THE SOULS – PART OF GOD ABOVE This explains the position of the kabbalists discussed in inquiry number three. We asked: How can we speak of the souls as part of God above? We compared this to a stone quarried from a mountain, regarding which there is no distinction between them. Instead, this [the stones] are “part” of that “whole” [the mountain]. We then asked: When the stone separates from the mountain, it is separated only due to acts that are designed to separate it. But we cannot say such a thing about God’s essence! How did the souls separate from the essence of God, becoming creatures distinct from the Creator?!
How Did Our Souls Ever Separate from God
Baal HaSulam's Introduction to Zohar 8:1