וכל העם רואים את הקולות ואת הלפידים ואת…

1“And all the people saw the sounds and the torches and the sound of the shofar,” etc. [We need] to understand why there was the sound of the shofar at the Giving of the Torah. Did they need musical instruments?

And further: is there no musical instrument finer than it? The explanation: the sound of the shofar is a simple sound, and it casts dread, for it is a sound of trembling, as it is written, “If a shofar is blown in the city, will the people not tremble?”

2So too at the Giving of the Torah it is written, “And there were sounds and lightning,” etc., “and the sound of a shofar, very strong, and [all the people] trembled,” etc. Yet for all that, it is called shofar after “Improve (shapru) your deeds,” for it is what draws down the delight (taanug) within it,

and through it [delight] is drawn down below, so that delight comes into being; for it is from the level of the source of delights. And this drawing down had to take place at the Giving of the Torah, from the level of “For with You is the source of life,” the source of delights.

3The explanation of this matter: we must understand what the Giving of the Torah [accomplished], for even before the Giving of the Torah there were righteous people and prophets, such as Adam, the first man, Chanoch, Mesushelach, etc.

And Avraham fulfilled the entire Torah even before it was given, as it is written, “And he kept My charge”; only, this was in spirituality, etc.

So what change came about through the giving of the Torah in physical form? But the distinction of Avraham was “going on and journeying toward the south”: he became the level of a chariot (merkavah) for the level of “the south.”

And until he became a chariot, he was always at the level of “going on and journeying,” that is, the level of “running and returning” (ratzo vashov). (Only, regarding the Chayos of the Chariot it is written, “And the Chayos ran and returned”; and Avraham’s rank was above them, [so it] is called by the name “going on and journeying.”)

And what is “running and returning”? Now, it is written, “He makes peace in His heights”: there are fire and water, and the water does not extinguish the fire.

At first glance this is not understood: how can one speak of fire and water “in His heights”? And what is [meant by] the water extinguishing the fire, so that He needed to make peace?

But the explanation is that fire and water are themselves the levels of “running” and “returning.” As is known, the element of fire is in the heart, where the thirst is: the level of “running.”

4As in the words, “If your heart runs”: your heart, specifically. That is, through Binah (understanding), [which is] “the heart”: he takes to heart and contemplates the greatness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, who is as His Name: He has no end and no limit, and only “His splendor is on the earth,” etc.

5And “Your kingship is the kingship of all worlds”: for all worlds, their life-force (chayus), their existence and their coming into being from nothing to something, are from the level of His Malchus (sovereignty), may He be blessed,

which is a mere glimmer, an extension toward what is other than Himself, which does not touch His essence and being, so to speak; for He is holy and separate from the category of worlds, neither at the level of “filling” (memalei) nor at the level of “encompassing” (sovev).

Therefore his soul will pine and yearn to be included and nullified in its very existence in the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) itself, blessed be He, to cleave to Him truly.

6Therefore “the Chayos run and return.” For when they apprehend the life-force (chayus) drawn down to them from the holiness of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, who has no end and no beginning, etc., they burn “like the appearance of torches,” at the level of “running”;

for “it moves about among the Chayos”: the life-force drawn down to them is itself what moves about constantly at the level of “running” as well,

so as to be [in the state of] “and toward your husband is your longing”: to be nullified and included in the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, like a flame that rises of itself. But afterward they are at the level of “returning,” as in the words, “If your heart runs, return to the One.”

And this “returning” is from the element of water that is in the brain, the level of Chochmah (wisdom), koach mah, “the power of ‘what’”: “What have you examined? What do you know?” etc. And this is “return to the One”: the returning, too, is from the level of “One.”

7Now at the level of “returning,” in this level and rank, the water in the brain does not quench the thirst that comes from the element of fire in the heart so as to extinguish the fire completely, so that he would thereby fall from the rank of the thirst and longing in the heart.

For the heart has the power to grow stronger still at the level of fire and thirst, and to add to the blaze of fire, a mighty flame, with ever greater force, as it is written in Sefer Yetzirah, “fire from water,” etc. And there are several kinds of fire: a fire that consumes and a fire that drinks.

And such was the distinction and attribute of our father Avraham, peace be upon him: “going on and journeying” constantly, at the level of “running and returning,” fire and water, fire above water and water above fire, up to the highest heights, until he became a chariot.

8But all this belongs to the rank and level of the spirituality of the worlds: to the rank of the righteous who walk before G‑d, and the rank of the ministering angels.

But not every person merits this, that “a spirit from on high” be poured out upon him, to come to this level and rank, to be constantly at the level of “going on and journeying.”

For this the Torah was given, namely, the physical mitzvos in physical action, in which and through which every person, too, can be at the level of “going on and journeying.”

9The explanation: in the physical action of the Torah, too, there is the aspect of fire and water. For the Torah is water, which descends from a high place to a low place. And it is called [water, as in] “Do not say, ‘Water, water’”: “water” twice.

The upper waters are the level of the sea of Chochmah (wisdom) and the higher yud, which is above the level of the revelation of the Torah itself; for “the Torah comes forth from Chochmah,” [meaning] that its revelation is from Chochmah downward, and it descended from a high place to a low place, [to] the lower yud.

And the lower waters are at the end, in the action of fulfilling the physical mitzvos in actual deed, which are at the level of “Your kingship is the kingship of all worlds.”

Yet for all that, it is written “Your kingship” (with the suffix kaf, [“Your”]), for their root is from the level of the upper waters, the level of the Malchus (sovereignty) of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, in His own Self and glory, so to speak; only, it is drawn down below to become the kingship of all the worlds and the lower waters.

And in general, the 248 positive commandments are the level of water, which is Chassadim (kindnesses), because in them and through them the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, comes down below,

as in the words [of the blessing], “Who has sanctified us with His commandments”: through the mitzvos the supernal holiness is drawn down, that is, the level of “holy and separate,” etc., to rest and be revealed below; and every drawing down is the level of Chesed (kindness) and water, etc.

But they also have the aspect of fire, Gevuros (restraints) and contractions (tzimtzumim): that the mitzvah must be specifically in this manner and in this form that He commanded us, for His command is specifically thus. For example, a sukkah that is higher than twenty cubits is invalid,

and likewise tzitzis, whose threads must be whole; and similarly in all the mitzvos, whose particulars and fine details are themselves the level of Gevuros and contractions, except that they also comprise Chassadim, etc.

10So it turns out that the Torah too has the aspect of fire and water, in physical action as well; and through an arousal from below [comes] an arousal from above, so that there is also “going on and journeying.”

And this power, for an arousal from above to be drawn down through an arousal from below, was given to Israel at the Giving of the Torah. For this is what the giving of the Torah means: that it was granted for the name “mitzvah” to be called upon physical things, so that they would have this power, that through them the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, would be drawn down.

But we need to understand: since through the Torah, too, one will come and arrive at the level of “going on and journeying,” then why was the Torah not given to Avraham, who fulfilled the entire Torah in its spirituality? Why was it not given to him in its physicality as well?

11To understand this, we must first explain the reason why the mitzvos have this great power, that specifically through them the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, is drawn down;

after all, all the mitzvos are made from the mineral, the vegetable and the animal: for example, the meal-offering of fine flour, from the vegetable [kingdom]; animal offerings; and tefillin of parchment, from the hide of an animal, etc.; which were under the dominion of kelipas nogah (the “glowing” husk).

12So how can the offerings, specifically, be “a fire-offering, a pleasing fragrance (rei’ach nicho’ach) to Havayah”? Rei’ach, “fragrance,” is ascent from below to above. Nicho’ach is the Targum’s word nechas, that is, descent and drawing down from above to below.

