138 Openings of Wisdom

The World of Repair

Opening 59

The root of the repair - the joining of MaH and BaN: interrelation and kinship between the Sefirot

The repair consisted of the binding together of the two radiations of the forehead and eyes of Adam Kadmon, these being MaH and BaN. There was an immediate awakening of love between the lights, and they are no longer in a state of dejection as at first. Instead, each one shows a friendly face to the other, and all the Partzufim are bound up with one another in accordance with the mystery of Father and Mother, Son and Daughter, where each shows kinship to the other in the manner that is befitting.

Having explained what was involved in the breaking of the vessels, we now come to explain the repair that was brought about thereafter.

This proposition consists of three parts. Part 1: The repair consisted of the binding together... This is the first root of the repair. Part 2: There was an immediate awakening of love... This explains the resulting offshoots of this root. Part 3: ...and all the Partzufim are bound up... This explains the new order that came into being accordingly.

Part 1: The repair consisted in the binding together of the two radiations... This is the first root that was produced, and after this, a number of other consequences followed. This is what the Sifra D'tzeniuta refers to as the "balance" (îú÷ìà, matk'la), as will be discussed below (see Opening 69). This consisted in the joining of these two radiations together, and the result of their connection is the love found in all the Sefirot that emerge from them, as discussed below.

...of the two radiations of the forehead and eyes of Adam Kadmon... The forehead is bound up with the mystery of the breaking through of the lights of the Tefilin, as mentioned earlier. (See Opening 32, Part 1 end: "The forehead also emits its own radiance..." I.e. from this phenomenon in Zeir Anpin it is inferred that the same applies to Adam Kadmon even though there is no mention of Tefilin in the case of the latter.)

...these being MaH and BaN. It is clear that the light emerging from the Forehead is MaH, while that which had already emerged from the Eyes is BaN, as discussed earlier (Opening 34, Part 1).

Part 2: There was an immediate awakening of love between the lights... For the root above was instituted in accordance with the mystery of Male and Female, which are MaH and BaN. Thus all the Partzufim that emerge from the Forehead and Eyes of Adam Kadmon are stamped with the same nature as the root, and thus the offshoot radiates with love in the proper way (being compounded of MaH and BaN).

...and they are no longer in a state of dejection as at first. Instead, each one shows a friendly face to the other... This means that in the governmental order, they are ordered each one towards the other, facing each other with an expression of love, each light flashing forth in the direction of the other (signifying cooperation between the Sefirot). This is not how it was at first, when they were one under the other. Now each stands in its appropriate column facing the column of the other with an intermediary joining them together. Thereby the governmental order is produced as a single bond, for the right and left sides are parallel to one another. Nevertheless, they still do not pass on their influence until the center colum joins them together with one accord so that everything reaches one place, this being Malchut, which is underneath. Thus the governmental order emerges through consensus and sound counsel, without each Sefirah being by itself as at first, as discussed earlier.

Part 2: ...and all the Partzufim are bound up with one another... The innovation brought about through the repair was precisely this, that all the levels join together to produce their effects with one accord, and they can thus properly be called by the name of Father and Mother, Son and Daughter, which was not so in the case of the Primordial Kings, which were called only Chessed, Gevurah, Tiferet and Malchut (i.e. they are referred to as Sefirot but they were not Partzufim). The reason is because there was no interrelation between them. In the repair, however, a complete interrelation was produced. Thus Binah is also related to Chochmah as its Nukva, and indeed, it is impossible for Chochmah to function except with Binah, or for Binah to function without Chochmah. The same applies to Zeir Anpin with the Nukva. Likewise, the relation betwen Zeir and Nukva on the one hand and Abba and Imma on the other is like the relation of children to their parents.

The sum of the matter is that the entire order of the Sefirot was instituted on the foundation of a governmental order based on consensus, with interrelation and kinship betwen light and light. Not a single light stood alone by itself without some relationship with all the others. For example, Imma has a relationship with Abba inasmuch as Imma is Abba's receiving vessel, and Imma has a relationship with Zeir and Nukva since it is Imma that brings them forth. Zeir Anpin has a relationship with Abba, which is Zeir Anpin's root, with Imma, which brings Zeir Anpin forth, and with the Nukva, which is Zeir Anpin's receiving vessel. The same applies to all of them. Thus the entire repair consists of producing this bond between the various levels.

...in accordance with the mystery of Father and Mother, Son and Daughter... In other words, this developmental sequence is called a complete array (in which each Partzuf is in its proper place). For the result is the Son or the Daughter, depending on whether the influence is that of Kindness or Judgment, while the causes of the result are two: Father and Mother.

...where each shows kinship to the other in the manner that is befitting. The nature of this developmental chain governs the relationship each one must have with the other. And according to the place of each Partzuf in the developmental chain, so is its kinship with the others, as stated above. (Thus since Zeir and Nukva develop from Abba and Imma, they are in the category of son and daughter - and the governmental order follows this developmental sequence - while the relationship between Zeir and Nukva is like that between a brother and sister.)