We’re diving into some seriously heady stuff from the Petichah LeChokhmat HaKabbalah, which is our guide here. We're talking about the formation of Adam Kadmon, the primordial man, but not in the way you might think. Think of it more as a blueprint, a structure of pure potential.
The text describes a "fusion through collision," a recurring process that happens on a series of partitions. Imagine light trying to permeate through different levels of opacity. Each level allows only certain aspects to pass through.
First, this fusion happens on a partition within Malkhut, the final vessel in the sefirot, which, for our purposes, are divine attributes or emanations. This partition only allows the first two levels of light to penetrate. What emerges from this? The ten sefirot of Bina's structural height, encompassing both the "head" and "body" of Bina. This structure is called the "Sag (ס״ג) partzuf of Adam Kadmon."
Now, what’s missing here is key. The Sag partzuf lacks the vessels of Ze’er Anpin (also called Tiferet), and Malkhut itself. It also lacks the lights of ḥaya and yeḥida. These are higher levels of soul and divine connection. It's like a building that has the foundation and walls, but is missing some crucial upper floors and the light that shines within them.
Then, the fusion through collision happens again, this time on a partition with even greater opacity – one that only lets the very first level of light through. From this emerges the ten sefirot of the structural height of Tiferet, again with its own "head" and "body."
This partzuf is missing even more! It lacks the vessels of Bina, Ze’er Anpin, and Malkhut. And it’s missing the lights of neshama, ḥaya, and yeḥida. All that remains are the lights of ruaḥ and nefesh, which are then "enclothed" in the vessels of Keter and Ḥokhma – the highest two sefirot.
This resulting structure is called the "Mah (מ״ה) and Ban (ב״ן) partzuf of Adam Kadmon." Now, usually, Mah and Ban are considered separate partzufim, but our text emphasizes that at this early stage, before a further constriction occurs, the Mah partzuf isn't really distinguishable as separate yet.
Remember that "inverse relationship between the vessels and the lights" we talked about earlier? It means that a deficiency in vessels corresponds to a deficiency in higher lights. So, the more vessels are missing, the more limited the light that can be contained and expressed.
What does it all mean? It's a glimpse into how Kabbalists understand creation as a process of progressive refinement and limitation. The divine light progressively reveals itself through a series of "filters," creating different levels of reality, each with its own unique characteristics and limitations. It’s a complex dance of revealing and concealing, building towards… well, everything we experience.