Three Lights

137) There are no impressions to grip in Ein‎ ‎Sof, nor any question or a notion for teaching the thought. A fine, unattainable light illuminated from the beginning of the descent of Ein‎ ‎Sof ‎to be revealed, from the most hidden of all that is hidden. It is concealed in an impression as fine as an eye of a needle. That is, a very narrow opening has been opened, insufficient for gripping. It concerns a hidden thought, GAR of Partzuf ‎Bina, called “actual thought.” It is so because in Ein‎ ‎Sof, who is AA, there is no impression to grip, and from the beginning of the decline of Ein‎ ‎Sof ‎to come to be revealed, which is in GAR of Partzuf ‎Bina, called AVI of Atzilut, it was imprinted there in a fine impression, though still insufficient for a grip.

It was not attainable until an illumination expanded from it to a place in which there are records of letters, meaning Partzuf ‎ZAT of Bina, called YESHSUT of Atzilut. It is so because ZON of Atzilut ‎are letters, and ZAT of Bina are not the actual Bina but an incorporation ‎from ZON. This is why they are regarded as records ‎of letters, ZON. And because they are near ZON, attainment and disclosure begin with them. They all came out from there; all the Mochin of Gadlut of ZON and BYA come out of ZAT of Partzuf ‎Bina, YESHSUT.

138) First, everything was inscribed in the letter Aleph, the beginning and the end of all the degrees. It is a record with which all the degrees are imprinted. It is only called “one,” meaning that the Aleph has the number “one,” indicating that although there are many forms in it, for it includes all the degrees, it is still only one. That is, all the degrees became one in it.

Of course, the Aleph is a letter on which the upper ones and lower ones depend. It is because the shape of the Aleph [א] indicates the second restriction, the ascent of Malchut ‎to Bina. The new Sium is the middle line of the Aleph, the upper Yod is KH that remained in the degree, and the bottom Yod is Bina and TM that departed from the degree and fell to the degree below it. It also indicates the Gadlut ‎that rose and reunited into a single degree with the upper Yod through the middle line in the Aleph, and then all the Mochin ‎of the Partzufim ABYA appeared from her.

There is no existence of Mochin of direct light from the first restriction even to the upper ZON, much less to the NRN of the righteous. This is why The ‎Zohar refers to the first restriction as “hidden in an imprint as fine as an eye of a needle.” The imprint is hidden like an opening made by the tip of a needle, where the shape of the opening is undetectable, and the opening is unfit for disclosure of Mochin. That record of the first restriction is Malchut ‎of upper AVI, GAR of Bina. The records ‎of the shape of the Aleph, which is the second restriction, begin to appear only in Partzuf ‎ZAT of Bina, YESHSUT.

It follows that the shape of the Aleph includes all the degrees of Atzilut because the shape of the upper Yod that precedes the line in the diagonal indicates upper AVI of Atzilut. The tip of the upper Yod is AA of Atzilut, in whom the first restriction still illuminates and is considered upper water before the diagonal of Aleph, which is the firmament, appears, the new Sium of ‎the second restriction.

The diagonal itself is the firmament that ends AVI and AA. It is Partzuf ‎ZAT of Bina, YESHSUT. The bottom Yod is ZON that are attached to Bina and TM that fell from YESHSUT, both in Katnut ‎and in Gadlut.

For this reason, the descent of Ein‎ ‎Sof ‎begins to appear from the most hidden of all that is hidden, and it is hidden in an imprint as fine as a needle’s eye. In the beginning of the disclosure of the illumination of Ein‎ ‎Sof, it illuminated in fineness like a needle’s eye, which is the first restriction, and ZON and BYA could not receive anything through that opening. It extended through Malchut of upper AVI at Chazeh of AA until illumination expanded from it to a place in which there are records ‎of letters, through ZAT of Bina, called YESHSUT, which stand below Chazeh of AA, in whom there are records ‎of letters, ZON.

