שחורה אני ונאוה בנות ירושלים כאהלי קדר כיריעות שלמה

1“I am black, yet comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Shlomo.” Now, “the daughters of Jerusalem” is the name given to the souls that have not yet descended into this world to be enclothed in a body

and an animal soul, and are still included in their Emanator, blessed be He, at the level of utter nothingness (ayin). And [the soul] is called “pure is she,” for “pure” means that it is still at the level of ayin; and afterwards, “You created it,” something from nothing, etc.

For all souls, before their descent into this world, stand there in self-nullification (bittul) and in actual inclusion within the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He.

As it is written of Eliyahu, “As G‑d lives, before whom I have stood.” And not Eliyahu alone, but all souls, before their descent and their enclothing in a body and an animal soul;

and then they are called “the daughters of Jerusalem.” (In the Pardes, in the Erchei HaKinuyim, under the entry “the daughters of Jerusalem,” he cites two interpretations of this in the name of the Zohar, Parshas Vayechi, and the first interpretation is as it has been explained here; see there, and in Parshas Vayechi, page 242a.)

For they take upon themselves the level of a complete awe (yirah shalem), that is, the completeness of awe. For awe stems from the level of His sovereignty, may He be blessed, “a kingship over all worlds,” upward without end and downward without limit,

which is the level of the Infinite. And in the chain of descending levels (hishtalshelus) among created beings, they have no power to receive this awe in its completeness. As it is written, “To make known to the sons of man His mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of His kingdom”: the glorious splendor of

His kingdom is that the angels take upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, the camp of Michael with love and the camp of Gavriel, etc., “a thousand thousands and ten thousand myriads,” etc., and “His troops are beyond number.”

For all this is the glory and splendor of the greatness of His kingship, may He be blessed; and “to make known to the sons of man” is only through the level of “His mighty deeds,” which are the many and varied contractions (tzimtzumim) in the chain of descending levels. But the soul, before it comes

into this world to be enclothed in a body, [the souls] being at the level of utter nothingness, take upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven in completeness, as it is at the level of the Infinite itself. And they are called “the daughters of Jerusalem,” at the level of “virgins, her companions following her, are brought to you.”

(See Zohar II, 197b, page 235a and 238a, and the Mikdash Melech there. And it must be said that this follows the second interpretation in the Pardes; and consequently it is understood that according to the first interpretation this too can be explained as written here. See further in Parshas Mishpatim, page 105, end of side b, and in Parshas Acharei, page 67b.)

They are also called alamos (maidens), as it is written, “therefore the maidens love You.” And the souls that have descended and been enclothed in a body and an animal soul in this world, [collectively] called Knesses Yisrael, which is the source of the souls of Israel, are called by the name “bride” (kallah),

because the Holy One, blessed be He, is called, in relation to them, by the name “groom” (chasan), from the expression chaus darga (descending a level), which is the drawing down of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, into the souls.

2And this is [what took place] at the Giving of the Torah, of which it is written, “on the day of his wedding,” for that is the time of the marriage. For just as in marriage, by way of analogy, the union and joining is the drawing down of the drop that is drawn from the brain of the giver into the recipient, etc.,

so the Torah is His wisdom and will, may He be blessed, at the level of the Infinite One (Ein Sof) itself, blessed be He: “He is wise, but not with a knowable wisdom,” etc.

And this drawing down, at the level of the Infinite itself, is grasped and absorbed in the souls of Israel: the six hundred thousand letters of the Torah are six hundred thousand channels of flow to the six hundred thousand souls of Israel.

Therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said that the infant in its mother’s womb is taught the entire Torah, etc., so that light and life-force (chayus) from the letters of the Torah be grasped and absorbed in its soul; for they are a radiance of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, “wise, but not with a knowable wisdom,” etc.

And then the souls of Israel are called by the name “bride,” for she receives the drop, etc. See the Idra Zuta (page 290b).

32. Now, this level of “bride,” which is the source of the souls that have descended and been enclothed in a body, says to the daughters of Jerusalem, that is, the souls that have not descended and are still at the level of “pure is she,” being included in their Emanator at the level of utter nothingness:

Though “I am black” because of my descent into this world and my enclothing in the physical body, I am nevertheless more comely than the daughters of Jerusalem. For

the meaning of “I am black” at the level of the bride is as it is written, “His locks are curled (taltalim), black as a raven”: taltalim [means] tilei tilim (heaps upon heaps) of halachos, which are “his locks,” the level of

hairs and strands drawn from the brain in great subdivision. And so too, the heaps upon heaps of halachos are channels drawn from the Supernal Wisdom (Chochmah Ila’ah), “wise, but not with a knowable wisdom,” etc. They are at the level of “black.”

