שמאלו תחת לראשי וימינו תחבקני

1“His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.” Now, as in the matter of the worlds, so is the way of G‑d with “the children of Israel, the people near to Him”: when the level of “the left [hand] that pushes away” is aroused above because of the deeds of the lower beings, “He becomes their Savior,” and brings it about that, on the contrary, through this they will have an uplifting of the head.

2And this is [the meaning of] “When you lift up the head of the children of Israel lifkudeihem (according to their numbering)”: that is, through some visitation (pekidah) that is visited upon them for ill, G‑d forbid, as in the expression of our Sages, of blessed memory: “There is no visitation at all that does not contain [something] of the sin of the Calf.”

Now, through this, on the contrary, “you lift up the head of the children of Israel”; for the level of “the left [hand] pushes away” is not a complete pushing away, G‑d forbid, but rather “and the right [hand] draws near.” And this is “and his right hand embraces me”: that “though he fall, he shall not be cast down,” G‑d forbid.

To understand this matter in the service of G‑d: it is written, “The voice is the voice of Yaakov,” [the word] “voice” twice, one without a vav and one with a vav; for there are two voices, one for Torah and one for prayer.

3Now, at one time [the Sages] said that “the study of Torah is equal to them all,” and at another time they went to very great lengths in praise of the virtue of prayer, and [said] that it corresponds to the sacrifices.

But both are true, for they differ in their nature: prayer is on the level of “from below upward,” and Torah is on the level of “from above downward.”

The explanation of this matter: the substance of prayer is the fulfillment of the commandments of the Shema, “And you shall love,” etc., as is explained elsewhere. And along these lines they also instituted the whole order of prayer before the Shema, so that in the Shema one will take upon himself “And you shall love” in truth, as will be explained below.

4Now, the way that brings a person to this love is what is written: “See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil,” “and you shall choose life”; “to love Havayah your G‑d, for He is your life,” etc.

For in everything in this world there is physicality and spirituality. The spirituality and the G‑dly life-force (chayus) are “life” and “good,” and the physicality is “death” and “evil,” for it comes to an end and decays.

5From this a person will see that just as the physicality of every thing is nullified before the spiritual [force] that gives it life—and so too in man himself, the body is secondary and nullified before the spirituality and life-force within it, and therefore he loves the life of his soul very, very greatly—

so, and even more than that, a person ought to love G‑d, when he looks with the eye of his intellect, with sensory sight, [and sees] that “He is your life,” truly, for He is the source and the Life of all life.

6And this is the meaning of “And all the host of heaven bow down to You,” as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: the sun sets in the west and bows to its Maker, and so do all the constellations, because they see and apprehend their life-force and existence, which brings them into being, gives them life and sustains them.

And this is “See, I have set before you,” etc.: that a person will see this with his eyes, with sensory sight, for he sees his own life-force and existence,

and likewise sees the bowing of the host of heaven. And through this he will come to the level of “And you shall love Havayah your G‑d with all your heart”—“with both your inclinations,” so that even the evil inclination is subdued and nullified before the love of G‑d,

as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Nullify your will before His will.” The explanation: because this love, which comes from such sensory sight, has nothing comparable to it, nor is

its like found at all in physical things, as it is said, “Who can be likened to You, who is equal to You, and who can be compared to You?”

7This level of sight must be enduring and constant; and of one who does not look at this constantly it is said, “And the fool walks in darkness.”

Not so “the wise man, whose eyes are in his head”: his life-force and existence from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, will always be before his eyes. And thus the love of Havayah will be fixed in his heart always, and his soul will be bound to the living G‑d with a wondrous and strong bond, forever and to all eternity.

8And this is the meaning of “the greater and constant strength of teshuvah (return)” mentioned in the holy Zohar for repairing the blemish of the covenant (bris). For bris (covenant) means a bond: in holiness, it is the binding of one’s soul to its root and its life-force; and in the opposite [realm], “one opposite the other,” it is the binding to the desires of this world and the pleasures of human beings.

