אני לדודי ודודי לי

1“I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine” (Ani ledodi vedodi li): the initials of Elul. The explanation is this: in Elul there begins the level of “I am my Beloved’s,” that is, the level of an arousal from below, until Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur,

which are the level of the drawing down of His G‑dliness, blessed be He, below, in a manner of revelation. As it is written, “His left hand is under my head, and His right hand embraces me”: from Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur is the level of “His left hand,” the level of awe, because that is the time of the revelation of His sovereignty, blessed be He.

And therefore He is called “the King,” for “Your kingship is the kingship of all worlds.” That is, even upon the hidden worlds there falls the dread of the King and the terror of Him (see the Zohar, Pinchas, folio 214b, and the Ramaz there).

And from this it is drawn down also below, upon the souls of Israel as a whole, to accept upon themselves the yoke of the kingship of Heaven, and that His awe be upon their faces the whole year;

for the awe of G‑d and the love of Him are not made and planted in a person’s heart by his own power, but rather by the power of the illumination drawn down upon him from above at the time and season of His revelation,

that is, on Rosh HaShanah, the level of awe, etc. (And see what is written in Parshas Tavo, at the end of the discourse beginning “And Moshe called,” and on the verse “When you go out,” and on the verse “There shall be none miscarrying or barren” in Parshas Mishpatim.)

And this is the level of “and my Beloved is mine,” except that first one must arouse the love and awe through an arousal from below, which is in Elul.

Now, it is known that Elul is the time of the revelation of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. To understand this: why then are they weekdays and not Yom Tov,

like Shabbosos and Yom Tov, in which there is a revelation of G‑dliness, the level of the illumination of His G‑dliness, blessed be He, and especially at the time and season of the Thirteen Attributes, which are an exceedingly lofty illumination, and they are revealed on Yom Kippur? And certainly there is a great difference between Yom Kippur and Elul.

But this will be understood through a parable of a king: before he comes to the city, the people of the city go out toward him and greet him in the field. At that time anyone who wishes is permitted to go out to greet him; he receives them all with a pleasant countenance and shows a smiling face to all.

2As he goes on to the city, they walk after him. Afterwards, when he comes into his royal palace, none may enter except with permission, and even then, [only] the choicest of the people and the select few.

So it is, by way of analogy, in the month of Elul: one goes out to greet the light of His face, blessed be He, in the field. For it is written, “May Havayah make His face shine upon you,” which is the matter of the illumination of the Thirteen Attributes, that it be face to face;

that is, that the revelation of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of His will, blessed be He, shine to the source of the souls of Israel, through the core of the inner dimension of [a person’s] will being toward Him, blessed be He, to cleave to Him with heart and soul, from the depth of the heart, with self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh), as is explained elsewhere. And this illumination is drawn from the level of Kel,

which is the beginning of all the Thirteen Attributes, their source, and that which encompasses them all; as it is written, “Havayah is Kel, and He has given us light,” which is the level of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, itself, truly; and as it is written, “For Havayah your G‑d is a consuming fire.”

That is: like, for example, the radiance and light of fire that issues from the fire itself, which, taken as a whole, has no division at all between itself and the radiance and light drawn from it.

So too, as it were, the illumination of the face that shines to Israel as a whole is from the level of Kel, which is the level of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, itself, truly

(see what is written in the explanation on the verse “And all the people saw the sounds,” on the meaning of “From the narrow place I called”; and see in the discourse beginning “You are standing,” in what is written there, “And therefore He is called Kel Elyon,” etc.; and in the discourse beginning “To understand the meaning and matter of the Thirteen Attributes”; and in the discourse beginning “And I will betroth you to Me,” on the matter of “My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living Kel”).

And therefore [the people] is called Yisrael, from the words sar Kel; and the yud indicates the constancy of the action, as in “Thus would he do (ya’aseh),” etc.

