קבלה אויף ישעיהו 50:1

Now, the above is as Scripture states,⁶⁶Deuteronomy 32:18 “You have disregarded The Rock that bore you.” Moreover, it states,⁶⁷Psalms 68:35 “Give strength to God.” This is in accordance to the statement,⁶⁸Talmud Bavli, Berachot 17a “Rabbi Yochanan says, ‘Happy is he who toils in Torah and brings satisfaction to the One who formed him.’ – meaning that he does not toil in the study of Torah in order to receive reward at all. Rather, his intent is solely to bring satisfaction to the One who formed him, about Whom it is written,⁶⁹Isaiah 63:9 “In all their suffering, He suffered.” That is, wherever Israel were exiled, the Shechinah went with them. She is our Mother, about whom it says,⁷⁰Isaiah 50:1 “Thus says HaShem-יהו"ה, ‘Where is your Mother’s bill of divorce [as proof] that I have banished her? To which of my creditors did I sell you? Truly, you were sold through your sins and through your transgressions, and she was banished with you.’” [It is, specifically, the Shechinah that] is called “The One Who formed us,” as in the verse,⁷¹Deuteronomy 32:18 “You have disregarded The Rock who bore you.” [The word for rock here is Tzoor (צור), which also means the “source of form,” just as a child is formed in its mother’s womb.] This is why Rabbi Yochanan said that such a person brings satisfaction “to The One who formed him,” rather than saying “to The Holy One, blessed is He.”

And let us return to the content of our tractate to explain the precise inferences with which we began. Behold, at first glance, the words of the commentators seem strange when they ask from one verse to the other — Isaiah said: Where is the bill of divorce of your mother (Isaiah 50:1); whereas Jeremiah said: and I handed her a bill of divorce (Jeremiah 3:8), as I have brought above. But what is their difficulty? Behold, Isaiah was before Jeremiah, as is well known. Hence in the days of Isaiah, there was truly still no divorce bill. But afterward, in the days of Jeremiah, when they had filled up their measure [of sin], and the time approached 852 years, He divorced them. And that is why Jeremiah said: and I handed her a bill of divorce. But [this] can be resolved. As one who looks carefully at the verse there in Jeremiah 3 will see that [those words] are discussing the ten tribes which were already exiled. And even though the expression, "and I handed," is [actually] about the future [since it is only the conversive conjunction that makes eten past tense], this is the way of prophecies as is well known. And the ten [northern] tribes had already been exiled in the days of Hoshea ben Elah, who was in the days of King Hezekiah of Judea. And Isaiah was still alive then, as is well known, since Manasseh killed him. Hence it is truly difficult. And one could discuss this further, but here is not the place to discuss this at length.

This being so, know and have faith that the Sefirah of Understanding-Binah and the Sefirah of Kingship-Malchut, are aligned to each other. When the Sefirah of Kingship-Malchut is in a state of repair, meaning, when the Jewish people fulfill Torah and mitzvot, the Sefirah of Understanding-Binah then appears, in order to bestow all manner of beneficence and blessings by way of the Sefirot, until the Sefirah of Kingship-Malchut become blessed and filled. The people of the world are then in a state of tranquility and security, and blessing is sent in the form of all kinds of food and sustenance, and we find it to be a state in which blessing-Brachah-ברכה adheres to the land-Aretz-ארץ. This is the meaning of the verse,¹¹³Leviticus 26:3 “If you follow My statutes” and the order of all the blessings set forth there. If, however, they ruin the line and transgress the Written and Oral Torah, exchanging the laws and breaking the covenant, then the Sefirah of Understanding-Binah does not bestow blessings, and it becomes as if the Sefirot are in a state of lacking, since the source has ceased and withdrawn. In this case, the Sefirah of Foundation-Yesod returns to be gathered in and ascends to the source of its yearning, which is the Sefirah of Understanding-Binah, and the Sefirah of Kingship-Malchut is left alone and dry, lacking everything-Kol-כל. In such a case, the world is in such a state, that it is full with all kinds of curses, these being the matter of the curses mentioned in Torah. That is, because of the Jewish people, the Sefirah of Kingship-Malchut is smitten, as stated,¹¹⁴Proverbs 10:1 – The mother-Imma-אמא refers to the Sefirah of Understanding-Binah. “A foolish son is his Mother’s sorrow,” and,¹¹⁵Isaiah 50:1 “It is because of your rebellious sins that your Mother was sent away.” When this happens, the Sefirah of Splendor-Tiferet¹¹⁶Which is the Name HaShem-יהו״ה is robbed of the river above her, called Understanding-Binah, and the Jewish people are sent away and separated, as in the verse,¹¹⁷Proverbs 19:26 “He robs his father and drives out his mother – the son who shames and humiliates.” It similarly states,¹¹⁸Isaiah 57:1 “Because of the evil, the righteous-Tzaddik-צדיק is gathered in.” Our intention here has already been explained in the previous Gates.¹¹⁹That is, to understand the meaning of what is being hinted here, one must have a thorough understanding of what was explained in the previous gates and contemplate them. It likewise states,¹²⁰Proverbs 16:28 “A querulous person estranges the Master.”