Mochin (מוחין) — Intellects / Mind

Core definition

Mochin — literally "brains" or "intellects" — is the Chassidic term for the intellectual faculties, the ChaBa"D (Chochmah, Binah, Da'as). In the soul, mochin are the nefesh ha'elokis itself: "the Divine soul is comprised of mochin and middos, and these are the nefesh ha'elokis and the yetzer tov — the yetzer tov is the middos, and the nefesh ha'elokis is the mochin" [31643/maamar_023 :: עב׳ 11–12]. They are "from the essence of the soul" — though not its very essence, which is above the mochin [31643/maamar_023 :: עב׳ 13–14].

How the Rebbeim develop it

Above and below the mochin. Two levels are distinguished above the revealed faculties: the soul's essence — the essential natural will (Yechidah), the essential will to be included in its source, which is the tzelem that "walks" through all the faculties without being a source for them — and the makif of Chayah, a makif that does belong to the inner and is a source for the faculties [31643/maamar_023 :: Summary (opening), Intro]. The mochin are thus the highest revealed faculty, below the makifim.

Mochin within the middos vs. the essence of the mochin. "In the mochin there are two levels": mochin within the middos — "the reason of the middah, like the reason why he loves and why he hates" — and the essence of the mochin, which "is not a source for the middos" but "the very matter of the mochin" — delving to know the very matter itself, "not for the middah that will come from this" [58837/maamar_029 :: עב׳ 70–76]. Even the exterior of the mochin is the middos' source, where the middos' feeling is present; the essence of the mochin has no middos-feeling at all [58837/maamar_029 :: עב׳ 72–76].

The mochin make bitul in the middos. The middos' birth and arousal are from the mochin — "the brain rules over the heart": the intellect illuminates, enclothes, and conducts the middos per its measure, making bitul in them — "the mochin have essential bitul — that is, they effect bitul in the middos," bringing them to weakness so they conduct themselves "according to the mochin's manner" [58837/maamar_005 :: Chunk 4 summary]. Yet the middos' very being is not from the mochin: their root is the soul's essence, above the mochin — "the intellect's action is only enclothing the middah" [58837/maamar_005 :: Chunk 3–4 summaries].

Tohu and Tikkun. This is the root of Tohu and Tikkun: Tohu's sefiros are "essence middos" — from the soul's essence without the mochin's mediation, hence in great strength, unable to join their opposites; Tikkun's essence is mochin — "middos per the mochin specifically," hence in weakness and bitul, able to integrate: "always be soft as a reed, not hard as a cedar" [58837/maamar_005 :: Chunk 5–6 summaries]. In Tikkun, even Tohu's multitude of light shines in integration, through two kinds of integration: from the mochin (making weakness in the middos) and from the Awtsmoos of the Ein Sof [58837/maamar_005 :: Chunk 6 summary].

Mochin d'za — a gift. In Kabbalah, Ze'ir Anpin is emanated as "a root of only vav ketzavos (six extremities)"; the mochin come to him "in the secret of addition" (tosefes) — and this is the aspect of a gift: a gift is "what is more than the necessary" [58837/maamar_029 :: עב׳ 16–19]. The world's coming-into-being is from the middos (Ze'ir Anpin), while Chochmah-Binah are above being a source for worlds; hence the world conceals Elokim-ness, unlike Gan Eden where the gar (first three sefiros) shine [58837/maamar_029 :: עב׳ 20–42]. Only the lower mochin (zat) are enclothed — in partzufim and in contemplation, where only the intellectual excitement, not the comprehension itself, is enclothed in the heart [58837/maamar_029 :: עב׳ 44–52].

Growth. The mochin grow in stages: "the growth of the mochin within the middos is until age thirteen, when he is called a man" — middos that have mochin within them, obligating him in the mitzvos; "the growth of the mochin themselves is until age twenty" [31643/maamar_023 :: עב׳ 50–54]. Although the middos' growth is from the mochin, the middos themselves also grow in their own essence [31643/maamar_023 :: עב׳ 59–60].

Key distinctions

Related concepts

Sources