לא ילבש ב

Therefore when a person sees that his brain has become confused from his service — from engaging some hours [in Torah] — he must necessarily give rest to his brain and suspend his service and sleep a bit, or engage in idle conversation with people and the like. For this too is the aspect of sleep, as I heard from our Rebbe of blessed memory. And then during sleep and suspension — which is also the aspect of sleep — one's brain is removed, nullified, and included in the holy Emunah, in the aspect of "chadashim la-bekarim rabbah emunatecha" ("new each morning — great is Your faithfulness") — as our Rebbe of blessed memory said in the Torah "Ashrei Ha-Am" which speaks of sleep (Siman 35), see there. That is: then during sleep and suspension one makes no use of one's brain at all in the service of Hashem, and only Emunah remains — for Emunah always remains. For all upright Jews — even during the hours they are suspended and not engaged in the service of Hashem — even so their Emunah is always strong. And therefore the suspension is a great benefit for one. Because seeing that one's brain begins to become confused — and confusion is drawn from the aspect of the blemish of Emunah and heresies, as mentioned — therefore one must necessarily entirely suspend one's Da'as. And therefore one must necessarily suspend somewhat from one's service — in order to interrupt and suspend the unification being made through one's service. In order to suspend for a time the joining of Emunah with Da'as — which is the aspect of unification. For during the confusion that is drawn from the "clouds" mentioned — which are the aspect of heresies — it is forbidden to make use of Da'as at all. And then one must necessarily be suspended, and the suspension is the aspect of sleep. For then one is included only in Emunah alone — for then one must revive oneself only with Emunah alone, which is the aspect of sleep and suspension, as mentioned. And then one's intellect and brain are renewed within Emunah in the aspect of "chadashim la-bekarim rabbah emunatecha" — and one merits afterward a new brain to return to begin one's service with greater strengthening and greater enthusiasm.

For the venom of the serpent consists of the confusion of the medam'eh — the faculty of imagination — which manifests as false beliefs. And when Israel stood at Mount Sinai, their contamination ceased. When the contamination of the serpent — the confusion of the medam'eh, the false beliefs — is cut off and removed, then the medam'eh becomes refined and clarified, and one then merits complete faith in Hashem. And through complete faith one merits the renewal of the world, in the dimension of "the world is built upon kindness" (Tehillim 89:3), in the dimension of "new every morning, great is Your faithfulness" (Eichah 3:23). See that discourse carefully.

As one can see with actual experience: a person who engages a bit in Torah and service of Hashem — when he is suspended a bit and engages in idle conversation and the like — then afterward he returns to his study and service with greater desire and greater vitality. And therefore a person must chart his path when engaging in the service of Hashem and Torah: to be suspended sometimes when his brain grows weary, so that his brain should not be entirely nullified, God forbid. For the suspension is the sustaining of the Torah — in the aspect of: "the suspension of Torah is itself its fulfillment" (betulah shel Torah zohu kiyumah). For the suspension a bit is like sleep, which is a relief for the brain, as mentioned.

