Kabbalah Library

122) “He called for Esau” means he was included with harsh judgment, the quality of Esau. “And said, ‘Behold now, I am old, I do not know the day of my death.’” It is written, “Happy is the man whose strength is in You,” happy is the man who strengthens in the Creator and places his trust in Him.

123) We can interpret confidence as did Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who trusted the Creator to deliver them from the furnace. But he says it is not so, that if He does not deliver them and the Creator does not unite over them, His Name will not be sanctified in the eyes of everyone. But after they knew that they did not speak properly, they restated, “Whether He saves or does not save, you should know that we will not bow unto idols.”

Ezekiel alerted them, and they heard and believed him that the Creator will not unite over them and will not deliver them. And he told them that so they would give their souls and receive reward.

124) However, one should not trust and say, “The Creator will save me” or “The Creator will do this and that to me.” Rather, one should place one’s trust in the Creator to help him, as it should be when he exerts in the Mitzvot of the Torah and tries to walk in the path of truth. And when man comes to be purified, he is certainly assisted. In that, he should trust the Creator—that He will help him. He should place his trust in Him, and trust none other than Him.

One should establish one’s heart properly, so no alien thought will come in it. Rather, his heart will be as that rail that is built to pass through it to every place that is needed, to the right and to the left. This means that whether the Creator does him good or to the contrary, his heart will be ready and corrected to never question the Creator under any circumstances.

125) It is written, “Happy is the man whose strength is in You, in whose hearts there are roads,” and it is written, “The Lord will give strength to His people,” meaning Torah. “Whose strength is in Thee” means that one should engage in the Torah for the name of the Creator. The Shechina is called “Name” because anyone who engages in the Torah and does not exert for her name is better off not being created.

“In whose hearts there are roads,” as it is written, “Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, whose name is the Lord.” Extolling the rider of the deserts means that one should engage in the Torah with the aim to extol the Creator and make Him respected and important in the world.

He tells us the meaning of Torah Lishma [for her sake], which is highways in their hearts: to aim one’s heart so his engagement in the Torah will draw abundance of knowledge for him and for the whole world. Thus, the name of the Creator will grow in the world, as it is written, “For the earth shall be filled of the knowledge of the Lord.” Then the words “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth” will come true.

126) All of Jacob’s deeds were for the Creator’s name. This is why the Creator was always with him and the Shechina never parted from him. When Isaac called his son, Esau, Jacob was not there, so the Shechina alerted Rebecca, and Rebecca alerted Jacob.

127) If Esau were to be blessed at that time, Jacob would never rule and would always remain in exile. But it came from the Creator that Jacob would be blessed, and everything came to its place in peace.

It is written, “And Rebecca loved Jacob.” This is why she sent for Jacob and told him, “Behold, I heard your father speaking to Esau your brother.”

128) The time was Passover eve, the evil inclination had to be uprooted from the world, and the moon, meaning faith, the Nukva, had to reign. Hence, she made two stews.

129) This indicates that Jacob’s sons were destined to sacrifice two goats on Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement], one for the Lord and one for Azazel. Hence, Rebecca sacrificed two kids [young male goats], one for the degree above and one to subdue the degree of Esau so he would not dominate Jacob. And Isaac tasted and ate from both.

The perfection of the Mochin is the incorporation of the right and the left through the middle line. At that time, the Hassadim on the right are incorporated with the illumination of Hochma on the left, and the illumination of Hochma on the left is incorporated with the Hassadim on the right. And they are two stews, Hochma and Hassadim.

There is a great difference between the two on the right and the two on the left. In the right, they are both in holiness and they are Passover and Hagigah [“celebration,” a special offering made on festive days], which are sacrificed on Passover, which is the right line, when even the illumination of the left, the Passover, is in holiness. But on the left, only the Hassadim on the right are in holiness, while the illumination of the left is given to the Sitra Achra, and by that the Sitra Achra is subdued.

These are the two goats: Hatat and Azazel. On Yom Kippur, only the Hassadim on the right, which is the goat Hatat, are in holiness, but the illumination of the left, the goat to Azazel, is not in holiness.

The two kids that Rebecca made are two stews in the right line, right and left. As was said, that time was Passover eve, when both stews, right and left, are made in holiness. One is that the evil inclination should have been uprooted from the world by the illumination of Hochma on the left, opposite the offering of Passover, since the illumination of Hochma consumes and terminates the Sitra Achra from the world. And one is that the moon, faith, should have governed through the force of the illumination of Hassadim on the right, opposite the offering of Hagigah. This is so because after the Shechina—called “moon” and “faith”—obtains the Hassadim from the right, she has the strength to govern in the world.

The two kids that Rebecca made were considered the right and the left in the left line, for the sons of Jacob were destined to offer two goats on Yom Kippur, one to the Creator and one to Azazel. Right and left in the left, where the left is sent to the Sitra Achra, to Azazel, by which it is subdued.

One is for the degree of above, to draw the Hassadim that are above, in Bina. This is opposite the goat to Hatat, and one is in order to subdue the degree of Esau so he will not control Jacob, opposite the goat to Azazel, to subdue the Sitra Achra.

Yet, the illumination of the left that is here was not sent to the Sitra Achra like the Azazel. Rather, Isaac tasted from both of them and ate, even from the kid of the illumination of the left, since Isaac’s holiness is so sublime that he returned the left in the left to the degree of holiness, as well.

130) “And he brought him wine, and he drank.” The illumination of the left is called “wine.” This implies that he had served him the wine from a faraway place. Before the sentencing of the middle line, when its illumination is extended from above downward, it is considered intoxicating wine, from which all the judgments are extended. But after the middle line emerges, uniting the right and the left in one another, it is considered wine that delights God and people.

The middle line is called “far,” since it is the carrier of the screen of Hirik, which educes the level of VAK, which is far from GAR. This means that he brought the wine after the emergence of the middle line on the screen of Hirik, which is considered a remote place, and then it is corrected by it into wine that delights God and people, and there is no fear of the grip of the judgments.

“Wine that delights God and people” is to delight Isaac, who needs joy as joy is needed to delight that side of the Levites, the left side. This is so because since the judgments grip to the left side, there is sadness in it and all those who draw from it should be delighted—the Levites, as well as Isaac. This is why it is written, “He brought him wine, and he drank.”