שבת שבתון הוא לכם ועניתם את נפשותיכם בתשעה…

1“It is a Shabbos of complete rest (Shabbos Shabbason hu) for you, and you shall afflict your souls on the ninth (be-tish’ah) of the month, in the evening,” etc. We need to understand: what is be-tish’ah, [literally] “on nine”? It should have said be-teshi’i, “on the ninth.” Also [we need to understand] that it is written “Shabbos Shabbason hu,” a masculine term, while in Parshas Acharei it is written “Shabbos Shabbason hi.”

And there it says, “and you shall afflict your souls, an eternal statute,” and it does not say “on the ninth of the month,” as is written here, in Parshas Emor.

2We need to understand the reason for the difference. Also, it would seemingly have been more fitting to say “an eternal statute” here, for in Parshas Acharei the whole order of the service of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur is set out, and it does not [apply]

except in the presence of the [Holy] House; whereas here, in Parshas Emor, the main [subject] of the parsha is the order of the festivals, which applies even now, when the Beis HaMikdash is not standing.

If so, it is precisely here that it would have been fitting to say “an eternal statute.” Why, then, did Scripture change, writing “an eternal statute” specifically there and not here?

Now, it is written, “And he shall atone for the Holy, from the impurities of the children of Israel.” We need to understand what atonement for the Holy means: has it sinned a sin, that it needs atonement?

See on this the book Asarah Maamaros (Maamar Chikkur Din, Part I, chapter 13). Also [we need to understand] what is written at the end of the passage, “And he shall atone for the Sanctuary of the Holy (Mikdash HaKodesh)”: why did Scripture change afterwards, to say “the Sanctuary of the Holy”? Now, we must first preface [with] the matter of the mitzvos in general.

For it is known that the purpose of the soul’s descent into this world is because “today [is the time] to do them,” in the practical performance of the mitzvos. As is written in the Zohar on the verse “And Avraham was old, advanced in days”: the “days” are the garments made from the mitzvos that a person performs in them. And as it is written, “Days were formed,” etc.

3Therefore every person must fulfill all 613 mitzvos, even the mitzvos of the Kohanim and of the Kohen Gadol, through ibbur (soul-impregnation) or gilgul (reincarnation), because “if one is lacking, one garment is lacking,” etc., as is explained elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “In days to come, [Yaakov] will take root,” etc.

To understand what these garments are, we must first explain the saying, “The soul that You have placed within me is pure; You created it,” etc.

The explanation: the source of the soul, while it is still in the source from which it was hewn, is called “pure” (tehorah), for tahor is a term for illumination and brightness, as in “like the very substance of the heavens for clearness (la-tohar)”;

and this is because then it is the level of actual G‑dliness. Afterwards, “You created it” is when it descends from there to be clothed in a body: first it is drawn down into the World of Beriah (Creation), and then it is the level of a created being, something from nothing, as it is written, “Everyone that is called by My Name, and for My glory, I created him,” etc.

Afterwards, “You formed it” [is] in the world of the angels. These are the very levels of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) and the descent of the soul from level to level, like a chain whose links are held one in another, etc.,

until “You breathed it into me” in the World of Asiyah (Action), and it was clothed in this world in the physical body. (See what is written on this in the explanation of the verse “And I will make … of kadkod.”)

However, it is known that the descent is for the sake of an ascent, that is, [an ascent] higher than the source from which it was hewn, the level of “pure” mentioned above. And this is through the practical performance of the mitzvos. For

in the blessing over the mitzvos we say, “Who has sanctified us (kideshanu) with His commandments,” and the meaning is that through the mitzvos we are raised to the level of supernal holiness (kodesh ha’elyon),

which is higher than the level of purity; as is known, holiness is [found] in the Kohanim, as it is written, “And you shall sanctify him,” etc., and purity in the Levites, as it is written, “And thus shall you do to them, to purify them: sprinkle upon them,” etc.

4And just as the stature of the Kohanim is exceedingly high above the rank of the Levites, so the level of “holy” (kodesh) is exceedingly high above the level of “pure” (tahor). The explanation of this matter will be understood by first prefacing an explanation of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) and the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin).

