EMANATION —  CHAYA, CREATION —  NESHAMA, FORMATION —  RUACH, MAKING  —  NEFESH

    In the section entitled “The sefirot are vessels of nefesh, ruach and neshama, chaya and yechida,” we wrote that the light which emerges from the sefira of chochma is called chaya, the light emerging from the sefira of bina is called neshama, the light emerging from the sefira of tiferet is called ruach, and the light emerging from the sefira of malchut is called nefesh. Since the light spreading from the sefira of chochma is in the world of emanation, and the light diffusing from the sefira of bina is in the world of creation, the light spreading out from the sefira of tiferet is in the world of formation, and the light diffusing from the sefira of malchut is in the world of making, the worlds of creation, formation and making are the three vessels which contain within them the universal nefesh, ruach and neshama. Indeed, the world of making is the vessel of the light of the universal nefesh, the world of formation is a vessel for the light of the universal ruach, and the world of creation a vessel for the light of the universal neshama. The lights of chaya and yechida are so high and lofty that no vessel can contain them. Thus, they are all-embracing. (Further on, we shall explain this concept.)

THE THREE LEVELS OF CREATION, FORMATION AND MAKING ARE FOUND IN ALL REALITY

    As we already mentioned, these three levels are found in any reality, so that it is possible to divide all reality into three levels:
creations, formations and products. These parallel the worlds of creation, formation and making. The distinction between them is that the world of creation is like the rebirth of the object, i.e., creation ex nihilo. In the world of formation, after the rebirth of the object, each object is shaped in its form and description. This is unlike the world of creation where boundaries do not yet exist but only the aspect of quality does. In the world of formation we speak in terms of amounts and limits. In the world of making, the material aspects of the products are completed, that is, the roots of the material quality. This is something which did not exist in the world of formation and had not yet emerged in a material state. Put simply, reality in the world of creation is purer than that in the world of formation, while reality in the world of formation is purer than that of the world of making.

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