BeLaila de Kala [On the Night of the Bride]

BeLaila de Kala [On the Night of the Bride]

On the Night of the Bride

125) Rabbi Shimon was sitting and studying the Torah on the night when the bride, Malchut, unites with her husband. On that night, after which—on the day of Shavuot—the bride is to be with her husband under the Huppah [wedding canopy], all the friends, who are the members of the bridal chamber, must be with her on that night and rejoice with her in the corrections that she is corrected, meaning to engage in Torah, from Torah to Prophets, from Prophets to Hagiographa, the interpretations of the texts, and the secrets of the wisdom, for these are her corrections and adornments.
The Bride and her maidens come and stand on their heads, and she is corrected in them and rejoices in them all through that night. On the next day, the day of Shavuot, she comes to the Huppah only with them. And these friends, who engage in the Torah all night long, are called “members of the Huppah.” And when she comes to the Huppah, the Creator asks about them, blesses them, and crowns them with the crowns of the bride. Happy are they.


Explanation: There are two meanings to it, which coincide.


1) The days of the exile are called “night,” since this is the time of the concealment of His face from the children of Israel. At that time, all the powers of separation of the servants of the Creator dominate, and yet, precisely at that time the bride bonds with her husband—through Torah and Mitzvot of the righteous, who at that time are regarded as those who hold the Torah. All the sublime degrees called, “secrets of the Torah,” are revealed by them, since this is why they are called “those who make them,” for they seemingly make the Torah. It follows that the days of the exile are called “night,” in which the bride bonds with her husband, and all the friends, who are the members of the bridal chamber, are those who hold the Torah.
After the end of correction and the complete redemption, it is written, “For there shall be one day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, when in the evening time there will be light.” This is why it is written that on the next day, the bride is to be with her husband under the Huppah, for then BON will return to being SAG, MA will be AB, and AB is regarded as the next day and a new Huppah.
At that time, the righteous are called “members of the Huppah,” who engage in Torah, in whom there is no action, for then it is said, “And the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” And since those righteous—through their good deeds—raise BON to being SAG by their extension of the fear from the past, they are regarded as making this new Huppah, and this is why they are called “members of the Huppah.”

