ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים ופרעה חלם והנה עומד על היאור

1“And it came to pass at the end of two full years, and Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he was standing by the River.” Now, it is written (Ruth 4), “And this was formerly in Israel,” and “this” means nothing other than Torah; for this Torah exists in the inner dimension of every Jewish soul.

For every soul has an inner dimension (pnimiyus) and an outer dimension (chitzoniyus), that is, the aspects of the hidden and the revealed; for just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is hidden and revealed,

so is the Torah, and so is Israel, etc. The hidden aspect is the inner dimension, Chochmah, Binah and Daas, in one’s G‑dly soul, which is not grasped or seen by the eye.

And the revealed aspect is its outer dimension, which is the level of love and awe, etc. Therefore, just as the Torah has ta’amim, nekudos, tagin and osiyos (cantillation notes, vowels, crowns and letters), so these levels exist in the G‑dly soul, as [will be explained] below.

2Now, just as there is a Pharaoh in kelipah, so there is [a Pharaoh] in the holiness of the G‑dly soul, as is written in the Zohar on Vayigash: “[where] the lights are uncovered (de’isparyu) and revealed,” etc.

For “this opposite that,” etc.: in the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), from the level of the Pharaoh of holiness, further and further down, there is drawn the level of the lower Pharaoh, who said, “I do not know G‑d.” This is the level of forgetfulness, which descends from the level of the revealed world (alma de’isgalya), the Pharaoh of holiness, as it is written, “Her feet go down to death.”

But in what is “hidden from the eye,” the hidden world (alma de’iskasya), “blessing is found,” from the Source of blessings. As it is written (Proverbs 11), “But with the modest is wisdom”: [this is] the place of remembrance, as it is written, “and for a remembrance between your eyes.”

Now, one can speak of [lights being] “uncovered” only [as emerging] from within a covering that was over them at first. For it is written, “Who will go up for us to heaven?”, whose initial letters [spell] milah (circumcision) and whose final letters [spell] Havayah: so that the light of G‑d should shine upon us in revelation,

and not only in the form of letters but in the depth of thought, in contemplation of the very being and essence [of] “I, Havayah, have not changed,” so that it is fixed in one’s mind and heart (this is the level of “Who will go up for us to heaven?”, the level of grasping G‑dliness), there must first be the level of milah.

For above there is the level of “your iniquities separate,” and the obstructions must be removed; and likewise below, in the human soul, it is written, “You shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart.”

But after the cutting away of the foreskin there is still the level of periah (uncovering), which is a thin skin that covers and overlays; this is the level of physical desires from kelipas nogah, which are for permitted things, and which cover and conceal the light of G‑d.

Likewise, even in order for the level of the Chariot, “the face of a lion, the face of an ox,” etc., which is the level of natural love and awe, to be revealed upon him,

it is written (Ezekiel 1), “And I saw,” etc., “and from its midst, like the appearance of the chashmal,” etc. (chash, mal), “and from its midst, the likeness of four living creatures,” etc.

The counsel given for this is what we say, “And may my soul be like dust to all”; for פרעה (Pharaoh) has the letters of העפר (the dust). Through this, one can be in the state of Pharaoh, so that he uncovers (yifra) and reveals the covering that is upon him.

As it is written (Numbers 5), “And he shall uncover (u’fara) the woman’s head.” For the Congregation of Israel is called “a woman who fears G‑d,” and one must reveal the treasury of the fear of Heaven by making one’s soul like dust to all.

And through this the screen that is over him will be torn. [That screen] derives from the level of coarseness of spirit: because of his coarse spirit, in that he regards himself as an existence and a thing unto itself, he craves desires and wants his will to be fulfilled, precisely.

