Third Chapter

33. Third Chapter. Nine precious features were granted to the beard. Everything that is hidden and not revealed is lofty and precious. THE BEARD was concealed in the Scriptures, FOR THERE IS NO MENTION OF THE BEARD SUCH AS, "THE EYES OF HASHEM," "THE EARS OF HASHEM" AND "HIS CHEEKS ARE LIKE A BED OF SPICES" (SHIR HASHIRIM 5:13). BUT THERE IS NO MENTION OF THE BEARD, AND THAT IS BECAUSE IT IS LOFTY AND PRECIOUS.

34. The first feature of the beard: Hairs upon hairs EMERGE from before the opening of the ears to the top of the mouth, MEANING THE UPPER LIP. THE SECOND FEATURE: It is from this top OF THE LIP to the other top OF THE LIP. THE THIRD FEATURE: THERE IS a path below the two nostrils OF THE NOSE so full OF HAIR that it is invisible. THE FOURTH FEATURE: The cheeks are covered WITH HAIR on one side and the other side. THE FIFTH FEATURE: In them TWO apples OF THE FACE are seen, red as a rose. THE SIXTH FEATURE: on one thread hangs coarse black HAIR down to the chest. THE SEVENTH FEATURE: The lips are free OF HAIR and are as red as a rose.

35. THE EIGHTH FEATURE: Short HAIRS travel down the neck and cover the nape. THE NINTH FEATURE: HAIRS both long and short, HARD as sinews descend equally, MEANING THAT THEY EQUALLY MINGLE WITH EACH OTHER. One who has these nine features is mighty and strong, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN.

36. It is written, "Out of my distress I called on Yah" (Tehilim 118:5). David recited nine clauses until "all nations compassed me about" (Ibid. 10), in order to surround HIMSELF WITH THEM and protect himself. THEY CORRESPOND TO THE NINE FEATURES OF THE BEARD OF ZEIR ANPIN. 1. "OUT OF MY DISTRESS I CALLED ON YAH." 2. "YAH ANSWERED ME WITH LIBERATION." 3. "HASHEM IS ON MY SIDE, I WILL NOT FEAR." 4. "HASHEM TAKES MY PART WITH THOSE WHO HELP ME." 5. "IT IS BETTER TO TAKE REFUGE IN HASHEM." 6. A SECOND "IT IS BETTER TO TAKE REFUGE IN HASHEM." TOGETHER WITH THE THREE TIMES 'MAN' IS MENTIONED, WHICH ALLUDE TO THREE FEATURES, THEY ARE NINE, AND THESE NINE FEATURES ARE IN THE SECRET OF THE VERSE, "And the earth, brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree, yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind" (Beresheet 1:12). These nine FEATURES OF THE BEARD were uprooted from a whole name, NAMELY FROM THE THIRTEEN FEATURES OF THE BEARD OF ARICH ANPIN, AND CAME TO ZEIR ANPIN. Afterwards, they were AGAIN planted in a complete name, as is said, "And Hashem Elohim planted", WHICH IS THE FULL NAME OF ATIK AND ZEIR ANPIN. There are thirteen features of the Beard in the supernal one, NAMELY ARICH ANPIN. The lower, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, appears in nine features OF THE BEARD, AND THIRTEEN PLUS NINE EQUALS 22. These are the 22 letters that were engraved through them.

37. Therefore, IF ONE SEES IN a dream that he was holding in his hand the beard of an important man, then he is at peace with his Master and his enemies shall be subdued under him. The upper Beard, OF ARICH ANPIN, that illuminates to the lower BEARD OF ZEIR ANPIN is more so, because the upper Beard is called 'abundant in Chesed', while in Zeir Anpin it is CALLED plain 'Chesed'. When he needs light, the upper Beard then illuminates and HE TOO is called abundant in Chesed.

