תּוֹרָה יא - אֲנִי ה' הוּא שְׁמִי

Torah 439

Through speaking words of Torah [m'dabayr b'ha-Torah b'dibbur], the speech [dibbur] illuminates for him in all the places where he needs to do repentance — until he merits to do a literal teshuvah ha-mishkal [repentance of equal weight — repairing a sin through an equivalent act of holiness]. And so too each time, through every act of repentance, he ascends from level to level — until he emerges from a lower level and arrives at the depths of Torah understanding [t'vunos ha-Torah].

Through being careful and guarded that the honour of Hashem Yisborach be complete — so that he himself is despised and contemptible in his own eyes, and his own honour is as nothing compared to the honour of Hashem Yisborach — through this he merits words that illuminate in Torah [diburim ha-me'irim ba-Torah], which illuminate for him toward complete repentance. And through this he merits to arrive at the depths of Torah understanding.

But it is impossible to merit such an illuminating word except through breaking pride and self-aggrandisement [ha-ga'us v'ha-gadlus] — so that his learning is not for the sake of honour, to boast and to provoke, G-d forbid, or to receive rabbinic authority and self-elevation. And this depends upon the guarding of the holy bris.

Pride is in the aspect of idolatry — and through it one has no vessel of speech [k'lay ha-dibbur] through which to speak illuminating words. And one cannot open one's mouth. And when Torah comes into his mouth — not only do the words of Torah not illuminate for him to return him to good — but the Torah itself is coarsened and darkened through his mouth, may the Merciful One spare us.

Pride and licentiousness [ni'uf] are intertwined with each other. And when one guards the bris, one is saved from pride and merits the light that illuminates for him toward repentance — until he merits to arrive at the depths of Torah understanding.

The primary source of the bitterness of livelihood worries and its toil is through a blemish of the bris. For one who guards his bris — even though he performs the thirty-nine categories of labour [sh'loshim v'teisha m'lachos] and conducts business — these are in the aspect of the labours of the Sanctuary [m'lachos ha-mishkan], and they are in the aspect of ""dew of lights"" [Isaiah 26:19]. But one who blemishes his bris — poverty pursues him, and he draws upon himself the yoke of livelihood with great toil and bitterness — in the aspect of the thirty-nine lashes, may the Merciful One spare us.

The guarding of the bris has two aspects. There is one whose marital union [zivugo] is on weekdays — and even so he guards his bris according to Torah law, with a permitted union. This too is called guarding the bris — provided he guards himself from transgression, may the Merciful One spare us. And great guarding is needed to protect the bris — and this is the aspect of yichuda tata'ah [lower unification]. Through this one merits to attain the halachah of the Torah — the hidden matters [razin]. But there is one whose marital union is only from Shabbos to Shabbos — and this is the aspect of yichuda ila'ah [upper unification]. Through this one attains even kabbalah — the secrets of secrets [razin d'razin]. However, even one whose union is only from Shabbos to Shabbos also needs great guarding that his union be in holiness — and he should be included in the category of those who guard the bris. All the more so those of lesser stature [ha-k'tanim — those on a lower spiritual level] whose union is also on weekdays — they certainly need even greater guarding, that they should not blemish their bris, G-d forbid, and at the very least that they should not transgress the Torah, G-d forbid. And through the guarding of the bris in both these aspects, the honour of Hashem Yisborach is complete — and one merits all the above-mentioned aspects, until one merits to arrive at the depths of Torah understanding.

There is a humility that is itself the ultimate expression of pride [tachlis ha-gadlus] — meaning, a person is humble because he knows that pride is greatly despised — and so he is humble in order to become precious and honoured. It turns out that he is humble for the sake of greatness and honour. Therefore one must be perceptive regarding his ways and distance himself from pride utterly, to the very last extreme — as our Sages of blessed memory said: ""Be exceedingly, exceedingly lowly of spirit"" [Avos 4:4]. For pride is in the aspect of seven houses of idolatry — through which Israel was exiled from their land [Gittin 88a] — and through this we have still not returned to our land, because people pursue honour through pride, may the Merciful One spare us.