ביאר ע״פ והיה לכם לציצית

1An explanation of the verse “And it shall be for you as tzitzis.”

2The matter of the blue (techeles). Now, of the four colors in the lamp mentioned in Pri Etz Chaim, Sha’ar HaShabbos, at the end of chapter 4, in the name of the Zohar on Bereshis, “the white light,” etc., and “the blue light,” etc., [the blue light] is the lower one, which is attached to the wick.

And because it is from the consumption of the wick, [where] something that is not of its own kind is consumed and burned up in it, the light changes to the color blue. And so, too, the Malchus (sovereignty) of the World of Atzilus (Emanation) is called “the blue light,” for it becomes a consumption (kilayon) for [the worlds of] Beriah (Creation), Yetzirah (Formation) and Asiyah (Action), which are nullified to it and included in it.

3Now, up to the Malchus of Atzilus there is the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the Ten Sefiros from cause to cause, at the level of oneness; whereas Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah are another level and a separate thing: angels and souls, [at the level of] the nullification of the yesh (something). And since this is so,

at the level of Atzilus it is like the analogy of the white fire mentioned above, which is the appearance of the fire in its essence, which does not come from something truly not of its kind and a foreign thing,

like the consumption of the wick; rather, it is an essential self-nullification (bittul), of the level of the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah), which spreads by way of a chain of descent through all of Atzilus. Whereas the level of Malchus, in which the separate worlds are included,

[that] which is truly something not of its kind, the level of yesh and a separate thing: when it is nevertheless included at the level of the nullification of the yesh, this is the matter of “the blue light,” which comes from the consumption of the wick, etc.

[And see what is written on this in the explanation of the verse “For You are my lamp,” at the end of the discourse: that the blue light is drawn from the consumption of the wick, as mentioned above, and the white light is drawn from the oil, from which a pure light is drawn, etc.;

that is, the oil is not called something not of its kind, for oil is the level of the higher Chochmah, which is the level of the Torah, etc. See there.]

4And this is the matter of “a land that consumes its inhabitants”; only, the spies said it as evil speech (lashon hara), for the spies were liars. But in truth this is praise, for “And you who cleave to Havayah,” etc., as is written in the holy Zohar, Parshas Bereshis, folio 51a.

[“And come and see: even though the way of this blue-black light is to destroy all that cleaves to it beneath it, Israel cleave

to it beneath it and endure in [their] existence, as it is written, ‘And you who cleave to Havayah your G‑d are alive, all of you.’” And the explanation: the matter of “its way is to destroy” is along the lines of what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “The Holy One, blessed be He, stretched out His little finger among them and burned them.”

5And this was the evil speech of the spies, that it is “a land that consumes its inhabitants”: to say that through this self-nullification (bittul) they would be nullified out of their existence entirely, like the matter of “He stretched out,” etc., “and burned them,” mentioned above.

But in truth it is not so, for on the contrary, the essence of life-force (chayus) is the self-nullification, and it is not a nullification out of their existence entirely, G‑d forbid. And there it is different, for it was as a punishment, etc.;

therefore they were nullified out of their existence entirely. Whereas with the self-nullification of the souls of Israel, etc., on the contrary, through “And you who cleave,” etc., “[you are] alive, all of you.”

6And the reason is as is written in the Zohar there: “Come and see: all those that are above are included in that blue light, but the lower ones are not so, for they are a coarse thing,” etc.,

“and therefore it consumes and destroys them.” Thus it is explained that the blue light consumes and destroys only a coarse thing,

that is, the yesh (something) of kelipas nogah, which is a thing entirely foreign and cannot be included in the level of Malchus (sovereignty) except through the nullification of its essence, so that the kelipah (husk) is consumed and goes away. Whereas “those that are above,”

which are in the self-nullification (bittul) of the side of holiness: even though they are included in the level of Malchus in self-nullification, nevertheless it does not consume them, G‑d forbid; rather, this is the ultimate perfection of their existence.

And perhaps this is the matter of the vision of the thornbush that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moshe, as it is written, “and the thornbush was burning with fire, and the thornbush was not consumed.” And as is written in the Midrash Rabbah on Shemos (section 2): “From here they said: the fire above burns but does not consume.”

That is, as it explains there, that the thornbush is Israel. And so it is implied in the Gemara at the end of chapter 6 of Shabbos (folio 67a): “Thornbush, thornbush,” etc., “because you are lower than all the trees,” etc.

And this is along the lines of “for you are the least of all the peoples,” etc.: that they make themselves lowly, along the lines of “and I am dust and ashes,” etc. And see the Tikkunei Zohar, the beginning of Tikkun 19 (folio 37a).