The meaning is that the level of Kel is a prince and ruler within him (and see the Zohar, Kedoshim, folio 86a; Bereshis, folio 8a; Vayigash, folio 205b; Nasso, 132a; and the commentary of the Ramaz at the beginning of Parshas Shemini);

that is, in every soul of Israel there is an actual spark of G‑dliness, which gives life to his G‑dly soul and draws it by its nature upward, “to be illumined with the light of life,” to give over his soul to Him, blessed be He; and this is higher than the Chochmah (wisdom) and Daas (knowledge) in his soul.

For through Chochmah and Daas he would not attain this level, to nullify and relinquish himself entirely for His sake, blessed be He. And this is [the meaning of] “You are children to Havayah your G‑d”:

for “a son is his father’s leg”: he is included in his father’s will without any reason or understanding, like the foot, which is nullified before the head and has no will of its own at all.

And this is [the meaning of] “Nullify your will before His will”: in order that the level of the inner dimension of His will, blessed be He, shine to a person, he must nullify all his own desires, so that he has no other will at all.

32. Now, in a person there is the level of an inhabited city, and the level of a field and of a wilderness. The wilderness is “a land not sown”: these are the deeds, the words and the thoughts that are not for G‑d.

It goes without saying [that this is so] if he caused a blemish in thought, speech or deed; but even permitted matters, merely in that they are matters not needed for the service of G‑d, and idle talk: for “it is not the way of a king to speak of commoners’ matters.”

4And this is [the meaning of] “where no man (adam) dwelt.” The meaning: “man” is as it is written, “And upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness like the appearance of a man,” etc.; [He] did not dwell there, for it is written, “They shall make Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell in their midst.”

And the counsel given for this: it is written, “And you shall seek Havayah your G‑d from there.” The explanation: it is written, “And G‑d saw the light, that it was good,” and our Sages, of blessed memory, explained

“that it was good to hide away.” That is, the level of “light,” which is the level of the illumination of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of His will, blessed be He, is in each and every one of Israel, except that by its nature it is in a state of great hiddenness and concealment;

and one must reveal the “treasure of the fear of Heaven” (and see what is written elsewhere on the meaning of “Who revealed this secret to My children?”: this is the light of the hidden love). And there is one with whom it is in a state of being lost, in a state of exile.

And of this it is said, “And you shall seek”: that you seek and search; and there is no searching except for something lost, that is, something that is lost to him, in a state of exile, which is the level of the spark of G‑dliness mentioned above.

And this is “Havayah your G‑d”: [the spark] that is drawn from the level of Kel, which rests in every person to give life to his G‑dly soul.

5Now, the verse says, “And you shall seek from there.” “From there” specifically: for just as it is impossible to search for a lost object and find it except in the place where it was lost,

so he will not attain the light of G‑d’s face, and that his love be toward Him and the awe of Him upon his face, except after first searching in the place where it was lost

to him, in the manner of what is written, “Let us search our ways,” etc.: that he examine his deeds, his words and his thoughts that have passed and gone by since the day he came into being, which were not good. And this is “And you shall seek from there.”

For the term “this” (zeh) [denotes] a thing that one can actually point to with one’s finger, of which one would say, “This is it”; and it is impossible to say so except of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written, “This is my G‑d, and I will glorify Him,”

for “the whole earth is full of His glory.” But the place and abode of the kelipos (husks) is called “there” (sham), meaning very deep below.

6And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded on the verse “They cried there: Pharaoh,” etc., “he has let the appointed time (moed) pass”: that is to say, the way of the festival and its joy he turned over into a joy of frivolity.

And this is the matter of “In this wilderness they shall be ended (yitamu)”: that is, through the speech of the letters of prayer, which is the level of “this wilderness (midbar),” as it is written, “This is my G‑d,” etc.;

and likewise through occupation with the Torah, as is explained in Parshas Matos on the meaning of “saying, ‘This is the word,’” etc. Through this “they shall be ended (yitamu)”: that is, as is written in the Zohar, Shelach, 163b, that it is the level of “You shall be wholehearted (tamim),” etc.

And “there they shall die” is nefilas apayim (“falling on the face”), which is the elevation of sparks that fell into the level of “there,” through “To You, Havayah, I lift up my soul,” etc. And this is what is written, “And us He brought out from there”: for truly He brought us out from the level of “there,” to cleave to Him, blessed be He.

