שיר השירים אשר לשלמה ישקנו מנשיקות פיהו כי…

1“The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.” Now, it is known that the Holy One, blessed be He, is called a groom (chassan).

And the Congregation of Israel (Knesses Yisrael) is called by the name “bride” (kallah). This is on account of the drawing down and bestowal of the Torah to Israel, as our Sages said: “‘On the day of his wedding’: this is the Giving of the Torah.”

Therefore “one who gladdens the groom merits the Torah, which was given with five voices” (in the first chapter of Berachos), for chassan [means] chas darga, “descending a level.”

That is, the descent and drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, to be clothed in the Torah. And the Congregation of Israel is the source of the souls of Israel; and likewise each and every individual spark of Israel is in the aspect of a bride.

Now, kallah has two meanings. The first is from the term kilayon, “consumption,” for she consumes and wears away everything, from the word kalah, “consumed.” (As in “my flesh is consumed [kalah]”) (in Psalms 73), which Targum Yonasan renders “my body is spent,”

that is, a term of consumption; and so too (in Isaiah 16:4). And likewise with kallah pointed with a patach, one may say that the meaning is also along these lines. And so it is in the Zohar, Parshas Acharei (folio 72), on the verse “for she is his daughter-in-law (kallaso)”: “the consummation (shetzisa)…,” etc.

For the word kalah is a noun denoting the action, like rakah, zakah, dakah [“soft,” “pure,” “fine”], and she is called kallah because she consumes, etc.

And so it is found in the Midrash Rabbah: “that they were consumed (nitkallu).” The second [meaning] is from the term “my soul yearns (kalsah),” etc. (Psalms 84), meaning the yearning of the soul to cleave to and be absorbed in His light, may He be blessed.

(As the Targum Yonasan renders there, “my soul longs [te’ivas],” which is a term of yearning, as in “and your desire (teshukasech) shall be to your husband,” which the Targum renders “te’uvtich.”) The explanation is this: in the reading of the Shema there are two levels of self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh).

The first is to give over one’s soul at [the word] “One.” The second is “You shall love… with all your soul,” even if He takes your soul, etc. We need to understand what they are and the difference between them.

We must further understand how “You shall love… with all your heart” is relevant after the level of self-sacrifice at “One.” For of love it is written at the end of Parshas Nitzavim, “to love, etc., for He is your life.”

But self-sacrifice means casting away one’s life, which is a nullification of one’s very existence before the Infinite Light, blessed be He, itself. (See in Parshas Shemos, in the discourse beginning “To understand the saying of our Sages on ‘For your love is better than wine,’” and in the discourse beginning “A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim.”)

If so, how, after the virtue and level of the self-nullification of self-sacrifice at “One,” can there be room for the level of “You shall love,” where there is someone who loves? The explanation is that

the first level, to give over one’s soul at “One,” comes from “Hear, O Israel,” etc. For “hear” (shema) denotes understanding, which is contemplation of the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He: how He is One

just as before the world was created, without any change whatsoever, as it is written, “I, Havayah, have not changed,” etc.; “You were [the same] before [the world] was created,” etc.; “I am the first and I am the last, and besides Me there is no Elokim.”

Elokim means that which conceals and hides, etc. For before Him, may He be blessed, there is no concealment that conceals and hides at all, since all before Him is considered as nothing, etc.

2Accordingly, “and you shall not profane (sechalelu) My holy Name,” etc.: not to make an empty space (makom chalal), etc., so that something would be separate from Him, may He be blessed, G‑d forbid. And consequently all the desires, the sense of self and [living] for oneself, etc., are nullified.

This is the term kilayon, “consumption”: consuming the self-for-oneself, etc., so that all his wishes are nullified and no will at all remains except toward Him, may He be blessed.

(This is the meaning of “my flesh and my heart are consumed,” as Targum Yonasan renders, “my body is spent,” and as stated in the Zohar, Parshas Acharei, cited above, that “the consummation (shetzisa) of the world” is the consumption of all wishes.

