אבילות

The Chair is the aspect of the complete throne (kise shalem), which is the aspect of blotting out Haman-Amalek, who is from the seed of Esav — the Wicked Son. For the throne is not complete until the memory of Amalek is blotted out.

The Table is the aspect of repentance, which atones — the aspect of the son who does not know how to ask, as mentioned above. For "the table atones like the altar" (shulchan m'chapper k'mizbe'ach), as our Sages of blessed memory said (Berachos 55).

The Bed is the aspect of the Simple Son, who is Yaakov, whose bed was wholesome through the twelve tribes of God — the four camps corresponding to the four camps of the Shechina — which is the said aspect of "four." For Yaakov includes all of them, and he elevates Malchus, which is the aspect of four, the aspect of "a woman who fears Hashem" (isha yiras Hashem), as is known — to the light of the Countenance, the aspect of "those who seek Your face, Yaakov," as mentioned. Therefore Yaakov married four wives, and from them came four camps — the said aspect of "four." Therefore at Pesach we all recline on the bed — for the bed includes the aspect of the four camps, the four standards (degalim), the said aspect of "four."

And this is the aspect of Pesach and the prohibition of chametz and the eating of matzah, etc. For at Pesach, Moshe took Israel out of Egypt, and then revealed to them the comprehension of His divinity. Therefore Pesach is the head of the Festivals — for Pesach is the aspect of Chesed, the aspect of Avraham, as is known. And the essential rectification of Malchus-Lower Wisdom — that is, to cut it from the Four Kingdoms and elevate it to the light of the Countenance shining at the Three Festivals — is through Chesed, as mentioned. And since Pesach is the beginning of the revelation of His great divinity, as is elaborated, therefore chametz is then forbidden even in the smallest amount — for the difference between chametz and matzah is only the smallest amount: the hollow and opening between the point within the letter heh and its roof. This is the difference between ches and heh, between chametz and matzah.

For the comprehension of divinity can only be attained through many contractions — from a higher intellect to a lower intellect — for "no thought can grasp Him at all" (leis machshavah tafisa beih klal). Therefore the essential thing is Emunah (faith), which is the said Lower Wisdom — Malchus. And all the comprehensions and all the contractions are aspects of Emunah, which is the foundation of the entire Torah, as it is said: "And the righteous shall live by his faith" (v'tzaddik b'emunaso yichyeh). And as it is said (Tehillim 119): "All Your commandments are faith" (kol mitzvosecha emunah).

For simple people and those of little worth, it is certainly impossible for them to attain the comprehension of divinity, and the essential vitality and hope to merit the eternal purpose and the true purpose is only through Emunah. And even one who has great intellect and is sharp and a great scholar of Torah — sharp in analysis and versed in the Talmud and decisors, and even if he has a hand in the wisdom of Kabbalah, the holy Zohar and the writings of the Ari — as long as he has not purified himself from the contamination of the serpent and has not fully broken the desires of his body and material nature, and still has some grip and trace of bodily desires and vanities of this world, certainly his intellect is not yet whole, and it is forbidden for him to enter into the wisdom of the comprehension of His divinity at all — for he could stumble greatly and fall, God forbid, God spare us.

He must strengthen himself only in Emunah and cast away his intellect entirely, and rely only on our holy forefathers and the true tzaddikim who bent their evil inclination and broke the material fully — for only they merited the comprehension of His divinity in its ultimate wholeness. And even such tzaddikim who purified and sanctified themselves from the contamination of the serpent entirely and broke all desires and nullified the body and material fully — even they, their essential strengthening was only through holy Emunah, as is understood from our Rebbe's words of blessed memory in many places. For it is impossible to attain any comprehension or know anything of the sparkling of His divinity except through the holy Emunah, which is the gateway through which one enters into all holiness, all comprehensions and all holy knowledge — in the aspect of "In this shall Aharon come into the holy place" (b'zos yavo Aharon el ha-kodesh). "This" (zos) is the aspect of Malchus, as is known — the aspect of Emunah, which is the foundation of the entire Torah, as it is said: "All Your commandments are faith" — the aspect of "this is the Torah and the testimony and the statutes and the judgments, etc." — "this" (zos) specifically, as mentioned.

