Adir BaMurom — Chapter 17: The Secret of the Nose of Arikh — Nachas Ruach; Life; The Four Kingdoms of Daniel

The Ramchal now explains how the FOUR GREAT LIGHTS that emerge from the flaring of the nose against the Great Sea [the Dikna] correspond to the FOUR KINGDOMS OF DANIEL. And the overarching principle: the blessed Emitter did not wish merely to push the evil away — He wished to RECTIFY the klippa itself, so that all would be humbled and subjugated to holiness. This is done through the Shechina vesting herself within the four kingdoms during the exile — and in that process the good within them is extracted and bound to holiness's service, while the evil is eventually discarded.

And the secret of the LETTERS: There are two kinds of letters — the letters as they existed in the Nekudim [primordial world] before the Breaking, and the letters as they exist in the Tikkun. From the letters of Tikkun [= letters of MaH] no evil comes forth — all klippos are made from the letters of the Nekudim [= letters of Be"N]. The bodies of Yisroel's seed were designated to be built from the MaH-letters [the letters of Tikkun], while the nations are built from the Be"N-letters. When the Luchos [tablets] were given, this was established in them — and they received CHEIRUS [freedom, carved into stone], which was literally a renewal of the substance of their bodies. Had they not sinned with the golden calf, there would have been no more death and no exile. But when the calf was sinned and the tablets broken, the MaH-letters departed from them and only the Be"N-letters remained — and this is called ro'etz [smashing], for the vessels shatter. When Ezra came — numerically equal to Moshe — he re-established the teaching of the first Revelation, and restored the cantillation-marks [trop = the ta'amei ha-mikra] which re-anchored the MaH dimension in the letters. And when the Sefer Torah is lifted and the letters shown to the people [hagbahah] — an illumination flows to the congregation from the letters of MaH — this is the secret: "how great is Your goodness which You have hidden away for those who fear You."

And the FIRST KINGDOM — BAVEL [Babylon]: The first great light from the nose flares in the secret of SPIRIT-OF-LAMED-LAMED-LAMED [= wind = Aleph in three letters], and the kingdom of Bavel grasps that aspect of the eagle-wings [kenafayim di-neshar], rising to cling to the holiness of Yaakov [who is the eagle of the divine chariot]. Bavel is connected to the concept of TARGUM [Aramaic translation], which is in Klipas Nogah — and Nogah's ultimate tikkun is to be drawn into holiness. This is why "Nevuchadnetzar my servant" — the king of Bavel was uniquely called G-d's servant, for it was specifically through him that this stage of purification began. And: TARGUM = TARDEMA [deep sleep] in gematria — for: "a deep sleep fell upon Avram" [Genesis 15:12] — the beginning of the exile process. And Bavel's tikkun is "and it rose up on its feet like a man, and a human heart was given to it" — rectification in the limbs [through the two Mashiachs] and in the heart [through Moshe] — the secret of ONE TARGUM, in the form of "to serve Him with one shoulder" [Zephaniah 3:9].

The SECOND KINGDOM — PARAS AND MADAI [Persia and Media]: This light flares with the spirit of YAH, and its animal-form is the BEAR — "they are laden with meat like a bear" [Megillah 11a]. This kingdom corresponds to the BIRTH-PANGS OF MASHIACH [chevlei Mashiach] — for it is the time of compression and urgency, as one birth-pang follows another without respite. Therefore they bear the nature of "they have no rest, like a bear" — they are the ones who rule in the time when urgency is necessary. And: "three ribs in its mouth between its teeth — Arise, devour much flesh" [Daniel 7:5]. And: the three ribs are the three AT"I [Aleph-Tav-Yud] in the Dikna — three ADNY — against whom these forces press. And the nine = the three-times-three which emerge from their biting. And the AT"I of this second light, at the time of its revealing, goes toward the BUILDING OF THE SECOND BEIS HAMIKDASH — and Koresh [Cyrus] king of Paras was the one who built it, saying: "He commanded me to build Him a House."

