Kapitel 24

Having spoken about the punishment of the souls of the evil, we will now discuss the reward for the souls of the righteous. In doing so, we will explain a distinction that the Sages often make, sometimes saying that a certain type of person has a «portion in the world-to-come,» or that he is a «ben olam haba» [son of the world-to-come], or he is «ready for life in the world-to-come.»

The reason for the nuances is as follows: There are three categories with respect to a tzadik gamur [completely righteous person] who leaves this world and does not require any punishment. The first is that from the moment he dies he ascends in the secret of ‘M»N elayin’ [upper awakening] through the yesod of Imma Elai/binah — which is called olam habah. This causes the upper unification, bringing Abba and Imma together. And so this group is called benei olam habah. In other words, he is like Zeir Anpin, who is called ben [a son of] Imma Elai, who ascends in the secret of M»N as high as Abba and Imma, and causes them to unite. Likewise, a righteous person is called a ben olam habah — that is of Imma Elai, since he causes a unification above.

The second group is not as great as the first one. It is composed of righteous people who are not fitting to ascend by themselves and cause a unification between Abba and Imma. Rather, they must combine with a soul more righteous than their own and in this way cause a unification above. It was to this group that the Sages referred when they wrote, «Every Jew has a portion in the world-to-come». (Sanhedrin 91a).

In other words, all Jews, even if they do not become completely righteous, at least have a ‘portion’ and can unite with the rest of the souls to ascend and cause a unification in the upper world-to-come. They are not however, individually benei olam haba, that is like a ‘ben-bayit’ [son of the house] who can enter his father’s house on his own.

The third group is the highest of the three, referred to by the words «ready for life in the world-to-come». This is the level of the world-to-come which does not occur immediately after death, rather in a future time of which it says, «the light of the moon will be like that of the sun» (Isaiah 30:26). At that time, Abba and Imma will rise to Arich Anpin once again, just as they [were stationed] at the time of creation.

Any time an ibur is repeated it is in order to renew the mochin [mentality]. Doing so provides the ability to cause the light of the moon to become like that of the sun, the latter being Zeir Anpin and the former Nukva.

The mochin are coined ‘life of the world-to-come’, since they are the source of its existence. They are [also] called ‘chayei hamelech’ [life of the King]. In the secret of what the Sages say, «All those who wear tefilin live [real life], as it says (Brachot): «G-d, concerning them [You said], ‘They will live’.» (Isaiah 38:16) For, they [draw from chochma,] the life source that flows to the world-to-come, which is Imma. (Shaar HaKavanot Tefilin) Therefore, anyone who is fitting to ascend in the secret of M»N to Arich Anpin and cause a unification there for the sake of the mochin of Imma is called ‘one who is ready for the world to-come’.

Now you can understand what Samuel the prophet meant when he said, «Why did you disturb me, to raise me up?» (Samuel I 28:15): He was afraid of the great day of judgment in the future. Even though he already knew that he was a ben olam habah, still he was in doubt as to whether he was already on the level of being fit for life in the world-to-come.

There is also a fourth group referred to in  Sanhedrin in the chapter Chailek of «those who have no portion in the world-to-come: Three kings and four laymen etc.» In other words, even though they were punished, they still don’t manage to make it to the lowest group of those who have a portion in the world-to-come after death — even with the help of other souls. These souls will not be able to ascend at all to the world-to-come to cause M»N through a unification of Abba and  Imma. Rather, they will be forced to remain below in the secret of M»N on the level of the malchus/Nukva of Zeir Anpin only.

Kapitel 25

I have decided to discuss a topic from my teacher regarding the mountains, valleys, and streams that G-d created in this world:

Just as the upper land, which is the malchut, is divided into seven sections, which is why it is called Bat Sheva [daughter of seven], so the lower land is divided into seven different continents, as is known. Nothing happens in the land below that is not the result of [the actions of] a heavenly minister above, [who is] appointed over it.

Thus, each of the large mountains and hills of the land have ministers assigned to them. Depending upon the height of one mountain over another, relatively-speaking, that is how much higher its minister is than the one for the lower mountain.

Furthermore, each day these mountains either increase or decrease in size, though it may not be noticeable to man. It is as the Sages say regarding the Land of Israel, that it was once four hundred  parsot, but it shook and shrank. (Gittin 57a)

There are some mountains that increase in size and become stronger, as result of the power of the Heavenly minister over it. Sometimes the heavenly minister is eliminated, and so the mountain to which it was assigned will also disappear by joining to another mountain to which it is attached. It will then no longer be recognizable on its own.

Sometimes, they remove part of his rulership from him and divide his dominion, giving half to another minister. The result is a split in the mountain itself. Occasionally, we see large rocks that have been split into two equal halves, with no residual rocks to be found.

Springs correspond to the level of the springs of M»N in the upper land of malchut, which ascend from the depths to above on the face of the land. However, the rain that falls is the level of M»D, and so you find that there is no spring on the lower land that does not have a corresponding light in the upper land.

M»N ascends from malchut to  Zeir Anpin the entire lifetime of the stream. When a stream or well closes and dries up, so too does the source above, and M»N no longer ascends. Sometimes, we see that a stream is renewed producing water from a new source. This reveals that a light above has been renewed, or that a soul has caused  M»N to ascend from malchut to Zeir Anpin.

There is also a minister appointed over each tree below, and when it is terminated the tree dries up. Not only this, but every time a leaf falls from the tree, the minister above is accordingly weakened. From what we have just written you will be able to understand many wondrous things.

Kapitel 26

There is no soul in the entire world, heaven forfend, that does not have at least one garment to wear in this world. The concept of [spiritual] apparel is hinted to in the Zohar in the portion Mishpatim in the words of Rav Yabba on the verse, «He must not diminish her clothing» (Ex. 21:10) and, «Seeing that «bigdo» [in Hebrew, ‘he rebelled’; also can be translated, ‘his garment’] against her.» (ibid 21:8).

Now we will explain this concept of clothing for the soul. All that happened to Joseph with the wife of his master Potiphar, (Gen. 39:7-12) which caused him to lose ten drops of seed from between his finger nails, as it says, «the fingers of his hand spread.» (Sota 36b) also happened to the supernal Joseph, which is the sefira of yesod. Hence, ten drops and sparks of holy souls left the supernal yesod, which is male, and were not received by the supernal female womb — instead taken by the kelipot.

I have already mentioned how many levels of  partzufim there are above that depend upon Zeir Anpin and how each has a yesod aspect. Thus, from every level of yesod, sparks and souls went to waste and were taken by the kelipot — the yesod of each one alluding to Joseph. There are five [principle] levels of zivugim [pairs] above, and sparks went out from the yesod of each one.

This is the order according to their level:

ZIVUG 1: This is Zeir Anpin which is called Israel, and its female counterpart is called Rachel. The time for this  zivug is [during the] musaf [prayer] on Shabbat, at which time Rachel, [who is usually only up to the chest of] Zeir Anpin, grows to equal his full size, and a zivug is able to occur with the real yesod.

ZIVUG 2: This is the zivug of Yaakov and Rachel during the weekday shacharit [morning prayer]. It occurs through his real yesod.

ZIVUG 3: This is the zivug of Yaakov and Leah, and it occurs after chatzot [midnight]. At that time both enlarge, spreading to the full length of Zeir Anpin. [This unification happens] as a result of his single yesod.

ZIVUG 4: This is the zivug of Israel with Leah during the weekday minchah [afternoon prayer]. She only extends to the length of his upper half, until his chest-aspect. The zivug then takes place through his yesod that was originally toward Zeir Anpin, since he is only on the level of the six extremities [chesed through  yesod], as we explained regarding prayer. (Shaar HaKedusha Tefila).

ZIVUG 5: This is the zivug of Yaakov with Leah during the weekday arvit [evening prayer], which occurs over the upper half of Zeir Anpin, and through another yesod.

Thus, there are five kinds of zivugim, and from them five types of yesodot. From each of these yesodot, wasted seed went out. These drops are the secret of the clothing of the souls, which always remain connected to the souls even after resurrection, as is the case with the rest of the kinds of clothing for the other souls.

Now we will explain these five levels:

ZIVUG 1: The first level, which is the most elevated zivug of them all, is that of Israel with Rachel. Unlike the other zivugim, it has two levels. Within the true yesod of Israel which joins with Rachel, there are five  chasadim [plural for chesed] and five gevurot that flow from the mochin of Imma, and chasadim and gevurot from the mochin of Abba. For the yesod of Abba is [clothed] within Zeir Anpin emanating light and reaching as far down as the end of the yesod of  Zeir Anpin. (Eitz Chaim Shaar Abba)

Hence, there are ten gevurot, five from Abba and five from Imma, and they represent the level of the Ten Martyrs, whose souls were enclothed within these drops. The five gevurot of Abba [expressed as]: Rebbe Akiva, Raban Shimon ben Gamliel, Rebbe Yeshavev HaSofer, Rebbe Yishmael ben Elisha Kohen Gadol [the high priest], and Rebbe Yehudah ben Babba. It would seem to me that this is the actual order, since Rebbe Akiva was the chesed within gevurot, Rebbe Shimon ben Gamliel was the gevurot of the gevurot, etc.

It should not surprise you that Rebbe Akiva’s soul was from the source of Cain which was Imma, as mentioned elsewhere, [in a previous chapter] and that the clothing of his soul was from Abba. This is not problematic, for the reason that we mentioned elsewhere , [in a previous chapter]  when discussing how the chasadim of Imma can clothe the yesod of Abba and be called the gevurot of Abba. Furthermore, within yesod everything becomes intermingled, which is why Joseph could be close to all the tribes, since he was from the level of yesod.

The rest of the clothing of the souls were for the five remaining martyrs, from the five gevurot of Imma. Since the ten martyrs were clothed in the level of gevurot and dinim [judgments], they needed to be killed because the kelipot adhere strongest to gevurot, and especially when from wasted seed as great as these.

The ten chasadim of Abba and  Imma were the ten garments for the souls of the ten students of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi), mentioned in the holy Idra Rabba and Sefer HaTikunin. (Book of Rectifications). They were his son Rebbe Eliezer, Rebbe Abba, Rebbe Yehudah, Rebbe Yitzchak, etc.

[Shmuel (son of Rabbi Chayim Vital) says: This requires investigation since other than the Rashbi himself, there were only nine students as mentioned at the beginning of Idra Rabba : «It was taught that the colleagues of Rebbe Shimon were before him, and they were: Rebbe Eliezer his son, Rebbe Abba, Rebbe Yehudah, Rebbe Yosi bar Ya’akov, Rebbe Yitzchak, Rebbe Chizkiah bar Rav, Rebbe Chiya, Rebbe Yosi, Rebbe Yaysa, etc.» (Zohar III Naso 127b) Furthermore, at the end of the Idra (Ibid. 144b), it says, «Rebbe Shimon told them, ‘We are the seven eyes of God, as it says, ‘these seven… the eyes of God’ (Zechariah 4:10).» Rebbe Abba said, «We are six candles who get their light from the seventh — you are the seventh of them all,» and that was after three of them had already died, which clearly indicates that there were only nine. If you want to say that Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai was the tenth, it can’t be, since the Rashbi himself was on the level of yesod and not included in the ten chasadim. Perhaps we can say that there were eight when Rebbe Yaysa the Small joined them… And there is proof that Rebbe Yaysa completed the number of ten aside from the Rashbi.]

Since they were on the level of chasadim, they did not have to be killed because the kelipot were not strongly connected to them. However, the three that died, mentioned in the holy Idra Rabba, Rebbe Yosi bar Ya’akov, Rebbe Chizkiah, and Rebbe Yaysa, were on the level of the three revealed chasadim of Imma that emanated light into the tiferet, netzach, and hod of Zeir Anpin. Thus, they ascended above to give off light to Zeir Anpin, as we know.

Rashbi was the level of yesod from which the ten drops came out, and he therefore had to teach them Torah and rectify them. However, the ten martyrs from the gevurot did not have a specific teacher for all of them, for the reason explained regarding the secret of tefilin according to the opinion of Rabeinu Tam, on the verse: (Psalms 32:10) «One who trusts in G-d will be surrounded by chesed». (Olot Tamid pg.81)

The reason discussed there is that, with respect to the chasadim of Abba, they do not stand in the yesod of Abba, since it is a very narrow place. Therefore, they go out and surround yesod from without, which means that the chasadim of  Abba stand within yesod of Imma and clothe the yesod of Abba. Unlike the gevurot, which lack unification, whether in yesod of Abba or Imma. Therefore, it was not possible to establish one teacher for all of them, for there is no one yesod unique to all of them who could teach them.

From what my teacher once answered, I could see that this is not really the reason. For I once asked him regarding this, suggesting that two teachers could have existed corresponding to the two  yesodot, but he wouldn’t answer me — seemingly because he did not want to reveal everything regarding this matter, though I don’t know why.

Since the ten students of Rashbi were from the level of the chasadim and an excellent zivug, Israel with Rachel, all the secrets of Torah could be revealed to them without the need for any suffering. This will not be the case again until the generation of Moshiach, as mentioned in the Zohar in many places. (Zohar II 149a, 156a).

ZIVUG 2: This is Yaakov with Rachel. As is known, there are not as many dinim in Rachel as there are in Leah, (Eitz Chaim) and Yaakov is from the emanation of light from the mochin of Abba within Zeir Anpin. (Eitz Chaim, Shaar  Zeir Anpin) Therefore, only the five chasadim and the five gevurot of Abba are in his yesod. The level of this yesod was Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, who organized the Mishnah, and whose students, Rebbe Chiya, Rebbe Oshia, Bar Kapora, Levi bar Sisi, Rebbe Chanina bar Chama, Rav and others like them, were the drops of chesed and gevura that came out of him.

ZIVUG 3: According to the ascending order of  zivugim, this is Yaakov with Leah after chatzot, and even though Leah has dinim, after chatzot the dinim become sweetened. Furthermore, after chatzot, Yaakov extends to be the entire length of  Zeir Anpin, which is not the case with the previous zivug of Yaakov and Rachel.

From the yesod of this zivug ten drops come out, five chasadim and five gevurot from Abba. Thus, with respect to these two zivugim, the second zivug of Yaakov and Rachel, and the third zivug of Yaakov and Leah after  chatzot, there was no need for them [the souls rooted here] to be killed — since they were from the yesod of Yaakov from the side of  Abba, divest of any dinim from Imma.

From this zivug only two drops come out, one with five chasadim and one with five gevuros. They are more elevated than the ten drops that came out after chatsos, and together they total twelve drops.

Prior to chatzot, Yaakov and Leah protrude from the chest of Zeir Anpin upward, as in the case of zivug 5, which will be explained shortly. After chatzot, they stretch to the entire length of Zeir Anpin, and therefore the effect of the first  yesod of Yaakov prior to chatzot remains, since Yaakov and Leah do not return back-to-back after chatzot. Because they remain face-to-face, and even extend their presence to the bottom [of Zeir Anpin], their effect is not canceled out.

There are ten other drops that come out of yesod before chatzot, though they don’t actually exit until after chatzot. There are also another two like this that come out at the time of kadruta d’tzafra, and they are included with the first ten drops, since they are on a higher level than the second ten drops.

Thus, within this third zivug there are four zivugim, though altogether they are considered only one zivug — from these come twenty-four drops. Each has its own yesod that extends out: two yesodot before chatzot and two after chatzot, and one is included in the other. So it is really all one yesod. At the end of this discussion, we will mention who these twenty-four drops were, and who was their teacher.

ZIVUG 4: According to the ascending order of  zivugim, this is the zivug of Israel with Leah during weekday mincha. Since they stand from the chest of Zeir Anpin upward, there is no room to spread to the chesed and gevura. Therefore, the  chasadim gather in the right arm, and the gevurot in the left arm. So they are only called two drops.

When this zivug occurs at mincha-time with Leah, which are dinim kashim [harsh judgments], then these drops are on the level of the two brothers Pappus and Lulinos who were killed in Lod. (Taanit 18b) Since they are on the level of Israel, they are strong [themselves] and so they have no recognizable yesod. Thus, they are without a yesod and a specific teacher.

ZIVUG 5: This is last in the order, and it is Yaakov with Leah before chatzot, which is [a time of] dinim gemurim [absolute judgments]. They are those massacred in Beiter. Their yesod and teacher was Rebbe Elazar of Modi’in, who was killed in Beitar.

There is a major difference between these fifty or more drops from these five zivugim, and the rest of the souls. They have a great advantage over the rest of the souls, since the rest of the souls are the result of a female arousal, who first seeks the zivug, desiring the male, after which he [in turn] desires it.

Since the male does not pursue it on his own, but as a result of her, the resulting drops of chasadim and gevurot from this zivug do not come from the daat of the male itself, which is the source of its longing, rather from the chasadim and  gevurot that spread within it to the six extremities. After, the drops are clothed and restrained there while among the six extremities.

However, the fifty drops from the five zivugim are from the male arousal. The fact that they are inadvertent drops indicates that there was a desire to pair with the female and give these drops over to her, but that he could not find her since she was below in the world of Beriya, or similar. Therefore, they go to waste, which is why it is called l’vatalah [for naught].

So we find that since these drops are the result of the male arousal, emanating from the chesed and gevura of the  daat aspect of the mind. When they flow through his six extremities, they do not become clothed there or held back, but by-pass them, which allows them to remain in their original form. So they are superior to the rest.

This is all with regard to the clothing of the souls, from which the 248 limbs are made, into which the soul goes. They are from the original chasadim from when they were in Zeir Anpin and Nukva in Atzilut, and not from the chasadim after this. For the level of these souls of this clothing are also from the level of daat itself. And they were not drawn downward, therefore they are given clothing from the drops which also come from daat itself.

Even though there is a strong connection between all these drops, nevertheless, this is only with respect to the drops that become the clothing. However, all the clothed souls themselves have a similar [general] root, because they all come from upper daat, but they are not bound as one since they don’t share a common particular root.

These clothing-drops have an inner aspect and an outer aspect as well. For there are drops that flow from the mochin themselves [i.e. the inner aspect], which are clothed within the netzach, hod, and yesod of Abba or Imma, and there are drops that flow from the outer aspect, the clothing of the mochin -the vessels of the netzach, hod and yesod of Abba and Imma. These two levels are possible for either Zeir Anpin or Yaakov, but are from the upper daat itself.

All of these drops and clothing mentioned above which were the ten martyrs, the ten students of the RaSHbi, and the executed of Lod and Beitar, were all on the level of pnimiut [inner-ness]. There are also corresponding drops on the level of chitzoniut [outer-ness]. However, my teacher did not explain to me which righteous people use these clothing.

There are drops and clothing referred to by the prophets as ‘she’ierit’ [remainder]. Those on the level of Israel are called «she’erit Israel». As it says, «She’ierit Israel [the remnant of Israel] will do no corruption.» (Zephaniah 3:13) Those on the level of Yaakov are called, «she’erit Yaakov». As it says, «She’erit Yaakov will be among the nations.» (Micah 5:7)

Since there are five levels among the five  zivugim, correspondingly the prophets mentioned she’erit Yaakov and she’erit Israel many times. «She’ar» is mentioned twice in the verse as well. «She’ier [the remnant] will return», «She’ar  [the remnant] of Yaakov,» (Isaiah 10:21) corresponding to  she’erit Israel and she’erit Yaakov.

According to the order of zivugim, the drops of the third zivug are higher than those of the fourth and fifth one. However, when it comes to the generations that come into this world, they represent the last of all five zivugim, that is those destined to come out in the last generation just prior to Mashiach’s arrival, G-d willing.

This last generation will come out during a time of exile and they were alluded to in Isaiah’s prophecy, in the verse, «A prophecy of Duma: He calls out to Me from Se’ir.» (Isaiah 21:11) As the Zohar explains, this prophecy refers to the final exile and that «leil» [night, mentioned in the verse] refers to before chatzot, and «lila» [another form of night, also in the verse] refers to after chatzot. They refer to the two groups mentioned above with respect to the third  zivug, all of which are from the zivug after chatzot. It is just that twelve of them include the first-half of the night, and with respect to them Isaiah prophesized that the Shechina will cry out during the exile of Se’ir, which is the exile of Edom. (Gen. 36:8) And she will say to G-d, «Watchmen — what of lila?» referring to one group of twelve drops, those from the zivug after chatzot which is called lilah. Regarding those called leil it says, «Watchman — what of leil»?

