50. "And Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed." (Beresheet 48:2). The secret of the verse is, "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great chief angel, who stands for the children of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble" (Daniel 12:1). Rabbi Shimon says, This is the might of the great Michael, WHO WILL STAND UP FOR YISRAEL AT THE TIME OF REDEMPTION, WHICH WILL BE "A TIME OF TROUBLE THE LIKE OF WHICH HAS NOT BEEN SEEN SINCE THE BIRTH OF THE NATION..." THUS SCRIPTURE CONCLUDES WITH "AND ISRAEL STRENGTHENED." "And sat upon the bed:" As before when he bowed upon it, AS IT IS WRITTEN, "AND ISRAEL BOWED HIMSELF UPON THE BED'S HEAD," BUT NOW HE SAT UPON IT. HE ASKS, To whom did Jacob bow? If you say he bowed to the bed, WHICH IS MALCHUT, the bed was ready TO RECEIVE from him, AND THE GIVER DOES NOT BOW BEFORE THE RECEIVER. HE ANSWERS, He bowed to the circumcision, THE SECRET OF YESOD, of which he was fond.

51. "For Judah has profaned the holiness of Hashem which he loved, and has married the daughter of a strange El" (Malachi 2:11). HE WAS ASKED A DIFFICULT QUESTION ABOUT THE MEANING OF "MARRIED THE DAUGHTER OF A STRANGE EL." HE SAYS, When the light was gone from ZEIR ANPIN, due to YISRAEL'S sins, THE SHECHINAH could not stand before ZEIR ANPIN and was exiled from the King. TO WIT, SHE WENT TOGETHER WITH YISRAEL INTO EXILE AMONG THE NATIONS, since She could not leave Her children among the nations to be killed. ZEIR ANPIN was in the Holy Land and, by having foreign nations with him, as it says "MARRIED THE DAUGHTER OF A STRANGE EL," it conveys that the Shechinah was going into exile with them among the nations, when She was not in the land of Yisrael but in other lands. Thus, by the light of Yisrael, the nations around them were preserved. THEREFORE, IT SAYS "MARRIED THE DAUGHTER OF A STRANGE EL." (IT LOOKS AS IF IT IS AN INTERPOLATION FROM THE WORDS 'IT CONVEYS.')

52. We learned, Rabbi Yosi said, that there were two ministers, NAMELY ANGELS, under the Holy Throne of Glory. The one, BY NAME OF MATA, dwells within the treasury of the Temple. And here we are in exile, and nothing remained to us but him, who is of the nature OF THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, and impressed by the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He. THIS IS THE ANGEL METATRON, WHOSE NAME IS AS THE NAME OF HIS MASTER, AS IT IS WRITTEN OF HIM: "FOR MY NAME IS IN HIM" (SHEMOT 23:21).

53. It is written, "Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you" (Shemot 23:20). It is not worthy to speak that way only of the World to Come, NAMELY BINAH, as we explained it to be the protection along the way. TO WIT, THE POWER TO PROTECT COMES FROM BINAH. THEREFORE, IT WAS BINAH WHICH SAID TO YISRAEL, "BEHOLD, I SEND AN ANGEL," NAMELY THE SHECHINAH "TO KEEP YOU," AND NO OTHER GRADE, BECAUSE PROTECTION COMES FROM IT. IT SAID, I cause the Shechinah to dwell among you and She will protect you in exile. She will protect you until bringing you to your country, as you were before. THIS IS WHAT IS WRITTEN, "I HAVE PREPARED" (IBID.), WITH WHICH the verse CONCLUDES "to the place which I have prepared," for THE LAND was their dwelling place even before.

54. THE ANGEL MENTIONED IS the Shechinah, CLOTHED AND WORKING through Metatron. For IN EXILE CALLED 'WAY' the Shechinah was exiled, from the King, ZEIR ANPIN, AND SHE WORKS THROUGH METATRON until THE TIME OF REDEMPTION WHEN She will return to Her place TO ZEIR ANPIN. It is a mystery that: "For only Og, king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Refaim; behold, his bed is a bed of iron; is it not in Rabba of the children of Amon?" (Devarim 3:11), as we explained elsewhere.

55. In the way, which is a parable of the exile, THE SHECHINAH will protect you from all the troubles which will come upon you, until He will come and gather you into the land which He promised to your fathers, which is kept FOR YOU.

56. The second minister underneath the Holy Throne, which dwells in the treasure of the Temple is Nuriel. For the minister appointed over Yisrael, NAMELY THE FIRST MINISTER UNDER THE HOLY THRONE, Metatron, when the Shechinah was with the King, would come and go before them. THE SECOND MINISTER, NURIEL, would receive the worship of Yisrael to the Holy One, blessed be He, as fire (Aramaic nura). And when the fire was no more, because Yisrael were exiled, Her light was gone, and the Shechinah departed from the King.

57. Rabbi Shimon opened the discussion saying, "Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform to you the part of a kinsman, well (lit. 'good'); let him do the kinsman's part" (Rut 3:13). RUT IS THE SECRET OF MALCHUT, WHICH IS JUDGMENT, AND GOOD IS MERCY. Rabbi Yosi said, Mercy is more powerful than Judgment. "And Elohim saw the light, that it was good" (Beresheet 1:4). Hence, goodness and light are equal, for it is the source of all the springs, whence the sea and all the rivers in the world come. THE MEANING OF THE WORDS CONCERNING RUT ARE THAT IF HE WILL DO THE KINSMAN'S PART, GOOD, IS THAT MERCY CALLED GOOD WILL DO THE KINSMAN'S PART BY RUTH AND HAVE CONTROL OVER HER, WHO IS JUDGMENT.

58. We learned that Rabbi Shimon said, Once I went up and down to shine at the source of the springs. Rabbi Aba came up after me and said to me, With what are you occupied? I said to him: With the verse, "All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full" (Kohelet 1:7). From the light OF BINAH were created all the ministers in the world, and from its light flow all the rivers; NAMELY, "the rivers" in the verse, "ALL THE RIVERS RUN INTO THE SEA; YET THE SEA IS NOT FULL." THE SEA, MALCHUT, is not full when in exile, because the darkness and obscurity IN THE EXILE were made by a mother's love, BINAH. And were it not FOR DARKNESS, the river would not have been created which shines unto the daughter, MALCHUT. The sea shall not be filled and made whole until the other side which was not in exile would have come; NAMELY THE RIGHT SIDE, UPON WHICH NO KLIPAH HAS EVER ANY CONTROL. THEN THE SEA, MALCHUT, WILL BE FILLED.