Breastplate and Efod

172. "And he made the Efod of gold" (Shemot 39:2), this was already explained. Rabbi Yosi said: The Efod (Eng. 'priestly garment') and the breastplate were as one. FOR THE EFOD IS THE SECRET OF MALCHUT, AND THE BREASTPLATE IS ZEIR ANPIN. It was established that in a place that maintains, NAMELY, WHERE THERE ARE WHOLE MOCHIN, are found the twelve stones, with the names of the children of Yisrael upon them. And they are the twelve high borders, NAMELY, THE TWELVE COMBINATIONS OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, THE SECRET OF CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET AND MALCHUT EACH INCLUDING THREE COLUMNS, TWELVE ALTOGETHER. All of them are in the secret of the tribes of Yisrael. FOR THE TWELVE TRIBES OF YISRAEL ARE ALSO IN THE SECRET OF THE TWELVE COMBINATIONS OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, TRANSMITTED TO MALCHUT.

173. This is the secret of the verse, "there went the tribes, the tribes of Yah, as a testimony of Yisrael, to give thanks to the Name of Hashem" (Tehilim 122:4). For "there went the tribes" refers to the supernal twelve tribes above, NAMELY THE TWELVE BORDERS OF ZEIR ANPIN, THE ROOTS OF THE TWELVE TRIBES, AS SAID. And these are the tribes of Yah, for this name YUD-HEI is a testimony of Yisrael, A TESTIMONY BEING THE SECRET OF THE FIRST THREE SFIROT.

174. Rabbi Chiya said: 'Tribes' is written twice, "...THE TRIBES, THE TRIBES OF YAH." "There went the tribes" refers to the tribes below IN MALCHUT. "The tribes of Yah" are the tribes above IN ZEIR ANPIN. "A testimony of Yisrael" is the secret of the supernal Holy Name, YAH, called 'testimony', as it is said: "and My testimony that I shall teach them" (Tehilim 132:12). THEREFORE, THERE ARE THE NAMES OF THE TWELVE TRIBES IN THE BREASTPLATE, THE COUNTERPART OF ZEIR ANPIN, AND THERE ARE THE NAMES OF THE TWELVE TRIBES IN THE EFOD, THE COUNTERPART OF MALCHUT. The twelve supernal holy tribes IN ZEIR ANPIN are the twelve holy stones IN THE BREASTPLATE. They are therefore IN THE BREASTPLATE below, as the ones above, and the names of the twelve tribes are engraved upon the stones, carried by the High Priest.

175. Come and see: When Jacob went to Charan, "he took some of the stones of the place, and put them under his head" (Beresheet 28:11). These are the twelve holy stones, CORRESPONDING TO THE TWELVE TRIBES IN MALCHUT, NAMELY CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET AND MALCHUT, EACH INCLUDING THREE COLUMNS, and all of them became one stone, as it is written, "and this stone, which I have set for a pillar" (Ibid. 22). Why does he call it a stone? Because the twelve stones became the one holy stone, superior to them, NAMELY MALCHUT CALLED 'A STONE', as it is written, "And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be Elohim's house." THEREFORE, THE ASPECT OF THE TWELVE TRIBES IN IT IS ALSO CALLED 'STONES'.

176. For that reason the High Priest carries it always on his heart, to remember them forever, as it is written, "And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Yisrael...upon his heart, for a memorial before Hashem, continually" (Shemot 28:29). Everything is in the secret of twelve. There are twelve supernal STONES, hidden above, stored in the high and holy secret, ZEIR ANPIN. They are the secret of the Torah, NAMELY, ZEIR ANPIN CALLED 'TORAH', and emanate from one thin voice, WHICH IS BINAH. This was established, there are twelve other stones, stored below, IN MALCHUT. They resemble the ones above IN ZEIR ANPIN and emanate from another voice, stone, as it is written, "the shepherd, the Stone of Yisrael" (Beresheet 49:24), NAMELY, MALCHUT.

177. The secret of this verse is explained by the scripture, "and there were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth" (Beresheet 29:3). This refers to the Shechinah called 'a tried stone', "a stone of Yisrael." It is rolled into exile, and "they...put the stone back upon the well's mouth in its place" (Ibid.), AT THE TIME OF REDEMPTION. THE GRADES ISSUING FROM IT are all named after it, stones.

