Adir BaMurom — Chapter 15: The Eye of Arikh Anpin — Three White Hues; Mikveh; Tov Ayin; Yiras Ha-Romemus

The Ramchal now opens the extended section on the FIVE SENSES — though the Zohar and Tikkunim generally mention only FOUR. And the secret: all worlds were created in the secret of ESSENCE and VESSELS. The Reshimu [the residual impression left after the Tzimtzum] = the VESSEL. And the Kav [line of Ayn Sof entering the space] = the LIGHT. The vessel is intrinsic in its limitation [for from it the infiniteness was removed]; the Kav is contingent in its limitation [for in itself it is infinite but accommodates itself to the Reshimu]. And the general sensitivity of the body = TOUCH [mishush] — this is the soul enclosed within the body in all parts, responsive to everything that touches the body. But the SENSES [chushim] are another matter: places where the essence BREAKS THROUGH the vessel and emerges — where the light dominates the vessel, not trapped within it.

And the soul has four powers = the four letters of HVYH — and through these four it breaks through and emerges = FOUR SENSES. Three senses — ear, nose, mouth — are BREAKTHROUGH WITHOUT BODILY VESSEL [only piercing and opening]; one sense — the EYE — is BREAKTHROUGH WITH ITS OWN BODILY VESSEL [for the eye contains the soul's self-portrait]. And: the three receiving senses are EAR [receives sound], NOSE [receives scent], EYE [receives what it sees, picturing it within itself]. And the MOUTH is the sense of GIVING [it is Malchus that brings out — the decree-words by which the worlds were created, and also the entry of food]. The TASTE [palate, chech] serves both — it is the end of the senses and the beginning of nourishment.

And know: the WORLDS WERE CREATED THROUGH THE SENSES — through the MA'AMAROS [the ten sayings of creation, corresponding to the ten senses-and-palate] — and NOT through the ZIVUG of the vessels of Adam Kadmon. For AYIN-BEIS and SA"G emerged in the light breaking through the senses of AK — not through the zivug of his vessels and his Malchus. And MaH and Be"N emerged only through the zivug of Ayin-Beis and Sa"G of AK. And at the BREAKING OF THE VESSELS [the Nekudim] — the lights withdrew and the vessels fell. But they were not abandoned — they were hidden and stored for their tikkun: "anach lehu ve-atzni lehu" [He let them be and hid them away] (Idra Rabba 128a). And it is because their root was in the senses [not in the zivug of vessels] that: "He did not corrupt for them — His children's blemish" [Deuteronomy 32:5] — the lights themselves were never damaged.

And the EYES OF ARIKH ANPIN are different from all other eyes — "einoi de-risha chivra mishta'nin mishe'ar einin" [the eyes of the white head are different from all other eyes]. For in Ze'ir Anpin the two eyes are separate — right eye = chesed, left eye = din — and at times the left is covered (the lid descends), which is the secret of sleep [dormita] and exile. But in Arikh Anpin THE TWO EYES RETURN TO ONE — "titrin einyin de-itchazru le-chad" — for the Gevura in Arikh returns to be chesed, and there is no sleep there at all: "behold He who guards Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps" [Psalms 121:4]. And the THREE WHITE HUES [shalosh chivorin] in the eye of Arikh: white within white, and white encompassing all white — corresponding to Chesed, Gevura, and Tiferes returned to pure chesed-unity.

And the FISH [dagim] = the secret of Yesod of Ze'ir Anpin in the time of ZIVUG — hidden within the Nukva in the sea of her waters. At the time of zivug the luminaries stand in great purity and no damage reaches there — and therefore fish have no blemish, require no slaughter, and their blood is not prohibited. For their source is only in the time of the Zivug's completeness; yet their illuminations remain even after the zivug concludes — and SLEEP does not reach them, because they do not depend on the Gadlus [greatness] of Ze'ir Anpin's mohin. This is: "Torah scholars who banish sleep from their eyes at night to study Torah" — for they are in the aspect of fish, drawing from that boundless source. And: "the eye of G-d is toward those who fear Him" [Psalms 33:18] — the eyes of ZA depend on the fish, which flow from the eyes of Arikh.

