יונתי בחגוי הסלע בסתר המדרגה

1“My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hidden place of the step (madregah): show me your appearance, etc.” Now, this verse was said of the time when the Holy Temple is not standing: when the Congregation of Israel is in exile, she is then “in the hidden place of the step.”

(So it is in the Midrash Rabbah on Shir HaShirim, in the name of Rabbi Yose HaGelili; and see further on the subject of “My dove” in the Midrash Rabbah on the portion of Lech Lecha, chapter 45, [and on] Beshalach, chapter 21.) And of the time of the Exodus from Egypt it was said, “For behold, the winter is past, the rain has gone by, etc.”

“The fig tree has formed its green figs, etc.; arise for yourself (kumi lach), my beloved (ra’ayasi), my fair one (yafasi), and go for yourself,” as is written in the Midrash Rabbah on Shir HaShirim, cited in Rashi’s commentary.

2The explanation of this matter is as follows. The matter of “my beloved” (ra’ayasi), “my fair one” (yafasi), is through the Torah and the mitzvos. For just as the Torah is bread and food for the soul,

so through the Torah Israel provide sustenance for their Father in Heaven, and through this the Congregation of Israel is called “my beloved” (ra’ayasi). And from the mitzvos, garments are made for the soul in Gan Eden; and likewise, through them the Congregation of Israel is called “my fair one” (yafasi), for she makes a royal garment for the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.

3To understand this well: it is known that not the whole soul, all of it in its entirety, is enclothed in the human body below;

for “an angel stands in a third of the world,” and the soul is higher still. How, then, could it be enclothed in the human body below, which is too small to contain [it]?

Rather, a little radiance from the soul is what is enclothed in the body, while the whole soul, all of it, is above, in the aspect of encompassing (makif); and it is called mazal in the language of our Sages, of blessed memory, who said, “Even though he does not see, his mazal sees.” And the intent is not mazal in its literal sense,

for “Israel has no mazal.” Rather, the intent is the soul above, which is not enclothed in the body. And it is called mazal from the expression “Water shall flow (yizal) from his buckets,” and “streams flowing (nozlim) from Lebanon,”

for it makes flow (mazeles) and drips down a drop of influence and radiance from above to the soul that is enclothed in the body, to bind it and join it to the body. (And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Give ear, O heavens,” and in the discourse beginning “Zion shall be redeemed with justice.”)

And this is [the meaning of] “My G‑d, the soul that You placed within me is pure; You created it, etc.” For seemingly it should have said the reverse: “You created it, etc.; it is pure, etc.,”

for before it was created it is not fitting to call it by the name “pure.” Rather, “it is pure” refers to the part of the soul that is above the body, in the aspect of encompassing (makif), which is not at the level of creation;

whereas “You created it and You formed it, etc.”: the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the level exists only in order to be enclothed in the body. For creation is “something from nothing”: “something” specifically,

that is, to be at the level of “something,” and of division into intellect and emotive attributes (middos) and the other powers of the soul (see what is written on this in Parshas Beshalach, in the discourse beginning “Then Moshe sang”); and this is when it is in the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the levels, so as to be enclothed in the body.

But above, it is at the level of ayin (nothing), just as before the world was created there was He and His Name alone: He alone, He is singular and unique, etc.

So too the soul is at the level of unity above, in its Emanator, blessed be He, and there it is “it is pure.” And see what is written in Parshas Mishpatim, in the explanation of the verse “And like the very essence of the heavens for purity”: “to the supernal purity (tehiru ila’ah), etc.”; see there. And here too one may explain “it is pure” in the same way, as is written elsewhere.

4And of this level of the soul they said, “Bereishis (In the beginning): for the sake of Israel, who are called reishis (first).” And the verse did not state “Israel” explicitly, because in Israel there are two levels. The first is the part of the soul that is enclothed in the human body.

And of this they said in the Zohar, “Three knots are bound together: Israel with the Torah, and the Torah with the Holy One, blessed be He”; for Israel are lower in level than the Torah.

