לא ילבש גבר

And this itself is the aspect of the prohibition against wine-intoxicated kohanim entering the Sanctuary — which was juxtaposed to their death. And our Sages of blessed memory said that it was wine-intoxicated kohanim who entered the Sanctuary — for this is the essential aspect of the prohibition of wine-intoxication. This is the aspect of the prohibition of drunkenness, against which our Sages of blessed memory warned exceedingly regarding the gravity of its prohibition. For through drinking wine and becoming drunk, one's da'as is blemished and one breaks through to ascend beyond one's own partition — in the aspect of "wine entered, secret departed" (nikhnas yayin yatza sod). And this is the aspect of the confusion of mind and the madness that drunkards speak — for through the da'as departing from its vessels and breaking through to ascend beyond the boundary, one's mind becomes entirely confused and one speaks words of foolishness, if one is not a person of great da'as. And even a person of great da'as, who does not speak foolishness at the time of his drunkenness, can even so blemish greatly through drunkenness — for he breaks through to ascend beyond the boundary, as above — and through this he deviates from the emes. And therefore a drunk person is forbidden to render halachic decisions (hora'ah), for he is unable to aim at and clarify the hora'ah in emes. And therefore our Sages of blessed memory also said, and it is already known, regarding the drunkard that all roads become for him like a level plain (mishor) — for he deviates greatly from the emes through wine-drinking, and it appears to him as if all the emes is with him, as one sees with one's own senses. And therefore this prohibition was juxtaposed to the death of Aharon's sons — for they blemished in this, as above. And therefore the parasha of the Yom Kippur Avodah begins with the matter of the death of Aharon's sons, as it is written — and it is already known — "After the death of the two sons of Aharon when they drew near before the Lord and died, and He said: and let him not come at all times into the holy place... With this shall Aharon come into the holy place" and so on (Vayikra 16:1–3). For the entire Avodah of Yom Kippur — through which the Blessed Lord forgives the sins of Israel each year — is through the aspect of the pure, refined emes of the Blessed Lord Himself, mentioned above, which none can attain except the choicest of the great tzaddikim, each according to his own aspect. For if one relies on the plain emes, there is no remedy for the sinner — as our Sages of blessed memory said, and as it is already known: they asked Wisdom and so on, and it said: "the soul that sins, it shall die" and so on (Yerushalmi Makos 2:6). And this is the aspect of the emes of the angels mentioned above who brought accusations against the creation of man — for according to their emes there is no remedy for the sinner, and they saw that man would sin against Him, blessed be He. Therefore they brought accusations against his creation. And in truth, according to plain understanding, the emes inclines in that direction. But they did not know the true extent of His mercy, blessed be He — which is the very substance of the emes that it is impossible to attain, as above — and from there the forgiveness of Israel's sins on Yom Kippur is drawn. But not every person can enter into this holiness of the emes — for even the Kohen Gadol was warned that he must not come at all times into the holy, but only "with this" and so on, only on Yom Kippur. For to such an emes — which is in the aspect of the holiness of the Holy of Holies, the innermost of the innermost — it is impossible to enter except on Yom Kippur, through the order of the Avodah that the Blessed Lord commanded. And then one can draw down the forgiveness of sins — which is drawn from the aspect of the very substance of the truth of His mercy, blessed be He — the aspect of "abundant in lovingkindness and emes." And therefore the entire matter is juxtaposed to the parasha of the death of Aharon's sons — for they blemished in this, as above. And this is what was juxtaposed afterward: the parasha of arayos (forbidden sexual relations), which begins: "Like the deeds of the land of Egypt" and so on, "and like the deeds of the land of Canaan" and so on, "and in their statutes you shall not walk" — and it is already known. And we read this on Yom Kippur at Mincha. And this is the aspect of Aharon placing lots upon the two goats (se'irim) — one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel (Vayikra 16:8). For the essential tikun of sins is through the tzaddik — who is in the aspect of the Kohen Gadol — who can enter into the beginning of creation and sweeten and nullify the most subtle and delicate grip of falsehood that took hold there. This is the aspect of the avodah of the great tzaddikim on Rosh Hashana and so on, as above, at the beginning of this Torah discourse. And