2) The night of Shavuot is called “the night in which the bride bonds with her husband.” This is so because on the next day, she is destined to be with her husband under the Huppah, on the day of Shavuot, the day of the reception of the Torah. However, it is the same matter as the first explanation because on the day of the reception of the Torah it was already the end of correction, in the form of “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.” It is as it is written in the verse, “Harut [carved] on the tablets”; do not pronounce it Harut, but Herut [freedom], since freedom from the angel of death has come.
However, because of the sin of the calf, they corrupted the correction once again. Thus, the day of the reception of the Torah is the same matter as the end of correction. It follows that on the night prior to the reception of the Torah, all the Zivugim of the days of concealment in her ended, and this is why that night is regarded as the night in which the bride bonds with her husband, after which she is destined to be with her husband under the Huppah. This is the holiday of Shavuot, in which there is the end of correction in freedom from the angel of death, which is the time when the righteous—through their good deeds—make a new Huppah for the bride. It is easier for me to continue the explanation in the first form of explanation, and one who scrutinizes will be able to copy the words to the day of Shavuot, since they are the same issue.
All those friends, who hold the Torah, are called “members of the bridal chamber.” They need to adhere to the Holy Divinity, who is called “bride,” through the whole of the night of the exile. This is so because then, during the days of the exile, she is corrected through those who hold the Torah with all those good deeds and Torah and Mitzvot that they do, until she is purified from good and evil. And she is available for those who engage in Torah, in whom there is nothing in the form of Assiya, but she is entirely good without evil.
Hence, those who hold the Torah—the members of the bridal chamber—must rejoice with her over this great correction that was done in the bride through them, and rejoice with her in the corrections that she is corrected, to engage in Torah, meaning in the corrections that come before us: from Torah to Prophets, from Prophets to Hagiographa, the interpretations of the texts, and the secrets of the wisdom,which must be done with gladness.
It follows that all the degrees and disclosure of the secrets of Torah, which are the construction of Divinity for the end of her correction, are done only by those who hold the Torah during the exile. Therefore, all those degrees and levels that come out during the exile are called “the corrections of the bride and her decorations.” These are the ones that it details from Torah to Prophets, from Prophets to Hagiographa, the interpretations of the texts, and in the secrets of the wisdom. HGT is Torah; NH is Prophets; Malchut is Hagiographa; Mochin de VAK that are extended to her are the interpretations of the texts, and Mochin de GAR that are extended to her are the secrets of the wisdom. This is so because all those corrections must be extended to the bride on that night, in which the bride is completed for the end of correction, which is the day of the Huppah.
It was said, “The Bride and her maidens come and stand on their heads, and she is corrected in them and rejoices in them all through that night.” The angels that clothe the Kelim de Achoraim de Malchut of the first state are called “maidens that serve Divinity.” Divinity stands on their heads—of those who hold the Torah—as it is written, “And on my head is the Divinity of God.”
Along with her are the maidens that serve her, and she rejoices with them when she is corrected by them. This is why it was said, “[She] rejoices in them all through that night,” meaning that the entire period of corrections is called “night.” “On the next day, the day of Shavuot, she comes to the Huppah only with them,” meaning that on the day of the end of correction, the day of the Huppah, she will be able to enter the Huppah only with those who support the Torah, who built and established her as much as was needed—from Torah to Prophets, from Prophets to Hagiographa, in the interpretations of the texts, and in the secrets of the wisdom. And this is why they are called “members of the Huppah.”
It is known that the end of correction will not bring anything new with it. Instead, through the upper light of Atik Yomin, all the MAN and MAD, all the Zivugim and the degrees that came out one at a time during the 6,000 years will gather into one Zivug and one great and precious level, and by that everything will be corrected. At that time, the bride will go into the Huppah.
And the Creator asks about them, about anyone who ever raised MAN for a high Zivug, since he is seemingly sitting and waiting for all of them to assemble. Thus, He asks and waits for every one. And once they gather, the Zivug of Rav Pe’alim uMekabtze’el is done, and He blesses them and crowns them, meaning they are all blessed and crowned at once. And then, at the end of correction, they are called “the crowns of the bride.”


126) Rabbi Shimon and all the friends were singing in the song of the Torah. Each of them was making innovations in the Torah, and Rabbi Shimon was happy, and so were the rest of the friends. Rabbi Shimon told them, “My sons, happy are you, since tomorrow the bride will come to the Huppah only with you, since all those who are making the corrections of the bride on that night and rejoice in her will all be registered and written in the book of remembrance, and the Creator will bless them with seventy blessings and crowns from the upper world.”
Explanation: It is written, “It is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept His charge? Not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and escape. Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, the Lord listened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. ‘They will be Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘on the day that I do remedy.’” We should understand these words. When they said to each other and spoke such contemptible words among themselves, “It is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept His charge,” the prophet says about them, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another.”
In the end, when the great Zivug of Atik Yomin, Rav Pe’alim uMekabtze’el, appears, a great light will appear in all the worlds. By that, every flesh shall completely repent out of love, and it is known that one who is rewarded with repentance from love, his sins become as merits. This is what the prophet says about those wicked who said curses and swears among them, “It is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept His charge.”
On the great day of the end of correction, when the light of repentance from love appears, even the worst sins will become merits, and those who speak will be regarded as those who fear the Creator. At the end of correction, as the prophet said, “‘They will be Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘on the day that I do remedy,’” meaning on the day of the end of correction. For this reason, there is necessarily a book of remembrance before Him, in regard to the sins and transgressions that are done in the world, for He needs them for the day when He does remedy, for then they will become merits and will join and complement the level of light of the end of correction.
This is the meaning of what is written, “And a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name.” “‘They will be Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘on the day that I do remedy, for I need them, to complement the level.’” This is why the prophet ends, “And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him, for then they will be precious to Me and dear to Me as though they were from among those who serve Me.”
“They will all be registered and written in the book of remembrance” comes to include, for even the sins that they committed will then be registered and written in the book of remembrance. And the Creator will write them as though they were merits, and as though they were serving Him in them, as the prophet wrote.
The number seventy implies to Mochin de Hochma and GAR, which are called “crowns.” A blessing is for light of Hassadim. The world was created in Bet, in Beracha [blessing], as it is written, “A world of Hesed [grace] will be built,” in VAK. It also says that at the end of correction, the light of Hassadim, too, will be in seventy crowns, like the Hochma, since MA and BON will rise to AB SAG, and this is the meaning of the Creator blessing them in seventy blessings and crowns from the upper world of AB SAG. Hence, at that time, the blessings, too, are regarded as the number seventy.

