Part 7 · Inner Observation 1

The matter of the seven kings explained in this part in the words of the ARI is the foundation of the entire wisdom, since all four worlds ABYA extend from them, and the entire matter of the corrections and clarifications and the cascading of all the degrees come only to complete and correct them. Hence they require extra attention, to understand well the source of their emanation and the cause of their breaking and their fall to BYA.

First, one must discern and distinguish between these seven kings and AVI of Nekudim. For although they extend from AVI, they are nonetheless very far from one another. For they did not extend and cascade from AVI in a direct manner, in the order of cause and consequence, but rather reached them through another Partzuf, as the ARI wrote above (p. 509, letter 31) that the Yesod of AK imparted a Vav and a dot to AVI, in order to bring forth and give birth to ZAT. See there. Thus AK imparted the seven kings to AVI. And one must understand what changed in the Partzuf ZAT of Nekudim from all the previous Partzufim, all of which extended in a direct manner, in the order of cause and consequence, one from another, whereas only the Partzuf ZAT does not extend from its superior in a direct manner, but rather three Partzufim took part in its emanation, which are: Yesod of AK, Aba, and Ima.

Also, one must understand why the Partzuf of Nekudim did not expand its GAR and ZAT at once, as in all the previous Partzufim, but rather only GAR — Keter and AVI — expanded at first, and afterward, through the coupling of Yesod of AK, which imparted to them the Shuruk, ZAT of Nekudim came out. And the reason is as explained above (p. 489, entries 'And behold' and 'One should not ask') that this AVI is only the aspect of ZON of the Rosh, which is only the aspect of Hotem and Peh, and everything considered the aspect of Rosh is only by the power of the illumination of the light of the ear that they received from their inclusion in the Keter of Nekudim, as above (p. 414, entry 'And this is what he said, and behold'), for this illumination corrected them into the aspect of Achor be Achor, whereby the posterior of Bina, called ear, holds them in the aspect of GAR, and they are not blemished by the screen of the bottom Hey above them, which prevents from them the illumination of the face of Hochma, because through the posterior of Bina they desire only Hassadim, in the secret of 'for He desires kindness,' and they reject Hochma, and hence the screen of the bottom Hey does not diminish them at all, for otherwise they do not desire Hochma. (As above, p. 498, entry 'And it was explained.' See there.) However, that correction of the posterior suffices only for the completion of AVI themselves, but does not suffice for them to be able to illuminate and bring forth ZON, which are ZAT.

And the reason is that the power of the posterior of Bina is only in her GAR, and not in her ZAT, for when she comes to emanate and expand in her ZAT, she must interrupt her posterior toward Aba, and return with him face to face, in order to draw from him the illumination of Hochma for her ZAT. As above (p. 501, entry 'The fourth degree.' See there.) And from this you should know that every Partzuf that is corrected through the posterior of Bina is found lacking NHY, for GAR of Hassadim, which are HGT, can be well corrected through the posterior of Ima, but the NHY — even within the Sefira of Bina — cannot come out and expand from her outward except through face to face with Hochma, as above, and hence they cannot be revealed even in this Partzuf that is corrected through her posterior, and it is regarded that its NHY are included in its HGT, in the secret of 'their posterior is to the house,' meaning that NHY, which are the aspect of posterior, are within the internality of HGT, and their face, which is what is revealed outward, is only the face, which is HGT that is revealed outward. (As above, p. 507, entry 'And behold.') And by this it is well understood that AVI of Nekudim, who were corrected with the correction of Achor be Achor, could not bring forth ZON, except after attaining the aspect of face to face, since the expansion of ZON does not come out from the aspect of posterior at all, as explained. And look well at all the places cited above for I cannot repeat the length of the matter.

And the ARI has already explained above (p. 502, letter 25) that AVI do not return face to face except through three degrees, which are: Achor be Achor, then face to back, and then face to face. See there in Ohr Pnimi, where the reason for these matters is explained well. And it was explained there (p. 500, entry 'Above') that this degree of face to back comes to them through the coupling of AB SAG, which brings down the bottom Hey from the eyes, whereupon AVI return to the Rosh and attain their GAR. See there. One must understand, however, who causes AB and SAG to couple in order to bring down the bottom Hey.

This matter the ARI already explained above (p. 396, letter 6): 'that all the aspects of the inner SAG hidden within the inner MA and BON rose, and the inner MA and BON rose with them, and then these inner MA and BON became the MAN for the very tastes of SAG, which are not clothed within MA and BON,' and so on. And the meaning of the matter is that since the points of SAG expanded below the navel of the inner AK, where the place of the inner MA and BON is, which are ZON of the inner AK, it follows that after the refinement of the screen and its rising to the Peh of the Rosh of SAG, it is also included from these inner MA and BON, and hence they became MAN for the inner AVI of the Rosh of SAG, called AB SAG of AK. And then this AB and this SAG coupled, and the AB brought down the bottom Hey from the eyes of SAG. And AHP of SAG returned to the Rosh, and thereby all AHP that had gone out beyond the degree now returned to their degree as before.

And it was explained there in Ohr Pnimi that the aspects of SAG that rose from within MA and BON also became MAN. Except that there were two couplings there: one for the Katnut of Nekudim, from which AVI came out in the aspect of Achor be Achor, and the other for the sake of the Gadlut of Nekudim, from which AVI attained their GAR. As above (p. 406, entry 'And behold.' See there.) And know that from the records of SAG that were mixed within MA and BON, came out the Katnut of Nekudim, which is the aspect of the bottom Hey in the eyes and YHV in AHP. And from the records of the inner MA and BON themselves came out the coupling of AB SAG, which returned and brought down the bottom Hey from the eyes, and reattached AHP to the Rosh as before.

And the reason that MA and BON of AK became the cause for the upper AB and SAG to couple to bring down the bottom Hey from the eyes is that the Partzuf that came out from the pupils of the eyes did not expand and illuminate to this MA and BON, which are NHY of AK, and this is because of the correction of the posterior of Ima that rests there, as above, for this correction prevents the expansion of NHY, since they must be included in HGT in the secret of 'their posterior is to the house.' Hence, after the Partzuf of the pupils of the eyes came out on a screen composed of the records of the points of SAG and the bottom Hey, and did not suffice for NHY of AK, as above, then the records of NHY of AK became MAN in the Rosh of SAG, which is the aspect of Bina in her entirety, who has the capacity to impart the illumination of Hochma to ZON on the side of Bina of direct light, as stated in Ohr Pnimi above. And hence SAG interrupted his posterior and coupled with AB face to face, and through this coupling the bottom Hey was brought down from the eyes of the Rosh of SAG, for the illumination of AB does this, since there is no bottom Hey in the eyes of the Rosh of AB. And then this new light expanded also from above downward, and broke through the Parsa, meaning that it canceled the new boundary of the second restriction that AHP had brought out from all the degrees, since this new light, coming from AB, cancels it and brings down the bottom Hey to her place, to the Malchut of the Rosh, and likewise to the Malchut of every degree, and AHP of each returned to their degree as before. And this new light expanded below the navel of AK, that is, to NHY of AK, called MA and BON of AK.

And behold, this new light expanded and came out through the navel to the Keter of Nekudim, as above in the words of the ARI (p. 420, letter 27), and it also canceled the boundary and the interruption between Keter and AVI of Nekudim, which had come about because of the bottom Hey in the eyes of Keter, for it brought her down from the eyes to her place in the Peh, and AVI returned to the Rosh, since now the screen of the bottom Hey is found below them, and hence they returned to the degree of their GAR as before. And besides this exit through the navel, this new light also came out through the Yesod of AK, and imparted to them the secret of the Shuruk, which is a Vav and a dot: the dot was taken by Aba, and the Vav was taken by Ima, to bring forth and give birth to VAK of ZA, as above in the words of the ARI (p. 423, letter 31).

