Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("RaMChaL"):
138 Openings
of Wisdom
Opening 111
Abba and Imma - spread of the Concealed Wisdom in the columns of Kindness-Judgment-Mercy via the Beard for Zeir Anpin
Abba and Imma are an extension of Chochmah S'tima'ah, the Concealed Wisdom, through the columns of Kindness-Judgment-Mercy included therein, after their having spread forth through the mystery of the Beard. Abba and Imma are rooted in the mystery of the Mazal of Notzer and the Mazal of Venakei.
Having explained the root of Abba and Imma - Yesod of Atik as revealed in the chest of Arich Anpin - we will now discuss Abba and Imma themselves.
Abba and Imma are an extension of Chochmah S'tima'ah, the Concealed Wisdom, through the columns of Kindness-Judgment-Mercy included therein. Chochmah S'tima'ah is the root from which Zeir Anpin - the governmental order of Justice based on Kindness-Judgment-Mercy - emerges. As such, Chochmah S'tima'ah includes all the Kindness-Judgment-Mercy contained in all the Three Heads of Arich Anpin - for as the Third Head, Chochmah S'tima'ah includes what is in all three.
This is the mystery of Yud-Vav-Dalet, HeA-Aleph, Vav-Aleph-Vav - the "expanded" form of the letters Yud-Heh-Vav of MaH contained in Chochmah S'tima'ah. The numerical value of these letters is 39 = (Hebrew T"al) Tet-Lamed = TaL, "dew" - the Dew of Bedolach (see Opening 89). Here lies the root of the entire governmental order of Justice below. In terms of the Three Heads, Chochmah S'timaah is in the category of Judgment (in relation to the Skull - Kindness, and the Cavity - Mercy) and is governed from Gevurah of Atik. (Gevurah of Atik is concealed within the Brain, which accordingly has the reddish hue of the Bedolach stone.)
Accordingly, everything that came before is rooted in Chochmah S'tima'ah - for although it is in the category of Judgment, it also contains an aspect of Kindness since Chochmah is on the right. Chochmah S'tima'ah is the Nukva of Arich Anpin. For Keter, the Skull, is the right-inclined Head - the male aspect of Arich Anpin, while Chochmah S'tima'ah is the left-inclined Head - the female aspect. All this is because Chessed and Gevurah of Atik are clothed respectively in the Skull and in Chochmah S'tima'ah.
But the Kindness-Judgment-Mercy contained within Chochmah S'tima'ah must spread forth and descend through the chain of development. This they do through the Beard, as discussed earlier. The Beard is essentially a power drawing forth the hidden light of Chochmah S'tima'ah that fills the pipes or channels of which it consists. The very light that was concealed within is revealed on the outside through Abba and Imma.
See how all this is literally the root of Zeir Anpin. For Abba and Imma, which derive from Chochmah S'tima'ah, do not merely give Zeir Anpin additional influence but actually build his Partzuf since it is they that give Zeir Anpin the Mental Powers that are the essence of his government, just as in every Partzuf the government derives from its Mental Powers. Clearly this is because Zeir Anpin alone cannot do what is necessary since Zeir Anpin consists of only the Six Directions (Chessed-Gevurah-Tiferet-Netzach-Hod-Yesod). They are only complete with Keter-Chochmah-Binah, which are rooted here in Chochmah S'tima'ah in the mystery of Kindness-Judgment-Mercy as I have explained. They subsequently descend level by level until they reach their place as the Mental Powers of Zeir Anin, for their purpose is to complete Zeir Anpin, as will be discussed later.
.after their having spread forth through the mystery of the Beard. It was first necessary for them to spread forth in the Beard in order to aquire the quality of expansiveness and produce all the necessary levels - the 13 Repairs of the Beard.
Abba and Imma are rooted in the mystery of the Mazal of Notzer and the Mazal of Venakei - i.e. in the Beard itself when it spreads forth. The Beard is thus the root of these two levels that were to emerge through its power. The Mazal of Notzer and the Mazal of Venakei essentially include the entire Beard. One of these two levels - Abba - is rooted in the Mazal of Notzer, the male aspect, and the other - Imma - in the Mazal of Venakei, the female. Abba and Imma likewise come forth as male and female, and each has its own function - the male as befits it in accordance with its root, and likewise in the case of the female.