Explanations about Malchut

835. The daily burnt offering (Heb. olat tamid) is the Shechinah which always (Heb. tamid) ascends (Heb. olah) on that grade about which it is said: 'Evening and morning, every day, twice each and every day, saying Sh'ma Yisrael'. And She ascends in the Central Pillar, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, who is with Her always, without any separation at all.

836. But whence does She ascend? To the place from which She was derived, which is Infinity, and She is then higher than all the Sfirot, which is why it was taught: The whole of the burnt offering ascends to the Most High. And as She ascends, all the other Sfirot are attached to Her, and ascend with her. What is the meaning of this ascent of Hers TO INFINITY? It is to provide a sweet savor, to give a good savor before Hashem. And afterwards it is said about Her: "and came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering" (Vayikra 9:22), namely, She descends FROM INFINITY, full of atonement over all of Yisrael's sins.

837. And Her ascent is with the Central Pillar, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, and so also is Her descent, and that of all Her hosts, in it. And for this reason She is called 'a ladder' for all the appellatives; NAMELY, ALL THE GRADES ascend and descend in Her, suspended from the Name Yud Hei Vav Hei, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, and thus all the sacrifices and all the burnt offerings are to Yud Hei Vav Hei. And She is called 'a sacrifice' because all the appellatives draw near, through Her, to Yud Hei Vav Hei, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN.

838. And for this reason it was said about Her: "and his offering was one silver dish" (Bemidbar 7:13), NAMELY MALCHUT. For there is no grade that can draw near to Yud Hei Vav Hei without MALCHUT, and there is no prayer, nor precept of any of the precepts that are in the Torah or any of the sacrifices and burnt offerings that are outside OF MALCHUT. And in all the grades that are in the Sfirot, none is received before Yud Hei Vav Hei without her, which is why it was said about her: "Thus (lit. 'with this' (Heb. zot, feminine)) shall Aaron come into the holy place" (Vayikra 16:3), WHERE MALCHUT IS CALLED 'ZOT'. And for this reason the prophet said: "But let him that glories glory in this (zot)" (Yirmeyah 9:23).

839. And she, MALCHUT, is CALLED 'peace offerings' (Heb. shelamim) because she is the completion (Heb. shlemut) of the Name Yud Hei Vav Hei in each and every grade. She is Hei OF YUD HEI VAV HEI; she is Adonai; she is the Yud of Yud Hei Vav Hei; she is the Hei of Elohim; she is the Hei of Eheyeh. She is the Yud of Shadai: (Shin-Dalet-Yud); she is the end of every Yud Hei Vav Hei and appellative, wherefore it is said about her: "The end of the matter, when all is said and done: Fear Elohim and keep His commandments" (Kohelet 12:13). She is the end (Heb. sof) of the ten Sfirot and is called 'Yam Suf' (Eng. 'the reed sea'). She is the completion of the upper beings and of the lower beings; she is the gate by which one has to enter for all wisdom and for every appellative and Yud Hei Vav Hei and for entering into each and every Sfirah. She is the knowledge of everything, and without NAMELY MALCHUT no creature has permission to look into any knowledge that is in the world. About her it is said: "this is the gate of Hashem, into which the righteous shall enter" (Tehilim 118:20).

840. She, MALCHUT, is the 42-letter Name, NAMELY, THE FOUR LETTERS OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, THE TEN LETTERS OF IT BEING FULLY SPELLED, AND THE 28 LETTERS OF THE FULL SPELLING FULLY SPELLED. THIS AMOUNTS TO 42 LETTERS, AND MALCHUT IS THE SECRET OF THE FINAL HEI'S THAT ARE IN THE 42-LETTER NAME, through which the upper and lower beings were created. She is called 'eye' from the right side, WHICH IS THE CHOCHMAH IN HER, AS IT IS WRITTEN: "Behold, the eye of Hashem is upon those who fear Him" (Tehilim 33:18); and she is called 'ear' from the left side, WHICH IS THE BINAH IN HER, AS IT IS WRITTEN: "O my Elohim, incline Your ear, and hear" (Daniel 9:18). And from the aspect of the Central Pillar, WHICH IS THE TIFERET IN HER, she is called 'smell,' while from her own aspect, WHICH IS MALCHUT, she is called 'mouth,' as it is written: "With him I speak mouth to mouth" (Bemidbar 12:8).

