Introduction to Sulam Commentary

Three Come Out of One; One Exists in Three52. It has thus been explained that the second aspect of the ascent of the feminine waters of Ze’er Anpin is that it is there in order to unite the two lines, right and left, of Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, which can illuminate only by means of the partition of ḥirik108See section 39 above, and the footnotes there, for a complete explanation of this concept. that is in Ze’er Anpin (see the end of section 39 above), as the partition completes in them the middle line, which mediates between the two lines of Bina. It follows that three lines emerge in Bina that are called Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da’at109See section 46 above, and the footnote there, for an explanation of the role of Da’at in the process of the rectification of lines. by means of the partition of Ze’er Anpin. This is in accordance with the principle that the entire amount of light that a lower level causes to illuminate in an upper level is merited by the lower level as well.110In other words, the yearning from below triggers a change above, and this change is also reflected below, in the level of origin of the yearning. Therefore, since Ze’er Anpin caused, with its partition, three lines – Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da’at – to emerge in Yisrael Sabba and Tevuna, Ze’er Anpin also merits three lines of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da’at. This is the meaning of the statement of the Zohar (Bereshit 1:363) “Three come out of one; one exists in three.”