And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “and the favor of Him who dwelt in the thornbush.” And see the last chapter of Zevachim (118b). And see what is written above in the discourse beginning “In the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting.” And therefore, even though the fire burns the thornbush,

that is, that the flashes of the fire of love be drawn into the souls of Israel, and that there be the nullification of the yesh, nevertheless it does not consume them and destroy them out of their existence, G‑d forbid; rather, on the contrary, this self-nullification is the essence of life-force (chayus), etc.

And see on this in the Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Shoftim, folio 274b, and in the commentary of the Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto) there: that the fire consumes the kelipah and does not consume the holiness, etc. See there.

And see further on this in the Zohar, Part II, folio 69b; Part III, folio 280b; and in the Midrash Rabbah on Shir HaShirim, at the beginning of [the passage] “Sustain me with ashishos,” etc., “and with the fire of the thornbush.”

One may further say, in explaining “And you who cleave,” etc., “are alive,” according to what is written in the Zohar, Parshas Vayigash (folio 207b): “because the living must praise the Living,” etc., until “alive, all of you.”

And see the Zohar, Parshas Behar, folio 110b, on the verse “And do good, dwell in the land,” etc.; see there. And [see] the Zohar, Parshas Vayechi (folio 237a), on the verse “And you who cleave,” and folio 245; and consider this carefully.]

And as it is written, “The fear of Havayah [leads] to life,” “The fear of Havayah adds days,” etc. “Your kingship is a kingship of all worlds”: for this is their life-force and their existence, from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is drawn into them; whereas a separate thing has no life-force, and the essence of life-force is the self-nullification, as mentioned above.

72. But this drawing-down, that this self-nullification (bittul) be drawn into the level of yesh (something), so that there be [something that is] yesh and [yet] nullified, is from the level of Abba (Chochmah),

for “Abba founded the daughter” [and this is “If there is no wisdom, there is no fear,” for Malchus (sovereignty) is called “the lower fear,” and its root is from the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah)]; and the blue (techeles) is the Gevuros of Abba,

for this is the level of Gevurah (restraint) and contraction (tzimtzum): that this drawing-down be into the level of yesh, so that there, too, the level of self-nullification be drawn, etc.

[That is to say: in order to bring down and draw the self-nullification also below, into a low place, that is, into the level of yesh, this is through Gevurah; and as is written in the Siddur, in the discourse beginning “Ado-nai, open my lips”;

and this is along the lines of what was explained in the explanation of the verse “The voice of my beloved”: that for the drawing-down to be drawn inwardly into the vessel is the level of Gevurah, and not the level of judgment (din), G‑d forbid; rather, on the contrary, etc.

See there. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Havayah, His adversaries shall be shattered,” in the explanation of the matter of “and He will give strength to His king.” And see the Likkutei Torah of the Arizal, Parshas Vayeira, on the verse “For a fire went out from Cheshbon,” and as is written on this in the explanation of the verse “Therefore the rulers say: Come to Cheshbon.”]

8And because the blue (techeles) is the intellect (mochin) of Abba (Chochmah) and the white is the mochin of Imma (Binah), therefore at this time there is no techeles; for because of its great loftiness, being from the level of Abba, it cannot descend in the time of exile. And this is [the meaning of] “Chochmah at the beginning, Chochmah at the end”: for the Infinite One (Ein Sof) does not rest

except in the level of Chochmah (wisdom), since it is the level of self-nullification (bittul). And therefore the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) is enclothed in the Chochmah of Adam Kadmon, and Adam Kadmon is enclothed in the Chochmah of the World of Atzilus (Emanation), etc. And the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah) is the level of actual self-nullification, “and what (mah) are we,”

for “Chochmah is found from ayin (nothing),” while Binah (understanding) is yesh (something), “the broad places of the river (Rechovos HaNahar),” the broadening of the mind and of comprehension. Whereas Chochmah is the depth of what is grasped, the level of concealment, “He made darkness His hiding place,” the level of Eden, the source of delight (taanug).

For in the level of Chochmah itself no delight at all is discernible, only in the revelation of Chochmah in comprehension: Binah, “to bequeath yesh (substance) to those who love Me,” is called the higher Gan Eden. And Malchus (sovereignty) is the lower Chochmah, so that there be the nullification of the yesh:

“And we bow and prostrate ourselves,” “and the host of heaven bow to You”: that there is one who nullifies himself and prostrates himself, etc. (And see what is written in the discourse beginning “For Avraham did not know us,” and [that] the higher Chochmah of Atzilus is an intermediate level, etc. See there.)

