הקדמה

213. “Eve began from these letters, etc.”Eve’s [sin] began from these letters and caused evil to the world, as it is stated: “And the woman saw [va’tere] that [the tree] was good” [Genesis 3:6]. She inverted the letters of me’orot; that is, she took the letters of va’tere from there, and there remained [the letters] mem-vav from the word me’orot. They went and took the letter tav with them, creating the combination mot [death]. She [thus] caused death to the world, as it is stated: “Va’tere.”

Explanation: The unification was explained in the letters of “Let them be me’orot,” which are the drawing forth of the first three [sefirot] to [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba. When one unifies them above, in the place of [Abba and Imma Ila’in], this draws forth light in a [state of] connection, for this light] separates the letters of mot as [the light] expands into them, and the combination [of letters spelling the word] me’orot is formed. But if one unifies [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba below in their place, the light departs once again from the combination me’orot, leaving mot there in the connection of the letters (as stated in the previous section above).

[The Zohar] says [that] “Eve began from these letters” because Eve’s sin through the Tree of Knowledge starts with: And the woman saw [va’tere] that [the tree] was good.” This alludes [to the idea] that Eve drew for herself the letters of va’tere from the word me’orot, i. e., she accepted the advice of the snake to connect [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba in their place below, thereby impairing the combination of me’orot. [In doing so] “she inverted the letters of me’orot,” for by forming a connection below she caused the separation of [Abba and Imma Ila’in] above. Thus, the letters of the combination or [alef-vav-resh], which separate and negate the combination mot in the mystical meaning of the word me’orot, were separated. She formed the combination va’tere, in which the letters of or are scattered in inverted order, because of the tav that was wedged between them. This tav is the aspect of the Nukba of the Sitra Aḥara, called mot, which approached the light to receive and suckle from it.

The Sitra Aḥara, which is called mot, contains male and female: Samael [“poison”] and Lilith. The letter mem is the male of mot, called Samael, while the letter tav is his female, called Lilith. By virtue of [Eve’s] acceptance of the advice of the snake to connect from below, the female of mot immediately approached to suckle from the shefa, and the letters of or were scattered in inverted order, as in the combination va’tere, because the tav became wedged inside the or and scattered them.

After Eve drew forth the letters va’tere from me’orot, “there remained mem-vav” from the word me’orot, which are the male, called mem of mot, and the expression of Yesod, called vav of mot. “They went and took the letter tav with them,” [meaning] that the male of mot, mem-vav, which remained from me’orot, went to the female, the tav of mot. The two of them mated and brought mot upon the world, “as it is stated: Va’tere,” because the male of the Sitra Aḥara, mem-vav, engaged in a coupling with the tav of va’tere, who was already in Eve. This is the mystical meaning of the snake engaging in relations with Eve and infecting her with contamination [see Shabbat 146a]. By her acceptance of the snake’s advice, the tav entered her, separating and scattering the letters of or [alef-vav-resh], and forming the combination of the letters va’tere in her field of vision. Subsequently, the male of the Sitra Aḥara, mem-vav, came and engaged in a coupling with that tav which was already in Eve, and mot [“death”; mem-vav-tav] appeared in the world.