159. IN THE VERSE: "And Elohim said, 'Let Us make man'" (Beresheet 1:26), THERE LIES A SECRET AS DESCRIBED IN THE VERSE: "The secret of Hashem is with them that fear Him" (Tehilim 25:14). The most venerated old man opened the discussion saying, Shimon, Shimon, who is he who said, "Let Us make man" and OF WHOM IT IS WRITTEN: "And Elohim said," Who is this NAME OF Elohim? In the meantime, that most respected of old man flew away and he could not see him. When Rabbi Shimon heard that he called him Shimon and not Rabbi Shimon, he said to his friends: This is indeed the Holy One, blessed be He, of whom it is said "and an ancient of days (Aramaic Atik Yomin) did sit" (Daniel 7:9). Now is the time to reveal this secret, which was previously forbidden to be revealed. However, permission has now been granted to reveal it. THE QUESTION IS, WHO SAID, LET US MAKE MAN? WAS IT ELOHIM OF BINAH OR ELOHIM OF MALCHUT?

160. RABBI SHIMON started by saying: This is like a king who had many buildings to build and he had a craftsman. That craftsman (Heb. uman) did not do anything without the permission of the king, as it is written: "Then I was by Him, as a nursling (Heb. amon)" (Mishlei 8:30). The king is most certainly the supernal wisdom above, WHICH IS ABA, and the central pillar is the king down below, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN. Elohim, the craftsman above, is the supernal Ima and Elohim, the craftsman below, is the Shechinah below.

161. A wife is not permitted to do anything without the permission of her husband. Of all the buildings that were in the way of Atzilut - THAT IS, IN THE WORLD OF ATZILUT - Aba would say to Ima, Let it be so and so. And it was immediately done BY IMA. It is written: "And Elohim said, 'Let there be light;' and there was light." "And...said" alludes to the owner of the building, ABA, who said to Elohim, "Let there be light." So ABA uttered the words and the craftsman, IMA, completed the task immediately. And this was the same in every edifice - NAMELY THE GRADES, THAT CAME INTO BEING by way of Atzilut - where ABA would say, "Let there be a firmament," or "Let there be luminaries," and IMA would complete everything in an instant.

162. When He reached THE GRADES OF the world of separation, which is the world of those divided - THAT IS, TO CREATE THE SOUL OF MAN IN THE WORLD OF BRIYAH - the craftsman then said to the owner of the building, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." (Beresheet 1:26) THIS MEANS DIFFERENT FROM THE WHOLE WORK OF CREATION UNTIL THE CREATION OF MAN, WHEN THE OWNER OF THE BUILDING UTTERED THESE WORDS. HERE THE CRAFTSMAN UTTERED THE WORDS. The owner of the building said, It is indeed good that man is made, but he shall sin before you, because he is foolish, as it is written: "A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother" (Mishlei 10:1). THIS MEANS THAT ABA ANNOUNCED THAT THE SIN OF MAN WOULD NOT AFFECT HIM. IT WOULD AFFECT ONLY IMA, FOR "A FOOLISH SON IS THE GRIEF OF HIS MOTHER."

163. IMA said: Because his sins are related to Ima and not Aba, I wish to create him in my own image, as it is written: "So Elohim created man in His own image' (Beresheet 1:27). NOTE THAT IT IS NOT WRITTEN: 'IN OUR OWN IMAGE," because she did not want Aba to have any share IN HIS CREATION.

164. When ADAM sinned, it was written: "And for your transgressions was your mother put away" (Yeshayah 50:1). The King, WHO IS ABA, said to Ima: Did I not tell you that he was going to sin? WHY DID YOU CREATE HIM? In that instance, he exiled him and his Mother. Therefore, it is written: "A wise son makes a glad father: but a foolish son is the grief of his mother." "A wise son" alludes to man in THE WORLD OF Atzilut, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN, and "a foolish son" alludes to man in THE WORLD OF Briyah, NAMELY ADAM, WHOSE SOUL COMES FROM THE WORLD OF BRIYAH.

165. All the friends rose and said TO RABBI SHIMON IN ASTONISHMENT, Rabbi, Rabbi, could there be such separation between Aba and Ima, so much so that what EMANATED from the aspect of Aba shall be formed in the way of MAN OF Atzilut and that which emanated from the aspect of Ima shall be FORMED IN THE WAY OF MAN of Briyah? ARE NOT ABA AND IMA BOTH OF THE GRADE OF BINAH OF ATZILUT? RABBI SHIMON said to them, Friends, friends, this is not so, because man of Atzilut is male and female, MALE from the side of Aba and FEMALE from Ima. This is why IT IS SAID, "And Elohim said, 'Let there be light;' and there was light." "Let there be light" is from the aspect of Aba and "and there was light" is from the aspect of Ima. So man was CREATED double - faced.

166. But that MAN OF BRIYAH has neither the image nor likeness OF ABA AND IMA. The supernal mother had one appellation, "light and darkness" that adds to eighty-six, which is the numerical value of Elohim. So this appellation, NAMELY, WITHIN THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE, combines light and darkness. Because of the darkness in that appellation, Aba said that man of Briyah is destined to sin. Because he, MAN OF BRIYAH, represents the light of the supernal garment - THAT IS, THE LIGHT OF THIS MAN IS A SUPERIOR GARMENT, BEING THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE - AND BECAUSE SHE COMBINES LIGHT AND DARKNESS, HE WAS DESTINED TO SIN.

167. That light, WHICH MAN RECEIVES FROM THE UPPER GARMENT, is the light that the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day OF CREATION. ADAM WAS ABLE TO SEE WITH IT FROM ONE END OF THE UNIVERSE TO THE OTHER; BUT LATER HE concealed it for the righteous alone. ABOUT THIS LIGHT, IT IS WRITTEN: "LET THERE BE LIGHT." That darkness, WHICH DISAPPEARED WITHIN THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE, was created on the first day for the wicked. ABOUT THIS DARKNESS, it is written: "And the wicked shall be silent in darkness" (I Shmuel 2:9). On account of that darkness, which was destined to cause that light IN THE SOUL OF MAN to sin, Aba did not wish to partake in his creation. THIS IS A REFERENCE TO THE TIME WHEN IMA SAID TO HIM, "LET US MAKE MAN." Therefore, IMA said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." The words "in our image" MEAN in that light OF OURS; "after our likeness" MEANS in that darkness OF OURS, which is a garment for the light. THIS DARKNESS IS DIFFERENT FROM THE DARKNESS THAT WAS CREATED ON THE FIRST DAY OF CREATION, ABOUT WHICH IS WRITTEN: "AND THE WICKED SHALL BE SILENT IN DARKNESS," SINCE THIS DARKNESS IS NOT A GARMENT FOR THE LIGHT. INSTEAD, IT CAUSED ADAM TO SIN. BUT THE DARKNESS OF IMA IS A GARMENT FOR THE LIGHT, just as the body is a garment for the soul, as it is written: "You have clothed me with skin and flesh" (Iyov 10:11). They all rejoiced and said: How happy is our lot that we had the privilege to hear words that were not to be heard until now. SO THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WHO SAID, "LET US MAKE MAN" IS IMA, WHO SAID TO ABA, "LET US MAKE MAN." ELSEWHERE IN THE WORKS OF CREATION, EVERY PHRASE: "AND...SAID" APPLIES TO ABA.