חנוכה ו

And this is the aspect of “You shall not take the Name of Hashem your G-d [in vain]” — for the essential fear is from the Name of Hashem — “to fear this glorious and awesome Name,” etc. (D’varim 28:58). And it is written: “And they shall see… that the Name of Hashem is called upon you, and they shall fear you” (D’varim 28:10). And it is written: “And the nations shall fear the Name of Hashem, and all the kings of the earth Your glory” (Tehillim 102:16). And it is written: “Because of My Name, he was humbled” (Malachi 2:5). And therefore, the Torah was given with an oath and imprecation, so that His fear would be drawn, that we should not sin. And therefore, the world trembled when He said “You shall not take the Name of Hashem” — for there is the essential fear, as above. And this is the aspect of: one who swears — like one who takes an oath — [is one who] fears — for there is the essential fear. And this is the aspect of “and His oath to Yitzchak” (Tehillim 105:9) — the aspect of Pachad Yitzchak [the Fear of Yitzchak].

And therefore, “You shall not take [in vain]” is the aspect of fear, which is the tikkun of the aforementioned Daas — whose essential completeness and tikkun is when one merits fear, the aspect of “The fear of Hashem is the beginning of Daas” (Mishlei 1:7). As is explained there in the aforementioned teaching regarding the matter of fear in several aspects; see there.

“Remember the day of Shabbas to sanctify it” and “Honor your father and your mother” — these are the aspect of the two aforementioned illuminations, which are the aspect of the illumination of daray maalah and the illumination of daray matah, and each one is included in both of them (as explained there; see there).

For “Remember the day of Shabbas” — this is the aspect of the perception of the chacham himself, which is the perception of daray maalah, which is the aspect of mah, the aspect of Ayeh, the aspect of “What did you see?” etc. — which is the aspect of “How great is Your goodness,” etc. — the aspect of the perception of the makifin [transcendent lights], which are the aspect of the flow of the Keser, the delight of the World to Come, etc. (as explained there). For all of this is the aspect of Shabbas, which is the aspect of the World to Come, where one merits the ultimate knowledge — “that we do not know” — which is the aspect of makifin (as brought in Likutay Tinyana, siman 83). For Shabbas is a day of rest and holiness, splendor, greatness, and “a crown of salvation” — the aspect of Keser, the aspect of Ayeh that is said on Shabbas in the K’dushas Keser. For Shabbas is the aspect of rest and bittul [nullification], which is the aspect of mah, the aspect of the World to Come. And then there is the ultimate completeness of Daas — the aspect of the perception of daray maalah, which is the perception of the aforementioned chacham. And the perception of daray matah, the aspect of “the whole earth is full of His glory,” is included within it, for the six days of action are included in Shabbas — for all of the six days of action, their entire vitality and sustenance come from Shabbas, as is known, and as explained in the Holy Zohar: “From it [Shabbas], all the six days are blessed.”

And the six days of action are the aspect of daray matah, the aspect of this world, corresponding to Shabbas, which is the aspect of the World to Come. For in the six days of action, Hashem, blessed be He, created the entire creation with the Ten Utterances for the sake of His glory, blessed be He, for “everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, created, He created only for His glory,” etc. — which is the aspect of “the whole earth is full of His glory” — the aspect of the perception of daray matah. For the entire creation in the six days of action was for this purpose: that they should know and recognize Him, blessed be He, and His glory should fill the entire earth. But on Shabbas, He rested and ceased even from speech, and did not create anything in it; rather, the entire creation of all the six days of action — their entire vitality and sustenance come only from Shabbas, as is known.

For Shabbas is the aspect of bittul, the aspect of mah, the aspect of the perception of daray maalah. For the lower is included within the upper. And through the mitzvah of resting on Shabbas, it is revealed that the entire creation of all the six days of action — everything is drawn from Him, blessed be He, Who is above everything. That is, all of His glory, blessed be He, that is revealed in the entire creation that was created in the six days of action — which is the aspect of “the whole earth is full of His glory” — everything is drawn and sustained only through Shabbas, which is the aspect of mah, the aspect of “Where (Ayeh) is the place of His glory?” For in truth, the two perceptions are one, for Hashem, blessed be He, is hidden and revealed. And the aspect of “full [of His glory]” receives from the aspect of Ayeh and is included in it, for it is all one. And all of this is revealed through Shabbas, which testifies that Hashem is One and His Name is One.

It emerges that Shabbas is the aspect of the perception of daray maalah, and within it is included the perception of daray matah.

