Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("RaMChaL"):
138 Openings
of Wisdom
Opening 112
Abba reveals the Mental Powers as a whole, Imma in detail.
Abba is the mystery of the three Mental Powers of Zeir Anpin - but as one whole, like seed in the brain of the father. Imma is herself a revelation of the Mental Powers of Zeir Anpin: in Imma they are prepared in detail like an embryo in its mother's belly.
Having discussed the function of Abba and Imma, let us now examine them in more detail.
Abba is the mystery of the three Mental Powers of Zeir Anpin - but as one whole. As already discussed, Abba and Imma are an extension of Chochmah S'tima'ah bringing Zeir Anpin's Mental Powers (Keter-Chochmah-Binah) to the necessary level. However, there is a difference between Abba and Imma - just as there is a difference in the role of the father and mother in producing their joint offspring. Initially the offspring is in the male in potential as a single, undifferentiated whole, and this is how it leaves the male. However, the female differentiates the embryo into its particulars during the Pregnancy until signs of the growing embryo are clearly discernible from the outside.
So it is above: Abba and Imma both contain Zeir Anpin's Mental Powers within them, and their role is to bring them out to the open. However, when Abba does so, he brings them forth as a single, undifferentiated whole. In the case of Imma, however, they are discernible within her even during the Pregnancy and all the more so after she gives birth to them.
.like seed in the brain of the father. For the seed originates in the brain where it is included as a single whole. And even when it comes forth, it does so as an undifferentiated whole.
Imma is herself a revelation of the Mental Powers of Zeir Anpin: in Imma they are prepared in detail like an embryo in its mother's belly.
Here we have the mystery of Chochmah and Binah: Chochmah is general, whereas Binah is the thinking process (תוננובתה, hitbonenut) applied to the overall conception of Chochmah, analyzing matters in detail. Accordingly, Abba himself extends to provide a general revelation of the Mental Powers, and likewise when Abba brings them forth, he does so as one overall whole. In Imma the Mental Powers differentiate into their details, and likewise when Imma performs her motherly function, she reveals their detailed components like an embryo in its mother's belly.