It is along the lines of what is explained elsewhere on the verse “When you go out”: that the point of the heart’s inwardness rises and is absorbed in the Infinite Light, blessed be He, and not only from this world, etc., but even from the lower and the upper Gan Eden, as it is written, “Whom do I have in heaven,” etc.; “my flesh is consumed,” etc.)

The second level is from the term “my soul yearns (kalsah),” which is a term of yearning and love. This is the level of the nullification of the self (bittul hayesh), meaning that he is an existing entity (and not a complete consumption of the self, as in the first level), but that he nullifies himself, wanting to be absorbed and nullified, etc.

Therefore we interrupt between the two levels of self-sacrifice mentioned above with “Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever,” the level of the lower unity (yichuda tata’ah). For from the level of His Malchus (sovereignty) all created beings came into being from nothing to something, since there is no king without a people; this is the source of the existence and life-force of all created beings.

3And it is written, “and besides Me there is no Elokim”: “besides Me” specifically, meaning outside of Him, may He be blessed, G‑d forbid. But Havayah Himself is Elokim: “I am Havayah your Elokim”; I Myself, etc.,

who contracts and conceals the Infinite Light, blessed be He, which is without limit, so that there may be a revelation of the level of created beings as existing entities (yesh). And like the snail,

whose garment is of itself and within itself. And from this level of “Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever” comes about “You shall love” at the level of an existing self, someone who loves, etc.; whereas the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah) is the level of actual self-nullification in self-sacrifice.

(This resolves how “You shall love” is relevant after the self-sacrifice at “One”: namely, through our interrupting with “Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.” See what is written on this subject in Parshas Vayeishev, in the discourse beginning “On the twenty-fifth of Kislev,” in a somewhat different manner; and one who understands will understand that it all rises on one stalk.)

These two levels are called, in the language of the Kabbalah, the Higher Shechinah (Shechinta Ila’ah) and the Lower Shechinah (Shechinta Tata’ah), etc. And they are the two levels of bride spoken of in the Song of Songs, for the whole Song of Songs speaks of the two levels of bride mentioned above, as is known,

for twice the affection between groom and bride is said and repeated in the Song of Songs, and it alludes to the two levels of bride mentioned above.

(See Pardes, Gate 8, chapter 13, on the Higher Shechinah and the Lower Shechinah; and Zohar HaRakia at the beginning of Parshas Bereishis, on what is stated there in the Zohar: “As the rose…, etc., so too the Congregation of Israel…,” etc.

And see what is written on the meaning of the Congregation of Israel below, in the discourse beginning “There are sixty queens,” in the name of Mishnas Chassidim; and see what is written in Parshas Tetzaveh, in the discourse beginning “Remember what Amalek did to you,” etc.; and see Sefer H.M., section 156. The intent of all is one,

namely the two levels of the higher unity and the lower unity. And see further what is written on the two levels of bride in the discourse beginning “And I will betroth you to Me,” in the haftarah of Parshas Bamidbar; and perhaps it is a somewhat different matter, namely as written at the end of the discourse beginning “For You are my lamp,” on the subject of the early generations and the later generations.)

42. Now, from the two levels of bride mentioned above there come about two levels of grooms, [each] the level of “descending a level” (chas darga). This is [the meaning of] “the voice of the grooms’ jubilation from their wedding canopies”: “grooms” implies two. The matter will be understood through the phrase “King, praised and glorified forever is His great Name.”

5At first glance it is not understood what a great name and a small one are. Likewise we must understand the saying of our Sages, “Before the world was created there was He and His Name alone”: how can the level of a name apply before the world was created, when there was not yet anyone to call Him by His name?

It will be understood through what is known: that G‑d, may He be blessed, is called in the Gemara and the Midrashim by the name “the Holy One, blessed be He.” They chose this name, and not other names and appellations such as “Compassionate and Gracious,” because it indicates that He is holy and set apart, etc.

(See what is written in Parshas Miketz, in the explanation of the verse “For with You is the source of life,” and below, in the first discourse on “Go forth and see.”) And the drawings-forth and enclothings of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) at the beginning of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus) bear no comparison [to Him], except as a drop to the ocean.

