ושמתי כדכד שמשותיך ושעריך לאבני אקדח וגו׳ (בישעיה…

1“And I will make your windows of kadkod, and your gates of ekdach stones,” etc. (Isaiah, chapter 54). And in the Gemara (the fifth chapter of Bava Basra): Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said, two angels in the firmament disagree about it, Gavriel and Michael

(and in the Yalkut on Isaiah it reads “Michael and Gavriel”). One said [it is] shoham [onyx], and one said yashfeh [jasper]. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let it be like this and like this (kedein ukedein).

“Your windows” (shimshosayich) means the shining of the sun (shemesh) (as Rashi explained) (on Isaiah there); and in Sanhedrin (folio 100a): windows through which the sun shines, etc. And see [Midrash] Rabbah, Bo, section 15.

Now, it is written, “For a sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim” (Psalms, chapter 84), [showing] that the Name Havayah is called “sun.” And it is written, “And for you who fear My Name, a sun of tzedakah (righteousness) shall shine, with healing in its wings,” in Malachi (chapter 3, [verse] 20).

So the level of tzedakah, too, is called “sun.” And this is the meaning of shimshosayich [in the plural]: two levels of “sun.” To understand this, we must

first understand what is explained in the sefarim: that in Elul the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy shine until Rosh HaShanah, and afterwards, in the Ten Days of Teshuvah, the Thirteen Attributes are revealed again (as is written in the Zohar, Part II, at the end of Parshas Terumah) (folio 176a).

This is why we say “And Havayah passed,” etc., until Yom Kippur. And we need to understand: what is the difference between that revelation in Elul and [the one] afterwards, in the Ten Days of Teshuvah?

All this will be understood by first explaining the nature of teshuvah (return), which is not specifically for sins, for our Sages, of blessed memory, said that one should be in teshuvah all his days;

rather, it is the returning of the soul: one returns and lifts his soul up to Him, may He be blessed, for the descent is for the sake of an ascent.

2To understand this: for seemingly, the souls of Israel in any case “arose in thought”; that is, they are not like the angels, the hosts above and below, whose source of coming into being is the level of the supernal speech, as it is written, “And by the breath of His mouth, all their host.”

But the souls were taken from the letters of His thought, may He be blessed, and these are the very six hundred thousand letters of the Torah, which correspond to the six hundred thousand souls

in which all the souls in the treasury are included, since they are branches and sparks that spread forth from them, as is known. If so, their source and root is very high and exalted; what further ascent, then, [can there be]?

(See what is written in Parshas Shelach on the verse “I am Havayah your G‑d,” etc., and on the verse “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov,” and on the verse “You shall keep My Shabbosos,” etc.)

However, it is well known that, by way of analogy, in the soul there are several powers that are above thought; for thought is only a garment for the intellect, which clothes itself in it and is divided into letters,

but the intellect itself is a different essence, hidden from it. For example, a comment of Tosafos and of the Rosh: the insight itself is not of the category of letters at all, and is higher than them in level,

for it is a spiritual reasoning and a single point, only it is grasped and clothed in these words and combinations of letters, and divided among them, etc.

3Therefore one insight that in the Tosafos comment is in these letters and words, in the Rosh and the Ran this very insight is in other letters and words. That is, the letters and words, relative to the intellect, are merely like a garment, and “like a garment You change them.”

There is also a level above the intellect: for insights well up and are renewed constantly, “new every morning,” and there must necessarily exist some faculty of the soul that brings them into being;

and this is what is called maskil, which is a causative form, and this is what is written, “A maskil of Asaf,” “A maskil of Eisan the Ezrachite,” “For the conductor, a maskil,” etc.

4This is why the soul is called “the intellective soul” (nefesh hamaskeles), as is explained elsewhere. Exactly so will it be understood Above: the ascent of the souls after their descent from the source from which they were hewn, the supernal thought, to be clothed in a physical body, is an ascent far, far above thought. And this is the meaning of teshuvah: tashuv hei, the upper hei returns to the yud, etc.

(For the supernal thought is the level of the upper hei of the Name Havayah, and “the upper hei returns to the yud” means above the level of thought; for the yud itself is the level of the supernal Chochmah (wisdom), which is called “a maskil of Eisan,” etc., and the tip of the yud is the level of ayin (nothingness), from which “Chochmah is found.” And see what the Ramaz writes on Parshas Shelach)

(folio 159a) about the yud of the Name, which is truly bound up with the world of Ein Sof, in the mystery of the tip of the yud, etc.,

up to: “The yud and its tip: Ein Sof and Atzilus; the hei: the World of Beriah, which includes Yetzirah and Asiyah,” etc., “and there is a dividing curtain,” etc.

See there. And see Reishis Chochmah, chapter 2 of Sha’ar HaTeshuvah, where it says: “They further explained in the Zohar that teshuvah rises up to Keser (the Crown),” etc.