The shape of the record of letters that emerged in the beginning of everything was the shape of the Aleph, meaning the second restriction, in which there is the beginning and end of all the degrees. The Rosh is the upper Yod of the Aleph, implying AA and upper AVI, who are the head of all the degrees. The end is the bottom Yod of Aleph, which implies ZON, which are the end of all the degrees.

The letter Aleph is a record with which all the degrees were inscribed, meaning the diagonal, which is the dividing firmament, the Sium of the second restriction itself, YESHSUT, in whose inscription of the dividing firmament all the degrees of ZON and BYA were inscribed. He is called only “one” because that firmament, YESHSUT, makes all the Partzufim of Atzilut ‎into one, since in Gadlut, he expands through the Sium of Atzilut by which he ascends with ZON to Rosh of AA where all the Partzufim become one.

139) The Rosh of Aleph, the upper Yod in it, is the concealment of the upper thought, implying the ascent of Malchut ‎to the place of Bina of AVI, called “upper thought,” which lowered Bina and TM of AVI below to YESHSUT, with only the two vessels of ‎KH remaining in AVI. Thus, the upper Yod of Aleph indicates AVI when there are only KH in them during the concealment of the upper thought.

That expansion of the upper firmament, the expansion of the time of Gadlut—when the upper firmament expands to the place of Malchut, elevating Bina and TM once again—is still entirely hidden in that Rosh of the Aleph, in her upper Yod, so that when the shape of Aleph comes out of that firmament, Mochin of Gadlut, it will come out in the shape of the Rosh of the thought.

The upper Yod of Aleph implies AA and AVI. That Yod implies Katnut, which was done in AA and AVI due to the ascent of Malchut, when only KH remained in their degree, and Bina and TM of AA descended to AVI, and Bina and TM of AVI descended to YESHSUT. The reason why AA and AVI received into them the second restriction and the Katnut that extends from it is so that later there would be expansion of the firmament during the Gadlut ‎in the shape of the Aleph, the lights would emerge in the shape of the Rosh of the thought, and the lights of AA, the Rosh of AVI, which are the thought, would appear.

Bina and TM of AA that fell because of the second restriction and clung to AVI cause the disclosure of his Mochin, for during Gadlut, when the firmament expands downward and he elevates his Bina and TM back to his Rosh, AVI—that are attached to them—rise along with them to Rosh AA. Also, Bina and TM of AVI raise the YESHSUT with them to Rosh AA, and Bina and TM of YESHSUT ‎raise the ZON with them to Rosh of AA.

Thus, all come out in the shape of the Rosh of the thought, who is AA, and all illuminate in illumination of Hochma ‎through him. But if AA and AVI did not receive the diminution of the second restriction into them, and did not lower their Bina and TM to YESHSUT, it would be impossible for Mochin of AA to be revealed to the worlds.

Six degrees HGT NHY are included in the middle line in Aleph. These are the VAK of Partzuf ‎Bina, YESHSUT. That firmament inside the Aleph is the meaning of all the upper, hidden animals inside the thought, who is Bina.

After The ‎Zohar explained the upper Yod of Aleph, which is upper AVI and the line in the middle of it, YESHSUT, it now explains the bottom Yod of Aleph. It says that it is the animals, ZON, that are hanging in the firmament like the bottom Yod that hangs in the diagonal of Aleph. However, it says that only the upper, hidden animals, who are HGT from Chazeh of ZON and above, are hanging in the thought, in the line, which is VAK of the thought, excluding the lower, revealed animals—NHYM, from Chazeh of ZON and below—who are not hanging in the thought, which is the firmament inside the Aleph.

It is so because the posterior ‎of the upper one are clothed only in the anterior vessels of the lower one through the Chazeh, and not at all in the posterior vessels ‎of the lower one, from Chazeh ‎and below. Therefore, the upper animals, the anterior vessels of ZON, are attached and hang in Bina and TM of the firmament, VAK of the thought, but the revealed animals from Chazeh ‎and below never became attached to them. This explains how the shape of the Aleph contains all the degrees, where the upper Yod is AVI and AA, the firmament in the middle is YESHSUT, to which the bottom Yod, ZON, is attached and hanging.

