Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Academy

307) “And Noah the farmer began and planted a vineyard.” The sages are disputed about it. One says that the vineyard was expelled from the Garden of Eden, and he planted it in the ground. Another said that the vineyard was in the earth, and he uprooted it from its place and planted it elsewhere. This is why it is written, “planted.” On that same day, it bore fruit and budded with buds and grapes, and he squeezed it and drank from the wine and was intoxicated.

One says that it is the tree of knowledge in which Adam HaRishon sinned, maintaining that the tree of knowledge was a vineyard. When Adam HaRishon sinned in it, it was expelled from the Garden of Eden along with him. Noah corrected that suspended vineyard and replanted it outside the Garden of Eden, and drank from its wine and was intoxicated. His sin is similar to the sin of Adam HaRishon.

Another says that this vineyard was not in the Garden of Eden but that he found it outside the Garden of Eden. It is written “planted” because he uprooted it from its place and planted it elsewhere. According to him, Noah’s sin is not like the sin of Adam HaRishon.

308) Rabbi Shimon said, “When Noah came to examine that sin of the tree of knowledge that Adam HaRishon examined, it was not to cling to it, but to know and to correct the world. He could not correct it; he squeezed grapes to examine that vineyard. When he reached it, it is written, “And was drunken and was uncovered,” and he did not have the strength to stand up.

This is why it is written, “He was uncovered within his tent,” revealing the breach of the world, which was blocked. “Within his tent” is written with a Hey, and not “within his tent” with the letter Vav [at the end]. This is why it is written, “Do not come near to the door of her house,” since the meaning is “within his tent” of that vineyard and “within his tent” of himself. This is why it is written with a Hey and not with a Vav.

There are two points in the building of the Nukva:

1. A point that is sweetened in Bina, with respect to which it became fit for reception of Mochin, like the vessels of Bina.

2. The point of her own self, the quality of judgment, which is not sweetened in the quality of mercy. In that respect, she cannot receive any upper Mochin because the first restriction was on her, to not receive any direct light into her. That is:

a. One concealed and hidden, the point of the quality of judgment.

b. One revealed, the point that is sweetened in Bina, the quality of mercy.

And because the point of the quality of judgment is concealed and hidden, she is fit to receive all the upper Mochin through the point of the quality of mercy that is revealed in her. By that you will understand the meaning of the prohibition on eating from the tree of knowledge, when the Creator told him, “On the day you eat from it, you will surely die.” Because of these two points, Nukva is called “the tree of knowledge of good and evil”:

1. If a person is rewarded, it is good, for he was cautious not to draw illumination of the left in the Nukva from above downward. She is the tree of knowledge of good, and he receives all the Mochin in her.

2. If he is not rewarded, it is bad, for he draws illumination of the left in her from above downward. This is regarded as eating from the tree of knowledge, and then it is bad, since the point of the quality of judgment that was concealed and hidden appears. At that time, all the Mochin depart from the Nukva because in that respect, she is unfit to receive Mochin. This is the death to the people of the world because her Mochin are the life of all the people of the world, as it is written, “On the day you eat from it, you will surely die,” since the point of the quality of judgment will appear, and the Mochin, which is a man’s life that he receives from her, will depart from him and he will therefore die.

Was Noah’s sin similar to that of the tree of knowledge or not? The sin itself is as the one of the tree of knowledge. However, he did not intend to sin, like him. Rather, he wanted to draw illumination of the left once below in order to correct it, and then retire from it.

When Noah wanted to examine that sin which Adam HaRishon examined, testing to see if he would die by it, since the serpent lied in the name of the Creator and said, “You will not surely die,” he did not wish to cling to it like Adam HaRishon, who said, “I have eaten, and I will eat more.” Rather, it was to know and to correct the world, and then to retire from it. But he could not correct it.

He squeezed grapes, drawing illumination of the left, since illumination of the left is called “wine.” He extended it from above downward in order to check if the quality of judgment would be revealed in the vineyard, and then he would correct it. Once he had come to that, to drawing the illumination of the left from above downward, he was intoxicated and the point of the quality of judgment appeared. Then the Mochin promptly departed from him, and he no longer had the strength to stand up.

It is written about it, “And [he] was uncovered,” since he disclosed the breach of the world, the point of the quality of judgment, which thus far has been concealed and hidden, but now has been revealed. “His tent” is the Nukva of the shell, called “foreign woman.” It is written about it, “Do not come near the door” of that foreign woman, and he was inside the tent of that vineyard. A tent means illumination, and the point of the quality of judgment appears within the illumination of the vineyard, which extended from above downward.

309) It is likewise with the sons of Aaron who were intoxicated by wine. Who gave them wine to drink? Can it be that they were so impudent as to be intoxicated by wine? Indeed, they were intoxicated by the same wine, for it is written, “And [they] offered before the Lord a foreign fire.” And there it is written, “To keep you from a foreign woman,” and it is all the same thing.

Intoxication from wine is extension of illumination of the left from above downward. At that time, the point of the quality of judgment is revealed, the shell of the foreign woman awakens, the Mochin depart from the Nukva, and the sinner dies. It must be that they were intoxicated from the same wine because it is written, “And [they] offered before the Lord a foreign fire.” Along with the intoxication, they were bringing the shell closer, to suck from the Kedusha, and the Mochin depart. A male is called “foreign fire,” and the female is called “foreign woman.”

310) And likewise, it is written, “And he drank from the wine and was intoxicated and uncovered within his tent.” This is what Cham, Canaan’s father, awoke over, the reason for which the point of the quality of judgment appeared—his father’s nakedness. Canaan was given room to govern, and what that righteous—Noah, keeper of the covenant—was, he neutered him, making him infertile. He removed the covenant from him, meaning that the Mochin of begetting, corrected only in the correction of the holy covenant, departed from him, and it is regarded as though he was neutered.

Cham sinned in seeing him, and not Canaan. So why was Canaan cursed and not Cham? It is written, “And was uncovered,” meaning that the point of the quality of judgment—his father’s nakedness—was uncovered. Cham, Canaan’s father, was awakened by the disclosure of the point, by seeing him, since he was the left line, and Noah drew his illumination from above downward, for which the quality of judgment appeared. But because Noah did not mean to sin, the Mochin would not depart due to the disclosure of the point, except that by disclosing the point of the quality of judgment, Canaan was given strength to approach and suck from the Nukva. The shell of Canaan is the primordial serpent, a foreign fire that draws near due to the point of the quality of judgment, and he neutered it.

Because of Canaan, the Mochin of begetting departed from him, the Mochin of Haya he had had. Thus, Cham did not do anything to him, but rather Canaan his son, and this is why he cursed Canaan. However, the verse covers it, as it is written, “The glory of God is to conceal a matter.”

311) This is why Noah said “cursed,” since the curses first awakened in the world by him, for he is the serpent, as it is written, “A servant of servants shall he be to his brethren.” Everything will be corrected at the end of correction, but Canaan will not be corrected. All the servants will go free, but Canaan will never go free. This secret is to those who know the paths and trails of the Torah.