ראש השנה ג

Section Dalet [ד] And in truth, there was then a time of great distress the like of which had never occurred — for Haman sought to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, etc. For since the root of their souls is in wealth, and since he saw that all the wealth was with him, he thought he had power over all the souls of Israel to destroy them, G‑d forbid. And truly Israel was then in very great danger, as is known. But "a crude man does not know, and a fool does not understand this — when the wicked bloom like grass, etc." — for Hashem, blessed be He, foils the schemes of the cunning, etc. For all the power of the Other Side — which is Haman-Amalek — comes through the force of their evil anger, as stated. Therefore Hashem, blessed be He, sets them against one another in the bechina of "And I will pit Egypt against Egypt", and as it is written: "And nation shall crush nation, etc." — for He raises up from among them and against them [enemies from within], for Hashem, blessed be He, in His mercy arranges wondrous circumstances so that against the hating, pursuing, angry enemy, there shall be aroused against him a master of anger and fury greater than he — so that specifically through anger and fury he shall fall with a fall from which there is no recovery. As we saw then: all the rise of Haman — may his name be blotted out — was through anger and fury, as stated. What did Hashem, blessed be He, do? He arranged circumstances through His wonders until He brought Achashverosh into a great anger against him, as it is written: "And the king arose in his fury, etc." — and through this his evil fate was sealed, and they hanged him on the tree that he had prepared for Mordechai, and then specifically: "and the king's wrath subsided."

It is cited there [in the sichot] that according to the Days of Awe, the esrog ought to be beautiful — that is, according to the degree of weeping one increases during the Days of Awe, so one merits a beautiful esrog. For people say that every young man [na'ar] has a beautiful wife, etc. (see there carefully). And on the Days of Awe Israel are in the bechina of na'ar [a youth/child] (as it is cited in the Tikunim). And behold — "the child wept" — and immediately: "she had compassion on him." Therefore through the weeping of the Days of Awe — the more one increases weeping, the more one enters this bechina, the bechina of na'ar bocheh [a weeping child] — and through this one merits a beautiful esrog, which is the bechina of "you are altogether beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish in you", etc. — see there. For this [that people say about the young man's beautiful wife]: the essential intellect [seichel] is from the brain. And the brain draws from the marrow within the bones, which is nourished by the moisture and fatness of the body, etc. And therefore one who is a youth [na'ar] — whose intellect is not yet complete, and his brain remains gathered within the bones, etc. — and therefore his mate, who was taken from the bones, etc., is therefore beautiful, for the abundance of brain within his bones flows to her — for she was taken from there — as it is written: "And He took one of his ribs," etc. For the essential beauty is from the brain, as it is written: "A person's wisdom illumines his face," etc. — see there. And in holiness this is the bechina wherein the roots of da'as are drawn to the esrog — and see in the kavanos [mystical intentions] the secret of the esrog and lulav — see there. Section 1 To explain this a little: the essential intention [of the esrog-waving] is to draw to the esrog — which is the bechina of malchus, the mochin of the body, that is, the chassadim of the six directions — but it is impossible for them to give illumination to the esrog except by first receiving illumination from the roots of the mochin, that is, from the roots of the chassadim within da'as. And this is the secret of the wavings [ni'enu'im] (see in the writings of the Ari z"l). Thus the essential illumination of the esrog — the bechina of malchus — is through the multiplication and illumination of the mochin of the six directions, by drawing upon them the illumination of the mochin of the head, as stated. And this corresponds to the aforementioned bechina — only there it is literally a youth [na'ar mamash] and his brain remains gathered within the bones, and has not yet ascended above to the brain. And here in holiness — the illumination of the esrog comes about by drawing with intention the illumination of the mochin of the head into the bechina of the body, and thereby the mochin of the body are multiplied and illumined, and from there the mochin are drawn to the esrog — and understand. All of this is explained in the conversations cited above, as we heard from his holy mouth explicitly — and see there for further elaboration of this matter. Section 2 But to understand the matter more fully — how through the bechina of na'ar bocheh on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is this bechina brought about, that the mochin of the head