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Chapter 52
And as with the soul of a person, the chief revelation of the whole of the life is in the brains, and all the limbs receive light and power only, which shines to them from the source of the revelation of the life that is in the brains, so, exactly, by way of analogy, the chief revelation of the whole of the drawing of the life, to give life to the worlds and to the creatures in them, is clothed and included in His will, His wisdom, His understanding, and His knowledge, blessed be He, which are called by the name brains. And these very ones are clothed in the Torah and its mitzvot (commanded deeds). And the revelation of the whole of this drawing is the source of the life, and the worlds receive from it, each one in its own particular way, only a ray that spreads and shines from this source, like light spreading from the sun, by way of analogy, and like the powers of the limbs of the body from the brain spoken of above.
And this source is what is called the revealed world, and the Queen, and the lower mother, and Shekhinah (the divine presence), from the expression “And I will dwell within them” (Exodus 25:8), for this source is the beginning of the revelation of the light of Ein Sof (the Endless), which He draws and shines to the worlds in an aspect of revelation. And from this source there is drawn to each one the particular light and life that fit it, and it dwells and clothes itself within them, to give them life. And therefore it is called, by way of analogy, the mother of the children, and the Assembly of Israel, because from this source the souls of Atzilut (emanation) were emanated, and the souls of Beriah (creation) were created, and so on. And all of them are nothing but the spreading of the life and the light from this source, which is called Shekhinah, like the spreading of light from the sun. But the Shekhinah itself, which is the beginning of the revelation and its core, that which Ein Sof, blessed be He, shines to the worlds in an aspect of revelation, and which is the source of all the drawings of life in all the worlds, [for all the life in them is only light that spreads from it, like the light that spreads from the sun], the worlds cannot bear or receive the light of His Shekhinah, that it should dwell and clothe itself within them in actuality, without a garment that conceals and hides its light from them, lest they be annulled in their existence completely in their source, as the light of the sun is annulled in its source, in the body of the sun, where this light is not seen, only the substance of the body of the sun alone.
And what is the garment that can hide it and clothe it, and that will not be annulled in its existence in its light? It is His will, blessed be He, and His wisdom, and so on, which are clothed in the Torah and its mitzvot, revealed to us and to our children. For the Torah comes forth from wisdom. This is the supernal wisdom, higher and higher than the revealed world, for He is wise, and not with a wisdom that is known, and so on. And as was explained above, the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, is clothed and united in the supernal wisdom, and He, blessed be He, and His wisdom are one. Only, it descended through the concealment of the levels, from level to level, in the downward chain of the worlds, until it was clothed in physical things, which are the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. And in its descent, in the chain from world to world, the Shekhinah too descended and was clothed in it, in each and every world. And this is the palace of the Holy of Holies in each and every world. And as it is written in the Zohar and in the Tree of Life, the Shekhinah, which is malchut (kingship) of Atzilut, [which is the aspect of the revelation of the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, and of the life that shines to the worlds, and therefore it is called the word of Hashem (God) and the breath of His mouth, as it were, by way of analogy, as with a person, whose speech reveals his sealed and hidden thought to those who hear], is clothed in the palace of the Holy of Holies of Beriah, which is the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of Beriah. And by their being clothed in malchut of Beriah, the souls and the angels that are in Beriah were created, and from there also the Talmud that is before us is drawn. And as we wrote above in the name of the Tikkunim, in the world of Beriah the wisdom, the understanding, and the knowledge of Ein Sof, blessed be He, shine and flow forth there in an aspect of a mighty contraction, so that the souls and the angels, which are limited and finite, should be able to receive influence from this aspect of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. And therefore the Talmud is drawn from there, and it too is an aspect of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, for the Talmud is the reasons of the laws in their clear form, and the reasons are an aspect of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. And the laws themselves are from the attributes of Ein Sof, blessed be He, which are kindness, judgment, and mercy, and so on, and from them are drawn the permitted and the forbidden, the fit and the unfit, and the liable and the exempt, as it is written in the Tikkunim.
And with the clothing of malchut of Atzilut in malchut of Beriah, it is clothed in the palace of the Holy of Holies of Yetzirah (formation), which is the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of Yetzirah. And by their being clothed in malchut of Yetzirah, the spirits and the angels that are in Yetzirah were formed. And from there also is the Mishnah that is before us, which is decided laws, drawn likewise from the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of Ein Sof, blessed be He. Only, the aspect of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, which are the reasons of the laws, are clothed and stored away in the bodies of the laws, and not in an aspect of revelation. And the bodies of the laws, which are in an aspect of revelation, are themselves the shining of the attributes of Ein Sof, blessed be He, in an aspect of revelation. As we wrote above in the name of the Tikkunim, six sefirot (divine channels) nest in Yetzirah. In a general way they are two lines, right and left: to be lenient from the side of kindness, that is, to permit, so that it can ascend to Hashem, or to be strict, and so on. And all of it is according to the supernal wisdom of Atzilut, and understanding and knowledge are included in it and united with Ein Sof, blessed be He. For within all of them are clothed the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of Atzilut, and the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, is united in them in the utmost union. And in this same way the Shekhinah descended and was clothed in the palace of the Holy of Holies of Asiyah (making). And each world of these three worlds is divided into myriads of levels, which are also called particular worlds. And malchut of Atzilut is clothed in the malchut of each particular world [Gloss: and with this the wording of the verse will be understood: “Your kingdom is a kingdom of all worlds” (Psalms 145:13)], and it descends and is clothed in the palace of the Holy of Holies, which is the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the world that is a level below it.
Now, from the Shekhinah that is clothed in the palace of the Holy of Holies of each and every world, general or particular, light and life are drawn and spread from it to that whole world and to the creatures in it, souls and angels and so on, for all of them were created by the ten sayings in the work of the Beginning, which are the word of Hashem, called by the name Shekhinah:
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