First Chapter

1. HE ASKS: What is the Concealed Book? Rabbi Shimon said: There are five chapters, contained in a great chamber, which fill the entire earth. Rabbi Yehuda said: If these include THE ENTIRE WISDOM, THEN they are the best AND THERE IS NO NEED TO STUDY FURTHER. Rabbi Shimon said: This is true for one who has entered WISDOM and came out FROM IT IN PEACE. HE CAN SEE HERE THE INCORPORATION OF THE ENTIRE WISDOM, but it is not so for one who did not enter WISDOM and emerge FROM IT IN PEACE.

2. This is likened to a man who lived in the mountains and was not acquainted with the city inhabitants. He sowed wheat, and then he ate the wheat just as it was. One day, he came to the city, where he was served with good bread. That person said, 'What is this?' They answered him, 'This is bread to be eaten.' He ate and it was delicious to his palate. He said, 'What is this made from?' They said, 'It is made from wheat. Afterwards, they served him cookies mixed with oil. He tasted them. He asked, 'And what are these made from?' They answered, 'From wheat.' Afterwards, they offered him food fit for kings kneaded with oil and honey. He said, 'What are these made from?' They told him, 'From wheat'. He said, 'I certainly have all these, because I eat the essence of all these, which is wheat.' Because of this opinion, he did not learn how to make all these delicacies and he did not know of the delights of the world - thus, they were lost to him. It is also so with one who grasps the generality of wisdom, but does not know the delights and delicacies that derive from that generality.

3. We have learned that the Concealed Book is a book that weighs on scales, THAT IS, THE BOOK THAT SPEAKS OF THE WEIGHT OF THE LIGHTS ON SCALES IS CALLED 'THE CONCEALED BOOK', BECAUSE THE WISDOM IN THE SCALES ILLUMINATES FROM BELOW UPWARDS WHICH IS THE WAY OF CONCEALMENT. THIS IS THE SECRET OF, "BUT WITH THE LOWLY (ALSO: 'CONCEALED') IS WISDOM" (MISHLEI 11:2). Before there was a balance, THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT - WHICH IS THE SECRET OF MALE AND FEMALE - did not look AT EACH OTHER face to face. The ancient kings died and had no weapon, and the earth - WHICH IS THE SECRET OF MALCHUT - was made void.

4. Until the head, the most delectable of all delectations - WHICH IS THE HEAD OF THE NUKVA OF ATIK, CALLED 'THE UNKNOWN HEAD' - prepared precious garments and bequeathed THEM TO ALL.

5. These scales are hung in a place where they were not before, MEANING AT THE HEAD OF ATIK. In them were weighed those who had no WEAPONS - NAMELY, THE KINGS. BUT THE ESSENCE OF the scales lies in the body, MEANING THE CENTRAL COLUMN THAT IS TIFERET, WHERE JUDGMENT LIES. THIS JUDGMENT does not unite and is not visible IN THE SCALES. IN THESE SCALES, THE LIGHTS OF THE LEFT ascend FROM BELOW UPWARD, and in them rise those that were not, those that were, and those that will be.

6. Concealment was installed within concealment and settled in a skull, NAMELY, KETER OF ARICH ANPIN, full of crystal dew, WHICH IS CONCEALED CHOCHMAH OF ARICH ANPIN. The membrane of air THAT IS BETWEEN THE SKULL AND CONCEALED CHOCHMAH was purified and hidden. The HAIRS OF THE HEAD OF ARICH ANPIN THAT ARE CALLED 'pure wool' are on the scale. The Will of All Wills is revealed ON THE FOREHEAD OF ARICH ANPIN through the prayers of the lower beings. Supervision from the open EYE that never sleeps and guards constantly IS INSTALLED IN THE EYES OF ARICH ANPIN, and the supervision OF THE LOWER DEPENDS on this supernal supervision OF ARICH ANPIN. The royal viceroy has two nostrils - WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE NOSE that revives the spirit OF LIFE in everything.

