Read Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah in source order, passage by passage, with the close English translation where available and the original source text for checking.
A trace of all faulty deeds remains, even after their repair, in order to reveal perfection.
The consequences of each and every deed ever performed remain in existence even though the deed is already in the past. Thus, when a flaw has been repaired, the trace of the flaw does not disappear, but rather it is registered as a flaw that received its repair. And the reverse also applies. This is because nothing is forgotten before His throne of glory. And at the end of the entire cycle there will be a complete repair taking into account everything that was done, whether good or bad.
Having discussed the Partzuf of Atik in general terms, we must now examine Atik’s function in the overall government and the way Atik is ordered accordingly. We must begin by explaining some fundamental aspects of the government that require all these orders of Atik.
There are two parts to this proposition. Part 1: The consequences... This explains the principle that all deeds leave their mark above. Part 2: And at the end... This explains what is gained through this mark left by all deeds.
Part 1: The consequences of each and every deed ever performed remain in existence even though the deed is already in the past. This means that every action adds either a flaw or a repair to the overall governmental order, and the action that comes after it is judged in accordance with what went before it. For there is no comparison between a flaw that comes after a repair and a repair that comes after a flaw, or between a flaw that comes after a flaw that has been repaired, or a repair that comes after a repair that became flawed. There are unending possibilities.
Thus, when a flaw has been repaired, the trace of the flaw does not disappear... Everything that is done below is registered above in order that the judgment that is passed afterwards will take account of what happened previously....but rather, it is registered as a flaw that received its repair. And the reverse also applies. In other words, each thing is registered in its uniqueness with all that distinguishes it from everything else – after how many other repairs and how many flaws it came, and all the other individual details that can be discerned in it.
This is because nothing is forgotten before His throne of glory. Needless to say, there is no forgetfulness before God, since forgetfulness is a contingency of the physical body. What is meant here is that the governmental order is made in such a way that when judging a given deed, the entire past is examined and taken into account.
Part 2: And at the end of the entire cycle... The gain that comes from the way everything leaves its mark above is because all that happens is part of the cycle of the wheel that continues turning until the end in order to show the subsequent perfection through the very power of the deficiencies that existed in the past. If so, everything must be revealed as one in order for the perfection to rectify everything, and then this truth will be understood properly.
...there will be a complete repair... This is obvious since, as I have said, the overall perfection will bring about the complete repair of all the defects that existed in the past....taking into account everything that was done... i.e. during the time of the cycle of the wheel, because the purpose of the cycle was to reach this final rest....whether good or bad. Through examining things in their unique particularity, all the different aspects of the rule of concealment – the Residue – will be understood. Thus in the future it will be understood how the Residue was coming ever closer to repair even when it appeared that faulty deeds were making everything go backwards. It will then be seen how the Line continued to sustain the world throughout the time of the rule of concealment in order not to let it reach the point of actual destruction, and how it engineered the cycle in such a way as to reach that state of rest in the end, as will be discussed further below.
The Great Day of Judgment is when all the deeds of the world will be laid out in their proper order, just as they were performed, from the beginning of the world until its end. In the light of all of this, perfection will reign through the revelation of the knowledge of His unity, blessed be His name. In accordance with the perfection that will then reign, the eternal reward will be established for ever and ever and to all eternity, endlessly and without limits.
Having discussed how all deeds leave their mark and how this serves to reveal God’s perfection through all that exists, we must now explain how and when this revelation will come about.
Part 1: The Great Day of Judgment... This is the day when God is destined to judge all His works. The purpose of this will be to lay out His entire Judgment from the beginning of the governmental order until the end, to prove to man the righteousness of His laws. Thus the proposition states that this Day of Judgment...is when all the deeds of the world will be laid out in their proper order, just as they were performed...
In other words, to ascertain the true nature and significance of things as they really are, it is not sufficient for them to be judged according to what they are in themselves. Everything that came before them must also be taken into account....from the beginning of the world until its end. This is why the Great Day of Judgment comes at the end, when all the deeds will have been done, in order to include everything in it.
