ביאור על הנ״ל

1An explanation of the above.

2To explain the things said above on [the verse] “Chachlili,” etc.: Now, the Torah is called wine and milk, as it is written, “And come, buy without money and without price, wine and milk.” To understand this, one needs to understand the matter of the two levels, ahavah rabbah (great love) and ahavas olam (everlasting love).

Ahavah rabbah is [the love] that comes from above, whereby, of itself and as a matter of course, his soul burns like a fiery furnace; and ahavas olam is the love that comes through contemplation. And there is a third love, greater than both of them, which is called “love in delights” (ahavah betaanugim), etc.

3Now, it is known that there are four Names: Av (72), Sag (63), Mah (45) and Ban (52). And the Name Ban fell in the shattering [of the vessels], and the Name Mah is the one that refines [it].

However, first Malchus (sovereignty) of the World of Atzilus (Emanation), which is called the Name Ban, refines the 288 sparks that are in [the Worlds of] Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah (Creation, Formation and Action), etc.; and afterwards the Name Mah is drawn down to refine a second time, etc.

4The explanation of the matter: it is known that Malchus of Atzilus descends every night into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah to carry out refinements. As is written in the Zohar: “A thousand mountains, which a great beast eats, and it drinks them in a single gulp,” etc.

Explanation: behemah (“beast”) has the numerical value of Ban (52); that is, Malchus of Atzilus, which refines the sparks of Tohu. For when the sparks fell into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah and into nogah, they are a mixture of good and evil and are not at the level of G‑dliness; and Malchus of Atzilus refines them, so that they are transformed to become G‑dliness.

5Therefore the Name Ban is called ahavas olam, for olam (“world”) is from the term he’elem (“concealment”); that is, the love that is revealed out of concealment: before prayer it was in concealment, and afterwards, through prayer, it is revealed.

So it turns out that this love comes from contemplation, etc. And ahavas olam also means that this emotional arousal and love are drawn from the level of the world.

That is, as, by way of analogy, a person is moved to have love by seeing wonders contrary to nature, such as turning water into fire or fire into water, so that one essence is transformed into another essence; through this he sees the greatness of G‑d, blessed be He, and from this love for G‑d comes to him.

6This love is called ahavas olam because it comes through a cause from the level of the world. So too above: the refinement of sparks of the Name Ban, which refines in Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, is called ahavas olam, because from the level of world [something] is refined to become G‑dliness, etc.

This is not so with the Name Mah, which is called ahavah rabbah, since the Name Mah is the level of G‑dliness in essence (not from what has been refined from the level of world, like the Name Ban, which refines Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and they are included in it.

That is, through the transformation from evil to good mentioned above, which is included in the Name Ban; and therefore it is called ahavas olam, just as a person is transformed through wonders, etc., as mentioned above.)

And it [the Name Mah] is the one that refines the Name Ban. And this is like ahavah rabbah. For ahavah rabbah is, by way of analogy, the love that blazes up of itself, which is why it is called by the term “great” (rabbah); since in ahavas olam there is also “this opposite that.”

Therefore we see that although at the time of prayer he had love, which is ahavas olam, nevertheless afterwards he busies himself with worldly matters, because there is “this opposite that,” since both of them are the level of world: this is “world” and that is “world,” etc.

This is not so with the level of ahavah rabbah: since it is from the spark of G‑dliness itself, there is no “this opposite that” there, etc. So too above, the Name Mah is G‑dliness not through refinement, like ahavah rabbah, which comes of itself from above.

7Now, despite all this, ahavah rabbah, which is called Mah, does vest itself in ahavas olam, which is called Ban, to carry out a second refinement, etc. But the third love, which is called “love in delights,” which is the matter of the Name Av, does not vest itself at all, neither in ahavah rabbah nor in ahavas olam, etc.

8However, the drawing down of the Name Av, love in delights, is when ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam, the Name Mah and the Name Ban, have joined together; then they draw down the Name Av as well,

even though it is higher than both of them, etc. The explanation of the matter: it is known that in every world, Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, there are ten Sefiros, and worlds and chambers (heichalos).

9Now, the ten Sefiros are themselves G‑dliness, which does not need to be refined; and this is like the matter of the Name Mah, as is known. But the worlds and chambers need to be refined in order to be included in the ten Sefiros, which are actual G‑dliness.

