שבת ה

Short Prayer

Many say this prayer every day after Tikun Haklalli And this is the aspect of the angels that accompany a person upon entering Shabbos, as our Sages of blessed memory said. And for this reason we recite "Shalom Aleichem, Ministering Angels" etc. on Friday night. For the sanctity of Shabbos is the aspect of the rectification of the hands of the angels, through the neder [vow], through which Emunas Chachamim is rectified, as mentioned above. And then the angels have the power to receive all the hashpa'os [bestowals] and to bestow upon all things in the world, as mentioned above. And therefore, on Shabbos the angels have great peace and abundant love with the person who receives Shabbos and properly observes Oneg Shabbos. For through Oneg Shabbos, all the power of the angels is drawn, as mentioned above. Therefore they accompany him on Friday night and bless him. For then they have great peace with the person.

And therefore our Sages of blessed memory said that the angels see whether his table is set and his candle is lit etc. — then they bless him, etc. That is, they see whether one properly fulfills Oneg Shabbos. And certainly one is worthy of the blessing from the mouths of the angels, for all their vitality and power is through the rectification of the "hands" etc. — which is the aspect of Oneg Shabbos, as mentioned above.

This prayer we found in our files, it is short and powerfulMaster of the World, Effector of effectors, and the Causer of all the causes, You are above, higher than all, and there is nothing higher than You, for no thought can grasp You at all, and silence is befitting praise for You (Psalms 65:2), and [You] are loftier than all blessing and praise. You, I turn to, You, I beseech to bore a tunnel in a hidden (/established) way from You, by way of all the worlds until my evolution in the place where I stand, in accordance with what is apparent to You, Knower of the hidden, and in this way and path shine upon me Your light, to return me in truly complete repentance before You, as is Your true desire, as is the desire of the choice of creation: Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman, that I should not think in my thoughts any foreign thought or any thought or confusion which is against Your Will, just, to bind to pure, pristine and holy thoughts of Your service, in truth, in perception of You and Your Torah. “Incline my heart to Your testimony (Psalms 119:36),” and give me a pure heart to serve You truly. And from the depth of the ocean take me out to great light, extremely quickly and soon, the salvation of Hashem in the blink of the eye, to bask in the light of life all the days I am on the face of the earth. And I should merit to renew my youth, the days that transpired in darkness, to return them to holiness, and my departure from the world should be as my entry – without sin. And I should merit to see the pleasantness of Hashem and visit His chamber (which) entirely resonates glory: amen, netzach (eternally/victorious), selah, vu-ed (forever).

And this is the aspect of the Kiddush of Shabbos, through which is the essential drawing of the sanctity of Shabbos upon oneself. For kodesh [holiness] is Chochmah [Wisdom], as is brought — the aspect of "the beginning of wisdom" (Psalms 111:10) — and every reishis [beginning] is kodesh. That is, through the Kiddush one ascends to the aspect of reishis Chochmah — the root of Wisdom where the Sages are rooted — which is the aspect of Pli'os Chochmah [Wonders of Wisdom], the aspect of the neder. Through this one merits Emunas Chachamim, through which the lights of the Avos sparkle in him, through which one merits the sanctity of Shabbos, which is Oneg Shabbos, as mentioned above.

Holy Yearning Soul Factory

And therefore one makes Kiddush over a cup of wine. For the wine of Kiddush is the wine of holiness, the aspect of "if he merited, he becomes a head" — through which one merits headship and mochin [mindfulness], the aspect of chamra v'raichanay pakchim [wine and spices sharpen the mind], the aspect of "wine goes in, the secret comes out" — for through it one merits the secrets of the Torah, which are the aspect of Pli'os Chochmah, which is the aspect of the neder, which is the rectification of emunah, which is the rectification of the "hands" of the angels, through which is the essential Oneg Shabbos, as explained there.

There is a Breslov tradition that one of the ways we can bring the final redemption is by utilizing a devotion Rabbainu promoted and of which Rabbainu revealed awesome secrets. This is the devotion of expressing yearning and longing for Hashem Yisburach and everything holy. Rabbainu revealed (Likutay Moharan, Torah-teaching 31) that when one yearns for something he creates a soul bikoach (-potential, dormant) and by expressing the yearning verbally that soul is brought into the world bifoa'el (-actual, working). The soul created is in the form of the yearning that created it, if the yearning was holy, then a holy soul will now be set out into the world and attach itself to someone and motivate that person to holiness, and if G"f the yearning was for something not holy, likewise, a soul will go out etc.. The most ruthless evil criminal may be impervious and impregnable to any treatment or conditioning, but can be breached and overtaken by a soul created by a simple expression of holy yearning.

And therefore one must receive the cup with both hands. For kos [cup] has the numerical value of Elokim, as is brought. Elokim is the aspect of an angel, which is called Elokim. And one must receive it with both hands at the time of Kiddush. For through the Kiddush, the "hands" are rectified, as mentioned above — that is, the power of the "hands" is restored to the angel. And therefore one receives the cup with both hands, as mentioned above.

Unfortunately, too many people are expressing their desires for the pleasures of the flesh, sending out terrible persuasions to remain enslaved to the emptiness of this physical world, whereas with regard to good deeds and holiness, even when people do some amazing kindnesses or reach and accomplish new heights in purity of mind and spirit, they do not moan, rave, and extol excitingly about it, and the feat remains a nice plateau without being given the ability to spread its wings and bring the whole world around to its attainment, or to motivate others to reach even greater heights.

And this is the aspect of the 70 words of the Kiddush — corresponding to the 70 facets of the Torah. For through Emunas Chachamim that one draws upon oneself through the Kiddush — through which is the essential Oneg Shabbos, as mentioned above — through this one merits the 70 facets of the Torah. For all the 70 facets of the Torah are drawn through Emunas Chachamim — for they are the ones who expound for us the Torah and interpret it through 70 facets. For without the Sages, one does not know any facet of the Torah at all, for one does not know any explanation, elucidation, or exposition etc. except through Emunas Chachamim, who expound and interpret the Torah through 70 facets. And therefore through the Kiddush, when one ascends to the aspect of Pli'os Chochmah and draws Emunas Chachamim upon oneself — through this one draws the sanctity of the 70 facets of the Torah. And therefore there are 70 words in the Kiddush, corresponding to the 70 facets of the Torah.

Thus we find in the Story of Ancient Times of A Lost Princess, the princess alluding to the Shechina – the Divine Presence, tells the second to the king, "It is impossible for you to take me out, unless you choose for yourself a place and remain there for a full year, and all that year you must long for me that you should take me out, and whenever you have free time, you must only long, desire, and hope to take me out."

And this is: "I shall raise the cup of salvations, and in the Name of Hashem I shall call. My vows to Hashem I shall fulfill" (Psalms 116:13–14) etc. The cup of salvations — this is the aspect of the cup of Kiddush, through which one draws the sanctity of Shabbos. This one merits through "My vows to Hashem I shall fulfill" — that is, through the neder, through vowing a vow and fulfilling it immediately. Through this, Emunas Chachamim is rectified — which is the rectification of the "hands" — through which one merits the sanctity of Shabbos, the aspect of the cup of Kiddush, as mentioned above.

Take two minutes every day, devoted solely to speaking out your love, yearning, longing, need, and desire for Hashem Yisburach and everything holy. Set an alarm clock so that you don't pass it up, give yourself an extra minute to first say:

And this is the aspect of Chanukah. For the essential thing is Emunas Chachamim. For the essential thing is the tachlis [ultimate purpose], and every person must have compassion on himself and think at all times, each and every day, about his eternal tachlis — what will be his end, etc. And to merit a truly good tachlis is impossible except through Emunas Chachamim. For it is impossible for a person to reach and return to the root of his soul except through the Sages — the true, genuine Tzadikim. For even worthy and G-d-fearing people who engage in Torah cannot reach their completeness except through true Tzadikim. How much more so one who has committed some damage. And certainly how much more so one who has damaged and transgressed a great deal, G-d forbid — as is very commonly found now in our many sins, as each one knows within himself. Certainly it is impossible to heal him in soul and body except through the truly great and wondrous Tzadikim, who know how to expound the Torah through the Thirteen Hermeneutical Principles in completeness and in truth, and who know the roots of every Jewish soul within the Torah, etc.

Lishaim (for the sake of) Yeechued (unifying) Koodshu Breech Hoo (Hashem Yisburach) OoShicheentay (with His Divine Presence), bidicheeloo (with fear/awe) ooricheemoo (and with love), ooricheemoo (and with love) oodicheeloo (and with fear/awe), li-yachaid (to unify) shaim (the name) Yud Kay (Y"H) bi (with) Vuv Kay (V"H), bishaim (in the name of) kul (all of) Yisroel (Israel); Hereby, I bind myself to all the true tzadikim of our generation, and to all the true tzadikim dwellers of the dust, holy ones who are in the earth, and specifically to Rabbainu Hakadoash (our holy Rebbe), tzadik foundation of the world, N'achal (stream) N'oavaya (gushing) M'ikor (source) Ch'uchmu (wisdom) [acronym Nachman], Rabbainu Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman in my desires, yearning, longing, thought, speech, and actions, so that they be desirous and meritorious before Hashem Yisburach, and so that the expressed yearning create souls bikoach and bifoaal which go out and arouse holy yearning in others. With love for all my fellow Jews as we are commanded to love one another as ourselves.

Therefore it is impossible for a person to come to his eternal tachlis except through Emunas Chachamim. And to come to Emunas Chachamim is through a neder. For through the neder, one ascends to the root where the Sages are rooted, etc., as mentioned above. The matter is this: the reason that many are distant from Emunas Chachamim — true Sages — is only because of the wisdoms of this world, which are wisdoms of vanity that every person has. And every person is wise in his own eyes. But in truth, one who has even a point of the true mind in his skull can easily understand that all the wisdoms of this world are foolishness, vanity of vanities, and are not in the category of wisdom at all — since through them one cannot arrive at one's true and eternal tachlis, which is the essential thing. As it is written: "Behold, the word of Hashem they rejected — so what wisdom do they have?" (Jeremiah 8:9). And it is written: "How can you say, 'We are wise'?" etc. And it is written: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom" etc., "but only in this may he boast" etc. (Jeremiah 9:22–23).

"Veehee (and may) noa'am (the pleasantness of) Adoan"ai (Hashem) Eloahainoo (our Gd) ulainoo (be upon us), oomaasay yudainoo (and the work of our hands) koaninuh ulainoo (be established for us), oomaasay yudainoo (and the work of our hands) koaninaihoo (be established) [Psalms 90:17]."

For the essential true wisdom is the wisdom of the truly great Tzadikim, who merited to become truly wise — to think about their eternal tachlis and to prepare provisions for their long journey — until they merited this in completeness. For they broke all the desires to their ultimate end completely, and separated themselves from this world entirely, and there remained in them no stirring or scent of any desire of this world at all. And only such Tzadikim can rectify the entire world and bring people back to good — everyone who wishes to cleave to them. For every person needs to arrive at this — the ultimate of separateness in holiness in truth. And this is one's essential eternal tachlis — fortunate is one who merits this. But not every person merits this, and few are those who merit it in completeness in truth. Therefore the essential tikun of the rest of humanity is through drawing close to such Tzadikim, to them and to their students and to the students of their students, etc.

And now/then let loose, and start pumping holy souls into the world.

For the true Tzadikim can rectify and heal every person in the world, even if he is greatly ill in soul and body. For just as one who disgraces a Torah scholar has no remedy for his ailment, as our Sages of blessed memory said — as the matter is explained well in this Torah — so too, conversely, the attribute of good is far greater. One who believes in the Tzadikim and their students, who are the true Torah scholars — there is no ailment in the world, in body or soul, that does not have a remedy through them. In the aspect of "and to all his flesh it is healing" (Proverbs 4:22), which is said regarding the Torah. For the Torah is known only by the true Tzadikim who separated themselves from the desires of this world completely and absolutely — they are the true Sages, as mentioned above — who know how to expound the Torah and explain and elucidate all the paths and the counsels and the ways and the strategies that every person in the world who wishes to approach holiness needs, so that each one can receive healing for every type of illness of the soul and the body that exists in the world.

Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman

But not every person knows where these Tzadikim are, nor how to merit believing in them and drawing close to them in truth. Therefore the advice for this is a neder — to vow some vow and fulfill it immediately, as explained in this Torah, as mentioned above. For all vows are in the aspect of separateness, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "Vows are a safeguard for separateness". As it is written: "a person who makes a wondrous vow — a Nazirite vow, to separate himself for Hashem" (Numbers 6:2). For all the vows of the worthy ones who want to draw close to the truth are some form of Nazirite separateness — that one wishes to separate oneself from some desire in order to draw close to Hashem. And also when one vows some vow for holiness and tzedakah, this too is in the aspect of separateness. For with the money that one vows to tzedakah, one could have purchased for oneself some object of desire — food and drink and the like. But one breaks one's desires and separates oneself from that desire that one could have achieved through that money, and takes the money and vows it to Hashem for tzedakah and for the sanctification of the synagogue and the house of study.

