לסוסתי ברכבי פרעה דמיתיך רעיתי

1“To my mare among Pharaoh’s chariots I have likened you, my beloved (ra’yasi).” Ra’yasi means “my sustainer” (parnasasi), as in the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, “Israel sustain, etc.” And [we need] to understand how they sustain, etc.

Also, [we need] to understand the verse’s likening of the level of ra’yasi to “my mare,” etc. The matter is this: it is written, “And he is like a bridegroom coming forth from his canopy (chuppah), etc.”

That is, “and he” refers to the sun mentioned above, “For the sun He has set a tent in them”: it is like a bridegroom, etc. (See the Zohar, at the beginning of Parshas Beha’aloscha, folio 148b; Terumah, folio 137a; Bereishis, folio 8a; Parshas [Ki] Seitzei, folio 279b.)

And the allusion is to the Written Torah, for the Written Torah is called “sun” and the Oral Torah “moon.” Just as the moon receives its light from the sun, through which its light shines forth, so the Oral Torah is what receives from the Written Torah.

As it says in the Gemara, “From where do we know this? For it is written, etc.,” or “From where are these words [derived]? etc.” But the Written Torah is the level of the general (klal) and the Oral Torah the level of the particular (prat).

And there is nothing in the general except what is in the particular: for in the Written Torah, too, there are the 613 mitzvos in their general form, whose particulars are explained in the Oral Torah; and all is reckoned as one level.

2And to understand how he is “like a bridegroom coming forth, etc.”: it is written, “For I said, A world of kindness will be built.” The meaning of “kindness will be built” is that the kindness is built and comes into being; and yibaneh (“will be built”) expresses the present, [meaning] that it is constantly being built,

as in the saying, “Who in His goodness renews each day, continually, the work of creation.” And the goodness and coming into being of this kindness is from the level of supernal Chesed (kindness),

“for He desires kindness.” (And see the Zohar, Part III, Naso, folio 133b; Part I, Vayechi, folio 230, end of side b; Bereishis, folio 10b; Part II, folios 166b, 79a; Part III, folios 77a, 145b, 257a.)

Now, the attribute of Chesed does not apply at all to the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, as is written in the Tikkunei Zohar, “Not that You have a known justice, etc.,”

“nor any of these attributes at all.” Rather, through many contractions (tzimtzumim) and a chain of descent (hishtalshelus) from cause to effect, the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, is drawn down and enclothed in the attribute of Chesed, etc.

But for this illumination and drawing down to be drawn forth: it is known that the creation of the worlds began because “He desires kindness,” of itself and spontaneously.

And now the arousal from above depends on the arousal from below, for the Infinite Light to be drawn down so as to be “He desires kindness,” so that “kindness will be built.”

And this arousal from below is what is written, “For I said, etc.,” which King David, peace be upon him, said on behalf of all Israel: “For I said” means, when I say, then “kindness will be built.”

And this level of “saying” is in the heart: the level of thought and the heart’s desire (re’usa deliba), through contemplation of “Havayah is One,” “from the inward part of a man and a deep heart”; and then “kindness will be built.” And the arousal from below [is]: “Spirit brings spirit and draws down spirit.”

3As it is written, “You have declared Havayah, etc.” And as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “You have made Me a single entity (chativah) in the world,” that is, the level of “Havayah is One,” etc.

This is [the meaning of] “for all that is in the heavens and on the earth”: shamayim (“heavens”) is sham mayim (“there is water”), the level of supernal Chesed (kindness), which spreads forth and is enclothed below, on the earth. And “for all (kol)” is the level of the fifty (nun) gates of Binah (understanding), numerically [equal to] kol,

which is the level of the contemplation mentioned above: it is what draws down, so that there be “in the heavens” the level of Chesed (see Mikdash Melech, in the commentary on the Zohar, Part I, Vayechi) (folio 230b).

And see the Zohar, Parshas Vayigash (folio 207a), on [the verse] “He established the heavens with understanding”: “every single day, etc.”

