צדקה ב

Likutay Halachos – Yoreh Daya – Hilchos Tzedakah 1, 2, and 3

The klal [general principle] is: one must guard the soul greatly, and the essential guarding of the soul is through kavod [honor] — for the soul is clothed in kavod. And one must see that there be a panim [face] to the kavod, that the brazen-faced ones — who are in the bechinas \"dogs with fierce spirit\" — who are the false leaders and rulers — should not draw nourishment from it. And when kavod is blemished and has no face, then the brazen-faced ones of the generation take the kavod. And then Malchus [Kingship] is in the bechinas tzedek [justice], and one must draw the bechinas Hashem so that tzedek become tzedakah [charity/righteousness] — see all of this there carefully.

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And this is the bechinas mezuzah — for the mezuzah is a protection for the soul. For the essential purpose is to guard the soul clothed in kavod. For the house is where the essential kavod dwells — for the essential honor of a person is only in his home — as it is written: \"Like the glory of a person is to dwell in a house\" [Isaiah 44:13]. The essential honor and glory of every person is in his home. For the home is the bechinas Malchus [Kingship] — the bechinas bais malchus [royal house] — for the portion of Kingship that each person has is in his home — the bechinas \"ruling in his own home\" [Esther 1:22]. And Malchus is the bechinas kavod — the bechinas melech ha'kavod [\"the King of Honor\"] [Psalms 24]. And this is the bechinas \"All the glory of the princess is within\" [Psalms 45:14] — the essential bechinas kevod Malchus [royal honor] is within, in the house. And therefore greatness and elevation are called by the name "house" — as it is written: \"And it was because the midwives feared G-d that He made them houses\" [Exodus 1:21] — and our Sages expounded: houses of kehunah [priesthood] and houses of malchus [royalty]. For "house" is the bechinas kavod, the bechinas Malchus, as above. And therefore our Sages said: \"his house — this is his wife.\" For the home is in the bechinas Chava [Eve], woman — who is the bechinas kavod — who is \"Aim kol chai\" [\"mother of all living\"] [Genesis 3:20] — in whom all souls are clothed, as in the aforementioned teaching. And therefore the gathering of souls — that is, family — is called "house" — for they are called bais av [father's house]. And as it is written: bais Yisroel, bais Aharon [\"House of Israel, House of Aaron\"] [Psalms 115:12] etc. For all souls are clothed in the home which is the bechinas kavod — the aim kol chai as above. Because the soul is clothed in the home — which is the bechinas kavod — therefore the home requires great protection, for one must greatly guard the soul clothed in kavod, as above. And the essential purpose is to see that there be a panim [face] to the kavod — that the brazen-faced ones — who are the bechinas \"dogs with fierce spirit\" — who are the false leaders and rulers — should not draw nourishment from it. And this is the bechinas mezuzah. For through the mezuzah affixed to the house, one draws the bechinas panim [face] to the house — which is the bechinas kavod. For the mezuzah is the two passages of Krias Shema. And it is known that the essential drawing of mochin [divine intellect] and da'as [knowledge] is through Krias Shema — as explained in the kabbalistic intentions. And the essential panim is the mo'ach [brain] and the da'as — in the bechinas \"a person's wisdom illuminates his face\" [Ecclesiastes 8:1] — as explained in the aforementioned teaching. For the essential perfection of kavod is when the kavod is in the presence of those who understand — for then the kavod has holy panim, for the essential panim is da'as, as above. And therefore one must build the home with wisdom — as it is written: \"Through wisdom a house is built and through understanding it is established and through knowledge the chambers are filled\" [Proverbs 24:3–4]. For one must draw the mochin — which are Chochmah [wisdom], Binah [understanding], and Da'as [knowledge] — to the home and all its chambers so that the home — which is the bechinas kavod — should have holy panim, as above — in order that the souls within it be guarded. And this is accomplished through the mezuzah — which is the two passages of Krias Shema — which are the bechinas mochin as above. And therefore the mezuzah is a protection — for through drawing the panim to the kavod which is the bechinas bayis — through this the souls within it are guarded, as above. And therefore our Sages said: \"Everyone who occupies himself with building becomes impoverished.