Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah Reader

“God made also this one against this one” (Ecclesiastes 7:14). Not only was evil brought into being; it was made parallel to good so that through the fact that things are parallel, there would be a place for service, as will be explained in its proper place. This means that good was not automatically put in control, for then, even if evil existed in the world, it would have been subordinate to good.

Instead, “God also made this one against this one” – with equal power, on corresponding levels and with equal ability to act. This way, everything that exists on the side of good has something against it on the side of evil which, if it acts in the world, can cancel out that good. Thus evil has the power to challenge good and not allow it any place to act unless it receives help from man in the lower world. This creates an actual path of service for man in making room for good and rejecting evil.

However there are three important initial differences between them, which later give rise to innumerable other differences. The first is that the Sefirot are the will of the Emanator, blessed be His Name, Who is the single, unified Master, whereas the Other Side is merely one creation which the Master made because He wanted it, as it says: “making peace and creating evil” (Isaiah 45:7). Thus evil is subordinate to the sole Master and dependent upon Him and is merely charged with carrying out His order because this is what He wills.

The second difference, which derives from the first, is that the power of the Sefirot was exactly calculated in accordance with God’s will. What this means is that the Master, blessed be He, does not want to act in any other way except this. However, had He wanted, and whenever He may want, He can increase their power according to His will. With the power they have at present, it appears that the Other Side can challenge them and prevent them from functioning.

However, if Eyn Sof, blessed be He, had wanted, He could have increased the power of the Sefirot as much as He liked and the Other Side would no longer have the slightest ability to challenge the Holy Side. But compared to the power of the Sefirot, the power of the Other Side is truly limited. It only has what is in it now and it cannot in any way go outside its limit, even if it wanted.

The third difference is that the root of good was primordial and did not have to be brought into being as a new creation, while the root of the Other Side was an innovation. The root of the Other Side is deficiency, which came into being only after the Tzimtzum.

This provides the answer to what seems to be a major difficulty. For it appears that evil has two places while good has only one. Let me explain: If we were to interpret “also this one against this one” as referring to the good and evil in the Sefirot themselves – i.e. what remained of the initial perfection (good) and deficiency (evil) – we could justly call the Other Side the offshoot of evil (i.e. of the deficiencies), just as we call the Holy Side the offshoot of good. However, this is not the case. For we say that it is the Holy Side in its entirety and the Other Side in its entirety that are “this one against this one”.

And there is a strong reason why we have to say this. For besides the nations of the world and the angels of destruction, there is something else: the Ten Sefirot of the Husk, as explained in the Zohar in several places (Zohar, Pekudey, 242a; 264b). Now against Israel and the ministering angels we can put the nations of the world and the angels of destruction, corresponding to perfection and deficiency.

But to what can we say that the Ten Sefirot of the Husk are parallel? They are a root that was created for the sake of their offshoot – the nations of the world and the angels of destruction – whereas the Sefirot of Holiness are not a created root; they are God’s essential will and are therefore not parallel to the root of the Other Side. We cannot say that the Ten Sefirot of the Husk are parallel to the Ten Sefirot of the Holy Side, because it has already been stated above that the root of evil is the deficiencies in the Holy Sefirot. If so, what is the place of the Ten Sefirot of the Husk?

This problem is resolved because of the third difference that exists between the Holy Side and the Other Side, as explained above: the Holy Side did not require a new root, while the Other Side needed a new root to be made for it since it did not have one. Therefore all the deficiencies in the Sefirot are nothing but a newly created root for the Other Side, and what develops out of it is the Other Side itself.

We thus have here two roots and two offshoots. The primordial root is the one, unified Master, blessed be He, besides Whom there is none other – Eyn Sof, blessed be He – and what unfolds from Him is the Sefirot. And with the unfolding of the Sefirot, the Supreme Will created a new root – the deficiencies in the Sefirot – to serve as the root for a different consequence, which is the Other Side with all that it involves.

Thus one cannot compare the Sefirot with their deficiencies, for the Sefirot are a branch and an extension of the primordial root, which is Eyn Sof, blessed be He, while the deficiencies in the Sefirot were newly brought into being to serve as the root of the Other Side. We can only compare offshoot with offshoot – the Holy Side, which is the offshoot of the primordial root, with the Other Side, which is the offshoot of the deficiencies willfully brought into being by the Supreme Will in order to reveal His perfection through their repair, as discussed above. This is why Israel are the true firstborn, for since their root lies in the primordial good, they preceded evil in the developmental chain, for the Holy Side always precedes the Other Side.

