190. "And Reuben went in the days of the wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field" (Beresheet 30:14). Rabbi Yitzchak opened the discussion with the verse, "How manifold are Your works, Hashem, in wisdom have You made them all: the earth is full of Your creatures" (Tehilim 104:24). This verse has already been explained in several places. Yet who can count the works of the Holy One, blessed be He? For there are many different armies and legions OF GRADES AND ANGELS. They are countless, AS IS INDICATED IN THE VERSE, "HOW MANIFOLD ARE YOUR WORKS." THIS SHOWS THAT THEY ARE WITHOUT NUMBER, WHICH IS AN ALLUSION TO MOCHIN OF CHASSADIM. THE PHRASE, "IN WISDOM HAVE YOU MADE THEM ALL," REFERS TO MOCHIN OF NUMBER, CHOCHMAH. HE SAYS THAT ALTHOUGH THEY DIFFER FROM ONE ANOTHER, they were created together. Just as a hammer striking a stone or a red hot iron produces sparks on all sides simultaneously, the Holy One, blessed be He, brought forth countless, different kinds of legions all at once.

191. Come and behold. The world was formed by word and spirit together, MALE AND FEMALE, as it is written, "By the word of Hashem were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath (spirit) of His mouth" (Tehilim 33:6). Thus, "the word of Hashem" is speech, THE NUKVA, WHICH SHINES WITH CHOCHMAH, and "the breath of His mouth" is the spirit, ZEIR ANPIN, WHICH SHINES WITH CHASSADIM. The one cannot exist without the other, and so they are included within each other, and several armies upon armies, legions upon legions were issued all at once, DIFFERING FROM EACH OTHER IN THEIR ILLUMINATION, THE ONE WITH CHOCHMAH AND THE OTHER WITH CHASSADIM.

192. Come and behold, when the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to create the worlds, He produced one closed Light, THE LIGHT OF BINAH, BY INSERTING THE LETTER YUD WITHIN THE LIGHT (HEB. OR, ALEPH, VAV, RESH) AND PRODUCING AIR (HEB. AVIR, ALEPH, VAV, YUD, RESH). From that light, all the revealed lights radiated, THAT IS, BY TAKING OUT THE YUD FROM AVIR, THE AIR BECAME LIGHT AGAIN. From that light, all other lights radiated. This is the supernal world, BINAH.

193. That Supernal Light, BINAH, spread further, and from it the artist, THE EMANATOR, created a light that does not illuminate. Thus, He made the lower world, THE NUKVA. Because this light does not shine, it needs to be attached above and below. Through the attachment below, it is connected so as to illuminate through the connection above.

194. This light that does not shine, NAMELY, THE LEFT COLUMN of the connection OF THE THREE COLUMNS above IN BINAH produces all the different armies and legions - THOSE IN CHOCHMAH AND THOSE IN CHASSADIM. This is the meaning of, "how manifold are Your works, Hashem in wisdom have You made them all."

195. Whatever exists down on earth also exists above. There is nothing in this world, IN THE NUKVA, be it ever so small, which does not depend on something appointed over it above, IN BINAH. WHAT EXISTS IN THE NUKVA IS WHAT SHE RECEIVES FROM BINAH. THEREFORE, THERE IS NOTHING IN THE NUKVA THAT DOES NOT HAVE ITS ROOT IN BINAH. Thus, when something is aroused below IN THE NUKVA, ITS ORIGIN, appointed over it from above IN BINAH, is aroused because everything is united.

196. Come and behold, "Give me, I pray you, of your son's mandrakes" (Beresheet 30:14). This does not mean THAT the mandrakes caused Rachel to bear children, BUT RATHER that the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged for the birth of Issachar, who was destined to observe the Torah more than the other tribes, just as Rachel held fast to Jacob and did not let him go to Leah. This is the meaning of the verse, "Is it a small matter that you have taken my husband? ...Therefore he shall lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."

197. The mandrakes caused Issachar to come into the world so that the fragrance of the Torah ascended before the Holy One, blessed be He. Thus scripture reads, "The mandrakes give a fragrance" (Shir Hashirim 7:14), BECAUSE ISSACHAR HELD FAST TO THE TORAH MORE THAN THE OTHER TRIBES. It is written, "And he lay with her that night (lit. 'that night he')" (Beresheet 30:16). Assuredly, it is "he," AND NOT 'THAT HE.' It has already been explained that the supernal world is called "he," because it is neither disclosed nor revealed. Because the Torah came out from the supernal world, WHICH IS UNDISCLOSED AND NOT REVEALED, THE UNION THAT RESULTED IN ISSACHAR WAS ALLUDED TO IN THE WORDS, "AND HE LAY WITH HER THAT NIGHT HE" - BECAUSE ISSACHAR IS A CHARIOT TO THE TORAH, AS HAS BEEN SAID.

198. The supernal world is uniformly called "he" because it is undisclosed, as it is written, "But the Levite shall serve he" (Bemidbar 18:23), WHICH MEANS THAT HE SERVES THE SUPERNAL WORLD CALLED "HE," in order to draw from there blessings on all the worlds. And Issachar held TO THE SUPERNAL WORLD. Therefore, we call ZEIR ANPIN the Tree of Life, as it is a tree THAT COMES from the supernal life OF THE SUPERNAL HIDDEN WORLD, called "he," and not 'you,' AS THE PRONOUN 'YOU' INDICATES THE KNOWN, AND THE PRONOUN "HE," THE HIDDEN.

199. It may be said that the mandrakes opened Rachel's womb. This is not so, as it is written, "and Elohim hearkened to her and opened her womb" (Beresheet 30:22). Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, OPENED HER WOMB, and nothing else. As for the mandrakes, although they have the power of action above, it is not in their power to give children, because children depend upon Mazal, and nothing else.