שילוח הקן ב

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And therefore one must specifically give the sheep to the Kohen — for the Kohen is the bechina of v'rav chesed [abundant kindness], the bechina of the radiance of the countenance [hadras panim], the bechina of the beard of the High Priest [dikna d'kohana rabbah] — who merits to draw down the illumination of countenance upon Yisroel, which is the bechina of the awakening from sleep [his'orerus ha'sheina], as above — through which the aforementioned holy wealth is drawn down, through which one merits the contemplation of Torah, as above. And this is the bechina of Birkas Kohanim [the Priestly Blessing] — for the Kohen draws down the illumination of countenance upon Yisroel: "May Hashem shine His face upon you" [Bamidbar 6:25] — and through the illumination of countenance, the wealth of holiness is drawn down, as above. And the essential illumination of countenance is that which Moshe Rabbeinu drew down from Above — as it is written: "And Moshe did not know that the skin of his face radiated light" [Shemos 34:29]. And through this Moshe drew down to Yisroel the holy mochin and Tefillin — which are the bechina of the contemplation of Torah, as above. And through the Kohen, who is the bechina of Aharon — who merited the priesthood through humbling himself before Moshe, as stated above — this illumination of countenance and these mochin are drawn down upon Yisroel in every generation. And therefore the Beis HaMikdash [Holy Temple] — which is the place of Yir'ah — therefore there was immense wealth there: all the wealth of the world that was in the treasuries of the House of Hashem, which King David collected and the other kings — boundless riches from all the kings — and they gave it all to the treasuries of the House of Hashem. For the Beis HaMikdash is the bechina of the contemplation mentioned above, which is called Kodesh [holy] — for all who merit such contemplation are in the bechina of holiness, separate from all worldly pleasures. And through the holiness of the Beis HaMikdash the holy wealth was drawn down, as above. And this is the bechina of the vessels of the Beis HaMikdash — all of which were made of gold and silver — for gold and silver are the bechina of the holy wealth that is drawn down through the illumination of countenance, through the Kohen, as above. It thus emerges that the Kohen is the bechina of all the rectifications through which one merits the holy wealth, through which one attains the contemplation of Torah, as above. And therefore the peter chamor — which is the first birth of the donkey, the bechina of wealth at its greatest level, which is great and inclusive of all — must be given to the Kohen. For the essential drawing down of holy wealth is through the Kohen — who merits to awaken from sleep and to draw down the illumination of countenance and all the rectifications, as above. And through giving the peter chamor to the Kohen, the donkey is rectified: its vitality is drawn from holiness, and one merits holy wealth through which one attains the contemplation of Torah, as above. And the essential abundance of wealth came to Yisroel at the Splitting of the Reed Sea — for the plunder of the sea [bizzas hayam] was greater than the plunder of Egypt [bizzas Mitzrayim]. For there they merited the great contemplation — for even the sea of Chochmah [the Divine Wisdom] was split spiritually at that time — until the maidservant at the Sea saw what Yechezkel the Prophet did not see, and the nursing infants and sucklings said: "This is my God and I will glorify Him" [Shemos 15:2]. And therefore they merited then immense wealth — because wealth comes from the bechina of contemplation and holy wealth, as above. And this is the bechina of the Song at the Sea — for there they merited the song and melody, which is the source of all the holy wealth and contemplation, as above. And this is: "And if you do not redeem it, you shall break its neck" — specifically the nape of the neck — for he has deprived the Kohen of his money, therefore his own money shall be lost. Meaning: when one does not wish to give a sheep to the Kohen, one does not merit to draw down holy wealth — therefore one loses one's money — for the wealth that is not drawn from the bechina of the Kohen is a "wealth kept by its owner for his harm" [Koheles 5:12], and it must be broken and taken from him. This is: "his money shall be lost" — specifically the loss of wealth, which is the bechina of chamor, as above — for the essential mitzvah is to redeem, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "the mitzvah of redemption takes precedence." For the general principle is that the essential subduing of the Sitra Achra is to subdue it, clarify it, and sweeten the good within it and transform it to holiness — and this is the essential perfection of service. And therefore the essential is to redeem the chamor through the Kohen — through which it is subdued and then it is fit to enter the domain of Yisroel and be used. And through this, one even merits wealth