7. "In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth" (Beresheet 1:1). These are six WORDS, CORRESPONDING TO CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD, and "In the beginning," WHICH IS BINAH, is above them. All of them are below, IN BINAH AND IN ZEIR ANPIN, and are suspended AND COME DOWN from the seven features of the Skull. THEY SPREAD to the most precious, THE THIRTEEN FEATURES OF THE BEARD OF ARICH ANPIN, FROM WHICH IS INFERRED THE SECOND VERSE, NAMELY, "WAS WITHOUT FORM AND VOID..." (IBID. 2), WHICH CONTAINS THIRTEEN WORDS AS SHALL BE EXPLAINED. The second OCCURRENCE OF "the earth" - THE WORD "EARTH" WITH WHICH THE SECOND VERSE STARTS - is not counted AMONG THESE THIRTEEN WORDS, as we learned, because it emerged from the earth that was damaged ON ACCOUNT OF THE SIN OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, FOR MALCHUT OF THE ATTRIBUTE OF HARSH JUDGMENT WAS MIXED IN IT, as it is written, "because of the ground which Hashem has cursed" (Beresheet 5:29). THEREFORE, IT IS NOT COUNTED WITH THE THIRTEEN AND THEY START WITH THE WORD "WAS" - "was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and a wind from Elohim moved over the surface of the waters..." WHICH ARE THIRTEEN WORDS. AND THESE thirteen words are derived from the thirteen features of the most precious, WHICH IS THE BEARD OF ARICH ANPIN, WHICH ARE EXPLAINED LATER.

8. The 6,000 years THAT THE WORLD EXISTS derive AND EXPAND from the first six WORDS, WHICH ARE: "CREATED... ELOHIM...THE...HEAVEN ...AND...EARTH." The seventh, WHICH IS BINAH, is above them and alone is strengthened, NAMELY THE WORD, "IN THE BEGINNING" THAT PRECEDED THEM. Everything was destroyed in twelve hours, as written, "was without form and void..." The thirteenth will be established BY THOSE TWELVE HOURS with mercy, and they are renewed as before. These six will arise AGAIN, because it is written, "created" and afterwards, it is written, "was," WHICH IMPLIES THAT NOW IT IS NOT ANYMORE. This is because it certainly was DURING THE 6,000 YEARS and in the end, DURING THE SEVENTH MILLENNIUM, it is "without form and void, and darkness..." BECAUSE IT WAS DESTROYED. THIS IS THE MEANING OF, "And Hashem alone shall be exalted on that day" (Yeshayah 2:11), NAMELY DURING THE SEVENTH MILLENNIUM.

9. The imprints of the engravings look like a long snake, which extends this way and that, so the tail is at the head and the head joins the shoulders. It passes and it is wrathful, it guards and conceals. Once in a thousand small days is providence revealed through its doings. The fin UPON WHICH THE WORLD IS SITUATED IS in its lot. Its head is broken in the waters of the Great Sea, as is written: "You did break the heads of the sea serpents (Heb. taninim) in the waters" (Tehilim 74:13). There were two but one returned, for 'Taninim' is spelled without Yud, WHICH IS THE MARK OF PLURAL. EVEN THOUGH IT IS SPELLED "HEADS", IT IS SINGULAR, as is written, "And over the heads (Heb. rashei) of the living creature was the likeness of a firmament" (Yechezkel 1:22). IT SAYS 'RASHEI' WITH A YUD EVEN THOUGH IT WAS THE HEAD OF A SINGLE CREATURE. HERE ALSO ABOUT THE SEA SERPENT, EVEN THOUGH IT SAYS HEADS IT REALLY MEANS THE HEAD OF ONE SERPENT.

10. "And Elohim said, Let there be (Heb. yehi) light; and there was (Heb. vayehi) light" (Beresheet 1:3). This is similar to, "For He spoke, and it was (Heb. vayehi)" (Tehilim 33:9). THE WORD "AND IT WAS" IS COUPLED BY SAYING TO SHOW THAT "VAYEHI" is by itself AND THE WORD "YEHI (LIT. 'LIGHT')" IS BY ITSELF, BECAUSE YEHI IS ABA AND RIGHT COLUMN, AND VAYEHI IS IMA AND LEFT COLUMN. Later RIGHT AND LEFT became one again THROUGH THE CENTRAL COLUMN, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF ZEIR ANPIN THAT RECONCILED THEM. YEHI (YUD-HEI-YUD) AND VAYEHI (VAV-YUD-HEI-YUD) UNITED AND FROM THEM WAS MADE THE PERMUTATION Yud Hei Vav Yud, BECAUSE IDENTICAL LETTERS ARE NOT COUNTED TWICE. Yud Hei Vav ARE THE SECRET OF ABA AND IMA AND ZEIR ANPIN THAT RECONCILES AND UNITES THEM. The last Yud OF YUD HEI VAV YUD is the lower Shechinah like Hei IS the Shechinah and they are weighed in the same scales.

