These are the words of the Glory when he dwelt with His mighty Presence in the House built by Solomon. For that generation was perfect; the time was a period of peace and joy; anguish and sighing were put to flight. The Glory sets forth the praise of Her eyes and hair, her lips and neck. All these are similes and parables known to the mystical illuminati.

When the day blows gently: This refers to the removal of the sovereignty of the nations.

And the shadows flee; As we have explained.

I will betake myself to the mountain of myrrh: This is Jerusalem, as it is written: “In Jerusalem which is upon Mt. Moriah” [II Chron. 3:1].

To the hill of frankincense: This is Mt. Zion. Jerusalem is compared to myrrh which is red, referring to the attribute of justice, as it says: “Within her righteousness dwells” [Isa. 1:21]. Mt. Zion is compared to a hill of frankincense, the attribute of compassion. This verse refers to the time when Israel acts in accordance with rectitude, in accord to justice and the Torah. The shekhinah was lovely, beautified by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, over all the glory hangs a canopy and crown. In contrast to this, she is like a bird wandering from her nest, departing her house and kingdom, as it states: “A son who causes shame and disgrace, plunders his father, puts his mother to flight” [Prov. 19:26].

From Lebanon my bride with me: The Glory says (to the shekhinah): “You were with me among the profound essences,⁹⁷, i.e., the uppermost sefirot. hidden within primordial Wisdom.”

footnotes: ⁹⁷ Ha-havayot ha-‘amukot

From Lebanon come with me: You came forth and were emanated with me from a single place.⁹⁸’s origin is one with that of the Glory, in the most hidden sefirotic realms. The parable refers to the journeying of the shekhinah before the Israelite camp to seek out resting places, as it is written: “The Ark of the Covenant traveled in front of them on that three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them” [Num. 10:33].

footnotes: ⁹⁸ Following ms. mi-makom eḥad. Shekhinah

You have ravished my heart — my bride: Your extraordinary attractiveness has stopped my heart. This [ravishing of the heart] is the thing and its opposite, similar to “they shall ash the altar” [Num. 4:13].⁹⁹ the ashes. For desire and inclination and their union are drawn to her lofty beauty.

footnotes: ⁹⁹ Ravishing excites and stops the heart at once. “Ashing” the altar means removing

With one of your eyes: This refers to the generation of Solomon, a perfect one, all righteous, including the Sanhedrin of sages who know the wisdom of the proper times. They are called “eyes” for they are the light of the world, as in “if it was in error, hidden from the eyes of the community” [Num. 15:24]. It says “one” because that generation was singular; there was never another like it, either earlier or later.

With one coil of your necklace: This is an allusion to the king, the glory of his people. Because he foresaw through the holy spirit of prophecy that in the future the kingdom would be split asunder into two states after his demise, he specified “with one coil of your necklace,” meaning “while the kingdom is yet one.”

The Glory begins to expound upon the pleasantness of her love, the scent of her ointments and garments, the honey of her lips.

He said: How sweet is your love emanating forth from the wine of Torah, that is to say, Wisdom’s font and its paths.

Your ointments more fragrant: The allusion is to the expanding light of Wisdom, descending via its attributes, drawn out of that place encompassing all spices.¹⁰⁰, the source of all the sefirot.

footnotes: ¹⁰⁰ The light of Wisdom is the flow of sefirotic energy, coming from supernal ḥokhmah

Honey and milk: The allusion is to the two modalities of Torah (written and oral) and the fact that the shekhinah is situated between the two cherubim.

And the scent of your robes: The robe is not an entity distinct from Her. Rather, it is the overflow of Wisdom’s brightness which surrounds her. Our Sages state in Genesis Rabbah [21:5] concerning the verse “I looked and saw a man dressed in linen” [Daniel 10:5]: “He was comparable to a snail whose shell is inseparable from his body.” Since Wisdom’s brightness, encompassing thirty-two paths, surrounds the Glory, as in “Your faithful ones surround You” [Ps. 89:8], it is called “the garment of God,” as it says: “You are garbed in splendor and majesty” [Ps. 104:1].

