שילוח הקן ג

12 אַל-תַּהַרְגֵם פֶּן-יִשְׁכְּחוּ עַמִּי הֲנִיעֵמוֹ בְחֵילְךָ וְהוֹרִידֵמוֹ מָגִנֵּנוּ אֲדֹנָי "And every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it you shall break its neck."

For it is stated in the discourse beginning "Pasach Rabbi Shimon v'amar — Ais La'asos LaHashem" in Likutay [Moharan] I, Section 60: that there is a level of contemplation (hitbonenus) in Torah that it is impossible to arrive at except through great wealth — and so forth. And this wealth it is impossible to receive except through the aspect of the tikkunim of Atik [the Ancient One], the aspect of Zaken [the Elder], the aspect of length of days, and so forth. And the aspect of Zaken — length of days — one merits through yirah [awe/fear of Heaven], for the aspect of: "The fear of Hashem adds days" (Mishlei 10:27). And through this one merits to the aforementioned wealth, through which one comes to the aforementioned contemplation — for through yirah one is saved from the falseness of charm and the vanity of beauty, which is the aspect of the interruption of the breath. And then one merits to wealth, which is the aspect of the lengthening of the breath. And through this one merits to the contemplation that comes specifically through the lengthening of the breath — for: "Were it not for the wings of the lungs..." (Berachos 61b, that the heart would burn up the entire body). And yirah is the aspect of the three lines: the awe of the teacher, the awe of the disciple [toward his teacher], and the awe of father and mother, and so forth. And to merit yirah — this comes through awakening people from their sleep, that they should not sleep out their days, Heaven forbid, in the vanities of this world. And the awakening from sleep comes through sipurei ma'asiyos — stories of deeds — in which the seventy faces of Torah are clothed. And there are stories of deeds that are in the aspect of "b'kerev shanim" [in the midst of years] (Chavakuk 3:2), which are drawn from the seventy faces that are the aspect of seventy years, and so forth. And there are stories of deeds that are in the aspect of "shanim kadmoniyos" — ancient years — which are the aspect of hadras panim [the glory of the face], the aspect of v'rav chesed [abundant kindness], from which all the seventy faces are drawn. And through the awakening from sleep, they begin to speak — which is the aspect of loosening the mouth of the mute and loosening the mouths of the barren. And through the visitation of the barren [i.e., making the barren fruitful] one merits yirah, through which one merits length of days, through which one merits the aforementioned wealth, through which one merits the aforementioned contemplation. See all of this there well, very well.

And this is the aspect of the redemption of the petter chamor through the seh that one gives to the Kohen — for this chamor is the aspect of wealth, as our master of blessed memory explains there in the aforementioned discourse: the aspect of "Yissachar chamor garem", and the Targum renders: "Rich in possessions." And therefore one must redeem it with a seh in order to draw the aforementioned wealth of holiness, through which one merits the aforementioned contemplation. For the seh is drawn from the aspect of holy wealth that is drawn through the tikkunim of Atik, through the aspect of Zaken — for the wool of lambs is the aspect of Zaken [the beard], as is brought: the aspect of "Min hametzar karati Yah" [From the straits I called to God] (Tehillim 118:5) — which is the aspect of tikkuna d'dikna [the rectification of the beard], for metzar [straits] has the same letters as tzemer [wool], as is brought. It is found that the seh and the lamb (keves) are drawn from the aspect of tikkuna d'dikna, through which one merits holy wealth. And this is what is said in the blessing: "And He shall bless the fruit of your womb... and the ashterot of your flock" (Devarim 7:13). And our Sages of blessed memory expounded: that they enrich their owners — for they are the essential holy wealth that is drawn through the tikkunim of the beard (dikna), which is narrow above and wide below, and this is the aspect of "Min hametzar karati Yah", which has the letters of tzemer [wool] as mentioned above. And therefore when a petter chamor is born to an Israelite — which is the aspect of wealth as mentioned — one must see to drawing the wealth toward holiness, that it should be wealth of holiness through which one merits the aforementioned contemplation. This is the aspect of "Yissachar chamor garem, atir b'nicsin" [rich in possessions] — through which they merited the aspect of the aforementioned contemplation, which is the aspect of "And from the children