למה תפארת כולל חג"ת נה"י ד. כשיצאו חמש הבחינות, כח"ב תו"מ, נכללו זה מזה, שכל אחת מהן היתה כלולה מכח"ב תו"מ. אמנם בספירת התפארת, ירדו קומות הספירות מבחינת שלש ראשונות, לפיכך נשתנו שמותיהן דכח"ב תו"מ הכלולים בה, לחג"ת נ"ה, והיסוד הכוללם. לפיכך, מה שאנו אומרים שתפארת כוללת שש ספירות, אין זה מחמת מעלתה על שלש הספירות הראשונות, אלא להיפך, שמחמת הגרעון שבה מאור השלש ראשונות, קבלו חמש בחינות כח"ב תו"מ שבה, שמות אחרים, שהם חג"ת נ"ה.
WhyTiferetEncompassesḤesed,Gevura,Tiferet,Netzaḥ,Hod, andYesod 4. When the fivelevels–Keter,Ḥokhma,Bina,Tiferet, andMalkhut– emerged into existence, they incorporated one another, such that each of them, individually, was comprised ofKeter,Ḥokhma,Bina,Tiferet, andMalkhut. However, within thesefiraofTiferet, the structures of thesefirotdescended from thelevelof the first three.4Each of the five sefirot are individually composed of all (the same) five sefirot. The point here is that the five sefirot that make up the sefira of Tiferet are lower than the sefirot making up the previous sefirot of Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina (called “the first three”). The reason for this lower state is that the sefira of Tiferet primarily shines the light of giving (ḥassadim), while the previous, higher three levels shine the light of Ḥokhma (wisdom). As a result, the five sefirot that make up Tiferet are given different names, indicating their lower position. The author expands this point in the following lines.Consequently, within thesefiraofTiferet, the namesKeter,Ḥokhma,Bina,Tiferet, andMalkhut, which are incorporated in each of the fivelevels, have been changed toḤesed,Gevura,Tiferet,Netzaḥ, andHod, and the sefira of Tiferet contains an additional sefira called Yesod, which incorporates them all. Therefore, when we say thatTiferetencompasses sixsefirot, this is not due to the elevated status ofTiferetover the first threesefirotofKeter,Ḥokhma, andBina. Rather, it is due to the deficiency of Tiferetwith respect to the light of the first three that the fivelevelswithinTiferet–Keter,Ḥokhma,Bina,Tiferet, andMalkhut– received other names, which areḤesed,Gevura,Tiferet,Netzaḥ, andHod.
2
בא[ו]פן, שחסד הוא כתר, וגבורה היא חכמה, ותפארת היא בינה, ונצח הוא תפארת, והוד הוא מלכות. ונוספה עליהן ספירת היסוד, שאינו בחינה נוספת על חמש בחינות, אלא הוא בחינת כולל בלבד, שכולל בתוכו כל חמש ספירות חג"ת נ"ה. והן נקראות תמיד 'ו"ק', שהוא ראשי תיבות 'ו' קצוות', שהן שש הספירות חג"ת נה"י אלו. וכיון שירידה זו דחמש בחינות לחג"ת נה"י, לא נעשית אלא בזעיר אנפין, על כן אנו מיחסים רק לז"א את חמש הבחינות שנשתנו.
Thus, in the sefira of Tiferet, ḤesedisKeter,GevuraisḤokhma,TiferetisBina,NetzaḥisTiferet, andHodisMalkhut. They are joined by thesefiraofYesod, which is not anotherlevelin addition to the fivelevels, but rather it is simply an encompassinglevel, since it incorporates within it all fivesefirotofḤesed,Gevura,Tiferet,Netzaḥ, andHod. These six sefirotare invariably identified by the acronym VAK, which is an acronym for vav ketzavot, or six extremities, which are these sixsefirotofḤesed,Gevura,Tiferet,Netzaḥ,Hod, andYesod.5The six extremities refer to the six directional edges or limits of every physical being: above, below, right, left, front, and back. These six extremities correspond to the six sefirot that represent the body of a partzuf: Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod. Since this descent of the fivelevelstoḤesed,Gevura,Tiferet,NetzaḥandHodoccurs only in thepartzufofZe’er Anpin, we attribute these five changedlevelsonly toZe’er Anpin.6As the author of the Sulam will explain in the following sections, the sefirot are the foundation for spiritual structures called partzufim. There are five partzufim types, and each corresponds to one of the five levels discussed here. The level of Tiferet corresponds to the partzuf called Ze’er Anpin, which is the reason the author of the Sulam writes here that the lower forms of the five sefirot making up Tiferet are associated with this partzuf.
