And the LORD said unto Moshe, Speak unto the Priests the sons of Aharon, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for a soul among their people. (Lev. 21)

(Zohar Terumah 2:177): It says in The Book of the Hidden (Sifra d'Tzni`uta): From the Nostrils (Nukva D’fardasqa) was drawn the breath of life to the Mashiach (Messiah).

א The exact root of the weapon of the Mashiach is prayer, which is like the nose (ChoTeM), as it is written (Isa. 48): "for my praise will-I-restrain-[My-anger] (eCheToM) for you;" and from there is the root of his life, and all his war that he shall wage, and all the conquests that he shall conquer -- all is from there, as it is written (there, 11): "and-[the spirit of the LORD]-shall-make-him-of-quick-understanding (w'haricho) in the fear of the LORD" etc.; this is like the nose, and this is the root of his weapon, as it is written (Gen. 45): "with my sword and with my bow (B'QaShti)." And Rashi explained [this as]: prayer and request (BaQaShah). And as it is written (Ps. 44): "For I will not trust in my bow... In God we boast," which is like "for my praise will-I-restrain-[My-anger] for you."

ב And this weapon must be received by the way of Yosef, that is, keeping the covenant, as it is written (there, 45): "Gird your sword upon your thigh." And as it is written (there, 132): "Of the fruit of your belly will I set upon your throne;" this is a taste of the Mashiach, which is like prayer. And "if your children will keep My covenant" -- that is, by the way of Yosef. And Yosef, who kept the covenant, picked up the firstborn status, which is like the service of prayer*, which is like "double" (pi shnayim -- two-mouthed) (Deut. 21:17), because prayer is two-edged. Two, since it has the praise of the Omnipresent, and asking of one’s needs. And it is like (Ps. 149): "A twoedged sword in their hand," which is like two mouths, like the idea of doubles. And he picked up [the firstborn status] from Reuben because he [Reuben] profaned his father's couch (Parashat Vayechi), because it [the firstborn status] depends on keeping the covenant.

ג And whoever merits this sword, must know how to fight with the sword, not to sway it to the right or to the left, and that it should strike a hair and not miss.

And this is impossible except by the way of judgement (mishpat), because judgment is the central pillar – that is, that one strikes with his weapon on the necessary place and does not sway to the right and not to the left, but to the middle. And this is like (Ps. 112): "conducts (y’KhaLKeL) his affairs/words (devaraw) with judgement."

And because of this Yosef received the firstborn status specifically from Ya’akov, as is written (Gen. 48): "And as for me, I have given you" etc. – "I" specifically – because he is the aspect of judgement. This is like (Ps. 81): "For this is a law (choq) for Israel," like the covenant, as is written: "A covenant (choq) in his flesh he placed. A judgment [day] for the God of Ya’akov" – that is, that Yosef must receive this sword from the way of judgement, in order to conduct his affairs in judgement. And this is like (there, 72): "Give the king Your judgements," that the Mashiach should receive from the way of judgement.

ד And through what does one merit the way of judgement? – By righteousness/charity (tzedakah), since by charity one holds the virtue of judgment, as is written (Deut. 33): "he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments," and as is written (Ps. 99): "judgement and righteousness (tzedakah) in Ya’akov" etc. because righteousness is through judgement, as is written (there, 75): "But God is the judge: he puts down one, and sets up another," since he causes this one to inherit and makes that one rich; and when one gives charity, this is like "he puts down one," since he lessens his money, and like "and sets up another," since he enriches the poor one. So we find that through this one holds the virtue of judgment.

And for this one must set aside charity before the prayer (Bava Kama 10; Shulchan Arukh ‘O"Ch 72:10), so that he can conduct (y’KhaLKeL) his words with judgement, and strike a hair and not miss.

And this is [the reason] that our sages of blessed memory said (Bava Kama 123): "Why did Ya’akov give the firstborn status to Yosef? – Because he sustained (KiLKeL) him." Compare this to a head of household, who raised an orphan in his home etc., as is written (Gen. 47): "And Joseph nourished (y’KhaLKeL) his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to (l’FI) the children (HaTaF);" and like (Ezek. 21): "prophesy (HaTeF – a word for speech) southward." "According to the children (l’FI HaTaF)," that is, that his prayer (Te’FILaH) was fluent in his mouth (FI) through charity, and through the charity that he did, Ya’akov, who is a taste of judgement, gave him the firstborn status, which is like prayer, as is written: "And as for me, I have given you Shechem" – "I" specifically, he being the taste of judgment.

ה And the root of the outside thoughts – they are by means of corrupted judgement, because judgement is like fountains/appearances/eyes (`AYNin), as is written (Gen. 14): "and they came to Ein-Mishpat’ (`AeYN-mishpat) (lit. the Fountain of Judgement)"; this is like (Deut. 33): "the fountain/appearance of Ya’akov (`AeYN Ya’akov)." And through corruption of judgement comes corruption to the eyes, as is written (Deut. 16): "for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise." This is like the outside thoughts during the prayer, which are "clouds covering the eyes" (Zohar Bamidbar 252), as is written (Lam. 3): "You have covered Yourself with a cloud" etc.

And towards the future, when the way of judgement will be perfected, as is written (Isa. 1): "Zion will be redeemed in judgement," then the clouds covering the eye will be caused to pass away, as is written (there, 52): "for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion," and this is why Yosef is called (Gen. 49): "A charming son to the eye."

