Chapter Eleven

Explains the expansion of the light of Ein Sof to make vessels in four phases of coarseness by depicting the organs of man, which are Eynaim [eyes], Ozen [ear], Hotem [nose], Peh [mouth­]. The more refined is more important. Eynaim are phase one, Ozen–phase two, Hotem–phase three, Peh–phase four. It contains eight issues:

1. There is no form of depiction and attainment in Ein Sof whatsoever, and in order to create the world, he drew many expansions to be roots and origins for the world of Atzilut. 2. There are four elements in all things, which are the four letters Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey, which are sight, hearing, smell, and speech, which are Haya, Neshama, Ruach, Nefesh, and they are Eynaim, Ozen, Hotem, Peh. 3. There is vapor and Ruach in AHP, where each one is greater than the other: In the Ozen there is little vapor; it is stronger in the Hotem; and there is the most of it in the Peh. 4. The Oznayim [pl. for Ozen] are Bina, which is phase two. She has little coarseness, and she is Neshama. The Hotem is ZA, which is phase three, which is coarser, and he is Ruach. The Peh is Malchut, with coarseness of phase four, the coarsest of all. She is the light of Nefesh. 5. Sight is light of Haya. There is no actual vapor in the Eynaim as there is in AHP. It is coarseness of phase one, which is very fine. 6. Vapor in the Eynaim is the vessel for the surrounding light of Haya, but the direct light in it is extended downward as looking, which is a coupling by striking. 7. The expansion of the light to make vessels, which is looking, comes from the Eynaim, which is light of Hochma, and not from AHP. 8. The three vapors became vessels for Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama.

There is no form of depiction and attainment in Ein Sof whatsoever, and in order to create the world, he drew many expansions to be roots and origins for the world of Atzilut.

1. It is known that Ein Sof has no depiction whatsoever. When He contemplated creating the world by the order of the emanation, He began to extend from it the expansion of many lights ₍₁₎ to become roots and origins to the Atzilut that would be emanated afterwards.

Inner Light

1. He began to extend from it the expansion of many lights‎: The expansion of lights, as the ARI said (Part 3, Chapter 1, Item 3), that Ein Sof expanded to make vessels through a coupling by striking and raising reflected light. Here he says that right in the world of AK, he began to extend from it the expansion of many lights through the above coupling by striking, enough to emanate twenty-five Partzufim in that world. These twenty-five Partzufim of AK would be the roots and the origins of Atzilut that would later be emanated, meaning the twenty-five Partzufim that would be emanated in the world of Atzilut. This is why the ARI says, “the expansion of many lights to become roots and origins to the Atzilut,” as he will explain henceforth.

There are four elements in all things, which are the four letters Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey, which are sight, hearing, smell, and speech, which are Haya, Neshama, Ruach, Nefesh, and are Eynaim, Ozen, Hotem, Peh.

2. We shall speak of it by way of parable and allegory: You already know that there are four elements in all things. These are sight, hearing, smell, and speech. These are the four letters HaVaYaH, and they are Neshama to Neshama, Neshama, Ruach, and Nefesh. We shall begin to explain from the degree of Neshama, and then return to what precedes it.

There is vapor and Ruach in AHP, where each one is more than the other: In Ozen there is little vapor; it is stronger in the Hotem; and there is the most of it in the Peh.

3. The organs of Oznayim [pl. of Ozen] certainly have a fine Ruach inside them ₍₂₎. The proof of it is that when one thoroughly blocks one’s ear with one’s finger, one feels as though there is a great sound inside them. This is because of the Ruach accumulated in it, which seeks to come out but cannot. The next organ in degree is the Hotem. The Ruach that comes out of it is sensed more than what comes out of the Ozen. The next organ in degree is the Peh, for the strongest vapor and Ruach of all come out of it.

Inner Light

2. The organs of Oznayim certainly have a fine Ruach inside ‎them: Know, that this reflected light that is returned to its place through a coupling by striking, as the ARI says (Part 3, Chapter 1, Item 3), is called, “vapor that comes out of the Partzuf,” or “Ruach that comes out of the Partzuf.” It means that it cannot clothe in it because of the power of detainment in the screen there. For this reason, it must exit it and return to its place (Part 2, Questions and Answers on the Meaning of Topics, Item 2).

