ביאור על הנ״ל

1An explanation of the above.

2“For as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making stand before Me, so shall your seed and your name stand.”

Now, it is known [what] the purpose of the soul’s descent into the body in this world [is]: before its descent it was included in its Emanator, blessed be He, with love and awe, etc. For the soul has intellect and emotive attributes, etc.

3And it descended and was clothed in a body and in the animal soul, which conceal and hide [it], etc., and clothe it in soiled garments — these are the emotive attributes that stem from the side of kelipah, etc.

[And it is known] that this descent is for the sake of an ascent: in order to effect refinements (birurim) through drawing down the Torah and the mitzvos, in which the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is clothed.

4And in them and through them there will be a revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, itself upon his soul, etc., as is explained elsewhere. And to understand this:

for the Torah and the mitzvos that are before us are also [the product] of descents and the chaining-down of levels from the light of His countenance, may He be blessed, until they were clothed in physical and material matters — which is why the angels requested, “[You] Who set Your majesty upon the heavens,” etc. So in what will their superiority over the level of the soul’s love and awe consist?

And moreover, [the Sages] said that Torah without fear and love does not fly upward, for love and awe are the wings that raise and lift up the Torah. On the contrary, then, it would appear that the level of love and awe is very much greater, and exceedingly so, than the level of the Torah.

5But the matter is [as] it is written, “Everyone that is called by My Name, and for My glory I created him,” etc. “That is called by My Name” is the World of Atzilus, which is called by My Name in actuality.

For there the Infinite Light, blessed be He, itself rests, and they are united with it in the utmost unity, for “He and His life-forces are one, and He and His vessels are one,” for everything is nullified and included in the Infinite Light, blessed be He, itself.

And His Name is called upon all of them, for they are all on the level of the Infinite. [This is so] even though there is no comparison [between them and] Him, may He be blessed (and as is known, Adam of Atzilus is called Adam of Asiyah, the level of physical Asiyah), and even the World of Atzilus is only a radiance and an illumination, etc.;

only, the illumination that descends and is drawn there is united, without any separation or division, until they are all filled with that illumination. And there, nothing at all has any hold apart from that illumination.

For “Atzilus” is from the term for setting apart, as in “And He set apart (vayatzel) from the spirit,” etc., concerning Moshe, which the Targum renders “and He separated.” For certainly he did not give all of his spirit to the elders until they reached his very stature and level;

rather, he set apart [some] of his spirit and brought it down below, to be clothed in the measure of the elders, so that they would be elevated somewhat and be able to bear [the burden] with him as one, “and they became one.” Although they are not one unity in their actual essence, nevertheless they are able to be united with him.

6That is, they are united in the radiance and light that is drawn from him. So too the World of Atzilus: [G‑d] emanated the Infinite Light, blessed be He, and set apart a radiance

and light in that world, so that they would have the capacity to receive this radiance and light of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in the manner of unity, so that everything is united on the level of the Infinite Light — that is, on the level of the light and radiance drawn from Him.

7And the unity is in two aspects: “He and His life-forces” [and] “He and His vessels.” “His life-forces” are the lights, that is, the sources from which Chochmah and Chesed, etc., came into being;

and the sources are lights and life-force. For in the lights, the aspect of division into particulars — to be called by the name Chochmah or Chesed, etc. — does not yet apply.

8And as is explained elsewhere concerning the lights that “exchanged their places” — the light of Chesed in the vessel of Gevurah, etc. And garmohi (“His vessels”) are the vessels, which set bounds to the lights,

for through the vessels they come to bear the name Chochmah or Chesed, etc. Nevertheless, the Infinite Light rests in them in the manner of unity, and it is called the Chochmah of the Infinite and the Chesed of the Infinite, etc.

For although it is called by the name Chochmah, nevertheless it is not bounded by a name of limit and measure; rather, [it is] as the saying goes, “You are wise, but not with a known wisdom,” etc.

9And “He is the Knowledge and He is the Known,” etc. Therefore the World of Atzilus is called “that is called by My Name” in actuality. But the World of Beriah, and from it downward, is called “for My glory I created him,” etc.

