Kabbalah Library

1. The righteous Joseph sat twenty-two years that he did not see his father. For this reason, each of those ten tribes that sold Joseph sat twenty-two years, and according to the calculation, ten times twenty-two is two-hundred and twenty years for all of them. Ten years were reduced for them, which were subtracted by a judgment from above, since the ten holy tribes died in Egypt, and their death atones. This leaves two-hundred and ten years.

2. When they caused the iniquities and that Shabbat [Sabbath] was not observed properly, as it is written, “And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath,” meaning do not carry on yourselves a burden of iniquities, since the day of Shabbat was protecting you from them.

3. But they did not heed the prophet who warned them about the Shabbat, and a sword that avenges the vengeance of the covenant awakened against them. The covenant is Shabbat, as it is written, “to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant.” They also broke the covenant of circumcision, as it is written, “And the holy flesh has passed from you,” and they also broke the covenant of the righteous, the righteous Joseph, whom they sold.

4. Shabbat, the circumcision, and righteous are on the same degree. They are dependent on selling the righteous for money, that they sold the righteous Joseph. At that time, they began to be enslaved seven times over for their sins, and they were sentenced for seventy years in exile in Babylon for the iniquities of Shmita* and Yovel**, which depend on the great Shabbat, and a regular Shabbat. The Shmita is dependent on a regular Shabbat, Malchut, and the Yovel depends on the great Shabbat, Bina.

* Shmita: Remission of land cultivation every 7^th year.

** Yovel: 50^th year anniversary.

5. Afterwards they came to the holy land and settled in it for 420 years to repay for seventy Shmitot [pl. of Shmita], since seventy Shmitot are 490 years, which are seventy years of the exile in Babylon, and 420 years that they lived in the holy land.

The seventy years of Babylon are ten years for each of the seven days HGT NHYM that suckle from the seventh, Bina. Since they blemished the Yovel, they were forced to be exiled for ten years for each day, which are seventy, as it is written, “sevenfold for your sins.”

The great Shabbat, Bina, is called “seventh,” from below upward, since Remember and Keep are incorporated as one in Bina, since HGT NHY of ZA are Remember, and Malchut is Keep. When they are incorporated as one in Bina, Bina, contains all seven days within her.

Hence, those who blemished the Shmita were forced to be in exile ten years for each day in Bina, as it is written, “sevenfold for your sins,” and then they lived 420 years in the land thanks to their engagement in the Torah.

6. When the sin of unfounded hatred caused, the first unfounded hatred awakened, as it is written, “And they hated him,” the righteous Joseph, and then the Creator placed them in the hands of he who hates them unfounded hatred, Edom, as it is written about Edom, “Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the sword.”

7. And then He avenged against them through the count of the years that were missing, as it is written, “sevenfold for your sins.” When you count twenty-two years seven times for each of those ten who sold him, there will be 1,540.

8. Their outcry did not rise before Him. When the Creator executes judgment in the household of above, what is that judgment? He takes them through that river Dinor, and removes them from their governance, and appoints other governances of the rest of the nations. But it is written, “His servants are a blazing fire,” so how does the river Dinor [river of fire] harm them? There is fire that is harder than fire, and there is fire that quenches fire. Hence, although they themselves are fire, they are punished heavily in the river Dinor.

9. When a person approaches the Torah, who is called “good,” as it is written, “The law [Heb: Torah] of Your mouth is good,” then the Creator, who is called “good,” approaches, and then he comes closer to being righteous, who is called “good.”

When he is righteous, the Shechina [Divinity] is on him, teaching him high secrets in the Torah since the Shechina copulates only with the good, who is a righteous one, and righteous and justice, where justice is the Shechina, go together.

10. When the Creator created the world, Malchut, He sustained it and planted it on those six upper days, and the seventh that is on them, since thanks to the seventh, who is called “righteous,” Yesod, the upper ones and lower ones are nourished, namely the Sefirot of ZA and the Sefirot of Malchut; they exist on it, they are supported by it, and it is their foundation and root.

