366. "Male and female He created them" (Beresheet 1:28). Rabbi Shimon said that supernal secrets have been revealed by the two verses, "THIS IS THE BOOK" AND "male and female He created them." THE LATTER VERSE COMES to teach US the supernal glory of the secret of Faith, by which secret man was created. THIS IS THE SECRET OF SUPERNAL ZEIR ANPIN AND THE NUKVA CALLED 'HEAVEN AND EARTH.'

367. Come and see: in the same concealed manner in which heaven and earth were created, SIGNIFYING THE SUPERNAL MALE AND FEMALE, so man was created. Of the heaven and the earth it is written: "These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth" (Beresheet 2:4); of man, "This is the book of the generations of Adam;" of THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, "when they were created;" and of Adam, "in the day when they were created" (Beresheet 5:2). THE TWO ARE EQUAL AS THEY WERE CREATED BY THE SAME PRINCIPLE.

368. From the words "male and female He created them" we learn that any figure not comprised of both male and female is not a supernal figure. We have explained this with the secrets of Mishnah.

369. Come and behold: the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot reside in a place where there are no male and female together. Blessings can be found only in a place where male and female are together. As it is written: "And He blessed them and called their name man (Heb. Adam), on the day when they were created" (Ibid.). It was not said that He blessed him and called him man. THIS TEACHES US that he was not even called BY THE NAME OF man, except as a male and female combined.

370. Rabbi Yehuda said that ever since the destruction of the Temple, there are no blessings on earth and they are lost every day. As it is written: "The righteous perishes" (Yeshayah 57:1). What is the meaning of "perishes?" It means the blessings that used to dwell in the righteous perished, as in the words, "Blessings are on the head of the righteous" (Mishlei 10:6), and, "Truth has perished" (Yirmeyah 7:28), MEANING THE NUKVA, WHICH RECEIVES BLESSINGS FROM YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, THE RIGHTEOUS, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE MALE. Similarly, AT THE TIME OF PERFECTION, it is written: "And Elohim blessed them AND CALLED THEIR NAME ADAM," BECAUSE THEY WERE WHOLE.

371. It is to Seth that all the generations of earth and all the truly righteous of the world trace their descent. Rabbi Yosi said that those two final letters of the Torah, SHIN AND TAV, were left intact even after Adam had transgressed against all the letters of the Torah, BECAUSE THE SIN OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE AFFECTED THE WHOLE TORAH. And when he repented before his Master, he cleaved to those two LETTERS, SHIN AND TAV, WHICH HAD REMAINED WHOLE, and, at that point, the original letters returned in the reverse order of Tav, Shin, Resh, Kof, and so on.

372. He then called the son he begot in his own likeness, after his image, Seth, a name composed of the last two letters of the alpha bet and the only two letters with which he was left. The order of the letters was not fully constructed, THAT IS, PROPERLY ORDERED, until Yisrael stood at Mount Sinai. Then the letters returned to their proper order - the order they had when heaven and earth were created - THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY APPEARED PRIOR TO THE SIN OF EATING OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE Then, the world was appeased and more securely established.

373. Rabbi Aba said that on the day that Adam transgressed his Master's command, heaven and earth wanted to be uprooted from their places. Why? Because they are based only on the covenant, as it is written: "If My covenant be not day and night, it were as if I had not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth" (Yirmeyah 33:25). Adam broke the covenant, as it is written: "But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant" (Hoshea 6:7). HENCE, THEY LOST THEIR FOUNDATION AND ASKED TO BE UPROOTED.

374. Were it not for the fact that it was clear to the Holy One, blessed be He, that Yisrael would stand at Mount Sinai to keep the covenant, the world would not have survived THE SIN OF EATING OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. Rabbi Chizkiyah said that the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives and pardons the iniquities of he who confesses his sins. HENCE, CONTRARY TO WHAT RABBI ABA SAID, IT IS BECAUSE ADAM CONFESSED HIS SINS AND REPENTED THAT THE WORLD SURVIVED AND HE DOES NOT WANT TO SAY THAT THE REASON IS, THAT IT WAS CLEAR TO THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, THAT YISRAEL WOULD STAND AT MOUNT SINAI.

375. Come and behold: When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE NUKVA, He made the covenant, WHICH IS YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN. He established the world upon it, AS THE NUKVA RECEIVES HER SUSTENANCE FROM ZEIR ANPIN. From where do we know that? From the word 'BERESHEET,' WHICH IS A COMBINATION OF bara (created) and sheet (six). SHEET IS the covenant upon which the world rests. This sheet, WHICH STANDS FOR YESOD, is the place from where all blessings are drawn into the world, and by it the world was created. Adam, BY HIS SIN OF EATING OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, broke that covenant and removed it from its place. HENCE, HEAVEN AND EARTH ASKED TO BE UPROOTED.