ואכלתם אכול ושבוע והללתם את שם ה׳ אלהיכם…

1“And you shall eat, eating and being satisfied, and you shall praise the Name of G‑d, your G‑d, Who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be ashamed” (in Joel, chapter 2).

And in the Yalkut there: “And when He blesses the righteous, He doubles their blessing: ‘And you shall eat,’ etc., ‘and [My people] shall not be ashamed,’ etc.” Now, the matter of the intent in eating is

that there are souls and angels at the level of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), the worlds of Beriah (Creation), Yetzirah (Formation) and Asiyah (Action): “For My glory I created him, I formed him,” etc. There are angels of Beriah, there are angels of Yetzirah, and there are angels of Asiyah.

2Now above, the food of the angels is the spiritual strength and might that is drawn down to them, so that they may grasp His G‑dliness, may He be blessed, and serve Him with all their heart; as is written in [Midrash] Rabbah, at the end of Parshas Mishpatim, on the verse

“For My Name is within him”: “Because the ministering angels are nourished only by the radiance of the Shechinah (Divine Presence), as it is said, ‘And You give life to them all.’” And see the explanation of “And You give life” in the Zohar, Part II, at the beginning of Parshas Ve’atah Tetzaveh, folio 179b.

3And in the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the levels, by means of a multitude of myriads of intermediaries—namely the angels in all the worlds, through which and among which the flow passes, and which are called “and all my innards,” for they are the level of innards, through which the flow and the food pass—and through this, physical food comes into being from it.

4As our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “There is no blade of grass below that does not have a mazal above that strikes it.” For the mazal is a spiritual force, and “one higher than the high watches, and higher ones are above them,” until it reaches, at the root of all the roots,

the supernal angels of the World of Beriah (Creation), who receive strength and might from the word of G‑d, may He be blessed, so as to grasp G‑dliness. And from them physical food descended and came into being: from the level of the face of the ox in the Chariot, which are angels from the level of Gevurah (restraint), the soul of the animals is drawn down below, and from the level of the face of the eagle the birds were drawn down, etc.

And when spiritual food and influence for the angels are revealed above, then, through the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) and the descents of the levels, the blessing of the year and all kinds of its produce are revealed below as well.

(And see in the Zohar, at the end of Parshas Miketz, folio 204a and b, and folio 194a, on the matter of the years of plenty, or the reverse, G‑d forbid; and in the Zohar, Parshas Acharei, folio 59b, on the matter of the rain.)

And the intent of this descent is that the human being, whose root too is from there, should eat [it]; for there are souls of Beriah, and they are at a more inward level (pnimiyus) than the angels, as is explained elsewhere

in the discourse beginning “I sleep, but my heart is awake,” and in the discourse beginning “A psalm, a song for the dedication of the House.” And when he eats them, they add strength and intellect in him, because they are from the level of “these are the kings… before any king reigned,” etc.,

only they descended; and by eating them he raises them to their root, in the inner level, which is the level of “the face of a man, for the four of them.” That is why specifically the human being can raise them: because he is from the level of the middle line, which “passes through from end [to end],” etc. And see what is written about this in the discourse beginning “Thus shall you bless the children of Israel.”

5Now, just as the angels of the present are considered the level of animals in relation to the souls—for at the root of their root they are from the level of the animals and the chayos (living creatures) of the Chariot,

which are the level of recipients from the supernal Man—so even the souls of the present, in relation to the souls that will be revealed in the Time to Come, are also called animals, as is stated in the Raaya Mehemna, that there are souls [that are] the level of animals, etc.; see there.

(And see on the matter of the new souls that will be revealed in the Time to Come in Sefer HaGilgulim, chapter 7, and near its end, in the passage beginning “The matter of new souls”; and in Mishnas Chassidim, Tractate Hasagas HaNeshamos; and in the Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto), at the beginning of Parshas Toldos, on “and their crowns on their heads.”)

Therefore they too will need to be elevated within those souls, namely by becoming physical and descending to the level of physical foods: the Leviathan and the Wild Ox (Shor HaBar).

(And see what is written on the matter of the Leviathan and the Wild Ox in the discourse beginning “This Leviathan You formed to play with,” in Parshas Shemini.) And the righteous will eat them and raise the foods to their root, just as the souls of the present raise the physical foods whose root is from the angels.

