404. "You shall have no other Elohim beside Me" (Shemot 20:3). According to Rabbi Yitzchak, "other Elohim" excludes the Shechinah, and thus, "YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER ELOHIM" THAN THE SHECHINAH, CALLED "ELOHIM." "...Beside Me (lit. 'My face')..." excludes the face of the King upon which the Holy King is manifested. It is His Name and His Name is it; THE VISIBLE FACE IS HIS NAME, WHICH IS MALCHUT, AND HIS NAME IS THE VISIBLE FACE. He is His Name, AND ZEIR ANPIN IS HIS NAME, WHICH MEANS THEY ARE ONE, as it is written, "I am Hashem, that is My Name" (Yeshayah 42:8). He and His Name are one. Blessed be His Name forever and ever.
405. Rabbi Shimon taught: Blessed are Yisrael, for the Holy One, blessed be He, called them 'men,' as it is written, "But you My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men" (Yechezkel 34:31), AND ALSO, "If a man of you bring an offering" (Vayikra 1:2). Why are they called "men?" The reason is found in the verse, "You that did cleave to Hashem your Elohim" (Devarim 4:4) - you and not the heathen nations. Therefore, you are called "men" and they are not.
406. Rabbi Shimon continued with his explanations, When a Jewish boy is circumcised he enters into the Covenant which the Holy One, blessed be He, made with Abraham, as it says, "And Hashem had blessed Abraham in all things" (Beresheet 24:1), and, "loyal love to Abraham" (Michah 7:20). Thus, he begins to enter into that place, and when he commences to keep the precepts of the Torah he enters the grade of Adam (man), THAT OF THE SUPERNAL CHARIOT, and becomes attached to the body of the King. Then he is called 'man.'
407. The seed of Yisrael is called 'man.' Come and behold, of Ishmael it is written, "And he will be a wild man" (Beresheet 16:12). "...A wild man..." and not 'a man.' HE WAS CALLED "a wild man" because he was circumcised, and therefore he had the beginnings of being "a man," as it is written, "And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin" (Beresheet 17:25). Since his circumcision he entered to the grade which is called 'all,' WHICH IS YESOD. Hence, he was not called 'a man' but "a wild man." "His hand will be against every man (lit. 'in all')" (Beresheet 16:12). Assuredly, "in all" and no more, because he did not accept the commandments of the Torah. He had the start, being circumcised, but was not perfected through the commandments of the Torah. But the seed of Yisrael, who were perfected in all things, is called "men" in the full sense, as it is written, "For Hashem's portion is His people, Jacob is the lot of His inheritance" (Devarim 32:9).
408. Rabbi Yosi said, Therefore, the engraving and painting of all faces is permitted, except the face of a man. Rabbi Yitzchak said that when A HUMAN FORM is represented, it looks engraved with an engraving of perfection, THAT IS, A SPECIAL PERFECTION IS PERCEIVED THEREIN. Rabbi Yehuda said, This accords with the popular saying: 'the form of the spirit is in the image,' MEANING THAT ACCORDING TO THE IMAGE OF THE MAN FORMED, HIS CONNECTION WITH THE SPIRIT WITHIN HIM IS RECOGNIZED.
409. Rabbi Yehuda was once going from Cappadocia to Lod to see Rabbi Shimon who was there, and Rabbi Chizkiyah accompanied him. Rabbi Yehuda said to Rabbi Chizkiyah: What Rabbi Shimon taught us concerning the meaning of the term "wild man" is perfectly true and quite clear, BUT what is the meaning of the second part of the verse which says, "And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren" (Beresheet 16:12).
410. He replied, I have heard no interpretation and I shall not give any, for we learned that, "And this is the Torah which Moses set Yisrael" (Devarim 4:44). That "which Moses set" you can speak of, but what Moses did not set, MEANING WHAT WAS NOT TAUGHT BY ONE'S TEACHER, one cannot tell.
411. Rabbi Yehuda opened the discussion with that verse, "For He is your life, and the length of your days" (Devarim 30:20). He who is worthy of the Torah and does not separate himself from her is worthy of two lives, life in this world and life in the World to Come, as it is written, "your life," LITERALLY, IN A PLURAL FORM, WHICH MEANS two. He who separates himself from her, separates himself from life, and he who separates himself from Rabbi Shimon, separates himself from all things.
412. Here is a verse to which Rabbi Shimon already opened a door, yet we cannot enter it. How much more difficult will it be for us to understand these words of the Torah. Woe to the generation from which Rabbi Shimon will be removed, for as long as we are in his presence the springs of the heart are open on every direction and everything is revealed, but as soon as we separate ourselves from him we know nothing and all the springs are closed.
413. Rabbi Chizkiyah said, As it is written, "And he took the spirit that was upon him, and gave it to the seventy elders" (Bemidbar 11:25). It was like a light of a candle from which many lights are kindled; it remains whole AND ITS LIGHT STANDS IN ITS FULLNESS EVEN THOUGH MANY CANDLES WERE LIT BY IT. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is such a light. He illuminates everyone and yet his light is not diminished, but remains steadfast in its full splendor. They walked on until they reached his dwelling.