הקדמה

153. “Ve-arka, but shouldn’t it have said ve-ar’a, etc.”[Rabbi Shimon] asks: The verse states “ve-arka” [“and the earth,” Jeremiah 10:11], but shouldn’t it have said ve-ar’a [the usual Aramaic word for “earth”]? He answers: It is because arka is one of seven lands below, and in that place there are the descendants of the descendants of Cain. After [Cain] was expelled from upon the face of the earth, he descended there, produced offspring, and his mind was confused [ishtabesh] there, [meaning] that he did not know anything. It is a doubled land, doubled with darkness and light. Ishtabesh means confused, for the term “branches” (Genesis 40:12) is translated into Aramaic as shivshin, and because the branches of a vine are intertwined and intermingled with one another, the word was borrowed to [express] the language of confusion and entanglement.

Explanation: The lower seven [sefirot] are incorporated in one another, and in each of the [individual sefirot] there are [again] seven sefirot: Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, Yesod, and Malkhut. [Similarly, all seven] are also found in Malkhut. This is the mystical meaning of: “And similarly, in the lower land there are seven lands,” which are eretz; adama; arka; gai; nashya; tziya; and tevel. Our earth is tevel, which is the highest of the seven lands, while arka is the third among the seven lands.

Now, the souls of Cain and Abel were drawn from the name Elohim, but due to the contamination with which the serpent infected Eve, the soul of Cain emerged first, from the letters alef-lamed-heh, after which Abel emerged from the letters mem-yod. The [two of them] should have been included in one another in mercy, and then the name Elohim would have rested on both of them together, just as Mi is always combined with eleh in the mystical meaning of the name Elohim, as stated. However, the contamination of the serpent that emerged with the soul of Cain caused him to slander his brother Abel, who is the mystical meaning of Mi of Elohim, until “[Cain] rose up against [Abel his brother] and slew him” [Genesis 4:8]. [Cain] caused the removal of the letters mem-yod from alef-lamed-heh, which is the mystical meaning of the killing of Abel. Then eleh, which is the aspect of [Cain] himself, fell to the kelippot.

[Rabbi Shimon] thus states that “he was expelled from upon the face of the earth,” since he fell from the land of holiness, and “he descended there,” to arka, which is the place of the kelippot. “He produced offspring, and [his mind was] confused there, [meaning] that he did not know anything,” for he produced offspring under the control of the kelippot, and therefore the Holy Tongue in his mouth became confused into the language of the [Aramaic] translation. “He did not know anything,” because he had lost the aspect of Da'at, since the kelippot lack Da'at, due to the fact that the [kelippot] have only brains of Ḥokhma and Bina, without Da'at.

The idea of the killing of Abel is as stated above (in section #152#), that only through the power of feminine waters in purity is Mi drawn down to [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba. Afterwards, the letters alef-lamed-heh are drawn back, and the name Elohim is completed in [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba as well, like [it already is] in Abba and Imma Ila'in. Then the Nukba is also completed with male garments, like the [Imma Ila'ah aspect of Bina], in the mystical meaning of the departure of the letter heh and its replacement by a yod (as stated in section #17# above).

This does not mean that the letter heh of Ma of Nukba is removed entirely. Rather, the heh enters the interiority of the Nukba into concealment, while the yod of Mi is exposed on the outside. In this manner, the holy name of Elohim resides in [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba as well, which are heaven and earth. However, Cain raised impure feminine waters and he wanted to strengthen the letters alef-lamed-heh of his own aspect, for his own benefit. This is the mystical meaning of: “Cain rose up against Abel his brother,” because he raised himself through dominion over Mi, which is his brother Abel. Then the backside of the Nukba was immediately revealed, which is the heh of Ma that was in concealment, and the name Mi departed from the Nukba. As a consequence, the soul of Abel, which was drawn from the Mi of the Nukba, also departed to above, and therefore he “slew him.”

This is the mystical meaning of the statement of the Zohar (Bereshit II, 241): “When Cain killed Abel etc. he bit him with his teeth like the serpent”; see there. This is as we stated, that the contamination of the serpent was within [Cain], for which reason [Cain] wished to strengthen the letters alef-lamed-heh and to nullify the Mi and subdue [Abel] under himself. [Cain] therefore revealed the backside, which is the [aspect of] Ma in the Nukba, and the Mi departed from Nukba. As a result, the soul of Abel that is drawn from [the Mi] departed and [Cain] “slew him,” while Cain himself, who is eleh, fell under the domain of the kelippot, which are arka, called “the land of Nod” in the Bible, as it states: “And he dwelled in the land of Nod” (Genesis 4:16).

[Rabbi Shimon] thus concludes: “It is a doubled land, doubled with darkness and light. And there are two appointed angels there” [see next section], because light and darkness operate as a mixture there, without boundaries between them, because there are two appointed angels there who equally control this land. One of them is appointed over the darkness, and he sets the darkness there, while the other is appointed over the light, and he sets the light there.