841. And she is called 'the first commandment', "I am (Heb. anochi)" (Shemot 20:2), NAMELY, THE BEGINNING OF THE DIVINE REVELATION, from the aspect of Keter, that is in her, which is Ayin (Eng. 'nought'), NAMELY, THE LETTERS ALEPH YUD NUN from 'our Elohim' (Aleph- Lamed-Hei-Yud-Nun-Vav), FOR KETER IS CALLED 'NOUGHT' IN THE SENSE OF ABSENCE OF CONCEPTION. 'anochi' (Aleph Nun Caf Yud) contains the letter Caf that stands for Keter and Aleph Yud Nun (Heb. ayin). And Keter is so called from the aspect of supernal Ima, for whom the Exodus from Egypt is mentioned fifty times in the Torah, CORRESPONDING TO THE FIFTY GATES OF BINAH, AND KETER OF MALCHUT IS IN BINAH. And she is a daughter (Heb. bat, Bet Tav) from "In the beginning" (Heb. Beresheet, Bet Resh Aleph Shin Yud Tav), which includes all of the ten sayings BY WHICH THE WORLD WAS CREATED. And from the aspect of Chochmah, she is the daughter of Yud, AS IT IS SAID: "by wisdom founded the earth" (Mishlei 3:19), NAMELY, MALCHUT, WHICH IS CALLED 'EARTH', for Aba, WHICH IS CHOCHMAH, founded the daughter, WHICH IS MALCHUT. And she is "a path which no bird of prey knows" (Iyov 28:7), which is comprised of 32 paths, namely the 32 Names of Elohim from the aspect of supernal Ima that is called 'glory' (Heb. kavod = 32). And when they are included in the daughter, WHICH IS MALCHUT, MALCHUT is called heart (Heb. lev = 32), and this is why there is glory above and a heart below.

842. And the Ten Commandments were given on two tablets, five on each, and MALCHUT includes them, for they are the five SFIROT from Keter to Gvurah, and the five SFIROT from the Central Pillar, WHICH IS TIFERET to the daughter, WHICH IS MALCHUT. And they are twice Hei. HE ASKS: IF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ARE FROM THE TEN SFIROT, is it then possible to speak with ten mouths, WITH EACH SFIRAH SPEAKING WITH ITS OWN SPECIAL MOUTH? HE ANSWERS, He included all TEN COMMANDMENTS in the only daughter, WHICH IS MALCHUT, and all of them became one. THUS, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS BECAME INCORPORATED WITHIN MALCHUT. And so it is that Vav, WHICH IS TIFERET, that is called 'voice', cannot be perceived until it joins with speech, WHICH IS MALCHUT. And this is why IT IS WRITTEN: "you heard the voice of the words" (Devarim 4:12), WHERE VOICE ALLUDES TO ZEIR ANPIN AND WORDS TO MALCHUT.

843. She, MALCHUT, is the second commandment from the side of Gvurah, which is the same numerical sum as for the word Yir'ah, (Eng. 'fear') FOR THEY BOTH HAVE THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF 216. And this is intimated in the word Beresheet (Eng. 'In the beginning'), WHOSE LETTERS, REARRANGED, SPELL: Yere boshet (Eng. 'fearful of shame'), and it has been taught: Whoever has no modesty, certainly his forefathers were not present on Mount Sinai.

844. She is the third commandment, which is called 'love of Chesed', as it is written: "I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore I have remained true to you (with Chesed)" (Yirmeyah 31:2). Love, WHICH IS MALCHUT, is composed of the patriarchs, and in their contexts is called: 'bakol' (Eng. 'in all'), 'mikol' (Eng. 'of all'), 'kol' (Eng. 'all'), WHICH IS MALCHUT THAT IS CALLED KOL (ENG. 'ALL'). ABOUT ABRAHAM IT IS SAID: "AND HASHEM HAD BLESSED ABRAHAM IN ALL THINGS" (BERESHEET 24:1); AND ABOUT ISAAC IT IS WRITTEN: "AND I HAVE EATEN OF ALL" (BERESHEET 27:33); AND ABOUT JACOB: "BECAUSE I HAVE ALL" (BERESHEET 33:11). And the secret of the matter is the verse: "I remember in your favor, the devotion (Chesed) of your youth, your love as a bride" (Yirmeyah 2:2), WHICH IS SAID ABOUT MALCHUT.

