Chapter 3
However, regarding the fact that we say that “You are wise,” referring to the original stage of Hashem’s Infinite Light becoming invested into Chochma, we say that the Chochma itself literally “Comes from ‘ayin-nothing knowable at any level,’” i.e., His Infinite and Unknowable Light, which is a level that is completely beyond the ability any world, even Chochma of Atzilus, to relate to and comprehend.
Therefore, of the fact that His Infinte and Unknowable Light came into Chochma of Atzilus expresses Hashem’s humility, since it is a great descent from Him, as it were.
We had a question before: How can we praise Hashem for “being Wise” through His coming into Chochma-Wisdom of Atzilus, if we do not comprehend Chochma of Atzilus at all? (Like we said above, it would be like a young child praising the wisdom of a great genius that he does not understand in the first place.)
The answer, based on the above teaching of the maamar, is: Even though we cannot directly understand Chochma of Atzilus, the fact is, that the only reason that there exists any wisdom in any of the created worlds, including our physical world, is only because Chochma of Atzilus exists. If there wouldn’t be Chochma of Atzilus, then there wouldn’t be wisdom in Beriya, or Yetzira, or Asiya, or in the physical world. Only after Hashem limited and contracted His Unknowable Light into the “limitation” of Chochma of Atzilus, can any other definable and knowable wisdom exist at all.
That is why we praise Hashem for “being Wise” in Chochma of Atzilus, since, ultimately, the wisdom that we understand in this world is derived from Chochma of Atzilus. The wisdom of Hashem we see in how Hashem creates nature and how living things work etc., which we can understand, ultimately is also derived from Chochma of Atzilus. In that sense, we praise Hashem as “being wise” in Chochma of Atzilus.
(An analogy: a person can praise the wisdom of an architect from the beauty of his building’s appearance, even though he doesn’t understand the deep wisdom that went into the structural design and engineering etc., since, even the external beauty of the building is ultimately derived from that deep wisdom.)
And this is the significance of the term “Atzilus” in the Holy Language of Hebrew: it is an expression of descent and lowering, of someone going from a higher level and lowering himself, as if he is on a lower level.
As the verse states regarding Moshe Rabbeinu (Bamidbar 11:17), “And I will draw drown from the spirit that is upon you and place it upon them, and they will share the burden of the people with you, so you will not carry it alone.”
Since he [Moshe] said (ibid. v. 13), “From where will I get meat to feed this entire nation?”
This story is described in Parshas Behaalosecha. There the “Eirev Rav-mixed multitude” of converts complained that they wanted to eat meat instead of the munn, and they convinced a large group of the Jewish people to complain as well. Moshe asked Hashem how would he be able to provide meat for all the people that want? Moshe added that it was too difficult for him to take care of the people by himself.
Hashem told him to gather 70 sages, and that He would transfer Moshe’s prophetic power onto them, and they would help him take care of the people. Then Hashem caused a flock of fat birds to descend onto the Jewish camp for the meat-hungry people.
The implication of this story is that there is a connection between Moshe’s “inability” to provide meat for the people, and the transferring of prophetic powers onto 70 sages. The Alter Rebbe will explain this connection:
Since he was on such a high level, he was therefore unable to bring himself down low enough to be able to bring down the spiritual flow to be manifest in physical meat.
Therefore, Hashem told Moshe, “Gather for me 70 men,” who were on a lower level than Moshe, and able to relate more to physicality, not lower in the sense that they would be actually be on the coarse level of the meat-hungry people, rather, “And I will draw down the spirit that is upon you and place it upon them,” meaning, that Hashem is saying “I will draw down and extend your spiritual status to those below you, and place it upon them,” so that they may also access this lofty spiritual level, and take down from Moshe’s power to a level lower than Moshe could descend to by himself, i.e., to the level of giving meat.
However, they were unable to ascend to Moshe’s own level, but they were able to access some degree of it from their own level.
Similarly, Above, the idea of Atzilus is a descent so that Hashem’s Infinite Light can come down and be invested into the Sefira of Chochma.
Therefore, the Ten Sefiros of Atzilus are known as “Ten Tikkunim/Adornments,” since they are only “garments” for Hashem’s Infinite Light, but not the Light itself.
Nevertheless, they are not actual “garments,” but “adornments,” since “He [the Infintie Light] and His Keilim of the Sefiros are one.”
Meaning that the Keilim-Vessels of the Sefiros of Atzilus are unified with Hashem, as explained previously. The sefiros are not like clothing that serve a separate function, but rather, like jewelry and adornments that are as one with the wearer. Just as jewelry serves to bring out the inherent beauty of the wearer, so do the sefiros of Atzilus serve only to reveal Hashem’s Infinite Light, but they do not serve their own function as “sepearated garments.”
This is not the case regarding the Sefiros of the worlds of Beriya, Yetzira and Asiya, as explained previously.
We mentioned above that the Sefiros of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya are themselves “garments” for the the Ten Sefiros of Atzilus. However, they do not have the level of unity with the Infinte Light of Hashem the Sefiros of Atzilus possess. They are like the “separted garments” that cover over the person, and only tell you about the person through the choice of “style” of the covering, as explained at length above.