from there comes the forgiveness of sins on Yom Kippur — for the Kohen Gadol needed to ascend to the aspect of the beginning of creation, where the grip of falsehood cannot be recognized at all. And this is the aspect of the two se'irim that were identical in appearance and in height and so on — and even so they needed to distinguish between them and to bring one up for the Lord and one for Azazel. And therefore it was necessary to elevate them very high — to the aspect of the beginning of creation mentioned above — and to cast lots upon them. For it is impossible to clarify the emes from the grip of falsehood in that place except through the Blessed Lord Himself — which is the aspect of the lot that issues from the Blessed Lord Himself, determining which is for the Lord and which is for Azazel. For the lot clarifies between them. And through this specifically the grip of falsehood is sweetened and nullified at the very beginning of its root — and through this the sins of Israel are forgiven, which are drawn through falsehood whose essential grip lies at the very beginning of when creation emerged from potentiality into actuality. For there it is impossible to clarify the pure emes from the grip of falsehood except through the lot that issues from the Blessed Lord Himself, as above. And this is: "Like the deeds of the land of Egypt" and so on, "you shall not do, and like the deeds of the land of Canaan you shall not do, and in their statutes you shall not walk" (Vayikra 18:3). For the essential principle from all the above is that emes is the essential thing, and the emes is One — for it is impossible to say emes except One, as above. And as is explained well in the Torah discourse "Amar Rabbi Akiva" cited above. But the very substance of the emes is very difficult to attain, as above. Therefore the essential emes of most of the world is only to know that it is impossible to attain the very substance of the emes through da'as — but one needs only to strengthen oneself in emunah, as above. And as is explained from this elsewhere, and as is already known, as above. But one who does not merit to the emes in truth — who only misleads himself as if he desires the emes, but whose intention is toward his own benefit, such as honor and other desires — he can err greatly through his own emes, as above. And this is the aspect of the error of Avimelech mentioned above, who said: "With the integrity of my heart and the cleanliness of my hands I did this" and so on. As above. And not only can he err through his own emes into confused paths — but he can also come to false beliefs (emunos kozoyviyos) through his confused emes. And this is the aspect of all the false beliefs of the nations (akum) who are very strong in their beliefs — and even so it is all falsehood and sheker. For all their belief is drawn from desires and honor. And this matter occurs in every generation and generation, and it is very understandable to one who is somewhat versed in the events of the generations that are cited in books. And therefore in the earlier generations there were various forms of idolatry that involved much licentiousness in their practice — and those forms of idolatry were very strong among them. And even afterward when they became somewhat wiser and abolished those specific idolatrous forms, even so the other false beliefs that are close to desire and honor are still strong among them. And all of it is because of desire and honor — through which they deviated from the true emes and imagined that the emes was with them, until they came to false beliefs. And one who deviates from the emes to false beliefs — it is exceedingly difficult to bring him back to the emes. For the emes is in the aspect of da'as — attaining the emes regarding some matter, such as attaining the emes in the movements of the celestial spheres and the like, or attaining the emes that this one is righteous and that one is wicked. And even in this there are many errors, as above — as one sees with one's senses: that many investigated deeply in the science of astronomy and it appeared to them that this was the emes. And then the scholar Copernicus arose and made a new astronomical system, and now they say this is the emes — and who knows if it is truly so? And many of their scholars dispute this greatly. All the more so we ourselves, whose hearts are very, very far from his confused opinion. And likewise sometimes it appears that one has attained the emes — that this one is righteous and that one is wicked — and in truth it is the opposite. But one who errs through emes: even though it is very difficult to bring him back to the emes la-amito, there is still hope to bring him back, for one can clarify for him through various reasonings and proofs that the emes is not as he thinks — only great exertions are needed for this, as above. But one who deviates from the emes to the point that his confused emes brings him to false beliefs — it is