Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah Reader

However in the state of Back-to-Back they are like two flames flashing at once but each closed up in itself so that neither reveals its lights. Influence must come down, because without it the world could not survive at that time. But the influence is incomplete and is not properly attuned. The excitation causes a surge of influence, but the influence is one of Judgment, which sustains the creations in a limited way with no radiation of the Face whatever, as the proposition continues:

…but it gains sway in that mode of flashing excitation. In other words, not with a full radiation.

Part 2: This requires the Separation… Initially the government is such that the full force of Judgment flashes forth but with no preparation of the powers required to enable the operative Partzufim to modulate and channel the influence in an orderly way (i.e. in stages culminating in Coupling).

Afterwards Abba and Imma must complete the repair of this root – i.e. the Back-to-Back state of Zeir and Nukva. Their repair follows a specific order corresponding to Zeir and Nukva’s functions in the government on the sides of Kindness and Judgment respectively. All the powers are then properly divided with the Kindness on one side – Zeir Anpin – and the Judgment on the other side – Nukva. This leads to an orderly government in which Kindness has its full effect and Strength has its full effect. And afterwards they join together to operate in consensus in the proper way.

The essential underlying foundation of all this is that even Zeir Anpin is rooted in Imma, as discussed in connection with the Primordial Kings (see Opening 52). Imma’s strengths – which are female aspects – are the root of the Primordial Kings, from which Zeir Anpin is built. This is the secret of the verse: “Everything was from the dust” (Ecclesiastes 3:20). The reason men’s sins cause such great damage is that they bring things back to this root of Back-to-Back. Zeir Anpin and Nukva then both remain rooted in this female aspect. This is why the Rabbis pointedly said, “His power weakened like a female”.

The sum of the matter is that Zeir and Nukva derive from Imma’s Strengths, which are female. Initially Zeir Anpin’s power is therefore not like that of a male but weakened like that of a female. Coupling – which channels the light through the entire chain of development – would then be highly dangerous, because excess influence improperly channeled gives nourishment to the unholy forces. Accordingly Zeir and Nukva look each other in the face so as to reveal their powers in the full sequence of cause and effect only when the influence flows after all due preparation and with goodwill.

Instead all that is seen are the female aspects, which the Male and Female use together in one surge of excitation – yet both of them are still fully closed up. Until Abba and Imma come and repair Zeir Anpin, distributing the powers in the proper way with Kindness alone on one side and Strength alone on the other. All the female aspects are now left exclusively to Nukva while all the male aspects are renewed in Zeir Anpin. He then receives the power to sweeten and repair the Nukva as well by Coupling, as will be discussed presently.

When Zeir Anpin and Nukva are complete they are ready for Interior and Exterior coupling.

The mystery of Coupling depends on the reign of unity so that the vessels of Zeir Anpin and the Nukva actually become attached in such a way as to be considered literally one – just like the interior, which is already one. This is the meaning of the verse, “And they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). It begins with Kissing, which is the joining together of the Ruach – i.e. the interior, which becomes so powerfully unified that it even causes the exteriors to become attached to one another.

However this comes about only when both Zeir Anpin and Nukva are complete. Zeir Anpin must be complete with all his Mental Powers and all the higher Partzufim bound to him to adorn him. Nukva must be complete with all the repairs she receives through the lower creations, which are bound up with her. The completeness of the preparations determines the completeness of the Coupling, which may be through the mystery of Israel and Rachel or through their other branches, male and female.

Having explained the repairs necessary in order to reach the stage of Coupling, let us now examine the concept of Coupling itself.

This proposition consists of two parts. Part 1: The mystery of Coupling… This explains the concept of Coupling. Part 2: However this comes about… This explains the preparations required in order to reach this stage.

Part 1: The mystery of Coupling depends on the reign of unity… Coupling is alluded to in the verse: “And he placed his mouth on his mouth and his eyes on his eyes…” (Kings II, 4:34). Coupling is the complete joining of all the limbs of Zeir Anpin with all the limbs of Nukva. This in truth is the secret of the Supreme Unity, which brings Kindness and Judgment back to one root through the mystery of “HaShem, He is God” (Kings I, 18:39). It is through this repair that the different influences go forth.