52. For the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, is exalted and uplifted myriads of levels without end above thought, and even above the level of the supernal Chochmah (wisdom), etc., as is known; and in a single thought He encompasses and fills all the worlds,

as the saying goes, “He sees and looks to the end of all generations”: what was, is and will be, and Gan Eden, the World to Come and the Resurrection of the Dead included, in literally a single glance. And this is what is written at the beginning of Etz Chaim, “When it arose in His will,” etc.,

that in this will and thought all the worlds were emanated, both those mentioned and explained in the books of truth and those that are not revealed and known; from the beginning of all levels to the end of all levels, all of them came into being in a single thought.

By way of analogy: in the human soul, when one thinks a single thought, it is truly as nothing compared with thought as a whole, which can think thoughts without end or limit, and all the more so compared with the being and essence of the soul, etc. (And see on this in the discourse beginning “These are the journeys.”)

So is the radiance of life-force (chayus) that is drawn from Him, may He be blessed, to all the worlds as a whole: it is truly considered as nothing before Him, may He be blessed, and bears no comparison to Him.

Therefore “no thought can grasp Him,” and therefore what is drawn forth is called by the name Or Ein Sof, “the light of the Infinite One,” for light effects no change in the essence of the luminary, as is known. This being so, the whole purpose of man is that “his soul should yearn

and even pine” to be included in His essence, may He be blessed, specifically, which is without limit, and to cleave to Him; and he should not want even to receive a reward in Gan Eden,

for that is only a glow and a radiance, and through many contractions (tzimtzumim), as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “With [the letter] yud the World to Come was created,” etc. And this is what is said, “to be absorbed into the body of the King,” into the body of the King specifically.

(See what is written in the discourse beginning “After Havayah your G‑d shall you walk,” and below in the discourse beginning “When you go out,” and in the discourse beginning “Return, O Israel,” and in the discourse beginning “Listen, O heavens.”)

And this is the meaning of teshuvah, which is the returning of the soul: to return [to a place] higher than the source from which his soul was hewn, that is, higher than thought, as mentioned above; and this is the ascent that follows the descent. And see what is written on the verse “And these are their journeys according to their goings forth.”

The opportune time for this is in the Shema, when one says “One” and “You shall love,” etc.; and as is explained in the sefarim, one must give over his soul at [the word] “One.” The intention is not only to picture sanctifying the Name in actual deed,

but also spiritually: this is the self-nullification (bittul) of the soul, to be included in the light of G‑d, [who is] One. This is the level and rank of Yechidah, and of this King David, peace be upon him, said (Psalms 35), “[Save] my only one (yechidasi) from the young lions; I will thank You in the great congregation.”

For there are Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah and Yechidah. Chayah is the level of Chochmah, as it is written, “Wisdom gives life (techayeh)”; and Neshamah is the level of Binah (understanding), which is the level of comprehension, etc.;

but Yechidah is the level of the simple will that is above Chochmah. And Yechidah is a feminine form, [denoting one] that receives from the Yachid, the Only One,

for its only longing is for the Only One of the world alone, to be included in His essence, may He be blessed, specifically; as it is written, “Whom do I have in heaven? And besides You I desire nothing on earth,” etc.

Heaven and earth are the upper and lower Gan Eden: in all of them I desire nothing but You alone, may You be blessed. And see what is written on the verse “One is my dove.” And this level is present even in those of the lowest worth,

for every single Jew has in his nature the quality of self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) and this will that is above intellect; and as is explained in the sefarim, even one who has nothing

but Nefesh, or the Nefesh of Nefesh, nevertheless has the level of Yechidah included in it as well (and see Sha’arei Kedushah by Rabbi Chaim Vital, part three, gate 2).

Now, “G‑d made one opposite the other”: in the sitra achra (the other side), too, there is this level of Yechidah, which is the level of a will that is above intellect

and reason. Therefore a person can have a strong will even in worldly matters, like this will in holiness that is above reason, if he draws upon himself the yoke of worldly affairs, etc.

(Along the lines of what is mentioned in Parshas Beshalach, in the discourse beginning “To My mare among Pharaoh’s chariots”: when the attachment to the world becomes so strong that it is entirely without reason, etc.) And the source of this level is called “young lions” (kefirim), for their strength is great and mighty and they have an overpowering life-force, etc.

And about this King David, peace be upon him, asked, “[Save] my only one from the young lions”: that the level of Yechidah be only in holiness alone, for the Only One of the world. And this is the level and rank of the love “with all your might (me’odecha),”

for “with all your soul” includes the four levels Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah and Chayah, and the level of “with all your might” is the level of Yechidah, for me’od is without limit, etc.

And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “With all your might: with all your money.” Seemingly this is astonishing: what does money have to do with the level of me’od, which is the highest level and rank in the soul, the level of Yechidah?

But the explanation is as it is written, “Tzedakah exalts a nation, and kindness to the nations is sin” (in Proverbs, chapter 14, [verse] 34), meaning: the sin of Israel is what causes kindness to the nations.

