224. There are five groups in the mixed multitude. These are the Nefilim (fallen), the Giborim (mighty), the Anakim (giants), the Refaim (shades) and the Amalekites. Because of them, the small Hei fell from its place, NAMELY FROM BINAH. Bilaam and Balak come from the side of Amalek, because if you remove the letters Am from Bilaam and the letters Lak from Balak, you are left with Babylon (Heb. Bavel). "Therefore is the name of it called Babylon; because Hashem did there confound (Heb. balal) the language of all the earth" (Beresheet 11:9).

226. About the Nefilim (the fallen ones), it is written: "That the sons of the Elohim saw that the daughters of men were fair" (Beresheet 6:2). These are the second group OF THE MIXED MULTITUDE, WHICH IS EQUIVALENT TO CHOCHMAH OF THE KLIPOT. THEY COME from those fallen from above, FROM AZA AND AZAEL, WHO WERE ANGELS ABOVE. AND THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, DROPPED THEM OUT OF THE HEAVENS. When the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to create man, he said TO THE ANGELS, "Let us make man in our image..." (Beresheet 1:26). He wanted to make him a leader over all the ANGELS above, so that he might govern all THE ANGELS and they would be under his rule, as is written about Joseph: "And let him appoint officers over the land" (Beresheet 41:34).

228. These SONS OF ELOHIM are Aza and Azael, from whom descended the souls of THE SECOND GROUP IN the mixed multitude, which are the Nefilim. They made themselves fall FROM THEIR HOLINESS, and they fornicated with women who were fair. Because of this, the Holy One, blessed be He, also eliminated them from the World to Come, so that they may not have a portion there. And he gave them their reward in this world, as it is written: "...and repays them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them" (Devarim 7:10). THE SECOND GROUP IN THE MIXED MULTITUDE IS EQUIVALENT TO CHOCHMAH OF THE KLIPAH.

269. Those WHO COMMIT INCEST separate the UPPER Hei OF YUD HEI VAV HEI from the LOWER Hei OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, so that the Vav OF YUD HEI VAV HEI may not come between them, as it is written: "You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter" (Ibid. 17). THE UPPER HEI IS THE MOTHER AND THE LOWER HEI IS HER DAUGHTER. BECAUSE THE VAV CANNOT COME BETWEEN THEM AND ALLOW THE ABUNDANCE FROM THE MOTHER TO REACH THE DAUGHTER, THEY ARE BOTH HARMED AND DEJECTED, BECAUSE THE ACTS OF BLOCKING AND PREVENTING THIS ABUNDANCE FROM REACHING THE LOWER HEI IS CONSIDERED TO BE HER NAKEDNESS AS WELL. And THE MOTHER AND THE DAUGHTER are the upper Shechinah, NAMELY MOTHER, and the lower Shechinah, NAMELY HER DAUGHTER. DURING EXILE, THE REASON WHY THE VAV CANNOT COME BETWEEN THE UPPER AND LOWER HEI IS THAT the mixed multitude - which are the Nefilim, the Giborim, the Amalekites, the Refaim and the Anakim (WHOSE INITIALS SPELL NEGA RA, WHICH MEANS EVIL INFLICTION) - MIGHT COME FORTH AND RECEIVE THE ABUNDANCE FROM THAT VAV. THUS, the Holy One, blessed be He, WHO IS THE VAV, is not permitted to come between them. The secret of this issue LIES IN THE VERSE: "And the river shall be wasted and dried up" (Yeshayah 19:5). The abundance of the upper Hei, WHICH IS CALLED THE RIVER, shall be wasted and the lower Hei, WHICH DOES NOT RECEIVE THE ABUNDANCE, shall dry up. And ALL THIS IS for the purpose of not allowing the mixed multitude to nourish themselves from the Vav, which is the Tree of Life. Therefore, the Vav is not permitted between the UPPER Hei and the LOWER Hei at the time when the mixed multitude is between them, DURING EXILE, AT TIME OF EXILE WHEN THEY MIGHT COME AND DRAW SUSTENANCE FROM THEM.

464. Rabbi Yosi said that when Cain's descendants walked the earth, they smoothed the face of the land and resembled both the celestial angels above and the humans below. THIS IS BECAUSE CAIN DESCENDED BOTH FROM THE FILTH OF SAMAEL, WHO MATED WITH EVE AND WAS AN ANGEL, AND FROM THE SEED OF ADAM. Rabbi Yitzchak said: When Aza and Azael fell from the place of their sanctity above, they saw the daughters of men, sinned with them and begot children. These were the Nefilim, about whom it is written: "There were Nefilim on the earth..." (Beresheet 6:4).

