The Meaning of the Kohen Gadol

Rabbi Inini bar Sason continues: The belt atones for thought of the heart. The Gemara elaborates: The belt atones for the sins occurring where it is situated, i.e., over the heart. The breastplate of the High Priest atones for improper judgments, as it is stated: “And you shall make a breastplate of judgment” (Exodus 28:15). The ephod of the High Priest atones for idol worship, as it is stated: “And without ephod or teraphim” (Hosea 3:4), meaning that when there is no ephod, the sin of teraphim, i.e., idol worship, is found. Therefore, it may be inferred that if there is an ephod, there is no sin of idol worship.

And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom — who will understand what they will do. And the Rabbis have already said [of Alexander the Great, that when asked by his generals why he descended from his chariot to bow before the High Priest Simon the Just, he answered]: “His image glistened before me whenever I had a victory.”

What occurred on that date? It was on that day that the Samaritans [kutim] requested the House of our Lord from Alexander the Macedonian in order to destroy it, and he gave it to them, i.e., he gave them permission to destroy it. People came and informed the High Priest, Shimon HaTzaddik, of what had transpired. What did he do? He donned the priestly vestments and wrapped himself in the priestly vestments. And the nobles of the Jewish People were with him, with torches of fire in their hands. And all that night, these, the representatives of the Jewish people, approached from this side, and those, the armies of Alexander and the Samaritans, approached from that side, until dawn, when they finally saw one another.

When dawn arrived, Alexander said to the Samaritans: Who are these people coming to meet us? They said to him: These are the Jews who rebelled against you. When he reached Antipatris, the sun shone and the two camps met each other. When Alexander saw Shimon HaTzaddik, he descended from his chariot and bowed before him. His escorts said to him: Should an important king such as you bow to this Jew? He said to them: I do so because the image of this man’s face is victorious before me on my battlefields, i.e., when I fight I see his image going before me as a sign of victory, and therefore I know that he has supreme sanctity.

The explanation [of the questions raised above] is to be found in the light of what Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote in Shaar HaKedushah [and in Etz Chaim, Portal 50, ch. 2] that in every Jew, whether righteous or wicked, are two souls, as it is written, “The neshamot (souls) which I have made,” [alluding to] two souls. There is one soul which originates in the kelipah and sitra achara, [and] which is clothed in the blood of a human being, giving life to the body, as is written, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.”

From it stem all the evil characteristics deriving from the four evil elements which are contained in it. These are:

1. anger and pride, which emanate from the element of Fire, the nature of which is to rise upward;
2. the appetite for pleasures—from the element of Water, for water makes to grow all kinds of enjoyment;
3. frivolity and scoffing, boasting and idle talk from the element of Air;
4. and sloth and melancholy—from the element of Earth.

270. For Michael, Gabriel, Nuriel and Raphael, control man's four good elements, which are water, fire, wind and earth, each one of them having four countenances: LION, OX, EAGLE, MAN. And iniquity, destruction, anger, and wrath come from

white gall, which is the lung in which they make an adhesion,

the red gall that is in the liver that turns red with Mars (Heb. Ma'adim, from 'red');

the green gall (Heb. marah) that is attached to the liver, which is the sword of the Angel of Death, about which it is said: "her end is bitter (Heb. marah) as wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword" (Mishlei 5:4);

and the black gall which is Lilit, WHICH IS THE PLANET Saturn (Heb. shabtai), which is controlled by the spleen, which is melancholia, lower Sheol, poverty and darkness, weeping, mourning and starvation.

Know that the physical human body is comprised of four parts, namely, fire wind water and earth, as well as four humors, white, red, green, and black whose primary places are in the lung, liver, gallbladder and spleen, as is written in the Zohar and Tikunim, for they are the four parts of the animal soul

Another matter: [“Great are the works of the Lord”] (Psalms 111:2), in that the Holy One blessed be He honored Aaron, as He clothed him like the ministering angels, as it is stated: “For he is an angel of the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 2:7).

9. Come and behold, in the secret doctrine of Holiness, there is a king and a priest who serves under him, both above and below. The King above is the secret of the Holy of Holies, NAMELY BINAH. He is the King above; and under him there is a priest, the secret of primeval light who ministers before him, WHICH IS THE SFIRAH OF CHESED. He is the priest who is called 'great,' at the right side.

10. There is a king below, in the likeness of the King above, and he is the king over all that is below. And under him there is a priest who ministers to him, whom we signify as Michael, the High Priest at his right hand. This is the true secret of Faith, the side of Holiness.

12. The essence of this matter is as follows. When this king and this priest OF THE OTHER SIDE yield, and their power is broken, then all the other sides yield and acknowledge the sovereignty of the Holy One, blessed be He. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, alone rules both above and below, as it is written, "And Hashem alone shall be exalted on that day" (Yeshayah 2:11).

13. The Holy One, blessed be He, acted in a similar manner and with this exact secret here on earth in breaking the old and foolish king, namely Pharaoh. In the hour that Moses came to Pharaoh and said to him, "The Elohim of the Hebrews had met with us" (Shemot 5:3), he replied, "I know not Hashem" (Ibid. 2). The Holy One, blessed be He, desired that His name be glorified on earth as it is glorified above AND HE STRUCK HIM WITH TEN PLAGUES. After He struck him and his nation, Pharaoh came and acknowledged the Holy One, blessed be He.

14. Afterwards, He broke and humbled the priest of On, Jethro, that served under him, until he came and acknowledged the Holy One, blessed be He, saying "Blessed be Hashem, who has delivered you... Now I know that Hashem is great" (Shemot 18:10-11). And this is the priest of On, from the Other Side, which is the left side. And this is the secret Rachel communicated when she saw death. She said, "Ben-Oni (lit. 'son of my sorrow')" (Beresheet 35:18), and because of this Jacob hastened to say, "Benjamin (lit. 'son of the right')" the right side and not the left side.

15. When the king and that priest acknowledged the Holy One, blessed be He, and were humbled before Him, the Holy One, blessed be He, was then above everyone in glory, above and below. And before the Holy One, blessed be He, rose in glory before these acknowledged, the Torah was not yet given. It was only after Jethro came and acknowledged Him by saying, "I now know that Hashem is supreme over all other Elohim." "Blessed be Hashem, who has delivered you." Then the Holy One, blessed be He, rose in glory above and below. And only afterwards was the Torah given in full, expressing His sovereignty over all.