READING: BETWEEN AFTER MIDNINGHT AND DAWN FRIDAY

Zohar for All. Introduction of The Book of Zohar. Who Created These

LESSON MATERIAL

Mi Barah Eleh [Who Created These]

7) Beresheet [In the beginning]. Rabbi Elazar started, “Lift up your eyes on high and see who created these.” “Lift up your eyes,” to which place? To the place to which all look in anticipation—the opening of the eyes, Malchut of Rosh AA. There you will know that this hidden Atik, to whom the question “Who created these?” applies.

Who is he? He is the one called MI, ZAT of Bina, the one who is called “From the edge of the heaven above,” and who is in possession of everything. And since the question lies in him, and he is concealed, He is called MI [who], as in a question. This is so because there are no questions above him, and this edge of the heaven, where questions are found, is called MI.

Explanation: Rabbi Elazar explains the meaning of the creation of heaven and earth in the verse of Beresheet. Heaven and earth are the whole of the seven days of creation; they are ZON of Atzilut. Hence, why does it write Barah [created], which is Bina and not Atzilut, it should have said He’etzil [emanated].

The Zohar says that the opening of the eyes is Malchut of Rosh AA of Atzilut because the Sefira Hochma of the ten Sefirot of Rosh is called Einayim [eyes]. Also, there are only KH in Rosh AA, hence his Malchut is called “the opening of the eyes,” since by her opening, the Mochin of Hochma pour down from Rosh AA to all the Partzufim of Atzilut. This is why it is written, “To the place to which all look in anticipation,” since Mochin of Hochma is called Eynaim, and there is no Mochin of Hochma in all the Partzufim of Atzilut, except by opening of the Malchut of Rosh AA.

And there, in the opening of the eyes, in Malchut of Rosh AA, you will know this matter, how Bina created the ZON, since the word Barah [created] means Lebar [Aramaic: outside of] the degree of Atzilut. And since Bina herself went outside the degree of Rosh of AA, and thus became regarded as Beria, in relation to Rosh of AA, she necessarily created the ZON, as well.

Hence, ZA became Yetzira, since what comes out of Beria is regarded as Yetzira, and the Nukva became Assiya since all that comes out of Yetzira is called Assiya.

However, they must not be compared to the actual BYA behind Parsa of Atzilut because these Bina and ZON stand above Parsa in the world of Atzilut. Rather, it refers only to the Rosh of AA, hence there are two kinds of BYA in it:

1. Separated BYA, which were separated from Atzilut by the Parsa, which is the ground of the world of Atzilut, standing over them from above.

2. BYA of the world of Atzilut itself, which are its Bina, ZA, and Nukva. They are only outside the Rosh of AA, and they are still Atzilut, but the Parsa inside the intestine of these AA, at the place of his Chazeh, stands over them from above. For this reason, they are separated from Rosh of AA and are considered Guf without a Rosh, meaning lacking Mochin of Hochma, which is called Rosh, with respect to the world of Atzilut. This is so because usually, the world of Atzilut is regarded as Hochma of all four worlds ABYA, hence that which lacks Hochma is regarded as Guf without a Rosh.

It was said that this hidden Atik, in whom there is a question, created these. Bina, which came out of Rosh of AA by the Nukva that rose to Hochma of AA, ended there. Because of it, she came out into being Beria and Guf of AA, and was therefore divided into two phases: GAR and ZAT.

The origin of Bina is the ten Sefirot of direct light. Its nature is not to receive any Hochma, but only light of Hassadim, as it is written, “For he desires Hesed [mercy],” and not Hochma. Thus, her exit to the Guf does not blemish her at all, since even when she is at the Rosh, she does not receive Hochma from him. For this reason, she is not lessened at all because of her position below Malchut of Rosh of AA, and now, too, she is regarded as a complete Rosh, as though she never came out of the Rosh of AA, and she is established in upper AVI that clothe AA from Peh to Chazeh.

The second phase, ZAT of Bina, are from the incorporation of ZON in Bina, who are the root of the ZON in Bina. Hence, they need illumination of Hochma for the ZON. For this reason, they were blemished by their presence in Guf of AA, which became devoid of Hochma, and they are considered Beria, and VAK without a Rosh. It is said about them, Aba took Ima outside, outside the Rosh of AA. They are called YESHSUT and clothe AA from Chazeh to Tabur. And their sons, ZON, clothe from Tabur of AA and below, through the end of the world of Atzilut.

