Kabbalah Library

1. It is a commandment to discuss the judgment of one who gives a bad name, as it is written, “And they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman,” since he gave a bad name to a virgin of Israel. This is after the marriage, since he said, “I found your daughter was not a virgin.” Not every bad name is the same, since the spies that gave a bad name to the land were punished for it, and died, and were not rewarded with it, and a woman is soil in the land. For this reason, the spies were regarded as one who gives a bad name to a woman, as we learn, “Ester was the ground of the world.”

2. If you say a bad name about Ester, saying that she was defiled with Ahasuerus, and yet was rewarded with the holy spirit clothing in her, which is Malchut, as it is written, “And Ester wore royalty,” then you give Malchut [the kingship] a bad name. But the Creator said, “I am the Lord, this is My name, and I will not give My glory to another, and I will not give my praise to idols.” This is the Shechina [Divinity], who is called “name,” and “glory,” and “praise,” and “the holy spirit.” It is a name that clothed in Ester. Thus, how can you say that she was defiled with Ahasuerus?

3. But wise ones, woe to those who eat the straw and the stalks [of grain] of the Torah, whose Torah mixes good and bad like straws and stalks, mixing food and shells, and who does not know the secrets of the Torah, but the minor and grave in the Torah. The minor ones are the straw of the Torah, the waste, and the grave ones is wheat, in which there is food and waste, since Hitah [wheat] has the letters Het Hey [sin of the Lord], where Het is the waste and Hey is the good. It is the tree of knowledge of good and evil, as we learn, the tree of knowledge was wheat.

4. It is not the way of the king and queen to ride a donkey, the matter of the Torah, which is wheat and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but rather on horses, which are the secrets of the Torah, as it is written, “That You rode Your horses, Your chariots of salvation.” Malchut [kingship] is not to be slighted, so that the queen will ride a donkey, much less the king, as this is the place for the lay person and the slave, who is Matat, whose conduct is to ride a donkey.

For this reason, when Israel do not merit, it is written about the Messiah, “a poor man riding a donkey.” There, a poor man is a sign, Iruvin, Nidah, Yevamot [three tractates in the Mishna], whose acronym is ANI [poor]. The rest of the tractates are included in these, which implies that as long as one does not know the secrets of Torah, but the revealed Torah, he is poor in knowledge and rides a donkey, which is the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The Creator is not called “King” until He rides His horse, the assembly of Israel, Malchut, as it is written, “I have compared you, my love, to my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots,” which is all good without any bad at all.

5. When the Creator is outside His place, He is not a king. When He returns to His place, “And the Lord shall be king.” So is Israel, as we learn, “All of Israel are children of kings.” Like the father, so are the children not children of kings until they return to the Land of Israel.

Is the rider of the donkey a lay person? Although he is a lay person compared to his master, we learn, “Let not the blessing of the lay person be trifle in your eyes,” since the lay person is the servant Matat, and he is the one riding that donkey.

Adam HaRishon, who did not preserve the honor he was given, eating from the tree of knowledge, was lowered to eating together with his donkey, which is the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He asked the Creator, “Will I and my donkey eat from the same trough?” Issachar was rewarded with that donkey, to be called a “strong-boned ass.” Because he subdued the donkey under him, he was called a “strong-boned ass,” since he was lowered from the Gerem [bones/staircase] of ascents.

6. It is written about the queen, Malchut, “And His kingship rules over all,” ruling over the shells, as well. Hence, after Ester clothed in Malchut, as it is written, “And Ester wore royalty, Ester controlled Ahasuerus and his nation. It is written about them, “and kill their enemies.” Ahasuerus did not have intercourse with her although they were in the same house. She did not have intercourse with him, but rather like Joseph, of whom it is written, “and she left his garment with her.” It is not written “his clothing,” but “his garment,” as it is written, “traitors betrayed,” his arrows of externality, in which the shell has a grip.

7. For this reason, Ester comes from the word Seter [concealment], as it is written, “You are a hiding place for me, since the Shechina [Divinity] hid her from Ahasuerus and gave him a [female] demon instead of her, and Ester returned to the arm of Mordechai. Mordechai, who knew the explicit name and seventy tongues, did all that with wisdom. This is why one should speak with one’s wife prior to having intercourse with her, lest his wife has been replaced with a demon.

8. This is so in the woman, who is from the side of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; there is swapping in her into a demon. But if she is from the Shechina, she does not change, as it is written, “I the Lord do not change.” “I” is the Shechina, who has no fear of the shells, as it is written, “All those nations are nothing against Him.”