178. There are many KINDS OF stones. There are stones and there are stones. Some stones are the foundation of the house, NAMELY, MALCHUT OF THE ASPECT OF CHOCHMAH CALLED 'HOUSE', THE SECRET OF THE VERSE, "THROUGH WISDOM A HOUSE IS BUILT" (MISHLEI 24:3), as it is written, "And the king commanded, and they carried great stones, costly stones to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stones" (I Melachim 5:31). THE CHOCHMAH AND BINAH IN IT ARE CALLED 'GREAT STONES', COSTLY STONES. And there are high precious stones, twelve in number, in four orders, three to each, towards the four directions. THEY ARE CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET AND MALCHUT, EACH INCLUDING THREE COLUMNS, AND ALTOGETHER TWELVE. So there were four standards marching in the desert, the twelve tribes, three to each direction of the world, TO THE EAST WERE JUDAH, YISASCHAR, AND ZEBULUN. TO THE SOUTH, REUBEN, SHIMON, AND GAD. TO THE NORTH EPHRAIM, MENASHEH, AND BENJAMIN. TO THE WEST DAN, ASHER AND NAFTALI. THE FOUR DIRECTIONS OF THE WORLD ARE THE SECRET OF CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET AND MALCHUT, AND THE THREE TRIBES ON EACH DIRECTION ARE THE THREE COLUMNS. All is one secret, and it has been explained.

179. Come and see: When the High Priest wore these twelve stones on the breastplate and on the Efod, the Shechinah dwelt upon him. The names of all the tribes were engraved upon the twelve stones. Each tribe was engraved upon one stone, and the letters were set in the stones. When the stones shone, the letters stood out and illuminated whatever was to be illuminated.

180. In all the names of the tribes there were not to be found the letters Chet, Tet, THE LETTERS OF SIN (HEB. CHET), because there was no sin to be found in them. Rabbi Chizkiyah said: If Chet causes this, FOR THE NAME 'CHET' MEANS DESCENT OR CENSER (HEB. MACHTA), it is well FOR IT NOT TO BE WITHIN THE NAMES OF THE TRIBES, but 'Tet' is a good letter. And we learned that whoever sees the letter Tet in his dream, it is a good sign, for the Torah commences with "that it was good," as it is written, "and Elohim saw the light, that it was (Heb. tov) good" (Beresheet 1:14). If it is a good letter, why is it not found in the names of the tribes?

181. He said to him: It is because these two letters are adjacent [in the alphabet]. NAMELY, THEIR BEING ADJACENT IS INDICATION OF SIN (HEB. CHET), FOR THAT REASON THEY WERE NOT AMONG THE NAMES OF THE TRIBES. Also, the letter Tet is hidden and concealed, AS IT INDICATES YESOD OF BINAH. It illuminates with the light of all, and there is no light to be found except from this letter, BECAUSE ALL THE LIGHTS ISSUE FROM YESOD OF BINAH, as it is written, "and Elohim saw the light, that it was good," good being the illumination of that hidden and concealed light WITHIN THE LETTER TET. It is concerning THIS LETTER that is written, "no good thing will He withhold from those who walk upright" (Tehilim 84:12), referring to the light of all the tribes. SINCE IT IS SO CONCEALED IT IS NOT FOUND IN THE TRIBES. Also, all the twelve tribes come out of that concealed compartment, YESOD OF BINAH, in the secret of the letter Tet and therefore, it is hidden and concealed, and not seen IN THE TRIBES.

182. Come and see: All the stones IN THE BREASTPLATE were standing in a miraculous way, and when they were shining, the face of the High Priest shone, and the lights illuminated and stood out to be visible FROM THE STONES. When the face of the High Priest shone, the protrusion of the letters was considered to be favorable. Thus the priest was known to be either righteous or not. All this was by way of miracle, as was explained.

183. Rabbi Aba was before Rabbi Shimon. He said to him: It is written, "And you shall put in the breastplate of Judgment the Urim and the Tumim" (Shemot 28:30). We learned that Urim (Eng. 'lights') MEANS that they illuminated that which was required, NAMELY WHATEVER WAS ASKED. Tumim (Eng. 'complete') means that they fulfilled what was said. BUT THIS EXPLANATION IS NOT ENOUGH, we need to know more.

184. He said to him: Surely it is so. Thus, the breastplate and the Efod correspond to Urim and Tumim. This is a secret of Tefilin and the knot of Tefilin, that correspond to these two. He opened the discussion and said: "And you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen" (Shemot 33:23). "And you shall see My back"; we learned that the Holy One, blessed be He showed Moses the knot of Tefilin. "My face" are the Tefilin themselves. HE EXPLAINS: "My face" are Tefilin, the high secret, the Holy Name. "My back," is the secret of the knot of Tefilin. It is known among the friends that TEFILIN are the shining mirror, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, and this, THE KNOT OF TEFILIN, is the mirror which does not shine, WHICH IS MALCHUT.