For the thought and the speech Above are the level of memalei kol almin. By way of analogy, it is like a person who thinks and ponders some matter: his thought is clothed in, and actually fixed in, that matter, and is encompassed by it (see Sefer Shel Beinonim, Part I, chapter 5); and likewise when he speaks about some matter, etc.

So too, as it were, the life-force in the Ten Utterances, “Let there be light,” “Let there be a firmament,” etc., is clothed in and actually grasped within the worlds, to give them life, and is encompassed by them.

And likewise the level of the life-force and the letters that are drawn from the thought (for “with one thought the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world”) is also grasped and clothed within the worlds, for it is written, “You made them all with wisdom.”

And in the Zohar, Tazria (p. 43a, at the top), [the verse] “You made them all with wisdom” is explained: with Binah. That is, Binah is the level of supernal thought; only, thought gives life to the hidden worlds, which are not revealed, while speech gives life to, and brings into being, the revealed worlds.

(For “Binah nests in the Throne,” which is Beriah, Z’eir Anpin in Yetzirah, and Malchus in Asiyah. That is, the thirty vessels of Atzilus that become a soul for Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah: the ten inner vessels in Beriah, the middle ones in Yetzirah, and the outer ones become a soul for Asiyah. See on this in Iggeres HaKodesh, on the verse “And David made a name.”)

And although it is written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,” meaning that thought, with Him, may He be blessed, does not clothe His being and essence, may He be blessed,

and therefore, “I, Havayah, have not changed”; and it is not as with a person, whose very being and essence is clothed in the thought, as is explained elsewhere; but nevertheless, “the Torah speaks in the language of people.”

As in physical terms: what a person utters from his mouth, to be heard by and revealed to another, is called “speech,” for the breath of speech in his mouth is felt and seen as a thing in its own right, separate from its root; whereas the letters of thought, although they too are

only garments of the soul, nevertheless have not descended to be seen as a separate thing. So it is Above: although in truth there is nothing outside Him,

nevertheless, because of the concealment of the light by way of descents and contractions (tzimtzumim), in order to give life to separate worlds that appear as an existence (yesh) and a separate thing, this life-force that flows into them to give them life in such a way that they will be a separate thing is called by the name “letters of speech,” by analogy to a person’s speech, etc.

But in the hidden worlds, which are more in a state of self-nullification (bittul) (along the lines of what is explained elsewhere on the two levels of sea and dry land, which are the hidden world and the revealed world), the life-force that is clothed within them to give them life is called by the name “letters of thought.”

Now, the angels are of the level of the revealed worlds, as it is written, “Then one of the seraphim flew to me”; and they come into being from the level of speech, as it is written, “By the word of Havayah the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host,” etc.

But Israel “arose in thought,” the level of the hidden worlds. Therefore the soul is called “it is pure,” for the hidden worlds are the level of “pure,”

since the meaning of concealment is that, because of the intensity of its light and the greatness of its brightness, it cannot come to be revealed; as in “Who forms light and creates darkness,” where the darkness is above the light and alludes to the tefillin of the head (which are the level of Chochmah, Binah and Daas, whereas “Who forms light” alludes to the tefillin of the hand).

It is like, by way of analogy, a great light that, from the very force of its intensity, darkens the sight, so that it is impossible to look at it; as in what is said, “He made darkness His hiding place,” etc.

So too here: because the root of the souls of Israel is from the bright and very exalted light, which is called by the name tahor (“pure”), it therefore cannot be revealed, and it is called “hidden worlds,” the level of thought, as mentioned above.

52. Now, from there the soul descended into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, until it was brought low into the lowly world and clothed in a physical body. And this descent is for the sake of an ascent above the level of thought, which is the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), as mentioned above, except that it is the life-force of the hidden worlds, etc.

But through this descent it rises higher and higher, into the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin). (See what is written in the discourse beginning “Who has counted,” on “and numbered the fourth part of Israel.”)

