classes ::: General Principles of Kabbalah, Rabbi Moses Luzzatto, chapter, Kabbalah,
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object:2.25 - Mercies and Judgements of Knowledge
book class:General Principles of Kabbalah
author class:Rabbi Moses Luzzatto
class:chapter
subject class:Kabbalah


The "Mercies and Judgments of the Sefira
"Knowledge are divided between ZO and his feminine
polarity. The "Mercies are given to ZO and the Judg
ments relegated to the feminine polarity. What follows
is an explanation of the terms MD and MN.. In either
case, Mem stands for water, or bestowal; the letter
Dalet in MD qualifies it as musculine, while the letter
Nun in MN is feminine.

Note that Nukbah, the feminine polarity, is merely
one-tenth of ZO, which is made up of nine Sefirot.
ZO represents the bestower and Nukbah is the recipient.
They are respectively like the heavens which are high
above, and the earth which lies spread below; the impli
cation being that the bestower is very high above the
recipient.

Nevertheless, in their governing roles, they are
equally balanced: the entire government of the right
pillar is assigned to ZO, and the entire government of
the left is assigned to the feminine polarity.

Recall, however, that the chief governing power in
a Varezuf lies in its "Knowledge (Da*at ); so that
"Knowledge is divided between ZO and the feminine


208



MERCIES AND JUDGMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE


209


polarity in order for them to rule equally. This "partner
ship between "Mercy and "Judgment is the very
essence of the government of the world. The means to
the perfection of creation, it was divided equally by the
Creator between Himself and man, making them partners.
That is why the Creator stands ready to emend all that
concerns the bestowal which relates to the right pillar,
as it is written: ". . . My right hand hath spanned the
heavens, while the nether beings are responsible for
emending all that concerns the recipiency which relates
to the left pillar, as it is said: "Mine hand also hath laid
the foundation of the earth. (Isaiah XLVIII, 14).

In the Midrash there is a comment on the words
from the Song of Songs: "Undefiled is my dove ( tamoti-
my dove) .* The word tamoti, according to the sages,
resembles taomoti which means "my twin sister, and
the idea is that God proclaims "Not that I am greater
than she, nor that she is greater than I, but that they
actually stand equal.

Although the distance between God and ourselves
is very great, He granted us this equality. This is the
idea behind the tenth position of the feminine polarity,
which is nevertheless capable of being the recipient for all
of ZO.

The partnership that exists between Israel and the
Creator is as described in the following: The Creator
devised the darkness inherent in man as a means for main
taining the evil which is to be transmuted into good.
Because of this man must effect many emendations in


* TR. N. "My dove stands for the congregation of Israel.



210


DETAILED OUTLINE OF THE KABBALAH


this darkness. On His part, the Creator grants fresh
bestowals to man in acordance with the degree of emen
dation which he has effected commensurate with his own
preparations. These bestowals correspond to the aggre
gation of "Mercies and "Judgments of the Sefira
"Knowledge; They are the Names 45 and 52 as well
as MD and MN. MN therefore consists of the new
Lights which derive from the contents of the Name 52.
They are extracted from all the Primordial Kings, and
from the newly emended parts that belong to the Name
52. This is the sum total of darkness inherent in man
which must be selected from evil and transformed into
good. New bestowals of divine Light descend according
to the selections which rise from the Name 52. They
are the MD (or bestowal) of the Name 45.

Following the fall of the first man (Adam) all of
the other major transgressions that succeeded him, sparks
descended into the shells. This accumulation of sparks is
added to those that still remain as a result of the shatter
ing of the vessels, thus making it necessary to extract
these as well, for it is from them that the New MN and
MD are to issue.

To clarify this still further we must reiterate that
"Kingdom is the source of the nether beings. She is
also the dominating factor of the divine holiness, and the
word "Kingdom bears out the connotation of reign or
dominion. But her "other side (sitra ahara) has no
dominion whatsoever; for dominion belongs to the
Creator, blessed be He. He created, and He holds sway
over His creation. What then remains for the "other
side to dominate? There are instances in which the



MERCIES AND JUDGMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE


211


Creator desires to grant rulership to the "other side,
despite the fact that this rule is not her due. The Talmud
cites such an instance in the case of Israels exile, for
then the Jews were deprived of their glory, which was
given instead to the nations of the world.

Thus we find that portions of "Kingdom itself are,
so to speak, enclothed in the shells, which are evil, in that
a portion of the upper dominion is given over to the
"other side (sitra ahara ). But this is only a small
portion of dominionno more than what is stipulated
by the Upper Degree and actually nothing more than
her sparks. Evil reigns in the world because the "other
side already acquired adequate sustenance and rulership
with the shattering of the vessels. It will therefore avoid
being totally eradicated until the sparks from the Pri
mordial Kings are entirely selected. Moreover, further
power is granted to the "other side with the continuation
of mans iniquities, reflections of the MN of "Kingdom,
which fell into the shells. Yet everything pertaining to
"Kingdom is tempered by the souls of men, which
descend into the shells, bearing an actual portion of her
within themselves.

The lack of emendation, or adequate preparation in
the whole of creation is in the exact measure of dominion
that is granted the "other side.

Emendations and adequate preparations are supple
mented to creation to the extent that the evil inclination
is deprived of its power. In this case the Creator, blessed
be He, increases the bestowal of the Divine Light to
creation.



212


DETAILED OUTLINE OF THE KABBALAH


This is the general procedure depicting the selection
of MN and Sparks, to which the descent of MD corres
ponds.

Mans present task is still to emend that which is
corrupt, and to restore that which is lost. When this
is accomplished, "new MN appears, for these letters
represent added efforts at preparation and increasing as
cent in the general nature of the nether beings who are
normally rooted in the Name 52. "Kingdom raises all
this, while MD, the new bestowals, descend toward the
renewed preparations.





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2.25_-_Mercies_and_Judgements_of_Knowledge

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Wikipedia - Holy Guardian Angel
Wikipedia - Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30133882-a-study-on-the-holy-guardian-angel
Holy Guardian Angel
Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels


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