exceedingly more difficult to bring him back to the emes and the true upright emunah. For emunah is something without reason and da'as — for where one understands the reason through da'as, that is not emunah, as is known and as is explained in his writings, of blessed memory. Rather the essential emunah depends on the emes, as above: for through the emes one understands that one must believe in this. And therefore when the emes is confused and mistaken and has erred so greatly as to arrive at false beliefs, it is very difficult to bring him back — for even if one clarifies for him through many proofs and true reasonings that the matter is not so, he will turn and say: "I nullify my da'as and I believe in this with complete emunah without any reason or da'as" — for this is indeed the definition of genuine emunah, as above. And because of this, it is in truth difficult to clarify the emes in the world. And therefore the emes is cast to the ground and the emes becomes flocks and flocks, and each one says that the emes is with him. For in truth, in holiness — in the place where there is the point of pure and refined emes — the matter of emunah there is a great elevation. And this is the aspect of the excellence of the children of Israel who are ma'aminim b'nei ma'aminim — believers the children of believers. For we believe in the Lord our God of truth and in His holy Torah in emunah alone, without any philosophical investigations or wisdoms at all. For we have already seen great emes through all the signs and wonders and so on that Moshe performed before the eyes of all Israel — and through the wondrous delights of our holy Torah with which He graced us. And even though even so it is impossible to understand or attain Him, blessed be He, and it is impossible to answer any of the objections of the investigators — on this we are steadfast in emunah. For we do not need to answer or resolve anything at all — for it is impossible to resolve, for "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways" and so on. And as our master, teacher and rebbe, of blessed memory, said: that regarding the Blessed Lord there must necessarily be questions (kushyos) and so on — as is explained in §55 of Likutay Tinyana — see there. But one who does not merit to the true upright emunah and falls into false beliefs — then that blemish of false beliefs is the worst of all. For it is then exceedingly more difficult to bring him back — since he believes in the sheker, namely the confused and erring emes without reason, as above. And this is the matter of: "If he merited — ezer (helper); if he did not merit — ke-negdo (against him)" — which we mentioned above in §22, though we did not explain it well there. For it is already explained there that emes and emunah are in the aspect of man and woman as is cited. And regarding this it is said: "It is not good for man to be alone, I will make him a helper corresponding to him." That is: it is not good for the emes to be alone, for it is impossible to attain the very substance of the emes, as above. And therefore "I will make him a helper" — which is the emunah — for the essential sustenance of the emes is through it. And likewise the essential sustenance of the emunah is through the emes: for one who looks at the emes la-amito without biases and misleadings of the desires and honor of this world and so on, will be able to understand from afar in whom it is fitting to believe, as above. And this is: "If he merited — ezer." If he did not merit — ke-negdo." Namely: "he merited" refers to one whose emes is pure and clear — who looks at the emes in emes, and looks only at the eternal purpose in truth, and does not mislead himself. Then the emunah is certainly a helper for him — for the essential sustenance and vitality comes through emunah, as our Sages of blessed memory said: Chavakuk came and established them all upon one principle: "the tzaddik shall live by his emunah!" (Makos 24a). For the very substance of the emes is impossible to understand through da'as — one needs only to strengthen oneself in emunah through the emes, as above. But "he did not merit" — one whose emes is not pure and who misleads himself as if he desires the emes, but in truth he is drawn only after the honor of the world and its desires and so on. Then the emunah is ke-negdo (against him). For through the impure emes he arrives at false beliefs — which is the aspect of "against him." For false emunah is in the aspect of "a wicked woman — more bitter than death" (Koheles 7:26). For she misleads and pushes him further away — for it is no longer possible to speak with him, since he says: "I believe without da'as and reason," as above. And in truth all of it is drawn through his desires and honor and so on, as above. And this is the warning of the verse: "Like the deeds of the land of Egypt" and so on, "you shall not do, and in their statutes you shall not walk." Their "statutes" (chukim) are false beliefs