Introduction to Sulam Commentary

44. You can see that the essence of Ḥokhma is in the head of Arikh Anpin, which is the one called the sealed Ḥokhma.80The Ḥokhma of Arikh Anpin is described as sealed because it doesn't reach the lower levels in any direct form. As the previous sections have explained, the entire process of the rectification of lines allows for the illumination of Ḥokhma to reach the lower created beings. However, this ultimate illumination is only a reflection of the pure light of Ḥokhma that is manifest at the highest reaches of Atzilut. This is because this original Ḥokhma is sealed in the head of Arikh Anpin and does not illuminate to the lower ones, which are below the head of Arikh Anpin. Moreover, Abba and Imma81See footnotes in previous two sections for the explanation of this term. and Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna are the original Bina of Atzilut, which is called “the level of Sag of Mah,”82The level of “Mah” refers to Atzilut and Sag of Atzilut means its third level, which is Bina, which is the essence of giving, as explained in the previous sections. whose essence is the light of giving, not the light of Ḥokhma. Upon the emergence of Bina from the head of Arikh Anpin, only the lower seven of Bina were impaired, which are Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, because they were left without the first three as a result of Bina leaving the head. They are completed only with the return of Bina to the head of Arikh Anpin, since then Bina receives Ḥokhma for Ze’er Anpin and Nukba. At that stage, the lower seven are considered Ḥokhma of the left line, meaning that this light of Ḥokhma is revealed only by way of three lines that emerge in Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, with the light of Ḥokhma revealed in the left line of these three lines (as stated in section 34 above).

However, even though the first three and the lower seven of Bina, which are the Abba and Imma and Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, returned to the head of Arikh Anpin, Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna do not receive the light of Ḥokhma directly from the sealed Ḥokhma in the head of Arikh Anpin. This is because each level receives only from the higher level that is adjacent to it. Rather, Abba and Imma receive the light of Ḥokhma from the sealed Ḥokhma in the head of Arikh Anpin, and they give to Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna.