Kapitel 12

We have already explained that all souls were part of Adam, and that when he sinned, his limbs «fell off» and his stature was reduced. Furthermore, we explained that most of the souls fell down into the depths of the kelipot, and that only a few remained with him; this is the secret of the «100 cubits» that the Sages speak about in reference to the verse, «And You laid Your hand upon me» (Psalms 139:5).

Originally, some new souls which had yet to come into the world were part of Adam, and these are called «authentic new souls». And below them was another level, made up of the souls that remained a part of him and which did not fall off. They are also considered to be «new», but not in comparison to the first level.

After the death of Adam, they were separated from him. When these souls from Level Two enter a body in reincarnation, they are still called «new». The reason being that the creation of Adam occurred as a result of an Upper Pairing [called «zivug elyon», occurring in a manner of] being back-to-back.

Therefore, until it returns to come [into the world] when that category of Upper Pairing is face-to-face, then it is as if they have come to the world for the first time, and it is so called «new».

If, after the death of Adam, a soul does not merit to come another time into the world except during a zivug that is back-to-back, then it will still be considered to have come the first time. This is even though it did not come at a time of a face-to-face zivug, since at least it came after the death of Adam.

Below this level there is a third one, and these are the those that remained with Adam, which his sons Cain and Abel inherited when they were born. It is like Level Two because they were also part of Cain and Abel.

They are not considered to have come for the first time, since they did not come to Cain and Abel after the death of Adam, but rather they inherited them during his lifetime. Therefore, their inclusion in Cain and Abel is not even considered a first time, and instead they are considered as if they are still a part of Adam.

Any of these souls that come back to the world after Cain and Abel have died, even at a time of a back-to-back zivug, will be considered to have entered the world for the first time, and would therefore be called «new». After that, when the person dies and the souls come back to the world, they are said to have reincarnated. That is, they have come back a second time.

Even though this level is very similar to Level Two, still, these lesser souls which were contained in Cain and Abel are considered to be a separate level from those which remained with Adam himself. They are not considered as new as those of Level Two.

Level Four souls are those which fell from Adam into the depths of the kelipot and are called «old souls». This is even when they come into the world for the first time, since then they are considered to be «old souls» that have reincarnated. After this comes Level Five, which is the lowest of all of them. These enter the bodies of converts.

All the souls mentioned above, with the exception of Level One, which are the real new souls, are similar inasmuch as they all fell into the depths of the kelipot. However, they did not all fall to the same level.

For the Level Two souls which remained with Adam only have one blemish as a result of Adam’s sin. Those which went to Cain and Abel have two blemishes: Adam’s sin and the sins of Cain and Abel, which are mentioned in Sefer HaTikunim, Tikun 90.

When the time comes for a soul to leave the kelipot and enter this world, it must first come as an ibur into the «stomach of the Upper Female Malchut» in order to be purified and cleansed from the filth of the kelipot, within which they were held.

However, the duration of time for which they remain there is not the same for each soul. Rather, it will depend upon its ability and merit to remain there until it is are purified completely and renewed.

This is the order of the five levels. With respect to the first level, the truly new souls, they can remain within the «Malchut within the secret of the fetal stage» for a period of twelve months, after which time they will descend into a body in this world. Thus, we find women whose term of pregnancy is twelve months, as mentioned in the Talmud regarding a certain incident where he remained twelve months, and Rava decided kosher.

Level Two souls which remained with Adam and which are considered new to some degree have the ability to remain within the Malchut for nine months before coming into the world. Level Three souls of Cain and Abel are also considered new on some level, but they have two blemishes. As a result, they can only remain in the stomach of Malchut for a seven month period of time.

Level Four — the rest of the souls that fell off Adam down into the kelipot — even though they have left the kelipot and now descend into this world for the first time, nevertheless they are like the rest of the previous levels that have come a second time. They are considered to be old and reincarnated souls. Therefore, whether from Level Four which have come for the first time, or from the previous levels that have come for the second time or more, they only remain in the stomach of the Malchut for forty days, the time it takes to form the fetus. After that, they descend into this world.

Level Five souls, those of converts, only remain in the stomach of the Malchut for three days, the time it takes for the seed to fertilize. After that, they come into this world.

Kapitel 13

Those souls that leave the Kelipot and which are elevated into the world of holiness b’sod ibur (in the secret of the embryonic state) as we spoke about, do so only as a result of the prayers of the Jewish people.

B’sod M»N as it is known, or through a «yichud» (supernal unification) that a righteous person causes in this world, as discussed in Sha’ar Ruach HaKodesh regarding Yichudim. Or, they can leave when a person performs a mitzvah in this world. Sometimes, souls, as a result of a certain blemish in the lower levels or because of their own blemish that resulted from a transgression while they were in this world, descend into the depths of Kelipot. If the opportunity arises for a particular soul to be elevated from the Kelipot and to enter the Malchut for rectification, then that soul in the Malchut has the ability to seize blemished souls before they descend to the Kelipot, and bring them up into the «stomach» of the Malchut, b’sod ibur.

There they will be rectified, after which they will come into the world.

This is because while the soul is in the stomach of the Malchut, it is constantly elevating M»N, and as a result of the M»N that is elevated, it is able to elevate souls as well. However, this is not possible unless it places a «spirit» in it, that is the soul which is first in the Malchut gives ability to the blemished soul, and it becomes enclothed in this spirit and rectified. This spirit remains with it until the time of resurrection, at which time it is separated from it.

If the soul that remains in the ‘stomach’ of the Malchut b’ibur is on the level of those souls that remain for twelve months, having their capacity, then even the blemished soul which remains with it will stay there for twelve months like it. This is so even if it is from the lowest level of souls, that of the souls of converts, which normally remain only three days.

Likewise, if the first one is only of those that remain nine or seven months, and the other one is even lesser, for example, from those that remain only forty days or three days, then they too will remain there either nine months or seven months like it. If the opposite is the case and the first one is only from those souls that remain nine months, and the one that remains with it is of those that normally remain for twelve months, then both will remain twelve months. In general, it follows the larger time.

I am in doubt regarding what I heard from my teacher about when a new soul from the level of Cain and Abel, whose time is seven months, remains with a soul from Adam, an old soul which has been to the world twice and whose duration is nine months. Do we say that the seven-month soul, since the second soul now helping with rectification is a nine-month soul, also remains for nine months?

As we have said, a soul can prevent another soul from descending to the Kelipot by giving a spirit to it. As a result of the «partnership,» they have the combined ability to prevent a third soul from descending to the Kelipot when the second soul gives a spirit to it. It can work this way for up to ten souls, each being joined to the other, until the tenth soul has a spirit from the first soul, as well as from all the other nine souls that preceded it.

Thus we find that the first soul has given nine spirits to the nine souls under it; the second eight spirits, etc. The tenth has only its own, because there are none below it to receive from it.

As a result of this, the nine souls are «obligated» to the first one, which is like a father for all of them, guiding and rectifying them vis-à-vis the spirit it has given to each of them. Consequently, it has a portion in all the mitzvot they perform and a portion in the good they will receive and he is duty-bound to direct them in the correct path.

However, they have no share in his actions and therefore they have no obligation to direct him, in spite of the fact that the second soul and the eight that follow it are obligated to it.

This is the sod [secret] of what the Sages taught and what the Maimonedes wrote («Laws of Neighbors,» Chapter Three): If five gardens receive water from one spring and the spring becomes damaged, all of them must repair it with the upper one.

It must be this way, for there is no righteous person in the entire world who does not have two souls, as mentioned in the Zohar (Noach) with respect to the verse, «These are the generations of Noach: Noach,» and likewise, «Moses, Moses,» and, «Samuel, Samuel,» etc., where the name is mentioned twice.

Kapitel 14

When we speak of a certain person reincarnating into other people, we must not make the mistake of thinking that this refers to the «original soul.» Rather, a person’s soul can divide into an unlimited amount of roots and within a single root there is an unlimited amount of sparks and each gilgul rectifies some of those sparks. Thus, it is the sparks that are not yet rectified that return, while those that are rectified ascend to their fitting level, where they will remain.

This, in fact, is the matter of Nadab and Abihu who reincarnated many times, as was explained on the posuk, «Let there be double of your spirit for me». (Kings II 2:9) For, in the beginning Nadab and Abihu were in Elijah, and after that in Elisha, aside from the other  gilgulim.

After all, Nadab and Abihu came from the same root and many sparks were affected by them. Thus, as a result of each gilgul, many sparks and portions of their root were rectified. However, the sparks that were not rectified were the ones that Elisha asked of Elijah; those that were already rectified ascended to their fitting place. Therefore, Elisha was a combination of two levels. The main spark of his soul came from Joseph, as is known and he also possessed part of the root of Nadab and Abihu, from the level of Cain.

His name «Elisha» indicated this, for with respect to Cain it says, «To Cain and his offering God did not pay favorable attention [in Hebrew, «lo sha’ah»]» (Gen. 4:5), because of his sin. However, Elisha rectified the sin of Cain, and thus is called «Elisha,» since G-d heeded and accepted him. The letters of «lo sha’ah» (lamed-aleph, shin-ayin-heh) can be turned into «Eli Sha’ah» (aleph-lamed-yud, shin, ayin-heh), [meaning «to me (G-d) paid favorable attention.»].

Thus, since he originated from the spark of the Cain root, he also wanted the sparks of Nadab and Abihu to join him, as it says, «Let there be double your spirit for me.» He merited them because of the spark of Cain that he already possessed.

From this you can make the necessary connections and understand all reinincarnations throughout history. Hence, it is never the rectified sparks that reincarnate, but rather those sparks that have yet to be rectified.

Kapitel 15

Now we will explain the reason why sometimes great and righteous people are the sons of completely evil people, like Abraham who was the son of Terach, a priest of idol worship who made idols for the world and caused people to stumble. We will then be able to understand why the kelipot cause man to sin to the extent that the Temple was destroyed, the blessed Shechina was exiled amongst the nations, and G-d was angered.

The sod is that as a result of the sin of Adam, all the souls fell into the depths of the kelipot. The kelipot themselves are the remainder of the ‘zuhama’ [dirt] and ‘pesolet’ [extraneous material separated out from that which was holy, at the time the «kings» of Edom died, as we explained.

The kelipot themselves are actually called the «level of death,» whereas holiness is the «Living G-d» and «King of the world.» Therefore, they [the kelipot] chase after holiness which is called «life» in order to feed from them and survive.

As long as something from the side of holiness is among [the kelipot], they are able to derive sustenance and can survive. The moment the source of holiness leaves them, they die. Therefore, they pursue holy sources and cause the holy soul of man to sin, since this brings the holy soul to enter their «vicinity.»

Once this happens they can draw sustenance from it, since something holy can never be severed from its holy source; the Creator always tries to save those who stray from disappearing altogether—even a small spark from a holy soul.

Therefore, G-d continues to sustain the soul from His holy place while it is within the kelipot, and from that sustenance the kelipot draw benefit as well. For this reason, they chase after a person to cause him to sin, like one who troubles himself to find food and for whom there is no disgrace in stealing since he is famished.

