Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah Reader

The governmental order of the four letters of HaVaYaH is built of various conditions and divisions: it is built of various names and forms of address, which constitute the details of the government. All are ordered in the proper order, for when they stand in the proper order, the actions go forth on all sides from the place from which they must emerge. This too is like the soul and the body: the other names are the limbs of the body, while this Name is like their soul, and the whole intention must be to hold by this soul so that it will actualize the actions of the body.

In accordance with this order, the teachings of the Kabbalah always trace everything to the underlying foundation of the four letters of the Name, blessed be He. This is a very important and necessary principle in the study of this wisdom, because we always speak in terms of the Ten Sefirot, yet there are many Kabbalistic teachings that appear to contradict one another. The main thing to understand is that the various levels divide up into many different ways and into many details depending on what is required for the action they have to execute. The division is not made on the basis of the Ten Sefirot in general but according to the particular nature of the action in question.

However, since everything must be included under the order of the Likeness of Man, which is the mystery of the Ten Sefirot, accordingly each division, as soon as it is made, is arranged in the order of Ten Sefirot. However this is not the basis of the division. The details of individual actions are arranged in accordance with their particular roots, yet at the same time they are also arranged in the order of the Ten Sefirot.

This, however, is not the essential order of their individual actions, which depends upon their unique functions. Thus the division is based on other factors and on the relevant roots. Yet it is arranged in accordance with the order of the Ten Sefirot, which is the order of the four letters of HaVaYaH, blessed be He, and the four expansions of the Name, for it is all one matter, as we have already discussed.

From this you can understand that if those very lights themselves need to divide up in other ways different from the first division, those other divisions are also arranged according to the order of the Ten Sefirot, but they are then described differently. For example, what was at first under SaG can come under AV or under MaH or under BaN, for its appropriate place depends upon the division in question. (Thus the Nekudim are under BaN even though they are branches of SaG.)

The end of the matter is that since the order of the Name, blessed be He, is the general order that holds sway over all the different divisions and orders in the universe, we may infer that the actions have two roots. One lies on the particular level involved according to the individual root of the action in question. The other lies in the way they are arranged under the Name of HaVaYaH, which is their general root. These two roots are not at all parallel in their function. Rather, all the new divisions that come into being through the power of particular levels are all included in and come under this general order.

The same way of resolving apparent contradictions applies in the case of the lights of the ear, the nose, the mouth and the eyes. In one place it says that they are the four letters of the Name of HaVaYaH. According to this, the ear is Yud, the nose is Heh, the mouth is Vav and the eyes are the last Heh (see Etz Chayim, Shaar Ozen, Chotem, Peh 4, 18a and Derushey Nekudot 8, 34b). Yet we find that the ear, nose and mouth are all only the first Heh of the Name, i.e. SaG (Derushey Nekudot 8, 34b).

The apparent contradiction is resolved through understanding that the divisions are according to the need. Thus on the level of the particular, the ear-nose-mouth are the category of SaG, the first Heh. Yet all the different divisions are arranged under the order of HaVaYaH, blessed be He, and thus in general the ear, nose, mouth and eyes divide up according to the four letters of HaVaYaH.

We have thus now reached this order of the Likeness of Man. Everything we discuss from this point on follows the order that develops in accordance with what is inherent in this Adam Kadmon. We must therefore always speak in terms of the Likeness of Man. This is the basis for all the Kabbalistic teachings relating to the levels from Adam Kadmon onwards: the entire government is explained on the basis of the secret of the Likeness of Man. The Likeness of Man is the foundation of the government of the Universe.

The face is made to radiate that which is arranged within, inside the body, and emissions of this radiation emerge from each of the sense organs. Accordingly, four worlds emerge: the worlds of Vision, Hearing, Smell and Speech. The forehead also emits its own radiance. Thus all the worlds are nothing but the radiant splendor and shining glory of Adam Kadmon, while Adam Kadmon is more elevated than them and cannot be apprehended.

Having discussed the subject of Adam Kadmon in general, we will now start to go into the details, following the order of the Likeness of Man – the human form. We begin by discussing a phenomenon that we must first examine as it is manifested in the human form itself, in order to be able afterwards to understand the government of the worlds in accordance with the underlying secret of this phenomenon.