140) One light, which illuminated and was concealed, is the light of the letter Bet of Beresheet [in the beginning]. “In the heat of the day,” Abraham was sitting by the tent door, which is an opening from below upward, and the heat of the day was illuminating on that opening and illuminating there.

Once The ‎Zohar explained the head, middle, and end of the shape of the letter Aleph, that the end of the letter Aleph, the bottom Yod that is hanging on it, is the upper hidden animals, HGT from Chazeh of ZON and above, it returns to explaining those three hidden animals. It calls them three lights: The first light is Hesed, right line, the quality of Abraham. The second light is Gevura, left line, the quality of Isaac. The third light is Tifferet, middle line, the quality of Jacob.

Those three lines of ZA extend to him from the three dots—Holam, Shuruk, Hirik—in the order of the elicitation of Mochin ‎in YESHSUT, since Mochin ‎come out in Bina only in the order of those three dots. First, upon the elicitation of Bina, YESHSUT, from Rosh of AA, by the ascent of Malchut ‎to her place, the Bina was established at a dot in her hall in Mochin of Hassadim ‎without GAR. It is so because the dot, Malchut, rose to the hall of AA, Bina, and Bina and TM of the hall descended because of her to ZON below it, leaving only the lights NR in vessels of KH in the hall. This is why that light is called a “dot in her hall.”

This is the dot inside the Bet of Beresheet [בּ], where the Bet is the Bina, called “hall,” and the dot inside of it is the Malchut ‎that rose to her. That dot is the dot of Holam above the letters.

Therefore, one light that illuminated and was concealed is the light of the letter Bet of Beresheet, the first light, the light that illuminated and was then concealed. Bina of AA was first in GAR of Rosh AA, then the dot, Malchut, rose to her. By that, Bina came out of GAR of Rosh AA, the light of GAR from Bina was concealed, and she remained in VAK without GAR. Thus, in the beginning, the light of Bina illuminated in completeness and then was concealed. This is the light implied in the letter Bet of Beresheet, a dot in her hall.

That dot, which rose to the hall, by which the hall diminished into VAK, is regarded as warmth and judgment‎s. The text implies in regard to her, “In the heat of the day.” “The heat of the day,” when Abraham was sitting by the tent door, that dot is called “the heat of the day,” and is also called “the tent door.” It is written about it that Abraham was sitting by the tent door, which is an opening from below upward, in the heat of the day.

The dot, Malchut, who rose to the hall Bina, is an opening from below upward. Through her, the lower ones, which are ZON below, rise to Bina above when the dot returns to her place, while Bina and TM that fell to the place of ZON return to Bina. At that time, the ZON that are attached to them rise with them to Bina, too.

Thus, that dot is an opening above, through which those below rise up. The heat of the day illuminates that opening and illuminates there. The heat of the day—the judgment‎s and screen ‎that was established in the dot, to repel the upper light from her—illuminates in that opening, at the dot, from below upward. From there she also illuminates downward in a coupling by striking ‎with the upper light, which raises ‎ reflected light and ‎draws direct light. This is the dot of Holam and is regarded as light of Hesed, right line, the quality of Abraham. From here comes the face of the lion in the upper, hidden animals from Chazeh ‎and above, as it is written, “And the face of a lion on the right.”

141) The second light is a light that gradually darkens before evening. It is the prayer of Isaac. To correct that degree, as it is written, “And Isaac went out to walk in the field at dusk,” there were looking of evening and all kinds of darkness in him regarding the afternoon prayer. At that dusk, Jacob looked at Esau’s appointee, of whom it is written, “And a man struggled with him.”

