שחורה אני ונאוה בנות ירושלים וגו׳

1“I am black and comely, O daughters of Jerusalem” etc. “Do not look upon me that I am blackish, for the sun has gazed upon me” etc.

This will be understood in light of the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory, that the Torah was given as black fire upon white fire, as explained in Shir HaShirim Rabbah at the end of the passage “His head is as the most fine gold,” and in the Zohar, Part III, Nasso, 132a (and see further in the Ra’aya Mehemna, Shoftim, 275a).

Now, just as the whole Torah was given in this way, so too what our Sages said, “With the yud the World to Come was created” etc., is likewise in the manner of black fire upon white fire.

The explanation of the matter is as follows. We must first understand that the World to Come, the Higher Garden of Eden, is the delight of the souls from their grasp of G‑dliness: a wondrous delight without end and without limit, beyond all measure and bound.

This is why they said of Elisha Acher: “Better that he be judged and come to the World to Come,” for all the sufferings of Gehinnom are worthwhile

for twelve months in order afterwards to receive the gratification and delight of the World to Come, because this delight has no end or bound, and all the sufferings of Gehinnom cannot be measured or compared against it.

For were there any measure and bound to this delight, there would be room for some weighing and balancing, to reckon how much suffering [is worth] against the delight.

But in truth it is beyond all measure and bound; therefore nothing at all compares to it, and “Better that he be judged” etc.

2If so, we must understand what the level of the yud is, from which this world of great delight was created. To understand this, [we apply the verse] “From my flesh I behold G‑d.”

By way of analogy, we see plainly in a physical person that the revelation of the letters of speech is in thought and speech, but in the intellect itself there is as yet no level of letters at all.

Only when he thinks and ponders it are the letters born (see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “Who has counted” in Parshas Balak),

and they are revealed, in a concealed way, in his thought, and they come to greater revelation when he speaks to another. They are garments for the intellect, which clothes itself in the letters of thought and speech,

but they are not its essence and being, for in the essence of the intellect no pronunciation of letters is yet recognized or felt (see what is written in the explanation of the verse “And you shall make a tzitz,” on “and you shall engrave upon it the engravings of a signet”).

Even so, the revelation of these letters, although they are felt as sounds only in speech, through the five articulations of the mouth, does not have its beginning and its coming into being from nothing to something there (as is written at length on the verse “And David made there a name”).

Likewise, the letters of thought do not come into being from the level of the grasped intellect that shines in thought. Rather, the source from which there comes to be a power of letters in thought and speech is fixed in the very being of the soul itself, for the soul

is full of letters. These are powers for flows of energy which, in their descent lower and lower down to the level of thought, take the form of actual pronounced letters; for in thought too the letters take form after the manner of their pronunciation,

as one utters them with the mouth (and in this vein [the Sages] said in the Gemara, “Two spirits were conversing with one another”: that their speech and conversation are fine and spiritual letters, like the letters of thought in us, and their thought is finer still, as is written elsewhere), except that it is concealed.

Speech, by contrast, actually reveals [them] to another. Their source is higher than the level of intellect, that is, from the level of the soul itself (see what is written on this in the explanation of the verse “If you walk in My statutes”). This is not to say that the letters are the actual being and essence of the soul,

for the being of the soul is intellect and emotive attributes etc. (meaning that it is the source of the intellect and the emotive attributes, as is written in the explanation of the verse “And you shall not withhold salt,” in the discourse beginning “Behold, they are one people,” and in the discourse beginning “Elijah opened”),

but that the soul itself also includes the powers of the letters, so that from it there is drawn down into the level of thought by way of a mere extension of radiance. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Thus shall you bless” regarding the soul being full of letters.

3Summary: The matter of the Torah being given as black fire upon white fire, and likewise the yud with which the World to Come was created. We must first introduce the matter of the letters of thought and speech, which are merely garments for the soul and the intellect, and nevertheless the root of the letters is in the soul itself.

42. Now, exactly like this analogy is [the matter] above, in the Infinite Light, blessed be He. For the revelation of the souls’ grasp of G‑dliness and their delight in G‑d, though it is a wondrous delight, is nonetheless only from the level of letters

(see the discourse beginning “And now, let the power be great” on “as You have spoken, saying,” that Malchus of Atzilus, which is the letters of the speech of Atzilus, becomes Attik of Beriah, which is the source and root of the Higher Garden of Eden etc.; and see what is written in the discourse beginning “You shall keep My Sabbaths” on “Creator of holy beings, may Your Name be praised” etc.).

The Higher Garden of Eden is the letters of thought, and the Lower Garden of Eden is the level of speech. This is [the meaning of] “I created it, I formed it, I also made it”: “I created it” is the level of thought, the Higher Garden of Eden; “I formed it” is the level of speech and the Lower Garden of Eden.

“I also made it” is the world of action, this physical world. (See what is written in the discourse beginning “Who has counted” that “also” (af) is a term of inclusion, and it includes a fourth level which is above the levels of thought, speech and action, which are only garments for the Infinite Light, blessed be He;

that is, the level of the Supernal Will, which is the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in His very Self and Glory, and which is drawn down through the fulfillment of the mitzvos in this world etc.;

see there. In the same way one may say regarding what is written, that in the Higher Garden of Eden the revelation is from the level of the letters of thought and in the Lower Garden of Eden from the level of speech, that nonetheless through fulfilling the Torah and mitzvos in this world an additional light is drawn into the Garden of Eden. This is the clothing of the Supernal Will and the Supreme Chochmah in thought and speech, in the manner of “Your thoughts are very deep.”

