Ma’aseh Bereshit: Seeds of Creation

Day 1 — “יְהִי אוֹר”: measured ḥasadim

Tzimtzum yields a ḥalal panui that retains reshimu. A single kav of Light enters and meets that imprint; their encounter produces or yashar with or ḥozer. “Yehi Or” discloses ḥasadim scaled to vessel-tolerance. Havayah supplies effusion while Elohim frames capacity, so delivery proceeds by measure rather than flood. Kelim stand in outline during this pulse, yet the flow already respects limits through that measure. The Ari treats this first Light as the trunk for all six middot that follow, the axis upon which every later articulation branches. Day One establishes benevolence inside structure, a beginning that already carries stability.

Day 2 — “יְהִי רָקִיעַ”: parsa, din, and the emergence of Gehinom

The raqia functions as parsa and masach, a real membrane between upper waters and lower waters. Dinim awaken from Imma and channel through Gevurah into an operative boundary. Every revealed panim implies a reverse surface called achorayim; strict power concentrates there under the Name Elohim. Lurianic sources speak of ק״כ צרופי אלקים in holiness and, at the outermost edge of achorayim, the slide toward “אלוהים אחרים,” a marker of foreign draw. Within that reverse layer the tradition places Gehinom, a severity basin born whenever constriction advances ahead of sweetening. The verse omits “כי טוב,” an exact marker of an incomplete loop awaiting harmonization. Zeir Anpin with the Nukva stand back to back, their backs sealed so external feeders fail to gain purchase along the seam. Day Two contributes governance and a severity reservoir and sets the urgent need for hamtakat ha-dinim that begins tomorrow.

Day 3 — “וְיִקָּווּ הַמַּיִם”: Tiferet and the double “good”

Waters gather, dry land appears, and vegetation initiates measured provision. Tiferet, called Rachamim, tunes the right line of ḥesed through the left line of gevurah so flow and container balance each other. Scripture proclaims “כי טוב” twice, since separation reaches closure and nurturing supply begins in the same span. Plant life encodes shefa entering kelim in species-specific measures, an image of growth without spill. In this cadence Havayah and Elohim interweave as one rhythm, giving and measuring in concert. The world receives proportioned containers, throughput aligns with capacity, and habitability acquires weight. Day Three converts hard boundary into living order and sweetens surplus severity inherited from yesterday.

Day 4 — “יְהִי מְאֹרֹת”: calendric clocks and the aperture for Satan and his cohort

Sun, moon, and stars arrive as a scheduling lattice that serializes influence into moadim, days, seasons, and years. The Ari places this in Netzach, the channel for sustained conduction and victorious persistence. Miʿut ha-levanah—the diminishment of the moon—introduces asymmetry between giver and receiver and opens a predictable aperture for the sitra aḥra. Through that aperture emerges Satan and his cohort, an organized draw that rides nocturnal rhythm and strict judgment whenever cycles lean left without prior sweetening. Zohar plays with מְאֹרֹת / מַאֲרוֹת to hint blessing-windows together with exposure-vectors; the calendar itself carries both opportunity and risk. Israel receives kiddush ha-ḥodesh, a speech-driven sanctification that retunes phases, thickens holy throughput, and thins adversarial intake. Day Four grants a public interface for light together with the covenantal responsibility to shape it through proclamation and festival alignment.

Day 5 — “יִשְׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם… וְעוֹף יְעוֹפֵף”: angelic carriers and threshold powers

The garments speak of swarms and wings; the Ari reads inner orders behind those forms. Birds encode malachim in the world of Yetzirah, voice-currents, dispatch, and praise that rise through airy strata toward Imma. Fish encode concealed movers within the waters of Imma, sanctified currents together with threshold powers that cluster near judgment and demand guidance. “Tanninim ha-gedolim” names severe dinim at the boundary, a classical script for predatory draw on the Other Side that calls for hamtakat ha-dinim through confession, gratitude, and song. Hod means acknowledgment, measured resonance, and disciplined articulation that converts edge into service; hence the blessing “Be fruitful and multiply” lands upon holy channels here. Proliferation proceeds under policy so abundance builds vessels rather than tearing them, while voiced service narrows the intake that mazikin would otherwise exploit. Day Five routes holy signal upward through malachim and starves adversarial thresholds through bounded diffusion and praise.

Day 6 — “נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם”: composite integration, dormita and nesirah, two heads of Rosh HaShanah

Land life culminates in Adam, which the Ari treats as the integration of the six middot within a single human interface. Dormita descends for Zeir Anpin, Imma rises to build, and nesirah transfers judgments toward the Nukva so the Male channels ḥesed with clarity. During this stage Zeir Anpin and the Nukva remain back to back, achorayim sealed until sweetening suffices for a safe turn. The shofar on Rosh HaShanah behaves as an awakening pulse; it returns Netzach, Hod, and Yesod of Imma with mochin processed above, which allows re-delivery through Zeir Anpin in gentle form. The festival’s two heads mirror two cuts at the level of “rosh”: dinah kashyah on the first, dinah rafyah on the second as lights reveal and cycles soften. Leah carries unions during the Ten Days, while Rachel completes a staged build and receives full face to face at the seasonal seal of Shemini Atzeret. Day Six anchors human stewardship through Malchuyot, Zikhronot, and Shofarot, which open rule, memory, and timing as the practical gates of covenantal agency.