Petichah LeChokhmat HaKabbalah Reader

After the Ab partzuf of Adam Kadmon emerges and is made complete with a head and body, the beating of the surrounding light on the inner light is repeated within this partzuf as well, in the manner described above regarding the first partzuf of Adam Kadmon. The partition of the body of the Ab partzuf is likewise purified of all the opacity (ovyut) of the body until the form of the partition of the body is equated with the partition of the head.

The partition of the body is then incorporated in the fusion through collision that occurs in the mouth of its head, and a new fusion through collision is performed on it, which produces a new structure of ten sefirot with the shiur koma, or height dimension, of Bina, called the “Sag (or samekh-gimmel) partzuf of Adam Kadmon.” This too is considered a son and offspring of the Ab partzuf of Adam Kadmon, as it emerged from the fusion through collision in the mouth of the head of the Ab partzuf. The partzufim from Sag of Adam Kadmon and below emerge in the same way.

We have thus clarified the emergence of the partzufim, one below the other, which are formed through the force of the beating of the surrounding light against the inner light, which purifies the partition of the body until it restores it to the state of the partition of the mouth of the head. At this stage, the partition of the body is included in the fusion through collision that occurs in the mouth of the head, and it emits, by means of its fusion, a new structure of ten sefirot. This new structure is categorized as a son of the previous partzuf.

In this manner, Ab emerges from the partzuf of Keter, Sag from the partzuf of Ab, Mah from the partzuf of Sag, and likewise the other levels in the worlds of Nekudim and Atzilut (Emanation), Beria (Creation), Yetzira (Formation), and Asiya (Actualization). However, it still remains to be understood why the ten sefirot of Ab emerge only from the third level of opacity (ovyut) within the partition rather than from the fourth level, and likewise Sag emerges only from the second level.

In other words, each subsequently emerging lower partzuf is one level lower, in terms of the levels of lights it contains, than the one higher than it and preceding it. Why don’t they all emerge one from another at the same height, with the same number of vessels and lights?53The question that the author of the Sulam is asking here is in reference to the incremental decrease in the heights of the structures of the partzufim after each purification and subsequent collision.

Why is the emerging partzuf considered a “son” to the preceding one given that it emerges from the partition of the mouth of the head just like the preceding one? In other words, if the body of the first partzuf emerged from the mouth of the head of the first partzuf, and so did the second partzuf (the Ab), why are these viewed as two separate entities in which Ab is an “offspring” of the first partzuf, instead of being viewed as all part of one partzuf, like the head and body of the first partzuf?

Additionally, why is the emerging partzuf smaller in height, lacking some vessels below and some lights above, than the preceding one, given that they were both formed using the partition of Malkhut of the head?

First, one must understand why the ten sefirot of Ab are categorized as offspring of the first partzuf of Adam Kadmon. After all, the partzuf of Ab emerged from the fusion through collision that took place in the mouth of the head of the first partzuf, just as the ten sefirot of the body of the first partzuf itself also emerged from there. Why, then, is the partzuf of Ab removed from the category of the first partzuf so that is should be considered like a second partzuf and offspring of the first partzuf?

In this context, you must understand that there is a great difference between the partition of the head and the partition of the body. For there are two types of Malkhut in the partzuf:

The first is the fusing Malkhut, which fuses with the supernal light through the force of the partition placed upon it, as stated above. The second is the terminating Malkhut, which arrests the flow of the supernal light into the ten sefirot of the body through the force of the partition placed upon it.54As the author of the Sulam goes on to explain, the vessel of Malkhut, and the partition that rests on it, exists in this system in two forms. The partition that was placed on the Malkhut of the head is used to create the returning light, which enclothes the vessels of the head and allows them to receive the supernal light. This Malkhut can therefore be viewed as facilitating the process of channeling and transmitting the supernal light. It is referred to as the fusing Malkhut because it is able to interact with the supernal light and fuse with it to some extent, generating the returning light through the collision. By contrast, once the Malkhut vessel has expanded downward, forming the body of the partzuf, the partition of the Malkhut of the body does not engage in any fusion with the supernal light. Instead, it serves as a barrier that blocks out the supernal light from fully entering the Malkhut of the body. It is this barrier against which the surrounding light beats. For this reason, the Malkhut of the body is referred to as the terminating Malkhut. This is the meaning of the “force of the partition”: the partition has the power to block the surrounding light from entering the Malkhut of the body.

