Kabbalah Library

7. “Oh land of buzzing wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia.” When the ‎Creator created the world and wished to reveal the depths out of the hidden, and light out of ‎darkness, they were incorporated in one another. For this reason, light came out of the darkness, and the ‎deep came out and appeared out of the hidden; one came out of the other. And from the ‎good, out came the bad; from mercy, out came judgment; one emerged from the other. Out of the good, out came the bad, and out of mercy, out came judgment, and all were incorporated with one another: the good inclination and the evil inclination, Israel and the rest of the nations, white and black, and in everything, each one was dependent on the other.

8. The whole world is seen only in a single connection, attached in its entanglement: the ‎quality of judgment and the quality of mercy, Malchut and Bina, were all are attached and ‎entangled in one another. For this reason, when the world was judged by the included ‎judgment, it was judged with mercy, with Malchut that is included in Bina. ‎Otherwise, the world would not have been able to exist even for a moment, as it is written, ‎‎“For when Your judgments are in the earth,” mercy, which are called ‎‎“judgments,” “the inhabitants of the world learned righteousness,” that they could receive ‎the just judgment, Malchut, due to the connection with the quality of mercy.

9a. When judgment hangs in the world, and justice, Malchut, is crowned in judgment, several winged ones awaken, corresponding to the litigants of harsh judgment, to rule the world. They spread their wings from this side and from that side to watch over the world. At that time, wings awaken, to spread over them and connect with the hard judgment. They roam the world to do harm, and then it is written, “Oh land of buzzing wings.”

When Malchut has risen and connected to Bina so the world could exist, wings came out, coverings and concealments, in Bina, too. There are two states of wings: from the side of Malchut and from the side of Bina. When judgment hangs in the world, the wings of Bina, of the quality of mercy, awaken toward the wings of the harsh judgment and rule instead of them. At that time, two states of wings come out: from Bina and from Malchut. They were incorporated together and watch over Malchut, who is called “a world.” Then the harsh judgments from Malchut of the quality of judgment are sweetened, since then the wings of the quality of mercy from Bina swallow and suck into them the wings of the quality of judgment from Malchut. At that time, the world is judged from the wings of the quality of mercy from Bina, and they roam the world to do harm, for the judgment that is done in the world is from the wings of Bina.

This is regarded as having two shadows in Malchut, who is called “earth”: from the wings of Bina and from the wings of Malchut. It is as it is written, “Oh land of buzzing wings,” which are two kinds of shadows from two kinds of wings. By this we can understand what is written, “Oh land,” since in the end, at that time, the land is in judgment, although in judgment that is sweetened by the quality of mercy of Bina. The difference is that repentance does not help with the harsh quality of judgment. Therefore, the world cannot persist. However, with judgment that is sweetened in mercy, if they repent, they will be rewarded with receiving the great lights of Bina, and therefore, the world will be able to persist.

9b. The people of the world are insolent, except for the true righteous ones. For this reason, everything is seemingly so. “He who comes to purify is aided.” He who comes to be defiled, it is written about him, “And you will be defiled by them.”

10. It is written about Eli, “Therefore, I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” It is not atoned for by sacrifice or offering, but it is atoned for by words of Torah. Why? It is because words of Torah are superior to all the offerings in the world, as it is written, “This is the law [Torah] of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, and the consecrations.” This indicates that the Torah is tantamount to all the offerings in the world. Anyone who engages in Torah, even if he has been sentenced with punishment from above, is more handsome than all the sacrifices and offerings, and that punishment is torn.

11. One is never purified except by words of Torah. For this reason, words of Torah do not absorb ‎impurity, since the Torah is poised to purify the impure. Also, there is healing in the Torah, as ‎it is written, “It shall be healing to your navel, and a potion to your bones.” There is purity in the ‎Torah, as it is written, “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.” “Enduring forever,” since it always stands in this purity, and never passes from it.

12. It is written, “The fear of the Lord is pure.” It is not written that the Torah is pure. It certainly refers to the Torah, since the Torah comes from the side of Gevura. This is why it is called “the fear of the Lord.” It is also written, “The beginning of wisdom [Hochma] is fear of the Lord.” Thus, Hochma is called “fear,” and it is written, “the fear of the Lord is pure.” Thus, the purification is in Hochma, in the Torah.