466. Rabbi Yehuda said: Even those Nefilim, WHO ARE THE CHILDREN OF AZA, AZAEL AND NA'AMAH are called THE SONS OF ELOHIM. The words: "The same were mighty men" (Ibid.) INDICATE THAT ONLY THEY WERE THE MIGHTY MEN AND NOT THE ORIGINAL NEFILIM. There were only 60 of them by supernal reckoning, AS COMPARED WITH THE SIX DIRECTIONS - NAMELY CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN. WE CAN DRAW ANALOGY FROM THE VERSES. Here in the scripture, it is written: "The same were mighty men" and there - IN RELATION TO KING SOLOMON, WHO IS ZEIR ANPIN - it is written, "Sixty valiant men are round about it" (Shir Hashirim 3:7). JUST AS THEY ARE 60 THERE, SO HERE THEY ARE 60, YET THE FIRST ONES ARE DRAWN FROM ABOVE, FROM SIX SIDES OF ZEIR ANPIN. Rabbi Yosi continued by saying: "The same were the mighty men of old (lit. 'from the world')" and this is written precisely TO DISTINGUISH THEM FROM THE FIRST NEFILIM, AZA AND AZAEL, WHO ORIGINATED IN THE WORLD ABOVE. THE WORLD IS THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE OF ZEIR ANPIN AND THE TEXT TEACHES US THAT THOSE MIGHTY MEN WERE INTENDED TO BECOME A CHARIOT FOR THE MALE AND FEMALE PRINCIPLES, AND THUS A PART OF THE FEMALE CALLED THE WORLD. HE ASKS: To which name does the text refer when it is written: "Men of renown (lit. 'name')" (Beresheet 6:4)? This is the world we have mentioned, WHICH IS THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE. The phrase "men of name" is precise. IT TEACHES US THROUGH AN ANALOGY BY STATING THAT it is written here: "men of name" and in another place: "when he blasphemes the name" (Vayikra 24:16). It is written: "And the son of the Yisraelite woman blasphemed the name" (Ibid. 11). JUST AS NAME IMPLIES THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE IN THE PREVIOUS VERSE, SO IT IMPLIES THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE IN THIS VERSE.

467. Rabbi Chiya said that they were from a real world, BECAUSE THEY WERE INTENDED TO BE A CHARIOT OF THE FEMALE, AS RABBI YOSI HAS ALREADY SAID. And from the lower world, the Holy One, blessed be He, took them. WHEN THEY FELL TO THIS WORLD, THEY WERE REFINED AND THE REFINED PARTICLES WERE LINKED TOGETHER TO BECOME A CHARIOT OF THE FEMALE. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE ORIGINAL NEFILIM HAD NOTHING OF THIS WORLD BECAUSE THEY WERE HEAVENLY ANGELS. Thus, it was written: "Remember, Hashem, Your tender mercies and Your truth (Heb. chassadim), for they have been from of old (lit. 'from the world')" (Tehilim 25:6). They are assuredly from the world, because the Holy One, blessed be He, took them from this lower world, NAMELY HIS MERCY AND CHASSADIM, to become a supernal Chariot above. These are the early patriarchs. MERCY IS RELATED TO JACOB AND CHASSADIM TO ABRAHAM, WHO ELEVATED FROM THE LOWER WORLD TO BECOME A CHARIOT OF ZEIR ANPIN AND HIS FEMALE PRINCIPLE. HENCE THE SAYING 'IT IS THE FATHERS THAT ARE THE CHARIOT'. Similarly, "the same were mighty men from the world," AS THEY HAVE ALSO BEEN ELEVATED FROM THE LOWER WORLD TO UNITE ABOVE WITH THE CHARIOT OF ZEIR ANPIN AND HIS FEMALE. Rabbi Yitzchak said that the phrase: "From the world," IN THE PASSAGE BEFORE US, refers to King Solomon's bed, WHICH IS ALSO THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE, BUT FROM THE ASPECT OF GVURAH, as it is written: "Behold it is his litter, that of Solomon. Sixty valiant men are round about it." Rabbi Acha said that the sixty valiant men who surrounded the bed of Solomon are also called 'the sons of Elohim.'

468. Tosefta (Addendum): Our sages of blessed memory have said that when the Holy One, blessed be He, created man, he created him in the Garden of Eden and commanded him to observe seven commandments. When he sinned AT THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, and was driven out of the Garden of Eden, those two celestial angels, Aza and Azael, said to the Holy One, blessed be He, 'If it would have been us on earth, like man, we would have been virtuous.' The Holy One, blessed be He, then said to them, 'Would you be able to overcome the Evil Inclination THAT IS IN CONTROL ON EARTH?' They said, 'We can.' The Holy One, blessed be He, immediately dropped them from heaven to earth and the scripture reads: "There were Nefilim (lit. 'fallen ones') in the earth" (Beresheet 6:4) and also: "mighty men." As soon as they descended to earth, the Evil Inclination seized them, as it is written: "And they took them wives of all whom they chose" (Ibid. 2). They sinned and were deposed from their sanctity. (End of Tosefta)