The Parsa inside the intestine of AA stands at his Chazeh because she is the force of Malchut at the Rosh of AA, which brings ZAT of Bina outside the Rosh, disrupting them from receiving Hochma. This is because even though this screen stands at the Peh of Rosh AA, it still does not act there in any way, since upper AVI—regarded as GAR of Bina, which are still considered Rosh AA—are standing there. It follows that only at the place of Chazeh, above ZAT of Bina, the power of the screen dominates, ejecting the ZAT of Bina below it outside of Rosh of AA.

Thus, GAR of Bina is called “the concealed Atik,” since the Rosh of AA is called “Atik,” and since the GAR of Bina—who are from Peh of AA and below—are regarded as still standing at Rosh of AA, and they, too, are called Atik, like the Rosh of AA. However, because of their presence in the Guf of AA, they are called “the concealed Atik.”

This concealed Atik, in whom there is a question, created these, meaning only the ZAT of this concealed Atik, called YESHSUT, in whom there is a question, to receive the ZON into them by raising MAN. This is so because “These” means ascent of MAN, as in “Asking about the rains,” and only this hidden ZAT of Atik, called YESHSUT, are poised for a question to receive MAN for extension of light of Hochma, since they are devoid of Hochma. Before that, they are regarded as Beria. Hence, the ZON created those who are called “These.”

And they, too, were created without a Rosh, like him, since the word “created,” indicates a lack of Rosh with respect to Atzilut. And who is MI [Who]? It is the ZAT of Bina, which are poised for a question. They are called MI, and the word “created” relates to them because they themselves became Beria, due to the Parsa at Chazeh of AA, which separates them from the illumination of Rosh of AA.

“From the edge of the heaven above,” everything is in his possession. ZAT of Bina, which are called YESHSUT and are called MI, are considered “The edge of the heaven above.” This is so because heaven is ZA, who receives only from YESHSUT, who is called MI. This is why MI is called “The edge of the heaven above,” that everything is in his possession, since the heaven and the earth, which are ZON and the three lower worlds BYA, all receive from YESHSUT, who is called MI. This is why “Everything is in his possession.”

This is so because there are no questions above him, and this edge of the heaven, where questions are found, is called MI. This means that there are no questions above GAR of Bina, in upper AVI, since they do not receive MAN for extension of Hochma, as they are light of Hassadim and are not devoid of Hochma. This is why they are not called MI, as they are not considered “The edge of the heaven,” for they do not need the ZON, which need illumination of Hochma. And there is a question only in the ZAT, which are YESHSUT, to receive MAN from the ZON and to rise to Rosh of AA to receive illumination of Hochma for them. Hence, they are considered “The edge of the heaven above” because ZA, who is called “heaven,” receives from them.

8) And there is another one, below, called MA. What is the connection between one and the other? The first one, called MI, is hidden. There is a question in him. Since man questioned and researched, to look and to know from degree to degree through the end of all the degrees, the Malchut, once he has arrived there, he is MA [which means “what” in Hebrew], meaning “What did you know?” “What did you observe?” “What did you research?” After all, everything is as concealed as before.

Explanation: When Nukva of ZA is face-to-face with ZA, Nukva is also called MA, like ZA. She is regarded as the edge of the heaven below, since she is the end of all the degrees and ends the Atzilut. It follows that ZA, who is called “heaven,” stands between the YESHSUT, who is called “the edge of the heaven above,” and the Nukva, who is called “the edge of the heaven below.”

And the man “asked and researched, to observe.” “To observe” refers to the coupling of AVI, called Histaklut [looking] of AVI at each other through their ascent to Rosh of AA. At that time, the Bina returns to receive illumination of Hochma for the ZON. This is because while YESHSUT, ZAT of Bina, do not need illumination of Hochma for themselves, since in and of themselves, ZAT of Bina are similar to their GAR and do not need to receive Hochma, when ZON rise for MAN to YESHSUT, YESHSUT awaken for them to rise to Rosh of AA and receive Hochma. However, ZON, too, do not rise for MAN to YESHSUT, except by raising of MAN from the lower people to the ZON in a way that the souls of people rise for MAN to ZON, then the ZON rise for MAN to YESHSUT, and YESHSUT rise to AA and become one Partzuf with upper AVI. At that time, AVI look at each other and extend Hochma for the ZON.

