ביאור על הנ״ל

1An explanation of the above.

2To understand the explanation of the matter [stated] on the verse, “If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love,” etc. Now, “im” (if) is an expression of “when.”

For there is an “im” that does not serve as an expression of doubt but as an expression of certainty, as in “Im (when) you lend money,” and “V’im (and when) the Jubilee shall be,” etc.

where this is not an expression of doubt at all; rather, the thing will certainly be and come about, and the word “im” is nothing but an expression of “when.”

That is: when you lend money to the poor man, you shall not be to him as a creditor; and likewise, when the Jubilee shall be, etc. And so too, “If a man would give,” etc.

means: when a man will give, etc., that he will certainly give. And this refers to the future (for “yiten,” “would give,” is the future tense): that in the Time to Come a man will give all the wealth of his house.

For in this time it does not come to revelation, to be on this level, that one would give all the wealth of his house; but only in the Time to Come specifically.

And the explanation: now, “the wealth of his house” is like the treasures and hidden stores that lie within the house. And this is along the lines of what is written, “And by Daas (knowledge) the chambers are filled with all precious and pleasant wealth.”

3Now it is written, “With Chochmah (wisdom) a house is built, and with understanding it is established, and by Daas (knowledge) the chambers are filled.” The explanation: “with Chochmah” is only the essential building of the house alone, which [refers to] the letters of the Torah, which are called “houses,” as is known.

“And with understanding it is established” means: the main sustaining and setting up of the form and content of the house, with its many rooms and its exits and entrances, is through Binah (understanding) specifically. But “by Daas” all the chambers are filled with precious wealth, etc.

To understand all this, we must first set down one introduction, explaining the matter of the order of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the ten Sefiros of Atzilus: what their order and manner are.

Now we find on this, in the words of the Kabbalists (in Etz Chaim and in Pardes), two modes which, seemingly, are almost opposites. The first mode: that the levels of the hishtalshelus are one beneath the other.

That is, the level of Binah was emanated from the level of Chochmah, and the level of Daas from the level of Binah. And these three are the first three [Sefiros]. And from them Chesed (kindness), Gevurah (restraint) and Tiferes (beauty) were emanated, likewise in the manner described above.

4Now this physical depiction is, by way of analogy, [as in] “From my flesh I behold,” etc.: like the ten powers of the soul that are clothed within the limbs of the body, where the first revelation is in Chochmah, which is the level of the flash of intellect, in the manner of a point, etc.

And Chochmah is called “ko’ach mah” (the potential of “what”), etc., because it is not yet grasped; and it is called the level of the yud, a point, etc. And from it the level of Binah is drawn forth: the expansion of comprehension in length and breadth.

5This is the level of the hei, etc. And these are the father and mother that give birth to the emotive attributes (middos), love and awe; for according to his intellect and his contemplation of a thing, he gives birth to love for that thing or awe of it, etc.

So too above, in the World of Atzilus, in the order of the chain of descent of the ten Sefiros: the level of supernal Chochmah of Atzilus is the beginning of revelation, and it is the level of the yud of the Name Havayah, which is not yet in a state of revelation, “and Chochmah is found from ayin (nothingness)”;

and therefore the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) is clothed in Chochmah specifically. And from the level of Chochmah the level of Binah of Atzilus was drawn forth, which is the level of the revelation of expansion in length and breadth, called the hei,

6and it is called “the mother of the children.” And the second mode of the order of the chain of descent is that they are in the form of three lines: Chochmah, Chesed and Netzach in the right line, etc.

It follows that according to this order, the levels of Chochmah, Binah and Daas are not drawn one from another. And also, all the middos do not mainly derive from the first three [Sefiros], since Chochmah and Binah stand in two parallel lines, etc.

7Now the main difference between the two modes in the order of the chain of descent mentioned above is in two respects. The first: according to the first order, in which Chochmah, Binah and Daas are one beneath the other, it follows that Daas stands below Chochmah and Binah

and above Chesed and Gevurah, for it is what draws the illumination of Chochmah and Binah into Chesed and Gevurah. This is not so according to the second order, in which they are in three lines:

it follows that Daas is in the middle line and does not stand beneath Chochmah and Binah, but only beneath Keser (the Crown), and it draws the illumination of Keser into Chochmah and Binah and into Chesed and Gevurah, as will be explained.

