (As for the meaning of “My remembrance with vav-hei”: according to the Gemara’s explanation at the end of chapter 3 of Pesachim, it implies that “My remembrance” is the reading of [the Name] Havayah,

as it is read with the Name of Lordship (Adnus). That is, the fulfillment of the mitzvos must be in [the manner of] accepting the yoke (kabbalas ol), [the level of] a servant who serves the master, and to this the Name Ado-nai points, as is explained elsewhere in the discourse beginning “And now let there be magnified,

I pray, the power of Ado-nai.” If so, the meaning of “My remembrance with vav-hei” is that through the positive commandments one draws the revelation of the Name Havayah into the Name of Lordship, in the manner of what is written, “And Havayah is in His holy sanctuary,” etc., and like the intent of “Amen,” which is the joining of Havayah and Ado-nai. See what is written on this in the explanation on the verse “Return, O Israel.”

In Me’orei Or, the letter zayin, section 13, it is explained that “My remembrance” (zichri) is in the male (dechura), Z’eir Anpin, etc. See the Introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar, folio 4, side b, and folio 5, side a; Tikkun 22, folio 62, side b; the Likkutei Torah [of the Arizal], Parshas Bereishis, in his introduction to the reasons of the mitzvos; and what is written in the discourse beginning “Remember the Shabbos day to keep it holy.”)

15Summary. “My Name with yud-hei” is 365, the prohibitions; “My remembrance with vav-hei” is 248, the positive commandments. Why are the prohibitions higher than the positive commandments? Explanation: the 248 positive commandments are the 248 limbs of the King,

drawings of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) into the Ten Sefiros, Chesed, etc. See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “I am asleep, but my heart is awake,” on [the words] “My beloved.” The Torah is the inner limbs, etc. And the meaning of “My remembrance with vav-hei.”

163. But “My Name with yud-hei,” the 365 prohibitions, are drawn from [the level of] yud-hei, of which it is said, “The hidden things belong to Havayah our G‑d”; they are above [the level of] vav-hei. [Now for] the explanation of the term “hidden things,” by which [the level of] yud-hei is called.

For it is written, “And Chochmah is found from ayin (nothing).” This means that Chochmah is the beginning of revelation in the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), and it is the yud of the Name Havayah.

17Of this our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “With the yud the World to Come was created.” This means that from Chochmah [the light] is drawn into [the level of] Binah (understanding), which is the understanding and comprehension of G‑dliness, from which comes the root of the World to Come, [where the righteous] “sit and delight,” etc.: “to cause those who love Me to inherit yesh (substance).”

This is [the level of] “something from nothing” (yesh me’ayin), for Chochmah is still [the level of] ayin (nothing), koach mah (the power of “what”), because it is found from ayin.

18However, the level of the ayin from which Chochmah is found is a level that precedes the entire chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus) of the Name Havayah. Of this they said in Sefer Yetzirah, “Before one, what do you count?”

This is as the saying, “You are One, but not in number.” There it is above all apprehension and revelation, for “no thought can grasp Him at all”; only Chochmah, which is found from ayin, is the beginning of revelation.

This is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “As in the creation of the world: first darkness and then light,” for “light” is [the level of] Chochmah, the beginning of revelation.

For Chochmah to come into being from ayin is through “first darkness”: there must first be hiddenness and concealment, so that the level of ayin, which is above Chochmah, is not revealed.

Of this it is said, “He made darkness His hiding place.” (See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “I am black but comely”: black fire upon white fire.)

Through this darkness and concealment there is afterwards drawn [the level of] light in Chochmah, the beginning of revelation. It is alluded to in the letter yud, which is only a single point,

for the main thing and the source is what is in [the state of] concealment, “He made darkness His hiding place,” and the revelation from there is only a small radiance, [the level of] yud, a mere point.

(See what is written about the yud of the Name Havayah in the Biurei HaZohar, Parshas Acharei, on the passage there, folio 79, side b, “Bring an atonement for Me.”) From the yud [the light] is drawn into [the level of] the hei.

This is why they are called “the hidden things”: they are [the level of] the hidden world (alma de’iskasya). (They are also called “depths,” as is written in Me’orei Or, the letter mem, section 87; in the Zohar, Part III, at the end of Parshas Vayikra, and folio 265, side b; and in Parshas Beshalach, folio 63, side b. Of this it is said, “Your thoughts are very deep,” as is explained in the discourse beginning “I have come into My garden.” And see what is written

in the explanation on the verse “These are the journeys,” on Chochmah being called “truth”; this is [the meaning of] “The seal of the Holy One, blessed be He, is truth.” From there one understands the superiority of Chochmah, called yud-hei, over the emotive attributes (middos), which are [the levels of] vav-hei. Chochmah and Binah are also called “the wellsprings of salvation,” as is written in Me’orei Or there, section 84.)

Now, from there is the root of the prohibitions. For as for there being now a revelation from [the level of] the hidden things, [the level of] “He made darkness His hiding place,” it is entirely impossible for the revelation, even above in the higher worlds, to be an apprehension of the actual essence, since “no thought can grasp Him at all.”

Rather, the revelation is the apprehension of how He is not apprehended, and that it is impossible to have any apprehension of Him. This kind of apprehension is called “the way of negation,”

as with “He is wise, but not with a known wisdom”: there cannot be an apprehension of the essence of [the level of] “wise”; we can only negate, [grasping] how it is “not with a known wisdom,” that it is not of the order, kind and essence of the wisdom in created beings. For the wisdom in created beings

is something added to their essence, which is not so with Him, may He be blessed: He and His wisdom are one. How this is, it is impossible to comprehend; we can only know the negation, “not with a known wisdom,” etc.

Likewise, from the intellect in a man nothing comes into being, whereas His wisdom, may He be blessed, is what brings creation into being, something from nothing,

as it is written, “With Chochmah You have made [them].” This it is impossible to comprehend: how from [the level of] Chochmah there is a coming into being from nothing to something. Thus it is impossible to comprehend the essence, only the negation, “not with a known wisdom,” etc.

