Kabbalah Library

93. They were saying what they could not say before. They went out the door and sat in the garden under the trees. They said, “Since we are here, and we have seen all this, if we die here, we are destined to come to the next world. They sat, and sleep fell upon them and they slept.

In the meanwhile, an appointee came and awoke them. He said to them, “Arise, go out into the orchard outside,” the external degree. They went outside. They saw those authors of the literal [Torah, Prophets, Writings] who were saying this verse where it is written, “In this desert they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.” “In this desert they shall come to a full end,” but in a different place, they will not, for they will be rewarded with the next world, and there they will die but not in a different place, for they will have the life of the next world. But this is in the bodies, for even in this world, they will die only in terms of the body, but not the souls, which will be as the dwellers of the garden, that the souls will be rewarded with the Garden of Eden.

94. The appointee said, “Go out, did you hear anything inside that degree?” They said, “We heard one voice saying, ‘He who stops shall be stopped; he who shortens shall be shortened; he who shortens shall be prolonged.” He said to them, “Do you know what it is?” They said, “No.”

95. “He who shortens shall be shortened” is he who shortens in the Amen and does not prolong it during rest, who says a brief Amen, his life in this world will be shortened. “He who shortens will be prolonged” means he who said “One” should hurry with the Aleph of the Ehad [one], and shorten its reading and not stall on this letter at all. One who does this, his life be prolonged.

96. He also said, “They are two, and one participates with them, and they are three.” When they are three, they are one. These are two names, HaVaYaH, HaVaYaH in the Shema Israel [Hear O Israel], “Our God” participates with them, and He is the seal of the ring, truth. When they join together, they are one, in one unification.

The three names in Hear O Israel are HBD. HaVaYaH [the Lord] our God are HB, and the HaVaYaH [the Lord] after them is Daat. Also, it is known that ZA, Daat, receives Hassadim from Abba, Hochma, and as long as Ima, the pleasantness of the Lord, does not participate with Abba, the Hassadim she receives from Abba in the VAK will be lacking the Rosh, unless Ima participates with Abba and ZA, and then the Hassadim become GAR. He is the seal of the ring, truth, where ZA receives the seal of the ring from Ima, the Mochin of GAR from Ima, which are called “truth,” as it is written, “Give truth to Jacob.” This is the seal of the ring from Ima, and before the participation of Ima, his Mochin are not called “truth.”

When they join together, they are one, in one unification, since they join in three lines, where AVI are right and left, and Daat decides between them, and then they are one, since the Daat unites them.

97. He also said, “They are two, and return to one.” When he reigns, he flies on the wings of the wind and roams in 200,000, and hides. These are the two Cherubim that the Creator would ride, and since the day when Joseph was concealed from his brothers, one was concealed, and one remained with Benjamin, as it is written, “He rode on a cherub and flew; He came swiftly on the wings of the wind.”

The two Cherubim are Matat and Sandalfon, which are a Merkava for the coupling of ZON of Atzilut. It is written about this, “You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth,” indicating that there is a coupling of ZON, and then the Creator dwells between the Cherubim. However, if there is no coupling of ZON, He does not ride the two Cherubim, Matat and Sandalfon, who are male and female, but only Sandalfon, and then it is written, “He rode upon a cherub,” only on one.

Two Cherubim that the Creator would ride, when He was dwelling between the Cherubim, when ZA was in a coupling with Malchut. Since the day Joseph became concealed from his brothers, when there is no coupling above, since Yesod, who is called Joseph, was concealed from his brothers and does not bestow upon them, and one remained with Benjamin, it is Sandalfon.

Joseph is the male Yesod; Benjamin is the Nukva in Yesod. With respect to the Cherubim, he is Sandalfon. At that time, ZA is devoid of GAR.

However, when there is a coupling in ZA and Malchut, and he clothes and sits on the two Cherubim, then he has GAR. When ZA rides on one Cherub, He is concealed in HB, which are 200,000, since from the side of Bina, they are two-hundred, and from the side of Hochma, they are one-thousand, and ZA is concealed in them and they are hidden in him, and he has no GAR, since he has GAR only when he rides both of them, during the coupling.