You should also know that there are five phases that contain the entire reality after the restriction, namely AK, Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, Assiya. They are five levels one below the other from the level of Keter to the level of Malchut, caused by the refinement of the screen (Part 2, Questions and Answers on the Meaning of Topics, Item 17). Because the screen of phase four that operated in AK had been refined and remained in coarseness of phase three, ten new Sefirot were emanated and innovated on the level of Hochma, which is called Atzilut. Because the screen of phase three was then refined, as well, and remained in coarseness of phase two, ten new Sefirot emerged and were born on the level of Bina, called Beria (the ARI’s words in Part 3, Chapter 4, Item 3, and Inner Light, Item 9).

Finally, all the coarseness was refined from the screen, and only its root remained, where there is no striking and no level of reflected light. Consequently, the ten Sefirot emerge here only in the phase of Malchut and they are called the world of Assiya. For the very same reason and cause that was explained regarding the four general levels, which are AK and ABYA, the five levels of the ten Sefirot must therefore emerge in each and every world, as well. They are called five Partzufim: AA, Abba, Ima, ZA, and Nukva.

Moreover, in each and every Partzuf there must also emerge five levels of ten Sefirot one below the other down to Malchut, which are called Galgalta, Eynaim, Ozen, Hotem, Peh, or KHB, ZA, and Malchut, or NRNHY. This matter will be explained sufficiently in Inner Observation here, and we should not elaborate it here due to its length.

The ARI wrote here, “As the value of the organ, so is its fineness.” It means that the vessel in which the designated light is clothed is called an organ. The fineness or coarseness of the organ is measured by the coarseness of the screen that operates there. Thus, the place where the screen of phase two operates is called “a fine organ,” and the Ruach that comes out of it is very fine. It means that the reflected light that rises and returns from that vessel is very fine, reaching neither Keter, nor Hochma, but rather Bina. For this reason, the level of these ten Sefirot is up to Bina, as explained above.

It is said, “The next organ in degree is the Hotem. The Ruach that comes out of it is sensed more than what comes out of the Ozen.” It is so because the place where the screen of phase three operates is called Hotem, where the “Ruach that comes out of it,” meaning the reflected light that is turned back and comes out of that vessel, is of a greater measure and therefore reaches Hochma. Hence, the level of the ten Sefirot of Hotem is up to Hochma.

It is said, “The next organ in degree is the Peh, for the strongest vapor and Ruach of all come out of it.” It is so because the place where the screen of phase four operates is called Peh. The vapor that comes out of it, which is reflected light that comes out of it and rises, is stronger than all of them, for its measure is full, reaching up to Keter. For this reason, these ten Sefirot have the level of Keter.

The Oznayim [pl. for Ozen] are Bina, which is phase two, which has little coarseness and is Neshama. Hotem is ZA, which is coarseness of phase three. It is coarser, and is Ruach. Peh is Malchut, with coarseness of phase four, the coarsest. She is light of Nefesh.

4. As the value of the organ, so is its fineness. The Oznayim are Bina, which is finer. Thus, the Ruach that comes out of them is very fine. Also, the organ of the Hotem is finer than the organ of the Peh, as we have mentioned. By way of allegory, we can say that the Ruach that comes out of the Ozen is called Neshama ₍₃₎, from the Hotem, it is called Ruach, and from the Peh, it is called Nefesh.

Inner Light

3. The Ruach that comes out of the Ozen is called Neshama: The ten Sefirot that come from a coupling by striking in the screen of the Peh have the level of Keter, which is light of Yechida, and from the Hotem—the level of Hochma, which is light of Haya, etc. However, the order of the clothing of the lights in her is not so, but is an inverse order, for the more important light clothes the more refined vessel, in a way that the light of Yechida clothes only the most refined of all, which is called Keter or Galgalta. The light of Haya clothes only the vessel of Hochma, which is phase one, called Eynaim. The light of Neshama clothes only the vessel of Bina, namely phase two, called Ozen, and light of Ruach clothes only the vessel of ZA, meaning phase three, called Hotem. Finally, the light of Nefesh clothes the vessel of Malchut, which is phase four, called Peh.