The meaning of sovev (encompassing) is that it surrounds from above and is not grasped and clothed within the worlds, for all the worlds are as nothing before Him, like a drop of water [beside] the ocean, where the drop is nullified in relation to the great sea; and even more than that,

for “His holiness is not comparable to Him,” as is explained elsewhere; and they cannot contain Him within them at all. And what is written, “And You give life to them all,” [meaning] that life-force is drawn from Him into the very worlds, is only a radiance and an illumination alone.

But the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, itself is not grasped within the bounds of worlds at all. Therefore it is written, “I, Havayah, have not changed,” and “You are He before [the world] was created,” etc., without any change at all.

6And this is [the meaning of] what the angels say, “Holy, holy, holy is Havayah of hosts”: for the “hosts” are the souls and the angels that are in the hidden worlds and the revealed worlds; and they first say “holy” three times, until there is “Havayah of hosts,”

for kadosh (“holy”) is a term for separation: He is separated by several kinds of separation, until the hosts, the legions of created beings, come into being, etc.

However, kadosh spelled with a vav also indicates a drawing down: a drawing down from the level of sovev kol almin into memalei kol almin. And the three times “holy” are three kinds of drawing down, to the three worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.

7The explanation is this: every created being has two kinds of life-force. The first is the life-force that is clothed within its inner being, like a soul in a body, which fills the body, and [the body] lives from it. This is from the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), which is the life-force clothed in the worlds, as mentioned above.

The second is the life-force that surrounds and encompasses it from above, which rests upon it and is not grasped within it; as in what our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Upon every [gathering of] ten the Shechinah rests,” which is not an actual revelation of the Shechinah to them,

but a resting [presence] that rests from above, in the manner of sovev (encompassing). (Even so, it has an effect on them, for through this their prayer is more concentrated, as is known and as is explained elsewhere, etc.)

And this is why they say “holy” three times, “Holy, holy, holy,” before “Havayah of hosts”: these are three drawings down of encompassing light and life-force, from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), to the three worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, as mentioned above.

However, even this encompassing light is only the drawing down of an illumination alone from sovev kol almin itself; and this is kadosh with a vav.

But sovev kol almin itself is far, far above this measure, and it is the level of kodesh without a vav, which is a term for separation: it is set apart beyond all relation, as in “Set bounds around the mountain and sanctify it.” And it is there that the soul ascends, through the practical performance of the mitzvos,

as in the saying, “Who has sanctified us with His commandments”: in the very supernal holiness (kodesh ha’elyon). (That is, because the mitzvos are the supernal will, blessed be He, His very wisdom and will; therefore in them and through them the souls are raised to the level of the very supernal holiness. See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “Who has counted,” mentioned above.)

And this is the descent for the sake of an ascent: its root is in the level of “it is pure,” from the level of memalei kol almin; and through its descent into a body it is said, “And you shall be holy (kodesh) people to Me,” that they will be raised to the level of the very supernal holiness, which is sovev kol almin. See the Zohar, Parshas Mishpatim (121a, at the end of the side).

Therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “In the future, ‘holy’ will be said before the righteous”: to draw down from the level of the supernal holiness, where the righteous will be raised, so that there will be a drawing down into the worlds; for this drawing down is called kadosh, as mentioned above. And this is why the mitzvos are called garments.

That is: like a garment, which encompasses and surrounds a person and is not clothed within him, so through the mitzvos a revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is sovev kol almin, is drawn down and shines upon his soul, so that it is nullified and included in it; and this is above the level of the illumination that is clothed within, as mentioned above.

Therefore a person’s days are allotted to him in such-and-such a number, that is, according to the measure of the drawings down he must have in order to raise his soul and bind it to the Infinite Light, blessed be He.