4The matter will be understood by first explaining that it is written, “And the hair of His head was like pure wool,” [meaning] that the hairs are in a state of whiteness; and it is written, “His locks are curled, black,” etc.

But the explanation is that the level of the hairs is channels of flow that stem from the level of Chesed and “abundant in kindness,” which is drawn and spreads down below, like the analogy of the hairs that extend to a great

length. And they are the heaps upon heaps of halachos and the fine points of the Scribes that are in every mitzvah, as it is written (Proverbs 4), “Extol her (salseleha), and she will exalt you.” The meaning of salseleha is as our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Rosh HaShanah 26b), “she was turning over her hair,” etc.

But there are hairs that are drawn down and enclothed in the level of whiteness, which is the level of Chesed: these are the many halachos in the positive commandments, concerning sacrifices, terumos, tithes, tzitzis, tefillin, Shabbos, etc.: how the mitzvah is to be done with a sacrifice so that it ascend favorably before G‑d and as a pleasing fragrance, etc.

5And so too with all the other mitzvos, which are channels of the Supernal Wisdom through the level of Chesed, to elevate physical things through their being performed according to their commandment, and to bind them to the light of G‑d and His holiness. These are the hairs drawn from the level of “the hair of His head was like pure wool,” which is the supernal whiteness and the supernal Chesed that is called “abundant in kindness,” etc.

But the black hairs are the halachos that were drawn and spread into the prohibitive commandments, to separate the evil from the good and to push it away from holiness, since it does not ascend and become included in the light of G‑d and His holiness.

6And of this it is said, “black as a raven.” The meaning of “as a raven” is: just as the raven is cruel, so in the level of these hairs there is an element of cruelty. For even in a thing that is forbidden or unfit, etc.,

there is drawn a divine spark and life-force that gives it life and brings it into being, for without the divine spark and life-force it would not exist at all; and nevertheless the divine spark within it does not ascend favorably before G‑d, to be included in His light and holiness, may He be blessed, but is simply pushed outside.

And this is like cruelty toward the divine spark within it. A person, too, must conduct himself toward his own soul with the attribute of cruelty, turning away from evil in the manner of iskafya (subjugation), etc., through many fences and safeguards, the fine points of the Scribes: “Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you,” etc.

Therefore it is at the level of “black as a raven.” (See Zohar III, 132a, 140a, 79b, 127b; Zohar II, 116a.)

And of this it is said, “I am black”: for she receives the drop, which is the Supernal Wisdom (Chochmah Ila’ah), in the manner of “black,” that is, in the form of the halachos and the fine points of the Scribes, which are “his locks are curled, black as a raven,” as explained above.

And also, “I am black” in the fulfillment of the practical mitzvos, which are done with things enclothed in actual physicality; and the sum of them all is tzedakah (charity),

which is in actual physicality, and whose obligation comes through a person’s involvement in this world: he engages in business and profits from it, and through this becomes obligated in tzedakah. And while he is engaged in business, he is thus enclothed in the matters of this world itself.

Even so, “yet comely”: for of tzedakah it is written, “Tzedakah exalts a nation”; for by giving tzedakah to a poor person from his toil and labor, the very life of his soul, he elevates and exalts his entire animal soul and its life-force.

7And this is [the meaning of] “you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh (Paroh)”: through the tzedakah, in which he gives a fifth of his labor, there comes about the level of paroh, which is the level of revelation, from the expression “for Aharon had exposed them (pera’o)”: a revelation of the Infinite Light itself, blessed be He, is drawn down upon his soul.

Therefore, before every mitzvah we say, “Blessed are You, Havayah, our G‑d”: that the Infinite Light, blessed be He, be “blessed,” [that is,] drawn down, “from world to world,” at the level of “You,”

that is, at the level of revelation, as if He were face to face, so that Havayah be truly “our G‑d”: that His G‑dliness, may He be blessed, be grasped and absorbed in the soul itself.

