Divinity is Perfect

Deficiency in the Divinity is Impossible

The Ramak writes (Pardes Rimmonim 3:7):

It is said in the Zohar: “The place where beginning is found,” i.e. the place of the revelation of atzilut, and its being found to us means that although the beginning of atzilut is from keter elyon, which is arich anpin, even so it is hidden and doesn’t reveal itself because of its great hiddenness, and the beginning of the revelation of atzilut is from ze’er anpin, whose beginning is chochmah, and this is what is called “beginning,” because it is the beginning of the revelation. And it says that atzilut and its existence in reality is from arich anpin, which is the keter. And this is the meaning of “the place where the beginning is found,” i.e. the place where the wisdom is emanated, found and revealed is from attika kaddisha, meaning keter arich anpin which is called attika kaddisha.

He wrote likewise in Eilimah, Mayan Ein Kol HaAretz (4:45):

And so it is in vessels from the secret of the tikkunim of the beard: the spark will spread to emanate chochmah, the head of ze’er anpin.

He wrote likewise in Eilimah, Mayan Ein Shemesh (2:2):

Now there are three aspects in existence … and the fact that chochmah and binah can be found as part of ze’er anpin and as part of the sefirot is thus true, and it is all correct.

The same is stated in other places in his books.

Ze’er anpin is a concept of the second behavior which has eight sefirot. Ze’er anpin has no existence without chochmah and binah, and it is always complete in chochmah and binah.

The same is stated in the Zohar (Parashat Naso 146b):

The thirteen of attika, sealed and hidden more than everything, and the nine that are revealed from ze’er anpin [another text: in ze’er anpin], and they all come together in the combination of one name which the kohen had in mind while lifting his hands, in the 22 engraved letters.

Thus the revelation of the nine sefirot, which are below the sefirah of keter, starts in ze’er anpin from chochmah and below.

The same is stated in Sifra DiTzniuta (as quoted in Zohar, Parashat Vaetchanan, 262a):

It is taught in the supreme secret in the Sifra DiTzniuta: Three spaces of written letters are revealed in the head of ze’er anpin. And we are taught: There are three mochin, which are sealed in those spaces, and from the service [another text: drawing] of the supreme, sealed mocha of attika kaddisha, which is drawn in ze’er anpin, there are found four mochin. And these four mochin are [another text adds: judgment; the crowns of all the king’s crowns are not] found and spread throughout the entire body [another text: throughout everything]. And these are the four chapters of the four compartments of tefillin that HaKadosh Baruch Hu straps on. Therefore, a person must strap on tefillin every day, because they are the holy supreme name in written letters.

Thus ze’er anpin has the four mochin starting from chochmah, and this is why he straps on tefillin, from the aspect of keter, in order to draw the supreme light of keter in addition to the previously existing aspects.

And these are the words of the Zohar, Idra Zuta (Parashat Ha’azinu, 289a):

All of the tikkunim of attika kaddisha in the quiet and sealed mocha are repaired, and all the tikkunim of ze’er anpin in chochmah tatta’ah are repaired, as it is written: “You created all of them with chochmah” (Tehillim 104).

Thus it is stated explicitly that chochmah is the main aspect of ze’er anpin, and ze’er anpin has no existence without chochmah.

However, in the Arizal’s writings in many places it is stated that ze’er anpin is the shesh ketzavot without mochin, i.e. without the sefirot of chochmah, binah and da’at. It is also said that we are obligated to enlarge it so as to complete it by means of kavvanot.

Such a thing is stated in Etz Chayyim (Sha’ar HaKelalim, chapter 4):

Now we will explain the third aspect of gadlut. In order to enlarge the limbs of this small one, which are as small as the antennae of grasshoppers, the netzach hod yesod of imma must enter the vav ketzavot of ze’er anpin, and then the highest joint of netzach of imma connects with the two joints of chesed of ze’er anpin, and they go up to the head of ze’er anpin, and his chochmah is made of three joints, and one joint of hod of imma joins with the two highest joints of gevurah of ze’er anpin, and his binah also becomes one of the three joints at the head of ze’er anpin.

And in Etz Chayyim (gate 25, sixth exposition):

The bottom half of tiferet of arich anpin was raised, since they were then in the aspect of chochmah binah da’at and came to be only in the aspect of keter of ze’er anpin. And there in this keter two thirds of chesed of the aforementioned tiferet, which rose in the keter to enlarge it, and afterwards from the vav ketzavot of ze’er anpin, which he had while suckling, they spread out and became his nine sefirot, as stated above, by enlarging the chasadim. Thus the ten sefirot of ze’er anpin are completed. And afterwards the supreme mochin entered them, which are the tzadi of tzelem. Now above we have explained how the vav ketzavot of ze’er anpin became nine sefirot after the mochin entered by the nine joints of netzach hod yesod of tevunah. And this is the second explanation, because through these chasadim which enlarge the tree, which is ze’er anpin, the tree of life, it grew in this way too. Apart from the growth of the chasadim and mochin themselves, which are doubled, as stated above, they also enlarged the body of ze’er anpin, as is well-known.

And just as an example, we will quote the book Sha’ar HaKavvanot (Derushei Tzitzit, exposition 1):

Regarding tzitzit, know that the matter of tzitzit is the aspect of external light, as we know, since there is external light and internal light. And you already know that when ze’er anpin was in imma, in the secret of pregnancy, he was only the aspect of vav ketzavot, three among three, and he then had neither the aspect of head nor the aspect of arms, but only one simple body. And the tzitzit katan corresponds to this, since we wrap neither the head nor the arms in it; but the tzitzit gadol, which is wrapped around the head, is the aspect of external light of ze’er anpin when he grew up and he gained ten actual sefirot, and his head and arms were spread out.

And since we relate the concept of ze’er anpin to HaShem, to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, then from the Arizal’s words it follows that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is not complete because He lacks mochin, that He also has a body that must be grown after His mother’s pregnancy, when He was born.

Can HaShem possibly lack mochin (brains)? Is it possible that He was born from a mother? And who is HaShem’s mother? Doesn’t this remind you of something?!

How can there be deficiency in the Divinity (God forbid)? And moreover, how can we who are deficient grow Him to complete Him through kavvanot? Is it not the opposite?

It is indeed the opposite: only He, who is complete, grants bounty and repairs us, who are deficient, by our fulfillment of the Torah’s commandments, which were given to us for this reason!

Thus we have proven that the Arizal’s kabbalah contradicts everything known in torat hasod which was transmitted orally from Mosheh Rabbenu, and we have shown that the concept of deficiency in Divinity exists in the Arizal’s kabbalah, which is not only strange but also foreign to the principles of Jewish faith, which insists that HaShem has no deficiency because He is the height of perfection.