Ayin Beis 2
B"H
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Chapter 2 Ideas:
🔆 Simplified Concepts
🔹 Or Pnimi – "Inner Light":
Enters into a vessel that is properly suited to it.
Example: Intellect is clothed in the brain, vision in the eye, hearing in the ear.
These faculties require precise, matching vessels.
The light is fully integrated and expressed within the vessel.
In the brain, the full essence of intellect can be expressed.
In limbs like the hand or foot, only a diminished ray of intellect (practical skill) can be expressed.
🔸 Or Makif – "Surrounding Light":
Stays above and surrounds the vessel, not entering it fully.
Example: Ratzon (Will) – it does not need a specific vessel.
Will affects the body as a whole and can direct all limbs, regardless of vessel suitability.
It transcends structure and isn’t limited by form.
It represents potential, influence, and direction, without being fully contained.
Takeaway:
Will (Ratzon) is like a crown—it hovers above, guiding and directing without needing to be contained.Intellect (Sechel) requires precise conditions to be fully known and expressed, making it internal and vessel-bound.
When you act with intention, you draw from both: Will chooses the direction, and Intellect refines the way.
| Concept | Nature | Vessel Required? | Location | Type of Light | Degree of Expression |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intellect (Sechel) | Specific & internal | Yes (e.g. brain) | Brain, partially limbs | Or Pnimi | Full (in brain), partial elsewhere |
| Will (Ratzon) | General & transcendent | No | Influences all limbs | Or Makif | Surrounding, not fully revealed |
For example:
The power of intellect is clothed in the brain in the head,
The power of sight in the eye,
The power of hearing in the ear.
Each faculty is specifically suited to its own unique vessel and cannot be invested in another. For instance:
The power of sight cannot be clothed in the ear,
The power of hearing not in the eye,
And the intellect specifically clothes itself in the brain in the head, not in other limbs.
And although the intellect may have influence over the hands and feet, for example, in the writing of letters, which involves intellect and wisdom, this is not because the intellect itself is invested in the hand in essence, but because the hand serves as a conduit to bring the light of intellect into writing. (As explained elsewhere.)
In fact, the very shape of the letters carries intelligence, this is the craft of writing, which itself requires wisdom. And especially in the art of drawing, which is a great wisdom.
In general, a person who is a skilled artisan with their hands does not act solely through physical motion, but from a source in the intellect, a sense or intuition for craftsmanship, whether in writing, drawing, weaving, embroidery, or the like (see Rambam, Shemoneh Perakim, chapter 1).
Likewise, there is a form of the intellect that expresses itself in the feet, such as in dancing, and similar expressions. But this form of “investment” is not in the actual limbs of the hand or foot, rather in the powers within them, the power of motion in the hand, or the power of walking in the foot. This reflects the interrelationship of powers, because internal powers can become invested in one another, where the higher faculty clothes itself in a lower one and guides it.
(Although such internal investment is only possible when the faculties are themselves vested in proper vessels, as explained elsewhere.)
Moreover, even this investment is only a ray of the faculty, not the essence of the faculty itself, as it is in the appropriate vessel. This is most clearly seen with the intellect:
When it is expressed through motion or walking (i.e., hand or foot), it is not the true essence of the intellect that is being expressed, rather, it is only the practical intellect, the lowest extension of the intellect. And even though this practical aspect is also found within the intellect as it exists in the brain, it still does not represent the essential nature of the intellect in the head.
Indeed, even when the intellect becomes invested in the emotions (middot), it is not the essence of the intellect. For the true essence of the intellect is to perceive lofty, abstract concepts, ideas that are not connected to emotions at all, to comprehend the very essence of a matter as it exists beyond emotion entirely.
The level of intellect that relates to emotions is the external aspect of the intellect and especially those intellectual aspects that serve the emotions, known as mochin she'bemiddot, are not the core of the intellect (as explained elsewhere). All the more so, the intellect as it becomes invested in the power of motion or walking is certainly not the true essence of the intellect.
In contrast, in the brain in the head, the intellect is fully clothed in the very substance of the brain and it is there that the essence and true nature of the intellect is revealed and manifests, enabling one to understand any intellectual concept or wisdom.
This is because the brain is the proper vessel for the light of the intellect, and thus it becomes truly clothed, revealed, and unified within it.And this is the reason why the limbs (of the body) influence the soul powers that are manifest through them, in a manner consistent with the physical nature of the limbs. For example, the intellect will comprehend things in physical terms, and the power of sight will perceive physical objects—even though, in their essence, these soul powers are not inherently material.
The intellect of the soul, in and of itself, is directed only toward spiritual concepts, and has no inherent relationship to material or physical understanding.
Yet, when the soul’s intellect becomes enclothed within the physical brain, it begins to comprehend physical knowledge. And even though the soul’s intellect—while enclosed in the brain—is still primarily oriented toward Divine wisdom, and that is the main intention for its descent and embodiment in this world (to comprehend G‑dliness), nonetheless, it must operate through physical forms.