When the Temple was destroyed, the Shechinah was exiled among the kelipot because the souls were also exiled among them, and they lack the ability to extricate themselves, being blemished by their sins. Therefore, the Shechinah, of which it is said, «The L-rd your G-d is (like) a consuming fire»… (Deut. 4:24) entered the kelipot in order to gather the sparks of the souls within them, to separate and elevate them to a place of holiness and renew them for life in this world, in the bodies of people. This is the sod of the Shechinah in exile. Since the destruction of the Temple, this is what God has been doing.

Until such time as all the souls that fell amongst the kelipot of «Adam Bli’al» [the despicable man] intermixed there from the head unto the feet have been gathered even from as low as the feet Mashiach will not be revealed nor will the Jewish people be redeemed. This is what the Zohar says: (Pekudei 258) «Until the feet come to the feet as it says, «They stood on their legs on that day on the Mount of Olives». (Zechariah 14:4).

According to the extent of the actions of those below, the souls can be drawn out. Thus, if the entire Jewish people were to repent then the Shechinah would be able to take all the souls out in one instance. On the other hand, our sins weaken G‑d (so-to-speak) as it says, «You weakened the Rock that bore you». (Deut. 32:18).

Once the souls are able to leave the kelipot, then the Shechinah can remove them. After removing their life force, the kelipot then die and the evil person is consumed like smoke.

This is the sod of the verse, «Death will be swallowed forever», (Isaiah 25:8) for the kelipot which are called ‘death’ will be ‘swallowed’ in a single moment since the Shechinah together with the Soul-Sparks that were among them will have left them.

Returning to the topic, while the Shechina is among them for the sake of the souls that are there, it is impossible that the kelipot not benefit. Therefore, they cause them [the kelipot ] to remain amongst them, and they continue to be sustained as a result of their presence. And, the greater the soul, the more the kelipot will benefit.

Thus, when a particular soul is very important, they will not allow it to leave them, and [the kelipot will] make every effort to defile it, in order to prevent it from leaving. Sometimes, they fear that a certain righteous person will do an important mitzvah and cause a soul to be removed from amongst them, and [they] draw it out through his seed from a holy union with his wife.

Therefore, when they see a certain evil person who has become completely blemished and has forsaken his purpose, they try very hard to accuse this soul before G-d in order to cause it to enter the defiled seed, so that it will further destroy itself.

This, in turn, will cause it to become even more blemished and forever unable to leave them. However, G-d considers how to prevent those which stray from being pushed off completely, specifically those souls which are still pure and special. G-d desires the repentance of even the greatest sinner rather than see a soul destroyed, G-d forbid.

Though He heeds their [the kelipot’s] voice and places such souls in an evil place, after time the kelipot weaken their grasp. However, it is then that G-d helps the soul to rise up from the dust of its sin and impurity, to become «kosher» once again through its actions, like pearls that are cleansed and whose appearance becomes fitting to the eyes of all.

Not only is the soul rectified, but even the one who fathered it also merits from the repentance of the son, like we see in the case of Job who was the gilgul of Terach, the father of Abraham who repented because of Abraham. G-d tricks the kelipot, in order to save those who stray from being pushed off completely.

Kapitel 16

However, someone whose soul is not new, but one that has reincarnated and returned to this world, only has to complete those mitzvahs it has yet to fulfill in previous gilgulim.

With this we can understand why in the Talmud we learn of certain Torah scholars who were careful with respect to a particular mitzvah more than other mitzvahs, while another scholar was careful regarding a different mitzvah (Megillah 28a). For example, one Talmudic rabbi asked his colleague, «In what mitzvah was your father most careful?“.

And he answered, the mitzvah of tzitzit, or tefillin, or something of that nature. However, this would seem to contradict the mishna that says, «Be [as] careful with a light mitzvah as you would be with a serious one!» (Pirkei Avot 2:1). The sod is that every scholar is careful with the particular mitzvah that is missing from his previous gilgulim, either all of it, or part of it.

This is also the sod of what we find in the Talmud where one person focused on a particular character trait, while another focused on a different one. For example, they asked one person, «To what do you owe your long life?» and he answered, «All of my life I was never particular about my honor.». Hence, each one worked on a certain trait that remained lacking from his previous gilgulim.

There is a major difference between one whose previous soul-sparks from his soul-root fulfilled all the 613 Mitzvahs to one whose soul-sparks did not as well. We will explain this further on.

If there are mitzvahs that a person is able to fulfill and the opportunity arises to do so and he does not fulfill them, or if he has the ability to bring them about and yet doesn’t, then he will have to reincarnate until he completes them.

However, regarding mitzvahs he cannot perform without G-d creating the necessary circumstances, such as redeeming the first born son, yibum or chalitza, divorce, and similar, it will depend.

For example, if G-d did create the necessary circumstances to fulfill any of them and he did not [fulfill that mitzvah], then he will have to reincarnate to fulfill which ever one he could have fulfilled but did not.

However, if the occasion did not arise to fulfill them, then he will not have to reincarnate to perform them, but rather, he will only come back b’sod ibur into a person who is undergoing that particular mitzvah and fulfill his obligation that way. Once the mitzvah has been completed, then he will return to his place.

Then there is a third level, which is the mitzvahs which cannot be performed today, such as sacrifices. Yet, we have stated that every person must fulfill all 613 mitzvahs and reincarnate until he does so! Thus, at this time he would not have to reincarnate for their sake since they cannot be performed. However, after Mashiach arrives and the Temple is re-built, may it be so speedily in our days, he will reincarnate in order to perform those particular mitzvahs.

Rebbi Yishmael, son of Elisha the High Priest, hinted to this when, after tilting the lamp on Shabbat night, he said, «I will have to record this in my ledger for when the Temple returns, so that I will then bring a substantial Sin-Offering» (Shabbat 12b).

From the mitzvahs that are not obligatory, such as reciting Shema Yisrael or tefillin there are mitzvahs that one need not pursue, such as sending away the mother bird, or putting up a parapet [on a roof], and which he may also have been prevented from completing. However, since he was not told to pursue and fulfill them, though the person will have to reincarnate he will definitely not sin in the upcoming gilgul.

However, if the mitzvah did present itself and he did not want to perform it, then he must reincarnate and in this case, there will be no guarantee that he will not sin.

However, one who actually transgresses and is thereby forced to reincarnate will most definitely sin again.

Not only this, but a person must fulfill all the 613 Mitzvahs in deed, verbally, and in thought, as the Sages have said on the verse, «This is the law for the Burnt-Offering and the Meal-Offering» (Lev. 7:37): Anyone who learns the section of the Burnt-Offering is like one who offered it (Menachot 110a). They were indicating that a person is obligated to fulfill all 613 Mitzvahs verbally, and in thought as well.

If a person fails to fulfill all 613 Mitzvahs on all three levels of deed, speech, and thought, then he will have to reincarnate until he does. As well, a person must learn Torah on four levels, alluded to by the word «PaRDeS,» which stands for «Peshat,» «Remez,» «Drash,» and «Sod.» He will have to reincarnate until he does.

Kapitel 17

As we have already said, a person is obligated to learn Torah on all four levels. Now, there are only 600,000 souls and the Torah itself is the source of all Jewish souls the place from which they are «hewn.». Therefore, there are 600,000 explanations on the level of «Peshat,» on the level of «Remez,» on the level of «Drash,» and on the level of «Sod.»

Thus, for every one of the 600,000 explanations there is one Jewish soul, and in the Time-to-Come each will know Torah according to the explanation that corresponds to the root of his soul. In the Garden of Eden, after a person has died he will understand all of it.

Furthermore, every night when a person goes to sleep he ‘deposits’ his soul above. The one who merits to ascend above is taught the explanation upon which his soul-root is based, the extent to which depends upon what he accomplished that day, either a verse or a particular parasha, because that day the specific verse ‘shone’ in him more than other days.

Another night, a different verse will shine in his soul, based upon his actions that day, always according to the explanation upon which his root is dependent.

Every night my teacher used to look at the forehead of the students standing before him, on the side upon which his soul dwelled and illuminated and determine which verse shone more in that person. He would then explain a portion of the explanation of that verse, according to that which was relevant to his soul.

Before the person would go to sleep, he would concentrate on that which was partially explained to him. He would also recite the verse in order that when his soul ascended for the night they (in heaven) would teach him the completion of the explanation. This would purify the soul and allow it to keep ascending to even higher levels, where more would be revealed to him, though his body may not have sensed anything upon awakening.

The 600,000 explanations of Torah include the levels of Peshat, Agada and Kabbalah, and are alluded to by the letters of the word «Pardes» [pei-reish-dalet-sod]. There is not one Jewish soul that does not include all four levels, but there are some souls that can grasp [only] two levels of explanations while others can grasp even more.

The soul of Moses was able to grasp all 600,000 explanations of Torah, as the Sages indicated when they wrote that he knew even that which every student would [eventually] innovate (Megillah 19b). This was because his soul incorporated all 600,000 Jewish souls.

Likewise, the rest of the wise men of Israel will grasp according to the amount of souls included within each.

One time, a person came before my teacher who looked at him and spoke to him about a certain matter. I am writing about it here in case one can make connections and understand other matters regarding the performance of mitzvahs. This is what he wrote for him.

With regard to both positive and negative mitzvahs, there are those which are considered «masculine» and some which are considered «feminine.»

All of the 248 limbs of the souls of Adam are comprised of what is called «flesh,» «tendons,» and «bones,» as is known. The flesh and the bones are the positive mitzvahs of that limb and the tendons are the negative mitzvahs. Later, with the help of God, we will explain that these tendons are not included in those that comprise the 365 Tendons.

He told him that the root from which his soul was taken was the left-shoulder limb of Adam, from the level of the partzuf of Leah standing behind him. The number of mitzvahs in that limb called the left-shoulder are eleven positive mitzvahs, the numerical value of vav-hei (VH), the last two letters of the Tetragramaton.

Their gematria is equal to «katef» [shoulder], in a manner called «Haka’a» [collision] «Hit» [multiply] vav-yud-vav [the expanded form of the vav of the Tetragramaton — 22] and hei-yud [the expanded form of the hei — 15] i.e., 22 times 15 and they equal shin-lamed [330]; vav-vav [then take another form of vav expansion: 12] times hei-yud [15] and they equal kuf-pei [180]; for a [sum] total of tav-kuf-yud [510]. Subtract eleven, the number of vav-hei [VH itself] and what remains is tav-kuf [500] with the «kollel» [plus one] the gematria of «katef». – The idea is that we see how the energies that comprise the shoulder come out of the power of vav-hei/eleven. This shows an inherent connection between vav-hei, the number eleven, positive commandments, and the shoulder [being that there are 11 positive commandments in the shoulder – Ed. Note].

