the Yod of circumcision – the tenth of the ten sephirot.

And Hod is the eight days of the festival of Ḥanukah, after twenty-four days of Kislev, which are the 24 letters of: ‘Blessed is the Name of the glory of His Kingdom for ever and ever’.

And immediately when (Gen. 8:11) ... it had torn-off an olive leaf in its mouth... Kh-H¹² resides upon Israel on the 25th of Kislev, and these are ‘the 25 letters of unity’, which are (Deut. 6:4) Hear O Israel... etc. And this is Ḥanukah – composed of ḥanu³ and kh-h³².

footnotes: ¹ כה ² 25 ³ they-encamped ³ thus ² 25

But of Netzaḥ it is stated: (Gen. 8:4) *And the ark rested in the seventh month... *because Netzaḥ alludes to Noah, the righteous¹.

footnotes: ¹ tzadiq

And through it¹: (Gen. 7:19) *And the waters greatly prevailed... *When Israel does not observe the covenant of circumcision, the nations of the world prevail, [who are ‘the raging waters’ ], but when they observe it, it is stated of them: (Gen. 8:5) ... and the waters were continually decreasing, until the tenth month...– this is the Yod of circumcision, which is Malkhut, tenth of the ten sephirot. [and this is: (Gen. 9:13) My bow I have placed in the cloud... which is ‘covenant’² ]

footnotes: ¹ Hod ² bryt

And of Ya’AQoV¹ – with that [Var. with this] thigh – it is stated of him: (Gen. 32:32) ... and he was limping on his thigh. For the letter Yod² had flown away from him, and he remained’AQEV¹. And the mystery of the matter: (Gen. 3:15) ... he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.

footnotes: ¹ Jacob ² י ¹ heel

When the tabernacle is completed with its ‘thigh’¹, it is stated of Jacob: (Gen. 33:18) *And Jacob arrived complete... *And Jacob, specifically, is the image of the Middle Pillar, from the outside aspect. And behold Moses was there, but he was from the inside aspect – this one of the body, this one of the soul. And therefore, the two thighs of the Middle Pillar are complete, they are Netzaḥ and Hod.

footnotes: ¹ yerekh

And when will the Middle Pillar be complete? When it becomes joined with the Shekhinah. It is this that is written: (Gen. 33:17) *And Jacob travelled to Sukkot, and he built for himself a house... *It is this that is written: (Gen. 2:22) ... and Y”Y ELQYM built the rib...

At that time, when He is joined with Her, (Gen. 33:18) *And Jacob arrived complete... *At that time: the tabernacle¹ will be complete, composed of K-U²³ H-S²³: Y-A-Q-D-V-N-Q-Y.

footnotes: ¹ SUKaH ² כ־ו ³ 26 ² ה־ס ³ 65

Arose Rabbi El’azar and said: ‘Father! Father! Why is it stated of the first day of the Festival of Tabernacles¹: (Lev. 23:40) And you shall take for yourselves, on the first day, the fruit of a stately tree... ?’

footnotes: ¹ Sukkot

He said to him: ‘My son, one takes the weapons of war in the right hand, and with these weapons of war, Israel are inscribed as victorious in judgement.’

A parable of a king, who had dispute and war with the ‘70 nations’, and no-one knew who had won the dispute. And they asked him the king: ‘who was victorious in the dispute?’ He said: ‘Look at those who are depicted, with weapons of war in their hands, and you will know who has won the dispute.’¹

footnotes: ¹ See Vayiqra Rabbah 30:2.

And you shall take for yourselves, on the first day, the fruit of a stately tree...– this is the citron¹, which is the Shekhinah, the heart,² which is the primary of all the limbs of the body, which are three strands of myrtle¹, and the palm-branch¹, and two strands of willow¹ – the heart is in the middle, and the limbs are round about it. And thus, the etrog is the Shekhinah.

footnotes: ¹ etrog ² Vayiqra Rabbah 30:14 ¹ hadas ¹ lulav ¹ ’aravah

And thus did the sages of the Mishnah establish:¹ ‘If its peduncle [Var. its nipple ] was removed, and if scarring had risen over most of it, it is unfit’, – because it the etrog is like the Shekhinah, of which it is stated: (Song. 4:7) All of you is beautiful, my beloved, and there is no defect in ‘her’ you.

footnotes: ¹ See Mishnah Sukkah 3:6 and BT Sukkah 35b

Date-palm fronds – this is the lulav. And upon it is stated:¹ ‘if its leaves are separated, it is unfit’, because he is one who ‘cuts off the shoots’, [for behold the lulav is the binding and the unity of all] whoever makes a blessing over it such a lulav on the first day of Sukkot. Because it the lulav is the binding and unity of all, the ‘ḥaiy²³ of the worlds’, which corresponds to the 18² vertebrae of the spine. And because of this, the sages of the Mishnah established:⁴ ‘the lulav² is like a spine’.

footnotes: ¹ Mishnah Sukkah 3:1 ² life-force ³ 18 ² ḥaiy ⁴ Vayiqra Rabbah 30:14 ² palm-branch

And the mystery of the lulav is: (Ps. 92:13) *The righteous shall flourish like a palm... *And this is: (1 Chron. 29:11) ... for everything¹² *in the heavens and earth... *And Onqelos translated this as: ‘grasping heaven and earth.’

footnotes: ¹ khol ² Yesod

And one is required to wave the lulav 18¹ wavings – through six directions – which are: ‘the sealing [Var. sealed] [Var. formed] of the East with Y-Q-V etc.’ – six HVYHs, in which there are eighteen letters, and all are alluded to in ‘The Book of Formation’,² in six sides.

footnotes: ¹ ḥaiy ² Sepher Yetzirah 1:13

And thus did the sages of the Mishnah establish:¹ ‘one brings back and forth’, to Whom the four winds of the earth belong, ‘one raises and lowers’, to Whom the heavens and the earth belong.

footnotes: ¹ BT Sukkah 37b

The three myrtle leaves are the body and two arms, and they correspond to the eye and two ‘wings’ of the eye eyelids. The two strands of willow correspond to the two thighs, and they correspond to the two lips.

And when they are all one bunch, with the lulav, which is the spine, what is written? (Song. 7:9) *I said: ‘I shall ascend’*¹ *the palm...*acronym of: Aleph² is theEtrog¹, ’Ayin² is the ’Aravah¹, Lamed² is the Lulav¹, Hei² is theHadass¹. All are made [to correspond to] the four ‘species’ of the chariot. The One who rides upon them is YQV”Q.

footnotes: ¹ E-’ELeH ² א ¹ citron ² ע ¹ willow ² ל ¹ palm-branch ² ה ¹ myrtle