(And it is certainly reasonable to say that only a spark and a glimmer of the souls descended and was clothed in the physical Leviathan and Wild Ox, and through eating the spark and the glimmer the root too will be elevated. The like of this is [found] with the offerings, as is explained elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “You have captured my heart”: that all the angels and the holy chayos are uplifted, elevated and exalted through the offering, the ascent of the soul of the animal, whose root is taken from them, etc.; see there.)

And the reason is that now the light is revealed only at the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), whose root is from the kav (line of light) and thread, which comes after the tzimtzum (contraction) of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof); and from this level are all the souls of the present,

but in the Time to Come there will be the revelation of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), which is the level of the circle that precedes the kav, and from this level are the souls that will be revealed in the Time to Come. And those souls are higher by far, etc.

6And this is [the meaning of] “And you shall eat, eating (achol).” That is: something that has already been eaten, you will eat again. Namely, the souls of the present, which were already at the level of “man,” will be eaten again, to raise them higher.

And this is [the meaning of] “And you shall praise,” etc., “Who has dealt wondrously with you.” For in the Time to Come, after all the refinements and ascents, when all the lower things will have been elevated through the souls

of the present, and the souls of the present through the souls that will be revealed in the Time to Come—then “a woman of valor [will be] the crown of her husband,” at the level of returning light (or chozer) from below upward, Keser (the Crown) of Malchus (sovereignty): that Malchus will be at the level of Keser, “their end is wedged [in their beginning],” etc.

And all the flows of influence will be through the level of Malchus, as it is written, “And it shall be on that day that living waters will go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea,” etc.

(And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “The voice of my beloved,” etc., on the matter of the Patriarchs and the Matriarchs.) And it will then be at the level of Pele (wonder). And this is [the meaning of] “Who has dealt wondrously (lehafli) with you”: that the end of action will be first, at the level of Pele, Keser of Malchus.

And with this we will understand what it says afterwards, “and My people shall not be ashamed.” For we say, “Speedily may there be heard,” etc., “the voice of the bride.” A voice is a drawing down and a bestowal.

7Now, at present it is written, “The voice is the voice of Yaakov”: from the level of the masculine (dechar) the influence is drawn into Nukva (the feminine). But the bride has no level of voice,

for Malchus (sovereignty) is only the level of a recipient. That is why the groom says, “Behold, you are consecrated,” and the bride is silent, for she has no voice, etc.; as is written about this at the end of the discourse beginning “And Yehudah approached him,” regarding “Speedily may there be heard,” etc.; see there.

But in the Time to Come, when Malchus will be elevated after all the refinements, to be “a woman of valor, the crown of her husband,” and to be at the level of returning light (or chozer), Keser (the Crown) of Malchus, and she will be the one who bestows—then it is said, “the voice of the bride.” And because of this, “and My people shall not be ashamed.”

For now it is as is stated in the Mishnah, at the end of chapter 7 of Pesachim: “And the bride turns her face away and eats”—in the manner of what is stated in the Jerusalem Talmud, chapter 1 of Orlah: “The sign of one who eats from his fellow: he is abashed (meaning, ashamed)

to look at him.” And since now the bride, who is Malchus, is only the level of a recipient, she therefore turns her face away and eats; and this is the matter of the shame: “he is abashed to look at him.”

But in the Time to Come, “and My people shall not be ashamed”: for after the refinement and the ascent she will be “the crown of her husband,” and then she will be at the level of one who bestows; and if so, as a matter of course, “and they shall not be ashamed,” etc.

8And this is the matter of the doubling of the blessing: besides their being elevated so greatly as to be [the meaning of] “And you shall eat, eating,” as mentioned above, there is this as well: “and they shall not be ashamed,” because “a woman of valor” will be “the crown of her husband” and the level of one who bestows. And see in the Gemara, chapter 1 of Moed Katan, folio 9b: “He blessed you with the blessing,” etc.

And so it is in Midrash Tanchuma, at the end of Parshas Bereishis. And see in Tanna DeBei Eliyahu, Part I, chapter 20, and in Midrash Rabbah, Parshas Devarim, folio 287a: “But the stars,” etc.

And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “The righteous are destined to have ‘Holy’ said before them.” (And see further what is written in the discourse beginning “And if a woman vows,” on the meaning of “and they were not ashamed.” Now, in Tanna DeBei Eliyahu there, it is stated on the matter of “Who has dealt wondrously (lehafli) with you”: “What is lehafli? Between the deeds of the righteous and the deeds of the wicked in Gehinnom.”

