סוכה ו

Section Yud-Dalet [יד] And this is the bechina of "Ha lachma anya — this is the bread of affliction, etc." — and immediately one says: "Kol dichfin yeisai v'yeichol, kol ditzrich yeisai — let all who are hungry come and eat, let all who are in need come, etc." — that is, as stated: first one recounts that the matzah is the bechina of lechem oni — through which one recalls the poverty of exile and knows the truth of his great poverty from all matters, as stated — and immediately when one knows this, Hashem, blessed be He, helps him and fills all his lacks until he can even give to others, which is what one says immediately: "let all who are hungry come and eat, etc." — for specifically through the bechina of lachma anya cited above, one merits great wealth until whoever wishes may come and dine with him, as stated. And this is also the matter of removing the ke'arah [seder plate] immediately [before the meal] and asking the questions of Mah Nishtanah — for the essential all Four Questions revolve around this central axis — that one asks about the many paradoxes seen on this great night: on all other nights we eat chametz and matzah — for one sees that this is apparently the bechina of wealth — for certainly leavened bread is tastier and is the bread of the wealthy, more than the bread of matzah — and on this night entirely matzah, which is the bechina of poverty, the bechina of lechem oni. And against this we see the opposite — that on all other nights we do not dip even once; on this night, twice — which is the way of wealth, that one eats dipped foods, as the commentators noted that dipping alludes to wealth and freedom. And one adds still more such paradoxes to ask about — that on all other nights we eat various vegetables good for eating, and on this night entirely bitter herbs, which allude to the bitterness of poverty and livelihood. And against this we see the opposite — that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining; on this night all of us recline in the manner of freedom like the wealthy and like kings. And to this one answers and recounts the entire story of the Exodus from Egypt — that we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and were in great straits and great poverty, for all the abundance was with them and they were the kings and ministers and judges who ruled over us. And Hashem brought us out from there with great wealth and brought us to the Land of Israel, the desirable land, etc., and restored the abundance and the wealth to us. And as we recall in the Haggadah: He fulfilled His promise — "and afterward they went out with great wealth" — that He gave us their money. And all this great toil — that He first exiled us in such an exile, and afterward took us out with such wealth — why did He not give us the wealth immediately without the pain of exile? But all of it was for our benefit — to be purified in the iron crucible of exile — in order to clarify and purify the wealth, to take us out of lust for money which is the wealth and money of the Other Side, wherein the more one has the more one lacks — of which it is said: "The curse of Hashem is in the house of the wicked", in the bechina of "and the belly of the wicked shall want" — and to merit the holy wealth that comes specifically through poverty, as stated. And because of this we are commanded to eat matzah — lechem oni — and bitter herbs, and to make all these changes — in order to know and always recall the poverty and bitterness, through which specifically we merit wealth and to recline on the couch in the manner of freedom like kings. For one who does not recall, in the time of his wealth in the bechina of kingship, his poverty and bitterness — that is no wealth at all — for it is said of him: "wealth stored up by its owner to his own harm" — and he is worse than a pauper, for he lacks even more, until he suffers a bitterness worse than death, as one sees tangibly. And also because of this we remove the ke'arah before the meal — to allude that the meal is not ours and we are not permitted to eat from it until we first recall the kindnesses of Hashem and His wonders — how He took the abundance from the Other Side, from the exile of Egypt, and gave it to us — for then specifically the livelihood and the wealth return and we can eat. And this is the bechina of what the holy Zohar says — that Rav Hamnuna Sava, even when the table was set before him, would not eat until he had prayed over his food and said: "I shall not eat until it is given from the King's palace" — meaning, he said that the meal is not his until he clarifies it through his prayer — for the essential clarification of the livelihood from exile is through prayer, as is known.

