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 are male and female in the shells. The male is not as bad as the female and does not fail people into lying in the name of the Creator. On the contrary, he induces one to do Mitzvot [commandments/good deeds], though not in purity, in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker, but with a mixture of self-pleasing. It is written about it, “Do not eat the bread of an evil-eyed man ... He says to you, ‘Eat and drink,’ but his heart is not with you.” This is so because by his intention not being to bestow, the commandment becomes tasteless, without love or fear, and without a heart.

However, since he already lured a man into his domain, he has the strength to make a coupling with his Nukva, the great deep, an evil and bitter shell, who fakes in the name of the Creator, and then takes his soul from him. “That evil-eyed, Satan, hates him, slanders him, and removes him from the world,” for once he has failed a man with the commandments of the joy of a good day, to not be giving contentment to his Maker—because it is apparent by him eating alone and not delighting the poor—he makes a coupling with his Nukva and takes his soul.

175) The share of the Creator is to delight the poor as much as He can, for on holidays the Creator comes to see His broken vessels, enters them, and sees that they have nothing with which to rejoice. He weeps for them and rises up to destroy the world.

Upon the creation of the world, when He said to the angels, “Let us make man in our image,” Mercy said, “Let him be created, for he does mercy.” Truth said, “Let him not be created, for he is all lies.” Justice said, “Let him be created, for he does righteous deeds [almsgiving],” and Peace said, “Let him not be created, for he is all strife.” What did the Creator do? He took Truth and threw it to the ground, as it is written, “And cast truth to the ground.”

It is known that one should always engage in Torah and commandments, even not for Her sake because from not for Her sake he comes to for Her sake. This is so because for man’s lowness, he cannot engage in commandments in order to bestow contentment upon his Maker right from the start. Rather, by his nature he can make any movement only if it is for his own benefit. For this reason, first he must engage in commandments not for Her sake, out of his own benefit. And yet, during the carrying out of commandments, he extends abundance of Kedusha [holiness/sanctity], and through the abundance that he extends, he will eventually come to engage in commandments for Her sake, in order to bring contentment to his Maker.

This is the meaning of Truth’s complaint about the creation of man, saying that he is all lies. He was complaining, “How can such a man be created from the outset to engage in Torah and commandments in complete falsehood, in not for Her sake?”

However, Mercy said, “Let him be created because he does mercy,” since the mercies that he does, which is necessarily an act that is scrutinized as bestowal, through it, he is gradually corrected until he can engage in all the commandments in order to bestow. Hence, he is certain to eventually reach his goal of engaging for Her sake. This is why Mercy argued that he should be created.

Peace, too, complained that he was all strife. Because he cannot engage in commandments in order to bestow, but with a mixture of self-pleasing, he is always in strife with the Creator because it seems to him that he is a complete righteous. He does not feel his own deficiencies at all. He does not feel that all of his engagement in Torah and commandments is not for Her sake, and he is angry with the Creator for not being rewarded as befitting a complete righteous. Thus, he is perplexed: at one time, he is at peace with the Creator, and another time, he is in dispute. This is why Peace said that he should not be created.

But Justice said, “Let him be created, for he does Tzedakah [righteous deeds, almsgiving],” since by the commandments of almsgiving that he does for the poor, he gradually comes closer to the quality of bestowal until he comes to engage for Her sake and will be rewarded with eternal peace with the Creator. Hence, he should be created.

After their arguments were heard, the Creator agreed with the angels Mercy and Justice, and threw Truth to the ground. That is, He permitted engagement in commandments in not for Her sake, at first, even though it is a lie. It follows that He threw Truth to the ground because He accepted the argument of Mercy and Justice that by doing mercies and giving Tzedakah to the poor, he will eventually arrive at the truth—serving the Creator only in order to please Him—for he will eventually come to for Her sake, and then truth will rise from the ground.

This also explains the breaking of the vessels. First, there was the creation of the world because by the breaking of the vessels of Kedusha and their fall into the separated BYA, sparks of Kedusha fell into the shells. From them, all sorts of pleasures and fancies come into the domain of the shells, for the sparks transfer them into man’s reception and for his pleasure. By that, they cause all kinds of transgressions, such as theft, robbery, and murder.

However, we were also given Torah and commandments. Thus, even if one begins to engage in them in not for Her sake, for one’s own delight, to satisfy one’s base desires, according to the powers of the breaking of the vessels, he will eventually come to for Her sake through them and will be rewarded with the purpose of creation—to receive all the delight and pleasure in the thought of creation in order to bestow contentment upon Him.