It appears that the meaning of lehafli is also from the expression “lefalei a vow,” in Parshas Emor, 22:21, which Rashi explains as “to set apart”; and likewise, “when he shall yafli to vow the vow of a Nazirite”; and in the Gemara, at the end of chapter 7 of Eruvin, folio 82a, on the matter that “Naziriteship was not given

except for hafla’ah: that his vow be explicit (mefurash),” etc. And although mefurash is an expression of clarification, it is also an expression of separation and distinction, as in “among his sheep that are scattered (nifrashos)”) (in Ezekiel 34:12).

And the intent of Tanna DeBei Eliyahu is this: although the revelation will be from the level of the supernal Pele (wonder), before which “darkness is as light,” and “If you are righteous, what do you give Him?” and “[if] your transgressions are many,” etc.,

nevertheless, from there it will also be drawn down to distinguish between the deeds of the righteous, etc. And this is along the lines of what is said in Bereishis Rabbah, at the end of chapter 2: “‘And G‑d said, Let there be light’: these are the deeds of the righteous.

But I do not know which of them He desires, etc. Since it is written, ‘And G‑d saw the light, that it was good,’ hence He desires the deeds of the righteous.” For seemingly this has no explanation: how can one say,

“But I do not know which of them He desires”? What is the doubt? Rather, the matter is along the lines of the above: because before Him all is considered as nothing, and “darkness is as light.”

9And see what is written about this in the discourse beginning “And a man wrestled” and in the discourse beginning “When Pharaoh sent out.” But nevertheless, He contracted Himself, as it were, to desire specifically the deeds of the righteous; and this is [the meaning of] “Who has dealt wondrously with you.”

And this is a wonder of wonders: that He should distinguish (mafli) and set apart, etc. And see what is written about this in the discourse beginning “For with You is the source of life,” and below, at the end of the discourse beginning “This matzah,” etc.

And Tanna DeBei Eliyahu there also explains “and they shall not be ashamed,” etc.: “so that you may have a reward of your own,” etc.—that is, that they should not eat “bread of shame.”

102. And from all this we will also understand the Midrash Rabbah, Parshas Tzav, section 8, on the verse “This is the offering of Aharon,” etc.,

“on the day of his anointing”: “This is what Scripture says (Judges, chapter 14): ‘And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth food,’ etc.

Samson wondered in his heart: a lion eats all the animals, and now food has come out of it! So too, Aharon eats all the offerings, and now an offering comes out of him. And which is it? ‘This is the offering of Aharon,’ etc.” According to its plain sense, it is not at all understood what the wonder is about.

But the matter is as is known concerning “And if it is at all eaten (he’achol ye’achel)”: “Scripture speaks of two eatings”—one is the eating of man, which is the eating of the kohanim, for “the kohanim eat and the owners are atoned”; and one is the eating of the altar.

Now, this eating is the matter of refinement by the Name Mah (45), which refines [the Name] Ban (52). And the eating of the altar is the matter of “a lion eats”: the face of the lion that eats offerings. And see in the Zohar, Bereishis, folio 6b, on this matter.

However, this is in the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of the worlds—“a fire-offering, a pleasing fragrance”—in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. But the level of Man, which includes everything, eats only through the eating of the lower man: “You are called man (adam)”; “Let us make man in Our image,” etc.

11And this is the matter that “the kohanim eat and the owners are atoned”: it follows that Aharon is the one who refines and elevates the sparks of the Name Ban. So too, the level of the lion that eats offerings is the one who refines, etc. For the soul of the animal was taken from the dregs of the ofanim that were not refined;

and therefore its refinement is through the face of the lion in the Chariot, which is higher even than the level of the ofanim themselves, etc.

(And see what is written in the discourse beginning “This is the dedication of the altar,” and at the end of the discourse beginning “And I was beside Him as a nursling,” regarding “His inhabited world,” and in the discourse beginning “And the lion shall eat straw like the ox”; and see in the Zohar, Parshas Tzav, folios 32b and 33a.)

Now, it is explained elsewhere that whatever is at the level of one who refines has certainly itself already been refined completely; for it cannot refine and elevate another if it itself has not yet been refined.

