זאת חנוכת המזבח ביום המשח אתו מאת נשיאי…

1“This is the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed, from the princes of Israel,” etc.; and it is written, “This is the dedication of the altar after it was anointed.”

Now we need to understand what is said first, “on the day it was anointed,” which implies that the dedication of the princes and the anointing of the altar were done at one time, and that they are one matter, this depending on that, so that the dedication and the anointing are bound up with one another.

2And afterwards it is written, “after it was anointed,” which implies that the anointing is a matter by itself and had to take place before the dedication, since they were not permitted to bring the dedication of the princes’ offerings except after the anointing of the altar.

But the matter of the dedication of the princes with their offerings is not connected at all with the matter of the anointing of the altar: this is a matter by itself, and that is a matter by itself.

But to understand this, we must first understand the matter of the offerings in general: what they are. For the offerings are called by the name “bread,” as it is written, “My offering, My bread for My fire-offerings”; and our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Scripture speaks of two eatings, the eating of man and the eating of the altar.”

The eating of the altar is that they would offer fat and blood upon the altar, and fire would come down from above in the form of a lion and consume the burnt offering and the fats of the peace offerings; and this is the “lion that eats the offerings” mentioned in the Zohar.

3This will be understood from the matter of prayer, which corresponds to the offerings. Necessarily, then, there must also be in prayer something akin to the level of the offerings and their likeness, for that is why they instituted it to correspond to the offerings;

that is, because of the raising up of the animal soul in prayer, whose essence is in the service of the heart: to turn his heart from one extreme to the other, from having been immersed and occupied all day long in the thoughts of man and his schemes, and the inclinations of a man’s deeds;

each man according to what he knows of the afflictions of his own heart, to cry out to G‑d in his distress with all heart and soul, as it is written, “Their heart cried out,” etc.;

and to arouse love for G‑d, with longing and thirst to cleave to Him, may He be blessed, until [the soul] desires to strip itself of the filthy garments. These are the very thoughts, words and deeds that are not for G‑d,

whether in permitted things, etc., which are garments of nogah; and [nogah] at times ascends and becomes included in holiness, when a person weighs the paths of his ways so that he derives benefit from this world only for the sake of Heaven, to broaden his heart and mind for G‑d and His Torah, etc., as is explained elsewhere.

Whereas when a person is drawn after his body, intending his own needs and his own pleasure, then he goes down and is drawn below, and from the permitted it will entice him, etc.

4And this is the matter of the level of nogah when it descends and is included below in the utterly impure kelipos (husks). And along these lines the matter of prayer was arranged.

First a person should set out the praise of the Omnipresent in Pesukei deZimra (the Verses of Praise), on the greatness and exaltedness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, to arouse longing and thirst in the animal soul to gaze upon the glory of the King, through setting out His praises: how He is blessed, “Who spoke, and the world came into being,”

that is, with one saying and with one utterance, etc.; and as is written in the Zohar, “With one thought He created the world,” for He looks and gazes to the end of all the generations, and “calls the generations from the beginning,” and they are all surveyed in a single glance, etc.;

and He is “the Only One, the Life of the worlds, King.” The meaning of “the Only One” is that He is alone, as [He was] before the world was created, as it is said, “You are He before [the world] was created,” etc.;

and as it is written, “I, Havayah, have not changed”: that even after the world was created, “there is nothing else besides Him,” “and You are He, Havayah, alone,” as before the world was created.

For the world takes up no place at all, since everything is considered truly as nothing in relation to Him.

Because “You made the heavens, and the heavens of…,” etc., “and You give life to them all,” etc.

And [His being] “the Life of the worlds” is only at the level of “King,” which is only because His Name and His sovereignty are proclaimed over the realm, etc., as is explained elsewhere.

“Praised and glorified forever and ever (adei ad)”: that is, above, to no end, and below, to no limit, in ascent after ascent without end or limit,

as it is written, “All shall exalt You, selah,” “and all the living shall thank You, selah,” “and holy ones shall praise You every day, selah.” The meaning of “selah” is: without interruption, up to the very height of the levels.