The general principle: through blemishing emunas chachamim one cannot bring the mishpat (judgment/governance) to light — meaning one cannot merit to receive and draw out from all the Torah one studies straight judgments and upright conduct. For one is judged through the motaros etc. — in the aspect of what is said of Do'eg: "he was detained before Hashem" etc. (see there). And then one has no whole eitzah ever and is always in doubt etc. But there are waters that purify from this contamination — in the aspect of "And I will sprinkle pure water upon you and you will be purified from all your impurities…" (Yechezkel 36). And then one merits whole eitzah — in the aspect of "and they shall no longer defile themselves with their idols and shall no longer be split into two kingdoms. 'Kingdoms' (mamlachos) is the language of eitzah — as in 'malki yispar alach' (my king it shall please you) — for he merits whole eitzah, and these waters come about through strife (machloket) — the aspect of "may merivah" etc. For through the strife of those who dispute him and challenge him with difficulties, through this he does teshuvah, and through this the Torah books multiply etc., and through this the aforementioned pure waters are drawn — through which he is purified from the motaros and merits whole eitzah. And through this all the tzimtzumim (contractions) and all the dinim (judgments) are sweetened — for through this one can receive from supernal chachmah etc., etc., in the aspect of the Evven Hashesiyah where all of Yaakov's stones were included etc. — which is the aspect of what it means to travel to the tzaddikim on Rosh Hashanah etc. And through the general inclusion of souls etc., through this joy is made — the aspect of "or tzaddikim yismach" (light of the tzaddikim rejoices) — the aspect of "chadi Rabbi Shimon" (see there, all of it well). And this is the aspect of Hoshana Rabbah — when one prays for the mayim (water) — and it is stated in the Zohar that on that day: "and Yitzchak returned and dug the wells of water that were dug in the days of his father Avraham, and the Philistines had stopped them up etc." For the Avos engaged in the digging of wells — which is the aspect of the above: that they desired to dig and attain and find the aspect of the aforementioned pure waters and to be purified from the contamination and the motaros — which rise and confuse the brain — through the blemish of emunas chachamim — for all of this flows from the sin of Adam haRishon — who blemished emunah as is known. And the essential blemish was in the aspect of emunas chachamim — which is Torah she'ba'al peh (Oral Torah) — which is the aspect of "do not deviate etc. — right and left" — meaning it is forbidden to deviate from the true words of Torah to the right or to the left. For Adam and Chava at first added to the commandment and said: "and you shall not touch it etc." And through this he pushed her until she touched it etc. It follows that at first he desired to be stringent and to add to the commandment — which is the aspect of deviating to the right — and afterward through this he pushed her etc. until she deviated entirely to the left and transgressed the commandments of Hashem. For the commandment Hashem commanded to Adam and Chava — this is the aspect of the Written Torah — and the explanation of the commandment, what they needed to understand and explain the words of Hashem properly in truth — this is the aspect of the Oral Torah. And they, through the counsel of the serpent, were misled from the true explanation of the words of Hashem — which is the aspect of the Oral Torah — until they deviated to the right and to the left as above. It follows that they blemished emunas chachamim — which is the aspect of the Oral Torah — whose essence is the aspect of "do not deviate" — not to deviate from the true words of the Torah right or left (as explained in the aforementioned Torah [LM I §61]). And through this their eitzah was blemished — in the aspect of "the serpent led me astray (hishan'i)" — which is the language of eitzos — the aspect of "eitzos nibaru" (counsel is destroyed). And Avraham and the other Avos who engaged in rectifying this blemish — therefore engaged in the digging of wells — which is the aspect of the aforementioned tikkun — the aspect of pure waters, may merivah. For Avraham and Yitzchak and all the Avos had great strifes and disputes against them from Pharaoh and Avimelech and the like — and all of this was because of the blemish of the sin of Adam haRishon — because of the blemish of emunas chachamim as above. Therefore they engaged in this tikkun and did teshuvah and dug wells — the aspect of pure waters, may merivah as above. And therefore there were great disputes over the wells in the days of Avraham and Yitzchak — as it is written: "And Avraham reproved Avimelech regarding the well that they had stolen etc." — and as it is written: "And all the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Avraham — the Philistines stopped them up" — for the wells are the aspect of the may merivah as above — over which there are always great disputes. For each time those who dispute and