83. Now, this power in the mitzvos is because our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Mitzvos require intention (kavanah).” And the intention is to fulfill the command of the King, the Holy One, blessed be He;

that is, in every mitzvah he does, his intention should be that he does it in order to fulfill the command of his Creator. As is mentioned in the writings of the Arizal, even before the recital of the Shema, [with its] “One” and “And you shall love,” one must say, “I hereby take upon myself the yoke of the positive commandment of the recital of the Shema,” etc.,

even though these things settle in the heart of their own accord, for when he contemplates the greatness of “Havayah is One,” he will come of itself to the level of “And you shall love.” Nevertheless, he must intend that he does it all solely for the sake of the mitzvah, because that is what he was commanded: to contemplate His greatness and to arouse the love. The reason is that

His attribute of Malchus (sovereignty), may He be blessed, is above the level of the life-force’s being clothed within created beings; as in the analogy of a king, whose essence does not spread through the whole country: only his name alone is called upon them, which is the level of an illumination from him.

And when he takes upon himself the command of the King, which is above the clothing and spreading of the life-force in created beings, it is precisely through this that his soul will be raised into the supernal holiness, which is above the bounds of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus) of the life-force within the worlds, as mentioned above; for “their beginning is wedged in their end,” precisely.

(For “Abba founded the daughter”: Malchus is rooted in supernal Chochmah, the very supernal holiness, and therefore it too is called kodesh (“holy”), as is written in the Zohar, Parshas Pinchas

(254b), [on] what is written, “For it is holy to you”; see there. And it is also rooted in the level of Keser; therefore it is called Keser Elyon (the Supernal Crown), for “it is the Keser of Malchus,” etc.

See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “Who has counted,” mentioned above, regarding “I even made him”; and see what is written elsewhere on Shmuel’s words to Shaul, “For to obey is better than sacrifice,” etc.;

and what is written in the discourse beginning “And now, let the power of Ado-nai be great.”) And this is the meaning of “zarka, makaf, shofar holech, segolta,” which is stated in the Tikkunei Zohar: His attribute of Malchus, may He be blessed, is called zarka, for it is thrown

higher and higher, and with it goes segolta, which is the level of Israel, His treasured people (am segulaso), so that they too are thrown into the supernal holiness, which is above the chain of descent, as mentioned above; and this is the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), as mentioned above.

(See what is written on segol and segulah in the discourse beginning “Your cheeks are comely with rows [of jewels]” and in the discourse beginning “Binding his foal to the vine.” That is, [segulah] is named for the natural love that is our inheritance from our forefathers, etc.;

and this is like “it is pure,” while through the mitzvos they are raised higher, to the level of the supernal holiness, as mentioned above. See what is written in the discourse beginning “And Elokim spoke,” etc., “And I appeared to Avraham,” etc., “and My Name,” etc.; see there.) And this is what is written, “I am like a fresh berosh (berosh ra’anan).”

Berosh is the tall cedar tree, and ra’anan is when it is still soft, so that its top can be bent down very low; and when something is placed upon it, afterwards, when it lifts itself and returns to its standing position, it will hurl and lift that thing up even higher than its own top, as is known.

So “I” (ani), which is His attribute of Malchus, may He be blessed, is “like a fresh berosh”: it descended and was clothed in physical mitzvos, but afterwards it is raised up to the highest

heights, and it also raises the person who fulfills the mitzvos, so that he rises even above the level of Malchus as it is while still above, before its descent; and this is the level of the supernal holiness, sovev kol almin, as mentioned above.

9And of this it is said, “Righteousness (tzedakah) exalts a nation”: for all the mitzvos are called by the name tzedakah, as it is written, “And it will be righteousness (tzedakah) for us, if we take care to do all this commandment”; for the mitzvos exalt and lift up

the souls of Israel higher and higher. See what is written on this in the discourse beginning “The heavens are My throne,” regarding “and the earth is My footstool.” And this is especially so of the mitzvah of Torah study, which is equal to them all, for the letters of the Torah are called horses,

as in “horse and its rider, ramah”: for the horse lifts and carries the rider to a place he cannot reach by himself. And perhaps this too is the meaning of “zarka, like a stone in a sling,” for the stones are letters, etc. Now, it is written, “And you shall keep the Shabbos, for it is holy (kodesh) to you.”