38. "And Elohim said, Let the waters swarm abundantly with moving creatures that have life (Heb. nefesh chayah)" (Beresheet 1:20), meaning Chai (lit. 'living') Yud Hei, BECAUSE CHAYAH INCLUDES THE LETTERS OF CHAI AND YUD HEI. CHAI IS YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, YUD HEI ARE ABA AND IMA, AND "LET THE WATERS SWARM" MEANS THAT the light of one should spread into the other, MEANING THAT THE LIGHT OF YUD HEI WILL SPREAD INTO CHAI, YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN. THUS LIVING NEFESH WILL EMERGE, WHICH ARE THE NUKVA AND ALSO THE NEFESH OF ADAM. Everything swarmed at the same time, both good waters OF HOLINESS and evil waters OF THE OTHER SIDE. Once He said, "Let the waters swarm", they were intermingled and a supernal living creature (Heb. chayah), NAMELY THE NUKVA, a lower living creature, NAMELY THE NEFESH OF ADAM, a good living creature, WHICH IS THE NUKVA, and an evil living creature, WHICH IS LILIT, came out. FOR "LIVING CREATURE THAT MOVES" (IBID. 21) IS LILIT, AS MENTIONED ABOVE.

39. According to another explanation, "Let the waters swarm," is translated into Aramaic as 'move', meaning that his lips move with words of prayer purely and with a clear mind. The living Nefesh moves in CLEANSING AND PURIFYING waters, for when a person wishes to set out his prayer to his Master, his lips move thus: from below upwards, in order to elevate the glory of his Master to the place of the water source of the deep well, WHICH IS BINAH. Later, it will flow and draw from above downwards, from that water source of the river, WHICH IS BINAH, to each and every grade down to the last grade, WHICH IS MALCHUT, so that it may draw willingly for everyone from above downwards. Afterwards, He has to connect everything, NAMELY TO UNITE ALL THE GRADES IN BLESSED ENDLESS LIGHT, in a connection of devotion of Faith; and so all his requests, individual and communal, will be fulfilled.

40. The prayer in which a person asks of his Master is arranged in nine ways: 1) THE PRAYER is ARRANGED ACCORDING to the alphabet. 2) It is ARRANGED by mentioning the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He: Merciful, Kind, etc. 3) It is ARRANGED by the precious names of the Holy One, blessed be He, namely, Eheyeh, Yah, Yud Hei Vav, El, Elohim, Yud Hei Vav Hei, Tzva'ot, Shadai, Adonai. 4) It is ARRANGED according to the ten Sfirot, which are Malchut, Yesod, Hod, Netzach, Tiferet, Gvurah, Chesed, Binah, Chochmah, Keter. 5) There is mentioning of the righteous, namely the patriarchs, the prophets and the kings. 6) It includes hymns and praises that have true acceptance. 7) And above all that, one who knows how to prepare corrections for his Master properly. 8) There is knowledge of how to raise from below upwards. 9) And there is one who knows how to draw plenty from above downwards.

41. In all these nine manners OF PRAYER, great attention is necessary. If not, it is said about him, "and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed" (I Shmuel 2:30). And on meditating on answering Amen, ONE HAS TO DIRECT HIS THOUGHT that he is combining the two names Yud Hei Vav Hei Adonai, WHOSE NUMERICAL VALUE IS 91 AS IS THAT OF AMEN. And one NAME, WHICH IS YUD HEI VAV HEI, ZEIR ANPIN, hides its goodness and blessings in the treasury called 'sanctuary', WHICH IS ADONAI, MALCHUT. This is alluded to in the passage, "But Hashem is in His Temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Chavakuk 2:20). To this the sages alluded, 'All the goodness of man lies in his house', BECAUSE THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF MAN (HEB. ADAM) IS 45, THAT OF THE NAME OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, FULLY SPELLED WITH ALEPH, AND ALL HIS GOODNESS IN HIS HOUSE, WHICH IS ADONAI, MALCHUT, as is said, "In all My house he is trusted" (Bemidbar 12:7), which is translated into Aramaic as, "in all My people," MEANING MALCHUT.

42. If one meditates on each of the nine manners OF PRAYER, such is a person who honors the name of his Master, His Holy Name. Of this, it is written, "for them that honor Me will I honor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed." I shall honor him in this world to fulfill and maintain all his needs. All the nations of the world will see that he is named after Yud Hei Vav Hei, and they will fear him. In the World to Come, he shall stand in the proximity of the pious, MEANING IN THE SECTION OF THE PIOUS, even if he did not study the Torah as much as necessary, since he merited to behold the knowledge of his Master and had the proper intention.