\" And it is stated in Rebbe Nachman's words that this is also an expression of sakanah [danger] — for there is certainly great danger when one builds a home which is the bechinas kavod. For perhaps the kavod comes because of the departure of the soul, Heaven forbid — for the soul departs through the kavod, as above — as explained in the aforementioned teaching. And therefore one must be very careful to build the home with wisdom for Hashem's sake — in order to draw panim to the kavod — so that Hashem's honor should fill the home built for Hashem's Name. And then, on the contrary, one merits to receive souls through the home — in the bechinas \"your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your house, your children like olive saplings\" [Psalms 128:3] — for there all souls are clothed, as above. And therefore the mezuzah is affixed near the entrance (pesach), for the entrance is the face of the home — as Rashi explains, that the entrance is called panim [face/front]. And as is explained in the Talmud regarding the fixing of ma'aser [tithes] — that produce is not obligated until it sees the face of the house — that is, the entrance specifically. For the essential drawing of kavod into the home is through the entrance — in the bechinas \"Lift up your heads, O gates, and be uplifted, O eternal entrances, and let the King of Honor enter\" [Psalms 24:7]. And this is what King Dovid, peace be upon him, requested: \"Open to me the gates of righteousness, I will enter through them and give thanks to Yah\" etc. [Psalms 118:19]. For as long as one does not draw the bechinas panim to the doorway of the house — which is the bechinas kavod — then Malchus is called tzedek [justice] as explained in the aforementioned teaching. And then there is nourishment for the external forces — as explained in the aforementioned teaching. And therefore the gate is closed, so that the brazen-faced external forces should not draw nourishment from the kavod — in the bechinas \"This gate shall be closed for the six working days, and on the Shabbos day it shall be opened, and on the New Moon day it shall be opened\" [Ezekiel 46:1]. For on the six working days when the external forces have nourishment, the gate is closed — in the bechinas \"And Yericho was shut up and closed\" etc. [Joshua 6:1], as is brought. But on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh [New Month] and the like — when mochin are drawn to Malchus — the bechinas panim, the bechinas \"v'anpin nahahrin b'nahiru ila'ah\" [\"and the face shines with supernal radiance\"] — then the gate is opened — in the bechinas \"u'v'yom ha'Shabbos yipasach\" [\"and on the Shabbos day it shall be opened\"]. And therefore King Dovid requested: \"Open to me the gates of righteousness\" — that the gates of holiness, called \"sha'arai tzedek\" [gates of righteousness], should open for him — for as long as the mochin had not been drawn to the kavod as above, they were closed. And Dovid requested that they be opened: \"for I shall enter through them and give thanks to Yah.\" For Yah are the mochin, as is known. And this is: \"This is the gate of Hashem — the righteous shall enter through it.\" [Psalms 118:20] \"The righteous\" specifically — for the essential rectification of Malchus is through tzedakah [charity] — through which one elevates it from tzedek to tzedakah — as explained in the aforementioned teaching. And it is they — the righteous who give charity — who can enter through the gates — in the bechinas \"tzadikim yavo'u vo\" [\"the righteous shall enter through it\"] — for they are the ones who do tzedakah — who elevate Malchus from tzedek to tzedakah — through which the gate is opened as it is on Shabbos, as above. And this is: \"Open the gates that a righteous nation which keeps faithfulness may enter\" [Isaiah 26:2] — for before the righteous, that is the one who gives tzedakah, the gate is opened, as above. And this is \"shomer emunim\" [\"who keeps faithfulness\"] — for the essential protection of the doorway of the house is through Israel's faith — which is the mezuzah — which is the passages of yichud [Unity] — which is the essential protection. For through this one draws panim to the kavod, as above. And then Malchus is in the bechinas tzedakah, as above. And therefore the essential intention in building the home must be in order to bring worthy poor people into it — and for there to be a gathering of the wise within it — as our Sages said: \"Let your home be open wide and let the poor be as members of your household. Let your home be a meeting place for the wise\" [Avos 1:4–5]. For through this the kavod is complete and then the kavod has holy panim — and then the home — which is the bechinas kavod — is a holy house. For through one's home being open wide and the poor being as members of one's household — that is, tzedakah — through this one elevates the kavod in the bechinas transforming tzedek to tzedakah — and then specifically one can enter into the house. For then the holy doorway is open, as above. And this is why it states juxtaposed: \"He shall receive blessing from Hashem and charity from the G-d of his salvation\" [Psalms 24:5] — that is, through tzedakah — through this: \"this is the generation that seeks Him, those who seek Your face\" etc. [Psalms 24:6]. For through this one merits panim, as above. For through tzedakah one elevates Malchus from tzedek to tzedakah and draws mochin to the kavod — for tzedakah is the bechinas mochin, as is brought elsewhere. And through this specifically: \"Lift up your heads O gates, and the King of Honor shall come in\" — for then specifically the gate is opened — for the holy kavod enters — in the bechinas \"u'va melech ha'kavod\" [\"and the King of Honor shall come in\"], as above. And this is the bechinas \"Let your home be a meeting place for the wise\", as above — for through the wise, panim is drawn to the kavod. For the essential panim is wisdom and mochin, as above. But one who