"I am Hashem your Elohim"

385. "I am Hashem your Elohim who have brought you out..." (Shemot 20:2). Rabbi Elazar opened the discussion with the verse, "My son, hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the Torah of your mother" (Mishlei 1:8). "My son, hear the instruction of your father," refers to the Holy One, blessed be He, MEANING, ZEIR ANPIN; "do not forsake the Torah of your mother" refers to the Congregation of Yisrael, which is Binah, as it is written, "To perceive the words of understanding (Heb. Binah)" (Mishlei 1:1).

386. According to Rabbi Yehuda, "the instruction of your father" is Chochmah CALLED ABA (ENG. 'FATHER'), and "do not forsake the Torah of your mother," is Binah. Rabbi Yitzchak said that both of the interpretations mean the same thing, for as we have learned, the Torah emanated from the supernal Chochmah, AND CHOCHMAH (LIT. 'WISDOM') IS DIVIDED INTO THE RIGHT, CALLED 'ABA,' AND THE LEFT, CALLED 'IMA.' Rabbi Yosi said that THE TORAH emanated from Binah, for it is written, "To perceive the words of understanding," and also, "Do not forsake the Torah of your mother," AND BINAH IS CALLED 'IMA' (ENG. 'MOTHER').

387. Rabbi Yehuda said, The Torah includes both Chochmah and Binah, as it is written, "My son, hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the Torah of your mother." Rabbi Aba said that the Torah contains all THE SFIROT, since once it combines both CHOCHMAH AND BINAH, it combines all THE SFIROT, FOR CHOCHMAH AND BINAH INCLUDE ALL THE SFIROT: Chesed, Judgment and Mercy - BEING CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET - in all required perfection. When the King and the Queen are joined WITH IT, all the others are joined WITH IT, for wherever CHOCHMAH AND BINAH are found, all the others are found as well.

388. Rabbi Yosi said, "I" (Shemot 20:2) is the Shechinah, as it is written, "I will go down with you into Egypt" (Beresheet 46:4). Rabbi Yitzchak said that "I," which is the Shechinah, is separated by a trope; AFTER THE WORD "I" THERE IS A TONAL PAUSE BETWEEN IT AND THE NEXT WORDS, "HASHEM YOUR ELOHIM," THE SAME as in "I am Esau your firstborn" (Beresheet 27:19), WHICH MEANS, I AM WHO I AM; ESAU IS YOUR FIRSTBORN. THEREFORE, "Hashem your Elohim" is the Holy One, blessed be He, THAT IS, ZEIR ANPIN, as it is said, "Out of heaven He made you hear His voice" (Devarim 4:36), AND 'HEAVEN' IS ZEIR ANPIN. It is also written, "You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven" (Shemot 20:19): "From heaven" indeed, for this is the Holy One, blessed be He, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN.

389. "...Who (Heb. asher) have brought you out of the land of Egypt." (Shemot 20:2). Asher MEANS a place which everyone calls happy (Heb. osher), WHICH IS BINAH. "...Brought you out of Egypt..." designates Jubilee WHICH IS BINAH, CALLED 'ASHER,' "WHO HAVE BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT," for as we have learned, the aspect of Jubilee WHICH IS BINAH, was the cause of Yisrael's exodus from Egypt. Therefore, this event is mentioned fifty times in the Torah. Fifty days passed from the exodus to the receiving of the Torah, and fifty years had to pass for the liberation of the slaves, FOR ALL THESE EVENTS CORRESPOND TO THE FIFTY GATES OF BINAH.

390. "...Out of the house of bondage..." as it is written, "Hashem smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt" (Shemot 12:29). We have learned that this signifies the lower crowns in which the Egyptians had faith. As there is a house above, there is one below, a holy House above as it is said, "through wisdom a house is built" (Mishlei 24:3) and an unholy house below, IN THE KLIPOT, as it is written, "Out of the house of bondage."

391. We have learned that when the "I" was proclaimed, all those commandments of the Torah which were united with the Supernal Holy King, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, were comprised in this word "I."

392. As we have already learned, all the commandments of the Torah clung to the body of the King, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, some of them to His head, some to His hands and some to His feet, and none of them ever step out and become separate from the body of the King. Therefore, he who transgresses even one of the commandments of the Torah is as though he transgresses against the body of the King, as it is written, "And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have rebelled against Me" (Yeshayah 66:24) - "against Me," literally. Woe to the wicked who break the words of the Torah, and do not know what they do.

