"Behold, My servant shall prosper"

42. He opened the discussion with the verse, "Behold, My servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high" (Yeshayah 52:13). Happy is the portion of the righteous, to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed the ways of the Torah, so they may follow them. Come and behold, the verse, "Behold, my servant shall prosper," contains a supernal mystery, which has already been explained. Yet come and behold, when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the universe - THE SECRET OF ZEIR ANPIN AND NUKVA - He made the moon AND ENDOWED HER WITH THE SAME STATURE AS THAT OF ZEIR ANPIN. LATER, He decreased her lights in such a way that she had nothing of her own, SAVE WHAT SHE RECEIVED FROM ZEIR ANPIN. Because she made herself small, she shone from the sun, SIGNIFED BY ZEIR ANPIN, by the power of the Supernal Lights IN IT.

43. While the Temple existed, Yisrael diligently proceeded with sacrifices, offerings and rituals performed by the priests, Levites and the children of Yisrael, creating unification and causing the lights to shine WITHIN THE NUKVA.

44. After the Temple was destroyed, the light darkened and the moon, THE NUKVA, no longer shone from the sun, ZEIR ANPIN. The sun withdrew from her and did not shine. Therefore, as we have learned, no day passes without curses, sorrow, and pain.

45. When the time comes for the moon to shine WITH HER OWN STRENGTH, AT THE END OF CORRECTION, then it is written, "Behold, My servant shall prosper," which is an allusion to the moon. "Behold, My servant shall prosper," refers to the secret of the faith, WHICH IS THE NUKVA. The words, "shall prosper," refer to the Supernal Awakening - WHICH WILL RESEMBLE a man who smells an odor and becomes alert and attentive.

46. "He shall be exalted," means that THE NUKVA SHALL BE FILLED from that facet of the light that is superior to all the lights, INDICATING KETER. "He shall be exalted" - as in, "and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you" (Yeshayah 30:18) - REFERS TO THE LIGHT OF KETER; "and extolled," on the side of Abraham, SIGNIFIES CHESED. "And be high," on the side of Isaac, MEANS GVURAH, while "very," on the side of Jacob, IS TIFERET. THIS MEANS THAT THE NUKVA WILL THUS BE FILLED BY ALL THESE GRADES. And although this has already been explained DIFFERENTLY, all is one in the secret of wisdom.

47. At that time, the Holy One, blessed be He, will intensify energy above so as to shine well upon the moon, THE NUKVA. As it is written, "Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days" (Yeshayah 30:26). Thus will Supernal Light be added to her own. Then all the dead, BURIED in the dust, will be stirred INTO LIFE.

48. He calls him "servant" (masculine form), THOUGH THIS ALLUDES TO THE NUKVA, for the secret path to his Master's keys is in his hand. THUS, THE PERFECTION OF THE NUKVA IS MADE KNOWN THROUGH HIM, HER MESSENGER. The same applies to the verse, "And Abraham said to the...servant," (Beresheet 24:2) who is the moon, NAMELY THE NUKVA, as we have learned. AND SHE IS REVEALED THROUGH Metatron, the servant messenger of his Master. THEREFORE THE WORD "SERVANT" WAS USED IN BOTH PLACES.

49. "The eldest of his house" (Beresheet 24:2), REFERS TO METATRON, WHO IS CALLED 'OLD,' as in "I have been young, and now am old" (Tehilim 37:25). THE MINISTER OF THE WORLD 'WHO IS METATRON' SAID THIS PHRASE: "That ruled over all that he had" (Beresheet 24:2), as all the colors, green, white, and red, are reflected in him.

50. "Put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh" (Ibid.) refers to the Righteous one, NAMELY, TO YESOD. Since he is the existence AND LIFE of the world WHEN HE HOLDS ON TO YESOD, this servant is appointed to bring life to the dwellers of the dust. And he becomes perfected through the supernal spirit to return spirits and souls to their places, in the decayed and putrefied cadavers underneath the ground.

