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, impart upon the Torah, ZA, and not more. The others, GAR of Bina, are hidden.”

Explanation: The Torah is ZA. The six upper days are VAK of Bina, who are above ZA. He says that for this reason Barah Sheet was implied in the word Beresheet, since Beresheet implies to Bina that returned to being Hochma in order to bestow upon ZA. And because ZA is not receiving GAR of Hochma from her, but only VAK of Hochma, the letters Barah Sheet are implied in this Hochma in Beresheet, indicating that ZA receives from her only VAK of Hochma. But the others, GAR of Bina, are hidden because GAR of the Hochma remain hidden for ZA and he does not attain them.

It is known that Atik was established in the second restriction, who raised the bottom Hey to his Nikvey Eynaim, to emanate upon Partzuf AA. Hence, Keter was divided into two halves, where GE remained in Nukva of Atik, and half of the bottom Keter, AHP, was established as Partzuf AA. It is considered that the bottom Hey is operating NE in Atik, and Yod-Hey-Vav in AHP, which are AA. This is so because the bottom Hey of HaVaYaH is missing in AA, hence, there are only the first nine in AA, lacking Malchut, and only Ateret Yesod of ZA complements him into ten Sefirot.

Also, Malchut was hidden in NE of Atik, and all the Partzufim of Atzilut were imprinted from them. The Partzufim themselves were divided into two halves, with GE apart and AHP apart, since Bina was divided into two Partzufim, where GE in her were set up as upper AVI, and AHP in her as YESHSUT.

Thus, the bottom Hey is in NE of AVI and Yod-Hey-Vav without the bottom Hey are in YESHSUT. They lack the Malchut because their Malchut remained in NE of upper AVI, as in Atik and AA. Also, GE were established as the great ZON in ZON, and AHP in the small ZON, while Malchut remained the great NE of ZON, and the small ZON have only the first nine, without Malchut, with only Ateret Yesod complementing their Malchut, as in Atik and AA. Thus, as the Keter was divided into two halves—GAR and ZAT—Bina and ZON were divided, too: the bottom Hey remained in the GAR of each, and in the ZAT there are only Yod-Hey-Vav, without the bottom Hey, and only Ateret Yesod of Malchut complements them instead of Malchut.

Therefore, the upper half of each degree remains unknown, like Partzuf Atik, where the bottom Hey does not descend from their NE in Gadlut, as well. This is so because although in Gadlut, they bring back the AHP of the vessels to them that were missing, they still do not extend GAR of lights due to the bottom Hey, on which there was the first restriction, is hidden in them to not receive Hochma. Hence, they always remain in light of Hassadim, pure air. However, only the bottom half of each degree extends the GAR of lights at the time of Gadlut, when the Yod comes out of their Avir [air] and they return to being light of Hochma and GAR.

Because of it, it is considered that the Partzufim of GAR that extend in the five Partzufim of Atzilut are regarded as merely VAK of Hochma and remain deficient of GAR of Hochma. This is so because the GAR of each Partzuf do not receive Hochma, but VAK of each Partzuf. For this reason, there is only VAK of Hochma in these Mochin.

It was said that six upper days impart upon the Torah, ZA, and not more. ZA has only six days, VAK of Mochin, from the upper Mochin. But the others, GAR of Bina, are hidden. GAR of Mochin are concealed; they are hidden even in the Partzufim above him, since only the VAK of the upper Partzufim have Mochin.

42) But in the essay Beresheet, it was said that that hidden, holy one engraved a carving in his intestines, in Bina, of one hidden one, the Nukva of Atik, who is dotted in the imbedded dot, the point of Malchut of the first restriction, which rose to Bina and took AHP of AA out of his Rosh. That carving that was engraved in Bina was engraved and hidden in her, as one who hides everything behind one key, and the whole of that one key is hidden in one palace. And even though everything is hidden in that palace, that key is the most important because that key closes and opens.

Explanation: The holy, hidden one, AA, who is called “the holy Hochma Stimaa,” engraved a carving of lack of AHP of the vessels in his intestines, in Bina, of one hidden one, the internality of Nukva of Atik. “Dotted” means the correction of the screen for a coupling. “At the embedded dot” means in a circle, in Malchut of the first restriction, the middle point, on which there was the first restriction.

