הקדמה

13. “He said to me: Rabbi etc.”[Elijah] said to me: Rabbi, there was a sealed matter before the Holy One, blessed be He, and He revealed it in the assembly above, and it is as follows: When the most sealed of all that are sealed wished to be revealed, He initially made a single dot, which is Malkhut, and this ascended to become a thought, which is Bina, i.e., the Malkhut ascended and was incorporated in Bina.1This incorporation refers to the second constriction. He depicted all of the pictures in it; he engraved all of the engravings in it.

The explanation: The partzuf of Atik2This refers to the highest partzuf of Atzilut. is the first head of the world of Atzilut, and it is called “the most sealed of all that are sealed.” With regard to [Atik], they stated (Idra Rabba, 174): “Any head of a people that is not rectified first, his people are not rectified. From where do we learn this? From the Atik Yomin, since as long as it was not rectified in its rectifications, all those who need rectification were not rectified and all the worlds were destroyed.” It is likewise taught (Idra Zuta, 74): “We learned: When the holy Atika, the most sealed of all that are sealed, wished to be rectified, it rectified everything as male and female etc. Likewise: As this Ḥokhma spread and Bina emerged from it, and they are found to be male and female,” and this is the mystical meaning of the rectification of the second constriction.

This is what he is clarifying here when he says: “When the most sealed of all that are sealed wished to be revealed, He made in the head a single dot.” For when the holy Atika3This is another term for the partzuf of Atik. wished to be revealed to the worlds, through the force of the rectification that was rectified in the second constriction, “he made in the head” of Arikh Anpin, i.e., in the Ḥokhma [of Arikh Anpin], “a single dot.” That is, [Atik] raised the Malkhut, which is called a dot, to the [place] of Arikh Anpin. There, the Nukba that raises the returning light was established, to enclothe the ten sefirot of the head of Arikh Anpin, and the head of Arikh Anpin became concluded at the sefira of the sealed Ḥokhma. And the Ḥokhma “was found to be” like “male and female,”4The ascent of Malkhut in the second constriction leads every partzuf structure to have a male and female component. and Bina and [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba of the head of Arikh Anpin emerged to the outside of the head, i.e., to the level of the body of Arikh Anpin. This is the mystical meaning of “Ḥokhma spread and Bina emerged from it,” that is, Ḥokhma removed [Bina] to the body.5This segment describes the result of the second constriction, in which Malkhut ascends to Bina. In the head of Arikh Anpin, this ascent creates a new ending point below the Ḥokhma of the head, instead of at the mouth (the original position of Malkhut before the ascent). This ejects Bina, Ze'er Anpin and Nukba to the body of Arikh Anpin.

He then says: “And this ascended to become a thought.” In other words, this dot of Malkhut that ascended to Ḥokhma – and by means of which the Ḥokhma was established as male and female – it ascended on this account and became a thought, i.e., Bina, which is called a thought. The reason is simple – since [this dot] stands in a state of fusion with Ḥokhma, it receives from Ḥokhma, and that which receives from Ḥokhma is considered Bina, not Malkhut. Thus, even though [the dot] is Malkhut from its root, the aspect of a dot, on account of its ascent it has become Bina. This is the meaning of: “And this ascended to become a thought,” as this caused the dot to become Bina, which is called a thought.

You should know that in the Zohar the term “thought” sometimes refers to Ḥokhma and sometimes to Bina. The reason is that “thought” means the Nukba6This refers to the female aspect of Ḥokhma resulting from the second constriction. of Ḥokhma, and therefore it can be called by the name of Ḥokhma, since it is the Nukba of Ḥokhma. However, with regard to [thought's] own nature, it is Bina rather than Ḥokhma, as stated. Additionally, Bina is only called by the name "thought" when it is the head together with the Ḥokhma. Keep this in mind.

This is what is meant by “he depicted all of the pictures in it; he engraved all of the engravings in it.” Through this dot which ascended to become a thought, he depicted and carved all five partzufim of Atzilut, which are Arikh Anpin, Abba and Imma (father and mother), and [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba. That which it says “depicted in it” and “engraved in it” is alluding to a great matter: “Depicted in it” means that all the pictures, which are the five partzufim of Atzilut were emanated through it. That is, by means of the [fusion though collision] performed on the partition of this dot7As explained, the dot is Malkhut. Malkhut has a partition upon it and the effects of this partition are carried with Malkhut when Malkhut ascends to Bina. that ascended to become a “thought,” the level of the six extremities of the returning light and direct light in the vessels of Keter and Ḥokhma emerged in each partzuf. By contrast, “he engraved all of the engravings in it” refers to deficiency, that is, with the ascent of the dot to become a thought, deficiencies and engravings were formed, which are preparations for the aspect of a receptacle upon the lights in all the partzufim of Atzilut. Since this matter is the foundation of all the brains of Atzilut, it must be thoroughly clarified.