As is written in the discourse beginning “For as the new heavens” on “and He placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it,” and in the discourse beginning “Then Israel sang” etc., “Spring up, O well” etc.; and see what is written in the discourse beginning “I” in the portion of tzitzis, on the twofold “I” etc., “to be your G‑d.”

Now, with the yud the World to Come was created, but this world was created with the hei, and there is a level in the hei which in its root is higher than the yud, as is written on “Go forth” regarding the hei of Avraham. Therefore through teshuvah and good deeds in this world additional light is drawn into the Garden of Eden. Let us return to our subject, the matter of the letters of thought and speech.)

These are merely garments for the Infinite Light, blessed be He, as is written in the Tikkunei Zohar: “You prepared garments for them, from which souls fly forth” etc.

But in the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in His very Self and Glory, no revelation of comprehension applies, for “no thought can grasp Him” at all, and “You are wise, but not with a knowable wisdom” etc.

“He is the Knower and He is the Knowledge” etc. (see what is written in the discourse beginning “Behold, they are one people,” cited above, on the meaning of “You are wise, but not with a knowable wisdom”).

Of this it is said, “He made darkness His hiding place.” Darkness is something in which no grasp or comprehension at all is seen.

(See what is written in the discourse beginning “The heads of the tribes” on “and of it is said, ‘He made darkness His hiding place’” etc., and in the discourse beginning “And He called to Moshe.”)

Now, all this is from below upward: what is above the comprehension of created beings is called “darkness,” meaning that which is not grasped,

as in the saying “Who forms light and creates darkness”: the darkness is in Beriah, above the light of revelation which is in Yetzirah. (For Beriah is thought and Yetzirah is speech. Now, for the student, the teacher’s speech is called light and revelation, but the teacher’s thought is still darkness for the student.

But for the teacher himself, his speech counts as nothing compared with his thought, and what he thinks in thought in one moment requires many words to speak. Therefore for him thought is called light, and speech is called darkness compared with thought. Further:

In Beriah there shine Chochmah, Binah and Daas of Atzilus, which are called “the hidden world” relative to the emotive attributes of Atzilus, called “the revealed world,” which shine in Yetzirah. For of Chochmah and Binah of Atzilus it is said, “The hidden things belong to Havayah our G‑d.” And see what is written in the discourse beginning “I have come into My garden.”

Therefore the Seraphim too, who are in Beriah, are called “standing above him,” meaning above the vav, the six extremities, which nest in Yetzirah. Their service is not with a great noise, like the Chayos and the Ofanim who raise themselves with a great noise, since those are from the revealed world.

It is also stated that when one says “Who forms light” one touches the tefillin of the hand, and at “and creates darkness” one touches the tefillin of the head. It is explained elsewhere that the tefillin of the hand are called a sunken seal, the clothing of the lights in the vessels, while the tefillin of the head are called a raised seal, lights that are above the vessels. This is alluded to specifically in “creates darkness,” because at present this level does not come into revelation until the Time to Come.

From all this it is understood that for us what is revealed is called light, and what is above revelation is called darkness etc. In the same way, anything that is higher in rank is called, for us, greater darkness.)

But from above downward it is the reverse: what comes more into the revelation of comprehension is more within the category of darkness

relative to the Infinite Light in His very Self and Glory, as is written in the Zohar that the Supreme Keser, although it is a clear light, a brilliant light, is black relative to the Cause of Causes etc., and all of them are darkened before Him etc.

And it is written, “All before Him are considered as nothing.” (Something similar is explained elsewhere on “G‑d of knowledge” (Kel de’os): that from below upward what is below is called “something” (yesh) and what is above is called “nothing” (ayin), but from above downward it is the reverse, as is written in the discourse beginning “When they put ‘we will do’ first” and in the discourse beginning “On the eighth day, an assembly,” and in other places.)

Therefore the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in His very Self and Glory, which is above the bounds of comprehension, is called light, and it is the level of white fire.

(And what is below Him etc., even Keser, is called darkness, as said above; and see what is written on this in the explanation of “Who has counted.” It is also like the analogy of “a candle at noon: of what use is it?” The candle is called darkness relative to the light of day, though relative to the night it is called a lamp.

In the same way our Sages said, “All the prophets will be nullified in the Time to Come,” and it is explained elsewhere that the light of the prophets’ prophecy will count as nothing compared with the revelation of the Time to Come, like a candle at noon etc.

All the more so relative to the Infinite Light, blessed be He: in order that a radiance be drawn from it to be the source of the ten Sefiros, there had to be a tzimtzum and a vacated space, and afterwards only a kav and a thread was drawn down, as is known.

Now, the matter of its being called fire, except that there is white fire and black fire, is as written elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “You are standing,” in explaining the verse “For Havayah your G‑d is a consuming fire” etc.

Further, in general there are four elements, fire, air, water and earth, which correspond to the four worlds Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. Fire is the level of Atzilus: just as it is the nature of fire to withdraw upward, so Atzilus is exalted and lofty above Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah; for Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah are created beings, while Atzilus is G‑dliness.

Now, within Atzilus itself there are also Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah: Keser, or also the Supreme Chochmah, is called Atzilus of Atzilus; Binah is called Beriah of Atzilus; and Z’eir Anpin and Nukva are Yetzirah and Asiyah of Atzilus. More generally still, there are the general Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and the very highest Atzilus is called fire.

