751. This is the secret of the verse, "Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal delicacies" (Beresheet 49:20), WHICH MEANS THAT ASHER IS THE SAID RIGHTEOUS, YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, THAT POURS DELICACIES UPON THE NUKVA. Yet he is not YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, as it is written, "The daughters saw her, and called her happy" (Shir Hashirim 6:9), WHICH IS AN ASPECT OF THE NUKVA AND NOT YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN. Leah therefore said "for the daughters will call me happy (Heb. oshri)" (Beresheet 30:13). This is correct. Come and see, From the World to Come, BINAH, issues a flow upon the Righteous, YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, to pour delicacies and delicacies upon the earth, which has been bread of poverty turned millet bread. This is the meaning of, "Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal delicacies." We have already explained this. ASHER IS BINAH, WHICH GIVES ROYAL DELICACIES TO YESOD AND YESOD TO THE NUKVA.
752. Come and see, "Out of Asher his bread shall be fat." This is the place which everyone calls happy. What is it? It is the World to Come, BINAH, which the upper and lower call happy and yearn for. "His bread shall be fat:" HE ASKS, Whose BREAD? It does not specify the place OF BREAD. HE REPLIES, There is bread and bread, and in the same way there is a tree and a tree. There is the Tree of Life, ZEIR ANPIN, and the tree upon which death depends, THE NUKVA. SO there is bread which is called bread of poverty, THE NUKVA, and there is bread called millet bread. What is THE MILLET BREAD? It is Vav OF THE NAME YUD HEI VAV HEI, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN. This is "his bread (Heb. lachmo):" the bread (Heb. lechem) of Vav, NAMELY THE BREAD OF ZEIR ANPIN. Hence it says "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven" (Shemot 16:4), from heaven indeed, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN CALLED HEAVEN.
753. Hence, "out of Asher his bread shall be fat." "His bread" includes the sylables lechem and the letter Vav, MEANING, THE BREAD OF ZEIR ANPIN CALLED 'VAV,' since from him - FROM BINAH CALLED 'ASHER'-the tree is nourished, and he, BINAH, adorns it WITH THE FIRST THREE SFIROT, as it says "the crown with which his mother crowned him" (Shir Hashirim 3:11), MEANING, BINAH CALLED 'MOTHER.' When ZEIR ANPIN receives, he shall surely "yield royal delicacies (lit. 'of the King')." Who is the King? The Congregation of Yisrael, NAMELY THE NUKVA, which is nourished BY ZEIR ANPIN, who gives to her via the Righteous, the holy grade of the sign of the Covenant, NAMELY YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, and from THE NUKVA unto the other grades below IN BRIYAH, YETZIRAH AND ASIYAH, which resemble the ones above; MEANING, THE IMPLEMENTS IN BRIYAH, YETZIRAH AND ASIYAH RESEMBLE THOSE IN ATZILUT.
754. In the book of Rav Hamnuna Saba (the elder), he said the following, "Out of Asher his bread shall be fat" refers to the Shabbat bread, which is doubly delightful, as it is written, "They gathered double bread" (Shemot 16:22). There are two kinds of breads, bread from heaven, FROM ZEIR ANPIN, and bread from the earth, FROM THE NUKVA. This is millet bread, BUT THE BREAD FROM THE EARTH DETACHED FROM THE BREAD FROM HEAVEN is the bread of poverty. On Shabbat, the lower bread OF THE NUKVA is included within the upper bread OF ZEIR ANPIN, and the lower is blessed by the upper. This is double bread.
755. RAV HAMNUNA SABA (THE ELDER) also said that the double bread of Shabbat, WHICH IS THE BREAD OF THE NUKVA, receives from the supernal Shabbat, BINAH, which flows and shines upon everything. The bread OF THE NUKVA is united with the bread OF BINAH and becomes double. HE EXPLAINS WHY HE DOES NOT TALK OF THE BREAD OF THE NUKVA AND THE BREAD OF ZEIR ANPIN, BUT THE BREAD OF BINAH. IT IS that uniformly the secret of bread is the female, EITHER THE NUKVA OF ZEIR ANPIN, OR BINAH, WHICH IS ALSO A FEMALE. BUT THE ABUNDANCE OF ZEIR ANPIN IS NOT CALLED BREAD, SINCE IT IS MALE. Hence it is written, "Shall be fat" with a feminine suffix INSTEAD OF A MASCULINE. It also says "save the bread which he did eat" (Beresheet 39:6), WHICH ALLUDES TO the wife CALLED BREAD. HENCE BREAD IS AN ASPECT OF THE FEMALE.
756. One may ask about the verse, "For the bread is spent in our vessels" (I Shmuel 9:7), THAT THE WORD "SPENT" IS MASCULINE AND not feminine. THE REASON THEREOF IS THAT other victuals BESIDES BREAD are also called bread. It can be noticed what would be other victuals and what would be bread, for upper bread OF ZEIR ANPIN is uniformly male, AND REFERS TO ALL KINDS OF FOOD. The lower bread OF THE NUKVA is uniformly female, AND REFERS TO BREAD ALONE. We find that it is sometimes written as masculine and sometimes as feminine. All is the same, and the one is like the other, ONLY ONE IS IN ZEIR ANPIN AND THE OTHER IN THE NUKVA, and all is correct.
757. Come and see, Asher is mentioned above IN BINAH and mentioned below in relation to the adornments of the bride, WHO IS THE NUKVA, since the sea, THE NUKVA, rests upon and is supported by all the twelve tribes, THE SECRET OF THE TWELVE OXEN. This is the meaning of: "And the sea was set above upon them" (I Melachim 7:25). ASHER THEN IS PART OF THE SUPPORT OF THE NUKVA. The secret of the matter is that it is established above IN BINAH and below on earth, THE NUKVA, through certain amendments after the pattern of the supernal world BINAH. It is established below through the twelve tribes WHO SUPPORT THE NUKVA, after the supernal pattern OF BINAH WHICH IS ESTABLISHED UPON THE TWELVE SUPPORTS OF ZEIR ANPIN. Hence there is the Shechinah above, BINAH, WHICH RESTS UPON THE TWELVE SUPPORTS OF ZEIR ANPIN, THE THREE COLUMNS, EACH OF THEM FOUR FACED and there is the Shechinah below, the NUKVA, through which Yisrael is included and established by the twelve tribes, and Asher is part of her support like the other tribes.
758. If it were not for Moses who revealed THAT ASHER IS IN BINAH, it would not be made known. Thus it says, "And let him dip his foot in oil" (Devarim 33:24) to indicate his attachment to his place, which pours the anointing oil from ITS PLACE above IN BINAH. Therefore it says, "Be Asher blessed above sons" (Ibid.).