וּבְרָאשֵׁי֙ חָדְשֵׁיכֶ֔ם תַּקְרִ֥יבוּ עֹלָ֖ה לַיהוָ֑ה פָּרִ֨ים בְּנֵֽי־בָקָ֤ר שְׁנַ֙יִם֙ וְאַ֣יִל אֶחָ֔ד כְּבָשִׂ֧ים בְּנֵי־שָׁנָ֛ה שִׁבְעָ֖ה תְּמִימִֽם׃
און אין אײַערע רֹאש-חוֹדשן זאָלט איר מקריבֿ זײַן אַ בראַנדאָפּפֿער צו גאָט: צװײ יונגע אָקסן, און אײן װידער; זיבן שעפּסן יאָריקע, אָן אַ פֿעלער.
Pardes Rimmonim
[...] And in the Raya Mehemna (Zohar, Pinchas 247b) the Rashbi gave a third explanation differing from the two of them [given above], and this is what it says: “And on the heads of your New Moons” [Numbers 28:11]. Now how many heads does the moon have? But these two dots just as this: [image], the lower dot [is] the moon. Her two heads are two dots which are upon her: Segol [image of a Segol, the vocalization mark that can occur below a letter], [but] in the beginning it was a crown/Keter upon two kings just as this: [image of a Segolta] and it was a Segolta [the cantillation mark that can occur above a letter]. But after she [= the moon] said: ‘It is not possible for two kings to make use of one crown/Keter’, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: ‘Go and diminish yourself’, and she descended to the feet of the two kings just as this: [image of a Segol], and this corresponds to a Segol; what had been a Segolta was turned into a Segol.
And the mystery of the matter [is]: in view of the two dots of these two kings, it alludes in: “Bulls, sons of the herd, two” [Numbers 28:11], and in view of the dot [that is] the crown on their heads, it says: “and one ram” [Numbers 28:11], just as one crown/Keter.
After she said: ‘it is not possible for two kings to make use of one crown/Keter’ she diminished herself, also thus: “and one buck of goats for a sin-offering” [Numbers 28:15]. The ram of Isaac [referring to the Akedah in Genesis 22] turned into a buck, it was transformed from Compassion to Judgement, and it was diminished. And therefore “one buck of goats for a sin-offering”, and it did not say “for a burnt offering” [so that it would] be a crown/Keter.
And from where [is it known] to us that there is a descent with the sin-offering? This is what is written: “And he descended from performing a sin-offering” [Leviticus 9:22]. And why did it combine a burnt offering with the sin-offering in the descent? But [only] to teach [us] that in the beginning a burnt offering was the attribute of Compassion, but afterwards it was transformed to Judgement with the descent, and it was called sin-offering, yet everything is one [and the same]. And therefore ‘Let them bring upon Me an atonement’, upon Me was the moon [as a] crown/Keter for sure [previously] like this: וֹ, but afterwards she was diminished and descended to His feet, like this: וּ (in our formulations there is ‘just like this [image of a Segolta] ‘just like this’ [image of a Segolta]), and at that time: ‘Let them bring upon Me an atonement’, it was said about her: “She is the burnt offering…” [Leviticus 6:2], she rose up from His feet as it is said about her: “And the earth is a stool of My feet” [Isaiah 66:1] to say about her: “the heavens [are] My throne” [Isaiah 66:1]. And this is the mystery: “the Righteous One controls the awe of God” [II Samuel 23:3], who reverses Judgement into Compassion. And the mystery of the matter is “the stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner” [Psalms 118:22], just as HWHY YHWH. End of citation.
And the mystery of the matter [is]: in view of the two dots of these two kings, it alludes in: “Bulls, sons of the herd, two” [Numbers 28:11], and in view of the dot [that is] the crown on their heads, it says: “and one ram” [Numbers 28:11], just as one crown/Keter.
After she said: ‘it is not possible for two kings to make use of one crown/Keter’ she diminished herself, also thus: “and one buck of goats for a sin-offering” [Numbers 28:15]. The ram of Isaac [referring to the Akedah in Genesis 22] turned into a buck, it was transformed from Compassion to Judgement, and it was diminished. And therefore “one buck of goats for a sin-offering”, and it did not say “for a burnt offering” [so that it would] be a crown/Keter.
And from where [is it known] to us that there is a descent with the sin-offering? This is what is written: “And he descended from performing a sin-offering” [Leviticus 9:22]. And why did it combine a burnt offering with the sin-offering in the descent? But [only] to teach [us] that in the beginning a burnt offering was the attribute of Compassion, but afterwards it was transformed to Judgement with the descent, and it was called sin-offering, yet everything is one [and the same]. And therefore ‘Let them bring upon Me an atonement’, upon Me was the moon [as a] crown/Keter for sure [previously] like this: וֹ, but afterwards she was diminished and descended to His feet, like this: וּ (in our formulations there is ‘just like this [image of a Segolta] ‘just like this’ [image of a Segolta]), and at that time: ‘Let them bring upon Me an atonement’, it was said about her: “She is the burnt offering…” [Leviticus 6:2], she rose up from His feet as it is said about her: “And the earth is a stool of My feet” [Isaiah 66:1] to say about her: “the heavens [are] My throne” [Isaiah 66:1]. And this is the mystery: “the Righteous One controls the awe of God” [II Samuel 23:3], who reverses Judgement into Compassion. And the mystery of the matter is “the stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner” [Psalms 118:22], just as HWHY YHWH. End of citation.