This is the saying of our Sages, “The Holy One, blessed be He, sits and occupies Himself with the Torah,” etc. That is: His essence, may He be blessed, is holy and set apart, but He “sits” and lowers Himself to be clothed in the Torah, like a person who sits and lowers his stature. And this illumination is called the level of “name,” which is only

a radiance and an illumination. (And the meaning of “Before the world was created there was He and His Name alone” is the source, the root and the capacity that exists in the Infinite One, blessed be He, for there to be a revelation of radiance and illumination, from which worlds would come into being when it would arise in His desire and will.

It is like the radiance of the sun contained within the luminary, which is the sun itself. But in the thing compared it is in an infinitely higher manner: for the sun gives off its radiance without choosing to, whereas above, the drawing forth and revelation of the radiance, by way of analogy, is when it arises in His will, etc. If so, the radiance contained in Him

is what lies within His capacity, may He be blessed, to shine forth radiance and illumination, etc. And this capacity and power is called His Name. This is what is written, “the power of Ado-nai… with Your great power.” This is because His being and essence is not within the category of bestowal and drawing forth at all; see what is written in the discourse beginning “You are standing.”

Therefore the power and source of the drawing forth is called His Name, as explained elsewhere on “For with You is the source of life”: that even the level of “the source of life” is called “with You,” meaning something secondary and considered as nothing, etc.)

This is the meaning of His great Name, which is above the chain of descending worlds; and this great Name of His is “praised and glorified forever,” at the level of the Infinite.

This is [so] because He alone, may He be blessed, is unique and one, and the essence of “the Life of the worlds” is only the level of King, etc.

For the descent of the worlds is not by way of cause and effect, as written in the books; for if so there would be, as it were, a change, since in cause and effect there is a change in the cause through its bestowal.

As, by way of analogy, when a teacher imparts to his student, he necessarily puts his attention into what he imparts, and his mind is not free to study matters and ideas as it was free before the imparting.

But with Him, may He be blessed: “You are the same before the world was created and since the world was created,” without any change, G‑d forbid.

This is because the source of the life-force of the worlds is only from the level of His Name alone, the level of Malchus (sovereignty). (See further on the subject of His great Name in Parshas Shelach, on the verse “I [am Havayah your G‑d] who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

And in Parshas Pinchas, in the discourse beginning “Command the children of Israel,” etc., on how shemo, “His Name,” has the numerical value of ratzon, “will.” And on “These are the names,” etc.)

And in truth, “His Name alone is exalted.” And the drawing forth from the level of His Name is not by way of cause and effect, for if so everything would be the level of the Infinite.

Rather, the drawing forth is by way of tzimtzum (contraction) and a leap, until only the level of a line and a thread (kav) is drawn from the Malchus of the Infinite, and [after it] further contractions and concealments without number

(see the Book of Beinonim, Part II, chapter 9, in the gloss), until there can be the level of a chain of descent by cause and effect; and as is known concerning the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) and the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), etc.

Now, this enclothing and drawing forth from His great Name, to be clothed in the Torah, “sitting and occupying Himself with the Torah,” is the level of the song of the Torah (rinah de’oraysa). For “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah (wisdom).”

“Comes forth,” precisely: that is, the revealed aspect of the Torah is from Chochmah. But the supernal illumination by which the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is clothed in supernal Chochmah, “wise,

but not with a knowable wisdom,” is the level of the cantillation notes (ta’amim) of the Torah and the song of the Torah: zarka, makaf, shofar, etc. (For the notes, too, are like letters, which are a drawing forth, as is known concerning notes, vowel points, crowns and letters.

But they are letters and drawings-forth from the level of supernal delight, the level of “For with You is the source of life,” which is above even the level of supernal Chochmah, and needless to say above the letters of speech, which are drawn from Chochmah. The explanation: just as there are letters of speech and letters of thought,

so there are letters contained within intellect, and also in what is above intellect. This is the meaning of the ta’amim; ta’am also means “good taste” and sweetness. That is, they are letters and drawings-forth of supernal delight, from the level of the King’s delight in His own essence, as it is written, “And I was beside Him… a delight.”

