Small Aleph

611. A man should therefore keep away from them, and turn his way from them. I therefore left and turned away from him. Now that I have found you, I shall recite these verses before you. He opened the discussion saying, "And (Hashem) called (Heb. vayikra) to Moses" (Vayikra 1:1). Here IN VAYIKRA, the Aleph is small. HE ASKS why? HE ANSWERS, THIS SHOWS US that this calling was not perfect. Why? Because it was only in the tabernacle, WHICH IS TEMPORARY, and in a foreign land. For perfection is to be found only in the land of Yisrael.

612. WE HAVE TO EXPLAIN further ABOUT THE SMALL ALEPH. IT IS SO BECAUSE here, IN THIS CALLING TO MOSES, is the Shechinah; while there is perfection of a male and a female TOGETHER, AS IT IS WRITTEN "Adam, Seth, Enosh" (I Divrei Hayamim 1:1), 'Adam' IS SPELLED WITH A BIG ALEPH, WHICH ALLUDES TO the perfection of male and female IN UNION. But here THE ALEPH IS SMALL, WHICH ALLUDES TO THE NUKVA ALONE; NAMELY THE SHECHINAH. ANOTHER EVIDENCE comes from the end of the verse "and Hashem spoke to him out of the Tent of Meeting" (Vayikra 1:1). THE TENT OF MEETING IS THE NUKVA, HENCE THE WORDS CAME FROM THE NUKVA ALONE. Therefore the Aleph is small, AS SMALL LETTERS ALLUDE TO THE NUKVA, REGULAR ONES TO ZEIR ANPIN AND THE BIG TO IMA, OR TO THE PERFECTION OF MALE AND FEMALE TOGETHER, WHICH COMES THROUGH IMA ALONE.

613. Further explanation CONCERNING the small Aleph: There is a story of a king who sat upon his throne, with a crown on his head. He is then called the supreme king. When he goes down to visit the house of his servant he is called little king. The Holy One, blessed be He, too, as long as He is above all, is called a supreme King. Once He comes to dwell below in the tabernacle, he is still a King, but not supreme as before. Therefore the Aleph is small.

614. "And he called," as we learned, MEANS THAT he called and invited him to his palace. "From the Tent of Meeting (Heb. moed):" What is it? It is a tent, upon which depends the reckoning of times (Heb. moed), festivals and Shabbat, as it says, "And let them be for signs, and for seasons" (Beresheet 1:14). In her abides the reckoning. Who is she? The moon, NAMELY THE NUKVA, FROM WHICH COME ALL THE CHANGES FROM WEEK DAYS TO FESTIVALS AND SHABBAT, THROUGH CHANGES IN THE STATURE OF HER MOCHIN, as it says, "A tent that shall not be taken down, its pegs shall not be removed forever" (Yeshayah 33:20), WHICH ALLUDES TO THE NUKVA CALLED TENT.

615. "Saying ..." HE ASKS, What does this mean? HE ANSWERS, IT MEANS revealing what is hidden inside. Wherever it says "saying," as in, "And Hashem spoke to Moses, saying," it means that permission was given to reveal. Yet all is one, and it is well since the revelation was given to the moon, THE NUKVA, from where Moses stands, ZEIR ANPIN, ACCORDING TO ORDER.

616. "And Hashem spoke," above, BINAH, "to Moses," who is in the middle, ZEIR ANPIN, AS BINAH GIVES TO ZEIR ANPIN, "saying," which is the last one, THE NUKVA, WHO RECEIVES FROM ZEIR ANPIN. She is the place where permission to reveal is given. "And (Hashem) called to Moses:" It is written before, "And they brought the tabernacle to Moses" (Shemot 39:33). Why bring it to Moses? They said, "Moses saw it upon Mount Sinai, for the Holy One, blessed be He, showed it to him before his eyes, as it says "as it was shown you in the mountain" (Shemot 27:8) "according to the pattern which Hashem had shown Moses" (Bemidbar 8:4) and "And look that you make them after their pattern, which was shown to you in the mountain" (Shemot 25:40). They THEREFORE brought him THE TABERNACLE now, so he will see whether it resembles the tabernacle he has seen.

617. But ACCORDING TO THIS, IT IS YET HARD TO UNDERSTAND why they brought the tabernacle to Moses, INSTEAD OF MOSES COMING TO THE TABERNACLE. This is like a king who wanted to build a palace for the Matron. He ordered the craftsmen to build a room in one place, and a room in another place. Here will be the bed and there a place to recline. When the craftsmen finished it, they showed it to the King. So "they brought the tabernacle to Moses," who is the master of the house and a man of Elohim. MOSES DID NOT GO TO THE TABERNACLE BUT IT WAS BROUGHT TO HIM. When the palace was built, the Matron invited the King to it, invited her husband THE KING to be with her. Therefore "called to Moses" IS SPELLED WITH A SMALL ALEPH. THE SMALL ALEPH, WHICH IS THE NUKVA, CALLED TO MOSES, ZEIR ANPIN, HER HUSBAND, TO BE WITH HER.