However, there are fifteen negative mitzvahs in the Shoulder Limb, like the first two letters of the Tetragramaton (yud-hei). As the Sages said (in explanation of the verse «This is ‘shmi’ [in Hebrew, My name] forever, and this is ‘zichri’ [the way I am to be mentioned] for all generations» (Ex. 3:15). yud-hei [15] with «shmi» [350, equals] 365, and vav-hei [11] with «zichri» [237, My mention, equals]  248 (Zohar 1:24a).

These two letters also total the gematria of «katef,» in the following way: yud-vav-daled [20] times hei-yud [15] equals 300; yud-vav-daled [20] times hei-hei [10] equals 200, for a total of 500, the gematria of «katef.». This demonstrates an inherent linkage between yud-hei, number fifteen, negative commandments, and the shoulder [being that there are 15 negative commandments in the shoulder – Ed. Note].

The ten negative mitzvahs, hinted to by the letter yud are masculine, and the five remaining hinted to by the letter hei are feminine. The six positive mitzvahs alluded to by the letter vav are masculine, whereas the five alluded to by the last hei are feminine.

I did not receive from my teacher knowledge of what the ten masculine negative mitzvahs are, but these are the five remaining feminine mitzvahs referred to by the first hei:

1. Do not murder, which includes not embarrassing a person in public, since [when one is shamed,] the red [blood in his face] goes and leaves him [looking] white. It is therefore [considered] a form of spilling blood.

2. Do not steal, a warning regarding things of monetary value.

3. Do not cook a kid [meat] in its mother’s milk.

4. Do not eat [forbidden] fat.

5. Do not eat blood.

These are the six positive mitzvahs of the letter vav:

1. Your brother shall live with you; this is like the mitzvah to give tzedakah and it means to seek out a way to be able to live together without financial hardship.

2. Eat tithes of the second year [ma’aser sheni] in Jerusalem.

3. Make a parapet for your roof.

4. Procreate and fill the land.

5. Circumcise your son.

6. Love your neighbor as yourself.

The five feminine positive mitzvahs alluded to by the final hei are:

1. Lend to a poor person, and the way to recall this is, «If you will lend money to My people …» (Ex. 22:24); don’t read «im» [if], rather read «aim» [mother]. (Hei is the maternal letter, thus this mitzvah associates with it.)

2. Tzitzit, and included in this is to put it on the shoulder, for as we mentioned the root of this particular soul was from the shoulder.

3. Send away the mother bird, and your reminder is: Surely send away the mother bird.

4. Keep the Shemita year.

5. Remember the exodus from Egypt.

A person who does not learn Torah blemishes the  sefira of tiferet, since in each of the Four Worlds of ABY»A Torah is on the level of tiferet.

There are four levels and their pneumonic is, «PaRDeS» for: Peshat, Remez, Drash, and Sod. A person who merits to enter the depths of these four levels, merits, in the end, to all of the levels. And with respect to him it says, «He will do (special things) for one who waits for Him.» (Isaiah 64:3).

However, the one who does not want to learn Torah, even the simple meaning of the verses, blemishes tiferet of Asiya. One who does not wish to pursue proofs for a Torah matter [i.e., Hints], blemishes the tiferet of Yetzira. One who does not learn the exegetical teachings of the Torah [Drash] blemishes the tiferet of Beriyah. And, one who does not learn the mysteries of Torah [Sod] blemishes the tiferet of Atzilut.

Kapitel 18

We have already discussed the Four Worlds and the order ABY»A [Atzilut, Beriya, Yetzira, and Asiya]. Each world contains its own set of four. For example, within the world of Atzilut, Abba is called «Atzilut,»  Imma is called «Beriya,» Zeir Anpin is called «Yetzira,» and Nukva is called «Asiya.» It is the same in each world.

However, the level of Arich Anpin is quite hidden and not referred to. Neshamot come from the level of Atzilut, ruchin kadishin [holy spirits] from the level of Beriya, [standard] angels from the level of Yetzira, and ofanim [wheel angels] come from the level of Asiya.

Man below contains all the worlds, and in the beginning he receives the Nefesh of Asiya. If he does not merit Ruach [the rung above] because of a transgression that blemished his  Nefesh, and as a result of his actions he entered the kelipot, then they say to him, «The fly preceded you [in creation; it was made on day five, man on day six. so as to keep man ever humble] and [moreover] is better than you!» (Sanhedrin 38a). This is because the fly does not do anything to blemish Above and does not enter the kelipot. However, if he does not sin or blemish his  Nefesh, then he will be on the level of the ofanim.

A person might only merit his Nefesh and yet he can be more important and special than one who already has his Ruach. This is because, as we have explained, each world incorporates four [levels], and that even the Nefesh of Asiya has the levels of NR»N and Neshama of Neshama [chaya]. Thus, the four levels of Asiya are only called Nefesh in general.

Hence, if the person happens to be from the  Neshama of Asiya and has begun rectification, then the level of the Neshama of the general Ruach of Yetzira will shine within him.

This applies even though it has yet to become completely enclothed within him, for, as we have already taught, it is impossible for the Ruach of Yetzira to be completely enclothed in a person until he has rectified his Nefesh in all portions of Asiya completely. Nevertheless, it can shine within him.

A person can be from the Nefesh of Asiya, and also have a Nefesh of Yetzira, called the «Nefesh of Ruach» as mentioned. This person is certainly on a lower level than the first.

A person can also achieve until the Nefesh of Atzilut, that is, the malchut of Atzilut and even higher than all the levels of Atzilut.

If a person merits Ruach from yesod of Atzilut then he will be called «Ish Elokim» (Psalms 90:1) «husband of the Matroness'» (Zohar). Regarding him it says, «A Tzadik rules upon the fear of the L-rd». (Samuel II 23:3).

For, just as there is the righteous person who, upon his death, ascends in the secret of M»N to the malchut of Atzilut, there is also the righteous person who ascends in the secret of M»D to the yesod of Atzilut.

Regarding this, you can understand what is written in the Zohar (Parashat Teruma 166b) on the verse, «Light is sown for the righteous» (Psalms 97:11) — A light that is already sown.

This means that after the destruction of the Temple, Zeir Anpin became separated from Nukva, and that the ‘supernal gardener’, which is yesod, no longer plants his ‘garden’ [malchut]. Rather, his garden becomes planted by itself, from the after-growths that went out and were planted in the beginning; they return and seed it.

The ‘after-growths’ are the souls of the righteous, which the gardener planted in the supernal garden before the destruction, after which they sprouted. After they return, and later leave this world. They ascend in the secret of M»N to the malchut of  Atzilut, or in the secret of M»D to yesod—the ‘supernal gardener’, and there is a re-planting.

This is the secret of the verse, «Light is sown for the righteous.» In other words, lights that are already sown from the beginning, in the supernal garden, return on their own and become re-planted, since there is no new seed [after the destruction].

A man who only performs [positive] mitzvahs merits the Nefesh called «Asiya». However, he is similar to a woman whose husband has gone overseas and has left her without clothing, food, or drink. He is like the Shechina that sits in exile and darkness while her house lays in ruin. That is what a Nefesh of a person is like without a Ruach, which is its husband, so-to-speak: without light and intelligence for understanding.

If this person then strives to learn Torah constantly and teach the oral law for altruistic motives, he will merit Ruach from Yetzira. He will be like the woman whose husband has arrived to live with her forever in her house — clothing her, feeding her, giving her to drink, and elevating her. Such is one to whom Ruach comes and dwells within his Nefesh, filling it with the spirit of wisdom, elevating the Nefesh from Asiya to Yetzira.

If a person then endeavors to learn the ‘hidden wisdom’ — the secrets of Torah — then he will merit to receive a Neshama from Beriya, It will shine from within the Ruach, and cause even greater ascent. Then he is called ‘adam shalaim’ [a complete man] to which the verse refers when it says: God made man in His image. (Gen. 1:26).

The secret is as follows: when a person only possesses Nefesh then he is only affected by the name  Aleph-Dalet-Nun-Yud [ADNY]. When he learns Torah altruistically, then he merits Ruach, which comes from the name Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei [YHVH].

When he learns the mysteries of Torah, then he merits Neshama, and he will draw down strength and blessing from the Name Aleph-Hei-Yud-Hei [AHYH]. Now, when all three names come together in the person they total the gematria of ‘yabok’. With respect to him it says, «God save! May the King answer us on the day we call.» (Psalms 20:10) has the head-letters YBK. Then the person will have Nefesh from  Asiya, Ruach from Yetzira, and Neshama from Beriya.

If he will further rectify himself, he can then achieve the three from Yetzira. If he rectifies himself even more, he can receive the three from Beriya, and after further rectification, the three from Atzilut as well.

Regarding created beings, there are four elementals and their pneumonic is alef-reish-mem-ayin which stands for ‘aish’ [fire], ‘Ruach’ [wind], ‘mayim’ [water], and ‘afar’ [dust]. They are themselves an expression of the four letters of the the tetragrammaton as explained in the Zohar (Vaera 23b). From these four elements, which are hinted to by the four letters of the Tetragrammaton, all of physical creation was brought into existence.

Furthermore, the four letters of the tetragrammaton combine to make twelve permutations (Sefer Yetzira) and they continue to create even more combinations, each different from the other, in level and in number, until they total 600,000.

These six hundred thousand combinations also have among them the four elements, and this is what allows various different combinations, which result in an unlimited amount of different creations — all from the four elements. However, [the] uniqueness [of any given name, or part of creation drawn from a name] will be based upon its predominant element, as the Rambam writes in [the first book of Mishna Torah],  Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah, Chapter Four. The souls of man, which are from the four [spiritual] elements, as mentioned.

Each of the four elements, in all of their combinations, total six hundred thousand. Therefore they divide into many parts, according to the permutations, each part being called a complete partzuf called ‘man’ [his supernal root]. The division is unlimited. With this you can understand the secret of gilgul which is the reincarnation of the ‘parts’, and the arrival of each will depend upon the time appropriate for it.

Kapitel 19

We have explained elsewhere that the difference between the souls of angels and that of man is that these [man] come from the  zivug of ‘haneshikin ha’elyonim’ [lit. supernal kisses; unification of chochma and bina] whereas these [angels] come from the lower  zivug [which occurs] in yesod. There are countless levels of soul roots in between.

Many kinds of souls come from the ‘zivug ha’olam elyon’, lit. upper world pairing, but due to a blemish are forced to descend. The descent however is not necessarily the same for each; there are many different levels to which a soul can descend as a result of a blemish.

There are two groups, the first being those which descend because of a blemish and come into this world on the level to which they have descended. The second are those souls whose roots are on the same level at which they enter this world. Therefore, the status of each is not the same.

However, the main tikun is still at night when one ‘deposits’ his soul by saying upon lying down, «In Your hand I entrust my spirit» (Psalms 31:6). At that time, the soul is elevated through a higher level of zivug and then returns as a new creation, in the secret of «They are new every morning» (Lamentations 3:23).

A person can go from level to level this way until he reaches his actual root and achieves completion. Alternatively, this can occur in the secret of nefilat apayim [lit. «supplication while bending», penitential prayers recited after the Amida].

