Chapter Nine

The idea of shevirat hakeilim, at any rate the idea of the existence of primordial worlds before our own cosmos came into being, is not original in Lurianic Kabbalah, nor in the Zohar, from which the idea was developed. Its origin can be traced to a much older Midrash, (Bereishit Rabbah 3:9) where Rabbi Avahu deduces from the verse, "And G-d saw the light that it was good," (Genesis 1:4) that prior to creating the present "good" world, G-d "had created worlds and destroyed them, saying, 'this [world] pleases Me; the others did not.'"

A similar idea is expressed in another Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah, end of ch. 12; Pesikta Rabbati 40), in explanation of the fact that the Creation narrative begins with the repeated use of the Divine Name Elokim, but later introduces also the so-called Tetragramaton, Havaya. Declares the Midrash: At first G-d created the world in the attribute of stern justice, din, (as denoted by the Divine Name Elokim). But seeing that it could not exist under the rule of stern justice alone, He combined it with the attribute of mercy, rachamim, (as denoted by the name Havaya). By way of illustration the Midrash offers the following parable: A king had some empty precious glasses. Said the king, "If I pour hot water into them, they will shatter; if I pour cold water into them, they will crack." So he mixed the hot with the cold and poured the tepid water into the glasses and they remained whole. Similarly the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "If I create the world by Mercy alone, sin would abound; if by strict Justice alone, it could not endure. I will create Justice tempered with Mercy, and would that it exist."

The Zohar (I:24b), referring to the said Midrashim, cryptically identifies the primordial world as the world of Tohu. (It also notes that the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th words of Genesis 2:4, תולדות השמים וארץ, contain the acronym.) Elsewhere, the Zohar (III:128a; 135a ff; 142a ff.) sees in the apparently meaningless narrative about the kings of Edom, of whom nothing is stated except that each built a town and died (Gen. 36:31-39), an allusion to the primordial forces of sternness, gevurah, which could not exist without the ameliorating quality of chesed, compassion. Hence they were withdrawn and substituted by more manageable, as it were, forces of synthesized Divine attributes, of stern justice tempered by compassion, and vice versa.

In Lurianic Kabbalah (Eitz Chayim ch. 9 and elsewhere) the cosmogonic process is described in terms of Shevirat hakelim and is intimately linked with the doctrine of Tzimtzum, referred to earlier (fn. 110).

These "fallen sparks" of the Divine sefirot in Tohu -- whose character is described as "abundance of light and paucity of vessels" -- are preserved in the realms of kelipah. Hence the maamar can state that the source of the natural soul, Kelipat Nogah of Tohu, transcends that of the Divine Soul, the sefirot of Tikkun.

The "light" and the "vessel" must obviously be compatible. The container must fit the contents; no container could contain anything beyond its capacity. If the glare of the light is too strong for the eye, the eye will be "blinded" -- it will not see anything and simply will not function. A teacher who wishes to convey an idea (or) to a pupil must reduce it to the pupil's mental grasp (keli). Otherwise the student would only get confused. Where the capacity of the vessel is overtaxed, the vessel must break, and the contents spilled or scattered.

An analogy: A word consists of two or more letters. When the letters are joined together in the proper order into a word, they form a "vessel" for a concept. If you break up the word into separate letters, the concept vanishes. Now, in the world of Tohu, the Divine emanations come forth as separate, distinct and disjointed letters, as it were, each radiating an intense light from its Source in the Ein Sof. But in that state the letters cannot form words, or ideas; they are unproductive. The strong, inexorable individuality of the letters has to be reduced, so that they can be put together into word patterns, reflecting their original archetypes though in a reduced intensity.

The Divine attributes -- sefirot -- in their original pristine state, as they emanate from the Ein Sof, are absolute, distinct, and mutually exclusive. In this state, chesed has no relation to gevurah; they are two opposites and incompatible, like fire and water. This early phase of Divine emanation produced the world of Tohu. Here the Divine sefirot are at the height of their intensity, each one a separate potency, unqualified and unmitigated.

Inasmuch as the sefirot are conceived under two aspects, namely or (light) and keli (vessel), standing in relation to each other as form to matter, the character of the Divine sefirot in Tohu is described in terms of "abundance of light and paucity of vessels." In other words, the light was too intense to be controlled or contained. This led to Shevirat hakelim, the "breaking of the vessels," a process whereby the intense Divine Light was substantially shut off, as it were, and only "sparks" thereof fell from the upper realm into lower depths.

Thus, the "breaking of the vessels" gave rise to a new, orderly world, called, the World of Tikkun, the "repaired" or "restored" world. Tohu is described as "abundance of light and a paucity of vessels," and Tikkun is described in the reverse, "paucity of light and abundance of vessels."

In Tikkun the Divine sefirot are integrated and intertwined. The ten sefirot can now be classified into two major patterns, sechel (intellect) and middot (emotions), the former influencing the latter. Under the control of sechel the middot are ameliorated. No longer can each middah be absolute -- unlimited chesed, or unlimited gevurah, but we get chesed in gevurah and vice versa. The ten Divine sefirot now manifest themselves in conglomerate partzufim ("lit. faces"), wherein each sefirah is composed of ten sefirot, and each sefirah is in itself a complete entity in terms of the Four Worlds, and all sefirot form a complete image, or "face."

