Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Mosrei mochin
מותרי מוחין
The excess of the intellect (mosrei mochin)
The “excess” of the mind, like hair drawn from the brain but not its essence. In a person: needless cleverness in worldly affairs, to be “shaved.” Above: a contracted glimmer not touching the Essence.
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 3, ¶11“And she shall shave her head” means removing the excess of the intellect: over-cleverness in earning a living. One must make a vessel for the blessing, but piling on schemes shows he thinks the means is what brings it, like a garment cut too long that trips its wearer.
דהיינו מותרי מוחין הוא ענין ההתחכמות היתירה במילי דעלמא
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 2, ¶19The hairs of the head are the excess of the mind fallen into worldly matters, and the nails the excess of the middos; a person must remove them. From the side of supernal holiness the excess is itself holy (the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy come from the hairs), which is why a Torah scholar’s mundane talk differs from that of others.
הנה שערות הראש הן מותרי המוחין שנפלו במילי דעלמא
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28, ¶8When a person works with lower, physical matters he can fall from the “face” to the “back,” from which the hairs grow: worldly cleverness. Torah and mitzvos, being of the “face,” have the power to push this excess away when he sets his heart to it.
שמשם נמשך השערות והמותרות והוא ההתחכמות בעניני העולם ונק׳ מותרי מוחין
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12, ¶9The Maggid’s analogy: hair is fed by the brain yet cutting it causes no pain. So the drawing of the Or Ein Sof to be “wise” does not touch His essence; the hairs divide this flow into the countless different levels of grasp.
כמו שערות הראש שהן מותרי מוחין שאין נוגעין כלל אל עצמותו
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 14, ¶10Everything was made from the excess of the intellect: the Ein Sof in His essence has no relation to the creation of worlds, which receive only through a very contracted “hair.”
אלא ע״י שערות מותרי מוחין הארה בעלמא שאינו נוגע לעצמותו
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 3, ¶11Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 2, ¶19Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 3, ¶10Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28, ¶8Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12, ¶9Likkutei Torah, Vezos Haberachah 3, ¶8Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 7, ¶6Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 14, ¶10
Where it appears
In 40 paragraphs of 31 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 4 ¶22
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 1 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 1 ¶29
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 5 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 12 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shemini Atzeres 6 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Eikev 4 ¶1 ¶6
- Torah Ohr, Beshalach 4 ¶14 ¶15 ¶16 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Devarim 2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 3 ¶9 ¶10 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 7 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 11 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 12 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 28 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 1 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Sukkos 1 ¶4 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Matos 3 ¶13
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 1 ¶16
- Likkutei Torah, Re’eh 8 ¶9
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 1 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 21 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Behaaloscha 2 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 5 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 27 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, V’Zos HaBerachah 3 ¶8
- Torah Ohr, Tetzaveh 2 ¶7
- Torah Ohr, Vayishlach 5 ¶19 ¶20
- Torah Ohr, Bereishis 8 ¶6 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 14 ¶10
- Likkutei Torah, Ki Seitzei 2 ¶19
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 1 ¶10
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.