Petach 27

בזה הרשימו נשרש כל מה שעתיד להיות. ומה שלא הושרש שם – לא יכול להיות אחר כך. ואף על פי כן, כל המושרש שם לא היה יכול למצא, אלא אם כן הבלתי -תכלית עצמו ינהג אותו. אלא שהבלתי -תכלית אף על פי כן לא יפעול אלא מה שמושרש ברשימו.והיינו כנשמה המנהגת את הגוף רק לפי מה שהוא.

וזה נקרא קו אחד מא”ס ב”ה הנכנס בתוך החלל. כי זה הענין עצמו שהוא פועל ברשימו – היינו לפי הנבראים. אך הוא בעצמו פועל אותו בשלמותו. והנה זה הענין לפי הנבראים הוא הרשימו, אך בקו הוא מה שהוא לפי שלמותו. ועוד, זה הנפעל לפי הנבראים הוא הרשימו, אך הדרך שהא”ס פועל אותו הוא הקו, שהוא לפי בלתי תכליתו, כמו שהוא בלתי -תכלית:

Everything that was to exist (in the world) has its roots in this trace; in fact, whatever hasn’t its roots there couldn’t exist (in this world) afterwards. Yet, whatever is rooted there could only have come into being with the Infinite’s own (willingness for and His) governance of it. Still and all, the Infinite only interacts with phenomena that are rooted in the trace the way a soul governs a body in accordance with its makeup.

 

This (interaction on the part of the Infinite with the trace) is termed (His having extended) a single “line” from the Ein Sof (Himself, who sits outside of it) into the (center of the) “emptiness” (brought on by the Tzimtzum). Whatever God actually brings about within the trace (i.e., within the “emptiness” that contains the trace) is tailored to (the needs of) created phenomena, even though He Himself acts according to His perfection.

For (that contradiction can be explained as follows: ) from the perspective of created phenomena, it is the trace (at play here), while from the perspective of the line God is acting according to His own perfection. For indeed, from the perspective of created phenomena, whatever is done occurs in the trace while from the perspective of Ein Sof it occurs in the line (which functions) in accordance with God’s own infinitude.

(c) 2011 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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