KabbalaOnline.org The Good of the Land "Vanquishin the Lower 7"
KabbalaOnline.org The Good of the Land "Vanquishin the Lower 7"
This
Torah learning is dedicated to the merit of
DAVID & NATALIE WOLF's birthdays.
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Blessings for a year of material and
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Vanquishing the "Lower 7"
Chapter Two, Part 2
Advanced
By Rabbi
Nathan Schapira; translation & commentary by David Slavin
In
the days of Moses, the Children of Israel were only promised the
seven lands of the seven nations. Those seven correspond to the lower
seven sefirot. Yet, "The lands of the Kini and Kenizi
and Kadmoni" (Gen.
15:19) which correspond to the three upper sefirot,
they were not promised. This was so being that, in our times, only the lower
seven are functioning in a perceivable manner. After the final redemption,
those upper three will also be functioning, and therefore we will be given
those three corresponding lands.
It
is known that the lands of the seven nations are hinted to in the Zeir and Nukva of
the Kelipat Noga, for Zeir is comprised of six
extremities, and its Nukva is their seventh aspect. For this
reason, in my impoverished opinion, the first letters that spell the seven
nations, Canaanites, Hitites, Emorites, Prizians, Hivites, Jebusites,
and Girgashites, have the numerical value of 131, which is the same
value as 'Satan', who is the Zeir of Kelipat Noga.
While "Eretz Canaan" has the same value as
"Lil--" ['Satan's mate], for she receives from all of his six
extremities, likewise the entire numerical value of all seven nations [i.e.
Canaanites, Hittites, Emorites, Prizians, Hivites, Jebusites, and Girgashites]
together with the value of 'Satan' equals the value of Eretz Canaan using
the large value for the final letters MaNZePaCh. That signifies that she [Eretz Canaan]
is the malchut of the kelipot, and that she
includes within herself from the ten sefirot of Kelipa
Noga.
[Editor's
note: The regular 22 letters of the aleph-beit range in value
from 1 to 400, yet five letters take different shapes when placed at the end of
a word. These letters normally signify the aspect of gevura, hence
the numerical value for them is in a different scale, namely, chaf sofit =500, mem sofit =
600, nun sofit = 700, pei sofit = 800,
and tzadi sofit = 900. Most authorities take the
system a step further to the "large" aleph = 1000,
the word in Hebrew for one thousand is aleph.]
Yet
the malchut of
holiness is called "Eretz HaCanaanY", as is seen
in the verse, "And it shall come to pass when G‑d brings you in
to the Eretz HaCanaanY…" (Ex.
13:5). [The word Canaan is surrounded by a hei and
a yud; they are letters of G‑d's
name, hence by surrounding Canaan they transform it.]
I
have heard from that venerable wise sage, Rav Moses Zacuto, that the
numerical value of "Eretz HaCanaanY" equals that of 'malchut'
of holiness. That is so because of the name Yud Hei that
join it, as in the verse, "I had said, 'I will not see G‑d (Yud
Hei), G‑d (Yud Hei) is in the land of the
living (Eretz
Yisrael)." (Isaiah
38:11) Also Yud Hei, spelled out fully, Yud Vav Dalet,
Vav Yud Vav,
Dalet Lamed Tav, Hei Hei, Hei Hei,
equals 'malchut', as well as 'Eretz HaCanaanY'. All its
powers stem from the Yud Hei that is attached to it. As in the
verse, "G‑d in chochma founded the Land" (Proverbs
3:19). That is why the very "air of Eretz Yisrael wizens" (Baba
Batra 158b), for in that land is the revelation of the
"light" of the Yud. Namely, Yud is
spelled out fully as Yud Vav Dalet and that, further spelled
out as Yud Vav Dalet, Vav Vav, Dalet
Lamed Tav,
all together equals malchut. The mystery of this is found in the
passage in the Zohar talking about how "Abba is the
Foundation of his daughter" (Pinchas 158a), which says that she
is Eretz Yisrael, "Yisrael Sabba". She includes ten levels to
correspond to the ten nations, those levels are keter, chochma, bina, gedula (chesed), gevura, tiferet, netzach, hod, yesod and
malchut. The first letters of those ten levels equals
"Yisrael" (541). There in the midst of Eretz Yisrael, ten levels of
holiness sanctify it.
It
is known that the level of Ham the son of Noah is hod;
referring to this is the verse, "All day long is 'dava'-moaning" (Lamentations
1:13). [ Hod has
the same letters of dava]. From this we should be gladdened and
understand that dava was transformed into hod and hadar [splendor
and beauty]. In other words, when the "horns" [they are the
letters yud and hei] of hod are
revealed to the land of Canaan, who was dava--wallowing in her
menstruation, then the she becomes sanctified. This is the essence of the
verse, "Open for me the gates of righteousness, I shall enter
therein and give thanks to Y-h [yud and hei]" (Psalms
118:19). Therefore, King David, who was from the aspect of hod,
composed 150 psalms of thanksgiving. They total 10 times 15 [yud and hei 10
+ 5 = 15]. With the letters yud and hei he
finished the book of Psalms.