For the main ascent of the souls of Israel, when they are raised from the level and rank of purity to the level and rank of “And you shall be holy (kodesh) people to Me,” “Israel is holy (kodesh) to Havayah”: this ascent is on Shabbos.

For although this ascent is through the Torah and mitzvos, “Who has sanctified us with His commandments,” yet the ascent of the Torah and mitzvos of all the six workdays is also through Shabbos.

10That is: there is a lower holiness (kodesh tata’ah), which is the level of Malchus itself, and the supernal holiness (kodesh elyon), which is supernal Chochmah; and the mitzvos are called the commands of the King. But on Shabbos there is the ascent of Malchus into the level of the very supernal holiness.

And this is “for it is holy (kodesh) to you”: the ascent of the level of His Malchus, may He be blessed, to its source and root, the level of the supernal holiness, from which it was hewn, for “Abba founded the daughter.”

(Through this one can find support for the custom, explained in Pri Etz Chaim, of immersing oneself in a mikveh on the eve of Shabbos: since Shabbos is called “it is holy (kodesh) to you,” there must therefore first be the level of purity, etc.)

Now, the reason this ascent is on Shabbos is that, as is known, Shabbos is a term for ceasing (shevisah) and for rest of the spirit,

for “in six days Havayah made the heavens and the earth” through the Ten Utterances, “Let there be light,” which is the level of the descent of speech, and within it thought, etc.,

so as to be drawn down, spread out and clothed within the created beings; and on Shabbos there is the ascent of speech into supernal Chochmah (see what is written on this in the discourse beginning “Return, O Israel, unto”). And this is the level of the ascent of the attribute of Malchus into the level of the supernal holiness,

for “their beginning is wedged in their end, and their end in their beginning,” as mentioned above; as in the analogy of a person who ceases and rests from his labor, whose intellect and thought, which were clothed in the deed, return and rise to their source.

11And this is “Israel is holy (kodesh) to Havayah, the first of its produce.” “Its produce” is called “your grain, your wine and your oil.” “Your grain” is the study of the laws that are revealed to us; “and your wine”:

“wine entered, the secret came out,” which is the inner dimension of the Torah, called the secrets of the Torah (razin d’oraysa); “and your oil,” the oil that floats on top of the wine, is the secret of secrets (raza d’razin). All these are called “produce,”

for there is produce of the field and produce of the vineyard, and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “The olive too is called produce,” etc. And Israel will be raised to the level of kodesh, which is reishis (“first”) to the Torah.

12The explanation is along the lines of the above: at first Israel are below the Torah, as in the saying, “Three knots are bound one to another: Israel to the Torah,” etc., for Israel receive from the Torah;

but afterwards they are raised above it, as in what is said, “And you shall make them,” and likewise, “which a person shall make”: for Israel are the ones who draw down the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) into the level of the Torah, so that the Infinite Light is clothed in Chochmah. This is the meaning of one who “occupies himself with Torah lishmah,” li-shmah (“for its Name”) in the literal sense, as is explained elsewhere.

And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: that at first “his desire is in the Torah of Havayah,” and afterwards “in his Torah he meditates,” for it is called by his name. This suffices for one who understands.

134. But all this is when the Torah and mitzvos are kept. In the opposite case, one who transgresses and causes a blemish, even by neglecting a positive commandment, and even one who is able to occupy himself with Torah and does not, causes

a lack in the drawing down of the level of the supernal holiness; and all the more so when he transgresses a prohibitive commandment, of the Torah or of the Rabbis: through this he defiles his soul, which is the level of “pure,” etc. And just as through the mitzvos it is raised from the level of purity to the level of holiness,

and this is the meaning of “And the soul of my master shall be bound in the bundle (tzerurah bi-tzror),” etc., like one who throws a stone by means of the bundle (tzeror), which lifts it higher than its nature, so is the ascent through the mitzvos;

14and so, correspondingly, through sins, it is written, “And the soul of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the hollow of a sling”: it is thrown very far away, into the side of impurity, which

is very, very far from the level of “it is pure,” etc., as is explained elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “For on this day He shall atone.”

