Chapter 3
Now, the idea here can be understood from on an analogy regarding the statement of our Sages (Bereishis Rabbah 10:6): “There is no blade of grass below that grows without its spiritual source ‘striking’ it and commanding it to grow,” and a similar idea is found in the verse (Koheles 5:7): “there are many lofty levels of angels, one higher than the other” (see Koheles Rabbah 5:1).
We see from the Sages and the above verse that everything that exists in this world has a spiritual source, and its spiritual source has an even higher spiritual source, and this spiritual system has many, many levels.
Now, a physical apple has sweetness that the palate physically tastes in the food. Should we, therefore, say that the spiritual power of vegetative growth contained in the soil also has a sweet taste? And obviously, regarding the “mazal-spiritual source of life-flow,” which transcends physicality to such an extent that it is not comparable or in the same category at all as the physical apple, it certainly does not have physical sweetness!
Rather, the idea is that the physical taste of sweetness derives from the spiritual idea of sweetness, which is Kindness, and similarly the physical taste of bitterness is a derived from the spiritual aspect of Severity. But these are spiritual levels and not physical qualities, so, how can the physical taste derive from a spiritual level?
However, as a result of the “Hishtalshelus” (chainlike hierarchy) and order of descending spiritual levels, from one to the next, these abstract, spiritual levels materialized to the point that physical sweetness developed from the level of Chesed-Kindness. This is true even though there is no direct connection between the two, nevertheless, physical sweetness shares the same profile of attributes as kindness.
And similarly, we see many types of enjoyable things and sweetness regarding spiritual matters, such as the delight of understanding an intellectual idea, which is also a type of sweetness. And similarly, the delight of a melody sung from the emotions of the heart. Therefore, by way of numerous levels of descent, this spiritual kindness becomes an actual, physical taste of sweetness, even though there is a great difference and distinction between the idea of sweetness expressed in spiritual kindness and the physical taste of sweetness.
The idea is the same regarding Chochma-Wisdom, which also has many different levels and instances, “one level above the other...” Chochma also exists on many corresponding levels, varying from more abstract and spiritual to more physical and tangible.
Now, even though Chochma of Beriya is completely beyond the level of known and revealed Chochma of Asiya, it is still the source and root from which the revealed Chochma of Asiya comes to be. Beriyah is the highest of the created worlds, where the highest souls and angels exist. Asiya is the lowest of the created worlds, which contains the physical world. The wisdom that exists in the physical dimension is completely incomparable to the lofty spiritual wisdom of the world of Beriya. Nonetheless, since the Wisdom of Beriya is a type of wisdom that created beings can comprehend, it can serve as the source for the wisdom of all the lower created worlds, including the wisdom that exists in the physical world.
And similarly, for Chochma of Atzilus, even though it is described as “Wise, but not with a knowable Wisdom,” it is the source of the source of Chochma of Asiya. The wisdom of Asiya, of the physical world, is derived from the wisdom of the world above it, the wisdom of Yetzira, which is derived from the wisdom of Beriya. Thus, even though Beriya is a stage removed from Asiya (separated by the world of Yetzira), nonetheless, it is ultimately the source of the wisdom of Asiya. Similarly, even though Atzilus is far removed from the wisdom of Beriya, nonetheless, ultimately it is the source of the wisdom of Beriya. Based on this, even the wisdom of Asiya is actually derived from the wisdom of Atzilus, not directly, but as the source of the source of its wisdom.
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, the Chochma is “found from nothingness.”