This is [the meaning of] yibaneh, expressing the present; and yibaneh also has the letters of Binah. And from there [it is drawn] “on the earth.” And the Community of Israel is called kallah (bride), for she receives from the level of kol (“all”).

And kallah is from the term “my soul pines (kalsah)”: for through the heart’s desire, “spirit brings spirit, etc.” And this is [the meaning of] “Forever, Havayah, Your word stands in the heavens”: for “the word of G‑d” [is] the source of the souls of Israel. They are the ones who draw down the level of shamayim, sham mayim, etc.

42. But [we need] to understand: how can a created being have any measure or relation to the Creator, blessed be He, so as to draw down the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, so that it be enclothed in the level of Chesed, etc.?

It is written, “For over all the glory [shall be] a canopy (chuppah).” “Glory” is what is written, “and for My glory I have created it, I have formed it, I have also made it”: these are the level of “glory,” and of the enclothing of the Infinite Light within them in the order of the entire chain of descent (hishtalshelus);

and “over all the glory,” which is above them and higher than they, is the level of “canopy,” which is of the level of the encompassing (makif) and surrounding (sovev) [light], which cannot be enclothed within the worlds

(and see what is written on the subject of chuppah in the discourse beginning “The Torah [that Moshe] commanded” and in the discourse beginning “For over all the glory [shall be] a canopy”). And it is this that gives strength and power to the arousal from below, so that the arousal from above should depend on it.

For because it is a very lofty level, exalted above the level of sovev, etc., it can therefore surround and encompass even the very lowest below,

as it is written, “And underneath are the everlasting arms,” for [to it] the levels of above and below are equal, etc. And it is the level of the supernal delight,

that is, the level of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, from the source of delights and the source of life, as it is written, “For with You is the source of life”; it is this that is enclothed in the Torah and in the mitzvos, even though they are enclothed in physical matters, etc.

5This is [the meaning of] “Who has sanctified us”: that on the arousal from below there should depend an arousal from above that is far, far higher than the level of the World to Come. For the World to Come was created with [the letter] yud.

Even though it is the delight of the souls, a wondrous delight without end or limit, so much so that they said in the Gemara about Elisha Acher, “Better that he be judged, etc.”: that all the sufferings of Gehinnom are worthwhile for the sake of this delight, even for the sake of the lower Gan Eden.

6And all the more so for the sake of the upper Gan Eden. Even so, it is only the level of yud, which is a single small illumination, etc.

But the Torah and the mitzvos are drawn from the supernal delight that is far, far above this, that is, from the level of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, truly, in His very Self and glory. That is why they said, “Better is one hour, etc.”

[This is] as is written elsewhere. And from there strength and power are drawn to the human soul, which is within the order of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus), [in] Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, the level of “glory,” etc.,

so that an arousal from above that transcends the order of the chain of descent should depend on the arousal from below. (And see what is also written about this at length in the discourse beginning “On the eighth day, an assembly,” [on] “Great is study, for it leads, etc.”)

And through this the illumination of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is drawn down to be the level of “kindness will be built.” And just as, by way of analogy, in physical human pleasures, pleasure pampers the flesh and the limbs, to thicken them and make them grow,

so the supernal delight enclothed in the Torah and mitzvos is what makes the power of the soul grow and thicken, to raise it and bind it far, far above, to be “a woman of valor, the crown of her husband,” so that it can draw down the Infinite Light, blessed be He, to be enclothed in the level of “kindness will be built,” etc.

7This is [the meaning of] “Your word stands (nitzav) in the heavens”: nitzav is a term of rulership, as it is written, “a deputy (nitzav) was king.”

For the level of “the word of G‑d, this is halachah,” which one studies: even though below it is enclothed in physical matters, nevertheless it bears fruit above, to be at the level of “a woman of valor, the crown of her husband,” that is, at the level of kingship and dominion over the level of “heavens,” Chesed (kindness), etc.

