138. He began by saying, "I said, I shall not see Yah; Yah, in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of cessation" (Yeshayah 38:11). How obtuse, he said, are the people who do not know or pay heed to the words of the Torah, but look only upon worldly matters. The spirit of wisdom is forgotten from them.
139. When a person departs this world, that person gives an account to his Master of all his worldy actions. He does this while his body and spirit are still joined together and he can see all that he sees until he reaches the World of Truth, where he meets Adam, the first man, sitting at the gate of the Garden of Eden, waiting to see and rejoice with all who have observed the commandments of their Master.
140. And many are the righteous around Adam, who instead of walking along the path that leads to Gehenom followed the path to the Garden of Eden. These are the ones who are called "Inhabitants of the Cessation" (Heb. chedel). AND HE ASKS: Why is it not written: "Inhabitants of the world (Heb. cheled)"? HE ANSWERS: Because they are not like the mole (Heb. chulda), a creature who is laboriously storing and hiding provisions, knowing not for whom. They are the inhabitants of cessation, as in "Cease (Heb. chidlu) from man, though his breath be in his nostrils" (Yeshayah 2:22). BECAUSE THE HEBREW WORD CHEDEL MEANS TO AVOID, THEY ARE CALLED THE INHABITANTS OF CESSATION. They avoided walking the path of Gehenom and disciplined themselves to walk along the path leading to the Garden of Eden.
141. Another explanation is that "inhabitants of cessation" REFERS TO all those who repented and ceased performing the sins of the wicked. Because Adam repented before his Master, he sits among others who also repented, ceased sinning, and are called "inhabitants of cessation." As it is written: "I will know how frail (Heb. chadel) I am" (Tehilim 39:5). And therefore, Adam sits at the gate of the Garden of Eden, and he is happy with the righteous who walk along the path and arrive at the Garden of Eden.
142. Come and behold: it is written, "I said, I shall not see Yah." SO HE ASKS: Who can ever see Yah now? AND HE REPLIES THAT the end of the verse reveals the intention of the words, as it is written: "Yah, in the land of the living." Come and behold: when the souls ascend and reach the place of the Bundle of Life, they enjoy the illumination of the radiant mirror, which shines and brings forth light from the most elevated place of all. A soul not enclothed in the radiance of another garment could neither approach nor get close enough to see that light.
143. And the secret of the matter is that as the soul is given garments to don so it can exist in this world, WHICH IS THE BODY, so it is also given garments of supernal radiance. These allow it to exist in the World to Come and to see into the radiant mirror, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, from that land of the living, THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE OF ZEIR ANPIN. THUS THE PROBLEM THAT AROSE IN THE VERSE, "I SAID, I SHALL NOT SEE YAH," IS SOLVED. THE INTENTION IS THAT BY THESE TWO IMPLEMENTS - (1) BY THE GARMENT OF THE SUPERNAL RADIANCE AND (2) BY THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE OF ZEIR ANPIN, CALLED THE LAND OF OF LIVING - THE RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE DESERVE TO SEE INTO THE RADIANT MIRROR, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF YAH (YUD-HEI) IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING.
144. Come and behold: Moses would not have been able to approach what he was looking at had he not been dressed in another garment. As it is written: "And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the mountain" (Shemot 24:18). And he covered himself with the cloud as a person wears a garment. And then, it is written: "and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where Elohim was" (Shemot 20:18), and "Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights" (Shemot 24:18) and was able to see what he saw.
145. In the same way, the souls of the righteous in the World of Truth dress themselves in garments and act in accordance with that world. So dressed, they are prepared to gaze into the light that shines in the land of the living, MEANING THAT THEY COVER THEMSELVES WITH THE LIGHT OF THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE, FROM WHICH THEY ARE ABLE TO GAZE INTO THE LIGHT OF THE RADIANT MIRROR. WHEN HEZEKIAH CALLED, "Yah, Yah, in the land of the living," he was afraid that he might no longer be worthy of gazing on that light and meriting that vision. The stream that flows FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN, he stopped it, and did not beget any children. AND WHOEVER DOES NOT INDULGE IN THE ACT OF PROCREATION, BLEMISHES THE RIVER THAT FLOWS FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN, WHICH IS YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN. THIS IS INDICATED IN THE VERSE: "I shall behold man no more." This refers to the first man, as has already been explained. ADAM SITS AT THE GATE OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND RECEIVES THE SOULS OF THE RIGHTEOUS WHO ARRIVE THERE. HEZEKIAH FEARED THAT HE WAS NOT WORTHY OF SEEING ADAM AT THE GATE.
146. And what was the reason for all this, NAMELY WHY DID HEZEKIAH FEAR THIS? Because the prophet told him, "for you shall die" in this world "and not live" (Yeshayah 38:11) in the World of Truth. For, upon death, he who has not begotten any children in this world is expelled from all that is mentioned above and cannot stay to gaze upon that shining light. If this was the case with Hezekiah, who was a pure, righteous man, so much more for those who do not have ancestral merit to support them and have even sinned before their Master.
147. This garment, previously mentioned, has already been discussed by the friends. There is a "robe of the sages" that they wear in the World of Truth. Happy are the righteous with their inheritance, as the Holy One, blessed be He, has put aside many blessings and delights for them in the World of Truth. It has been written of them: "Neither has the eye seen, that an Elohim, beside You, should do such a thing for him that waits for Him" (Yeshayah 64:3).