כטבעות השלשלתRoots Above, Branches Below

ke-tabba'ot ha-shalsheletIn Gamatria ↗

Everything descends, except what a person chooses.

Ramchal relays as received tradition that for everything in the lower world there are separate higher powers: roots from which physical things unfold as branches, linked like the rings of a chain, with angelic appointees over every substance and occurrence. Ordinarily motion runs downward, so what happens above determines what happens below. Human free choice is the one exception. Though man's acts are physical, the bond between roots and branches carries their effect upward to move the higher powers, and not only deeds but speech and even thought, within limits set by the Supreme Wisdom.

Hover the image to look closer.Tap the image to look closer.