The second light, the left line of ZA above his Chazeh, extends from the dot of Shuruk ‎in Bina, for when the dot descended from the hall, the place of Bina, she returned to her place, Malchut’s place, and the three vessels of Bina and TM that fell from the hall of Bina to ZON returned to her. Then Bina was completed with ten Sefirot ‎and returned to her place to Rosh of AA. Then light of Hochma of AA reached Bina once more, as before she was diminished, and ZAT of Bina are discerned, having been darkened by the ascent to Rosh of AA because the ZAT cannot receive the light of Hochma ‎without clothing of light of Hassadim. And since the Rosh of AA is entirely light of Hochma, only GAR of Bina could receive that light, but ZAT of Bina remained in the dark, without light of Hassadim ‎and without light of Hochma. This is the meaning of the dot of Shuruk.

The second light, the left line, is a light that grows darker at dusk because by Bina’s return to Rosh of AA, ZAT of Bina gradually darken, as it is written, “At dusk.” Isaac’s prayer is to correct that degree because in his prayer, implied in the verse “And Isaac went out to walk in the field at dusk,” he corrected and extended that degree of the dot of Shuruk, receiving from there the left line of ZA, which complements only GAR, and leaving ZAT in the dark.

This is why there was “Looking of evening and all kinds of darkness in him,” since through the afternoon prayer, he extended the left line from the dot of Shuruk, which includes every kind of darkness in the world, and corrected them properly. For this reason, that second light is regarded as the darkness of Isaac, the light of Gevura of ZA, and from here comes the face of an ox in the high and hidden animals, on which it is written, “And the face of an ox on the left.”

142) The third light is a light that contains those two lights, the right line and the left line, a light that illuminates for healing. That light is the middle line, which extends from the dot of Hirik in Bina, meaning the new level of Hassadim ‎that Bina received through her clothing in screen of ZON that rose to her. That light adds to the Hassadim ‎on the right line and becomes a clothing of Hassadim ‎for the light of Hochma. At that time, the two lines are included in one another where the right line is included with the light of Hochma and has Hochma ‎and Hassadim, and the left line is included with Hassadim ‎and has Hochma ‎and Hassadim. This is why it is said about it, “A light that contains those two lights,” for that light includes the two lines because it complements between them.

For this reason, it, itself, is rewarded with receiving both their illuminations, for to the extent that the lower one complements the upper one, the lower one is rewarded with them, as well, as it is the cause. This is a light that illuminates for healing because through its level of Hassadim, the left line is healed, receiving by the force of illumination of Hassadim ‎on the right line.

It is written of Jacob in regard to that third light, “And the sun rose for him.” Once Jacob was included in “at dusk” in the darkness of the left line and needed healing, it is written, “And the sun rose for him” to heal him from the darkness of the left. That third light is considered the middle line, which decides over the two lines, right and left. It is the light of Tifferet, and it is the quality of Jacob. From here extends the face of an eagle in the high and hidden animals from Chazeh ‎and above.

Henceforth, once Jacob extended the light of the middle line with the screen of Hirik, it is written about him, “And he limped upon his thigh.” His thigh means the Sefira Netzah ‎of ZA, called “Israel,” since the two Sefirot ‎NH are called “his two thighs.” He interprets the verse “And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped upon his thigh,” as meaning that the rising of the sun, the third light, is the direct reason for limping on his thigh, since the screen of Hirik extends the level of phase one, which is VAK without GAR.

Although he already obtained the GAR through the dot of Shuruk and extended that level of Hassadim only for the purpose of healing, the GAR still diminished for him to an extent through that coupling on screen of Hirik. You already know of the inverse relation between vessels and lights, that the absence of NHY of the vessels is absence of GAR of lights, and vice versa—the diminution of GAR of lights that comes to him due to the screen of Hirik is regarded in the vessels as limping on the thighs, which are NH. Thus, the rising of the sun, which is the level of Hassadim ‎that he extended in the light that illuminates for healing, is a direct reason for his limping on his thigh, for the diminution of the GAR.