9. In the place where there is the Shechina, there are several Segulot [pl. of Segula (remedy/power)]. Hence, since the Shechina clothed in Ester, she was worthy of making with her several Segulot, like Sarah, whom the Creator guarded, and because the Shechina was with her, He guarded her from Pharaoh. Even her clothes and jewelry, the Creator made all of them Segulot, thanks to the Shechina who was with her.

For this reason, when Pharaoh came to touch her sandal, the angel struck him with the sandal. So it was with all her jewels; each jewel he would touch her, the jewel would strike him until that pure one parted from her and returned her to her husband.

10. If this was so with her jewels, it was much more so with one who touched her body, or even her finger, for the purpose of intercourse. At that time, it is written, “The foreigner who draws near shall be put to death,” since the Creator did not give him permission to approach her, as it is written, “I am the Lord; this is My name; and I will not give My glory to another.”

11. For this reason, not any giving of a bad name is the same. The spies, who gave a bad name to the Land of Israel, died. Those who give a bad name to the Shechina, are much more so, they are struck in their souls. This is so because those who gave a bad name to the land were afflicted in their bodies and they themselves died. However, one who gives a bad name to the Shechina, his soul is struck. This is for one who knows how to give a bad name to the Shechina, and whose eyes are open. However, one whose eyes are closed is not punished that much.

12. What we learn, that a raped [forced against her will] woman is permitted to her husband, clearly, the prohibition and permission in the Mishna speaks only concerning a man and a woman who is from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, a woman who is from the tree of life, her judgment is not like those from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, since the one who is from the tree of life is a righteous who is happy, and it is written about him, “No harm shall come to the righteous or to his righteous mate.” We learned this from Sarah in Pharaoh’s house, that he did not have permission to approach her.

13. One who is righteous and unhappy, who is from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, since evil is with him, there is not a righteous man who will not sin with this evil, since it is with him. A wicked who is happy is one in whom his evil inclination overcame the good inclination. He is happy since the good is under the authority of the evil, and because the evil controls the good, he is evil, for the one who prevails takes the name.

If the good prevails over the bad, he is called “a righteous who is unhappy,” for the evil is under his authority. If the evil prevails over the good, he is called “a wicked who is happy,” for the good is under its authority. And a wicked who is unhappy is another god, Sam. He is unhappy; it is his potion of death, worshiping stars and signs. It is written about him, “Evil shall slay the wicked.” And for this reason, a raped woman is not, unless there is a mixture of good and evil in that soul.

14. The Torah that was given, its tablets were broken. They are akin to virginity. As the virginity is a testimony to the integrity of the virgin, so the tablets that were given before the eyes of all of Israel were a testimony to the whole of the Torah. The Creator returned and gave it to Israel to keep it. The oral Torah is called “a rule for Moses from Sinai.” This is why Moses is called the “bridegroom of the Torah,” and the bridegroom of the Torah broke her virginity, which are the first tablets.

One who gives her a bad name and says that that Torah is not as the first, since her tablets broke, the Creator will say to him that He, the Creator, is the father of the girl, the father of the daughter, who is implied in the word Beresheet [In the beginning], since Beresheet has the letters of Bat Roshi [daughter of my head], implying that she is the king’s daughter. And then the Creator said, “And they shall spread the gown,” and a sheet from the book of Torah is opened, and they will see that it is written about it, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first … And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke.”

15. Elijah said to Moses, “Sinai, Sinai, so it was befitting for us to hear your words and be silent. But by the permission of the Lord and His Shechina, I wish to say a word to you, in your honor.”

16. Elijah said, “Moses, this bride of yours, Malchut, the Creator gave her to Abraham to nurture her for you. And because he kept her, she is called his daughter, as we learn, ‘Abraham had a daughter … and her name was in everything.’ He observed the whole Torah with her, and thanks to her, his house was open widely to deal Hesed [mercy/kindness] to all the people of the world.

17. Because he dealt Hesed with her, when Abraham’s sons were pawned due to their several iniquities in Egypt, the Creator said “Moses, go and deal Hesed to those who dealt Hesed with you, since your bride, Malchut, I have given her to him to nurture her with virtues and he nurtured her,” meaning extended to her the thirteen qualities of Rachamim [mercy], implied in three words, Vav-Hey-Vav Aleph-Nun-Yod Vav-Hey-Vav, which are the acronym Vav, in which the seventy-two names are included.

