תערובות ג

But in truth Emunah too must be revived through the intellect, as mentioned. And one who is strong in the holy Emunah — the more Da'as and intellect is added to him, the more Emunah is strengthened in him, as mentioned, in the aspect of "the ultimate of knowledge is that we do not know."

And this is the aspect of the five priestly gifts corresponding to the five festivals — for all five represent dimensions of holiness that flow from the five books of Torah and the five voices heard at Sinai. The festivals are the times when the drawing down of Torah-light is renewed in the world, corresponding to the five dimensions of the soul [nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, yechidah] — and the egg, as the measure and container of this holiness, participates in this system of fives as the essential unit of measurement for food-holiness.

And this is the aspect of matzah in heh — there is a hollow between the dalet and the yud. For the dalet is the aspect of Emunah, the aspect of Malchus, which is called impoverished (ani), since it has nothing of its own (d'leis la migarma klum) — for it knows no knowledge, only longs for Hashem the Blessed with complete Emunah alone. And one must revive Emunah and draw into it Da'as — which is the aspect of the yud within the dalet, through which the heh is formed — "for the dalet was poverty-stricken and it returned and became a heh" (dalet leis haves v'ischazerit v'na'aset heh), as elaborated in the holy Zohar and in our Rebbe's words of blessed memory. For the yud within the heh is the aspect of Chochma (Wisdom), as is known — the drawing of Chochma and Da'as into Emunah to revive Emunah. But one must leave a hollow and opening between the dalet — which is Emunah — and the yud — which is Chochma — to indicate that even though one has already merited to draw to oneself some wisdom and knowledge, the aspect of the yud within the heh, even so one still holds to one's simplicity as at the beginning, and one is still impoverished and lowly in one's own eyes as at the beginning — for one knows and believes that one still knows nothing at all. On the contrary — now one's Emunah is stronger than at the beginning through the comprehension of Da'as that one has attained. Through this one has comprehended more how it is impossible to know Him the Blessed, and how much one must strengthen oneself in Emunah greatly. But one does not close, God forbid, through the wisdom one has attained the gateway of Emunah, God forbid.

For this is the aspect of chametz in ches — the opening and hollow is closed. This is the aspect of the "leavening of the brain" (chamitz ha-mo'ach), the aspect of "for my heart is leavened" — that through the wisdom and Da'as one has attained, it seems in one's eyes that one is already fully wise, to the point that one wishes to rely on one's wisdom alone and no longer uses Emunah at all. This is the aspect of ches, where the opening of the dalet — i.e., the opening of Emunah — is already closed. For one thinks that one has already become fully wise, and then one's heart becomes leavened, God forbid, with heresies, and one distances oneself entirely, God forbid, from Hashem the Blessed.

The general principle: the essential difference between holiness and the Sitra Achra is only this smallest amount — namely, one who always remains standing on Emunah, even when attaining wondrous and awesome wisdoms — this is the side of holiness. And then one merits each time greater comprehensions and greater Emunah. But the moment one thinks that one has already become wise through having attained some wisdom and knowledge, and no longer uses Emunah — this is the aspect of the Sitra Achra, chametz in ches, where the opening of Emunah is closed. And then one falls from one's mind entirely and becomes a complete fool and imbecile — for the essential wisdom is to know that wisdom is far from oneself, and to strengthen oneself only in ever-greater Emunah each time, in the aspect of (Koheles 7:23): "I said I would become wise, and it is far from me" (amarti achkemah v'hi rechoka mimeni). The essential wisdom is for one to grasp that wisdom is far from oneself, as our Rebbe of blessed memory said elsewhere. And this is the aspect of matzah in heh — the dalet, the aspect of Emunah, is distant from the yud, the aspect of intellect, the aspect of "I said I would become wise and it is far from me." For the yud is always distant from the dalet. Only Emunah receives vitality from the wisdom that entered it from a distance, in the aspect of "from afar Hashem appeared to me" (merachok Hashem nir'ah li) — that is, through the wisdom one has attained, through this Emunah is strengthened further, for the essential comprehension of wisdom is to strengthen Emunah. This is the aspect of heh, the aspect of matzah in heh, as mentioned.

And this is the aspect of broken matzah (matzah prosah), the aspect of "bread of affliction — as is the way of the poor, with a broken piece" (mah darko shel ani bi'prusa) — as mentioned. For even though the matzah-bread is the aspect of very great mochin, even so it is called "bread of affliction," for the essential comprehension of wisdom is to know that one is still poor in Da'as. Therefore the dalet of the heh is always recognizable and visible, even though the yud — the intellect — has been drawn into it, as mentioned. And this is the aspect of broken matzah that is broken in two — the aspect of heh, which is dalet-yud. The one part is hidden and concealed for the Afikoman, and the other part is revealed and "they answer many words upon it" (onin alav devarim harbeh) — as mentioned, hinting that Da'as is still far from oneself, in the aspect of "I said I would become wise and it is far from me."

