Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut, Entrance to the Gate of Beit Yaakov 8

וכן הם דבריו בטעות בן זומא, שחשב, שאם יגיע בעבודתו עד מקום בינה שבחכמה, יגיע להשיג ששרשי המדות קבועים במקום בינה, די לו להאיר לכל פרטי המדות, שבמקום זה מורה ששם כל המדות מתאחדים, אבל עדיין הם בתואר מדות, אך שאין מתנגדים זה לזה, וכמו שנתבאר במקומו בביאור לעץ החיים. ובאמת צריך להגיע בעבודה עד שורש המדות שהם בחכמה, ששם הוא החסד הגמור, כדאיתא בתיקונים (תיקון ס"ט קז.) חסד דא חכמה, ועין בכמה מקומות בזה"ק ותיקונים, ששם אינם כלל בתואר מדות ורק שכשירדו להתלבש למטה יצאו בתואר מדות וכמ"ש במקומו: Ben Zoma’s Replay of Adam’s Sin
The author, based upon the Arizal, now explains Ben Zoma’s mistake and its similarity to Adam’s sin. Like Adam, Ben Zoma posited an essential division between G-d and the creation (here, defined as a division between Hokhma and the six attributes). This explains Ben Zoma’s radical claim that a space of two fingerbreadth exists between the upper and lower waters (i.e. between heaven and earth), whereas, in reality, there is almost no division at all. And as for the little that exists, G-d is constantly repairing it, to bring the creation back into a state of unity with Him. This is called the “healing of the lower waters,” and their reintegration into the upper waters.
The Arizal explained Ben Zoma’s mistake in the same way. Ben Zoma thought that if his Divine service reached the level of Binah – Understanding, that is within Hokhmah – Wisdom,²⁹⁹Each Sefirah is comprised of all ten Sefirot. Therefore, the Sefirah of Hokhmah – Wisdom – contains a “center” of Hokhmah and a “center” of Binah – Understanding. he would reach an apprehension that the root of the attributes are fixed in the place of Binah – Understanding. This would then be sufficient in order to illuminate all the details of the other attributes.³⁰⁰The ten Sefirot above, and the various attributes that constitute the human personality below. It would be revealed that in this place, all of the attributes are unified. However, (in Binah), the attributes are still defined as separate, it is just that they are not in opposition to each other.³⁰¹Hokhmah, Wisdom is a level above Binah, Understanding. The world of Hokhmah is entirely good. The lower world of Binah contains the roots of separate good and evil, though at this sublime level, evil is unlike that of the physical world; i.e. destruction and hatred, but rather exists as a spiritual or intellectual potential for negativity. The “evil” in Binah is not in opposition to the good, as it still accords with God’s plan for the total amelioration of his creation. This is all explained in its place in the Etz Hayyim.³⁰²This may refer to the author’s own commentary on the Ez Hayyim, which was lost during the Holocaust, or to a source in the Lurianic writings. The complete explanation of both the sin of Adam and the four who entered the “Pardes” is found in the Liqutei Torah of the Arizal, Parshat Bereshit. Truly, man’s Divine service must reach the root of the attributes as they are found in Hokhmah – Wisdom. This is because complete and total Hesed–Lovinkingness is found in the Sefirah of Hokhmah –Wisdom. This is as it is said in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 69, page 107a), “Hesed is Hokhmah.” If you study deeply various places in the Zohar and Tikkunei Zohar, you will see that when the attributes are found in Hokhmah – Wisdom, they are not even called attributes. It is only when they descend below and dress themselves in the lower realms that they are called by the name, “attributes.”³⁰³The level of Hokhmah – Wisdom – is beyond good. On the personal level, it means a level of knowing so deeply that everything in one’s life is for the good that one cannot really work out its details in the mind. The details and concrete ideas, like the blueprint of a house or a detailed buisness plan, is the act of revealing Hokhmah in Binah. Once we get to the details of an idea or project, we begin to separate the good from the bad. You say to yourself, “This possibility is good, and the other possibility is not so good.” So it is in the upper realms of Divinity, that Hokhmah – Wisdom is all good, and the genesis of the separation of good and evil starts in the sefirah below Hokhmah, which is Binah – Understanding.