5And it is known how many kinds of ascents there are in the lower and the higher Gan Eden, and the fifty thousand jubilees and sabbatical cycles, etc.: there are many kinds of elevations, of differing elevations.

And all of it is drawn only from the level of His great Name, the level of His Name and His sovereignty, which is no more than a level of radiance and illumination alone, etc.

And “for His Name is exalted”: that even His Name is at the level of “alone”; only the splendor and radiance of His Name is “upon earth and heaven,” etc.

6And therefore the soul of every living being will pine and long for Him, may He be blessed, to cleave to Him, may He be blessed; and especially when he recalls that His great Name and His sovereignty, may He be blessed, are called upon us, Israel, in particular, as it is written, “And He has raised up a horn for His people,” “He declares His words to Yaakov,” etc.;

and it is written, “For Yah has chosen Yaakov for Himself, Israel for His treasure”; and we say, “Blessed is Havayah, the G‑d of Israel,” [Israel] specifically. Then joy will be aroused in a person’s heart, “Let Israel rejoice in its Maker,” with a great joy for G‑d, Who has caused His Shechinah (Divine Presence) to dwell in our midst; “and all the house of Israel yearned after Havayah.”

And afterwards [come] the blessings of the Shema: how the angels sanctify, etc.; and “With an everlasting love You have loved us… a great and exceeding compassion,” “exceeding” meaning more than the angels, etc., as is explained in Sefer Shel Beinonim (Tanya).

7And from this he will rise, come and arrive at self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) in the Shema, at “One,” and at “You shall love… with all your heart,” with both your inclinations.

That is, even the desiring faculty of the animal soul in man, which desires physical things and the needs of his body, in the delights of mankind, will return to G‑d and desire nearness to G‑d, for it is good, since He is the source of all delights and the Life of life, blessed be He; and then he will truly delight in G‑d.

8And on this our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded the verse “And G‑d saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good”: “‘Good’ — this is the angel of life; ‘very’ — this is the angel of death,” etc.

At first glance this is astonishing: the angel of death is, after all, the evil inclination; so what is its goodness? And not only that, but it is called “very good,” more than the angel of life.

But the matter is that the goodness of the evil inclination is not when it is in its strength, but rather “when the sitra achra (the other side) is subdued,” etc.

That is, when the desiring faculty in a person’s heart, which is from his animal soul, is transformed and returns to love of G‑d with all his heart,

then even the evil inclination, whose dwelling is in the heart (for there, in the left chamber, is the dwelling of the animal soul) — “the evil angel, against his will, answers Amen,” and agrees and is reconciled to acknowledge the truth: that He, may He be blessed, is the Life of life and the source of delights, and to Him it is fitting that one’s soul should pine for G‑d with longing and thirst, etc.

9And because of this “the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted above”; for this is the ultimate intent in the creation of the worlds: that there be this advantage in the animal soul that returns to G‑d, like the advantage of the light that comes from the darkness, as is known and as is explained elsewhere.

Therefore it is “very good,” more than the angel of life, which is in itself from the source of life and goodness; but the evil angel, which descended to the rank of death and evil, when it is transformed into the level of good and life, is superior, as in the analogy of the advantage of light, etc.

[And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “These are the journeys”; and see in the Zohar, at the beginning of Parshas Yisro, page 68b, and in Parshas Beha’aloscha, page 153, end of side b; and what is written below on the verse “And the firstborn son is of the hated one.”]

And also, as is written in the holy Zohar, “In the place where penitents (baalei teshuvah) [stand],” etc., for they draw it “with greater strength”; that is because of greater intensity, etc.

For when love is intense, from the level of “flashes of fire,” this love is like the superiority of gold over silver, [silver] being the love that is in [the soul’s] nature, as it was born, which is likened to water: drawn after You like water, etc.

10And the love like flashes of fire is born from this contemplation in prayer and in Pesukei deZimra (the Verses of Praise), in setting out the praises of the Omnipresent with the depth of one’s mind, on the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, and His exaltedness without end, and in the blessing “Who forms [light]” and in “With an everlasting love,” etc.,

until he reaches the fulfillment of self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) at “One” and the fulfillment of “You shall love,” etc., as mentioned above; and as is explained elsewhere on the verse “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, and a man according to his praise.”