“And since man asked” means that he raised MAN. “And researched” means scrutinizing his actions, to raise the ZON for coupling AVI to look so that AVI would look at each other and extend Hochma. “And to know from degree to degree through the end of all the degrees, the Malchut,” since the illumination of Hochma that is drawn through raising of MAN and the coupling is called “knowing” or is called Hochma through Daat [wisdom through knowledge], for ZON that rise for MAN are regarded there as the Sefira Daat for AVI, as they cause their coupling. Also, the coupling is called “knowing,” from the words “And the man knew his wife, Eve.”

“And to know” means to extend Mochin in Daat from degree to degree, from Daat of the degree of AVI to the Mochin of the degree of ZA. “Through the end of all the degrees” is from ZA to the Nukva, who is called “the end of all the degrees.” This is so because Bina stands Achor be Achor [ABA, back-to-back] with the Hochma, for she is only Hassadim, and returns to being face-to-face with Hochma only for ZON’s needs.

“Once he has arrived there” is MA [also “what”]. When the Mochin arrive at the Nukva of ZA, the Nukva is called MA, the bottom degree. The lower world, Malchut, is called MA. It is written, “What does the Lord your God ask of you?” Do not pronounce it MA [what], but Me’ah [100], since all the upper degrees in their wholeness, which are fifty, are here in Malchut, hence she is called “one hundred,” since her fifty, KHB TM, each of which comprises ten, and Bina’s fifty, are one hundred. Thus, Bina is called MI, which are fifty, and Malchut is MA, which is one hundred, since she also includes Bina’s fifty within her. This is why it is called MA, to indicate that the whole of the great wholeness of those Mochin comes only once the Mochin have arrived at the Nukva.

It was written, “What did you know? What did you observe? What did you research? After all, everything is as concealed as before.” Malchut is called MA because although the upper extension of Hochma extends through the upper degrees, Bina and ZA, she does not appear until she is completed here in Malchut, the place of the end of all the degrees, the end of the extension of everything. She stands revealed in illumination of Hochma. And even though she became more revealed than all, she is poised for the questions, “What did you see?” “What did you know?” as it is written, “Since you did not see any image.”

And even though the upper Mochin have already been extended to her through raising MAN, and she was already completed with them, there is still a question in her, as YESHSUT were prior to raising MAN. This is why it was said, “What did you know? What did you observe? What did you research? After all, everything is as concealed as before,” since after the raising of MAN and extension of the Mochin, everything is still hidden in the Nukva, as prior to the raising of MAN, which is still poised for questioning, meaning raising MAN.

Thus, how do the lower ones help in raising MAN, and why were the Mochin drawn to her, since they are not revealed at all? “Do not pronounce it MA [what], but Me’ah [100],” one hundred blessings that the Nukva gives to the lower ones. Accordingly, how is she still poised for questioning, and everything is hidden as before?

There are two Mochin of Gadlut in the Nukva, which are called first Gadlut and second Gadlut. In the first Gadlut, only upper AVI rise to Rosh of AA, and not YESHSUT. And even though they became one Partzuf, YESHSUT still remained in Guf AA, but rose to the place of AVI as before, clothing from Peh to Chazeh of AA. Hence, on the one hand, YESHSUT became Rosh AA, since they became one Partzuf with upper AVI that now stand at Rosh of AA, and they also rose above Parsa of Chazeh of AA, where the Rosh of AA illuminates, as it was explained in AVI themselves, who stood there prior to raising of MAN.

For this reason, they give complete Mochin of GAR to the ZA, and the ZA to the Nukva, and the Nukva becomes 100 blessings, since through these Mochin, the ZON rise to the place of YESHSUT, from prior to the raising of MAN from Chazeh to Tabur of AA. It follows that the Nukva is in the place of Ima, and for this reason the Nukva becomes one hundred, like Ima, because one hundred is in Ima, thousands is in Aba, and the lower one that rises to the upper one becomes like him.