And of this our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Fortunate is he who comes here with his learning in his hand”; that is, that his learning, which is the Supernal Wisdom, be grasped and absorbed in him,

like a woman who absorbs the drop, by way of analogy. For if the light of the Torah is not grasped and absorbed in his soul, this is

like a woman who discharges [it], etc. (See what is written on the subject of absorption regarding Shemini Atzeres, in the discourse beginning “G‑d is for me among my helpers” and in the discourse beginning “It is better to take refuge,” and also in the other discourses there.)

And this is “you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh”: that the level of paroh, revelation, comes about in his soul itself. (See what is written on this verse in Etz Chaim) (Sha’ar 31, chapter 7), and in Likkutei Torah [of the Arizal], Parshas Vayigash. And from this there follows “and the four hands (yados) shall be yours,” for

the four hands are the great hand, the strong hand, the high hand and the outstretched arm. The great hand is as it is written, “And Israel saw the great hand that G‑d had wrought in Egypt.”

Meaning: even in the level of Egypt there is a drawing down and spreading of the level of the great hand, which was drawn and spread very far down, even into the level of Egypt;

that is, the supernal Chesed is drawn down so greatly that thoughts of teshuvah fall even into a lowly soul, from the lowest levels of Asiyah and enclothed in actual physicality.

8And this is the matter of the great hand. But it is known that “one nation shall be stronger than the other nation,” and “G‑d has made one opposite the other,” and “were it not that the Holy One, blessed be He, helps him,” etc.

And this help and this assistance is called the strong hand, to prevail and to conquer, etc. And the high hand is to exalt and bind his soul in the fulfillment of “And you shall love… with all your heart,” etc.

And the outstretched arm is also the level of a hand, for the hand has three sections, and the uppermost is called the arm. It is “outstretched,” extended far, far downward, in the manner of “and His right hand embraces me,” like a person who embraces, etc., so that there not be a state of separation, G‑d forbid, etc.

And all this is drawn down through tzedakah, for through it “the four hands shall be yours, as seed for the field”; for in the time of exile everything is only in the manner of sowing, “Light is sown for the righteous,” etc., as stated in the Midrash.

93. And as for the aspect of the Torah that is at the level of “black,” [namely] the halachos and the fine points of the Scribes in the prohibitive commandments, which are at the level of “black as a raven” mentioned above:

Our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “The words of the Scribes are dearer to Me than the wine of the Torah.” The explanation is that the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world with three things: sefer, sofer and sippur (book, scribe and telling).

Sefer (book) is the Written Torah; and sofer (scribe), which is above the level of sefer, is the level of the Oral Torah. For this is why the words of the Sages are called “the words of the Scribes (soferim)”: they are above the level of sefer.

(See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “This is My Name,” and in the discourse beginning “Your heart will meditate in awe: Where is the scribe?”, and elsewhere on the verse “And you shall draw water with joy.”) [Sefer] is the level of the Written Torah, which is from the Supernal Wisdom (Chochmah Ila’ah), the level of “a mitzvah is a lamp, and the Torah is light.”

Now, the illuminating light of the lamp comes from the hue that is close to the wick; but the white hue that surrounds it does not itself illuminate;

rather, it is the source of the light, from which the illuminating light is drawn and spreads. And so it is with the words of the Sages, called “the words of the Scribes,”

from which the level of the sefer, the level of “the Torah is light,” comes to be drawn; and they themselves are the level of the source of the light, the level of the makif (the surrounding), which is the level of “He made darkness His hiding place.”

Therefore most of the fine points of the Scribes are in the prohibitive commandments, where there are many more fences and safeguards for the Torah than in the positive commandments; for the prohibitive commandments have an advantage and a superiority over the positive commandments.

As our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “‘My remembrance’ with Vav-Hei [equals] 248; ‘My Name’ with Yud-Hei [equals] 365.” The prohibitions are at the level of Yud-Hei, which is higher than Vav-Hei; for the positive commandments are at the level of the Name Vav-Hei, the revealed world (alma de’isgalya).

For “the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King”: they are vessels and a dwelling for the life-force that is drawn and spreads into them from the essence of the soul, the life-force being truly enclothed in them, so that the limbs obey its will, etc.