And [Malchus] is called ishah (woman), [whose] hei [is] the five articulations of the mouth, the division of speech into Ten Utterances, so that there be many kinds of contractions (tzimtzumim) and the division of the worlds, as is written in the Idra.

And therefore the World of Speech is called by the name ishah (woman), for “this one was taken from ish (man)”: that in order for there to be the level of ishah, from below upward, “and your desire shall be to your husband (ishech),”

is drawn from the level of ish (man): esh (fire) [and] yud. That is, yud is Chochmah, and it is drawn into the level of ish, which is Z’eir Anpin, which is the level of the emotive attributes (middos), for speech receives from the emotive attributes. For although “Abba founded the daughter,”

nevertheless the intellect flows into the emotive attributes first. For we see from experience that according to the intensity of the emotive attributes, so will one have the power of speech, for from the emotive attributes it rises to thought and to speech, as is written in Sefer Shel Beinonim (the Tanya). And in general, they are the 248 mitzvos, “the 248 limbs of the King,”

for the 248 mitzvos are the nine Sefiros of Z’eir Anpin, each of which is composed of nine; nine times nine is 81. And each level

has three aspects, head, middle and end (rosh, toch, sof); if so, three times 81 is 243, and [with] the five Chasadim that bring growth, that makes 248. For from the 248 mitzvos there is drawn from above that there be ishah, esh hei (fire of hei),

that is, that there be the nullification of the yesh, and that there be the power to raise up from below upward, and to be “the lamp of Havayah is the soul of man.”

(And see what is written on this in Parshas Mikeitz, in the discourse beginning “Sing and rejoice, O daughter [of Zion]”: how through the mitzvah the power is drawn to be “the lamp of Havayah is the soul of man,” up to “And this is ‘You will give truth to Yaakov.’”

And so, too, in the discourse beginning “Who is enthroned on high,” regarding the matter of the lamp of the mitzvah, etc.; and in the discourse beginning “For You are my lamp.”) And the level of ner (lamp) comes about when the 248 is drawn down below into Nukva (the feminine), for His two arms are added, etc.

(In Zohar HaRakia, at the end of Parshas Terumah, on folio 166, he raised the difficulty that, if so, there are not 248 limbs here, for in a person the 248 limbs are [counted] with his hands, etc.; and he expounded at length there to explain this, but the completion of the matter is missing.

However, in Pri Etz Chaim, Sha’ar HaShabbos, at the end of chapter 4, mentioned above, he explained that ner is the 248 limbs of Malchus with His two arms, and as written [above].)

And the explanation of the matter: were the Infinite Light to be drawn down to the very lowest, everything would be nullified in the Infinite Light, and there would be no coming into being of yesh at all. Therefore there had to be withdrawal and contraction after expansion; and these are the level of His two arms, “His left hand is under my head, and His right hand embraces me.”

(And see what is written at the beginning of Parshas Lech Lecha, in the discourse beginning “Behold, Avraham,” in the explanation of “And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”) And therefore there are in Israel three levels: Kohanim, Levi’im and Yisraelim.

Now, the root of the coming into being of the drawing-down, that the Infinite Light be in Chochmah, although “[He is] wise, but not with a known wisdom,” yet for there to be the revelation of the level of “wise,” etc., is above Chochmah, and is called Arich Anpin, from the level of the hairs (se’aros).

9And the analogy of the hairs, in the name of the Maggid, whose soul is in Eden: like the hairs of the head, which are the surplus of the brain, which do not touch his essence at all;

and the proof is that if one cuts them he has no pain at all. And nevertheless they draw nourishment from the brain while they are on the head, through a vapor that rises from the brain, etc.

So, too, the drawing-down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, to be “wise,” etc., is something that does not touch the Essence at all, for He has no comparison or relation [to it], etc.;

for He is alone, before the world was created and after the world was created, and the self-nullification (bittul) of the angels and the souls takes up no place before Him at all: for if they are nullified and included in the Infinite Light, blessed be He, it does not touch Him, may He be blessed, at all. Only, this drawing-down is, by way of analogy,

like the level of the hairs, which are from the surplus of the brain, and nevertheless draw nourishment from his essence, etc. (And see what is written in Parshas Tetzaveh on the verse “And you shall make holy garments.”)

And this drawing-down is from the Gulgalta (the skull), above the level of the brain, through which there comes about the revelation of the Infinite Light, to be the level of Chochmah (wisdom), etc.

