Teil 11 · Antworten zur Bedeutung der Wörter

AVI Ilain are HaVaYaH and Ehyeh. And when Upper Ima alone is considered in her own five phases, her Keter is the phase of the plain Ehyeh without a filling, and HB, which are Yod-Hey within her, are two Ehyeh in the filling of Yudin. And ZA within her is Ehyeh in the filling of Alfin. And the Nukva of ZA within her is Ehyeh in the filling of Hehin. And it is known that these five phases of Upper Ima clothe one within another, like the five general phases of Atzilut, where the first three Partzufim — Keter and HB within it — extend down to the Chazeh, and ZON within it are from the Chazeh downward.

Avir [air] means: light of Ruach, namely light of Hassadim, as is known. And Avira Dachya [pure air] means: light of Hassadim of the GAR of Bina, which, even though it is Hassadim, is nevertheless considered a complete GAR, like the light of Hochma. And plain Avir means: VAK without GAR, meaning that they already need the illumination of Hochma, since they are of the aspect of the ZAT of Bina or of ZA, and without this they are considered a body without a head. (Item 126).

The mutual grasp of the vessels one within another: the illumination of the HG of Ima, which raises the bottom Hey to the Einayim and thereby makes the left line in every ten Sefirot, as is known, is found to hold all the vessels of these ten Sefirot within one another, and binds them together as though they were a single Sefira and a single vessel, since afterward the coupling is made upon this coarseness in the left, and the level is drawn in direct and reflected light, and thereby the discernment of the middle line is decided, and then the three lines are found bound and joined one to another. For the right line, which is the essence of the ten Sefirot, receives the illumination of the middle line through the coupling made upon the left line, as above. (Item 7).

The Mochin are ten Sefirot, discerned as GAR and ZAT, namely HB and ZON, each of which has ten Sefirot in it. And it is known that the ten Sefirot of the phase of the light of Hochma are discerned into five phases: KHB ZON. And the ten Sefirot of the light of Hassadim have no discernment of KHB in them, since the KHB descended in them to the discernment of HGT, and they are therefore called the five Hassadim: HGT NH, or HG: HGT NH. For the five phases of ZA are called HH, and the five phases of the Nukva are called HG. And these are the four Mochin, called: Hochma, Bina, Hassadim, and Gevurot. And these two lower Mochin, called HG, unite into one when they raise reflected light from below upward and couple with the two upper Mochin, called HB; and then HG, being but a single Mochin, is called the Mochin of the Daat. Thus the Daat is made from two distinct discernments, which are ZA and the Nukva of the Mochin, though they unite into a single Mochin by the secret of the coupling, as above. Therefore the Mochin of the Daat is discerned as made of two halves. See further in Answer 5. (Item 121).

The three Mochin HBD of ZA divide in the manner of the division of AVI and Yeshsut, since HB within him are AVI Ilain of the Mochin, and are of the discernment of covered Hassadim, whose coupling never ceases; and the Daat within him is the discernment of Yeshsut of the Mochin, which are of the discernment of revealed Hassadim, whose coupling does cease, as is known. Therefore, at the time he receives the Mochin, he receives each discernment from the corresponding discernment in AVI, in such a way that the two upper Mochin, HB, within him, he receives from the two supernal thirds of Hesed and Gevura of AA, which clothe in the six upper Sefirot of AVI, called Samech, that is, down to their Chazeh. And the two halves of the Mochin of the Daat he receives from the NHY of AVI, from the Chazeh downward, which are the discernment of Yeshsut. Now, the arms of AA, which are HG within him, clothed in AVI, divide into RTS: HBD, HGT, NHY, so that the hand joined to the fingers is HBD, and the arm is HGT, and the tops of the shoulders joined to the body are NHY within them. It is thus found that HG of the Mochin, which are the Daat of ZA, receiving them from the discernment of NHY of the arms, which are the discernment of Yeshsut as above, receives them from the two shoulders of AA. See further, Answer 6. (Item 121).

When the Mochin of ZA, namely HB and HG, as above in Answer 5, come by way of the Yesodot of AVI — where HB are drawn from the upper joints of the arms, namely the RTS within them, clothed in AVI Ilain, and HG are drawn from the lower joints of the arms of AA, namely their ends, which are the aspect of Yeshsut, as above in Answer 5 — they come by way of the Yesod as well, in the same manner of their division above. For the Yesod, too, divides into RTS: the two upper joints are the Yesod, and the lower joint is the Atara, as is known. Therefore the two upper Mochin, HB, clothe in the Yesod in the manner of their being drawn from the two upper joints of the arms of AA, and the lower Mochin, which is HG, clothes in the Atara of the Yesod, which is the lower third of the Yesod, like the two shoulders, which are the lower thirds of the arms of AA.

