275. And just like the birds, who spread their wings against the wind so that they can fly with it, so also all the parts of the body are open at a number of sources, at a number of joints, a number of arteries, a number of compartments of the heart and a number of areas of the brain, in order to welcome THE SPIRIT WHICH IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN. Were it not to blow in the compartments of the heart, the fire that is in the heart, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE LEFT COLUMN, would burn up the whole body. THAT IS TO SAY: WERE IT NOT FOR THE CENTRAL COLUMN WHICH IS CALLED 'WIND,' UNITING THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT WITH EACH OTHER, THE JUDGMENTS OF THE LEFT SIDE, WHICH ARE THE SECRET OF THE FIRE THAT IS IN THE HEART, WOULD BURN UP THE WHOLE BODY. FOR THE ILLUMINATION OF THE LEFT WITHOUT THE RIGHT IS HARSH AND BITTER JUDGMENTS. And a number of ladders, NAMELY STEPS and compartments from the arteries of the aorta and trachea, are all constructed by it, BY THE WIND, WHICH IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN.

365. Ra'aya Meheimna (the Faithful Shepherd). The Faithful Shepherd said: Certain it is that since the limbs and the arteries of the heart, that are likened to Yisrael, are in trouble, they have to awaken in the trachea pipe, which is the secret of the Shofar, this being the windpipe connected to the lung. Since the lobes of the lung are unable to quiet the anger of the gall, which overcomes the arteries of the heart and all the arteries in the limbs of the body, that breath, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF CHASSADIM that blows in them, rises in the trachea, which is a Shofar, namely the World to Come. FOR A SHOFAR IS THE SECRET OF BINAH THAT IS CALLED 'THE WORLD TO COME.' And so it has been taught: The esophagus is like this world, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF MALCHUT, eating and drinking in it, NAMELY THE MOCHIN OF CHASSADIM AND CHOCHMAH THAT ARE TERMED EATING AND DRINKING. The trachea is likened to the World to Come, WHICH IS BINAH, for there is no eating and drinking pertain to it, FOR THOSE MOCHIN ARE NOT DISCLOSED THERE IN BINAH, BUT IN MALCHUT.

366. And after the Vav of esophagus (Heb. veshet - Vav Shin Tet) has wandered off (HEB. shat - Shin Tet), because of the great amount of eating that it robbed, it grew longer, AND THE VAV BECAME A FINAL NUN and becomes the Satan (Sin Tet Nun). Who caused that? "The people wandered about (Heb. shatu) and gathered..." (Bemidbar 11:8), 'SHATU,' CAN BE DERIVED FROM THE WORD 'SH'TUT' (ENG. 'STUPIDITY'). FOR THAT ONE brought about their stupidity in that they intermingled with the foolish mixed multitude whose craving was for food and drink and robbery and violence, "For the violence done to the poor, for the sighing of the needy" (Tehilim 12:6). They went astray with a bent Nun, for they ate without grinding it. And what is written about them? "And while the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of Hashem was inflamed against the people" (Bemidbar 11:33). For the Vav of shatu (Shin Tet Vav), wandered about, expanded AND BECAME A FINAL NUN, THUS MAKING THE SATAN. And he whose spirit is bowed down is as a BENT Nun, THAT IS TO SAY THAT THE SANCTITY HAD BECOME A BENT NUN, BUT THE OTHER SIDE A STRAIGHT FINAL NUN. And the result of this was that the Satan spread through eating and drinking and overcame all the limbs and the arteries with the 365 negative precepts, FOR ALL 365 DAYS OF THE SOLAR YEAR. And this is as the numerical value of Hasatan (the Satan), minus one, which is THE DAY OF Yom Kippur WHICH HE DOES NOT HAVE, on which there is no eating and drinking. THUS THE SATAN HAS NO CONTROL ON YOM KIPPUR, AND IS SHORT ONE DAY OF THE FULL 365.

