Part 14 · Chapter 56

The Ari's Text

But there is always an upper coupling, and therefore the Yod does not cease from this place forever, for the second bounty cannot be without it; only the coupling is not complete for blessing and freedom, to crown the pleasant son, to couple with his bride through the Yesod, for the Righteous was lost from the destruction of the Holy Temple, and the blessed God swore that He would not enter the upper Jerusalem until he enters the lower Jerusalem.

Inner Light

This commentary hasn't been matched to individual seifim yet — items are shown in reading order, and the number beside each one counts the notes themselves, not the seifim of the Ari's text.

Not matched to a seif

1But there is always an upper coupling, and therefore the Yod does not cease from this place forever. An upper coupling means the upper AVI, who clothe the HGT of AA, who are the discernment of the GAR of Bina. The Yod of HaVaYaH is the secret of Aba, and his coupling with Ima never ceases. For the coupling of the upper AVI never ceases; but it is only in the secret of endurance and sustaining alone, namely in the Mochin of SAG, as above, and it is not for blessing and freedom, for that is drawn only from the Mochin of AB.
2To crown the pleasant son, to couple with his bride through the Yesod, for the Righteous was lost from the destruction of the Holy Temple. For before he attains the Mochin of AB, ZA and Rachel are in the discernment of their backs being her house, and their faces are revealed outward — which means that his NHY cannot be revealed; and their essence is the middle line, which is the Yesod. It is thus found that the Righteous, who is the Yesod, was lost, meaning that he became concealed, as above, for he cannot be revealed except in the illumination of Hochma. And one must not ask: surely every day he receives the Mochin of Haya, which give birth to souls, so how does he say that the Righteous was lost? Indeed, in the Mochin of Haya too there is a difference, for before the destruction the Mochin of Haya of ZA sufficed for the birth of new souls from the discernment of face to face; but after the destruction the new souls are regarded as being only from the discernment of back to back, and not the discernment of face to face (as above, page 1502, item 18); and from this discernment it is regarded that the Righteous was lost.
And the reason for the matter is that those souls which ZON give birth to have the discernment of face to face only at the time of their inclusion in the coupling of ZON of Atzilut; whereas upon their descent to their place in Beria, the discernment of face to face is lost from them, for the illumination of Hochma does not come into Beria, which is below the Parsa of Atzilut, as is known. And this matter pertains also to the upper Partzufim, for all the Mochin shine in their full completeness only at the time of the coupling; but after the coupling the garments of MaLTz [Mem-Lamed-Tzadi] return, and the Mochin clothe in the Izka [ring], as above, since the nullification of the Parsaot applies only at the time of the coupling, as is known. However, in the time of the Temple, ZON always clothed AVI, and the world of Beria was found to be in the discernment of Atzilut; and therefore the souls that were born from ZON could be in the discernment of face to face even in Beria, in their own place, because it was then in the discernment of Atzilut.
3And the Lord swore that He would not enter the upper Jerusalem until he enters the lower Jerusalem. Meaning, that at the time of the birth of the Mochin of all the Partzufim, the discernment of the second restriction returns upon them, and they are corrected in the Izka [ring], so that the discernment of the GAR of Hochma becomes concealed in the Mem of Tzelem; and the Bina of AA does not remain in the Rosh after the coupling, and the entire coupling of HB of AA was only in the discernment of the Bina of the concealed Hochma. Indeed, the GAR of the concealed Hochma are always sealed in the membrane. It is thus found that the coupling in HB of AA is not complete even at the time of the coupling, and all the more so after the descent of the Mochin to their place. And all this is because of the Parsa of the second restriction, which is not entirely nullified; and therefore the Mochin do not spread to Rachel at the time of the coupling of the night, as above, page 1503, item 22; study it there well. And this is the secret of “the Lord swore that He would not enter the upper Jerusalem,” which is the secret of Bina, before He enters the lower Jerusalem, which is the secret of Rachel. For before the NHY of ZA spread into BYA, in the secret of Matei Raglin beRaglin [feet touching feet], all the upper Partzufim are found to be lacking NHY; and therefore, from this discernment, they are also lacking GAR. It is thus found that the essence of the matter depends only on Rachel, in the lower Jerusalem — that ZA must enter into her nine lower ones in BYA, and then the NHY of all the Partzufim will be completed, for the Parsa of the second restriction will be entirely nullified, and the legs of Atzilut will end evenly with the legs of AK in this world.