This is different from the screen that is set up with Ateret Yesod, as is with the VAK of all the Partzufim, since a screen of Ateret Yesod is called “the point of settling,” and not by the name “the middle point.” It is so because AA is engraved and becomes deficient of his GAR through the internality of his superior, Nukva of Atik, who is set up with the bottom Hey in her NE.

That engraving that was engraved in Bina was engraved and hidden in her, as one who hides everything behind one key. A key is Malchut of Ateret Yesod, set up in every VAK of the Partzufim of Atzilut. This is so because in Partzufim of VAK, the Yod comes out of their Avir [air] and they become Ohr [light], meaning that the screen descends from their NE to the Peh, and brings the AHP back to the degree. At that time, once they have AHP of the vessels, they acquire GAR of lights, too. For this reason, the screen in NE is regarded as a key because it closes the Partzuf from illumination of GAR while it is in NE, and reopens it with lights of GAR when it descends back to its place, to the Peh. For this reason, it is called “the opening of the eyes.”

It was said that there is concealment in her, as one who hides everything behind one key. It is so because although Atik himself was engraved in the bottom Hey, the carving that was engraved in AA by Atik is unlike the carving of Atik himself, since AA was engraved through a key, Ateret Yesod, lacking the Malchut. It follows that only Ateret Yesod governs in NE of AA, and not the bottom Hey.

Thus, the air of AA is known because it is set up with a key. But the air of Atik is not known because the Malchut of the middle point is in him, and she does not extend GAR in him. It is not perplexing that they are saying here that there are GE in AA, and it was said above that there is only AHP in him, half of the bottom Keter, since with regard to Atik, he only has AHP, but with regard to himself, he is GE, devoid of AHP.

It was said that the whole of that key is hidden in one palace. This is so because AA emanated to upper AVI and engraved for AVI, too, lacking GAR of lights and AHP of the vessels. Also, they are the palace in which all the lights of GAR were hidden—GAR of Neshama, GAR of Haya, and GAR of Yechida—and AA extended the bottom Hey of Atik into this palace, too, as well as himself, who is the key.

And even though everything is hidden in that palace, the heart of everything is in that key. The palace, Bina, is a palace for Hochma, in which there are GAR and VAK. The bottom Hey governs her GAR, and the key, Ateret Yesod, governs her VAK. And although everything is hidden in that palace, even the bottom Hey from Atik, still, the heart of everything is in that key, in Ateret Yesod.

This is so because VAK of Bina, YESHSUT, VAK without Rosh of GAR, are the only ones in which the concealment is discerned. But in GAR of Bina, AVI, where there is the bottom Hey in NE, GAR is not deficient there because the Hassadim of upper AVI are as important as Hochma and GAR.

Also, the closing and opening are done by the bottom Hey in NE, for when she rises to NE, she closes the Mochin of GAR because then the Partzuf remains deficient of AHP of the vessels and GAR of lights. And when she descends from NE to the Peh, she opens the Mochin of GAR to illuminate in the Partzuf, for then she brings back the AHP of the vessels and GAR of lights to the Partzuf.

Thus, only the bottom Hey herself closes and opens. But since the opening of Mochin is not in GAR, but only in ZAT, in which the bottom Hey does not govern, but Ateret Yesod, the key, and the GAR of each degree—where the bottom Hey rules—always remain in the unknown air, the closing and opening are attributed to the key, and not to the bottom Hey.

43) There are many hidden treasures in that palace, one atop the other. Within that palace there are gates that were made for concealing, made to block the lights. They are fifty, engraved in four directions, and they became forty-nine gates, since one gate has no side and it is unknown where it is, above or below. For this reason, that gate remained hidden.

Commentary: There are three kinds of GAR—GAR of Neshama, GAR of Haya, and GAR of Yechida. In each of three kinds of GAR are innumerable details. This is why it was said, “Many hidden treasures in that palace, one atop the other.” When the bottom Hey is in the NE, all those degrees are hidden and unknown.

