ויהיו בני ישראל במדבר וימצאו איש מקושש עצים וגו׳

1“And the Children of Israel were in the wilderness, and they found a man gathering wood,” etc. And the Zohar explains (at the beginning of Parshas Shelach, page 157a) that there are two kinds of trees, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, and he was examining closely which of them is greater, etc.

To understand this, one must understand the concept of holiness of which our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “A person sanctifies himself a little below; they sanctify

him a great deal from above.” And this does not mean only the resting of the Shechinah (Divine Presence), for of that they said explicitly “the Shechinah rests,” as our Sages, of blessed memory, said that even one who sits and occupies himself with Torah, the Shechinah is with him.

Rather, the concept is according to what is said in the Gemara (at the beginning of the sixth chapter of Berachos) concerning what is written, “And you shall gather in your grain,” etc., and what is written (Isaiah 61), “And strangers shall stand and tend,” etc.:

that here [the verse speaks of] a time when Israel do the will of the Omnipresent, and here, when they do not do [it], etc. And this is puzzling: how can “And you shall gather in your grain” speak of when they do not do [it], etc., when just before it is written, “and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul”?

But the explanation is that in this section “and with all your might” is not mentioned, as it is written in the section of Shema; and therefore it is still called “they do not do the will of the Omnipresent,” etc.

2To understand this: it is stated in the Zohar that “there is no service like the service of love.” And since it does not say “[service] with love,” it is understood that love itself is a form of service, and great toil [is needed] to attain it; as Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, “taught knowledge”: “to love Havayah your G‑d, for He is your life,” etc.

That is, when one contemplates how he loves the life of his soul and very much wants his life-force to endure, that it should not cease from him, G‑d forbid, let a person take this to heart:

that He, may He be blessed, is Himself the life-force within him and his very life, for He is the life of the worlds, upper and lower.

3And this is [the meaning of] “and with all your soul”: for a person has many powers in the vital soul, such as the power that nourishes, the power that expels and the power that digests, etc.; and likewise in the intellectual soul, etc.

And for this love to be fixed in his heart, there is need for service and great toil and much effort in the contemplation mentioned above, in his mind and his thought. And this love is called “love of the world” (ahavas olam), the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), as is known

(and see Sefer Shel Beinonim, chapter 44, “the love included,” etc.). Therefore it is within the bounds of limit and place, and it is subject to interruption and cancellation when his heart turns aside, as mentioned above.

But the level of “and with all your might” is a love without limit or measure, and it has no interruption, for wherever “me’od” is said, it is without interruption, ever; because it comes from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), and “all before Him is considered as nothing.”

For the life-force of all the worlds, upper and lower, is only from the breath of His mouth, may He be blessed, as it is written, “and by the breath of His mouth, all their host”;

as, by way of analogy, in a physical person: the breath of his mouth is what goes out and is drawn forth from his inner dimension (pnimiyus) and his innermost core, but nevertheless it is not his essence and being at all,

for it causes no change at all in his essence, whether before the speech or the breath went out from him or afterwards; rather, it is a radiance and a spreading forth of illumination.

So too, as it were, the life-force of all the worlds, upper and lower, is only a radiance and a spreading forth of illumination drawn from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, into all worlds, to give them life.

But the level of the light that encompasses all worlds is that which cannot be enclothed within worlds to give them life, which is the level of His very essence and being;

rather, it encompasses all worlds, above and below being truly equal, for they take up no place at all in relation to Him, G‑d forbid. And therefore it is written, “His splendor is upon earth and heaven,” for the level of earth is like the level of heaven, since “all before Him,” etc.

And this love, from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds, will never change because of other loves, in any way (see what is written in Parshas Vayechi on the verse “Darker [are his eyes than wine],” and see what is written in Parshas Noach in the discourse beginning “Many waters”),

as it is written, “Many waters cannot quench the love,” since it is not enclothed within a vessel, as mentioned above. And each one, according to his own measure, has this level of love,

as it is written, “And your people are all righteous” (see the Zohar at the beginning of Parshas Noach); and it is written (Genesis 17:11), “and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you”; and it is written (Exodus 31:13), “for it is a sign between Me and you,” etc.,

“an everlasting covenant” (see Midrash Rabbah, end of Parshas Devarim, page 287c). The meaning is: “the sign of the covenant” is this level of love, from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds, which is not enclothed within you but stands over you as an encompassing level (makif), “between Me and you”; and this suffices for one who understands.

