ביצים א

For it is found in the words of our Rebbe, may his light shine, that all the flow of abundance (shefa) of money that comes to a person derives from the aspect of nefesh (soul) — which is the aspect of nukva (the feminine, receptive principle), the aspect of raglayim (the feet/lower extremities). See the teaching "Gezailah" (LM Tinyana §69). Now when a person lends money to his fellow, through this he acquires him — as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "the borrower is slave to the lender" (Mishlei 22:7) — for the borrower's very body becomes subordinate and obligated to him. And when the borrower himself has been obligated to the lender — that is, the obligating of his body — then from this automatically all his possessions become obligated to him as well. For when the borrower accepts money from the lender and becomes a slave and subordinate to him — as it is said, "the borrower is slave to the lender..." — through this he is included and becomes the aspect of nefesh to the lender, in the aspect of "whoever acquires a soul through his silver" — for when a person acquires a slave, he acquires his very soul, as it is said: "and the souls that they had made in Charan" (Bereishis 12:5) — and Rashi there explains: slaves and maidservants that they had acquired. The verse calls them by the name "souls," for the essence of acquisition is the nefesh, for once the person is his monetary acquisition, it follows that he is the aspect of his nefesh, for all possessions of a person are in the aspect of nefesh, as above — as is explained in the words of our Rebbe, may his light shine, there, see there.

And so too the borrower, who has been obligated to the lender through having received money from him, is in the aspect of his nefesh, as above. And through the obligating of the borrower himself, through this all the possessions of the borrower automatically become obligated to the lender — for all possessions are in the aspect of nefesh, as above. And since the lender has acquired the nefesh of the borrower for all the days of the duration of the loan, it follows that he takes from the borrower great reward on account of the waiting with the money — that is, the flow of abundance of money which the lender receives from the aspect of the nefesh of the borrower — for every nefesh has its flow of abundance of money, as is explained in the words of our Rebbe, may his memory be a blessing, there, see there. Therefore it is forbidden to take additional interest from him — for he has already received great reward all the days of the loan, namely the flow of abundance of money that he received from the nefesh of the borrower, as above. And therefore its prohibition is exceedingly severe, for in this prohibition the Sitra Achra gains its greatest hold — for the borrower is called ba'al chov (a debtor), which is the aspect of idolatry (avodah zarah), which is called chovah — as is found in the words of our Rebbe, may his light shine, in §23. And therefore a person must guard himself very greatly from being a ba'al chov (one who carries debt), and in any case the loan must be made in a permitted manner according to the Torah. But when a prohibition is created in the loan — that is, the prohibition of ribbis — then the Sitra Achra, which is the aspect of chovah, the aspect of idolatry, as above, gains a very strong foothold there — for it has a hold there, as above.

And therefore it is counted as if he denies — which is the aspect of idolatry — for in truth one must believe that all abundance flows only from the Blessed One. And when one believes that the abundance of money comes from above, certainly he will not take ribbis from the borrower — for he has already received a great deal from the borrower from the aspect of his nefesh, as above.

And this is the aspect of the virtue of drawing close to tzadikim [righteous individuals]. For they create boundary and time so that the engagement in Torah and avodah [service of G-d] should be done properly, according to one's level, within boundary and within time. This is what King David, peace be upon him, prayed: "My soul thirsts [for You]… When shall I come and appear before the face of G-d?" (Psalms 42:3). "And appear" — specifically — that the avodah should be in the aspect of seeing, meaning in the aspect of vessel and boundary and time; see there all of this well. 4