Man, person

106. We learned that man has names in different stages, FOR HE IS CALLED Adam (man), Gever (male man), Enosh (human), Ish (person). The greatest is Adam, as it is written, "So Elohim created man (Heb. adam) in His own image" (Beresheet 1:27), and, "for in the image of Elohim made He man (Heb. adam)" (Beresheet 9:6), instead of using Gever, Enosh or Ish. Rabbi Yehuda said, In that case, it is written, "If any man (Heb. adam) of you bring an offering to Hashem" (Vayikra 1:2). Who needs to bring an offering? Only whoever sins WHO IS OF A LESSER LEVEL. Nevertheless it is written, Adam.

107. Rabbi Yitzchak said, Come and see, the mainstay of the world, of the upper and lower beings, is the sacrifice, which pleases the Holy One, blessed be He. Who is worthy of offering before Him this pleasure? It is Adam, the most precious, WHICH MEANS IT IS HIGHER THAN THE OTHER THREE. He said to him, In that case it is written, "When a man (Heb. adam) shall have in the skin of his flesh... and it be in the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy" (Vayikra 13:2), YET THE NAME ADAM IS USED. He said to him, For this reason the Holy One, blessed be He, has to purify him more than anyone ELSE, for whoever is on a superior level, THAT IS, THE ONE CALLED ADAM, must not be that way UNPURIFIED.

108. For this reason it is written of Adam, "He shall be brought to the priest" (Vayikra 14:2). It is not written that he came TO THE PRIEST, but that he was brought, WHICH INDICATES that whoever sees him has to sacrifice him before the priest, so the holy form OF ADAM will not stay that way. It is also written, "If a man (Heb. ish) or a woman has a plague..." (Vayikra 13:29), and, "If a man (Heb. ish) or a woman has in the skin of their flesh bright white spots" (Ibid. 38). Of them it does not say, "He shall be brought," BUT IN RELATION TO ADAM ONLY, BECAUSE OF HIS VALUE.

109. He said to him, Yet it is written, "Now the man (Heb. ish) Moses" (Bemidbar 12:3), and, "as for this Moses, the man (Heb. ish)" (Shemot 32:23). He answered, This is because he was considered the servant of the King, as it is written, "My servant Moses is not so" (Bemidbar 12:7), and, "Moses My servant" (Yehoshua 1:2). IN THE SAME WAY is Ish in relation to supernal Adam, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, FULLY SPELLED WITH ALEPHS, WHICH AMOUNTS TO 'ADAM.' He said to him, If that is so, why then it is written, "Hashem is a man (Heb. ish) of war" (Shemot 15:3), instead of Adam? He said to him, "The counsel of Hashem is with them that fear Him" (Tehilim 25:14). He said to him, In that case, I dwell among them, WHICH MEANS THAT HE TOO IS ONE OF THOSE THAT FEAR HASHEM, yet I have not had the merit TO UNDERSTAND this paragraph.

110. He said to him, Go to Rabbi Aba, since I learned from him but not in order to reveal. He went to Rabbi Aba and found him discoursing on the matter of when it is considered overall perfection - when the Holy One, blessed be He, sits on the throne, MALCHUT. Before He sits on the throne, BEFORE HE UNITES WITH MALCHUT, there is no perfection, as it is written, "and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man (Adam) above upon it" (Yechezkel 1:26). The use of the word Adam WHEN HE SITS ON THE THRONE means HE IS IN PERFECTION, SINCE THE NAME ADAM includes THE FOUR FACES OF THE CHARIOT, AS IT IS WRITTEN, "AS FOR THE LIKENESS OF THEIR FACES, THEY HAD THE FACE OF A MAN" (IBID. 10), which is perfection in every way. Rabbi Yehuda said TO HIM, Blessed be the Merciful that I have found you discoursing on it. He said to him, In that case, it is written, "Hashem is a man (Heb. ish) of war," instead of Adam. He said, This is a good question.

111. Come and see, there, ON THE SEA, there was no comprehensive perfection, BECAUSE HE EXECUTED JUSTICE ON EGYPT. Hence it is written Ish. But here, WHEN HE SITS UPON THE THRONE, there was comprehensive perfection, and the embodiment of everything. For this reason it is called Adam. RABBI YEHUDA recited over him, "The Torah of Your mouth is better to me than thousands in gold and silver" (Tehilim 119:72).

112. He said further, It is written, "man (Heb. adam) and beast" (Tehilim 36:7), and not, 'Ish and beast,' EVEN THOUGH THIS REFERS TO A LESSER DEGREE, SINCE IT LIKENS HIM TO A BEAST. He said to him, No, IT IS WRITTEN 'ISH' as it is written, "neither against man (Heb. ish) or beast" (Shemot 11:7). But the words "man (Heb. adam) and beast" are similar to, "from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that comes out of the wall" (I Melachim 5:13). For it is the style of the scripture to grasp the highest and lowliest. Here also, the highest is Adam and the lowest is the beast.