And this is what was elaborated in the Tikkune Zohar at length — that "no prophet or seer is permitted to enter the holy place other than through her" (leis reshus l'navia v'chazeh l'a'ala l'kadisha bar mina). For it is impossible to draw near to or enter into any holiness, any comprehension, any knowledge of Hashem the Blessed, except through holy Emunah. And all the battles and all the trials that a person has in the service of Hashem the Blessed — it is impossible to win any battle or stand in any trial except through holy Emunah, as is said there in the Tikkunim: "And David, when he would enter into battle, trusted only in her," as it is written: "If an encampment should encamp against me... if war should rise against me, in this I trust" (im tachaneh alai machaneh... im takum alai milchama b'zos ani bote'ach). That is: his essential confidence and hope was in Emunah, which is called "this" (zos) as mentioned. That is, he knew that he was strong in faith in Hashem the Blessed, and therefore he was confident that he would certainly stand against all the camps and wars of the evil inclination and the Sitra Achra — for he could certainly defeat and break them — since he had strong faith in Hashem the Blessed, who is called "this" (zos), in the aspect of "in this I trust" (Tehillim 27) — "in this" (b'zos) specifically, meaning in Emunah as mentioned.

And the prophet, when he saw the length of the exile, had no hope to emerge from it except through Emunah, which is called "this" (zos), as it is written: "This I will return to my heart, therefore I will hope" (zos ashiv el libi al ken ochil), as is explained in the Tikkunim there. For the prophet saw that at the end of the exile, in the footsteps of the Mashiach, the Adversary and the Sitra Achra would intensify greatly and it would be very hard for a person to defeat it. Therefore he said that there is no hope to emerge from the exile except through this aspect, which is holy Emunah — for whoever is strong in Emunah will certainly merit to win the battle and emerge from the exile. See there in the Tikkunim at length on the aspect called "this" (zos) — that Yaakov passed "this" (zos) on to his children, and likewise Moshe, etc., etc. The general principle is that the aspect mentioned there in the Tikkunim is the holy Emunah, which is the essential foundation of the entire Torah. Only through it can one enter the gateways of holiness and win all the battles a person has in the service of Hashem the Blessed.

And this is the aspect of the Kohen's warning to the people when they went into battle: "Hear O Israel, today you are drawing near to battle against your enemies; let not your heart be faint..." etc. Our Sages of blessed memory expounded: even if you have no merit other than that you recite "Hear O Israel" each day, you are worthy to defeat your enemies, etc. That is, as mentioned — for all the battles in the world allude essentially to the battle against the evil inclination. For even the physical battles a person has against enemies and foes — all of it is the aspect of the battle of the evil inclination, as our Sages of blessed memory said (Sanhedrin 103): just as a person has adversaries below, so does he have adversaries above. Therefore the essential battle is the battle of the evil inclination.

And this is why the Kohen warned before they entered the battle of Hashem — to defeat the enemies and the Sitra Achra surrounding holiness, surrounding the Land of Israel, who are the totality of all enemies that prevent and hinder sacred matters. When a person enters to battle against them, he is in great danger, God forbid — for many accusations are aroused against him, and they wish to cause him to fall entirely from his service, God forbid. This is the essential battle — he must strengthen himself, to stand on his feet and not fall from his service of the Blessed One, God forbid. Then he will certainly merit to defeat, break, and nullify them.

But through what shall his confidence be strong that he will not fall from his service of the Blessed One, God forbid? The essential thing is only the holy Emunah — for when he is strong in the holy Emunah, he has nothing to fear from any battle or trial in the world. This is "Hear O Israel, today you draw near to battle, etc." — in the merit of "Hear O Israel" alone, i.e., the merit and power of holy Emunah. Through this alone you can draw near to battle — physically and spiritually — for since you are strong in faith in Him the Blessed, you have nothing to fear at all from any battle in the world. And this is "let not your heart be faint, do not fear, do not be alarmed, do not be afraid of them — for Hashem your God goes with you to save you, etc." "Do not fear" — from the stamping of horses, the abundance of cavalry, the sound of trumpets. These are the various military tactics the enemies use to frighten and intimidate their opponents, and all these aspects exist in the battle of the evil inclination — and this is known to anyone who has begun to enter a little into the service of Hashem and the battle with the evil inclination, even a completely simple person. For it is the way of the Adversary and the Sitra Achra to threaten and frighten a person greatly and to make his service of the Blessed One very heavy, and because of this many have refrained from beginning to enter into His service, due to these threats and heaviness and the like.

