*the stolen article which he stole *– he should return the Shekhinah to Her place, ...or the funds which he had withheld – this is the blessed Holy One, Who has become separated from Her.

For the Shekhinah is called: ‘a positive precept’ from the right-hand side, and ‘a negative precept’ from the left-hand side, and She is called ‘Torah’ – from the aspect of the Middle Pillar, and anyone who steals or unjustly withholds funds in the Torah, whether in a positive or negative precept, is as if he had stolen the Shekhinah, away from the arms of the blessed Holy One.

And similarly, from the aspect of Yesod – the life-force of the worlds – She is called ‘the covenant of circumcision’. One who steals of the covenant, and produces seed from it for an alien domain, is as if he had taken out an object from the private domain, to the public domain, and caused the Shekhinah to go out from Her place, which is the Land of Israel – the private domain – and has exiled Her between the nations of the world – who are the public domain.

It is this that is written: (Is. 50:1) ... and through your sins, your mother was sent away. And because of this: (Ex. 20:7) *You shall not take the Name of Y”Y ELoQeYKha in vain... *What is the Name of Y”Y? It is the Shekhinah. ...in vain...– this is ‘idolatry’, to where She is exiled.

And furthermore: She is repentance – the Day of Atonements, comprised of the Ten Days of Repentance, which are Y-H. The Day of Atonements – this is Hei¹², comprised of five prayers, the Ten Days of Repentance – this is Yod¹². ‘To receive penitents’³ this is V-Q. Anyone who returns in repentance, it is as if he returned V-H to be with Y-H.

footnotes: ¹ ה ² 5 ¹ י ² 10 ³ Liturgical: Penitential Prayer

And the main thing is to raise everything in ‘thought’¹, which is YOD QE VAV QE².

footnotes: ¹ Ḥokhmah ² 45

And in Gevurah: Samael is there, who is the evil inclination, and whoever has overcome his inclination, is as if he has caused the prevailing of Gevurah over Samael, in judgement towards his children, and because of this, the Masters of the Mishnah have said:¹ ‘Who is mighty² ? One who conquers his inclination!’

footnotes: ¹ Mishnah Avot 4:1 ² gibor

What is ‘one who conquers’? As it says: (Gen. 1:28) *... and conquer it... *– that it should be conquered under his hand, like a dog, which is tamed and bound beneath a person’s hands.

And a person should accept upon himself ‘the five afflictions’¹, because of the affliction that he causes the lesser Hei²³, which is exiled in exile, and She is called: (Is. 54:11) O poor-one¹ *, tempested, without comfort... *And Father and Mother descend on the right and the left, to receive V-H within them, which are Torah and precept.

footnotes: ¹ ’inuiy ² ה ³ 5 ¹ ’aniyah

And the mystery of the matter: (Is. 6:10) ... and returns and is healed, and this is: (Hos. 14:2) Return O Israel, to Y”Y ELoQeYKha...

And furthermore: the precept to be ‘fruitful and multiplying’, this is the Shekhinah, (Is. 45:18) *... not for chaos did He create it, but to inhabit it did He form it... *Any scholar who withholds from Her, the ‘time’¹ of the recitation of the Shm’a, is as if he withheld from Her blessings from above.

footnotes: ¹ ’onah

Six directions are included in the letter Vav¹², which is: (Gen. 1:11) *... a fruit tree making fruit... *What is its fruit? The letter Yod¹. For the letter Vav¹ is a branch of a tree, which separates into six branches, and from six, to branches without number. Yod¹ is the fruit upon each-and-every branch, which is Vav¹.

footnotes: ¹ ו ² 6 ¹ י ¹ ו ¹ י ¹ ו

Arose an Elder and said: ‘Rabbi! Rabbi! Go back upon what you said! The tree is Vav¹, and its fruit is Yod¹ – that is certainly so, but its branches above are higher Hei¹, and its roots are lower Hei¹. And one who separates a branch from it, is ‘one who cuts down the shoots’, and thus, he is cut down, from this world and from the next world.’

footnotes: ¹ ו ¹ י ¹ ה ¹ ה

And furthermore: it is a precept¹ to be occupied in Torah – day and night. It is this that is written: (Josh. 1:8) *... and you shall meditate upon it day and night... *And can a person be occupied in Torah, all day and night for all his days? And yet: ‘The blessed Holy One does not come to overburden His creations!’² But anyone who recites the Shm’a every day, morning and evening, it is as if he had thereby fulfilled: ... and you shall meditate upon it day and night.³

footnotes: ¹ mitzvah ² BT’Avodah Zarah 3a ³ See BT Menaḥot 99b

Of All the precepts: there are those of them that are suspended from the fruit of the tree, those of them from the branches, those of them from the roots, those of them from the tree trunk. And because of this, the Torah is called (Prov. 3:18) *A tree of life...*¹ * *– and of anyone who eats of it: (Gen. 3:22) ... and he shall eat of it and live forever.

footnotes: ¹ BT Berakhot 32b

And there is a tree below, whose branches and roots and body and fruit, are all ‘the poison of death’ – and this is Samael. Whoever transgresses upon the Torah, is watered from that tree and is sustained by it, and about that it is stated: (Gen. 2:17) *... for on the day that you eat of it you will surely die *– and from its aspect, it is a ‘life of anguish’.

And furthermore: the Shekhinah is the precept of ‘establishing a king’. It is this that is written: (Deut. 17:15) *You will surely appoint for yourself a king... *And, as it were, all the while that the Shekhinah is not in Her place, there is no King, and because the Shekhinah is the kingdom¹ over a person, it is stated of it the precept: *You will surely appoint for yourself a king... *so that Israel will be, through Her, all of them, the ‘children of kings’.

footnotes: ¹ malkhut