From there it is drawn to be clothed in supernal Chochmah. This is “I delight in Your Torah,” as explained elsewhere on “And I was beside Him as a nursling,” etc. And see further on the song and the notes of the Torah on “And it came to pass at the end of two years.”

And in Parshas Emor, on “And the kohen shall wave them”; and in Parshas Vezos HaBerachah, on the verse “Moshe commanded us the Torah,” etc. And elsewhere it is explained that this is what is written, “And He was King in Yeshurun,” for Yeshurun may also be said to denote shir, “song.”

Also, just as a song is circular, so in a melody its end is embedded in its beginning, for when one finishes the melody, its beginning is drawn out again, etc. So too above: the melodies and notes are the drawing forth of the actual light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), and this drawing forth is at the level of King, as the blessing says, “Blessed are You, Havayah our G‑d, King of the world, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us.”)

63. This is [the meaning of] “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.” For song (shir) is a matter of being absorbed through “running and returning” (ratzo vashov); and above, it is the level of “reaching and not reaching,” etc.

(See in Etz Chaim that the level of “reaching and not reaching” is drawn from the mouth of Adam Kadmon, which is the level of the lights of the ta’amim of Adam Kadmon, etc.; and this is “song…,” etc., “with the kisses of his mouth.” And see what is written further on the drawing forth that is at the level of “reaching and not reaching” in the explanation of “their goings out by their journeys,” etc.; see there.)

This is “Song of Songs”: that is, the song from which the songs below receive; for there are several levels of song [rising] from below to above.

For the source of the created beings, which gives them life and brings them into being from nothing to something (this is the level of Malchus of Atzilus), rises and is absorbed in self-nullification (bittul) in its Emanator, blessed be He, at the level of song, in “running and returning.” And even after [its] enclothing in [the worlds of] Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah,

the ascents of the worlds, which rise and are absorbed, etc., are called the level of song, like the melody of a musician as he plays, which has notes rising and falling, in ascents and descents; and there are many kinds of ascents without end or measure, and all are at the level of song.

This is [the saying], “All that have song go out with song and are drawn with song,” etc. (See what is written on “A psalm, a song of the dedication of the House,” and on “And his brother’s name was Yuval.”)

Now, all these songs from below to above are called shirah, with a heh, in the feminine form, as it is written, “this song (hashirah hazos)”: the level of bride. And from the level of bride there is drawn the level of the groom’s joy, from concealment to revelation: “who gladdens the groom with the bride.”

That is, through the bride: through the level of shirah with a heh, the level of bride, the supernal song (shir) is drawn, the masculine level. (See the Zohar, Parshas Vayeilech, folio 284b and 285a.)

This is the drawing forth of the Infinite Light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) from the level of His great Name: the notes of the Torah and the song of the Torah, the level of supernal delight, to be clothed in the Torah.

(See on the subject of the Song of Songs in the Midrash Rabbah, at the end [of the comment] on the verse “The Song of Songs”; Zohar II, 48b, 132a, 143a–b, 144a–b, 145b; Zohar III, 74b, 284b.)

(One may perhaps explain [the word] Yisrael in “Hear, O Israel” as shir El, “song of G‑d,” for in the souls of Israel there is [something] of the level of song and of the level of songs; see below, in the explanation of “Go forth and see,” and in Zohar I, Vayechi (folio 245).) And see what is written above on the subject of Yeshurun, and what is written in Parshas Balak on “He has not seen iniquity in Israel,” etc.

7“Which is Solomon’s” (asher liShlomo): as in “He makes peace in His heights”: Michael, the prince of water, and Gavriel, the prince of fire, two opposites, etc.

So too there is to be a joining and mutual absorption of two opposites, from below to above and from above to below. For He, may He be blessed, is holy and set apart, and there is no comparison, etc., [but only] as a drop to the ocean, etc.

8And the worlds are at the level of separate existence (yesh). For the Infinite Light to be clothed in this drop, which bears no comparison at all, etc., there must necessarily be a drawing forth of supernal delight, that He take delight in drawing forth the drop, etc.

This delight is the matter of song, from which comes about peace (shalom), the bonding of the giver with the receiver, etc. And so there will be “which is Solomon’s (liShlomo).”