Part 2: In the light of all this, perfection will reign... i.e. the repair of all the deficiencies, as explained earlier....through the revelation of the knowledge of His unity, blessed be His name. In other words, as explained above, this revelation of unity shows that the power and control are His alone.
In accordance with the perfection that will then reign, the eternal reward will be established for ever and ever and to all eternity, endlessly and without limits. There is another benefit in the Great Judgment, and this stems from what we have already explained – that through the revelation of the unity, the eternal reward will be determined for all who served. Each one’s delight in the Supreme Perfection will be commensurate with his service in revealing the unity.
All the different kinds of defects that could possibly exist were rooted in BaN. And all the different kinds of repairs for all of these defects are rooted in the interconnections whereby MaH joins with BaN. Accordingly, everything that was and will be was already rooted here, and this is through the mystery of God’s foreknowledge. And ultimately it will be understood how all this was necessary in order to complete the overall perfection through the mystery of His unity.
Having discussed how the Great Judgment will be a full reckoning of the defects and repairs, we must now provide further explanation of the overall root involved in all this.
This proposition contains two parts. Part 1: All the different kinds... This states a premise about the root of the defects and their repairs. Part 2: Accordingly... This explains the corollary of the above premise.
Part 1: All the different kinds of defects that could possibly exist... Clearly, all the different processes on the level of the Sefirot are nothing but ready-made pathways, whether for good or for the opposite, heaven forbid, in order to provide a place for man’s service of God through having the freedom to do either good or bad....were rooted in BaN. And all the different kinds of repairs for all these defects are rooted in the interconnections whereby MaH joins with BaN. For the different pathways with which MaH is interconnected with BaN are precisely the pathways required in order to repair these defects.
Part 2: Accordingly, everything that was and will be was already rooted here... For ready prepared here is everything that can possibly exist throughout all of time depending on man’s deeds....and this is through the mystery of God’s foreknowledge. For God foresaw all that was destined to be (“He foresaw the deeds of the righteous...” – Bereishit Rabbah 3:8), and accordingly He prepared here the repairs that would suffice for all that was destined to be.
And ultimately it will be understood how all this was necessary in order to complete the overall perfection... After the deficiencies have become known – how many there are and how far they reach – the need for all the different pathways of repair prepared here will then be understood in retrospect. At the outset, however, this could not be known except to God, Who in His supreme knowledge knew everything.
...through the mystery of His unity. All that relates to the repair of the deficiencies comes to complete the revelation of God’s overall perfection. For in proportion to the deficiencies, so is the perfection that is revealed when the necessary repair is brought about through the mystery of the revelation of the supreme unity.
The concealed governmental order – the root of free will. The revealed governmental order – the Partzufim of Atzilut.
The joining of MaH and BaN through these interconnections is the true root of the entire governmental order. However, it is impossible for this root to be revealed. Quite the contrary, the entire government depends on the concealment of this root. For then men act on their level in accordance with their freedom of choice while the Holy One, blessed be He, carries out His plan. For the concealment itself is what brings about the repair. Accordingly, there is on the one hand the order whose function the Holy One, blessed be He, displays: this is the order of Atzilut with its various Partzufim. On the other hand, there is the concealed root which lies in the way MaH is joined with BaN, and this is not known.
Further to our discussion of the interconnections between MaH and BaN, let us now examine how they are arranged.
There are two parts to this proposition. Part 1: The joining... This is a premise relating to the connection of MaH and BaN. Part 2: Accordingly... This is the corollary of the above premise.
Part 1: The joining of MaH and BaN through these interconnections... If MaH and BaN were merely linked directly, each Sefirah of the one being joined with the corresponding Sefirah of the other, Keter with Keter, Chochmah with Chochmah etc. on every level of the interior and encompassing lights and all the vessels, interior and exterior in both cases, then all we would need to understand about this matter is that every level has to be a composite of MaH and BaN. However, this is not the way they are connected. For while the Partzufim of Atzilut are all a composite of MaH and BaN, the respective Sefirot of MaH and BaN in each case are not parallel to one another. Rather, there is a unique arrangement – as is evident from the order in which the Partzufim were sorted and purified – that governs the way MaH and BaN are combined in each of the different Partzufim. The fact that there is a unique arrangement shows that there is a particular purpose here which goes beyond what we would have expected had the connection been direct.