That is, through the refinement of Ban, in which the refinements of the worlds and chambers are included; and afterwards the Name Mah is drawn down to vest itself in Ban, to refine a second time, etc. And this is the matter of the union of Havayah [and] Elokim, which are male and female, Mah and Ban.

Now, it is written, “Male and female He created them, and He blessed them,” etc.; and the reason is explained in the Zohar: that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not dwell in a flawed place, only in a complete place, etc.

The point is that when two levels, male and female, are included in one another, they therefore arouse the level that is higher, beyond the measure of both of them (like the matter of the chuppah, which groom and bride enter: since both of them, male and female, come [there], therefore the revelation there comes also from the level of the encompassing [lights] (makifim), etc.).

That is, through [the fact] that when the Name Ban refines Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, it then raises them as mayin nukvin (“feminine waters”) to the Name Mah, and it [Mah] is drawn down to refine, etc.

And afterwards, when both of them vest themselves in one another, the level of the union of Havayah [and] Elokim, then the Name Av, which is called “love in delights,” is drawn down as well.

And this is [the meaning of] “Male and female He created them”: that is, the male (dechar), the Name Mah, and the female (Nukva), the Name Ban; and then “He blessed them”: the drawing down of Chochmah (wisdom), the Name Av, which is called “blessed” (baruch), etc.

10Now, it is known that the revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) of Atika Kadisha (the Holy Ancient One) is in the level of Chochmah (wisdom) of Atzilus, since it is in utter self-nullification (bittul). And Atik is, by way of analogy, the level of delight, etc.

As we also see that the revelation of delight is in Chochmah: when a new insight comes to him from the intellect, which is the matter of

the revelation of Chochmah from its source, then he delights with a wondrous delight, etc. So too, the revelation of the Infinite Light of Atik Yomin and Arich Anpin is in the level of Chochmah of Atzilus, which is the Name Av.

That is why the Name Av is called “love in delights”: since it is the revelation of the supernal delight. And this is [why it is] “love in delights” specifically, etc.

11And this is [the meaning of] “Chachlili einayim mi-yayin” (“His eyes are red from wine”). And our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Chachlili: every palate (chech) that tastes says, ‘For me (li), for me (li).’” Now, the doubled expression “for me, for me” needs to be understood.

But the point is that this is the matter of two ascents of the two levels, ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam, Mah and Ban, into Atik Yomin and Arich Anpin, as mentioned above; for they rise into the level of the Name Av, where there is the revelation of Atik and Arich, etc.

12And this is [the meaning of] “the palate that tastes says, ‘For me, for me’”: the explanation is that “the palate that tastes” is the level of Chochmah (wisdom) of Atzilus, which is called “palate,” the Name Mah, and it is the level of te’amim (“tastes”),

which are in the Name Av; as is known, there are four levels, te’amim, nekudos, tagin and osiyos (cantillation notes, vowel points, crowns and letters), corresponding to the four Names Av, Sag, Mah and Ban. And Chochmah of Atzilus is the level of “the palate that tastes,” that is, the level of te’amim.

Just as, by way of analogy, when a person tastes some pleasant and sweet food he takes delight in it, so too in the level of the te’amim of Chochmah there is the revelation of Atik, etc.

And this is [the meaning of] “the palate that tastes,” the level of Av, Chochmah, “says, ‘For me, for me’”: this is the level of the ascents of ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam.

13Now, the red eyes (chachlili einayim) are “from wine.” For through “wine entering,” the wine of Torah, “a secret comes out.”

The meaning of “secret” is the hidden ahavah rabbah, which is to come out from concealment into revelation, so that there be the vesting of ahavah rabbah, Mah, in ahavas olam, Ban. And through this both of them rise and are included in Chochmah. And this is [the meaning of] “Chachlili,” etc., “from wine.”

That is: what “the palate that tastes says, ‘For me, for me,’” the ascent of Mah and Ban into Av, this is “from wine”: for through the entering of the wine of Torah, “a secret comes out,” the vesting of Mah in Ban; and through this they arouse the Name Av to be “the palate that tastes,” etc.

14Now, the level of this revelation of the Name Av is on Shabbos, which is the matter of the intellect (mochin) of Abba (Chochmah). That is, the revelation and drawing down of the supernal delight, the level of Atika Kadisha, into the level of Chochmah.

As it is written, “And you shall call the Shabbos a delight”: to draw down and to call the delight into Chochmah, etc. And as is written elsewhere, on the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, “Whoever says Vayechulu on Shabbos, it is as though he became a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the work of creation,” etc.