“Honor your father and your mother” — this is the aspect of what is needed to illuminate in daray matah, for which purpose one must leave behind sons and students, so that replacements remain from him who will draw his Daas into daray matah, as explained there. And this is the aspect of the mitzvah of “Honor your father and your mother” — that honor is due to them. And [the Torah] equated their honor to the honor of the Omnipresent, for all the honor of the Omnipresent is drawn through them — through their having drawn Him [His honor] into the world for the sake of the magnification of His glory, blessed be He, which is revealed only through human beings in this lower world specifically (as explained there; see there).

It emerges that “Honor your father and your mother” is the aspect of the perception of daray matah, and within it is included the perception of daray maalah, as explained there.

And the entire Ten Commandments are five corresponding to five, as our Sages of blessed memory said . The commandment “You shall not murder” corresponds to “I am [Hashem your G-d].” For a murderer diminishes the [Divine] image. That is, the mitzvah of “I am” is to illuminate the holy Daas, to make known that Hashem is G-d, as above. And corresponding to this is the prohibition of “You shall not murder” — that it is forbidden to kill a soul of Yisrael, which is reckoned as though one diminishes the image. That is, this knowledge — to make known His G-dliness, blessed be He, in all the worlds — this is impossible except through the multitude of souls of the children of Yisrael who are in this lower world specifically. For each and every one, according to his root, has a portion in the revelation of the knowledge of His G-dliness, blessed be He. And the more the souls of the children of Yisrael multiply in this world, the more the glory of His G-dliness is revealed, for “in the multitude of the people is the King’s splendor” (Mishlei 14:28).

And therefore, the murderer who kills a soul of Yisrael diminishes the image — by diminishing the portion of the holy Daas that is revealed only through that soul specifically. And therefore “You shall not murder” corresponds to “I am” — which is the aspect of the revelation of the holy Daas to make known His G-dliness, blessed be He, in the world, as above.

“You shall not commit adultery” corresponds to “You shall have no [other gods]” — which is the warning to expel the spirit of folly, as above. This is the aspect of the prohibition of “You shall not commit adultery” — for there is the essential spirit of folly, as our Sages of blessed memory said on the verse “If any man’s wife goes astray” (B’midbar 5:12): “Adulterers do not commit adultery unless a spirit of folly enters them” . For the essential Evil Inclination, which is the spirit of folly, is directed toward adultery, for the root of the Evil Inclination is upon forbidden relations.

“You shall not steal” corresponds to “You shall not take [the Name of Hashem in vain]” — as our Sages of blessed memory said. For “You shall not take” is the aspect of fear, to fear the Name, etc., as above. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of “You shall not steal” — for the thief removes his fear [of G-d] from his face, as if Hashem, blessed be He, does not see him, G-d forbid — as our Sages of blessed memory said: “He has made the Eye above as if It does not see,” etc. . And this is the aspect of the blemish of all transgressions — that they blemish the fear. For all transgressions, G-d forbid, are done in theft and in secret, as it is written: “And their deeds were in the darkness, and they said: Who sees us?” (Yeshaya 29:15), etc.

“You shall not bear false witness” corresponds to “Remember the day of Shabbas” — for whoever desecrates the Shabbas is as if he testifies falsely about the Creator, as our Sages of blessed memory said. For Shabbas testifies to the renewal of the world — that Hashem, blessed be He, created the entire world in the six days of action and rested on Shabbas.

[Reb Nosson explains the concept of testimony and how two witnesses parallel the two perceptions of daray maalah and daray matah — the aspects of mah and malei — that must be united as one. When two witnesses testify to one matter and their testimony is aligned, this is the aspect of the two perceptions being included together — the unification of mah and malei, which is the essential truth and emunah. And therefore they are believed in all matters. And therefore the Torah is called “testimony” and is comprised of two Luchos [tablets], as it is written: “And the two tablets of testimony,” etc. (Sh’mos 31:18) — for there is no testimony with less than two, corresponding to the two aspects of mah and malei that must be included together, which is the essential testimony of the Torah — that testifies that Hashem, blessed be He, is exalted above all, and created everything in the six days of action, as it is written: “In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth” (B’raishis 1:1). And all of this is revealed through Shabbas, which testifies to His oneness — that He created everything in the six days of action to reveal His glory, and He rested and ceased on Shabbas, which then is the aspect of bittul and rest entirely, the aspect of mah, etc., as above. And therefore, the commandment “You shall not bear false witness” corresponds to “Remember the day of Shabbas.”]