For “there is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin,” etc. And through this chesed (kindness) is drawn forth, which is the level of bestowal, chas dalet, “compassion on the dalet,” to the sitra achra;

for through each and every sin a blemish is made in the soul and in the source of its root, since it clothes itself in the animal soul, and it is [the animal soul] that brings it down and draws it into the depths of the kelipos and the external chambers, etc.

6However, “tzedakah exalts a nation”: this is Israel, as it is written, “And who is like Your people,” etc.; that is, the animal soul. For through the tzedakah that a person does, the animal soul is separated and set apart from complete evil, and it too is exalted, so that all its attributes and garments are for G‑d alone.

7And this is the level and rank of baalei teshuvah, whose greatness our Sages, of blessed memory, extolled, saying, “In the place where baalei teshuvah stand,” etc. For all the attributes (middos) in the animal soul,

in their very existence, are more forceful and stronger than the holy attributes in the G‑dly soul, just as, physically, domestic and wild animals are by nature possessed of more strength and might than human beings.

8The reason is that their root is from a very high and exalted place, the level of “the strong hand,” and they are “the kings who reigned before any king reigned over the children of Israel,” far, far above the source of the holy souls of Israel, etc.; only, they descended and fell far, far below.

9However, when it is subdued and transformed from darkness to light, this level of forcefulness is included in holiness; and this is the superiority of baalei teshuvah, [who come] “with greater strength,” as is explained elsewhere.

And this is why David asked to be saved, [saying,] “my only one from the young lions”: for there is a level of Yechidah, which is the forcefulness and intensity of the will that is above reason, in the sitra achra (the other side) as well, and it is called “young lions” (kefirim), as it is written, “The young lions roar for prey,” which is the intensity of life-force, “mighty as a lion,” etc., as mentioned above.

10Therefore David said, “my only one from the young lions”: that my Yechidah be bound with a strong and mighty bond to G‑d, may He be blessed, alone, and not fall, G‑d forbid, into the hands of the external forces, the young lions.

And this is [the meaning of] “exalts a nation”: that the attributes (middos) in the animal soul be transformed to cleave to Him, may He be blessed; and this comes through tzedakah specifically, for “in the measure with which a person measures, he is measured,”

and just as he has compassion on the poor man, to revive his soul from among the starving, so from Above abundant mercies roll down from the source of mercy upon his soul, to raise it from its lowliness and its impurity, as it is said, “He revives the dead,” etc. (And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “Zion shall be redeemed with justice,” on “and her returnees with tzedakah.”)

113. And this is the meaning of the revelation of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Elul, which precedes the Ten Days of Teshuvah. For in the Ten Days of Teshuvah abundant mercies are revealed after teshuvah has come first,

for it is specifically through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) that there is then an arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila), as is explained in the Zohar on the verse “If He sets His heart upon him,” etc.: “A spirit brings a spirit, and draws forth a spirit.”

12Now, when one brings up a spirit from below to above, when the will of his heart is for G‑d at the level of me’od (“might”), “with greater strength,” then he will draw

also a spirit like it from above to below: the level of the supernal me’od, which is without limit. And these are the very Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in the verse, “Who is a G‑d like You, Who bears iniquity,” etc.

But in order for there to be this arousal from below, that we return to G‑d with all our soul and our might, there must also be an arousal from above, until from on high the spirit of G‑d is poured out upon Israel His people, to arouse their hearts, so that they cry out to G‑d from their very innermost core, the point of their hearts.

13And this is the meaning of the revelation of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Elul: that through these mercies his soul rises from its fall, and also stands upright and ascends to G‑d with a willing spirit, at the very level of me’od, “with greater strength,” etc. Therefore it is explained in the words of our Sages, of blessed memory, that one must increase in tzedakah from Rosh Chodesh Elul.

14That is for the reason mentioned above: that tzedakah exalts and raises up, etc. Therefore the Men of the Great Assembly instituted for us, before the Shema, requests for the arousal of mercy upon us, in the two [blessings] before it; this is what we say, “Our Father, merciful Father, have mercy upon us, and put into our hearts understanding

to understand,” etc.; and likewise, “In Your abundant mercies, have mercy upon us”: “in Your abundant mercies” specifically, as is explained on this in the discourse beginning “And behold, a menorah all of gold.”

For we, who have already descended into the lowly world, very far from the light of the King’s face, [which is] life, do not grasp or recognize the pity that is [due] us;

but He, may He be blessed, is the One who knows, etc., and before Him all is considered as truly nothing; He knows how great is the pity upon the souls that have descended

“from a high roof” into “the covert of the cliff,” into this lowly world and into the physical body, and have become very far from His G‑dliness, may He be blessed. And through abundant mercies He will put into our hearts understanding to understand, etc., that is, to understand one thing from another.

