האורות אינם מוציאים תולדותיהם עד שיעמדו בערך אליהם. כי אור גדול לא יקרא עילה לנברא אחד קטן כי לא יצא ממנו לעולם, שהרי המאציל ית”ש שם חק ההדרגה.
ולפי זה, הדין שנתגלה ברשימו, לא הגיע למדרגה שיוכל ליקרא סיבה כלל אל הס”א, עד שהגיע לעשות הכלי בנקודים, כי למעלה מזה לא נראה שום ענין שייך לעניני הס”א כלל. אך כנקודים נגלה איזה דבר שיש לו שייכות לענינה, כי רק כאן היה המונח הכללי של כל אבי”ע האלה, המגיעים עד הגשמיות, ועד סוף כל הנמצא.
Lights only produce their offshoots once they reach their appropriate levels. For a great light cannot be termed the direct “cause” of one lone, minor created phenomenon since the latter would never emerge directly from the former. For, God formulated the tenet of things coming about in sequences.
As such, the degree of “judgment” that was revealed in the Trace in the space formed by the Tzimtzum did not reach the level it would need to in order to be called the direct cause of the other side until it came to produce a vessel in Nikkudim. For we find nothing that relates in any way to the other side on the higher levels. But something is revealed in Nikkudim that does bear some relation to it, which is the rule of vessels. For there alone in Nikkudim lies the general foundation consisting of the worlds of Atzilut, Briah, Yetzirah and Assiyah that extend downward to the material level and to the end of all existence including the other side.
(c) 2012 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
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Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
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