טוען ונטען ב

And therefore the wife is acquired through money, for money is the generality of all influence, as it says: “And money answers everything” . This is to indicate that the essential bond is that she must receive from him all influence, and through this she manages his household. For she is bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh — for the entire existence and all the power of nature is entirely from Providence itself, as mentioned above. But she must be willing to this, for a woman is only acquired with her consent — to indicate that it is impossible to draw close those who are bound after nature except with their knowledge and their will. For the power that nature has to conceal Providence is only for the sake of free choice, as mentioned above.

And therefore, one who does not want the truth, and wants to throw off the yoke, and lawlessness is agreeable to him, and inclines his mind after the investigators of nature — it is certainly impossible to turn him from his evil way, in the aspect of: “All who go to her do not return, and do not attain the paths of life” . And it is written: “Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words,” etc. . For free choice has great power, as is explained elsewhere.

But one who chooses life, and thinks about his ultimate purpose in truth, and inclines his mind toward the truth — he can see and understand the truth. And the essential thing is that he should seek and search greatly to draw close to true tzadikim who possess ruach hakodesh (holy spirit), whose words all flow from and are founded upon the Torah of Moshe, in truth, in writing and orally, as the Prophets and the Tanna’im transmitted to us, who all had ruach hakodesh. For only they can clarify the imaginative faculty, through which is drawn the faith of the renewal of the world, etc., through which Providence is revealed, etc., as is well explained in the aforementioned Torah.

But one who wishes to uproot himself from the world and to incline his mind after the investigators of nature, whose opinion is almost entirely — virtually all of it — the very opposite of the words of the holy Torah — it is certainly impossible to compel his mind to clarify for him the foolishness and falsehood of the wisdom of nature, for free choice is free, as mentioned above. And therefore a woman is only acquired with her consent — for the wife, which is the aspect of nature, cannot be acquired for her husband, from whom comes all her existence and vitality, which is Providence, except with her knowledge and her will, for free choice is free, etc., as mentioned above.

And this is the aspect of Avraham pressing himself to purchase the Cave of Machpelah for full money specifically, as it says: “But if you — please hear me: I have given the money for the field; take it from me” , etc. And likewise David, when he purchased the place of the Beis HaMikdash from Aravnah the Jebusite, etc., who said: “I will not offer to Hashem my G-d burnt offerings for nothing” . And as it is brought in the holy Zohar, for these places were holy with exceedingly awesome holiness. The Cave of Machpelah — it is the gateway to the Garden of Eden, through which all the souls ascend to the Tree of Life, etc. And likewise the place of the Beis HaMikdash is the gateway of Heaven, etc., etc.

And the essential holiness of these places is that there the revelation of Providence is greatest — which is the essential holiness of the Land of Israel, as it says: “The eyes of Hashem your G-d are always upon it” , as is explained there in the aforementioned Torah. And certainly also within the Land of Israel itself, wherever the holiness is greater, Providence is revealed there more and more. For Providence is the essential generality of holiness, whose essence is in the Land of Israel, as mentioned above. And there in the Land of Israel, there are ten levels of holiness up to the Holy of Holies, where the essential revelation of Providence is. And likewise the Cave of Machpelah, which was prepared for the burial of the Patriarchs, to ascend through there to be included in Him, blessed be He.

But these places were under the hand of the Sitra Achara — by Efron, and by Aravnah the Jebusite. For such is the way: wherever awesome holiness is concealed in this physical world, it is initially under the hand of the Sitra Achara, as is brought. And the essential Sitra Achara is the aforementioned heresies of nature, as mentioned above. Therefore it was impossible to extract the holiness from them in completeness except with their knowledge and their will, through full payment and not for free. For money is the generality of all influence, as mentioned above. And all their error after the heresies of nature, which is the aspect of idolatry — the essential cause is the desire for money, in which all seventy forms of idolatry are embedded, as is explained elsewhere. And therefore it is impossible to extract what they have swallowed except through money, with good will — like Avraham and David, as mentioned above. And there is much, much to explain in this, and those of understanding will understand.

And therefore it is called kiddushin (sanctification), for the essential bond is for the sake of revealing Providence, as mentioned above. And the essential thing is through the offspring that emerge from this — that a soul of Israel is added to the holy gathering and the aforementioned houses multiply, and His glory, blessed be He, is magnified, in the aspect of: “G-d is known in her palaces as a stronghold” . For through the multiplication of the houses and the palaces of Yerushalayim the holy city, which is the aspect of faith — for the entire edifice is from the aspect of the multiplication of houses, as mentioned above — through this He is “known as a stronghold,” for through this the loftiness of His greatness, blessed be He, is known and revealed to all who enter the world. And Providence is the generality of holiness, as mentioned above. And therefore it is called kiddushin.