The Holy One, Blessed is He, who is called «the Watchman», will answer her. As it says, «The Watchman said, ‘Morning is coming, but also night.’» (Isaiah 21:12) For, the «morning is coming» refers to those born from the zivug of the morning darkness, which is morning. Corresponding to the twenty born from the zivug after chatzot, it also mentions lila.

It also says, «If you really desire it,» meaning when these twenty-four drops come in the last generation, they must try hard to do teshuvah and beg and supplicate before G-d — so that He will save them from exile and redeem them. Therefore, the verse says, «The remnant will return, the remnant of Yaakov,» within which the word «she’ar» is mentioned twice, corresponding to the two groups mentioned above.

Kapitel 27

Every person has a soul on the level of ohr makif [surrounding light] — the part of the soul not contained within any type of vessel, that is, a body, and an ohr pnimi [internal light].

When Nadav and Abihu were born into this world, the[primary] tikun for the root of Cain began, the second and superior level of root from Adam. All the souls of this root came from the tzelem [image] of Nadav and Abihu, on the level of the ohr makif [which rests] on them.

However, all of these souls were still not purified — only the two sparks of Nadav and Abihu themselves. The rest of the souls of this root, included in the tzelem of the ohr makif of Nadav and Abihu, still contained evil kelipot.

When a soul comes into this world that was previously from the tzelem of Nadav and Abihu, it [thereby] becomes purified from the kelipot. The remainder of the souls of this root which are part of the tzelem from which this newly purified soul came remain amongst the kelipot. Thus, when a soul is purified and redeemed from within the kelipot and enters this world, the rest remain impure and part of the tzelem, in the secret of the ohr makif of the soul that was already purified.

As mentioned previously, the purification of a soul and when it comes into this world is not based upon its spiritual level, rather upon the situation created by man below. He determines the type of soul that will be drawn into his seed, as mentioned before in previous discussions.

Sometimes, a very elevated soul will remain sunk in the kelipot for a long time, unable to exit until a certain merit related to its leaving can be arranged. Less-elevated souls can exit and enter this world even prior to others, because of a merit that was performed connected to their leaving.

Sometimes, a person may transgress in this world, and the kelipot will want to destroy him and draw him astray. At that point, they will draw a soul from his root to him, one which is sunk in the depths of the kelipot and full of chitzonom [outside energies]. They draw it out and it becomes like a tzelem for the person who transgressed, causing him to sin more.

However, it can be that the soul they draw to him will be a great soul which happened to be immersed in the depths of the  kelipot but [that] the kelipot assumed was already destroyed and unable to return to its former state. Instead, G-d will help it, arouse it from amongst the kelipot, and reveal its strength and holiness. As a result, it will instead help the person to do good.

This is the secret of the verse, «The time when ha’adam [the man] exerts power over his fellow to his disadvantage»: (Eccl. 8:9) The time when «ha’adam habliya’al [the despicable man]» — of the kelipot — exerts power over his fellow — the holy soul. However, in this case he made a mistake, for what he thought was to the benefit of the  kelipot turns out to be just the opposite, as the Saba of Mishpatim explains. Afterwards, this soul itself (from the kelipot)  will become purified and will also come into this world.

As previously mentioned, as a result of the sin of Adam all of the souls became mixed good and evil, having fallen into the depths of the kelipot, into Adam Bliya’al, where they became hidden. Now, when it comes time for a soul to come into this world, it cannot immediately leave the depths of the kelipot through some merit of a person in this world.

Instead, it must first be included in the level of the tselem and Ohr makif three times on the heads of three different people from the same root, one after the other. After that, it can enter a body that is born and become a soul on the level of Ohr pnimi, which is considered to be the first actual reincarnation. After that, it will reincarnate as many times as it needs to.

It can occur that the three previous people for whom he acted as the Ohr makif did not completely rectify themselves. If so, when he finally reincarnates for the first time, they can come with him to finish their own tikun. However, the name of the body will be his, the other three souls being only like guests — even though they remain there until death.

A person who has come into the world for the first time will have a difficult time subjugating his yetzer hara, even if his soul is very high, since it is the beginning of his purification from the kelipot. Even while he was on the level of tselem he still contained kelipot. As a result, this person will be quite sad all of his days and find him himself worrying for no reason. In actuality, it is the  kelipot that cause it.

This is the secret of what happened to King David, who was close to G-d. Amazingly, his yetzer hara [seemed to somewhat] overcome him in the incidents involving BathSheba and Abigail. (Kings I) However, as said, it occurred because it was the beginning of his departure from the kelipot, as David wrote, «I am sunk in the mire of the shadowy depths.» (Psalms 69:3) There are other verses to this effect.

Thus, the sins of someone who has come into the world for the first time do not count before G-d as they do for others, since he is still affected by the kelipot, and it takes great effort to leave them. This is the secret of what the Sages say: «Had you not been David and he Saul, I would have destroyed many David’s before Saul.»  (Moad Katan 16b) Understand this well.

Sometimes, the soul of a new person is very lofty but he [still] cannot overcome his yetzer hara — if he could, he would easily be very pious. This is a powerful lesson, for it explains why sometimes a person may only transgress lightly but receive a serious punishment, while someone else may perform a terrible sin, and yet not get punished for it.

This is the secret of, «The deeds of the Rock are perfect, and all His ways are judgment.» (Deut. 32:4) This is enough for those who comprehend, and therefore you cannot question the ways of G-d, or even of the righteous when they sin.

Furthermore, for someone who is from the level of Cain, who is a combined good and evil, the good is quite great. However, it is that the evil and zuhama [filth] are also very great and overpowering. This is because the entire root of Cain is from gevura, to which the  kelipot and chitzonim [outside forces] adhere strongly.

Kapitel 28

Zeir Anpin has three mochin: chochma, bina, and between them, daat — which contains chasadim and gevurot — two crowns.

When Adam sinned, he caused the moach of daat to descend between the two shoulders of Zeir Anpin, into the upper third of tiferet, until the chest. There, the chasadim separated and went into the right shoulder and the gevurot went into the left shoulder.

Since Cain and Abel were born after Adam sinned, Cain was from the gevurot in the left shoulder after they arrived there and became unable to give off light as they did when part of the moach itself above.

Another negative result was that while the daat was in the head above where it belongs, the chitzoniyut [externality] of the nefesh came from the bone and flesh of the head itself. For, as is known, every soul has a penimiyut [inner aspect] and  chitzoniyut [external], its clothing. Thus it was that the penimiyut  was from the gevurot of the moach daat and was related to its chitzoniyut, which was from the bone and flesh of the left side of the head.

However, once the moach daat descended, the peniminiyut of the soul of the root of Cain remained in the moach of gevurot in the daat, but the chitzoniyut was now from the left shoulder-limb, and they were no longer related to each other. Furthermore, the peniminiyut no longer gives off light as it once did — before while in the head.

The second lacking on the level of chitzoniyut is that they are now from the bottom, that is the shoulder, and not from their rightful place: galgalta [the skull]. Even though a person in this world does not have the ability to correct these defects even through mitzvahs [good deeds], still, performing mitzvahs is to his merit.

For in the time of Mashiach, these defects will be rectified and the daat will return to its proper place in the head. The peniminiyut of the soul will give off light as it did previously, and the chitzoniyut will come from their proper location: galgalta.

I don’t know if my teacher told me whether the  chitzoniyut from the left shoulder will also remain there in the time of  Mashiach with the peniminiyut of the soul, since they were joined together in this world, or just the opposite.

Furthermore, just as the daat descended between the shoulders as a result of Adam’s sin, so too did the partzuf of Leah descend from the backside of the daat of Zeir Anpin, which is her proper place. After the sin of Adam, she also descended to the back side of the shoulders, since Leah is from the malchut of Imma, which is in the daat of Zeir Anpin, enclothed within yesod Imma. (Eitz Chaim, Shaar Leah v’Rachel).

You should know that all the souls mentioned, like that of Rabbi Akiva and others like him, are from the root of Cain, which is from  gevurot of hod of daat — the fifth gevura. Also, all the souls from gevurot of hod in the daat of Leah are related to the root of Rabbi Akiva — they are considered one root. You can draw a parallel from this to the root of Abel, which is from the chasadim of daat. [This is] the issue of the Cain-root, and from it you can extrapolate and apply to the Abel-root.

All the sparks of souls from the Cain-root were dependent upon Cain. When he sinned, all of them became mixed in the kelipot. The choicest special ones fell further down than all of the rest. Because the sin of Cain blemished the [level of] machshava elyona [i.e. supernal thought], as mentioned in Sefer HaTikunim, Tikun 69. The place of the soul-root Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef was the hands. In the secret of, «And his hand was holding the heel of Esau.» (Gen. 25:26).

The hands have the ability to go down as far as the heel or as high up as the head, unlike the rest of the limbs. Therefore, these limbs fell to the depths of the kelipot, until the heel. When Rabbi Akiva was killed, he ascended to the machshava helyona.

This is the secret of what G-d told Moses [when Moses saw a vision of] the death of Rabbi Akiva, «Quiet! This is what arose in machshava [i.e. thought]» (Menachot 29b) — that is to fix the defect.

So we find that all souls that are from the hand, through good deeds, are able to ascend to a very high level without limit, more than many other people who preceded them from earlier generations. Remember this.

Furthermore, even if a soul from the root of Cain comes into the world for the first time as a new soul, still he must rectify the blemish that occurred to his nefesh, ruach, and neshama  from the sin of Cain — on the level of the portion of the root of which he is part.

Earlier we explained how positive and negative mitzvahs are dependent upon the 248 limbs of Adam’s soul, and how every limb includes flesh, tendons, and bones. The bones, the highest level, are on the level of the moach [bone-marrow] within them, and not on that of the bones themselves.

The next level down is the tendons, since a person’s life-force runs through them, the blood moving through the arteries of the body. They also tie together all the limbs making them a single unit. The least of the three levels is the flesh.

On all three levels, flesh, tendons, and bones, there are souls which are considered to be the root of the level. They are the talmidei chachamim [Torah Scholars], ba’alei battim [householders], ba’alei ma’ase [doers of good deeds], and amei ha’Aretz» [simpletons]. This is true of all three levels in every limb.

There are long limbs, like the arms and thighs, within which there are large gaps between the souls. However, talmidei chachamim from the shoulder-limb and the like are very closely knit.

Kapitel 29

As it is known, had Adam, who was created on day six, waited until Shabbat night to procreate with Eve, the worlds would have become rectified. However, since he did not wait, Cain was born with a mixture of good and evil, as will be explained. Furthermore, had Cain the firstborn not sinned, then he and his twin [sister] would have been like chochma and bina, and Abel and his twin [sister] like  tiferet and malchut.

Later in history, Esau and Jacob were like Cain and Abel — had Esau been righteous, he would have surpassed Jacob. Because the firstborn is from chochma, and Jacob [who was born after], is from  tiferet. However, since Esau sinned, the right of the firstborn was taken from him and Jacob received a double-portion, his own and that of his brother. Therefore, [in his aspect of] Jacob, [he] corresponds to tiferet, whereas [in his aspect of] Israel, [he] corresponds to chochma. This is the meaning of, «Isaac loved Esau, for his trappings were in his mouth.» (Gen. 25:28).

As said, because Adam sinned on Friday, the snake was able to impart zuhama [spiritual contamination] to Eve, and this resulted in Cain and Abel being born with good and evil combined within them. However, there was a difference between them — Cain was mostly evil, whereas Abel was mostly good.

This means that the NR»N of Cain was from BY»A of holiness, and that these three became mixed together with the NR»N of the kelipot. However Abel , although like Cain in that his NR»N was also from BY»A of holiness, only his nefesh and ruach became intermingled with the kelipot. Thus his neshama remained completely good, without a trace of evil.

This is what it means to be mostly good and partially evil. The three components of both sides are not equal. In the case of Cain, all three on both sides were mixed together. At this point, we will no longer discuss Cain’s gilgulim and we will instead explain the  gilgulim of Abel, his brother.

As we already know, a ruach cannot reincarnate until the nefesh has [first] done so and been rectified. (Chapter One, Section) When the ruach itself has been repaired, the neshama will then undergo rectification. In Abel’s case, though the  nefesh and ruach were damaged and mixed together with evil, his  neshama remained completely good.

Thus, when his nefesh reincarnated, it first went to Seth the son of Adam. This caused the evil to be separated out, which was later given to Balaam the wicked. In both of these levels, the good and the evil of the nefesh was previously included in Abel. As alluded to in his name — the hei of Abel hinting to the good which was given to Seth. This is the secret of the verse, «Everything You shattah/ShT [placed] under his feet,» (Psalms 8:7) which has the letters ShT/Seth, plus the hei.

We already explained that this psalm is about Moses, about whom it says, «You made him only slightly less than the angels» (Psalms 8:6) — he is Seth himself, as we will soon explain. The evil of Abel’s nefesh is represented by the letters beit-lamed, which is the secret of the verse, «They know bal [not] such judgments.» (Psalms 147:20) For these two letters refer to the kelipot and the beit-lamed of Balaam.

We mentioned previously that even the level of evil that was separated from the good must of necessity contain an element of holy sparks. This is the secret of Balaam the prophet and what the Sages mean when they say that «he was equal to Moses» (Bamidbar Raba 20)  who was from the good of Seth, as we shall explain.

The little amount of good that was in Balaam reincarnated into Nabal the Carmelite, which was the beginning of the tikun. Balaam’s only power was in his mouth, by speaking loshon hara [slander]  and cursing. Therefore, after Pinchas killed him he reincarnated into a rock that could not speak, to rectify the loshon hara that came from his mouth; as we stated, a person can reincarnate into domaim [inanimate], tsomai’och [vegetation], chaya [living], or medabeir  [speaking].

However, when Nabal followed in his ways and  spoke loshon hara about King David saying, «Who is David and who is Ben Yishai?» (Samuel I 25:10), he reversed the tikun. Not only did he not rectify the previous sin but he added to the damage. Therefore it says, «and he was a rock,» (Samuel I 25:37) since his mazel saw how previously he had reincarnated into a silent stone, and then «His heart died within him.»

The Nefesh of Abel:

Thus, the good nefesh of Abel was given to Seth, who completely rectified it. The evil part of the nefesh of Abel which still had some holy sparks in it, reincarnated into Balaam, and then into Nabal. So the letters beit-lamed are in nun-beit-lamed/Nabal as well.

The Ruach of Abel:

The ruach reincarnated into Noah the tzadik, who was the level of the emanation of the six extremities of [the ten inter-included sefirot of] tiferet.

When he fathered three sons, the ruach, which incorporates the mentioned three lines, reincarnated into them: Yefet corresponds to chesed, Ham to gevura, and Shem to tiferet. The level of tiferet within Shem is the level of the sefira of tiferet itself, which also includes [in itself] all six extremities.

However, the ruach was not rectified since the evil within it was not being completely separated out, as was the case with the nefesh through Balaam. Since there remained a combination of good and evil, Tevi the servant of Rabban Gamliel was born into Ham, Noah’s son [who was cursed to be a slave]. (Gen. 9:25) This is why he is called ‘tet-veit-yud/Tevi’, because he was from the level of good [in Hebrew, ‘tov’ — spelled tet—vav—veit] that was still mixed together with evil, and it was given to him.

The Neshama of Abel:

Later, the neshama reincarnated into Moses, since it never contained an element of evil. So it says regarding it, «She saw that it [Moses’ neshama] was [completely] good» (Ex. 2:2) — unlike the nefesh and ruach which were mixed with evil.

We have already taught that the ruach cannot come until the nefesh has been completely rectified, and likewise the neshama until the ruach has achieved tikun. Once the  ruach has been rectified, then the nefesh can return with it; once the neshama has been rectified, the nefesh and ruach can come and return with it.

Since the neshama of Moses was already rectified, the nefesh and the ruach, which had already achieved  tikun, were able to come back in him. This is hinted to in his name, with the shin of SheT/Balaam being part of Moses [in Hebrew, Mosheh], as well as the two letters of shin-mem/Shem. There is also [in Moses’ name] the H/hei of Abel.

This is the meaning of the verse, «Look You say to me… and You said, ‘I shall know you by shem [name]’…» (Ex. 33:12) [How could he say this?] We don’t find this conversation mentioned anywhere in a verse. Rather, it is an allusion to the fact that Shem reincarnated into Moses, from the words, «I shall know you by shem [name].» Noah as well reincarnated into Moses, alluded to in the words, «and you have found favor [in Hebrew, chein , spelled chet-nun] in My eyes» (ibid.), which is the reverse spelling of Nch/Noach.

Since Shem is revealed in the letters of Moses, the term of knowing is employed. As it says, «know you by name,» — since it is known and revealed. However, since Noah is not hinted to in the name Moses, «knowing» is not mentioned, but «finding» instead: and you have found favor — as if something hidden was found.

This is why Moses responds, «If I have indeed found favor in Your eyes, then make Your ways known to me» (Ex. 33:13), but not, «If You have come to know me by name, if I have found favor,» since the level of Shem was already known to him — already revealed in his name.

However, [Moses was really saying:]  I didn’t know that the level of Noah was in me since it was not included in my name. Accordingly, if [the] Noah [aspect] is also included in me and as a result, «I have found favor in Your eyes,» in exchange for Noah, «make Your way known to me, that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your eyes.» For, also with respect to Noah it is now clearly known, since «I found favor in Your eyes» — in order that his [aspect] should be included in me  [and made manifest].

After this, God gave a great revelation to Moses. «‘And you shall see My back — and My face You shall not see.’ (Ex. 33:23) He showed him the tefilin knot.» (Brachot 7a) The Ari»Zl explains that Abigail referred to this level when she said to David, «And the soul of my master shall be bound up in the bundle of life – G-d your L-rd.» (Samuel I 25:29).

[Shmuel said: I found other scattered, but congruent writings, from discussions regarding Adam. I decided to include them here, even though they lack relevance to this particular discussion.]

It is said that before the sin of Adam, he incorporated the four worlds of ABY»A, and all five levels of each world:  yechida, chaya, neshama, ruach, and nefesh. When he sinned, some of them were removed and returned to their holy places. They are level one.

Some remained with Adam, but the kelipot have no effect over them. These are level two.

Some remained and fell within the kelipot, male souls into male kelipot, and female souls into female kelipot. They are level three.

Level two divides into two parts, the first part being the souls that remained within Adam for the sake of his own body, and the second part being those that remained with him but which were inherited by his sons Cain and Abel when they were born.

We will now briefly explain the three levels, after a short introduction:

The four worlds of ABY»A are [alternately]  called, Abba, Imma, Zeir Anpin, and Nukva. There are no  kelipot on the level of Abba/chochma, the first three [sefirot]  of Imma [bina], and the levels of keter within Zu»N. With respect to the rest of the levels, the kelipot do latch on when people sin.

All levels to which the kelipot do not latch on are called zihara ila’a d’Adam HaRishon [supernal glow of Adam, the first man], except for the nefesh [part] of each level. This includes the levels of yechida, chaya, neshama, and ruach of the world of Atzilut/Abba; the Abba and Imma of Beriya/Imma; the twenty ketarim in the Zu»N of Beriya, the eight ketarim in Abba, Imma, and Zu»N of Yetzira and the Abba, Imma, and Zu»N of Asiya — altogether ten partzufim.

Now, each partzuf contains ten sefirot and each sefira itself has ten, making one hundred ketarim of ten partzufim. In turn, each keter has ten sefirot and four upper levels of yechida, chaya, neshama, and ruach. All of this is called zihara ila’a, and it is part of that which was completely removed from Adam and ascended to its holy place.

There are two levels of zihara. The first is zihara ila’a of Atzilut, composed of yechida, chaya, neshama, and ruach of the world of Atzilut. The second level is zihara ila’a of BY»A, which incorporates the entire two partzufim of Abba and Imma, that is, the chaya and neshama of the world of  Beriya, and Arich Anpin, or the yechida of Beriya; the four levels of yechida, chaya, neshama, and ruach of each keter from the one hundred ketarim of the ten partzufim from the Zu»N of Beriya through the Nukvah of Asiya. All of these are called zihara ila’a of the three worlds of BY»A, as mentioned. These two types of zihara ila’a were completely removed from Adam [when he sinned] and are called level one.

Level two is also considered to be zihara ila’a to which the kelipot do not latch on, but since it is a lesser level, it was not removed from its place completely and remained with Adam and is the nefesh of the world of Atzilut; this is one level of  Atzilut. The second level is the nefesh of the hundred ketarim in the three worlds of BY»A. Both stayed with Adam and are called level two.

