House Filled with Light & Laughter

In this week's Torah reading, we are given the laws of the various skin diseases (types of tzara'at, usually and incorrectly translated as "leprosy") that can render a person spiritually impure. The first verses of these laws is: "And G‑d spoke to Moses, saying, 'A man on whose skin there is a raised-disease or an excess-disease or a bright-disease, and it turns into the plague of tzara'at on his flesh, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests.'" (Lev. 13:1-2)

Know that the word "man" [in the above verse] refers to Zeir Anpin, since [this partzuf] manifests the name Mah [Havayah spelled out with the letter alef, with the numerical value of 45], the numerical value of the word "man" [in Hebrew, "adam"].

The four spellings-out of the name Havayah manifest the four principle partzufim: Abba, Imma, Zeir Anpin, and Nukva.

From the backside of [Zeir Anpin] issue [his] two wives, Rachel and Leah. Indeed, there are three alef's in the name Mah, which produce Leah and Rachel from behind him: Leah from the [first,] highest alef, and Rachel from the two [other] alef's, because Rachel begins from the chest of Zeir Anpin, [as follows].

What distinguishes the name Mah from the other spellings of the name Havayah is the three alef's used to spell out the last three letters. These three alef's are seen as the source of the two feminine partzufim that issue from Zeir Anpin, just as these alef's are implicit in the name Havayah and the means of expression issue from the emotions.

Leah and Rachel, the two manifestations of Nukva, signify the three means of expression: Leah is thought, while Rachel is speech and action. Leah is positioned parallel to the intellect and upper parts of the emotions of Zeir Anpin, since thought is primarily used to express intellect and abstract emotion, while Rachel is positioned parallel to the lower emotions of Zeir Anpin, which are expressed primarily through speech and action.

The upper emotions are considered to be chesed and gevura (manifest in the body as the right and left arms, respectively) and the upper third of tiferet (the heart).

The name [Mah] is manifest [in Zeir Anpin] as follows: The [three letters that spell] yud are manifest in chochma of Zeir Anpin; the [first hei used to spell the letter] hei is manifest in bina; the alef used to spell out the [first] hei is manifest in daat; the [three letters used to spell] vav are manifest in the three thirds of tiferet; and the [three letters used to spell the final] hei are manifest in netzach-hod-yesod.

It follows that the three alef's are situated on the middle axis, in daat-tiferet-yesod. [Thus,] Leah is derived only from the [alef manifest in] daat, while Rachel is derived from the other two alef's. This is because [the three letters in] the spelling-out of the vav, vav-alef-vav, manifest the three thirds of tiferet, the second third corresponding to the alef of vav-alef-vav, and it is from this point that [the position of] Rachel begins.

Evidently, the hei used to spell out the final hei is seen to be manifest as netzach and hod of Zeir Anpin, while the alef of this letter manifests yesod of Zeir Anpin.

As we have seen previously, Leah is positioned opposite the upper half of Zeir Anpin, extending down to the bottom of the upper two thirds of its tiferet. Rachel is positioned opposite the lower half of Zeir Anpin, beginning at the top of the bottom third of its tiferet. This is because, as we have also seen, yesod of Leah covers (i.e. its consciousness contextualizes) Zeir Anpin as far "down" as the upper two thirds of the latter's tiferet, inclusive, inasmuch as the intellect that produces the emotions remains in the background of the midot only that far. Beyond that point, the midot become too practical, too oriented toward expression, to exist within the consciousness of the intellect. They must leave the context of Imma and be revealed on their own.

Thus, Rachel takes two alef's, each of which is an aspect of [divine] light. It follows that Rachel possesses two types of light. Twice the numerical value of the word for "light" [in Hebrew, "or"] is [almost] the numerical value of the word for "house" ["bayit"] and also the numerical value of the word for "laughter" ["sechok"].

[In order to arrive at the exact numerical value of] the word for "house", we disregard the two first [letters of the two words "or", that is, the two] alef's, leaving the two sets of the remaining two letters vav-reish; [twice this is] the numerical value of the word for "house".

This is the mystical meaning of [our sages' statement that] "since the destruction of the Holy Temple" - a manifestation of Rachel, who possesses two types of light - "it is forbidden to [fill one's mouth with] laugh[ter]" (see Berachot 31a). For there is [true] laughter only when the Temple is standing, inasmuch as the numerical values of the words for "laughter" and "house" are the same [when related via twice the word for "light"].

The idiom for "Temple" is "beit ha-mikdash", literally, "the house of the sanctuary".

Although the numerical value of "bayit" is 412 and that of "sechok" is 414, "sechok" is two times "or" (=207) and two times the last two letters of "or" (=206) is "bayit"(=412).

Rachel's diminished stature, extending only as high as Zeir Anpin's chest, reflects the state of reality during the exile, when the Temple is in ruins. Since reality in this state is imperfect, it is not fitting for us to be totally happy at any time. (Hence the Jewish custom of remembering the destruction of the Temple even at happy occasions, by breaking a glass at a wedding, leaving part of a house unpainted, etc.)

Mystically, this state is indicated by the fact that the letter alef must be removed from the word for "light" in order for the two lights of Rachel (speech and action) to reach the numerical value of "bayit". Removing the alef from Rachel's lights signifies the destruction of the Temple, since the Temple, the "house of prayer" (Isaiah 56:7), the yearning of the feminine principle of creation for content given to it by the masculine principle, is a manifestation of Rachel. When the light of Rachel is lacking (because the Temple is destroyed), the "house" produced by this is less than the full value of "laughter".