All the Gadlut of ZA is included in the fillings of AB, SAG, MAH, which in Gematria are Kav [102] (see Answer 64). And through them come the vessels of NHY, which are his legs, and the GAR of the lights, as is known. And he attains this wholeness on the Sabbath day, for then he clothes AVI Ilain, and has all the lights in wholeness, as he had at the time of the Nekudim. But all this is only from the side of the lights alone; from the side of the vessels, however, he is considered in the standing of the ancient ZA of the Nekudim, who still lacks NHY of the vessels. For the ZA of the Nekudim was already whole even from the first Tzimtzum, and therefore expanded down to Assiya equally with the NHY of AK. This is not so with the ZA of Atzilut, who is cut off at the Parsa between Atzilut and Beria even on the Sabbath day, and whose legs do not reach the legs of AK. This is because the whole correction of the ZA of Atzilut is from the second Tzimtzum, from the secret of the joining of the quality of mercy with judgment, in the secret of ‘and the two of them went,’ where the two Heys are included one within the other. And from here come his fillings of AB, SAG, MAH, which are the Mochin of the Sabbath day. Therefore the Parsa beneath Atzilut remains in its full force even on the Sabbath, and he cannot expand into BYA equally with the legs of AK, as he will in the future, when his NHY will also be corrected from the aspect of the first Tzimtzum, and then his legs will reach the legs of AK, and it will be revealed in the secret of ‘and His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives,’ as is known.

Just as there are three discernments in the general degree of ZA, which are: pregnancy, nursing, Mochin — meaning NRNHY of the lights, and KHB ZON of the vessels — so too there are these three discernments during the pregnancy of ZA itself, which are: the three days of absorption, the forty days of the formation of the fetus, and the three months for the recognition of the fetus, which comprise the NRNHY of the fetus. For the three days of absorption are the phase of Nefesh of the fetus, which is his phase of Assiya; and the forty days of the formation of the fetus are the phase of Ruach of the fetus, and his phase of Yetzira; and the three months for the recognition of the fetus are the NHY of the fetus, and his Atzilut. And these three discernments apply both in the discernment of the vessels and in the discernment of the sparks and in the discernment of the lights, and therefore they recur three times, in three chambers: in the first chamber they are the discernment of KHB ZON of his vessels; in the second chamber they are NRNHY of the sparks; and in the third chamber they are NRNHY of the lights. (Items 40 to 50).

The filling of HaVaYaH of AB is in the filling of Yudin, for wherever it shines, it brings the bottom Hey down from the Einayim, which came into being at the second Tzimtzum, and returns the AHP to their place. This is because AB of Atzilut receives from the corresponding discernment in AB of AK, where there was not yet any beginning of the second Tzimtzum, since the second Tzimtzum begins from the Tabur of AK downward, as is known; and therefore it is in the filling of Yudin, for the filling of Yudin indicates the first Tzimtzum, as is known. However, there are two discernments in this: AVI Ilain, whose way is in covered Hassadim, and their discernment from the Chazeh downward, called Yeshsut, whose way is in revealed Hassadim. And this is the whole difference between HaVaYaH of AB, which has four Yudin, and HaVaYaH of SAG, which has three Yudin. For in AB, which is AVI Ilain, there are four Mochin, namely HB, Hesed, and Gevura, and this is because Hesed and Gevura, which are the aspect of ZON of the Mochin, do not join openly to couple and to raise reflected light up to HB in order to bring the illumination of Hochma outward, since they are of the aspect of covered Hassadim, whose way is not to reveal the illumination of Hochma, in the secret of ‘for He delights in mercy,’ as is known. Therefore this HB is called by the name the hidden Daat, since they do not couple to expand in the illumination of Hochma. And they are therefore discerned as two distinct Mochin, and there are here four Mochin: HB HG, to which the four Yudin of the filling of HaVaYaH of AB allude.

The three days of absorption are the discernment of the correction of the three lines, brought about by the coupling of AVI, of which a line and a half are corrected by Aba, and a line and a half by Ima. For Aba shines in the secret of the 32 Paths of Hochma, and divides the MAN of ZA into 320 discernments; and since he shines only to the nine [Sefirot] of each path, and does not shine to the Malchuyot of each path, it is found that he thereby rejects the 32 Malchuyot of each and every path back to BYA in the secret of waste, and shines and corrects the nine of each path in the secret of the whiteness within the offspring that comes from Aba, which is the secret of 288 sparks, since nine times 32 equals 288. And these 288 include the right line and the right half of the middle line — that is, the whole essence of the ten Sefirot of ZON, apart from the coarseness and the Malchuyot within them, since he rejected the whole discernment of Malchuyot within the 32 paths and brought them down to BYA, and nothing remained there but the essence of the Sefirot. This is the secret of the whiteness that Aba gives, since through Aba's clarifications nothing remained in the MAN of the offspring but the discernment of the right, called white, that shone, for there is nothing there of the discernment of Malchuyot and of the discernment of coarseness at all.

