The Rose 1) Rabbi Hizkiya began: “It is written, ‘As a rose among the thorns.’” What is a rose? It is the assembly of Israel, Malchut. There is a rose, and there is a rose. Just as a rose among the thorns has red and white, the assembly of Israel …
The Rose (Mirrors of the Sulam [Ladder)
The Rose (Mirrors of the Sulam [Ladder]) 1) The engraved and explicit Name was sown in forty-two letters of the work of creation. There are many numbers in the counting of the Sefirot. 1) The number ten: KHB HGT NHYM. 2) The number seven: HGT NHYM. 3) The number six, …
The Flower Buds
The Flower Buds 4) In the beginning, Rabbi Shimon started, “The flower buds have appeared in the land; the time of pruning has arrived, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” “The flower buds” are the work of creation. “Have appeared in the land” on the …
Who Created These
Mi Barah Eleh [Who Created These] 7) Beresheet [In the beginning]. Rabbi Elazar started, “Lift up your eyes on high and see who created these.” “Lift up your eyes,” to which place? To the place to which all look in anticipation—the opening of the eyes, Malchut of Rosh AA. There …
Who Created These of Elijah
Who Created These of Elijah 11) Rabbi Shimon said, “Elazar my son, cease talking, and you will discover the concealing of the uppermost secret that the people of the world do not know.” Rabbi Elazar went silent. Rabbi Shimon wept and said, “Elazar, what is ELEH [these]? If you say …
Mother Lends Her Clothes to Her Daughter
The Mother Lends Her Clothes to Her Daughter 16) Rabbi Shimon said, “Hence, the heaven and their host were created in MA, the Malchut, for it is written, ‘When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers.’” Previously, it was written, “O Lord, our Lord, how [MA] great is …
The Letters of Rav Hamnuna Saba
The Letters of Rav Hamnuna Saba 22) In the beginning. Rav Hamnuna Saba said, “We have found in the words Beresheet Barah Elokim Et [In the beginning God created the] an inverse order of letters. First, it writes Bet, and then Bet, Beresheet Barah, then it writes Aleph, and then …
Hochma [wisdom], on which the World Stands
The Hochma [Wisdom] on which the World Stands 40) Beresheet [In the beginning] means in Hochma, on which the world, ZA, stands, to enter the high, hidden secrets in the light of Bina. Here, six great, upper edges are engraved, VAK of Bina, from whom everything comes, and from whom …
Lock and Key
Lock and Key 41) Rabbi Hiya and Rabbi Yosi were walking along the way. When they arrived at a certain field, Rabbi Hiya said to Rabbi Yosi, “Your saying Barah Sheet, which is implied in Beresheet, is so indeed, since the six upper days, which are only VAK of Bina, …
BeHibaraam [When They Were Created] – BeAvraham [In Abraham]
BeHibaraam [When They Were Created] – BeAvraham [In Abraham] 45) Barah [created] is a hidden word that indicates that the key closes and does not open. And while the key closes with the word Barah, the world was not, it did not exist, and Tohu [chaos] was covering everything. While …
The Vision of Rabbi Hiya
The Vision of Rabbi Hiya 49) Rabbi Hiya fell to the ground, kissed the ground, and wept. He said, “Dust, dust, how obstinate you are? How insolent? All that is coveted by the eye withers in you; all the pillars of light in the world, you consume and grind. How …
You Are in Partnership with Me
You Are in Partnership with Me 61) Rabbi Shimon started, “I have put My words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to plant the heaven and establish the earth, and to say unto Zion, ‘You are My people’ [or ‘You are with Me].” One …
The Donkey Driver
The Donkey Driver 74) Rabbi Elazar went to see Rabbi Yosi, son of Rabbi Shimon, son of Lakunia, his father-in-law, and Rabbi Aba was with him. A man was driving their donkeys, meaning leading their donkeys. “Driving” means stinging, since it is an alias to the donkey driver because of …
Two Points
Two Points 120) Rabbi Hiya started, “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a good understanding for all who do them; His glory endures forever.” Should this verse not have said, “Fear of the Lord is the end of wisdom,” since fear of the Lord is Malchut, which …
On the Night of the Bride
Laila de Kalah [The Night of the Bride] 125) Rabbi Shimon was sitting and studying the Torah on the night when the bride, Malchut, unites with her husband. On that night, after which—on the day of Shavuot—the bride is to be with her husband under the Huppah [wedding canopy], all …
Heaven and Earth
Heaven and Earth 151) Rabbi Shimon opened and said, “In the beginning God created.” We should consider this verse. Anyone who says that there is another God will perish from the world, as it is written in Jeremiah, “Thus you shall say to them, ‘The gods that did not make …
Among All the Sages of the Nations of the World, There Are None Like You
Among All the Sages of the Nations of the World, There Are None Like You 161) Rabbi Elazar said, “It is written, ‘Who would not fear You, O King of the nations, for it is Your due?’” What kind of a praise is that? Rabbi Shimon told him, “Elazar, my …
Who Is This
Who Is This 169) Rabbi Elazar opened and said, “Who is it rising from the desert?” “Who is it” is the whole of two sanctities, two worlds, Bina and Malchut in one bonding and in one connection. “Rising” means that she is actually rising to be the holy of holies, …
Rejoicing in Holidays and Not Giving to the Poor
Rejoicing in Holidays and Not Giving to the Poor 174) Rabbi Shimon opened and said, “One who rejoices in holidays and does not give his share to the Creator, that evil-eyed, Satan, hates him, slanders him, removes him from the world, and causes him several troubles over troubles.” Explanation: There …