למה תפארת כולל חג"ת נה"י
ד. כשיצאו חמש הבחינות, כח"ב תו"מ, נכללו זה מזה, שכל אחת מהן היתה כלולה מכח"ב תו"מ. אמנם בספירת התפארת, ירדו קומות הספירות מבחינת שלש ראשונות, לפיכך נשתנו שמותיהן דכח"ב תו"מ הכלולים בה, לחג"ת נ"ה, והיסוד הכוללם. לפיכך, מה שאנו אומרים שתפארת כוללת שש ספירות, אין זה מחמת מעלתה על שלש הספירות הראשונות, אלא להיפך, שמחמת הגרעון שבה מאור השלש ראשונות, קבלו חמש בחינות כח"ב תו"מ שבה, שמות אחרים, שהם חג"ת נ"ה.
Why Tiferet Encompasses Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod
4. When the five levels – Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut – emerged into existence, they incorporated one another, such that each of them, individually, was comprised of Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut. However, within the sefira of Tiferet, the structures of the sefirot descended from the level of the first three.4Each of the five sefirot are individually composed of all (the same) five sefirot. The point here is that the five sefirot that make up the sefira of Tiferet are lower than the sefirot making up the previous sefirot of Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina (called “the first three”). The reason for this lower state is that the sefira of Tiferet primarily shines the light of giving (ḥassadim), while the previous, higher three levels shine the light of Ḥokhma (wisdom). As a result, the five sefirot that make up Tiferet are given different names, indicating their lower position. The author expands this point in the following lines. Consequently, within the sefira of Tiferet, the names Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut, which are incorporated in each of the five levels, have been changed to Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, and Hod, and the sefira of Tiferet contains an additional sefira called Yesod, which incorporates them all. Therefore, when we say that Tiferet encompasses six sefirot, this is not due to the elevated status of Tiferet over the first three sefirot of Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina. Rather, it is due to the deficiency of Tiferet with respect to the light of the first three that the five levels within Tiferet – Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut – received other names, which are Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, and Hod.
בא[ו]פן, שחסד הוא כתר, וגבורה היא חכמה, ותפארת היא בינה, ונצח הוא תפארת, והוד הוא מלכות. ונוספה עליהן ספירת היסוד, שאינו בחינה נוספת על חמש בחינות, אלא הוא בחינת כולל בלבד, שכולל בתוכו כל חמש ספירות חג"ת נ"ה. והן נקראות תמיד 'ו"ק', שהוא ראשי תיבות 'ו' קצוות', שהן שש הספירות חג"ת נה"י אלו. וכיון שירידה זו דחמש בחינות לחג"ת נה"י, לא נעשית אלא בזעיר אנפין, על כן אנו מיחסים רק לז"א את חמש הבחינות שנשתנו.
Thus, in the sefira of Tiferet, Ḥesed is Keter, Gevura is Ḥokhma, Tiferet is Bina, Netzaḥ is Tiferet, and Hod is Malkhut. They are joined by the sefira of Yesod, which is not another level in addition to the five levels, but rather it is simply an encompassing level, since it incorporates within it all five sefirot of Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, and Hod. These six sefirot are invariably identified by the acronym VAK, which is an acronym for vav ketzavot, or six extremities, which are these six sefirot of Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod.5The six extremities refer to the six directional edges or limits of every physical being: above, below, right, left, front, and back. These six extremities correspond to the six sefirot that represent the body of a partzuf: Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod. Since this descent of the five levels to Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ and Hod occurs only in the partzuf of Ze’er Anpin, we attribute these five changed levels only to Ze’er Anpin.6As the author of the Sulam will explain in the following sections, the sefirot are the foundation for spiritual structures called partzufim. There are five partzufim types, and each corresponds to one of the five levels discussed here. The level of Tiferet corresponds to the partzuf called Ze’er Anpin, which is the reason the author of the Sulam writes here that the lower forms of the five sefirot making up Tiferet are associated with this partzuf.