We're talking about the divine emanation, the flow of God's energy into creation. And that light, according to texts like Petichah LeChokhmat HaKabbalah (An Introduction to the Wisdom of Kabbalah), needs vessels to contain it. Think of it like water needing a cup.
But these vessels aren't all the same. They have varying degrees of "opacity," or resistance to the light. These levels of opacity determine how much light a vessel can actually hold.
Imagine a partition, a kind of filter, between the divine light and our world. If this partition only has three levels of opacity – meaning it only goes down to the second level – then it can only contain three vessels. And if it only contains three vessels, then it can only "enclothe" three lights: Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut. These are Sefirot, emanations of God, each representing a different aspect of the divine. Without the full range of vessels, the higher lights of Keter and Ḥokhma are absent. It’s a hierarchy; each builds on the other.
The absence of these two lights is directly connected to the absence of two vessels: the third and fourth levels. It's a complete system; the light cannot manifest fully without the corresponding vessel to contain it. It's all interconnected.
What happens if that partition is even thinner, even more restrictive? Let’s say it only has two levels of opacity, reaching only to the first level. Now we only have two vessels. And with only two vessels, we can only enclothe two lights: Tiferet and Malkhut.
That means the lights of Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina are missing, along with their corresponding vessels—the second, third, and fourth levels. The flow of divine energy is even more limited, more constricted.
So what does this all mean? It tells us that the structure of creation, the very fabric of reality as understood in Kabbalah, depends on the interplay between light and vessel. The more complete the vessels, the more complete the manifestation of divine light. The limitations of the vessels directly impact the flow and expression of the divine.
Perhaps it’s a metaphor for our own lives. Are we creating vessels within ourselves that can hold more light? Are we removing the "opacity" that blocks the divine flow? It’s a question worth pondering as we delve deeper into the mysteries of Kabbalah.