פָּתַח אֵלִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא זָכוּר לְטוֹב וְאָמַר: רִבּון עָלְמִין דְּאַנְתְּ הוּא חָד וְלָא בְּחֻשְׁבָּן, אַנְתְּ הוּא עִלָּאָה עַל כָּל עִלָּאִין סְתִימָא עַל כָּל סְתִימִין, לֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בָּךְ כְּלָל; אַנְתְּ הוּא דְּאַפַּקְתְּ עֶשֶׂר תִּקּוּנִין וְקָרֵינָן לוֹן עֶשֶׂר סְפִירָן, לְאַנְהָגָא בְהוֹן עָלְמִין סְתִימִין דְּלָא אִתְגַּלְיָן וְעָלְמִין דְּאִתְגַּלְיָן, וּבְהוֹן אִתְכַּסִּיאַת מִבְּנֵי נָשָׁא. וְאַנְתְּ הוּא דְקָשִׁיר לוֹן וּמְיַחֵד לוֹן. וּבְגִין דְּאַנְתְּ מִלְּגָאו כָּל מָאן דְּאַפְרִישׁ חַד מִן חַבְרֵיהּ מֵאִלֵּין עֶשֶׂר אִתְחַשִׁיב לֵיהּ כְּאִלּוּ אַפְרִישׁ בָּךְ. וְאִלֵּין עֶשֶׂר סְפִירָן אִנּוּן אַזְלִין כְּסִדְרָן חַד אָרִיךְ וְחָד קָצֵר וְחַד בֵּינונִי. וְאַנְתְּ הוּא דְּאַנְהִיג לוֹן. וְלֵית מָאן דְּאַנְהִיג לָךְ לָא לְעֵילָּא וְלָא לְתַתָּא וְלָא מִכָּל סִטְרָא. לְבוּשִׁין תַּקַּנְתְּ לוֹן דְּמִנַּיְהוּ פַרְחִין נִשְׁמָתִין לִבְנֵי נָשָׁא. וְכַמָּה גוּפִין תַּקַּנְתְּ לוֹן דְּאִתְקְרִיאוּ גוּפָא לְגַבֵּי לְבוּשִׁין דִּמְכַסְיָן עֲלֵיהוֹן וְאִתְקְרִיאוּ בְּתִקּוּנָא דָא. חֶסֶד דְּרוֹעָא יְמִינָא. גְּבוּרָה דְרוֹעָא שְׂמָאלָא. תִּפְאֶרֶת גּוּפָא. נֶצַח וְהוֹד תְּרֵין שׁוֹקִין. יְסוֹד סִיּוּמָא דְּגוּפָא אוֹת בְּרִית קֹדֶשׁ. מַלְכוּת פֶּה תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה קָרֵינָן לָהּ. חָכְמָה מוֹחָא אִיהִי מַחֲשָׁבָה מִלְּגָאו. בִּינָה לִבָּא וּבָהּ הַלֵּב מֵבִין. וְעַל אִלֵּין תְּרֵין כְּתִיב הַנִּסְתָּרוֹת לה' אֱלהֵינוּ. כֶּתֶר עֶלְיון אִיהוּ כֶּתֶר מַלְכוּת. וְעָלֵיהּ אִתְמַר מַגִּיד מֵרֵאשִׁית אַחֲרִית. וְאִיהוּ קַרְקַפְתָּא דִתְפִלֵּי. מִלְּגָאו אִיהוּ אוֹת יו"ד אוֹת הֵ"א אוֹת וָא"ו וְאוֹת הֵ"א דְּאִיהוּ אֹרַח אֲצִילוּת. אִיהוּ שַׁקְיוּ דְּאִילָנָא בִּדְרוֹעוֹי וְעַנְפּוֹי. כְּמַיָּא דְאַשְׁקֵי לְאִילָנָא וְאִתְרַבֵּי בְּהַהוּא שַׁקְיוּ:
רִבּוֹן עָלְמִין אַנְתְּ הוּא עִלַּת הָעִלּוֹת וְסִבַּת הַסִּבּוֹת דְאַשְׁקֵי לְאִילָנָא בְּהַהוּא נְבִיעוּ. וְהַהוּא נְבִיעוּ אִיהוּ כְּנִשְׁמְתָא לְגוּפָא דְּאִיהוּ חַיִּים לְגוּפָא. וּבָךְ לֵית דִּמְיוֹן וְלֵית דִּיּוּקְנָא (דְּגוּפָא) מִכָּל מַה דִלְגָאו וּלְבַר. וּבָרָאתָ שְׁמַיָּא וְאַרְעָא. וְאַפַּקְתְּ מִנְּהוֹן שִׁמְשָׁא וְסִיהֲרָא וְכוֹכְבַיָּא וּמַזָּלֵי. וּבְאַרְעָא אִילָנִין וּדְשָׁאִין וְגִנְּתָא דְעֵדֶן וְעִשְׂבִּין וְחֵיוָן וְעוֹפִין וְנוּנִין וּבְעִירִין וּבְנֵי נָשָׁא. לְאִשְׁתְּמוֹדְעָא בְּהוֹן עִלָּאִין וְאֵיךְ יִתְנַהֲגוּן בְּהוֹן עִלָּאִין וְתַתָּאִין. וְאֵיךְ אִשְׁתְּמוֹדְעָן מֵעִלָּאֵי וְתַתָּאֵי וְלֵית דְּיָדַע בָּךְ כְּלָל. וּבַר מִנָּךְ לֵית יִחוּדָא בְּעִלָּאֵי וְתַתָּאֵי. וְאַנְתְּ אִשְׁתְּמוֹדָע אָדוֹן עַל כּלָּא. וְכָל סְפִירָן כָּל חַד אִית לֵיהּ שֵׁם יְדִיעַ. וּבְהוֹן אִתְקְרִיאוּ מַלְאָכַיָּא. וְאַנְתְּ לֵית לָךְ שֵׁם יְדִיעַ דְּאַנְתְּ הוּא מְמַלֵּא כָּל שְׁמָהָן וְאַנְתְּ הוּא שְׁלִימוּ דְּכֻלְהוּ. וְכַד אַנְתְּ תִּסְתַּלָּק מִנְּהוֹן. אִשְׁתְּאָרוּ כֻּלְּהוּ שְׁמָהָן כְּגוּפָא בְלָא נִשְׁמָתָא. אַנְתְּ חַכִּים וְלָאו בְּחָכְמָה יְדִיעָא. אַנְתְּ הוּא מֵבִין וְלָאו מִבִּינָה יְדִיעָא. לֵית לָךְ אֲתָר יְדִיעָא. אֶלָּא לְאִשְׁתְּמוֹדְעָא תֻּקְפָךְ וְחֵילָךְ לִבְנֵי נָשָׁא. וּלְאַחְזָאָה לוֹן אֵיךְ אִתְנְהִיג עָלְמָא בְדִינָא.
וּבְרַחֲמֵי דְאִינוּן צֶדֶק וּמִשְׁפָּט כְּפוּם עוֹבָדֵיהוֹן דִּבְנֵי נָשָׁא. דִּין אִיהוּ גְבוּרָה. מִשְׁפָּט עַמּוּדָא דְאֶמְצָעִיתָא. צֶדֶק מַלְכוּתָא קַדִּישָׁא מאֹזְנֵי צֶדֶק תְּרֵין סַמְכֵי קְשׁוט. הִין צֶדֶק אוֹת בְּרִית. כּלָּא לְאַחְזָאָה אֵיךְ אִתְנְהִיג עָלְמָא. אֲבָל לָאו דְּאִית לָךְ צֶדֶק יְדִיעָא דְּאִיהוּ דִין. וְלָאו מִשְׁפָּט יְדִיעָא דְאִיהוּ רַחֲמֵי. וְלָאו מִכָּל אִלֵּין מִדּוֹת כְּלָל.
DIVINE QUALITIES
ELIJAH OPENED and said, "Master of the worlds! You are one—but not in counting. You
are higher than the high, concealed from the concealed. No thought grasps you at all. It is you who generated ten adornments—called by us the ten sefirot—by which concealed, unrevealed worlds are conducted, and revealed worlds. In them you conceal yourself from human beings, while you are the one who binds and unites them. Since you are within, whoever separates one of these ten from another—it is as if he divided you.