Now you can see how the Other Side emerged. Initially one light of holiness remained – the Residue, which is an extension of the primordial Root. However, this light contains a certain deficiency, and it is this deficiency that becomes the root of the Other Side. But this deficiency is not a branch parallel to that light of holiness – it is impossible to say that the deficiencies in the Sefirot are equivalent to the Sefirot themselves.

This is because the deficiencies were newly brought into being to serve as the root of the Other Side. They are thus considered a root and not an extension, whereas the Sefirot are an extension of the primordial Eyn Sof. The deficiency in the light of the Residue is one root, from which the Other Side later emerges, a branch parallel to a branch. The Sefirot themselves are a branch of the primordial Root, while the deficiencies in the Sefirot are a new root from which the Other Side develops as a branch.

This is the reason why, as you will find later, the husks of the world of Atzilut face the Holy of Holies of Beriyah. For it is not possible for the branch constituted by the Other Side to face the branch of Holiness. For not just the branch (the Other Side itself) but even the root of that branch could not come into existence until after the holy branch, the Sefirot, were already there. The holy branch had a certain deficiency, and then out of this deficiency developed the root of the Other Side. And from this new root there later emerged the branch, the Ten Sefirot of the Husk – the Other Side.

This means that the entire array of the Sefirot was to unfold... Here we call all the Sefirot one side – the Holy Side – and the whole of the Other Side a different side, for the reason we have mentioned. For the power of Judgment and the root of evil that we have mentioned in relation to the Sefirot are all called one extension from the primordial Root, in accordance with the Tzimtzum willed by Him. All that we can discern is that the power of strict Judgment contained in the Sefirot is the newly instituted root of evil, because of the power of the deficiencies revealed through the Tzimtzum.

For when what remained of the primordial perfection was joined together with what newly came into being in the Tzimtzum, i.e. the power of deficiency – this produced the Sefirot. But this very power of deficiency itself came forth through the will of Eyn Sof, blessed be He. All that we can discern is that the Sefirot contain what exists by virtue of the primordial existence, which is entirely good, together with what exists on account of what came newly into being through the power of His will – deficiency, which is the root of evil. However, everything is one extension: what is left of the perfection together with the newly-created deficiency jointly constitute the Sefirot.

This innovation subsequently became the root of the Other Side, after which the Other Side itself emerged in parallel with the downward extension of the Sefirot. It is of these two parallel extensions, the Holy Side and the Other Side, that the verse says, “God made also this one against this one” – but always with the differences we discussed earlier. And the beginning of the Other Side is always lower than the end of the Holy Side. Thus it is written, “And God divided between the light and the darkness” (Genesis 1:4).

But as to the root of the Other Side in comparison with that of the Holy Side, it is almost forbidden even to ask if there is any equivalence between them (God forbid). For the root of the good is the one, unified, primordial, eternal Master, blessed be He and blessed be His Name for ever and ever. On the other hand, the root of the evil Other Side is merely something newly brought into being whose entire existence depends only on the fact that this is what was willed by the Supreme Will. Had He not willed it, it would not have existed, and if He did not want it, it would not endure. When He no longer wants it, it will no longer exist, but “He will consume death for ever and the Lord God will wipe the tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8).

The entire array of the Sefirot was to unfold on all their levels... This includes everything good that extends downwards in preparation for the needs of the lower creatures. This includes all that is necessary to benefit them as befits them according to their different levels (be they angels, men, inanimate, vegetable or animal), what is necessary in order to maintain them in existence (Sefirot in the form of circles, general providence), and what is necessary to benefit them according to their service (Sefirot in the straight, upright form, individual providence).

...with all that they generate... This refers to the separate creatures. For the Sefirot themselves consist of all the different measures and attributes of the Supreme Will. What they generate is what was created afterwards: the separate creation and the different offshoots of the Sefirot – the souls, the angels and all the creatures in the world. …all with a view to bestowing good: All this is called one continuation, because, whether small or great, they all constitute an orderly creation, each part according to its purpose. This is not so in the case of the Other Side, which is all a realm of destruction and ruin, which is why it is called the Other Side, as we will discuss below.