The meaning is that the ascent of the dot to the aspect of thought, which is Bina, leads to the formation of a new conclusion to the ten sefirot of each level. The dot, which is the mystical meaning of Malkhut with the partition upon it – which was positioned for a [fusion through collision] at the place of Malkhut of the ten sefirot of the head, called “mouth,” and concluded the head there – now ascended to the place of Bina of the head, which is called the apertures of the eyes,8The structure of a partzuf corresponds to the structure of a human body. The head of a partzuf has the five features of skull, eyes, ears, nose and mouth, each corresponding to one of the five main sefirot. i.e., Nukba of Ḥokhma, which is Bina. The [fusion through collision] was performed on the partition [of Malkhut], there in the place of the apertures of the eyes, concluding the head there.9The partition blocks the flow of the direct light and creates returning light. The position of the partition in the structure of the head determines where the endpoint of the head lies. And the three sefirot: Bina, Ze’er Anpin, and Malkhut of the head, which are called “ear, nose, mouth,” descended below the place of the conclusion of the head, i.e., to the level of the body.10Although Malkhut ascended to Bina, following the principle that nothing can be lost in spiritual reality, only added, the sefira of Malkhut of the head remains at the position of the mouth and descends with Bina and Ze'er Anpin to the body. In the same manner, this necessarily transpired in the ten sefirot of the body as well. The Malkhut that concludes the body of the partzuf, which previously stood at the place of the middle point – which is Malkhut of the ten sefirot of the body, called “the end of the legs” – now ascended to the place of Bina of the body, called Tiferet (since Ḥesed, Gevura, and Tiferet of the body are Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina), and concluded the body there at Tiferet, in the place of the chest. These three sefirot: Bina, and [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba of the body, which are called Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, Yesod, and Malkhut, emerged from Atzilut and fell into the level of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya of separation.

Thus, on account of the ascent of the dot to become a thought, each level was split into two halves, with the upper half, Keter and Ḥokhma, remaining in the level, while Bina, Ze’er Anpin and Nukba of each level were lost from [the level] and descended to the level below. This is the mystical meaning of the division of the name Elohim into [the letters] Mi Eleh. A complete level of ten sefirot of Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Ze’er [Anpin] and Nukba is called by the holy name of Elohim, which consists of five letters corresponding to the five sefirot of Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba: Alef-lamed-heh are Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina, while yod-mem are [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba. Now, after each level has been divided into two halves, with Keter and Ḥokhma remaining, and Bina, [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba falling from it, as stated, it follows that only the two letters Mi remained in each level, while the three letters of Eleh fell from each level to the level below.

One should not ask: According to this, shouldn’t the two letters alef-lamed [el] have remained in the level, while the [letters] yod-heh-mem should have fallen from it to the level below?11The logic here is that ostensibly it should be the first letters that remain, since it is the first sefirot that remain in the level. The reason is that there is a consistent inverse relationship between the vessels and the lights. This is the rule: In the case of the vessels, the higher ones come first, i.e., first comes the vessel of Keter, then the vessel of Ḥokhma,... until lastly the vessel of Malkhut. It is the reverse in the case of the lights; with regard to them, the lower ones come first: First comes the light of Malkhut, then the light of Ze’er Anpin, then the light of Bina,... until lastly the light of Keter. Therefore, if of the vessels there are only the two vessels of Keter and Ḥokhma, they contain only two of the lights, the light of Malkhut and the light of Ze’er Anpin, which are called the six extremities. Consequently, we can discern that only the two letters mem-yod [Mi] remained in the level, which are the mystical meaning of the light of Malkhut and the light of Ze’er Anpin of the name Elohim.12Meaning, the last two letters of the name Elohim, corresponding to the two lowest lights, remain in the level. But the three letters alef-lamed-heh [eleh]13Corresponding here to the three higher lights. fell from them, and therefore each level became lacking in its first three.

This is the meaning of the statement: “He depicted all of the pictures in it; he engraved all of the engravings in it.” This is alluding to the division of each level into two halves through the force of the ascent of the dot to become a thought. “He depicted all of the pictures in it,” i.e., on the two letters mem-yod [Mi] that remain in the level, he depicted the picture of the direct light. “He engraved all of the engravings in it,” i.e., the three letters alef-lamed-heh [eleh], which fell from each level and became lacking in [the levels], since on account of their absence only the light of Malkhut and the light of Ze’er Anpin remained in the level, whereas the three lights of Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina are lacking in them, since there is no light without a vessel. Thus, if the levels were to obtain once again the vessels of Bina and [Ze’er Anpin] and Nukba, the [levels] would immediately obtain the first three of lights as well, for one depends on the other. Keep in mind these matters that have been clarified here, as they are the basis for the entire wisdom.