ביצים ד

And the principle is: one cannot truly see a thing — [meaning] to take the thing into one's awareness, that is, to form it in one's mind — unless the power of sight travels in a directed manner toward that thing and strikes it [haka'ah, impact]. Then the sight returns to his eyes through that impact, and the thing becomes depicted in his eyes. And then he sees the thing. And this is itself the aspect of the power of ohr hayashar and ohr hachozer that is drawn through the power of sight, as explained in the Torah [teaching] mentioned above. 20

For the essential power of the evil inclination is drawn from the multiplicity of differences. For at the root of all things, there all is one — and there is no difference there whatsoever, God forbid — and there all is good, and there is no evil nor opposition at all. And the essential grip of evil — from which comes the power of the evil inclination, from which comes all opposition — is drawn only from the aspect of multiplicity, where differences exist. As is explained in the Torah discourse "Amar Rabbi Akiva" (Likutay Moharan §51, Part I): when one reaches the pure marble stones and so on, see there carefully what is explained — for before creation, all was one, which is the aspect of "all goodness, all holiness" and so on. And the moment creation emerged from potentiality into actuality, and the aspect of two came into being — that is, before-creation and after-creation — immediately the root-grip of falsehood came into being. Even though there was not yet, God forbid, any actual evil or falsehood, nevertheless, since there were now two aspects, the dimension from which the grip of falsehood — which is evil, which is impurity, from which comes all the power of the evil inclination and all opposition — was to descend had immediately come into being. For where there is oneness, opposition is not applicable, and so on — see there. And from there comes all the power of free choice — see there.

But even after creation, even though the root-grip of falsehood — which is evil, from which comes the power of free choice, for from there comes the power of the evil inclination as above — had already come into being, nevertheless all of this remained in a very great concealment, and the falsehood, which is the evil inclination, still lacked the power to bring its lie out of potentiality into actuality, until the differences multiplied more and more. And since the essential purpose of creation was only for the sake of man — for everything was created only for his sake alone — because only man possesses the power of free choice. For there is no created being in the world that has the power of free choice except for man. For the angel is holy and pure but has no free choice; and conversely, animals and beasts and the like are lacking in mind and are extremely coarse, and they have no free choice; and the essential power of free choice belongs to man. And therefore everything was created for his sake, for free choice is the great wonder and marvel beyond all the formations and works of creation — as is cited in the sacred books and in our own writings many times.

And since the essential power of free choice belongs to man, for whose sake everything was created, and the essential free choice operates through there being a good inclination and an evil inclination — therefore the evil inclination had no power to reveal its lie, to seduce and lead astray man, until the multiplicity and difference in the human species began — that is, until two came into being, which occurred when Chavah was created and there were now two people, and then there were two different minds. Only then did it have the power to seduce — for its essential grip is from the multiplicity and difference of minds. And especially when the number of human beings increased — for among them the essential power of free choice resides, as above. As it is said: "God made man upright, but they sought many calculations" (Koheles 7:29). And as Rashi explained there: the moment they became two — called "they" — they sought many calculations to turn away from the Omnipresent and they sinned against Him at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and so on. For in truth the soul of man is exceedingly great and lofty, and the evil inclination had no power with all its devices to cause him to sin except through first enclothing itself in the woman, whose mind is lighter, and thereafter she seduced him. For the woman was taken through deep sleep and slumber — which is the aspect of the withdrawal of da'as (mind/knowledge), from which comes the essential grip of time. For through true intellect one attains the perception that there is no time whatsoever, and so on — as is explained on the verse "I have begotten you this day" (Tehillim 2:7) — see there.

And the essential grip of the differences is in time — for there all the differences reside, as it is said: "With understanding He changes the times and alternates the seasons" (liturgy, from Daniel 2:21). And as is visibly apparent from the many changes that come about through time: cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, and so on. And even within a single day there are many changes — as is cited in our writings regarding what is stated in the Eitz Chayyim at its beginning: that no day resembles its fellow, and no moment resembles its fellow, and so on. And from there all the events of a man's life are drawn — everything that befalls him. For the Blessed Lord watches over His world with mercy and guides it with kindness, "with understanding changing the times and alternating the seasons" — through which all events in the world, generally and particularly, pass in accordance with His supervision, blessed be He — whether for good or, God forbid, otherwise — and upon every individual passes what passes, according to His specific supervision.

Likewise, one person's mind differs from another's according to one's nature and root and according to what befalls one — and the essential thing is free choice. For a person must direct his mind every day, at every time, at every hour, and in everything that befalls him, to believe truly that everything is for his good — for everything is a hint from the Blessed Lord to turn him back to Him in truth — as is explained elsewhere. And one who directs his mind to the Blessed Lord in everything that befalls him draws himself near to the Blessed Lord, whether in prosperity or in adversity — as it is said: "In the Lord I will praise His word, in God I will praise His word" (Tehillim 56:11). And as it is said: "And I am always hoping" (Tehillim 71:14) — through this he annuls the entire grip of the evil inclination and the Sitra Achra which is seized in the differences, for he includes all the differences within the Blessed Lord, where all is one, as above. And if all human beings were to conduct themselves in this way — to include all things in the One — surely everything would be in love and peace and unity, and the entire world would be rectified in the ultimate rectification. For this is the most precious of all things, as it is said: "Love your fellow as yourself" — Rabbi Akiva said: this is a great principle in the Torah (Yerushalmi, Nedarim 9:4). For in truth, even though the mind of every person differs from his fellow's — as our Sages of blessed memory stated — nevertheless each one must love his fellow as his own soul, and know that all is one. For all the varying actions descend from the Single Simple One. And the Blessed Lord created each person with a mind deliberately different from his fellow's — so that each one, through the difference of his mind, would be included in unity together with his fellow, and they would not come to jealousy and hatred and quarreling, God forbid, on account of the difference of their minds. Rather, they should love one another and fulfill the Torah and the commandments together and all be included as one — for this is exceedingly precious to the Blessed Lord when differing actions are included in the Single Simple One. As is explained in the Torah discourse on the days of Chanukah in Likutay Tinyana §2 — see there. But from the multiplicity of differences, the evil inclination seizes its grip as above, and seduces him to whatever it seduces him to. And the beginning of its power was when Chavah was created and there were two human beings — for since Chavah was taken through deep sleep, through the withdrawal of da'as, where the essential grip of time resides as above, from which all differences come as above, therefore it had greater power to seduce her. And the moment it seduced her, it had power through her specifically to seduce man himself — even though he was exceedingly lofty, and it had no power in any manner to seduce him directly to transgress the words of the Blessed Lord by eating from the Tree of Knowledge. But through her it caused him to sin, as above. And so it is in every generation — for afterward, as all the generations descended from Chavah, the more human beings multiplied the more power the evil inclination had to cause even the greatest in stature to sin. And especially through human beings, in whom it enclothes itself — those who are not so strong — and causes them to sin; and afterward through them it can cause even the greatest to sin, God forbid. As our master, teacher and rebbe, of blessed memory, said: that human beings are very great obstacles, and so on. And he likewise said: that a person has more power to cause his fellow to stumble than the evil inclination itself, and so on — see there. And therefore the entire power of the evil inclination is primarily through strife (machlokas) — as is explained in the Torah discourse "VaYasev" and so on; and as our Sages of blessed memory expressed themselves most emphatically regarding the enormity of the vileness of strife — through which the Second Temple was destroyed, and so on; and we have still not returned to our land on account of this — which is as above. And this is the aspect of the immense greatness of the mitzvos of tzedakah (charity) and gemilus chassadim (deeds of loving-kindness), which are weighed against the entire Torah — for through tzedakah one increases peace and love, as it is said: "Increasing tzedakah increases peace" (Avos 2:7). For tzedakah is given from one's money — one takes one's money and gives it to one's poor fellow — and through this one greatly increases love and peace, and annuls the grip of the Sitra Achra from the differences, until all is included in the One — which is the most precious thing of all. For money is the aspect of deficiency of da'as (mind/knowledge) — for money is from the aspect of the left, from the aspect of the north, as it is said: "From the north gold comes" (Iyov 37:22). And as our Sages of blessed memory said: "One who wishes to grow wealthy should face north" (Bava Basra 25b) — for from there comes the grip of foolishness, which is deficiency of da'as, in the aspect of "a fool's heart is to his left" (Koheles 10:2). (As is explained in the Torah discourse on the prohibition of robbery, §69 — see there.) And therefore in the matter of money the battle is primarily to annul the grip of the evil inclination which is seized in the differences that come through time — seized in the aspect of slumber, in the aspect of the withdrawal of da'as, from which comes money, as above. And therefore most strife is over money. As it is said: "For a piece of bread a man transgresses" (Mishlai 28:21). And as is visibly apparent. And therefore in the matter of money one must exert oneself most of all, and annul time, and know and believe that there is no time whatsoever — for then one will be saved from the lust for money and from the anxiety and worry of livelihood. For the essential anxiety about livelihood, through which one comes to the lust for money, is on account of time — through one's thinking from day to day and worrying about where one will find sustenance in the future. For the majority of people have enough to eat on any given day, and even the one who is most pressed — who does not even have sustenance for that day — if you examine this closely you will see that the greater part of everyone's worry is about tomorrow and about the time to come. For a person can endure a single day without food at all — it is only the worry that tomorrow too there will be no sustenance. All the more so that the majority have their day's sustenance, and many have money and property from which they can support themselves for a month or a year or more — yet all their worry is: what will they do when the money runs out over the passage of time? It follows, then, that the essential anxiety about livelihood and the lust for money is on account of time — since money is drawn from the deficiency of da'as, where the essential grip of time resides, from which come all the differences, as above. And therefore one must exert oneself to bind one's mind to the truth — to believe and understand that in truth there is no time whatsoever. For time flees very swiftly — "all our days are vanity" (Koheles 9:9). And all of time is drawn only from the aspect of above-time for the sake of free choice — only it is impossible to understand this, but in truth there is no time whatsoever. And through this one will have the strength to wait for the salvation of the Blessed Lord at all times, and not trouble one's mind with the worry of livelihood and the anxiety about money. Rather, one should accustom oneself to say "Blessed is the Lord day by day" (Tehillim 68:20), and so on. As our Sages of blessed memory said: "One who worries about what he will eat tomorrow is among those lacking emunah (faith)" — for "He who created the day created its sustenance" (Mechilta, B'shalach). It follows, then, that the essential differences drawn from time — from which the evil inclination gains its grip most strongly in money, as above — are thus rectified: the one who performs tzedakah, taking his money and giving it to his poor fellow, thereby greatly annuls the aspect of differences and is included in the One. For he annuls the difference between himself and the poor person — not hating him nor pursuing him on account of the difference of mind — on the contrary, having compassion on him and giving him of his money, which is where the essential grip of the differences resides. It follows that he thereby greatly annuls the differences, through which he annuls the grip of evil which is the evil inclination, and is included in the One where there is no difference — which is the ultimate purpose of the entire Torah and its commandments: to be included in the One and to annul time and all the differences that depend upon it, to be included in the aspect of above-time where all is one — which is the aspect of the ultimate purpose, the World to Come. And therefore tzedakah is very great and is weighed against the entire Torah; and the entire Torah is called by the name of tzedakah, as it is said: "And it shall be righteousness (tzedakah) for us" (Devarim 6:25). For this is the essential principle of all the Torah — to annul all the differences from which comes the entire grip of the evil inclination, and to be included in the One — and this is merited through tzedakah as above. And therefore tzedakah saves from transgressions — as our Sages of blessed memory expounded — and atones for transgressions, as it is said: "Break off your sins by righteousness (tzedakah)" (Daniel 4:24). For tzedakah annuls the grip of the evil inclination from which all transgressions come, God have mercy, as above. For the mind of each person differs from his fellow's as above; and especially the mind of the wealthy differs from that of the poor — for the essential state of poverty is in the aspect of "in toil you shall eat of it" (Bereshis 3:17), which was drawn through the eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, from which came the intensification of all differences and all confusions — the aspect of "the blade of the turning sword" (Bereshis 3:24). And because of this the wheel of reversal turns in the world, so that for the most part poverty is found among the upright and the righteous, and wealth among the wicked and the unworthy. But the essential grip of poverty comes from the aspect of evil drawn from the differences — through which the flow of abundance is blocked, as is known. And therefore the mind of the wealthy person who has abundance and every good differs greatly from the mind of the poor person whose house is empty of everything — to the point that many of the wealthy hate the poor and many pursue them. As it is said: "All the brothers of a poor man hate him" (Mishlai 19:7), and as it is said: "And a man pursues the poor and destitute" (Tehillim 109:16). And this is drawn from the multiplicity of differences from which comes the grip of hatred and strife — from which comes the entire power of the evil inclination, which incites itself most strongly against the poor person, since from there comes all poverty as above. But this wealthy person who believes in the Blessed Lord — that everything comes from Him alone, for "wealth and honor come from before Him" — and who does not hate the poor person on account of the difference of mind, but on the contrary has compassion on him and gives him of his money — through this he greatly annuls the aspect of the differences that are seized there most strongly. And through this he annuls the grip of the evil inclination and is included in the One — and therefore he is reckoned as though he fulfilled the entire Torah, as above. And gemilus chassadim (deeds of loving-kindness) and gracious lending (halva'as chein) are greater than tzedakah — for gemilus chassadim applies both to the poor and to the wealthy, and through it one acquires love and peace with all — which is the essential thing. For great is the peace which annuls the grip of the evil inclination, as above. And the essential greatness of gracious lending is the waiting — that the lender waits for his fellow until he repays him. For through this he annuls the aspect of time and is included in the aspect of above-time. And this is the principle of the entire Torah — that one must wait, for "there is no reward for a mitzvah in this world" (Kiddushin 39b); the principle is "today, to perform them" and "tomorrow, to receive reward" (Eruvin 22a), which is the World to Come — which is above time. For through this one is included in the aspect of above-time. For certainly, if a person were to see the reward of the commandments in this world, there would be no trial and no free choice at all. Especially the commandment of tzedakah — if a person were to see that through the dinar he gives to the poor, a thousand golden dinars immediately flow to him in its place, who would be so foolish as not to give tzedakah and not to seize upon such a transaction?! Does not a person invest hundreds and thousands for the possibility of a tenth part profit — and sometimes there is a loss and there is very great toil and effort! Who would not seize upon a gain of this kind, where through a single dinar given to the poor one gains thousands in this world from the produce, apart from the principal remaining for eternity?! But the essential free choice and trial lies in the waiting — since people do not see the reward with their eyes. And there are times when, out of love for the person, the produce too is stored away for him for the World to Come, for his own benefit; or for the atonement of sins and the like. Therefore the essential reward of tzedakah is the emunah — that one believes in the Blessed Lord and waits for Him, in the aspect of "one who is gracious to the poor lends to the Lord" (Mishlai 19:17). And the essential thing is to annul time — through which one has the strength to wait. For one must set one's heart toward the truth: that time flies and rushes exceedingly, as one sees with one's own senses — and to believe that in truth there is no time whatsoever. And the essential existence of time is through the withdrawal of da'as for the sake of the trial and free choice, in order that one bind time to the aspect of above-time — through tzedakah and good deeds, through one's believing in the Blessed Lord and performing tzedakah and gemilus chassadim and waiting for the Blessed Lord as above. It follows that the essential greatness of tzedakah and gemilus chassadim lies in the waiting — through which one binds oneself to the aspect of above-time and annuls all the differences, and so on, as above. And therefore the sin of interest is exceedingly, exceedingly severe — for interest is agar netar: one takes payment for waiting with one's money that one has lent. And through this one greatly intensifies the grip of time and intensifies the evil that is seized in time — since one does not believe in the Blessed Lord to wait for one's fellow graciously and to act with kindness toward him. For through this one annuls time which is seized in money most strongly, as above. And therefore the blemish of the sin of interest is very great and is reckoned as one who denies the entire Torah — for the entire fulfillment of the Torah depends upon this: to annul time, from which come all the differences, from which comes the entire grip of the evil inclination as above. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: that it is reckoned as one who denies the Exodus from Egypt. For at the Exodus from Egypt there was an overturning of all the cosmic orders through which time is governed. Therefore then there was the aspect of the annulment of time — as is cited in the words of our master, teacher and rebbe, of blessed memory, in the roshay p'rakim (outline) where it is stated that at the Splitting of the Sea of Reeds there was an annulment of time. And therefore on the Night of Vigil the night shone like the day — as our Sages of blessed memory said. For this is the aspect of the annulment of time, from which came all the signs and awesome wonders that Moshe performed — for he was above time, as is stated there in those roshay p'rakim. And through this they merited the giving of the Torah, through which one merits to be included above time, as above. And the one who lends at interest and takes agar netar is the very opposite of all this. And therefore he is reckoned as one who denies the Exodus from Egypt and the entire Torah, as above. And this is the aspect of rising at chatzos (midnight) — to nullify the sleep from which comes the grip of time, from which come all the differences. And therefore "sleep" (sheinah) is of the same root as "change/difference" (shinyuy) — for through sleep and slumber, which is the aspect of the withdrawal of da'as, comes the essential grip of the trouble of time, from which come all the differences, as above. And therefore the Exodus from Egypt was at midnight — for the Exodus from Egypt came in the aspect of the annulment of time as above, which is the aspect of midnight (chatzos), when there descends from above the arousal from sleep — through "that voice that strikes with the wings of the rooster" (Zohar, Pekudei 197b), and so on. Through this one attains the aspect of the annulment of time — through which the differences are annulled, from which come all hatred and opposition and strife, and the exile that comes through those who strive and hate, as above. And therefore rising at chatzos is propitious like a pidyon (redemption), as our master, teacher and rebbe, of blessed memory, said. For the pidyon is through coins of tzedakah given to the tzaddik and the upright man — for that is where the essential tikun (rectification) of tzedakah operates. For when one gives to a wicked or blemished person — all the more to a ba'al machlokas (one who incites strife) — on the contrary, it blemishes further, for he then draws the flow of abundance, God forbid, toward the differences from which come all blemishes, as above. Therefore the essential tikun of tzedakah is to endeavor to give to the tzaddikim and the upright, the men of true peace. And this is the essential pidyon — for through this all the afflictions are annulled that are drawn from the evil seized in the multiplicity of differences, as above. And this is likewise the aspect of chatzos — when one rises from sleep at midnight and breaks through the sleep at the height of its intensification, at the moment when da'as has reached the uttermost diminishment and withdrawal — through this one annuls all the differences, and so on, as above. And therefore rising at chatzos is propitious like a pidyon, as above. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: that it is difficult to stand at the exact point of midnight — for this is impossible to attain. For the withdrawal of da'as, from which comes the root of free choice — since from there comes the error of imagining that there is time in the world, from which come all the troubles of time and its vanities, which confuse a person from thinking about his end and preparing provisions for his way that is exceedingly, exceedingly long — all of this is drawn from the initial tzimtzum (contraction) of the empty space (chalal ha-panu'i), which is the aspect of the withdrawal of chokhmah (wisdom) and da'as, as is cited elsewhere. All of this is impossible to attain except by the choicest individuals of the generation, such as Moshe and Dovid. And this is what is stated there in tractate B'rachos: that Dovid rose at midnight and engaged in Torah, and in the morning they came to him and said: "Your nation Israel requires sustenance" and so on. And at first glance this is astonishing — what is the connection between one thing and the other?! But in truth the essential lack of sustenance and poverty is drawn from the multiplicity of differences that intensified through the sin of the first man — from which comes the grip of evil that blocks the flow of abundance, from which comes poverty in the aspect of "in toil you shall eat of it." And therefore through rising at chatzos — through which the differences are annulled as above — it is fitting that abundance and sustenance should flow. And therefore specifically after Dovid rose at chatzos, they came to him in the morning and asked about sustenance — for through chatzos which is the annulment of differences, sustenance flows, as above. And therefore he answered them: "Go and sustain yourselves one from the other" — that is, that there should be love and peace between them and they should act with kindness one toward the other until they sustain themselves one from the other. For the essential annulment of differences depends upon there being love and peace among the people of Israel and their acting with kindness one toward the other — upon which depends the essential drawing down of abundance and blessing. And therefore in truth the Holy One, blessed be He, found no vessel capable of holding blessing for Israel other than peace — as our Sages of blessed memory said. That is: even though one rises at chatzos, through which the differences are annulled and it would be fitting for sustenance to flow — still, one further needs there to be peace among Israel, which is the essential thing as above — and this is what "go and sustain yourselves one from the other" means, as above. They said to him: "The fistful does not satisfy" and "the pit cannot be filled by its own clods" (B'rachos 3b) — that is, that the world had already been so confounded through the sin of the first man and the sins of the generations that most of the abundance is held by the nations of the world and the wicked and those who incite strife. Therefore even in the days of Dovid it was difficult for Israel to sustain themselves one from the other on account of the great abundance that was held by the nations and the divisive ones. He said to them: "Go and stretch out your hands against the troop" — that they must fight against the nations and those who oppose holiness, and take from them the abundance and restore it to the worthy people of Israel. And therefore the passage "If you lend money" is read on Pesach, which is the Exodus from Egypt. For the essential purpose of the Exodus from Egypt — to go out from the exile — is through gemilus chassadim and gracious lending. For through this the enemies and opponents are annulled, from whom comes the exile, as above. And therefore interest is called by the name "neshech" (bite), as it is said: "neshech — any matter which may bite (yishach)" (Devarim 23:20) — in the aspect of "that bites (yishoch) without enchantment" (Koheles 10:11), which is a serpent. For this is the aspect of the severe sin of lashon hara (evil speech), which is the worst of all. For through lashon hara all strife comes — from which comes the essential grip of the evil inclination which is seized when strife is made through the difference of minds and they are not included in the One, as above — and this is the aspect of the blemish of ribbis (interest), as above. Therefore it is called "neshech" in the language of "if a serpent bites" — the aspect of the blemish of lashon hara and strife, as above. And therefore the essential prolonging of this exile is through lashon hara and strife — through which one does not know where truth is, as above. And the essential redemption will come through peace — as it is said: "Eliyahu comes only to make peace in the world" (Mishnah, Eduyos 8:7). And through this the redemption will come speedily in our days, Amen. And this is the aspect of Rosh Hashana — for "this day is the beginning of Your works" (Rosh Hashana liturgy): for on Rosh Hashana man was created, and he is the essential purpose of all creation. And then was the essential emergence of creation from potentiality into actuality, completed on the sixth day when man was created, who is the essential purpose of all creation. And therefore at that time the essential service of the true tzaddikim is to become included — after creation — in before-creation. This is a very great service: to sweeten and rectify the root of the grip of strict judgment from which the grip of falsehood — which is evil, which is impurity — descends, whose entire grip begins at the onset of creation the moment it emerged from potentiality into actuality. For even though there was then not yet, God forbid, any falsehood and impurity, nevertheless since there was already the aspect of two as above, there was an impression from which falsehood and impurity would descend, and so on, as above. Therefore the essential completion of the tikun for all things in all of creation is only through those tzaddikim who have the power to ascend from there to the very beginning of creation — from which the grip of falsehood descends as above. For as long as the exceedingly subtle grip above — which does not extend into the mind at all, from which the descent of falsehood is seized — has not been rectified there on high, even if much has been rectified below in the matter of the grip of falsehood, the rectification is still not complete. Since it has not yet been rectified and sweetened at the root of its roots above. And this is the greatness of the service of the great tzaddikim on Rosh Hashana — which is the day of the world's creation, when creation emerged from potentiality into actuality. And then one must rectify the root of the grip of the Sitra Achra, which is falsehood — whose entire root is from the onset of creation the moment it emerged from potentiality into actuality, as above. And therefore Rosh Hashana is the first day of the Ten Days of Repentance — for from there comes the essential arousal of repentance through the great tzaddikim, who reveal and illuminate the truth of emes in the world, and nullify the root of the grip of falsehood at the onset of creation — which is a very great service as above. For this is what one engages in on Rosh Hashana, which is the beginning of creation. And therefore it is the beginning of repentance, as above — for the essential teshuvah is in this mode: to raise and elevate, according to one's portion in the totality of creation, everything, and restore it to its first root — to return and be included, after creation, in before-creation. For this is the essential aspect of teshuvah: to restore everything to its first root — in the aspect of "an arrow that was shot returns to the place from which it was taken" (Zohar, Pekudei 213b), as is explained elsewhere. And therefore one must travel to the most elevated tzaddikim for Rosh Hashana — for there is no one who knows how to engage in this tikun except the tzaddikim who are very great in stature, as above. And even the great tzaddikim do not merit to do this in completeness during their lifetimes, but only after their passing. And therefore people go to the graves of tzaddikim on Erev Rosh Hashana — for the essential completion of this tikun is only through the great tzaddikim after their passing, when they attain the fullness of their stature: when they restore their souls to the place from which they were taken at the beginning of the highest root of their root. Through this they restore all of creation that depends upon them to its root, and include after-creation in before-creation, and rectify and sweeten and nullify the grip of falsehood that is seized there. For only for this reason was man, the possessor of free choice, created — for all his choosing comes from there, at the onset of creation's emergence from potentiality into actuality, as above in that Torah discourse. And when a person stands the trial and chooses the good as is proper, and rises from level to level until he ascends to the beginning of creation and rectifies there — so that falsehood can no longer seize its grip from there, as above — this is the essential tikun of all creation, as above. And this is what the first man was meant to rectify on the day he was created. And through his ruin at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, by the counsel of the serpent — which is the essential falsehood that is seized from there — and the first man did not prevail to nullify it, death was decreed upon him for the generations and falsehood gained a very strong grip. And through this the following is explained somewhat: the difficulty that arises at first glance — from where did man come to the stumbling-block of this sin, to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, since the evil inclination had not yet existed in the world?! As is cited in the sacred books and as is explained explicitly by Rashi: that the evil inclination was not given to them until they ate from the Tree of Knowledge. If so, how did they come to this sin? But in truth: even though the evil inclination of today had not yet existed in the world, its uppermost root-grip had already come into being — that is, the aspect mentioned above: the aspect of purity which is the aspect of free choice, the aspect of the root-grip of strict judgment, which is the aspect of Levi and so on — from which comes the impression that falsehood, which is impurity, will descend, as above. And this very subtle uppermost root had certainly already come into being the moment creation emerged from potentiality into actuality, as above in that Torah discourse. And the first man at his creation was very, very lofty in stature, and was meant to rectify and sweeten this aspect. And through his becoming lax in this rectification, the serpent took counsel and misled man with a very subtle falsehood — for it drew from there. And therefore its entire stratagem was to seduce the woman first — for the woman is in relation to the man as the aspect of after-creation in relation to before-creation, for each level that is higher than its fellow is the aspect of before-creation in relation to after-creation. For the higher level is closer to before-creation — and therefore it is considered in relation to the level below it as the aspect of before-creation, while the lower level is the aspect of after-creation. And this is the aspect of man and woman, soul and body, man and animal — for the man is the aspect of soul, the aspect of the human being (adam), the aspect of before-creation in relation to the woman, who is the aspect of body, the aspect of the animal, the aspect of after-creation. And therefore in the matter of the union of man and woman lies the essential battle and trial and free choice and refinement of the human being in this world — for the woman was taken through sleep and slumber, which is the aspect of the withdrawal of da'as, which is the aspect of the beginning of the tzimtzum: the contraction and withdrawal of da'as through which came the essential emergence of creation from potentiality into actuality. For had there not been the aspect of tzimtzum and withdrawal of da'as, it would have been impossible for creation to emerge from potentiality into actuality — everything would have remained in potentiality as in the beginning, as is understood from the sacred writings. And this is the aspect of the construction of the woman from the man through the deep sleep — which is the withdrawal of da'as from which comes the aspect of the root of the grip of falsehood, as above. And therefore the serpent incited the woman and misled her with an error of the most subtle subtlety — as is understood from the Torah portion: it first pushed her until she touched the tree, and so on, until she tested it and sinned in deed and ate from the Tree of Knowledge. And at once she misled the man — for the essential misleading is through human beings who have already stumbled, for they have greater power to mislead, as above. And on Rosh Hashana, when the world was created — that is, the first man — and through it he sinned, and the Blessed Lord in His mercy helped him begin teshuvah — therefore on Rosh Hashana one must engage in this tikun as is cited. And this tikun is impossible except through the great tzaddikim mentioned above, and they complete the tikun most fully after their passing, as above. Therefore one goes to the graves of tzaddikim on Erev Rosh Hashana, as above. And the essential tikun is through emes (truth) — as is explained in the Torah discourse mentioned above: that through emes the supervision of the Blessed Lord is drawn down, through which one is included after-creation in before-creation. And therefore on Rosh Hashana the majority of Israel draw themselves toward emes and wholeness and pray and cry out to the Blessed Lord in truth and wholeness, without any of the empty sophistries that some have in the rest of the year's days. For the essential thing is emes and wholeness — to conduct oneself throughout the year as the multitude of upright people of Israel conduct themselves on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippurim. For the essential teshuvah and tikun is emes — through which one nullifies the grip of falsehood that was seized at the onset of creation, and one is included after-creation in before-creation — which is the essential tikun of all things, as above. And this is the aspect of the sound of the shofar — which is the aspect of emes, the aspect of "the voice is the voice of Yaakov" (Bereshis 27:22), the aspect of "give truth to Yaakov" (Micha 7:20). For the essential revelation of emes is through the aspect of Yaakov, who began to engage in this tikun — to nullify the falsehood at the onset of its grip as above. For Avraham Avinu was the first to begin to reveal His divinity in the world, which is the essential revelation of emes. But since Avraham was first, he had not yet attained the annulment of the grip of falsehood at its root — at the very point where creation emerged from potentiality into actuality, which is impossible to attain. And there, the essential sweetening is needed to nullify the grip of falsehood. For Avraham's attribute was chessed (lovingkindness) and Yitzchak's attribute was gevurah (strength/judgment) — these are the aspects of before-creation and after-creation. For chessed is the aspect of before-creation, where all is good, all is chessed. And gevurah and din (judgment) is the aspect of after-creation, from which comes the grip of strict judgment, as above. For Avraham revealed His divinity in the world and made known that God rules upon the earth. Likewise Yitzchak and Yaakov — for this was the entire service of all of them, for we call no one "Avos" (Patriarchs) except three (Midrash B'reishis Rabbah 56:11). For they are the fathers of the world — in the aspect of before-creation, in the aspect of "father" as above — for they merited to include all things in the Blessed Lord, in the aspect of before-creation where father and son are as one, in the aspect of "when you reach the pure marble stones" — and there everything is called by the name of the Father, for the son is subsumed under the father and is included in him. But Avraham and Yitzchak had not yet entirely nullified the grip of falsehood at its root — at the point where creation emerged from potentiality into actuality as above, from which comes the essential grip of the root of falsehood and so on, as above. And therefore from Avraham descended Yishma'el, and from Yitzchak descended Eisav — who are "clouds that cover the eyes" (Tikunay Zohar, Tikun 13), the essential falsehood that covers the truth, which is the tikun of the eyes, as is explained in that Torah discourse. For Avraham revealed and drew down His divinity from above to below — the aspect of "or yashar" (direct light) in the aspect of chessed. And Yitzchak is the aspect of "or chozer" (reflected light) from below to above — the aspect of gevurah. But the essential bond and connection between before-creation and after-creation is through the aspect of Yaakov, who is the aspect of the "threefold cord" (Koheles 4:12), the aspect of the "middle beam that passes from end to end" (Shemos 26:28) — for he binds and includes together, in completeness, the aspects of Avraham and Yitzchak, which are the aspects of chessed and din, or yashar and or chozer, before-creation and after-creation. For Yaakov merited the attribute of emes in completeness — namely, to nullify the grip of falsehood at its uppermost root as above, until he merited to attain how creation is drawn from potentiality into actuality without the grip of falsehood at all. This is the service of Yaakov whose attribute is emes — through which comes the essential bond and inclusion of all creation within before-creation in completeness. And therefore Yaakov merited that his "bed was complete" without any dross — for childbirth is the aspect of a new creation, drawing the son from potentiality into actuality. And since the grip of falsehood resides there, the Sitra Achra seizes very strongly upon childbirth. And therefore great refinement is needed afterward. And this is the essential greatness of the great tzaddik — he who guards the covenant — who merits the aspect of "all of it is seed of truth" (Yirmiyahu 2:21). For he merits to ascend to the beginning of the root and draw from there the aspect of the son, the aspect of after-creation, from potentiality into actuality — without any grip of falsehood whatsoever. This is what Yaakov merited, whose attribute is emes. And therefore his bed was complete as above. And this is the aspect of the voice of the shofar, which is the aspect of the voice of Yaakov, the aspect of emes, as above. And this is the aspect of our petitioning for life on Rosh Hashana and the Ten Days of Repentance — for from there comes the essential life. For "emes is the elixir of life" (emess sam'a d'chayay — Shabbos 55a). As our Sages of blessed memory said regarding the place called "Kushta" (Truth) — that death did not hold sway there (Sanhedrin 97a). For body and soul are in the aspect of before-creation and after-creation — for the soul is "a portion of the divine from above," the aspect of before-creation. And the body is the aspect of action (asiyah), the aspect of after-creation. And the essential vitality is when both are bound together in a strong bond — and this is through emes, through which one is included after-creation in before-creation. And therefore emes is the elixir of life — for the essential death comes through falsehood, which separates between the bonded ones. In the aspect of "death separates" (Rut 1:17), the aspect of "for it separates between brothers" (Mishlai 17:9) — this was drawn through the counsel of the serpent that brought falsehood into the world, through which death was decreed for the generations. For now it is impossible in this body to attain in fullness the inclusion of all-creation in before-creation, on account of the grip of falsehood that is seized there at the onset of creation's emergence from potentiality into actuality, as above. And therefore one must inevitably die — and then the soul ascends on high according to its level. And the body is refined below, until afterward both are renewed for the good in the time to come — through the great power of emes that will be revealed then. For the essential renewal of the world and the Resurrection of the Dead will come through the greatness of emes that will be revealed — in the aspect of "emes will sprout from the earth" (Tehillim 85:12), and so on. And then will be fulfilled "a lip of emes will be established forever" (Mishlai 12:19) — for they will live eternal life through emes, which is the elixir of life. For then falsehood will be entirely nullified at the root of its grip, as above. And it is for this life that we petition on Rosh Hashana — all our cries and prayers that emes be revealed in the world, generally and specifically and in the most minute particulars, for each and every person — that "every created being will know that You created it, and every formed being will understand that You formed it, and will say" and so on (Rosh Hashana liturgy) — until everyone knows how to return to the Blessed Lord. For the essential teshuvah is through emes, as above. And therefore we conclude on Rosh Hashana in all the blessings: "For You are God, emes — and Your word is emes and stands forever." For emes stands forever — for "kushta ka'ai" (truth endures), as it is said: "a lip of emes will be established forever." For the essential life and perpetuation of all creation, generally and specifically, is through emes, as above. And therefore all of Israel must appease one another before Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippurim, so that there be great peace among Israel — for the essential thing is shalom (peace), which is unity, which is the essential life: "life and peace" (Malachi 2:5). For the essential strife comes through the grip of falsehood drawn from the multiplicity and difference of minds, as above. And this is the essential service of Rosh Hashana — which is the beginning of creation, when one must nullify the falsehood at the root of its grip through the supreme power of the revelation of the finest head of emes — in the aspect of "the beginning of Your word is emes" (Tehillim 119:160) — which is the aspect of Rosh Hashana specifically: the aspect of "the beginning (rosh) of Your word is emes." For most disputants — the way of each is to say that he has the truth and that all his contention is only for the sake of truth. And especially now, in our many sins, when "truth shall be absent" has been fulfilled — when truth has become a thing of flocks and flocks, and everyone says that he has the truth. But even so, truth is one. And whoever truly desires truth and prays to the Blessed Lord that he merit truth in truth, can recognize where the true truth is — for truth is its own witness. And the essential strife is only from the distance from the One — from which comes the grip of falsehood. For one who does not nullify the falsehood at its root can afterward go very much astray and reverse falsehood into truth and truth into falsehood — in the aspect of "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil" (Yeshaya 5:20), and so on. And from there all the strife in the world is drawn. And whoever wishes to save and rescue his soul from the fire of strife — which is the worst of all — the essential salvation is through emes, which is the aspect of shalom. As it is said: "For there shall be peace and emes in my days" (Melachim II, 20:19). For when one looks at the true truth, one will certainly be saved from strife at any rate. For even though one may not merit to attain and know where the truth is — because one has not toiled in one's service as one should, for to merit to the essence of truth requires very great toil — nevertheless at any rate, if one desires truth, one will at any rate not be a pursuer and a disputer, and will not hold to strife and persecutions, God forbid, to pursue the people of truth. Even if it seems to him otherwise — for what does he have to do with this trouble, to endanger himself so greatly? All this is impossible to explain in writing; whoever desires truth will understand all of this within himself. And this is the aspect of the judgment of Rosh Hashana — wherein every person comes before Him, blessed be He, for judgment and trial. As is stated in the Mishna of Rosh Hashana: "All who enter the world pass before Him like sheep (ki'vnay maron)" (Rosh Hashana 18a). And the Tanna concluded there: "and they are all surveyed in a single survey (sikirah achas)" — as it is said: "He who forms their hearts together looks upon all their deeds" (Tehillim 33:15). And the commentators explained this as referring back to the preceding verse: "From His dwelling-place He looked upon all the inhabitants of the earth — He who forms and so on." And the matter is astonishing at first glance: since they are all surveyed in a single survey — for the Blessed One is all-powerful and knows many things in a single act of knowledge, as is cited — if so, even from the outset, why do they pass one by one like sheep? For does He not know the deeds of each one in a single act of knowledge, and could He not judge them even at the beginning of judgment as He does at the end — when they are all surveyed in a single survey?! But the essential judgment is emes — for His judgment is emes. And even in human courts below, the essential commandment of judgment is to judge emes: to save the oppressed and the robbed from one who comes to rob them through injustice and falsehood — to render judgment of emes for them. As it is said: "Judge with emes and the justice of peace" (Zechariah 8:16). Only among human beings there are judges who pervert the judgment with falsehood — and they destroy the world. As our Sages of blessed memory expounded: "On three things the world stands — on justice and on emes and on peace" (Avos 1:18), and so on. But He, blessed be He, His judgment is emes always — for His essential intention is to judge and try all the world with His upright and true judgments, in such a manner that every person will ultimately come to the good eternal purpose: to be included in Him, blessed be He — which is the aspect mentioned above, to be included after-creation in before-creation. For this is the essential good purpose for which everything was created. And the entire Torah depends upon this — for through every commandment and act of service one is included in Him, blessed be He. And conversely, through every transgression and blemish one is distanced and creates a separation between before-creation and after-creation, as above. For the entire Torah is the aspect of emes, as it is said: "Torah of emes" (Malachi 2:6), and so on. And through emes the eyes of His supervision are drawn down — as is explained elsewhere: that the essential drawing down of complete supervision is through Torah and so on — through which one is included after-creation in before-creation, as above. And for this they are judged on Rosh Hashana — and likewise on the great Day of Judgment, when the verdict is issued for each: reward or punishment according to one's deeds — in such a manner that ultimately one will be able to be included in