Rabbi Hiya Went to See Rabbi Elazar

297) Rabbi Hiya went to see Rabbi Elazar. Rabbi Hagai met him and told him, “This road that is set before my lord, where does it lead?” He told him he was going to see Rabbi Elazar. And he replied, “I, too, will go with you.” He told him, “If you can understand the reason and the point of what you will hear. But if not, turn back.” And he replied, “My lord need not worry about that for I have heard several secrets of the Torah and I withstood them.”

298) It is written, “The offering of My bread for My fire.” “The offering” is an offering of meat, which is sacrificed to atone for the blood of man with the blood of the offering. The flesh of the offering is for the flesh of man because all the offerings are offered only on meat, to atone for flesh.

299) If man sins, what is the sin of the beast, for which the Creator said, “When any man of you brings an offering unto the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the cattle”? The Creator made the spirit of man and the spirit of the beast, and separated them from one another. Therefore, the rising spirit of man rises up, and the descending spirit of the beast is below, and they are separated from one another.

300) Before Adam sinned, it is written, “And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed.’” It is also written, “To you it shall be for food.” It was not permitted to eat animals. When he sinned and the evil inclination was immersed in his body and in all his generations, he inflicted judgment upon them, bringing the flood over them.

301) Then came Noah and saw that the body was built from the evil inclination, and he offered a sacrifice the way Adam did. “And the Lord smelled the sweet savor ... for the inclination in man's heart is evil from his youth,” said the Creator. Henceforth, since the body is already immersed with that evil inclination, let the body delight itself as much as it wishes and eat meat. And He said, “As the green herb have I given you all.”

302) When man eats meat, the flesh of the man delights in that meat and they mingle with one another, man’s flesh with the flesh of the beast. And the body grows through it. And because of that pleasure, when he delights in eating the meat, the body sins in several sins. The Creator said, “Let the flesh of the offering atone for the body because he ate meat,” and therefore meat grew out of it in the body, and he sinned in it. Thus, let the meat of the offering be atonement for his body.

And the body that eats meat makes blood in the body. Thus, the blood that remains outside, which remains of the flesh of the offering, is available for atoning for man’s blood, which is made of the flesh of that beast, as it is written, “For it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life.”

The vessel of the flesh in each Partzuf lacks completeness because the Emanator corrected only the VAK of the vessel of the flesh, for drawing VAK of the light of Haya for illumination from below upwards. At the same time, the GAR of the vessel of the flesh, which is extension of the light from above downwards, is still broken, and these are the shells and the Sitra Achra, which will not be corrected prior to the end of correction. This is the prohibition of the tree of knowledge, which drew the lights from above downwards to complement the GAR of the vessel of the flesh.

The issue with the offerings for atonement of iniquities is that through the MAN that rises from the offering, a high coupling is made. In the beginning of the coupling, it is extended from these GAR of Haya and they are promptly canceled. From that moment, before they are canceled, the shells receive and are thus separated from the Kedusha [holiness].

This is why it is said that the Creator made the spirit of man and the spirit of the beast, and separated them from one another. Therefore, the rising spirit of people is above, the descending spirit of the beast is below, and they are separated from each other. This is so because only man is corrected for Kedusha, and he was given the living spirit to shine from below upwards. But the spirit of the beast descends, meaning it tends to receive only from above downwards, from the GAR of the flesh.

Before Adam sinned, it is written, “And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed.’” It is also written, “To you it shall be for food,” but not more. In other words, he was permitted only herbs and not meat because the spirit of the beast descends and the meat of a beast can harm him and make him sin, so he will draw from above downwards, too, as in the deed with the tree of knowledge.

When he sinned and the evil inclination was immersed in his body and in all his generations, He inflicted judgment upon them, bringing the flood over them. Afterwards, Noah came and saw that the body was made of the evil inclination. He offered an offering, as did Adam, because once the shells clung to the body by the eating from the tree of knowledge, they always have the power to make him sin. Thus, now there is no other correction but to make an offering because through offering, the abundance from above downwards, which is ascribed to the Sitra Achra, is drawn out to them, and they are promptly separated from man’s body.

After he made an offering, he could raise MAN and make that correction of the offering by his own eating of the flesh of the beast. And through the coupling that he causes above by eating, he separates the shells like the offering, as it is written, “This is the table that is before the Lord.”