…so that the vessels of Zeir Anpin and the Nukva actually become attached… This is the mystery of the repair of the Residue as discussed earlier (Opening 30, end). The Line must rule over the Residue and the Line itself must repair it by removing the evil from it and returning it to the underlying unity.

…in such a way as to be considered literally one – just like the interior, which is already one. For it is evil that separates the receiver of influence from the giver, as discussed earlier in connection with the different degrees of closeness of the Male and Female aspects on different levels (see Opening 73). This separation is what has to be rectified.

This is the meaning of the verse, “And they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). The ultimate goal of Coupling is that the flesh, which is the exterior, should become one. The Ruach, the interior, actually is one – because the Ruach is rooted in unity – but the flesh does not actually become literally one. Nevertheless, under the influence of the Mental Powers, the “flesh” of the two Partzufim joins to the greatest possible degree – but only so as to be considered one flesh.

It begins with Kissing… For the Kisses come first and afterwards the Coupling of the Yesods.

…which is the joining together of the Ruach – i.e. the interior… On the level of the Ruach the connection is a double one: the Ruach of the Male is in the Nukva and that of the Nukva is in the Male (see Pitchey Chochmah VaDaat ch. 95, Klalut HaIlan 6:6). This is because the purpose of the Coupling of Kisses is to arouse the power of the Supreme Unity so as to forge an actual connection. This is not so in the case of the Coupling of the Yesods, whose purpose is only to send influence. Before the influence flows, they must be attached to one another with proximity of the flesh. However influence is sent only from the Male to the Female (unlike in the Coupling of Kisses, where the giving is mutual and each becomes included in the other).

…which becomes so powerfully unified that it even causes the exteriors to become attached to one another. It is the joining of the Ruachs that causes the exteriors to become attached as well.

Part 2: However this comes about only when both Zeir Anpin and Nukva are complete. The concealment of the unity shows the deficiencies that exist without it, while the revelation of the unity is the repair of the deficiencies. Before it is possible to reach the ultimate revelation of the unity, all the previous deficiencies must be repaired. This can be accomplished either through the efforts of the lower creations or – if they fail – through the hand of the Supreme Will. In either case, first the more serious of the remaining deficiencies will be repaired through Maturity and Mental Powers until little by little things will reach this ultimate perfection. It is the removal of all the deficiencies that facilitates Coupling, which is the revelation of the unity.

Zeir Anpin must be complete with all his Mental Powers… The repairs must suit the deficiencies they come to rectify, while the deficiencies in any given light correspond to its unique functions. Since Zeir Anpin is the ruler and giver of influence, it is precisely the power of government and influence – the Mental Powers – that must be complete in him.

…and all the higher Partzufim bound to him to adorn him. In essence the service of the lower creations reaches only to Zeir Anpin, but its effects reach even to the Partzufim above him – Abba and Imma and Arich Anpin. This is because they repair and adorn Zeir Anpin with Mental Powers in order to perfect his function of sending influence. This they can only do to the extent that the lower creations are fit to receive the influence.

Nukva must be complete with all the repairs she receives through the lower creations, which are bound up with her. Since Nukva is the root of the receiver, it is necessary that all the lower creations – the receivers – be included within her since they are her branches, and this is her repair. This repair must be present in Nukva in all its detailed aspects.

The completeness of the preparations determines the completeness of the Coupling… The level of preparedness of both the sources and receivers of influence differs at different times. (Certain times are conducive to higher levels of preparation for Coupling, such as when the Temple is standing.) The lower creations are not always bound together in the same way, and Zeir Anpin’s Mental Powers are not always renewed with the same strength. But when the conditions for Coupling are ripe – when all the lower creations are contained in Nukva – there will be Coupling on a level matching that of the preparations.

…which may be through the mystery of Israel and Rachel… These are the essential Male and Female, while the others (such as Jacob and Leah) serve only to complete them, and the other Couplings are certainly on a lower level.