But Zeir Anpin possesses all three alef's, signifying three complete types of light, and three times the numerical value of the word for light ["or", = 207] is the numerical value of the word "keter" [=620, plus the kolel].

This indicates that the keter of Zeir Anpin is complete, while the keter of Rachel comprises only two types of light.

Every type of light is a type of chesed, as is known. The lights [of Zeir Anpin, signified by the alef's,] are states of chesed of bina [i.e. Imma] vested in Zeir Anpin. There are three aspects [to their investiture in Zeir Anpin]: they are first manifest in its daat; next in the second third of its tiferet, which is where they begin to be revealed - while above [in daat], they were concealed [within yesod of Imma] - this gives two aspects; and below in the yesod of Zeir Anpin, where they are gathered together - this gives three aspects of [the manifestation of] the states of chesed [of Imma in Zeir Anpin].

These are signified by the three alef's in the name Mah.

The five [times] the word "light" [is mentioned] in [the account of] the first day [of Creation (Gen. 1:1-5)] manifest the fives states of chesed, while the five [times] the word "water" [is mentioned in the account of the second day of creation (ibid. 1:6-8)] manifest the five states of gevura, as reflected in the idiom, "the powers of [providing] rain" (Berachot 26b, etc.).

The first day of Creation manifests the first of G‑d's midot, chesed; the second day, the second of these midot, gevura.

The second blessing of the Standing Prayer is called "Gevurot", "strengths", for it describes G‑d's strengths. During the winter, the phrase "He makes the wind blow and causes the rain to fall" is added, praising G‑d for providing rain. This phrase is called in the Talmud "the powers of [providing] rain", for in order for rain to be beneficial, it must come down gently, meaning that the flow of water has to be restrained; this is an act of gevura. Hence, the five times the word "water" is mentioned in the account of the second day of Creation signify five states of gevura, even though in general, water signifies chesed.

Here we have additional proof that the lights are types of chesed, as stated above.

Leah possesses only a third of a keter, i.e. one light, so therefore, the states of severe judgment in Leah are more numerous - double, in fact - than they are in Rachel. This is especially true since [the one alef manifest in Leah] is a concealed light, while in Rachel the two lights are revealed.

Leah, as we saw, is derived from the letter alef used to spell out the first hei of the name Havayah when it has the numerical value of 45. Since this light - the light of the five states of chesed of Imma as they are manifest (first) in daat of Zeir Anpin - is derived from the intellect, whose job it is to be judgmental in its process of analysis, the partzuf it produces, Leah, is more judgmental than Rachel.

Now, these lights [of Zeir Anpin, originating in Imma,] do not issue outward in order to produce Rachel and Leah until the mentality of Abba enters them also. For the mentality of Abba repels the forces of evil, preventing them from entering and latching onto bina's [i.e. Imma's] states of chesed.

The mentality of Abba is the pristine, intense experience of the initial insight. By reliving the purity of this experience after the development of bina, the development process is inoculated against infection from the forces of evil that seek to corrupt the intellect-emotion process and steer it in the wrong direction.

These [states of chesed] constitute the main aspect of the Tree of Knowledge [of Good and Evil], from which the forces of evil derive sustenance, as we have explained elsewhere.

The five states of chesed and the five states of gevura within daat are the propensities toward acceptance and rejection that are implied in any emotional connection to the abstract idea emerging from chochma and bina. They are thus the initial source of good and evil.

When the light of Abba is not revealed, having been hidden, then, in the place of the three alef's that produce Leah and Rachel, three types of tzara'at issue: the raised-disease, the excess-disease, and the bright-disease. This is the source of all [the forces of evil's] sustenance, and their presence prevents the issue of the partzufim of Leah and Rachel.

The raised-disease is the counter-principle of the first alef. Thus, it is called the raised-disease, for it is the highest.

Corresponding, as it does, to the highest of the three alef's.

The excess-disease and the bright-disease are the counter-principles of the two lights of Rachel.

This allows us to understand what is written in the Zohar (III: 47a) that the Aramaic translation of "the plague of tzara'at" is "a closing plague". It means that this "disease" is in fact holy, and expels the impurity that has infected the house or the person. It is a manifestation of the holy power of judgment. This is the implication of the word "the plague of". What causes this [manifestation of holy judgment and power of repulsion]? "Tzara'at," meaning: "the closing off of the supernal light, so that it not be revealed" [in the words of the Zohar] - this is what is called "tzara'at". Therefore, the person must be brought to Aaron the priest, in order to elicit and reveal [again] that supernal light that had been closed off.

These are the words of the Zohar. The explanation is as follows:

The "supernal light" that has been closed off is the mentality of Abba that is not revealed in Zeir Anpin. This is what causes tzara'at, i.e. the latching on of the powers of evil.

This is why the Sages state that "one who suffers from tzara'at is likened to a dead person" (Nedarim 64a). As we have already explained in our discussion of the rites of mourning, death causes the mentality of Abba to depart, as it is written, "they die, and they are [left] without chochma [Hebrew for 'wisdom']" (Job 4:21), for "chochma [wisdom] gives life to those who possess it" (Ecclesiastes 7:12). When it is removed, there is death; when "they die", it is because of the lack of chochma.

[To be continued…]

Translated and adapted by Moshe-Yaakov Wisnefsky from Sefer HaLikutim and Sha'ar HaMitzvot, parashat Tazria; subsequently published in "Apples From the Orchard."

Reprinted with permission from Chabad of California. Copyright 2004 by Chabad of California, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof, in any form, without permission, in writing, from Chabad of California, Inc.