An example could be a soul which originated above, perhaps in the world of Atzilut, but which descended because of a blemish to the world of Asiya, the level from which it entered a body. It can, through good deeds, ascend back to the world of Atzilut, and through the zivug of Atzilut he can do all of this while still alive and no longer need to reincarnate.

One can ascend during daytime while performing nefilat apayim in the morning because at that time Jacob has a zivug with Rachel who is called ‘akeret haBayis’ [the mainstay of the house — meaning that Rachel is the main wife of Jacob] since it is the tenth sefira in  Atzilut — the main sefira of the ten of Atzilut.

However, if a soul is rooted below and wants to become elevated higher than its root through good deeds, it can only do so at night through the verse, «In Your hand I entrust my soul,» as mentioned above. For, the highest form of elevation is one whose root is above, and after descending ascends once again. At night time, there is a zivug between Jacob and Leah which is not included in the ten sefirot, but is the backside aspect of the malchut of tevuna, as is known.

What is similar between them, however, is that all souls can be elevated from level to level, without limit, as a result of one’s deeds — providing one has this intention.

[Samuel says: Since I mentioned the matter of angels, I will write a small introduction regarding the issue. The angels of Beriya are greater than the souls of righteous people from the world of Yetzira. Likewise, the angels of Yetzira are greater than the souls from Asiya. However, the souls of Beriya are greater than the angels of Beriya itself and how much more so than the angels of  Yetzira. The same is true of Yetzira and Asiya. The souls from the Keter of Beriya are greater than the angels from the Keter of Beriya. However, the angels from the Keter of Beriya are greater than the souls from the Chochma of Beriya, and this is the way it is throughout.].

Kapitel 20

In the  Introduction to Chapter Nine, we discussed whether or not women reincarnate as men do. Regarding this topic in the first chapter of Sotah (2a) in reference to the verse, «G-d settles the individuals into a house [i.e. family], He releases those bound in fetters» (Psalms 68:7), the Sages of speak of a first and second soul-mate.

Hence, when it says, «pairing people is as difficult as the splitting of the Red Sea,» it refers to the second soul-mate. However, the understanding of a first and second soul-mate cannot be according to the simple definition since in many instances we see that the second marriage is better than the first.

Rather, we learn the explanation from The Saba of Mishpatim on the verse, «If he was married then his wife will go out with him» (Ex. 21:3). That is, when a person is new and in the world for the first time, then his soul-mate is born with him, and when it comes time to marry, they [Heaven] arrange the moment, making it simple for them to meet.

However, if a man sins and needs to reincarnate as a result, then the verse «his wife will go out with him» applies to him, as it says in Saba of Mishpatim, that is, she will reincarnate as well for his good. Nevertheless, when the time comes to get married, they will not assist them and he will only succeed after great effort. Since he was forced to reincarnate as a result of his sin there will be those who will accuse him and want to prevent her from being available to him, and they will cause fighting.

This is what it means when it says, «pairing people is as difficult as the splitting of the Red Sea» — it is a reference to the second zivug.

Hence, in actuality she is his real soul-mate who he has already married in his previous gilgul and thus now, in this new gilgul, it is their second zivug. In other words, she herself is the first wife but it is the second time she is marrying him. This is why it does not say the «second soul-mate» (zivug sheinis) but rather the «second-time pairing» (zivug sheini). The former would refer to a different wife and not the same woman herself.

Thus, it can happen that a man can marry a woman quickly and without any difficulty or argument. Yet, another man may fight the entire time with his future wife until marriage, after which time there is finally peace, proving that she is indeed his soul-mate, but that it was the second zivug. Only had there been no peace after marriage could we assume that she is not his zivug.

As we have said earlier, principally the concept of Gilgul applies to men and not to women, since the latter are punishable in Purgatory in the World-to-Come, which is not the case for men who learn Torah.

(Shmuel says: This is the secret «revealed with Me» (Deut. 32:34) regarding the verse, «Behold, G-d does all these things with man two or three times» (Job 33:29); it is the secret of gilgul as it says «with man,» that is with man and not with woman.)

The reason is because the secret of gilgul is the letter vav, which hints to the six [spiritual] extremities [chesed, gevura, tiferet, netzach, hod, yesod] with respect to which it says, «Six years shall you work» (Ex. 21:2), as mentioned in the Zohar (Zohar III Pinchas 215b).

The letter yud hints to galgal [wheel]. (Says Shmuel: It seems to me that the yud referred to here is the last letter of the name, ADNY (65). Therefore GLGL/galgal, which has a gematria of 66, equals this name with the kollel.). With the letter vav it becomes GLGVL/gilgul.

Sh’vi’it [the sabbatical year] however, corresponds to malchut and is thus feminine, and therefore does not reincarnate, as it says, «In the Seventh Year he shall go out for free» (Ex. 21:2).

A talmid chacham who stood out in his generation because of his wisdom but sinned and reincarnated, there are certain types of sins for which his wisdom will be hidden and not recognizable at all in the next gilgul.

Similarly, all those who learn Torah in this generation are on the level of the generation of the wilderness, with respect to whom it says, «As in the days of leaving Egypt I will show you wonders» (Michah 7:15), alluded to in the verse, «Behold, you shall die with your fathers and this people will rise up» (Deut. 31:16).

Their wives will dominate them since originally when the Mixed Multitude [that came out of Egypt with the Jews] made the golden calf, these men did not protest. (Ex. 32:3) The women, however, did not want to give their gold earrings to build the calf. (Midrash Raba on Ex. 32:2) They therefore now dominate their husbands.

If two souls from the same root reincarnate into co-existing brothers or friends, then the two of them will be inclined to hate each other and fight, though they may not know why. «Even though they don’t see, their mazel does», and each will want to draw from the root more than his spiritual counterpart, so they will find themselves jealous of each other. However, if through Divine inspiration they would see that they come from the same root, then they would come to love one another even though they live at the same time.

However, the souls of righteous people who have already died greatly desire to rectify and bring completion to the souls of people living in this world who come from their root. For there is nothing more they can do to become even more complete, so jealousy is irrelevant, as the verse says, «For, there is no deed nor planning… in the grave to which you are going» (Eccl. 9:10). Quite the contrary, there is great benefit for them in the good deeds performed by living people who share their root.

We have already mentioned that as a result of the sin of Cain and Abel, the souls became mixed into the kelipot and that this is called, ‘the mixture of good and evil’. From that time onward, the souls have been undergoing a process of birur  from within the kelipot, just as silver is smelted from the dregs.

This process will continue until all the souls that fell into the 248 limbs of ‘Adam HaBliya’al’ [‘the despicable man’] are separated out from the full length of its being, which is until the bottom of ‘Adam d’Kedusha’ [‘the man of holiness’] which overlaps with the legs of Adam d’Kelipa  [‘the man of the husks’]. This is hinted to in the Zohar. (Pekudei) Until the «feet [of the sitra achra are elevated to] reach the [level of the] feet [of kedusha]», as it is written, «On that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives…» (Zachariah 14:4).

Once the separation of all the souls has been completed, Adam d’kelipa, the spiritual dregs which is only removed through [good] deeds, will collapse on its own and be absorbed to the point of «bal yira’eh» [«not to be seen»] and «bal yimatzeh» [«not to be found»]. For holiness is the life [energy] that results from separating from spiritual impurity which is called death.

Therefore, they will no longer have any life and will disappear like smoke, as it says, «Bila hamaves lanetsach [Death will be swallowed forever]» (Isaiah 25:8). But this will not be until all of the souls are separated out. The first letters of each word, combined together spell HBL – Hevel, Abel’s Hebrew name. Abel is Moses, who reincarnates into every generation to separate out the souls from amongst the spiritual dregs. The acronym alludes to the fact that only when all of his incarnations are complete will the Mashiach come and death be swallowed forever.

However, it can be explained with the words «rise up» referring to that which comes before and after them, and really both explanations are true.

For in the future Moses himself will reincarnate and return to the last generation. As it says, «you will die with your fathers and rise up». However, in the final generation, the «generation of the desert» will also reincarnate with the Mixed Multitude. And this is also said by the verse, «this people will rise up.» Hence, there is not a single generation in which Moses does not return. In the secret meaning of, «The sun [i.e. the shining of the soul] rises [i.e. is born] and the sun sets [i.e. dies]» (Eccl. 1:5) and, «A generation goes and another  [i.e. however the same souls] comes [back]» (Eccl. 1:4) — in order to rectify that generation.

Thus, the generation of the desert along with the Mixed Multitude reincarnate in the final generation, [hinted to by] «as in the days of leaving Egypt» (Michah 7:15). Moses as well will arise among them, since they are all from the secret of da’at: Moses,  generation of the desert, and the Mixed Multitude, as we explained in [our commentary on the Torah portion] Shemot.

This is the secret why in that generation every Torah scholar will be dominated by his wife. They are from the generation of the desert, and the wives did not give their earrings for the [golden] calf while the men did and sinned. (Shmuel says: We wrote about this earlier.).

Know that as a result of Adam’s sin, good and evil became intermixed. Therefore, sometimes a little of the good of the Nefesh of a righteous person can be in an evil person, and a little evil can be found in the righteous person. This is the meaning of, «There are some righteous people who are reached by [can perform] acts of the wicked» (Eccl. 8:14). Thus you find some righteous people who sin in ways that even evil people do not, and just the opposite: evil people can be particular about specific mitzvahs all of their lives.

From this you can also understand the concept of a ‘tzaddik gamur’ [a completely righteous person], ‘rasha gamur’  [a completely evil person], and ‘beinoni’ [an average person.] Each one is the product of a different combination of good sparks and bad sparks.

Furthermore, the way in which one transgresses or performs mitzvahs will also depend upon the level of the sparks he has received, from which limb [of the inclusive soul of Adam] they have came, and whether or not they are good or evil. This will affect a person’s desire to perform mitzvahs and can explain why they pursue mitzvahs more than other people.

Thus, the Sefer HaBahir insists that a person pursue the guilty in order to find merit for them, like one who runs after [saving] his own life. This is because the evil person, whom the righteous person pursues to find merit, may possess good sparks that the righteous person lacks, while he himself may have received the evil person’s bad sparks. However, through a loving relationship, he [the righteous person] can extract the good sparks from him and achieve completion, while giving away the bad sparks and completing the other’s evil. This is the secret meaning of, «The righteous person takes his portion and that of his friend in the Garden of Eden; the wicked one takes his portion and that of his friend in Purgatory». (Chagigah 15a)

This is also the meaning of, «If your enemy is hungry, feed him bread» (Proverbs 25:21), for it says, «When you see the donkey of your enemy» (Ex. 23:5). [Who could be your enemy when one is supposed to love everyone? Hence] it must be referring to an evil person who hates God, as it says, «Those who hate You G-d, I hate» (Psalms 139:21). Yet it says, «If your enemy is hungry, feed him bread.» Thus it means, for the sake of the good spark that is in him which drives him to do good, feed him the bread of Torah and mitzvahs and cause him merit. For the «coals,» that is the bad sparks within you, which you «pour on his head» (Proverbs 25:21) by joining with him — they will [thereby be] removed from you.

