לולב ואתרוג ב

"Sh'ma Kolainu" [Hear our voice] — corresponds to Asher. 39

Named for: "B'oshri ki ishruni banos" — "In my good fortune, for the daughters called me fortunate" (Beraishis 30). When Hashem hears the tefillah of Yisrael, all see the greatness of Yisrael and all call them fortunate: "Ashrai ha'am shekachah lo, ashrai ha'am sheHashem Elokav" — "Fortunate is the people for whom it is so; fortunate the people whose God is Hashem" (Tehillim 144) — Who hears their tefillah whenever they call to Him. "Ashrecha Yisrael, mi chamocha am nosha baHashem" — "Fortunate are you, Yisrael — who is like you, a nation saved by Hashem" (Devarim 33) — Who hears their tefillah and saves them always. Therefore Bircas Sho'mai'a Tefillah corresponds to Asher. 40 Section 1. For Haman wished to destroy and to kill, etc., all the Jews, and he wished to annul the hispa'arus [the glorification and splendor] of Hashem, Who glorifies Himself together with His people Israel. And therefore he wished to prevail in the month of Adar, in which Moshe Rabbainu, peace be upon him, passed away — for Moshe had been the one who revealed that hispa'arus, and by means of this he merited bringing the Torah into the world. For this is itself the bechinas [aspect] of the hispa'arus with which the Holy One, blessed be He, glorifies Himself together with His people Israel, through the Torah that Israel observes. And therefore through the Torah there was the revelation of the ritzonos [the Divine will-forces] of the Creation, as it is written: "Beraishis" [Genesis 1:1] — [meaning:] for the sake of the Torah, which is called raishis [beginning / first], and for the sake of Israel, who are also called raishis. For "Oraisa u'Kudsha Brich Hu kulah chad" — [Aramaic:] "The Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one" [Zohar III:73a] — for His hispa'arus, blessed be He, is [expressed] together with Israel through the Torah, as stated above. And therefore the Torah is called Tiferes [Beauty / Glory], as is cited [in the sources]. And from there [the level of Tiferes] came the general acceptance of the Torah — by virtue of the fact that [Moshe] was able to reveal the hispa'arus within each and every one of Israel, even the lowliest among the lowly. As is cited in the ma'amar "Ki Saitzai" [Likutay Moharan II, §82]: that Moshe would connect himself to the lowliest person in Israel and would find G‑dliness within him — for he was the most humble of all people. And through this he paved a prepared path in the month of Elul and brought the Torah into the world at that time — see there. And therefore Moshe merited "klil tiferes" — a crown of glory — as it is written: "Moshe rejoices in the gift of his portion; a crown of glory upon his head did You place, when he stood before You, etc." [Shabbos Shacharis liturgy]. For through the standing at Mount Sinai, by which he merited the receiving of the Torah — which is the bechinas hispa'arus, as stated — he therefore merited a crown of glory, since everything was accomplished through him, as stated. And therefore [Haman] wished to prevail specifically in the month in which Moshe died, as stated. And therefore the main force of his power was through the pegam ha'achilah [blemish of eating] — in that Israel derived pleasure from the feast of that wicked one [Achashverosh] — all of which had been according to his [Haman's] counsel, in order to cause them to stumble through forbidden food. For through the pegam ha'achilah, the da'as [mindful awareness] becomes blemished and disordered — and through this the tzaddik who reveals the hispa'arus becomes concealed, [as is explained there]. And from there comes the nurturing of Haman and the Sitra Achra [the Other Side], whose sustenance is from the blemish of the altar [pegam hamizbaich] — the pegam ha'achilah — through which the disordering of the da'as is strengthened, and from that it draws its sustenance. And therefore Haman made himself into an object of idol-worship — for the sustenance of idol-worship [avodah zarah] comes from there, from the bechina of the pegam hamizbaich, as stated, [as is explained there]. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said — that Haman is hinted at in the Torah in the verse: "Ha'min ha'aytz asher tziviticha l'vilti achol mimenu achalta — Is it from the tree about which I commanded you not to eat that you have eaten?" [Genesis 3:11]. For the primary source of his sustenance is from the pegam ha'achilah, through which the da'as becomes blemished — which is the bechina of the blemish of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. For through the pegam ha'achilah, the light of the tzaddik who reveals the hispa'arus is covered over, and the bechinas hispa'arus becomes blemished, G‑d forbid — and from that comes the sustenance of idol-worship, from the falling of hispa'arus, [as Rabbainu wrote elsewhere]. And therefore [Haman] made himself an object of idol-worship, as stated. And therefore one must rectify the pegam hamizbaich in order to merit eating with kashrus — for then, specifically through eating, the da'as is elevated and perfected, and this is achieved through tzedakah [charity], [as is explained there]. And this is the bechinas matanos la'evyonim [gifts to the poor] which we give on Purim — for through this, love and peace are increased, through which the calm and pure air [aveer hanach vihazach] is created, through which the words of Mordechai come to be written in their books, in the bechinas: "and it was found written that Mordechai had reported" [Esther 2:23], [as is explained there].