The THIRD KINGDOM — YAVAN [Greece]: "After this I beheld, and lo, another" — a new process begins, corresponding to the destruction of the Second Beis Hamikdash and this last exile, until the coming of the Redeemer. Yavan is the BEAUTY OF YEFET ["the beauty of Yefet shall dwell in the tents of Shem"] — and it was therefore permitted to write the Torah in Greek. And the secret of NAMER [leopard]: one who "changed and departed" [shana u-feyrash] — for Yavan entered the holy tents and received illumination from within, then went back out and used what it had absorbed to oppose holiness. This is the leopard's SPOTS [chavarvuros] — two colors mixed, with the inner color occasionally breaking through the outer. And: this is the deepest corruption, numerically connected to the pattern of the mamzer [one born from forbidden union] — for the light of holiness absorbed through Torah study, when mixed with inner spiritual impurity, becomes a mingled abomination. Therefore it is harder than all the others [Pesachim 49a]. And Yavan decreed against ROSH CHODESH — for Rosh Chodesh is the secret of "David Melech Yisroel chai ve-kayam" — and against this they marshaled the power of the eagle-wings [the four wings of the bird = the aspect of Dovid]. And their 29 luminaries times 10 = 290 = the gematria of NAMER [leopard]. And: 36 of the luminaries remain in the aspect of ALEH [these] departing from ELOHIM — and about them it is said: "on account of these our eyes are darkened" [Lamentations 5:17]. The permission given to them: "and dominion was given to it" [Daniel 7:6].

The FOURTH KINGDOM — EDOM [Rome]: This is the GREAT DEEP [tehom rabbah] — "Edom is like the deep that has no sounding" [Bereishis Rabbah 2:5] — for it includes all the previous kingdoms within itself. Therefore it is called YESIRA — EXTRA — for in this exile there is something more than in all previous ones: the "pride of Israel" was removed — the tikkunim of ZA's mohin descended into the klippos, as known. And: the special teeth of this beast = IRON + COPPER [barzel ve-nechoshes]. Iron is the root of the Sitra Achra; copper is one garment of Din in which the Shechina clothes herself to coerce the klippos. And when Israel sinned: "your heavens shall be as iron and your land as copper" — the nations received the main sustenance [iron] and Israel was left only with the residue [copper]. And the TEN HORNS: the ten sefirot that the SA took from the holy. And the SMALL HORN [karna ze'ira] — the Reshimu that was already in the SA's own constitution, to which dominion is given last — this is Titus, from whom the mosquito [of the Gemara, Gittin 56b] was rooted, and three horns were uprooted by it.

And: "ATIK YOMIN YATIV — the Ancient of Days was seated" — seated upon the Dikna of Arikh Anpin, for the seven lower sefiros of Atik Yomin all illuminate there, and that is called "sitting in full settledness." When Atik moves from one throne [mode of governance] to another it is called "He rose and stood." When He returns to the Dikna it is like one who has been active and then finally sits and rests. And the two benefits of Atik sitting upon the Dikna: (1) since Atik is pure chesed, the Dikna receives sweetening from him. (2) The Dikna becomes a literal CHARIOT [merkavah] for Atik — it does not act from its own nature but Atik acts through it. "When Atik sits upon it — it is subdued"; "the one who rides controls" — for the horse [Dikna] is secondary to the rider [Atik], as with any rider and horse. And the "thrones cast down" [di-khorsin ramiu] = when Atik moves from one mode of governance to another, the illumination of the previous throne departs — for there cannot be two ruling forces simultaneously. This is: "one leader per generation, not two" [Sanhedrin 8a].

And then: "Amar Rebbi Shimon le-Rebbi Yehuda — yitasken orchach" — RABBI SHIMON SAID TO RABBI YEHUDA: ARRANGE YOUR PATH. And Rebbi Shimon opens the teaching of the RUACH OF MASHIACH, and its connection to the breath of Arikh's nose, and the great power of the wise one [hacham] that comes from the nose of Atika. And: Adam HaRishon when he was created received from this breath [ruach], and therefore had the great wisdom — and when he sinned, it departed from him. And the Ramchal teaches: the Ruach of Mashiach was created before the creation of the world [Pesachim 54a] — and it is his name and his spirit, all one matter, standing to reveal the light of the worlds even in the lowest ones.