Level three is the rest of the sefirot of the ten partzufim — other than the one hundred ketarim, they all fell off him and down to the place of the kelipot.

I heard from my teacher that level two is divided into two sections, and that the upper section is those souls that stayed with Adam in his body, and that the second lesser section is the souls that Cain and Abel inherited upon birth. But I’m not sure if this only applies to this level, and so on other levels the second section is higher than the first.

I am also in doubt as to which souls remained with Adam and which were given to Cain and Abel, and the order of how this second level was divided. Cain and Abel contain two levels, one being their actual souls themselves from the three worlds of BY»A only, like the rest of people who are not from level two. The other is the second section of level two which Adam their father bestowed upon them; it includes [parts] from all four worlds — from the bottom of Asiya until the beginning of the nefesh of Atzilut. It is a very elevated soul.

We also wrote that the two sections of level two are equal, with the exception of the first level only, which we mentioned there. We also wrote that Cain and Abel took the nefesh of Atzilut, and it seems that the second section of level two in Cain and Abel is higher than the rest of the souls that remained in Adam for his own sake.

We also wrote that the nefesh of  Atzilut did not actually remain in Adam and that it was not completely removed either. Rather, it hovered above the head of Adam until Cain and Abel were born at which time they took it, as well as the other sections of the three worlds of BY»A.

We also wrote that after Adam sinned, Enoch took the zihara of Arich, Adam the zihara of Abba, Eve of Imma, Abel of Zeir Anpin, and Cain of Nukvah. I do not know if all of these are considered to be sections of Atzilut, or of BY»A. Further investigation is required.

I also did not hear from my teacher who took the first three — Arich Anpin, Abba, and Imma of Beriya, whether it was Adam or Cain and Abel, his sons. This too needs further investigation, and in another place I wrote that Moses, who was the gilgul of Abel, took them.

I also wrote that the da’at of Zeir Anpin is made up of the two joints of the two arms of Arich Anpin, which are joined at the two shoulders of Arich Anpin, which are called ‘inheritance’, since Abba and Imma bestowed them to their children Zu»N. The rest of the four joints of the two arms remained for them, and they are called achstanta d’Abba v’Imma [the inheritance of  Abba and Imma].

Cain and Abel came out of this da’at of Zeir Anpin. For since Adam and Eve, who are called Abba and  Imma, took the level of four joints for themselves, from which chochma and bina were made twice for the two of them, and the two joints that they bestowed to their children are called the da’at of Zeir Anpin.

It seems this way from another explanation. The rest of the mochin Adam left for himself; he only bestowed the da’at to his sons Cain and Abel. Thus we can say that he gave every portion of the  da’at to Cain and Abel, from the da’at of the nefesh of  Atzilut until the da’at of Nukveh of Asiyah, leaving for himself the rest of the sections of the mochin chochmah and  bina within him, which extend through all ten sefiros of his body. Even chesed and gevura of da’at that he bestowed to Cain and Abel also spread out through the entire body of Zeir Anpin to the ten sefirot within him. This is clear.

From this you can understand what was lacking from the souls of Cain and Abel compared to those souls that remained in Adam for himself. For the main impact of the kelipot is to the da’at  [knowledge], in the secret of the tree of knowledge of good and bad.

However, on their levels themselves, the souls that come from da’at give off more light than the souls that come from the two mochin of chochma and bina, which have many layers of clothing and veils. This is known from the levels of Nadab and Abihu which were above Elazar and Ithamar, as written elsewhere.. There we explained well all the doubts regarding Cain and Abel, and how Cain and all his male sparks came out from the gevurot of the crown of Nukvah. Look well over there. [A small introduction regarding the secret of yibum (levirite marriage). This is what he said:]

When a man must reincarnate and dies, and after that a son is born to him, since his wife was expecting when he died, the man himself reincarnates into the body of the son — this is the secret of yibum.

This is the secret of Abaye the amora who was born after his father died. His father reincarnated [into his son’s body], which is why he is called Abaye [meaning «his father»], since his father reincarnated into him. I don’t think this came from my teacher, rather from Rav Elazar HaLevi.

[A small introduction.] There are souls that are not from the root of the holiness of Shabbat itself, but are included in tosefet haShabbat10 [addition to Shabbat]. They only contain that level and are not able to ascend higher than it, since it is the source of their root.

Kapitel 30

Regarding the performance of mitzvot, it is important to know that every limb from the 248 limbs of the soul of Adam includes its own set of 248 limbs. Therefore, the entire posture of Adam was dependent upon it. Thus for example, someone who comes from the shoulder-limb includes 248 limbs from head to heel.

Someone whose soul is specifically from the heel of the shoulder does not have to rectify the entire shoulder and all its defects — just the level of the heel itself. However, if a soul-spark from the level of the heel caused a defect, then all the sparks of the heel do have to rectify this blemish, since all of the sparks of the heel are interdependent. When the entire heel is rectified, then not one spark will have to reincarnate to rectify any defects for the rest of the sparks of the shoulder.

Furthermore, if a spark from the heel transgresses in such a way as to necessitate reincarnation to rectify the damage, it will do so with another [spark] from the heel to help him rectify it. However, if the transgression was one that results in the destruction of the body (i.e., excision), then that spark alone will reincarnate into another body without a partner while the first body will be destroyed.

If however he has to reincarnate only to make up for a mitzvah yet to be fulfilled, then he will not need to reincarnate with another spark — he alone will reincarnate into a second body. Thus, he will continue to do so until he completes all the 613 mitzvot.  At the time of resurrection, all the bodies will return and take the portion that was completed while in them.

We will now explain another difference between one who must reincarnate to complete a mitzvah and one who does so to rectify a defect.

If a spark from the heel completely rectifies its souls, then all sparks of the heel that preceded it become revealed to it and illuminate it, giving off light in one body, in the secret of ibur [added soul] — and they help it in all its ways of serving God. If he sins, they are removed from him, Heaven forbid.

What he does and the amount or level of mitzvahs he performs determines how many sparks will be revealed to him. The level of the sin or the amount of sins determines how many sparks will be withdrawn from him. It is the same if he rectifies his ruach or his neshama. Thus, according to his good deeds or bad deeds, the sparks will either draw close or be distanced from him. There are those which will encircle him from afar, and some come close, hovering from above.

If we are talking about a spark from the root of the heel which lacks a certain mitzvah and must reincarnate with another spark from its root, it will only do so with a spark that is the most similar to it of all the sparks of the heel, even though they are all from the root of this heel. Likewise, if a person causes another to sin, even though they are not from the same root, still they will have to reincarnate [together] — the one who caused him to sin will be within to help rectify it.

We explained previously that every limb of the 248 limbs of the soul of Adam is a root unto itself and includes countless soul-sparks. Nevertheless, when Adam and his wife Eve sinned, as well as Cain and Abel, their children, all the soul-sparks became mixed together. Accordingly, sparks of Adam combined with those of Cain and Abel, and sparks of Abel with Adam’s and Cain’s, etc.

Therefore, sometimes the nefesh of a person will be from Cain, but the ruach comes from Adam. For once they mixed together, they bond. Sparks of Adam often come together with sparks of Cain, the ruach from Adam and the nefesh from Cain. It is the same matter with respect to the neshama with the ruach and the nefesh .

Thus, if a person works to rectify his nefesh, which happens to be from the level of Cain, until it literally becomes similar to the ruach from the level of Adam, then this ruach will enter and become clothed by this nefesh. This applies even though they do not come from the same source and type, one being from Adam and the other from Cain.

The combination of souls will continue until Mashiach and Elijah’s coming, at which time everything will return to its proper root. From that time onward, the ruach from the level of Cain will join with the nefesh that it is similar to it from the level of Cain, and the ruach from the level of Adam will unite with the nefesh from the level of Adam.

This is the secret of the verse, «Behold, I will send to you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of G — d. He will restore the hearts of fathers to sons, and the hearts of sons to fathers . » (Malachi 3:23-24) In other words, he will return each soul to its proper root — — understand this.

The reason why Elijah will do this is because he himself is a combination of souls, his nefesh coming from the level of Nadab and Abihu of Cain, as we will explain later . His ruach came from another level, although I did not learn from my teacher from where. There are many other issues regarding this matter.

Kapitel 31

All the neshamot, ruchot, and  nefashot of all that was created in this world are included in and dependent upon Adam. This is because Adam incorporated all five parts mentioned above: NRNCh»Y which come from the five partzufim and ten sefirot called [from top to bottom]: Arich Anpin, Abba and Imma, Zu»N. We will explain the level called nefesh, and from this discussion you will be able to extrapolate to the ruach and neshama, etc.

The nefesh of Adam is comprised of 248 limbs and 365 tendons — a total of 613. Thus, the nefesh of a person has 613 roots. However, every limb from the 248 limbs and every tendon from the 365 tendons consists of one complete partzuf, which is also made up of 613 limbs and tendons. Every limb and tendon is called one large and complete root.

Sometimes, as a result of sins and defects, the 613 grand roots will sub-divide into 600,000 small roots, which are also actual roots, except that they are smaller. However, there cannot be more than 600,000 mini-roots since there are no more than 600,000 gilgulim, as is mentioned in Tikun 69.

It is the same for every limb and tendon of Adam that is called a large root, that they divide into 613 soul-sparks called grand sparks, and that each one is a root. Moreover, sometimes, as a result of a defect, they sub-divide into 600,000 mini-sparks, as did the 613 grand roots — but not less than this. However, it is possible to divide up until 600,000 min-roots — but not more.

It is the same for every root of the 613 large ones, that they have in them 613 grand sparks, and no less, and that they can divide until 600,000 mini-sparks, and no more. However, more than 613 and less than 600,000 is possible, such as 10,000 or similar, but only up until 600,000. This applies to the nefesh — it is the same for ruach and neshama, that it is possible to divide up to 1,000, or 2,000, etc.

The size of the division depends upon the defect and the sins. Cain and Abel are the two shoulders of Adam, with Cain on the left and Abel on the right. The shoulder is the limb that joins the arm to the body, and it turns a bit towards the back from the top. It so being, as a result of their sins the limbs of both Cain and Abel divided up to 600,000 mini-sparks.

This is the secret of what is written in Tikun 69, that Moses, who was from Abel, emanated until 600,000 and his sparks reincarnate in every generation, in the secret of, «One generation goes, and another [the same one, i.e. sparks] comes [back].» (Eccl. 1:4) Understand this.

There is something unique regarding these two shoulders which depend upon Cain and Abel, and that is that the moach of da’at, which travels through the spinal cord, begins from these two shoulders. From there it continues downward to yesod, where it comes out as a drop of seed. When the seed-drop goes from the shoulders until yesod, it is then called KPT/»kapot tamarim» [palm cluster — the lulav]… (Lev. 23:40).

At that point it is said of yesod, «The thousand are to you Solomon.» (Songs 8:12) Because Solomon, who [embodies] yesod, and is called «briti shalom» [covenant of peace] totals one-thousand, or two times KTPh/shoulder. However, each shoulder by itself only equals five hundred, the gematria of the concealed letters of the expansion of ShDY [the Al-mighty].

Now we will explain the left shoulder of Adam, which is called the Cain-root. It is considered only one limb, but as with all limbs, it incorporates flesh, tendons, and bones. The tendons in each of these limbs are not included in the 365 tendons of the 248 Limbs, but are small arteries in each limb.

The three levels of each limb, from head to heels — flesh, tendons, and bones — divide into 600,000 soul-sparks — making up one [complete] partzuf. The left heel of this partzuf divides into more than the 613 soul-sparks from which come the souls of Hezekiah the King of Judah, Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef, and Akavia ben Mehalelel. There is a link joining the souls of this root. However, the seed-drop from this heel that goes to the yesod can be called Yaakov, and sometimes Akavia ben Mehalelel, and sometimes Akiva — and the like.

The entire level of the heel is the malchut of that parzuf, and there is therefore an ability for all the souls of this heel to ascend until the secret of ‘machshava’, [thought — the chochma of Arich] — in the secret of «The woman [malchut] will court the man [chochma].» (Jeremiah 31:21).

For this reason, Rebbi Akiva ascended to the level of machshava. As the Sages indicate when they wrote about him, «Quiet! This is what went up to machshava». (Menachot 29b) Understand this.

Regarding these two shoulders: When a defect results from a certain sin in one of the shoulders, or if the defect is in the left shoulder, such as when it became blemished through the sin of Cain whose place it is, then the right shoulder also becomes blemished. Therefore, even though someone whose root is the left shoulder will have long hairs from both his shoulders. There will be more hair on his left shoulder than on his right shoulder, since that is his main place. However, if the right shoulder becomes defected, which is the root of Abel, then the sign will only be in the right shoulder.

So we find that the hair of the left shoulder of one who is from the left shoulder will be more than on the rest of his body, to indicate that is the place from which he is connected to Adam. In Sha’ar Ruach HaKodesh [The Gate of Divine Inspiration], in the chapter ‘Hakaras Hapartzuf’ [Recognizing Faces], a little about the letters NR»N, etc., is explained.

I will now further explain the two shoulders of Adam:

It has already been made known how netzach and hod of Atik Yomin are clothed within chesed and gevura/the two arms of Arich Anpin. After that the two arms of  Arich Anpin are [in turn] clothed in the two mochin — chochma and bina of Abba and Imma.

The two shoulders of Arich are clothed within the da’at of Zeir Anpin, which divides into two crowns called chesed and gevura. From them flows ohr makif to the Nukva of Zeir Anpin.

It is also known that Atik Yomin only has nine sefirot, which in the Zohar (Noach) are called ’tisha heichalin’ [nine chambers], as is explained at the beginning of the Idra Zuta. The level of malchut is not mentioned at all with respect to  Atik Yomin. Therefore, the only malchut mentioned is with respect to the sefira of hod, because the male side is netzach and the female side is hod.

The hod of Atik Yomin is clothed in the gevura of Arich Anpin, which is its left shoulder. It is called the crown of gevura , in the secret of ateret ba’alah [crown of her husband] — because that is where malchut is alluded to, as mentioned. From this we see that a spark of light flows from this left shoulder acts as an ohr makif for the Nukva of Zeir Anpin.

Therefore, the root of Cain, which is from the side of the Nukva of Zeir Anpin, grasps onto the left shoulder of Adam. However, the right shoulder is from the netzach of Atik Yomin, and within it is the secret of Zeir Anpin, the male aspect. Therefore, the root of Abel is in the right shoulder of Adam. It is already known that  malchut can ascend to the male place, in the secret of ateret ba’alah — specifically on the level of ohr makif. With this you can appreciate the greatness of the left shoulder of Adam.

The idea of the 248 Limbs was explained to me in this way:

All souls are included in Adam and divide into many roots, as follows. In the beginning, they divide into the three forefathers, after that into the twelve tribes, and then into the seventy souls. After that up to 600,000 small roots — all of which are included in Adam.

The right shoulder of Adam divides as said, first into three forefathers, then into twelve tribes, and after that into seventy souls. Each of the seventy small roots is an individual root from the grand roots of Adam. However, there are only seventy small roots in him, and all of them together are the partzuf of a single person. After this, the seventy roots divide up to 600,000 soul-sparks; they are not called roots but sparks.

Each of the seventy small roots of the right shoulder we are discussing has one complete partzuf, and all of the 600,000 sparks of this right shoulder are one large root of Adam, called after Abel, the son of Adam. It is the same with the left shoulder of Adam. Three forefathers divide into twelve tribes, and then into seventy souls, which are called the seventy small roots. These seventy roots also divide into 600,000 sparks which are not called roots. Each of these seventy roots is a complete  partzuf, and all of them are called the root of Cain, son of Adam.

From one of these seventy roots came Rabbi Akiva, Akavia ben Mehalelel, and King Hezekiah, as mentioned previously. This root divides into more than 613 sparks, all of which make up one complete  partzuf, and from the partzuf of this root comes King Hezekiah, Rabbi Akiva, and Akavia ben Mahalelel. However, King Hezekiah is from the head of this partzuf, and Akiva and Akavia ben Mahalelel are from the heel of this  partzuf.

In the humble opinion of Chaim, based upon what we are now saying and what was said in the previous discussion, we find that this root mentioned is on the level of the heel of the general shoulder, which is one of the seventy roots of Cain. The head of the heel is Hezekiah, and the end of this heel, that is the heel of the heel, is Rabbi Akiva and Akavia.

However, in the previous discussion we explained that the souls included in Adam divide into 613 large roots, and after that into 600,000 small roots. Here, we are explaining that it occurs in another way, that they are three forefathers that divide into Twelve Tribes, and then Seventy Souls only, and after that into 600,000 small roots?

However, if we look closely, we will see that it results in the same conclusion, and you will see how the TRYG/taryag/613 mitzvahs divide into 600,000.

For the letters TR from TRYG/taryag [equal 600 and can be rendered]  ‘TR ribuy’’  [sixty myriads]. The letter «yud» [hints to] the level of the seventy souls because the six extremities correspond to the sixty myriads, as is known.

If you add Y/ten to sixty, you arrive at the number seventy — that is the seventy souls. The letters YG/13 are the twelve tribes, with one extra that unifies them. This is how TaRYaG includes all the parts.

The wisdom of gematria [kabalistic numerology] teaches that after the calculation of the value of a word, one extra can always be added. It represents the surrounding energy that encompasses the specific energies of the totality.

Returning to the topic of Cain and Abel: The two ‘crowns’ are the crown of chesed and the crown of gevura, which are hidden within Abba and Imma. Adam and Eve are Abba and Imma, and so Abel is the crown of chesed while Cain is the crown of gevura.

My teacher also organized the soul-roots for me in another way: We already explained that a person has a nefesh from  Asiya, a ruach from Yetzira, a neshama from Beriya, a nefesh from Nukva of Atzilut, a ruach from Zeir Anpin of Atzilut, a neshama from Bina of Atzilut, the ‘soul of the soul’ called chaya from Abba of Atzilut, and yechida from keter, which is called Arich Anpin of Atzilut.

Every root from the roots of the soul has a portion of these levels. However, this is how the division of the soul-roots takes place: To begin with they divide into five roots, Arich Anpin, Abba  and Imma, Zeir Anpin and Nukvah. When the world was created, these five roots divided into zehira ila’a of Adam, which Enoch later merited — this is the level of Arich Anpin. Adam also took the level of Abba, and Eve, that of Imma. Abel received Zeir Anpin, and Cain the  Nukvah.

Therefore, it would have been preferable that Abel, who is Zeir Anpin, be born before Cain, who is Nukvah. However, when Adam sinned, he caused the intermingling of good and evil, causing a defect, the result of which was Cain being born before Abel. This is explained in Sha’ar Hapsukim [The Gate of Verses] on the verse, «And Adam knew Eve his wife.» (Gen. 4:1) Look over there.

All the rest of the souls of the world that are born from these five roots are in the world of Atzilut. The rest of the souls, however, are born from the five roots of BY»A, for in each world there are five roots. All of them are secondary to the roots of Atzilut, follow after them, and are included in them, in the same way that all the souls of the world are rooted in these five roots. Each root divides into ten  sefirot, resulting in fifty roots in each world. The fifty that are in  Atzilut are the root of everything. These fifty roots divide even further, which we will explain elsewhere.

Every root from the roots of the souls include one complete partzuf composed of 248 limbs and 365 tendons, which incorporate 613 [sparks], though combined they are a complete partzuf of one soul with all its parts, a single root. However, specifically they are 613 sparks, which are Torah scholars.

There are also many sparks in every root that are amei ha’aretz [ignoramuses], who work in the dwelling places of the world. For every root is like a tree that produces fruit, which are the scholars, and leaves, branches, wood, peels, etc., which are the amei ha’aretz.

When the time comes for these souls to enter this world, it is possible for one, two, three, or ten, etc. sparks to come at once and in the same generation, if they are from the same root. More specifically, it is possible for two sparks to come into this world at one time, one from the right spring and one from the left spring of that root, or for five sparks to come at the same time and they are the first five joints of the five fingers of the right hand. Alternatively, the first ten joints of the ten fingers of the right and left hands and the like.

Thus, you can find in a single generation many sparks that are from the level of the tendons which are close to each other. This is why you should not be surprised to find Rabbi Akiva and Akavia ben Mehalelel [living simultaneously], or to find in the generation of Amoraim Abaye, Rami bar Chamma, and Rav Dimi from Nehardea, even though they are [all]  from the root of Cain, from the left shoulder of Adam, as we will later explain.

