תּוֹרָה יג - אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם. הַשְׁגָּחָה

Torah יג - אשרי העם. השגחה

Through breaking the desire for money [ta'avas momon] one draws down complete Divine Providence [hashgachah sh'leimah]. And its breaking comes through charity [tzedakah] — for through charity the heat of the desire for money is cooled, and the desire for wealth and riches is broken. And one merits to conduct business with faithfulness [b'emunah] and to be satisfied with one's portion — and has contentment in what Hashem has granted him, and does not rush to become wealthy. And one is saved from the curse of: ""In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread"" [Genesis 3:19] — which is fulfilled in one who is immersed in the desire for money: he always labours with great toil, effort, and worry, and has no contentment from his wealth, may the Merciful One spare us. And through charity one is saved from this — and is considered as one who burns incense [k'maktir k'tores].

The desire for money is literally idolatry — and as long as this idolatry of money exists in the world, there is wrath [charon af] in the world. And in proportion to the nullification of this desire, so is the wrath nullified and lovingkindness [chesed] drawn into the world. And through this, the da'as [divine knowledge and awareness] is drawn down — which is the aspect of the building of the Temple [binyan Bais Ha-Mikdash]. And the nullification of the desire for money is the aspect of the revelation of Mashiach — for then the covetousness for money will be nullified.

Through breaking the desire for money through charity, the harsh judgments are sweetened and one is saved from all troubles — and one is called wise. And through this one can elevate the souls of Israel and renew them, and bring Torah to the world in the aspect of the future revelation of Torah [b'chinas hisgalus ha-Torah shel l'asid lavo] — the aspect of the hidden Torah of the Ancient One [oraisa d'atika s'tima'ah]. And through this, the unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah is brought about.

Through this wise man who gathers the souls and ascends with them: ""and brings down the stronghold of its confidence"" [Proverbs 21:22 — vayored oz mivtachah: the wise man causes the fortified stronghold of the husks to fall] — for through this he gives birth to the above-mentioned Torah — the two Chariots [merkavos] are rectified: the aspect of the rectification of the upper Chariot [merkavta ila'ah] and the lower Chariot [merkavta tata'ah].

All those people who come to the wise man of the generation — each and every one has some good desire [ratzon tov]. And the Tzadik elevates all these desires — and through this he renews the souls of all those people who come to him. And through this he brings the Torah revelation that he then declares in their presence — so that each person has a portion in the Torah according to his desire. And through this his soul is renewed for good. Therefore every person must strengthen and arouse himself to come with good desires and powerful longings [kissupin] toward Hashem Yisborach — so that his soul be renewed for the better. We have also heard that the primary moment is when the wise man prepares himself to say Torah — for then each person should examine his deeds and seek good desires toward Hashem Yisborach, and pray for this — so that through this the wise man can grasp him by the hand and elevate him from where he is, and renew him for good according to the desire he has then, as above.

Understand also from this the great difference between when a person is himself present with the Tzadik at the time of the saying of Torah, and when he hears it second-hand from another. For when he is himself there, he has a portion in the Torah and his soul is renewed at that moment — quite apart from many other differences, as explained elsewhere.

Through coming to the Tzadik, complete Divine Providence is drawn down — for he is the above-mentioned wise man who brings the Torah. And through the drawing down of Torah into the world, the watchful Providence of Hashem Yisborach over us is drawn down. For the Torah is comprised of cantillation marks [t'amim], vowel points [n'kudos], crowns [tagin], and letters [osiyos] — which correspond to the three colours of the eye and the pupil [t'las g'vanin d'eina u-vas ayin]. Therefore through the Torah, the wise man brings the power of sight of the Divine Providence of Hashem Yisborach upon us — and each person, according to his closeness to the Torah, receives the Divine Providence of Hashem Yisborach upon him in greater completeness.

When a person desires something of desire [d'var ta'avah], that desire is a blemish and bitterness to the soul [marah la-nefesh] — and then the soul is in the aspect of: ""bitter of soul"" [I Samuel 1:10] — the aspect of: ""and her soul was bitter to her"" [II Kings 4:27]. And this is the scattering [pizzur] of the soul — and the soul does not shine. And the soul is then in the aspect of: ""the hungry soul"" [Psalms 107:9]. And to rectify this one must come to the wise man of the generation — and he rectifies and elevates even those blemished desires along with the good desires one has. And through coming to the wise man there is then fulfilled: ""and He fills the hungry soul with good"" [ibid.] — and fulfilled in him: ""and He satisfies your soul in drought"" [Isaiah 58:11]. And one renews like the eagle one's youth — meaning: the days of one's youth that passed in darkness are renewed and rectified. And then one is called "adam" [a complete human being]. And also one's body is elevated and renewed through this coming to the wise man.

Those people who come to the wise man of the generation — the wise man gathers their souls, which are their desires, and elevates them in the aspect of ibbur [spiritual gestation] and renews them for good. And afterwards he returns and descends with the souls to this world and draws down with them the revelation of Torah. These souls are in the aspect of the living creatures [chayyos] of the Chariot — and their bodies are in the aspect of the wheels [ofanim]. And the soul of the wise man himself and his holy mind is in the aspect of the Throne and the One sitting upon the Throne [ha-kissay v'ha-yoshaiv al ha-kissay]. And so too in the aspect of the Torah he draws down — there is also the aspect of the living creatures, the wheels, the Throne, and the One sitting upon the Throne.

But one must seek greatly and pursue such a Tzadik — and beseech Hashem Yisborach greatly to merit to find such a wise man who gathers souls, and elevates and renews them in the aspect of ibbur, and draws down Torah through this. For only he can rectify and elevate a person from all the blemishes of all the desires — and the Tzadik does this through two intellects, in the aspect of two letter-"shins": the aspect of the "shin" of three heads, and the "shin" of four heads.

The more souls multiply that come to the true Tzadik to receive Torah, the more the evil vapour [hevel ha-ra] that is upon the earth diminishes and is nullified — namely, the questions of the heretics [apikorsim] who see a righteous person suffering while a wicked person prospers [Berachos 7a]. And through the multiplication of souls gathering by true Tzadikim, the vapour of such questions is nullified.

Those people who travel and come to the true Tzadik — it is fitting that love between them should increase, and that they arouse and remind one another in the service of Hashem Yisborach. And this is a sign that their intention was pleasing at the time they were with the Tzadik and they began to be renewed for good. [Understood within: that each person can be helped by telling all his innermost secrets before his beloved friend. And this counsel is brought in the holy books.]

There are souls that are very, very blemished — and even when they come to the Tzadik, they are still immersed in all the desires and have not yet moved from the profane to the holy even a hairsbreadth. And souls such as these certainly cannot be elevated and renewed in the aspect of ibbur. But there are Tzadikim who are so great in wondrous and awesome qualities that even souls as blemished as these can be elevated in the aspect of ibbur and renewed for good. Therefore, whoever knows in his soul that he has greatly blemished it and wishes to have compassion on his life and return to Hashem Yisborach — must seek and beseech Hashem Yisborach very, very greatly to grant him, in His mercy, the merit of drawing close to such a Tzadik — one mighty and powerful enough to be able to elevate and renew even his soul for good. Fortunate is he who merits to find such a Tzadik.

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