Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Inner Observation
Table of Questions for the Meaning of the Words
Table of Questions for Topics
Table of Answers for the Meaning of the Words
Table of Answers for Topics
*(The suffix ot is female plural form and the suffix im is male plural form)
1. It has already been explained that in the four phases of direct light there is no difference between each world or between each Partzuf from the Rosh of the line to the end of Assiya. It is so because there is not a single degree that does not have the four phases of direct light, which are: Hochma, Bina, Tifferet and Malchut. The only difference between the degrees is the level of the reflected light (Inner Light, Part 3, Chap 3, item 5).
That level depends on the coarseness of the screen in Malchut of the degree: the screen of phase four raises reflected light and clothes up to Keter; phase three raises up to Hochma, lacking Keter. Consequently, Keter of direct light must clothe the internality of Hochma and is not apparent there.
The screen of phase two raises reflected light only as high as Bina, lacking the level of Hochma, too. Hence, Keter and Hochma of direct light clothe the internality of Bina here. The screen of phase one raises reflected light only as high as the level of Tifferet, called ZA. It lacks the level of Bina, too, and therefore GAR KHB are clothed in him in the internality of Tifferet, and are therefore not apparent (see Inner Observation, Part 2, item 72 to understand the reasons for these things).
Now you can see that the five worlds, called Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya, which contain the entire reality from the restriction downward, are also regarded as ten Sefirot that contain the entire reality, and are measured by the values of the levels in the five phases of the screen.
It is so because phase four, over which there was the first restriction and the first coupling by striking, these first ten Sefirot are called ten Sefirot or four phases of Adam Kadmon. Their level is up to Keter of direct light, and that is why Adam Kadmon is called the world of Keter.
After the four phases of AK had been completed, the screen of phase four was refined to phase three and the light of Ein Sof, which never stops, returned and expanded in four phases of direct light over this screen of phase three in coupling by striking. However, here their level reaches only Hochma, and they are called ten Sefirot or four phases of the world of Atzilut.
Once the world of Atzilut had been completed, the screen was refined once more to phase two, and ten Sefirot on the level of Bina emerged, called the world of Beria. Afterwards it was refined into phase one and ten Sefirot in the level of Tifferet emerged, called ten Sefirot or four phases of the world of Yetzira.
After that, when it was refined entirely and no coarseness was left in the screen, but only a root to the coarseness, there was no striking in it at all. All it had were ten Sefirot on the level of Malchut, called ten Sefirot or four phases of the world of Assiya. The reason for this refinement was explained in Inner Observation, Part 2, item 72.
Now the ten Sefirot that contain the entire reality have been thoroughly explained: the world of AK is the general Keter, the world of Atzilut is the general Hochma, the world of Beria is the general Bina, the world of Yetzira is the general ZA, which in turn consists of six Sefirot HGT NHY, and the world of Assiya is the general Malchut.
However, in each and every world of these five worlds there are also ten particular Sefirot. In each world there are levels one below the other, even in the world of Adam Kadmon. However, as in the particular levels of the ten Sefirot, we consider the level of the light according to the highest Sefira. If the highest Sefira is Keter, all the Sefirot have light of Keter; if the highest Sefira is Hochma, all the Sefirot contain Hochma.
Similarly, we consider the level of the light in each world according to the first Partzuf in it. In AK it is the level of Keter; in Atzilut, the level of Hochma and in Beria, the level of Bina, etc.
2. We must speak at great length in order to explain these matters well. It will be explained here in Inner Observation, but I will explain it somewhat here, enough to arrange the issues so that we do not muddle with the multitude of similar names, the general, the particular, and the particular of the particular, brought before us.
We shall first examine the Sefira of Keter: We find five phases of Keter here in the words of the ARI. Each of them is given a special name: 1. Keter of the four phases of direct light. 2. Keter that contains four potential phases. 3. Keter that contains the four actual phases. 4. Keter that contains an entire world, called AK. 5. Keter of each particular degree in all the worlds, that take from the world of AK.
You should know that all the above phases of Keter are always presented by the single name Keter, without interpretation. However, they are immeasurably far from one another and it is impossible to tell them apart, except by the relevant issue. For that reason we must first know the exact discernment for each of them accurately.
Keter of direct light was called expansion of Ein Sof as vessels and as coupling by striking (Part 3, Chap 1, item 1) by the ARI. Thus, Ein Sof is the root to the four phases of direct light, called Keter of direct light.
Know that this is Ein Sof before the restriction, for there is no new light in the worlds that is not extended from the light of Ein Sof before the restriction. You already know that these four phases of direct light are equal without any difference from the beginning of the line to the end of Assiya, and so is their Keter.
Indeed, Keter, called Atik, contains four potential phases, as the ARI says (Part 3, Chap 6, item 4). Also, Keter, called AA, contains roots for the actual four phases, meaning it is the complete root for the emanated beings, as the ARI says above (Part 3, Chap 6, item 6).
These are completely separate matters from Keter of direct light, because they are regarded as the Rosh of the world, or of a Partzuf, containing ten Sefirot of direct light and ten Sefirot of reflected light, as has been explained above in Inner Light. These ten Sefirot are called Rosh or Keter wherever reflected light rises from below upward.
However, the ARI distinguishes between two phases of Keter in this Rosh: He calls the first Atik or “I am the last,” containing the four potential phases, and the second AA or “I am the first,” (see Part 3, Inner Light, Chap 7, item 90), containing the four actual phases. The difference between these two Ketarim has already been explained above, and here in Inner Observation they will be explained elaborately.
