dra Rabba “In the hollow of the skull, a membrane of air of concealed supernal Wisdom, uninterrupted, and this is not to be found or opened. This membrane envelops, the brain of supernal Wisdom, so this Wisdom is covered, not opened, by that membrane “This brain, which is concealed Wisdom, is tranquil and quiescent in its place, (his accords with what they say: ‘An old man’s mind like fine wine upon its le is concealed, his brain concealed and tranq “This membrane is detached from Ze’eir Anpin, and so His brain extends into thirty-two paths, as is written: A river issues from Eden (Genesis 2:10). Why? Because the membrane is interrupted, not enveloping the brain. In any case, the membrane is interrupted below. This accords with what we have learned in Engravings of Letters: ‘n (Tav)—namely tracing a mark of the Ancient of Days. Upon it depends mvt Dn (temim de‘ot), the perfect in knowledge (Job 36:4), complete on all sides; concealed, quies its lees."™! means “praise, thanksgiving.” The wording agar oda‘uta plays on xmvwrw a (yegar sahactuta), a mound of witness ( the Aramaic name given by mound of stones commemorating the pact of non-aggression between him and Jacob. Whereas in Genesis the phrase yegar sahadta is spoken by Laban (whose name can mean “white”), here agar oda‘uta is offered by each lower skull to Avikh Anpin, who is totally white (signifying Compassion). Yegar saba duta happens to be the only Aramaic phrase in the entire ‘Torah. 29. In the hollow of the skull, a mem- brane of air... Covering the surface of the brain and separating it from the inner surface of the skull, ‘The membr: rupted,” that is, it envelops the brain entirely; it is so hidden that it cannot be located. The reference to Wisdom represents the eis “uninter- concealed essence of Wisdom, before it emerges from Ariki Anpin as a distinct sefirah in the configuration of Ze'eir Anpin. On the membrane mentioned here, see Zohar 2:176b-177a (Sd'1s). Modern anatomy id smbranes surrounding the brain. On the two membranes surrounding the human brain (as understood in the thirt tifies three enth-fourteenth centuries), see Ger- 1, and tranquil, like fine wine upon shon ben Solomon, Sha'ar ha-Shamayim 9, 26b; Joseph ben Shalom Ashkenazi, Peirush Sefer Yetsia a1, 13a~b. 30. An old man’s mind is concealed ... Matching the mind of the Holy Ancient On who is compared above to an “elder of ders.” See above, note 22, On the tranquil mind of an elder, see M Qinnsint 5:6, in the name of Rabbi Shim’on son of Akashya, “The older that the elders of the ignorant grow, the more their mind be- comes confused. ... But not so with the elders of Torah; rather, the older they grow, the more their mind becomes stable.” On the concealed,” see Zohar phrase “(his) mind iges best on its sediment, or lees. The expression “Tike fine wine upon its lees” derives from BT Megillah 12b: “like wine that has settled on its lees,” which in turn is based on the description of Moab in Jere miah 48:1: He is settled on his les. See Zohar x:216bs; 2:87as saugob (IR), 248a; ZH 72d (ShS), 75a (MAN, Rut). 31. This membrane is detached from Ze'eir Anpin.... Whereas the membrane surrounding the brain of Arkh Anpin is “un- interrupted,” the membrane around the brain of Ze‘cir Anpin (the configuration “below”) is ohar 2: nas 372A. 33