127) Rabbi Shimon started and said, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God.” The bride awakens to enter the Huppah, for tomorrow; she is corrected and illuminates in her decorations with the friends, who rejoice in her all through that night, and she is happy with them.

128) On the next day, several multitudes, armies, and camps gather to her, and she and all of them, all those armies and camps, wait for each of those who corrected her in the engagement in Torah on that night. When ZA and Malchut join together and Malchut sees her husband, ZA, it is written, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God.” “The heaven” is the bridegroom, who enters the Huppah, ZA, who is called “heaven,” and “Are telling” means that they illuminate as the brightness of the sapphire, which illuminates and shines from the end of the world to the end of the world.
Explanation: The day of the end of correction is called “tomorrow,” as it is written, “To do them today and to receive the reward for them tomorrow.” The multitudes are the nations of the land that do not serve the Creator. The armies are the servants of the Creator, and the camps point to the upper camps, which are the angels that accompany the souls, as it is written, “For He will give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” And she and everyone await for each one, for as the Creator asks about each one, Divinity waits for each one. This is why it was said that when ZA and Malchut join together, Malchut sees her husband, since she cannot see her husband before they all gather and are dependent on each other.
The heaven is the groom who enters the Huppah [wedding canopy]. The Zohar explains that about the end of correction, of which it was said, “And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun.” It says that the heaven is the groom who enters the Huppah because the Creator is called “heaven,” and at the time of the end of correction, He is called “a groom,” as it is written, “And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, your God will rejoice over you.”
Wherever it writes, “And the Lord came down,” it is a matter of Din or of Gevura because it indicates to a descent from His greatness and sublimity, for “Strength and gladness are in His place.” However, at the end of correction—when all the flaws and sins are turned into merits, it will be made clear that all the descents were but ascents—the Creator will be called “a bridegroom,” and the holy Divinity will be called “a bride.”
A Kalah [bride] comes from the word Kilui [end] of correction, as in “Now on the day that Moses had finished [Hebrew: Kalot] setting up the tabernacle,” meaning when he completed the work of the tabernacle, erecting it. The word Hatan [bridegroom] also indicates descent, as in, “Descended a degree and married a woman.” However, this descent is greater than all the prior ascents, for it is toward the bride—Divinity at the end of correction.
A Huppah is a gathering and assembling of all the Ohr Hozer [reflected light] that came out over the MAN that the righteous raised in all those Zivugim of the Creator and His Divinity, that appeared one at a time during all days and times of the 6,000 years. Now they have all become a great, single light of Ohr Hozer that rises and hovers over the Creator and His Divinity, who are now called “groom and bride.” The Ohr Hozer hovers over them like a canopy [Huppah], and for this reason, at that time the righteous are called “members of the Huppah,” for each as a part in this Huppah, to the extent of the MAN that he raised to the Masach in Malchut for raising Ohr Hozer. When it says, “the heaven,” it is the bridegroom entering the Huppah. This refers to the time of the end of correction, at which time the Creator is called bridegroom who then enters his Huppah.
The word “tell” means that they illuminate as the effulgence of the sapphire, which illuminates and shines from the end of the world to the end of the world. “Tell” mean the great Zivug that will be in the future, from the words, “A woman tells with her husband.” Sapphire is the name of Divinity, from the words, “And under His feet was as a pavement of sapphire.” The effulgence of the sapphire means the Ohr Hozer that she raises from below upwards. “Illuminating” refers to the Ohr Yashar [direct light]. “Shining” refers to Ohr Hozer, and it says that through this great Zivug that is done at the end of correction, which is a gathering from all the Zivugim, the Ohr Yashar and the Ohr Hozer in this Zivug illuminates and shines from the end of the world to its end, as it is written, “The heavens are telling.”