185. Correspondingly, these are Urim for they shine (Heb. meirim) with their utterances, NAMELY, ZEIR ANPIN, THE SHINING MIRROR. And these are Tumim so called for completing with their utterances, NAMELY MALCHUT, SHINING BY THE ILLUMINATION OF CHOCHMAH IN THE SECRET OF "AND YOU SHALL SEE MY BACK," WHERE ALL PERFECTION LIES. URIM ARE the face, and TUMIM ARE the back. This is the secret of sound and speech. Sound, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN shines upon the speech, WHICH IS MALCHUT, so it may speak. For the speech completes the word, NAMELY, THE VOICE IS THE MAIN AND SUBSTANTIAL PART, AND THE SPEECH COMPLETES IT. They always rise together, and never separate, FOR YOU CAN NEVER SEPARATE SOUND AND SPEECH. Hence, the breastplate and the Efod, the one is the face and the other the back, and all pertain to the same principle with no separation whatsoever, LIKE SOUND AND SPEECH.

186. He said to him: If this is so, THAT THE BREASTPLATE AND THE EFOD never separate, and whoever separates them, it is said about him that he "separates close friends" (Mishlei 16:28), FOR THEY ALLUDE TO ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT AS MENTIONED, THEN how do you explain the verse, "And it came to pass, when Aviathar, the son of Achimelech, fled to David to Ke'ila, that he came down with an Efod in his hands" (I Shmuel 23:6), yet the breastplate is not mentioned. IT APPEARS AS IF HE SEPARATED THEM.

187. He said to him: Assuredly this is so. All that is more significant is hidden and stored, it is not mentioned too much. In the same manner it is written, "that did wear a linen Efod" (I Shmuel 22:18), AND THE BREASTPLATE IS NOT MENTIONED DUE TO ITS IMPORTANCE. What is revealed is mentioned so as to cover what is hidden and concealed. Therefore that which is the more revealed, THE EFOD is mentioned.

188. For that reason, the high name, which is a secret concealed and stored, is mentioned only through the uncovered name. The one is mentioned and the other concealed. The concealed name is Yud Hei Vav Hei, and the mentioned name is Adonai. Therefore, it is written with hidden letters YUD HEI VAV HEI, and it is read with these letters, ADONAI. This covers that. THE NAME ADONAI COVERS THE NAME YUD HEI VAV HEI, so the high glory will be covered and concealed forever. For all the ways of the Torah are like that: covered and uncovered. And all the matters of the world, either of this world or the high world are covered and uncovered, MEANING THAT THERE IS AN INTERNAL PART TO EVERYTHING.

189. He opened the discussion and said: "Then they said to him, tell us, we pray you, inasmuch as to whose cause this evil is upon us..." (Yonah 1:8). We should look at this verse, for all they asked was in the secret of wisdom. It is written, "tell us, we pray you, inasmuch as to whose cause," they asked, "inasmuch" with deep wisdom. They asked for an uncovered secret, to know whether he was of the seed of Joseph, for the sea, when it saw his coffin, straightway divided itself and became dry land, as it is written, "the sea saw and fled" (Tehilim 114:3). The sea saw him of whom it is written, "and fled, and went outside" (Beresheet 39:15). Immediately IT SPLIT, "the Jordan turned backward" (Tehilim 114:3).

190. That is why they asked him "inasmuch," NAMELY, PRAY TELL US "INASMUCH AS TO WHOSE CAUSE THIS EVIL," FOR it is said about Joseph, "inasmuch as you are his wife" (Beresheet 39:9). THEY HINTED AT HIM BY THIS WORD: if you are of that seed OF JOSEPH, pray that the sea will be quiet. BY THIS WORD "Whose" IN "WHOSE CAUSE THIS EVIL," THEY HINTED THUS: are you a descendant of Jacob, who said, "Whose are you? And whither do you go?" (Beresheet 32:18). They, WHOM JACOB ADDRESSED, were the holy messengers he sent TO ESAU on an errand and so he was saved from that trouble. Now YOU TOO pray to your Master to send His messengers so we would be saved from this trouble.

191. If this is not so, THEN TELL US, "what is your occupation," namely, what is your daily business? "And where do you come from," who are your forefathers? "What is your country," NAMELY, does it deserve punishment? "And of what people are you," to see whether he is of Amalek or of one of the seven nations that deserve punishment. All was properly asked.