that have no reason in them — be careful and guard yourselves from walking in them. And this depends on being careful not to do like the deeds of Egypt and the deeds of the land of Canaan and so on. That is: do not be entangled after their desires — and the essential one is the desire of licentiousness (ta'avas ni'uf). And not only were they sunken in this desire exceedingly — but they even made for themselves statutes and false beliefs that were related to this. Through which they were even stronger in their desires, to the point that they could fulfill their desires without shame. And the verse warns Israel not to mislead themselves in this, heaven forfend. For this one depends on the other: according to how much one is careful from the deeds of Egypt and so on, so is one distant from their statutes and their false beliefs. And conversely: according to how much one distances oneself from their statutes and their false beliefs, so is one distant from their desires. And therefore the Torah prohibited walking in their statutes — such as their customs and their ways, even if there is no prohibition in them and no idolatry. For since the nations made this a statute for themselves, it is certainly related to their desires — for their statutes are drawn from their false beliefs, and therefore it is forbidden to Israel with a stringent prohibition. And this is: "My mishpatim you shall do and my chukim you shall keep to walk in them" and so on, "which a man shall do and live by them" and so on (Vayikra 18:4–5). For mishpatim and chukim are in the aspect of emes and emunah — for mishpatim are those things whose reason one can understand, which is the aspect of da'as, the aspect of emes, as above. And chukim are things that have no reason in them — which is the aspect of emunah, as above. And the verse warns us to walk only in the mishpatim and chukim that He commanded us — which are the essential pure emes and the true, upright, genuine emunah. Through which one merits to distance oneself from the desires of this world and to cleave to Him, blessed be He. But from false beliefs — which are their statutes — one must distance oneself greatly, as above. And this is: "which a man shall do and live by them" — and not die through them. For even within the mishpatim and chukim of the holy Torah there are various paths and distinctions of opinion from which all the strife in the world is drawn. And therefore the verse warns: "which a man shall do and live by them" — and not die through them (Yoma 85b). Which is as our Sages of blessed memory said: "if he merited, it becomes for him a potion of life; if he did not merit, it becomes for him a potion of death." For from this it follows that there are found among the children of Israel some who have deviated from the emes and say that all the emes is with them — and it is impossible to clarify all of this. But one who does not mislead himself and looks at the eternal purpose in emes la-amito can understand the emes from afar and merit to complete emunah — to know who the true tzaddikim and upright ones are, and to whom it is fitting to attach oneself. And may the Lord God of emes give emes to Yaakov and guide us in the path of emes, until we merit to draw close to Him, blessed be He, in emes, Amen — so may it be His will. And therefore all of this was juxtaposed to the parasha of the Yom Kippur Avodah, and we also read this on Yom Kippur. For the essential kapparah and selichah of Yom Kippur is drawn from the very substance of the emes, as above. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of divination and omens (me'onen u-menachesh), as it is written: "You shall not divine and you shall not practice omens" (Vayikra 19:26). For it is already explained at the beginning of the discourse (in §1) that the essential grip of falsehood is from the multitude of changes — whose essential source is through time, as above. And as is explained there in §17 — see there. For this is the essential excellence and completeness of emes when one merits to clarify the emes specifically in the place of multiplicity — where there is the greatest multitude of changes. For the emes is One, and this is the essential excellence of man: to reveal the simple Unity which is the very substance of the emes from within varied actions specifically, as above. And for this reason Israel — the holy people — bless and praise the Blessed Lord at every change of times and seasons: in the morning with Yotzer Or, and in the evening with Ma'ariv Aravim. And this is why these blessings were instituted — over the change of times, in the blessings of Krias Shema — which seems puzzling at first glance: what connection do these blessings have to the matter of Krias Shema? But according to the above it is well explained. For at every time when there is a change — such as in the morning when the sun rises, and in the evening when it sets and so on — from which falsehood could take hold, since the