…or through their other branches, male and female. This is the mystery of Jacob and Leah, which are branches of the essential Male and Female.

The Shechinah is complete when all the lower creations – the angels and the souls – are contained within her.

It is from the Shechinah that all the lower worlds extend with all the different aspects of service they contain – that of the angels and that of the souls. The function of the angels is to execute the commands of the Shechinah while the souls are to serve the Holy One, blessed be He, through their free will. She is therefore said to be incomplete and unable to couple except when all these different branches of hers are contained within her in accordance with their respective functions. And then through their combined power Coupling takes place with all the worlds repaired.

Having explained that the Shechinah must be repaired with her branches, let us now discuss this repair in greater detail.

The proposition has two parts. Part 1: It is from the Shechinah… This explains the branches that extend from the Shechinah. Part 2: She is therefore… The completeness of the Shechinah depends on these branches.

Part 1: It is from the Shechinah that all the lower worlds extend… The Shechinah – Nukva of Atzilut – is the root of all the lower creations, these being the receivers.

…with all the different aspects of service they contain… The Shechinah is not only the root of the lower creations themselves but of all their different aspects – including especially the task entrusted to them. For since the repair is in their hands, they have to carry out their function – which as part of their essential nature must also be rooted in the Shechinah.

…that of the angels and that of the souls. These are two kinds of branches, each with its own exclusive task.

The function of the angels is to execute the commands of the Shechinah… The angels merely execute the actions of the Sefirot – because the Supreme Thought also wanted this gradation whereby the actions of the Sefirot and the creations subject to them should not issue directly from the Shechinah but through these agents that she has. Theirs is not the service of free will but literal servitude.

…while the souls are to serve the Holy One, blessed be He, through their free will. It is self-evident that men’s service is the service of free will – to repair all that exists.

Part 2: She is therefore said to be incomplete and unable to couple except when all these different branches of hers are contained in her in accordance with their respective functions. The two kinds of branches become contained in the Shechinah in different ways specific to each, depending on their functions, the nature of their tasks and the effects of their execution of those tasks, as will be explained in the following Opening. (The angels become contained in the Shechinah through the ascent of the Chambers – the Heichalot – and the souls through sending up the Female Waters.)

And then through their combined power Coupling takes place with all the worlds repaired. For when all this is complete, all the upper and lower worlds are joined together in one repair. All the upper realms are contained in Zeir Anpin in sending influence, while Nukva contains all the lower realms to receive. When they join together through their Coupling, all that exists – the higher realms and the lower realms – join together in one interconnected whole, and the unity asserts itself and rules as befitting.

At present every Coupling is in truth a revelation of the Supreme Unity, but not a whole and complete revelation. However, after all the Couplings required in the course of the entire six thousand years, God’s Supreme Unity will be properly revealed over all that exists in all their parts and this will be the complete repair for ever to eternity.

The order of Coupling through the Male and Female Waters

According to the order of Coupling, Nukva – the Shechinah – must encompass all the lower worlds. These must be properly repaired in all the necessary ways – through the removal of the Other Side and the repair of the worlds by each other through all their good arrangements. Nukva is then ready for Zeir Anpin, and he joins with her. He then gives her a certain power known as “the Spirit that her husband sends into her”.

Through this power she sends up Female Waters – this being what she channels – whether in the form of a revelation of new light or through the restoration of what was concealed or damaged. She sends up her Female Waters through the power of the souls of the Tzaddikim. Zeir Anpin then increases what he gives her – in proportion to what she sends up – in the form of new influence, this being the Male Waters.

This afterwards descends into the world, spreading to the ministering attendants and from there down to the world of Asiyah, from where it goes forth to act.

These must be properly repaired in all the necessary ways… These include all the repairs required in the branches to enable them to become attached to their root. Two things are necessary in order to repair the branches.

