הקדמה

91. “He began and said: etc.”He began his discourse and said: “And Benaya the son of Yehoyada” (II Samuel 23:20). This verse has been interpreted, and it is a fine [explanation]. However, this verse [in fact] comes to present the highest secrets of the Torah. The name Benayahu Ben Yehoyada comes to allude to the secret of the Ḥokhma. It alludes to a concealed matter, and the name is the cause. “The son of a valiant man” is the righteous one who lives for eternity. “Who had done mighty deeds” means that he is the master of all the deeds and all the supernal hosts, as they all emerge from him. He is called the Lord of hosts, as he is a sign in all His hosts; he is marked and greater than all.

Explanation: The verse is here presenting and revealing supernal secrets of the Torah. “Benayahu Ben Yehoyada comes to allude to the secret of the Ḥokhma,” since the holy name Yehoyada, [Yehoyada; “God knows”] means a knowledge that refers to the secret of the Ḥokhma. “It is a concealed matter,” a very hidden, sublime secret, “and the name” Yehoyada “is the cause” of its concealed status.

The meaning is as follows: The Keter of Atzilut is called “the head that is unknown,” and the Atik Yomin is the surrounding aspect of the five partzufim of Atzilut: Arikh Anpin; Abba and Imma; and [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba. [Atik Yomin] is called the head that is unknown and does not make itself known. “Unknown” means that there is no fusion there, even in its own place. “Does not make itself known” means that there is no drawing forth of brains to the levels from it and below. Arikh Anpin of Atzilut is also hidden from the lower [levels], and therefore it is called “the sealed Ḥokhma.” However, it is not considered “unknown,” like “the unknown head,” since it has a fusion in its own place. Rather, it only “does not make itself known,” since there is no drawing forth of brains from it and below. All the brains made known in the worlds [below] during the six thousand years are only from [Abba and Imma Ila’in], and Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, which are called Ḥokhma of the thirty-two paths, or thirty-two [mentions of] Elohim in the act of creation.

This is the mystical meaning of the verse: “From where does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding, seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living…God understands its way and He knows its place” (Job 28:20-23). It has been explained (in Adderet Ha’azinu, 72) [that] “God understands its way” [means] its actual way, but “and He knows its place” [means] its actual place and all the more so its way, and all the more so that Ḥokhma which is sealed in it, in the holy Atik; see there. The intent [of these statements] is that “understands its way” is only the Ḥokhma of the thirty-two paths, which is the mystical meaning of the thirty-two [mentions of] Elohim in the act of creation. This is why it states “God [Elohim] understands its way.” The verse expresses Ḥokhma through a term of Bina, as it states “understands [hevin] its way,”1The word hevin, understand, is from the same root as bina, understanding. because this Ḥokhma, in of itself, is only Bina, but it becomes Ḥokhma through the ascent [of Bina] to the head of Arikh Anpin, as [Bina] receives from the sealed Ḥokhma and bestows to below. Accordingly, this Ḥokhma is revealed only through the path of Bina when [Bina] ascends to the sealed Ḥokhma of Arikh Anpin. The verse should thus be understood as follows: Elohim, which is Bina, understands its path to the shefa of Ḥokhma. This is why it states “its actual way,” that is, [this Bina] is merely considered a path to the shefa of Ḥokhma, but it itself is Bina, not Ḥokhma.

The mystical meaning of the verse: “And He knows its place” is that it is referring to Arikh Anpin. The name “He” represents that which is hidden and concealed from the lower levels, which is Arikh Anpin, who is called “the holy Ancient One.” He says about [Arikh Anpin] that he “knows” the “place” of the Ḥokhma of the thirty-two paths, since [Arikh Anpin] is the actual Ḥokhma that bestows upon the Bina. This is why the Zohar says “its actual place, and all the more so its way,” for since [Arikh Anpin] is the place [from where] this Ḥokhma is bestowed, [Arikh Anpin] certainly knows the way of Ḥokhma when it is enclothed in Bina. [The Zohar] further states: “And all the more so that Ḥokhma which is sealed in it, in the holy Ancient One.” In other words, all the more so [Arikh Anpin] knows its own sealed Ḥokhma. However, this is also in the mystical meaning of “and He knows its place,” because this fusion is revealed only in [Arikh Anpin], in its actual place and nothing is bestowed from it and below at all. Thus, the brains of Arikh Anpin are classified as “knows” in its own place, but it is classified as “does not make itself known” from itself and below. Only the brains of Abba and Imma, which are the brains of the thirty-two paths of Ḥokhma, are regarded as “makes itself known,” in the mystical meaning of “God understands its way.” However, the upper head, above Arikh Anpin, which is the head of the Atik Yomin, is regarded as “unknown and does not make itself known,” for there is no fusion even in its own place, and there is no spreading of brains from it to the lower [levels].