(In negation, too, there are many levels of apprehension, without end. For we can only comprehend how He is “not with a known wisdom,” that He is not of the order of human intellect;

yet there are endless levels in “known wisdom” itself, namely the wisdom of [the worlds of] Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and of the higher Gan Eden, etc., and there they will apprehend how He is not of the order of the known wisdom of Gan Eden, etc.; and it will also be apprehended more [deeply] what “not with a known wisdom” means, and how negation [works]. The discerning will understand.)

From there the root of the prohibitive commandments is drawn, whose nature is also negation, in action: “Do not eat cheilev (forbidden fat),” “Do not eat blood.”

This is because their root is from [the level of] “He made darkness His hiding place,” which does not now come in revealed apprehension, only in [the manner of] the apprehension of negation, etc.

Therefore the vessel below to draw down this revelation cannot be through a positive commandment, which is “arise and do.” For the esrog, for example, is a vessel and limb for the light that is drawn [into it],

and this is only from [the level of] vav-hei and the revealed things, which is drawn into vessels so as to be apprehended; therefore there is also a vessel for it below, in “arise and do.”

Whereas for [the level of] “He made darkness His hiding place” a vessel does not apply, since “no thought can grasp Him at all”; [it is drawn] only through the prohibitions, not doing what opposes [it],

namely the cheilev, which opposes and conceals [the level of] the resting of G‑dly holiness, which rests only in [the state of] self-nullification (bittul), and that is [the level of] Chochmah, koach mah.

Therefore Chochmah is called “truth,” as is written in [the Book of] the Beinonim, chapter 35, in the gloss. If so, a mere edge of it (efes katzeihu) is drawn into Chochmah in a revealed way from [the level of] “He made darkness His hiding place,” through this self-nullification, as explained above on the meaning of “first darkness and then light,” etc.

Therefore, eating cheilev opposes and conceals [the state of] self-nullification and prevents the revelation, and by sitting and not committing the transgression that came his way, he thereby draws down from [the level of] yud-hei, the hidden things, as mentioned above,

for there cannot be a drawing down from them except through such [a level], which is the negation of what opposes, etc., as it is written, “And you shall not profane”: do not make a void (chalal) and a lack; and through this, of itself, [the light] will dwell, etc.

This is [the level of] “in a land not sown”: [the level of] the “no” of the prohibitions is above [the level of] the “yes” of the positive commandments, for “first darkness,” etc., “He made darkness His hiding place.”

(As for the meaning of “My Name with yud-hei”: according to what is said in the Gemara at the end of chapter 3 of Pesachim, mentioned above, “My Name” is the Name Havayah as it is written. If so, what is “My Name with yud-hei”? But it may be explained according to what is written in [Rabbeinu] Bachya, Parshas Beshalach, folio 86, column c, on the verse “My strength and song is Yah.”

These are his words: “I found in Midrash Tehillim, on the verse ‘My strength and song is Yah’: In this world He is praised with two letters, but in the World to Come with six letters, as it is said, ‘For in Yah Havayah is the Rock of worlds.’” That is, this verse is said

(in Isaiah, chapter 26) in connection with “On that day this song shall be sung,” which is the masculine song (shir) of the Time to Come; therefore He will then be praised with six letters,

that is, [the level of] yud-hei, which is now in [the state of] “depths,” not revealed at all in the life-force of the worlds, whose source and root of life is from [the level of] vav-hei, will in the World to Come be drawn forth in a revealed way. Therefore he added to the Name Yah the Name Havayah as a whole.)

19This is “My Name with yud-hei,” etc. One may further say, according to what is written in Torah Ohr, at the end of the discourse beginning “And I appeared to Avraham,” on the meaning of “But by My Name Havayah I was not known”: it is not written here “I did not make known,” but “I was not known,” etc.: I Myself, [the level of] the Singular One (Yachid), etc. See there.

If so, the meaning of “My Name with yud-hei” is that this level of “My Name Havayah, I was not known” is drawn down and revealed in [the level of] yud-hei through fulfilling the prohibitive commandments, etc.

See what is written elsewhere on “When Israel answer ‘Yehei shemei rabba mevarach,’ the Holy One, blessed be He, nods His head,” etc. From what is written there one will also understand the meaning of “My Name,” namely “His great Name,” which is drawn into [the level of] yud-hei, that is, the matter of “He nods His head,” etc. In Me’orei Or it is explained differently.

20Summary. “Chochmah is found from ayin.” “First darkness,” “He made darkness His hiding place,” “and then light.” From there is the root of the prohibitions,

for since “no thought can grasp Him at all,” and He is not apprehended in [the mode of] “yes,” only in [the mode of] negation, therefore the prohibitive commandments came for this, being also in [the mode of] “no”: to hold back what conceals [the state of] self-nullification (bittul). The meaning of “My Name with yud-hei.”

214. This is [the meaning of] what is written, “For there the tribes went up, the tribes of Yah, a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the Name of Havayah.” The meaning of “for there [they] went up” is: in “Jerusalem, built as a city that is joined,” etc.

The Gemara explains (in the first chapter of Taanis, folio 5, side a) that “as a city that is joined to it” is the Jerusalem above. This is as our Sages, of blessed memory, said in chapter 2 of Chagigah, on the seven heavens: Zevul, in which are Jerusalem, the Holy Temple and the altar, etc.

The meaning of “for there [they] went up” is: to the city that is joined to it, namely to the Jerusalem above. For when they went up on the three pilgrimage festivals to the Jerusalem below “to appear before the face of G‑d,”

then, being in the Jerusalem below, there they went up in both, that is, also in the Jerusalem above. So Rabbi Moshe Alshich explains (on Psalms there, chapter 122). And the Shelah writes, at the beginning of Parshas Vayechi, that according to its plain sense, the Jerusalem below is the Jerusalem that is here in the Holy Land, etc.