The light of Haya at every level whatsoever is discerned as the phase of the self and the essence, without which there is no recognition at all in the level. Therefore even the phase of the fetus has no recognition until three months have passed over it, for only at the completion of the three months, when the filling of the 46 sparks of HaVaYaH of AB, which is the phase of the Haya of the fetus, enters into it, does it have its own phase of self, and it has recognition outwardly. (Item 21).

There are three pregnancies: the pregnancy of seven months, for the lights; the pregnancy of nine months, for the sparks; the pregnancy of twelve months, for the vessels. (Item 1).

The root of the Nukva is in the Atara of the Yesod of ZA, as is known. This is because the Malchut was there at the time of the Nekudim, when the ZAT were in the discernment of a single line, as is customary in the first Tzimtzum, where Malchut is beneath all the nine Sefirot, and the nine Sefirot are all pure of the discernment of restriction and coarseness, as is known. And this Malchut is the secret of complete judgment, on account of which there was the breaking of the vessels, as is known. However, at the time of correction, the ZAT rose in the secret of pregnancy in the womb of Bina, in the secret of ‘three within three,’ NHY within HGT, and the Atara of the Yesod was included in the Tifferet, which is the Bina of the five Hassadim, and the quality of mercy was joined with judgment, since the bottom Hey that was in the Atara of the Yesod was included in the first Hey that is in Tifferet, which is the quality of mercy, and the Malchut was sweetened. Nevertheless, since the root of the Malchut was there, an internality and an externality are discerned in it, which is the secret of the two skins that are upon the Atara of the Yesod, since its root, being from the quality of judgment, still remains there in the discernment of externality, and this skin must be removed from there, since the external forces, called orla [foreskin], have a great hold there, which is the secret of circumcision, after one is born and comes out into the air of the world. Therefore the Mochin of the phase of pregnancy are discerned as complete judgments, because, although the bottom Hey has already been sweetened by the quality of mercy as above, the orla has not yet been removed from there; therefore these three Sefirot NHY of the fetus, included in HGT, are discerned as the three years of orla, and mercy cannot be revealed in the Partzuf until the orla is removed from there. (Item 86).

There are three Sefirot that do not receive correction during the months of pregnancy: Gevura, which is the discernment of the left line of HGT, does not receive correction, since there is not yet the level of HGT there, only the level of NHY. And there is nothing in this level but the discernment of Tifferet and Yesod, included one within the other, so that Gevura is not decided by them; and also Netzah and Hod are not fully clarified for this reason, since they are included within HGT and have no revelation in their own place. See further in Answer 32. (Items 8, 9).

The Rosh of AA is the root for the whole of Atzilut in general, both for Hochma and for Hassadim. And the Garon [throat] of AA, although it came out from the discernment of the Rosh of AA, is also discerned as a Rosh and a Keter, but only with regard to the Guf alone, which is Hassadim, as is known. For the Garon of AA is a Keter to AVI, who are the discernment of covered Hassadim. And accordingly the Garon of ZA is discerned as the phase of Rosh and Keter, while it is in the discernment of a Guf without a Rosh. Now, the Rosh of ZA is drawn from the GAR of NHY of AA, as is known — namely, from what rose and became HGT of AVI at the time of Gadlut. And behold, at the pregnancy of ZA, although then too NHY rose and became HGT, nevertheless only the two upper thirds of NH rose, while Yesod did not rise to join HGT, because of its being below the screen of Sium standing behind Tifferet. Thus only the two upper thirds of NH became the discernment of Rosh, namely HGT, but the Yesod came out of the discernment of the Rosh of ZA, since it did not rise to the discernment of HGT.

See answer 9. (Page 1069, Item 124).

The garments of the Mochin of ZA are called Tzelem [image], and the garments of the Mochin of the Nukva of ZA are called Demut [likeness]. And the three letters of Tzelem are the discernment of the three letters Yod-Vav-Vav of HaVaYaH, and Demut is the discernment of the bottom Hey of HaVaYaH. (Page 1063, Item 112).

See answer 9.

See answer 9.

See answer 9.