From all of the above, we see that the face is made to turn to others, and the face is prepared for this. We can discern three different aspects. The first is the face itself, ready in all its parts to shine forth and radiate the inner light of the soul and show it to the outside through the expression of the face and its radiant splendor. Secondly there are the apertures made by the breaking through of the spirit during the process of building the body. Thirdly, there are the sensory experiences of the soul through these apertures.

Note the great difference between the radiant splendor visible on the face and what passes out through the apertures. What is visible on the face gives a comprehensive expression of all the different aspects of the soul. But emerging through the apertures are individual aspects depending in each case on the place from which they come forth. These aspects prepare what is necessary for providence through the mystery of vision, hearing, smell and speech.

Afterwards these fissures with the lights that are in them become the “senses”. These are the actual government, inasmuch as the soul uses these emerging lights in order to supervise properly. However, the root of providence is itself traced in accordance with the function of each of the different senses to the very interior of Adam Kadmon, which we are not talking about. What we are talking about now is what breaks through and goes out in order to produce the apertures and also the senses. This forms a second radiant splendor that covers the radiant splendor of the actual face itself. Accordingly, the Kabbalistic masters stated that this second glow is drawn forth against the face but is not directly attached to the face (for only the first radiant splendor, that of the face itself, is directly attached to it). All this would be visible if the radiant splendor were visible.

Thus we find that the inner soul is hidden within the body and is not seen at all. Afterwards, it is seen through the expression of the face, and the radiant splendor starts – this is the first or “inner” radiant splendor. While the soul is still there, it gains force and breaks through and is actually seen through these four fissures. It is from there that a second radiant splendor comes forth and stands over the first, “inner” radiant splendor of the face, which is thus like a glow within a glow. It is from this second radiant splendor that the senses exist through the power of the movement of the soul within that splendor. But the fact that the radiant splendor exists on the outside is because the soul broke through to make the holes.

Clearly, if the soul produced four faculties, all different from each other, no less and no more, this must have come about through the power contained within it, which was able to bring this forth, no less and no more. If so, the action that the soul performs through one fissure is different from the action it performs through a different fissure. Accordingly, hearing is rooted in one fissure, vision in another, smell in another and speech in yet another.

The truth is that according to the powers contained in the inner soul, so it was that through one power the soul was drawn to one of the organs suited and ready for that power to function, and the soul broke through it and went out. Through a different inherent power, the soul was drawn to a different organ, and broke through it and went out. Thus the Otzrot Chaim states: “But the wise will understand that the light of the brain is called AV, while the light of the ear is called SaG...” (Gate of TaNTA, end of ch. 2, gloss).

In summary: the soul is made to shine in the face and also to break through and go out completely with no barrier before it in order to operate the senses. Moreover, it is actually through standing and shining in the face that the soul breaks through to form these fissures for the senses. Thus the face consists of vessels ready for two things. The face itself is made to emit its radiation even while this is still within the vessels (before breaking through).

On the other hand, the fissures or apertures of the senses are there to give the soul a place to exercise its control and to supervise. Even as the soul stands in its place, it is seen through the fissures that it made initially, and it then produces the second glow. This consists of what was visible in a general way in the first radiant splendor but which is now seen in its particulars through these fissures.

What is seen of the soul through each one depends on the nature of the particular fissure through which the soul is seen. All this is besides the actual senses themselves. For even though they are produced in these very fissures, the truth is that they are made within this general radiant splendor, each one through the power of a different movement made by the soul according to the law governing the quality of its different senses.

As to what is visible of the soul on the face, we have already said that this expresses the overall state of the soul, and it is from this aspect that the fissures we have discussed emerge. Accordingly, we may make inferences from the radiant splendor that emerges and becomes visible through these fissures (the second glow) as to what exists in the face itself in the mystery of the first, “inner” radiant splendor that I mentioned. And from this radiant splendor of the face, we may make inferences as to what is contained within the body – the soul itself, its state and purpose.

If you examine the matter carefully you will find that the government is concealed within the heart and in all the body and is revealed in the face, and from there it is revealed through the fissures. The last revelation is thus the radiant splendor emerging through the fissures, and it is with this that we are concerned in our studies of the Kabbalah. For this is the light that reaches us and it is only this that we are truly able to apprehend.

