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214) This is the reason why he said, “‘To whom then will you liken Me, that I would be his equal?’ says the Holy One.” There is no creature that will be equal to Me. And even though I have created it in the image of My letters, I can obliterate that form and remake it several times, and there is no other God over Me that can obliterate My form. This is why it is written, “For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.”
215) And should one say that it is written, “For you saw no manner of image,” so how can we specify letters and names in Him? He will reply to him that this image that I have seen is as it is written, “And he beholds the image of the Lord,” which means the Sefira of Malchut, and not any other image that He created and formed in the letters. This is so because the Sefira of Malchut is the root of all the receivers and the Kelim [vessels], but not the first nine Sefirot, which are devoid of any form. And this is why He said, “To whom then will you liken Me, that I would be his equal?” and, “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?”
216) And even this image in Malchut is not in the place of Malchut, but only when the light of Malchut descends and expands to the creatures, to rule over them. Then it appears to each of them, according to their image, and vision, and imagination—with respect to the receivers, not with respect to Malchut herself—as it is written, “And through the prophets I gave parables.”
217) This is why the Creator tells them, “Although I appear to you in your forms, in vision and imagination, still, To whom then will you liken Me, that I would be his equal?” After all, before the Creator created an image in the world, and before He drew a form, the Creator was alone in the world, shapeless and imageless. And one who attains Him prior to the degree of Beria, which is Bina, still outside of any form, is forbidden to make a form and likeness in the world, not in the letter Hey, not in the letter Yod, or even to call Him by the Holy Name, or by any letter or point. It is written, “For you saw no manner of image,” meaning you did not see anything that has an image or similitude.
218) But after He had made that form of the chariot of the upper Adam, He descended and clothed there, and He is named in it in the shape of the four letters HaVaYaH, the ten Sefirot KHB TM, so He will be attained through his qualities, which are the Sefirot, in each and every quality. And He is called, “God, Oh God, I will be the Lord of Hosts,” so he will be known in each quality, how He leads the world with mercy and with judgment, according to people’s actions. And had He not spread His light over all creations, how would they know Him, and how would, “The whole earth is full of His glory” come true?
219) Woe unto one who resembles Him to any quality, and even one of His qualities, and all the more so to people, which are inferior Kelim. But the imagination that we imagine is according to His dominion over that quality, and even according to His dominion over all creations. And there is no similitude above that quality. And when His dominion departs one, one has no measure, no likeness, and no form of that quality.
220) Such as the sea. There is neither perception nor form in the waters of the sea that come out of Him. But the expansion of the waters of the sea over the Kli, which is the earth, creates their image. And we can calculate there: The source of the sea is one; the spring that emerges from it—according to its expansion in the Kli as a circle, which is Yod—makes two forms, for the source is one and the spring that emerges from it is two. Also, the source is the Keter and the spring is the Hochma.
221) Afterwards, He made a big Kli, similar to one who digs a deep hole, and it was filled with the water that comes out of the spring. And this Kli is called, “the sea.” This is the third Kli, Bina.
Also, that Kli is divided into seven streams. As with long Kelim [vessels], the water spread from the sea to the seven streams. Thus, the source, the spring, the sea, and the seven streams make ten. And if the craftsman were to break these tools that He had corrected, the waters would return to the source and the broken Kelim would remain dry, without water.
222) Thus, the Cause of Causes made ten Sefirot. He called the Keter, source, and in it, there is no end to the springing of His light. For this reason, He called Himself, Ein Sof [No End]. And He has no shape and form, and there is no tool by which to attain Him there, and to know anything at all about Him. This is why they said, “Do not interpret what you cannot perceive; do not inquire into what is covered from you.”
223) Afterwards, He made a small Kli, which is the Yod, and it was filled by it, by the source. He called it, “a wellspring,” Hochma [wisdom]. And He called Himself within it, “Wise.” And he called that Kli Hochma. Subsequently, He made a big Kli and called it, “Sea,” and called it, Bina [understanding]. And He called Himself within it Mevin [the one who understands].
224) Wise of his own and understanding of his own. This is so because Hochma is not called Hochma with respect to itself, but because of this wise, who fills her with His springing. And she is not called Bina with respect to herself, but after that Understanding One, who fills her with Him. If He parted her, she would remain dry, as it is written, “As water evaporates from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dried up.”
225) Afterwards, He struck it into seven streams. He made seven precious Kelim and called them, “Greatness,” meaning Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, Yesod, Malchut. And in greatness, He called Himself, “Great,” and Hasid [kind/benevolent], Gibor [mighty] in Gevura, Mefoar [glorified] in Tifferet, and Baal Nitzahon [triumphant] in the wars in Netzah Netzahim [all eternity]. In Hod, He called Himself, “The Magnificence of Our Creator,” and in Yesod, He called Himself, “Righteous.” And Yesod, everything is near it, all the Kelim and all the worlds. And in Malchut, He called Himself, Melech [King]. And His is the greatness, the Gevura, the Tifferet, the Netzah, and the Hod, for all that is in heaven is righteous, Yesod, and His is the kingdom, which is Malchut.
226) Everything is under His authority. Whether to remove Kelim and add springs in them, or to subtract, goes by His will for them. And there is no God that will add or subtract in Him. Hence, it is about the Kelim from the world of Atzilut.
227) Afterwards, He made servants to these Kelim de [of] Atzilut—a chair with four pillars and six steps to the chair, thus, they are ten. And altogether, it is called, “A Throne,” which is the world of Beria. It is like a cup of blessing in which ten things are corrected, since the Torah was given in the ten commandments because the world, which is the act of creation, was created in ten utterances.
228) And He established parties to serve the throne. Those are angels, serpents, animals, Ofanim [wheels], Hashmalim [electricity], Elim [gods], Elohim [God], sons of Elohim, persons. And He made servants to these—Sam’el with all his parties, which are as clouds, to ride them and to descend to the earth. And they are as horses for them, for the angels.
229) Clouds are called, “vehicle,” as it is written, “Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt.” This is Egypt’s appointee, called, “Swift Cloud.” And as soon as they saw that their god, which is their appointee, is as a horse under the Creator’s chariot, promptly, “The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt.” They moved from their faith and their hearts melted like wax from the faith that they had in their appointed minister. And they said, “Until now, faith,” meaning the Godly, “Our appointee has become like a horse.” Their hearts moved from their faith and melted like wax. And how do we know? Because melting comes from the words, “melting like wax,” as it is written, “My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.”
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