גילוח ד

For Hashem the Blessed saw that it is impossible to attain Him in any way through any intellect in the world — for "leis machshavah tafisa bei klal" ("no thought can grasp Him at all"). Therefore it was not possible to create the world until He contracted and vacated His divinity, blessed be He — that is, in His wondrous wisdom He contracted His wisdom so much that He entirely removed wisdom and intellect, until the place remained, as it were, vacated of all the intellectuality and wisdoms that are the very essence of His divinity, blessed be He. And only the power of Emunah remained — [for] He created a power in the worlds and beings: that they would have intellect and da'as to believe in Him, blessed be He, without any intellect. And in truth this contraction is a great wonder, as is brought elsewhere — for Emunah is a great wonder, as it is written (Yeshayahu 25): "odeh shimcha ki asisa fele etzos merachok emunah amein" ("I shall thank Your name, for You have made wondrous, far-reaching counsel — faithful Amen"). For Emunah is the wonders of the One Perfect in Knowledge — for regarding a matter that one understands with intellect there is no need to believe and it is not called Emunah. The essential Emunah is in what one does not understand with intellect. And if so — from where will one know to believe in this? But in truth it is the wonders of the One Perfect in Knowledge who created in His great wisdom a power in human intellect: that one should have the power to contract and set aside one's understanding and believe with Emunah alone — through the power of the reshimu (residual impression) that remains in Da'as even after the withdrawal of Da'as. For "af al pi de'ihu lo chazei, mazalei chazei" ("even though he himself does not see, his [higher] aspect sees"). For even though one does not understand the matter with one's intellect, even so one understands from afar that it is proper to believe. For when one wishes to look at the truth, one understands clearly that one must believe — for one understands this by oneself: that it is impossible to understand the matter with any intellect, only one must believe with Emunah alone. And this is the aspect of: "tzedek kad is'chabrat bah emes is'avidas emunah" — that the essential Emunah depends on truth. That is: even though one does not understand the matter with one's intellect at all, even so when one wishes to look at the truth, one will understand from afar that it is proper to believe in Hashem and in the true tzaddikim, and the like.

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 the general principle is that Emunah is the foundation of all the worlds and the foundation of the entire Torah. For Hashem the Blessed could not, as it were, begin to create any world until He first created the attribute of Emunah — namely, that there would be a power in the intellect to believe in the truth, even without understanding it at all. And this is the essential aspect of the beginning of the contraction — the vacated void that remained. That is: He contracted His divinity, as it were — which is the intellect. For Hashem the Blessed is, as it were, the very essence of wisdom, as is known. And when He vacated the intellect from there, the place remained vacated without intellect — and nothing remained there except the aspect of Emunah. That is: one believes with Emunah alone in the truth without any intellect or wisdom. And as soon as the contraction of the vacated void was made — that is, the aspect of Emunah that there would be a power to believe in Him, blessed be He, without any intellect — immediately He drew His divinity into that vacated void: all the midos in total and all the worlds from the beginning of the point of creation — which is the beginning of Emanation — to the end of the central point of this physical world. And "v'chol ma'aseihu be-emunah" — as mentioned. For afterward, when the attribute of Emunah came into being — which is the beginning of the contraction — then there is power to reveal His divinity, blessed be He, through the contractions of the intellect from cause to effect, from higher intellect to lower intellect — to attain Him thereby. And they all have no power to reveal and give birth to any knowledge or any comprehension of Him, blessed be He, except through Emunah alone. For Emunah is the vessel and contraction of all of them.

And this is the aspect of "d'leis reshus l'shum sefirah" etc. "l'arkah berochin bar minah" ("no sefirah has permission to bestow blessings except through it") — that is, except through the attribute of Malchus, which is the aspect of Emunah. For through it specifically comes the essential revelation of the knowledge of attaining His divinity, blessed be He — for at the beginning one must first precede with Emunah, which is the beginning of the contraction, as mentioned. And even afterward — when one merits to have some knowledge and comprehension drawn — it is impossible to receive Da'as except through holy Emunah. For it is forbidden to rely on intellect alone, and there is no sustaining of the intellect without Emunah. For "be'mufla mimcha al sidrosh" etc. ("seek not what is too wondrous for you") — for it is impossible to receive the intellect except through many contractions, and all the contractions are through Emunah, which is the root of all contractions, as mentioned.

