סימן י"ח-ר' יונתן משתעי

This discourse was said in Tiriovitzia. [It seems it was in the year 5564.] Some time before he said this discourse, I and a companion of mine entered to him once — came to his room — and he was lying on his bed. And he began to speak with us and said: "Today I have lived a life such as I have never lived before — for there are several kinds of life, and all are called life. But today I lived a good life such as I have never lived before." And then he began to speak and throw from his holy mouth words — and he revealed several chapter-headings of this awesome discourse, without revealing to us the full discourse in detail — only chapter-headings with great joy. [All of this is copied from Chayyay Moharan — see there further.]

There — Letter Beis — "And it is impossible to bring this goal close to the thoughts of men…" — This means: for the essential coming of man to this world and the purpose of all his deeds is the pleasure of the World to Come. And the goal is very close to thought — as above. If so, this should be in the mind of man always — to remember only this goal always. But since this goal has been said of it: "the eye has not seen, O G-d, except You" [Isaiah 64] — meaning: no creature whatsoever has any attainment of the sweetness of the hidden and concealed good of this goal — only to Hashem alone is this known — the aspect of "O G-d, besides You" — therefore it is impossible to bring this goal close to the thoughts of men. But the true Tzaddikim — they too can grasp in their thought the goal of the World to Come — for even though the perfection of this matter is known and visible only to Hashem — nonetheless the Tzaddikim also have some grasp of it. And each person of Israel — according to his root within the soul of the Tzaddik — so he too receives this goal from the Tzaddik.

There: "And Hashem's anger burned against Moshe — this diminishment… because of which Hashem's wrath descended upon him…" The author writes: Through this the approach of Rivak [Rabbi Yochanan ben Karkus], Zevachim p. 102 — is well resolved [and it appears that the approach of the Sages is with him — see Rashi there] — who said: "Every instance of wrath in the Torah — a mark was made there — except this one." And it is difficult: why in truth did this wrath not leave a mark on Moshe, G-d forbid? But according to Rabbainu's explanation here, it is well: for on the contrary — the verse clarifies and resolves the matter of Moshe — who argued so greatly with Hashem and did not wish to go on the mission. This was because Hashem's wrath descended upon him — and this itself is the mark that it made — for through this Moshe did not wish to be the leader.

There: "But through the sweetening of the anger and wrath through compassion — as above — then the wrath that was within the Tzaddikim is sweetened through compassion — and then compassion overpowers them and they have mercy on the world — and they are reconciled to leading it. And through this compassion they lead the world." In my humble opinion: this means that at first — through the diminished faith that exists among Israel, G-d forbid — wrath and anger descended upon the Tzaddikim — and they hid their faces from the world and were not reconciled to leading the world. And through the sweetening of the anger and wrath through compassion — the aspect of: "in wrath remember mercy" [Habakkuk 3] — through this the wrath that was within the Tzaddikim is also sweetened through compassion. And they say in their hearts: on the contrary — is this the measure: that because of the diminished faith among Israel we hide our faces from them entirely — and they may come thereby, G-d forbid, to wherever they come — and moreover: it seems to us that we are not worthy to lead the world? But in truth — on the contrary: since there is no leader and guide for Israel and their faith has also diminished — certainly the compassion for Israel is very great. Therefore the duty falls upon us to accept the crown of kingship and leadership — for the good of Israel — since we are strengthened, with the help of Hashem, in His holy faith in perfection — and there is in us no trace of heresy or any ways of the Amorites and the like — as elaborated in Letter Gimmel. Therefore we are compelled to accept upon ourselves the authority and leadership — in order to complete the faith among all of Israel as well — and bring them too to the good goal. And this too is the aspect of "Hashem's anger burned against Moshe" above — for initially there was the hard bondage upon Israel through the aspect of wrath. And afterwards — when His compassion for Israel was stirred — and Moshe refused his mission and diminished himself because of the above-mentioned wrath — then Hashem's anger burned against Moshe — and He decreed that he must accept the leadership — because of the great compassion that exists for Israel. And this is what he wrote afterwards: that this is the aspect of the kartelirah [chest/box] — meaning the wrath above — "in which precious stones are set" — this being the above-mentioned crown — the aspect of the above-mentioned compassion. Meaning: the very wrath that existed because of the diminished faith — turned afterwards and was sweetened into compassion — through which he was stirred afterwards with compassion to lead Israel in order to complete the faith among them. And what he wrote: that the precious stones are the aspect of the crown — meaning: for a king's crown is made of precious stones — as is also elaborated above at the end of Siman 6. And also Malchus itself is called avna tava [precious stone] as is brought in the holy Zohar in many places.

