Pardes Rimmonim 2

In the Tikkunim [Tikkunei HaZohar] [is] the implication that the activity of the utterances was not by means of any one of the three first ones, as the first utterance is Keter, “Let there be light” [Genesis 1:3]. And the second utterance is Chochma, “Let there be a firmament” [Genesis 1:6] And the third utterance is Binah, “Let the waters gather” [Genesis 1:9]. And this is what it says (in Tikkun 42, page 79): “In the beginning”/ בראשית, there was a man/איש [in the word בראשית is contained the word [ איש] on whom it is said: “And Jacob was a mild man” [Genesis 25:27], and this is the third day [Jacob corresponding to Tif’eret], because there were three artisans until here. The first day, the second day and the third day, each one [of these days] brought forth its craft. [On] The first day, to it said the ‘artisan hidden and covered’ [Sefer HaBahir 71], this [is the] degree that is called Ayin/אי"ן, containing three Sefirot א Keter, י Chochma, ן Binah [with numerical value 50, the 50 gates of Binah] etc., said to each of the three [first] days [of Creation] that it should bring forth its craft. He said to the first day: “Let there be light” [Genesis 1:3], immediately it brought out its craft and it accomplished it, as it is said: “and there was light” [Genesis 1:3]. And this is established, that there is no existence except by means of action. The א of אי"ן [which corresponds to Keter] that was hovering in the air [אויר] brought forth light [אור, with the י having left], י [= Chochma] brought forth firmament [the second day], the ן of אי"ן brought forth dry land, as it is written: “And God said: “Let the waters gather etc.” [Genesis 1:9]. End of citation.

It is seen from it in the explanation that the actors were the artisans, which are the six days, and [that] they acted with the utterance of the first three [days] which are Ayin/אי"ן. And from what that is necessary to understand also on the subject of these utterances is that they are ten, and although they are ten, we know that there is no creation or action except by means of only six days, which are Gedolah [= Chesed] the first day, Gevurah the second day, Tif’eret the third day, Netsach the fourth day, Hod the fifth day, Yesod the sixth day, and thus explained the Rashbi of blessed memory, that the whole of the work of Creation is comprised and done by means of these [six] days in Malkut, Malkut bringing out the matters to light in perfection. And this is what he says in parasha Terumah [Zohar II.127]: “From the trees of the Lebanon” [Song of Songs 3:9], these are planted trees which the Holy One, blessed be He, uprooted and planted in another place. And these are called ‘cedars of Lebanon’, as it is written: “Cedars of Lebanon which He planted” [Psalms 104:16]. And this canopy was only built and completed with them. Furthermore “From the trees of the Lebanon”, these [are] the six days of Creation, each day arranging in this canopy the arrangement that was revealed to it. The first arrangement: From the right side [= Chesed] the first light was stretched out which had been hidden, and it was lifted from the right side, and an image as the resemblance of this light came into this canopy by means of one foundation, and it worked in it [its] service. Afterwards this canopy brought out an image as the resemblance of this light. And this is the mystery of which it is written: “Let there be light, and there was light” [Genesis 1:3], when it says: “Let there be light”, wherefore is it [also] written “and there was light”? The biblical verse has no need to write except “and it was thus”, [so] what [then is indicated by] “and there was light”? But [it indicates] that this light brought out another light which was revealed to it. And this now is the first day out of those trees of Lebanon. The second arrangement: from the left side [= Gevurah] was stretched out a separation of the waters in opposition to powerful fire, and it was lifted from the left side and came into this canopy and it worked in it [its] service, and it separated between waters that are on the right side and waters that are on the left side. Afterwards this canopy brought out an image as the resemblance of it. And this is the mystery of which it is written: “between the waters that are below the firmament and between the waters that are above the firmament, and it was thus.” [Genesis 1:7]. And this is this second day out of those trees of Lebanon. The third arrangement: stretched out from the left side and from the right side was one third day bringing peace in the world. And from there fruits were drawn. And it worked [its] service in the canopy and it brought out a species according to its species, a species for a multitude of works, the species that was fit for it. And all herbs and plants and trees with many powers. And its image remained there and that canopy brought forth a species in that concrete resemblance. And this is the third day that is totalized out of two sides from those trees of Lebanon. The fourth arrangement: stretched out and shining was the radiance of the sun to illumine this canopy inside the darkness of it, and it entered it to illumine but it did not work in it [its] service until the fifth day, when the canopy brought out this service of radiance which had entered it on the fourth day, and this canopy brought out with this concrete resemblance of this radiance. And this is the fourth day, one of those trees of Lebanon. The fifth arrangement: one stream of swarming of waters was stretched out and it worked [its] service to bring forth the radiance of the arrangement of the fourth day, and it worked in this canopy [its] service and brought forth species according to its species, those that were revealed to this concrete resemblance. And this day serviced that service more than all the other days. But everything was suspended until the sixth day, when this canopy brought forth all that was hidden in it, as it is written: “Let the earth bring forth living soul according to its species” [Genesis 1:24]. And this is this fifth day, one from those trees of Lebanon. The sixth arrangement is that day when this entire canopy was set in order. And it [= the canopy] does not have order nor power except by this day. When it came, this canopy was set in order with many spirits, with many souls, with many maidens beautiful in outlook, those who are fit to sit in the palace of the King. Also it was set in order in the beauty of all the other days that preceded [it], and it set them in order with one desire, with pleasure, with joy, Thus this canopy was made holy with upper holinesses, and crowned with its crowns until it rose in rising of the crown of tranquility, and it was given an upper name, a holy name, which is ‘Shabbat’, tranquility of everything, desire of all, devotion of all above and below together, and thus it is written: “King Solomon made a canopy for him from the trees of the Lebanon” [Song of Songs 3:9].