The Divine Name מ"ה causes the integration of the sefirot, for this Name connotes bittul (self-nullification) as in the verse (Exodus 16:7), "and we are 'what.'" Thus, regarding the sefirot, this allows for a state of intergraded unity known as the world of Tikkun. Tikkun is the source of the divine soul in man.

When spelled out thus יו"ד ה"ה ו"ו ה"ה, the numerical value of Havaya would be 52 or ב"ן, the numerical value of the word behemah, animal, the source of the animal soul.

In order to complete the Tikkun, the divine name מ"ה must sift through and rescue the sparks of Tohu which are concealed in the Divine Name ב"ן. In human terms, this refers to the G-dly soul's descent and refinement of the animal soul. For man's mission is to elicit increased Divine Light into the world, the "vessels." Man is to elevate the fallen sparks, by utilizing the material world for Divine purpose (performance of mitzvot, etc.) rather than indulgence, and by rejecting what G-d has forbidden him. (See Likkutei Torah, Re'eh 27c)

"I saw there was a storm-wind coming from the north, a great cloud and a blazing fire, and from its midst like the pure luminescence from the midst of fire. And from its midst [I saw] the image of four chayot (angelic creatures)...And the image of the faces was: The face of a man, and the face of a lion on its right...and the face of an ox on the left...and the face of an eagle...And the complexion of the chayot -- their appearance was like fiery coals...The chayot ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

"As I observed the chayot, I saw one ofan (angelic being) on the floor [of the firmament] at the side of each of the chayot...The appearance of the ofanim and their work was like chrysolite...when the chayot moved, the ofanim moved beside them, and when the chayot raised themselves from the ground, the ofanim raised themselves...Above the firmament which is over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire, and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man [as it were] upon it above...This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord..."

It is known that every physical creation must have a celestial source, from which it receives its life-force and existence. Its very being and physical characteristics are synonymous to their spiritual source, albeit physical. All living creatures are derived from the spiritual angels that are found in the Divine Chariot and consequently, the faces of the lion and the ox in the Divine Chariot are the sources for all physical animals and beasts. Moreover, the chayot which have the faces of a lion and an ox are the aspect of gevurah, as it is written in Ezekiel 1: 13 "burning like the appearance of torches," and the angels known as seraphim derive their name from "coals of fire." Thus, physical animals that evolve from these angels are strong and powerful, and their flesh is red, the color of "anger" or "severity" (Likkutei Torah, B'ha'alotcha 31c-d).

All the beasts derive their energy from the face of the lion, all the animals from the face of the ox and all the birds from the face of the eagle (Torah Or 41b).

The two souls of every Jew, G-dly soul and the animal soul, are also rooted in the Chariot. However, the G-dly soul's source is known as "Adam," man, as it is written in Genesis (1:27), "And G-d created man in His image," and in Ezekiel 1:26 it is written, "upon the likeness of the throne a likeness with the appearance of a man." In creation of G-dly soul and its descent to this world, the light found within the Sefirot -- the origin of man -- descends to this world, passing through the chariot and specifically its human face, which is thus considered a more proximate source of G-dly soul.

The animal soul is rooted not in the Sefirot but in the chariot. It then descends to a lowly derivative (dregs) of the ofanim, which are of a lower order than the chayot. The animal soul is derived from the "dregs" of the ofanim, but is originally rooted in the face of the ox of the Divine chariot. (Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2b)

In addition to all physical living creatures finding their source in the Chariot, the "negative forces" are rooted in the "storm-wind...a great cloud and a blazing fire" amid which Ezekiel beheld his vision. These forces refer to the three totally impure kelipot, which contain absolutely no good, and are the source of any thought, speech or action by mankind in transgression of a negative command in the Torah (Tanya ch. 1; ch. 6; Likkutei Torah, Chukat 60a).

In Kabblistic terms: Oil, like chochmah, is hidden, for the nature of chochmah is to flow into even the lowest levels. Proof for this can be found in science books, that one can extract oil from everything, even from a stone, as the verse (Deuteronomy 32:13) states, "oil from a flint stone." For oil refers to the inner quality of everything, as Pardes explains, and as the verse states, "You have made them all with chochmah," that all created things contain the quality of chochmah, for chochmah is the inwardness and most vital of everythings. It is for this reason that the Torah's chochmah can be vested in, and relate to, even the lowest subjects. (Maamarei Admur Hazaken, 5568, vol. 2, p. 647). See also Shaar HaYichud v'HaEmunah, chapter 9.

Chochmah tata'ah, (the lower chochmah) is chochmah outside of itself, i.e., as it flows downward to permeate and enliven the other sefirot. This aspect of chochmah is the chochmah of creation, and therefore would not exist had the worlds not been created (Sefer HaLikkutim, Chochmah, chap. 36).