And therefore it is forbidden to inquire above one's level — the aspect of "be'mufla mimcha al sidrosh" etc. — so that there not be, God forbid, the aspect of profusion of light causing the breaking of vessels. For when one's intellect rushes to gaze at what one has no permission [to gaze at], and one does not wish to rely on Emunah alone — one has thereby blemished Emunah. And then, due to the profusion of the light of the intellect, the vessel of Emunah is broken, and then Emunah is damaged and falls. And then Da'as is nullified entirely — even what it was previously possible to understand — for everything returns to the aspect of Ein Sof, since the vessel and contraction — which is Emunah — is broken, as mentioned.

And this is the aspect of the sin of Adam the First, who ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. For through this he caused again the aspect of the Breaking of the Vessels, as is brought. For it is stated that Adam the First blemished by gazing at what he had no permission [to gaze at] — namely as mentioned. For he should have first strengthened himself with perfect Emunah, but he wished to know with his knowledge specifically — and this is the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil about which Hashem the Blessed warned him. For the Tree of Knowledge had this power: that whoever would eat of it, the evil inclination would enter him and he would desire to pursue and know and gaze at what he had no permission [to gaze at]. Through this they cause the aspect of Breaking of the Vessels, God forbid. That is: the vessel of Emunah is broken — since one does not wish to rely on Emunah alone, but wishes to know and understand specifically without Emunah. It turns out that one strips Da'as from Emunah. And when one strips Da'as from Emunah — this is the aspect of Breaking of the Vessels, the death of the Kings. For the vessels remain without lights and the lights without vessels. For Emunah is in the aspect of vessels, as mentioned, and Da'as is in the aspect of lights, as mentioned. And because of this the light is entirely nullified — for it returns to Ein Sof since it is without a vessel. And the vessels fell below, etc.

And the summary of the matter is that the essential thing is Emunah in simplicity — to believe in Hashem the Blessed without any inquiries and without any wisdoms at all. And when one merits to be strong in one's Emunah for days and years, and serves Hashem the Blessed in simplicity without any wisdoms — only with Emunah and wholeheartedness — then if one merits, Hashem the Blessed will have compassion and open for one the paths of intellect, and one will be able to attain and understand a little of His knowledge, blessed be He. And even afterward, when one merits some knowledge and comprehension, one must set a boundary for one's knowledge not to gaze above at what one has no permission [to gaze at] — for "be'mufla mimcha al sidrosh" etc. — only to rely on Emunah alone. For the Emunah that precedes the comprehension is the aspect of the initial contraction of the vacated void that was before Creation — through which all the vessels and all the midos are made, as is known. These are the essential drawing and revelation of all the midos and sefiros and worlds. And even when the light is drawn into the vessels — that is, when Da'as is drawn into Emunah — one must set a limit to receive the light gradually. That is: not to gaze above one's level — more than what one's vessel can bear, more than in accordance with the strength of one's Emunah, which is one's vessel, as mentioned. For then, God forbid, profusion of light causes Breaking of Vessels — and Da'as is entirely withdrawn, and Emunah is entirely broken, and one can come to heresy (apikorsus), God forbid. For one must always strengthen oneself in Emunah, which is the foundation and sustaining of all the worlds. And Emunah is at the beginning and at the end and in the middle — in the aspect of "Ani rishon v'Ani acharon u-mibil'adai ein Elokim" ("I am first and I am last, and besides Me there is no God"). "Ani" is the aspect of Emunah, which is the aspect of Malchus, as mentioned — which is the aspect of beginning, end, and middle. And without Emunah it is impossible to know Hashem the Blessed — in the aspect of "u-mibil'adai ein Elokim", as mentioned.

Now, one who is so strong in Emunah that he afterward merits to understand with intellect and draws the light of the intellect into Emunah — this is the aspect of the union of the Holy One blessed be He and His Shechinah (yichud kudsha brich hu u'Shechintei). For the Holy One blessed be He is the aspect of wisdom and intellect, so to speak, and the Shechinah is the aspect of Malchus and Emunah, as mentioned. And when Emunah unites with the intellect — this is the aspect of the union of the Holy One and His Shechinah. And this is the essential sustaining and completion of all the worlds. And through this are born new intellects in the aspect of conception, suckling, and [mature] intellects (ibur, yenikah u-mochin). That is: through the intellect illuminating into Emunah, one thereby merits to give birth and reveal new comprehensions of knowledge of His exaltedness, blessed be He and blessed be His name.

