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What the Kabbalists, said that every person is obligated to comprehend the root of his
soul means that the creature's purpose, most desired and full of hope, is bonding with the
Creator, as in the verse: "and to bond with Him"; and the Sages interpret this
as bonding with His Attributes, just as He is compassionate, so you . ... And so on. And
the matter of His Attributes is known to be the Sefirot, that seven Sefirot (His creation)
are acting and directing His world; for He measures out to them, by their means, His
influence and beneficence
Yet it is still necessary to understand why this is called "bonding" with the
Creator, for it appears that this is simply study (of the Spheres). And I will explain by
way of an illustration: we observe that in every deed performed in the world there adheres
and remains in that deed the very mind which performed it; so that in the table we sense
the mindful craft of the carpenter and his command of his craft, whether great or small,
for at the time of his work he evaluated it with his knowledge and intelligence, so that
one, who examines that deed and thinks about the mind concealed therein (realizes) it is
from its inception bound up with the mind that made it, that is, they are, in fact,
unified.
For truly, there is no distance nor division in spiritual entities and even if they
appear as distinct bodies, yet the intelligences within them can not be divided into
parts, for with what knife will you divide the spiritual that it should remain divided?
Rather, the main thing which divides spiritualities one from another is (difference in)
attributes; by which is meant praiseworthy attributes or discreditable attributes; also in
compounds (of spiritualities), for an intelligence that contemplates astrology will not
bond (compound) with one that contemplates natural science, and even in the same field of
wisdom there are found many compounds (of wisdom), for one supersedes his fellow by
(having acquired) one wisdom (more), and only by these (different attributes) are the
spiritualities divisible between men. However, when two men of wisdom think in one field
of wisdom in which both are equal with respect to that wisdom, and then they are, in fact,
unified, for what is there to differentiate them?
And therefore, when someone thinks about his friend's performance, and comprehends the
intelligence that he exercised in that performance, then both are equally involved with
one power and intelligence; they are, now, in fact, unified like a man who chances upon
his beloved friend in the market, and embraces and kisses him and to draw them apart is
impossible on account of the great bond between them.
And therefore, generally speaking, that aspect of Intelligence of which we speak is the
power (and intelligence), which is found between the Creator and His creatures, It is the
intermediary, (between Creator and creature), that is, He emanated one spark of
Intelligence by which all returns to Him. And recall the verse: "All of them You made
with wisdom", that is, He created the whole universe with His Wisdom; and, therefore,
he who merits to comprehend the ways in which He created the universe and its order,
surely bonds with the Intelligence of Him who caused them, and thus he bonds with the
Blessed Creator.
And this is the secret of the Torah; it is all the Creators of the Creator that
appertain to (can be comprehended by) the creatures, and then the creature comprehends by
their means the Intelligence which formed all.
For the Creator looked into the Torah at the time in which He created the world, as is
known then the Light (Neshama) that comprehends the ways of the creation bonds with that
Intelligence always and, thus, bonds with the Creator.
And with this we understand why the Creator showed us the Tool of His Craft; are we in
need to create worlds? rather from what we said above it is clear, that the Creator showed
us His Orders so that we would know how to bond with Him, which is the fulfillment of
"to bond with His Attributes."
Author: Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag
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