should be drawn to the six directions and from there be drawn to the esrog — in truth the entire matter is explained clearly in the teaching "Tik'u" cited above. For this matter of the esrog was said in immediate proximity to the teaching "Tik'u" — which was said on Rosh Hashanah — and immediately after Yom Kippur. (And at that time esrogs were not available that year.) Then Rabbainu, of blessed memory, said the aforementioned matter of the esrog: that according to the Days of Awe we had, it was fitting that we should have had a beautiful esrog — for they had wept greatly during those Days of Awe, etc. Section 3 For it is explained in the teaching cited above that one must cast away all forms of wisdom [chachmos] — not only the wisdoms of foolishness of ordinary people, but even complete wisdoms. For even one who has a truly great intellect — when he comes to some matter of divine service, he must cast away all wisdoms and engage in his service of Hashem, blessed be He, in simplicity [peshitus]. For "it is not the learning that is the essential thing but the deed" etc. (see there carefully). And this is the bechina of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — when Israel are in the bechina of na'ar bocheh. And through this one merits a beautiful esrog, as stated. For when each person merits some intellect — even intellect and wisdom of holiness — and the essential intellect comes through the elevation of the body's moisture and fatness to the brain of the head: this is the bechina of what is said earlier in the teaching cited above — that one must elevate from the bechina of chosam besaro [the seal of his flesh, i.e. the bodily seal] to the bechina of chosam d'kedushah, the bechina of the tefillin-mochin — see there. And when one elevates the body's moisture and fatness to the da'as and one's brain and da'as are multiplied — then one must not remain in place and rely upon one's own da'as alone. For through one's own da'as and wisdom a person can fall into great errors, G‑d forbid — and through his wisdom can be turned entirely, G‑d forbid, from the ways of Hashem. For it is forbidden to rely on one's own da'as and wisdom alone (as Rabbainu, of blessed memory, explained this many times). Rather, the essential perfection is: the more one's da'as is multiplied and increased and one recognizes more greatly the greatness of Hashem, blessed be He — one should seek to draw the da'as to the heart, in the bechina of: "And you shall know this day and take it to your heart" — for one must draw the da'as to the heart, as I heard from Rabbainu, of blessed memory, who said: for after all, the nations of the world also have da'as and wisdom — but their da'as is without heart. And the essential thing is to draw the da'as to the heart, in the bechina of "and you shall know this day and take it," etc., as stated — that is, when one merits some da'as, one should draw the da'as to the heart and look carefully at oneself whether one's deeds are rising well according to one's wisdom. And whether one's heart is whole with Hashem — that all desires and bodily cravings should be nullified, everything the human heart craves — all should be nullified before Him, blessed be He. And one should have no desire or craving at all except for Hashem, blessed be He — for this befits him according to the da'as he has now merited to recognize His greatness, blessed be He. And one should now strive to serve Hashem through practical mitzvos and holy deeds in such a way that one's deeds exceed one's wisdom. For "it is not the learning that is the essential thing but the deed" — as explained above in the teaching cited above: that one must cast away all wisdoms and serve Hashem, blessed be He, in complete simplicity. Thus it emerges: the more one merits da'as and recognizes more greatly His greatness, blessed be He — one draws the da'as each time to the heart and body, striving to perform more good deeds and holy services according to the da'as one has now merited. And the more da'as one has, the more one serves and performs more good deeds for Hashem, blessed be He, in complete simplicity — without any wisdoms. And one is not drawn after one's wisdom to remain only with the wisdoms, G‑d forbid, without deeds, G‑d forbid. Rather, the essential wisdom is to cast away the wisdoms — that is, the more one merits greater wisdoms and recognizes Him more, blessed be He, one strives each time all the more to serve Him, blessed be He, in simplicity through deeds, without wisdoms. For this is the essential service of Hashem, blessed be He. And therefore one casts away the wisdoms each time for the sake of the service of Hashem, blessed be He. Thus it emerges that one draws all one's wisdom to the heart and body — that is, to holy deeds and actions — for this is the essential thing, as stated. And from there the essential beauty and splendor of the esrog is drawn — which is the bechina of malchus, as is known. For the essential revelation of His kingship, blessed be He, is only through good deeds, through practical mitzvos — for malchus is