230. We have learned that one day the friends were walking with Rabbi Shimon. Rabbi Shimon said, I see all nations are higher above and Yisrael are below all. Why? It is because the King has dismissed the Queen from Him, and invited a maid in her stead, as the verse says, "For three things the earth is disquieted...for a slave when he becomes king...and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress" (Mishlei 30:21-23). Who is this handmaid? She is the foreign kingdom OF THE OTHER SIDE, whose firstborn Hashem smote in Egypt, as it is written, "Even to the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill" (Shemot 11:5). At first, she used to sit behind the millstone, but now she is "a handmaid that is heir to her mistress." INSTEAD OF EXTENDING HER ABUNDANCE TO HOLY MALCHUT, THIS MAID OF THE OTHER SIDE TAKES ALL THE ABUNDANCE AND EXTENDS IT TO THE NATIONS THAT ARE FROM HER SIDE.

231. Rabbi Shimon wept and said: A king without a queen is not considered a king, so a king who clings to a maid who is the servant of the queen, where is his honor? A voice will inform the Queen saying, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold your king comes to you: he is just and victorious" (Zecharyah 9:9). The Righteous, YESOD, is victorious, because until now he rode in a place that is not his, in a strange place, NAMELY THE MAID, and nurtured it. NOW THE QUEEN RETURNS TO HIM.

232. About this, it is written, "Humble, and riding upon an donkey" (Ibid.), as he was poor at first "and riding upon an donkey." As we have established, it refers to the lower crowns of the idolatrous nations, the firstborn of which Hashem killed in Egypt, AS THEY ARE CONSIDERED "AN DONKEY." This is the meaning of, "And all the firstborn of cattle" (Shemot 11:5). We have established this matter so to speak with "just and victorious" MEANING that he is more VICTORIOUS than anyone. Until now, the Righteous, NAMELY YESOD, resided without righteousness, DENOTING MALCHUT. Now that THE RIGHTEOUS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS are joined, he is "just and victorious," because he NO LONGER dwells in the Other Side. We have learned that "the righteous perishes (lit. 'is lost'), and no man lays it to heart" (Yeshayah 57:1). This verse is complicated. IT READS "lost" when it should be written 'is lost.' So what is the meaning of "lost?" HE ANSWERS: He really lost. What did he lose? The Queen - and he joined another place called maid.

233. Rabbi Yitzchak said to Rabbi Shimon: If it pleases my master, we have learned "but the righteous is an everlasting foundation" (Mishlei 10:25). Some explain that the world rests upon seven pillars, but some say the world rests on one pillar, NAMELY YESOD, AS THE VERSE SAYS, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS ARE AN EVERLASTING FOUNDATION." How do we reconcile these words SO THAT THEY DON'T CONFLICT? He answered: They all pertain to the same idea. There are seven - THE SEVEN SFIROT, CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD, YESOD AND MALCHUT - and among them, there is one pillar called Righteous, WHO IS YESOD. THE SEVEN rest upon it and the world is sustained upon it. As it rests upon it, it is as if it rests upon all the seven, SINCE YESOD CONSISTS OF SEVEN SFIROT - CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD, YESOD AND MALCHUT. Therefore, it is written, "But the righteous is an everlasting foundation (Heb. Yesod)" and we have several times established these matters.

234. We have learned that this maid would eventually rule the Holy Land below, just as the Queen ruled at first, as it says, "Righteousness lodged in it" (Yeshayah 1:21), REFERRING TO MALCHUT CALLED RIGHTEOUSNESS, but now "a handmaid that is heir to her mistress" in every respect, BOTH ABOVE AND BELOW. However, the Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future return the Queen to her original position and then whose joy will it be? One says: The joy of the King and Queen. It is the joy of the King for returning to her and casting off the maid as we said. It is the joy of the Queen, because she has returned to join the King. This is the essence of, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion."

235. Come and see that it is written, "And this (Heb. zot fem.) shall be an everlasting statute to you" (Vayikra 16:34). HE QUESTIONS: It should read, 'It shall be...to you.' Wherefore the word zot? HE ANSWERS: THE EXPLANATION OF THE VERSE IS as we said. It is an everlasting statute, WHICH IS MALCHUT, which is always referred to as "an everlasting statute," WHICH MEANS the decree of the King, as He placed all His laws in this place, MALCHUT, and sealed them as one seals everything in a storehouse. IT IS assuredly "an everlasting statute." In this "zot" DENOTING MALCHUT, He marks and engraves all His storehouses and hidden things.