Kabbalah zu Bereschit 1:1

In the beginning (Gen. 1:1).

What is the reason? Since the world endures by His Holy Name. This is the meaning of, "For Yah Hashem is an everlasting (lit. 'worlds') rock (Heb. tzur)" (Isaiah 26:4), the former (Heb. צַיָּיר) of worlds. For by two letters were the worlds created, this world and the World to Come. This world was created with Judgment and is maintained on Judgment. This is the meaning of, "In the beginning Elohim created" (Beresheet 1:1). The reason is so that people would conduct themselves according to judgment (law) and would not digress from the path.

At that time. The intention is to explain the end of the verse [In the beginning] God created [heaven and earth] (Gen. 1:1). The passage states, “At that time when he is dry and she is dry.” This indicates that after the emanation which had been deposited with it has been expended and no [further] emanation reaches it, the “river” will also be dry and parched. Thus “he is dry and she is dry.”

Chapter 3 explains how our Kaballah [understanding of the Sefirot] is ten, which is supported by the Talmud and other imperatives. There we are [actually] dealing with the notion of the Ten Utterances of Creation (Genesis 1:1).

Know that this honored and awesome name, YHV"H, blessed, is found in the Torah in different matters and uses. Know that you will sometimes find it by itself in most of the Torah, as in "and YHV"H spoke" "and YHV"H said" and in similar instances as those. And sometimes you will find that another of the holy names joins itself to it, as it is said after the Creation: "and these are the generation of heaven and earth as they were being created, on the day that YHV"H Elohim made earth and heaven" (Genesis 2:4). And in all Creation you only find Elohim alone, and when [the text] began to speak about the completion of Creation, in the portion"and these are the generations of heaven and earth as they were being created" [the text] began to use YHV"H Elohim. And we need to inform you of the reason for this. Know that as YHV"H being advanced and crowned and filled with all the middot [characteristics] and with all the sefirot combining in it, and that in it all the things and all creatures are completed and finished, as we already informed you, there was no need to mention [that name] in the story of Creation, since the world wasn't there yet, nor were its creatures completed not the deed finished. The world wasn't in its fullness and completeness, and the world was not filled [with its contents], rather, all the were in a state of flux. And when the Creation of the World was completed, and all the things were in an advanced state, and they were all in an state of complete improvement, then [the text] records YHV"H Elohim, that are two names that unite with each other. This is because Elohim many times clothes Godself with the name Adon"ai and is then called Adon"ai Elohim as we explained to you. And in joining YHV"H Adon"ai, which is the secret of YHV"H Elohim, then all the things [become] in final [state of] completeness. And even though there is Elohim that is the secret of the characteristic of Gevurah and Din/Judgment, as we said, and as our sages of blessed memory said: [God] began to build God's world through the characteristic of Judgment as it is said in the beginnign of Elohim creating (Genesis 1:1) God saw that [the world] would not be able to stand, God rose and joined the characteristic of Rachamim/compassion as it is said "in the day of YHV"H Elohim having created land and heaven" (Genesis 2:4). And this is true, and upright and correct, but come and see great and wondrous things. Behold the text said: "raise your eyes to heavens and see M"Y who created these [eleh]?" (Isaiah 40:26). Obviously that which is called M"Y created "these", which is the secret of the first day that is the secret of Binah, and from it - until the day of Shabbat - during the six days in which heaven and earth and all the creatures were made. And in truth the word M"Y is above and the word Y"M is below, and the word M"Y created it. which is the beginning of the clothing of the name Elohim in the secret of the name called YHV"H, which is written in the word YHVH and called out with the vowels of Elohim in the secret of YHV"H, and both of them are the secret M"Y and their secret: All K"L the rivers go to the sea Y"M (Ecclesiastes 1:7). And from this characteristic which is called M"Y, and is the secret of the clothing of Elohim in the name YHV"H, from [that characteristic] the characteristic of Gevurah, Din and Pachad, which is verily called the characteristic of the Strength of Elohim, is inherited. And from those two characteristics the characteristic called Adon"ai name of Elohim, is inherited, and is clothed in her clothing and then created the world in the secret of YHV"H Adon"ai. And if you understand this principle you will find the name YHV"H Elohim. both of them, in the secret of YHV"H. In the form of its letters, YHV"H; in the form of its vowels, Elohim. And one finds that this name witnesses the secret of YHV"H Elohim, the full name. And the secret of YHV"H is Elohim (I Kings 18:39) in truth: YHV"H in the form of the letters is Elohim in the form of the vowels. And according the saying of the verse YHV"H is Elohim, twice, one corresponding to the higher justice and one corresponding to the lower justice. And the secret of "And you shall know this day, and you shall set it to your heart, that YHV"H is Elohim in the heaven above and on the earth below; there is none else" (Deuteronomy 4:39): in the heaven above - this is the higher justice; and on earth below - this is the lower justice. And if so, all is hinted in the secret of YHV"H Adon"ai. You have found that you've learned that the characteristic Adon"ai in the Creation of the World is clothed in the characteristic M"Y, which is the secret of Binah, which is YHV"H in writing and in vowels, and created the world. And behold, the characteristic of the higher justice that is called Bin"ah and the characteristic of Gevurah and all the other sefirot flowed their power in the name Adon"ai, and it was clothed from the name Elohim and created the world, as it is written "In the beginning created Elohim". And since the name Elohim sometimes is spelled in contracted form and sometimes is spelled in full, it was needed to mention it in the creation of the world, while the world was not full and its creation was not completely formed, yet once the creation of the world was finished, the name mentioned is YHV"H Elohim. Elohim while the forms were not completed, YHV"H at the completion of all the forms, since the name Elohim is not full and complete unless in the name YHV"H - and the secret (Exodus 4:11) "Who makes mute [ilem אלם].. Is it not I, YHV"H?" - this is the secret of Elohim, when you separate the two letters of the name YHV"H, which are Y"H, mute [ilem אלם] is left in the secret of Elohim, Ilem Y"ah. Therefore the world was created with the name Elohim, and when all the things were improved and all the formed beings [were], and the world was in its fullness, it was necessary to mention YHV"H Elohim. And this is what our sages said: the full name was mentioned in a full world, and therefore when the deed of Creation was finished, [the text] began to mention YHV"H Elohim over the fullness of the world.