That is: from one thing, which is the radiance of the Infinite Light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), “whose greatness is unsearchable,” truly, giving life to many worlds without end or limit, and nevertheless it is truly as naught and nothing compared with His essence, may He be blessed, as in the analogy of the nullity of a single word, etc.

From this he will understand how His essence, may He be blessed, alone is exalted and sublime (and see the discourse beginning “The heavens are My throne”). And then, because of this, there will yearn for Him the soul

of every living being, at the level of “your might,” truly without limit, to give over his soul truly to the true One, and “against your will you live,” etc. And we have nothing to ask for but the nearness of G‑d, may He be blessed, to us.

15And this is the meaning of the Shemoneh Esreh that follows the Shema, which is the explanation and interpretation of the self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) in the Shema: that what is sought is that there be “Blessed are You, Havayah, our G‑d,” etc.

Baruch (“blessed”) is a term related to a pool (berechah) and to drawing down: that His G‑dliness, may He be blessed, be revealed far, far below, until it is at the level of Atah, “You,” in the second person,

16and the level of Elokeinu, “our G‑d,” truly ours. However, the king is not seen when he is unclothed; and therefore one must make the level of garments and vessels, “vessels of diverse kinds,” in which His G‑dliness, may He be blessed, may be revealed.

And this is what is written, “And you shall speak of them”: in words of Torah. For the Torah is the level of a garment in which the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, is clothed, as it is written, “He wraps [Himself in] light as a garment.”

17And tzedakah, too, is called by the name of the level of a garment, as the saying goes, “His garment is tzedakah.” The matter is, by way of analogy, [like] a king of flesh and blood, who has inner garments that he wears when he sits in his palace

within, and has outer garments that he puts on when he goes outside. So Above: the Torah is the level of the inner garment, in which the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) rests as it is revealed above, in Atzilus.

18And tzedakah is the outer garment: that is, when [the light] is drawn far, far below, into the separate worlds, into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and “the wicked walk all around” (these are the external chambers and abodes, which seek prey and nourishment, etc.), then “His garment is tzedakah,” as it is written, “He put on tzedakah as a coat of mail”; and “a coat of mail of scales” is a garment, as is explained elsewhere.

19And this is the meaning of the two levels of “sun,” the sun of Havayah and the sun of tzedakah, which shine through kadkod, that is, a thin partition: the garment of the Torah, the twenty-four (kaf-dalet) books of the Torah, and the garment of tzedakah.

For sins are called darkness and cloud, as it is written, “I have wiped away your transgressions like a thick cloud, and your sins like a cloud,” since they conceal the light of G‑d;

and through tzedakah a radiance will shine and dawn in his soul, so that he becomes nullified and included in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), from below to above. And this is “And for you who fear My Name, a sun of tzedakah shall shine, with healing in its wings.”

20And this is along the lines of the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, in the second chapter of Yoma: “Great is teshuvah, for it brings healing to the world.” For sins are called blows and wounds, as the prophet said, “From the sole of the foot to the head there is no soundness in it,” etc.

That is, because through each and every sin a blemish is made in the soul, and it imparts power and life-force to the kelipos; and through teshuvah one brings healing, so that the soul goes out of its impurity and its filth and rises to holiness, to be included in the light of G‑d, [who is] One, as mentioned above.

21And this is “with healing in its wings”: for the wings are what fly and lift up the bird; and so too love and awe are the level of “wings” (gadfin).

Through them and by means of them is the ascent; and through an arousal from below, an arousal from above, the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy are drawn down from above, which are the level of the supernal me’od that is without limit.

And this is the level of the second sun, which is called the sun of Havayah, etc. (And this is the meaning of the difference between the revelations of the Thirteen Attributes: [the one] in the month of Elul, as is explained below on the verse “I am my beloved’s,”

is, by way of analogy, [like] the king when he is outside, in the field, before he comes to his palace, and there [people] go out to greet him; and then he is dressed, by way of analogy, in the outer garment. And this is the level of “He put on tzedakah,” etc., “and a helmet of salvation on His head.”

And this is the level of the sun of tzedakah, as it is written, “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is found in the way of tzedakah.” However, the revelation of the Thirteen Attributes in the Ten Days of Teshuvah, and especially on Yom Kippur, is, by way of analogy, [like] one who merits to greet the king in his royal palace, and there he is dressed in the inner garments;

and this is the level of the sun of Havayah. And it is also the level of the Torah, which is called “sun,” as it is written, “For the sun He set a tent in them, and it is like a bridegroom,” etc.; and the Torah is called “bridegroom,” as is explained elsewhere, in Shir HaShirim, on the verse “To My mare”; and see the Zohar at the beginning of Parshas Beha’aloscha.

