Introduction to Sulam Commentary

35. Subsequently, the middle line emerged, and it emerged by means of the partition of the level beneath Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, which ascended as feminine waters to Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna (as stated above in section 32). This is Ze’er Anpin, which ascended to Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna together with the three vessels of Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut when they returned and ascended to their level (as stated above in section 21). The type of light that emerges from upon this partition unites the right and left lines in Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna into one, only that the right will illuminate from above to below, while the left will illuminate from below to above. Then the light of Ḥokhma is enclothed in the garment of the light of giving and can illuminate, and the light of giving is incorporated in the illumination of Ḥokhma and the first three are completed.

Consequently, before the formation of the middle line, the right line and the left line were in conflict with one another, and they wished to negate each other. The right line, as the root of the level and unimpaired by the earlier ascent of Malkhut, wants to negate the dominion of the left and subjugate it, akin to the relationship between a root and its branch. As for the left line, since it contains the light of Ḥokhma, which is greater than the light of giving in the right line (as stated above in section 30), it therefore has greater strength to negate the light of giving in the right line. As a result, neither of them can illuminate, since Ḥokhma is unable to illuminate without the garment of the light of giving, and without the illumination of Ḥokhma the light of giving constitutes six extremities without a head.52When the light of giving appears without the light of Ḥokhma, it is considered six extremities without a head. When this lack of a head is repaired, as in this context, the entire structure is described as attaining the “first three,” referring to the head of the structure. The light of giving represents the yearning of the created being to emulate the Creator through an equating of form, trying to give. Without the light of Ḥokhma, however, the created being lacks the animating lifeforce of the Creator and is incomplete. This same perspective can be applied to the structure of these partzufim. Without the “first three” properly manifest within it, the partzuf is incomplete, and cannot function as a transmitter of the supernal light to subsequent levels.