ראש תוך סוף. פה טבור סיום רגלין
ו. ומפאת הכלים החדשים דאור חוזר, נבחן בכל פרצוף שלשה חלקים, המכונים 'ראש' 'תוך' 'סוף'. כי נתבאר, שמכח המסך המעכב את ביאת האור אל המלכות נעשה זווג דהכאה עם האור, ויצאו עשר ספירות דאור חוזר והלבישו את עשר ספירות דאור ישר שבאור העליון. ואלו עשר ספירות דאור ישר ואור חוזר, נקראות 'עשר ספירות דראש'. Head, Interior, End ; Mouth, Navel, Endpoint of the Legs of the partzuf
6. On account of the new vessels formed from the returning light, we can discern three aspects in each partzuf. These are called head, interior, and end. The end of section 5 above explained that the resistive force of the partition preventing the arrival of the light in the vessel of Malkhut led to a fusion through collision with the light against the partition. As a result, the ten sefirot of the returning light emerged and enclothed the ten sefirot of the direct light that is the supernal light.7“Direct light” and “supernal light” refer to the same divine light. The discussion here is analogous to a discussion of water, and the molecules of H2O that are “within” the water. Those molecules actually are the water, but sometimes we speak of water in its unity (calling it, simply, “water”), while at other times, we speak of water in terms of its more granular structure. When the author of the Sulam seeks to emphasize the unity of the divine light, he refers to it as “supernal light.” Yet, there is a structure of sefirot vessels undergirding that supernal light. When describing this more discrete perspective of the divine light, the author of the Sulam uses the term “direct light.” These ten sefirot of the returning light and the direct light are called the “ten sefirot of the head.”
אמנם עשר ספירות דאור חוזר אלה היוצאות מן המסך ולמעלה ומלבישות לעשר ספירות דאור ישר, אינן עוד כלים אמיתיים, כי השם כלי מורה על בחינת עובי שבו, דהיינו כח הדין שיש במסך, המעכב על התלבשות האור במלכות. ויש כלל, שאין כח הדין פועל אלא ממקום מציאות הדין ולמטה, ולא ממקום מציאות הדין ולמעלה. ומתוך שעשר ספירות דאור חוזר יצאו ממסך ולמעלה, כנזכר לעיל, על כן אין כח הדין ניכר באור חוזר, ואינו ראוי להיות כלי. ולפיכך מכונות עשר ספירות דאור חוזר בשם 'ראש', שפירושו שורש לכלים, ולא כלים ממש. However, these ten sefirot of the returning light, which emerge from the partition and rise upward and which enclothe the ten sefirot of the direct light, are not yet genuine vessels, because the term “vessel” is indicative of opacity, namely, the force of judgment that the partition contains, which prevents the enclothing of the light in Malkhut. There is a principle that the force of judgment is active only from the place where the judgment is located and below it, not from the place where the judgment is located and above it.8The force of judgment in a level derives from the particular amount of will to receive found within that level. This will to receive cannot operate above its own level. In kabbalistic thought, “lower level“ denotes an increase in limitations and finitude, as the concepts of barriers and containment are increasingly manifested. These concepts are expressive of the force of judgment, as judgment is the dynamic of delineation, selectivity, standards, and evaluations. Accordingly, the “amount” of judgment that exists in a particular level derives from the “amount” of the will to receive that is unique to that level. As a result, the force of judgment in a level cannot operate above that level, since the will to receive of the level is unique to the level and would be reduced in the higher level above. Since the ten sefirot of the returning light emerged from the partition and rose upward, as stated above, the force of judgment is therefore not discernible in the returning light, and the returning light is not fit to be a genuine vessel.9As the author of the Sulam explains, in order to be a true vessel, opacity is required. Thus, the returning light cannot serve as a true vessel, since it is “above” the partition. However, the returning light and its vessels serve as roots, theoretical forms of the fully formed vessels that manifest below the partition as the body. As the author of the Sulam elucidates, the theoretical vessel structure above the partition is called the head. Consequently, the ten sefirot of the returning light are called head, which means the root of the vessels but not actual vessels.
והמלכות שבה נתתקן המסך לזווג דהכאה, נקראת משום זה 'פה'. ונרמז בזה, כמו שבפה גשמי יוצאות האותיות בדרך זווג דהכאה של חמש מוצאות הפה, אף הפה הרוחני, יש בו זווג דהכאה להוציא עשר ספירות דאור חוזר, שהן חמש בחינות כח"ב תו"מ. כנזכר לעיל, שהם הכלים לעשר ספירות דאור ישר, וכלים נקראים אותיות. והנה נתבארו עשר ספירות דראש. In addition, the Malkhut upon which the partition was placed for the fusion through collision is called mouth. This alludes to the fact that just as in a corporeal mouth the letters emerge by means of a fusion through collision of the five kinds of utterances of the mouth, so too there is a fusion through collision in the spiritual mouth through which the ten sefirot of the returning light emerge, which are the aforementioned five levels, Keter, Ḥokhma, Bina, Tiferet, and Malkhut.10Here, the author of the Sulam employs an analogy to explain why the Malkhut of the head of the partzuf is called the mouth. The mouth of the body operates to convey the intangible world of a person’s thoughts into the more tangible form of audible words. Words are compiled out of combinations of letters, which serve as “vessels” to carry our thoughts into the world, where they can be received by others. Letters serve as containers, which are inherently limiting, hence why we often misunderstand each other in verbal communication. Additionally, the formation of letters with our mouths involves the shaping of the sounds emanating from our throats through the impacting of the different parts of the mouth with each other. This is the meaning of the “fusion through collision” that we have in our mouths, analogous to the fusion through collision in the mouth of the partzuf. The fusion through collision in the mouth of the partzuf gives rise to the fully formed vessels of the body of the partzuf, which can then contain the supernal light. It is this containment that allows the supernal light to be experienced by finite beings like us, just like the containment power of letters allows our own inner worlds to be experienced by those around us. These emerging sefirot of the returning light are the vessels of the ten sefirot of the direct light, and the vessels are therefore referred to as letters.11The five vessels of the sefirot are analogous to the five parts of the mouth used for verbal articulation. They are the throat, palate, teeth, tongue, and lips. The flow of sound travels through these five “levels” and collides with them, forming the letters. This is the explanation of the ten sefirot of the head.