8That is, it is the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, to be the level of “heavens,” etc. And this is because He “has sanctified us with His commandments”: those of the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself.

As our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, puts on tefillin, etc.,” [and] “The Holy One, blessed be He, sits and studies opposite him, etc.”: this is the drawing down of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in the level of tefillin, etc.

And Torah study is the drawing down of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, into Chochmah (wisdom), for “the Torah issues from Chochmah.” “Opposite him” means that this drawing down cannot be enclothed within the worlds, but only at the level of the surrounding (sovev) and encompassing (makif), from above.

9As it is written, “Havayah is your shade (tzel)”: the level of a shade, and not a revealed light. The matter of a shade is, by way of analogy, like a person’s shadow (tzel), in which his whole form is seen,

except that the shadow’s appearance is the level of darkness. So too, as it were, “Havayah is your shade”: the level of your own shade. For through the arousal from below [there is] an arousal from above, except that in the arousal from above it is the level of shade and darkness, as it is written, “He made darkness His hiding place”;

that is, it is not grasped or seen by the eyes of the intellect of created beings, but only, by way of analogy, like the King’s delights in His own essence, etc., as is written elsewhere.

10This is [the meaning of] “at (al yad) your right hand”: through (al yedei) the level of “your right hand,” that is, the level of love, etc., and the arousal from below to cleave to Him, blessed be He, through this it “brings spirit and draws down spirit,” so that the Holy One, blessed be He, puts on tefillin, etc., and sits and studies, etc.

And so too, all the 248 mitzvos are “limbs”: drawings down and illumination of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in Chesed (kindness), etc.

113. Now, in general, all the 248 mitzvos are divided into three levels: Torah, avodah (divine service) and gemilus chassadim (acts of kindness). Of this it is said, “Day to day utters speech (omer)”: omer is the acronym of esh (fire), mayim (water) and ruach (spirit).

Fire is the level of avodah, from below upward, like a rising flame, etc., to cleave to Him, blessed be He: that is, that the soul strip itself of the garments of nogah [found] in human pleasures, to delight in G‑d alone.

12In this way the offerings were “a fire-offering, a pleasing aroma”: through their offering fat and blood. For fat is the level of pleasure, since pleasure is what pampers the flesh, so that it becomes fat and has an abundance of fat; and the pleasure of the animal is brought near to G‑d,

through its being consumed and burned in the fire from above, so that it rises and is absorbed in the source of delights. And now, prayer is in place of the offerings: that is, through the flashes of the fire of love that one arouses in prayer, the supernal love, as in the words, “With an everlasting love You have loved us, etc., Who chooses His people Israel with love.”

Through this the soul separates and strips itself of the pleasures of the animal [soul], to delight in G‑d and to cleave [to Him] with attachment and yearning, etc. And water is the level of acts of kindness and charity, which are likened to water.

13As it is written, “Happy are you who sow beside all waters, etc.,” for just as water descends from a high place to a low place, so is the level of charity and kindness: “to revive the spirit of the lowly,” for one who “has nothing of his own at all,” etc.

Spirit (ruach) is the level of speech, which is the level of Torah study, which is chiefly in speech, as it is written, “And you shall speak of them,” and as is written in the Zohar, “through the spirit of those who toil in the Torah, etc.”

and in the discourse beginning “On the eighth day, an assembly,” mentioned above, on the subject of “And I have put My words in your mouth, etc.”; and see nearby, in the discourse beginning “Your cheeks are comely, etc.”) And these three levels, which are omer, are what is written, “For I said (amarti), A world of kindness will be built.”

“For I said (amarti)” means: through my level of omer, through this also “You have declared (he’emarta) Havayah,” to draw down from the Name Havayah the level of omer, which is [the meaning of] “The Holy One, blessed be He, puts on tefillin, etc.,” which is the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, from above the order of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus), as mentioned above.