The rule is that “every giver needs the coarser phase, and every receiver must receive in the more refined thing.” This means that in order to draw upper light to bestow in the lower one, the lower one must have a coarser vessel and screen, as we have said, that the greater the coarseness of the screen, the greater the reflected light that departs from it, and therefore reaches higher, too, for if the lower one has no more than a screen of phase three, it lacks the level of Yechida, and it has only the level of Haya. However, the reception of the lower one is always in the more refined thing, meaning the light that is imparted to it clothes only the most refined phase, and the more important light needs the more refined vessel. I have already explained this issue elaborately in Part 2, Inner Observation (Item 87).

Sight is light of Haya. There is no actual vapor in the Eynaim, just as in the AHP, which is the very fine coarseness of phase one.

5. It has been explained that from the phase of sight itself comes the Neshama to Neshama. However, know that the phase of sight is not the actual vapor that comes out of the Ayin [eye], as is in the Ozen, Hotem, Peh, where Neshama, Ruach, and Nefesh are actual vapors expanding from them downward ₍₄₎.

Inner Light

4. Neshama, Ruach, and Nefesh are actual vapors expanding from them ‎downward: This tells us that the force of the coarseness of the screen is only apparent as it expands from above downward (Part 3, Chapter 4, Inner Light, Item 50). It is so because after every coupling by striking, reflected light rises and clothes the ten Sefirot of direct light from Malchut and above to the ten Sefirot of Rosh and the roots of the four phases. After that, it descends once more and expands from Malchut and below by the same measure that it has in the ten Sefirot of Rosh from below upward. Thus, the reflected light that rises from below upward, does not carry any coarseness there with it. Rather, the same ten Sefirot that expand from above downward are completely limited in the measure and boundary of the level of the screen, since the screen is their entire root.

Vapor in the Eynaim is the vessel for surrounding light of Haya. However, the direct light in it is extended downward as looking, which is a coupling by striking.

6. The Eynaim are not so ₍₅₎, because their vapor itself remains in its place as surrounding light called Neshama to Neshama ₍₆₎. However, there is something that is drawn from it, which is only the sight and looking, and is not the actual vapor that is drawn downward. Thus, the vessels that are called Guf were made from the phase of that sight, but the vapor of the Ayin itself is very internal and cannot be extended and expand downward.

Inner Light

5. The Eynaim are not so, because their vapor itself remains in its place‎: This means that coarseness of phase one, called Eynaim, is very faint for the reason stated in Inner Light, that the above coarseness refers to the will to receive in every emanated being, which differentiates it from the upper light, in which there is no will to receive. Thus, phase one, whose coarseness is faint since it is extended from the upper force, as the will to bestow in the upper one is a compelling law in the lower one, to have a desire to receive its bestowal. For this reason, it is not regarded as disparity of form and coarseness in the lower one until the desire awakens in it by the power of its own awakening, namely phase two.

Thus, there is no coupling by striking in the light of the Eynaim, which is phase one, since the reflected light, which is the vapor that emerges from phase one remains in its place. In other words, it does not depart from it as reflected light. This is the meaning of the ARI’s words, “The Eynaim are not so because their vapor itself remains in its place.”

6. Surrounding light called Neshama to Neshama: This means that light of Hochma does not have a vessel to clothe in, for lack of any reflected light, which is a vessel in the Eynaim. Hence the light of Hochma remains outside and shines from afar without clothing. This light is called light of Haya, or Neshama to Neshama.

The expansion of the light to make vessels, which is looking, comes from the Eynaim, which is light of Hochma, and not from the AHP.

7. Since this sight was extended from the Eynaim ₍₇₎, which are higher than the Ozen, Hotem, Peh, that sight alone had sufficient power to create and make the vessels, and their vapor itself was not needed. It is not so in the Ozen, Hotem, Peh, which are lower, since their very vapor itself had to expand to make and emanate the above-mentioned phases, and no reality came out of them except by the power of the vapor itself ₍₈₎.