Even so, it is called black fire relative to the Emanator, the Infinite One, blessed be He, who is called white fire etc. So too, in general, Z’eir Anpin relative to Attika Kaddisha is called black fire relative to white fire.)

But because the worlds cannot receive [it], and “no thought can grasp Him” etc., therefore “G‑d saw the light, that it was good” to be hidden away.

It was hidden away in the manner of “He made darkness His hiding place” etc. This is [the meaning of] “He who dwells in the concealment of the Most High, in the shadow of Shaddai he lodges”: to contract and conceal the light

by many contractions and screens that separate and conceal His light, blessed be He, so that there be a level of revelation below: the level of the Higher Garden of Eden, the delight of the souls etc. and their grasp of the light of G‑d etc., “I created it, I formed it” etc.

(See what is written on “And Elokim spoke” etc., “And I appeared to Avraham” etc., “as Kel Shaddai,” who said to His world “Enough” (dai). And see Shaar HaYichudim, chapter eight, the fifth yichud, on the matter of light, water and firmament, which is drawn down through the Name Shaddai.

It will be understood in light of what is written on this matter on “Praise G‑d in His sanctuary, praise Him in the firmament of His strength”; and see what is written in the discourse beginning “They were disputing in the Heavenly Academy” etc., that it is the Higher Garden of Eden, which is called “firmament,” and that what is drawn down to them from the level of His light, blessed be He, comes through many contractions etc., as said above.)

This is [the meaning of] “And in His goodness He renews each day, continually, the work of creation”: “in His goodness” means that from His seeing that it was good to hide away the light, there came into being the renewal of the work of creation, to be from nothing to something, as the revelation of delight and comprehension

(as is written, “To cause those who love Me to inherit yesh,” which refers to the Garden of Eden, which is called something from nothing (yesh me’ayin). And see on the matter of “good to hide away” at the beginning of Pekudei, 220b, and at the beginning of Emor, 88a, and in Bereshis Rabbah, Parsha 3, at the end of section 18; and see what is written on “And in His goodness He renews” etc.

through the level of the yud, which is the level of tzimtzum etc., in the discourse beginning “And I besought” and in the discourse beginning “I will sing” etc., “for He is highly exalted”).

5Summary: In the same way above, the revelation of light in the Garden of Eden is only from the level of letters, “with the yud the World to Come was created,” and these are garments.

But as for His essence, blessed be He, “no thought can grasp Him” at all. Of this it is said, “He made darkness His hiding place.” This is from below upward: what cannot be comprehended is called darkness.

But from above downward it is the reverse. This is [the meaning of] “it was good” to hide away [the light] in the manner of darkness, so that there be revelation in the Garden of Eden; and this is “And in His goodness He renews.”

63. Now, this contraction, the matter of “it was good” to hide away the light in the place of darkness, is like, in the analogy, the level of the letters within the soul itself, in order that there be a revelation of actual letters in thought and speech

(meaning: it has already been explained that although the form of the twenty-two letters is fixed in the very being of the soul itself, nevertheless the letters are not the being and essence of the soul; for the essence of the soul is higher even than the being of the intellect and emotive attributes that shine from it in the body,

but it is exalted above them with a great elevation. Only a radiance and power from it, when drawn down and clothed in the brain, becomes the source of the intellect in the brain. While that power is still included in the essence of the soul, it is above the level and being of the source of the intellect in the brain.

In the same way, the letters included in the soul are powers from which, in their descent to be revealed in thought and speech, the form of letters takes shape. Even so, although these powers are still above the level of the actual letters of thought and speech, they are nonetheless a descent and contraction relative to the actual being and essence of the soul.

This contraction is in order that from it there afterwards be the revelation of the letters of thought and speech, which are actually material letters, and that is a further, truly complete contraction.

The beginning of this contraction is the coming into being, within the soul itself, of the form of the letters without matter. All these contractions are an analogy for the matter of “it was good to hide away.”

That is: it is stated at the beginning [of the Zohar], “At the outset of the King’s will, He engraved engravings in the supernal radiance.” This is the contraction for the coming into being of engraved letters, so to speak. The matter is as written on “This is the statute (chukas) of the Torah,” that engraving is higher than written letters, for it is of the thing itself and within it.

This is the meaning of “engraved (charus) upon the tablets” etc. Ink letters, by contrast, are a separate thing, and they also blacken the parchment completely. However,

the engraved letters, although they are of the thing itself and within it, also darken somewhat the bright precious stone: when an engraving is made in it, its brightness from before the engraving is somewhat darkened, since in the place of the engraving it is not so bright.

The application is understood: this is the matter of “He made darkness His hiding place,” the level of the Supreme Keser, which is drawn from the Malchus of the Infinite, the level of letters; although it is still the level of the Infinite,

and like engraved letters it is of the thing itself and within it, and above the level of Chochmah and Binah, which are called actual “action” relative to the Infinite, like ink upon parchment etc., nevertheless Keser too is called darkness and black fire relative to the Infinite One, blessed be He, who is far above Keser and is called white fire.

This contraction is in order that afterwards there come into being the level of Chochmah and Binah and the Garden of Eden, which is like the analogy of letters written in ink etc., the level of actual black. This too is, by way of analogy, the matter of the coming into being of the letters of the soul, which are

like engraved letters, of the thing itself and within it, in order that afterwards there come into being actual letters in thought and speech, truly material, actual black fire. Now, although relative to the Infinite the engraved letters are also called darkness, as said above, nevertheless relative to the written letters,

that is, the level of Chochmah and Binah, the sources of the Garden of Eden, [as in] “and a river goes forth from Eden,” Keser is called actual white fire, since it is only of the thing itself and within it, by way of analogy. Therefore Z’eir Anpin of Atzilus, relative to Keser, is called black fire upon white fire)

(as is written in Parshas Nasso, 132a). In the same way Z’eir Anpin, relative to Malchus of Atzilus, is called “white light,” and she, relative to it, is called “black light”

(as is written in Parshas Bereshis, 51a, in Parshas Lech Lecha, 83b, and in Parshas Shoftim, 275a).

For Malchus, which is the source of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, is called the attribute of night and darkness, since the Infinite Light is hidden and clothed in it in a manner of hiddenness and concealment: “Your kingship (malchuscha) is a kingship over all worlds (olamim),” [olamim] being from the term for concealment (he’elem).

The level of Z’eir Anpin, by contrast, which is Atzilus, the higher unity, is called day and light. As is written in the discourse beginning “Sing and rejoice” on “joyful song at evening and gladness in the morning”; and see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “And you shall know this day.”

This is [the meaning of] “With the yud the World to Come was created,” like the analogy of the ink upon the parchment: the smooth parchment alludes to the level of white fire, the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in His very Self, as it were, which “no thought can grasp” (and see what is written on “Set me as a seal”),

except through the yud, the level of a black point that blackens the parchment, so that there be a level of revelation and comprehension in the shape of the letter yud.

Now, as in the analogy above, when there comes a revelation of the letters of thought, although they are only garments for the intellect, they are nevertheless not a completely separate thing, a thing unto itself; for what he thinks and ponders in these letters is the intellect itself.

So too, by way of analogy, with the yud upon the parchment, where the ink blackens the parchment to reveal the shape of a yud: the ink itself is not a substantial thing to be considered a thing unto itself; it only blackens the parchment so that the parchment reveals the shape of the yud

(meaning that although the shape of the yud is only from the ink, without the parchment that carries and bears it there would be no shape from it at all. Therefore our Sages said, “Any letter which is not surrounded by parchment on its four sides is invalid.” If so, the ink does nothing

but blacken etc., so that the parchment reveal etc. In the application, this means that the parchment itself, which is the Infinite One, blessed be He, reveals the yud, which is the Supreme Chochmah; for “You are wise” means You Yourself, that the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is drawn down and shines in the Supreme Chochmah.

And see what is written on “And Israel saw the great hand,” in explaining “And He called: Havayah, Havayah,” and what is written on this also at the end of the discourse beginning “Return, O Israel.”) So, in the application, through the many contractions the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in His very Self and Glory, is revealed below.

This is “With the yud the World to Come was created”: the delight of the souls in the actual Infinite Light, blessed be He. (And see Parshas Balak, 191a.) And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Sarai your wife.”

As for the yud being the level of a point and the smallest of all the letters, see what is written in the explanation of “Many waters” on “and this is ‘We have a little sister,’” and see the Zohar, Part II, Terumah (165b): “Because there is” etc.,

“although” etc. This is the matter of the smallness of the vessel and the abundance of the light, in the manner of “The righteous say little and do much” (and see the Gemara, chapter 3 of Menachos, 29b, end).

7Summary: This contraction is like, in the analogy, the level of the letters in the soul, and from it there follows afterwards the clothing in the letters of thought. It is like engraving and writing. And just as, nevertheless, what is it that thinks in the letters of thought? Surely the intellect itself;

and likewise the ink unites with the white parchment that bears it; so in the application, through the letter yud with which the World to Come was created, the Infinite Light, blessed be He, itself is drawn down and revealed.

8This is why the Seraphim say “Holy,” because of their grasp of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, which is separate and which “no thought can grasp.” [They say] “Holy” three times, corresponding to the three worlds Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. “The whole earth is full of His glory”: the clothing of the level of “Holy” is in everything etc.

(Meaning: just as in the Higher Garden of Eden the Infinite Light shines as the souls’ comprehension, so the Seraphim, since they too are in the World of Beriah, say “Holy” etc., for they grasp how the Infinite Light is separate and how all its flow is only through the contraction of the letter yud.

But the essence of the Infinite Light is holy and separate etc. Since they are in Beriah, which is the beginning of the coming into being of something from nothing, they therefore grasp that He, blessed be He, is holy etc. On the matter of “Holy” three times, see what is written in the explanation of “And now, let the power be great” and of “After Havayah your G‑d shall you walk.”)

Now, the Ofanim, who are below them in rank, say “Blessed is the glory of Havayah”: this is the attribute of His Malchus, blessed be He, for “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds,” and all worlds are only the level of letters etc. “Blessed” is also drawn from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds, from the hidden world etc.

9The explanation of the matter: there are two kinds of angels. There are those who are givers, who convey all the influences to this world through the constellations etc.; these are the Ofanim, who say “Blessed is the glory” etc.

“Blessed” (baruch) is a drawing down, that the glory of Havayah be drawn from the level of “His place,” He being the place of the world while the world is not His place. This is the meaning of “Blessed is the Omnipresent (HaMakom),” and it is the drawing down of the flow from above, which the Ofanim draw down by saying “Blessed.”

10And there are angels who are receivers, who “receive from one another” and do not give to those below at all but are only receivers. These are the Seraphim, who say “Holy” etc., and they are loftier than the angels who give.

This is what is written, “Thousands upon thousands serve Him, and myriads upon myriads stand before Him” (Daniel, chapter 7). “Stand before Him” refers to the Seraphim, the receivers etc.,

who say “Holy.” See what is written elsewhere on the matter of “camps and chariots” mentioned in Parshas Beshalach (48b), and what is written in the discourse beginning “And He came from the holy myriads.” This is as written, “Who forms light and creates darkness.”