However, there is a higher above the high: the Jerusalem below is the Name Ado-nai, which equals heichal (sanctuary) in numerical value, for it is the sanctuary for the Name Havayah, of which it is said, “And Havayah is in His holy sanctuary,” etc. This is the joining and union of vav-hei.

22And the Jerusalem above is the joining of Chochmah and Binah, the mystery of the joining and union of yud-hei; this is from the Pardes, Sha’ar 8, chapter 13. That is, “Yerushalayim” means yirah shalem (complete awe), and it is known that there is a lower awe and a higher awe,

and also two levels of shalom (peace), as it is written, “Peace, peace, to the far and to the near.” These are the two levels of unions and drawings-down mentioned above: [the level of] yud-hei, drawn through fulfilling the prohibitive commandments, and [the level of] vav-hei, drawn through fulfilling the positive commandments, as mentioned above.

23This is the lower yirah shalem, which is in [the level of] vav-hei, and the higher yirah shalem, in [the level of] yud-hei. Of this it is said, “For there the tribes went up,” etc.: when they went up to the Jerusalem below, through fulfilling the positive commandments, they went up in both, as will be explained, G‑d willing.

And of the Jerusalem above it is said, “the tribes of Yah, a testimony for Israel,” for the Jerusalem above is the joining and union of yud-hei, and then the souls of Israel are also called “the tribes of Yah, a testimony for Israel.”

For, by way of analogy, testimony and witnesses, which are a trustworthy declaration, apply only to something hidden and concealed from the eyes of all; for that, testimony is needed, that they testify about it. But for something revealed, testimony is neither needed nor applicable.

24Even for “a matter that is bound to be revealed,” actually and immediately, the Torah did not require testimony. Likewise, by way of analogy, “a testimony for Israel” refers to the Jerusalem above, which is [the level of] yud-hei, called the hidden world (alma de’iskasya),

for [the level of] the union of vav-hei, which is light drawn into vessels, is what is called the revealed world (alma de’isgalya), and therefore it is called the Jerusalem below.

This is “My remembrance with vav-hei”: “My remembrance” is the Name Ado-nai, which is what is called the Jerusalem below, as mentioned above, for it is the source of [the worlds of] Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah and is within the order of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), and testimony does not apply to it.

But yud-hei is called the hidden world, for it is above the order of the chain of descending worlds and is not grasped at all in any vessel, etc., for “no thought can grasp Him at all.”

Therefore, of the drawing down of this level it is said, “the tribes of Yah, a testimony for Israel”: although the essence itself is not apprehended, there is testimony about it. That is, eidus (testimony) has the letters of de’os (knowledge).

25Of this it is said, “He established a testimony in Yaakov,” and it is written, “and My testimony that I shall teach them.” See what is written along these lines in the discourse beginning “Know this day,” on the difference between the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin): of [the level of] memalei kol almin it is said, “From my flesh I see G‑d,” actually “see,”

whereas of [the level of] sovev kol almin it is said, “And they believed in Havayah”; and nevertheless it is said, “Know this day,” that it should be drawn into [the level of] actual knowledge (daas), etc.

26One can explain the meaning of “a testimony for Israel” along the lines of what our Sages, of blessed memory, said about the western lamp: “It is testimony that the Shechinah rests in Israel.”

The testimony was that [the Kohen] would put oil into it in the same measure as its fellow [lamps], and nevertheless it burned much longer than they did, so that he would begin [the kindling] from it and end with it; this is testimony to the resting of the Shechinah.

27Yet, for all that, this is a physical event, that the lamp burns longer, and it bears no comparison to the essence of the resting of the Shechinah,

which is a revelation of G‑dliness; and nevertheless it is actual testimony to it, for this miracle, though it is a physical event, is actual testimony to the resting of the Shechinah, although the one bears no comparison to the other.

28So too here, the meaning of “a testimony for Israel”: [the miracle] that they stood crowded together yet bowed down with ample room, etc., is testimony that “there they went up” to the Jerusalem above, as Rabbi Moshe Alshich writes.

Along the same lines, the mitzvos are called “testimonies,” as it is written, “In the way of Your testimonies I rejoiced.” That is, the tzitzis are a sign of [the level of] “the hair of His head like pure wool,” etc.,

and likewise the tefillin in relation to the tefillin of the Master of the world, and the sukkah to the supernal encompassing [lights]. In their essence there is no comparison between the one and the other; nevertheless they are testimony to one another,

just as with the Torah, which has a revealed [part] and a hidden [part]: although “the hidden things belong to Havayah our G‑d,” and only “the revealed things are for us and for our children,” nevertheless

from the revealed things there is testimony, for everyone who “considers a matter,” about the hidden things; just as from the body, which lives and speaks, we know that we have a soul, etc.,

so from the physical mitzvos, which are revealed to us, there is testimony to their inner dimension, as all this is explained elsewhere on the verse “Know this day,” etc.

29Along these lines “a testimony for Israel” will be explained. “Israel” is [the level of] the supernal Man (Adam) who is upon the throne, etc., as is known, and as is explained elsewhere in the discourse beginning “Remember what Amalek did to you,” etc. This is [the level of] vav-hei, which is called “the revealed things” in relation to yud-hei, which is called “the hidden things.”

30Nevertheless, there is drawn from [the level of] yud-hei, to be enclothed in vav-hei, namely the intellect (mochin) of Z’eir Anpin, which is drawn into it from Chochmah and Binah; only this radiance is not

as it is above, in [the level of] yud-hei itself, [the level of] “He made darkness His hiding place,” for it has been contracted until it can be enclothed in [the level of] vav-hei. Nevertheless, it is from [the level of] yud-hei, far above [the level of] vav-hei; therefore it is called “testimony,”

for it is actual testimony to [the level of] the hidden things, “He made darkness His hiding place.” For although, as they are in their nature and essence, they cannot be revealed below, nevertheless there is drawn from there a revelation of light into the supernal Israel, so that it is actual testimony to [the level of] yud-hei.