…while a created realm was to be brought into being… The Other Side is not like the Sefirot, which, being the attributes of the Supreme Will, are actual Godliness. This is not so in the case of the Other Side, which is a created realm brought forth by the Supreme Will just as He brought all the other creations into being out of nothingness.

…that would involve every kind of defect and lack of goodness... This is what is meant by the verse, “God made also this one against this one”. The intention was to make the good and to make everything that can be the opposite of good: every kind of damage and destruction. The many different levels of the Other Side correspond to all the many different kinds of damage and destruction that can exist when there is deficiency in the world.

This is called the Other Side. This is the name of this opposite realm. It is justly called the Other Side inasmuch as it is literally the opposite of the whole first extension we have discussed. Thus the creation was made with both intentions – that there should be a realm of existence and a realm of destruction, and we call them two sides.

Part 3:. The intention is that the power to bestow good should gain sway, until every flaw returns to a state of repair. This is the whole purpose of the Line that governs the Residue, as we have explained earlier. …and then the true essence of God’s unity will be known. The governmental order itself ensures that this is how everything will end – with total rectification. This is because of the superiority of good over evil, for good is primordial whereas evil is a new creation. The good is from the one and only Master, while evil is the Other Side, the angel of death, a created slave. This is why, given that there is a war between the Holy Side and the Other Side – good and evil – good must necessarily be victorious. But its victory will come about only because of the intrinsic superiority of good over evil. Through this, the truth of God’s unity will be known, because only by virtue of there being only one domain will everything eventually be rectified. For we see how the Supreme Will has allowed all the different kinds of damage found in the world to exist. And afterwards, at the end of everything, we know that His unity will be aroused and will rectify everything, as it says, “And I will remove the sin of that land on one day” (Zechariah 3:9).

The question could immediately be asked: Does the Holy One, blessed be He, want to rectify everything through man’s free will or through His own power? If you say He wants to rectify everything through man’s free will, how can it be that “from the beginning He tells the end” (Isaiah 46:10)? Surely, He knows the future, and since He knows that in the end they will need Him, should He not have rectified everything from the very outset?

The point is that Eyn Sof, blessed be He, wanted to remove from the hearts of His creatures the mistake of believing that there are two domains, one of which brings about good and the other evil. Accordingly He first laid down the Sefirot, in which He does not use His unity and perfect power. On the contrary, the power of the Sefirot is like the power of a strong man who submits himself to a test against a rival power – the Other Side – which the strong man himself put in possession of a power that is contrary to his own.

God has already shown how all kinds of power in the world, as long as they remain in the category of power alone without having ultimate control, cannot conquer the Other Side. On the contrary, the challenge of the Other Side is so great that it is impossible to escape from it without recognizing God’s unity. However, when His unity is aroused and He asserts His ultimate control, it will immediately become apparent that there is no place whatever for the Other Side.

From this we will understand immediately that the Other Side does not possess eternal power in any way, and we will see God’s control and unity. Why? Because the Other Side contains every other power except for this. But in order to be a domain, it would have to have complete control.

The Other Side is therefore not a domain but a subject slave possessing no power except what is given to it. While the power it is given is great, it does not have any control at all. For there is only one controlling Master, blessed be He and blessed be His Name for ever and ever.

The entire government of the universe is ordered under the four letters of the Name of HaVaYaH

The first order assumed by the emanated light, standing in the form of Ten Sefirot arranged in the Likeness of Man, is called Adam Kadmon. This is the order of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He for ever and ever. This means that all the different orders and laws are drawn after and come under the order of these four letters. 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.

Until now we have discussed the first foundations: the Residue and the Line and all that depends on them. We must now explain the structures that were built out of them in accordance with what was prepared in them.

The proposition has three parts: Part 1: The first order... This explains the first order, which is called Adam Kadmon. Part 2: This is the order... This explains that this order is that of the Name, blessed be He. Part 3: This means that... This explains the meaning and purpose of this order.

And then Eyn Sof, blessed be He, brought forth one order which He put in control of all of them, making all the other trees nothing but attributes, forms of address and garments with which to clothe this order. According to the way in which the different levels of this order are aroused, so all the other trees carry out their particular functions through this central Tree. This alone is what really acts, and it is only from here that the lower realms and creatures emerge and are governed, and their entire service is bound up with this alone.