During the coupling, he roams in 200,000, meaning he has GAR. When there is no coupling, he hides, and the GAR disappear.

98. The appointee said to them, “Go out from here; you are righteous and you deserve a higher degree.” They went out. That appointee gave them a rose, Malchut in the lower Hochma, and they went out.

When they went out, the cave’s door was shut, and became completely invisible. They saw that eagle, the face of an eagle, which was descending from a tree and entering another cave. They smelled that rose, for illumination of Hochma is called “smell.” They entered there and found the eagle at the opening of the cave. He said to them, “Come in friends, true righteous, for I have never seen the joy of connection since the day I have been here, except in you.”

99. They went into a different orchard, a different degree, and the eagle was with them, who is the face of an eagle. When they came to those authors of the Mishnah, the eagle returned to the shape of a man, the face of a man, in illuminating clothes of honor, like them, and sat together with them.

He said to the seated, “Give glory to the authors of the Mishnah who have come here, for their master shows them here great wonders.” One of them told them, “Do you have a sign that you are worthy of being here?” They said, “Yes.” They took out two roses and smelled. By this, they implied Malchut and Bina incorporated together in two roses. They said, “Sit, heads of the seminary; sit, true righteous.” They held them and sat. At that time, they learned from them the secrets of the Torah.

100. They returned to the authors of the literal and found them saying the verse, “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the upper one. However, you shall die like men.’” “I said,” when you place doing before hearing, that “you are gods,” since you were taken after the evil inclination, you shall die like men, like the death of a man, which is lowered to the dust so that the evil inclination in the body will be eradicated, and that evil inclination is what dies and decays within him.

101. It is written, “But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this desert.” If only the evil inclination dies, what is “your carcasses,” in plural form? Is the evil inclination the same for all? The evil inclination consists of a male and a female. “Your carcasses” means the deficiencies in you.

The evil inclination is called a “deficiency” because it always comes down to the place of the deficiency in a person, and does not ascend. Holiness is increased and not decreased. In impurity, we always decrease and never increase. Hence, the evil inclination is called “your carcasses,” the deficiencies in you, as it is written, “who were behind in crossing the brook Besor.”

The end of the verse proves that it concerns the evil inclination, since it is written, “they will fall,” and not “you will fall.” Hence, as it is written, “In this desert they shall come to a full end,” which are the carcasses, the evil inclination. “And there they shall die,” since the Creator wishes to obliterate these carcasses from the world forever.

102. Rabbi Ilai said to them, “True righteous, come in and see, for you have been given permission to walk up to the place where the veil is spread; happy are you.” The friends arose and entered a certain place, where there were authors of legends, whose faces were shining like the sun. They said, “Who are they?” He said to them, “Authors of legends, who see the light of Torah each day as it should be.” They stood and heard some new things in the Torah, but they were not given permission to enter them.

103. They entered a different place and came into a different garden, and besides other things they saw, they saw graves being dug, and immediately they die, and then return to life in holy, illuminating bodies. These were the dead of the desert. They said, “What is that?” They were told, “They do this every day, and when they die, the evil filth that they received at first, immediately rots and they promptly stand in new and illuminating bodies, with these holy bodies that they had while standing by Mount Sinai, as you see them.”

They all stood by Mount Sinai without any dirt at all. Since they drew on themselves the evil inclination, they returned in different bodies, like the bodies they had before, foreign bodies, in which the filth of the serpent returned, as it is written, “And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by Mount Horeb.”

104. A voice awakened and said, “Go, gather. Behold Ahaliav standing in his place, and all those thrones in front of him.” In an instant, they all fled and they did not see anything. They remained alone under the trees of the garden. They saw another opening and entered there. They saw a hall, entered, and sat there. There were two youths there. They raised their eyes and saw a tabernacle there, embroidered in all the depictions and colors in the world, and on it was a slice of light that sparkled, at which the eyes could not bear to look. From there on, they saw nothing.