That is the level of the sun of Havayah, as it is written, “The Torah of Havayah is perfect.” And see what is written on the verse “And I pleaded,” etc., “You have begun,” etc. And as is written in the Zohar, Terumah) (folio 177a): that this revelation of “You have begun” is in the Ten Days of Teshuvah,

and also, the second Tablets were given on Yom Kippur. (One may further say, in another way, that the sun of tzedakah is a higher level: for the sun of Havayah is the level of a sun with a shield, the sun in its sheath; but the sun of tzedakah, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said in the first chapter of [tractate] Avodah Zarah, is that in the Time to Come the Holy One, blessed be He, will take the sun out of its sheath.

And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “Blow the shofar on the New Moon.” [Midrash] Rabbah, Bo, section 15, also implies that the sun of tzedakah is what is written, “And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, like the light of the seven days”; and see Parshas Mishpatim, section 31; and in the Zohar, Part I, Miketz)

(folio 203b): that the sun of tzedakah is the light that the Holy One, blessed be He, hid away. And so it is written at the beginning of Parshas Emor (folio 88a); and see Parshas Pekudei (folio 224b).

If so, it is above the level of the sun of Havayah. And this is as is explained elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “I will sing to Havayah,” on “And they shall keep the way of Havayah, to do tzedakah”:

that through the arousal from below in tzedakah, through this there is an arousal from above, that there be “the way of Havayah,” meaning a way and an entrance for the Name Havayah to be. And of this it is said, “Gracious and merciful is Havayah”: it put the level of “gracious and merciful” first, so that there be Havayah; and these are the very Thirteen Measures of Mercy (mechilin derachamei), the source of Atzilus, etc. See there.

22That is, the Thirteen Attributes that are revealed on Yom Kippur, which is the level of “Before Havayah you shall be purified,” above the Name Havayah. And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “And all your children,” on “With tzedakah you shall be established.”

And as is written in M.A., on “He sows tzedakos, causes salvations to sprout”: the revelation of the shin-ayin-hei (375) lights. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “And it shall be, from one New Moon to the next,” on “Sun on Shabbos is tzedakah for the poor.”

Accordingly, the sun of Havayah is what is written, “Havayah, G‑d, merciful and gracious.” And see what is written on this at the end of the discourse beginning “And I pleaded with Havayah.”

And this is the meaning of “And I will make your windows of kadkod”: that is, two levels of “sun.” The first, from above to below, which shines in the month of Elul;

and the second, from below to above, which is the level of the ascents of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. And this is the matter of the sun of Havayah and the sun of tzedakah, as mentioned above.

(And this is what is said in the Jerusalem Talmud, that Rav said: “When you see the sun at the top of the palm trees, give me my cloak, that I may pray Ne’ilas She’arim.” For at Ne’ilah there is the ascent of Z’eir Anpin, which is called “the sun,” into the beard of Arich Anpin; and this is “at the top of the palm tree,” along the lines of “The righteous man will flourish like a palm tree, like a cedar in Lebanon,” etc.)

(In the Zohar, Vayikra, folio 16a.) A tzaddik is a master of tzedakah, the level of the sun of tzedakah. And it is written, “I will go up on the palm tree”; and see the Zohar, Part III (folio 283a). And this is akin to the level of “And the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, like the light,” etc.

And this ascent is from below to above: the ascent of the vessels toward the supernal lights, which is the matter of Shabbos and Yom Kippur, as is written in Iggeres HaKodesh, at its end.

Now, as for the two levels of “sun”: although now, too, there are these illuminations, as mentioned above, nevertheless they are only in the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the worlds;

but in the Time to Come “they will see eye to eye.” And also, in the Time to Come the two levels of “sun” mentioned above will be at levels higher without end.

234. And this is the meaning of “One said shoham, and one said yashfeh,” and both are the words of the living G‑d. For it is written, “And you shall engrave upon them the names of the children of Israel,” and it is written, “And Aharon shall bear the names of the children of Israel,” etc.,

“for a remembrance before Havayah”: for on the twelve stones of the breastplate were written the names of the tribes in the order of their births, odem (ruby) for Reuven, etc.;

and Aharon, “the groomsman of the Queen (Matronisa),” would raise them up before G‑d, far, far above the level of the Name Havayah, as is explained elsewhere.

24Now, the fact that the names of the tribes were engraved on precious stones specifically is, by way of analogy, as in physical matters: for the reason that the treasure of kings and the vessels

of value are precious stones specifically, and that their price is so great that silver and gold cannot be compared to them, is only that it is a wondrous thing: that an inanimate stone should be pure and bright, shining like fire.

25So too the transformation of the animal soul in Israel from darkness to light, and their ascent on high to be included in the light of G‑d, “to be absorbed into the body of the King,” etc.

And about this was the matter of the breastplate, which Aharon would raise up before G‑d: this is a wondrous, wondrous thing, and it is likened to a precious stone; they are compared [to it].

Moreover, precious stones grow and are drawn from the stars, and it is written of Israel, “And behold, you are today like the stars of the heavens,” in Parshas Devarim; and see there in the Midrash Rabbah.

