The Book of Illumination (Sefer HaBahir)

And without a brain, the body cannot endure, for the entire body is for the sake of [the brain]. And if the entire body does not endure, the brain will not endure. Therefore, the spinal cord original: "חוט השדרה" pours out from the brain to the entire body. And the letter Nun was within it. And this Nun is always long at the end of a word to teach you that the long Nun includes both the bent and the long forms. But the bent Nun is the foundation, to teach you that the long Nun is composed of male and female.

The open Mem—why is it open? It is composed of male and female. The closed Mem—what is it made for? It is like a belly from above. But did Rabbi Hiyya not say that the belly is like the letter Tet? That which he said was like two faces 1 in this one; I say it is like two. And what is Mem? Do not read it as Mem, but as Mayim Water. Just as water is moist, so the belly is always moist. And why is the open Mem composed of male and female, while the closed is male? To teach you that the male is the primary essence literally "to peck" or "distinguish", and He added the open form for the sake of the female. And just as this male does not procreate except through an opening, so the closed Mem does not procreate except through an opening. And just as the female gives birth to both closed and open, so too the Mem is closed and open.

And what did you see to include Mem in both open and closed forms? Because we say: do not read it as Mem, but as Mayim (Water). And behold, a barren woman must be sealed by the male. And what did you see to include the female? As it is written: "His name shall endure [Yinnon] before the sun" Psalm 72:17. Yinnon is written with two Nuns—a bent one and a long one—and it must be through male and female. It is written: "The ear is not filled with hearing" Ecclesiastes 1:8 and it is written: "The eye is not satisfied with seeing." This teaches that both of them draw from Thought original: "מחשבה" (Machshavah). And what is Thought? A King that all which was created in the upper and lower worlds requires.

And what is this? That which we say: "It arose in Thought," and we do not say "It descended." For do we not say regarding one who gazes upon the vision of the Chariot The Merkavah, the divine throne-chariot, "Descend, and afterwards he shall ascend"? There, it is because it says: "A lion called out upon the watchtower of the Lord" Isaiah 21:8. Here, in Thought, there is no "watching" at all, and it has no end at all. And anything that has no end or limit has no "descent." As people say: "So-and-so descended to the end of his fellow's knowledge," but not "to the end of his thought."

Rabbi Amorai sat and expounded: What is that which is written, Segol? A Hebrew vowel mark consisting of three dots. He said to him: Its name is Segulah (Treasure), as was said above regarding the Zarka A cantillation mark. Why Zarka? It is like its name, for it is "thrown" Hebrew: Nizrak like a thing that is cast. And after it comes the "treasure of kings and provinces" Ecclesiastes 2:8. Why? Because it is written: "Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place" Ezekiel 3:12, which implies that no one knows His place. And they say the name Atna The Atnach accent comes upon the head of the Owner, as it is written: "Owner of heaven and earth" Genesis 14:19. And thus it goes and searches.

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And the Segol follows it, and it is at the head of all the letters. And why is it at the end of a word and not at the beginning? To teach you that this Crown original: "תגא" (Taga) rises up to the highest heights. And what does it mean that this Crown is a term for a precious stone? It is hollowed and crowned, as it is written: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone" Psalm 118:22. And it rises to the place from which it was quarried, as it is written: "From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel" Genesis 49:24.

And as for that which was asked: Why do we place blue thread original: "תכלת" (Tekhelet) in the fringes original: "ציצית" (Tzitzit), and why three and two? A parable: To a king who had a beautiful garden, and it had thirty-two paths. He placed a guard over them, and his heart made those paths known to him. He said to him: "Guard them and walk upon them every day, and at any time you bless them, there is peace for you." What did the guard do? He placed other guards over them. He said: "If I am alone in these paths, it is impossible for one guard to maintain all these paths. Furthermore, the world will say that this King and this guard are mine alone." Therefore, he placed other guards for all these paths. These are the thirty-two paths.

And why the blue thread? The guard said: "Lest these guards say, 'The garden is ours,'" he gave them a sign and said to them: "See, this is the sign of the King, that the garden is His, and these paths are His arrangement, and they are not mine." And behold, His seal. A parable: To a king and his daughter who had servants and wished to go far away. They feared the terror of the king; the king gave them his sign. They feared the daughter; she gave them her sign. They said: "From now on, with these two signs, 'The Lord shall guard you from all evil, He shall guard your soul'" Psalm 121:7.

Rabbi Amorai sat and expounded: What is the meaning of "Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You" I Kings 8:27? This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, has twelve names, and all of them are fixed in the Tribes, as it is written: "Six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the second stone, according to their birth" Exodus 28:10. And it is written: "These twelve stones he set up..." What are these? Stones of remembrance. So too, these are stones of remembrance for the twelve tribes. And twelve stones are seventy-two, corresponding to the seventy-two names of the Holy One, Blessed be He.

And why did He begin with twelve? To teach you that the Holy One, Blessed be He, has twelve leaders, and in each and every one are powers. And what are they? Seventy-two names corresponding to seventy-two languages. The Holy One, Blessed be He, has one Tree, and in it are twelve diagonal boundaries: the eastern-southern boundary, the eastern-northern boundary, the eastern-upper boundary, the eastern-lower boundary, the western-northern boundary, the western-southern boundary, the western-lower boundary...