Now, because of all this, death is a tremendous good, as it says, "very good" — this refers to death (Bereishis 1:31 and Bereishis Rabbah). For the contamination of the serpent is not fully severed except through death and burial — it is then that the body decays and disintegrates in the earth, and the contamination is severed from it, and then the body will arise in the resurrection, pure and refined and rectified. And the purification and refinement of the body — which comes about through death and through the merit of rising in the resurrection, as above — this is in the dimension of the clarification and refinement of the medam'eh. For the medam'eh is in the dimension of the body, since body and soul are in the dimension of human being and animal: the body is in the dimension of animal, and the soul is in the dimension of human being, as Rabbaynu of blessed memory said in Siman 37. And the medam'eh is in the dimension of animal, for even the animal possesses the faculty of imagination, as Rabbaynu of blessed memory said elsewhere, in Siman 54. It follows, then, that the medam'eh is in the dimension of the body. And the root of the confusion of the medam'eh is caused by the fact that the body has not been purified from the contamination of the serpent which took hold of it through the sin of the first Adam. And because the body has not been purified from the serpent's contamination, the medam'eh is consequently confused and disordered — which is itself the very substance of the serpent's contamination, as above. For the medam'eh is bound up with the body, since it is in the dimension of the body, as above. And according to the degree of the body's purification and refinement, so too is the clarification and refinement of the medam'eh, as above. It follows that in the future time — when all will arise in the resurrection and the body will be pristine and pure in the ultimate degree of refinement — then the medam'eh will be entirely refined and rectified and perfected. And then all will merit complete and perfect faith, for the full revelation of the holy faith will only come in the future time, as it says, "on that day Hashem will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9). For then the bodies will be renewed and refined to the ultimate degree of refinement, which is in the dimension of the clarification and refinement of the medam'eh. And through this all will merit complete faith, as above. And this is the dimension of "new every morning, great is Your faithfulness" — as is explained in that discourse. See there carefully. And therefore it is forbidden to wail and torment oneself over the dead, G-d forbid, beyond measure — for we believe in the resurrection of the dead and the renewal of the world. And therefore death is a tremendous good, for through it the body and the medam'eh will be refined and one will merit faith in Hashem, as above. And therefore it is also forbidden to make a cut in the flesh over the dead, G-d forbid, for we must sanctify the body through every kind of holiness in order to purify it and cleanse it from the contamination of the serpent — for this is the core of our divine service, as is known. And one who cuts his body over the dead and torments himself excessively, even to the point of wounding himself because of it, thereby shows that he does not believe in the renewal of the world, as above. For if he did not believe in the renewal of the world, the death would itself be the actual contamination of the serpent — since that is where death originates — and when he cuts his body, he thereby draws the contamination of the serpent upon his body, for the contamination clings to the body with greater force because it finds there a greater hold. But when we believe in the renewal of the world, we thereby drive away and expel the contamination from our bodies. However, one who cuts his body over the dead, G-d forbid, shows by this as though he does not believe in the renewal of the world. For if he truly believed in the renewal of the world completely, he would not cut and wound himself — since when one truly believes in the renewal of the world, death is a tremendous good, as above. It follows, then, that one who cuts himself over the dead, G-d forbid, does not believe in the renewal of the world, and thus draws the contamination of the serpent — from which death originates — upon his body, for it clings there all the more intensely, as above. For one who believes in the renewal of the world — for him death is in the dimension of life, since the primary eternal life will be attained after death, precisely at the moment of the resurrection. But for one who does not believe — for him death is in the actual dimension of the serpent's contamination, from which death came. And when he cuts his body, he draws the serpent's contamination upon his body, Heaven protect us, as above. And this is the dimension of the prohibition of chesoves ka'aka — the tattoo incision. For writing is in the dimension of the medam'eh, in the dimension of animality, as Rabbaynu of blessed memory said elsewhere, at the end of Torah 19 in Likutay Moharan. And therefore the primary medium for writing is animal parchment — for writing is in the dimension of animal, as above. And when one writes upon animal parchment, one thereby elevates it from the dimension of animal to the dimension of human being — for every thing must be elevated through its own root and dimension. And therefore, when a human being writes upon animal parchment, and the writing is in the dimension of the medam'eh, in the dimension of animal, the person who writes thereby elevates it from animal to human being, through writing upon the parchment words of holiness — such as a Torah scroll, tefillin, and the like. And therefore the parchment must be processed lishma — for its holy purpose. This corresponds to the processing and clarification of the medam'eh, which is in the dimension of animal, as above. But when one writes letters upon one's own human flesh, one thereby degrades oneself from one's sacred status — bringing oneself down from