All that is more interior than this is too elevated for us and we cannot know it. The details of this radiant splendor constitute all the worlds in their various aspects. For only the parts of this radiant splendor and its movements are revealed to us and no more. All we know is that this whole matter is rooted deep, deep within the interior of the supreme government.

From this you can understand the low level of the knowledge that created beings are capable of attaining, for the true nature of the government is exalted far above them, and they know nothing except the superficial level closest to them. This external level contains the complete cycle of government in its entirety from the beginning until the end and all the worlds that we will be discussing.

Indeed, one principle that you must constantly bear in mind is that everything done in any given place is done in accordance with that place. To take an example from the subject of our present discussion: what is seen of the soul through the face is ordered in a way suited to this visibility, and similarly, what is revealed through the fissures made by the soul is arranged in an order suited to this revelation. This is the order that it is possible for the creatures in the lower realms to apprehend. This means that they see only the outermost aspect of the measure laid down for the government of the worlds. Even so, what they see is the truth of the matter according to the way it is in depth. However, the intellect is inadequate to apprehend the entire matter in its true inner essence and depth and to encompass all that exists there. Accordingly, we say they were given a complete and sufficient picture to enable them to understand the matter to the extent to which they are able to receive.

This can be compared to the case of a sage who wants to teach his wisdom to his student. If the student is unable to receive the full depth of this wisdom, the teacher gives him enough of a picture of this wisdom as he is fit to receive. The picture is faithful to the full depth of the sage’s wisdom, yet it is concise and comprehensible to the student. If he later enters into the depth of this wisdom, he will find even greater benefit in it than he could have thought possible at the outset, “like the superiority of the light that comes out of the darkness” (Ecclesiastes 2:13).

It could be objected: We said earlier that the government lies in the Residue while the Line is concealed within it (see Opening 27). But from our present discussion it appears that on the contrary, the entire government derives from the Line, for we see that the government comes about only through what emerges from these apertures, which is from the interior, which is the Line. If so, surely the government is from the Line.

This may be answered as follows. What is revealed cannot be said to be revealed in accordance with the level of the soul. On the contrary, we must say that it is revealed according to the level of the body. This is because man is made up of a soul clothed within a body built of apertures and cavities: the cavities are container vessels while the apertures are vessels of exit. The soul fills the container vessels while emitting light through the exit vessels. All this is in accordance with the way the body works and the nature of its vessels. When the soul goes out through these exit vessels, it makes a radiant splendor around the body. The soul adds nothing to the body, which remains as it is. For even when the soul brings forth its lights, it brings them forth only in accordance with the nature of the body. This is the implication of the above-quoted passage from Otzrot Chaim stating that “the light of the brain is called AV, while the light of the ear is called SaG”. However, the vessels that bring forth the light exist only to reveal what takes place inside the container vessels. Thus the root of the government lies in the interconnection of the soul and the body inside, but the government is revealed in the face, and then an even greater revelation comes in the radiant splendor emerging from the fissures with all that is revealed there.

Accordingly, the Line governs on its own level, which is different from that of the Residue, whose government is subject to it. For I have already stated that the soul brings forth its lights in accordance with the body. Thus when we consider the overall order of government – the entire structure of Adam Kadmon – we find that the full cycle of the government as it is revealed to us consists only of what is revealed after the Line has already clothed itself within the Residue through the surrounding radiant splendor. Besides what is revealed through this radiant splendor, everything the Line does in clothing itself in the Residue is unknown to us.

...that which is arranged within, inside the body... What is revealed is the actual order that exists within. Accordingly there is a direct parallel between what is revealed and that which exists within. Indeed, we can tell in detail which part of the interior is revealed in one place in the face and which part in a different place.

...and emissions of this radiance emerge from each of the sense organs... This is as we have said above, that what radiates initially in the face in a general way emerges in a more revealed manner in the sensory faculties. Accordingly, four worlds emerge: the worlds of Vision, Hearing, Smell and Speech. Since there are four faculties, four things emerge and are revealed from them. Indeed, all that is fit to be revealed will be revealed through these four. For this reason there are four and no more: the worlds of Vision, Hearing, Smell and Speech. These are not the actual vision, hearing, smell and speech themselves, but their worlds – what emerges from them.

