Partie 13 · Observation intérieure

We must understand very well the matters of the hairs of the head and of the beard, on which the Rav elaborated at length in the part before us, for they are the root of all the Mochin of ZON; and if we have no clear understanding of these roots, we will have no understanding whatsoever of the Mochin of ZON. And behold, the root of all these hairs is the membrane of the air (Kruma deAvira), which was corrected within the Galgalta and brought out a part of itself in the aspect of a sealed brain, called Mocha deAvira. And this membrane is the Alef within the Vav of the HaVaYaH of SAG, whose diagonal line within the Alef is the membrane, being the aspect of the firmament that separates between the first three of Bina and the VAK of Bina. The upper Yod is the aspect of the first three of Bina, called the upper waters, because they are in the secret of "for He delights in mercy" and therefore receive no diminishment or restriction whatsoever from this screen; and the lower Yod is the seven lower [Sefirot] of Bina, which are the roots of ZON, and therefore, for the sake of ZON, must shine to him with the illumination of Hochma. And therefore they feel a sealing because of the screen, which is the membrane of the air; and therefore they were separated and removed from the Galgalta and became the aspect of a sealed brain and the aspect of VAK, which need the correction of the descent of the Yod from the air — that the coarseness in the membrane descends to the mouth below, and then the seven lower of Bina are joined with the first three of Bina into the aspect of a head, and the seven lower of Bina can receive the aspect of Hochma that is lacking to them, as the Rav wrote above (page 1041, item 99), that what is written in the Zohar, that the Yod comes out from the air and light remains, was said only about Mocha deAvira; see there. However, the Galgalta itself remains in the aspect of air, that is, in the aspect of covered Hassadim forever, for it is always in the secret of "for He delights in mercy," and it does not receive the aspect of the illumination of Hochma. And this is the secret of the Mem-Lamed-Tzadi of Tzelem, as explained at length in the Or Pnimi. And therefore, at the time of the emanation of AA in its aspect of Gadlut, namely in the stature of AB of MAH, that is, on the screen of aspect Gimel that brings out ten Sefirot in the stature of Hochma, as stated regarding AB of AK, there was made in it, on account of the aforementioned correction of the membrane of the air, a very great diminishment. For the aspect of the first three of Hochma, which needed to be clothed in the Galgalta of AA but could not be clothed in it, on account of the correction of covered Hassadim that it received from the membrane of the air, as above — behold, it went out and departed from it, and became the secret of a returning surrounding light, which are the secret of the hairs of the head, called the branches of AB, as is known. And for this reason the Galgalta is called by the name pure ring (Izka Dakhia), because the aspect of AB of Nekudim, namely the first three of AB which the Galgalta did not receive, was hidden in it on account of the correction of the Mem of Tzelem that it received — that is, this Mem encompasses it within a boundary so that it will not receive its first three, and will not reveal the aspect of the great Aba veIma of Nekudim, namely the first three of AB. And therefore this Mem is called by the name ring.

However, what is said, that the hairs are the aspect of a returning surrounding light, does not mean that they are the aspect of the direct light of the first three of AB itself, for that light went out and vanished and drew away from the vessels, and a light does not turn into hairs. Rather, the intention is the aspect of the reflected light that rises from the screen of aspect Gimel at the time of the coupling, which is needed to clothe those first three of AB that belong to the Galgalta; and now that the Galgalta did not receive them, they went out and departed from the head. And it is known that only in the direct light does departure operate, but departure does not operate in the reflected light, for it is the aspect of coarse light, as the Rav wrote above (page 246, item 2). And it is found that this reflected light remains in its place within the vessels of the head. And it is also known that according to the measure of the stature of the coupling, so are the vessels clarified and rise from BYA — those attributed to clothe that stature — and certainly they too did not depart with the light, but remained in the place of their exit within the head. And these two aspects are discerned as the waste of the brain, which have no relation whatsoever with the inner lights and vessels of the Mochin of AA. For his Mochin are of the aspect of AB of MAH, which is discerned as the AB that is clothed in the Mem of Tzelem and does not shine except through its HGT, which is the Lamed of Tzelem. Not so these vessels that rose from BYA — the reflected light, which are the garments of the stature of the revealed AB, which is clothed also in the first three of the head, like the AB of Nekudim and of AK. And therefore they went out from the Galgalta and became the aspect of external vessels called hairs. And behold, the substance of the hairs is now well explained — that they are the aspect of the reflected light and the vessels that needed to clothe the stature of the revealed AB; and since this stature was hidden from the head, by the force of the correction of the Mem in the Galgalta, therefore there was no place for its garments to remain any longer within the inner vessels of the Mochin of AA, and they too went out from there and adhered upon the Galgalta in the aspect of external vessels. And one should not ask: whence did vessels from BYA come here to AA, since it is the aspect of the Keter of Nekudim, and it is known that in all the first three of Nekudim there was no breaking and no descent to BYA, but only in the seven lower of Nekudim; and in the aspect of the first three there was only a mere nullification, but they remained in Atzilut, as is known. And the matter is that what the Rav said, that there was no breaking in the first three of Nekudim, is because they are the aspect of heads, where the screen serves from below upward, and therefore the coarseness of the screen cannot ascend above the place of its existence. And since no force of screen rules over the head, therefore breaking and descent to BYA do not apply to them, but only a mere nullification, namely that they descended from the aspect of a head to the aspect of VAK, as explained there at length in the Or Pnimi. However, the seven lower [Sefirot], which are the aspect of that which extends from above downward, spreading from these heads, are therefore ruled by the force of the screen, and therefore fell and became the aspect of BYA, as stated there. And it is known that the lower one does not receive the lights except with the garments of the NHY of the upper one, for the seven lower of Nekudim did not receive their Gadlut except through their ascent as MAN to the first three, and that reflected light that came out on the screen of the Peh of Aba veIma, to clothe the lights of the Gadlut of the seven lower while they were included in Aba veIma, descended also with the Mochin into the seven lower in the aspect of garments of Mochin, called the NHY of the upper one. And behold, these NHY, which spread within the seven lower from above downward, were also broken together with the seven lower, although they are the NHY of the first three. And this is because, once they descended below the screen, the screen rules over them just as it rules over the seven lower, as the Rav wrote regarding the NHY of Keter, that they were nullified because they became the garments of the Mochin of Aba veIma; likewise the NHY of Aba veIma, which became the garments of the Mochin of the seven lower, were broken because they were clothed within the seven lower. For this is the rule: any upper one that comes to the place of the lower one becomes literally like it, and all the restrictions in the lower one rest upon it just as they rest upon the lower one.

