Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah

1) Rabbi Hanania Son of Akashia says, “The Creator wished to cleanse Israel; hence, He has given them plentiful Torah and Mitzvot (commandments), as it is written, ‘The Lord was pleased, for His righteousness' sake, to make the teaching great and glorious’” (Makot, 23b). It is known that “cleansing” is derived from the (Hebrew) word, “purifying” ...

17) Thus far we have clarified the three basic elements in the wisdom. The first is the Light and the Kli, where the Light is a direct extension of His Essence, and the Kli is the will to receive, which is necessarily included in that Light...

26) Thus we have thoroughly clarified the issue of the Masach that has been placed in the Kli of Malchut—the Behina Dalet after having been restricted—and the issue of the five kinds of Zivug de Hakaa within it, which produce five levels of ten Sefirot one below the other. Now we shall explain the five Partzufim of AK, which precede the worlds ABYA....

30) To understand the issue of the concatenation of the degrees by five levels one below the other, explained above concerning the five Partzufim of AK, as well as in all the degrees appearing in the five Partzufim of each world of the four worlds ABYA, through Malchut of Assiya, we must thoroughly understand the issue of the Hizdakchut (purification) of the Masach de Guf, implemented in each of the Partzufim of AK, the world of Nekudim, and the world of Tikkun (correction)...

46) Now we have clarified the Bitush of Ohr Makif and Ohr Pnimi, occurring after the expansion of the Partzuf into a Guf. This causes the Masach de Guf to purify, all the Lights of the Guf to depart, and the Masach with the Reshimot that remain in it rise to Peh de Rosh, where they are renewed with a new Zivug de Hakaa, and produce a new level in the measure of Aviut in the Reshimot. Now we shall explain the four types of Lights, TANTA (Taamim, Nekudot, Tagin, Otiot), occurring with the Bitush of Ohr Makif and the ascents of the Masach to Peh de Rosh...

You already know the difference between the two Malchuts in each Partzuf—the mating Malchut and the ending Malchut. Ten Sefirot of Ohr Hozer emerge from the Masach in the mating Malchut, clothing the ten Sefirot of Upper Light, called “ten Sefirot de Rosh,” that is, only roots. From there down, the ten Sefirot de Guf of the Partzuf expand in the form of Hitlabshut (clothing) of Lights in complete Kelim...

56) Thus we have thoroughly explained the issue of Tzimtzum Aleph (the first restriction), carried out on the Kli of Malchut—Behina Dalet—so it would not receive the Upper Light within it. We have also explained the issue of the Masach and its Zivug de Hakaa with the Upper Light, which raises Ohr Hozer. This Ohr Hozer became new vessels of reception instead of Behina Dalet...

65) Thus we have learned that Tzimtzum Bet occurred only in Partzuf Nekudot de SAG, positioned from Tabur de AK downwards, through its Sium Raglin, that is, above the point of this world. Know that all the changes that followed the second restriction came only in that Partzuf Nekudot de SAG, and not Above it...

69) Now that you know about the Tzimtzum Bet that occurred in Partzuf Nekudot de SAG for the purpose of emanating the ten Sefirot of the world of Nekudim, the fourth Partzuf of AK, we shall go back to explaining the elicitation of the ten particular Sefirot of Nekudim. The elicitation of one Partzuf from the next has already been explained...

79) Now we shall explain the ten Sefirot de Gadlut (adulthood/greatness) of Nekudim, which emerged on the MAN de Reshimot of ZON de AK below its Tabur (Item 71). First, we must understand the raising MAN. Thus far, we have only discussed the ascent of the Masach de Guf to the Peh de Rosh of the Upper One, once it has purified...

86) Know, that the Nekudot (dots) are divided into three Behinot—Rosh, Toch, and Sof, which are: Upper Nekudot, above the Otiot (letters), included in the name, Holam; Middle Nekudot, inside the Otiot, included in the name, Shuruk or Melafom, meaning Vav and a point within it; Lower Nekudot, below the Otiot, included in the name, Hirik...

92) It has already been explained that due to the lower Hey’s ascent to Nikvey Eynaim, which occurred in Tzimtzum Bet, when the Katnut of the ten Sefirot de Nekudim emerged, each degree was divided into two halves...

101) Now we have thoroughly explained the raising of MAN and the Sefira Daat, which are considered the Kelim de Panim de ZAT de Nekudim that extended and rose to AVI. This is because AVI received the new Light of AB SAG de AK from ZON de AK in the form of the point of Shuruk...

112) From the beginning of the preface to this point we have thoroughly explained the first four Partzufim AK...

120) It has been explained that the level of the new MA expanded into a whole world in itself, as well, like the world of Nekudim. The reason is, as it has been explained regarding the level of Nekudim, the doubling of the Masach from Behina Dalet, too. This is because the illumination of ZON de AK that shone through the Tabur and the Yesod to GAR de Nekudim brought Tzimtzum Aleph back to its place, and the lower Hey descended from her Nikvey Eynaim to the Peh, which caused all these levels of Gadlut de Nekudim to emerge...

134) It has already been explained that the emergence of the Gadlut of the GAR and ZAT de Nekudim came in three sequences, by way of the three points Holam, Shuruk, Hirik (Item 86). From this you can understand that there are two kinds of completion of ten Sefirot for reception of Mochin de Gadlut...

144) There are seven basic points to discern in the three worlds BYA...

155) The main difference between the Partzufim of AK and the Partzufim of the world of Atzilut is that the Partzufim of AK are from Tzimtzum Aleph, where each degree contains ten complete Sefirot. Also, there is only one Kli in the ten Sefirot—the Kli of Malchut, but the first nine Sefirot are only considered Lights...

180) In the spiritual worlds, everything is built according to the same principle, i.e., one can judge the common by the particular, and vice versa, the particular by the common...