And although created substance is also as naught before Him, [for everything, including the created yesh, is as naught before Him] - that is, it is essentially non-existent [Insertion by the Rebbe Shlita: "not only in relation to G-d's Essence, which utterly transcends worlds and creation, but also within creation"] in relation to the energy and light that flow into it, [this force and light deriving] from the kelim of the Ten Sefirot of Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, into which the Kav of the [infinite] Ein Sof- light radiates,

[Though we are speaking only of the creative force - the kelim of the Ten Sefirot - that animates created beings, this too may be termed "before Him," since within these kelim is found the radiance of the Ein Sof-light. And thus the degree of nullification of created beings is] like that of a sunray [while still in its source], within the sun.

[While they are still in the orb of the sun, sunrays are essentially non-existent: there they contribute no independently identifiable illumination. Nothing exists there but their source, the orb of the sun, the luminary from which they derive.] As explained in Likkutei Amarim [Tanya], Part II [26] - [that all created beings are truly nullified in relation to their source to the same degree as the sun's rays are nullified within their source.

In light of the above, how can we possibly say that if creation were to result from ilah and alul, created beings would not exist in a manner of yesh but would be nullified to their source, when in truth, even after they were created ex-nihilo they are still truly nullified within their source, like the sun's rays within the sun?]

The Alter Rebbe answers:] however, this is only "before Him," [as seen from the heavenly perspective - daat elyon - from which G-d knows creation], His knowledge [perceiving] from above netherwards. But [as seen from the earthbound perspective - daat tachton - of created beings], with a knowledge [that perceives] from below upwards, created yesh is an altogether separate thing, in this knowledge and apprehension from below.

[A created being perceives itself to be altogether separate and apart from the Source that creates it, not recognizing its ongoing dependence on it.

Though aware that it came into being by virtue of a G-dly Source, it nevertheless considers its own existence to be yesh ("being"), and its G-dly Source, ayin (lit., "nothingness").

This does not mean to imply, explains the Alter Rebbe, that a created being regards its Source is non-existent. Rather, the term ayin has a twofold connotation:

1. "incomprehensible": A created being is incapable of comprehending its Source. When it calls Him ayin, it means that He does not exist within its range of comprehension.

2. "existing differently": The Source exists so differently, so far beyond the pattern of existence familiar to the created being, that the latter calls its Source "non-existent" - He in fact does not exist within that earthbound frame of reference. This is what the Alter Rebbe now goes on to say:]

For the force that [creates it and continuously] flows into it is not understood [by the created being] at all. [The created being therefore calls its Source ayin since He does not exist in its world of comprehension.

Another reason for its calling the Source ayin, as the Alter Rebbe now continues, lies in the fact that He exists in an entirely different manner, there being no similarity between created and Creator.]

Moreover, there is no approximation whatever from the one to the other, [from the yesh to the ayin], neither does the relation between them partially or minimally resemble the approximation between an effect [alul] and its cause [ilah. The ayin does not exist at all in the same manner as does the yesh which it creates.

If, for example, intellection were to create a rock, the rock's manner of existence would be so distant and so different from that of its source, that from its perspective it would be immaterial whether it had been created by intellection or from nothing at all. Intellection simply does not exist in the rock's mode of existence.]

For an alul knows and has some apprehension of its ilah, [Since the ilah (cause) does exist in the world of comprehension of the alul (effect), the latter is affected by the comprehension of its ilah:] and it becomes nullified in relation to it [to the ilah] through this knowledge and apprehension. [A yesh, by contrast, has absolutely no apprehension of the ayin that is responsible for its creation.]

Even with respect to their intrinsic nature and essence there is not such a great distinction [between an ilah and its alul], except that one is a cause and the other is an effect;

[The ilah and alul of intellect and emotion serve as a perfect example: Essentially, emotion is already to be found in its source, as "emotion within intellect" (middot shebaseichel), even before it exists alone as a distinct entity. But though "emotion within intellect" exists in a different manner from pure emotion, they are in essence the same.]

Yet [this distinction] neither partially nor minimally resembles the distinction between the essence of a created substance and the essence of the energy and light that flow into it, to create it from ayin to yesh. [Ayin and yesh are inherently and entirely different; the ayin does not exist at all in the manner that the yesh does.]

This is why [creation] is called [27] precisely yesh me-ayin - [ex nihilo, "something out of nothing."

For although even the created yesh is aware that "Everything derives from You," it nevertheless calls its Source ayin for the two above- mentioned reasons: the Source "does not exist" in the limited world of the creature's comprehension, and it "does not exist" in the same manner as the yesh.

[Having explained in general terms why the creation of a substantial yesh from spirituality can only come about in a manner of ex-nihilo (and not in a manner of ilah and alul), the Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain that the first stage of the created yesh is the kelim of the Ten Sefirot of the Worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.

For though they are considered Sefirot, and as such they constitute the Divinity in these three worlds, the kelim of these Sefirot already comprise an element of yesh. This is true even within the World of Atzilut, except that there the kelim are emanated (as a yesh hane-etzal, implying connectedness to their Source), rather than created (as a yesh hanivra, implying separateness from their Source).

As the Alter Rebbe will soon state, the creation of yesh as a distinct entity derives primarily from the Sefirah of Malchut in the World of Atzilut: it is specifically through this Sefirah that G-d's infinite ability to create yesh me-ayin is revealed.]

Now, the kelim of the Ten Sefirot of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and also the orot - Nefesh and Ruach, are the first stage and the beginning of created substantiality [yesh.

The orot ("lights") that vest themselves in the kelim and thereby animate them, consist of Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah, which are simultaneously three levels in the soul, and three levels in the life-force ("light") that animates the worlds at large. The lower two of these, Nefesh and Ruach, also comprise an element of yesh.]

[The kelim] were created from the category of Neshamah of the Ten Sefirot of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, this [Neshamah of the Ten Sefirot] being Divinity.

[I.e., the G-dliness of the Sefirot creates the yesh of the kelim of the Sefirot and also their Nefesh and Ruach.]

And these [orot of the Sefirot] are the thirty kelim of [the Sefirah of] Malchut of [the World of] Atzilut.

[In the World of Atzilut, even the external aspect of the kelim of Malchut is G-dliness. It is this external aspect of the kelim of Malchut that vests itself in the Worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah and becomes their soul and life-force. These external kelim are composed of three tenfold levels - the innermost kelim, the intermediary kelim, and the outermost kelim - thirty in all.]

It is likewise in Atzilut, [that the emanated yesh derives from the external aspect of the kelim of Atzilut.] From the chitzoniyut [the external aspect] of the kelim of the Ten Sefirot of Atzilut, which are G-dliness, were created the Heichalot [the Celestial Chambers] of Atzilut, [Unlike the kelim and Sefirot in which there is vested the internal level of the orot, these Heichalot are an external aspect of the World of Atzilut.]

In which the category of the Iggulim of the Ten Sefirot vests itself, [The term Iggulim (lit., "circles") refers to the "encompassing" mode of influence (or makkif) of the Sefirot, which does not permeate the created beings which it illuminates.

A penetrating mode of influence (or pnimi) would make the animated object resemble the life-force that animates it. The exterior or encompassing mode of influence called Iggulim, by contrast, allows the animated object to perceive itself as a yesh, albeit an emanated form of yesh.]

And also the bodies of the angels of Atzilut, which are a form of yesh, [are created from the external kelim of the Sefirot of Atzilut], as it is written, [28] "And His angels He charges with deficiency," [29] [The phrase "His angels" implies those nearest to G-d, viz., the angels of the World of Atzilut. Yet even these are deficient in that they are yesh and not Divinity.]

Because they are not wholly in a state of nullification as the alul is in relation to its ilah, [for they are created in a manner of yesh from ayin.]

   

Notes:

26. (Back to text) Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, ch.3.

27. (Back to text) Note of the Rebbe Shlita: [Not only from the perspective of the yesh, but] also according to the truth.

28. (Back to text) Iyov 4:18.

29. (Back to text) The last word of the Hebrew quotation is vocalized with a kamatz, kamatz katan, and kamatz.