קריאת התורה ג

This is : "Mimizrach shemesh ad mevo'o mehulal Sheim Hashem" — for after the setting of the sun, it is the darkness of night, where the essential hold of the slave is — the aspect of darkness, sheker, etc., as above, whose nourishment is from the blemish of the moon, as above. But when we subdue the contamination of the slave through the service of Hashem, as above, then it is the aspect of the filling of the blemish of the moon, and the darkness and falsehood are nullified, as above. Then "lailah kayom ya'ir, kachasheicha ka'orah" — night shines like day, and darkness is like light. For even in the aspect of the darkness of night, one recognizes the truth — which is the aspect of the Name of Hashem — and blesses His Name forever, in the aspect of "Baruch Hashem bayom, baruch Hashem balailah."

This is: "Mimizrach shemesh ad mevo'o" — from one end to the other, from the upper end to the lower end, from day to night, from the ultimate light to the ultimate darkness — "mehulal Sheim Hashem." For through the true avdei Hashem — the true tzaddikim — they repel the falsehood and contamination of the aspect of the slave, until the Name of Hashem — which is the aspect of emes — is recognized everywhere, until everyone returns in teshuvah and returns to Him to give thanks and praise the Name of Hashem in truth always.

This is the conclusion of the chapter: "Eim habanim semeichah, Halleluyah!" It opened with slave — "Hal'lu avdei Hashem" — and concluded with son — "Eim habanim semeichah." For so the matter is: at first one must serve Him in the aspect of avdus, for because of the materiality of the body it is called by the name of avdus, etc., as above. Through this, the avdus of the Sitra Achra is subdued and nullified. Afterward, one merits to break and nullify the body completely, until one is called in the aspect of a son, as above. This is the aspect of "Eim habanim semeichah, Halleluyah!" — see above regarding the matter of slave and son, and understand.

Therefore, Yisrael are sometimes called by the name of avadim [servants] to Hashem and sometimes by the name of banim [sons]. As it is written : "Ki li Bnei Yisrael avadim, avadai heim asher hotzeisi osam mei'eretz Mitzrayim," and "Lo yimachru mimkeres aved." For the aspect of actual slavery has no hold on them — the aspect of "lo yimachru mimkeres aved" — for they are servants of kedushah, servants of Hashem, whom He brought out of the land of Mitzrayim, from the house of slaves — from the aspect of avdus. That was the essential exile — through the overpowering of the avdus of the Sitra Achra, etc., as above.

And sometimes they are called by the name of sons, as it is written : "B'ni bechori Yisrael," and as it is written : "Banim atem laHashem Elokeichem, lo sisgod'du..." For both aspects are needed: at first, the avodah must necessarily be in the aspect of avdus, as above, and afterward one merits the aspect of a son, as above.

This is: "Banim atem laHashem Elokeichem, lo sisgod'du v'lo sasimu korchah bein eineichem al meis." Adjacent to this mitzvah specifically, He calls them by the name of sons — for one depends on the other, and it is the reason for this mitzvah. Hashem says: Yisrael — you are sons, etc. — and therefore it is forbidden to mutilate oneself or make a bald spot for the dead. For one must believe that in truth, death is a very great good — in order to merit through it specifically to reach the aspect of a son, as explained above: that the essential decree of death is in order to nullify and decompose in the earth the contamination of the aspect of the slave, so that we merit in the future to rise in the resurrection in a pure body, and then we merit to be in the aspect of a son — like a son who rummages in the treasuries of his father. For then we will merit to recognize Him through the aspect of the Sheim Ha'Etzem, as above.

Therefore this verse is connected in a wondrous bond: specifically because Yisrael are truly called sons — the aspect of "Banim atem laHashem Elokeichem" — therefore "lo sisgod'du," etc. For death is a very great good in order to merit to reach through it the aspect of a son in its fullness, as above.

Therefore it is called Chanukah — after the chanukas [dedication of] the Beis HaMikdash that was dedicated then, as our Sages said. For on Chanukah we draw the aspect of the holiness of the Beis HaMikdash — where all the service of the korbanos took place. This is called "avodah" [service] more than any other mitzvah in the Torah, as it is written: "V'hasheiv es ha'avodah lid'vir beisecha, v'hasheiv Kohanim la'avodasam," and so extensively. For the korbanos are from animals, through which we subdue the animal spirit — the aspect of the contamination of the slave, as above. Therefore it is called by the name of avodah [service/work]. For through avodah of kedushah — the korbanos of animals that subdue the animal spirit — the avdus of the Sitra Achra is subdued, as above. All this is the aspect of Chanukah, as above.

Now, if you go back and study this drush from its beginning to its end, you will understand and perceive well how all the matters explained here are connected and joined well to one another — even though at first it may seem, superficially, that they are not so connected. But if you study well, you will understand their connection and joining well: how all the matters are rooted in and connected to one another in a wondrous bond.

From this you can understand and perceive a little of the greatness of our holy and awesome Rebbe z"l, and the greatness of his Stories that he told. For Hashem knows that I know in myself that in all that I have written, and all that remains in my mind that is impossible to explain in writing — regarding all of this, I have not yet touched even one part of a thousand and a myriad, a drop from the sea, a minimal fraction of one of the awesome secrets hinted at in the awesome Ma'aseh above.

Incline your ears and hear, open your eyes and see the greatness of Hashem and the greatness of His holy Torah and the greatness of the true tzaddikim — what a mortal born of woman can merit in this world. If Hashem wills it, may He illuminate our eyes with the light of His Torah and reveal the truth in the world, speedily in our days, Amein.

