אליגוריות החוקים, ספר ב י׳Allegorical Interpretation of Genesis, Book II 10
א׳
1[35] “He took one of his sides” (Gen. 2:21). Of the many faculties of the mind He took one, the faculty of perception. “Took” must not be understood as equivalent to “removed,” but as equivalent to “enrolled,” “registered,” as we find it elsewhere “take the sum of the spoils of the captivity” (Numb. 31:26).
ב׳
2[36] What idea is it, then, that he wants to convey? The word “perception” is used in two ways, first in that of a condition, in which sense it is ours when we are asleep, secondly in the sense of an activity. From perception in the former sense, as it is a state, we derive no benefit, for it does not enable us to apprehend the objects about us. It is from the second kind of perception, as an activity, that we get benefit, for our apprehension of the objects of sense-perception is made possible by this.
ג׳
3[37] Having, then, brought into being the former sort of perception as a quiescent condition, at the time when He was bringing the mind itself into being—for He made the mind with many faculties lying dormant—now it is His wish to produce perception as an activity. Active perception is brought to pass when quiescent perception has been set in motion and extended to reach the flesh and the perceptive organs. For, just as growth is effected by seed being set in motion, so is activity or actuality by a quiescent condition being set in motion.