There is another reason for what we have been speaking of and that is, when the Shechina went into exile amongst the kelipot, all the souls of the righteous went with it. Depending upon the level of the mitzvahs performed by a righteous person from that root, and the time it is done, one or more sparks will be able to leave the kelipot and ascend into this world. This is even though the sparks are not near one another in the root. It all depends upon the time and the mitzvahs that the righteous person from that root performs.

There is also another related matter: Adam had a nefesh from Asiya, a ruach from Yetzira, a neshama from Beriya, and above this a NR»N from Atzilut, from the Nukva of Zeir Anpin, from Zeir Anpin, and from  Imma [respectively].

The three from the world of Atzilut are called zehira ila’a of Adam, and are explained in the Zohar in the Sitrei Torah [Secrets of the Torah] section.  (Kedoshim 83a).

Before Cain and Abel were born, Adam sinned and the zehira ila’a was removed from him, that is the three portions we mentioned from Atzilut. In this manner, the decree of G-d was fulfilled: «On the day you eat from it you shall surely die» — for the three portions of Atzilut were removed from him and there is no harsher death than this.

When Cain and Abel were born, the nefesh of Atzilut which had been removed from Adam was divided between Cain and Abel. Later we will explain, G-d willing, the gilgul of Cain from the level of nefesh of Atzilut that he merited, how it reincarnated and went to Keinan and Mehalelel, until it reincarnated into Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, «the two parts of one body», as mentioned in the Zohar Pinchas and Acharei Mot.

This is what is written, «There were men who were unclean by nefesh adam [the dead body of man]» (Num. 9:6) — literally nefesh Adam [the soul of Adam], for it is talking about Nadab and Abihu, as the Sages say, who were on the level of the  nefesh of Adam. After that, it went to Pinchas when he killed Zimri, as the Zohar mentions, and as we will discuss later, G-d willing. We will also clarify how Cain and Abel took the nefesh of Atzilut of Adam to rectify it, after he sinned with the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

However, the prophet Elijah took the ruach of Atzilut of Adam, and therefore he went up to Heaven and did not die like the rest of people. For he is as an angel from the hosts of G-d, and after that he literally became a heavenly angel. This is the reason why only ruach is mentioned with respect to Elijah, as it says, «Please let two portions of your ruach be mine», (Kings II 2:9) «The ruach of Elijah rested upon Elisha, (Ibid. 15) and, «A ruach of Elokim will carry you.» (Kings I 18:12).

However, he did not merit this ruach of Atzilut until he killed Zimri in Shittim, (Num. 25:1) making it clear that the ruach does not dwell in a person until he received his nefesh. Therefore, when Pinchas killed Zimri, he merited to receive the nefesh of Atzilut, which was previously in Nadab and Abihu.

Once he merited the nefesh of Atzilut, he also then merited a portion of the ruach of Atzilut. With respect to this it says, «Behold, I give to him My covenant shalom [of peace],» (Num. 25:12) for ruach is from tiferet and yesod, both of which are called shalom, as is known from the verse, «Peace, peace for the far and near.» (Isaiah 57:19) This is talking about tiferet and yesod.

A portion of the neshama of Atzilut was received by Enoch son of Jared, (Gen. 5:18) and therefore, he was a heavenly angel called Matatron, as is known. Therefore he also did not die in the way of men. (Zohar, Eitz Chayim, See also Likutei Moharan).

The level of neshama of Atzilut is called the Minister of the World, coming from Atzilut, the [highest] realm, and so it has power over all worlds.

With this we can answer the question regarding Enoch and Matatron. For if they are one and the same being, and the world of Yetzirah is called the world of Matatron, then who was its minister while Enoch was still alive on earth?

However, the Zohar states at the beginning of the portion Noach in the Tosefta on the verse «Noach, Noach» (Gen. 6:9) that every righteous person has two ruachs, one on earth below and one in Heaven above. Understand this — it is the secret of, «Behold ADY-84/aidie [My witness] is in Heaven,» (Job 16:19) which refers to ChNOCh-84/Enoch, whose gematria is that of «aidie.» And «My testifier in the exalted heights is Elijah, because he too is a heavenly angel [Sandalfon], as said.

This is the secret of, «He appointed it as an eidut [testimony] to Joseph …» (Psalms 81:6) — since Joseph merited to receive the neshama of Enoch which is called «eidie» [My witness], as said. Therefore Joseph was «yafeh to’ar» [handsome], (Gen. 39:6)  because he merited Adam’s yafyo [beauty], which came to him from the edge of the neshama of supernal Atzilut.

However, Joseph did not merit this until the night of the «end of the two years,» (Gen. 41:1) when it was decreed that he should leave jail — that very day he rose to greatness. So is it written, «[He appointed it as a testimony to Jehoseph] when He went out over the land of Egypt.» (Psalms 81:6) This becomes understandable when you recall what we said in previous chapters, that the ruach or the neshama enters a person at night while he is sleeping.

You can also understand what the Sages say based upon the end of the verse, «[He appointed it as a testimony to Jehoseph when He went out over the land of Egypt] when I heard a language unknown to me:» (Psalms 81:6) That night Gabriel came and taught him seventy languages. (Sotah 36b) What actually happened was that the  neshama of Enoch/Matatron, the minister over the seventy nations, who knows their seventy languages, entered him that night and immediately he knew the seventy languages.

This neshama of Enoch also reincarnated into Rabbi Yishmael son of Elisha the High Priest. And so with respect to Rabbi Yishmael it also says he was very yafeh to’ar. (Gittin 58a) This is the secret of what is written in Pirkei Heichalos, «When Rabbi Yishmael ascended to the exalted heights, Matatron called to him, ‘Return, my radiance.’»

The reincarnation into Rabbi Yishmael had to occur for two reasons. The first reason was because, G-d said, «[Do not eat of the tree of knowledge,] for on the day that you eat you shall surely die.» (Gen. 2:17) However, this neshama was not with Adam when he died, having been withdrawn, and so it never really suffered death.

Furthermore, Joseph also sinned, having caused his brothers to sell him when he provoked them with his dreams, and because he spoke badly about them to his father. Therefore, this soul had to reincarnate into Rabbi Yishmael son of Elisha the High Priest in order to finally undergo death.

Know that Adam merited the NRN»Ch from  malchut, tiferet, bina and chochma of Atzilut — all four of them at once. Moses merited the da’at of Atzilut. The three forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob merited to chesed, gevura, and tiferet of Atzilut respectively.

Kapitel 32

In this chapter we will explain the statement of the Sages which says, «It was taught: «Michael [travels the world] in one [flight], Gabriel in two, Eliyahu in four, etc.» (Berachot 4b)  We have already explained the matter of Elijah’s four flights in earlier discussions.

Before the sin, Adam had nefesh/ruach/neshama from Yetzira, Asiya and Beriya. On top of this, he had nefesh/ruach/neshama  from malchut, tiferet, and bina of Atzilut. Moreover, as we have also explained previously, all the souls were included in Adam except for the completely new souls, since he had yet to merit them. Therefore, they were not included in him.

After he sinned with the tree of knowledge, limbs fell off him everywhere he went, as the Sages say. (Midrash)  It happened to him as it happened to Jephtah from Gilad because of the sin of his daughter, as it says, «They buried him in the cities [pl.] of Gilad.» (Judges 12:7) It does not say «the city [singular] of Gilad.»

Thus, all the souls that were included in the limbs of the soul of Adam fell off him once he sinned into the depths of the kelipot, each one to its appropriate level. However, the  nefesh/ruach/neshama of Atzilut, called  zehira ila’a [supernal glow] by the Zohar, did not heaven forbid fall into the kelipot. (Zohar III Kedoshim)  However, the level of Ruach and Neshama were removed from Adam once he sinned and flew upward. The Nefesh of Atzilut flew above him, but it did not completely leave him, as mentioned before.

Enoch, after he merited his [Adam’s] Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshama [of Beriya, Yetzira, and Asiya], also merited the level of Neshama of Atzilut which was removed from Adam when he sinned. Now we will discuss the Nefesh of Adam from the World of Atzilut, which remained and hovered above him.

When Cain and Abel, Adam’s sons, were born, they received the level of nefesh/ruach/neshama  of Asiya, Yetzira, and Beriya, as well as the level of Nefesh of Atzilut which was previously their father’s. As is known, every soul has levels called ohr makif [surrounding light] and ohr penimi [internal light].

When Jethro the father-in-law of Moses converted, he merited the Nefesh of Atzilut that had been given to Cain, but just on the level of ohr penimi. So it is written, «Heber the Kenite separated from Kenites [hinting to Cain.»] (Judges 4:11) We will explain this in its proper place. Nadab and Abihu took the ohr makif of the Nefesh of Atzilut of Adam, which had been given to his son Cain.

Regarding Pinchas’ birth it says, «Elazar the son of Aaron took a daughter of Potiel for a wife and she bore him Pinchas.» (Ex. 6:25)  On this the Sages say, ‘Potiel’ — this is Joseph, shepitpit [that he controlled]  his yetzer hara; [also] this is Jethro, shepitem [who fattened] calves for idol worship.». This is the secret: When Pinchas was born, he incorporated two soul-sparks. This is the meaning of «Potiel», which is similar to tipin [drops], for he was from two soul-drops, one spark from the root of Joseph and the second spark from the side of Jethro. This level that incorporates these two souls is called «Pinchas».

The two explanations of Potiel are one. Through the secret of the Pinchas-tikun they unite and come to fruition. The Talmud draws parallel between shmirat habrit [guarding the covenant], the quality of Joseph, and faith — the opposite of idolatry. (Sota )  They both relate to the sefira of yesod, the root of Joseph, and greatly connected to Jethro. «And I betroth you [to Me] in faith — and you shall know G-d.» (Hagiga)  The covenant of faith between G-d and His people is like the covenant of marriage. Therefore were they coined an adulterous woman in the prophet’s parable when they went after other deities. (Hagiga).

They do however start from opposite ends of the spectrum. Joseph stood the test and was circumcised as an infant, always guarding the covenant. Jethro started out not only as a pagan, but as the chief priest of idolatry of the entire world.  (Ex. 18:11, Rashi) From this place of darkness, he came to recognize monotheism.

The relationship between Joseph and Jethro is that of the classic archetypes of a tzadik [one perfectly righteous] and a ba’al teshuvah [the penitent]. The Talmud has a discussion about who is greater. But all agree that they are mutually beneficial and absolutely necessary for the world’s perfection.

Pinchas is special in that he incorporated both. This is hinted to in the way the Zohar divides his name: PN-ChS/pen-chas [face of pity]. (Zohar III Pinchas) Pen hints to the Joseph aspect of shmirat habrit causing a shining of the Divine countenance on the person. (Likutei Moharan)  Chas hints to the pity extended to Jethro to accept his repentance and fix the damage caused by his idolatry.

These innate soul-ties were prepared from above to make Pinchas ready to receive the souls of Nadab and Abihu. Presently it will be revealed that he acquired them through an act of zealousness, a transcending quality that draws a great encompassing light that unites opposites.

Nadab was from netzach, Abihu from hod. Again, the above dynamic manifests through them.  Netzach is absolute victory and eternity — one who never makes mistakes.  Hod is submission and admittance of one who realizes his mistakes and corrects them.

Do not be surprised how the spark of Jethro could combine with the spark of Joseph. It is already known that Joseph is in yesod, from which flows the drops of seed from all chasadim and gevurot — it is there that they intermingle. Thus it should not make you wonder how the soul-spark of Jethro, which is from another root, could mix with the soul-spark from Joseph. [By nature his soul is given to mingle with other roots.]

So we find that Pinchas received a soul-spark from Jethro, which was the level of ohr pnimi of the Nefesh of Adam from Atzilut. After that, Nadab and Abihu died because they brought the unauthorized incense-offering, (Lev. 10:1)  and when Pinchas killed Zimri, he merited the souls of Nadab and Abihu, which are from the ohr makif of Adam of Atzilut.

This was possible because he already possessed a spark from the root of Jethro, and it completed the Nefesh of Atzilut within him, since he now possessed both the ohr pnimi and the ohr makif. However, the ohr pnimi entered him as an actual gilgul when he was born, whereas the ohr makif came to him in the secret of ibur after he was born and grown up.

There is another matter as a result of this difference. The soul that comes to a man when he is born is an actual gilgul, even if it is the combination of two sparks, as in the case of Pinchas who had a spark of Joseph and a spark from Jethro. Nothing else is required to make them work together.

However, in the case of a soul that comes in the secret of ibur after birth, like the Nefesh of Nadab and Abihu that came to Pinchas, another spark must accompany it. Furthermore, this spark must be new to the world and not a reincarnation. Such a spark joined with the Nefesh of Nadab and Abihu that came in ibur to unify it with the Nefesh of Pinchas, who was an actual reincarnation.

Therefore, another new soul had to come in ibur in Pinchas called «Elijah the Tishbi» from the inhabitants of Gilad, and from the root of Gad, which was a new soul at that time. This was in order to combine the Nefesh of Nadab and Abihu with the Nefesh of Pinchas itself, a gilgul from the time of his birth.

He also required an additional new soul in order to unite the new soul called «Elijah the Tishbi» with the rest of the older souls, that is the Nefesh of Pinchas and that of Nadab and Abihu. Therefore, he received an additional soul called «Elijah» from the root of Benjamin, mentioned in the verse, «and Jaareshiah, and Elijah, and Zichri, were the sons of Jeroham.» (Chronicles I 8:27), as Elijah himself wrote to the Sages [that he is] «from the children of the children of Rachel [the mother of Binyamin].» (Bereishit Raba 71:12) We explain this matter at the end of this discussion.

Thus we find that four levels were in Pinchas. The first was that of the Nefesh of Pinchas with which he was born, a single soul even though it was the combination of two drops, one from Joseph and one from Jethro. The second level was the Nefesh of Nadab and Abihu, which came in the secret of ibur and is also called one soul, as is known from the Zohar — Nadab and Abihu are two limbs of one body. (Acharei Mot 57b) The third was a Nefesh called «Elijah the Tishbi» from the root of Gad, and the fourth level was «Elijah» from the root of Benjamin. This then is the secret of what the Sages say, «Michael in one … Elijah in four.» Understand this.

Later in history, when the incident of the daughter of Jephtah of Gilead occurred, they [Elijah and Jephtah] were both punished. For as the Sages say, Jephtah was a judge and he did not want to come to Elijah to annul his vow. Elijah did not want to come to him, for he said, «The one who is suffering must come to the doctor» (Breishit Raba) — and so between the two of them the daughter of Jephtah went [to live in seclusion in the mountains].

Jephtah, who was directly involved in the incident, was punished and as a result, everywhere he went he lost limbs, as it says, «They buried him in the cities of Gilead» (Judges 12:7) — in the plural. Elijah was punished by the departure of the Shechinah. As the Sages say on the verse, «And Pinchas the son Elazar was the supervisor over them in former times, for G-d was with him,» (Chron. I 9:20) which is talking about the Pinchas. (Breishit Raba  60:3)  Thus he was the «supervisor» over them — but no longer.

After the Nefesh of Nadab and Abihu that had been in him b’ibur was removed, it later reincarnated into Samuel the prophet, as we will explain. This is the secret of what the Sages say, » The V/vav of «briti shalom [My covenant of peace]» (Num. 25:12) is [written in the Torah scroll] cut. They also say in the Zohar, that the Y/yud of Pinchas is [written in Num. 25:11] small.   (Zohar III Acharei Mot).

Thus, in the incident with Zimri he merited the ibur of Nadab and Abihu, as mentioned in the Zohar, (Zohar III Pinchas 217a) but he lost the ibur as a result of the sin of the daughter of Jephtah. This is why the vav is cut, to represent the sefira of yesod, which is called briti shalom. It was actually cut when he lost the Shechinah and the ibur of Nadab and Abihu.

Thus, from that time onward all that remained was the spark from the root of Joseph. For the ibur of Nadab and Abihu went to Samuel, and the spark of Jethro was removed from him to reincarnate into Hiel the Bethelite, who was born at that time and [later] rebuilt Jericho.

This was because the ibur of Nadab and Abihu, Elijah from the tribe of Gad and Elijah from Binyamin, were not principle souls of Pinchas but on loan in the secret of ibur. Therefore, the sin which resulted because of the daughter of Jephtah did not blemish them, and even the spark from the drop of Joseph was not that involved in the sin, just the spark from Jethro.

This was because the spark from Jethro, which came from Cain, when it went to Jethro had the name komer [non-Jewish priest] who fattens cows for idol-worship. Therefore, it was the primary cause of the sin. And therefore it was removed and it reincarnated into Hiel the Bethelite [in Hebrew, ‘Bait Ha’eli’].

Thus, the letters of Hiel are the same letters of Elijah, when the H/hey [of Elijah] is switched with the Ch/chet [of (C)hiel] from the letters of the aleph-chet-ayin-hei pronunciation grouping.

Even Ha’eli is the same letters as «Elijah» [again, without the vav]. This is the secret of «Bait Ha’eli» — that is «Bait Elijah», from the «house of the dwelling of Elijah,» since Elijah «dwelled» in the body of Pinchas, who was from the spark of the drop of Jethro. Hence, the main body was that of Pinchas and not Elijah — it was just that it was called the «house of the dwelling of Elijah.»

The Sages say that Hiel was an important man, to whose house King Ahab and Elijah used to come. However, because of the sin of Jephtah’s daughter, this caused him to build Jericho, which is similar in nature. The sin of the daughter of Jephtah had to do with a vow, and this sin was a violation of the vow made by Joshua not to re-build Jericho. Since the city of Jericho was connected to the root of Cain, as it says, «and the children of the Kenite, the father-in-law of Moses, went up from the city of date palms,» (Judges 1:16) which is Jericho, Hiel, who is from the root of Cain, wanted to re-build it.

After this, his name changed to Elijah the Tishbi. Nadab and Abihu were rectified in him, and Pinchas himself from the side of Jethro was involved in the sin of the daughter of Jephtah. Elijah from the tribe of Binyamin was only in him in ibur to join together the other souls. Thus what remained as the main part was Elijah from the root of Gad, and therefore he could no longer be called Pinchas, but Elijah the Tishbi — hinting that his soul was from the tribe of Gad.

When prophecy returned to him it was after he was called Elijah the Tishbi and after Samuel died, so that Nadab and Abihu could return to him in ibur during the incident of Mt. Carmel. At that time, the people fell on their faces and said, «Havaya is Elokim .» (Kings I 18:20-29) When they said, «Havaya is Elokim «, they [Nadab and Abihu] were forgiven for their sin of ‘cutting off the plantings’ when they [as if] caused defect in the Divine Presence [by their improper incense offering]. Understand this.

Furthermore, they [Nadab and Abihu] had sinned in the beginning when they glanced at the Shechinah at Mt. Sinai, as it says, «They saw the G-d of Israel.» (Ex. 24:10) However, they underwent rectification when they fell on their faces in order to avoid seeing the fire that descended from Heaven.

This is another reason why he is called Elijah and not Pinchas. Through this act he merited a name change, as we will explain later regarding the matter of Elisha the prophet. Once they were rectified they did not need to remain there, and Nadab and Abihu were withdrawn.

Now Jezebel the wife of Ahab was a great sorceress — it says that she caused Israel to go astray [to idolatry] through her magic. Through her magic she knew that Nadab and Abihu, of whom it was declared, «Behold, I give to him my covenant of Shalom,» (Num. 25:12)  which means eternal life, had been withdrawn from Elijah.

Thus she told him, «At this time tomorrow, I will make your nefesh [life] like the life of one of them [who were killed]» (Kings I 19:2) — since the decree of life and peace was removed from him. There is also a connection to Nadab and Abihu who were burned by the fire of the incense. This is the secret of, «like the nefesh [life] of one of them [Nadab and Abihu].» Since Elijah felt that this gift was taken from him he became afraid and fled to Mt. Horeb. This is what is written, «And he saw, and he arose and went for his nefesh [life].» (Ibid. 3) That is, he saw that he had only one nefesh [soul], and so feared Jezebel.

He found respite in the cave at Mt. Horeb [Sinai], until he went up in a storm wind to Heaven. It was Elijah the Tishbite from the tribe of Gad who ascended to Heaven and he did not descend again. However, Elijah from the tribe of Benjamin reincarnated into the one mentioned in the verse, «And Jaareshiah, and Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.» (Chron. I 8:27) Later when he died, he ascended to join Elijah who had ascended.

It is Elijah from the tribe of Benjamin who ascends and descends constantly to perform miracles for the righteous and to speak with them. (Shaar Ruach HaKodesh).

