예레미야 2:38의 Kabbalah

There are high mysteries in this verse, and we friends wonder about them, for it says that Jacob lived instead of Yisrael, to wit 'And Israel lived.' For the name Jacob indicates smallness, and the name Israel indicates Mochin of greatness, while "and lived" alludes to the Light of Chayah, which is the Mochin of greatness. It should have said, 'And Israel lived.' How do we know that Yisrael indicates Mochin of Greatness? From the verse, "Yisrael is holy to Hashem" (Jer. 2:3), (Holy is an allusion to greatness). It also says, "Israel is My son, My firstborn" (Shemot 4:22), firstborn being an allusion to greatness. Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon, said, Yet scripture says, "and he sold his birthright to Jacob" (Beresheet 25:33), for with the birthright, which is greatness, the name Jacob is mentioned.

“The earth is sated from the fruit of Your work,”⁶¹Ps. 104:13. so one may “eat of its fruit and be sated by its bounty.“⁶²Paraphrase of Jer. 2:7. From [the fruit], every living soul is enlivened through the spiritual power that is in them, [which is] the fruit of the mouth of your holy angels who guard its fruit.

How has become dim (Lam. 4:1) for them the candle of commandment and the light of Torah (Prov. 6:23) which gives light to these hypocrites. For like the grass they will soon wither (Ps. 37:2), since a mistake in learning causes intentional sin, Sheol and Abaddon (Prov. 15:11), the venom of serpents and the poison of vipers (Deut. 32:33). But they are altogether brutish and foolish (Jer. 10:8), [following] after vanity, and they will become naught (Jer. 2:5), attempting to bring forth a perverted justice (Hab. 1:4) which will eventuate in a defective deed. Turn away from the tents (Num. 16:26) of the man who slumbers, the ass of a wild man (Job 11:12); a fool and ignorant man is his companion, brutish, unlike a man (Prov. 30:2), who errs and is like a fool.

Come and see. Worthy are Israel in this world and in the world-to-come, for the Holy One, blessed be He, delights in them, and they cling to Him and are called holy ones, the nation of God, until He caused them to rise to a high degree which is called ‘holy,’ as is written, Holy is Israel to the Lord (Jer. 2:3).

And some times the name Adona"y is called in the Torah by the nickname (water) well, and the reason is that it is the well of living waters in which all types of flow and emanation from High enter, as we spoke. And regarding this it is said: "a garden spring, a well of fresh water, a rill of Lebanon" (Song of Songs 4:15). And when Israel are righteous and bless 100 blessings every day as appropriate, this well fills up with living water from the flow of Upper Emanations, and then all are rich and full of every goodness, drawing living water as they need. And sometimes it is also called Be'er Sheva (lit. Well of Seven), since seven waterways continue on her, through the way of the basis (Yesod) of the world, from the Seven Upper Ascents. And corresponding to this well there is another well from the outside, with the rest of the wells that are filled with snakes and scorpions, that are called Foreign Wells, and regarding them it is said: the mouth of (added to the verse) "a harlot is a deep pit; a foreign woman is a well of distress" (Proverbs 23:27). And all those who are complete evil people have no merit to draw from the Well of Seven, and fall into the Well of Foreign Distress, those are the ones who keep following after the serious transgressions. And regarding this there is a hint of Adona"y when Israel sinned regarding this aspect. The prophet said: "For My people have done a twofold wrong: they have forsaken Me, the Foun"t of Livin"g Wate"r, and hewed them out wells, broken wells, which cannot even hold water" (Jeremiah 2:14). That is to say Well of Distress, for which there is no ground, because all of it is broken, [completely] broken, and water cannot stay in it, rather is it filled with snakes and scorpions. And regarding this David hinted: "let the Well not close over its mouth on me" (Psalms 69:16).

And some times the name Adona"y is called in the Torah by the nickname (water) well, and the reason is that it is the well of living waters in which all types of flow and emanation from High enter, as we spoke. And regarding this it is said: "a garden spring, a well of fresh water, a rill of Lebanon" (Song of Songs 4:15). And when Israel are righteous and bless 100 blessings every day as appropriate, this well fills up with living water from the flow of Upper Emanations, and then all are rich and full of every goodness, drawing living water as they need. And sometimes it is also called Be'er Sheva (lit. Well of Seven), since seven waterways continue on her, through the way of the basis (Yesod) of the world, from the Seven Upper Ascents. And corresponding to this well there is another well from the outside, with the rest of the wells that are filled with snakes and scorpions, that are called Foreign Wells, and regarding them it is said: the mouth of (added to the verse) "a harlot is a deep pit; a foreign woman is a well of distress" (Proverbs 23:27). And all those who are complete evil people have no merit to draw from the Well of Seven, and fall into the Well of Foreign Distress, those are the ones who keep following after the serious transgressions. And regarding this there is a hint of Adona"y when Israel sinned regarding this aspect. The prophet said: "For My people have done a twofold wrong: they have forsaken Me, the Foun"t of Livin"g Wate"r, and hewed them out wells, broken wells, which cannot even hold water" (Jeremiah 2:14). That is to say Well of Distress, for which there is no ground, because all of it is broken, [completely] broken, and water cannot stay in it, rather is it filled with snakes and scorpions. And regarding this David hinted: "let the Well not close over its mouth on me" (Psalms 69:16).

