Частина 7 · Внутрішнє споглядання 2

We shall now explain the actions that took place in the world of Nekudim, by way of the emergence of the seven kings and their breaking, until the ascent of MAN to the new MA, explaining cause and effect — that is, how each action is drawn from the action that preceded it, in all its conditions, by absolute necessity. We have already explained the order of cause and effect regarding the actions that occurred in the worlds from the first restriction until the emergence of AVI of Nekudim in the state of smallness, that is, in the state of ABA. Above (in Inner Observation, Part Six, page 452 to page 461) we also began to speak there of the coupling of greatness of AVI (item 31, in actions 12 and 13); but according to the knowledge we have gained in this part before us, it is worth repeating the matter and beginning here with the coupling of greatness of AVI, since from this coupling the seven kings of the Nekudim emerged.

It has already been explained well in Part Six that there were two upper couplings for the sake of the Nekudim: one for the sake of smallness and one for the sake of greatness. (As above, in the Rav's words, page 404, item 14, and page 407, item 16.) See there, item 16, and you will see that the Rav distinguishes there and says, "that the light that was at first below and rose above, etc., extended from them branches outward through the eyes, and they are the Nekudim that spread outside AK from the navel to the end of the legs, and that is their essence" — meaning, the points of SAG that were at first below the navel of AK and rose above — a coupling was made upon them in the head of SAG, and the branches of this coupling descended as the ten Sefirot of Nekudim through the orifices of the eyes, from which emerged GAR of Nekudim, and AVI were corrected only as ABA, as was explained regarding their matter above in Inner Light (page 499, "This is what he means to say," see there). And from this state AVI still cannot bring forth offspring, for it suffices only for their own sustenance, and in order to bring forth offspring they need an additional Mochin, through an upper coupling of AB SAG. As he continues there in the aforementioned item 16 and says, "Indeed, that new light, too, which descended within it and split the Parsa, etc., and shines in these Nekudim, etc., through the navel and the Yesod" — see there the whole continuation. And this new light was born through the ascent of MAN from the lights below the navel of AK itself, as he wrote there, item 15: that the lights below the navel of AK, called NHY of AK, rose as MAN to the upper AB SAG, and through this coupling they bore a new light, and this new light descended and split the Parsa, etc. — meaning, it once again nullified the boundary of the Parsa, which had removed AHP from all the degrees, outward, and now, through the illumination of the coupling of AB SAG, the AHP of all the degrees returned to their degree as at first.

And it says that this new light illuminated the Nekudim through two places: through the navel and through the Yesod. And know that these two illuminations performed two special actions, for the illumination that emerged through the navel reached only the Keter of the Nekudim, which clothes the place of the navel of AK, and because of its illumination the boundary of the Parsa separating Keter from AVI — which removes them from the phase of the head of Keter — was also nullified. And now the Parsa split, and AVI returned to being one head with the Keter, and thus AVI gained GAR and the phases of their Panim [face]. However, the illumination that emerged through the Yesod of AK reached AVI of Nekudim, since this new light had already clothed in NHY of AK itself, and therefore its illumination emerged to AVI in the aspect of MAN, in the secret of Shuruk, which is a Vav and a dot, whereby AVI coupled upon this MAN face-to-face [PBP], and bore the ZAT of Nekudim. As the Rav states on page 509, item 31.

And you find that four actions were bound to occur in order to bring AVI to the coupling of PBP, fit to emanate the seven kings of the Nekudim. They are: One, the ascent of MAN of NHY of AK to the upper AB and SAG, which causes them to couple together. (As above, page 547, item 4.) Two, the coupling of AB and SAG, which brought forth a new light that split the Parsa, returning the outer AHP of all the degrees to their degree as at first. Three, the descent of this new light below the navel of AK, and its emergence through the navel to the Keter of Nekudim, which returns AVI to the head, and they acquire GAR. But this still does not suffice for the coupling of PBP, for Ima does not turn her face to Aba without a cause obligating her to do so, since Ima desires Hassadim from her root and rejects Hochma. Rather, AVI came to the state of PBA. Four is the emergence of the illumination through the Yesod of AK, in the aspect of MAN, to AVI, for this MAN caused Ima to cut off her posterior that was over the Hochma, and to couple with him PBP, so that she could receive the illumination of Hochma for the sake of the MAN she received from the Yesod of AK, which is the phase of the seminal drop of the seven kings of Nekudim.