And know that the two illuminations we said GAR of Nekudim received from the new light that broke through the Parsa produced two states in AVI. For the first illumination, which Keter received through the navel, brought the bottom Hey down from Keter to the Peh of AVI, and then AVI returned to the aspect of Rosh like the Keter, for the screen was already found below them, and this is regarded as though NHY of Keter had clothed in them, and AVI attained the light of the face. Yet even so this still did not help Ima, for although she can now turn her face to Aba and receive the light of Hochma, since the boundary made because of the bottom Hey in the eyes has already been canceled, still she has no other reason to interrupt her posterior, which she has from her root in direct light, for she desires Hassadim always, in the secret of 'for He desires kindness,' and rejects Hochma, as above. Thus only Aba benefits from the return to the Rosh, for he receives the GAR and the face that are his, but Ima still holds on to her posterior, in the secret of 'for He desires kindness,' as above. Hence AVI now came to the state of face to back, meaning the face of Aba to the posterior of Ima: for Aba has the aspect of face, while Ima still holds her posterior toward Aba. Thus this illumination, which Keter received to bring down the bottom Hey from the eyes, produced only the state of face to back in AVI.

And the second illumination, through the Yesod of AK, which AVI of Nekudim received, namely the Vav and the dot, brought AVI to the state of face to face. For that Shuruk which the Yesod illuminated to them is the aspect of ZON: for the Vav is the aspect of VAK, HGT NHY, of ZA, and the dot is the aspect of Malchut. And these became MAN for AVI, as above (p. 423, letter 31, in the words of the ARI), and this caused Ima to interrupt her posterior and turn her face to Aba, in order to couple with him face to face, and to draw the illumination of Hochma for the sake of ZON who had risen to her as MAN. And thus it was explained that through the illumination of the new light through the navel to the Keter, AVI received the state of face to back, and through the illumination of the new light through the Yesod to AVI, AVI received the state of face to face, together with the fundamental lights of ZON in the form of MAN, which through their coupling of face to face they brought forth and gave birth to them, to their place.

And one should not ask, since this NHY of the inner AK could not receive from the tastes of SAG even before the second restriction, as above (p. 390, in Ohr Pnimi, entry 'And SAG'), because AB lacks the screen of phase four, how could they now receive the new light of the coupling of AB SAG? Now, in general this is no question at all, for here it is different, since the very records of NHY of AK rose as MAN and were included in the coupling of AB SAG, and hence they can now receive from AB. However, in truth this is not regarded as NHY of AK receiving the vessels, for they did not draw this new light for their own sake, but for the sake of the birth of ZAT of Nekudim, similar to the drop drawn from the father's brain, and with respect to NHY of AK themselves, their reception is regarded only as a mere passing through.

And now is explained what we asked above in letter 2, why the Partzuf of Nekudim did not expand GAR and ZAT at once, in the manner of all the previous Partzufim. For here there is necessarily a distance of three states. For GAR of Nekudim came out through the coupling in the pupils of the eyes, and were therefore necessarily found in the state of Achor be Achor, a state in which even AVI themselves are regarded as lacking NHY, as above in letter 2, and all the more so they could not bring forth ZAT, except afterward, through the MAN of NHY of AK, which rose to AB SAG and gave birth to the new light that broke through the Parsa, which first Keter received through the navel, bringing down the bottom Hey from the eyes and bringing AVI to the state of face to back, as above, and afterward AVI received this light through the Yesod of AK, whereupon they attained the seven lights belonging to the seven lower Sefirot, which are ZON, and then they came to the state of face to face and were able to give birth to the seven lower Sefirot of Nekudim.

Also, the matter of the difference of ZAT of Nekudim from the ZAT of the previous Partzufim, which did not extend in a direct manner from their GAR, which we raised in letter 1, was well explained. For it was explained that AVI, from the aspect of their own emanation, have nothing at all of the aspect of ZON: for besides being themselves lacking NHY, as above, they are only of the aspect of the first Hey, and have nothing at all of the aspect of the bottom Hey, as above (444, in Histaklut Pnimit, letter 9), since the bottom Hey remained in the eyes of Keter, and nothing of it extended to AVI of Nekudim. See there. Hence it is altogether impossible for ZAT of Nekudim to extend from AVI in a direct manner, but only through the inner AK, whose vessels are of phase four, since his stature reaches to the Keter, as is known. And hence it was not possible for ZAT of Nekudim to come out except after NHY of the inner AK themselves rose as MAN to AB SAG, and thereby drew a new light, in the secret of the Shuruk, meaning a Vav and a dot, namely the fundamental lights of ZON, and the inner AK imparted them as MAN to AVI, as above, and then AVI coupled upon them and gave birth to them in their place.

And one should not ask, if so, why is there any need at all for the Partzufim of AVI, since they have no connection to phase four included in ZON, and it should have come out in a direct manner from the inner AK? But this is not at all possible according to the order of the degree, for what is emanated from the inner AK is the Partzuf AB, whose stature reaches to Hochma, and not the Partzuf ZAT, which are the stature of phase one, and which lack GAR from their own emanation, as is known. Hence ZON must come out through AVI, that is, in the cascading of the degree down to the screen of phase one, as is written (in Histaklut Pnimit, p. 442, entry 'And still.' See there the entire continuation.) Thus we see that both are needed, for the very substance of ZA, which must be included in the bottom Hey, comes out only through NHY of the inner AK, and the matter of its emanation to its place cannot be conceived except through the Partzufim of AVI.

And by this you will understand what our sages said (Kiddushin, p. 30) 'three partners are there in man: the Holy One, blessed be He, and his father, and his mother. The father seeds the whiteness in him, the mother seeds the redness in him, and the Holy One, blessed be He, breathes into him a soul' (see Rashi there), for the matter of this partnership extends from the upper degrees, as above. For it was explained that also in the first ZON of the worlds there were three partners: the inner AK, and AVI of Nekudim, whose whiteness, meaning the Hassadim, are from Aba, and whose redness, meaning the Gevurot, are from Ima. Yet the very soul of it is from the inner AK. Understand this. And so it is also with ZA of Atzilut, in whose emanation there are three partners: AA, and AVI, for the standing of AA in Atzilut is like that of the inner AK here, and there too its very substance and root come from AA, while the Hassadim and Gevurot come from AVI.

And it was explained well, the matter of the two couplings that took place for the sake of Nekudim, upon the two kinds of records of which the screen that rose to the Rosh of SAG was composed: for the first coupling took place upon the records of the points of SAG, composed of the bottom Hey, and this coupling took place in the aspect of the pupils of the eyes, that is, in phase one of the Rosh, in the secret of the bottom Hey in the eyes, whereby AHP of every degree went outward, and this exit caused three Roshim in Nekudim, as above in Part Six. Also, Bina and ZON of the ten Sefirot at the end of AK, alone of the entire emanation, came out and became BYA of separation. And AVI of Nekudim, which are the third Rosh, were corrected in Achor be Achor. And the second coupling took place upon the records of NHY of the inner AK, that is, they became MAN for the coupling of AB SAG of the Rosh of SAG, whereby the bottom Hey was brought down from the eyes to the Peh as before, and the light that came out of this coupling broke through the Parsa, meaning that it canceled the boundary and the screen dividing between the eyes and AHP, and returned AHP to their degree as before, and it illuminated to Nekudim in two ways: one, through the navel, to the Keter of Nekudim, and it also brought down the bottom Hey that was in the pupils of the eyes of Keter to the Peh of the Rosh as a whole, below AVI, whereby AVI returned to the Rosh and attained their GAR. And the second illumination, through the Yesod of AK to AVI, which is the aspect of a Vav and a dot, meaning the roots of ZON, and these became MAN in them, which brought them back face to face, and they coupled and drew the illumination of Hochma for ZON, at first through their being included in the coupling of AVI themselves, at which point these ZON are regarded as the Daat of AVI, and afterward they expanded from the Malchut of AVI downward, to the aspect of Guf, and clothed in the vessel of the king Daat. And the light that expanded in this king is regarded as the light of Yechida of ZA.