8And the second: according to the first order, the main birth and existence of the middos is from Chochmah and Binah, through Daas which draws [them] down, as above.

This is not so according to the second order: they are drawn from the level of Keser, through Daas, which draws into them the illumination of Keser specifically. And the explanation is that both are true.

9This will be understood from what is known, that there are two levels of Daas: upper Daas and lower Daas. Upper Daas is that which is drawn from the level of Keser and connects and unites Chochmah and Binah, and Chesed and Gevurah,

through the illumination of Keser. And lower Daas is the Daas that spreads within the middos, to draw into them the illumination of Chochmah and Binah. And it is also known that there are two levels of middos.

The first: middos whose main existence is from Chochmah and Binah — by way of analogy, in man below, when the middos are only according to the intellect, for the intellect is what gives birth to them; and a child, whose intellect is short, etc.

And the second is the level of middos whose source and root are above the intellect, only that they go out and are drawn by way of the intellect; as is written in the Ra’aya Mehemna that Z’eir Anpin is attached to and hangs upon Atika, etc., and as is explained at length elsewhere.

10From now on, the two levels in the order of the chain of descent will be properly understood and explained. For the second order, in which they are in three lines, etc., concerns the middos whose main existence is not from Chochmah and Binah but from the level of Keser, which shines in them,

as in the saying mentioned above, that “Z’eir Anpin is attached to and hangs upon Atika.” And this is through the level of upper Daas mentioned above, which is from the level of Keser and connects and unites the level of Chochmah and Binah, etc., so that the level of Daas turns out to stand between Chochmah and Binah and beneath Keser, etc.

Whereas the first order concerns the level of the middos whose existence is only from the intellect; and this is through the level of lower Daas, which spreads within the middos and shines into them the illumination of Chochmah and Binah, etc.

11To understand all the above with further explanation, we must first understand what the level of Daas is. And first we will explain the level of lower Daas, and from it the level of upper Daas will be understood. For it was already explained above that the main birth of the middos is from Chochmah and Binah.

12We need to understand what function Daas serves. But the matter is that Daas, everywhere, is of the level of the inner [dimension].

So too here, the level of Daas that spreads within the middos is the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the middos, which is their ultimate refinement. For Daas

means connection; and because of the connection of the level of Chochmah and Binah within the middos, it refines and distinguishes between good and evil, so that the middos will not be mixed of good and evil. For the middos, by their nature, as they are born, can be mixed of good and evil.

13Therefore the nurture of the external [forces] is from the middos, as with Avraham, from whom Yishmael came forth, etc. And so too in the service of G‑d: from the level of love and the arousal “like flashes of fire,” [that comes] through contemplating the greatness of G‑d during prayer, one can afterwards come to anger.

It must necessarily be that even during prayer there was some slight admixture of something foreign. For if it had been of the level of G‑dliness alone, which is the revelation of G‑d’s light upon his soul during prayer,

from where would he afterwards come to anger and the like, which is the level of the nurture of the external [forces]? As is known, the external forces draw nurture only from the level of the back (achorayim) of the Name Elokim, which is the matter of the level of concealment, etc.

(And this requires examination [in light of] Tanya, chapter 28. And one must say that what is said here, “some slight admixture of something foreign,” is on account of the clothing in the animal soul, whose middos are the ones that are mixed of good and evil; and because the G‑dly soul is clothed in it, etc. And the proof is that even during prayer it did not leave its sheath and its clothing entirely, altogether, etc.

And this is exactly as is written there in chapter 28, that the kelipah exerts itself, etc. And also from the proof that will be explained from the incident of Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon it is implied likewise, as stated, for there too it entered his mind that he had erred about himself because of the naturalness of his animal soul, which may have assisted in his service, as will be explained.)

14With this will be understood the story of Rabbi Yose ben Kisma with Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon, [to whom] he said, “I wonder if they will not burn you,” etc. And he answered him, “Heaven will have mercy”; and he said to him, “I am telling you words of reason,” etc.