before-creation, for that is one's purpose. For all the punishments — God have mercy — that the Blessed Lord administers in His upright judgments: the essential punishment, God have mercy, is for purification — so that one be refined through this punishment, in order that one ultimately be able to be included in the place where one must be included according to one's deeds, according to what remains of one after the purification. And conversely, the tzaddik receives reward and delight and takes delight in the Lord, and ascends each time from level to level and from stature to stature, until he is included in completeness in his full stature above — unto the beginning of the root of all, which is the aspect of before-creation. Fortunate is he. But in any case, all and sundry must return and be included above, in before-creation — but even so there will be a vast difference between each person according to his deeds. All the more so between tzaddik and beinoni (intermediate), and all the more so between tzaddik and rasha (wicked) — and even among the wicked themselves there will be great differences between each and every one. And therefore our Sages of blessed memory warned: "Do not be exceedingly wicked" (Koheles 7:17), and so on — as is understood from his words, of blessed memory, at the end of the Torah discourse mentioned above on the verse "no eye has seen, O God, besides You" (Yeshaya 64:3) — see what is explained there, that concerning this matter there is a difficulty, and so on. See there. And therefore, for the essential judgment of Rosh Hashana, His judgment is emes — and through the truth of His judgment each person will ultimately be able to be included in before-creation: this one through wealth and that one through poverty; this one through being decreed to live and that one through death. And likewise with the other judgments — for His judgment, blessed be He, is exceedingly deep, and He decrees judgment for each person on Rosh Hashana in such a manner that that person will have free choice according to his level. And the Blessed Lord looks forward to the very last end, even to the end of all the generations — "devising plans so that no one be banished from Him" (Shmuel II 14:14). And He gives the verdict to each person in such a manner that however things unfold, however one conducts oneself, one will ultimately return to before-creation. But the wicked person, if he persists in his deeds and does not repent, will require very harsh and bitter punishments and many reincarnations. And in the end, nothing will remain of him but some faint spark — to the point that some will be entirely annihilated in the end and will have no knowledge of the true good whatsoever. But in any case everyone must return to before-creation — and then they will see the difference between tzaddik and rasha, and so on. And therefore when they enter judgment, each person passes before Him individually like sheep — as our Sages of blessed memory said. For the Blessed Lord judges each person in His mercy according to the deeds that person chose for himself — and all his choosing was through the many differences that came about after creation, after creation emerged from potentiality into actuality and multiplicity and differences began, as above. And through this comes the essential scrutiny of one's judgment on High on the Day of Judgment — for the Blessed Lord judges each person in His mercy according to that person's place, as is explained elsewhere. And He knows through which difference of mind that person fell — through the multiplicity that came after creation as above — through which one came to one's deeds. And likewise He judges that person with righteousness and emes. And therefore it is necessary that all pass before Him individually — for this is the aspect of multiplicity and differences, which is the aspect of creation's emergence from potentiality into actuality, when multiplicity and differences began, and so on — from which come all man's deeds. And likewise comes the scrutiny of one's judgment and trial. But when the Blessed Lord issues the final verdict — and the essential judgment is emes, so that through the judgment of emes one will ultimately return to one's root, to before-creation, as above — therefore at the conclusion of the judgment all are surveyed in a single survey that includes all together. For this is the essential judgment of emes: that all return to their root, to before-creation, where all is one, as above. But even so there will be a vast difference between each and every one according to their deeds — only this is impossible to understand, as above. Understand this well. And throughout a person's days, he has free choice — and this is the essential judgment of Rosh Hashana: that it is decreed concerning him that He shall conduct Himself with that person in the coming year in such a manner that that person shall have free choice as he wishes — so that he can remember and understand through what befalls him, whether for good or, God forbid, the opposite, how to return to the Blessed Lord, if he sets his heart upon his eternal purpose. And toward this a person must direct all his striving throughout the entire year — particularly at the beginning of the year, during the Ten Days of Repentance, particularly on Rosh Hashana which is the first day of the Ten Days of Repentance. And the essential tikun is emes — that one must believe in the truth that all is one: one must believe in His specific supervision, that He, blessed be He, watches and looks and supervises each and every individual specifically, according to that person's place and time and circumstance. And through the supervision, all is one — after-creation as before-creation, as above. And through this one can bind oneself to the Blessed Lord and be included in Him from wherever one is — in the aspect of "Such knowledge is too wondrous for me, too exalted; I cannot attain it" and "where shall I flee from Your presence?" (Tehillim 139:6,7). For King Dovid marvels that it is impossible to understand how creation emerged from potentiality into actuality and multiplicity came into being — through which distancing came about, God forbid, which is the aspect of fleeing: of fleeing from the Blessed Lord, God forbid. But in truth "where shall I flee from Your presence" — for I believe in the truth that all is one. As he continued and concluded: "If I ascend to heaven, You are there, and if I make my bed in the grave, behold You are there; if I take the wings of the dawn and so on, even there Your hand shall lead me, and so on" — until he turned and concluded: "I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wondrous are Your works, and my soul knows it very well" (Tehillim 139:14). For in truth I believe with complete faith in the supervision that all is one now as in the beginning before creation — only this is a wondrous knowledge too exalted, and so on — the aspect of "fearfully and wonderfully made, wondrous are Your works" — how the world endures, and how creation emerged from potentiality into actuality — and it is forbidden to investigate this at all. But in any case I believe in truth in His supervision, blessed be He, that "His eyes, blessed be He, behold in every place" — the aspect of "if I ascend to heaven" and so on, "and if I make my bed in the grave" and so on. As it is said: "In every place the eyes of the Lord behold the good and the evil" (Mishlai 15:3), and so on. And therefore "where shall I flee from Your presence?" — for I believe that the eyes of His supervision look out upon the entire world from beginning to end. And one is especially required to set one's heart to this on Rosh Hashana, which is the first day of the Ten Days of Repentance, the day of the beginning of creation's works, as above. And through this may one's judgment emerge into the light for good — for through this comes the essential tikun. And all of this is merited through going at that time to the true tzaddikim, as above. And this is the meaning of "where shall I go from Your spirit, and where shall I flee from Your presence?" — for the beginning of creation's emergence from potentiality into actuality is the aspect of "going" (halikhah) — for creation had not yet distanced itself greatly from before-creation, and therefore it is the aspect of going: like one who has begun to walk away from his fellow but has not yet distanced himself from him. But afterward, as creation unfolded more and more and distanced itself from before-creation — and then the grip of falsehood intensified more and more, through which comes the essential distancing as above — this is the aspect of "fleeing": through which one distances oneself more and more. And all the distancing of those who are far from the Blessed Lord comes from the aspect of denial (kefirah), from which comes the essential power of the evil inclination — as has been explained already several times. And the essential evil inclination, which is the aspect of denial, comes only from the aspect mentioned above — the aspect of purity, which is from the beginning of creation's emergence from potentiality into actuality, as above. For since this is impossible to understand with human intellect at all — therefore the straying ones went astray and were confounded until they distanced themselves as they distanced themselves. But King Dovid, whose attribute is emunah (faith), the aspect of malkhus (kingship) — as it is said: "My faithfulness and My kindness are with him" (Tehillim 89:25) — marvels and says: in truth I cannot understand "where shall I go from Your spirit" — how I emerged from potentiality into actuality at the beginning of creation, which is the aspect of "going." For certainly this is impossible to understand — but I believe with complete faith that all is from the Blessed Lord, for He in His wonders created all and brought all from potentiality into actuality, and even now He supervises all with specific supervision. And therefore "where shall I flee from Your presence" — which is the aspect of greater distancing, the aspect of fleeing — for certainly it is impossible to flee from You. For I believe that all is one. Even though this is impossible to understand. And this is "where shall I flee from Your presence (panekha)" — "panim" (face/presence) is the aspect of the eyes of His supervision: the aspect of "may the Lord make His face shine upon you" (Bamidbar 6:25), the aspect of "do not hide Your face from me" (Tehillim 27:9), and so on — that is: since I believe that the face of His supervision looks out upon the entire world from one end to the other, and after-creation is as before-creation — therefore "wondrous knowledge too exalted for me" and so on: "where shall I go from Your spirit" — which is the beginning of creation's emergence from potentiality into actuality, the aspect of "going" — "and where shall I flee from Your presence" — for the face of His supervision is everywhere. And through this all is one after-creation as before-creation, as above. And all this is the aspect of Rosh Hashana — when His supervision is most drawn down, as it is said: "The eyes of the Lord your God are upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year" (Devarim 11:12). For the judgment of Rosh Hashana is the aspect of supervision — in that we believe that everything which befalls a person throughout the entire year comes through His supervision, blessed be He, according to the judgment that was decreed upon him on Rosh Hashana. As our Sages of blessed memory expounded on this verse "the eyes of the Lord your God and so on": "on Rosh Hashana it is judged what will be at its end" (Rosh Hashana 8a). And this is the essential aspect of Rosh Hashana — to draw down upon oneself the emunah in His supervision, blessed be He. And this is merited through drawing oneself to the point of emes, which is the true tzaddik. And through this all is included in the One — which is the essential tikun of the teshuvah that we require on Rosh Hashana, the first day of the Ten Days of Repentance, as above. And this is the aspect of the great eminence of going to the true tzaddikim for the sake of Heaven — not for the sake of honor and provocation and strife, God forbid — for the going is with the feet. And the essential completion of the tikun is through the feet, for the essential tikun of all things depends upon this physical world of action (olam ha-asiyah). For man, who possesses free choice, was created in this very physical world — specifically in order to bind himself to the Blessed Lord from within the very materiality of this world. And through this he elevates this world together with all the worlds that depend upon it, higher and higher, until all is included in the aspect of before-creation, as above. And this world in its totality is called the aspect of "feet," as it is said: "and the earth is the footstool of My feet" (Yeshaya 66:1). And therein lies the essential emunah, which is called "feet," as is explained elsewhere — for one must believe that the Blessed Lord, in the very wondrous exaltedness of His sublimity beyond all fathoming, nevertheless watches and gazes with specific supervision upon this very physical world, to the very utmost of the lowest of levels, as it is said: "Nothing is hidden from You" (Rosh Hashana liturgy), and as it is said: "He who is enthroned on high, who stoops down to look upon heaven and earth" (Tehillim 113:5–6). And through the emunah in the supervision, one is included — after-creation — within before-creation, which is the essential tikun, as above. And therefore praiseworthy are the feet that walk for the sake of a commandment — all the more so when one travels and goes to the true tzaddikim and those who cleave to them. For the true tzaddik has already merited, through the truth of his service, to have everything included in before-creation — for he has already reached the pure marble stones mentioned above. And whoever merits to travel and go to him — and the going is with the feet — through this he elevates the aspect of "feet," which is the aspect of this world of action, the aspect of "and the earth is the footstool of My feet," elevating everything to the Blessed Lord and including after-creation within before-creation. For this is the essential tikun of all things, as above. And therefore the essential thing is to travel and go for Rosh Hashana — for then on Rosh Hashana one must engage in this more than ever, on account of its being the day the world was created. And therefore it is the first day of repentance, to rectify all blemishes through this, as above. And therefore the practice was in all generations to go to one's rav — for there is an additional excellence when one goes to him, for through the going itself one rectifies greatly, as above. And this is the aspect of: "I rejoiced when they said to me: let us go to the house of the Lord — our feet were standing within your gates, O Yerushalayim" (Tehillim 122:1–2). And this is the aspect of the eminence of those who went up on the pilgrimage festival (ha-olim la-regel), concerning whom it is said: "How beautiful are your feet in sandals" (Shir HaShirim 7:2) — for Yerushalayim is where the Beis HaMikdash stands, where the Even Shesiyah is — the foundation stone from which the world was founded — and through there this world is restored and included in its root, in the aspect of before-creation. And the essential tikun is through the tzaddik who is the yesod of the world, in the aspect of the Even Shesiyah, in the aspect of "for the pillars of the earth belong to the Lord and He has set the world upon them" (Shmuel I 2:8). And as is explained elsewhere. And this is the aspect of "Yerushalayim the built-up, like a city that is joined together" (Tehillim 122:3) — which is the Yerushalayim on high and so on, as our Sages of blessed memory said — that is, the aspect of the inclusion of the lower within the upper, of Yerushalayim below within Yerushalayim on high, through which one is included in before-creation. For this is the essential tikun, as above. And this is: "Pray for the peace of Yerushalayim... may there be peace within your walls... for the sake of my brethren and companions, I will speak peace within you" (Tehillim 122:6–8) — for the essential tikun is through peace and unity and the nullification of all opposition to the truth, which is the essential evil and impurity drawn from falsehood — which draws its sustenance from the multiplicity when one does not nullify its grip at its root, as above. And therefore the serpent, who drew falsehood into the world and caused all strife and separation, was cursed in its feet, as it is said: "upon your belly shall you go" (Bereshis 3:14) — for falsehood has no legs (Sheker ein lo raglayim) — as is cited in Tikunay Zohar (Tikun 22, p. 66), see there. And therefore the essential blemish of falsehood and those who carry tales and speak lashon hara is in the feet, for they are called "those who walk with slander" (holkhay rakhil), as it is said: "You shall not go as a slanderer (lo selekh rakhil) among your people" (Vayikra 19:16). And as Rashi explained there: in every instance we find slander expressed in the language of going, in the language of "regel" (foot/leg) — as in "he did not slander (lo ragal) with his tongue" — for the essential blemish of lashon hara and slander, which is drawn through falsehood from which comes all strife and separation, is in the aspect of "feet" — which separate the feet from the head, for they make a separation between this world (which is the aspect of feet) and the beginning-point of creation through which one is included in before-creation. And therefore on Rosh Hashana, when one must be included within the Head — and for this reason it is called Rosh Hashana (the Head of the Year) — one must therefore come to the tzaddik who is the aspect of the Head, in the aspect of "the head of the household," in the aspect of "the true head of the children of Israel." And therefore one must travel and go to him specifically — for through this one rectifies and elevates the aspect of "feet" and subjugates and nullifies the aspect of "feet of the kelipah" — these being the carriers of tales and the speakers of lashon hara who multiply strife among Israel. For through coming to the tzaddik, one merits to truth, through which one draws down the supervision in completeness from head to end, even to the very end of this world of action which is the aspect of feet. Through this the end is included within the Head — the very end of the materiality of all the world, which is the aspect of feet, all is included within the Head, within the aspect of before-creation, and all is included within the One. And this is the essential tikun, as above. For emes is the beginning, the middle, and the end — for the essential completeness of emes is when it is emes from its beginning to its end. For there are those who begin to speak some truth but in the end lead others astray through that very truth into a great falsehood — for it is precisely through the little truth with which they began that they have the power to mislead with their falsehood. For any falsehood that has no truth at its beginning cannot endure to the end, as our Sages of blessed memory said. Therefore the essential emes is when it is complete emes from beginning to end. And the essential thing is the end — for "better is the end of a matter than its beginning" (Koheles 7:8). And therefore now, at the end of days, falsehood grows stronger more than ever — as it is said: "And it cast emes to the ground" (Daniel 8:12). And as our Sages of blessed memory said, emes shall become flocks and flocks (Sotah 49b), as it is said: "and emes shall be absent" (Yeshaya 59:15). And so it is with every individual person: there are those who are upright men from their beginning, but afterward the adversary (ba'al davar) misleads them until he causes them to stumble through his falsehoods. And the essential means by which this occurs is through human beings — through liars and scoffers who call themselves by the name of chassidim. Concerning them it is said: "Let the lying lips be silenced — those that speak against the tzaddik arrogantly and with contempt" (Tehillim 31:19). And therefore our Sages of blessed memory said: do not trust in yourself until the day of your death (Avos 2:4) — for the essential emes is when it reaches the very end, which is the aspect of feet. And therefore the essential tikun of all the world — which is through Moshiach Tzidkeynu whom we await to come speedily in our days — is through the aspect of feet, as it is said: "And His feet shall stand on that day" (Zekharya 14:4), and as is stated (in the Zohar): "until the feet reach the feet" — as is cited extensively in the writings of the Arizal, of blessed memory. For the essential tikun is through the emes that will be revealed through Moshiach Tzidkeynu, in the aspect of "emes will sprout from the earth" (Tehillim 85:12). And the essential requirement is that the emes be complete from beginning to end — to believe in His supervision from the very highest level of all levels to the very lowest level of all levels. Through this all is included in the One, through which comes the essential tikun, as above. In the light of the Torah discourse "Amar Rabbi Akiva" cited above, there will now be explained a most wondrous Midrash — and this is its language (Midrash Rabbah, B'reishis, Chapter 8): Rabbi Simon said: when the Holy One, blessed be He, came to create the first man, the ministering angels formed themselves into factions and groups — some saying "let him not be created" and some saying "let him be created." This is what is written: "Lovingkindness (chessed) and truth (emes) met; righteousness (tzedek) and peace (shalom) kissed" (Tehillim 85:11). Chessed said: let him be created, for he performs acts of kindness. And emes said: let him not be created, for he is all falsehood. Tzedek said: let him be created, for he performs acts of righteousness. Shalom said: let him not be created, for he is all contention. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He took emes and cast it to the ground, as it is written: "And it cast emes to the ground" (Daniel 8:12). The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the worlds, why do You dishonor Your seal (takhsis altikseya — the Matanos Kehunah explains this as "seal," for the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He, is emes)? Let emes rise from the earth! As it is written: "emes will sprout from the earth" (Tehillim 85:12). Until here is its language. And this is exceedingly puzzling: how can it be that the Blessed Lord would cast emes to the ground — which is the very essence of His seal — to the point that the ministering angels were compelled to ask: "Why do You dishonor Your takhsis?" And furthermore it is very difficult to understand how there could be a dispute between the attribute of emes and the Blessed Lord — for since it was the true will of the Blessed Lord to create man as we have seen from the outcome of the matter (for He did create him), how can it be that emes would bring accusations against this?! But this is a great principle: the entire creation was "in order that they might know Him" — so that we might merit to know and recognize Him, blessed be He. And the essential purpose of creation is man — that is, the children of Israel, the righteous ones, who alone merit to truly recognize Him through having free choice and standing in trial and refinement in this physical world that is exceedingly distant from Him, blessed be He. For the Blessed Lord is utterly hidden and concealed in absolute hiddenness, for "no thought can grasp Him at all" — as Eliyahu stated and estimated in his mind that it is impossible for any angel or seraph or any created being whatsoever to attain the truth of His being — only the souls of Israel, through their descending into this physical world and having free choice and standing in the trial. And through this very thing they will be refined and purified until they merit to attain the perception of divinity in a way that no angel or seraph can merit. For this is the purpose and goal of Israel: that they merit to the attainment of divinity, to the point that the angels will receive from them and learn from them — as our Sages of blessed memory explained on the verse "At that time it will be said of Yaakov and of Israel: what has God wrought!" (Bamidbar 23:23) — the righteous are destined that their partition will be within that of the ministering angels, and so on. But that attainment which the righteous will then attain is something that no angel or seraph knows at present. And therefore the angels brought accusations against the creation of man — for just as the angels cannot attain Him, blessed be He, likewise they cannot understand and attain the innermost reaches of His mind and wisdom, blessed be He. For He and His knowledge are one, as is known. And as the Psalmist declares: "How very deep are Your thoughts!" (Tehillim 92:6). And the angels are called by the name of chessed — after the attribute of chessed. And likewise some are called emes, for they are drawn from the attribute of emes — and so all of them. And because it is impossible to fathom the depths of the Blessed Lord's mind, there was a great dispute among the angels regarding the creation of man. And even the angels called emes — whose attribute is emes — brought accusations against his creation. For even though their attribute is emes and they desire only emes, even so they could not attain and comprehend the ultimate purpose of man — that he would be able to reach such an elevated level as to attain and recognize Him, blessed be He, more than all the angels. Therefore they brought accusations against his creation — rather, it was on account of the very greatness of their truthfulness that those angels specifically brought accusations against his creation. For in accordance with