And see what is written about this in the explanation on the verse “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov.” And it is like what is said in the Sifrei, at the end of Parshas Eikev: “Near your own palace

you have not conquered, and you go and conquer outside the Land!” And as is explained elsewhere, this is why it is forbidden to eat before prayer: because eating is a matter of refining the sparks in the food and elevating the food,

and therefore “it opened with the altar and concluded with the table,” etc., as is explained elsewhere. And how can he elevate the food while he himself is still bound below? Only through prayer—“the time of prayer is the time of battle”—

which is the drawing down of G‑dliness into the soul through the eighteen blessings, “Blessed are You, G‑d,” etc.; then, specifically afterwards, he can eat and elevate the food as well.

See on this matter in the discourse beginning “Thus shall you bless the children of Israel” and in the discourse beginning “Israel is holy.” And if so, since the level of the face of the lion eats the offerings, you are compelled to say

that it itself has already been refined. And in the same way, Aharon eats all the offerings, for his eating brings about and draws down the eating of the supernal Man upon the Throne, who is higher even than the level of the face of the lion in the Chariot, etc.

12And see what is written on the verse “When you kindle the lamps,” on the matter that Aharon has the letters of nirah (“was seen”). And this is like the matter of aryeh (lion), which has the letters of re’iyah (sight), except that Aharon is at a higher level, as mentioned above.

And it was further explained that Aharon is the level of alef, har, nun; see about this on the verse “Take a census of the sons of Gershon.”

13From all this it is understood how the level of Aharon is a chariot for very lofty levels, which have already been refined with the utmost refinement. Therefore it is said of him, “And what (mah) are we?”—for he too is from the level of Mah,

like Moshe. And it is written, “And Aharon, what (mah) is he?” If so, the wonder is all the greater: how is it that now an offering comes out of him, that is, that he becomes the level of one who is refined?

For bringing an offering indicates that the one who brings the offering needs refinement and elevation, and through the offering he is refined and elevated, etc.

14If so, Aharon, who eats all the offerings and is the one who elevates them all—how is it possible that he himself should still need refinement and elevation? And this is the intent of the Midrash, for seemingly it is a great wonder.

But the matter is along the lines of what was said above about “And you shall eat, eating”: for what is now the level of very lofty souls, which have already been rectified and refined completely, to the point

that they are the level of those who refine and elevate the sparks, etc.—nevertheless, in relation to the souls that will be revealed in the Time to Come from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), they are called by the name “animals,” to the point that they need elevation.

15And this is precisely the matter of “Out of the eater came forth food”: that what was the level of one who eats, refines and rectifies another—now food comes out of it, since they descended to the level of the physical foods of the Leviathan and the Wild Ox; that is, so that through this they will be elevated higher, etc. And along these lines is the matter of Samson’s riddle.

For our Sages, of blessed memory, said, in chapter 1 of Sotah, folio 10: “Rabbi Yochanan said: Samson (Shimshon) was called by the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, ‘For a sun (shemesh) and a shield is Havayah Elokim.’” For the Name Havayah is the level of a sun, which is above the level of the Name Elokim,

which is the level of a shield and a sheath to conceal the revelation of the Name Havayah; and the angels of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah receive through the shield and the sheath, etc.

16Therefore, even the level of the lion that eats offerings, which is the level of one who eats and elevates, etc.—food came out of it in relation to the Name Havayah, which is the level of a sun.

For the ultimate longing of the angels is “to be absorbed into the body of the King,” as is explained elsewhere on the verse “I sleep, but my heart is awake,” that of this it is said, “I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey.”

And this is the matter of “for he had scraped the honey out of the carcass of the lion.” And see what is written in the discourse beginning “And behold, we were binding sheaves,” etc.

17Now, in the same way is the matter of “This is the offering of Aharon,” etc., “on the day of his anointing,” etc. For although he is the level of Aharon, which is the level of Mah,

that is, he is already completely refined, to the point that he is fit to refine and elevate all the offerings—nevertheless an offering came out of him, so that he became the level of one who is refined. And this is “on the day of his anointing”;

that is, because the drawing down of the oil of holy anointing (shemen mishchas kodesh) is from a very high place: it anoints the holy (kodesh), and kodesh is Chochmah (wisdom) of the World of Atzilus (Emanation); if so, the oil is above Chochmah of Atzilus, etc.