But the second level is the soul above, in the aspect of encompassing (makif). And of this they said, “Israel, who are called reishis (first)”; “Israel arose in thought”; “Israel is holy to G‑d, the first (reishis) of its produce”: for Israel is the beginning and the source of the Torah.

For throughout the whole Torah it is written, “Speak to the children of Israel,” “Command the children of Israel”; for the whole Torah is built and founded upon the level of Israel.

It follows that the level of Israel that arose in thought is the source and the foundation of the Torah. (As is found in the Midrash Rabbah at the beginning of Bereishis: “The thought of Israel preceded everything”; that is, it preceded even the Torah. See there.)

And this is [the meaning of] “He established a testimony in Yaakov and placed a Torah in Israel”: that is, in Yaakov and Israel, in them and through them, He established testimony and placed Torah, for from them the Torah was drawn forth. (And see the Zohar, Part III, Parshas Nasso) (folio 134a) on the explanation of “Everything depends on mazal, even a Torah scroll in the Heichal (sanctuary).”

The explanation: the Heichal is the Oral Torah, which is a vessel for the Written Torah, and all are drawn from the level of mazla, etc. And it has already been explained that the root of the souls of Israel is also from the level of mazla, and “flowing (nozlim) from Lebanon,” etc. And see the Pardes, in Erchei HaKinuyim, the entry “mazal” and the entry “zechus,” and the Zohar at the end of Parshas Acharei, folio 77b.

52. But the drawing down of the Torah from the level of Israel that is above, downward to the level of the soul that is enclothed in the body, is through an arousal from below, in prayer.

For tefillah (prayer) is an expression of joining, which is the binding and cleaving of the soul to its root and to the supernal mazal, through the desire of the heart (re’usa d’liba): “with all your heart and with all your soul, etc.” (And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “Give ear, O heavens,” mentioned above.)

For prayer is “a ladder set on the earth, whose top reaches heavenward”: it is the level of ascent from below to above. First, Pesukei deZimrah, which recount the praise of the Omnipresent, to set one’s heart aflame for G‑d; and afterwards, “Who forms light,” and “the Ofanim, with a great noise, etc.,”

until he reaches the recital of Shema. “Hear, O Israel”: this is the supernal Israel, that is, the soul that is in the aspect of encompassing (makif). And there, “Havayah is our G‑d” is the level of self-nullification (bittul) of existence itself, until “Havayah is One,” at the level of the higher unity (yichuda ila’ah).

For all the division and the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the multitude of levels are nothing but a mere radiance and illumination; and even [in] the higher Gan Eden, “the righteous sit and delight in the radiance of the Shechinah (Divine Presence), etc.,”

and it is called by the name kabbalas peras (“receiving a reward”), from the word perusah (“a portion”): a part separated from His essence, blessed be He; whereas at the level of ayin (nothing), no division at all applies;

only there is there true unity. And once he takes all this to heart, his soul will pine and long for Him alone, may He be blessed, until he comes to the fulfillment of “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d.”

That is: ve’ahavta (“and you shall love”) is from the word avah, which is an expression of desire and will; and when it comes into revelation in the heart it is called ahavah (love), with the addition of a hei. And this desire and will shall be that Havayah, who is the source of the level of the soul above,

which is the level of “it is pure,” the level of ayin, which is united with its Emanator, blessed be He, may He be blessed — shall be “your G‑d” in actuality, revealed in the soul of the person that is enclothed in the body, “with all your heart and with all your soul,” to give over his soul at [the word] “One.”

6As it is written, “To You, G‑d, I lift up my soul.” And then: “And you shall speak of them (vedibarta bam), etc.,” from the expression “He leads (yadber) peoples,” which is an expression of leading and drawing forth:

that he draws the Torah downward. For when the Torah is drawn down in this way, it is called “engaging in Torah lishmah (for its own sake)”: for the sake of the Torah, so that it be at the level of Torah, that the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, rest and be revealed in it.

For “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah (wisdom)”; and behold, He, may He be blessed, is high and exalted, etc.; and “You made them all with Chochmah,” [even] the physical [World of] Asiyah (Action); and “all before Him is as nothing,” etc.