845. And she is the fourth commandment, which is the unity from the aspect of the Central Pillar, NAMELY, THE UNIFICATION OF Sh'ma Yisrael. That is 25 (Caf Hei) plus 25 letters with Him, WITH ZEIR ANPIN, NAMELY, 25 LETTERS OF SH'MA YISRAEL, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, PLUS 25 LETTERS OF 'BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE GLORY OF HIS KINGDOM FOREVER AND EVER', WHICH IS MALCHUT, that are in the six words of Sh'ma Yisrael, WHICH ARE SIX SFIROT of ZEIR ANPIN. And for her sake, Abraham said: "...will go yonder (Heb. coh Caf Hei) and prostrate ourselves" (Beresheet 22:5), AND ALSO: "Thus (Heb. coh) shall you say to the house of Jacob" (Shemot 19:3).

846. And He, ZEIR ANPIN, is Aleph Chet OF ECHAD: (ENG. 'ONE' - ALEPH CHET DALET), which is the Central Pillar, while she, MALCHUT, is the Dalet OF ECHAD. She is the completion of His unity, perfecting in Him THE SECRET OF one. Aleph Chet (= 9) OF ECHAD include nine Sfirot, namely: Aleph is Infinity, NAMELY, KETER, and the Chet (= 8) Sfirot from Chochmah to Yesod. The Dalet OF ECHAD is Malchut, with the tip OF THE DALET ALLUDING TO YESOD. In her, IN MALCHUT, the Sfirot are completed to ten, which are THE TEN LETTERS Yud-Vav-Dalet, Hei-Aleph, Vav-Aleph-Vav, Hei-Aleph. The Dalet (= 4) OF ECHAD is comprised of the four letters of Yud Hei Vav Hei.

847. The fifth commandment is: "but you shall meditate therein day and night" (Yehoshua 1:8). She, MALCHUT, is the Written Torah from the side of Chesed and the Oral Torah from the side of Gvurah, in which Chochmah and Binah are, FOR AT THE TIME OF GREATNESS, CHESED ASCENDS AND BECOMES CHOCHMAH, WHILE GVURAH ASCENDS AND BECOMES BINAH. This is as the sages of the Mishnah taught: He who wants to be wise shall turn south and he who wants to be rich shall turn north, WHERE THE MEANING OF RICH IS IN KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING. And the Central Pillar, WHICH IS TIFERET, incorporates both of them, THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT, and for this reason is called 'heavens' (Heb. shamayim) for it includes fire (Heb. esh) and water (Heb. mayim). Fire is Gvurah and water is Chesed.

848. And for this reason, Keter, which is Caf, is the secret of the verse: "weighing ten shekels apiece (Heb. kaf), after the shekel of the sanctuary" (Bemidbar 7:86), NAMELY, TEN SFIROT FROM ABOVE DOWNWARDS AND TEN SFIROT FROM BELOW UPWARDS, which is Yud-Hei-Hei, three letters that become Caf, NAMELY, KETER, over Vav WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, and correspond to Keter Torah, (lit. 'the crown of the Torah'). For the Vav is the scroll of the Torah, and the Caf, WHICH IS YUD-HEI-HEI, is the diadem over its head. And all of it together, NAMELY, YUD-HEI-HEI WITH VAV, is Yud Hei Vav Hei whose numerical value is Caf Vav (= 26), WHERE THE CAF IS THE SECRET OF KETER OVER THE VAV.

849. The sixth commandment OF MALCHUT is the hand Tefilin, WHICH IS TO BE PLACED on the left arm, WHICH IS GVURAH, and from the side of Gvurah it is the Hei of the dim hand, WHICH IS MALCHUT. AND THEREFORE THE HAND TEFILIN, WHICH IS MALCHUT, MUST BE PLACED ON THE LEFT ARM, WHICH IS GVURAH OF ZEIR ANPIN. And from Keter to Gvurah there are five Sfirot, and they are THE ASPECT OF the head Tefilin of the Central Pillar, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN. FOR FROM KETER TO GVURAH IS THE ASPECT OF THE HEAD TEFILIN, FOR THEY ARE ZEIR ANPIN, AND BELOW GVURAH THEY ARE THE HAND TEFILIN, FOR THEY ARE MALCHUT. And she, MALCHUT, is the knot of the three straps, namely Netzach, Hod and Yesod; NAMELY, SHE IS THE KNOT OF THE TWO STRAPS OF THE HEAD, WHICH ARE NETZACH AND HOD, AND THE KNOT OF THE ONE STRAP OF THE HAND TEFILIN, WHICH IS YESOD. AND IT FOLLOWS THAT SHE IS THE KNOT OF THE THREE STRAPS.

