89. One night, Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Aba were in their lodgings in Lod. They awoke to study Torah. Rabbi Elazar opened the discussion saying, "Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart (Heb. levavecha), that Hashem He is Elohim" (Devarim 4:39). HE ASKS, This passage should have said, 'Know therefore this day, that Hashem He is Elohim' AND AT THE END, 'and consider it in your heart.' BECAUSE THE KNOWLEDGE THAT HASHEM IS ELOHIM PREPARES ONE TO CONSIDER IT IN THE HEART SO, AND IF HE HAS ALREADY CONSIDERED IT IN HIS HEART ONE MOST CERTAINLY HAS THE KNOWLEDGE. Also, it should have said 'libecha (heart, with one Bet)' NOT "LEVAVECHA (WITH TWO BET'S)."
90. HE ANSWERS, But Moses said, If you really want to understand this and know that Hashem is Elohim, then "consider it in your heart (Heb. levavcha)," and thus know it. For "levavcha" MEANS the Good Inclination and the Evil Inclination THAT DWELL IN THE HEART are included within one another and are one. "AND YOU SHALL LOVE HASHEM YOUR ELOHIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART (HEB. LEVAVCHA)" (DEVARIM 6:5), MEANING WITH BOTH YOUR INCLINATIONS, THE GOOD INCLINATION AND THE EVIL INCLINATION. THUS HE SHOULD CONVERT THE EVIL ATTRIBUTES OF THE EVIL INCLINATION TO BE GOOD, NAMELY TO SERVE HASHEM WITH THEM AND NOT SIN THROUGH THEM. THEN, CERTAINLY THERE IS NO MORE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GOOD INCLINATION AND THE EVIL INCLINATION, AND THEY ARE ONE. Then you will find that Hashem is Elohim. THE ATTRIBUTE OF JUDGMENT, WHICH IS CALLED ELOHIM, IS INCLUDED IN YUD HEI VAV HEI, WHICH IS THE ATTRIBUTE OF MERCY because they are included the one within the other, AS THE EVIL INCLINATION AND THE GOOD INCLINATION ARE COMBINED IN THE HEART, and they are one. SO IT CAN NOT BE KNOWN THAT HASHEM IS ELOHIM EXCEPT THROUGH CONSIDERING IT IN THE HEART. Therefore, THE PASSAGE MENTIONED FIRST, "and consider it in your heart" to know THROUGH IT that HASHEM HE IS ELOHIM.
91. Rabbi Elazar also said, The wicked cause a blemish above WITH THEIR EVIL ACTIONS. What is the blemish? IT IS that the left is not included within the right ABOVE, IT RATHER DOMINATES BY MEANS OF JUDGMENT BY ITSELF. THIS IS BECAUSE the Evil Inclination BELOW is not included in the Good Inclination, TO WORK WITH IT TO DRAW GOOD AS MENTIONED because of the sins of people WHO SIN, THROUGH THE EVIL INCLINATION, AND ATTRACT BY IT THE DOMINATION OF JUDGMENT. And they do not cause a blemish ABOVE, but actually to themselves. This is the meaning of, "Not His the corruption, but the blemish of His sons (or, His (Heb. lo, with Vav) the corruption, not (Heb. lo, with Aleph) the blemish...)" (Devarim 32:5). FIRST IT IS SAID "HIS THE CORRUPTION", SEEMINGLY INDICATING THAT THEY BLEMISH ABOVE AND THEN, "NOT THE BLEMISH OF HIS SONS" SEEMINGLY, THAT THEY DO NOT CAUSE BLEMISH ABOVE. It is as if they cause A BLEMISH yet do not cause A BLEMISH. They cause, THAT IS, THEY BRING ABOUT that blessings from above do not flow to them, as it is written, "And shut up the heavens, that there be no rain" (Devarim 11:17). THEY DAMAGE THE CHANNELS OF SUSTENANCE ABOVE yet they do not cause, because the heavens, NAMELY THE CHANNELS OF ABOVE, receive for themselves as much blessings AND SUSTENANCE as they need, but they do not receive SUSTENANCE to pour downward. Certainly THIS IS NOT A BLEMISH AND FLAW OF THE ABOVE, BUT RATHER, it is the blemish of these wicked, AND IT IS UPON THEM THAT THIS FLAW RESTS AND NOT ABOVE.
