Klach Pitchei Chochma - Opening 108

<i>The Beard subdues stern judgments, humbles the husks and gives power to Holiness.</i>

<b>The Beard shows the power of the Partzuf. It is therefore through the Beard that the power of Arich Anpin is revealed, and this subdues the stern judgments and humbles the husks and gives power to Holiness through the supreme unity.</b>

<i>How the Beard subdues stern judgments.</i>

<b>The Beard shows the power of the Partzuf.</b> This is the concept of “the glory of the face is the beard” (<i>Shabbat</i> 152b), and this principle also applies in the lower world.<b> It is therefore through the Beard that the power of Arich Anpin… </b>– which is complete Kindness – <b>…is revealed, and this subdues the stern judgments…</b> The nature of Arich Anpin is to give sway to Kindness, and when Arich Anpin asserts its power, this sweetens and mitigates the stern judgments. <b>…and humbles the husks…</b> For as long as the stern judgments are unmitigated, they give power to the Other Side. But the mitigation of the stern judgments causes the humiliation of the Other Side. (For the Other Side is the agent that executes the stern judgments, and when they are sweetened, there is no need for the Other Side, which is thus humbled.) <b>…and gives power to Holiness through the supreme unity.</b> This is the future repair that will reign in time to come, of which the sages said: “He is destined to honor the Beard” (<i>Idra Rabba</i> 134b), as it is written: “And God will be exalted alone on that day ” (Isaiah 2:11). And then Holiness alone will rule throughout the world.