At first, the sages only knew that Elijah was comprised of four levels, but they did not know which level descended and ascended and spoke with them. They differed in opinion, until he told them, «My Rabbis … why are you disagreeing over me? I come from the children of Rachel, as it says, ‘And Jaareshiah…Elijah’». Thus, he revealed to them which level it was that spoke to them, the level of Elijah of Benjamin, which is joined together with the drop from Jethro that was given to Hiel Bait Ha’eli. After he had died, Elijah took it with him.

It seems to me the author that the two of them reincarnated into Elijah of Benjamin. Elijah gave the level called the drop of Joseph to [the prophet] Jonah, son of Amitai the Tsarafite when he revived him. (Kings I 17:17-23) This is the secret of what is written in the Zohar, «It was taught: Jonah came from the legion of Elijah, which is why he is called, «son of Amitai [son of Truth],» As it says, «and that the word of G-d in your mouth is truth!» (Kings I 17:24, Zohar II Vayakhel 197a).

This is also the secret of what the Sages write, «It was taught in the school of Elijah, «The lad that I revived was  Mashiach son of Joseph.» Since he came from a drop of Joseph he will therefore be Mashiach ben Joseph — may it happen speedily in our time!

The part that remained for Elijah in the future was that of the tribe of Benjamin. The ibur of Nadab and Abihu was given to Elisha [his disciple] in the secret of ibur, when he ascended to Heaven. This is the secret of what Elisha requested, «Na [please], may twice as much of your spirit be mine.» (Kings I 2:9) In Sefer Hakanah it says, «twice as much» — that is Nadab and Abihu.

That is the NA/na [please] that he added, which is made up of the first letters of Nadab and Abihu — they are the double portion that was added to the ruach of Elijah. Also, the first letters of «Na pi shnayim biruchacha alai [Please, may twice as much as your spirit be mine]» spell  nefesh bah [the soul comes], that is, Nadab and Abihu who were the level of the nefesh of Atzilut of Adam, which had come to him when he had killed Zimri. [Elisha requested,] «Give them to me.»

Elisha was from the root of Enoch called  Matatron, from the aspect of neshama of Atzilut which is called the zehira ila’a of Adam. Therefore, [in order to complete his soul spread of all levels — nefesh/ruach/neshama of Atzilut] he needed to take the nefesh of Nadab and Abihu, which was the  nefesh of the zehira ila’a of Adam, which was in Elijah. Since Elijah merited the ruach of the Zehira Ila’a as mentioned before, he therefore said, «your ruach be mine».

Hinted in «b’ruch’cha [your spirit]» is what we explained  (Zohar III 56b) that though both the nefesh and ruach of Abihu were from the root of Cain, whereas the nefesh of Nadab was from another root, making only his ruach from the root of Cain. Thus, since only his ruach was from Cain he said, «b’ruch’cha  [meaning: your ruach (and not nefesh)]».

So his name is Elisha. For with respect to Cain it says, «to Cain and his meal-offering He did not pay attention» (Gen. 4:5) Since he rectified Cain he is called Elisha — as if to say, «Li  [Hebrew for ‘to me’] sha’ah» [Hebrew for ‘pay attention’, his name then meaning] «to me G-d did pay attention» whereas to Cain He did not, before his tikun.

I already alluded earlier that Pinchas is called Elijah to indicate that the ibur of Nadab and Abihu, which came from Cain, was rectified by him. Therefore, the three letters ELY of Elijah are also in Elisha — indicating that Elisha also rectified these three letters like Elijah.

This is the secret of the children’s mocking, who said to him [Elisha], «Go up, baldhead [in Hebrew, ‘kereach’, the same letters as Korach]! Go up, baldhead!» (Kings II 2:23) For Korach son of Yitzhar was the ruach of Cain from the side of evil, which is why he went down to Shaol alive. (Num. 16:30) The children wanted to insult and curse him, as if to say, «Korach went down to Shaol and needs to ascend — if you come from the root of Cain, how can you ascend?»

They also were hinting that just as Korach ben Yitzhar was shaved by Moses [As were all the Levites in their inauguration (Num. 8:7)], and was thus bald of any hair, so too was Elisha bald of his hair, since the root of his soul was connected to Korach. This is what caused the ibur of Nadab and Abihu after that, for they too were from the root of the soul of Korach. Furthermore, just as Moses used the forty-two letter name to kill the Egyptian (Ex. 2:12) — who was from the nefesh of Cain from the side of evil — so too did Elisha mention the forty-two letter name and kill these forty-two children, as the Zohar states.

After that, he reincarnated into Hezekiah/Chizkiyahu King of Judah, to hint to what is written by our Sages, «In the days of the flood, G-d hung it on Cain weakly, and with respect to him it says, «All that existed was eradicated.» (Gen. 7:23, Breishit Raba 22:12)  After it was rectified he was called ‘Chizkiah’, because through him Cain was nitchazaick [strengthened] from his weakness.

The letters YHV from ELYHV/Eliyahu/Elijah were rectified. As a result, ChZKYHV/Chizkiyahu/Hezekiah merited one-third of the portion of the firstborn that was meant for Cain, who was the firstborn of Adam. They are: Priesthood, Kingship, and the Firstborn Right, mentioned by the Targum Yonatan on the verse, «Reuven, you are my firstborn.» (Gen. 49:3).

Thus Hezekiah wore the crown of Kingship, and this is the secret of what our Sages say, «G-d wanted to make Hezekiah the  Mashiach… (Sanhedrin 94a) The reason was because he was from Cain the firstborn, and so was he fitting to take the crown of Kingship and to be the future Mashiach. However, it didn’t happen because he didn’t say shirah [song].

Later, as a result of the Chanukah miracle, it reincarnated into Mattathias the Hashmonite, who was actually the High Priest and the King, thus meriting two parts of the Firstborn right.

Then it reincarnated into Akavia ben Mehalelel, as already taught. Cain is hinted to in the secret of the aikev [heel] of Esau, and therefore his name was Akavia. Moreover, since Akavia was also a tikun for the level of Mehalel ben Keinan, he was called Akavia ben Mehalelel.

From there, it reincarnated into Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. Thus, at the time of his death he announced, «Prepare a throne for Hezekiah, King of Judah, who has come to accompany me,» (Brachot 28b) since he was a reincarnation of his soul-root. He also merited taking the crown of Priesthood of Cain the Firstborn.

After this, it reincarnated into Akiva ben Yosef, whose name also alludes to the aikev of Esau, as in the case of Akavia. With this you can appreciate what is written in Mesechet Rut of the Zohar — «Issachar, he is Rabbi Akiva», (Zohar Chadash 89) as we will explain. Issachar is also from the root of Cain.

Then it came as an ibur into two  Geonim whose names were Rav AChAY/Achai and Rav AChA/Acha Shivcha Gaon, to rectify them. For they were from the root of the Nefesh of King Ahab, and through them the three letters AChA of AChAB/Achav were rectified, by way of  ibur. However, the B of Ahab was rectified through Rabbi Avraham Galid, as is known from the order of reincarnations of the root of the Nefesh of King Ahab.

Kapitel 33

Enoch is [became the angel] Matatron, his neshamah being from the zihara ila’a. Cain received the nefesh of the zihara ila’a of Adam. As is already known, all the souls were included in Adam, and when he sinned, his spiritual posture was reduced until all that remained within him was a terumah [designated portion] which is two from one hundred [5%] — the challah [choice part] of the world.

From the level of nefesh, which is the level of Asiya, two souls remained with him that are better than the rest. This terumat nefesh [choice soul] was given to Cain, while the rest of the portions of the souls flew away from Adam after he sinned.

We already spoke about how Cain was a combination of good and evil. Thus, he was also able to father souls that were like Abel his brother, as is mentioned at the end of the Idra Raba, Naso. From his good comes the souls of tzadikim, whereas from the side of evil comes the souls of the wicked.

From the good side of Cain came Keinan and Mehalel, as mentioned in the Zohar. (Zohar II Terumah 168a) After that, Reuben the firstborn of Jacob was born. He would have received the firstborn rights of Cain, the firstborn of Adam, had it not been for the episode of Bilhah. (Gen. 35:22).

According to the Targum [Aramaic translation of the Torah], the verse «Reuben, you are my firstborn… foremost in s’eis [rank] and foremost in power» (Gen. 49:3)  refers to the Birthright, Priesthood, and Kingship. The secret of «s’eis» is that it refers to the Priesthood, which is alluded to with respect to Cain as well. When he sinned, he also lost the priesthood, which is called «s’eis.»

After Reuben did teshuvah, he merited bringing the duda’im [jasmine flowers], (Gen. 30:14) which resulted in the birth of Issachar, who is from the good side of Cain the firstborn. Eve said when Cain was born, «I have acquired a man with G-d,» (Gen. 4:1) which is actually an allusion [to Cain’s rectification through Issachar], since both Eve and Leah were from the level of bina, which as we know is called Imma Ila’a [the supernal maternal aspect].

Thus, there is a hint to the fact that the complete tikun of Cain came through Issachar, who was born as a result of an ‘acquisition’ [just as Cain is so called]. For Leah bought the right to be with Jacob from Rachel as a result of the duda’im, as it says, «Therefore he shall lie with you tonight in return for your son’s duda’im.» (Gen. 30:15).

So Issachar, the fifth portion [Leah’s fifth son] from the side of good, was born. Since he is from the level of nefesh [which is] called Asiya, there was [in him] a connection to kelipot and zuhama [dirt] of the snake [who attacks the heel. (Gen. 3:15)] Therefore, Esau, who is called snake, had a hold on him, and he is called the «heel of Esau» (Gen. 25:26) — since he is from Asiyah, which is called the heel [it being the lowest of realms].

Jacob snatched them from Esau, in the secret of «His hand was holding onto the heel of Esau,» (Gen. 25:26) and Issachar was born from this level of nefesh. Much later in time, Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef, whose name has within it aikev, was born from this level of  nefesh. As we alluded to in previous discussions, based upon Midrash Rut of the Zohar, that Issachar is [from] Rabbi Akiva.

Later on, Nadab and Abihu also came from the good side of Cain, and this is the secret of «the firstborn Nadab and Abihu, Elazar.» (Num. 3:2) On this, the Zohar in the portion Acharei Mot asks, «It should have said «v’Elazar [and Elazar] — with a V/vav?» It is so an allusion to Cain who was the firstborn of Adam — the firstborn of all history, and he reincarnated into Nadab and Abihu. Elazar and Ithamar however are from a different root. Therefore, it does not use V/vav  [meaning ‘and’] with Elazar — to separate him from Nadab and Abihu.

However, only Nadab had his ruach from the level of Cain, which is the secret of the verse, «Sustain me with Your ruach NDYVH/nedivah [generous spirit].» (Ps. 51:14) His nefesh came from his elder, AMYNDV/AmiNadab the father of Elisheva his mother, and so he took the last three letters NDV/Nadab.

However, with respect to Abihu, both his  nefesh and ruach were from Cain, and that is why he is called «Abihu» [lit. ‘he is my father’] — to indicate that all of his levels were from Cain, who received the nefesh from Adam himself, the father of the entire world. This is the meaning of «Abihu»- he is from Adam, the father of the entire world.

This is the secret of, «We are unclean for the nefesh adam [soul of man],» (Num. 9:7) which were [i.e. adam is referring to] Nadab and Abihu, the nefesh of Adam himself. However, since Nadab did not have the nefesh of Adam, it does not say «nefashot Adam» in the plural, since the main nefesh of Adam was only in  Abihu.

Abihu also received from Nachshon, his mother’s brother because he [Nachshon] was also from the root of Cain called nefesh. Furthermore, since the main attachment of the zuhama of the snake in Adam is on the level of the nefesh of  Asiya, he is called NChShN/Nachshon after the NChSh/nachash  [snake].

The supernal snake removed two mochin from Nukvah, which is two times the word OVR-207/ohr, as we discussed on the verse, «VAHVT-414/va’ahavta [and you shall love] G-d your L-rd.» (Deut. 6:5) This is the gematria NChShN/Nachshon, to teach that Nachshon through his good deeds restored them to Nukvah.

Moreover, when it reincarnated into Yishai, David’s father, then the level of Cain called snake was completely rectified. As the verse says, «who consorted with Abigail daughter of Nachash.» (Samuel I 17:25) the Sages explain that she was the daughter of the one «who died because of the bite of the nachash [snake]», (Baba Batra 17a)  alluding to the fact that Yishai was the end of the rectification of the zuhama of the nachash, having the nefesh of Cain. Nevertheless, he died because of the bite of the snake (Shabbat 55b) — because of the sin of Adam. Thus, more completion was achieved through Yishai than through Nachshon.

Returning to the discussion of Nadab and Abihu, since they were on the level of the nefesh called Asiya, the zuhama of the snake attached itself to them, and they sinned in the incident of the «unauthorized incense-offering». (Lev. 10:1) As a result, they were punished with death [which has its hold on Asiya].

Elijah the Prophet is Pinchas, (Zohar)  who had the nefesh zehira ila’a of Adam. Therefore, Nadab and Abihu came into him in ibur in the incident with Zimri, since they were also the level of the nefesh of Adam from the aspect of the nefesh of Asiya, as mentioned earlier.

Now, had the Jewish people not sinned with the [golden] calf, the zuhama would have been completely removed from them. Had that been the case, then even though Nadab and Abihu sinned with the incense, they could have simply died a normal death. However, since Israel did commit the sin with the calf, they caused the zuhama to adhere once again to the nefesh of Adam. As a result, Nadab and Abihu had to die through burning.

This is the reason for, «And all your brothers the entire House of Israel shall cry over the burning.» (Lev. 10:6)  Their sin of the [golden] calf caused the burning of the nefesh of Adam, the father of the entire world. This is the reason why Nadab and Abihu were considered equal to the entire Jewish people, like Moses and Aaron, because they possessed the nefesh of Adam itself.

Regarding the ibur into Pinchas it is written, «Remember NA/na [please] which NKI/naki  [innocent] person ever perished,» (Job 4:7) as the Zohar says. (Pinchas 217a) For the first letters of Nadab and Abihu are NA/nun-aleph, and they are from the root of KYN/Cain, whose letters spell NKY/naki. In other words, they never perished but went into Pinchas, who was also from Cain. However, as we explained earlier,  (Chapter 32)  when Pinchas sinned with the incident of the daughter of Yiftach, the ibur of Nadab and Abihu was removed from him and it went to Samuel the Prophet.

Korach the son of Yitzhar was from the level of the ruach of Cain from the side of evil, as the verse indicates, «And Korach took» (Num. 16:1) — see the Targum there. This evil ruach of Cain was enclothed within him [Korach], and therefore he accused Abel his brother, [who was enclothed in] Moses. However Jethro, though he too is from Cain, as it says, «Heber the Kenite separated from KYN/Kenites,» (Judges 4:11) is from the level of good of Cain. Therefore, he gave his daughter Tziporah to Moses, was good to him, and fed him bread.

Korach thought he had rectified Cain the firstborn, and therefore he tried to overcome Moses, who was Abel. However, he had erred in this because the tikun of Cain could not have come through Korach, since he was from his evil side. Rather, it could only come through his descendant, Samuel the Prophet, who was also from the good side of Cain. The Sages have said that Korach prophesized but did not know [what he was prophesying], because he saw a fire go out from his [reproductive] organ [making him think that since his descendents were to be rulers, he would be successful in usurping Moses]. Understand this.

This is the secret of: «And he saw the Kenites,» (Num. 24:21) who is Cain, and Samuel was from Cain. This is alluded to in, «Oy! Who will survive when MShMV/misumo [He imposes] AL/el [these]?» (Num. 24:23) — which are the letters ShMUAL.

Moreover, just before that it said, «He saw Amalek,» (Num. 24:20) who is from the evil side of Cain, as we will later explain. Thus he was saying, «Woe to Amalek when Samuel will come», because it was him who urged Saul to go off to war against him. As it says [that Samuel himself finished what Saul started], «Samuel severed Agag (king of Amalek) in Gilgal.» (Samuel I 15:33).

This is the secret of what the Zohar (Vayeitzei)  writes, «‘And he touched his thigh’ (Gen. 32:26) — this refers to Nadab and Abihu.» In Saba of Mishpatim it says, «Samuel snatched back from Sam-kel/the Satan what he had taken from Jacob [when they wrestled]». (Zohar II Mishpatim 111).

This is because Nadab and Abihu are the two legs, netzach and hod, the root of all prophets. Sam-kel (Satan) had grabbed on to them. When Samuel came along and grabbed this thigh from Sam-kel, which is Nadab and Abihu, he merited prophecy through them, because the thighs are the source of the prophets. Prior to Samuel, the thigh had been in Sam-kel’s possession, as the Ari’ Zl explains on the verse: «vision was not widespread.» (Samuel I 3:1, Sefer HaLikutim).

This is the secret of what the Sages say on the verse, «If You take note of the suffering of Your maidservant.» (Samuel I 1:11) For Hannah [Samuel’s mother] said, «I will go into seclusion [with another man] and [will be forced to] drink the sotah [wayward woman’s] waters, and then certainly will I have children».

This can be understood in light of what is found in the Saba of Mishpatim, where it says that Samuel grabbed the thigh from Sam-kel, and gave him the thigh of the sotah in its place. Therefore, Hannah told G-d that if she could not give birth to Samuel who could grab the thigh from Sam-kel, she would go and become secluded [with another man]. This would cause two thighs to be taken away from Sam-kel, the thigh of Jacob through Samuel, and the thigh of the sotah — since she would be pure and he would not overcome her.

This is also the secret of «Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel among those who invoke His Name,»  (Ps. 99:6) for Samuel was considered equal to Moses and Aaron. (Berachot 31b) This is because Nadab and Abihu were in him, and they were equal to Moses and Aaron, as is said on the verse, «It [the Mishkan] shall be sanctified by My Glory [through the death of tzadikim].» (Ex. 29:43)

And just as ELYShA/Elisha took the three letters ELY from ELYHV/Eliyahu/Elijah, as said in the previous discussion, so too did ShMVEL/Shmuel/Samuel take the two letters E-L from Eliyahu, alluding to the fact that he took Nadab and Abihu, who were originally in Elijah.

We need to explain the matter of Samuel, and we will start with Nadab and Abihu. Know that just as Nadab and Abihu sinned with the incense-offering, so too did Israel sin with the calf, and they caused them to be burned. As said earlier on the verse, «And all your brothers, the entire House of Israel, shall cry over the burning.» (Lev. 10:6)  Aaron also played a role in their death when he made the calf. As it says, «G-d became very angry with Aaron to destroy him» (Deut. 9:20) — this refers to the destruction of his sons.

Now Aaron was from the root of Abel, the son of Adam. The root of Abel divided into many levels of roots, principally two soul-roots: The roots of Haran and Nahor, the brothers of Abram.

Nahor reincarnated into Hur the son of Miriam  (Moses’ sister), while Haran reincarnated into Aaron. ChVR/(C)hur took the three letters of NChVR/Na(c)hor, while the N/nun from Nahor remained for the root of Ahab king of Israel, as we will explain. However, AHRN/Aaron has the three letters of HRN/Haran (hei-reish-nun), plus an additional A/aleph.

Lot the son of Haran was also from the root of Abel. Therefore the head-letters of LVT BN HRN/Lot ben  [son of] Haran spell HVL/Abel in reverse — since both Lot and Haran were from the Abel-root. From Lot later came King Rehoboam, [King Solomon’s son] as we will explain. Thus we find that Moses, his brother Aaron, Hur ben Miriam (their nephew), Lot, and Ahab are all from the root of Abel the son of Adam — different branches but all from Abel.

As said, Aaron was Haran the brother of Abram. Now, Haran himself came to rectify the sin of Adam who had performed idol-worship. However, not only did he not rectify, but he didn’t even believe in G-d until after Abraham came out of the fiery furnace, as the Sages say. Therefore Haran was burned in Ur Kasdim [the furnace in Kasdim].

After that, he reincarnated into Aaron to rectify the sin — but in the end he did just the opposite by making the  [Golden] Calf. Really he should have instead sacrificed himself when the Mixed Multitude came to him and said, «Arise and make a god for us.» (Ex. 32:1) However he erred, thinking that it was enough that they had already killed Hur, who was also from the root of Abel.

