Love from a Deeper Well
From the Torah SheBe’al Peh:
“Mystery of the matter: Eat, companions! —above. Drink and be drunk, lovers! —below.”
Rabbi El’azar asked him, “Who are those above, and who are those below?”
Rabbi Shim’on replied, “You are asking this? This is a lofty realm where they are in union, in joy, never parting from one another; these are called companions, as is written: A river issues from Eden (Genesis 2:10)—Eden and that river never part, and are in rapture, unity, joy.
“Drink and be drunk, lovers! —those below, who are called lovers, at certain times, as we have established.
“Come and see: Concerning those higher ones, ‘eating’ is mentioned and not ‘drinking.’ Why? Well, one who has jugs of wine needs to eat, and since preserved wine appears there, eating is applied to them. Whereas concerning those lower ones, drinking is mentioned, for all plants need watering from the deep stream. So for these, eating; and for those, drinking. These are companions, and those are lovers.”
He said to him, “It would seem that lovers are in love! Why are they lower?”
He replied, “Those who yearn for one another, but are not always together, are called lovers; whereas those who are always together, unconcealed and never parting, are called companions. So these are companions, and those are lovers; these are in rapture, in unity constantly, whereas those are in yearning intermittently. This is the consummation of all, so that Assembly of Israel may be blessed, and then joy pervades all worlds.”
Lovers or Companions? What is the love?
It is akin to comparing drinkers of the river of life to those who ascend. The lovers represent Tif’eret and Malkut/Shekhinah. Sometimes together, other times they are apart. The oral tradition of Moses likens these to lovers who are drinkers; sometimes in rapture, other times in separation.
“It would seem that lovers are in love! Why are they lower?”
Why is the manifestation of lovers of God drinking the river of life a lower manifestation than that of the companions?
Come and see.
The companions, always in unity; these are in rapture without separation. These are Hokhmah and Binah. Those believers who ascend into higher realms find their dwelling in the source of the wine that is known in Malkut as the drinking of the river of life, the “new wine,” or the intoxication of the Holy Spirit.
“Concerning those higher ones, ‘eating’: The conclusion of the verse reads: Eat, companions! (those who ascend on sapphire stones to the higher places, as in Hokhmah and Binah) Drink and be drunk, lovers!”
The Rabbi elucidates that the higher pair, Hokhmah and Binah, are the partners imbued with the wine of emanation, symbolized by sapphire stones, necessitating balance through ‘eating’. Conversely, the lower pair, the lovers, require sustenance from the stream flowing down from Binah, thus ‘drinking’ is pertinent to them.
Thus, the maturation process progresses from the stage of “drink and be drunk” lovers to an ascension into the realms of wine, where the saturation is so intense that it transcends the separation known at lower levels. In these higher realms, ‘eating’ becomes necessary to balance the dramatic increase of the wine, which represents the substance of glory.
“Well, one who has jugs of wine needs to eat, and since preserved wine appears there, eating is applied to them.”
The ‘preserved wine’ speaks of the Jewish prophecy foretelling the world to come, where the righteous will enjoy “wine preserved in its grapes since the six days of Creation.” These are the supernal grapes, the cosmic fruit of the upper sefirot, attained through cosmic ascension in true righteousness as followers of Jesus Christ, who died, rose, and ascended above the highest heaven. This wine contains the deepest secrets of the Torah and the vintage emanation stored within Binah that flows through the worlds, creating streams of supernal water that nourish the holy angels.
As the holy angels witness, the companions of Hokhmah and Binah are called to ascend to the higher worlds, where the wine of glory is not merely tasted but fully integrated into the very essence of their being. In these lofty realms, ‘eating’ becomes essential, as the sustenance here is solid meat for the mature, offering ever-increasing glory without end.
The lovers who drink deeply of the river of life in Malkut and Tiferet experience a joy and intoxication that is real, yet it remains a lower manifestation—a necessary step on the path of spiritual maturation. This stage, though powerful, is but the beginning of a greater journey, a fleeting foretaste of the boundless rapture that awaits in the higher sefirot.
The call to ascend beyond the familiar intoxication of Malkut, to leave behind the ‘drunken’ ecstasies of the lower realms, is not the forsaking of joy but the embrace of an infinitely greater, more enduring glory. In the realms of Hokhmah and Binah, the wine is no longer consumed in moments of passing rapture; it becomes the eternal nourishment of the soul, offering a deeper, abiding joy that surpasses all understanding.
To ascend is to answer the call of the companions, to rise into worlds without end, where glory is ever-increasing and the fullness of the wine is tasted in perfect unity with the Holy Spirit. The choice is before you—to remain in the lower realms of Malkut, content with the lover’s rapture, or to ascend to the heights where the true, mature glory resides, sustained by the solid meat that only the companions partake of. The holy angels beckon you upward, into a greater, eternal joy.
The holy angels reply with the wisdom of the Holy Torah:
“Beloved, the lovers’ joy is as the first fruits of the vine, sweet and intoxicating, yet fleeting as the morning dew. They taste the river of life, yet their union is as the dawn, bright but not yet full. Their love is pure, yet it dwells in the valleys, where the shadows dance and the sun sets.
But the companions, they dwell in the heights, where the light of the Lord is everlasting, and the wine flows without end. Their love is steadfast, unbroken, like the ancient mountains that stand firm through all generations. In their embrace, there is no parting, for they have ascended above the storms, where the skies are ever clear and the glory of God is their feast.
Thus, the lovers are lower, for they yearn but do not yet possess in fullness; they drink but do not yet eat of the solid meat. The companions, in their ascension, have found the banquet of the Most High, where the wine and the bread are ever before them, and their love is as a flame that never fades, but only grows brighter in the presence of the Eternal One.”