And then AVI coupled upon the MAN they received from the Yesod of AK, and brought forth the phases of HC and HG [Hesed and Gevura] at the level of Keter, meaning, phases of ZON that have the illumination of Hochma of Keter. And the measure of this Mochin has already been explained well in Inner Light above (page 518, "And with this you will understand," see there the whole continuation). And this level is regarded as the Rosh of AVI, as the phase of Histaklut Eynayim [observation eye-to-eye] of AVI with one another. And even though all of AVI is a phase of Rosh, even the phase of their Yesodot [foundations], nonetheless, since it is the level of Keter of AVI, it is therefore called the Rosh of AVI; but the level of Hochma and Bina is called the Guf of AVI, and the level of ZA is called the Yesodot of AVI. But all of them are a phase of Rosh, meaning, the phase of clothing from below upward, which is called Rosh. But the clothing that spread from above downward, which descended from the aforementioned level and is a phase of true Guf, is called by the name "the seven kings," and not in the name of AVI. And the spreading from above downward of the first level mentioned, called the Rosh of AVI, spread into the king Daat of Nekudim, which is the Guf for this level.

Before the light finished spreading in it, the vessel broke and fell into BYA — the phase of GAR in it to Beria, VAK in it to Yetzira, and Malchut in it to Assiya. However, it did not yet fall completely to the bottom of BYA, but only to the bottom of GAR of BYA, that is, to Daat of BYA. And then the coupling also ceased from the Rosh of AVI, for this whole coupling existed only for the sake of the MAN, which are ZON, and not for their own sake; therefore, once the first vessel of ZON died, the coupling belonging to that vessel ceased. And the records of that level of Keter of AVI fell from the phase of AVI to the phase of Guf, that is, to the phase of ZAT of Nekudim, and they are called the posteriors of AVI, which fell in the place of the king Daat. And the record of the king Daat itself fell to Malchut of Atzilut, and illuminates its vessel from afar, in the secret of Tagin over the letters, since it cannot clothe within the vessel in its own way, because it cannot descend after it to Beria and separate from its root, for it would lose its rank.

And after the coupling of Histaklut Eynayim of AVI was annulled, the HT rose to the nose, and the level of the coupling descended to the phase of the Guf of Aba, that is, the level that emerges upon the screen of phase three, which is the level of Hochma; and its Guf, from above downward, spread into the king Hesed. And when the light met the dross in the vessel, the light departed from it, and the vessel broke and fell to Bina of BYA. And the level of Aba descended to the phase of Guf in the place of Hesed, that is, to the phase of its Guf. And the record of Hesed descended to the place of Yesod of Atzilut, since Malchut was occupied by the record of Daat. Likewise, after the annulment of the coupling of the level of Aba, the HT rose to the ear, and the coupling descended to the degree of Bina in the Rosh, and in the Guf it spread into the king Gevura. This, too, broke, and fell into BYA in the place of Hochma of BYA. And the level of Bina of the Rosh of AVI descended to the place of its Guf, that is, to the place of the king Gevura. And the record of the king Gevura descended to the place of NH of Atzilut, since the place of Yesod was occupied by the record of the king Hesed. Likewise, after the annulment of the coupling of the level of Ima, the HT rose back to the eyes, and the level of ZA emerged in AVI, called the phase of the Yesodot of AVI, and from above downward it spread into the king Tifferet, in his upper third. And when it broke, the vessel descended to the phase below the chest, that is, to the phase of the lower third of Tifferet. And the level of the Rosh descended to the place of its Guf, that is, to the upper third of the king Tifferet. And the entire coupling of AVI was annulled, and the fallings of all their posteriors were completed — that is, all four levels that emerged in AVI as above, and were annulled by reason of the breaking of their four Gufim, each level falling to the place where its Guf had been. And the phase of the record of this king Tifferet remained in its place, since it had no place to descend to, for Netzach and Hod were occupied by the record of the king Gevura, as above.

And once the entire screen was refined and rose to its root, to the mouth of AVI, and was included there in the coupling of ABA that remained in AVI (as above, item 22, see there) — which is the first state of the new second Rosh, called ISHSUT of Nekudim — then this illumination of ABA of AVI descended and corrected the posteriors that had fallen in the place of HGT, through the correction of the lines, until new, corrected vessels were made: Daat and Tifferet in the middle line, and Hesed to the right, and Gevura to the left. And then the records of the four kings of HGT rose and clothed in those vessels, which were made from the posteriors of AVI. By virtue of this, their vessels in BYA fell to the lowest floor there, that is, to the place of NHYM of BYA. (As above, item 25.)

And here you find twelve actions in each and every king of the four kings mentioned, of HGT: One is the coupling upon the screen, which measures the degree of the level — that is, according to the place of the HT, whether in the mouth, the nose, the ear, or the eyes. Two is the coupling of AVI face-to-face, whereby Ima receives the illumination of Hochma for the sake of ZON, that is, HC and HG. Three is the level from below upward that emerges from the coupling of AVI, which is the phase of AVI. Four is the level that spreads from above downward, which is the phase of Guf, called king. Five is the departure of the light to its root, by reason of the mixture of dross found in the vessel. Six is the falling of the vessel to the bottom of GAR of BYA. Seven is the remaining of the record from the light that departed. Eight is the descent of the record to the bottom of Atzilut, to draw near to the vessel and illuminate it in the phase of Tagin over the letters. Nine is the falling of the posteriors of AVI — that is, the annulment of the coupling of the Rosh that belonged to the vessel that broke, whose records are called the posteriors of AVI, which fall to the place where the vessel had been. Ten is the correction of the lines that occurs in the posteriors of Ima, by force of the illumination of ABA of AVI, whereby a new vessel is corrected in place of the vessel of its Guf that broke. Eleven is the ascent of the record from the bottom of Atzilut and its clothing in the new vessel that was corrected in place of its vessel, from the posteriors of AVI. Twelve is the second descent of the vessel to the very bottom of BYA, because of the record's distancing from it. And these twelve actions apply to each and every king of the four kings: Daat, Hesed, Gevura, and the upper third of Tifferet.

And thus the couplings of AVI, and the four levels — Rosh and Guf — that emerged in them, have been explained. And in them fifty-two actions were performed: four actions were performed until AVI was brought to the state of PBP fit to bring forth the seven kings (as above, item 2). And twelve actions were performed in each and every king of the four kings — thus four times twelve is forty-eight, and with the four of AVI, that is fifty-two.

And now we shall explain the second Rosh of Nekudim, called ISHSUT, in its four couplings, which brought forth four levels of Rosh and Guf. Behold, in ISHSUT, too, four actions preceded, until they came to the coupling of PBP, fit to bring forth the lower kings of Atzilut. One is the ascent of the screen to the Emanator, to be included in AVI — which is the phase of its refinement from every phase of the coarseness of Guf that had been in it, until it became equal to the screen of AVI, and in it are also included the records of the four kings of HGT. (Note, in the author's handwriting: the records of HGT from the state of posteriors in AVI are from the pure light, direct light; but the records included in the screen that rose to the mouth of AVI are from the coarse light of the records fit to be renewed through a coupling by striking, the phase of reflected light.) And this detracts nothing from the records of HGT that descended to NHYM of Atzilut, since it is known that there is no absence in the spiritual. Two is the inclusion of the screen and the records in it in the coupling of ABA of AVI, whereby the coarseness in them was renewed. Three is the inclusion of the screen and records in the PBA of AVI, which is the measure of the degree of the level that emerges upon the coarseness renewed in the records. Four is that they became MAN (note, in the author's handwriting: the arousal of the coarseness of NHY of AK included in that screen)

for the phase of the coupling of PBP. As stated above (page 555, in Inner Observation, item 23, see there).

And since the last phase was lost, nothing remained but phase three of clothing and phase two of coarseness. The coupling made upon these records brought forth the coupling of Histaklut Eynayim of ISHSUT, each with the other, whose level is close to the level of Hochma — that is, HC and HG, which have the illumination of Hochma of the level of Hochma. As above (page 518, "And with this you will understand"). And this level is regarded as the Rosh of ISHSUT, that is, the phase of their Keter, for Keter is called by the name Rosh. At first, this level emerged in the place of AVI, and after the coarseness of Guf in it was recognized, it descended to its place, in the Guf, that is, in the chest of Nekudim. And from the chest of Nekudim and upward emerged the Rosh of ISHSUT, in the same quantity and measure of level as emerged in the inclusion of AVI, as above. And from the chest downward, that is, in the lower third of Tifferet, their Guf spread. And when the light met the dross in the vessel, it departed at once to its root, and the vessel broke and fell to the Keter of Beria, that is, to the phase corresponding to it, since at the time of its reign the phase of the Keter of ISHSUT had spread in it, as above. And it did not fall to ZAT of BYA, since its breaking was not severe, as above (page 539, "and there is no," and page 558, item 30). And the record of the vessel rose to the new vessel of Tifferet from the chest upward, which was made from the posteriors of AVI. And the posteriors of the phase of Histaklut Eynayim of ISHSUT that were annulled fell to the place of their Guf, which is the place where the lower third of the vessel of Tifferet had been.

