Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Academy

66) “And Abram passed through the land.” It should have said, “Went.” However, passed through implies to the Holy Name in which the world was signed in the seventy-two carved letters, all of which are the letters AB RIU [Ayin-Bet Reish-Yod-Vav, the letters of “And passed through” in Hebrew], “And passed through,” implying to the AB [seventy-two] names and RIU (216) letters, as it is written, “And the Lord passed by before him, and called.” As there it is about the Holy Name, AB, “And passed through” speaks of the Holy Name, AB, as well.

67) It is written, “I will make all My goodness pass before you.” This relates to all His goodness in a high place, in Bina. Here, too, it writes, “And Abram passed through the land,” which implies to the holiness of the land, which comes from a high place with all its goodness, as it should be, meaning Malchut that properly clothes the Bina and receives her lights.

68) “And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh.” The place of Shechem is the left side, the place of the illumination of Shuruk, which is now called Shechem because it was diminished from GAR of GAR and is attained only from its shoulder down and not from its shoulder up.

“The oak of Moreh” is the east because “Oak” comes from the word “strength,” which implies to the lock, where the east side, the middle line, received it to draw the level of Hassadim on his screen. And after the coupling was made on this screen, the level of Hassadim continued, all three lines were included in one another, and Abraham drew them to the Nukva, who is called “earth.”

Abraham drew the abundance from a high place, Bina, as it is written, “I will make all My goodness pass before you,” to the Nukva, which is “And Abram passed through the land.” This extension is called “And passed through” because it passes in three lines.

“Unto the place of Shechem” means from his own degree, right line, where all the abundance of the Creator was included. He drew to the place of Shechem, left line, and then the two lines—right and left—were included in one another.

“To the oak of Moreh” means he drew the two lines to the middle line, who is the carrier to the screen of the lock, and all three lines were included in the middle line.

“And the Canaanite was then in the land.” Before there coupling on the screen of the lock in the middle line was done, the Canaanite, the serpent’s curse was ruling over the land. This means that there was a dispute between the lines, and the illumination of the left was like a burning fire. By that, the shell of Canaan was given dominance over the land. But now, after the arrival of the coupling on the screen in the middle line, this cursed shell was removed from the earth and the two lines—right and left—illuminated in her.

Since the middle line was the cause of all that, he, too, was rewarded with it, since the lower one is rewarded with all the light that it causes in the upper one. This is the rule, “Three come out of one, one is rewarded with all three.”

Through the middle line, “The oak of Moreh,” the Creator appeared to him with all His goodness described in the verse, “Go forth.” What appeared to him was what he did not know because of the lock, which governed the land. After the appearance of the lock and before the coupling was extended on her, the judgments of Haran were doubled on him: not only did the judgments of the left not depart him, the judgments of the annulment of the GAR were renewed on him.

Now, after the coupling that was done on the screen of the lock, what he did not know was revealed to him, since now the lines were included in one another and the illumination of the left was completed by the right, the right by the left. They illuminated in all the possible wholeness because all the judgments on the left were lifted from him and were no longer hidden from him.

69) “And he built there an altar to the Lord, who appeared to him.” Since he said, “To the Lord,” why does he also need to say, “Who appeared to him”? Indeed, here that same degree that rules over the land appeared to him and he entered it and existed in it, meaning the governance of the lock over the land appeared to him. He received the level of the coupling that came out on her and existed to receive the whole of the Mochin through her. Were it not for her governance, he would have remained in the dark and would not be able to exist.

70) “And he moved from there to the mountain,” meaning “From there he knew the mountain of the Lord,” and all the degrees planted in that place. He rose from the degree of Nukva in the place of NHY from Chazeh of ZA down, to the Nukva in the place of HGT, from Chazeh of ZA and above. This is so because HGT are called “mountains,” and the Nukva that is there is called “the mountain of the Lord.” He attained all the degrees there, which are planted in the place of HGT.

“And pitched his tent,” the tent of the Creator, which implies the Nukva. It does not write “His tent” with a Vav because he spread a screen and received the kingdom of heaven in all the degrees that depend on her. At that time, he knew that the Creator rules over everything, and then he built an altar.

“And pitched his tent” is written with the letter Hey, which implies to the correction of the screen, which Abraham had pitched in the place of the Chazeh, where he made the boundary of distinguishing the degrees from the Chazeh and above from the degrees from the Chazeh and below, to not draw from above downwards. By that, he received the illumination of the kingdom of heaven from the Chazeh and above, called “Leah,” in all the degrees in her. And she is implied in the letter Hey of “His tent.” A tent means a screen and a Parsa that he spreads beneath it.