The remedy for this is “to leap over a wall” through teshuvah: to draw down from a level higher even than the supernal holiness, by which all the blemishes and lacks that were made in the Holy (kodesh) will be filled;

that is, through the Kohen Gadol, who on Yom Kippur enters the House of the Holy of Holies; for the level of the Holy of Holies is far, far above even the level of the supernal holiness, as is written in the Zohar at the end of Parshas Mishpatim (121a, at the end of the side):

that Chochmah, which is the level of the supernal holiness, “comes out from the place called Holy of Holies.” And this is the meaning of “And Chochmah is found from ayin (nothing).”

See further in the Zohar, Bereishis (45a, at the end of the side, and 45b), and in Parshas Pekudei (261); and see further in Parshas Yisro (67b),

regarding “There is a King above, who is the mystery of the Holy of Holies, and beneath Him there is a Kohen,” etc., “who is called great,” etc.; and in the commentary of the Ramaz there. And this is the meaning of “the holy King” that is said during the Ten Days of Teshuvah.

The explanation of the matter is that the supernal holiness is the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), which is not clothed within the worlds but surrounds and encompasses them; that is why it is called kodesh, as mentioned above.

But in truth, even the level of sovev kol almin bears no comparison to His being and essence, may He be blessed, which is not within the bounds of worlds at all, neither as encompassing (sovev)

nor as filling (memalei). And this is the meaning of “His holiness is not comparable to Him”: even the level of the supernal holiness is not comparable to Him at all.

15See what is written in the discourse beginning “And you shall make a plate (tzitz) of gold,” on “kodesh with the lamed below, and Havayah above”: that the level of “kodesh la-” is still below relative to the Name Havayah above, etc.; see there. And therefore it is called the Holy of Holies (Kodesh HaKodashim), for it is separated and exalted even above the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), which is the level of “holies” (kodashim).

16As it is written, “And the curtain shall separate for you between the Holy and the Holy of Holies.” And by drawing down from the level of the Holy of Holies, all the lacks are thereby filled,

for the level of the Holy of Holies is that which “fills all the Names” and is called “the perfection of them all”; like the analogy of a spring that was stopped up and a river that was ruined and dried up, where one digs deeper, etc., as is explained elsewhere.

And this is “And he shall atone for the Holy, from the impurities of the children of Israel”: that he will draw down and fill all the blemishes that were made in the level of the supernal holiness through the impurities of the children of Israel, as mentioned above. See the Zohar, Part II (185b and 219b).

Now, in truth, even now teshuvah is effective for this, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “There is one who acquires his world in a single hour.” That is because this world is the world of change (temurah), in which a person can change his mind from evil to good immediately, in an instant;

for our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “A Torah scholar who committed a transgression by day, do not suspect him at night,” for he has certainly done teshuvah. It is not like the World to Come, where everything is gradual, as is fitting according to

the law: there must first be the “hollow of the sling,” then Gehinnom, then the lower Gan Eden, and then the higher Gan Eden; because the World to Come is the level of the radiance of the Shechinah, and it is impossible to receive the light and the radiance except gradually.

But in this world there is a drawing down from the level that is above all of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus), and He is the One who “is equal and makes small and great equal,” because before Him “darkness is as light,”

and also “darkness does not darken,” as is known, and as is explained elsewhere, in the discourse beginning “Command the children of Israel,” etc., “My offering, My bread,” etc.

17The reason is that the World to Come is called a “clear world” (olam barur), in which everything has already been refined (nivrar) and has come to its place, and there can be no change from one to another; whereas in this world,

which is still before the completion of the refinement (birur), there rests within it the level of the One who refines, and He is the All-Capable, to change from evil to good, etc.

18Therefore it is written, “Whom do I have in heaven? And with You (ve-imcha) I desire nothing on earth.” “Heaven” and “earth” are the higher and lower Gan Eden; and likewise, “with You” is like what is written,

“For with You (imcha) is the source of life”: the “source of life,” which is the radiance of the Shechinah that shines in Gan Eden, is called “with You,” for it is secondary and nullified beside Him, may He be blessed.