And it is known that the stature of the Keter of Nekudim is called the mutual gazing of the eyes of Aba veIma, which is the aspect of a head, and the downward extension of this stature is called the King of Daat of Nekudim. And it is found that the NHY of Keter clothe the Mochin of this King of Daat, and necessarily these NHY were broken, front and back, together with the King of Daat, and fell with him to BYA. And they are the vessels of AA that fell to BYA and were broken, front and back, together with the King of Daat, as explained. And from here you may know precisely which vessels rose and were clarified with the exit of the stature of AB in AA, namely with the coupling of the screen of aspect Gimel, equal to the aspect of the mutual gazing of the eyes of Aba veIma. For these vessels are neither less nor more than the aspect of these NHY that served as garments of Mochin within the King of Daat of Nekudim. For now that their screen was corrected at the Peh of the head of AA, and raised a reflected light to clothe the Mochin of AB, which are equal to that reflected light that clothed the Mochin of the mutual gazing of the eyes of Aba veIma, therefore the reflected light of the stature of the mutual gazing of the eyes also rose immediately from BYA. And it joined with the new reflected light that came out now from the screen at the Peh of AA, for both are literally one aspect in all their particulars and details. And understand this well. For for this reason the Rav wrote that according to the stature of the light, so are vessels clarified and rise from BYA. And you already know that from the Galgalta of AK and below, there is no Partzuf that does not have in it two kinds of vessels: one is the old vessels from the upper Partzuf, from which the light departed beforehand, and they now receive the new stature that is in the lower Partzuf, and these are the main vessels of the lower one. And the second are the new vessels that come equal with the emanation of the lower one, namely the reflected light that clothes the ten Sefirot of the direct light of the new stature of the lower one. For this reflected light also becomes the aspect of vessels, both in the head and in the body, as is known. And see in the Inner Observation of part 4. And therefore here too, in the coupling of the stature of AB of AA, there are also two kinds of vessels, both in the inner vessels, which are the Mochin, and in the external vessels, which are the hairs. For the reflected light that rises now at the time of the coupling and clothes over the direct light is the aspect of new vessels, and the vessels that rise and are clarified from BYA, as above, are the aspect of the old vessels, coming from the upper Partzuf, which are Nekudim. And behold, it is now well explained that these hairs are the aspect of the vessels of the NHY of the Keter of Aba veIma of Nekudim, which were clothed in the aspect of garments of Mochin within the King of Daat of Nekudim, and rose now at the time of the coupling of AB from the place of their fall in BYA, and were joined to the head of AA, as they were joined to those Mochin in the stature of the mutual gazing of the eyes of Aba veIma of Nekudim. However, one must remember that although they are only the NHY of the upper one, nevertheless they are a complete stature of ten Sefirot; only that all the relation they have to the Mochin of the lower one is only because they came out on the screen of the upper one. For the main Mochin came out on the records and the coarseness of the lower one, called MAN; but in order to be corrected in the screen, they were forced to ascend and be included in the screen of the upper one, as is known. And therefore it is found that all the share that the upper one has in these ten Sefirot of the reflected light that clothes the Mochin is only the aspect of its screen, which is the aspect of its Malchut, called NHY; and therefore they are called the Malchut of the upper one that clothes in the lower one, or the NHY of the upper one that clothes in the lower one. However, they are complete ten Sefirot of the reflected light that clothes the ten Sefirot of the direct light, which are the Mochin. And remember this.

However, since the whole existence of the hairs as an aspect of vessels is by virtue of their attachment to and drawing from the vessels of the head, therefore they too necessarily received the correction of the Mem-Lamed-Tzadi of Tzelem that operates in the vessels of the head. And therefore the ten Sefirot of the hairs were also divided into Mem, Lamed, Tzadi. And the aspect of the Mem in them, which receives no restriction and is equal to the aspect of the Galgalta, rose and went out upon the Galgalta and attached there, and is called pure wool. For in the aspect of the Mem no restriction is felt, and it is entirely clean of judgments. And the aspects of the Lamed and Tzadi of the hairs, which already need the illumination of Hochma and suffer restriction, as is known — they could not rise and attach to the Galgalta, because the membrane of the air brought them out of the Galgalta. And therefore they went out and attached to the lower jaw, in the thirteen corrections of the beard, which are included in the two Mazalot, called: the upper Mazal, Notzer, and the lower Mazal, Nakeh.

And it is known that these two Mazalot became the Daat for Aba veIma, for Aba veIma do not couple except through them, as the Rav wrote (in Etz Chaim, Gate 16, Chapter 6). And one must understand this: how is it possible that the aspect of the beard of AA, which is far higher than the aspect of Aba veIma, should serve them as the aspect of Daat? For it is known that the Daat is a lower aspect that couples Hochma and Bina from below upward, and is always considered the aspect of their seven lower [Sefirot]. And here it says that the beard of AA is the Daat of Aba veIma, and it is found that the Daat is higher than them, which is seemingly astonishing. And the matter is that there are two couplings in Aba veIma: one is to give life to the worlds, and this coupling is drawn from their permanent place, which is SAG, and this coupling never departs from them; and the second is a coupling for the birth of souls, and this coupling is not permanent in them, for they need the stature of AB, and this coupling is impossible in them except at the time when they ascend to the first three of AA, when they attain the stature of AB and are fit for birth, as is known. And with this you will understand that what the Rav said there, that Aba veIma cannot couple except by means of the Mazal of the beard, is not meant of their permanent coupling that never departs, namely when they are in their permanent stature; rather, the intention is in the coupling of the birth of souls, when they ascend then to the first three of AA, and when they are in the aspect of the first three of AA, then the beard is discerned as their Daat, for then the beard serves them from below upward, as is the practice in all the Partzufim.

