Likutei Moharan, Part II 4:7/ליקוטי מוהר"ן·תנינא ד׳:ז׳

17. Overcoming these wild animals, the deterministic scientists, is through a great and holy sage. He is able to bind all wills to the root of Divine Will, which conceptually is the level at which Moshe passed away, as is known (Zohar II, p.88b). This is the Brow of Ratzon, as in “and it shall be on his brow <always> to bring them ratzon” (Exodus 28:38). He must bind all the wills of this world to the root of Divine Will. This strengthens <and empowers the lower will by means of the root of Divine Will>, and it overcomes and refutes the ideology of the deterministic scientists who heretically deny Divine Will.

2However, opposing [the Brow of Ratzon] is the Serpent’s Brow, which is the root of determinism. For everything has its root, and the root of determinism is MeTZaCh haNaChaSh (the Serpent’s Brow). This is alluded to in what was said of Goliath: “[He had] MiTZChat NeChoShet (greaves of copper) on his legs” (1 Samuel 17:6)—i.e., the aforementioned concept of the Serpent’s Brow. Goliath was a heretic. He wanted to demonstrate that all causality is dictated by nature, God forbid, this being the concept of the Serpent’s Brow.

3“His legs” alludes to causes, as it is written (Genesis 30:30), “God blessed you at my feet”— because of me. For that is the explanation there: Yaakov told Lavan that God had caused [Lavan] to be blessed through and because of him. It follows that the foot/leg alludes to causes. Whereas Yaakov attributed all causes to God, as discussed above, Goliath would attribute all his causes to Metzach haNachash (Serpent’s Brow)—i.e., the dictates of nature, “a mitzchat nechoshet on his legs,” as discussed above.

4Now, there are times when the influence of the Serpent’s Brow becomes the more dominant. Some individual draws his wisdom from the Serpent’s Brow, the root of determinism, and demonstrates through his wisdom that everything is due to natural causality, God forbid. Occasionally, the Serpent’s Brow, the root of determinism, enters [the mind of] the holy sage. This wisdom of the Serpent’s Brow begins to engage him in the analysis of one deep issue after another, until he enters into a particularly subtle analysis such that it threatens to blemish the root of Divine Will, God forbid, and introduce heresy there, God forbid, as if there is no Divine Will at all, God forbid.