And in all of them I have no desire, except in His essence, may He be blessed, specifically, for He is the All-Capable, as mentioned above. Yet even so, our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “If a person transgressed a prohibition and did teshuvah, [teshuvah] suspends and Yom Kippur atones,”

because for this drawing down to come from the level of the Holy of Holies, that is the level of Yom Kippur, on which the Kohen Gadol enters the House of the Holy of Holies.

19Now, the order of the service of the Kohen Gadol is that he takes the blood of the bull and the blood of the goat and sprinkles opposite the Ark, between the poles; for in the Ark lie the Tablets, on which is written “I am”

and “You shall have no [other gods]”: “I am” includes all the positive commandments, and “You shall have no” includes all the prohibitive commandments. And through bringing up the blood there, all the blemishes that were made in the Holy will be atoned.

For the G‑dly soul in a person, of itself, does not sin at all; only the animal soul is the soul that sins, and its sins are atoned through offering the blood of the offerings,

for animals, in their root, are higher than the level of man; as our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “‘Behind and before You formed me’: behind, [last] in the work of creation.” For first it is said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle and creeping things,” etc.,

20and afterwards the utterance “Let us make man,” etc. And as is known also from what we see physically: man is nourished and receives life from the inanimate, the vegetative and the animal;

for the earth, which is the level of the inanimate, the very lowest in rank, from it bread comes forth, and it has become the cornerstone for the vegetative, the animal and the speaking.

21And so too the vegetative and the animal, relative to the speaking: he receives life from them, and they also add understanding (daas) to a person; as we find with Rav Nachman, when they asked him about “five cattle” and “five half-cattle,” he said, “I have not yet eaten ox meat,” etc.,

“wine and fragrance make me sharp.” Thus he received a great matter in the Torah, namely that law mentioned above, from eating ox meat.

That is because their root is from a very high and exalted place, only they fell and descended lower and lower, until they are below understanding (daas); for an animal has no intellect,

but its root is above understanding; and when it is refined, it adds strength and vitality to a person and gives him understanding, etc.

And so too is the matter of the sprinkling: he takes out the blood of the bull and the goat, which is the essence of their inner life-force, and brings them up to the place of the Tablets and the Ark; and then he draws down from a very high and exalted place, and atones for and fills all the blemishes that were made in the Holy, etc.

(The sprinkling is teshuvah “with greater strength,” and this is along the lines of what was mentioned above on zarka, and as is explained elsewhere on “leaping,” etc.; and through this there is also drawn down from above the level of “And I will sprinkle (zarakti) pure water upon you,” which is from above the order of the chain of descent (hishtalshelus), as is known.)

225. Now, with all the above, the matter of Shabbos Shabbason will be understood. It is like what is written, “The burnt offering of Shabbos, on its Shabbos.”

For just as Shabbos, relative to the six workdays, is the ascent of the worlds, in which they are raised very high, so is the level of Shabbos Shabbason relative to Shabbos: it is the level of the Shabbos of the Shabbosos of the whole year.

See the Zohar at the end of Parshas Acharei (79b). And it is the level of the Holy of Holies, which is the level of Yom Kippur; for Shabbos is called “holy” (kodesh),

but on Yom Kippur the Kohen Gadol enters the Holy of Holies, which is the source of all the levels of “holy,” and it is “the perfection of them all” and “fills all the Names,” as mentioned above; that is, the level of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy that are revealed on Yom Kippur, which are very high, and from them is the source of pardon and forgiveness, as is known.

23Now, here it is written “Shabbos Shabbason hu,” a masculine term, and it is also written “and you shall afflict … on nine”; whereas in Parshas Acharei it is written hi, a feminine term, and “on nine” is not mentioned, only “and you shall afflict” without qualification.

The explanation is that the one depends on the other. For the meaning of hu, a masculine term, is that Israel are at the rank of the masculine,

and they are the ones who bestow and draw down the revelation of this illumination by their own power; along the lines of what was mentioned above on “Israel is holy to Havayah, the first of its produce,” that Israel are the head and source of the Torah, and as it is written, “And you shall make them,” as mentioned above.

