Sixty breaths

34. Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosi met in the village of Chanan. While they were sitting at the inn, a man came with a baggage-laden mule and entered the house. Rabbi Yehuda was saying to Rabbi Yosi: We have learned that King David slept like a horse and had little sleep. If this is true, how did he wake up at midnight? The portion OF SIXTY BREATHS OF A HORSE'S SLEEP is very brief, so he would have awakened before even a third of the night was over.

35. He replied, When night fell, he used to sit with the princes of his house to execute justice and study the Torah, WHICH MEANS, THAT HE DID NOT GO TO SLEEP WHEN NIGHT FELL, BUT CLOSER TO MIDNIGHT. He then slept until midnight, when he woke and rose to worship his Master with songs and hymns.

36. The man interposed and asks, Is this what you think? This is the secret of the matter: King David is alive and exists forever and ever. King David was careful to avoid a foretaste of death; and because sleep is a sixtieth part of death, King David, whose domain is the Living, slept only sixty breaths. For up to sixty breaths less one, it is living; from then on, man tastes death, and the side of the impure spirit reigns over him.

37. King David guarded himself from tasting death, lest the side of the impure spirit obtain control over him. For sixty breaths minus one are the secret of Supernal Life. The first sixty breaths are the supernal sixty breaths, whose secret is that life depends on them. From then downward, it is the secret of death.

38. Therefore King David would measure the night UNTIL MIDNIGHT, so as to remain alive, lest the foretaste of death dominate him. At midnight, David would be in his domain, IN HIS GRADE, WHICH IS LIFE AND EXISTENCE, BY WAKING UP AND UTTERING CHANTS AND HYMNS. For when midnight stirred and the Holy Crown, THE NUKVA, was awakened, David did not wish to be found connected to another domain, the domain of death.

39. When midnight comes Supernal Holiness is awakened, but man is asleep in his bed and does not awaken to regard the glory of his Master; he becomes attached to the secret of death and cleaves to another domain, TO THE OTHER SIDE. King David therefore always woke at midnight, careful of the glory of his Master, alive before the Living One, and he would never sleep long enough to taste death. Thus, he slept like the sixty breaths of a horse - sixty breaths LESS ONE.

40. Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosi came and kissed him, FOR HE REVEALED A NEW EXPLANATION CONCERNING MIDNIGHT PRAYER. They asked him: What is your name? He replied, Hezekiah (lit. 'strengthened of Hashem'). They said to him: May you be strengthened and may your study of the Torah be augmented. They sat down. Rabbi Yehuda said, Since you have started, tell us more of the Supernal Mysteries to which You have made reference.

41. He opened the discussion with the verse, "Hashem by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding (Heb. tevunah) He established the heavens ..." (Mishlei 3:19). Come and behold, When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the universe, He saw that it could not exist, FOR THE UNIVERSE WAS CREATED UNDER THE REIGN OF THE LEFT COLUMN, THE SECRET OF CHOCHMAH WITHOUT CHASSADIM, AND CHOCHMAH CANNOT ILLUMINE WITHOUT CHASSADIM. THEREFORE IT COULD NOT EXIST until He created the Torah, THE CENTRAL COLUMN CALLED 'ZEIR ANPIN,' ALSO CALLED 'TORAH.' HE CAUSED THE TWO COLUMNS, RIGHT AND LEFT, TO BE INCLUDED WITHIN EACH OTHER, AND CHOCHMAH WAS INCLUDED WITHIN CHASSADIM. THEN CHOCHMAH ILLUMINATED, from the Torah - NAMELY, FROM THE CENTRAL COLUMN - all the laws issued by the Upper and Lower Worlds, which are supported by it. THIS IS THE MEANING OF YUD HEI VAV HEI AND ZEIR ANPIN, THE SECRET OF THE CENTRAL COLUMN, as it is written, "by wisdom founded the earth..." HE FOUNDED THE EARTH BY WISDOM, CLOTHING CHOCHMAH IN CHASSADIM, SO THAT THE ILLUMINATION OF CHOCHMAH REMAINED IN THE WORLD. Through wisdom everything in the world exists, and everything derives from it, AS IT IS WRITTEN, "IN WISDOM HAVE YOU MADE THEM ALL" (TEHILIM 104:24).

42. Another explanation of "Hashem by wisdom founded the earth" is that the Upper World, TEVUNAH, was created only by Chochmah, and the Lower World, THE NUKVA, was created only by the lower Chochmah, CHOCHMAH CLOTHED BY THE NUKVA. Thus it seems that they were all issued from the upper and lower Chochmah. "...By understanding (Heb. tevunah), He established the heavens ..." HE ASKS, What does it mean by "established?" HE ANSWERS, " ...established" REFERS TO TEVUNAH, WHICH ESTABLISHES ZEIR ANPIN CALLED 'HEAVEN,' every day. They were not mended at one time; rather, He perfects them day by day.

43. This is the secret of the verse, "and the heavens are not clean in His sight" (Iyov 15:15). Could you think it a derogation of the heavens? On the contrary, it is to the advantage of the heavens, for it is because of the love and great passion that the Holy One, blessed be He, WHO IS TEVUNAH, bears for the heavens, ZEIR ANPIN, that He views them as not perfect enough even though He perfects them daily. It is for the love of them and because of His desire to shine continuously upon them. HE EXPLAINS, The World to Come, TEVUNAH, radiates scintillating light every day without cessation to illuminate them always. Therefore, they are "not clean in His sight." It does not say 'not clean,' but rather, "not clean in His sight." THIS INDICATES THAT, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE IN REALITY CLEAN, BECAUSE OF HIS DESIRE TO SHOWER ABUNDANCE UPON THEM, THEY ARE NOT CONSIDERED CLEAN TO HIM, AS HAS BEEN EXPLAINED. Thus, THE SCRIPTURE READS, "by understanding He established the heavens."