There: "And the ornament thereof is types of fish called birah — this being the aspect of faith." — This means: for the essential Malchus comes through the compassion which depends only on faith — as above in Letter Beis and Letter Gimmel. And the Tzaddik accepts the Malchus and the leadership only in order to complete the faith of Israel — as above. [And this is also understood in Siman 22 in the discourse Chosum B'soch Chosum.]

There — Letter Gimmel — "And Malchus will turn to heresy [minus]…" — meaning: it turns specifically — for heresy is the exact opposite of Malchus — whose essential nature is the aspect of compassion — and the essential compassion depends on faith as above.

There — Letter Daled — "Unless he who holds the Malchus strengthens himself in heresy and minus to the point of separating faith from the governance of Malchus…" In my humble opinion — as a possibility — this means: he strengthens himself in heresy and minus — meaning: he introduces, G-d forbid, heresy and minus among all of Israel whom he wishes to rule over and lead — and then faith is separated from Malchus and then it may be possible for the Malchus to remain in his hands. [Only: nonetheless Heaven does not permit him to take it — as is elaborated in Letter Vov.] For as long as Israel holds to faith — even though there is diminished faith, G-d forbid — nonetheless the faith always strengthens the Malchus and leadership of Israel — so that no stranger who is not worthy of it can take it — unless he strengthens himself to introduce into Israel, G-d forbid, heresy and minus — until he separates faith from governance. And likewise it is implied in Letter Hay.

There — the elaboration of the passage: "And we saw this chest in which precious stones and pearls are set" — the aspect of the wrath sweetened through compassion — through which the Tzaddikim were crowned with the attribute of Malchus and leadership. "And its ornament is types of fish called birah" — this being the attribute of faith which always strengthens the Malchus and leadership — so that no stranger who is not worthy of it can take it. "And a son of the Amorites came down to take it" — meaning: one whose faith is not perfect — having still in him some of the ways of the Amorites [darkay Emori] — and therefore is called "son of the Amorites" [bar Amora'i] — and he wished to take the kartelirah — meaning: the Malchus and leadership. And it seemed to him it was out of compassion — but in truth he is distant from this compassion. "And he wished to dislodge its hip-fin" — meaning: the above-mentioned birah — which is the aspect of the above-mentioned faith — he wished to dislodge and uproot from it — the aspect of: "He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed" [Isaiah 33] — for he wished to cause him to fall into hatred of Torah scholars. "And he threw a flame" — meaning: this above-mentioned son of the Amorites strengthened himself in minus to the point of separating the faith — which is the aspect of birah — from holding to the Malchus — which is the aspect of the kartelirah. "And it descended" — meaning: the above-mentioned birah. And then the son of the Amorites could take the kartelirah — together with the aspect of Malchus and leadership — which is conducted through speech, and the essential perfection of the letters — the perfection of speech — is through faith. This being the aspect of the wife of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa. And: "and in the future she will throw blue wool [techayles] upon the Tzaddikim in the World to Come" — for through the perfection of the letters of faith in Malchus — that is with the Tzaddikim who lead the world — through this they hold to the goal which is the aspect of the World to Come — and draw illumination from this to all of Israel — to each one according to his root in the soul of the Tzaddik — as above in Letter Beis. And in proportion to the appeasing of anger through compassion — and this too is the aspect of the above-mentioned kartelirah — as elaborated above in Letter Beis.

And in my humble opinion — as a possibility: this means that heresy and damage to faith have no hold and dominion except in this world — and all this because the goal — which is the pleasure of the World to Come — is presently distant from the thoughts of men and they have no attainment and grasp of it. But at the time of the goal — then all minus will be nullified and the holy knowledge of faith will spread in the world — for already before the final goal — in the days of Mashiach alone — faith will spread in the world as well — as it is written: "for then I will convert the peoples to a pure language — so that all will call in the Name of Hashem" [Zephaniah 3]. And therefore then: the perfection of the letters and speech will be complete — when speaking words that are the opposite of holy faith. And all the worlds were created with letters — and the perfection of the letters is the yud — which is the aspect of the World to Come — for the ultimate purpose of creation is the pleasure of the World to Come. And then it will be known and recognized that all creation was for this — "in order that they know Him" [b'gin d'yishtamod'un lay]. And likewise the perfection of the letters is the aspect of the yud — which is the aspect of the World to Come — and the Tzaddikim — through accepting the crown and Malchus and the perfection of the letters of faith therein — merit to attain the goal even in this world — and draw illumination from this to all of Israel — to each one according to his root in the soul of the Tzaddik. And therefore the Malchus of the Sitra Achra has no connection or hold in the aspect of the holy Malchus in which shines the light of the goal of the World to Come.

