קחו מאתכם תרומה להוי׳ כל נדיב לבו יביאה…

1“Take from among you an offering (terumah) to Havayah; whoever is generous of heart (nediv libo), let him bring it, the offering of Havayah.” [We need] to understand the matter of these two offerings: one is “to Havayah,” and the second is “the offering of Havayah.”

Now, terumah is a term of exaltation (romemus), [as in] “I will exalt You, my G‑d the King,” etc. And terumah is also a term of separating, [as in] “to separate terumah.” And to understand the matter of exaltation: it is known that there are two levels in the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) and the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin).

The level of memalei kol almin is like the analogy of the soul, which gives life to the body and clothes itself in it to give it life in the mode of division: thought, speech and action, and the enclothing of the intellect (mochin) in the head, etc.

And likewise in each limb [there is] a particular life-force. (For the life-force clothes itself in each limb according to its temperament and character: that is, the revelation of the soul’s life-force as a whole is in the brain, and from there a radiance is drawn to each vessel and limb according to its level.

In the eye the power of sight is drawn and clothed; in the ear the power of hearing is drawn and clothed; and the power of action is drawn and clothed in the hands, down to the power of walking, which is drawn and clothed in the feet. It follows that the light and life-force shines and clothes itself in each vessel according to its level and its nature.

Therefore a greater radiance and life-force shines in the brain, because the vessel is more refined and more elevated. Therefore it can receive a greater radiance, and this is the revelation of intellect and thought.

This is not so in the hands: the vessel cannot receive this level of revelation, and therefore nothing is drawn and clothed in them but the revelation of the power of action. Nevertheless, there is in them a greater radiance than in the power drawn and clothed in the feet, in which there is only the power of walking.

Whereas with the hand one can do every work of skilled design (meleches machsheves) and write words of wisdom. Thus the intellect, although it is not clothed in the hand in a revealed way, is drawn and revealed through the medium of the power of action in the hands. Whereas to the power of walking in the foot, this drawing-down does not apply.

Nevertheless, in another respect the foot has an advantage, in that it carries the head. This is because “their end is wedged in their beginning,” and in the end there is something of the level of their beginning. Nevertheless, the foot is called the end, which is not so of the hand.

That is, in the hand there is more revelation of the life-force than in the foot, as mentioned above from the example of writing down the intellect specifically by the hands. And all this is because the life-force is drawn and clothed in each limb according to its measure and its character.)

From this the parallel will be understood, in the matter of the order of the chain of descending worlds and the drawing down of the life-force from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, which is drawn within all worlds: in each world and in each creature according to its own measure, as much as it is able to bear.

This life-force as a whole is called in the holy Zohar memalei kol almin (“filling all worlds”). In the Upper Gan Eden, the abode of the great tzaddikim, it shines in greater revelation, and this is like the analogy of the intellect, which is revealed in the brain in the head.

2Afterwards, in the world of the angels, whose essence lies chiefly in natural love and awe, and who do not have comprehension like [that of] the souls of the great tzaddikim: this is like the analogy of the life-force drawn and clothed in the hands. Chesed (kindness) is “the right arm” (dero’a yemina), the level of love, the camp of Michael; and Gevurah (restraint) is “the left arm” (dero’a smala), the level of awe, the camp of Gavriel.

3Nevertheless, they too have comprehension, just as the intellect is drawn through the hands.

And also, just as the intellect is drawn and clothed in the emotive attributes (middos) in the heart, which is a more inward revelation than in the hands, for the hands are the outer dimension (chitzoniyus) of the emotive attributes, so too there are angels from the level of the inner dimension (pnimiyus), Michael and Gavriel, fire and water, which are the emotive attributes in the heart.

4And there are [angels] from the level of the outer dimension of “the right arm,” that is, for the flow to go below: “He sustains the living with kindness,” etc. And likewise the life-force descends further, into the level of making (asiyah), in each world according to its measure.

And so it is written, “You have made the heavens and the heavens of the heavens,” etc., “the seas and all that is in them, and You give life to them all.”

For that life-force, from the level of “and You give life to them all,” clothes itself within the worlds, and it fills each world according to its measure: in the heavens of the heavens [there is] a revelation of a higher level than in the heavens.

And likewise in the heavens there is a revelation of a higher level than on the earth, as is seen with the senses. (This will be understood further from what was seen with the senses in the matter of the drawing down of the manna, as it is written, “Behold, I will rain down for you bread from heaven,” and it is written, “And when the dew descended, the manna descended.”