26Now, according to the order of the tribes’ births and the order of the breastplate stones, Yosef and Binyamin, who were born last, are engraved on the last two stones of the fourth row,

which are shoham and yashfeh, as is written in the Rambam, chapter 9 of the Laws of the Vessels of the Sanctuary, and in [Midrash] Rabbah, at the end of Tetzaveh and in Bamidbar, section 2.

27Now, Yosef the tzaddik is the level of drawing down and bestowing from above to below, for Yosef is from the term tosefes (“addition”), light that comes from above; as it is written, “And Yosef was the one who provided,” etc., and “Yosef sustained his father,” etc. And see what is written on the verse “And Yehudah approached him.”

28That is, all the drawing down and revelation of G‑dliness in created beings is through the soul of Yosef. And Binyamin the tzaddik is elevation from below to above;

that is, the elevation of all created beings, to be included under the wings of the Shechinah, is through the soul of Binyamin, ben yamin (“son of the right”), the son of Avraham, the man of kindness, [for] “the right hand draws near,” as it is written, “And His throne shall be established in kindness.”

Therefore both are called tzaddikim, for a tzaddik is the level of the bond between giver and receiver; only, Yosef is the upper tzaddik, who binds the giver to the receiver and draws the flow from above to below,

and Binyamin is the lower tzaddik, who binds the receiver to the giver and raises it from below to above. And of them it is said, “The righteous shall inherit the earth forever”: two tzaddikim, etc.

(And see what is written on the subject of Yosef and Binyamin in the explanation of the verse “If you will listen to the voice,” on “The eyes of Havayah are toward the righteous”; and see what is written in Parshas Terumah, in the explanation of the verse “O that you were as a brother to me.”)

And this is what the two angels in the firmament disagree about: one said shoham, etc. The meaning is that the disagreement is about the manner and order of the revelation of G‑dliness that there will be in the Time to Come, speedily in our days, amen, as it is written, “They will see eye to eye.”

For there are two kinds of revelation: either that the worlds ascend, or that there be drawings-down of G‑dliness into them, in great revelation, from above to below.

By way of analogy: two people, one standing on a high mountain and the second in a valley, a sloping, low place: there are two ways for them to come close, either the lower one goes up or the upper one comes down.

29Now, Michael, whose attribute is the level of Chesed (kindness), chose shoham, which is the level of Yosef the tzaddik: that there be a revelation of G‑dliness from above to below; and although the worlds will not change from their level so much, in proportion to the revelation of the light, nevertheless the great and mighty revelation will be in them.

And this is what is written of the Time to Come, “And the glory of Havayah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see,” etc. And Gavriel, whose attribute is the level of Gevurah (restraint), chose yashfeh, the level of Binyamin the tzaddik:

that is, that the worlds ascend and be refined with great refinement and elevation, until they are the level of a vessel fit to receive that mighty revelation, as in the analogy of one who enters the king’s house, into his royal palace within.

30This is akin to Moshe on the mountain, as it is said, “And Moshe went up,” etc., when “he ate no bread,” etc.; and even the manna, which is called “bread of the mighty,” on which the ministering angels are nourished, he did not eat, etc.; whereas when he was below, he ate.

And although his level and his eating were very high, for even when he was below and ate, the body was so very pure and refined that he was always ready for mighty prophecy and the revelation of the light of G‑d from the level of Atzilus, without any preparation, etc.,

31nevertheless, when he went up the mountain he did not eat, etc. Along these lines is the matter of Eliyahu, who went up in a storm to heaven. And so is the matter of the ascents of the worlds: that the vessels and the body will be elevated and refined, as is written in Etz Chaim, that Asiyah will be included in Yetzirah, and Yetzirah in Beriah, etc. And along these lines there are ascents without end, etc.

32And this is the level of yashfeh: yesh peh, “there is a mouth.” And the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Let it be like this and like this”: that both levels be upheld, and that both levels be, from above to below and from below to above, as is explained elsewhere on the verse “And I will walk among you,” etc.: two kinds of walking, etc.

And this is the matter of kaf-dalet, kaf-dalet: twice the twenty-four letters of “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever” in the Shema of the morning and of the evening. For the morning is the level of drawing down from above to below in the attribute of His sovereignty, may He be blessed,

for it is from the level of Chesed, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Avraham instituted the morning prayer, as it is said, ‘And Avraham rose early in the morning,’” etc.; and the evening is the level of the ascents of Malchus from below to above; and “both of them are equally good,” etc.

(And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “Know this day,” that the day is with the night, etc., “first darkness and then light,” etc., see there; and in the discourse beginning “Sing and rejoice,” on “joyful song in the evening and gladness in the morning”; and see the Zohar, Part I)

(Chayei Sarah, 133a) on the evening prayer; and see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “And the number of the children of Israel shall be,” on “For great is the day.”