essential grip of falsehood is in the changes which are essentially a matter of time, as above — therefore specifically at the time of the change of time one must give thanks and praise and bless the Blessed Lord. That is: in the morning Yotzer Or and so on, and in the evening Ma'ariv Aravim and so on — to declare and to reveal that every change of time comes from Him, blessed be He, alone. As we say: "Who by His word brings on the evenings... and with understanding He changes the times and alternates the seasons and arranges the stars" and so on. And in the morning we say: "Who forms light and creates darkness" and so on, "and in His goodness renews each day continually the work of creation" and so on. And through all of this we declare that all the changes encompassed in the change of times — all of them come from Him, blessed be He, alone. For all varied actions are drawn from the simple One, blessed be He. And therefore they fixed there the paragraph of Krias Shema — which is the emunah of the Unity: where we acknowledge and declare that the Blessed Lord is One and Unique and United — which is the very substance of the emes. And as we conclude the paragraph of Krias Shema: "The Lord your God is emes." And we say Emes V'Yatziv in the morning, and Emes V'Emunah in the evening. And therefore they fixed all of this alongside Birkas HaMeoros at morning and evening — for this is the excellence of the emes which is the emunah of the Unity that we acknowledge and declare in Krias Shema. For the essential completeness is when one reveals the simple Unity from within varied actions specifically, as above. Therefore our Sages of blessed memory, in their holy spirit, fixed everything in a correct and wondrous order: that in the morning when there is a great change from darkness to light and the sun rises, and likewise in the evening when the sun sets — one must then give thanks to the Blessed Lord for this and declare and reveal that every change of time — within which all changes are encompassed, as above — all of it comes from Him, blessed be He, alone. For He, blessed be He, in His goodness renews each day continually the work of creation. And therefore they fixed there the paragraph of Krias Shema, which is the emunah of the Unity. For this is the essential completeness of emunah: to believe in all the changes specifically — that all of them are drawn from the simple One, blessed be His name, as above. And likewise each month there is a great change — the renewal of the moon. Therefore our Sages of blessed memory instituted Kiddush Levanah: to fix a special blessing on this wondrous change. And therefore the blessing of Kiddush Levanah is very great and precious and important — for the change of the month is certainly greater than the daily change. Therefore they instituted for us then a most wondrous and awesome blessing: "Who with His utterance created the heavens" and so on (blessing of Kiddush Levanah) — to reveal and to declare that this entire great change of the moon that waxes and wanes each month — upon which depend countless changes that occur in the world — all of it comes from Him, blessed be He, alone, as above. And therefore the blessing mentions "poel emes" — His work is emes — and "to the moon He said that it should renew itself" and so on. For the essential praise of this blessing is the revelation of the truth of the emes from within such a great change, as above. And this is the aspect of the greatness of Rosh Hashana. For it is because on Rosh Hashana the change of time is the greatest of all — for then the time changes from year to year. And also then was the creation of the world — when creation emerged from potentiality into actuality and the aspect of "years" (shanim) came into being, within which all changes in the world are encompassed. And therefore it is called shanah — from the language of shinuy (change). Therefore on Rosh Hashana the avodah is very great and immense — to the point that a simple person cannot complete his avodah alone and many from Israel need to gather together, as is the custom of all Israel: to gather together in synagogues and houses of study. And the essential thing is to come to the true tzaddikim of emes — for only they know the wonders of the avodah of Rosh Hashana: to clarify and reveal the truth of the emes from within such a great change. And therefore on Rosh Hashana one adds in every Shemoneh Esreh the revelation of His divinity and His malkhus over us — to crown Him and to accept His dread and fear and awe upon us. That is: what one adds in the blessing "Atah Kadosh" by saying "u-v'khen tein pachdekha" and so on ("and therefore place Your dread" and so on). And we request: "May You alone reign, O Lord, over all Your works, and so on, and may every being know that You created it and every creature understand that You formed it" and so on. And likewise on Rosh Hashana one multiplies in this matter with an abundance of prayers and songs