Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("RaMChaL"):
138 Openings
of Wisdom
Opening 88
The Unknown Head contains all the interconnections; the uncertainty lies in trying to grasp it.
The Head that is Unknown is a single radiation containing all these interconnections of MaH and BaN. However, it is a radiation that is impossible to grasp or understand at all. Looking at it leaves one with various kinds of uncertainties, because it does not seem as if it would contain all kinds of interconnections - it is a kind of radiation that is impossible to understand. And in truth, what is contained within it is not apparent, because sometimes one interconnection appears to exist in it and sometimes a different interconnection that may even be opposite to the first.
Thus although we already know that it contains all the different interconnections, the radiation itself nevertheless stands in such a way that it is impossible to understand. First it appears one way, then it appears different. As a result, the way it governs is unknown. For if we were to try to follow a single thing that exists below in Atzilut and trace its root in this Head, we would not be able to find our arms and legs - we would be unable to determine anything about it. First it appears like this, then it appears like that - in such a way that it is quite impossible to understand it. This is why it is called the Head that is Unknown.
This answers an apparent difficulty, because according to what we are saying there should not be any uncertainties since it contains everything.
The proposition has two parts. Part 1: The Head that is Unknown... Part 2: Thus although...
Part 1: The Head that is Unknown is a single radiation containing all these interconnections of MaH and BaN. It is a light that cannot be grasped in the same way as the other lights. And this is the answer to something that may appear problematic. For it might seem as if we should not have had to say that there are uncertainties about it. Should we not have said rather that it certainly contains all the interconnections? The explanation is that we are not talking about what is intrinsic in the Head itself but rather about our ability to grasp and understand it: one who attains a perception of the radiance of this Head cannot determine how to understand this light. However, it is a radiation that is impossible to grasp or understand at all. I.e. when looking at it.
The reason is because - Looking at it leaves one with various kinds of uncertainties... The uncertainty is in the observer gazing at this Head and its lights. ...because it does not seem as if it would contain all kinds of interconnections... Even though we say that it contains everything, this is not the way it appears when one looks at it. Rather ...it is a kind of radiation that is impossible to understand. In other words, this is the intrinsic nature of this radiation. And in truth, what is contained within it is not apparent... Even what it contains is not seen at all - even when we think we understand, we afterwards see that we have not understood it. ...because sometimes one interconnection appears to exist in it and sometimes a different interconnection that may even be opposite to the first.
Part 2: Thus although we already know that it contains all the different interconnections, the radiation itself nevertheless stands in such a way that it is impossible to understand. First it appears one way, then it appears different. The apparent problem we raised above is not really a problem - because the radiation itself is one that is intrinsically unknowable. And because of this, the way it governs is unknown. If you ask what is gained from this uncertainty since we already know that this Head contains everything, the answer is that it is the mode of government ruling at any one time or another that we do not know.
For if we were to try to follow a single thing that exists below in Atzilut and trace its root in this Head, we would not be able to find our arms and legs - we would be unable to determine anything about it.
We might have thought that since this Head is the root of Atzilut, we should have been able to ascend from the branch (=Atzilut) to the root (=the Unknown Head) and thereby grasp it. However, because our perception of the root is uncertain, we are unable to grasp it. If we try to trace anything to the root, we are always left uncertain as to whether it lies on one side or another - i.e. in one given interconnection or another. This is what is impossible to determine, because it looks as if both combinations rule, yet this is certainly not the case. For everything surely has its own particular place - the entire governmental order runs through one particular aspect at any given time. It is the place in the source, the ruling combination in which any given aspect of Atzilut is rooted, that is uncertain - because it looks as if it could be all of them. At first it looks like one thing, but on further examination it looks like something else, and it is impossible to come to a definite conclusion.
First it appears like this, then it appears like that - in such a way that it is quite impossible to understand it. This is why it is called the Head that is Unknown. If nothing at all were visible in it, we would have said it is concealed. However, it is seen - but first it seems one way, and then immediately afterwards it seems different, so that no one can understand it.