The difference between them is like the distance of an emanator from an emanated being. The Malkhut of the head that fuses, by means of a fusion through collision, with the supernal light, is regarded as an emanator relative to the body because the partition placed on the Malkhut of the head did not repel the supernal light when the light impacted against the partition. On the contrary, by means of the returning light that rose from the partition, the partition enclothed and drew in the supernal light of the ten sefirot of the head.

The Malkhut then expanded from above to below so that the ten sefirot of the supernal light were enclothed in the vessel of the returning light, which is called body.55This refers to the ten sefirot of the lower half of the partzuf called the body. As explained in section #26#, these are fully formed sefirot, as opposed to the sefirot of the head of the partzuf, which are only theoretical roots. Consequently, the partition and Malkhut of the head are regarded as the emanator of the ten sefirot of the body, and no dynamics of limitation or rejection are as yet discernible in this partition and Malkhut of the head.

This lack of dynamics of limitation in the partition of the head is not the case with regard to the partition and Malkhut of the body. Meaning, after the ten sefirot expand from the mouth of the head, from above to below, they expand only until the Malkhut in those ten sefirot. The supernal light cannot expand into the Malkhut of the body because the partition established there prevents it from expanding into the Malkhut. Therefore, the partzuf stops there, and the end of the partzuf is reached. Accordingly, the full force of constriction and limitation is revealed only in this partition and the Malkhut of the body.

Consequently, the entire beating of the surrounding light on the inner light that was discussed above occurs only on the partition of the body, as only this partition limits and repels the surrounding light, preventing it from shining into the interior of the partzuf, and not the partition of the Malkhut of the head. The partition of the head only draws in and enclothes the light, but no trace of the force of limitation manifests itself within it.

Now it can be explained how, by means of the force of the beating of the surrounding light against the inner light, the partition of the terminating Malkhut reverts to the status of fusing Malkhut (see section #35# above). The beating of the surrounding light against the inner light purified the partition of the terminating Malkhut of all the opacity (ovyut) of the body that it contained. Only slight remnants of that opacity remain in it, which are equal to the amounts of opacity found within the partition of the head. As is known, the equating of form attaches and unites spiritual entities together. Therefore, after the partition of the body has equated the form of its opacity to the opacity found in the partition of the head, the partition of the body is immediately incorporated within the partition of the head, joining it as though they were a single partition. Then the partition of the body receives the power for a fusion through collision to the same extent as the partition of the head, and the new structure of ten sefirot of the next partzuf emerge from the impact against the partition, as stated above.

However, together with this fusion, the remnants of the opacity of the body, which were within the partition of the body at the outset, are manifest anew within the partition of the body.56The author of the Sulam is clarifying here that this partition is slightly different from the original partition of the Malkhut of the head because it contains a different measure of opacity than that of the original partition.

Since the surrounding light degraded some of the original measure of opacity in the process that led the partition of the body to merge with the head, this partition lacks the opacity of the fourth level, but retains only that of the third level and above. As a result, this partition gives rise to a different structure of returning light, purified of the opacity of the lowest, or fourth, level. Accordingly, it cannot contain the highest light in its vessels, since it lacks the lowest vessel.

The head of this new partzuf, then, is only as high as the bottom of the head of the previous partzuf, as the author will explain. The difference in form between the partition of the body that was purified and then unified with the partition of the head and the partition of the head is then discernible once again within the partition of the body to some extent. This detectable difference of form between the two partitions separates the partition of the body and expels it from the mouth of the head of the upper partzuf.57The upper partzuf here refers to the complete structure of head and body with their respective partitions discussed in the previous sections.