“Glory” is enclothement, as in the saying of Eliyahu, “You fashioned garments for them,” etc. — like a garment, which is not united with the essence, etc.;

rather, on the contrary, the essence is covered and concealed in them, so that the essence is not revealed as it is, and the light of the essence is not seen except through this garment. Nevertheless, “You fashioned (tikanta) garments for them,” etc.,

which is a rectification (tikkun), so that the light of the essence will be revealed specifically through a garment; for without a garment, the World of Beriah would not be able to receive, etc.

10And because the light of the essence is revealed in this garment, therefore it is written, “And the host of heaven bow down to You” — for they are nullified, etc. And because it is not revealed

except in the manner of a garment, they are therefore in a state of separateness, and “from there it is parted” — the mountains of separation, etc. — for they are not united as in Atzilus.

11Now, the service of the angels is known: they stand, from the six days of Creation, in the heights of the world and proclaim with awe, etc. “A lion has roared” — this is Michael, “the face of a lion on the right”; and when he roars, three hundred and seventy thousand lions roar toward him, etc., and these are the camp of Michael, etc.

12We need to understand what their service is, and how it is considered service for them that they are nullified through their comprehending [how] their life and existence [come] from nothing into something, since that is [simply] their comprehension; and why do they roar and make a tumult? What new thing has been newly revealed to them in this comprehension of theirs, and what are they yearning and longing for?

But the matter is: the World of Atzilus is the World of Tikkun (Rectification), which has already been rectified, so that the lights and the vessels are in the state of “He and His vessels are one,” etc., as mentioned above. This is not so with the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, which are from the breaking of the vessels of the World of Tohu, which fell into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.

13Therefore a complete service is needed to draw into them an aspect of rectification (tikkun) from the World of Atzilus, so that they too will be elevated and become united.

And it is not enough [to have] the light and life-force that is drawn through a screen and enclothement according to the order of the descent and chaining-down of the levels — as was implanted in the nature of the world’s formation, to be level after level, Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah — such that the World of Beriah is in a state of separateness, “the mountains of separation,” etc.

Rather, it is necessary to draw down a new light from above, until the World of Beriah is included in the level of the World of Atzilus itself. For the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah are [those] “which G‑d created to make” — to rectify what was not rectified in this way in the order of the chaining-down at the time of the world’s creation.

And also [of] the World of Asiyah, which is the lowest of them all, [it says,] “Baal Chanan son of Achbor reigned,” and behold, after this, “and Hadar reigned in his stead,” etc., which is the World of Tikkun.

And this, in general, is all the service in the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah: since they are from the breaking of the vessels, which fell from the World of Tohu into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, they need rectification in order to be elevated and included in Atzilus. And the rectification is through service.

14Now, this physical world is as coarse as dust from the ground; nevertheless, because it has a spiritual life-force from the supernal dust of the World of Tohu, which precedes Atzilus, it has the capacity to be rectified.

And the meaning of rectification is the refining of the evil from the good — removing the dross and the waste — so that the good can ascend.

15Now, in Beriah the majority is good, etc., until in Asiyah the majority is evil and intermixed, etc. And a complete service is needed for this level too, to separate out the evil. And this refinement is accomplished

through the order of prayer, for the whole order of prayer was instituted along these lines; that is, through the aspect of ratzo (running forth), [as in] “If He sets His heart upon him,” etc.

16And this ratzo is what is written, “For by You I run [through] a troop,” etc., “I leap over a wall (shur).” Shur means a wall, that is, the level of the encompassing [lights] (makifim); and “I leap over a wall” means that I leap above the level of all the encompassing [lights], by virtue of the ratzo, to cleave to Him — to the Infinite One, blessed be He, Himself,

Who is above the category of worlds, and is neither on the level of memalei nor on the level of sovev, etc. And the whole World of Atzilus, the World of Berudim, is called only Adam of Asiyah; and Adam of Yetzirah [is] the World of Nekudim, etc.

17And from this ratzo, “all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered,” as it is written, “The exaltation of G‑d is in their throats, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance upon the nations,” etc.

And the whole order of prayer is along these lines, for in its entirety it is “the exaltation of G‑d,” etc.; therefore in it and through it the refinement and the separation of the good from the evil is accomplished. And this is the service of prayer with ratzo, which is the refinement of the mayin nukvin (feminine waters).

But the refinement of the mayin dechurin (masculine waters) — which is the supernal drawing-down from the World of Atzilus, so that there be self-nullification and inclusion as in Atzilus itself, the level of the supernal unity, where “He and His life-forces are one, He and His vessels are one,” truly one —

this is accomplished through Torah and mitzvos, which are indeed drawings-down from the level of the supernal unity, for “the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one.”