the power of their truthfulness, they could not bear that man should be created who is entirely full of falsehood, as stated in the Midrash cited above. For there are several aspects in the matter of emes — for emes is one, as above in the Torah discourse — but great toil is required to attain the emes in its truth to its ultimate end. For even in the wisdoms of this world it is difficult to attain the emes, as all the philosophers who investigate so deeply in all fields of wisdom have acknowledged — for they still do not know any field of wisdom in its true reality with certainty (apart from mathematics and geometry). How much more so in the wisdom of attaining His divinity, blessed be He — which it is impossible to attain through any wisdom or intellect at all, but only through the toil and service of the true tzaddikim who stand in trial and refinement against all the desires of this world. For only they merit to attain in truth the perception of divinity, until they merit to recognize Him in the time to come — to the point that all the angels will be compelled to receive from them, as above. And because it is difficult to attain the emes in its truth, through this strife increased — and the essential strife is through emes itself, for each person holds that he has the emes. For in the matter of emes and falsehood there are many distinctions: there is one who is a great liar and complete deceiver and knows his own falsehood, but misleads people and covers falsehood with emes — for even the complete liar must necessarily say some truth at the beginning, as our Sages of blessed memory said: any falsehood that has no truth at its beginning cannot endure to the end. But there is one who is not so great a liar, only that through his deeds not being pure as they should be, his mind slipped from error to error until the emes was reversed for him — until he calls evil good and good evil and believes that this is the truth. And in this matter there are many distinctions: there is one whose error is gross, and one who exerts himself a little can immediately see his error. And there is one whose error is subtler, so that greater exertion is required to see his error and to clarify the emes. And there is one whose error is subtler still, and so on. And the subtler the error, the greater the exertion required to clarify the true emes — to the point that there are those whose error is of the subtlest subtlety to an extreme degree, such that it is impossible to clarify their error except through enormous exertion with total self-sacrifice throughout all the days of one's life. And this is the service of the great holy tzaddikim — the choicest individuals of the generations — who toiled in tremendous labors and suffered bitterness beyond measure, and stood in trials without number, and gave their very souls for Israel throughout all the days of their lives, until through this very thing they merited to clarify the true emes in its truth — which no angel or seraph is capable of attaining. For the world was created only for the sake of those tzaddikim, as it is said: "For this is the entire man" (Koheles 12:13). But even the great tzaddikim — even those called emes — cannot attain the truth of the depth of His mind, blessed be He, as above. And even the great tzaddikim sometimes erred in some matter of law and conduct — as is discussed extensively in the words of our rebbe, of blessed memory. And certainly their intention was acceptable to Heaven in truth, but they themselves erred at times — particularly in the matter of strife, for a covenant has been made with the tongue for evil speech. To the point that King Sha'ul, who was a very great tzaddik, pure as a one-year-old without sin, erred through the abundance of lashon hara until he killed Nov the city of the kohanim and so on — and many similar cases. For in this world emes fell very greatly, to the point that even great tzaddikim and genuinely wise men find it difficult to stand upon the emes in its truth. For the essential aspect of free choice is in the matter of emes and falsehood — as is explained in the Torah discourse mentioned above: that falsehood is the evil and impurity, and the essential grip of falsehood comes from the distance from the One. For the moment creation emerged from potentiality into actuality and the aspect of two came into being, and so on, immediately the aspect of free choice came into being — which is the aspect of purity. For immediately an impression was formed from which impurity which is falsehood would descend, and so on — see there carefully in that Torah discourse. It follows that the essential grip of falsehood comes from the aspect of multiplicity, through the distancing from the One. And the further one distances from the One, and the greater the multiplicity that is drawn down, the more falsehood intensifies. As we find: the moment Chavah was created and there were two human beings in the world, they sinned greatly and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and caused death to be decreed upon the generations. And as Rashi explained on the verse "God made man upright, but they sought many calculations" — the moment they became two, called "they," they sought many calculations and so on — see there. And likewise afterward when Kayin and Hevel were born and human beings began to multiply further, a quarrel arose between them until Kayin rose against Hevel and slew him. And likewise afterward all the deteriorations came about through the multiplicity increasing further — as is explicit in the verses, as it is said: "And it came to pass when men began to multiply upon the face of the earth... and the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great" (Bereshis 6:1, 5). For the greater the multiplicity that was drawn and the further people distanced from the One, the more falsehood — which is evil, which is impurity, through which come all the deteriorations and blemishes — took hold. For the essential intensification of falsehood is through multiplicity, as above. But in truth, the essential excellence of emes and its completeness lies specifically in clarifying and revealing the emes in its truth within the place of multiplicity. And the greater the multiplicity — where there is a greater grip of falsehood — when one merits to clarify and reveal emes there, this is the essential excellence and completeness of emes. And for this reason the entire creation took place from beginning to end — for everything was created for the sake of the tzaddik, whose entire excellence lies in the fact that he had free choice. And the essential free choice is in the matter of emes and falsehood, as above. And therefore the greater the multiplicity where the grip of falsehood is stronger, when one merits to reveal the emes, therein His Name, blessed be He, is further glorified and sanctified. And therefore one does not recite a matter of holiness with fewer than ten — and this is the aspect of "in the multitude of people is the king's glory" (Mishlai 14:28). And this is the aspect of what our master, teacher and rebbe, of blessed memory, said (in the Torah discourse "Yemay Chanukah," Likutay Tinyana §2): that this is exceedingly precious when the Simple Unity is revealed from within varied actions and so on. And therefore the very first commandment in the Torah is to engage in settling the world — that human beings should multiply, as it is said: "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Bereshis 1:28). For it is specifically necessary that human beings multiply — for then free choice intensifies further, as above. And then specifically the tzaddikim merit to complete the intent of creation through standing in trial and refinement and clarifying the emes in its truth from within the multiplicity, where the grip of falsehood is strongest. For the greater the grip of falsehood, likewise the excellence and elevation of the emes grows greater for one who merits to aim the emes there — for it is for this that man came into the world and all the worlds were created. For everything was created for the sake of free choice — which is the choice between emes and falsehood. And the greater the opposition of falsehood and the more difficult it is to stand the trial and aim at emes, the greater the stature of one who merits to aim at the true emes, as above. And therefore in the time to come, when the righteous redeemer comes — whose essential coming is to reveal emes in the world, as it is said: "Send out Your light and Your truth" (Tehillim 43:3) — for then will be fulfilled "emes will sprout from the earth" — therefore his essential coming is specifically when Israel will have multiplied greatly. As it is said: "The smallest shall become a thousand and the youngest a mighty nation; I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time" (Yeshaya 60:22). And this is what is said: "And the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured or counted, for its multitude; and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said to them: you are not My people, it will be said to them: children of the living God" (Hoshea 2:1). That is, the verse announces that in the future, at the time when emes will be revealed in the world, specifically then Israel will multiply exceedingly — for this is the essential excellence of emes when it is revealed from within the multiplicity, as above. And this is "it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them: you are not My people" — that is, within the greatest multiplicity, where the grip of falsehood is strongest, as above — where it would be fitting to say to them "you are not My people" because of the great grip of falsehood there. But then, on the contrary, specifically there it will be said to them "children of the living God" — for on the contrary, this will be the very essence of their excellence: that they merited to the emes within such a great multiplicity. For this is the essential excellence of emes when it is clarified from within the greatest multiplicity — for everything was created for this, as above. And then specifically all will merit to know and recognize Him, blessed be He, in truth — as it is said: "for they will all know Me, from the smallest of them to the greatest" (Yirmiyahu 31:33). For the essential revelation of emes is to reveal the knowledge of His true being in the world — for He, blessed be He, is the very substance of emes, as it is said: "and the emes of the Lord endures forever" (Tehillim 117:2), and as it is written: "And the Lord God is emes" (Yirmiyahu 10:10). And every person, in proportion to his distance from emes, is likewise distant from the Blessed Lord. And conversely, the closer one is to emes, the closer one is to the Blessed Lord. But the truth of the emes is impossible to attain except through free choice in many and powerful trials — as we find with all the great tzaddikim, who merited to attain emes only through many trials. The first was Avraham Avinu, who had exceedingly powerful trials against the entire world which was filled with falsehood and claimed that truth was with them — to the point that they declared Avraham a heretic and a denier and cast him into the fiery furnace and pursued him greatly. And he stood through all the trials and through this revealed emes in the world, and made known that there is a true God who rules and governs and supervises and so on. And likewise all the tzaddikim who came after him. And the essential revelation of emes in its completeness will be through Moshiach Tzidkeynu, who will come at the end in the final days of these times — when the world has already multiplied greatly. And the essential multiplicity is in the minds — for there are many differences of mind, which is the essential multiplicity, the aspect of "greatly multiplied in minds." And Moshiach, through the power of his righteousness, will merit to attain the emes in its truth and to reveal emes in the world. And then there will be the complete redemption, and then the intent of creation will be fulfilled in the ultimate completeness. For this is the essential intent of creation: that creation emerge from potentiality into actuality — then the multiplicity began, from which the grip of falsehood is drawn — and the world should multiply, multiplicity upon multiplicity, greatly. So that through this falsehood should intensify further. And therefore in truth, whatever happened — all the destructions and deteriorations and so on — happened. Only the tzaddikim in each generation who merit to emes sustain the world in each and every generation, until at the end when the minds multiply exceedingly, for this is the essential multiplicity — and falsehood intensifies greatly — then specifically the righteous redeemer will merit to clarify the emes through the force of his toil. And then specifically His Name, blessed be He, will be glorified and sanctified through the revelation of emes in its truth from within the multiplicity specifically, as above. But this emes that will then be revealed — no angel or seraph is capable of attaining it. Only the genuinely true tzaddikim who stood in the trial until they merited to reveal emes from within the multiplicity — from within this physical world, where the multiplicity is at the utmost distance from the One — and when they reveal the emes here, they draw close to the Blessed Lord with the utmost closeness, for which everything was created, as above. And therefore even the angels called "emes" — whose attribute is emes — they too could not understand and attain the depths of the Blessed Lord's mind. Therefore they brought accusations against the creation of man, and the one called emes said: let him not be created. For even though his attribute is emes, even so he could not attain the depth of the Blessed Lord's mind — to attain the true emes which the tzaddikim will merit in the end through standing in the trial in the very world of falsehood (alma d'shikra). And therefore emes said: let him not be created — for emes saw that the moment man would be created, falsehood would intensify. And therefore emes could not bear that man be created, for emes cannot endure falsehood. But in truth even the angels called emes erred in this — for even though their intention was in truth, they could not stand upon the true emes. For the emes in its truth is impossible to attain except specifically in this world, through standing in the trial, as above. Therefore the Blessed Lord decreed to cast emes to the earth — for this itself is the tikun and clarification of emes: that through emes being cast down to the earth in the aspect of "and it cast emes to the ground," through this very thing emes will be clarified and refined through the true tzaddikim. And then specifically the clarified emes will be revealed — that they will merit to attain the knowledge of His true being, blessed be He — which in no way would have been possible to attain when emes was above in the supernal worlds where there is no falsehood at all. For even the attribute of emes itself cannot attain Him, blessed be He, except through emes descending into this world and being clarified through the tzaddikim, as above. And therefore the moment the ministering angels said: "Why do You dishonor Your takhsis? Let emes rise from the earth!" — the Holy One, blessed be He, agreed with them, as is understood from the Midrash cited above. For the intention of the Blessed Lord from the outset was also this: that emes should be cast to the earth — to the place that is very far from emes, for there is the multiplicity, far from the One in the extreme, where the grip of falsehood is very strong — and there specifically emes will be clarified through the tzaddikim. And through this emes will rise from the earth in the ultimate completeness, in the aspect of "emes will sprout from the earth" — where emes will grow and increase further. And then emes will be completed and all will attain the true emes, as is cited above. And this is the meaning of: "Behold, You desire emes in the hidden places (ba-tuchot), and in the concealed place You will make wisdom known to me" (Tehillim 51:8) — for regarding this matter that we have written concerning the Midrash cited above: whoever truly desires emes and wishes to be careful for his eternal purpose in truth and not to mislead himself — he can derive from this genuine counsel and immensely powerful encouragement beyond all limit and measure, in such a way that he will remain standing on his position, remaining steadfast at the point of emes rooted within him — and nothing in the world will be able to distract or confuse him or hold him back, through any impediment or incitement or rejection whatsoever. Even if he passes through whatever he passes through. Even if he knows within himself that his deeds are very much deteriorated and that he is as distant as he is distant from the Blessed Lord and His Torah. And in addition to this, they oppress and torment him with various oppressions and afflictions and rejections — to prevent him and distance him from the true point of emes, God forbid. And even so he will not listen to this at all, but will look each time at the point of emes and will say in his heart: even so — what is the true emes? And through this he will constantly strengthen himself and remain steadfast at the point of emes. And the essential thing is that emes should not prevent him from the true emes — for the essential distancing of each person from the very substance of the true emes is through emes itself. As one sees tangibly that all strife is through emes — for the opponents say that they have the emes. And so it is in every generation. And in particular in the generations that immediately preceded us — when the strife between the scholars (lomdim) and the chassidim was exceedingly powerful and cut to the very soul. And how many and how many souls were sunk through this. And how many separations were made between husband and wife through this. And how many were lost from both worlds through this — as is well known to those who are versed in the events that occurred in the generations that immediately preceded us, which our fathers and teachers told us. And the essential cause of all the strife was through emes itself — for now we know that the great scholars who disputed the great leaders of the chassidim were also, for the most part, genuinely great righteous men. And all their dispute with the great leaders of the chassidim — who were exceedingly holy and awesome tzaddikim — was only because of emes: for the great scholars said that emes was with them, and that the great leaders of the chassidim were far from emes because they transgressed the Torah of emes. As I myself heard in my own ears a great many of their arguments — particularly from the mouth of my father-in-law, the gaon and tzaddik, our rebbe Rav Dovid Tzvi, of blessed memory, who was a great tzaddik as is widely known, and who disputed greatly with the great leaders of the chassidim — and all of it was because of his emes. And likewise it is in every generation and generation. And all this descended from the accusation of the angels cited above, who brought accusations against the creation of man — from which is drawn the entire power of the evil inclination, whose essential power is through strife, which is drawn through the accusation of the angels enclothing itself in those who dispute and oppose. And the essential power of their accusation was drawn from the aspect cited above: that even the attribute of emes itself, when it descended among the angels, brought an accusation — emes itself brought accusations against the creation of man, as above. And from there descended all the accusations and conflicts in the world below — particularly among Torah scholars, whose essential strife is through emes, as above — that is, through the aspect cited above: that even emes itself cannot attain the true substance of His being, blessed be He. And just as it cannot attain His very being, so it cannot attain the depth of His mind — for He and His mind are one, and there is the essential true emes. But the moment emes descends from Him, blessed be He — the moment the attribute of emes had already descended from Him — immediately the depth of the truth of His holy mind became concealed. For the attainment of the depth of His mind in true emes is hidden and concealed from all created and emanated beings, and so on. It is impossible to fathom the depths of His mind, blessed be He — and not any angel or seraph, and so on — except the souls of the genuinely great tzaddikim who are very elevated in stature, who merit through their deeds and service to the attainment of His mind, blessed be He, in truth. And this will be the essential reward for them as is known. And the essential excellence of the tzaddikim comes from the fact that they had free choice. And the essential free choice comes only from the fact that the moment emes descended from Him, blessed be He, it immediately became impossible to attain the depth of His mind, blessed be He — to the point that emes itself brought accusations against the creation of man and said that he should not be created. Even though we now know that the true mind of the Blessed Lord was that man should be created — as we see that the Blessed Lord did create man — and if so the difficulty with the Midrash cited above is all the stronger. For the essential point of the case is refuted, it would seem: how can it be said that the attribute of emes brought accusations and said that man should not be created — how can this attribute be called emes when it did not hit upon the true mind of the Blessed Lord? For do we not see with our own eyes that He created man — contrary to the opinion of the attribute of emes? And if so, why is it called emes? But certainly the attribute of emes that brought accusations against the creation of man — its argument was truthful and all its words were in emes. For it said that man should not be created since he is entirely falsehood — and this is indeed the truth as we see with our own eyes. But even so, emes itself erred — for it could not fathom the depths of the Blessed Lord's mind. And likewise it could not fathom the depths of the minds of the great tzaddikim, who would attain the true emes specifically through there being a grip for falsehood — because it is impossible to attain the depth of the true mind of the Blessed Lord, to the point that even the angels whose attribute is emes cannot attain His mind and end up bringing accusations — saying the contrary of His mind, blessed be He. And this in itself is the very power and wondrous greatness of the stature of the holy tzaddikim — for through all this free choice was drawn down. And they with the force of their strength broke through the free choice and stood in the trial and chose the good, and through enormous toil in this very physical earth, specifically they merited to clarify the true emes in this very world — for it is impossible to stand upon the true emes except specifically in this physical world when one stands in the trial as is proper. And this is something that only the choicest individuals of the generations merit — may their merit protect us. But the angels, even those called "emes," cannot attain the truth of the depth of His mind, blessed be He, as above. And from there descended the great strife in every generation — disputing the great holy tzaddikim mentioned above, who are the aspect of the point of emes. For even though the other Torah scholars and tzaddikim are also truly righteous men, they have not yet passed through all seven kinds of water (alluded to in the tale of the water-carrier, in the stories of our rebbe, of blessed memory) and have not been tested and refined as is proper. Therefore, even though their intention is emes, the accusation of the angels enclothes itself in them specifically — until emes itself misleads them to bring accusations and to dispute the great holy exalted tzaddikim mentioned above. And because the accusation descended into this world which is very coarse and full of husks and falsehood, therefore here in this world when they err through emes that is not yet clarified as above, they can cause very great damage, God forbid — to the point of permitting murder and actual bloodshed, God forbid. As we see from the abundant destruction that strife has caused in the days of Dovid and Sha'ul — and particularly in the days of the Second Temple which was destroyed through causeless hatred, as our Sages of blessed memory said. And see in the Midrash on the verse (Tehillim 5:7): "You destroy those who speak falsehood" — "this one permitted sexual immorality and bloodshed" and so on. And all of it through emes, as above. For there are two kinds of emes: there is the emes in its truth — who attains and knows the matter as it truly is. And there is another emes — whose intention is genuinely in emes, but who errs himself. And in this matter there are very many distinctions: there is one whose error is large, and one who exerts himself a little can immediately recognize his error. And there is one whose error is subtler, so that greater exertion is needed to recognize his error and clarify the emes. And there is one whose error is subtler still, and so on. And the subtler the error, the greater the exertion needed to clarify the true emes — to the point that there are those whose error is of the subtlest subtlety to an extreme degree, such that it is impossible to clarify the error except through enormous exertion with true self-sacrifice throughout all the days of one's life. And this is the service of the great holy tzaddikim — the choicest individuals of the generations — who toiled in enormous labors and suffered bitterness beyond measure, and stood in trials without number, and gave their souls for Israel throughout all the days of their lives, until through this very thing they merited to clarify the true emes in its