105. They lent their ears and heard a voice saying “Bezalel is a fourth to the upper lights; Joseph is the fourth in the lights of Adam HaRishon; is the ascent above, the most favored. It is written about him, ‘And the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin,’ in holiness. One who looks and sees, his eyes will go blind. One who does not look, he will be sober and see. When the tree of the eighteen bows itself, it will be upright and persist. If it does not bow itself, the evil serpent will eat it. One who enters with two Cherubim ahead, his will is done. One who scrutinizes is far from His will. The offering of a boy is complete to be accepted.” And that voice stopped.

106. These two youths said, “Is there a sign in you?” They said, “Yes.” They took out those two roses and smelled them. They said, “Sit until you hear two matters in ancient secrets, and they will always be a secret in you.” They said, “Yes.”

107. Rabbi Shimon said, “All those speakers and everything they saw, they wrote. When they came here, when they were told that the matters would be kept secret in them, they wrote about them, “I will keep my ways from committing a sin with my tongue.” I asked my father, “Father, in what were those two matters?” He replied to me, “My son, these two matters built worlds and destroyed worlds for those who used them.”

108. When they heard those two things, those youths said, “Go out, you have no permission to hear more.” One of the youths took out an apple and gave them. He said, “Smell this.” They smelled it and left. And from all that they saw, they forgot nothing. They went out.

109. An appointee came and told them, “Friends, Rabbi Ilai has sent me to you; wait for him here at the entrance to the cave, and he will come and let you know sublime matters you did not know. He will have permission to reveal to you the matters.” They went out with him and waited at the entrance to the cave, and repeated the words to one another from all that they saw and learned there.

110. In the meantime, Rabbi Ilai came and was shining like the sun. They told him, “You heard a new Torah [law].” He said to them, “Of course, and I have permission to tell you the matters.” They joined together at the entrance to the cave and sat. He said to them, “Happy are you that your master has shown you a similitude of the next world, and there is no fear and dread on you.” They replied to him, “Indeed, we have already forgotten the manner of humans, and we are in awe at all that we saw here in this mountain.”

111. He said to them, “You have seen these mountains; they are all heads of this people, of the dead of the desert. Now they have been rewarded with what they were not rewarded while they were alive. Those heads all gather at the beginning of months and on Sabbaths and on special days at the mountain of Aaron the priest, and awaken to him. There, they are renewed with the purity of the holy dew that comes down on Aaron’s head, and the anointing oil that comes down on him. And with him, everyone is rejuvenated with renewals of the love of the Holy King, until we call out love here.”

112. Aaron travels with everyone, and in concealment and in subtlety, they fly like eagles to the seminary of light, Moses’ seminary. They all stand outside and do not enter except for Aaron. Rather, they are called by name according to the hour, on Shabbat [Sabbath], and in the month.

113. There is no one who sees Moses, since that concealment on his face is spread over him, and seven clouds of honor surround him. Aaron stands within the veil, the partition, below Moses, and the veil separates between them and does not separate between them, for it is not a complete separation. All the heads of the seminaries are outside the veil, outside that curtain, which stops completely, and all the rest of the sages are outside those seven clouds that surround him. To the extent of innovations of illuminations in the Torah that shines, so these clouds shine.

114. They became refined in the subtlety of the light until Moses’ concealment became visible to them, and out of that concealment, they saw a light that shone more than all the lights in the world. That concealment is Moses’ face, since his face is not seen at all, and there is no one to see them besides that light that emerges from the concealment, behind all those clouds.

115. Moses said the matter to Aaron in concealment. He did not interpret it, and Aaron interpreted it to the heads of the seminaries in all those fountains, the degrees that were blocked from Joshua and from all of Israel when it was time for Joshua to lead the generation, that three-hundred laws and seven-hundred doubts were blocked for him. And now, Moses returned them to them with several wonders and origins and fountains and brooks that spring from everything.

116. All the righteous women of that generation of the desert, too, come to Miriam in these times. They all ascend to her like pillars of smoke out of that desert, and that day is called the “day of joy.”

On Sabbath nights and on good days, all the women come to Miriam and engage in exertion to know the master of the world. The generation of the desert is more fortunate than all the generations in the world. They exit Moses’ seminary and fly to the seminary of the firmament, the seminary of Matat. And those worthy ones fly to the upper seminary, the seminary of the Creator. It is written about that generation, “Happy is the people that it is so to it; happy is the people that the Lord is its God.”