שוש תשיש ותגל העקרה בקבוץ בניה לתוכה בשמחה

1“May the barren one greatly rejoice (sos tasis) and exult in the gathering of her children into her midst in joy.” Now, the word tasis has two interpretations. The first: it is an intransitive verb and refers to the barren one, tasis being in the feminine: the barren one will herself rejoice, and will exult in the gathering of her children.

The second: it is a transitive verb and refers to the Holy One, blessed be He: one says to the Holy One, blessed be He, in the second person, “You shall make the barren one rejoice,” and as a matter of course she will exult. (For the second person masculine is the same as the third person feminine, as is known.)

To understand this, we must first preface an explanation of the matter of “and the barren one shall exult in the gathering of her children”: if she is barren and has not given birth, where does she have children from, to be gathered into her midst?

The explanation is this: our Sages, of blessed memory, said on the verse “When a woman emits seed and gives birth to a male”: “If the woman emits seed first, she gives birth to a male; if the man emits seed first, she gives birth to a female.”

2To understand this in the service of G‑d: it is known that the Community of Israel (Knesses Yisrael) is called by the name “woman,” and the Holy One, blessed be He, is called by the name “man” (ish), as it is written, “On that day you shall call [Me] Ishi (my Man),” etc.

Now, just as with a man and a woman, by way of analogy, when the woman emits seed first she gives birth to a male, so too with the Community of Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He: when the woman, who is the Community of Israel, emits seed first,

that is, the level of the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), from below upward, the level of “and your desire shall be toward your husband,” which is what is called in the language of the Kabbalah “the raising of mayin nukvin (feminine waters),” and afterwards there is drawn down an arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila) and the drawing down of mayin duchrin (masculine waters), then she gives birth to a male;

that is, she gives birth, in the souls of Israel, to a love that is of the level of the male (dechar), namely, the level of great love (ahavah rabbah), which is the level of “Whom have I in heaven? And with You I desire nothing,” meaning: even what is with You, in closeness to You.

This is what is written, “For with You is the source of life”: this is the life of the World to Come, and the G‑dly delight that is drawn down to the souls in Gan Eden, to delight in G‑d because of their apprehension and comprehension, with a most wondrous apprehension and comprehension. Even so, this apprehension does not reach

beyond the level of “with You,” which is something secondary and nullified beside You, and not You Yourself; for “no thought can grasp Him” at all.

Rather, their apprehension is of the level of the radiance of the Shechinah (Divine Presence), merely a radiance and glow. Therefore, “with You I desire nothing”; rather, the great love is to be nullified and included in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, itself, and to be absorbed

into the body of the King, which is far above the level of radiance and glow. And although at this level it is impossible to be in the manner of “sitting and enjoying the radiance,” but on the contrary, it is a nullification of existence, like the nullification and inclusion of a candle in a torch (as is written in Sefer Shel Beinonim [Tanya], chapter 19),

even though [the soul] will be nothing and naught, and will be utterly nullified there in its existence, etc.; whereas at the level of “sitting and enjoying,” its essence and being [remain]

as they are, etc.; nevertheless, this is its will and desire: to be nullified in His essence and being, rather than to be enjoying only the radiance, etc.

(See what is written in the discourse beginning “This matzah,” on the subject of the intellect (mochin) of Abba and the intellect of Imma; and see what is written in Parshas Behar, in the discourse beginning “When you come into the land,” on the subject of “When a soul brings [an offering].”)

This love is called the level of the male (dechar), like the superiority of the male over the female; for “women’s minds are light,” whereas the male is one who possesses knowledge (bar daas).

This is why the level of great love mentioned above is called the male (dechar): it is a strong knowledge (daas) that chooses the essential and not the secondary, even though he will not be at the level of a yesh, an existent being, etc.,

and he does not desire the secondary, even though [with it] he would remain in his own essence, enjoying the radiance, etc. And although this level, too, is called “the source of life,” and “all the sufferings of Gehinnom are worthwhile in order to come to Gan Eden,” nevertheless it is

only the level of “with You,” as mentioned above, and it bears no comparison at all to the Infinite Light, blessed be He; for “the World to Come was created with the yud,” since the whole level of the World to Come is no more than the level of a point.