And this is the essential aspect of the deveikus (attachment) that Israel must have to Hashem the Blessed — the aspect of the joining of Knesses Yisrael with her Beloved. For all of Israel — who are the aspect of Knesses Yisrael — are believers the children of believers (ma'aminim bnei ma'aminim). For the root of their souls is from Emunah. And when Hashem the Blessed shines His face to them and they see and attain some comprehension and knowledge and recognition of His divinity, blessed be His name — then Emunah unites with Da'as. This is the aspect of the union of the Holy One and His Shechinah. For through the arousal below, the arousal reaches above — in all the worlds above and above — and in all the worlds above, Emunah is joined with the holy Da'as, so to speak. And this is the aspect of the attachment of Israel to Hashem the Blessed — the aspect of the commandment "u'vo sidbak" ("and to Him shall you cleave"). And even though this deveikus is very precious, even so it is impossible to be constantly attached — for it is impossible for the holy Emunah to constantly receive from holy Da'as. For the "clouds covering the eyes" (ananin d'mechasyin al einin) — which are Eisav and Yishmael, the Kelippos coming from the impurity of the serpent, from the sin of Adam the First, from the Breaking of the Vessels — would overpower, God forbid. For every time one needs to make a holy unification, which is the aspect of deveikus as mentioned, one must first arouse the initial contraction from which comes the drawing of drops of holy Da'as to reveal comprehensions of His divinity, blessed be He. For it is impossible to draw any Da'as except through the initial contraction. And even though through the Breaking the vessels were broken and the lights returned to their place and the contraction was nullified, so to speak — even so it certainly was not entirely nullified, for the reshimu (residual impression) remains, as is known. And therefore every time one needs to reveal His divinity, blessed be He — namely to draw Da'as into Emunah, which is the aspect of unification and union, as mentioned — one must arouse the initial contraction. And therefore one must clarify the clarifications from the Broken Vessels. For through them one can arouse and renew the first contraction — by returning and elevating the broken vessels to their place, whose root is from the first contraction. And because the Sitra Achra and Kelippos cling very greatly to these broken vessels, therefore one must be a very great warrior and hero — whoever wishes to engage in this, to make unifications and to unite the midos — so that heresies should not overpower him. These are the Kelippos called "other gods" (elohim acherim) — the aspect of heresies that cling to the broken vessels. And these are themselves the "clouds covering the eyes" mentioned. Therefore one must guard from them greatly. And even one who is a warrior and knows how to guard himself from them — even so it is impossible for him to be constantly attached without the "clouds covering the eyes" — the heresies — overpowering, God forbid. That is, the Kelippos clinging to the broken vessels that one labors to clarify through the deveikus and unification, as mentioned.

And this is the aspect of the prohibition of Niddah. For even in the spiritual union and unifications of the midos, one must guard greatly from the grip of the Kelippos and heresies that come from the Broken Vessels — how much more so in the physical union. For even though the union of Israel is very precious — and through it the souls of Israel are born, and it is the first commandment in the Torah, and through the arousal below the arousal goes above — and one who merits that one's union be in holiness as is fitting, then through this the union of the Holy One and His Shechinah is made. As the Sages of blessed memory said (Sotah 17): "ish v'ishah zachu — Shechinah shruya beineihem" ("a man and woman who merit — the Shechinah dwells between them"). Even so, even one whose union is with great holiness — it is forbidden to be frequent in this, as the Sages of blessed memory said: that Israel should not be frequent, etc. For the arousal of union is from the northern side (tzafon), from which comes the grip of the Sitra Achra, as is known. For in every union one must arouse the initial contraction and clarify the clarifications from the broken vessels in which the Kelippos are gripped. And therefore it is stated in the holy Zohar that the arousal of union must necessarily come from the evil inclination (yetzer hara), whose grip is in the Breaking of Vessels, as mentioned. Rather, Israel with the power of their great strength have the power to subdue their inclination and transform everything to holiness as is fitting. But it is forbidden to be frequent, God forbid — lest the "clouds covering the eyes," the Kelippos, etc., overpower, as mentioned. And all this one must guard and separate — even from the permissible, as mentioned.