Chapter 7 of Adir BaMurom is the longest and most profound chapter in the entire work — the Ramchal's masterpiece: a complete systematic exposition of the second half of the Idra Rabba, from the continuation of the Eye of Arikh Anpin through the final closing of the Idra. It spans pages 116–488 of the printed text (373 pages) and covers seven major thematic arcs:

I. THE EYE OF ARIKH ANPIN (§§1–11b, pp. 116–340). The five senses as breaking-through points of light; the Reshimu as vessel and the Kav as light; the three white hues [chivorin]; how ZA's eye has no illumination except from AA's; the Mikveh's three aspects [40 Se'ah / 9 Kabin / 3 Lugin] as the sweetening of the Eye's Gevuros; wine becoming water; chachlili einayim mi-yayin; the double bonding of ZA with AA drawing Imma's milk to wash ZA's eyes; the third white hue sending illumination downward to all six extremities; tov ayin hu yivorach — the blessing going out from the goodly eye; yiras ha-romemus vs. yiras ha-onesh; hineh lo yanum ve-lo yishan shomer Yisroel — 60 letters of Birkas Kohanim as the protection of the All.

II. THE NAME OF ATIK AND THE GREAT TEACHING ON CREATION (§§12–12b, pp. 341–397). The Name of Atik Yomin is hidden throughout Torah except at the Akeidah, where bi nishba'ti ne'um Hashem reveals that Atik IS the inner secret of HVYH itself; the complete teaching on the Tzimtzum and the Kav; Torah preceded the world by 2000 years [= the YH before the VH]; the world first created with Din then with Rachamim; BEREISHIS = Torah; the Patriarchs as cosmic forces [Avraham = Kav = 248 = Chesed; Yitzchak = Reshimu rectified; Yaakov = lights breaking through]; Esav and Yishmael; Moshe = Shem MaH; the 70 nations from the Nikkudos; Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben Dovid; NACHASH = MASHIACH in gematria — Mashiach binds the klippos as head controls tail; the Nose of Arikh Anpin as Malchus of the head-tikkunim; the two breaths: one for ZA now, one reserved for Mashiach; the four lights of the Nose flaring into the Great Sea [Dikna]; the Four Kingdoms of Daniel [Bavel/Paras-Madai/Yavan/Edom]; Atik Yomin sitting on the Dikna of Arikh — "when Atik sits upon it, it is subdued; the one who rides controls."

III. THE RUACH OF MASHIACH, FREE CHOICE, AND THE SIN OF ADAM (§13, pp. 398–440). The Ruach of Mashiach was created before the world and all human tikkunim depend on it; everything Mashiach will do — Adam HaRishon could have done on the day he was created; his sin only lengthened the time; the two trees = two paths to the same ultimate point; the Tree of Life = immediate direct path; the Tree of Knowledge = the long path of exile and tikkun; the secret of Free Choice — G-d is the ultimate good and even evil must return to good; judgment by free choice enables this without coercion [= the shame of "bread not one's own"]; ROSH and SOFA [beginning and end] — the Unity of the Emitter is equally present in both; 7th millennium = revelation of Sofa; 8th millennium = equalization of Rosh and Sofa = "Hashem Echad u-Shemo Echad"; the Tzimtzum at the center of all infinite light — when its opposite [evil] is revealed as identical to the Blessed One, His unity is clarified completely; SHEM and KINUY: ELOHIM is the cognomen concealing HVYH — all evil is only a concealment that hides the inner good; nine Heichalos; the Pargod between Keter and Chochma; Gan Eden's plants = 613 commandments.