The Creator said that henceforth, since the body is already immersed with that evil inclination, let the body enjoy as much as it wishes and eat meat. Since the evil inclination wished to draw from above downwards, it was already immersed in the body. Hence, eating the flesh of a beast will no longer corrupt him. Moreover, if the body enjoys thoroughly, raising MAN by eating as with offering, it will separate this evil inclination from the body. This is why the Creator said, “Let the body enjoy as much as it wants.”

And when man eats meat, the flesh of the human enjoys that meat and they mingle in one another, the flesh of the man and the flesh of the beast. As a result, the body grows. This is so because through the mixing of the flesh of a beast with the flesh of a man, he raises MAN for a high coupling. In the beginning, the GAR that the body lacks come down, and before it stops, man’s body receives it, too, and grows by it—meaning receives correction for the GAR that are missing in the flesh of the body, as with the offering, and the body grows by it—meaning acquires Gadlut.

However, if he is still not eating in Kedusha and purity, and his eating is not like an offering, you find that the meat of the beast he is eating corrupts him even more. This is why it is written that as a result of the pleasure that he enjoys while eating meat, the body sins in several sins.

Still, he is permitted to eat because the Creator said that the flesh of the beast will be atonement for the body, for there is no other atonement for the iniquity of the tree of knowledge, except meat that is eaten in purity. This is why it is said that he ate meat and that flesh grew by it in the body, for if he eats in purity, the flesh of the body grows by the abundance of the coupling in its inception. He sinned in it, for if he does not eat in purity, he is corrupted even more and sins in it. Thus, the meat of the offering will be atonement for his body, meaning even after he sinned by the eating of the flesh, there is no other correction to atone for the body, except by eating meat again, in purity.

However, the meat of the beast itself does not mingle with man’s body, to make it bigger, due to the spirit of the beast—which descends—for by that, it would mingle with man’s spirit. This is why there was a correction that inside man’s body, the flesh of the beast turns into blood, and out of that blood, the man’s body grows, and not out of the meat.

And there is yet another correction—the correction of not eating blood. And there is also the correction of throwing over the altar. This atones for the blood, for it is made of the flesh of a beast, meaning it comes in the inside of the body. This is why it is forbidden to eat the blood that remains outside, the blood of beast. It is written about it, “You shall pour it out upon the earth ... as water.” It remains outside man’s body and is available for atoning for man’s blood, which is made of the flesh of that beast. Thus, it atones for the blood that is made of the flesh of the beast, which remains in man’s body.

303) It is written, “The offering of My bread for My fire of a sweet savor to Me.” It is also written, “You shall bring your offering.” What is the connection between them? “Peace offerings” come on peace. “Your offering” is sins and blame, which come over sin and guilt. “My offering” is meat. “My bread” is bread and wine. “Savor” is incense; “Sweet savor” is contentment that the priest gives with the intention of the holy Name that he mentions during the sacrificing. And the Levites with intent in song and praise means that they sing while sacrificing.

304) “Observe to offer unto Me in its due season.” “In its due season” means the desire that rules at the time of sacrificing, the desire that is above in the Nukva at that time.

305) When the offering is sacrificed, all the worlds receive a part of it, and the shells scatter to all directions. Then the unification of ZON comes close and unites, and the candles, the upper degrees, shine. It is called “desire and friendship in all the worlds,” and the Creator is in a single unification as it should be.

306) A throne of three pillars, what is each of them? There is a reason why David said that he is the fourth pillar of the throne, as it is written, “The stone which the builders rejected.” By that, he implies to the three pillars that precede David, HGT. Where did the builders reject David, as it is written, “The stone which the builders rejected”?

307) King Solomon said about King David when his brothers rejected him, “My mother's sons were angry with me.” By that, he insinuated to the answer with the words, “The stone which the builders rejected,” which David said when he had posterior Mochin, at which time his brothers rejected him.

308) Why did the Creator see fit to give the kingship to Judah more than to all his brothers? Indeed, the letters of His holy name were engraved in him, since there is the name HaVaYaH in the name Yehuda [Judah, Yod-Hey-Vav-Dalet-Hey]. And the Creator gave glory to His name, which is why he inherited the kingship.

Moreover, Yehuda are the words of His holy name. However, there is no letter Dalet in the name, HaVaYaH. Rather, this Dalet of Yehuda is King David, who was connected with His name more than all the people in the world, as it is written, “And seek the Lord their God, and David their king.” Thus, David is connected with His holy name.