The Miraculous Petek: Rabbi Nachman's Note from HeavenIn 1922, on the 17th of Tammuz, Rabbi Yisroel Dov Odesser (known as the Saba or Saba Yisroel), a devoted Breslover Hasid, miraculously received a Petek (note) from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, who had passed away in 1810. The note, delivered in a wondrous way, addressed him as a "precious student" and praised his service:“Very hard it was for me to descend to you my precious student to tell you that I enjoyed greatly your service and upon you I said my fire will burn until the Mashiach will come. Be strong and courageous in your service. Na NaCh NaChMu NaChMaN MEyUMaN. And with this I shall reveal to you a secret... full and heaped up from end to end... and with strengthening of service you will understand it. And a sign: the 17th of Tammuz they will say that you are not fasting.”Rebbe Nachman signed in this unprecedented way—Na Nach Nachmu Nachman MeUman—a progressive unfolding of his name as a single (Na), doubled (NaCh), tripled (NaChMu), and quadrupled (NaChMaN) form, linked to Uman, his burial place. This signature, never used in his lifetime, appears in Likutay Moharan as a hint to the future revelation of this holy song.The Petek is personal yet universal—Rebbe Nachman's continuation flows through faith in this name, without naming Saba explicitly to invite everyone to claim it.The Saba's Revelation and the Power of the SongSixty years later, Saba began publicizing the Petek, declaring it a novelty unmatched in history: “If I were to reveal just two words about the Petek, I would annul the free will of the whole world.” He called Na Nach Nachmu Nachman MeUman “a segula for every problem and situation,” “the matter of the redemption,” and a force that “lifts man from absolute descent to absolute ascent.” Reciting it “sweetens all sufferings and judgments, all sins and blasphemy—everything! It transforms everything. Happy is the one who believes.”Saba emphasized its miraculous nature: “This is only from Rabbeinu, only a miracle... What is now in the world was never known.” He received a rare letter of approbation from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt"l, affirming Saba's greatness and the Petek's authenticity.The Song's Deep Kabbalistic Meaning: Melody of Supreme FaithRebbe Nachman taught in Likutay Moharan (Lesson 64) that every wisdom and faith has its unique melody. Heresy has its tune (as with the Greek melody linked to Elisha ben Avuyah's fall), while true faith—especially the highest faith in the infinite Ein Sof (No Limit)—has the supreme melody above all others.Ancient sages like Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel (in his Targum on Shir HaShirim) and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (in the Zohar) foretold a future song—Single, Doubled, Tripled, Quadrupled—that would restore pure faith before Mashiach, nullify heresy, free fallen souls from the "Vacated Space," and renew the world. The Tzadik of the generation, an aspect of Moshe, sings this song from the "height of faith" to elevate all.Na Nach Nachmu Nachman MeUman is this melody: Rebbe Nachman's revealed name/soul as the Song of Redemption. It opens gates of mercy, prayer, repentance, and Torah; destroys the Other Side; dispels darkness; and includes all salvations. “Simply by reciting it... this eases all troubles... transforms everything to good.” It is effective for every person—general and individual. In times of suffering or sin, say it immediately: it renews and heals.This is the great secret of our generation—a simple, joyous path to the height of faith, belief, and ultimate redemption. Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!

It emerges that vows are in the aspect of separateness. Therefore, through the neder, one ascends and connects oneself to the true Tzadikim, who merited the ultimate of separateness in completeness. And one merits Emunas Chachamim and to draw close to them. Since Hashem, blessed be He, sees that one is drawing oneself toward their path and accepting upon oneself some form of separateness through a vow — which is the aspect of peleh [wonder], as mentioned above — through this one merits to believe in the Sages, the wondrous Tzadikim who merited Pli'os Chochmah [Wonders of Wisdom] and separated themselves from this world entirely.

[Index entries appear here after manual tagging in Word.] And this is: "Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where do you graze, where do you rest at noon" (Song of Songs 1:7) etc. — for Yisrael beseech that Hashem, blessed be He, should tell them: where is the true shepherd? And Hashem, blessed be He, answers them: "If you do not know for yourself, O fairest of women, go out in the footsteps of the flock" (Song of Songs 1:8) — that you should walk in the paths of your earliest forefathers, as Rashi explained there. That is, you should endeavor not to deceive yourself — not to seek the shepherd and the leader for your own benefit, in order to achieve some honor or parnasah or position, as is so commonly found now in our many sins. Rather, all your desire and yearning to find the shepherd and the leader should be only for the sake of the tachlis — so that you should succeed in your ultimate end. And therefore, "if you do not know" etc. — to whom to draw close — "go out in the footsteps of the flock": this is the aspect of Yaakov, who is the aspect of the neder, as mentioned above. For Yaakov was a shepherd of flocks, and therefore flock alludes to Yaakov, as Rashi explained in several places. And this is the language of ikvay [footsteps] — the aspect of Yaakov. That is, walk in the path of your forefathers, the essential one of whom was Yaakov, who is the aspect of the neder, as mentioned above. That is, accept upon yourself through a neder some matter of separateness and holiness. And through this — when Hashem, blessed be He, sees that you truly desire it and you want to draw close to the shepherd only for the sake of the truth — through this, Hashem, blessed be He, will illuminate your eyes, and you will merit Emunas Chachamim — true Sages — and to draw close to them. In the aspect of "and graze your kids by the tents of the shepherds" (Song of Songs 1:8), as mentioned above.

And when one merits Emunas Chachamim through the neder, through this the lights of the Avos sparkle in him, etc. And through this one merits Oneg Shabbos, which is holy eating. And through this, one's enemies fall before him. For one accomplishes through his eating what one accomplishes through fasting — namely, to fell one's enemies before him, in the aspect of "to still the enemy and the avenger" (Psalms 8:3) etc. For through the anger that comes from the liver, the great accuser is aroused — who is Eisav, he is Edom, whose hold is in the liver, which is full of blood, etc. And through the fast, one rectifies one's panim [face/inner being] and restores to oneself one's wisdom, etc., and one's enemies fall before one, etc. For through the fast, the liver is subjugated to the brain. For on the day that a person eats, the liver is nourished first and afterwards it sends to the brain. It emerges that on the day of eating, the greatness and the dominion belongs to the liver. But when one fasts, then the brain is nourished first, etc.

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But when one merits the aspect of Oneg Shabbos, then one does not need to fast, etc. For the eating of Shabbos Kodesh — it is holy, and no stranger shall eat of it. And then the liver is subjugated, and its power is nullified, etc. — see all this in the aforementioned Torah.

To generate index: References → Insert Index And to connect the matter well: for in truth, when one merits the aspect of Oneg Shabbos, this is the essential completeness of one's tikun and one's remedy for the damage of Emunas Chachamim that one previously damaged. For on Shabbos, Emunas Chachamim is rectified in completeness. For during all the six weekdays, there is a hold of machlokes that is drawn from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which is the aspect of kosher and posul, tahor and tamei, etc. — which are the aspect of the Six Orders of the Mishnah, in which there is much machlokes. For as long as the halachah is not clearly determined, from there the machlokes of the Sitra Achrah, G-d forbid, devolves — as is brought in the words of Rabbeinu of blessed memory in several places. But on Shabbos it is the clarification of the halachah. For Shabbos is the aspect of cessation and rest, the aspect of completeness of da'as. For then the contamination of the Serpent is nullified — which is the aspect of the evil of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. For Shabbos protected Adam HaRishon, as is stated in the Holy Zohar. Therefore on Shabbos it is the aspect of the clarification of the halachah, as is brought. And therefore then the machlokes is nullified, in the aspect of "to still the enemy and the avenger" etc. And one merits Emunas Chachamim in completeness, and to subjugate and rectify the damage to Emunas Chachamim.

For the essential damage to Emunas Chachamim is drawn from the enemies and the haters — who are the opponents who oppose the truth — which comes from the worldly wisdoms of this world. For it seems to them that they are wise and clever, and they oppose the men of truth who walk in simplicity in the footsteps of the true Tzadikim, as mentioned above. But on Shabbos, all the enemies are subjugated and fall — the aforementioned opponents. Therefore on Shabbos, Emunas Chachamim is strengthened and rectified in completeness.

And the essential matter is what is explained there in the aforementioned Torah regarding the eating of Shabbos, as partly explained above. That is, during the weekdays, the liver — the angry one — has a hold, because the aspect of weekday eating is in the aspect of "the liver is nourished first." But the aspect of Shabbos eating — it is entirely holy, and the angry liver has no hold in it. For the eating of Shabbos is entirely holy, entirely G-dliness. And all the nourishment goes only to the brain and the da'as. For then the liver is subjugated and nullified before the brain, etc. — see there. And this is the essential aspect of the complete rectification of Emunas Chachamim. For it is already explained that the essential damage to Emunas Chachamim — true Sages — is because of the enemies and opponents who are wise in their own eyes, as mentioned above.

Likutay Halachos

And in truth, the essential distinction between the true Sages and those who are wise in their own eyes — who are sages of falsehood, whether they are wise in external wisdoms literally, who are the philosophers and the researchers, or all the wisdoms of vanity of all types of opponents to the point of truth — the essential distinction between them is in this very aspect: the distinction between the eating of Shabbos and the eating of the weekdays. For the aspect of weekday eating is that the liver is nourished first — the aspect of the eating of Eisav, who is the aspect of the angry liver, who said: "Pour into me now" (Genesis 25:30). And the aspect of Shabbos eating is entirely holy, the aspect of the brain being nourished first, as mentioned above. For the vitality of a person is drawn according to his eating, and from there all the desires are drawn. That is, the false sages are from the side of Eisav — the aspect of the liver, which is full of blood, which is the totality of bodily desires that come from the boiling of the blood — which is nourished first, and afterwards the brain. That is, in truth the essential motivation behind all their wisdoms is only for the sake of this-worldly desires. As is seen tangibly with the researchers — all their research is in matters of this world and its pleasures: how to make beautiful vessels with great craftsmanship and the like, such as measurement and calculation etc. — all of which is in matters of this world, for the needs of the body.

But when one merits the aspect of Oneg Shabbos, then the brain is nourished first. That is, all one's intent in one's affairs is only for the sake of the brain and the da'as of holiness — for the sake of reaching the true, eternal tachlis. For one merits Emunas Chachamim — true Sages — who separated themselves from the desires of this world completely, with the utmost holiness and separateness. All their wisdom is only true wisdom — the wisdom of the Torah, the wisdoms of the World to Come: how to achieve and attain the eternal life of the World to Come. And all who believe in and draw close to them and their students, etc. — all their intent is for the sake of Heaven alone, in order to achieve through them some eternal hope for the World to Come. Therefore they are in the aspect of "the brain is nourished first," which is the aspect of Oneg Shabbos. For all their intent is only for the sake of the true tachlis, which is the true brain and da'as, as mentioned above.