quarrel against the tzaddik in truth arouse themselves and challenge him — through this he does teshuvah and rectifies the blemish of emunas chachamim etc. And then he attains and finds the aspect of the pure waters, may merivah. And afterward they dispute and quarrel against him again — time after time — as long as the aforementioned blemish has not been completely rectified. And he must each time engage in this tikkun — which is the aspect of digging wells of living water time after time. And as is understandable from the aforementioned Torah [LM I §61] — see there — that each time according to the strife so does he merit the aspect of the aforementioned waters. And therefore each time that Avraham and Yitzchak dug a well there was upon them even greater strife — for the more they engaged in this tikkun and desired to dig and reveal the well of living water — to purify themselves from the aforementioned contamination — and to reveal knowledge and the saichel of the world — the aspect of the waters of da'as — how to serve and attain Hashem — just as the opponents of holiness — the Philistines, the men of Avimelech — strengthened themselves and desired to ruin and stop up this tikkun — to conceal from the world the path of da'as that Avraham and Yitzchak desired to reveal in the world of how to draw close to Hashem. And so too each time they strengthened against him and disputed and quarreled over the wells with great strife — so too the Avos were awakened each time more and more and engaged in the tikkun again and again — all in order to reveal the aspect of the pure waters, may merivah as above — to be purified from the motaros — in order to merit whole eitzah as above. For as long as the blemish of emunas chachamim is not completely rectified — which is the sin of Adam haRishon — there are disputes and strifes each time those who desire to reveal the aforementioned waters arise. And therefore on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres — when we engage in the tikkun of the sin of Adam haRishon — as is known — which is the aspect of the blemish of emunas chachamim as above — and the essential completion of the tikkun is on Shemini Atzeres as is known. And therefore then we pray for the mayim — which is the aspect of the wells of the aforementioned Avos — the aspect of pure waters, may merivah as above. For on Rosh Hashanah the tikkun began — for the essential aspect of Rosh Hashanah is the aspect of emunah (as brought in Rabbainu's words elsewhere many times) — and the essential is emunas chachamim — through which our mishpat goes forth to light (as explained in the aforementioned Torah [LM I §61]). And this is Rosh Hashanah — "rosh" (head) specifically — the aspect of mochin and chachmah — meaning emunas chachamim — through which one merits da'as to bring the mishpat to light (as above in the aforementioned Torah). And therefore we then cry out with voices and sound the shofar — in order to dig and bring forth and reveal the aforementioned pure waters — to purify us from all our impurities. For the waters are revealed through voices — in the aspect of the seven voices that David spoke over the water (Tehillim 29) — for then on Rosh Hashanah it is the first of the Ten Days of Teshuvah. And through teshuvah the aforementioned waters are revealed (as brought in the aforementioned Torah). And so we do teshuvah time after time throughout all the Ten Days of Teshuvah — until on Yom Kippur one merits the aspect of the pure waters as above — for then Hashem purifies us from all our impurities and sins through the aforementioned pure waters. And therefore one recites in the Selichos throughout the Ten Days of Teshuvah and especially on Yom Kippur this verse: "And I will sprinkle pure water upon you" — for in these days which are the tikkun of the sin of Adam haRishon — the tikkun of the blemish of emunas chachamim — one must then dig and reveal the aspect of the pure waters as above. And afterward we merit Sukkos — which is the aspect of the tikkun of da'as rectified through the pure waters — for sukkah is the aspect of da'as — the aspect of "ima d'mesakkecha al benin" (the mother that overshadows her children) — the aspect of "call understanding 'mother'" etc. And this is the aspect of sukkas shalom — the aspect of the nullification of the disputes and strifes — for after one merits to reveal the pure waters completely — through doing teshuvah on account of the disputes and strifes as above — then the disputes are rectified and peace is made — the aspect of sukkas shalom that one merits after Yom Kippur — when the pure waters were revealed as above. And this is the aspect of "spread over us the sukkah of Your peace and direct us with good counsel from before You" — for through the sukkas shalom made through the pure waters — through this one merits whole eitzah as above. But the essential completion of the tikkun is on Shemini Atzeres — for even though on Yom Kippur they already merited the aspect of pure waters and afterward merited sukkas shalom — the tikkun of da'as through this — nevertheless the brain has not yet been completely refined to utter completeness. And