51. "And I will make you swear by Hashem, the Elohim of heaven" (Beresheet 24:3). HE SAID THAT IT IS WRITTEN, "And I will make you swear." What is the meaning of, "I will make you swear?" HE ANSWERS THAT IT MEANS he will be clothed in the secret of the seven Supernal Lights - CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD, YESOD AND MALCHUT - FOR they are the secret of supernal perfection. ACCORDING TO HIS EXPLANATION, "SWEAR," DERIVED FROM THE ROOT SHIN BET AYIN, IS DERIVED FROM 'SEVEN' (Heb. sheva: Shin-Bet-Ayin). "That you shall not take a wife," refers to the body underneath the ground, IN THE GRAVE, which now rises from the dust AND IS CALLED A 'WIFE.' All those who were buried and deserved to be interred in the land of Yisrael shall be the first to rise to life, as has been explained in relation to the verse, "The dead men of your people shall live" (Yeshayah 26:19), referring to the dead in the land of Yisrael. THEN, "my dead body shall arise" (Ibid.), meaning the dead outside Yisrael. For all that, only the bodies of Yisrael, buried IN THE LAND OF YISRAEL, shall rise, but not bodies from other nations, which defile the land.

52. Therefore, in the verse, "That you shall not take a wife to my son," what is meant by "my son?" HE ANSWERS THAT all the souls in the world that come from the river which flows out FROM EDEN, WHICH IS YESOD, are the children of the Holy One, blessed be He. Therefore, "that you shall not take a wife," means a body; "to my son" refers to the soul; "of the daughters of the Canaan," are the bodies of the heathen nations, which the Holy One, blessed be He, will shake out of the Holy Land. As it is written, "That the wicked might be shaken out of it" (Iyov 38:13), as dirt is shaken out of a garment.

53. "But you shall go to my country, and to my kindred" (Beresheet 24:4). In this verse, "my country" is the Holy Land, which precedes all other countries, as we have learned. Of the verse, "But you shall go to my country, and to my kindred," HE ASKS, WHY REPEAT "my kindred" after saying, "my country?" HE ANSWERS, "My country" is THE HOLY LAND, as we said and "my kindred" are Yisrael!

54. It is written, "And the servant took ..." (Beresheet 24:10). As we have learned, THIS IS A REFERENCE TO METATRON; "ten camels" are the ten grades, which the servant governs. They are a likeness to the above, LIKE THE GRADES OF ATZILUT. "Of the camels of his master" means they bear a likeness to his master's camels - THAT IS, THE GRADES OF THE NUKVA OF ATZILUT, HIS MASTER, as we have learned. And this servant rules over them and is established through them.

55. "For all the goods of his master were in his hand" (Beresheet 24:10), refers to the goodness and the lofty fragrance issued from the Supernal Lights and candles. ANOTHER EXPLANATION OF, "for all the goods of his master were in his hand," is that it refers to the union of the sun, ZEIR ANPIN, which is attracted to the moon, THE NUKVA. FOR THROUGH HIM OCCURS THE UNION OF MALE AND FEMALE.

56. "And he arose, and went to Aram-naharayim" (Beresheet 24:10), the place in the Holy Land where Rachel wept when the Temple was destroyed. "And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water" (Beresheet 24:11), for he wanted to add to her strength before raising and reviving the bodies.

57. In the verse, "At the time of evening" (Beresheet 24:11), what time is referred to? He replied, It is Shabbat eve, NAMELY YESOD, the era of the sixth millennium. FOR THE SIX DAYS OF CREATION ARE THE SECRETS OF 6,000 YEARS AND THE SIXTH DAY, SHABBAT EVE, CORRESPONDS TO THE SIXTH MILLENNIUM, ON WHICH DAY RESURRECTION WILL OCCUR. In the phrase, "At the time of evening," WHY SAY "TIME?" IT SHOULD HAVE SAID, 'AT EVENING.' HE ANSWERS, It conveys the meaning of, "And to his labor until the evening" (Tehilim. 104:23), and "For the shadows of the evening are lengthened" (Yirmeyah 6:4). THESE VERSES ARE THE SECRETS OF THE JUDGMENTS REVEALED DURING THE EVENING. "AT THE TIME OF EVENING" ALSO ALLUDES TO THE SECRET OF YESOD, WHICH THE SERVANT HAS MENDED.

58. In the verse, "At the time that the women go out to draw water" (Beresheet 24:11), they draw the water of the Torah. At that time, they will be resurrected before any other man because, by drawing the water of the Torah, they are strengthened by the Tree of Life. Thus, they will come out first at the resurrection of the dead, as the Tree of Life causes them to be the first to rise.

