גילוח ה

The matter of the prohibition of walking in the statutes of the nations, and the prohibition of divination and conjuring and sorcery. According to the Torah "Bo el Par'oh" (Come to Pharaoh), in §64 — see the entire Torah there well. And the general principle is this: There are questions and heresy (apikorsus) that are drawn from the kelipas that came into being through the shattering of the vessels (sh'viras ha-kaylim) — which came through an excess of light — and these are in the aspect of the surplus (mosorohs) and refuse (p'soles) of holiness, and likewise sorcery (kishuf) comes from the surplus and refuse, as is known. And these questions and heresies can be answered — for there are sparks and letters and so on that fell there and so on. But there are heresies and questions that are drawn from the empty space (chalal ha-panui) and so on — from which, as it were, He withdrew His Divinity and His wisdom — and so on — and these are the "wisdoms that are not wisdoms" and so on. And these questions cannot be answered in any way. And regarding them it is said: "All who come to her do not return" (Mishlai 2:19). For these questions cannot be answered in this world — for if they were answered the empty space would be nullified and there would be no place and existence for the world and so on. Therefore it is impossible to answer these questions now in any way whatsoever — except to strengthen oneself in complete emunah alone. And through this one passes over all the wisdoms and over the "wisdoms that are not wisdoms" — which are the questions mentioned above — and so on. See there all of this well. And it is known that the Blessed Lord gave us the entire Torah and all the commandments in order to merit complete emunah in Him, blessed be He — for this is the essential ultimate purpose — as it is written: "All Your commandments are emunah (kol mitzvosecha emunah)" (Tehillim 119:86). And as our Sages of blessed memory said: "Chavakuk came and established them all on one: and the tzaddik shall live by his emunah (v'tzaddik b'emunaso yichyeh)" (Makkos 24a; Chavakuk 2:4). And for this reason there are in the Torah both chukim (statutes) and mishpatim (civil laws) — the mishpatim being those commandments that reason somewhat obligates, which are called mishpatim. And the commandments upon which there is no reason at all, and the nations of the world take Israel to task asking what is the reason for this commandment — these are called chukim. And all these chukim and mishpatim the Blessed Lord gave us in order to merit to emunah — that is, in order to merit through this power to nullify two kinds of questions and heresy (apikorsus) mentioned above. For through the mishpatim — which are the commandments in which there is some intellect and reason — through this the questions that are drawn from the kelipas that came into being through the shattering of the vessels are nullified, as above. For there some intellect and letters are present — though they require great rectification and clarification (tikun u-biyur). And these kelipas are subdued and nullified through the aspect of the mishpatim of the Torah — in which there is intellect. But there are questions for which it is impossible to find any answer through intellect and to settle them, as above — for they are drawn from the empty space (chalal ha-panui), as above. And there it is forbidden to enter into them with any intellect at all — only to strengthen oneself in emunah alone, as above. And corresponding to this the Blessed Lord gave us the holy chukim — which are the commandments in which there is no reason at all — and we fulfill them through emunah alone. Through the power of these commandments emunah is strengthened within us and we have the power to drive out and nullify and expunge from among us all the questions and heresy drawn from the empty space where there is no intellect except in tremendous, wondrous concealment — which it is impossible in any way to understand in this world — and we must only strengthen ourselves in emunah alone, as above. And this emunah — to merit to strengthen oneself in complete emunah, to nullify the heresy mentioned above through emunah alone, as above — this we merit through the chukim that we observe: which are the commandments in which there is no reason at all — and we fulfill them through emunah alone, as above. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of the statutes of the nations (chukos ha-akum) and the prohibition of divination and conjuring and sorcery. For "this corresponds to that" (ze l'umas ze) — for just as in holiness there are in the holy Torah chukim and mishpatim in order to nullify the two kinds of heresy mentioned above — so likewise in the opposite: they have the statutes of the nations that have no reason at all — only they are drawn from the heresy of the empty space where there is no intellect and no reason at all — for they are in the aspect of "wisdoms that are not wisdoms" and so on. As is explained well in the Torah cited above — see there. And the Blessed Lord commanded us to distance ourselves from their statutes with all distances — as it is written: "And in their statutes you shall not walk." And as is cited in the Gemara and the Shulchan Arukh — that one must distance oneself from them in all movements and all garments — as is written in the Shulchan Arukh: "One does not resemble them and one does not wear their garments and so on" — for we must distance ourselves greatly from their statutes which are their ways of conduct that have no reason, so that, heaven forfend, the heresy and denial (k'firah) drawn from the empty space should not take hold among us. For there is no intellect there whatsoever and so on — and from there all their statutes are drawn, as above. And likewise the Torah forbade us to divine and take omens and practice sorcery — so that the kelipas that come from the surplus and from the shattering of the vessels should not be strengthened, heaven forfend. For from there comes all the wisdom of the diviners — from the refuse of holiness (p'soles ha-k'dushah) — as is explained in the Torah cited above. Therefore we must distance ourselves from both of them: from the diviner and so on — which are in the aspect of the kelipas of the shattering of the vessels and so on, as above — and likewise to distance ourselves from the statutes of the nations that are drawn from the aspect of the denials of the empty space, as above. For the Blessed Lord in His great mercy separated us from these wanderers and commanded us to distance ourselves from both of them. And He sanctified us with His holy commandments — in which there are chukim and mishpatim — through which we nullify and drive out the two kinds of heresy and questions and merit to true complete emunah. Amen. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of "not wearing their garments" — which is forbidden on account of the statute of the nations (chukkas ha-akum) — for all garments are drawn from the secret of the empty space (sod chalal ha-panui) — which is in the aspect of garments (levushin) — as is explained in the Torah cited above: that it is like "that silkworm (kamtza) whose garment is from itself and within itself." And from there all the garments in the world are drawn. And therefore Israel were commanded to sanctify their garments through the commandment of tzitzis — in which the entire Torah and all the commandments are dependent — as it is written: "So that you may remember and do all My commandments and so on" (Bamidbar 15:40).

h1 { font-size: 1.5em; text-align: center; color: #4a2c00; border-bottom: 2px solid #c8a96e; padding-bottom: 10px; margin-bottom: 6px; }

.subtitle { text-align: center; font-style: italic; color: #7a5c2e; margin-bottom: 30px; font-size: 0.95em; }

.sec-header { display: flex; align-items: center; margin: 32px 0 10px 0; }

.sec-badge { background: #4a2c00; color: #fdf6e3; font-size: 0.82em; font-weight: bold; padding: 3px 10px; border-radius: 12px; letter-spacing: 0.04em; white-space: nowrap; }

.sec-rule { flex: 1; height: 1px; background: #ddd0b8; margin-left: 12px; }