‘EVEN THE GOLD OF WAVING WAS. Why is the gold characterized as that of “waving”; and why is the silver not so characterized, although the brass is, as it says, “the brass of waving”? The reason is that “waving” signifies “rising upward”, and thus distinguishes this gold from the lower and inferior gold.
For all the grades and Chariots are of the superior plane, symbolized by the “gold of waving”, and this same gold, the further it extends downwards the more it loses in colour, in virtue, and in brilliancy. Whilst in the heights above it is goodly gold in the mystery of its brilliancy, below it is the dross of itself and its refuse.
Not so the silver, of which it is simply written, “And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation”. For silver retains its virtues, even in its extension downwards, although it does not remain in the same excellence; whereas gold, in its extension downwards, becomes coarser and coarser.1Gold, in the cabbalistic doctrine, is symbolic of Rigour, or Judgement, which in the higher regions exists in its purity, whilst the more it descends the more it is mingled with the dross of evil, sin, the “other side”, or the evil Accuser, etc. But silver is symbolic of Mercy, which is not changed by its descent. Hence the one had to be waved and raised to the heights, whilst the other had to be extended downwards and into all directions, since it retains its excellence everywhere.’
R. Jose then continued to discourse, citing the verse: “For the Lord God (TETRAGRAMMATON ELOHIM) is a sun and a shield; the Lord giveth grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Ps. 84, 12). ‘The “sun”, he said, ‘contains the mystery of the Divine Name TETRAGRAMMATON, wherein is the abode of rest of all the grades, whereas “shield” contains the mystery of the Divine Name ELOHIM; the same is indicated in “I am thy shield” (Gen. 15, 1). The two together, sun and shield, constitute thus the mystery of the Divine Name complete: “the Lord giveth grace and glory”, so that the whole should merge into a unity.
“No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly”. This is in antithesis to the passage saying, “But from the wicked their light is withholden” (Job 38, 15), and is an allusion to the primordial light, of which it is written, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), and so the Holy One, blessed be He, put it away and stored it up, as already said. He treasured it up and withdrew it so that the wicked may not enjoy it, neither in this world nor in the world to come. As for the righteous, “no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly”, alluding to that primordial light which “God saw that it was good”.
Thus that light needed not to ascend and be raised aloft, but only to be disclosed and extended, unlike the other, which is of the “left”. This accounts for the one being characterized by “of the waving” and not the other. Hence it simply says: “And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents.”
Observe this. The “right side” is ever present in the world to sustain it, and to afford it light and blessing. Hence the priest, inasmuch as he is of the “right side”, is always in readiness to bless the people. For it is from the “right side” that all the blessings of the world do spring, and the priest takes by right the first share. The priest has thus been assigned to bless both the upper world and the lower.
Observe that when the priest spreads his hands at the time he blesses the people, the Shekinah comes and hovers over him and endows him with power.1Lit. fills his hands. When blessing, the priest raises his right hand above the left, so as to cause the right to prevail over the left. All the grades over which he spreads his hands are thus blessed from the source of all things, from the well called “Righteous”. The source of all is the “future world”, the sublime source which illumines all faces, whence are kindled all lamps.
It has a counterpart in the source and spring of the well whence all the lower lamps and the lower lights are kindled and radiate. So one corresponds to the other. Hence, when the priest spreads out his hands and begins to pronounce the blessing over the people, the celestial benedictions flowing from the celestial source at once kindle the lamps, all faces are illumined, and the Community of Israel is adorned with celestial crowns, and all those blessings flow down from on high to below.
Observe, then, that Moses gave the instructions and Bezalel carried them out, the two being in the esoterical relation of body and final part of body, which is the holy covenant symbol. The Tabernacle was thereby made the centre of the increase of Love and Unity. And the whole was performed in the mystery of the “right side”. Hence, wherever the “right side” dominates the Evil Eye has no power. We thus read, “And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation.” ‘1The Zohar seems to construe this phrase as: “the numbered silver of the congregation.”. For that silver came from the right, and so all and everything were taken count of and numbered.’
(שמות ל״ח:כ״ד) וַיְהִי זְהַב הַתְּנוּפָה, אֲמַאי אִקְרֵי זְהַב הַתְּנוּפָה, וְלָא אִקְרֵי הָכִי כֶּסֶף הַתְּנוּפָה. אֶלָּא, תְּרֵין אִינּוּן דְּאִקְרוּן הָכִי. זְהַב הַתְּנוּפָה, וּנְחֹשֶׁת הַתְּנוּפָה. וְלָא אִקְרֵי הָכִי כֶּסֶף הַתְּנוּפָה, אֶלָּא אִלֵּין אִקְרוּן הָכִי, בְּגִין דְּאִיהוּ אִסְתַּלְקוּתָא לְעֵילָּא, דְּהָא אִית הָכִי לְתַתָּא. וְלָאו אִיהוּ זָהָב (כגוונא) דְּאָרָמוּתָא. וּבְכָל אֲתָר תְּנוּפָה אִיהוּ אַרָמוּתָא לְעֵילָּא וְלָא לְנַחְתָּא לְתַתָּא.
