Rabbi Yitzchak was visiting Rabbi Shimon, and he asked him about the verse that states: "And the earth was corrupt before the Elokim." Now, if it was man who sinned and was corrupt, what was the earth's sin? Rabbi Shimon answered, as it is written: "for all flesh had corrupted his way upon earth" and also, "And the land was defiled, therefore I did visit the iniquity thereof upon it". (Lev. 8:25) So it is the human race that sins. But if you ask what the sin of the earth is, you should know that the human race constitutes the essence of the earth. If the human race corrupts it, it has become corrupted. This is proven by the verse: "And Elokim saw the earth and beheld it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth."

Come and see! All of man's sins and corruption can be atoned for by repentance. But by the sin of spilling his seed on the earth, man corrupts his ways and the earth as well. And of such a person, it is written: "The stain of your iniquity remains before me," (Jeremiah 2:22) and "For You are not a G‑d that has pleasure in wickedness, evil shall not sojourn with You" (Psalms 5:5) except after great penitence [through love]. It is also written that "Er, Yehuda's firstborn, was wicked in the eyes of G‑d; and G‑d slew him" (Gen. 38:7), as already explained elsewhere.

Rabbi Yehuda asked: Why did G‑d bring his Judgment on the world — punishing them with water and not with fire or something else? Rabbi Shimon replied that there is a secret behind this. As they corrupted their ways [by spilling seed and not uniting with their wives], they did not join the Masculine and Feminine Waters as was proper. Anyone who corrupts his ways also corrupts the Male and Female Waters [and causes a division between them]. So, they were punished by water, just as they had sinned.

These waters were boiling and they skinned them alive, just like they corrupted their ways in boiling water [for the waters of semen are hot]. "One Judgment against another". As it is written, "All the fountains of the great deep broke open," (Gen. 7:11) refers to the lower waters, while "and the windows of heaven were opened" refers to the upper waters. Both upper and lower waters [corresponding respectively to the Male-upper and Female-lower waters].

BeRahamim LeHayyim: Why did the Ari and Chida include this section? What are we to learn?

This section repeats the focus on the same verse of yesterday, but it elaborates on the "corruption" of the ways. To the Zohar in most discussions this is a sin without rectification. But note above that with great teshuva done through love, one could repair before G‑d. Igeret HaTeshuva of the Ba'al HaTanya makes the same point.

Rather than focus on the fault, focus on the cure. G‑d has put great desire into each and every one of us. It is a desire to connect with G‑d. Simply that is it. But to fill the G‑d-shaped hole in each of us, we throw in addictive energies concerning food, drugs, liquor, gambling, sex, you name it...boiling hot energy.

The first step is recognizing that it was G‑d that put the desire to unite in you in the first place. Without it, the world would not go on. The male and female waters would not unite as above. Now, with that recognition, what are you going to do with the behavior? Perhaps that is why we are to read this section, to learn about the supernal effects of our actions below, and then to forgive ourselves, and to figure out our own special unique path of return. We can change the past by moving toward the future.

What does the selection mean to YOU?! Why are you reading this NOW?!

Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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