Bet Resheet

338) The Bet of Beresheet ‎is big in the Masoretes [a school of scribes and scholars]. But who are the six days of creation? It is written, “The cedars of Lebanon, which He has planted.” As these cedars come out of Lebanon, the six days of creation come out from Beresheet. Beresheet ‎is Hochma. The six days of creation are HGT NHY of ZA, which come out of Hochma, who is called Resheet.

339) The text interprets those six upper days of Beresheet, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness,” which is Hesed, “and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, all that is in the heavens and the earth.” “All,” righteous, is Yesod. Thus, the text interprets the names of six Sefirot ‎HGT NHY. “In the heavens” is Tifferet, and “In the earth” is the Assembly of Israel, Malchut. It follows from the writing that “All that is in the heavens and in the earth” means that the Yesod [foundation] of the world, Yesod of ZA, called “all,” is gripped to Tifferet, heaven, and to earth, the Assembly of Israel, Malchut.

340) This is why it was said Beresheet ‎about Hochma, which is the letters of Bet Resheet. Bet, since Hochma ‎is the second of the ten Sefirot. She is called Resheet because the upper Keter, who is hidden, is the first of the ten Sefirot. But because Keter is not counted among the Sefirot, the second Sefira, Hochma, is regarded as the Resheet [first/prime].

The reason why Keter is not counted among the Sefirot ‎is that in Atik, Keter, the first restriction is still ruling, and the ten Sefirot ‎are from the second restriction. And although he breached and did not breach, meaning was established also from the second restriction, it was for AA, Hochma. This is why he is considered Atik, like AK, and does not join the Sefirot ‎of the world of correction, which are all from the second restriction.

Also, the Sefirot ‎begin from Hochma, which is AA, or the Bina that becomes Hochma. Once Hochma of AA was concealed and does not give to Atzilut, Bina is operating in her stead. This is why it was said about her, Bet Resheet: Bet, since she is second in the emanation of the ten Sefirot; Resheet, since she is the first in the count, once Keter is not counted in the count.

Moreover, as upper Hochma ‎is Resheet, the lower Hochma ‎is also Resheet because from upper Hochma ‎through Malchut, which is lower Hochma, there is no one among all the Sefirot ‎to receive for himself illumination of Hochma. For this reason, the Bet must not be separated from Resheet.

This Bet implies Malchut, bottom Hochma. And since there is no Sefira between them to receive Hochma, Malchut ‎must be together with Resheet, and this is Bet Resheet.

341) Beresheet ‎is regarded as an utterance among ten utterances. Six days come out of Beresheet and are included in her. An utterance means a complete degree in GAR. Is Beresheet ‎also an utterance? After, it has the letters Bara ‎Sheet [“created six,” respectively], indicating that it is VAK without GAR.

The ‎Zohar responds to that, that indeed, it is a complete utterance. The reason why VAK is implied in it is that six days, HGT NHY of ZA, come out of it, and are therefore included in it. Those included in it are called “six” and are implied in it—Bara ‎Sheet—like those six of ZA that came out of it, meaning after the six of ZA that emerged from it regarding Asher [which] that emerged from Beresheet. The letters Barah ‎Sheet are implied in it, but in itself, it is a complete utterance.

342) “God created,” as it is written, “And a river came out of Eden to water the garden.” “Created” comes from the word “took out.” This is why it is written, “And a river comes out of Eden,” since “created” means that He took Bina outside of Rosh AA, called Resheet. This exit is implied in the words “And a river came out of Eden” because a river is Bina, Eden is Hochma, and through the ascent of Malchut ‎to Rosh AA, the river went out of Hochma ‎to water the garden, Malchut, and sustain her, look at her, at all that she needs.

“To water” means imparting of Mochin ‎of illumination of Hochma called “drinking,” as it is written, “Eat, friends, drink and be drunken, O beloved.” To sustain means clothing of Hochma ‎in Hassadim, for then the Mochin ‎are sustainable. “To look at her” means at all that she needs, to bring her to the end of correction, for without the exit of the river from Eden, Malchut ‎would be unfit to receive any Mochin, much less achieve her correction, as through the Mochin ‎that she receives, she gradually arrives at the end of correction.

Beresheet ‎Barah ‎Elokim [In the beginning God created]. Elokim [God] is Bina, called “living God” when she returns to Hochma. It is so because the meaning of “In the beginning God created” is only through that river. “Created” is the exit of the river from Eden. Elokim is the return of the river to Eden, since upon the exit of the river from Eden, the letters ELEH fell down, and now that she returns her letters ELEH to herself, she returns to Rosh AA and becomes Hochma. Afterward, she dresses the Hochma ‎in Hassadim, and the letters ELEH join the letters MI, complementing the name Elokim in Bina. It is called “living God,” as she is considered Hochma, called “light of Haya [life/animal],” to bring out and emanate everything, and to water everything, to impart Mochin ‎of Hochma ‎to all, which is called “drinking.”

343) “The heaven” indicates a connection of male and female. “The” is Nukva, “heaven” is male. They are the great ZON. Afterwards, in the connection of the great ZON, the world below was created, being the small ZON, from the Chazeh of ZA and below. In it, in the world below, he gave wholeness to all. He is the Mochin ‎of illumination of Hochma ‎that was given only to the small ZON below the Chazeh.

“The heaven.” “The heaven,” ZA, emanated his Nukva, “the,” by the force he received from the living God, Bina, once Resheet, AA, emanated Bina in the name “living God.”

344) Once the living God emanated everything to all the Partzufim of Atzilut ‎and everything settles and unites as one, the last ring becomes Resheet, meaning the last Partzuf ‎in Atzilut—Nukva—becomes Resheet, receiving the Mochin of Hochma, called Resheet. But the Partzufim that preceded her do not receive these Mochin ‎for themselves, but only to give to the Nukva. By that Resheet in the Nukva, he emanated upper lights, which are illumination of Hochma, she began to illuminate in illumination of Hochma, and water, Hassadim, begin to be drawn from her downward for the reception of the lower ones because they can receive only from the Nukva.

For all those reasons, Nukva is also called Resheet. This is why God, indeed, created everything with Resheet, Hochma, since with her He created the lower world, Nukva of ZA, called Resheet, like her. In her, in Nukva of ZA, He elicited and disclosed the lights of Hochma. In her He placed the strength to all the degrees because the light of Hochma ‎is the vitality of all the degrees.

345) This is why it is written, “Is the ax to boast over the one who chops with it?” To whom is the praise? Is it not to the craftsman who chops? It is the same with this Resheet. The upper Elokim, Bina, created the heaven. Whose praise is it? The praise is God’s, Bina’s. All the praise that came out in the work of creation, in ZON of Atzilut, ‎and in the bottom BYA, is only Bina’s, since by the letters ELEH that she lowered from herself during Katnut, and returning them during Gadlut, the heaven and earth—ZON and BYA and all that fills them—came out. Had she not lowered her letters ELEH, this whole reality would not have existed.

346) It is written, “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it.” Why does it write “near” in plural form [in Hebrew]? It should have spoken in singular form. However, there is an upper Elokim, Bina, an Elokim of the fear of Isaac, Gevura of ZA, who is also called Elokim. The last Elokim, Nukva of ZA, is also called Elokim because the name Elokim of Bina expands and illuminates over Gevura ‎and Malchut. This is why it is written “near” in plural form.

Many Gevurot are called by the name Elokim, which is 120 combinations of Elokim. These are combinations of Elokim that emerge from one Elokim, Bina, and all those names, Elokim, are one, for all are an extension of the upper Elokim, Bina.

347) “In the beginning ... created” implies KH. Elokim implies Bina, “The” implies greatness and Gevura. “The heaven” is Tifferet, and “The” implies NHY. “The earth” implies Malchut. All ten Sefirot ‎are implied in the first verse in the Torah.