On holidays, the Creator comes to see His broken vessels. This is because on good days, when one keeps the commandments of the joy of a good day, due to all the abundance that the Creator gives him, the Creator goes to see His broken vessels, by which man is given an opportunity to engage in commandments in not for Her sake. He goes to see to what extent they have completed their task of bringing man to for Her sake, and sees that they, the broken vessels, have nothing with which to rejoice. The Creator weeps for them because He sees that none of them have been sorted, that they have not brought man into for Her sake at all, but rather, he engages in the joy of a good day only for his own pleasure.

Then, He weeps for them, meaning He seemingly regrets having broken them, since He broke them and threw Truth to the ground only for man’s sake, so he could begin to work in not for Her sake and then arrive at for Her sake. And when He sees that man has not moved from his selfish desire whatsoever, then He has broken them in vain. Thus, He weeps for them.

He rises to destroy the world, meaning He seemingly rises to remove the abundance from the world and destroy the world since when the not for Her sake is unfit for bringing man into for Her sake, it means that the abundance itself is bad for him, since by that, he drowns further into the shell of reception. Hence, it is better for man to stop the abundance for him and to completely destroy it.

176) Members of the seminary come before Him and say, “Lord of the world. You are called Merciful and Gracious. Let Your mercies roll upon your children.” He tells them, “Have I not done anything but mercy to the world, saying, ‘Let a world of Mercy be built’? The world stands on mercy, but if they do not do mercy toward the poor, I will destroy the world.” The high angels say before Him, “Lord of the world, here is so and so, who ate and drank his full, and could do mercy to the poor, but gave them nothing.” The slanderer comes, takes permission, and chases that man.

Commentary: At that time, the high souls that are called “members of the seminary” begin to pray for the lower ones, that He will not arrest the abundance from them, that He should be merciful toward His children. They speak favorably before Him and say, “Since they do His commandments with faith, they are considered ‘children of the Creator,’ hence they are worthy of mercy, as a father is merciful toward his sons.”

The Creator replies to them, “Did I not build the world on mercy only? The world stands only on mercy, meaning that no correction will come to them through the abundance when they are not delighting the poor, since the creation of the world was on My consent to the angels of Mercy, that by doing mercy to each other, the world will exist and they will achieve for Her sake. But now that they are not doing mercy, no correction will come out of it.”

Then the angels of the upper one said before Him, “Lord of the world, here is so and so, who ate and was full and could do mercy to the poor, but gave them nothing.” In other words, even the high angels Mercy and Justice, and all those who agreed to creation, began to slander it, for they disagreed with creation in this way of not for Her sake, but only so that Mercy and Tzedakah will be done so that through them they will achieve for Her sake.

But now that they are not doing it, and they are not worthy of achieving for Her sake, they regret their consent and slander man. Then comes the slanderer, takes permission, and chases that man, since once it has been made clear that the man is unfit to achieve for Her sake with his commandments, permission is given to the slanderer to do his thing.

177) Who in the world is greater for us than Abraham who does mercy with all the people? On the day when he makes a feast, it is written, “The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.” Abraham made a feast and called all the greatest in the generation to that feast. And in any feast of joy, that slanderer walks and sees if that person first did mercy with the poor. If there are poor in the house, the slanderer parts from that house and does not enter there. If there are none, the slanderer enters there and sees the mixture of joy without poor and without first doing mercy for the poor, and he rises and slanders him.

178) Since Abraham invited the greatest in the generation, the slanderer came down and stood at the door, like a poor man. But there was no one to look at him. Abraham was serving the kings and the ministers, Sarah was nursing the children from everyone, since they did not believe it when she gave birth, but said that Isaac was a foundling, that they had brought him off the street. Hence, they brought their children with them and Sarah took them and nursed them in front of them, as it is written, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?”

It should have said, “Sarah would nurse a child.” However, “Nurse children” indeed, the children of all the guests. And that slanderer stood at the door. Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me.” The slanderer promptly rose up to the Creator and told Him, “Lord of the world, You said, ‘Abraham loves Me.’ Here, he made a feast and gave You nothing, nor to the poor. He did not sacrifice even a single pigeon to You. And moreover, Sarah said You laughed at her.”

We should understand that. Abraham, who excelled primarily in hospitality and graciousness, and all his life stood at crossroads to invite guests inside, how can it be said that he failed in this, that he did not give Tzedakah to the poor? Moreover, why did the slanderer trouble himself to dress up as a poor man? After all, this is not his way toward others. However, it is not as it seems here, and there is a great secret here, which is applied only to the highest holy ones.

