Part TWO of THREE
26.
We have already stated that the first state necessitates the third state, to fully materialize as was in the Thought of Creation – in the first state – not omitting a single thing (see Item 15). Therefore, the first state necessitates the revival of the dead. That means that their excessive will to receive, which had already been eradicated and rotted in the second state, must now be revived in all its exaggerated measure, with no restraints whatsoever, meaning with all its past flaws.
Then begins the work anew, to convert that excessive will to receive to be only to bestow. And then we will have doubled our gain:
We would have a place to receive all the delight and pleasure and gentleness in the Thought of Creation, since we would already have the body with its greatly excessive will to receive, which goes hand in hand with these pleasures.
Since our reception in that manner would only be in order to bestow contentment upon our Maker, that reception would be regarded as complete bestowal (see Item 11). And that would bring us to equivalence of form, which is Dvekut (adhesion), which is our form in the third state. Thus, the first state absolutely necessitates the revival of the dead.
27.
Indeed, there cannot be revival for the dead, but only near the end of correction, towards the end of the second state. For once we have been rewarded with denial of our excessive will to receive, and have been granted the will to only bestow, and once we have been endowed with all the wonderful degrees of the soul, called Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida, through our work at negating this will to receive, we have come to the greatest perfection, until the body could be revived with all its excessive will to receive, and we are no longer harmed by it by being separated from our Dvekut.
On the contrary, we overcome it and give it the form of bestowal. And indeed, this is done with every corrupt quality that we wish to remove from it. First, we must completely remove it until there is nothing left of it. Afterwards, we can receive it again and conduct it in the middle way. But as long as we have not fully removed it, it is impossible to conduct it in the desired, medium way.
28.
Our sages said, “The dead are destined to be revived with their flaws, and then be healed.” This means that in the beginning the same body is revived, which is the excessive will to receive, without any restraints, just as it grew under the nourishment of the impure worlds before the Torah and Mitzvot have purified it in any way. This is the meaning of, “in all their flaws.”
And then we embark on a new kind of labor – to insert all that exaggerated will to receive in the form of bestowal. Then it is healed, because now it obtained equivalence of form. And they said that the reason is “so it will not be said, ‘It is another,’” meaning so it will not be said about it that it is in a different form from the one it had in the Thought of Creation. This is so because that excessive will to receive stands there, aiming to receive all the bounty in the Thought of Creation.
It is only that in the meantime it has been given to the Klipot for purification. But in the end, it must not be a different body, for if it were diminished in any way, it would be deemed entirely different, thus unworthy of receiving all the bounty in the Thought of Creation, as it receives there is the first state.
29.
Now we can resolve the above second inquiry: what is our role in the long chain of reality, of which we are but tiny links, during the short span of our days? Know that our work during the seventy years of our days is divided in four:
The First Division is to obtain the excessive will to receive without restraints, in its full, corrupted measure from under the hands of the four impure worlds ABYA. If we do not have that corrupted will to receive, we will not be able to correct it, for “one cannot correct that which is not in him.”
Thus, the will to receive imprinted in the body at birth is insufficient. Rather, it must also be a vehicle for the impure Klipot for no less than thirteen years. This means that the Klipot must dominate it and give it their lights, for their lights increase its will to receive. That is because the fulfillments that the Klipot provide the will to receive with only expand and enhance the demands of the will to receive.
For example, at birth, he has a desire for only a hundred, and not more. But when the Sitra Achra provides the one hundred, the will to receive immediately grows and wants two hundred. Then, when the Sitra Achra provides fulfillment for the two hundred, the desire immediately expands to want four hundred. And if one does not overcome it through Torah and Mitzvot, and purifies the will to receive to turn it into bestowal, one’s will to receive expands throughout one’s life, until eventually he dies without attaining half his desires. This is regarded as being under the Sitra Achra and the Klipot, whose role is to expand and enhance his will to receive and make it exaggerated and unrestrained in any way, to provide one with all the material he needs to work with and correct.
30.
The Second Division is from thirteen years and on. At that point, the point in his heart, which is the posterior of holiness, is given strength. Although it is dressed in his will to receive at birth, it only begins to awaken after thirteen years, and then one begins to enter the system of the pure worlds, to the extent that one observes Torah and Mitzvot.
