Kabbalah Library

71. “After these things, there was the word of the Lord to Abram.” Anyone who reads the Shema reading properly, his soul ascends to sail in the land of the living.

72a. A proper Shema reading: There are sixty known letters in the Shema reading of the night, and one should aim in them to know those who surround the throne, the angels who surround Malchut, who are sixty, as it is written, “Sixty mighty ones around it, from the mighty men of Israel.” Are there not seventy angels who surround Malchut? However, ten angels are appointed over executing judgment.

The seventy angels who surround Malchut are HGT NHYM, each of whom consists of ten. Those sixty angels correspond to HGT NHY. Ten angels correspond to Malchut, and it does not regard aiming corresponding to them since Malchut is called Elokim, judgment, as it is written, “God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods.” This implies Malchut, judgment. The Zohar does not interpret the sixty letters in the Shema reading in which we should aim.

72b. Rabbi Dostai went to see Rabbi Elazar Ben Arach. He came across Rabbi Haggai. Rabbi Haggai said to him, “A proper road is ahead of you; to whom are you going?” He said to him, “To see the face of the elder from of old, the one before whom the high ministers of the King, blessed be He, come down, Rabbi Elazar Ben Arach.”

73. “Would it please my lord that I would walk with him?” He said to him, “If you can understand, learn from what you will hear, so you can learn the internality of what is heard. Walk with me, and if not, turn back, so you are not punished.

He said to him, “Let my lord not worry about that, for I have already heard the matter of the high secret and I have looked in it, and understood the mind in it.”

74. “And what is the thing you heard?” He said to him, “I heard the meaning of the verse, ‘Behold the bed of Solomon’; it is the throne of the king that all of peace is his, Malchut, who is called the ‘throne.’

“Sixty mighty ones around it are sixty ministers, high and holy servants who serve the throne of the upper king. ‘From the mighty men of Israel,’ appointed under the great, holy governance of Michael, who protects Israel. And because they are under his hand, they are all ministers who protect Israel, as it is written, ‘from the mighty men of Israel.’”

75. Rabbi Dostai said to him, “You are more worthy than I am to go see the face of the elder from of old, Rabbi Elazar Ben Arach.” They went.

When they came to him and he saw them, he said to his servant, “Go and tell them, ‘A chair with three legs and one missing, what is it?’”

76. Rabbi Dostai heard, look at the matter for himself, and said to the servant, “Go and tell your master that it is not for no reason that David said, “The stone that the builders loathed has become the corner stone,” which is King David, Malchut, the fourth leg of the throne. And because they initially loathed him, the throne was with three legs at that time, with the fourth leg missing.”

77. The servant went and said to Rabbi Elazar Ben Arach the words of Rabbi Dostai. He said to him, “Well said, what you are saying, but go and tell him, where was David loathed, since he said, the stone that the builders loathed?”

78. Rabbi Dostai said to Rabbi Haggai, have you heard anything about that matter? He said to him, “I heard three things, one is an interpretation.” He said to him, “I did not come here to hear an interpretation; I heard the story of Yishai [Jesse] and his sons. But the crux of the matter, if you heard it, say it.”

79. “The crux of the matter are two things that I heard. The first matter is that my father said that on the day when the Temple was built, the Creator dealt great mercy to King David.

80. “This is so because that sin with Bat Sheva happened to him, and although the Creator pardoned him, when he departed from this world, the high angels would not let him through the gates of Jerusalem of above, and he was sitting outside.

81. “And on the day when the Temple was built, the Creator called Michael, the holy minister, and appointed him that he and sixty high, holy angels will be protecting Israel, and they surround the holy throne.

82. “He appointed Michael to let King David, the Messiah, through gates of Jerusalem of above, and to establish him together with the patriarchs to be a high and holy Merkava [chariot/structure], as it is written, ‘For all the good that the Lord had done to David His servant and to Israel His people,’ the good that He established founded him as the fourth leg of the holy Merkava together with the patriarchs.

“Before the Temple was built, it is written about him, ‘The stone that the builders loathed.’ Once the Temple was built, it is written about him, ‘has become the corner stone,’ since he became the fourth leg of the throne.

83. “The second matter is that it is written about Yehuda his old man, that his brothers loathed him, as it is written, ‘Yehuda [Judah] went down from his brothers,’ that they removed him from his pride, for previously, he was king over them, and now they have removed him from his kingship.

“The Creator did not appear before him from among all the sons of Jacob, that he would have the governance of Malchut in the world, except for Yehuda, as it is written, ‘The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.’ He alone, and not the rest of the sons of Jacob, and this is the matter that his father Jacob would say, ‘The scepter shall not depart from Judah.’

“Thus, the verse, ‘The stone that the builders loathed’ is written about Yehuda, the old man of David, whose brothers loathed him and whom the Creator made the corner stone.

84. “I also heard, ‘Why did the Creator see so as to give governance to Yehuda more than to his other brothers? However, the Creator looked in His great name, HaVaYaH, which was inscribed in the name of Yehuda, and because of it, He ordained him over all, and his governance will not stop.”