Also, “There are gates that were made for concealing, made to block the lights. They are fifty.” Gates are receptacles for lights. There are two discernments in them: 1) While they are still blocked, when they are closed, they are blocked and receive nothing. 2) When they are open and receive lights from the upper one.

When the gates of the palace are blocked, they number fifty. But with respect to opening the gates, they are only forty-nine. The number fifty is because ten Sefirot are essentially only five Sefirot KHB TM, but Tifferet consists of VAK, hence they are ten. Thus, when each of the ten Sefirot comprises ten, they are fifty.

They are engraved in four directions and become forty-nine gates because the closing and opening are not done in the bottom Hey, but only in the key, Ateret Yesod. It follows that carving, meaning the carvings that are suitable for reception, were not done in all five Sefirot KHB TM, but only in the four Sefirot KHB Tifferet, and not in Malchut, and four times ten are forty.

However, Malchut contains ten Sefirot KHB TM, as well. It follows that she, too, can receive from the key to her first nine, down to her Ateret Yesod, hence there is carving here to forty-nine Sefirot: forty from the four Sefirot KHB Tifferet, each of which consists of ten, and the first nine from the Malchut, which includes ten. It follows that it is missing only the Malchut of Malchut.

This is why it was said, “One gate has no side, and it is unknown where it is, above or below.” This is the reason why this gate remained blocked—the Malchut of Malchut, the fiftieth gate, the actual bottom Hey, who descends from Einayim to Peh at the time of Gadlut. And even though the bottom Hey descends from NE of upper AVI to the Peh, and their AHP are with YESHSUT that clothe over them, they join AVI into a single Partzuf. At that time, lights of GAR are drawn into them, which is why AVI receive nothing of the lights of GAR and remain in pure air, as though the bottom Hey has still not descended from their NE.

It therefore follows that with regard to GAR of Bina, who are upper AVI, it is unknown whether the bottom Hey still stands at their NE above, since they are still only in light of Hassadim as before, or whether the bottom Hey descended from NE to the place of the Peh, since they elevated their vessels of AHP along with YESHSUT, and impart the Mochin of GAR of lights to YESHSUT. It necessarily follows that the bottom Hey descended into the Peh in such a way that if we look from the perspective of upper AVI, it seems to us that the bottom Hey is in NE, and if we look from the perspective of YESHSUT, we see it below, in the Peh.

It was said, “One gate has no side,” for it is Malchut of Malchut, the actual bottom Hey. It is not known whether it is above or below because with respect to AVI, it is above, and with respect to YESHSUT, it is below. For this reason, that gate remained blocked.

It follows that because of that, Malchut of Malchut did not open at all, and it is blocked as during the time of Katnut, as prior to her descent to the Peh. This is so because the opening of the gates was done only in YESHSUT, in which the bottom Hey is missing, and the Ateret Yesod is used in them in her stead. However, in upper AVI, in which the bottom Hey is operating, they remained blocked of GAR as before.

This is why that gate remained blocked. You should know that even though the fiftieth gate is the Malchut of Malchut, it is only with respect to the vessels. But with respect to the lights, it is regarded as GAR of the Mochin, since because of it, upper AVI remained in light of Hassadim, without GAR, as did all the upper ones.

Thus, the blocking of the fiftieth gate causes a deficiency of GAR of Mochin in all the degrees, and there is only VAK of Mochin in them. We learn that all fifty gates of Bina were given to Moses, besides one. This is the deficiency of GAR of Mochin, since these GAR of Mochin will shine in the worlds only at the end of correction.

44) Within those gates there is one lock and one narrow place, in which to insert that key. It is neither inscribed nor apparent, but only according to the inscription of the key, who do not know in the narrow place, but only in that key. It is written about that, “In the beginning, God created.” “In the beginning” is the key, in which everything is hidden, and this is what closes and opens.

Six gates are included in that key, which closes and opens. When it closes those gates and includes them within it, it is certainly written, “In the beginning,” a disclosed word within a hidden word. “Created” is a hidden word everywhere, indicating that the key closes and does not open.

