הכשר כלים ג

For truth and Emunah are both one — for one who believes in the truth is bound to the truth as if he knew it through the intellect, and there is no difference between them at all. On the contrary: the essential truth cannot be known except through Emunah, as mentioned. For truth and Emunah are the aspects of man and woman (ish v'isha). Regarding this it is said: "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper opposite him" (lo tov heyos ha-adam levado e'eseh lo ezer k'negdo, Bereishis 2:18). "The man" — this is the aspect of truth, which is the aspect of man (ish). "It is not good that he be alone" — for it is impossible to benefit from the truth and generate offspring from it alone, since it is impossible to receive the very truth, as mentioned. Therefore Hashem the Blessed said He would make for him a helper opposite him — which is the woman who fears Hashem, the woman of valor, the aspect of holy Emunah, which is the bride who comprises everything, praised throughout the entire Song of Songs (see Zohar, Part II, 169). For holy Emunah comprises everything — for all lofty comprehensions and all knowledge of divinity can only be received through Emunah.

The matter is somewhat understandable — for the essential divine union is the dimension of nullification of the forbidden. For without this there is no possibility of union at all — for the essential union is to unify after creation so that it will be included in before creation — that is, included in Him, blessed be He. And in truth God is one and His name is one. And just as before creation He was alone, so after creation — as is said: "I the Lord have not changed". And how is union applicable to Him — for the essential union is the joining together of two things — but in one alone there is no possibility of union? And in truth God is in absolute unity with all after creation as He was before creation — and this is the dimension of "the Lord will be one and His name one" [Zechariah 14:9] in the future — the revelation of this unity which is already true in the present but is not yet fully perceived.

For Emunah is the very bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh of truth — for both are one, and one is impossible without the other. And the entire existence of the world depends on both specifically, for they are truly one in the aspect of "they shall be as one flesh" (v'hayu l'vasar echad). For since one believes in the truth in truth, Emunah is included in truth in complete unity — and through this all the comprehensions are born, to know the truth of His divinity forever. For it is impossible to know of Him the Blessed except through the joining of truth and Emunah, in the aspect of "I will betroth you to Me in Emunah, and you shall know Hashem." For truth without Emunah is impossible to receive due to the overwhelming abundance of light, as mentioned. And Emunah without truth is certainly nothing — for when one does not look at the truth, one has false beliefs, which are idol-worship, other gods, the faces of the Sitra Achra, explained in the said Torah.

And the essential sustenance of holy Emunah is through truth, in the aspect of "tzedek when it combines with emes becomes emunah" (tzedek kad is'chabrat bah emes is'avidas emunah). That is, when one looks at the truth in truth, one then certainly sees with one's own eyes that it is proper to believe in our holy forefathers and in the true tzaddikim who warn us to fulfill our holy Torah (as is explained from this elsewhere, in the Halachos of Pesach — see there). And then "is'avidas emunah" — one merits perfect holy Emunah. And then truth and Emunah are included together, for in truth they are both one, as mentioned. And through this all the comprehensions and knowledge are born — for through Emunah one afterward merits very lofty comprehensions and knowledge, as is explained on the verse: "And his hands were emunah until the sun set" (v'yedav emunah ad ba hashemesh) in Siman 91 and elsewhere. And through these insights one actually gives birth to souls — for everything the tzaddikim comprehend through the lofty comprehensions they merited by uniting truth and Emunah in perfection — through this they merit to instill Emunah in the hearts of the souls of Israel. For this is the essential perfection of the comprehension of the tzaddikim: each time, they comprehend loftier comprehensions from a higher and more elevated supernal intellect, until they can contract the comprehension of His divinity in such wondrous contractions that they can instill holy Emunah in the hearts of even the lowest and most fallen souls very far from the Blessed One. As is understood from the beginning of the Torah "Maishra d'Sakkina", Siman 30: the weaker the patient, the greater the doctor needed who can instill comprehension of divinity in him, etc., see there.

And this is the aspect of the hairs of the pe'os and the beard — which are the high and awesome contractions drawn from such a high and supernal place that through these holy hairs, the ways of holy Emunah are drawn even to the lowest and most fallen levels. For the higher the place from which the contractions are drawn, the more they can clothe the intellect and convey it even to the smallest and most lowly, as mentioned.