However, we still need to understand why this Daat of Aba veIma must specifically be of the aspect of the hairs of the beard, which we do not find similar to in any Partzuf. And in order to understand this, we must understand the four aspects of Daat that the Rav brings in the head of AA: 1, the Daat in the air, of which he says here (page 1027, item 73) that the Daat of Atik is clothed in Mocha deAvira. The second aspect of Daat is the Daat of AA that is clothed in his forehead, as stated here (page 1036, item 90), that the Yesod of Atik is clothed in the Daat of AA, and the Daat of AA is within his forehead. 3, the Daat of AA that stands between his two shoulders, which is the aspect of VAK. 4, the Mazalot of the beard, which is the aspect of the upper Daat of AA, as the Rav wrote (in Mevo Shearim, Gate 3, Part 2, Chapter 1), and this is his language: "The upper Daat of AA must be in the middle, between its Hochma, which is its Sealed Brain, and its Bina, which is in the throat; and behold, this is the thirteenth Mazal of the beard, and it is called the upper Daat of AA, which is above its Bina, where Aba veIma begin." End quote. Behold, there are here in AA four kinds of Daat: the Daat in Mocha deAvira, the Daat clothed in the forehead, the Daat in the beard, and the Daat between the shoulders. And in order to understand this we must go deep into the matters, and mainly we must understand well the matter of the Mem-Lamed-Tzadi of Tzelem, which was renewed in the Partzufim of Atzilut. And behold, the source of the division of the ten Sefirot into the three letters Mem, Lamed, Tzadi is from the force of the garments of the Mochin of AA, which are the NHY of Atik, in which two aspects were made: 1, the aspects of Netzah and Hod above the Yesod, meaning that they receive neither smallness nor greatness from the screen of the Yesod, because they were corrected in the aspect of the Hassadim of the first three of Bina, over which no restriction rules. And they make the Mem of Tzelem upon the Mochin, which are always in covered Hassadim, like the first three of Bina. And the aspects of the Netzah and Hod of Atik below his Yesod, which are diminished by the screen of the Yesod, make the Lamed and Tzadi in the Mochin of AA, in which the Yod comes out from the air and they receive Hochma, as we have elaborated on this in the Or Pnimi. And the cause of this division of the NHY of Atik is that for the need of Atzilut, Atik does not use the screen of restriction 1, but the screen of restriction 2, which is the aspect of the HET in the eyes — that Hochma was corrected by itself in the aspect of the Nukva, and brought out Bina and ZON below the screen. And since this screen that brings out the Bina outside does not rule over the first three of Bina, therefore the Bina was necessarily divided into first three and seven lower: its first three are still attached to the degree, and only its seven lower went out. Thus, the ascent of the HET to the eyes caused two things: 1, it left in the degree only the GVA alone, and brought the AHP out; and 2, it divided the Galgalta in its very self into two degrees: the first three of it into the Mem, and the seven lower of it into the Lamed. For the Galgalta and the eyes of the lower one are the AHP of the upper one — the Galgalta of the lower one is the Bina of the upper one, and the eyes of the lower one are the ZON of the upper one, as is known. And therefore the Galgalta was divided to the measure of the Bina, for it is literally the Bina of the upper one. And in the same manner it is found also that at the time of the coupling, when by the illumination of the upper AB-SAG the screen of restriction 2 is nullified for the moment, the two aforementioned diminishments that restriction 2 caused are found to return and be corrected, for the division of the Bina into Mem and Lamed is nullified — for the seven lower of Bina, which are the Lamed, did not go out and were not separated from the first three of Bina, which are the Mem, except from the aspect of restriction 2, whereby the HET ascended and was included in Bina; and now that the HET descended from there, the seven lower and the first three of Bina returned to one degree with no difference between them. And likewise the AHP that descended to the degree of the lower one returns with the lower one and becomes the degree of the upper one, for the screen that divided them from one another was nullified. Behold, the nullification of the screen of restriction 2 makes two corrections: it returns the seven lower of Bina to the first three, and returns the AHP, which is the head of the lower one, to the degree of the upper one. And behold, it is explained that the matter of the exit of the AHP from the degree and the matter of the division of the Mochin into Mem-Lamed-Tzadi come together, and likewise are corrected together.