That is, eidus (testimony) has the letters of de’os (knowledge), in the mystery of “Havayah is a G‑d of knowledge (de’os).” It is [the level of] Daas (knowledge), which draws the flow from [the level of] yud-hei, which are Chochmah and Binah, to [the level of] vav-hei, which are [the level of] the emotive attributes (middos). See [the Book of] the Beinonim, Part I, chapter 3, and see the Idra Zuta, folio 291, side a: “Daas, which is testimony,” etc.

So too in every one of Israel below, along the lines of what is said in the [Midrash] Rabbah (Vayishlach, end of chapter 79) on the meaning of “Yah, a testimony for Israel”: Yah testifies of them that they are the children of their fathers, etc.

The matter is as is said in the [Midrash] Rabbah, Ki Sisa (end of chapter 46), on the verse “And now, G‑d, You are our Father,” etc.: by their faces they are recognized, as it is said (Isaiah 61), “All who see them will recognize them, that they are the seed that G‑d has blessed.” That is, because there is in each

one [the level of] the Name Havayah itself, as is explained elsewhere in the discourse beginning “See, I set before you.” [The level of] the yud is [the level of] self-nullification (bittul) toward Him, may He be blessed, which is above

knowledge and comprehending intellect, as is written in [the Book of] the Beinonim, chapter 18; and [the level of] the hei is contemplation of the greatness of G‑d. These two levels are called “two companions that never part,” and they are called “a point in a palace,”

for the hei, contemplation, is a palace for the revelation of [the level of] the self-nullification of the yud, etc. This is “Yah, a testimony for Israel,” etc., “for there they went up,” etc.

31This is what is drawn down and revealed through fulfilling the prohibitive commandments, whose nature is [the level of] subjugation (iskafya) and self-nullification. This is “for there they went up,” etc., “to give thanks (lehodos) to the Name of Havayah.”

For “lehodos” means in [the manner of] acknowledgment (hoda’ah) and self-nullification toward [the level] that is above apprehension, that which “no thought can grasp at all.”

32As is known, there is a difference between blessing (berachah) and acknowledgment (hoda’ah): blessing is a drawing down in a revealed way, whereas acknowledgment is toward [the level] that is above apprehension and revelation, as is explained at the end of the discourse beginning “Yehudah, you, your brothers shall acknowledge,” and in the Siddur, in the explanation on “You established all the boundaries of the earth,” etc.

See there. Along these lines is also the difference between the positive commandments and the prohibitive commandments: the positive commandments, which are in [the level of] vav-hei, [the level of] the 248 limbs, where the light is drawn in a revealed way into the vessel,

are like [the level of] blessing, and therefore one recites a blessing over many positive commandments. But [the level of] the prohibitions, which are in [the level of] yud-hei, the hidden world, is not grasped in any apprehension, only in [the manner of] acknowledgment.

33Therefore there is in it no “arise and do” that would be [in the manner of] a vessel, but only [the mode of] “no.” This is “the tribes of Yah, a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the Name of Havayah”: at this level only acknowledgment applies, etc.

With all this one will also understand the reason why through the subjugation of the sitra achra “the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, rises above”: for this is the level and rank of the prohibitions, which is [the level of] “And you shall not profane,” etc.:

to be one who “shuts his eyes from looking upon evil,” etc., and likewise with all the other senses, and likewise in the inner dimension of the emotive attributes, not to be drawn after cravings and bodily loves, which “are not G‑d’s.”

34And likewise with all the other attributes, as is known and explained in the books. All this is to remove the covering that conceals and holds back the light of G‑d’s holiness, and it arouses and draws down from [the level of] yud-hei, [the level of] “the hidden things belong to Havayah our G‑d,” “He made darkness His hiding place,” which is above the positive commandments, as mentioned above.

35Summary. “For there [they] went up,” etc., in [the manner of] “a city that is joined,” etc. The Jerusalem below is [the level of] the final hei, and the Jerusalem above is the first hei.

This is “the tribes, the tribes of Yah.” “A testimony for Israel,” since it is the hidden world; therefore testimony applies to it.

Likewise the mitzvos are called “the way of Your testimonies”: tefillin [testify] to the tefillin of the Master of the world. So too in the revealed world there shines [the level of] testimony, which has the letters of “knowledge,” from [the level of] the hidden world;

and so too in the soul of man [the level of] yud-hei shines. (And the meaning of “to give thanks”: blessing and acknowledgment are like the positive commandments and the prohibitive commandments.)

365. This is [the meaning of] “These are the accounts of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony.” It doubles [the word], saying “Mishkan” twice, and these are the two levels mentioned above: [the level] of the Jerusalem below, and [the level of] “a city that is joined to it,” etc. That is, through the positive commandments there comes about [the level of] the union of vav-hei of Havayah.

This is [the level of] the Mishkan without qualification, “and I will dwell within them,” [the level of] the resting of the Shechinah, the lower hei, “which dwells with them,” and its union with [the level of] the vav, as in [the teaching] “kadosh (holy) with a vav,”

which is the drawing down of a radiance from [the level of] the supernal Kodesh (holiness); this is drawn through the 248 positive commandments. And then “the Mishkan of the Testimony” is [the level of] yud-hei,

and this too is the supernal Kodesh, that which is above [the level of] “kadosh with a vav”; see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “Go out and see, O daughters of Zion.” And it is drawn through the prohibitive commandments.

37The explanation of the matter: the meaning of “These (eileh) are the accounts”: the word eileh is as it is written, “Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who (mi) created these (eileh)?”

For eileh is a term of revelation, and mi is a term of the hidden, which stands as a question, “Who is this, and which is it?”, whose essence is not known.

38The matter is that eileh is [the level of] the emotive attributes (middos), which are called “the revealed things,” as mentioned above, and which are drawn and born from the intellect and contemplation, which is [the level of] Binah (understanding), “the mother of the children,” called mi, as is known from the explanation of “Yours, G‑d, is the greatness and the might,” etc.,

which are six attributes, and all of them are nullified in their source, “Yours (lecha), G‑d,” etc. The letters of lecha are the fifty gates of Binah, which is [the level of] “Who created these.”

