Editing Sefiras HaBinah (section)

== The Essence of Binah ==
Binah is compared to a spiritual river. The sefirah of Binah decodes the abstract divine light received in the sefirah of Chochmah into a complete intellectual structure of concepts and ideas. While in Chochmah the divine light is not received in terms of intellect, Binah's role is to dim the intensity of the light as it appears in Chochmah, so it can engage with it, reveal its components, define them, arrange them, and create a complete intellectual system that can be understood and transmitted to the following sefiros. For Binah to accomplish this, it is not in complete bitul like Chochmah, but rather begins to develop a possibility of a sense of independence.
[[File:נהר.JPG|thumb|Binah is compared to a spiritual river.]]
The sefiros of Chochmah and Binah function as a paired system, dependent on each other. Without Binah, the abstract light received in Chochmah would dissipate, and without Chochmah, Binah would have no material to process. Chochmah and Binah operate like a camera in darkness. The camera flash sends powerful light to the surface, and at exactly that moment, the film must record the details of the objects reflected from the light. A moment later, the flash dissipates, and without the film, there would be no trace of the flash. Conversely, without the flash, the film would not identify objects in darkness and would show a black image.

The sefirah of Binah in the soul is connected to the avodah of hisbonenus, which is the expansion and deepening of thought in matters of Elokus. Additionally, Binah in the soul is connected to the middah of simcha, as it is said "the mother of children is joyful," for through hisbonenus in matters of Elokus, simcha is created in the person's soul.