And behold, there are three kinds of exits in Atzilut from the force of the aforementioned restriction 2, each one of which includes the two aforementioned diminishments. The first exit is the exit from the head of Atik, which is made by the membrane of the air. And the meaning of this exit is that it is known that the ten Sefirot of Atik are in the aspect of the days of old (Ymei Kedem), namely like the Sefirot of Adam Kadmon, in which the screen of restriction 1 serves, for therefore the feet of Atik spread to BYA, like the feet of AK. And the main discernment is in the aspect of its Hochma, for since it is of restriction 1, it does not have in it the correction of the Mem-Lamed-Tzadi; and it is found that the first three of its Hochma are revealed with no covering whatsoever, like AB of AK and like Aba veIma of Nekudim; and it is called primordial Hochma, for such revealed Hochma is not found in any of the Partzufim of Atzilut, because they are all corrected in restriction 2 and therefore corrected in Mem-Lamed-Tzadi, whereby their first three are covered by the correction of the Mem, which does not receive Hochma into it, except for its HGT, which are the Lamed, that receive Hochma. And it is found that the first three of Hochma are hidden in the AB of Atzilut, and it is not found except in the RDL"A. And therefore it is called primordial Hochma, like all the Sefirot of the RDL"A, which are called the days of old, as is known. And it is found that the GVA of AA, namely the Galgalta and the Sealed Brain in it, which are the aspect of the AHP that went out from the degree of Atik, were diminished by this exit from the aspect of the primordial Hochma that operates in Atik. And likewise the aspect of the correction of the Mem-Lamed-Tzadi was made in them themselves by virtue of this exit, for the force of the HET in the Peh of Atik, which brings AA out, divided the Galgalta, which is the Bina of Atik that went out, into two aspects: its first three into the Mem, and its seven lower into the Lamed. And by this there is no aspect of the first three of AB in it, on account of the covering of the Mem in the Galgalta, as above. And it is the aspect of the AB of Atzilut, which was corrected in AA. And this is discerned as the first exit in Atzilut, that the head of AA went out from the aspect of the head of Atik, and is discerned as the aspect of VAK relative to Atik. And the second exit is the exit of the Bina outside from the head of AA, for in the head of AA there is only the GVA, which are the Galgalta and the Sealed Brain, and Bina and ZON went out outside from the head, as is known. And they too were made in the correction of Mem-Lamed-Tzadi: up to his chest is the aspect of the first three of Bina, the aspect of the Mem, where the upper Aba veIma clothe. And from the chest to the navel of AA is made the aspect of the seven lower of Bina, the aspect of the Lamed, where YESHSUT clothe. And from the navel and below is made the aspect of the Tzadi, where ZON clothe, as is known. And behold, this exit of the Bina outside from the head of AA does not yet make it the aspect of complete VAK, and this is by the force of its correction of the Mem in its first three, that from the throat to the chest it is still considered there the aspect of complete first three, for the first three of Bina are not diminished at all by the force of restriction and screen. However, relative to AA, whose stature is AB and Hochma, the Bina is considered the aspect of VAK and a body, for it is lacking also the aspect of the Hochma of the AB of Atzilut, and it has in it only the light of Hassadim alone. And the third exit in Atzilut is the exit of the Lamed and the Tzadi from the head of Bina as well. For they need the illumination of Hochma, and therefore the force of the screen at the Peh of AA rules over them, for they were made restricted by it, and therefore they are discerned as complete VAK, lacking a head. And behold, the three exits in Atzilut are now well explained: 1, outside from the primordial Hochma; 2, outside from the AB of Atzilut; 3, outside from the SAG of Atzilut, namely outside from the first three of Bina. And although all of them are in the aspect of covered Hassadim, nevertheless the difference is recognizable in the Lamed and the Tzadi of each one. For the Lamed and Tzadi of the Mem of the Galgalta of AA — in them Hochma literally shines. But the Lamed and Tzadi that come out from the Mem of the Bina of AA are already the aspect of VAK without a head.

And after we have merited to know well the discernment between Atik and AA — that Atik is in the aspect of the coupling on the screen of restriction 1, upon which the primordial Hochma comes out, as in the AB of AK and in the mutual gazing of the eyes of Aba veIma of Nekudim; but in AA this Malchut of restriction 1 no longer serves, for it was hidden in the head of Atik — we still need to understand well the aspect of the two heads: the Galgalta and the Sealed Brain of AA. And behold, the Rav explained them above (page 1317, items 51 and 52), that the Sealed Brain does not come out from the aspect of the Galgalta, but rather the Sealed Brain is revealed from the aspect of Atik in one equality with the Galgalta; see there. And we must understand the reason for this matter, since they are two degrees, for then they should descend in sequence and come out one from the other, like every lower one that comes out from the upper one. And in order to understand this we must recall what the Rav wrote above (page 292, item 4, and the Or Pnimi there) regarding the matter of the male and female of the vessel of Keter of AB of AK. For in the order of the descent of the degrees, in which every lower one comes out after the departure of the lights of the body of the upper one, it is discerned that two kinds of records remained after the refinement of the screen of the upper one. One is of the last aspect of the upper one, which leaves no record of coarseness after it, only from the aspect of clothing alone. And the second is the record that is above the last aspect, in which there is also coarseness. And these two records are included one in the other, by their ascent and inclusion in the screen of the upper one, namely in the Malchut of the head of the upper one. And then a particular stature comes out on the aspect of the record of clothing, called male, which is included with the record of coarseness, called female. And likewise there comes out in the Malchut of the upper one a particular stature on the record of coarseness, which is female, included in the record of clothing, which is male. And after the two particular statures come out upon them, while they are on the screen of the head of the upper one, they are born and come to their place. And we have already elaborated on this in the matter of the male and female of the vessel of Keter of AB of AK, and likewise in the matter of the male and female of Nekudim, which are: the Keter of Nekudim and Aba veIma of Nekudim, as above (page 512, sub-header 'the Keter'); see there, for it is impossible to repeat all that length here. And you should know that here in AA, which is the aspect of the AB of Atzilut, there also come out in it two particular statures on the two aspects of the aforementioned records: when it is included in the Malchut of the head of Atik, from the record of clothing, called male, the head of the Galgalta comes out, namely by its inclusion in the record of coarseness of the Sealed Brain, which is female. And in this manner, from the record of coarseness, which was female, by its inclusion in the record of the male, the second head comes out, which is the Sealed Brain. And both of them came out in the aspect of gestation in the Malchut of the head of Atik in one equality, as explained, and they do not descend in sequence one from the other, because the male has no sufficient coarseness fit for a coupling, except by its inclusion with the female, as above. And therefore it is not considered the aspect of the upper one to it, but they are in one equality, and the head of Atik is the one that emanates both of them, by their inclusion in its Malchut.

