ראש השנה א

And therefore we say a shir [song] at the time of the libations — for the main healing of the Bas Melech is through song and melody, the aspect of the ten types of melody (as is explained in the story) — that the waves of the sea, which are the aspect of the ten walls, are formed by the winds, from which come the ten types of melody (see there well). For the entire story, in which very lofty Toros are hidden, is all connected — everything told there in groups of ten is all tied and joined together.

Section Beis [ב] But Hashem, blessed be He, "makes nations great and then destroys them" — for the wealth will not endure in their hands, for "in vanity it comes and in darkness it goes, for a person cannot take it with him, and deceit shall not profit its pursuer". For in truth, the fact that the nations and the wicked have wealth, even though they are filled with anger and murder — this flows from the fact that they provoke Israel and introduce anger into them. For all the sustenance of the nations flows from Esav, from whom Amalek emerged — who is "the first of nations." And Esav is appointed over anger — for he is the Samech-Mem [the S"M — the Adversary], he is the one who incites, he is the one who provokes every soul of Israel when he sees that abundance and wealth flows to him — he provokes and introduces anger and fury into him. And through this he ruins the wealth and converts it to anger, as stated. And then, from the abundance that had been prepared to flow down to that person as wealth — even though it has been corrupted and overturned into anger — nonetheless, from the dross of that abundance, which is the bechina of suspita d'dahava [the slag of gold], the wealth flows to the Other Side — which are the nations and the wicked whose sustenance comes from the aforementioned bechina of suspita. And this wealth is the inverse of holiness — for through it the Name of Hashem becomes concealed, G‑d forbid, and the outer names grow strong. And therefore the nations and the wicked can receive wealth, even though they are angry — for all their wealth is the bechina of dross that flows from Israel's anger, as stated. And in truth, all the wealth of the nations and the wicked is not theirs at all — it is in the bechina of robbery in their hands, for the essential wealth flows from the souls of Israel; it is only that they provoked and introduced anger into Israel, and through this ruined the wealth and converted it to anger, and from the dross of that wealth they received their riches. And therefore they can receive it through anger, for that is the source of all their wealth. And it is like what one sees materially, that a robber stands against his fellow and steals his money and his wealth — so too is it exactly in the aforementioned bechina: through their anger they overpower and seize the wealth of Israel by provoking them and introducing anger into them, as stated. And therefore in truth, all the wealth of the nations and the wicked is not wealth at all — for it is filled with anger and suffering, as it is written: "Also all his days are anger and suffering, etc." And it is written: "And much vexation and illness and wrath." For it is "wealth stored up by its owner to his own harm" — which is the bechina of anger, which is called evil (as explained there). And it shall not succeed, for it shall not endure in their hands — for ultimately the wealth will return to its original Owner, to the one whose wealth it is by root, as it is written: "It shall not be stored up or hoarded, for those who dwell before Hashem shall be its commerce, etc." And it is written: "In place of the copper I will bring gold, etc." And this is: "One who makes wealth not through justice — in the midst of his days he shall leave it, etc." (And see further on this below and elsewhere.)

It emerges that “B’raishis” alludes to the ten walls of water. It is also explained in Rashi’s commentary on “B’raishis” that the waters preceded the world and their creation is not mentioned explicitly in the Torah — and all things were created from the water. And all this is the above matter: the waters that preceded the world were created through “B’raishis,” the sealed utterance. And because this utterance is so sealed and hidden, the waters — the totality of Creation — are sealed and hidden in the account of creation. For their creation is hidden in “B’raishis.” And therefore all the holinesses, and conversely all the impurities, are in water, as our Sages said. And conversely, in holiness, all purifications are through water — through immersion. And da’as is alluded to in water, as is written: “For the earth will be filled with knowledge like the waters that cover the sea.” For the water is in the aspect of “B’raishis,” the sealed utterance, from which the chitzonim draw sustenance from its great concealment — from which come all the dinim and punishments. And from there comes all the tikkun and purification and holiness. And therefore all the impure do not ascend from their impurity except through water — one needs to become hidden in the waters of the mikveh, and through this comes all purification. For all this alludes to the seeking and searching “Ayeh.” And this is: “The waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off. I called Your Name, Hashem, from the lowest pit.” And the main tikkun to enter the ten walls of water is through tz’dakah. And this too is alluded to in “B’raishis” — according to what our Sages expound: “B’raishis” — in the merit of challah, t’rumah, and bikkurim, which are called “raishis” — gifts to the