There are two states in Yesod. Yesod is called “sixth,” and it is called “seventh.” When it does not bestow upon Malchut, it is in Hassadim, and it is called “sixth,” as it is the sixth Sefira from Hesed downward.

During the coupling with Malchut that should complete her with Hochma, it is regarded as the seventh Sefira because it must awaken the first state of Malchut, for only in the vessels of the first state can Malchut receive Hochma. In the first state, Malchut is the fourth to the patriarchs, the fourth Sefira after HGT, and the three Sefirot NHY are after her. Thus, Yesod is the seventh Sefira from Hesed downward.

In this way, during the coupling, when it draws GAR, Yesod is called “seventh,” and not during the coupling, when it is only in Hassadim and Malchut is the seventh after the Yesod, Yesod is the sixth Sefira and is called “sixth.”

Also, during the coupling, when it draws GAR, which is seventh, it is regarded as above HGT NHY, since no Sefira from HGT NH can draw GAR except for Yesod. For this reason, it is considered that Yesod is in the place of GAR with respect to the six days. You find that the six days HGT NHY are below, and Yesod, the seventh, shines on them from above, drawing GAR for them.

The Creator created the world, Malchut, who is called the “bottom world,” since what Malchut receives is received in the bottom world, as well. When the Creator created the world, Malchut, He sustained it and planted it on those six upper days, where she receives from ZA, from HGT NHY that shine to Malchut, and from Yesod, who is called “seventh,” as during the coupling with Malchut, he is on HGT NHY.

At that time, the Yesod bestows GAR upon HGT NHY, where before they were only VAK. Thanks to the seventh, who is called “righteous,” thanks to the Yesod in the coupling, the upper ones and lower ones are nourished, meaning that HGT NHY of ZA are nourished by it, obtaining GAR through it, and the bottom HGT NHY in Malchut receive GAR from it.

They exist on it and are supported by it, and it is their foundation and root, since the six Sefirot of ZA, HGT NHY, have no persistence and support from GAR except through Yesod. This is why it became the upper one and the root of HGT NHY of ZA, and much more so to the Sefirot of Malchut.

11. It is written, “The eyes of all, break to you,” they break to the upper anointing oil that drips from the Moach [brain] that is more hidden than all that are hidden—HS of AA, illumination of GAR—to all, who is Yesod.

And then it is written, “And You give them their food in its time,” in Malchut, who is called “its time,” since when “all,” Yesod, awakens the queen, the assembly of Israel, Malchut, who is called “all of the Creator,” He has mercy on the world, and all the worlds are in gladness and delight from the illumination of GAR.

12. At that time, it is written, “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” This is the desire of desires, which comes down from the MS of AA to “all,” to Yesod. When “all” is blessed, all the worlds are blessed, as it is written, “The Lord is righteous in all,” and it is written, “The Lord is near to all.”

13. As He created this in the upper world with His holy name, ZA, so He created this in the lower world, where there are six true righteous, and a seventh one, as it is written, “God has also made one opposite the other,” equalizing the seven righteous in this world to the Sefirot of ZA, where just as in the Sefirot of ZA, Yesod is regarded as the seventh because of the Malchut that ascended and became a fourth to HGT, so it is below, in this world.

David is Malchut that ascended and became a fourth to HGT. At that time, righteous Joseph is regarded as the seventh Sefira, as in the Sefirot of ZA. As He created this in the upper world, so He created this in the lower world, six true righteous—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Moses, and Aaron—and one who is the seventh—Joseph.

14. When the iniquities caused, which repelled that “all,” who is called “righteous,” Yesod, from its place, meaning it was separated from Malchut, the Creator said, “I decreed that the lower world would be as the upper world,” that just as Yesod is the seventh in the upper world above HGT NHY, since it draws GAR for them, likewise, in this world, Joseph will be the seventh and will be above the tribes, HGT NH, superior to them and ruling over the earth, and all the people in the world will be blessed by him, like the upper Yesod of ZA when it is the seventh.

