הקדמה

33. “Tet entered etc.”The letter tet entered [and] said before Him: Master of the world! It is good for You to create the world with me, as with me You are called good [tov] and upright. He said to her: I will not create the world with you, for your good is sealed within you, and concealed within you. This is [the meaning of] that which is stated: “How great is the goodness You have in store for those who fear You” (Psalms 31:20). Since the good is concealed within you, it has no share in this world that I wish to create, but only in the next world. Furthermore, because your goodness is concealed within you, the gates of the Sanctuary will sink. This is [the meaning of] that which is stated: “Her gates sank into the ground” (Lamentations 2:9). In addition, ḥet is across from you, and when you join together you will be ḥet-tet, which means sin. This is why those letters were not inscribed in the holy tribes. She immediately departed from His presence.

Explanation: Tet is the inner aspect of the Yesod of Ze’er Anpin. [As discussed previously, ] tzadi is the ninth of the letters of Ze’er Anpin, 1See section 26 above for the complete discussion of the role of the tzadi. The main point here is that all vessels and structures of the different levels have an inner and outer aspect. While the tzadi represents the outer aspect of Yesod of Ze'er Anpin, the tet represents the inner aspect. and [representing Yesod, that] fuses with the Nukba in the mystical meaning of tzaddik [righteous]. By contrast, tet is the ninth letter of Bina of Ze’er Anpin, and [the tet] is the inner aspect of Yesod of Ze’er Anpin, which is called tov [good], in the mystical meaning of the verse: “Say of the righteous that it is good” (Isaiah 3:10). And as the soul of Yesod, in which there is no grasp for the kelippot, the tet claimed that the world should be created with her.2The tet represents the inner aspect of Yesod of Ze'er Anpin, so is referred to here as the soul of Yesod. This means the tet is the inner lifeforce of this Yesod. As a result of its internal placement, it is out of reach of the external forces of the kelippot.

[Rav Hamnuna] then said: “For your good is sealed within you, and concealed within you etc.” This is the mystical meaning of the Sages’ statement (Ḥagiga 12a): By means of the light that the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day, Adam could watch and look from one end of the world to the other. When the Holy One, blessed be He, looked at the generation of the flood and the generation of the dispersion, and saw that their ways were corrupt, He arose and concealed it etc. for the righteous people in the future, as it is stated: “And God saw the light, that it was good” (Genesis 1:4), and “good” is referring to none other than the righteous, as it is stated: “Say of the righteous that it is good.” The meaning [of this passage] is as follows: When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that the wicked would corrupt their ways and would grant a purchase for the kelippot upon this light, He concealed it in the supernal tzaddik and tzedek of Abba and Imma (father and mother). From this tzaddik and tzedek of Abba and Imma this light is drawn in its concealment into the inner aspect of Yesod of Ze’er Anpin, which is the tet. In the mystical meaning of that rectification, the Holy One, blessed be He, replied to the tet: “For your good is sealed within you, and concealed within you etc. Since the good is concealed within you, it has no share in this world that I wish to create, but only in the World to Come.” In other words, since I have to hide you from the wicked, and you are fit only for the righteous who are worthy of receiving from the World to Come, you have no part in the rectification of this world, which is the mystical meaning of Ze’er Anpin and Nukba, since there is purchase for the external forces in you.

[Rav Hamnuna] continues: “Furthermore, because your goodness is concealed within you, the gates of the Sanctuary will sink.” Since this light shines only in the inner aspect of Yesod [of Ze'er Anpin] in concealment, the Nukba will therefore be unable to receive from this light at her gates, but only through its concealment in the inner aspect [of the Nukba]. As a result, the gates of Nukba sink into the inner aspect of her Yesod, and the [gates] are thereby preserved from the touch of the external forces. [Through this, the Nukba] will be assured that the external forces will not control her gates. At the time of the destruction [of the Temple], the enemies did not control the gates of the Sanctuary, but rather [the gates] sank into the earth, as the Sages expounded (Sota 9a; see Rashi there). Since you require such protection, you are unworthy for the world to be created with you.

[Rav Hamnuna] continues: “In addition, ḥet is across from you, and when you join together you will be ḥet-tet,” since ḥet is Hod, which is the Malkhut that is incorporated in Ze’er Anpin, and that is the mystical meaning of the left channel in Yesod of Ze’er Anpin. There are two channels in Yesod of Ze’er Anpin: 1) For producing souls, which is the right one; 2) For discharging waste to the external forces, which is the left one, called ḥet. The concept is that [the left channel] is an aspect of the kof that is incorporated in Yesod (as stated above, in section 24, fourth paragraph), from where the very small luminescence emerges to the external forces. It is through this that the external forces acquire the strength to resemble the man of holiness, like a monkey with respect to a person, in the mystical meaning of: “God made one thing corresponding to the other” (Ecclesiastes 7:14). These two channels are close to one another, and there is only [a barrier as thick] as the husk of garlic between them. For this reason, the left channel has the strength to prevail over the right channel, and then it becomes ḥet-tet. This the mystical meaning of the fact that the numerical value of ḥet-tet is tov (good; tet-vav-bet; 17), which is “one thing corresponding to the other.”

When the right, which is tet, prevails, then it is tov in numerical value, in the mystical meaning of the verse: “Say of the righteous that it is good” (Isaiah 3:10). But if, God forbid, the left channel, which is ḥet, prevails over the tet, then it is ḥet-tet (sin) in numerical value.

This is the meaning of the statement: “In addition, ḥet is across from you.” That is, the left channel, which is ḥet, has the strength to prevail over you, and then “when you join together you will be ḥet-tet,” i.e., the kelippot will be able to extract the shefa of holiness for themselves, as there is control over all the sins from there. [Rav Hamnuna] adds: “This is why those letters were not inscribed in the holy tribes.” This is the reason why there are no letters ḥet or tet in the names of the tribes, 3This refers to the twelve sons of Jacob. None of their names contain either of these two letters. to indicate that they are lofty and separated from this aspect of the ḥet, which is the root of the force of corresponding [evil]. This is the mystical meaning [of the teaching] that Jacob’s bed was whole and no waste emerged from it to the external forces, as was the case for Abraham and Isaac, in accordance with the statement of the Sages (Pesaḥim 56a).4Abraham and Isaac each had a child that contained aspects of the corresponding forces of evil within them, reflecting the incomplete inner state of Abraham and Isaac. In contrast, all of Jacob's sons were above these forces.