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This series is a continuation and should be read in order. If you are not familiar with previous posts you may have trouble understanding later ones.
And now Chapter 15 Part 5
(this part s from ch 15 pt 4 it is brought in for continuity - it is specifically through it (the kav) that a light is switched over to enter into a vessel that is not its own, such as the light of chesed (kindness - love) in the vessel of gevurah (might - severity - justice) etc.)
as is explained elsewhere at length regarding the
letter Vav
of the word
(VeHaNora - and the
awesome - the letter Vav is used in hebrew as "and") etc. This is a
reference to the opening of the Amidah prayer where it refers to G-d as
"The great the mighty and the awesome," which three terms refer to
the three attributes of chesed (kindness) , gevurah (sternness)
and tiferes (Beauty) respectively.
Great implying G-d’s infinite ability for revelation that extends and expands infinitely - i.e. the Or Ein Sof - Infinite Light which is here called Chessed of Ein Sof
Mighty implying G-d’s infinite ability of restraint, contraction and concealment, so that He can mask and shield His infinite greatness so that it is totally concealed in the Reshimu/impression (which is here called Gvurah of Ein Sof) in an absolutely finite manner.
Then, the term "and the awesome" implies G-d’s ability of containing opposites, creating paradoxes and impossibilities that defy all laws thereby coming up with the Kav/Line (Tiferes of Ein Sof) which brings about a finite existence which is not Infinite yet not totally contracted in other words it is not infinite and is not nothing but is rather a finite something - the finite worlds.
(The fact that the Kav brings about finite existence does not mean that the Kav itself is finite. Since it is the extension of the Reshimu, it actually includes the entire Infinite Light within itself just as tha Reshimu does and also includes the power of the Tzimtzum/lessening of the Reshimu.It can therefore even express the Infinite in the Finite This ability to include opposites is specially expressed in the highest form of miracles where the laws of nature are completely defied without interrupting their existence, a truly mind-boggling feat! An example, of this type of a miracle is the Holy Ark, which took up no space within the Holy of Holies, so that though the Ark was two and a half cubits long and the Holy of Holies was twenty cubits long, yet if one where to measure from either end of the Ark to the wall one would find a whole ten cubits; the Ark taking up no space while maintaining its physical dimensions. This type of feat is a combining and coalescing of the former two attributes of greatness (spreading) and might (restraint) , for it is an absolute revelation of G-d’s infinity within the finite limits of nature, showing that G-d is bound by no rules not even the rule that something either is or it isn’t, either it’s there of it’s not, either it’s infinite of it’s finite; as far as G-d is concerned it can be both.)
The synthesis of these two powers that is represented by the
word ‘and the awesome’ (in Hebrew it’s 1 word the "and" being the preffix ‘vav’)
is accomplished by the letter vav
that
precedes it, its shape representing the kav/line, as mentioned in chapter
thirteen. (In English this letter is the word "and" in the phrase "and the
awesome," which, in Hebrew is written by adding the letter
[v] as a prefix, which means "and." - the word "and" means the
joining of two things together)
So it is understood that it is specifically the kav/line, which possesses the ability of uniting opposites such as all of the lights and vessels, even placing a light in its opposite vessel and this is the first of the kav/line’s seemingly contradictory powers.
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The material in this series is copyrighted by Rabbi Yossi Markel