123. “Why is it called the fear, etc.” Why is the Malkhut called “the fear of the Lord”? He answers: Because the Malkhut is the tree of good and evil. If a person merits, it is good; if he does not merit, it is evil. Therefore, fear resides in that place. It is the gateway to reach all the good that is in the world. “A good understanding” (Psalms 111:10) is those two gates, that is, the two points, which are as one. Rabbi Yosei said: “A good understanding” – this is the tree of life, which is a good understanding without any evil at all. Since no evil resides in it, it is a good understanding, without evil.

Explanation: The purpose here is to explain why the last gate is called “the fear of the Lord,” regarding which it is stated: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalms 111:10). [The reason] is that this is the mystical meaning of the tree of knowledge with which Adam the first [man] sinned. It is due to this point [of Malkhut that is the tree] that he was punished with death, and the great fear is not to impair [this point of Malkhut]. At the completion of the rectification, when this point will be entirely rectified in full completion, the verse: “He will eliminate death forever” (Isaiah 25:8) will be fulfilled. This is why it is called “the fear of [the Lord],” and this is the meaning of the statement: “Therefore, fear resides in that place.”

[The Zohar] continues: “it is the gateway to reach all the good that is in the world.” The revelation of the supernal Ḥokhma is all the good of the world, which is included in [God’s initial] intent for the Creation. Since “the fear of the Lord” is the first gate to the supernal Ḥokhma, it is thus the gate to all the good that is in the world.

[The Zohar] continues: “‘A good understanding’ is those two gates, which are as one,” that is, the two points together, when they are incorporated in the bet of Bereshit. The reason why it does not state two points, but rather two gates, is that it is referring to after the rectification of the Ban [after the completion of the rectification]. At this stage these two points are called two gates, because then they are both good, without any evil at all, and therefore the verse “a good understanding” is possible. This is not the case before the completion of the rectification, for then they are called “the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” as stated.

“Rabbi Yosei said etc.” Rabbi Yosei does not disagree with Rabbi Ḥiyya; they merely expound the text in a different manner. Rabbi Ḥiyya explains the verse as referring to [the period after] the rectification of the Ban, when the two points become two gates, as stated, and they do not contain evil, but are a good understanding without any evil at all. Rabbi Yosei [by contrast] interprets the verse as referring to [the stage] before the completion of the rectification, when [the two points] are of the aspect of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He thus states that “a good understanding” is the tree of life, which is Ze’er Anpin with the brains of the Imma (mother), called “the tree of life” because it is all good, without any evil at all, even before the completion of the rectification. That is not the case for the two points, which are of the aspect of good and evil before the completion of the rectification, and on account of which the Malkhut is called the tree of good and evil, as stated.