truth — which no angel or seraph is capable of attaining. For the world was created only for those tzaddikim, as it is said: "For this is the entire man" (Koheles 12:13). And for this the Blessed Lord cast emes to the earth — for the Blessed Lord knew that the intention of the attribute of emes which brings accusations against the creation of man, even though it is contrary to His holy mind, blessed be He, even so all its intention is in truth. For the moment the attribute of emes descended from Him, blessed be He, it could no longer attain the truth of the depth of His mind, blessed be He. And therefore it erred through emes specifically and said that man should not be created — for certainly the plain emes at first glance requires that man, who is all falsehood, not be created. But in the true emes — "very deep are His thoughts, blessed be He" — to the point that even the attribute of emes cannot attain this, as above, except the great tzaddikim of this very world through their free choice, as above. And therefore He cast emes to the earth — for this itself is the tikun of the second kind of emes mentioned above, who desires emes but cannot stand upon emes. His entire tikun is specifically in this world through the great tzaddikim who stand in many and powerful trials — for only they merit to the point of the true emes. And through them "emes will sprout from the earth" — through which all the worlds will be rectified, as is cited above. And therefore in this world the essential completeness of emes is emunah (faith). For the essential emes is to know that it is impossible to attain the very substance of emes — for the very substance of emes is the Blessed Lord alone, as it is said: "and the emes of the Lord endures forever." And this is impossible to attain. Rather the essential emes is to know that it is impossible to attain the very substance of emes — in the aspect of "the ultimate knowledge is that we cannot know" (Rambam). And therefore the essential completeness of emes is emunah — in the aspect of: "when tzedek combines with emes it becomes emunah" (Tikun 21 of Tikunay Zohar). And this is the entire service of man in this world: to come to this — to merit to emes and emunah in completeness, in true emes. But it is impossible to come to this except through the great tzaddikim mentioned above, who merited to this through much toil, as above. And whoever truly desires emes and does not allow himself to be misled will be able to understand from afar where the true emes lies — provided he is not so foolish as to become haughty in his mind and say that he can understand the emes immediately and stand at once upon the depths of their mind. For even the true mind of the great tzaddikim is impossible to attain, as is known — for they are included in Him, blessed be He, and their thoughts too are very deep. Only through emes can one merit to come to emunah — for through emes, if one wishes to look upon the true emes, one will understand that it is proper to believe in them. And then one will merit to emes and emunah, which is the entire completeness of man. And this itself is the aspect of the casting of emes to the earth — for eretz (earth) is the aspect of emunah, in the aspect of "dwell in the land and tend emunah" (Tehillim 37:3) — as is cited in the works of our master, teacher and rebbe, of blessed memory, many times. And for this very reason emunah is called eretz — because the essential emunah is in this very physical earth which is at the utmost distance from the attainment of the true mind of the Blessed Lord. But specifically in this eretz the tzaddikim attain the true emes through strengthening themselves in emunah, as above. Therefore He cast emes to the earth — which is the aspect of emunah — so that through this emes will be clarified through emunah, through the great tzaddikim. And as is written regarding the verse "and his hands were emunah" (Shemos 17:12): that through emunah one comes to true attainment of the da'as — each one according to his level, and so on — see there. For emes and emunah are in the aspect of man and woman, as is known — regarding which it is said: "It is not good for man to be alone" (Bereshis 2:18). For man — who is the da'as, who is the emes (for emes and da'as are the same aspect, since the essential da'as is to attain and know the truth of the matter as it truly is, as is known) — it is not good for him to be alone, for it is impossible to attain the very substance of emes, as above. Therefore "I will make him a helper corresponding to him (ezer ke-negdo)" — which is the aspect of the woman, the fear of God (yiras Hashem), which is the aspect of emunah — which is a helper corresponding to emes. For the essential completeness of emes is through emunah, as above. And through both of them together comes the essential birth — which is the birth of da'as. For all births come through da'as, as is known. For through the union of emes and emunah in the proper completeness, all the true attainments and knowledges are born — which is the attainment of our holy Torah, whose foundation is emes and emunah, as it is written: "and Your Torah is emes" (Tehillim 119:142), and as it is written: "all Your commandments are emunah" (Tehillim 119:86). And this is "a helper corresponding to him (ezer ke-negdo)" — for specifically because there is opposition in the aspect of "neged" (against/corresponding to) among human beings, as is explained at the end of the Torah discourse mentioned above (in the very language of our master, teacher and rebbe, of blessed memory — see there) — through this very opposition emunah becomes a helper to emes. For the opposition is drawn from the fact that it is impossible to attain the very substance of emes, as above. Therefore the essential help and tikun of emes is emunah, as above. And for this very reason He cast emes to the earth — so that through this emes will sprout from the earth. "From the earth" specifically, as above. And this is the teaching: if one merits — ezer (helper); if one does not merit — ke-negdo (against him). And this itself is the aspect of the casting of emes to the earth — which operates in these two aspects. For this is the aspect of free choice — through which comes the essential tikun and clarification of emes. For the Blessed Lord saw that emes, which had been emanated from Him, also found it impossible to attain the truth of His mind, as above. Therefore He cast it to the earth — for the Blessed Lord does not desire that kind of emes, and therefore He distanced it from before Him. But this itself is its tikun — through the great tzaddikim of this very earth, who hold fast to emes and toil in enormous toil until they merit to understand that it is impossible to attain the very substance of emes — only to strengthen themselves in complete emunah through emes, and to go from level to level (and see more of this elsewhere and in Likutay Etzos a little of this) — until they specifically merit to clarify and elevate emes from the earth in the aspect of "emes will sprout from the earth" — "will sprout" specifically. Like one who plants a seed and it decays and from it there grows a great tree — and all through the labor of man — so the tzaddikim toil in the clarification of emes: to plant it and set it in the aspect of "all of it is seed of emes." Which is through their good deeds and their Torah and the wondrous novellae they innovate in Torah, and so on — until through this emes sprouts from the earth specifically, in the aspect of "emes will sprout from the earth," as above. And see further on in §44. And all of this every person must know — and through this he will be saved from the many stumbling-blocks that come through emes itself when it is not clarified as it should be. It goes without saying that it will save him from the fire of strife and opposition, which uproots those who dispute from both worlds for nothing. For this attribute is worse than all the evil attributes in the world — for the other attributes and desires have some element of necessity in them, and one only needs to conduct oneself according to the holy Torah concerning them, and even when permitted one should not indulge in them excessively. But in any case they have some necessity for the existence of man — such as eating and drinking and the like. But the matter of strife — this man does not need at all. And it consumes and uproots him from both worlds more than all the desires combined. As many have already been expelled through this from both worlds. And even strife for the sake of one's livelihood one must avoid very greatly — for nothing is accomplished through strife at all. On the contrary: one single strife drives away a hundred livelihoods. And one must believe that no man touches what is prepared for his fellow. And with your name shall you be called and from what is yours shall they give you and so on, as our Sages of blessed memory said (Yoma 38a). How much more so — and certainly all the more so — strife regarding the service of God, which is the strife between the chassidim and the scholars, or strife among the chassidim themselves, or among the scholars themselves. For this strife is the worst of all — it causes great damage and delays the redemption more than all the transgressions in the Torah. And all this strife is nothing but causeless hatred, and all of it comes from emes — for each one imagines that he has the emes. But in truth, if one looks at the true emes and does not mislead oneself, one will certainly not persist in strife in any case — for one will look at oneself and consider: perhaps it is I who am erring. And even if one is not erring, one will understand that nothing will be rectified through strife at all — on the contrary, one will cause far more damage than one imagines one will rectify with one's confused mind. For through strife it is impossible to rectify anything whatsoever — for strife is exceedingly hated and it is impossible to explain all this in writing. But whoever truly desires emes will certainly not be misled through his own unclarified emes to persist in strife, God forbid — particularly in these generations when Israel is in great degradation and we have no authority whatsoever. How is it possible to rectify what needs to be rectified — particularly through strife? For to rectify the world and draw the entire world to the service of the Blessed Lord is possible only through peace, as is explained in the Torah discourse on "r'tzitza" and so on. And therefore Eliyahu and Moshiach — through whom the essential tikun of the world will come — will engage only in making peace in the world, as our Sages of blessed memory said: Eliyahu does not come to declare impure or to declare pure, but only to make peace in the world. And likewise Moshiach Tzidkeynu is called "Sar Shalom" (Prince of Peace) and so on. And therefore if emes incites one to persist in strife, God forbid, one must cast that kind of emes from oneself to the earth and distance it from before one — for the Blessed Lord does not desire that kind of emes, as above. And even the one who guards himself from this and walks in his innocence and does not persist in strife against others — even he must take care to remember well the matter mentioned above, and take very great care that emes not distance him, God forbid, from the Blessed Lord and His holy Torah. For all the distancing and the falls in one's mind come entirely through emes — because one knows within oneself the true state: that one has blemished and deteriorated. Particularly one who knows that he has deteriorated greatly. And he is as he is even now. And therefore he says in his mind: "But I myself know the truth about the extent of my own ruin!" And through this he falls in his mind and distances himself as he distances himself, God have mercy. It follows that all his distancing and falling is through emes — but in truth one must distance oneself from that kind of emes, for this is not the true emes at all. Rather one must know that we do not know at all. And even if we have not merited to come to the ultimate knowledge that is "the ultimate knowledge is that we cannot know" — which is very deep and exceedingly concealed — but in any case we simply do not know at all. Only this do we know in truth: that the Blessed Lord is emes and His Torah is emes. And He, blessed be He, revealed to us through His true tzaddikim the power of His kindness and mercy beyond all fathoming — as is explained in our writings at length on this. And therefore if emes incites one to persist — this is the essential emes: "and whatever your hand finds to do with your strength, do it" (Koheles 9:10). For "His thoughts, blessed be He, are very deep" — and He knows our inclination, for we are dust. And it is exceedingly precious in His eyes — every movement and stirring as thin as a hair's breadth by which a person draws himself toward the Blessed Lord in this very coarse physical world. And the more distant and coarse one is, likewise every movement and drawing toward the Blessed Lord from such a distant place is the more precious in His eyes. And this is the essential emes, in the aspect of "emes will sprout from the earth" — "from the earth" specifically, as above. And one must know that all these incitements — whether in the matter of strife, God forbid, where emes that is not yet clarified incites one to persist in strife; or in the matter of the person against himself, where it incites him to distance himself from the Blessed Lord and to fall in his mind through this — all of it is drawn from the descent of the accusation of the angels mentioned above, from which comes the entire power of the evil inclination, as above. For their accusation too was through emes that had not yet been fully clarified — to the point that the attribute of emes itself brought accusations and said that man should not be created (Midrash Rabbah, B'reishis 8:5). And this itself is the aspect of the accusation of the angels who said: "What is man that You should remember him?" (Tehillim 8:5). And therefore if emes incites one to persist — it descends from the accusation among human beings to the point that they err through emes that is not clarified, and bring accusations one against another and multiply strife for nothing, God forbid. Or it causes one to bring accusations against oneself through that kind of emes — to distance oneself from the Blessed Lord and His Torah, God forbid. Therefore one must beseech the Blessed Lord very greatly throughout all the days of one's life to merit to the point of the true emes. And the essential thing is that one merit to draw close to the true tzaddikim and their disciples who cleave to them — those who have merited to the point of the true emes. For the very point of emes is attained only by the great tzaddikim mentioned above, and from them everyone who merits to draw close to them can receive. But great toil is required for this — to search and seek and pray much to the Blessed Lord concerning this, as above. And this is what Dovid argued when he confessed his sin regarding Bas Sheva: "For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me" (Tehillim 51:5). And if so, I could distance myself and fall through this, God forbid, saying that there is no hope, God forbid. And as many sought to push him aside through this — as it is written: "Many say of my soul: there is no salvation for him in God, Selah" (Tehillim 3:3). And as Rashi explained there: this was on account of that very sin. But King Dovid did not look at all these rejections — whether from others or from himself. Rather he strengthened himself and said: "Against You alone have I sinned and done what is evil in Your eyes" (Tehillim 51:6). For I have not sinned against any angel or seraph — only against You alone. And therefore it is in Your power to forgive — for You are compelled, as it were, to forgive, "so that You be justified in Your word" (Tehillim 51:6) — in order that You be justified and prevail against the angels who brought accusations and said: "What is man that You should remember him?" For "he is destined to sin before You and to provoke You" and so on. And they did not know the power of the abundance of Your mercy and kindness beyond all fathoming — that You are abundant in forgiveness to all who seek pardon and forgiveness from You. Therefore You are compelled to forgive, in order to be justified in Your word and to prevail against them — so that they may see that You were justified in Your word and in Your judgment that You created man. And as is written there in the Midrash: the Blessed Lord answered: "Is it for nothing that I am called 'Merciful and Gracious'?!" And this is what he said afterward: "Behold, You desire emes in the hidden places (ba-tuchot)" — that is: even though according to the emes in my own mind it seems very far-fetched to me that the Blessed Lord would forgive me for such a great sin. And because of this I nearly, nearly fell in my mind and distanced myself from You through this, God forbid. But Your kindness prevailed upon me, granting me the merit to understand from afar that the truth of Your mercies — the truth of Your holy mind — is impossible to attain. Therefore I am obligated to do my part: to strengthen myself each time and to cast my supplication before You, until "the Lord will look down and see from heaven" (Ekhah 3:50). And this is what he said: "Behold, You desire emes in the hidden places" — for certainly the essential thing is emes and all that You desire and request from this lowly man is only the emes. But I request: "and in the concealed place You will make wisdom known to me" — teach me genuine wisdom that is hidden and concealed from me, which is the very essence of the true emes. That is: he strengthened himself and argued with the Blessed Lord: even though You desire only emes — in the aspect of "Behold, You desire emes in the hidden places" — according to the emes in my own mind it seems very far off that the Blessed Lord will forgive me. To the point that it appears, God forbid, as though there is no hope whatsoever, heaven forfend. But I know that I have still not attained the truth of Your mercy in its completeness. And I request: "and in the concealed place You will make wisdom known to me" — teach me what is hidden and concealed from me, which is the truth of Your mercy and kindness, which are so very exalted and deep and concealed from me. Through which I too have great hope — for "His thoughts are very deep" and we do not know at all. And there is a matter through which everything will be rectified and turned for good, and all sins will be turned into merits. Only he must not despair of crying out and praying and supplicating. And as I heard from his mouth, of blessed memory, as is explained in its place — see there. And this is the essential principle of all the service of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and all of Yerach Ha'Aisanim — "Aisanim" meaning those who are steadfast in commandments. For it is all about clarifying the point of emes in every place where it exists, through the tzaddik of emes who has genuinely merited to the point of emes in its truth in completeness. For on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, emes is clarified through the multitude of the services that Israel performs then — for they engage then in an abundance of Torah and prayer and cries and supplications to the Blessed Lord and acts of charity, and so on. And this is the essential emes that one merits through the voices of the shofar and through the multitude of prayers and cries to the Blessed Lord, in the aspect of "the voice is the voice of Yaakov" (Bereshis 27:22), in the aspect of "give emes to Yaakov" (Micha 7:20), as above. But after Yom Kippur one begins to engage in Sukkah — which is also in the aspect of emes to Yaakov, in the aspect of "and Yaakov journeyed to Sukkos" (Bereshis 33:17). That is, after Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur one engages in revealing emes also in the external services — namely, eating and drinking and sleeping. For this is the essential commandment of Sukkah: in order to know and to believe that through the truth of the emes, one can be supported and close to the Blessed Lord in any place whatsoever, in the aspect of "in all your ways know Him" (Mishlai 3:6). And this is the aspect of the Four Species, which encompass all the groupings within Israel — those who possess Torah and commandments, and so on — up to and including the aravay nachal, the willows-of-the-brook, who are bound together with them. For these represent those who are exceedingly distant, who possess neither taste nor fragrance. Because through the emes it is revealed that from them too the Blessed Lord receives satisfaction and takes pride in every genuine movement found within them, through which they draw themselves toward the Blessed Lord, as above. And this is the aspect of Simchas Torah and Shemini Atzeres. "Atzeres" in the sense of gathering and ingathering — that it gathers and assembles everything and draws all of them close to the Blessed Lord, even those who are exceedingly distant, through the sukkah of peace in which we merited to dwell. For then we brought sacrifices even on behalf of the seventy nations in order to draw all of them close to the Blessed Lord, in the aspect of "Then I will transform to all the peoples a pure language" and so on (Tzefanya 3:9). And therefore on Simchas Torah everyone ascends to the Torah, to show that every single one of Israel has a portion in the Torah of emes. For the essential thing about emes is to draw close and not to distance — only to clarify and to reveal the point of emes that exists in every single one of Israel, even those who are exceedingly distant. For this is the essential truth of His will, blessed be He, as above. And this is the reason we complete the Torah in the presence of all Israel and begin again immediately from "In the beginning God created" and so on. For our Sages of blessed memory expounded on the verse "which Moshe performed before the eyes of all Israel" (Devarim 34:12) — that this refers to his breaking of the Tablets. And this is the aspect mentioned above. For Moshe saw the extent of the ruin — that Israel had sinned so greatly and transgressed against the entire Torah and served idolatry — to the point that the strict line of emes-judgment, according to the Torah, required that Israel be distanced and destroyed, heaven forfend, as the Blessed Lord said: "Leave Me be and I will destroy them" and so on (Shemos 32:10). Therefore Moshe acted wisely and cast the Tablets to the ground — this being the aspect of "and it cast emes to the earth," as above — just as the Blessed Lord cast the emes to the ground because it had brought accusations against the creation of man, as above. So too did Moshe act, cleaving to the Blessed Lord and casting down the Tablets — which are in the aspect of emes, in the aspect of the Torah of emes. He cast them to the earth, to indicate that even though they are the Torah of emes, even so: since through them it was appearing as though there was no hope and it was impossible to pray further on behalf of Israel, therefore he cast them to the ground and distanced them from before him. And he strengthened himself to believe that it is impossible to fathom the depth of His mind at all — until he understood that even so the Blessed Lord wished for him to pray on their behalf. And through this he multiplied his prayers on their behalf so powerfully that the Blessed Lord was appeased and forgave them and commanded him to carve a second set of Tablets. And this itself is the very same aspect mentioned above: the aspect of "and it cast emes to the earth," and through this very thing "emes will sprout from the earth," as above. And so too did Moshe act — for had he not cast the Tablets down, and had the accusation, heaven forfend, grown so great that Israel would have been destroyed, heaven forfend, then emes would have been entirely concealed. For there is no one who reveals emes in the world but Israel. Therefore he cast down the Tablets — which are in the aspect of emes, in the aspect of "and it cast emes to the earth" — and strengthened himself in prayer. For he believed that it is impossible to fathom the truth of His mind, for His thoughts are very deep. And he merited that it worked — and the Blessed Lord was appeased and forgave him, and commanded him to carve a second set of Tablets. This is the aspect of "let emes rise from the earth" — the aspect of "emes will sprout from the earth," as above. And therefore, after "in the presence of all Israel," we begin immediately with "In the beginning God created" — the final letters of which form the word "emes," as is cited. To indicate that this is the essential emes: when one knows that one does not know at all and does not distance oneself in any way whatsoever, but only begins anew each time. This is the aspect of "in the presence of all Israel" — "In the beginning God created" — for Moshe, through the force of his strength, drew down this path through the breaking of the Tablets, and the Blessed Lord acknowledged it and said to him: "Your strength is upright, for you broke them" (Shabbos 87a). So that through this, every single one of Israel can strengthen himself and begin anew each time. This is the aspect of the beginning of the Torah: "In the beginning God created" — final letters spelling "emes." For this alone is the essential truth of the emes: that one not distance oneself through emes, but understand and know that one does not know at all and that one must begin afresh each time — for the truth of His mercies surpasses all measure. Throughout all the days of man's life, one can begin to draw close to the Blessed Lord, as it is written: "You return man to being crushed" (Tehillim 90:3) — even to the very depths of a crushed soul. For "the kindnesses of the Lord are not exhausted, His mercies are never