Section 2. And this is the bechina of the reading of the Megilah — which is the bechina of the written document that was effected by Mordechai, that was inscribed and engraved in their books, through which the miracle came about. For through this, converts [gairim] were made, in the bechinas: "and many of the peoples of the land converted to Judaism" [Esther 8:17] — through which the pegam hamizbaich was repaired, through which the da'as was perfected, through which the light of the tzaddik who reveals the hispa'arus of Israel was uncovered. And through all this came the downfall of Haman, whose sustenance was from the pegam hamizbaich, as stated. [See there well.] And therefore the essential rectification of the Megilah was instituted and arranged so that it be written in their books. And as is cited: that for this reason no [Divine] Name appears explicitly anywhere in the Megilah, because of the need that it be written in their books. For the entire essential the bechina of the Megilah is the bechina of the writing that was engraved and inscribed in their books by Mordechai — through which came the miracle of the downfall of Haman, as stated. And this is what is written: "And all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordechai — are they not written in the book of chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?" [Esther 10:2]. This we do not find in other places — for the way of Scripture normally is only to write that the remaining matters are recorded in the books of the kings of Israel and of Yehudah. However, here, Scripture specifies that all the acts of his power and might of the miracle, and the greatness of Mordechai, are recorded primarily in their books — for there one sees the greatness of Mordechai and the force of the miracle he performed: that he was able to produce such a writing within their books, through which he extracted the good that had been so deeply buried among them, as was the case at that time. And through this he wrought such a great miracle, as stated. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: that at the hour when Haman came to Mordechai to mount him on the horse, etc., he found him occupied with the laws of the kometz [handful] of the meal-offering, etc., and [Mordechai] said to him: "Atai kometz mincha didchu u'vatil asaras alpim kikar kesef" — "Your handful of meal-offering has come and nullified the ten thousand kikar of silver" [Megillah 16a]. Kometz mincha — specifically — namely, the bechina of the sacrificial offerings, which are the wholeness [shleimus] of the altar — and through this came the downfall of Haman, as stated. And this is the bechinas mishloach manos ish l're'aihu [sending portions, one man to his fellow] — all of it in order to increase peace, through which the calm aveer [atmosphere] is created, and all the tzedakah of matanos la'evyonim is all for this same purpose, as stated. And therefore it is a great mitzvah to eat on Purim and to greatly increase the se'udah [feast], for the essential perfection and rectification of the da'as, and the subjugation of the foolishness from which Haman draws his sustenance, as stated, is through eating when it is with kashrus, as stated — [as is explained there, see there] — and this is achieved through tzedakah and the reading of the Megilah, as stated. And therefore it is the custom to hold the main feast near the evening — after the rectifications of Purim have been performed, through which the da'as is perfected, as stated — for then the eating is permitted, and it is a great mitzvah to greatly increase the feast. For then, eating is the essential perfection of the da'as, as stated. And therefore one fasts before Purim — the Fast of Esther [Ta'anis Esther] — for fasting is a rectification of the craving for eating, [as Rabbainu wrote elsewhere], and it is itself the bechinas tzedakah, [as Rabbainu wrote elsewhere] — the bechinas "agra d'ta'anisa tzidkesa" — "the reward of fasting is [the act of] charity" [Berachos 6b] — through which the pegam ha'achilah is repaired, as stated. And this is [the reason] why some are accustomed to give matanos la'evyonim on the day of the Fast of Esther — for tzedakah and fasting are one single bechinas, and both must be done beforehand, for through them the essential miracle [comes about], as stated. For the essential rectification of the pegam ha'achilah is tzedakah, [as explained in the aforementioned ma'amar].