71) There were two altars, since here it appeared to him that the Creator was governing everything, which is considered from the Chazeh and above. He also knew upper Hochma, from the Chazeh down, which he did not attain before. This is why he built two altars—one altar for the Nukva from Chazeh of ZA down, called “Rachel,” the revealed world, whose illuminations are revealed in Hochma, and one altar for the covered degree, the Nukva from Chazeh of ZA and above, called “Leah,” the covered world, who shines in Hassadim that are covered from Hochma.

In the beginning, it wrote, “And he built there an altar to the Lord, who appeared to him.” Afterwards, it wrote, “And he built there an altar to the Lord.” It does not write, “Who appeared to him.” He built the first altar at the degree of Nukva from the Chazeh down, the revealed world. This is why it writes, “To the Lord, who appeared to him.” He built the second altar at the degree of Nukva from the Chazeh and above, the covered world. This is why it does not write about her, “Who appeared to him,” but only “To the Lord.”

This is so because after he disclosed and drew Hassadim that are revealed in Hochma at the degree of the Nukva from the Chazeh down, as it is written, “And he built there an altar to the Lord, who appeared to him,” he did not remain in those Mochin. Instead, he rose above the Chazeh and drew Hassadim that are covered from Hochma, as the degree of Nukva from Chazeh of ZA and above. This is so because Abraham is a Merkava [chariot/assembly/structure] for ZA, and ZA does not receive Hochma for itself except when it gives to the Nukva. This is why Abraham, too, chose covered Hassadim.

72) And then Abraham was crowned from degree to degree until he rose to his degree. It is written about it, “And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the Negev,” south. He wished to be rewarded with the degree of Hesed of ZA, which is called “south.” This is the part that was destined to be a Merkava for the Sefira of Hesed of ZA. This is why he was “Going on still” from degree to degree until he rose to the south, where he corrected himself to be able to maintain the permanent degree of Hesed. Then he rose to the degree of the south and was rewarded with being a Merkava to Hesed of ZA, called “south.”

73) After Abraham was crowned in his degrees in the holy land, in Mochin from the revealed world, Rachel, he entered the degree of holiness, Hesed, the covered world, Leah. Then, “And there was a famine in the land,” meaning they did not know how to draw near to the Creator. It was written about it, “Neither hunger for bread nor thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord.”

74) “And there was a famine in the land.” Thus far the force that governs the land, the screen of the lock, did not give strength and nourishments on the land because the Nukva was not completely corrected and did not have its proper existence. This is so because all the corrections that have thus far been extended to the Nukva were from the key, the vessels of Ima. But from the lock, who is Malchut’s own essence, he still did not draw the corrections that were unique to her.

Hence, in that respect, there was famine in the land, meaning he did not know or attain how to draw near to the Creator with her. When Abraham saw that the force that was appointed over the earth, the lock, did not give proper strength and holy might, “Abram went down to Egypt to live there.”

75) How did Abraham know that the land, Nukva, still lacked corrections? It is written, “Unto your seed will I give this land,” and it does not say, “Unto you and to your seed will I give this land.” Then Abraham knew that the land would not be corrected in the holy correction, except through the holy degrees that would be born from him, of whom it was said, “Unto your seed will I give this land,” and not to him. This is when Abraham knew why this land would not be corrected in Kedusha [holiness], and this is why he went down to Egypt, to correct the deficiency from there.

76) The Creator implies the upper Hochma, in Abraham and in Isaac. Abraham is Neshama to Neshama, light of Haya. Neshama is Sarah. Lot is the serpent, SAM’s mate. The spirit of holiness is Isaac. The holy Nefesh is Rebecca, and the evil inclination is the spirit of the beast. In his wisdom, Solomon says about him, “Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?” The spirit of the beast is a Nefesh from the side of the evil inclination.

77) Neshama to Neshama comes to man from the Sefira of Hochma, with fear and with wisdom. The Neshama comes to man in Bina, as it is written, “Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom.” Hence Neshama to Neshama comes only through fear and wisdom.” But the Neshama comes to a person through repentance, which is called, Bina, and is called, “Sarah.” Ruach [spirit/wind] is called “voice,” and it is called Daat, and it is extended to a man who raises his voice in Torah. The Ruach is also called “Written Torah.” The good deeds are extended from the Nefesh of the mind.

Neshama to Neshama and NRN are extended from HBD:

The Neshama to Neshama, Abraham, is extended from the Sefira of Hochma.
The Neshama, Sarah, is extended from the Sefira of Bina.
The Ruach, Isaac, is extended from the Sefira of Daat; it is the right of the Daat.
The Nefesh, Rebecca, is extended from the Sefira of Daat, which is the left of the Daat.

