Vihi noam Hashem Elokeinu aleinu umaaseh yadeinu konenah aleinu umaaseh yadeinu konenehu (May the pleasantness of Hashem be upon us). Rabbotai (My teachers), we are learning Sefer Etz Chaim (Tree of Life). Tonight we are in Shaar Yud-Bet (Gate Twelve), Shaar Atik (Gate of Atik), Perek Alef (Chapter One). This is Heichal Shelishi (Third chamber), called Heichal HaKetarim (Chamber of the Crowns). There are two shearim (gates), and the first, shaar harishon (the first gate), is called Shaar Atik and has five perakim (chapters). Veatah natchil (and now let us begin).
Unevayer eich nitkan kol Olam HaAtzilut (World of Emanation): we will explain how all of Olam HaAtzilut is rectified. We are already dealing with Olam HaTikun (World of Rectification), the rectified world, which is made from the two aspects mentioned above: Mah and Ban. We already discussed Ban. Ban emerged in Nekudim (the Points), which was the Shem Ban (the 52-name configuration). However, we need to complete the Shem Ban, and we also need to create the zachar (male). The zachar will emerge from the metzach of Ak, and that will be the Shem Mah (the 45-name configuration). For everything to be created correctly, you need a zachar and a nekevah (female).
Shem hamelachim shemeitu refers to the Shem Ban. The melachim shemeitu were only in Ban, not in Mah. They are the nekudot of Sag. The Shem Ban is the nekudot that emerged from the einayim of Ak; at that time it was Sag, emerging from the einayim. Once it reaches the area below the tabur of Ak, and Mah then emerges, Sag becomes Ban at that level. VeShem Mah hechadash: the new Mah emerges from the metzach of Ak. Between Mah and Ban, we will get tremendous tikunim (rectifications) and a beracha (blessing).
We need to explain what portion Atik takes from Shem Mah and what it takes from Shem Ban. If it were simple, you might think: We have Shem Mah, with 10 Sefirot (emanations), and each sefirah has 10. You might assume that Atik, being Keter, takes the 10 of Keter on the Mah side and the 10 of Keter on the Nukva side: 10 against 10. Then, when you get to Chochmah, you would take the 10 Chochmah of Mah and the 10 Chochmah of Ban and line them up. If only it were that simple. It will be anything but simple.
HaAri zal had a tradition about exactly where the Mah portions were taken from, what was taken on the right side, and which Ban portions were taken on the left side. It will not line up 10 against 10 from the same sefirah. Not all the Chochmah portions will line up in Chochmah, nor the Binah portions, and so on. That is the main thrust of this perek: how Mah and Ban are distributed throughout the new world of Atzilut.
It has already been explained that Atik has a zachar and a nekevah. You have Mah and Ban, even though the distinction is not noticeable. It is all one, but there has to be a zachar and a nekevah. They are gufa chad (one body). You do not really see the separation between zachar and nekevah until Abba ve-Ima (Father and Mother). In Atik, it is still gufa chad. The same applies to Arich Anpin (Long Countenance). Atik and Arich are considered Keter, so they are one, and they have a zachar and a nekevah. By contrast, Abba ve-Ima and ZON (male and female) are separate parts.
You already know that Shem Mah has TANTA (cantillation, vowels, crowns, letters). We will divide Shem Mah into AB SaG MaH BaN: AB de-Mah, Sag de-Mah, Mah de-Mah, and Ban de-Mah. This gives us the Sefirot. If we take Atik, we take it from the teamim (cantillation marks). Chochmah comes from the nekudot (vowel points), Binah from the tagin (letter crowns), and the VAK (six extremities) from the otiot (letters), the kelim (vessels). So Mah is divided into four parts: Keter takes one part, Chochmah another, Binah another, and VAK takes the final part, the otiot.
Just as the Shem Ban, which is the nekudot of Sag, has 10 nekudot, or 10 Sefirot, so Shem Mah has 10 Sefirot, and they are complete. If each has 10, that makes 100 on this side and 100 on the other. When these two names, Mah and Ban, connect, the Mah and Ban portions join at each stage, as explained above: the Mah portions are zachar and the Ban portions are nekevot. They connect yas be-yas. That means the 10 Sefirot of Mah connect with the 10 Sefirot of Ban. But it is not necessarily exactly 10 against 10; sometimes it will be 10 against 19, as we will see with Atik. Whatever each part has, the point is that it will be a chibur (joining).
We first need to explain TANTA and how it is divided into 10 Sefirot. The Zohar says that the teamim are in Keter. The nekudot are in Chochmah: the small yud, the smallest letter, is the nekudah, the point, and those are the nekudot of the letters. The tagin are in Binah; they are on top of the letters and are the Neshamah (soul). The otiot are the kelim. Otiot de-kelim are the seven lower Sefirot of Atzilut, which are called ZON. That is the general rule of TANTA: teamim correspond to Keter, nekudot to Chochmah, tagin to Binah, and otiot to the kelim, which correspond to Ze'eir Anpin, the VAK.
Know, though, that this division applies to the 10 Sefirot of Mah themselves, which are divided in this order. We are going to do the same thing with Shem Mah: divide its 10 Sefirot according to TANTA, so each sefirah receives that level of Mah. But when these aspects of TANTA de-Mah are divided between Atik and Arich, their order is not like that. You might think that all the ketarim are in teamim, so Atik would take the 10 ketarim of Mah: Keter of Keter, Chochmah of Keter, Binah of Keter, Chesed of Keter, and so on, together with the 10 of Ban. But that is not what happens. Even in Atik, on the Ban side, you will find not only teamim but also some nekudot, tagin, and even otiot, to match the 10 ketarim on the Mah side. Do not think this is simple, as if we could just put everything where it belongs. It is otherwise. That is the whole point of this chapter: to teach us the arrangement. Remember this introduction.
Here is the breakdown. Atik and Arich, which are Keter, are both included in Keter of Atzilut, as has been explained, with Hashem’s help. Hold on: there is a hagahah (gloss). We were doing so well, but there is a gloss here. It says that the whole gloss is the language of Ha-Gaf and is not from the Rav. Why was it included? It adds something to the discussion, but it is not the Rav. Let us see what it says.
Atik refined from Shem Ban the first five of Keter of Ban, the first three of Chochmah of Ban, the first four of Binah of Ban, and the seven ketarim from the seven lower Sefirot of Ban. All of that becomes Nukva of Atik. The zachar, however, is made from all of Keter of Mah. So we have the distribution right away. For Atik to exist correctly, it needs Mah and Ban. The Mah side is straightforward: it takes the teamim, which are Keter, and takes all of Keter. The zachar is made up entirely of Keter, with nothing added. On the Nukva side of Atik, it takes only the first five of Keter of Ban. That gives us five. The other five go to Arich, but Atik needs at least 10. So what is next after Keter? Chochmah. It takes three from Chochmah: Keter, Chochmah, and Binah. From Binah it takes four: Keter, Chochmah, Binah, and Chesed. Then it takes the seven ketarim from the seven lower Sefirot: the Keter of Chesed, the Keter of Gevurah, and so on. That gives 19 on that side against 10 on the other. This proves what was just said: do not assume it will always be even, 10 against 10. It follows the tradition.
Their arrangement is like this: each of the two has panim ve'achor (front and back). The zachar has panim ve'achor, and the nekevah has panim ve'achor. The nekevah and the zachar were joined ach be'ach (back to back). Their panim are revealed on both sides. This is as opposed to Arich, which is right and left: Atik is panim ve'achor, while Arich is right and left. When they are ach be'ach, the panim are revealed on one side. The panim of the zachar are revealed, and the panim of the nekevah are revealed on the other side; the two backs are joined together.
Now the panim of Nukva, in relation to its own achorayim, become an achor opposite the panim of the zachar, though they are called panim in relation to themselves. We call the panim of the nekevah an achor in relation to the panim of the zachar. The Bnei Yisaschar asks the Rashash: If it is ach be'ach, how do they have a zivug (union)? If the panim are ach, how does the zivug happen? There are different answers, but nothing is very clear. We will have to see what he means by this.
All this applies to the joining of one partzuf (divine configuration) alone. It is one partzuf, one body, with panim ve'achor. That is the chidush in Atik compared with the other partzufim: the achor of the nekevah and the achor of the zachar are like panim, while the panim of the nekevah are like an achor. They are ZON of Atik, Mah and Ban of Atik.
Now we return to the subject. Atik took all of Keter from Shem Mah, the portion that is in the teamim. From Ban it took the first five, which are also in the teamim of Ban. It also took the first three of Chochmah of Ban, the first four of Binah of Ban, and the seven ketarim from the seven lower Sefirot of Ban, as we saw in the gloss a moment ago. Thank you, Natan: ya'avducha amim.