In the light of this we must understand the Partzufim of Atzilut, their arrangement and the way they rule, as a single Tree that constitutes a complete order of government as required for the creations. However, prior to all of Atzilut there is this connection of MaH and BaN. (“The coupling of Yesod and Malchut of Adam Kadmon” – Etz Chayim Shaar 3 ch. 2. This may refer to the connection between the Line and the Residue, which is the root of all that is destined to exist.) For the Partzufim were produced in accordance with the way that MaH and BaN interconnect. We must therefore say that first there must exist this root of the governmental order which arranges these interconnections, and only afterwards the governmental order itself comes forth through the Partzufim.
Thus the connection of MaH with BaN...is the true root of the entire governmental order. However, the truth is that this root order is not known to us: only the order of the Partzufim which emerges from this root is known to us. We may thus infer that the order of Atzilut is the order which the Supreme Will wanted to reveal to us, but this very order itself is very deeply rooted in its own root, which He does not want to reveal to us....the true root... Even though it does not seem so, this is really the true root, because while we only see the government emerging from the Partzufim of Atzilut, we know that its root lies here.
However, it is impossible for this root to be revealed. There is a reason why the governmental order requires that the one should be revealed and the other should not be revealed. Quite the contrary, the entire government depends on the concealment of this root. This root is the level of God’s foreknowledge, where all that was to be afterwards – the defects, deriving from BaN, and all the repairs for all these defects, deriving from MaH – were already revealed.
On the other hand, the entire service of man depends upon this supreme knowledge being concealed from them. For if they had this knowledge, they would have no free will and there would be no service and no reward or punishment. Since the intention of the governmental order is to provide a place for man’s service and for reward and punishment, it was necessary for this root to be concealed.
For then men act on their level in accordance with their freedom of choice... Since foreknowledge of what is going to happen is withheld from people, if they do something and succeed, they are not aware that what they were going to accomplish was already known. On the other hand, if they make an effort to do something without being able to accomplish it, they still receive a good reward for their effort, whereas had they known they were not going to succeed, they would not have made the effort. And so on.
...while the Holy One, blessed be He, carries out His plan. In other words, ultimately the truth is that what God with His foreknowledge knew is going to happen is what happens. For the concealment itself is what brings about the repair. Through the cycle whereby evil reverts to good, it is revealed that the purpose of the concealment was for the sake of the repair – in order to bring about the possibility of free will.
Part 2: Accordingly, there is on the one hand the order whose function the Holy One, blessed be He, displays... For out of this first hidden root of the governmental order come the Partzufim, which make up a single visible order. However, we always know that every aspect that we see in this revealed order has a root and a cause that lies in the concealed root, which exists to bring about the possibility of man’s service, and this root we cannot know. Thus on the one hand there is the revealed order:...this is the order of Atzilut with its various Partzufim. On the other hand, there is the concealed root which lies in the way MaH is joined with BaN, and this is not known.
The repair allotted as the task of each individual soul stems from the way this interconnection of MaH and BaN is arranged, and this is the root cause of why in some cases the righteous enjoy a good life while in other cases they suffer. From the way the souls are rooted in the Partzufim of Atzilut there appears to be no valid reason for this. But the truth is that the root of this mystery lies in this hidden connection.
Further to our explanation of this concealed root, we will now discuss the way it affects the governmental order.
The repair allotted as the task of each individual soul... The Supreme Mind did not create more souls than were necessary for the task, for He calculated everything – the human form as the key to the way man’s service and the commandments of the Torah are ordered, and the human form as the key to the way the souls are ordered. Thus each soul has its own root repair to carry out, and this contributes to the successive repair of all aspects of existence according to what is allotted to that soul....stems from the way this interconnection of MaH and BaN is arranged... For the souls are rooted in these levels that we have been discussing (“the Yechidah is from Adam Kadmon” – Shaarey Kedushah 3:2), and it is from there that they receive their mission, each according to its particular root. If this is the level where the souls are rooted, it is because the entire governmental order operates first and foremost through and for the souls, and from them it extends to all the different creations and all the worlds. (The entire creation serves man, and therefore the creation is arranged according to the service required of the souls.)