the bechina of action [asiyah], as is known. As it is cited in the Zohar: malchus nests in the world of asiyah. And this is the essential service on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — when Israel are in the bechina of na'ar bocheh: that they set aside and cast away all wisdoms — only drawing the da'as to the heart. And each person looks at himself whether his heart is bound to his da'as — that is, whether he conducts himself according to the desires of his heart and body according to his own da'as. For every single person knows about Hashem, blessed be He, in general — that "the whole earth is full of His glory." And one must look at oneself whether one conducts oneself accordingly with one's body — according to one's da'as. And whether one's deeds rise well at least according to one's da'as and wisdom. And then on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — when all Israel are aroused to repentance — one is thereby aroused to weeping. For each person sees in himself how his deeds do not rise well even according to his wisdom — that he knows the whole earth is full of His glory, and yet nonetheless has deviated from His will, blessed be He. And all the more so one who has blemished, G‑d forbid, or sinned, G‑d forbid. And this is the bechina of na'ar bocheh — that one sets aside all wisdoms and looks only at the deeds: whether one's service was as it ought to have been this year, at least according to one's da'as and wisdom. And through this one's heart is aroused to great weeping — for one sees how far one's deeds are even from one's small da'as and wisdom. And this is what Rabbainu, of blessed memory, wrote: that through the bechina of na'ar bocheh one merits a beautiful esrog, as stated. For through na'ar bocheh — which is the bechina of drawing the da'as to the heart and body, striving that one's deeds should exceed one's wisdom, as stated — through this is the essential revelation of His kingship, blessed be He, as stated. Which is the bechina of the splendor of the esrog, which is the bechina of malchus, as stated. And this is the bechina of drawing the roots of da'as to the six directions — that is, to the body — and from there the splendor of the esrog is drawn. Namely, as stated: drawing the essential da'as to the body to strive to perform good deeds without wisdoms, as stated. And through this the essential revelation of His kingship, blessed be He, which is the bechina of the splendor of the esrog, as stated. Section 4 And this is the bechina of the rectification of judgment [tikun hamishpat] explained there in the teaching cited above — which is through casting away all wisdoms — see there. Which is the bechina of na'ar bocheh, etc., as stated. For earlier in the teaching cited above it is explained that the rectification of judgment is through taking care to expel the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el from the brain — so that it should not confuse the brain and corrupt the judgment, G‑d forbid, etc. — see there. And in truth it is all one — for when one elevates the body's moisture and fatness from the bechina of chosam besaro to the bechina of chosam d'kedushah, which is the mochin — then one can also elevate the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el. And the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el is the bechina of the filth of the serpent [zuhamat hanachash], the bechina of the blemish of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil — from which the admixture of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el was drawn, as is known. And the essential blemish of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el — the bechina of the blemish of the Tree of Knowledge — is the multiplication of wisdoms, the desire to be drawn after one's own wisdom and da'as, like the nations of the world who are Eisav and Yishma'el — who follow after their corrupted wisdom and da'as. And they are wise in their own eyes — and because of this they have turned away from Hashem, blessed be He. But we are a holy people — warned to cast away our wisdom and nullify our da'as before Him, blessed be He, and before the true tzaddikim of every generation. And the essential service is: whenever one merits additional wisdom to recognize His greatness, blessed be He — one should seek all the more to serve Hashem, blessed be He, with even more deeds, more diligence, in wholeness and simplicity. And the essential wisdom is to cast away the wisdoms — that is, to nullify one's da'as before Him, blessed be He, and before the true tzaddikim, as stated. And this is the bechina of the rectification of judgment — whose essential [means] is through setting aside and casting away the wisdoms. And through this itself one nullifies and expels the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el — who seek to confuse the brain with an abundance of empty wisdoms — until through his wisdom a person could err, G‑d forbid, and be turned entirely from the ways of Hashem — as we have found with many who turned through their wisdom