"He sows tzedakot and causes yeshu'ot to sprout." The usage of an idiom of "sowing" in relation to the commandment of charity [and as it is written in the verse "Sow then for yourselves for tzedakah... " ] will be understood by what our sages, of blessed memory, said: "Rabbi Eliezer gave a coin unto a poor person, and then prayed; as it is written: through tzedek I will see Your face." This means that the manifestation of His blessed Divinity, which becomes revealed in the thought of man and in his devotion during prayer, each according to his own measure, is by way of the charity and the "Chesed of the Lord eternally upon those who fear Him ..." This means, the light of the Lord, the blessed En Sof, which radiates with a great illumination above in the upper worlds [which are the hechalot with the angels and souls in them, explained in the sacred Zohar by their names according to their places in the order of prayer arranged for us by the Men of the Great Assembly] is in a state of so great and immense a manifestation that they are truly in a state of self-dissolution, and esteemed as truly naught before Him, absorbed in His blessed light. Now, this "Light— which is good" radiates from there to this lowly world upon those that fear the Lord and esteem His Name, who desire to worship Him by the "Service of the heart— meaning prayer," and as it is written : "And the Lord will enlighten my darkness." Now, the descent of this illumination downwards to this world, is called the "Chesed of the Lord"— referred to as water, which descends from a high place to a low place ...

Now it is well-known that above there is also an attribute of gevurah, and tzimtzum, to contract and conceal His blessed light to prevent it from becoming revealed unto the lower worlds. However, everything depends on the arousal from below. For if man conducts himself with kindness, by bestowing life and chesed .... he arouses the same above, as our sages, of blessed memory, said: "With the measure a man metes, it shall be measured to him." Though it would appear that this is not of the (same) measure: (man deserves) only that the life of the world-to-come be granted to him, corresponding to his bestowal of life in this world; but not that the life from the illumination of the actual light of G‑d " be diffused to him to illumine and enlighten his darkness in "The service of the heart— which is prayer." For the latter is a grade and level of "superior repentance" (teshuvah ilaah), as is well-known, inasmuch as it surpasses exceedingly all the life of the world to come, as our sages, of blessed memory, said: "Better one hour of repentance and good deeds..." as explained elsewhere at length that the world to come is but a gleam and reflection...

However, metaphorically speaking, the idea is like sowing seeds or planting kernels— the spike that sprouts from the seed, and the tree with its fruits from the kernel, their nature and essence are not that of the seed and kernel at all. For their nature and essence has been spent and is decayed in the soil. It is the vegetative property in the soil itself which brings out and makes grow the spike, the tree and its fruit; it is merely that it does not bring out and manifest its power outwardly, from potential to actuality, except through the seed and the kernel that are decayed in the soil and whose whole power has been consumed by the vegetative property in the soil— and they united and became one.

And that is how the vegetative property actualises its potential and effuses vitality to make grow a spike of the kind of the seed, though with a very great increase in every single spike, and likewise, many fruits on every single tree. Moreover, the very nature and essence of the fruits, too, excels in a great and immense magnitude over the nature and essence of the planted kernel. And it is likewise with the produce of the earth which grows from seeds just like kernels, as cucumber, and the like. All this is so because the stem and root of the vitality of the fruits effuses from the vegetative property in the soil— which includes the vitality of all fruits; while the kernels that are sown in the ground are but like the arousal from below, which in the writings of Rabbi Isaac Luria, of blessed memory, is referred to as the "elevation of the mayin nukvin."

Now, metaphorically speaking, precisely like this, every act of charity that Israelites perform, ascends in the sense of an "elevation of the mayin nukvin" upwards — to the root of their souls above which, in the phraseology of the Zohar, is referred to as Knesset Yisrael, and imma tataah and in the phraseology of the Talmud— as Shechinah. The Shechinah compounds, and is totally united with all the attributes of the Holy One, blessed is He, the first of which is the attribute of chesed. Now, through this elevation, the actual "chesed of the Lord" is aroused, i.e.. a revelation of His blessed light, to descend and radiate in a great and immense state of manifestation to the souls of Israel below, at least during the time of prayer. For though "His greatness is unfathomable"— to the extent that "All are esteemed as naught before Him," even so, "Where you find His greatness, there you find His humility," as "waters, which descend .. ."

And this is the meaning of the verse: "He shines in the darkness as a light unto the upright, he that is gracious, and merciful, and tzadik." For man by being gracious and merciful, and "tzadik— fond of tzedakot," causes the light of G‑d to shine to his soul which is vested in his body — which stands in darkness, being the "hide of the snake." And this, when darkness is converted to light, is referred to as salvation (yeshuah).

And this is the meaning of "He causes yeshu'ot to sprout." For this salvation sprouts from [the sowing of] the charity sown in the "upper land," "the land of delight" — which is the Shechinah, and Knesset Yisrael so called because it vests itself in the lower worlds to animate them, as it is written: "Your sovereignty is the sovereignty of all worlds." And this applies most particularly when one sows in the nether Holy Land, which truly corresponds to it. For then the seed is immediately absorbed in the upper land without any obstacle and hindrance whatever, because there is nothing whatsoever that divides and interrupts between the lands of life; for it is the gate of Heaven. It is not so, however, outside the Holy Land, and suffice this for the initiated.