‘EVEN THE GOLD OF WAVING WAS. Why is the gold characterized as that of “waving”; and why is the silver not so characterized, although the brass is, as it says, “the brass of waving”? The reason is that “waving” signifies “rising upward”, and thus distinguishes this gold from the lower and inferior gold.
וְאִיהוּ רָזָא דְּחוּשְׁבָּנָא דָּא, דְּכָל אִלֵּין דַּרְגִּין וּרְתִיכִין כֻּלְּהוּ, קַיְימֵי בְּאָרָמוּתָא (דא), וְאִיהוּ דְּהַב אַרָמוּתָא, וְדָא אִיהוּ דַּהֲבָא. דְּכָל מַה דְּמִתְפַּשְּׁטָא לְתַתָּא, אַסְתִּים חֵיזוּ וְטִיבוּ וּנְהִירוּ דִּילֵיהּ, וְכַד אִיהוּ בְּאָרָמוּתָא, כְּדֵין אִיהוּ דְּהַב טָב בְּרָזָא דִּנְהִירוּ דִּילֵיהּ. וְכָל הַהוּא דִּלְתַתָּא, סוּסְפִיתָא דְּדַהֲבָא, וְאִיהוּ הִתּוּכָא דִּילֵיהּ.
For all the grades and Chariots are of the superior plane, symbolized by the “gold of waving”, and this same gold, the further it extends downwards the more it loses in colour, in virtue, and in brilliancy. Whilst in the heights above it is goodly gold in the mystery of its brilliancy, below it is the dross of itself and its refuse.
(שמות ל״ח:כ״ה) וְכֶסֶף פְּקוּדֵי הָעֵדָה, בְּגִין דְּהַאי, אִיהוּ כָּל מַה דְּאִתְפָּשַּׁט לְתַתָּא הָכִי הוּא טָב, וְאַף עַל גַּב דְּלָאו אִיהוּ בְּהַאי אַרָמוּתָא, כֹּלָּא הוּא לְטָב. אֲבָל דַּהֲבָא, כָּל מַה דְּאִתְפָּשַּׁט לְתַתָּא, כֹּלָּא הוּא לְבִישׁ. דָּא, אִתְפָּשַׁט לְטָב. וְדָא אִתְפָּשַׁט לְבִישׁ. וּבְגִין כַּךְ, דָּא אִצְטְרִיךְ לְאָרָמָא אַרָמוּתָא, וּלְאִסְתַּלְּקָא לְעֵילָּא. וְדָא, אִצְטְרִיךְ לְאִתְפָּשְׁטָא לְתַתָּא, וּלְכָל סִטְרִין, בְּגִין דְּכֻלְּהוּ קָאִים לְטָב.
Not so the silver, of which it is simply written, “And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation”. For silver retains its virtues, even in its extension downwards, although it does not remain in the same excellence; whereas gold, in its extension downwards, becomes coarser and coarser.1Gold, in the cabbalistic doctrine, is symbolic of Rigour, or Judgement, which in the higher regions exists in its purity, whilst the more it descends the more it is mingled with the dross of evil, sin, the “other side”, or the evil Accuser, etc. But silver is symbolic of Mercy, which is not changed by its descent. Hence the one had to be waved and raised to the heights, whilst the other had to be extended downwards and into all directions, since it retains its excellence everywhere.’
פָּתַח וְאָמַר (תהילים פ״ד:י״ב) כִּי שֶׁמֶשׁ וּמָגֵן יְיָ' וְגוֹ'. כִּי שֶׁמֶשׁ, דָּא קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא. וּמָגֵן, דָּא קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא. שֶׁמֶשׁ: דָּא הוּא רָזָא דִּשְׁמָא קַדִּישָׁא יְדוָֹ"ד, דְּהָכָא קַיְימִין כָּל דַּרְגִּין לְנַיְיחָא. וּמָגֵן; דָּא אִיהוּ רָזָא דִּשְׁמָא קַדִּישָׁא דְּאִקְרֵי אֱלֹהִים. וְרָזָא דָּא דִּכְתִּיב, (בראשית ט״ו:א׳) אָנֹכִי מָגֵן לָךְ. וְשֶׁמֶּשׁ וּמָגֵן דָּא אִיהוּ רָזָא דִּשְׁמָא שְׁלִים. חֵן וְכָבוֹד יִתֵּן יְיָ', לְמֶהֱוֵי כֹּלָּא רָזָא חֲדָא.
