“Flying Sparks!” p: 45

Cape Town, Table Mountain

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 45 6/15/2011 ThursdayNight 14 Sivan 5771 

Page 45 – lower third of the page (line starts: ein lemaalota...)

Okay, we are looking at why wisdom/chochmah is called nothing/ein. It is not yet a thing. It is an emanation and not essence. It becomes a presence when it becomes a 'stand-alone' entity. Thus it is actually still reflective of the essence.

The example of this is a point of mind/sechel that is not yet formulated. It is called barak ha-mavrik – a flying spark. It cannot yet be grasped.  

Essence is called nothing, not because it is not real. Chochmah is not yet formulated and thus still closer to the essence.

Etzem/essence has been discussed for a while and it is impossible to grasp since the world is all a 'structured presence'. All we can point to as metaphor is the space that the object occupies.

The house is the space it encompasses. The space cannot even be described as a function. It is essence/reality itself. It provides the basis, but not in a functional manner. It is way above the function it provides. Space is automatically everywhere. The revelation of chochmah/wisdom is so refined and so pure and keen to portray the essence that it is not its own presence. It has not structure or presentation of its own. This is why it is called a 'flying spark'.

The world doesn't have a continued presence. The continuity of the world is due to a reflection of chochmah/wisdom that comes to it continually. 

From the joining of nothingness and something all the creations came into being. And this union is constant.

Like we say 'He, in His kindness, renews each day His work of creation'!  

We just said chochmah is ein/nothing, like a spark that flies out, since it represents the essence – just a point without constant presence. And this is the source of the world. This chochmah is like sight. Sight exists only while we see the panorama. If you gaze at the view which is in the form of the flying spark, it is that the sight is constantly rejuvenated. This is like chochmah – a momentary experience that is continually renewed. If you loose sense that the world is a creation, then it becomes nothing.

The chochmah must hover there, since without it the bina dies. There is a world on a constant basis since it is being continually created! If the union of something and nothing would cease, there would cease to be an existence of world. The world would die. All would be insignificant. 

The union of chochmah and bina gives the world its constant life and vitality. Purpose is a statement that says, 'Hashem wants it' and it comes to the world via chochmah. Chochmah is the ein/nothingness that can translate His will...