"These ten sefirot proceed in order: one long, one short, one between. It is you who conducts them, and no one conducts you—neither above nor below nor in any direction. You have prepared garments for them, from which souls fly to human beings. You have prepared various bodies for them— called bodies in contrast to the garments covering them. These bodies are named according to this arrangement: Hesed, the right arm; Gevurah, the left arm; Tif'eret, the trunk of the body, Netsah and Hod, the two legs; Yesod, completion of the body, sign of the holy covenant; Malkhut, the mouth—we call her oral Torah. Hokhmah is the brain, inner thought. Binah is the heartmind, through which the [human] heartmind understands. The highest crown, Ketei Elyon, is the royal crown, the skull, inside of which is: yod he vav he, path of emanation, sap of the tree, spreading through its arms and branches—like water drenching a tree, which then flour-ishes.
"Master of the worlds! You are the cause of causes, who drenches the tree with that flow—a flow that is like a soul for the body, life for the body. In you there is neither likeness nor image of anything within or without. You created heaven and earth, bringing forth sun, moon, stars, and constellations. And on earth: trees, grass, the Garden of Eden, animals, birds, fish, and human beings. So that the beyond might be known—how above and below conduct themselves and how they become known.
"About you, no one knows anything. Apart from you, there is no union above and below. You are known as Lord of all. Every one of the sefirot has a name that is known, by which the angels are called, but you have no known name, for you pervade all names; you are the fullness of them all. When you disappear from them, all those names are left like a body without a soul.
"You are wise—not with a known wisdom. You understand—not with known understanding. You have no known place—just making known your power and strength to human beings, showing them how the world is conducted by justice and compassion, according to human action. But actually you have no known justice or compassion, nor any quality at all."
Tiqqunei ha -Zohar ( thirteenth-fourteenth centuries), ed. Reuven
Margaliot ( Jerusalem: Mossad ha-Rav Kook, 1 978), introduction, I ]a.
Elijah opened Aramaic, petah eliyahu. The prophet Elijah i s here addressing
Rabbi Shim'on bar Yohai in the heavenly academy. Th is
passage appears in the introduction to Tiqqunei ha -Zohar (Em bellish ments
on the Zohar), composed shortly after the Zohar itself, perhaps
by a disciple of Moses de Leon . The passage was introduced i n t o
t h e daily a n d Sabbath eve liturgy b y Isaac Luria i n t h e sixteenth cen tury;
it has become known as Petah Eliyahu.
one-but not in counting The oneness of Ein Sof i s not the same as
the number one, which is s i mply a member of the series one, two,
three . . . .
you conceal yourself By cloth i n g itself i n the sc fi rot, Ein Sof con ceals
itself, yet t h i s concealment i s s i m u l taneously an u n foldmg
manifestation of Ein Sof, according to the pattern of the sefirot.
Without such concealment, the Infinite would be i ncomprehensible
and unbearable.
binds and unites them . . . as if he divided you The energy of Ein Sof
animates and unifies the sefirot. One who ascribes separate, independent
existence to any individual sefirah denies and defaces the oneness
of Ein Sof.
one long, one short, one between The sefirot are classified according
to length, like light waves . At the long end of the spectrum-the
right column of the sefirot-is Hesed, love; at the short end-the left
column-is Din, judgment and rigor. Mediating between these extremes
is the harmony of Rahamim, compassion.
garments for them . . . bodies for them The ten sefirot of emanation
are clothed in the sefirot of three lower worlds: creation, formation,
and actualization. The sefirot of each world constitute a garment for
the preceding world, as well as a body that is clothed in the sefirot of
the following world.
from which souls fly to human beings Each human soul, born of the
union of Tif'eret and Malkhut, passes through the worlds of creation,
formation, and actualization, b efore reaching her destination in the
human body, her palace .
this arrangem ent The sefirot are traditionally arranged according t o
the structure o f t h e human body.
completion of the body, sign of the holy covenant Yesod is symbolized
by the phallus, the site of circumcision, which is the sign of the
covenant.
Malkhut, the mouth . . . oral Torah The last sefirah is associated
with speech; she is the oral Torah, expanding upon Tif'eret, the written
Torah.
heartmind Aramaic, libba, corresponding to Hebrew, lev, "heart . " In
Hebrew, the heart is the seat of the intellect as well as the emotions.
the royal crown Hebrew, keter malkhu t, a name that includes both
the first and the last sefirot; cf. Sefer Yetsirah 1 7 : "Their end is embedded
in their beginning, their beginning in their end, " and Isaiah
4 6 : 1 0, cited here by the Tiqqunei ha-Zohar: "foretelling the end from
the beginning. "
the skull Surrounding the brain, Hokhmah.