The lights of the seven kings that remained in Atzilut, namely their records, are divided into refined light and coarse light (as above, page 983, Answer 62, see there). Only the refined light remained in Atzilut, but their coarse light fell together with the vessels into BYA. This is the secret of the 288 sparks that fell with the vessels into BYA in order to give them life. And these are called the Hevel de-Garmei [breath of the bones], because they are swallowed within the vessels even while they are in BYA, in the place of death. And at the time of correction, after they rose and were corrected in Atzilut, these sparks became the phase of Nefesh for the external vessels. (Page 1057, Items 96, 97).

When the Partzuf is in its Katnut, it has only the six vessels: HGT NHY. And at the time of Gadlut, when the bottom Hey descends from the Einayim and the AHP, which are the new NHY, are returned to the Partzuf, and it attains the GAR of the lights, then the vessels of the Partzuf are doubled and enlarged: the doubling revolves around the vessels themselves, since it acquires new NHY in addition to the first NHY, and likewise HGT becomes HGT and KHB. And the enlargement revolves around the NHY of the upper one, which join with the vessels of the lower one and enlarge them. For every Sefira must have three thirds, and since only the two upper thirds of Hesed rise and become Hochma, the upper third of Netzah of Ima joins them and completes it to three thirds. Likewise, the upper third of Hod of Ima completes the two thirds of Gevura that rose and became Bina, and so on for every Sefira, until every Sefira is completed to three thirds. And this completion from the side of the upper one is called by the name Hagdala [enlargement]. (Page 1060, Items 106 and 107).

See answer 22. (Ibid.)

See answer 11. (Item 18).

See answer 7. (Page 1029, Item 37).

The clothing in the Lamed of Tzelem is called discernible clothing. But the clothing in the Mem of Tzelem is discerned as clothing that is not discernible. This is because the Mem of Tzelem is the discernment of covered Hassadim, since at Gadlut they become the discernment of AVI Ilain of Tevuna, and are therefore not fit for the clothing of the Mochin on behalf of ZA, who needs revealed Hassadim. Rather, after the Mochin of ZA descend and clothe in the Lamed of Tzelem, which at Gadlut becomes the discernment of Yeshsut, which are in revealed Hassadim, then the Mochin have a complete clothing, since the garments are of the discernment of revealed Hassadim, corresponding to the discernment of the Mochin of ZA. It is therefore discerned as discernible clothing. (Item 108).

See below, answer 37. (Item 128).

See answer 3. (Item 6).

Zeir [small] is a term meaning small. And he is called this because of the Gevurot and the judgments revealed in him, and he is therefore likened to a small one, since it is the way of the small one to be cruel and quick-tempered, while the more one grows the more settled one becomes in one's mind. Therefore the revelation of mercy is called by the name old age and gray hair. (Items 82 and 83).

See answer 29. (Page 1053, Item 83).

It is known that the whole NRNHY of ZA is not, compared to the Nekudim, anything but the phase of Nefesh in the vessel of Keter, lacking the nine lower Sefirot of the vessels and the nine Sefirot of the lights — namely, only a single Kav out of the ten Kabin of the Nekudim, as above in Answer 33. Thus ZA in pregnancy, who has nothing but the phase of Nefesh of these NRNHY, meaning a tenth part of the Kav that was corrected in Atzilut, is now one hundredth of what he had at the Nekudim. He is therefore called at that time, in the fetus, by the discernment of Challah [dough offering], which is one hundredth. And likewise Adam HaRishon is called the Challah of the world, for the same reason: for the whole wholeness that was corrected in him was of the discernment of a single Kav of Atzilut, and after the sin nothing remained in him but Nefesh of Nefesh, in the vessel of the Keter of the Keter, which is one hundredth, as stated above, page 683, Item 93, and in the Inner Light there, see there. (Item 24).

The level of Nefesh that the fetus receives while it is in the inclusion of the coupling of Ima comprises these three lights, since the essence of the level is in the middle line, as is known, and it includes the two lights Tifferet and Yesod, included one within the other, while the root of the level is the light of Hesed, which is the secret of ‘the day that goes with all the days.’ And one should not ask, then why seven months? For by way of inclusion, the correction of all seven lights rises from them. (Item 8).

All the discernment of the correction of the five Partzufim of Atzilut, from the side of the Mochin fixed in them, corrected from the Nekudim only their Rosh and Guf, which are but the equivalent of their Ketarim, but from the discernment of the nine lower Sefirot they were not corrected in the permanence of the world of Atzilut. Therefore the pure Kav that was corrected in ZA, in the secret of the three fillings of AB, SAG, MAH, which in Gematria are Kav [102], is discerned as only a single Kav, namely the discernment of the Ketarim as above, and the nine Kabin, namely the nine lower Sefirot of the vessels, are lacking from him. And to this our sages, of blessed memory, alluded: ‘A woman prefers a Kav with intimacy over nine Kabin with abstinence’ (Ketubot 62b; Sotah 20a), which is the discernment of the union of the Nukva with the ZA corrected in Atzilut in the discernment of a single Kav, which is better than the nine Kabin of the Nekudim, which cause abstinence between them, since all the hold of the shells is from them. (Item 25).