It was also explained there that the main stature that spreads from above downward into the aspect of a body comes out only from the female, because there is in her the aspect of coarseness from her own aspect. But from the male, in whom there is no coarseness from his own aspect, but only from his inclusion with the female, his screen is not fit to spread from above downward, and therefore he serves only in the aspect of from below upward, in the head; see there. And after we know this, one must understand that the matter of the AHP that went out outside from the head of AA into the aspect of a body is only from the aspect of the Sealed Brain, and not from the aspect of the Galgalta, for the Galgalta is revealed only in the head of AA alone. And the matter of the exit of the AHP of the Galgalta is in the aspect of the head itself, and it is the aspect of the air of the Galgalta, which is the aspect of the Lamed of Tzelem, that on account of the force of the restriction of the screen of Atik in this membrane of the Sealed Brain, the seven lower of the Galgalta went out, which is the aspect of its AHP, and fell to the degree of the Sealed Brain; and therefore the air is called the aspect of the sealed brain of the Galgalta, for it fell to the aspect of the Sealed Brain. And with this you will understand why the aspect of the air is attributed to the Daat of the RDL"A, as above (page 1027, item 72). For the matter of the correction of the Mem of Tzelem with which the Galgalta was corrected makes it attached to the RDL"A, because the screen at the Peh of the RDL"A causes it no diminishment whatsoever, on account of its correction in the first three of Bina, corrected in covered Hassadim, which correction is called the Mem, as is known. Rather, the air, which is the aspect of its AHP, namely the seven lower [Sefirot] that need the illumination of Hochma, is what was diminished by the screen at the Peh of the RDL"A and went out from the RDL"A. And it is found that at the time of the coupling, when the Yod comes out from its air — meaning that the aspect of the screen descends to the place of the Peh of AA, and the first three of AA are joined to become the first three of Atik, as the Rav wrote: In item 103, page 1042: "That the Daat of Atik was first clothed in the air" — namely at the time of smallness — "and there it is still covered and hidden by the membrane," for the membrane of the air brings it out of the Galgalta to the degree of the Sealed Brain, as above, "and it descended and was clothed in the Peh of AA" — meaning that the force of the screen in the membrane of the air descended to the Peh of AA, and then the three heads of AA ascended to their degree in Atik, namely to the AHP of the head of Atik. For at the time of the descent of the membrane's screen to the Peh, AA and Atik became one head. And then the aspect of the Mem-Lamed-Tzadi of Tzelem is found to be nullified, and the air and the Galgalta became one degree, for the force of the screen of Atik went out of it. And therefore the air is now considered the aspect of the Daat of the RDL"A, which was covered and hidden from it at the time of smallness, and now returned to its degree as at first, and was joined again with the Galgalta and with the RDL"A into one degree; and therefore it is attributed to the Daat of the RDL"A. And the matter of the return of the AHP of the stature of the Galgalta of AA is now well explained — that it is the return of Mocha deAvira to join with the Galgalta by the descent of the screen to the Peh of AA, which also returns all the first three of AA to the degree of Atik, and then the Daat of Atik is revealed in Mocha deAvira. And behold, by the ascent of the first three of AA to the aspect of Atik, receiving there the illumination of AB-SAG of AK, the HET also descends from the eyes of AA, and raises to him his AHP. Meaning that the screen of the Sealed Brain, which brought out the throat and the HGT outside from the degree of the head, being corrected in restriction 2 — behold, now, after the first three of AA received the illumination of AB-SAG, because of their ascent to Atik, the screen at the Peh of AA descends to the aspect of his chest, and raises to him the throat and the HGT as the aspect of his three heads. For then also Aba veIma, which clothe the throat and the HGT of AA, ascend also to the first three of AA, together with the ascent of the HGT of AA. And behold, this ascent is attributed to the Sealed Brain, and not to the Galgalta, as stated above, that the aspect of the AHP that descended to the body of AA are not the AHP of the Galgalta, because the Galgalta does not spread to the body, being from its very origin the aspect of the record of clothing; see above. And every aspect of the vessels that spread from above downward, called the body of AA, come from the Sealed Brain. Behold, these AHP of the body of AA that are returned to the head of AA are from the aspect of the Sealed Brain.

And behold, two kinds of ascents were explained: the first is the ascent of the three heads of AA to the head of Atik, that by the illumination of AB-SAG of AK the HET descended from his eyes, meaning that the force of the screen in the membrane of the air descended to the Peh of AA, which is the place of the chest of Atik, as is known, that the three heads of AA clothe the HGT of Atik up to the chest; and it is found that the Peh of AA is in the place of the chest of Atik. And therefore it is discerned that first the throat and the HGT of Atik ascended and became the HBD of Atik, for by the descent of the screen to the place of the chest of Atik, the place from the chest and above became the aspect of the head and the first three of Atik. And then the Hesed of Atik became the aspect of his Hochma, and the Gevura of Atik the aspect of his Bina, and the Tifferet of Atik the aspect of his Daat. And it is literally in the manner explained in part 10, regarding the matter of the VAK of ZA that became ten Sefirot, and regarding the matter of the VAK of AA that became ten Sefirot, that the HGT ascend to the HBD, and the NHY to the HGT, and new NHY are made for it; in this manner also here, and there is no need to elaborate. And since the HGT of Atik, which are from his chest and above, became the aspect of his HBD, it is found that also the three heads of AA, which were clothing these HGT, also ascended and became the first three of Atik. For the Galgalta that clothes his Hesed now became the Hochma of Atik, and the Sealed Brain that clothes his Gevura now became the Bina of Atik, and the aspect of the membrane and the screen, which was clothed in the upper third of the Tifferet of Atik, now became the Daat of Atik. And from here you will understand that the matter of the ascent of AA to the first three of Atik does not mean that they ascend literally to the RDL"A, for this will never happen, that a lower Partzuf will clothe and become the aspect of the head of its upper one. Rather, the meaning is that the HGT of Atik themselves first ascend and become the HBD, which is by the descent of the HET from the place of the Peh to the place of the chest, as above. And then also the first three of AA, which clothe these HGT, ascend with them. And in this manner you will understand the ascent of every lower one to the head of the upper one. And behold, the matter of the first ascent is explained, which is the ascent of the three heads of AA to the first three of Atik, and this ascent is attributed to the Galgalta of AA. And the second ascent that was here is the ascent of the throat and the HGT of AA, clothed within the upper Aba veIma, which ascend by the descent of the HET from the Peh of AA to the aspect of his chest, and all the place from the chest and above of AA became the aspect of his first three. And the Hesed of AA became his Hochma, and the Gevura of AA his Bina, and the Tifferet of AA his Daat. With them ascend also their garments, which are Aba veIma, as is known. And behold, this ascent is attributed to the Sealed Brain of AA, whose throat and HGT are its AHP that returned to it. Behold, here too Aba veIma do not ascend literally to the first three of AA, for they already ascended beforehand to the first three of Atik, as above; rather, they clothe the HGT of AA, which now became its HBD. And one should not ask how we attribute this ascent to the Sealed Brain, after the Sealed Brain already ascended above to the first three of Atik. The matter is that its record (Reshimu) of the Sealed Brain also remains in its place after its ascent to the first three of Atik, as the Rav wrote above, page 919, item 86, and on page 1, part 8, answer 175; see there.

