הקדמה

9. “And with regard to this secret etc.”And with regard to this secret, it is stated: “What shall I take to testify to you? What shall I liken to you” [Lamentations 2:13]. For when the Temple was destroyed, a Divine Voice emerged and declared: What [ma] shall I take to testify to you, and what [ma] shall I liken to you? That is, I shall take that ma to testify to you. For on each and every day I testified to you from the ancient days, as it is stated: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day” [Deuteronomy 4:26]. “What shall I take to testify to you?” – in that very same manner, I crowned you with holy crowns and granted you his dominion over the world, as it is stated: “Is this the city that men called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?” [Lamentations 2:15]. I called you “Jerusalem, which is built as a city that is compact together” [Psalms 122:3]. “What shall I liken to you” – just as you sit, so it is above, as it were, i.e., in the Jerusalem above. Just as now, the holy people do not enter you in holy formations, so I swear to you that I will not enter above until your armies [akhlusekh] enter you below. This is your comfort, since I equate you to that level, i.e., to the Jerusalem above, which is Malkhut, in everything. And now that you are here, “your breach is great as the sea” [Lamentations 2:13]. And if you say that you have no existence and healing, “who [mi] can heal you?” [Lamentations 2:13], meaning, it is that concealed, supernal level, called Mi, by which everything exists, which is Bina, which will heal you and raise you up. “Akhlusekh” means the troops of your armies, as gedud [troop] is translated into Aramaic as ukhlasa [Job 19:12].

The explanation of these things: The destruction of the Temple occurred because Israel committed the sin of idolatry. They were unwilling to raise up feminine waters for the coupling of [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba. Instead, they wished to draw the shefa to the Sitra Aḥara, which is called “other gods.” For this reason, that coupling of [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba was broken and the one hundred blessings1See the preceding sections where the Zohar and the Sulam explore these concepts in depth. were lost from the Nukba, and the Temple was destroyed.

[The Zohar] thus says: “A voice emerged and declared: What shall I take to testify to you etc. on each and every day I testified to you from the ancient days.” These [days] are the six extremities of [the state of] maturity that the Nukba receives in the mystical meaning of Ma, as stated above. They are called “ancient days,” and this is the mystical meaning of the verse: “For ask now of the days past, [which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth,] and from one edge of heaven to the other” [Deuteronomy 4:32]. These [days] are called by this name because they are the six extremities of [Abba and Imma Ila'in],2See the previous section of the Zohar for a more extensive discussion of this point. When Nukba enters this state of maturity called "Ma" it ascends into the place where Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna was previously positioned, from the chest of Arikh Anpin to the navel, and below the diaphragm. In this place, Nukba is referred to as six extremities of Abba and Imma Ila'in, which was the role Yisrael Saba and Tevuna played before ascending to the area above the diaphragm. since the Yisrael Saba and Tevuna is the lower seven [sefirot] of [Abba and Imma Ila'in] (section 7, third paragraph; see there). The seven days of Abba and Imma are the first ones for the seven days of [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba,3Abba and Imma Ila'in, the partzuf structure that is above Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna and represents the first three sefirot of the structures below (as opposed to the six extremities which are the lower sefirot) is the "template" for the seven days represented by Ze'er Anpin and Nukba. This is because the lower level is an expression and reflection of the levels above. “as it is stated: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day.” For this verse, which is written there in that chapter [Deuteronomy 4:26], is referring to the coupling of [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba, which are called heaven and earth. The verse is warning about the preservation and maintaining of the coupling, as otherwise, the verse warns, “you shall soon utterly perish from off the land etc.” This is the mystical meaning of: “What [ma] shall I take to testify to you” – I warned you with regard to those one hundred blessings, to preserve and perform them, and you violated them. Therefore, [the verse] “you shall soon utterly perish from off the land etc.” was fulfilled in you.

Accordingly, the Zohar says: “What shall I take to testify to you? – in that very same manner, I crowned you with holy crowns etc. as a city that is compact together.” For these one hundred blessings that the Nukba receives from the Ze’er Anpin in the fusion of Ma, are [achieved] in [Ze'er Anpin and Nukba's] ascent to [the place of] Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna. There, the Ze’er Anpin becomes the aspect of Yisrael Sabba,4Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna is formed of a male component (Yisrael Sabba) and a female component (Tevuna). This follows the pattern of all the partzufim after the second constriction beginning in the World of Tikkun. Thus, when Ze'er Anpin and Nukba, also male and female components, ascend to the position of Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, they take the place of their male and female counterparts at that level of the structure. and the Nukba becomes the aspect of Tevuna, at which point the lights [of the Nukba] become the mystical meaning of one hundred blessings, like the lights of Tevuna, as stated. With regard to this, the verse states: “As a city that is compact together,” because the Nukba, which is called a city, has combined together with the Tevuna, and thus the Nukba has become the aspect of [the level of] Tevuna. [The Nukba] receives from there the brains of Tevuna, which are called “holy crowns,” and she is subsequently called “the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth,” and she receives “his dominion over the world.”

[The Zohar] thus says: “What shall I liken to you – as you sit,” meaning, on account of Israel’s sin, which caused the Temple to be destroyed and [Israel] to be exiled from their land, they also thereby caused the withdrawal of the Nukba, as her nine lower [sefirot] fell to the kelippot and [the Nukba] returned to the [state of being a] point under the Yesod. [The Zohar] thus states: “What [ma] shall I liken to you etc.” and adds: “who [mi] can heal you?” That is, if the children of Israel repent, rectify their deeds, and raise up feminine waters to [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba, then the supernal brains will once again be drawn to the [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba, and the Nukba will again ascend to Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, which is called Mi, and then you, [the Nukba,] will be healed.