That is, Yetzirah is the level of light, from which the flow is drawn below; it is the rank of the Ofanim, who give to those below, to all the animals and beasts. A child under thirteen years also receives from the level of the Ofanim.

11Therefore it is called light, which is the level of white fire from our perspective, since it shines and flows downward. “And creates darkness” is the level of the Seraphim in Beriah, who are in the manner of black fire, which is the darkness.

This is because they only withdraw upward, saying “Holy” etc.; therefore they are in the manner of black fire and darkness, on account of the withdrawal etc.

12Likewise is the matter of “Holy” and “Blessed.” “Holy” is what is separate and which “no thought can grasp” at all; it is the level of “He made darkness His hiding place,” as explained above in section 2. The level of “Blessed” is the matter of white fire, that there be revelation below.

But this is from below upward. From above downward it is the reverse: the level of “Holy” is called white fire relative to the drawing down of the level of “Blessed is the glory,” which is the level of “Your kingship,” the level of letters etc.

For “Holy” is the level of Keser etc. In [“glory”] there are two levels: the lower glory, which is the attribute of His Malchus, blessed be He, and the higher glory, the Supreme Chochmah; and all [of it]

is called black fire relative to the Supreme Keser, as said above regarding ink upon white parchment etc. And see what is written on the matter of “Holy” and “Blessed” in the discourse beginning “If the bright spot has preceded” etc. and in the discourse beginning “You have captured my heart, my sister.”

It follows that the “Holy” and “Blessed” said by the Seraphim and the Ofanim are the matter of white fire that is upon black fire, as said above.

This is why the Holy One, blessed be He, is so called by these two aspects together, “Holy” and “Blessed” (kadosh baruch hu); for in this manner is the drawing down and revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, who is holy and blessed is He.

13Now, because the Ofanim hear the level of “Holy” which the Seraphim say, they raise themselves with a great noise. The noise is the matter of self-nullification in the Infinite Light, blessed be He, to go out of their sheath

and their comprehension according to their temperament and nature, since they hear something new that is above their power of comprehension. The Seraphim, by contrast, though they too are certainly nullified in the Infinite Light, blessed be He, with a greater degree and elevation,

yet it is written, “Seraphim stand above him”: this comprehension is not so much a novelty for them, beyond their comprehension. Therefore “with a great noise” is not said of them

as it is of the Ofanim. (See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “And it shall be, from one new moon”: that this is the matter of the analogy of the city-dweller who saw the king, or the villager etc., and this is the difference between weekdays and Shabbos etc. Now the Seraphim, since their self-nullification is in the manner of the hidden

and inward, therefore also draw down the level of “Holy,” which is in the manner of concealment. The Ofanim, whose self-nullification is in the manner of the revealed, therefore also draw down the level of “Blessed,” the level of letters, which is the revealed etc. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “And you shall know this day” on “and all innards and kidneys shall sing to Your Name.”)

14Summary: This is also the matter of the Seraphim saying “Holy” and the Ofanim “Blessed.” For the Seraphim are from Beriah, “creates darkness,” black fire, the level of “stand before Him”; therefore they say “Holy,” separate, “He made darkness His hiding place.”

The Ofanim are from Yetzirah, “forms light”: they give to those below and say “Blessed is the glory” etc. All this is so called from below upward, as said above.)

4. Now, exactly like all these matters is [the case] in the divine service of every person: the level of revealed love and the level of hidden love

(that is, analogous to the two levels mentioned above, of the Ofanim and the Seraphim. The hidden love is called black fire, in the manner explained above regarding the Seraphim, who are called black fire, except that the souls are on a more inward level).

For the revelation of love through contemplating the greatness of the Infinite One, blessed be He, so that from his understanding he gives birth to flashes of fire and a thirst etc.

to be included and nullified in Him, blessed be He, in actual existence and with self-sacrifice, does not come about through the act of contemplation alone, as if the attribute of love came into being from nothing to something by the power of his understanding.

Rather, the contemplation is the cause that there be drawn from the level of the hidden love, which is in a person’s nature from the level that is above knowledge, in a manner of darkness and hiding of the Face, to be revealed in the heart through contemplation and knowledge, and to enlarge the pyre of the fire of love etc.

(Meaning that this is a kind of proof of the existence of the hidden love; for the revelation of love etc. is not etc., but rather etc., as said above.)

The coming into being of love from nothing to something is fixed in the soul, and the very being of the soul itself is intellect and emotive attributes, love and awe etc.;

for it is “a part of G‑d above,” and like a son drawn from the brain of the father etc., who by nature does not want to be separated from His unity and oneness, blessed be He, and can give his life for the sanctification of G‑d’s Name etc.,

as is written in the Book of the Intermediates. (And see what is written in the discourse beginning “On the eighth day he sent the people away” that the root of this love is taken from the level of “before” (kedem), from the level of “For My thoughts are not your thoughts” etc., “He made darkness His hiding place” etc.

And see what is written in the discourse beginning “If in My statutes” that this level is from the aspect of “Your fathers dwelt beyond the river,” “they arose in thought,” that is, from the hidden brain (mocha setima’ah), the engraved letters etc., “He engraved engravings in the supernal radiance,” “The soul which You have given within me is pure”; and this is the matter of the letters that are of the thing itself and within it.