And one must ask: since all the descent of the HET from the eyes and the return of the AHP to the degree — which cause all the ascents and the first three of the Partzufim of Atzilut — this is done only by the illumination of AB-SAG of AK, for since AB of AK is above the root of restriction 2, therefore in every place that its illumination reaches, it is found to nullify the Parsaot that were made by the force of restriction 2, as is known. However, how is it possible for the Partzufim of Atzilut, whose entire building was made from the screen of restriction 2, as above, to receive anything from the lights of the Partzufim of AK, whose vessels are from restriction 1? For therefore it is discerned as the aspect of Ein Sof relative to Atzilut, because the Partzufim of Atzilut have no vessels to receive its illumination, and there is no attainment of light without a vessel, as is known. And if so, how do they receive the illumination of AB of AK, that they may bring down the HET from the eyes and attain the first three? And it is true that the Rav has already alerted us that Ein Sof does not clothe except in the head of Atik alone (above, page 1001, item 9). And the head of Atik is found to be the middle between Ein Sof, which is AK, and the Partzufim of Atzilut (as above, page 1001, sub-header 'there is no'). Indeed, one must understand the matter: how was Atik made into the middle, since also Atik is of the aspect of the screen of restriction 1, like AK? It is found that they cannot receive from Atik, just as they cannot receive from AK. And with what was explained you will understand well that in truth the illumination of AB-SAG of AK does not reach except to Atik, and then Atik brings down the aspect of the HET from the membrane of the air, where the aspect of his eyes is, to the chest, and raises his HGT, which are the AHP that went out from his head, for there stand the three heads of AA, and he raises them to the aspect of his HBD, as above. And there is made the great coupling of AB on the screen of the chest, which now stands in the aspect of the Malchut of the head of Atik; and this screen is the screen of restriction 1, for the chest of Atik is the aspect of the screen of restriction 1. And therefore there come out there the ten Sefirot of the head in the stature of the revealed AB, which are like the aspect of the mutual gazing of the eyes of Aba veIma of Nekudim, and like AB of AK, in which there is no aspect of the covering of the Mem of Tzelem. And since the three heads of AA now clothe the HBD of Atik, they are found included in this coupling, and receive also the aspect of the revealed AB, in the vessels of the head of Atik. And after they received the stature of the revealed AB by their inclusion in the HBD of Atik, then the aspect of the screen of the HET in the Malchut of the Sealed Brain, which brought out the throat and the HGT from the head, also descends in them — this screen now descends to the chest of AA, by the force of the Mochin of the revealed AB that it received in the vessels of the head of Atik. And also the HGT of AA became the first three of AA, the aspect of the HBD of AA. And then also Aba veIma, which were clothing these HGT, ascend together with them, and are also discerned as the aspect of the HBD of AA.

However, there is to ask: it is fine regarding the three heads of AA, which ascended to the first three of Atik, for they could be included in the screen of restriction 1 that is in Atik, that through it they would receive the stature of the revealed AB, as above. But Aba veIma, which ascended to the HBD of AA, where the Tifferet of AA became the Daat there — and behold, also the Tifferet of AA is only of restriction 2 — how does the stature of the revealed AB come out by means of this Daat, and how do they receive the illumination of AB, that they may bring down the HET from their eyes and raise the AHP, since they have no aspect of the screen of restriction 1 there, through which they would couple? And the matter is that they serve there with the screen of the hairs of the beard in the lower Mazal, which is correction 13. For you know that the hairs of the beard are the aspect of the reflected light and the vessels that clothe the revealed AB, which is primordial Hochma; that on account of the correction of the Mem of Tzelem made in the Galgalta, which therefore does not receive the aspect of the light of Hochma, this AB was forced to depart in the aspect of a returning surrounding light, and then the reflected light and the vessels of this stature also went out from the head of AA, in the aspect of the hairs of the head and of the beard. And it is found now, after the three heads of AA ascended to the HBD of Atik and received there the aspect of the screen of restriction 1, and all the Parsaot of restriction 2 were nullified for the moment, and they receive there again the aspect of the stature of the revealed AB, as above — behold, then these hairs of the head and of the beard also find again their stature of primordial Hochma, which entered the head of AA, and they too enter the head of AA to clothe it, as before. And with this you will understand why the hairs are called there surrounding vessels: because they serve only at the time of the ascent of AA to the HBD of Atik, namely at the time of the coupling; but after the coupling AA descends again to his place, and returns to be corrected in the aspect of the Mem-Lamed-Tzadi of Tzelem, and therefore the stature of the revealed AB departs again, and the hairs return and go out from the head. And since in permanence they are outside the head, therefore they are called surrounding vessels — that is, they are destined to be inner vessels at the time of the coupling. And likewise the revealed AB that departs is called the returning surrounding light, for in every ascent of AA to the HBD of Atik it returns and is clothed in the internality of the head of AA, and after the coupling it returns and departs. And therefore it is called the returning surrounding light. And it is known that Aba veIma are included in the Mazal, for the hairs of the beard of AA are surrounding lights for them in the front, and the hairs of the head are surrounding for them in the back. And it is found now, after the three heads of AA ascended to Atik, that the hairs of the head and of the beard came in the aspect of the inner vessels of the head of AA, as above; and since Aba veIma now received the aspect of the first three of AA by their ascent with the HGT of AA, as above, behold, the beard also entered into the internality of the vessels of Aba veIma, as above in the head of AA. And therefore they are able to serve with the screen of the beard, to couple upon it, because it is now found in the aspect of the Malchut of the heads of Aba veIma, namely in the aspect of the screen that descended from the Sealed Brain to the place of the chest, and the chest now became the screen of Aba veIma, and the Peh of the head of AA, as above. And behold, correction 13 of the beard ends at the chest, as is known; it is found that correction 13 ascended together with the chest of AA, with the upper third of the Tifferet of AA, and became the Daat that couples Aba veIma. And since the screen of Mazal 13 of the beard is the aspect of the screen of restriction 1, as above (page 1434, sub-header 'and this is what is written'), therefore the stature of the revealed AB comes out upon it, as in Atik. And therefore this correction 13 is called by the name days of old, because it is the bearer of the screen of restriction 1, which serves only in Atik, whose Sefirot are called the days of old, for they are of the aspect of restriction 1, like the Sefirot of Adam Kadmon, as above.