The forehead also emits its own radiance. This too is something that is not seen now, but which would be visible if the radiant splendor of the forehead were visible in the same way as the radiant splendor of the other senses. For there is a very subtle fissure, and this is the secret of the Tefilin which stand on the forehead. Of the Tefilin, it is written: “And all the peoples of the earth will see that the Name of HaVaYaH is called upon you” (Deuteronomy 28:10).

Part 2: Thus all the worlds are nothing but the radiant splendor... As already stated in the commentary on the first part of the proposition, all the worlds discussed in the Kabbalah are levels of this radiant splendor....and shining glory of Adam Kadmon... Shine and radiation are the appropriate terms for that which is not the essence of a thing itself but which shines and radiates from the essence. The radiation is on a lower level than the essence itself. These worlds are thus a mere radiation that emerges from Adam Kadmon. They do not reveal all that is revealed in Adam Kadmon in itself but much less.

The question immediately arises as to why these worlds did not emerge from and come under Adam Kadmon in exactly the same way as the other worlds emerge one from another. Or if these emerged in this way, why did others not emerge from Adam Kadmon in the way that Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah emerged from Atzilut? In short, we do not see here a direct continuation as would have been appropriate in accordance with the developmental pathway. Rather it seems like a jump from one pathway to another and from one aspect to another. We do not see a single, complete, consistent order binding everything together in this way at all.

These difficulties may be resolved in the light of our earlier discussion. It is true that contained within the Empty Space formed through the Tzimtzum is only one overall existence: this is Adam Kadmon complete in all aspects – soul, body and radiant splendor. This constitutes the entire government of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He, besides which nothing else exists. However, inasmuch as this government is very deep, we cannot understand it, and only a glimmer is revealed to us. (This answers the first objection – that the worlds of Vision, Hearing, Smell and Speech are not “under” Adam Kadmon – for they are a part of Adam Kadmon.)

This glimmer is the smallest, most concise picture of this government. This alone is what we can speak about in Adam Kadmon. It is here that we can distinguish the different levels, one under the other, in a developmental chain. These are the different aspects of the revealed government.

However, the revealed government does not emerge as a continuous gradation that develops out of Adam Kadmon. Rather, this is all that can be revealed of Adam Kadmon, and we must consider this to be also part of Adam Kadmon. (This answers the second difficulty – that these worlds do not develop out of Adam Kadmon but rather are of and in Adam Kadmon.) We can only say that Adam Kadmon constitutes all that exists in accordance with the order of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He.

The intrinsic essence of Adam Kadmon cannot be apprehended. It is only the radiation of Adam Kadmon that can be apprehended, and this contains all the levels and aspects discussed in the teachings of the Kabbalah.

...while Adam Kadmon is more elevated than them and cannot be apprehended. This explains why we do not occupy ourselves with the intrinsic essence of Adam Kadmon but instead speak in terms of these worlds. What this means, as discussed above, is that Adam Kadmon is the concealed source of the government, while the radiant splendor is what is revealed of Adam Kadmon. This is not a confused order, nor does it jump from path to path. On the contrary, it is a fitting order and one that is properly arranged.

The way this appears in the prophetic vision is as written in the Kabbalistic texts: there is a single Partzuf or visage (that of Adam Kadmon) whose face radiates. Emerging from it are all these lights in the order given in the texts.

The branches of Adam Kadmon successively reveal the Likeness of Man.

AV, SaG, MaH and BaN are revealed from Adam Kadmon. AV corresponds to the Chochmah of Adam Kadmon and what exists here does not come within our grasp. It sends forth its light by way of the hairs of the head, through which the brain reveals its contents while itself remaining concealed. But SaG reveals the lights that are concealed in AV, and this is the emanation that constitutes Atzilut, which little by little becomes increasingly revealed. Accordingly, the inner light and encompassing light are initially far from one another, but they steadily come closer together, little by little, until they reach the mouth, where a Vessel is made. There the Likeness of Man is properly rooted, and this is the aspect of MaH and BaN that is revealed afterwards.

Having discussed in general terms how radiations of light emerge from Adam Kadmon, we must now explain the details.

