Thus, there are two sorts of zivvugim (literally, “couplings)”: the zivvug of (the elements that comprise) the Middle, and the zivvugim of (the elements that comprise) the Beginning and End. For, while God’s Yichud has to be made manifest, it only comes about little by little and by means of zivvugim. “Left” surrenders to “Right”, and Good prevails as Evil returns to Good. Once the Yichud is made manifest in the Middle (epoch) the others (i.e., the other elements) of Beginning and End then automatically conjoin, as everything will then be One — Beginning, Middle, and End. And all will be Good without any Evil.
(It would not have happened before that) for as long as the Middle existed — which is (the paradigm of) “Name and Expression” as well as of “Benevolence versus Judgment” — there’s a differentiation between Beginning and End. For Beginning is (then only in a potential state) and not yet actualized as the End, which is (in a) realized (state). But once the Middle returns to Goodness, Beginning and End will automatically conjoin, which is the mystical import of (the expression) “I am first and I am last” (Isaiah 44:6).
That’s to say that the ultimate and inevitable coupling of Beginning and End (which are identical) will only come about once the coupling of the Middle — of all the elements of the cosmos including matter, paradox, ethics, reward and punishment, and more — occurs. But that slow process is purposeful, as we’ll see; God’s aim wouldn’t be served if it happened automatically and from the get-go.
© 2010 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman