VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
22) “From afar the Lord appeared unto me; ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love.’” “From afar” means in exile. This was because of the great love that appears only through exile. Exile is the correction; when the children of Israel are liberated from the exile, the Creator’s love for us will be revealed.
58) Rabbi Shimon said, “Once I rose and descended to illuminate in the place of the streams.” In other words, he raised MAN and brought down MAD to the Malchut from the source of the streams, Bina. It is written, “All the streams go unto the sea, but the sea is not full.” All the ministers in the world were created from the light of Bina, and all the streams in the world stem from His light, meaning that “All the streams go unto the sea, but the sea is not full.”
“The sea is not full” is Malchut in this exile, since the darkness and gloom in the exile were made by the love of Ima, Bina. If the darkness had not been made, the stream that shines to the daughter, Malchut, would not have been made. Also, the sea will not be full and complete until the other side comes, that which was not in exile, the right side, which no Klipa governs, and then the sea, Malchut, will fill.
116-117) Divinity is present only in a whole place, and not in a deficient place or a flawed place or a place of sadness, but in a proper place—a place of joy.
“Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with singing.” There is no service of the Creator unless out of joy.
120) Since the day Rabbi Shimon came out of the cave, nothing was hidden from the friends. They looked at the high secrets and were revealed in them as though they were given at that time at Mount Sinai. After Rabbi Shimon died, the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were closed. The fountains of wisdom were stopped. The friends were contemplating matters, but they did not stand in them, to know their meaning.
156) We have no attainment in GAR, even the GAR of the ten Sefirot of the world of Assiya, but only in ZAT. In ZAT, a chosen few can attain even in ZAT de GAR of the world of Atzilut. Rabbi Yitzhak’s father tells us that Rabbi Shimon held the ZAT of all the Partzufim of Atzilut, even the ZAT de GAR de Atzilut.
157) How much longer is one given to live in this world? There is no permission to inform this, and one is not informed of this. But Rabbi Shimon was in great joy on the day of his demise, and there was great joy in all the worlds because of the many secrets he had revealed then.
210) How important are the works of the Holy King. In the deeds that are done below, they tie them with the high things above, in their root, since anything below in this world has its root above in the upper worlds. And when they are taken down and worked with, the act above awakens corresponding to them, in the roots in the upper worlds.
212) “Every one that is called by My name ... for My glory,” so that I will be respected. “Whom I have created,” to unify Me. “I have formed him” to do good deeds unto Me, and “I have made him” to evoke the upper force through it.
237) People do not look, do not know, and do not observe that when the Creator created man and cherished him with the upper Mochin, He asked of him to adhere to Him so he would be unique and would have one heart, and would adhere to a single place of Dvekut [adhesion], which does not change—in ZA. It was said about it, “I the Lord do not change,” and never invert, and everything ties to it in a knot of unification.
295) “The deaf heard and the blind looked, so as to see.” “The deaf heard” are those people who do not listen to the words of Torah and do not open their ears to hear the commandments of their Master. “The blind” are those who do not look to know what they are living for because each day, a herald comes out and calls, and there is no one to notice him.
408) When the blessings extend from above, from this depth, Bina, all of heaven receive them, meaning ZA, and from him, they extend below until they reach the righteous, Tzadik and Tzedek, everlasting covenant, the Nukva, and from her, all the armies and all the camps, which are the lower ones in BYA, are blessed.
414) Anyone who comes to serve the Creator should serve the Creator in the morning and in the evening.
426) When a man goes out to the road, he should set up his prayer before his Master, to extend the light of Divinity on himself, and then set out. It turns out that the Zivug of Divinity is to redeem him on the way and to save him however is needed.
495) Women are blessed only by males, when they are blessed first. And they are blessed from this blessing of the males. They do not need a special blessing of their own. Then why does the verse say, “Will bless the house of Israel,” if the women do not need a special blessing? Indeed, the Creator gives an additional blessing to a male who is married to a woman so that his wife will be blessed from him.
Similarly, in all places, the Creator gives additional blessing to a male who has married a woman so she will be blessed by this addition. And since a man marries a woman, He gives him two shares, one for himself and one for his wife. And he receives everything, his own share and his wife’s. This is why a special blessing is written for the women, “Will bless the house of Israel,” for this is their share. However, the males receive their share, as well, and give it to them later.
497-498) All those souls that have been since the day the world was created stand before the Creator before they come down to the world in the very same form that they will later be seen in the world. In the same appearance as a body of a man who is standing in this world, so he stands above.
When the soul is ready to come down to the world , she stands before the Creator in the exact same form that she stands in this world, and the Creator adjures her to keep the Mitzvot [commandments] of the Torah and to not breach the laws of Torah.
507) The sound of the rolling wheel rolls from below upwards. Hidden Merkavot [structures/chariots] go and roll. The sound of melodies rises and falls, and wanders and roams the world; the sound of the Shofar[ram’s horn] stretches through the depth of the degrees and orbits around the wheel.