And you already know that the first illumination of the new light that broke through the Parsa, which illuminated through the navel to the Keter of Nekudim, still did not bring AVI back to face to face, but only to face to back. For even after Ima returned to the Rosh, she still does not interrupt her posterior, except through a cause that compels her to interrupt it. Hence she did not turn her face to Aba until she received the MAN of the Vav and dot from Yesod of AK. For this MAN, which are the aspects of ZON to whom she is connected, from the side of direct light, to impart to them the illumination of Hochma, arouse her to interrupt her posterior and return face to face with Aba, as above. And behold, these two states became the cause that ZON receive from the coupling of face to face of AVI only Hassadim and Gevurot, but with the illumination of Hochma alone. And this is because even now, after her return face to face with Aba, she receives from him only that measure of the illumination of Hochma that Bina of direct light imparts to ZON of direct light. For her entire return face to face was only for the sake of ZON, to whom she has a connection on the side of direct light, as above, and not at all for her own sake, hence she measures out to them by this measure of ZON of direct light. And it is known that ZON of direct light are themselves only Hassadim with the illumination of Hochma, as above (Part One, p. 35, answer 69. See there.)

Yet with all this, one must take much into account regarding the measure of the level: whether it is illumination of Hochma from the level of Keter, or illumination of Hochma from the level of Hochma, and so on, for Hochma diminishes and descends from level to level, as is known. And know that the measure of the level is attributed to the first state, namely to the new light illuminating through the navel to the Keter of Nekudim, which brought down the bottom Hey that was above AVI, under AVI, to the Peh. And although this did not yet bring AVI back to more than face to back, still the measure of the level depends on the bringing down of the bottom Hey, for when the bottom Hey is brought down to the Peh, so that phase four is found in its place, in the Malchut of the Rosh, the level of Keter comes out upon it. And if it comes only to phase three of the Rosh, called Hotem, the level of Hochma comes out upon it, and if to the Ozen, the level of Bina comes out upon it, and so on. But the Mochin of ZA, meaning the measure of the illumination of Hochma that ZA receives, comes only in the second state, when AVI come to the state of face to face, for then Bina imparts the Mochin, meaning the illumination of Hochma, to ZON, as above. Thus the measure of the level depends on the first state, according to the place to which the bottom Hey descended there, while the Mochin of ZON depend on the second state, for then Ima receives the illumination of Hochma on their behalf.

And now the character of the lights NRNHY of Haya received by the four kings will be well explained to you: Daat, Hesed, Gevura, and the upper third of Tifferet. For the entire change of the lights and their diminishing comes only from the changes that took place in the first state, namely in the ascent of the bottom Hey from the eyes: for when it came to the Peh, the level of the light of Yechida came out for the king Daat. And when it rose to the Hotem, the level of the light of Haya came out for the king Hesed. And when it rose to the Ozen, the level of the light of Neshama came out for the king Gevura. And when it rose to the eyes, to the place where it was at first, the level of the light of Ruach and Nefesh came out for the upper third of the king Tifferet. However, in the second state, meaning the state of face to face, no change took place: rather, at the time when the level of Yechida was in the Partzuf, when the bottom Hey was in the Peh, Ima received the illumination of Hochma from the level of Yechida, that is, in the same measure that ZON of direct light of Keter receive from Bina of Keter. And this is the measure of the Mochin of Yechida of ZA, for every Sefira is included of ten Sefirot, even the Sefirot of direct light, as is known. And when the bottom Hey was in the Hotem, Ima received the illumination of Hochma from the level of Haya, which is the measure of what ZON of direct light of Hochma receive from Bina of Hochma, and this is the measure of the Mochin of Haya of ZA. And when the bottom Hey was in the Ozen, Ima received the illumination of Hochma from the level of Neshama, in the measure of what ZON of direct light of Bina receive from Bina of Bina, and this is the measure of the Mochin of Neshama of ZA. And when the bottom Hey came back to the eyes, then the second state also changed, and she returned to Achor be Achor with Aba, for she no longer receives from Aba any illumination of Hochma at all, but only the aspect of Ruach and Nefesh, and is entirely lacking the illumination of GAR, but only from the aspect of Achor be Achor alone.

And so, after it was fully refined and returned to its root, to the Peh of AVI, so that its coarseness of phase three returned, meaning that the bottom Hey descended again from the eyes to the Hotem, as above (p. 525, entry 'And it drew.' See there) — for this level is close to the level of Haya, and is called in general Neshama, or YESHSUT, see there — the same two states that were in AVI now returned upon them. And here too the first state, namely the bringing down of the bottom Hey from the eyes, keeps changing, for when the bottom Hey descended to the Hotem, Tevuna received face to face the aspect of Yechida-Haya of Neshama for ZON. And then the light descends from the Malchut of YESHSUT downward, to the lower two thirds of the king Tifferet. And when the bottom Hey rose to the Ozen, Tevuna received the aspect of Neshama of Neshama for ZON, and from her Malchut downward the light expands to the king Netzah and Hod. And when the bottom Hey rose to the eyes, then the second state also changed, for then YESHSUT return to Achor be Achor, and impart the aspect of Ruach to the king Yesod, and afterward the aspect of Nefesh, to the seventh king, which is Malchut. For when it is refined to phase one, it imparts Ruach, and when it is refined to the aspect of the root, it imparts Malchut, as is written in Ohr Pnimi in its place.

And you must discern here between AVI of Katnut in the state of Achor be Achor, who came out from the pupils of the eyes in the first coupling, and AVI of Gadlut, who came out through the coupling of AB SAG until they reached the state of face to face, as above. For the distinctions between them are among the most important foundations in the wisdom. And above all one must be precise about the opposition between them from their beginning to their end: for at their beginning they are regarded as a single degree, only coming in two states, since from the aspect of their own emanation they were emanated in the state of Achor be Achor, while from the aspect of the additional light they attained from the illumination of the coupling of AB SAG and from the MAN of Yesod of AK, they acquired the state of face to face. Yet they are one degree. Moreover, the second state is far more important than the first state, for in the first state they were lacking GAR of Hochma, and had in them only the aspect of GAR of the posterior of Bina, which reject Hochma. But in the second state they returned to the Rosh and attained their GAR in full.

Yet in their end the matter is reversed from one extreme to the other, for they became separated from one another and became two degrees: and the first state became the aspect of Rosh and the aspect of face, while the second state became the aspect of Guf and the aspect of posterior. And the reason for this is that after the breaking of the vessels, meaning their bodies that expanded in the four kings — Daat, Hesed, Gevura, and the upper third of Tifferet, as is known. However, in the shape of the matter there is a very important understanding, worthy of special attention.