This is the secret of, «And he built an altar before him,» (Ex. 32:5) which the Sages interpret to mean that he built an altar as a result of the one slaughtered before him — that is Hur. Thus, he didn’t stop them and sacrifice himself instead — and sinned as a result. This was not rectified until Uriah the Priest, as we will explain later.

However, prior to this he reincarnated into Ya’abetz the Judge. He sinned then as well, constantly making vows, as the Sages say on the verse, «Ya’abetz called out to the G-d of Israel, saying, ‘If you will bless me’.» (Chron. I 4:10) Therefore, he reincarnated into Tola the son of Pu’ah the Judge. He was called ‘Tola’ after ‘tola’a’ [worm], whose strength is in its mouth, to hint that he had come to rectify the vows that came forth from his mouth.

He sinned in another way as well, as the Sages explain on the verse, «He dwelt in Shamir, in Mount Ephraim.» (Judges 10:1) For, he remained in a single location in one city, rather than traveling from place to place to judge Israel. This prevented the people from coming to him for judgment because of the need to travel. Therefore he reincarnated into Samuel the Prophet, who rectified this sin by traveling from place to place to judge the people, as the verse says.

Nadab and Abihu, who are called ‘limbs of truth’, came to him in ibur. From there (netzach and hod, which they represent) comes prophecy, and therefore he merited prophecy through them. When he fathered Abijah, his own son, Abihu reincarnated into him — so their names are similar. Nadab however remained in Samuel, which is the secret of, «his second [born son] Abijah.» (Samuel I 8:2)  For Nadab remained in Samuel, but from his second, that is Abihu, came the reincarnation into his son called Abijah.

After that, Samuel died and reincarnated into Abijah, the son of Jeroboam. Thus it says by Samuel, «All of Israel eulogized him» (Samuel I 28:3) and with respect to Abijah, the son of Jeroboam it says, «All of Israel eulogized him.» (Kings I 14:18) For they saw something good within him. According to Midrash Eichah in the Zohar, that good was Mashiach ben Yosef, who was destined to come from him — the reason being because he was the reincarnation of Samuel.

After that, Aaron returned and reincarnated into Uriah the Kohen of Kiryat Ye’arim, who was killed by King Yehoyakim. Through this, he was forgiven for the death for which he was culpable as a result of the (Golden) Calf. However, Nadab and Abihu also reincarnated with him into Uriah the Kohen as an actual gilgul, since they died because of him, as we said on the verse, «God became very angry with Aaron to destroy him.» (Deut. 9:20).

Therefore, ARYH/Uri(y)ah was named after AHRN/A(h)aron — their names are similar and both were priests. In addition, even though he was rectified when Uriah was killed, since he caused Nadab and Abihu his sons to reincarnate and be killed because of him, therefore he needed to reincarnate a second time into Zechariah the prophet and kohen, the colleague of Haggai and Malachi. Nadab and Abihu reincarnated with him as a real gilgul.

Thus Uriah the Kohen, who came to rectify the sin of Aaron, was called kohen, to allude to Aaron the  first kohen. However, Zechariah came for the purpose of Nadab and Abihu, and therefore was not called kohen even though he was one (and they were also kohanim). As it says, «I appointed trustworthy witnesses for myself: Uriah the Kohen and Zechariyahu the son of Yeberechiah.» (Isaiah 8:2)

There is also another hint, for with respect to Uriah it does not mention «son of», though it does with respect to Zechariah/Zechariyahu. This is to allude to the fact that Uriah was the father and Zechariyahu was the son — that is that Nadab and Abihu his sons were the principle souls in Zechariah.

Therefore are they called «trustworthy witnesses» — because the two of them are one (the same) soul, as mentioned, and each of them had reincarnations of two «witnesses» — an aspect of Aaron and an aspect of his two sons. Hence, Uriah also prophesied about chastisements since he still needed to be killed. However, Zechariah prophesied about times of comfort and the building of the Second Temple, as found in his book.

Kapitel 34

Abel is [drawn from] the right shoulder of Adam, which is the level of itra d’chesed [the crown of chesed] — which remained in Zeir Anpin. So we find that he is from the in the secret of da’at, which, as we have explained before resolves between chochmah and bina. Therefore, da’at itself has to incorporate the three levels of chochmah, bina, and da’at.

At first, Moses was Abel, who was the son of Adam. Later, he reincarnated into Seth, then Noah, and after that, into Shem, Noah’s son. This is the secret of, «You have said, ‘I shall know you by  shem [literally meaning ‘name’]’» (Ex. 33:12) — an allusion to the reincarnation into Shem. «And you found favor ChN/cheit-nun [favor] in My eyes» hints at the reincarnation into Noah, the father, since Noah also contains the letters ChN/cheit-nun. In the secret of, «Noah found favor CN/cheit-nun [favor](Gen. 6:8)

I mentioned elsewhere that these gilgulim are in the secret of NR»N, and therefore, you need not be surprised about how Noah and Shem could live at the same time if they are from the same level.

Thus MSh/mem-shin, the first letters of MShH/mem-shin-hey/Moshe (Moses) allude to ShM/shin-mem/Shem. And so we learn that Shem, Noah, and Moses are all from the same root, the level of chesed, which is that of Abel the son of Adam. This is the secret of [what it says regarding Moses], «for from the water he was drawn» (Ex. 2:10) — that is [from] the waters of  chesed.

When Moses received the Torah from Sinai, all three levels were incorporated and ascended in the secret da’at machriyah [resolving knowledge], from which comes the level of the written Torah. This is the secret of «From His right hand a fiery doctrine (Torah, was presented) to them,» (Deut. 33:2) for the Torah is given from the side of gevurot — which is the side of gevura of da’at, as mentioned.

I already explained that until the vision of the bush, Moses had yet to rectify the letters of Abel and Seth, except for the Sh of ShS/Shais/Seth and the H of HVL/Hevel/Abel, hinted to in the name MShH/Moshe/Moses. The three letters HVL of Hevel/Abel had yet to be rectified.

This is the reason that Gershom and Manasseh [Shmuel says: I don’t know why Manasseh is mentioned here, since no sons other than Gershom and Eliezer were born to Moses before the vision of the bush (Ex. 3)] were not that righteous. There is also another reason, and that is: The entire Jewish people were like his children and sparks from his soul. This is the secret of what the Sages say: «Moses equaled the entire children of Israel.» (Shir Hashirim Raba 1:4) Thus he was like Adam who incorporated all souls. Hence, one should not be perplexed if Gershom and Manasseh were not so righteous, since the entire Jewish people were already his children.

Returning to the matter, the bush rectified the letters HVL as well. Thus it says, «The angel of God appeared to him in a LVT [flame] of fire,» (Ex. 3:2) to hint that in the beginning the letters LVT were not yet rectified. Therefore, it says «in a flame of fire,» — from the side of judgment, since they were not yet rectified.

However, at the bush they became rectified, and this is indicated by the repetition of Moses’ name [as it says there, «Moses, Moses «]. The first refers to before the bush when he wasn’t rectified, the second to his newly rectified state. Nevertheless, even in the beginning the blemish wasn’t that bad, as it says in the Idra. (Zohar Naso 138a).

Later came Hillel and Shammai, both of whom were from the root of Abel. However, Hillel was from the side of chesed of Abel, and Shammai was from the side of gevura of Abel. Therefore G-d says to Moses, «You need to help me», (Shabbat 89a) the head-letters of which spell Hillel. Indeed, both Moses and Hillel were known for their humility, since they were both from the side of chesed of Abel.

As well, they are both alluded to in the seventy-two letter name that comes from the verses «And he traveled,» «And He went,» and «And he set up». (Ex. 14:19-21) The two names within it, when close together, are the letters MHSh and LLH, which are the letters MshH-HLL/Moses-Hillel.

However, Shammai, as mentioned, was from the side of gevura of Abel. So the gematria of Hillel is the same as ADNY/Adona»i, which is considered to be the panim  [face/front (chesed-oriented aspect)] of malchut. Shammai was the achorayim [back (din-oriented aspect)] — which is why he was so strict, since he was from the side of gevura.

Thus, ShMAY/Shammai has two letters ShM from MShH/Moshe/Moses, which are also from ShM/Shem son of Noah. The two letters AY (of ShMAY) are the secret of (what God said to Cain) «AY [where is] Abel your brother.» (Gen. 4:9) Since Shammai is from the  gevurot of Abel, there is an allusion to the sin of Abel in his name. For he (Abel) transgressed with respect to the two letters AY from ADNY/Adona » i  — hinted to by «AY [where] is Abel your brother,» as mentioned in Tikunim, Tikun 69.

Shammai the Elder sinned through his strictness — many potential converts came to him and he did not convert them, as the Sages write. (Shabbat 31a)  As a result, he reincarnated into Shimon ben Azzai, who did not marry (Ketubot 63a) but created many souls of proselytes through his Torah learning, just as Abraham ‘the man of chesed ’ did. As it says in the portion Lech Lecha: «And the souls he made in Charan.»  (Gen. 12:5)

For all who arouse souls of converts are from the side of chesed, which was Abraham while separated from his wife, since she was barren. Also Moses created souls for converts while he was away from his wife, since he is in the secret of the chesed of Abel.

Through this, the gevurot of Shammai were sweetened and changed to chesed. Therefore, the letters (of Shimon/ShMAVN)  are the ShM from Shammai and AVN/avon [transgression] — alluding that Shimon ben Azzai was the tikun for Shammai who pushed away converts.

However, Rabbi Akiva was from the root of Cain, as explained, from the aspect of the crown of gevura. (Through his learning) he sweetened the gevura and changed it to chesed, and (thereby) created souls for converts during the twenty-four years he was away from his wife, the daughter of Kalba. He had gone to learn Torah, and brought back with him twenty-four thousand students.

The root of Rabbi Akiva’s own soul was from the penimiut [internality] of holiness. However, through earlier sin (in a past lifetime), it went to the kelipot, and subsequently returned to holiness. Even though he was called convert, he was not really a full convert.

However, it is not that way for the rest of the souls of converts, which are mainly from the level of kelipa called  kelipat noga  [‘the twilight husk’]. Sometimes they can go in the direction of spiritual impurity, and other times they can return to holiness, as the Zohar says. (Zohar II Vayakhel).

This is the secret of, «Converts are hard for Israel like thorns.» (Yevamot 47b) (For at times they go to the wrong side.) For when a gentile comes to convert, a generation of souls from those righteous people in Paradise of the earth enters him, as mentioned in the portion Shelach. (Zohar III Shelach)  After that, an actual soul from the children of Israel enters him, and he is then called a gair tsedek [righteous convert], since he now has a holy soul from malchut which is called tzedek.  (See Likutei Moharan).

The soul that he had while being a non-Jew is called the ‘soul of a convert’. However, even after the conversion and its return to good, still the kelipot have somewhat of a hold on it, and it can cause the other holy soul to sin. This is what it means, «like thorns to Israel», for it (sometimes) causes the other soul, which is called «Israel», to sin.

With this, you can understand the secret of Rabbi Akiva, who was originally a complete simpleton and who for forty years hated Torah scholars. He would say, «If someone would give me a Torah scholar I would bite him like a donkey!». This was because of (the hold of the kelipot on) his original convert-soul, while his true soul from the side of holiness only acted righteously. Enough on this point.

Returning to the matter, Ben Azzai and Rabbi Akiva were creators of souls for converts, while he (Rabbi Akiva) was away from his wife. Both of them were holy, this one from the side of gevura of Abel, and this one from the side of gevura of Cain. To come closer, Ben Azzai married the daughter of Rabbi Akiva.

Even though he did not consummate the marriage and he divorced her, nevertheless, he still performed the mitzvah of marriage. For through kidushin [the marriage ceremony] a man gives his wife an ohr makif [surrounding light] from his ruach. Ben Azzai, when he married Rabbi Akiva’s daughter, gave her this ruach in the secret of an ohr makif, and it remained with her forever. In this respect, Ben Azzai created an eternal bond with Rabbi Akiva.

This is the secret of what Ben Azzai used to say to Rabbi Akiva, «All the Sages of Israel compared to me are like the peel of a garlic, except for this bald one». (Bechorot 58a) Without doubt, Ben Azzai was not, heaven forbid, putting himself above the wise of Israel in speaking this way or by referring to Rabbi Akiva disrespectfully as the «bald one».

Rather, the secret of the matter is that either all or most of the Sages were creating souls for converts through their Torah-learning. (Likutei Moharan) However, there is a difference, for there were among them those who could only bring souls from the kelipa called noga. However, Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai, after they brought them from there could also bring them to holiness, rectify them, and then give them to converts. This level was above that of all of the rest of the Sages of the generation, and this is what Ben Azzai referred to when he said that they are «as the peel of a garlic husk before me, except for this bald one».

The secret is this: In the limb of the sign of the brit milah [holy covenant of circumcision] there are two openings, the right one to produce a holy seed and the left one for dirty urine, the food of the kelipot. Between the two is a thin layer like the peel of garlic, and it is called kelipat nogah. Now, all the wise men of the generation could only bring souls from the kelipot hashum [garlic husk], and then bring them to the holy opening on the side of holiness. In this way, they brought them to holiness after which they drew them out of their bodies into the bodies of converts.

Why did Rabbi Akiva have this ability too? This is why he called him korach [bald one], because Korach the son of Yitzhar also comes from the root of Cain. He was called Korach because all the Levites had been completely shaven bald, because of the strong din that was in them.

Rabbi Akiva was also from the root of Cain, which is the crown of gevura, and as a result of his piousness, all the hairs of his body were shaven which sweetened the strength of his din. Thus was he called Korach and was he able to bring convert souls from the actual place of holiness, as Ben Azzai did from the side of chesed, for it is there that the souls of converts are aroused.

This is also the secret of why Rabbi Akiva is called chasid [pious], though he was the crown of gevura. So the Talmud says: «They left Rabbi Akiva to his piousness». (Sanhedrin 110b) The Zohar also calls him the pious elder.

Abaye was also strong in this ability like Ben Azzai to draw souls to converts through the learning of Torah, even though he did not separate from his wife. This is the secret of what it says, «Abaye said, ‘Behold I am as Ben Azzai in the Tiberian market’.» He would only say this when he was very happy.

The reason is because Abaye is also from the root of Cain, the crown of gevura, and when he sweetened the gevura he transformed it to chesed. This is when gevura is called  simcha/ joy, in the secret of ‘the rejoicing wine’. Then he was like Ben Azzai creating souls for converts from the side of  chesed, which is where they are aroused.

Of all those whom we have said are from the root of Cain, only Abaye had his nefesh, ruach, and neshama from Cain, which is very important. His soul was not a mixture, but rather all three parts were from Cain, the secret of the souls of converts. Thus, Abaye had great ability to produce convert souls, without even having to separate from his wife.

However, Rabbi Akiva only had a nefesh from Cain, while his ruach and neshama came from elsewhere. Therefore, he needed to separate from his wife. Ben Azzai, since he came from the gevura of Abel, needed to not marry at all.

Now you will be able to understand what Abaye meant when he said, «I am like Ben Azzai in the Tiberian market». Really, he should have compared himself to Rabbi Akiva, since they were both from the root of Cain. However, Ben Azzai’s ability to produce souls of converts was greater than that of Rabbi Akiva, since Ben Azzai never married. Moreover, since Abaye’s nefesh, ruach, and neshama came from Cain, he was literally like Ben Azzai, even though he remained with his wife.

Now, since all parts of Abaye were from Cain, when he argued with Rava, who was from Abel, the law was not according to his opinion.

This is the reason why Abaye was an orphan who never saw his mother or father, (Kidushin 31b) hinted to in the verse, «Asher bicha yerucham yatom/for it is with You that an orphan finds mercy» (Hosea 14:4) — the head-letters spell ABYY /Abaye. This is because his nefesh, ruach, and neshama are from Cain, the entire root of which is the level of nefesh only. Since he is from  malchut, (which is) the level of nefesh, in the secret of nefesh Adam. Therefore he is called orphan, since he is only from the level of  nefesh which is called orphan.

This is similar to what it says in Sefer HaTikunim, (Tikun 11) regarding the matter of repayment from the property of orphans: «When the neshama is removed, what remains behind is the nefesh and ruach of orphans, etc.» Since Abaye was an orphan, because all of his sections were from Cain, he was able to produce souls for converts without separation from his wife, because they too [having left their family] are like orphans without a mother and a father, as the law says. (Choshen Mishpat).

This is the matter: All mixtures of Cain with the rest of the soul-sparks that happen without the involvement of a mother or father are called orphans. Thus converts are called orphans, since they lack a Jewish mother and father at the time their souls are born.

It might come as a surprise that there was no one in the entire generation of Ben Azzai who could create souls of converts. After all, what about Rebbi Yishmael ben Elisha Kohen Gadol, who we said was a spark from the soul of Joseph Hatsadik/Joseph — why did he not possess such an ability?

The answer has to do with what we spoke about earlier regarding the ten martyrs, that they were the ten seed-drops that left Joseph. Since Joseph himself sinned (and came back as) Rebbi Yishmael, for those seeds went to the depths of the kelipot. Therefore he lacked the ability to make souls of converts. Hence we find that the punishment of Rebbi Yishmael was the most difficult of all the ten martyrs, since he was the cause of their deaths, through the seed that was emitted.

Thus, that which is written with respect to Joseph, «they removed Joseph’s coat from him» (Gen. 37:23) is similar to what it says about Rebbi Yishmael, that the skin of his face was removed. Also, Rebbi Yishmael is compared to Joseph, in as much as they were both very handsome (Gen. 39:6) as it says in Pirkei Heichalot.

In addition, just as Joseph was held captive among the Egyptians, so too was Rebbi Yishmael held captive. It says that when Rebbi Yehoshua ben Chananyah asked, «Who gave Jacob up for spoil?» (Isaiah 42:24) he (Rebbi Yishmael) answered him, «Was it not God, against lo [He] Whom we sinned?» (Ibid, Gittin 58a).

In saying «lo» [he], he was making an allusion: Because of the sin of the sparks of the seed-drops of Joseph which fell down to the kelipot in the place of the legs, he himself was exiled among the gentiles. This is what he meant by, «Who gave Ya’akov up for spoil» — that is the drops. He answered him, «Was it not God, against He Whom we sinned?» (including himself).

Kapitel 35

We have already explained that Cain and Abel took the nefesh of Atzilut that had been in Adam. The following is the explanation:

As is known, all the worlds are connected to each other. Thus, after man rectifies the world of Asiya, he can ascend to the world of Yetzira, and keep ascending even to Atzilut, as it says in the Zohar at the beginning of the portion Mishpatim. «If he merits more, they give it to him.» This is, as already explained in previous discussions, only true of a ‘new soul’, which can ascend from world to world  [in one lifetime], as mentioned there.

Thus we find that all the worlds are connected, and the lower one serves as a throne for the higher one. There are levels of souls that are only able to rectify the level of the nefesh of Asiya while some can reach Yetzira, others Beriya, and some can even reach as high as Atzilut. However, they are a small minority among all the soul-roots.

This ability exists, though, only among the soul-roots of Cain and Abel, since they are new souls in some respects as explained, and they therefore can merit to rectify and receive even the  nefesh of Atzilut, but no more. However, the rest of the souls are called ‘old souls’, and they cannot receive the nefesh of Atzilut — if only they would merit to receive the neshama of Beriya!

The soul-roots of Cain and Abel have two levels. The first is the level of the souls of Cain and Abel themselves, souls that fell off and remain in the worlds of BY»A [Beriya-Yetzira-Asiya] only. There is a second and higher level, the portion of Adam himself which he gave to his sons Cain and Abel as an inheritance. It seems to me that it is a spark from the father himself put into the nefesh of the son to guide them.

The second level is drawn from all worlds, that is, from the nefesh of Asiya to the nefesh of Atzilut. Thus, any person whose soul is from this second level is on a great level, because he can rectify from the nefesh of Asiya until the  nefesh of Atzilut the first time he enters the world. Through this he can merit to receive the nefesh of Atzilut. Not, however, the ruach or the neshama of Atzilut, since they are not completely new souls, as mentioned.

I have already explained in previous discussions that regarding this second rung which Adam gave to Cain and Abel as an inheritance, there are two levels, ohr makif and ohr penimi. All the souls of this level, as already explained, for example, Issachar, Rabbi Akiva, and Hezekiah — all of them are from the ohr hapenimi of this level. So too was Elijah the Prophet z»l from the ohr hapenimi of this level. Later, Nadab and Abihu, who were from the ohr makif of the  nefesh of Atzilut of this second level, came to him in ibur  [an added soul].