And see in the Zohar, Part III, Parshas Emor, folio 88, at the end of side b; and as is explained elsewhere on the verse “When you kindle the lamps,” and on the verse “This is the dedication of the altar on the day of its anointing,” etc.; see there.

Therefore, in order that this revelation from the level of the oil of holy anointing be drawn into the level of Aharon, he needed to bring an offering, whereby he became the level of one who is refined. For there are many degrees in the level of self-nullification (bittul),

since self-nullification is from the level of Chochmah, koach mah (“the power of what”); and there is the lower Chochmah and the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah), etc., and further degrees without end; and Aharon is alef, har, etc.

And in relation to the oil of holy anointing, which is the higher Chochmah and above Chochmah, he becomes the level of one who is refined, so that through this [the revelation] is drawn into him from the level of the oil of holy anointing.

18And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “on the day of his anointing.” For seemingly it should have said “from the day of his anointing,” since it says afterwards “a continual meal-offering,” [meaning] that from the day he was anointed he brings this offering every day forever; if so, what is “on the day of anointing”?

Rather, it means: so that through this there will be, on each and every day forever as well, a revelation of the level and degree of “the day of his anointing.”

For “day” denotes illumination and revelation, as it is written, “And G‑d called the light day”; and as is known from the matter of “Today is one day of the Omer, today is two days,” etc., as is explained elsewhere. And this is also [the meaning of] “Renew our days,” as is explained at the end of the discourse beginning “For on this day He shall atone”; see there.

19And along these lines it is explained in the Zohar, in the Idra, folio 134b, that there are “days of the world” (yemei olam) and “primordial days” (yemei kedem). And this is the matter of “on the day of his anointing.”

And in the same way it is also said of the offerings of the princes at the dedication of the altar: “This is the dedication of the altar on the day of its anointing.” But was there not, on the day of its anointing, only the offering of Nachshon? How, then, is “on the day of anointing” said of the offerings of all the princes?

Rather, because the level and degree of the offering that they brought with honor—silver bowls and basins, etc., and incense, etc.—drew down, on every day afterwards as well, from the level of “on the day of its anointing”:

just as with the offering of Nachshon, which was actually on the day of its anointing, so too all the princes, each one on his own day, drew down from the level of “the day of its anointing.”

20And in the same way it is also said of Aharon’s offering, “a continual meal-offering,” meaning forever. Nevertheless it is the level of “on the day of his anointing,” which is the drawing down of the level of “like the good oil that comes down upon the head,” etc.

And for this revelation and drawing down to take place, he becomes the level of one who is refined, in relation to the drawing down of the self-nullification (bittul) of the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah) itself, which is above the level of Aharon himself.

21And this is why the Midrash concludes, “And which is it? ‘This (zeh) is the offering of Aharon,’” etc. For of the offerings before it and after it, it is written, “This (zos) is the law of the burnt-offering,” etc.,

“And this (zos) is the law of the meal-offering,” etc., “And this (zos) is the law of the guilt-offering,” etc.; only of Aharon’s offering is zeh written. That is, zos is the level of Nukva (the feminine), the Name Ban, which is refined.

But zeh is the level of the masculine (dechar), and it is the level of Aharon, whose root is from the Name Mah, as mentioned above. Nevertheless, in order for there to be the level of “on the day of his anointing,” etc., which is a supernal drawing down from a very exalted degree—

therefore, although he is the level of zeh, an offering came out of him, etc.; and it is the level of a higher offering, etc.

(And see in the Zohar, at the beginning of Parshas Vayetzei, folio 148b, on the verse “And Your pious ones shall sing for joy,” and in Parshas Tzav, folio 31a.) And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “On that very day was [Avraham] circumcised,”

and in the discourse beginning “In the third month,” etc., “on this day they came,” etc. And see in the Zohar, Part III, Eikev, folio 271, at the end of side b, regarding “And one (zeh) called to another (zeh) and said,” etc. And see what is written on the verse “The voice of my beloved: behold, this one (zeh) comes, leaping,” etc.

And as it is written, “And it shall be said on that day: Behold, this (zeh) is our G‑d,” etc., “this (zeh) is G‑d,” etc.; see what the Ramaz wrote on this, Parshas Toldos, folio 135. And see in Menachos, folio 53: “Let this one (zeh) come,” etc.