QUESTION:
1) In sefer Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh Vol. IX, the Rav explains that above the 10 Sefiros are three more levels, the “worlds of the infinite” which, from lowest to highest, are: Sham (There), Etzem (Essence), and Shoresh HaShorashim (root of all roots). Do these three points correspond to the three points before the tzimtzum which the Mahari Srug wrote about, which are Avir Kadmon, Tiharu, and Malbush? Do these three levels also correspond to the 3 “prongs atop the crown” above Keser, which are called emunah, taanug and havayah?
ANSWER:
1) Yes. The Mahari Srug describes three “heads” – the uppermost triad – the highest being Atik, the intermediate point being ayin, and the lower point being Arich.
QUESTION
2) Is the place of shoresh hashorashim “root of all roots” the innermost point of the soul that we can reach or are there any points above it or deeper than it? Also, how can anything be higher than Etzem, which implies the “essence” – if there’s a point higher than etzem/essence than how can etzem be called etzem if it’s not yet the very essence?
ANSWER
2) Yes – etzem is from the word atzimah, to “close”, as in closing the eyes, to negate, the perspective of darkness (not seeing this world), which enables one to see the perspective of emunah, “Your faith at nights.”
QUESTION
3) Is shoresh hashorashim, the “root all roots” above havayah? Is the havayah the Yechidah of a person which is connected to the ohr EinSof but the ohr EinSof is higher than a person?
ANSWER 3) According to the view of Mahari Srug, Arich is synonymous with Yeish (something), Ayin is hedair (absence), and Atik is the connecting point to the higher world, to the “infinite light”. According to Rav Chaim Vital, there are only two levels [with no intermediate point]: Atik (which is also called Efes/zero) and Arich (ayin/nothingness). The view of Mahari Srug, however, is that ayin is the intermediate level between Arich and Atik. This is a fundamental, expansive matter. In the teachings of Rav Chaim Vital, the Sefiros of Keser and Daas are not able to co-exist – wherever there can be Keser, there is no Daas, and whenever there is Daas, there is no Keser. There is either the triad of Keser, Chochmah, and Binah, or the triad of Chochmah, Binah, and Daas. Also, according to Rav Chaim Vital, there are always two general levels – the mochin, the two perspectives, which are Chochmah and Binah, rooted in the kav (the ray of infinite light – the root of chochmah) and tzimtzum (the contraction of infinite light – the root of binah). But according to Mahari Srug, there are always three levels – either Keser-Chochmah-Binah, or Chochmah- Binah-Daas.
QUESTION
2) Is the place of shoresh hashorashim “root of all roots” the innermost point of the soul that we can reach or are there any points above it or deeper than it? Also, how can anything be higher than Etzem, which implies the “essence” – if there’s a point higher than etzem/essence than how can etzem be called etzem if it’s not yet the very essence?
ANSWER
2) Yes – etzem is from the word atzimah, to “close”, as in closing the eyes, to negate, the perspective of darkness (not seeing this world), which enables one to see the perspective of emunah, “Your faith at nights.”
QUESTION
3) Is shoresh hashorashim, the “root all roots” above havayah? Is the havayah the Yechidah of a person which is connected to the ohr EinSof but the ohr EinSof is higher than a person?
ANSWER 3) According to the view of Mahari Srug, Arich is synonymous with Yeish (something), Ayin is hedair (absence), and Atik is the connecting point to the higher world, to the “infinite light”. According to Rav Chaim Vital, there are only two levels [with no intermediate point]: Atik (which is also called Efes/zero) and Arich (ayin/nothingness). The view of Mahari Srug, however, is that ayin is the intermediate level between Arich and Atik. This is a fundamental, expansive matter. In the teachings of Rav Chaim Vital, the Sefiros of Keser and Daas are not able to co-exist – wherever there can be Keser, there is no Daas, and whenever there is Daas, there is no Keser. There is either the triad of Keser, Chochmah, and Binah, or the triad of Chochmah, Binah, and Daas. Also, according to Rav Chaim Vital, there are always two general levels – the mochin, the two perspectives, which are Chochmah and Binah, rooted in the kav (the ray of infinite light – the root of chochmah) and tzimtzum (the contraction of infinite light – the root of binah). But according to Mahari Srug, there are always three levels – either Keser-Chochmah-Binah, or Chochmah- Binah-Daas.
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