129) “The glory of God” is the glory of the bride, Malchut, who is called El [God]. It is written, “God is indignant every day.” On all days of the year, she is called “God,” and now on the festival of Shavuot, when she has already entered the Huppah, she is called “glory” and she is called “God.” This indicates double honor, double light, and double governance.
This is so because the name “God” is the name of the great Hesed. It is written, “God is indignant every day.” This seems to be the opposite of Hesed. The thing is that it is as it is written, “And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” The Holy Divinity is the small light for the governance of the night, and it is called “fear of heaven,” since the righteous must raise MAN by their awakening from below and correct her with the Masach that raises Ohr Hozer. Then the abundance is drawn from above downwards and not otherwise.
It is written, “God has done so as to fear Him.” It is so because there cannot be awakening from below and raising of MAN without fear. This is why it is considered that she governs the night, since through the deficiency of the light, which is the night—which includes all the Dinim and torments, which are opposite to the quality of day, Hesed—there is fear of Him. Were it not for the fear, the measure of day and morning would not appear.
It is written, “And there was evening and there was morning one day.” The night, too, enters in the morning, for were it not for the night, there would be no morning, it is impossible without it. It is written, “God is indignant every day” because the quality of Hesed, called “God” appears only through the night, considered indignation. And this is why indignation is considered Hesed, too, for Hesed cannot appear any other way. In that sense, the holy Divinity is called “God,” as well.
The words “Glory of God” refer to the glory of the bride, who is called “God.” And “God is indignant every day” because it is impossible to have a day without the anger of the night. On all days of the year, she is called “God,” for so it is on the six days of action: in each of them it is written, “And there was evening and there was morning one day” or “A second day,” etc.. It follows that the night falls under the name of the day; hence, on the six days of action, as well as during the 6,000 years, it is called “God,” which is the name of Hesed.
And now on the festival of Shavuot, when she has already entered the Huppah, she is called “glory” and she is called “God” because at the great Zivug of the end of correction, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, as it is written, “When in the evening time there will be light.” Thus, her degrees are doubled, since during the 6,000 years in the state of the moon she was “and there was evening and there was morning.” And now, when she herself has become as great as the sun, who is ZA, called “glory,” she has double glory, for she has now become the essence of glory because she grew like ZA. Also, glory means honor, which is why it was said, “Double honor.”
It is the same with “Double light,” since during the 6,000 years, too, she was included in the morning light, “And there was evening and there was morning one day.” But now that she has grown like the sun, she becomes the essence of the light, and it follows that she has her own light over the light, in the Hitkalelut [mingling/mixture/inclusion] that she had before.
It is the same with “Double governance” because during the 6,000 years she had governance, which was governance with only the small light, for the night governance, but now she was given the governance of the day, as well, since she has grown like the light of the sun, for the governance of the day. By that, it tells us that we must not be mistaken to say that when she has grown to be as the light of the sun, her own degrees—which she had during the 6,000 years—are cancelled. This is not so. Instead, there is only an addition here to her own degrees, in a way that she has double glory.