Based on LM I:215 — The Twenty-Four Types of Pidyonos

Based on what is explained in [LM I:215] regarding the twenty-four types of pidyonos [redemptions]. See there, where he wrote that Moshe is constantly engaged in converting gairim, etc. For he departed on Shabbos at Minchah, in the Ra'ava d'Ra'avin [the Will of Wills], from which is drawn the all-encompassing pidyon that includes all twenty-four types of pidyonos, etc. For Moshe stands between sh'mad [spiritual destruction/forced conversion] and ratzon [will/desire (for Hashem)], and elevates from sh'mad to ratzon, etc. See there — this wondrous revelation, for it is a wonder.

This is known in the Kisvai [writings of the Arizal]: the secret of Ra'ava d'Ra'avin is a hidden, sealed, and concealed secret from the eyes of all. Even Moshe Rabbeinu did not attain it except at the time of his holy histalkus, when he departed to there on Shabbos at Minchah. As it is written in the Zohar HaKadosh regarding this matter: "Zaka'ah chulakah d'Moshe" — "Fortunate is the portion of Moshe." Therefore it is said of him: "V'lo yada ish es kevuraso" — "No man knows his burial place" — for there is the aspect of the tachlis hayedi'ah d'la neida — "the ultimate knowledge is that we do not know."

Therefore, from there is the great pidyon and hamsakah [sweetening] that sweetens all types of judgments in all twenty-four basai dinim [courts of judgment]. For it is above all wisdoms and all knowledge. Every pidyon and hamsakah needed to sweeten some din is through chochmah and saichel [wisdom and intellect] — which is the root of that din, for "kula b'machashavah is'b'riru" — "everything is clarified through thought" — as brought in the Torah "Chadi Rabbi Shimon" ; see there.

But this pidyon and hamsakah drawn from the aspect of Ra'ava d'Ra'avin is above all intellects and wisdoms. It is the upper root of all wisdoms. It is the aspect of the ultimate knowledge — that we do not know — the aspect of "v'lo yada ish," etc., as above. Therefore it sweetens everything, to the extent that on high they use this pidyon to elevate from sh'mad to ratzon — to nullify the power of the charon af [fierce anger], from which comes the power of avodah zarah, which is the all-encompassing root of all evil inclinations drawn from dinim — to nullify and break them and elevate them from there to the aspect of ratzon, etc. As explained there in the Torah; see there well.

This is the aspect of the awakening from sleep. The essential awakening is at chatzos lailah [midnight]. This point of chatzos is very difficult to perceive — to the extent that our Sages said that even Moshe did not know the exact moment of chatzos, and he said : "Kachatzos halailah ani yotzai b'soch Mitzrayim" — "around midnight." At that very moment and point of chatzos was the geulah through Moshe. From there is the secret of the prohibition of chametz on Pesach, which depends only on a mashehu [the slightest amount] — for the difference between chametz and matzah is only a mashehu, as our Sages said.

At that moment, He distinguished between a drop of a firstborn and a drop of a non-firstborn, and distinguished between the firstborn of Mitzrayim and the firstborn of Yisrael, and passed over the houses of Bnei Yisrael, separating them from the Mitzrim. Through this was the geulah of Pesach. All this was commanded in the parashah of "HaChodesh hazeh lachem rosh chodashim" — for all this is also the secret of Kiddush HaChodesh [sanctification of the new month], regarding which Moshe had difficulty. For it is hard to align the secret of the point at which the month is sanctified — when the moon (the secret of Kneses Yisrael) is at its ultimate minimum. Specifically then it is filled from its blemish and sanctified — which is the aspect of the sweetening of the dinim, as is known: all the dinim take hold in the blemish of the moon, etc. And conversely, when the moon is filled through Kiddush HaChodesh, all the dinim are sweetened. Therefore this point of Kiddush HaChodesh was difficult to perceive even for Moshe, for it is the secret of all the above — very difficult to perceive.

On this depends the entire kedushah of every Yid. For all Yisrael are included in Moshe, who is the aspect of the true tzaddik in every generation — who includes within him the neshamos of Yisrael. For "Ispashtatusa d'Moshe b'chol dara v'dara" — "the extension of Moshe is in every generation." And in every single Yid there is a nekudah tovah [good point] which is the aspect of Moshe — as written : Moshe Rabbeinu is clothed within every single Yid, in every limb, etc.

This nekudah — the aspect of Moshe — clothed within every person, stands between sh'mad and ratzon — between the Sitra Achra and the kedushah. Through this is all his power to prevail and emerge every time from evil to good — which is the aspect of from sh'mad to ratzon. Therefore, in truth, the entire essential kedushah of every Yid is through drawing close to true tzaddikim, who are the aspect of Moshe — who includes all Yisrael and stands between sh'mad and ratzon to elevate the nefashos from evil to good, from sh'mad to ratzon.

For certainly a person on his own does not have the power for this. For it is known that every person is in great danger at every moment, as our Sages said : "A person's yetzer renews itself against him every day, and if not for HaKadosh Baruch Hu helping him..." etc. The essential help and assistance from above is through the true tzaddik — the aspect of "tzaddik moshel b'yiras Elokim" — as explained in many places. For it is brought in the sefarim that between kedushah and the Sitra Achra is like a thread-thin line, etc. Therefore a person is in great danger at every moment, in the aspect of what Dovid said : "k'fesha baini u'vain hamaves" — "just a step between me and death," and it is written : "Va'ani kim'at natyu raglai" — "as for me, my feet had almost slipped," and it is written : "Lulai Hashem ezrasah li, kim'at..."