"Naftali is a hind let loose"

759. Rabbi Shimon opened the discussion with: "Naftali is a hind let loose, he gives goodly words" (Beresheet 49:21). THIS VERSE IS CONSIDERED DIFFICULT, FOR SINCE IT SAYS "A HIND LET LOOSE," IT SHOULD END WITH 'SHE GIVES GOODLY WORDS,' INSTEAD OF "HE." We have learned that the supernal world, BINAH, is the world of the male. Once something rises from the Congregation of Yisrael, WHICH IS FEMALE, it becomes male. Whence do we know that? From the burnt offering (Heb. olah). Why is it called olah (lit. 'goes up,' fem.)? Because it rises up from the Nukva. Therefore, "let him offer a male without blemish" (Vayikra 1:3), AS ABOVE THE NUKVA IT IS MALE. FOR THIS REASON THE SUPERNAL WORLD, BINAH, IS CONSIDERED THE WORLD OF THE MALE.

760. HE ASKS, Why DOES SCRIPTURE say "A MALE without blemish?" Was there any intention of bringing it in pieces, that it admonishes "without blemish (lit. 'perfect')?" HE ANSWERS, What is perfect? It is expressed by the words, "Walk before me, and be perfect" (Beresheet 17:1). When was he perfect? At the time he was circumcised, since a male exists and is recognized only by the place called perfect, the sign of the Covenant, which indicates the difference between male and female. Hence it says, "Noah was a righteous perfect man" (Beresheet 6:9), RIGHTEOUS BEING YESOD WHICH IS CALLED PERFECT. Therefore, the words "a male without blemish" allude to the virile member which must not be castrated.

761. HE ASKS, Yet it also says "a female without blemish." HE ANSWERS, Assuredly, as YESOD is called "righteous perfect," so does the Nukva, since she receives everything from him AND IS THEREFORE CALLED PERFECT LIKE HIM. BUT THE ATTRIBUTE "PERFECT" MAINLY REFERS TO THE MALE. Hence, the burnt offering which rises from the female unto the male IS MALE, since from that place, THE NUKVA, upwards, all is male. From the Nukva downward all is female, as has already been explained.

762. HE ASKS, But there is also a female above, BINAH. HE REPLIES, The final part of the body shows that the whole body is male. The head and body OF BINAH - BEING CHOCHMAH, BINAH, DA'AT, CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET, are feminine until the final part, TO NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD, CLOTHED IN THE HEAD OF ZEIR ANPIN TO ASSUME THE ASPECT OF THE MALE LIKE HIM, and when the final part shows THE ASPECT OF MALENESS all turns into male, EVEN ITS CHOCHMAH, BINAH, DA'AT, CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET, WHICH ARE NOT CLOTHED WITH ZEIR ANPIN, ARE ALSO CONSIDERED TO BE MALE. But here IN THE NUKVA OF ZEIR ANPIN, the head and end are considered feminine, for her whole body is female, WITHOUT A TRACE OF MALE IN HER NETZACH HOD YESOD (IS THIS CORRECT?).

763. Come and see, There is a supernal secret in this, for we notice that Jacob blessed Joseph together with his brothers. But when the Holy One, blessed be He, ordered the four standards of the Shechinah for the twelve tribes, through which to adorn the Shechinah, he omitted Joseph and put Ephraim in his place. Why did he omit Joseph? If you say that it was for his sins, this is not so, for he was righteous.

764. HE ANSWERS, The secret meaning of this is that Joseph was the imprint of the male, as it is written, "Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well" (Beresheet 49:22), WHICH IS THE ASPECT OF YESOD CALLED A FRUITFUL BOUGH, and "from thence he fed the stone of Yisrael" (Ibid. 24). The stone is the Congregation of Yisrael, NAMELY THE NUKVA, of which David said, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the head stone of the corner" (Tehilim 118:21). Since Joseph was the imprint of the male, he is called Joseph the righteous, for indeed he was righteous, YESOD. "From thence he fed the stone of Yisrael" WHICH GIVES TO THE NUKVA.

765. Since all the implements of the Shechinah are female, FOR FROM THE NUKVA DOWNWARD ALL IS FEMALE, Joseph was removed from them and Ephraim was assigned in his place to the TWELVE implements, for he is of the aspect of the female. He was then stationed on the west side, the dwelling of the Nukva, THE SHECHINAH BEING ON THE WEST, and the impress of the male, NAMELY JOSEPH, was removed from the implements, which are all of the world of the female and not of the world of the male. All implements need to bear the aspect of the female.

766. Hence Joseph the righteous, YESOD WHICH IS MALE, was removed from the adornments and Ephraim was put in his stead. Therefore all the twelve tribes WHO ARE CONSIDERED FEMALE, are the adornments of the Shechinah, and must bear the likeness of above; MEANING, TO BE FEMALES LIKE THE SHECHINAH, except the grade of righteous OF THE TRIBES, WHICH IS YESOD, which turn all the members of the body into male and should not be counted among the twelve implements so that there will be no need to deduct him.

767. "Naftali is a hind let loose, he gives goodly words" as it says "and your mouth (speech) is comely" (Shir Hashirim 4:3), for the voice, ZEIR ANPIN, guides the speech, THE NUKVA. There is no voice without speech. The voice is sent from a deep place above, BINAH, to guide the speech, since there is no voice without speech nor speech without voice. This is the whole needing the part, and the part in need of the whole. The voice comes forth from the south, WHICH IS THE RIGHT COLUMN, THE LIGHT OF CHASSADIM and leads the west, THE NUKVA, which inherits the two sides, THE LIGHT OF CHASSADIM FROM THE SOUTH AND THE LIGHT OF CHOCHMAH FROM THE WEST. Hence it is written, "And of Naftali he said...possess you the west and the south" (Devarim 33:23). Therefore it is said that "Naftali is a hind let loose," NAMELY the Nukva below. In the same manner, the male above SHINES TOGETHER WITH HER, FOR THEY DO NOT SHINE THE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER. Hence, "he gives goodly words" is written in the masculine, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, instead of the feminine.