Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("RaMChaL"):
138 Openings
of Wisdom
Opening 93
Zeir Anpin derives from Arich Anpin
The fact that Justice emerges only for the sake of the bestowal of complete good mitigates that very Justice itself. For after all, the purpose of the King is only to bestow good - except that Justice is necessary in order attain the bestowal of good to perfection. This would not be so if the only purpose of Justice were to take vengeance upon the sinners. Thus Arich Anpin's intrinsic existence in itself mitigates the stern judgments of Zeir Anpin through Arich's own functioning even without intensifying its radiations over Zeir Anpin so as to remove the latter's stern Judgment.
Having discussed the emergence of Zeir Anpin from Arich Anpin, we will now explain what is thereby gained and how Arich Anpin mitigates the severity of Zeir Anpin.
This proposition has two parts. Part 1: The fact that... This explains how Justice is mitigated because it stems from the ultimate purpose - the bestowal of good. Part 2: Thus the mere existence... This explains how the severity of Zeir Anpin is accordingly mitigated through Arich Anpin.
Part 1: The fact that Justice emerges only for the sake of the bestowal of complete good mitigates that very Justice itself. For after all, the purpose of the King is only to bestow good.
The Supreme Will could have chosen to govern with Justice alone and nothing more. In that case He would have had to give full power to Justice on all sides - in bestowing good (upon only those who justly deserve it) and in inflicting punishment. However, since the goal is only to attain the bestowal of complete good and He carries out Justice only because this is necessary to bestow complete good - for if He could have done it without this He would have done so - His intention is certainly to mitigate strict Justice to the full extent possible.
- except that Justice is necessary in order attain the bestowal of good to perfection. This would not be so if the only purpose of Justice were to take vengeance upon the sinners.
For in that case the intention would have been to give full strength to Justice. That is the mark of the Other Side: since it only wants to harm, it gives full power to evil. ("The rebellion of the Other Side - though it has no power against God - lies in thinking that it has" - Ginzey Ramchal p. 41.). But the Supreme Will - whose intention is to bestow good - carries out Justice only because this is necessary, but the intention is to sweeten it, as stated above.
Part 2: Thus Arich Anpin's intrinsic existence in itself mitigates the stern judgments of Zeir Anpin through Arich's own functioning. All the repairs (תיקונים, tikunim) found in Arich Anpin as enumerated in the Idra Raba are nothing but powers and modes of government specific to Arich Anpin in the sense that Arich's mere existence and the fact that it has these repairs intrinsically brings about a mitigation in Zeir Anpin. (Even without prevailing over Zeir Anpin but merely as its root, Arich Anpin directs all aspects of Zeir Anpin towards repair even though this is not yet visible from the side of Zeir Anpin itself, which shows "manifest reproof arising out of hidden love".) The ultimate purpose of the very things that exist below in Zeir Anpin in the category of strict judgment is only kindness - to bestow good in the end. And on the level of Arich Anpin, this is revealed. (Thus the forehead of Zeir Anpin contains twenty-four Courts of Judgment whereas the forehead of Arich Anpin is all Kindness - Idra Rabba 136b).
- even without intensifying its radiations over Zeir Anpin so as to remove the latter's stern Judgment. This refers to a different repair (תיקון, tikun) found at times, when Arich Anpin removes stern Judgment so that it has no power at all, as explained in connection with the mystical intentions of "and [the Lord] passed by" (Exodus 34:6; see Idra Rabba 131b and Shaar Hakavanot, Drushey Vayaavor). However this is not the main purpose of the governmental order, which requires Judgment but that it should not become too powerful. This is achieved through the existence of Arich Anpin, which consists of the very same aspects as Zeir Anpin except as they are in accordance with the ultimate intention, not in accordance with the means that precedes the final goal.