Kabbalah Library

143) Leah had six sons and a girl, who are HGT NHYM. Rachel had two sons, two righteous, upper and lower. But where is the correction of the four sons of the maidservants? After all, the sons of Rachel and Leah already contain all the Sefirot. They are four knots, which are called posterior.

144) There are three knots on the right arm, Hesed, since the hand divides into three joints—the biceps, the forearm, and the palm—which connect through three knots. There is a knot in the middle, the biggest one, which is considered posterior because it bulges out of the body. Likewise, there is one middle knot among the three knots of the left arm. And likewise, there is one in the three knots in the right thigh. Also, there is one in the three knots in the left thigh. When everything is corrected, the four posterior knots enter into the Guf [body], as it is written, “And all their hinder parts were inward,” inside.

145) All the other knots, except four, are seen on the same plain as the organs of the body, while these four bulge outside the arms and the thighs to indicate to the sons of the maidservants. This is so because even though they are counted in the twelve tribes, they are not as important as the sons of Leah and the sons of Rachel, and this is why they bulge out of the arms and thighs.

The number twelve is the Merkava to draw illumination of Hochma, the illumination of three lines, in each of which are HB TM, which are HG NH in ZA, and four times three are twelve. This is why it is considered that there are three joints in each of the arms, which are HG, and in each of the thighs, which are NH. At their root, the three lines are extended from the three—Holam, Shuruk, Hirik—since there is a special diminution called sowing in each of them.

They are regarded as three sowings:

Holam, the ascent of Malchut to Bina, the bottom Hey to NE, when the degree remains in MI of Elokim and the letters ELEH fall to the degree below it, when the Yod entered the light of the degree and it became Avir, which is right line.

Shuruk, the descent of the bottom Hey from NE and the letters ELEH return to the letters MI, and the name Elokim appears. However, the light of Hochma is without Hesed and cannot shine. This is the left line.

Hirik—the screen de phase one—which elicits VAK without a Rosh, the ZA of that degree, which is the middle line. However, when they join one another through the middle line, Hirik that unites the Shuruk and the Holam, meaning right and left, everyone is complemented and shines as one. At that time, the three diminutions in them are regarded as knots by which the three lines connect to one another.

This is so because without the Shuruk, the Yod would not come out of the Avir, from the point of Holam, right line, and would remain in Hassadim without Hochma. And without the Hirik, which unites the Shuruk and the Holam in one another, the Shuruk would be unable to shine for lack of Hassadim. And through the decision of the screen of Hirik of uniting the Holam and Shuruk in one another, he also obtained the Rosh in the full measure that he caused to illuminate the Holam and the Shuruk. Thus, they are all tied to one another, and if some knot would be untied, the illumination of all of them would depart.

This is why they are regarded as three joints in a way that the three levels of the lights in them are regarded as three joints, in each of the arms and thighs, and the three screens in them tie the lights and complement them to shine as one. Also, they are regarded as three knots: Holam, Shuruk, and Hirik.

There are three knots in the right arm, but there is one knot in the middle, the biggest one. This is because the middle one, the Shuruk, has illumination of Hochma in it, and it is called Rav, meaning great. However, it is regarded as posterior, meaning that it does not shine at all because it cannot shine as long as it is without Hassadim.

When all three points, Holam, Shuruk, and Hirik join together, and the Holam and Shuruk join together through the level that comes out on the screen of Hirik, all three shine as one because the Shuruk, too, the middle knot that was in the posterior and did not shine has now returned into being anterior, meaning it shines once more because it is included in the Hassadim in the Holam, as it is written, “And all their hinder parts were inward,” concerning the middle knot, where each of the arms and thighs that were considered posterior and did not shine became anterior, illuminating once more through the unification of the middle line.

The two knots, Holam and Hirik, from which the sons of Rachel and Leah extend, were illuminating even prior to their unification in one another, albeit in VAK. Hence, after their unification in one another, they equalize with the organs of the body. But the middle knots, which were completely dark, without any light prior to the unification, remain bulging from the organs of the body even after their unification in one another, when they become anterior once more. This means that it is still apparent that they are posterior, indicating that they are regarded as the sons of the maidservants.

Although there are twelve of them, and without them there would not be GAR in the two lines that are extended from Holam and Hirik, they are not as important as the Holam and Hirik in the arms and thighs—the sons of Rachel and Leah—since they were completely dark before the unification and the judgment was on them.

146) Another interpretation: the sons of the maidservants are four knots from which all the other knots journey by their power, and those four carry them. Without them, there would be no GAR in the two knots—Holam and Shuruk—in each of the arms and thighs. Thus, all the ties journey and shine by the force of these four knots of the posterior. The four knots of the posterior carry the rest of the knots, which shine GAR in them. Without them, they would all fall into VAK. Thus, they carry all of them.