263. Above, at the Tree of Life, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, there are no Klipot, for "none might enter within the king's gate clothed with sackcloth" (Ester 4:2). Lower down, at Metatron, there are Klipot, for he, METATRON, is in the form of the Central Column, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, for when the Holy One, blessed be He, is deprived of His Malchut, NAMELY WHEN MALCHUT IS IN EXILE, He covers himself with the countenances and wings of His servant, WHO IS METATRON, as it is written: "And He rode upon a Cherub and did fly" (II Shmuel 22:11), FOR METATRON IS CALLED BOTH 'CHERUB' AND 'CHARIOT.'

264. And these Klipot that surround the four living creatures of Metatron are: A) 'formless,' ABOUT WHICH IS WRITTEN: "a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Hashem; but Hashem was not in the wind" (I Melachim 19:11). B) 'void,' ABOUT WHICH IS WRITTEN: "and after the wind an earthquake; but Hashem was not in the earthquake" (Ibid.). These are two Klipot, WHICH ARE THE SECRET of the green KLIPAH and the white KLIPAH of the shells of the nut. The former, 'formless,' is the green line, while the latter, 'void,' is smooth stones, and is a Klipah as hard as a smooth stone. These two Klipot are also represented by the chaff and the straw of wheat.

265. The third Klipah THAT SURROUNDS THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES OF METATRON is thin and is represented by the bran of wheat, for here it sticks to the wheat and cannot be separated from there without grinding it in the mill-stones, which are represented by the grinding molar TEETH in a man's jaw, with which matters of Torah have to be ground until they are as fine flour. And in a sieve, which is the lips, the waste matter, which is the bran of the Torah, is sorted out, until the Halachah is as clean fine flour. At that time, the heart and the brain and all those parts of the body through which the soul spreads, take that HALACHAH WHICH IS AS CLEAN REFINED FLOUR, and the soul lives on it just as the body lives on things from the MATERIAL world. For "The Elohim has made the one as well as the other" (Kohelet 7:14): just as THERE IS food for the body, so IS THERE food for the soul, as it is written: "Come, eat of my bread" (Mishlei 9:5).

266. And this Klipah is like the shell that sticks to the kernel of the nut, for when the nut is soft the shell separates from the kernel without difficulty, but when the nut is dry, it is difficult for man to remove it from there, and the difficult problem still remains. For this reason, the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded man to repent during his youth, before the Evil Inclination grows old within him, as it is written: "You shall rise up before the hoary head" (Vayikra 19:32), THAT IS TO SAY: Before your own old age RISE UP IN REPENTANCE. And this Klipah is fire, about which is written: "and after the earthquake a fire; but Hashem was not in the fire" (I Melachim 19:12). The fourth KLIPAH SURROUNDING THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES OF METATRON is the deep, NAMELY, "AND DARKNESS WAS ON THE FACE OF THE DEEP" (BERESHEET 1:2). AND THIS IS THE SECRET OF the space within the nut, about which is written: "a still small voice" (I Melachim 19:12), for this is where the King comes, AND ABOUT IT IS WRITTEN: "and out of the midst of it, as it were the color of electrum, out of the midst of the fire" (Yechezkel 1:4).

267. And these FOUR Klipot are marked on the four parts of the body: in the lung, in which is moisture from which come the adhesions of the lung THAT ATTACH THE LOBES OF THE LUNG TO EACH OTHER AND ENFEEBLE IT, ABOUT WHICH IT IS WRITTEN, "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold of Sheol" (Mishlei 5:5). And there is also the "great and strong wind rent THE MOUNTAINS," that beats in the lobes of a man's lung. This is the wind that stirs up a man's body. THIS REFERS TO THE FIRST KLIPAH, WHICH, IN EZEKIEL, IS CALLED "A STORM WIND" (YECHEZKEL 1:4), and this is the wind that Elijah subjugated and on which he ascended on high, as it is written: "And Elijah went up by a storm of wind into heaven" (II Melachim 2:11). And this WIND bangs against the lung, that imbibes all manner of drinks, concerning which is written: "And a wind from Elohim moved over the surface of the waters" (Beresheet 1:2). This is a Klipah of the Holy Spirit. To the left there is a storm wind. About them it is written: "A wise man's heart inclines him to his right hand: but a fool's heart to his left" (Kohelet 10:2).

268. David removed it, THE STORM WIND, from his heart and killed it, as it is written: "And my heart is wounded (Heb. chalal) within me" (Tehilim 109:22). THAT IS, HE REMOVED THE STORMY WIND AND REMAINED WITH AN EMPTY SPACE (HEB. CHALAL) IN THE HEART IN ITS STEAD. And for this reason, he was privileged that a north wind should blow, NAMELY THE ILLUMINATION OF CHOCHMAH FROM THE LEFT, on his lyre, WHICH IS MALCHUT, and about it is said: "Thus says Adonai Elohim: Come from the four winds, O breath (or: 'wind')" (Yechezkel 37:9). And it used to play through it four types of melody on the lyre: a simple song, which is THE SECRET OF Yud; a double song, which is THE SECRET OF Yud Hei; a triple song, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF Yud Hei Vav; and a quadruple song, which is THE SECRET OF THE FOUR LETTERS Yud Hei Vav Hei. These, TOGETHER, are ten letters, corresponding to which David composed ten types of psalm: 'HAPPY,' MASKIL, 'PSALM,' 'A WRIT.'.. And they amount to the 72 countenances, THAT IS 72 LIGHTS, as the numerical value of these ten letters OF THE FOURFOLD YUD HEI VAV HEI.

