178. Another interpretation of the verse "Preserve my soul; for I am pious" (Tehilim 86:2) is as follows: Why should He preserve my soul? So that I should behave piously with 'I,' NAMELY THAT I SHOULD UNITE WITH AND BRING THE CHESED FROM YUD HEI VAV HEI WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN TO 'I,' WHICH IS MALCHUT, for it has been said about it: I and He, WHERE 'ALEPH-NUN-YUD (ENG. 'I')' IS MALCHUT AND 'VAV-HEI-VAV (ENG. 'AND HE')' IS ZEIR ANPIN. Woe to anyone who separates 'I' from 'He,' NAMELY TO ANYONE WHO CAUSES A SEPARATION BETWEEN ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT, as it is said: "it is He who made us, and we belong to Him" (Tehilim 100:3), WHERE 'HE' STANDS FOR ZEIR ANPIN. This is because everything is one, NAMELY I AND HE ARE ONE, without division. This is what is said: "See now that I, even I am He... I kill and I make alive, I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand" (Devarim 32:39). I am Hashem, I am He, and no other. And this 'I' is derived from Adonai, NAMELY THE LETTERS OF 'ANI' (I) ARE FOUND IN ADONAI. Yud Hei Vav Hei is the Central Column, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN.

179. And because Yud Hei Vav Hei, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, is on the right, namely Chesed, he said: "Preserve my soul, FOR I AM PIOUS (HEB. CHASID)," meaning that I shall behave piously towards You and with 'I' which is Adonai, which is Gvurah. THAT IS TO SAY, I SHALL UNITE YUD HEI VAV HEI, WHICH IS CHESED, WITH ADONAI, WHICH IS GVURAH, SO CHASSADIM WILL BE DRAWN DOWN FROM YUD HEI VAV HEI TO ADONAI, AND IT, TOO, WILL BE CHESED. And both the names, YUD HEI VAV HEI AND ADONAI, combine together in Tiferet, WHICH IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN, AND COME TOGETHER THUS; Yud Aleph Hei Dalet Vav Nun Hei Yud. FOR IT IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN THAT COMBINES CHESED, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF YUD HEI VAV HEI WITH GVURAH, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF ADONAI. And the inner meaning of the matter is with Chesed and Gvurah, WHICH ARE THE RIGHT AND LEFT COLUMNS, ABOUT WHICH IT IS SAID: "Thus were their faces: and their wings were divided upwards" (Yechezkel 1:11), SINCE 'THEIR FACES' IS THE SECRET OF CHOCHMAH, BINAH AND DA'AT, AND THE TWO COLUMNS, THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT, WHICH ARE CHOCHMAH AND BINAH, ARE DIVIDED. AND SO WITH THE TWO WINGS, THE SECRET OF THE RIGHT AND LEFT COLUMNS, WHICH ARE DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER, AND ARE THEREFORE DIVIDED. And in Tiferet, WHICH IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN, that is called: "Hashem is a man (Heb. ish) of war" (Shemot 15:3), BECAUSE HE FIGHTS WITH THE LEFT COLUMN, AND MAKES IT SMALLER IN ORDER TO BRING IT TOGETHER IN UNITY WITH THE RIGHT, it is written: "two wings of everyone (Heb. ish) were joined one to another" (Yechezkel 1:11), for the two names, YUD HEI VAV HEI AND ADONAI were joined together in it, AND THUS "and two covered their bodies" (Ibid.), FOR THE TWO WINGS JOINED THE BODY AND BECAME AS ONE. And Tiferet is called 'body,' THIS BEING THE INNER MEANING OF THE VERSE: "his body was like beryl" (Daniel 10:6). AND SO IT IS WITH THE TWO COLUMNS, RIGHT AND LEFT OF THE FIRST THREE SFIROT WHICH ARE CHOCHMAH AND BINAH, THAT ARE THE TWO NAMES, YUD HEI VAV HEI AND EHEYEH, ABOUT WHICH IT IS SAID "THEIR FACES...DIVIDED UPWARDS." THEY JOIN TOGETHER AND COMBINE BY THE CENTRAL COLUMN, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF DA'AT. AND THEY COME TOGETHER THUS: Yud-Aleph-Hei-Hei-Vav-Yud-Hei-Hei.