לא) והענין הוא, שאין לך פרצוף או איזה מדרגה שהיא, שלא יהיה לה שני אורות הנקראים אור מקיף ואור פנימי. ונבארם באדם קדמון.
The concept that we need to understand is that there is nopartzufor level of any kind that does not contain two lights, which are calledsurrounding lightandinner light. We will clarify these two types of lights as they apply toAdam Kadmon:
2
כי האור מקיף של פרצוף הראשון דאדם קדמון הוא סוד אור אין סוף ברוך הוא הממלא את כל המציאות, אשר לאחר הצמצום א' והמסך שנתקן במלכות, נעשה זווג דהכאה מאור האין סוף על המסך הזה, ועל ידי האור חוזר שהעלה המסך חזר והמשיך אור העליון לעולם הצמצום, בבחינת עשר ספירות דראש ועשר ספירות דגוף, כנזכר לעיל אות כ"ה. אמנם המשכה זו שבפרצוף אדם קדמון מאין סוף ברוך הוא אינה ממלאת את כל המציאות כמטרם הצמצום, אלא שנבחן בראש וסוף; הן מבחינת מלמעלה למטה, כי אורו נפסק על הנקודה דעולם הזה, שהוא סוד מלכות המסיימת, בסוד הכתוב "ועמדו רגליו על הר הזיתים".
Thesurrounding lightof the firstpartzufofAdam Kadmonis the light ofEin Sof, blessed be He, that fills all of reality. After the firstconstriction (tzimtzum) and the placement of thepartitionon the vessel of Malkhut, thefusion through collisionof the supernal light ofEin Sofon thispartitionoccurred. By means of thereturning lightthat thepartitionraised, the supernal light was drawn into the constricted world in the context of the tensefirotof theheadand the tensefirotof thebody, as stated in section #25# above. However, this drawing forth of the supernal light that occurred in thepartzufof Adam Kadmon>> fromEin Sof, blessed be He, does not fill all of reality with the light as the light filled all of reality before theconstriction. Instead, a beginning and an end can now be discerned regarding the light, which contain two different aspects. The first aspect is the quality of above and below, in that this light is arrested at the entry point of this world,43In this context, “below” refers to this world, where the light is not allowed entry. This stopping point reflects the “end” of the light, illustrating the idea that the supernal light now possesses an endpoint. The endpoint of the supernal light above our world at the point of the terminating Malkhut, the point where the light is arrested, represents the end of the process through which the supernal light of the Creator is hidden from the inhabitants of this world. This is in contrast to the supernal light prior to the first constriction, which had no beginning or end.which is the mystical concept of theterminating Malkhut, as implied by the mystical meaning of the verse “He will set His feet…on the Mount of Olives.”44Zechariah 14:4. The Mount of Olives symbolizes Malkhut, the fourth level. After the second constriction, the “feet” of Adam Kadmon are restricted from reaching this level and do not illuminate at this lower point. In the future, after the process of rectifications, the feet of Adam Kadmon will return to their original place of the fourth level, the “Mount of Olives.” The author of the Sulam quotes this verse here to illustrate that Adam Kadmon has a beginning and end – head and feet.
3
והן מבחינת מבפנים לחוץ. כי כמו שיש עשר ספירות ממעלה למטה, כתר חכמה בינה תפארת ומלכות, והמלכות מסיימת את האדם קדמון מלמטה, כן יש עשר ספירות כתר חכמה בינה תפארת ומלכות מפנים לחוץ, המכונים: מוחא, עצמות, גידין, בשר ועור, אשר העור, שהוא סוד המלכות, מסיימת את הפרצוף מבחוץ,
Likewise, the second aspect, similar to the qualities of above and below, is the quality of from within to without. Just as there are tensefirotfrom above to below,Keter,Ḥokhma,Bina, the six sefirot encompassed in Tiferet, and Malkhut, andMalkhutis the end of the world of Adam Kadmonfrom below, so too there are tensefirot,Keter,Ḥokhma,Bina,Tiferet, and Malkhutfrom within to without. These are called brain, bones, sinews, flesh, and skin, with skin beingMalkhut, completing thepartzuffrom without.45The sefirot can be described in two directional senses: top to bottom (“above to below”) or innermost to outermost (“within to without”). The supernal light can be thought of as above us, and the sefirot are the vessels that act as a bridge from the supernal light above to the lower world below, translating and transmitting the supernal light into its lower forms (since all of existence is filled with the supernal light and animated by it, as stated in the first sections above). Alternatively, the supernal light can be thought of as being at the root of all of existence, or “within,” and the vessels of the sefirot serve to manifest the hidden supernal light into a revealed form in the world. From this perspective, the five parts of the body – brain, bones, sinews, flesh, and skin – named here correspond to the same five groupings of the sefirot used previously, namely, Keter,Hokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut.