15And Rabbi Chanina said to him, “What am I [destined for] as to the life of the World to Come?” And he said to him, “Has any deed come to your hand?” etc. And he answered him, “Purim money,” etc., “and I divided it among the poor.”

End of quote. Now, seemingly, his question, what [awaits] him in the World to Come, is very puzzling: if he is giving up his life for the sanctification of G‑d’s Name, in that he was gathering assemblies in public, would he still not have a share in the World to Come?

16And also, what did Rabbi Yose ask, “Has any deed come to your hand?” What kind of answer is this to his question? etc. But the matter is that Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon was in doubt about himself concerning the matter of his giving up

his life for the sake of occupying himself with Torah: whether it was truly for the sake of Heaven alone. Although he was an outstanding tzaddik and truly studied for its own sake, nevertheless, since there are people who, by their nature, their temperament and their middos, draw the desire and longing of their whole heart to the study of the sciences,

17and for their thought, heart and intellect to be always attached to them. And the proof is from the philosophers of the ancient nations, who were great ministers lacking none of the world’s delicacies,

[yet] they would leave all pleasures and occupy themselves with all their heart and the longing of their soul in the study of the sciences; all day and night his thought is not free

18[from seeking] to understand and to go deeply into the matter of the sciences, and it is pleasant to his soul and he delights in them as much as another [delights] in all the pleasures of the world. And this was not for them on account of their faith,

for they were star-worshipping gentiles, who have no compulsion or faith that would cause them to have, in their occupation with their sciences — astronomy, mathematics and philosophy, external wisdom — a wondrous delight; but only on account of the temperament of their nature, which compels [them] very strongly, with a wondrous desire that is born in such a nature.

19And there are some of them born with a different temperament, who does not crave and desire the sciences; even though he understands them, he has no pleasure in setting his thought on them even for one moment, but only after the stubbornness of his heart, “only evil all the day”; for this his soul yearns.

20And the cause of this is the humors. There is one in whom white bile dominates, who is unable to concentrate his thought on one thing, even though it is intellectual, and he takes no delight in it at all.

And there is one in whom black bile dominates from birth: his soul longs greatly for wisdom, “all [other] desires cannot compare to it” — as all this is explained in the Rambam’s Eight Chapters; see there, chapter 8.

21Therefore among Jews too one will find natures divided like theirs; but [in a Jew] his soul will be drawn to a thing customary among Jews, such as the study of the Oral Torah: his soul and heart will long to meditate in it day and night without ceasing.

Therefore Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon feared that perhaps his bodily nature too was causing his self-sacrifice for the sake of wisdom. Although it was certainly only a tiny bit, nevertheless this is not “to G‑d alone,” etc.

22And he asked Rabbi Yose how he could ascertain this about himself: whether he is among those who inherit the World to Come, in whose heart there is only One, etc. And he answered him: this can be clarified only if a deed has come to your hand.

That is, a test, in which the distinction [lies]: if it comes from the nature of the body, then even though he desires with a wondrous desire, in any case it will not reach self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh), etc. And he told him that the Purim money, etc.,

which is a matter of distributing money — this is a sign and proof that in his self-sacrifice there is not even the root of the humor, etc. For the trait of black bile mentioned above causes the trait of miserliness,

23and white bile [causes] distributing [money], etc. Therefore he answered him, “If so, may my portion be of your portion.” From this it is understood that his self-sacrifice for the Torah is only because in his heart there is only One, and there is no natural admixture in it at all.

From all this it is understood that there can be, in the middos of the soul, a level of admixture, so that even in a middah that seems certainly entirely good, it can be that there is still some slight admixture in it, etc.

Therefore, for there to be refinement of the middos to their ultimate [degree], it is through the level of Daas; that is, it draws out the inner dimension of the middos.

For this admixture of good and evil pertains mainly to the outer dimension of the heart, which is not so in the level of the inner dimension of the heart, etc. (See what was written above, at the end of the discourse beginning “To understand the matter of the blessings,” etc.)

Now all this is on the level of lower Daas, which spreads into the middos of love and awe. For this Daas is beneath Binah; and the love that is born from Binah and Daas is called ahavas olam (worldly love).

And in the Zohar it is called ahavah zuta (lesser love). And from this we can also understand the level of upper Daas. For there are two kinds of middos.