Come and behold: all of man's sins and corruption can be atoned for by repentance. But by the sin of spilling his seed on the earth, man corrupts himself and the earth as well. And of such a person, it is written: "The stain of your iniquity is before Me," (Yirmeyah 2:22) and "For You are not an El that has pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil sojourn with You" (Tehilim 5:5). (For the sin of spilling seed, He does not accept his repentance) except after great penitence. It is also written that "Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of Hashem; and Hashem slew him" (Gen. 38:7), as was already explained elsewhere.

Because it is the way of the Holy One blessed be He. He desires that the righteous who fulfill His will be remembered above as well as below. He desires that their memories not be forgotten through the generations. Likewise, He also desires that the wicked who do not fulfill His will (be remembered), that their sins never be forgotten and their punishments and their wicked ways always remembered, as it is written: "The stain of your iniquity is before Me" (Jer. 2:22).

Atika Kadisha, which is the skull of Arich Anpin, is called nothingness (ayin) because nothingness derives from the unknowable head. Meaning that this top of the skull is close to the unknowable head, which is utterly incomprehensible; it is therefore incomprehensible as well. It is called nothingness, indicating that it cannot be conceived. For that reason, all the hairs and eyebrows over the skull are not from it, because Judgments cannot have a hold on it. They emerge from the concealed brain. They are therefore all smooth, that is, soft without Judgment. They are all the same of equal weight, since here everything is the one light of Mercy. The back of the head is not visible because it alludes to Judgments and the back, as meant in, “for they have turned their back (lit. nape) to me, and not their face” (Yirmiyahu 2:27).

It also says in the Zohar in Noach: 57. Come and behold: all of man’s sins and corruption can be atoned for by repentance. But by the sin of spilling his seed on the earth, man corrupts himself and the earth as well. And of such a person, it is written: “The stain of your iniquity is before Me,” (Yirmeyah 2:22) and “For You are not an El that has pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil sojourn with You” (Tehilim 5:5). THIS MEANS THAT A PERSON WHO WASTES HIS SEMEN ON THE EARTH IS CALLED EVIL, AND HE SHALL NOT SOJOURN ANYMORE WITH THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE. IN OTHER WORDS, HE SHALL NOT ACCEPT HIS REPENTANCE, except after great penitence. It is also written that “Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of Hashem; and Hashem slew him” (Beresheet 38:7), as was already explained elsewhere. (Some versions of the Zohar say ‘unless it is with very strong Teshuva’).

About this sin it says, “Also your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor” (Jeremiah 2:34), and also as we said above “slaughterers of children” (Isaiah 57:5) that he literally slaughters his children, and as Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai says in Vayechi, which we quoted above. Therefore, he does not see the face of the Shechinah, since the Shechinah does not reveal Herself to him as She does to the rest of the Tzadikim, unless he does proper Teshuva, as we will explain later on. Until here is the summary of his words.

About this sin it says, “Also your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor” (Jeremiah 2:34), and also as we said above “slaughterers of children” (Isaiah 57:5) that he literally slaughters his children, and as Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai says in Vayechi, which we quoted above. Therefore, he does not see the face of the Shechinah, since the Shechinah does not reveal Herself to him as She does to the rest of the Tzadikim, unless he does proper Teshuva, as we will explain later on. Until here is the summary of his words.

It also says in the Zohar in Va’etchanan: 120. While they were walking Rabbi Aba said, In the verse, “they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and have hewn them out cisterns…” (Yirmeyah 2:13), “they have forsaken Me” refers to he who is false to the sign of the holy imprint. How is he false to it? By placing it in the domain of another, as written, “and has married the daughter of a strange El” (Malachi 2:11), who are called broken cisterns. For the idol worshiping nations are called broken cisterns. 121. That of Yisrael, WHICH IS MALCHUT, is called a well, “the fountain of living waters.” This is the holy domain of the holy Faith, WHICH IS MALCHUT that is called a well of springs of clear water that comes out and pours from it, as written, “and streams from Lebanon” (Shir Hashirim 4:15), AND ALSO, “running waters out of your own well” (Mishlei 5:15), and, “a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters” (Shir Hashirim 4:15). The Other Side is called, “broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Yirmeyah 2:13). 122. Come and see, the river that flows and comes out, WHICH IS YESOD, waters the whole garden, MALCHUT, and waters each and every place, as we explained, until it fills the place of the garden that is called a well of living water, WHICH IS YESOD OF MALCHUT, whence the higher and lower are nourished, as written, “and from thence it was parted…” (Beresheet 2:10). 123. None of the aspects of the left side are watered from that spring of gushing water, because they are from the aspect of the other nations and are called broken cisterns. Whoever is false to the holy imprint by that side cleaves to “broken cisterns, that can hold no water,” because it does not flow in there. Whoever merits to keep it deserves to be watered by the stream of the river in the World to Come and merits that the supernal well will be filled and blessings will be drawn above and below. Happy is he in this world and in the World to Come. Of this it is written, “and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Yeshayah 58:11). 124. Woe to him who is false to the holy imprint, because he is false to the Supernal Name. Moreover, he causes that well, MALCHUT, not to be blessed. He is called, “he has brought out an evil name upon a virgin of Yisrael” (Devarim 22:19). “A virgin of Yisrael” is precise, THAT IS, MALCHUT THAT IS CALLED THE VIRGIN OF YISRAEL, BECAUSE SHE ALWAYS REVERTS TO BEING A VIRGIN.