kohanim, the aspect of tz’dakah. And also, tz’dakah itself should be given in the aspect of “raishis” — to give the first and choicest to worthy poor people. And similarly, “B’raishis” alludes to the ten types of pulses — the aspect of raishis chochmah [the beginning of wisdom]. And “B’raishis” — rosh bayis [head of the house] — that all the heads of Yisrael, who are the head and brains of Yisrael, the aspect of “Through wisdom a house is built” — all of them are through him. And similarly, “B’raishis” alludes to the ten types of melody, as is written in the Tikkunim: “B’raishis” [rearranged spells] “shir ta’aiv” [a song He desires]. On Rosh HaShanah, through the t’shuvah that is the aspect of seeking and searching “Ayeh,” one ascends in the ultimate ascent to “Ayeh” — “B’raishis,” the sealed utterance, where all the ten utterances are included. But when one ascends there, one needs to return and draw from there the sustaining of the world — through the revelation of the attributes from Chochmah to Malchus, the aspect of the ten utterances, until it is revealed to all that the fullness of the earth is His kavod and His Kingship rules over all. And this is the aspect of the n’sirah [building] brought in the Writings, that during the Ten Days of T’shuvah they work to build and repair each attribute, each day — to reveal His Kingship to all. And the main tikkun is through meriting to draw chidushay Torah from there, from “Ayeh,” the beginning of the Torah, from which the entire Torah is drawn, included in the Ten Commandments, which include the 613 mitzvos — the 613 counsels of the Torah in which all the counsels of holiness for each person are included. Through seeking and searching “Ayeh” — the main t’shuvah — one merits chidushay Torah. And this is the aspect of the Ten Days of T’shuvah, in which one draws the Ten Commandments that were given on Yom Kippur, which is the completion of the Ten Days of T’shuvah. And therefore we beseech: “Return us, our Father, to Your Torah.” And therefore on Yom Kippur is the main forgiveness and atonement, for then sins are transformed into merits, the aspect of “On that day the sin of Yisrael will be sought and it will not be found.” For through the sins — the filthy places — one was aroused to seek “Ayeh” until one ascended there and chidushay Torah were made. And afterward one draws counsels from the 613 counsels of the Torah included in the Ten Commandments received on Yom Kippur. And this is the aspect of Sukkos, from where come all the good counsels, in the aspect of “Spread over us Your Sukkah of peace, and direct us with good counsel.” And this is the aspect of the four species, the totality of the 613 mitzvos — as is brought, that esrog equals 613 in gematriya, and the three species of the bundle together all equal 613. And all this is impossible to merit except through the power of the ba’al ko’ach who had power in his hands to extract the arrows (t’shuvah), to enter the ten walls of water (the waters of da’as), to know all the pulses of each person, and to bring joy to each person. And all these aspects depend on and are tied to one another. And he enters into the depth of each person’s descent — who has drowned in the mire of the depths — and there too he still has free choice to cry out and search “Ayeh.” And the ba’al ko’ach lowers himself there and signals to him — signals that are the aspect of hands — so that he finds counsels to save his soul. For he knows the pulse of each person at every time, in the aspect of “The voice of my Beloved knocks.” And the main healing is through the simchah that he introduces in each person wherever he is — with “Who has not made me a gentile” and “Who has distinguished us from those who go astray” — and in all this we engage on Sukkos, the time of our simchah. And the main simchah is through water, the aspect of Simchas Bais HaSho’aivah, as is written: “And you shall draw water with joy from the springs of salvation.” And then we take the four species in the hands to arouse the power of the hands of the ba’al ko’ach. Until we merit Simchas Torah, when the main completeness of the simchah is over meriting to finish the Torah and begin it anew — “B’raishis” — to indicate that we work to draw counsels, the main drawing of chidushay Torah from “B’raishis,” the sealed utterance where the entire Torah and all the counsels are included. Through each seeking and searching “Ayeh,” one ascends there and draws good counsels, deep counsels, to strengthen oneself however one can. And this is the aspect of why we begin to say Bircas Geshem on Sh’mini Atzeres — “Mashiv ha’ru’ach u’morid ha’gashem.” For all the rains of blessing are drawn through the clouds, whose entire power to hold the water and bring it down in proper time and measure — so they should not flood the world, but rather bring blessing and abundance — all this is through the ten walls of water. And these ten walls are maintained by the ru’ach [wind/spirit], which is the aspect of simchah. And therefore we say “Mashiv ha’ru’ach u’morid ha’gashem” — for the rains drawn from the ten walls come through the wind that upholds them. And we begin on Sh’mini Atzeres, when the main intensity of the simchah is, the aspect of “And you shall be only joyful.” And this is the aspect of the ten types of melody drawn through the ba’al ko’ach who knows how to create a balance for all ten types of winds that maintain the ten walls of water, from which come all the rains. And this is: “Hashem will open for you His good treasury, to give rain to your land in its time.” For the rain is drawn from the