Hair is engendered by the excess of consciousness that surges from the intellectual sefirot

Within this general section of the Torah, are the laws that deal with purification, among which are the requirements that the hair be shaved. The holy Arizal explains that the higher partzufim of the sefirot in the spiritual worlds also have hair. This hair is engendered by the excess of consciousness that surges from the intellectual sefirot of chochma and bina. (Mevo Shearim, Gate 5 Part 1)

The hair is like a fiber optic that is a hollow tube with very fine light emerging from the end, or mouth, of the hair. In the spiritual realms, these hairs are a result of waves of Mochin Dekatnut, or constricted, self-centered consciousness. A person emitting this type of consciousness causes black hairs to grow on his spiritual counterpart. These black hairs become a breeding ground for other external negative forces and a place for attachment of harsh judgment. These hairs are the roots of the judgments in Zeir Anpin. The external forces, or kelipot, don't receive their life force from the Holy partzuf of Zeir Anpin itself, rather they receive a tiny amount of life-force from the light emerging at the ends of the hair. When the hair is cut off from Zeir Anpin all judgments are sweetened…

Rebbe Shimon said that words "Dina Kashia", or "harsh judgment", refer to the judgments aroused from below - by Mochin Dekatnut - that causes hair to grow on the head of Zeir Anpin. Now when those below return to proper consciousness of the Divine, they cause this hair to be shorn off from the head. Clipping the hair below denies the kelipot, or external forces of consciousness, from having a hold on the source of consciousness from above. It is interesting to note that one of the more common sights at a revivalist Baal Teshuva meeting is a young person with a pony tail having it publicly cut off and placing on a kipa!

When the hair is cut off from Zeir Anpin all judgments are sweetened and the negative forces below in the physical world have no place to establish a foothold. This is why Zeir Anpin is then called "pure", in Hebrew "tahor", because it has been purified from the attachment of these negative forces.

It is not called "pure" until it has been removed from the aspect of impurity generated by the kelipot attached to it. When it emerges from this attachment, it is called "pure". This is the meaning of the words "Who can give pure from impure?" (Job 14:4) It was certainly in a state of impurity because of the attachment of these external forces. An example is like lice which breed in hair and disappear when the hair is cut, as they live only in the hair not on the head itself. The head remained clean but was made unclean by the life-forces breeding in the hair surrounding it. This is also hinted in the verse "And the man whose hair has fallen off his head is bald and is pure" (Lev. 13:40).


Based on Zohar, parashat Tazria, page 48b

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