The six attributes are called eileh because each attribute is comprised of all six, which comes to the number 36, which is the numerical value of eileh.

Also, eileh has the letters of Leah, who bore six sons, which are the six attributes mentioned above. It follows that eileh is [the level of] the vav of the Name Havayah, that is, the six attributes, each one comprised of six.

39This is [the meaning of] the six orders of the Mishnah, which are [the level of] the six supernal attributes above, and below they are enclothed in the six orders of the Mishnah, Zeraim, Moed, etc.

Each order is comprised of all six: the order of Zeraim also includes laws of the order of Moed and of the other orders, and likewise the order of Moed includes all of them, and so too the other orders; and through this the number of eileh is reached.

40This is “These are the accounts (pekudei) of the Mishkan.” Pekudei is as in “and you shall visit (ufakadta) your dwelling,” and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “A man is obligated to visit (lifkod) his wife,” for union is called pekidah.

The meaning of “the pekudei of the Mishkan”: the Mishkan is [the level of] the final hei of the Name Havayah, as mentioned above, which is called the Shechinah, and it is the source and root of the souls of Israel. For there to be “the pekudei of the Mishkan,” [the level of] the union

of vav-hei, is through [the level of] eileh, the six orders of the Mishnah: for through Torah study, which is in [the level of] the vav, the union of vav-hei comes about. This is [the level of] the union of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah, which comes about through Torah study,

for “the Holy One, blessed be He” (Kudsha Brich Hu) means “kadosh with a vav”: that a radiance is drawn from [the level of] the supernal Kodesh to shine in [the level of] the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), which is called the Shechinah.

(As the meaning and nature of this union is explained at length on the verse “There are sixty queens,” etc.; see there.) Likewise, through all the rest of the 248 positive commandments this union comes about, and it too is called eileh,

as it is written, “These are the commandments,” and it is written, “These are the testimonies and the statutes,” and as it is written, “These are the appointed festivals of G‑d.” See the [Midrash] Rabbah at the beginning of Parshas Vayakhel.

This is why it says pekudei, in the plural: for through each mitzvah of the 248 positive commandments [the level of] union is drawn down, according to [the level of] that mitzvah and its root above.

41This is what is said in the [Midrash] Rabbah on Eichah, on the verse “For these (eileh) I weep”: “For the neglect of Torah, as it is written, ‘These are the statutes and the judgments’;

for the cessation of the offerings, as it is written, ‘These you shall offer to G‑d on your appointed festivals.’” That is, through all these there is drawn [the level of] “These are the accounts of the Mishkan,” [the level of] the drawing down from the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) into the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), which is what is called eileh.

42Therefore, at the destruction of the Holy Temple it is said, “For these (eileh) I weep”: that is, for the withdrawal of the light and revelation that is called eileh, etc.,

which returned to its source, in [a state of] concealment, as is written in the Zohar, Part I, Vayigash, folio 210, side a: “Because the vav went far off and withdrew from her, then ‘Rachel weeps,’” etc. See there.

43All this is [the level of] the Mishkan without qualification, which is the letters vav-hei, called “the revealed things”; and this is eileh, a term of revelation, as above.

But “the Mishkan of the Testimony” is [the level of] the supernal Mishkan, in [the level of] the Jerusalem above, that is, [the level of] yud-hei, which is called “the hidden things,” as mentioned above.

Therefore it is called “the Mishkan of the Testimony,” for testimony applies specifically to the hidden things, as mentioned above, and as explained above on the meaning of “the tribes of Yah, a testimony for Israel.” And this union of yud-hei is through the prohibitive commandments, whose root is from [the level of] yud-hei, as mentioned above.

(These two levels are [the levels of] the lower Shechinah and the upper Shechinah. See what is written on this on the verse “The Song of Songs,” etc.: they are the two levels of self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) in the Shema, in “One” and in “with all your soul.” And as will also be explained below, the first verse of the Shema is [the level of] “the Mishkan of the Testimony,” and the verse “And you shall love” is [the level of] the Mishkan without qualification.)

44Summary. Eileh and mi: “created these.” The vav: the attributes, each comprised of six. “Kadosh with a vav”; the six orders of the Mishnah. “These are the commandments”: this is “the accounts of the Mishkan,” the union of vav-hei, and this is “For these I weep.” And “the Mishkan of the Testimony” is [the level of] yud-hei.

456. Now, to understand a little more of the meaning and nature of “the Mishkan of the Testimony” and “a testimony for Israel”: besides the explanation mentioned above, that it is a term of testimony because it is [the level of] the hidden world, there is another reason why it is called eidus.

This will be understood by first explaining the verse (in Ezekiel, chapter 16[, verse] 7), “I made you myriads, like the growth of the field, and you increased and grew and came with adi adayim.” Rashi there brings two explanations.

The first: a term of ad, as in “Trust in G‑d forever and ever (adei ad)” (in Isaiah, chapter 26). The second: a term of adi, that is, ornaments,

as in “their ornaments (edyam) from Mount Chorev,” which our Sages, of blessed memory, said (chapter 9 of Shabbos, folio 88, side a) are the two crowns that were tied on them, one for “we will do” and one for “we will hear.”

The meaning of “like the growth of the field”: by way of analogy, the growth of the field sprouts only after its nullification and its inclusion in the power of growth. This is the rotting of the seed, which becomes [the level of] nothing (ayin) and is included in the power of growth; and afterwards

the power of growth makes it grow. The reason is that something cannot come into being from something, but only when [the level of] the something first comes to [the level of] nullification, into nothing. (See what is written on this in Torah Ohr, in the discourse beginning “Take from among you an offering.”)