the dimension of human being to the dimension of animal, which is the dimension of writing. And then the contamination of the serpent is strengthened within him, G-d forbid, for it clings to the body, as above. And when one writes a chesoves ka'aka upon the body, one thereby draws upon the body the dimension of animality, the dimension of medam'eh, and through this the contamination of the serpent that clings to the body is strengthened, G-d forbid, as above. For in truth we must sanctify ourselves in order to transform matter into form — so that the body is refined in the dimension of human being. For Israel are called "Adam" — human being — through the fact that they sanctify the body through every kind of holiness, until the matter is transformed into form, the body into soul, and the body is refined in the dimension of soul. And then one is called "Adam," for the essential being of the human being is in the dimension of the soul, as above. And this ultimate perfection will be merited in the future time at the resurrection, when the refinement will reach its ultimate completion, as above. But we must sanctify ourselves in this world in order to merit this in the future at the ultimate perfection. And when one writes a chesoves ka'aka upon one's body, one drags the body down from "human being" to "animal," as above, and the serpent's contamination — whose hold is in the body, clinging to the dimension of animality, the dimension of medam'eh — is thereby strengthened, and one enters into the dimension of the confusion of the medam'eh, as above. Furthermore, writing is for a lasting memorial — for all writing is a memorial — and when one writes upon one's body a chesoves ka'aka, it is as though one is denying, G-d forbid, the renewal of the world, and one does not believe that this present body will be refined and clarified and all its contamination removed — namely, the present confused medam'eh. For by writing and engraving a chesoves ka'aka upon the body, an indelible inscription that can never be erased, one thereby declares, as it were, that this body will never change from its present state, G-d forbid — from its present condition of animality, of confused medam'eh — which is the dimension of the writing engraved in the body. For writing is a memorial for all generations, and one thereby indicates that this writing should remain permanently engraved in the body — that it shall never be erased, G-d forbid — meaning, that the body will never be purified or change from its present state, which is in the dimension of writing, the dimension of animal, as above. For in truth we believe in the renewal of the world, when the body will be refined, and then all the contamination that existed in this present body will pass away, and it will be renewed and refined to the ultimate degree of refinement, as above. But through the writing — namely the chesoves ka'aka — one declares that the body shall remain forever in this state, G-d forbid, since writing is a memorial for all generations, as above. And the core of the prohibition is the chesoves ka'aka — writing through engraving — because when the writing is more physical and concrete, namely writing through engraving, the medam'eh is strengthened to a greater degree. And then one enters into the dimension of the confusion of the medam'eh, for the more the medam'eh is caught up in the physical body, the more confused it becomes — since the primary source of the confusion of the medam'eh is through the body. And therefore for all sacred writing — even the writing of holiness — what is required is writing, not engraving, as the Sages taught: "And he shall write" — and not "he shall engrave." For sacred writing is upon animal parchment — to elevate from animal to human being through the writing, as above — and therefore the writing must be as fine and delicate as possible. And therefore "writing" and not "engraving" — for engraving is more physical, it sculpts the light into complete physicality and there is actual substance in the formed letter, and when writing is more physical it enters into the dimension of the confusion of the medam'eh, as above. And therefore here, in chesoves ka'aka — where the prohibition is against dragging oneself from human being to animal through writing, as above — the core of the prohibition is specifically through engraving, which is more physical, through which the confusion of the medam'eh is strengthened even further, as above. For we must refine the body from animal to human being, and writing — especially engraving — is in the dimension of animality, as above. And this is why the verse concludes with "I am Hashem" — faithful to grant reward — in the dimension of the World to Come, when the reward will be given, and then the world will be renewed, as above. And it is because of this very matter that the prohibition of chesoves ka'aka exists. And therefore it is stated here: I am Hashem, faithful to grant reward — in the dimension of the World to Come, as above. And therefore the Kohanim are warned with a special warning regarding the prohibition of cutting, as it says, "and they shall not make a cut in their flesh" (Vayikra 21:5). For the Kohain is a man of chesed, and chesed is in the dimension of the renewal of the world — the dimension of "the world is built upon kindness" — as is explained there. And when the world is renewed, then all the contamination will be annihilated, and then "death will be swallowed up forever" (Yeshaya 25:8). And therefore the Kohanim are warned regarding the impurity of the dead — for they are distant from the dimension of the sitra de-mosa, since they are in the dimension of chesed, the dimension of the renewal of the world, the dimension of death being swallowed up forever. And therefore the Torah doubled the warning regarding cutting for the Kohanim, as it says, "and they shall not cut their flesh" — for they must distance themselves further from the contamination of the serpent, and believe in the renewal of the world, since they themselves are in the very dimension of the renewal of the world, as above.