367. AND YOM KIPPUR is like the trachea OF THE LUNG, WHICH IS BINAH AND THE WORLD TO COME, AS ABOVE. And it is Vav, the son (Heb. ben) of Yud Hei. And in respect thereof, the sages of the Mishnah taught: "He who sees a reed (Heb. kaneh) in a dream, attains wisdom, for it says "Get (Heb. k'neh) wisdom, get understanding" (Mishlei 4:5). For there is no kaneh that is less than both, namely, Yud Chochmah, Hei Binah, FOR THERE IS NO BINAH WITHOUT CHOCHMAH AND NO CHOCHMAH WITHOUT BINAH. And this is why they should awaken the Shofar, for it is a trachea, AS ABOVE, which is the World to Come, a long world, THAT RECEIVES FROM ARICH (ENG. 'LONG') ANPIN, from whom come the thirteen attributes of Mercy, which are in numerical value Vav-Aleph-Vav, of which the Aleph is THE SECRET OF Erech (Eng. 'long'), and the two Vavs are THE SECRET OF Apayim (Eng. 'suffering,' lit. 'two noses').

405. And that wind that blows in the wings of the lung, carries the voice out through the trachea (Heb. kaneh), which is "Get (Heb. k'neh) wisdom, get understanding" (Mishlei 4:5). FOR THE VOICE, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, NAMELY VAV, IS THE SON OF YUD HEI, WHICH ARE CHOCHMAH AND BINAH. And about this it is said: "Thus says Adonai Elohim; Come from the four winds, O breath (Heb. ruach)" (Yechezkel 37:9). And the four are the four letters Yud Hei Vav Hei OF ZEIR ANPIN. And this is the wind that beats and palpitates in all the arteries of the heart, about which it is said: "Wherever the spirit (Heb. ruach) was minded to go, they went" (Yechezkel 1:12).

430. And in the trachea there are six cartilage rings, about which it is said: "Ascribe to Hashem, O you mighty" (Tehilim 29:1), for ascending through them is the voice that subdivides into the six voices of the Shechinah, while the seventh ascends to the mouth, which is the Throne. And the six cartilage rings of the trachea are like the six steps of the King's Throne, WHICH IS THE MOUTH, and the trachea is a ladder with "the angels of Elohim ascending and descending on it" (Beresheet 28:12), FOR THE ANGELS OF ELOHIM are the vapors that ascend from the heart, while the spirits of air descend into the heart to cool its heat, so that it should not burn the body up.

433. The trachea (Heb. kaneh) is "Get (Heb. k'neh) wisdom, get understanding (Heb. Binah)" (Mishlei 4:5), for they are to the right OF THE TRACHEA, which is Chesed, THIS BEING THE SECRET OF "GET WISDOM," and to the left OF THE TRACHEA, which is Gvurah, THIS BEING THE SECRET OF "GET UNDERSTANDING." Tiferet is in the middle OF THE TRACHEA, and is a ladder AND THE SECRET OF DA'AT. And the body has SIX EXTREMITIES, NAMELY: The two arms WHICH ARE CHESED AND GVURAH, the torso and the member of covenant WHICH ARE TIFERET AND YESOD, and the two legs WHICH ARE NETZACH AND HOD. AND THE SIX EXTREMITIES OF THE BODY parallel the six cartilage rings of the trachea.

435. The six cartilage rings of the trachea are joined together, and they are called "O you mighty (Heb. elim)" (Tehilim 29:1). And they give forth a wind to blow over the world, and they come from the side of Gvurah, and when they join together they are like a Shofar, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF BINAH, and they are called 'Shofar,' which is the secret of the Shofar (lit. 'horn') of Isaac's ram (Heb. ayil). AND THEY ARE "the rams (Heb. eilim) of the breed of Bashan" (Devarim 32:14), as it is written: "Ascribe to Hashem, O you mighty (elim)" (Tehilim 29:1), for they are the elim of Isaac that bring forth breath and voice. And that voice goes out and meets with rain clouds and is heard by people outside. It is thus written: "but the thunder of His mighty deeds who can understand?" (Iyov 26:14), for they certainly come from the side of Gvurah. And for this reason: "the El of glory makes to thunder, Hashem is upon many waters" (Tehilim 29:3). It is not written: "The El of glory thunders" but "The El of glory makes to thunder," THE MEANING OF WHICH IS THAT HE ACTIVATES OTHERS TO DO THE THUNDERING, namely through the mighty. And there is none that recognizes the praise of this voice, which is why it is written, "who can understand?"