Therefore the repair is to turn his heart over from one opposite to the other, truly from one extreme to the other extreme, to make his soul cleave to its root and its life-force, which is drawn from Him, may He be blessed,

Who is “the living and enduring G‑d,” the level of the covenant (bris) that binds and draws the life-force from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) to become the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), to give life to “the soul of every living thing and the spirit of all human flesh”; so that there will be a true and constant cleaving.

And this is “greater and constant”: it is not enough that he arouses the love at the time of prayer and the like, and afterwards it passes and goes away,

as it is written, “G‑d is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth”; and it is written, “The lip of truth shall be established forever,” which is not so of “but for a moment,” etc.

9Now, this level of sensory sight, which brings one to this love, is drawn down to Israel from above, as it is written, “And G‑d will be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning.” This is a drawing-down and illumination that shines and comes to Israel, so that

“over them [He] will be seen”: to see, by the light of G‑d, the Life of all life, may He be blessed, with sensory sight, and to cleave to Him. And along these lines they instituted before the Shema the whole order of prayer and the morning blessings, “Blessed are You,” etc.,

in which we ask that the light of Havayah shine for us openly, so that in the Shema one will take upon himself the commandment “And you shall love” in truth. And this is “Havayah our G‑d.” For our Sages, of blessed memory, said: Israel are greater than the angels, for [the angels] wait to say “Holy” until Israel say it below.

10At first glance it is not understood how man could have this advantage while he is in this world, clothed in a physical body. And there is no person to whom alien thoughts do not come—at any rate, a thought

that is alien for him relative to his level: the great one according to his greatness, and the small one according to his smallness. Whereas the angels all stand in the heights of the world, divested of the matter of a physical body, and all of them do the will of their Maker in dread and awe, from the six days of Creation, without any cessation or interruption, even for a single moment.

11But the angels do not say “Holy” on their own account, but only by virtue of the life-force (chayus) that spreads forth and is drawn into them; only

that they take up no room before the G‑dly life-force that rests within them, and the drawing-down and spreading forth of the life-force within them is itself what speaks and acts in them according to its will, without hindrance.

12Therefore it is written of Hagar, “And she called the Name of G‑d who spoke to her,” and it was the angel who spoke with her. And likewise of the angels who came to Avraham it is written, “And he said, ‘I will surely return to you’”; and it was as the emissary of the Omnipresent that he said this to him, as though the Holy One, blessed be He, had said it in His own glory and Person.

That is, because they take up no room relative to the G‑dly life-force that speaks within them, and they are only a passageway through which the speech and the action are drawn down below.

This drawing-down and flow is by way of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), as it is written, “And one called to another and said, ‘Holy,’” and its Targum [reads], “And they receive from one another.” But the language of Scripture is said of the givers, for one calls and draws down the flow to the other; and the language of the Targum is said of the recipient, the level of Nukva (the feminine / Malchus).

13Now, from the standpoint of the life-force, it is not applicable to say of the Holy One, blessed be He, that He is holy and separate; for that implies that there is another separate thing, something existing besides Him, only that He is holy and separate from it.

And indeed they say, “Where is the place of His glory?” etc., as is explained elsewhere—until the life-force is drawn down below to Israel, who are clothed in the physical body, which is a separate thing and an entity in its own right, and which covers and conceals the holiness of the life-force. And then,

through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), in the nullification of the physical body before the spirituality and the source of the life-force within it, when the light of G‑d is revealed below as we say “Blessed are You,” etc.,

from the standpoint of the body it is applicable to say of Him, may He be blessed, that He is holy and separate. And therefore the angels too say, “Holy,” etc.,

for this illumination and drawing-down that Israel draw below passes through the angels. And “Holy” three times corresponds to the three contractions (tzimtzumim) that there are in general, until this illumination is drawn down and spreads below so as to be called by the Name “Havayah Tzeva’os”; for in all these contractions He is holy and separate.

