הקדמה

31. “At that time etc.”At that time, the letter kaf descended from before Him, from upon His throne of glory. She trembled and said to Him: “Master of the world, it is good for You to create the world with me, for I am your kavod [glory].” When the letter kaf descended from upon His throne of glory, two hundred thousand worlds shook and the throne shook, and all the worlds shook on the verge of falling. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: Kaf, kaf, what are you doing here? I will not create the world with you; return to your place as there is kelaya [destruction] in you, and with you “devastating destruction” (Daniel 9:27) was heard. Return to your throne and stay there. At that time, she departed from His presence and returned to her place.

Explanation: “At that time,” while the mem was negotiating with the Holy One, blessed be He, for the world to be created with her, with aspect of the revelation of the light of the face of the King in the world, as stated above, this caused the descent of the kaf from the throne of glory, which is the world of Beria. “She trembled and said etc. for I am your kavod [glory].” Then “two hundred thousand worlds shook,” which are drawn from Ḥokhma and Bina of Beria, which [includes] Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina, of Beria, “and the throne shook, and all the worlds” from there and below, “shook on the verge of falling.”

The meaning of this is that these requests of the letters before the Holy One, blessed be He – that the world should be created with them – are like the ascent of feminine waters to receive masculine waters1See feminine waters for an explanation of this term. from the Holy One, blessed be He, at a height corresponding to the measure of the letter. [The purpose of these requests is so] that the guidance that Ze’er Anpin and Nukba give to the world, as the sources of shefa [for the world], should be at the height of masculine waters that is imparted upon that letter. Similarly, the reply of the Holy One, blessed be He, to each of the twenty-two letters of Ze’er Anpin and Nukba is the aspect of the descent of masculine waters and the emergence of a height of light for its time, according to the measure of the feminine waters that each letter raised. When the height of [each particular column of] light began to reveal its guidance in the world, the reply of the Holy One, blessed be He, to that letter was heard. [The particular letter's] inability to guide the world, on account of the purchase of the kelippa on [the particular letter's] attribute was revealed, in the mystical meaning of: “God made one thing corresponding to the other” (Ecclesiastes 7:14).2This refers to the letters discussed in the Zohar, in which there is a kelippa version of the attribute that each letter possesses, like a dark version of the force the letter symbolizes. At that [rejection], each letter departed and went to her place. This is the mystical meaning of the [concept of the] playing of the Holy One, blessed be He, with each of the twenty-two letters, by giving each of them room to display their guidance in accordance with His will, until they clarify of their own accord, from their own desire, which of them is worthy to be used to guide the world. This is the meaning of the statement above: “And two thousand years before the creation of the world the Holy One, blessed be He, was observing and playing with the letters.”

With this, one can understand that when the mem began to reveal her great light in the world, this caused the kaf to descend from the throne of glory. There are two aspects to the mystical meaning of the throne [kise]: a) It conceals the King, in the mystical meaning of: “He engulfed His secret place in darkness” (Psalms 18:12), and this is why it is called kise, an aspect of kisui [covering]. b) It reveals the glory of Malkhut in the levels, in the mystical meaning of: “And upon the throne was a likeness, like the appearance of a man” (Ezekiel 1:26). This is [achieved] by combining the three letters mem-lamed-kaf [melekh], as then that Malkhut that became the throne of the Melekh [King] and covered Him, in the mystical meaning of: “He engulfed His secret place in darkness,” ascends and becomes a straight kaf.3When the letter kaf appears at the end of a word, instead of the bent form, it is an elongated straight shape that extends downward into the space below. This is the mystical meaning of a garment for the "king himself, " as the "king himself, " Ze’er Anpin, is revealed through [this Malkhut], as stated. [The Malkhut] also became a crown upon the King’s head, as stated.

However, when the mem began to reveal the light of the face of the King in the levels [of existence] without the covering [provided by] the straight kaf, the kaf descended from the throne as well, i.e., she stopped her activity of covering the king. [Like the mem, ] she also said: “It is good for You to create the world with me, for I am your kavod [glory].” In other words, the dynamic of revealing the king’s glory should rule her, without any covering, following along with the desire of the mem. This is why [the Zohar] says “at that time,” rather than “the kaf ascended and said before Him...” as it does for all the other letters. It is because [the kaf] did not awake of her own accord, but rather through the controlling force of the mem, for the control of the mem at that time also brought the kaf down from the throne of glory in the world of Beria, as explained.