44. HE ASKS, What are the heavens IN THE VERSE, "BY UNDERSTANDING HE ESTABLISHED THE HEAVENS?" HE REPLIES, They are the secret of the Patriarchs - CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET. The secret of the Patriarchs is Jacob, THE CENTRAL COLUMN, TIFERET, who includes them all - AS THE CENTRAL COLUMN INCLUDES THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT, THE SECRET OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC. For it is Jacob, the most splendid of the fathers, whose function is to shine on the world, THE NUKVA.

45. When he ascended to the World to Come (THAT IS, ASCENDED AND CLOTHED YISRAEL SABA, CALLED 'THE WORLD TO COME,' THE SECRET OF COVERED CHASSADIM, WHICH IS WHY THERE IS NO PLACE IN HIM FOR THE REVELATION OF THE ILLUMINATION OF CHOCHMAH) a branch came out from him, beautiful to the sight, BY THE LIGHT OF CHOCHMAH, CALLED 'SIGHT' AND 'VISION.' And all the lights, BOTH CHOCHMAH AND CHASSADIM, radiated from it, as did the abundance and the anointing oil needed to illuminate the land, THE NUKVA. What is THIS BRANCH? It is Joseph the Righteous, who gives abundance, THE ILLUMINATION OF CHOCHMAH, to the whole world, which is sustained by him, BY THE ILLUMINATION OF CHASSADIM. Therefore whatever the Holy One, blessed be He, does has meaning, and all is as it should be.

46. While they were talking, Rabbi Elazar came. When he saw them he said, Assuredly the Shechinah is here. What are you discussing? They told him what happened WITH THE MAN AND HIS WORDS. He said, He spoke well. HE NOW EXPLAINED ABOUT the sixty breaths. THE SIX HOURS BEFORE MIDNIGHT pertain to life, both above IN THE UPPER WORLD WHERE THE SECRET OF THE CHEST-AND-ABOVE OF THE NUKVA IS, and below IN THIS WORLD. From then on, AFTER MIDNIGHT, there are sixty other breaths, which are CHESED, GVURAH, TIFERET, NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD OF THE CHEST-AND-BELOW, all on the side of death, and the grade of death is upon them. They are called 'Dormita' ('sleep'), and all of them taste of death.

47. King David therefore cleaved to the sixty breaths of life, NAMELY, THE SIX HOURS BEFORE MIDNIGHT, WHICH IS THE SECRET of ABOVE THE CHEST, WHERE THE POWER OF JUDGMENT AND DEATH, WHICH IS IN THE CHEST, CANNOT REACH. But afterward, he slept not at all. This is the meaning of, "I will not give sleep to my eyes, slumber to my eyelids" (Tehilim 132:4). Thus THAT MAN spoke well, as David should be considered alive. He is on the side of the living and not on the side of death. Then, they all joined together to study the Torah.

48. Rabbi Elazar opened the discussion with the verse, "Hashem the Elohim of my salvation, when I cry in the night before You" (Tehilim 88:2). Come and behold, King David used to rise at midnight and study the Torah and delight the King and the Queen with songs and praises. This is the joy of Faith on the earth, for it is the praise of Faith, THE SHECHINAH, that is seen on earth.

49. For numerous holy angels joyously begin to sing above, in different ways, praising at night on all sides, EVEN IN THE ILLUMINATION OF THE LEFT, FOR THEN THE NUKVA REIGNS, ACCORDING TO THE SECRET OF THE VERSE, "SHE RISES ALSO WHILE IT IS YET NIGHT" (MISHLEI 31:15). It is likewise below on earth, for the Holy One, blessed be He, takes pleasure in whoever on earth praises Him at night, and all the holy angels who praise the Holy One, blessed be He, listen to the man who praises THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, at night on earth. For this chanting increases the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, from below, and sings joyously in unison.

50. Come and behold, King David wrote, "Hashem the Elohim of my salvation," which means, when is Hashem the Elohim of my salvation? He is my salvation by day, after I first sang to You by night. Then is He my salvation by day.

51. Come and behold, Whoever sings the praises of the Torah during the night before his Master is strengthened by day on the right side, WHICH IS CHESED. THIS MEANS THAT THE CHOCHMAH HE RECEIVED BY NIGHT THROUGH THE LEFT IS CLOTHED DURING THE DAY BY CHESED, THE RIGHT SIDE. For a thread of grace comes out from the right side. It is drawn upon him, and he is strengthened by it. David therefore said, "Hashem the Elohim of my salvation, when I cry in the night before You."

52. Thus, he said, "The dead cannot praise Yah" (Tehilim 115:17), because it is the living who should praise the Living, and not the dead, as it is written, "The dead cannot praise Yah." "But we will bless Yah" (Ibid.), for we are living and have no part of death. Hezekiah said, "The living, the living, he shall praise You, as I do" (Yeshayah 38:19), for the living has a connection with the Living. So is King David living, and he came near the One who lives forever. And whoever approaches THE ONE LIVING FOREVER, is living, as it is written, "But you that did cleave of Hashem your Elohim are alive every one of you this day" (Devarim 4:4), "And Benaiah the son of Jehoida, the son of a living man, of Kavtze'el" (II Shmuel 23:20).