Love
May He Kiss Me with the Kisses of His Mouth
Teruma [Donation]
371) Why made King Solomon, who brought words of love between the upper world, Zeir Anpin, and the lower world, Malchut, and the beginning of the praise of the improvement of love that he introduced between them, “May he kiss me.” Indeed, there is love of Dvekut [adhesion] of spirit to spirit only in a kiss, and a kiss on the mouth, the outlet of the spirit and its outlet. When they kiss each other, these spirits cleave to one another and become one, and then it is one love.
372) The kiss of love spreads to the four directions, and the four directions cleave together, and they are inside the faith, Malchut. And the four spirits rise by four letters, which are the names upon which the holy name depends, and upon which the upper and lower depend. The praise of the Song of Songs depends on them, and they are the four letters of Ahava [“love, ”Aleph-Hey-Bet-Hey]. They are the upper Merkava [chariot/assembly], HGTM (Hesed and Gevura, Tifferet and Malchut), and they are bonding and Dvekut,and the wholeness of everything.
See Life with the Woman Whom You Love
Miketz [At the End]
70) “See life with the woman whom you love.” This verse is a sublime secret. “Enjoy life” is life of the next world, for happy is the man who is rewarded with it, as it should be.
71) “With the woman whom you love” is the assembly of Israel, which is the Nukva, since it is about her that love is written, as it is written, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” When? When the right side clings to her, as it is written, “Therefore with mercy have I drawn you,” and mercy [Hesed] is the right side.
Hall of Love
VaEtchanan [I Pleaded]
145) The righteous have several sections above sections in that world. The highest among those sections is for those to whom love is their Master is connected, since their section ties to the palace that rises above all because by that, the Creator is enriched with love.
146) This palace, the highest of all, is called “love,” and everything stands on love, as it is written, “Many waters cannot quench the love.” Everything stands with love because the holy name, HaVaYaH, is so. The upper tip, Keter of Yod of HaVaYaH, Hochma, never parts from it because the Keter is on it with love, and they never part from one another. Likewise is the Hey of HaVaYaH, as it is written, “And a river, Bina, comes out of Eden, Hochma.” Bina always comes out of Hochma, and they forever cling with love.
147) When Vav-Hey,Zeir Anpin and Malchut, cling to one another, they cling together in love, the groom with the bride, whose way is always in love. It follows that Yod with Hey, Hey with Vav, and Vav with the last Hey always connect to one another with love, and everything is called “love.” Hence, one who loves the King becomes tied to that love, and for this reason, “Love the Lord your God.”
Love Is the Whole of the Gratitude
VaEtchanan [I Pleaded]
138) “And you shall love the Lord your God.” “And you shall love” means that one should connect to Him with sublime love, that any work that one should do for the Creator should be done with love, as there is no work like the love of the Creator. These words, love, are the whole of the Torah, since the ten commandments in the Torah are included here.
139) There is nothing more favorable in the eyes of the Creator than one who loves Him properly, as it is written, “With all your heart.” What does “With all” mean? It should have said “With all your heart,” as well as “With all your soul,” and “With all your might”; what is “With all your heart”? It comes to include both hearts—one good and one bad. “With all your soul” means with two souls—one good and one bad. “With all your might” means whether one comes into wealth by inheritance or whether he has earned it.
140) One who loves the Creator is crowned with Hesed [grace/mercy] from all sides. He does Hesed to all and has no concern for his own body or wealth. From where do we know that? From Abraham, who had no mercy on his heart, his soul, and his wealth because of his love for his Master.
141) “On his heart” means that Abraham did not look after his own will for his love for his Master. “On his soul” means that he had no mercy for his son and his wife for his love for his Master. “On his wealth” means that he stood at a crossroads and offered food to the whole world. This is the reason why he was crowned with a crown of the Sefira Hesed, as it is written, “Mercy to Abraham.”
One who is tied with the love of his Master is rewarded with it, and moreover, all the worlds are blessed for him. This is the meaning of what is written, “And Your pious ones shall bless You.” Do not pronounce it “Shall bless You,” but “Shall bless Koh, ” since the pious ones, those who have been rewarded with the Sefira of Hesed, will bless Divinity, who is called Koh. Thus, even Divinity is blessed because of them.
Love Is as Strong as Death; Jealousy Is as Harsh as the Netherworld
VaYechi [Jacob Lived]
730) “Set me as a seal upon your heart… its flashes are flashes of fire.” The assembly of Israel, Nukva, has complete desire and craving for the Creator only through the souls of the righteous, who awaken the springing of the lower water in the Nukva, opposite the upper water of ZA, which raise MAN to the Nukva. This is so because at that time, the complete desire and craving are in adhesion, to bear fruits.
731) And once ZON are clung to one another and she receives a desire for ZA, she says, “Set me as a seal upon thy heart.” It is the conduct of a seal that once it is attached to a place, it leaves its imprint there although it is removed from there. Thus, she does not move from him, and all of his impression and form remain there. Thus said the assembly of Israel, the Nukva: “Behold, I have clung unto you. And even though I will depart you and go into exile, set me as a seal upon your heart, so that my whole shape will remain in you,” like a seal that leaves its whole shape in the place where it had been attached.
732) “For love is as strong as death.” It is as strong as the separation of the spirit from the body. When a person’s time to depart the world arrives, and he has seen what he has seen, the spirit goes to all the organs in the body and raises its waves, as though sailing in a ship at sea without oars, futilely rising and falling, coming and seeking to bid farewell from all the organs of the body. There is nothing harder than the day when the spirit departs the body. Such is the power of the love of the assembly of Israel to the Creator, as the power of death at the time when the spirit wishes to depart the body.
733) “Jealousy is as harsh as the netherworld.” Any person who loves, and jealousy is not tied to it, his love is not love, since jealousy completes the love. From this we learn that a man must be envious for his wife, so he will connect with her in complete love, since as a result, he does not look at another woman. “Jealousy is as harsh as the netherworld.” As the netherworld is harsh in the eyes of the wicked—to go down it, jealousy is harsh in the eyes of the envious lover—to part from the love.
734) When the wicked are brought down to the netherworld, they are told why they are being brought down, and it is harsh for them. Thus, one who is envious demands for sins and thinks how many suspicious deeds she has done, and then a tie of love is tied in him.
735) “Its flashes are flashes of fire, the flame of the Lord.” “The flame of the Lord” is a burning flame that emerges from the Shofar [a ram’s horn], YesodIma, called Koh [Yod-Hey], which has awakened and burns. It is the left line of Ima, as it is written, “Let his left be under my head.” This burns the flame of love of the assembly of Israel, Divinity, for the Creator.
736) For this reason, much water will not be able to quench the love, since when the right—water, Hesed—comes, it adds to the burning of the love and does not quench the flame of the left, as it is written, “And his right shall embrace me.” This is so because during the illumination of Hochma in the left line of Ima to the Nukva, it is a burning fire, as it is without Hassadim. And when the right line comes with its Hassadim, called “water,” to quench the fire, it does not quench the illumination of Hochma by that. On the contrary, it adds and complements her illumination because it clothes the Hochma with Hassadim, and the Hochma shines in complete perfection.
739) In all the places, the male chases the Nukva and awakens the love toward her. But here it turns out that she awakens the love and chases him, as it is written, “Set me as a seal upon your heart.” Usually, however, it is not to the Nukva’s credit to chase the male. Indeed, this is an unclear matter and a sublime thing, hidden in the treasures of the King.