of Yissachar, those who know understanding of the times..." (Divrei HaYamim I, 12:33). But for this, it is impossible to merit except through the aspect of the tikkunim of dikna — which is the aspect of "Min hametzar" and so forth, the aspect of the wool of lambs. And therefore one needs a seh for the Kohen. And through this one awakens and draws the aspect of the tikkunim of dikna, the aspect of length of days. And through this one merits to draw into the aspect of the length of days — drawn through the seh that one gives to the Kohen — to draw into it the holy wealth, which is the aspect of the donkey, the aspect of "Yissachar chamor garem," etc., as mentioned. Through this wealth one merits the aforementioned contemplation. And the aforementioned contemplation is the aspect of tefillin-mochin [the mental illumination of tefillin]. And therefore this verse — "And the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb" — is written in the parasha of tefillin, for from this is made the tefillin-mochin, the aspect of the aforementioned contemplation. And therefore one must give the seh specifically to the Kohen — for the Kohen is the aspect of v'rav chesed [abundant kindness], the aspect of hadras panim [glory of the face], the aspect of dikna d'kahana rabba [the beard of the High Priest], who merits to draw the illumination of the face upon Israel — which is the aspect of awakening from sleep as mentioned — through which the aforementioned wealth is drawn — through which one merits contemplation as mentioned. And this is the aspect of the Priestly Blessing (birkas kohanim): the aspect of "Yevarechecha Hashem" — with money, that is, the aforementioned wealth. "Ya'er Hashem panav eilecha" — the aspect of haaras panim, hadras panim — which is the aspect of stories of ancient years (sipurei ma'asiyos shel shanim kadmoniyos), which are the aspect of v'rav chesed, the aspect of hadras panim, through which the holy face is restored and drawn upon Israel — which is the illumination of the face of God, the aspect of "Ya'er Hashem panav eilecha." For the Kohen is the aspect of the holy teacher (rav d'kedushah) who labors to awaken the children of Israel from their sleep, to arouse them toward Hashem Yisbarach. And he draws all the seventy faces of Torah for Israel, as it is written (Devarim 33): "They shall teach Your laws to Yaakov and Your Torah to Israel." And as it is written (Malachi 2): "For the lips of the Kohen shall preserve knowledge, and Torah shall they seek from his mouth," and so forth. And therefore the Kohen has the power to make the barren fruitful, as it is written: "And she shall be cleansed and shall conceive seed" (Bamidbar 5:28). And as it is written regarding Eli the Kohen: "And the God of Israel shall grant your request" (Shmuel I, 1:17). And therefore the essential drawing of yirah and length of days to Israel came through the Kohen, who was engaged in the service of the sacrifices in the Beis HaMikdash — which is the aspect of yirah, as it is written: "And he called the name of that place 'Hashem Yir'eh'" (Bereishis 22:14). For all the sacrifices are the aspect of the sprinkling of blood (zerikas damim), which is the aspect of yirah. And therefore it is written regarding the Kohen: "And I gave to him awe (mora) and before My name he withdrew" (Malachi 2:5) — for the essential service of the Kohen was to draw yirah to Israel through the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifices in the Beis HaMikdash, all of which is the aspect of yirah as mentioned. And through this, life and length of days was drawn — for the essential source of life and length of days is from the Beis HaMikdash, for it is the house of our life. As our Sages of blessed memory said: the Altar was created to lengthen the days of man. And this is what we say: "And there we shall serve You in awe" — "in awe" specifically, for there is the essential place of yirah as mentioned. And this is: "as in days of old and as in ancient years" (Malachi 3:4). The aspect of "And the offering of Yehudah and Yerushalayim shall be pleasing to Hashem, as in days of old and as in ancient years" — "as in ancient years" specifically: the aspect of hadras panim, the aspect of stories of ancient years, through which one is awakened from sleep, through which one merits yirah, which is the aspect of the service of the Beis HaMikdash. And therefore the Kohen Gadol merited great wealth, as it is written: "And the Kohen Gadol above his brothers" (Vayikra 21:10) — and our Sages expounded: "Elevate him above his brothers" [in wealth] — for he merited the aforementioned holy wealth through the yirah drawn through hadras panim, through stories of