Introduction to Sulam Commentary

12. You thus find that as long as all five vessels – Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut – have not developed in the partzuf, the lights are not in their appropriate places. What is more, they maintain an inverse relationship, for if the vessel of Malkhut, the smallest vessel, is absent in the partzuf, the largest light, yeḥida, is missing. If the two lowest vessels, Tiferet and Malkhut, are absent, the two highest lights, yeḥida and ḥaya, will be missing. If the three lowest vessels, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut, are absent, the three highest lights, yeḥida, ḥaya, and neshama, will be missing, and so on in this manner. As long as all five vessels – Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut – have not developed in the partzuf, there will be an inverse relationship between the vessels and the lights: If one light and one vessel are lacking, then with regard to the lights, the largest light, which is the light of yeḥida, will be missing, while the reverse is the case for the vessels. The smallest vessel will be missing, which is the vessel of Malkhut, in the manner described above.