So it will be understood with the Community of Israel in the exile of Egypt, where they were utterly enslaved, which is like the analogy of the rotting of the seed: that is, [the level of] “a broken and crushed heart,” until they became [the level of] nothing. Through this, afterwards, “you increased and grew and came”: “and grew,” in the manner of

“For which is a great nation,” etc., as is said in the [Midrash] Rabbah at the beginning of Parshas Lech Lecha, on the verse “And I will make you a great nation”: “That nation of which it is written,

‘For which is a great nation,’ I will raise up from you.” That is, as it is written, “For G‑d’s portion is His people,” of whom it is said, “Great is G‑d,” etc.

46This is [the meaning of] “And You have brought us near, our King, to Your great Name.” Also, along the lines of what is explained in the discourse beginning “And it was when Pharaoh sent,” that they refine [the level of] the sparks that fell from the World of Tohu, [namely] the taking of the birthright from Esav, who is called “his elder (gadol) son,” etc.; and along the lines of “And the Ofanim, with a great noise,” as is explained elsewhere in the discourse beginning “Listen, O heavens.”

47“And you came with adi adayim”: that they merited to receive the Torah, of which it is said, “with the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding”; and two crowns were also tied on them, etc., as mentioned above.

The matter is that the crown is [the level of] an encompassing (makif) [light], that is, what cannot come into revelation in apprehension of its essence; and it is

[the level of] “He made darkness His hiding place,” [the level of] “the Will of all wills,” “Anochi, who I am,” “the Concealed of all concealed,” “awesome in praises,” “whom none knows but He,” from where a radiance was drawn to them.

This is as explained above concerning the prohibitions, through which there is drawn down from [the level of] yud-hei, called “the hidden things.” Therefore it is called “the Mishkan of the Testimony (eidus),” a term of adi, ornament, as in adi adayim.

48It is also a term of eternity, as in adei ad, for [the level of] the crowns mentioned above is a drawing down of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, and [the level of] Ein Sof is as its name: it is above, without end,

as in the saying, “All shall exalt You, Selah,” for there are endless ascents in the apprehension of G‑dliness; for “wherever it says netzach, selah or va’ed, it has no interruption.” (See the Zohar, Parshas Vayikra, folio 20, end of side a, on the matter of selah, and the Mikdash Melech there.)

That is, they merited [the level of] eternity. Also, in the meaning of adi adayim, it may be said that the plain sense of ad, “until,” is also included, as in “Until here (ad poh) you may come” (in Job, chapter 38),

and as in “until here is the Shabbos boundary.” This meaning too fits together with the meaning above, as follows:

since this drawing down is from [the level of] “He made darkness His hiding place” and the Cause of all causes, which “no thought can grasp at all,” therefore the term ad, “until,” is said of it, meaning: up to here apprehension applies,

but “until” is not inclusive, for in [the level of] Keser (the Crown) and the encompassing [light] there is no apprehension at all; as in what is said in the Zohar at the beginning of Parshas Bereishis, folio 1, side b, on the verse “Who created these”:

“for above, there is no question there,” etc.; see there. And that it says adi adayim, in the plural, means that there is no measure at all to the ornaments and crowns, up to the highest heights, one elevation after another, one above the other, since it is Ein Sof.

(Alternatively, it may be said that adi is one and adayim is two, like “the Holy of Holies” (Kodesh HaKodashim), which is explained in the Pardes, in Erchei HaKinuyim, under the entry Kodesh: Kodesh is Keser, and Kodashim are Chochmah and Binah, etc. In the same way, adi adayim

is also the union of Chochmah [and] Binah, whose source of drawing down is from [the level of] “He made darkness His hiding place,” which is [the level of] Keser. This is the union of yud-hei, drawn through fulfilling and keeping the prohibitions. See what is written in Parshas Shemos, in the discourse beginning “This is My Name,” on “Where (ayeh) is the scribe?”

The meaning of ayeh: yud-hei are Chochmah and Binah, and the alef, pele (wonder), is [the level of] Keser. One may further say, on the meaning of adi adayim, according to what is written above: these adayim are [the level of] “a testimony for Israel,” and they are [the level of] the “two crowns” mentioned in the Idra Zuta, folio 291, side a; and Daas (knowledge), which includes them together, is adi adayim.

The meaning of the two crowns: they are [the level of] attributes that are above intellect, which are drawn and enclothed in the attributes that are below intellect, and the drawing down is through Daas, as is written elsewhere. See the Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Shoftim, folio 275, side a, and the commentary of the Ramaz there, on the matter of testimony, etc.; and it is explained elsewhere.)

This is “the Mishkan of the Testimony,” which was explained above to be [the level of] the union of yud-hei, which is called the hidden world, and therefore the term “testimony” applies to it.

Now it will also be understood with an additional reason: it is also a term of adi, ornament, and from [the level of] these crowns there is drawn also “a testimony for Israel.” This is “and you came with adi adayim,” etc.

49This is [the meaning of] “which were reckoned at the word of Moshe.” The intent is that specifically “the Mishkan of the Testimony” was “reckoned at the word of Moshe”: [the phrase] refers to what is next to it,

for first it is written, “These are the accounts of the Mishkan,” which is the union of vav-hei, called “the accounts (pekudei) of the Mishkan,” that is, the Mishkan without qualification, the lower hei; this union is through [the level of] eileh, the six orders of the Mishnah and the 248 positive commandments, as mentioned above.

50And now it says how “the Mishkan of the Testimony,” which is [the level of] the union of yud-hei, “was reckoned at the word of Moshe”: that through [the level of] Moshe this pekidah and this union come about,

for Moshe is [the level of] self-nullification (bittul), as it is written, “And what (mah) are we?”; and it was explained above that this drawing down from [the level of] yud-hei is specifically through self-nullification, as explained above on the meaning of “For there the tribes went up,” etc., “to give thanks,” etc.

This is what we find of Rabbi Akiva, that he would bow and prostrate himself until one would leave him in one corner and find him in another corner; for this drawing down cannot come into revelation in intellect and knowledge or in the vessels of the emotive attributes (middos), but only through [the level of] self-nullification, which is the bowing in the Shemoneh Esreh, as is known.

