791. And the sages of Kabbalah are the sages of the Talmud, and it is said about them: "and you shall teach them diligently (Heb. veshinantam)" (Devarim 6:7). And the sages of the Mishnah taught: Do not read veshinantam (lit. repeat them twice) but Veshilashtam (lit. repeat them thrice) namely, a third in the Torah, a third in the Mishnah, and a third in the Talmud. And the secret of the matter is: "If a bird's nest chance to be before you in the way" (Devarim 22:6): "in the way" refers to the sages of the Torah, "IN ANY TREE" TO THE SAGES OF THE MISHNAH, AND "OR ON THE GROUND" TO THE SAGES OF THE TALMUD, NAMELY, A THIRD IN TORAH, A THIRD IN MISHNAH, AND A THIRD IN TALMUD. AND ONE NEED NOT BE SURPRISED THAT THE SAGES CHANGED THE WORD VESHINANTAM INTO VESHILASHTAM, FOR ON THE VERSE "And you shall make a candlestick of pure gold" (Shemot 25:31), they taught: "And you shall make a candlestick " is a general proposition, "of gold" is a particular proposition, and "of beaten work" is a general proposition. And there are likewise a number of verses where the sages of the Mishnah expand or restrict THE MEANING, according to THE PRINCIPLES OF amplification and diminution, and there are also cases WHERE A LETTER is added, AS WHEN IT IS SAID: Do not read 'mah': (Eng. 'what' - Mem Hei) but 'me'ah' (Eng. 'one hundred' - Mem Aleph Hei). And so it is WHEN WE SAY: Do not read veshinantam but veshilashtam, and we deduce from this: a third in the Torah, a third in the Mishnah, and a third in the Talmud, as said in tractate Kidushin.
792. So, too: "And it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished (Heb. kalot)" (Bemidbar 7:1), which we interpret as though it were written the bride of (Heb. kalat) MOSES. And lest you think that we have this exegesis from them, namely, from THE LETTERS OF the alphabet IN THE WORD, WHERE 'KALOT' IS THE SAME AS 'KALAH', without themselves ADDING ANYTHING for it is not permitted to add or take away a letter from it, nor to substitute one letter for another. If this be so, then in the Torah it is written with the full spelling kalot: (Caf Lamed Vav Tav) WITH A VAV. Who, then, gave permission to take away one letter from it, namely the Vav AND TO INTERPRET IT as KALAT (CAF LAMED Tav)? There is here no case of exchanging in alphabet EXCHANGE, SUCH AS THE ATBASH CIPHER. BUT RATHER THE VAV HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE WORD, AND IT HAS BEEN EXPOUNDED AS CAF LAMED TAV, WRITTEN WITHOUT VAV. But certain words that are written in the abbreviated spelling ARE EXPOUNDED as though written out in full, and other WORDS that are written out in full are (expounded) as though written out in the abbreviated form. About these and about all sorts of explanations that can be made to embellish the bride, WHICH IS THE TORAH, in her ornaments, the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded us to do as they say, and to trust them, as it is written: "according to the sentence of the Torah which they shall teach you" (Devarim 17:11).
793. THE MATTER MAY BE LIKENED to a tailor who has cut cloth in order to make royal garments, and has made many pieces from them. Those who know the places where those pieces are missing AND ARE FAMILIAR WITH the pieces which remain will be able to make the garments, for the pieces that have been collected together are placed where they are missing, and pieces that are too small are added to. And this is the true meaning of the verse: "according to the sentence of the Torah which they shall teach you."
794. And you might well ask that, if this is so, what about the case where one of them occasionally makes a mistake and says: I recant. HE ANSWERS, before issuing instructions concerning that matter about which there is a difference of opinion, the one who poses the difficulty can say: I withdraw. For not all those who make the parts of a bride's ornaments know where each piece goes, until the ruling is made, AND PRIOR TO WHEN resolutions to the arguments of the Halachot have been given.
795. The candlestick has seven lights, WHICH ARE THE SECRET OF THE VERSE "and the seven maidens who were chosen to be given her, out of the king's house" (Ester 2:9), and they correspond to the three-headed Shin and the four-headed Shin, , of the Tefilin, NAMELY, TO THE SEVEN HEADS OF THE TWO SHINS TOGETHER. And these correspond to the seven blessings of the reading of Sh'ma, namely: In the morning two blessings are said before it and one after, and in the evening, two blessings are said before and two after. And subsequently THE PRECEPT IS WRITTEN that the High Priest at the Temple Service has to serve with the wings of the precept, namely bells and pomegranates, which are as the knots and links of the fringes and the plate WHICH IS AS the Tefilin. From that point on it is written: "And you shall make an altar for the burning of incense" (Shemot 30:1).