66. "And Elohim said, 'Let the waters...be gathered'" (Beresheet 1:9). THE WORDS "BE GATHERED (HEB. YIKAVU)" MEAN THAT THE MOCHIN CALLED THE WATERS will travel in a straight line (Heb. kav) on one level, WITHOUT SPREADING TO THE RIGHT OR LEFT. Everything flows mysteriously from the secret of that primal point, WHICH IS ARICH ANPIN, until THE LIGHT reaches and is gathered in the supernal chamber. From there IT THEN flows in a straight line to the other grades, NAMELY TO ZEIR ANPIN, until it reaches that one place where everything is gathered ACCORDING TO THE SECRET OF male and female. HE ASKS: And what is that place? HE REPLIED: THIS IS the life of the worlds - NAMELY YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, WHICH IS THE MALE WHO IS UNITED WITH MALCHUT, WHICH IS THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE. THUS, IT COMPRISES MALE AND FEMALE TOGETHER.
67. The waters MENTIONED IN THE VERSE flow from above, from the upper Hei OF THE YUD HEI VAV HEI, WHICH IS YISRAEL-SABA AND TEVUNAH. THE WORDS "under the heaven" ALLUDE TO small Vav, WHICH IS YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN. ZEIR ANPIN IS CALLED GREAT VAV, WHILE HIS YESOD IS CALLED SMALL VAV. Therefore, WHEN the letter Vav IS PRONOUNCED, TWO VAV'S ARE HEARD. The first one is heaven, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN, and the second one is under the heaven, NAMELY YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN. AFTER THE MOCHIN ARE DRAWN FROM THE UPPER HEI - WHICH IS BINAH - DOWN UNDER THE HEAVEN - WHICH IS YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN - IT IS WRITTEN: "And let the dry land appear" (Ibid.). This is the lower Hei - NAMELY MALCHUT, THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE OF ZEIR ANPIN - BECAUSE ONLY SHE WAS REVEALED AS DRY LAND, WHILE ALL THE OTHER GRADES WERE HIDDEN. From within that last GRADE, REFERRING TO THE LOWER HEI, MALCHUT, THAT LIGHT that was concealed was heard AND REVEALED.
68. The phrase "to one place" IS CALLED YESOD BECAUSE there is a connection to the union of the upper world through YESOD. THE VERSE: "Hashem shall be one, and His Name One" (Zecharyah 14:9) hints at two unions. One is the upper world that is unified in its own grades, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF: "HASHEM IS ONE" and THE SECOND is the lower world that is unified in its own grades, ACCORDING TO THE SECRET: "AND HIS NAME ONE." The unification of the upper world BY THE SECRET OF "HASHEM IS ONE" is up TO YESOD. The life of the worlds, WHICH IS YESOD, is sweetened IN BINAH, and the upper world is connected to its unification. Because of this, it is called: "to one place," as all the grades and all the parts, gather there. And they become as one in it, without any separation at all. No grade unites there wholly save this grade, in which all the lights are mysteriously covered in one desire. Up to this point, REFERRING TO THE WORDS: "AND LET THE DRY LAND APPEAR," the revealed world - WHICH IS THE SECRET OF RACHEL - is unified with the concealed world - WHICH IS LEAH.
69. The revealed world, WHICH IS RACHEL, THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE OF ZEIR ANPIN THAT IS LOCATED FROM HIS CHEST DOWNWARD, is similarly unified below. The revealed world is the lower world, AS CAN BE PROVEN BY READING THE SCRIPTURES, WHERE IT IS DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF SEEING: "I saw Hashem" (Yeshayah 6:1), "and they saw the Elohim of Yisrael" (Shemot 24:10), "and the glory of Hashem appeared (Bemidbar 14:10) and "As the appearance of the rainbow...so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Hashem" (Yechezkel 1:28). AND IT IS KNOWN THAT THE LOWER FEMALE PRINCIPLE, WHICH IS CALLED RACHEL, IS DESCRIBED BY THE WORDS: "GLORY OF HASHEM" AND BY THE PARTICLE ET (THE). This is the secret of the verse: "Let the dry land appear (lit. 'be seen')," BECAUSE "SEEING" APPLIES ONLY TO THE REVEALED WORLD AND NOT TO THE UPPER WORLD.