A Collection of Laws — Shulchan Aruch And therefore the aspect of Shabbos is a great eitzah [strategy] against all the opposition and the confusions that a person has — both from himself and from others. For in all the desires and the confusions and the evil thoughts that pass over him, one must remember Shabbos, which is the aspect of bitul [self-nullification] toward the tachlis. As it is written: "Remember the day of Shabbos" (Exodus 20:8) — "remember it from the first day of the week". For Shabbos is the aspect of "sit and do not act" — the aspect of cessation and bitul. And this is a great eitzah: that in the midst of whatever passes over him, he should nullify himself for some time and remember the tachlis. For every person in the world can nullify himself and remember the tachlis — which is to be included in the Infinite Light, blessed be He. And it is impossible to explain this in writing, for it is to each person according to what he gauges in his heart. But at any rate, all of Yisrael believe that this is their essential tachlis and their eternal hope. And each one, according to where he is, in whatever passes over him — he can nullify himself in the midst of all the confusions and preoccupations. And this is the aspect of Shabbos, which is the aspect of cessation and bitul. And through this, all the troubling thoughts and all the wisdoms of vanity and falsehood are nullified. And one merits to conduct all one's affairs for the sake of the tachlis — in the aspect of "the brain is nourished first" — so that one's eating and all one's affairs are for the sake of the tachlis, which is the true brain and wisdom, etc. And this is the aspect of what occurred in the tale of the Exchanged Sons at the end — that when he is being pursued and wants to enter the garden (which alludes to Gan Eden), he should "station himself at Shabbos". That is, as mentioned above — and understand. For in truth, Yisrael collectively are in the aspect of the sanctity of Shabbos, as we say in the blessing of Havdalah: "between Yisrael and the nations, between the seventh day and the six days of work" — for Yisrael draw the sanctity of Shabbos into the six weekdays. And therefore all the eating of Yisrael is holy. For Yisrael do not eat any food immediately. Rather, they must wait a long time before they eat. And through this they draw upon themselves, in all their eating, the aspect of the sanctity of Shabbos, which is the aspect of "the brain is nourished first." For when a Jewish person arises in the morning and his heart is faint and he wishes to eat — he does not eat immediately, for he must wait until he washes his hands and recites the blessings and prays. And the worthy and G-d-fearing ones wait even longer, for they also study after the prayer before eating. And when he wishes to eat, he does not eat immediately, but only after several mitzvos that are performed beforehand to sanctify the food — for example, meat requires shechitah, nikur [removal of forbidden fats], salting, and rinsing. And likewise bread — one must separate challah beforehand, etc. And afterwards, when he wishes to eat, he must wash his hands and recite the blessing. It emerges that all the eating of Yisrael is through much waiting. And through all of this waiting before their eating, they draw upon themselves the sanctity of Shabbos, which is cessation and bitul. And they subdue the aspect of Eisav, which is the aspect of "Pour into me now" — who snatches the food immediately. But because of the preoccupation with this world and its desires, it is possible that even the Jewish person may, G-d forbid, forget at the time of eating and the like the tachlis. Therefore one must be careful to remember at every moment the Shabbos — that is, in the thick of the preoccupation of this world, or when one comes to eat and the like, one should nullify oneself for a time, and this is the aspect of Shabbos. Then one will merit that the brain is nourished first, and all the opposition and the enemies and the confusions will be subjugated. And all this one merits through the neder — through which one merits Emunas Chachamim, through which one merits Oneg Shabbos. And then Emunas Chachamim is completely rectified. For the essential completeness of the rectification of Emunas Chachamim is through Shabbos, as mentioned above. For the one depends on the other: through Emunas Chachamim one merits Shabbos, which is the aspect of "the brain is nourished first" — that all one's thoughts and strategies and affairs should be for the sake of the tachlis, as mentioned above — and then the enemies are subjugated, and then one merits Emunas Chachamim in completeness, as mentioned above. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said regarding Shammai the Elder — that all his days he would eat in honor of Shabbos. When he found a fine animal he would say: "This is for the honor of Shabbos." When he found another finer than it, etc. It emerges that all his days he was eating in honor of Shabbos. That is, through the waiting — that he would wait before eating, until he found another — his eating was in the aspect of Oneg Shabbos, since he had already designated it for Shabbos. For the essential matter is that when one remembers Shabbos constantly and waits before eating the thing — until one draws upon it the sanctity of Shabbos, which is the tachlis — through this, all one's eating is in the aspect of Oneg Shabbos, which is the aspect of "the brain is nourished first." Since one is thinking during one's eating about the tachlis, as mentioned above. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: "But Hillel had a different attribute — he would say: 'Blessed is Hashem, day by day'" (Psalms 68:20). For our Sages of blessed memory said that Shammai was strict and Hillel was humble and patient. And it is known that when one needs to break some evil middah, the more one is immersed in it, the more one needs to exert oneself against it to break it by going to the opposite extreme. Therefore Shammai, who was strict, perforce could not subdue the aspect of the angry liver — the aspect of "the liver is nourished first," which is the aspect of weekday eating — except by completely separating himself from the food and setting it aside for Shabbos. And then specifically the sanctity of Shabbos was drawn upon him. But Hillel, who was humble, did not need such great exertion to draw the sanctity of Shabbos upon his food. For even though he ate each day whatever Hashem, blessed be He, provided for him, nevertheless his eating was only in the aspect of Oneg Shabbos, which is the aspect of the nullification of anger. For through the blessing alone that he recited over the food, he was able to nullify himself and draw the sanctity of Shabbos upon the food. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said — that Hillel would say: "Blessed is Hashem, day by day" — "Blessed is Hashem," specifically. For through the blessing alone that he blessed each and every day — through this alone he drew upon himself the sanctity of Shabbos. And he did not need to set aside the food for Shabbos and eat it afterwards like Shammai, since he was not strict. Therefore he drew the sanctity of Shabbos through the blessing alone. And as our Sages of blessed memory expounded there on this verse, "Blessed is Hashem, day by day" — "each and every day, give Him the blessings that are His." That is, through the blessings that we bless Hashem, blessed be He, each and every day — through this alone, one draws upon oneself the sanctity of Shabbos, from where all blessings come. For it is the source of blessing. The general principle: the essential thing is Emunas Chachamim — to believe in and draw close to the Tzadikim, who are the true Sages. For all their wisdom is to think about their tachlis — to exchange the passing world for a world that endures forever. For only this is called wisdom, as mentioned above. And as it is written: "Behold, the fear of Hashem — that is wisdom" (Job 28:28). And as our Sages of blessed memory expounded: "Hein means 'one' [in Greek]" etc. — that there is no wisdom except to fear Hashem and to separate oneself from this world entirely. And if not every person merits this in completeness, at the very least one should nullify oneself before these true Sages, who are true Tzadikim, and believe in them and draw close to them in truth for the sake of the tachlis. And certainly one will merit a good end through them. And this is the essential true wisdom. But all other wisdoms are vanity and emptiness — since all their wisdom is the wisdoms of this world, which passes away and perishes. For all the alien wisdoms of the researchers — who went astray to where they went astray — all of it is only because of evil desires and evil middos of this world. For they are all full of desires and evil middos. And all their sages, the earlier and the later ones, were all deeply immersed in all the desires and middos: in adultery, money, honor, eating and drinking, competitiveness, and provocation, etc. — as is known to one who is familiar with them. And from there comes all their wisdom. And it is brought in the holy books that even what the researchers research in their wisdom and acknowledge the immortality of the soul — even this comes from desires. For they wish to succeed in their evil path even after death, so that their desires in this world should be sweet to them. Therefore they say that through the investigations of their wisdom they will succeed through it even for eternity. For otherwise it is very bad for them — that between today and tomorrow they will fall as dead corpses, and what will remain of them? Therefore they acknowledge the immortality of the soul and say the success of the soul for eternity is through wisdoms. And all of this is because of desires and evil middos — they want to fill their bellies with all the desires and to have a great name and honor among the kings. And through this they will succeed even after death. But in truth, the essential success of the soul after death is according to how much a person separated himself from the desires of this world, and engaged in Torah and prayer, mitzvos and good deeds — as explained in Likutay Moharan II, 19, and elsewhere. Therefore the essential good and eternal tachlis will be merited by the great Tzadikim, who are the true Sages, who became wise with true wisdom and separated themselves from the desires of this world entirely. And the rest of the world will have a good share in the World to Come, each one according to how much he merited drawing close to them and believing in them and walking in their ways. And therefore our Sages of blessed memory said in truth that "one who disgraces a Torah scholar is a heretic, who has no share in the World to Come". And this is the explanation of the very wondrous Aggadah regarding the Elders of the Athenians [Sabei d'vei Asuna], at which every person is astounded. And our Master of blessed memory already explained, through the ways of his exceedingly lofty and deep perceptions, most of the passages — nearly all of them. Only two passages we did not merit hearing from him: Gavra d'ozif [the man who lent] and Reichaya dis'vira [the broken millstone]. Also the narrative preceding their questions — how the Caesar spoke with Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya — and the narrative afterward — how he brought them onto his ship, etc. — in all of this we did not merit that he reveal to us the allusions within them. And I already heard from his holy mouth that he longed to reveal all of this as well, but it did not come to our hands in our many sins. For even what we merited hearing from his holy mouth — we were not worthy of it. Rather, the compassion and great lovingkindness of Hashem prevailed upon us, to hear all that we heard, with His great help, may He be praised forever. Now Hashem has stirred my heart and opened my eyes to find in them matters of substance, through His great lovingkindness, blessed be He. And this is the language of the Gemara (Bechoros 8b): The Caesar said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya: "The serpent — how long does it carry and give birth?" He said to him: "Seven years." "But the Elders of Athens mated them and they gave birth in three!" "Those were already pregnant for four years beforehand." "But they engage in relations!" "They too engage in relations like a human." "But they are wise!" "We are wiser than they." "If you are wise, go defeat them and bring them to me." He said to him: "How many are they?" "Sixty men." He said to him: "Make me a ship of sixty rooms, and in each room place sixty chairs." He made it for him. When he arrived there, he went to the butcher shop. He found a certain man who was butchering an animal. He said to him: "Do you have a head to sell?" He said: "Yes." He said: "How much for a head?" He said: "Half a zuza." He gave it to him. Afterwards he said: "Give me your head." He gave him a head of an animal. He said to him: "I said the head of an animal?! I said YOUR head!" etc. For the Caesar asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya: "The serpent — how long does it carry and give birth?" The serpent refers to the alien wisdoms, which are from the contamination of the Serpent, as it is written: "and the serpent was more cunning than all" (Genesis 3:1). "How long does it carry and give birth?" — that is, from where is the pregnancy and the birth of their wisdoms drawn? How much time and effort is needed to give birth to such wisdoms? He answered: "Seven years" — this is the aspect of the seven middos, which are the aspect of seven years. For there are the aspect of seven good years, which are the seven good middos, and there are seven bad years, which are the aspect of the seven lean cows — the seven evil middos, which are the totality of all the desires and middos. And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya answered him that all their wisdoms are drawn only from the seven evil middos, for they are immersed in all the desires and evil middos that are included in the aspect of seven years, and from there all their wisdoms are drawn. For all their wisdoms are only because of this-worldly desires, as mentioned above. And he asked him: "But the Elders of Athens mated them and they gave birth in three!" "Three" — this is the aspect of the three upper Sefiros: Chochmah, Binah, Da'as. For "G-d made this opposite that" as is known. And also in the Sitra Achrah there are the aspect of seven days of building, which are the seven middos containing all the desires, and the three upper ones — Chochmah, Binah, Da'as — which are the aspect of wisdom and intellect. And he asked him: did the Elders of Athens not test the matter and they gave birth in three? That is, they say all their wisdoms are born only through the intellect, which is comprised of the three upper ones, not through desires and evil middos. For they claim they arrive at their wisdom only through intellectual inquiry. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya answered: "Those were already pregnant for four years beforehand" — that is, in truth, when they investigate and arrive at their wisdom, it seems as if it is from intellectual compulsion. But everything is actually drawn from the desires and evil middos with which they are full and "pregnant" beforehand. And their desires and evil middos revolve in their minds and bring them to such wisdoms. And this is the aspect of "four years" — for all the desires and middos are drawn from the four y'sodos [elements], as is known. For the thoughts and wisdom of a person are according to the middos that he holds by, as is understood from the words of Rabbeinu of blessed memory on the verse "the seven locks of his head" (see end of Torah 29) — see there. "But they engage in relations!" — he asked him: but they exert themselves and serve their sages in their evil academies! For serving Torah scholars in holiness is the aspect of the halachos, as Rashi explained in several places — since one primarily receives halachos through serving Torah scholars. But "G-d made this opposite that" — for also those who follow the vanity of their wisdoms also serve their sages and receive the alien wisdoms from them. He answered him: "They too engage in relations like a human" — the truth is that they do serve their sages, but it is only like a monkey before a human. For the essential "human" is Yisrael, who are called adam, who engage in the wisdoms of the Torah that is called adam, as it is written: "This is the Torah — adam" (Numbers 19:14). And those who engage in alien wisdoms merely mimic like a monkey before a human and also serve their sages. But there is a difference and distinction between them and us: for we serve our Sages for the sake of the tachlis, while they serve their sages with their inner motivation being for the sake of this-worldly desires — so that they can acquire the wisdoms of medicine, so that they can amass money by killing thousands of souls through their false remedies. (As explained elsewhere — to distance oneself from doctors, for they are murderers of souls through their remedies.) "But they are wise!" "We are wiser than they." This is as its straightforward meaning — he asked: but we see that despite everything, they are wise, arriving at great wisdoms to make wondrous instruments and the like! He answered straightforwardly: "We are wiser than they." For all their wisdom is in matters of this world, as mentioned above. But all our wisdoms are only for the sake of the ultimate tachlis. Therefore certainly we are wiser than they. And in truth, those great Tzadikim who truly toiled and exerted themselves greatly for the sake of the tachlis, and separated themselves from this world entirely, merited afterwards to grasp even their wisdoms properly. As we have seen with several Tzadikim who were expert in all the seven wisdoms, far more than they. Only for ordinary people it is forbidden to engage in them, for they contain stumbling blocks. But even these ordinary people are wiser than they, since they follow the paths of the holy Torah — through which they surpass all wisdoms (as written in the Torah "Bo el Par'oh", Torah 64). But the great and holy Tzadikim of the highest caliber are also expert in all the wisdoms, far more than they. "If you are wise, go defeat them" etc. "He said to him: How many are they? Sixty men. He said to him: Make me a ship" etc. That is, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya answered him that to defeat those alien sages, one must gird one's loins exceedingly. And one must be a great warrior in Torah, prayer, and good deeds — and through this one can defeat them. And this is what he said: "Make me a ship" — the Torah, which is called a ship, in the aspect of "she was like the merchant ships" (Proverbs 31:14). For this world is a stormy and raging sea, as is brought in all the holy books, and as every person can understand within himself — what happens to him in this world and how the deep of the sea storms upon him every day. And to cross this world, which is the aspect of a stormy sea, one needs a very strong ship, which is the aspect of the holy Torah. And this one does not merit except through the holy Sages who know how to expound and explain for us the Torah, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of a ship of 60 rooms — the aspect of the 60 tractates of the Talmud, which are the totality of the Oral Torah, which is the aspect of Emunas Chachamim. "And in each room place sixty chairs" — Rashi explained: chairs. This is the aspect of tefillah [prayer], which is the aspect of the kingship of David, as is known — the aspect of a throne of kingship. And therefore David, who engaged all his days in much prayer until he merited composing the Book of Tehillim, which is the totality of the songs and prayers of Yisrael — merited the throne of kingship forever. And this is the aspect of sixty chairs. For prayer is comprised of sixty — the aspect of "sixty are the queens" (Song of Songs 6:8). And specifically through this one subjugates the sages of the Sitra Achrah, who are also in the aspect of sixty, as it is written there: "How many are they? Sixty men." For they suckle from the aspect of "sixty are the queens." And this is what he said to the Caesar: "Make for me" — for it is known that according to a person's deeds, he merits to defeat the Sitra Achrah. And then they themselves specifically help build the building of holiness — the aspect of "with all your heart — with both your inclinations" (Deuteronomy 6:5). And conversely, G-d forbid, the reverse. And therefore Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya said to the Caesar, who is the aspect of the wicked kingdom: "You make for me" — for you yourself must make such a ship for me. And so it was, as it is written there: "He made it for him." For Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya was a very great and awesome Tzadik, and he accomplished through his Torah and good deeds until the wicked kingdom itself was compelled to assist in building his aforementioned ship — comprised of sixty rooms, which are the totality of the Torah, and in each room sixty chairs, which are the totality of the prayer that he poured out before Hashem, blessed be He, over each and every Torah teaching, that he should merit to fulfill it, as mentioned above. For Rabbeinu of blessed memory cautioned us to make prayers out of the Torah teachings. "When he arrived there, he went to the butcher shop" — the butcher shop is the aspect of the Sitra Achrah and the Samech-Mem and his legions, who are occupied with butchering and slaughtering human beings — through inserting evil thoughts into people, through which is the essential slaughter, in the aspect of "they that slaughter men" (Hosea 13:2). This is the aspect of the captain of the butchers of Egypt, to whom Yosef was sold. For when the Tzadik, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, endangered himself to descend to the place of the Sitra Achrah from which the alien wisdoms suckle — the wisdoms that the sages of Greece engage in, who are the aspect of the Sitra Achrah — this is the same aspect as Yosef HaTzadik's descent to Egypt, which was full of idolatry and alien wisdoms, which were then primarily in Egypt, as is known from the holy books. And afterwards the sages of Greece received from them — they are the Elders of the Athenians. And for this purpose Yosef HaTzadik was compelled to descend to Egypt, and then he was first sold to the captain of the butchers, who is the stronghold of the Sitra Achrah of Egypt, from where comes the butchery and slaughter of all who are bound up after them, G-d forbid. "He found a certain man who was butchering an animal" — that is, he found the enticer, the seducer, who was making evil beasts, which are the aspect of evil thoughts, to insert them into people. As is written elsewhere (Torah 49): that evil thoughts are the aspect of evil beasts, etc. — see there. "He said to him: Do you have a head to sell? He said: Yes. He said: How much for a head?" The head is the aspect of the thought in the head. He asked him: you are occupied in this business of selling and inserting evil thoughts into people — tell me, "how much for a head?" — that is, with what thought do you most prevail over people to ensnare them in your trap? He said: "Half a zuza" — that is, with thoughts of the desire for money. And this is "half a zuza" — for no man dies with half his desire in his hand, for "if he has a hundred, he seeks two hundred" etc. And therefore the desire for money is called "half a zuza" — for one always stands at the half, for one never fills one's desire. "He gave it to him" — for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya wished then to subjugate and break the power of the wisdoms of the Sitra Achrah, who are the aspect of the Elders of the Athenians, whose essential sustenance is from evil thoughts of evil desires. And therefore he was compelled to descend to their channel from which they suckle their power, as is brought in the words of Rabbeinu of blessed memory in the Torah "Ra'isi M'noras Zahav" (Likutay Moharan I, 8) — see there. And when the Tzadik descends to them, they do not understand his intention. They think that he too is like the rest of the masses who are ensnared in their trap and who give power to the Sitra Achrah through their evil desires, as is understood in the Torah "Tik'u" III in Likutay Moharan II, 8 — see there. And this is the aspect of "he gave it to him" — he gave him the aspect of "half a zuza," which is the desire for money. That is, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya lowered himself into this evil middah of the desire for money, until it appeared to them that he was giving them power like the rest of humanity who give power to the Sitra Achrah, G-d forbid, through their evil desires. "Afterwards he said to him: Give me your head" — that is, give me the evil thought in the head that I purchased through the "half a zuza" that I gave you, i.e. by lowering myself into this desire of money. "He gave him a head of an animal." He gave him some evil thought, which is the aspect of evil beasts, as mentioned above. "He said to him: I said the head of an animal?! I said YOUR head!" — for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya informed him afterwards that he did not come here, G-d forbid, to buy and take evil thoughts. Rather, "your head" I said to you — what I lowered myself here for was for the sake of your head. For I want to cut off your head — to subjugate and break you. And only for this purpose did I lower myself into this evil channel, in order to break it and subjugate it (as explained in the Torah "Ra'isi" mentioned above). "He said to him: If you wish me to let you go, walk and show me the entrance to the academy of Athens" — for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya saw that he already had the power to break this evil channel to which he had descended, but he did not content himself with this. For he wanted to break them completely. Therefore he wanted to release him without killing him entirely, but rather to descend further until he saw the entrance to the complete impurity where the stronghold of the Sitra Achrah sits — the sages of Greece, the Elders of the Athenians. For the more one wants to break them, the more one needs to descend there. "He said to him: I am afraid, for whoever shows them is killed." For this entire war was conducted through thought and intellect. And the thought to which he had descended answered him: how is it possible to approach there? Does not everyone who approaches there get killed? For "her house sinks down to death" (Proverbs 2:18) etc. "He said to him: Take a bundle of reeds, and when you arrive there, set it upright like one who is resting" — he answered the thought: "What you are afraid of — descending there, that you might be trapped there — I will give you a general piece of advice regarding thoughts, how you will always be saved from them." And this is: "Take a bundle of reeds" etc. The bundle of reeds is the aspect of the thoughts in the brain, which are called reeds — the aspect of "acquire [kanei] wisdom, acquire understanding" (Proverbs 4:5) — of holiness. And conversely, in the Sitra Achrah there are also reeds of the Sitra Achrah (as written in the Torah "Ashrei Ha'Am", Torah 35, Likutay Rishon). And this is the aspect of a bundle of reeds — the bundling of the many thoughts in the mind, the ideas and thoughts that are bundled and wound around each other. Through this, a person is caught, G-d forbid, in whatever he is caught — because the thoughts are bundled and wound around and go from idea to idea and from thought to thought until they come to where they come, G-d forbid. And the advice for this: "Take the bundle of reeds and set it upright like one who is resting." That suddenly the person should stop and rest and cease and be in a mode of "sit and do not act" in his thought. And this is the aspect of Shabbos that we mentioned above — that in the midst of all the preoccupations and confusions and thoughts and many ideas, one should nullify oneself and rest and cease in the aspect of Shabbos. For in truth, the thought is always in a person's hands to direct as he wishes. Only when one is confused by many thoughts and ideas, it seems difficult to return and exit from them. But the essential advice is that suddenly one should stop and cease and nullify oneself, as mentioned above. And this is: "take the bundle of reeds" — when you are carrying bundles of thoughts and many ideas — "set it upright like one who is resting" — suddenly stop like one who is ceasing — the aspect of Shabbos, the aspect of bitul. For this is a great principle regarding thoughts: the essential thing is "sit and do not act," as written in Likutay Moharan II, 122. And even if, G-d forbid, one's thought has already gone astray and has been bundled and gone to where it has gone — if one tries to go back and undo it, one will be caught even more. Rather, one must also afterwards be in "sit and do not act" from now on at least. In the thick of the confusion of thoughts, one should stop and rest and think no more. And sometimes one needs bitul for this — to nullify oneself completely and remember Hashem, blessed be He, and nullify oneself toward the Infinite Light. And this is the aspect of Shabbos, which a person must always remember and draw upon himself the sanctity of Shabbos during the weekdays at all times. And this is the aspect of what is written at the end of the tale of the Exchanged Sons — that when they are chasing the person, he should station himself at Shabbos. For Shabbos protects Adam HaRishon — see there. That is, the aforementioned aspect — the aspect of "take the bundle of reeds and rest" — that in the midst of all the confusions, one should stop and rest in the aspect of Shabbos, as mentioned above. And through this one will be saved from evil thoughts, as mentioned above. "He went and found ambushers on the inside and ambushers on the outside" etc., and Rashi explained: ambushers. He saw there many ambushers lying in wait for the person to kill him when he approaches them. For he is the enticer, he is the accuser, he is the killer. For at first he and his legions entice the person to enter there. And immediately when he wants to enter, they kill him — in most cases, immediately. As is seen tangibly, for many have died immediately when they wanted to approach them, before they entered there. And there are those who entered and they do not let him leave, for they kill him immediately. "He reversed his sandal" etc. — the sandal is the aspect of the body, as the Holy Zohar states on the verse "remove your shoes from your feet" — "na'al da gufa" [the shoe is the body]. That is, it has some hold and scent from some desire. And indeed we heard from Rabbeinu of blessed memory that one must refine the body until not even a scent remains. For there are Tzadikim who broke the desires, but it is like leather that has been processed yet still has some scent remaining. But one must refine oneself so much that not even the slightest scent of bodily desires remains. And he said that one must refine the body like leather that is processed and turned over until it has no bad scent at all. And this is the aspect of "he reversed his sandal" — twice — that is, he refined himself of the body's hold through refinement upon refinement, purification upon purification, until "he killed them all." For through his self-refinement — refinement upon refinement, which is the aspect of "he reversed his sandal" twice — through this he killed them all, as mentioned above. "He went and found the youths above and the elders below." This is understood by one who is familiar with the ways of the opponents of the truth — whether those who engage in the alien wisdoms of philosophy, or even the opponents among the worthy Jews themselves, among whom the accusation has multiplied and there are many opponents to the point of truth who increase in machlokes. And among all these opponents, their way is that the essential quarrel, machlokes, and opposition is stirred up by the youths, who jump to the forefront and brazen their faces against the truly worthy ones who engage in earnest service with concentrated prayer, etc. And they open their mouths against them and greatly shame them with great brazenness. And the older opponents sit below and appear to be silent. But from one perspective they are worse, for all the machlokes grows from them, through their evil words that they instilled in the youths. Only the elders, because they no longer have such a boiling of the blood, appear to be sitting below and silent. But in truth, from one perspective they are worse, as mentioned above. "He said: Peace to all of you" — he said he has the power to make peace with all of them, both the youths and the elders. That is, to defeat them all. For the victory of the true Tzadik is the aspect of peace. For he desires no victory except to reveal the truth, to do them an eternal good. And therefore the Tzadik is called a man of peace — the aspect of "I am peace" (Psalms 120:7). For the essential peace is when one turns a person's mind toward the truth — the aspect of "the truth and the peace — love them" (Zechariah 8:19). For conversely, G-d forbid, this is not peace — that is, if they would want the truth to consent to falsehood, this is not peace. For "truth stands" and "the language of truth endures forever" (Proverbs 12:19), and it is impossible for the truth to be turned to falsehood. And therefore it is written: "There is no peace, says Hashem, for the wicked" (Isaiah 48:22). For as long as they are wicked and incline toward falsehood, it is impossible to be at peace with them. For the truth will never be nullified, as mentioned above. "They said to him: What is your business? He said to them: I am a sage of the Jews" — he answered them that he is a Jewish sage, and all his wisdom is only the