through it, as above. But through the breaking of the neck, even though it subdues the evil of the donkey, it does not transform it to holiness — and therefore one does not merit the wealth that comes specifically from the left side when the evil grasped in it is subdued and drawn to holiness. And therefore the animals of the Levites redeemed the animals of Yisroel at that time — and our Sages of blessed memory said that they only redeemed the pitrei chamor of Yisroel, and one sheep of a Levite redeemed many, etc. For the essential thing was to rectify and redeem the pitrei chamor through the Levites and Kohanim — who are the bechina of Yir'ah — for they are the rectification of the holy wealth, which is the bechina of the redemption of peter chamor, as above. And therefore the essential wealth of Ya'akov came through the sheep — for Ya'akov merited the holy wealth that gives access to contemplation, as is explained in that teaching, on the verse: "And now, all that God has said to you, do it" [Beraishis 31:16] — see there. And this is the bechina of: "And when Rachel gave birth to Yosef, Ya'akov said... 'Release me... when shall I also make something for my own household?'" [Beraishis 30:25]. For the bechina of the wealth of Ya'akov was through the sheep — the spotted, speckled, and streaked [akudim, n'kudim, v'rudim] — which he received from Lavan, as is known. And this is connected to the bechina of the rectification of the covenant and the drawing down of holy wealth, as above. And therefore the essential receiving of Tefillin comes at dawn — through the awakening from sleep. For it is stated in the writings of the Arizal, of blessed memory, that the essential drawing down of the mochin of Tefillin is through arising at midnight and engaging in Torah, see there. The rising at midnight is the bechina of the awakening from sleep through which one merits the contemplation that is drawn through holy wealth, as above. For through rising at midnight — which is the bechina of awakening at midnight to mourn the Churban [Destruction] and to engage in Torah — one draws down the illumination of countenance and the holy mochin, which are the bechina of the contemplation of Torah, as above. For the harp was suspended above the bed of David, and when midnight arrived it would play on its own and then David would arise from sleep and engage in Torah [Brochos 3b]. This melody is the bechina of the radiance of countenance from which all the seventy facets of Torah are drawn — for melody is the bechina of the taamim [cantillation notes] of Torah, which is the highest bechina. And through this melody one is awakened from sleep and drawn to the contemplation of Torah — and through this contemplation all the holy mochin are revealed, which are the bechina of Tefillin, which illumine and radiate as the radiance of the countenance. This is the essential connection: the midnightmelody, the awakening, the holy wealth, and the attainment of the contemplation of Torah — all are one bechina, as above. And this is the bechina of the Song at the Sea — for there they merited all the above: great wealth and the contemplation mentioned above — therefore they merited the Song. For all the bechinas above are drawn from the bechina of song and melody, from the bechina of the harp of David, as above. And this is the bechina of: "And it was at the morning watch" [vay'hi b'ashmoret ha'boker] [Shemos 14:24] — da boka d'Avraham [this is the morning of Avraham], for through the merit of Avraham the Splitting of the Reed Sea occurred — for Avraham is the person of Chesed and radiance of countenance through which all the holy wealth and contemplation are drawn down, as above. Ya'akov merited during the tending of his sheep immense wealth and the contemplation of Tefillin — for Ya'akov is the bechina of Yir'ah, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "The awesome one — this is Ya'akov" [Megillah 31a], as they said: "In your Yir'ah — in the merit of Ya'akov who said: 'How awesome [nora] is this place!'" [Beraishis 28:17]. And one may allude that this is the bechina of akudim, n'kudim, v'rudim — the three lines [kavim] of Yir'ah through which Ya'akov merited the great wealth and the contemplation, as above. And through the spotted, speckled, and streaked sheep he accumulated immense wealth — which are the bechina of the holy wealth through which one attains the contemplation of Torah. And this is connected to the bechina of Tefillin — the straps of which are the bechina of akudim [bound] — and through the Tefillin the highest mochin and contemplation are drawn down, as above. And this is the entire bechina of the redemption of peter chamor: redeeming the donkey — which is the bechina of wealth — through the sheep — which is the bechina of the holy wealth of Ya'akov — and giving it to the Kohen — who is the bechina of the Chesed and radiance of countenance through which the holy wealth and contemplation are drawn — so that one merits wealth from holiness through which one attains the contemplation of Torah in completeness.