## [Leviticus]

original: "Vayikra" (ויקרא). This is the first word and title of the Book of Leviticus.

Main Text (Zohar)

Rabbi Elazar opened his discourse with the verse: “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depths or in the heights above.” Isaiah 7:11 I have observed the earlier generations and the later generations—what is the difference between them? The earlier generations knew and observed the Supernal Wisdom original: "Chokhmata Ila’ah"; refers to the divine wisdom or the Sephirah of Chokhmah and knew how to combine the letters original: "Tzerufa Atvan"; the mystical practice of permuting Hebrew letters to affect reality or achieve enlightenment that were given to Moses at Sinai. Even the sinners among them knew how to gaze into the letters of the Supernal Wisdom and knew the secrets hidden within the letters. They established arrangements of wisdom to subdue the workings of this world, because every single letter that was spoken to Moses would be crowned and ascend upon the heads of the Holy Supernal Living Creatures original: "Chayvan Ila’in"; the angelic beings described in Ezekiel's vision of the Divine Chariot. All those Living Creatures were crowned by them and would fly through the air that is described as coming from the subtle, unknown Supernal Spirit. They would ascend and descend, both the great letters and the small, thin letters.

The "great letters" are written as we have learned in the Palace original: "Heikhal"; a reference to the dimensions of the divine realm that is the measure of all things. The "small letters" would descend from that Palace below. Both these and those were handed over to Moses at Sinai. It was revealed to him that these letters are joined in concealment; within every single letter, such as the letter Aleph (א), it is a single letter, yet two others are joined with it in concealment to form the word "Aleph" The letter Aleph (א) is spelled out in Hebrew as Aleph-Lamed-Pe (אלף), and so it is with all of them. All of this was handed over to Moses at Sinai, and all of it is hidden among the companions.

Regarding the verse “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God,” they would take this as the secret of the letters. Similarly, regarding Rahab, what is written? “And give me a true token” Joshua 2:12; original: "Ot Emet" (Sign of Truth). This refers to the letter Vav (ו), for this is called the "Sign of Truth." And if you say the other letters are not truth—they are indeed truth, but this specific letter is called "Truth." “Ask it in the depths” refers to the letter He (ה), the final letter of the Holy Name. “Or in the heights above” refers to the letter Yod (י), the head of the Holy Name. This is the secret of what is written: “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God.” I have heard that the "sign" mentioned here refers to the order of the alphabet... Come and see: when the Cloud original: "Anana"; the Divine Presence or Shekhinah ascended over the Tabernacle original: "Mishkana" and rested upon it, all those Chariots and all those letters A B C D E F G... The text lists the first seven letters of the Hebrew alphabet: Aleph, Bet, Gimel, Dalet, He, Vav, Zayin