In the
beginning, as the Midrash teaches,1 G‑d “created worlds and destroyed
them.” The Kabbalah explains that this refers to spiritual worlds, Supernal Sefirot
(“emanations”), that first existed in one state of being and then in another.
The Sefirot in the former state of being — called the World of Tohu
(lit., “Chaos”) — underwent a “breaking of the vessels.” The World of Tikkun
(lit., “Order”) was then built.
The Sefirot
comprise orot (“lights”) and kelim (“vessels”) that contain
these lights. The crisis in the World of Tohu occurred because the orot
were so intense that the kelim were incapable of containing them. As a
result of this breakage, sparks of holiness descended within the kelipot.
These sparks are to be found in the Worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah
and Asiyah in general, but particularly within the physicality of our
world. It is the task of the Jew to sift this materiality by using it properly,
in order to extract and refine these sparks, thereby elevating them to their
original source in the World of Tohu. This elevation in turn elicits a
mighty downflow of Divine energy from Tohu, and from even higher than
that level.
(Certain
Divine Names, whose respective Kabbalistic meanings are signified by Hebrew
letter-combinations, are related to this process of beirurim, the
extraction and refinement of the sparks of holiness. Thus the Name known as Ba’n
(ב״ן) is the source of the fallen holy sparks;
the Name Ma’h (מ״ה) is the power that
extracts and elevates them; while the Name Sa’g (ס״ג) is the original source of the World of Tohu. When the
extraction and elevation of the sparks deriving from the Name Ba’n is
accomplished through the Name Ma’h, a lofty degree of Divine
illumination is drawn down from the Name Sa’g, and is vested within
the “capacious vessels” of the World of Tikkun.)
This
extraction is for the most part accomplished through the performance of
action-oriented mitzvot involving physical objects which derive their
life-force from kelipat nogah, and which house the sparks of Tohu.
Performing a mitzvah with such objects disencumbers the hidden sparks
of their corporeal husk and elevates them.
The seeking
out of sparks, however, can also be accomplished through the study of Torah, as
well as through prayer.
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