59. "And the daughters of the men of the city come out" (Beresheet 24:13). HE ASKS, What is meant by "come out?" HE ANSWERS, It has the same meaning as, "and the earth shall cast out the shades of the dead" (Yeshayah 26:19). That is, it will cast out all the bodies that are in it. Therefore, it is written, "come out," WHICH ALLUDES TO THE BODIES THAT WILL BE CAST OUT BY THE EARTH AT THE TIME OF RESURRECTION. The words, "to draw water," MEAN to accept and properly receive a soul so that it will be perfected.

60. "And let it come to pass that the girl to whom I shall say, 'Let down your pitcher, I pray you, that I may drink' ..." (Beresheet 24:14). We have learned that every soul that strove in this world to know its Master by means of the mysteries of divine wisdom, will rise to the highest grade - a grade higher than all the souls who neither conceived nor attained knowledge. These will be the first to revive. This is the question that the servant wished to ask so that he could determine what the soul dealt with in this world, AND THUS LEARN WHETHER IT IS WORTHY OF BEING RESURRECTED FIRST. THIS IS THE MEANING OF, "LET DOWN YOUR PITCHER, I PRAY YOU, THAT I MAY DRINK."

61. "And she will say to me, 'You may also drink' ..." (Beresheet 24:44). You need to drink and receive water yourself first. After [I have served] you: "I will also draw for your camels," because these other Chariots, although they are watered through this grade, are watered mainly from the worship of the righteous, who know well how to serve their Master. For the righteous know how to nourish each grade properly. Therefore, if she says, "I will also draw for your camels," then "she shall be the woman whom Hashem has appointed for my master's son," the body which is surely appointed to that Supernal Soul.

62. Come and behold, we learned that the male yearns for the female, BY WHICH THE ILLUMINATION OF CHOCHMAH IS DRAWN FROM THE NUKVA, and a soul is created. The female yearns for the male, BY WHICH CHASSADIM ARE DRAWN FROM THE MALE, who rises and mingles WITH THE SOUL upward. Thus, they become included within one another, THE CHOCHMAH OF THE FEMALE WITH THE CHASSADIM OF THE MALE. This forms the soul, THAT IS, COMPLETES IT. From this procedure, THE SERVANT DIVINED THAT IF SHE SAYS 'DRINK' (WHICH ALLUDES TO DRAWING THE CHOCHMAH), "I WILL ALSO DRAW FOR YOUR CAMELS," NAMELY CONTINUING THE FLOW OF CHASSADIM - then she is indeed the woman, the body, who will execute the wishes of the soul issuing from the male, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, INCLUDING BOTH CHOCHMAH AND CHASSADIM.

63. These bodies will be raised TO LIFE earlier, as we have said. After these are revived, all other bodies outside Yisrael will be raised into perfect existence and resurrected with the renewal of the moon, FOR THE LIGHT OF THE MOON WILL THEN BE AS THE LIGHT OF THE SUN. The world will then be renewed as before. At that time, it is written, "Let Hashem rejoice in His works" (Tehilim 104:31).

64. Therefore, "Behold, My servant shall prosper," MEANS THAT THE SERVANT, METATRON, WILL KNOW how to return each soul to its own place, THAT IS, TO THE BODY WORTHY OF IT, as was said. "He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high" (Yeshayah 52:13), on the side of all those supernal grades.

65. "Just as many were astonished at you, saying, 'Surely his visage is too marred to be that of a man, and his form to be that of the sons of man'" (Yeshayah 52:14). Come and behold, we have learned that when the Temple was destroyed and the Shechinah exiled to foreign countries, it is written, "Behold, the mighty ones shall cry outside; ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly" (Yeshayah 33:7). They all wept for her, they mourned and grieved for the Shechinah who went from her place into exile. EXILE changes Her and Her husband, ZEIR ANPIN, WHO withholds his light, FOR THERE IS NO ONE TO SHINE UPON, as it is written, "The sun shall be darkened in his going forth" (Yeshayah 13:10). Therefore, "his visage is too marred to be that of a man." Another explanation of the verse, "Surely his visage is too marred to be that of a man," is that it refers to the servant METATRON, WHO AT THE TIME OF EXILE WAS changed in form and colors, WHICH WERE GREEN, WHITE, AND RED.