The Keter that contains all the worlds is called Adam Kadmon. It is a different and separate matter from all the other three phases of Ketarim because the Keter of direct light is regarded as Ein Sof before the restriction.
The two Ketarim called Atik and AA are discerned according to their refinement, since the screen operates in them from below upward, and this reflected light cannot raise the coarseness in the screen with it. There is no consideration of the level of these ten Sefirot here, because these two Ketarim, Atik and AA, are discerned even in Yetzira and Assiya, as the ARI says (Part 3, Chap 6, item 7, and Chap 7, item 5).
However, the world of Adam Kadmon, called Keter, is only because of the level that is dependent on and measured by the coarseness of the screen. Reflected light rises and clothes up to Keter of direct light from the screen of phase four, but the reflected light of the screen of phase three is too short to clothe the Keter, and it reaches only up to Hochma (see Inner Observation Part 2, item 65).
Because the screen of phase four operates only in the first world, called AK, the level of ten Sefirot that reaches Keter is found only in that world, but nowhere else. Consequently, all the degrees in that world are regarded as Keter, even the degrees of the Guf and the degrees below the Tabur down to the Sium; they are all regarded as Keter.
However, we should still know that the above three kinds of Ketarim are found in AK itself as well, even though it is Keter from its Rosh to its Sof, for the Keter of direct light in it is necessarily the phase of Ein Sof from before the restriction.
There are also two phases of Keter, called Rosh, whose reflected light is from below upward. There are always two Ketarim in this Rosh: Atik and AA. However, they are called “the inner Keter of AK itself,” for it has Rosh and Guf too, and the Rosh is its particular Keter. The Rosh itself has a Keter of direct light, which is the instilling of the light of Ein Sof from before the restriction, namely the particular Keter of Rosh itself.
The ARI wrote, “The Keter in it is the four roots of the four phases of the ten Sefirot in it, being: souls, bodies, garments and halls. This is in particular.” It means that here he speaks from the perspective of the Rosh, called Keter, because the screen operates in it from below upward, at which time the reflected light does not clothe any coarseness.
Because of that it is only regarded as the roots of the vessels, meaning four roots to four phases of the vessels HB TM that will later appear in the body of AK. They are called soul, body, garment, hall, and because they are merely roots, they are named Keter, for any root is called Keter.
However, the four phases that are subsequently extended from above downward are actually complete vessels, and are called Guf of Adam Kadmon (see Inner Observation Part 2, item 22). For that reason the ARI names this Rosh of AK “Keter in particular,” meaning a particular Keter, which is four roots to the four phases from above downward in it.
That is why the ARI wrote, “the collective of the souls in AK shall be called the root of the souls.” The collective of the phases of the souls of AK shall be called the root of the souls, and the collective phases of the garments of AK shall be called the root of the garments. The collective of the phases of the halls of AK shall be called root of the halls.
He speaks here from the perspective of the Keter, from which all the phases in AK, its Rosh to its Sium are called Keter. Hence, the four phases below the Rosh in it are also called Keter, meaning complete vessels, where reflected light descends from the screen downward.
They are not regarded as Keter with respect to the inner AK itself because only the Rosh in it is called Keter; they are only regarded as soul, body, garment, hall, namely the four Sefirot HB TM. However, relating to the differentiation of the degrees, they are also regarded as Ketarim to all the worlds.
The level of Keter is found only in the world of AK. For that reason the ARI says that its Hochma is called soul. Even though it is below the Rosh of AK, it is still regarded as Keter to all the Hochmot in the worlds. The Bina in it, called body, is the Keter to all the Binot in all the worlds, and the ZA in it, called garment, is Keter to all the ZA in the worlds. Malchut in it, called hall, is the Keter to all the Malchuyot in all the worlds. It is so because they all have one reason: the screen of phase four operates only in them and not in any other world.
3. Here too the ARI speaks only from the perspective of the degree, as we have explained regarding the four phases HB TM of AK. It has already been explained above (Inner Light, Chap 3, item 2) that the four phases of Atzilut come from the reflected light that rises from the screen of phase three. For that reason their degree of ten Sefirot of Atzilut begins only from Hochma, called Neshama.
Hence, all the phases in them are regarded as Hochma and Neshama from Rosh to Sium in the world of Atzilut as well. That is why the ARI writes that all the phases of the souls of Atzilut, meaning Hochma, are phases of souls of souls to all the worlds, meaning the phases of Hochma with respect to the Sefirot of Hochma in all the worlds.
Also, the bodies of Atzilut shall be called souls of the bodies of all the worlds. It is the same with the garments of Atzilut and the halls of Atzilut, as they all emerged by the clothing in reflected light of phase three, clothing up to the level of Hochma.
4. This is also because of the degree, as the entire ten Sefirot of Beria have no more than the degree of Bina, meaning from reflected light of the screen of phase two (Inner Light, Chap 3, item 4). Thus, all the degrees in it are regarded as phases that are called bodies. Even Malchut of Beria is the phase of Bina to the Malchuyot in all the worlds for the above reason.
Similarly, you can see that all the phases of the world of Yetzira are regarded as garments, meaning ZA in all the worlds. It is so because they come from reflected light of phase one, whose degree is up to ZA, called garment. Similarly, all the phases of the world of Assiya are halls, meaning only Malchut without a degree. You will understand the words of the ARI by the same manner and we need not elaborate further here (we shall elaborate in Inner Observation here).