“Aaron is the right arm of Israel, as it is written, ‘And the Canaanite, king of Arad, heard.’” It is written in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar], “It means that when it is written, ‘The Canaanite, king of Arad … heard that Israel was coming by way of Atarim, and he fought against Israel and took some of them captive.’”

“By way of Atarim” means that Israel were as a person walking without an arm and supporting himself in every place. Atarim means places [in Hebrew]. And then, “He fought against Israel and took some of them captive.” Come and see, Aaron was the right arm of the body, which is Tifferet. For this reason, it is written, “Walking at the right side of Moses, the arm of his glory [Tifferet]. Who is he? It is Aaron, who is the right arm of Tifferet” (The Zohar).

It is known that Aaron is called “the queen’s best man.” In order to take upon themselves the burden of the kingdom of heaven, they needed the quality of Aaron, called Hesed [grace/mercy], as in “because he desires mercy.” This means that whatever situation one is in, he is content because the acceptance of the burden of Malchut is from the side of Hesed and not from the side of Hochma [wisdom], but above reason.

The vessels of bestowal, whether in mind or in heart, are considered “because he desires mercy,” when he has no need for any support or solid basis on which to build his kingship [Malchut]. Rather, without any support on any place or seeing, with this quality he goes and fights the war against the inclination.

At that time, the Sitra Achra [other side] cannot harm him because she has nowhere to grip in a place where he has support, and cancel his support, since he has no support anywhere. For this reason, the Sitra Achra cannot conquer any spots where he has acquired his support, since this discernment is called “the earth hangs on nothing.”

Hence, when they did not have the quality of Aaron, which is Hesed, but they rather came by way of Atarim, meaning that they came to Kedusha [holiness] through support in many places, for this reason, the Sitra Achra could fight against Israel, as it is written, “He fought against Israel and took some of them captive.”

But in the quality of Aaron, which is Hesed, there is no place, so there is no grip. This is called “the earth hangs,” meaning his quality of Malchut, “on nothing,” without any place.