and praises and piyutim — all to unify Him, blessed be He, and to crown Him over us. For this is the essential avodah of Rosh Hashana — when the changes are the greatest of all, as above. Therefore one must engage especially in revealing the emes from within the many changes specifically. For this is the essential excellence of the revelation of the emes, as above. And therefore on Rosh Hashana one concludes every tefillah with "for You are God of emes and Your word is emes" and so on. For this is the essential avodah of Rosh Hashana: to reveal the very substance of the emes in the world — that the Lord is God, to accept the yoke of His malkhus and His dread and His fear upon us, as above. And those who practice divination and omens are the very opposite of all this. For in their falsehoods they attribute all the events that happen to a person to the change of time and to the other changes that occur in the world. And they say: "such-and-such a time is auspicious to begin" and so on — as if everything were governed, heaven forfend, according to the order of times and seasons. And likewise with the other changes in the world — such as one's bread falling from his mouth, or a deer crossing his path along the way and so on — as if, heaven forfend, events and occurrences were drawn from the changes that come about according to the array of the constellations. This is the essential denial and sheker that grips hold in the changes, as above. And therefore the Torah prohibited us with a stringent prohibition from going in this path at all — for "not in these is our portion." For on the contrary: we believe that every change of time and every change in the world comes from the specific supervision of the Blessed Lord — and there is no sign or omen in the world at all. For who knows His intention, blessed be He, in each and every day and time and hour? For His thoughts, blessed be He, are very deep. Therefore we are forbidden to practice divination and omens at all. Rather, on the contrary: at every change of time and every change in the world, we are required to give thanks and praise and bless the Blessed Lord. And the greater the change, the more we must praise and bless Him, as above. For this is the essential excellence of the revelation of the emes when one reveals the emes from within the multitude of changes specifically — for this is what man was created for, as above. And therefore Moshiach Tzidkeynu — through whom the essential revelation of the emes throughout the entire world will come — he will therefore come specifically at the end of days, after time has already greatly multiplied and extended far from the beginning of the creation of the world until that time when he will come speedily in our days. And likewise human beings have already multiplied greatly, and the da'as and wisdoms have multiplied exceedingly — and this is the essential multiplicity and change. From all of this falsehood has taken a very strong grip, to the point that it cast the emes to the ground, and God-fearers have become despised, and Israel is in great degradation and so on. And then specifically will the greatness of the stature of Moshiach be seen — that he will reveal the emes, specifically then, from within such many changes as these. And it will then be fulfilled: "Emes will sprout from the earth, and the speech of emes will be established forever" and so on (Tehillim 85:12) — speedily in our days, Amen. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of tattoo inscription (kesoves ka'aka). For writing (k'sav) is for the sake of emes and to repel falsehood — that is, in a place where there is concern of change and sheker, one writes a document so that the liar can no longer change his position and claim falsehood. But in truth, against the deceiver and liar even a document is of no help, as one sees with one's own senses — for the deceiver and liar can exchange positions ten times even against a written document, claiming some false and deceptive argument and saying that such was the writer's intention. And this is the aspect of: "their mouths spoke shav (falsehood), and their right hand is a right hand of sheker" (Tehillim 144:8) — "their right hand" — which is the aspect of writing, which is also done by the right hand — is also sheker, as above. And therefore the essential thing is one who has genuine faithfulness in emes and in simplicity — only with him is it possible to engage, whether in business matters or in matters of Torah and musar. For the essential emes is in the heart: that one not mislead oneself — in the aspect of "and speaking emes in his heart" (Tehillim 15:2). And as our Sages of blessed memory said: the heart knows whether it is for straightness or for crookedness and so on. And therefore our holy Torah was given in writing and orally — which are the aspects of emes and emunah. For the Written Torah (Torah shebikhtav) is the aspect of emes, the aspect of "written upright — words