This is the matter of “the sun has gazed upon me,” white fire, as follows below; for the engraving is in the white fire, of the thing itself and within it, except that the engraving is the source and root of the blackness of the black fire, from above downward, as said above.)

In order that it be revealed in the heart, to go out from concealment into revelation, it is through contemplating the actual Infinite Light, blessed be He, which “no thought can grasp” at all.

In this manner the order of prayer was established: the Verses of Song, and the blessing “Who forms light,” how “in His goodness” that is hidden He renews etc., and the angels say “Holy” etc.

This is the level of noise, the renewal of comprehension; for at night, in sleep, [there is] one sixtieth etc., and in the morning one becomes a new creature, “You breathed it into me” etc.

“And after the noise, fire”: this is the level of the Shema and “You shall love”; for “The lamp of Havayah is the soul of man,” like a lamp and a flame that rises of itself (and see what is written in the discourse beginning “And you shall offer a burnt-offering, a fire-offering”),

that is, as is written, “To You, Havayah, I lift up my soul,” to be included, thought in thought and speech in speech, “and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house” etc. This is the true revelation of the light of love within a man and a deep heart.

Except that the level of noise from the level of darkness must come first, like the creation of the world: first darkness and then light. And it is written, “And there was evening and there was morning, one day”: evening is the level of darkness, and afterwards morning, light, to be revealed as day, and the revelation of the level of “one.”

(And see what is written in the discourse beginning “Because you did not serve,” and what is written in the discourse on the matter of Chanukah on “morning by morning, when he tends the lamps” etc.; and see the Zohar, Balak, 204a end and 204b; and see what is written on “And Lavan rose early in the morning,” and at the end of the discourse beginning “To understand the matter of the blessings”; and see the Zohar, Vayikra, 22b; and see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “And you shall know this day.”)

“And after the fire, a still, small voice”: this is the prayer of the Eighteen Blessings, “Blessed are You, Havayah our G‑d, King of the world,” that the level of Havayah, the Infinite Light, blessed be He, in His very Self and Glory, be blessed and drawn down; “and there the King comes” etc.

The revelation of Havayah below, in His kingship, “a kingship over all worlds,” comes through “for Havayah is our G‑d,” that we are nullified before Him, blessed be He; and we also draw down that He be “King of the world” etc., as is written elsewhere.

With this will be understood what is written, “Do not look upon me that I am blackish (shecharchores).” It means a doubled blackness; for the love in itself is hidden, not seen or revealed in the heart,

and it is also covered with a garment of sackcloth, being clothed in the animal soul. (If so, the meaning and matter of the doubled blackness is in the manner of from below upward and from above downward, both together; for from below upward what is not grasped at all is called blackness,

and from above downward what is lower in rank is called blackness. If so, both levels are in the soul: the matter of the hidden love, since it is very concealed and above the intellect, is called black fire relative to the person, as in “creates darkness,” and this is the matter of darkness from below upward.

And its being covered and clothed in the animal soul is the darkness from above downward, being the lowest level in rank: “darkness shall cover the earth” (Isaiah, chapter 60), “and the fool walks in darkness” (Ecclesiastes, chapter 2).) Nevertheless, “Do not look upon me,”

for its being hidden in itself is because “the sun has gazed upon me”: the level of the sun is the level of white fire, which the worlds cannot receive; and therefore it was good to hide it away in the place of darkness.

Therefore the love is in a manner of darkness and concealment, not revealed in the body. (And this is “With me from Lebanon, O bride”: the root of the soul is from the level of Lebanon. And this is “and flowing streams (nozlim) from Lebanon”: nozlim means the level of their mazal, the source and root of the soul, which is from the level of Lebanon, except

that it was good to hide it away in the manner of black fire. It is in the level of yechidah, in which a divine spark is clothed etc., as is written in Etz Chaim, Shaar 41, chapter 3, on the verse “I said, you are G‑dly beings” etc.; and see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “When I break for you” etc., “and His anger” etc.

Now, in the Midrash Rabbah on Shir HaShirim, on “I am black,” it is stated: “I am black all the days of the week, and comely on Shabbos.” The matter is that the level of hidden love, called black fire, is in concealment all the days of the week, and therefore it is in the manner of “I am black,” concealment.

But on Shabbos it goes out and is drawn from concealment into revelation, as is written elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “To understand the saying of our Sages” on “For your love is better [than wine].”

So too on Shabbos there shines in revelation, from the level of the World of Beriah, what is called “creates darkness,” as is known regarding the inner court that faces east (kadim), the level of “stand before (kadmohi) Him”: on Shabbos the light shines and is drawn from there.

And this is “and comely on the Shabbos day.”) As for its entering a garment of sackcloth, this is in truth “My mother’s sons were incensed (nicharu) against me”; nicharu is in the passive form.

“My mother’s sons” means the evil inclination and the chambers of kelipas nogah, which receive the flow from the level of His Malchus, blessed be He, for “His kingship rules over all” (and see Parshas Mishpatim, 125a end, on “in its mother’s milk”).

They are the root of all the evil traits; they themselves are “incensed” and burn with their lust. These are “against me” (bi), meaning that they are clothed in me, and from them these evils come forth.

But they do not affect the G‑dly soul itself, in the point of its love, which remains in its existence and strength, as is written, “And My glory I will not give to another”

(see the Ra’aya Mehemna at the beginning of Teitzei, 276a, and the commentary of the Ramaz there). And it can rule and have dominion over them and turn them from one extreme to the other, and be in actual self-sacrifice.