This is also like what is written, «The goat shall bear all the sins upon it into a desolate land» (Lev. 16:22). That is, the good sparks in it shall be removed and G-d shall repay them to you and make you completely good and him completely evil. For, as the sages say, «Don’t read ‘repay you,’ but rather ‘He will complete you’». For God, since He is good, will not mention His Name in conjunction with the wicked, as it says, «through the coals of fire that you pour on his head» (Proverbs 25:21). However, with respect to good, He will mention His Name, as it says, «G-d will repay you» (Ibid.) — because he does this good.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is set aside for forgiveness. Part of the way it works is through this that God looks at the good and judges in the scale of merit. He reckons that all of the sins really don’t come from us, rather from the evil inclination, represented by the goat. He bears all the sins (Lev. 16:22) and is send away, to be pushed down the mountain. All the sins are thereby dissolved.

Kapitel 21

Teshuvah is a function of Imma and gilgul is a function of Abba. Therefore, anyone who sins and does teshuvah, Imma Ila’a [Supernal Imma] — which is called teshuvah — rectifies the blemish, which is sufficient.

However, if he does not do teshuvah, then he will have to reincarnate to rectify his sins, a function of Abba which is called ‘machshava’ [thought]. With respect to this it says, «He thinks thoughts [devises means, in Hebrew, ‘choshaiv machshavot’] so that he who is banished is not cast away from Him.» (Samuel II 14:14), since by bringing him back in gilgul he rectifies his transgression.

We will now explain the concept of teshuvah, since we already began in chapter six discussing the steps of teshuvah, of which there are eight. However, here we will discuss it in another manner, and in the process explain the statement of Rabbi Matya ben Cheresh in the last chapter of Yoma (86a), regarding the four divisions of atonement: One who transgresses a positive mitzvah and repents, etc.

In general, TShVShH/teshuvah means ‘TShVSh-H/teshuv-hei’ [restore hei]. (Zohar) For, as is well known, man incorporates all the worlds. Even though he may not presently merit all of them — perhaps only the nefesh of Asiya — still, he is created with the potential to achieve all of them through his actions — all those [levels] that [become] dependent upon him [as he grows]. According to his actions, he can achieve either Yetzira, Beriya, or, Atzilut. This is the secret of the verse, «He creates the ruach of man within him» (Zachariah 12:1). As the Midrash says, «The nefesh of a person grows while it is within him».

However, there is a great difference between one who merits one level as opposed to another level, and this leads to another principle: The nefesh of a person includes 248 limbs and 365 tendons, as does the ruach and neshama. When a person sins he causes blemish to the limbs of his nefesh or ruach or neshama.

The extent of his sin will depend upon what he has thus far achieved: if he has only his nefesh then he will blemish the nefesh, if ruach then ruach, if neshamah then  neshamah. So, according to the greatness of a person’s nefesh is the strength of a person’s evil inclination. As the Talmud says, «Anyone who is greater than his friend — his evil inclination is [accordingly] greater.»(Sukka 52b).

The reason is because G-d made a counterpart for everything, and therefore just as there is ABY»A on the side of holiness so too is there on the side of the kelipot as well. This is the  secret of, «The wicked one watches for the righteous» (Psalms 37:32) — because he wants to mimic the side of holiness, like a monkey does a man.

Now you can appreciate the impact of Adam’s sin, which caused destruction and blemish in all the worlds for all generations. It is based upon what we have said, that according to the greatness of the soul is the extent of the damage.

Therefore, a ‘light’ sin by completely righteous and pious people, such as Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, is considered as severe as many sins by another person. Thus, one who only possesses nefesh of Asiya can only cause damage to Asiya, since that is as far as his hand can reach. Therefore, he only has to do teshuvah on the level of Asiya, since that is all he damaged.

We have already spoken about how the four letters of Havayah divide into four worlds ABY»A, and that each letter divides again. The letter yud corresponds to Atzilut and [links] to the expansion of YHVH that equals 72 [YVD HY VYV HY]. The letter hei corresponds to Beriya and [aligns with the expansion that] equals 63 [YVD HY VAV HY]. The vav corresponds to Yetzira and [associates with the expansion that] equals 45 [YVD HA VAV HA]. The [final] hei corresponds to Asiya and [connects to the expansion that] equals 52 [YVD HH VV HH].

Therefore if a person damages all four worlds it is as if he damages the great Name! This is the secret of the verse, «They went out and saw the carcasses of those who sinned in Me» (Isaiah 66:24). That is literally against My name — each one according to the level of his soul, as explained.

Hence, when a person does teshuvah he rectifies His great name — all four letters. This is the secret of the ‘four divisions of atonement’ and the teshuvah for four types of sins. For four [types of] sins cause damage to the four letters of Havayah, and the four kinds of teshuvah and atonement rectify the four letters of Havayah.

Having said this, we will explain what it means when it says: «If a person violated a positive mitzvah [and repents], he does not move without being forgiven.» (Yoma 86a) However, before explaining this, we must first return to the idea that teshuvah means ‘teshuv-hei’ [returning the letter hei] and the four divisions of teshuvah.

To begin with, sometimes the world of Asiya — which corresponds to the bottom hei — descends to the first three sefirot [upper triad] of the kelipot. This concept is called galut [of the] Shechinah.

If the sin is more serious, the person can cause Asiya to go down as far as the three middle sefirot of the kelipot, and if more severe, then as far as the three that follow. If the sin is even more serious, Asiya can descend to the ‘malchut  harashah’ [evil kingdom], the tenth sefira of the kelipot. These are the four levels to which the Shechina/Asiya can go into exile within the kelipot.

However, someone who causes defect to Yetzira, Beriya, or Atzilut does not cause them to go down into the kelipot since the kelipot are lower than the world of Asiya. Instead, Yetzira descends to the world of Asiya, to the level of the first three sefirot, then to the middle three sefirot, and after that to the three sefirot beneath these — finally to malchut of Asiya. These are the four levels to which Yetzira can descend within Asiya. They are called the ‘exile of Yetzira’, since it went from a higher level of holiness to a lesser one.

In the same manner, Beriya can descend four levels within Yetzira which is called ‘galut [of]  Beriya’. Atzilut can descend to Beriya, which is called ‘galut [of] Atzilut’. The four categories of levels themselves that we mentioned are [all generally] called galut [of the] Shechinah.

The principle that emerges is that there are four categories, and each contains four types — that is four worlds and correspondingly four general types of teshuvah. Within each world there are also four specific types of teshuvah. We will now explain the first one, and from it explain four others.

To begin with, when the Talmud writes, «When a person transgresses a positive mitzvah and then returns [does teshuvah]  etc.» it is talking about if he damaged Asiya. When he repents he is immediately forgiven. For by transgressing a positive mitzvah he causes hei/malchut of Asiya to descend and separate from  tiferet, making it to only descend to the first three of the kelipot.

Hence, it is easy to repent and become immediately rectified. For as is known, the first three sefirot of the kelipot can also transform to holiness. Which is the secret of what the Sages say, «The Jordan [river] also takes from this one and gives to another.» (Baba Metziya 22a).

Therefore he can immediately return in  teshuvah and malchut can ascend to its place and rejoin tiferet. This is called teshuvah — tashuv-hei. This is the first level within Asiya.

The second level within Asiya is when  tiferet becomes disconnected from bina as well, in a way that causes Asiya to descend to the first three sefirot of the kelipot. It is caused by the transgression of a positive mitzvah. This teshuvah is also called teshuv-hei, since it causes the lower hei/malchut to be reconnected to the upper hei/bina – [in turn] allowing tiferet to ascend as well.

The third level with respect to Asiya is when a person transgresses a positive mitzvah in such a way as to damage bina and cause it to descend, [thereby causing] Asiya to descend to the last three sefirot of the kelipot. When he repents, it is also considered tashuv-hei, since teshuvah is from bina and its [power] goes down [and extends] until malchut. Then malchut and tiferet will return [together], for bina descending causes them to join, and this [itself] is teshuvah.

The fourth level is when a person transgresses a positive mitzvah in such a way as to damage chochma, causing it to separate from keter. When such a person repents it is also  teshuvah/tashuv-hei, since he causes the upper hei to return to  keter, at which time chochma will ascend with it. We have now explained the first division of atonement.

The second division of atonement is when a person violates a negative mitzvah, for which his teshuvah is ‘suspended’ [does not evoke immediate forgiveness], and so for which Yom Kippur must atone. This is because the person sinned and damaged Yetzira, specifically the level of tiferet, causing malchut to separate, as well as the six sefirot of Yetzira.

When this person repents, then malchut returns to its place in the secret of teshuvah/tashuv-hei. However, regarding the six sefirot, a void remains among them, and though it [malchut]  wants to rise and bond with them, it cannot and will not be able to until the light of Beriya [bina] comes, which is called ‘Yom Kippur’. This is what is meant by, «his teshuvah is suspended and Yom Kippur atones.»

Within this level, there are also the four levels we mentioned with respect to Asiya, except that all of them are in the secret of Yetzira descending into Asiya and not into the  kelipot.

The third level of atonement is when a person commits a sin whose punishment is kareit [excision], which blemishes  Beriya.

When he repents, Yom Kippur is also [only able to] suspend [his atonement]. For tiferet and malchut cannot return to their places until suffering comes from Abba and Imma, which has the effect of purging sin. In the secret of, «YH [G-d] has much chastised me» (Psalms 118:18). «YH» refers to Abba and Imma. Also in the secret of «From the straits I called YH» (Psalms 118:5). From these come trouble and suffering. There are four levels here as well.

The fourth division of atonement is when a person commits ‘chillul Hashem’ [profanes the name of G-d], which has the effect of damaging Atzilut, also called the ‘world of [eternal] life’ — since there is no death there. Yet he caused[some aspect of] death in the world of life and eternity, and therefore his teshuvah and Yom Kippur suspend [punishment], since none of the three worlds can ascend there — until the day of his death, measure-for-measure. This [then] completely atones for him, and there are also four levels here.

Now we will also explain the differences between cheit [iniquity], avon [transgression], and pesha [rebellious sin]. Pesha is when a person recognizes his Master, and yet rebels against Him to cause anger. This causes the kelipot to take all of the ShPA/’shefa’ [spiritual sustenance], which shares the same letters of PShA/’pesha’ , except re-arranged. So the shefa does then not come down to the Jewish people at all. [It is ‘rearranged’ and given into the wrong hands — the sitra achra.].

Avon is when a person does whatever he wants, but not to anger G-d, but just to enjoy forbidden things he desires. This also causes the kelipot to take the shefa that flows down, except that after they take it they eventually return and leave a little of the  shefa for us as well. This is the secret of exile.

This will help you to understand two statements of the Sages in the last chapter of Yoma (86b), the first being: «Great is teshuvah, for it transforms deliberate sins into accidental ones». This is talking about the level of sin called pesha, which causes the kelipot to take all the shefa for themselves. However, as a result of teshuvah, he can cause the kelipot to later surrender that shefa [back] to us.