וזה שנזכר במדרש הנ"ל שאמר, צופה הייתי בין מים העליונים ותחתונים ואין ביניהם אלא כשנים או שלשה אצבעות, ובחגיגה (שם) נזכר לשון שלשה אצבעות. והענין של שתים שלש אצבעות רומז למדות העליונות, וזה שנזכר במדרש הנ"ל לשון שתים, כמו שביאר האר"י ז"ל שסבר שכשיגיע למקום בינה אז יושלמו השכלת כל המדות. וזה ענין שהיה מרעיש את כל העולם, למה נאמר ויעש אלהים את הרקיע והלא בדבר ה' שמים נעשו, שזה רומז על המחיצה וההבדלה. שבהשגת בן זומא היה המרחק בין המדות והחכמה בשורש, ונדמה לו שאי אפשר מצד האדם ליחדם בעבודתו שיתאחדו ממש, שכל זמן שלא נתאחדו כל המדות עם שרשם אין בהם יחוד גמור כדאי' בתיקוני הזהר הנ"ל: Let us examine the situation in terms of the words of Ben Zoma. He said, “I looked between the upper and lower waters, and I saw that between them there was a difference of two or three finger breadths.” This is the version of his words in the Midrash.³⁰⁴Bereshit Rabbah, 1:6 In the version of the Gemara, he says, “a difference of three finger breadths.” The expression, “two or three finger breadths,” is a kind of code word for the hidden attributes (HaBaD). By saying, “two,” according to the Arizal, Ben Zoma was saying that his Divine service reached the level of Binah, which is the second Sefirah from above to below.³⁰⁵Keter is not included, therefore the highest Sefirah is Hokhmah, followed by Binah, which is counted as “two.” Upon reaching Binah, Ben Zoma asserted that his knowledge of all the attributes³⁰⁶The lower seven sefirot, or “Attributes.” Ben Zoma was mistaken in that he could effectively use all of the sefirot in his Divine service as a way to reveal God’s glory in the world. was complete. In this way he shook the whole world in asking how the Torah could say, ‘and God made the firmament,” while the Tehillim says, “and with the word of His mouth were the heavens made (meaning already made).” This teaches of division and separation (havdala). Thus, in Ben Zoma’s understanding, there was a certain distance between the attributes and Hokhmah at the root. He thought that it was impossible for man to truly unify them through his Divine service. As long as the attributes are not unified with their source,³⁰⁷In Hokhmah – Wisdom. they have no complete unity, as is explained in the Tikkunei Zohar quoted above.

ובאמת צריך לדעת ולהבין, שמצד הש"י הכל אחד, ורק מצד האדם יש הסתר והבדלה, והש"י נתן באדם כח עבודה בבחירתו, שיאחד כל המדות עד לשרשם, שיראה שאינם בתואר מדות כלל. וזה ענין שהרעיש את כל העולם, והלא כתיב בדבר ה' שמים נעשו, וכאן אחר שכתוב ויאמר אלהים יהי רקיע נאמר ויעש אלהים את הרקיע, הרי שיש הבדל במקום זה בין האמירה להעשיה. וזה שנזכר בש"ס חגיגה הנ"ל עדיין בן זומא מבחוץ אלא כתרי כסי וכתרי גלימי דסחיפי אהדדי, שאין בהם הפסק כלל, ורק כפי עבודת האדם כן תהיה הסתרת מחיצתו, ולכן לא נאמר בהללו את ה' מן השמים אלא מים העליונים ולא מים התחתונים, שתהומות אינם רק כלי קיבול ולא המים, שכשהמים התחתונים מהללים אז הם העליונים וכלולים יחד. והש"י עוסק תמיד לרפאות המחיצה הזאת, כדאי' במדרש קהלת הנ"ל מחיצתי אני ארפא, וזה מרומז גם בזה"ק ויגש (דף רז.) כונן שמים בתבונה כונן מאי כונן אלא כונן כל יומא ויומא ולא פסיק ולא אתתקן בזמנא חדא אלא בכל יומא אתקין. אלא שזה הציב הש"י, שמצד הבריאה יהיה הפסק, וכל מה שירד להתלבש למטה יהיה נראה הפסק יותר. וכדאיתא בזה"ק בראשית (דף כב:) קמו כלהו חבריא ואמרו רבי רבי וכי אית פרודא בין אבא ואימא דמסטרא דאבא איהו באורח אצילות ומסטרא דאימא בבריאה. אמר לון חבריא חברייא לאו הכי הוא דהא אדם דאצילותא דכר ונוקבא הוה מסטרא דאבא ואימא ודא איהו ויאמר אלהים יהי אור ויהי אור, יהי אור מסטרא דאבא ויהי אור מסטרא דאימא, ודא איהו אדם דו פרצופין, אבל להאי לית ביה צלם ודמות אלא אימא עילאה הוה ליה חד כנוי דסליק לחושבן אלהים, וההוא כנוי איהו אור וחושך ובגין ההוא חשך דהוה בההוא כנוי אמר אבא דעתיד למחטי לאדם דאצילות דאדם דבריאה עתיד למחטי. וכן מוכח מזה"ק קדושים (דף פג.) ומתיקוני הזהר (תיקון ס"ז דף צח:) דבאצילות אין החטא נוגע כלל: Truly, one must know and understand, that from God’s point of view, it is all one, whereas the concealment of God’s presence and separation exist only from man’s point of view. God gave man the power to serve the Divine with his power of choice in order to unify all of the attributes and connect them to their source. Once this is done, he will see that they are, in reality, not even called attributes. This is how Ben Zoma shook the entire world in asserting, “Is it not written that that the Heavens were made by the word of God? And here, after God said, let there be a firmament, it is said, and God made the firmament. Thus, in this place, there is a difference between God saying, and God doing.” The conclusion in the Talmud, after reviewing this statement, was that, “Ben Zoma is still on the outside. But what is the actual distance between the upper and lower waters? Like the space between two garments spread one over the other; or as the space two cups fitted over one another.” That is to say, there is no separation whatsoever.