And this is through “And you shall afflict your souls on nine.” The meaning of “on nine” (be-tish’ah), where seemingly it should have said be-teshi’i, “on the ninth,” is that it refers to all nine attributes of the soul: that all of them should be in the state of being subdued (iskafya) and transformed (is’hapcha).

Therefore it is a mitzvah to fast on all nine days, which correspond to the nine attributes, as is known. And this is the matter of the “sawing apart” (nesirah), for on each day one attribute is sawn apart. The meaning of “sawing apart” is to separate the attributes of the G‑dly soul from the animal soul, so that they will not be attached to, and drawn after, the attributes of the animal soul.

And this is the point of the fast: food and satiety join the animal soul with the G‑dly soul, as it is written, “And Yeshurun grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, you grew thick,” etc.;

whereas the fast weakens the strength of the animal soul, and he will come to submission and to separating from the attributes of the animal soul. Through this he arouses the same above: that the Gevuros (severities) be sawn apart and good Chassadim (kindnesses) remain, etc.; and afterwards, through this, the Gevuros too will be sweetened.

24See something of this matter in what is written on the verse “For Avraham does not know us,” and in the explanation of the verse “I sleep,” regarding “my sister.”

Moreover, a fast brings favor and is called “a day of favor” (yom ratzon), as is known. That is because specifically through fasting an illumination is drawn from above downward;

for eating is an elevation of the life-force from below upward: the food enters the stomach, is refined and becomes blood, etc.,

until it becomes life-force for the brain; and it is all an elevation from below upward. Above, too, it is the level of refinements (birurim) and the elevation of the sparks from below upward, as is known.

But in a fast, when he eats nothing, the spreading of his life-force is the reverse, from above downward: the brain itself gives life-force to all the limbs, from above downward.

And above, too, there is aroused through this a revelation of light and life-force from above downward, namely from the level of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which are the source of life, “the perfection of them all,” and “fill all the Names,” as mentioned above. And on Yom Kippur there is the revelation of “the Will of all wills” (ra’ava d’chol ra’avin).

25Now, when Israel are at a high rank, so that there is “and you shall afflict … on nine” levels of the soul, mentioned above, so that all of them are separated from the physical attributes of the animal soul,

then the level of Shabbos Shabbason that is revealed on Yom Kippur is called “Shabbos Shabbason hu,” a masculine term. Whereas when they do not do teshuvah from the depths of the heart to such an extent as to be at the level of “and you shall afflict … on nine,” etc.,

but nevertheless the level of Shabbos Shabbason is drawn down through an arousal from above, [then] it is said, “Shabbos Shabbason hi,” a feminine term; in the manner of “when the man seeds first, she bears a female.”

26(See what is written on this at the end of the discourse beginning “And the number of the children of Israel shall be.”) Therefore in Parshas Acharei, where “and you shall afflict … on nine” is not said, it says “Shabbos Shabbason hi”; and therefore it says there “an eternal statute,” for this level is certainly an eternal statute.

Only, when Israel are at a high rank, so that there is “and you shall afflict … on nine,” “Shabbos Shabbason hu” is drawn down, in the manner of “when the woman seeds first, she bears a male”; that is, then the revelation is drawn from a still higher rank. And this is what is written, “And he shall atone for the Holy.”

27And at the end of the passage it is written, “And he shall atone for the Sanctuary of the Holy.” This corresponds to the two ranks of “Shabbos Shabbason hu” and “Shabbos Shabbason hi.”

That is: when the drawing down is at the level of hu, a masculine term, then the power of this drawing down is able to atone even for the blemishes in the Holy itself, which is the very supernal Chochmah.

But when the drawing down is at the level of hi, it does not atone for the blemish that touches, as it were, the level of the Holy itself, which is supernal Chochmah, but only for the “Sanctuary of the Holy,” which is the level of Binah, which receives from Chochmah.