130) Then, at that time, when the heaven, ZA, enters the Huppah and comes and shines for her, all those friends who established her in the engagement in Torah during the night become known there by their names, as it is written, “The heavens tell the work of His hands.” “The work of His hands” are those with the token of the covenant, as it is written, “And confirm for us the work of our hands,” which is a token of the covenant, imprinted in man’s flesh.
Explanation: Friends are those who support the Torah, in which there is Assiya, which is good and evil. And even those parts whose evil is still without correction are known by their names of holiness, as it is written, “The heaven tell the work of His hands,” since the heaven is the book of remembrance, the light of the great Zivug, which yields repentance from love, when sins become as merits for them. And even those who slandered, it will be said about them, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another.”
It follows that this Assiya, which keeps the Torah, in which there is good and evil, where there is good for one who is rewarded and bad for one who is not rewarded, now the whole of Assiya has risen into being all holiness and has become the work of the hands of the Creator. This is because it is said, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another,” even about those who were not rewarded. It follows that all the friends were doing only holy work for they were establishing her for the Huppah, and they are all known by their names.
“And confirm for us the work of our hands.” It seems that the evidence is to contradict, for the writing says, “The work of our hands,” not “The work of His hands.” However, he does not bring evidence from the text, except that the token of the covenant is called “The work of our hands.” “Confirm for us” is the foundation, which establishes and founds the entire structure, and the correction of the foundation [Yesod] is the circumcision. Thus, the token of the covenant is called “The work of our hands,” since we remove the foreskin from the Yesod [foundation], and this is the work of our hands. However, this is only prior to the end of correction.
But at the end of correction, everything will appear as the work of the hands of the Creator, and He Himself will be the one removing the foreskin. It is said, “The work of His hands.” These are the ones with the token of the covenant, since then the Creator Himself will remove the foreskin, as it is written, “The heaven tell the work of His hands.” And he brings an evidence to the correction of the covenant, which is now called “The work of our hands,” from the words, “And confirm for us the work of our hands.”

131) Old Rav Hamnuna Saba said, “Do not let you mouth make your flesh sin.” One must not let one’s mouth cause the arrival of an evil thought, and cause the holy flesh—in which the holy covenant is signed—to sin. If he does so, he is pulled into Hell. The one appointed over Hell, whose name is Dumah, several tens of thousands of sabotaging angels are with him. He stands over the door to Hell, and he has no permission to draw near to all those who kept the holy covenant in this world.
To come into a bad thought is a caution that each person should look after his mouth—which is the raising of MAN through Torah and prayer—so it is in complete purity. This is so because should the Sitra Achra have any grip on it, the Sitra Achra will receive his MAN, and will thus bring him to question the Creator, meaning alien thoughts. Then, this will cause the sinning of the holy flesh, in which the holy covenant is imprinted, for by the thoughts, he pulls the foreskin over the holy covenant and the holy Neshama [soul] falls captive in the hands of the Sitra Achra, and then the Sitra Achra pulls him to Hell. It is as Rabbi Elazar said, that from this thing, which he does not know for certain, that vain firmament called Tohu is made, and he falls into the hands of Lilith. Here, however, he is speaking of a flaw in the holy covenant specifically.
When it was said, “And cause the holy flesh—in which the holy covenant is signed—to sin,” it refers to the holy Neshama, which is tied and kept by the holy covenant, as it is written, “Out of my flesh shall I see God.” Literally, out of my flesh, since any time one is written in this holy inscription of that token, he sees the Creator from within him, literally from within him, and the holy Neshama clings to him by the token of the covenant. And if he is not rewarded, he did not keep this token, it is written about him, “By the breath of God they perish.”
It is said here, “This will cause the sinning of the holy flesh,” meaning that by the thoughts, the foreskin—Sitra Achra—touches the holy covenant once more. By that, the Neshama [soul] of God immediately departs from him. This is why it is said in The Zohar that the tree yelled, “Wicked! Do not touch me!” since the tree is Yesod, Ateret Yesod, the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
That appointee over Hell, his name is Dumah. Dumah comes from the word Demamah [silence], since he takes the soul of life from him and leaves him in silence, which is death. We can also interpret that it is because he is the angel that brings the thoughts to the sinner and makes the thoughts of the Creator similar to the thoughts of a woman-born man. This is so because as long as one understands that His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways, that a thought cannot grasp the Creator at all—neither in His thoughts nor in His governance—he will not even conceive that it is possible to question Him.
But because of the sin, Angel Dumah lusts after him and brings a spirit of folly into him, saying that a woman-born man is similar to the Creator in mind and reason. And then he is capable of all sorts of thoughts, and he pulls him into hell. Thus, his whole power is in the name, Dumah. It is written, “Who is like You, Master of mighty deeds, and who is similar to You, a king who causes death and restores life,” meaning that in failure, in what is similar to you, there is death, and in understanding that there is nothing like Him, there is life.
It was said, “And several tens of thousands of sabotaging angels are with him. And He stands over the door to Hell.” This is so because the thoughts that he brings to a person are myriad [10,000, as well as “numerous”], and they are all on the door to Hell. That is, this is the door by which one is pulled into Hell, though it is not Hell itself.
“And he has no permission to draw near to all those who kept the holy covenant in this world.” This means that although they are not completely clean and there is still doing of good and evil among them, still, if they keep the holy covenant in a way that they never question, Angel Dumah has no permission to pull him into Hell.

