Part 16 · Chapter 52

The Ari's Text

Do not be surprised if you will find several places in the Zohar where Etz ha Daat is good, Matatron, and bad, Sam’el. This is because Etz ha Daat is not only in Assiya where there are Klipot mixed with Kedusha. However, after Yetzira came down and clothed in Assiya, Yetzira is called “Etz ha Daat of good and bad”, the name of Assiya. Thus we have thoroughly explained what was Etz ha Daat.

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

1Etz ha Daat is good, Matatron, and bad, Sam’el etc. However, after Yetzira came down and clothed in Assiya, Yetzira is called “Etz ha Daat of good and bad”, the name of Assiya. Interpretation: After the sin the Upper six of Yetzira fell to the place of the lower six of Assiya and her lower half from the Chazeh down fell to the place of the Klipot. Hence, she is now half good, meaning her KHB HGT through the Chazeh, where she stands above Mador ha Klipot. She is also half bad, meaning her TNHYM from the Chazeh down, clothed in Mador ha Klipot where the Tachtonim cannot receive the He’arat Yetzira except when it passes through the Klipot.This is the meaning of “good, Matatron”, meaning the Behinat from the Chazeh upward in her, and “bad, Sam’el”, meaning the Behinat from the Chazeh down in her, clothed in Mador ha Klipot, whose Rosh is called “Sam’el”. This is the meaning of Etz ha Daat of good and bad: good from the perspective of Matatron and bad from the perspective of Sam’el. All this occurred because of the sin of Etz ha Daat, though before the sin Etz ha Daat was only in Assiya.We must understand that, since before the sin Olam Assiya too had no contact with Mador ha Klipot. Thus, why was Olam Assiya in a state of Etz ha Daat of good and bad? Moreover, according to what the Rav writes below (item 87), that on the eve of Shabbat in the twilight, before the sin of Adam ha Rishon, all of BYA rose to Atzilut, and Yetzira and Assiya rose to the place of ZON de Atzilut and were Panim be Panim?After all, Olam Assiya was already in the place of Nukva de Atzilut with all her Eser Sefirot, and how does he say here that she was in a state of Etz ha Daat of good and bad? It must not be said that the sin was before that, since after the sin the Olamot had already fallen.They also say in Masechet Sanhedrin that he sinned on the tenth hour, was sentenced on the eleventh, and was expelled from Gan Eden on the twelfth. Thus, the sin was after the twilight, and how are there good and bad in Assiya that rose to Atzilut, since it is written about Atzilut that “evil shall not sojourn with Thee”?When you study the book Shaar HaPsukim, you will find that the Rav himself addressed it and explained it thus: We shall explain for you one rule and that will explain and settle all the mentioned articles. Know, that every Behinat middle line from the Chazeh down where the Orot are uncovered, whether in ZA, in Nukva de Atzilut, in Beria, or Yetzira, or Assiya, it is called Etz ha Daat.Thus, when the Rav says here that Etz ha Daat is only in Assiya it refers to the Assiya of every Partzuf and every degree of the degrees and the Olamot. This is because from the Chazeh of every Olam and every Partzuf downward, it is considered as Assiya or Malchut of that Partzuf, even though they have five Sefirot TNHYM there.However, not all the Assiya of the Partzuf is called Etz ha Daat, only the Behinat middle line in it, which is Yesod. This is because the three Kavim de Assiya are NHY and the middle line is Yesod. The Rav describes more accurately in the Tree of Life that only Behinat Ateret Yesod is called Etz ha Daat. This is why the Rav writes here that there is only Etz ha Daat of good and bad in Assiya.However, the Rav says (Tree of Life) that the sin of Adam ha Rishon was in the lower Gan Eden, which is Bina de Malchut de Assiya. The Karka of that Gan Eden does not touch this Eretz of ours, meaning the Nekuda de Olam ha Zeh.Thus, according to the Rav’s words here, Olam Assiya, which was already entirely in the place of Nukva de Atzilut, was also the Karka of the Gan Eden Tachton in Malchut of Olam Assiya that rose in the very place of Karka de Atzilut itself. Hence, why does the Rav say there that the Karka of the lower Gan Eden touched and did not touch our Eretz when our Eretz was below in the Hitzoniut of the Olamot that did not rise at all in all the ascents on the eve of Shabbat before the sin (item 88)?Moreover, only the Pnimiut of the three Olamot BYA rose before the sin of Etz ha Daat, not all the Hitzoniut which is Behinat from Chazeh de TNHY de AK downward that became the place of BYA (see item 3). It turns out that the Karka of the Gan Eden Tachton stood at the Karka of Olam Atzilut and our Eretz is below the Raglaim of AK with respect to Behinat Malchut de