Now let us turn to Arich Anpin. On the Mah side, it took Chochmah from the nekudot: all 10 Sefirot of Chochmah. On the Ban side, it took the bottom five of Keter of Ban, from Tiferet and below. In a certain sense, the Ban of Arich is higher—not because it took less, but because it took from Keter. The Ban side of Arich has the bottom five of Keter, because Atik took the first five. On the Mah side, there is no more Keter; Keter was given to Atik. Arich therefore takes Chochmah, all 10 of Chochmah. Chochmah itself has a Keter, but on the Ban side Arich receives all five from Keter itself. In that sense it is higher because of where it receives from. It is 10 against five, but that is a fair match: the 10 of Chochmah can match up with the five of Keter.
Arich also takes from the other aspects, Chochmah and Binah of Sag, some of which are joined to make Atik. Since it took only half of Keter, what it takes from Chochmah in Atik is the first three, the ketarim of Keter, and Chochmah and Binah of Chochmah of Ban. The seven lower Sefirot remain for Chochmah itself, from Tiferet down. From those, Abba is made. When we get to Abba on the Nukva side, what will its Nukva take? The remaining seven from Chochmah, the seven lower Sefirot, from Chesed down. That is what the Zohar means when it says, “Abba achid vetalya beChesed” (Abba is grasped and suspended in Chesed). What does it mean that Abba begins with Chesed? On the Nukva side it begins with Chesed. “Vetalyah beChesed”: it begins from Chesed and below in Chochmah.
Atik took the first four from Binah. That leaves six, from Gevurah down, for Ima. When we get to Ima, it takes the bottom six of Binah that Atik left. Ima is only from Gevurah and below in Binah. There is probably a Zohar that says Ima begins with Gevurah. Here is the sod (secret): “Ima achid vetalya biGevurah” (Ima is grasped and suspended in Gevurah). That is right: Ima begins with Gevurah.
We have explained Atik: it has all of Keter of Mah, and that is the sod of the zachar. It also took the first five of Keter of Sag, the first three of Chochmah of Sag, and the first four of Binah of Sag. From these three aspects of Sag, the Nukva of Atik is made, and it will end up making 10 Sefirot. The 19 will turn into— I do not know why it says only three aspects; there are actually four aspects of the seven lower Sefirot, for some reason, but it is really four. That is exactly what the text says. Kerem Shelomoh says that the reason is that later the Rav is uncertain whether it took it. We have to make sure we are learning correctly.
Now we get to Arich. Arich took Chochmah from the nekudot, as expected: all the teamim have already been assigned to Atik, and now Arich takes all the nekudot, the 10 of Chochmah. On the other side, Arich takes the bottom five of Keter of Ban. Where are the first five? Atik took them. That is easy to follow.
Abba is Chochmah of Atzilut. What will Abba take on the Mah side? It cannot take Keter or the teamim, because those are already in Atik, and it cannot take the nekudot, because those are already in Arich. So we are up to tagin. Tagin are Binah, which is really the nekevah, and Binah goes into Abba. Abba is Chochmah of Atzilut, and ordinarily Chochmah would be the nekudot, but the nekudot have already gone to Arich. So we go down a level to tagin. It takes half of Binah from Shem Mah—the first five. From Shem Ban, it takes the seven lower Sefirot of Chochmah of Ban.
Whatever was left over in Atik on the Ban side eventually trickled down to the Sefirot, or the partzufim, beneath it. Abba takes the seven lower Sefirot of Chochmah of Ban. What about the first three? Atik already took them. Someone pointed out that one reason the rabbi does not like to put in charts—or told me this—was that Chacham Ya'akov wants you to make the charts yourself. Or perhaps Ha-Benayahu said it. When you look at a chart someone else made, it makes it easier, but it does not help you as much because you did not struggle through it yourself. Everyone should take a piece of paper and draw exactly what has what, so you have a hold on it. Otherwise it can get complicated. None of this is in kavanot; once they give you the ingredients, that is it. You do not need to know this too much in kavanot. But we are learning the foundations. The whole world was established from this, so we have to know it.