And while the passage is in need of a long explanation, as it is explained in the book Ohr Yakar [which is Cordovero’s commentary on the Zohar, which appeared in print only in the 20th century] with help of Heaven, nevertheless, in it the clear meaning [is] that all the [ten] utterances and the creations were by means of six days. “Let there be light, and there was light” [Genesis 1:3], this is in Chesed etc., it is found that even if it is said that ‘Bereshit’ is [considered] an utterance, [its] subject was not attributed to the first three [days] at all. And therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the obstacles, the problems out of these sayings, and to set up this discourse proportionally. And before all matters we shall say that it is impossible to deny that the creations of the work of creation [occurred] in six days, as the topic “and it was evening and it was morning” [occurring in the account of creation at the end of each day] one day, second day, etc., is teaching that although there were ten utterances, these nevertheless were comprised in six days [of Creation]. And now we shall know, if it is true that ‘Bereshit’, which is an utterance, is in Chochma or in Keter. How is the saying there correct “And the earth was unformed and void” [Genesis 1:2]. Properly in the eyes of HaShem [it would be] that we should say that [concerning] Malkut [= “the earth”], [whether] being in Chochma or in Keter, the husks [of evil] were surrounding it there, which are “unformed and void and darkness”. This is for sure a big question, as who [would it be that] gave a husk above [at such a high level]? But now this subject is certain: that the Torah first of all informs us on the reality of the emanation in the order of its emanation in general [in its first two verses Genesis 1:1-2]. And this is the explanation of the biblical verse ‘Bereshit/In the beginning…’ [Genesis 1:1] that its explanation is: Hidden Keter together with the Reshit/Beginning, which is Chochma, “created” and emanated ‘Elohim’, which is Bina, “et/את the heavens”, these are Chesed and Tif’eret. And thus is the explanation of the Rashbi of blessed memory, that the word et/את [which is the accusative marker in Hebrew] came to increase Chesed. And “the heavens” is Tif’eret. “and et/ ואתthe earth” this is Gevura in the increase of et/את. “the earth” is Malkut. And Netsach and Hod and Yesod, they are included in Gedola, Gevura, Tiferet [respectively]. And after this it says: “And the earth was unformed and void etc. ” [Genesis 1:2; the second verse is now further detailing ‘the earth’, which is Malkut], which is to make us hear the reality of Malkut and its good [the ‘spirit of God’] and bad [‘unformed’, ‘void’, ‘darkness’] vehicles. And after this it has made us hear the actions of these Sefirot in Malkut. And since the three first ones [Keter, Chochma, Bina] are hidden and do not have revealed action, see, their action and utterance was extended by means of the three Patriarchs, who are the three artisans: Chesed, Gevura, Tif’eret. And therefore: “Let there be light” [Genesis 1:3] is the first utterance [of Creation] and was extended from Keter by means of Gedola[/Chesed] to the palanquin. [And the second utterance ““Let there be a firmament” [Genesis 1:6] is extended from Chochma by means of Gevura to the palanquin, and therefore etc., the subject [is] in the ‘Juice of Pomegranates’ and in ‘Slice of the Pomegranate’[Two commentaries on the Pardes, usually printed at the end of the text of the Pardes itself]], and therefore we find that the subject of the “firmament separating between the waters” [Genesis 1:6] is at times alluded to with Chochma in the mystery of the upper waters and lower waters, and a ‘firmament in the center’ [Refers to Tif’eret], as we will explain in the Gate of the Values of the Special Names”[Gate XXIII] with help of Heaven. And the third utterance “Let the waters gather…” [Genesis 1:9] [is extended] from Bina by means of Tif’eret, and this is the generality of the saying of the Tikkunim [Tikkunei HaZohar, Tikkun 42, page 79, which we have seen above], And then it is said that the fourth utterance, which is [also] on the third day, and this is the utterance “Let the earth sprout…” [Genesis 1:11], [it] is extended from Chesed by means of Tif’eret, the third day [and the third Sefira when started counting from Chesed downwards]. And the [fifth] utterance “Let there be luminaries…” [Genesis 1:14] is extended from Gevura, as is known that מארת [‘luminaries’ is here spelled defective, while it is normally spelled plene (with two ו’s): מאורות ] is Chesed from the side of Gevura, and it is made by means of Netsach, the fourth day [And the fourth Sefira when started counting from Chesed downwards]. And the [sixth] utterance “Let the waters swarm…” [Genesis 1:20] is extended from Tif’eret by means of Netsach in Hod. And this is alluded to in the saying of [Zohar, parasha] Terumah [Zohar II.127], which we have copied above, which said: ‘in the fourth arrangement was