The Inner Essence

 

 

The proposition consists of four parts: Part 1: The Sefirot are what came forth… This explains the external structure of the Sefirot. Part 2: Within each Sefirah. This explains the inner essence of the Sefirot. Part 3: The Line shines… This is a level of interior that is even more concealed. Part 4: …and in this aspect it is completely equal… This explains the difference between the first and second levels of interior.

 

Part 1: The Sefirot are what came forth from the Space brought into being at the time of the Tzimtzum. As explained earlier (Opening 26), it is this Space or Place that gives existence to what exists, and anything not already rooted in it cannot come into being afterwards. Accordingly, before this Place existed, nothing could exist. After this Place was produced, the Sefirot came forth, emerging in accordance with the nature of the Place. The Place is such that nothing exists except the Residue, for that was all that was left when the Place came into being. As discussed earlier (Opening 27), that could be revealed came forth already in the Residue. If so, the Sefirot come only from the Residue.

 

Each Sefirah is a part of the Residue. The name Residue was applicable as long as no further action took place beyond the fact that this is what was left as a result of the Tzimtzum (see above, Opening 26, Part 1). In other words, before the Line began to activate the Residue, the latter was defined as being what remained of the light of Eyn Sof after the Tzimtzum — a Residue. Afterwards, the Line began to activate the Residue, and its various parts were structured and made into worlds and Partzufim, so that each Sefirah, wherever it may be, is one part of the Residue.

 

Clearly each Sefirah must be part of the Residue, because the Residue is the totality of all that is destined to exist in the Sefirot in every place they are. The Residue consists of the totality of everything as a single whole. In this aspect the Residue is therefore called only the root of what was destined to come afterwards, but the truth is that it is the totality of all that is destined to be. Everything that came afterwards is all only the details of the Residue. Every detail is part of the overall whole. If so, everything that exists in the Sefirot on every level is part of the Residue. Even though many different levels emerge later, this does not belie the fact that ultimately everything is rooted in and derives from the Residue. The various different levels could emerge only where we find them, but this is not a reason to say that they are not part of the supreme Residue, for as explained earlier, what was not initially included in the whole cannot exist afterwards as a detail.

 

Part 2: Within each Sefirah lies an inner essence. The inner essence (pnimiyut) is the “interior” of the Sefirah. Within the Residue, everything follows the form of Adam, as will be explained at greater length below (Opening 31), and as discussed earlier (Opening 27) in terms of the soul and the body. This inner essence is the soul (neshamah) of the Vessel, and within it is the soul of the soul, just as in the case of man — as will be discussed further below.

 

…that exists in virtue of the Line of Eyn Sof, blessed be He, which enters into it. For every connection between two things always generates an additional intermediary between them. The inner essence exists in virtue of the Line of Eyn Sof, because it was actually generated by the entry of the Line into the Residue. The truth is that when the Line entered into the Residue, a brilliant radiance shone from it, accommodating itself to the place it entered. This is the soul of the Vessel, and this soul is the underlying root of the individual mental powers (mochin) that constitute the particular soul of each of the various different Partzufim. For each Partzuf has its own unique mental powers depending on its level. These souls are all a garb for the Line of Eyn Sof, blessed be He, Who does not change in any place. The various different mental powers are what each of the different Partzufim receives individually from the Line but the Line itself is the same everywhere.