See answer 51. (Item 33).

The joining of the bottom Hey in the Einayim, customary at the time of Katnut, is the secret of the Yud that mixed into the light and became Avir [air], since because of the rising of the bottom Hey, KHB, which is the discernment of the light of GAR, descended and became HGT, which is the discernment of Ruach and Nefesh, called Avir. And at the time of Gadlut, through the illumination of the coupling of AB SAG, the bottom Hey descends from the Einayim to its place, and the GAR return to the Partzuf, as is known. And this is what is written in the Zohar, Bereshit, page 15b, on the verse ‘Let there be light, and there was light’ — that it is light that already had been, since the Yud expanded and went out from Avir, and what remained is found to be Or [light]; namely, as above, that the bottom Hey descends from the Einayim to its place, and then the light of GAR returns to the Partzuf as before. Thus there is no renewal of the light here, but rather that same light which had previously become hidden because of the rising of the bottom Hey to the Einayim has now returned, after the bottom Hey descended from there.

The filling of HaVaYaH of Alfin is nineteen, namely: three Alephs, two Vavs, and a Dalet, which, together with the twenty-six of HaVaYaH itself, amount to forty-five [MAH] in Gematria. And it is known that the discernment of the filling is the coarseness and the screen upon which the coupling with the upper light is made. Therefore they are the discernment of the 19 sparks from BYA, in the secret of MAN, in the inclusion of AVI, until the forty days of the formation of the fetus. And they are discerned as the vitality of the very essence of ZA, namely the discernment of the Nefesh and Ruach within him. (Item 12).

It is known that the secret of the Tzelem is the discernment of the reflected light that rises from the MAN of ZA at the time when it is included in the coarseness and screen of AVI, which clothes upon the level of direct light (see Answer 57). And the discernment of the direct light is the very essence of the Mochin, while the discernment of the reflected light is the garments of the Mochin, which are called Tzelem. Now, this clothing of the Mochin of ZA during his pregnancy is at a very high level, since then AVI and Yeshsut are included in a single Partzuf, and the coupling is made in the GAR of one Yeshsut, which is the place of the lower third of the Tifferet of the whole of the two of them together. And in order to clothe in ZA in his own place, two descents are needed from this high place: the first descent is at the time of birth, when the GAR of Yeshsut, where the standing-place of the Mochin of ZA is, descend and become the discernment of HGT, namely VAK lacking GAR. And so the garments of the Mochin of ZA are found to have lost their discernment of GAR, and then the garments are called by the name the Mem of Tzelem, and this is the first expansion of the Mochin of ZA, since they expanded from the garments of GAR and came to the garments of VAK.

This was already explained in the previous parts, in the Partzufim of AK: every lower one fills the vessels of the body of the upper one, after its screen has been refined and the vessels of its body have emptied of their lights. Hence, in every Partzuf two kinds of vessels are discerned: the first kind are the vessels that already existed in the world, meaning the vessels of the body of the upper one that emptied of their lights and came to the phase of the lower one. The second are the vessels that emerge with the new coupling made in the phase of the lower one, for after the screen couples with the upper light and raises reflected light from below upward to the phase of the ten Sefirot of the Rosh, it then inverts and expands into ten Sefirot from itself, from above downward, to the phase of the vessels of the body. These vessels are new vessels that did not yet exist in the world, having emerged now by force of the coupling, as explained. In the Partzufim of Atzilut, the vessels that already existed in the world are called by the name BON, and the new vessels by the name MA. (Item 7)

When the Mochin and their garments are in the place of their emergence — the GAR of the first Tevuna, which is the phase of the belly of the whole of Aba ve Ima and Israel Saba ve Tevuna together — where at the time of birth the GAR of Tevuna descend to the phase of HGT, they are then called the Mem of Tzelem. Afterward, when they descend also from the phase of HGT and come to expand into the phase of NHY of Tevuna, they are then called the Lamed of Tzelem. See above, in answer 37, where this was elaborated. (Item 128, and Item 137)

The 37 sparks are the measure of the coarseness in the filling of HaVaYaH of SAG, meaning what is fit to bring out upon them the level of Bina and Neshama. (Item 2).

See above, answer 37 and 39. (Page 1071, Item 127).

At the completion of the forty days, 37 sparks of the filling of SAG entered the fetus, which are the phase of Bina, who is the mother that forms the fetus. (Item 21).