Based on "V'es Ha'Orvim," LM II:4 41 "Hoshi'ah Hashem... ki pasu emunim... asher amru lishonenu nagbir, s'fasainu itanu — mi adon lanu" — "Save, Hashem... for the faithful have vanished... who say: our tongue we will make mighty, our lips are with us — who is lord over us?" For the dibbur has great power, as brought there on the statement of our Sages (Midrash Rabbah 20): "We too come against him with Adam, whose power is in his mouth." 42

"Vaya'amod Pinchas vay'falail... vatachsh'veha lo litz'dakah" — "Pinchas stood and prayed... and it was accounted to him as tzedakah" — for Pinchas was zealous with the zealotry of Hashem Tzva'os, which was accounted as tzedakah. 43

"V'Avraham zakain ba bayamim" — "Avraham was old, advanced in days" — d'siv v'al b'yomin — "aged and entering into his days" — he would renew himself each day. 44

"The students of Avraham Avinu have a good eye" — the opposite of the students of Bilam the wicked who have an evil eye. Avraham merited what he merited only through the good ratzon [will] that he expressed with his mouth. Bilam, by contrast, intensified evil desires and expressed them with his mouth. What is the difference between their students? Both accomplish deeds according to their will in this world. But: "Acharis l'ish shalom" — "The end of a man of peace [is peace]," while "Acharis r'sha'im nichrasah" — "The end of the wicked is cut off." Students of Avraham inherit this world and the next; students of Bilam descend to the pit of destruction. Our Sages said (Beraishis Rabbah 3): "'Light' — these are the deeds of tzaddikim. 'Darkness' — the deeds of the wicked. I still don't know which He prefers — until the Torah says: 'God saw the light, that it was good.'" 45

"Mah ekov lo kaboh Ail, u'mah ez'om lo za'am Hashem" — "How shall I curse whom God has not cursed, how shall I rage when Hashem has not raged?" — for in those days He did not rage (brachos 7). Moshe through his power drew forth that time — so that only ratzon would prevail, the opposite of wrath. 46

"Ki mairosh tzurim er'enu, umig'va'os ashurenu" — "From the top of rocks I see him, from hills I behold him" — the Avos and eemahos, whose entire avodah was only good ratzon. "Tzurim" = "Tzur l'vavi v'chelki Elokim l'olam" — "The Rock of my heart and my portion is God forever." "G'va'os" = "Har HaMor v'giv'as hal'vonah" — the site of the Bais HaMikdash, where everything ascended as ratzon, where the light of the Panim shone — where they would ascend on the Sh'loshes R'galim. Tzur and giv'ah are exceedingly strong and lofty — for ratzon transcends everything. The Sitra Achra, by contrast, placed their idols on high hills, and their hearts are "strong as rock" — but against perceiving the truth. Zera Avraham, however, are strong as rock in their good ratzon, ascending above all mountains and hills (the aspect of y'di'os [philosophical "knowings"] that are higher than intellect — the aspect of makifim — through which many became heretics, rachmana litzlan). But Yisrael, the children of the Avos, rise above all — for they are called Ivri'im [Hebrews / "those who cross over"] — the essential thing being through ratzon. 47

"Hen am l'vadad yishkon" — "Behold, a people that dwells alone" — they practice hisbodedus, secluding themselves and settling their minds well regarding what will be their end and tachlis. This is the entire matter of hisbodedus — the conversation between oneself and one's Creator. "U'vagoyim lo yischashuv" — "And among the nations it is not reckoned" — they do not consider in their minds the deeds of the nations who pursue money (the aspect of shmad and avodah zarah). "Mi manah afar Yaakov" — "Who has counted the dust of Yaakov" — what is accomplished through every single footstep. "U'mispar es rova Yisrael" — "Who has numbered the quarter of Yisrael" — the four banners, the aspect of the daled of "Echad." "Tamos nafshi mos y'sharim us'hi acharisi kamohu" — "Let my soul die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his" — Bilam twisted his mouth and was compelled to admit that at the time of death and the end, they will understand the difference between one who walks his own path and one who walks in the path of our Avos who strengthen the ratzon. 48

Likutay Halachos — Hilchos N'si'as KapayimHalacha 1 Based on LM I:19 ("Tefillah LaChavakuk"), LM I:34 ("Cherpah Shavrah Libi"), LM I:54 ("Vayhi Mikaitz"), and others 1