stretched out … the radiance of the sun’, which is the reality of Tif’eret. And the reason is that although Tif’eret is comprised of right and left, [yet] it received three utterances: [one each] from Chesed and Gevurah, and one of itself. And because it is leaning towards Chesed, it performed one utterance in Chesed and this is the utterance “And let [the earth] sprout…” [Genesis 1:11], which is the second [utterance] of the third day, and the fourth of the [ten] utterances, which is in Chesed and delivers to Netsach two utterances, which are the fifth one of Gevura and the sixth [utterance] of itself. And Netsach performs the fifth [utterance] of Gevura and delivers to Hod the sixth one of Tif’eret. And because there is no completion of Din/Judgement except with Rachamim/Compassion, therefore the light of the sun was not illuminating by means of Netsach, and the action of Netsach was not [yet] complete, until the fifth day came, which is Hod, as in it was the sixth utterance made, which is the utterance of Tif’eret. And this is what he said in the saying of [Zohar, parasha Terumah]: ‘In the fifth arrangement it worked its service to bring forth the radiance of the arrangement of the fourth day etc.’. And Yesod, which is the sixth day, since it is comprising Netsach and Hod it brought out three utterances which correspond to Netsach, Hod, Yesod, and these are: the utterance “Let the earth bring forth…” [Genesis 1:24] corresponding to Netsach, and the utterance “Let us make humankind…” [Genesis 1:26] corresponding to Hod, and the utterance “See, I have given you…” [Genesis 1:29] corresponding to Yesod, because the utterance “Be fertile and multiply…” [Genesis 1:28] [The fourth ויאמר on this sixth day] is not an utterance [of creation] but is only a blessing, because if you do not say [it is so], there would have been ten sayings in reality, and then how say there were nine [as the Gemara states]? But for sure according to this opinion it is not called an [creative] utterance but an utterance [of the world of] Beriah/Formation, and this is an utterance of blessing. And because the subject of fertility and multiplication [is] in Yesod, therefore this blessing was given on the sixth [day] which is Yesod. And with this the seventh day is sanctified, which is Malkut, and it is comprising and building “a city on its mound” [Jeremiah 30:18]. And after it [= the Creation] was completed, it spoke its [own] utterance, which is: “It is not good that the human being is on his own, I will make for him etc. ” [Genesis 2:18], that by means of the coupling [of male and female] the blessing will be discharged, as is proven in the Zohar in many places. And now the utterances in their reality, which are the actors, were found to allude to the ten Sefirot, the utterances [of Creation] are only nine, because the utterance “It is not good…” is not [an utterance of] Malkut itself, but activities of Malkut, and this utterance of Malkut is itself the one that is decreed from the mouth of Yesod, as Yesod has emanated Malkut. And because in the saying of the Talmud of [tractate] Rosh Hashana [Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 32a, above treated in Gate II, chapter 3] in which we were engaged, is the intention that the ten kingships are the ten utterances themselves, therefore it asks a difficult question and says that those [utterances] were nine, as the utterance “Let there be light” is Chochma, as is explained in the Zohar on many places, and it goes out from the force of Keter, and its intention is not Chochma itself, but the utterances that are extended to Malkut. What was extended from Keter was the reality of Chochma, and what was extended from Chochma was the reality of Binah, and therefore it poses the difficulty that those were nine, because the utterance that was extended from Malkut, which is “It is not good that the human being is on his own” is not Malkut, but [it is] what was extended from Malkut; therefore the allusion of the utterances in the Sefirot itself is only nine. And to this it [= the Talmud] answers: ‘Bereshit is also an utterance’, because despite of it being [of] the reality of emanation, the subject was with Keter, and it is impossible that Keter is not included there, as we have explained. And now it will be justified what is found in the Zohar, parasha Bereshit and in the Tikkunim, [that] at times this saying alludes to Keter, at times to Chochma, at times Binah, at times to Malkut, which is also thus called Reshit, at times to Da’at. So that the saying is comprising the reality of emanation completely in its totality as we have explained. And with this we are for now acquitted of our task on this subject, so that the words of the Rashbi of blessed memory will not be divided bitwise, and there will not be a division, Heaven forbid, with what has been explained in the Gemara on these utterances, so as not to give an opportunity for speakers of falsehood. But may a person “go to his place in peace”[Exodus 18:23] and rest on his couch.