7Now, this drawing forth, that the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, be enclothed in Chochmah, is through an arousal from below in prayer specifically: “if he sets his heart to Him,” etc.; “a spirit brings a spirit and draws forth a spirit.”

And this is [the meaning of] “to do (la’asos) all the words of this Torah”: for Israel are the ones who make (osim) the Torah (and see what is written in the discourse beginning “Song of Songs,” and in the discourse beginning “The heavens are My throne,” and in the discourse beginning “The Torah that Moshe commanded us”). And he draws this revelation downward upon his soul, that is, the radiance that is enclothed in the body.

And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Do not read ‘your children’ (banayich) but ‘your builders’ (bonayich)”: for they build the radiance that is enclothed in the body, so that there rest and be revealed in it the drawing forth of the unity of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, through engaging in the Torah.

8And this is [the meaning of] “Arise for yourself (kumi lach)”: lach means “to yourself,” that is, to the level of the soul above; that is, that there be a cleaving of the soul below to its root above.

And then you can be “my beloved” (ra’ayasi), drawing down the food of the Torah; for then the Torah is called food, as food, by way of analogy, is what joins and binds the life-force (chayus) of the soul so that it spreads within the body, like the bread that he eats, by which a person lives and endures.

So too it is written, “Come, eat of My bread”: for the Torah is called bread and food, since in it and through it life-force is drawn from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, and [there is] the enclothing of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in supernal Chochmah,

only if he sets his heart to Him, so as to be [in the state of] “Arise for yourself” (and see what is written on the verse “These are the journeys of the children of Israel,” in the explanation of “And these are their journeys according to their goings forth”).

Now, the keri (how it is read) is lach and the kesiv (how it is written) is lechi, for the letters of the written form allude to the root and source of the soul, which is the level of kaf and yud. That is to say, “Arise to the level of kaf and yud,” for through this you will be “my beloved” (ra’ayasi)

(and kaf and yud are the two encompassing levels (makifim), yechidah and chayah, which encompass the levels of nefesh, ruach and neshamah, which are enclothed in the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the person).

93. And the explanation of “my fair one” (yafasi), which are the mitzvos, which are called garments, will be understood by first explaining the term mitzvah. It is so called because it is the command (mitzvas) of the king, his order and his charge, as “a royal word goes forth from before him,” and all his people are obligated to obey him.

10Now, the level of Malchus (sovereignty) is the level of a garment, as it is written, “Let them bring a royal garment,” and it is written, “G‑d reigns; He is clothed in majesty, etc.”

For the essence of the level of kingship is like a garment, by way of analogy, which is a covering made to cover the body with, so that it not be revealed. And so is the level of His Malchus, may He be blessed. For

behold, at the revelation of His G‑dliness, may He be blessed, in the time to come, when “And the glory of G‑d shall be revealed, etc.” is fulfilled, it is written, “For the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall wear out like a garment”: there will be no physical heavens and earth,

only “the new heavens and the new earth that I make”: “I” specifically (see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “Keep My Shabbos days,” in the explanation of “I”).

And that today physical heavens and earth are seen is from the level of olam (world), from the word he’elem (concealment); and this concealment is from the level of His Malchus, may He be blessed: for since “there is no king without a people,” etc.,

therefore He concealed the revelation of His G‑dliness, may He be blessed, so that it not be in a state of revelation, and so that physical heavens and earth, and all who dwell, etc., be seen,

so that His Name and His kingship be proclaimed, etc. And what brings about the drawing down of this royal garment is the mitzvos: through the commands (mitzvos) of the King that are fulfilled below, there is a drawing down from above, to become the garment of His kingship.

And this is [the meaning of] “my fair one” (yafasi), for she makes the level of beautiful garments, as it is written, “You have clothed Yourself in glory and splendor.” (And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Sound the shofar at the New Moon,” on the subject of “G‑d reigns; He is clothed in majesty, etc.”: that the level of Malchus is called a garment, and that the drawing forth so that [He] be “King of the world” (melech ha’olam) is through the mitzvos, etc.

And see on this the discourse beginning “When Israel put ‘we will do’ before ‘we will hear,’” concerning “who do His word,” etc.; and see what is written in the discourse beginning “Let them bring a royal garment,” and in Parshas Tetzaveh, at the end of the discourse beginning “And you shall make holy garments.”

