212. "And Balak...saw" (Bemidbar 22:1): Rabbi Elazar said, Certainly what Rabbi Chiya said ABOUT THIS VERSE: "BALAK THE SON OF TZIPOR (LIT. 'BIRD')" is a concealed matter. However, it is written: "Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself" (Tehilim 84:4). HE ASKS: Did King David then say this about a mere PHYSICAL bird?
213. HE RESPONDS: It is only as we were taught, how beloved are the souls to the Holy One, blessed be He. If you say all the souls, it is not so. It is only the souls of the righteous whose dwellings are with Him. Their dwellings are above and their dwellings are below, as we were taught. "Even the sparrow has found a home" refers to the spirits of the righteous.
214. We were taught that there are three outer walls to the Garden of Eden. Between each one of them, many spirits and souls walk about there and derive pleasure from the fragrance enjoyed by the righteous that are inside the Garden of Eden, although they themselves did not earn the merits to enter WITHIN. However, it is written of the enjoyable pleasure of the just that are inside: "Neither has the eye seen, that Elohim, beside You" (Yeshayah 64:3).
215. There are designated days during the year, which are the days of Nissan and Tishrei, when these spirits wander and visit the place they should. Even though there are lots of occasions when they wander, these days are marked and are visible on the outer walls of the Garden, each one individually in a depiction of chirping birds, regularly each morning.
216. That chirping is praise to the Holy One, blessed be He, and a prayer about the lives of the human beings in this world, because in these days, Yisrael are involved in the precepts and commandments of the Master of the Universe. Then, these birds appear chirping happily and they chirp and whisper praises and gratitudes and pray for the living of this world on the walls at the Garden of Eden.
217. Rabbi Shimon said, Elazar, you certainly spoke well, since these spirits are definitely there. But what would you say IN THE EXPLANATION OF THE VERSE: "And the swallow (Heb. dror) a nest for herself?" He said, This is what I was taught: that refers to the holy soul, WHICH IS CALLED 'DROR,' IT BEING THE LIGHT OF BINAH, WHICH IS FREEDOM (HEB. DROR) that rises above and ascends to a hidden and concealed area, where "neither has the eye seen, that Elohim, beside You..."
218. Rabbi Shimon said, Elazar, you certainly spoke well and that is lovely. However, all this is in the lower Garden of Eden, and it is as you said, and most definitely so: "Even the sparrow has found a home" refers to the holy spirits that deserved afterwards to enter and leave, following their wanderings WITHOUT ANY PLACE TO SETTLE. They are depicted as birds and these spirits have now found a dwelling place. Each individual surely has a specified residence within.
219. In spite of all this, ALL THESE SPIRITS get burned from the canopies of their neighbors, from these that have freedom and liberty of all. And the Holy One, blessed be He, shows them one hidden chamber that is stored away, which "neither has the eye seen, that Elohim, beside You." That chamber is called 'bird's nest' and from there come crowns that are adorned for Messiah in the future to come, because on designated days, three times a year, the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to delight in these righteous and show them that chamber that is hidden and stored away. It is not recognized by all the righteous that are there.
220. "Where she may lay her young. Your altars" (Tehilim 84:4). These are the righteous, who laid their foundations with holy sons that merited the Written Torah and Oral Torah in this world. THE WRITTEN TORAH AND ORAL TORAH are considered two altars, AND THESE RIGHTEOUS get adorned before the Holy King, because the merits of their sons in this world protect them, and they get decorated there. Which spirit deserves all this? The one that lays her young to teach "Your altars," WHICH ARE THE TWO TORAHS, AS MENTIONED. From here on, speak your words, so I will appear there without shame BECAUSE OF THE MERIT OF A SON LIKE YOU WHO STUDIES BOTH TORAHS.
221. Rabbi Elazar spoke again saying, "Even the sparrow has found a home" refers to Jethro. "And the swallow (Heb. dror) a nest for herself:" That is his sons, who were in Cell of Gazith studying Torah, and decree Torah laws with their lips. "Find a home:" What is the meaning of that? HE RESPONDS: It is because they journeyed and camped in the desert at first, then traveled from the pleasures of Midian and from their sweet life there and camped in the desert. When the Holy One, blessed be He, noticed their desire for Torah, He drew them from there and gave them a place in the Cell of Gazith. "And the swallow a nest for herself" is all one and the same, because a sparrow and swallow are both one and the same bird. AND NEST (HEB. KEN) IS LIKE: "Heber the Kenite" (Shoftim 4:17), and: "And Saul said to the Kenites" (I Shmuel 15:6).