builds the home, Heaven forbid, out of arrogance — for his own honor — to show off his honor and lord over the poor people for nothing — this is the bechinas \"Hashem demolishes the house of the arrogant\" [Proverbs 15:25] — this is the bechinas house and the greatness of the false leaders who build ruins for themselves — and of this it is said: \"Woe to the one who builds his house without righteousness and his upper chambers without justice\" [Jeremiah 22:13]. For when the kavod has no face and the kavod which is the bechinas bayis is with the false leaders — who have great houses for their own honor — then Malchus is in the bechinas tzedek [justice] and there is nourishment for the Sitra Achra [Other Side], Heaven forbid. And then when they draw nourishment from the bechinas tzedek, even that tzedek is blemished in them — and then their house is called \"boneh baiso blo tzedek\" [\"builds his house without righteousness\"] — for even the name tzedek which belongs to holiness alludes to the fact that holiness has contracted greatly, and the mochin and the panim have departed from the kavod until they are able to draw nourishment, Heaven forbid. And the moment they draw nourishment, certainly the bechinas tzedek is blemished within them — in the bechinas \"in the place of justice — there is wickedness\" [Ecclesiastes 3:16]. And this is the bechinas \"boneh baiso blo tzedek u're'aihu ya'avod chinam\" [\"builds his house without righteousness, who makes his neighbor work for nothing\"] — this is the bechinas false leaders who lord over the poor for nothing. They use the people of Israel and work them for nothing — for they received no eternal benefit from them. And they lord over the impoverished people for nothing — in the bechinas \"u're'aihu ya'avod chinam\" [\"makes his neighbor work for nothing\"]. And therefore their house is called the bechinas \"boneh baiso blo tzedek\" — for the kavod is blemished in them and they have no face, etc., as above. And this is the bechinas Name Sha-dai written on the mezuzah. For the Name Sha-dai is the bechinas tzadik [righteous one], as is known — the bechinas tzadik chonen v'nosen [\"the righteous one gives graciously\"] — the bechinas ba'al tzedakah [possessor of charity] who draws blessing — in the bechinas \"and I will pour out for you a blessing without limit\" [Malachi 3:10] — this is the bechinas Sha-dai — the bechinas \"and may the Almighty give you mercy\" [Genesis 43:14]. For the Name Sha-dai bestows blessing, life, and mercy without limit. And through this — through the bechinas tzedakah, the bechinas Sha-dai — through this the essential elevation of kavod which is in the bechinas bayis, as above. And through this the soul clothed in the kavod is guarded, as above. And this is the bechinas \"U'chesavtam al mezuzos baisecha\" [\"And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house\"] etc. And our Sages expounded [Shabbos 55a]: \"Zaz maves\" [\"death moves away\"] — this is the bechinas tzedakah tatzil mi'mavess [\"charity saves from death\"] — as explained in the aforementioned teaching. For the mezuzah is the bechinas mochin, the bechinas tzedakah — which elevates Malchus from tzedek to tzedakah — through which \"zaz maves\" [death moves away] — in the bechinas tzedakah tatzil mi'mavess — in the bechinas \"l'ma'an yirbu yemaichem vi'yemay venaichem\" [\"so that your days and the days of your children shall be multiplied\"] stated in the mezuzah — for his days and the days of his children — that is, the souls dependent on him — are drawn life and length of days through the mezuzah — which is the bechinas drawing panim to the kavod — which is the bechinas bayis — through which the souls clothed in the kavod are guarded, as above. And this is what the Sages said in the Midrash on the verse \"l'ma'an yirbu\" etc. — for the drawing of life is through the bechinas panim which is wisdom, as above — in the bechinas \"wisdom gives life\" [Ecclesiastes 7:12]. And this is why \"v'achalta v'savata\" [\"and you shall eat and be satisfied\"] is mentioned in the mezuzah. This is the bechinas tzadik ochel l'sova nafsho [\"the righteous one eats to the satisfaction of his soul\"] [Proverbs 13:25] — the bechinas breaking the desire for food — the bechinas \"u'v'sadcha livhemtecha\" [\"and in your field for your animal\"]. That you should subdue your animalistic side — as explained in Rebbe Nachman's words on this verse — see there. For through the breaking of the desire for food one elevates the kavod away from the brazen-faced ones and draws panim to the kavod — which is the bechinas mezuzah, as above. And this is the bechinas Shema and V'hayah Im Shamoa written in the mezuzah — this is the bechinas two hands of love (ahavah) and awe (yirah) through which the soul is born and raised. For Shema is the bechinas ahavah [love] — the bechinas \"v'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha\" [\"and you shall love Hashem your G-d\"]. And V'hayah Im Shamoa is the bechinas yirah [awe] — as it is written there: \"Beware for yourselves\" [Deuteronomy 11:16] — which is the bechinas yirah. For through awe and love the essential birth and growth of the soul clothed in the kavod which is the bechinas bayis is guarded through the mezuzah, as above.

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