And this is why our Sages, of blessed memory, called Him, may He be blessed, by the name “the Holy One, blessed be He,” and not by other names and appellations, such as “the Compassionate One,” etc. For all the names and appellations are on

account of the coming into being through the action drawn forth from Him, may He be blessed; and even the Name Havayah is on account of His bringing into being from nothing to something. The name Kadosh (holy), however, indicates His essence,

that He is holy and set apart, that He is not enclothed within worlds. And “the Holy One, blessed be He” is the Infinite One (Ein Sof) enclothed within Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes), for “He and His vessels are one” (ihu vegarmohi) (and see what is written on this on the verse “Go forth and see”).

And the love that comes from this level is called kedushah (holiness), a feminine (nukva) form, for it receives from Kadosh, as it is written, “and your longing shall be for your husband” (see the Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Emor, page 93a, and the Pardes, under the entry “Kadosh”; and see what is written on the verse “the heads of the tribes” on the meaning of this holiness and how separation leads to holiness, etc.).

Now, this level of love, which is called by the name “the sign of the covenant” mentioned above, comes to be revealed only through cutting away the foreskin that covers over and conceals, etc.,

as it is written, “Circumcise the foreskin of your heart” (and see what is written on this on the verse “See, I [set before you]”). And orlah (foreskin) is not a term for blockage but a term for covering, etc.

And this is the level of a bad love for the delights of human beings, even though it is in what is permitted, only that it is with the heat and fervor of desire, etc.

And this is what is written, “The toil of your hands, when you eat [it],” that is, that the hands toil, or the feet and the other outer limbs, without the heart, etc.

And even those who are cool by nature, such as those who dwell in tents, etc., the level of one born circumcised, etc., must nevertheless draw a drop of the blood of the covenant, to diminish his fat and his blood, etc.,

to diminish the pleasures and the needs of his body that hinder the service [of G‑d], etc. And as it is written, “The churning of milk brings forth butter”; and our Sages, of blessed memory, said: in whom do you find the butter of Torah? In one who vomits up the milk he suckled. And the concept of butter is

like, by way of analogy, the fat that floats on the milk; so is the level of the love mentioned above, which is not enclothed within a vessel, as mentioned above

(and see what is written in Parshas Vayechi on the verse “and white of teeth from milk,” and in Parshas Va’eira on the verse “And I appeared,” etc., “as Kel Shaddai”: that the level of milk in holiness is the growing of the emotive attributes (middos), love and awe, through “the joyful mother of the children.” And see the Zohar, Part III, page 136b, on the explanation of “bathing in milk,” in the supernal whiteness, etc.

If so, it will be understood from this that the level of butter, which is the fat of the milk, may well be the level of the great love (ahavah rabbah) that is above the vessel; and this is what is written of Avraham, “And he took butter and milk,” etc.; and this is what is written (in Isaiah 7:15), “Butter and honey shall he eat,” etc.)

But in whom do you find the butter of Torah? In one who vomits up, etc.; for it is specifically separation that leads to holiness, for this level of great love comes

only after the rung of separation, which is to separate the evil in the animal soul, etc., which is the level of the refinement (birur) of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil;

and this is through the level of “love of the world” (ahavas olam). And through this one will afterwards come to the level of holiness and this great love, which is the level of the Tree of Life.

4Now, it is written, “And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water,” etc.: that is, the level of the Tree of Life. “And he shall not see

when heat comes,” etc. The meaning is that this love will not be cancelled or interrupted because of heat and desires for other things, G‑d forbid; for the encompassing [light] blinds the eyes of the external forces, and “many waters cannot quench the love,” etc.

5Now, it is written, “If he sets his heart toward Him, his spirit and his soul he will gather to Him.” The meaning is: when a person sets his heart and goes deep into this great love with great longing, as it is written, “and your longing shall be for your husband,” then “to Him,” may He be blessed, “he will gather,” and draw down below an addition of holiness.

6And this is [the meaning of] “A person sanctifies himself a little”: that is, it is only a little, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “It seems to them like a mountain,” etc.;

but in truth it is not so. “They sanctify him a great deal from above”: that he draws upon himself the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) through the Torah and the mitzvos, for the mitzvos are “the limbs of the King.”

