*Translation based on David Solomon at Sefaria* **He opened and said: _zarqa_, _maqaph_, _shophar_ _holekh_, _segolta_.**[^1] **Meanwhile, the Faithful Shepherd descended, and Rabbi Shim’on said: ‘Faithful Shepherd! You are the Master of the sling! For we need a shepherd who goes before us. Because of the bears, wolves, and evil beasts, who are coming to consume the flock, it is his way to have a sling with him, to throw stones towards them, so that the flock is protected from those evil beasts. Rise! Take the sling in your hand!’** **He began and said: ‘_Zarqa_ – Holy Shekhinah! You are the holy sling shot of the blessed Holy One, for through You are thrown three stones, which are _segolta_, three precious stones which are the three Patriarchs, and You are the most precious stone of all, a ‘crownlet’ on the head upon all of them, of You it is stated: (Ps. 118:22) _The stone which the builders rejected, has become the head of the corner_. (Gen. 28:22) _And this stone which I have placed as a pillar, will be a house of God._ You are that of which it is stated: (Dan. 2:35) _... the stone that smashed the idol, became a great mountain and filled the earth_.** **And it is a crownlet like this: ם at the head of the chord of the _zarqa_, a stone that is inclusive and adorned, like the stone on a ring.** And when Israel are discerning in wisdom, which is Yod – ‘Higher Thought’ –, they know how to throw this stone – which is the ‘singular daughter’ – to that place from which She was hewn, because Daughter is made of Father. It is this that is written: (Prov. 3:19) _Y”Y, in wisdom, has established_ _the earth_... _in wisdom_ – which is ‘Father’ – He has established ‘Daughter’, who is _the earth_ ,_His footstool_ (Is. 66:1). **And that chord of Hers is Vav, for the stone which is a crownlet, a diadem upon its head**, the diadem of the Scroll of the Torah, and because of it is stated: ‘one who exploits the crown perishes’, that is specifically the crown of the Torah, for there are three crowns: ‘the crown of Torah’, ‘the crown of Priesthood’, and ‘the crown of Kingship’, and the crown of Torah [Var. and the crown of a good name] is above them. **And this stone is the Yod on top of א, and the Yod at its end, of it is stated: (Is. 46:10) _He tells the end from the beginning..._, and She is YOD HeY VAV HeY – comprising ten _sephirot_, for which ‘Their end is embedded in their beginning, and their beginning in their end’.** **All the Masters of the Academy rose, and they said: ‘O Faithful Shepherd! How powerful you are to throw the stone! For it reaches to a place, where there is no-one who knows its place, and holy angels enquire of it: ‘Where is the place of His glory to praise Him?’ For there is no-one who knows its place, when it ascends above, in whichever is the place you have thrown it, so that all of them say: (Ez. 3:12) _Blessed is the glory of Y”Y from His place_– and even though it is small below, it has no end above** [^1]: **Zohar Breshit 24a**: "...When a person wants to raise up their prayer through the movements, if a snake comes to make accusations against their prayer, they must make for it a sling shot, and the secret of this is _zarqa_, _maqaph_, _shophar_ _holekh_, _segolta."