Chapter I

הנוטע אוזן הלא ישמע אם יוצר עין הלא יביט

"He who implants the ear surely hears; He who forms the eye surely sees."1

In this Psalm, Dovid HaMelech speaks to those who torment Jews and claim that G-d does not see, that the G-d of Yaakov does not understand the affairs of terrestrial beings. He says to them: "You senseless people can also understand; even fools can be wise, and perceive that the blessed Creator of the eye and ear can Himself surely see and hear."

The commentators2 explain this verse in the following manner: An inventor of a machine surely knows its function. G-d, having created the eyes and ears of all creatures, surely Himself possesses the ability to see and hear.

Of all the soul powers, Dovid HaMelech chose vision and hearing for his examples, implying that these powers offer a greater measure of proof than others. We must understand what qualities are possessed by sight and sound, that they offer a greater comprehension of G-dliness than do the other soul powers.

To understand this, we must first comprehend that which was previously explained3 that the nations say:4 "G-d is high above all nations; in the heavens is His glory." According to their mistaken belief, G-d is found only in the heavens; knowledge of earth, its inhabitants and their actions, whether good or evil, is beneath Him, and so He relegated their supervision to the stars and constellations, i.e., natural forces.

Their mistake stems from their erroneous assumption that the world was created through the progressive chain of ilah and olul. In truth, the world was created ex nihilo, out of total nothingness, as expressed in the well-known statement:5 "He made that which was not, to be."

In creation ex nihilo, the ayin or source of creation clothes itself within the yesh, the created being. Yet the ayin conceals itself from the yesh. The reason for this concealment is because creation ex nihilo allows absolutely no comparison between creator and created; the ayin is spiritual and the yesh is physical. Because of their incomparability, creation of the yesh involves the creation of something totally new.

[The concepts of yesh coming from ayin and ilah emanating from olul] also applies to levels which are wholly spiritual, with the progressive chain of descent hishtalshelus beginning in the Sefiros with the Sefirah of Chochmah, it being the first link in the chain of hishtalshelus. However, Chochmah itself comes from a source incomparable to Chochmah, in the same way that yesh comes from ayin. This is alluded to in the verse:6 "And Chochmah is 'found' from ayin." In this instance, ayin refers to the level of Keser, for Chochmah is created from the Sefirah of Keser in the same way that yesh is created from ayin; Chochmah is here deemed yesh in comparison to Keser, which is ayin.

The previously mentioned verse states that Chochmah is "found," for the creation of Chochmah is similar to a found object, the loser unaware of where the object was lost and the finder unaware of the identity of the loser. Because of the great gulf between the two, Keser is "unaware," as it were, that Chochmah came from it, and Chochmah fails to perceive how it was created from the Sefirah of Keser; Chochmah cannot possibly comprehend its source of Keser. Truly, the Sefirah of Chochmah is a wholly spiritual entity, and is termed yesh only regarding its position relative to the Sefirah of Keser. Within the realm of hishtalshelus, Chochmah is termed ayin, for Chochmah is a spiritual entity.

That the spiritual entity of Chochmah is "found" from ayin tells us that even so spiritual an entity as Chochmah is also created by G-d, in the same way that yesh comes from ayin. Spiritual levels too cannot possibly compare to their source. In fact, they are as infinitely distant from Him as are physical creations.

Accordingly we will understand the statement of our Sages:7 "In the very same place you find His greatness, you also find His humility." Heavenly levels are thought of by the nations as being lofty enough for G-d's glory to extend over them, inasmuch as they are spiritual and thus, according to them, comparable to Him. In truth, spiritual levels also express G-d's humility [in that He stoops to create and vivify them], for spiritual levels are as distant from Him as are the physical levels, and He created them in the same manner as He created the physical world. In His eyes, physical and spiritual levels are equal.

In summary: The spiritual ayin vests itself in the physical yesh in a concealed manner, vivifying it yet remaining incomparably greater than it. So too regarding the supernal Sefiros: the spiritual Sefirah of Chochmah is considered yesh in comparison to the Sefirah of Keser. It is "found," for creation of the spiritual too is in a manner of incomparability.