Ima is Binah of Atzilut. On the Mah side, Binah has already given its first five to Abba, so Ima takes the bottom five. It takes half of Binah from Shem Mah, which is tagin. From Shem Ban, it takes the six lower Sefirot of Binah of Ban, because Atik took the first four. The text repeats that Atik took the first four; the rabbi is generous and finishes the thoughts for us.
Now we get to ZON. ZON takes the otiot from Shem Mah, the whole set of otiot, which are the seven lower Sefirot of Mah. On the Ban side, it takes the seven lower Sefirot. But it could not have taken the ketarim, because those were already accounted for: the seven lower ketarim were in the Ban of Atik. So when we say that VAK, or the seven lower Sefirot on the Ban side, takes all the otiot, that means the seven lower Sefirot minus the ketarim. The ketarim of those seven lower Sefirot are excluded because Atik takes them for itself.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that they are one aspect and what they take is something else, as if there were three separate aspects. Our intention is that all the essence of Atik Yomin of Atzilut is made from these two aspects, Mah and Ban. This is not something separate, as if Atik existed on its own and we added Mah and Ban to enhance it. No: this formula is what makes Atik. The Mah aspect in it is called Atik zachar. The Ban aspect is called Nukva of Atik.
Do not forget this general rule. Atzilut has 10 Sefirot. Keter is Atik and Arich; Chochmah is Abba; Binah is Ima; VAK are Chagat Nehi, which are Za; and Malchut is Nukva de-Za. All these aspects, including Atik, are made in their essence from two aspects, Mah and Ban. All the male aspects are from Mah, and the female aspects are from Ban. This will all be explained later, with Hashem’s help, and we will now explain it in detail.
That gives us a nice overview of all of Atzilut. Now we will go into Atik for today. We are going very high, Rabbotai. Let us review what we know—or, really, we know nothing. Now that we know nothing, let us review what we think we know.
When we talked about Atik and Arich, we always called them the ketarim. Last year, we spent a lot of time in Da'at u-Tvunah (Knowledge and Understanding) discussing the three heads. One is in Atik, called Reisha Dela Ityada, the Radla. Tonight we will see another reason it is called Reisha Dela Ityada. Before tonight, we always said it was so far up that even Arich could not be malbish over it; it was very high, and we did not discuss it because of its rum hama'alah, its exalted level, and therefore its elusiveness.
Then there are the two heads of Arich. One is called the Keter of Arich; the other is Mocha Setima'ah (Concealed Brain). This is a chidush, because normally a skull has Chochmah and Binah, the right brain and left brain. In Arich, it is different: there is Keter, and Keter and Chochmah are on the same level, with no Binah there. Binah falls below, by the garon. We call one head Keter; then there is Mocha Setima'ah, the third head. Going from three, two, one, Mocha Setima'ah is three, the head of Arich is two, and one is the Radla. That is how we understood it. Let us see how it works out here.
We will begin discussing Atik Yomin. Why is it called Atik Yomin? Atik means old; yomin means days, the old days. It appears in Sefer Daniel (Book of Daniel). First we will explain who is called Atik Yomin. Is Atik Yomin Atik, Arich, both, the zachar, the nekevah, or someone else?
At the beginning of Idra Zuta (the Lesser Assembly), it says: “Hai Atika Kadisha (Holy Ancient One), tamir veganiz gimmel rashin itgalfin, da lego min da, veda le'ela min da.” Here Atika Kadisha refers to Atik Yomin and Arich; both are called Atika Kadisha. The old one is the zaken (elder).
The explanation is that this Atika Kadisha mentioned here is not speaking about the zachar made from Shem Mah. It is not talking about the zachar side. Rather, it is about the Nukva of Atik and Arich Anpin, which are made from the Keter Sefirah of Ban. When we speak of Atika Kadisha, we are looking at the Ban side; that is all ketarim, all from Keter. Of course, Atik is not all Keter: it has five of Keter and then 14 other portions. But Arich is all made up of Keter, as opposed to the Mah side. On the Nukva side, Atik and Arich have five ketarim each, so they are all ketarim.
They are the nekudot of the melachim shemeitu. Remember this introduction throughout the Idra: whenever we talk about Atik and Arich, we are talking about the Nukva side. Atika Kadisha is talking about Nukva. In its entirety, Keter is called Atika Kadisha. So when we say Atika Kadisha, we are referring to Keter. But ask whether we are talking about the zachar or the nekevah. If it is the zachar, it is Atik. If it is the nekevah, it is Atik and Arich. The Keter we are discussing, in its entirety, is called Atika Kadisha. Understand this well.