That is, in “a man according to his praise”: in the Shema and prayer and Pesukei deZimra, a refining pot and a furnace are made. These are the flashes of the fire of love, to consume and burn up the desiring faculty in the animal soul until it returns to love of G‑d and to cleaving to Him with longing and thirst, and with a veritable expiring of the soul.

112. Now, this power that the animal soul has, to be stirred by the greatness and exaltedness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, until it is kindled and set aflame with longing and thirst for G‑d and to cleave to Him, may He be blessed, until its desiring faculty returns and is transformed into love of G‑d,

[this] is because the root of the animal soul in man was taken from the Ofanim and the holy Chayos of the Chariot, the face of a lion and the face of an ox, etc.

(Although the root of the soul of all animals is also from the level of the face of a lion [and] the face of an ox, and the root of the soul of birds is from the level of the face of an eagle, as is explained elsewhere; so in what is the root and life-force of the animal soul in man distinguished, since it is certainly not like the soul in actual animals?

For the animal soul in man is an intelligent and speaking soul, whose rank is infinitely greater and higher than the soul in actual animals, which is only a living soul and nothing more; and there is no comparison between the animal and the speaking [being], as is known.

But the matter is that the four Chayos of the Chariot each have four faces, and in each of them there is the likeness of a man, as it is written, “And the likeness of their faces: the face of a man”; and the root and life-force of the animal soul in man is from the level of “man” within the Chayos of the Chariot,

for even the levels of the face of an ox and the face of a lion are comprised of the level of man, as is written in the Zohar; while the root of the soul of animals, which is from the level of the face of an ox, is from the level of the face of an ox in itself, etc. [And see what is written on this in the explanation of the verse “I am asleep,” and in the discourse beginning “If you walk in My statutes,” and in the discourse beginning “On the twenty-fifth of Kislev,” and in the discourse beginning “Who is enthroned on high.”]

Now, “the Ofanim and the holy Chayos, with a great tumult, raise themselves facing the Seraphim.” The tumult is because they hear the Seraphim saying “holy” three times; and this is the meaning of “facing the Seraphim.”

The explanation of this: the meaning and explanation of the word “holy” (kadosh) is to say that He is holy and separate in degree, having no comparison or relation to the worlds, being neither within the bounds of the light that fills [all worlds] (memalei) nor within the bounds of the light that encompasses [all worlds] (sovev), for He is “not of any of these attributes at all.”

But kadosh with a vav is a drawing down from the supernal kodesh (holiness). [And see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “Go forth and gaze,” on the matter of “Lift up your hands in holiness.”]

For kodesh is a thing unto itself: it is the very essence of the holiness of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is just as its name: it has no end and no limit, etc.

And the worlds cannot receive the Infinite Light, blessed be He, as it is, for they would be nullified out of existence and would be as though they had never been, except through a great tzimtzum (contraction), to draw down an extension of radiance and illumination alone in the manner of a kav (line of light) and a thread, etc.; and this is kadosh with a vav, in the aspect of a drawing down.

But even that drawing down is still in the state of holy and separate, which the worlds cannot grasp, until there comes about a drawing down and an illumination of an illumination; and this is the second “holy,” a drawing down and illumination from the first “holy.” And likewise the third “holy” is a drawing down and an illumination of an illumination, drawn from the second “holy.”

And through this there can be the level of Havayah, so that all the higher beings may come to be, who will grasp the precious splendor of His infinite greatness and exaltedness with some measure of comprehension and grasp, and will delight in G‑d in their comprehension with a wondrous delight. [And see what is written on the matter of the three times “holy” in the explanation of the verse “After Havayah your G‑d shall you walk,” and in the discourse beginning “Sing and rejoice, O daughter.”]

Yet even so He is called Tzevaos: “He is an os (sign) in His host (tzava).” That is, it is not in the manner of comprehension, but, by way of analogy, like a single letter (os) of a whole matter understood and comprehended in full; for that letter bears no comparison such that the term “comprehension” could be applied to it at all, but is a mere hint.