And the MEZUZAH: the Nukva is the DOOR [delet] — the Dalet letter = 22 letters [by the shape of its two strokes]. The door closes ZA so that the Sitra Achra cannot grasp there. And the mezuzah = the revelation of Yesod of Imma [= the Rachel-root of the Nukva from Imma's side] illuminating with Shem SHADAI — and by its illumination the Sitra Achra is forced to submit at the doorpost. And: the mezuzah is placed on the RIGHT SIDE of the entrance, because what exits is only good, but what enters might be bad — and the shem that humbles the Sitra Achra must shine at the entry. And SHEKIDAH [diligence] = the YUD of SHADAI shining in the doorpost — for the Dalet, impoverished [dal], becomes TAV [= 400] through the power of YUD striking it. And: "he who guards the door's posts day by day, to watch the mezuzot of my entrance" — shekidah generates shmirah.

And SHECHITAH [ritual slaughter]: the cause of death comes from the sin of Adam — the impurity of the serpent that entered through eating. And this impurity entered through the MOUTH — via the oshes (throat) as a connection from head to body. And the Sitra Achra has its own "head" which is the head of Esav — and while they are joined together all is blemished. The tikkun: cutting the two simanim [trachea and esophagus] — this severs the connection, the soul departs, the impurity separates. And those who are in the aspect of FISH need only gathering [asifah] to their source — for their impurity was already repaired through Torah, and gathering to the source is their tikkun. This is: "illuminate my eyes lest I sleep the death" [Psalms 13:4].

And the TEFILLIN: the soul is enclosed in the body but reveals itself at the METZACH — for the Metzach is the revelation of all that is in the head. And the four parshiyos of the Tefillin = one HVYH making four — and from there the four senses are made [four breakthroughs]. And TEFILLIN illuminates the eyes from the Metzach downward — and this is: "and all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of G-d is called upon you and they shall fear you" — for when the eyes are illuminated [through Tefillin drawing down from the Metzach] there is no adversary and no harm. And in exile it is as if G-d sleeps — "awake, why do You sleep?" — the closing of the eyes. But in the redemption: "I have surely seen the suffering of My people" — the eyes have opened. And therefore: the Tefillin descend from head to heart — Tefillin of the head for Rachel — for the eye and the heart are connected: "after your heart and after your eyes."

And the NUKVA'S BIRTH and development: she is initially included within the back of Ze'ir Anpin — BACK TO BACK. The NESIRA [sawing-through] by Imma separates them, after which they stand FACE TO FACE — and this enables the ZIVUG and all of creation's flow. There are two kinds of zivug: the essential zivug of Yaakov-Rachel [Shacharit]; and the secondary zivug with Leah [Mincha] which sustains and extends Rachel's tikkun. And: the 70 NATIONS are rooted in the seventy gevuros of Ze'ir Anpin — the sparks of the primordial Edomite kings not yet sweetened. In the time of GOG AND MAGOG these are further refined. And the ultimate FINAL TIKKUN: "I will make all tongues a pure tongue" — all of creation gathered into the final harmony that is the complete Adam, truth manifest in all worlds.

The third white hue [chivor ha-shlishi] is not itself an "eye" — it is the FORCE THAT UNITES the two eyes, and through it the illumination collected in the two gazing-hues now spreads outward and downward to the lower luminaries. After the first two white hues complete their looking — going out, ascending, descending, striking the central pupil — what was gathered in them now FLARES [lahit] in the third, which then SHINES DOWNWARD [nechis] to illuminate the lower sefiros: the three from the left-hue (Hod, Yesod, Gevurah — called Hod, Hadar, Chedvah) and the three from the right-hue (Chesed, Netzach, Tiferes). And this third hue illuminates the three crowns [shalosh kitrin] — ChaBa"D — bringing from the eye's opening a path to the lower brain and a path to the lower heart: "afik orcha le-mocha tata'ah, ve-afik orcha le-liba tata'ah."