And this is what he says to her: “Behold, you are sanctified to me according to the law of Moshe and Yisra’el” — according to the law of Moshe and Yisra’el specifically. That is, like the law of Moshe and Israel, which is the holy Torah that Moshe gave to Israel, which is the generality of all the levels of prophecy, through which comes the essential clarification of the imaginative faculty, through which comes the essential faith, through which is drawn the aspect of the governance of the Land of Israel, the aspect of Providence — as is well explained in the aforementioned Torah. And in exactly this same way he sanctifies and acquires her, for the essential kiddushin is for the sake of the revelation of Providence, as mentioned above.

And this is the aspect of the k’subah (marriage contract), for it is forbidden to dwell with one’s wife without a k’subah. For this is known and understood in the holy Zohar and in the writings of the Ari, of blessed memory, that the union of husband and wife has its root very high, and all the worlds from top to bottom depend upon it. For the Blessed Name and K’neses Yisra’el (the Congregation of Israel) are the aspect of husband and wife, as is understood throughout all of Shir HaShirim and throughout all the words of our Sages, of blessed memory, regarding the giving of the Torah. And therefore our Sages said: “On the day of His wedding” — this is the giving of the Torah, etc.

And it is the aspect of the generality of the Creation, which was created for the sake of Israel, which is the aspect of “a G-d-fearing woman,” the aspect of the receiver. And the aspect of before the Creation, which is the Blessed Name, the Creator alone, is the aspect of the husband, the aspect of “Hashem is a Man of war” , as is brought. And therefore it cascades from level to level and from world to world, and from cause to effect, from the supernal intellect to the lower intellect. And all the lower levels, the aspect of the lower intellect, are the aspect of receivers, the aspect of wife, relative to the one above them, which is the aspect of the giver, the aspect of husband.

And it is the aspect of true wisdom and faith, which are the root of husband and wife, which in truth at their root are all one. And even within the intellect and wisdom itself there is the power of the intellect and the power of the imaginative faculty — and they too are the aspect of giver and receiver, the aspect of husband and wife. And the essential clarification of the holy faith, which is the aspect of “a G-d-fearing woman,” is through the imaginative faculty, as is explained in the aforementioned Torah. And all of this is for the sake of meriting the aspect of the renewal of the world, which is the aspect of Providence — to nullify the error of the wisdom of nature from the world. To know the truth: that even now the entire governance of the aspect of the wife is all through Providence, the aspect of the husband alone. For nature is in the hand of Providence like clay in the hand of the potter — when He wills, He expands, and when He wills, He contracts, etc. Only that now Providence conceals and hides itself within nature for the sake of free choice.

And all the unions of Israel according to the Torah, which are the aspect of holy union — they are all for the sake of all the above: to join and unify the lower world with the upper world, until the generality of after-the-Creation is included in before-the-Creation, until the imaginative faculty is clarified, which is the clarification of faith, through the tzadik, the foundation of the world. And through this, Providence is revealed.

And everyone must receive from the true tzadik of the generation, through whom all the aforementioned tikkunim are drawn. And it is explained there that the tikkun of the bris is drawn through the power of the great tzadik who prays tefillah in the aspect of din, etc. — through which he extracts all the souls and all the da’as and all the holy sparks, etc., from the Sitra Achara, etc. — through which His glory, blessed be He, is increased, through which one merits the spirit of prophecy. And all of this is the aspect of the tikkun that comes about through the great enlargement of the holy gathering through the addition of many neighbors — from which is drawn healing, which is the aspect of the spirit of prophecy, etc. And it is explained there that prophecy only rests upon one who is wise, mighty, and wealthy — for all these aspects have their root in kavod (honor/glory), etc.

And through the aspect of the spirit of prophecy, ruach hakodesh — through this specifically the imaginative faculty is clarified, through which comes the essential clarification of faith. And all of this is the aspect of the holy union of husband and wife — it is all for the sake of begetting souls of Israel who will reveal the holy faith in the world, as mentioned above. For the wife is the aspect of faith, as mentioned above. And the husband is in the aspect of wisdom, who receives his power from the true tzadik who possesses the spirit of prophecy. And the prophecy is drawn from the aspect of Netzach and Hod, which are the aspect of the “legs,” through which descends the drop that is drawn from wisdom, as is known. For the essential union is through the aspect of ruach (spirit), as it is written: “And no man’s spirit stood up” . And this spirit, at its root in the supernal holiness, is the aspect of the spirit of prophecy mentioned above, which is drawn through the true tzadik, who is the aspect of tzadik y’sod olam (the righteous one, foundation of the world), to the aspect of the imaginative faculty, to clarify the many thousands of levels of descent, etc.