Tzimtzum Aleph. The entire Hitzoniut de BYA severs them and the distance between them is great, so how does he say that Karka Gan Eden touched and did not touch our Eretz?There is indeed great depth here and this is a very important matter. First we must know that even before the sin of Adam ha Rishon the Klipot came opposite Olam Atzilut, but they did not have Behinat Panim be Panim, but were merely as Vav and Nekuda.In general there are three Klipot: Ruach Se’arah, Anan Gadol, and Esh Mitlakahat, which cling to Noga. This Noga is half good and half bad because when Noga is attached to the Gevul of Parsa de Atzilut she is good, and when the three above Klipot cleave to her, she becomes as evil as they.This is the meaning of the serpent being turned into a rod and the rod turning into a serpent. The three above Klipot are the serpent. When Noga clings to the Gevul of the Kedusha she is called “a rod” and she is good, and when the Klipot cling to her the rod turns into a serpent and it is bad.Explanation: the Klipot are built from the deficits in Kedusha, as it is written, “I shall be filled with her that is laid waste” since Tzor is only built out of the ruin of Jerusalem. Thus the Shoresh became the Klipot immediately with the deficit that was made at the outset of Tzimtzum Aleph. This is because of the Tzimtzum that was made on Behina Dalet to not receive the Ohr Elyon into her.This is considered Malchut de Klipa and only Behinat Nekuda, meaning merely Behinat Shoresh. However, after Tzimtzum Bet the Hey Tata’a rose to Nikvey Eynaim when Malchut ha Mesayemet under the place of Sium Raglin de AK rose to the place of Bina de Guf, which is Chazeh de Tifferet.Then the two bottom thirds of Tifferet and NHYM, which are Bina ZA and Malchut de Guf became Behinat vacant and empty Halal without Ohr (Part 16 item 3). Then these three above Klipot were made one opposite the other, meaning opposite the three Kelim Bina ZA and Malchut de Guf, which now remained as vacant Halal.Ruach Se’arah is opposite Assiya, which is Malchut, Anan Gadol is opposite Yetzira, which is ZA, and Esh Mitlakahat is opposite Beria, which is Bina. Because this place of Halal in BYA caused a lessening in Atzilut, which is the meaning of the amputee going out with his stilt, there is the Behinat three above Klipot opposite from Olam Atzilut too. However, prior to the sin of Adam ha Rishon the Klipot were not built, and they were also separated from the Kedusha.This matter of separation of the Klipot was made by the force of two great Tikkunim that were corrected in Olam Atzilut: 1 – The Inner AVI were concealed, which are GAR de Haya; 2 – Behina Dalet was concealed in RADLA that the Mochin de Yechida come out on.Explanation: The breaking of the vessels de ZAT de Nekudim happened because of the He’arat ABthat they received during the Mochin de Haya that lowered the Hey Tata’a to the Peh as in Tzimtzum Aleph. Then the strength of the Parsa was cancelled and the ZAT de Nekudim expanded to the restricted place of BYA, and hence broke, died and fell to the Klipot.The two above Tikkunim were made in Olam Atzilut in order to correct that, meaning in order to be able to receive Mochin de Gadlut by He’arat AB that lowers the Hey Tata’a from the Eynaim to the Peh. However, it is without expanding below Parsa to the restricted place of BYA. 1 – The Hey Tata’a was concealed in RADLA, thus even when He’arat AB lowers Hey Tata’a to the Peh there is no actual Behinat Malchut there, only Yesod de Malchut; 2 – The Inner AVI were concealed, which are the Behinat GAR de He’arat AB, and all that remains is Behinat He’arat VAK de He’arat AB. This does not expand from above downward at all, only illuminates from below upward, meaning only from the Parsa upward.Thus, you find that the force of Parsa is always kept so that it is not cancelled as during the breaking of the vessels and no He’arah de Atzilut will expand to the restricted place of BYA. Therefore, the Klipot were separated from the Kedusha altogether because Kedusha no longer expands below the Parsa and the Klipot can no longer rob the Kedusha as during the breaking of the vessels.Now you can understand what the Rav wrote above in item 56. In the first Behina, meaning at the time of the birth of the Neshama of Adam ha Rishon, although ZA rose to the Upper AVI and Mochin de Haya illuminated, it did not help to make them able to raise all Eser Sefirot de Olam Yetzira, only GAR de Yetzira, while the VAK remained below Parsa.This is so because there is no Behinat from above downward in Mochin de Haya as the Inner AVIwere concealed. For that reason it suffices to raise only GAR de Yetzira, which are Behinat from below upward and can rise to Atzilut. The VAK de Yetzira, however, did not receive any Tikun from these