…through the removal of the Other Side… This is the first repair. The second is: …and the repair of the worlds by each other through all their good arrangements. They must be repaired by each other through their good arrangements because these worlds of Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah contain actual good and evil since they contain separate creations. This is not so in the case of Atzilut, where all is Godliness and evil is irrelevant. It is the evil in these lower worlds that separates the branches from their root, because evil truly has the power to cause this separation, and this is what must therefore be removed. The higher levels of Beriyah-Yetzirah-Asiyah must then be merged and included in one another through all the arrangements that exist for this purpose in the lights of the Chariot.

Then the female prepares herself toward Zeir Anpin, which is the secret of "and your desire shall be toward your husband" (Genesis 3:16), for at that time she arouses in the supernal lights joy and will, a revelation of powers in the opening; and they were not withdrawn, for the one who bestows desires to bestow.

…and he joins with her. They become one. Through the Kisses they literally become one on the level of the Ruach, because in the interior the join is complete. And the exterior vessels join together with the greatest degree of connection possible.

He then gives her a certain power known as “the Spirit that her husband sends into her”. Now the influence begins to flow – because first the lights must be repaired in order to be able to carry out their functions, and only afterwards do they actually execute them. The function of the lights is to send an ever-renewed flow of influence. For they are always the same lights: it is the influence they channel that is renewed. However, in order to draw forth this influence Nukva requires an additional repair – the arousal of the souls, as the proposition goes on to state. But this repair requires a prior preparation to enable the souls to act. A certain power – the “Spirit that her husband sends into her” – is put into the Shechinah herself so as to be able to gather the souls to her in order to accomplish this. This is called making a vessel.

Through this power she sends up Female Waters… This is a particular power that enables the Shechinah to carry out this function of sending up the Female Waters.

…this being what she channels… This is the flow that the Shechinah for her part draws from the Emanator to send into the world. Its root is most exalted – for it lies in the Residue. The material substance of the separate creations derives from the Strengths in Yesod of Nukva – the root of Judgment revealed in the Residue. For as you have already heard, the Place that remained after the Tzimtzum is Malchut. The Judgment revealed therein is the Strengths in Yesod of Nukva, and this is the root of the material substance of the creations – “Everything was from the dust” (Ecclesiastes 3:20). The Line on the other hand is the Male Waters.

In allusion to this the sages said: “[The congealment of the firmament] can be compared to a pot of milk (=the material substance, Judgment): as soon as a drop of rennet falls into it, it immediately solidifies” (Bereishit Rabbah 4:7). In terms of this metaphor, the resulting entity essentially derives from the milk – because the rennet is merely the catalyst. Similarly, the root of the material substance of the separate creations lies in the Strengths.

Judgment has its own functions in the government of the creations. However we are not now talking about the governmental functioning of Judgment but rather about what is born as the direct offspring of the lights of Judgment, which then function as they function in the governmental order. The offspring of the lights is the material substance of the separate creations. The subsequent government of these creations through Judgment is a separate matter. What we are saying is that out of Judgment come forth fire and gold etc. i.e. from the actual lights themselves, not through their functioning in the governmental order. Likewise, water or silver etc. come forth from Kindness – from the actual lights themselves. The functioning of the lights is a different matter: this is the “rennet” that activates the material, while the material itself comes from the lights themselves, and this is the “milk”.

The separate creations as independent beings are indeed built of two parts – MaH and BaN – for although they are the offspring of Judgment=BaN, they also include parts of MaH. BaN includes everything relating to the material substance given to the separate creations at the outset together with all that depends on it, while MaH includes everything relating to the Line – the part of the substance that repairs, together with all that depends on it. However in the actual body of each separate being the parts of MaH and BaN respectively are equal: half relate to MaH and half to BaN. The part that rectifies – MaH, the Line – is equal to the part of the material that it has to repair. Accordingly we say that all the Partzufim are compounded of parts of MaH and BaN.

Accordingly, the whole function of the Nukva is Strengths – renewal of the half of all entities that comes from BaN, i.e. the renewal of their material substance. MaH performs a different and very essential function: the renewal of the material substance of all that exists through interior spirituality. This material substance deriving from BaN is a dark material but it causes one of two things: either joy or sorrow – through repair or destruction. This material substance stands to be repaired with the most exalted of repairs and radiations by MaH, and if it is repaired it generates every kind of joy and love. But if not, God forbid, it causes every kind of sorrow and destruction (see Opening 92).

