Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("RaMChaL"):
138 Openings
of Wisdom
Opening 84
The different parts of MaH and BaN in each Partzuf have a concealed influence - but outwardly all are equal.
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 Head that is not Known 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 though 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 in 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 fits 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 time of 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 in common. (It is as if all are combined out of the same parts of MaH and BaN, each Partzuf being constructed out of 613 limbs.)