Mochin since there is no Behinat from above downward in that which expands to the VAK as well.Now you can also understand what the Rav wrote in the ascents in the second Behina on the eve of Shabbat after midnight, when ZA rose to AA and acquired the Mochin de Yechida. Still, it only helped GAR de Olam Assiya to be able to rise to Atzilut but ZAT de Assiya remained below the Parsa and did not receive any Tikun (see below item 80).This is so because of the concealment of the Hey Tata’a in RADLA, and thus even in Mochin de Yechida that emerge by the lowering of the Hey Tata’a to the Peh there is no actual Zivug on Behina Dalet, only on Behinat Yesod de Malchut.For that reason the Nukva de ZA cannot rise there and be mingled in that Zivug since there is nothing of her Behina there. This is because Yesod and Atara are Behinat Nukva of the Guf de ZA, which is good for Behinat Zivug de ZA and Leah, being Behinat from Chazeh de ZA upward and there is no Hitpashtut there from above downward to Behinat Rachel.It follows that only Behinat from the Chazeh upward of ZA rose to AA and received Ohr Yechida, and from its Chazeh down which is Rachel, Nukva de ZA, remained below in AVI. They did not receive anything from the Mochin de Yechida. Hence in Assiya too, only her GAR that could receive from the great Nukva, Leah, rose to Atzilut. However, ZAT de Assiya did not receive anything from these Mochin and could not ascend to Atzilut.Moreover, even in the third Behina of the eve of Shabbat, at twilight, when the bottom six of Assiya rose above Parsa to Atzilut, it was not a complete ascent by Zivug on Behina Dalet, as this is utterly impossible. After all, she is concealed in RADLA.Rather the ascent was as “additions of Shabbat”, which is the great dominion of Kedusha, as it is written that all the Dinim are impregnated in her. Hence, this He’arah helped only for the day of Shabbat and not before the Kodesh of the Shabbat.The Rav wrote in the Tree of Life: “Adam ha Rishon could correct only the Olamot Elyonim, but he did not correct Olam Assiya which is all Klipot and this Olam remained in Behinat Achor be Achor etc. The exterior have a hold there among those Achoraim between the cleaved, and this is the meaning of ‘other gods’, meaning other gods that cleave to the Achoraim.”Explanation: It is explained that although ZA rose in AA by the He’arat AB that lowers the Hey Tata’a to the Peh, there is still no actual Hey Tata’a there. This is because she was concealed. Rather, she is Malchut de Ima, contained in Yesod de Malchut.This is enough for it only with Mochin de Ima of the Ohr Yechida, since there is NRNHY in the Ohr Yechida and then ZA received only the Neshama of Yechida. For that reason only ZA and Leah rise to AA and Rachel remains below.It is known that Mochin de Neshama suffice only to being GAR to the Behinat from the Chazeh up, but from the Chazeh down he remains Achor be Achor with Rachel, as it is written, “their hinder parts were inward and their faces outward.” It means that there is only He’arah for Kelim de Panim there, called HBD HGT, but the Kelim de Achoraim which are NHY are hidden there inside the HGT.This is so because they need to hide from the exterior that seize them because all that the exterior want is to annul the ending force of Parsa as during the breaking of the vessels. Thus they could receive He’arat Atzilut once more as during the breaking of the vessels.For that reason their hold is on these NHY of Assiya that need the He’arah from above downward, whose Tikun is only by the annulment of the Parsa. At that time He’arat Atzilut will expand once more to the place of the Klipot as during the breaking of the vessels.It turns out that as long as NHY de Assiya are concealed in the form of “their hinder parts were inward” and do not awaken to receive their Shefa, the Klipot are separated from the Kedusha. This is because they cannot suck from the Kelim de Panim de Assiya since they only receive from below upward and the Gevul of the Parsa is well kept to not expand there to the restricted place of BYAwhere the Klipot receive it.However, when the Kelim de Achoraim awaken to suck from the He’arat GAR it cancels the Gevul in the Parsa. This is so because they can only receive from the Behinat GAR that comes from above downward and cancels the Parsa as in the case of the breaking of the vessels.This is why the Klipot are called “other gods”. The Rav explained that it is because they cleave to the Achoraim. In other words, if the Achoraim de Assiya, which are the above NHY, would extend Shefa GAR from above downward the Shefa will instantly reach the Klipot since they are their actual Behina, meaning Behinat Lev ha Even.The Rav writes that Olam Assiya is all Klipot (item 144) because in fact they hold to