Bold and in quotes: Original text of Baal HaSulam
Regular: Commentaries of Rav Laitman
lowercase italics: emphasized words
Capitalized italics: transliteration from Hebrew
We are reading in the book Shamati, Article #111, Breath, Sound, and Speech.
There is a discernment of Breath, Sound, and Speech, there is a discernment of Ice, and there is the discernment of Terrible. Breath means Ohr Hozer (Returning Light), which comes out of the Masach (screen). This is a limiting force. As long as it is not accumulated to the measure of “let them not turn back to folly,” it is called “Breath.”
When its measure is completed, this limitation, the Masach with the Returning Light, is called “Sound.”
As we learn in the wisdom of Kabbalah, if the creature can, through his effort, draw the Light that Reforms that will correct him to the form of bestowal, with the intention to bestow, then it first limits himself on the path of correction. Besides limiting himself which is keeping the condition of Tzimtzum Aleph (the first restriction) of not receiving for oneself and being above the desire (that is only possible through the Light that Reforms, through the Upper Force that gives him this power to limit himself), the creature then can also come to a state called Ohr Hozer (Returning Light). There, it has not only the ability to limit itself but also the ability to bestow by receiving.
Therefore, breath is called the Returning Light that can be only in the vessels of bestowal. The sound is already the Returning Light in which Ohr Yashar (Direct Light) is clothed where one already uses the vessels of reception in order to bestow.
Sound is like a warning that tells him not to breach the laws of the Torah. And if he should breach, as soon as he breaches he will stop tasting.
It means that the Inner Light is lost; that he lost the flavors, the Light that expanded from Peh (mouth) to Tabur (navel). Then, his whole work, all his efforts and all the Light, which he disclosed in the in the breath and inthe sound, disappear from him.
Hence, when he knows for certain that if he breaches he will come to a halt, he retains the limitation.
And then he comes to a state of “Speech,” which is Malchut. At that time there can be the Zivug (spiritual coupling) of the Creator and Divinity, and illumination of Hochma (Wisdom) will extend below.
This means that through the Hevel (breath) he can come to the Kol (sound) and he learns how to use the Kol correctly. Then he comes to a state of speech, the internality, which is inside the sound, the disclosure of the flavors in the sound, those Lights that expand in the vessels of reception. And he discovers what is called the holy names. Namely, the Light fills the Kli (vessel) and a person attains the Light, which expands within the Kelim (vessels).
It is known that there are two degrees: 1) Bestowal without any reception.[Bestowing inorder to bestow]. 2) Reception in order to bestow.
Then, when he sees that he has already come to a degree where he can receive in order to bestow, why does he need the servitude, which is only in the form of bestowing in order to bestow? After all, the Creator senses more contentment from reception in order to bestow…
Then he really bestows because if he does not receive how can it bestow? Namely, the Creator exists in the lack of wanting to give, to delight the creations. Moreover, if he does not enjoy what comes to him from the Creator, then it also cannot give pleasure to the Creator.
…since the Light of Wisdom, which enters the vessels of reception, is the Light of the purpose of creation [namely to do good to His creations]. Hence, why should he engage in the work of bestowing inorder to bestow [This is only half the degree, only the preparation, the correction of the Kelim], which is the Light of the correction of creation? [When he receives the Light of Wisdom in order to bestow, this is called the Light of the purpose of creation.]
At that time he immediately stops tasting, and is then left bare and naked. This is because the Light of Hassadim (Mercy) is the Light that robes the Light of Hochma. And if the robe is missing, even though he has the Light of Hochma, he still has nothing with which to clothe the Hochma.
At that time he comes to the state called “the terrible ice.”
These are the definitions that we use in the wisdom of Kabbalah. The Light of Mercy has to be, at least, no less than the Light of Wisdom, which is its clothing. It is the clothing for the Light of Wisdom. There can be more [of it], therefore a person always checks how much Light of Mercy he has and how much Light of Wisdom he can receive in it, meaning, with the intention to bestow.
Should he miscalculate to less, we will not call it bestowal, because he can add more of bestowal. It is only the maximum and totalof bestowal that counts. He must always make sure that the clothing fits the body, that the Light of Mercy will receive as much fullness of Light of Wisdom as it can sustain.
If the Light of Mercy performs this kind of act with the reception of Light of Wisdom, it is called warming. The Light of Mercy is the Light of love, the Light of bestowal and the Light of care for another. That is why it is called warming. Whereas, if there is less Light of Mercy, then it’s the opposite of warming, it’s called cooling or ice, which comes because there is lack of consideration, lack of giving. There the Light of Wisdom that appears before the Kelim, appears in a stronger form than the Light of Mercy.
This is because Yesod de Abba, which gives Hochma, called “narrow of Hassadim…
In Yesod de Abba, it only has the Light of Hochma because it comes as the result of the expansion of the revealed Hochma in Partzuf AB. This is why the appearance of the Hochma is called narrow and long. Narrow, because it is from Hassadim and long is a sign of Hochma. It takes it from one end to another, from Ein Sof (Infinity) to this world. That is, the Light of Hochma expands from Above downward.
... and long of Hochma,” is Ice. It is like water that has been crystallized [because there is lack of Hassadim there]: although there is water, it does not expand below [They are solid] .
And Yesod de Ima is called “terrible,” considered short and wide. It is called “short” because there is blocking on the Hochma, because of the absence of Hochma there, due to the second Tzimtzum. And this is “terrible.” Hence, it is precisely by both: the Hochma extends through Yesod de Abba, and Hassadim extends through Yesod de Ima.
When these two bestowals of Hochma and Hassadim meet together and blend, then we have the right expansion of Light of Hochma within the Light of Hassadim and within the will to receive of the soul. Then there is the complete appearance in the breath, the sound and the speech.
Question: How do we measure the quantity of mercy compared to the quantity of wisdom?
We do so by three lines, the Masach of Hirik. We always have an example from the Upper One what to do. A person who begins to work from bestowal in order to bestow, to receive in order to bestow, comes to a state where he must unite the two lines into a line of his own, with his own calculation. This is called the middle line.
The middle line is the soul itself, meaning, the vessels of reception where he has the will to receive from the left and the intention that he acquires over it from the right. Then he builds his Kli.
When he builds the screen over the will to receive, he considers it as having Hevel (breath), “ HevelHevalim, it is all Hevel.” Then the sound, the power of the Ohr Hozer that he develops, to bestow in order to bestow. Then he even has the speech, receiving in order to bestow, when he already has flavors and he attains things. He attains the Hochma, which is speech.
Speech is the detailing. It is as “a woman, who tells her husband.” It is when there is a connection between the will to receive and the filling and the attainment of the Hochma, in the form of the internality of the Hochma. One attains it all through the middle line. From Above, we have the corresponding preparation from the Rosh of Arich Anpin and then in the Yesodot of Abba ve Ima it comes below to the person, to ZON of Atzilut, who elevates their lack with the NRN deTzadikkim.
It turns out that the deficiency they elevate is specifically to the middle line. You do not elevate the deficiency saying, “I want Hochma or I want a Masach.” But the result of it, that's the MAN when we want to be in equivalence of form. And the equivalence of form is the middle line. Then the Upper One, correspondingly, brings the form of the middle line and by that teaches the lower one.
There is an example. This example is called NHY of Ima when a Partzuf drops below into the lower one. In other words, the lower one attains the higher Partzuf in a way that it had shown it. That's not a Partzuf to work with; it is a Partzuf from whichto learn. There are many modes there… But the lower one learns from the Upper One how to do, “see and sanctify.”
And when the Upper One shows the lower one what to do, the lower one learns from that. And this is called that the work of correct blending of Yesodot de Abba ve Ima, reaches the lower one and the lower one repeats them and builds of them, according to that example, the middle line. This is until it comes to speech, to the internal understanding of his Upper Ones, of Abba ve Ima, when he rises by himself to Abba ve Ima with his vessels of reception.
Baal HaSulam is just explaining to us what we already know but in different words. We always have a will to receive. We have to limit it in Tzimtzum Aleph (first restriction). And then, beyond the Tzimtzum, we have the Masach, which limits the desire. Then there is bestowing in order to bestow, when a person works only with vessels of bestowal and in that, he still does not give contentment to the Creator from itself, practically. He then comes to receive in order to bestow.
As we say, Ibur, Yenika and Mochin (conception, sucking and braininess). In Ibur we have the breath, in Yenika the sound and in Mochin we have the speech. However, we have nothing more than the work of Kelim that want to resemble the Light.