393. Thus said Rabbi Shimon, The very place against which a sinner has committed a sin, reveals the sin. When a sin has been committed against the Holy One, blessed be He, AS MENTIONED ABOVE, the Holy One, blessed be He, reveals his sin, as it is written, "The heaven shall reveal his iniquity and the earth shall rise up against him" (Iyov 20:27). "The heaven shall reveal his iniquity," signifies the Holy One, blessed be He, MEANING, ZEIR ANPIN CALLED 'HEAVEN,' and "the earth shall rise up against him," signifies the Congregation of Yisrael, NAMELY MALCHUT WHICH IS CALLED 'EARTH.'

394. We have learned that "the heaven," ZEIR ANPIN, reveals a man's sin and at that time "the earth," WHICH IS MALCHUT, executes Judgment on the sinner, as it is written, "And the earth shall rise up against him," to punish him. Rabbi Yosi said in the name of Rabbi Shimon that when the Torah was given, the Mother, WHICH IS BINAH, and the Children, WHICH ARE MALE AND FEMALE, were in perfect harmony, as it is written, "And be a joyful mother of children" (Tehilim 113:9).

395. "I am Hashem your Elohim." "I" is, as we have learned, that Abraham the Patriarch had a daughter. It is the Shechinah who is a Daughter. "Hashem your Elohim," SIGNIFIES ZEIR ANPIN WHICH IS CALLED 'YISRAEL,' as it is written, "Yisrael is My son, My firstborn" (Shemot 4:22). It is also written, "She is the Tree of Life to those who lay hold on her" (Mishlei 3:18). THIS SIGNIFIES ZEIR ANPIN, WHICH IS CALLED 'THE TREE OF LIFE.' This is the son.

396. "Who have brought you out of the land of Egypt." It is as it is written, "For it is a Jubilee; it shall be holy to you" (Vayikra 25:12), NAMELY, BINAH. IT IS ALSO WRITTEN, "And be a joyful mother of children," and, "And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty" (Ibid. 10). THIS IS BINAH WHICH IS CALLED 'THE FIFTIETH YEAR,' AND ALSO CALLED 'IMA.' Thus, there are mother and children. THE MOTHER HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO US FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT AND THE CHILDREN, "I" THE DAUGHTER, AND "HASHEM YOUR ELOHIM" THE SON, AS MENTIONED ABOVE. Thus, the mother and children were there, all in joy and completeness. Of this it is written, "A joyful mother of children." When the mother is gone, everybody is gone from their place, as written, "You shall not take the mother bird together with the young" (Devarim 22:6). We have learned that THE MEANING OF THIS VERSE IS THAT a man should be careful not to sin below, as THAT CAUSES the removal of the mother from the children.

397. Rabbi Yitzchak said that all THE SFIROT MENTIONED ABOVE refer to the Holy One, blessed be He, who is everything. And this thing is disclosed to the reapers of the field, MEANING TO THOSE WHO ALREADY HAVE THE MERIT TO KNOW THE SECRETS OF THE TORAH AND WHO "SHALL REAP IN JOY" (TEHILIM 126:4), MEANING THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED THEIR GRADES FROM MALCHUT WHICH IS CALLED 'FIELD.' Happy they are in this world and in the world to come.

398. Rabbi Elazar said, It is written, "In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth" (Beresheet 1:1), THE HEAVEN PRECEDING THE EARTH, and, "in the day that Hashem Elohim made the earth and the heavens" (Beresheet 2:4), THE EARTH PRECEDING THE HEAVEN. How can we reconcile these verses WHICH CONTRADICT EACH OTHER? HE ANSWERS, We learned that both were created together. We have learned that the Holy One, blessed be He, stretched out His right hand and created the heavens, and then He stretched out His left hand and created the earth. THEREFORE, it first says, "the heaven and the earth," and later, "the earth and the heavens."

