VaYakhel [And Moses Assembled]
22) The Creator has no contentment until He enters the Garden of Eden to play with the souls of the righteous.
51) When the Creator has a time of good will, to unite the upper Merkava with the lower Merkava so they are all one, a voice comes out from the place of the high holiness, heaven, ZA, and gathers all those holy ones below—the righteous in this world—and all the holy ministers—Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael—and all the upper camps, the angels, to all be ready together. It is written about it, “And Moses assembled,” meaning the heaven, ZA. It is also written, “The whole of the congregation of the children of Israel.” These are the 12 upper holy camps—the lower Merkava that Malchut rides—and they raise the Malchut for a Zivug with ZA.
71) When a person places his will for the work of his Master, that will first rises to the heart—the persistence and the basis of the entire body. Afterwards that good will rises over all the organs of the body, the will of all the organs of the body and the will of the heart join together, pulling over them the brightness of Divinity to dwell with them. And that person is the Creator’s portion, as it is written, “Take from among you a donation.” “From among you” is the extension, to take upon yourselves that donation, the Divinity, so that the person will be a portion of the Creator.
98-99) When the Creator created the world, He did not create it so that Israel would come and receive the Torah. The world was created with the Torah and stands on it, as it is written, “If My covenant be not day and night, I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.” The Torah is the long life in this world, and it is the length of life in the next world.
Anyone who exerts in the Torah is seemingly exerting in the palace of the Creator, for the upper palace of the Creator, Malchut, is Torah, that is, the oral Torah, Malchut. When a person engages in Torah, the Creator stands there and listens to his voice.
107-108) Each day a herald calls upon all the people in the world, “This matter is up to you,” as it is written, ‘Take from among you a donation to the Lord.’ And if you should say that the matter is hard for you, ‘Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring it.’”
Hence the meaning of the prayer: a person who fears his Master and aims his heart and will in a prayer corrects the upper correction, first by singing and praising that the upper angels say above. And in that order of praises that Israel say below, Malchut adorns herself in her corrections as a woman who adorns herself for her husband.
114-116) I heard this matter among the secrets of Rabbi Shimon and I was not given permission to disclose, except to you, the high pious ones. When Malchut grips people’s souls and spirits in one desire for Dvekut [adhesion], the man places his heart and will on that, and gives his soul in Dvekut with that desire, to include his soul in that Dvekut. If at that time his dedicating of his soul is accepted in the will of the souls [Nefashot, pl. of Nefesh] and spirits [Ruchot, pl. of Ruach] and souls [Neshamot, pl. of Neshama] that she grips, it is a man who was bundled in the bundle of life in this world and in the next world.
And while the King and queen, Torah and Mitzvot, must include all the sides above and below, and be crowned with Neshamot on all the sides, she is crowned in the Neshamot from above, and crowned in the Neshamot from below, of those who give her their souls [Neshamot]. If a person aims his heart and will to all that, and gives her his Nefesh from below willingly and in Dvekut, the Creator calls upon him peace below, such as the peace above, Yesod, who blesses the queen, and includes her and crowns her on all sides.
Likewise, the Creator calls this man Peace, as it is written, “And the Lord called him Shalom [peace].”
118) Rabbi Aba said, “Woe Rabbi Shimon, you are alive and I am already weeping for you. It is not over you that I am weeping, but I am weeping for the friends, and I am weeping for the world that will remain orphans after your departure from the world.” Rabbi Shimon is like the light of a candle that burns above and burns below. All the people of the world shine in that light that it lit below. Woe to the world when the light below departs and comes into the light of above. Who will shine the light of Torah for the world?
121) This concerns the prayer that one should pray before the Creator, which is one great work, more honored than the work of his Master. There is the work of the Creator that is in the work of the body, meaning the Mitzvot that depend on an act, and there is the work of the Creator that is more internal work—which is the most important—meaning Mitzvot that depend on speech and on the will of the heart.
123) A man’s prayer is the work of the Ruach [spirit], work from Behina Bet, which depends on the speech. It is in high secrets and people do not know that a man’s prayer breaches airs and breaches firmaments, opens doors and rises up.
150) Happy is a man who knows how to set up his prayer properly. In this prayer, in which the Creator is crowned, he waits until all the prayers of Israel have concluded ascending and are included in the complete prayer, and then all is as perfect as it should be above and below.
163) It is called “a storm” because it storms everything above and below and there is no one who can withstand it. It comes from the north, for it is written, “Out of the north the evil will break forth.” For itself, it is harsh Dinim of the Masach de Malchut de Midat ha Din. However, it comes from the north to draw Hochma from the left line, as do all the Klipot. It is so because there are several other Behinot outside the north, gripping to that stormy wind. Hence, it comes from the north, meaning received the Dinim of the north, as well.