66. Yet another explanation of, "Surely his visage is too marred to be that of a man," is that it has the same meaning as the verse, "I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering" (Yeshayah 50:3). From the day the Temple was destroyed, the heavens, MEANING ZEIR ANPIN, did not hold their light. The secret is that blessings dwell only where there are Male and Female, as has been explained in relation to the verse, "Male and Female He created them. And Elohim blessed them" (Beresheet 1:27-28). But in exile, where male and female are not united, it is written, "His visage is too marred to be that of a man."

67. It is similar to the meaning of: "The righteous perished" (Yeshayah 57:1), which does not read 'perishes' or 'will perish,' but rather "perished" ('is lost'), WHICH MEANS THAT THE RIGHTEOUS LOST HIS BLESSINGS. For blessings abide only where male and female are united.

68. Therefore, when the male is not with the female, the souls released FROM HER are different than those issued when the sun, ZEIR ANPIN, was united with the moon, THE NUKVA, as we learned. FOR AS ZEIR ANPIN AND NUKVA WERE CHANGED DURING THE EXILE, SO THE SOULS OF THEIR OFFSPRING WERE DIFFERENT FROM THE PREVIOUS ONES. Of this, it is written, "These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph ..." (Beresheet 37:2). AFTER JOSEPH BECAME LIKE JACOB AND THE SUN UNITED WITH THE MOON, THE VIRTUE OF THE SOULS WAS ELEVATED. BUT THEY CHANGED DURING EXILE.

69. " ...And the lad ..." (Beresheet 37:2) means that because their union is never broken, the Righteous One, WHICH IS YESOD, and Righteousness, WHICH IS THE NUKVA, are constantly together. The Nukva is described with the same attributes as the male, WITH THE ADDITION OF THE FEMALE SUFFIX. FOR EXAMPLE, HE IS WISE, SHE IS WISDOM; HE IS MIGHTY, SHE IS MIGHT; HE IS A KING; SHE IS A KINGDOM. And the male is described with the same attributes as the Nukva. As it is written, "And the lad (Heb. na'ar)...;" AS THE NUKVA IS CALLED 'GIRL' (HEB. NA'ARAH), SO IS Yesod CALLED 'LAD.'

70. "...With the sons of Bilhah, and the sons of Zilpah" (Beresheet 37:2). JOSEPH is found within them, all TWELVE TRIBES, EVEN IN THE SONS OF THE HANDMAIDS, THE BACK OF THE SHECHINAH. He renews them appropriately and delights them with his mirth, for all branches and leaves OF THE SHECHINAH are blessed by his joy; THAT IS, EVEN THE BACK OF THE SHECHINAH, WHICH ARE CALLED 'LEAVES' - IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VERSE, "WHOSE LEAF SHALL NOT WITHER" (YECHEZKEL 47:12) - ARE PERFECTED THROUGH HIM.

71. "And these are the generations of Jacob: Joseph ..." (Beresheet 37:2). We have learned that Jacob's image was reproduced in Joseph. Thus, everything that happened to Jacob also happened to Joseph. They shared the same path, according to the secret of the letter Vav - THE FIRST VAV BEING THE SECRET OF JACOB, TIFERET AND THE SECOND, THE FULLY SPELLED VAV, BEING THE SECRET OF JOSEPH, YESOD. And they walk together - AS THEY SOUND LIKE ONE WHEN THE VAV IS PRONOUNCED - because they share one meaning and image.

72. " ...And Joseph brought to his father their evil report" (Beresheet 37:2). As has been explained, he told his father that they ate raw meat cut from a living animal. HE INSISTED THAT the sons of the handmaids were part of the twelve tribes. Thus, how could the sons of Leah treat them with contempt and also eat flesh from a living animal, thereby transgressing the commandment of their Master to the sons of Noah? As it is written, "But flesh with its life, which is its blood, you shall not eat" (Beresheet 9:4). Could they have eaten and thus transgressed their Master's commandment? HE ANSWERS, Joseph told this BY HIS OWN INVENTION, and was therefore punished for it.

73. According to one explanation, Rabbi Yehuda said, Joseph's "evil report" is that they cast their eyes upon the daughters of the land, which is CONSIDERED TO BE evil because IT ALLOWED the unholy grades of the Side of Defilement to nourish.