For in the word liShlomo the masculine and the feminine are included together: Shlomo with a cholam [signifies] “the King to whom peace belongs,” which is the drawing down of the masculine drop.

And Shlomo [ending] with a heh also indicates the feminine form: the level of the ascent from below to above. Through the joining of the two, a supernal union is made and song is drawn to the songs. See on the subject of Shlomo in the Ramaz (folio 176b).

What causes all this is what is written, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.” For the drawing forth of His great Name at the level of song and notes is called the level of kisses: the revelation of inner love, like the love of a father

for his only son. From the great abundance of the love, whose inside is inlaid with love like a burning fire, it cannot pass from potential to actual in revelation except by way of a great contraction, contracting itself into the breath of the mouth and the spirit of his mouth.

And although this is a physical act, nevertheless precisely in this the inwardness of the love is revealed, which does not clothe itself in any other vessel, not [even] in the letters of speech, etc. (See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “If only you were as a brother to me… I would kiss you,” etc.)

So [too] this yearning and this supernal delight, that there be a revelation and enclothing of the Infinite Light in the level of the drop, and the bestowal in the Torah, is by way of a skip and a leap, not by way of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus),

but by way of a great contraction: “sitting and occupying Himself with the Torah,” etc.: “praised and glorified forever is His great Name.”

This is [the meaning of] “By day G‑d commands His kindness, and at night His song is with me.” “By day”: through Israel who occupy themselves with the Torah, supernal kindness is drawn down every day, the level of bestowal from above to below; as our Sages said in the chapter Lifnei Eideihen (folio 3b):

“The first three hours the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and occupies Himself with the Torah; the second, He sits and judges; the third, He sits and sustains,” etc.; this is the enclothing of the Infinite Light in bestowal.

(That is: “sits and occupies Himself with the Torah” is the drawing down of the intellect (mochin), Chochmah, Binah and Daas; “in the second He sits and judges” is the level of Chesed, Gevurah and Tiferes; and “in the third three hours He sits and sustains” is the level of Netzach, Hod and Yesod, as is known that Netzach and Hod are called “[Come,] eat of My bread.” And see the Zohar, Parshas Pinchas

(folio 217b), on “and bread that sustains the heart of man”: “that bread that the heavens (shechakim) grind,” etc., which are Netzach and Hod. And see what is written in Iggeres HaKodesh, in the discourse beginning

“To understand the parable and the metaphor.”) But “at night His song is with me” is the song of the angels from below to above, which comes after Israel’s drawing-down by day: “By day G‑d commands His kindness,” etc.

And shirah is written, [while] shiro is read: this is the union of Z’eir Anpin and Nukva, as above. Therefore pihu, “his mouth,” is written, and not piv, with an added heh: the level of masculine and feminine.

94. Now, all this is the level of the first groom, “descending a level”: the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) to be clothed in the Torah, supernal Chochmah, “wise, but not with a knowable wisdom,” etc.

And the level of the second groom is when the Infinite Light, blessed be He, having already been drawn down and clothed in the Torah, is drawn down also below, into [the worlds of] Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah: “He established a testimony in Yaakov and set a Torah in Israel”

(and see Likkutei Torah on Psalms, section 78, on this verse), so that there be a revelation of the Infinite Light below as above, and the supernal delight be drawn down also below, into the Torah and mitzvos of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.

This is what our Sages said: “The Torah preceded the creation of the world by two thousand years.” That is, “two thousand” (alpayim) is “I will teach you (a’alefcha) wisdom, I will teach you understanding”; for at first, the first drawing forth of the Torah is from His great Name into Chochmah and Binah.

This is the level of the first groom, the first “descending”; and afterward the level of the second groom is the Torah being drawn from the two “thousands” mentioned above into the world, which is the level of the emotive attributes (middos) of Z’eir Anpin

(see what is written in the discourse beginning “The heavens are My throne,” and in the explanation of “And I shall be sanctified among the children of Israel” in Parshas Emor, and in the discourse beginning “And the light of the moon shall be,” etc., in Parshas Tzav, and in the explanation of “I will greatly rejoice,” concerning “as a groom adorns himself with splendor”): that is, the Torah being drawn down below into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.