ancient years, which is the aspect of v'rav chesed, the aspect of Kohen as mentioned. And through this wealth one merits the aforementioned contemplation. And this is the aspect of: "And the Kohen Gadol above his brothers upon whose head the anointing oil was poured" — this is the aspect of the aforementioned contemplation-mochin, which is the aspect of the holy anointing oil (shemen mishchas kodesh), as is brought: that the holy anointing oil is the aspect of the contemplation-mochin, that is, the aforementioned contemplation. And this is why the Torah gives the reason for its instruction to elevate and enrich the Kohen Gadol — as it is written: "The Kohen Gadol above his brothers — elevate him above his brothers." And the reason: "upon whose head the anointing oil was poured" — for he was anointed upon his head with the holy anointing oil, which is the aspect of the aforementioned contemplation, and he must constantly draw and illuminate upon his head the aforementioned anointing oil — the aforementioned contemplation — in the aspect of (Koheles 9): "And let oil upon your head not be lacking." Therefore he merited great wealth, for through this one merits the aforementioned contemplation. And this is the aspect of (Tehillim 133): "Like the good oil upon the head, descending upon the beard, the beard of Aharon," and so forth. That is, the aspect of the holy anointing oil — the aforementioned contemplation — which one merits through the tikkunim of Atik, through the aspect of Zaken: which is the aspect of "descending upon the beard, the beard of Aharon" — for this contemplation one receives through wealth that is drawn through the aspect of Zaken as mentioned. And this is: "Like the dew of Chermon descending upon the mountains of Tziyon, for there Hashem commanded the blessing, life," and so forth. That is: a great bounty and blessing — the aspect of the great aforementioned wealth. And this blessing and bounty of wealth one receives through the aspect of life and length of days, which is the aspect of Zaken as mentioned. And this is "like the dew of Chermon" — the drawing of the bounty called by the name of the dew of blessing — that is, great wealth — "descending upon the mountains of Tziyon", that is, the aspect of the Beis HaMikdash, which is the aspect of yirah as mentioned. And as it is written: "How awesome is this place!" — "for there Hashem commanded the blessing, life" — for the essential blessing and bounty of wealth Hashem commanded there specifically, for it is impossible to receive this bounty of holy wealth except through the aspect of "Yiras Hashem tosif yamim" [the fear of Hashem adds days] — which is the aspect of life and length of days — the aspect of "for there Hashem commanded the blessing, life," and so forth, as mentioned. And all the Kohanim are included in the Kohen Gadol, for he includes them all. And therefore the rest of the Kohanim — most of them, if not all — also merited great holy wealth. For the incense (ketores) brings wealth, and no one ever altered it for his own sake so that all the Kohanim would become wealthy — for they all merited the aforementioned wealth drawn through the yirah that is the aspect of the service of the Kohanim in the Beis HaMikdash, through which one merits the aforementioned contemplation, the aspect of holy anointing oil (shemen mishchas kodesh) as mentioned. And therefore the Kohanim were sanctified in the holiness of the covenant more than all Israel — for they were commanded additional commandments in the holiness of the covenant beyond the rest of Israel, as it is written: "They shall be holy," and so forth — "A divorced woman, a harlot, or a profaned woman they shall not take," and so forth. And as it is written (Devarim 33): "For they guarded Your utterance and Your covenant they preserved." For they merit yirah as mentioned, through which one merits guarding of the covenant, as is explained in the aforementioned discourse — through which one merits the aforementioned wealth, as is explained there in the aforementioned discourse. See there. And therefore the Beis HaMikdash — which is the place of yirah — had in it extraordinarily great wealth: all the wealth of the world that was in the treasuries of the House of Hashem, which King David (may peace be upon him) had gathered, and the other kings had gathered immense wealth from all the kings and had placed it all in the treasuries of the House of Hashem. For the Beis HaMikdash is the aspect of the aforementioned contemplation, which is called kodesh [holiness] — for whoever has da'as [knowledge/awareness of God], it is as if the Beis HaMikdash was built in his days (Berachos 33a). And therefore it was