Rabbi Chiya went to visit Rabbi Elazar

297. "After these things..." On his way to visit Rabbi Elazar, Rabbi Chiya met Rabbi Chagai. He said to him, This route, which is set before you, Sir, where does it lead to? He answered, IT LEADS to my visiting Rabbi Elazar. He said to him, I shall go along with you. He said, If you will be able to understand the wisdom and the reason behind what you will hear, then come along. But if not, then turn back! He said to him, Sir, do not worry about this, because I have heard many secrets of Torah, and I was able to understand them.

298. Rabbi Chagai opened the discussion, saying, This is the meaning of 'My offering, the provision of my sacrifices made by fire...'" (Bemidbar 28:2). "My offering" refers to an offering of flesh, which is given for atonement: blood OF THE SACRIFICE for the blood OF MAN; flesh OF THE SACRIFICE for the flesh OF MAN. All sacrifices are offered only for the flesh, THAT IS, to atone for the flesh.

299. And I heard thus, if a man sinned, what is the sin of the animal, that the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "If any man of you bring an offering to Hashem, of the cattle..." (Vayikra 1:2)? AND HE REPLIES, The Holy One, blessed be He, formed the spirit of men and the spirit of animals, and then separated them from each other. Therefore, "the spirit of man goes upwards, and the spirit of the beast goes downwards," (Kohelet 3:21) so they are definitely separated from each other!

300. Before Adam sinned, it is written, "And Elohim said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed..." (Beresheet 1:29) and "to you it shall be for food" and no more THAN THIS. THEREFORE, HE WAS NOT PERMITTED TO EAT ANIMALS. But since he had sinned and the Evil Inclination was absorbed to his body and to all of his offspring, He passed His judgment over them; IN OTHER WORDS, HE BROUGHT THE GREAT FLOOD UPON THEM.

301. Later, Noah came and saw that the body is built by the Evil Inclination, so he offered a sacrifice as Adam did. And it is written, "And Hashem smelled a sweet savor...for the impulse of man's heart is evil from his youth." (Beresheet 8:21). The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'From here onward, because the body is already absorbed by that Evil Inclination, let the body enjoy itself as much as it wants and eat meat.' HE SAID, "Even as the green herb have I given you all" (Beresheet 9:3).

302. When man eats meat, the flesh of man receives pleasure from that flesh, and they mix together - THE FLESH OF MAN COMBINES WITH THE FLESH OF THE ANIMAL. And the body grows and is built by it. But as a result of the pleasure, WHICH MAN RECEIVED FROM EATING MEAT, his body commits many sins. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "The meat," REFERRING TO THE MEAT OF THE OFFERING, "shall be atonement for the body." Because one had eaten flesh, and had grown flesh through it IN THE BODY, and by it one had sinned, therefore the meat OF THE OFFERING shall be atonement for the body. So the meat - NAMELY THE FLESH OF THE BODY - that eats meat forms the blood in the body. And because of this, the purpose of the blood that remains outside of the meat OF THE OFFERING is to atone for the blood OF MAN, which was formed by that same meat OF THE ANIMAL. As it is written, "for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul" (Vayikra 17:11).

303. It is written, "My offering" and "your offering," as it is written, "shall you bring your offering" (Vayikra 1:2). What is the difference between these two phrases? AND HE REPLIES, "My offering" is like peace offerings that are brought for peace. "Your offering" is like sin or guilt offerings brought to ATONE for sin or guilt. Therefore, "My offering" is meat, "the provision" is bread and wine, "savor" is incense. "Sweet" (Heb. nichoach) is satisfaction (Heb. nachat) that the priest experiences when meditating on the Holy Name, WHICH HE UTTERS ALOUD DURING THE RITUAL OF THE SACRIFICE. And the Levites HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCE when meditating during the songs and praises, WHICH THEY RECITE DURING THE SACRIFICE.

304. Of the verse, "Shall you observe to offer to me in their (lit. 'its') due season," HE ASKS, What is meant by "due season?" If you say THAT THE MEANING IS TO OFFER A SACRIFICE every day - morning and evening - why then is it called "its due season?" AND HE REPLIES, "its due season" APPLIES to the desire that rules at that certain moment - NAMELY, THE MOMENT OF THE SACRIFICE. This is the desire that prevails above in that certain grade, WHICH IS THE NUKVA. And for this reason, it is written, 'its due season.'

305. When an offering is sacrificed, all the worlds receive a part of it, and the Klipot are scattered in all directions. The unison OF THE MALE AND FEMALE grows closer and is completed, and the candles, WHICH ARE THE SECRET OF THE UPPER GRADES, shine. And there is one desire and full companionship in all the worlds. And the Holy One, blessed be He, is in a state of the secret of unity as should properly be. Rabbi Chiya came forward, kissed him, and said, You are more worthy than I to go and see him, REFERRING TO RABBI ELAZAR.

306. They went along. When they reached RABBI ELAZAR, he saw them sitting beside the gate. He said to his attendant, Go and ask them what is the significance OF EACH of the three legs of this throne? They told him, Go and tell our master that it is not in vain that King David, who is the fourth LEG OF THE THRONE, said, "The stone which the builders rejected" (Tehilim 118:22). AND WITH THIS VERSE, THEY GAVE HIM A HINT ABOUT THE THREE COLUMNS THAT PRECEDE DAVID, WHICH ARE CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET. He said to him, TO HIS ATTENDANT, Go and tell them, where David was 'rejected' BY THE BUILDERS, that he said, "The stone which the builders rejected?"