192. What did Jonah answer? "And he said to them: 'I am a Hebrew,'" namely, from the seed of Abraham the Hebrew, who sanctified the Name of his Master every day, "and I fear Hashem, the Elohim of heaven..." (Yonah 1:9). They asked to know both openly and covertly. NAMELY, THEY ASKED BY HINTING BY THE WORDS "INASMUCH" AND "WHOSE," COVERTLY, THE REST OF THE QUESTIONS WERE OPEN. And he, JONAH, answered all their questions openly.

193. It is written, "then the men were exceedingly afraid" (Ibid. 10). When they heard the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, they were afraid because they knew of the miracles and mighty deeds performed by the Holy One, blessed be He upon the sea. So when he mentioned the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, they "were exceedingly afraid." He also told them that he flees the Holy One, blessed be He, so they asked him, 'Why have you done this' runaway from Him and not obeyHIS commands? Therefore, they asked: 'Why have you done this?' You are transgressing your Master's commands.

194. Come and see: All of them converted afterwards, when they saw the miracles and mighty deeds that the Holy One, blessed be He did to Jonah at sea. They all saw him falling into the sea, and the fish swallowing him in their presence. And when that great fish came before their eyes and vomited him onto the dry land, they came to Him and became proselytes. This is the meaning of "They that guard lying vanities forsake their loyalty" (Yonah 2:9).

195. Come and see: They were all proselytes by conviction and became knowledgeable in the Torah, and high sages, because the Holy One, blessed be He, favored them and all those who approach Him, to sanctify His Name openly. For when His Name is sanctified openly, His hidden Name, YUD HEI VAV HEI, rises on His throne of glory, WHICH IS ADONAI, SO THERE IS UNISON OF YUD HEI VAV HEI ADONAI, as it is written, "And I will be hallowed among the children of Yisrael" (Vayikra. 22:32).

196. "And they bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the Efod with a lace of blue" (Shemot 39:21). HE ASKS: Why "with a lace of blue"? AND HE ANSWERS: To show that this blue, THE JUDGMENT PART OF MALCHUT, BOUND WITH CHESED, is connected to all. Therefore, all is in the high secret, THE BLUE TYING THE BREASTPLATE, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, TO THE EFOD, WHICH IS MALCHUT.

197. It is written, "a golden bell and a pomegranate" (Shemot 28:34). And we explained that all pertains to the high secret as we said. It is therefore written, "and its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Hashem" (Ibid. 35). For he is in need of the sound that is heard, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, and blessings dwell in the world for the priest's sake, who blesses all and performs everything. "The golden bell" we explained TO BE THE SOUND THAT IS HEARD, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN. "A pomegranate" IS MALCHUT filled by all, RECEIVING FROM ALL THE HIGHER WORLDS. And we explained all.

198. "And he made the robe of the Efod of woven work, all of blue" (Shemot 39:22). We already explained the secret of the breastplate and the Efod, and all is one. THAT IS, THE ROBE OF THE EFOD PERTAINS TO THE SAME MYSTERY AS THE EFOD, NAMELY MALCHUT. It is "all of blue," as ought to be, for blue is the secret of the light of the throne, MALCHUT, WHICH IS THE BLACK LIGHT OF THE CANDLE BURNING AND CONSUMING WHATEVER IS BENEATH IT. Blue is connected to the white light IN THE CANDLE, WHICH IS CHESED, and therefore, the Efod is of blue, BEING THE LIGHT OF MALCHUT.

199. Rabbi Shimon said: These priestly garments all pertain to the high mystery, that the garments of below bear the likeness of those from above. Come and see: Since Michael is a High Priest, and of the right, why is Gabriel depicted as "the man clothed in linen" (Daniel 12:6), whereas these are the garments of the High Priest, and Michael is a priest of the right side? HE REPLIES: It is UNDERSTOOD from this, that left is always included in the right, and therefore Gabriel, WHO IS OF THE LEFT, was clothed in these garments OF THE RIGHT.

200. Also, ANOTHER EXPLANATION IS, that Gabriel was appointed messenger to this world, and every appointed messenger to this world should wear the garments of this world. We also explained this in the secret of the soul, that when it goes up, it wears the clothing of above, to be there, and when it descends, IT WEARS A GARMENT. And all, AND ALL THE GARMENT, is according to where it goes. In the same manner, these appointed messengers, on an errand to this world, NEED CLOTHES OF THIS WORLD. And we established that.

