Kabbalah Nehemia 9:6: Zohar & Sha'arei Kedusha

Said R. Isaac: ‘The upper and the lower lights, when united, are designated “and thou”, as, for instance, in the passage, “and thou givest life to them all”. Therefore it does not say merely “Command”, “Take unto thee”, “speak”, etc., but prefixes the words “And thou”, because at the time of the building of the Tabernacle the Sun united with the Moon, and all the divine aspects were merged into one Whole which should rest upon the holy place and bless the work of its construction.’ R. Eleazar derived the same inference from the words: “Then wrought Bezalel… and every wise-hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding” (Ex. 37, 1).

Now, the pure soul, which is compared to the fruit, consists of 613 organs and veins and resides within the 613 organs and veins of the impure soul, which is compared to the shell (Kelipah) covering over the fruit. In turn, they both reside within the 613 organs and veins of the body. Thus, the organs of the pure soul reside within the organs of the impure soul and the organs of the impure soul reside within the organs of the body. In order to exist, each of these two souls needs spiritual sustenance. However, the spiritual sustenance of the holy soul is drawn to it through the fulfillment of HaShem’s-יהו"ה Torah, which consists of 613 mitzvot, corresponding to the 613 organs of the soul. Thus, the Torah is called “bread (Lechem-לחם),”²¹The term “bread-Lechem-לחם-78” has a numerical value of “He was, and He is, and He will be-Hayah v’Hoveh v’Yihiyeh-היה והוה ויהיה-78,” and is a reference to the inner sustenance of the eternal Truth of the Torah of HaShem-יהו״ה, blessed is He. This is called “The Inner Bread” (Lechem HaPanim-לחם הפנים) which is a constant in the Holy Temple, as it states (Exodus 25:30), “And you shall set showbread (Lechem HaPanim-לח״ם הפנים) upon the table, before Me, always (Tamid-תמיד).” (See Ginat Egoz of Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla, translated as HaShem Is One, Vol. 4, section entitled “The First Vowel Cholem-חל״ם.”) as in the verse,²²Proverbs 9:5 “Come, partake of My bread.” Each of the 248 organs receives sustenance from a specific mitzvah that relates to that organ. However, if a Jew lacks the fulfillment of any mitzvah, the organ specific to that mitzvah will lack the sustenance drawn to it from the four letters of the Name HaShem-יהו"ה. This is indicated by the verse,²³Nehemiah 9:6 “You (HaShem) give life to all.” All the mitzvot depend on these four letters, as our sages of blessed memory said,²⁴Zohar I 24a; Zohar III 110b, 222b; 273b, and elsewhere “The letters Yod (י) Hey (ה) coupled with the word, ‘My name’ (שמי) of the verse,²⁵Exodus 3:15 ‘This is My name and this is My memorial (זה שמי וזה זכרי) have the numerical value of 365. The letters Vav (ו) Hey (ה) coupled with the word, ‘My memorial’ (זכרי) of the same verse, have the numerical value of 248.’”

From this point onwards bara shith, “he created six”, from the end of heaven to the end thereof, six sides which extend from the supernal mystic essence, through the expansion of creative force from a primal point. Here has been inscribed the mystery of the name of forty-two letters.