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Footsteps in the Land 11:1
Translation and commentary by Rabbi David Slavin
Rabbi Yochanan said, "Whoever walks four cubits in
Eretz Yisrael is guaranteed entrance to the World to Come." (Babylonian Talmud,
Ketubot 111a)
The first aspect of the above concept is as
follows: According to the Arizal, Eretz Yisrael is called " Rachel" and " Leah".
Therefore the intentions one should have when walking in Eretz Yisrael have two
aspects: one Rachel and one Leah.
For Rachel one should concentrate that the legs
doing the walking parallel netzach and hod of Zeir Anpin,
for they draw down consciousness [known as "mochin"] for Rachel,
as is known. This is because the partzuf of Rachel has two
mochin, which are [represented by two] names Y-ah [spelled out,
equaling 35 each]. Together, their numerical value equals 70, which is the value
of the word "halicha" [Hebrew for "walking"].  | | " The partzuf of Leah is located behind that of Yisrael, none of her being parallel to Yaakov..." | | |
For Leah, meditate on the statement above,
"Whoever walks four cubits in Eretz Yisrael is guaranteed entrance to the World
to Come". The idea behind this is as follows: The partzuf of Leah
is located behind that of Yisrael, none of her being parallel to
Yaakov. Hence she is called more appropriately "Eretz Yisrael" as
opposed to Rachel. One should concentrate that the mochin that
enter Zeir Anpin, are the mochin of Abba and Imma.
Once inside Leah there are four divisions: 1) the yesod of
chochma, 2) is the yesod of bina, 3) from within Zeir Anpin
and 4) from outside Zeir Anpin. Two of them are from the
illumination of chochma and the other two are from the illumination of
bina. They are organized as Abba and Imma, Abba and
Imma. These four mochin are from the aspect of chochma and
bina, with chesed and gevura.
In reality, the highest level of Leah, which is
at the same level of the yesod of chochma, there, she has all four
levels of the illuminations of chochma. On the next level down, one of
the illuminations goes up and she remains with three. At the third level she is
left with two. At the fourth level (the outermost) she remains with only one
from chochma.
The four "ammot" [the Hebrew word for "cubits"
in the above quote] shouldn't be pronounced "ammot", rather "immaot",
from the term "Imma". Behold all four of them are mochin that stem
from chochma. For those mochin that stem from bina, we have
no concept of them. | | " The walking through Leah is not the same as through Rachel..." | | |
We already know that the general revelation of G-d
through chochma, is the name of Ab [72], the milui of which
equals 46, which is the numerical value of "amma" ["cubit"]. They are the
secret of the "Four Cubits". For from them, are the formations of the four
"Mothers". This is all fine and well, even though they stem from chochma,
bina, chesed, and gevura, they are still from the aspect of
chochma, whose milui is 46, equaling "Imma".
Being that all the mochin are in Zeir Anpin
when they leave towards the Nukva, all that leaves is the milui.
For the word "milui" itself [mem - 40, lamed - 30, vav
- 6, yud - 10 = 86] has the numerical value of 86, which is the value of
Elo-him, i.e. judgment. Therefore the Nukva is related to
judgment.
Behold the walking through Leah is not the same
as through Rachel. For Rachel is at the level of netzach
and hod of Zeir Anpin, whereas Leah is at the level of
netzach and hod of Bina's top two segments! | | " When walking in Eretz Yisrael one should have intention towards the netzach and hod of Bina..." | | |
Therefore when walking in Eretz Yisrael one should
have intention towards the netzach and hod of Bina.
Yet there is another distinction which should be made,
being that the four cubits are each a counter to the four mochin of
chochma, yet upon their descent they are the four mochin of bina!
To understand this, we must recall that the illuminations that depart from
chochma are only able to travel due to bina! That's why it is called
"traveling" [i.e. "walking"]. That is the mitzvah of walking four cubits in
Eretz Yisrael, for the numerical value of "mehalech" [Hebrew for
"walker"] equals 95, which is the milui of achorayim of Sag
which is bina, which represents Sag and whose numerical value
equals 63. When you remove the Av [72] which are the achorayim
from the 166, you have a remainder of 95 which equals "mehalech".
The second aspect is according to the writings
of the Arizal, in the Sefer Hadrushim. | | " Eretz Yisrael begins at the top of the lower half of Bina..." | | |
Know that the size of the stature of Malchut,
which is known as "Eretz Yisrael", is ten sefirot. That is also the
measure of the stature of Zeir Anpin. We already know that
from the half of the tiferet of the Upper Bina, is the place
where the head of Zeir Anpin starts. When she [Malchut] is in
a state of gadlut, then her head reaches up to the same point as the
head of Zeir Anpin. From this we see that Eretz Yisrael begins at the
top of the lower half of Bina. There remains above Eretz Yisrael two
and a half sefirot, namely Keter, Chochma, and the
upper half of Bina. In a strikingly similar fashion we have the same
pattern down beneath its starting place, for her measurement is ten
sefirot. She starts at the halfway point of the tiferet of
Zeir Anpin, as is written in the Idra. If we were to split the
ten sefirot from that point downwards, we would find that the ten
personal sefirot of Malchut extend down until half of the
netzach of Beriya. For she [Malchut] has a place in
Zeir Anpin, the height of which is three and a half sefirot, from
half of the tiferet until the yesod [of Zeir Anpin of
Atzilut]. Then to complete her ten sefirot, she takes another
six and a half sefirot from Beriya. They are the keter,
chochma, bina, chesed, gevura, tiferet,
and half of netzach. In that fashion she has completed her ten
sefirot, for her real place is from half of the tiferet of
Zeir Anpin until half of the netzach of Beriya. There are
three and a half sefirot left in Beriya [that have no
counterpart]. Yet we know that the Malchut of Beriya is
constantly at the seventh palatial chamber of Yetzira. This is also
the case with each Malchut of Beriya, Yetzira, and
Asiya (i.e. they are rooted in the World above them.). That leaves us
with two and a half still unconnected to the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael
(which is ultimately the Malchut of Atzilut). Therefore,
corresponding to those two and a half, were the two and a half tribes that
remained outside the borders of the Land.
Thus far the words of the Arizal. | | " He who walks four cubits in Eretz Yisrael...has merited bina of Beriya, which is called the World to Come..." | | |
It appears to me, that from the above we can get a
better understanding of the statement of the Sages "He who walks four cubits in
Eretz Yisrael...". The four cubits mentioned really correspond to the following:
the upper half of the netzach, all of the tiferet, gevura,
and chesed, and half of the bina of ten sefirot of
Beriya. [This person is] guaranteed a portion in the World to Come, for he
has merited bina of Beriya, which is called the "World to Come".
To return to the previous article in this series on the Land of Israel,
Post-Temple Waters, click here
To continue on to the next article in this series on the Land of Israel,
Israel: A Step Up , click here
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