15. It is written, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring,” since in all the organs of the body, there is no one to bear fruits but this righteous, the Yesod [foundation] of the world. This is why he is called Joseph, who is Yesod, a fruitful bough, from the words “be fruitful and multiply.” And what does “a fruitful bough by a spring” mean? How is it related to the eye [“eye” and “spring” are the same word in Hebrew]?

16. As the wheel of the eye can exist only in the apple of the eye, in the black dot in the eye, Malchut, the fourth to HGT, so is Joseph.

Joseph contains that Malchut within him, and he is like the eye, to all those six colors that surround the apple of the eye. In the right eye there are three colors—white, red, green, HGT—that surround the apple of the eye, Malchut. In the left eye, there are three colors corresponding to NHY. He sustains them like the apple of the eye sustains the three on the right, HGT, and the three on the left, NHY.

So is Joseph toward the whole world, since the world stands on the six, and the seventh that is atop them, meaning only on Yesod, the superior over the six, who is the seventh Sefira.

17. The Creator called the righteous “Shabbat” [Sabbath], the “seventh day,” and rested in it, and placed all the blessings in it, to bless all the other days, since all six days are blessed by Shabbat, as it is written, “And He rested on the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day.” The day of Shabbat is righteous, meaning Yesod, the righteous Joseph, who is in the state of the seventh day.

18. The Creator said, “You desecrated the Shabbat, which is Joseph, which I had decreed to be a king over all the other days,” since Yesod, the seventh, is superior to all the days, from which come all the tribes, as it extends GAR to them. “And you had made him into a slave of slaves, for you sold him to Egypt. Therefore, you, too, will suffer from the same hard labor; you will serve the Egyptians.”

19. That righteous sat twenty-two years that he did not see his father. For this reason, they, too, sat in Egypt twenty-two years for each of the ten tribes that sold him, and according to the calculation, ten times twenty-two is 220 years for all the tribes. Take away from them ten years which the courthouse of above deducted for them thanks to the ten holy tribes who died in Egypt and their death atones, and 210 years are left, as it is written, “Go down there,” where Redu [go down] is 210 in Gematria.

20. Jacob said to them, “I ask you, please,” go down to exile and deduct those iniquities in the selling of Joseph, and the world will not perish by famine, since there is none among you by whom the Creator will nourish you, except through that righteous one that you sold,” as it is written, “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of all living things.” By whose hand? By “all,” who is righteous, as it is written, “the Lord is righteous in all.”

21. It is likewise below, where through the righteous, Joseph, there was salvation to the world in those seven years of famine. And because they denied the blessings from the seven upper degrees, the degrees of the other side awakened on them for their iniquities.

22. When Jacob, a complete man, went down to Egypt, all the tribes saw that the lower world is like the upper world, that the world is nourished through the righteous, Joseph, as it is written, “And Joseph sold to all the people of the land.”

23. What does “sold” mean? At first, he breaks from the upper world, as it is written, “The eyes of all look [Hebrew: break] to You,” and then he sells to the lower world.

24. Joseph is called “all,” as it is written, “And Joseph provided.” This is why the righteous Joseph, the upper Yesod, is called “all,” since he provides for the world, since provision comes from him to Malchut, and from Malchut to all the worlds. Kol [all] comes from the world Kalkalah [provision], as it is written, “From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel,” where Malchut, called “the stone of Israel,” receives the food from Joseph, the Yesod; this is why he is called “all.”

25. When this complete Jacob saw all this, and saw all those seven upper years, HGT NHYM, that they agreed that there would be famine in the world for the iniquities his sons had caused by selling that holy righteous one, and took him out of his place, separating Yesod from Malchut, he prayed to the Creator and removed five years from them.

26. What is the reason He deducted five years from the seven years of famine that Joseph said, plus five years without plowing or harvesting, and as soon as Jacob came to Egypt, the famine ended?

