הקדמה

26. “Tzadi entered etc.”The letter tzadi entered [and] said before Him: “Master of the world! It is good for You to create the world with me, as the righteous [tzaddikim] are sealed with me, and You, who are called tzaddik, are inscribed with me, as it is stated: ‘For the Lord is righteous and He loves righteousness’ [Psalms 11:7], and [thus] it is fitting to create the world with me.” He said to her: “tzadi, you are tzadi, and you are righteous [tzaddik], but you must be concealed. You do not need to be so exposed that the creation of the world should begin with you, so as not give the world a pretext.” What is the reason that she has to be concealed? Because she was a letter nun, and then the yod of the name, which is the holy covenant, came and rode atop the nun, and united with her, becoming the tzadi. The mystical meaning of this matter is that when the Holy One, blessed be He, created Adam the first [man], who is the mystical meaning of Ze’er Anpin, He created him with two faces, i.e., a male face and a female face, attached to one another through their backs. For this reason, the face of the yod is turned back from the nun like this [image of the tzadi]1In the Hebrew, there is a printed letter tzadi with this structural shape. with the yod facing one way and the nun facing the other way, and they are not returned [to a state of] face-to-face like this [image of the tzadi].2In the Hebrew, there is a printed letter tzadi with this structural shape. Rather, the yod looks upward like this [image3In the Hebrew, there is a printed letter tzadi with this structural shape. of the] tzadi while the nun looks downward like this [image of the]4In the Hebrew, there is a printed letter tzadi with this structural shape. tzadi. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: “Furthermore, in the future I will saw you,” that is, separate you from your back-to-back attachment, and make you connected face-to-face. “However, you will ascend to this [state] in another place,” not immediately, at the beginning of the creation of the world, as then she must be back-to-back, which indicates that her illumination is hidden. Therefore, she must not be used for the creation of the world. The letter tzadi left His presence and departed.

Explanation: Having seen that the tav was rejected because of the harsh attribute of judgment she contains, and the shin because of the grasp of the Sitra Aḥara within her, [the tzadi] found the strength to suggest that she is certainly worthy for the world to be created with her, as she too has the qualities of a seal like them, and in addition there is no grasp of the Sitra Aḥara upon her. This is the meaning of the statement: “The righteous [tzaddikim] are sealed with me,” which is the seal of the sign of the holy covenant, through circumcision and peri’a [uncovering of the glans],5This is an essential aspect of the Torah's instructions for performing circumcision. which rebuffs all the external forces. “And You, who are called tzaddik, are inscribed with me,” because also the Holy One, blessed be He, which is Bina, was established in the mystical meaning of tzaddik and tzedek [justice], like the Ze’er Anpin, [and tzaddik and tzedek] are the first three sefirot of Bina that were established Abba and Imma Ila'in, in the mystical meaning of “this trail of the father sits in that path of the mother,” and in the mystical meaning of the beloved Ketarim [crowns], which always embrace in a never ending fusion.6Referring also to the Abba and Imma Ila'in. “As it is stated: ‘For the Lord is righteous and He loves righteousness’” – “righteous” alludes to Yesod of the Abba [of Abba and Imma Ila'in]; “righteousness” alludes to Yesod of the Imma [of Abba and Imma Ila'in], which is the aspect of Netzaḥ and Hod, called the “righteousness of the Lord.” And because the righteous [one] loves righteousness, the pairing [of Abba and Imma Ila'in] never ceases. [Tzadi] therefore declared: “I am fitting for the world to be created with me, and through my attribute the world will be sustained in an assured path to the completion of the rectification.”

The Zohar continues: “He said to her, ‘tzadi, you are tzadi, and you are righteous [tzaddik].’” The letter tzadi is the Yesod of Ze’er Anpin, and when the Yesod is incorporated together with the Nukba, this [Yesod] is called tzaddik, since the nine sefirot of Ze’er Anpin are from yod to tzadi,7As is explained, the tzadi represents the ninth sefira of Ze'er Anpin, which is Yesod. The next letter, kof, is the Nukba, so when this ninth sefira connects with the Nukba, it spells out tzaddik. and the kof is the beginning of the Nukba, as stated. And when the Nukba is attached to Yesod, the kof is attached to tzadi, and then Yesod is called tzaddik. This is why the Holy One, blessed be He, praised her [by saying] “you are tzadi,” in your place in Yesod of Ze’er Anpin; and “you are tzadi” in My place, for you are inscribed in Me in a never-ending pairing,8Referring to the male and female pairing of Abba and Imma Ila'in, the first three sefirot of Bina mentioned above. as you said. Also, “you are righteous [tzaddik],” since the Nukba is included in you as well, in the mystical meaning of the kof that follows the tzadi. But despite all of this, you are unfit for the world to be created with you, as [the Zohar] goes on to explain.