14Now, the illumination and drawing-down that spreads below into Israel, to nullify the body to Him, may He be blessed, has an advantage over the light and life-force that spreads into the angels, like “the advantage of light that comes from darkness”: it has added light and joy, for the body too becomes a chariot (merkavah) for His unity, may He be blessed.

15Therefore we say “Havayah our G‑d”: ours, truly. Just as, by way of analogy, a person prides himself on what is his own, even on the level of the foot that is in him,

whereas in what belongs to others he takes no pride, even in a hand, which is more important, since it is not his—so too, this illumination and drawing-down, although it is only a mere radiance and illumination that has descended very far down,

and it is the level of a foot relative to the main light above, which cannot spread into the body, that light being called the level of the head relative to this one—nevertheless, behold, this is “our G‑d,” truly ours, as it is written, “You are children to Havayah your G‑d.”

16And “a son is his father’s foot” (bera kar’a da’avuha), for he becomes like the level of a foot relative to the person, which is one essence [with him]. And therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Nullify your will before His will”:

that is, to be the level of a foot to the Holy One, blessed be He, and to be nullified before Him and to do His will; for just as the foot is nullified before the person—“wherever he wishes, he turns it”—and it has no other will or desire at all.

17And this is what we say at the beginning of the morning blessings: “Who gives the rooster (sechvi) understanding to distinguish between day and night.” For the arousal

of the level of love and awe that comes to a person does not come of itself; rather, it comes to him from above, through the level of a spiritual “rooster” that exists above, which is what distinguishes between day and night,

that is, between the chassadim (kindnesses) and the gevuros (severities), through the drawing-down of the higher Binah (Binah Ila’ah). And so too, along these lines, all the rest of the blessings and the whole order of prayer: one who contemplates them “and considers the matter will find.”

However, in order to draw down to himself the love that will come to him from above, one must first crush the body, subdue it and humble it with bitterness,

as is explained elsewhere; as it is written, “Havayah is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those crushed in spirit”; and as it is written, “The sacrifices of Elokim are a broken spirit.”

For in order that the level of Havayah be drawn down into the level of our Elokim, one must first make “the sacrifices of Elokim,” for by that way the level of Havayah is drawn down.

18Now, all this is called an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), from below upward, and it is the matter of prayer. But the matter of Torah is the level of “from above downward.”

And it is the level of “and with all your soul”: that is, that it be drawn down and spread through all the powers of the soul, in thought, speech and action. And it is called an arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila), for through it one arouses above the level of His wisdom and will, “[He is] wise,

but not with a known wisdom”; for the Torah is His wisdom and will, may He be blessed, only that it is clothed in physical matters. And this is the matter of reading (korei) in the Torah, as is explained elsewhere.

19“And with all your might (me’odecha)” is the matter of teshuvah (return), for “great is teshuvah, for it brings the redemption near.” And me’od is a term of abundance, much more than its proper measure.

For the love “with all your heart and with all your soul” is drawn from the spreading-forth of the revelation of His G‑dliness that dwells in the lower beings, which is nothing but a radiance and illumination alone; as it is written, “And His arrow will go forth like lightning,” for it is nothing but a single thought; as it is written, “He fashions their hearts together,” etc.

20By way of analogy: just as a single thought counts for nothing relative to the being and essence of a person, who can think thoughts without end or number,

so, how much more so, this thought counts for nothing compared with His essence, may He be blessed; for “You are He before the world was created, and You are He,” etc.