And after the coupling of Histaklut Eynayim was annulled, a coupling was made in the coarseness of phase two that still remained in the screen, and the coupling descended to the phase of the Guf of ISHSUT, that is, to the level of Bina, which is called Guf relative to the level of Histaklut Eynayim that had been in it before; but in itself it is a complete Rosh, meaning the phase of clothing from below upward. And its Guf, which is clothing from above downward, spread into the vessel of Netzach and Hod. And when the light departed and the vessel broke, it fell to Tifferet of BYA, that is, to the bottom of the degree, since it could not fall further, because the place of NH of BYA was occupied by the vessel of Gevura, as above. And the record that remained from the light that departed rose to the new vessel of Gevura, made from the posteriors of AVI. And the posteriors of the level of the Rosh that was annulled fell to the place of its Guf, that is, to the place of the king of NH.

And when the coupling of the level of Bina was annulled, the coupling descended to the phase of the Yesodot of ISHSUT, that is, to the level of phase one that remained there, and its Guf spread into the sixth king, which is the vessel of Yesod. And when it broke, it descended to the place of Gevura of BYA, since Tifferet was occupied by the vessel of Netzach-Hod; and its record rose to the middle line, above the new Tifferet, which is the vessel of Daat made from the posteriors of Ima. And the posteriors descended to the place of the vessel of Yesod, which is its Guf. And afterward the coupling rose to the phase of the Malchuyot of ISHSUT, and their Guf spread into the seventh king, which is the vessel of Malchut. And when it broke, it descended to the place of Hesed of BYA, and its record rose to the vessel of Daat, above the record of Yesod standing there, and the posteriors descended to the place of its Guf, which is the place of the vessel of Malchut.

And here you find four actions in ISHSUT, until their arrival at the state of PBP, as in AVI, but with a difference. For those two actions — the ascent of MAN of NHY of AK to the upper AB SAG, and the coupling of AB SAG that brought forth the new light that split the Parsa — these do not apply in ISHSUT. In their place, however, there are two other actions here, namely: the matter of the ascent of the screen, and the matter of the inclusion in the coupling of ABA. In this way, here too there are four actions, as in AVI, namely: the ascent of the screen to AVI, and the inclusion in the coupling of ABA, and in PBA, and in PBP (as above, item 5). And likewise two actions that apply to the upper kings of AVI are lacking here, namely: the first descent of the broken vessels to GAR of BYA, and the descent of the records to NHYM of Atzilut — these do not apply to the lower kings of ISHSUT. For the descent of the records to NHYM does not apply here, because the new vessels of the posteriors of AVI were already prepared before their breaking; therefore, as soon as the vessel broke, the record already had a place to clothe in the vessel. And the matter of the first descent to GAR of BYA does not apply here, because of the distancing of the records from the vessels immediately at the time of their breaking, as above (page 558, item 29).

And so it is found that here, in the lower kings of ISHSUT, there are only ten actions in each and every king, which correspond to what was explained above in item 4 regarding AVI, except that the two aforementioned actions are missing. In this way, there are here, in the couplings of ISHSUT and their four Gufim, forty-four actions: four, until the coupling of PBP, and forty in the four kings — that is, ten actions in each king, as above. However, further on we shall bring the matter of the descent of the records of TNHYM from the new vessels of the posteriors of AVI to the new vessels made from the posteriors of ISHSUT; and if so, there are four more actions in addition to the forty-four mentioned, which together are forty-eight actions.

And now we shall explain the third coupling that emerged in Nekudim at the level of ZA, called Daat, which completed VAK through the correction of the lines, as the Rav wrote above (page 543, item 70): that he drew a vessel for Netzach in the right line, and a vessel for Hod in the left line, and also lengthened the vessel of Tifferet below the chest, in the lower third — see there. (See also page 541, item 64.) And his language is: "And the cause of the enlargement of the vessel of Keter was because of the light of Daat that clothed in it and enlarged it." And the intent is toward the coupling of the two crowns [Atarin] in Daat, which he brings afterward in item 70; understand this.

And the matter is that after the coupling of ISHSUT descended to their Malchuyot — meaning that the screen was refined to the phase of root — it came to a further refinement from all coarseness of Guf, that is, in the equalizing of its form to the screen of ISHSUT. It is then regarded that the screen rose and was included in the screen of the Rosh of ISHSUT, and the coarseness was renewed upon the records included in the screen, from phase two of clothing, and phase one of coarseness. But it did not have the capacity to return ISHSUT to PBP, and therefore it was included only in the coupling of ABA of ISHSUT, and the phase of the coarseness of Guf included in the screen and the records was recognized. It emerged from there and descended to the place of the chest of the Guf of ISHSUT, which is the place of the upper joint of the Yesod (as above, page 559, item 32), and it brought forth the ten Sefirot of the Rosh from Yesod and above. But for the Guf, it had no expansion, since it was in the state of ABA, as stated there in item 32.