436. Ra'aya Meheimna (the Faithful Shepherd). And in the first section, the Faithful Shepherd started by saying, Woe to those people whose hearts are closed and whose eyes are unseeing, who do not know the parts of their own body, according to what they are arranged. For the trachea is composed of three forces: a) Vapor; (Heb. hevel, Hei-Bet-Lamed) which is a flame; (Heb. lahav, Lamed-Hei-Bet) a flaming fire that issues from the heart and which is divided into seven vapors or vanities as mentioned by Kohelet; b) Air, which enters it from outside; c) Water of the wings of the lung, which are attached to the trachea. And from these three, that is from water, wind, and fire, is voice made, and each one is subdivided into seven, and they are seven flames, seven airs, and seven brooks.

437. And when the flames of the heart meet with the rain clouds, which are the wings of the lung, by way of the trachea of the lung, the result is: "but the thunder of His mighty deeds who can understand?" For therein the heart understands with Binah, which is in the heart on the left, which is Gvurah. And Chesed is to the right, which is the water of the wings of the lung, and Chochmah, which is brain, is there. THAT IS TO SAY THAT CHESED AND GVURAH ASCEND AND BECOME CHOCHMAH AND BINAH. And from it comes "a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon" (Shir Hashirim 4:15), which is the whiteness (Heb. lavnunit) of the brain that flows through the trachea of the lung, after the clouds of Binah have ascended to the brain.

438. And the secret of the matter is in the verse: "Who is this coming out of the wilderness like columns of smoke...?" (Shir Hashirim 3:6), for this is the smoke of the arrangement on the altar that rises from the heart to the brain, which cannot be moved from its place by all the winds in the world. THE LETTERS OF THE WORD Chochmah (Chet Caf Mem Hei) form the two words Koach (Caf Chet) and Mah (MEM HEI), BECAUSE IT IS Koach (Eng. 'strength') in the heart and Mah (Eng. 'what') in the brain. The trachea is Tiferet and incorporates six Sfirot: CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD, which are the six steps to the Throne, which is Ima, so that Chochmah will descend to it from the brain to the heart, for with it the heart understands. For this reason IT IS WRITTEN: "Get (Heb. k'neh) wisdom (Heb. Chochmah), get understanding (Heb. Binah)," for Aba, WHICH IS CHOCHMAH, descends in it, and Aba ascends in it. And this is a ladder on which two ascend and two descend, FOR ABA AND IMA ARE INCORPORATED IN EACH OTHER AND DESCEND FROM THE BRAIN TO THE HEART, AND ASCEND FROM THE HEART TO THE BRAIN. End of Ra'aya Meheimna (the Faithful Shepherd).

636. And the sixth THING TO OBSERVE is that he should not be a voracious glutton at the King's table, as was Esau, who said: "Give me to swallow" (Beresheet 25:30), by gulping it down, but by way of mastication, GRINDING THE FOOD WITH HIS TEETH. So, too, one who produces words of prayer or words of Torah from his mouth, should bring them out, chewed over, and complete; NAMELY, HE SHOULD CONSIDER THEM AND GO OVER THEM, AS THOUGH CHEWING THEM OVER, and not in a gulping fashion, imperfectly. And furthermore, because of the danger that the food might enter his trachea instead of his esophagus, HE MUST EAT BY WAY OF MASTICATING AND NOT GULPING.