[Niddah, Halacha 2] connects to Halachos of Vows (Nedarim), Halacha 2; Halacha 4 to Halachos of Giluach, Halacha 4, Aois 15; Halacha 5 to Halachos of Giluach, Halacha 5, Aois 6.

Mikvaos (Ritual Immersion Pools)

Mikvaos, Halacha 1

Based on the discourse "Ki Seitzei la-Milchamah" etc. in Likutay Tinyana, Siman 82 — see the entire discourse there in brief. It is written: "achor v'kedem tzartani" ("You have hemmed me in behind and before") — this is the aspect of in-order and out-of-order. "Before" (kedem) is the aspect of in-order, the aspect of aleph-bais in order. "And behind" (v'achor) is the aspect of tav-shin-reish-kuf (Tashrak) — out of order. And this is the aspect of Adam and Chava — in-order and out-of-order — the Tetragrammaton in the spelling of alephs (milui alephin) equals in gematria mah [45] = Adam. And Chava is the aspect of Malchus, etc.

And this is what we see: that sometimes things go for a person out of order. For the completeness of all things is only when they are connected and united with Him, blessed be He. For the completeness and fullness is the vitality — for a limb from which vitality has withdrawn is called "deficiency." And the vitality is the brain and the intellect, as it is written: "ha-chochmah techayeh" etc. ("wisdom gives life"). And wisdom (chochmah) is the aspect of mah — koach mah (potential of nothingness), etc. It turns out: this aspect of Malchus — Chava — when she is connected to Adam, to the aspect of mah, meaning to the Holy One blessed be He, then she has completeness, etc. And this is: "la-Hashem ha-aretz u-melo'ah" ("the earth is Hashem's and its fullness"). When the earth — namely the aspect of Chava, Malchus — is connected to Hashem, then she is in her fullness and completeness.

And one who detaches the aspect of Chava, Malchus, for himself — who says "ana emloch" ("I will reign") — thereby divides and separates her from the Holy One blessed be He. Then she is not complete — for her essential vitality is mah, namely the intellect, as mentioned. And when one detaches Malchus for oneself, then things go out of order for one. For one is within the aspect of out-of-order, namely Malchus-Chava-Tashrak. But when this aspect of Chava is connected to Adam — to the Holy One blessed be He — then things go in order. For "b'asar d'is dechur, nukbei lo isdakar taman" ("where there is male, the female is not mentioned there"). It turns out: the aspect of Chava out-of-order is nullified through Adam in-order. And the aspect of in-order is called yud, etc. And when one detaches the dalet for oneself, etc., then it becomes out-of-order for one — dalet-vav-yud, etc. One should do teshuvah and humble oneself and be in the aspect of mah, etc. And then Chava returns to the aspect of Adam, to the aspect of mah — and becomes in-order — the aspect of "achor v'kedem", etc.

And the essential teshuvah is in the month of Elul — in the forty days when Moshe went up to receive the second Tablets. And he made a trodden path for teshuvah — to return and bring back the aspect of out-of-order to the aspect of in-order. For this is the essential aspect of teshuvah, as is understood from the said discourse. And Moshe connected himself even to the lowest of Israel, etc. Also at each and every ascent he found the Name of Hashem the Blessed there. And this is the aspect of Chirik and Segol, etc., the aspect of "v'sakosi kafi" etc. ("and I will cover you with My hand") and "v'ra'isa es achorai" etc. ("and you shall see My back"), etc. — see the entire discourse there and understand well, for it is very very deep.