[Rav Hamnuna] then says: “She trembled and said […] it is good etc.” When [the kaf] descended from the throne, she and “two hundred thousand worlds,” which are the levels that are drawn from Ḥokhma and Bina in Beria, shook, and likewise “all the worlds shook on the verge of falling.” The meaning is that the whole link between upper and lower [levels], from the top of the [entire structure of] levels to the bottom, is through the Malkhut of the upper [level] becoming a Keter for the [level] below. The mystical meaning of the kaf is the mystical meaning of the enclothing of Malkhut of the upper [level] in the [level] below. There are three aspects to the throne: a) [The aspect of] "six steps of the throne, " which [refers to a structure of] six extremities of the lower level [of the throne], called Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod; b) [The aspect of] "four legs of the throne, " which are the brains of Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, of the lower level; c) [The aspect of] the Malkhut of the higher [level] that descends from the higher [level] to the lower one and is enclothed within [the lower level], since through this Malkhut all the lights from the higher [level] come and illuminate the lower one.

Therefore, at the time of the descent of the kaf from the throne of glory, the connection of Atzilut with the throne of glory, which is the world of Beria, was severed. This is because the kaf is the Malkhut of Atzilut that is enclothed in Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, of Beria, and [the kaf] transmits all the lights to the world of Beria, called the "throne of glory." Since the kaf descended from there [during this discussion with the mem], the connection with Atzilut was lost and the kaf was shaken, since her power to transmit to Beria was paused. “Two hundred thousand worlds,” which are Ḥokhma and Bina that include Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, of Beria, shook. Similarly, all the levels “shook on the verge of falling,” for they lost all of their vitality and shefa from the world of Atzilut.

In a similar manner, one can explain the relationship of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is Bina, with the Ze’er Anpin and Nukba of Atzilut. The Malkhut of Bina which is enclothed in Ze’er Anpin, is the kaf. Thus, this kaf is the throne of the Holy One, blessed be He, which resides over Ze’er Anpin, as the Holy One, blessed be He, is Bina, which is the [level] above Ze’er Anpin, and the Ze’er Anpin becomes a throne for Bina. Upon the descent of [the kaf], the connection of Bina with Ze’er Anpin is severed, because the kaf is the mystical meaning of this Malkhut of the Bina becoming enclothed in Ze’er Anpin and transmitting all the lights to [Ze'er Anpin]. Consequently, [the kaf] herself shook, i.e., her ability to transmit to Ze’er Anpin ceased. Additionally, “two hundred thousand worlds shook,” which are the brains of Ze’er Anpin, called Ḥokhma and Bina, and also called Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, which are the four legs of the throne, as stated, because all the shefa [flowing to them] ceased. Likewise, “all the worlds shook on the verge of falling,” which are the six extremities of Ze’er Anpin, Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod, which include all the worlds below Ze'er Anpin, for they lost all the shefa of Bina. Since they were emptied from the lights of Atzilut, they shook on the verge of falling into the Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya of separation, and being destroyed.

[Rav Hamnuna] continues: “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her etc. ‘devastating destruction’ was heard. Return to your chair.” This is as stated above, that on account of the descent of the kaf from the throne of glory, the first three [sefirot] of Ze’er Anpin shook, and all the levels shook on the verge of falling and being destroyed. That is, “devastating destruction was heard,” which means complete destruction without any further revival. Therefore, you must return to the aspect of the throne, as stated.

He concludes: “At that time, she departed from His presence,” reemphasizing “at that time,” to indicate that her return to her place in the throne came together with the reply of the Holy One, blessed be He, to the mem that “it is unbecoming for the world to stand without a king.” In other words, the shakings that were exposed with the kaf during her descent from the throne of glory, when all the worlds shook on the verge of falling, and the reply of the Holy One, blessed be He, to the mem that “it is unbecoming for the world to stand without a king,” occurred simultaneously. Understand this.