618. And since Moses is the master of the house, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN, THE HUSBAND OF THE MATRON, it says, "And Moses would take the Tent" - THE NUKVA CALLED TENT-"and pitch it outside the camp" (Shemot 33:6). Moses, who is the master of the house, may do what no other man may.

619. "And Hashem spoke to him." This is a different, supernal grade, BINAH. "AND HE CALLED," THE NUKVA CALLED "TO MOSES," TIFERET, "AND HASHEM SPOKE" IS BINAH. And so when Moses was entering THE NUKVA, BINAH opened the discussion saying, "If any man of you bring an offering" (Vayikra 1:2); BINAH IS THE SPEAKER HERE. HE ASKS, Why say "man" HERE WHEN IT WOULD HAVE SUFFICED TO SAY, 'IF ANY OF YOU BRING AN OFFERING?' HE ANSWERS, When the sun and moon were united, TIFERET AND MALCHUT TOGETHER, BINAH opened and said, "Man," IF "ANY MAN" BRING AN OFFEFERING, HE SHOULD BE "OF YOU," THAT IS, AS MALE AND FEMALE LIKE YOU. AND THEY WERE BOTH NAMED "MAN" IN THE SINGULAR, as it is written, "The sun and moon stood still in their habitation" (Chavakuk 3:11), "stood still" in the singular instead of the plural, BECAUSE THE SCRIPTURE SPEAKS OF THEIR BEING IN UNION.

620. "If any man of you bring an offering:" It is hinted here that whoever makes a service of sacrifice flawlessly, should be there as male and female; NAMELY BE MARRIED. This is derived from the words "of you (plur.)," which indicates that he will have your images; MEANING, BINAH SAID THIS TO TIFERET AND MALCHUT, WHICH ARE THE SECRET OF MOSES CALLED "MAN." "An offering to Hashem," by sacrificing all in order to be united both above and below. HENCE IT IS FIRST SAID "AN OFFERING TO HASHEM," WHICH IS THE JOINING FROM BELOW UPWARD, AND THEN "YOUR OFFERING," JOINING FROM ABOVE DOWNWARD, AS WAS SAID BEFORE.

621. "Of the cattle" (Vayikra 1:2) shows the unity of man and beast as one, AS WAS SAID BEFORE, "AN OFFERING TO HASHEM" IS MAN, WHO IS THE UNION FROM BELOW UPWARD, WHENCE IT IS DRAWN DOWNWARD BY THE SECRET OF "YOUR OFFERING" OF THE CATTLE. THE TWO UNIONS ILLUMINATE TOGETHER. "Of the oxen and of the sheep" (Ibid.): These are pure Chariots. In saying "of the cattle (lit. 'animal')," one might think it refers to all animals, both clean and unclean. It therefore continues "of the oxen and of the sheep."

622. "Shall you bring your offering:" HE ASKS, It should have been 'His offering,' AS IT IS WRITTEN BEFORE "AN OFFERING TO HASHEM." Why say "your offering?" HE ANSWERS, First it should have been "an offering to Hashem" and now "your offering." HE EXPOUNDS UPON IT: "An offering to Hashem" is THE UNITY CALLED MAN, NAMELY THE RAISING OF THE NUKVA TO BE UNITED ABOVE THE CHEST OF ZEIR ANPIN, CALLED man. "Your offering...of the oxen, and of the flock" CONTINUES THE ILLUMINATION OF THE UNION OF THE CHEST UPWARD UNTO THE LOWER BEINGS WHO ARE FROM THE CHEST DOWNWARD in order to demonstrate the union from below upward and from above downward. From below upward is "the offering to Hashem" and from above downward is "your offering."

623. This is like a king who sits high upon a great mountain, and his throne is fixed on it. The King WHO SITS ON THE THRONE is higher than anyone. A man who offers the King a present, should take it up step by step until he reaches the top where the King sits up high. Everyone knows then that a present is brought up to the King. And this is the present to the King. When a present is brought down, then surely it is a present from the King above to his friend below.

624. So at first, man mounts the grades from below upward. This is "an offering to Hashem." "Of the cattle and of the oxen," he descends down the grades from above. This is "your offering." Hence it is written, "I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk" (Shir Hashirim 5:1), which is a man and "an offering to Hashem," FOR IT IS THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, WHO SAYS, "I HAVE EATEN...;" "Eat, O dear ones" "of the cattle, of the oxen and of the sheep." Then, "shall you bring your offering."

625. Rabbi Yitzchak and Rabbi Yehuda came to him and kissed his forehead. They said, 'Blessed be the Merciful One that we merited to hear these words, and they were not wasted on that old man,' WHO WOULD NOT HAVE UNDERSTOOD THEM, AND THE WORDS WOULD BE LOST. They rose and went. While they were walking, they saw a vine planted in a garden.