therefore throughout all the days of Sukkos seventy bulls are offered on behalf of the seventy nations — in order to refine the good from them and to expel them from our border so that no stranger shall intermingle with our joy on the day of Shemini Atzeres — as is known. Which is the aspect of expelling and nullifying and distancing the aspect of the motaros and the refuse from the brain — for the nations are the aspect of the motaros as above. For the essential drawing close of Israel to their Father in Heaven is on Shemini Atzeres as is known. And therefore on the day before Shemini Atzeres — which is Hoshana Rabbah — we take the aravay nachal — a custom of the prophets — and on that day: "and Yitzchak returned and dug the wells of water etc." as above. For then — before the completion of the tikkun in completeness — one must return and dig the wells of water as above — meaning: to reveal and find the aspect of pure waters completely — in order to be purified completely from all aspects of the motaros as above. And then one merits whole eitzah — in the aspect of "and they shall no longer be split into two kingdoms" — and this is the aspect of the aravay nachal taken on that day — for the aravay nachal are "afikay mayim" (channels of water) — and they are the aspect of raglayim (legs) (as brought elsewhere) — which is the aspect of eitzos — as it is written: "and all the people who are at your feet — who go after your counsel" (as Rabbainu wrote elsewhere). For then the channels of water are enlarged — the aspect of pure waters — through which one merits whole eitzah. Which is the aspect of the aravay nachal that are the aspect of netzach, hod — the aspect of eitzos — as is known. For then the essential shleimus of the tikkun is when one merits whole eitzah. And it is called Hoshana Rabbah — for one needs a great and abundant salvation from Heaven to merit whole eitzah — to know how to take counsel in one's soul — how to conduct oneself in every matter — in a way that one merits to draw close to one's Father in Heaven. For yeshuos are the aspect of netzach, hod — which are the aspect of eitzos — for this is the essential salvation — when one merits whole eitzah as above. And as it is written (Iyov 6): "Is there no help within me, and has all tushiyah (resourcefulness/counsel) been driven from me?" — tushiyah meaning eitzos — as it is written: "counsel and tushiyah are Mine" (Mishlei 8). And this is what we petition: "Direct us with good counsel from before You and save us speedily for the sake of Your Name." And Avraham our forefather who merited to dig the wells as above — therefore he merited eitzah — as it is written: "Who discerned the spirit of Hashem, and as a man of His counsel would inform Him?" etc. "With whom did He take counsel and who made him understand and taught him mishpat?" — which all refers to Avraham, as Rashi explained there (Yeshayahu 40). And therefore on Hoshana Rabbah — when one returns and digs the wells of water as above — meaning: one reveals and finds the aspect of the pure waters in completeness — therefore one then merits whole eitzah (as it is written there in the aforementioned Torah — see there). And through the pure waters one merits whole eitzah. And this is the aspect of the aravay nachal — which are the aspect of eitzos — the aspect of yeshuos — for this is the essential salvation when one merits whole eitzah as above. And then afterward one merits Shemini Atzeres — when the essential drawing close of Israel to their Father in Heaven occurs. And then it is the aspect of malchus — the aspect of "ze ya'atzor b'ami" (this one shall rule over My people) (as explained elsewhere). For the motaros are rectified and nullified — the aspect of "and Do'eg was detained before Hashem" as above — and then the aspect of malchus is rectified — the aspect of emunas chachamim — the aspect of Shemini Atzeres — the aspect of "ze ya'atzor b'ami." And the essential tikkun of malchus is through the whole eitzos that are merited on Hoshana Rabbah as above. For the essential building of malchus is through the aspect of eitzos — which are the aspect of netzach, hod — from which the essential building of malchus flows as is known. And therefore every king has advisors — for the essential tikkun of malchus is through eitzos. And therefore the eitzos are called by the name "malchus" — as it is written: "malki yispar alach" (my king it shall please you) — which is the aspect of "and they shall no longer be split into two mamlachos (kingdoms)" — meaning eitzos etc. (as above in the aforementioned Torah). For the essential aspect of malchus comes through eitzos as above. And therefore the splitting of Malchus Bais Dovid was through the blemish of the eitzos — and Rechav'am did not merit to take counsel for himself — and he abandoned the counsel of the elders and gave hard answers to the people according to the counsel of the young men who grew up with him — and through this Malchus Bais Dovid was divided. And for the future it is said: "and they shall no longer be split into two kingdoms" — meaning (as Rabbainu explained in the aforementioned Torah) it alludes to the splitting