19. "That they bring Me an offering... " (Shemot 25:2): Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Elazar, Rabbi Aba, and Rabbi Yosi were sitting one day under some trees in the valley next to the Sea of Genosar, THAT IS, THE SEA OF GALILEE. Rabbi Shimon said, How pleasant is this shade from the trees that covers us, and we are obliged to adorn this place with the words of Torah.
20. Rabbi Shimon opened the discussion saying, "King Solomon made himself a palanquin from the woods of Lebanon" (Shir Hashirim 3:9). We have established and learned this passage. Still, palanquin is the lower chamber, MALCHUT, which is similar to the upper chamber, BINAH. The Holy One, blessed be He, called it the Garden of Eden, which He plants for His pleasure, and His desire is to amuse Himself in it with the souls of the righteous, for they all stand there and are recorded there. The souls that do not have a body in this world all ascend and are crowned there. They have places to see and to delight in the supernal delight that is called the pleasantness of Hashem, and there they are filled with all the delights of the river of the pure balsam tree.
21. The balsam tree is the upper chamber, which is covered and hidden, WHICH IS BINAH. The palanquin is the lower chamber, MALCHUT, which has no support (Heb. somech) until it is supported from the upper chamber. Therefore, the letter Samech is closed on all sides, like a square. It is a closed letter.
22. What is the difference BETWEEN THE BALSAM TREE AND THE PALANQUIN? When the supernal light above is hidden and concealed in it, BINAH assumes in the form of the letter Samech, IN WHICH THE LIGHT is concealed. It is hidden in it in order to ascend above. When she returns and settles, she sits over her children below to nurse them. Then it dons the form of the letter final Mem, which lies and is closed to all four directions of the world, WHICH ARE CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, AND MALCHUT, FOR CHESED AND GVURAH ARE SOUTH AND NORTH AND TIFERET AND MALCHUT ARE EAST AND WEST.
23. Hence, one is a balsam tree and the other a palanquin, BECAUSE A PALANQUIN (HEB. APIRION), WHICH IS MALCHUT, IS PERFECTED SIMILAR TO THE BALSAM TREE (HEB. APHARSEMON), WHICH IS BINAH, AND THEY HAVE THE SAME FORM instead of the two letters, Samech and final Mem, THAT ARE IN APHARSEMON, there is a Yud IN APIRION, in the secret of the Covenant, and it will eventually receive all FROM THE SAMECH (= 60) AND FINAL MEM (= 40), which is the secret of the one hundred blessings. Samech and final Mem ARE sixty and forty, with sixty corresponding to the six corners that emerge from the Samech and forty corresponding to the four directions of the world. The letter Yud OF APIRION ALSO completes the secret of one hundred, THAT IS, YUD (= 10) SFIROT, EACH COMPOSED OF TEN - like the supernal SAMECH AND FINAL MEM IN APHARSEMON - WHICH IS BINAH. Therefore, one is apharsemon and the other an apirion, AND THEIR FORMS ARE EQUAL!
24. They are the rivers that emerge from that balsam, and the supernal souls that do not have a body in this world nurse from the light that emerges from the pure balsam and delight in this supernal delight. The souls that have a body in this world ascend and nurse from this palanquin and descend. These give and take, giving the fragrance from those good deeds in which they endeavored in this world and taking from that fragrance that remained in the Garden of Eden, as it is written, "Like the smell of a field which Hashem has blessed" (Beresheet 27:27), meaning the fragrance that remained in that field. They all stand in that Garden. Those THAT DO NOT HAVE A BODY IN THIS WORLD delight above IN THE BALSAM WHICH IS BINAH IN THE GARDEN, and those THAT HAVE A BODY IN THIS WORLD, delight below IN THE PALANQUIN, WHICH IS MALCHUT IN THE GARDEN.
25. "King Solomon made himself," for his own benefit. HE QUESTIONS, The souls of the pious delight with it, yet you say "made himself?" HE ANSWERS, It is certainly so, because this palanquin and these souls of the righteous all exist so that the Holy One, blessed be He, can amuse Himself with them, SO WE SEE THAT HE MADE IT FOR HIMSELF. "King Solomon" (Heb. Shlomo) is the King that the peace (Heb. shalom) is His, namely the supernal King, ZEIR ANPIN. 'The King' without attributes refers to Messiah, WHICH IS MALCHUT. The one is the male world and the other the female world. "From the woods of Lebanon:" THESE ARE the trees and plants that the Holy One, blessed be He, uprooted and planted in a different place. THEY ARE THE SEVEN SFIROT OF MALE AND FEMALE THAT WERE IN MALCHUT WITH THE QUALITY OF JUDGMENT, WHICH HE UPROOTED AND REPLANTED IN BINAH, IN THE SECRET OF MALCHUT OF THE QUALITY OF MERCY. These are called the cedars of Lebanon, as it is written, "The cedars of Lebanon that He planted" (Tehilim 104:16). This palanquin was built and completed with them alone.