70. THE VERSE: "As the appearance of the rainbow," WHICH IS WRITTEN ABOUT THE DIVINE CHARIOT OF YECHEZKEL, alludes to the life of the worlds, NAMELY YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN. Therefore, it is WRITTEN IN THE PORTION OF NOAH: "I have set My rainbow in the cloud" (Beresheet 9:13), WHICH ALSO ALLUDES TO YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, WHO IS CALLED THE LIFE OF THE WORLDS. THE PHRASE "IN THE CLOUD" refers to Malchut; NAMELY, THE LOWER FEMALE PRINCIPLE OF ZEIR ANPIN, THE REVEALED WORLD OF RACHEL. THE WORDS "I have set" MEAN THAT HE HAS SET HIS RAINBOW IN THE CLOUD ever since the day of Creation. That cloudy day, WHICH IS DESCRIBED IN THE VERSE: "AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, WHEN I BRING A CLOUD" (IBID. 14) INDICATES THAT ONLY THEN shall the rainbow be seen ACCORDING TO THE SECRET OF "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Hashem," AND NOT AT ANY OTHER TIME. WHY IS THIS SO? As the left is aroused, Rachel emerges TO HER OWN ASPECT "and she had hard labor" (Beresheet 35:16). THEREFORE IT IS SAID THAT THREE ANGELS STAY BY HER SIDE: Michael at one side, THE RIGHT SIDE; Raphael at one side, IN THE MIDDLE; and Gabriel at one side, THE LEFT SIDE. AND FROM THEM SHE RECEIVES HER STRENGTH TO GIVE BIRTH. These three ASPECTS are the colors seen in the form OF THE RAINBOW: white, red and green.
71. THE PHRASE "so was the appearance of the brightness round about" ALLUDES TO the illumination that was concealed AND HAS DISAPPEARED within the pupil of the eye. SO THE PHRASE: "This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Hashem" APPLIES TO the colors IN THE "APPEARANCE OF THE RAINBOW" AND NOT TO "THE APPEARANCE OF THE BRIGHTNESS." THIS IS BECAUSE the lower union OF THE THREE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW corresponds with the upper union.
72. THE THREE NAMES "Hashem our Elohim; Hashem," WHICH APPEAR IN THE VERSE: "HEAR, O YISRAEL" (DEVARIM 6:4) ALLUDE TO THE THREE colors, WHITE, RED, AND GREEN WHEN they are concealed, invisible, and attached to one place. THIS IS THE SECRET OF the first union in the upper WORLD THAT IS CALLED ONE PLACE. AND the colors united in the rainbow below - which are white, red and green - correspond to the THREE concealed colors OF THE UPPER UNION: HASHEM OUR ELOHIM HASHEM. These COLORS OF THE RAINBOW belong to another union, WHICH IS the secret of: "And his Name One," THE LOWER UNION. IT IS THE SECRET OF THE VERSE: 'Blessed be the Name of the glory of His Kingdom for ever and ever (Heb. baruch shem kevod...),' THAT WE RESPOND AFTER "HEAR, O YISRAEL," WHICH IS the lower union. The upper union indicated by the verse: "Hear, O Yisrael, Hashem our Elohim; Hashem is One" corresponds TO THE LOWER UNION: 'BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE GLORY OF HIS KINGDOM FOR EVER AND EVER.' Each verse contains six words.
73. THE WORDS "be gathered" SUGGEST measurement by the line and the measuring; measuring is from the hard spark THAT IS IN BINAH, as it is written: "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand" (Yeshayah 40:12). IN THIS VERSE, "WHO" ALLUDES TO BINAH. This is WHAT IS MEANT BY: "Let the waters...be gathered." Here IN THE VERSE: "LET THE WATERS...BE GATHERED" is the extent OF THE ENTIRE MOCHIN of He who forms the worlds, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN, AND WHICH IS HINTED AT IN THE NAME YUD HEI VAV HEI, FULLY SPELLED WITH ALEPH'S, as Yud-Vav-Dalet, Hei-Aleph, Vav-Aleph-Vav, Hei-Aleph.
74. "Holy, holy, holy" (Yeshayah 6:3) is THE SECRET OF THE MOCHIN OF BINAH, WHICH IS ALSO THE SECRET OF THE VERSE: "Let the waters...be gathered." THE PHRASE "Hashem Tzva'ot" (Ibid.) is THE SECRET OF THE VERSE: "to one place," YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN THAT IS CALLED THE LIFE OF THE WORLDS, TO WHICH THE MOCHIN FROM BINAH FLOW ACCORDING TO THE SECRET OF THE PHRASE: "TO ONE PLACE." THE PHRASE: "The whole earth is full of his glory" (Ibid.) is THE SECRET OF THE VERSE: "and let the dry land appear." THIS VERSE IS THE SECRET OF THE LOWER HEI, CALLED THE REVEALED WORLD WHEN COMPRISED WITHIN THE UNION OF THE UPPER WORLD. THE WORDS "AND LET THE DRY LAND APPEAR" are the secret of the engraved name of the union of Caf -Vav-Zayin-Vav, Bet-Mem-Vav-Caf-Samech-Zayin and Caf-Vav-Zayin-Vav, BECAUSE THE DRY LAND - WHICH IS THE REVEALED WORLD - IS INCLUDED IN THE UNION OF THE SUPERNAL WORLD - WHICH IS THE SECRET OF "HASHEM OUR ELOHIM; HASHEM."