The proposition has three parts. Part 1: AV, SaG, MaH and BaN... This is what is revealed overall. Part 2: AV corresponds to the Chochmah... This discusses AV in particular. Part 3: But SaG... This discusses SaG in particular.

Part 1: AV, SaG, MaH and BaN are revealed from Adam Kadmon. For you have already heard that all that exists in all the different orders of the body is revealed in the face. And what is revealed in the face is revealed through the apertures, the fissures through which the soul breaks through. Now everything in the entire body consists of AV, SaG, MaH and BaN. If so, that which is revealed is AV, SaG, MaH and BaN.

It sends forth its light by way of the hairs of the head... The hairs of the head are the first radiant splendor: this is comparable to the beard, which is the first radiant splendor of the face, as discussed in the previous Opening. It is from the hairs of the head that the light of AV goes out as a second radiant splendor, comparable to the second radiant splendor discussed in the case of the face....through which the brain reveals its contents...

The secret of the hairs, in every place they are found, is that they are connected with what is arranged within the brain inside the head. This is revealed outside, on the head, in the category of “hairs”. (The letters of the Hebrew word sei’ar, a “hair”, are the same as those of shaar, a “gateway” and the root sha’er, “form a mental estimate”.) Everything bound up with the hairs and all of their laws are in accordance with the nature of the brain as it is inside.

This will be explained further in the appropriate place (Opening 105)....while itself remaining concealed. The light of AV that emerges is concealed, since it corresponds to Chochmah, whose nature is to be concealed.

Part 3: But SaG reveals the lights... This is Binah, which, as I have said, reveals the lights of Chochmah that are occluded...that are concealed in AV... For the lights of SaG are not other lights that did not develop out of AV. If that were the case, AV would be a separate aspect by itself, marked by the fact that its actions and effects are not revealed, while the lights of SaG would be a quite different aspect, since their effects are revealed.

If this were so, we would face the problem of disconnected scatteredness. This is the apparent “jumping” that I discussed earlier (Opening 32), where you start with one aspect and then, before knowing where it leads, jump to another having no connection with the first. You cannot say such a thing, because this would not be knowledge but bewilderment. The proper way, if these lights that we are discussing are the lights of government, is that they should follow a developmental sequence, one after the other, from beginning to end.

The truth is that all the levels discussed in the Kabbalah, from the beginning of Adam Kadmon to the very end of Asiyah, are all bound up with each other and develop one from another. The difference between them is that every higher level is more concealed than the level below it, such that things move from a state of concealment to one of revelation, but all are one interconnected chain. Thus all that is revealed afterwards in the form of the lights of SaG is what was initially concealed in the light of AV. The lights of SaG themselves are not a multitude of scattered, unconnected aspects. They constitute a single whole that steadily becomes increasingly revealed, stage by stage.

...and this is the emanation that constitutes Atzilut. For the intention from the very outset was to bring into being the root of the Likeness of Man in a way closely relating to the lower creatures, so that it should serve as the root for their service. This root is the emanation that constitutes Atzilut, which is built of MaH and BaN after they were joined together. For the lights there are the actual causes of all the different aspects of This World, being close to them and related to them in a fitting way, which was not the case on the earlier levels (the lights of AV and SaG), which constitute only the root of these actual, direct causes.

You will be able to understand this through what I have already said in connection with the successive concealments produced by the Line of Measurement: each successive degree of concealment causes new effects according to the concealment in question (see Opening 30, Part 2). The Likeness of Man could only emerge in this way in its various aspects following this gradation and a succession of increasing degrees of concealment, until they reached the level called Atzilut, but not above this.

Thus Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote that even though we use the terms “ear” and “eyes” in the case of Adam Kadmon, this is only to “break through” and make sense to the human ear – to give us a faint indication of something that is intrinsically beyond our grasp (Etz Chayim, Shaar Ozen, Chotem, Peh ch. 1, p.34a, TaNTA ch. 1, 20:3). For these terms do not properly apply except where the light stands on a level that relates to the lower realms so that the lower realms can emerge from there in accordance with the law of gradual progression.

But here above (on the levels of the lights of SaG and the worlds of Vision and Hearing) the use of these terms is purely figurative inasmuch as this is the place of the root of these phenomena below.