78) Similarly, the Creator created the body out of four basic elements: Fire, wind, dust, and water, similar to Neshama to Neshama, Neshama, Ruach, and Nefesh. Neshama to Neshama is Water; Neshama is fire; Ruach is wind; and Nefesh is dust.

Water is male, like Neshama to Neshama, which comes from Hochma. This is sweet water of Kedusha, and opposite that is the water that cause a curse, which are the evil inclination, SAM.

There is a holy fire, female, like the Neshama that comes from Bina. Opposite it is the strange fire, of which it is written, “That he shall not enter at any time into the holy place,” which is the Nukva from the side of the evil inclination, the serpent, the Nukva of SAM.

The holy Ruach is male, like the wind that comes from the Sefira of Daat. Opposite it is an impure Ruach, the evil inclination. It is said about it, “Out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk,” meaning the spirit of the beast, which is called “a basilisk, which an offspring of the serpent of impurity, from the impure Bina.

And there is holy dust, like the Nefesh that comes from the left of Daat. Opposite it is the impure dust, the beastly Nefesh from the side of the evil inclination.

79) Hence, the Neshama, which is repentance, Bina, assails that serpent to break it by the power of enslavement of the penance, drawing him to the assembly houses and seminaries. And those four elements, which are four phases, Hochma, Bina, Tifferet, and Malchut, spread into twenty-two letters that come out of the five outlets of the mouth: Aleph-Het-Hey-Ayin from the throat; Bet-Vav-Mem-Peh from the lips; Gimel-Yod-Kaf-Kof from the palate; Dalet-Tet-Lamed-Nun-Tav from the tongue; and Zayin-Samech-Shin-Reish-Tzadik from the teeth.

Those five outlets correspond to Keter. HB and TM are the four elements—water, fire, wind, and dust. The four elements are the five outlets of the mouth, in which the twenty-two letters spread.

80) “And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem.” This is the assembly-house, the place where the Shechina dwells. It is written, “I have given to you one portion” [“portion” is spelled the same as “Shechem”]. This Shechem is the Shechina [Divinity], who is worthy of Joseph because he was called “righteous.” Tzedek [justice], which is the Shechina, dwells only with the Tzadik [righteous], who is Joseph.

“Unto the place of Shechem” means unto the place of the Shechina, the assembly-house.

“To the oak of Moreh” is the seminaries where mass teaching of the law is done.

81) “And the Canaanite was then in the land.” At that time, the evil inclination, who is called “Canaanite,” was sweetened and forced into correction in the body, which is called land. It was certainly forced in the body when the Neshama, Abram, shines in it, too, since then the body is in a state where the serpent was not completely removed. And because the serpent still has adhesion with the body, the Canaanite is in the land. The evil inclination is called, “Canaanite” because it surrounds the body with bad judgments because a Canaanite surrounds, as in “surrounding.”

82) And the Neshama stands in this world properly, to be rewarded with it after it departs this world. If it is worthy, it returns to the place from which it departed, as it is written, “To the place of the altar” that he had made there the first time. It is as it is written, “To the place where his tent had been in the beginning, between Beit-El and Ai.” It writes “His tent” with a Hey [in Hebrew], which is the Shechina.

83) And for now, it is in this world, between going up to the place from which it came and going down to the place of punishments, between Beit-El above and Ai below, the place of punishments.

If she is rewarded, she rises to the place of the altar that he had made. Accordingly, who is the one who made and who is the altar? “That He had made” is the Creator, who made this altar there, the Shechina. He erected it on twelve stones, “According to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, ‘Israel shall be your name.’” When the ten Sefirot are corrected to shine in illumination of Hochma, they divide into twelve. This is the complete construction of the Shechina through her husband, ZA. At that time, ZA, too, is called “Israel,” with the letters Li Rosh [“a head unto me”]. “Israel shall be your name,” since she receives Rosh and GAR from Israel, her husband.

84) This altar, the Shechina, first made a name when the upper world, the most hidden of all the worlds, was created. The angel Michael, the great priest, stands and offers on it sacrifices from the souls of the righteous. When the soul rises as an offering, it is written about it, “And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.” There the soul calls on the name of the Lord and becomes connected in the tie of life.

Bina is called the upper world, the most hidden of all the worlds, Bina of AA. The altar is built on twelve stones. First, it is built in the upper world, the most hidden of all the worlds, Bina of AA that came out of Rosh AA, and is built there in the thirteen corrections of Dikna. It is written about her, “Which he had made there at the first.” From there, the altar, the Shechina, receives the great and complete Mochin from the illumination of Hochma.

