"and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress"

115. Of the star it says, "there shall come a star out of Jacob" (Bemidbar 24:17), WHICH IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN. Its grade is in the third day OF THE WORKS OF CREATION and it says of it, "And it came to pass on the third day in the morning" (Shemot 19:16), in which the Holy One, blessed be He, descended to give the Torah to Yisrael, THE TORAH BEING an only daughter, NAMELY MALCHUT, to be with it, WITH THE THIRD DAY, WHICH IS TIFERET, as Queen Shabbat. For the third day includes the three branches of the patriarchs, NAMELY THE THREE BRANCHES OF SHIN, WHICH ARE CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET, and the only daughter, WHICH IS MALCHUT, whose dominion is on Shabbat eve, becomes Shabbat in it, IN THE THIRD DAY, BECAUSE SHABBAT IS COMPOSED OF THE LETTER SHIN PLUS BAT (ENG. 'DAUGHTER'), IN WHICH SHIN ALLUDES TO THE THREE SFIROT CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET, WHICH ARE ATTACHED TO THE DAUGHTER, MALCHUT.

116. This is why the Mishnah sages disagree regarding the giving of the Torah, which is an only daughter. One said the Torah was given on the third day and another said it was given on the seventh day, since she is an only daughter attached to the Central Pillar, which is the third of the patriarchs, NAMELY TIFERET, ACCORDING TO WHICH THE TORAH WAS GIVEN ON THE THIRD DAY. AND MALCHUT is attached to the Righteous, WHO IS YESOD, NAMELY THE SIXTH DAY, and the only daughter, WHO IS MALCHUT, is seventh to him. And when she is a crown over his head, she is considered seventh with regard to him, as he, YESOD is sixth, and his planet is Jupiter (Heb. tzedek). And the only daughter, Queen Shabbat, is called righteousness (Heb. tzedek) and hence the Torah, MALCHUT, is attached between the third DAY and the seventh DAY. SOME THEREFORE SAY THAT THE TORAH WAS GIVEN ON THE THIRD DAY AND SOME SAY THE TORAH WAS GIVEN ON THE SEVENTH.

117. And she, MALCHUT, is Caf Bet of the star (Heb. kochav, Caf Bet Caf Vav). Caf Vav OF THE STAR IS THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, ACCORDING TO THE SECRET OF, "For Hashem Elohim is a sun and shield" (Tehilim 84:12). The Shechinah is Malchut of holiness, OF WHOM IT SAYS, "By you (Heb. becha, Bet Caf) shall Yisrael bless" (Beresheet 48:20), BEING CAF BET OF THE STAR. And She is the secret of the Caf Bet (22) letters of the Torah. A star includes three grades. Caf OF KOCHAV is Keter, Bet is Binah, CAF VAV OF KOCHAV, WHICH IS Yud Hei Vav Hei, includes both, and is Chochmah. The star includes everything, INCLUDING ALSO the grade of the Central Pillar, WHICH IS CAF VAV OF MERCURY THAT HAS THE SAME NUMERICAL VALUE AS YUD HEI VAV HEI. IT INCORPORATES the Shechinah, WHO IS CAF BET OF KOCHAV, AS SAID BEFORE.

118. She, THE SHECHINAH, is CALLED the moon (Heb. levanah), namely clarification (Heb. libun) of the Halachah, which is Mercy from the aspect of Chesed. She is also called the sun, clear as the sun, from the aspect of Gvurah, the face of Moses being as the face of the sun. A waning moon is a dark moon, her handmaid OF MALCHUT that is Gehenom and an evil sun. ALSO her handmaid is Saturn, which is the eclipse of the luminaries and the desecration of Shabbat. She is a handmaid that turns her back on her mistress, MALCHUT, every day and overcomes her because of the iniquities of Yisrael her children. This is the meaning of, "and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress" (Mishlei 30:23). The handmaid rules mainly on the second day, in which Gehenom WAS CREATED, and on the fourth day where the luminaries became defective. From them she came to rule every day.

