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Creation in its present form was preceded by G-d's first thought before creation. In Bereishit Rabba (1:4) it is stated: 
“Six things preceded the creation of the world:

1. Torah.
2. G-d’s Chair of Glory.
3. The Patriarchs’ Souls.
4. The Souls of Israel.
5. The Temple.
6. The Name of the Messiah.
   Rebbe Ahava adds:
7. Teshuvah (repentance).

Rav Shemuel Bar Yitzhak states: The thought of the souls of Israel preceded everything else.” The Torah was created for Israel as stated in "Tanah Deveh Eliyahu" (Chapter 14): “Two things I love with total devotion; Israel and Torah. But which of them comes first? I say Israel comes first as stated in Jeremiah 2:3: “Israel is holy to G-d; the first fruits of His increase.”

Aryeh Kaplan says in his book "Torah Or": “Not only heaven and earth, and all the farthest galaxies were created for Israel, even spiritual worlds and angels were created for Israel”.

Rebbe Nachman says in "Likutey Moharan" (17:1): "The primary intent of creation was for the pride that G-d would take in Israel. G-d’s pride in the Jewish people (both collectively and as individuals) - in every detail of their lives – is considered the root and vitality of the entire creation. In "Likutey Moharan" (17:6) he also writes: "That the souls of the converts .…also come from a very exalted place that is a part of all the souls of Israel, for whom all of the world was created as mentioned in the book of Chronicles 1, (4:23): “These are the creators, those who dwell in the fields, who are together with the King in His work”.

In the book "Breishit Rabbah" 8:6 it is stated : “For the Holy One consulted with the souls of Israel to create the world”.

There are three levels of Souls** that were divided after the sin of Adam. These Souls are revealed during the time span of 6,000 years of creation (parallel to the 6 Days of Creation). Adam contained within him the souls of all humanity, for all generations, for all time. Therefore, when he sinned, the souls that did not depart before the sin, became blemished.  

The three levels of soul are then divided as follows :
Level one - the souls in level one are called the “Upper Lights”. These souls elevated, leaving Adam immediately, even before he sinned. Therefore, they were not blemished. Souls from this level include: Chanoch [Hanock], Yered, Methuselah, Eliyahu and others. On this level are the souls of the most Righteous people in Israel.

Level two - the second category of souls, although blemished by remaining in Adam when he sinned, are still considered on an exalted level. This category is called, “The Challah of the World,” because Adam is called the "Challah of the World." That is, after the sin, Adam was left with one-fiftieth of his former souls. One-fiftieth is the amount that is taken off from the whole dough when making bread and upon which we make a blessing. This is considered the best part of the dough. As stated in Numbers 18:30, “after you have separated out the dedicated tithe”. On this level are the souls of the Jewish people.

Level three - the third category of souls also remained in Adam during the sin. These souls include forty-nine fiftieths of all the souls Adam had when he was created, which then fell to the "Depths of the “Husks” or klippot. Through our prayers and mitzvoth that we perform every day, we uplift these fallen souls. When this rectification is completed, the Messiah will come. On this level are the souls of the 70 nations.

**Sha’ar Hapesukim, Derush 3, Ha’Arizal

This information was written, published and compiled by Atarah Gur and kabbalahtorah.com. 
Copyright © 2007Atarah C. Gur