The angel Michael is the light of Hesed, which brings the soul closer and elevates her from BYA to the altar of Atzilut. By the power of the light of Hassadim that the soul receives, she can rise and cling to the Shechina, and receive from the great wholeness of illumination of Hochma from the thirteen corrections of Dikna. It is written about it, “And Abram called there on the name of the Lord,” meaning that there the soul calls on the name of the lord and is tied in the tie of life, since Mochin of Hochma are called “the light of life.”

85) All this is if the soul is rewarded with correcting the body and with tying the strength of that cursed one, the evil inclination, called “Lot,” until it parts from him. It is written about it, “And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle,” the Neshama, “And the herdsmen of Lot's cattle,” the evil inclination. In this world, each day the camps and leaders from the side of the soul struggle with those camps and leaders on the side of the body. They quarrel with each other and all the organs of the body are in pain between them, between the soul and that serpent—the evil inclination—who struggle daily.

86) “And Abram said unto Lot,” meaning the soul replied to the evil inclination, “Let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen,” between my camps and your camps, “For we are brothers,” meaning the evil inclination and the good inclination are close to each other. One stands to the right of a person and the other stands to his left. The evil inclination to his left, and the good inclination to his right.

87) “Is not the whole land before you? Please part from me,” meaning there are many wicked in the world, go and sail after them, and part from me. “If to the left, then I will go to the right; and if to the right, then I will go to the left,” meaning he reproaches him and pesters him on how many wars he fights with him each day, until it is written, “And they parted from each other.”

88) When they parted from each other, it is written, “Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan,” meaning the soul sat among the righteous in a good settlement, in peace. “And Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain,” meaning that that cursed one who slanders went to slander and to bond in the place where the wicked are, as it is written, “And moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.” This is where he lived and this is where he placed his abode among them, to bond with them, to incite them and to destroy them with bad deeds.

89) When the soul remained without the slanderer and the body was purified from that filth, the Creator immediately placed His abode with him and he inherited the upper and lower inheritance. Then he has contentment among the righteous, and that wicked one, Lot, is among the wicked and they sin with him until there is no redemption to their sins.

90) “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house.” “And when Abram heard” is the soul that remained in purity in the body. “That his brother was taken captive” refers to the evil inclination, which was taken captive among the wicked with many iniquities. “He led out his trained men, born in his house” are those righteous who engage in Torah, the organs of the body.

The organs of the body are likened to righteous who engage in Torah, who are armed to go with him, and they number 318, that is, 248 organs of the body and 70 of the soul that emerges from the seven Sefirot of ZA, each of which is ten. And 218 and 70 are 318. He armed himself with all of them to go there to those wicked ones and make them repent for their iniquities.

91) “And pursued as far as Dan.” He pursued them and alerted them of the judgment in the world of truth and the punishment in Hell, and he did not sleep day and night until he convinced them and made them repent and return to the Creator, as it is written, “And he brought back all the goods.”

92) “And Lot his brother, too,” meaning he assailed even that evil inclination called, “Lot,” until he forced it to annul, and properly sweetened it. He brought everyone into complete repentance as it should be. He did not rest day or night from persuading them, and he chased them for every single iniquity that they had committed until they repented in complete repentance as it should be.

93) It is written, “The watchmen that go about the city found me.” The Creator made Jerusalem above, Bina, similar to the Jerusalem below, Malchut, with walls and towers and open gates. The towers are the Gadlut of Malchut, GAR. The walls are her VAK. The doors are her Malchut, and they are RTS [Rosh-Toch-Sof] and NRN [Nefesh-Ruach-Neshama].

Jerusalem above, Bina, was mingled with Malchut, Jerusalem below. Thus, anything that applies to Malchut applies to Bina. And those walls that are there in Bina and in Malchut have guards on them, as it is written, “On your walls, Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen.” Michael, the great priest, is superior to all the watchmen of the gates.

94) When the soul leaves this world, upon a person’s departure, if he is rewarded, she enters the Garden of Eden of the earth, which the Creator planted for the spirits of the righteous on the earth, Malchut, similar to the upper Garden of Eden, Bina. This is where all the righteous of the world stand.

95) And when the soul departs from this world, she first enters the Cave of Machpelah, which is the door to the Garden of Eden, and meets Adam haRishon and the patriarchs that are there. If she is rewarded, they are happy with her, open the gates to her, and she enters. If not, they repel her outside. If she is rewarded, she enters the Garden of Eden and sits there, clothed in a clothing of a form of this world and is refined there.