13. The Torah is called “holy,” as it is written, “for I the Lord am holy.” This is the Torah, who is the upper, holy name. Hence, one who engages in it is purified, and then sanctified, as it is written, “you will be holy.” “Will be” is a promise that through the Torah, you will be holy, as it is written, “And you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

14. The holiness of the Torah is holiness that transcends all the holies. The holiness of the upper, concealed wisdom, transcends all. There is no Torah without wisdom, and no wisdom without Torah. It is all in one degree, and it is all one. However, the Torah is in the upper wisdom and stands there, and the roots are planted in it from all sides.

15. It is written, “Sanctify yourselves and be holy.” A person who sanctifies himself from below is sanctified from above, as it is written, “You will be holy, for I the Lord am holy.”

16. The portion Kedoshim [Holy Ones] is the whole of the Torah; it is the seal of the ring of ‎truth. In this portion, sublime secrets of the Torah in the ten commandments are innovated, and in decrees, in ‎punishments, and in high commandments. When the friends arrived at that ‎portion, they were glad.

17. The portion Araiot [incest] and the portion Kedoshim are adjacent to each other, since one who is called from that incest is indeed made in holiness, for his parents sanctified themselves during intercourse. It is much more so if he, too, sanctifies himself with the sanctity of his master through his own work.

18. One who wants to be sanctified in the will of his master, should serve him only from midnight onward, or at midnight, for at that time, the Creator, ZA, is in the Garden of Eden, in Malchut, upper holiness awakens, and then is the time to be sanctified. This is so for the rest of the people. For wise disciples, who know the ways of Torah, midnight is their time to rise and engage in Torah, to bond with the assembly of Israel, Malchut, and praise the holy name, Malchut, and the holy king, ZA.

19. On Sabbath night, when the will of all is present, then is the coupling of wise disciples, to find the will of the Creator and of the assembly of Israel, ZA and Malchut, as it is written, “You are the children of the Lord your God.” These are called “holy,” as it is written, “You will be holy, for I the Lord am holy,” and as it is written, “He shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, who bears its fruit in its season.”

20. “Who, like Your nation, are one nation on the earth.” The Creator did not want all the nations of the world, but only Israel. He made them a single nation in the world, and He called them “one nation,” like His name. He decorated them with several decorations and several commandments with which to be decorated. Hence, He has given them the head Tefillin and the hand Tefillin, to decorate the man with them such as above, since the head Tefillin of above are Mochin of ZA, and the hand Tefillin of above are Mochin of Malchut, so there will be one wholeness in all, above and below.

21. When a man is decorated and sanctified with the Tefillin, he becomes complete and he is called “one.” He is called one only when he is complete, and one who is flawed is not called “one.” Hence, the Creator is called “one,” in the completeness of everything, the completeness of the patriarchs, HGT, and in the completeness of the assembly of Israel, Malchut. For this reason, Israel below are called “one,” since when a man wears Tefillin and is covered with the cover of the Talit [prayer shawl], he is decorated with holy decorations such as above, and he is called “one.”

22. For this reason, let one come and exert in the one, the Creator, who is one. He will exert in the one, which is ‎Israel, for the king exerts only in what is worthy of him. This is why it is written, “He is in ‎the one, and who will turn Him?” The Creator dwells and is present only in the one. “And He ‎is in the one,” as one who has been established in upper holiness to be one, in ‎Israel. Then He is in the one, and not in another nation.

23. A person is called “one” when there are male and female, and he is sanctified in the upper holiness and aims to be sanctified. When a person is in one coupling, male and female, and intends to be sanctified properly, he is complete and is called “one,” without a flaw.

24. For this reason, a man should please his wife at that time, to prepare her with him in one desire, and both shall aim for that thing together. When they are present together, everything is one, in body and in soul. They are one in soul, to adhere to each other in one desire. They are one in the body since a man who did not marry a woman is like a body that has been divided, where he is half a body, and his mate is half a body. When male and female unite together, they become one complete body. You find that they are one soul and one body, and the person is one. At that time, the Creator is in the one and deposits the holy spirit in that one, in what is born from them.

25. These are called “sons of the Creator.” And for this reason, it is written, “You shall be ‎holy for I the Lord am holy.” Happy are Israel for not placing this matter in another place, for ‎not wanting anything in return for their holiness, except to truly adhere to Him, to Him and to none other. Hence, “You shall be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy.”