And the matter is that every Partzuf of Nekudim is considered like the Partzuf SAG of AK, and this is because there is in its screen phase two of clothing, as is known. And SAG in its entirety is the aspect of Bina, since Bina is the highest aspect within it, and hence all the inclinations of Bina of direct light rule over it. And it is known that Bina of direct light is entirely Hassadim, and the aspect of the illumination of Hochma that she receives into the Hassadim is already regarded as an aspect outside her, which acquired a separate name for itself, which is ZA. And the distance between them is very great, like the distance between a root and a small branch that comes out of it, for Bina is the root, and ZA is a small branch that came out of her. And although there is in Bina the aspect of posterior toward the light of Hochma, still this posterior is not regarded as any diminishment to her, but rather is regarded as the whole of Bina's praise, in the secret of 'for He desires kindness,' as is known. Hence Bina is the aspect of GAR entirely, without any diminishment at all. And for this reason AVI were not blemished in their coming out from the Rosh because of the bottom Hey in the eyes of Keter, for the small measure of illumination they had from the light of the ear, which is Bina, through the power of their inclusion in the coupling of clothing of the male, sufficed for them for the aspect of GAR, and they are not blemished at all by the restriction of Hochma that the bottom Hey in the eyes withholds from them, since even otherwise they would not receive Hochma, because of the illumination of the light of the ear within them. As explained.

And you see that the state of Achor be Achor of AVI suffices for them for complete perfection, without any lack. Hence they have no great connection to the second state of Gadlut that they attained from the new light that broke through the Parsa, for were it not for the MAN that Yesod of AK illuminated to them, they would not have received this new light at all, since their desire is attached only to Hassadim, as above. Hence the matter of the cancellation of the coupling of Gadlut did not touch them at all, for this entire Rosh of Gadlut was for them like something outside of themselves, which they drew only for the sake of the MAN that the Yesod illuminated in them. As explained.

Moreover, even afterward, when all the ten Sefirot of the Rosh of Gadlut were cancelled, they were not entirely cancelled, as ZAT was, but rather were immediately included in the posterior of AVI of the first state, and this posterior supported them in the aspect of GAR and Atzilut, and they did not fall to BYA.

And one should not ask, according to this, should not these ten Sefirot of Gadlut have remained in the Rosh, in the place of AVI, and why did they descend to the aspect of Guf, to the place of the kings HGT, since they too had clothed in the posterior of Ima, like AVI of the Rosh? The matter is that they were now determined into two degrees entirely separate from one another. And this is because of the cause of their coming out upon the MAN they received from Yesod of AK: the Vav and the dot, which are the aspects of NHY and the roots of ZON, as above. These are attributed and come from the inner NHY of AK, and do not belong to their own aspect, as above (in Histaklut Pnimit of this part, letter 6), except when they were in them as MAN, when they were included in the aspects of the Yesodot of AVI, which drew upon them a new light in ten Sefirot of Keter and Hochma, as above, whereby AVI themselves grew through them in new Mochin and NHY. At that time they were joined with them as a single degree. But after their bodies broke and the screen was refined and that coupling of Gadlut was cancelled, and nothing remained of it but the records that remained in that NHY that they received from Yesod of AK, they were then found to be a foreign body to them, not at all of the aspect of AVI and Rosh, and hence they descended below them to Guf, to the aspect of HGT.

And it was well explained how the states were reversed, that the first state of AVI, Achor be Achor, remained in the end as the aspect of Rosh and the aspect of face, and the matter of the cancellation of the ten Sefirot of Gadlut does not touch it at all. And the second state of AVI, face to face, remained in the end as the aspect of Guf and the aspect of posterior, for it was greatly blemished by the cancellation of the coupling of Gadlut, whose lights all departed, and nothing remained of it save the aspects of the MAN, meaning the aspects of the Vav and the dot, and the aspects of the records from all the ten Sefirot of Gadlut that were in it. However, through the posterior of AVI of the Rosh imparted to them, to their place in the Guf, they receive from this the matter of the correction of lines that exists in AVI. And hence they are called the expansion of KHB into HGT, for the correction of lines of GAR of Nekudim expanded to them. And they became a vessel of reception for the records that remained from the four kings, Daat and HGT, as the ARI wrote.

And now it was explained precisely, the matter of the posterior of AVI that fell to HGT, what it is. For the substance of these posteriors is the aspects of the MAN and the records of the ten Sefirot of Gadlut of AVI. However, in addition to them there is the illumination of the posterior of Ima, and also the garments of the MAN from the time they were in the Rosh of AVI, for those garments became for them the aspect of the lines, and also the matter of the posterior of Ima was received within those garments. And know that the distinction between the substance of the posterior that fell, and these garments that they took with them from the time of their clothing in AVI, is very great, for these garments have nothing of the bottom Hey in them, like the vessels of AVI, and they are what protect these posteriors from all sides, as written in their place.

Also understand that the place where these posteriors fell was, for every level, the place of its own Guf. For the level of Yechida fell to the place of the king Daat. And the level of Haya fell to the place of the king Hesed. And the level of Neshama fell to the place of the king Gevura. And the level of Nefesh-Ruach fell to the upper third of Tifferet. Except that the correction of lines was added to them, which did not exist in their bodies. For Daat and HGT ruled one below the other, but the posteriors were corrected in the aspect of new vessels, in the manner of right, left, and center. For hence the records of these four kings found a place to clothe in these new vessels made from the posterior of AVI, as the ARI's words. See above p. 537, entry 'the light of Tifferet.'

However, one must understand: after the screen was refined, and the vessels broke because of the dross within them, and fell to BYA, and the bottom Hey rose once more to the eyes, and AVI returned to Achor be Achor — if so, how did the ascent of the screen, refined from the broken vessels, to the Rosh of AVI, help to renew a new coupling there, until it could bring forth the Rosh of YESHSUT at the level of phase three of clothing and phase two of coarseness? And who brought the bottom Hey down again from the eyes?

The matter is that there are two causes for the departure of the lights from within the vessels of Nekudim, which are: the refinement of the screen, as in the bodies of the previous Partzufim, and the matter of the dross that was mixed within these vessels, meaning the coarseness of vessels of phase four, which became mixed into the vessels of SAG, through their clothing below the navel of AK, for the vessels of Nekudim are the aspects of the vessels of the nine Sefirot Bina to Malchut of SAG that expanded to the end of the legs of AK, from which the lights departed at the time of the second restriction, and hence they passed to the Partzuf of Nekudim, which is regarded as the second expansion into these nine Sefirot Bina to Malchut of SAG, as written in Ohr Pnimi (p. 486, entry 'The dross.' See there.) And since the screen of phase four of coarseness was not in the Partzuf of Nekudim, these vessels were not fit to receive the upper light, for when the light expanded into the vessel and struck the parts of phase four mixed there, it immediately departed and left from there, and the vessel broke and fell to BYA. See there in Ohr Pnimi.

However, in the departure of the lights of Gadlut of the Roshim of AVI and their fall to HGT of Nekudim, this matter of the dross did not touch or affect them at all, and certainly did not cause their fall. For this dross blemishes only vessels of reception of Guf, which receive the light from above downward, but not so the vessels of Rosh, which have nothing at all of the aspect of the clothing of lights, but are only roots for the vessels, as is known. Hence this dross has no connection to them at all. Hence the sole cause of the departure of the lights of the Rosh was only the refinement of the screen. For after, for example, the screen of the vessel of Daat was refined, it is no longer fit to receive the light of the mutual gazing of the eyes of AVI, and hence this coupling stops of itself. For the entire coupling of face to face was only for the sake of the MAN, which is ZON that had expanded, and since the receiver was cancelled, Ima no longer has any need for the illumination of Hochma for its sake, and immediately the coupling belonging to the vessel of Daat stops, and the screen rose to the place of the Hotem, as above in Histaklut Pnimit letter 10, and as the ARI wrote above, p. 518, letter 41, and p. 520, letter 42.