11. "And the living creatures ran and returned" (Yechezkel 1:14), resembles, "And Elohim saw the light, that it was good" (Beresheet 1:4). THIS IS THE MEANING OF, "Say of the righteous, that it shall be well (or: 'good') with him" (Yeshayah 3:10). This verse, "AND ELOHIM SAW THE LIGHT THAT IT WAS GOOD" goes up on the scales. But in the first verse, "LET THERE BE LIGHT; AND THERE WAS LIGHT," THE RIGHT AND LEFT were separate, but now they all became one again AFTERWARDS THROUGH THE CENTRAL COLUMN. The sister, WHICH IS CHOCHMAH, and kinswoman, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF BINAH, THAT ARE ALLUDED TO IN, "LET THERE BE LIGHT; AND THERE WAS LIGHT," AS MENTIONED ABOVE, have been included through it, each with the other in the secret of Yud Hei, WHICH IS CHOCHMAH AND BINAH. They are beloved and embracing crowns. THE REASON THAT CHOCHMAH AND BINAH ARE CALLED 'SISTER AND KINSWOMAN' IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VERSE, "SAY TO WISDOM, YOU ARE MY SISTER, AND CALL UNDERSTANDING YOUR KINSWOMAN" (MISHLEI 7:4).

12. Six SFIROT - CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD - come out from the branch of the root of the body, which is a tongue that speaks great things. This tongue is concealed between Yud Vav Dalet and Hei Aleph, WHICH ARE CHOCHMAH AND BINAH, AS WRITTEN, "One shall say, I am Hashem's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand to Hashem, and surname himself by the name of Yisrael" (Yeshayah 44:5), actually surname himself. "One shall say, I am Hashem's" - this is the sister, NAMELY CHOCHMAH, WHICH IS FORBIDDEN (FOR INTERCOURSE) LIKE A SISTER, BECAUSE IT IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE. "AND ANOTHER SHALL CALL HIMSELF BY THE NAME OF JACOB" - THIS IS THE KINSWOMAN, WHICH IS BINAH, WHEREIN THE ILLUMINATION OF CHOCHMAH BEGINS. THEREFORE, IT SAYS "BY THE NAME OF JACOB," BECAUSE NAME DENOTES COMPREHENSION, "AND ANOTHER SHALL SUBSCRIBE WITH HIS HAND TO HASHEM" IS DA'AT. "AND SURNAME HIMSELF BY THE NAME OF YISRAEL" IS THE SPREADING OF DA'AT TO ZEIR ANPIN, AND THEN ZEIR ANPIN IS CALLED 'YISRAEL', MEANING ACTUALLY SURNAME AS MENTIONED. It is all expressed in Yud Hei Vav, NAMELY IN CHOCHMAH, BINAH AND DA'AT. All THOSE THREE - CHOCHMAH, BINAH AND DA'AT - are included in the secret tongue in Ima, FOR DA'AT THAT MEDIATES BETWEEN THE TWO COLUMNS, CHOCHMAH AND BINAH THAT ARE IN IMA, INCLUDES WITHIN ITSELF CHOCHMAH, BINAH AND DA'AT, because she was opened by it and it emerges from her. Aba sits at the head, Ima in the center, and is covered from this way and that way. Woe to the one who uncovers their nakedness.

13. "And Elohim said, Let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven" (Beresheet 1:14). THIS INDICATES THAT the Male, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, shall rule over the Female, WHICH IS MALCHUT. THEREFORE, THE MALE IS CALLED 'THE GREAT LUMINARY' AND THE FEMALE, 'THE SMALL LUMINARY', as is written, "And the righteous is an everlasting foundation (or: 'the foundation of the world')" (Mishlei 10:25). THE RIGHTEOUS, WHO IS YESOD (LIT. 'FOUNDATION') OF ZEIR ANPIN, IS YESOD OF MALCHUT THAT IS CALLED 'WORLD'. IT IS IMPLIED THAT THE WORLD WOULD NOT EXIST WERE IT NOT FOR THE RIGHTEOUS, AND THEREFORE HE RULES OVER IT. AND HE EXPLAINS WHY IT IS SO, SAYING, Yud, WHICH IS CHOCHMAH AND SUPERNAL ABA AND IMA, illuminated both HEIS, and illuminated and impregnated THE FIRST HEI WITH the Female. Then Yud unified within itself, SEPARATING FROM THE HEI, ascended in its levels high up and the Nukva became dark. Ima shone and opened her gates. Then came the Key that included six SFIROT, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, that covered the entrance OF IMA and joined below with the one and the other, MEANING WITH BOTH THE NUKVA AND WITH IMA. Woe to him who exposes the entrance.