The Righteous & Rectification

A person can also achieve until the Nefesh of Atzilut, that is, the malchut of Atzilut...

Atzilut is a world that is all Divinity. One who arises to it takes a quantum leap.

...and even higher than all the levels of Atzilut.

A human being of flesh and blood can ascend to ever infinitely higher levels of G‑dliness!

If a person merits Ruach from yesod of Atzilut then he will be called "Ish Elokim" (Psalms 90:1) [lit. Man of God - The Torah uses this term in reference to Moses. According to how much one emulates Moses, one can merit to draw the awesome level of Ruach of Zeir Anpin of Atzilut and be a G‑dly person on whom the Shechinah rests, and merit constant access to Divine inspiration.] "husband of the Matroness'" (Zohar)

Regarding him it says, "A Tzadik rules upon the fear of the L-rd". (Samuel II 23:3)

The Rabbis learn from this that "G‑d decrees, and the tzadik [can nonetheless nullify it]. The tzadik decrees, and G‑d fulfills [it]". (Moed Katan 16b) G‑d willingly grants the tzadik this awesome power measure for measure. Because he ruled over his own desire and nullified himself to G‑d, G‑d in turn as if nullifies Himself to the tzadik.

The root level through which the 'husband of the mistress' gives to his wife is our present topic sefira - yesod of Atzilut. It is clothed primarily in Joseph. He therefore is the grand example of "tzadik rules over fear of the L-rd". Thus we see that Pharaoh gave him rulership over all of Egypt. (Gen. 41:40-44) In addition, there were cases when Pharaoh himself was forced to listen to him, and simply said "go to Joseph and do whatever he says." (Ibid 41:55, see Rashi)

"The kingdom below is like the kingdom above."(Brachot) Being the viceroy below gave Joseph status to lord it over the worlds above – second to G‑d alone. Everyone has a point of Joseph inside. Through this point, every person can actually nullify harsh decrees, and perpetrate good ones. (Likutei Moharan 34:2) It all depends upon how much one merits to guard the covenant and the expression of yesod in his body.

For, just as there is the righteous person who, upon his death, ascends in the secret of M"N1 to the malchut of Atzilut, there is also the righteous person who ascends in the secret of M"D to the yesod of Atzilut.

The Zohar teaches that a person cleaves to G‑d in the afterlife the same way he cleaved to G‑d in life. One whose primary service was from Nefesh, and thereby activated malchut, will thus trigger that level in his death. One who was more yesod oriented will awaken that when he departs.

Regarding this, you can understand what is written in the Zohar (Parashat Teruma 166b) on the verse, "Light is sown for the righteous" (Psalms 97:11) - A light that is already sown.

A person progressively creates his quarters in the next world by his actions everyday. We can look at the world as a garden. Everything anyone does is as a seed planted. These seeds take root and grow. When you come to the afterlife, you reap the fruits of what you did – for better or worse.

Good deeds plant light, bad actions sow darkness. Just as seeds grow into trees that continue to grow and produce fruit, so the repercussions of one's actions continue to produce light or darkness in the universe. This is one way of understanding the Rabbis' statement "a mitzvah draws a mitzvah, a sin draws a sin" (Avot)

This means that after the destruction of the Temple, Zeir Anpin became separated from Nukva, and that the 'supernal gardener', which is yesod, no longer plants his 'garden' [malchut].

One of the expressions of the yesod/malchut relationship is that of a gardener to his garden.

Rather, his garden becomes planted by itself, from the after-growths that went out and were planted in the beginning; they return and seed it.

The mitzvahs one does energize the soul to hold on to G‑d even at a time when he is not able to do much.

The 'after-growths' are the souls of the righteous, which the gardener planted in the supernal garden before the destruction, after which they sprouted. After they return, and later leave this world. They ascend in the secret of M"N to the malchut of Atzilut, or in the secret of M"D to yesod—the 'supernal gardener', and there is a re-planting.

This is the secret of the verse, "Light is sown for the righteous." In other words, lights that are already sown from the beginning, in the supernal garden, return on their own and become re-planted, since there is no new seed [after the destruction].

The destruction of the Holy Temple disrupted the unification above. There is no new flow of 'seed' - reproduction of spiritual lights. Accordingly, the process of the sefirot redeeming and purifying the sparks and bringing creation to fulfillment is stifled during the time of exile. Nonetheless, righteous people can still maintain that process through their lives and subsequently, their deaths.

[Translation and commentary by Perets Auerbach.]