wisdoms of Judaism, which is purposeful wisdom. For he has no wisdom of vanity — neither alien wisdoms of philosophy literally, nor worldly wisdoms. Rather, all his wisdom is Jewish wisdom: how to achieve the eternal tachlis that Yisrael engage in, regarding whom it is said: "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people" (Deuteronomy 4:6). "I have come to learn wisdom from you" — for I am strong in my mind that I can receive wisdom even from you. For in truth, one who is a true sage can receive wisdom and allusions for drawing close to Hashem, blessed be He, even from the stronghold of the Sitra Achrah and from the sages of the nations of the world. For in every place there is some hidden good, in the aspect of "in every place offerings and gifts are brought to My Name" (Malachi 1:11). Only other people are forbidden to endanger themselves to enter there lest they be caught there, G-d forbid. But the Tzadik can receive wisdom even from them, in the aspect of "Who is wise? One who learns from every person" (Avos 4:1) etc. And therefore they said to him: "If so, we shall ask you." And the commentators found it difficult: what does "if so" mean? On the contrary — he said he came to learn from them! But according to the above, it is well explained. For they understood that his saying "I have come to learn wisdom from you" was not due to his smallness before them. On the contrary — in this he revealed the greatness of his strength in his true wisdom, that he is so strong in his wisdom that he is not afraid of being caught in their foolishness. Rather, he can receive wisdom even from them, as mentioned above. Therefore they rightly said to him: "If so" — if you are that wise — "we shall ask you." He said to them: "Certainly! If you defeat me, do with me as you wish. And if I defeat you, eat bread with me on my ship." This is the aspect of "if your enemy is hungry, feed him bread" (Proverbs 25:21). And our Sages of blessed memory expounded: "the bread of the Torah." That is, I wish to do you good if I defeat you — that you should eat of the bread of my Torah teachings on my ship, which is the aspect of the totality of the Torah. And in this will be their test — if they wish, they will return to the truth. For this is what the true Tzadik greatly desires. And if not, there will be fulfilled in them the end of the verse: "for you will be heaping coals upon his head" (Proverbs 25:22) etc. And behold, all their questions and the answers of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya — our Master of blessed memory already revealed the wondrous secrets within them, in his awesome way, as is already printed in his holy book. Only he left room for me: the narrative before the questions and after it, and also two questions, as mentioned above. And I, poor and destitute, shall follow in his footsteps to explain them according to my poor understanding, as the good hand of Hashem is upon me. And this is the aspect of Pharaoh's dream, in which he saw seven good cows, which are the aspect of the good, the aspect of prayer, as it is written: "and let our lips take the place of bulls" (Hosea 14:3) — as brought in the words of Rabbeinu of blessed memory in Torah 55 regarding the Red Heifer, which is the aspect of prayer, see there. And it is comprised of seven, in the aspect of "seven times a day I praise You" (Psalms 119:164). And afterwards he saw seven other cows, very evil, etc. — which are the aspect of the absolute evil that prevails against the good prayer. And this is the aspect of the gavra d'ozif [the man who lends] mentioned above — that the evil prevails over the good. In the aspect of "and they came inside them, and it was not known that they came inside them" (Genesis 41:21) — as if there was no good at all, as if one had never prayed at all. And afterwards he saw again that seven good stalks arose, which are the aspect of the good, the aspect of prayer — which is the aspect of si'ach hasadeh [the conversation of the field], the aspect of "and Yitzchak went out to converse in the field" (Genesis 24:63). As brought in the Torah "Vayomer Boaz el Rus" — that through prayer one gathers wondrous plants in the upper field. And afterwards seven evil stalks arose again, which are the aspect of the evil that again prevailed against the good, against the prayer. And therefore Pharaoh was greatly astounded by this — in the aspect of "and no one could interpret them for Pharaoh" (Genesis 41:8). For the aforementioned question was difficult for him: "What did he see that he lent again?" — why do they keep going back and striving again and again to arouse the good and to pray, since one sees that evil prevails against them each time with such a force that seeks to obliterate everything, as mentioned above? And the tikun for all of this is the aspect of the interpretation of Yosef, who said that everything depends on the true Tzadik, in the aspect of "let Pharaoh seek out a discerning and wise man" (Genesis 41:33) — who will rectify all of this, in the aspect of "until a person comes who lifts him up," as mentioned above. This is the aspect of Yosef HaTzadik himself, in the aspect of "there is no one as discerning and wise as you" (Genesis 41:39) — who knows how to rectify each person, so that he should gather the good of the aspect of the good years, i.e. whenever the good is aroused, he should strengthen himself to seize good — prayer, Torah, and whatever he can — all the days of his life. So that he should have food stored in trust for afterward, to sustain his soul through it until he merits to prevail completely — until Hashem looks down and sees from heaven and has mercy on him and takes him out of the aspect of the exile of Egypt completely, and he merits complete good in completeness, which is the aspect of receiving the Torah and fulfilling it always and forever. Amen. And now we shall come to explain one more passage that we did not merit hearing from Rabbeinu of blessed memory himself, as mentioned above. And it is: Gemara: "We have a broken millstone. A tailor took a piece from it and threw it to them and said: 'Pull threads from it and sew it.' They said: 'Who can pull threads from a millstone?' He said to them: 'And who can sew a millstone?'" Rashi: "Sew it" — sew it back together. "Pull threads from it" — extract threads from it, like the way women pull threads from a garment and sew with them. The broken millstone — this is the aspect of Emunas Chachamim that has been broken. For the millstone is the aspect of Emunas Chachamim, as our Sages of blessed memory said on the verse "and the grinders cease" (Ecclesiastes 12:3) — "these are the great Mishnayos, such as the Mishnah of Bar Kappara" etc., as brought in Rashi's commentary there in Koheles. And likewise our Sages of blessed memory said: "Why are words of Torah compared to a millstone? Just as a millstone never ceases, so Torah scholars never cease from the Torah." It emerges that the millstone is the aspect of the true Sages who are occupied in clarifying all the halachos — the Oral Torah, which are the great Mishnayos — sifting out the refuse, which is the aspect of bran and chaff, and clarifying the halachah properly, which is the aspect of fine flour and soles. And these Elders of the Athenians asked: "the broken millstone" — when Emunas Chachamim has been broken, that is, when one falls from Emunas Chachamim, with what can it be sewn? With what can one go back and sew and connect and repair it? For it was difficult for them: how is it possible to raise the emunah? For they are very far from emunah. "He took a piece from it and threw it to them and said: 'Pull threads from it and sew it.'" For in truth, the raising of emunah is a wondrous matter, and therefore this matter is called peleh [wonder], as it is written: "I shall acknowledge Your Name, for You have done a wonder — etzos mei'rachok emunah omen" (Isaiah 25:1). For the matter is difficult to understand intellectually: how is it possible to raise emunah through some strategy? For since one has no emunah, then one will not believe, G-d forbid, even in the strategy itself! For example, in this Torah it is explained that the strategy for Emunas Chachamim is through a neder. But one who has fallen from Emunas Chachamim completely — certainly this strategy will not help him, for he does not believe even in the strategy itself, and he will not perform the strategy since he does not believe in it. If so, how is it possible to heal and reconnect his broken emunah? But in truth, Yisrael are a holy nation, believers the children of believers, and their root is emunah. Therefore, even when a Jew, G-d forbid, falls from emunah, certainly there still remains in him some point of emunah. Only the emunah is in a state of great diminishment, in the aspect of brokenness. But nevertheless, at least there is in him some good point from the emunah. For the very fact that he is pained that he fell from emunah — this itself is emunah. For in the depths of his heart, he senses from afar the holiness of the emunah of Yisrael — that there is a Singular Primordial One who leads, rules, and oversees, etc. And He has great and awesome Tzadikim who know Him, blessed be He, upon whom all our eternal hope depends. Only he does not feel the emunah in a revealed and complete way. And therefore a strategy helps him — such as vowing a neder etc. For as soon as he is told some good strategy for emunah, he seizes it like a precious stone, since there still remains within his inner self a point of emunah and he truly yearns to complete and raise the fallen and broken emunah. But the nations of the world — especially the sages of the alien wisdoms who are very far from emunah entirely, especially from Emunas Chachamim; and likewise those who are wise in their own eyes, even though they are from among the children of Yisrael, but have corrupted their deeds greatly until they distanced themselves from Emunas Chachamim completely — certainly it is difficult for them to repair the breakage of their emunah, since they do not believe in the Sages at all, nor in their holy strategies. And this is the aspect of: "He took a piece and threw it to them" — he took a piece of stone from the millstone and threw it before them and said: "Pull threads from it" — that they should draw threads from it to sew the millstone. That is, he answered that one takes some piece from the broken millstone itself and draws threads from it to sew the millstone. That is, even though Emunas Chachamim has been broken within them, one takes some strategy from the words of these very Sages whose emunah has been broken within him — for example, to vow some neder etc. — and through this he repairs the emunah. And this is the aspect of "pull threads from it" — and Rashi explained: threads. This is the aspect of emunah, which is dependent on the mouth, in the aspect of "like a thread of scarlet are your lips" (Song of Songs 4:3), in the aspect of "I shall make known Your faithfulness with my mouth" (Psalms 89:2). And this is the aspect of "the hope of a scarlet thread" (Joshua 2:18). For emunah is the essential eternal hope — the aspect of "and there is hope for your future" (Jeremiah 31:16). For emunah is acharis hayamim [the end of days], as is brought in the words of Rabbeinu of blessed memory elsewhere. And then one will merit being included in the lights of the three Avos, who are the foundation and root of the emunah of Yisrael — the aspect of "and the threefold cord is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:12). For then certainly it will not quickly be broken, and one will not fall from emunah. Rather, one will be strong in one's emunah forever. It emerges that he answered them: even though one fell from Emunas Chachamim, which is the essential thing — the totality of holy emunah, for they draw for us the holy emunah in completeness, and without Emunas Chachamim — true Sages — even one's emunah in Hashem, blessed be He, is not complete, as is known — nevertheless, even if one fell from Emunas Chachamim, it is possible to rectify through the broken emunah itself. Since at the very least there still remains in him some good points from the broken emunah, therefore he can take a teaching from their holy words — that is, some strategy from their words — through which he will go back and repair the emunah. And this is the aspect of: "I shall acknowledge Your Name, for You have done a wonder — etzos mei'rachok emunah omen" — a double expression: emunah omen. That is, one who still has in him some point of emunah — he can go back and repair and raise the emunah through the exceedingly wondrous strategies that are the aspect of "strategies from afar," that come from a very distant, lofty, and awesome place — the aspect of "from afar she brings her bread" (Proverbs 31:14). For the strategies of the great Tzadikim — especially the strategies regarding the holy emunah — come from very far away, from exceedingly lofty and immense supernal intellects drawn from very lofty worlds far removed from this world. And this is "etzos mei'rachok emunah omen" — that through the point of emunah that still remains with him, through which he exerts himself to fulfill their strategy, through this he merits complete emunah, the aspect of emunah omen, as mentioned above. But one who has fallen into alien wisdoms to the point that he does not believe at all, and moreover he mocks those who hold fast to Emunas Chachamim — certainly it is difficult to repair the breakage of his emunah. And therefore they immediately asked: "Who can pull threads from a millstone?" — how is it possible to draw threads from stone? That is, how is it possible to draw the holy emunah, which is the scarlet thread, from a piece of stone of the millstone? For they have no emunah in the strategy itself, as mentioned above. He answered them: "And who can sew a millstone?" — for truly, it is impossible to repair the broken emunah for such people. For one who cannot pull threads from a piece of stone of the millstone — that is, to fulfill the strategies of the Tzadikim even though their emunah has been broken within him, as mentioned above — he certainly cannot sew the broken millstone, cannot repair the fallen emunah, since he does not believe in the strategy itself, as mentioned above. For in truth, emunah is called a stone — the aspect of "the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone" (Psalms 118:22). But even though it is called a stone — because one must be strong in emunah like a strong stone, in the aspect of "I am a wall" (Song of Songs 8:10), where Yisrael boast that they are strong in their emunah like a wall of stones — nevertheless, it is not a truly hard stone without any moisture, G-d forbid. On the contrary — it is the aspect of a precious stone, the aspect of "avna tava dich'lila mikol g'vanin" [a good stone comprised of all colors], and all types of bounty and blessings are drawn from this precious stone. For it is the aspect of a well of living water, etc. For emunah is the source of blessings and bounty. And therefore, through a piece of stone from the broken millstone — that is, through some strategy from the holy words of the true Sages — one can draw threads from it to repair the emunah, as mentioned above. But for them — the opponents — it is like a truly hard stone. Therefore they asked: "Who can pull threads from a millstone?" — as mentioned above. And therefore he answered them in truth: "Who can sew a millstone?" — for certainly for such people it is impossible to repair and reconnect the emunah, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of "which you broke — and place them in the Ark" (Deuteronomy 10:2). And our Sages of blessed memory said: "The Tablets and the broken Tablets rest in the Ark." That is, through the aspect of the broken Tablets themselves — the aspect of the broken emunah — through this itself the emunah is repaired anew. These are the aspect of the second Tablets — the aspect of "he took a piece and threw it to them" etc. For through the point of the broken emunah that still remains in him, through this he fulfills the strategy of the Sages — whose emunah has been broken within him — and returns and repairs the emunah, which is the aspect of receiving the second Tablets. For the entire receiving of the Torah stands upon emunah, as it is written: "all Your commandments are emunah" (Psalms 119:86). And as it is written: "Chavakuk came and established them on emunah" (Makkos 24a) etc. — that is, as mentioned above. And the essential thing is, as mentioned above, that anyone who has within himself some point of holy emunah, even if it has been broken — he can repair it. And this is the aspect of: "Gavra d'ozif v'tarif" [the man who lends and demands repayment]. For Rabbeinu of blessed memory already explained a great part of the riddles in this Aggadah, in his lofty and wondrous manner, and the interpretations are already printed in his holy book. And the essence of the matter regarding "the man who lends" is that it refers to the Tzadik who arouses the good in a person and inspires him to pray and perform good deeds — and then the evil forces prevail and make the person forget everything, as if there was no good at all. And then the good returns again and the person is inspired again — and then the evil prevails again, and so on. And this is the question: "What did he see that he goes back and lends again?" — seeing that each time the evil prevails and takes everything! And the answer is, "until a man comes who lifts him up" — meaning the true Tzadik who knows how to arrange and bring to perfection all the scattered good points that were gathered amidst all these ascents and descents. And ultimately, nothing is lost — every prayer, every good point is collected by the Tzadik and constructed into a complete structure. And this is the aspect of the aforementioned riddle — that the good that has been swallowed is never truly lost, for the true Tzadik arranges and elevates everything. And this is the aspect of Chanukah, which is to subjugate the wicked kingdom of Greece. The sages of Greece, who are the Elders of Athens — the essence of the Greek sages who arose against Yisrael "to make them forget Your Torah" etc. — and everything was through the damage to Emunas Chachamim. For all those who engage in alien wisdoms — their essential heresy is in Emunas Chachamim, which is the aspect of the Oral Torah. For the Written Torah — i.e. the Tanach — they study somewhat. But in truth, when they deny the Oral Torah and Emunas Chachamim, they are denying the Written Torah as well. For one knows nothing of the Torah except through the true Sages who explained the Torah for us. But their essential denial is in Emunas Chachamim, and through this they wished to obliterate the Torah completely. For through not believing in the true Sages, G-d forbid, the Torah is entirely forgotten, as mentioned above. And therefore, when Hashem, blessed be He, in His great mercy stood by us in our time of distress and subjugated and humbled them, our Sages of blessed memory established for us these eight days of Chanukah, which are the aspect of the dedication of the Beis HaMikdash. This is the aspect of the tikun of the neder, which is the tikun of Emunas Chachamim. For all vows and free-will offerings come into the Beis HaMikdash, and the Beis HaMikdash itself was built through the vows and free-will offerings of Yisrael. And therefore there — in the Beis HaMikdash — is the essential tikun of Emunas Chachamim, which is the aspect of the Oral Torah. For there sat the Great Sanhedrin and clarified all the halachos, and regarding them it is said: "you shall not deviate from the word they tell you" (Deuteronomy 17:11) etc. — which is the essential aspect of Emunas Chachamim, as this verse is brought in the aforementioned Torah regarding Emunas Chachamim. And therefore David could not find the place of the Beis HaMikdash except through a neder, as it is written: "He swore to Hashem, he vowed to the Mighty One of Yaakov" etc. "until I find a place for Hashem" (Psalms 132:2–5) etc. And this is the aspect of the Mishkan that Hashem commanded to build after the sin of the Golden Calf. For the essential sin of the Golden Calf was a damage to emunah — they made an idol and damaged the emunah. And the essential damage was through damaging Emunas Chachamim, through which they came to idolatry. As it is written there: "For this man Moshe — we do not know what became of him" (Exodus 32:1) — they had difficulties regarding Moshe because he delayed descending, and they did not nullify their minds to believe in him that certainly his ways are upright, even though they could not understand with their intellect. But they did not believe in Moshe then, and they damaged Emunas Chachamim until they came to what they came to. And when Hashem, blessed be He, was reconciled with Moshe on Yom Kippur to forgive them, He commanded to build a Mishkan to rectify the damage of Emunas Chachamim. For the Mishkan, the aspect of the Beis HaMikdash, was entirely made from the vows and free-will offerings of Yisrael, as it is written: "from every man whose heart moves him, you shall take My offering" (Exodus 25:2) — in order to rectify through the vows and free-will offerings of the Mishkan the damage to Emunas Chachamim, which is the essential sin of the Golden Calf, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of the Chanukah light, the aspect of the oil of Chanukah. For the essential great light of the Chanukah lamp, which is the aspect of the lights of the Menorah, is drawn from the light of the Tzadik, through Emunas Chachamim that was rectified when they subjugated the wicked kingdom of Greece — which is the aspect of the damage to Emunas Chachamim. For "when this one falls, that one rises." For the Tzadik is the light that illuminates in all the worlds, in the aspect of "and G-d saw the light, that it was good" (Genesis 1:4) — "this is the Tzadik," in the aspect of "say of the Tzadik that he is good" (Isaiah 3:10). And from the great light of the Tzadik, all of Yisrael kindle the holy Chanukah lamp, to illuminate upon us the light of Hashem, blessed be He, and His holy Torah in the midst of the darkness of our obscurity. And this is the aspect of the oil of the Chanukah lamp — the aspect of "with My holy oil I have anointed him" (Psalms 89:21), which is brought in the aforementioned Torah — which is the aspect of the neder. That is, through the oil, which is the aspect of the neder, through this one kindles the holy Chanukah lamp, which is the aspect of the light of the Tzadik that we draw upon ourselves through Emunas Chachamim, which one merits through the neder, which is the aspect of oil, as mentioned above. And therefore the miracle was through the small amount of oil that was sealed with the seal of the Kohen Gadol. For the Kohanim are occupied in the service of the Beis HaMikdash with the vows and free-will offerings of Yisrael, and the Kohen Gadol is the essence of the totality of the Kohanim. Therefore he is in the aspect of the tikun of the neder, and therefore he is anointed with the anointing oil, as it is written: "and the Kohen who is greatest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil has been poured" (Leviticus 21:10) — the aspect of "with My holy oil I have anointed him", which is the aspect of the neder. And therefore the Kohanim are in the aspect of Emunas Chachamim, for regarding them it is said: "you shall not deviate from the word" etc. — as it is written in the verse: "when a matter is too wondrous for you" etc. "you shall come to the Kohanim" etc. "you shall not deviate" etc. And therefore the Kohen Gadol enters on Yom Kippur into the upper sanctity of the Beis HaMikdash, into the innermost chamber, to atone for the children of Yisrael. For all sins and damages are drawn through the damage to Emunas Chachamim, upon which the fulfillment of the entire Torah depends, as mentioned above. And therefore on Yom Kippur, when the sin of the Golden Calf — the damage to Emunas Chachamim — was forgiven, therefore then all the sins of Yisrael are forgiven, for they all come through the damage to Emunas Chachamim, as mentioned above. And all of this is rectified through the neder, as mentioned above. And this is why we begin with Kol Nidrei upon entering Yom Kippur. For the essential aspect of Yom Kippur, which is the tikun of Emunas Chachamim, depends on the tikun of the neder, as mentioned above. And the essential strength of the miracle was that the small amount of oil that had enough to burn for only one day, a miracle occurred and it burned for eight days. This is the aspect of the wondrous tikun of the neder, which is a small amount of separateness, as mentioned above. And through this one merits Emunas Chachamim, through which one's eternal tikun comes about. And the essential matter is: a person must know that as long as he has within himself some good point of the holy emunah, he has great hope to return and rectify everything. In the aspect of "he took a piece and threw it to them" — "pull threads from it and sew it" etc. — that one can draw the hope of the scarlet thread through the piece of stone that one gathers from the broken and fallen emunah, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of "and from the remnant of the jugs a miracle was made for the roses" — this is the aspect of "he took a piece and threw it to them," as mentioned above. For through the neder, which is a small matter of separateness — enough for only one day, for a short time — the neder is the aspect of peleh [wonder], the aspect of a miracle, which has the power to illuminate within it Emunas Chachamim. And this is the aspect of "a miracle occurred and it burned for eight days" — from Chochmah to Emunah, which are eight aspects, as is known. That through the small amount of oil, the aspect of the neder, one merited Emunas Chachamim, which is one's eternal hope, as mentioned above. And therefore we read on Chanukah the Torah portion of the Nesi'im [the tribal princes]. For the Nesi'im are the aspect of the Tzadikim and the holy Sages in whom we must believe and from whom we must draw their light upon us — the aspect of the tikun of Emunas Chachamim, as mentioned above. And also all the offerings of the Nesi'im were vows and free-will offerings that they donated, in order to draw the tikun of Emunas Chachamim upon Yisrael through their vows, as mentioned above. And also they needed to believe in themselves — for this too is included in the tikun of Emunas Chachamim, as written in the Torah "Chadi Rabbi Shimon" (Torah 61) — see there. Therefore they brought many vows for the dedication of the altar at the time of the erection of the Mishkan, which is the tikun of Emunas Chachamim, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of "when you light the lamps" (Numbers 8:2), which is placed adjacent to this, for the oil of the Menorah is also the aspect of the neder, as mentioned above. And therefore we read all of this on Chanukah, as mentioned above. It emerges that the Chanukah lamp is the aspect of Emunas Chachamim that is rectified through the neder, which is the aspect of the oil, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of: "a lamp to my feet are Your words, and a light to my path. I have sworn and I will fulfill" (Psalms 119:105–106) etc. That is, through the aspect of "I have sworn and I will fulfill" — the aspect of an oath and neder that one vows and fulfills immediately, as our Sages of blessed memory expounded on this verse: "it is permitted for a person to vow in order to motivate himself," as it is said: "I have sworn and I will fulfill" etc. — through this: "a lamp to my feet are Your words" etc. — the aspect of the sanctity of the Chanukah lamp. That is, the tikun of Emunas Chachamim that one merits through the neder, through "I have sworn and I will fulfill", as mentioned above. And this is "a lamp to my feet are Your words" — that Emunas Chachamim is rectified, and one believes in their holy words, and they illuminate for him like a lamp and a light, for every single word — in the aspect of "a lamp to my feet are Your words, and a light to my path," as mentioned above. And therefore Chanukah is called by the language of chinuch [education/initiation] in the service of Hashem. For the essential chinuch in the service of Hashem is through Emunas Chachamim. For just as a small child needs his father and mother to educate him in Torah and prayer, so too we need — even more so — that the true Tzadikim educate us in His service, blessed be He. For it is impossible to enter the service of Hashem except through them, as mentioned above. Also, just as chinuch is through a small and easy thing that one trains the child to do — and even though it is a small thing, it is very precious since through it one educates him — so too is the above-mentioned concept: through some mere separateness that one accepts upon oneself through a neder, through this one is initiated into the service of Hashem and one merits Emunas Chachamim and the light of the Avos and Shabbos and all good, as mentioned above. This is the aspect of "he took a piece" etc., as above. And this is also the difference between one who studies mussar books alone and one who draws close to a true Tzadik. For although the study of mussar books is very, very precious, nevertheless the good strategies for His service, blessed be He, are not as fully explained there. Rather, they rebuke and arouse him to return to Hashem, blessed be He. But for the most part, he will not find any practical strategy for how to draw close. But when one draws close to true Tzadikim and their students, etc. — they are full of precious strategies, in the aspect of "and they benefit from him strategy" etc. For most strategies must be received mouth to mouth, as is understood by all. And therefore the essential thing is Emunas Chachamim — true Sages. And this is the aspect of Chanukah, language of chinuch. For they give wondrous strategies — the aspect of "strategies from afar," exceedingly deep strategies — through which everyone can draw close to Hashem, blessed be He, and merit the ultimate good. Amen. And this is the aspect of the Hallel of Chanukah, in the aspect of "and they established these eight days of Chanukah to give thanks and praise to Your great Name." For certainly one must give much thanks and praise to His great Name, blessed be He, when one merits Emunas Chachamim who guide him on the straight and true path. For one brings a thanksgiving offering when one emerges from distress, and when one merits Emunas Chachamim — which is the aspect of Chanukah — he is redeemed and saved from all types of suffering in the world. For the measure of good is greater, for just as one who disgraces Torah scholars has no cure for his affliction, so too the reverse: when one has Emunas Chachamim, there is no wound that does not have a cure, in the aspect of "and to all his flesh, healing" (Proverbs 4:22), as mentioned above. Therefore certainly it is fitting for him to give thanks and praise to Hashem, blessed be He, all the days of his life, that He bestowed such kindnesses upon him — to draw him near to eternal life, which is the true Tzadikim who are called "life." And this is: "upon me, O G-d, are Your vows" (Psalms 56:13) — through the neder, through which Emunas Chachamim is rectified — through this: "I will pay thanksgiving offerings to You" — i.e. Hallel and thanksgiving, as mentioned above. "For You have rescued my soul from death; surely my feet from stumbling, to walk before G-d in the light of the living" (Psalms 56:14) — for all of this one merits only through the true Tzadikim, as mentioned above. And this is: "with a free-will offering I will sacrifice to You; I will thank Your Name" (Psalms 54:8) etc. — through the aspect of a free-will offering and neder, which is the tikun of Emunas Chachamim, through this: "I will thank Your Name, Hashem, for it is good, for from all distress He has delivered me" — for through this one is saved from all suffering, as mentioned above. And this is: "and upon my enemies my eye has gazed" — the aspect of "to silence enemy and avenger," which one merits through this, as mentioned above. And this is also the aspect of: "to You I will slaughter a thanksgiving offering" etc. "my vows to Hashem I will fulfill" (Psalms 116:17–18) etc. And this is why Modim is placed adjacent to Retzei [in the Amidah]. For Retzei is the prayer for the acceptance of the Temple service, the service of offerings — which is the aspect of the neder, as mentioned above. Through which Emunas Chachamim is rectified, which is the essential thing. Therefore we say immediately afterward: "We thank You" etc. — "We will thank You and recount Your praise for our lives" etc. "and for Your miracles that are with us every day" etc. "and for Your wonders and goodness at all times" etc. For all the miracles and wonders that Hashem, blessed be He, does with a person every day and at every time — all of it is that He thinks thoughts concerning him so that he will not be cast away, G-d forbid, that he should merit the ultimate good. This is the essential aspect of the miracles and wonders that Hashem, blessed be He, arranges for a person every day. And all these miracles and wonders one merits only through the true Tzadikim who give life to the entire world with eternal life. And each person, according to his closeness to them — so does Hashem, blessed be He, increase His kindness toward him and multiply His wonders and miracles and awesome deeds with him. And upon this is the essential thanksgiving of Modim. And therefore Modim is placed adjacent to Retzei, which is the blessing of the Temple service — the aspect of the neder. For through the neder one merits Emunas Chachamim, as mentioned above. And therefore the blessing of Sim Shalom [Grant Peace] is placed afterward, for through the complete tikun of Emunas Chachamim one merits peace, as written in the aforementioned Torah. And this is the aspect of: "Torah scholars increase peace