For what we know of G‑dliness is only attained through physical phenomena, from which we derive and understand Divine concepts. Therefore, even spiritual comprehension becomes materialized—and is not on the same level as the comprehension of the soul before its descent into the body.
This is all because the physical nature of the body affects the soul powers, since the soul powers become enclothed and unified with the body’s limbs in a way that they are grasped and held by them. And therefore, they operate in accordance with the material nature of those limbs.
Nevertheless, the body is nullified to the soul powers—because if it were not, it would not be able to function as a vessel for them. The soul powers have control and dominion over the limbs, guiding them and directing them.
Why is that?
Because the soul powers are revealed in the limbs, and thus they can guide them. And this itself is because the limbs are appropriate vessels for the “form” of the soul. Therefore, the soul powers become revealed through them. As is known, in any process of “enclothing,” the one who clothes often has dominion over the one being clothed, as in the case of gilgulim (reincarnations), where the dominant soul governs the body, and as explained elsewhere.
The reason is: if the outer garment is not a proper vessel, the soul does not become revealed in it.
But when the soul is enclothed in a physical body whose organs are fitting vessels, then the soul powers are revealed through them, and therefore they have mastery and control over the limbs to direct and guide them.
And so, this governance of the soul powers over the limbs is not in the manner of force or coercion, but rather, they operate through a natural process of integration and revelation.
This concept can also be understood through the interrelationship of soul powers—for example, when the power of intellect becomes invested in the power of movement and directs it in activities such as drawing or similar crafts. In such cases, the intellect does not compel the movement by force. Rather, it influences it inwardly, guiding it to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.
This is not like the action of the will (ratzon), which acts upon all the faculties and limbs with force, for the will is an inherently higher power. Therefore, when will is revealed, it compels the faculties to act and reveals them.
So too, the limbs respond to the will in a way that they automatically nullify themselves before it.
By contrast, the inner faculties (like intellect and emotions) do not operate through compulsion, but rather by inward influence—the higher faculty enclothes itself within the lower, and through its inner revelation, guides and shapes it.
For example, when it is said that “the mind rules the heart,” this is not an absolute, coercive rule. Rather, the mind weakens the natural tendencies of the heart and refines them.
As explained in Tanya, this influence comes from the fact that the heart receives its life-force from the brain, and therefore, the brain governs the heart. This influence is internal—Or Pnimi—because the heart is a vessel for the mind, and thus the soul power of intellect is revealed in it.
The same applies to the relationship of soul powers to the limbs.
Similarly, in the spiritual realm, we find this pattern in the interplay between the divine soul (nefesh Elokit) and the animal soul (nefesh habehamit). The divine soul rules over the animal soul, but not through coercive domination. Rather, it works through refinement and transformation, such that the animal soul eventually agrees with and desires the pursuits of the divine soul—wanting G‑dliness as well, as explained elsewhere.
All of this is because the body’s limbs are proper vessels for the form of the soul. Therefore, the soul powers are able to become revealed and act through them.
And because of this, the material composition of the limbs directly affects how the soul powers become revealed.
For example, the intellect’s light is revealed according to the makeup of the brain:
If the brain’s physical nature is too dry and hot, the quality of the intellect will not be good.
If it is too cold and moist, that too is detrimental.
But when the brain has a balanced composition, not too hot/dry or cold/moist, then the light of intellect is able to rest within it in a good and clear way.
This influences the person’s capacity for depth, breadth, refined understanding, and clarity of thought.
The same applies to vision:
The soul’s power of sight reveals itself through the physical structure of the eye, particularly in the black and white parts.
The clearer the physical makeup, the clearer the spiritual light of vision is revealed.
As is known, even a person’s moral qualities, such as having a “good eye” or “bad eye,” depend on the physical makeup of the eye—for example, whether the person has an excess or deficiency of blood, as explained elsewhere. Generally, the composition of blood and water in the limbs (alluded to in the word adam, meaning blood—dam) influences the spiritual qualities of the soul powers.
So a person who is naturally short-tempered or calm and composed is expressing qualities rooted in their body’s physical composition of blood and fluids. And it’s possible that even someone with excess blood can still have a balanced water composition, like the example of Esav, who was red (admoni) yet had beautiful eyes—indicating refinement.
Even though the soul powers and physical limbs are not of the same kind—for the soul powers are spiritual and the limbs are physical—nevertheless, because the soul powers become enclothed in the limbs, and the limbs serve as vessels, the physical form and nature of the limbs influence the soul powers' revelation.
This means that in the material traits of the body, there is a reflection and semblance of the inner spiritual nature of the soul powers. And this is what makes the limbs fitting vessels to receive the form of the soul.
For example:
The clarity of the eye makes it a vessel for the light of vision.
Any polished surface reflects light better.
So too, the material of the brain, and its delicate moisture and structure, holds within it a trace or resemblance of the nature of the soul’s light of intellect.
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