In order to fulfill the verse “You shall walk in His ways” [Deut. 28:9], Israel were commanded to wrap themselves in the tallit,¹⁰¹ which possesses thirty-two fringes. Concerning the tallit it is written: “You shall gaze upon them and remember all of God’s commandments” [Num. 15:39]. Now Wisdom encompasses, is endiademed and crowned¹⁰². with six hundred and thirteen precious gems. For each of the thirty-two paths within is divisible into two portions: good and evil, the positive and negative commandments. This division finds allusion in the ten divine statements (revealed directly at Sinai) in the words “remember” and “keep” the Sabbath day.¹⁰³ and malkhut. Thus there are sixty-four paths. And as each and every one contains the ten [sefirot], their sum is six hundred and forty. If one deletes the twenty-seven letters of the Torah,¹⁰⁴ the final sum is six hundred and thirteen. Thus concerning the fringes, Scripture states: “You shall gaze upon them and remember all of God’s commandments” [Num. 15:39]. Therefore our sages said in the tractate Shavuot: “The precept of fringes equals all of the commandments.”¹⁰⁵ 25b.

footnotes: ¹⁰¹ Prayer shawl, a rectangular garment bearing fringes at its four corners. ¹⁰² Me-‘uteret u-mukhteret ¹⁰³ The two versions of the decalogue (Exod. 20 and Deut. 5) differ in the wording of the Sabbath command. Exodus says “Remember the Sabbath Day” and Deuteronomy says “keep.” These are taken to refer to positive and prohibitive aspects of Sabbath observance, and then generalized to refer to positive and negative commandments altogether. For kabbalists they also refer to the two sefirot yesod ¹⁰⁴ Twenty-two plus the five final forms. ¹⁰⁵ b. Nedarim

It is incumbent upon us to engage in a detailed enquiry concerning all of the commandments, to find an allusion pointing to them in the ten divine statements revealed at Sinai. This is comparable to the manner in which the sages of Israel sought an allusion in the Torah for every aspect of fundamental ethics and courtesy which was not included within its commandments. Thus our sages¹⁰⁶ 9a. stated that R. Yohanan encountered a child who was reciting: “A man’s folly subverts his way and his heart rages against the Lord” [Prov. 19:3]. He said: “Does Scripture¹⁰⁷ contain anything which is not already intimated in the Torah? An allusion to this indeed appears in the Torah. Their hearts sank; and, trembling, they turned to one another, saying, ‘What is this that God has done to us?’ [Gen. 42:28]. How much the more so should we say concerning the fundamentals of the Torah and its precepts that there is no doubt that the six hundred and thirteen commandments find their allusion in that divine voice described as ‘a great voice, which went on no more’ [Deut.5:19].”¹⁰⁸ can be understood as “and He added nothing [further].”

footnotes: ¹⁰⁶ In b. Ta‘anit ¹⁰⁷ The prophetic and hagiographic sections of the Bible. ¹⁰⁸ And thus everything must be included within it. Alternatively the concluding phrase ve-lo’ yasaf

We should interpret each and every commandment in accord with our path, determining from which sefirah it derives and finding allusion to all of the reasons for the commandments which are not explicitly stated in the Torah. The reasons of many precepts are indeed explicated, an example being the law concerning the first born: “When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, the first-born of man and beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord every first male issue of the womb, but redeem every first-born among my sons” [Exod. 13:15]. A similar case is that of tithes: “You shall consume the tithes of your new grain … before the Lord” which concludes “so that you might learn to revere the Lord your God forever” [Deut. 14:23]. Like these are many other commandments whose meaning is explained. But there are many whose purpose are not explicated, such as the reason for sacrifice, the Sabbatical year and Jubilee, circumcision, the blowing of the ram’s horn at New Year’s, forbidden acts of sexual union, oaths, vows and phylacteries, ritual fringes, Naziriteship, the palmfrond and citron, the ban on the consumption of the produce of fruit-bearing trees during their first three harvest years, the mixing of seeds in a field, the sacrifice of the red heifer, and many others, excluding those whose meaning is hinted at where they are mentioned.

You should realize that all of the precepts depend upon two fundamental principles: the positive and negative commandments. The positive commandments are born of the quality of remembrance [zakhor]; the negative commandments of the quality of observance [shamor]. It is also well known that remembrance and observance correspond to two of the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He. Consequently, an individual who performs the command of his master and fulfills it, does so as a consequence of the quality of love. This constitutes the highest degree [of service] and the most excellent virtue, and corresponds to the category of positive commandments. An individual who desists from performing a deed out of fear of his master, does so as a consequence of the quality of awe. This stands on a lower rung than the quality of love, just as negative commandments occupy a gradation lower than the positive. For the person who fulfills the command of his master with his body and his possessions is not to be likened to one who is scrupulous about desisting from evil out of fear of him. Thus our Sages say: “Concerning what situation were these matters related? Concerning negative commandments. That is to say that the transgressor is smitten with forty lashes. However, with respect to positive commandments, such as the case when they instruct him to construct a Sukkah but he does not build it, or take a palm frond but he does not do so, they smite him until his soul departs his body.”¹⁰⁹ 86a. The two examples given refer to the commandments of the Sukkot festival, but could be any positive commandments of the Torah.