Explanation: The bottom Hey in the NE is called lock, since it locks the lights of GAR that cannot illuminate in the Partzuf, as long as it stands above in NE. Within those gates there is one lock, and one narrow place, the Yesod in the bottom Hey, at the forty-ninth gate of the vessels. This is so because the actual bottom Hey, Malchut of Malchut, is the fiftieth gate, and Yesod of Malchut is the forty-ninth gate, in which to insert the key. This is so because the key, Ateret Yesod of the Mochin, which lowers the bottom Hey from NE to the Peh, enters the Yesod of the bottom Hey and the Partzuf opens in lights of GAR. This is why Ateret Yesod is called key.

“It is neither inscribed nor apparent, but only according to the inscription of the key, who do not know in the narrow place, but only in that key.” The key is Ateret Yesod of the Mochin and enters its corresponding phase in the bottom Hey—Yesod of Malchut, the lock, which is the bottom Hey. It is not inscribed to conceal and to lock the GAR, but only according to the inscription of the key, which governs the ZAT of Bina, YESHSUT, but not in itself, in the bottom Hey that governs GAR of Bina, upper AVI, who are always regarded as complete GAR. Also, the lock is inscribed to open only in Yesod of Mochin.

By that, it follows that they do not know in the narrow place, but only in that key. Knowing means extending of Mochin, since the Mochin were extended only in the key, in ZAT of Bina, where the key operates, meaning in Ateret Yesod. However, they remain unknown in the place of upper AVI, who are GAR of Bina, where the key is not operating, but the bottom Hey herself.

It follows that even though the actual bottom Hey is unknown, whether it is above or below, it is still enough to be known for YESHSUT, since through her, it opens in Mochin of GAR. This is so because there are only Yod-Hey-Vav in YESHSUT, without Malchut, and Ateret Yesod serves as a screen in him instead of the Malchut. And the Mochin, too, which lower the bottom Hey from NE to the Peh, operate only in screen of Ateret Yesod, since there was no closing and deficiency of GAR in the bottom Hey at all for her to need to open, since she operates in AVI, who are always GAR.

And since the whole concealment and closing were only in Ateret Yesod, which operates in YESHSUT, it follows that only the Ateret Yesod of Mochin is the key to lower the bottom Hey from the Einayim to the Peh, meaning only in the fine vessels, which are made by the power of the screen of Ateret Yesod, like them. This is why he concludes that they do not know in the narrow place but only in that key. That is, the Mochin reach only the vessels of YESHSUT, which come out from the key, Ateret Yesod, and not to AVI, the bottom Hey, Malchut of Malchut, the actual lock.

The word Beresheet [In the beginning], which is Hochma, contains within it only the key, Ateret Yesod, the forty-ninth gate of the vessels, and does not include the fiftieth gate of the vessels, the Malchut of Malchut. This is why Beresheet is the key in which everything is hidden. With it, everything is blocked in Katnut. Also, it closes and opens—closes all the Mochin in Katnut, in the bottom Hey in the Eynaim, and opens them in Gadlut, to bring down the bottom Hey from NE to the Peh.

The difference is that for this reason the opening of Hochma—implied in the word Beresheet—is only for the VAK of the degrees, which are the vessels of that key. But the Mochin of Beresheet do not shine for the GAR of the Partzufim, since their vessels are not from the key, but from the bottom Hey.

“Six gates are included in that key, which closes and opens,” since the GAR of the Mochin are absent in it and it opens only ZAT of the Mochin, where each of the ZAT has only VAK, and they are seven Sefirot, VAK. It follows that the key, the seventh Sefira, Ateret Yesod, contains only six gates within it. “Six gates are included in that key, which closes and opens,” thus indicating that it extends only VAK of Mochin.

It was said, “‘In the beginning,’ a disclosed word within a hidden word. ‘Created’ is a hidden word everywhere, kept, which the key closes and does not open.” In other words, “In the beginning” indicates Hochma, which is a disclosed word. But when it is said, “In the beginning [God] created,” it means that the Hochma has disappeared and became concealed. It was said, “‘In the beginning,’ a disclosed word within a hidden word,” since the word “created” is written after it, and “Created” is a hidden word everywhere. Thus, “In the beginning [God] created” means that the Hochma has been hidden. It follows that the meaning is closing, and not opening, that the Hochma was hidden and was not disclosed yet.