The five organs of [supernal] speech (corresponding to the five physical organs of speech) are of the five gevurot of nukva (lit., “the female [element],” i.e., malchut).

וְה’ מוֹצָאוֹת הַפֶּה הֵן מֵה’ גְּבוּרוֹת דְּנוּקְבָא.

[Malchut] is therefore called Alma de’itgalya (“the Manifest World”) because through it is manifested the power of the [infinite] Ein Sof-light to create something out of nothing without recourse to ilah and alul (cause and effect).

וְלָזֹאת נִקְרֵאת “עָלְמָא דְאִתְגַּלְיָא”, כִּי בָּהּ נִגְלֶה כֹּחַ אוֹר־אֵין־סוֹף לִבְרוֹא יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן שֶׁלֹּא עַל־יְדֵי עִילָּה וְעָלוּל,

The progression from ilah to alul exists among created beings as well; the creation of yesh from ayin is in the hands of the Ein Sof alone. And it is malchut of Atzilut that makes this power manifest.

However, the first nine sefirot that precede malchut emanated by the causal evolution of ilah and alul,

אֲבָל ט’ סְפִירוֹת הָרִאשׁוֹנוֹת נֶאֶצְלוּ בְּהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת עִילָּה וְעָלוּל,

while the [infinite] Ein Sof-light is vested in chochmah alone.

וְאוֹר הָאֵין־סוֹף הוּא מְלוּבָּשׁ בְּחָכְמָה לְבַדָּהּ.

Chochmah derives from the Ein Sof in a manner that resembles the derivation of yesh from ayin, as in the verse, “Chochmah derives from ayin.”³⁷ The Ein Sof thus vests itself in chochmah (and through it, the Ein Sof-light illuminates the other sefirot as well).

And this is the meaning of the statement in Sefer Yetzirah³⁸ regarding the ten sefirot: “Their beginning is wedged in their end.”

וְזֶהוּ שֶׁכָּתוּב: “נָעוּץ תְּחִלָּתָן בְּסוֹפָן”,

In the scheme of the sefirot, the very beginning (signifying a level that transcends even the “head”) is to be found in the culmination of the series to an even greater extent than in the head. The sefirah of chochmah is variously termed “the head” (רֹאשׁ) and “the first” (רֵאשִׁית). (The phrase³⁹ רֵאשִׁית חָכְמָה is usually understood to mean “the beginning of wisdom” but can also mean “chochmah is first.”) Malchut is the last of the sefirot. The sefirah of keter, which transcends even the sefirah of chochmah, is termed the “beginning.”

This “beginning,” then, which is called keter, is “wedged” and is even more to be found in the “end” (malchut) than in the other sefirot, even chochmah.

For keter is the mediator between the [infinite] Emanator and the [finite] emanated beings, and the lowest level of the Ein Sof is comprised in it.

כִּי כֶּתֶר הוּא מְמוּצָּע בֵּין הַמַּאֲצִיל לַנֶּאֱצָלִים, וְיֵשׁ בּוֹ בְּחִינָה הָאַחֲרוֹנָה שֶׁל הָאֵין סוֹף.

Every intermediary (such as, in our case, the sefirah of keter) must incorporate at least some aspect of both the levels that it seeks to bridge. The aspect of infinite light contained in keter is the lowest degree of Ein Sof. This level is the “beginning,” that level of Ein Sof that is “wedged” in the sefirah of malchut, for, as mentioned earlier, it is malchut that reveals the power of the Ein Sof to create yesh from ayin.

That is why [the sefirah of keter, meaning “crown”] is called keter malchut (“the Crown of Sovereignty”), as stated in the introductory passage to Tikkunei Zohar which begins with Patach Eliyahu: “supernal keter is keter malchut,” for a crown is only for a king; i.e., the prime function of the sefirah of keter is to draw down the [infinite] Ein Sof-light contained within it into the level of malchut.

וְלָכֵן נִקְרָא “כֶּתֶר מַלְכוּת”, כִּי אֵין כֶּתֶר אֶלָּא לְמֶלֶךְ,

Also, [keter is called keter malchut] because the final level of the Ein Sof is the malchut of Ein Sof.⁴⁰

וְגַם, כִּי בְּחִינָה אַחֲרוֹנָה דְאֵין־סוֹף הִיא מַלְכוּת דְּאֵין־סוֹף,

Thus, keter itself possesses the quality of malchut, for malchut is the lowest level of the Ein Sof.

Consequently, malchut of Atzilut, too, is called keter, [when the sefirot are considered] in ascending order.

וְלָכֵן גַּם הַמַּלְכוּת דַּאֲצִילוּת נִקְרָא “כֶּתֶר” מִמַּטָּה לְמַעְלָה.

From this perspective, looking “upward,” malchut (the lowest sefirah) is termed keter in relation to the higher sefirot. This is so because malchut is the prime receptor for the downflow of keter which then illuminates the higher sefirot by means of or chozer (“reflected light”)—like a beam of light that travels earthward through space, strikes a surface, and rebounds with renewed intensity.

The above concerns the ability of malchut to manifest the power of Ein Sof in creating yesh from ayin and to enable created beings to perceive themselves as entities distinct from their Creator. For this very reason, however, this creative ability cannot be considered a revelatory aspect of the Ein Sof-light. Rather, it demonstrates its capacity to conceal.

The Alter Rebbe therefore now goes on to discuss ways in which malchut serves to reveal this light. (Souls, for example, though Divine, descend nevertheless within the limitations of created beings.) By virtue of its revelatory aspect, malchut is called Alma de’itgalya (“the Manifest World”), for through the sefirah of malchut, the Ein Sof-light is revealed within the worlds.

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FOOTNOTES

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37.  Job 28:12.

38. 1:7.

39.  Psalms 111:10.

40.  Note by the Rebbe: “Cf. the Note [of the Alter Rebbe] in ch. 52 of Part I [of the Tanya]; also p. 262 of the standard Hebrew Tanya.”