85. There are two states in Malchut: 1) left without right, which grips the left line of Bina, and from that state the judgments are extended. At that time, it is written, “The stone that the builders loathed.” 2) After she is diminished and built into being a Nukva to ZA, receiving from ZA and not from Bina, she is complete. That state is the construction of the Temple.

King David implies the upper Malchut before the Temple was built, which is the second state of Malchut. The high angels did not let him through the gates of Jerusalem of above since while being adhered to the first state of Malchut, he could not receive from Jerusalem of above, which is Malchut when she is face-to-face with ZA. At that time, he was in the state of the externality of Malchut, and he was sitting outside.

However, after the Temple was built, at which time Malchut was established in the second state, built to be the Nukva of ZA, all the wholeness was drawn from her. When the second state of Malchut was built, the construction of the Temple, David was established as the fourth leg of the throne together with the patriarchs, since HGT of ZA are called patriarchs, and they are the three legs of the upper throne of Bina, and Malchut was established into being adhered to them and to receive from them in order to bestow downward.

In a similar manner, it is implied in Yehuda, as well, since Yehuda, too, is a Merkava for the upper Malchut, as it is written, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah.” Hence, the two states of Malchut are implied in him, as well, in the letters Dalet Hey of Yehuda.

The first state of Malchut is implied in the letter Dalet in the name Yehuda, since then she is meager and poor, and cannot bestow. At that time, it is written about her, “The stone that the builders loathed.” When she is built in the second state, she is the letter Hey in the name Yehuda, and then she is filled with abundance.

The Creator looked in His great name, the name HaVaYaH with the letter Dalet, implying the first state, and with the bottom Hey, which implies the second state, which was written in the name of Yehuda, since Yehuda has the letters of HaVaYaH Dalet, and because of it, He ordained him over all.

“Over all” means over all the phases of the lights, both Hochma and Hassadim, since the vessels of the first state of Malchut remain in the second state because at that time, she receives illumination of Hochma in them. This is the matter of the Dalet that remains permanent in the name Yehuda, since vessels of the second state can only receive Hassadim. Thus, you find that because both states are implied in the name Yehuda, He ordained him over all: both Hochma and Hassadim.

Rabbi Elazar Ben Arach wanted to know if they had in them the two phases of Malchut together, if they had the second state of Malchut, as well as the vessels of the first state. Since he heard what are the secrets of King David and the name Yehuda, he recognized that they have the two phases in them: He calls the vessels of the first state—of which it is written, “The stone that the builders loathed”—”rejection.” And he calls the structure of the second state “wholeness.”

He said to them, “Since you have these two discernments in you, come to me and see and live, that you will attain what has never been revealed. Hochma is called “seeing,” and it is concealed in HS of AA. Hence, it is written about it, “For no man shall see me and live.”

But it is possible to see the Hochma that is revealed in Malchut. It is as it is written, “And you will see My back,” since Hochma is revealed only in vessels of the first state of Malchut, which connect to her second state in a manner of posterior. This is why it is written about it, “And you will see My back.”

“And you will see and live,” since you have the vessels of the first state of Malchut. For this reason, you can see, receive Hochma and live. “What has never been revealed,” for except in Malchut, Hochma is never revealed, since except for regarding her, it is written, “No man shall see Me and live.” “And you will see and live,” since you will be able to receive Hochma from Malchut, of whom it is written, “And you will see My back.” You will live because nothing will harm you.

87. Anyone who reads the Shema reading properly by his bed, his soul ascends to sail in the land of the living, Malchut, as it is written, “sixty mighty ones around her from the mighty men of Israel.”

88. There are sixty known letters in the Shema reading up to the word “and in your gates.” Over each letter, there is the glory of the holy Malchut of the upper ruler. Man’s work before Him should be until he aims and brings his view closer to the throne of the holy Malchut.

89. At that time, the minster of the face, Angel Matat, whose name is as the name of his lord, takes those letters and raises them with the souls of the righteous before the altar of glory of above.

90. The sixty angels that surround the throne, Malchut, take the sixty letters of the Shema reading. Each of them takes one letter, and they sing in them all night, as it is written, “Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.” “The priest shall take” is Matat. The basket is the sixty letters of the Shema reading of the night.

92. The High Priest, Angel Michael, came to receive the teaching of Rabbi Elazar and said, “My holy Rabbi, rise! Rise!” He said to him, “Pull me after you; we will run!”

He said to him, “Who are those who are with you?” He said to him, “They are the greatest of the generation.”

He said to him, “I have no permission to welcome them because the Creator told me to welcome you, and I will bring you before Him, as it is written, ‘The king has brought me into his chambers,’ and verily, holy one, all the hosts of heaven will rejoice and delight in you.”

93. This is what the Creator does with all the righteous, to Matat, Minister of the faces, to raise their souls up. He says to the soul, “Rise! Rise!” and the soul replies to him and says, “Pull me after you; we will run!” “The king has brought me into his chambers” because His wish is for me to enter the high chambers. “We will rejoice and delight in you,” as it is written, “The Hassidim [those who have the quality of Hesed] will rejoice in glory. “In glory” is Matat.