197. “‘And the spirit’ is killing etc.” “And the spirit,” [ruaḥ, Genesis 1:2] this is death by the sword, since it is a stormy wind [ruaḥ, Psalms 148:8], a sharpened sword that enflames him. Similarly, it says: “and the flaming sword which turned every way” [Genesis 3:24], and it is called “spirit.” This is a punishment for one who violates the commandments of the Torah that is written following after fear, called reshit, which is the incorporation of everything. After Bereshit, which is fear, [the Torah] states tohu, bohu, darkness, and spirit, which are the punishment of the four death sentences. From here onwards [in the Torah] are the rest of the commandments of the Torah.

Explanation: The Sitra Aḥara sends a stormy wind upon him, which is like a sharpened sword that separates his head from his body and ends his life.

[The Zohar] thus states: “This is a punishment etc. **that are written after fear, [**which is] reshit, [and] which is the incorporation of everything.” This is referring back to the earlier point that all the commandments of the Torah are incorporated in the first two verses, from “In the beginning” to “And God said: Let there be light.”

[The Zohar] says that this punishment, mentioned above, the four death sentences alluded to by tohu, bohu, darkness, and spirit, is written after fear, reshit, that is hinted in the verse: “In the beginning [Bereshit] God created.” Thus, [that] first verse [of the Torah] is fear, reshit, i. e., the primary fear, which is for life, while the second verse is the punishment for one who does not cleave to fear, reshit. These are “the incorporation of everything,” since they are the gate to faith in God, as stated. This illustrates that all the commandments in the Torah are incorporated in [this fear]. “From here onwards are the rest of the commandments of the Torah,” i. e., from the verse: “And God said, Let there be light,” and onward. In other words, all the commandments in the Torah are the details of the commandment of fear.