850. And she is the seventh commandment, which is the precept of Tzitzit (the fringes), comprised of blue and white, which are Judgment and Mercy. In the flame OF THE CANDLE, the white fire does not devour WHAT IS UNDER IT, FOR IT IS ATTACHED ONLY TO THE BLUE FIRE THAT IS UNDER IT, BUT the blue fire OF THE CANDLE IS ATTACHED TO THE WICK AND THE OIL, AND IT devours and destroys WHAT IS UNDER IT, FOR THE WHITE FIRE IS CHESED AND THE BLUE FIRE IS JUDGMENT. AND ABOUT THE BLUE FIRE, WHICH IS JUDGMENT, IT IS SAID: "and consumed the burnt offering" (I Melachim 18:38). For the white is from the right and the blue from the left, while the Central Pillar, which is the unity of the two of them, OF THE RIGHT SIDE AND THE LEFT SIDE, is green. For this reason the sages taught: From what time in the morning may the Sh'ma be recited? As soon as one can distinguish between blue and white, NAMELY, AS SOON as ONE CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CHESED AND JUDGMENT, FOR ONE HAS TO UNITE THEM IN THE CENTRAL COLUMN, THIS BEING THE SECRET OF THE READING OF SH'MA YISRAEL. And this is why it was decreed that the section about the fringes be included in the unity OF THE READING OF SH'MA YISRAEL, BECAUSE ITS PRECEPT IS TO BE FULFILLED WITH WHITE AND BLUE, WHICH HAVE TO BE BROUGHT TOGETHER IN THE READING OF SH'MA YISRAEL.

851. And she is the eighth commandment, which is mezuzah. The Shechinah is called 'mezuzah' from the aspect of the Central Pillar, NAMELY, ZEIR ANPIN, which is the letters of Yud Hei Vav Hei, and from the aspect of the Righteous, WHICH IS YESOD, which is the secret of the covenant that is called 'Shadai'. Shadai is the seal of the King, who is Yud Hei Vav Hei. THEREFORE THERE IS A YUD HEI VAV HEI INSIDE THE MEZUZAH, CORRESPONDING TO THE CENTRAL PILLAR, AND THE WORD SHADAI ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE MEZUZAH, CORRESPONDING TO YESOD.

852. The ninth commandment is the Shechinah, which is called 'the sign of the covenant' from the aspect of the Righteous, the Foundation of the World, WHICH IS YESOD, as it is written: "This (Heb. zot) is the token of the covenant" (Beresheet 9:17). ZOT REFERS TO THE SHECHINAH AND SHE IS "THE TOKEN OF THE COVENANT." AND IT IS WRITTEN: "IT IS A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND THE CHILDREN OF YISRAEL FOR EVER: FOR IN SIX DAYS HASHEM MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH, AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY HE RESTED, AND WAS REFRESHED" (SHEMOT 31:17). "between Me," the Central Pillar, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, "and the children of Yisrael," Netzach and Hod, TERMED THE CHILDREN OF YISRAEL. "Sign" refers to the Righteous, NAMELY, YESOD. "is (fem.)" refers to the Shechinah. "for in six days Hashem made the heaven" NAMELY, from Keter to the Central Pillar, WHICH IS TIFERET, THIS BEING THE SIX SFIROT, KETER, CHOCHMAH, BINAH, CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET, for whenever six is mentioned it is only from the aspect of the letter Vav, WHICH IS TIFERET. HERE, TOO, THE SIX DAYS REFER TO TIFERET, TOGETHER WITH THE FIVE SFIROT THAT PRECEDE IT, AND WHICH IT INCLUDES. BUT FROM TIFERET AND DOWNWARDS IT IS NO LONGER THE ASPECT OF ZEIR ANPIN, BUT RATHER THE ASPECT OF MALCHUT. And there is no seventh, other than from the aspect of the letter Yud, WHICH IS MALCHUT, WHICH IS a diadem on the head OF ZEIR ANPIN IN THE SECRET OF THE VERSE "A VIRTUOUS WOMAN IS A CROWN TO HER HUSBAND" (MISHLEI 12:4). AND SHE IS THEN IN THE ASPECT OF supernal Chochmah AND IS CALLED "It is a sign," in the masculine form. AND WHEN MALCHUT IS lower Chochmah SHE IS CALLED "It is a sign," in the feminine form. AND THIS IS WHY THE WRITTEN TEXT IS "It is A SIGN," WITH A VAV, NAMELY, IN THE MASCULINE FORM, ALTHOUGH IT IS POINTED WITH THE VOWEL 'I' SHOWING IT IS TO BE READ IN THE FEMININE FORM.