R. Jose then continued to discourse, citing the verse: “For the Lord God (TETRAGRAMMATON ELOHIM) is a sun and a shield; the Lord giveth grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Ps. 84, 12). ‘The “sun”, he said, ‘contains the mystery of the Divine Name TETRAGRAMMATON, wherein is the abode of rest of all the grades, whereas “shield” contains the mystery of the Divine Name ELOHIM; the same is indicated in “I am thy shield” (Gen. 15, 1). The two together, sun and shield, constitute thus the mystery of the Divine Name complete: “the Lord giveth grace and glory”, so that the whole should merge into a unity.
לֹא יִמְנַע טוֹב לַהוֹלְכִים בְּתָמִים, רָזָא דָּא (ההוא) דִּכְתִּיב, (איוב ל״ח:ט״ו) וְיִמָּנַע מֵרְשָׁעִים אוֹרָם. וְדָא אִיהוּ נְהוֹרָא קַדְמָאָה, דִּכְתִּיב בֵּיהּ (בראשית א׳:ד׳) וַיַּרְא אֱלהִים אֶת הָאוֹר כִּי טוֹב, דְּגָנִיז וְסָתִים לֵיהּ קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, כְּמַה דְּאוּקְמוּהָ, וּמִן חַיָּיבַיָּא גָּנִיז לֵיהּ, וּמָנַע לֵיהּ בְּהַאי עָלְמָא, וּבְעָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי. אֲבָל לְצַדִּיקַיָּיא מַה כְּתִיב, לא יִמְנַע טוֹב לַהוֹלְכִים בְּתָמִים. דָּא אוֹר קַדְמָאָה דִּכְתִּיב בֵּיהּ וַיַרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָאוֹר כִּי טוֹב.
“No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly”. This is in antithesis to the passage saying, “But from the wicked their light is withholden” (Job 38, 15), and is an allusion to the primordial light, of which it is written, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1, 4), and so the Holy One, blessed be He, put it away and stored it up, as already said. He treasured it up and withdrew it so that the wicked may not enjoy it, neither in this world nor in the world to come. As for the righteous, “no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly”, alluding to that primordial light which “God saw that it was good”.
וְעַל דָּא, לָא אִצְטְרִיךְ דָּא לְאִסְתַּלְּקָא וּלְאָרָמָא לֵיהּ, אֶלָּא לְאִתְפָּשְׁטָא וּלְאִתְגַלָּאָה, וְלָא לְאִסְתַּלְּקָא כְּהַהוּא אַחֲרָא, דְּאִיהוּ שְׂמָאלָא, וְעַל דָּא אִקְרֵי הַהוּא תְּנוּפָה, וְלָאו הַאי. וּבְּגִין כָּךְ וְכֶסֶף פְּקוּדֵי הָעֵדָה מְאַת כִּכָּר וְגוֹ'.
Thus that light needed not to ascend and be raised aloft, but only to be disclosed and extended, unlike the other, which is of the “left”. This accounts for the one being characterized by “of the waving” and not the other. Hence it simply says: “And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents.”
תָּא חֲזֵי, סִטְרָא דִּימִינָא, אִיהוּ תָּדִיר קַיְּימָא לְקַיְּימָא בְּכָל עָלְמָא, וּלְאַנְהָרָא וּלְבָרְכָא לֵיהּ. וּבְּגִין כָּךְ, כַּהֲנָא דְּאִיהוּ מִסִּטְרָא דִּימִינָא, אִזְדְּמַן תָּדִיר לְבָרְכָא עַמָּא, דְּהָא מִסִּטְרָא דִּימִינָא, אַתְיָין כָּל בִּרְכָאן דְּעָלְמָא, וְכַהֲנָא נָטִיל בְּרֵישָׁא, וְעַל דָּא אִתְמָנָא אִיהוּ לְבָרְכָא לְעֵילָּא וּלְתַתָּא.
Observe this. The “right side” is ever present in the world to sustain it, and to afford it light and blessing. Hence the priest, inasmuch as he is of the “right side”, is always in readiness to bless the people. For it is from the “right side” that all the blessings of the world do spring, and the priest takes by right the first share. The priest has thus been assigned to bless both the upper world and the lower.