113. He said to him, Yet it is written, "and there was not a man (Heb. adam) to till the ground" (Beresheet 2:5). WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MENTIONING THE NAME ADAM? He said to him, Come and see, whatever is in the world was only for the sake of Adam, and everything exists for his sake. THEREFORE, they did not appear in the world and everything was held back, until the arrival of him that is called Adam. This is the meaning of, "And no plant of the field was yet in the earth" (Ibid.). "Yet" WAS TRANSLATED INTO 'not until,' since the supernal form CALLED ADAM did not appear. This is the meaning of, "and there was not a man (Heb. adam) to till the ground." This means that everything was held until that form appeared. For that reason, that form, ADAM, was created solely with the shape appropriate for it. This is the meaning of, "And Hashem Elohim formed man" (Beresheet 2:7) with a complete name, as we explained THAT THE NAME ADAM comprises comprehensive perfection and encompassing wholeness.

114. We learned that Adam was created on the sixth day, WHICH IS THE CHARIOT TO THE SUPERNAL MAN, ZEIR ANPIN, when the throne, WHICH IS MALCHUT, was completed, as it is written, "The throne had six steps" (I Melachim 10:19), WHICH ARE, CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD OF MALCHUT THAT IS CALLED THRONE. Therefore man was created on the sixth, WHEN THE SIX SFIROT, CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD, REACHED COMPLETION, for he, SUPERNAL MAN, is worthy of sitting on the throne. We learned that once Adam was created, everything was completed, all that is above, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT, and below, and all was included in Adam.

115. We learned: Rabbi Yosi said, It is written, "As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man," WHICH MEANS THAT THE FACE OF MAN comprehends everything, and all THE THREE FACES, LION, OX AND EAGLE, are part of this form OF THE FACE OF MAN. Rabbi Yehuda said, Yet it is written, "and they four had the face of a lion, on the right side. And they four had the face of an ox on the left side" (Yechezkel 1:10), SO THERE ARE ALSO THE FORMS OF A LION AND AN OX AS WELL. He said to him, They all had the face of a man, and in this form of man all the shades and forms were seen. As we learned, his face was the face of an eagle. Not that he is an eagle, but in the form of man THE FORM OF AN EAGLE could be seen, THOUGH ESSENTIALLY HE HAD THE FORM OF A MAN, since THE FACE OF MAN includes all aspects and shapes.

116. Rabbi Yitzchak said, Come and see, whatever is under the power of man (Heb. adam) is called Ish, since he was established after the manner of Adam on a different grade than the latter had before. For we learned according to a high mystery of the Concealed Book that when Adam was created, he descended in a holy supernal form and two spirits came down with him on two sides, on the right and left, WHICH ARE the whole of man. The right spirit is called holy Neshamah, as it is written, "and breathed into his nostrils the breath (Heb. Neshamah) of life" (Beresheet 2:7). The spirit on the left is called living Nefesh. It gradually descended from above down TO THE GARDEN OF EDEN. AND THE NESHAMAH ON THE RIGHT did not settle with the other ON THE LEFT, WHICH MEANS THAT HE SINNED BY THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL AND SEPARATED THE RIGHT FROM THE LEFT.

117. When Shabbat entered, and Adam had already sinned, creatures were formed from the left hand spirit, whose bodies were not completed, NAMELY DEMONS. They joined the body of Adam, the male and the female, EVE, and begot offspring in the world. They are called the plagues of men. We learned THAT THERE ARE supernal SPIRITS coming from those WHO WERE MADE FROM THE SPIRIT ON THE LEFT OF THE FIRST MAN. They are not attached below IN THIS WORLD, but are suspended in the air. They hear whatever they hear above, and from them other SPIRITS below IN THIS WORLD learn. THEY APPEAR TO PEOPLE IN THEIR DREAMS AND INFORM THEM.

118. We learned that 325 sparks come out of the hard spark. They are imprinted on and attached to the aspect of Gvurah and are called Gvurot. They converge and become one. When these enter the body, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN CALLED BODY, it is called Ish. This we learned, that there is a perfect and upright man (Heb. ish), and a righteous man (Heb. ish). BUT the Ish here is a man of war, as it is written, NAMELY, "HASHEM IS A MAN (HEB. ISH) OF WAR" (SHEMOT 15:3), since He consists entirely of Judgment, and this all means the same thing. Rabbi Yehuda said, Why DOES IT ALL MEAN THE SAME, SEEING THAT A PERFECT AND UPRIGHT ISH IS OF MERCY, WHILE ISH OF WAR IS JUDGMENT? He was unable TO ANSWER HIM. They came and asked Rabbi Shimon. He said to them, It is even more difficult. As we learned, it is written, "she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man (Heb. ish)" (Beresheet 2:23). We learned that Ish is Chesed, but you said here that he is Judgment.