And the Zohar's teaching: "taana, lo satim ha-i eina" — this eye never closes, even for a moment. For every moment built into governance requires this eye's illumination. Without it, even for one instant, all would dry and be destroyed. And this is called "eina pekicha" — the open eye — for its essence is always open, to fix what is closed below. And below, the closing of eyes occurs because of human deeds — when sin gives the Sitra Achra a foothold, the eyes of Ze'ir Anpin must close so as not to give light to the impure. But Arikh Anpin, being utterly beyond the deeds of those below, cannot be closed: "eina ilaah, eina kadisha."

And the secret of the MIKVEH: the root of the mikveh is in ChA"S [concealed Chochma], then in Yesod of Imma, then in the Nukva of the first state. The wine [gevuros] when fully sweetened returns to the aspect of water — and that transformed wine is the water of the mikveh. For 40 SE'AH: the forty emerge from the Yud of the Mem-closed [M-sof], which spreads in all four directions with nine dots going out in each direction plus the Yud completing ten in each direction — yielding forty. And 9 KABIN: these are the three Lugin [= Yud-Heh-Vav] spreading to four directions, becoming nine Kabin; and in further expansion they become thirty-six Kabin = six times six. And the 3 LUGIN: the three prongs of the Yud — YHV — each containing the other, giving three times TAL [= dew, = 39], which are the three Lugin. Three Lugin invalidate the mikveh (from below); nine Kabin of poured water purify a ba'al keri; and forty Se'ah is the immersion itself. All this is: the Gimmel-Lamed of TZELEM going down to the Tzadi — the 9 Kabin — flowing through Ze'ir Anpin, sweetening his din and cleansing all impurity.

And: "chachlili einayim mi-yayin" [Genesis 49:12] — the sparkle of the eyes comes from the wine. For the wine [the 70 sparks of ELOHIM] vests in the eye in its aspect of Ayin [= 70], giving the eye its shimmer and fire, which the Ramchal calls nitzotzin [sparks] — lights that emerge in scintillating pulsation like stars — and these are the root of all twinkling and flashing in creation. The eye's shimmer (chachlilus) is drawn precisely from this wine. And the 9 Kabin that flow from the eye of Arikh Anpin illuminate from within the three white hues — for the two eyes of AA, which return to one, send down nine flows through the three hues — "from one vessel, two vessels, three vessels they join" [Mishna Mikvaos 3:4]. These nine flows sweeten the six extremities of Ze'ir Anpin, washing them with the purity of the mikveh's waters.

And: "leit nehiru le-eina tata'ah le-istecha'ah me-admumisa" — there is no illumination for the lower eye that washes away its redness except from the upper eye of Arikh Anpin. When the eyes of Ze'ir Anpin are covered [in the state of Katnus / sleep / exile], they stand in redness and darkness. The mohin of Gadlus coming on its own would not be enough — for that would consume the wicked. Rather: the eye of AA must look upon the eye of ZA in DOUBLE ATTACHMENT — and this double bonding arouses Imma, who fills with her MILK [the din returned to chesed, blood transformed to milk] and washes the eyes of ZA, sweetening them. This is what the Zohar in parashas Mishpatim says: "nehir anka eina chivra dileih, ve-lahata be-imma, ve-itmali'ah be-chalba" — the white eye of Arikh illuminates, flares toward Imma, and she fills with milk.

And the sequence: in the normal course of governance, Imma flows downward to ZA from above — that is the standard order. But when the tikkun of SWEETENING THE EYES is needed — when sins have inflamed ZA's eyes with redness — the order reverses: ZA first attaches himself to AA in double bonding; that double attachment draws the sweetening from AA down to Imma; and then Imma pours her milk. For even this miracle follows the laws of creation: "asher ayin be-ayin nir'eh Atah Hashem" — this was Moshe Rabbeinu's prayer arguing before Hashem, saying: You have already built into creation this mechanism of eye gazing upon eye — therefore do not harden Your judgment upon them.

And: "eina de-lo admouch ve-lo naim" — the eye of AA neither slumbers [dormita] nor sleeps [sheinah]. For sleep is the withdrawal of the mohin of Gadlus, leaving only Katnus — and then the covers descend over the eyes of ZA. But in AA this cannot happen, because his eye's open-state is itself one of the seven tikkunim of the head flowing from Atik Yomin. And sleep has two stages: first the sleep itself in the eyes, then the drowsiness [tenumah] on the eyelids. In the Shomrei Yisroel formula, these appear reversed — first "lo yanum" then "lo yishan" — because we observe from below upward: we first see the tenumah, and know there is a Shomer above who does not drowse; and then looking further inward, we see that the eyes themselves are not sleeping, and know there is a Shomer ensuring even this.

And "eina de-natora de-chola, eina de-kiyuma de-chola" — the eye that guards everything, the eye that sustains everything. When the blessed Holy One wishes to give the Sitra Achra license, He hides His eyes — "let their gods sleep"; "the eye of the adulterer waits for twilight, no eye shall see me" [Job 24:15]. But when He does not wish to give them license: "His eye is toward those who fear Him." And what sustains all: the eye's bonding with what is seen — the inner soul reaching out through the pupil, attaching itself to the seen thing, picturing it within itself, and then a new offspring going out from the seer to the seen — this is the sustaining force of all existence.

And: "tov ayin hu yivorach" [Proverbs 22:9] — the Idra here reads: "al tikri yivorach ela yivarech" [do not read "he shall be blessed" but "he shall bless"]. For the eye of Arikh is called tov ayin [goodly eye] — unlike the ayin tovah [good eye] which is the eye of Ze'ir when corrected by Arikh's illumination. And ra ayin [bad eye] is the Sitra Achra's eye — which seeks to imitate the goodly eye but recoils from true giving, for its nature is only to withhold and diminish. And the Sitra Achra's version of ra ayin says "eat and drink" but its heart is not with it, for its heart — the root of true sight — is absent. Thus ayin ha-ra [evil eye] produces famine [literal lack], while ra ayin produces satiation without satisfaction — "you shall eat and not be satisfied" — because the bonding of love between the luminaries is absent.

And: "ayin de-ashgachusa" — the gazing eye. For there are three modes of emergence: gates [Yesodos], windows [the open sense-openings], and lattices [the hair-channels]. The Shechina looks through the WINDOWS — the sense-openings that are not the Yesod — and PEEKS THROUGH the LATTICES — the hairs, in the secret of "meitzitz min ha-charakim" like the blossoming of the staff [vayatzitz tzitz]. And the root of all this is the eye, whose oversight is constant and unbroken — the inner essence bonding with creation at every moment.

And FEAR [YIRAH]: "hineh ein Hashem el yere'av" — for there are two kinds of fear: YIRAS HA-ONESH [fear of punishment] and YIRAS HA-ROMEMUS [awe of transcendence]. Fear of punishment comes from the gevuros that can punish — whoever is afraid is protected from them and saved. But awe of transcendence: the one who is exalted does not reveal himself to the one below him, because the lower one's level is too small for the exalted one's greatness — and the Exalted One remains, as it were, contracted from above the lower. And awe of this kind — rather than distancing — actually draws the awestruck one nearer. For the very din of contraction is appeased toward the awed one and draws close. And this is the fruit of yiras ha-romemus: those who have it cause the upper and lower luminaries to draw nearer to them, and they attain great perception. So Moshe at the burning bush — first he said: "I will turn aside and see this great sight" — and because he had not yet recognized, he had no fear. But once he recognized: "Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon G-d" — and at that moment Hashem immediately called and sent him. And so with AA and ZA: though AA's eye gazes upon ZA always, it is transcendently exalted above ZA — and its illumination only properly bonds when ZA has this awe of transcendence. This is: "hineh ein Hashem el yere'av, le-michallim le-chasdo" — it is those who await His chesed who have this awe, for there are no punishing gevuros in AA from which to be afraid; rather, whoever hopes for His chesed is in awe of His transcendence.

And: "hineh lo yanum ve-lo yishan shomer Yisroel" — this too is in the secret of the HINEH, as is: "hineh mitaso shel Shlomo, shishim giborim saviv lah" — sixty mighty ones surrounding the royal couch [Shechina], which is the Heh that becomes Samech through the twelve tribes [twelve times five = sixty letters of Birkas Kohanim]. And in Birkas Kohanim there are sixty letters for this reason — it is a blessing structured to ensure protection even in times of din and klippa dominion. This is: "yivorechecha Hashem ve-yishmerecha" — the shmirah is what the blessing especially needs. And the Shmirah of AA's eye guards ZA by sweetening all his gevuros so they do not become adversaries. And so Metatron — shomrei — takes the sixty gevuros as his sixty fiery lashes [shishin pulsai de-nura] and guards the sacred charge.