That which [Rav Hamnuna] says: “You must be concealed. You do not need to be so exposed etc. What is the reason? She was a nun.” The meaning of this is that Yesod of Ze’er Anpin includes the Nukba with it[self], which is the kof in the mystical meaning of [the word] tzaddik, as the Holy One, blessed be He, alluded to her [in His comment]: “You are righteous [tzaddik].” When the Nukba is included in [Ze'er Anpin] in the form of the tzadi, [the Nukba] is represented in [the letter shape] as the letter nun [forming the bottom of the tzadi]. This is because the nun is the aspect of Gevura of Ze’er Anpin. The [letters of] yod, kaf, lamed are the first three [sefirot of Ze'er Anpin], Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, and [the letters] mem and nun are Ḥesed and Gevura. With regard to this nun it is stated: “I am discernment [bina]; might [gevura] is mine” (Proverbs 8:14). For in [the phase of] maturity, when Ḥesed, Gevura, and Tiferet become Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, as is known, this Gevura becomes Bina. In [the phase of] immaturity, when the father removes the mother outside,9This phrase is a reference to the second constriction, in which the ascent of Malkhut causes Bina to descend to the level below, an "evicting" of Bina, which is described as female, from the connection with Ḥokhma, described here as male. the Bina becomes Gevura, nun, and thus [the nun] alludes to nefila [falling], since Bina falls from the first three [sefirot] to the [the level of] six extremities through the strength of the father, who removed Bina and Ze’er Anpin and Nukba to outside of the head.

[Rav Hamnuna] thus says: “You do not need to be so exposed, so as not give the world a pretext. What is the reason? She was a nun, and the yod of the name, which is the holy covenant, came and rode atop her, and united with her.” In other words, the Nukba that is incorporated in [the letter] tzadi is [represented by] the form of the letter nun within [tzadi], which is Gevura of the aspect of the fallen Bina, and the yod within [the tzadi] is Yesod of Ze’er Anpin itself, which is the name of the holy covenant. They are positioned in the form [of the letter] as back-to-back, with their backs attached to one another and their faces exposed outwards, as the face of the yod looks outwards rather than to the side of the nun, and the face of the nun likewise looks outward and not to the side of the yod. This implies that there is a grip [for the Sitra Aḥara] on their backs, and therefore their backs must be concealed, in the mystical meaning of the verse: “Their backs were inward” (I Kings 7:25), so that the external forces will not latch on to them. This is the meaning of the statement: “You do not need to be so exposed, so as not give the world a pretext.” Since there is a deficiency in your back, you must be in concealment, so as not to give the external forces a pretext to grab hold there, between the attachments. Therefore, you are unfit for the world to be created with you, since in you too, there is a place of purchase for the kelippot. Through this force of the tzadi, as the Yesod and Malkhut in her are back-to-back, Adam the first man came out back-to-back as well, in the mystical meaning of two faces, as he said: “The secret of the matter is that when the Holy One, blessed be He, created Adam the first [man], He created him with two faces.”

[Rav Hamnuna] thus says: “Furthermore, in the future I will saw you, and make you face-to-face. However, you will ascend to this [state] in another place.” This means to say, you might suggest that it is possible for Me to create the world through you in the aspect of face-to-face, just as I will later saw you and make you face-to-face. However, that too is not a valid claim, since even when I will establish you face-to-face with the Nukba, it will not be in your place below, but only through an ascent to My place, the place of Abba and Imma Ila'in. And since [the state of] face-to-face will not be established in your place, there will be a purchase for the kelippot on your level even then, and therefore you are unfit for the world to be created with you. This is the meaning of the statement: “Furthermore, in the future I will saw you, and make you face-to-face,” i.e., “it is true that in the future I will saw you and make you face-to-face. Yet this will not happen in your place”: “However, you will ascend to this [state] in another place,” in the place of Abba and Imma Ila'in, since then you will ascend and enclothe Abba and Imma Ila'in, whereas in your own place this will not be established until the completion of the rectification. How, then, can I create the world with you, when there is a purchase for the external forces within you, as well.