והנה, פרטיות הצמצומים איך ומה, אין כאן מקום ביאורם Now, as for the intricate details of the “contractions”, how they achieve their effect and what they actually are, — this is not the place for their explanation. אך דרך כלל הן הם בחינת הסתר והעלם המשכת האור והחיות But in general they are something in […]

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וככה ממש היא בחינת ההארה מועטת זו, המתלבשת בעולמות עליונים ותחתונים, להשפיע בהם להחיותם So, indeed, is the utterly insignificant quality of this minute illumination — after the “contraction” — which clothes itself in the higher and lower worlds in order to provide them with sustenance and life, לגבי אור הגנוז ונעלם, שהוא בבחינת אין […]

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מה שאין כן ההשפעה שאינה בבחינת גילוי אלא בהסתר והעלם, ואין העולמות משיגים אותה, אינה נקראת מתלבשת, אלא מקפת וסובבת whereas the influence which does not come within the category of “revelation”, but remains obscured and concealed, and is not apprehended by the worlds, is not described as being “invested” in them but as “encircling […]

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ולקרב אל השכל יותר הוא בדרך משל Let us make this more intelligible by means of an example. A further example is needed in order to clarify this paradox — how G‑dliness simultaneously pervades the world and yet remains aloof from it, encircling and encompassing it (as it were) from above, and not being revealed […]

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אך ידיעתו יתברך המיוחדת במהותו ועצמותו, כי הוא המדע והוא היודע והוא הידוע But His knowledge which is united with His essence and being, for “He is the Knowledge, the Knower, and the Known, It has been previously explained (in ch. 2) that G‑d’s knowledge and intellect are totally different from man’s. When a mortal […]

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