However, on the other hand, the Nukva is similar only to MI, who is poised for a question, like YESHSUT, prior to the raising of MAN and extending of the Mochin due to her clothing of the place of YESHSUT of Katnut from Chazeh to Tabur of AA. Thus, she stands below the Parsa inside the intestine of AA, where the illumination of Rosh of AA stops above this Parsa. Thus, in that respect, the Nukva did not gain the Mochin and Rosh AA, for which all of the raisings of MAN took place, and everything is as hidden as before, as prior to the raising of MAN. However, in another respect, the Nukva gained being discerned as Ima because she rose to the place of YESHSUT, which is called Ima, who became one hundred blessings.

For this reason, these Mochin are only regarded as VAK of Gadlut, since she cannot receive Rosh of Gadlut, as she is below Parsa of Chazeh of AA. However, her degree is now equal to YESHSUT while it is VAK, prior to the raising of MAN, when he stood from Chazeh to Tabur of AA. This is a great Gadlut for the Nukva, but it is VAK of Gadlut. It is still missing GAR of Gadlut, and obtainment of GAR of Gadlut is called “the second Gadlut of the Nukva.”

Now you will understand why Nukva is called MA. In the first reason, he explains the upper Mochin that the Nukva obtained, which are called “One hundred blessings.” This is why it was said, “Do not pronounce it MA [what], but Me’ah [100],” meaning that by her ascent to the place of YESHSUT through these Mochin. The second reason is that since she only rose to the place of YESHSUT of Katnut, and she is poised for a question from Chazeh to Tabur of AA. Thus, the Mochin of Nukva are completely similar to him, as well, and Nukva becomes poised for a question, too, meaning VAK without GAR. However, there is a great difference because he is VAK of upper AVI, VAK of Gadlut.

Also, when it was said, “What did you know, since everything is as hidden as before,” it does not mean what it did before, as the Nukva was prior to raising MAN, but rather as YESHSUT were prior to raising MAN. But the Nukva gained much by raising MAN, since now she received Ima, one hundred blessings, albeit they are VAK of Gadlut. Thus, she is still poised for a question, as did YESHSUT prior to raising of MAN.

9) It is written about that, “What shall I testify to you? To what shall I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem?” This is so because when the Temple was ruined, a voice came out and said, “What shall I testify to you? To what shall I compare you,” meaning I will admonish you with that MA. Each day I testify to you from ancient days, as it is written, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today.”

“To what shall I compare you?” In that very way I have crowned you with holy crowns and made you governor over the world, as it is written, “Is this the city of which they said, the perfection of beauty?” I have called you “Jerusalem, which is built as a city that was put together.”

“To what shall I liken you and comfort you?” As you sit, so it is above, in the Jerusalem above. As now the holy people do not enter you in holy arrangements, I swear to you that I will not enter above until your armies enter within you below. This is your comfort, since I compare that degree to you, the Jerusalem above, the Malchut, in everything, now that you are here, your shattering is as great as the sea. And if you say that you have no healing and cure, who will cure you? It is that uppermost, hidden degree, called MI, by which everything exists, which is Bina. She will heal you and erect you.

Explanation: The ruin of the Temple was because Israel sinned in idol worship and did not wish to raise MAN for the coupling of ZON. Instead, they wished to extend the abundance for Sitra Achra, who is called “other gods.” This is why the coupling of ZON was separated, the one hundred blessings from the Nukva were canceled, and the Temple was ruined.

When the Temple was ruined, “A voice comes out and says, ‘What shall I testify to you,’” since each and every day since the ancient days, I have testified for you. These VAK of Gadlut that the Nukva receives in MA are called “ancient days,” as it is written, “Indeed, ask now concerning the first days,” and from the edge of the heaven to the edge of the heaven. It is called so since they are VAK of AVI, since YESHSUT is ZAT of AVI, and the seven days of AVI are the first to the seven days of ZON, as it is written, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today.”