Inner Light

7. Since this sight was extended from the Eynaim: You should know that the restriction and the screen relate only to light of Hochma, and not to light of Hassadim (Part 1, Questions and Answers on the Meaning of Topics, Item 6). Thus, relating to the expansion of Ein Sof to make vessels (mentioned in the words of the ARI, Part 3, Chapter 1, Item 3) by a coupling by striking in the screen, that coupling by striking relates only to light of Hochma, called sight and looking. It is so because only that light is not received in phase four due to the screen and the restriction. However, phase two and Bina, which is light of Hassadim, is not detained by the screen.

That is the meaning of the ARI’s words, “Sight alone had sufficient power to create and make the vessels and not its own vapor. It is not so in the AHP.” This means that only the light of Eynaim, called sight, which was restricted, has striking and reflected light, which are the vessels. The AHP, whose primary light is the light of Hassadim, do not perform any striking. Also, any coupling by striking in the AHP comes only by the power of the light of Hochma that shines in them. This is called looking of the Eynaim in the AHP. It means that because of the illumination of light of Hochma in them, the screen detains the lights in the AHP, as well.

8. And no reality came out of them except by the power of the vapor itself: Meaning from vapors that expand from them and below (as written in Inner Light, this chapter, Item 4), which is reflected light that descends from above downward. It is similar to what is written about the Sefira Malchut in Inner Observation (Part 2, Item 109). This is because phase four, which is called Peh here, does not receive anything from the direct light because of the screen in her. Instead, after she raises reflected light from her and above, this reflected light descends once more from the screen downward, and expands Malchut into ten Sefirot from her and within her (Part 3, Chapter 2, Item 3). She receives the entire level of the ten Sefirot that the reflected light clothed from Malchut upward within them.

By the very same way, the vessels of the Ozen and Hotem do not receive anything from the vapor, namely the reflected light that rises from them upward. It is so because since the screen had been refined from phase four to phase three, it is considered that Malchut rose to the place of ZA, meaning to the Hotem. As a result, the screen detains the vessel of Hotem from receiving any [direct light], and pushes that light back up, which is called “coupling by striking in phase three.” Thus, the vessel of Hotem does not receive any direct light because it departs from it, but only afterwards, when the reflected light expands and descends from the Hotem downward in Malchut in the place of phase four, namely in the Peh. Similarly, the vessel that is called Ozen, does not receive any direct light for the above reason, except through the reflected light that descends from Ozen downward.

The ARI writes, “It is not so in the Ozen, Hotem, Peh, which are lower. That is because their very vapor itself had to expand.” This means that after the vapor itself, meaning the reflected light, descends and expands from above downward, they expand into ten Sefirot and become vessels to receive the light. It was said, “No reality came out of them except by the power of the vapor itself.” In other words, by the power of their reflected light, which is called vapor, which overturns and descends from above downward, as has been explained.

The three vapors became the vessels to Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama.

8. However, since the phase of the Ayin was not actual vapor ₍₉₎, but only sight, only vessels were made of it ₍₁₀₎. Conversely, in the Ozen, Hotem, Peh, which could not even make vessels without the actual vapor, but since it is actual vapor, they became Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama ₍₂₀₎.

Inner Light

9. Since the phase of the Ayin was not actual vapor, but only sight‎: It is written above that phase one does not raise vapor, which is reflected light, because her coarseness is very faint, and she does not perform a coupling by striking. The ARI writes, “was not actual vapor, but only sight.” It means that there is no reflected light there, only direct light, which is light of Hochma, called sight.

10. Only vessels were made of it: It means that no vessel was made of the phase of the Ayin itself since there is no vapor there. However, her phase of striking makes the vessels in the Ozen, Hotem, Peh. Had it not been for the light of Hochma, called sight, there would not have been a coupling by striking there, and there would not have been any vessel in the AHP as well.

20. Since it is actual vapor, they became Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama: It is so because the vapor of phase four that expands from the Peh downward became a vessel to Nefesh, vapor of phase three to Ruach, and vapor of phase two to Neshama. Remember the inverse relation between bestowal of the light and reception of the light, as written in Inner Light (this chapter, Item 3).