good treasury — the aspect of the wondrous chambers of the fortress of water that has the ten walls. And therefore it is written regarding Moshe: “And Moshe sat by the well,” and our Sages said he learned from Yaakov, who found his match at the well. For all the wells are drawn from the fortress of water where the Bas Melech fled — who includes all the holy unions. And therefore the patriarchs found their matches at the well. And therefore Moshe was cast into the water and called “Moshe” because “from the water I drew him” — for the secret of entering the ten walls of water is known only to Moshiach, the aspect of Moshe, the first and last redeemer. And therefore all the patriarchs engaged in digging wells — for all the wells are drawn from the ten walls of water where the Bas Melech is, the aspect of Malchus of holiness, the aspect of emunah. And therefore in Bircas Geshem on Sh’mini Atzeres, all this is mentioned in detail — all the wells of the patriarchs. For through all this the rains of blessing are drawn. And this is the aspect of Sukkos and the four species. And the main principle: in this holy month, from Rosh HaShanah until Sh’mini Atzeres, we work on the tikkun of Malchus-Emunah — the Bas Melech who fled into the ten walls of water, from whom the ten types of arrows need to be extracted through the t’shuvah of the Ten Days. And afterward we enter the Sukkah — the Clouds of Glory. “And a mist rose from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.” “A mist rose from the earth” — this is is’arusa dil’sata, the aspect of tz’dakah. And from this are made clouds that pour forth the waters of abundance and da’as, drawn from the ten walls of water. For all the giving of the Torah and all revelations of His G-dliness were through clouds, as is written: “In a pillar of cloud He would speak to them.” For the water is the aspect of da’as. And from them was the beginning of Creation, for at first the world was water within water. And therefore the creation of the water is not mentioned, for they are drawn from the sealed utterance, “B’raishis.” And therefore on Sukkos we engage in the tikkunim accomplished through the t’shuvah of the Ten Days. And therefore on the festival we engage in the tikkun of the water — the secret of the water libation on the festival, into the shisin. And then is the main simchah — Simchas Bais HaSho’aivah. And therefore on the festival we are judged regarding the water. For the main tikkun is through simchah. And then we enter the Sukkah, the Clouds of Glory. And therefore the Sukkah alludes to the Sukkah of Livyasan, as is written: “Will you fill his skin with Sukkos?” For the Livyasan is within the water. And there in the Sukkah we receive the spirit of wisdom drawn from the cloud upon the kapores, from which they derived the measure of the Sukkah — ten t’fachim. And then we merit simchah. And therefore one needs to give much tz’dakah on Erev Sukkos, for the entire tikkun of this month is through tz’dakah — the arousal from below. And therefore it is written regarding Noach’s ark and the flood: when the generation of the flood sinned, they caused the walls of water to be damaged, and from there was the flood. But chas v’shalom that they should be completely destroyed — only that in proportion to their damage, the waters burst forth. But in Hashem’s mercy, He drew the power of the walls that hold back the water into Noach’s ark, through which the world was sustained. For the secret of Noach’s ark is drawn from the walls mentioned above. And afterward Hashem swore never to bring another flood, in the merit of the Tzaddikim. And then He promised the rainbow would appear in the cloud — the rainbow of holiness that shoots arrows of holiness — and it appears in the cloud, through which comes all the revelation of the Torah. And therefore we mention Noach’s ark on Rosh HaShanah at the beginning of Bircas Zichronos, for all the holy aspects are tied to and included in one another. And this is the aspect of the four species, whose mitzvah is specifically in the hands, as is written: “And you shall take for yourselves on the first day” — to draw upon us the power of the hands. For through the wavings we extract the arrows. For the four species correspond to the four aspects: the lulav corresponds to extracting the arrows. Arvay nachal correspond to the water. Hadas is the aspect of the vitality of the n’shamah, the aspect of wisdom — through which one knows the pulse, how to revive the souls included in the Bas Melech, the aspect of “Sustain me with raisin cakes.” Esrog is the aspect of the main simchah that revives the Bas Melech, who is the aspect of the esrog, the aspect of “You are entirely beautiful, my beloved.” And through this we merit to finish the Torah and to “all the mighty hand,” and to return and begin “B’raishis,” the sealed utterance, to which we need each year to return and ascend, to draw Torah from there. And this is the aspect of Yom Kippur, the completion of the Ten Days of T’shuvah, when the Second Tablets were given in private — in which we engage all year through the t’shuvah. And on each day of the Ten Days, they worked to build the Malchus, one attribute each day, through the power of the t’shuvah of Rosh HaShanah — and the completion on Yom Kippur, which is the aspect of Keser Malchus, upon which is said “He tells from the beginning the end.” And then one draws Torah from there — through which one returns and reveals from the aspect of “Ayeh” specifically that the fullness of the earth is His kavod. And all this needs much explanation. “By the light of Your