Know that Cain is the level of the left arm of every partzuf in every world, whether in Arich Anpin, Abba  and Imma, or Zeir Anpin and Nukvah in Atzilut , or in BY»A [Beriya-Yetzira-Asiya]. Abel is just the opposite, the level of the right arm of every partzuf in every world.

The three lower worlds of BY»A are called ‘arms’, whereas the world of Atzilut is called ‘wings’. Thus, Cain is the left wing of Atzilut and Abel is the right wing of Atzilut.  These levels of wings and arms have both ohr makif and ohr penimi as well.

All the souls that come from the second level that Cain and Abel inherited from their father Adam only merit to reach in this world the wings of malchut of Atzilut, called the nefesh of Atzilut — the first time. Higher than this they cannot reach the first time, only after they come back another time.

Since those from this level can reach the  nefesh of Atzilut the first time, these righteous people are called ‘angels’. Any time you find the term angel used for a righteous individual they will be from this root.

Therefore, it says regarding Phinehas in the matter of Rahab the innkeeper, «The woman took the two men and hid him», (Joshua 2:4) that is, in the singular. For she only had to hide one person — Phinehas did not need to be hidden since he was an angel and he was called that because he was from the root of Cain. Therefore Elijah is called ‘angel’, because he is from the root of Cain.

Also, Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai z»l was from this second level of Cain. Our Sages hinted to this in the Talmud by writing that every Friday he used to wash his face and feet in honor of Shabbat and was similar to an angel of the legions of God. (Shabbat  25b).

Yehudah and Chizkiah, the sons of Rebbi Chiya, are also called angels, also being from the root of the second level of Cain. Our Sages alluded to this when they taught, «In Heaven two angels, Gabriel and Michael argued — and some say two Amoraim in the west. Who were they? Yehudah and Chizkiah, the sons of Chiya.» (Baba Batra 75a).

However Enoch, who received the zihara ila’a of Adam as high as the neshama of Atzilut, was a greater angel than Elijah. Therefore, we find that one who is from the world of Atzilut is called an angel, and can rise to the level of an angel. Remember this.

Now we will explain the left arm and wing in which is the root of Cain, from which you can understand the right of Abel.

As said, Cain is [from] the left wing limb of Adam, in which there are three levels — flesh, tendons, and bones. In all five parzufim of BY»A [Beriya-Yetzira-Asiya], there is a root of Cain in the left arm and left shoulder. But there is no level of wing. However, in the five partzufim of Atzilut there is the level of shoulder, [comprised of] flesh, tendons, and bones, and the level of wing.

Thus we find that all roots from this second level of Cain have the level of shoulder with flesh, tendons, and bones, as well as the level of wing which comes out from them. For they are [as] the ‘feathers’ that emanate out of the shoulder limb. This is only in Atzilut and not BY»A, which only has the shoulder. We explained the left shoulder previously.

Now, we will explain the wing. The left wing in which the roots of the soul of Cain reach has three thousand feathers — a thousand large, a thousand medium-size, and a thousand small ones. Within each feather there are 150 hairs, which are the level of soul-sparks. For each feather, there is one hole in the shoulder limb in which the feather is wedged and from which it grows.

As well, every feather has at its upper end that is stuck into the hole — a level of blood that is absorbed within it. At the other end, above the head there is a small section of tube that has no hair. Beyond this, hairs sprout from both sides until the end of the feather, of which there are large long hairs, and small short hairs.

The small hairs are the soul-sparks of the small children who died young. There are many levels among them, for none of the small hairs are the same length, as is understandable. Likewise, there are many levels among the large hairs, and the length of the hair determines the number of years of a particular soul in this world.

Know that the feather itself is a much higher level than the hole from which it sprouts, and the blood that is absorbed within it and the beginning of the tubing that is stuck in the hole. It is also a much higher level than the hairs that grow from both sides, and the long hairs that come out from the small ones.

Also know that each feather has K»N [150] soul-sparks, which is the gematria of ChNF/kanaf [wing]. This number is based upon the name KYN/Cain, which contains KN. However, the right wing is the level of Abel, and it divides in another way based upon his name, as follows.

Each feather divides into Hei  [five] sections, and each section incorporates Lamed Beit [thirty-two] sparks, which is HBL/Hevel/Abel: H times LB. There are also 150 sparks, just as is the case with the sparks of Cain, except that the 150 sparks of Cain in each feather itself subdivide into 150. However, in the case of the sparks of Abel, which divide into five sections, each section contains [only] thirty-two sparks. This is the only difference between Cain and Abel [in regards to the configuration of the energies in the wing-level].

I will now explain a little of the souls from this second level of Cain, for the entire shoulder and wing is the root of Cain. The level of the tendons, which are in the left shoulder limb of the four worlds of ABY»A, also have a root in the left wing in malchut of Atzilut, which as said is also the level of wing. It reaches to the feather that has the number AZR/277 from the one thousand grand sparks.

There are 150 soul-sparks in this feather, and each of these 150 sparks is a unique root on the level of the wing, aside from its level in the tendons of the shoulder itself. The aperture of this feather is Abaya, and the blood within it is Rami bar Chama.

A little of the tube that is implanted there divides into two, for the drop of blood within this end divides into two, unlike the part of the tube that leaves the aperture, which is all one level. The left side at the end of the tube is Samuel the Prophet; my teacher did not tell me who the right side is.

The rest of the protruding tube, where there is a place lacking hair, is Hezekiah King of Judah. The rest of the tube that goes out between the hairs divides into many sections; between every two hairs on the right and the left there is a platform of tube to which they adhere. The level of one such platform on this feather is Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef.

Yehudah and Chizkiah, the sons of Rabbi Chiya, are from another of the thousand large feathers, which is larger than the feather whose number is 277. Rebbi Yehudah bar Elai was from a small feather from number 277, and so he is a student of Rabbi Akiva.

The nefesh-spark of the Rashba, and that of Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the Beit Yosef and the Shulchan Aruch of the previous generation, were from the feather of Rabbi Yehudah bar Elai.

We will now explain what Cain has more than Abel, which is quite significant. Do not be surprised that the Zohar says that Cain was completely evil while Abel was completely righteous. (Zohar, Bereishit) For you should know that it is imperative that the firstborn be more than a simple person, as it says in Tikunim, (Tikunei Zohar 69) on the verse, «If you do good…» (Gen. 4:7) Not only this, but we find that he spoke to G-d alone and was a prophet, as it says, «G-d said to Cain». (Gen. 4:9)

However, he was the son and firstborn of Adam, the work of G-d’s hands. And if Adam the work of G-d’s hands could sin, as the Sages say in the Talmud, (Sanhedrin 38b) then we should not be surprised that his son born of woman could sin.

The principle is: Both Cain and Abel contain good and evil, good from the side of Adam and evil from the zuhama [dirt]  of the snake that went to Eve. However, since Cain is from the side of gevura, evil adhered to him more than to Abel, who is from the side of chesed.

As is known, Imma Ila’a comes from the gevurot of Atik Yomin, which are enclothed within Arich  Anpin. (Zohar III Naso Idra Raba) They were revealed a long time prior to that of the chasadim. Furthermore, the gevurot are always revealed. Thus, anyone who is from the second level of Cain can rise from level to level — from gevura to gevura, until the gevurot of  Atik Yomin, and draw from there.

This is not the case with Abel, who is from the chasadim that were revealed later, and which are usually closed off with very little revelation. This is the reason for what is written in Bamidbar Rabba: (19:6) «Rebbi Chonya said, ‘His eye saw every precious thing’ (Job 28:10) — This is Rabbi Akiva, and things that were not revealed to Moses were revealed to Rabbi Akiva.»

This is also what is written in Otiyot d’Rebbi Akiva, «Moses said to G-d regarding Rabbi Akiva, ‘You have someone like this and You want to give the Torah through me?’» Moses was very disturbed when he saw the mazel of Rabbi Akiva, that he would learn something from every point (of the letter-crowns). Something similar to this is mentioned in Mesechet Menachot . (39a).

The reason is because Rabbi Akiva was able to grasp more than Moses, since he was from Cain, whereas Moses was from Abel. This is also the reason for what is mentioned in Mesechet Menachot, where it says that when Moses went up, he found The Holy One blessed be He tying crowns to the letters. «He said to Him, ‘Who is causing You to do this?’ He answered him, ‘In the future a righteous person will live, and Akiva ben Yosef is his name. And he will learn mounds and mounds of paths from each crown’.»

This is because someone who is from Abel can only understand until the crowns of the letters, which are the tagin — and no more. This is what it means that he found Him tying crowns to the letters. (Tying and bringing in the levels that Moses was able to perceive.) However, someone who comes from the root of the second level of Cain can grasp even the ta’amim [Torah cantillations] or more. After that, Moses was able to understand everything, as a result of his awesome deeds. (Even the level of ta’amim.),

There is another reason for the advantage of those who come from the side of Imma, which is Cain, over those who come from the chesed and gevura of Abba.

It is known that the N»HY [netsach, hod, yesod] of Imma, which are enclothed within Zeir Anpin until the chest, and within which are the mochin of Imma, are covered only once. Therefore, the ‘lights’ that emanate from there are large and give off much light, and the light of the souls that come from there is very great and revealed.

However, the light of the souls that come from Abba is small, since the mochin of Abba in Zeir Anpin are encased in two coverings until the chest of Zeir Anpin, one being the NH»Y of Abba itself, and one being the NH»Y of Imma which overlaps the NH»Y of Abba. Therefore, from the chest of Zeir Anpin and downward, the mochin of Imma are completely revealed, while the  mochin of Abba still have one covering (from yesod Abba).

Thus, souls that are from the revealed  chasadim or revealed gevurot are greater than souls that are from a covered place, even though the latter may be in a higher position. This is the secret of what the Talmud writes, «You saw an upside down world — where up is down and down is up».

Another reason is that Abba only emanates light through the chesed and gevurah of Imma, for that is the path it goes. Therefore, they are greater and emanate more. Another reason: The gevurot are first to go out through yesod, which is why Cain was the firstborn, in the secret of, «A valorous woman is a crown for her husband» (Prov. 12:4) — gevura is feminine and chesed is masculine.

Know that in the future the root of Cain will be Kohanim, and the root of Abel which, until now has been Kohanim, will then be Levi’im. For the level of Levi from the side of gevurot until now, for example, Korach the Levi who was from the root of Cain, has had the kehuna [priesthood (which is part of)] the portion of the firstborn, as it is known from the Targum [Onkelos] on the verse, «Reuven, you are my first born». (Gen. 49:3)

This is the secret of the verse, «The Kohanim-Levi’im, children of Tzadok». (Ezekiel 44:15) No other prophet called them «Kohanim-Levi’im» except for Ezekiel, and this was because he was from the root of Cain, the firstborn. Therefore he prophesized in this manner, since in the future-to-come, those who until now were Kohanim will then be Levi’im, and those who have been Levi’im will then be «Kohanim children of Tsadok». The entire root of Abel who are now  Kohanim will then be Levi’im.

Kapitel 36

Now, I will write about many types of roots that I learned about from my master. Some can be spoken about it in more detail than others, and we will begin with these and finish with those of which there is little to write.

One root is related to Cain, the son of Adam, and even though we expanded upon this in previous chapters, there are still a few scattered details to discuss. I will gather and explain them here, after which I will briefly discuss other roots.

Now, even though the Zohar and Tikunim say that Cain was the result of the zuhama [dirt] of the snake, and Abel was from the side of man, they also say – and in the Idrat Naso as well — that Cain and Abel were both one with the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This means that as a result of the sin of Adam, good and evil became combined. After, when Cain and Abel were born, they were a product of good and evil.

However, Cain was from the side of gevurot, which is mostly evil as a result of the zuhama of the snake, and contained only a little good from the human aspect, whereas Abel is mostly good from the human aspect, with only a little evil from the zuhama of the snake. The good within Cain nevertheless served a great purpose, because he was the firstborn, and he received the «bechora» [firstborn right] of the good portion.

After that, Cain began his rectification through Keinan and Mehalelel, as mentioned in the Zohar. (Teruma) Later, when Jacob and Esau were born, they were on the level of Abel and Cain. So it says, «And his hand was holding onto the akev [heel] of Esau» (Gen. 25:26) which means that good portion of the firstborn in Cain that was combined with evil taken by Jacob. As of result of the heel that he took from him he was called Jacob.

In the previous discussion, we explained how the firstborn of good fell into the heel of the kelipot — understand this. When Jacob fathered Issachar, he gave him the good portion of the firstborn of Cain that he had taken from Esau as an inheritance. This is what it says regarding (the birth of) Issachar, «He lay with her that (hu)  night». (Gen. 30:18) It does not say, however, «ha-hu,» to allude to the fact that Jacob himself is so called because of the heel. He gave it to him through Leah when he lay with her, and from that came Issachar.

This is the secret of what it says in  Midrash Rut of the Zohar: «From Issachar comes Rabbi ‘Akiva’» (Zohar Chadash 81a) because he is the secret of the mentioned ‘eikev’  [heel].

After that, it reincarnated into Nadab and Abihu, for the two of them are one, as it says in the Zohar in Acharei Mot and Pinchas, «the two of them are one body». (Zohar III 57b; 217a) Then it went into Pinchas in the secret of ibur, who was Elijah the prophet. It remained there until the incident with the daughter of Jephtach, after which time it was removed from him.

Later it reincarnated into Samuel the prophet, only to later return to Elijah the prophet in ibur, as mentioned. (Intro. 32) From there it went to Elisha the prophet, and then to Hezekiah the King of Judah.

It then reincarnated into Yochanan High Priest Kohen Gadol the Chashmonite, then into Akavia the son of Mehalelel, and after that into Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai Hakohen. From there it reincarnated into Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef, and this is the secret of what is written, «Three lived until 120 years of age: Moses, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, and Rabbi Akiva». (Rosh Hashanah 31b).

Moses spent forty years in the house of Pharaoh, forty years in Midian, and forty years leading the Jewish people. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai spent forty years in business, forty years learning, and forty years teaching. Rabbi Akiva was a simpleton for forty years. Then he learned for forty years, and then he taught for forty years.

Thus, these souls had a strong connection to Moses, for all souls were included in his, but particularly those of these  tzadikim. However, as explained elsewhere, it was only the level of the nefesh that reincarnated into them — their level of ruach and neshama did not come from this root.

After that, it reincarnated into Rav Yaiba Saba, mentioned in the Zohar in the portion Mishpatim, and later into Abaye. This is the secret of what the Sagesthe Sages say, «Rabbi Yochanan did not overlook any verse, mishnah, etc., or question of Abaye and Rava». (Succah 28a)

Then, it came into Rav Achai, one of the  Rabanan Savorai, in ibur. It is to him that the Talmud refers when it says, «Rav Achai asked…» From there it went in ibur into Rav Acha from Shivcha Gaon, the author of Sha’eltot. My teacher told me that Rav Achai himself was Rav Acha from Shivcha.

After that, it reincarnated into Rav Dustai Gaon, Rabbi Aharon Halevi grandson of Rabeinu Zarchei Halevi author of Sefer HaMeorot and teacher of the Magid Mishnah, Don Vidal dei Telusa, author of the Magid Mishnah; then to Shaul Trishtai, and Rabbi Yehoshua Suriano. Then it went to a young man whose name was Avraham. The Magid Mishnah was connected to the Rambam and this is why he wrote the  Magid Mishnah to explain the Mishna Torah of the Rambam.

Both Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai and Rabbi Akiva were simpletons for the first forty years of their lives because the nefesh of each was from the same level of drop from the ten that went out from Joseph the Righteous between his fingers. Therefore, they were simpletons for the first forty years and susceptible to the kelipot for part of that time. This was especially true of Rabbi Akiva, who used to say, «If you would give me a Torah scholar I would bite him like a donkey». (Pesachim 49b)

This explains much, for even though the Talmud says that the daughter of Kalba Savua saw he was very modest and special even as a simpleton, still Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai and Rabbi Akiva must have sinned while young. For this reason, they had to reincarnate several times as we wrote earlier. Also, for this reason a holy and special nefesh entered Rabbi Akiva as the son of converts and not from the seed of a Jew, for it was a wasted drop that had gone out from Joseph when he was seduced by the wife of his master, a non-Jewess.

In truth, the nefesh of Rabbi Akiva is not like the rest of the souls that are created by the zivug [pairing] of tzadikim in the Garden of Eden, as mentioned in the Zohar. (Zohar III Shelach) It is a very great and holy nefesh, but because of the sin of Adam and his son Cain, it fell down into the depths of the kelipot, and later caused the incident when the seed left Joseph. Therefore, it needed to enter the world at the time of intimacy into the body of a convert.

We already explained in earlier chapters that the nefesh which enters the body of a convert after conversion is enclothed within another nefesh, [which comes as] the result of the  zivug of tzadikim in the Garden of Eden. It is really the first true nefesh of the convert, as mentioned in Saba of Mishpatim (Zohar II Mishpatim 98b) and it is what caused him to be a simpleton for the first forty years, in the secret of what the Sages say, «Converts are difficult for Israel like thorns». (Yebamot 47b).

Furthermore, since Rabbi Akiva is the son of a convert whose name was Yosef, he was subject to what the Sages say, «Do not disgrace the ancestry before him for three generations because it is difficult for him» — the zuhama does not leave him for three generations. (Sanhedrin 94a) Thus it is clear that he was susceptible to kelipot and  chitzonim for the first forty years while he was a simpleton.

They are also from the root of Cain, for Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai and Rabbi Akiva are the level of the arms of Moses, mixed in with the root of Cain. Therefore, Moses, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, and Rabbi Akiva all lived to the same age of 120 years. This is why Moses asked God to give the Torah through Rabbi Akiva, as it says in the Talmud (Shabbat 55a) and Otiot d’Rabbi Akiva [The Letters of Rabbi Akiva].

It also says that Moses killed Oig king of Bashan, who had a spark of the soul of Rabbi Shimon ben Nesanel in him, who feared sin. (Seder HaDorot) Thus his name has the head-letters of BShN/Bashan. And since this holy spark called fear of sin was mixed together in Oig, Moses was afraid to kill him — until God told him, «Do not fear». (Deut. 3:2) Subsequently, this spark became one of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai’s students.

My teacher also taught me that three erred regarding the end of days: Jacob our forefather when he called his sons together and told them, «Gather together and I will tell you what will happen to you at the end of days» (Gen. 49:1) and it was hidden from him. (Pesachim 56a) Samuel the prophet was the second, for regarding Eliav he said, «Surely before G-d is His anointed» (Samuel I 16:6) as if to say from him Mashiach would come. Rabbi Akiva was the third, because he thought Bar Koziba was Mashiach of G-d. Thus, the letters of Jacob/Ya’akov are in Akiva, because their error was the same, and the three of them had to reincarnate to rectify this mistake.

My master also taught me that sparks from the root of Cain were within the kelipot of Sisra, and for this reason Ya’el drove the spade through his temple (Judges 5:26) since that is the place of the moach of da’at of chesed and gevura, from which the root of Cain comes, as said earlier. Even the spark of Rabbi Akiva was there, which is why he was born from the children of Sisra.

My teacher also told me that ABYY/Abaye was Rav YYBA/Yaiba Saba of Mishpatim, and that Abaye is alluded to in the head-letters of the verse, «Only against me did He turn His hand». (Lamen. 3:3) It says «turned» to allude to the reversal of Yayvo to Abaye. This is the «turning of His hand,» for the Y/yud’s changed to the end of his name. My master did not want to reveal to me the reason for the reversal.

After that, my teacher told me at length about many of the people who came from this root of Cain. There are others, but he did not tell them to me.

He told me of: Cain, Keinan, Mehalelel, Yuval, Yavel, Lemech, Issachar, Shelah ben Judah, Jethro, Nadab, Abihu, Nachshon ben Aminadav, Netanel ben Tzo’ar, Korach, Datan, Abiram, Pinchas, Otniel ben Kenaz, Karmi father of Achan, Shamgar ben Anat, Samson, Elkanah, Samuel the prophet, Aviah ben Shmuel, Chaver Hakini, Ya’el the wife of Chaver Hakini, Ephlal, Sismai the friend of the father of Sucho, Yishbach the father of Ish Tamua, Yashuv, Lechem, Jesse the father of David, Avishai ben Tzroya, Shima the brother of David, Do’eg, Achitophel, Aviah ben Rehoboam, Elijah the prophet, Elisha the prophet, Jonah ben Amitai, Chiel Beit Ha’eli, Navot Hayizraeli, Michah Hamorashti, Nachum Ha’elkoshi, Hezekiah the king of Judah, Menasha ben Hezekiah, Uriah the Kohen, Zechariah ben Yevarchihu, Ezekiel the prophet, Eliyahu ben Berachel Habuzi, Chananiah the friend of Daniel, Nedavia ben Yechaneyah the king, Aneni ben Eliyoani.

