Part 2 · Chapter 29

The Illusion of a Fixed Limitation 0:02

ואין גבול מוכרח, it's not like a forced limitation לומר that we would be able to say שאין לו כח התפשטות עוד that you can't do anymore. So let's say like you throw a ball lightly to a child. You chose to do that. But we can't say that that's inherent that you can't throw it harder, רק שאינו רוצה להתפשט יותר, you just don't want to. והרי זה רק עושה את ההגבלה, this is only making limitation, ואין הגבלה אמיתית, but it's not a real limitation.

The fact your hand, your hand is just making the ball be thrown in a certain way, but it's not that that you that that that that you can't throw it in a different way, that it has to throw it in that way, it's just being used as a to to to as a tool to make the ball move in that way. But it in itself is not actually limited.

ואין הגבלה אמיתית כגבול בפועל שהוא הגבלה אמיתית, but when you actually threw it in a certain way, then it's a real limitation. You only threw it in one way, and that's it. And once you did it, it's gone, it's separate, and you can't take it back, you can't change it, that's so that's the way it is.

Distinguishing Internal vs. External Tools 1:05

But your hand is always connected to you and you can always choose to move it however you want. כמו שנתבאר במקום אחר בענין פנימיות הכלים וחיצוניות הכלים שיבואר בעזרת השם. And this the difference between the פנימיות הכלי and חיצוניות הכלי like we'll explain later with the help of God.

So you understand the the difference here between the פנימיות and everything? I mean, even the potential limitation has some sort of a גבול to it, but it's it's not a complete limitation. It's only like a certain, like let's say you know like one of these puzzles where you're stuck in a room with like a hammer, a screwdriver, or a piece of rope, and you know what I mean?

So you have only certain tools to work with, so you do have certain limitations, but within that you can do whatever you want, you know. Like if you give a guy a pencil, he can draw whatever he wants with it. There's a certain general limitations, there's a certain general thing of it, anything you draw with a pencil is going to have a certain properties to it because it's made with a pencil and not with a pen.

But within the world of a pencil, it's still infinite. So it's not ממש like a complete limitation yet. Right, it's infinite within its limitations, whereas once it comes to גבול בפועל that you actually did something, then it's completely limited and it there there's no room anymore for for a change.

It's one thing and only one thing. וכך יובן למעלה, so it is understood above, בשרש ומקור כלים המגבילים לאור, the root and the source of the vessels that limit the light of God, דהיינו בשרש ומקור כח המגביל שם, in other words that the root and the source of their power of limitation, שבא ונמשך מן העצמות, that the power of the vessels to limit is coming from the עצמות, that God is choosing the limitation.

Root Source of Vessels Limiting Divine Light 2:22

It's not that He has to be revealed as a creator, He chose to be revealed as a creator. And it's not that He has to create the world in this way, He's choosing to create the world in this way. So even though the vessels are limiting the light, but they're it's coming from God's choice, from His עצם, שמשם נמשך התהוות אור עצמי, which that's also the source of the light, כמו מקור התהוות אור הרצון, like the source of the light of the רצון, שמהעלם עצם המקור לכל רצון, from the hidden source for all desire, הרי משם גם כן נמשך כח הגבול להגביל כח התפשטות אור הרצון שלא יתפשט עוד.

That's also, in other words, when you choose the the same place where you which is the source that you have a desire, that's also the source of where you limit the desire that you only you're you're going to want something, but you're you're going to only want it if it's like a certain way. And not if it's like this you're not going to want it. So that makes limitation to the desire.

Desire Requires a Defined Limitation 3:42

That you you don't just want anything, say, "Oh, I want something," like you say, you know, say, "I'm hungry, I want something to eat." Say, "Okay, here's a sardine sandwich." Say, "Well, I don't want no sardine sandwich." Say, "What? You said you wanted something to eat. You know, if you want something to eat, this is you know, then it should extend to anything." Say, "No, that's not true.

The same way that I say that I want it, I can say that I don't want it." That's the whole thing of the power of רצון is that you can choose to come out of yourself and want it, or you can choose to not come out of yourself and want it. It's one power. So you can choose to come out as much as you want or as little as you want.

And when you make a limitation, then it's already coming able to come into חכמה, that once you get a clear definition of what you want and what you don't want and how it's limited and how it's not limited, then you can already say what you want, and you already have a certain חכמה, a certain picture of what you want, so you say, "Oh, I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

So that's already a general limitation because you didn't say like you want a certain peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so they can make you, so you know, it's already a general picture.

And then you could be if you want to just be like kind of stubborn or something or whatever for whatever, you could just say, "I want that one." Say, "Which one do you want? I have two." You could say, "I want that one." And said, "You want, so you want this one?" Say, "No, I want that one," you know.

Like my nephew does that, like Like he, you know, he wants things to be his, so like when his mother lights candles שבת, he says, "This one's mine and this one's my brother's." You know, but like, "What's the difference? They're exactly the same." Say, "No, this one's mine and this one's", you know what I mean? So, you can decide that. And you don't want the other way.