the Achoraim de Yetzira too. Even Olam Yetzira which is corrected in Mochin de Haya cannot receive them but only in its GAR, meaning from below upward because of the above reason that the Inner AVI were concealed. For that reason they have a hold also from Chazeh de Yetzira downward.However, this is only half of Yetzira, not all of it. Conversely, in Olam Assiya where the entire Behina Dalet was concealed in RADLA, which is the gist of Olam Assiya, all of it is considered Klipot. This is because all that she extends from her share downward comes in the Klipot, which are the remains of the Melachim in the form of Lev ha Even.This was the sin of Adam ha Rishon. He extended GAR de Haya that shine inside the Achoraim de Assiya and Yetzira, meaning that pass the Gevul of the Parsa as in the case of the breaking of the vessels. By so doing he too caused the breaking of the vessels because all his organs fell inside the Klipot. He also caused the Olamot to descend, and the bottom four of Yetzira and all Eser Sefirot de Assiya were greatly blemished since they were clothed in Mador ha Klipot (see item 94).It is written, “Adam ha Rishon could correct only the Olamot Elyonim. However, he did not correct Olam Assiya which is purely Klipot, and this Olam remained in Behinat Achor be Achor. There, in those Achoraim, since there are many Klipot there the waste is more than the food and there is hold for the exterior among these Achoraim among the cleaved. This is the meaning of ‘other gods’.”This means that Kelim de Achoraim de Olam Assiya are only corrected by manifestation of GAR de Haya and the manifestation of Malchut de Behina Dalet concealed in RADLA. She extends the Mochin from above downward and cancels the Gevul of the Parsa de Tzimtzum Bet.Since this manifestation does not happen in the six thousand years before the end of correction, it follows that there is no correction and sorting to those Achoraim de Assiya. This is because they are Behinat Lev ha Even, whose only desire is for that Shefa, since this is their share. Their entire sustenance and vitalizing force is out of that desire.The bottom six of Assiya rose to Atzilut in the third Behina of the eve of Shabbat at twilight and the Yetzira and Assiya became Panim be Panim (item 87). However, this was only because of the addition of Shabbat, which is the authority of Kedusha of the day of Shabbat itself, as it is said “All the judgments are impregnated in her.”However, it was not because of the raising of MAN and the sorts since there is no sorting for them throughout the six thousand years. Hence, although the Achoraim de Assiya appeared there and became Panim be Panim, with regard to the weekdays they are still considered Achor be Achor.The addition of Shabbat dominates only on the day of the Shabbat, meaning after the Shabbat is sanctified. This is the meaning of the words of the sages, that if he had waited with his Zivug to the day of Shabbat, there would have been no hold to the exteriors. His whole sin was that he rushed in his Zivug while it was still weekday.It is written in the Tree of Life that “the Karka of the Garden touches and does not touch our Eretz.” Because of the ascent that was made in the addition of Shabbat when the Karka of the Garden rose to Atzilut, it certainly had no contact with our Eretz.Indeed, before he sanctified the Shabbat she was still connected with other gods that cleave there to the Achoraim, as with regard to weekdays there weren’t any sorts. It follows that she touches our Eretz, which is the restricted Behina Dalet who is forbidden to receive any He’arat Atzilut.In this manner she touches from the perspective of the weekdays and does not touch from the perspective of the addition of Shabbat. The sin of Adam ha Rishon in eating Etz ha Daat means that he extended Mochin in the Zivug of Yetzira and Assiya Panim be Panim on a weekday.These Mochin cancel the Gevul of the Parsa and come in the Klipot. This gives strength to the serpent, which consists of all three Klipot, to enter the lower Gan Eden and touch the Ateret Yesod, called Etz ha Daat.This is the meaning of the tree shouting and saying, “Do not touch me!” The Rav wrote in the Tree of Life that by this touching, all the Upper Mochin that Adam acquired in these three Behinot of the eve of Shabbat, called Zihara Ela’a (Upper Radiance), fell and clothed in a Guf of Olam ha Zeh of the Klipot.In Beit Shaar HaKavanot (Ohr Pashut item 19) it is explained in implication. Thus we have thoroughly explained the matter of Etz ha Daat which is only in Assiya and that it is all Klipot. From here you will also understand that the matter of Etz ha Daat and the matter of the breaking of the vessels are indeed the same matter, except this was in the Olamot and that was in the Neshamot.