And so it is with the comprehension of the worlds: even the higher worlds, since they are in the state of created beings, brought into being anew from nothing to something, have no grasp or comprehension of Him, may He be blessed, as He is Himself and in His glory, “You are He before the world was created,” etc.;

they have a grasp only of the life-force that spreads through the worlds to give them life and to bring them into being from nothing to something, which is in the state of a single letter: “With the yud the World to Come was created, and with the hei this world”; and they have comprehension only of the level of yud, etc.

Now, when the Ofanim hear the Seraphim saying so, they make a tumult with the sound of a great tumult, because they hear something great that is above their comprehension.

[It] is not grasped and absorbed in their comprehension in an inward way, but only in an encompassing way (makif); for the vessels of their comprehension do not have the power to contain that great and awesome comprehension, and it remains over them as something encompassing. Nevertheless, in an encompassing way they grasp that there is something great and awesome, and from this an impression (reshimu) is drawn into the inner level, so that there is thunder and tumult alone.

For with anything novel that is not grasped by the intellect, but which one nevertheless hears in an encompassing way, and an impression of it enters the inner level, there arises from this an inner stirring, to say, “See, this is new,” for his intellect does not have the power to grasp and comprehend that thing as it is in itself.

And from this the tumult arises: because of the great intensity of the wondrousness of the awesome thing, which his intellect does not have the power to grasp, etc., a great tumult arises in him, etc.

But the Seraphim, since their root is from the place of that tumult, as it is written, “Seraphim stood above Him,” and this comprehension is not such a novelty to them [and this is the matter of the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, regarding Yeshayahu, “like a city-dweller who saw the king,” etc., as is explained elsewhere], therefore make no tumult.

For this is why they are called by the name Seraphim: they have already been burned up (nisrefu), etc. [And similar to this regarding Daniel’s companions: they did not perceive the vision; only “their mazal saw,” yet a great trembling fell upon them, more than upon Daniel, who saw the vision, as is explained elsewhere.]

And because the root of the animal soul is from the level of the Ofanim and Chayos, it therefore has this power to be stirred in the manner of tumult. And this is the meaning of “with greater strength”: “very good,” more than the level of the love of the G‑dly soul itself.)

3. Now, through the tumult there comes about “As in water face [answers] to face, so the heart of man to man.” The meaning of “man to man” is that there is a “man” upon the likeness of the throne: “a likeness like the appearance of a man.”

And there is a level of “man” beneath the throne; even the three Chayos, the face of a lion, the face of an ox [and] the face of an eagle, are at the level of “man,” as is written in Yechezkel’s Chariot, “And the likeness of their faces: the face of a man,” etc., “for the four of them,” etc.

[And see on this in the Zohar, Parshas Bamidbar, page 118b, and in the commentary of the Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto) there; and in the Zohar, Parshas Tazria, page 48, end of side a; and in Parshas Bereishis, page 18, end of side b.]

And “as in water face [answers] to face, so the heart of” the “man” who is above, upon the throne, [answers] to the “man” who is beneath the throne, through his arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), in the manner of a great tumult, as mentioned above.

12And the meaning of “their faces: the face of a man” is that in the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the Ofanim and Chayos there is the level of “man”; and likewise with the animal soul in man: in its inner dimension it is the intellectual soul.

And see what is written in the discourse beginning “And you shall count for yourselves,” on the matter of “and their faces and their wings”: that the cantillation mark on “and their faces” is a zakef gadol, which is a pause, to separate “and their faces” from “and their wings,” etc.; see there.

And through this arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) in the animal soul and the intellectual [soul] — this is the level of “the heart of” the lower “man” toward the “man,” etc. — an arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila) is drawn down from on high. And the explanation of this arousal from above will also be understood from the matter of the offerings.

For the offerings, offering the fat and blood of the animal upon the altar, are also a level of raising up the soul of the animal, whose root is from the Chayos and Ofanim, from the level of the face of an ox, etc.