119. The King's daughter, WHO IS MALCHUT, is bound by ropes. THAT IS, JUST AS THE ADHESIONS OF THE LUNG STOP THE AIR FROM THE LUNG, SO DO THE INIQUITIES OF YISRAEL STOP THE LIGHT FROM MALCHUT in prison in her exile. She is a nest to Samael among the stars, THAT IS, SAMAEL IS ATTACHED TO HER, and the Holy One, blessed be He, swears, "Though you do soar aloft like the eagle, and though you do set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you, says Hashem" (Ovadyah 1:4). And the Shechinah is CALLED Venus (Heb. nogah), AS IT IS WRITTEN, "the fire was bright (Heb. nogah)" (Yechezkel 1:13). Hence the synagogue is called 'a bright fire' IN A FOREIGN TONGUE.

120. The fire of Mars (Heb. ma'adim) IS RED SINCE MA'ADIM derives from redness (Heb. odem), ACCORDING TO THE SECRET OF, "the first row shall be a ruby (Heb. odem), a chrysolite, and a beryl" (Shemot 28:17). Venus is a white fire, and both are the face of the sun, the face of the moon. Netzach and Hod receive the whiteness from Chesed and the redness from Gvurah; Aaron and David came from there; one received Mercy and the other received Judgment. David came from the left side, AS IT IS WRITTEN, "Now he was ruddy" (I Shmuel 16:12). Aaron is a man of Chesed, and the two true prophets, NAMELY NETZACH AND HOD, are from them. The face of Moses used to shine with prophecy from Binah, which is the supernal sun, whence his prophecy came.

121. In them, Esau the wicked, the servant IS CALLED Edom, and his female IS CALLED Mars, which is bloodshed in Yisrael. She caused it to be fulfilled in the Queen, "he has made me desolate and faint (Heb. davah) all the day" (Eichah 1:13). Hod turned into Davah, since they correspond to Netzach and Hod. "I AM NOT ABLE TO RISE UP" (IBID. 14) CORRESPONDS TO NETZACH AND "FAINT ALL THE DAY" CORRESPONDS TO HOD. THEY ARE Jachin and Boaz, NETZACH BEING JACHIN AND BOAZ HOD, on both of which the house is supported, since a synagogue, WHICH CORRESPONDS TO MALCHUT, is named after them 'a bright fire,' as we said.

122. And an evil handmaid is THE ASPECT OF burial, and in it her mistress is imprisoned. THE EVIL HANDMAID is Saturn, which is cold and dry, buried in the dust, and is the death of poverty in the Torah, OF WHICH IT WAS SAID THAT A POOR MAN IS CONSIDERED AS DEAD. She is the grave of the poor man, who is covered within it with seven kinds of stories. For she includes seven planets, like HER MISTRESS Queen Shabbat includes seven SFIROT. And the seven planets from the aspect of the mistress are the seven years of plenty and those of the aspect of the handmaid are the seven years of famine, of which the prophet said, "not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Hashem" (Amos 8:11).

123. Her mistress is a garden. The handmaid is filthy refuse from the aspect of the mixed multitude. The refuse is mixed in the garden in order to grow seeds of the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. From the aspect of idolatry THE HANDMAID is called Saturn, Lilit, filthy refuse, because she is excrement mixed with different types of filth and vermin, into which dead dogs are thrown. The children of Esau and Ishmael are buried in it. She is a grave for idolatry, where the uncircumcised are buried, who are dead dogs, vermin, a bad smell and filthy, and who became foul through her, who is the adhesion attached to the mixed multitude that are mixed in Yisrael, and who is attached to the bones and flesh that are the children of Esau and Ishmael, who are a dead bone and unclean meat, meat that is torn by beasts in the field, of which it says, "you shall cast it to the dogs" (Shemot 22:30).

124. Just as there are twelve constellations from the good side so there are twelve constellations from the Evil Side. This is what is meant by, "twelve princes according to their nations" (Beresheet 25:16), since, "the Elohim has made the one as well as the other" (Kohelet 7:14). And the wicked are the forefathers of impurity, being made impure by the dead and by vermin, who causes one to be unclean by their space, their inside, their back, and even their innermost parts, by which the priest becomes unclean. This is why, "neither shall he go in to any dead body" (Vayikra 21:11), since the evil man is considered dead. And the Holy Luminary EVEN "not defile himself for his father, or for his mother" (Ibid.).