Bahir 173

The theme of the Shekinah is described further. The next few verses go into great detail. In the commentary we will go over the context into which this is explained. With this context then the meanings become very clear and describe a natural process that is hidden and all of us experience it from time to time.

Bahir 173. What is the meaning of "beautiful"? It is the beauty of all things. This is also the beauty of the Songs of Songs. Regarding it, it is written (Songs of Songs 6:10) , "Who is she who looks forth as the dawn, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, terrible like an army with banners?" This relates to the Female. Because of her, the female was taken from Adam. This is because it is impossible for the lower world to endure without the female. And why is the female called Nekevah ? Because her orifices (Nekev) are wide. Also because she has more orifices than the male. What are they? They are the orifices of the breasts, the womb, and the receptacle.

Commentary: It is the female who is beautiful but it isn't the female as personified by the feminine form. It is the female aspect of G-d that comes in response to your recognition of this presence within and without. This recognition occurs through insight, empathy, deep feelings, mitzvoth, meditation-contemplation and any kind of beyond words kind of experience that you may either witness or be a part of. It is our experience of the transformation within that gives itself back to us as this experience which is beautiful and compares to the female. Here is some interesting information about the derivation of Shekinah.

ynk# Is sometimes used to describe the presence in the tabernacle. The word "mishkan," Nk#m a derivative of "shakan,"Nk# , is often translated "tabernacle." "Mishkan" means "dwelling place or "dwelling place of "Him who dwells" or "Shekinah."


The Glory of G-d hwhy Kwbk is also thought of as the Shekinah or the presence of G-d.

Who inhabits Kykw#
Shekinah does not occur in the Torah in the feminine form but here the masculine form appears here:

Deuteronomy 33:16 And for the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, and the good will of Him that dwelt ynk# (shin kaf nun yud )in the bush; let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the head of him that is prince among his brethren.

All of this we will use to describe in part what appears to happen. The Shekinah responds to righteousness. It responds with connection. This connection is between the status of this world and the ever changing circumstances that reside in the world to come. This connection bridges the gap between man's understanding and comprehension of deity and the actualization of the experience of deity. Through our meditations on G-d or G-dliness, through mitzvoth, and through Torah study comes the experience of the Shekinah. It is a taste of 'the glory of G-d.' Adam in order to experience the touch of G-d has the essence of feeling or the female taken from him to be fashioned into a physical embodiment of feeling or his help mate, woman. The female is taken from Adam in order to remind him of his feeling connection to G-d. G-d wanted to make sure that man experienced G-d or that man was able then to communicate with G-d since two way communication was the only way a true reflection or image of G-d could exist in the Garden of Eden. Without this there is no growth not just of man per se but of his conception of G-d that must be ongoing in perception. Since man is always connected to his feeling nature throughout his body the task of reestablishing this primary connection becomes one of constant preparation and insightful thinking. The activity of the mind of man in conjunction with the feeling nature or the Shekinah response is the fundamental elemental unity that produces all things in the 'lower worlds.'

The female is called Nekevah because of the orifices or openings in the female body. These openings can be likened to the earth that is ready to receive the plantings from above. There are also inner emotional counterparts to this concept. For example. When your mind is open to learning new ideas these come freely without endless battles with the ego and its status quo based objections. Emotionally you want to be free to express yourself and not seal yourself off in a cold hard shell. All of these things point out the openings that are symbolized by the female.

w/