Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("RaMChaL"):
138 Openings
of Wisdom
Opening 126
The spread of Daat through the body
The nature of Daat is to extend through the body, and when it descends uncovered and revealed, it descends in its own column first so as to fulfill its function there. We then say that the Mental Powers through which Imma rests upon and directs Zeir Anpin are fixed in him. Afterwards Daat comes back from below up above. By then Chochmah-Binah-Daat have already been fixed in Zeir Anpin and accordingly Daat ascends until there.
Having discussed how Daat must extend through the whole of Zeir Anpin, we will now explain the path by which it spreads.
The nature of Daat is to extend through the body. This should be clear in the light of what has already been said about Daat. Initially Daat must spread in its own center column and its own vessel - Yesod of Imma - in just the same way as Chochmah and Binah spread in their own vessels. From there Daat must afterwards spread along its own unique path, whereby it emerges from the vessel of Yesod of Imma and extends uncovered and revealed. Accordingly the vessel of Yesod of Imma from which Daat is revealed consists of only one and a half joints, because its purpose is to reveal the lights. Initially they have to be within it, included there in the top joint of Yesod, which is clothed in the head of Zeir Anpin. It is in the second joint that the revelation takes place, this being one of the exit vessels discussed earlier in connection with the sensory organs (see Openings 32 & 34).
The order is therefore as follows: First come the beginnings of Daat, which in the rectified Zeir Anpin derives from Imma, and its place above lies in the upper joint of Yesod of Imma, which is in the head of Zeir Anpin. Afterwards, when it spreads to reach another joint, it has the added aspect of being revealed, yet it nevertheless completes its own column. Afterwards it returns from there and goes up to spread completely through the entire structure of Zeir Anpin in a revealed way, as the proposition later states.
.and when it descends uncovered and revealed, it descends in its own column first so as to fulfill its function there. Having gained the added aspect of being revealed, it first fulfills its own intrinsic functions in its own column.
We then say that the Mental Powers through which Imma rests upon and directs Zeir Anpin are fixed in him. Imma's influence over Zeir Anpin divides into three columns and these three columns include all his nine Sefirot - which means that Imma influences all the different aspects of Zeir Anpin very evenly so as to be bound up with all his nine Sefirot, including the center column.
Everything we are presently discussing relates to the Mental Powers conferred by Imma, which are characterized by their differentiation into detail - and thus the Mental Powers conferred by Imma enter into Zeir Anpin in such a way that the nine joints into which Netzach-Hod-Yesod divide enter one by one in each year of immaturity (see Etz Chayim, Shaar Drushey HaTzelem 8).
This is not so in the case of the Mental Powers conferred on Zeir Anpin by Abba, which are characterized by their general nature. Thus in the teachings relating to Abba there is no mention either of the time of the entry of joints being governed by their number or of Daat of Abba extending through the body and returning up above as in the case of Imma. In the case of Abba the only differentiation is between the three overall Mental Powers, which enter in three years (from the ages of 15-18, after which Zeir Anpin receives the two encompassing lights of Abba by the age of 20). This is not so in the case of the Mental Powers conferred by Imma, where each detail is revealed individually during the years of Suckling up till 13 - time of the First Maturity - and in the first two years thereafter.
Afterwards Daat comes back from below up above. Only after completing its own column does Daat ascend again. The ascent of Daat thus takes place only after it has gone down to the lowest level.
By then Chochmah-Binah-Daat have already been fixed in Zeir Anpin. As long as Daat was still going down, before completing its descent, Chochmah-Binah-Daat were not yet fixed in Zeir Anpin. For their presence indicates the way Imma rests over and influences Zeir Anpin, which intrinsically is only Six Directions, and this influence is not a permanent fixture in Zeir Anpin until all the Mental Powers have spread to all his joints. This is completed as soon as Daat has also completed its descent to the bottom of its own column. When it turns back to go up again, it encounters the Mental Powers already fixed in Zeir Anpin, and the Five Kindnesses of Daat then extend to them as well. .and accordingly Daat ascends until there.