See answer 35, and answer 55. (Item 135).

It is the gematria of the filling of HaVaYaH of AB. And it is the phase of the coarseness fit to bring out upon it the level of Hochma. (Page 1019, Item 21).

The fillings of the Names hint at the phases of coarseness and screens over which the upper light couples, drawing out the level of the ten Sefirot according to the measure of their coarseness, as is known. However, when they are not in the secret of the coupling, the fillings are discerned as being without the Names, and then they are a phase of judgments. This is the hint that the filling equals Elokim in gematria: when they are without the Name they are judgments, for the name Elokim indicates judgments; but when they are in the secret of the coupling — that is, with the Name — then, on the contrary, they are in the secret of mercy, the phase of HaVaYaH. (1:25, Item 33)

The MAN and the coarseness with which the upper light unites are called filling, and as long as they have not yet entered the secret of the union, they are considered a filling without the simple. See above, in Answer 45. (Item 32).

Above, answers 45 and 46. (Ibid.)

See answer 37.

See answer 40.

See answer 44.

It is known that ZA ascends on the Sabbath day up to AA, and attains the whole of the level he had at the time of Nekudim, so that all the flaws caused at the time of the breaking of the vessels are already corrected. For thus ZA, who is the phase of the ZAT of Nekudim that broke, returned to the whole of the level and completeness he had before the breaking of the vessels. However, all this is only on the side of the lights, but not on the side of the vessels, for the three worlds BYA were not corrected in their own place, but only in the secret of ascent alone. Hence, on the one hand, BYA are discerned as having already come to their whole completeness, since all their lights were corrected through the ascent of ZA and through the ascent of the worlds to Atzilut. But on the other hand, that is, on the side of the vessels, the Parsa of Atzilut is still fixed in its place, and the great completeness of Atzilut cannot extend to the place of BYA, because of the Parsa that restrains it from them. Therefore the place of BYA is discerned as a vacant place and space, meaning that the light of the completeness of Atzilut is not there, yet there is also no hold there for the shells and the external forces, because although the lights cannot extend there on account of the Parsa, still no deficiency is discerned there, since they are corrected on the side of their ascent to Atzilut. This is the secret of “he who profanes it shall surely die,” for one who performs work causes the Sitra Achra to be able to take hold even in the vacant place and space, from which the Sitra Achra had already been completely removed, as above. (1,027, Item 35)

It is the number of days needed to correct one vessel during the time of pregnancy. For there are seven vessels, and their correction extends over twelve months, which are three hundred and sixty and a half days, so it is found to be fifty-one and a half days for each vessel. (Item 7).

This name is explained in the secret of the three verses in the portion of the Splitting of the Red Sea, which are: “and he journeyed,” “and he came,” “and he stretched out.” These contain 216 letters, and in the secret of the Hassadim of the upper Aba ve Ima they join in the secret of the 72 bridges of the waters of Hesed, for every three letters among them join into one word and one name. For these Hassadim of the GAR of Bina are called bridges, because the restriction and the bottom Hey do not rule over them, as is known, in the secret of “for He delights in mercy,” and you already know that the upper Aba ve Ima divide into sixty

See answer 13. (Item 86).

Bina, who went out beyond the Rosh of AA, is called “a tower floating in the air,” for on the one hand she is considered a Rosh, since Bina is the phase of GAR, and on the other hand she is considered VAK, since she is found below the Malchut of the Rosh of AA; hence she is considered as floating in the air, for she is neither in the Rosh nor in the Guf. Similarly, the Yesod of AA, from the aspect of the illumination to ZA, is also considered “a tower floating in the air.” For at the time of the ascent of the NHY of AA to the HGT of Aba ve Ima, only the two upper sections of Netzah and Hod rose to become HGT and GAR for the sake of ZA, but the Yesod of AA could not rise, because of the screen of the Sium of the middle line that rests at the end of the Tifferet of AA. Hence the Yesod of AA is discerned as having gone out beyond the Rosh of ZA, just as Bina went out beyond the Rosh of AA, and accordingly the Yesod, too, is called “a tower floating in the air.” Likewise, the Tevuna of Tevuna is also called “a tower floating in the air,” because at times she is GAR and at times she is VAK, in the secret of “the Yod that goes out from Avir [air], and what remains is Or [light]” — then she is GAR; and at times the Yod returns to the body of the light, and she again becomes Avir and VAK. See answer 35. (Item 96 and 97, and Item 134 and 135)