183-184) When that lowermost point, Malchut, rises and appears, meaning when she receives Hochma—called “vision”—and is adorned in the upper Mochin, there is every joy above and below, and all the worlds are in joy. On that night of the Sabbath, that point expands in its lights and spreads its wings on the whole world, all the other rulers pass away, and there is watching over the world.
At that time the spirit of Neshama is added in Israel, on each and every one, and in that added Neshama they forget every sadness and wrath, and there is only joy above and below. When that spirit that came down and was added in the people of the world comes down, it bathes in the perfumes of the Garden of Eden, descends, and stays over the holy people. Happy are they when that spirit awakens.
225) “Blessed is the name of the Master of the world. Blessed be Your crown and Your place. May Your favor remain with Your people Israel forever; may the redemption of Your right be shown to Your people in Your Temple, and impart upon us the best of Your light, and accept our prayers with mercy. May it be Your will that You extend our lives with goodness, that I, Your servant, be numbered among the righteous, that You have mercy on me, protect me, all that is mine, and that is of Your people Israel.
“It is You who nourishes all and sustains all. You control everything. It is You who rules over kings, and the kingship is Yours. I am a servant of the Creator, and I bow before Him and before the glory of His law [Torah] at all times. Not in man do I put trust, nor on any children of God do I rely, only on God in heaven, who is the true God, whose law is true, whose prophets are true, and who executes abundant kindness and truth. In him do I trust, and to His glorious and holy name do I declare praises. May it be Your will that You open my heart with Your law, and that You give me male sons who fulfill Your wish. May You fulfill my heart’s wishes and the heart of Your entire people Israel for good, for life, and for peace. Amen.”
228) One who is reading in the Torah must aim his heart and will into those things that he is reading, for he is an emissary of his Master in words to announce to the whole nation, since he is similar to the upper one, like the Creator at the time of the giving of the Torah. Therefore, one who ascends to read in the Torah should first put matters in his house in order, and if he did not establish order, he will not read in the Torah. How do we know? From that word of the Creator before He sounded the Torah to the holy nation. It is written, “Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out.” Afterwards, it is written, “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom.’” Thus, before He sounded it to man, He set each word in itself, and so must every reader in the Torah do.
279-282) Rabbi Aba and the rest of the friends rose and said, “Happy are we that the Creator has brought this road before us.” Rabbi Aba said, “The Creator has provided me with this road in order to bond with you. Happy am I that I have been rewarded with this road.”
On the day when I went off, I saw a light splitting into three lights, which went before me and hid. I said, “I must have seen Divinity, happy am I. And now these three lights that I saw are you. You are lights and high illuminations to illuminate in this world and in the next world.
“Thus far, I did not know that all these hidden gems were in your possession. Once I saw that these words were said by the will of the commandment of your Master, I know that all the words rise on this day to the upper throne, which is Bina, and the minister of the faces, Matat, takes them and turns them into crowns for his Master. This day is crowned with 60 holy Merkavot [chariots/assemblies], opposite HGT NHY, in honor of the throne, Bina, by these words that were said here on this day.”
In the meantime, the sun had set. At midnight, they rose to engage in Torah. Rabbi Aba said, “Henceforth, we shall say things with which to crown the righteous in the Garden of Eden, for now is the time when the Creator and all the righteous in the Garden of Eden listen to the voices of the righteous in the earth.”
299) “In the middle of all the firmaments—over the land of Israel, in the middle of the world—there is a door called Gvilon.” The new Sium in the middle of the degree became an opening for the lower one, so it could rise and receive from the upper one. Under this opening there are 70 other openings below, through which to receive the 70 names in Malchut de Atzilut, the illumination of the name AB, the 70 ministers of the 70 nations. From that opening, a road goes up above until it reaches the upper throne because through there it is possible to ascend to Malchut de Atzilut.
304-309) 22 letters are inscribed and engraved in the firmament over the Garden of Eden. Each of them drips over the garden dew from the dew of above. From that dew, which is illumination of Hassadim, these souls bathe and are healed after they have bathed themselves in the river Dinur to be purified. The dew comes down only from the letters inscribed and engraved in that firmament because these letters are the whole of the Torah, extending from ZA de Atzilut, who is called Torah, as he was made of the fire and water of the Torah, the fire and water of ZA de Atzilut.
For this reason, they cast dew on all those who engage in Torah Lishma [for the sake of the Torah] in this world. These words are inscribed in the Garden of Eden and rise up to the firmament over the Garden of Eden, taking dew from those 22 letters that are there to nourish the soul, as it is written, “Let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew.”
