262. Rabbi Aba opened the discussion saying, "... that they bring Me an offering, of every man... " (Shemot 25:2). When the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses the construction of the tabernacle, he found it difficult and could not grasp it, as we have already established. Now we can ask here if this offering, WHICH IS MALCHUT, was given by the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses alone, how could He give it to another? How could He say that the children of Yisrael should take this offering?
263. HE ANSWERS, Surely that He gave it to Moses and did not give it to another. THIS IS LIKE a king who was among his people, but the queen was not with the king. As long as the queen was not with the king, the people were not certain THAT HE WOULD REMAIN WITH THEM. They did not sit securely, but all the people rejoice and sit securely when the queen arrives. Thus, in the beginning, even though the Holy One, blessed be He, performed for them miracles and wonders through Moses, the people were still not certain THAT THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, WOULD REMAIN WITH THEM. When the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "... that they bring Me an offering" and "I will set My tabernacle among you" (Vayikra 26:11), they are immediately certain THAT THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, WOULD BE WITH THEM. So they rejoiced in the service of the Holy One, blessed be He. This is what is meant by, "And it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished (Heb. kalot)" (Bemidbar 7:1), that Moses' kalah (Eng. 'bride') descended to the earth. THEREFORE, KALOT IS SPELLED WITHOUT VAV TO POINT OUT THE SUPERNAL BRIDE, WHO IS MALCHUT, WHO DESCENDED TO EARTH TO DWELL IN YISRAEL.
264. If you ask, anytime it is written, "And it came to pass," it is an expression of pain and here it is written, "And it came to pass on the day." HE ANSWERS, On that day that the Shechinah descended to the earth, there appeared an accuser, and She was covered with darkness to prevent Her from descending. We learned that fifteen million accusing angels gathered against Her in order to stop Her descent.
265. At that time, all the groups of the supernal angels were gathered before the Holy One, blessed be He. They said before Him, 'Master of the Universe, all our brilliance and all our light is in the Shechinah of Your glory. Now You are going to descend to those below'-MEANING THAT THE LIGHT OF CHOCHMAH IN HER WILL SPREAD FROM ABOVE DOWNWARDS, AND THEN HER LIGHT WILL BECOME DARK. At that moment, the Shechinah became strengthened, MEANING THAT SHE BECAME UNITED WITH ZEIR ANPIN AND INCLUDED IN HIS DECISION, SO THAT THE BRILLIANCE OF THE LEFT WILL ALWAYS ILLUMINATE ONLY FROM BELOW UPWARDS. Then She broke the darkness and gloom as one breaks strong spears, MEANING THE GREAT DEMONS, and descended to earth. As soon as they saw this, they started saying, "Hashem our lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth" (Tehilim 8:2). Assuredly, it is majestic, for She broke many strong spears and forces, descended to the earth and dominated everything. It is written, "And it came to pass," which POINTS OUT the pain that many hosts and camps of angels suffered on the day that Moses' bride descended to the earth.
266. Therefore, it is written, "... that they bring Me an offering." It is not written, '... that they bring Me and an offering' but rather "that they bring Me an offering" to show that it is all one without separation, THAT THE SHECHINAH CALLED 'OFFERING' IS ONE WITH 'ME' WITHOUT SEPARATION. The work of the tabernacle is in the likeness of above, one corresponding to the other, in order to include the Shechinah in all the sides, above and below. Here in the world, the work OF THE TABERNACLE is like the work of the body, THAT IT SHOULD BE SUITABLE to include the spirit within it. This is the Shechinah that is included above and below, and She is the Holy Spirit.
267. THE SHECHINAH is always drawn and enters the secret of the body, WHICH IS THE TABERNACLE, so that the brain should dwell in the shell, FOR THE TABERNACLE AND ITS VESSELS ARE LIKE A SHELL TO THE SHECHINAH, WHICH IS THE BRAIN. Everything is as is befitting. This Holy Spirit, NAMELY THE SHECHINAH, is fashioned in the body so that it should include within itself another high, delicate spirit that illuminates, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN THAT IS ATTIRED IN THE SHECHINAH. Everything is tied and included one within the other, and they enter one into the other until they unite and become attired in this world, which is the last peel on the exterior.
268. The strong Klipah OF IMPURITY is within the Klipah of this world. Just as in a nut, the external shell is not hard, NAMELY THE GREEN SHELL THAT IS ON THE NUT WHICH IS SOFT. The more inner shell is a strong shell HARD AS WOOD, SO THE GLOBE OF THE EARTH ITSELF IS A LIGHT SHELL AND THE SHELL THAT IS WITHIN IT IS HARD. It is also so above, in that the strong Klipah is another spirit that dominates the body. More inside there is a soft Klipah and even more inside there is the brain, WHICH IS THE SHECHINAH, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE NEFESH. AND WITHIN IT IS ZEIR ANPIN, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE RUACH, AS MENTIONED ABOVE.