הקדמה

49. “Rabbi Ḥiyya prostrated etc.”Rabbi Ḥiyya prostrated himself on the ground, kissed the dust, and wept, declaring: “Dust, dust! How stubborn you are! How impudent! For everything that the eye covets will wither in you; all the pillars of light in the world, you will consume and grind. How impudent you are – the holy luminary that was illuminating the world, the great ruler, the one appointed over the world, whose merit sustains the world, is withering in you: Rabbi Shimon, the light of the luminary, the light of the worlds, you wither in the dust, and [yet] you exist and lead the world.” He was silent for a moment and [then] said: “Dust, dust, do not be proud, for the pillars of the world will not be handed over to you, since Rabbi Shimon is not withering in you.”

We must thoroughly understand the meaning of this prostration on the part of Rabbi Ḥiyya. The meaning is that you will find in the section dealing with Rabbi Ḥiyya and Rabbi Yosei [section 41] that their main focus as they were walking along the way together was on that sealed gate, which is Malkhut of Malkhut.1See the preceding sections for a more extensive discussion of this fiftieth gate. [This Malkhut] receives nothing from all those higher brains [that manifest] in the six thousand years before the completion of the rectification, as is comprehensively explained in the section of Rabbi Ḥiyya. Rabbi Yosei replied to him in the name of Rabbi Shimon that “this is certainly the case” that this gate remains sealed, and the wholeness [that is achieved with these higher brains] is only in the “key,” as stated. This is what distressed them so greatly, until Rabbi Ḥiyya arrived at a great awakening and “prostrated himself on the ground, kissed the dust, and wept, declaring: “Dust, dust! How stubborn you are etc.”

[Rabbi Ḥiyya] then says: “For everything that the eye covets will wither in you.” On account of the sin of the first man, all the souls, which encompass all the souls in the world, were detached from him and were taken captive to the kelippot. Through his repentance, Adam the first [man] rectified only his own individual [soul], and even that not completely. After him, the souls are distilled each generation through repentance and good deeds until the completion of the rectification. Thus, all those lofty souls of [the level of] yeḥida and [of the level of] the first three of ḥaya depend upon [the process of] distilling and fusion through collision, upon the [sealed level of] Malkhut of Malkhut, which is the sealed gate that has neither distillation nor fusion, as stated. Accordingly, all those souls wither in the dust, which is the kelippot, and this is the mystical meaning of the verse: “The tears of the oppressed, who have no comforter” (Ecclesiastes 4:1). The kelippa of the dust rules over them with impudence and stubbornness, as she is confident in her strength, that there is no one who can save them from her hand. This is why Rabbi Ḥiyya wept, and said to the dust, which is the kelippot: “How stubborn you are! How impudent! For everything that the eye covets will wither in you.” All those highest of souls, which are coveted by the eyes, rot in you, without hope of deliverance from your hand.

[Rabbi Ḥiyya] proceeds: “All the pillars of light in the world, you will consume and grind.” That is, all the righteous of the world, who illuminate the world, are also deficient from [reaching] their completeness on account of the captivity of these lofty souls, since all the souls are incorporated in one another.2Souls are not physical "things." One of the properties of souls is that they are all part of each other, like different facets of one totality. Thus, these righteous individuals are impacted by the limitations of the progress of souls during this phase of the 6000 years. Thus, these [righteous ones] are also consumed and ground through the strength of the impudence of this dust.

[Rabbi Ḥiyya] continues: “The holy luminary etc. Rabbi Shimon is not withering in you” He initially wanted to say that Rabbi Shimon is also withering in this dust, because he heard from Rabbi Yosei that he too agrees that this gate is sealed and may not be revealed. But he subsequently wondered and said, “Rabbi Shimon, the light of the luminary, etc. and you exist and lead the world.” In other words, since he sustains and leads all the worlds, how is it possible for him not to be whole in his full completeness?” After that, “he was silent for a moment,” i.e., he thought the matter over and stated decisively that “Rabbi Shimon is not withering in you,” since he is certainly in a state of complete wholeness, only that he could not comprehend how that could be.