Therefore our Sages said of the sinners of Israel, “Gehinnom comes to an end but they do not come to an end,” because the root of their soul is from the level of the actual Infinite, which has no end or termination. Therefore “My mother’s sons were incensed against me” means that they work evil and come to an end.

The soul, by contrast, is a part of G‑d, “You breathed it into me,” which has no end or termination. The proof is that even in the sinners of Israel the love is still whole,

for “they made me keeper of the vineyards”: all the desire of the evil inclination is to cause Israel to sin in order to suckle and receive life-force from holiness. If so, there must necessarily still be holiness in him,

for “although he sinned, he is Israel,” and that power of holiness which he has is without end or termination. Therefore he can rule and have dominion over his spirit and turn his heart from one opposite to the other

(that is, through “and Havayah illumines my darkness,” as is written at the end of the discourse beginning “For You are my lamp.” Now, the meaning of nicharu will be understood from what is written elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “And I return in peace,” on “and he went to Charan”: charan is from the term “my throat is parched (nichar)” etc.; and through teshuvah, from the level of charan it becomes rinah (song).

So too it will be understood regarding the level of “incensed against me”: through teshuvah, so that his heart is transformed etc., the soul will be elevated to be “comely as the tents of Kedar” etc. And see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “As an eagle stirs up” on “He kept him as the pupil of His eye”: the black of the eye, where sight is revealed, so that “eye to eye they shall see” etc.)

15Summary: Likewise in a person there is the level of revealed love and hidden love, like the matter of the two ranks of the Ofanim and the Seraphim: noise and fire.

This is “shecharchores,” two blacknesses: the essence of the love is not revealed but black and hidden, and furthermore it is covered with the sackcloth garment of the animal soul. Nevertheless, “Do not look upon me,”

for regarding the first blackness the answer is “the sun has gazed upon me”: the root of the love is from white fire, and it was good to hide it away in the manner of black fire.

Regarding the second blackness, it is the matter of “My mother’s sons were incensed against me,” so that from the level of charan there be the level of rinah.) 5. This is “I am black and comely”: black from the level of blackishness etc.,

and comely, for the blackness is from the level of the darkness, “He made darkness His hiding place,” like the analogy of the ink upon the parchment, which blackens the parchment: the parchment, which is the level of white fire, becomes beautiful through this

(in the manner of “When is He great etc.? When He is in the city of our G‑d,” and in the manner explained on this in the discourse beginning “And Elokim spoke” etc., “I am Havayah, and I appeared” etc. And as explained above, through the letters the revelation of the intellect is drawn forth, by way of analogy.

It follows that this contraction is the cause of the revelation; and see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “And Korach took.” This is how the level of white fire becomes beautiful through this, as is written elsewhere in explaining “my beautiful one” (yafasi), that she makes beautiful garments for the Holy One, blessed be He: “You have clothed Yourself with glory and majesty,”

that is, that in them and through them there be a dwelling place among the lower realms. Elsewhere a further meaning of “and comely” was explained: the level of the white fire of the Torah is the matter of “and the hair of His head like pure wool”; nevertheless it is only the level of hairs and does not compare to the essence.

But through the descent into black fire, to refine and transform the darkness of the animal soul, there will be drawn the advantage of light from the source of the whiteness. It may be said that this is what is drawn through the refinement of the second blackness, as said above regarding “He kept him as the pupil” etc.

And see what is written further on the matter of the Torah being given as black fire upon white fire in the discourse beginning “And they shall make for themselves tzitzis.” And see further on the matter of “I am black and comely” in the Midrash Rabbah, Beshalach, Parsha 23, and Vayakhel, Parsha 49.)

16“As the tents of Kedar”: they are black on the outside, but inside they are “as the curtains of Shlomo.” The curtains of Shlomo are the inner curtains

(and this is “And He formed (vayitzer) man,” with two yuds, the level of white fire and black fire etc.; and see what is written at the end of the discourse beginning “When I break for you” etc.).

The matter of a curtain is what is written, “He stretches out the heavens like a curtain”: that is, like the curtain, of which the roof and the walls are made of one piece, as it was in the Mishkan: “the half curtain that remains shall hang over the back of the Mishkan.”

So “He stretches out the heavens”: the heavens curve round below, beneath the earth, just as above, equally, and all is one level.

17So too the spheres that revolve in the heavens above are those that revolve beneath the earth. This is “as the curtains of Shlomo,” the King to whom peace (shalom) belongs; for with Him, blessed be He, “darkness is as light,” and all is equal before Him, and above and below are the same before Him.

This is from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds. In the level of the light that fills all worlds, by contrast, it is according to the order of the chain of descending worlds: “I created it, I formed it” etc., the Higher and Lower Garden of Eden etc.

But in the level of the light that encompasses all worlds, “all before Him are” actually “as nothing,” and at this level He can transform even from one extreme to the other.

18This is “May Havayah lift up His countenance to you”: that is, when there is the inner uplifting in the level of the light that encompasses all worlds, then it can

extend until it reaches even “to you,” even “if your dispersed be at the end of the heavens” etc. “And give you peace”: the level of bonding, so that his soul longs to cleave to Him, blessed be He.

19This is the level of “peace in the household below,” from below upward: “To You, Havayah, I lift up my soul.” That is, through the level of Aharon, the groomsman of the Queen; “Aharon” has the letters of nir’eh (“will be seen”),

that is, that he see it as though the Holy One dwells within his innards, so that there be the level of noise, “and after the noise, fire” etc. The service of Aharon is “When you raise up the lamps,” like a flame that rises of itself, from below upward. And the dwelling

and drawing down of “Holy” within his innards is through the level of Moshe, the groomsman of the King, the level of Daas, which is “Blessed,” that the level of Havayah be drawn down to be “King of the world” through the level of “our G‑d” etc., as said above.