arrows they walk … waters streamed from thick clouds, the skies gave forth a voice, Your arrows also flew about. He made darkness His hiding place, around Him His Sukkah — darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies … And He sent His arrows and scattered them … He sent from on high, He took me, He drew me out of many waters … G-d comes from Teiman … a torrent of water passed … by the light of Your arrows they walk. From the voice of archers between the watering places, there they recount the righteous deeds of Hashem … Awake, awake, speak a song!” On Rosh HaShanah at its entrance we say: “L’David Mizmor — To Hashem belongs the earth and its fullness, the world … For He founded it upon seas and established it upon rivers.” This appears to be a proof and reason for saying “To Hashem belongs the earth and its fullness” — and it is according to the above: that through the ten walls of water upon which He founded the earth, through this is revealed that to Hashem belongs the earth and its fullness. For the ten walls of water are the aspect of the constrictions of da’as, through which His G-dliness and His Kingship are revealed throughout all the earth. “Who will ascend the mountain of Hashem?” — the aspect of Rosh HaShanah. “And who will stand in His holy place?” — the aspect of Yom Kippur, when the Kohein Gadol enters his holy place, the Kodesh Kodashim, before and within. “One of clean hands and pure heart” — the aspect of Sukkos, when we take the four species in the hands, about which it is said: “I wash my hands in innocence and I go around Your altar,” as our Sages expound. From Rosh HaShanah is made afterward Hosha’na Rabbah — the completion of the sealing that began on Rosh HaShanah. (Tikkun 3): “The one who kills that serpent … is given the King’s daughter, which is prayer” — the aspect of the Bas Melech of the story. (Tikkun 21, daf 51b): “And further, Shofar … at that time … prayer ascends in melody, through the four species which are the simple, double, triple, and quadruple song,” etc. (see there). “What can I testify for you, what can I compare to you, what can I liken to you to comfort you? For great as the sea is your destruction — who will heal you?” (Aichah 2:13) — and it is brought that the aspect of “who will heal you” is the aspect of “Ayeh,” the aspect of “Mi” [Who], the aspect of sealed and hidden — through this is the main healing, as above. “With murder in my bones, my enemies taunt me, saying to me all day: ‘Where [Ayeh] is your G-d?’” (T’hillim 42:11) — for all the sustenance of the taunting enemies is from the aspect of “Ayeh,” as above. And to this, every soul of Yisrael who has compassion on his own tikkun, who does not allow himself to fall and does not despair of himself in any way, responds: “Why are you downcast, my soul, and why do you moan within me? Hope in G-d, for I will yet thank Him” — “I will yet thank Him” specifically — the aspect of “Ayeh” mentioned above. Regarding this he says: “I will yet thank Him” — specifically the aspect of “Ayeh” — to Him I will hope, and I will yet thank Him and I will ascend and be included in Him in holiness. And from there specifically all the salvations will be drawn upon me, the aspect of “the salvations of my face and my G-d.” “Make for yourself a rav and acquire for yourself a friend, and remove yourself from doubt.” And this is through the mitzvah of tz’dakah in completeness as is proper, for the sake of Heaven alone — not because of nature and not because of imagined honor. And this is: “And do not give much ma’aser based on estimates” — to give ma’aser, the aspect of tz’dakah, based on one’s own estimate, but rather as the Torah has commanded you. And through this one merits all the above. For the main subjugation of the Sitra Achara is through tz’dakah as it should be. Ten confessions [viduyim] of Yom Kippur — to extract all the ten types of arrows. For through the confession over the sins, which are the aspect of arrows against the Sh’chinah, through this one extracts the blemish of the sins from the place where the blemish reached — which is the aspect of extracting the arrows. And therefore we strike ourselves with the hands upon the heart and chest at the time of saying the viduy. For the main extraction of the arrows — the blemishes of the sins — is through the hands (as is explained there in the story). For all the prayers, supplications, and requests — especially the viduy of Yom Kippur — need to be said with a complete heart, in the aspect of “Let us lift our hearts to our hands, to G-d in Heaven.” For all the words receive from the hands, in the aspect of “As Hashem spoke by the hand of,” etc. (as is explained in siman 56, Likutay, Part 1). And the main t’shuvah through the seeking and searching is through the aspect of hands — one needs to seek and search for Him with all one’s heart, until one spreads his hands to Him, in the aspect of “I spread out my hands to You.” And it is written: “And he spread his hands within it.” This is the aspect of “Let us lift our hearts to our hands,” etc. — which is itself the matter of the simple reason why we strike with the hands upon the heart at the time of the viduy: in order to rebuke and arouse the heart to say the viduy now with a complete heart, which is the aspect of the seeking and searching — the aspect of the spreading and extending of the hands. And all this is the aspect of extracting the arrows through the hands, as above. Blessed is Hashem forever, Amain and Amain.

Likutay Halachos - Hilchos Rosh HaShanah 1

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