Or you can just say keep it more of a general limitation and say, "I just want a candle. I don't care which one it is." So, it'd be this one, okay, be this one, be that one, okay, be that one.

So, you can decide to get as particular as be as non-particular as you want. So, you could say, "Yeah, I want something to eat. I don't care what it is, as long as it's edible."

You know, you could do that. Or you could say you דוקא want this and that's it, nothing else. The point is that the limitation of it is coming from you, just like the the desire.

Personal Choice as the Source of Limits 5:39

It's not like you like you essentially have this desire for the food, and then where the way it's going to come out is just like a machine and it's not coming from you, that like there your body just processes your soul's desire for food and brings it to a certain that you should want a certain thing. It's not like that.

First of all, you don't have to want food, you choose to want it. And the same way that you choose to want the desire, which is why it's it's coming from your עצם, that it's like a by בחירה, the same thing, you choose the way that it's going to the limitation.

And the base limitation כדי שיוכל להיות טעם לרצון, once you limit it then you can have a reason for the רצון. שאם לא היה פוסק כח ואור הרצון, because if you there wouldn't the the the light of the desire wouldn't stop, לא היה בא לעולם מכלל טעם לרצון, it could never come to a reason.

Because if you never if you say, "I want", you know, the whole thing of coming to a reason means you want it because it has a certain thing. So, then that already gives it a general limitation. That's that's what that's why you want it because it has a certain general characteristic, right?

So, you say, but you know, like if you have two flavors of ice cream, you say, "All right, I I want this one." Say, "Why?" "Oh, because it's chocolate."

So, that means that that's already a reason, so that already can come into a חכמה. "Oh, so you like chocolate, you don't like..." So, there's already like a שכל to how to figure out what to get get you. But if you say you or you could say another reason, you could say, "No, it's not because it's chocolate, or because I always want like to take things that are in the right side.

So, you're holding that your right hand, so I want that." So, then it would have nothing to do with the flavor, so it's a different reason. So, you know what I mean? Or you could But if you would just say there's no reason, I just want it because I want it, so then you can't doesn't come into a שכל at all, because then really your רצון is going is not stopping.

You're not stopping your רצון and connecting it to any particular thing in a way. You're just saying that that you're keeping it on the level of your רצון, that, "I want whatever I want, and that's it."

So, then in other words you're saying, "I don't want it because of anything, you just want to want whatever you want." So, then you didn't limit it. But if you say if you can already were מצמצם your רצון to say, "I want this," so then you can already come to a שכל, that you can have a picture of what you want, נעשה ענין וטעם לרצון. והוא ממאמר קו המדה.

The Measure (קו המדה) Governing All Limits 8:07

So, this limitation is all from the מאמר of the קו המדה, that basically you measure out how your רצון is going to come out, and when it's going to how much it's going to come out, how much it's not going to come out, how much it's going to stop, you know, stop, and in which way it's going to stop.

And that's the whole thing, as we explained before about the קו המדה, is that it's a potential limitation that you can use the same measuring stick to measure out any size you want. And the fact that you have a general system of measurement doesn't limit you to you know, the you can measure however you want.

And the same power that lets you make the rules lets you break the rules, and it's really היינו הך. Right? That's what we said before in, what is it, in chapter 15?

So, this is for the מאמר קו המדה, העושה כל גבול בפועל ממש באורות. This is what makes every limitation in the lights, that it makes the light come out in דוקא a certain way. וכן הוא עושה כל גבול בפועל ממש בכלים, and it also makes every limitation in the vessels. דעשר ספירות המגבילים, איך שיגבילו בפועל ממש, how they will limit it. So, just like you're based on the קו המדה your you have a certain רצון, that you want to reveal yourself as being kind, it also chooses the way that you're going to express the kindness.

You choose both. אבל מקור ושורש שלהם אינו בבחינת גבול אמיתי, but the source, in other words the קו itself, the power of the קו, is not a real גבול, רק שהוא עושה את אופן הגבול, it's just that it makes the limitation. It defines how it's going to be limited, but it itself is not limited, it's on the contrary, that you have free choice and you can choose to limit however you want.

Revisiting the Light‑Vessel Relationship 9:44

In other words, well, until now it sounded like this the way we were explaining it, basically, or that we could have got a picture, the lights are, and this is kind of the way if you look at like the האר"י ז"ל's השתלשלות, he's talking about the light.

So it looks like he explains like this: the light is that the vessels are already set up, he's not talking about the vessels, he's only talking about the light. So it sounds like he's saying the light comes out in a certain way, and you choose the way the lights are going to come out, and then automatically the vessels limit it and make it come out in a certain way, it makes it like physical and tangible.

But it sounds like the vessels are already just set up and they're set. So in other words like, it sounds like that once God chose to reveal Himself through חסד, so automatically that gets transformed, it gets thickened into that creating this world. Or once God chose to reveal Himself, it comes to like the ten ספירות.

But it's not really like that, you know, at all. In other words, that there's no point where it becomes like a mechanistic thing that God has to do it a certain way.