Now, the manna is also called “the bread of the mighty (lechem abirim),” on which the ministering angels are nourished. And this is puzzling: how could the angels, who are spiritual, eat the manna, which was a physical thing, as it is written, “And they ground [it] in mills, or pounded [it] in a mortar”?

But the explanation is that the root of the manna is very high, for it is drawn from the level of “the dew of the heavens,” which is the level of “the crystalline dew” (tala di’vedolcha), the level of the actual supernal lights, as it is written, “For your dew is a dew of lights.” It follows that it is actually the spiritual supernal lights.

In the holy Zohar it is called “the dew that drips from Atik to Z’eir Anpin,” and this is “the dew of the heavens.” These very [lights] were drawn down and clothed in the manna.

And how could this drawing down be from so high a place to below? It is certainly not that the light itself, [as it is] above, is drawn down and revealed below. For the level of “a dew of lights” is the actual supernal lights, which are above even the level of the vessels of the Ten Sefiros of the World of Atzilus (Emanation); that is why it is called specifically “a dew of lights.” If so, how could it be drawn down below as it is?

Rather, it is certainly through being clothed in the order of the chain of descending worlds (hishtalshelus), from level to level: [from] the heavens of the heavens to the level of heavens, and afterwards to the level of earth. Therefore, while it is still above, the ministering angels are nourished by it, for then it was still spiritual food and not physical at all.

Afterwards it became physical and turned into physical food. Nevertheless, the actual supernal lights are clothed in it. Therefore below, too, it is “the bread of the mighty (abirim),” which is absorbed into the 248 limbs (evarim) and has no waste. And therefore on Shabbos the manna did not descend.

Whereas other kinds of influence are drawn down on Shabbos as well: although “there is no blade of grass that does not have a mazal above that strikes it and says to it, ‘Grow,’” [it does so] on Shabbos as well. Not so with the manna.

This is because in the manna there was drawn down [light] from the level of “a dew of lights,” and this level cannot descend on Shabbos, because that is the time of the ascent of the worlds above.

However, since this ascent is only in the inner dimension (pnimiyus) and not in the outer dimension (chitzoniyus), therefore the other kinds of influence do descend on Shabbos, since they are from the level of the outer dimension. If so, it is understood from this how in the manna there was an enclothing of “a dew of lights,” and this was through a chain of descent from level to level.

Therefore the manna below is not like [the manna] as it is above: below it became physical, whereas while it is still above, in the spiritual world, it is spiritual, bread on which the ministering angels are nourished. That is, the manna as it still is above, in the level of loftiness, before their descent below.

From this, then, a person can comprehend the matter of the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin): it is the descent of the life-force from the highest of heights, so that it descends, is drawn down and clothes itself in each world according to its measure and its level. And this is what is written, “And You give life to them all,” etc.)

This will be understood further from what is written in Parshas Shelach, “Is there a tree (etz) in it or not (ayin)?”

The holy Zohar there explains that they wanted to know the nature of the flow drawn down into the Land of Israel: whether it is only from the level of “tree,” which is the level of the Tree of Life, the level of Chochmah (wisdom), as it is written, “And wisdom gives life,” etc.; and also etz (“tree”) is a term for “counsel (etzah) and sound wisdom,” which is the level of Chochmah; or whether it is drawn from the level of ayin (“nothing”), which is a level far above the rank of Chochmah, as it is written, “And wisdom, from ayin (nothing) it is found.”

5And the sign was: if they would see the growth of the fruit in the manner of other lands only, then it is only from the level of “tree,”

as it is written, “You have made them all with wisdom; the earth is full of Your possessions”: for the whole world and its fullness has its root in the level of the higher Chochmah (Chochmah Ila’ah): “In the beginning (bereishis),” and the Targum Yerushalmi [renders it] “with wisdom” (bechochmesa).

But if they would see the growth of the fruit and the flow with great excellence, beyond comparison with all the lands, as is mentioned in the words of our Sages, of blessed memory, at the end of the tractate Kesubos,

then it would be understood that the flow there is drawn from the level of ayin, which is above the level of Chochmah, from where it is drawn in greater revelation, not through contractions (tzimtzumim), etc.

From this it is also understood how even in an actually physical flow, [something] from the level of ayin, which is above even the level of Chochmah, is drawn down and clothed.

And how is this? It is certainly only through a chain of descent (hishtalshelus) through many levels without end, except that, even so, [something] from the level of ayin itself is clothed in it; and from this comes the added blessing and growth, with great increase.

If so, from all this the discerning person will understand the matter of the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin): the flow is drawn from the very highest of heights, except that it is drawn and clothed in each world and in each creature according to its measure.