footnotes: ¹⁰⁹ b. Ketubot

All of the above derives from the principles of “remembrance” and “observance,” for the quality of remembrance occupies a gradation higher than that of observance and the branches which derive from it are in its likeness. Since Abraham our father took divine love as his portion, corresponding to remembrance, and he knew God’s name with a true and real knowledge, the Omnipresent One called him “My lover.” Nor is the [attainment of the] quality of love possible save through perfect knowledge. Thus one finds that many principles of the negative commandments are derived from the positive. For the quality of love exists within the quality of awe, since awe derives from love and is thus included within it.

You should know that a human being, by nature and the process of generation, contains and is impressed with the stamp of these two qualities, that is to say the essential force of the positive and negative commandments, that is water and fire, the former at his right hand, the latter at his left. This is as our sages said: “Two angels escort an individual, one good and one evil.”¹¹⁰ And as that wise man said: “A wise man’s heart tends towards the right hand, a fool’s to the left” [Eccles. 10:2]. It is the truth that right conduct and the inclination to good are on the right while evil behavior and the inclination towards wickedness are on the left, as is the Accuser. Concerning this David said: “I am ever mindful of the Lord’s presence; He is at my right hand, I shall never be shaken” [Ps. 16:8]. “I shall not be shaken”: I shall never neglect, even for an instant, that inclination towards the good that stands at my right hand.

footnotes: ¹¹⁰ Shabbat 119b.

Since these two qualities, the inclination to the good and the inclination to evil, which correspond to the positive and negative commandments, are impressed upon human nature, the Torah was given with positive and negative commandments to direct an individual and habituate him towards positive qualities. The inclination towards evil would be drawn after the good and annihilated within it. Concerning this our sages said: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart’ [Deut. 6:5]—with your two inclinations, towards good and evil.”¹¹¹ 54a. This is the purpose of the commandments, the acts of worship, prayers, and fasting. They serve to subjugate the evil inclination so that it might be rendered subordinate to the impulse towards good. Thus the body, whose foundation is dust and nature evil and which descends below, will be drawn after the faculty of the soul, whose foundation is life, whose nature is wholly for the good and ascends upwards. Give careful heed and listen to my wondrous words, let them always be present before your eyes, for they are pleasant and should be stored inside you.

footnotes: ¹¹¹ b. Berakhot

[There ensues a listing of the six hundred and thirteen commandments, as derived from the ten. See Chavel’s edition of the Hebrew text in Kitvey RaMBaN II, pp. 521–48. The concluding summary of that discussion follows.]

These¹¹² are the six hundred and thirteen commandments, positive and negative, derived from the ten commandments as “Remember” and “Observe.” Of this our rabbis said: “‘Remember’ and ‘Observe’ were proclaimed in a single utterance, something no mouth could speak nor any ear hear.”¹¹³ 27a. No one voice could simultaneously speak two things, opposite to one another, positive and negative; such is beyond the capacity of the human mouth or ear. He explained the two hundred forty-eight positive commandments guiding the human limbs,¹¹⁴ 23b). which number two hundred forty-eight, in a goodly and upright path, thus purifying, cleansing, and sanctifying the person that he might resemble his Maker. The remaining three hundred sixty-five commandments guide the sinews, which are of that number, in a goodly and upright way, keeping the person from evil paths and ugly qualities. Thus body and soul will be on a single path in harmony with one another.

footnotes: ¹¹² The following, down to the resumption of the commentary with 4:12, is found on p. 548 of Chavel’s Hebrew edition. ¹¹³ b. Rosh Hashanah ¹¹⁴ Also said to number 248, according to a Talmudic source (Makkot

You should know that the Torah is entirely clear, spoken by the divine dynamis,¹¹⁵, the God of power. containing not a single letter or vowel point that is not needed. All of it is a divine structure, hewn out in the name¹¹⁶ rather than bi-shemo. of the blessed Holy One. There is no difference between “Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz” [Gen. 36:12] or “the chieftain of Magdiel, the chieftan of Eram” [Gen. 36:43] and the ten commandments or “Hear O Israel” [Deut. 6:4]. Whoever deletes a single letter is like one who deletes God’s whole name and a whole world. Therefore it was necessary that the letters and words be counted, that plene and lene¹¹⁷ spellings be recorded, forms written but not pronounced, as well as forms pronounced but not written, open and closed beginnings of sections [i.e., paragraph divisions], larger and smaller letters. Let this be implanted in your heart and inscribed within you. Take care for your soul and lend no ear to [those who] say that Ezra the Scribe added things of his own accord as he copied it, such as “The Canaanites were then in the land” [Gen. 13:6] or “Behold his bed, a bed of iron” [Deut. 3:11].¹¹⁸ This is total heresy, that of which the rabbis spoke in the chapter called “A Portion,” on the verse “For he has despised the word of the Lord” [Num. 15:31]: “This refers to one who says ‘Torah is not from heaven.’ Even one who says that all of Torah is from heaven except for a single verse that Moses spoke on his own: such a person ‘despises the word of the Lord.’”¹¹⁹ 99a.

footnotes: ¹¹⁵ Or: from the mouth of gevurah ¹¹⁶ Perhaps should read: “hewn out of”; mi-shemo ¹¹⁷ “Full” and “lacking,” two ways of spelling Hebrew words. ¹¹⁸ These passages seem to indicate a later narrative voice, as was already noted by several medieval authors. See commentary of Abraham Ibn Ezra to Deut. 1:2. ¹¹⁹ b. Sanhedrin

Because the commandments are the very body of purity and holiness, and the one concerned with them becomes purified and holy, Scripture said **the fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon,**¹²⁰, “cleansing.” for that fragrance is the life of both worlds.

footnotes: ¹²⁰ Deriving “Lebanon” from libbun

A garden locked is my own, my bride: The shekhinah is compared to a garden, since a person plants and fences it, bringing in water to irrigate it and producing all manner of lovely herbiage and plants. The shekhinah’s fence is the cherubim, the plants are the seventy nations, the trees are the angels. All these are supplied by that spring which proceeds from Wisdom’s paradise, within which souls flower in joy. It flows forth without ceasing either day or night; on its account the world is sustained. As our sages said in tractate Yoma:¹²¹ 38b. “On account of the righteous one is the world created and sustained,” as it says: “The righteous one is the world’s foundation” [Prov. 10:25].¹²² or “the righteous” is yesod, the source of sefirotic energy as it flows into the shekhinah. Our sages also said concerning this: “The circumference of the tree of life is a journey of five hundred years and all of the waters of creation are divided forth from it.” Rabbi Yehudah said: “It is not the circumference of its bough, but its trunk that constitutes a journey of five hundred years.”¹²³ “A river goes forth from Eden to water the garden” [Gen. 2:10]. The garden constitutes the beginning of the differentiated universe. As it says: “from there it divides and becomes four branches” [ibid.]. The verse is in present tense, the process is eternal. Thus it says: “There is a river whose streams gladden God’s city, the holy dwelling-place of the Most High” [Ps. 46:5]. And “You make springs gush forth in torrents; they make their way between the hills, giving drink to all the wild beasts” [Ps. 104:10–11]. Concerning this spring, it states: “a garden spring, a well of fresh water, flowing streams from Lebanon” [Cant. 4:15]. Our Sages of blessed memory said: “‘a garden spring’: this is Jacob who is a spring for the garden. ‘A well of fresh water’: this is Isaac. ‘Flowing streams’: this is Abraham.”¹²⁴ Everything is sated from that Lebanon which is divine Wisdom.¹²⁵, and tiferet, way-stations in the flow of life from Wisdom, the primal sefirotic font, to the shekhinah. Contemplate the wonders of this symbolism and you will know and understand what our Sages wrote, the manner in which their words constitute the height of completeness and perfection. Such truly befits sages like these, whose every word was uttered through the holy spirit in allegoric allusion, so as to arouse the consciousness of the Kabbalistic illuminati, rather than the fools, idiots, and confused who treat their words as if they were fox fables! Thus we find in the tractate Sanhedrin: “‘As I looked upon, thrones were set down …’ [Dan. 7:9]—one for God and one for David: these are the words of R. Akiba. R. Yose the Galilean said to him: ‘Akiba, how long are you going to profane the shekhinah!? Rather, one throne is for justice and one is for righteousness.’ R. Elazar b. Azaryah said to Akiba: ‘What are you doing occupying yourself with words of aggadah!? Desist from your discourse and occupy yourself with the laws of leprosy and tents.¹²⁶ Rather one is a throne and one is for a footstool: a throne upon which to sit, a footstool to rest the feet.’”¹²⁷ 38b. Surely these sages had no essential argument with one another, but they differed on whether it was appropriate to reveal the secret meaning. This occurs in several places where the rabbis are in dispute.

footnotes: ¹²¹ b. Yoma ¹²² Zaddik ¹²³ Genesis Rabbah 15:7. ¹²⁴ No such interpretation is found in the extant rabbinic sources. It is also found, however, in Zohar 1:135b, a passage possibly dependent upon R. Ezra. ¹²⁵ The three patriarchs represent ḥesed, gevurah ¹²⁶ Return to your safe haven of halakhic expertise. ¹²⁷ b. Sanhedrin

A garden locked: A closed gate.