ו And everyone must aim in his prayer, that he should tie himself to the Tzaddikim (righteous ones) of the Age, because every Tzaddik of the Age is a taste of Moshe Mashiach (Moses-Messiah), as we have found, that the tzaddikim call each other "Moshe," as in: "Moshe, you have said well." And Moshe is a taste of Mashiach, as is written (there): "Until Shiloh comes" – this is Moshe Mashiach. And each and every prayer that everyone prays, is like a limb of the SheKhINah (Divine Presence), which are limbs of the miShKaN (Tabernacle), which no man of Israel can put up piece to piece, each one in its place, except Moshe alone. And therefore it is necessary to bring and tie all the prayers to the Tzaddik of the Age, as is written (Exod. 39): "And they brought the Mishkan unto Moshe," and he knows how to put up piece to piece and to make it a complete structure, as is written (there, 40): "And Moshe set up the Mishkan."

And all the Torah that a man learns to keep and do, all the letters are sparks of souls, and they are clothed inside the prayer, and are renewed there as in pregnancy*

And this is [the meaning of] (Ps. 19): "The heavens (haShaMaYiM) declare the glory of God," – which is the Torah, which is fire and water (eSh u’MaYiM), which is like souls, and they come into the prayer, which is like the glory of the God, as is written (Ps. 66): "Make his praise glorious," like "for my praise will-I-restrain-[My-anger] for you." And the souls with the prayer are called glory, because it [prayer] clothes us, because Rabbi Yochanan called his clothes his honorers, and the glory of the Mighty One is called by this, and they light up each other: the souls light up the prayer like the raising of female waters, and the prayer lights up the souls like new insights, because it renews them as in pregnancy, and the souls-clothed-in-the-prayer that are brought to the Tzaddik of the Age are like (Ps. 45): "The virgins that follow her, her companions, shall be brought unto you."

And this is what Rabba bar Bar Chana [was talking about], saying: They saw that fish etc.* Because in our exile it is as if the Holy Blessed One is hiding face, as is written (Ps. 30): "If You would hide Your face," which is a symbol of compassion; but he has turned his back, which is like judgement. And all our prayers and requests about this, that he turned his back to us, are that he should return his face, as is written (there, 86): "O turn unto me," and as is written (Num. 6): "The LORD make his face shine." And when we see the length of the exile, and every day we call out to him and they are not saved, then there are those of our people the children of Israel, that are mistaken, God forbid, in their hearts, that all the prayers go to waste. But in truth all the prayers – the Tzaddikim of each and every Age – they [the Tzaddikim] raise them [the prayers] and set them up, as is written: "And Moshe set up the Mishkan." And they raise up each and every piece to its place, and build the structure of the Shechinah little by little, until Its amount of structure is completed – then will come Mashiach, who is Moshe, and he will complete It and set It up in perfection.

And we thought that it was dry land – that the prayers do not bear fruit; but in truth it is not so – rather, we went out and baked and cooked on it – that is, all the prayers go out and go up, and the more they pray, the more the Divine Presence is built and prepares Herself to mate. And this [is the meaning of] "we baked and cooked" because baking and cooking are preparations for eating, for a symbol of mating, as is written (Gen. 39): "Except the bread that he ate." When the structure of the Divine Presence is completed – that is, through much prayer – his compassion will be aroused, and the trait of judgement will be reversed to the trait of compassion.

And this [is the meaning of] when [its back] grew hot -- that is, when his compassion will be aroused. ...Its back [grew hot,] it turned over -- that is, that the trait of judgement will be reversed to the trait of compassion. And had not the ship been nearby – that is, "For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it" (Isa. 48). As is written in the Commentary (Vayikra Rabbah 27): "Who has preceded Me that I should pay him?" – who has made Me a Mezuzah before I gave him a house? etc. One finds that all our good deeds and all the prayers – all is from Him, and it is not proper to think to receive reward for any thing, even though it seems that through our prayer and our Torah will be the Redemption -- even so, we need His mercy, for it is in His mercy that he will redeem us. And this [is the meaning of] and if not for the closeness of the ship – this is a symbol of mercy, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "Most sailors are pious;" if not for his mercy we would have drowned, God forbid, in the exile.

And this is the explanation of: Speak (EMoR) unto the Priests – [speaking] stands for prayer, as is written (Deut. 26): "Thou hast bespoken (heEMaRta) the LORD this day." Priests stand for Torah, [which] stands for souls as mentioned above, as is written (Mal. 2): "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge... and Torah" etc. Aharon stands for judgment, as is written (Ex. 28): "And Aharon shall bear the judgement of the Children of Israel;" because it is necessary to bring all the prayers to the aspect of Moshe Mashiach, and he shall set up the Mishkan. And this is the [meaning of the] explanation of Rashi: To warn (l’haZHIR) the adults regarding the little ones – that is, the Tzaddik of the Age, who stands for Moshe the great light, shall brighten (yaZHIR) and illuminate the prayer, which stands for the little light.

And none be defiled for a soul among their people – that is, through keeping the Covenant as mentioned above. As is brought in the Zohar: "The root of the Evil Desire in man is in regard to forbidden relations, and that is the root of impurity." And when one keeps the Covenant, he merits to the aspect of prayer as mentioned above, and merits to the aspect of "for my praise I-shall-restrain-[My-anger] for you," because the root of smell depends on purity, as our Sages of blessed memory said (Sotah 48): "After purity ceased, smell ceased," as the story in the Gemarah illustrates (there, 49), which said: "‘I smell the fragrance of a juicy date.’ He said to him, ‘My son, there is purity in you.’" ( :^>

Appendix 2: Expansions of Divine Names and their Values and Sefirot

© 2005 Nissim Kaufmann, nissimkaufmann*yahoo^com.  Please copy and distribute for non-profit use.