These are from the Tanaim (who are attached to the root of Cain): Matityahu ben Yochanan the Chashmonite High Priest, Yosi ben Yochanan of Jerusalem, Netai of the Arbel, Akavia ben Mehalelel, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef, Rabbi Yosi Hagalili, Yonason ben Hyrcanus, Chananyah ben Chizkiah ben Gurion, Abba Shaul, Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha High Priest, Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Nehurai the Elder [mentioned] in the book of the Zohar in the portion Tetzave, Rabbi Yaiba the Elder [mentioned] in Mishpatim, Rabbi Chutzpit the Translator, Rabbi Yehudah ben Elai, Rabbi Yosi ben Meshulam Kehala Kadisha, Rabbi Achai bar Yeshaya, and one from Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s group mentioned in Idra Raba of Naso, but my teacher did not want to reveal to me who, and I don’t know why.

There are a few other Tanaim who are attached to the root of Cain, though I don’t know in which way. They are: Rav Shamaya the Pious One of the portion (of the Zohar)of Balak, the Rav of that child-(prodigy mentioned there), Rav Tzadok the Kohen, Rav Kisma the father of Yosi ben Kisma, and Rabbi Kruspadai «Chamid Liba» of the portion Shelach in the book of the Zohar and the book of Tikunim.

These are from the Amoraim: Rav Huna, Reish Galuta [Leader of the Exile]of Babylon during the time of Rabeinu Hakadosh [lit. ‘our holy teacher’ — Rabbi Yehudah the Prince] — they brought him for burial in the Land of Israel to the cave of Rabbi Chiya, Yehudah and Chizkiah sons of Rabbi Chiya, Rabbi Levi ben Sissi, Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzedek, Rabbi Tsadok the student of Rabeinu Hakadosh, Rav Yirmiyah bar Abba of Rav’s time, Ulla bar Koshav in the days of Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi, Rabbi Shilo for whom the miracle occurred in the chapter ‘One Who Sees’ of Berachot.

Rav Yayvo Saba Amorai student of Rav, father of Rav Chana, and the father-in-law of Ashian ben Nidbach. Pinchas the brother of Shemuel. Rav Misha from the time of Rav Yochanan. Rav Yisa Amora, who was Rav Assi the Kohen. Rav Chilkia bar Abba, Rav Shamen bar Abba, Rav Akiva Amora, Mar Ukba, Rav Zrika, Rav Schorah, Abaye, Rav Bibi bar Abaye, Rami bar Chama, Rami bar Yechezkel, Rav Dimi from Neharde’a, Rav Nechumi, Rav Mesharshia, Nasan d’Tzutzisa Reish Galusa, Rav Shemuel ber Shilas, Rav Yamar, Rav Avin Nigra, Rav Tanchum from Noi.

Rav Yayvo father of Rav Samma, Rav Safra in the days of Ravina, Rami bar Tamari, Rafram bar Papa, Rav Zeira bar Hillel, Rav Zeiri from Dehavas, Ravin and Rav Dimi who went up from Babylon to the Land of Israel, Rav Chana from Bagdad, Rav Chiya from Difti, Rav Shisha the son of Rav Iddi, Iyo, Avdimi of Rebbi Yehudah HaNadua, Rav Malachav, Rav Chama bar Buzi, Yehoshua bar Zarnuki, who was called Chiya bar Zarnuki in the Talmud — a mistake. Shivchas son of Ravina, Rav Tiviyumi, Shabsai Otzar Piri, who was one of the kelipot from this root of Cain.

These are from the period of Rabanan Savorai: Rav Achai and Rava from Pumpedita. These are the Gaonim: Rav Acha of Shivcha Gaon, Rav Dustai Gaon, Rav Tzemach Gaon, who was one of the sons of Rav Palui Gaon. Rav Nehilai the first Gaon.

These are the Poskim [halachic authorities]: Rashba, Rabeinu Aharon the grandson of Rav Zerachia Halevi. Don Vidal dei Telusa, author of the Maggid Mishnah. Rav Yosef Karo, author of the Beit Yosef and the Shulchan Aruch.

All those mentioned are from the second level of Cain, and only on the level of nefesh. However, the ruach or neshama of each came from another root, except for Abaye, who was called Nachmaini — his nefesh, ruach, and neshama were all from this second level of the root of Cain.

However, the rest only received their nefesh from this root; they did not receive their ruach or neshama (from there) as would be fitting for a nefesh from the root of Cain. As mentioned, this is because the sin of Adam caused the ruach from the root of Adam to become mixed together with the nefesh of Cain or Abel, and vice versa — that is, a ruach from Abel with a nefesh from Cain, or the opposite.

We already explained in Sha’ar Ruach Hakadosh [The Gate of Divine Inspiration] the souls of the Tanaim and Amoraim. We will now explain a little regarding these soul-sparks from the root of Cain, regarding what they are attached to in the ten sefirot of Atzilut.

We have already explained how the chasadim and gevurot emanate throughout the six extremities of Zeir Anpin on the level of gadlut [maturity], and on the level of katnut [immature state]. We will begin this discussion with the gevurot of  gadlut.

The gevurot of gadlut which ascend from yesod to netzach [manifest as] King Hezekiah. The gevura that ascends to chesed is Ezekiel the prophet, and the  gevura that ascends from yesod to hod is Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef; to gevura is Akavia ben Mehalelel. The gevura that ascends to the lower revealed two-thirds of tiferet is Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai.

From the remaining third of chesed, after it is divided, is MR/mar, which is Manasseh ben Hezekiah. The upper third is Eliyahu the son of Berach-El HaBuzai from the family of RM/Rum — thus we find RM is MR. When it ascends after that to da’at, it is Samuel the prophet from the RMTYM/Ramatim. Understand this.

On another occasion, my teacher told me that Eliyahu son of Berachel Habuzi from Family Rum is the covered, upper-third of  tiferet — that is Family Rum. Elkana and his son, Samuel the prophet, were from the Ramatim, which is the level of da’at, which is the upper level that includes the two of them, and the upper-third of tiferet.

On the level of katnut, which [comes from] the name ELHYM as is known, there are three levels: the level of moach [consciousness], the level of chesed, and the level of gevurot.

The moach that ascends to netzach [manifests in] Rami bar Chama, the chesed that ascends to netzach is Abaye, and the gevura is Rav Bibi his son. After that, it ascends to chesed, which is the right arm. The moach is Rav Sechora, the chesed is Pinchas the brother of Mar Shmuel, who is the level of gevurat hagadlut hamukeh toch katnut [the gevura of gadlut that collides within katnut]. The gevura is Rav Shmuel the son of Shelas.

The moach that ascends to hod is Rav Mesharshia the student of Abaye. The gevura is Rami bar Tamari. The chesed is Rafram bar Papa. On this the left side, gevura comes before chesed.

After that, it ascends to gevura. The  moach is Rav Zrika, the chesed is Rav Zeira the son of Hillel, and the gevura is Rav Zeiri from Dehavat. In the tiferet, on its bottom revealed two-thirds, the moach is Ulla the son of Koshev, the  gevura is Ravin who went up to the land of Israel from Babylon, and the  chesed is Rav Chana of Baghdad.

On the covered upper-third, the moach is Rav Meishiyah from the time of Rabbi Yochanan, the gevura is Rav Shiloh for whom the miracle was done in Berachot. The chesed is Shivchat son of Ravina.

My teacher also told me once that Rabbi Yosi Hagalili is [from] the left pe’ah [sidelock] of the head, from the level of AL ShDY, which is in the partzuf of the left-shoulder, which is in the partzuf of the Cain-root. For the gematria of YVSY-86/Yossi is equal to PAH-86/pe’ah.

Yonaton the son of Hyrcanus is from the [power of] gevura that is from the five gevurot in the da’at of  Zeir Anpin. Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef is from the gevura called hod of the gevura in da’at, just mentioned. Since Yonaton is in  gevura and Rabbi Akiva is in hod, Yonaton was sharper and more analytical than he was, as mentioned in the both the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds (Yevamot 16a) regarding the issue of a co-wife to a daughter.

Rabbi Chutzpit the Translator is from the  gevurot of the hod that is in the da’at from the Abba-aspect. The light of this gevura breaks through and passes on the side of the  gevurot of hod that is in the da’at from the Imma-aspect — for Abba is hidden inside Imma, as is known. From there it breaks forth and goes until the da’at of Leah, which is behind the  da’at of Zeir Anpin, outside of it. (Eitz Chayim, Shaar Leah) So he was called ‘Chutzpit’ [Brazen One] — because it [the light] is ‘brazen’ and ‘arrogant’ for passing within Imma, to break forth and go out.

By necessity, as it passes the way of Imma some light remains behind, and in this respect he is very close to the root of Cain. It is this way with the rest of the sparks of the root of Rabbi Chutzpit the Translator, whose beginning is Laban the son of Nachor — we will explain all of them later. They have closeness with the root of Cain for the reason we mentioned, that they pass there on the way out.

Ezekiel the prophet is from the seed of Adam, before his son Cain was born, an example of which we spoke about regarding Michah Hamorashti and Nachum Ha’elkoshi. This is why it was often said to Ezekiel, «son of Adam, stand on your feet», to allude to the fact that he is from the root of Cain son of Adam, as is hinted to in the verse, «Everything that stood was eradicated». (Gen. 7:23) For The Holy One Blessed be He blamed Cain in the days of the flood for his weakness (as we learned earlier).

Ezekiel was the level of the legs of Cain, as we will explain. The legs are that which allow a man to stand, and this is what it means, «Everything that stood was eradicated» — «all that stood» is the secret of legs, as is explained in the proper place. That which was ascribed to Cain because of his weakness and sin, was strengthened through Ezekiel. Therefore is he called ‘Yechezkel/Ezekiel’, which is a term of ‘chozek’ [strength]. Thus he was told, «stand on your feet,» to strengthen and to stand on them.

We will now explain the matter of Rav Mesharshia, and through this explain the matter of Ezekiel and Hezekiah. His name has the levels of Abba and  Imma in it: The A/aleph of MShRShYA can be switched for H/hey — forming YH (which correspond to Abba and Imma) as is known. It is also known that from the name YH flows tosefet Shabbat  [additional Sabbath time] and so we find that Rav Mesharshia is the secret of tosefet Shabbat in this root of Cain.

Four letters remain: MShRSh/mem-shin-raish-shin. The two shin’s hint to the two names MTsPTs-MTsPTs/mem-tzadi-peh-tzadi mem-tzadi-peh-tzadi, each of which has the gematria shin-300. They are the two names of tosefet Shabbat mentioned in the Zohar in the portion Yitro in Raya Mehemna [The Faithful Shepherd] on the verse, «Remember the Shabbat», (Ex. 20:8) regarding the seven Divine names mentioned there and tosefet Shabbat.

This leaves the two letters MR/mem-raish, which are equal in gematria the other five Names written there which are: YHVH YHVH EL ELHYM ADNY, for a total of 234. All seven names total 241. Thus Rav Mesharshia is the level of tosefet Shabbat from the root of the sparks of Cain, which incorporates seven Names within their source – YH. [Shmuel says: With the kollel. Furthermore says Shmuel, in my humble opinion, it is a better calculation to use the five Names themselves with their kollel, which totals 240, since the two Names MTsPTs MTsPTs go with themselves.].

King Hezekiah is the level of the head of the Cain-root. For The Sages say that Cain was blamed for his weakness by The Holy One Blessed be He during the days of the Flood. He was rectified and strengthened through the gilgul of Hezekiah.

This is what «Chizkiah/Hezekiah» means: Chazak-Y-H [strengthen Y-H] — for through him the head was strengthened. The root of Cain which is called Y-H/the level of the head, within which is Abba/Y and Imma/H. Isaiah told him, «You will die and not live», (Kings II 20:1) for he thought that he had not yet rectified the level of the head called Y-H. And so he said, «you will not see Y-H».

Hence we find that Hezekiah began to rectify the level of the root-head as mentioned, and therefore the name Y-H is alluded to in him. Through Rav Mesharshia the tikun of the head was being completed and therefore he has the letters ShRSh-Y-H [the root Y-H], since the head is called Y-H which is the root of all.

Therefore, Hezekiah and Rav Mesharshia are both in the head of the Cain-root, whereas Ezekiel the prophet strengthened Cain on the level of the legs. This is the secret of the verse, «son of man — stand on your legs etc», (Ezekiel 2:1) as mentioned.

Know that ShMVN/Shimon ben Azzai and ShMVN/Shimon ben Zoma are the two names (that come out of the two) Sh/shin’s of Rav MShRShYA/Mesharshia. Therefore Ben Azzai married the daughter of Rabbi Akiva, and even though the two are not from the root mentioned, nevertheless they have great closeness to this root.

It was similar with Elijah the prophet. Since he came from the daughters of Putiel (through Pinchas), that is from Jethro who came from Cain — the souls of Nadab and Abihu who were from Cain, became mixed within him. Likewise with respect to Elisha and Jonah Amitai, both of whom had great closeness to this root. (My teacher did not explain any more regarding this proximity.).

However, regarding what is says with respect to Hezekiah, «I said, ‘With my days cut short (b’dimi yomai)’», (Isaiah 38:10) even though he gained fifteen extra years, they came from his (years he was supposed to have lived from the outset). As the Sages say, he did not fulfill the years allotted to him — some were missing. (Yevamot 50a)

The rest of his years were completed through Rav Dimi from Neharde’a, who was the actual gilgul, without a spark from anyone else. This is what Hezekiah said, «I said, «With my days cut short (b’dimi yomai)…deprived of the rest of my years». (Isaiah 38:10) He was talking about Rav Dimi, through whom «I was deprived and completed my days…the rest of my years allotted to me, which I did not complete at first».

My master told me that one of the mitzvahs that Rav Dimi was very careful about was that of accompanying guests and the dead. This is also true of Rabbi Akiva. My teacher told me that the end-letters of, «Oir zarua latsadik ul’yishray leiv simchah [light is sown for the righteous; and for the upright of heart, gladness]», (Ps. 97:11) spell R AKYVA/Rabbi Akiva, because this verse is talking about him. This proves that AKYVH/Akiva is spelled with H/hei (at the end) and not A/aleph.

[Shmuel says: «I wrote the same thing in my book, Chochmat Nashim. I corrected a get [divorce document] with what I felt was correct to write Akiva with hei at the end.»

Shmuel says: «Even though my father and master concealed his words here, I recall once hearing from him in private that there is a hint in this verse to the closeness of his soul to the soul of the Great Rav, our teacher. He said that this ‘Yitzchak’ refers to the Great Rav. They further hinted to the name of my father and master in this verse, «Behold Tsiyon the city of our festivals — your eyes will see Yerushalayim»: (Isaiah 33:20) Ch/chet from «ChZH/chazeh», Y/yud from «TsYN/Tsion,» Y/yud from KRYT/Kiryat, and the M/mem from «MVADYNV/Mo’adainu» spells ChYYM/Chaim.

He told me that it was not possible to build Yerushalayim/Jerusalem during the time of the Great Rav, but that it was possible to do so during the time of my father and master, if Israel were to do teshuvah, my father and master could have been Moshiach ben Yosef. It was to this they hinted, «Your eyes will see Yerushalayim», and not, «my eyes». These were the words of my father.

I could see that my father was quite afraid that the nations of the world shouldn’t kill him. This too passed, but as a result of the sins of the generation he left this world in the same manner as the first miracle that occurred when our teacher the Great Rav died. This is what it says, «and he was in Keziv», (Gen. 38:5) from the language of «All mankind is kozeiv [deceitful]». (Ps. 116:11). [In an old printing it says that he died in 5335, which is an error; later on page 149 it says he died in 5332.

My father and master also told me that in one verse there is an allusion to his name and mine, to make known the closeness of our souls. It says, «Oh, who yichyeh [will survive]when SMV EL/misumo EL [imposes these]», (Num. 24:23) and there is an allusion to Chaim and Shmuel. («Yichyeh» comes from the same root as Chaim [life]. SMV EL/misumo shares the same letters as ShMVEL/Shmuel.)

If I can muster up the strength, I will write in this book, G-d willing, many of the instructions that our teacher the Great Rav gave over to my father and master from the day that he knew him until the day of his death. I will show them to you so that they will not be ‘collections of that which is forgotten’, I have hidden them with me in separate works.»]

Regarding Heber the Kenite, my teacher taught me that this is the secret of the verse, «And Heber the Kenite separated from Cain». (Judges 4:11) For Jethro was from the root of Cain and Heber was from the grandsons of Jethro, and so from Cain as well. Thus he was called Heber the Kenite. Cain was a mixture of good and evil, and Jethro «refined the food from the waste» and separated the good from the evil — the bad remained with the kelipot while Jethro took the good. Therefore it says «he separated from Cain (his root)».

With respect to Samson, my teacher said that this is the secret of the verse, «And G-d sent Yeruba’al and B’dan». (Samuel I 12:11) The Sages say that «Dan» refers to Samson. (Rosh Hashanah 25a) For Samson was a reincarnation of Nadav and Avihu the sons of Aaron the kohen, and thus «BDN/b’Dan» has the same letters as «NDV/Nadav», but in reverse.

Thus, Nadav died because he didn’t want to marry, believing that not one of the daughters of Israel was fitting for him. Therefore Samson was punished, as the Sages say, by having to procreate with the Philistine women while he was in jail. (Vayikra Raba 20:7). Furthermore, because the sons of Aaron entered while intoxicated, Samson was a nazirite from birth to rectify their sin.

Regarding Elijah, my teacher said that he is alluded to in the verse, «EM LLTsYM YLYTs VLANVYM  YTAYN ChN/em lilaitsim yaluts v’la’anavim yitain chain/If  [one is drawn] to scoffers, he will scoff — but if to the humble he will find favor» (Prov. 3:34) since the head-letters spell ‘ELYHV ChY/Eliyahu chai’ [Elijah lives].

The Zohar says that even though Moses was the teacher of all Israel, his interpreter was Aaron the Kohen. (Rayah Mehemna, Bereishit 25b; 253) As it says, «He will be a mouth for you» (Ex. 4:16) since Moses had a «heavy mouth» and a «heavy tongue». (Ex. 4:10).

In the end of days in the generation of Mashiach, Moses will return to teach Torah to Israel and will still be of «uncircumcised lips». However, Elijah, who will chai [live] will be his interpreter, and this is the secret of the verse, «Pinchas (who became Eliyahu) the son of Elazar the son of Aaron the Kohen». (Num. 25:11) This is as it is written, «If [one is drawn] to laitzim [scoffers], he will scoff». (Prov. 4:37) («Laitzim» derives from the same root as the word ‘mailitz’, meaning an orator/spokesman) When they will need a translator for Moses, Elijah who will live will translate and be Moses’ spokesman.

Likewise, in regards to Abaye and Rav Bibi his son, my teacher taught me that regarding the verse, «Behold Tziyon, the city of mo’adainu [our festivals] — your eyes will see Yerushalayim». (Isaiah 33:20) If the M/mem of «MVADYNV/mo’adainu» is changed to a Y/yud, as per the rules of AT-BSh/at-bash, then the head-letters will spell YTsChK/Yitschak. My master already explained to me to whom this name refers.

Returning to where we left off, the head-letters of «Chazeh [behold] Tziyon, kirtat [the city of] mo’adainu [our festivals], ChTsKM/ches-tzadi-kuf-mem have the gematria of RChL/Rachel — alluding to this that he (Abaye) is from the level of Rachel, the  Nukva of Zeir Anpin. For she is also «Tziyon the city of our festivals», that comes from the chaze [chest] of Zeir Anpin. (Eitz Chayim, Heichal Nukva) This is why it says «chaze  (behold) Tziyon,» which is an Aramaic translation of the Hebrew word re’eh, to hint to this.

ABYY/Abaye was also hinted to in the head-letters of «ahel bal yitsan bal yisa [the tent that will not be displaced, not moved]» (Isaiah 33:20) and Rav BYBY/Bibi, his son, in the head-letters of «bal yitsan bal yisa [that will not be displaced, not moved]». My teacher did not want to reveal to me why these matters were mixed into this verse.