Putting Everything in Its Place (1)

Given the correlation of parts we spoke of before, we can now understand Ramchal’s statement in Petach 33 (along with our extrapolations from it) that AV corresponds to the level of Chochma of Adam Kadmon; SaG corresponds to the level of Binah there; and MaH and BaN correspond to the levels of Zeir Anpin and Nukveh respectively.

Let’s see how Ramchal expands upon all this (and what we’d spoken of above) in Sefer HaIlan (1:3-4) [1].

“The first (world) is Adam Kadmon. Four ‘senses’ emit from its ‘face’: that of ‘seeing’, of ‘hearing’, of ‘smell’, and of ‘speech’. The four letters of the Tetragrammaton (which) are (also elements of) four expanded forms (known as) AV, SaG, MaH, and BaN as well as the (configurations of the) tropes, vowels, ‘crowns’, and letters, are all interconnected (and are all represnted in Adam Kadmon).

“AV is located in (Adam Kadmon’s) ‘cranium’. Its elements are hidden, but it emits them from the ‘hair’ on (Adam Kadmon’s) ‘head’.

“SaG emits from (its) ‘ears’ and below. (SaG’s) tropes (i.e., its own AV) is divided into three aspects: upper, middle, and lower. Its upper aspect is (centered in) the ‘ears’, its middle aspect is (centered in) the ‘nose’, and its lower aspect is (centered in) the ‘mouth’” [2].

It gets more complex after that, as we’ll see.

Notes:

[1]     This is also expanded on in at great length in Pitchei Chochma V’Da’at 30-34 as well as in the body of Ramchal’s comments to Klach.

[2]     See Otzrot Chaim TNTA 1.

(c) 2012 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org

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