And this is what the Rav said above (page 543, item 70): "For through her ascent there, she binds together, from below upward, all of VAK," etc. For this level of Daat, which was renewed through the ascent of the records, emerged as a phase of Rosh without Guf, meaning, in the ten Sefirot from below upward alone; and through its illumination, the posteriors of ISHSUT that had fallen there were corrected in the phase of the correction of the lines, by clothing and filling them with its lights. And then the vessel of Tifferet below the chest, until the end of Tifferet, was enlarged from the posteriors of Histaklut Eynayim of ISHSUT that had fallen there. Likewise, the vessel of Netzach was enlarged by virtue of the posteriors of Yisrael Saba that had fallen there. Likewise, the vessel of Hod was enlarged by virtue of the posteriors of Tevuna that had fallen there. But at the time they fell, they had no correction of the lines — right, left, middle — but fell one beneath the other; and now, through the Rosh of the level of Daat, which illuminated them by clothing them as above, they were corrected through the correction of the lines, and the vessels were enlarged as above.

And after the new vessels — Tifferet, Netzach, Hod — emerged in the three lines, then the records of TNHY descended from the upper vessels, which were made from the posteriors of AVI, and came and clothed in the new vessels in their place: the record of the lower third of Tifferet descended and clothed in the new vessel of Tifferet, made from the posteriors of ISHSUT; likewise the record of Netzach, in the vessel of Netzach in the right line; and the record of Hod, in the vessel of Hod in the left line. However, the Rosh of Daat did not reach the vessels of Yesod and Malchut, and therefore they were not corrected by it (as above, page 560, item 33, see there).

And it is fitting to grasp, in all that has been explained, how all the forces found in the upper one must be found in the lower one. And although the whole Partzuf of Nekudim is only the Partzuf MA and BON of AK, as above in Inner Observation, Part Six — nevertheless it itself comes as three complete Partzufim clothing one another, similar to the three preceding Partzufim: Galgalta, AB, SAG of AK, where each is considered a son and offspring of the one above it, and clothes it from the mouth downward, and fills the empty vessels of the one above after their lights have departed from them. For the lower one is the phase of the second expansion of the one above it, after the lights of the Guf of the upper one have departed. And the lower one is always regarded as the phase of the filling for the upper one. In just this way the three Partzufim here were emanated, but with additional differences: First, that here they are not regarded as Galgalta, AB, SAG, but only as AB, SAG, and MA, which are only the three levels Hochma, Bina, Daat; the level of Keter is not among them, for phase four of coarseness existed only in the first Partzuf of AK, as is known. Second, that the lower one here does not clothe the Guf of the upper one in the true sense, as in the preceding Partzufim, but only the phase of the spreading of GAR and the Rosh of the upper one, which became here the phase of Guf for the upper one — that is, the posteriors of the Rosh that fell and became the phase of Guf; for the Rosh of ISHSUT clothes the posteriors of AVI that fell in the place of HGT, and likewise the Rosh of Daat clothes the posteriors of ISHSUT that fell in the place of Tifferet, Netzach, and Hod, as above. And the reason for this difference is simple: because the Gufim of the upper ones broke and fell into BYA, and the posteriors that fell from the Rosh took their place. And there are further differences arising from new restrictions, but in general they proceed along the same paths as in the preceding Partzufim, and likewise in the lower Partzufim that will come afterward. For this is the rule: all the forces found in the upper one must be found in all the ones below it.

And from this you will understand better the matter of the correction of the lines and the new vessels that were made in the posteriors of the upper one that fell to the phase of Guf, for they became the phase of the true Guf of the upper one, in place of the previous Guf that broke and fell to BYA; and this correction of the lines reaches it from the second expansion of that upper one, that is, the Rosh of its lower one, whose function is to return the lights that departed from the Guf of the upper one. And therefore the Rosh of ISHSUT returned the lights, to some measure, to the posteriors of AVI, which it clothes. And likewise the Rosh of Daat returned the lights, to some measure, to the posteriors of ISHSUT, which it clothes. By virtue of this, the correction of the lines reached them. Understand this well.