And likewise, when the screen of the vessel of Hesed was refined and the receiver of the coupling of the Hotem was cancelled, Ima stopped this coupling, and brought the bottom Hey up to the place of the Ozen, for the sake of the vessel of Gevura. And when the screen was refined also from the vessel of Gevura, this coupling too stopped, and the bottom Hey rose to the eyes, for the sake of the vessel of the upper third of Tifferet. In such a way that the ascent of the bottom Hey back to the eyes was only because of the refinement of the screen alone. But the vessels of Guf, had there not been in them the mixture of dross, but only the cause of the refinement of the screen alone, would not have broken and died and fallen to BYA, but would have been like the vessels of the previous Partzufim, which did not die at all from the departure of their lights.

Hence, after this screen of the chest of Nekudim was fully refined until its shape equalled the Malchut of the Rosh of AVI, it returned and was included in its root, in the Malchut of the Rosh of AVI, and was included there in the coupling within them, together with the records included in it, in the four kings. And you already know the matter of the two illuminations that had to be included in the birth of ZON of Nekudim: the first illumination, for the measure of the level, which is through the new light that came out through the navel to the Keter of Nekudim, and brought the bottom Hey down beneath AVI. And the second illumination, through the Yesod of AVI, which illumination was for MAN and became the cause for the return of face to face of Aba and Ima, and to draw the illumination of Hochma for the sake of ZON. And accordingly you will understand here too, that these same two illuminations are now included in this screen and these records that rose back to AVI, for the measure of the level is included in the two upper records that exist in the screen: which are phase three of clothing, and phase two of coarseness. And the aspect of the MAN is included in the entirety of the screen and the records, since they are the records of ZON, which need the illumination of Hochma, having the same connection with Ima as the Vav and dot of the illumination of Yesod of AK, since indeed they are records of this Vav and dot, which expanded to the aspect of Guf.

And hence, when the screen and the records within it rose to the Malchut of AVI, they became there MAN for AVI, who were in Achor be Achor, and for their sake AVI returned to the state of face to face, in order to draw for them the illumination of Hochma. And then the bottom Hey was brought down from the eyes, which are phase one, to the aspect of the Hotem and the Ozen, that is, to the measure of the coarseness of the female and the measure of the clothing of the male, and they were included with each other in the manner of the inclusion of male and female in the previous Partzufim, and through this coupling the Rosh of YESHSUT came out, in the aspect of the mutual gazing of the eyes of YESHSUT with each other, and when their coarseness of Guf was determined, they descended to their place, to the place of the chest of Nekudim, and the Rosh of YESHSUT expanded from the place of the chest downward from Malchut of the Rosh of AVI down to the Peh of AVI, and from the chest downward, that is, in the lower two thirds of Tifferet, their Guf expanded. And after the screen, composed of phase two and phase three, was refined, and the vessel of Tifferet broke, the coupling of the mutual gazing of the eyes of YESHSUT departed, and the screen rose to phase two alone, which is the aspect of Guf with respect to the coupling of the gazing of the eyes, and from this coupling from above downward the king Netzah and Hod expanded. And afterward, when Netzah and Hod too were refined, the screen rose to phase one, and from above downward came out the king Yesod, and afterward it was refined to the aspect of the root, and from above downward came out the seventh king, which is Malchut.

And with what has been explained, you will also understand the order of the fall to BYA of the broken vessels, for it is in the reverse order from the time of their reign. For at the time of the clothing of the lights in the vessels, it is always found that the one coarser than its fellow is more important and more elevated than its fellow. For the vessel with greater coarseness, which is phase four, clothes the level of Keter, and when its coarseness is less, that is, phase three, it clothes only the level of Hochma, and so on. So coarseness is found to be an advantage in the vessel. But this is not so in empty vessels after their lights have departed from them, for then, on the contrary, coarseness now no longer causes any advantage, but rather causes deficiency, for the coarser any vessel is, the further the light is from it.

Hence it is found that the vessel of Daat, which has phase four of clothing, and which at the time of its reign was higher than all, is now, at the time of its breaking, lower than all, and the vessel of Hesed, which is only of phase three, and which at the time of its reign was lower than the king Daat, is found now, at the time of its breaking, higher than it, since its coarseness is less than his. Hence the vessel of Daat fell to Daat of Beria, and above it, the vessel of Hesed, that is, to Bina of Beria. And the vessel of Gevura, whose coarseness is only phase two, which at the time of its reign was lower than the vessel of Hesed, is found now, at the time of its breaking, higher than it, and it fell to the place of Hochma of Beria. And the vessel of Tifferet, whose coarseness is the least of all, its fall is above all, that is, to the place of Keter of Beria.

And you already know that lights, after their departure, leave a record behind in the place where they were. For so it was in the departure of the lights of the previous Partzufim, that every light left a record in the vessel where it had been. However, here in the Partzuf of Nekudim, after the vessels broke and fell to BYA, there was no place for the records to remain there. For they could not descend after them to BYA, since then they too would die, like the vessels, and would no longer be regarded as records. Hence the records remained in Atzilut, illuminating to their vessels from afar, in the aspect of crowns upon the letters.

However, it is regarded that they draw as close as possible to their vessels, and hence, after the vessel of Daat fell to Daat of Beria, its record descended after it to the end of Atzilut, that is, to the place of Malchut of Atzilut. And likewise, after the vessel of Hesed fell to Bina of Beria, its record descended after it, to Yesod of Atzilut, as much as it could, since the degree of Malchut was already occupied by the record of Daat. And likewise, after the vessel of Gevura fell to Hochma of Beria, its record descended after it, to Netzah-Hod of Atzilut, since the degree of Yesod was occupied by the record of Hesed. And likewise, after the vessel of Tifferet fell to Keter of Beria, since there was no longer any place for its record to descend and draw closer to its vessel, for the degree of Netzah-Hod too was occupied by the record of Gevura, it remained in the place of its own vessel, since it could no longer draw closer. And so the position of the records is found reversed from the beginning, for their order is now: the record of Tifferet, which was lowest of all, is now found in its own place, above all of them, and after it, Gevura in Netzah-Hod, and after it, Hesed in Yesod, and after it, Daat in Malchut, below all of them.

There is also another clear reason for the matter of the descent of the lights of the records from their place, to the place of NHYM of Atzilut. And it is that it is known that the standing of HGT relative to NHY is like the standing of GAR to ZON. For the five Hassadim, HGT NH, are like the five aspects KHB ZON, since HGT correspond to KHB, and Netzah-Hod correspond to ZON. Also it is known, the distinction in the ten Sefirot of Bina of direct light, that GAR of Bina are entirely Hassadim, in the secret of 'for He desires kindness,' and only in ZON of Bina is there illumination of Hochma within Hassadim (as above, p. 524, entry 'now'). And indeed the ten Sefirot of ZON of Atzilut too are corrected accordingly, that in their HGT, until the chest, the posterior of Bina rules, since the screen of Yesod of Ima covers there and conceals the illumination of Hochma, but from the chest downward, since it has already come out of the aspect of GAR of Hassadim, the screen of Yesod of Ima stops concealing from Yesod of Aba, and the illumination of Hochma within Hassadim is revealed, as above (p. 530, entry 'the lights'). Thus the place of the revelation of the illumination of Hochma is mainly in NHY, and not in HGT. Except that here, specifically in the world of Nekudim, there was this change, that even in the vessels of HGT the lights came revealed in the illumination of Hochma, without any screen or concealment from the posterior of Ima. As is known.