in the world." And this is the aspect of Modim d'Rabbanan — d'Rabbanan specifically. For the essential aspect of Modim — to thank and praise Hashem, blessed be He — is through Rabbanan, the true Torah scholars — that is, through Emunas Chachamim, as mentioned above. And through the tikun of Emunas Chachamim in all its aspects, through this one subjugates the gate of Aram, which falls in fall after fall, and one raises up the gate of holiness — until ben David comes. And this is the aspect of: the Chanukah lamp is placed near the entrance — to raise up the gate and entrance of holiness, in the aspect of "lift up your heads, O gates, and be uplifted, O everlasting doors" (Psalms 24:7), as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of: "this is the gate of Hashem; the Tzadikim" (Psalms 118:20) etc. — for the essential gate of holiness is built through the Tzadikim. And this is: "I will thank You, for You have answered me" (Psalms 118:21) — for this is the essential thanksgiving: that one merited to draw close to the Tzadikim, who take him out of all the gates of impurity and bring him into all the gates of holiness. And this is the aspect of: "the voice of song and salvation is in the tents of the Tzadikim" (Psalms 118:15), as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of the Shabbos lamp. Through this one draws upon oneself the holiness of Shabbos, for it is the first holiness of Shabbos. For the beginning of drawing the holiness of Shabbos is through the lighting of the Shabbos candles, which precedes all the mitzvos and holinesses of Shabbos. For the essential holiness of Shabbos one merits through Emunas Chachamim, which one merits through the neder, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of the Shabbos lamp, which is the aspect of drawing the light of the Tzadik through the aspect of the neder, as mentioned above regarding the Chanukah lamp. Through this the holiness of Shabbos is drawn, as mentioned above. For it is explained in the Kavanos that the Chanukah lamp and the Shabbos lamp are of one aspect: that one draws the totality of all three unifications that together equal the numerical value of ner [lamp] — see there. Only the difference is that on Chanukah there is no ascent of the Shechinah; rather, one draws down to her the great light, which is the aspect of ner, through lighting below in her place. But on Shabbos, she ascends above, and there the great light that is the aspect of ner shines upon her — see there. And therefore on Shabbos one must light the Chanukah lamp first and afterward the Shabbos lamp, for it is fitting to raise her gradually from below to above, from level to level. But if one lit the Shabbos lamp first, she has already ascended above to the very top — then how can one light the Chanukah lamp? See there. And all the great lights that are the totality of the unifications — which are the aspect of kindling the lamp of mitzvah drawn on Chanukah and Shabbos — all are drawn from the light of the great Tzadik, who is the light of all lights, as mentioned above. That is, the aspect of Emunas Chachamim, through which the light of the Tzadik shines within him, which one merits through the neder, which is the oil of the lamp, as mentioned above. And the matter is according to what is explained (in Torah 38, Likutay Moharan II) — that sometimes the Tzadik goes and travels to the students to illuminate within them, and sometimes the students come to him. And it is explained there that when the Tzadik travels to the students, it is due to the greatness of the Tzadik, whose light is so great that it is impossible for the students to receive from him in his place due to the abundance of light, etc. Therefore the Tzadik must lower and humble himself to go to them, so that the light is diminished enough for the student to receive it, etc. — see there all this well. And it is explained there at the end that regarding this matter there are many distinctions — see there. And it is understood from this that just as there are distinctions from the side of the greatness of the Rav who is very great and must go and lower himself to the student, etc. — so too there are many distinctions from the side of the smallness of the recipients. That sometimes, because the students who receive are very small in their level, they cannot ascend to the Rav to receive his great light in his place. Therefore the Rav must lower himself to them, to their place, through various strategies, so that he can enliven them and illuminate within them in their place — see there and understand. And this is the aforementioned distinction between the Shabbos lamp and the Chanukah lamp. For the Chanukah lamp is lit during the weekdays, when there is no ascent and the world is in great smallness. Only through the intensity of the miracles at that time, they established this tikun that we can draw down the light of the Tzadik to below, below — which is the aspect of the Tzadik traveling and going to the world, lowering and humbling himself in such a way that he can illuminate within them in their place. But on Shabbos, when all the worlds ascend, as is known — then they can ascend due to the holiness of Shabbos and receive the light of the Tzadik in his place, as mentioned above. But now, in our exile, we would not have been able to ascend to the holiness of Shabbos to receive the light of the Tzadik in his place, were it not for Hashem who was with us — who performed miracles and wonders for us in the days of Mattisyahu, etc. — and they established for us the lighting of the Chanukah lamp. For then the wicked kingdom of Greece arose — the aspect of the damage to Emunas Chachamim — and wished to abolish the holiness of Shabbos, which is the totality of the Torah, from Yisrael, for they decreed that Shabbos should be desecrated, etc. — as mentioned above. For when there is damage to Emunas Chachamim, G-d forbid, it is impossible to receive the holiness of Oneg Shabbos, as is explained in the aforementioned Torah — that the essential holiness of Shabbos, the aspect of Oneg Shabbos, is merited through the tikun of Emunas Chachamim — see there. But Mattisyahu and his sons, who were awesome Tzadikim, in the greatness of their power subjugated and toppled the wicked kingdom of Greece — the aspect of the damage to Emunas Chachamim — and drew down the tikun of Emunas Chachamim through the neder, which is the tikun of the lighting of the Chanukah lamp that they established for us, as mentioned above. That is, they established for us for generations that even in the intensity of this bitter exile, when we are in very great weakness, we can draw the light of the Tzadik down to our place — through the lighting of the Chanukah lamp. This is the aspect of the Tzadik lowering himself to us through the many paths of his wonders, in such a way that he can illuminate within us even now, in the aspect of weekdays, in our lowliness. This is the aspect of the Tzadik traveling and going and diminishing himself to illuminate within the recipients, as above. And through this we have the power to then ascend to the light of Shabbos, which one merits through the tikun of Emunas Chachamim, as mentioned above. For through the Tzadik lowering himself and illuminating within us his great light below, in our place — which is the aspect of the lighting of the Chanukah lamp — through this we have the power afterward to ascend to the light of the Tzadik, to receive the light in his place — which is the aspect of the lighting of the Shabbos lamp, the aspect of going and ascending to the light of the Tzadik, as above. And this is the aspect of the special quality of Shabbos Chanukah, when one fulfills both holy lamplight commandments — the Chanukah lamp and the Shabbos lamp. And seemingly, the Shabbos lamp alone should suffice, since it is greater — for one ascends above, as mentioned above. But in truth, one must first light the Chanukah lamp, in order to draw the light of the Tzadik below to our place through various garments and strategies. This is the tikun that Mattisyahu and the Tzadikim of that generation drew into us for all generations, through the intensity of the miracle of Chanukah, as above. And afterward we are able to light the Shabbos lamp, for afterward we can ascend to the light of the Tzadik to receive the light in his place. And so the true Tzadikim conduct themselves with us: when they see the weakness of the world to receive their great light, then they diminish themselves in many ways of diminishment and in many aspects, and they travel and go to the world in order to enliven them and arouse them. And afterward the world has the power to go and travel to them, to receive their light in their place. And this is the aspect of: "I shall go down with you to Egypt, and I shall also surely bring you up" (Genesis 46:4) — that at first Hashem, blessed be He, lowers Himself to Yisrael, as above, and afterward He raises them up through this with ascent after ascent, in the aspect of "bring you up, also ascending." And this is the aspect of what is written regarding Shmuel: "and he went about Beis El and Gilgal and Mitzpah, and his return was to Ramah, for there was his house" (I Samuel 7:16) — that at first he went around the land, Beis El and Gilgal etc., going and traveling and lowering himself to illuminate within Yisrael. And afterward, "his return was to Ramah, for there was his house" — he returned to his home, to his place, and the entire world went to him, for afterward they were able to ascend to him to receive the light in his place, as mentioned above. And every person must know this: that all the hints and thoughts of teshuvah that come to him every day — all of this is drawn from the light of Hashem, blessed be He, and the true Tzadikim, who lower themselves to him to illuminate within him in his place. And if he will arouse himself with some awakening, he can afterward ascend to the light of the Tzadik, to his place. In the aspect of: "I shall go down with you to Egypt, and I shall also surely bring you up" — and this applies to every person and at every time. Understand this well. And this is the aspect of what is written in Yechezkel (6): "and your survivors shall remember Me" etc. "when I have broken their adulterous heart" — see Rashi's commentary there, whose meaning is that, as it were, Hashem, blessed be He, humbled Himself to arouse them to teshuvah, etc. — i.e. as above, that the prophet rebukes them in the Name of Hashem, blessed be He, who humbled and lowered Himself so much in order to arouse them and raise them to Himself — and they did not take it to heart, etc. This is the aspect of what is written in the Kavanos of Chanukah: that there are three unifications that all together equal the numerical value of ner [lamp] — namely, the unification of Hashem-Ekyeh, the unification of Hashem-Adnus, and the unification of Hashem-Elokim. And all of them together equal ner, which is the kavanah of lighting the holy lamp of Chanukah and of Shabbos — only there is a distinction, as mentioned above. And according to the above, the Kavanos are well explained. For through lighting the aforementioned holy lamp, one draws the aspect of the tikun of the neder — the aspect of "with My holy oil I have anointed him", as above. Through which one is included in the light of the Avos, and through this one merits shalom. This is the aspect of the downfall of the gate of Aram three times and the raising of the gate of holiness three times until ben David comes, as is well explained at the end — see there. And this is the aspect of the three unifications mentioned above, through which everything is rectified. For the tikun of the neder is the aspect of drawing the first unification — Hashem-Ekyeh. For Ekyeh is the aspect of Binah, the totality of the three upper sefiros, where the neder resides — the aspect of peleh [wonder], "d'saman ismar" [which is stated there], in the aspect of "when a matter is too wondrous for you" etc., the aspect of "in that which is beyond you, do not inquire," as is known. And through this the lights of the Avos sparkle within him, etc. — and this is the aspect of the unification of Hashem-Adnus. For the essential illumination of the Avos was from Avraham, who was the first of them all, and Avraham was the first to call Hashem, blessed be He, by the Name Adnus, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "Until Avraham, there was no person who called Him Adnus." Therefore the illumination of the Avos is the aspect of the unification of Hashem-Adnus, for Avraham was the first to reveal His sovereignty in the world and called Him Adnus, and his sons Yitzchak and Yaakov followed in this path after him. And through the illumination of the Avos one merits Shabbos and one merits shalom, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of the unification of Hashem-Elokim, which is the complete Name. For the essential shalom is in this unification of Hashem-Elokim, which is the aspect of the inclusion of the attribute of judgment within the attribute of mercy, the aspect of "Hashem is the Elokim" (I Kings 18:39). This is the essential shalom, as is known. For the essential root of machlokes is drawn when there is no resolution and peace between the attribute of mercy and the attribute of judgment. And through the aforementioned tikunim one merits shalom, which is the aspect of peace between the attributes — between mercy and judgment — that the mercy sweetens all the judgments, which is the aspect of the unification of Hashem-Elokim, as is known. And this is the aspect of: "then my enemies will turn back" etc., "in Elokim I will praise the word, in Hashem I will praise the word" (Psalms 56:10–11) — that one will merit to cause the enemies to fall so they will turn back, in the aspect of "to silence enemy and avenger." All of this one merits through the neder, as mentioned above. Through which one merits the sparkling of the Avos and Oneg Shabbos, through which one merits "to silence the enemy" — the aspect of "then my enemies will turn back" etc. And also to increase shalom — the aspect of what is adjacent: "in Elokim I will praise the word" — the aspect of the unification of Hashem-Elokim, which is the aspect of shalom, as above. And then: "in Elokim I have trusted; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Psalms 56:12) — for since the judgment, the aspect of Elokim, has already been sweetened, therefore I trust in Him that no person can do anything to me. And all of this one merits through the neder, in the aspect of: "upon me, O G-d, are Your vows; I will pay thanksgiving offerings to You" (Psalms 56:13), as above. And with this, all of these verses connect beautifully and pleasantly. And this is: "b'SheMeN KaDShi MeShaCHTiV" — the final letters spell Yavan [Greece]. For through the aspect of "with My holy oil I have anointed him" — which is the aspect of the neder — one subjugates the kingdom of Greece, which is the aspect of the damage to Emunas Chachamim. For the essential tikun of Emunas Chachamim is through the neder, and all of this is the aspect of Chanukah, as mentioned above. [The following relates to the Gemara passage above, "the broken millstone":] There is more to explain from the above matter. For they asked: "the broken millstone" — one who has damaged the holy Bris [covenant of purity], with what can it be sewn? How is it possible to connect and repair it? For the millstone is the aspect of marital union, the aspect of "one shall not take a millstone as a pledge" (Deuteronomy 24:6). And in the Targum Yerushalmi it says: "those who force grooms and brides" — see there. And likewise it is brought in the writings of the Ari z"l that the millstone and its rider hint at the union of groom and bride. And this is the aspect of: "and he was grinding in the prison house" (Judges 16:21), as our Sages of blessed memory expounded. And they asked: "the broken millstone" — when this has been broken, i.e. one who has damaged this matter — "with what can it be sewn?" — how can it be repaired? "He took a piece and threw it to them. He said: 'Pull threads from it.'" That is, he hinted that from this very matter itself the tikun is drawn. For when one follows the law of Yisrael [i.e. marries according to halachah], then one can merit that from this will be drawn a holy birth — that a child of Yisrael will be born. And through this comes the essential tikun habris. For the essential tikun habris is through the birth and multiplication of the children of Yisrael, which is the first mitzvah of the Torah. This is the aspect of Yosef HaTzadik, who is the essential aspect of tikun habris, who is called "a fruitful bough is Yosef, a fruitful bough" (Genesis 49:22) etc. — language of "be fruitful and multiply." For through the births of Yisrael, the holy sparks are refined from generation to generation. For each one of the seed of Yisrael magnifies and sanctifies His Name, blessed be He, through the mitzvos, holinesses, prayers, songs, and praises that he says and does all the days of his life. For