143) “On his thigh” is written in singular form, and not his thighs, in plural form. This indicates that it is the fourth degree, Netzah, from which no man prophesied until the arrival of Samuel, of whom it is written, “And also the Netzah [eternity] of Israel will not lie.” Then Netzah ‎was established, having been weak since the time he was put at risk by the angel, Esau’s appointee.

“Limping upon his thigh” extends from the diminution of GAR. Hence, it concerns both thighs and should have said, “Limping on his thighs,” which are NH, called “two thighs.” But it says one thigh, Netzah, the fourth degree. However, it includes both thighs, NH, since until that time it was still not corrected in a correction of lines but only from Chazeh of ZA and above, HGT. From Chazeh ‎and below, NHY, it was not corrected at all, since it lacked the face of a man there.

For this reason, it is considered that there is nothing of the right in them, and NH were considered left, one degree. This is why it does not write, “And he was limping upon his thighs,” since both are still one thigh and one Sefira, the Sefira Netzah, and not Hod, for in the vessels it is considered that the upper ones grow first. Hence, as long as the two thighs are regarded as one, they are regarded as Netzah, as it is the upper one of the Sefira Hod, for which it grows and becomes apparent before Hod.

This is why it is a fourth degree since the fifth degree, Hod, had not appeared there. Hence, it is necessarily the Sefira ‎Netzah. The correction from Chazeh ‎and below is to rise and be included in the face of a man in the upper coupling. That correction was done by Samuel. It was said that no man had prophesied from there until the arrival of Samuel, and it is written about him, “And also the Netzah of Israel will not lie,” for then Netzah ‎was scrutinized as right, and as the fourth degree, and Hod as left and as a different degree from Netzah, the fifth degree of vessels, Hod.

144) “And he touched the hollow of his thigh” means that when Esau’s minister came to Jacob, Jacob took strengthening from that dusk, from the dot of Shuruk and left line in the correction of Isaac, by the force of the judgment‎. Jacob was included in it in the left line, and this is why he could not defeat him. “And he saw that he could not prevail over him, and he touched the hollow of his thigh,” and Jacob took strengthening from there. That is, when the angel touched the hollow of his thigh, when struggling with Jacob to make him fall, Jacob took strengthening from that thigh to repel the angel from there by the force of that judgment‎ that there is in the left line above the Chazeh. This is why “The hollow of Jacob's thigh was sprained,” meaning the angel prevailed over him.

Because the thigh is outside the body, since Jacob is the Sefira Tifferet, called Guf [body], and that Guf is included in the two degrees male and female called Adam, since Adam consists of male and female from the Chazeh ‎and above, the face of a man is whole, hence the angel could not prevail over him. And when Jacob took strengthening from Chazeh ‎and below, outside his Guf, promptly, “The hollow of Jacob's thigh was sprained.”

In other words, once the angel touched from the Chazeh ‎and below, he could not be corrected in the upper coupling because the face of a man was missing in him, and then his whole correction was as it is written, “And all their hind parts were inward.” But after Jacob wished to extend from there strength toward the angel, the lack of the face of a man there promptly appeared, and due to the disclosing of that deficiency, the angel gripped him and “The hollow of Jacob’s thigh was sprained.”

145) No man prophesied from there until Samuel came and corrected the Netzah. This is why it is written about him, “The Netzah [eternity] of Israel will not lie,” for he is not a man. Although Netzah ‎is outside the Guf, below the Chazeh, where there is no face of a man, for which no one has corrected it thus far, still Samuel corrected it by elevating and including it in the face of a man above the Chazeh. For this reason, “The Netzah [eternity] of Israel will not lie.” And the words “For he is not a man” mean that although he is not as the face of a man, he still corrected it.

But Hod remained in its weakness because Samuel, too, could not correct it. It will be corrected in the future, at the end of correction. It is said below that as for Hod, the left thigh, it was written, “And he was limping upon his thigh.” That is, even after Samuel corrected the Netzah ‎and returned it to the right, the weakness in the left thigh, Hod, remained.