132) King David was afraid when that thing happened to him. At that time, Dumah rose up before the Creator and told Him, “Lord of the world, it is written in the Torah, ‘A man who commits adultery with another man's wife ... shall surely be put to death.’ And it is written, ‘You shall not have intercourse with your neighbor's wife.’ David, who desecrated his covenant with lewdness, what is he?”
The Creator told him, “David is righteous, and the holy covenant stands firm, for it is evident to me that Bat Sheba was made for him since the day the world was created.
Explanation: Even though he did not sin, as it is written, “Anyone who says, ‘David sinned,’ is mistaken,” he was still afraid as though he had actually sinned, due to Dumah’s slander. “It is written in the Torah, ‘A man who commits adultery with another man's wife ... shall surely be put to death.’ And it is written, ‘You shall not have intercourse with your neighbor's wife.’” The Zohar brings two verses, one for punishment and one for caution.
And the Creator replied to him that David did not have a wrongful thought because Bat Sheba had been his mate since the creation of the world, thus he never corrupted his covenant and the holy covenant stands firm. When he lusted, he lusted after his own. The reason why Uriah took her before David is that Uriah took her with mercy although she was not his, and this must be understood.
Male and female are two halves of a body. Thus, if she is half of King David’s body, how did Uriah—who had no connection to her—take her? The thing is that Bat Sheba is truly David’s Nukva since the day the world was created, for David is the male in Malchut and Bat Sheba is the female in Malchut. However, as there was an ascent of Malchut to Bina at the time of Malchut’s constitution for the emanation of the worlds—where there was an ascent of Malchut to Bina—to mitigate her with the quality of Rachamim—Bat Sheba needed that mitigation in GAR, as well. Without that mitigation, she would be utterly unfit to beget the soul of King Solomon.
Uriah the Hittite was a very high soul, for he was entirely GAR, as his name proves, Ohr Koh [Light of Yod-Hey], for there was nothing in the form of VAK in him, which is the Vav-Hey. Hence, to mitigate Bat Sheba with the quality of Rachamim, Uriah—GAR—took her, and she was mitigated by him, and afterwards she was fit for the kingship over Israel. This is why it was said that Uriah took her with mercy [Rachamim], to mitigate her with Rachamim, in the name Koh in Uriah. This is why he took her although she was