20This is “Havayah is near to all who call upon Him etc., in truth”: two truths, from above downward and from below upward; that he draw down below the level of “the truth of Havayah” and the revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, into his soul, in order to raise and bind his soul to G‑d, the Life of all life, blessed be He.

(With all the above will be understood what is written, “who reigned from Hodu to Kush,” which is like the matter of what is written, “darkness is as light”; for hodu is from the term “His glory (hodo) covered the heavens,” “His glory is over earth and heaven,” and as is written, “Glory and majesty are before Him.”

Hodu is also a term of acknowledgment (hoda’ah), for acknowledgment is toward the level of the light that encompasses all worlds, which “no thought can grasp” at all, as is written elsewhere on “Yehudah, you [your brothers shall acknowledge].”

“To Kush” is the level of blackness, which is the end of the chain of descending worlds: “darkness shall cover the earth,” “I clothe the heavens with blackness.” See what is written on this at the end of the discourse beginning “My dove, in the clefts of the rock,” and in Likkutei Torah on Parshas Behaaloscha and Parshas Shoftim, that Kush is the level of the 325 judgments, from which the chain of the external forces descends etc.

But “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds,” and “His kingship rules over all,” and even the external forces cannot transgress the word of Havayah; as is written on this at the end of the discourse beginning “And all the people saw.” This is “who reigned from Hodu to Kush.”

This is “a hundred and twenty-seven provinces” [see the beginning of Chayei Sarah, 123a], which is the general drawing down from the Malchus of the Infinite. This is “from Hodu,” down to Malchus of Asiyah, which is clothed in the level of blackness; and this is “to Kush.”

But we also find that Kush is said in praise, as is said of Shaul, who is called “Kush, the son of Yemini”; and likewise “Are you not like the children of the Kushites to Me,” which Targum Yonasan renders, “Are you not considered before Me like beloved children?” So too Rashi explains in Parshas Behaaloscha regarding “the Kushite woman.” And in the Zohar, Parshas Terumah

(130a, beginning): that is, “And sometimes they call the white ‘black,’ as it is written, ‘for he had taken a Kushite woman,’ ‘Are you not like the children of the Kushites to Me’” etc.

The matter is that it was explained above regarding the Supreme Keser that it is the level of the supernal darkness of “He made darkness His hiding place,” which is above comprehension.

21This is what is said in the Zohar, “And sometimes they call the white ‘black’”: because of the greatness of its light it is not grasped at all. From there is the root of the hidden love, which is the level of black fire, and this is the matter of “Are you not like the children of the Kushites to Me.”

For this love of black fire, which is from the level of “He made darkness His hiding place,” is like the love of a son for his father, like a son drawn from the brain of the father, who by nature does not want to be separated from His unity and oneness, blessed be He, and can give his life for the sanctification of G‑d’s Name etc.

This is what is said, “like beloved children,” that is, in the manner of what is written in the Book of the Intermediates, chapter 44, in the name of the Ra’aya Mehemna: “like a son who strives for his father and mother, whom he loves more than his own body, soul and spirit” etc.

22The meaning of “from Hodu to Kush” is as explained above regarding “the light, that it was good”: it is the level of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, which is hidden and clothed in the level of Keser, called “He made darkness His hiding place.”

In a person too, it is the divine spark clothed in the level of yechidah in the soul. On this account all the souls of Israel are called Yehudim, for through it self-nullification unto self-sacrifice is drawn forth etc.

With all this will also be understood the saying of our Sages in the first chapter of Megillah (11a): Rav and Shmuel; one said, Hodu is at the end of the world and Kush is at the end of the world,

that is, according to the first explanation, that Kush is the darkness of Asiyah, the level of blackness. And one said, Hodu and Kush

stand next to one another; just as he reigned from Hodu to Kush, so he reigned from one end of the world to the other. “Next to one another” is the matter of the supernal darkness in which the light was hidden,

that is, the level of the Supreme Keser, white within and black without. Alternatively, Hodu means “You have clothed Yourself with glory (hod) and majesty,” the level of “Havayah reigns, He has clothed Himself in grandeur,” as is written in the discourse beginning “My dove” on the matter of “my beautiful one”; and Kush is the level of “creates darkness,” the world of the Seraphim.

This is “they sit next to one another,” for Malchus of Atzilus becomes the source of Beriah etc. and is clothed in Chochmah, Binah and Daas of Beriah; and of this it is said, “I am black” etc.,

because it is clothed in the level of “and creates darkness” etc., as is written elsewhere. This is the matter of the Torah being given as black fire upon white fire.

23And also the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, as said above. “And just as he reigned from Hodu to Kush,” for there is the ultimate of unity and self-nullification etc.,

“so he reigned” etc.; for “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds,” and “there is none else besides Him,” and all is by individual providence: “a person does not knock [his finger below unless it is decreed above]” etc. And see what is written in the discourse beginning “And Mordechai went out” on

“and therefore He nullified etc. those who arouse” etc.; for in truth “I, Havayah, have not changed.” From there it is understood that this level applies to the Megillah of Esther; and also the first level, regarding Hodu and Kush being next to one another,

that is, in the manner of the Torah being given as black fire upon white fire, applies to it as well; for they “accepted it anew in the days of Achashverosh,” as is written, “And the Jews accepted” etc.