הקדמה

39. “And the Holy One, blessed be He, fashioned etc.”And the Holy One, blessed be He, fashioned higher, large letters, which allude to the sefira of Bina, and lower, small letters, alluding to the sefira of Malkhut. For this reason it is written bet bet, that is, Bereshit bara (“In the beginning [God] created,” [Genesis 1:1]), and likewise alef alef, i.e., Elohim et (“God (created the heavens etc.),” [Genesis 1:1]), as the first alef and bet are letters from above, from Bina, and the second alef and bet are letters from below, from Malkhut. And they are all united, from the higher world, which is Bina, and from the lower world, which is Malkhut, so that they will bestow to one another.

Explanation: The “large letters” are from the aspect of the Bina, while the “lower, small letters” are in Ze’er Anpin and Nukba. Now, when the higher [level] wants to give to the lower [level], it must enclothe itself in the lower one. This is the mystical meaning of the two letters bet of Bereshit bara, and the two letters alef of Elohim et: The first bet belongs to the higher [level], Bina, while the second bet belongs to the lower [level], Ze’er Anpin, in which the first bet is enclothed. Similarly, the first alef is from Bina, which enclothed itself in the second alef, [the aleph] of Ze’er Anpin, in order to give to [Ze'er Anpin]. This is the meaning of the statement: “And they are all united, from the higher world, and from the lower world.” In other words, the two letters bet are one matter, and likewise the two letters alef are one matter, only that the first [of each of the letters] are from the higher world, Bina, whereas the second [of each of the letters] are from the lower world, Malkhut. [Each pair of letters] are one because they are enclothed in one another, in the manner of a higher [level] that wishes to give to a lower [level]. The bet of the higher world enclothed herself in the bet of the lower world, and similarly the alef of the higher world enclothed herself in the alef of the lower world.