In the account of creation, there are nine mentions of the word “good,” which is related to the covenant—the sefirah of foundation—and one mention of “evil.” The inner aspect of kingdom is the lowliness of King David. Lowliness means being able to acknowledge the bad or dark side within oneself. What we learn from the idea that maleness, i.e., one’s King-David-like quality of lowliness should be immediately apparent is that whenever one encounters negativity in life, one must spontaneously attribute the source of this negativity in oneself. This is the first step to not becoming a victimized individual who eventually becomes incapacitated. All rectification in life begins with this important quality of lowliness.
If someone is psychologically, so-to-speak androgynous, they are unable to take responsibility for the negativity they are confronting. It is not clear to them that the root of the negativity or darkness is actually from within. To have a “definitive foreskin,” one must have a clear sense that fixing their situation begins with fixing themselves.
And a note for those familiar with our teachings on lowliness: there is somewhat of a paradox since lowliness is the inner experience of kingdom, which is associated with the feminine counterpart (Nukva). One might think because of this that women require more lowliness than men (and that the primary demand from a man is to have self-nullification, the inner experience of wisdom). But we have explained many times that this is not correct; it is the opposite.
In her pursuit of her connection with God, the woman is less in need of lowliness. The male’s lowliness is rooted in “his [definitive] foreskin.” A man who does not have the strength and courage to acknowledge “his foreskin” has a problem. He is not acting like a man by not taking responsibility, with lowliness, for his dark side and the evil within. That is why God created us with foreskin, even though He wanted us to perfect ourselves and thereby be able to rectify reality. This is the essence of the sages’ teaching that the work of the righteous is greater than the work of God.
This is precisely how God wants it. He wants to build the world on an initially imperfect reality, one that is even described as “trash.” Thus, to be male means to be born with definitive foreskin. This is the essence of rectifying kingdom through lowliness.
Our final partzuf is thus,
- crown-keter רֶתֶּכ
- knowledge-da’at תַעָּד
- circumcision overrides Shabbat and tzara’at תַעַרָה צָחֹוּה דָילִמּת וָּבַׁה שָחֹוּה דָילִמ
- wisdom-chochmah הָמְכָח
- the father is obligated to circumcise his son ֹנוְּת בֶל אּמוָב לָּיַב חָאָה
- understanding-binah הָינִּב
- parents joy on eighth dayּחוְמְׂשִים יִרֹהוַהֶׁי שִינִמְּׁשַּה בָילִמ
- loving-kindness-chessed דֶסֶח
- circumcision during the day הָלְיַּלַּא בֹלְם וֹויַּה בָילִמ
- might-gevurah הָרּבוְּג
- circumcision after sunrise "ֹתוָרּבוְגִּ בׁשֶמֶּׁשַאת הֵר "צַחַאְה לָילִמ
- beauty-tiferet תֶרֶאְפִּת
- circumcision on the eighth so that the child is healthyֹחוֹק כּוֵּזַחְתִּיֶׁי שִינִמְּׁשַּה בָילִמ
- victory-netzach חַצֶנ
- circumcision during day even when naturally postponed ידִמָּם - תֹויַּה בָילִמ
- splendor-hod דֹהו
- circumcision on the eighth when mother is ritually impure הָאֵמְם טֵאָהֶׁשְק כַּי רִינִמְּׁשַּה בָילִמ
- foundation-yesod דֹסוְי
- must be definitively maleֹתוָדֵע לַגֶרֵאי מַּדַר וָכָז
- kingdom-malchut תּכוְלַמ
- must have a definitive foreskin איַּדַה וָלְרָע