The meaning of coupling ZON, which are called “heaven and earth,” is that the text cautions to keep and to maintain the coupling. If not, the text warns, “That you will surely perish quickly from the land.” It is written, “What [MA] shall I testify to you?” I have warned in regard to those one hundred blessings, to keep them and to do them, and you broke them. This is why “You will surely perish quickly from the land” occurred in you.

It is written, “To what shall I compare you?” “To what shall I compare you?” In that very way, I have crowned you with holy crowns and have made you governor over the world. I have called you, “Jerusalem, which is built as a city that was put together.” It is so because in these one hundred blessings that the Nukva receives from the ZA in a coupling, MA is in their ascent to YESHSUT, ZA becomes as Ysrael Saba, and the Nukva became as Tevuna. At that time, her lights become one hundred blessings, like the lights of Tevuna. It is written about it, “As a city that was put together,” since the Nukva, who is called “city,” conjoined with Tevuna, and the Nukva was discerned as Tevuna, receiving Mochin of Tevuna from there, which is called “holy crowns.” Then she is called “The perfection of beauty, a joy to all the earth,” and receives governance over the world.

“To what [MA] shall I liken you and comfort you.” As you are seated, so it is in Jerusalem above. In other words, because of the sin of Israel—that the Temple was ruined and they were exiled from their land—by that they inflicted separation upon the Nukva, too, since her bottom nine fell into the shells, and she returned to a dot under the Yesod. And it was written, “Who will heal you?” If the children of Israel repent and correct their actions, raising MAN to ZON, the upper Mochin will once again be drawn to ZON, Nukva will rise again to YESHSUT, who is called MI, and you will have healing.

10) “From the edge of the heaven.” MI is the edge of the heaven above, YESHSUT. MA is the edge of the heaven below, Malchut. This is what Jacob, ZA, inherited, fastening from end to end, from the first end, MI, to the last end, MA, as he stands in the middle between YESHSUT and Malchut. This is why it is written, “Who created these?” YESHSUT, MI, created ZA and Malchut, ELEH [these, but also, Aleph-Lamed-Hey].

Explanation: The text should have said, “From the beginning of heaven to the end of heaven,” so why does he say, “From edge to edge,” “From end to end”? It was said, “From [MI] the edge of the heaven above,” YESHSUT, poised for a question. He clothes from Chazeh to Tabur of AA. MA, the Nukva from prior to raising MAN, is the end of all the degrees from Chazeh of ZA and below. Between them stands Jacob, ZA, who begins to clothe from the place of Tabur of AA through the Nukva.

And then he fastens from the end of MI to the end of MA, since the MI ends at Tabur of AA, and there Jacob begins. And the Nukva, MA, stands at his end. However, the writing speaks of after the extension of Mochin to the ZON, as it is written, “Indeed, ask now concerning the first days,” which then the ZON rise and receive the Mochin of YESHSUT, called “First days.” At that time, the edge of the heaven below, MA, the Nukva, rose and clothed the edge of the heaven above, MI, YESHSUT, and both are in the very same place.

This is why it is written, “From the edge to the edge,” since now both of them have become one edge of the heaven, since ZA receives the first days, which are VAK from Ysrael Saba, HGT NHY, and the Nukva takes the Tevuna, Malchut of Bina, which is now at the edge of ZA, called “heaven.” However, with respect to what precedes the Mochin, she is regarded as the head of the heaven.

And there is another meaning: The heaven above is Ysrael Saba, who comprises the first six days, HGT NHY of Bina, and the edge of the heaven above is the Tevuna, Malchut of Bina. And the meaning of the words will be “from the edge of Ysrael Saba to the edge of ZA,” who is called “heaven below.”

The writing says about those Mochin, “Who created these?” because MI is YESHSUT, who stands at the place of Beria of AA, from Chazeh to Tabur, below Parsa inside the intestine of AA, where the illumination of Rosh of AA no longer reach. This is why it is considered Beria, Bar [outside] of Rosh of AA. Hence, he is poised for a question. It follows that once ZON obtain these Mochin, which rise and clothe that MI, and take his place from Chazeh to Tabur of AA, their Mochin, too, are now discerned as only Beria of AA. And it is written, “Who [MI] created these,” meaning the ZON took Mochin of Beria [which also means creation] from the MI.