הקדמה

46. “When did that key etc.”When did that key open the gates, and was made ready for use and to birth offspring? It was upon the arrival of Abraham, who is the mystical meaning of Ḥesed, as it is stated: “These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when they were created [behibare’am]” (Genesis 2:4), and we learned: Do not read behibare’am, but be-Avraham [“with Abraham”]. Then, everything that was hidden in the word bara, as stated, the letters, which are the vessels, returned and opened to listen. The pillar that births offspring emerged, the organ [evar] of the holy foundation upon which the world stands, as bara has the same letters as evar.

Explanation: [Rabbi Yosei] asks: “When did that key open the gates, and was made ready for use and to birth offspring?” There are three aspects to this question: 1) “Open the gates” – referring to the descent of the lower heh from the apertures of the eyes to the mouth, at which point the forty-nine gates of the brains of Ḥokhma were opened, as stated above. 2) “And was made ready for use” – this refers to the enclothing of the [light of the brains of] Ḥokhma in the light of giving, since before the Ḥokhma is enclothed in the light of giving, the ears, nose, and mouth cannot receive the brains of Ḥokhma, even though they have already combined with the gulgalta and eyes into a single level (as stated in section 16, above).1Once the heh descends, the lower vessels of ears, nose and mouth return to their original level, rejoining the gulgalta and eyes. Without the enclothing of the light of giving, Mi cannot illuminate in eleh, and alef-lamed-heh [eleh] remains sealed in the name; see there.2As is explained in section 16, the first two vessels of gulgalta and eyes are symbolized by the letters mem-yod, spelling Mi, and the lower three vessels are symbolized by aleph-lamed-heh, spelling eleh. The lights of Ḥokhma, the brains, cannot illuminate the lower vessels without the enclothing of the light of giving. Thus, [in such a state, ] the brains are not yet fit for use in the lower level. 3) “And to birth offspring” – meaning the birthing of souls, because after the Ze’er Anpin receives these brains in their complete state it pairs with the Nukba and births the souls of the righteous.

[Rabbi Yosei] answers: “Upon the arrival of Abraham, etc. everything that was hidden in the word bara, the letters returned to listen.” Abraham is the mystical meaning of Ḥesed of Ze’er Anpin of maturity, when the Ḥesed becomes Ḥokhma, as stated in the Zohar (Shemot, 249). Before Abraham arrived, everything was sealed in the word bara, and emptiness ruled over the world, [the "world" referring to] Ze’er Anpin and Nukba. At that stage, Ze’er Anpin and Nukba did not have either [the light of giving] or Ḥokhma. But “upon the arrival of Abraham,” who is the light of Ḥesed that is bestowed upon Ze’er Anpin, the gates opened with the shefa of Ḥokhma. The lower heh descended from the eyes to the mouth, and Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna joined with Abba and Imma Ila'in into a single level, and the first three [sefirot] of the lights, which are the light of Ḥokhma, were drawn to Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna.3These lights refer to the brains attained by Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna in this phase. Since Ze’er Anpin already had the light of giving from the aspect of Abraham, the lights of Ḥokhma were enclothed in the light of giving, and then the letters alef-lamed-heh [eleh] joined with mem-yod [Mi] and the name Elohim was complete, and the brains were enclothed in Ze’er Anpin.

This is the meaning of the statement: “Upon the arrival of Abraham, etc. the letters returned to listen.” The brains of Ḥokhma were drawn into the light of giving and were enclothed in Ze’er Anpin. “The pillar that births offspring emerged” – since then the lower heh descended from the apertures of the eyes of Ze’er Anpin to the mouth [of Ze'er Anpin], and [Ze'er Anpin] too attained [the aspects of] Bina, Ze’er Anpin, and Nukba, which [Ze'er Anpin] had lacked. They are called, with respect to [Ze'er Anpin], “new Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod,” with Yesod of [the phase of] maturity called “the organ of the holy foundation upon which the world stands.” It is through this organ that [Ze'er Anpin] transmits to the Nukba, which is called “the lower world,” and [through this Ze'er Anpin] gives birth to the souls of the righteous. This is [what occurs] in general terms. However, the detailed [description of the] order of the drawing forth of the brains will be explained afterward.