כשעלה ברצונו הפשוטThe Simple Will

keshe-alah bi-retzono ha-pashutIn Gamatria ↗

His will is not added to Him; it is Him.

The Ari begins 'when it arose in His simple will'. Shaltiel objects: will is added to essence and is a faculty of the soul, which Rabad forbids ascribing to God. R. Azriel, student of R. Isaac the Blind, wrote that Ein Sof has no will. Yehoyada: both are right. Azriel denies a will that changes and adds to essence. The Ari affirms will as a perfection: God acts by intent, not by necessity. 'Simple' means His will is His essence. Shaltiel raises the Rema of Fano, who calls the Will 'Ein Sof' and places its Owner above it. Yehoyada calls this an old dispute over whether the first emanation is beginningless. Ramak calls that dualism. Yehoyada defends the Rema, since divinity lies in needing nothing, not in age. Yet he sides with Ramak: only God is without beginning.

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