Aza and Azael

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).

465. Rabbi Chiya said that the descendants of Cain were the sons of Elohim, because when Samael injected his filth into Eve, she conceived and gave birth to Cain. Consequently, his appearance was not similar to that of the rest of humanity FOR HE WAS CONCEIVED THROUGH AN ANGEL. All those who descended from Cain were called the sons of Elohim, BECAUSE THEIR APPEARANCE WAS THAT OF ANGELS CALLED 'ELOHIM.'

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)

469. Come and behold: All the plants, WHICH ARE THE SFIROT OF ZEIR ANPIN AND HIS FEMALE PRINCIPLE, were concealed and impressed with faint marks upon one place, THE PLACE OF MALCHUT. The Holy One, blessed be He, uprooted them from that place and sent them elsewhere, NAMELY TO BINAH, where they flourished AND GAINED THEIR MOCHIN.