הקדמה

15. “And as Mi combined etc.”And just as Mi combined with eleh and they became the name Elohim, by means of the precious garment that illuminates, which is the light of giving, so too the name always combines through the precious garment that illuminates. It is through this secret that the world exists, as this is the mystical meaning of the verse: “The world is built through giving” [ḥesed, Psalms 89:3]. Elijah then flew away and I did not see him. But I knew the matter from him, for I comprehended his secret and concealment. Rabbi Elazar and all the colleagues came and bowed before [Rabbi Shimon]. They wept and declared: “If we had come into the world only to hear that, that would have been enough for us.”

Explanation: In the same manner that was explained that “it did not ascend to the name Elohim” until the height of Ḥokhma was enclothed in the precious garment that illuminates, and then Mi combined with eleh and ascended to the name Elohim,1This refers to the undoing of the second constriction described in the preceding sections, in which the three lower sefirot of Atzilut returned after being ejected by the ascent of Malkhut to the head of Arikh Anpin. “so too the name always combines,” as this is how it exists forever and ever, and it does not otherwise merit the name Elohim. “It is through this secret that the world exists.” The lower world as well, which is Nukba, called Ma, receives the brains through this manner of combining Mi with eleh, and it is fully completed like the upper world, as Rabbi Shimon proceeds to explain. This is in opposition to the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, who said with regard to the lower world: “Once is has arrived there, [it is] Ma, [meaning:] “What [ma] did you know?” etc. After all, everything is as concealed as before”; see there [section 8, above]. It turns out that according to [Rabbi Elazar's] opinion, the lower world was not established like the upper world. This is why [Rabbi Shimon] states: “It is through this secret that the [lower] world exists” in the same manner as the upper world. For this reason, Rabbi Shimon paused from his previous comments. Now, Elijah explained only the order of the brains and the construction of the name Elohim in the Abba and Imma.2This refers to the first sefirot within the level of Bina that was ejected from the head of Arikh Anpin then returned to the head in the processes of maturation described in the preceding sections. He did not clarify the order of the structure of Elohim in the Nukba,3Meaning, as a response to Rabbi Elazar's idea that the process of Nukba acquiring higher brains is different than that of the upper worlds. and that is what Rabbi Shimon himself explains, until the end of the teaching.