In those upper days, HGT NHYM, Jacob is gripped to the fifth Sefira, Tifferet, when counting from below upward, from Malchut. But in the two days above Tifferet, HG, to which his fathers are gripped, where Abraham is gripped to Hesed, and Isaac is gripped to Gevura, he did not have permission to revoke the flaw that his sons had caused in them.

For this reason, up to his own part, in the five Sefirot up to Tifferet, he canceled the decree of famine, and he has no authority over the two Sefirot HG above his part.

27. The righteous Joseph also did that, as it is written, “And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh.” These were the five who did not hate him, as it is written, “He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah,” and with Benjamin, they are five.

He said, “You righteous are worthy of standing in this breach that your brothers breached before Pharaoh. Pharaoh is the upper judgment that is poised to avenge the iniquities of the world. He will present them before Pharaoh, meaning put his five righteous brothers, who did not hate him, to protect before the upper judgment called Pharaoh.

28. When the days they were sentenced to dwell in exile had ended, the Creator awakened upon them with great mercy, and for those who enslaved them, He awakened with judgment and took them out from there.

29. When they reached Marah [Hebrew: bitterness], the quality of judgment stood before the Creator and said, “How will Israel come out of exile? After all, it is written in the Torah, which was concealed for two thousand years before the world was created, that they should be punished seven times over for their sins, and for that great breach that they breached and sinned by selling that holy righteous one.”

30. The Creator said to her, “This is the judgment, but I have a good gift in the holy Torah, and its name is Shabbat. When they observe it, it stands in that place to close the breach that they breached, since that righteous one, the seventh, is gripped in Shabbat, and is worthy of atoning for the iniquity.

31. It is written, “And he cried out to the Lord.” This is the quality of judgment, which stood and cried out before Him that they must be punished seven times over for their sins. “And the Lord showed him a tree,” meaning the Torah, of which it is written, “It is a tree of life for those who hold it.” “And cast into the water” is the evil waters that were poised to avenge them. At that time, “And the water became sweet,” since they saw in the Torah great healing for that sin, and this is the observance of Shabbat on which they were commanded then.

32. They were commanded in Marah, as it is written, “Observe the Sabbath day to sanctify it as the Lord your God had commanded you.” We learn, “as He commanded you at Marah.” The Creator said to them, “If you observe the seventh, that upper world, the quality of judgment will have no permission to slander you.

33. The Shabbat can have mercy on us, and the Creator will gather us from our exile. And if Israel observe two Shabbats properly, they will be redeemed immediately.

34. When the iniquities caused and the Shabbat was not observed, as the high prophet warned them, as it is written, “Thus said the Lord, ‘Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem, nor carry a burden’” of that sin of the desecration of Shabbat on yourselves.

35. If you observe the Shabbat, you will cause the persistence of the upper world and lower world, since the upper Shabbat, Yesod, which is the seventh, against which you sinned, its dwelling and its delights are only in the gates of the upper Jerusalem, which are called “gates of justice,” Malchut, and she is called a “bride,” who incorporates everything since Yesod is called “all,” and when Malchut is incorporated with him, she is called Kalah [bride, as well as female form of Kol (all)].

36. “If you observe it, you will cause Malchut in the land to grow stronger in My hand, David’s kingship, since she is called Malchut [kingdom/kingship], like the upper Malchut. This is why David, who is gripped to her, said, “Yours, Lord, is the kingdom,” with two letters Mem [in Hebrew], in order to incorporate his Malchut and unite it with the kingdom of heaven.

But if you do not obey and observe the Shabbat, and make it regular, it is written, “And I will set fire in her gates, and it will consume the halls of Jerusalem,” Jerusalem of below.

37. At that time, if they do not observe the Shabbat, that sword that avenges the vengeance of the covenant awakens, since they did not observe the holy covenant in three manners: 1) The righteous Joseph, whom they sold, who was gripped to the covenant and observed it, and because of it he is called “righteous.” 2) It is written, “And the holy flesh has passed from you,” which is the circumcision. 3) The Shabbat that they desecrated.