335. “And your gates of ekdach stones”: these are the fifty gates of Binah, etc. Meaning: just as a gate serves for entering and leaving, so there are fifty gates of Binah, through which enters the drawing-down that is drawn and flows into them from Chochmah,

that is, from the level of ayin (“nothing”), which is above comprehension, into comprehension, etc.; and also from them goes out the flow that is bestowed from Binah, which is the level of comprehension and contemplation, into the emotive attributes (middos), so that the attributes are stirred by the intellect’s comprehension,

as is written in the Zohar on the verse “Her husband is known in the gates”: each one according to his own measure, according to what he estimates in his heart, etc. And see what is written on the subject of the fifty gates of Binah in the discourse beginning “The eyes of all” and in the discourse beginning “And you shall count for yourselves.”

34Now, at present, in exile, because the heart is stopped up (metumtam), the mind does not rule over it so much that it is stirred by the intellect’s comprehension;

for “sin stops up a person’s heart,” etc., and it is called “the heart of stone.” But in the Time to Come, when His G‑dliness, may He be blessed, is revealed and our hearts are purified,

then it will be said, “And your gates of ekdach stones.” Ekdach is from the term in “For a fire is kindled (kadchah),” in Parshas Ha’azinu, [and] “as fire kindles (kekdo’ach) brushwood,” etc.

(in Isaiah, at the beginning of chapter 64). That is, through the gates of Binah that are drawn into the emotive attributes (middos), even the heart of stone will be kindled and set aflame;

for “even if it is stone, it melts” through contemplation, since then there will be nothing at all that holds back or conceals. And this is the level of love with mighty intensity, until “many waters cannot quench the love.”

Therefore it is likened to ekdach stones, whose radiance is stronger than the radiance of fire: for water extinguishes fire, but the radiance of a precious stone, “many waters cannot quench” it, etc.

35Now, ekdach is in the future tense, for this level will be in the Time to Come specifically; but now, in exile, it is a heart of stone in the plain sense.

And this is the service: to exert himself to open his heart through arousing compassion on the spark of G‑dliness in his soul, etc. And see what is written in Parshas Chukas on the verse “The well that the princes dug,” etc.

36“And all your borders of precious stones (avnei chefetz)”: these are the thirty-two paths of Chochmah (wisdom). For the reason why what is drawn from Binah is called “gates” and what is drawn from Chochmah is called “paths” is

that gates serve for the coming in and going out of many and do not lead far; and so from the level of Binah the flow is drawn into the emotive attributes in great revelation, and “Binah extends only as far as Hod.” But a path is narrow and leads far away, to fields and wildernesses.

37So too the drawing down from Chochmah is drawn in a manner of hiddenness and concealment, and also far away. And this is the Torah, which is the greatness of His wisdom, may He be blessed, and is clothed in physical things: pe’ah and bikkurim, terumos and ma’asros, and offerings, etc.

And this is also the meaning of “your borders” (gevulayich): for the whole Torah, too, is in measures and limits, so much is valid and so much invalid; for example, a sukkah that is higher than twenty cubits is invalid; and likewise nullification in sixty, and orlah in two hundred, and the like.

38Now, of the Time to Come it is written, “And all your borders shall be of precious stones (avnei chefetz)”: that through the paths of Chochmah that are drawn into the emotive attributes, even the heart of stone will desire and long to cleave to Him, may He be blessed.

And this is the inner love, which is higher in level than the love “in flashes of fire” that is called ekdach stones, born of the gates of Binah, which is an outer love, “openly revealed” to every eye;

but the desire (chafitzah) is an inner love, and although it is hidden and not revealed to the eye of the beholder (and see what is written in the discourse beginning “Know this day,” on “And all hearts shall fear You, and all innermost parts and kidneys shall sing”),

yet it comes from the very innermost of his being, and is so deep, “deep, deep,” that his soul could expire entirely because of it, when it does not attain enough of what it seeks.

It is akin to the story of a certain man whose heart grew sick [with longing], etc.; for this is the meaning of chefetz: a longing that is exceedingly inward, until one’s soul literally cleaves to the thing he longs for, as it is said of Shechem, “for he desired (chafetz) the daughter of Yaakov,” etc.

39And this level of love, in desire and longing, is drawn from the level of the paths of Chochmah specifically, which is the level of concealment, and from it is born the love in the hidden recesses of his heart;

whereas from the level of Binah, which is comprehension in revelation, is born the love “in flashes of fire,” from the intensity of the element of G‑dly fire in the soul, and it is called ekdach stones, as mentioned above. (See what is written above on this subject on the parsha “See, I set before you,” etc.)

Now, the end of the verse is, “And all your children shall be taught of Havayah, and great (rav) shall be the peace of your children.” And our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “‘Many’ (rabim) is no fewer than three.”

The explanation is that there are three levels in peace, which is the bond of the giver with the receiver; and they are the three times we say “Peace be upon you” at the Sanctification of the Moon.