21and “I, Havayah, have not changed.” And all the days of this world and of the World to Come, the lower and the higher Gan Eden, the days of Mashiach and the Resurrection of the Dead, are accounted by Him

as no more than a brief moment, as is explained elsewhere. And this is the service of the spark of the soul that spreads forth and is clothed in the physical body; for not all of the soul, in its entirety, is clothed within the body,

but only a spark and illumination from it, while its main part and its root remain above, on the level of makif (encompassing). And the spark that spreads below is called a “foot” relative to the higher level above, which is called the level of the “head,”

whereas the level of “with all your might” is the level of the service of the main part of the soul, the level of the head within it: that is, the self-nullification (bittul) of the soul in its very existence, to pour itself out into the bosom of its Father, truly, from the standpoint of His being and essence,

Who is exalted and uplifted without end; and of Him, from His own standpoint, it is not applicable to say either [that He is] the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) or the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), for He is not within the category of worlds at all, as is explained elsewhere.

22Now, the one who merits such a great and mighty level of love is the baal teshuvah (one who returns): for since he had been in the opposite [state], and his soul was “in a parched and weary land,” “and they cried out to Havayah,” etc.,

then such a great and mighty love will be revealed, to the point of his soul’s very expiring. And this is [the meaning of] “And Pharaoh drew near,” of which our Sages, of blessed memory, said that he drew the hearts of Israel near to their Father in Heaven.

Therefore this level of love is called me’od (“very”), as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “‘And behold, it was good’—this is the angel of life; ‘very’—this is the angel of death.” For through this the yearning of the love will increase and grow, “with greater exaltation and greater power,” and the strength of his cleaving will increase.

23And this is “His left hand is under my head”: through the level of “the left [hand] pushes away” that was in him at first, “therefore [his] head is lifted up,” and he is raised up in the level of the service of the “head” of the soul, as mentioned above. And this is the matter of the superiority of gold over silver mentioned in Likkutei Amarim.

24And the level of “return” (shov) that comes after this is the level of “and his right hand embraces me.” For “his right hand” is Torah and mitzvos, the level of Chesed (kindness) and of water, which descend from a high place to a low place; and they embrace the person, the way a person embraces his fellow from behind and does not let him fall.

So too, by way of analogy, the Torah and the mitzvos descend to the level of the back (achorayim), to be clothed in physical matters, to hold on to the person so that he will not fall when he turns after prayer to his affairs, and he will “turn from evil and do

good.” And they descend from a high place: tzitzis, accepting the yoke (kabbalas ol) of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the four sections of the tefillin, corresponding to the Chochmah (wisdom), Binah (understanding), Chesed and Gevurah (restraint) of the Holy One, blessed be He. The first section, “Sanctify to Me every firstborn,” alludes to Chochmah;

the second section, “When your son asks you, ‘What is this?’,” is the matter of contemplation, which “stands to be asked” (dekayma lishe’eilah); the section of Shema states explicitly, “And you shall love”; the section “And it will be, if you listen” states explicitly, “Beware for yourselves,” etc.

25And for this we say, “Who has sanctified us with His commandments,” as is explained elsewhere. And this is [the meaning of] “And Mount Sinai was all in smoke, because G‑d descended upon it in fire.”

And of Mount Sinai our Sages, of blessed memory, said that hatred descended [upon it] toward the idolaters, which is the level of evil, of which it is said, “I hate them with utmost hatred,” and “despising evil.”

This is drawn from “because G‑d descended upon it”: He descended and drew down below “in fire,” as it is written, “From His right hand, a fiery law for them”; and it is to come down upon the head of the wicked: “As wax melts before fire, they shall perish,” etc.

26And in this manner are all the mitzvos, both in “turn from evil” and in “do good.” And charity (tzedakah) is equal to all of them, for “charity uplifts a nation,” to be in the level of an embrace, so that he will not be parted and will not turn back, but will only be with Him face to face,

as it is written, “May Havayah make His face shine to you,” etc., as is explained elsewhere. And this is [the meaning of] “And each man shall give a ransom for his soul when you number (bifkod) them.”

That is to say: when there is something missing and lacking (yipaked veyechsar), a blemish of their sign (os), then the repair is through charity, for through it he binds and raises his soul to Havayah. And see what is written elsewhere on the verse “Lift up the head,” etc., “by their polls.”