And this is his saying, "Therefore Aba veIma cannot couple except by means of the upper Daat, which is the lower Mazal and correction 13" (Etz Chaim, Gate 16, Chapter 6), which revolves around the aspect of the coupling of AB that brings down the HET from the eyes, when they ascend to the HBD of AA, as above, and they need to receive the aspect of the revealed AB. However, they have nothing of the aspect of the screen of restriction 1, and how can they couple there and receive the stature of the revealed AB? It follows necessarily that they couple by means of the screen of the hairs of the beard, which is correction 13, as explained. Also, it is well understood what we stood upon in item 6 — why the Daat of Aba veIma must specifically be of the aspect of the hairs, which has no parallel in the other Partzufim. And by what was explained it is well understood that the screen of restriction 1, which Aba veIma need at the time of their ascent to the HBD of AA, is no longer found in Atzilut except in the hairs of the beard, as above. And necessarily it becomes their Daat, that they may couple upon it, for without it they have no aspect of vessels to receive the illumination of AB-SAG of AK, as above; and all the more so to bring out by their own coupling the stature of AB, the revealed [stature] that is not covered by the Mem of Tzelem, as above. And this is his saying (above, item 6): "The upper Daat of AA must be in the middle, between its Hochma, which is its Sealed Brain, and its Bina, which is the throat; and behold, this is the thirteenth Mazal of the beard, and it is called the upper Daat of AA, which is above its Bina, where Aba veIma begin. But the lower Daat spreads in the body of AA" (Mevo Shearim, Gate 3, Part 2, Chapter 1) — which is seemingly entirely problematic. First, it implies that the Mazal is the upper Daat of AA itself, and here in item 90 it says that the Daat of AA is in its forehead. Second, it implies that the standing of the Daat is beneath the concealed Hochma and above its Bina, which is the throat, as it says, "and it is called the upper Daat of AA, which is above its Bina" — which is very astonishing, for it is known that the standing of the Daat is only below Hochma and Bina, and it couples them from below upward. Third, how does it say that the Mazal is the upper Daat of AA, and here it says (in Etz Chaim, Gate 16, Chapter 6) that the Mazal is the Daat of Aba veIma; how can one document be earned for two parties?

However, with what was explained you will understand the matters well and simply. For the intention is at the time of the coupling and the ascent of the Partzufim, when the three heads of AA ascend to the HBD of Atik, and the HGT of AA become the HBD, as above in item 12; see there. And the Hesed of AA becomes the aspect of its concealed Hochma, for although the Sealed Brain ascended to the Bina of Atik, nevertheless its record remains below in its place, as above. It was also explained that the AHP of the body are only from the aspect of the Sealed Brain, as above in item 9. And the Gevura of AA becomes the aspect of its Bina, in which is also included the throat of AA. And the Tifferet of AA up to the chest becomes its Daat, as above. But because the building of the middle line of AA is of restriction 2, therefore the Tifferet is not fit to be the aspect of the Daat, to draw the aspect of the revealed AB, which is needed for the descent of the HET from the eyes of Aba veIma, as above in item 12. And therefore there serves then, in the place of the Tifferet, the aspect of the screen of the hairs of the beard, standing in correction 13 of the beard, for it now enters within the inner vessels of AA, for the aforementioned reason; see there. And on this screen of the beard is made this great coupling of the revealed AB, and the Mazal is found, which now became the aspect of the Daat of AA, and it is what couples the Bina that ascended to the head with the Hochma of AA. Behold, this Daat of the Mazal now stands below the Hochma and Bina of AA, for it is included in the third of the Tifferet of AA that ascended and became the Daat. And what is said, that it stands in the middle, between its Hochma, which is the Sealed Brain, and above its Bina, which is the throat — the intention is in terms of permanence, not at the time of the coupling, and in order to picture precisely the place of the standing of the Mazal, which stands beneath the Sealed Brain, therefore he says that this place is above the Bina of AA. For in permanence the throat, which is the Bina of AA, is found, as is known; however, now it is discerned that this Bina in the throat has already ascended to the head, by the force of the Mochin that AA already received from Atik, as above, and the Hochma and Bina of AA are found in an equal stature, for they are the aspects of the Hesed and Gevura of AA that became Hochma and Bina, as above, and the Daat, which is the Mazal, included in the Tifferet of AA, stands in the middle beneath them. And by this the second difficulty is resolved. And likewise the first difficulty is understood by this — that we asked, does it not say here that the Daat of AA is in its forehead, and not beneath the Sealed Brain and above the throat? And by what was explained this is well understood, for here it speaks of the Daat of AA itself, namely the aspect of the Daat of its three heads that ascended and became the HBD of Atik. For since the HGT of Atik became the HBD, it is found that the Galgalta and the air clothe the Hochma of Atik, and the Sealed Brain the Bina of Atik, and the membrane of the air, clothed in the upper third of the Tifferet of Atik up to the chest, now becomes the Daat that couples the Hochma and Bina of Atik, and likewise for the Galgalta and the Sealed Brain of AA that clothe them. And this Daat, which is the HET of Atik, is clothed in the forehead of AA, as the Rav wrote here in item 90. Behold, the Rav here speaks of the Daat of the three heads of AA themselves, which are found in the place of the HBD of Atik.