But one who causes a blemish through some thought or speech, and all the more so through a deed, of this it is said, “And you shall seek from there,”

that is, that he examine his deeds, etc., which were not good; and through this his heart will grow bitter within him, and “he will return to Havayah, and He will have mercy on him,” that is, that he arouse great mercy upon the spark of G‑dliness within him, which is in a state of exile.

7And about this it is said, “To Yaakov, who redeemed Avraham”: for the attribute of Yaakov is the attribute of compassion, through which he redeems from exile the attribute of love, which is the attribute of Avraham our father, peace be upon him; for

this is why he is called “our father,” etc., and [why we are] to be “a son [who is] his father’s leg,” to be nullified and included in His will, blessed be He (and see what is written on the meaning of “And you shall seek from there” on the verse “And Yaakov dwelt,” and in what is written on the verse “As an eagle stirs up,” on the meaning of “Seek … while He may be found”).

But a person who examines his deeds, and the attribute of compassion is not aroused in him, and his heart does not grow bitter within him, even though he reflects deeply in his thought on how a spark of G‑dliness has fallen into exile within his soul, let him take this to heart and apply to himself this parable:

For it is human nature that when even the nail of his toe hurts him, because he struck it against a stone, he feels the pain in his brain and is distressed.

But this is when the injured limb is still joined to him, before it has been cut off; when the limb is cut off, however, the brain does not feel the pain, because it has been severed and separated from its root.

So too we, the children of Israel, are joined and cleaving to Him, blessed be He; and therefore we must feel the pain and the blemish, that we have blemished and brought down into exile the spark of His G‑dliness, blessed be He.

For “even though he sinned,” etc., he has the level of the spark of G‑dliness mentioned above, and it does not depart from him, except that it is in exile. And not only that,

but he is still called by the ranks and degrees of the prince (sar), which is the level of Yisrael mentioned above; for the standing of a prince, even while he is in captivity, is not like the standing of a commoner,

for the prince’s standing is still recognized and known, and with a single movement he can be turned from one extreme to the very opposite, to return to his former state, etc.

But the fact that he does not feel the pain and the blemish in his soul is because he has blemished so much that he has been separated and cut off from his root entirely.

And from this, on the contrary, let him arouse even greater mercy, even though he does not feel the compassion for himself, as is explained elsewhere on the words “In Your abundant mercy, have mercy on us”; meaning, because as for us, our poor intellect does not grasp the greatness of the compassion, etc.

For the attribute of compassion, the attribute of Yaakov, “reaches from end to end” (so that, even though he is, as in the parable, separated and cut off from his root entirely, nevertheless through a single thought of teshuvah (return) he will return and cleave to his root.

And as is explained in Parshas Bamidbar, in the discourse beginning “And He spoke,” etc., on “by their heads (legulgelosam)”: as, by way of analogy, if there were found among remedies [a way] to join one’s body to his head, so is the matter of “lifting up the head,” etc.;

see there. And in the discourse beginning “On the eighth day, an assembly”: even those liable to kares, of whom it is written, “and it shall be cut off,” etc.; and of this the verse says, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me”; nevertheless, “Havayah will gather me in.”) And if even by this the attribute of compassion mentioned above is not aroused in him,

then this is the counsel given: it is written, “who feeds among the roses (shoshanim),” and the Zohar explains (Shemos, folio 20): just as the rose is turned from a red hue to a white hue by fire, etc.,

so it is written, “If your sins be like scarlet, they shall become white as snow.” For sin is called “red,” and likewise all the deeds, words and thoughts concerning all worldly matters are also called “red,” since they are the thoughts of the [evil] inclination and its schemes; [these] will be turned to a white hue,

which is the level of “they shall become white as snow,” through the level of fire. Now, there is a fire above and a fire below; and the fire above, not every person merits it.

But the fire below is the matter of self-mortifications and fasts, to diminish one’s fat and blood, which are from the side of kelipas nogah; and then “Havayah will make His face shine,” the level of the illumination of the face, as mentioned above.