6Therefore in this light and life-force there is a division into many levels, truly without end: even in each world it divides into four levels, inanimate, vegetative, animal and speaking.

And also within each of these four levels there are different gradations without end or number; and to each level, according to its measure, so is the drawing down. This is [the meaning of] “to each one according to his own measure.”

7And the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) is a G‑dly light and life-force that does not actually clothe itself within the worlds. The meaning of “encompasses” is not that it rises and encompasses from above; rather, it too is within the worlds, only it does not clothe itself in them.

As it is written, “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?”: “I” specifically, for in that life-force there is no level of division at all: “I am first and I am last,” “primordial before all that is primordial,” etc.

Whereas the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin) is in the mode of limitation: “a journey of five hundred years,” etc., “the feet of the Chayos,” etc.

8And this is [the meaning of] “I will exalt You”: His essence and being is exalted and uplifted without end or limit. “My G‑d”: the level of the light and life-force drawn from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) is through “the King,” for “His name was called King” over them, like the analogy of a king, of whom only his name and his extension [rest] over the provinces of his dominion.

And this drawing down, from the level of sovev kol almin to become the level of Malchus (sovereignty), “a kingship of all worlds,” is through Israel: “There is no king without a people,” etc.

And David said this verse on behalf of the whole of Israel: “I will exalt You, my G‑d” is through “the King,” etc. (The explanation of the matter is that the level of sovev kol almin is a drawing down from the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, that is drawn down so as to be exalted over the worlds.

And through this exaltation He gives them life, and this is the life-force in the mode of makif (encompassing). For the exaltation and loftiness with which a king is exalted and uplifted over his people is not a drawing down into their inner dimension (pnimiyus), but is rather like a radiance from outside, in the manner of makif.

And above, through this, life-force and existence are drawn to them from this level of exaltation and makif. And this is what is called sovev kol almin, and it is the level of “Your kingship is a kingship of all worlds.”

And the life-force that clothes itself in their inner dimension, which is the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), is from the level of “the word of Havayah,” “and You (ve’atah) give life to them all,” that is, the letters from alef to tav and the five places of articulation; and this is the meaning of atah (“You”): it is what clothes itself in their inner dimension.

Whereas the level of “Your kingship,” and the exaltation, is the level of sovev kol almin. But His being and essence, may He be blessed, is far, far above the level of sovev kol almin. It is like the analogy of a king, whose being and essence is not [the fact] that he is exalted over a people, for this exaltation is only an extension of a radiance from him, no more.

And this is [the meaning of] “I will exalt You, my G‑d the King”: the level of exaltation is the level of sovev kol almin, since this level is a matter of exaltation and uplifting, which encompasses all worlds and gives them life through this; and it, too, is only from the level of “the King,” the attribute of His kingship, may He be blessed.

And “my G‑d” is the level of the radiance that clothes itself within all worlds, and it is a radiance from the level of Malchus. Therefore the meaning of “I will exalt You” is the drawing down from His being and essence, may He be blessed, to become the level of sovev kol almin. And David the King, peace be upon him, who was a chariot (merkavah) for the attribute of His kingship, said this, as mentioned above.)

9But for there to be this power in the soul, through which the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) will be drawn down to become the level of Malchus (sovereignty), to give life to finite creatures, it is according to what is written, “Seven days you shall eat matzos, bread of poverty,” etc.:

for in order to receive the Torah on Shavuos “face to face,” etc., after their going out of Egypt, which was in the mode of “the back” (achorayim), they were commanded to count the counting of the Omer, seven weeks.

10And in the first week [they were commanded] to eat matzah specifically. The explanation is that in the animal soul there are seven bad traits (middos), etc., and each one is comprised of all of them: seven times seven, they are forty-nine.

And this is the matter of the counting: that the traits come to the level of transformation (is’hapcha), etc. And this is the matter of the Omer, which comes from barley, the food of animals, the level of the animal soul, etc.

11And in these seven weeks one transforms them little by little, Chesed (kindness) of Chesed, etc., by shining and drawing into them the level of light, like the analogy of a candle that pushes away the darkness, etc. And this is [the meaning of] u’sefartem (“and you shall count”), a term of illumination and light; and each day we say, “Today is,” etc., “Today is,” etc.

12And the drawing down of the light is from above the level of the traits (middos), through which the traits are transformed, from the level of the love that is on the opposing side to love of G‑d, etc. As it is written, “And you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Shabbos”: from above the level of the traits.

But there cannot be the level of transformation (is’hapcha) unless the level of subjugation (iskafya) first precedes it, which is the level of self-nullification (bittul): “Nullify your will,” etc.