To return to our theme: Nukva needs the Five Strengths in her Yesod, these being the roots of the material substance of all the existing entities, as we have explained. When the material is renewed and duly repaired to enable Nukva to arouse this root in the proper way, the Receiver stands asking for Kindness from the Giver of Influence – and then the Male Waters will descend. However, in order to be able to arouse him, Nukva needs a power from the male that completes her, making her a receiving vessel. This power is the Spirit mentioned above. Everything is in the category of Strengths, for this Spirit is from the side of Strengths, because this whole function of sending the Female Waters is rooted in Judgment.

In short, Nukva generates renewal only in the half of every existing entity that derives from BaN – but this very renewal is the arousal of all the receivers to their Giver of influence. For it is to show that the arousal of the receivers comes from the side of BaN that BaN is put in every existing entity – for “the Spirit that her husband sends into her” is also in the category of BaN. The function is specific – through BaN – yet it affects the whole, including the parts that derive from MaH. This is how she channels new influence to sustain the half of each existing entity that comes from BaN. Things are renewed in the overall government of all the worlds in accordance with the renewal of these parts.

…whether in the form of a revelation of new light or through the restoration of what was concealed or damaged. If things were in a state of repair, there would be continual Coupling, which would elevate the entire creation level after level through renewal (as was the intention had Adam not sinned). With each act of coupling Nukva would then immediately draw forth a certain light that would renew the half of the existing entities that derives from BaN, as discussed above, elevating it one additional level through that act of Coupling.

However because things are damaged (as a result of the sin of Adam and other sins thereafter) many attributes that the worlds previously possessed have been lost. These now have to be restored. Thus the purpose of the Couplings that take place now is merely to restore the levels lost through sin. Only afterwards will it be possible to rise to the heights that would have been attained had it not been for these sins.

All these exalted attributes derive from lights emanating from the Shechinah, these being the roots of what exists in Beriyah-Yetzirah-Asiyah. There are things that should have been in those lower worlds and which had their root in the Strengths in Yesod of the Shechinah, which are the roots of the lower creations. However, when these exalted levels left the worlds, those roots either became concealed or were damaged through descending into the husks, with the result that the husks benefited instead of the world and Israel. It is these levels that must be restored. Every day some of these lights are once again revealed in order to repair the world.

She sends up her Female Waters through the power of the souls of the Tzaddikim. This is a repair that depends on the souls since the interior government is bound up essentially with them. In other words, it is the ascent of the souls to become bound above in her Yesod and radiate there that elicits this flow of Female Waters.

Zeir Anpin then increases what he gives her… Zeir Anpin for his part increases what he has to channel – the flow of the influence of MaH to the other half of all the existing entities, which still needs to be completed, with all that depends on it in the overall government. MaH thus brings not only the existing entities but also the entire governmental order to perfection.

…spreading to the ministering attendants… This also follows a unique order that exists in the world of Beriyah – the place where the Glory stands in its Chamber to ride upon the ministering attendants. For the Chambers are here in Beriyah and the Shechinah dwells at the head of Beriyah in the Chamber of the Holy of Holies. It is there that all the branches – the creations – are attached to her. This is the secret of all that is discussed in connection with the Chambers and the Chariot in Brit Menuchah (an ancient, fundamental Kabbalistic text endorsed by the ARI).

…and from there down to the world of Asiyah… Gradations exist among the ministering attendants as required by the governmental order. And the descending influence thus comes down level by level all the way to the bottom of the World of Asiyah.

…from where it goes forth to act. The end goal of the entire flow is to act in Asiyah, whether in the bodies or in the government. All that comes forth from that influence to act below, whether in the bodies, as explained earlier – i.e. some body is thereby renewed – or in the government – in the form of some new act of government, is according to the nature of that influence – depending on its source, all it undergoes, and all the conditions to which it is subject.