Joshua prophesied from the Sefira Hod of Moses, as it is written, “And you shall put of your Hod [splendor] on him.” That is, Joshua existed before Samuel the prophet came, which is why he could not prophesy from Netzah, because of the weakness from the touch of the angel. This is why it is written about him, “And you shall put of your Hod on him,” teaching us that he prophesied from Moses’ Hod. This is the fifth degree, Hod.

Moses is the internality of ZA and entirely from Chazeh of ZA and above. However, from Chazeh ‎and above there is another complete Partzuf ‎in him, HGT NHY. Those NH from Chazeh ‎and above are separated from one another, hence there are five degrees HGT NH there, corresponding to KHB TM.

Joshua prophesied from the fifth degree, but from Chazeh of ZA and below the face of a man is missing, Malchut ‎and Hod, and there are only four degrees there, through Netzah without Hod. And once the Netzah ‎was weakened by the angel’s touch, no one prophesied from there.

Netzah ‎is Jacob’s left thigh. This is why David came and included it in the right, for it does not say, “The pleasantness of your right are Netzah,” but “Pleasantness are on your right, Netzah,” indicating that before David, the Netzah ‎was not on the right, but David returned to the right. From Jacob through Samuel and David, Netzah ‎was regarded as left.

146) What is the reason that Jacob’s thigh weakened? It is because the side of impurity approached him and took strengthening from him, and then the absence of the face of a man was revealed, and wherever there is a lack in Kedusha, the Sitra ‎Achra ‎grips there. The correction was detained until Samuel, which is why Samuel came to remind that this is the thigh of Israel, as it is written, “And also the Netzah ‎of Israel.”

There are two names to ZA—Jacob in Katnut, Israel in Gadlut. “And the hollow of Jacob's thigh was sprained” is when he is called Jacob. At that time, the two Sefirot ‎NH are as one thigh, since they are discerned as left. However, when ZA is called “Israel,” in Gadlut, NH are discerned as two degrees, right and left. For this reason, when Samuel corrected Netzah ‎again, he mentioned the name Israel in regard to him, indicating Gadlut, at which time Netzah ‎is to the right and Hod is to the left. Then it was written, “And also the Netzah of Israel will not lie.”

For this reason, all of Samuel’s words were in judgment‎, in the beginning and in the end, since his whole essence was about purifying the Netzah ‎from the weakness that Esau’s minister caused him. This is why his prophecy was in Gevura ‎and judgment‎, for this is what is needed for corrections of purification. And right at the start of his prophecy, he prophesied judgment‎s on the house of Eli, and in his end, he prophesied judgment‎s on Saul.

147) The Creator also included him in the Sefira Hod when he ordained the kings Saul and David. Therefore, Samuel is equal to Moses and Aaron. As Moses and Aaron were separated to the two sides, right and left above the Chazeh, Samuel from Chazeh of ZA and below was like them on two sides, right and left, NH. And although they were only the left side here, they were still parted into two sides by Samuel, like Moses and Aaron of above. Thus, although Samuel is from Chazeh ‎and below, he is equal to Moses and Aaron from the Chazeh ‎and above, since Samuel elevated the NHY from Chazeh of ZON and below to be included in the coupling of the face of a man in HGT of ZON above the Chazeh, and then NH from Chazeh ‎and below parted and became two sides, like the HG from Chazeh ‎and above.

All the degrees were included in one another through Samuel, for by that he became equal to Moses and Aaron, as it is written, “Moses and Aaron in His priests, and Samuel in them who call upon His name,” since VAK, HGT, NHY were included in one another. Through Samuel’s correction of elevating NHY from Chazeh of ZON and below and including them in HGT from Chazeh ‎and above, extending from the dot of Holam to Netzah, from the dot of Shuruk ‎to Hod, and from the dot of Hirik to Yesod, all the VAK are included in one another—Netzah connects to Hesed, Hod to Gevura, and Yesod to Tifferet, and all are in the face of a man, who is Malchut.