13As is known, there cannot be the coming into being of something from something, as in the analogy of a seed sown in the earth: it first rots and becomes the level of “nothing” (ayin), and then it can grow, even with great increase, through the power of growth in the earth.

This is not so before the rotting, while it is still at the level of “something” (yesh). Therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, said, concerning the emergence of a chick from the egg, “for when it takes shape, it is mere dust,” etc.

14So too, from the level of the love that is on the opposing side there cannot come to be the level of love of G‑d, unless the level of self-nullification (bittul) first precedes it.

As it is written in the Shema, “One,” [and then] “And you shall love”: first there must be self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh), the level of self-nullification, to give over one’s soul in [saying] “One”; and through this, “And you shall love with all your heart,” with both your inclinations, etc., which is the matter of transformation (is’hapcha), etc.

And this is the matter of the matzah, which they were commanded to eat in the first week of the counting and also before the counting: for matzah is the level of subjugation (iskafya) and self-nullification.

For matzah has no self-elevation, to swell and rise, and it also has no taste like chametz. And the one depends on the other, as is known: one who has no level of self-elevation does not want to find taste in his service, etc.

And this is the matter of matzah, “bread of poverty,” before the receiving of the Torah, as it is written, “And let my soul be like dust to all,” and afterwards, “Open my heart to Your Torah,” etc.: through “my soul like dust” there can afterwards be the level of transformation, and to be face to face.

15Now, in this respect, the level of subjugation (iskafya) is above the level of transformation (is’hapcha): for although one does not yet transform the traits (middos), nevertheless this is self-nullification (bittul) utterly and completely.

And through this arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), in the mode of self-nullification, in which one withdraws oneself from everything in the mode of subjugation, [there is] an arousal from above (isarusa dile’eila), so that there is drawn from the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin) the level of Malchus (sovereignty), which is also the level of a withdrawal (histalkus) of His essence and being, may He be blessed, “to revive the spirit of the lowly and the heart of the crushed,” etc.

16And this is [the meaning of] “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever (le’olam va’ed)”: that there be the level of blessing and drawing down into the level of His kingship forever and ever. For va’ed, by an interchange of letters, is echad (“One”).

And our Sages, of blessed memory, said, “Wherever it says va’ed, there is no interruption”: that is, that it be “[G‑d] reigns, [G‑d] reigned, [G‑d] will reign,” without end, etc.

And in the soul, this means that there not be the level of changes [from] within prayer to after prayer, the whole day; for changes come from the level of “and he reigned... and he died,” etc. And this is the matter of “an offering to Havayah,” which is the level of self-nullification (bittul) from below upward.

(The explanation: this drawing down, so that there be “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever,” comes through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) that is also of this kind, which has no interruption, namely the level of accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven (kabbalas ol malchus shamayim). For a yoke is the level of subjugation (iskafya) and nullification of the will, and this level has no interruption, for this level can be the same the whole day long.

That is, even after prayer, although one is not occupied in deep contemplation, nevertheless one can be in the mode of subjugation by virtue of the resolve that remained with him [from] the time of prayer.

Whereas in the level of love there is change between the time of prayer and after prayer, etc. So it emerges that the quality of nullification of the will and subjugation has an added superiority in this respect as well, namely that it has no changes.)

The explanation is that, as is known, all changes come from the level of the shattering of the vessels (sheviras hakeilim), as is written in the holy Zohar on “and he reigned... and he died,” etc., [said] of the seven kings of Tohu: whoever falls from his level is called “dead.”

And the meaning of this fall of theirs is that they were in the mode of ratzo (running forth) alone, and the level of shov (returning) was not in them. Therefore this level has no permanence.

So too in the human soul there must be specifically ratzo and shov (running and returning), as it is written, “And you shall love,” and afterwards, “And you shall speak of them,” in words of Torah, etc., as is known.

17Now, because of the level of the shattering of the vessels mentioned above, all the changes are drawn into man as well: although he prays with love, nevertheless after prayer he can be drawn, G‑d forbid, after the desires of this world. But the safeguard against this is the level of shov (returning), “And you shall speak of them,” and the keeping of the mitzvos, etc.

But, as is known, the shattering was in the seven emotive attributes (middos) alone; in the level of Malchus (sovereignty) there was no actual shattering at all, as is written in the Sifra DeTzniusa and in the commentary of the Arizal, of blessed memory, there.

18And this is why the level of accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven (kabbalas ol malchus shamayim), which is the level of nullification of the will, has no change: it is the level of va’ed, which has no interruption.