4
אשר בערך הזה נבחן פרצוף אדם קדמון כלפי אין סוף ברוך הוא הממלא את כל המציאות, רק כמו קו דק בלבד, כי פרצוף העור מסיימת אותו ומגבילה אותו סביב סביב מבחוץ, ואינו יכול להתרחב למלא את כל החלל שנצטמצם, ונשאר רק קו דק עומד באמצעו של החלל. והנה שיעור האור שנתקבל באדם קדמון, דהיינו קו הדק, נקרא אור פנימי. וכל ההפרש הגדול הזה שבין האור פנימי שבאדם קדמון ובין אור אין סוף ברוך הוא שמטרם הצמצום, נקרא אור מקיף, כי הוא נשאר בבחינת אור מקיף מסביב פרצוף אדם קדמון, כי לא יכול להתלבש בפנימיות הפרצוף.
In this respect, thepartzufofAdam Kadmonis like a mere thin line in relation toEin Sof, blessed be He, who fills all of reality. This is because thepartzuf formed of skin encloses the light and limits it all the way around from without so that it cannot expand to fill all the space from which it was constricted, and only a thin line is left positioned in the middle of the space. The measure of light that was received inAdam Kadmon, which is the thin line, is calledinner light. The vast difference between the amount of inner light contained inAdam Kadmonand the amount of light that remains beyond Adam Kadmon, which is the remainder of the total amount of supernal light ofEin Sof, blessed be He, before theconstriction, is calledsurrounding light. It remains asurrounding lightaround thepartzuf of Adam Kadmon, since it cannot beenclothedwithin thepartzuf.46Following the constriction and the fusion through collision, when the returning light enclothed the supernal light, the returning light does not have the capacity to enclothe and receive the supernal light in its totality. It can absorb only the small amount that it is able to receive and subsequently transmit. This small amount that can be received in this way is referred to as the inner light. The remaining light that cannot be received by the vessels while they maintain the dynamic of receiving in order to give remains outside the vessels and is called surrounding light. Consider a pipe that is being fed water from a lake. For the purposes of this analogy, the walls of the pipe are the “outside” of the aspect of “within to without” and the length of the pipe is the aspect of “above to below.” The pipe can receive only the amount of water that it is capable of channeling to another destination that will receive the water. The remaining water must wait outside the pipe, surrounding it, as the pipe is incapable of taking it in while simultaneously channeling it and would simply be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity.
לא) והענין הוא, שאין לך פרצוף או איזה מדרגה שהיא, שלא יהיה לה שני אורות הנקראים אור מקיף ואור פנימי. ונבארם באדם קדמון.
The concept that we need to understand is that there is no partzuf or level of any kind that does not contain two lights, which are called surrounding light and inner light. We will clarify these two types of lights as they apply to Adam Kadmon:
כי האור מקיף של פרצוף הראשון דאדם קדמון הוא סוד אור אין סוף ברוך הוא הממלא את כל המציאות, אשר לאחר הצמצום א' והמסך שנתקן במלכות, נעשה זווג דהכאה מאור האין סוף על המסך הזה, ועל ידי האור חוזר שהעלה המסך חזר והמשיך אור העליון לעולם הצמצום, בבחינת עשר ספירות דראש ועשר ספירות דגוף, כנזכר לעיל אות כ"ה. אמנם המשכה זו שבפרצוף אדם קדמון מאין סוף ברוך הוא אינה ממלאת את כל המציאות כמטרם הצמצום, אלא שנבחן בראש וסוף; הן מבחינת מלמעלה למטה, כי אורו נפסק על הנקודה דעולם הזה, שהוא סוד מלכות המסיימת, בסוד הכתוב "ועמדו רגליו על הר הזיתים".
The surrounding light of the first partzuf of Adam Kadmon is the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, that fills all of reality. After the first constriction (tzimtzum) and the placement of the partition on the vessel of Malkhut, the fusion through collision of the supernal light of Ein Sof on this partition occurred. By means of the returning light that the partition raised, the supernal light was drawn into the constricted world in the context of the ten sefirot of the head and the ten sefirot of the body, as stated in section #25# above. However, this drawing forth of the supernal light that occurred in the partzuf of Adam Kadmon>> from Ein Sof, blessed be He, does not fill all of reality with the light as the light filled all of reality before the constriction. Instead, a beginning and an end can now be discerned regarding the light, which contain two different aspects. The first aspect is the quality of above and below, in that this light is arrested at the entry point of this world,43In this context, “below” refers to this world, where the light is not allowed entry. This stopping point reflects the “end” of the light, illustrating the idea that the supernal light now possesses an endpoint. The endpoint of the supernal light above our world at the point of the terminating Malkhut, the point where the light is arrested, represents the end of the process through which the supernal light of the Creator is hidden from the inhabitants of this world. This is in contrast to the supernal light prior to the first constriction, which had no beginning or end. which is the mystical concept of the terminating Malkhut, as implied by the mystical meaning of the verse “He will set His feet…on the Mount of Olives.”44Zechariah 14:4. The Mount of Olives symbolizes Malkhut, the fourth level. After the second constriction, the “feet” of Adam Kadmon are restricted from reaching this level and do not illuminate at this lower point. In the future, after the process of rectifications, the feet of Adam Kadmon will return to their original place of the fourth level, the “Mount of Olives.” The author of the Sulam quotes this verse here to illustrate that Adam Kadmon has a beginning and end – head and feet.
