178. “Since Abraham invited, etc.” Since Abraham invited the greatest of the generation, the accuser descended and stood at the door, like a poor man, but there was no one to notice him. Abraham was serving the kings and the ministers. Sarah was nursing everybody’s children, because they did not believe it when she gave birth; instead, they said that Isaac was a foundling, that they had brought him off the street. For this reason they brought their children with them, and Sarah took them and nursed them in front of them, as it is stated: “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?” [Genesis 21:7]. It should have said: “Sarah would nurse a child.” Rather, “children” [is] certainly [meant], i. e., the children of all the guests. Now, that accuser was standing at the door. Sarah proclaimed: “God has made laughter for me” [Genesis 21:6]. Immediately, the accuser ascended before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said to Him: “Master of the world, You said, ‘Abraham My friend’ [Isaiah 41:8], but he has prepared a feast and has not given You anything, nor to the poor. He did not offer before You even a single dove. Furthermore, Sarah said that You laughed at her.”

This requires explanation: [Abraham] excelled primarily in hospitality and kindness, and he would always stand at crossroads in order to invite guests (as stated in the Zohar, Parashat Emor, p. 171, 279). How, then, could he have failed in this matter of not giving to the poor? Moreover, why did the accuser go to the trouble of disguising himself as a pauper, which he did not do in other cases? In fact, this is not to be understood in accordance with its plain meaning, but there is a great secret here, which applies only to the loftiest holy ones.

See the Zohar (Parashat Pekudei, p. 106, 329): “Rabbi Shimon said: Even though etc. and it is necessary to subdue the impure spirit on all sides. Come and I will tell you a secret that can be revealed only to the lofty, holy ones etc. It is required, for the secret of tefillin, to insert a single hair of a calf, such that it sticks out and is visible, etc. And that hair should be placed inside our higher holiness... so he will not accuse him and will be unable to harm him above or below, for he has given him this place. And if that portion in holiness is not given to him, [the accuser] could harm him below and ascend and accuse him above etc.”

The meaning is as follows: Before the completion of the rectification, it is impossible to remove the Sitra Aḥara entirely, even for the loftiest righteous and holy ones. As much as a righteous person is careful to perform a commandment in purity, the Sitra Aḥara still has the power to accuse him and show some deficiency in the commandment. For this reason, God prepared for the righteous another manner of subduing and silencing the accuser, which is to give a small portion of the holiness to that accuser who remains. This silences the accuser, for he does not wish to accuse [the person], so as not to lose his portion of the holiness that he has from that commandment. This is the mystical meaning of the hair that we place in tefillin, and it is also the mystical meaning of the goat that is sent away [on Yom Kippur], and the red heifer; see there in detail. You can find further elaboration on this in the Zohar (Parashat Emor, p. 88).

Thus [the Zohar] says here: “The accuser descended and stood at the door, like a poor man, but there was no-one to notice him.” Of course [Abraham] fed all the poor from his feast, in his unwavering hospitality. Only that accuser, which no purification can effectively remove except by providing him with a little benefit from that holiness, as stated, appeared here as a poor man because he wanted to receive his share of the holiness. Abraham, however, did not wish to give the Sitra Aḥara any part of the holiness. Rather, he wished to defeat it with his strength and rebuff it completely. Therefore, the accuser ascended and complained, as [the Zohar] continues to explain. This is why the Zohar says that the accuser descended as a poor man, for it was not really a poor man but rather the accuser disguised as a poor man, demanding to enjoy Abraham’s feast, as explained. But Abraham sensed that he was from the Sitra Aḥara, and therefore he did not wish to give him anything.

When [the Zohar] says “even a single dove,” this contains a lofty allusion, for according to the order of the sacrifices young pigeons must be brought in pairs, corresponding to the two points that are incorporated together in the Malkhut that is tempered with the attribute of mercy. [This Malkhut] contains judgment and mercy together; the [attribute of] judgment within it is hidden and concealed, while the mercy inside it is in a revealed state (as stated in section #122#, above). Without this tempering [of judgment with mercy] the world would not be able to exist, as stated. For this reason, doves are only sacrificed in pairs. This is indicated in [the fact that] the mystical meaning of a single dove is the dove that Noah sent out from the ark, which did not return to him again (Genesis 8:12). A single dove alludes to the attribute of judgment in Malkhut without the tempering of the attribute of mercy. Since Noah could not effect any rectification in [that single dove], it did not return to him again (see Zohar, Parashat Shelaḥ, p. 52).

We have already explained the issue of the accuser demanding his share from Abraham’s feast on the day he weaned his son. It is the rectification of a deficiency that cannot be rectified before the completion of the rectification in any other manner (as stated just above). Know that this is the mystical meaning of the attribute of judgment in Malkhut, through which [in isolation, without the tempering of mercy] the world cannot exist, and which must remain hidden and concealed. This is also the mystical meaning of the dove that did not return again to Noah, as stated. Abraham, however, had the ability to rectify it, and he was obliged to do so by giving something to the accuser in order to silence him (as stated just above). But since he did not give anything to the accuser, [the accuser] ascended and accused.

This is the meaning of [the Zohar's statement]: “And has not given You anything, nor to the poor.” His accusation was that in this entire feast, [Abraham] did not rectify anything of the attribute of judgment in Malkhut, which is called “poor,” since [this Malkhut] has nothing of its own. [This Malkhut is the share of the Holy One, blessed be He, since it is the essence of the Malkhut that is the Nukba of Ze’er Anpin, [and Ze'er Anpin is called] the Holy One, blessed be He. [The Holy One] only tempered [Malkhut] with the attribute of mercy for the purpose of sustaining the world. Consequently, the brains that are drawn forth by the attribute of mercy are regarded as the share of the inhabitants of the world, for they thereby rectify the essence of the Malkhut as well, which is the share of the Holy One, blessed be He, alone.

[Now, ] because of the great miracle, that Sarah nursed children, Abraham was able to draw forth all the brains that are in the attribute of mercy. [This gave him] sufficient ability to rectify the aspect of the "poor" in Malkhut, which is the share of the Holy One, blessed be He. This is why [the accuser] accused: “He has not given You anything,” i. e., the share of the Holy One, blessed be He; “nor to the poor,” that is, the share of the main essence of the Malkhut, which is in a state of poverty because the inhabitants of the world cannot rectify with it. “He did not offer before You even a single dove,” i. e., the dove that Noah could not rectify, as stated.

“Furthermore, Sarah said You laughed at her.” Sarah is the mystical meaning of Bina and the attribute of mercy that illuminates in Malkhut. When she declared: “God has made laughter for me; whoever hears will laugh for me” [Genesis 21:6], she thereby drew forth a complete light and very great tempering, until there was no longer any visible deficiency in the essential attribute of the Malkhut. This caused a great concern that as a consequence there would be no attention given to rectifying the essence of the Malkhut. This is similar to the mystical meaning of the verse: “Lest he put forth his hand [and take also] from the tree of life, and eat and live forever” (Genesis 3:22), meaning that he would no longer feel any deficiency in himself and would not be compelled to rectify the flaw in the Tree of Knowledge.