307. Rabbi Chiya turned to Rabbi Chagai and said, Have you heard anything about this? He said, I have heard about the verse that reads, "My mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards..." (Shir Hashirim 1:6), which King Solomon used to say. It speaks of King David when he was rejected by his brothers.

308. And furthermore, we have heard, What was the reason that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the kingdom to Judah and not to any of the other brothers? AND HE REPLIES, Because the letters of His Holy name are engraved in him. BECAUSE YUD HEI VAV HEI APPEAR IN THE NAME OF JUDAH (YUD-HEI-VAV-DALET-HEI). So the Holy One, blessed be He, glorified his name. And this is why he inherited the kingdom. And I have also heard that the name Judah definitely contains the letters of His HOLY Name, but there is no letter Dalet IN YUD HEI VAV HEI. AND HE ASKS, Why? AND HE REPLIES, This LETTER DALET OF JUDAH represents King David, who is attached to His Name more than all other people of the world. As it is written, "and seek Hashem their Elohim, and David their king" (Hoshea 3:5). So King David is actually attached to His HOLY Name. Furthermore, he is the knot of the Tfilin, AS KING DAVID IS THE SECRET OF THE KNOT OF THE TFILIN OF THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE. AND THIS IS THE SECRET OF THE NUKVA OF ZEIR ANPIN. So certainly, the letter Dalet IN JUDAH is King David. And because of this David is attached to His HOLY Name. BECAUSE THE NAME JUDAH INCLUDES YUD HEI VAV HEI, WHICH ALLUDE TO ZEIR ANPIN, AND THE LETTER DALET, WHICH ALLUDES TO KING DAVID, WHO IS THE SECRET OF NUKVA OF ZEIR ANPIN.

309. They entered. Once they were inside, they sat in front of him. Rabbi Elazar was silent, so they remained silent as well. Rabbi Elazar entered his room, he heard a certain voice there that said, 'Go and give them the knowledge they desire, because they are righteous men!' He then returned to them and said, If one of you has heard something, let him say it to me! They responded, We are waiting to shine by the purity of the upper candle, and let us grasp knowledge.

310. He opened the discussion with the verse, "But Hashem is in His holy chamber, let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Chavakuk 2:20). When the Holy One, blessed be He, WHO IS THE SECRET OF BINAH, desired to create the world, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF ZEIR ANPIN AND HIS NUKVA, THAT ARE CALLED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, He looked to the thought, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF CHOCHMAH, the secret of the Torah, and took down records. THIS MEANS THAT HE RECORDED, AND DREW THE LIGHT OF CHOCHMAH TO MALE AND FEMALE, but the world was not able to exist. Then He created repentance, which is the sublime and inner chamber, and a guarded secret. And there, IN THE AFOREMENTIONED CHAMBER, the letters, WHICH ARE MALE AND FEMALE, are engraved, WHICH MEANS THAT THEY WERE PREPARED AND MADE WORTHY OF RECEIVING MOCHIN FROM THERE.

311. As THE CHAMBER was created, He looked to this chamber and drew figures, NAMELY THE MOCHIN that exists in the entire world. This is why it is written, "Let all the earth keep silence before Him." He desired to create the heavens, WHICH ARE ZEIR ANPIN. What did He do? He looked upon the First Light, THE FIRST CHAMBER, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF ABA AND IMA, covered Himself with it, and created the heavens. As it is written, "Who covers himself with light as with a garment," and then, "Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain" (Tehilim 104:2).

312. He studied how to create the lower world, WHICH IS THE NUKVA OF ZEIR ANPIN THAT NEEDS THE LIGHT OF CHOCHMAH, WHICH IS NOT RECEIVED FROM THE FIRST CHAMBER. So He created another chamber and entered to it. And from inside He looked out and drew in front of Himself all the worlds that are below; NAMELY ALL THE QUANTITY OF MOCHIN THAT THEY REQUIRE and created them. Therefore it is written, "But Hashem is in His holy chamber, let all the earth keep silence (Heb. has) before Him." Has (Hei-Samech) is recorded "before him," WHICH MEANS THAT THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF HEI-SAMECH IS DRAWN BEFORE HIM, WHICH IS THE NUMBER OF all the "points," WHICH ARE THE SFIROT that exist in every world, WHICH IS THE NUKVA. And they are sixty-five points, a number equivalent to the numerical value of Hei-Samech. Sixty are THE SIX SFIROT - CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD, EACH OF WHICH INCLUDES TEN. FIVE are HALF OF MALCHUT; SHE LACKS THE LAST FIVE - THOSE FROM THE CHEST DOWNWARD. He recorded before Him these sixty-five "POINTS" OF THE NUKVA IN ORDER TO BESTOW ON HER HIS ABUNDANCE when He created the world, WHICH IS THE NUKVA. For this reason, the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, NAMELY THE SHECHINAH, is destined only to those who know His ways and go along them - in a true manner, as is proper!

313. While he was talking with them, a fire encircled him, and they remained sitting outside. They heard a voice call out, 'O you holy man, "The king has brought me to his chambers'" (Shir Hashirim 1:4) - to all those chambers whose keys have been given to the favored and holy lad, NAMELY MATATRON, WHO IS CALLED "LAD." And all are ready for you and for those who achieve merit through you. And in your life, holy man, all the hosts of the heavens, "we will be glad and rejoice in you!" (Ibid). THIS WAS THE VOICE OF THE SHECHINAH.

314. When these two saw this, they trembled and were overtaken by a great fear. They said, We are not worthy of this. They sat there that entire day but were unable to see him. Then they said, The Holy One, blessed be He, does not wish us to stay here. Let us get out of here and go on our way! They left that place and went away.