Petach 11
ענין התמונה והדמיון הנמצא בספירות הוא יוצא מספירת המלכות, שהיא שורש לתחתונים, ומצדה נעשים כולם בצורה שהם נעשים. ועל כן אמרו שאי אפשר לעלות או לקבל אלא בה. ואפילו בתמונות הדמיונות עצמם נודע חכמה בענין ההנהגה, כי נודע איך צריכה השכינה להנהיג לצורך הענין ההוא. ולהביאו לתחתונים. אבל מתוכה משכילים הדברים למעלה ממנה. ששם הם כחות ומדות ממש:
The ability of the Sephirot to be represented in their images derives from the Sephira of Malchut, which is the root of the lower realms. It’s through Malchut that they are all set in their forms. That’s why it’s said that one can only “ascend” or “receive” through Malchut.
In fact, we even derive knowledge of (God’s) governance from the forms and images themselves, for thanks to them we can know how the Shechina (God’s Indwelling Presence) needs to govern for the sake of a particular matter (represented by a specific image) and to bring it about in the lower realms. And (from those images) we can (likewise) gain insight into the levels above where the capacities and attributes actually exist.
(c) 2011 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
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AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here at a discount.
You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here at a discount as well.
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence” and “Ramchal”.