He must crush his coarseness of spirit. Along these lines are the sufferings of this world that come upon a person: it is not because of punishment that he is unworthy to dwell in the tranquility of this world; for we find regarding Nebuchadnezzar (Sanhedrin 96a; see there, and see the Yalkut)

that because he walked three steps in honor of G‑d, blessed be He, they decreed for him kingship over the whole world, and for his descendants after him for three generations; and there is no Jew who has not honored the Omnipresent that much, so all the good of this world is fitting for him.

Rather, the sufferings come to crush a person, to subdue him and to humble his coarseness of spirit, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Berachos 7), “One chastisement is better,” etc.

For when his eyes see that sufferings come upon him, his mind is humbled and he becomes subdued; and this is precious in G‑d’s eyes, that through this there should be the revelation of the level of Pharaoh from the dust.

Now, the Torah has the levels of ta’amim, nekudos, tagin and osiyos; and the level of the ta’amim in the Oral Torah is as it is written (Psalms 42), “And at night His song is with me”: the level of song and of the ta’amim, which is the level of melody, is “with me.”

The explanation of the matter is as it is written (Psalms 119), “Your statutes were songs to me in the house of my sojourning.” And to understand this: how are they songs?

And also, why was David punished for calling words of Torah “songs”? Now, [our Sages] said (Gittin 7), “Rise early and stay late at the house of study concerning them, and they will perish by themselves.”

The matter is [as follows]. It is written (Psalms 40), “Many things have You done, You, Havayah my G‑d; Your wonders and Your thoughts are toward us; none can be compared to You; were I to tell and speak of them, they are too numerous to recount.”

3The explanation of the verse “Many things have You done”: “many” means everything that is great and mighty, that is, the great and awesome higher worlds,

“You have done” [them] into the level of physical Asiyah (action), for they descended from cause to effect through many and diverse levels, as it says in the verse, “were I to tell and speak of them, they are too numerous to recount,” until they came into being in the level of physical Asiyah.

And as it is written (ibid. 135), “Why should they say, ‘Where (ayeh) is their G‑d?’”, [meaning] that He is in the state of ayeh (“where?”), separate, covered and far from them, as it is written, “Exalted above,” etc.

But they do not know and do not understand that “whatever G‑d desired, He has done”: G‑d’s desire descended so far that it is in physical Asiyah. And why so much? So that Havayah should be my G‑d, my own G‑d, through

“Your wonders and Your thoughts are toward us”; for “the Torah issues from Chochmah,” meaning that its principal revelation is from Chochmah. But in truth it is the will of the Omnipresent, and He and His will are one.

4And this is [the meaning of] “Your wonders”: that which is wondrous, separate and covered, beyond any grasp at all, the Supernal Wonder (Pele Elyon). “And Your thoughts” is the level of supernal Chochmah, drawn down to us through the Torah. “None can be compared to You; were I to tell and speak of them, they are too numerous to recount.”

For there to be so great a chain of descent and lowering, from a very high and exalted level down to a very low level, there had to be many kinds of worlds without number, kinds upon kinds of different kinds,

as it is written (Job 25), “Is there any number to His troops?”, and it is written (Daniel 7), “A thousand thousands serve Him, and myriads of myriads,” etc.; and that is the number of one troop and one chamber (heichal), while the chambers are without number.

Nevertheless, none of them “can be compared to You”: even the very highest level, which is the root of the beginnings of coming into being, nevertheless, relative to

His being and essence, blessed be He, it has no comparison at all, for it is not of His order nor of His being at all, since it is in the category of the created or the emanated and has a beginning of limitation.

This is not so with the Creator, blessed be He, before whom all is considered as truly nothing; to Him everything is considered as naught, [so that] the first level and the last level on the lowest rung are all equal to Him. Nevertheless,

for there to be the chain of descending worlds and the descent of the levels, there had to be levels “too numerous to recount,” so that the worlds would not be nullified out of existence. And all this is so that Havayah should be my G‑d, and “Your wonders and Your thoughts [are] toward us,” as mentioned above.

5Now, before the Giving of the Torah, the higher and the lower [beings] were sustained by the kindness of the Holy One, blessed be He; that is, the sustenance and life-force of the higher and lower worlds were drawn from their source and beginning, from above to below, as a free gift and simple kindness, through an arousal from above alone.

But after the Giving of the Torah, the maintenance of the life-force of the worlds comes through the deeds of the lower beings in Torah and mitzvos, from below to above.

This is like, by way of analogy, this physical earth, which makes all kinds of delights grow, and they are the food of man and the maintenance of his life; and also when a person eats from animals,

the main growth and life-force of the animal is from what it eats from the earth. It follows that all of man’s food and life-force comes through a refinement, in which the good hidden in the earth is selected out.

So, by way of analogy, the sustenance of the higher worlds comes from their receiving their life-force from the Torah that is in this lowly world. Now, it is written (Proverbs 4),

“Exalt her (salseleha), and she will raise you up,” like a person who curls (mesalsel) his hair so that each strand is by itself. So it is with all the countless details of the laws: that in this matter the law is thus, and in that matter the law shall be thus; [this] is drawn from supernal Chochmah, from the level of “Your wonders and Your thoughts” mentioned above.

This is what King David, peace be upon him, said (Psalms 92), “How great are Your works, O G‑d; Your thoughts are very deep.” The meaning of “great”

is in line with what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Wherever you find His greatness, there you find His humility.” For the level of greatness does not apply before Him, blessed be He, since

“G‑d is great and exceedingly praised, and His greatness is unfathomable,” and He is not in the category of comparison, measure and place at all, such that the term “greatness” could apply to Him.

Rather, the term “greatness” [refers to] His humility, in that He enclothed Himself in the level and attribute of greatness, to spread forth and enclothe Himself within the worlds to give them life. And this is [the meaning of] “How great are Your works, O G‑d.”

For what is drawn down and spreads below by way of the details of a single law is itself the sustenance and maintenance of the life-force of all the worlds, higher and lower; and all the higher worlds are as truly nothing compared to what is drawn from the details of a single law, which is the source of their life-force and existence.

For every law is a drawing-down and spreading-forth of light from the Supreme Will, blessed be He, and supernal Chochmah, which are the source of life-force for all the worlds.

And if this is so regarding the greatness of His works, then how much more so [does it hold that] “Your thoughts are very deep,” which is a level far, far above the level of worlds; rather, it encompasses and surrounds them and does not enclothe itself within them.

From this the thoughtful person will contemplate [and come] to have his desire in the Torah of G‑d, to rejoice and exult in it, as it is written (Proverbs 8), “And all desirable things cannot compare to her”: even the higher desires, as in what is written, “All

that Havayah desired He has done, in the heavens and on the earth,” and “the heavens” are the higher worlds, “cannot compare to her,” for they are all as truly nothing relative to a single law, which is from the level of “Your wonders and Your thoughts” mentioned above.

6As it is written in the Idra that the laws are the level of the strands and hairs above, and “each strand extends to hidden worlds,” etc.

And as it is written in Etz Chaim that all the strands and hairs come from the refinement of the 288 sparks, etc., and the ultimate purpose of the refinement is in this world, etc.

And this is [the meaning of] “Your statutes were songs to me in the house of my sojourning”: he rejoiced and was glad in them until they were to him like songs and delights; yet he was punished for calling them songs.

[He was punished] not for having learned in this way, but for having praised them with this quality alone, that it is the source and life-force of all the worlds.

For in truth it is far, far higher than the level of maintaining and giving life to all the worlds, as it is written (ibid.), “And I was beside Him an amon, and I was delights day, day”; and it is explained in the Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah, ch. 1): amon [means] “wondrous” (mufla), which is from the level of the Supernal Wonder, the level of “Your wonders and Your thoughts.”