Hence, when those vessels of HGT broke and fell to BYA, and their records that remained in Atzilut wished to illuminate to them and preserve their form as much as possible, they descended from their place to the place of NHYM of Atzilut, for from this place they can best preserve their vessels with the illumination of Hochma, since here is the greatest rule for this revelation.

However, all this holds only before the screen of the chest was refined from the coarseness of the Guf entirely, but after the screen of the chest was refined and came into equivalence of form with the screen of the Rosh of AVI, then it is regarded that the screen, with all the records of HGT included in it, rose to AVI, who are now in the coupling of Achor be Achor, and was included in their coupling in the aspects of MAN, and so on, as above (p. 494, letter 17. See there), and the Rosh of YESHSUT came out there. Also, by then the posterior of AVI that had fallen to the place of HGT had already expanded and been corrected in the correction of lines, which is through the power of the illumination of the posterior of Ima upon them, as above, so that they were then regarded as new vessels of HGT. Then immediately the records too, which had descended in NHY of Atzilut, rose and clothed in these new vessels, each in its own line, whereby their power grew in two ways: first, that they returned to their degree as before, to the aspect of GAR of Hassadim, which are HGT. And second, that after they received the correction of lines that is in the new vessels, their power grew and strengthened further, and they were able to preserve their fallen vessels all the more. In the secret of 'The Lord supports all who fall.' For these posteriors are the aspect of Ima Ila'a, who is in the aspect of 'support,' meaning six Sefirot of GAR, which are KHB, and GAR of Hassadim, which are HGT until the chest, for that far reaches the praise of Ima Ila'a, as above.

And it was explained that the length of time the records of HGT remained in the place of NHYM of Atzilut is as long as the fall of the posterior of Atzilut had not yet finished being corrected in the correction of lines, that is, until the time of the ascent of the screen and the records within it to the Emanator, meaning to AVI, to be included there in the coupling of Achor be Achor. For even before they became MAN, they were included in the coupling of Achor be Achor of AVI, and this light increased through the screen and the records that were included in the coupling, and this light of the posterior reached also the posterior of AVI that had fallen, and then they were corrected in the correction of lines and became new vessels of HGT, and the records that had been in NHYM of Atzilut rose and clothed within them.

And you must understand here that everything proceeds according to the order of the degree. And although it was said that the screen of the chest of Nekudim rose as MAN to AVI and returned them face to face, which is the aspect of the mutual gazing of the eyes of YESHSUT included in the coupling of AVI, as above, this does not mean that this happened all at once, for you already know the words of the ARI above (p. 502, letter 25) that there are three degrees in the matter, which are Achor be Achor, then face to back, and then face to face.

So it was also with the screen and the records, upon which the ten Sefirot of the Rosh of YESHSUT came out through inclusion in the coupling of AVI. For at first they came and were included in the coupling of Achor be Achor, for this correction too was lacking to them, namely the correction of the posterior of Ima Ila'a. And afterward they came into the coupling of face to back, which is the illumination of the measure of the level that comes out upon the renewed coarseness of the records, as above, and afterward they became the aspect of MAN and brought AVI back to face to face, which is the second illumination, for the drawing of the Mochin. (Histaklut Pnimit letters 9 and 17. Look well in both places.) And this is what we said above, that through the inclusion of the screen in the coupling of Achor be Achor, the illumination of the posterior of Ima Ila'a was renewed, until it reached also the posterior of AVI, who had fallen to HGT. Understand this well.

And you should not find difficulty from what is brought among the words of the ARI above (in letters 64, 65, 66, 67), that the new vessels of HGT, in the correction of lines, expanded at the time of the reign of the kings of TNHYM, in order to vacate a place for them and to raise up the records from these places. For these words openly contradict most of the places in the words of the ARI, who states explicitly that the vessels were made from the very posterior of AVI that had fallen to the place of HGT. They are also refuted from the depth of the wisdom, as written above in Ohr Pnimi (p. 537, entry 'the light of Tifferet.' See there.) For, by this reason of vacating a place, a confusion results in two matters: one, that the new vessel of Gevura was corrected before the new vessel of Hesed. And two, that the vessel of Netzah-Hod, which is the aspect of VAK of Hassadim, fell in Beria in the middle of the vessels of GAR of Hassadim, and is even lower than the vessel of Hesed — matters that could not be said in any way. And I suspect that they are an elaboration by a student at the beginning of his study, before he understood the wisdom. And the great commentators, the Yafe Sha'ah and the Shemesh, of blessed memory, already noted this contradiction, in Etz Chaim, gate nine, chapter three, page 10, and they too decided in accordance with what we said above. See there.

And now it was explained that the records rose from NHYM to the new HGT of Atzilut all at once, even before the kings of TNHYM began to reign, so that by the time the kings of TNHYM came to reign, their places were already vacated of the records of HGT that had been there. For this is agreed upon in most of the places in the words of the ARI. And know that the rise of the records from the place of NHYM to the place of the new HGT caused a double descent for the vessels Daat and HGT that fell to Beria. For they fell even further, from the place of GAR of Beria, to the place of ZAT of Beria. For although the records themselves grew and strengthened through their rising and clothing in those vessels of HGT, for the power of the correction that is in them for the sake of their own vessels gained now the light of the posterior of Ima, as above — this applies at the time of the rise of these vessels in Atzilut, when the posterior of Ima supports them, in the secret of 'The Lord supports all who fall,' as above. But now, while they remained in Beria, the rise of their own records to the new HGT caused them a greater descent and breaking. For while they were in Beria, they could not benefit at all from the posterior of Ima, and even their own illumination that they had from their records was also lost, for they need the illumination of Hochma, and now that the records clothed in the posterior of Ima, which reject Hochma, as is known, the vessels are found now bereft on both sides: for their own illumination, which is the illumination of Hochma, was entirely lost from them, since even their own records clothed in the posterior of Ima, which rejects Hochma. And also from the posterior of Ima they are not fit to receive, for this light does not reach their place in Beria, and they are found bereft of all illumination, and hence their breaking was doubled, and they fell to the end of the degrees of BYA, that is, to the utmost lowliness, than which there is nothing lower.

And you must know that what is said, that they fell to Beria, refers to the aspect of GAR within them, but their VAK fell to Yetzira, and their Malchuts fell to Assiya. And it is found now, after their records rose to the new vessels of HGT, and the vessels within BYA were entirely emptied, as above, then the vessel of Daat, in its RTS, fell to the Malchuts of BYA, for the Malchut of Daat fell to the place of the very end of all, that is, to the Malchut of Assiya, and the VAK of Daat fell to the Malchut of Yetzira, and the GAR of Daat fell to the Malchut of Beria. And upon Daat fell the RTS of the vessel of Hesed, that is, likewise in the manner above, that GAR of Hesed fell upon GAR of Daat in Beria.

And VAK of Hesed, upon VAK of Daat in Yetzira. And Malchut of Hesed, upon Malchut of Daat in Assiya. And likewise the vessel of Gevura upon the vessel of Hesed. And the vessel of Tifferet, however, remained in its place in the Keter of BYA, and its breaking was not doubled because of the rise of its own record, for its record neither descended nor rose, as above, since even in the first fall it had no descent at all, but remained in the place of its own vessel, where the new vessel of Tifferet was later corrected. And also the vessel of Tifferet itself has only the aspect of face, as written in Ohr Pnimi (p. 539, entry 'One should not ask'), and hence it remained in the Keter of BYA, above all the vessels.