A fountain sealed: The light lacks nothing for it is preserved in its “grapes” from the seven days of creation.¹²⁸

footnotes: ¹²⁸ Here the light imagery becomes that of wine. The primal flow is as perfect and undiminished as it was before creation, before the flow through the seven primal “days.”

Your limbs are an orchard of pomegranates And of all luscious fruits…. Solomon mentions here [Cant. 4:14] the twelve types of spices, corresponding to the twelve channels of the Holy One, blessed be He, through which the fragrance of divine Wisdom spreads forth and is directed towards the Patriarchs.

Awake, O north wind: Awake O attribute of the north, that great fire which consumes the holocaust offering and the fat upon the altar.

Come, O south wind: After the attribute of the north takes its portion, the attribute of the south draws its sustenance.¹²⁹, divine judgment, and “South” is ḥesed, divine love. The two of them draw forth and supply us from that spirit which overabounds in its provision and support. This is the meaning of blow upon my garden, that its perfume might flow. The spiced perfumes represent the emanation of the radiance of Wisdom with the addition of the Holy Spirit,¹³⁰ and binah. drawn closer in great abundance to the Patriarchs¹³¹: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob represent ḥesed, din, and tiferet. on account of the sacrifice. Concerning this our sages stated allusively: “‘Awake, O north wind’—this is the holocaust offering slaughtered on the northern side of the altar. ‘Come, O south wind’—these are the whole offerings slaughtered on the southern side of the altar. ‘That its perfume might spread’: this is incense. ‘Let my beloved come to his garden’: this is the shekhinah. ‘And enjoy its luscious fruits’: these are the sacrifices.”¹³²

footnotes: ¹²⁹ “North” is kabbalistically din ¹³⁰ Ḥokhmah ¹³¹ The intermediate sefirot ¹³² Cant. Rabbah 4:31.

And enjoy its luscious fruits: This is the sifted flour refined of its waste matter. In accordance with this theme it is said: “An offering by fire, of pleasing odor to the Lord” [Lev. 1:17]. Our sages say in Torat Kohanim: “‘An offering’: it must be specifically for an offering.” This refers to the tenth Sefirah [the shekhinah] which ascends above to the place of its origin.¹³³ “‘By fire’: for the sake of the fires.” Our master, the Hasid of blessed memory,¹³⁴ explained that these are corporeal things. “‘For an aroma’: for the sake of providing an aroma”—the spiritual dimension of physical things. “‘A pleasing aroma’: in order to be pleasing (to God).” Pleasure entails the invocation of Penitence, the hidden place of His power. “‘For the Lord’: for the One who created the world.” The intent of the sacrifice is to provide sustenance to each and every divine attribute. This was the intent of the princes of Israel when they offered twelve goats, twelve rams, twelve lambs for a burnt offering, and twelve billy goats for a sin offering when the altar was consecrated. Everything is transmuted into spirit via the sefirotic channels which number twelve. And twenty-four bullocks were offered as sacrifices of well being, corresponding to the power of the left side of divinity, the aspect of Might, which is twenty-four [ד״כ], as it is written: “I will lay carbuncles [kadkod] as your foundation stones” [Isa. 54:12]. This alludes to the twenty-four permutations of the divine name Adonai. The sacrifices of well-being constituted sixty rams, sixty billy goats, and sixty yearling lambs [Num. 7:88]. These correspond to the sixty steps, the sixty heroes [Cant. 3:7], and the three-score queens [Cant. 6:8]. The meaning of a pleasing [niḥoaḥ] aroma is that of descent, the Aramaic of descent [yarad] being naḥat. Through the sacrifice, divine spirit descends and the force of holiness unites and is drawn into close continguity within the channels. For this reason, sacrifice is designated korban. This is the meaning of “Let my beloved come to his garden and enjoy its luscious fruits.”

footnotes: ¹³³ Literally “an ascent for ascent.” Or “an ascent unto the Name.” ¹³⁴ The reference is to R. Isaac the Blind.