מעשה ב-ממלך וקיסר

The secret of this story has not yet been found to have any interpretation. What then shall we say, and what shall we speak of it? In particular, since we have no knowledge whatsoever of hidden matters. Yet nonetheless, from a distance, it is clear to every thoughtful reader that it speaks of the secret of the supernal holy yichud [union — the union of the divine attributes and of the Holy One with His Shechinah], and of how this union arose in thought at the very beginning, and how immediately afterward the concealment intensified from two sides until the bond was entirely forgotten. Yet their mazal [spiritual root-source] saw [what was needed], and they encountered each other at one teacher's home, and there arose between them a great love, such that they made of their own accord a bond between themselves, and he placed a ring upon her hand, and so forth. (And its secret is known and explained.) It is also understood there the greatness of the excellence of her spiritual root — that she is in the aspect of "A woman of valor is the crown of her husband" [Proverbs 12:4], for she is the Emperor's daughter, in the secret of "Aba yassad barta" — the Father [Chokhmah] established the Daughter [Malchus] — in the aspect of "With wisdom Hashem founded the earth" [Proverbs 3:19]. And it is understood there the great multitude of the obstacles and impediments that afterward sought to sever, G-d forbid, the bond between them — and how, through the loss of the ring, which was in practice the very beginning of their binding, the intensification of concealment and separation between them became so great that they wandered away from each other and became so distant from one another. Yet: "But You, O Hashem, are enthroned on high forever" — and He preceded the cure to the wound, and from the wound itself fashions the bandage. Precisely through the ring coming into the merchant's son's hands — which was certainly a great pain for her at that time, as is understood — yet specifically through this came the sprouting of the horn of salvation, through the good wine that was on his ship (whose secret is somewhat known), by means of which she made the sailors drunk and fled with the entire ship from the merchant. And although for a time his pain was great and he was exiled from his father's house, nonetheless since he acted in pure simplicity, he afterward received his complete reward, as explained at the end of the story. And so too through this wine she afterward fled from the king's house — and since he took her by force, he too had great pain from her escape, yet in the end he returned to his place with the daughters-of-nobles as reward for fulfilling his oath and not touching her. And so too through this wine she was saved from the murderers and robbers, who perished entirely. And so too through this wine she married the queen, and so forth — until through all this the salvation was completed in fullness. The particular matters of the wondrous secrets in every single word, and especially in every single episode of this story and of all the other stories — they are exceedingly, exceedingly deep. "Who can find it out?" [Ecclesiastes 7:24]