However, there in Mevo Shearim, where it says that the upper Daat of AA stands beneath the Sealed Brain, above the throat — which is the Mazal — it speaks of the HGT of AA that became the HBD, with which also Aba veIma ascend to these HBD of AA, as above. And in truth these HBD are considered the aspect of the HBD and first three of Aba veIma, for they clothe them, in the manner that we consider the HBD of Atik as the aspect of the three heads of AA, because they clothe there. Except that the Rav wishes to precise there one matter of AA, which must be discerned in this Daat — and it is, that this Daat, which is the Mazal, cannot spread into the body of AA, like the Daat of Aba veIma and of ZA, because it is only in the aspect of the hairs of the beard, which are surrounding vessels, and they do not ascend to be included in the internality of AA except at the time of the coupling, as above; but after the coupling, the three heads descend to their place, and again receive the correction of the Mem-Lamed-Tzadi, and the hairs are forced to go out again from the head of AA to the aspect of surrounding vessels, as above in item 12, sub-header 'and with this'. And therefore the Daat of the Mazal, included in the Tifferet of AA, which couples the Hochma and Bina of AA, cannot spread within the internality of the vessels to the body of AA, for they again became the aspect of surrounding [vessels]. And therefore the Rav calls it by the name upper Daat — meaning that only when the Partzuf is in the aspect of ascent to the upper one does it serve as the Daat that couples the Hochma and Bina of AA; but upon its coming to its place, this Daat is found again to go out from the inner vessels of AA, and there is no coupling in it in the head, and therefore it cannot spread from above downward to the body of AA. And since the aspect of the downward extension of this Daat of the Mazal has no coupling in it, it is discerned as the aspect of posteriors and VAK. And this is what he concludes there: "But the lower Daat spreads in the body of AA" — meaning that at the descent of AA, after the coupling, to its permanent place, there is no longer in it a coupling by the force of this Daat of the Mazal, that would couple the Hochma and Bina of AA, for it already became surrounding vessels. And therefore, the stature of this Daat that served in the head of AA at the time of the ascent of his HGT to the HBD is found, after his coming to his place, that all this stature descends from the head of AA to the place of his body, in the aspect of VAK, because it has no gathered place in the head — meaning a coupling of Hochma and Bina, as is known.

And this is his saying here, page 1090, item 193: "However, after the Bina descended into the throat, the Daat descended and was clothed in the VAK of AA themselves, and was spirituality to them, and it has no gathered place except between the two shoulders of AA it stands." That is, as above: because while he is in the aspect of ascent, when the hairs of the beard become the aspect of inner [vessels], then the Mazal can be the aspect of the Daat that couples his Hochma and Bina. Not so at the return of AA to his place, when he returns and receives the correction of the Tzelem — the hairs of the beard and the head go out and again become surrounding [vessels]; and therefore there did not remain of it an aspect of a screen to couple the Hochma and Bina of the head, called a gathered place, as is known. And therefore the stature of the Daat that came out at the time of the ascent descended, and became the aspect of VAK and body, and is discerned to stand in the posteriors of the upper third of the Tifferet, called the shoulders of AA. And the reason is that in the front of this upper third of the Tifferet stands and spreads the first three of the Bina of the throat; and since the Daat became VAK, therefore it stands in the back of the Tifferet, called the shoulders. And behold, the reason is now well explained why AA has no lower Daat in the head like Aba veIma and ZA — which is by reason of the return of the exit of the Mazal to the aspect of surrounding [vessels]. And in order to inform us of this, the Rav explained this Daat of the Mazal, how it serves AA itself, although in truth these HBD of AA belong only to Aba veIma that clothe them, for the first three of AA himself already ascended and clothed the HBD of Atik, and he has no need whatsoever for his own HGT that became the HBD, and all their praise is only for Aba veIma. And therefore the Daat of the Mazal is discerned as the Daat of Aba veIma, as the Rav wrote in Etz Chaim, Gate 16, Chapter 6, quoted above. And the aforementioned third difficulty is well understood.

And we find here four aspects of Daat in AA, as above in item 6. The two first aspects, which are the Daat in the air and the Daat in the forehead of AA, are in the three heads of AA that ascended and became the HBD of Atik. For by the descent of the force of the screen from the membrane of the air to the place of the Peh of AA, the air returned to the aspect of the Galgalta, for the Yod descended from the air and became light, and this aspect of the air that returned to the Galgalta is considered the Daat of the RDL"A, because the Galgalta, even from the aspect of permanence, is considered the aspect of the RDL"A, as above (in item 9, sub-header 'and with this'); see there. And from the aspect of the totality of the head of AA, which now ascended to the HBD of Atik, the aspect of the Tifferet of Atik is found, which became the Daat of the totality within the three heads: for the Galgalta and the air, which became one aspect, clothe the Hesed of Atik, which now became its Hochma; and the Sealed Brain, the Gevura of Atik, which became its Bina; and the Tifferet of Atik, clothed in the membrane beneath the Sealed Brain, became its Daat, which is clothed in the forehead of AA (as above in item 10, sub-header 'and behold'). Behold, these two aspects of Daat — namely the air, and the Daat in the forehead of AA — are both like the aforementioned first ascent in item 6, namely in the three heads of AA that ascended to the first three of Atik, as explained. And the two other aspects of the Daat of AA — namely the upper Daat of the Mazal, and the Daat in the shoulders of AA — come in the aforementioned second ascent in item 6, which is the ascent of the HGT of AA to the aspect of its HBD. For the Tifferet of AA cannot serve there as the aspect of the Daat, to couple the Hochma and Bina, since they are of the aspect of the screen of restriction 2; and therefore they need the aspect of the screen in the Mazal, which is of the aspect of restriction 1, as above in item 13. And it is discerned as the upper Daat only, for there is no extension from it from above downward, because there is no coupling in it at the time when AA descends to his place, for then the Mazal returns and goes out to the aspect of surrounding [vessels] (as above in item 15, sub-header 'however'); see there. And the aspect of the Daat in the shoulders of AA is from that same stature of the Daat that came out in the Mazal in the state of ascent, which, when AA descends to his place, has no coupling in it anymore, and is therefore made into the aspect of VAK, and it descends from the head to the aspect of the back of the Tifferet, called the shoulders, as above in item 15, sub-header 'and therefore'; see there.