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Chapter 49
Now, though the particulars of the manner of hiding and concealment of the light of Ein Sof (the Endless), blessed be He, in the downward chain of the worlds, until this physical world was created, are very many in number, and kinds of different kinds, as is known to those who have tasted of the Tree of Life, in a general way they are three kinds of mighty general contractions, for three kinds of general worlds, and in every general class there are myriads of myriads of particulars. And they are three worlds, Beriah (Creation), Yetzirah (Formation), and Asiyah (Action). For the world of Atzilut (Emanation) is divinity itself. And in order to create the world of Beriah, which is souls and upper angels, whose service of Hashem (God) is in the manner of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge that clothe themselves in them, and they grasp these and receive from them, there was first a mighty contraction, as above. And so from Beriah to Yetzirah. For the very slight light that clothes itself in the world of Beriah is still in the manner of Ein Sof beside the world of Yetzirah, and it cannot clothe itself in it except by contraction and concealment. And so from Yetzirah to Asiyah [and as has been explained in another place, the account of these three contractions at length, to bring them near to our poor intellect]. And the aim of all the contractions is to create the material body of man, and to subdue the sitra achra (the other side), and that there be an advantage of the light over the darkness, when man raises his nefesh elokit (the soul from God) and his vital soul, and its garments, and all the powers of the body, all of them, to Hashem alone, as above at length, for this is the aim of the downward chain of the worlds.
Now, as in water, face to face. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, set aside and moved to one side, by way of parable, His great light that has no end, and stored it and hid it in three different kinds of contractions, and all for the sake of love of the lower man, to raise him to Hashem, for love presses the flesh: how much more, in doubles of doubles without end, it is fitting for a man also to set aside and to leave all that is his, from the nefesh (the lowest level of the soul) to the flesh, and to let all of it go, in order to cleave to Him, blessed be He, in clinging, longing, and desire, and that there be no hindrance from within or from without, not body and not nefesh and not money and not wife and children.
And by this a good sense and knowledge will be understood, for the enactment of the sages, that they enacted the blessings of the reading of the Shema, two before it, and so on. For at first sight they have no connection at all with the reading of the Shema, as the Rashba and the other decisors wrote. And why did they call them the blessings of the reading of the Shema? And why did they enact them before it in particular? Only because the root of the reading of the Shema is to fulfill “with all your heart,” and so on, with your two yetzers, a yetzer (the urge), and so on (Mishnah Berakhot 9:5), that is, to stand against every hindrance to the love of Hashem. And “your heart” is the wife and her children, for a man’s heart is bound to them by his nature, as the sages of blessed memory said (Shabbat 152a) on the verse (Psalms 33:9), “He spoke, and it was”: this is a wife. “He commanded, and it stood”: these are sons. And “your soul” and “your might,” as they sound, life and livelihood, to let all of it go for the sake of the love of Hashem.
And how shall the material man come to this measure? Therefore they arranged first the blessing “He who forms the light.” And there the matter and the order of the angels are said and repeated at length, the angels who stand in the height of the world to make known the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, how all of them are null to His light, blessed be He, and they proclaim in fear, and so on, and they sanctify, and so on, and they say in fear, “Holy,” and so on. That is to say, that He is separate from them and does not clothe Himself in them in a manner of revelation, but “the whole earth is full of His glory,” which is the Community of Israel above and Israel below, as above. And so the ofanim and the holy living beings, with a great noise, and so on, “Blessed is the glory of Hashem from His place,” because they do not know and do not grasp His place. And as it is said (the end of the blessing “He who forms the light,” of the blessings of the reading of the Shema, and the beginning of the third blessing in the repetition of the prayer leader after the Kedushah, on festivals and the Days of Awe): “for He alone is high and holy.”
And after that, the second blessing: “With a love of the world You have loved us, Hashem our Elohim.” That is to say, that He set aside all the holy host of the height, and rested His Shekhinah (the divine presence) upon us, so as to be called “our Elohim,” like “the Elohim of Abraham,” and so on, as above. And this is because love presses the flesh. And therefore it is called “a love of the world,” for it is the manner of contraction of His great light that has no end, to clothe itself in the manner of limit, which is called “world,” for the sake of love of His people Israel, in order to bring them near to Him, to be included in His union and His oneness, blessed be He. And this is what is said: “a great and surpassing compassion.” The meaning is, surpassing the nearness of Elohim that is in the whole host of the height. “And us You chose from every people and tongue”: this is the material body, which in its material character resembles the bodies of the nations of the world. “And You brought us near,” and so on, “to give thanks,” and so on. And the meaning of thanksgiving will be explained in another place. “And to declare You one,” and so on, to be included in His union, blessed be He, as above.
Now, when the understanding man sets these words to the depth of the heart and the mind, then of itself, as in water, face to face, his nefesh will catch fire and clothe itself in a willing spirit, to offer of his own will to set aside and to leave all that is his, away from before him, and only to cleave to Him, blessed be He, and to be included in His light, in clinging and longing, and so on, in the manner of kisses and the cleaving of spirit to spirit, as above.
But how is the manner of the cleaving of spirit to spirit? To this it said (Deuteronomy 6:6-7): “And these words shall be,” and so on, “upon your heart, and you shall speak in them,” and so on. And as it is written in the Tree of Life, the union of the kisses is, at root, the union of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. And this is the deep study of the Torah. And the mouth is the outlet of the spirit and its disclosure in a manner of revelation, and this is the manner of speech in words of Torah. For “by what goes out of the mouth of Hashem a man lives” (Deuteronomy 8:3). And even so, he has not fulfilled his duty by meditation and study alone, until he brings it out with his lips, so as to draw the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, downward, as far as the vital soul that dwells in the blood of the man who comes to be from the inanimate, the growing, and the living, so as to raise them all to Hashem, with the whole of the world, and to include them in His union and His light, blessed be He, which will shine to the earth and to those who dwell upon it in a manner of revelation, “And the glory of Hashem shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see,” and so on (Isaiah 40:5). For this is the aim of the downward chain of all the worlds, that the glory of Hashem fill all this earth specifically, in a manner of revelation, to turn darkness to light and bitter to sweet, as above at length. And this is the aim of a man’s intention in his service: to draw the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, downward. Only, there is need first of a raising of feminine waters, to surrender to Him his nefesh and his might, as above.
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