Chapter 7 of Adir BaMurom is the longest and most profound chapter in the entire work — the Ramchal's masterpiece: a complete systematic exposition of the second half of the Idra Rabba, from the continuation of the Eye of Arikh Anpin through the final closing of the Idra. It spans pages 116–488 of the printed text (373 pages) and covers seven major thematic arcs:

I. THE EYE OF ARIKH ANPIN (§§1–11b, pp. 116–340). The five senses as breaking-through points of light; the Reshimu as vessel and the Kav as light; the three white hues [chivorin]; how ZA's eye has no illumination except from AA's; the Mikveh's three aspects [40 Se'ah / 9 Kabin / 3 Lugin] as the sweetening of the Eye's Gevuros; wine becoming water; chachlili einayim mi-yayin; the double bonding of ZA with AA drawing Imma's milk to wash ZA's eyes; the third white hue sending illumination downward to all six extremities; tov ayin hu yivorach — the blessing going out from the goodly eye; yiras ha-romemus vs. yiras ha-onesh; hineh lo yanum ve-lo yishan shomer Yisroel — 60 letters of Birkas Kohanim as the protection of the All.

II. THE NAME OF ATIK AND THE GREAT TEACHING ON CREATION (§§12–12b, pp. 341–397). The Name of Atik Yomin is hidden throughout Torah except at the Akeidah, where bi nishba'ti ne'um Hashem reveals that Atik IS the inner secret of HVYH itself; the complete teaching on the Tzimtzum and the Kav; Torah preceded the world by 2000 years [= the YH before the VH]; the world first created with Din then with Rachamim; BEREISHIS = Torah; the Patriarchs as cosmic forces [Avraham = Kav = 248 = Chesed; Yitzchak = Reshimu rectified; Yaakov = lights breaking through]; Esav and Yishmael; Moshe = Shem MaH; the 70 nations from the Nikkudos; Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben Dovid; NACHASH = MASHIACH in gematria — Mashiach binds the klippos as head controls tail; the Nose of Arikh Anpin as Malchus of the head-tikkunim; the two breaths: one for ZA now, one reserved for Mashiach; the four lights of the Nose flaring into the Great Sea [Dikna]; the Four Kingdoms of Daniel [Bavel/Paras-Madai/Yavan/Edom]; Atik Yomin sitting on the Dikna of Arikh — "when Atik sits upon it, it is subdued; the one who rides controls."

III. THE RUACH OF MASHIACH, FREE CHOICE, AND THE SIN OF ADAM (§13, pp. 398–440). The Ruach of Mashiach was created before the world and all human tikkunim depend on it; everything Mashiach will do — Adam HaRishon could have done on the day he was created; his sin only lengthened the time; the two trees = two paths to the same ultimate point; the Tree of Life = immediate direct path; the Tree of Knowledge = the long path of exile and tikkun; the secret of Free Choice — G-d is the ultimate good and even evil must return to good; judgment by free choice enables this without coercion [= the shame of "bread not one's own"]; ROSH and SOFA [beginning and end] — the Unity of the Emitter is equally present in both; 7th millennium = revelation of Sofa; 8th millennium = equalization of Rosh and Sofa = "Hashem Echad u-Shemo Echad"; the Tzimtzum at the center of all infinite light — when its opposite [evil] is revealed as identical to the Blessed One, His unity is clarified completely; SHEM and KINUY: ELOHIM is the cognomen concealing HVYH — all evil is only a concealment that hides the inner good; nine Heichalos; the Pargod between Keter and Chochma; Gan Eden's plants = 613 commandments.