Tzelem is the reflected light that rises upon the inclusion of the MAN of the lower one in the screen and coarseness of the upper one, clothing the ten Sefirot of direct light of that coupling, which are the Mochin themselves. Now, this reflected light is considered to be the very phase of the upper one, since it emerged upon the phase of the screen and coarseness of the upper one. However, since the upper one does not couple for the sake of the lower one from his own phase, but from his externality — meaning that he arouses the record of smallness that remained in him from the time of his own smallness, which corresponds to the MAN that rose to him — and also not from the phase of the screen and coarseness of his own level, but from the one lower in degree, as is known, it follows that the upper one has no need at all for the measure of this reflected light. Hence this reflected light descends together with the ten Sefirot of Mochin to the lower one, and there, too, clothes his Mochin, just as it clothed them at the time of their emergence in the place of the upper one. However, the lower one does not receive it at the high degree at which it emerged in the upper one, but it must undergo two descents within the upper one himself — see answer 37 — and only then is it fit to clothe within the lower one. The first descent is called the Mem of Tzelem, and the second descent is called the Lamed of Tzelem, in which, in the Mem, it diminishes to the phase of HGT, and in the Lamed, it diminishes to the phase of NHY. After this it expands within the lower one, and this very expansion within the lower one is called the Tzadi of Tzelem. (Item 99)

See answer 56. (Item 138).

You already know that the matter of Tzelem is the reflected light that rises at the time of the inclusion of the MAN of the lower one in the screen and coarseness of the upper one. Hence, since in the coupling made upon the MAN of ZON two Partzufim come, Aba and Ima, in this coupling, it follows automatically that there are two phases of screen and coarseness that raise reflected light, namely, on the side of Aba and on the side of Ima. Therefore, a distinction is to be made here between the Tzelem of Aba and the Tzelem of Ima. (Item 142)

See answer 58.

It is known that there are two impregnations: the first impregnation for the sake of Katnut, and the second impregnation for the sake of Gadlut. Therefore the phase of the reflected light that clothes the level of the first impregnation is called the Tzelem of impregnation, or the Tzelem of Elokim, which is judgments and Katnut. And the phase of reflected light that clothes the Mochin at the time of the second impregnation is called the Tzelem of Gadlut, or the Tzelem of HaVaYaH, which are mercy. (Item 147)

See answer 60. (Ibid.)

See answer 60. (Item 144).

The posteriors of the filling of AB, found in the four Names AB, SAG, MA, and BON of Nekudim, have not yet received their correction in Atzilut, and are called the 102 Charuvin [carob pods], for they contain 102 letters. The meaning of this is: only the vessels of the faces of Nekudim were corrected in Atzilut — these are Galgalta and Einayim — but the vessels of the posteriors were not yet corrected; these are the AHP found in every single degree that existed in Nekudim. Galgalta, which is Keter, has four degrees, which are: first, the four letters of the face, found in the plain name HaVaYaH; second, the ten letters of the posteriors of the plain HaVaYaH; third, the gematria of the four letters of the face, which is 26; fourth, the gematria of the ten letters of the posteriors, which is 72. All four of these degrees are the phase of Galgalta. Likewise there are four degrees in the phase of Einayim, which is AB and Hochma with respect to the vessels, namely: the ten letters of the face, of HaVaYaH in the filling of AB; the gematria of the ten letters of the face, which is the number 72; the twenty-six letters of the posteriors; and the gematria of the twenty-six letters of the posteriors, which is the number 184. All four of these degrees are of the phase of Einayim. Now, only the four plain degrees found in the phase of Galgalta, and the first degree of the face found in the phase of Einayim, were corrected in Atzilut — that is, only five degrees in all. But the sixth degree, which is the posteriors of the filling of AB, was not corrected even in the phase of AB, let alone the remaining degrees of Ozen, Hotem, and Peh themselves. This is for the reason stated above, that only the phase of the face was corrected, which is Galgalta and Einayim, and nothing of the posteriors was corrected, not even of the posteriors of the phase of Einayim. Hence these degrees, from the sixth degree onward, are called by the name the 102 Charuvin, meaning that the ruin of the breaking of the vessels still rests there, still awaiting their correction.

The three fillings found in the three Names AB, SAG, and MA, which correct ZA in all of his Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, and Yechida together, total 102 in gematria. They are called “the new Kab,” because they come from the new MA, meaning from the levels that emerged in Atzilut. There is also the phase of “the old Kab,” meaning the phase of the AHP of all the degrees of Nekudim that have not yet been corrected in Atzilut, which is the phase of the 102 letters found in the posteriors of the four Names AB, SAG, MA, and BON, as above in answer 63. (Item 27)

See answer 64. (Item 26).