Note the phrasing of the passage from the Tikkuney Zohar quoted earlier: “All the other names are considered attributes of this Name”. It does not say that they are attributes, but rather that they are considered as such – they are the equivalent of attributes. For each one is a tree in itself, but Eyn Sof, blessed be He, took them and made them a garment around this Tree.

This Tree of which we are speaking is the Tree of the four letters of HaVaYaH, blessed be He, which includes everything from the beginning of Adam Kadmon to the end of Asiyah in all the different aspects discussed in Kabbalistic literature. Standing around it like a garment are the various worlds we have mentioned. In themselves they do not act at all. Rather, they are like a garment in which the body is clothed: it is not the garment that acts but rather the body clothed in the garment.

Similarly, this Tree acts through these garments around it. Just as the garment that clothes the active body part is included in the action, similarly the worlds surrounding whichever part of this Tree acts are also included in it. They are not there without purpose, for it is those in which the Actor is clothed that hold sway, while the Actor Himself acts in accordance with their power in executing their controlling functions. Yet it is only the Wearer of the garment who acts, not the garment itself.

Men’s service and all that they receive are bound up with this central Tree, the Name of HaVaYaH, which is garbed in the Partzufim. Afterwards they also attain the worlds in which this Name is clothed, for they inherit them as a matter of course when they inherit the One clothed in them.

As I have already said, this Tree extends from the head of Adam Kadmon to the end of Asiyah. In essence, this Tree is Adam Kadmon and the radiance that emanates from Him. For a glorious radiance came forth from Him, and the different parts of this radiance constitute the worlds of Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. It is through these very worlds that He shows what exists above. Just as there are many kinds of worlds above with one central world inside them all, similarly, a single order is visible within the worlds of Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. This is the order of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He, standing in the form of Ten Sefirot, while many other orders stand in the form of the Chariot. These other orders are included in the four Chayot and their four faces and all the other aspects of the Chariot.

Each of these subsidiary orders is a world in itself, but the overall division follows the order of the Name of HaVaYaH. In other words, these worlds that I have mentioned constitute the Chariot in all its turns and pathways, while at the center of all of them is the order of the Ten Sefirot, which includes the whole of Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. This constitutes the order of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He, which is the essence, while all the others are His attributes or forms of address.

And the truth is that even so, all this is called the order of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He. For everything that emerges from Adam Kadmon constitutes the order of the Name of HaVaYaH. This is like a picture or diagram of what exists above, showing how the Tree of the Name of HaVaYaH is at the center with the other attributes or forms of address surrounding it. These attributes that make up the Chariot are under the control of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He.

In other words, the Chariot and its forms of address or attributes constitute Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and there too this same order exists: the forms of address or attributes are many, but they are under the control of the Name of HaVaYaH, because they are His “garments”.

Accordingly, man’s essential service is bound up with the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He, and the chariots themselves are subsumed under the overall order of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He. It is in the context of this order that they are called four Chayot (literally, “beasts”) together with all the other aspects mentioned in Ezekiel’s vision of the Chariot. This Name was placed in control of all the others because all the other trees are pathways of government according to the Residue that remained, while the underlying bond whereby all these things come to unity is the Tree of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He.

Thereby the Cause of all causes reveals His unity and binds all the pathways of government into one pathway through which evil reverts to good. This is the order through which the Cause of all causes asserts His unity over all the different orders, joining them together in the mystery of that unity. On this level, as already discussed, there is no division between Kindness and Judgment, but everything is equally good.

This is what is meant by the teaching that “the Name HaVaYaH does not change in any place in its four letters...” (Tikkuney Zohar #57, 94b). What this means is that this Name, made up of its four interconnected letters, is only mentioned when the Cause of causes unifies all the different levels in the mystery of His unity. The Name of HaVaYaH “does not change” in the sense that the Name of HaVaYaH controls all the different levels in order to bring them into unity and to show that despite their various differences, they all serve only one purpose. This is to demonstrate His unity through the fact that He brings everything back to good.

This is the essence of the faith of Israel, which depends only on the Cause of all causes. Accordingly they have faith in Him despite the protracted exile, even though they see so much that is the opposite of the truth and face so many challenges from the Other Side. Yet through the power of His unity, they endure everything. Thus the above-quoted passage continues: “Because of this, the faith of Israel is centered on these four letters” – the four letters of the Name of HaVaYaH.