IV. THE PARGOD, THE NINE HEICHALOS, AND THE 42 PAIRINGS (§13b, pp. 441–460). The Pargod [brain membrane] is born from Chochma's pursuit of Keter — it is the root of all screens between all levels; its shape = the letter Aleph [two Yuds facing a Resh]; nine Heichalos as root of Atzilus; three illumination levels [Keter = sealed Kamatz; Chochma = Patzach = opened; Bina = the Mouth/Peh]; mati ve-lo mati — in the reaching aspect things are known; in the not-reaching aspect all gathers in Unity; the 42 pairings through the seven Heichalos of BIY"A; the Korbanos ascending from below, connecting Kavod to Atzilus and Atzilus to Ayn Sof.

V. THE EIGHT EDOMITE KINGS (§13b cont., pp. 460–488). Each of the eight Malchin Kadma'in [primordial kings] in Bereishis 36 corresponds to a stage in the world's governance: BELA = the sealed mouth of Bina / chesron ha-da'as / reward and punishment; YOVAV = the trembling voices [ro'esh] / Shevarim-Teruah / all worldly hardship; CHUSHAM = the senses / 2000 years of Tohu / materialist blindness to Providence; HADAD = Tiferes breaking / the domain of SA's unchecked power / ultimately destroyed; SAMLAH from MASREKAH = the nations as fallen garments of Jewish souls / Mashiach as the folding Vav completing for the later generations / Chirik→Shuruk→Cholam at redemption; SHAUL from RECHOVOS HA-NAHAR = Yesod / Torah-joy through revelation to others / David inheriting and completing this; BAAL-CHANAN = times of expansiveness vs. sealing of lights / the tzaddik-mouse and the evil-mouse; HADAR = the general tikkun of all the Breaking / ZU"N united / TZEDEK + YaK = HADAR / Ruach HaKodesh from Malchus — the final governance.

VI. SOULS, GARMENTS, AND MASHIACH'S FOLDING (§§13b–14). Before Adam's sin, all souls were to be Israel and the nations only their outer garments; after the sin the garments fell; Mashiach stands at the "fold" between the earlier and later generations, completing for those who could not complete for themselves; the Tzaddik = Yesod = the giver to the Nukva; Torah-joy = the flaming of the 231 gates when Torah is revealed to others; Yerushalayim = City of Tzedek; Tzedek + YaK = Hadar = the final king = the final tikkun.

VII. THE METAPHYSICS OF THE EMITTER (§§13–13b). Woven throughout the chapter's final arc: the Keter is the first emanation and may not be investigated [only from Chochma downward]; the sefirot are the Emitter's attributes as they relate to those below; there are nine upper Heichalos and seven lower Heichalos; the ultimate reward of souls is endless new comprehension of the Infinite; the blessed Emitter desired that even the evil of exile shall be revealed as good — so that in the end not merely "the illness passed" but the illness itself is transformed into the healing.

1 The Pargod as the membrane of the brain: see Zohar Bereishis 15a; and see Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar ha-Tzimtzum.

2 On the nine Heichalos as root of Atzilus: see Zohar Pekudei 259b; and Kla"ch Petach 136.

3 On Mati ve-lo mati: see Kla"ch Pataich 93–94; Pischei Chochma ve-Da'as §9 (Sha'arei Ramchal p. 144).

4 On the 42 Zivugim = the seven Names in the Heichalos with 42 letters: see Kitzur ha-Kavanos p. 162; and Sha'ar ha-Zivugim.

5 On Bereishis = Bra Shis: Zohar Bereishis 3b. On the seven Voices: Zohar 2:25b (parashas Va'era).

6 On the Eight Edomite Kings = eight stages of Breaking and Tikkun: see Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar ha-Shvirah; and Maamar Sod ha-Yichud (Ginzei Ramchal p. 270).

7 On the Vavs = garments of AK contracting to threads: see Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar ha-Klalim §3; and Kla"ch Petach 29 (p. 87).

8 On Mashiach as the folding Vav: see Da'as Tevunos Part 2 (Ginzei Ramchal p. 48); Maamar Sod Demut ha-Adam (Ginzei Ramchal p. 263).

9 On the Simchas Torah = flaming of the 231 gates: see Tamid 32b; and Kla"ch Petach 52.

10 On Tzedek + YaK = Hadar: Sha'arei Ramchal p. 386. And see Kla"ch Petach 58 on Malchus as Yesod.