This Keter, which is the totality of Atika Kadisha, is divided into two divisions: Atik and Arich. How can two become three? Atik has one head, and Arich has two. These are two levels that break into three. The explanation is straightforward: it divides into Atik Yomin and Arich Anpin. Then Arich Anpin itself divides into two heads: its Keter, the gulgalta (skull), and the Chochmah of Arich, which is Mocha Setima'ah, the lower concealed brain within Arich.
So here Atika Kadisha includes three heads. The first head is called Atik Yomin; it is the upper head in Atika Kadisha. The two lower heads in Atika Kadisha are called Arich Anpin, divided into its Keter and Chochmah. Atika Kadisha is an inclusive name for Atik Yomin and Arich Anpin on the Ban side. When I say Atik Yomin in this context, I mean Atika, Atik, and Arich, which together include three heads: one in Atik and two in Arich. All of this is the Ban side.
That is why it is called Atika Kadisha: it is from the nekudot, the old Keter among all 10 Sefirot of Ban. It is the Keter of the Nekudim, the first part, from the ketarim, from the 10 ketarim that emerged from Shem Ban. Remember, only the ketarim emerged from the Shem Ban side. When the melachim emerged from the einayim, they were the ketarim. Therefore we call Atika Kadisha the old ketarim from the time of the einayim; that is the zaken. Afterwards, Atik and Arich are made, and then eventually Arich becomes the Ban of Atzilut.
That is not so with the zachar of Shem Mah. You cannot call it zaken or Atika Kadisha. Atik alone is made from Keter of Mah, but Arich is made only from Chochmah of Mah. Therefore you cannot call it Atika Kadisha: Atik is made from the ketarim, but the other one is not.
What Atik Yomin took from Shem Mah, from which Atik was made, has already been explained: it is all of Keter, the teamim of Mah. The Nukva of Atik Yomin is the upper head among the three, called Reisha Ila'ah, Reisha Dela Ityada, or Radla. These are called Atika Kadisha in general. Even though what we have explained so far sounded clear, there are great uncertainties about it: which aspects it takes from Shem Ban to make the Nukva of Atik. We will have to go into the uncertainties in the coming chapters and examine the different possibilities.
Now we understand something else. We always thought, correctly, that Reisha Dela Ityada was called that because it is beyond us. But now it is also called that because there are uncertainties about it. We do not know what it took, or what was on the Ban side. Today we said five of this, four of that, three of this, and seven of that, but we do not know for certain.
This is what is written in Idra Zuta: “Gimmel rashin mitgalfan”—the three heads were etched and formed. The lower head is Mocha Setima'ah of Arich Anpin, its Chochmah. The Idra says, “Reisha chada chochmeta stima'ah de'itkasya,” concealed wisdom, hidden and not revealed or opened. That is the brain itself. Above it is the second level: the upper head, Atika Kadisha, concealed and hidden, which is the Keter itself of Arich. That is the gulgalta of Arich, which is also called Atika Kadisha because it is Keter.
We are now learning about gulgalta, and in Mishnayot we are learning about gulgalta, just as we learned about kelim in Mishnayot Keilim. Today we learned about the tum'ah of the gulgolet in an ohel. The words match each other.
Above that, at the highest level, is Reisha Lechol Rashin, the head of all heads: “Reisha delav reisha, dela yada velo ityada kelal mah dehavi behei reisha.” That is the language of the Idra. Notice the wording: it does not say that we do not know what this head is; it says that we do not know what is in that head. That is the uncertainty. From the language of the Idra, it sounds as though the point is not only that it is so high and elusive, but that we do not know its makeup.
This third head, the Radla, is the highest of them all. It is the Nukva of Atik Yomin. That is why it says dela ityada mah dehavi behei reisha: you do not know which Sefirot of Ban made this Nukva. At first glance, Atik is known; we have already explained what is there—the 10 of the teamim, the 10 ketarim, meaning Keter from Shem Mah. So you cannot call Reisha Dela Ityada that on the Mah side. But what it took from Shem Ban for this third head has several uncertainties, as will be explained with Hashem’s help.