This is the aspect of "the stamping of horses, the abundance of cavalry, and the sound of trumpets, etc." — but the essential thing in the service of Hashem is that a person should not be afraid at all. As our Rebbe of blessed memory said: in this world a person must cross a very narrow bridge, and the essential thing is that a person should not fear at all. And the essential strength to cross the narrow bridge in peace without fear is the holy Emunah, as mentioned. In the aspect of "Hear O Israel, today you draw near to battle, etc." — in the merit of "Hear O Israel" alone, meaning Emunah, as mentioned. And then "let not your heart be faint, do not fear, do not be alarmed, do not be afraid of them — for Hashem your God goes with you to save you, etc., as mentioned." And this is "Hashem is for me, I will not fear, etc." (Tehillim 27) — as mentioned. As it is said: "Hashem is for me" — meaning I believe in Hashem the Blessed with complete faith and Hashem is always with me, for "the whole earth is filled with His glory." Then "I will not fear what man does to me," as mentioned — for since a person has strong faith, he will certainly win all battles and in the end return to Hashem the Blessed in truth, in the aspect of "this I will return to my heart, therefore I will hope," as mentioned.

For the essential thing is Emunah — for Emunah is the beginning, the entrance, and the gateway to enter into the service of Hashem and the comprehension of divinity. And it is the end and the purpose of all knowledge and comprehension — in the aspect of "the ultimate of knowledge is that we do not know" (tachlis ha-yedi'ah asher lo neda) — for this is the aspect of Emunah. For this is the purpose of all knowledge and comprehensions: to know and comprehend that it is impossible to know at all, only to believe in Him the Blessed. And this is the aspect of "I am first and I am last and besides Me there is no God" — "I" (Ani) is the aspect of Malchus, the aspect of Emunah, as is known. And this is "I am first and I am last" — for the beginning is from Emunah and the end is Emunah, as mentioned. And the more one knows and comprehends the divinity of the Blessed One, the more Emunah is strengthened more and more. And this is the essential purpose of all comprehensions and knowledge, as mentioned. Therefore one needs a very great Rebbe who can bring comprehension of divinity even to the most lowly and utterly humble — for all comprehensions and knowledge are only the aspect of "drawing near and not drawing near" (mati v'lo mati), since "no thought can grasp Him at all."

For in truth, through the wisdom of speculative philosophy (chochmos), it is certainly impossible to comprehend or know anything of Him — for one can greatly err through one's wisdom, as the philosophers went astray, God spare us, until they came to complete heresy through the mistake of their confused wisdom. Therefore the essential thing is Emunah. But one needs to revive and strengthen Emunah through drawing vitality from the light of the Countenance, which is the intellect. And this is accomplished specifically through the tzaddikim of the generation of particularly great stature, who labor to instill in us our holy faith, and through all the Torah teachings and comprehensions they reveal to us — through this they revive and strengthen the holy Emunah.

For even though we see and understand that we understand nothing of their words at all, and we see from afar that their great wisdom is hidden and far from us, even so, each one according to what he can gauge in his heart can have a few great and powerful allusions flash upon him — how much one must strengthen oneself in Emunah — and perhaps he will also merit to know and comprehend a little, to behold the pleasantness of Hashem and to visit His sanctuary. For the pleasantness, sweetness, and delight of even one flash is impossible to estimate, and it is worthwhile to endure all the sufferings in the world and to break all desires and to toil and labor in the service of Hashem with all the toil and labor and true self-sacrifice — for the sweetness and pleasantness of one single flash. Fortunate is one who truly pursues this. Therefore the truly great tzaddikim instill in us complete holy Emunah.