Based
upon all that is written here, search and you shall not find another time that
Eretz Yisrael is called in the Torah "Eretz HaCanaanY" save
the time of the redemption from Egypt, for regarding the redemption the Torah writes, "The
might and vengeance of Y-h (G‑d)" (Ex.
15:2). Thus far his words, the words of the mouth of the wise and gracious.
Therefore,
all the other six nations [despite their own names] are referred to by her
name, the land of Canaan. Similarly as the Arizal wrote regarding the
mystery of the "Table on the River" (Likutei Torah Balak),
that the table represents the malchut, the feminine, that is above
the "river", the masculine. That is like the diaphragm on top of the
liver, as mentioned in the Zohar (Parashat Pinchas 231b
and 224b.)
[The
diaphragm represents the feminine and the liver itself the masculine]. This
situation [of the feminine above the masculine], is specifically referring to
the land of the children of Ammon, for they are the kelipot.
Yet in the realm of holiness, it is written, "And the land is My
foot stool" (Isaiah
66:1) as well as the verse, "And G‑d shall be King upon
the entire land" (Zachariah
14:9). Therefore, regarding holiness, the land is called Eretz Yisrael, for
that connotes that she is underneath the masculine. Then the land is called
"desire". For the word Canaan spells the first
letters in the verse, "Ki nirtza avo na [her
iniquity has been forgiven]" (Isaiah
40:2). [The word "nirtza" implies not only forgiveness but
also desire. In other words, her sins have been forgiven hence she -the Jews-
are once again desired.] That land that was once Canaan [i.e. defiled by the
seven nations] is now the "land of desire".
This
is the mystery of the iniquities becoming merits, as can be seen from the
following verse. "Raise up a song and sound the tof [drum]" (Psalms
81:3). Through the songs, that are the "songs of the mighty" (Isaiah
25:5), then "sound the tof [drums]".
This will break Lil--, whose numerical value is that of tof -
480. And then "Kinor na'im im nevel [Sound
the sweet harp with the lyre]" (ibid.)[the first letters spell
Canaan]. In other words, that which the land of Canaan was under the control of
— namely the "tof [drum] and machol [tambourine]" (Psalms
150:4), who are the two harlots, Lil— and Machlat [this is hinted to by
Lil— having the value of tof, and Machlat being spell like machol],
has now been turned over into "Nevel V'Kinor [the lyre and
sweet harp]". Those instruments are in the hand of the side of holiness,
under the providence of G‑d. G‑d, as Yud Hei, is
hinted at in the word "na'vel", the nun hinting to
the Fifty Gates of Understanding, and the remaining two letters beit and lamed spell lev,
which hints at the [Book of Sefer Yetzira] 32 Paths of Wisdom
[lamed=30 and beit=2]. The letters vav hei of
G‑d's name are hinted to by the word "kinor", the kaf and
the vav of that word valuing 26, which is the numerical value
of the Ineffable Name YHVH, while the remaining two letters nun and reish hint
at the aspects of Zeir and Nukva. That is why the
first letters of "Kinor na'im im nevel [Sound
the sweet harp with the lyre]" (Psalms
81:3) spells "Canaan". This indicates that the land of
Canaan has been subjugated under the "lyre and sweet harp", which represent
chochma and bina,
and tiferet and malchut.
All
of this was only possible because of the merits of our forefathers, as is written, "Moreover,
I have established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan". (Ex.
6:4) That is also hinted to in the fact that the words "Kinor (276) na'im (170) im (110) nevel (82)"
have the same numerical value as Abraham (248) Isaac (208)
and Jacob (182) = 638. In their merit, the land of Canaan left the
rule of the chitzonim [external forces] and entered the domain
of Holiness, the name YHVH.
This
is what is meant by the verse, "Great is G‑d and much
praised…" (Psalms
48:2). When is G‑d exceedingly great? When He is, "…in the
city of our G‑d, the mount of His Holiness" (ibid.). That is also "And
G‑d is in His Holy Sanctuary" (Habakkuk
2:20). There G‑d's name is not complete except for in the place of His Holy
Sanctuary which is the "Holy Land". As in the verse, "Yismechu Hashamayim Vetagel Ha'aretz -The
Heavens will be glad and the land [Eretz Yisrael] shall
rejoice" (Psalms
96:11) [note that the initials spell the Ineffable Name], for there in
Eretz Yisrael is the gate of heaven, the place where the Yud Hei joins Vav Hei.
Sanctification
of the Mind (2:3)
By
Rabbi Nathan Schapira; translation & commentary by David Slavin
Rabbi
Nathan Schapira, an honored member of an eminent Polish rabbinical family, came
to Eretz Israel from Cracow during the 17th century, where he became part of a
consortium of kabbala scholars. It is reported that he wrote the volume Tuv
Haaretz during a trip to Italy, where he was encouraged to print it by
R. Moshe Zaccuto, as an effort to ease the emotional and financial hardships of
the people at that time of great pogroms.
Rabbi
David Slavin is an American long-time student of Torah who now lives in Israel
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