והן מבחינת מבפנים לחוץ. כי כמו שיש עשר ספירות ממעלה למטה, כתר חכמה בינה תפארת ומלכות, והמלכות מסיימת את האדם קדמון מלמטה, כן יש עשר ספירות כתר חכמה בינה תפארת ומלכות מפנים לחוץ, המכונים: מוחא, עצמות, גידין, בשר ועור, אשר העור, שהוא סוד המלכות, מסיימת את הפרצוף מבחוץ,
Likewise, the second aspect, similar to the qualities of above and below, is the quality of from within to without. Just as there are ten sefirot from above to below, Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, the six sefirot encompassed in Tiferet, and Malkhut, and Malkhut is the end of the world of Adam Kadmon from below, so too there are ten sefirot, Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut from within to without. These are called brain, bones, sinews, flesh, and skin, with skin being Malkhut, completing the partzuf from without.45The sefirot can be described in two directional senses: top to bottom (“above to below”) or innermost to outermost (“within to without”). The supernal light can be thought of as above us, and the sefirot are the vessels that act as a bridge from the supernal light above to the lower world below, translating and transmitting the supernal light into its lower forms (since all of existence is filled with the supernal light and animated by it, as stated in the first sections above). Alternatively, the supernal light can be thought of as being at the root of all of existence, or “within,” and the vessels of the sefirot serve to manifest the hidden supernal light into a revealed form in the world. From this perspective, the five parts of the body – brain, bones, sinews, flesh, and skin – named here correspond to the same five groupings of the sefirot used previously, namely, Keter, Hokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut.
אשר בערך הזה נבחן פרצוף אדם קדמון כלפי אין סוף ברוך הוא הממלא את כל המציאות, רק כמו קו דק בלבד, כי פרצוף העור מסיימת אותו ומגבילה אותו סביב סביב מבחוץ, ואינו יכול להתרחב למלא את כל החלל שנצטמצם, ונשאר רק קו דק עומד באמצעו של החלל. והנה שיעור האור שנתקבל באדם קדמון, דהיינו קו הדק, נקרא אור פנימי. וכל ההפרש הגדול הזה שבין האור פנימי שבאדם קדמון ובין אור אין סוף ברוך הוא שמטרם הצמצום, נקרא אור מקיף, כי הוא נשאר בבחינת אור מקיף מסביב פרצוף אדם קדמון, כי לא יכול להתלבש בפנימיות הפרצוף.
In this respect, the partzuf of Adam Kadmon is like a mere thin line in relation to Ein Sof, blessed be He, who fills all of reality. This is because the partzuf formed of skin encloses the light and limits it all the way around from without so that it cannot expand to fill all the space from which it was constricted, and only a thin line is left positioned in the middle of the space. The measure of light that was received in Adam Kadmon, which is the thin line, is called inner light. The vast difference between the amount of inner light contained in Adam Kadmon and the amount of light that remains beyond Adam Kadmon, which is the remainder of the total amount of supernal light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, before the constriction, is called surrounding light. It remains a surrounding light around the partzuf of Adam Kadmon, since it cannot be enclothed within the partzuf.46Following the constriction and the fusion through collision, when the returning light enclothed the supernal light, the returning light does not have the capacity to enclothe and receive the supernal light in its totality. It can absorb only the small amount that it is able to receive and subsequently transmit. This small amount that can be received in this way is referred to as the inner light. The remaining light that cannot be received by the vessels while they maintain the dynamic of receiving in order to give remains outside the vessels and is called surrounding light. Consider a pipe that is being fed water from a lake. For the purposes of this analogy, the walls of the pipe are the “outside” of the aspect of “within to without” and the length of the pipe is the aspect of “above to below.” The pipe can receive only the amount of water that it is capable of channeling to another destination that will receive the water. The remaining water must wait outside the pipe, surrounding it, as the pipe is incapable of taking it in while simultaneously channeling it and would simply be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity.