Explains the four Olamot ABYA and the differences among them; containing six issues:
1. All the items in Olam Atzilut are evaluated by the above four Behinot of Aviut.
2. Ohr Ein Sof expands in Olam Atzilut without any Masach.
3. Ohr Ein Sof does not expand below Atzilut, except in a He’arah that extends from it through a Masach.
4. Eser Sefirot de Olam Beria come from the Zivug de Hakaaof the Ohr Elyon with the Masach between Atzilut and Beria, and from the Zivug de Hakaa between Beria and Yetzira come Eser Sefirot de Olam Yetzira; so it is also from Yetzira to Assiya.
5. The differences among the four Olamot are that in Atzilut there is no Masach at all; in Beria there is one Masach, in Yetzira two Masachim and in Assiya three Masachim.
6. There is no difference of Aviut whatsoever between the Olamot; as it is in Atzilut, so it is in BYA.
There is no Masach in Olam Atzilut.
1. They are four Behinot where all the items of Atzilut are distinguished from her and within her, but they are all without a Masach whatsoever (1). It is called Olam Atzilut because Ohr Ein Sof itself expanded throughout it without a Masach.
Ohr Pnimi
1. It is a rule that Aviut and Masach cannot diminish or impair the place where they appear from above, not even a bit. The Ohr Hozer ascends because of the Masach in Kli de Malchut and clothes from itself upward through all nine Sefirot. However, the force of Aviut in the Masach does not rise upward whatsoever.
For that reason the nine Sefirot of Atzilut are considered to be without any Masach at all. Many Masachim that appear in every Partzuf in Atzilut are discerned in Olam Atzilut too, such as Masach de Peh and de Chazeh etc., which is the conduct in every particular Partzuf in Atzilut.
However, these are not actual Masachim; they come from the Hitkalelut of the Tachton in the Elyon. Only the Masach de Sium Raglaim of Atzilut is an actual Masach that stops the Ohr Elyon (see Histaklut Pnimit, Chap 14).
Ein Sof does not expand below Atzilut except through a Zivug de Hakaa in the Masach at the Sium of Olam Atzilut. Then the Eser Sefirot pass through the Masach to Olam Beria. Also, Eser Sefirot pass to Olam Yetzira by the Zivug de Hakaa at the Sium of Beria. The same occurs between Yetzira and Assiya.
2. Indeed, Ein Sof itself does not expand from there downward, but only in a He’arah that extends from it through a Masach (2). There is a Masach and Pargod that separates between Atzilut and Beria. Because of that Hakaa of the Ohr Elyon that reaches there (3), it struck that Pargod by the power of the Eser Sefirot de Atzilut that reached there. It struck their Ohr there, and Orot glittered (4) through that Masach and became the Eser Sefirot de Beria from the glittering of the Eser Sefirot de Atzilut because of the power of the Masach.
By the power of the Eser Sefirot de Kelim, Eser Sefirot of other Kelim were made, and by the power of Eser Sefirot de Atzmut, other Eser Sefirot de Atzmut de Beria were made. Also, another Masach was erected at the end of Beria (5), and the Eser Sefirot de Yetzira were made because of the Hakaa of the Eser Sefirot de Beria (6) in Atzmut and Kelim in the Masach. The same happened through that Masach from Yetzira to Assiya.
Now you can see why this is called Atzilut, the other is called Beria, and the others Yetzira and Assiya. It is because there is a Masach that separates between them, and one is not at all like the other (7).
Ohr Pnimi
2. The Ohr that is found in Olam Beria necessarily comes from Ein Sof for there is no He’arah in the Olamot that does not extend from Ein Sof. Yet, because the Ohr Ein Sof that expands to Beria passes through the Masach, its He’arah is greatly diminished. In fact, Ohr Ein Sof is regarded to have been stopped above the Masach. The Rav will explain in the following how Ohr passes through a Masach.
3. It means that there is a law in the Upper Olamot by which each inferior degree that generates additional Ohr to a superior degree, the inferior that generated it degree receives that additional Ohr back. It is the same with our matter: the Masach on Malchut de Atzilut caused that Ohr Hozer to ascend and clothe all nine Sefirot of Atzilut and become Kelim for them.