spent" (Ekhah 3:22) — forever and ever. And this is what was said: "Whoever judges a judgment of emes la-amito — emes to its very truth — it is as though he has become a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the act of creation" (Shabbos 10a). And the halachic decisors emphasized the word la-amito (to its very truth), as is cited in the Beis Yosef at the beginning of Tur Choshen Mishpat — see there. That is, as above: the essential thing is to judge emes la-amito specifically, without misleading oneself through emes into perverting the judgment, heaven forfend. Rather the emes must be clear and pure, in the aspect of emes la-amito — which is along the lines of what the commentators there explained: to exclude a falsified judgment (din merooma) — see there. That is, as above. And then one becomes a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the act of creation. For the essential act of creation was specifically through emes la-amito. For the plain emes brought accusations against the creation of man — who is the essential purpose of the entire act of creation — and therefore the essential act of creation, which is the creation of man, came about only through emes la-amito specifically: which is the very essence of His being, blessed be He, which it is impossible to fathom — that even so, man needed to be created, for there would be such great tzaddikim who would clarify emes la-amito. And therefore the one who judges emes la-amito specifically is in this very aspect — and therefore he becomes a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the act of creation. As it is written there: "And there was evening and there was morning — one day" (Bereshis 1:5). For from there our Sages of blessed memory derived this Midrash — that one becomes a partner and so on. For emes is entirely One, entirely good, as above. But the essential thing is the emes la-amito, as above. And this is what is meant by: "And God spoke to Moshe and said to him: I am the Lord. And I appeared to Avraham" and so on "by El Shaddai, but by My name Havayah I was not known to them" (Shemos 6:2–3). For all the exchanges between the Blessed Lord and Moshe our teacher regarding his mission to redeem Israel — where Moshe repeatedly refused several times, and the Blessed Lord was displeased with him and compelled him to go on His mission to redeem them, as is explained in the preceding parashot — all of it was in the matter of the emes mentioned above: that even the greatest of tzaddikim find it difficult at first to stand upon the very point of emes la-amito, and so on, as above. Rather each and every tzaddik clarifies emes according to his toil and exertion in his service — and throughout all the days of his life he has trials each time, for it is necessary that he have free choice throughout all the days of his life. And the essential free choice is in the matter of the clarification of emes la-amito, as above. And therefore even Moshe our teacher refused to go on the mission of the Blessed Lord. And all of it was because of the abundance of his light — for in the holiness of his wisdom he knew the emes: that it is exceedingly difficult to save Israel with a complete salvation to the very end. For he saw that they would ultimately sin and rebel against him and against the Blessed Lord several times, both at the beginning and at the end — as indeed came to pass, as it is written: "And they tested Me these ten times" (Bamidbar 14:22). And therefore he wished to remove himself from his mission, attributing the matter to his humility. For he was small in his own eyes and said: "Who am I?" and so on (Shemos 3:11). And all of this was in the aspect of emes — for Moshe our teacher certainly spoke all his words in emes and in genuine humility. But even so the Blessed Lord was displeased with him, as it is said: "And the anger of the Lord flared against Moshe" and so on (Shemos 4:14), and He compelled him to go. For all those views and reasonings of Moshe for refusing his mission — all of it descended and developed from the emes of the angels mentioned above who brought accusations and said that man should not be created, saying: "What is man that You should remember him?" — "He is destined to sin before You and provoke You," and so on. As is explained above: from that accusation comes the entire power of the evil inclination. And even genuinely great tzaddikim require great exertion to clarify their thinking from the reasonings drawn from that accusation, and so on. And from this descended what Moshe said: "Why have You done evil?" and so on, "Why is it that You sent me?" (Shemos 5:22–23). For this was drawn through the power of the machlokas of the opponents — these being Dasan and Aviram who stood against them and said: "May the Lord look upon you and judge" and so on (Shemos 5:21). And they too spoke, according to their own understanding, in emes — as if they were zealous on behalf of Israel's sufferings. For all the blemishes in the world — and particularly all kinds of machlokas — are drawn only from the blemish of the emes mentioned above, from which all free choice comes, as above. And therefore even utter evildoers clothe their evil words in some emes, as if their intention were toward the emes. As we see with Paro, who said to them: "Why do Moshe and Aharon distract the people?" and so on — "let the labor be heavy upon the men and let them do it, and let them not heed words of sheker (falsehood)" (Shemos 5:4–9). Look and see and understand well, you who study: how far does falsehood spread itself to exchange and substitute for emes — to the point that in the force of his lies he impudently dares to say that the emes is on his side! So that Paro the wicked — who tormented Israel with falsehood and groundlessly with such harsh labor — said: "Let the labor be heavy" and so on, "and let them not heed words of sheker" — as if, heaven forfend, the words of Moshe and Aharon who wanted Israel to serve the Blessed Lord were words of falsehood, and he alone desired only the emes: that Israel serve him for nothing. And so it is in every generation and era. And "the oppressor praises the wise man and destroys the gift of the heart" (Koheles 7:7) — as our Sages of blessed memory expounded this verse regarding Moshe our teacher: that through the terrible audacity of Dasan and Aviram who said "May the Lord look upon you and judge," through this they caused that even Moshe our teacher erred and said "Why have You done evil?" For even the great and awesome tzaddikim err at times — through an excess of emes beyond measure, which is drawn from the accusation of the angels mentioned above, as above. And this is what the Blessed Lord made known to him: what he had erred in regarding this parasha of Va'era — which was drawn from the preceding matter of "why have You done evil," as Rashi explained there. And this is: "And God spoke to Moshe and said to him: I am the Lord" (Shemos 6:2). For all the difficulties one has regarding the Blessed Lord are drawn from the concealment of the emes — from which the ways of the Lord are drawn, which it is impossible to fathom. These are the ways that are in the aspect of "a tzaddik and it is good for him, a tzaddik and it is evil for him, a wicked man and it is good for him" and so on. And all of it is for the sake of free choice, as above. And this is: "And God spoke" — the aspect of strict judgment (din), and so on. "And said to him: I am the Lord" — the aspect of mercy (rachamim). That is, He made him know that the Lord is the God (Havayah Hu HaElokim) — that it is all One. For the attribute of mercy and the attribute of judgment are in truth entirely One — only it is impossible to fathom this. For the very essence of the truth of His ways and His attributes, blessed be He, it is impossible to fathom — just as it is impossible to fathom His very being, blessed be He, as above. And this is: "And I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov by El Shaddai, but by My name Havayah I was not known to them" (Shemos 6:3). For the essential revelation of the truth of His divinity, blessed be He, came through the patriarchs — Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. But it is impossible to reveal the emes all at once. For emes must be clarified in this very world of free choice, in every generation and generation, until Moshiach comes — then the emes will be revealed in completeness. For the Blessed Lord is One and His name is One — which is the essential emes, in the aspect of "entirely One, entirely good, entirely holy." But even so, from the side of those who receive, there are many distinctions in the matter of the attainment of His truth, blessed be He — each person according to his toil in His service, blessed be He. And this is the aspect of "her husband is known in the gates — to each according to how he measures in his heart" (Mishlai 31:23) — meaning, according to one's toil to attain His truth, blessed be He, so does one merit to the inner measures of one's heart. As is understood from the Zohar HaKadosh in many places: that there are those who possess "hands and feet" who attain in the aspect called "hands," and so on. And there are those who are "in the king's garments," and so on — "but He Himself does not change in any place," and so on. And each person, according to his attainment of His truth, blessed be He, so is a mystery of one of His names, blessed be He, revealed to him in accordance with his attainment. For there are seven names that are not erased, and among them there are several gradations. And the Name of Havayah, blessed be He, is above all of them, for it is in the aspect of the Name of the Essence. But even all the names — even the Name of Havayah, blessed be He — exist only in the aspect of after-creation: He revealed His names, blessed be He, to the tzaddikim so that they might be able to attain His truth. For before creation He has no name at all, as it is written: "And You have no known name" and so on (Tikunay Zohar, Tikun 17). As is cited in all the books of the Kabbalists. And in the aspect of these matters mentioned above lies the distinction between the levels of the tzaddikim — in that even though all of them know and recognize His truth, blessed be He, that He is entirely One, entirely good, and so on, even so there is a great distinction among them, as above. And in proportion to the distinction between them, so each one attains a name from His names, blessed be He, as above. And this is: "And I appeared to Avraham by El Shaddai" — which is a holy and awesome Name. But this Name is also shared with the angels, as it is said: "Behold I am sending an angel before you" and so on — "Beware of him, do not defy him, for My name is within him" (Shemos 23:20–21). And our Sages of blessed memory expounded: "Do not exchange Me for him." "For My name is within him" — this is Metatron, whose name is like his Master's name. For Metatron in gematria equals Shaddai, as is cited. That is: the angel attains the truth of His being, blessed be He, from the direction of this Name — to the point that the angel is included within Him, blessed be He, in the aspect of this Name, and is called by His name. But there one must take care not to err into thinking that this attainment is the very essence of His truth, blessed be He — for regarding this it is said: "Beware of him, do not exchange Me for him." And therefore Moshe did not choose that aspect and said: "If Your Presence does not go" and so on (Shemos 33:15). For all of Moshe's attainment was at a very elevated level — for he attained from the aspect of the Name of the Essence, which is the Name of Havayah, blessed be He. But even the great tzaddikim whose attainment is only in the aspect of this Name — which is the Name Shaddai — they know and are careful not to err, and do not err, heaven forfend, that this is the ultimate attainment. Rather they know that it is impossible to attain the very essence of His truth, blessed be He. And likewise it is impossible to attain the ways of His governance of the world — which operate through His attributes, blessed be He, which are His names as is known. For "His ways are higher than our ways" — for the attainment of the very substance of the emes is hidden and exceedingly sublime. And this is what the Blessed Lord said to Moshe regarding his saying "Why have You done evil" — consider: to Avraham and all the patriarchs I did not reveal Myself except in the aspect of the Name Shaddai, where there is some grip for the attainment of the angels, as above. But "My name Havayah" — where there is no grip at all for the angels — "was not known to them." And even so, they certainly knew far less of the ways of the truth of My being, blessed be He — and even so they did not have second thoughts about My ways. As our Sages of blessed memory expounded, and as cited in Rashi's commentary there: "I promised them the Land, and when Avraham came to bury Sarah he was compelled to purchase" and so on. And similarly Yitzchak and Yaakov. For they knew that they had not yet attained the very truth of His attributes, blessed be He. But you — to whom I have already revealed the attainment of the Name of the Essence, the Name of Havayah, blessed be He — you wish to know and to understand the ways of the truth of My governance in completeness. But on the contrary: the higher the level of emes one attains, the more one needs to know that one is still far from attaining the very substance of the emes. For the essential emes is only to know that one is far from the very substance of the emes — which is the essential aspect of "the ultimate knowledge is that we cannot know," as above. And this is: "And I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan" and so on, "and I also heard the groaning of the children of Israel" and so on (Shemos 6:4–5). That is, He revealed to Moshe that even though He did not reveal His truth, blessed be He, to the patriarchs even to the degree that He revealed it to Moshe — even so, all their toil and exertion was not in vain, heaven forfend. For even so it was specifically they who, through their service, drew down and bequeathed to us the inheritance of our heritage — which is Eretz Yisrael, where the essential attainment of His truth, blessed be He, resides for each and every one of Israel. Only one must wait for this until the first redemption, and afterward until the final redemption. But in the end of all ends, all the conquest of Eretz Yisrael — both the first time and the final time — was entirely through the power of the patriarchs, as is explained throughout the Torah. And likewise you: even though I have revealed to you the attainment of the Name of Havayah, blessed be He — which is the attainment of emes at a higher level — even so you are still unable to attain the ways of the truth of My governance in completeness. Therefore, even though you see in your own emes that Israel will not heed you and will provoke Me and you several times, and even now Paro is refusing to send Israel and has greatly added to the burden of their labor, and Dasan and Aviram have also stood against you — on account of all this you did not wish at first to go on My mission. And even now you cry: "Why is it that You sent me?" and so on. Even so, you are compelled to nullify your thinking against Mine and to go on My mission. For even so you will act and benefit and succeed greatly in your mission — for in the end you will bring them out of Egypt with an upraised hand and give the Torah to Israel. And what will come afterward — one should not have second thoughts about this. For everything you accomplish for the good of Israel is never lost forever. And the principle is: even though one does not merit to attain the very substance of the emes, even so every true tzaddik accomplishes a very great deal through his service — illuminating in us the holiness of the truth of his Torah according to the generation and according to the time and era, whether during the period of the Temple or not during the period of the Temple. And even every single good point of emes of the most humble among Israel is exceedingly, exceedingly precious in His eyes, blessed be He, and is never lost forever. And what will be done with each and every one — it is impossible for them to fathom. For even the great tzaddikim themselves cannot fathom the ways of His truth, blessed be He, in completeness, as above. And even so all their deeds in emes endure forever and ever, as it is written: "And I will pay their deeds in emes" (Yeshaya 65:7). And likewise every point from the points of emes with which they illuminate us — even in our immense degradation — everything endures forever. And through all of this — that the Blessed Lord spoke with him and illuminated in him the attainment of the true da'as until he nullified his mind and went on His mission, blessed be He, and accomplished his deeds in emes, and redeemed us from Egypt and gave us the Torah and so on — through all this he understood from afar the enormity of His kindnesses, blessed be He, without end or limit, which it is entirely impossible to fathom. To the point that he understood that even in the very force of the wrath and blazing anger of the Blessed Lord, heaven forfend, even then one must pray to Him, blessed be He. For the very substance of the true intention of His being is entirely impossible to fathom — and whatever way it may be, it is His will that we seek and pray and supplicate before Him. For the very substance of the true essence of His kindness and His mercy is impossible to fathom at all, as above. And therefore after the giving of the Torah, when Israel came to that act of the Golden Calf, to the point that His anger, blessed be He, blazed greatly and He said to destroy them, heaven forfend — then Moshe understood that he must not look upon the plain emes as it appears to human understanding and judgment. For it appeared that certainly the intention of the Blessed Lord was to punish them, heaven forfend, as befitted the severity of that evil deed which warranted their destruction, heaven forfend. But in emes la-amito it is not so. And therefore Moshe strengthened himself then and did not look at any truthful reasonings according to plain understanding — which made it appear that they deserved, heaven forfend, what they deserved. Rather he cast away that emes and strengthened himself greatly in prayer until he became ill, as it is written: "And Moshe implored (vayechal) the Lord" (Shemos 32:11). And as our Sages of blessed memory expounded: he prayed so greatly and extensively until a trembling (achilu) seized him. And then the Blessed Lord was appeased toward Moshe and was consoled from the evil, and so on. And then the Blessed Lord taught him the order of prayer and arranged before him the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy — and there He revealed to him the emes la-amito: that the very substance of His truth, blessed be He, is the multitude of His mercies and His graciousness and the abundance of His kindness forever, which never ceases. For this is the essential emes, as it is written there: "The Lord, the Lord, God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and emes" (Shemos 34:6). That is: the aspect of merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness — this is the essential emes of the Blessed Lord. For His mercies are never exhausted forever, as our Sages of blessed memory said: He promised him then that they never return empty — that is, as above. For the essential emes of the Blessed Lord is that His mercies and kindnesses are never exhausted, no matter what. Always, always, prayer and supplication and crying out and calling to the Blessed Lord are effective. For all of this is the opposite of the emes of the angels who, according to their truth, said: "What is man that You should remember him?" and so on. But the tzaddikim — like Moshe and those who follow after him — toiled and exerted themselves until they attained that: after all the provocations with which people provoke Him, blessed be He, still His true mercies are never exhausted. And in every generation there are found tzaddikim and upright ones who follow after them, who constantly strengthen themselves in prayer — and through this they sweeten all the judgments in the world and nullify all evil decrees from Israel and introduce the true da'as into Israel to strengthen themselves in prayer and supplication always. For this is the essential emes la-amito, as it is written: "The Lord is close to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in emes" (Tehillim 145:18). And it is written: "And as for me, may my prayer come to You, O Lord" and so on, "in Your abundant kindness answer me in the emes of Your salvation" (Tehillim 69:14). "In emes" specifically — for I believe that in emes la-amito, even now still You desire to save me. Therefore I strengthen myself and pray: answer me in the emes of Your salvation, as above. And understand well how very greatly one must always strengthen oneself in prayer, no matter what. And this itself is the aspect of the breaking of the Tablets written above (in §28) — for Moshe understood all of this afterward, through what the Blessed Lord hinted to him in the parasha of Va'era and so on, as above. And this is the aspect of what the Blessed Lord said to Avimelech: "I also knew that you did this with integrity of heart, and I withheld" and so on (Bereshis 20:6). And Rashi explained: it is emes that you did not intend to sin from the outset — but cleanliness of hands is not present here. For the essential emes la-amito one cannot merit except when one is completely clean and pure from all desires — and the essential thing is from the principal desire. For guarding the covenant is in the aspect of emes, in the aspect of "entirely seed of emes" (Yirmiyahu 2:21), as is explained elsewhere. For the essential origin of falsehood is through the turbidity of the blood, as is explained at the beginning of the Torah discourse mentioned above: that it is impossible to say falsehood except by one who makes his blood turbid, and so on — see there. And all desires — and particularly the principal desire — stem from the turbidity of the blood. Therefore when the ba'al davar (adversary) tempts a person to mislead him into some harmful path through his own emes — and particularly when he tempts him to persist in machlokas because of his emes — he must look at himself and ask: am I pure and clean from desires? And in particular from the desire mentioned above? And since he knows within himself that he is not pure — how can he possibly rely upon his own emes, and in particular to pursue a fellow Israelite, all the more so to pursue many? For clear emes, in the aspect of emes la-amito, one merits only through the true tzaddik who is genuinely clean-handed — meaning, clean from all desires, particularly from the principal desire entirely, having no turbidity of blood at all. And only he merits to emes la-amito. All others: the essential emes for them is to know that they are far from attaining the true da'as — and they need only to strengthen themselves in emunah, as above. And this is what the Blessed Lord said to Avimelech: "I also knew" and so on. For Avimelech considered himself entirely righteous in his own eyes — as if he were a man of emes and Avraham had misled him with his falsehood by saying "she is my sister." Therefore it seemed to him that he had a great claim against the Blessed Lord who had struck him without cause. Therefore he argued and said: "Will You also slay a righteous nation? Did he not say to me: she is my sister? — with the integrity of my heart and the cleanliness of my hands I did this" (Bereshis 20:4–5). It turns out that according to Avimelech's words, he is the man of emes and Avraham is the liar, heaven forfend. The Blessed Lord answered him: "I also knew that you did this with integrity of heart" — for certainly the emes is with you, that you did this in emes and with integrity of heart. But cleanliness of hands is not present here, as Rashi explained, as above. For if you had been clean-handed — that is, if you were not a man of such desire — you certainly would not have come to such a stumbling-block. For from the very foundation of the law, what business did you have asking Avraham whether she was his wife or his sister?! As Avraham truthfully answered when he was asked: "What did you see that you did this?" (Bereshis 20:10) — he answered him: "Because I said: surely there is no fear of God in this place" (Bereshis 20:11). And as Rashi explained: a traveler who comes to a city on account of his wife — they ask him about her, and so on. And since you are such a man of desire and are not clean-handed, your own emes misled you until you took her for yourself. And when the plagues came upon you, you cry out that you are righteous and that Avraham misled you with his falsehood — without heeding the fact that the turbidity of your blood misled you into erring from the path and from attaining emes la-amito. But since even so your intention was not toward a grave prohibition — therefore "I also withheld you from sinning against Me" and so on (Bereshis 20:6). For the Blessed Lord has compassion on a person when He sees that he desires the emes, only that he misleads himself — He has compassion on him and hints to him through His wondrous ways that he should return from his error. But in any case, you must take to heart that you are not clean-handed — and because of this you came to such an error through your own emes. And this is what is said: "Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted his soul to falsehood (shav)" and so on (Tehillim 24:3–4). "Clean hands and pure heart" specifically — for specifically when one has clean hands, specifically then one merits to the aspect of "pure heart who has not lifted his soul to shav" and so on: that he is saved from shav and sheker and merits to emes la-amito. And only he merits