Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("RaMChaL"):
138 Openings
of Wisdom
Opening 102
Atik shines in the Head of Arich Anpin through the Seven Repairs of the Head - in the Skull in general, in the Face in detail.
By the Head of Arich Anpin is meant Kitra, the Crown, and Chochmah S'tima'ah, the Concealed Wisdom contained within it - this is in terms of what is attributed to Arich Anpin's own intrinsic mode of government. It is in Arich Anpin that the Seven Repairs of the Head are found, and this is because the entire government of Arich Anpin depends upon Atik. For this reason the seven lower Sefirot of Atik rule in the very Head of Arich Anpin itself through the various particular repairs therein deriving from Atik. In the Skull they do what they do overall, while in the Face they operate in detail, because the Face is made to shine in detail and all of its radiations must be rectified through the repairs deriving from Atik.
Having explained the concept of the head in general terms, we will now discuss the specific arrangements or "repairs" (úé÷åðéí, tikunim) found in the Head of Arich Anpin, which is our present focus.
This proposition consists of two parts. Part 1: By the Head of Arich Anpin. This explains what we mean when we speak about the Seven Repairs of the Head. Part 2: In the Skull. This gives more details about these Repairs.
Part 1: By the Head of Arich Anpin is meant Kitra, the Crown, and Chochmah S'tima'ah, the Concealed Wisdom contained within it . For the head consists not only of the skull but of the entire head and face and what is contained within them. In the case of Arich Anpin, Binah is not in the head (for Binah descended to the throat - see Etz Chayim, Shaar Hamelachim ch. 8; Shaar Arich Anpin ch. 8). Accordingly, when we speak of the Head of Arich Anpin, this is understood to mean Keter and Chochmah within it together with all that spreads forth from them in the mystery of the Face.
- this is in terms of what is attributed to Arich Anpin's own intrinsic mode of government. As discussed earlier (in Opening 95), Kindness, Judgment and Mercy are attributed to Arich Anpin as the root of Zeir Anpin (and in this aspect we speak of the Three Heads of Arich Anpin - see further in Opening 104). However in terms of Arich Anpin's own intrinsic essence - total Kindness - the only way they divide up is in terms of the Skull and the Brain. (The Skull and the Brain are called two heads of Arich Anpin, and later, with the Cavity, àåéøà, avira, these become the Three Heads - Etz Chayim, Shaar Arich Anpin ch. 3).
It is in Arich Anpin that the Seven Repairs of the Head are found, and this is because the entire government of Arich Anpin depends upon Atik. As you have heard already, the purpose of Atik is to bind all the Sefirot of Arich Anpin under Adam Kadmon and maintain them in the state of Balance. (This is through the Head of Atik, which contains the initial interconnection of MaH and BaN - see Opening 96).
For this reason the seven lower Sefirot of Atik rule in the Head of Arich Anpin itself through the various particular repairs therein deriving from Atik. It is in the place where they first rule - in the Head - that this repair must be carried out, and it then extends to the entire Partzuf.
Part 2: In the Skull they do what they do overall. This is the mystery of the White Skull - for these seven repairs divide up into one in the Skull and six in the Face. The underlying principle behind this is that it is not in the nature of Keter to divide up its lights in detail in the same way as Chochmah. For the mystery of Keter is that of closure, as signified by its associated vowel, kametz (÷ÈîÆõ), which has the connotation of being closed up - like the skull, which is a closed circle. Chochmah, on the other hand, signified by the vowel patach (ôÇúÇç) having the connotation of openness, produces all the lights of the Face in their individual details. Accordingly the repairs generated by Atik in Arich Anpin follow the respective natures of (1) the Skull (Keter), where the repair is one overall whole (for the skull clothes Chessed of Atik, which includes all the Sefirot below it) and (2) the Face, where the repairs are seen in all their specific details. Thus the proposition goes on to state:
.while in the Face they operate in detail, because the Face is made to shine in detail and all of its radiations must be rectified through the repairs deriving from Atik. The intention is to rectify everything. Accordingly the individual parts cannot be left out. Wherever there are detailed aspects, they must all be repaired. (Atik repairs the Head of Arich Anpin overall through the repair of the Skull and all of the details individually through the repairs of the Face.)
Note: See Etz Chayim Shaar Arich Anpin ch. 6: "The seven lower Sefirot of the Head that is Unknown from Chessed to Malchut are clothed in the two lower heads of Arich Anpin and shine therein". See ibid. ch. 7: "Although we have said that Atik's seven lower Sefirot are clothed in the seven Sefirot of the Skull of Arich Anpin, nevertheless. in essence there are only two in the head of Arich Anpin: Chessed and Gevurah. Chessed is in the Skull and Gevurah in the Brain, for the Skull and Brain are the two lower heads and they are the roots of the entire Head, while the other Sefirot - revealed through the Seven Repairs of the Head are merely a radiation. See Klalut HaIlan 7:8 and 8:3.