Kav (קו) — the line of light drawn after the tzimtzum

Core definition

The kav ("line") is the thin, contracted thread of the Ohr Ein Sof drawn into the empty space (makom panui) after the tzimtzum (contraction), in measure and bound according to the worlds' manner. "What shines in the inwardness of the worlds is only from the aspect of the kav — a thin line, the aspect of a contracted radiance according to the worlds' measure" [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary]. Through the tzimtzum and the reshimu — the bounding power that contracts and conceals the Ohr Ein Sof's essence — "only a mere edge is drawn, in the bound of a very contracted measure, in this kav and line" [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary]. The tzimtzum thus leaves only a thin kav, measured by the reshimu, so the worlds can receive it inwardly (b'pnimiyus) [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד ר"ל].

How the Rebbeim develop it

The source of the kav. What is called "Chei HaOlamim" (Life of the worlds) is what was drawn after the first tzimtzum — "from the aspect of Malchus of Ein Sof, contracted to be a source for the general hishtalshelut of kav and chut (line and thread)" [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד קצה]. Yet even the highest parzuf receives from it: "Even the highest aspect in the hishtalshelut of the worlds — the parzuf of Adam Kadmon — receives from the aspect of the kav, which is only in the aspect of a radiance of a radiance, from the aspect of Malchus of Ein Sof" [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד קצז].

Inner life vs. surrounding light. The kav gives inner life, while Malchus of Ein Sof after the tzimtzum stands over the worlds only as makif (surrounding): "Like Atik above Adam Kadmon's skull, Malchus of Ein Sof after the tzimtzum is Kesser/Atik to the general Beriah — only as makif — while the kav's thin contracted line gives inner life" [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד קצ]. Israel's drawing is described as drawing "into His great name (Malchus of Ein Sof) and the kav" through mitzvos and Torah [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד רא].

Root of memale kol almin. "In the root of their root, the two above levels — memale kol almin and sovev kol almin — are the aspect of the kav and the aspect of the great circle before the kav" [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד רל"ז]. The kav drawn after the tzimtzum is "drawn in the aspect of measure and bound, according to the worlds' manner: the light coming in the aspect of clothing in the inwardness of the worlds and sefiros, in measure and bound, each according to its relation" [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד רל"ז].

Above and below in the sefiros. "The kav's head cleaves to Ein Sof, its end does not — hence above/below in worlds and sefiros: Chochmah (bitul, 'mah') receives more, Binah (comprehension, distance) less, middos less still; Kesser from the beginning, Malchus from the end — each according to its need as emanated, not as emanator" [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד ר"ל]. All the circles receive from the kav — "they do not receive from one another" — and cleave to it at their roofs alone; "circles cleave to it at their tops only — hence head/end, above/below" [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד רל"ז]. The kav "begins in Adam Kadmon, descending in order," clothing itself "at the conclusion and end of the netzach-hod-yesod of Adam Kadmon... concluding in the Malchus of Asiyah" [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד רמ"א].

The kav in the descent-order. The wedding-maamar of 5653 treats the light of Ein Sof's descent "through tzimtzumim" — the kav, then the four letters of Havayah as hyuli/tzimtzum/hishtapshus/hisrachvus (primal matter / contraction / expansion / extension), then the Names ע"ב/ס"ג/מ"ה/ב"ן, the tehiru ila'ah and the reshimu — and man's form in the kav's three kavin [58845/maamar_010 :: Overview]. The kav is also developed there through a conduit parable: 26 paths, the Name as the vessel's handle [58845/maamar_010 :: Overview].

Only by "leap." Ein Sof reaches the worlds only by dilug (leap), not by gradation [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד קצ]; the kav is the measured bridge by which the boundless becomes inner vitality in the bounded.

Key distinctions

• Kav vs. reshimu: the reshimu is the bounding, concealing power left after the contraction; the kav is the thin line of light drawn afterward, measured by the reshimu [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד ר"ל].
• Kav vs. sovev: memale kol almin = the kav (inner, measured light); sovev kol almin = the great circle before the kav (unmeasured, surrounding light) [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד רל"ז].
• Kav vs. Malchus of Ein Sof: Malchus of Ein Sof is the kav's source (contracted to be the source of the hishtalshelus of kav and chut) and stands over the worlds as makif; the kav itself gives the inner life [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד קצה; עמוד קצ].
• The kav's head vs. its end: cleaving to Ein Sof at its head, not at its end — the cause of hierarchy among the sefiros [31674/maamar_026 :: Summary — עמוד ר"ל].

Related concepts

• Tzimtzum, reshimu, Adam Kadmon, memale/sovev kol almin, ohr yashar/ohr chozer, hishtalshelus, the four letters of Havayah.

Sources

• 31674/maamar_026 ("שמח תשמח," 5657) — the thin contracted line; measured by the reshimu; source in Malchus of Ein Sof; inner life vs. makif; memale/sovev as kav/great circle; above-below in sefiros; descent through Adam Kadmon.
• 58845/maamar_010 (wedding discourse, 5653) — the kav in the descent-order through Havayah's letters; the kav's three kavin; the conduit parable.