The primary aim of that time is to obtain and intensify the spiritual will to receive, because at birth, one has only a will to receive for corporeality. Therefore, although one has obtained the excessive will to receive before he turned thirteen, it is still not the completion of the growth of the will to receive, for the primary intensification of the will to receive is only to spirituality.
This is because if, for example, prior to turning thirteen, one’s will to receive wishes to devour all the wealth and respect in this corporeal world. This is apparently not an eternal world, and for all of us it is but a fleeting shadow. But when one obtains the excessive spiritual will to receive, one wishes to devour, for one’s own delight, all the wealth and delights in the next, eternal world, which is an eternal possession. Thus, the majority of the excessive will to receive is completed only with the will to receive spirituality.
31.
It is written in New Tikkun (97b) about the verse (Proverbs 30, 15), “The horseleech hath two daughters: ‘Give, give.’”: “A leech means Hell. And the evil caught in that Hell cry as dogs ‘Hav, Hav (Hebrew: Give, Give),’” meaning “give us the wealth of this world, give us the wealth of the next world.”
Yet it is a much more important degree than the first, since aside from obtaining the full measure of the will to receive, giving one all the material one needs for one’s work, this is the degree that brings one to Lishma (for Her Name). It is as our sages said (Pesachim 50b): “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot lo Lishma (not for Her Name), as from Lo Lishma, one comes to Lishma.”
Hence, this degree, which comes past the thirteen years, is deemed holiness. This is considered the holy maid that serves her mistress, which is the Holy Shechina (Divinity). This is because the maid brings one to Lishma, and he is rewarded with the inspiration of Divinity. Yet, one should take every measure suited to bring one to Lishma, since if one does not strain for that and does not achieve Lishma, he will fall into the pit of the impure maid, which is the opposite of the holy maid, whose role is to confuse a person, that the Lo Lishma will not bring him to Lishma. It is said about her: “handmaid that is heir to her mistress” (Proverbs 30, 23), for she will not let one near the mistress, which is the Holy Divinity.
And the final degree in this division is that he will fall passionately in love with the Creator, as one falls passionately for a corporeal love, until the object of passion remains before one’s eyes all day long and all night long, as the poet says, “When I remember Him, He does not let me sleep.” Then it is said of him: “but desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13, 12). This is because the five degrees of the soul are the Tree of Life, which stretches over five hundred years. Each degree lasts a hundred years, meaning it will bring him to receive all five Behinot (discernments) NRNHY (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida) clarified in the third division.
32.
The Third Division is the work in Torah and Mitzvot Lishma, in order to bestow and to not receive reward. This work cleanses the will to receive for oneself and replaces it with a will to bestow. To the extent that one purifies the will to receive, he becomes worthy of receiving the five parts of the soul called NRNHY (below Item 42). This is because they stand in the will to bestow (see Item 23), and cannot clothe one’s body as long as the will to receive – which is opposite, or even different in form from the soul – controls it.
That is because the matter of dressing and equivalence of form go hand in hand (see Item 11). And when one is rewarded with being entirely in the will to bestow and not at all for oneself, he will be rewarded with obtaining equivalence of form with his Upper NRNHY, which extend from one’s origin in Ein Sof in the first state, through the pure ABYA, and will immediately extend and clothe him in a gradual manner.
The Fourth Division is the work conducted after the revival of the dead. This means that the will to receive, which had already been completely absent through death and burial, is now revived in its excessive, worst will to receive, as our sages said: “The dead will be revived in their flaws” (Item 28). And then it is turned into reception in the form of bestowal. However, there are a chosen few who were given this work while still living in this world.
33.
Now remains the clarification of the sixth inquiry, which is the words of our sages who said that all the worlds, Upper and lower, were created only for man. It seems very peculiar that for man, whose worth is but a wisp compared to the reality before us in this world, much less compared to the Upper, Spiritual Worlds, the Creator would go to all the trouble of creating all that for him. And even more peculiar is what would man need all these vast Spiritual Worlds for?