18And the 248 commandments are the 248 “limbs of the King” — actual limbs, which are vessels for the light and life-force that is drawn, clothed and spread forth in them from the Infinite Light, blessed be He, itself;

only, they descended and were clothed in physical matters for the sake of the physicality and materiality of this world, in order to elevate them, and so that the life-force of this world’s physicality, too, will be included in the supernal light and life-force. And therefore the supernal life-force had to descend and become so physical.

19And with this, the advantage and superiority of engaging in Torah and fulfilling the mitzvos in this world, over the love and awe of the soul before its descent, will be understood.

For the soul — although its love and awe are very lofty and exalted, exceedingly so, even beyond the angels in that world, in each and every world according to what it is, as is known that the angels are from the outer dimension of the worlds and the souls are from the level of the inner dimension —

nevertheless, since the soul is a created being, brought into existence anew, something from nothing, it is not united with its Emanator, blessed be He, like the unity of Torah and mitzvos, for “the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one” in actuality, and the 248 mitzvos are the 248 limbs of the King in actuality, for they are His very wisdom and will, and “He is the Knowledge,” etc.

20Nevertheless, Torah without fear and love does not fly upward. For since it descended and was clothed in physical matters, it is bound below, and it is in a state of descent from the light of His countenance, may He be blessed.

But through fear and love one draws down the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that is clothed in the Torah, in a state of complete unity, so that “the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one.” And [this is] as is known from what is explained elsewhere concerning engaging in Torah for its own sake, of which [the Sages] said, “I account it to them as if they had made Me.”

“Made Me” literally: for through engaging in Torah the vav of the Name Havayah, blessed be He, which is Tiferes, is drawn down; and through the mitzvos — and their general and collective expression is the mitzvah of charity — the hei of the Name Havayah is drawn down, as is known. And in general,

through Torah, service and acts of kindness, the three lines — Chochmah, Chesed and Netzach on the right, etc. — are drawn down; and these are the three vavs of “Vayisa,” “Vayavo,” “Vayet,” etc., for the vavs are drawings-down from the yuds at the head of the vavs, etc.

21Now, in this respect, the earth preceded the heavens. “Earth” is the aspect of ratzo in prayer, that is, the refinement of the mayin nukvin, first;

and afterwards “heavens,” that is, the bestowal of the mayin dechurin through Torah and mitzvos. For the heavens are the aspect of those that bestow, as it is written, “Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth,” etc.,

[and] “of the rain of heaven,” etc. — so that the mayin dechurin refine the mayin nukvin to raise [them], until even the level of Asiyah will be included in the level of Atzilus, where “He and His life-forces are one,” etc.

22And the refinement of the mayin nukvin must come first, so that afterwards the refinement of the mayin dechurin will come to refine the mayin nukvin; whereas without the raising of mayin nukvin, the mayin dechurin have no power to refine, etc.

And this is our service all the days of the duration of the exile, when evil prevails, and there must be a refinement of the evil and a separating of it from the good.

But in the Time to Come, with the coming of Mashiach, speedily in our days, when all the refinement will be completed and finished, and “He will swallow up death forever” and “I will remove the spirit of impurity,” etc., will be fulfilled — for then everything will be in the state of the World of Tikkun, as in Atzilus itself, so that there will be unity and inclusion below as above —

behold, the ultimate purpose is that the revelation of the light of the World of Akudim, which is above the World of Atzilus, will shine and sparkle forth, as it is written, “Behold, My servant shall be wise; he shall be exalted and lifted up and be very high.”

23And this is the inner dimension of Atik, which will be revealed; and then there will be the sparkling forth of new souls in which there is no aspect of refinement.

For all the souls there have ever been are those that were included in Adam, the first man, which need refinement and rectification; and they are the ones that descended from the outer dimension of Atik, chained down according to the order of the levels. And what is already arranged in the order of the chaining-down is not a new thing;

but newness of souls is from above the chaining-down — what has not yet descended and been chained down — and this is from the inner dimension of Atik, which has not come to revelation in the order of the chaining-down.

For the order of the chaining-down is that from the outer dimension of the higher [level] the inner dimension of the lower [level] is made; but the inner dimension of the higher [level] does not descend and chain down at all.