³⁰⁸Likewise, there is no actual separation between God saying and doing. The separation is only an appearance in order to enable man’s ability to serve the Divine. A veil must conceal the source from its effects in the world we live in, for if the source were revealed there would be no impetus from the side of man to perform Divine service. Therefore, in Tehillim 148:4, which describes how all the elements of creation give praise to God, it does not say, “Halleluiah, all of the waters which are below the heavens,” but it says specifically, “all of the waters which are above the heavens,”³⁰⁹The full verses are: “Praise Him, you highest heavens and you waters above the heavens... Praise G-d from the earth, the great sea creatures and all the depths.” The “depths” are mentioned here (תהמות) but not the waters themselves. for the depth below is no more than a vessel,³¹⁰The depth below refers to the world of concealment in which man lives and exercises his free choice. and not the waters. If the waters are praising the Creator, then, by definition, they are called, “upper waters,” for at such a time of proclaiming God’s praises the lower waters have ascended and are in a state of complete unity with the upper waters. God is constantly occupied with healing the veil of separation, as was mentioned above, in Chapter Seven, with the Midrash Kohellet on the verse, “I have wounded, and will heal.” This is also hinted at in the Zohar (Vayigash, 207a): “God established the heavens with understanding.” (Mishlei, 3:19) What does the word, “establish,” mean? Rather, God establishes each day, never ceasing. He does not fix the world once, but rather fixes the world each and every day. God established that from the creation’s point of view a separation exists, and all that descends from the source in the upper realms to enclothe itself in the lower world takes on the appearance separation. This is as it is written in the Zohar (Bereshit, 22b): All of Rabbi Shimon’s fellowship stood up and said, “Rabbi, Rabbi, is there a separation between Abba and Imma,³¹¹The supernal personae (partsufim) expressing the Divine conduct of Wisdom (represented by the partsuf of Abba-Father) and Understanding (representing the partsuf of Imma-Mother) for Abba is in the path of atzilut (the World of Emanation), and the side of Imma in the world of beriya (Creation)?” Rabbi Shimon answered, “My friends, my friends, it is not like this. The Adam³¹²Meaning the partsufim (see previous note). of atzilut is male and female, from the side of Abba and Imma.³¹³The two are cleaving together as one, equal to each other. This is as it is said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light.’ ‘Let there be light,’ comes from the side of Abba, ‘and there was light,’ from the side of Imma.³¹⁴This follows the principle in the kabbalah whereby Abba represents speech and Imma represents action. This is the meaning of the teaching that Adam was initially created with two faces, one male and one female.³¹⁵See Bereshit, 1:27 However, the Adam of beriya has no image (tselem) or likeness (d’mut)³¹⁶See Bereshit, 1:26, “let us make a man in our image and after our likeness.” from Abba and Imma. Rather, the supernal Imma was called by the name whose numerical equivalent is Elo-him (86). This name is, ‘light and darkness.’ As a result of the darkness existing in this name, father said that Adam of beriya would sin in the future.” It is apparent from the Zohar in parshat Kedoshim (page 83a) and in the Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 67, page 98b) that sin cannot touch atzilut whatsoever.