The other opinion is that the deliberate transgressions become merits. This is talking about the level of avon, sins for the sake of fulfilling desires. When a person repents for such sins, he prevents the kelipot from taking any shefa at all, [And] even that which they originally took for themselves [is restored to holiness].

Kapitel 22

Regarding the punishment in this world of the souls of wicked people, they have to reincarnate many times to rectify their sins, and there is almost no person who can avoid these gilgulim. After they die, the wicked enter Purgatory and receive punishment there to atone for their sins, and their judgment lasts twelve months.

There are wicked people of whom the verse says, «And may He hurl away the soul of you enemies as one shoots a stone from a slingshot» (Samuel I 25:29); they don’t yet merit to enter  Purgatory after their deaths to cleanse their sins. Rather, their souls get pushed from gilgul to gilgul until their sins have been cleansed a little[, just enough] to allow them to enter Purgatory for twelve months to atone. There is no set time for this, sometimes they can continue in gilgulim for ten, one hundred, or even one thousand years — depending upon to what extent they sinned previously.

However, righteous people and Torah scholars can never be affected by the fires of Purgatory, as it is written regarding Elisha: «He cannot be judged because of his involvement with Torah». (Chagiga 15b) Therefore, they need to reincarnate in this world to cleanse their sins for, «There is no righteous person in the world who does good and does not sin» (Eccl. 7:20).

A righteous person after he leaves this world is able to ascend to great heights in the world-to-come, but not all at once. Immediately after his death they punish him to rid him of his more severe sins, after which time they place him past the first division. When the time comes to ascend to a higher partition, they return him [to this world] to receive more punishment, this time for the lighter sins, after which he can ascend to the second level.

After that, they return him again to be punished for the minutiae of the law — the ‘hairsbreadth’ that he did not carry out, according to the secret of, «His [closely] surrounding ones are [subject to] extreme turbulent [conditions]» (Psalms 50:3). Then he will finally be able to ascend to his true, fitting section [in paradise].

Completely righteous people like David or Daniel, G-d wanted to make known that they were in the world-to-come and that they would not require neither punishment nor gilgulim. As it says, «Had I not trusted that I would see the goodness of G-d in the land of life!» (Psalms 27:13), and, «One thing I asked from G-d, this that I shall seek. That I dwell in the House of G-d all the days of my life.» (Psalms 27:4).

This was also stated by Abigail the prophetess (Megila) when she said, «The nefesh of my master is bound up in the bundle of life» (Samuel I 25:29). Of Daniel it was said, «As for you, go to your end [where] you will rest.» (Daniel 12:13).

We find explicitly stated in Midrash Ne’elam of the Zohar on the verse, «For all the good that G-d did for David and Israel his people» (Kings I 8:66), that David stayed in the world-to-come seven years after his death before they allowed him to enter the upper Jerusalem [the upper level of paradise].

We also find this with respect to Samuel the prophet, who is considered equal to Moses and Aaron, (Psalms 99:6) when Saul raised him [from the dead] using Ob [One of the ancient and forbidden methods of sorcery, using bones done to raise up the dead and communicate with them. (Lev. 19:31).] as it says, «Why did you disturb me to raise me up?» (Samuel I 28:15). The Sages say, «He [Samuel] was afraid that it was the great day of judgment.» (Vayikra Raba 26:7)

So would it seem that even if one is judged at the time of death, still there are more judgments and punishments to follow.

Even Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai, «who did not miss one verse or mishna» cried at the time of his death, as it says in  Brachot (28b). [So his students asked him,] «What will be with the other righteous people who are not like you, and how much more so those people whose sins are many?». However, it is not now the place to elaborate.

On many occasions I walked with my teacher through a field, and he would say to me, «This person was called such-and-such, and though he was a righteous person and Torah scholar, because of a certain sin he committed he was reincarnated into this rock, or this plant, etc.» Even though he never knew the person nor inquired about him after his death, we always found that he was right. If we discussed this in depth, this book would never end!

Sometimes, he would look from a distance of five hundred amot [cubits, about 1000 feet] at a certain grave that was among twenty thousand others, and he would see the nefesh of the person buried there standing on the grave. He would say to us, «In that grave is buried so-and-so, and they gave him such-and-such a punishment for such-and-such a sin.» We would then investigate the person’s life and find his words to be true. There are many great stories like this one.

When a person dies, he is punished for all of his sins even before entering Purgatory. There are many types of punishment, all of which are called ‘gilgulim’, through which a person can reincarnate: into domaim [mineral], tzomai’och [vegetation], chai  [inanimate], or into midabair [another person]. Just about everyone must undergo these gilgulim.

The reason is because a person cannot receive punishment until he exists physically in a body with a soul, at which time he can bear and feel pain and atone for his sins. The extent to which a person sins determines the type of gilgul he will have to undergo, either as something from the tzomai’och [domain], or as chai, etc.

Thus, even righteous people and Torah scholars can reincarnate in this manner for having committed sins in their lifetimes, after which time they will ascend to the level befitting them. The sin must be removed, for G-d does not disregard [any of them], since He operates according to judgment. Even should the person be completely righteous, He will not accept any ‘bribe’ from him — even a mitzvah.

Also, when a person wants to ascend to a higher level he is sent back [to this world] and reincarnates in one of the manners mentioned above, if he still has a particular sin to purge.

Once I was with my teacher and he told me about a certain man he saw from the time of the Tanaim who reincarnated into a female goat for having had relations by the light of a candle [which is forbidden by Jewish law (Orach Chayim Tsniyut)]. This can result in children who are epileptic (Nedarim), which it turned out they were, and as a result died young. It was literally considered [that he was guilty of] spilling the blood of his children.

Another time, he told us that he saw a very learned Torah scholar from a previous generation for whom the time had come to ascend to a higher level. Therefore, at that time, he could see him being punished for not having been scrupulous in the finer points of mitzvot, in order for him to ascend to a higher level. According to the level to which a person is to be elevated, that is the extent to which he must be purified — even for the finer details of mitzvot, to a hairsbreadth.

At that time the person was punished for two reasons. Firstly for having become distracted from his tefilin while saying the words, «May it be Your will before You… that we shouldn’t toil for naught and not give birth to confusion» after the kedusha in the prayer, «U’Va LeTziyon». When concentrating on this prayer, he became distracted from his tefilin, and for that slight transgression he was punished.

Secondly, one Shabbat, [as] he walked in a public domain, some dust gathered on his shoe, and as a result he carried four amot [cubits] unwittingly in a public domain.

Now you can understand what it means when it says that righteous people have no rest in the world-to-come, as the Sages teach on the verse (Psalms 84:8), «They go from strength to strength» (Berachot 64b) As they ascend from level to level, they need to purge [previous sins] even more.

As is well known, the entire world was made from the parts of the «seven kings that ruled in the land of Edom» (Gen. 36:31) who died and [the fallen sparks] were separated out. (Eitz Chayim, Sha’ar Shevirat Hakeilim).

Those which were the most refined were used for the level of Atzilut, and the next level went to Beriya, after that to Yetzira, and finally to Asiya.

From those used to create Asiya, the most refined were used for man and they were separated out first. After that came the animals who cannot speak, then the vegetable kingdom, and after that inanimate creation. However, a righteous person through his actions such as eating for the sake of a mitzvah, can separate out aspects of the inanimate world and elevate them to the level of the vegetable kingdom, or the animal kingdom, or even to the level of man, as we have explained in Sha’ar HaMitzvot, in the portion Eikev on the mitzvah of Birkat Hamazon.

A wicked person, however, through his actions can cause just the opposite to happen and will lower [the sparks down] rungs. Some sins can cause portions of man[soul sparks] to descend until the level of domaim, some until tsoma’och, and some until chai. Thus, after a wicked person dies he can reincarnate into an inanimate rock as a result of the sins he performed in his lifetime, or into vegetation, or into an animal — if his sins were animal-like.

The person who reincarnates in this way will remain there for a set amount of time until he has become purged of the sin that caused him to reincarnate into vegetation. After, he will be elevated to the level of the animal kingdom, and when the time is complete, he will be elevated to that of man.

Reincarnating into a man can happen in one of two ways. Regarding the first way, and the souls of wicked people which after death do not merit to enter Purgatory, or bodies of living people in this world, we will speak about later. According to the second way, they may enter a person in the secret of ‘ibur’ [‘pregnancy’ (an added soul part)] as we spoke about earlier, clinging to the person without him even knowing anything at all.

Thus, if a person sins, the nefesh that has come into him will overcome him, and the person will sin and be pulled to the side of evil. For, just as the soul of a righteous person enters a person to help him do good, so the soul of a wicked person causes another to do evil.

Sometimes the ibur is to help the soul rectify itself, and sometimes it is for the sake of the person to bring him to do good. These two levels also exist with respect to the ibur of an evil soul, either for the sake if it having entered the body of a righteous person, or to cause an wicked man to ‘complete’ his evil and warrant destruction from the world, G-d forbid.

Once the set time to atone has finished for the soul that has reincarnated into a person in one of these two ways just mentioned, then he is forgiven. He can then come into this world as a true  gilgul, born into a body like most people.

Reincarnation to something domaim or into tsome’ach, etc., happens at specific times of the year. For example, someone who reincarnated into something inanimate for a few years, when the time arrives for him to ascend to the higher level of tsome’ach, he can only do so during the four middle months of the year: Av, Elul, Tishrei, and Cheshvan. If the time to ascend occurs during these four months then he will ascend. If not, he will have to wait until these four middle months come around again.

The time to be elevated from tsome’ach  to chai is the first four months: Nissan, Iyar, Sivan, and Tammuz. The time to be elevated from chai to midabair is the last four months: Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, and Adar.

Even though the order of ascension is from the domaim to tsome’ach, then to chai, and finally to  midabair, sometimes a person can climb two levels at once.

For example, if a soul reincarnated into something domaim such as dust, and an animal came along and ate grass which had the dust on it, then this soul will now reincarnate into that animal thus rising two levels at once. Sometimes, he can even reincarnate all levels at once — from domaim to midabair — if a person eats food that has dust into which a soul reincarnated.

Someone who has reincarnated into water and salt is not considered to be part of domaim, rather tsome’ach, since water is life-giving — it flows and it is not stationary like dust. Salt itself is made from water and therefore is it considered part of tsome’ach. This is what the Sages say : One who takes salt from his quarry is guilty of ‘cutting’, and as it is well known [in the laws of Shabbat that] such cutting only applies to things belonging to tsome’ach. (Shabbat, Chap. 7)

These types of reincarnations are discussed in many places and are alluded to by the verse, «Rescue my soul from the sword, my only one from the grip of the dog [i.e. from reincarnation into him]» (Psalms 22:21).

