Emek ha-melekh (Valley of the King)

Chapter One

May His great name be blessed! Before everything, it occurred to His simple will to create worlds, for there is no king without a people, as it is said: In the multitude of people is the king’s glory (Proverbs 14:28). It is also the nature of the good to do good, and if there is no world, for whom can He do good? At that time, there was no empty space for the worlds and for the seven lands that are under them, underneath which everything returns to the infinite (Ein Sof). For everything was full of the light of His essence, may He be blessed, as He limited Himself in and of Himself, and he reduced Himself. What, then, did the Master of Will do? He measured within Himself, may He be blessed, a round expanse and a length of hollow space for establishment of the worlds that were previously mentioned. And He contracted the light that was within the round expanse and gathered it into Himself, like a snail that retracts within its shell, which is part of its body [Genesis Rabbah 21:5]. That same light was raised upward and an empty place remained, free from the first light, but not entirely, for the impression of the first light remained in its prior place and did not move from there. This is according to the secret of that which our rabbis of blessed memory said: “The divine presence did not move until it made an impression” [Exodus Rabbah 2:2]. Our rabbis of blessed memory also said: “The first holiness is a holiness for its own time and is also a holiness for the future” [b. Megillah 10a, b. Shevu‘ot 16a et al.] for regarding all of the holy light, and even though it has displaced itself, an impression of it remains within the place that it had once been. This was the first contraction of the essence of the light.

Thus, all of the worlds were subsequently established in the round expanse that was established within the essence of the light of the Lord, may He be blessed. This is the secret of the verse: Behold, here is a place by me (Exodus 33:21). Concerning this, the sages of blessed memory interpreted: “He is the place of the world, and His world is not His place” [Yalkut Shimoni on Genesis 28]. Concerning this it is said: I am the first and I am the last (Isaiah 44:6)—that is, the beginning of the round expanse and the end of the round expanse and of the globe; and beside me there is no God in the middle, that is, in the middle of the round expanse itself. Concerning the light of His essence, may He be blessed, that which is beyond the round expanse on its two sides and that which is above and below the round expanse was commented upon by our rabbis of blessed memory: “Man should not inquire into what exists before and after this empty space” [m. ḥagigah 2:1]. Thus, this empty space, in which all the worlds are situated, with their atmosphere located within the empty space of its air, this world was established within Him from before His essence, blessed is He, and it was entirely holy. But the first man, who sinned by worshiping idols, contaminated it and its atmosphere, as our rabbis of blessed memory have said: “The first man committed three sins: sexual impropriety, idolatry, and murder” [b. Yoma 9b].

The secret is that after the act of creation, the Holy One, blessed is He, created good and evil in the world, as it is said: I form the light . . . and create evil (Isaiah 45:7). Only the evil was very much hidden. By way of a parable, it was like an oil lamp that is lit. The wick has been inserted into the body of the lamp itself so that it does not light up and does not ignite anything outside of the lamp. Behold, the evil too could not produce anything outside of itself if it were not for the sin of the first man. As our rabbis of blessed memory have said: “The first man gave birth to demons, evil spirits and sprites” [b. Eruvin 18b] that is, by way of his sin, for it was great. [ . . . ] And behold, the first man gave authority to the seventy ministers of the nations and divided up lands for them above and below, and he contaminated the outside air. Is it not right that his sons should fix it, that is, we, Israel, the holy people, as it is said: for you are a holy people to the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2, 14:21). We need to fix it with the utterance of Torah and the fulfillment of the commandments in our exile in every place, in order to prepare a place for His throne of glory, so that His divine presence will rest upon in each and every place.