And this is the aspect of matzah — for at Pesach a very great light was revealed, as is elaborated; and this light cannot be comprehended in any way. Especially before the giving of the Torah, when we had no vessels to comprehend it — for all the vessels, measures, and contractions are made only through the holy Torah, the aspect of shi'ura d'atun d'Oraisa. Therefore at Pesach, at the beginning of the revelation of His divinity, one must be extremely careful not to have even the slightest amount of chametz — "it shall not be seen and it shall not be found — leaven and chametz within all your borders," for chametz is the aspect of "the leavening of the brain" (chamitz ha-mo'ach), the aspect of speculative philosophical investigations, the aspect of (Tehillim 73) "for my heart is leavened" (ki yischametz levavi) — which King David said regarding the philosophical investigations that arise in a person's heart, wishing to destabilize him from the world, God forbid.

But throughout the entire year, when the light is not so great and we have already received the Torah — which is entirely measures and contractions for the comprehension of His divinity — we can eat chametz and it does not harm us at all, for our Emunah is already strengthened through the holy Torah, in the aspect of "all Your commandments are faith." Therefore even though we then eat chametz, the leavening of the brain (chamitz ha-mo'ach) does not gain strength through this at all.

But now at Pesach, when the beginning of the revelation of His divinity takes place and a great light from above was then revealed without any arousal from below at all — for it was impossible to leave Egypt without this, since they were so deeply sunk in the impurity of Egypt — therefore it was necessary then that a very great light be revealed, as is elaborated in the Kavannas of Pesach in the Pri Etz Chaim. And this great light cannot be grasped at all; only through the revelation of this great light is the soul aroused with great arousal to the service of the Blessed One, with intense longing — for "even though he does not see, his heavenly aspect sees" (af al gav d'ihu lo chazi, mazlei chazi). Therefore one must leave Egypt in great haste, in the aspect of "for they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they made provisions for themselves" — for this aspect exists in every person and at every time. For each and every person, as long as he is sunk in desires and vanities of this world, this is the aspect of the exile of Egypt, as is known.

There are people who are very deeply sunk in the impurity of Egypt, in the filth of sins and iniquities, God spare us, and because he is so very deeply sunk in his abominations, it is therefore impossible to extract him through any rebuke and moral instruction — for he is already so entangled in his follies and sins that it is impossible to extract him in any way if one tries to speak Torah and morals to him according to his level. But Hashem the Blessed thinks thoughts that no one should be driven away from Him, and therefore He, in His mercy, sometimes sends him a great flash of light and a great awakening in his heart to return to Hashem the Blessed — this is the aspect of the "heavenly announcement" (karoza d'le'ila), as is known. And the person must have compassion on his soul, and immediately when an awakening to repentance comes upon him, he must immediately and without delay hurry to escape for his life and not look back at all — in the aspect of "Escape quickly for your life and do not look back" (maher himalet al nafshecha v'al tabit achorecha), the aspect of "consider the path of life so that your ways be far from shoel" (orach chaim pen tifales), etc.

Since he is so sunk in follies, confusions, and desires, therefore the moment he begins to think about how and in what manner to flee from his desires and in what way he will merit repentance, etc., he will certainly return to his foolishness, God forbid — since he is so deeply sunk and confused. Therefore at the beginning of the awakening to repentance he must flee immediately the moment he is awakened, and not look back at all — whatever happens, he must have compassion on his soul and flee in haste from what he must flee from.

And this is the aspect of Pesach — when the Exodus from Egypt took place, when a great light was revealed from above, as mentioned — and then immediately Israel left in great haste, for they could not delay. For if they had remained there another moment, they would have remained sunk there, as is elaborated. And it is also forbidden for him then to begin to think about livelihood — "from where will I be sustained?" — only to trust in Hashem and cast his burden upon Him the Blessed, and He will sustain him. And this is the aspect of "nor had they made provisions for themselves" — for when one must flee from what one must flee, from the fowler's snare (pach yokshim), it is forbidden to think about livelihood and provisions. For certainly when robbers and brigands or wild beasts attack a person and he hurries to flee from them, he certainly does not think then from where he will be sustained and the like. How much more so when a person must flee from the lowest depths beneath him — from the torments of this world to the life of the world — how he must hurry and escape for his life and not look back at all, for he cannot delay, and he must not make provisions and livelihood for himself — he should trust in Hashem and lean on his God, for He will not forsake him.