Let’s sum-up what Ramchal offers about the Sephirot in this section. He depicts them here as emanations or illuminations and attributes of God’s will that suddenly and purposely came into play when He wanted them so as to create the various esoteric and concrete worlds, and which He now uses to govern them.
And he offers that unlike God’s own simple light or presence which is utterly unfathomable, and in contrast to certain other extraordinarily sublime phenomena that also don’t share this trait, these illuminations were each allowed to be “envisioned” as a single, mystical “illumination” by prophets and other exalted souls [1].
The Sephirot were granted that capacity, we’re told, for our sakes alone — so we might understand each attribute itself as well as understand what would be taking place in the governing process “down here, on earth” through that attribute “up there, in the heavens” at that time.
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Notes:
[1] The “other extraordinarily sublime phenomena” cited here refer to certain Partzufim discussed below, including Reisha d’la Ityada (“The Head that cannot be Fathomed”) and others. They and their functions cannot be envisioned or “read”.
(c) 2011 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org
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