24And in the Time to Come there will be a revelation of this new light, which is above the order of the chaining-down; and this is the World of Akudim, which precedes Atzilus. For in Atzilus, which is the World of Tikkun, [everything] was rectified and arranged

as is fitting for the chaining-down to be, with the division into levels, Chochmah and Chesed, etc., as the saying goes, “You are wise,” only “not with a known wisdom” — [meaning] that the Infinite Light is drawn into Chochmah.

25And this is [the meaning of] “You are”: the Infinite Light, blessed be He, which was clothed in the level of “wise,” etc. And so with all the levels: “You are understanding,” etc.; “G‑d is righteous in all His ways, and kind,” etc.

And these are sources for the Chochmah and Chesed of Beriah, which are a known wisdom and a known kindness, etc. But the World of Akudim is the inclusion of all the powers and all the levels, bound together (akud) in one vessel, etc.,

without any division of the names Chochmah and Chesed at all. And this revelation is called “the new heavens and the new earth that I am making.”

“I” specifically — this is the supernal Emanator, blessed be He. For this power of renewal is from the Infinite One, blessed be He, Himself, as is known. And nevertheless it is called by the name “heavens and earth,”

for since it is in a state of some revelation, so as to be even a source of the source for the order of the chaining-down, there must necessarily be some aspect there that resembles the chaining-down.

26And since in the chaining-down heavens and earth came into being, these aspects must necessarily be there as well. Only, there it is called “heavens and earth” — heavens first — that is, “it reaches and does not reach.”

“It reaches,” for it wishes to bestow; “and does not reach,” for the vessel cannot bear [it] (whereas from below to above, ratzo comes first: “the lower waters weep,” etc.). And therefore these heavens and earth are called “standing before Me”: “standing” means that they stand always.

For even today this level of the World of Akudim exists, only it is in concealment; and in the Time to Come it will be revealed. And “they are before Me (lefanai)” means in the manner of the inner dimension (pnimiyus), that is, the inner dimension of Atik, as mentioned above.

27And the prophet announced this, saying that so too “your seed and your name shall stand.” “Your seed” is the aspect of the sowing of the mayin dechurin through the Torah. For the Torah, which was clothed in physical matters, is like the sowing of a seed in the soil: although the body of the seed rots, nevertheless the power within it makes [the plant] grow;

and therefore nothing grows except what is like the seed — from a seed of grain an esrog does not grow, etc. — and as it is written, “after its kind,” etc.

So too the Torah: although it was clothed in physical matters (and there is an opinion that the mitzvos will be annulled in the Time to Come), nevertheless the light of the Torah is what makes [things] grow and “works salvations in the midst of the earth,” to refine the mayin nukvin and raise them ever higher.

And “your name” is the aspect of accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, which they accept in His mitzvos, may He be blessed. And it is called the aspect of “name” because His Name, may He be blessed, is called upon Israel through their accepting His sovereignty upon themselves; and this is [the meaning of] “and His sovereignty they willingly accepted upon themselves.”

Whereas over the nations He is a ruler and not a king, for one is called a king only [when accepted] willingly. And this is the meaning of “the crown of sovereignty”: the essence of sovereignty is the crown with which he is crowned, and Keser is the aspect of will;

and this is [the meaning of] “their beginning is wedged in their end”: the drawing-down of Malchus is from Keser, which is the will, etc. And therefore it is called the aspect of “your name.”

28Now, “your seed” and “your name,” which are the drawings-down of Torah and mitzvos in this world, are the drawing-down of the mayin dechurin from the World of Atzilus, which is the World of Tikkun, in order to refine the mayin nukvin that rise from Asiyah, so that it will be included in Atzilus, as mentioned above.

If so, in the Time to Come, when the refinement is completed and finished and everything is the World of Tikkun, and the revelation of the new supernal light, from the level of “new heavens and new earth,” sparkles forth and is revealed, it might have entered your mind that there will no longer be an ascent for the Torah and mitzvos,

[but that] they will only remain in the World of Atzilus. Therefore the prophet announces that in truth it is not so; rather, “your seed and your name,” too, “shall stand” there.

For even after all the refinements are completed and included in Atzilus, there will yet be this additional superiority, ascent after ascent: that they will be elevated into the World of Akudim as well.