This is what the Zohar means by dela ityada mai dehavi: what is inside it, not what the head is. At first glance, that is the precise reading: why did it not say that we do not know what this head is? It seems that we already know the nature of the head itself—it is Atik, as explained above—but we do not know what is inside it. That is the language. It is about the aspect of Shem Ban, which refines from the refinements in Shem Ban. All the birurim (refinements) we will discuss here are on the Ban side. They join with it and make a nekevah for it. What we do not know is how much it refined from Ban: which Sefirot it took, which then joined with it and became one guf.
That is a new idea. Where is Reisha Dela Ityada? In Atik. On which side of Atik? The left side, the Ban side. Why is it called Reisha Dela Ityada? Because we do not know what is there on the Ban side. We do know what is on the Mah side: it is all ketarim. That does not reject what we said earlier, that it is called Reisha Dela Ityada because of its level. We are giving another reason. Salik perek alef.
Baruch Hashem le'olam amen ve'amen.
Review: Veatah natchil leva'er eich nitkan kol Olam HaAtzilut hana'aseh mi-shtei bechinot: Shem Mah hechadash and Shem Ban of the time of Nekudim. These are the portions Atik takes from Shem Mah and the portions it takes from Shem Ban, from which the partzuf of Atik is made.
Know that Shem Mah has 10 Sefirot, just as Shem Ban does. When these two names, Mah and Ban, join in a complete joining, the 10 Sefirot of Mah with the 10 Sefirot of Ban become a partzuf that includes zachar and nekevah.
Atik took all of Keter from Shem Mah, which is the teamim of Mah, and that is its zachar side. From Shem Ban, for its Nukva, it took the first five of Keter of Ban, the first three of Chochmah of Ban, the first four of Binah of Ban, and the seven ketarim of the seven lower Sefirot of Ban. It took all these Sefirot of Ban, and they became the Nukva portion of Atik, so that it could join with Keter of Mah, which is the zachar of Atik. Through this, the partzuf of Atik was made, including zachar and Nukva.
Arich took Chochmah of Mah, all of Chochmah, for its zachar, and the bottom five of Keter of Ban for its Nukva. Abba, which is Chochmah of Atzilut, took the upper half of Binah for its zachar and the seven lower Sefirot of Chochmah of Ban for its Nukva, because the first three went to Atik. Ima, which is Binah of Atzilut, takes the lower half of Binah of Mah for its zachar and the six lower Sefirot of Binah of Ban for its Nukva.
Ze'eir Anpin of Atzilut took Chabad of Mah for its zachar and Chabad of Ban for its Nukva, except for their ketarim, which Atik Yomin took. Nukva of Atzilut took Malchut of Mah and Malchut of Ban, except for its Keter; from these, the partzuf of Nukva of Atzilut was made. This is as stated above.
Accordingly, Atzilut has 10 Sefirot: Keter is Atik and Arich Anpin, Chochmah is Abba, Binah is Ima, Chagat Nehi are Ze'eir Anpin, and Malchut is Nukva. All these partzufim are made in their essence from two aspects, Mah and Ban. The essence of their makeup is the two names, Mah and Ban, and all their male aspects are from the lower 10 of Ban.
We will now discuss this in detail and explain who is called Atik Yomin. The Keter of Atzilut is called Atika Kadisha in its entirety in the Idra. It divides into two, which are three. The two are Atik and Arich; the three are the heads. Because it divides into Atik Yomin and Arich Anpin, and Arich Anpin itself divides into two heads, its Keter and its Chochmah.
Thus Atika Kadisha includes three heads: one head is called Atik Yomin, above the Keter of Arich; the Keter of Arich is above Mocha Setima'ah, which is the Chochmah of Arich. Therefore it is called Atika: everything explained up to this point is on the Nukva side. But on the zachar side, the Keter of Atzilut is made not from the Keter of Nukva, but only from the Keter of Mah. In this respect, Atik is called zachar.
The Nukva of Atik Yomin has the 10 Sefirot of Mah, the aspects and makifim of Ban, and their roots, in order to make from it the Nukva of—
That is why it appears at the beginning of that Idra: “Reisha dechula reishin, ve-reisha dela reisha, dela yada velo ityada kelal mah dehavei behahu reisha.” The wording is “mah dehavei behahu reisha”—what is in that head. Since the Sefirot in the Nukva of Atik are from Ban, the Sefirot that remained after the shevirah (breaking), chatzufot, that is why it is called Reisha Dela Ityada: we do not know how many Sefirot were refined from Shem Ban and joined to Mah.
Ad kan azarano Hashem. Baruch Hashem le'olam amen ve'amen.