Кохелет 1:4 Каббала: Sha'arei Orah

Thus, because it states, “All the nations surround me,” and it states,³⁵Numbers 24:20 – After the children of Israel left Egypt, Amalek was the first nation to attack them. Moreover, this attack was without reason or provocation. “The first of the nations is Amalek,” it therefore was he who first entered to reveal the hidden matters of the Jewish people, setting his hand against the final two letters of the Name, which are Vav-Hey-ו״ה. The verse thus states,³⁶Exodus 17:16 “For a hand is [raised in oath] on the throne of Ya”h-י״ה; HaShem-יהו״ה maintains a war against Amalek from generation to generation.” From the words, “HaShem-יהו״ה maintains a war against Amalek,” we do not know which of [the Sefirot] is being referred to. However, with the concluding words of the verse, “From generation to generation-MiDor Dor-מדור דור,” the matter is revealed, in that it reveals what place Amalek set his hand against. The sign for this is the verses,³⁷Ecclesiastes 1:4 “A generation-Dor-דור goes and a generation-Dor-דור comes, but the earth-Aretz-ארץ endures forever,”³⁸That is, the Sefirah of Kingship-Malchut and,³⁹Exodus 3:15 “This is My Name forever, and this is my remembrance from generation to generation-l’Dor Dor-לדור דור.”⁴⁰That is, “This is My Name” refers to the beginning of the verse, “So shall you say to the Children of Israel, ‘HaShem-יהו״ה, the God of your forefathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitzchak, and the God of Yaakov, has sent me to you.’” The word, “forever-Le’olam-לעלם” is written missing the letter Vav-ו here, signifying its ‘concealment-He’elem-העלם.’ That is, this verse signifies the necessary union of the Written Torah (in which the Name is written HaShem-יהו״ה) with the Oral Torah, (in which His title Lord-Adona”y-אדנ״י is pronounced instead), this being the union of Splendor-Tiferet and Kingship-Malchut. This is as stated (Talmud Bavli, Pesachim 50a), “Rabbi Avina raised a contradiction, ‘It is written, ‘This is My Name to conceal-Le’Alem-לעלם,’ and it then states, ‘This is My mention-Zichree-זכרי for all generations.’ [That is, the beginning of the verse indicates that it is to be concealed, whereas the end of the verse indicates it is to be mentioned. Alternatively, if it is obvious that ‘This is My Name,’ the end of the verse appears to be redundant – see Rashi there.] Rather, the Holy One, blessed is He, said, ‘I am not read as I am written. I am written Yod-Hey-יו״ד ה״א [HaShem-יהו״ה], but I am read with Aleph-Dalet-אלף דלת [Adona”y-אדנ״י]. That is, this verse teaches both names as one – See Rashi there.] (It should also be pointed out that the numerical value of “My Name-Shmee-שמי-350, plus Ya”h-י״ה-15 equals the 365 negative commandments, and the numerical value of My mention-Zichree-זכרי-237, plus Vav-Hey-ו״ה-11 equals the 248 positive commandments.) Additionally, “This is My Name” refers to HaShem-יהו״ה, which is the quality of Splendor-Tiferet, and “This is My Remembrance-Zichree-זכרי” refers to the quality of Foundation-Yesod, which is the secret of Remembrance-Zachor-זכור, as mentioned before, and “from generation to generation-Dor Dor-דר דר” refers to Kingship-Malchut as learned from a Gezeirah Shavah to the previous verse. Thus, these verses indicate what matter Amalek set their hand against. The verse thus states,⁴¹Psalms 137:7 “Remember (Zechor-זכור) HaShem-יהו״ה for the children of Edom, the day of Jerusalem’s [destruction], how they said, ‘Destroy! Destroy, to its very foundation-Yesod-יסוד!’”