necessary that there be extraordinarily great wealth there — all the wealth of the world — in order to draw to that place the aforementioned contemplation. And the wealth of the Beis HaMikdash was drawn through the immense yirah that was there, as it is written: "How awesome is this place!" and so forth, as mentioned. And therefore the seventy Sanhedrin sat there, who would reveal all seventy faces of Torah — for every difficult matter would be brought before them, for there all seventy faces of Torah were illuminated, through which one merits the aforementioned contemplation. It is found that the Kohen embodies all the aforementioned tikkunim through which one merits the holy wealth, through which one merits contemplation as mentioned. And therefore the petter chamor — that is, the first birth of a donkey, which is the aspect of wealth, the aspect of "v'yalda lei ramchei ramchei" [she bore for him droves upon droves] spoken there at the end of the aforementioned discourse — the aspect of "Yissachar chamor garem, atir b'nicsin," etc., as mentioned — therefore one must redeem it with a seh that one gives to the Kohen. Through this one draws from the Kohen, through the seh, the aforementioned holy wealth. And this is what Rashi explained on this verse — "and every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb": because the firstborn of Egypt were likened to donkeys. And additionally because they aided Israel in their going out — for there is no one among Israel who did not take many donkeys from Egypt laden with the silver and gold of Egypt. And the two reasons are one — for each depends on the other. For the redemption of the petter chamor is in order to rectify the money and wealth, that it should be holy wealth. And this is what Rashi explained: that the redemption is because of the wealth that they took out of Egypt on the donkeys — for the donkey is the aspect of wealth as mentioned. But the essential rectification of wealth — that it should be holy wealth — this depends only on guarding the covenant, as explained in the aforementioned discourse. And this is the aspect of the Exodus from Egypt — that they were redeemed from the exile of Egypt's lust, which is the lewdness of the land, the blemish of the covenant — the aspect of "whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys" — which is said regarding the blemish of the covenant. And for this reason wealth is called by the name chamor — for it is impossible to merit holy wealth except when one subdues and breaks the aspect of the donkey, the aspect of the impurity of Egypt, "whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys" — meaning that one nullifies the blemish of the covenant, and then one merits holy wealth, the aspect of "Yissachar chamor garem." And this is the aspect of the redemption of the petter chamor — because the Egyptians were likened to donkeys; and additionally because every Israelite took out wealth from Egypt on the donkeys, as Rashi explained. That is, as mentioned: Israel merited the great wealth to take it out of Egypt specifically on donkeys, because they were guarded from sexual immorality and merited guarding of the covenant — to nullify the impurity of Egypt, "whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys," etc. And therefore we must redeem the petter chamor through the seh that we give to the Kohen, in order to draw through this the aspect of the tikkunim of Atik that one receives from the Kohen — which is the aspect of guarding the covenant, through which one merits holy wealth, as explained there. For Israel, in their going out from Egypt, merited the great aforementioned wealth, as it is written: "And afterward they shall go out with great property" (Bereishis 15:14). And all this was for the sake of the aforementioned contemplation — for they needed to receive the holy Torah, where is the aspect of the aforementioned contemplation. Therefore they needed the great property as mentioned. And this wealth they took out on donkeys specifically — the aspect of "chamor garem" as mentioned. And therefore the petter chamor was sanctified to be redeemed with a seh for the Kohen, and so forth, as mentioned. And the essential abundance of wealth Israel merited at the time of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds (kriyat Yam Suf) — for the spoils of the sea were greater than the spoils of Egypt. For there they merited great contemplation — for there the sea of wisdom was also split spiritually, until a maidservant at the sea saw what Yechezkel the prophet never saw, and babes and nursing infants said "This is my God and I will glorify Him" (Shemos 15:2). Therefore they merited there immensely