And now let us set the aforementioned actions in the order of cause and effect. We shall begin from actions 12 and 13, brought in the order of cause and effect in Part Six (page 460, item 31), that is, from the coupling of greatness of AVI of Nekudim. Thereby the chain of cause and effect will be joined into one.

And behold, above (page 561, item 2) you will find four actions preparing the coupling of PBP of AVI. The first cause is the ascent of MAN of NHY of AK to the upper AB SAG. This is drawn by force of the refinement of the screen of SAG from all coarseness of Guf in it, whereupon it rose and was included in the screen of the Rosh of SAG. And since this screen was composed of two kinds of records — records of the Sefirot of SAG itself, and records of NHY of AK — therefore two kinds of couplings emerged upon this screen: one, upon the records of SAG, composed of HT, whereby the coupling was made in the orifices of the eyes, through which the smallness of Nekudim emerged, up to the state of ABA of AVI. And upon the records of NHY of AK included in the screen, the root of the greatness of Nekudim emerged — that is, these records became MAN for AB SAG, which coupled and bore a new light that splits the Parsa, meaning that it nullifies the new boundary of the second restriction that removed Bina and ZON outside the degree, and it returns and restores them to their degree as at first, as explained well (in Inner Observation, item 3, "and it was explained," and item 4). And here the causes of the first two actions have been explained: that the raising of MAN of NHY of AK to AB SAG is drawn from the refinement of the screen of SAG, and the coupling of AB SAG and the birth of the new light is drawn from the MAN of NHY of AK.

And action three, which is the emergence of the new light through the mouth of the navel, and action four, which is the emergence of the new light through the Yesod — these are drawn from the level of the new light that emerged through the MAN of NHY of AK, in the inclusion of the coupling of AB SAG. For the phase of the spreading from above downward of this coupling descended and split the Parsa that is above NHY of AK, and clothed in them; and there are found the GAR of Nekudim, which clothe these NHY, and which receive from it this new light, which restores the AHP to their degree — which emerged through the mouth of the navel, where the Keter of Nekudim clothes, and brought the HT down from the orifices of the eyes of Keter to the place of the Malchut, which encompasses the Rosh of Nekudim, and returned AVI to the Rosh, and they acquired their GAR. This state is called PBA, because Ima does not turn her face to Aba without a cause obligating her to do so. And this also explains action four, for AVI of Nekudim clothe upon the Yesod of AK, and therefore they receive from it its illumination, which is the Shuruk, meaning a Vav and a dot, which is the phase of the seminal drop of ZON. Therefore this became MAN for Ima, causing her to turn her face back to Aba, in order to receive from him the illumination of Hochma and to impart it to ZON, which she received from the Yesod. Thereby AVI return to PBP.

Thus, the PBP of AVI is drawn from the MAN, and the MAN, from the Yesod of AK, from the new light in it, and the new light is drawn from the coupling of AB SAG, and the coupling of AB SAG is drawn from the MAN of NHY of AK, which were drawn and rose, with their inclusion in the screen of SAG. And thus the four actions have been explained, how they emerged one from the other in absolute necessity of cause and effect. And now we shall explain the twelve actions that apply to each and every king of the four upper kings that emerged from AVI of Nekudim.

And behold, these twelve actions are divided into nine and three. For the first nine actions, brought above (page 563, item 4), emerge together with the emergence of each and every king until its concealment. But the last three actions in each king come after the completion of the departure of all four kings. And behold, the first cause of the twelve actions is the coupling upon the coarseness of the screen — that is, according to the place of the HT, which measures the degree of the level. This is drawn from action three mentioned above, in the Keter of Nekudim, which brings the HT down from its eyes to the place of the Malchut of the Rosh; for when it brings it down to the mouth, that is, Malchut, it has the coarseness of phase four of clothing, and it brings forth the level of Keter; and when it brings it down to the nose, it brings forth the level of Hochma; and to the ear, it brings forth the level of Bina; and to the eyes, it brings forth the level of ZA.

The second cause, which is the receiving of the illumination of Hochma for the sake of ZON, is drawn from the MAN that Ima received from the Yesod of AK, which is action four mentioned above, item 7. For since Ima did not return to PBP with Aba for her own sake, but only in order to illuminate the MAN, which are ZON, she therefore does not receive, at first, from the Hochma of Aba, except according to the illumination of Hochma fitting for ZON, from the aspect of their relation in direct light, fitting for them from that level, as above (page 565, item 9).

