הקדמה

215. “The fifth commandment, etc.”The fifth commandment. It is stated: “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures” [Genesis 1:20]. There are three commandments in this verse. One is to engage in the Torah; [the second] one is to engage in procreation; [and the third] one is to circumcise [a male child] on the eighth day and to remove the foreskin from there. One must engage in the Torah, toil in it every day, to rectify his soul and spirit.

Explanation: The four previous commandments, which are drawn from the first four days of the act of creation, came to rectify the levels in the world of Atzilut itself, which are the four levels Ḥokhma and Bina and [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba, in the world of Atzilut. The first commandment, which is drawn from the word Bereshit, is the mystical meaning of fear, i. e., supernal Bina. This is the mystical meaning of fear “because He is great and rules over everything” [see section #191#]. This [refers] only to the aspect of the first three [sefirot] of Bina that was established as Abba and Imma Ila’in, which enclothe Arikh Anpin from the mouth to the chest, called yod of Havaya.

The second commandment, which is drawn from the utterance, “Let there be light,” is for the rectification of the lower seven [sefirot] of Bina, in the mystical meaning of the whole, great love, [and these lower seven are] called Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna. In their main state, [these seven] enclothe Arikh Anpin from the chest to the navel, i. e., below the diaphragm which is inside the intestine of Arikh Anpin. However, in the utterance “Let there be light,” which is stated regarding them, they ascended and became one partzuf with [Abba and Imma Ila’in] above the chest of Arikh Anpin, and from there to the head of Arikh Anpin. The Bina returned to being Ḥokhma there [in the head of Arikh Anpin], which is the mystical meaning of great love and the mystical meaning of the [first letter] heh of Havaya. From them, all the brains are transmitted to [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba.

However, from Abba and Imma Ila’in themselves, which are the [aspect of the] first three [sefirot] of Bina, [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba cannot receive brains. [This is] because [Abba and Imma Ila’in] themselves were established in the mystical meaning of “pure air,” which is the light of giving, in the mystical meaning of “because He delights in ḥesed” [“mercy”; Micah 7:18]. For this reason, [Abba and Imma Ila’in] are called “fear,” because the mystical meaning of great love, the brains of the illumination of Ḥokhma, are not transmitted [directly] from [Abba and Imma Ila’in] to [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba, but only from the lower seven [sefirot] of Bina, called Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna.

However, the aspect of great love in Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna is revealed only from the aspect of the chest of Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna and above, for [those aspects of Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna] are then positioned above the diaphragm in the intestine of Arikh Anpin. However, from the chest of Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna and below, which are positioned below the diaphragm of [Abba and Imma Ila’in], there is an aspect of concealment of the light of Ḥokhma. This is the mystical meaning of “Let there be light” for the next world, which is the Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna above the diaphragm. But the other [aspects of] Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, below the diaphragm, the light was concealed in them and the manifestation of Tevuna in them became the mystical meaning of dry.

The third commandment is drawn from the two utterances of the third day, which are “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together to one place and let the dry land appear” [Genesis 1:9] and “Let the earth put forth grass” [Genesis 1:11]. These are for the rectification of the brains of the six extremities for [Ze’er Anpin and Nukba. The upper unification is drawn from the verse “Let the waters be gathered,” which is for Ze’er Anpin, while the lower unification is drawn to the six extremities of Nukba from the verse: “Let the earth put forth grass.”

The fourth commandment, which is drawn from the verse: “Let there be lights” [Genesis 1:14], is for the rectification of the first three [sefirot] in Ze’er Anpin and Nukba. By the fifth day all the necessary rectifications for [Abba and Imma Ila’in], Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba of Atzilut had been rectified, to the point that the [Ze’er Anpin and Nukba received the [aspect of the] first three [sefirot] from [Abba and Imma Ila’in and Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna] and [Ze’er Anpin and Nukba] were fit for a face-to-face fusion at an equal height [with each other]. Consequently, from here onward, the rest of the commandments are the required rectifications for drawing forth [illuminations] from the face-to-face fusion of [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba.

[The Zohar] thus states: “The fifth commandment. It is stated: ‘Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures. ’ There are three commandments in this verse.” The wholeness [resulting from] the mystical meaning of the fusion of [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba face-to-face needs to be drawn forth. The first [commandment] is to draw forth a holy soul [that wholeness], so that the person himself will also merit a pure and holy fusion. This is achieved through engagement in the Torah. The second is to birth holy souls, while the third is for the rectification of the sign of the covenant by means of cutting and uncovering [of circumcision], as [the Zohar] proceeds to explain.

This is the meaning of “engage in the Torah, toil in it, and add to it etc.” “Engage” means to speak [its words] with [one’s] mouth even if one does not know [its meaning], in the mystical meaning of: “They are life for those who find them” [motz’eihem; Proverbs 4:22] – to one who produces [motzi] them with the mouth, for he thereby acquires a holy nefesh “Toil in it” means to make every effort to do all that one can to grasp it and understand it, for he thereby acquires a holy ruaḥ. “And add to it” means that once one has merited to rectify his soul and spirit, he should not settle for that, but should always be adding to it, in the mystical meaning of “we elevate in sanctity and do not downgrade” [see e. g., Berakhot 28a]. One thereby merits a holy neshama.

[The Zohar] continues: “And add to it every day, to rectify his soul and spirit,” i. e., increase Torah [study] every day, in order to rectify one’s nefesh and ruaḥ, for by daily adding to the [study of] Torah, and increasing the rectification of his nefesh and ruaḥ, he merits a holy neshama. For “when a person engages in the Torah, he is rectified with another soul, a holy one” [see next section], since one who engages in Torah extensively, in addition to meriting a nefesh and ruaḥ, also merits the establishment of a holy neshama.