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Hidden brain

מוחא סתימאה

The hidden brain (Mocha Stima’ah) · also: חכמה סתימאה

The hidden brain within Keser: a wisdom concealed from all thought, one with the supernal delight, the hidden reason behind the Supernal Will; source of Chochmah of Atzilus and root of the Torah.

Where it’s explained

  1. Likkutei Torah, Shelach 17, ¶1There are two kinds of intellect: Chochmah of Atzilus (Abba), which draws only from the “hairs” of Arich Anpin and so is below the will; and Mocha Stima’ah, intellect hidden from all thought, above the will, holding the delight that is Ein Sof itself. The will (Gulgalta) is its outside, as the skull to the brain; it is the hidden reason of the will, called “hidden” because it never comes into revelation, unlike Chochmah of Atzilus, which opens into thirty-two paths.והב׳ הוא בחינת מוחא סתימאה שהוא בחינת שכל הנעלם מכל רעיון והוא למעלה מן הרצון
  2. Likkutei Torah, Vezos Haberachah 3, ¶8Hidden Chochmah is not grasped at all: “Be silent, so it arose in thought.” It has a reason, but a hidden one, so it seems a will without reason. It is called Chochmah as the source of Chochmah, yet Chochmah of Atzilus comes from it not as effect from cause but by a leap, as a hair grows from the brain without being of its substance.אך בחי׳ מחשבה היינו בחי׳ ח״ס טעם הכמוס שא״א להיות מושג כך נדמה כאלו הוא רצון בלי טעם
  3. Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 5, ¶23In Mocha Stima’ah the supernal delight is clothed inwardly, not as a mere glow as in the mind’s grasped ideas; it cannot be understood because it is one with that delight. The thirteen tikkunei dikna are rooted in it, and the shofar of Rosh Hashanah draws from it to repair what the year’s mitzvos, from the outer Gulgalta, cannot; the Gevuros of Atik are clothed in it.משא״כ מו״ס היא בחי׳ שתוק כך עלה במחשבה שלא ניתנה להשכיל ולהשיג הטעם והדעת מחמת שהיא עצם אחד עם התענוג המלובש בה ולא יפרדו
  4. Likkutei Torah, Acharei 4, ¶6The Torah comes from Chochmah and is rooted in the Mocha Stima’ah of Arich Anpin, called inner light, while the mitzvos come from the Gulgalta of Arich Anpin, surrounding light. The beard drawn from Mocha Stima’ah covers Abba and Imma, “the hidden things.”כי הנה אורייתא מחכמה נפקת ושרשה ממו״ס דא״א שהיא נק׳ בחי׳ אור פנימי
  5. Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 14, ¶14Higher awe is in supernal Chochmah and rooted in Mocha Stima’ah, which is from the Gevurah of Atik; from it come the “hairs” of the thirteen tikkunim. Their source and root is in Mocha Stima’ah, not in Abba of Atzilus.משא״כ יראה עילאה בחכמה עלאה ושרשה מו״ס שהיא מגבורה דעתיק שמשם נמשך השערות

Stated differently

Whether Mocha Stima’ah is above the Ten Sefiros, the Or Ein Sof itself, or the place where Atzilus begins

Likkutei Torah, Shelach 17, ¶1כי פנימיות הכתר הוא מו״ס שהוא בחינת א״ס ממש ואינו בכלל ע״ס

When the Sefiros are counted by their inner aspect, Keser is not counted, for the inner Keser, Mocha Stima’ah, is the Or Ein Sof itself, the source of the Sefiros and not one of them; Chochmah of Atzilus is then the first.

Likkutei Torah, Acharei 3, ¶2שגם כתר אריך נחשב מעולם א״ס כו׳ ועיקרו של אצילות מתחיל ממו״ס שהיא חכמה דאריך

Citing the Ramaz: the Keser of Arich Anpin is reckoned part of the world of Ein Sof, and Atzilus properly begins from Mocha Stima’ah, the Chochmah of Arich Anpin; the Gevurah of Atik clothed in it is the drawing of the Or Ein Sof at the start of Atzilus.

Whose Mocha Stima’ah it is: Arich Anpin’s or Atik’s

Likkutei Torah, Acharei 4, ¶6מו״ס דא״א הנק׳ חכמה והוא סוד אור פנימי

Citing the Etz Chaim: the Mocha Stima’ah of Arich Anpin is called Chochmah and is inner light; the Torah is rooted in it.

Likkutei Torah, Korach 1, ¶43והשמן מושח את הקדש כי הוא מו״ס דעתיקא

The anointing oil anoints “the holy” (supernal Chochmah) because the oil is the Mocha Stima’ah of Atika; Abba draws from the eighth mazal, through which a glow from the oil of Mocha Stima’ah comes.

Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 12, ¶7שהיא בחי׳ מו״ס דעתיקא שבחי׳ כתר ועתיק נק׳ מל׳ דא״ס

The Torah is Chochmah drawn from the Malchus of Ein Sof, which is the Mocha Stima’ah of Atika, for Keser and Atik are called the Malchus of Ein Sof; there the Or Ein Sof rests without concealment.

Whether Mocha Stima’ah is above the will (Gulgalta) or the Gulgalta is above it

Likkutei Torah, Shelach 17, ¶1אבל מו״ס שהיא פנימית הכתר היא למעלה לגמרי מבחי׳ גלגלתא שהיא חיצוניות שלו

Mocha Stima’ah, the inner Keser, is entirely above the Gulgalta, the will, which is only its outside, as the skull covers the brain.

Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 19, ¶12אע״ג דגלגלתא גבוה ממו״ס שהרי הוא בחינת כתר דאריך

The Gulgalta is higher than Mocha Stima’ah, since it is the Keser of Arich Anpin; it is also a makif over Mocha Stima’ah, and being outer it can come down and be revealed below without garments.

Main sources

Likkutei Torah, Shelach 17, ¶1Likkutei Torah, Vezos Haberachah 3, ¶8Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 5, ¶23Likkutei Torah, Acharei 4, ¶6Likkutei Torah, Korach 1, ¶43Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 14, ¶14Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 12, ¶7

Where it appears

In 136 paragraphs of 67 maamarim.

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.

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