But the prohibitions are at the level of Yud-Hei, the level of the hidden world (alma de’iskasya), for the life-force and the Infinite Light from this level are not enclothed in the soul in a revealed way,

but in concealment, in the manner of “and You guard it within me”; because the soul has no vessel or dwelling for the Infinite Light, blessed be He, to rest [in it] at this level so as to be revealed in actual enclothing,

but only in the manner of negation, the level of “not,” as it is written, “in a land not sown”: it is “sown” in the manner of “not,” etc. And as explained elsewhere, this is the soul’s cleaving to G‑dliness above, in its root, at the level of sovev, “He made darkness His hiding place,” etc.,

the level of darkness and not of revealed light, etc.; for it is impossible to reach this level through the deed of the mitzvos that a person performs, but only through the prohibitions, which are the level of negation and “not,” etc.

10And through this “a spirit from on high will be poured upon him”: the indwelling in his soul of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin). And through this his animal soul, too, will be elevated. For

the animal soul has its root in the level of “the face of a lion” and “the face of an ox” in the Chariot, etc., from the guardians of the ofanim, which are below the seraphim, etc.

But it is written, “and the ofanim rise up opposite them,” and “the ofanim, with a great noise,” etc. For the seraphim say, “Holy,” [meaning] separate, etc.,

“Havayah Tzevakos”: “He is a sign (os) among His host.” “A thousand thousands and ten thousand myriads” is the number of a single troop, and “His troops are beyond number”; all of them receive life-force only from the level of a single letter (os). “The whole earth is full of His glory”:

“His glory” is the thirty-two paths of Chochmah, for “there is no glory but Torah”; and it is [the Torah] that is enclothed so that “the whole earth,” this lowest [earth], is “full” of it at the level of “His glory,”

that is, at the level of a mere ray and radiance. And the ofanim, which receive from them, “rise up opposite them” and quake “with a great noise,” because of the immense holiness of the Infinite Light, which, like its Name, has no end, etc.

11Now, “G‑d is not in the noise,” and “after the noise, fire”: in the manner of thirst and longing, an actual expiring of the soul, in a state of self-nullification and inclusion in the Infinite Light, blessed be He, beyond what their soul can bear. And this thirst and longing is not for the level of “His glory,” which is only a ray and radiance,

but for the level of “the heavens and the earth I fill,” the level of “I” itself, that is, the indwelling of the Infinite One, blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds, itself.

12And this is “the ofanim rise up”: they are lifted up opposite the seraphim, above them. And from this thirst and this longing comes what is written, “My soul thirsts for You,” etc., “so in holiness I have beheld You”: “holiness” is a word in its own right, the level of holy and separate, [and] “I have beheld You,” so that there be a revelation of G‑dliness,

and as it will be in the future, “and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll,” and it is written, “the new heavens and the new earth”: there will not be physical heavens and earth that obscure and conceal the glory of G‑d, so as to be a thing and an entity in its own right.

For in every thing the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is drawn, as it is written, “And Mount Sinai was all in smoke (ashan)”: olam, shanah, nefesh (world, year, soul). Olam is the dimension of space, into which the level of the Infinite is drawn, as it is written, “Behold, there is a place with Me.”

13And so too in the dimension of shanah (year), the dimension of time: “He is King, He was King and He will be King,” past, future and present; all is at the level of the Infinite, etc.

And so too in nefesh (the soul) there is a radiance of the Infinite Light: “and all the living shall thank You, Selah,” and the higher and the lower Gan Eden; and there is a Gan Eden above Gan Eden, without end or limit, in ascent after ascent, etc.

14And in the future, when the world, and its materiality and coarseness, will be refined, then “eye to eye they shall see,” etc. And this is “I am black, yet comely”: for through

the level of “black,” which is the soul’s cleaving [to G‑d] through fulfilling and observing the prohibitive commandments, which are at the level of “black as a raven,” through this there will be, in the future, a revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin),

which is above the bounds of the worlds, beyond what the soul can bear, except in the manner of negation, “a land not sown.” And at this level she is more comely than the daughters of Jerusalem, etc.

(See what is written on the subject of “I am black, yet comely” in the discourse beginning “The voice of my beloved,” that it refers to the Oral Torah, etc.; and this is along the lines of what was explained above on the words of the Scribes, etc. And see [the Zohar,] Parshas Bereishis, page 49, end of side a; and the S.H.M., section 137, and the end of Part I, section 5; and Parshas Shemos, 14a; and Parshas Acharei, page 59b; [and Parshas] Balak, 191a.)