And this is the aspect of the mikveh that purifies from all impurities. For all kinds of impurity — and especially the impurity of Niddah — are drawn from the impurity of the serpent through the sin of Adam the First. Through this he drew impurity into the world. And the essential sin was that he drew the aspect of Chava, Malchus, for himself and did not connect her to Hashem the Blessed — and said "ana emloch". For this was the essential counsel of the serpent, as it is written: "vi'hiyisem ke-Elokim" etc. ("and you shall be like God") — meaning that if they ate from the Tree of Knowledge they would be like God, as Rashi explained: creators of worlds like Him. And this is the aspect of "ana emloch". For they listened to his evil counsel in order to be like God — namely that they themselves could create worlds and reign and rule — the aspect of "ana emloch". For Elokim is a term of rulership and kingship, as is known.

And for this reason the serpent went to Chava first — because Chava is in the aspect of out-of-order, as mentioned. Therefore he gripped her more and incited her to detach the aspect of Malchus out-of-order for herself — namely to separate it from Hashem the Blessed. And afterward she incited Adam as well until he also ate and also separated himself from Hashem the Blessed from the aspect of in-order, and fell to the aspect of out-of-order — because he wanted to be like God, to reign himself, the aspect of "ana emloch", the aspect of "vi'hiyisem ke-Elokim" as mentioned. And because they then fell to the aspect of out-of-order and their vitality was removed from them — the aspect of "ki b'yom achalcha mimenu mos tamus" ("for on the day you eat of it you shall surely die") — because of this all impurities flow, coming from the impurity of the serpent who cast impurity into Chava. For the vitality from Hashem the Blessed is the holiness — for wisdom (chochmah), which is vitality, is called "holy" (kodesh), as is known. And when the vitality — which is wisdom, which is holiness — was withdrawn, impurity flowed in its place. And therefore she was then cursed with the blood of Niddah — which is the strengthening of the impurity through which she is separated from her husband, and the aspect of out-of-order is separated from the aspect of in-order, Chava from Adam. For she brought this upon herself — by saying "ana emloch" and separating the aspect of out-of-order for herself. Therefore it is impossible to become purified from the impurity except through the waters of the mikveh — which are the aspect of the waters of Da'as, the aspect of "ki mala'ah ha-aretz de'ah es Hashem ka-mayim la-yam mechasim". And through this — that a person enters the mikveh and becomes covered and concealed therein — one thereby nullifies oneself in the aspect of mah, in the aspect of ayin (nothingness), as if one is not in the world at all. And one is included in the aspect of mah — which is the aspect of Adam, the aspect of wisdom — which is the aspect of the waters of the mikveh, the aspect of wisdom and Da'as, as mentioned. For the waters are in the aspect of "before" (kedem) — in-order. For the waters preceded the world. And the beginning of the order of creation — which is the aspect of aleph-bais in order — began from them. Therefore when one enters the waters and becomes covered and concealed in the waters — one is included and nullified into the aspect of mah, the aspect of wisdom, the aspect of "before," the aspect of in-order. And all the impurities drawn from the aspect of out-of-order — the aspect of "ana emloch" — are nullified into the aspect of in-order, the aspect of wisdom, the aspect of holiness. And therefore through the mikveh one is purified from all kinds of impurity in the world. For all kinds of impurity come from the aspect of out-of-order — the withdrawal of vitality of holiness, etc., as mentioned. And through immersion in the mikveh, the out-of-order is included and nullified into the aspect of in-order — which is the waters of the mikveh, as mentioned. And through this one rises from impurity to purity, as mentioned.

And this is the aspect of the forty se'ah of the mikveh — corresponding to the forty days of receiving the Second Tablets. During which Moshe Rabbeinu made a trodden path for teshuvah — to return and bring the aspect of out-of-order back to the aspect of in-order. This is the essential aspect of teshuvah, as is understood from the said discourse. And this is what is brought in the holy Zohar: that teshuvah is tashuv-heh — to return the lower heh to its place. That is: to return the lower heh, which is the aspect of Malchus-Chava out-of-order, to return and bring it back to its place — to the aspect of the first three letters which are aleph-bais in order, as is known.