Recap and opening — perhaps Atzilus is the purpose after all?
Welcome to the sixteenth lesson on the maamar Basi LeGani 5711. We open chapter 5.
Recall where we stood. In chapter 4 we reached a great foundation: creation — coming-into-being yesh me-ayin — comes only from the Etzem, not from the revelations. And therefore the purpose is not the upper worlds, which are only 'gilui ha'helem,' but specifically this lower world, which seems 'essential,' and in which, through avodah, the Etzem is revealed.
But a question remained hanging, and with it we begin today. We said Atzilus is 'only revelation' and therefore not the purpose. But that is true only according to one opinion. There is a second opinion in Kabbalah, which says that part of Atzilus — its 'vessels' — were specifically created 'yesh me-ayin,' just like this world. And if so, perhaps Atzilus can after all be the purpose?
This is not a technical question. It touches the heart of the matter: is the peak of creation some sublime spiritual world, or specifically the physical floor on which we stand? The maamar does not flee the question. It takes both opinions, one after the other, and shows that even according to the 'strongest' one — Atzilus is still not the purpose. To understand, we will need a new concept: 'the reshimu.' Let us begin in order.
What are the ‘keilim’ of Atzilus, and the two opinions about them
Let us return for a moment to what we learned about Atzilus. We said Atzilus is built of 'sefiros' — ten divine attributes through which the Holy One acts and is revealed. And in each sefirah there are two parts: the 'ohr' — the content, the inner divine energy; and the 'kli' — the vessel that contains and defines the light.
And in the words of the maamar: 'and behold, it is not only according to the opinion the Tzemach Tzedek brings, that even the vessels of Atzilus are gilui ha'helem — for according to this opinion certainly the intent is not for the sake of Atzilus, for this is a descent and only revelations — but even according to the second opinion he brings there, that the vessels are a creation yesh me-ayin, it is explained in many places that when we say the vessels are a creation yesh me-ayin, the intent is not literally yesh me-ayin, but rather specifically relative to the light, because the root of the vessels is from the reshimu, which is an aspect of concealment, and therefore their existence too is in a manner whose source is in concealment, and therefore relative to the light they are like a creation yesh me-ayin, but relative to the reshimu they are gilui ha'helem; so it is understood that the intent is not the upper worlds, but rather the avodah in this world of iskafya and is'hapcha.'
Picture it thus: the 'ohr' is like the wisdom of a wise man — an inner stream, undefined. And the 'kli' is like the words and sentences in which he clothes the wisdom in order to convey it. The same wisdom can be clothed in a parable for a child or in a formulation for a scholar — the vessel is the form that gives the light boundary and shape. Or simply: the light is the water, and the vessel is the cup that gives it form.
On the 'ohr' there is no dispute: it is certainly a divine revelation, an expansion from the Source. The question is only about the 'vessels.' Where do they come from? And here are two opinions.
The first opinion, which the Tzemach Tzedek brings: even the vessels of Atzilus are 'gilui ha'helem' — that is, an uncovering of something hidden, not a creation of something new. According to this opinion, everything in Atzilus, the vessels too, is in essence revelation. And then, says the maamar, 'certainly the intent is not for the sake of Atzilus' — plain and clear, for if all there is only revelation and descent, Atzilus is not the purpose, exactly as we learned yesterday.
But there is a second opinion, and it is the interesting one for us: that the vessels of Atzilus are 'a creation yesh me-ayin' — that they were created literally from nothing, like the created beings of this world. And according to this opinion the question arises in full force: if the vessels of Atzilus were created yesh me-ayin — and we said that creation yesh me-ayin comes specifically from the Etzem — then perhaps Atzilus can indeed be the purpose, just like this world?
Here the maamar makes a subtle and precise move. It does not reject the second opinion; it accepts it — and then shows that even according to it, the 'yesh me-ayin' of Atzilus is not the same 'yesh me-ayin' of this world. And to understand the difference, we must know 'the reshimu.'
‘The reshimu’ — the impression that remained after the tzimtzum
To understand 'the reshimu,' let us return for a moment to the tzimtzum. We learned in the past: before the creation of the worlds the Ohr Ein Sof filled 'everything,' and then there was a 'tzimtzum' — the Holy One, as it were, removed and concealed the light, and vacated a 'place' in which limited worlds could exist.
But the tzimtzum did not leave a wholly empty void. A 'residue' remained in it — in Kabbalah it is called 'the reshimu.' Picture a perfume bottle you have emptied. The perfume is gone — but if you bring your nose close, a faint scent still remains, a trace of what was. Or picture a seal removed from wax: the seal is gone, but the imprint, the trace of its form, remains. So 'the reshimu': a thin trace of the light that withdrew, remaining in the 'place' after the tzimtzum.
