Editing Ofanim (section)

== Their Essence ==
The angels called Ofanim are mentioned in Ezekiel's chariot vision: "The appearance of the Ofanim and their work was like the color of tarshish stone, and all four had one likeness. Their appearance and their work was as if there was an ofan (wheel) within an ofan..." In Kabbalah and Chassidus, it is explained that the Chayos HaKodesh are the angels in the world of Yetzirah (Formation), and the Ofanim are the angels in the world of Asiyah.

Regarding the Ofanim, the verse states that "their appearance and their work was as if there was an ofan (wheel) within an ofan," meaning that these angels function at a level where physical space has no significance, where high and low can exist together, since above and below are equal before Him. Like when a small wheel (ofan) is inside a larger wheel, on the upper side the larger wheel is higher, and on the lower side the larger wheel is lower. In fact, the higher something is, the lower it descends. Therefore, even though the Ofanim are lower than the Chayos HaKodesh, and thus exist in a lower world, the world of Asiyah, nevertheless their service reaches a higher place.

This also explains what is stated later in the verse: "for the spirit of the chayah was in the ofanim," saying "spirit of the chayah" (singular) and not "spirit of the chayos" (plural), since the intention is not the angels called Chayos HaKodesh but rather the totality of the four chayos that form the aspect of the Man on the Throne. The Chayos HaKodesh are divided into "the face of a lion on the right and the face of an ox on the left," showing distinctions of place, which is not the case with the aspect of Man, which has no right or left.