Action three and action four — which are: the level from below upward that emerges in the coupling of AVI, called AVI and Rosh; and the level from above downward, called king or Guf — are drawn by the two causes mentioned above in item 11: the first cause measures the level, and the second cause gives the measure of the illumination of Hochma. And by virtue of the participation of the two causes in the illumination of the coupling, this entire level, both in the Rosh and in the Guf, is regarded as consisting of nothing but HC and HG alone, yet with the illumination of Hochma, as explained in item 11.

Action five and action six — which are the departure of the light from the vessels, and their breaking and falling to GAR of BYA — are drawn from the greatness of the light they received and from the mixture of dross in the vessels. For if the vessels had received the light in completeness, they would have restored BYA to Atzilut, by reason of the new light that split the Parsa, which had clothed in these vessels through the illumination of Hochma they received, as above. But now, since this light was not sustained in them, their fall is in the measure of their greatness, for the vessels themselves separated from their root and went outside Atzilut, and this is their fall to BYA. Thus, their fall to BYA is drawn from the greatness of the light they received from AVI.

Action seven, which is the record, is likewise drawn from the very light they received from AVI, for it is the nature of lights to leave a record in the place, after they have departed from there.

Action eight, which is the descent of the records to the bottom of Atzilut, is drawn from the breaking of the vessels and their descent to BYA, for they could not clothe in the vessels in their own way, and therefore they drew as near as possible to their vessels.

Action nine is likewise drawn from the breaking of the vessels, for when the vessel breaks, the screen is found to be annulled from the phase of coarseness in that vessel, and therefore the upper coupling that was upon the screen is annulled. Moreover, this entire coupling stands only for the sake of the MAN, which are ZON, to whom Ima is bound, in order to draw for them the illumination of Hochma, as above, and not for her own sake; therefore, when the recipient breaks, the coupling of PBP of AVI ceases, just as it was before they received the MAN, and the posteriors fell, each in its own vessel, as above (page 552, item 15).

And behold, the nine actions mentioned apply, in their character, to each and every one of the four kings of HGT, and there is no need to detail them for each one individually; however, there are some differences among them that need to be mentioned. These are: The first difference is in the place of their fall to BYA — the first king fell to the bottom of GAR, which is in the place of Daat in BYA; the second king fell above it, in Bina of BYA; the third king above that, in the place of Hochma of BYA; and the fourth king above all of them, in the place of Keter of BYA. The second difference is in the descent of the records — each one purer than its fellow is higher than its fellow, like the vessels in BYA. The record of the first king fell to Malchut of Atzilut; above it, the record of the second king, in Yesod of Atzilut; above that, the record of the third king, in NH of Atzilut; and above all of them, the record of the fourth king, in the place of its own vessel, in Tifferet of Atzilut.

Also, the emergence of the four kings cause one another: for the breaking of the vessel of the king Daat caused the annulment of the screen of phase four; and since phase four was annulled, the upper light is found to couple with the coarseness remaining in the screen, which is phase three, clothing in the king Hesed. And the breaking of the vessel of the king Hesed caused the annulment of the screen of phase three, and the coupling of the upper light with the coarseness remaining in the screen, which is phase two, clothing in the king Gevura. And the breaking of the vessel of the king Gevura caused the annulment of the screen of phase two, and the coupling of the upper light with the coarseness of phase one remaining in the screen, clothing in the king Tifferet, in his upper third. Thus, the four kings are caused one from another in absolute necessity, and likewise each one, in the nine actions mentioned, as explained.

And now let us explain the last three actions that apply to the upper kings, which come after the breaking of all these kings. For after the refinement of the screen from all the coarseness of Guf in it, and its rising and being included in the coupling of the Rosh, which there brings forth a new level of ISHSUT, it also brings an illumination to the posteriors of Ima, which correct themselves through the correction of the lines, and from them four new vessels of HGT are made in the order of lines, as above (page 555, item 22). This is action ten: that new vessels were prepared from the posteriors of AVI, for the records of each and every king. From this follows action eleven: that the record of each king rises and clothes in its own vessel — the record of Daat, in the middle line, above Tifferet; the record of Hesed, in the new vessel of Hesed; the record of Gevura, in the new vessel of Gevura; and the record of Tifferet, in the new vessel of Tifferet, up to its upper third. From this follows action twelve, which is the descent of the vessels to the very bottom of BYA, for after the records that had risen and clothed in the new vessels became distant from them, their illumination ceased from the vessels, and they could no longer hold themselves in GAR of BYA, and they fall to ZAT of BYA.

Thus, these three actions are drawn one from another, and the principal cause is the emergence of the new Rosh of ISHSUT, drawn from the refinement of the screen, and the refinement of the screen is drawn from the breaking of the vessels, and so on, as above.