Therefore we do not wish to use the Da'as now at all — only the part called "bread of affliction," upon which they answer many words. For we strengthen ourselves only in Emunah and answer and cry out to Hashem the Blessed and long for Him. But the large part, hinting at Da'as, we hide until the end — for it is impossible to use Da'as until the very end, which hints at the final End (ketz ha-acharon), when "the earth will be filled with knowledge" (u'mal'a ha-aretz de'ah). And then we shall merit complete Da'as, as it is said: "And the earth shall be full of knowledge of Hashem, etc." (u'male'ah ha-aretz de'ah la-da'as es Hashem). For the Afikoman is the aspect of Da'as — the aspect of Afikoman, the aspect of "afiku man" (bring out the manna) — the cakes Israel took out of Egypt tasted like manna (afiku man), and manna is Da'as, as is known.

Now, on the first day of Pesach, a great light from above was revealed. Afterward the great light immediately departed and began to enter in stages, in order. And this is the aspect of the Counting of the Omer (sefirat ha-omer), as explained in the sacred writings — for Pesach is the aspect of Chesed, through which Malchus-Lower Wisdom is reaped from the exile of the Four Kingdoms. And this Chesed must be received through rebuke, as is explained in the said discourse. But at the beginning of the revelation (before the Giving of the Torah), how could rebuke apply? (For rebuke is the aspect of judgments, and during the strength of the exile it was not possible for Chesed to be revealed through rebuke, lest the judgments grip even more strongly.) And then it was necessary that the light — the Chesed — come from above in the aspect of arousal from above (is'arusa d'le'ila) without any arousal from below at all. But afterward, when the light departs, one must receive it gradually through rebuke, from which Chesed is revealed.

And this is the aspect of the Omer of barley (omer se'orim), which is the jealousy-offering (minchas kena'os), the aspect of rebuke — the aspect of what a husband admonishes and rebukes his wife: "Do not seclude yourself with so-and-so man" (al tistarei im ish peloni). Just so, the rebuke of the tzaddik who rebukes the Assembly of Israel not to "seclude themselves with so-and-so man." And this is "do not seclude yourself" (al tistarei) — "do not seclude yourself" specifically — for all the imaginations of idol-worship, all the heresies that come upon any person, these are the aspect of adultery (ni'uf), in the aspect of "the wife who commits adultery under her husband takes strangers" (ha'isha ha-mena'efes tachas ishah tikach es zarim) — which is said there regarding the sin of idol-worship, the aspect of the defect of Emunah. And this is "do not seclude yourself," etc. — for all these thoughts are in secret and stealth, and no one knows of them, but He who searches hearts. In the aspect of "lest there should be among you a man who makes a graven image and a molten image and places it in secret" (pen yihyeh vachem ish asher ya'aseh pesel u'masecha v'sam ba-saser). Our Sages of blessed memory expounded: "in the secret of the world," etc. And the essential rebuke of the tzaddik to the Assembly of Israel is regarding Emunah, which is the foundation of the entire Torah, as mentioned. And this is "do not seclude yourself with so-and-so man" — that he should not allow the heresies of so-and-so man, namely the Adversary, to enter — and should not allow it to contaminate his mind, God forbid. Rather, he should drive from his mind and heart all these thoughts and confusions, and not argue with them at all — only remove them from his mind entirely, make himself like an animal, and rely on Emunah alone, as it is written (Tehillim 73): "And I was a brute and did not know; I was like an animal with You" (va'ani ba'ar v'lo eda behemos hayisi imach). And this is the aspect of the barley offering, which is the jealousy-offering — animal feed, the aspect of "I was like an animal with You," as mentioned. And this too is the aspect of the rebuke that sometimes comes in the form of humiliation. And this too is the aspect of the jealousy-offering — rebuke that comes in the manner of shame and humiliation — and through this Chesed is drawn, through which Malchus is reaped, as mentioned.

The term tzad echad be-shavua [one side in the week] — referring to Shabbas eve — alludes to the dimension in which holiness and the mundane touch at their boundary. The egg found on Shabbas eve but laid on Yom Tov relates to the question of when exactly the holiness of each day begins and the status of the egg-in-formation at that moment. This reflects the halacha that items in the process of becoming — like eggs in formation — partake of the status of both periods, the holy and the mundane, which is why the detailed rulings must adjudicate their status carefully. An egg laid on the first day of Yom Tov is forbidden to be eaten on that day. The reason alludes to the spiritual dimension: on the first day of Yom Tov, the holiness is at its peak [the first day being the dimension of the most concentrated, primary holiness], and any item that emerges [is born] on that peak day is in some sense too saturated with that holiness to be immediately consumed. It must "rest" until the dimension of that holiness is fully drawn into it and established — only then may it be used for earthly consumption.