The new Kab that was corrected in Atzilut, as above in answer 64, is called “the pure Kab,” because it was clarified through the 32 Paths of the Hochma of Aba, and corrected through the illumination of the five Gevurot of Ima. But the Kab of the Charuvin, as above in answer 63, is called a Kab that is not so pure, because it has not yet been clarified, and the shells have a hold in it. (Item 27)

The Kav [measure] of carobs is called the old Kav; see answer 63. (Item 27).

See answer 66. (Item 26).

The AHP that rose within ZA of Atzilut are of the phase of the new Kab, and are considered the phase of the vessels of the face of Nekudim, as above in answer 63. However, the phase of AHP that served at the time of the Kings, before the breaking of the vessels, has not yet been corrected in Atzilut, as is known; therefore ZA of Atzilut is discerned, in comparison to the ZA of Nekudim, as lacking his phase of AHP — that is, the NHY of the time of the Kings. In this respect ZA is called “a cripple,” meaning that he lacks AHP, which are the legs.

In the ZAT of Nekudim that broke and fell into BYA, three phases are discerned in them: lights, sparks, and vessels. From their vessels the three cavities of Galgalta were made. From their sparks the membranes for the Mochin were made. And from their lights the Mochin themselves were made. (Item 97)

The fetus, too, has a Rosh and a Guf, being the ten Sefirot of Guf and Rosh, where the Guf is in VAK and the Rosh is in the three Mochin. But this is only on the side of the vessels; from the aspect of the lights, however, not all ten Sefirot are present, but only the phase of light of the three lower Sefirot, which are NHY — that is, only the phase of the light of Nefesh — clothed in the vessels of the Rosh of the fetus. For in the vessels, it is always found that the upper ones grow first; therefore the light of Nefesh is clothed in the vessels of Keter, which is the Rosh of the fetus. This is the secret of what our sages said, that its head is between its knees, meaning the vessels of the Rosh and the lights of NHY, which are called “knees.” Hence the Rosh of the fetus has no advantage over the phase of NHY, for the vessels do not reveal their action from their own phase, but only according to the measure of the light clothed within them. (Item 79 and Item 85)

The seven first Kings, at the time of their reign in the world of Nekudim, expanded in their reign down to the point of this world, equal with the legs of AK of the first restriction, for their NHY broke through the Parsa beneath Atzilut and expanded throughout all of BYA, as is known. However, in the world of correction, when the Parsa returned to its place and the first Kings received their correction in ZA of Atzilut, he gathered his NHY up above the Parsa of Atzilut, and so the phase of the legs of the first Kings was severed from them — namely, those of their NHY from the time of Nekudim that had expanded, by themselves, through the three worlds BYA down to the point of this world. These legs will be corrected only at the end of correction, in the secret of “when foot shall touch foot,” as is known. See Item 7. (Item 35)

It is known that the lights, which are the records that remained from the levels that emerged in the world of Nekudim, did not descend together with the vessels to BYA when they broke, but rather departed from the vessels and remained in Atzilut. These lights are the secret of the Names. And the phase of the sparks that descended with the vessels to BYA are the phase of the fillings of the Names, for they are the phase of the coarse light of the records, containing within them the phase of coarseness called MAN, with which the upper light couples at the time of their ascent to Atzilut. They are called the fillings of the Names because, at the time of their ascent and their joining to the Names — that is, to their records — the upper light couples with them and draws out the level of the ten Sefirot belonging to the Names, that is, to the records, according to the level that had been in those records before the breaking of the vessels. And thus you find that the entire standing of the records, which are the Names, depends only on the filling, which is the sparks, for before the ascent of the sparks the Names are in the utmost smallness, since they have no coupling with the upper light except at the time of the ascent of the sparks in the secret of MAN, at which time the Names regain the level they had before the breaking. Understand this well.

See answer 73. (Item 32).

Aba ve Ima of Atzilut, who are the level of Bina, are always divided into two Partzufim: Aba ve Ima and Israel Saba ve Tevuna — that is, two phases of Aba ve Ima: the upper Aba ve Ima and the lower Aba ve Ima. And at the time of the birth of ZON, the lower Aba ve Ima themselves are also divided into two phases: the first remains at its own level, and the second diminishes to the phase of VAK, in the secret of “crouching.” There are now found three phases of Ima: the upper Ima, the first Tevuna, and the second Tevuna. From this you will understand that this second Tevuna may be called the third Tevuna — that is, in combination with the first, the upper Ima, she is indeed the third to her. But she may also be called the second Tevuna, that is, only according to the name Tevuna, in which the upper Ima is not included, so that accordingly there are here only two Tevunas, the first and the second. Hence it is the ARI's way to call her by the name “the third Tevuna, who is the second,” meaning that she is third to the upper Ima, and second within the phase of Tevuna. (Item 100)