One Who Sets Out on the Road

222) Rabbi Shimon went to Tiberias and Rabbi Yosi, Rabbi Yehuda, and Rabbi Hiya were with him. They saw Rabbi Pinhas approaching them. Since they connected together, they came down from their donkeys and sat under one of the trees of the mountain. Rabbi Pinhas said, “Here, we sat,” meaning we are ready to hear words of Torah from those good words that you say each day, I want to hear.

223) Rabbi Shimon started and said, “And he went on his journeys from the south to Bet-El.” It is written, “And he went on his journeys,” in plural form. It should have said, “on his journey,” in singular form. Why does it write, “on his journeys,” in plural form? Indeed, there are two journeys: his own journey, and the journey of the Shechina. Any person should always be in male and female, to strengthen the faith. And then the Shechina never leaves him.

224) But if one sets out to the road without being in male and female, does the Shechina depart from him? Anyone who sets out to the road will set up his prayer before the Creator before he sets out, in order to extend on himself the Shechina while he is still home, as long as he is in male and female.

When he has set up his prayer and praises, and the Shechina is on him, he will set out, since the Shechina has connected with him so he will be male and female in the city, at his home, and male and female in the field, when he sets out on the road, since the Shechina has joined with him. It is written, “Tzedek [justice] shall go before Him.” The Shechina is called Tzedek, and then “he will set out for the road.”

225) As long as one is on the way, he needs to keep his works from sinning so that the upper coupling, the Shechina, will not depart from him, and he will remain flawed, for he will not be male and female. In the city he must also watch his steps when his Nukva is with him.

It is even more so on the road, where the upper coupling, the Shechina, has connected in him. Moreover, the upper coupling, the Shechina, guards him on the way and does not leave him until he returns to his home. Therefore, he certainly needs to watch his actions so as to not cause the departure of the Shechina from him.

226) When he comes to his home, he should make his wife happy because it is his wife who caused him that upper coupling. This is so because through the road-prayer that he prayed while still at his home, when he was in wholeness because he was in male and female, he was rewarded with the high coupling on the road. Thus, his wife caused him the high coupling on the road—the instilling of the Shechina. When he comes to her, he should make her happy for two reasons: one is the joy of the coupling, for that coupling is a joy of Mitzva, and the joy of Mitzva is the joy of the Shechina.

227) Moreover, he increases peace in the house just like that, as it is written, “And you will know that your tent is at peace, and you will visit your abode and you will not sin.” But if he does not visit his wife, it is a sin because he diminishes the glory of the upper coupling, meaning the Shechina, who made a coupling with him on the way, which his wife caused for him. But if he is not grateful to the Creator, then he shows his opinion that the upper coupling is not important to him, and he diminishes His glory.

228) The second reason why he should please his wife is that if his wife conceives because of that coupling, the upper coupling imparts in her a holy soul, since the covenant of the upper coupling, which imparts the soul, is a covenant of the Creator.

It follows that by this visit that he visits his wife, he causes the coupling of the Creator and His Shechina. Hence, he must aim with that joy as one should aim in the coupling of the Sabbath, which is a coupling of wise ones. That is, the Kedusha of that coupling when he returns from the road is equal to the Kedusha of the coupling on Sabbath night.

This is why it is written, “And you will know that your tent is at peace,” since the Shechina has come with you and is with you in your home. For this reason, “And you will visit your abode and you will not sin,” you will not avoid performing intercourse before the Shechina, the joy of Mitzva. That is, he will not prevent the coupling of the Creator and His Shechina, to impart a soul in him, which is a grave sin.

229) It is similar with disciples of the wise who depart from their wives all the days of the week, so they would not idle away from engagement in the Torah. The high coupling copulates in them and the Shechina does not part from them, so they will be male and female. When Sabbath begins, the disciples of the wise must make their wives happy for the glory of the upper coupling, for they cause a high coupling for imparting of souls and must aim their hearts with the will of their Master.

There are two ways in ordinary people. When they are on the road, they are in the upper coupling. At home, they are in the lower coupling. Those two ways are discerned among the disciples of the wise, as well, but with a difference between weekdays and Sabbath. On weekdays, they part from their wives due to the engagement in Torah. At that time, they are as one who has set out on the road, meaning in the upper coupling. On Sabbath night, they are as ones who have returned home and are visiting their wives, extending a high soul from the coupling of the Creator and his Shechina.

230 Similarly, one whose wife is in her days of impurity, who properly keeps the Mitzva of menstruation, all those days the upper coupling connects in him, so he will be male and female. Once his wife is purified, he must delight her with the joy of Mitzva in the high joy. All the reasons go hand in hand, and all the faithful ones should aim their hearts and desires to that.

231) But is the praise of a man who sets out on the road not more important than when he is at his home due to the high coupling that makes a coupling with him while he is on the way? When a person is in his home, the essence of the house is his wife, since the Shechina does not depart from his house, thanks to his wife.

It is written, “And Isaac brought her to the tent of his mother, Sarah.” The candle that was lit again as it was at the time of his mother, Sarah, since the Shechina came to the house thanks to Rebecca. Thus, the Shechina is present in the house thanks to his wife.

232) The upper Ima, Bina, is with the male, ZA, only when the house is established, and the male and female, ZON, have connected. At that time, the upper Ima imparts blessings to bless ZON. Likewise, the lower Ima, the Shechina, is with the male, man below, only when the house has been established, and the male comes to her, to the Nukva, and they join together. At that time, the lower Ima, the Shechina, imparts blessings to bless them in the same manner.

233) By that, the male is crowned in his home with two females, like ZA of above, as it is written, “up to the lust of the everlasting hills.” That “up to” in the verse is the Mochin of the upper Eden, the lust of the everlasting hills—the two females called everlasting hills—is in it: 1) The upper Nukva is Bina. She craves to correct the male, crown him with Mochin of GAR, and bless him with Hassadim. 2) The bottom Nukva craves to connect with the male and be nourished by him with the Mochin of the “everlasting.”

In other words, since the bottom Nukva craves the male in order to receive the Mochin of the “everlasting,” the upper Nukva, Ima, craves to give these Mochin to the male. Hence, the male is crowned by two females, for were it not for the bottom Nukva, who needs the Mochin of “everlasting,” Mochin of Hochma, the upper Ima would not impart these Mochin to the male, since the male does not need them, but covered Hassadim.

234) As has been explained about the male of above, it is also so with the male of below, in a man in this world. When the male marries a woman, to him is the lust of the everlasting hills. He is crowned with two females, called “everlasting hills,” one higher, the Shechina, and one lower, his wife. The upper one, the Shechina, is to impart him with blessings. The lower one, his wife, is to be nourished by him and connect with him.

235) When he sets out on the road, it is not so; he is not crowned with two females. Rather, upper Ima, the Shechina, connects with him while he is on the road, while the lower one, his wife, remains at home. When he returns to his home, he must be crowned with the two females once again. It follows that one who stays in his home is far more important than one who sets out on the road, since one who stays in his home is crowned with two females, as it is written, “until the lust of the everlasting hills.” But one who sets out on the road has only the upper Nukva.