And this is [the meaning of] “like a bridegroom (chasan) coming forth from his canopy”: chasan is from the term nechos darga (“going down a step”), for the Torah was drawn down and descended from its loftiness and glory, where it is included in the very Infinite Light, blessed be He, the source of delights, and descended to be enclothed in physical matters. And this level of “going down a step” “comes forth from his canopy”: from the level of “canopy,” the level of [the light that] encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin).

“He rejoices like a mighty man to run a path (orach)”: the level of “the path (orach) of women,” that is, to the level of kallah (bride), which is the Community of Israel, the source of the souls of Israel, to give them strength and power so that the arousal from above should depend on the arousal from below.

And it is called by the name “the path of women,” as it is written of Rachel, “for the way (derech) of women is upon me”: [so called] because she gives life-force from the excess of the flow and from the refuse that she thrusts outside, to give life also to the opposing [side], whose nurture and hold come from the excess of the flow and the refuse, from the level of “the way of women,” etc.

14That is, when the Shechinah (Divine Presence) is enclothed in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, “like a ewe (rachel) that is dumb before her shearers.” This is not so with Sarah, of whom it is written, “And Avraham and Sarah were old, advanced in days; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the path of women”: for from the level of “old” and of the supernal “days” there is no nurture or hold for the kelipos (husks) and the sitra achra (the other side); and therefore “it had ceased to be with Sarah,” etc.

(One may further explain according to what is written in the Zohar, Vayakhel) (folio 215a) on [the verse] “But the path (orach) of the righteous”: “What is the difference between orach and derech (way)? etc.”

“Derech is open to all, etc.” See there, where it is explained explicitly that orach means that the righteous alone stand and rule in that place, and the external forces have no nurture from there at all.

And “the path of women” is different, for it is the matter of “the way of women,” the excess of the flow and the refuse that is thrust outside, etc.

According to this, in the verse “to run a path,” where “path” is mentioned without qualification, one may say that this means [that it is] in the manner of the level of “the path of the righteous” in the Zohar mentioned above, so that there be no nurture for the external forces. And see Mikdash Melech on Terumah (folio 137a), and the commentary of the Ramaz on the Zohar at the beginning of Parshas Beha’aloscha, on the explanation of “to run a path.”

And this is the matter of “a sealed spring.” The explanation of this is that “and he is like a bridegroom” refers to the Written Torah; “he rejoices like a mighty man to run a path” means: to the level of the Oral Torah, which is the level of kallah (bride).

15It is explained in Parshas Bereishis, at the end of the discourse beginning “To understand the matter of the blessings,” [on] the matter of “If he is worthy, it becomes for him an elixir of life, etc.”

Whereas [if] he is not worthy, G‑d forbid, as with Doeg and Achitofel, etc., that is the matter of being drawn after the refuse of “the path of women,” etc. But there must be “Seal the Torah among My disciples,” so that it be “And all your children shall be disciples of Havayah.”

And this is the matter of sealing with “Blessed”; and this is “to run a path,” the level of “the path of the righteous, etc.,” [and] “Your people are all righteous, etc.”

And the meaning of yasis (“he rejoices”): one may say [that it is] numerically 620, the drawing down of the 620 pillars of light, from which the 613 mitzvos of the Torah, together with the 7 rabbinic mitzvos, have their root; corresponding to this there are likewise 620 letters in the Ten Commandments. They are drawn “to run a path,” for their revelation is in the Oral Torah, as is written in Iggeres HaKodesh, in the epistle beginning “A woman of valor is the crown of her husband.”

164. Now, since this entire level and order of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) mentioned above is brought about through Israel, for it is they who draw down life-force and the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, into all the worlds, “from the head of all levels, etc.,”

through the Torah and the mitzvos, so that the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is enclothed to be “He desires kindness” and “a world will be built”; for this power was given specifically to Israel, His treasured people, whereas idol worshippers cannot draw down anything, as is written elsewhere.

