הקדמה

70. “And with regard to this, it is written etc.”“And with regard to this, it is stated: “Woe to them who draw iniquity with false cords” (Isaiah 5:18). “Iniquity” is the male. “And sin as it were with a cart rope” (Isaiah 5:18). What is “sin”? This is the female, that is, the aforementioned woman of harlotry, who is called “sin.” It, the sinner, drags that which is called “iniquity,” that is, the male, with these false cords, and subsequently, “sin as it were with a cart rope.” He pulls on that female who is called “sin,” as she grows stronger there, to fly and kill people. Therefore, “for she has cast down many slain” (Proverbs 7:26). Who has cast down? She, that “sin,” who kills people. Who caused this? A student who has not attained the ability to issue rulings, and [yet] he issues [them]. May the Merciful One save us!

Explanation: As we wrote above, the male is not as evil as the female, because he imagines himself to be holy, in the mystical meaning of the verse: “Eat and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you” (Proverbs 23:7). He is therefore called “false.” However, for this very reason he is highly capable of catching people in his net. Once they have fallen into his net, he comes and mates with the female, at which point there is “sin as it were with a cart rope,” for she drags him into the great deep. This is how the verse “woe to them who draw iniquity with false cords” should be interpreted. The “false” one only ties a person with cords and traps him, and then casts him down before his female. At this stage, “sin as it were with a cart rope” – the “sin” casts him into the great deep and kills him. This is the meaning of: “that ‘sin, ’ who kills people.”