of the eitzah — that one does not know how to act, for the essential is one — for the blemish of the eitzah is the blemish of malchus. For through the splitting of eitzah into two, the kingdom of Bais Dovid was split as above. And in the future when we merit the pure waters and merit whole eitzah — then it shall be fulfilled literally: "and they shall no longer be split into two kingdoms" — meaning literally that there shall be one kingdom — Malchus Bais Dovid — and also the eitzah shall be whole — for all is one as above. And therefore King David, may peace be upon him, greatly sought to merit whole eitzah — as it is written (Tehillim 13): "How long shall I take counsel in my soul etc." And when he merited whole eitzah it is said: "I bless Hashem who has advised me, even at night etc." (ibid. 16) — for the essential of malchus depends on this — on whole eitzos as above. And therefore when Dovid fled from Avshalom his son, Dovid petitioned Hashem: "Confound now the counsel of Achitophel, Hashem" — and so it was — for the essential fall of Avshalom was through Hashem confusing his counsel — that his counsel was split in two and he did not know how to act — until he acted according to the counsel of Chushai the Arkite and not according to the counsel of Achitophel — which had been good before him — and through this was his downfall. As it is written: "And Hashem had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Achitophel — in order to etc." — for the essential of malchus depends on eitzos as above. And therefore before Shemini Atzeres — when the completion of the tikkun of malchus occurs as is known — we first take the aravay nachal — which are the aspect of the tikkun of eitzos that are rectified through the channels of water — through the pure waters revealed then. Through this we merit on Shemini Atzeres to complete the aspect of the tikkun of malchus — for the essential revelation of His kingship upon us is through Torah — which is taryag atin d'oraysa (613 counsels of Torah) — as it is written: "counsel and tushiyah are Mine." And then on Shemini Atzeres when the aforementioned pure waters are revealed — for then we begin the prayers for rain (geshem) — to pray for the aforementioned waters — and then the tikkun of malchus is completed and one merits emunas chachamim in completeness as above. And then the Torah is completed — for the essential shleimus of Torah is through emunas chachamim — through which books multiply etc. (as above in the aforementioned Torah). And therefore then they complete and finish the Torah — and each person takes the Torah and they circle the table and make Simchas Torah. For each one of Israel has a portion in the Torah. And then all are included together and all portions of the Torah are included together — which is the aspect of the making of many books etc., as stated there — that through this the Torah has shleimus etc. For the portion that each one of Israel has within the Torah — this is the aspect of his Sefer Torah. And each one with his portion and his book that he has in the Torah — they are all included together. And then the Torah has shleimus. And then Torah is in the aspect of the Luchos ha'even — for it becomes included in supernal chachmah where it emerged from — which is the aspect of the Evven Hashesiyah etc. And then all the tzimtzumim and all the dinim in the world are sweetened (as all this is explained well in the aforementioned Torah). And therefore each one goes up to the Torah then — for all of this is the aspect of each one being included with his portion in the Torah — so that the Torah shall be complete from all souls of Israel together — who are the totality of all portions of the Torah. And then the Torah has shleimus. And then the Torah is included in its root in supernal chachmah from which it issued — and this is the aspect of "l'ainay chol Yisrael — Beraishis" (before the eyes of all Israel — In the beginning) — meaning: through all of Israel being included together — through this all portions of the Torah are included as above. And then the Torah is included in its root which is supernal chachmah — which is the aspect of "Beraishis" — for Beraishis is the aspect of supernal chachmah — the aspect of "raishis chachmah" (the beginning of wisdom). And this is "l'ainay chol Yisrael — Beraishis" as above. And then when all are included together — joy is made — the aspect of "or tzaddikim yismach" (the light of the tzaddikim rejoices) (as explained in the aforementioned Torah). Therefore one then merits joy — the aspect of Simchas Torah. Blessed be Hashem forever, amen and amen.

max-width: 860px;

margin: 0 auto;

padding: 30px 40px 60px 40px;

line-height: 1.85;

font-size: 1.05em;

text-align: justify;

h2 { font-size: 1.25em; text-align: center; color: #5a2d00; margin-top: 2px; margin-bottom: 6px; }

.book-title { font-size: 1.1em; text-align: center; color: #999; letter-spacing: 0.08em; margin-bottom: 2px; }

.halacha-num { font-size: 1.35em; text-align: center; color: #7a3b00; font-weight: bold; margin: 18px 0 10px 0; }

.subtitle-box {

border: 1px solid #c8a96e;

border-radius: 6px;

padding: 14px 22px;