...and this is the root cause of why in some cases the righteous enjoy a good life while in other cases they suffer. On that level there is a logically necessary reason why one righteous individual may have a good life while another suffers. This is the concept of “the fortune (מזל, mazal) of the hour” that affects people’s destiny, for this depends on the individual root of the soul but not its individual root in Atzilut. (The Mazal – the soul’s share in the overall service – depends upon the interconnections of MaH and BaN that are rooted in the Unknown Head, but not upon Atzilut, where the service is founded on the principle of merit, reward and punishment.)
From the way the souls are rooted in the Partzufim of Atzilut... For just as there are two orders of government – the concealed order rooted in the Unknown Head and the revealed order of Atzilut – so the souls are rooted in both of them. Initially they were rooted in the hidden level, and afterwards they enter and take root in the revealed order of Atzilut....there appears to be no valid reason for this... This was why Moses had difficulty with the suffering of the righteous, and moreover the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him: “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious” (Exodus 33:19) – even though he may not be worthy (see Berachot 7a). For according to the root of the soul in Atzilut they did not deserve this lot. But the truth is that the root of this mystery lies in this hidden connection.
The Partzufim of Atzilut were made through the process of sorting and selection of the parts of the broken vessels. However, what they are made from is now no longer recognizable because the selected parts are already joined together, making the Partzufim equal – those made from certain selected portions being similar to those made from other selected portions.
The Partzufim of Atzilut were made through the process of sorting and selection of the parts of the broken vessels. If there were any discernible difference between one Partzuf and another because of the parts of MaH and BaN selected for their construction in each case, then despite the concealment of the governmental order of MaH and BaN for the sake of free will (see Opening 81), its functioning would still be recognizable as a result. However, no such difference can be discerned, because what was – was (the selection has already been made) and Atzilut is one single order in which every aspect instituted as a Partzuf comes and governs. With respect to this order, there is no distinction at all between the different Partzufim except in terms of which incline towards Kindness or Judgment etc. but not in terms of the selected parts from which they were made in each case, whether less, more or different. Our only concern is with the way the Partzuf in question governs once it has been fixed in its place in Atzilut. (The specific combination of selected parts in each case is not decisive in the revealed governmental order but only in the concealed governmental order.)
However, what they are made from is now no longer recognizable... For example, Atik is made from the first five Sefirot of Keter of BaN, the first three Sefirot of Chochmah, the first four of Binah and the seven Keters of the seven lower Sefirot... But these things are not recognizable in the revealed governmental order. We can compare this to a group of people assigned various duties by the king.
We distinguish between the different people not in terms of any differences that may exist in their personal physical build but only in terms of their individual assignments. (The king assigns each one his particular duty because of his unique qualities, which are known to the king. However, the people involved do not have to understand why the king assigned a particular duty to a particular person. All they have to know is which duty they have been assigned.)
...because the selected parts are already joined together... Once joined together, their intrinsic nature became hidden and is now not visible....making the Partzufim equal... When the selected parts were joined together in each case, this produced a Partzuf with the full nature required for the governmental order of Atzilut. Whatever had more parts needed more labor to attain this state, but once it reached it, it reached it. (Similarly, it may take more to repair a vessel that is more seriously damaged, but having been repaired, it is no less functional than a vessel that was less severely damaged.)
Thus a Partzuf made of few selected parts with minimal labor attained the same as one made of many parts with much labor. What was required at the outset is no longer recognizable because, inasmuch as they are Partzufim, they are all equal (in the sense of being built with the same structure – the human form).
The way MaH is joined with BaN in the different Partzufim as a result of the process of selection and sorting that took place is certainly not without purpose. On the contrary, it gives the Partzufim important qualities – except that these are concealed within them. What is visible is only what was produced after the process of selection. And the order in which they are made to function depends on the identical form which all of them already have in common.
Although the way MaH and BaN are combined in the different Partzufim is not recognizable, it nevertheless has a purpose in the governmental order.
This proposition consists of two parts. Part 1: The way MaH is joined with BaN... The way they are combined is not without purpose. Part 2:...except that these are concealed... The resulting qualities are nevertheless concealed.