The Sages hinted to this when they said: If the head of an ox is in the feeding basket, go to the roof and be very careful. One who sees a black ox during the month of Nisan should run from it and go up to the roof because the Satan is dancing between its horns. (Berachot 33a)

This is what they mean. Since the ox represents strict judgment it is better suited for the gilgul of a [wicked] soul more than other animals, and therefore you should run from it more than from other animals. For, there is no better time to reincarnate from vegetation to animals than in Nissan and the three months that follow. Therefore, during the month of Nissan, because of the addition of a wicked ibur, it might damage anyone who meets it. However, after he [the ox] is accustomed to it [the ibur], he will not cause harm, and therefore there is no reason to be so concerned regarding the elevation.

The ox, by eating the grass, allows the wicked person who was originally tsome’ach to reincarnate into it. We have already explained the story of Yanus and Yambrus, the sons of Balaam the wicked, who made the calf in the month of Tammuz, in regard to whom it says, «for the likeness of a grass-eating ox» (Psalms 106:20).

Naval HaCarmeli reincarnated into something inanimate, and thus it says, «His heart died within him and he was a rock» (I Samuel 25:37). The secret of this is understood from knowing that Laban reincarnated into Balaam, and later into Naval HaCarmeli. Balaam, who was a snake-charmer, had power only in his mouth to curse people, and when Balaam was killed it was with a single rock something domem [literally meaning ‘silent’] — to atone for the charming he did with his mouth.

When he further reincarnated it was into Naval HaCarmeli, originally for the sake of rectification. But instead he angered David when he said, «Who is David and who is Ben Yishai?» (Samuel  I 25:10). David wanted to kill him; instead he came to rectify the wicked speech of Balaam. Instead, he [Balaam] repeated the mistake, and therefore «his heart died» when he remembered that he had once been a rock. This is why the verse does not say, «and he became a rock,» but rather, «he was a rock.»

You need not wonder how he knew this, for Naval was an important person and it is even likely that he was a prophet, or just someone with great understanding. It could be that his mazel understood this, even though he did not.

The concept of reincarnating into something inanimate is also hinted to by the verse, «The stone from the wall cries out» (Habakkuk 2:11). For, it is possible for stones in a wall to be reincarnations, or for wood rafters to be from the level of vegetation, and they will cry out from the extent of their punishment which they are undergoing. We will explain other verses along these lines.

One who speaks loshon hara [i.e. slander], or similar will reincarnate into a stone, which cannot speak and as we said [in the preceding section] regarding Naval HaCarmelli, since the opposite of speaking is silence.

Someone who feeds improperly slaughtered meat [in Hebrew, ‘neveilah’] to a Jew comes back as a leaf on a tree, the level of vegetation. The wind blowing him back-and-forth will never allow him rest and this will be his punishment. When his time is over, the leaf will become detached from the tree, wither [in Hebrew, ‘novelet], and fall to the ground. This is an example of a real death for him one who was cut off and uprooted from the world.

This is the secret of the verse, «The leaf will wither» (Jeremiah 8:13), since one who feeds neveilah to a Jew reincarnates into a leaf that withers and falls to the ground. This is also the secret of the verse, «You will be like a elm tree with withered leaves» (Isaiah 1:30). Because sometimes the withered leaf can return as another leaf which will wither, even many times, as in the case of a person who has to reincarnate many times in this world to receive his specified punishment.

Some people reincarnate into water, [which is]  considered on the level of vegetation, as we mentioned previously. This can happen to a person who spills blood in this world, and you can remember this from «you will spill it [blood] on the ground like water» (Deut. 12:16).

It also says, «One who spilled the blood of another, his blood will be spilled» (Gen. 9:6), meaning that he will be placed under a flow of water that will pour on him constantly. He will want to get up and stand, but the water will constantly pour on him and he will find no relief, constantly rotating in circles under the flow of water.

This is hinted to in the verse, «We will all die, like water flowing along the ground that connects [shall we] be collected» (Samuel II 14:14). As well, anyone meant to die by strangulation but who was not punished by a court, will reincarnate into water and so be ‘strangled’ every moment.

One who commits adultery with a married woman, and who is therefore punishable by strangulation, will reincarnate into a grinding stone, into which wheat is placed and which uses water to grind. That is where the man and woman will be judged, in the secret of «for another my wife will be ground» (Job 31:10).

One who is not scrupulous with the washing of the hands [before eating bread] will reincarnate into water. This is the secret of the verse, «Then they would have surged across our soul, the treacherous waters. Blessed is G-d, Who did not present us as prey for their teeth» (Psalms 124:5-6). The head-letters of «nisananu teref lishenaihem [did not present us as prey for their teeth]» spell the word NTL [to wash].

This is the secret of what the Sages say: One who eats without washing his hands is uprooted from the world and is judged with water. (Sota 4b) There is a hint to this from, «Blessed is G-d, Who did not present us as prey for their teeth,» whose head-letters spell the word NTL [wash]; by washing one’s hands one is not given «as prey for their teeth,» that is, of the surging waters. Therefore, we must thank G-d that we, unlike the wicked, wash our hands.

One who does not recite blessings in advance of enjoying something, treating them with no respect, or steals from his father or mother, or befriends a destructive person, also reincarnates into water.

Some reincarnate into animals. A community leader who lords himself over others reincarnates into a bee, as Rabbi Nachman bar Yitzchak said: «Pride does not suit women. Two women were proud, and the names of both were not positive: one was called ‘bee’ and the other was called ‘weasel’. (Megila14b) He was referring to Deborah the prophetess, who lorded herself over Barak when she sent for him and did not go to him herself (Judges 4:6).

The other was Chuldah the prophetess, who insulted Zedekiah the king when she said, «Speak to the man» (Kings II 22:15), as opposed to «Speak to the king,» as the Sages say. From their words you can see that Deborah was a proud woman, and therefore she didn’t perform any work and was very talkative, never remaining silent. Therefore, a leader who lords himself over the community, and one who speaks improperly, comes back as a bee who have these two traits.

Regarding these types of gilgulim or any soul that is judged in the heavenly court, someone goes before him continuously announcing his gilgul or punishment, never leaving him. There is also one ‘enforcer’ assigned to him, punishing him as is fitting. For example, in the case of one who reincarnates into water, the enforcer stands over him continuously, constantly lowering him into the water for the duration of allotted time.

As well, for the majority of reincarnations or punishments mentioned, there is a court before him during the period of the  gilgul or punishment, judging him, changing his punishment from time-to-time according to what is fitting for him.

(Shmuel said: I found another collection of writings of those close [to the Arizal], and even though within them are words of the Rav, it seems that they are not from the mouth of my teacher, the Rav — ‘the great feeder of all’, as he [the author] wrote. Nevertheless, I will present them. This is what I found in the book of HaRav Eliezer HaLevi, though in my humble opinion without doubt they are not from my teacher.)

One who has relations with an animal reincarnates as a bat. One who has relations with nidah [a menstruant] reincarnates into a female gentile; with a married woman into a male donkey; with his mother, into a female donkey.

One who commits homosexuality reincarnates into a coney or a rabbit, depending upon whether he was the one committing the act or to whom it occurred.

One who has relations with his daughter-in-law reincarnates into a mule; with a non-Jew, into a female Jewish prostitute; with one’s step-mother, into a camel; with one’s sister-in-law (brother’s wife), into a male mule; with one’s sister through his father or his mother, into a  chasidah [a stork], and his companions will kill him. This is the secret of the verse, «If a man takes his sister through his father or his mother… it is a chesed.» (Vayikra 20:17) [similar to the Hebrew word for stork].  It is the same for one who has relations with his mother-in-law.

One who lies with a domesticated animal, a wild animal, or a bird, reincarnates as a raven. One who constantly looks at those forbidden to him and gazes at them will reincarnate into ‘ra’ah’ [a white vulture] — who can ro-eh [see] the farthest of all birds. All of this is only when he has not done teshuvah.

(Shmuel said: This is the correct location for another introduction that I already wrote about in Sha’ar Ma’amrei Chazal regarding the reward for the righteous and ‘chibut hakever’ [the cleansing of the grave].).

Kapitel 23

We already know from the Pirkei Rebbi Eliezer in the discussion of chibut hakever [torments of the grave] about the angel that comes to a person’s grave and asks him, «What is your name?» The person then answers, «G-d knows that I don’t know my name, etc.»

This is strange, for what does asking this question accomplish, and why does he forget his name? How does this help with the administration of punishment?

As we have said before, all souls were included in Adam before the sin, and that after he sinned, limbs ‘fell off’ him. As a result, the souls that were a part of him fell into the depths of the kelipot, and Adam fell to the level of only ‘one hundred amot’, as we spoke about elsewhere. (See chapter 7)

Not all the souls were equal, since the defect was not the same for all limbs. The limbs that were most affected by the sin of Adam fell deeper into the kelipot than other limbs more distant from the blemish. As a result, some souls pursue sin more than others.

Thus, the impact of the sin on a limb determined how deep it fell into the kelipot, since God made them correspond to each other. In other words, Adam Bliya’al [‘the despicable man’] mirrors  Adam d’Kedushah [‘the man of holiness’], and also has 248 limbs and 365 tendons.

The limbs used by Adam to commit the sin fell from him to the corresponding level within Adam Bliya’al. There they were enveloped and enclothed by the kelipot on their corresponding level. For all the ways of G-d are just and straight without confusion (Deut. 32:4), and thus every limb fell to the corresponding level within Adam Bliya’al.

Therefore, all souls that fell from Adam, though enclothed in holiness prior to the sin, lost their crowns and glory after falling into the kelipot and instead donned clothing of kelipot. Hence, all souls have a level of kelipot that acts like clothing attached to it, according to the effect of Adam’s sin on it. That kelipa clothes the soul and encircles it all the days of its life [in the physical world]. Even though the soul is holy and spiritual it is nevertheless garbed in kelipot and dirt.

This is the meaning of the verse, «It is your sins that separate you from your G-d» (Isaiah 59:2); Kelipa which results from sin clothes the soul and stands between it and G-d, preventing the flow of light. This idea is hinted at in the Talmud: «We learn that the snake came upon Eve and imparted zuhama [spiritual dirt] to her.» (Avoda Zara 22b ).

This was the case for Adam as well, and all his descendants after him until the days of Moshiach, since they [their souls] were included in Adam at the time of the sin. Thus all people die «because of the bite of the snake,» since all were affected by the zuhama. Nevertheless, not all souls are equal, because every soul was blemished according to its proximity to the sin.

However, all sins that people perform on their own, that is, other than the one that Adam committed, draws kelipa to them, depending upon the severity of the sin committed. However, a person’s teshuvah can push away the zuhama that came to him because of his sin, even in the case of very serious sins.

The dirt and the kelipot that bond with all souls as a result of the sin of Adam are not affected by teshuvah, necessitating death to rectify the defect. For even though G-d accepted Adam’s teshuvah and granted him atonement, nevertheless the zuhama and  kelipa remained with him as when he sinned. It only separates from us at death, since he committed a very serious crime, for many reasons that we will not explain here.