13Now, they would bring fire from below, and through this the supernal fire would come down, the “lion that eats the offerings,” the lion, king of the beasts (chayos), to become included in the fire above.

And so too in prayer, in the raising up of the animal soul, there are also the two levels of fire mentioned above, a raising up and a drawing down; and all this is called the eating of the altar. And so is the matter also above, with the souls, which Michael, the Kohen Gadol (High Priest), offers upon the altar;

for the souls are at the level of created beings, [brought] from nothing to something, and through Michael they are offered up higher and higher, to become included in Atzilus, where “He, His life-forces and His vessels are one.”

14Now, the bringing of the offerings upon the altar is called by the name “eating,” as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Scripture speaks of two eatings: one, the eating of man, and one, the eating of the altar,” because it is an inner level: “I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey” (and see what is written in the discourse beginning “And if it be eaten at all,” in Parshas Shelach).

But there is another level, the level of the encompassing (makif), which is the incense: it is only a fragrance, which the soul enjoys and not the body, for it does not enter the body at all in an inward way, but only in an encompassing way, from above.

(This was explained in the explanation of the verse “I have come into My garden,” regarding “I have gathered My myrrh,” and as the nose is higher than the palate, etc. And see what is written on the verse “See, the fragrance of my son,” in Parshas Toldos; see there on the matter of the raising of mayin nukvin (feminine waters) that is in an encompassing way. And see in the Zohar, at the end of Parshas Vayakhel) (page 219a), on the matter of the incense;

and in Parshas Beha’aloscha (page 151b), where the inner altar and the outer altar are also explained,

that is, the level of the inner dimension (pnimiyus) of the heart and the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of the heart. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Who has counted the dust of Yaakov,” on the matter of “and unite our heart,” etc.; see there.

And see what is written further on the matter of the incense above, on the verse “Lift up the head of the sons of Gershon,” and in the discourse beginning “On the twenty-fifth of Kislev”; and see what the Ramaz (Rabbi Moshe Zacuto) writes at the end of Parshas Bo, on the Raaya Mehemna there, page 40b.

15Now, the incense was not offered on the outer altar, but only on the inner altar. Only with the princes, however, was there a one-time ruling, that they offered incense upon the outer altar.

That was for the sake of the dedication of the altar. And this term chanukah (dedication) is from the word chinuch (education), as in “Educate a youth according to his way”;

that is, as in the analogy of the young child whom they train to learn: they give him an extra gift in order to accustom him to begin learning; whereas when he has already accustomed himself and begun, etc.

16That is, training [a child] to learn is not through the learning alone, which is the regular thing for him at all times; rather, they train him through some addition, such as some closeness or some gift, etc.

But after they have already trained him, the regular thing suffices. And that is because “all beginnings are difficult.”

Therefore, for there to be a beginning, it must come through chinuch (education). (As is explained elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “On the twenty-fifth of Kislev” mentioned above, on the matter of “Educate a youth according to his way.”)

And this is also the matter of “Render unto Havayah glory,” etc., and afterwards “The voice of Havayah is upon the waters,” etc., the seven voices. The meaning of “voice” is a drawing down, like a physical voice that goes out from the heart to speech;

for it is what joins the attribute in the heart with speech, so that the form of the emotive attributes (middos) in the heart becomes seen and revealed in another mode, in speech; and this is a level of descent from the mode of an attribute to the mode of speech.

And this descent and drawing down is through the voice. Along these lines, every descent and drawing down from one mode to another mode is called by the name “voice.”

And this is the meaning of “the inner voice that is not heard”: it is the level of a drawing down from intellect to the emotive attributes, etc. (And see what is written on this in Shir HaShirim, on the verse “The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes.”)

And this is the matter of the seven voices: they are seven levels of drawings down and descents into the seven attributes. “Water” is Chesed (kindness), and “power” is the level of Gevurah (restraint), etc.

And the drawing down is from the hidden world (alma de’iskasya), which is above the attributes (like the matter of “seven, and seven pipes to the lamps,” for the seven lamps are seven attributes and the pipes are drawings down from higher levels to the attributes; see in the Zohar, at the end of Parshas Mikeitz) (page 204, end of side b). And see what is written in the discourse beginning “For with You is the source of life.”