The first: the middos that are born from the intellect; and when they are born and drawn from the intellect through Daas, they are in a state of inwardness, and refined, more [free] from all dross.

24And the second are the middos that are above the intellect; [this love] is called ahavah rabbah (great love), which is in every soul. And above, it is the level of the middos within Keser: the Chesed and Gevurah of Arich Anpin,

which are above the intellect, that is, Chochmah and Binah, only that they are drawn by way of passage through Chochmah and Binah. And they are drawn through the Daas that stands in the middle line, aligned directly beneath Keser.

Whereas Chochmah and Binah are Chochmah, Chesed and Netzach on the right [and] Binah, Gevurah and Hod on the left. Therefore, through this Daas, the middos of Keser, which are middos above the intellect, are drawn so as to be drawn into Z’eir Anpin.

And below, it is the revelation in the middos of the heart, etc. And this level of ahavah rabbah is also present in everyone, as is written in Tanya (end of chapter 46) on the verse, “I was as beasts (behemos) with You” — behemos is plural, etc., the upper Daas that includes Chesed and Gevurah, etc.; see there.

And this is the idea of Rivkah, which is the level of a tie and binding together of three or four cattle; for she is the level of ahavah rabbah, which is the middos above the intellect, which are the level of the inclusion of all the middos together, with no division among them at all

(and as above, that Daas includes Chesed and Gevurah, which are the “two crowns” drawn from the shoulders of Arich [Anpin]). For in the middos whose main coming-into-being is from the intellect, division of levels applies,

for the very intellect that gives birth to love is not the same intellection that gives birth to awe, and the intellect that gives birth to awe is not the one that gives birth to love.

Therefore the middos born from them are the level of branches that separate from one another; whereas in what is above the intellect, division does not apply at all. And this is like the difference between the World of Akudim and the World of Nekudim:

that in Akudim all ten Sefiros are bound together in one vessel, and there is no division among them at all; whereas in Nekudim they are ten separate points.

And this is because Nekudim is from the level of Chochmah (for in the matter of ta’amim, nekudos, tagin and osiyos, the nekudos are the level of Chochmah, etc.), and there division applies; but Akudim is from the level of Keser, for there it is above division.

Therefore the level of the middos above the intellect, called ahavah rabbah, which is in every soul — this is called the level of Rivkah, which is a tie and binding of several beasts; that is to say, the actual inclusion of the middos together.

And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “And she went down to the spring”: it can be explained according to its plain meaning, an expression of actual descent. For Chochmah is called a spring, since “Chochmah is found from ayin (nothingness),” from the level of Keser, like a spring that wells up from beneath the earth. And a river is the level of Binah.

Now, in relation to Rivkah, which is the middos within Keser, the drawing-down into Chochmah and Binah is therefore called “and she went down to the spring” (and see what is written in the explanation of “And the L‑rd our G‑d brought us out of Egypt”: Abba and Imma, which clothed the arms of Arich Anpin, etc.). “And she filled her pitcher (kadah)”: this is the twenty-four (kad) books of the Torah,

for the Torah comes forth from Chochmah. And in divine service, this is that through ahavah rabbah one draws down the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) into Chochmah and into the Torah, which comes forth from Chochmah.

“And she came up”: for in truth this descent is an ascent. For the meaning of “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah” is that its revelation is from Chochmah,

but its root is above Chochmah. For the 613 mitzvos of the Torah, together with the seven mitzvos of the Rabbis, are the 620 pillars of light, which are the level of Keser; and so the Torah is drawn from the Chochmah within Keser,

which is higher than the level of the middos within Keser, called Rivkah of three cattle, as above. (And see what is written elsewhere on the matter of the waving of the two loaves upon the two lambs.)

25And this is [the meaning of] “Many waters cannot extinguish the love.” That is, since this love is the level of ahavah rabbah, whose root is above the intellect, therefore the many waters

and the rivers — which are comprehensions of G‑dliness drawn from Chochmah and Binah of Atzilus — cannot quench this love, since its root is above all comprehensions and it is drawn from the level of upper Daas, which draws down the level of the middos within Keser, etc.

But “If a man would give all the wealth of his house… boz yavuzu” — an expression of plunder and spoil. For “his house” refers to the letters of the Torah, as it is written, “With Chochmah a house is built.”