(See what is written in the discourse beginning “Set me as a seal,” that the drawing down through keeping the prohibitive commandments is one with the drawing down in the prayer of the Shemoneh Esreh; and see what is written about the prayer of the Shemoneh Esreh in the discourse beginning “Yehudah, you,” and at the end of the discourse beginning “The heaven is My throne.”)

51Summary. One may further say that “the Mishkan of the Testimony” is from the term in “and you came with adi adayim,” on which Rashi gives two explanations: the term of “their ornaments from Mount Chorev,” [the level of] crowns; and the term of adei ad, eternity, “they will praise You, Selah.” Also the term of “Until here you may come.” And of this it says, “which were reckoned at the word of Moshe.”

527. According to this, one will also understand a little of [the matter of] Pesach and the eating of matzah. For the verse “I made you myriads, like the growth of the field,” etc., “and you came with adi adayim,” etc. (which is [the level of] “the Mishkan of the Testimony,” as mentioned above), is said of the Exodus from Egypt.

That is, on the first night of Pesach they merited [the level of] the revelation of the supernal unions mentioned above; that is, even the union of yud-hei, which is from [the level of] “He made darkness His hiding place,” was revealed to them then,

as in the saying, “The King of the kings of kings was revealed to them,” as this is explained elsewhere in the discourse beginning “The voice of my beloved,” etc. And since from [the level of] this revelation “a testimony for Israel” is drawn, as above,

therefore it is said of this, “and you came with adi adayim”; and according to all the explanations given above on this, the revelation of all this was on the first night of Pesach.

Therefore they were commanded to eat matzah. It is written, “Matzos shall be eaten the seven days” (end of Parshas Bo, [chapter] 13[, verse] 7). This wording is not understood according to its plain sense, for it should have said “during the seven days” (beshivas hayamim),

whereas “es shivas hayamim” implies that they should feed matzah to the seven days themselves, and this is puzzling. But according to the truth [of the matter], it is well understood, for

the seven days are the seven attributes, Chesed and Gevurah, etc., which are drawn from [the level of] vav-hei of the Name Havayah: the vav is the six attributes in the verse “Yours, G‑d, is the greatness,” etc.,

and the seventh is [the level of] the hei, which is [the level of] “Yours, G‑d, is the kingdom,” etc. These attributes exist also in the soul: [the level of] the love that is drawn from the intellect and contemplation of the greatness of the Creator, may He be blessed, when one grasps how

“He is your life,” etc., and that He renews each day the work of creation, etc.; from this contemplation love or awe is born, as mentioned above concerning “Who created these,” etc.

But higher than this is the love and cleaving (devekus) that comes from contemplating the essence of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof): that from the standpoint of His being and essence, this praise, the nullification of the worlds before Him, may He be blessed, is accounted as nothing,

for in His being and essence “no thought can grasp Him at all,” and the life of all the worlds is only through a single thought, etc.

This [level of] love is called adi adayim, and it is [the level of] the two crowns mentioned above, which are drawn from [the level of] the attributes above intellect and revealed in the attributes below intellect; it is the drawing down from [the level of] yud-hei into vav-hei. And so that Israel would merit [the level of] this revelation on Pesach,

since at the Exodus from Egypt they were still in [a state of] smallness (katnus), like the growth of the field at its beginning, and had only the lesser love (ahavah zuta), not the great love (ahavah rabbah) mentioned above, of [the level of] adi adayim, therefore, in order to reach this revelation, they were commanded to eat matzah.

For matzah is the drawing down of [the level of] mah (“what”), which is [the level of] self-nullification, as one sees with the eye that matzah has no rising

as there is in chametz and leaven, etc. And [the level of] this self-nullification is that in which and through which there is drawn down from [the level of] yud-hei, as mentioned above regarding “the Mishkan of the Testimony, which was reckoned at the word of Moshe” specifically.

53This is [the meaning of] “Matzos shall be eaten the seven days”: yei’achel (“shall be eaten”) is a causative term, that is, they should feed the seven days with matzah.

The matter is to draw [the level of] mah that is in matzah into all seven attributes, so that [the level of] the self-nullification (bittul) of mah be drawn into them; and then the Community of Israel can receive from [the level of] the supernal union of yud-hei, which is [the level of] “a testimony for Israel” and adi adayim.

(On “Matzos shall be eaten the seven days,” see the discourse beginning “To understand what is said in the Haggadah, ‘This matzah,’” etc., and see what is written in the discourse beginning “Take from among you an offering,”

that matzah and “the bread of poverty” are [the level of] subjugation (iskafya), etc.; see there. And it was explained above, concerning the prohibitions, that through the subjugation of the sitra achra, through this, “the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, rises,” for through this there is drawn from [the level of] the union of yud-hei, which is “the Mishkan of the Testimony.”

Therefore, in the same way, through [the level of] matzah there is drawn [the level of] “and you came with adi adayim.” See also Pri Etz Chaim, Sha’ar Chag HaMatzos, chapter 1, on “and you increased and grew and came with adi adayim”; see there.)

Now, eating matzah is a preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuos, for of the receiving of the Torah it is said, “with the crown with which his mother crowned him,”

which is [the level of] the revelation of “the Will of all wills” and the Cause of all causes; and also two crowns were tied on them, which is [the matter of] adi adayim mentioned above.

Therefore they first needed to eat matzah, which is [the level of] self-nullification, etc. (Now, although on the first night of Pesach [the level of] adi adayim mentioned above is also revealed, this revelation is then of itself, that is, an arousal from above, not through an arousal from below;

therefore it is called Pesach, a term of skipping, as is known concerning “leaping over the mountains,” etc. After the first night of Pesach this revelation withdraws, and therefore afterwards the mitzvah of the Counting of the Omer begins, seven weeks, in order to draw down the revelation of the unions mentioned above through an arousal from below.

