Of the three garments of the soul – thought, speech and action – only thought is continuous. There is “a time to speak and a time to refrain from speaking” but never a time to not think. Thought is constant.

This is because thought is closer to the soul and the soul never stops.

What does a soul do? (Not the G-dly soul, just a soul of any kind). A soul knows and feels – intelligence and emotions make up the soul’s faculties. Thought is the conscious awareness of what is going on in the soul. You are aware of the soul’s emotions (love, fear, etc.) and the soul’s store of knowledge. If you don’t know when you are frightened or that you are in love, that is an unhealthy thought function or malfunction of thought.

So the power behind thought is the emotion that produces it. The emotion of the heart excites the thoughts just as the thoughts excite the words. You can see this on the face of a person when his feelings flood into his thoughts even before he utters a word.

Thus the universe originates, not in speech or thought; it already exists in G-d’s kindness, severity, compassion, etc. The six days of creation are the results of six attributes within G-d. G-d felt generous – this created the thoughts and words of the first day. G-d felt judgmental – this created the thoughts and words of the second day, and so on.

So now, where does light come from? Divine kindness. The world begins in His kindness.

But where do emotions get their power? What creates kindness? What is their origin?