Therefore the Community of Israel is called ra’yasi, “my sustainer.” It is like, by way of analogy, the food that sustains a person,

for it is what draws life-force from the soul in the brain to all the limbs. For a person’s life-force depends on his brain, which is what draws life-force to all the limbs, etc.;

except that if he does not eat for several days, his brain weakens, and the soul in his brain lacks the strength to be bound to his body to give life to the limbs; and because of this the senses, the power of sight, etc., change.

17And food is what restores the power of the soul and binds it to the body, to draw life-force from there.

So too, by way of analogy, it is Israel who draw down life-force and the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, from the level of [the light that] encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), to be [the light that] fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), and so that “a world of kindness will be built,” through the Torah and the mitzvos, the level of “Your word stands in the heavens,” so that there be the level of an arousal from above that is above the chain of descent (hishtalshelus), etc., as mentioned above.

With this, what is written will be understood: “To my mare among Pharaoh’s chariots I have likened you, my beloved”: the level of ra’yasi, “my sustainer,” mentioned above, is like “my mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.”

The matter is this: by way of analogy, the horse among the chariots of the physical Pharaoh, since he was a king, was certainly adorned with ornaments, as is done for the horses of princes and kings when they ride on them, or when they are harnessed to the chariot.

18Now, the horse itself does not know or grasp the ornaments, nor the chariot and its rider; rather, the ornaments and the chariot are for the sake of the rider himself. When he needs to ride, they adorn the horse and put it in the chariot, for so it befits him. And this is his delight, which he enjoys through the horse.

19So too, by way of analogy: it is written concerning the Holy One, blessed be He, “When You ride upon Your horses, etc.,” for there is a chariot (merkavah) that is the level of horses, as is written in the prophecy of Zechariah, “black horses, white horses, etc.” This is not so with Isaiah and Ezekiel, who saw “the face of a lion, the face of an ox, etc.”

20That is, the level of “the face of a lion, the face of an ox, etc.” comes through some intellectual understanding and comprehension of the light that is drawn down upon them.

Therefore it is at the level of seraphim, like flashes of fire of love and awe (ahavah and yirah), etc. But the level of horses is the level of letters, which have in them no intellection or intellect; rather, the intellect rides and directs them.

They are only a chariot and self-nullification (bittul) before the rider himself, so that he may have the pleasure and delight from the King’s delights in Himself, which are not seen or grasped at all in the level of His chariot.

And this is [the meaning of] “I have likened you, my beloved (ra’yasi)”: ra’yasi, “my sustainer,” is to be at the level of “For I said, etc.,” so that there be “You have declared Havayah, etc.”;

this, too, is the level of a horse, for the human soul itself does not grasp at all the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in His very Self and glory,

[so as] to delight in the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in His very Self and glory, which alone is the source of life, the source of delights; and the World to Come, the delight of the souls, was, after all, created with yud.

Rather, the arousal from above comes chiefly because the mitzvos are the bride’s ornaments, from the supernal delight; and therefore, through the soul’s self-nullification, it can draw down from this delight, etc.

But this delight is above the order of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus), and it is not grasped or comprehended by any intellect or understanding, and “no thought can grasp” [it] at all.

And the soul’s self-nullification before this delight is like, for example, a horse among Pharaoh’s chariots: the self-nullification in this chariot is toward the delight and pleasures of the rider himself, even though the chariot itself grasps nothing at all and feels no delight or excitement whatsoever.

(Something close to this is found in Mevo She’arim) (Sha’ar (Gate) 3, Part 2, end of chapter 5), and this is its wording: “For these are ornaments before another, and before concealment after concealment, etc.” See there. And see Parshas Mishpatim (folio 95a).

And in the Midrash Rabbah on Parshas Devarim it is found, on [the verse] “These are the words”: Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Simon said in the name of Rabbi Levi: “Just as this bee: all that it amasses, it amasses for its owner;”

“So too, all that Israel amass of mitzvos and good deeds, they amass for their Father in heaven.” End of quotation. And this is understood in light of what was said above.