Ze'ir Anpin (זעיר אנפין) — The "Small Face"
Core definition
Ze'ir Anpin ("the Small Face," abbreviated Z"A) is one of the partzufim (Divine "countenances" or configurations) of the Kabbalah — the configuration comprising the six emotional sefiros (Chesed through Yesod), the "son" born of the supernal "parents" Abba (Chochmah) and Imma (Binah), whose union with Malchus (Nukva, the "daughter") structures the flow of Divine bounty into the worlds. In the corpus it is the great turning-point of cosmic history: exile is Ze'ir Anpin's gestation, redemption his birth [15911/maamar_006 :: Overview].
How the Rebbeim develop it
The maamarim expound exile as ibur — pregnancy: exile is Ze'ir Anpin's pregnancy in Imma's womb, "his head between his knees," utter smallness. During this gestation, bounty flows not through Ze'ir Anpin but from Imma's makifim (encompassing lights) — where "k'chashicha k'orah" (as darkness, so light), small and great are equal, and even the chitzonim (the outer, kelipah forces) receive their vitality ("zacharnu es hadagah... chinam" — Binah's free bounty, without mitzvos) [15911/maamar_006 :: Overview].
Redemption is Ze'ir Anpin's birth: transmission then passes through Ze'ir Anpin — "the main innerness." Mochin alone, even contemplation, do not reach deed — they cannot refine one's nature; only the heart's attribute refines nature and vitalizes mitzvos. Ze'ir Anpin's Chesed and Gevurah now limit nearness and distance, so that bounty flows only "to the fitting place" — "ki atah teshalem le'ish k'ma'aseihu" (for You repay each man according to his deed) [15911/maamar_006 :: Overview; 15911/maamar_006 :: Study guide]. Birth's sequel is yenikah — suckling Imma's milk: the sovev (encompassing light) drawn into Ze'ir Anpin, the infant's disproportionate growth [15911/maamar_006 :: Overview].
This is why the desert traveler's prayer — "bechol parashat ha'ibur yihyu tzorkeihem lefanecha" (in every "parshat ha'ibur," may their needs be before You) — is read as a prayer for exile itself: even in exile, when bounty comes only from the makifim, may Israel's needs be met from innerness — the Name's letters with their milui (filling), the inwardness of transmission rather than its mere externality [15911/maamar_006 :: Overview].
Ze'ir Anpin also stands at the center of the Torah's letters: in the key of the large, medium, and small letters, the large letters root in Binah, the medium letters in Ze'ir Anpin, and the small letters in Malchus — the Zohar's small aleph of "Vayikra" reflecting a lack of completeness [58841/maamar_039 :: Overview]. And in the economy of revelation, it is Ze'ir Anpin and Malchus together who receive: Yackov, standing over the angels, enabled them to draw the Ein Sof's light into Z"A and Malchus — revelation below, literally [15962/maamar_003 :: Overview].
Key distinctions
- Ibur vs. leidah (gestation vs. birth). In exile, Ze'ir Anpin is in Imma's womb and bounty flows from Imma's makifim indiscriminately — even the chitzonim receive; after birth, transmission passes through Ze'ir Anpin's Chesed and Gevurah, limited to the fitting place [15911/maamar_006 :: Overview].
- Makif vs. penimi bounty. The exile's bounty is encompassing and undifferentiated; the redemption's is inner and measured — the traveler's prayer asks that even in exile, needs be met from innerness [15911/maamar_006 :: Overview].
- Yenikah. After birth comes suckling: the sovev drawn into Ze'ir Anpin as milk — a further, disproportionate growth beyond birth itself [15911/maamar_006 :: Overview]. In avodah, milk comes from blood: blood is "rishpei eish shalheves Kah" — love's fiery thirst from contemplating the worlds' distance — answered by supernal love that refines it; then blood settles into milk, gevuros sweetened into supernal chasadim [15911/maamar_006 :: phr. 706].
Related concepts
Partzufim, Imma (Binah), Malchus/Nukva, Makifim, Chesed and Gevurah, Tefillas HaDerech, Ibur, Galus and Geulah.
Sources
- [15911/maamar_006 :: Overview; phr. 23, 706]
- [58841/maamar_039 :: Overview]
- [15962/maamar_003 :: Overview]