Torah and Prayer
Torah and Prayer 180) Rabbi Shimon opened and said, “It is written, ‘And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord.’ Come and see how great is the power of the Torah and how superior it is to everything. Anyone who engages in the Torah fears …
Rabbi Shimon’s Exit from the Cave
Rabbi Shimon’s Exit from the Cave 185) Rabbi Pinhas was regularly before Rabbi Rehumai, by the shore of the Sea of Galilee. A great and elderly man was Rabbi Rehumai, and his eyes grew weak. He said to Rabbi Pinhas, “Indeed, I heard that Yochai, our friend, has a gem, …
The Commandments of the Torah, the First Commandment
The Commandments of the Torah, the First Commandment 189) “In the beginning God created.” This is the very first commandment. This commandment is called “the fear of God,” and it is called Resheet [beginning], as in “The fear of the Lord is the Resheet [beginning] of wisdom.” It is also …
The Second Commandment
The Second Commandment 198) The second commandment is a commandment to which the commandment of fear clings and which it never leaves: it is love—that one should love one’s Master with whole love. And what is whole love? It is great love, as it is written, “Walk before Me and …
The Third Commandment
The Third Commandment 204) The third commandment is to know that there is a great and ruling God in the world, and to properly unify Him each day, in the upper VAK, HGT NHY of ZA, make them one unification in the six words of “Hear O Israel,” and aim …
The Fourth Commandment
The Fourth Commandment 208) The fourth commandment is to know that the Lord He is the God, as it is written, “Know today, and answer to your heart that the Lord He is the God.” The name God [Elokim] should be included in the name Lord [HaVaYaH], to know that …
The Fifth Commandment
The Fifth Commandment 215) The fifth commandment. It is written, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures.” There are three commandments in this verse: 1) engage in Torah, 2) engage in multiplication, 3) circumcise after eight days and remove the foreskin from there. One must engage in Torah, …
The Sixth Commandment
The Sixth Commandment 219) The sixth commandment is to engage in multiplication. Anyone who engages in multiplication causes that river, Yesod of ZA, to always be springing. Its waters do not cease, and the sea, Malchut, is filled on all sides. And new souls are renewed and come out of …
The Seventh Commandment
The Seventh Commandment 223) The seventh commandment is to circumcise after eight days and remove the filth of the foreskin. It is so because that animal, Malchut, is the eighth among all the degrees, when beginning from Bina, and that Nefesh, which flies away from her, must be seen before …
The Eighth Commandment
The Eighth Commandment 228) The eighth commandment is to love the proselyte who comes to be circumcised and be under the wings of the Shechina [Divinity]. She, Malchut, lets under her wings all those who separate themselves from the other, impure side, and draw near her, as it is written, …
The Ninth Commandment
The Ninth Commandment 233) The ninth commandment is to pardon the poor and give them prey. It is written, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” “Let us make man” in collaboration, for he consists of male and female. “In our image” means rich; “After our likeness” …
The Tenth Commandment
The Tenth Commandment 237) The tenth commandment is to wear Tefillin [phylacteries] and to complete himself in the upper form, as it is written, “And God created man in His own image.” It is also written, “Your head upon you is like the Carmel.” This is the upper Rosh [head], …
The Eleventh Commandment
The Eleventh Commandment 244) The eleventh commandment is to give tithing [10% of the produce, Maaser] from the land. There are two commandments here: to give tithing from the land, and to bring the first fruits of the tree. It is written about the tithing from the land that was …
The Twelfth Commandment
The Twelfth Commandment 245) The twelfth commandment is to bring the first fruit of the tree, as it is written, “And every tree which has fruit yielding seed.” Everything that befits Me is forbidden for you to eat. He permitted to them and gave them all of His tithing and …
The Thirteenth Commandment
The Thirteenth Commandment 246) The thirteenth commandment is to do redemption for his son, to tie him to life. There are two appointees, one over life and the other over death, standing over a person. When he redeems his son, he redeems him from the hand of the one appointed …
The Fourteenth Commandment
The Fourteenth Commandment 247) The fourteenth commandment is to keep the Sabbath day, which is the day of rest from the entire deed of creation. Two commandments are included here: to keep the Sabbath day, and to tie that day to its holiness, meaning to extend the Mochin of Hochma, …
General Explanation for All Fourteen Commandments and How They Divide into the Seven Days of Creation
General Explanation for All Fourteen Commandments and How They Are Divided into the Seven Days of Creation 1) The 613 commandments in the Torah are called deposits, as well as counsels. This is so because in all things there is the preparation for attainment, called “back,” and the attainment of …
Explanation of the Division of the Fourteen Commandments into Ten Utterances
Explanation of the Division of the Fourteen Commandments into Ten Utterances Once the fourteen commandments and the way they are divided into the seven days of creation have been clarified, let us clarify the order of their division in the ten utterances by which the world was created: First utterance: …