to ascend the mountain of the Lord and to stand in His holy place. And therefore Avraham was compelled to conceal the emes and to say she was his sister — for "it is permitted for tzaddikim to employ cunning against the cunning" (Megillah 13b). For when the tzaddik sees that there is no emes in the world, he is compelled to conceal the emes in various ways in order to save his life. And specifically through this he brings emes into the world. And as Yaakov conducted himself with Lavan and Esav and so on. And this is the aspect of: it is permitted to deviate from the truth for the sake of peace (mutar l'shanos bidvar ha-shalom). For all machlokas comes from the emes of those who err — or of those who are outright liars — because they are not clean from desires and their blood is very turbid. They invert falsehood into emes and call good evil and evil good, as Yeshayahu cried out: "Woe to those who call good evil and evil good, who make darkness into light and light into darkness, who make the bitter sweet" and so on (Yeshaya 5:20). Therefore the true tzaddik is compelled to deviate and to clothe the emes in various garments in order to draw peace into the world. And through this there is also resolved what is difficult in the words of the Midrash cited above — which writes there that He cast the emes to the earth because it brought accusations against the creation of man. But why did He not take exception to the shalom (peace), seeing that shalom also brought accusations against the creation of man, as is explained there in the Midrash cited above?! However: the essential accusation of shalom was that man should not be created since he is all quarreling. And in truth all the quarreling and machlokas comes from the emes mentioned above that is not yet pure and clarified as it should be — for each one imagines that the emes is with him, and through this quarreling and machlokas multiply in the world, as above. It follows that the essential corruption of peace — for the sake of which shalom brought accusations against the creation of man — comes from the emes mentioned above that is not yet refined as it should be. And therefore the Blessed Lord took exception only to the emes and cast it to the earth. And this itself is its tikun, as above — for through this, the great tzaddikim will clarify and refine it until they attain emes la-amito — until they know the true extent of His mercy, blessed be He, upon Israel in truth, and judge everything favorably and find a genuine good point in every single one of Israel. And through this they will make peace in the world — for they will draw this path into the world to nullify all the accusations and conflicts that are drawn from the accusation of the angels: from an excess of emes beyond measure. Rather, every person will nullify his thinking against the thinking of the true tzaddikim of emes who attain the truth of His mercy, blessed be He. And each person will look at his fellow and see the good within him and not the evil — for this is the true will of the Blessed Lord, blessed be He. And through this, peace will come about in the world. It turns out that through casting the emes to the earth, the accusation of the shalom was automatically nullified. For through the casting of the emes mentioned above, the quarreling is automatically nullified and peace is made, as above. And therefore the Blessed Lord cast only the emes and not the shalom — for through the casting of the emes mentioned above, as above, the accusation of the shalom is automatically nullified: the accusation of shalom was because man is all quarreling. But through the casting of the emes as above, the quarreling and machlokas are nullified and peace comes about. For all machlokas is drawn only from an excess of emes beyond measure — which is the emes not yet refined through the true tzaddikim of emes, as above. And this itself is the aspect of: it is permitted to deviate from the truth for the sake of peace — that for the sake of peace one must deviate and distance that emes. For on the contrary, this is the very substance of the emes that the Blessed Lord desires: to change the emes for the sake of peace. For this is the aspect of what the Blessed Lord cast down — the emes that brought accusations against the creation of man, hinting through this that one must cast away and distance such emes as generates accusations and machlokas, as above. It follows that through the casting of the emes, the accusation of the shalom is automatically nullified. And therefore He cast only the emes — in order to reveal that the essential emes is something that no angel can attain, only the true tzaddikim of emes who clarify emes la-amito, as above. And through this all the accusations and quarrels will be automatically nullified, and peace will be drawn into the world. And it will be fulfilled: "Love emes and shalom" (Zekharya 8:19). And this is the aspect of Havdalah at the conclusion of Shabbos — for it is specifically through this that one draws the holiness of Shabbos into the six weekdays. For Shabbos is in the aspect of the very substance of emes, as our Sages of blessed memory said: even an am ha'aretz (an unlearned person) is afraid to lie on Shabbos. And therefore Shabbos is in the aspect of the ultimate purpose of the World to Come — when after-creation will then be included within before-creation, in the aspect of "father and son as one." For the essential inclusion is through emes, as above in the Torah discourse cited above. And the six weekdays are in the aspect of after-creation, for they are the days of action — the days in which creation emerged from potentiality into actuality. And all of creation was through emes, as it is written: "In the beginning God created" (Bereshis 1:1) — the final letters of which spell "emes." But even so, immediately after creation emerged from potentiality into actuality, an impression was drawn of the grip of falsehood, as above. And therefore there is some grip for falsehood in the six weekdays. And the essential tikun comes through Shabbos — which is the aspect of the true tzaddik, who is "the Shabbos of all the days," who is in the aspect of the very substance of the emes. For one must draw the holiness of Shabbos into the six weekdays. And likewise one must draw the holiness of the true tzaddik upon the entire multitude of the people of Israel — who are in the aspect of chol (the everyday) relative to him — that is, to illuminate among them the emes, which is the essential holiness, as above. But the essential drawing of the emes — which is the holiness of Shabbos — upon the weekdays, which is the aspect of drawing the holiness of the true tzaddik upon the entire multitude of the people, is specifically through the aspect of Havdalah: through knowing how to make a distinction between the holy and the everyday, between Shabbos and the six days of labor, between the tzaddik and the multitude of the people. For one must know that there is a great distinction between the very substance of the emes of Shabbos — which is the aspect of the true tzaddik — and the emes of the weekdays, which is the aspect of the multitude of the people. For even though their very life and tikun and sustenance all comes through the emes — even so they cannot attain and understand the truth of the da'as of the true tzaddik, which is the aspect of Shabbos. For His thoughts are exceedingly deep. Rather the essential emes of the multitude of the people — the aspect of the weekdays — is to know that they are far from attaining and understanding the truth of the da'as. They need only to strengthen themselves in emunah, as above. And this is the essential emes for them. It follows that specifically through Havdalah one draws the holiness from Shabbos to the weekdays — from the tzaddik to the multitude of the people. Understand this very well. And this is the aspect of: "Lest they break through to the Lord to see" and so on — "and you shall ascend, you and Aharon" and so on (Shemos 19:24). And Rashi explained: you are your own partition and Aharon is his own partition, and the people should not break through at all to ascend, and so on. That is, as above — for it is certainly impossible to draw close to the partition of the tzaddik's attainment, and it is impossible to understand or attain his da'as. Therefore it is forbidden to have second thoughts about him. And this is the aspect of the prohibition against strangers (zarim) coming close to the holy in the Beis HaMikdash and in the Mishkan. For the essential holiness is the emes, as above. And in every place where His truth, blessed be He, shines more intensely, there is greater holiness. But not every person is capable of drawing close and approaching this holiness of the emes. For the very substance of the emes — which is the attainment of His truth, blessed be He — it is impossible to attain. Rather every person must stand at his own place and his own partition and cleave to the path of emes according to his own level. And this is the essential emes for him: not to break through to approach what is not fitting for him — for "into what is hidden from you, do not inquire" and so on (Ben Sira 3:21). It follows that the essential drawing of the holiness which is the emes from Shabbos to the chol — from the tzaddik to the multitude — is specifically through the aspect of Havdalah, as above. And this is the mystery of Havdalah at the conclusion of Shabbos — that specifically through this one draws the holiness of Shabbos into the weekdays, as cited above. And this is how our Sages of blessed memory derived the law of Havdalah over wine at the conclusion of Shabbos from the parasha of the wine-intoxicated (shesuay yayin) (Vayikra 10:8–11) — which was stated to Aharon immediately after the death of his sons who had gone beyond the boundary and broken through to ascend to the Lord and entered to offer incense within the sanctuary without authorization. For this is the aspect of the blemish mentioned above: the blemish of the emes that is not yet fully refined. For Nadav and Avihu were exceedingly great and awesome tzaddikim, as our Sages of blessed memory said. And certainly their intention was for the sake of Heaven in emes — for they desired to draw close to the Blessed Lord, and they imagined that through this they would be able to bring all of Israel to the ultimate purpose. And as our Sages of blessed memory said: Moshe and Aharon were walking, and Nadav and Avihu were behind them, and they said: "When will these die and we — I and you — will lead the generation" and so on (Sanhedrin 52a). And certainly their intention was not, heaven forfend, for the sake of their own honor, but genuinely for the sake of Heaven. But even so they erred greatly in this, as is made explicit in the Torah and in the words of our Sages of blessed memory. For in the matter of the emes mentioned above that is not yet refined, even great tzaddikim stumble at times. And from this come all the errors cited in the words of our Sages of blessed memory concerning the errors made by the great tzaddikim — for it was all through the blemish of the emes mentioned above, as above. And therefore after the death of the two sons of Aharon, the parasha of the wine-intoxicated was stated immediately — and there the mystery of Havdalah is alluded to, as it is written there: "And to distinguish between the holy" and so on (Vayikra 10:10). From this our Sages of blessed memory derived the law of Havdalah at the conclusion of Shabbos, as above. For the essential aspect of Havdalah is to distinguish between the clarified emes — which is the aspect of Shabbos — and the emes of the weekdays. And the essential tikun is specifically through Havdalah: through knowing that one is far from the very substance of the emes of the aspect of Shabbos — which is the aspect of the pure, refined emes of the choicest of the tzaddikim who aim at emes la-amito and so on, as above. And therefore the matter of Havdalah was juxtaposed to the death of Aharon's sons — for they blemished in this: they broke through to approach the holiness which is the aspect of emes beyond their own level. And even though it appeared to them that their intention was toward the emes — even so they erred in this, as is made explicit in the Torah. It turns out that they blemished in the aspect of the mystery of Havdalah, as above. Therefore the verse "And to distinguish" was juxtaposed to their death, as above. And this itself is the aspect of the prohibition against wine-intoxicated kohanim entering the Sanctuary — which was juxtaposed to their death. And our Sages of blessed memory said that it was wine-intoxicated kohanim who entered the Sanctuary — for this is the essential aspect of the prohibition of wine-intoxication. This is the aspect of the prohibition of drunkenness, against which our Sages of blessed memory warned exceedingly regarding the gravity of its prohibition. For through drinking wine and becoming drunk, one's da'as is blemished and one breaks through to ascend beyond one's own partition — in the aspect of "wine entered, secret departed" (nikhnas yayin yatza sod). And this is the aspect of the confusion of mind and the madness that drunkards speak — for through the da'as departing from its vessels and breaking through to ascend beyond the boundary, one's mind becomes entirely confused and one speaks words of foolishness, if one is not a person of great da'as. And even a person of great da'as, who does not speak foolishness at the time of his drunkenness, can even so blemish greatly through drunkenness — for he breaks through to ascend beyond the boundary, as above — and through this he deviates from the emes. And therefore a drunk person is forbidden to render halachic decisions (hora'ah), for he is unable to aim at and clarify the hora'ah in emes. And therefore our Sages of blessed memory also said, and it is already known, regarding the drunkard that all roads become for him like a level plain (mishor) — for he deviates greatly from the emes through wine-drinking, and it appears to him as if all the emes is with him, as one sees with one's own senses. And therefore this prohibition was juxtaposed to the death of Aharon's sons — for they blemished in this, as above. And therefore the parasha of the Yom Kippur Avodah begins with the matter of the death of Aharon's sons, as it is written — and it is already known — "After the death of the two sons of Aharon when they drew near before the Lord and died, and He said: and let him not come at all times into the holy place... With this shall Aharon come into the holy place" and so on (Vayikra 16:1–3). For the entire Avodah of Yom Kippur — through which the Blessed Lord forgives the sins of Israel each year — is through the aspect of the pure, refined emes of the Blessed Lord Himself, mentioned above, which none can attain except the choicest of the great tzaddikim, each according to his own aspect. For if one relies on the plain emes, there is no remedy for the sinner — as our Sages of blessed memory said, and as it is already known: they asked Wisdom and so on, and it said: "the soul that sins, it shall die" and so on (Yerushalmi Makos 2:6). And this is the aspect of the emes of the angels mentioned above who brought accusations against the creation of man — for according to their emes there is no remedy for the sinner, and they saw that man would sin against Him, blessed be He. Therefore they brought accusations against his creation. And in truth, according to plain understanding, the emes inclines in that direction. But they did not know the true extent of His mercy, blessed be He — which is the very substance of the emes that it is impossible to attain, as above — and from there the forgiveness of Israel's sins on Yom Kippur is drawn. But not every person can enter into this holiness of the emes — for even the Kohen Gadol was warned that he must not come at all times into the holy, but only "with this" and so on, only on Yom Kippur. For to such an emes — which is in the aspect of the holiness of the Holy of Holies, the innermost of the innermost — it is impossible to enter except on Yom Kippur, through the order of the Avodah that the Blessed Lord commanded. And then one can draw down the forgiveness of sins — which is drawn from the aspect of the very substance of the truth of His mercy, blessed be He — the aspect of "abundant in lovingkindness and emes." And therefore the entire matter is juxtaposed to the parasha of the death of Aharon's sons — for they blemished in this, as above. And this is what was juxtaposed afterward: the parasha of arayos (forbidden sexual relations), which begins: "Like the deeds of the land of Egypt" and so on, "and like the deeds of the land of Canaan" and so on, "and in their statutes you shall not walk" — and it is already known. And we read this on Yom Kippur at Mincha. And this is the aspect of Aharon placing lots upon the two goats (se'irim) — one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel (Vayikra 16:8). For the essential tikun of sins is through the tzaddik — who is in the aspect of the Kohen Gadol — who can enter into the beginning of creation and sweeten and nullify the most subtle and delicate grip of falsehood that took hold there. This is the aspect of the avodah of the great tzaddikim on Rosh Hashana and so on, as above, at the beginning of this Torah discourse. And from there comes the forgiveness of sins on Yom Kippur — for the Kohen Gadol needed to ascend to the aspect of the beginning of creation, where the grip of falsehood cannot be recognized at all. And this is the aspect of the two se'irim that were identical in appearance and in height and so on — and even so they needed to distinguish between them and to bring one up for the Lord and one for Azazel. And therefore it was necessary to elevate them very high — to the aspect of the beginning of creation mentioned above — and to cast lots upon them. For it is impossible to clarify the emes from the grip of falsehood in that place except through the Blessed Lord Himself — which is the aspect of the lot that issues from the Blessed Lord Himself, determining which is for the Lord and which is for Azazel. For the lot clarifies between them. And through this specifically the grip of falsehood is sweetened and nullified at the very beginning of its root — and through this the sins of Israel are forgiven, which are drawn through falsehood whose essential grip lies at the very beginning of when creation emerged from potentiality into actuality. For there it is impossible to clarify the pure emes from the grip of falsehood except through the lot that issues from the Blessed Lord Himself, as above. And this is: "Like the deeds of the land of Egypt" and so on, "you shall not do, and like the deeds of the land of Canaan you shall not do, and in their statutes you shall not walk" (Vayikra 18:3). For the essential principle from all the above is that emes is the essential thing, and the emes is One — for it is impossible to say emes except One, as above. And as is explained well in the Torah discourse "Amar Rabbi Akiva" cited above. But the very substance of the emes is very difficult to attain, as above. Therefore the essential emes of most of the world is only to know that it is impossible to attain the very substance of the emes through da'as — but one needs only to strengthen oneself in emunah, as above. And as is explained from this elsewhere, and as is already known, as above. But one who does not merit to the emes in truth — who only misleads himself as if he desires the emes, but whose intention is toward his own benefit, such as honor and other desires — he can err greatly through his own emes, as above. And this is the aspect of the error of Avimelech mentioned above, who said: "With the integrity of my heart and the cleanliness of my hands I did this" and so on. As above. And not only can he err through his own emes into confused paths — but he can also come to false beliefs (emunos kozoyviyos) through his confused emes. And this is the aspect of all the false beliefs of the nations (akum) who are very strong in their beliefs — and even so it is all falsehood and sheker. For all their belief is drawn from desires and honor. And this matter occurs in every generation and generation, and it is very understandable to one who is somewhat versed in the events of the generations that are cited in books. And therefore in the earlier generations there were various forms of idolatry that involved much licentiousness in their practice — and those forms of idolatry were very strong among them. And even afterward when they became somewhat wiser and abolished those specific idolatrous forms, even so the other false beliefs that are close to desire and honor are still strong among them. And all of it is because of desire and honor — through which they deviated from the true emes and imagined that the emes was with them, until they came to false beliefs. And one who deviates from the emes to false beliefs — it is exceedingly difficult to bring him back to the emes. For the emes is in the aspect of da'as — attaining the emes regarding some matter, such as attaining the emes in the movements of the celestial spheres and the like, or attaining the emes that this one is righteous and that one is wicked. And even in this there are many errors, as above — as one sees with one's senses: that many investigated deeply in the science of astronomy and it appeared to them that this was the emes. And then the scholar Copernicus arose and made a new astronomical system, and now they say this is the emes — and who knows if it is truly so? And many of their scholars dispute this greatly. All the more so we ourselves, whose hearts are very, very far from his confused opinion. And likewise sometimes it appears that one has attained the emes — that this one is righteous and that one is wicked — and in truth it is the opposite. But one who errs through emes: even though it is very difficult to bring him back to the emes la-amito, there is still hope to bring him back, for one can clarify for him through various reasonings and proofs that the emes is not as he thinks — only great exertions are needed for this, as above. But one who deviates from the emes to the point that his confused emes brings him to false beliefs — it is exceedingly more difficult to bring him back to the emes and the true upright emunah. For emunah is something without reason and da'as — for where one understands the reason through da'as, that is not emunah, as is known and as is explained in his writings, of blessed memory. Rather the essential emunah depends on the emes, as above: for through the emes one understands that one must believe in this. And therefore when the emes is confused and mistaken and has erred so greatly as to arrive at false beliefs, it is very difficult to bring him back — for even if one clarifies for him through many proofs and true reasonings that the matter is not so, he will turn and say: "I nullify my da'as and I believe in this with complete emunah without any reason or da'as" — for this is indeed the definition of genuine emunah, as above. And because of this, it is in truth difficult to clarify the emes in the world. And therefore the emes is cast to the ground and the emes becomes flocks and flocks, and each one says that the emes is with him. For in truth, in holiness — in the place where there is the point of pure and refined emes — the matter of emunah there is a great elevation. And this is the aspect of the excellence of the children of Israel who are ma'aminim b'nei ma'aminim — believers the children of believers. For we believe in the Lord our God of truth and in His holy Torah in emunah alone, without any philosophical investigations or wisdoms at all. For we have already seen great emes through all the signs and wonders and so on that Moshe performed before the eyes of all Israel — and through the wondrous delights of our holy Torah with which He graced us. And even though even so it is impossible to understand or attain Him, blessed be He, and it is impossible to answer any of the objections of the investigators — on this we are steadfast in emunah. For we do not need to answer or resolve anything at all — for it is impossible to resolve, for "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways" and so on. And as our master, teacher and rebbe, of blessed memory, said: that regarding the Blessed Lord there must necessarily be questions (kushyos) and so on — as is explained in §55 of Likutay Tinyana — see there. But one who does not merit to the true upright emunah and falls into false beliefs — then that blemish of false beliefs is the worst of all. For it is then exceedingly more difficult to bring him back — since he believes in the sheker, namely the confused and erring emes without reason, as above. And this is the matter of: "If he merited — ezer (helper); if he did not merit — ke-negdo (against him)" — which we mentioned above in §22, though we did not explain it well there. For it is already explained there that emes and emunah are in the aspect of man and woman as is cited. And regarding this it is said: "It is not good for man to be alone, I will make him a helper corresponding to him." That is: it is not good for the emes to be alone, for it is impossible to attain the very substance of the emes, as above. And therefore "I will make him a helper" — which is the emunah — for the essential sustenance of the emes is through it. And likewise the essential sustenance of the emunah is through the emes: for one who looks at the emes la-amito without biases and misleadings of the desires and honor of this world and so on, will be able to understand from afar in whom it is fitting to believe, as above. And this is: "If he merited — ezer." If he did not merit — ke-negdo." Namely: "he merited" refers to one whose emes is pure and clear — who looks at the emes in emes, and looks only at the eternal purpose in truth, and