The arousal from below of the Counting of the Omer is known to be the transformation of the seven attributes of the animal soul, each attribute comprised of seven, so that all of them be for G‑d.

This level is the level and rank of “the seven days,” [the level of] vav-hei mentioned above. Afterwards, through this, there is revealed of itself, on the fiftieth day, from [the level of] adi adayim mentioned above, which is above [the level of] vav-hei. Therefore it says, “You shall count fifty days,” yet in truth one counts only forty-nine;

but through counting the forty-nine days the fiftieth gate is revealed of itself, for it is from the level and rank of yud-hei. It has already been explained that there is the rank of the prohibitions, whose nature is “sit and do not do,” not “arise and do,” because it has no vessel, etc.

Therefore in the mitzvah of counting too, one need not count it, as with the seven weeks, where “it is a mitzvah to count the days,” etc., for that is from [the level of] vav-hei; whereas this [level of] drawing down, from the fiftieth gate, is drawn only of itself, through the preceding count of seven weeks, which is [the level of] the transformation of the attributes, etc.,

and “you shall not profane,” etc., through which this revelation will afterwards be drawn of itself, as in “and you shall be silent,” as is explained elsewhere. This is the essence of adi adayim mentioned above: that then they merited the revelation of the crowns, etc.; and it is a higher level, for [the level of] the adayim mentioned above is without end, as mentioned above.

It follows from this that on the night of Pesach a revelation is drawn into the Community of Israel, [the level of] the revelation of the unions mentioned above, from [the level of] vav-hei and from [the level of] yud-hei, as an arousal from above, through eating matzah.

This is [the meaning of] “Matzos shall be eaten the seven days.” Afterwards the drawing down withdraws, and they draw it down again through an arousal from below, in the Counting of the Omer, seven weeks; and then on Shavuos [the level of] adi adayim mentioned above is revealed, at the time of the receiving of the Torah.)

54Summary. In the same way one will understand the eating of matzah: [the level of] self-nullification and subjugation, to be “like the growth of the field,” [the level of] nothing (ayin), and through this, “and you increased and grew,” etc.; and on the festival of Shavuos, [the level of] “with the crown,” etc., which is [the matter of] adi adayim.

558. Now, in the order of prayer we find everything mentioned above in the explanation of “These are the accounts of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony,” etc. For it is known that the first verse of the Shema, “Hear, O Israel, Havayah our G‑d,” etc.,

is [the level of] the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah) of yud-hei mentioned above, which is called “the hidden things belong to Havayah our G‑d,” etc.; and it is “the Mishkan of the Testimony, which was reckoned at the word of Moshe,” etc. And in the verse “And you shall love… with all your heart,” etc.,

the matter is in [the level of] love that is drawn from intellect and reason (see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “On the twenty-fifth of Kislev”), and it is the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah), as it is written, “These are the accounts of the Mishkan,” etc.,

and as mentioned above concerning “Lift up on high,” etc., “and see: Who created these,” etc. But before the Shema the Men of the Great Assembly instituted Pesukei deZimra (the Verses of Praise).

The purpose of Pesukei deZimra is so that in the first verse of the Shema they can reach the higher union of “Havayah our G‑d,” which is called “the hidden things,” as mentioned above; and without the song and praise of Pesukei deZimra it is impossible to come to the rank of this union, etc.

This was the service of the Levites, in song and praise, etc., and they would carry the Mishkan, as it is written, “The sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, the bearers of the Mishkan” (in Parshas Beha’alos’cha, [chapter] 10[, verse] 17);

“the sons of Kehas, the bearers of the sanctuary”; and it is written, “And when the Mishkan encamps, the Levites shall set it up” (Bamidbar, [chapter] 1[, verse] 51). (See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “Lift up the head,” etc., “by their families, by their fathers’ house.”)

But the reason why, through Pesukei deZimra, with song and jubilation specifically, they reach [the level of] this higher union, will be understood by first explaining the song of the Levites, etc.

For it is written, “And the Chayos ran and returned (ratzo vashov), like the appearance of a flash of lightning” (in Ezekiel, chapter 1[, verse] 14), and Rashi explains: “like the flame of a furnace, which continually goes out of the mouth of the furnace and hurries to return and go in; so,” etc.

So too the G‑dly soul in man, which is called “the lamp of G‑d,” as it is written, “The soul of man is the lamp of G‑d,” must rise and descend in [the manner of] running and returning (ratzo vashov), continually, without interruption.

These are two kinds of arousal, one after the other, continually, as it is written, “And the Chayos ran and returned”: that is, after the running, returning, and after the returning, running,

and so around and around again, as is explained on this in the discourse beginning “And all the people saw the sounds.” Through this the G‑dly soul ascends from level to level, up to the highest heights, etc. This is [the meaning of] the song of the Levites over the offering.

This is also why they carried the Mishkan, etc.: because through the song, in running and returning, they raise and elevate the Mishkan until it also becomes [the level of] the higher union, [the level of] “the Mishkan of the Testimony” mentioned above. This is like the meaning of “Jerusalem, built as a city that is joined to it,”

which joins [the level of] the Jerusalem below, which is the union of vav-hei, to [the level of] the Jerusalem above, which is [the level of] yud-hei, and they become truly one. So too Pesukei deZimra before the Shema is a preparation to elevate the soul until

it can effect the higher union in the first verse of the Shema, when one says “Havayah our G‑d”; that is, also the joining and union of [the level of] the radiance of the soul that is enclothed in the body with its source and root above, [the level of] its mazal, as is explained elsewhere in the discourse beginning “My dove, in the clefts of the rock.”

56This is “For there the tribes went up, the tribes of Yah”: that [the level of] the “tribes” of Beriah are joined with their root and source in Atzilus, which are called “the tribes of Yah.”

That is, “there they went up,” in [the level of] “Jerusalem, built as a city that is joined,” etc., which is the joining and binding of [the level of] the Mishkan with the Mishkan of the Testimony; that is, “joined to it together,” truly.