138 Openings of Wisdom

Opening 35

Absorbed within the lights that break forth from the branches of Adam Kadmon is the root of the Vessel.

It is in Adam Kadmon that the connection of the Line with the Residue which it took as its vessel was brought about. Thus the light emerging by way of the senses is light that is already joined with the vessel, which is why it afterwards brings forth the vessel through the lights of the mouth. This alone is the light suitable for the construction of all the structures built out of it, and what was necessary to build all the intended structures went forth and unfolded gradually in stages necessary to serve the intended purpose of these structures.

Having discussed the light emerging from the apertures of the face and the locations from which the radiations go forth, we must now explain what has to be understood about the nature of the emerging light itself.

The proposition consists of two parts. Part 1: It is in Adam Kadmon that the connection... Mixed in with the light emerging from Adam Kadmon is the Vessel. Part 2: This alone... This explains why this must be so.

Part 1: It is in Adam Kadmon that the connection of the Line with the Residue... was brought about. All of the different aspects of Adam Kadmon itself are the aspects that are necessary in order to join the Line and the Residue together, because these are the two foundations of the government of the world, as discussed earlier. The entire purpose is to bring about the return of evil to good. Evil is rooted in the governmental order that came about after the concealment (i.e. in the Residue) and the various laws which constitute this order. The Line has to assert itself against each of these laws and take control in order to bring it back to good.

Here in truth is the underlying secret of the soul and the body. All the different aspects of evil are rooted in the body, while the soul is placed in the body with the intention that it should gain control over each one of these different aspects and bring them back to good. This is accomplished through the unique power of the commandments (mitzvot), which the Supreme Will prepared for this very purpose. With careful consideration you will find that according to this, everything in creation exists only to come to the soul and the body, for it is here precisely that evil is turned back to good in actuality. Physical man is at the end of all existence -- the end point and goal for which everything was brought into being in order to turn evil back to good -- while Adam Kadmon is the head and start of all existence and thus the beginning of this goal. All the different measures and aspects required to serve as the root of this goal were instituted in Adam Kadmon so that in the end they should function in actuality. All the lights emerging from Adam Kadmon always proceed in stages, one after the other, in accordance with the underlying secret of the soul and the body (i.e. as their roots) until the actual body and soul of man emerge below in their place, as will be discussed further in Part 2.

...which it took as its vessel... In other words, this is the connection that was brought about: the law was instituted that there should be an interior (Hebrew: pnimiyut) consisting of lights and an exterior (Hebrew: chitzoniut) consisting of vessels, and that each light should radiate in its vessel and purify it.

Thus the light emerging by way of the senses is light that is already joined with the vessel... Do not think that this emerging light is simple light, for it comes from a connection that has already been made, after which no further developments emerge without the two -- the light and the vessel -- being connected. Accordingly, even though it appears at first as if this light emerging from Adam Kadmon's sense organs contains no vessel, the truth is that something of the category of the vessel is certainly absorbed within it. However, because the light is so overpowering, these "vessels" cannot be discerned at all.

...which is why it afterwards brings forth the vessel through the lights of the mouth. This is the proof that aspects of the vessel are absorbed in the emerging light, for in the end we find that the vessel comes out of these emerging lights themselves. If the light were simple, it would have been impossible for the vessel to come from there. For, as you have already heard, the vessel and the light are two completely different categories, and it is impossible for one kind to emerge from a completely different kind. For a cause cannot produce an effect with which it has no integral connection. It must certainly be that aspects of the vessel exist absorbed in the lights, except that this is not discernible in the higher levels up above. But the further it descends, the more it becomes successively revealed, until it is revealed completely.

And know that this is the secret of the letters mentioned in the Kabbalistic writings in connection with the lights of the Ears, Nose and Mouth, for every place where there are letters, they indicate the presence of some aspect of the vessel. It is just that that in the lights of the Ear, the roots of the vessel are hardly discernible except a little, in the form of one letter (a Heh). In the Nose it is more revealed (as the letter Vav of the Heh, consisting of six Alephs), and in the Mouth even more so (in the form of another four Alephs). Finally, in the action brought about in the lights of the mouth (their emergence and return) it is revealed completely.

Part 2: This alone is the light suitable for the construction of all the structures built out of it... The reason why it is logical that the emerging light should contain within it the category of the vessel is because the structures built out of it need to follow the dichotomy of the soul and the body, and if so, the light must necessarily derive from this category.

...and what was necessary to build all the intended structures went forth... This resolves what appears to be a major problem, which is that things do not proceed in a perfect order. In a perfect order, all the Names ought to bring forth their lights equally. Yet we see that while all the branches of AV went forth (except that they are concealed), out of SaG only three aspects of AV of SaG emerged and only the beginning of SaG of SaG, while afterwards MaH came forth in its entirety and so too BaN came forth in its entirety.

The answer to this is that ...this alone is the light, etc. What this means is that each function depends on a particular combination of lights designed to produce precisely that function with its unique characteristics. This is connected with our discussion below of the purification of BaN. We cannot ask, "Why these combinations rather than any others?" For the Supreme Will knew that in order to bring forth existence in the necessary way, it was precisely these combinations of those roots that were required, no less and no more.

On the contrary, when it comes to combinations, things do not proceed in order. Rather, it is necessary to add more of one kind and less of another in order to produce exactly the desired combination with its unique properties. The intention here was to bring forth Atzilut in accordance with the underlying secret of the Likeness of Man. What was required in order to accomplish this were three aspects of AV (i.e. of AV of SaG), one aspect of SaG (i.e. one aspect of SaG of SaG, namely BaN of SaG of SaG), MaH in its entirety and BaN in its entirety. From between all of these together, the Likeness of Man emerges with its unique character. This would not have been the case had it emerged in accordance with the character of the lights that brought it forth, as they would have had to maintain the order between them. But since it goes acto the resultant compound and its unique intended character -- i.e. not according to the intrinsic nature of the light itself but rather according to the needs of the intended structure that was to be built out of it -- only what was required according to the nature of the desired structure went forth.

...and unfolded gradually in stages as necessary to serve the intended purpose of these structures. What this means is that since this light emerged in order to build these structures, it had to be sufficient for everything required for this. Accordingly it went from passage to passage, emerging in different ways as required in order to prepare the structures that were to be built in accordance with their intended purpose. The ultimate goal was to produce physical man here below, for this entire existence is for him.

What you must understand is how this gradual process develops and advances stage by stage in accordance with the dichotomy of body and soul, for it is quite evident that the body, being thick and coarse, can only be produced through concealment and a lack of light. Thus, as long as the lights shone with great power, the root of the body was not discernible among them. This is why in AV, where the lights are very dominant, there is no mention of any letter, for no root of the vessel can be seen or discerned there. It is in the Ear that it starts becoming revealed, but only a little. It is more revealed in the Nose and even more so in the Mouth, until it is completely revealed.

You will also see that the powers of the soul (neshamah) consist of the Nefesh, Ru'ach, Neshamah and Neshamah-of-the-Neshamah. Now AV is the Neshamah-of-the-Neshamah and the ultimate illumination, and accordingly, the root of the body is not revealed at all on that level. In the Ear, the Neshamah-of-the-Neshamah is concealed, and the body begins to be revealed. In the Nose, the Neshamah too is concealed, while the body is even more revealed. In the Mouth, the Ru'ach is also concealed, while the body is completely revealed. This is bound up with the teaching that the lights of the Mouth emerged only on the level of the Nefesh, as discussed in detail elsewhere (see Ginzey Ramchal p. 300).