great wealth — for it is impossible to receive such great contemplation except through holy wealth as mentioned. And therefore the essential splitting of the Sea of Reeds came through Yosef, as it is written (Tehillim 114): "The sea saw and fled" — "He went out" (Bereishis 39:12) — that is, by virtue of Yosef standing in the trial and guarding the covenant. Through this they merited great wealth and the aforementioned contemplation — for this is merited through guarding the covenant, which one merits through yirah as mentioned. And this is what is written about Yosef: "I fear God" (Bereishis 42:18). And as it is written: "And how can I do this great evil and sin against God?" (Bereishis 39:9) — that he had yirah and withstood the trial and was not drawn after the vanity of feminine beauty. And through this he merited immensely great wealth, as it is written: "And Yosef gathered all the silver..." (Bereishis 47:14) — for he merited all the wealth of the world. And through this he merited the aforementioned contemplation, as it is written: "There is no one as wise and understanding as you" (Bereishis 41:39), and as mentioned. And this is what is written at the splitting of the Sea of Reeds: "And the people feared Hashem" (Shemos 14:31) — for the essential aspect of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds — that is, the wealth and contemplation mentioned — which one merits through the aspect of Yosef, the aspect of guarding the covenant — this one merits through yirah as mentioned. And this is: "And if you do not redeem it, you shall break its neck" — "you shall break its neck" specifically — for he caused a loss of the Kohen's money, therefore his own money shall be lost. That is: when he does not want to give a seh to the Kohen, then he does not merit to draw the holy wealth. Therefore his money shall be lost — for wealth that is not drawn from the aspect of the Kohen is "wealth stored for its owner to his harm" (Koheles 5:12), and one must lose it and destroy it. And therefore "you shall break its neck" specifically — to subdue the oref [the back of the neck] which is the opposite of the panim [face]. For the aforementioned holy wealth — drawn through the seh given to the Kohen — is drawn from the stories of ancient years, which is the aspect of the illumination of the face (haaras panim), the glory of the face (hadras panim), the aspect of the seventy faces of Torah as mentioned. But when one does not give the seh to the Kohen, one does not merit the illumination of the face and the glory of the face drawn through the Kohen as mentioned — and then one must strive to break the oref, so that it not overpower, Heaven forbid, since one did not draw the aspect of the illumination of the face through the Kohen as mentioned. And this is "you shall break its neck" — to subdue the oref. The oref has the same letters as Paro'h [Pharaoh] and the same letters as Pe'or, which also has the same letters as oref, as is brought. For just as holy wealth — drawn through yirah through guarding the covenant — brings one to the aforementioned contemplation, the attainment of Godliness (hasagas Elokus): so too, zeh l'umas zeh [this opposite to that] — when one does not draw the illumination of the face, Heaven forbid, and does not merit yirah, then this is the blemish of the covenant, the interruption of the breath. And then if one has wealth, this money is the aspect of idolatry (avodah zarah). As our master of blessed memory explains elsewhere (Section 23): all forms of idolatry are embedded in money — and concerning this money it is said: "And silver I multiplied for her, and gold they made for the Ba'al" (Hoshea 2:10) — that is, Hashem Yisbarach gave them silver and gold and great wealth so that they should merit through it to the contemplation of the greatness and attainment of Hashem Yisbarach, and they reversed it from opposite to opposite and fell into idolatry through it — and made themselves alien gods, idolatry, which is the aspect of the interruption of the breath. As it is written of idolatry (Tehillim 135): "Also there is no breath in their mouth" — for the spirit of life, the aspect of the lengthening of breath, is not there, for they are in the aspect of the interruption of the breath. And therefore in truth this wealth is not wealth at all, as our master of blessed memory explains elsewhere — for the essential true wealth is when it is drawn through the lengthening of breath, that is, through guarding the covenant, as is explained there in the aforementioned discourse. And this is the aspect of v'dai zahav [and sufficient gold] (Devarim 1:1), and Rashi explained: because of the gold that He bestowed upon