3Therefore he will not wish to make the secondary into the essential for the sake of his own self-interest (legarmeih). This is what is called in the Mishnah “not for the sake of receiving a reward (peras)”: the level of “enjoying the radiance” is called peras, for it is no more than a piece (prusah), from the expression “Is it not to break (paros) your bread for the hungry?”

Therefore he does not desire this piece and this radiance, but only to be absorbed into the body of the King, in a state of self-nullification (bittul) in the very essence of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, etc., where the piece mentioned above is truly “considered as nothing,” like a drop in the ocean.

Whereas the level of “she gives birth to a female” is the level of lesser love (ahavah zuta), a love that is for the sake of receiving a reward in Gan Eden;

that is, he desires closeness to G‑d and to cleave to Him; that is, that the essence and being of the soul should remain as it is, cleaving to Him, may He be blessed, in Gan Eden.

4This is the level of “My soul, I have yearned for You,” like a person who yearns for the life of his soul, etc. Therefore he prefers the level of the reward, which is only a radiance and glow, “created with the yud,” etc.,

in order to remain in his own essence and being, that of the soul, and he does not desire to be absorbed and nullified, like the inclusion of a candle in a torch, in the very essence

of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He. This level of lesser love is called by the name “female,” whose mind is light, for it makes the secondary into the essential, that is, [it is] for the sake of receiving a reward, for the sake of his own self-interest (legarmeih).

5This is “My soul, I have yearned for You in the night”: this level of love is still called “night”; it is a love of darkness, etc.

This is the meaning of [the teaching] that when the woman emits seed first she gives birth to a male, whereas [when] the man emits seed first she gives birth to a female. For it is known that the love and awe that a person arouses in his soul are only an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) for the love and awe that come from above, as an arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila)

(as is explained on the verse “I appeared to Abraham,” and in the note on Tikkun Chatzos). Therefore, if the arousal from below comes first, when one exerts himself to give birth to love and awe from the spirit of his understanding, etc.,

then the arousal from above is drawn down from a high level and rank, from the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the light and life-force with which the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, shines in the Community of Israel; and through this she gives birth to a male: “a spirit from on high is poured out upon him,” so that the love is at the level of great love, beyond the grasp of his soul, so that he desires to be included and absorbed, etc.

But sometimes, even though there is no arousal from below, nevertheless an arousal from above is drawn down first, to awaken an arousal from below; and this is what is called “the man emits seed first.”

6Since this arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila) is drawn down without an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), it is only from the level of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of the light and life-force with which the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, shines. Therefore, even though it too awakens the coming into being of an arousal from below, and a birth takes place, since there is [both] an arousal from above and an arousal from below,

yet the birth is only of the level of a female, which is the lesser love (ahavah zuta) mentioned above: only to slake its thirst, and not for its soul to pour itself out in the nullification of comprehension, like a candle before a torch.

See the Zohar, Parshas Tazria, folio 45, at the end of side a; see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “And the number [of the children of Israel] shall be,” on the subject of “a heavenly voice (bas kol) proclaims”; and see what is written in the discourse beginning “It is a Shabbos of complete rest.”

7Now, when the Community of Israel is at this level of “the man emits seed first,” she is called barren. And even though she gives birth to a female, which is the level of lesser love, she is called barren, as if she does not give birth at all, because this birth too was not drawn into her from her own side, through her own arousal from below (isarusa dilesata),

but was drawn down only through the precedence of the arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila), of “the man emits seed first.” If so, the birth is not called by her name, and therefore she is called barren.

8About this it says, “And the barren one shall exult in the gathering of her children.” That is: even when she is at the level of a barren one, and it is only that the arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila) comes first to awaken the arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), nevertheless there will be the gathering of her children,

that is, she will give birth to a male. And how will this come about? For this it says, “in joy”: through the joy of a mitzvah this level can come about, that even though the man emits seed first, nevertheless she will give birth to a male.

9The explanation is this: it is written, “Because you did not serve Havayah your G‑d with joy and with gladness of heart, out of the abundance of everything, you shall serve your enemies,” etc.