26And “the wealth of his house” is what is written, “And by Daas the chambers are filled with all precious and pleasant wealth”; and this is the level of upper Daas, which draws down the revelation of the level of Keser, which is above Chochmah.

And this Daas connects Chochmah and Binah, which are the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, and draws into them the light of Keser; that is, that there be a revelation of the Supreme Will: how to make the sukkah, the tzitzis and the tefillin.

Therefore the above-mentioned level of ahavah rabbah too will have its thirst quenched through this revelation, since it too is a drawing-down of upper Daas. And not only that,

but it is a drawing-down from a level much higher than the drawing-down of the middos that are above the intellect; for the middos are the level of the seven lower [Sefiros] of Arich Anpin,

whereas “the wealth of his house,” which is the Torah, is the level of the first three [Sefiros] of Arich Anpin. (And see what is written in the discourse on the shofar, that Keser is intermediary between the Emanator and the emanated, for it has [something] of the lowest level of the Emanator, and this is the level of the first three of Arich Anpin;

and it has the level of the root of the emanated, and this is from the seven lower [Sefiros]; see there. Accordingly, it is understood how this level of “the wealth of his house,” which is drawn through the Torah, being from the level of the first three, is infinitely higher even than the level of the middos that are above the intellect, which are the level of the seven lower [Sefiros], etc.

And this is “And she went down to the spring,” etc., “and she came up”: which is a great ascent, above the level of Rivkah. And the explanation of the matter — that this Daas, which is drawn through the Torah, namely what is written, “the wealth of his house,” is higher than the level of the Daas that draws down ahavah rabbah — will be understood with what is written in Likkutei Torah, Parshas Shemos, on the verse

“[And G‑d saw] that he turned aside to see”: that the level of the Daas that includes the “two crowns,” though they are the middos of Keser, is below the level of the Daas that includes the “two inheritances” of Abba and Imma, etc., which draws down the two first sections, which are the level of Chochmah, Binah and Daas within the Chesed and Gevurah of Arich Anpin.

And see what is written in Parshas Re’eh, [on] “See, I set before you,” on the matter of “Day by day He loads us,” etc.; see there. And the connection of the 310 worlds to this Daas will be understood. And also, the root of this Daas is higher still, namely from the tikkun “and truth,” etc. And this is [the meaning of] what is written, “The Torah of truth,” etc.)

With all this will be understood the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, that a person is obliged to recite one hundred blessings every day. [Why] must it be the number one hundred specifically? But

the explanation: “Do not read mah (what) but me’ah (one hundred).” For mah is the level of Malchus, the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin); and one must draw down from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) into memalei kol almin.

And this is through Keser, which is the intermediary between the Emanator and the emanated. Therefore there must be one hundred blessings specifically, to draw down from the ten Sefiros of Arich Anpin, [each] comprising ten,

that is, so that the drawing-down be also from the first three [Sefiros] of Arich Anpin, as above. And this is [the meaning of] “The saying of the man raised on high (al),” for the ayin indicates the seven lower [Sefiros], and the lamed the first three.

(And with this will be understood what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: that one hundred people used to die every day until David instituted one hundred blessings. And the connection must be explained: how, through the hundred blessings, they stopped dying.)

But the matter is that through this revelation of sovev kol almin, the Resurrection of the Dead will take place in the Time to Come. Now the idea of the Resurrection of the Dead is that there will be a body with innards and intestines, living and enduring forever without eating and drinking.

And how can this be, except through there being a revelation of sovev kol almin, before which spirituality and physicality are truly equal? Therefore the body too will be able to live from this.

27And by way of analogy: in man there are two kinds of drawing-down. The first is in the manner of inwardness: the intellect in the brain, and the middos in the heart, the power of action in the hand, etc.

And the second is the level of the encompassing (makif): this is the will and the thought, which are present even in the foot; for as soon as he wants to move his foot, his foot moves, etc.

And although the foot is not a vessel for the revelation of thought, nevertheless the thought acts upon it; and this is the level of the encompassing. And in the same way, the physical body too will receive life-force and existence, as nourishment, from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, itself. And this is sufficient for the understanding.