The first is the level of Yosef, the upper tzaddik, who makes peace by binding the giver to the receiver, from above to below.

40The second is the level of Binyamin, the lower tzaddik, who also makes peace, by binding the receiver to the giver and raising it from below to above. And the binding and joining of the two of them is a third level in peace.

And this is the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, “peace in the household above and peace in the household below”; and the binding and joining of the household above with that below is through the third level (and one may say that it is along the lines of what is mentioned on “to do what is right,” etc., at the end of the discourse beginning “If you will listen”).

And this is what is written, “And he fell upon the neck of Binyamin his brother and wept, and Binyamin wept upon his neck,” and afterwards it is written, “and he wept upon them,” etc.

The meaning of the weeping is that it is impossible for a lower level to be bound and joined with the level above it, whether through the ascent of the lower or through the descent of the upper, except through an arousal of abundant mercy, that is, through weeping, as mentioned above; and as it is written of the Time to Come, “With weeping they will come,” etc.

(And see what is written on this in Parshas Vayishlach, at the end of the discourse beginning “And he took from what came into his hand a gift,” and on the verse “And the Jews accepted.”) Now, first it is written, “And all your children shall be taught of Havayah,”

for when will there be “great peace”? When they are “taught of Havayah,” as it is written, “And My words that I have put in your mouth,” etc.; “I am the Mishnah that speaks,” etc., as is explained elsewhere; and this suffices for one who understands.

41Summary

42(1) The matter of shimshosayich: the sun of Havayah and the sun of tzedakah. The Thirteen Attributes, which shine on Rosh Chodesh Elul; and yet their main revelation is on Yom Kippur and in the Ten Days of Teshuvah.

And see the Zohar, Part II, Mishpatim (end of 115b), Pekudei (end of 224b), Emor (folio 100b). The matter of teshuvah: for the souls of Israel arose in thought, and Chochmah is above thought, and there is a level above Chochmah.

43(2) And teshuvah is “To You, Havayah, I lift up my soul”: to You, truly; and this is giving over the soul (mesirus nefesh) at “One.” This is the level of Yechidah, which will be included in the One. See what is written on the verse “One is my dove.”

But there must be “and from the young lions, my only one,” for the lion is the Keser (the Crown) of kelipah; see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “And [G‑d] spoke,” on the Ten Commandments. And this is through “and tzedakah exalts.”

And this is “with all your might”: “with all your money.” (3) And this is the meaning of the revelation of the Thirteen Attributes in Elul, and along the lines of their instituting the arousal of mercy in the two [blessings] before the Shema,

so that one can come to the Shema and the Shemoneh Esreh. And this is the matter of the sun of tzedakah that heals. And afterwards, through the arousal from below, an arousal from above: this is the matter of the sun of Havayah.

Or it can be said that the sun of tzedakah is the matter of “the Holy One, blessed be He, takes the sun out of its sheath.” And see what is written in the explanation of the verse “After Havayah,” on “between one who serves G‑d and one who has not served Him”

(and see on the subject of the sun of tzedakah in [Midrash] Rabbah: Mishpatim, section 31 (149a); Vayetzei, section 68; Vayishlach, section 78; Ruth (46c), on the verse “And Boaz answered”; Koheles, at the end of “And the sun rises” and at the end of “Go, eat with joy”; in the Gemara, the first chapter of Taanis, 8b; the first chapter of Nedarim, 8b; the first chapter of Avodah Zarah, folio 4a.

Zohar, Part I: Vayera, 98a; Chayei [Sarah], 131a; Part II: Beshalach, end of 59a; Vayakhel, 211b; Part III: Emor, 88a; Nasso, 132b).

44(4) And this is the matter of shoham and yashfeh, which are Yosef and Binyamin: for Yosef is drawing down from above to below, and Binyamin is ascents from below to above; and this is like the matter of the two levels of “sun” mentioned above.

And this is like the matter of Michael and Gavriel: that it be “like this and like this.” And this is kadkod: twice the twenty-four letters of “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever,” morning and evening.

(And see on the subject of Binyamin in Me’orei Or, letter beis, section 62; and on the subject of kadkod, there, letter kaf, section 30, and in letter dalet, section 33.)

45(5) And then, from the level of “and your gates,” the fifty gates of Binah, there will be drawn “ekdach stones,” a term [from] “as fire kindles (kekdo’ach)”: this is love “in flashes of fire.”

“And all your borders,” which are the thirty-two paths of Chochmah, will be of “stones of desire” (avnei chefetz), in the manner of “a land of desire.” “And great (rav) peace”: “‘many’ is no fewer than three.”

For “like this and like this” is two levels, each of which by itself is peace and a joining of upper and lower.

But the binding and joining of the two levels together, in the manner of “He who makes peace” between Michael and Gavriel, is the third level. And see what is written on the meaning of “Peace, peace to the far and to the near” in the discourse beginning “Know this day.”