This is so because in the beginning of the name AB, it is the name Vav-Hey-Vav, in their middle, it is Aleph-Nun-Yod, and near their end is the second Vav-Hey-Vav. In Gematria, AB is as the number of Hesed, and with seventy-two names, Abraham would prevail over seventy-two nations, who are seventy nations, and Esau and Ishmael. And with your bride, Malchut, he had a Segula in seventy-two names once Malchut received them, and he triumphed over every nation and tongue.

18. For this reason, it is written, “Who caused His glorious arm,” which is Malchut, “to go at the right of Moses, who divided the waters before them.” You tore the sea for his sons in twelve tears, like the number Vav-Vav [6-6], and thanks to the Aleph in the filling of Vav, which implies illumination of Bina, You turned the sea into dry land. The Egyptians, who do not believe in the Vav, ZA, which is one in Gematria, drowned in it.

In the latter days, the descendants of Abraham will exist in Israel, as it is written, “As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders.” “Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right of Moses” will come true in you, dividing the water of Torah because of them, to make an everlasting name for You, and there you will gain your bride.

19. Because that daughter, Malchut, was given to Israel, as she is your law from the side of the left, a rule for Moses from Sinai, since Halacha [rule/law] has the letters of HaKalah [the bride], since from the side of the right, your Halacha is the letter Hey, Hey from the side of the name Abraham, and she is a Yod from the side of the name Isaac, and everything, Hey-Yod, is from the name Elokim [God], which are the Mochin of Elokim, VAK. However, without these Hey-Yod, Malchut is called “mute,” as she is without Mochin.

And you are Vav since Moses is ZA, Vav, the filling of Malchut and her wholeness, for the Vav completes her with Mochin of GAR. She is called a “full cup,” since at first, she was the throne of the Lord, where the Kes [throne] lacks a Vav [Kos (cup)], and the name Yod-Hey lacks the Vav-Hey. Finally, a cup full of blessing is Yod-Hey Vav-Hey, for the cup is filled and the name is filled.

20. Because Malchut was given by You to Israel, who are the middle pillar, which incorporates right and left, we should find out why she was given to them. She was given to Abraham because he extended to her the quality of Hesed, and You dealt Hesed with his children, as he dealt Hesed with You.

The Creator gave her to Isaac, to him and to his generations, to keep her from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and they made for her several hedges and cut for her several garments, which are garments of gold, with several verdicts. They were in disagreement and asked about those verdicts, to correct them with several answers, to decorate her with several decorations for Shabbat [Sabbath] and for good days, so she would be decorated for You when You come to redeem her in the final redemption, of which it is written, “What has been is.”

21. Because they caused you and did you good, you suffered several troubles for them, so the Messiah Son of Joseph would not be killed. It is written about him, “And a face of an ox to the left,” for he is of the descendants of Joseph, of whom it is written, “His glory is like a firstborn bull.” And in order for him and his descendants not to be defiled among the idol-worshippers, who because of the sin of Jeroboam, who worshiped idols, was to be defiled in the idol-worshipers, he and his descendants, since Jeroboam son of Nabat is from the descendants of Joseph, and because of him it is written about you, “And he is pierced by our iniquities,” and it is written, “And by His healing, we are healed.”

22. Because Israel consist of right and left, as they are from the middle line, where there, Your letters Hey Yod, the right and left of the Mochin of Malchut, are in completeness, You should unite with the Malchut between them. And because it is written about you, “for He gave the virgin of Israel a bad name,” it is therefore written about you, “And she will be to Him for a wife; he will not be able to send her away all his days.” When she is in exile, He cannot retire from her all His days.

23. But where is the bad name that you gave her? Once Malchut has been given to Israel, anyone who gives a bad name to Israel is as one who gives a bad name to Malchut. And the bad name was with what you said to the Creator, “Why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people,” Israel?

And the Creator said, “But you are the one who gave Israel a bad name for making the calf. Go, get down, for your people … have corrupted themselves.” Your people, who are indeed the mixed-multitude, which you have converted, they made the calf. And for this reason, because he gave the virgin of Israel a bad name, hence, “and she shall be his wife.”

24. Moses arose and kissed Elijah. He blessed him and said to him, “Blessed are you by the Creator and His Shechina, in each and every one of his qualities, and in his ten Sefirot, and in all His names, and in all the angels. And everyone answered and said, “Amen!” And the Creator and His Shechina acknowledged his blessing. “Elijah, arise, open your mouth in commandments with me, for you are my assistant from every side, for it is about you that it is written first, “Pinhas son of Elazar, son of Aaron the Priest,” for Pinhas is Elijah, son of Aaron, son of my brother, as it is written, “and a brother is born for adversity.”