853. And circumcision was decreed for the eighth, namely the eight SFIROT from Chochmah to Yesod, to receive in them the small Yud, WHICH IS MALCHUT, and to elevate her to Keter, for her to be a diadem over the heads OF THE EIGHT SFIROT. And it was decreed that the foreskin be placed in a vessel with dust, in order to fulfill the verse "and dust shall be serpent's food" (Yeshayah 65:25).

854. The tenth commandment OF MALCHUT is: "Wherefore the children of Yisrael shall keep the Shabbat" (Shemot 31:16). The Shechinah is called 'Shabbat', from the aspect of the three upper grades, namely Shin, WHICH ALLUDES to the three Sfirot: Keter, Chochmah and Binah. And MALCHUT is daughter and is fourth to these. "Six days" (Shemot 31:15) REFERS TO THE SIX SFIROT from Chesed to Yesod, NAMELY, CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD, on which work may be done, because the building OF THE WORLD commences with Chesed, as it is written: "The world is built by love (lit. 'Chesed')" (Tehilim 89:3). But from Binah and upwards, NAMELY, IN THE FIRST THREE SFIROT, there is rest and pleasure and cessation from all work.

855. The eleventh commandment THAT IS IN MALCHUT is called 'the Shacharit, Minchah and Arvit (morning, afternoon and evening) prayers', from the aspect of the three patriarchs, NAMELY CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET. It is the prayer of every (Heb. kol) mouth (Heb. peh), NAMELY, MALCHUT CLEAVING TO YESOD, FOR PRAYER IS MALCHUT AND EVERY MOUTH IS YESOD. For the word kol (Eng. 'all' or 'every') only means the Righteous, WHICH IS YESOD, as it is written: "for all that is in heaven and on earth" (I Divrei Hayamin 29:11), which Yonatan Ben Uziel translated (into Aramaic) as "that takes hold of heaven and earth," NAMELY, YESOD THAT IS ATTACHED TO HEAVEN AND EARTH THAT ARE ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT. Peh (= 85) has the same numerical value as milah (Eng. 'circumcision') and just as man and woman below unite by the covenant, so, too the bride and bridegroom above come together in Yesod, THEY BEING ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT. YESOD is the life (Heb. CHAI = 18) of the worlds, because it includes the eighteen blessings OF THE AMIDAH PRAYER, as it is written: "Blessings are upon the head of the just" (Mishlei 10:6).

856. And for this reason when one bows one should bow at 'Blessed,' WHICH IS THE SECRET OF YESOD, and when returning to the upright position, one should do so (at the mention of) the Name. This is the Shechinah in the Name of Yud Hei Vav Hei, with which the Shechinah has to be stood upright, the same about whom it is said: "The virgin of Yisrael is fallen; she shall no more rise" (Amos 5:2) BY HERSELF, but she shall by another grade, NAMELY, YUD HEI VAV HEI, NAMELY, ZEIR ANPIN, and for this reason: "On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen" (Amos 9:11); and the reference is to Him, about whom it is said: "Hashem raises those who are bowed down" (Tehilim 146:8), AND, THEREFORE, WHEN RETURNING TO THE UPRIGHT POSITION, ONE SHOULD DO SO AT THE NAME.

857. The twelfth commandment THAT IS IN MALCHUT is called 'the Festival of matzot' and 'the Festival Shavuot' and 'the Festival of Sukkot', from the aspect of the three patriarchs, WHO ARE CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET; and Rosh Hashanah is the aspect of MALCHUT herself, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF, 'The law of the government (Malchut) is the law'. There is also the opinion that THE HOLIDAY OF Pesach is the right arm, NAMELY, CHESED; Shavuot, IS THE TIME WHEN the Torah was given in the wilderness, where the appointee OVER THE WILDERNESS is an ox from the side of Gvurah. SHAVUOT THUS IS GVURAH. Sukkot IS TIFERET AS IT IS SAID: "And Jacob journeyed to Sukkot" (Beresheet 33:17), JACOB BEING TIFERET. AND IN ALL OTHER PLACES, THE AUTHOR SAYS THAT PESACH IS CHESED, SUKKOT IS GVURAH, AND SHAVUOT IS TIFERET. The thirteenth commandment THAT IS IN MALCHUT is the reading of Sh'ma.