The point of the yud goes through two stages of revelation. In the first, the point is contracted and concealed within itself and cannot even be a direct source for the length or breadth necessary for [the intellectual capacity] of the recipients. The revelation [at this stage] is an undeveloped point which flashes in one's mind and is not crystallized into letters [or words] which would enable it to be grasped and understood in its length and breadth.

We can see this more clearly through an analogy from common experience. In a man of great intellectual power there constantly well forth original and profound insights. Yet he cannot reveal or explain them in a way which would enable others to truly grasp them. For although as far as he is concerned a particular idea shines overtly, it is not settled within his brain; rather it hovers like an elusive lightning flash. The matter is not defined and visualized in the form of a well-defined point. For himself this is sufficient; he knows the concept with his own intellect and relative to himself it may be considered revealed. But the concept cannot be revealed to others until it takes the form of a well-defined "point" which can be grasped.

(We refer here to "grasping" of the kind that is possible in Chochmah, which differs from "grasping" in relation to Binah. To grasp a concept through Binah is to understand it in all its details, each detail being individually defined. The grasp of Chochmah, on the other hand, encompasses the entire concept as one comprehensive point. Accordingly the light [of Chochmah] is more intense, for as explained elsewhere, when the many particulars [of a concept] are revealed the light is obscured, whereas when it still exists only as a point, the subtle light of the idea shines within it. It is therefore not as limited as it is in [the realm of detailed] understanding.

Hence Chochmah is called[117] "water," while Binah is called "firmament." Water, being fluid,[118] can take many forms. For example, the [seminal] drop of the father; [as the Talmud[119] states:] "Until forty days [after conception] prayer can effect a change [in the gender of the fetus]." In contrast the firmament is congealed water[120] that remains unchanging in one place. This can be compared to the period after the fortieth day, when the fetus has become unalterably formed in the mother's womb. Similarly, once a concept has been understood and grasped through its details, it becomes truly limited and cannot change from the way it has been [defined and] understood. But insofar as an idea still exists in the point of Chochmah, it can still assume many different forms.

When compared to the grasp of Binah, the point of Chochmah is not yet graspable. The grasp of Binah truly entails a limitation that does not yet exist in the faculty of Chochmah, as already mentioned. In comparison to the levels above it, however, the well-defined "point" of Chochmah is indeed grasped.

[The author returns to the case of the wise man who first experiences an idea as a flash and then, upon grasping it, is able to convey it to others.] This revelation [of a concept's developed point of Chochmah] takes an intellectual form in a manner necessary for the recipients; it is an intellectual light proportionate to the recipients. By contrast, the flow of intellect mentioned above [i.e., the initial flash] is not at all at the level of the recipients. It is the "ayin of Chochmah," or "the wonders of Chochmah" (pliyos Chochmah), not being revealed and enclothed in the cerebral vessels of Chochmah; rather it is as a lightning flash which merely hovers without yet being settled or revealed.

The other [viz., the intellectually-definable] point of Chochmah, however, is revealed in the intellectual vessels of Chochmah. Although it is called ayin relative to Binah, it is nonetheless revealed - insofar as it is defined in a form that can be revealed in Binah. This level is the second aspect of the point of Chochmah.

The first level is a point which is not yet an intellectual entity which may be grasped by the brain. It may be said that this is referred to in the verse,[121] "Deep indeed are Your thoughts." "Thought" is Chochmah; "deep indeed are Your thoughts" refers to the depth of Chochmah, the level of "the wonders of Chochmah" which flow from the koach hamaskil [the deepest source of intelligence] within the soul. Though it has become a faculty of Chochmah, it is still at the level of ayin and concealment. It is the Keser ["crown"] of Chochmah, incomparably beyond the grasp of Binah.

Summary: There are two levels in the revelation of the "point": the intellectual flow which is like a lightning flash, and the intellectual form which is grasped as a general point (unlike Binah, which is the grasp of details).

   

Notes:

117. (Back to text) See Siddur [Admur HaZaken, p. 70a] on the verse, Hallelu...BiRekiya Uzo; Likkutei Torah, Parshas Tazria, at the beginning of the maamar entitled Kamiflegi BiMesivta DiRekiya, ch. 2 [22d].

118. (Back to text) [Eruvin 46a.]

119. (Back to text) [Berachos 60a; Tosafos on Sanhedrin 22a; see also Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 52 (87a).]

120. (Back to text) [Zohar I, 77a.]

121. (Back to text) [Tehillim 92:6.]