244. “The eleventh commandment, etc.” The eleventh commandment is to tithe the tithe of the land. ‎There are two commandments here: One is to give the tithe of the land, and [the other] one is to bring the first fruits of ‎the tree, as it is stated: “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth” [Genesis 1:29]. It is written here “Behold, I have given,” and it is written there: “And to the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel” [Numbers 18:21], and it is stated: “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s” [Leviticus 27:30].

Explanation: [The Zohar] is expounding the verse: “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed,” as referring to the tithe of the land, which was permitted to Adam the first [man], and the [continuation of that] verse: “And every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed,” as referring to the first fruits of ‎the tree, which were [also] permitted to Adam the first [man] (see the twelfth commandment, below). If so, we need to understand how these verses ‎obligate us to give the tithe and the first fruit, to separate them for God and to not eat them, which is ‎the opposite of the [apparent] meaning. ‎

Indeed, there is a profound matter here. The concept of eating is the mystical meaning of the distillation of the holy sparks from the kelippot. Through eating, the holy sparks in the food ‎combine with the soul of man, as flesh of his flesh, and the waste in the food comes out of his body. ‎Thus, over the course of one’s life [a person] gradually collects all the holy sparks that are relevant for the completion of man’s soul, ‎without which his wholeness would be deficient. The Zohar (Lekh Lekha, page 101, section 300) states that Adam the first [man] was not permitted to eat meat, as it is stated: “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed etc. to you it shall be for food,” which [the Zohar] expounds: And no more than that, namely, and‎ not meat. However, “‎once he sinned and the evil inclination was absorbed in his body,” Noah was told: “As the green herb have I given you all” [Genesis 9:3], namely, even meat; see there.

The meaning is as follows: Adam the first [man] was born in a great state of completeness. All the ‎appropriate wholeness was already distilled in him, in regards to the animal aspect, as it is stated: “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field... and whatever the man would call every living creature, that was to be its name” [Genesis 2:19]. ‎ The meaning of this [naming] is that he grasped each and every one of the animals’ names in its [complete] structure, because they were already wholly distilled for ‎him (as stated in Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 57; see there). Therefore, he was not given animals for distillation through eating, for they had already been‎ distilled for him by the Emanator. Only the mineral and the vegetable kingdoms lacked distillation, and accordingly ‎he was only allowed to eat and to distill the produce of the land, to collect from them those holy sparks that were needed to complete him. ‎ However, after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, all the distillations reverted and became corrupted. Just as ‎the limbs of his soul dropped and fell into the kelippot, so too all the animals were corrupted with him and require distillation anew. Consequently, Noah was also given animals to eat and distill, and the same applies to the generations that came after him. ‎

Now, Adam the first [man] was created in the image of God, which are those aforementioned brains (which were clarified in the tenth commandment), in the mystical meaning of the four chapters of the tefillin, and they are his neshama (soul). However, after he was born with the aspect of this holy neshama, he merited ‎through good deeds to distill and raise feminine waters and achieve the aspect of ḥaya, and afterwards, on Shabbat, the aspect of yeḥida as well (as the supernal brightness was lost only ‎after Shabbat, as is known). Therefore, he was permitted the tithe and the first fruit. In fact, by ‎eating the tithe and the first fruit [himself], he merited ‎ to distill and raise feminine waters until he ‎merited ḥaya and yeḥida. ‎

However, after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, when all the distillations reverted and became corrupted and the evil inclination was absorbed in the body, the tithe and the first fruit were ‎forbidden to us, on account of the evil inclination within us, due to the concern that we might impair the supernal ‎holiness they contain. Instead, we are obligated to give them to the priests and the Levites. When we at least fulfill these ‎mitzvot of the tithe and the first fruit as we have been commanded, we will have the strength to ‎raise feminine waters and to draw down the aspect of the brains of ḥaya on Shabbat, in the manner that Adam the first [man] drew forth [those brains] through his own eating of ‎the tithe and the first fruit. ‎

Thus the [Zohar] states: “The eleventh commandment is to tithe the tithe of the land,” since once we have drawn ‎the light of neshama by donning tefillin, we must raise feminine waters by virtue of the two commandments ‎of the tithe and the first fruit, in order to draw the brains of ḥaya. It has thus been clarified that Adam the first [man] drew forth the ‎brains of ḥaya through his consumption of the tithe and the first fruit himself, but we, who are not ‎permitted to eat them, due to the evil inclination in our bodies, were instead given the commandment of ‎giving them to the priests and the Levites. We were thereby also provided with the capacity to ‎draw those brains. [The Zohar] then cites proof that the verse speaks specifically of the tithe and the first fruit, that it is written here “Behold, I have given...” and it is stated: “And to the children of Levi, behold, I have given.” Just as there it is referring to the tithe, so too here, with respect to Adam the first [man], it is referring to the tithe. [The Zohar] likewise derives [this] from the verse: “Of the fruit ‎of the tree, is the Lord’s.”