It is all in one place: Yesod.

38. Then, for the three crimes of Israel—which are the selling of Joseph, the blemish of the circumcision, and the desecration of Shabbat—they were sentenced to be outside the Land of Israel for seventy years, ten years for each day of HGT NHYM from which Yesod is included.

At the end of the seventy years, the Creator brought them out from there, and they came to the Land of Israel, and the Second Temple existed for 420 years thanks to the Torah that they engaged in, and with those holy commandments that they did properly.

39. When the 420 were concluded, the sin of unfounded hatred caused the awakening of the first unfounded hatred, as it is written, “And they hated him,” that righteous. Then the Creator placed them in the hands of the one who hates them unfounded hatred, in the hands of Edom, as it is written about Edom, “Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the sword.”

40. At that time, He avenged them through the count of the years that they deducted and flawed, as it is written, “sevenfold for your sins.” When you count twenty-two years that Joseph did not see his father because of their sin, seven times, as in, seven for your sins to each of those ten tribes that sold him, you will find 1540, that all this time the exile will be in the matter of “sevenfold for your sins.”

When the 1540 years are over, the redemption of Israel will awaken, like a morning that begins to shine bit-by-bit up to seventeen years that that righteous ascended on the degree of “good,” since good is seventeen in Gematria, as it is written, “Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers.”

This is so because then, in the seventeen years after 1540, it is appropriate to stand up to the quality of judgment, since the iniquities of the world have ended. And then it is written, “Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph a burning flame; but the house of Esau will be stubble—Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it.”

41. At that time, the Creator will awaken many goods upon Israel and avenge the affront of Israel from the nations, and the affront of the Torah that they burned by fire, and the blood of those who were slain for the sanctification of His name. At that time, Joseph will reconcile with his brothers, as it is written, “Ephraim will no longer envy Judah, nor will Judah afflict Ephraim.”

42. On the seventeenth of [the Hebrew month] Tammuz, the continual fire was revoked, and on the ninth of Av, the Temple was ruined. Merit is given to the worthy day, and fault to the faulty day. On the night of the ninth, the spies gave a bad name to the holy land, and raised their voices in weeping, and the weeping was set for all generations.

43. From the time when the continual fire has been revoked, which atoned for their iniquities, until the Temple was ruined, whether in the first time or in the second time, there were twenty-two days corresponding to those twenty-two years that that righteous one did not see the glory of his father. This is in order to show upper Hochma, for one depends on the other, and the ruin of the Temple depends on the selling of Joseph.

44. The friends commented that when the Temple was ruined, it was the end of Shabbat, and the end of the seventh [year of remission of land cultivation], and it was the watch of Yehoyariv, and the Levites were standing on podiums and citing psalms: “They gather together against the life of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood. But the Lord has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge. He has brought on them their own iniquity, and shall destroy them for their own wickedness.”

They did not finish saying “The Lord our God shall destroy them,” and the gentiles came and conquered them. Had they said “The Lord our God shall destroy them,” they would not have succeeded.

45. The ruin, which was at the end of Shabbat, implies great wisdom, since they had come out from the Shabbat, and the Shabbat was a healing to their plight. And the fact that it was at the end of the seventh implies that they sinned against the assembly of Israel, Malchut, who is called “seventh.” They sinned with the circumcision and did not observe the holy flesh, and the watch of Yehoyariv implies as it is written, “‘I will contend with you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will contend with your children’s children.’”

46. The Creator is destined to take them out from the exile, as it is written, “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation.”

47. Why did the Messiah come from Judah? Should he not have come from Joseph? Both of them, the Messiah son of Joseph and the Messiah son of David will come.

And because the Creator does not deny the reward of any being, the kingship was given to David, since he was the tenth of the righteous and seventh of the brothers. And so, Malchut in the earth is like the Malchut in the firmament, who is the seventh Sefira, if we begin the count from Keter, and seventh when we count from Hesed.