And this is the dimension of the divine union — to unify after creation with before creation — so that everything after creation, all multiplicity and all created things, should be seen as completely included and nullified within the infinite unity of God. And this is the essential nullification of the forbidden — for when the supreme unity shines, everything is included in it and the forbidden has no more separate existence, for it is all one. And therefore Moshe Rabbainu wished to draw close the Mixed Multitude [Erev Rav] — as is said: "and also a mixed multitude went up with them" — for he saw that Israel was then sixty myriads, all holy, and God was among them — and they attained the ultimate union at that moment. Therefore he said that he could bring all the Mixed Multitude — "mixed" [erev] specifically — the dimension of mixture of forbidden with permitted — for the forbidden is nullified in the permitted through the dimension of sixty — the sixty myriads of souls of Israel — which is the completeness of the divine union. But God did not agree — for the mixing of the forbidden was too great — "a great mixed multitude" — the amount of the forbidden was too large to be nullified even within that supreme union. And from this mixing came all the troubles that Israel encountered in the desert. And this is: "and the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, and it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, 'you are not My people,' it shall be said to them, 'sons of the living God!' And the children of Yehudah and the children of Israel shall gather together" [Hosea 2:1–2]. That is: through the immense multiplication of the children of Israel — until their number is as the sand of the sea — then precisely in the place where it was said to them "you are not My people" — meaning where the forbidden mixture and the grip of the Sitra Achra had taken hold, the dimension of the Mixed Multitude — it shall be said to them there: "sons of the living God!" — for the massive sanctity and multiplication of Israel will then constitute such an overwhelming majority that even the most embedded forbidden mixture is nullified and transformed. And they shall all gather together — the complete union — in the future rectification of all. And this is the dimension of the incense [ketoret] which contained chelbenah [galbanum — a pungent ingredient] — for the ketoret is the essential divine union, for it rises without limit all the way to the Infinite. And therefore it is called ketoret — from the word for binding and linking [kesher] — for it unifies and links all the worlds to their root, which is the essential union: to unify after creation with before creation as mentioned. And therefore it was necessary that the ketoret contain chelbenah — the dimension of the nullification of the forbidden — for chelbenah has a bad smell, which alludes to the sinners of Israel, as is brought. And therefore it is impossible to offer the ketoret — which is the essential union — except when chelbenah is mixed in — the dimension of the nullification of the forbidden. For it is impossible to attain complete union without including even the most distant and sinful souls — for they too are part of the unity, and without them the union is incomplete. And therefore the essential union and unification is on Shabbas — for the essential union is to include after creation in before creation — and this corresponds to the six days of creation which are the dimension of "after creation" — which are included in Shabbas which is the dimension of the World to Come which preceded the world — "before creation." And the essential grip of the forbidden is in the six days of creation — which correspond to the six orders of the Mishnah, the dimension of permitted and forbidden, kosher and invalid, impure and pure as is known. It follows that the essential grip of the forbidden is in the six days of creation. But through Shabbas — which is the holiness of the true Tzaddik and the supreme union — the forbidden is nullified and elevated into the permitted. For sixty — the number of nullification — corresponds to the six directions, each one compounded of ten — and the six directions correspond to the six orders of the Mishnah — the six days of creation — which are all elevated through Shabbas. And this is the dimension of the willows of the stream [aravey nachal] which are bound with the four species — for the willows of the stream allude to the sinners of Israel who have neither taste nor smell. And through the great unions performed on Sukkos through the four species — which are the union of the Holy One blessed be He and His Shechina as is known — through this the forbidden is nullified and the willows are bound and included in the holiness. And the willows are called "aravei" — from the word for mixture [ta'arovet] — for their essential rectification is through being included in the union. And this is the dimension of Hoshana Rabbah — when the willows are taken alone — for all six days they were bound with the four species and shaken in the six directions — and through this the forbidden was nullified, in the dimension of nullification through sixty — sixty being the six directions each compounded of ten. And Sukkos is called the festival of the ingathering [chag ha-asif] — for it gathers all kinds of food — this is the dimension of the nullification of the forbidden — that all kinds of food are gathered and purified — for the forbidden is nullified in sixty and overturned to permitted. And therefore on Sukkos seventy bulls are offered corresponding to the seventy nations — so that they will have some portion — for through the supreme union of Sukkos the forbidden is elevated and even the seventy nations receive purification. And this is the dimension of: "be surety for Your servant for good, let not the arrogant ones oppress me" [Psalms 119:122] — that we pray regarding the evil grip within us that God should mix it into an abundance of good — until the evil overturns into good. And then there will be no power for the Sitra Achra to oppress us, God forbid. And this is "be surety for Your servant for good" — mix the evil within us into overwhelming good, in the dimension of the nullification of the forbidden in the majority of permitted.

Therefore the essential Jewish identity of Israel, the holy people, is through the beard and pe'os. As long as one does not cast off the pe'os and beard from oneself — even if one is the way one is — one still has the sign of Israel, and some aspect of holy Emunah can still illuminate within oneself, and one can still return to Hashem the Blessed easily. But when one becomes such a heretic, God forbid, that one casts off the beard and pe'os — that person is suspected of the entire Torah, and has become utterly distanced from Emunah. For the essential drawing of holy Emunah comes through the hairs of the beard and pe'os, as mentioned.