שער מז

You should know that when it came into the will of the Ein Sof to emanate, create, form, and make His world composed of four worlds, emanation, creation, formation, and action, He saw that the worlds did not have the ability to withstand the great light of the Ein Sof. And not only the lower beings, but even the sefirot themselves, even those of emanation, did not have the power to receive the supernal light. As the sefirah of Wisdom was not able to receive the supernal light without the intermediary sefirah of the Crown. And the rest in the same manner. And because of this reason, all of the refinements (tikkunim) mentioned in the Idra Zuta and the Idra Rabba were necessary. And it was for this reason that it was necessary to make four worlds: emanation, creation, formation, and action. And the matter is since, in all of the worlds, there is an aspect of essence, and of vessels. And at the beginning of everything, the Ein Sof expanded into the ten sefirot of emanation via the secret of vessels. For does the matter of expansion not indicate a thickening of the light beyond what it was? So it comes out that these ten sefirot are ten vessels which are made [as such] from the expansion of the essence of the Ein Sof. It is just that the light thickens and becomes vessels through the expansion. And after this expansion through which the ten vessels were made, then the essence of the Ein Sof is clothed within them, and that is the secret of essence and vessels. And behold when the expansion mentioned above reached Kingship of emanation, the supernal Emanator saw that those below did not have the capability to receive that light if it were to expand further. So when this tenth vessel of emanation was completed, a screen and curtain was made there, that separated between emanation and the other worlds below it. And then the light of the Ein Sof, may He be blessed, that was expanding there, struck into that screen. And then with the force of that downward strike and meeting, it returned to climb upward to its place through the secret of the returning light. And then the world of emanation was completed in the aspect of vessels. Then the Ein Sof returned to be clothed in them through the secret of essence, as previously mentioned, to that point that the light of the Ein Sof could reach according to the pattern mentioned above. It is called the world of emanation because it is the actual (rarefied) light. It is just that it is after it has been thickened, as mentioned above. And this matter of the thickening of the light is that is it not that one who sees a very great light is not able to tolerate it unless it is distanced or unless it is with a screen or unless it is with both of them? So behold the Ein Sof sheds light upon the Crown in [the world] of emanation without any screen or distancing at all. That is why [that] Crown is called Ein Sof (meaning the Crown of Mah, the secret of Atik, [the Anceint One]). Whereas Wisdom receives it through the Crown. However, Understanding received the light of the Ein Sof through distancing. Since the Ein Sof is now far from it, it is able to receive it. And the Small Face [Zayir Anpin] is only able to receive the light through a window. And the light goes through a narrow hole in the middle of that window without a screen at all. But the path is not broad, but rather very narrow. However, it is close, since it is not far from Understanding to the Small Face. Whereas the light comes to the Female of the Small Face through the hole in the window, like the Small Face, except that it is distant. So there are four aspects through which the components of [the world of] emanation are separated from it and in it, but they are all without any screen at all. Hence it is called the world of emanation, since the light of the Ein Sof itself expands into all of it without a screen. However, from there downwards, the Ein Sof itself does not expand, but rather only the light that exudes from it through a screen. And that is because of the screen and the curtain that separates between [the worlds of] emanation and creation, as mentioned above. Behold, it is because of that supernal light striking when it reaches there, as mentioned above, the striking of that curtain. So from the power of those ten sefirot of emanation to which it reached and struck there in their light, behold lights sparked out from them and they passed through that screen and it became the ten sefirot of [the world of] creation, from the sparking out of the ten sefirot of emanation that are above them by way of the screen. From the power of the ten sefirot of vessels, ten other sefirot of vessels were made, and through the ten sefirot of essence, ten other sefirot of essence were made in [the world of] creation. And likewise, at the bottom of creation, another screen was made. And because of the striking of the ten sefirot of creation – in the aspects of essence and vessels – on the screen, the ten sefirot of [the world of] formation were made. And likewise from formation to action, through that screen. And with this, you will understand why this one is called emanation, this one is called creation, this one is called formation, and this one is called action. Because there is a screen that separates [each] one from the other, and one is not similar to the other at all. However the difference that is found between emanation and the other three worlds is that the light of the Ein Sof pierces and passes through it to the end of emanation without any screen at all. Whereas from there downwards, there is a screen and separation – between creation and formation, in that there is one screen and separation for creation, two screens for formation, and three screens for action. However the components of a world itself are that just like there are four aspects of the components in emanation, as mentioned above, likewise, are there four aspects in creation itself in its components, and so too in formation itself.