Kabbalah Library

85. In this way, the Creator established the world and made it one body. He established the organs of the body around the heart, and the heart is in the middle of the whole body, with all the organs being nourished by the heart, which is the strength of all of them, and everything depends on it, and the heart connects and grips the upper brain that is above.

86. When the Creator created the world, He placed the ocean sea that surrounds the entire settled world. The settlement of all seventy nations surrounds Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is in the middle of the whole of the settlement, and surrounds the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount surrounds the courts of Israel.

The courts surround the Hall of Hewn Stones in terms of the importance, for there, the great Sanhedrin resides. There is no sitting in the courts except for the kings from the house of David. Nevertheless, they surround the Hall of Hewn Stones, which is where the Sanhedrin resides. There are seven phases here, one more important than the other, corresponding to seven Sefirot.

87. The Hall of Hewn Stones surrounds the altar, and the altar surrounds the house of the foyer, the foyer—the hall, and the hall—the house of the Holy of Holies, where the Shechina [Divinity] resides, the mercy seat, the Cherubim, and the ark. Here is the heart of all the earth and the world, and from here, all the places of the settlement are nourished, which are the organs of this body, of the world.

The heart, the Shechina, is nourished by the brain in the head, Malchut of Atzilut, and they unite with one another. It is written, “You have established a place for Your dwelling, Lord.” Likewise, in the world of Atzilut, the heart, the upper king, is ZA. The brain above, the distinguished and concealed brain, Mocha Stimaa of AA, the heart, receives from AA through AVI.

88. The upper sea, Malchut of Atzilut, is opposite it, since Malchut has the same three phases in her Merkava [structure/chariot], which are the organs of the body, and the heart in the middle of them, from which the organs of the body receive, and the brain in the head, from which the heart receives.

There is a sea above the sea in this world. As there is a sea in this world, there is also a sea, Malchut, in Atzilut. And a sea from a sea, for there is another sea, above the upper sea, which is Malchut, since Bina, too, is called a “sea.”

Now The Zohar explains the Merkava of Malchut in her three phases, where in each phase there are several phases. It says that River Dinur surrounds several camps of angels. Seventy phases of angels emerge corresponding to him, which are engraved with seven torches, which are the seven Sefirot HGT NHYM of the fire of Gevura, and each one consists of ten, and they guard the Shechina. They surround those who serve inside them, and encircle four Merkavot [pl. of Merkava], four angels—Michael, Gavriel, Uriel, Rephael—and each of them consists of three, and they carry the Malchut.

Thus far the body and the externality of Malchut. They surround that holy city that is lying on them, Malchut of Atzilut, the heart in them. However, she, too, is divided into several discernments.

89. Malchut herself is divided into several phases, and only the inner one in her is the heart, which receives from the brain, ZA. In Malchut, there are courts within courts, ZA of Malchut, and there is no sitting in the court that is there, except for the kings of the house of David, who are there and reside there. That is, the kings of the house of David are gripped there. And the great Sanhedrin are there in the Hall of Hewn Stones, in VAK of GAR of Malchut.

That court that is on them, GAR of GAR, serve only Malchut herself, and it is not extended from them to the lower ones. Judgments is drawn from there to the upper holy ones, whose judgments, which are poured on the heads of the wicked, they alone are attained by the upper, holy ones, as it is written, “And they shall go out and look upon the corpses of the people who have transgressed against Me.” Finally, it comes to the place of the Holy of Holies, the internality of the internality of Malchut, her Yesod of Gadlut [greatness/adulthood], in which there is everything, and there the heart is present and nourished from the upper brain, ZA, and they unite with one another.

90. It is likewise above, in Atzilut. The heart is the upper king, ZA. The brain is the honorable, hidden brain, AA, from which ZA receives through AVI, until everything is nourished from the upper brain of AA, which is the most hidden, and everything is connected to one another, since the heart in this world, the Holy of Holies, receives from the upper Malchut of Atzilut, the Merkava of Malchut of Atzilut receives from the Holy of Holies in Malchut herself, and the Holy of Holies in Malchut receives from ZA, and ZA receives through AVI from the Mocha Stimaa of AA. Thus, everyone receives from the Mocha Stimaa of AA, and everyone is connected to one another.

91. When the hidden Atik, Mocha Stimaa of AA, shines in the Moach, which is Abba, and the Moach shines to the heart, which is ZA, in the way of the pleasantness of the Lord, the way of Bina, called “pleasantness,” which is the power of the Creator, as it is written, “Let the power of my Lord be great, as You have spoken, saying ‘The Lord is patient,’” a force that comes from the holy Atik, which is the most hidden. “Let the power of my Lord be great,” so it will grow and multiply higher and higher and drip, and will be extended downward.

“As You have spoken, He is patient” whether toward the righteous or the wicked. “Saying,” that from here, all the last generations, forever and ever, will learn from here to say this at a time of trouble, and say this at a time of abundance, “The Lord is patient.”

92. The spies caused the truth to depart since they conducted themselves with falsehood, and to the extent that a person allots, he is allotted from above. Likewise, the rest of the qualities departed, since Moses could not say them, since there are only the thirteen qualities of mercy here, and not thirteen, since the spies caused it.