And you must know that any contentment of our Maker from bestowing upon His creatures depends on the extent that the creatures feel Him – that He is the giver, and that He is the one who delights them. For then He takes great pleasure in them, as a father playing with his beloved son, to the degree that the son feels and recognizes the greatness and exaltedness of his father, and his father shows him all the treasures he had prepared for him, as it is written (Jeremiah 31): “Ephraim, my darling son, is he joy of his parents? For whenever I speak of him, I earnestly remember him still. Hence, My heart yearneth for him, I will surely have compassion upon him, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 31, 19).
Observe these words carefully and you can come to know the great delights of the Lord with those whole ones that have been granted feeling Him and recognizing His greatness in all those manners He has prepared for them, until they are like a father with his darling son, the joy of his parents. And we need not continue on that, for it is enough for us to know that for this contentment and delight with those whole ones, it was worth His while to create all the worlds, Higher and lower alike.
34.
To prepare His creatures to reach the aforementioned exalted degree, the Creator wanted to affect it by an order of four degrees that evolve one out of the other, called, “still,” “vegetative,” “animate,” and “speaking.” These are, in fact, the four phases of the will to receive, by which the Upper Worlds is divided. For although the majority of the desire is in the fourth phase of the will to receive, it is impossible for the fourth phase appear at once, but by its preceding three phases, in which, and through which, it gradually develops and appears, until it is fully completed in the form of Phase Four.
35.
In Phase One of the will to receive, called “still,” which is the initial manifestation of the will to receive in this corporeal world, there is but a collective force of movement for the whole of the still category. But no motion is apparent in its particular items. This is because the will to receive generates needs, and the needs generate sufficient movements, enough to satisfy the need. And since there is only a small will to receive, it dominates only the whole of the category at once, but its power over the particular items is indistinguishable.
36.
The vegetative is added to it, which is Phase Two of the will to receive. Its measure is greater than in the still, and its will to receive dominates each and every item of its items, because each item has its own movement, expanding through its length and breadth, and moving towards the sun. Also, the matter of eating and drinking and secretion of waste is also apparent in each item. However, the sensation of freedom and individuality is still absent in them.
37.
Atop that comes the animate category, which is Phase Three of the will to receive. Its measure is already completed to a great extent, for this will to receive already generates in each item a sensation of freedom and individuality, which is the life that is unique to each item separately. Yet, they still lack the sensation of others, meaning they have no preparation to participate in others’ pains or their joys, etc.
38.
Above all comes the human species, which is Phase Four of the will to receive. It is the complete and final measure, and its will to receive includes the sensation of others, as well. And if you wish to know the precise difference between Phase Three of the will to receive, which is in the animate, and the fourth phase of the will to receive in man, I shall tell you that it is as the worth of a single creature compared to the whole of reality.
This is because the will to receive in the animate, which lacks the sensation of others, can only generate needs and desires to the extent that they are imprinted in that creature alone. But man, who can feel others, too, becomes needy of everything that others have, too, and is thus filled with envy to acquire everything that others have. When he has a hundred, he wants two hundred, and so his needs forever multiply until he wishes to devour all that there is in the whole world.
39.
Now we have shown that the Creator’s desired goal for the Creation He had created is to bestow upon His creatures, so they would know His truthfulness and greatness, and receive all the delight and pleasure He had prepared for them, in the measure described in the verse: “Ephraim my darling son, is he joy of his parents?” (Jeremiah 31, 19). Thus, you clearly find that this purpose does not apply to the still and the great spheres, such as the earth, the moon, or the sun, however luminous they may be, and not to the vegetative or the animate, for they lack the sensation of others, even from among their own species. Therefore, how can the sensation of the Godly and His bestowal apply to them?
Humankind alone, having been prepared with the sensation of others of the same species, who are similar to them, after delving in Torah and Mitzvot, when they invert their will to receive to a will to bestow, and come to equivalence of form with his Maker, they receive all the degrees that have been prepared for them in the Upper Worlds, called NRNHY. By that they become qualified to receive the purpose of the Thought of Creation. After all, the purpose of the creation of all the worlds was for man alone.
40.