And it is further explained, on the subject of the garments of the soul [that come] from the mitzvos, on the verse “And these are the ordinances,” concerning “six years shall he serve”; and at the end of the discourse beginning “There shall be none that miscarries, etc.; the number of your days I will fill”; and in Parshas Chayei Sarah, in the discourse beginning “To understand what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: ‘Better is one hour of teshuvah and good deeds’”; and in many places.)

But for the drawing down of this level of garment, there must also first be the level of “Arise for yourself” and of lechi, to kaf and yud, as mentioned above: to be at the level of “To You, G‑d, I lift up my soul.”

For it is written, “I clothe the heavens with blackness.” Shamayim (heavens) is esh and mayim (fire and water), which are the emotive attributes (middos): Chesed (kindness), “the right arm,” etc.,

which is enclothed in the performance of the mitzvos. And there is, “one opposite the other,” blackness and darkness, as it is written, “And I was in the midst, etc.,” which is enclothed so as to give life-force and abundance to the kelipos and the sitra achra (the other side),

which are the opposite of holiness. For in holiness, all of them accept upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, whereas in the sitra achra there is casting off of the yoke; [it is they] who destroyed the Holy Temple (and see the Zohar, in Parshas Vayeshev)

(folio 182, end of side a), and in Parshas Acharei (folio 75a), and further in Parshas Vayigash (folio 210, end of side a), Shemos (folio 18a), Chukas (folio 181b), Va’eschanan (folio 267a), Haazinu (folio 293, end of side b).

And see what is written in the discourse beginning “For the mountains may depart,” on the subject of “If Israel do teshuvah, they are redeemed,” etc., and “He founded His band upon the earth,” etc.,

which is not the case, etc.; see there. And this is what is said here: that in order to draw down the garment through the mitzvos, there must first be the level of “Arise for yourself,” etc., specifically.

Now, “a spirit brings a spirit and draws forth a spirit” if “he sets his heart to Him,” etc. That is, when there is acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven (kabbalas ol),

then he can draw [it] down; whereas with casting off the yoke, even if he fulfills all the mitzvos, he draws down nothing at all. (And see what is written on the verse “And now, I pray, let [it] be great,” and on the verse “Binding to the vine,” on the subject of “He washes his garment in wine.”)

And this is [the meaning of] “Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us”: “who has sanctified us” with the supernal holiness, “and commanded us” (vetzivanu) with joining and binding to this mitzvah, of washing the hands or of putting on tefillin and the like, so that we become one with them in a state of self-nullification (bittul) and accepting the yoke; and this is through “Arise for yourself.”

And this is the meaning of the blessing that precedes a mitzvah: “Blessed” (baruch), that there be drawn down the level of “Havayah our G‑d,” that is, the level of Torah, which is the level of the inner organs; and “King of the world”

is the level of the performance of the mitzvos, which are garments, and the level of the outer limbs; for through the mitzvos a garment is drawn down, so that [He] be “King of the world.” And this is through “who has sanctified us and commanded us,” etc.

114. Now, all these levels were said at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, when Israel were at the level of “After Havayah you shall walk,” as it is written, “your going after Me in the wilderness”; of this level it was said, “Arise for yourself,” and to be “my beloved, my fair one.”

But at the time when the Holy Temple is not standing, it is written, “My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hidden place of the step”: for when the dove is in the clefts of a rock,

that is, between the hollows cut into the rocks, it is impossible for her to spread [her] wings to fly, for the wings are caught and trapped there. So, in the time of exile,

the wings are love and awe, for “without love and awe it does not fly upward”; they are caught and trapped in the snare of the physical body in which they are enclothed, and are drawn after the worry of making a living, which is the level of subjugation to the kingdoms, and exile, etc.;

see what is written in the discourse beginning “Many waters, etc.,” [on] “the waters of Noach, etc.” “In the hidden place of the step” means that the love and awe are not revealed in his heart; there is only the level of natural love alone, which is hidden and clothed in a garment of sackcloth, etc., as is written elsewhere.