And so it is also in the Zohar, that the seven pipes are seven havalim (breaths), etc.; and see on the matter of the seven havalim in the Zohar, Parshas Tazria, page 47b. And every drawing down is through the Name Havayah: the yud is tzimtzum (contraction), etc.

Therefore, in order that there be this descent and lowering from the level of the Name Havayah into these seven voices, the level of “Render unto Havayah glory” comes first: this is something encompassing (makif) and an additional illumination, so that the seven voices may afterwards be drawn down.

And this glory must be drawn down at the outset, before the seven voices. (In Reishis Chochmah, chapter 2 of Shaar HaYirah, he brings from the Raaya Mehemna, Parshas Pinchas, page 255b, on the matter of “Show me, please, Your glory,” that it is the level of the supernal Keser (Crown), etc.; and see in the Zohar, Beha’aloscha, page 154a, on the matter of “His horn shall be exalted in glory”;

that is, because the meaning of “Render unto Havayah glory” is how, in truth, above, it is He Who is the existence (yesh), and “all before Him is considered as truly nothing.” And see what is written in the explanation of the verse “For on this day He shall atone,” on the matter of “The wise shall inherit glory,” etc.; see there.)

And so it is with giving a gift in honor (kavod) of a bridegroom and bride: because a new union comes about. For chasan (bridegroom) is “descending a level” (chas darga), and kallah (bride) is “my soul pines” (kalsah nafshi), from below upward.

And they are two opposites that unite; and to draw down such a new union, one must first draw down the level of kavod (glory), which is an additional illumination in an encompassing way.

17And in the same way, at the dedication of the altar, the princes offered silver bowls and basins and golden spoons, although a voluntary meal offering is brought in an Egyptian basket; but the princes did it “for glory and for splendor.”

And this was also the matter of offering the incense on the outer altar, which is not at all the regular thing — the regular thing being the daily offerings, etc. — but rather, just as one trains a young child specifically through an extra gift, so was the offering of the incense, which is the drawing down of the level of the encompassing [lights] (makifim).

And so is the matter of the glory, through which there could afterwards be the order of the offerings, “the daily offerings according to their order,” etc. This is the matter of the chinuch (dedication) of the altar, as is known.

18But for there to be the drawing down of the incense, which is the level of the encompassing (makif), there must be the anointing of the altar with the anointing oil. For the anointing oil is an intermediary between the inner and the encompassing;

for oil is a drink, and mixed into the anointing oil were “choice spices: flowing myrrh… fragrant cinnamon,” etc., which is the matter of fragrance; thus there was a blending of the levels of the inner and the encompassing.

19Nevertheless, the level of the encompassing was offered “on the day it was anointed,” for it is all one level. Whereas the rest of the offerings, which are the eating of the altar, “and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings,” “all the cattle for the burnt offering,” etc., were “after it was anointed.”

For first there had to be the level of the encompassing, for the dedication (chinuch), and afterwards came the eating of the altar. Therefore, of the offerings that are the eating of the altar it is written, “after it was anointed”; and of the incense and the bringing of the bowls, which are in the state of the encompassing and the level of glory, it is written, “on the day it was anointed.”

(And perhaps along these lines one may explain what is said in [Midrash] Rabbah, Nasso, section 13; these are its words: “It is written, ‘This is the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed.’ But was there not one bowl, one basin and one spoon on the day it was anointed? Why then does the verse say, ‘twelve silver bowls,’ etc.? Rather, He accounted it to them as if they had all offered on the first day and on the last day.” End of quote.

And so it is also there, section 14, and in [Midrash] Shir HaShirim on the verse “You are all fair, my beloved.”

That is, the level of the incense and the bringing of the bowls of all of them is in the state of “on the day it was anointed,” and of this it said, “as if they had all offered on the first day”; while the level of the offerings, “and for the sacrifice of the peace offerings,” is for all of them in the state of “after it was anointed,” and this is “and on the last day.”)