And the hairs are what divide the flow and the drawing-down, so that there be different comprehensions of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), many levels, myriads of degrees. This is as the Rambam wrote of separate intelligences: for by what is one angel distinguished from another, if not by his comprehension, since he has no body and no physical place?

10And in the same way, the whole difference from world to world, in many worlds without end, is according to the comprehension, each and every one, etc.

And as is written in Etz Chaim, that the lock of hair (kotzei de-sa’arei) strikes the head of Z’eir Anpin from behind, so that there be the division of Daas (knowledge): for the three mochin are Chochmah, Binah and Daas, and Daas divides into Chesed and Gevurah, love and awe, etc.

And this lock of hair is drawn and ends in Nukva (the feminine), as is written in the intention of the tzitzis. See Pri Etz Chaim, Sha’ar HaTzitzis, beginning of chapter 3, and see there also in chapter 5: that is, that the techeles be drawn from this.

And this is “And it shall be for you as tzitzis.” And see the Midrash Rabbah, Parshas Bo, section 15 (folio 131c): “The tzitzis I gave to you, as it is said, ‘And it shall be for you as tzitzis’”: that is, as mentioned above regarding “And you who cleave,” etc.

“And you shall see it”: that is, that the level of the hairs, “the hair of His head like clean wool,” will be drawn down below into the techeles of the Malchus (sovereignty) of Atzilus.

113. And to understand the matter of “and you shall remember all the mitzvos of Havayah”: “and you shall remember (u’zechartem)” means to make them males (zecharim), bestowers of influence. For

it is explained in the Likkutei Torah of the Arizal, Parshas Bereshis, on the reasons of the mitzvos, that the two letters mem-tzadi of mitzvah are, in the Atbash [substitution], yud-hei.

And with the two letters vav-hei of mitzvah, it is the Name Havayah; and [the mitzvos] are called “the 248 limbs of the King,” and “the King” is Z’eir Anpin.

And sometimes they are called “the command of the king,” [as in] “for it was the king’s command”; see the Zohar at the end of Parshas Shelach, folio 175b: the mitzvah is in Malchus (sovereignty), and the Torah in Z’eir Anpin.

(That is to say: if so, they are in Malchus and not in Z’eir Anpin. And moreover, “248 limbs” means the very essence of Z’eir Anpin itself, whereas the meaning of “the command of the king” is his order alone, and not his essence and his actual limbs. And see what is written on this subject also in the explanation of the verse “And G‑d spoke,” of the Ten Commandments; and there it was explained somewhat differently.)

But the matter is that in truth, below it is “the command of the king,” but its root above is in the level of “limbs of the King,”

for “this one was taken from ish (man).” That is, through the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) of the person, he draws [it down] so that the mitzvah is “limbs of the King.” As in the analogy of one who touches the toenails of a person: [the person] feels it in the brain, etc.;

so, through a physical mitzvah that one does below simply because such is the King’s command, he touches the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, that rests and is enclothed in it; and so to draw the level of the hairs of Arich Anpin into the 248 mitzvos, the 248

limbs of Z’eir Anpin, so that they be the bestowers of the level of the drawing-down of the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah), whose root is drawn from the hairs of Arich Anpin; that is, that from this the self-nullification (bittul) be drawn below, etc., as mentioned above; that is, to be esh hei (fire of hei), etc.

But [as for] “and you shall not stray after your heart,” etc.: for in truth, in the World of Atzilus (Emanation) “evil does not dwell with You,” and as is written on this in the explanation of the verse “In the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting”; but in nogah [there is] a drawing-down of good and evil, although there are also Ten Sefiros there,

only they are mixed, good and evil, as is known, and the flow can switch over, etc. [Along the lines of what is written in Likkutei HaShas of the Arizal, of blessed memory, regarding the explanation of “Yarden” (the Jordan), that it takes from this one and gives to that one,

that is, kelipas nogah, which is at times holiness and at times kelipah (husk); they take from this one and give to that one, in the mystery of the theft and the oppression mentioned in the Saba of Mishpatim. End of quote.

12That is to say, through nogah nourishment is drawn from holiness also to the evil, as is written on this on the verse “And they shall take to you a heifer.” And what is cited in the name of the Saba of Mishpatim is on folio 95b.]

And this is the matter of giving the suspected wife (sotah) the waters that bring the curse to drink, to test, etc.; “and she shall be cleared and shall conceive,” etc. [See the Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Emor, folio 97a; and the Zohar, Nasso, folio 124a–b; and in [Parshas] Vayechi, folio 241b.]