269. And when do they amount to 72 types of melody, THIS BEING THE SECRET OF THE FIRST THREE SFIROT OF THE 72-LETTER NAME? It is when the rule of iniquity, destruction, anger, and wrath passes, for in them does the storm wind beat, on the four sides, adding up to ten crowns, AS ABOVE, WITH THE FOUR LETTERS OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, IN THE DOUBLE, TRIPLE, AND QUADRUPLE SONG. THEY ARE TEN LETTERS ADDING UP TO THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF 72, AND THEY THEN SUBJUGATE 72 nations, WHICH ARE THE SEVENTY NATIONS, PLUS EDOM AND ISHMAEL, as it is written: "but when the wicked perish, there is jubilation" (Mishlei 11:10) SINCE, WHEN THE FOUR KLIPOT OF INIQUITY, DESTRUCTION, ANGER, AND WRATH PERISH, THE FIRST THREE SFIROT ARE REVEALED, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF JUBILATION, NAMELY 72 TYPES OF MELODY.

270. For Michael, Gabriel, Nuriel and Raphael, WHO ARE THE LIVING CREATURES OF THE CHARIOT, control man's four good elements, which are water, fire, wind and earth, WHICH ARE THE SECRET OF CHESED AND GVURAH, TIFERET AND MALCHUT, each one of them having four countenances: LION, OX, EAGLE, MAN. And iniquity, destruction, anger, and wrath come from white gall, which is the lung in which they make an adhesion, the red gall that is in the liver that turns red with Mars (Heb. Ma'adim, from 'red'); the green gall (Heb. marah) that is attached to the liver, which is the sword of the Angel of Death, about which it is said: "her end is bitter (Heb. marah) as wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword" (Mishlei 5:4); and the black gall which is Lilit, WHICH IS THE PLANET Saturn (Heb. shabtai), which is controlled by the spleen, which is melancholia, lower Sheol, poverty and darkness, weeping, mourning and starvation.

271. Immediately, when these FOUR Klipot move away from man, the Tree of Life takes control over him with 72 countenances OF THE ILLUMINATION OF MALCHUT, NAMELY, THE FOURFOLD YUD HEI VAV HEI THUS: Yud, Yud Hei, Yud Hei Vav, and Yud Hei Vav Hei, THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF WHICH IS 72. Thus there are ten LETTERS, coming from the four winds, which are THE FOUR LETTERS OF THE Yud Hei Vav Hei, about which it is said: "Thus says Adonai Elohim: Come from the four winds, O breath (Heb. ruach)." This is the spirit of the Messiah, about whom it is said: "And the spirit (Heb. ruach) of Hashem shall rest upon him" (Yeshayah 11:2), WHICH IS THE SPIRIT OF MALCHUT, when YUD HEI VAV HEI, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, blows in the right auricle of the heart, where Chochmah from the side of Chesed is, with which one who wants to gain wisdom will should turn south with wisdom. And Chesed blows in Binah, AND THEN IN ZEIR ANPIN, AND THEN IN MALCHUT. When IT BLOWS in Chochmah, it is Yud; when in Binah, Hei; when in Tiferet, Vav; and when in Malchut it is Hei. Yud Hei Vav Hei, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, knocks on all four OF THESE SFIROT AND BECOMES FOUR COMBINATIONS. WHEN BEATING IN CHOCHMAH, IT IS YUD; WHEN BEATING IN BINAH, YUD HEI; WHEN BEATING IN TIFERET, YUD HEI VAV; AND WHEN IN MALCHUT, YUD HEI VAV HEI, making a total of ten LETTERS, PARALLELING THE TEN SFIROT. AND THEIR NUMERICAL VALUE IS 72, WHICH IS CHOCHMAH, NAMELY the thought of the heart.

272. Yud-Vav-Dalet, Hei-Aleph, Vav-Aleph-Vav, Hei-Aleph HAS THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF 45, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, whose right is water, and is the great hand, NAMELY CHESED AND THE RIGHT COLUMN. Its left is fire, which is the strong hand, NAMELY GVURAH AND THE LEFT COLUMN. In the Central Column THAT IS BETWEEN THEM, it is the uplifted hand, NAMELY TIFERET, WHICH IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN, which is the Holy Spirit. And altogether it is the Son of Yud-Hei, FOR HE HAS THE MOCHIN OF THE FIRST THREE SFIROT FROM YUD-HEI.