Thus the four vessels of HGT also fell, in the second descent, in the order of the first descent, that the greater than its fellow, its breaking and its fall is harder, because it has more coarseness, as above. Hence Daat fell in the Malchut of BYA, and above it Hesed in the Yesod of BYA, and above it Gevura in the Netzah-Hod of BYA, except for the vessel of Tifferet, which is an exception to the rule, for the reason above, as explained.

And in the same way was also the order of the fall of the lower kings: Netzah, Hod, Yesod, Malchut. That the more important than its fellow, its breaking and fall is harder, and hence the vessel of Netzah-Hod fell above the vessel of Gevura, that is, in the place of Tifferet of BYA. And above it, the vessel of Yesod, that is, in the place of Gevura of BYA. And above all, the vessel of Malchut, that is, in the place of Hesed of BYA. And the vessels are now found lying one upon another, all in ZAT of BYA, except for the vessel of Tifferet, which is in the Keter of BYA. And the order of their standing is in the reverse state from the order of their reign, for in the order of their reign, the coarser than its fellow was more elevated than it, and now the more refined than its fellow is more elevated, in such a way that Malchut is above all of them, in Hesed of BYA, and after it, Yesod in Gevura of BYA, and after it, Netzah-Hod in Tifferet of BYA, and after it, Gevura in Netzah-Hod of BYA, and after it, Hesed in Yesod of BYA, and after it, Daat in Malchut of BYA.

However, the matter of the fall of the king Tifferet still requires study. For it had two reigns, quite distant from one another: in the upper third of the vessel, its reign was from the expansion of the general Hesed and Gevura of the upper AVI. And in the lower two thirds of the vessel, its reign was from the expansion of the Hesed and Gevura of the mutual gazing of the eyes of YESHSUT. If so, it should have had two falls to BYA, in two places, and it is likewise very difficult, how is it possible that the upper half of the vessel should die and fall to BYA, while its lower half remains alive and reigns in Atzilut, receiving the expansion of YESHSUT?

Now, according to the surface of the wording in the words of the ARI (p. 522, letter 45), one might still swallow the matter in one gulp, and interpret that with the departure of the light of the upper third of Tifferet, it still did not break and die, but only after the light of YESHSUT expanded also in the lower two thirds, and after this light too departed, then it broke and died and fell to the Keter of Beria. However, in the book Mevo She'arim the matter is explained more explicitly, and its wording there is: 'And when Tifferet died, and the light began to die and depart from the first third, until the chest, the general Hesed and Gevura of the two Yesodot and two Malchuts of the upper AVI descended, and their posteriors were finished falling entirely,' and so on. Thus it is stated explicitly, that with the departure of the light from the upper third of Tifferet, this part began to die. And besides this, how is it possible that after the departure of the light from the upper third of Tifferet, the part should remain alive in its place, for then there is no room at all for departure, since even after the fall of the vessel the light too remains in its place, having no place to descend, as above in the words of the ARI. And although the interpretation is that the record remained in place, and not the light, still this too would be a great novelty, that the record of Tifferet remained in the vessel of Tifferet, unlike all the others, and it should have been discussed somewhere. And so too the ARI writes here explicitly (p. 528, letter 49) 'that after the upper third of Tifferet died, the posterior of AVI fell there.' See there. Thus it is proven from here that it fell to Beria too, and vacated its place for the posterior of AVI.

However, the truth is that the vessel was not divided in this way, that half of it fell down to Beria while half remained above. And the matter of its death and its fall was only from the aspect of GAR to the aspect of VAK. For this vessel of Tifferet is unlike the other vessels, in that it is divided into two aspects: GAR of Hassadim and VAK of Hassadim, so that until the chest it is the aspect of GAR, and from the chest downward it is the aspect of VAK. And the reason for this was already explained in Ohr Pnimi (p. 523, entry 'And still'. See there.) Hence its breaking was in the order of the degree, that first it fell from GAR to VAK, and afterward it fell to BYA, as written in Ohr Pnimi, p. 537, with its reason and its explanation. See there. And with this everything is set right. For since it descended from the aspects of GAR within it to the aspects of VAK, it is regarded that the upper third of Tifferet fell below the chest, that is, that it was included in the lower two thirds, which with respect to the upper third is regarded as death, and its place became vacant, and hence the posterior of AVI fell there, that is, the new vessel of Tifferet, as above. And what is said, that the vessel of Tifferet fell to the Keter of Beria, this was after the departure of the light also from the lower two thirds. Understand this.

There is still room for a question, for the vessels of the first kings, whose breaking was harder, fell first to GAR of Beria, as above, while the vessels of the lower kings, whose breaking was easier, fell immediately to ZAT of Beria. Why did they not fall to GAR of Beria? Now, we already explained the reason for the second descent of the first kings to ZAT of BYA, which is that the records clothed in the new vessels of the correction of lines, in the illumination of the posterior of Ima, which reject Hochma, and since the entire essence of those kings was in the illumination of Hochma, they are found bereft even of the illumination of the records too, and hence they were pushed away to ZAT of Beria. As above (letter 25). It was also explained there, the reason for the rise of the records, which is that their clothing in those vessels grants them the entire power of correction, so that they can correct their own vessels at the time of their rise to Atzilut, in the secret of 'The Lord supports all who fall.' See there. Hence, it is found here, in the breaking of the lower kings, that those vessels were already prepared before they broke (as above, letter 25), so they did not need to tarry at all in the place of NHYM of Atzilut, but immediately, at the time the vessel broke, the record rose and clothed in the new vessels in the correction of lines, that is, in the illumination of the posterior of Ima, which rejects Hochma. If so, there was no time for the vessel to benefit at all from its own record, since the essence of the vessel is sustained only by the illumination of Hochma within the record, as above, and hence the first descent to GAR of Beria does not apply to them, but they were pushed away immediately to the lowest rung, that is, to ZAT of BYA. Unlike the first kings, which, at the time they broke, the new vessels of the correction of lines were not yet ready there. As above (letter 22, entry 'And behold'). Hence, during that period of time, the records illuminated to their vessels the illumination of Hochma that remained in them, and the vessels still had power to sustain themselves in GAR of BYA. Only afterward, when the new vessels were corrected, and the records rose and clothed in them, whereby the illumination of Hochma stopped from the records, then they were pushed away to ZAT. As above.

And accordingly it is found that the vessel of Tifferet, whose breaking was not hard, indeed did not fall to ZAT of Beria, but to the aspect corresponding to it, which is Keter of Beria. In such a way that after the departure of the light of the lower two thirds of Tifferet, the record rose to the new vessel of Tifferet, which is the middle line, and since it stands in the upper third of that very vessel, it is regarded almost as though the record remained in its own vessel, for after all they are two halves of one vessel. And this is the true reason why Tifferet did not fall to ZAT of Beria, but remained in Keter of Beria.

But the other vessels are not so. For upon the departure of the light from the vessel of Netzah-Hod, the record rose in the new vessels in the left line, that is, in the new vessel of Gevura. And since the record clothed there in the posterior of Ima, which rejects Hochma, the vessel was immediately pushed away to ZAT of Beria, above the vessel of Gevura, which occupies the place of Netzah-Hod of Beria. Hence the vessel of Netzah-Hod of Atzilut fell in Tifferet of Beria. And upon the departure of the light from the vessel of Yesod of Atzilut, its record rose to the new vessels in the middle line, that is, in the new vessel of Tifferet, and took a place above the record of Tifferet that was already there. And this is because of the reversed order that is regarded at the time of the departure of the lights, from the time of their reign, that at the time of departure it is regarded that the one smaller than its fellow, meaning the more refined than its fellow, is found above it. As above (p. 554, letter 19). Hence the light of the record of Yesod, coming from a vessel more refined than the vessel of Tifferet, has its place above the record of the vessel of Tifferet. And the vessel of Yesod is immediately pushed away to ZAT of Beria for the reason above, and it takes a place there above the vessel of Netzah-Hod, that is, in the place of Gevura of Beria. And in the same way, upon the departure of the light from the vessel of Malchut, since that vessel is even more refined than the vessel of Yesod, its record is found rising even higher than the record of Yesod in the new vessel of Tifferet, that is, the middle line, for the more refined is always the more elevated, as above. And the vessel of Malchut is pushed away for this reason to ZAT of Beria, above the vessel of Yesod, that is, in the place of Hesed of Beria.