IV. THE PARGOD, THE NINE HEICHALOS, AND THE 42 PAIRINGS (§13b, pp. 441–460). The Pargod [brain membrane] is born from Chochma's pursuit of Keter — it is the root of all screens between all levels; its shape = the letter Aleph [two Yuds facing a Resh]; nine Heichalos as root of Atzilus; three illumination levels [Keter = sealed Kamatz; Chochma = Patzach = opened; Bina = the Mouth/Peh]; mati ve-lo mati — in the reaching aspect things are known; in the not-reaching aspect all gathers in Unity; the 42 pairings through the seven Heichalos of BIY"A; the Korbanos ascending from below, connecting Kavod to Atzilus and Atzilus to Ayn Sof.

V. THE EIGHT EDOMITE KINGS (§13b cont., pp. 460–488). Each of the eight Malchin Kadma'in [primordial kings] in Bereishis 36 corresponds to a stage in the world's governance: BELA = the sealed mouth of Bina / chesron ha-da'as / reward and punishment; YOVAV = the trembling voices [ro'esh] / Shevarim-Teruah / all worldly hardship; CHUSHAM = the senses / 2000 years of Tohu / materialist blindness to Providence; HADAD = Tiferes breaking / the domain of SA's unchecked power / ultimately destroyed; SAMLAH from MASREKAH = the nations as fallen garments of Jewish souls / Mashiach as the folding Vav completing for the later generations / Chirik→Shuruk→Cholam at redemption; SHAUL from RECHOVOS HA-NAHAR = Yesod / Torah-joy through revelation to others / David inheriting and completing this; BAAL-CHANAN = times of expansiveness vs. sealing of lights / the tzaddik-mouse and the evil-mouse; HADAR = the general tikkun of all the Breaking / ZU"N united / TZEDEK + YaK = HADAR / Ruach HaKodesh from Malchus — the final governance.

VI. SOULS, GARMENTS, AND MASHIACH'S FOLDING (§§13b–14). Before Adam's sin, all souls were to be Israel and the nations only their outer garments; after the sin the garments fell; Mashiach stands at the "fold" between the earlier and later generations, completing for those who could not complete for themselves; the Tzaddik = Yesod = the giver to the Nukva; Torah-joy = the flaming of the 231 gates when Torah is revealed to others; Yerushalayim = City of Tzedek; Tzedek + YaK = Hadar = the final king = the final tikkun.

VII. THE METAPHYSICS OF THE EMITTER (§§13–13b). Woven throughout the chapter's final arc: the Keter is the first emanation and may not be investigated [only from Chochma downward]; the sefirot are the Emitter's attributes as they relate to those below; there are nine upper Heichalos and seven lower Heichalos; the ultimate reward of souls is endless new comprehension of the Infinite; the blessed Emitter desired that even the evil of exile shall be revealed as good — so that in the end not merely "the illness passed" but the illness itself is transformed into the healing.

1 The Pargod as the membrane of the brain: see Zohar Bereishis 15a; and see Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar ha-Tzimtzum.

2 On the nine Heichalos as root of Atzilus: see Zohar Pekudei 259b; and Kla"ch Petach 136.

3 On Mati ve-lo mati: see Kla"ch Pataich 93–94; Pischei Chochma ve-Da'as §9 (Sha'arei Ramchal p. 144).

4 On the 42 Zivugim = the seven Names in the Heichalos with 42 letters: see Kitzur ha-Kavanos p. 162; and Sha'ar ha-Zivugim.

5 On Bereishis = Bra Shis: Zohar Bereishis 3b. On the seven Voices: Zohar 2:25b (parashas Va'era).

6 On the Eight Edomite Kings = eight stages of Breaking and Tikkun: see Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar ha-Shvirah; and Maamar Sod ha-Yichud (Ginzei Ramchal p. 270).

7 On the Vavs = garments of AK contracting to threads: see Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar ha-Klalim §3; and Kla"ch Petach 29 (p. 87).

8 On Mashiach as the folding Vav: see Da'as Tevunos Part 2 (Ginzei Ramchal p. 48); Maamar Sod Demut ha-Adam (Ginzei Ramchal p. 263).

9 On the Simchas Torah = flaming of the 231 gates: see Tamid 32b; and Kla"ch Petach 52.

10 On Tzedek + YaK = Hadar: Sha'arei Ramchal p. 386. And see Kla"ch Petach 58 on Malchus as Yesod.