Why does the Torah begin with the letter Bet? In order that it begin with a berachah (blessing). How do we know that the Torah is called a blessing? Because it is written (Deut. 33:23), "And full of the LORD’s blessing, Take possession on the west and south." The Sea is nothing other than the Torah, as it is written (Job 11:9), "Its measure is longer than the earth And broader than the sea." What is the meaning of the verse, "full of the LORD’s blessing"? This means that wherever we find the letter bet it indicates a blessing. It is thus written (Gen. 1:1), "Bereshit..." ("In the beginning") The word reshit ("beginning") is nothing other than Wisdom. It is thus written (Ps. 111:10), "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD;" Wisdom is a blessing. It is thus written, that, the LORD blessed Solomon. It is furthermore written (I Kings 5:26), "The LORD had given Solomon wisdom". This resembles a king who marries his daughter to his son. He gives her to him at the wedding and says to him, "Do with her as you desire."

[Sec. 21] 43. [The beginner] must also know that there are holy Names inferior to these. They are similar to appellations for them. [Thus] they have ascribed to Keter the Name Araryta, and to Ḥokhmah the twenty-two [Hebrew] letters with [the suffix] yah, like this: ayah, byah, etc. This [Name] designates the three first [sefirot] together: Khuzu Behokhsaz Khuzu. To Ḥesed belongs the seventy-two letter Name which comes out of the verses He traveled … he came… he pitched (Exod. 19:2). It contains 216 letters like the numerical [equivalent] of aryeh in Ḥesed. Gevurah has the forty-two letter Name which comes out of [the verses] from In the beginning (Gen. 1:1) to the bet in bohu (“void”), [equaling] forty-two letters. They constitute seven Names corresponding to the seven sefirot.

Rabbi Bun said: What is the meaning of the verse (Proverbs 8:23), "In the distant past I was fashioned, At the beginning, at the origin of earth." What is the meaning of "in the distant past"? (m'Olam) This means that it must be concealed (he-elam) from the world. It is thus written (Ecclesiastes 3:11), "He also puts eternity (ha-Olam) in their mind." Do not read ha-Olam (eternity), but he-elam. (concealment) The Torah said, "I was first, so that I might be the head of the world." It is thus written, "In the distant past I was fashioned, At the beginning," You may think that the earth was before it. It is therefore written, "before the earth." It is thus written (Gen. 1:1), "In the beginning, when God began to create heaven and earth" What is the meaning of "created"? He created everything that was needed for all things, and then God, only after that is it written "the heaven and the earth."

Rabbi Yanai said: The earth was created first, as it is written (Gen. 2:4), "[...God made] earth and heaven." They said to him: Is it not written (Gen. 1:1), "[God created] the heavens and the earth"? He replied: What is this like? A king bought a beautiful object, but since it was not complete, he did not give it a name. He said, "I will complete it, I will prepare its pedestal and attachment, and then I will give it a name." It is thus written (Ps. 102:26), "Of old You established the earth; the heavens are the work of Your hands." It is furthermore written (Ps. 104:2-3), "wrapped in a robe of light; You spread the heavens like a tent cloth, He sets the rafters of His lofts in the waters..." It is then written (Ps. 104:4), "He makes the winds His messengers, fiery flames His servants." Finally, it is written (Ps. 104:5), "He established the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never totter." When He made its pedestal, He strengthened it. It is therefore written, "that it not be moved." What is its name? "And Va'ed (forever) is its name. And its pedestal is Olam (world). It is therefore written, "for the World And Forever."

"Bereshit, in the beginning" (Genesis 1:1). This includes two fires ("trei esh"), which are the two flames [referred to in the blessing] "Blessed is the Creator of the lights of fire". And in this regard it is written (Song of Songs 2:5) "Sustain me with cakes (ashishot)", that is, with two fires (eishot). Why is 'sustain me' said in this context? This refers to the eves of the Shabbat, when an additional soul descends in order to support the lower Shechina in exile, of whom it is said (Amos 5:2) "Fallen, not to rise again [is the maiden of Israel.]" When Shabbat reaches its end, this additional soul leaves, of which it is written (Exodus 31:17) "[God was] refreshed (vayinafash)". [This is the meaning of ] vayinafash? As soon as it leaves, woe to the soul! (vay nefesh!), for nobody is left to support her. In such moments, she cries out to Israel "Support me with ashishot", that is, with lights of fires. What are these fires? Two Torahs, carved of fire, which are ELOHIM, the aspect of might. These are known as (Isaiah 54:13) "Teachings of the Lord," two lips of burning flames, or two apples out of which the spirit of the Messiah comes, of which is said (Isaiah 11:2) "The spirit of the Lord shall alight on him."