Kabbalah Library

12) “In the morning the Lord will show who are His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself.” Why in the morning, and why holy and not pure? Meaning, “And who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself,” should have said, “And who is pure.” However, they—the congregation of Korah—come from the pure side, since the Levites are pure and not holy, and the priest is holy.

Moses said, “In the morning,” the time when the Sefira of the priest—Hesed—awakens in the world. If you are priests, here is morning, let them work the morning work, Hesed, and then “The Lord will show who are His, and who is holy.” “Who are His” are the Levites, and “Who is holy” is the priest. Then, “and will bring him near to Himself,” referring to the priest. And there is none who can detect it but the morning.

And this is what He told them, “If you see yourselves staying on the side of Din [judgment], the morning, meaning Hesed, will not tolerate you, since it is not the time of Din. And if you see yourselves remaining in Hesed, this is its time. Then you will stay with it and it will accept you.”

13) How is this tested? By offering the incense. The bridegroom must have the incense burning because of him on all the degrees, and he must connect in them, since the smell of incense rises and connects the degrees to one. The bridegroom is the priest, Hesed. For this reason, “And the man whom the Lord chooses, he shall be holy,” and not pure, since they are two degrees, holy and pure. The priest is holy; the Levite is pure. This is why it writes, “holy.”