There — Letter Zayin — "For techayles [blue-dyed wool] is mixed of black with white…" — It is possible that this means: for the soul attained a great light from knowing Hashem even before coming to this world of Asiyah. And likewise regarding all creation — only Hashem wished to bestow His goodness to others — and to grant the souls of Israel an even greater attainment in the World to Come — specifically through having stood the test of free will in this world. And this was, as it were, the initial thought of creation — in order to come through it to this good goal. This is the aspect of: "the end of the deed was first in thought." It follows that the essential perfection of attaining the goal is through the aspect of creation and the world of Asiyah — in which the goal is distant from the thoughts of men — this being the aspect of black [shachor]. And through the aspect of the initial thought — namely: that specifically from this world one draws oneself and clings and waits for this goal — the aspect of: "the eye has not seen — He shall do for those who wait for Him" [Isaiah 64] — this being the aspect of the joining of black with white. For in truth: this is the essential perfection — to cleave oneself to this goal even in this world — for the world being distant from the goal is because they are presently in the world of Asiyah — and the goal is the aspect of the end of Asiyah — for the pleasure of the World to Come is at the end of the world of Asiyah — the aspect of: "today to do them and tomorrow to receive their reward" [Eruvin 22]. And on the contrary: the essential reward will be for the very fact that this goal is naturally distant from the thoughts of men — and through this there is free will — the aspect of: "how great is Your goodness that You have hidden away for those who fear You — hidden" [Psalms 31] — specifically hidden. And through the person being in this world which is distant from the goal — and the person has no attainment of it — and yet he cleaves himself to the goal — this is the essential perfection. And this is the aspect of techayles — the joining of black with white — meaning: that even in this world one's thought should be attached to the goal — and gaze at the very end — the aspect of: "who is wise — he who sees the future [hanolad]" [Tamid 32] — [this being the aspect of the Daughter's voice [bas kol]] — who flips every matter from its beginning to its end — meaning: that even in this world one gazes in all his matters only at the goal which is the end. For in truth: this end is the aspect of the beginning of all creation — for "the end of the deed was first in thought." And one who separates, G-d forbid, one's thought in this world entirely from this goal — will certainly not attain it even then — on the contrary: one will receive harsh punishment, G-d forbid. It follows that all the whiteness [levanunis] of the goal of the pleasure of the World to Come is joined with the blackness of this world — for specifically through it one merits this good goal — when one improves one's deeds and attaches one's thought well — even in this world — to this goal.

And see there at the end of Letter Vov — on the matter of "in all your ways know Him" [Proverbs 3:6] — that this too is the same aspect: for when one takes it to heart that every thing was created with letters — and the letters are the essential vitality of every thing — and the perfection of the letters is the final point which is the yud — the aspect of the World to Come — which is the goal — therefore: the very beginning of the creation of every thing — and its coming into being and vitality and ultimate purpose — all is the goal which is the yud — the aspect of the World to Come. Only: in this world all is hidden and concealed — for even the vitality of every thing — which is the letters — is also hidden and concealed. And as it were even the letters and speech are not perfect — because His faith has not yet spread in this world in perfection — until the future. But the true Tzaddikim who merited faith in perfection — beyond which there is no greater perfection — as elaborated in Letter Gimmel — and were crowned with the crown of the holy Malchus — in which is the essential perfection of the letters through faith — through this they know and attain the goal — and draw illumination from this to all of Israel. And this is all their hope and all their desire: to accept the Malchus and leadership — in order to complete the faith of Israel — and bring their thought close to the goal. And see Zohar Pinchas p. 239: "the eye has not seen" — and in Idra Zuta, p. 290b.

The author writes: This above discourse is very deep — and its matters are extremely subtle and spiritual — as is apparent to every reader. But nonetheless I did not withhold from myself elaborating somewhat on what appears to me in my humble opinion according to the simple meaning of the words — apart from the hidden matters within it — which are the aspect of: "the eye has not seen."