83. But there is one more [counsel] that one must set in his soul: what is written, “In the markets and in the streets I will seek the one my soul loves,” etc.,

“until I found the one my soul loves; I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of the one who conceived me.”

The explanation: “she’ahavah nafshi” (whom my soul loves), [vocalized] with a kamatz, expresses “already”: that which [my soul] already loved. That is, Israel arose in the primordial Thought;

and this is the level of “it is pure,” before “You created [it],” as is explained on the verse “My dove, in the clefts of the rock.” And from this level the hidden light is drawn into it, which is the level of the hidden love, as [explained] above on the meaning of “the light,

that it was good,” to hide away, etc. And this is “the one my soul loves” from long ago; similar to what is explained on the verse “See, I…,” on the meaning of “of Eisan the Ezrachi,” etc.

But there is one with whom this love is in a state of being lost and in a state of exile, as mentioned above, and of this it is said, “I will seek the one my soul loves.” Now, the searching is “in the markets and in the streets,” in the place of the loss.

But even if he has found the lost thing, the light of G‑d will not endure in him without vessels, for this causes the withdrawal of the light, as is known.

Therefore the counsel is to make vessels for the light of G‑d, and these are the letters of the Torah. For “my mother’s house” is the Written Torah, and “the chamber of the one who conceived me” is the Oral Torah. And as it is written,

“For Havayah your G‑d is a consuming fire”; and just as it is impossible for fire to take hold without a wick or something for it to hold on to,

so too: “I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him,” etc. See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “In the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting”; and as is found in the Zohar on the verse “who feeds among the roses”: shoshanim (roses), [read as] she’shoneh halachos (who studies the laws), etc.

9Therefore it is written, “who feeds” (haro’eh), for Israel sustain their Father in Heaven: because through occupation with the Torah, which is His will, blessed be He, “a spirit brings a spirit

and draws down a spirit,” so that the level of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of His will, blessed be He, rests and is revealed in it; just as through a person’s eating he joins his soul to his body, so that the powers of his soul spread through it expansively.

So too, as it were, Israel sustain their Father in Heaven through the Torah and mitzvos, which are His will, blessed be He: “a spirit brings a spirit and draws down a spirit,” so that the illumination of the Supernal Will rests and is revealed with the illumination of the face, etc.,

through the letters of the Torah, and also through the mitzvah of charity, which is the attribute of Chesed (kindness), which is the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) and a vessel for the level of the light and the love, the level of its inner dimension; as it is written, “For by the light of Your face You have given us a Torah of life and a love of kindness.”

That is: for the light of G‑d’s face, which is the level of the light, there are two vessels, namely Torah and Chesed, as mentioned above.

10A summary of the discourse beginning “I am my Beloved’s.”

11(1) In Elul there begins the level of “I am my Beloved’s,” that is, an arousal from below; and on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur is “and my Beloved is mine,” that is, the drawing down of His G‑dliness below: at first, “His left hand is under my head,” awe.

In Elul, the Thirteen Attributes; if so, why are they not Yom Tov? (See the like regarding Purim in the discourse beginning “A person is obligated,” etc., “until he does not know.”)

But this is like, by way of analogy, a king whom people go out to greet in the field. “May Havayah make His face shine” is the matter of the Thirteen Attributes.

And the level of “shine” is what is written, “Havayah is Kel, and He has given us light”; see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “The heads of the tribes.” And this is Yisrael: yashar Kel (see what is written on the meaning of “to do what is upright (hayashar)” at the end of the discourse beginning “When you hearken to the voice”), for the level of Kel is a prince and ruler within him. (2)

Now, in a person there is the level of an inhabited city, as is explained at the end of the discourse in the section of the libations, on the meaning of “the land of your habitations”; and the level of a field: see what is written in Torah Ohr, Parshas Chayei, on the verse “And Yitzchak went out to meditate in the field.”

And the level of a wilderness: this is “a land not sown” (see what is written in the discourse beginning “These are the journeys,” and what is written on the matter of sowing in the discourse beginning “Listen, O heavens,” in the discourse beginning “When Pharaoh sent,” and in the discourse beginning “There are sixty queens”),

“where no man dwelt,” the opposite of what is written, “Will G‑d indeed dwell on the earth?” And the counsel for this is as it is written, “And you shall seek from there.”