And the records of the lower kings are now arranged within the new vessels: in the middle line stand three records, one above the other: first the record of Malchut, the most refined of all, and after it the record of Yesod, and after it the record of Tifferet. And the record of Netzah-Hod stands in the left line, that is, in the new vessel of Gevura. And since the middle line is divided into Tifferet and Daat, the place of the record of Tifferet is regarded as being in the new vessel of Tifferet, and the record of Yesod in the place of Daat, and above it, the record of Malchut.

And after the departure of the light also from the vessel of Malchut, the fall of the posterior of YESHSUT was completed, as the ARI wrote above (p. 531, letter 51). And the substance of these posteriors of YESHSUT is similar to the substance of the posteriors of AVI, explained above (p. 552, letter 15. See there); so too here, these are the matter of the MAN, the records of AB of Gadlut of YESHSUT, which after the breaking of the vessels and the refinement of the screen within them, the coupling in the Peh of YESHSUT stopped, which had been for the sake of its ZON, which are the vessels of the lower two thirds of Tifferet and NHYM, and YESHSUT returned to Achor be Achor, that is, to that same measure they had received when they were included in the coupling of Achor be Achor of AVI, as above (p. 555, letter 23). And all these couplings of Gadlut that came out in YESHSUT, up to the general inclusion of Hesed and Gevura that expanded to Malchut, all these are regarded as the posterior of YESHSUT, which fell from the aspect of the Rosh of YESHSUT, from the chest and above, and descended to the aspect of Guf, that is, to the place from the chest downward.

And the place of the fall of these posteriors is also, as with AVI, that is, each one to the place of its own Guf, as above (p. 552, letter 15, entry 'Also'), and so too here: the level of the mutual gazing of the eyes fell to the place of the lower two thirds of Tifferet, and the level of the bodies of YESHSUT fell to the place of the kings Netzah-Hod, and the general Hesed and Gevura of the Yesodot of YESHSUT fell to the place of the king Yesod, and the level of Hesed and Gevura of the Malchut of YESHSUT fell to the place of Malchut, that is, the entire aspect of the Rosh of each level, to the aspect of the Guf of that same level.

And still they were not corrected in the correction of lines, until the screen and the records included in it rose to the Emanator, that is, to the Malchut of YESHSUT, which is the aspect of the Emanator of the four kings TNHYM. In the manner explained above regarding the correction of lines of the posterior of AVI (p. 555, letter 22, entry 'And behold'). See there. And the same is true here, for after the vessel of Malchut too broke, and the screen was already refined of all aspects of coarseness of Guf within it, it is then regarded that it rose to its root, to the Malchut of the Rosh, and was included in the coupling of Achor be Achor that remained there. And a new coupling came out there, upon the screen and the records included in it. And since the last aspect always disappears and only the aspect of clothing remains, it is found here that nothing remained but phase two of clothing and phase one of coarseness. And it did not have the capacity to raise MAN sufficient to bring YESHSUT back to face to face, as written in its place, and hence only a coupling of Achor be Achor came out upon it, and when the coarseness of its Guf was determined, it descended to its place, to the place of the chest in the Guf, which is in the upper joint of Yesod, and brought forth ten Sefirot of the Rosh from Yesod upward, at the level of ZA and Achor be Achor. However, it was unable to expand into ten Sefirot from above downward, since it is in the state of Achor be Achor. However, this Rosh corrected the posterior of YESHSUT in the correction of lines, and from the posterior of YESHSUT that had fallen to the place of the lower two thirds of Tifferet, a new vessel was made for the lower half of Tifferet, and from the posterior of YESHSUT that had fallen to the place of Netzah-Hod, two lines were made, for they divided into two: the posterior of Israel Saba became a new vessel of Netzah on the right, and the posterior of Tevuna became a new vessel of Hod on the left. And the posterior of Yesod and Malchut were included in the middle line, that is, in the lower half of the new vessel of Tifferet. And now that the new vessels were corrected from the posterior of YESHSUT, also from the chest of Nekudim downward, as above, then the lights of TNHYM clothed in the new vessels of the posterior of the upper AVI, which are from the chest of Nekudim upward, now descended to the new vessels in their place, made from the posterior of YESHSUT, each to its own vessel, in such a way that the lights of the king of the lower two thirds of Tifferet and of the king Yesod and Malchut descended to the new vessel of the lower half of Tifferet, made in the middle line. And the light of Netzah descended to the new vessel of Netzah. And the light of Hod descended to the new vessel of Hod. And you already know that these lights are only records that remained from the lights, for the lights themselves departed to their root.

And you find that the new vessels of the posterior of YESHSUT were corrected only in Tifferet, Netzah, and Hod, and not in Yesod and Malchut. And this is because the entire matter of the correction of the new vessels in the three lines is through the new Rosh that came out in this place in Achor be Achor, as above. And since this Rosh ends at the place of the first joint of Yesod, it is found that it clothes only the upper joint of Yesod, and it is known that the upper joint of Yesod is included in Tifferet. Thus this new Rosh clothes nothing from Tifferet downward, and includes within it neither Yesod nor Malchut.

And what we said above, that the general Guf of YESHSUT, which includes the four kings TNHYM, is regarded as having its chest from the first joint of Yesod upward, is because when one divides the Partzuf that is below the navel into ten Sefirot, in the correction of three lines, Netzah divides into three thirds: Hochma, Hesed, Netzah. And Hod divides into three thirds: Bina, Gevura, Hod. And Yesod divides into two joints: Tifferet, and Yesod. Accordingly it is found that the place of the chest is in the upper joint of Yesod, which is the aspect of Tifferet of the Partzuf NHY. And this is what we said, that the end of the new Rosh, that is, its Peh, is equal to the end of Tifferet, for the upper joint of Yesod is hidden within Tifferet. Hence no new vessels came into being for Yesod and Malchut of Nekudim.

And you see how the matter of correction proceeds gradually, little by little. For at first, in the first three Partzufim of AK — Galgalta, AB, SAG — there was only one vessel and one line. And afterward, in Nekudim, the reality of ten vessels began to be made, and also the correction of lines in GAR, which are AVI. And afterward, after the breaking of the vessels of HGT, and after the coming out of the Rosh of YESHSUT, the correction of lines was made in the lights of HGT, that is, in their records, as above, which clothed in the new vessels made from the posterior of AVI, corrected in the correction of lines by the Rosh of YESHSUT, and the correction of lines reached the records of HGT of the broken vessels. And afterward, after the breaking of the vessels of the kings of TNHYM, the correction of lines was made also in their records, for they clothed in the new vessels made from the posterior of YESHSUT, corrected in the correction of lines by the new Rosh of Daat that came out in Achor be Achor, and the correction of lines reached also the lights of TNHYM. And now there still remains the correction of lines for the vessels of ZAT of Nekudim that fell to BYA, as above, and this will be corrected in the world of Tikun through the new MA, as will be written in its place, God willing.