513-515) “He has regarded the prayer of the destitute and has not despised their prayer.” It should have said, “listened” or “heard,” but what is “regarded”?
Indeed, all the prayers in the world, prayers of many, are prayers. But a solitary prayer does not enter before the Holy King, unless with great force. This is so because before the prayer enters to be crowned in its place, the Creator watches it, observes it, and observes the sins and merits of that person, which He does not do with a prayer of many, where several of the prayers are not from righteous, and they all enter before the Creator and He does not notice their iniquities.
“He has regarded the prayer of the destitute.” He turns the prayer and examines it from all sides, and considers with which desire the prayer was made, who is the person who prayed that prayer, and what are his deeds. Hence, one should pray one’s prayer in the collective, since He does not despise their prayer, even though they are not all with intent and the will of heart, as it is written, “He has regarded the prayer of the destitute.” Thus, He only observes the prayer of an individual, but with a prayer of many, He does not despise their prayer, even though they are unworthy.
678) It is man’s obligation to unite the holy Name, Nukva, with ZA, in mouth, heart, and soul, and to connect wholly in ZON, to raise MAN to them as a flame tied to an ember. And in that unification that it does, it causes the King to be appeased about the queen and alerts the King of her love for Him. By the ascent of the soul for MAN to ZA, she becomes a middle line between them, makes peace, and unites them with each other.
688) Happy are the people in the world who engage in Torah, because anyone who engages in Torah is loved above and loved below, and each day he inherits the inheritance of the next world, as it is written, “To endow those who love me with substance.” The substance is the next world, Bina, whose waters—his abundance—never stop, since one who engages in Torah receives a good high reward, with which another person is not rewarded, meaning the substance, Bina. For this reason, this name, Issachar, who engaged in Torah, implies that Yesh Sachar [there is reward], and the reward of those who engage in Torah is substance, Bina.
713-714) “One should always praise one’s Master and then pray his prayer.” One whose heart is pure and wishes to pray his prayer, or is in trouble and cannot praise his Master, what is he?
Even though he cannot aim the heart and will, why should he diminish his Master’s praise? Rather, he will praise his Master even though he cannot aim, and then he shall pray his prayer. It is written, “A prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord, hear my singing, listen to my prayer.” “Hear a just cause, O Lord,” first, since he praised his Master. Afterwards, “Hear my singing, listen to my prayer.” One who can praise his Master and does not do so, it is written about him, “Even if you pray profusely, I do not hear.”
715) This is so because the lower ones in the world of Assiya cannot raise MAN directly to ZON de Atzilut, but only to the adjacent degree above. In turn, that degree raises higher, to the one adjacent to it from above, and so the MAN rises from degree to degree until the MAN reaches ZON de Atzilut. This is why it is said that upon the awakening below through the offering that the lower ones offer in the world of Assiya, above awakens, too, meaning that the degrees in the world of Yetzira awaken to raise the MAN that they received from Assiya to the world of Beria. And upon the awakening of the degrees of Beria above to the one above it, the world of Atzilut, its own adjacent superior awakens until the MAN reaches the Nukva and raises the MAN to ZA, and she shines from him. Lighting the candle means uniting the Nukva, who is called “a candle,” in ZA, to receive light from it. This is considered that she is lit by it.
716) How is this done? The smoke of the offering begins to rise—those holy forms appointed over the world of Assiya. They are established to arise to raise MAN, and they awaken to degrees above them in the world of Yetzira, in high craving, as it is written, “The young lions roar for prey.” Those in the world of Yetzira awaken to degrees above them in the world of Beria until the awakening reaches the place where they must light the candle, meaning until the king, ZA, wishes to unite with the queen, the Nukva.
717) What are MAN? In the craving below, lower waters rise, meaning MAN, to receive upper waters, MAD, from the degree atop them. This is so because lower waters, MAN, spring out only by an awakening of the desire of the lower one. At that time, the craving of the lower one and the upper one become attached, and lower waters spring out opposite the descending upper waters, the Zivug ends and the worlds are blessed, all the candles light up, and the upper ones and lower ones are in blessings.
717) Each lower degree is considered a female with respect to the degree above it. Thus, Assiya is considered a female with respect to the world of Yetzira, and Yetzira is considered a female with respect to the world of Beria. Similarly, the upper degree is considered a male with respect to the one below it, such as Yetzira being considered a male with respect to the world of Assiya and Beria is considered a male with respect to the world of Yetzira. This is so because the rule is that the giver is a male and the receiver is a female.
And since a degree cannot receive anything from a degree that is more than one degree above it, and receives only from its adjacent higher degree, it follows that each upper degree that gives is a male, and each lower degree that receives from it is a female. And through the craving, when each lower one craves to receive abundance from the one above, it raises MAN to it in a way that each lower one raises MAN to the one above it, adjacent to it, until it reaches Ein Sof. At that time, Ein Sof brings down abundance, MAD, and each upper degree gives the abundance that it received to the adjacent degree below it, since the MAD cascades from one degree to the next, through the lower ones in the world of Assiya.