This is the secret of those who died [only] from the bite of the snake: Benjamin, Yishai, Kilav [one of David’s sons – Ed.], Levi, and Joshua bin Nun who did not participate in the sin of the calf, as the Zohar says (Zohar I 53a, Shabbat 55b). In other words, even though they did not commit any sins, they still had to die, since the kelipa and zuhama adhered to them as a result of Adam’s sin and only leaves at death. This is also the secret of what the Sages mean when they refer to the  zuhama of the snake that was imparted to Adam and Eve.

We need to explain why death causes a separation of the kelipot from man. First of all, kedushah [holiness] is called life. As it says, «See! I place before you life and good» (Deut. 30:15), and, «Those who adhere to G-d your L-rd — all of you are alive today» (Deut. 4:4). This is because it is G-d who gives sustenance and food to all of his creations.

However, the sitra achra, which removes [flow] from creations, is called death, as it says [in the former verse], «and death and evil». Thus when a person sins, he draws the sitra achra, called death, towards him. Therefore the kelipa cannot leave him until he dies, when the flesh rots in the soil. Then the kelipa that was tied to him leaves along with the kelipa from the zuhama that was imparted to Adam and Eve.

Now you can understand the concept of ‘chibut hakever’ [torments of the grave]. After a person dies and is buried in the dust of the earth, four angels immediately arrive and deepen his grave to the height of the man, as it says in treatise Perek Chibut Hakever. Then they restore his soul to his body just like during his lifetime, since the kelipa remains connected to both.

Then these angels take him by the corners and shake and beat him with fire — just as a garment is held from the ends and shaken to remove dust — until the kelipa leaves him completely. This is called  chibut hakever, which is like the beating and shaking of a garment. They deepen the grave in order to create an area within which to shake and beat him.

However, the judgment is not the same for everyone. Righteous people distance themselves from the yetzer hara during their lifetimes and humble themselves and use their suffering as self-affliction. Torah and mitzvot as well weaken the kelipot until the day comes for them to die. Such righteous people do not need much suffering, just a minor beating to separate the yetzer hara from them.

It is just the opposite for evil people. Through indulging in the pleasures of this world they become even more strongly connected to the kelipa of their bodies and souls. This is the secret of why a person is not saved from chibut hakever, as mentioned in Perek Chibut Hakever.

As we said regarding those people who died only because of the bite of the snake, there is no other way to remove and rectify other than through death and chibut hakever. The only exception is for those people mentioned in Perek Chibut Hakever who performed certain  mitzvot which accomplish this. However, the rest require chibut hakever and it is only a question of how much will be necessary. Each person receives what he needs based upon the level of his kelipa and the extent to which it adheres to him.

However, even for those people who do not require chibut hakever, having performed specific mitzvot that remove the kelipa without the need for suffering after death, death is still inevitable, as we mentioned regarding those who died from the «bite of the snake.».

I heard from my teacher that all who are buried on Friday from the fifth hour onward do not have to undergo chibut hakever [torments of the grave]. This is because the holiness of Shabbat itself separates the kelipa from these people without any pain. This is the secret of ‘something extra’ on the sixth day (Ex. 16:22) — for from the fifth hour onward the holiness of Shabbat begins to shine.

This is why the evil forget their name, as mentioned above [in section 1]. As we have already explained, every soul in the world is clothed in kelipa i.e., the zuhama of the snake. That  kelipa is the secret of the yetzer hara with which a man is born. For as a result of Adam’s sin, the yetzer hara became ingrained in him — they became mixed together like dough. This is the secret of why the yetzer hara has such ability to cause a person to sin — he is a complete ‘master of the house’ in the body of man. (Talmud)

We have already explained that not all kelipot are the same, since every kelipa is an evil spark from the  sitra achra, a specific aspect of the 248 limbs of Adam Bliya’al of impurity, like the limbs of Adam d’Kedushah. And, just like every soul has a specific name based upon its level within the limb from which it was hewn, as The Sages the Sages say regarding the verse, «‘Who has wrought shammot [devastation] in the land’ (Psalms 46:9): Don’t read ‘shammot’ but rather ‘shaimot'» [meaning names]». Likewise, each spark from the side of the kelipot has its own name. And so the yetzer hara of one person is not like the yetzer hara of another person.

After someone is born and named by his father and mother, it is not by chance [which name is given], for G-d places in the mouth [of the parent] the name that suits that soul. As it says, «names in the land,» based upon the limb within the upper man from which it was taken. This name itself is imprinted above on the holy throne, as is known. This is why the Sages say what they do regarding the names of converts, and why Rebbe Yehoshua ben Korchah and Rebbe Meir used to check names.

God created a corresponding reality with respect to this as well. Therefore just as there is for a person a pre-determined name from the side of holiness, given to him by his father and mother at the time of his brit milah [ritual circumcision], likewise there is an established name from the side of the kelipot — the yetzer hara that enters the person at birth.

Hence, every person possesses two names, one from the side of holiness and one from the side of kelipa. If a person while living in this world is able to ascertain and know the name of the  kelipa within him, he can thereby know from which level within Adam Bliya’al it was taken. In this way, he can understand his defect and the tikun [rectification process] he requires. This would then make rectification simpler and separation from the kelipa possible during his lifetime, as opposed to after death through chibut hakever.

Therefore, when a righteous person dies, there is no need to ask him his name from the sitra achra, since during his lifetime he worked hard and withstood suffering to separate the kelipa from himself. This makes the separation through chibut hakever easier.

However, an evil person does just the opposite, instead causing the kelipa to bond with him. This necessitates much beating and great punishment to carry out separation through chibut hakever. If he had come to know the name from the sitra achra during his lifetime, he could have easily rectified it then. Instead, he must receive intense beatings for not having come to know the name during his lifetime — for not bothering to investigate what it was. He didn’t care to work hard as the righteous person did.

(Shmuel [son of Rabbi Chaim Vital] says: I found another very good introduction to chibut hakever [torments of the grave], and this is what it says:) We have explained the matter of chibut hakever previously. We have also mentioned that, as a result of the sin of Adam, there was a combining of good and evil in all souls, as we explained already with respect to Cain and Abel.

This is the secret of the verse, «and Adam called names» (Gen. 2:20). For just as they have souls from holiness, likewise have they names from souls in kelipa. This is so because when Adam sinned through the tree of knowledge he caused souls to be taken from the side of impurity, just as it occurs from the side of holiness.

I have already explained that in the world of Asiya, evil overcomes good since there they are intermingled. However, in the world of Yetzira, they are equal, and in the world of Beriya, good overcomes evil and they are no longer combined.

There are people who have [only] a nefesh from malchut of Asiya of the kelipot, and there are people who have an [entire] NR»N from the kelipot. However, one who does not perform that much evil has [clearly] not received a neshama from the kelipot. He can achieve rectification through teshuvah and by reincarnating into this world and undergoing punishment.

[When the former is the case,] they will be like Jeravam ben Nevat and similar, of whom it is said, «they have no portion in the world-to-come». (Sanhedrin 1:2) That is, rather than have their souls elevated above as M»N, through an upper unification of Abba and  Imma who are called the ‘world-to-come’; they will ascend only on the level of M»N through a unification of Zu»N.

However, someone who has NR»N from the kelipot must have their bones rot and eat their flesh. This is the secret of Ruth and Orpah, the latter being the one who returned to her people and her god. (Ruth 1) This is also the secret of the verse, «The fool clasps his hands together and has nothing to eat but his own flesh.» (Eccl. 4:5) They destroy themselves, and in order to separate from this [evil]  soul they require chibut hakever.

Even in the land of Israel, a minor amount of chibut hakever is necessary. For it [the bad soul] is already separate from one born in the land of Israel. Nevertheless, it will depend upon the actions of a person, whether they are good or evil.

If one is jealous regarding spiritual matters, [his spiritual station] is as the Sages have written: «A man only becomes jealous over his wife when a spirit of zealotry enters him.» (Sota 3a). However, if one is jealous regarding worldly matters — that is a function of the outside forces. As a result his bones will have to rot [to be cleansed of their attachment to the kelipot].

We find this regarding what is said about Rav Achai bar Yeshaya, based upon the verse, «But envy is [causes] rotting of the bones.» (Proverbs 14:30) For jealousy regarding worldly matters causes the bones to rot and «like a garment AS»h [a moth] shall devour them.» (Isaiah 50:9)

This is the secret of the matter: There are  Sh»A/370 lights on the side of holiness. (Zohar III Idra Raba)  [At times, another 8 encompassing lights are added to them. (Ibid., Shaar Ruach HaKodesh, ‘Yichud D’chivarti’)] When they become 378 it totals the words chashmal [fiery radiance (Chagiga 13a)] and ‘malbush’ [clothing]. This is because the 378 lights become like clothing and a covering that envelopes the four worlds,  ABY»A, as a result [of which], the outside forces have no power over them.

It is well-known that four garments enclothe the worlds ABY»A, and each garment [progressively down the ladder] is denser than the other. The thickest of all belongs to Asiya, since that [being the lowest area] is the principle place that the kelipot latch onto.

And just as there are 370 Lights on the side of holiness, so are there also on the side of the chitzonim [outside forces]. They are called the opposite: ASh. This is the secret of the verse, «like a garment, ASh [a moth] will devour them» — a devouring moth is the one who eats and causes the bones to rot.

Hence is there also a concept of ‘tolai’a’ [a worm] from the side of holiness in the secret of «tola’as shani» [scarlet wool] (Ex. 25:4) and in the secret of, «Fear not tola’at Ya’akov [the worm of Jacob].» (Isaiah 41:14) Its letters form the name  ABGYT»Ts, which has the gematria of tola’a. This is the secret of the [first row and] chesed-[name] that is in the seven [six-letter sub-]names of the 42-letter name. And it [also hints to] the «kohen»  [priest, who is rooted in chesed], of whom it says, «VNTN/V’natan  [and give] to the kohen the foreleg and cheek.» (Deut. 18:3) The word «v’natan» also has the [same] gematria of the name we mentioned [tola’a = 510] and that of the word ShR/shor [ox], of which the Talmud writes, «a black ox in the month of Nissan». (Brachot 33a) For the 42-Letter Name is one of strong gevurot (Eitz Chaim) [and the ox is rooted in the left side above, the source of gevurot].

Correspondingly, there is the concept of a ‘worm’ on the side of the kelipot. One that eats the flesh of the dead in the grave, of which it says, «The fool holds his hands together and has nothing to eat but his own flesh.» (Eccl. 4:5) And, «If it  [sin] will be tolai’a [red as crimson], it shall become [white] as wool.» (Isaiah 1:18)

However, one who is righteous in this world can rectify everything during his lifetime, as we saw with respect to Rav Achai bar Yeshaya, who was never jealous over worldly matters — a jealousy that stems from the kelipot. Therefore, neither death nor tolai’a [worms] nor ASh  [a moth] had any effect on him. As King David wrote, «Even my flesh will dwell in safety.» (Psalms 16:9) To the extent that you have four people who, even though they died, did so only because of the bite of the snake [but their flesh remained safe — free of chibut hakever and decapitation].