92. Also, IT CAN BE EXPLAINED, "His" (Heb. lo, with Vav) MEANS that the right is not included in the left ABOVE, so that blessings are not drawn downwards AND TO THIS IS SAID 'HIS' WITH VAV. "not (Heb. lo) is spelled with Aleph," since they do not receive BLESSINGS to draw to those below. THEREFORE THEY REST BLEMISHED. Who caused this? IT IS because the wicked separate the Evil Inclination from the Good Inclination and cleave to the Evil Inclination.
93. Come and see, Judah is come from the left side BECAUSE JUDAH IS THE SECRET OF MALCHUT AND MALCHUT ORGINATES IN THE LEFT SIDE, and he cleft to the right in order to overpower nations and break their power. For had he not cleft to the right he would not break their power. And if you ask, Why DID HE CLEAVE to the right, seeing that it is the left that provokes judgments in the world. AND WHY WAS NOT THE LEFT SUFFICIENT FOR HIM TO BREAK THE POWER OF THE NATIONS?
94. HE ANSWERS, But this is a secret. When the Holy One, blessed be He, judges Yisrael, He judges them only from the left side, in order to reject them with the left and beckon them with the right. But with the other nations, He fends them off with the right, and draws them with the left. And this may be deduced from the proselyte by conviction, NAMELY BECAUSE WHEN ONE OF THEM BECOMES ATTRACTED TO HOLINESS AND HE CONVERTS, HE IS CALLED A PROSELYTE BY CONVICTION (LIT. 'A CONVERT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS'). RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE NAME OF THE LEFT ASPECT OF MALCHUT. SO WE SEE THAT HE ATTRACTS THEM WITH THE LEFT. AND HE EXPLAINS, He fends them off with the right, as it is written, "Your right hand, Hashem, is glorious in power; Your right hand, Hashem, has dashed the enemy in pieces" (Shemot 15:6). He attracts them with the left, as we already said, THAT THE ONE FROM AMONG THEM, WHO HAS COME CLOSER TO JUDAISM IS CALLED A CONVERT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH IS LEFT.
95. Therefore, Judah, who is from the left side, combined with the right IN ORDER TO SUBDUE THE NATIONS, and his journeys were to the right OF THE STANDARDS. Those TRIBES that were with him all joined to the right. Yisaschar toiled in Torah, which is right, as it is written, "From His right hand a fiery law unto them" (Devarim 33:2). And so Zebulun who supported the Torah which is right. It is written, "the right thigh" (Vayikra 7:32) BECAUSE THE RIGHT LEG SUPPORTS THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BODY. Therefore, Judah was attached to this side and that side, NAMELY TO THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT, north, which is left, to water, which is right.
96. Reuben, who sinned against his father, dwelt in the right, WHICH IS CHESED. BECAUSE OF THE SIN, he connected with the left and clove to it. Therefore those who are with him IN HIS STANDARD are left. Shimon is left because OF THE LIVING CREATURE THAT HAS THE FACE of the ox, WHICH IS GVURAH, as it is written, "The face of an ox on the left side" (Yechezkel 1:10). Gad is the left leg, NAMELY HOD, as it is written, "Gad, raiders shall maraud him, but he shall overcome at last (lit. 'heel')" (Beresheet 49:19). OVERCOMING IS THE ACTION OF THE LEFT, AND HEEL IS THE LEG. Thus, south clove to fire, right with the left.
97. And similarly the purpose of what we said, "And consider it in your heart (Heb. levavecha, spelled with two Bet's)" is to include them together, the left and the right, and then you will know that "Hashem He is Elohim." Rabbi Aba said, Definitely it is so. And now it is understandable, WHAT IS SAID, "He is Aaron and Moses" (Shemot 6:26), "he is Moses and Aaron" (Ibid. 27). IT IS TO TEACH THAT air, WHICH IS TIFERET, COMBINED with water, WHICH IS CHESED, and water, WHICH IS CHESED, COMBINED with air, WHICH IS TIFERET, to be one. Therefore, it is written "he."
98. Rabbi Aba opened the discussion saying, "And you shall love Hashem your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" (Devarim 6:5). Similarly, WHAT WE SAID ABOUT THE UNIFICATION OF RIGHT AND LEFT, the holy unification is also alluded to here, and it serves as an admonition to man to profess the unity of the Holy Name properly with supernal love. "With all your heart": NAMELY WITH BOTH YOUR INCLINATIONS, WHICH ARE right and left and are called Good Inclination and Evil Inclination. "And with all your soul": This is the soul of David that is placed between them, "and with all your might" MEANING to join them, THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT, above in the place where there is no limit.