13And so, too, in every person, who is composed of good and evil and needs to uproot the desire and the fervor of a strange fire, etc.; and through this [there is] esh hei, meaning a fire of G‑d.

And according to the way of truth [the Kabbalah]: esh hei, the hei itself is the level of fire, and these are the five Gevuros of Nukva (the feminine), which rise upward and are sweetened through the drawing-down of esh yud (fire of yud), which are the Chasadim; and these are the higher five Gevuros, which are Chasadim [flowing] from above downward.

And this is [the meaning of] “so that you shall remember (tizkeru)”: that you yourselves be the males (zecharim). For “when you raise up the lamps,” the five Gevuros of Nukva: “a woman who emits seed first gives birth to a male.” [And see the Zohar, Parshas Tazria (folio 42b): “Rabbi Yosei said,” etc.,

“she has nothing in her mouth but her offspring, that it be a male”; and in the commentary of the Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto) there: “and then it helps the Chasadim,” etc.

See there.] And as in the analogy of the lower lamp that kindles the upper lamp, as the flame rises from below upward; and so lamp from lamp, up to the highest heights

(and as is mentioned regarding Shabbos, the ascents of the worlds: that world draws near to world and world to world, up to the highest heights; for when the higher one ascends, the lower one also ascends after it, etc.).

And through this, “and you shall do all My mitzvos”: that it is they who make the mitzvah, so that there be a drawing-down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, into the mitzvah, and that the mitzvah be a vessel for the Infinite Light.

For inasmuch as the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, is as His Name, having no end, etc., He is exalted and lofty, etc.;

only, the souls of Israel are the very ones who draw [it] down, etc. [And see what is written on this in Parshas Bechukosai, in the discourse beginning “It is explained in Etz Chaim.”

14And perhaps this is a still higher level than the level of “and you shall remember,” which is said first, to make them males: that is, what one arouses through the mitzvah, the revelation and drawing-down of the 248 limbs of the King, Z’eir Anpin of the World of Atzilus (Emanation),

which is called “He remembered (zachar) His kindness.” But the level of “and you shall do all My mitzvos” is the drawing-down of the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) into the 248 limbs of Z’eir Anpin. And as is written in Iggeres HaKodesh, near its end, [in] the passage beginning

“To understand what is written in Pri Etz Chaim, that all the mitzvos are to rectify the 248 limbs of Z’eir Anpin through drawing the Infinite Light into them, into the mochin,” etc., “and the source of the mochin is the whiteness (lavnunis),” etc., “which is the supernal delight and desire,” etc. See there.

15And see what is written in the explanation of the verse “And I will betroth you to Me.”] And now the matter of “and you shall be holy to your G‑d” will be understood. “Holy” is the level of the hairs, as is written of the nazirite, “Holy

he shall be; he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow”: for the nazirite draws down the level of the hairs, as is written on this in Parshas Emor, in the discourse beginning “And I shall be sanctified among the children of Israel”; that is, that he draws down from the level of the hairs of Arich Anpin.

16And in the same way is the matter of “holy” in the Kedushah, and the three times “holy,” corresponding to three locks of hair [it seems that the explanation must be: corresponding to the three Names Havayah in the higher mochin of Arich Anpin, from which the thirteen locks are drawn;

and these are drawn and shine into Z’eir Anpin through the lock of hair of Arich Anpin that descends behind Z’eir Anpin, as all this is written in Pri Etz Chaim, Sha’ar Chazaras HaAmidah, at the end of chapter 3], which correspond to the three levels of Beriah (Creation), Yetzirah (Formation) and Asiyah (Action) within Atzilus (Emanation), and these are Chochmah-Binah-Daas, Chesed-Gevurah-Tiferes, [and] Netzach-Hod-Yesod.

And this is also the matter of the three tips (kotzin) in the form of the letter yud: the upper tip, the yud itself, and the lower tip, etc. [And see Pardes, Sha’ar 11, chapter 7.] And through this it is drawn to be “Havayah of Hosts (Tzevaos),” so that there be the drawings-down of life-force (chayus) into the worlds.

17And this is “and you shall be holy to your G‑d (Elokeichem)”; and it is not written “to Havayah,” but rather this is to the level of Malchus (sovereignty), which is the level of the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah), “bowing and prostrating,” the nullification of the yesh (something). And the meaning is that Israel are the ones who draw the level of the hairs into the level of Malchus, so that there be self-nullification (bittul), as mentioned above;

that is, that through this the self-nullification be drawn also into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, so that there be the nullification of the yesh. And this is [the meaning of] “Do not read ‘your children’ (banayich), but ‘your builders’ (bonayich),” etc.