Without it there would not be an Ohr caught and clothed in Atzilut for an Ohr cannot be attained without a Kli. But since the Masach generated all that addition, meaning the above Ohr Hozer and Eser Sefirot, the Masach and Kli in Malchut expanded because of the descending Ohr Hozer that came back to it from the Masach downward. It drew for itself all those Eser Sefirot de Atzilut above, in their actual pattern.
Thus, Malchut de Atzilut alone extended and descended to Eser Sefirot from her and within her, like Eser Sefirot de Atzilut, meaning from Keter to Malchut. They are called Eser Sefirot of Olam Beria.
This is the meaning of the words of the Rav, that “because of that Hakaa of the Ohr Elyon that reaches there, it struck that Pargod by the power of the Eser Sefirot de Atzilut that reached there. It struck their Ohr there, and Orot glittered through that Masach and became the Eser Sefirot de Beria.”
There are two things we should discern here: the first cause is the Ohr Hozer: it rises by the Hakaa of Ohr Elyon in the Masach. That Ohr Hozer can go back down to the degree that caused its appearance. The second discernment is the cause of the clothing of the Atzmut of Ohr Ein Sof in the ten Kelim of the Ohr Hozer that ascended. They became the Eser Sefirot de Atzilut, which also return back down to the degree that generated their appearance.
The Rav states about the first discernment: “because of the Hakaa of Ohr Elyon in the Pargod.” It means that this Ohr Hozer descends once more from above downward to Olam Beria. The Rav states about the second discernment: “by the power of the Eser Sefirot de Atzilut” etc. From these two forces the Eser Sefirot of Olam Beria were formed.
4. In any place where Ohr Hozer appears is called Hitnotzetzut (glittering).
5. All Eser Sefirot of Atzilut were copied and sealed in Olam Beria. Hence, the Masach and Malchut were also sealed in Olam Beria, as was the Zivug de Hakaa of Ohr Elyon in the Masach and the ascent of Ohr Hozer that rises and clothes from the Masach upwards to all nine Sefirot of Olam Beria. This Ohr Hozer turned into the ten Kelim of Olam Beria where the Atzmut of the Ohr of Olam Beria is clothed.
6. The Ohr Hozer de Masach de Atzilut expanded once more from the Masach downward and stamped the Eser Sefirot de Beria as was explained in item 3 above. By the same manner, the Ohr Hozer that rose from Masach de Malchut de Beria, also returned, expanded downward and stamped the Eser Sefirot de Olam Yetzira. The same also applies from Yetzira to Assiya.
7. As we have written, Behina Dalet is called Malchut that a Masach was generated in her. She is divided into four Behinot of Masach, where all the changes and differences among the Olamot appear. Masach de Behina Gimel operates in Atzilut, Masach de Behina Bet in Beria and Masach de Behina Aleph in Yetzira.
The difference between Atzilut and BYA is that in Atzilut there is no Masach at all. In Beria the Ohr is decreased by one Masach, in Yetzira by two Masachim, and in Assiya by three Masachim. Still, there is no difference in the four Behinot of Hitabut of the Ohr Elyon among the Olamot.
3. The difference between Atzilut and the three Olamot is that in Atzilut, Ohr Ein Sof punctures it and passes it to the end of Atzilut without any Masach. However, from there downward there is a Masach.
The difference between Beria and Yetzira is that Beria has one Masach, Yetzira two Masachim and Assiya three Masachim. However, within each Olam, just as there are four Behinot in Atzilut (8), so there are four Behinot in Beria itself and in Yetzira itself (9).
Ohr Pnimi
8. It refers to the four Behinot of Hitabut, namely HB TM, previously referred to as Hitpashtut Ohr Ein Sof to make Kelim. They are also called Eser Sefirot de Ohr Yashar because Tifferet contains six Sefirot HGT NHY that rise once more as Ohr Hozer by the Zivug de Hakaa in the Masach in the Sefira of Malchut de Ohr Yashar. It clothes all inner Eser Sefirot de Ohr Yashar and turns them into one collective degree, according to the level of the Ohr Hozer in the level.
9. He thus tells us that these four Behinot de Ohr Yashar exist in any Olam and any Partzuf. There is no difference between a high degree and a low degree. All the disparities in the Partzufim and Olamot are there because of the Masachim and the Ohr Hozer in them. In that, there is not a single Masach that is like another.