THE WORLD OF THOUGHT

    Before we continue to explain the worlds of creation, formation and making, let us consider the aforementioned concept, “the world of thought.” Human thought is not like Divine thought. Human thought is built and based on impressions and feelings which man attains from the world outside of him. On the other hand, Divine thought is the root from which the content of all reality of the worlds of creation, formation and making (with all their components) is built. The world of emanation is the world of thought, which brings into existence and maintains the worlds of creation, formation and making. Therefore, the connection between emanation, creation, formation and making is constant. It is difficult for us to grasp this since we are accustomed to distinguish between the thought itself and the results of the thought. For example, an author contemplates writing a book. In the reality to which we are accustomed, after he has finished writing a book, there is no longer a connection between the thought of the author and the book. The author’s thought was nourished by external impressions and environment, but after he has finished writing there is no longer any connection between the author and his environment. This is not the case as far as Divine thought is concerned. Divine thought — the world of emanation — takes control of and unites with the world of creation, formation and making and they become like body and soul. Divine thought takes control and guides the entire reality within the worlds of creation, formation and making in all their detail, just as the soul guides the parts of the body. From here we can understand that, just as the world of thought takes control of the worlds of creation, formation and making, so does the world of ratzon, the world of primordial man, take control of the world of thought. Indeed, in his book Shaar HaHakdamot, the Ari writes, “All worlds are connected to the Source of Emanation.” 

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EMANATION, AND CREATION, FORMATION AND MAKING

    The essential and fundamental difference between the world of emanation and the worlds of creation, formation and making is that emanation is a superior form of reality, in which the light of the En Sof concentrates and becomes one; therefore, it is total Divinity. The actions of the world of emanation are the actions of God’s essence, actions of Divinity without any “partners.” In contrast, the action of the worlds of creation, formation and making are external to God, Blessed be He, since in these worlds an additional revelation of the Divine ratzon comes into play, a revelation of a reality which is divided and separate from God. This means that all illumination emerging from the framework of the world of emanation is the root of Divine action, and the hishtalshalut of revelations in the world of emanation is an evolution from reason to result. When the Creator, Blessed be He, desired to activate the process of hishtalshalut to produce the ten sefirot of the worlds of creation, formation and making, it was a new category of actions that encompass both illumination and distinct creations. The hishtalshalut in the worlds of creation, formation and making is ex nihilo, for there is no Divinity in the essence of the creatures in the world of creation and they are therefore termed disparate worlds, because they are distinct from Divinity. Thus the essential distinction between emanation, and creation, formation and making is that the reality of disparateness and multiplicity is in the worlds of creation, formation and making as opposed to perfect unity in the world of emanation.₂₈
    In fact, one cannot describe anything in the reality of the worlds of creation, formation and making with the title“ Divinity.” Should we wish to relate His essence, may He be blessed, to the reality of creation, formation and making, all we can say is that the Creator, Blessed be He, is their Master (Adon), and is therefore, given the name, A-donai. The very name indicates that He does not unite with the reality of the worlds. There is no intention to assert here, God forbid, that the light of En Sof is not enclothed in the worlds of creation, formation and making, for as stated earlier, all reality is united with the Creator in the essence of the En Sof However, the enclothing in the worlds of creation, formation and making is, as it were, on the level of  “the soul of the soul,” meaning that it is totally transcendent and therefore “surrounds” all worlds. This means that the light of En Sof is clothed in emanation, and the light of emanation is clothed in creation. Thus the light of the En Sof passes, as it were, two screens until it reaches these worlds, whereas the revelation of the light of the En Sof in the world of emanation is bright and clear.₂₉
    The explanation of this is that the sefirot of the world of creation are not as pure as the sefirot of the world of emanation and become a kind of screen, as described earlier. However, the reality of the sefirot in the world of emanation is so clear that it may not be termed making, formation or creation, for it is a very pure reality, loftier than any quality or substance in the world of creation.
    The term atzilut (emanation) comes from the verse: “And I will cause some of the spirit that you possess to emanate from you (Numbers, chapter 11:1). This reality emanates from the world of primordial man. The essence of the world of emanation is the ten sefirot, which are called by the “Sefer Hayetzira” the “ten sefirot of the void,” i.e., without essence, as it were. This is because we cannot grasp these matters at all.

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