In the middle of that firmament is one opening, opposite the opening of the palace above in Yetzira. In that opening, the souls fly out of the Garden of Eden above in a pillar that is nailed to the earth of the Garden of Eden, and reaches up to that opening.
The opening that was made in the middle of the firmament is the new Sium that was made in the middle of the degree of the Garden of Eden due to Malchut’s ascent to the place of Bina. Because of that Sium, half of the degree, Bina and TM, fell to the lower degree—the earth of the Garden of Eden. At the time of Gadlut, when Malchut returns to her place and Bina and TM rise up to their degree, to the firmament, they take the lower degree along with them, those souls that are in the earth of the Garden of Eden. It follows that the new Sium that was made in Bina has become an opening for the lower one through which to rise to the upper one.
And those Bina and TM that initially fell down to the earth of the Garden of Eden, by clinging to the degree of the earth of the Garden of Eden, it is considered that they were nailed to the soil of the garden while they themselves are considered a tall pillar that reaches up to that opening in the middle of the firmament. Through that pillar, the souls rise from the earth of the Garden of Eden to the firmament of the Garden of Eden. That is, at the time of Gadlut, when Bina and TM, which are considered a pillar, rise back to the firmament of the Garden of Eden, they also take with them the souls in the earth of the Garden of Eden, raising them to the firmament of the Garden of Eden.
Inside the firmament, in the opening in the middle of the firmament over the garden, three colors of light enter, included together. They are HBD, and they illuminate to the colors of the pillar that rose up there. At that time, that pillar sparkles and blazes in several blazing colors, and the righteous that rose with that pillar to the firmament receive the lights from the firmament through that pillar. Every hour, the righteous illuminate from that upper brightness, and this is applied always. However, each Sabbath and each beginning of a month, Divinity is revealed in that firmament more than on other times, and all the righteous come and bow to her.
Happy is he who has been rewarded with those garments. These garments are from good deeds that a man made in this world with the Mitzvot of the Torah, the Mitzvot that depend on actions. The soul stands in them in the lower Garden of Eden, and dresses in those honorable garments.
When the soul rises through the opening above, other high and honorable garments are provided to her, which are made by Mitzvot that depend on the will and the aim of the heart in the Torah and in the prayer. It is so because when that will rises, those who are crowned in it are crowned, a part of it remains for that person, and garments of light are made of it for the soul to dress in and rise. And although these garments of the soul in the lower Garden of Eden depend on an act, those that rise up to the firmament depend only on the will of the spirit, to stand among the angels, the holy spirits. This is what Rabbi Shimon learned from Elijah—the garments of below in the Garden of Eden of the earth depend on the action, the garments of above depend on the will and the aim of the spirit in the heart.
309) When the soul rises through the opening above, other high and honorable garments are provided to her, which are made by Mitzvot that depend on the will and the aim of the heart in the Torah and in the prayer. It is so because when that will rises, those who are crowned in it are crowned, a part of it remains for that person, and garments of light are made of it for the soul to dress in and rise. And although these garments of the soul in the lower Garden of Eden depend on an act, those that rise up to the firmament depend only on the will of the spirit, to stand among the angels, the holy spirits. This is what Rabbi Shimon learned from Elijah—the garments of below in the Garden of Eden of the earth depend on the action, the garments of above depend on the will and the aim of the spirit in the heart.
409) In the prayer, a man’s body and soul are corrected and perfected. A prayer is correcting corrections, which are corrected as one. There are four corrections: 1) correcting oneself to be completed, 2) correcting this world, 3) correcting the upper world in all the armies of heaven, 4) correcting the holy name in the holy Merkavot and in all the worlds, above and below.
417-419) There is love after he has been rewarded with fear. Once fear is present over a man’s head from the left, then love awakens, which is right, ZA with respect to the Hesed in him. One who worships out of love clings to a high place above, and clings to the Kedusha of the next world, Bina, since he rises to be crowned and to cling to the right side, Hesed de ZA, on which there is Bina.
Work that comes from the side of fear is respected but does not rise to cling above in ZA. When he worships out of love, he rises and crowns above and clings to the next world. This is a man who is summoned to the next world. Happy is he, for he dominates the place of fear because no one governs the degree of fear but love, the right, the unification of ZA and Malchut.
One who is worthy of the next world needs to unify the name of the Creator and unite the organs, ZON, and the upper degrees, AVI, upper and lower, including them all, and bringing all of them into Ein Sof, tying knots, as it is written, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”
425-428) The aim in the word “one” is to unite everything together from Malchut and above, to elevate the will, to tie everything in one knot, and to elevate the will with fear and love through Ein Sof. The will to ascend to Ein Sof will not leave all those degrees and organs but will elevate his will in all of them, not one of them missing, to attach them, so they will all be one knot in Ein Sof.