“To Havayah”: that is, that there be a revelation of Havayah and a drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in the revealed world (alma de’isgalya); for through the offerings a revelation of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is drawn down below. And likewise, through the mitzvos of tefillin and tzitzis, one draws the Infinite Light, blessed be He, upon his soul.

But it is known that the life-force vested in the mineral, the vegetable and the animal has its root in the level of “before a king reigned,” etc.

13As it is written, “Behind and before You formed me”: “behind” in the work of creation, for the utterance “Let us make man” is the last of all the utterances;

for the utterance “Let the earth bring forth,” etc., and “living creature,” etc., came before it. And therefore food gives life to man, although this is [through] the utterance of the mouth of Havayah that is in the food,

14as it is written, “For by all that comes out of the mouth of Havayah does man live.” Nevertheless, man too has the utterance of the mouth of Havayah [within him]; so why should he not live by the utterance of the mouth of Havayah within himself? Rather, it is because the utterance of the mouth of Havayah in the food is higher than the utterance of the mouth of Havayah in man, etc., as is explained elsewhere.

Yet for all that, the food fell down in the breaking of the vessels and descended under the dominion of nogah.

15Therefore it became very coarse, and it makes coarse the person who eats it, bringing his soul down to be drawn after the physicality of the world. And even the righteous person who “eats to satisfy his soul,” etc., as the explanation of this matter is given elsewhere: nevertheless, it would be better for him without the food.

16Therefore Moshe our teacher, peace be upon him, did not eat on the mountain all forty days. Although his rank was very high, nevertheless, because of the materiality and coarseness of food, he did not eat.

And even the manna, which is called “bread of the mighty,” bread by which the ministering angels are nourished, this “man,” Moshe, did not eat, because he wanted to receive the Torah, which is above the level of the angels; for they asked, “Set Your splendor upon the heavens,” etc.

17Therefore the Torah was not yet given in the days of Avraham: in Avraham’s days the materiality of the world had not yet been sifted and refined, so that the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, could be drawn down through the deed of the physical mitzvos, which were taken from under the dominion of kelipas nogah.

And they could not receive the illumination of the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, so that the name “mitzvos” would be called upon them, until after the Exodus from Egypt.

For Egypt is “the iron furnace,” like “a crucible for silver and a furnace for gold.” That is, in order to “remove the dross from the silver”: the furnace is what separates the dross, so that there be no admixture of waste in the silver and the gold.

18So too Egypt, the iron furnace, refined Israel through the hardship of the servitude “in mortar and bricks,” so that the evil would be separated from the good and “all the workers of iniquity would be scattered,”

for through the evil doing evil deeds, it is consumed and lost, as it is written, “I will spend My arrows,” etc.: “My arrows are spent,” etc.

19As in the analogy of a leech, which dies at once when it sucks a person’s blood. And when Israel were refined, the world too was refined, its physicality and its materiality; for the whole world depends on Israel, as it is written, “He has also set the world in their heart.”

And then the practical mitzvos, too, were sifted, so that they could be called by the name “mitzvos,” so that in them and through them there would be a drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He: even in eating the offerings, and in offering a meal-offering of fine flour, which is from the vegetable [kingdom], it is “a fire-offering, a pleasing fragrance to Havayah”

(and although the Patriarchs too offered sacrifices, nevertheless they offered only burnt-offerings, not sacrifices that are eaten, and not meal-offerings, which are from the vegetable [kingdom]).

With all the above, several difficulties discussed in the books will be understood, such as why Yaakov married two sisters, and Amram married his aunt.

And just as Egypt was the iron furnace, so that through it there would be the Giving of the Torah, so the exile of Edom is the iron furnace, so that through it there will be the days of Mashiach.

For the mitzvos will not be annulled in the days of Mashiach, according to all opinions; and the mitzvos will be refined further, at the level of the inner dimension (pnimiyus), as it is written, “And the earth shall be filled with knowledge.”

And so too, in particular, for every person: his sufferings are to refine his mitzvos, “which a person shall do,” so that they be rectified, to rise and be included in the Infinite Light, blessed be He.

20Let us return to our subject: that the giving of the Torah is the level of fire and water below, so that through this there will be “going on and journeying,” as mentioned above. But how can there be two opposites, fire and water, and the water not extinguish, etc.?

Of this it is said, “He makes peace in His heights”: peace encompasses two opposites and is what joins them both, because it is greater than both of them, and they are nullified and included in it.

21And this is the level of the sound of the shofar. For the shofar is blown from its narrow mouth, and the sound goes out and widens, and comes out at its end, at the wide place. Of this it is said, “From the narrow place I called upon Yah; Yah answered me with expansiveness.”

That is: “from the narrow place,” a narrow place that cannot be grasped, where “no thought can grasp Him,” for it is above all comprehension. And this is the meaning of shofar, “improve (shapru) your deeds”: it draws down delight.

But in itself it is a simple sound, the source of delights, for it is written, “For with You is the source of life”: the level of “with You,” nullified and included in the very Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He.

And from there, “I called upon Yah”: the higher yud, the level of Chochmah (wisdom), and the higher hei, Binah (understanding), which is Rechovos HaNahar (“the broad places of the river”), the broadening of the mind in what one contemplates, etc. (That is, there is already the level of comprehension; whereas Chochmah is the level of a flash of lightning, as is explained elsewhere.)

That is, from there begins the coming into being of Chochmah and Eden and Torah, “to work it and to guard it,” and to make the Garden of Eden, the revelation of delight and the comprehension of the souls. And through this, “Yah answered me with expansiveness.”

For just as there is the higher Yah [yud-hei], so there is the level of the lower Yah: the yud is the level of self-nullification (bittul), the lower waters, the lower Chochmah, a yud at the beginning and a yud at the end; and the hei is the level of the fire and thirst in the heart. All this is drawn down from “the narrow place,” which is the sound of the shofar mentioned above.

22In general, this is the level of the prayer said in a whisper. For the Shema and its blessings, “Who forms ministering angels” and “the Ofanim with a great noise,” [are] burning “like the appearance of torches.”

Of this it is said, “And under the firmament their wings were straight”: their “wings” are their flight in “running” from below to above, in flashes of fire and flame, burning; and all this is under the firmament, for the firmament is stretched over their heads “like the awesome ice.” The level of ice is the level of self-nullification (bittul).

But when “there was a voice from above the firmament that was over their heads,” that is, the sound of the shofar, which is far above even the level of the firmament,

and this is “when they stood,” in prayer, then “they let down their wings”: both the level of “running” and the level of “returning” are nullified and included, and they are united in complete union, and it is called neither by the name “running” nor by the name “returning.”

And from there, “[Yah] answered me with expansiveness,” so that there be a revelation of Havayah in the broadening of the heart too.

And this is “Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; peace he shall make with Me”: peace in the household above and the household below; that is, that above and below be equal, and as it was in the narrow place, so in the expanse, as mentioned above.

23And this is “And all the people saw the sounds and the torches and the sound of the shofar.” The “sounds” are drawings down, like the physical voice, which is the drawing of breath from the heart to bring it out through the mouth in speech.

So too, by way of analogy, the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, from concealment to revelation is called by the name kol, “voice.”

24And “sounds” is plural, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “He merits the Torah, which was given with five sounds.” These are five times “water,” just as there are five times “light,” etc.

And water is the drawing down of the Chassadim (kindnesses), which descend from a high place to a low place, that is, the revelation of the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in the performance of the mitzvos. “And the torches”: that is, the level of fire, burning “like the appearance of torches,” in “running” and longing from below to above.

And all the people saw and grasped [it] eye to eye, “seeing what is heard.” And all this was because of the sound of the shofar: for the sound of the shofar, which is “from the narrow place,” is the source of delights, and from it are drawn water and fire, which are opposites, etc., as mentioned above.

25“And the mountain smoking.” Now, smoke comes about when fire takes hold of a physical thing that has in it the element of earth.

