קרחה וכתובת קעקע ב

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

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

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

For the waters kept within the power of the earth's soil — in every place where one digs and finds water — these waters are the aspect of the drawing of divine vitality, which is the aspect of Da'as, that revives the earth and all within it. And this is the aspect of "la-Hashem ha-aretz u-melo'ah" — for the waters fill, complete, and revive the earth and all upon it. For the waters are the aspect of the drawing of His vitality, blessed be He, as mentioned. And therefore a well of living waters (be'er mayim chaim) is very precious. For wherever living spring water is found — through this a well is opened above, and His divinity, blessed be He, is thereby revealed, as is brought in the sacred writings. For the waters of the wells that are revealed within the earth are the aspect of the drawing of His vitality, blessed be He, as mentioned. And when a well is revealed — His vitality, blessed be He, is revealed, so to speak — for He, blessed be He, revives them all. And therefore the First Fathers — who began to reveal His divinity, blessed be He, in the world — were always engaged in digging wells. For they began to reveal His divinity, blessed be He, in the world. Therefore they dug wells — which are the aspect of the revelation of His divinity, blessed be He, that He revives them all, as mentioned.

And therefore the Philistines struggled to block up the wells, as it is written: "v'chol ha-be'eros asher chafru b'yemei Avraham aviv sitmum Pelishtim va-yemale'um afar" etc. ("and all the wells that they dug in the days of his father Avraham, the Philistines stopped up and filled them with earth"). For they wanted to corrupt the rectifications of the revelation of His divinity, blessed be He, that Avraham Avinu had drawn into the world through the digging of the wells. And Yitzchak strengthened and redug them, as it is written: "va-yashav Yitzchak va-yachpor es ha-be'eros" etc. ("and Yitzchak returned and dug the wells").

And therefore the essential beginning of the drawing close of Israel to their Father in Heaven is through immersion in the mikveh. For all who wish to go from impurity to purity must immerse in a mikveh. And likewise Israel before the giving of the Torah was required to immerse in a mikveh — which is the aspect of the mikveh of Shavuos. And likewise a convert who comes to convert and wishes to enter the holiness of Israel must immerse in a mikveh. For the essential drawing close of Israel to Hashem the Blessed is the aspect mentioned above: to connect and bring close the aspect of out-of-order to the aspect of in-order — which is the aspect of the joining of Knesses Yisrael with her Beloved, the aspect of the drawing close of Israel to their Father in Heaven. And this is accomplished through immersion in the mikveh — through which they are concealed and covered from the appearance of this world entirely, and are included in Ein Sof, in the aspect of mah, the aspect of wisdom, the aspect of Adam in-order. And therefore the mikveh saves from all troubles, as our Rebbe of blessed memory said elsewhere: the aspect of "mikveh Yisrael Hashem moshi'o b'eis tzarah" ("O hope of Israel, Hashem, His savior in time of distress"). For all troubles, God forbid, come from the aspect of out-of-order — through which things go out of order for one and one has some pain, God forbid. And through immersion in the mikveh — through which the aspect of out-of-order returns to the aspect of in-order — thereby all troubles are nullified. For the aspect of out-of-order is nullified and is included within the aspect of in-order — and everything becomes in-order, as mentioned.

And this is "mikveh Yisrael Hashem" — for the mikveh is the aspect of in-order, which is the aspect of Heh, the aspect of the Tetragrammaton in the spelling of alephs (milui alephin), as mentioned. And through this He saves in time of distress, as mentioned.