This process of unification of the partition of the body of the upper partzuf with that of the head of the upper partzuf leads to a new fusion through collision, since the partition of the body is now a fusing Malkhut instead of an terminating Malkhut. The surrounding light then beats against this partition and creates a fusion through that collision. This fusion leads to a new returning light arising as a result of that fusion that can serve as vessels for the surrounding light that was beating against the partition, creating a new head that will then expand into a complete body.

However, this entire emergent structure of head and body rises only as high as the headof the previous partzuf since that is where the partition was operating. As a result, the head of the new partzuf is only as high as the bottom of the head of the previous partzuf. Once the original source of the partition of the body is again discernible, from the mouth of the upper partzuf and below, the partition of the body can no longer remain above the mouth of the upper partzuf, unified with the partition of the head, since the difference in form separates spiritual entities from one another.

Instead of remaining on the level of the head of the upper partzuf, it must descend from there to the place that is from the mouth of the upper partzuf and below. Consequently, it is necessarily categorized as a second body in relation to the upper partzuf,58This answers the author of the Sulam’s first question (see section #38#): Why is this structure is viewed as a separate partzuf? This difference in the height of the structure, resulting from the returning light being unable to enclothe the same amount of vessels as it did in the first partzuf, means that the upper partzuf and this partzuf are different and therefore exist as spiritually different entities. as even the head of the new emergent structure is categorized relative to the upper partzuf as merely its body, since it is drawn from the partition of the body of the upper partzuf.

Therefore, this difference in form divides them into two separate bodies. Since this new structure is entirely an offshoot of the partition of the body of the previous upper partzuf, it is categorized as a son in relation to it and like a branch that extends from it.59This point answers the author of the Sulam’s second question (see section #38#) as to why this second partzuf is viewed as the “offspring” of the upper partzuf.

There is another element to the difference between the lower and upper partzufim. It is that each lower partzuf emerges from a different shiur koma, literally, “dimension of height,” in the five levels of the partition, as described in sections #22# and #24# above. Each lower partzuf lacks the highest level of the lights of the previous, upper partzuf and the lowest level of the vessels of that upper one. The reason for this is that it is the nature of the surrounding light to destroy the last level of opacity (ovyut) in the partition when beating upon the partition.

For example, in the first partzuf of Adam Kadmon, whose partition has all five levels of its opacity, that is, up to and including the fourth level, the beating of the surrounding light on the partition of the body purifies the opacity of the fourth level entirely without leaving even a trace of that opacity. Only the traces of the opacity of the third level and upward remain in the partition. Therefore, when that partition is incorporated into the head, where it undergoes the fusion through collision where the supernal light impacts against the opacity that remains in trace amounts from the body, the fusion through collision takes place only through the light beating against the third level of the opacity in the partition, as the traces of opacity of the fourth level are gone and are no longer there.

Therefore, the structure that emerges from this partition is at the shiur koma, at the structural height, of Ḥokhma alone, which is called “Havaya of Ab of Adam Kadmon,” or the “partzuf of Ab of Adam Kadmon.” As explained in section #22# above, the structural height of Ḥokhma that emerges from the partition of the third level lacks the vessel of Malkhut among the vessels and the light of yeḥida from among the lights, which is the light of Keter; see there. Thus, the partzuf of Ab lacks the last level of the vessels of the previous, upper partzuf, and the highest level of the lights of that upper partzuf. Due to this great difference in form, the lower partzuf is regarded as distinct from the upper partzuf.

Likewise, after the partzuf of Ab has expanded into a head and body, and the beating of the surrounding light on the partition of the body of Ab, which is the partition containing opacity (ovyut) up to and including the third level, has been performed, this beating erodes and obliterates from it the traces of opacity of the last level in the partition, which is the third level. Thus, when the partition rises to the mouth of the head and is incorporated into it to engage in a fusion through collision, the collision is performed only against the opacity of the second level, which remains in this partition.

