The great Kabbalist Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag, known as Baal HaSulam (Master of the Ladder), offered a remarkable preface to the Zohar, aiming to make its wisdom more accessible. And within that preface, he tackles a critical question: what exactly is the Zohar talking about?
It's easy to assume the Zohar is focused on the world of Atzilut (Emanation) itself. But, as Baal HaSulam points out, that’s not quite right. He compares Atzilut to the white space in a book. Interesting, right? The white space is essential, but it's not where the story lives.
Instead, he says, the Zohar addresses Atzilut in terms of how its light illuminates the three lower worlds: Beria (Creation), Yetzira (Formation), and Asiya (Action). These three worlds? They're the ink, the letters, and the combinations that form words – the actual content of the book. So, the Zohar isn't about the pure, undifferentiated light of Atzilut, but its manifestation in these lower realms.
Now, how exactly do these lower worlds receive that light? According to Baal HaSulam, there are two ways.
First, Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya can receive the illumination of Atzilut while remaining in their own places. But, think of it like light passing through a filter. As the light travels through the parsa, a kind of diaphragm or veil below Atzilut, it's significantly diminished. In this case, they only receive illumination that comes from the vessels of Atzilut, not the full force of the light itself.
Alternatively, and this is a bit more complex, the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya can ascend above that diaphragm. They rise to the level of the sefirot – the divine attributes or emanations – of Bina (Understanding), Tiferet (Beauty), and Malkhut (Kingdom) within Atzilut. In this scenario, Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya actually enclothe or surround the world of Atzilut!
When this happens, the lower worlds receive the light in the place of its illumination, as explained in Petiḥa LeḤokhmat HaKabbala (Introduction to the Wisdom of Kabbalah). This second method is related to a concept called the "second restriction" or "second contraction" (Tzimtzum Bet). This fascinating idea, touched upon in many Kabbalistic texts, describes how vessels from different levels can descend to lower levels and then, crucially, pull lower-level vessels back up to higher levels with them. It's a dynamic process of ascent and descent, of influence and return. Through this process, the lower worlds can receive the illumination of Atzilut directly, without the light being filtered through the diaphragm.
So, what does all of this mean? It suggests that understanding the Zohar isn't about grasping some abstract, distant realm. It's about understanding how the highest levels of divine light interact with and influence our own reality. It's about the dynamic interplay between the infinite and the finite, the hidden and the revealed. And perhaps, most importantly, it suggests that even the lowest of us can, in a sense, ascend and connect with the highest of heights.