43. What is the meaning of, "and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed"? This refers to one who does not know how to unify the Holy Name or tie the bond of Faith, and cause a flowing to the place that needs it and to honor his Master's name. It were better had he not been created, especially one who does not have proper meditation on Amen. For it is written of everyone who moves his lips with a clean heart and with cleansing waters, "And Elohim said, Let us make man" (Beresheet 1:26). This relates to a person who knows how to properly unite image and likeness, WHICH ARE ZEIR ANPIN THAT IS CALLED 'IMAGE' AND THE NUKVA THAT IS CALLED 'LIKENESS'. "and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea." (End of the other explanation from verse 39).

44. "And Elohim said, Let us make man." It is not written, 'The man', WHICH WOULD HAVE IMPLIED ONLY THE FIRST MAN, but man in general, MEANING in order to bring forth AND PERFECT ALSO supernal man, THAT IS, MALE AND FEMALE THAT ARE CALLED 'MAN' that is made now with a whole name, YUD HEI VAV HEI ELOHIM. For when the one is completed, then the other is completed, MEANING THAT WHEN THE LOWER MAN IS COMPLETED THE UPPER MAN IS COMPLETED. He is perfected with male and female, so as to complete everything. Yud Hei Vav Hei is CALLED 'the aspect of male', WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, Elohim is CALLED 'the female aspect', WHICH IS MALCHUT, IN SUCH A WAY THAT YUD HEI VAV HEI ELOHIM IS A FULL NAME. The male, ZEIR ANPIN, expands and is built with his implements like Ima at the mouth of the penis, MEANING WITH THE CORONA OF YESOD. The SEVEN kings that were gone exist here, THROUGH YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, WHICH IS THE CENTRAL COLUMN.

45. THE MALE IS THE SECRET OF THE RIGHT COLUMN, WHICH IS MAINLY OF CHASSADIM. THEREFORE, Judgments of the male are strong at the beginning, and are benign at the end. It is the opposite by the female, SINCE SHE IS OF THE LEFT COLUMN IN THE ASPECT OF CHOCHMAH WITHOUT CHASSADIM, WHICH IS DARKNESS THAT DOESN'T ILLUMINATE, and fifteen hard judgments of smoke are submerged in her lap. There is a small Yud in her, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF LOWER CHOCHMAH THAT IS CALLED 'YUD', WHICH, BEING MALCHUT, IS SMALL.

46. Atika wanted to see if the Judgments OF THE NUKVA were mollified, ADAM AND HIS WIFE JOINED TOGETHER. The serpent came upon Eve WITH THE TEMPTATION OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL. A nest of filth was formed in her, IN THE FEMALE, and became the dwelling place of evil, for it is written, "And she conceived, and bore Cain" (Beresheet 4:1), WHICH MEANS a nest (Heb. ken) and dwelling place of storms, demons and evil spirits.

47. He prepared crowns in this man, in general and in particular. They were included in the particular and in the general, NAMELY the legs and arms, which are right and left, MEANING GENERAL AND PARTICULAR IN THE ARMS, AND PARTICULAR AND GENERAL IN THE LEGS.

48. When THE CENTRAL COLUMN divides to its sides, NAMELY TO THE RIGHT SIDE AND TO THE LEFT SIDE, male and female are formed by THE SECRET OF Yud Hei Vav, for Yud, WHICH IS THE RIGHT SIDE, is male and Hei, WHICH IS THE LEFT SIDE, is female. OF Vav it is written, "male and female He created them. And Elohim blessed them" (Beresheet 1:27-28). And he called their name 'Adam', so that the image and face of Adam sits on the throne THAT IS THE NUKVA, as is written, "And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it" (Yechezkel 1:26). THUS VAV INCLUDES MALE AND FEMALE TOGETHER, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SECRET OF MAN SITTING UPON THE THRONE.