Similarly, we find in the Zohar (Vayera 117a): “Rabbi Yose said to him, ‘Well spoken, because He is within the mystery of the letters [of the Name of HaVaYaH], and we should not get involved in other calculations of the end of time’.” It is perfectly evident from this passage that the Redemption depends upon the mystery of these letters. And the reason is that through these letters the Cause of all causes unifies all the different levels, and this is what the Redemption truly depends upon without any doubt at all.

What we learn from all this is that various orders of government exist relating to each and every thing, and many different kinds of worlds exist – whole worlds and whole trees, as discussed above. However, there is one order that lies at the root of the entire government and which governs all the other orders. This is the order of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He. This is the underlying order that exists within all the worlds of Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. This order begins with Adam Kadmon, and what develops out of it is in Atzilut, Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.

...standing in the form of Ten Sefirot... Even though all that exists is only Ten Sefirot, many individual aspects can be discerned within each and every Sefirah by itself – they are not all the same. Each one, depending on its individual purpose, has its own individual levels. Accordingly, all the other trees correspond to the individual levels of the various Sefirot, depending on the level from which any given tree derives. However, the Tree of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He, is the mystery of all Ten Sefirot together for their collective purpose under the number ten.

It could be objected that the sum of a given number of particulars is not inherently bound up with their intrinsic essence but is merely contingent upon the fact that this many particulars together make up this number. If so, it would seem that the Tree of the Name of HaVaYaH, which is the order of the Ten Sefirot, would be of no consequence in the individual Sefirot themselves, and would not determine the quality of the Sefirot and of the details under it.

The answer to this objection is that the Ten Sefirot constitute the entire essence of the laws of government, yet at the same time the actual government emerges only from the particular way in which these laws are applied. Sometimes the government follows one law with all its particulars, sometimes a different law with all its particulars. Since each Sefirah is one law of government containing many individual details, depending on the quality of that Sefirah, the particulars are very many. However, there are times when we make general use of all the laws together in their entirety without taking account of the particulars. Thus all the Sefirot together enter into the overall government, which uses all of them together for the purpose of God’s unity, to bring the creation to the ultimate perfection. The significance of the number ten lies in the fact that here all the Sefirot are together for one purpose. Thus there are two kinds of numbers: the individual number of each Sefirah, and the overall number of ten. When we follow the individual pathway of any given Sefirah, the number of lights will be whatever that particular Sefirah gives, and all the laws of government contained in those lights are in accordance with this. These are the trees that we have mentioned: each of the individual orders is called a tree. However, the overall action comes about through all the Ten Sefirot entering together in this quorum of ten, and the government is according to what this number gives in accordance with its intrinsic nature.

Quite the reverse of the objection: having seen that the law that there should be ten was laid down first, we may infer without doubt that this is the most general and necessary number. For they have to be this many, no less and no more, and arranged precisely in this order just as they are, in accordance with the number ten. All the individual details are automatically included in this number. And thus we may understand what each one of them causes and contributes as part of this general law, and we will understand the general repair that arises through this path in the proper way.

Thus the number ten is not accidental: it is not by chance that the sum of all the particulars is the number ten. On the contrary, the number ten is the root of the overall government, which brings all the Sefirot to a common purpose.

Part 2: This is the order of the Name of HaVaYaH, blessed be He for ever and ever. As I have written above in connection with the trees, this is the Tree of this holy Name. It continues unfolding in accordance with the intrinsic nature of its letters in the same order in which they appear in the Name in the mystery of ten and the mystery of four, as discussed above. As to the significance of the letters themselves: the Yud is Arich Anpin (the cusp) and Abba (the main body of the Yud); the first Heh is Imma; the Vav is Zeir Anpin and the second Heh is Nukva, in this order and in the mystery of the four expansions.

The Yud corresponds to AV=72; the first Heh corresponds to SaG=63, the Vav to MaH=45 and the second Heh to BaN=52. (See Opening 22 Introductory Note.) In sum, all that exists is founded on the mystery of this Name and upon the mystery of these letters of which it consists.

This means that all the different orders and laws are drawn after and come under the order of these four letters. This is not one particular pathway but rather the general path, which includes everything that exists in the Sefirot in all their details and which brings everything under its order. For although the actions through which God governs the world are rooted in many different kinds of governmental pathways through the mystery of the various names, the actions are only actualized through this order of the four letters of HaVaYaH, which direct the other names and forms of address. Thus it is this order that directs all the various orders and is the root of all the actions that come about.