For “the light, that it was good,” to hide away, is the level of “Havayah is Kel, and He has given us light,” which is in the level of yashar Kel. But there is one with whom it is in a state of being lost,

in the manner of: “Who is a fool? One who loses there what is given to him”; and in the manner of what is written, “And those lost in the land of Ashur shall come”; and it is written, “I have strayed like a lost sheep.”

And see on this in the Gemara, at the end of the third chapter of Makkos (folio 24, end of side a), and in the Maharsha there, in the Chiddushei Aggados; and see in the Midrash Rabbah on Parshas Korach, and on Parshas Beshalach, at the end of chapter 24: “Just as the sheep,” etc.,

“so Israel, even though they sin,” etc.; see there. And this is “like a lost sheep.” And one must search in the place where it was lost, that he examine his deeds; and this is “And you shall seek from there,” and “he will return to Havayah, and He will have mercy on him,”

(and from this he will come to the level of Shema: sham [and] ayin. And also the level of wilderness mentioned above will be elevated, to become “and your speech (midbarech) is lovely,” as is explained in the discourse beginning “In the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting”: that through teshuvah (return) one comes to the level of a wilderness “where no man dwelt,” which is above the rank of man, and is called “the great and awesome wilderness”).

But a person who does not feel the compassion in his soul, this is because he has been blemished so much that he has been separated and cut off from his root

(and kares corresponds to the level of Keser (the Crown), as is written in Me’orei Or, the letter kaf, section 15); and from this, on the contrary, let him arouse upon himself even greater mercy, and through this there is hope.

And this is “who feeds among the roses,” the level of the Thirteen Attributes. A further explanation of “among the roses”: in the manner of “If your sins be like scarlet,” from the level of red, “they shall become white as snow,”

like the rose, which is turned from a red hue to a white hue through fire. And see what is written on the matter of fire in the discourse beginning “And it shall be for you as tzitzis,” and in Parshas Behar on the verse “When you come,” etc., “the land shall rest,” etc. And through this, “Havayah will make His face shine.”

It may also be said that shoshanim alludes to the level of “a red strap on a white horse”; and this too is the matter of the strip of scarlet wool, etc.;

and this is the matter of the white garments and the golden garments, as is written in the Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Pinchas (folio 255b). And see what is written in the discourse beginning “For the conductor, on the sheminis”; and similar is what is written of David, “ruddy, with beautiful eyes”; and see what is written in the explanation on the verse “And all your children.” (3)

Furthermore, there must be what is written, “I held him and would not let him go,” etc. For “she’ahavah nafshi,” with a kamatz, expresses “already,” in the manner of “it has already (kevar) been for ages”; for Israel arose in the primordial Thought.

And this is “And I was among the exiles by the river Kevar.” And see on the matter of Kevar in Bereshis Rabbah, chapter 16, and in the Zohar, Bereshis (folio 6b),

and in the Mikdash Melech and the Ramaz there, and in the Zohar, Part III, Pinchas (folio 247a); and see what is written in Torah Ohr, in the discourse beginning “And these are the ordinances,” regarding “If you acquire a Hebrew servant.”

And after he finds the revelation of this love, there must be “I held him,” etc., and to bring him “into my mother’s house,” this is the Written Torah; see the Zohar, Part II, Vayakhel (folio 200).

And “the chamber of the one who conceived me,” this is the Oral Torah. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “See, I…,” regarding “and a lamp is lit above his head, and they teach him,” etc.; and see what is written in the discourse beginning “And you shall make holy garments for Aharon your brother.”

And this is the matter of “who feeds among the roses (shoshanim)”: those who study (sheshonim) the laws. Israel sustain and are sustained; see what is written on the meaning of “my companion” in the discourse beginning “I am asleep,” and on the meaning of “Come, eat of my bread” in the discourse beginning “My dove, in the clefts.”

And on the matter of the two vessels, Torah and Chesed (kindness), see what is written in the explanation on the verse “I am Havayah your G‑d” of the section of tzitzis, at its end.