And I know that it is completely unaccepted in the eyes of some philosophers. They cannot agree that man, which they think of as low and worthless, is the center of the magnificent Creation. But they are like a worm that is born inside a radish. It lives there and thinks that the world of the Creator is as bitter, as dark, and small as the radish it was born in. But as soon as it breaks the shell of the radish and peeps out, it claims in bewilderment: “I thought the whole world was the size of the radish I was born in, and now I see a grand, beautiful, and wondrous world before me!”
So, too, are those who are immersed in the Klipa (singular for Klipot) of the will to receive they were born with, and did not try to take the unique spice, which are the practical Torah and Mitzvot, which can break this hard Klipa and turn it into a desire to bestow contentment upon the Maker. It is certain that they must determine their worthlessness and emptiness, as they truly are, and cannot comprehend that this magnificent reality had been created only for them.
Indeed, had they delved in Torah and Mitzvot to bestow contentment upon their Maker, with all the required purity, and would try to break the Klipa of the will to receive they were born in and assume the desire to bestow, their eyes would immediately open to see and attain for themselves all the degrees of wisdom, intelligence and clear mind, that have been prepared for them in the Spiritual Worlds. Then they would themselves say what our sages said, “What does a good guest say? ‘Everything the host has done, he has done for me alone.’”
41.
But there still remains to clarify why would man need all the Upper Worlds the Creator had created for him? What use has he of them? Bear in mind that the reality of all the worlds is generally divided into five worlds, called a) Adam Kadmon, b) Atzilut, c) Beria, d) Yetzira, and e) Assiya. In each of them are innumerable details, which are the five Sefirot KHBTM (Keter, Hochma, Bina, Tifferet, and Malchut). The world of AK (Adam Kadmon) is Keter; the world of Atzilut is Hochma; the world of Beria is Bina; the world of Yetzira is Tifferet; and the world Assiya is Malchut.
And the Lights clothed in those five worlds are called YHNRN. The Light of Yechida shines in the world of Adam Kadmon; the Light of Haya in the world of Atzilut; the Light of Neshama in the world of Beria; the Light of Ruach in the world of Yetzira; and the Light of Nefesh in the world of Assiya.
All these worlds and everything in them are included in the Holy Name, Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey, and the tip of the Yod. We have no perception in the first world, AK. Hence, it is only implied in the tip of the Yod of the Name. This is why we do not speak of it and always mention only the four worlds ABYA. Yod is the world of Atzilut, Hey – the world of Beria, Vav – the world of Yetzira, and the bottom Hey is the world of Assiya.
42.
We have now explained the five worlds that include the entire spiritual reality that extends from Ein Sof to this world. However, they are included in one the other, and in each of the worlds there are the five worlds, the five Sefirot KHBTM, in which the five Lights NRNHY are dressed, corresponding to the five worlds.
And besides the five Sefirot KHBTM in each world, there are the four spiritual categories – Still, Vegetative, Animate, and Speaking. In it, man’s soul is regarded as the speaking, the animate is regarded as the angels in that world, the vegetative category is called “dresses” and the still category is called “halls.” And they all robe one another: the speaking category, which is the souls of people, clothes the five Sefirot, KHBTM, which is the Godliness in that world. The animate category, which are the angels clothes over the souls; the vegetative, which are the dresses, clothe the angels; and the still, which are halls, revolve around them all.
The dressing means that they serve one another and evolve from one another, as we have clarified with the corporeal still, vegetative, animate and speaking in this world (Items 35-38): the three categories – still, vegetative, and animate – did not extend for themselves, but only so the fourth category, which is man, might develop and rise by them. Therefore, their role is only to serve man and be useful to him.
So it is in all the spiritual worlds. The three categories – still, vegetative, and animate – appeared there only to serve and be useful to the speaking category there, which is man’s soul. Therefore, it is considered that they all clothe over man’s soul, meaning to serve him.
43.
When man is born, he immediately has a Nefesh [1] of Kedusha (Holiness). But not an actual Nefesh, but the posterior of it, its last discernment, which, due to its smallness, is called a “point.” It dresses in man’s heart, in one’s will to receive, which is found primarily in one’s heart.