even the sinners of Yisrael are full of mitzvos like a pomegranate, and as long as the name "Yisrael" is called upon him, Hashem, blessed be He, receives much glory from him, as is written elsewhere. And through all of this, the aspect of tikun habris is drawn to his ancestors who damaged this, since through their procreation a child of Yisrael was brought into the world who says Shema Yisrael twice a day and testifies to the unity of the Singular One, blessed be His Name, and performs many mitzvos, as mentioned above. And all of this applies even to the lowliest birth — even if those born are simple people of little stature. How much more so that in every generation, many G-d fearing and upright people, small and great Tzadikim, are born — until sometimes a Tzadik is born who is a wondrous and awesome novelty, who can rectify many generations, and there are those who can rectify the entire world, as Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said: "I am able to exempt the entire world from judgment." And Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai too was born from the union of man and woman, and who knows whether all his ancestors going back were all Tzadikim and holy people? For certainly among his earlier ancestors on his father's side and his mother's side there were many simple people. And they merited that from their seed would emerge a Tzadik, a holy Tanna, an awesome man of G-d such as this, who recognized the Primordial Creator as he recognized Him and revealed His G-dliness in the world as he revealed it. And similarly with the rest of the great Tzadikim — all of this is the aspect of "who can bring a pure thing from an impure one?" (Job 14:4) etc. And as it is written: "Be careful with the children of the ignorant, for from them Torah will emerge." And as written in the writings of the Ari z"l, and brought in the words of our Master of blessed memory (Torah 37): the Torah titled "Dirshu" etc. — that the very holy souls, exceedingly lofty, for the most part come specifically through the drop of the am ha'aretz [ignorant person], as this exposition is explained at length in the writings of the Ari z"l in several places. This is the matter of the emergence of Avraham from Terach, and Rabbi Akiva, etc. — until it is explained there that even the soul of Mashiach will come specifically from such aspects, etc. — see there. And this is: "he took a piece and threw it to them; he said to them, 'Pull threads from it.'" And Rashi explained that they should draw out threads from it. That is, he hinted that one takes a piece from the millstone itself that was broken and from there draws out threads — the aspect of tikun habris, the aspect of "the hope of a scarlet thread" (Joshua 2:18), which alludes to tikun habris. As explained in the words of Rabbeinu of blessed memory in the Torah "Tzivisa Tzedek" (Torah 23), which is the aspect of the birth of Peretz and Zerach from the deed of Yehudah and Tamar, from whom Mashiach was born. As it is stated there: "and she tied upon his hand a scarlet thread" (Genesis 38:28) etc. That is, he told them that from this very matter itself the tikun habris is drawn — through striving that it should be in a permitted manner, at least according to the Torah. Through this, children of Yisrael are born, and all births are the aspect of tikun habris, as mentioned above, until one can merit that from him will emerge a great and holy Tzadik who will be able to recognize the Creator, blessed be He, and connect and cleave himself to the light of the Ein Sof with a wondrous cleaving and inclusion beyond any thought or comprehension whatsoever. And this light is drawn in the aspect of a thread, as is known. And this is the aspect of what was composed in the song "Or HaGanuz" [the Hidden Light]: "each man on his banner, yearning and longing for the hope of the thread of the radiance of the Ein Sof." And this is why they immediately asked: "And who can pull threads from a millstone?" — for they are heretics and are so sunken in this desire that they do not believe it possible that from this matter a person could be born who could cleave himself to the thread of the radiance of the Ein Sof with such a cleaving that he would rectify everything, as above. Therefore he answered them: "And who can sew a millstone?" — for certainly one who does not believe in this — that this matter in its root is an exceedingly lofty and holy aspect, and that all souls cannot come into this world except through this, and even though through the sin of Adam HaRishon and the sins of the generations this matter fell to where it fell, until it seems to coarse people as if, G-d forbid, it is merely a desire — nevertheless, one who believes at least that in truth it is a very lofty matter and there are Tzadikim whose union is with wondrous cleaving to Hashem, blessed be He, etc. etc. — fortunate are they. And even simple people — since it is at least in a permitted manner according to the Torah — can give birth from this to the seed of Yisrael, through which comes the tikun habris, as above. But those heretics who deny this and make mockery of it and say: "Who can pull threads from a millstone?" — that it is impossible for such wondrous cleaving to emerge from this — for them certainly it is impossible to rectify, in the aspect of "who can sew a millstone?", as above. And this is the aspect of: "and these are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham" (Genesis 25:19). For Yitzchak is the first holy birth in the world. For until Yitzchak was born, there was no person born in such holiness, in the holiness of Yisrael. For from the sin of Adam HaRishon there was no birth in holiness as fitting, until Avraham came — who was the first to begin drawing the holiness of Yisrael into the world. But Avraham Avinu himself was not yet born in the holiness of Yisrael. And the first to be born in the holiness of Yisrael was Yitzchak Avinu — the first birth in the world born in the holiness of Yisrael. And therefore at that time there was great joy in all the worlds, and he was named for the joy — the aspect of "G-d has made laughter for me" (Genesis 21:6) etc. For in truth, all the joy at a wedding is seemingly a wonder. As I heard explicitly from his holy mouth, that he said: the world does not know at all what this joy is about — that this one marries that one. For certainly it is not fitting to rejoice over this matter. But in truth, the essential joy of a wedding is the joy of Yisrael. For the essential holy joy is because we know and believe that this matter in its root is exceedingly, exceedingly lofty, as is known. And from this will be born a child of Yisrael who will sanctify His Name, as above — until great Tzadikim will emerge, until Mashiach will come from our generations and rectify everything. And this is our essential joy, and over this there is certainly much cause to rejoice at a wedding. And this joy began specifically from Yitzchak — the first holy birth in the world in the holiness of Yisrael, as above. And therefore Sarah said then: "G-d has made laughter for me; all who hear will laugh for me" (Genesis 21:6). For certainly now that Yitzchak was born, all saw and heard the wonders of Hashem — that there had never been such a novelty in the world: that from the union of man and woman should come such a birth, from which would emerge all the seed of Yisrael until Mashiach comes. And certainly it is laughter and joy and great gladness in all the worlds, in the aspect of "all who hear will laugh for me." For from this holy birth began the chain of the lineage of Yisrael. And therefore in every birth of a child of Yisrael, when they circumcise him and bring him into the holiness of Yisrael, the joy is mentioned then, as we say in the blessings after the circumcision: "let the father rejoice in the one who emerges from his loins." For certainly one should only rejoice in this — that we merited through our procreation that a child of Yisrael was born, circumcised on the eighth day. And this is the aspect of what we mention then: "and I passed over you and I saw you wallowing in your bloods, and I said to you: in your blood, live!" (Ezekiel 16:6) — this is the aspect of "he took a piece and threw it to them — pull threads from it" — that specifically from this itself the tikun habris is drawn. This is the aspect of "I saw you wallowing in your bloods" — the aspect of the damage to the bris that is drawn from the intensification of the turbidity of the bloods. "And I said to you: in your blood, live!" — for specifically through this itself one can be rectified, through the birth of the seed of Yisrael from him, as above. And this is why we mention afterward: "and Avraham circumcised Yitzchak his son" — for this essential holiness began from the birth of Yitzchak. And therefore we call only three "Avos" [Patriarchs], for they are the fathers of the world. For the nations have no "fathers" — they are a nation comparable to a donkey, as our Sages of blessed memory said. For their birth is itself the birth of animals — only from desire, without any holiness whatsoever. But the essential "fathers" began from Avraham, who begot Yitzchak in such holiness, that from then onward the chain of the lineage of Yisrael would never cease. From him was born Yitzchak — the first born in such holiness — and from him emerged Yaakov, and from Yaakov all the seed of Yisrael, until the end, until Mashiach comes who will emerge from their seed and rectify everything and reveal His G-dliness to the eyes of all. And this is the aspect of: "and the threefold cord is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:12). For the three Avos — Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov — were exceedingly holy in the sanctity of the bris, until they merited to draw their procreation in such holiness that the cord of the holiness of Yisrael would never cease. So that through every birth of Yisrael, however it may be, the aspect of tikun habris is drawn. And since from this birth the seed of Yisrael will grow — they who are the tikun of all the worlds, as mentioned above. And therefore he [Yitzchak] was named for joy and gladness — the aspect of "G-d has made laughter for me; all who hear will laugh for me." For all are fitting to rejoice over such a birth, as above. And therefore at every birth of a child of Yisrael, when they circumcise him and bring him into the holiness of Yisrael, the joy is mentioned then: "let the father rejoice." For certainly only in this is it fitting to rejoice — that we merited through our birth that a child of Yisrael was born, circumcised on the eighth day. And this is the aspect of: "and these are the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham" — the vav of "v'eileh" adds, the aspect of tikun habris, the aspect of Yosef [who signifies addition]. All of this is drawn through toldos — through the holy births of Yisrael. And this is the aspect of: "the generations of Yitzchak the son of Avraham" — the first birth born in the holiness of Yisrael, whom Avraham begot in such holiness, that from him began the chain of holiness — that in every birth of Yisrael there is the holiness of the Avos, which is the holiness of Yisrael. Through which comes the tikun habris, as above. And this is: "Avraham begot Yitzchak" — that the birth of Yitzchak was from Avraham alone, from the aspect of the holiness of the bris. For Avraham is the aspect of tikun habris — the aspect of "eiver mah" [the organ of "what?", i.e. selflessness], as is brought. And this is: "for the scoffers of the generation would say: 'from Avimelech Sarah conceived.'" For they do not believe it possible that there could be procreation from the aspect of Avraham, from the aspect of eiver mah — that at that moment one should be in the aspect of mah, in the aspect of utter selflessness, not intending for his desire at all, as there were true Tzadikim who boasted of this. Rather, they say it was from Avimelech — the aspect of wicked kingship, which is only driven by physical desire — from him Sarah conceived. The scoffers say that the essential procreation is only from physical desire, from the aspect of Avimelech. Therefore the verse testifies: "Avraham begot Yitzchak" — that the essential birth of Yitzchak was only from the aspect of eiver mah, from the aspect of selflessness, the aspect of tikun habris. Born in such awesome holiness that from him began the chain of the holiness of Yisrael — that in all the births of Yisrael there are sparks of the holiness of the Avos. Through which everyone born in every generation rectifies the tikun habris, as above — until in the end Mashiach will emerge from the seed of Yisrael, who will cleave himself to Hashem, blessed be He, as he will cleave, and reveal His G-dliness to the eyes of all, and rectify everything, as above. Speedily in our days, amen. [This entire halachah was said at the wedding of Reb Nosson's relative.] Translator's Summary Halachah 6 is the longest and most architecturally complex halachah in Hilchos Shabbos, based on Likutay Moharan I:57 ("Sha'alu es Rabbi Yosei ben Kisma"). Its twenty-three sections weave together a single thesis: Emunas Chachamim — faith in the true Torah Sages — is the foundation upon which the entire Torah stands, and the neder (vow of self-restraint) is the key that restores it when it has been damaged. The halachah opens (§1–2) by explaining that when a person has Emunas Chachamim, the light of the Tzadik illuminates him, rectifying the spiritual "hands" (the angels created by one's Torah and prayer). This is drawn through Kiddush over wine — 70 words corresponding to the 70 facets of Torah — and Oneg Shabbos, where holy eating nourishes the brain (da'as) rather than the liver (desire). Sections 3–7 establish the central polarity: true wisdom (oriented toward the tachlis, the ultimate purpose) versus alien wisdoms (chochmos chitzoniyos, oriented toward worldly desires). The neder — even a small commitment of separateness — restores emunah by drawing sparks of the three Avos, leading to Oneg Shabbos and shalom. The massive Section 8 is a tour de force of Aggadic interpretation, applying the Torah's concepts to every riddle in the Gemara's account of the Elders of Athens. Each exchange between the Sage and the Athenian philosophers is decoded as an aspect of the battle between emunah and heresy: the serpent (seven evil middos), the ship of sixty rooms (sixty Talmudic tractates animated by tefillah), the butcher shop (the Sitra Achrah's attempt to ensnare through desire), the reversed sandal (refining even the body completely), youths above elders (the inverted hierarchy of the opponents of truth), and the bundle of reeds (the strategy of bitul — cessation, i.e. Shabbos — against overwhelming thoughts). Section 10 interprets Pharaoh's dream as the recurring cycle of spiritual ascent and descent: good cows (prayer rising), evil cows (the forgetting that follows), good stalks (renewed effort), evil stalks (renewed opposition). Yosef's interpretation — "find a wise man" — points to the Tzadik who gathers every scattered good point into a permanent structure. Section 11 unpacks the broken-millstone riddle at great length: the broken emunah can be repaired through the broken emunah itself — because even a Jew who has fallen retains some inner point of faith. But the nations (and those from Israel who have fully abandoned emunah) cannot even begin the repair, since they reject the very strategies of the Sages. Sections 13–22 form an extended meditation on Chanukah as the paradigmatic repair of Emunas Chachamim. Greece sought to destroy the Oral Torah; the miracle of the oil — a tiny amount burning for eight days — embodies the neder principle (small separateness yielding vast illumination). The Beis HaMikdash, built from nedarim; Yom Kippur, which begins with Kol Nidrei; the Kohen Gadol, anointed with oil; the Nesi'im's offerings; the Hallel; Modim adjacent to Retzei; the placement of the Chanukah lamp near the door — all are shown to be expressions of the neder→emunah→shalom chain. The remarkable section 21 explains how the Chanukah lamp (Tzadik descending to us) and Shabbos lamp (our ascending to the Tzadik) are two complementary aspects, and how every daily thought of teshuvah is actually the Tzadik lowering himself to reach us in our place. Section 23 returns to the broken-millstone riddle with a second interpretation: the millstone as the bris (covenant of marital purity). Even when damaged, the tikun comes from the act itself — for every Jewish birth, even from the simplest parents, adds to the sanctification of Hashem's Name. The lineage from Avraham through Yitzchak (the first birth in the holiness of Yisrael) guarantees that every Jewish child carries sparks of the Avos, and from this chain Mashiach will ultimately emerge. The joy at a Jewish wedding, Reb Nosson teaches (citing Rabbeinu explicitly), is not for the physical union but for the hope that from this birth will grow the holy chain reaching toward the final redemption.