And this, too, is the whole intent of eating on Shabbos: to draw down the level of Atik into Chochmah, etc. However, our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “One who toiled on the eve of Shabbos will eat on Shabbos.”

And this is [the meaning of] “Chachlili einayim” (“red eyes”), etc. The explanation: there are two aspects in the eyes: the first, the redness and the glow in the eyes; and the second, the whites of the eye.

15Now, the matter of the redness is the level of fervor and flashes of fire, “to gaze upon the glory of the King,” as it is written, “Turn your eyes away from me,” etc., for they set Him ablaze with flames of love, as is known.

And similarly, it is explained in the Idra Rabba: when Z’eir Anpin (the emotive attributes) gazes at the forehead of Arich [Anpin], it receives 370 lights, and in the face 150 lights, as it is written, “If a bird’s nest (kan, 150) chance before you,” etc.

The point is that Arich Anpin, which is Keser (the Crown), is the lowest level of the Emanator, and Z’eir Anpin is the source of the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah; that is why Z’eir Anpin is called “world” (olam), as it is written, “The world (olam) is built by kindness,” etc.

Therefore Z’eir Anpin is aflame to be included above in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), the level of Arich Anpin, etc. (And so too man’s service below, “to gaze upon the glory of the King”: “My eyes are always toward G‑d”; that is, the fervor from below to above, which is specifically through the eyes.)

And this is the redness in the eyes, which indicates fervor and flashes of fire, etc. And through Z’eir Anpin’s gazing in a state of fervor, the flow is afterwards drawn down from Arich Anpin to Z’eir Anpin.

As it is written, “The eye of G‑d is toward those who fear Him,” etc. (That is, because he first began with “My eyes are always toward G‑d,” which is fervor from below to above. And this is “One who toiled on the eve of Shabbos,” etc. Through this, the light of the flow is afterwards drawn down from above to below, so that there be “the eye of G‑d,” etc.)

And this is the matter of the 370 lights or the 150 lights that Z’eir Anpin receives from Arich Anpin, namely the flow from above, etc., which is the level of the eye that is white, as stated in the Idra Rabba (folio 129b and folio 136b): “And they are washed in the one whiteness of the good eye,” etc.

Now, sight is the level of the outer dimension (chitzoniyus), which is not so with the other powers, such as the power of wisdom (Chochmah) or the emotive attributes (middos), etc. And the reason is this:

since [Z’eir Anpin] is gazing at the forehead of Arich Anpin and afterwards receiving the revelation of light from there, it is impossible to receive [it] except through sight, which is from outside and does not enter within.

16“And white of teeth”: now, the teeth refine, etc. And this is the level of gestation (ibbur) in the womb of Imma (Binah), like the analogy of the emotive attributes (middos) within the intellect: to see with the eye of the intellect the essence of the emotive attributes, and to examine and scrutinize them [to see] whether there is any admixture in them, etc. And this is “in the womb of Imma,” etc.

17And above, in Z’eir Anpin, [there is] “three included within three,” etc.; and what has been refined becomes Atzilus and G‑dliness, and the waste is pushed outside, etc. And so on, up to the highest of heights, etc.

And afterwards growth takes place through the milk that follows birth; and this growth is that light and life-force are drawn down so that the emotive attributes (middos) will be luminous and clear, etc.

18And this is [the meaning of] “and white of teeth”: the teeth themselves become white by virtue of the milk; for at the time of refining they are not yet white, since one is occupied with looking and scrutinizing, etc.

And this is the level of katnus (smallness), which is not so with “white of teeth,” [where the teeth] have become white and shining, etc.; for there is refinement after refinement, etc.

And all of it is through “You open Your hand (yadecha)”: this is the level of the thirteen tikkunim (adornments) of the beard, which are yuds and vavs, hairs and follicles; for Abba (Chochmah) draws nourishment from the eighth mazal, notzer, [whose] letters [are those of] ratzon (will), etc.

And through this, will is brought about also “for every living thing,” etc. And this is through the Torah, Abba, in that one draws the light of Abba upon his soul; and Abba draws nourishment from the eighth mazal, as mentioned above, and there is revealed within it [the soul] a will that is far above, etc.

And the analogy of yuds and vavs: the yud is the tzimtzum (contraction) of the light in the skin of the face, which covers [it], so that it comes out only through a follicle; and the vav is the extension of the hairs, etc. And this is enough for one who understands.