of emes" (Koheles 12:10). But even so, from the Written Torah alone one cannot know the truth of the Torah — for in the Torah no laws of any commandment are explained, and one does not know how to lay tefillin and so on, or the other laws of the Torah — except through the Oral Torah (Torah sheba'al peh), which is the aspect of emunah, in the aspect of "I declare Your emunah with my mouth" (Tehillim 89:2) — that is, the emunah of the Sages (emunah chakhomim). For we are required to believe in the true Sages according to how they explained to us all the laws and paths of the Torah. For the essential grip of the confused emes — from which come all the liars and deceivers in the world, in the aspect of "any sheker that has no emes at its beginning cannot endure" and so on — its essential grip comes from the aspect of writing. Writing is for the sake of emes so that they will not be able to change anything once it is all written in writing. But from there come all their lies — for they make many changes and offer interpretations and explanations of the writing as they wish, according to their falsehoods. And therefore the nations of the world (akum) study only the Written Torah — for from there their falsehoods take root, since they separate and divide the Written Torah from the Oral Torah and do not believe in the true Sages — who are the Sages of the Talmud, who explained the entire Torah to us well in emes. Therefore they interpret the Torah as they wish and reveal aspects of the Torah not in accordance with the law, as is known. And therefore in all their legal matters and judgments they are exceedingly stringent that everything must be specifically in writing — and they accept no statement from great or small, neither from the claimant nor from the judge, except specifically in writing. And all of it is for the sake of emes, so that they will not be able to change anymore. But this emes is far, far too much — and from there comes the grip of the sheker. As one sees with one's own senses: that after they multiply the writings and all the words are written, even so they are full of sheker and they exchange positions ten times and interpret the writing as they wish, and so on — as all of this is known. For the essential emes is One, not many, as above. For the essential thing is that the judge judge the judgment of emes la-amito, as above. And the matter is entrusted to the heart — and He Who probes hearts knows whose intention is in emes la-amito. But through the multitude of writings it is impossible to clarify the emes — on the contrary, from there comes the grip of the sheker, as above. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of tattoo inscription (kesoves ka'aka) — that the Amorites used to practice: writing and incising upon their flesh the letters of writing pertaining to the ways of their false beliefs. And all of it was in order to strengthen their confused emes — to show that they are so cleaved to their beliefs that they engrave and incise upon their flesh a writing pertaining to their belief. And in truth this is the very essence of their falsehood and their lies. For their grip is specifically upon writing — which belongs to the world of asiyah (action), as is known — where their grip is the strongest, as is known. And therefore they engrave the writing upon their flesh. For the essential grip of falsehood is upon the flesh of the body — where all the desires take hold. The aspect of: "the serpent's dominion is over the flesh" (nachash shultanei al bishrah) — for the serpent is the essential deceiver and liar, from whom come all the falsehoods and deceptions in the world, in the aspect of "and the serpent was cunning" and so on (Bereshis 3:1), who misled Adam and Chavah and all the generations after them. And the essential dominion is over bishrah — over the flesh of the body — where all the desires are found, which mislead a person through many deceits and invert sheker into emes and emes into sheker. And all of it because of the desire of the body — through the desires of the body and its vanities the emes is inverted in one's eyes, until one says that this is the emes. And as is explained a little above (in §34). And therefore the Torah forbade us all of this — namely, the prohibition of tattoo inscription. For we are forbidden to bring letters of writing to engrave and incise them upon the flesh of the body — for from there comes the essential grip of the falsehood that takes hold from an excess of emes beyond measure, as above. Which is the aspect of the writing: that one wishes to engrave the emes in writing and to incise it upon the flesh of the body so that the emes will be engraved within it. And all of it is sheker and lies. For on the contrary, from there comes the essential grip of the sheker, as above. For the essential emes must be written and engraved in the heart in emes la-amito, in the aspect of "write them upon the tablet of your heart" and so on (Mishlai 7:3), as above. But not to engrave it upon the flesh of the body in physical materiality — for this is the aspect of an excess of emes beyond measure, which is the essential sheker, as above. And this is the aspect of the "perushim nokfei perushim koza'ei" and so on — which our Sages of blessed memory mentioned (Sotah 22b): who showed their emes to everyone beyond measure — which is the essential sheker. For the emes is only One, not many. And its essential root is in the inwardness of the heart, where one does not mislead oneself. And as we say every day in the morning: "Let a person always be God-fearing in private" and so on, "and acknowledge the emes and speak emes in his heart" and so on. And the essential thing is through genuinely nullifying oneself — in the aspect of "what are we, what is our life, what is our kindness" and so on, "for most of our deeds are emptiness, and the days of our life are vanity before You" and so on. For only through this does one merit to emes la-amito: when one genuinely nullifies oneself and has no intention whatsoever for one's own benefit, as above. And this is the aspect of: "There shall not be a man's implement upon a woman, nor shall a man wear a woman's garment" (Devarim 22:5). For man and woman are the aspect of emes and emunah, as above. And one must take care not to exchange their implements and their garments — lest one stumble upon a strange woman, heaven forfend — which is the aspect of denial and false beliefs. For emes is the aspect of da'as, as above, and emunah is something without reason. But the essential emunah comes through the emes, in the aspect of "when tzedek combines with emes" and so on (Tikunay Zohar). For one who desires the emes la-amito understands in whom one must believe, as above. But one who misleads himself and is entangled after the vanities of the world, who has biases of honor and money and the desires of this world — he exchanges and inverts the order. For in truth: whatever human intelligence can understand regarding a commandment — one should understand the matter clearly. And what it is impossible to understand, one must rely on emunah. As is stated in the Torah: "And God led" and so on (Shemos 13:18). And this is the aspect of emes and emunah, as above. And the essential thing is that everything be in emes la-amito. And all of this it is impossible to explain in writing or orally — for the essential completeness of the emes and the emunah is for each one according to how he measures in his heart, as I heard from his holy mouth, of blessed memory. But those who deviate from the emes because of the vanities of the world, as above — they invert the order. And in the place where emes is needed — that is, the aspect of da'as to understand the matter clearly — they say they nullify their da'as and rely on emunah. And in the place where emunah is needed, they say they desire only to understand the emes with their da'as. And this is the aspect of the prohibition: "there shall not be a man's implement upon a woman" — in the place where emunah is needed, which is the aspect of woman as above, there shall not be upon it a man's implement — which is the aspect of emes, the aspect of da'as — so that one not break through to investigate there and understand the matter with one's da'as. And conversely: "nor shall a man wear a woman's garment" — in the place where it is possible to understand the emes, which is the aspect of man — the aspect of "gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and your splendor, and in your splendor ride forth for the sake of emes and humility and righteousness" and so on (Tehillim 45:4–5) — which was said regarding the true Torah scholar who wages the war of Torah and clarifies the paths of Torah in emes la-amito, as Rashi explained there: this was said regarding the war of Torah, and for this reason he is called a "man" (gever). And the Torah forbade him to wear a woman's garment — which is the aspect of emunah. For in the place where one can clarify the emes through da'as, one must clarify it according to the ways of the Torah — and not invert the true emes and da'as and lie about the emes through a false and deceptive emunah. And all of this it is impossible to clarify except for one who desires the emes la-amito and does not mislead himself — he can understand, according to how he measures in his heart, where the true da'as is that it is fitting to rely upon. Since he sees that one reveals such true da'as. And what it is impossible to understand — he certainly must nullify his da'as before it and rely on emunah, as above. But not the reverse, heaven forfend — to despise the true da'as and to nullify one's thinking against foolishness where no true intellect is seen. And may the Lord God of emes teach emes and give emes to Yaakov, and guide us in the path of emes la-amito all the days of our lives forever — Amen and Amen.

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