This is “who has sanctified us with His commandments”: that the supernal delight is drawn into His commandments and into the Torah, for the Torah is nothing but the interpretation and explanation of the commandments.

Now, of the mitzvos it is said, “which a person shall do, and live by them.” That is: the person makes them into mitzvos, as it is written, “and you shall do them (osam)”: “you (atem)” is written. And afterward “and live by them”: he receives life-force from them, for they are above the level of man.

For all the mitzvos are with physical things: esrog, sukkah, tzitzis, and offerings from animals, from cattle and sheep; and the root

of the animal is from the level of Tohu, “before a king reigned over the children of Israel,” etc., above the level of Adam, as our Sages said, “Even the gnat preceded you”; but it fell down below in the shattering [the printed text reads “in song”].

10Whatever could be refined and absorbed into holiness became angels, Michael and Gavriel, etc.; and whatever could not be refined fell lower and lower, until in the World of Asiyah (Action) it became physical cattle and beasts, and everything that is made under the sun.

And through man (the Name Mah, the level of Tikkun, the level of Chochmah), who raises up and offers his offering upon the altar,

“this is the law of the animal”: it rises to its source and root in the World of Tohu, above the level of Adam, so that man receives life-force from them and “lives by them,” etc.

So it is with all the mitzvos: tzitzis is of physical wool, and tefillin of parchment, etc. It is likewise so: below, man is the one who makes them into a mitzvah, so that the drawing forth of the Infinite Light is drawn into them.

But above, the virtue of the mitzvos is lofty and very exalted, for the 613 mitzvos of the Torah and the seven of the Rabbis are 620 pillars, like a pillar that joins above and below. And this is what is written, “Behind and before You formed me,” etc.

Now, the drawing forth of the two grooms mentioned above, to “descend a level,” is through the two levels of bride: “who gladdens the groom with the bride.”

For from the level of the first bride, the level of self-sacrifice and consumption, an arousal from above is brought about: the drawing forth of the Infinite Light, His great Name, to be clothed in the Torah, supernal Chochmah, “and wisdom comes from nothing,” etc.

And from the level of the second bride, “my soul yearns,” etc., the level of “someone who loves,” etc., as above, there comes the drawing forth of supernal Chochmah to be clothed also in the Torah and mitzvos of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. (See what is written in the discourse beginning “You have captured my heart, my sister, [my] bride.”)

Therefore, after “You shall love… with all your soul,” it is written, “And these words which I [Anochi command you] shall be,” etc.: the One who is Anochi commands you, etc.; “and you shall speak of them.”

It is like “I am the Mishnah that speaks in your mouth,” etc., and as it is written, “And I have put My words in your mouth”: My very words. And this is “A maskil of Eisan,” etc.

That is: Eisan [alludes to] esanim, “the strong ones,” who are the Tannaim, who through the study of the Torah draw down the level of maskil, which is supernal Chochmah, so that it is drawn down below into the world through the level of Chesed (kindness).

And this is “I will sing of G‑d’s kindnesses forever (olam)”: that there is drawn into the world (olam) the level of song and delight, the song of the Torah. And this is a dwelling place among the lower realms.

11Now, for there to be a revelation of the level of groom, there must first be the level of chuppah (canopy) and encompassing (makif), the drawing forth of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin); and afterward the revelation is drawn forth at the level of the inner dimension of the groom.

This is “And in the shadow of My hand I have covered you”: the level of chuppah. And “the grooms’ jubilation” is “from their canopies,” from the level of the encompassing, etc. (See what is written on the subject of chuppah in the discourse beginning “For over all the glory, a canopy,” and in the discourse beginning “Moshe commanded us the Torah,” etc., and on “To my mare among Pharaoh’s chariots,” and in the discourse beginning “The eyes of all look to You.”)

12“For your love is better than wine.” Now, our Sages said: “‘No eye has seen’: this is the wine preserved in its grapes since the six days of Creation.”

And it is written, “My wine that gladdens Elokim,” etc.: “From here [we learn] that song is said only over wine,” etc. The explanation is that the wine in the grapes is swallowed up [within them], and it comes out from concealment to revelation.