201. Come and see: The robe of the Efod covered him AROUND HIS BODY. When he wore it, it is written, "You have beset me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me" (Tehilim 139:5), THE BREASTPLATE BEING BEFORE AND THE EFOD FROM BEHIND.

202. This verse, "YOU HAVE BESET..." was already explained. Nevertheless, come and see: When the Holy One, blessed be He created Adam, male and female were created, bound to each other so the female was from behind and the male in front, until the Holy One, blessed be He sawed AND SEPARATED them. He prepared and put her in front of Adam so that they may see face to face. When they looked face to face, love was increased in the world, and they issued offspring, something that was not beforehand. And we explained.

203. After Adam and his wife sinned, and the serpent had intercourse with Eve and injected filth into her, Eve bore Cain. He had the shape from above and FROM below in the secret of the filth of the Other Side, and from the side below OF THE EXTERNAL FORCES. Therefore, he was the first to bring death into the world, caused by his side, AS HE CAME OF THE FILTH OF THE SERPENT. The nature of the serpent is to lurk so as to kill, and his issue, CAIN, learned his ways. And so it is written, "and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him" (Beresheet 4:8).

204. I have found in ancient books, that when Cain killed Abel, he bit serpentine bites, until he killed him.

205. All things return to the element, FROM WHERE THEY CAME. Unless Cain came from that side OF THE SERPENT, he would have not behaved so towards his brother. Therefore, when Adam saw Abel killed and Cain expelled, he said, 'why shall I henceforth be a father?' He separated from his wife for a hundred and thirty years, and unholy female spirits would come and conceive from him, and he begot spirits and demons called 'the plagues of men'. This was established.

206. After that, he was jealous, and wore jealousy. He united with his wife and begot Seth as written, "and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth" (Beresheet 5:3), which was not true for the first sons born before.

207. For in the beginning, BEFORE EVE, he had another union, WITH LILITH, as explained, until Eve came. For the Holy One, blessed be He prepared her for Adam, and they were united face to face. Therefore it is written, "this one shall be called 'woman'" (Beresheet 2:23). But the other one, LILIT, is not so called, as was explained.

208. Since Adam and Eve were created together, it is written, "male and female He created them, and blessed them" (Beresheet 5:2). The two of them were together, therefore it was written, "You have beset me behind and before."

209. Come and see: The Efod and the breastplate were behind and before, THE BREASTPLATE BEFORE AND THE EFOD BEHIND. And when the priest wore them, he had the likeness of the higher image, ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT, THE SECRET OF BEHIND AND BEFORE. And we have learned, that his face shone and the letters stood out, illuminating and rising up. Then he knew that WHICH WAS NEEDED.

210. For that reason the function of the breastplate and the function of the Efod are closely connected. And though their functions are not the same, yet all is in the one secret. They are connected so the breastplate, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, will be united with the Efod, WHICH IS MALCHUT, by four rings connected to this place and that place, NAMELY, TO THE BREASTPLATE AND THE EFOD. They are the secret of the Chariots connecting this side below to those above, all in the mystery of the wheels and the holy living creatures. FOR THE TWO RINGS IN THE BREASTPLATE ARE IN THE SECRET OF THE LIVING CREATURES, WHICH ARE YETZIRAH. AND THE TWO RINGS IN THE EFOD ARE IN THE SECRET OF THE WHEELS, WHICH ARE ASIYAH. AND THEY ARE INTERCONNECTED, AS SAID: "AND WHEN THE LIVING CREATURES MOVED, THE WHEELS WENT BY THEM: AND WHEN THE LIVING CREATURES WERE LIFTED UP FROM THE EARTH, THE WHEELS WERE LIFTED UP" (YECHEZKEL 1:19).

211. It is written, "In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth" (Beresheet 1:1). It was explained, THAT THE HEAVEN IS ZEIR ANPIN AND THE EARTH IS MALCHUT. The Tabernacle was made in the same manner, in the likeness of the lower world, WHICH IS MALCHUT, and in the likeness of the upper world, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN. And all the deeds OF THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE performed in this world are a reflection of above. So is the Tabernacle. All its works are as the deeds, and are reflections of the upper world.

212. This is the secret of the construction of the Tabernacle. All are deeds and improvements of above and below, to let the Shechinah dwell upon the world, over the upper tenants, THE ANGELS, and the lower tenants, PEOPLE. In the same manner, the lower Garden of Eden is like the upper, BINAH, and the lower, MALCHUT. And all the images and forms of the world are found there. Therefore, the construction of the Tabernacle and of heaven and earth, ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT, are in one secret.