257. Rabbi Shimon said to his son Rabbi Elazar: Rise my son, and curl the arrangement of the holy beard through these Corrections (formations). Rabbi Elazar stood up and said, "Out of my distress I called upon Yah: Yah answered me with liberation...than to trust in princes" (Tehilim 118:5-9). We have learned here, IN THIS VERSE, of the nine forms that exist in this beard, IN ZEIR ANPIN. King David needed these Corrections (formations) in order to conquer the other kings and nations.

258. Come and see that as soon as he said those nine Corrections (formations), he concluded with the verse: "All nations compassed me about: but in the name of Hashem I cut them off" (Ibid. 10). He said: All these Corrections (formations) that I mentioned, what purpose do they serve me? It is because all nations compassed me about. In the arrangement of this beard are nine Corrections (formations), which are the name of Hashem, AND THROUGH THEM, I will abolish them from the world. This is what is written: "In the name of Hashem I cut them off."

259. We have learned in the hidden book that King David has mentioned here nine Corrections (formations) IN THE VERSES OF: "OUT OF MY DISTRESS..." Six are in the Holy Name, in that there are IN THESE VERSES six names, and three times man. If you say we only find "MAN" twice, IT IS NOT SO, BUT RATHER there are three, since "princes" are also included in "man." WE CONSIDER THE WORD "PRINCES" AS IF "MAN" IS SAID, SO WE HAVE "MAN" THREE TIMES, AS IS FURTHER EXPLAINED.

260. We have learned that there are six names, as it is written: 1) "Out of my distress I called upon Yah;" 2) "Yah answered me with liberation;" 3) "Hashem is on my side; I will not fear;" 4) "Hashem takes my part;" 5) "It is better to take refuge in Hashem," and 6) "It is better to take refuge in Hashem," WHICH IS IN THE SECOND VERSE. THUS WE HAVE HERE SIX NAMES. "Man" is there three times, as it is written: 1) "Hashem is on my side; I will not fear: what can a man do to me?;" 2) "It is better to take refuge in Hashem than to put confidence in man," and 3) "It is better to take refuge in Hashem than to trust in princes." PRINCES ARE MAN, AS MENTIONED ABOVE, SO WE HAVE "MAN" THREE TIMES.

261. Come and see the secret of the matter. Everywhere man is mentioned here, it is mentioned only together with the Holy Name, THAT IS TO SAY, IN THE SAME VERSE MAN IS MENTIONED, YUD HEI VAV HEI IS ALSO MENTIONED. This is as it should be, as man is only referred to with that which he deserves. What is THE NAME "MAN" deserving? It is the Holy Name YUD HEI VAV HEI, MEANING TO SAY THAT PRIOR TO THE PERFECTION OF THE HOLY NAME, YUD HEI VAV HEI, THE MOCHIN THAT ARE REFERRED TO AS "MAN" ARE NOT COATED WITH IT, as it is written: "Hashem Elohim formed man" (Beresheet 2:7), YUD HEI VAV HEI ELOHIM BEING THE SECRET OF CHOCHMAH AND BINAH, 'THE MAN,' MEANING THE MOCHIN IN THE IMAGE OF ZEIR ANPIN, THAT ARE REFERRED TO AS "MAN," THAT IS, with a full name which is Yud Hei Vav Hei Elohim, as is befitting it, THE NAME MAN. Therefore, man is mentioned only TOGETHER with the Holy Name.

262. We have learned that it is written, "Out of my distress I called upon Yah: Yah answered me with liberation;" that is twice Yud-Hei. That is for the two cheeks to which the hairs are attached. When DAVID saw that the hairs flow and hang, he commenced saying, "Hashem is on my side; I will not fear... Hashem takes my part," MEANING WITH THE COMPLETE NAME OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, with a name that is not missing in it VAV-HEI, a name that is holy. Man is mentioned with this FULL name, SINCE MOCHIN RESIDE ONLY WITH A FULL NAME, AS MENTIONED.