399. It is written, "'And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will respond,' says Hashem. 'I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth'" (Hoshea 2:23). "I will answer the heavens," NAMELY the heavens themselves, ZEIR ANPIN, as it is written, "Heaven is My throne" (Yeshayah 66:1), FOR BINAH SAYS, ZEIR ANPIN IS MY THRONE. "...And they shall answer the earth..." the earth herself, MALCHUT, as it is written, "And the earth is My footstool" (Ibid.). "The heaven" refers to the supernal heavens, ZEIR ANPIN, and "the earth" to the supernal earth, WHICH IS MALCHUT, for as we have learned, when the heavens were created, they longed for the earth. This occurs in the grade called 'Righteous,' as it is written, "The righteous is an everlasting (lit. 'of the world') foundation" (Mishlei 10:25). And it cleaved to that earth.

400. A holy river of the oil of anointment COMES from the head of the King, THE THREE FIRST SFIROT OF ZEIR ANPIN, to the place wherein this Righteous dwells, WHO IS YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, and pours itself out in fullness of desire upon this earth, WHICH IS MALCHUT. The earth, having received it thence, nourishes all, both above and below. This happens the same way as the male, having the desire to unite with the female, brings out of the top of his head a seed of propagation into the male organ and injects it in the female, from which she conceives. Thus, all parts of the body cleave to the female, and the female receives everything. According to this model we have learned, that the one who completes the first ten people who come to pray in a synagogue receives their merits. Rabbi Yosi says that he is considered as ten, FOR THEY CORRESPOND TO THE TEN SFIROT, AND HE CORRESPONDS TO MALCHUT, NAMELY THE NUKVA WHO RECEIVES ALL, AS MENTIONED ABOVE.

401. Rabbi Yitzchak said, It is written, "He bowed the heavens also, and came down" (II Shmuel 22:10), AND IN THE TORAH it is written, "And Hashem will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai" (Shemot 19:11). When He "came down," to where did He go down? You may think it was to Sinai, AS WRITTEN IN THE TORAH, yet it says, "upon (lit. 'above') Mount Sinai" and not 'on Mount Sinai.'

402. HE EXPLAINS, "He bowed the heavens also, and came down." To where did He descend? Rabbi Yosi said, He descended down His grades, from grade to grade, from crown to crown, until He reached this earth, WHICH IS MALCHUT. Then the moon, MALCHUT, shone and stood in its fullness. Therefore, it is written, "He bowed the heaven also, and came down" to this earth. Then it says "upon Mount Sinai." Who stood upon Mount Sinai? The Shechinah did, AND HE DESCENDED TOWARDS HER.

403. Rabbi Aba said, From the following verses WE LEARN THAT HE DESCENDED TOWARDS THE SHECHINAH, for it is written, "Because Hashem descended upon it in fire" (Shemot 19:18), and, "For Hashem your Elohim is a consuming fire" (Devarim 4:24), WHICH IS THE SHECHINAH, TOWARDS WHOM HE DESCENDED. HE QUESTIONS FURTHER, Yet it says, "Then Hashem rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Hashem out of heaven" (Beresheet 19:24). THUS, ZEIR ANPIN HIMSELF IS THE FIRE, PART OF WHICH RAINED UPON SODOM. HE ANSWERS, "Then Hashem rained" signifies the earth, WHICH IS THE SHECHINAH, FOR "THEN (AND) HASHEM" INDICATES HE AND HIS COURT-HOUSE, WHICH IS THE SHECHINAH FROM WHICH THE FIRE WAS ISSUED UPON SODOM. Whence did she receive it? The second part of the verse, "from Hashem out of heaven," explained that she received from heaven itself, BEING ZEIR ANPIN, AND WHATEVER THE SHECHINAH HAS, SHE RECEIVES FROM ZEIR ANPIN. "From Hashem out of heaven," the heaven themselves, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, FOR WHATEVER THE SHECHINAH HAS SHE RECEIVES FROM ZEIR ANPIN. Rabbi Chiya said that this verse SIGNIFIES THAT HE DESCENDED AND BECAME UNITED WITH THE SHECHINAH. "And Elohim spoke all these words saying..." (Shemot 20:1) "ELOHIM" IS THE SHECHINAH; "all" MEANS the inclusion of everything, BEING ZEIR ANPIN upon whom everything and everyone depends. HENCE, ZEIR ANPIN DESCENDED AND UNITED WITH THE SHECHINAH.