does not mislead himself. Then the emunah is certainly a helper for him — for the essential sustenance and vitality comes through emunah, as our Sages of blessed memory said: Chavakuk came and established them all upon one principle: "the tzaddik shall live by his emunah!" (Makos 24a). For the very substance of the emes is impossible to understand through da'as — one needs only to strengthen oneself in emunah through the emes, as above. But "he did not merit" — one whose emes is not pure and who misleads himself as if he desires the emes, but in truth he is drawn only after the honor of the world and its desires and so on. Then the emunah is ke-negdo (against him). For through the impure emes he arrives at false beliefs — which is the aspect of "against him." For false emunah is in the aspect of "a wicked woman — more bitter than death" (Koheles 7:26). For she misleads and pushes him further away — for it is no longer possible to speak with him, since he says: "I believe without da'as and reason," as above. And in truth all of it is drawn through his desires and honor and so on, as above. And this is the warning of the verse: "Like the deeds of the land of Egypt" and so on, "you shall not do, and in their statutes you shall not walk." Their "statutes" (chukim) are false beliefs that have no reason in them — be careful and guard yourselves from walking in them. And this depends on being careful not to do like the deeds of Egypt and the deeds of the land of Canaan and so on. That is: do not be entangled after their desires — and the essential one is the desire of licentiousness (ta'avas ni'uf). And not only were they sunken in this desire exceedingly — but they even made for themselves statutes and false beliefs that were related to this. Through which they were even stronger in their desires, to the point that they could fulfill their desires without shame. And the verse warns Israel not to mislead themselves in this, heaven forfend. For this one depends on the other: according to how much one is careful from the deeds of Egypt and so on, so is one distant from their statutes and their false beliefs. And conversely: according to how much one distances oneself from their statutes and their false beliefs, so is one distant from their desires. And therefore the Torah prohibited walking in their statutes — such as their customs and their ways, even if there is no prohibition in them and no idolatry. For since the nations made this a statute for themselves, it is certainly related to their desires — for their statutes are drawn from their false beliefs, and therefore it is forbidden to Israel with a stringent prohibition. And this is: "My mishpatim you shall do and my chukim you shall keep to walk in them" and so on, "which a man shall do and live by them" and so on (Vayikra 18:4–5). For mishpatim and chukim are in the aspect of emes and emunah — for mishpatim are those things whose reason one can understand, which is the aspect of da'as, the aspect of emes, as above. And chukim are things that have no reason in them — which is the aspect of emunah, as above. And the verse warns us to walk only in the mishpatim and chukim that He commanded us — which are the essential pure emes and the true, upright, genuine emunah. Through which one merits to distance oneself from the desires of this world and to cleave to Him, blessed be He. But from false beliefs — which are their statutes — one must distance oneself greatly, as above. And this is: "which a man shall do and live by them" — and not die through them. For even within the mishpatim and chukim of the holy Torah there are various paths and distinctions of opinion from which all the strife in the world is drawn. And therefore the verse warns: "which a man shall do and live by them" — and not die through them (Yoma 85b). Which is as our Sages of blessed memory said: "if he merited, it becomes for him a potion of life; if he did not merit, it becomes for him a potion of death." For from this it follows that there are found among the children of Israel some who have deviated from the emes and say that all the emes is with them — and it is impossible to clarify all of this. But one who does not mislead himself and looks at the eternal purpose in emes la-amito can understand the emes from afar and merit to complete emunah — to know who the true tzaddikim and upright ones are, and to whom it is fitting to attach oneself. And may the Lord God of emes give emes to Yaakov and guide us in the path of emes, until we merit to draw close to Him, blessed be He, in emes, Amen — so may it be His will. And therefore all of this was juxtaposed to the parasha of the Yom Kippur Avodah, and we also read this on Yom Kippur. For the essential kapparah and selichah of Yom Kippur is drawn from the very substance of the emes, as above. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of divination and omens (me'onen u-menachesh), as it is written: "You shall not divine and you shall not practice omens" (Vayikra 19:26). For it is already explained at the beginning of the discourse (in §1) that the essential grip of falsehood is from the multitude of changes — whose essential source is through time, as above. And as is explained there in §17 — see there. For this is the essential excellence and completeness of emes when one merits to clarify the emes specifically in the place of multiplicity — where there is the greatest multitude of changes. For the emes is One, and this is the essential excellence of man: to reveal the simple Unity which is the very substance of the emes from within varied actions specifically, as above. And for this reason Israel — the holy people — bless and praise the Blessed Lord at every change of times and seasons: in the morning with Yotzer Or, and in the evening with Ma'ariv Aravim. And this is why these blessings were instituted — over the change of times, in the blessings of Krias Shema — which seems puzzling at first glance: what connection do these blessings have to the matter of Krias Shema? But according to the above it is well explained. For at every time when there is a change — such as in the morning when the sun rises, and in the evening when it sets and so on — from which falsehood could take hold, since the essential grip of falsehood is in the changes which are essentially a matter of time, as above — therefore specifically at the time of the change of time one must give thanks and praise and bless the Blessed Lord. That is: in the morning Yotzer Or and so on, and in the evening Ma'ariv Aravim and so on — to declare and to reveal that every change of time comes from Him, blessed be He, alone. As we say: "Who by His word brings on the evenings... and with understanding He changes the times and alternates the seasons and arranges the stars" and so on. And in the morning we say: "Who forms light and creates darkness" and so on, "and in His goodness renews each day continually the work of creation" and so on. And through all of this we declare that all the changes encompassed in the change of times — all of them come from Him, blessed be He, alone. For all varied actions are drawn from the simple One, blessed be He. And therefore they fixed there the paragraph of Krias Shema — which is the emunah of the Unity: where we acknowledge and declare that the Blessed Lord is One and Unique and United — which is the very substance of the emes. And as we conclude the paragraph of Krias Shema: "The Lord your God is emes." And we say Emes V'Yatziv in the morning, and Emes V'Emunah in the evening. And therefore they fixed all of this alongside Birkas HaMeoros at morning and evening — for this is the excellence of the emes which is the emunah of the Unity that we acknowledge and declare in Krias Shema. For the essential completeness is when one reveals the simple Unity from within varied actions specifically, as above. Therefore our Sages of blessed memory, in their holy spirit, fixed everything in a correct and wondrous order: that in the morning when there is a great change from darkness to light and the sun rises, and likewise in the evening when the sun sets — one must then give thanks to the Blessed Lord for this and declare and reveal that every change of time — within which all changes are encompassed, as above — all of it comes from Him, blessed be He, alone. For He, blessed be He, in His goodness renews each day continually the work of creation. And therefore they fixed there the paragraph of Krias Shema, which is the emunah of the Unity. For this is the essential completeness of emunah: to believe in all the changes specifically — that all of them are drawn from the simple One, blessed be His name, as above. And likewise each month there is a great change — the renewal of the moon. Therefore our Sages of blessed memory instituted Kiddush Levanah: to fix a special blessing on this wondrous change. And therefore the blessing of Kiddush Levanah is very great and precious and important — for the change of the month is certainly greater than the daily change. Therefore they instituted for us then a most wondrous and awesome blessing: "Who with His utterance created the heavens" and so on (blessing of Kiddush Levanah) — to reveal and to declare that this entire great change of the moon that waxes and wanes each month — upon which depend countless changes that occur in the world — all of it comes from Him, blessed be He, alone, as above. And therefore the blessing mentions "poel emes" — His work is emes — and "to the moon He said that it should renew itself" and so on. For the essential praise of this blessing is the revelation of the truth of the emes from within such a great change, as above. And this is the aspect of the greatness of Rosh Hashana. For it is because on Rosh Hashana the change of time is the greatest of all — for then the time changes from year to year. And also then was the creation of the world — when creation emerged from potentiality into actuality and the aspect of "years" (shanim) came into being, within which all changes in the world are encompassed. And therefore it is called shanah — from the language of shinuy (change). Therefore on Rosh Hashana the avodah is very great and immense — to the point that a simple person cannot complete his avodah alone and many from Israel need to gather together, as is the custom of all Israel: to gather together in synagogues and houses of study. And the essential thing is to come to the true tzaddikim of emes — for only they know the wonders of the avodah of Rosh Hashana: to clarify and reveal the truth of the emes from within such a great change. And therefore on Rosh Hashana one adds in every Shemoneh Esreh the revelation of His divinity and His malkhus over us — to crown Him and to accept His dread and fear and awe upon us. That is: what one adds in the blessing "Atah Kadosh" by saying "u-v'khen tein pachdekha" and so on ("and therefore place Your dread" and so on). And we request: "May You alone reign, O Lord, over all Your works, and so on, and may every being know that You created it and every creature understand that You formed it" and so on. And likewise on Rosh Hashana one multiplies in this matter with an abundance of prayers and songs and praises and piyutim — all to unify Him, blessed be He, and to crown Him over us. For this is the essential avodah of Rosh Hashana — when the changes are the greatest of all, as above. Therefore one must engage especially in revealing the emes from within the many changes specifically. For this is the essential excellence of the revelation of the emes, as above. And therefore on Rosh Hashana one concludes every tefillah with "for You are God of emes and Your word is emes" and so on. For this is the essential avodah of Rosh Hashana: to reveal the very substance of the emes in the world — that the Lord is God, to accept the yoke of His malkhus and His dread and His fear upon us, as above. And those who practice divination and omens are the very opposite of all this. For in their falsehoods they attribute all the events that happen to a person to the change of time and to the other changes that occur in the world. And they say: "such-and-such a time is auspicious to begin" and so on — as if everything were governed, heaven forfend, according to the order of times and seasons. And likewise with the other changes in the world — such as one's bread falling from his mouth, or a deer crossing his path along the way and so on — as if, heaven forfend, events and occurrences were drawn from the changes that come about according to the array of the constellations. This is the essential denial and sheker that grips hold in the changes, as above. And therefore the Torah prohibited us with a stringent prohibition from going in this path at all — for "not in these is our portion." For on the contrary: we believe that every change of time and every change in the world comes from the specific supervision of the Blessed Lord — and there is no sign or omen in the world at all. For who knows His intention, blessed be He, in each and every day and time and hour? For His thoughts, blessed be He, are very deep. Therefore we are forbidden to practice divination and omens at all. Rather, on the contrary: at every change of time and every change in the world, we are required to give thanks and praise and bless the Blessed Lord. And the greater the change, the more we must praise and bless Him, as above. For this is the essential excellence of the revelation of the emes when one reveals the emes from within the multitude of changes specifically — for this is what man was created for, as above. And therefore Moshiach Tzidkeynu — through whom the essential revelation of the emes throughout the entire world will come — he will therefore come specifically at the end of days, after time has already greatly multiplied and extended far from the beginning of the creation of the world until that time when he will come speedily in our days. And likewise human beings have already multiplied greatly, and the da'as and wisdoms have multiplied exceedingly — and this is the essential multiplicity and change. From all of this falsehood has taken a very strong grip, to the point that it cast the emes to the ground, and God-fearers have become despised, and Israel is in great degradation and so on. And then specifically will the greatness of the stature of Moshiach be seen — that he will reveal the emes, specifically then, from within such many changes as these. And it will then be fulfilled: "Emes will sprout from the earth, and the speech of emes will be established forever" and so on (Tehillim 85:12) — speedily in our days, Amen. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of tattoo inscription (kesoves ka'aka). For writing (k'sav) is for the sake of emes and to repel falsehood — that is, in a place where there is concern of change and sheker, one writes a document so that the liar can no longer change his position and claim falsehood. But in truth, against the deceiver and liar even a document is of no help, as one sees with one's own senses — for the deceiver and liar can exchange positions ten times even against a written document, claiming some false and deceptive argument and saying that such was the writer's intention. And this is the aspect of: "their mouths spoke shav (falsehood), and their right hand is a right hand of sheker" (Tehillim 144:8) — "their right hand" — which is the aspect of writing, which is also done by the right hand — is also sheker, as above. And therefore the essential thing is one who has genuine faithfulness in emes and in simplicity — only with him is it possible to engage, whether in business matters or in matters of Torah and musar. For the essential emes is in the heart: that one not mislead oneself — in the aspect of "and speaking emes in his heart" (Tehillim 15:2). And as our Sages of blessed memory said: the heart knows whether it is for straightness or for crookedness and so on. And therefore our holy Torah was given in writing and orally — which are the aspects of emes and emunah. For the Written Torah (Torah shebikhtav) is the aspect of emes, the aspect of "written upright — words of emes" (Koheles 12:10). But even so, from the Written Torah alone one cannot know the truth of the Torah — for in the Torah no laws of any commandment are explained, and one does not know how to lay tefillin and so on, or the other laws of the Torah — except through the Oral Torah (Torah sheba'al peh), which is the aspect of emunah, in the aspect of "I declare Your emunah with my mouth" (Tehillim 89:2) — that is, the emunah of the Sages (emunah chakhomim). For we are required to believe in the true Sages according to how they explained to us all the laws and paths of the Torah. For the essential grip of the confused emes — from which come all the liars and deceivers in the world, in the aspect of "any sheker that has no emes at its beginning cannot endure" and so on — its essential grip comes from the aspect of writing. Writing is for the sake of emes so that they will not be able to change anything once it is all written in writing. But from there come all their lies — for they make many changes and offer interpretations and explanations of the writing as they wish, according to their falsehoods. And therefore the nations of the world (akum) study only the Written Torah — for from there their falsehoods take root, since they separate and divide the Written Torah from the Oral Torah and do not believe in the true Sages — who are the Sages of the Talmud, who explained the entire Torah to us well in emes. Therefore they interpret the Torah as they wish and reveal aspects of the Torah not in accordance with the law, as is known. And therefore in all their legal matters and judgments they are exceedingly stringent that everything must be specifically in writing — and they accept no statement from great or small, neither from the claimant nor from the judge, except specifically in writing. And all of it is for the sake of emes, so that they will not be able to change anymore. But this emes is far, far too much — and from there comes the grip of the sheker. As one sees with one's own senses: that after they multiply the writings and all the words are written, even so they are full of sheker and they exchange positions ten times and interpret the writing as they wish, and so on — as all of this is known. For the essential emes is One, not many, as above. For the essential thing is that the judge judge the judgment of emes la-amito, as above. And the matter is entrusted to the heart — and He Who probes hearts knows whose intention is in emes la-amito. But through the multitude of writings it is impossible to clarify the emes — on the contrary, from there comes the grip of the sheker, as above. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of tattoo inscription (kesoves ka'aka) — that the Amorites used to practice: writing and incising upon their flesh the letters of writing pertaining to the ways of their false beliefs. And all of it was in order to strengthen their confused emes — to show that they are so cleaved to their beliefs that they engrave and incise upon their flesh a writing pertaining to their belief. And in truth this is the very essence of their falsehood and their lies. For their grip is specifically upon writing — which belongs to the world of asiyah (action), as is known — where their grip is the strongest, as is known. And therefore they engrave the writing upon their flesh. For the essential grip of falsehood is upon the flesh of the body — where all the desires take hold. The aspect of: "the serpent's dominion is over the flesh" (nachash shultanei al bishrah) — for the serpent is the essential deceiver and liar, from whom come all the falsehoods and deceptions in the world, in the aspect of "and the serpent was cunning" and so on (Bereshis 3:1), who misled Adam and Chavah and all the generations after them. And the essential dominion is over bishrah — over the flesh of the body — where all the desires are found, which mislead a person through many deceits and invert sheker into emes and emes into sheker. And all of it because of the desire of the body — through the desires of the body and its vanities the emes is inverted in one's eyes, until one says that this is the emes. And as is explained a little above (in §34). And therefore the Torah forbade us all of this — namely, the prohibition of tattoo inscription. For we are forbidden to bring letters of writing to engrave and incise them upon the flesh of the body — for from there comes the essential grip of the falsehood that takes hold from an excess of emes beyond measure, as above. Which is the aspect of the writing: that one wishes to engrave the emes in writing and to incise it upon the flesh of the body so that the emes will be engraved within it. And all of it is sheker and lies. For on the contrary, from there comes the essential grip of the sheker, as above. For the essential emes must be written and engraved in the heart in emes la-amito, in the aspect of "write them upon the tablet of your heart" and so on (Mishlai 7:3), as above. But not to engrave it upon the flesh of the body in physical materiality — for this is the aspect of an excess of emes beyond measure, which is the essential sheker, as above. And this is the aspect of the "perushim nokfei perushim koza'ei" and so on — which our Sages of blessed memory mentioned (Sotah 22b): who showed their emes to everyone beyond measure — which is the essential sheker. For the emes is only One, not many. And its essential root is in the inwardness of the heart, where one does not mislead oneself. And as we say every day in the morning: "Let a person always be God-fearing in private" and so on, "and acknowledge the emes and speak emes in his heart" and so on. And the essential thing is through genuinely nullifying oneself — in the aspect of "what are we, what is our life, what is our kindness" and so on, "for most of our deeds are emptiness, and the days of our life are vanity before You" and so on. For only through this does one merit to emes la-amito: when one genuinely nullifies oneself and has no intention whatsoever for one's own benefit, as above. And this is the aspect of: "There shall not be a man's implement upon a woman, nor shall a man wear a woman's garment" (Devarim 22:5). For man and woman are the aspect of emes and emunah, as above. And one must take care not to exchange their implements and their garments — lest one stumble upon a strange woman, heaven forfend — which is the aspect of denial and false beliefs. For emes is the aspect of da'as, as above, and emunah is something without reason. But the essential emunah comes through the emes, in the aspect of "when tzedek combines with emes" and so on (Tikunay Zohar). For one who desires the emes la-amito understands in whom one must believe, as above. But one who misleads himself and is entangled after the vanities of the world, who has biases of honor and money and the desires of this world — he exchanges and inverts the order. For in truth: whatever human intelligence can understand regarding a commandment — one should understand the matter clearly. And what it is impossible to understand, one must rely on emunah. As is stated in the Torah: "And God led" and so on (Shemos 13:18). And this is the aspect of emes and emunah, as above. And the essential thing is that everything be in emes la-amito. And all of this it is impossible to explain in writing or orally — for the essential completeness of the emes and the emunah is for each one according to how he measures in his heart, as I heard from his holy mouth, of blessed memory. But those who deviate from the emes because of the vanities of the world, as above — they invert the order. And in the place where emes is needed — that is, the aspect of da'as to understand the matter clearly — they say they nullify their da'as and rely on emunah. And in the place where emunah is needed, they say they desire only to understand the emes with their da'as. And this is the aspect of the prohibition: "there shall not be a man's implement upon a woman" — in the place where emunah is needed, which is the aspect of woman as above, there shall not be upon it a man's implement — which is the aspect of emes, the aspect of da'as — so that one not break through to investigate there and understand the matter with one's da'as. And conversely: "nor shall a man wear a woman's garment" — in the place where it is possible to understand the emes, which is the aspect of man — the aspect of "gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and your splendor, and in your splendor ride forth for the sake of emes and humility and righteousness" and so on (Tehillim 45:4–5) — which was said regarding the true Torah scholar who wages the war of Torah and clarifies the paths of Torah in emes la-amito, as Rashi explained there: this was said regarding the war of Torah, and for this reason he is called a "man" (gever). And the Torah forbade him to wear a woman's garment — which is the aspect of emunah. For in the place where one can clarify the emes through da'as, one must clarify it according to the ways of the Torah — and not invert the true emes and da'as and lie about the emes through a false and deceptive emunah. And all of this it is impossible to clarify except for one who desires the emes la-amito and does not mislead himself — he can understand, according to how he measures in his heart, where the true da'as is that it is fitting to rely upon. Since he sees that one reveals such true da'as. And what it is impossible to understand — he certainly must nullify his da'as before it and rely on emunah, as above. But not the reverse, heaven forfend — to despise the true da'as and to nullify one's thinking against foolishness where no true intellect is seen. And may the Lord God of emes teach emes and give emes to Yaakov, and guide us in the path of emes la-amito all the days of our lives forever — Amen and Amen.