263. He said, "What can a man do to me?" This is ITS MEANING. We have learned that all these holy Sfirot of the King that were formed with shapes, THAT IS, THAT THE MOCHIN FLOW THROUGH THEM, are referred to as man, who is the general form including all FORMS. THE THREE FORMS - LION, OX, EAGLE - ARE COMPRISED IN THE FORM OF MAN. THAT IS THE SECRET OF MALCHUT THAT COMPRISES IN IT ALL THE THREE COLUMNS. CONSEQUENTLY, THE UNION OF THE THREE MOCHIN - CHOCHMAH, BINAH AND DA'AT, WHICH CORRESPOND TO LION, OX AND EAGLE - ARE ONLY IN THE FORM OF MAN. What emanates FROM THE MOCHIN, THAT IS, WHAT IS CONCEIVABLE TO THE LOWER BEINGS, is referred to as the Holy Name, SINCE NAME MEANS CONCEPTION. The sheath, THAT IS THE SECRET OF MALCHUT REFERRED TO AS SHEATH, and what it contains, WHICH ARE THE MOCHIN, are called Yud Hei Vav Hei and are called man. That is the whole of the sheath together with its content.

264. Those nine Corrections (formations) that David said here were in order to subdue his enemies. Whoever holds on to the beard of the King and honors him with the utmost honor, the King will oblige and do for him all that he desires from the King. HE ASKS: What is the reason THAT THERE IS A NEED TO HOLD on to the beard and not to his body? HE REPLIES: It is because the body follows the beard, SINCE ALL THE LIGHTS OF THE BODY FLOW FROM THE BEARD, BUT the beard does not follow the body. CONSEQUENTLY, WHEN YOU ARE ATTACHED TO THE BEARD YOU ARE ALSO ATTACHED TO THE BODY, BUT WHEN ONE IS ATTACHED TO THE BODY HE IS NOT YET ATTACHED TO THE BEARD.

265. There are two ways to count THE NINE CORRECTIONS (FORMATIONS) OF THE BEARD IN THE VERSES OF: "OUT OF MY DISTRESS." The first is as we already said, THAT "OUT OF MY DISTRESS I CALLED UPON YAH" IS THE FIRST AND "YAH ANSWERED ME WITH LIBERATION" IS THE FOURTH CORRECTION (FORMATION) THAT IS REFERRED TO IN OUR PRESENT ACCOUNT AS: "WHAT CAN A MAN DO TO ME?" The second IS THE ACCOUNT BEFORE US, OF WHICH "out of my distress I called upon Yah," is the first CORRECTION (FORMATION). The second is: "Yah answered me with liberation;" the third is: "Hashem is on my side; I will not fear" and the fourth is: "What can man do to me?" The fifth is: "Hashem takes my part;" the sixth is: "Therefore I shall gaze upon those who hate me;" the seventh is: "It is better to take refuge in Hashem;" the eighth is: "Than to put confidence in man," and the ninth is: "It is better to take refuge in Hashem than to trust in princes."

266. HE ASKS: THE FIRST CORRECTION (FORMATION) THAT IS REFERRED TO, "Out of my distress I called upon Yah," what does it mean? HE REPLIES: All that David said here, MEANING THE REST OF THE EIGHT CORRECTIONS (FORMATIONS) OF THE BEARD, he said about this Correction (formation) of the beard, THE FIRST ONE, "Out of my distress (lit. 'straight') I called upon Yah," that is, from the place where the beard begins to spread out, which is a narrow area above and in front of the ear openings below the hair of the head. THIS MEANS THAT AT THESE POINTS, THE HAIRS ARE SHORT AND THE AREA IS NARROW THAT POINTS OUT THE ASPECT OF JUDGMENT THAT EXISTS IN THE BEARD, WHICH IS THEREFORE REFERRED TO AS: "THE STRAIGHT." This is why he says Yud-Hei Yud-Hei twice, MEANING IN THE FIRST CORRECTION (FORMATION) AND THE SECOND, BEFORE THE BEARD STARTS TO WIDEN, SINCE YUD-HEI POINTS OUT THAT THE NAME IS DEVOID OF VAV-HEI. However, in the area where the beard spreads out, where it drops from the ears and begins to widen, MEANING IN THE THIRD CORRECTION (FORMATION), he says, "Hashem is on my side; I will not fear." THAT IS THE COMPLETE NAME - YUD HEI VAV HEI - because that is an area that is not narrow. CONSEQUENTLY, ALL THE CORRECTIONS (FORMATIONS) FOLLOW TO MITIGATE THE JUDGMENT IN THE FIRST CORRECTION (FORMATION), IN WHICH THE NAME IS NOT COMPLETE. David required all these CORRECTIONS (FORMATIONS) in order to subdue kings and nations beneath him, through the glory of this beard.