And through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata) in this level, one also arouses above, that there be “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever”: that is, that there be blessing and drawing down from the essence of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, to become the level of “the Name of the glory of His kingdom.”

19This is like what was explained above on the meaning of “I will exalt You, my G‑d the King.”

And this is the matter of the first offering, “to Havayah”: the lamed (“to”) indicates elevation from below upward.

That is because, as for the drawing down of the exaltation and of the level of Malchus (sovereignty) from His being and essence, may He be blessed: although this is a drawing down and descent from His essence to become the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), yet the nature of this drawing down is not an enclothing in the worlds, but only the level of exaltation and uplifting over them, which is like an elevation from below upward.

Therefore the Zohar calls this drawing down by the expression “the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, istalek (is raised up),” as in the well-known saying, “When the sitra achra (the other side) is subdued, the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, is raised up (istalek) in all the worlds.”

20This is not an actual withdrawal of the light, G‑d forbid, for if so, what virtue is there [in it]? Rather, on the contrary, it is certainly a drawing down and revelation of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He.

It is only that it is the level of the revelation of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), which cannot be revealed inwardly, within the vessel, but only in the mode of exaltation. Therefore it is called istalek, as though the light is revealed only a little and withdraws.

Therefore it is said, “an offering to Havayah”: that it be in the mode of exaltation and uplifting, and this is the drawing down of the light of sovev kol almin from its source; for this drawing down is like an elevation.

Moreover, this drawing down comes through an arousal from below (isarusa dilesata), which is in the mode of elevation and self-nullification (bittul) from below upward, as mentioned above. And this is the matter of the one offering [of the two], which is from below upward.

21And afterwards it is written, “Whoever is generous of heart, let him bring it, the offering of Havayah.” This is the level of drawing down from above to below, terumah as a term of separating, as mentioned above: “two out of a hundred,” etc.

That is, that there be drawn [down] from the level of Havayah, which is the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), constantly bringing into being (mehaveh); for the yud at the beginning indicates action, as in “Thus would Iyov do,” etc. [Whereas] in the level of Havayah that is [in] the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin), the yud is tzimtzum (contraction), etc.

22And this drawing down is through “the generous” (nedivim), the level of the Patriarchs, who are called “generous ones” and “shepherds.” For a generous giver (nadvan) is the level of one who bestows of his goodness on another.

And likewise a shepherd tends his flock in good pasture and feeds them and gives them drink.

And as it is written, “The generous of the peoples are gathered, the people of the G‑d of Avraham,” etc.; “to seat him with the generous, with the generous of His people,” etc.; “the generous of the people dug it.” For the work of the Patriarchs was to dig wells: “And Avraham dug,” etc.

23“And all the wells that they dug in the days of Avraham,” etc. For a well is the level of the revelation of the water out of concealment within the earth; for all their deeds were to bring the level of the light that encompasses all worlds (sovev kol almin), the level of concealment, into revelation in the level of the light that fills all worlds (memalei kol almin). This was the purpose of all their deeds and their service.

24And they are called “generous of heart” (nedivei lev), because the Holy One, blessed be He, is called by the name “heart,” by way of analogy, as it is written, “the Rock of my heart,” etc.

For the heart gives life to the whole body through the blood of the soul, which is closed up within it, and afterwards it is opened and goes out to all the limbs; for it constantly closes and opens, opens and closes, etc., which is the level of ratzo and shov (running and returning), giving and receiving.

So too, the life-force of all the worlds is in the manner of ratzo and shov, etc.; and this drawing down, that there be the level of ratzo and shov, is through the level of the Patriarchs,

and therefore they are called “generous ones.” For the attribute of Avraham is the attribute of love, “going on and journeying,” running and returning; through this he arouses above, “as water [reflects] the face,” etc., in the level of supernal love.

25And the attribute of Yitzchak lies in awe: “And the Fear of Yitzchak was with me,” through the level of awe, etc.

Therefore we say, “the G‑d of Avraham, the G‑d of Yitzchak,” etc., [saying] “G‑d of” with each and every one, because the attribute of this one is not like the attribute of that one.

And there must be both levels: for “His left hand is under my head, and His right hand embraces me.” For even through the level of “the left [hand] pushes away,” the lifting of the head is brought about, etc.

And this is [the meaning of] “Whoever is generous of heart, let him bring it, the offering of Havayah”: that is, the drawing down from above to below of the Torah, which is called “wine and oil,” etc.; and it is the level of “rich matzah,” kneaded with wine and oil, which does not come to leavening at all, as mentioned above. And this suffices for one who understands.