And this is [the meaning of] “day, day,” corresponding to the two levels, “Your wonders” and “Your thoughts”; and this is [the meaning of] “and I was delights”: it is the delight of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, in His glory and in His essence. By way of analogy,

just as a person delights in his wisdom when he says something wise, so, and infinitely more, by a thousand thousand degrees of separation, the Holy One, blessed be He, delights in His supernal wisdom, which cannot enclothe itself within the worlds at all. But King David, peace be upon him, needed [this] for the time being:

“in the house of my sojourning,” for they hated him, and severities are sweetened only at their root, that is, at the root of the worlds’ coming into being, when they came into being and were drawn from absolute nothingness; [so he needed] to delight and rejoice in his portion, which he draws down through his Torah

for the maintenance and life-force of the worlds, so that through this all the obstructions will automatically be nullified, since they receive their life-force from it and are nullified before it; and when he draws its light down below, “terror and dread will fall upon them,” and they will be as though they had never been.

7And this is the counsel that our Sages, of blessed memory, gave: “Rise early and stay late concerning them (aleihem),” that is, that one be in a state of “over them” (aleihem), far above and higher than them,

namely, in the state of Torah study, which is very high and exalted, being the source of their life-force. And therefore “they perish” and are nullified “by themselves,” and are pushed away automatically.

And “stay late concerning them” means the level of “may my soul be like dust to all,” to be silent and to bear [it], as mentioned above, so that one be like dust and earth, from which comes forth bread, and all the influences from below to above after the Giving of the Torah, as mentioned above;

that is, when the good is refined out of the evil, etc., then the evil automatically falls and is nullified, as it is written (Isaiah 41), “They shall be as nothing, and the men who strive with you shall perish,” for they no longer have any life-force.

But in truth this alone is not the virtue and praise of the Torah; rather, [it is] as it is written, “And at night His song is with me”: it says “His song,” that is, the delight of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written, “And I was beside Him,” etc., “delights”; this shall be “with me.” And as it is written (Psalms 149), “Let Israel rejoice in its Maker.”

Now, through this level of joy and delight in the Torah of G‑d, one removes every obstruction from within and from without, and no evil descends from above at all.

But when one does not have this level of delight mentioned above, of him it is said, “And it came to pass at the end of two full years (shenasayim yamim).” This means that the level of “two years of days,”

which is the level of “day, day,” the level of delight mentioned above, is for him at an end and a limit; that is to say, he does not have the above level in his Torah study. And then, “Pharaoh dreams (cholem).”

This means: even though he has the level of Pharaoh, which is the level of revelation of G‑dliness through prayer, nevertheless it is not in the level of the ta’amim, which are the level of melody and the delight mentioned above, but only in the level of “a dot at the tops of the letters,”

for the soul is full of letters, and the light of G‑d that shines in it is only the level of a small dot at its top, in that an illumination and drawing-down of G‑dliness sparkles in his intellect; but it is not enclothed within him, only in the manner of something that encompasses him (makif).

8“And behold, he was standing by the River (ye’or).” From it, too, there is drawn a flow to the seven good cows, which are the seven attributes, love and awe, etc.,

the natural [ones], so that after prayer, because of this, he will be [engaged] in “turning from evil and doing good.” But after this, “behold, seven other cows,” etc.

“And they ate,” etc., “and it was not known,” etc.: for some long time after prayer, physical attributes and desires may be aroused and make [him] forget entirely the good attributes, love and awe, etc., that were [his] during prayer.

This is not so with the level of the ta’amim, which are the level of song and melody mentioned above. Of this they said (Avodah Zarah 3), “Whoever engages in Torah at night, a thread of kindness is drawn over him by day,

as it is said, ‘By day G‑d commands His kindness, and at night His song is with me.’” [This means] that a thread of kindness and supernal love comes upon him from above, a new love, beyond the nature of the G‑dly soul, to cleave

to Him, blessed be He, the level of love with delights; and from there a river (ye’or) and flow is drawn to the level of “a dot at the tops of the letters,” for the River stands over the cholem and draws upon it a great and mighty illumination, so that there will be no bad cows at all, for “no evil descends from above,” etc.