For on the face of it, this implies that even though one serves G‑d, only the service is not with joy and gladness of heart, then the punishment “you shall serve your enemies” will be drawn down. And this is not understood: why should this bitter punishment come because of the lack of joy alone?

But the explanation is as it is written, “For there is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin,” and because of this the punishment is drawn down. Nevertheless, had he served

G‑d with the joy of a mitzvah, the power of this joy would have been great, for it arouses the joy above, as it were, and that nullifies the judgments, etc., for “in the light of the King’s face is life,” etc.

(See the Zohar, Parshas Tetzaveh, folio 184, side b.) Whereas “because you did not serve with joy,” etc., the punishment is drawn down for the sins, [since] “there is no righteous man on earth,” etc., as mentioned above.

In the same way it will be understood here too: all that was said above, that there is a difference between “when a woman emits seed,” when she then gives birth to a male, and “the man emits seed first,” when she does not give birth

to anything but a female — this is specifically when the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, is drawn down by the way and order of the gradation of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), which follows the dictum of the measuring line (kav hamiddah): for such is the measure, that if the woman emits seed first, and worthy

are the generations, so that there is an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), an arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila) will be drawn down from a higher level, until she gives birth to a male, the level of great love; whereas when the generations are not worthy and there is no arousal from below, then the measure is that the arousal from above is drawn down only from the level of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus), so that she gives birth only to a female.

Whereas through the joy of a mitzvah, which arouses the level of the supernal joy — for joy brings about revelation, that is, the light comes and is drawn down

from the essence of the Emanator, with great increase and elevation, not by the way and order of gradation; in the manner of an illustration, the state of joy in a king of flesh and blood, who then goes beyond his bounds and the limitation of the measures,

and therefore he can reveal himself to the small as to the great, truly equally; so too, truly, above, in the state of the revelation of supernal joy:

then all the supernal lights join, mingle and are included together, until there is no difference at all between above and below, right and left, etc.

10And then it comes about that even a barren one gathers her children: that is, even though she is at the level of a barren one and the man emits seed first, nevertheless she will give birth to a male, etc. As is explained in the discourse beginning “Sing and rejoice, O daughter [of Zion],” etc., that this is the meaning of “Man and man was born in her,” etc.; see there.

This is what we ask for: “May the barren one greatly rejoice (sos tasis) and exult,” etc.: through the joy of a mitzvah below, when the barren one, who is the Community of Israel, herself rejoices and exults with the joy of a mitzvah, through this the revelation of supernal joy is aroused

(as is explained elsewhere on the verse “I will greatly rejoice in Havayah”; see there); and through this, “You shall make [her] rejoice, and the barren one shall exult.” This is the meaning of “He gladdens Zion through her children,” etc.

Therefore, through joy there will also not be the level of “you shall serve your enemies.” For all the forms of change, and the fall from the service of G‑d, from greatness (gadlus) to smallness (katnus), and also the fall into cravings, which is the meaning of “you shall serve your enemies” — all this is

only “because you did not serve with joy,” but rather in the state of a yesh, someone who loves and comprehends, which is the level of self-interest (legarmeih); and from this the fall comes about, etc.

But through joy in G‑d there will not be these changes, etc. (See [the Zohar] in Parshas Vayechi, folio 221, and in Parshas Emor, folio 107, on the subject of “a place that changes” (asar demishtanei); this is the level of the lesser love, which is from the level of “women’s minds are light,” in the state of self-interest (legarmeih);

therefore it has changes, as is explained on the verse “His eyes are red”; whereas the level of great love, which is from the level of the male (dechar), has no changes, and it is called the Tree of Life, as is explained in the discourse beginning “Gathering wood.” And joy in G‑d also distances [one] from the cravings, as is explained in the discourse beginning “Havayah is for me among my helpers.”

And see what is written on this matter in the explanation on the verse “Go forth and see”; and see also what is written in Parshas Beshalach on the verse “And G‑d did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines,” and on the verse “Binding to the vine,” etc., that joy must be included in awe and self-nullification (bittul), etc.) (And see what is written further on this in Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim), in the explanation on the verse “Go forth and see.”)