the seven days, the six vessels, and the souls

Isaiah 30:26’s ‘light of the seven days’ (with the definite article) is read as the days of Genesis (Exodus 31:17, ‘six days the LORD made’): the Holy One made ‘six fine vessels’ — ‘the heavens and the earth’ — and, since that makes seven with the seventh day, ‘and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed (va-yinafash).’ The Sabbath ‘sustains all the souls (nefashot).’ Sod: the six vessels are the six directions, the six lower grades of construction (Ḥesed through Yesod); the seventh, the Sabbath, is the receiving grade (Malkhut) that gathers and sustains the souls.

the flight of the souls and the covenant with Abraham

’Va-yinafash’ re-read: from there the souls fly forth, ‘to a thousand generations’ (Psalm 105:8), a verse the Bahir joins to its neighbor, ‘which He made (karat) with Abraham’ (105:9). ‘Which He cut’ is the covenant (brit) with Abraham — ‘between the ten fingers of his hands and the ten of his feet’ — an allusion to circumcision and to the ten grades; Genesis 17:4, ‘My covenant is with you, father of a multitude.’ Sod: the source of the souls; the covenant of circumcision as the sign at the foundation (Yesod), and the ten fingers as the ten sefirot.

heaven as fire and water; the peace between them

The name shamayim (שמים, ‘heaven’) is unfolded: the Holy One kneaded fire (esh) and water (mayim) and beat them together into ‘the head of His word’ (Psalm 119:160) — so ‘shamayim’ is heard as ‘sham mayim’ (there is water) and as ‘esh u-mayim’ (fire and water). The making of peace between fire and water is the reconciling center, Tiferet, holding Ḥesed (water) and Gevurah (fire): the same peace figured by Michael and Gabriel (§§ 11-12) and by the voice that ‘hews flames of fire’ (§ 45). The passage closes on a prayer — ‘may He set between us peace and love.‘

the seven praises

Psalm 119:164 (‘seven times a day I praise You for Your righteous judgments’) is left as a challenge: the seven are not named — ‘you did not examine my words; go and examine them, and you will find them.’ The seven are the recurring seven of the Bahir: the seven voices, the seven lower grades, the seven days.

tzedek

Selected sense: righteousness

Active senses: righteousness

Rationale: The match is on ‘tzidkekha’ (Your righteousness / righteous, in ‘mishpetei tzidkekha,’ Your righteous judgments) in the § 60 prooftext, Psalm 119:164, rendered plainly ‘righteous’ — the ordinary sense, not the grade-name here; noted so the controlled term is accounted for.

Lexicon: lexicon/tzedek

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