As the Masters of the Mishnah have established:¹ (Deut. 6:5) And you shall love Y”Y... etc. – with that which is beloved to you.

footnotes: ¹ See BT Berakhot 61b

At that time, many ḥayot¹ open their hands, of which is stated: (Ez. 1:8) *And human hands beneath their wings... *They give a gift to the soul of that person, of many good presents, of many levels of prophecy.

footnotes: ¹ angelic-beasts

And above all of them, the Shekhinah gives presents to him, of which it is stated:¹ ‘Moses shall rejoice in the granting of his portion’. Because: (Ecc. 3:13) ... it is the gift of ELQYM.

footnotes: ¹ Liturgical, from the ‘Standing’ Prayer of Sabbath Morning

And He also of Whom it is stated: (Ps. 145:16) You open your hand... etc. He gives many presents to him, as well as sustenance to his soul and to his body.

And all who enter, when they exit from the house of the King, they give three steps backwards,¹ so as not to turn their shoulders towards the blessed Holy One.

footnotes: ¹ See BT Yoma 53a–b

For there is no more cherished gift¹ before the blessed Holy One, than the gift of the Shekhinah.

footnotes: ¹ dorona

Worthy are those arms that raise Her towards Him, with phylacteries on their hands and upon their heads!

Worthy are those feet and body and hands, and each-and-every limb, by whose means the gift ascends to the blessed Holy One!

For there is no more cherished gift before the blessed Holy One, than the gift of the Shekhinah.

Worthy is that limb, which performs a precept¹ for the blessed Holy One, because for its sake, the blessed Holy One descends to dwell in each of his limbs. And upon this person they announce on high: ‘Give honour to the image of the King!’²

footnotes: ¹ mitzvah ² Midrash Tanḥuma, Mishpatim Ch.19

[here is missing and it is found in Tiqqunim of ZoharḤadash 25c]

At the beginning of the will¹ of the King, ‘a lamp of darkness’, not white and not red, and not green and not black at all.

footnotes: ¹ hurme-nu

And this lamp is ‘the line of measure’, which is enclothed in the air¹.

footnotes: ¹ avyra

And when it is in the air, it is hidden and is not seen at all.

And when it is extended to be revealed, there emerges from this AVYR¹ a single point Yod, and what remains is AUR¹. And this is the primordial light of the act of creation. It is this that is written: (Gen. 1:3) And ELQYM said: ‘Let there be AUR¹’ – let there be Yod² – so as to make AVYR¹. And this mystery has been transmitted to the wise of heart.

footnotes: ¹ air ¹ light ¹ light ² י ¹ air

And this point, after it has been divested of this light, becomes enclothed in colours, four, in the higher chamber. And what is it? [Var. nihi] The letter בּ¹². And about it is stated: (Prov. 24:3) ... with wisdom shall the house be built.

footnotes: ¹ Beiyt ² house

And the mystery of this point, is that it measures five colours. And about them it is stated: (Is. 40:12) *Who has measured the waters in His step *– and this is אָ¹ gauged the Heavens with a span * *– and this is אִ¹ placed all in a measure the dust of the earth – this is אְ¹ [Var. אׂ] *and has weighed the mountains with a scale *– and this is אֵ¹ *and hills in a balance *– this is אֻ¹.

footnotes: ¹ Aleph-qametz ¹ Aleph-ḥireq ¹ Aleph-shva ¹ Aleph-tzeirei ¹ Aleph-qubutz

This one ascends into the air, and this one goes to the north, and this one to the south, it is this that is written: (Ecc. 1:6) *It goes to the south, and around about to the north... *Two others go round and around towards east and west, for they are all points like the waves of the sea, this one rising and this one descending.

And they are like the white thread of the eye, which surrounds the eye, and like the thread of green and black and red and blue.

These ‘revolutions’ all surround that point, and it is the measure of all of them. It is in four, and amounts to ten, and the mystery of the matter: YQVQ YOD QE VAV QE. These are four ‘colours’ which ascend through ten.

And they are all fiery flames, and about them it is stated: (Deut. 4:24) For Ha-Shem your God is a devouring fire...

They are seven from these ten, and they correspond to the seven firmaments. And they are seven sephirot. And between each and every one – 500 years.¹

footnotes: ¹ See BT Pesaḥim 94b

And so is the breadth of each-and-every firmament, 500 years, such that it all adds up to a ‘specific measure’, – which is one point – to a specific amount.

And thus is ‘the mystery of counting’ like this:

There are nine points to every side, which are included in the point of its central empty space¹. And because of it is stated: (Ex. 31:14) ... its profaners¹ shall surely die... etc.

footnotes: ¹ ḥalal ¹ meḥale-leha

Arose that elder and said to him: ‘Rabbi! Rabbi! I adjure you with this higher hidden point, descending [Var. ḥot ] here to reveal the hidden mystery! And I am not doing this to adjure you for my own honour, but for the honour of the Shekhinah, to show the glory of this treasured, hidden point, of which it is stated: (Job 28:21) *And it is unapparent to the eyes of all life... *And upon it is stated: A path the vulture knows not... etc. (Job 28:7)

Meanwhile, behold Rabbi ascended high into the air, to take permission from that point which is hidden there.

And behold he then descended in a pillar of fire, which is the breath of the mouth, in which angelic-beasts¹ run to-and-fro. It is this that is written: (Ez. 1:14) ... and theḥayot ‘running and returning’... etc.

footnotes: ¹ ḥayot

And he said: Be-reishyT (Gen. 1:1) – BaT¹ is there.

footnotes: ¹ daughter