13Therefore, “when wine enters, the secret comes out,” etc., and “wine gladdens,” etc.: to bring out from concealment to revelation. And whatever was more concealed and hidden,

the revelation afterward is with greater intensity; and there is nothing in revelation that was not first in concealment, like the child that was hidden in the mother’s womb, etc.

So too with sowing: the seed must be hidden and covered and rot in the earth; and the more it is hidden and rots in the ground, the more the grain grows afterward, with increase and abundance of blessing.

So too all the exiles are the level of concealment: “We have not seen our signs,” etc. And because there was to be a revelation “face to face” at the Giving of the Torah, to receive the revealed Torah, it was enough

with a concealment and exile of 210 years beforehand. And now, the length of the exile is because in the Time to Come the inner dimension and the ta’amim of the Torah will be revealed. (See what is written in Parshas Va’eira, at the end of the discourse beginning “And Elokim spoke to Moshe.”)

And as it is written, “He sows charity (tzedakos), He causes salvations (yeshuos) to sprout”: through charity, reviving the spirit of the lowly with physical silver and gold, He causes yeshuos to sprout, a term [related to] “and G‑d turned (vayisha),” etc.:

the revelation of the 370 (sha’a) lights. And this is the meaning of “wine that gladdens Elokim,” for Elokim is the level of hiddenness and concealment, as it is written,

“For a sun and a shield is Havayah Elokim”: the level of the Name Elokim is the level of a shield and a sheath, to conceal and to hide, so that [the world] appears as an existing thing. And when it comes out from concealment to revelation, then the joy is great for Elokim specifically.

14And this is “when wine enters, the secret (sod) comes out,” etc.: “the secret of Havayah is for those who fear Him,” etc. And the wine preserved in its grapes is the level of a great concealment and hiddenness from the six days of Creation, for the revelation that will be in the Time to Come will be at the level of the Infinite: “no eye has seen,” etc.

15And see on the subject of the wine preserved in its grapes since the six days of Creation in the discourse beginning “The matter of the blessing of the zimun,” at its end. But all this is at the level of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), of concealment and revelation, the level of wine, etc.

But “your love” (dodecha) is above the chain of descending worlds, above even the level of concealment, above the level of the light that encompasses [all worlds] (sovev) and [the light that] fills [all worlds] (memalei); for there is no comparison, etc., holy and set apart, and “before Him darkness is as light.”

That is: when the concealment is brought to revelation, this is considered below like coming out of darkness into light; for at first, when the light was at the level of concealment, “darkness covers,”

and through the revelation “they have seen a great light,” and there is great joy for Elokim. But before Him, His essence, may He be blessed,

this light and revelation is equal to the darkness that was at first; for “all lights are darkened before Him,” and the supernal Keser (Crown), “although it is a clear light, a polished light, is black,” etc.

16This is “for your love is better”: the revelation of the level of His being and essence, which is drawn forth through Torah and mitzvos, the level of the “Song of Songs,” etc., the revelation of His great Name, etc.:

it is “better than wine,” etc. [See what is written in the discourse beginning “This matzah,” etc., and in the discourse beginning “You shall draw water with joy,” on “The words of the Scribes are more beloved to Me than the wine of Torah”; and see what is written in the discourse beginning “I will sing to G‑d,

for He is exalted above the exalted,” on the explanation of “Master of wonders,” and on the explanation of “for He is exalted above the exalted,” etc.; and what is written in the discourse beginning “Until one does not know between ‘cursed is Haman’ and ‘blessed is Mordechai,’” on the explanation and meaning of “the parable of the ancient one (hakadmoni)”:

“the Ancient One of the world,” etc. And see further on the subject of “for your love is better” in the Midrash Rabbah on the Song of Songs, and in Parshas Naso, chapter 14, on “On the seventh day, the prince”

(Zohar II, 12b, 94b, 95a, 150a). And on the subject of “Let him kiss me,” in the Midrash Rabbah on the Song of Songs and in Parshas Ki Sisa, chapter 41; Zohar I, 44b, 70a, 137a; II, 124b, 120b, 147b, 256b; III, 287a.]