It is a unification in correction.
One who wishes to include all the secrets of unification in the word “one” is better. Hence, we prolong the “one,” [in the Shema reading] to elevate the will to extend from above downward, and to raise from below upwards so all will be one.
The word, “one” is above and below and the four directions of the world. Above and below, which are AVI and ZON, must be united, and the four directions of the world are the upper Merkava [assembly], HGTM de ZA above the Chazeh to include everything together in a single tie, one unification through Ein Sof.
437-438) “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and esteem His name.” It is written, “Then ... spoke,” meaning spoke above. That is, all the holy Merkavot and all the holy armies spoke to one another before the Creator.
Because these holy words that they said rise up, and several rush and carry them before the holy King, and become crowned in several crowns in these upper lights, and all spoke before the holy King. Who saw joys and who saw praises that rise in all those firmaments? When these words rise and the holy king looks at them and crowns in them, they rise and sit in His lap, and He plays with them. From there, from His lap, they rise to His head and become a crown. This is why the Torah said, “And I will be delighted each day.” It does not say, “was,” but “will be,” in future tense. That is, each time the upper words rise before Him.
438) However, the writing speaks of those righteous who were rewarded with repentance from love, when sins become merits. And the greater the transgression, the greater merit it became. It follows that when these righteous were pondering the beginning, saying, “It is vain to serve God,” an iniquity of which there is none worse, then these words of heresy have now become great merits due to the repentance from love that they have made. Now they are considered as though at that time those who fear the Lord spoke to one another these words of heresy, for they have become merits, and by this great inversion, great delight was made before the Creator.
463) Happy is a man who keeps the Mitzvot of his Master, who knows their secrets. We have no Mitzva in the Torah on which high secrets, lights, and sublime splendors do not hang. But people do not know and do not consider the glory of their Master. Happy are the righteous, who engage in the Torah. Happy are they in this world and in the next.
481-482) The incense ties a tie. It unites, illuminates light, and removes filth, and the letter Dalet becomes the letter Hey for prior to the Zivug with ZA, Malchut is Dalet, for being without Hassadim, she does not illuminate and she is poor. And when ZA mates with her, the Hochma in her dresses in Hassadim and she illuminates in all the perfection and becomes the letter Hey.
The incense unifies a unification of ZA with Malchut, thus causing the Dalet to become Hey. Through it, Hey connects with Vav, ZA. Vav rises and is crowned in the first Hey, Bina, to receive abundance for Malchut. And the first Hey, Bina, shines in the letter Yod, Hochma, to give to ZA, and all raise a desire to Ein Sof, and all— Hochma, Bina, ZA, and Malchut—become Yod-HeyVav-Hey, one high knot. All this is done by the incense.
Henceforth, since everything is tied in that tie, everything was crowned in Ein Sof, and the holy name shone and was crowned on all the sides, and the worlds were all in joy, the candles illuminated, and there were blessings and food in all the worlds. And all came in the incense.
484) Happy are Israel in this world and in the next world because they know how to correct the correction of above and below, as the correction from above to below should be corrected, until all is tied together in one tie, in that high tie, the incense, when there is a need to correct in the correction of the inscribed letters in which the Creator is read, HaVaYaH.
492) In the breaking of the vessels, and later through the sin of the tree of knowledge by the serpent’s seduction, 320 sparks of holiness dispersed and fell into the Klipot. Our whole work in Torah and Mitzvot is to sort out those sparks of holiness and return them to holiness, and then will be the end of correction, as it is written, “He will swallow up death forever.” However, we must sort out only 288 sparks of holiness, and we need not sort those last 32 sparks of holiness because with the sorting of the 288 sparks, they are sorted by themselves.
495-496) At that time, when all the camps arise over the land of the Galilee, they will all go, one to the portion of his fathers, and one to the portion of his fathers, as it is written, “And each of you shall return to his own property,” and they will recognize each other. The Creator is destined to clothe each one with embroidered garments, and they will all come and praise their Master in Jerusalem. Then multitudes will bond there, and Jerusalem shall spread to all sides, more than it had spread when they bonded there upon their return from the exile.
When they bond and praise their Master, the Creator will rejoice with them, as it is written, “And they will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion.” Subsequently, it is written, “And they will flow the bounty of the Lord,” each to his own portion and the portion of his fathers. And the portion of Israel will be until the high Rome, and there they will learn Torah. It is written, “You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,” and the portion of Israel will reach up to the great Rome, and there they learn Torah. That is, they will conquer it and return it to sanctity.