The third level is lost from the partition and is no more, and therefore the partition produces only ten sefirot of the structural height of Bina, which is called “Havaya of Sag of Adam Kadmon,” or the “partzuf of Sag,” and the vessels of Ze’er Anpin, or Tiferet, and Malkhut among the vessels, as well as ḥaya and yeḥida from among the lights, are lacking, as stated above.

Similarly, when this partzuf of Sag expands into a head and body, and the beating of the surrounding light against the partition of its body, which is the partition containing opacity up to and including the second level, has been performed, this beating erodes and obliterates from it the current last level of opacity in the partition, which is the second level. Only traces of opacity of the first level and upward remain in the partition.

Therefore, when the partition rises to the mouth of the head and is incorporated there to engage in the fusion through collision there, the impact is performed only against the opacity of the first level, which remains in this partition. The second level is already gone from the partition, and therefore the partition produces only ten sefirot of the structural height of Tiferet, which is called “the structural height of Ze’er Anpin,” and it lacks the vessels of Bina, Ze’er Anpin, and Malkhut among the vessels and neshama, ḥaya, and yeḥida among the lights, and so on and so forth in this manner are the partzufim formed.

We have thus fully clarified the reason for the diminishment of the structural heights, one below the other, in the course of the development of the partzufim, each lower partzuf forming from the other preceding, upper partzuf. This formation occurs because the beating of the surrounding light on the inner light, which occurs in every partzuf, always obliterates the traces of opacity (ovyut) of the last level that are within the partition.

One should know, however, that there are two aspects to those traces that remain in the partition after its purification of the last level: The first is called “trace of opacity,” and the second is called “trace of enclothing.”60Here the author of the Sulam introduces a new concept: the “trace of enclothing.” Recall that in order for light to reach incrementally lower layers, it must traverse all preceding layers.

In earlier sections, the author described the various partzufim through their differences of structure. For example, the partzuf of gulgalta has the full structural height of Keter, while the Ab partzuf only reaches the height of Ḥokhma. But how does the light transfer from one partzuf to another? In order for light to transfer between these partzufim, the head contains a quality called the trace of enclothing, which serves as a bridge layer between the higher partzuf and the one below it.

The trace of enclothing is referred to as the male aspect of the head of the lower partzuf and is nearly at the height of the partzuf above it. Since the trace of enclothing bridges these two partzufim, allowing the light to travel from the higher partzuf to the lower, it is referred to as a mashpia, or giver.

For example, after the purification of the partition of the body of the first partzuf of Adam Kadmon, we said that the last level of the traces of opacity, which is the trace of opacity from the fourth level, was lost from it, and only the trace of opacity from the third level remains in the partition. However, the trace of the fourth level includes the two aforementioned aspects – enclothing and opacity – and that purification caused the partition to lose only the trace of opacity of the fourth level, whereas the trace of enclothing of the fourth level remains in that partition and has not been lost from it.

The trace of enclothing refers to a very refined aspect of the trace of opacity of the fourth level, which does not contain enough opacity for a fusion through collision with the supernal light. This trace remains from the last level in each partzuf when it was purified. Our statement that the last level is lost from every partzuf when it is purified refers solely to the loss of the trace of opacity.

The remaining trace of enclothing from the last level that is left in each partition caused the emergence of two structures, male and female, in the heads of each of the partzufim, starting from Ab of Adam Kadmon, and likewise in Sag of Adam Kadmon, and similarly in Mah and Ban of Adam Kadmon, and in all the partzufim of Atzilut.

In the Ab partzuf of Adam Kadmon, the result of a partition that has only the trace of opacity of the third level, producing ten sefirot at the structural height of Ḥokhma, the trace of enclothing from the fourth level remained there in the partition. This trace is not fit at all for fusion with the supernal light on account of its purity, as stated above.61The trace of opacity retains trace amounts of the opacity of the will to receive, allowing it to create a fusion through collision on the partition.

By contrast, the trace of enclothing is far less tangible: It is like a memory or imprint of the enclothing of the supernal light that took place. Such a trace lacks sufficient will to receive to participate in a fusion through collision on its own. By becoming incorporated in the trace of opacity, this trace of enclothing is able to participate in such a fusion, and its presence in the fusion through collision yields a partzuf.