And now we shall explain the last kings, which are TNHYM. You already know that there are four actions in ISHSUT until they came to the coupling of PBP, and eleven actions in the order of the emergence of the four kings themselves, until their end. For from the refinement of the screen from all its coarseness, after the breaking of the vessels of the first kings, follows the ascent of the screen and the records in it, to be included in the coupling of AVI ABA. This is action one. And since the coarseness of phase three of clothing and phase two of coarseness returned upon it, by virtue of its inclusion in the coupling of ABA, it therefore again brought the HT down to this phase of coarseness — that is, to phase three and phase two jointly. This is action two, which is the state of AVI PBA, at the level of phase three. And since those records are the phase of ZON, they became MAN for Ima, who turned her face to Aba for their sake, and they came to the state of PBP. Thus, the refinement of the screen causes the inclusion of the records of phase three and phase two in three successive states — ABA, PBA, and PBP — together with their inclusion in AVI, as above. And ABA leads to PBA, for the coupling of ABA renews the records in their coarseness; and when the renewal of coarseness is complete, they are already regarded as PBA, for they acquire the measure of the level, whereby Aba acquires his GAR and turns his face to illuminate Ima; and then Ima is aroused, for the sake of the MAN within her, to turn her face, too, back to Aba. Thus, the state of PBA leads to the state of PBP.

And the eleven actions in the kings are in the same order in which they emerged one from another, as with the twelve actions in the first kings, except that there are some differences between them. These are: their first cause, which is the measure of the level, is drawn from action three mentioned above, which is the coupling of PBA — that is, according to the coarseness in the screen. The second cause, which is the receiving of the illumination of Hochma for ZON, is drawn from the coupling of PBP (as above, item 11, see there). Action three, which is the level from below upward, and action four, which is the level from above downward, called king, are drawn from the two causes mentioned, the first measuring the level, and the second imparting the measure of the illumination of Hochma. And from this, that is, from the clothing of the light in the vessels, three actions are drawn, namely five, six, and seven. Action five, which is the departure of the light, is drawn from the fact that the light could not clothe in the vessel when it met the dross mixed in it, and therefore, upon meeting the dross, it departed at once to its root; and likewise action six, which is their fall to BYA, is likewise drawn from the light that had begun to clothe in it, for at first the light illuminated the vessel in BYA and bound it, by the power of the light in it, to Atzilut (as above, item 13); therefore, after the light departed from the vessel, the second restriction is found to have returned upon it, and the vessel remained separated in BYA. And action seven, which is the records, are essentially the part remaining from the light that had clothed in the vessel. Thus, these three actions are drawn from the clothing of the light itself.

And action eight, which is the ascent of the records to their vessels, is drawn from the breaking of their own vessels; and since there were already corrected vessels from the posteriors of AVI in the phase of lines, they rose and clothed in them. And also the descent of the posteriors of ISHSUT to the phase of Guf is drawn from the breaking of the vessels, for the upper coupling was annulled because of the lack of recipients, and the records of the Rosh fell to the Guf. And the last two actions, which are the correction of the lines in the posteriors of ISHSUT, whereby the three vessels below the navel were corrected — that is, the lower third of Tifferet, and Netzach and Hod — and action eleven, which is the descent of the records from the vessels of the posteriors of AVI to their own new vessels — both of these are drawn from the Rosh of Daat, which emerged after the refinement of the screen of the last kings.

For from the refinement of the screen of the Guf of ISHSUT, which returned to its root, to the screen of ISHSUT, a new coupling emerged, upon the screen of phase one of coarseness, at the level of ZA, ABA, in inclusion in ISHSUT; and when the coarseness of Guf in it was recognized, it descended from there to its place, in the chest of the whole Guf of ISHSUT, and the ten Sefirot of the Rosh emerged from the chest upward, that is, from the upper joint of Yesod upward, up to the place of the chest of the Guf of AVI, where the mouth of ISHSUT is. And it bound the posteriors of ISHSUT that had fallen there, in the bond of the correction of the lines, and thereby they became the phase of new vessels in the place of the Guf of ISHSUT — that is, the lower third of Tifferet, in the middle line, and the vessel of Netzach on the right, and the vessel of Hod on the left. And then action eleven mentioned above occurred, whereby the records of the last kings, which had been clothed in the new vessels of AVI, returned to the new vessels of ISHSUT made in their place: the record of Tifferet, Yesod, and Malchut, to the middle line, which is the Tifferet that was enlarged; and the record of Netzach, to the right line, to the vessel of Netzach; and the record of Hod, to the left line, to the vessel of Hod.