So too, by way of analogy, the transformation of the animal soul from nogah to the side of holiness is called “smoke.” And it is the nature of smoke that as it rises, when it comes near a fire, it kindles and makes the fire take hold of the thing from which the smoke comes out.

26So too, through “the mountain smoking,” the drawing down of “sounds” and “torches” comes about, which are the levels of “running” and “returning” of the side of holiness, as mentioned above.

“And the people saw, and they trembled.” Now, “the people” mentioned above, at the beginning of the verse, “And all the people saw,” etc., refers to Israel.

But the end of the verse, “And the people saw, and they trembled,” refers to the mixed multitude (erev rav), who did not see the sounds, but only “stood at a distance.”

27The explanation of this: the “sounds” are drawings down from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He; that is, the Infinite Light, blessed be He, rests and is revealed in whatever is nullified to Him, may He be blessed. And this nullification is because the soul is stirred “from the inwardness of a man and the depth of the heart.”

28And for the soul, which is a created being and bounded, to be stirred by the Infinite One (Ein Sof), blessed be He, who is not bounded and whom “no thought can grasp” at all: this is the level of a “voice” and a drawing down from the infinite and unbounded to the bounded.

But the mixed multitude did not have this power and this stirring [that comes] from contemplating the greatness of the Infinite One, blessed be He, Himself, so to speak.

For example, their main stirring is that they are stirred by the motion of the celestial spheres and their size and height, so vast a measure; but this is nothing but the level of yesh (existence),

whereas from the level of the Infinite One, blessed be He, who has no end, etc., no stirring at all is drawn to them. Therefore the mixed multitude said, “gods who will go before us,” so that they would see him with a physical eye.

29With this we will understand what our Sages, of blessed memory, said about the mazikin (harmful spirits): “If the eye were given permission,” etc. And even so, they do nothing, because of the fear of Heaven, as is stated in the Gemara, “Were it not proclaimed about you in heaven,” etc.

Now since they have such fear of Heaven that they cannot transgress the word of G‑d, this level is greater than that of man, who has free choice; so why are they called mazikin, “harmful ones”?

But the explanation: this is a great principle, that the main difference between the side of holiness and kelipah and the sitra achra (the other side) is that the angels and souls of the side of holiness have self-nullification (bittul) from the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in His own Self and glory, so to speak.

30Therefore the angels’ nullification is exceedingly great, so that “terror and dread fall upon them,” which they cannot bear; for this drawing down from the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, itself is revealed to them.

This is not so with the kelipos and the sitra achra: their nurture and their hold are from the world of separation (alma deperuda), where the drawing down of the Infinite Light, blessed be He, does not rest or reveal itself in them at all as infinite; for they take up room, as “they call Him the G‑d of gods.”

31Of this it is said, “Your kingship is the kingship of all worlds, and Your dominion is in every generation”: all the upper worlds receive from the level of His Malchus (sovereignty), may He be blessed,

for they crown Him and accepted His kingship upon themselves willingly; therefore the name “kingship” applies to them. As with a king of flesh and blood, who is called king when the people of the land have crowned him over them.

This is not so with “every generation,” which is the world of separation: the name “kingship” does not apply to them, only “dominion,” which is against their will.

32And this is “and [we] bless You; may Your Name be blessed by the mouth of every living being.” That is: we, the children of Israel, bless and draw down You Yourself,

that is, the drawing down of the Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof), blessed be He, in His own Self and glory, may He be blessed. And this blessing and drawing down is through the “sounds,” that is, through the Torah, which was given with five sounds, five drawings down.

Although the Torah is clothed in physical matters, and we too are clothed in a physical body, before Him, may He be blessed, “darkness is as light.”

And “whoever sits and studies, the Holy One, blessed be He, studies opposite him,” etc. And “My words that I have placed in your mouth.” And “may His Name be blessed by the mouth of every living being”: for all other living beings bless only Your Name alone.