And let us not err: a trace is something very weak relative to the source, but it is still something. The scent in the bottle is not the full perfume, but neither is it nothing — it still carries within it the 'memory' of the perfume. So the reshimu: it is a thin shadow of the light, but it is still an aspect of G-dliness, a trace of what shone there before.
And the point crucial for us: the 'reshimu' is an aspect of 'concealment' — it is itself already a state of hiddenness, of contracted and covered light, not of open revelation. It is a low level, 'after' the withdrawal, already within the world of concealment.
And now the maamar reveals the key: 'the root of the vessels is from the reshimu.' The vessels of Atzilus did not sprout directly from the revealed light — their root is specifically in the 'reshimu,' in that concealed trace remaining after the tzimtzum. And this changes everything. For now we must ask carefully: the 'yesh me-ayin' of the vessels — 'yesh from ayin' relative to what exactly?
‘Yesh me’ayin’ — but only relative to the light, not truly
And here the beautiful precision of the maamar: 'the intent is not literally yesh me-ayin, but rather specifically relative to the light.' When we say the vessels of Atzilus were created 'yesh me-ayin' — the intent is not an absolute ayin, like this world. The intent is 'yesh me-ayin' only relative to the light.
Let us explain. Everything depends on the point of comparison. Relative to the revealed, bright, lofty light — the vessel, which comes from the concealed 'reshimu,' looks like an enormous leap, like something entirely 'new,' like yesh me-ayin. The gap between the revealed light and the limited vessel is so great that, relative to the light, it looks like a creation from nothing.
But relative to the 'reshimu' itself — to that concealed trace from which the vessels sprouted — the vessels are not 'new' at all. They are simply 'gilui ha'helem': an uncovering of what was already hidden in the reshimu. The very same vessel: relative to the light it looks 'yesh me-ayin,' and relative to the reshimu it is merely a 'revelation' of an existing thing.
Picture a student who grasps a deep idea the teacher whispered to him. Relative to the student who knew nothing, it seems knowledge was born in him yesh me-ayin, from nothing. But relative to the teacher, in whom the idea was already complete — nothing new was created; only something that already existed was uncovered. Everything depends on which side you look from.
And another example, from money. A bill of a thousand shekels in the hand of a small child looks like a vast fortune, an enormous 'yesh.' That same bill in the hand of a tycoon is reckoned as nothing, as naught. The bill did not change — only the point of comparison. So the 'yesh me-ayin' of the vessels: 'giant' relative to the light, 'negligible' and merely a revelation relative to the reshimu.
And the difference from the 'yesh me-ayin' of this world is abysmal. This world was created from an absolute ayin, a true ayin — and therefore its root is in the Etzem itself. But the vessels of Atzilus, even in the language of 'yesh me-ayin,' truly come from the reshimu, from 'concealment' — not from the absolute ayin, and not directly from the Etzem. Their 'yesh me-ayin' is relative; the 'yesh me-ayin' of this world is true. And therefore only this world touches the Etzem itself.
Summary and preface — for both opinions, the purpose is the avodah below
So what did we see today?
We asked: perhaps Atzilus, and not this world, is the purpose of creation? And the maamar examined both opinions. According to the first opinion — that the vessels of Atzilus are 'gilui ha'helem' — it is clear at once that Atzilus is not the purpose, for it is all revelation and descent. And according to the second opinion — that the vessels are 'yesh me-ayin' — we discovered that this is not a true yesh me-ayin, but only relative to the light, because the root of the vessels is in the 'reshimu,' an aspect of concealment. Therefore even according to it, Atzilus is not the true yesh from ayin, and is not the purpose.
Notice how strong this move is. The maamar did not settle for the opinion convenient to it; it took specifically the hardest opinion — that Atzilus was created yesh me-ayin — and showed that even according to it Atzilus is not the purpose. When an argument holds even in the hardest case, you know it is solid.
And the conclusion is one, for both opinions: 'the intent is not the upper worlds, but rather the avodah in this world — of iskafya and is'hapcha.' The peak of it all is not any upper world, however high. The peak is the avodah here, in this physical world — to subdue the evil, and to transform the darkness into light.
But this raises a very practical question, familiar to anyone who has learned Chassidus. We are always told that when a Jew performs a mitzvah, he 'adds lights in Atzilus' — acting above, in the upper worlds. If the upper worlds are not the purpose, what is the point of all the lights we add there? With this question, and with the wondrous answer of the Maharash to it, we will open the next lesson — and reach the very heart of the entire maamar: the dwelling for His Essence. Thank you for learning with us — and we will meet in the next lesson.