Part 1: The way MaH is joined with BaN in the different Partzufim as a result of the process of selection and sorting that took place... This refers to the interconnection we discussed earlier....is certainly not without purpose. In other words, the way they are joined together in each case is not without purpose in the Partzufim themselves. For the way in which MaH and BaN are combined is not merely the root of the governmental order above, for it cannot fail to leave some mark on the Partzufim themselves. If the way MaH and BaN are joined were merely one overall hidden root of the governmental order, this would have had to be a separate level by itself out of which another level – Atzilut – would have then emerged. (In that case, the Unknown Head would have been no more than an intermediary level out of which Atzilut as a whole developed and would not have needed to have expression in each individual Partzuf through the particular combination of MaH and BaN making up that Partzuf.) Since the Partzufim themselves are in each case built of unique combinations of different parts of MaH and BaN, the combination of the two is not merely a general preparation for the world of Atzilut but must have an influence on the Partzufim themselves.
On the contrary, it gives the Partzufim important qualities... The way MaH and BaN are combined has an effect on the actual Partzufim themselves, except that it is not visible.
Part 2:...except that these are concealed within them. The functioning of the Partzufim themselves has two different aspects. The first is how MaH and BaN are combined in each Partzuf. The second is how the Partzuf functions as a Partzuf in Atzilut. The latter aspect is revealed while the former is concealed.
What is visible is only what was produced after the process of selection. This is the essential aspect in Atzilut itself.
And the order in which they are made to function... This is the order in which they are arranged after their selection and purification. However, after this process of selection they are all equal. If so, this order is based not on the differences between them but rather on what they have in common. Accordingly, only what is compatible with this purpose is visible while the rest is concealed within it....depends on the form which all of them already have in common. For this was not ordered during the process of selection. Rather this is the order that held sway after the selection process as a result of what had already been done, and therefore all the Partzufim have the same form. (It is as if all are composed out of the same parts of MaH and BaN, each Partzuf being constructed out of 613 limbs.)
The root of the interconnections between MaH and BaN lies in the Unknown Head while the results are found in the Partzufim, and both are concealed.
The location of the governmental order that depends on the interconnection of MaH with BaN is in the Unknown Head. The way this governmental order operates gives rise to a governmental order of major importance in the Partzufim. However, neither the underlying order nor its consequences are ascertainable or understandable in the least. Except that at times certain movements are seen in the Partzufim whose root is unknown, but the truth is that they derive from here.
Having discussed this governmental order of MaH and BaN, we will now examine its location.
This proposition has two parts. Part 1: The location... This explains where this governmental order is located. Part 2: However... This location is concealed.
Part 1: The location of the governmental order... Every function is carried out on its own level. This level will either be one of the overall Ten Sefirot or a particular aspect of one of them. There has to be a place in which the function in question is fixed, from which its branches and resulting consequences extend to every place where they reach. That each function has its own level should be quite clear, because each light (אור, ohr) is one law of the supreme attribute which shines through the luminary (מאור, ma’or) in question, since it has already been instituted that each law should shine as one light. (The entire governmental order comes to teach about the will of God, and therefore each law is a light.) Since each law is one light and the overall governmental order is a single law, it follows that the entire governmental order is one light on a level of its own.
...that depends on the interconnection of MaH with BaN is in the Unknown Head. For the Partzufim are in Atzilut, but Atik is higher than all of them and is the head of all of them, and this was the first place where the joining of MaH and BaN occured. For the way they interconnect certainly has to be decided immediately at the outset, since before they start to join, it is necessary to lay down the pathway whereby the interconnection will be made. Once it has been laid down in this way, the same path will be followed in all the places lower down.
The way this governmental order operates gives rise to a governmental order of major importance in the Partzufim. This should be clear in the light of our discussion in the previous Opening.
However, neither the underlying order nor its consequences... i.e. what it brings about in the Partzufim...are ascertainable or understandable in the least. This is why it is called the Unknown Head. Even though at times certain movements are seen in the Parztufim whose root is unknown, the truth is that they derive from here. This brings us to the subject of the uncertainties in the Unknown Head.
