Briah, Yetzirah, Asiyah

Briah, Yetzirah, Asiyah (abbreviated as BYA) are three worlds in the downward chain of divine light, from above to below. In these three worlds, light and concealment are mixed together, and unlike the world of Atzilut above them - they are not completely divine.

Their Essence

In Chassidic teachings, these three worlds often appear without the world of Atzilut, because of the fundamental difference between these three worlds and the world of Atzilut. Atzilut is a completely divine world, whereas in the BYA worlds there are already created beings, since they are not completely nullified and there are concealments and hiddenness of the divine light. Therefore, they are "yesh" (something) - meaning a separate entity in itself, not completely nullified to the divine light, which gives place for created beings.

The Differences Between the BYA Worlds

The three BYA worlds are generally called: the World of Souls, the World of Angels, and the World of Celestial Spheres. These worlds also correspond to thought, speech, and action.

The explanation is that the world of Briah is something from absolute nothing, like thought which is an aspect of creation that is something from absolute nothing. Before one thinks, there are no letters at all, and afterward in the aspect of thought, there are letters. Similarly, this is the matter of souls, as the souls of Israel arose in thought.

The world of Yetzirah is the world of angels because they are the aspect of speech - "by the word of Hashem the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth..." And like speech that is drawn from thought, for what a person thinks, he speaks, and it is not something from nothing but something from something - only that what was initially concealed in thought is now revealed in speech, and therefore it is called Yetzirah (formation).

The world of Asiyah is in the aspect of action which is separate, and thus in the world of Asiyah are the stars and constellations until this physical world, which is truly separate.

Matter, Form, Rectification

In another way, the worlds are divided into matter, form, and rectification. Meaning:

Matter - The formation of matter is the world of Briah, from the language of creation something from nothing, meaning, the extraction of matter. But this matter lacks form, and is essentially completely abstract.

Form - In the world of Yetzirah, the form of created beings began to take shape, but it is still not complete (this concept is among the most difficult to conceptualize in human intellect).

Rectification - It is said "which God created to make," and our Sages interpreted "to rectify," meaning that making is like rectifying, which is the perfection of the work. In the world of Asiyah, the connection between matter and form was completed.

Their Place in the General Order of Descent

In the general order of descent, the BYA worlds correspond to the name BaN that fell from the world of Tohu, from the name SaG. The BYA worlds are rectified and elevated to the world of Atzilut, in the aspect of the name MaH.

See Also

• ABYA (Atzilut, Briah, Yetzirah, Asiyah)