Know this rule, that all that applies to the whole of reality, applies to each world, and even in the smallest particles that can be found in that world. Thus, as there are five worlds in whole of reality, which are the five Sefirot KHBTM, there are five Sefirot KHBTM in each and every world, and there are five Sefirot in every little item in that world.
We have said that this world is divided into still, vegetative, animate and speaking (SVAS), corresponding to the four Sefirot HBTM. Still corresponds to Malchut, vegetative corresponds to Tifferet, animate to Bina, and speaking to Hochma. And the root of them all corresponds to Keter. But as we have said, even in the smallest item in each species in the SVAS there are four discernments of SVAS. Hence, even in a single item of the speaking category, meaning even in one person, there are also SVAS, which are the four parts of his will to receive, where the point from the Nefesh of Kedusha is dressed.
44.
Prior to the thirteen years, there cannot be any emergence of the point in one’s heart. But after thirteen years, when he begins to delve in Torah and Mitzvot, even without any intention, meaning without any love and fear, as is fitting when serving the king, even in LoLishma, the point in one’s heart begins to grow and disclose its action.
This is so because Mitzvot do not need an aim. Even acts without an aim can purify one’s will to receive, but only in the first degree, called “still.” And to the extent that he purifies the still part of the will to receive, one builds the six hundred and thirteen organs of the point in the heart, which is the still of the Nefesh of Kedusha.
And when one completes all six hundred and thirteen Mitzvot in action, it completes the six hundred and thirteen organs in the point in the heart, which is the still category of the Nefesh of Kedusha, whose two hundred and forty-eight spiritual organs are built by keeping the two hundred and forty-eight positive Mitzvot [2], and its three hundred and sixty-five spiritual tendons are built through observing the three hundred and sixty-five negative Mitzvot, until it becomes a complete Partzuf (spiritual face) of Nefesh of Kedusha. Then the Nefesh rises and clothes the Sefira (singular of Sefirot) of Malchut in the spiritual world of Assiya.
And all the spiritual elements of still, vegetative and animate in that world, which correspond to that Sefira of Malchut of Assiya, serve and aid that Partzuf of Nefesh of one who has risen there, to the extent that the soul perceives them. Those concepts become its spiritual nourishment, giving it strength to grow and multiply, until it can extend the Light of the Sefira of Malchut of Assiya in all the desired perfection, to Light man’s body. And that complete Light aids one to add exertion in Torah and Mitzvot and receive the remaining degrees.
And we have stated that immediately at the birth of one’s body, a point of the Light of Nefesh is born and dresses in him. So it is here: when his Partzuf of Nefesh of Kedusha is born, a point from its adjacent Higher degree is born with it – the last degree of the Light of Ruach of Assiya – and dresses inside the Partzuf of Nefesh.
And so it is in all the degrees. With each degree that is born, the last discernment in the degree above it instantaneously appears within it. This is because this is the whole connection between Higher and lower through to the top of the degrees. Thus, through this point, which exists in it from the Upper One, it becomes able to rise to the next Higher degree.
45.
And that Light of Nefesh is called “the Light of the holy still in the world Assiya.” This is because it corresponds to the purity of the still part of the will to receive in man’s body. It shines in spirituality like the still category in corporeality (see Item 35), whose particles have no individual motion, but only collective motion, common to all the items equally. So it is with the Light of Partzuf Nefesh of Assiya: although there are six hundred and thirteen organs in it, which are six hundred and thirteen forms of receiving the bounty, these changes are not apparent in it, but only a general Light, whose action enfolds them all equally, without distinction of details.
46.
Bear in mind that although the Sefirot are Godliness, and there is no difference in them from the head of Keter in the world of AK, through the end of the Sefira of Malchut in the world of Assiya, there is still a great difference with respect to the receivers. This is so because the Sefirot are considered Lights and Kelim (vessels), and the Light in the Sefirot is pure Godliness. But the Kelim, called KHBTM in each of the lower worlds – Beria, Yetzira, Assiya – are not considered Godliness, but are rather covers that conceal the Light of Ein Sof within them and ration a certain amount of Light to the receivers. Each of them will receive only according to the level of its purity.
