Hashem Elokim: 2

We explained elsewhere the concept of עיגולים, circles with regards to the Sefiros. Each circle represents a self-contained and unconnected concept. Chesed alone, Gevurah alone, etc. They each have no means by which they can connect to anything else. There are no connecting lines to draw one into the other.
We can view this in two ways. They are each separate concepts. Additionally, each one, being self-contained, wants to be all encompassing, and leaves no room for anything else.
The name Elokim, which is defined as "The Master of all Powers," indicates disparate powers. In their state of disconnection and dissension they also wreak havoc. This is why Hashem could not create the world with מדת הדין (the power of separation and differentiation) alone. The world could not exist like that. Only by melding in the name יקוק were they able to unite through the underlying power of the One force that created them all. This name indicates that they all emanated from Him, from his singular unity empowering them to unite.

Hashem Elokim: 1

The Zohar teaches that the combination of the names יקוה אלוקים incorporates all of Creation.

In order to understand this, we will begin with a comment of the Maharal.

As the Torah describes Creation is says: והארץ היתה תוהו ובהו וחושך על פני תהום, "And the earth was confusing and devastated and there was darkness on the face of the depths. The Sages explain that each description in this verse is an allusion to one of the four monarchies that would oppose the people of Israel. Why, asks the Maharal, did the Torah see fit to allude to these oppositional forces at the time of Creation?

He explains that it is there in order to bring home the point that Creation itself was in a flawed manner. Only God is flawless. Within His Creation, however, there are oppositional forces which oppose all that which is good from its very inception.

A Brief History of Time

I don't usually quote the sources for the concepts I share in this blog. This is because I often feel that the ideas as expressed are my filtering the words of others, and I fear I may not be representing their words exactly as they meant them. In this piece I will do differently. The reason is due to the great controversy in the Charedi world as to the Age of the Universe. Without getting into the details of the controversy right now which are well documented elsewhere, I want readers to be aware that my source for this piece is someone who was very highly respected and revered in the Charedi world.

This comes from Rav Elya Weintraub's work Nefesh Eliyahu. There is a bit of irony in that he was a leading opponent of Natan Slifkin,

Rav Weintraub writes that there was a concept and passage of time even prior to Creation as described in the Torah. He explains that the time frame of Creation as described in the Torah is a time frame that introduces human consciousness, but it does not purport to be the beginning of time in general.

Furthermore, he says, that when Kabbalists speak of time outside of our time zone, we should not understand it with our conception of time. For example, in a dream, one can experience what seems to be many years in only a few moments. Time works differently in a different state of consciousness.

So, too, although they may express the earlier (and later) times of Existence - the years that are not part of human consciousness - in terms of thousands of years, they may be referring to time periods in which millions of years actually have passed.

Adam Encompassed All

The Talmud says that Adam was of a size to go from one of the Earth to the other; from one end of the Heavens to another.

The Talmud is not describing the physical size of Adam. It does not mean to suggest that he was a giant of some sort. Rather it is explaining that man, being the central purpose of Creation, incorporates within himself the entirety of existence. Man has the ability to comprehend as well as to define all that exists on both the temporal and spiritual planes.

Points & Lines: 4

Indeed, the entire challenge of existence is to resolve the conflicts between the circles.

Hashem created the world in a broken manner; in a manner in which there are conflicting interests that seem to be irreconcilable. These are represented by the concentric circles of the Sefiros. One does not touch another. Never the twain shall meet. There is chaos and disorder (תוהו ובהו).

Our function is to reorder Creation: the well-known three-column Lurianic structure of the Sefiros in which each Sefirah has a place as well as a relationship with the others. When we succeed at reordering matters and bringing the world into harmony, we have accomplished our task as the human race.

Points & Lines: 3

The line which connects two points and creates a balance between them is a revelation of the will of Hashem.

This can be compared to two students who are at odds with each other. When their teacher voices his opinion which incorporates part of each student's view, they accept his direction and are connected by this compromise approach. This is the line that creates balance.

The ability of the teacher to propose an acceptable compromise approach is predicated on the fact that the mindset of each of his students is based on his teachings. Only that each student then interpreted his words in a way that fit their own mindset. He can therefore find a means of uniting them and finding common ground.

So, too, each of the Sefiros is an emanation of the will of Hashem. Even if they each manifest themselves individually in their own way, at the root they have a balanced connection.

Points & Lines: 2

When we view the various Sefiros as points or concentric circles, that indicates each Sefirah as standing alone. It is what it is and has no connection to any other Sefriah. Chesed is unadulterated Chesed. Gevurah is Gevurah. As such, they are incompatible with one another. Love is not anger. Chesed is not Din. Each one feels its own sphere is everything.

The line creates the ability to resolve these incompatibilities. A line connects points to each other. It indicates a relationship between the Sefiros and a balance being created between them to afford compatibility. It indicates the actualization of that Sefriah.

The actualization, the bringing forth into the world where it must interact with others, is what enables it to be tempered and to find a means of compatibility with others.

Points & Lines: 1

Kabbalistic works frequently use geometric terms such as points and lines.

The basic understanding is that a point represents the essence of something as it is. It is unconnected and not relating to anything else. A point, visualized as a round circle - whose end reaches back around to its beginning - is  self-contained entity.

A line represents a connection between points. In Kabbalistic terms it would represent a relationship being developed between two concepts that had until now seemed unconnected and possibly in conflict.

Malchus...continued

Malchus, monarchy, is a term that is used only when one is ruling over being similar to the monarch. The lion is the king of beasts, but no one would refer to a person in charge of animals as the king over the animals. He may direct them, he may own them, but he is not their king.

How then is Hashem the king over man? We aren't gods! We are not on his level; not in His sphere or dimension.

Within the question lies the answer. The fact that Hashem chooses to describe Himself as our King, is His way of letting us know that we are Godlike. That we were created in His image and have Godly characteristics and abilities.

Now it's our job to discover how it is that we are Godlike and to implement those characteristics in our lives.