This trace is therefore incorporated with the opacity (ovyut) of the third level, becoming one trace. Then the trace of enclothing acquires the force for a fusion with the supernal light, and accordingly a fusion through collision with the supernal light takes place. This collision produces ten sefirot nearly at the structural height of Keter, because the partition contains an aspect of the enclothing of the fourth level.

This incorporation is called the incorporation of the female in the male, for the trace of opacity of the third level is called “female,” since it bears the opacity that remains in that level after the purification of the fourth level, while the trace of enclothing of the fourth level is called “male,” since it comes from a higher structural height and because it is more refined than the opacity.62In kabbalistic thought, the concept of male is associated with the greater refinement and prominence of the realm of ideas, while the concept of female represents the practical reality of the implementation of those ideas.

Since implementation inherently draws from the ideas that precede it, or are “above” it, female as a concept is considered lower than the male. Accordingly, when the female is incorporated in the male, that is termed “higher fusion,” and when the male is incorporated in the female, that is termed “lower fusion.” Thus, the male is often described as the mashpia, meaning the one that directs or influences, and the female is described as the mekabel, the receiver that receives the instructions from “above” and actualizes them in implementation.

It should be noted that these are abstract concepts that should not be confused with today’s modern usage of gender terminologies. Consequently, although the trace of the male alone is insufficient for a fusion through collision, even it becomes fit for fusion through collision by means of the incorporation of the female within it.

Subsequently, there is also an incorporation of the male within the female; that is, the trace of enclothing is incorporated in the trace of opacity. Then a fusion through collision takes place against the partition of the structure of the female alone, which is the structure of only the third level, and that is the structural height of Ḥokhma called “Havaya of Ab,” as stated above.

The higher fusion, where the female is incorporated in the male, is regarded as the structure of the male, which is nearly the structural height of Keter. The lower fusion, in which the male is incorporated in the female, is regarded as the structure of the female, which is the structural height of Ḥokhma alone. However, since the structure of the male does not contain opacity (ovyut) in and of itself but only as a result of its incorporation within the female, and although that is enough for the aforementioned emergence of the ten sefirot from below to above called head, nevertheless this structure cannot expand downward from above to below to form the level of the body, meaning the enclothing of the lights in the vessels.

This is because fusion through collision against the opacity in the partition that results only from the incorporation of the female within the male is insufficient for the expansion of the vessels to form the body of a partzuf since the measure of opacity is insufficient. Therefore, the structure of the male contains only a head without a body, and the body of the partzuf is formed only from the structure of the female, which has its own opacity.

For this reason, we name only the structure of the female by the name of the partzuf, that is, the name of the partzuf called Ab, since the main part of the partzuf is its body, which is the enclothing of the lights in the vessels, and this body emerges only from the structure of the female, as explained. Therefore, the name of the partzuf is attributed to it.

In the same manner that we explained the two structures of male and female in the head of the partzuf called Ab, these two structures emerge also as the head of Sag, in exactly the same way, only in that case the structure of the male is nearly at the level of Ḥokhma. This is because it is formed from the trace of enclothing of the third level, incorporating the opacity (ovyut) of the second level, while the structure of the female is at the structural height of Bina, that is, formed from the opacity of the second level. Here too the name of the partzuf is attributed only to the structure of the female, because the male is a head without a body.

The same applies to the partzuf of Mah of Adam Kadmon. There, the structure of the male is nearly at the structural height of Bina, which is called “the structural height of Yisrael Saba and Tevuna,” since it is formed from the trace of enclothing of the second level of, incorporating the opacity from the first level. The structure of the female constitutes the structural height of Ze’er Anpin, or Tiferet, alone, as it contains only the first level of opacity. Here too the name of the partzuf is attributed only to the female, that is, the Mah partzuf or the partzuf of the six extremities, because the male is a head without a body. In this manner, you can understand the dynamics in all the partzufim.