Moreover, David is a tie of Tefillin of the Creator, Nukva of ZA. Certainly, the letter Dalet of Yehuda is King David, and this is why David was tied to His holy name, since in the name Yehuda, there is HaVaYaH, which is ZA, and there is Dalet, which is King David, the Nukva of ZA.

310) “But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silent before Him.” When the Creator, Bina, wished to create the world, ZON, which are called “heaven and earth,” He looked into the thought—Hochma, the Torah—inscribed inscriptions, and extended the light of Hochma to ZON, to heaven and earth. But the world could not stand because they could not receive the light due to the force of restriction and judgment that was in Malchut.

Then He created penance, the hidden inner and high hall. “Until He created penance” means until He elevated Malchut to Bina, at which time Bina is called “penance,” for Bina was diminished into a point in the hall. By that, the quality of judgment in Malchut was sweetened in Bina and became fit for reception of the light of Hochma. This is why it was said that it is “The hidden inner and high hall.” This is so because the hall was made hidden by the letter Yod, which entered the light of the hall and the light became Avir [air]. And there, in the above-mentioned hall, the letters—which are ZON—were inscribed and took shape in their engravings. Thus, they became fit for reception of Mochin from there.

311) Since this hall was created concerning the point in the hall, He looked at the hall and inscribed before Him drawings, meaning Mochin, of the whole world. All the qualities of the Mochin are from here. When He wishes to impart Mochin of Katnut to ZON, He raises the Yod to the Ohr [light] of the hall and it becomes Avir [air], meaning Mochin of VAK and Ruach. And when He wishes to impart GAR, He takes the Yod out of the Avir of the hall and it returns to being Ohr [light], as it is written, “But the Lord is in His holy temple,” where “The Lord” is Bina, and “In His holy temple” is a point in the hall.

It is written, “Let all the earth keep silent before Him.” This means that He inscribed before Him inscriptions and drawings of the whole world. Inscriptions are Mochin of VAK, and drawings are Mochin of GAR. ZON are called “world,” and it is on this hall that the measures of all the Mochin depend.

He wished to create the heavens, ZA. He looked at the first light, the first hall, AVI, wrapped Himself with it and created heaven, as it is written, “Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment.” Afterwards it writes, “Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain.” At that time, the Yod, Malchut, which entered the light of the hall and became Avir, is called “enveloped light,” and then two halls are made in Bina: The first hall, in GAR of Bina, is called “upper AVI.” It always remains enveloped light because the Yod does not come out of the Avir of this hall.

The second hall is in ZAT of Bina, and it is called YESHSUT. When He wishes to impart Hochma, He brings out the Yod from the Avir of this hall, the second one, and it returns to being Ohr, and then He imparts light of Hochma.

Also, it is known that ZA is always in covered Hassadim like AVI, the first hall. It is written, “Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment.” This means that in the beginning, He envelops Himself with enveloped light from upper AVI. Afterwards, it is written, “Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,” which is ZA, since ZA is always in enveloped light.

312) He considered making the lower world, Nukva of ZA, which needs the light of Hochma, which is not received from the first hall. He made another hall, YESHSUT, in which the Yod comes out of the Avir and enters it, and from it, He watched and inscribed before Him all the worlds below, all the measures of Mochin that they need, and created them.

It is written, “But the Lord is in His holy temple,” in the second hall. “Let all the earth keep silent before Him.” Has [“keep silent,” spelt—Hey-Samech, 65 in Gematria] are received from His face. He wrote the number Hey-Samech (65) before Him, which is the number of points, Sefirot, in the whole world, the Nukva, which are sixty-five, such as the number Hey-Samech. Sixty are six Sefirot HGT NHY where each of which comprises ten, and five are half of Malchut, who is missing her last five, from the Chazeh down. He inscribed all those sixty-five points of the Nukva before Him to bestow upon her when He created the world, which is the Nukva.

When speaking of the Nukva from the fifty gates of Bina, it is calculated as forty-five types of lights in the Nukva. But here he counts sixty-five points because it speaks of her reception from ZAT, HGT NHYM. Thus, the glory of the Creator, the Shechina, is only for those who know His proper ways in them in the path of truth, so they will not evoke a coupling from the Chazeh of Malchut and below. This is so because due to the absence of the five above-mentioned points, it is not a place for coupling there.