Prior to the end of correction, it is impossible to remove the Sitra Achra altogether, even for the highest righteous and holy ones. As much as the righteous is cautious about doing the commandment with purity, the Sitra Achra still has the power to complain about him and show a faulty place in the commandment. For this reason, the Creator has prepared for the righteous another manner of subduing and silencing the slanderer: to give a small portion of the Kedusha to that slanderer that remained. This silences the slanderer and he does not wish to slander him, to not lose the part of the Kedusha that he has of that commandment. This is the meaning of the hair that is placed in the Tefillin, and the goat that is sent, and the red cow.

It was said that the slanderer came down and stood by the door as a poor man, but there was no one to look at him. This is so because of course Abraham fed all the poor from his meal, as he always does in hospitality, except for that slanderer, who was not adding any purity in transferring him, except delighting him a little with the Kedusha. He was here as a poor man because he wanted to receive his share of the Kedusha, but Abraham did not wish to give the Sitra Achra anything of the Kedusha. Rather, he wished to subdue him with his power and repel him completely. Hence, the slanderer rose up and complained, and this is why the slanderer came down and stood at the door as a poor man, for it was not really a poor man, but the slanderer dressed as a poor man and demanding to enjoy Abraham’s meal.

But Abraham sensed that he was from the Sitra Achra and did not wish to give him anything, not even a pigeon. There is a noteworthy intimation here: In the order of offerings, there are only two young pigeons, opposite the two points included together in Malchut that is mitigated with the quality of mercy. There are judgment and mercy in it, together. The judgment in it is hidden and concealed, and the mercy is disclosed there, for had it not been for that mitigation, the world would not be able to exist.

This is why precisely two young pigeons should be sacrificed, for one pigeon indicates the dove that Noah sent out from the ark, which did not return to him again. A single pigeon implies the quality of Judgment in Malchut, without the sweetening in the quality of mercy. And since Noah could not correct any correction in it, it is written that it did not return to him again.

The matter of the slanderer demanding his share of Abraham’s meal on the day of his son’s weaning is a correction of a deficiency that cannot be corrected any other way prior to the end of correction. It is the quality of Judgment in Malchut in which the world cannot exist and which must be hidden. It is like the dove that did not return to Noah any longer. However, Abraham could have corrected it and should have corrected it by giving something to the slanderer to silence him. But since he did not give anything to the slanderer, he went up and complained.

This is why the slanderer said, “He gave You nothing, nor to the poor.” He was complaining that in this entire meal of his, he did not correct anything for the quality of Judgment in Malchut, who is called “poor,” who has nothing of her own, and who is yet a part of the Creator, since she is the essence of Malchut, Nukva of ZA, who is the Creator. After all, He only mitigated her with the quality of mercy in order to sustain the world. For this reason, the Mochin that are extended through the quality of mercy are regarded as the share of the people of the world, by which they correct the actual Malchut, too, who is a part of the Creator alone.

And since through the great miracle of Sarah nursing the children, Abraham extended all the Mochin in the quality of mercy, it was now possible for him to correct the poor in Malchut, who is the share of the Creator. This is why he complained, “He gave You nothing,” meaning the share of the Creator, and not to the poor, the share of the actual Malchut, who is in poverty because the people in the world cannot correct in her. “He did not sacrifice even a single pigeon to You,” meaning the pigeon that Noah could not correct.

“And moreover, Sarah said You laughed at her.” Sarah is Bina and the quality of mercy that shines in Malchut. By saying, “God has made laughter for me; anyone who hears will laugh at me,” she extended a complete light and great mitigation until no deficiency was seen in the actual quality of Malchut any longer. There was great fear that because of it, there would be no attention left to correcting the actual Malchut. This is similar to the words “Lest he reached out his hand and took from the tree of life, as well, and ate, and lived forever,” meaning that he would not feel any deficiency in himself any longer and would not have to correct the flaw in the tree of knowledge.

179) The Creator told him, “Who in the world is like Abraham?” But the slanderer did not move from there until he confused all of that joy, and the Creator commanded that Isaac would be made an offering as a sacrifice and Sarah was condemned to dying with grief for her son. All that sorrow was because he did not give something to the poor.

Commentary: The tying of Isaac was in order to correct the actual Malchut, which he did not correct with the great feast on the day of Isaac’s weaning. The death of Sarah was because of the great lights that she extended in the words “God has made laughter for me,” which obstructed in the correction of Malchut.