“You shall not covet” corresponds to “Honor [your father and your mother]” — for the mitzvah of “Honor,” which is the end of the first five commandments, is the aspect of the obligation to leave the Daas behind in this world, as above — in order to include the worlds together, as explained there. For one world alone has no completeness. And the essential completeness is when the n’shamah [soul] is above in the highest heights while also illuminating below in the lowest depths, through the replacements that remain from him — son and student — which is the aspect of the mitzvah of “Honor,” as above. And through this — namely, through the inclusion of the worlds — the wealth and the sustenance are drawn, which Malchus receives from the Sea of Wisdom. And therefore, through this, one merits the extraordinary illumination of the Ratzon at the time of eating, which is the aspect of “And You give them their food in its time” (Tehillim 145:15), the aspect of “And He satisfies every living being with ratzon [desire / will]” (Tehillim 145:16), etc. (as explained there well; see there).

And this is the aspect of “You shall not covet” — which is the conclusion of the Ten Commandments. For it is forbidden to covet all the possessions of one’s fellow and his livelihood and his wealth. For Hashem, blessed be He, “satisfies every living being with ratzon” through the illumination of bain and talmid, which is the aspect of the inclusion of the worlds — which is the aspect of the mitzvah of “Honor.” For desire and craving for the possessions and wealth of one’s fellow, G-d forbid, is the opposite of the illumination of the Ratzon that is received from the Sea of Wisdom, etc. For one who has a forbidden desire — coveting and wanting the possessions of his fellow — this is against the ratzon of the Creator, blessed be He, Who gave in His ratzon this wealth to his fellow specifically, according to the distribution of sustenance that is drawn from the Sea of Wisdom, etc., as above. And therefore he blemishes the ratzon, and it is the direct opposite of the illumination of the Ratzon that one must receive at the time of eating.

For each one must strive to merit the illumination of the Ratzon, which is above everything — namely, that he should merit having no other ratzon against Hashem, blessed be He, but rather merit a strong and wondrous ratzon for Hashem, blessed be He, until he reaches the aspect of bittul — until he does not know at all what he is, etc. (as explained there; see there). And all of this one merits through the inclusion of the worlds, through the illumination of bain and talmid — which is the aspect of the mitzvah of “Honor,” as above. And therefore, “You shall not covet” corresponds to “Honor.”

Regarding the Story of the Sixth Day of the Seven Beggars (the one who had the power in his hands to extract the arrows, etc.)

[Reb Nosson outlines the four worlds — Atzilus, B’riah, Y’tzirah, Asiyah — whose roots are the four letters of the Divine Name, corresponding to the four Names Ayin-Bais (72), Samech-Gimmel (63), Mem-Hai (45), Bais-Nun (52), corresponding to taamim (cantillation marks), n’kudos (vowel-points), tagin (crowns on letters), and osiyos (letters). From these derive the four elements — fire, air, water, earth — which are the aspects of domem (inanimate), tzomay’ach (vegetation), chai (animal), and m’dabeir (human). These correspond to the four sections of the prayer service.]

[The extraction of the arrows is the aspect of ascending from impurity to purity. The arrows are the k’lipah and the dross that have not yet been refined from the malchus dik’dusha. The flight of the malchus [the princess] into the walls of water is the aspect of the creation of the world, whose foundation is water — as it is written: “Who spreads out the earth upon the waters” (Tehillim 136:6). And the entire earth and its offspring came into being from the water that was created first. And there the entire creation came into being through the Ten Utterances — therefore they are the aspect of ten walls. And this is the aspect of “And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep” — these are the aspect of the arrows. “And the spirit of G-d” — this is the spirit of Mashiach, the malchus dik’dusha. “Hovered over the face of the waters” — for there she fled. And the entire work of the tzaddikayya and the Assembly of Yisrael is to extract the arrows.]

[The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the aspect of vegetation, which is the water element — there is the essential place of free will, which is in the aspect of water, the aspect of purification. For earth is the aspect of Bain (52), water is the aspect of Mah (45). Initially it arose in [His] thought to create with the attribute of Judgment, the aspect of Bain–earth, where the Sitra Achara has its essential grip. He saw [the world could not endure] and combined [it with mercy], the aspect of Mah–mercy — and created from both. And there is the essential place of free will. This is the aspect of the Splitting of the Sea of Reeds, the aspect of “And the water was a wall for them on their right and on their left” (Sh’mos 14:22).]