from Hashem, blessed be He, and fell into the lowest depths through their having stood firm on their own wisdom (as Rabbainu, of blessed memory, explained this many times). And this is the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el — the bechina of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil — which confuses the brain with false and erroneous wisdoms until a person could be turned entirely, G‑d forbid, from Hashem, blessed be He. But when one takes care — that each time one merits some wisdom and recognition of Him, blessed be He, one strives to perform more deeds and good actions, and casts away all wisdoms and performs deeds in complete simplicity — through this one subdues the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el. And they have no power to confuse the person with foolish wisdoms to turn him from the ways of Hashem, blessed be He. Since he does not rely on his wisdom at all — on the contrary, the more he becomes wise, the more he casts away the wisdoms and relies only on faith [emunah] alone. And performs good deeds in simplicity and wholeness, as mentioned above. Thus it emerges that the bechina of na'ar bocheh — which is casting away the wisdoms and looking only at the good deeds, whether one's deeds are as they ought to be — and through this one is aroused to weeping — this is the bechina of the rectification of judgment; the bechina of the subduing and nullification of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el, etc., as stated. For it is explained there that the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el must necessarily be expelled outward — so as not to be elevated to the brain, G‑d forbid — for it confuses the brain, as stated. And therefore through casting away the wisdoms and looking at the good deeds — and through this meriting weeping, the bechina of na'ar bocheh — through this one expels the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el through the tears. For the tears are from the overflow of the black bile [marah shechorah] — which is the spleen — the mother of the Erev Rav, where Eisav and Yishma'el [dwell], as is known (and as explained in the words of Rabbainu, of blessed memory, in §36). Thus when one weeps one expels through the tears the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el — which is the essential rectification of the brain, the bechina of the rectification of judgment (and see the teaching cited above carefully from beginning to end — and understand well). Section 5 And this is the bechina of: "And Leah's eyes were tender, and Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance." "And Leah's eyes were tender" — this is the bechina of na'ar bocheh: through which one expels from oneself the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el. For Leah's eyes were tender — for she was weeping so as not to fall to Eisav's portion. For Leah is from the side of harsh judgment [sitra d'dina kashya] — where the essential foothold of the bechina of Eisav and Yishma'el is found. And all the Patriarchs and Matriarchs — their essential service was to clarify the holy da'as from the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el that became admixed through the sin of the first Adam, as is known. And therefore Leah, who sensed that the bechina of the drop of Eisav was fastened to her, feared she would fall to his portion — and therefore she was weeping constantly over this. For through the weeping one clarifies and expels outward the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el. And so too every person of Israel — when one feels within oneself the hold of the Other Side [Sitra Achra], which is the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el — that the good has not yet been clarified from the bad within him — he must weep greatly so as not to fall to Eisav's portion, G‑d forbid — who is the Satan, the evil inclination. And through the weeping and tears one expels the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el, as stated. And through this one merits to draw the da'as to the bechina of the malchus of the esrog, as stated. And this is the bechina of: "And Leah's eyes were tender — and Rachel was beautiful of form," etc. — through Leah's tender eyes, through the weeping — the bechina of na'ar bocheh — through this: "and Rachel was beautiful of form" — the bechina of the splendor of the esrog, which is the bechina of Rachel, the bechina of malchus, as stated — and understand. Section 6 And this is the bechina of Yom Kippur — when one must fast. For the essential moisture and fatness of the body that ascends to the brain comes through eating — for it is from there that the body's essential moisture and fatness derives, as is known empirically. And through the sin of the first Adam who ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, through this eating was blemished — and the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el became admixed into all foods. And because of this — when the moisture and fatness ascend from the foods to the brain — the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el can become admixed into the brain, G‑d forbid, as stated. And therefore on Yom Kippur — when one must fully expel the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el, for then is the completion of the rectification of malchus, as is known, and the essential rectification is through expelling and nullifying the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el and drawing da'as to the bechina of malchus, etc., as stated — therefore it is forbidden to eat at all on Yom Kippur, so as not to give any place or foothold whatsoever to the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el on this day. For on this day they have no dominion whatsoever — for "all year they have permission to prosecute, except for Yom Kippur" [kola shisa is lehu reshus l'astinoo, bar miyom kippur] — for then it is the forgiveness of sins. And the essential forgiveness of sins is this bechina — of expelling the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el, from which all sins derive. And therefore there is an obligation to eat on Erev Yom Kippur — for certainly the essential [function of the] brain comes through eating, from which the moisture and fatness of the body ascend, elevating them from the bechina of chosam besaro to the bechina of chosam d'kedushah, as stated. Which is the essential [purpose] of Yom Kippur — when is the completion of the holy seal. And therefore one is compelled to eat on Erev Yom Kippur — in order to afterward elevate on Yom Kippur to the bechina of chosam d'kedushah through the eating of Erev Yom Kippur. But on Yom Kippur itself it is forbidden to eat — for in any case during the act of eating there is a foothold for the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el, only that afterward one clarifies them. But now on Yom Kippur it is forbidden for them to have any foothold in the world whatsoever — for the essential forgiveness of sins on Yom Kippur is through expelling and nullifying them entirely, as stated. And therefore it is impossible to eat then at all. Only from the eating of Erev Yom Kippur — one clarifies and elevates from the bechina of chosam besaro to the bechina of chosam d'kedushah. Which is the essential [purpose] of Yom Kippur — which is the bechina of guarding the covenant, all of whose service is through the Kohen Gadol who was holy in the sanctity of the covenant more than all of Israel. And no seminal emission [keri] befell the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur — for he was elevating from the bechina of chosam besaro to the bechina of chosam d'kedushah. And the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el is expelled and nullified through the weeping on Yom Kippur — the bechina of na'ar bocheh — through weeping at the time of the confessions [vidduyim]: through this one expels and nullifies all the sins, which are the bechina of the drop of Eisav and Yishma'el, as stated. And then the bechina of chosam d'kedushah is completed — which is the complete rectification of the brain. And through this one afterward merits a beautiful esrog, etc., as stated — and understand well. Blessed be Hashem forever, Amen and Amen. This halacha, though labeled a Yom Kippur halacha, is really a bridge between Yom Kippur and Sukkos — specifically the esrog. It draws on Reb Nachman's teaching "Tik'u bachodesh shofar" (LM II §5) and the conversations following the Sipuray Ma'asiyos, presenting a complete inner arc from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur to Sukkos. The central image is the na'ar bocheh — the weeping child. People say that a young man, whose brain is not yet fully developed and remains concentrated in his bones, has a beautiful wife — because she was taken from those same bone-marrow-rich bones (Adam's rib). In the spiritual parallel: Israel on the Days of Awe are like a child — setting aside all their accumulated wisdom, looking purely at their deeds, and weeping over the gap between what they know and how they actually live. This weeping expels the tipas Eisav v'Yishma'el through the tears (tears being overflow of the black bile, the spleen — where the impurity of the nations lodges). And when that admixture is expelled, the da'as flows freely downward through the six directions into malchus — producing the beautiful esrog. The deeper teaching: the blemish of the Tree of Knowledge introduced a foreign admixture into human intellect — the desire to follow one's own wisdom rather than simple faith and action. Eisav and Yishma'el embody this: they are wise in their own eyes and follow their own corrupted da'as. The Jewish path is the opposite: the more wisdom one gains, the more one casts it away in favor of simple, wholehearted deeds. This is na'ar bocheh — the brilliant simplicity of a child who does not rely on his own understanding. The colophon "Blessed be Hashem forever, Amen and Amen" appears in the source text at the end of this halacha, marking the end of the Yom Kippur section of the work.

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