Having stated that these Sefirot contained the root of evil, we must now explain what this root is.
The proposition consists of two parts. Part 1: The lights do not produce... This explains when a given light can rightly be called the cause of a given phenomenon. Part 2: Accordingly, the Judgment... This explains how this applies in the subject under consideration.
Part 1: The lights do not produce their effects until they stand on a level suited to them. Here we have the fundamental idea underlying everything we discussed in the early Openings, that in choosing the law of gradation, the Supreme Will wanted every light to stand on a level corresponding to that of its offspring, because this is the way of what we call cause and effect. The cause operates only according to what it contains within it, and the effect emerges only according to the nature of the cause. This idea is of key importance here in Nekudim, for it is here that we must trace the root of evil in its various aspects, because only here is this root mentioned (see Etz Chayim, Shaar HaKelipot ch. 1 and Mevo Shearim 2:2:2). This is only because of the law of gradation, for all the earlier levels were proceeding towards this goal, but only here did they reach the necessary level.