From section 22 (Op. 124–126) Daat of Zeir Anpin To section 23 (Op. 127–130) Zeir Anpin's Mental States
Section 22 zoomed in on Daat. Section 23 zooms back out to all the Mental Powers but re-frames them in inner-and-encompassing terms: the Tzelem (the Image), which integrates Mochin, body, and surrounding lights. The bridge is the move from Daat as a particular bridging Mochin to the Tzelem as the integrating template for all Mochin.
Op. 126 closes section 22 with the spread of Daat through the body of Z"A — the operational mechanism by which Daat performs its bridging function. By the end of Op. 126 the reader knows why Daat is distinctive (offspring of engrafting; balance-attribute) and how it operates (5/5 distribution; spread through the body). What the reader does not yet have is a unified picture of how the Mochin together produce Z"A's mental life.
Op. 127 ¶1 introduces the Inner and Encompassing Mental Powers: the Tzelem. The chapter re-frames the Mochin discussion: instead of treating Mochin as contents that enter Z"A (the section-22 picture), Op. 127 treats them as inner and encompassing structures — the Tzelem doctrine. Tzelem (Image) is drawn from Genesis 1:27's "in the image of God" and operates here as the integrating template.
For Op. 127 to land the section-22 reader must have: Daat's spreading function (Op. 126); the Mochin's distinct roles (Op. 124); the inner light / encompassing light doctrine (Op. 28, foundational since section 6). Tzelem assembles these into a single picture: the Inner Mental Powers are within Z"A; the Encompassing Mental Powers surround Z"A; together they form the Image.
Op. 128–129 unfold the Tzelem's structure and operations. Op. 130 treats Nukva is built separately with mitigated Strengths — opening the Building-of-Nukva sequence (and incidentally bridging into the next unit).
The threading move from Op. 126 to Op. 127 is re-frame. Op. 124–126 used the Mochin-as-contents framing; Op. 127 says: we can also view the Mochin as Tzelem — inner and encompassing structures of the Image. The two framings are not rival accounts; they are two views of the same Mochin at different levels of operational analysis.
A second threading move uses Tzelem as a textual anchor. Genesis 1:27 reaches forward to Op. 127 from the very beginning of the Tanakh. The reader should hear Tzelem as the term that lets the Lurianic Mochin-doctrine connect explicitly to the biblical Image of God — closing a loop that started thousands of pages of tradition earlier.
The hand-offs from section 22 into section 23 are:
What is not yet handed off: the Building of Nukva proper. Op. 130 begins the Nukva-building sequence — a sequence that will continue across multiple sub-units (sections 24, 25, 26).
Section 23's citation pool centres on Etz Chayim Shaar HaTzelem. The Tzelem doctrine has its own dedicated Shaar in Lurianic literature. Genesis 1:27 enters as the foundational biblical citation. The inner and encompassing citations from Op. 28 (carried since section 6) remain in force.
Three claims:
With these in hand, the reader is ready for section 24 (Op. 130–138) — The Building of Nukva — Klach's closing nine-chapter unit. Section 24 is interrupted by a bracketed sub-section on Ascent and Descent (section 25, Op. 131–133) and resumed in section 26 (Op. 134–138). The Nukva sequence is the book's culmination: the operational pair Z"A-Nukva is finished, and Klach closes with the order of Coupling and the closing benediction.