תָּא חֲזֵי, בְּשַׁעֲתָא דְּכַהֲנָא פָּרִישׂ יְדוֹי לְבָרְכָא עַמָּא, כְּדֵין שְׁכִינְתָּא אַתְיָא וְשַׁרְיָא עָלוֹהִי, וְאַמְלֵי יְדוֹי, יְדָא דִּימִינָא זַקְפָא לְעֵילָּא עַל יְדָא דִּשְׂמָאלָא, בְּגִין לְסַלְּקָא יְמִינָא, וּלְאִתְגַּבְּרָא עַל שְׂמָאלָא. וּכְדֵין כֻּלְּהוּ דַּרְגִּין דְּקָא פָּרִישׂ בְּהוּ יְדוֹי, כֻּלְּהוּ אִתְבָּרְכָאן מִמְּקוֹרָא דְּכֹלָּא. מְקוֹרָא דְּבֵירָא מַאן אִיהוּ. דָּא צַדִּיק. (רס"א ע"א) מְקוֹרָא דְּכֹלָּא, דָּא אִיהוּ עָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי, דְּאִיהוּ מְקוֹרָא עִלָּאָה דְּכָל אַנְפִּין נְהִירִין מִתַּמָּן, דְּהָא אִיהוּ מַבּוּעָא וּמְקוֹרָא דְּכֹלָּא. וְכָל בּוּצִינִין וּנְהוֹרִין, מִתַּמָּן אִתְדְלִיקוּ.
Observe that when the priest spreads his hands at the time he blesses the people, the Shekinah comes and hovers over him and endows him with power.1Lit. fills his hands. When blessing, the priest raises his right hand above the left, so as to cause the right to prevail over the left. All the grades over which he spreads his hands are thus blessed from the source of all things, from the well called “Righteous”. The source of all is the “future world”, the sublime source which illumines all faces, whence are kindled all lamps.
כְּגַוְונָא דָּא, מְקוֹרָא וּמַבּוּעָא דְּבֵירָא, כָּל אִינּוּן בּוּצִינִין דִּלְתַתָּא, כֻּלְּהוּ אִתְנָהֲרִין וְאִתְמַלְיָין נְהוֹרִין מִנֵּיהּ. וְדָא קַיְּימָא לָקֳבֵל דָּא. וּבְּגִין כָּךְ, בְּשַׁעֲתָא דְּכַהֲנָא פָּרִישׂ יְדוֹי, וְשָׁארִי לְבָרְכָא עַמָּא. כְּדֵין שָׁרָאן בִּרְכָאן עִלָּאִין, מִמְּקוֹרָא עִלָּאָה, לְאַדְלְקָא בּוּצִינִין, וְנָהֲרִין כָּל אַנְפִּין. וּכְנְסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל אִתְעַטְּרָת בְּעִטְרִין עִלָּאִין. וְכָל אִינּוּן בִּרְכָאן נַגְדִּין וְאִתְמַשְּׁכָן מֵעֵילָּא לְתַתָּא.
It has a counterpart in the source and spring of the well whence all the lower lamps and the lower lights are kindled and radiate. So one corresponds to the other. Hence, when the priest spreads out his hands and begins to pronounce the blessing over the people, the celestial benedictions flowing from the celestial source at once kindle the lamps, all faces are illumined, and the Community of Israel is adorned with celestial crowns, and all those blessings flow down from on high to below.
תָּא חֲזֵי, מֹשֶׁה פָּקִיד, וּבְצַלְאֵל עָבִיד, לְמֶהֱוֵי כֹּלָּא בְּרָזָא דְּגוּפָא, (רכ"ד ע"א) וְסִיּוּמָא דְּגוּפָא דְּאִיהוּ אָת קַיָּימָא קַדִּישָׁא, לְאַסְגָּאָה רְחִימוּ וְקִשּׁוּרָא דְּיִחוּדָא בְּמַשְׁכְּנָא. וְכֹלָּא בְּרָזָא דִּימִינָא קָא אִתְעָבִיד. וְעַל דָּא, בְּכָל אֲתָר דְּסִטְרָא דִּימִינָא אִשְׁתְּכַח, עֵינָא בִּישָׁא לָא שַׁלְטָא בֵּיהּ. וּבְּגִין כָּךְ, וָכֶסֶף פְּקוּדֵי הָעֵדָה. בְּגִין דְּהַהוּא כֶּסֶף מִסִּטְרָא דִּימִינָא קָא אַתְיָא. וְעַל דָּא אִתְמָנָּא כֹּלָּא בְּמִנְיָינָא.
Observe, then, that Moses gave the instructions and Bezalel carried them out, the two being in the esoterical relation of body and final part of body, which is the holy covenant symbol. The Tabernacle was thereby made the centre of the increase of Love and Unity. And the whole was performed in the mystery of the “right side”. Hence, wherever the “right side” dominates the Evil Eye has no power. We thus read, “And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation.” ‘1The Zohar seems to construe this phrase as: “the numbered silver of the congregation.”. For that silver came from the right, and so all and everything were taken count of and numbered.’