Now, all this applies only to the souls and the worlds in general. However, with regard to the souls in particular, there are lofty souls that merited to be feminine waters for the great fusion of that head of the Atik Yomin after their demise, and to receive the level of yeḥida there in the upper world, [the level] which comes from that fusion. These are the souls of Benayahu Ben Yehoyada, Rav Hamnuna Saba, and others. Those lofty souls are revealed to the righteous in this world, and the righteous also merit to see the light of yeḥida that illuminates in those lofty souls.

This is the meaning of his statement that “Benayahu Ben Yehoyada comes to allude to the secret of the Ḥokhma.” This soul, called Benayahu Ben Yehoyada, comes from the inner [aspect] of Ḥokhma, the aforementioned Ḥokhma of the Atik Yomin. The illumination of that soul “is a concealed matter, and the name is the cause,” that is, the name Yehoyada causes the illumination of that soul to be concealed, for it means that Yeho [God] yada [knew], but it was not made known to others, and thus [this Ḥokhma] remained hidden in its own place. Now, [the Zohar] first clarifies the quality of the fusion and the loftiness of the height of the great light that emerges from that fusion of the head of the Atik Yomin. This is explained through the mystical meaning of the verse: “The son of a living man, who had done many deeds, the God gatherer.” He will subsequently clarify the meaning of the “concealed matter” with regard to the illumination of that soul, and this is explained by means of the phrase: “He smote the two altar-hearths of Moab,” until the end of the verse.

[The Zohar] continues: “The son of a living man etc.” The meaning is as follows: You know that this fusion is the aspect of the fusion of the completion of the rectification and its mystical meaning is the fusion that incorporates all the fusions and levels that emerged one after the other during the six thousand years. All these lights gather in this [fusion] simultaneously. In the same manner, the feminine waters that ascend for that fusion incorporate within themselves all of the sufferings and the punishments that have been disclosed during the six thousand years, one after the other. 2The main point in this and the preceding sentence is the contrast between the linear incremental development of the lights and the suffering in the six thousand years with the simultaneous existence of all these lights and all the suffering on the level of this supernal fusion. The lower level, that of the six thousand years, can be thought of as the linear flow of time. This supernal fusion, in contrast, can be thought of as above that linear flow, containing all of it simultaneously. Therefore, there is no end to the height of the level that emerges from this fusion, and it ends the kelippot and the Sitra Aḥara forever. The Yesod that bestows the masculine waters [from above to below] which incorporate all of the lights that emerged during the six thousand years, is called “a living man, who had done many deeds,” while the Malkhut that incorporates within itself all the feminine waters and the suffering that unfolded over the six thousand years is called “the God gatherer.”

[The Zohar] continues: “‘The son of a living man’ is the righteous one who lives in all worlds. ” This name always refers to the Yesod, which bestows upon the Nukba. [This Yesod] has no receptacle for its own needs, and it is therefore considered to be living only in the world, that is, in Nukba, when it bestows upon her. 3This is sexual imagery, built upon the same themes in the previous paragraphs. The Yesod corresponds to the male sexual organ and bestows the lights of the masculine waters. The Nukba corresponds to the female receiver, providing a receptacle that will actualize the bestowal of the Yesod. This is why [the Yesod] is called “the righteous one who lives in all worlds.” However, in this fusion, [the Yesod] is mentioned by the name “one who had done many deeds,” which means that he is the master of all the deeds and all the supernal hosts. For [this Yesod] now includes in its masculine waters all of the good deeds and all the higher levels that were revealed one after another during the six thousand years. Now they are all gathered within [the Yesod] simultaneously, and they are renewed in the supernal light, and emerge from [the Yesod] to the Nukba all at once. This is why [the Yesod] is called “one who had done many deeds.”

[The Zohar] continues: “As they all emerge from him” at one time, to the Nukba. “He is the Lord of hosts, as he is a sign in all His hosts; he is marked and greater than all.” In other words, the holy name the Lord of hosts has now been revealed in [this Yesod] in its lofty perfection, as [the Yesod] is now a sign in all His hosts, in that it is marked with all the works and hosts. And it is “greater than all” – it is magnified, and transcends all of these in its illumination.