12And the counsel given for this is “Show me your appearance (mar’ayich), etc.” The matter is that the Congregation of Israel is called a mirror (mar’ah), in the verse “visions (mar’os) of G‑d,” “in a vision (mar’ah) I make Myself known to him.” For the nature of a mirror, by way of analogy, is that it shows the form that looks into it, because it is coated with the well-known coating of silver;

and therefore it holds back the sight from the seeing eye, so that it does not see through from side to side as with plain glass; rather, it turns back and returns the sight to the one seeing, so that he sees the return of the sight to himself.

13And this is specifically when it is coated and covered with a thin and fine covering and coating, like the silver; but when it is covered with a thick and dark covering, nothing at all will be seen in it, and it blocks the sight entirely. So too the Congregation of Israel is called the level of a mirror,

for the descent and enclothing of the soul in the body is for the sake of an ascent: to return from below to above, to be included in the light of G‑d and to cleave to Him, may He be blessed, through this descent. As in the analogy of the light of the sun: when it falls upon the earth it strikes with force, and returns and rises from below to above

(and therefore the lower air is the hottest), as is known. But this is when the soul is not enclothed in the body so much, but only in the permitted needs of this world, which are of nogah;

but if it has become defiled and has descended into the three kelipos that are entirely impure, it is bound and tied up in them and cannot rise, and it needs teshuvah (return), to arouse great compassion over the descent of a spark of G‑dliness, etc.

14And this is [the meaning of] “My dove, in the clefts of the rock”: she is held and bound in the crevices of the rocks, and cannot arouse the love and the awe to rise.

This is the counsel: “Show me your appearance”: that he remember and take to heart how he is nothing but the level of a mirror, which descended only for the sake of ascent and return.

15And through this he will arouse great compassion over the descent of the spark of G‑dliness in his soul, which descended “from a high roof,” etc.

And he will cry out to G‑d in his distress; and through this there is drawn from above to below the level of “your voice is sweet and your appearance is comely.” “Voice” is the matter of drawing down the Torah: it will be in a state of greater pleasantness and sweetness,

for “in the place where ba’alei teshuvah stand, perfect tzaddikim cannot stand,” for “they draw it with greater strength,” etc.

And “your appearance is comely” is the level of the mitzvos, which are “my fair one” (yafasi): they will be at the level of “comely” all the more, as the saying goes, “teshuvah and good deeds”: through teshuvah the deeds will be good, so that they shine, as it is written, “the light,

that it was good, etc.” (And see on the subject of “My dove, in the clefts of the rock” in the Zohar, in the portion of Lech Lecha) (folio 84b), and in Parshas Acharei (folio 61a).

And as for the difference between the level of “Show me your appearance,” which is the level of returning light (or chozer), and the level of “Arise for yourself,” which is also an ascent from below to above, so that the soul cleave to its root above: is perhaps

this: that “Arise for yourself” is in the order of the levels (madregos), from below to above, and this is the rank of the tzaddikim, who go before G‑d from level to level.

But when the Congregation of Israel is “in the hidden place of the step (madregah),” then the ascent is at the level of “They cried out to G‑d in their distress,”

which is the level of teshuvah, “with greater strength.” And as is known, teshuvah is not necessarily for transgressions, but for the distance, etc. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Return, O Israel”:

“Now, Yaakov said according to the order of the levels, etc.,” and “Now, the order of teshuvah is not in the order of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the levels, etc.”;

see there. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “These are the journeys,” from the analogy of the rushing of water: when there is a board that blocks and holds back their rush, and they, with their force, break through and pass over the thing that blocks them,

then their rush grows greater, with “excess of dignity and excess of power,” etc. And in the same way the matter of “Show me your appearance,” etc., will be understood. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “And Yaakov settled,” in the explanation of “And from there you will seek,” etc.

And see what is written further on the subject of the Congregation of Israel being called a mirror, in Parshas Bereishis, on the verse “I will make him a helper opposite him,” and in Parshas Miketz, in the discourse beginning “Our Rabbis taught: the mitzvah of the Chanukah lamp, on the first day, etc.,” concerning “the mirrors of the women who assembled.”