7And this is, by way of analogy, like one who takes hold of a person by one of his limbs: he will draw him to himself; and all the more so when he grasps his right hand. And this is through the mitzvah of charity and Chesed (kindness), “the right arm,” etc. When one contemplates well that the Torah

and the mitzvos are from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds, and His very essence, may He be blessed, dwells within them, then when he occupies himself with them, and receives the Torah in his mind or performs the mitzvah with his hand, he draws upon himself the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in His very essence, etc.

And this is [the meaning of] “and by a stream (yuval) it sends forth its roots”: which is the level of yovel with a cholam and yuval with a melupum, and both are terms of conveying, as it is written, “To You kings shall bring (yovilu) gifts”; only that the level of yuval with a melupum means that He, may He be blessed, is led and drawn below through the Torah and the mitzvos.

8And yovel with a cholam is that it leads and draws us upward, as it is written, “It shall be a jubilee (yovel) for you”: that is, that this yovel, which leads

and draws, shall be yours; “and you shall return, each man to his holding,” etc.: to be included, to become one with One, “doubled kisses.” [See what is written in Parshas Bereishis on the verse “And his brother’s name was Yuval,” etc.

9Now, the yovel is the fiftieth year, that is, the fiftieth gate of the fifty gates of Binah (understanding). And this is why yovel was explained as that which leads and draws us upward; and as is explained elsewhere on the verse “And you shall count for yourselves,” etc.,

“you shall count fifty days”: that the fiftieth gate is what joins the Emanator, the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, to the emanated, etc. And this is what is written, “And he shall be like a tree,” etc.,

“and by a stream (yuval) it sends forth its roots”: for the level of yovel is higher even than the level of the Tree of Life (as is written in the Zohar, Parshas Acharei, page 58a, and Parshas Emor, page 97a; and see the Idra Zuta, page 290b, at the end; and the Zohar, Part II, Yisro, page 83a, at the end; Mishpatim, page 98b.

And see Parshas Chayei Sarah, page 131a; and the Gemara, chapter 9 of Bechoros, page 55b, “Yuval is its name”; and Midrash Rabbah, Parshas Acharei, end of section 22; and Parshas Pinchas, near the end of the parsha, page 282a; Ruth Rabbah, end of [the section on] “And he said, ‘Bring the shawl,’” page 48, column d).

And this will also be understood further from what is written in the Zohar, Part III, Parshas Shelach, page 158b, on the explanation of “Is there a tree in it or not (ayin)?”: that the level of Ayin is far, far above even the level of the Tree of Life, etc.

And the fiftieth gate, which is the level of yovel, is the intermediary between nothing (ayin) and something (yesh), as is explained elsewhere. And see what is written in Parshas Va’eschanan, in the discourse beginning “And you shall know this day,” on the explanation of “And Avraham bound,” etc., “above the wood,” etc.

10Now, from this the matter of the sin of the one who gathered wood on the Shabbos day will be understood. For the Shabbos of the night is the level of the ascent of the refinements (birurim) that were refined in all the six days of work,

and it is the level of the refinement of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, in which the good is separated from the evil and rises upward and is joined with the Tree of Life. And therefore the main revelation of the level of great love is on Shabbos, as is explained elsewhere on the verse “And Moshe assembled,” etc.

Now, the Tree of Life is the level of the Shabbos of the day; and through this, afterwards, “and by a stream (yuval) it sends forth its roots” is the level of “Shabbos Shabboson,” which is the Minchah of Shabbos, “a time of favor,” etc.,

as is written in the Zohar, Part III, page 129a. And the sin of the gatherer is that he uproots a thing from where it grows; that is, he separates the yesh (something) to be separate by itself, as a separate thing,

and not nullified in its source, which gives it life and brings it into being, etc. And on the Shabbos day, when there is the joining of the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life, when the yesh is nullified, etc., the ascents of the worlds, etc.,

therefore one who uproots a thing from where it grows, which is [to make it] a yesh by itself, the opposite of self-nullification (bittul) within its source, is liable, etc.; for through this he blemishes the trees mentioned above, the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life, etc.

And see what is written on the subject of the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life in Parshas Bereishis on the verse “Behold, the man,” etc.; and above, in the discourse beginning “When Israel put ‘we will do’ first”; and in Parshas Balak, in the explanation of the verse “Who has counted.”]