Ten inscriptions in the void:
Their end is embedded in their beginning
and their beginning in their end
like a flame in a fiery coal
for the Creator is one
and has no second
and before one,
what are you counting?
This passage alerts us to a paradox inherent to contemplating the sefirot: they are both One (divine) and many (earthly). They cannot be viewed as entirely one or the other. The reader needs a warning about this paradox because otherwise, in attempting to visualize the sefirot, we may become mesmerized or confused by the question of whether they are divine or not. The answer this passage offers is that they are both
We now must recall Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs, who is "the beginning of God's path". (Fußnote 75) Wisdom is a created being, yet she is also God's counselor and witness to creation. According to the Bible, she is born even before the primordial deep that pre-exists the world. (Fußnote 76) This suggests a unique closeness to divine mystery. Just as Wisdom's nature partakes of the created world also the primordial divine, so too the sefirot have this dual nature.
Quelle: Rabbi Jill Hammer, Return to the Place. The Magic, Meditation and Mystery of Sefer Yetzirah