And in this respect, although the Light itself is one, we name the Lights in the Sefirot NRNHY because the Light divides according to the qualities of the Kelim. Malchut is the coarsest cover, hiding the Light of Ein Sof. The Light it passes from Him to the receivers is only a small portion, related to the purification of the still body of man. This is why it is called Nefesh.
The Kli of Tifferet is purer than the Kli of Malchut. The Light it passes from Ein Sof relates to the purification of the vegetative part of man’s body, because it acts in it more than the Light of Nefesh. This is called “the Light of Ruach.”
The Kli of Bina is purer still than Tifferet, and the Light it passes from Ein Sof relates to the purification of the animate part of man’s body, and it is called “the Light of Neshama.”
The purest of all is the Kli of Hochma. The Light it passes from Ein Sof relates to the purification of the speaking part of man’s body. It is called “the Light of Haya,” and its action is beyond measurement.
47.
In Partzuf Nefesh, which man one attains through engaging in Torah and Mitzvot without the intention, there is already a point from the Light of Ruach clothed in there. And when one strengthens and keeps Torah and Mitzvot with the desired aim, he purifies the vegetative part of his will to receive, and to that extent builds the point of Ruach into a Partzuf. And by performing the 248 positive Mitzvot with intention, the point expands through its 248 spiritual organs. And by observing the 365 negative Mitzvot, the point expands through its 365 tendons.
When it is completed with all 613 organs, it rises and clothes the Sefira of Tifferet in the spiritual world of Assiya, which extends to him a greater Light from Ein Sof, called “the Light of Ruach,” which corresponds to the purification of the vegetative part in man’s body. And all the items of the still, vegetative, and animate in the world of Assiya, related to the level of Tifferet, aid one’s Partzuf of Ruach to receive the Lights from the Sefira of Tifferet in all its entirety, as was explained above with the Light of Nefesh. Because of that, it is called “holy vegetative.”
The nature of its Light is like the corporeal vegetative: there are distinct differences in motion in each of its elements, so in the spiritual Light of vegetative there is much strength to shine in unique ways for each and every organ of the 613 organs in Partzuf Ruach. Each of them manifests action-power related to that organ. Also, with the extension of Partzuf Ruach, the point of the next degree Above it extended from it, a point of the Light of Neshama, which dresses in its internality.
48.
And by engaging in the secrets of Torah and the flavors of the Mitzvot, he purifies the animate part of his will to receive, and to that extent builds the point of the soul, dressed in him in its 248 organs and 365 tendons. When the construction is completed and it becomes a Partzuf, it rises and dresses the Sefira of Bina in the spiritual world of Assiya. This Kli is much purer than the first Kelim, TM (Tifferet and Malchut). Hence, it extends a great Light from Ein Sof, called “Light of Neshama.”
And all the items of still, vegetative, and animate in the world of Assiya, related to the level of Bina, aid and serve one’s Partzuf of Neshama in receiving all its Lights from the Sefira of Bina. And it is also called “holy animate” because it corresponds to the purification of the animate part of man’s body. And so is the nature of its Light, as we have seen with the corporeal animate (Item 37), which gives a sensation of individuality to each of the 613 organs of the Partzuf, that each of them is alive and free, without any dependence on the rest of the Partzuf.
At last, it is discerned that its 613 organs are 613 Partzufim (plural for Partzuf), unique in their Light, each in its own way. And the advantage of this Light over the Light of Ruach, in spirituality, is as the advantage of the animate over the still and the vegetative in corporeality. And there also extends a point from the Light of Haya of Kedusha, which is the Light of the Sefira of Hochma, with the emergence of Partzuf Neshama, and dresses in its internality.
End of Part TWO of THREE
Original Post Link - Introduction to The Book of Zohar
COURTESY: Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute
Copyright © 2006. Bnei Baruch. All rights reserved.
[1] Translator’s note: By Nefesh he means the first degree in NRNHY.
[2] Translator’s note: Positive Mitzvot are precepts you have to perform in action, and negative Mitzvot are precepts you keep by avoiding certain actions.
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