them — that is, as mentioned: for they blemished the wealth through the lust of immorality, for Israel only worshipped idolatry in order to permit themselves sexual immorality, and so forth. And then it was reversed from the contemplation one merits through wealth as mentioned — reversed to the complete opposite — for they fell into idolatry through it. And all the Kohanim and Leviim did not worship the calf. And therefore then the Kohanim and Leviim were sanctified and merited the service of the Beis HaMikdash, which is the aspect of yirah, holy wealth, and the aforementioned contemplation. And therefore at that time the animals of the Leviim redeemed the animals of Israel, and our Sages of blessed memory said that they only redeemed the pittrei chamorim [firstborn donkeys] of Israel — and one seh of a Levi redeemed [one], and so forth. For the essential [purpose] was to rectify and redeem the pittrei chamor through the Leviim and Kohanim — who are the aspect of yirah, which is the rectification of holy wealth, which is the aspect of the redemption of the petter chamor as mentioned. Therefore Kohanim and Leviim are exempt from the firstborn of impure animals — as our Sages said: if they redeemed those of Israel in the wilderness, is it not right that they should exempt their own? For the Kohanim and Leviim, their service is in the Beis HaMikdash, and they are in the aspect of yirah, through which one merits holy wealth, which is the aspect of the donkey. And therefore they do not need to redeem it and rectify it — for they themselves embody the rectification of holy wealth. On the contrary — they can redeem and rectify the pittrei chamor of Israel: that is, to rectify their wealth — to rectify it from the sin of the calf, from the sin of idolatry, which is wealth of the Sitra Achra drawn through the blemish of the covenant. And they rectify this and draw holy wealth as mentioned. And therefore one who does not redeem the petter chamor — then the wealth of the Sitra Achra can overpower, Heaven forbid — which is idolatry — which is the aspect of the oref, the opposite of the panim as mentioned — as it is written of idolatry: "For they turned their backs (oref) to Me and not their faces" (Yirmiyahu 2:27) — which is the aspect of Pe'or, which they came to through the lust of immorality — which is the aspect of Paro'h, who said "Who is Hashem?" (Shemos 5:2) — because of the great wealth and bounty of the Sitra Achra that he had, and through the Nile, which they worshipped, from which came their wealth. All this is the aspect of the oref, the opposite of the panim from which holy wealth is drawn. And therefore: "And if you do not redeem it, you shall break its neck" — in order to break and subdue the oref, the aspect of Pharaoh, the aspect of Pe'or — so that the wealth of the Sitra Achra should not overpower, Heaven forbid, which is idolatry as mentioned. And therefore the commandment of redemption precedes the commandment of breaking the neck — for through the commandment of redemption one rectifies the wealth and merits holy wealth as mentioned. But through the commandment of breaking the neck, one does not merit to rectify holy wealth — one only subdues and breaks the oref, so that at the very least the wealth of the Sitra Achra should not overpower as mentioned. And as our Sages said: he caused a loss of the Kohen's money, therefore his money shall be lost — as mentioned. For since he does not merit holy wealth, one must break the oref and deliberately cause loss of money and wealth of this kind — for "for not with these is the portion of Yaakov" — for Israel needs only holy wealth for the sake of contemplation, and not money and wealth of this kind, Heaven forbid, as mentioned. And therefore the essential wealth of Yaakov came through the flock (tzon) — for Yaakov merited holy wealth through which one merits contemplation, as is brought in the aforementioned discourse on the verse: "And now, all that God has said to you — do" (Bereishis 31:16). See there. And this is the aspect of: "And it came to pass when Rachel had given birth to Yosef, and Yaakov said..." — "Send me on my way..." (Bereishis 30:25) — "and when shall I also provide for my own household?" For Yaakov did not begin to occupy himself with the aforementioned wealth until after Rachel gave birth to Yosef — for Rachel had been barren, and when she was visited and gave birth to Yosef — that is, the visitation of the barren, through which yirah is drawn, through which one merits holy wealth — therefore specifically then did Yaakov say to Lavan: "and when shall I also provide for my own household?" — that is, that he needed to draw bounty and wealth. And the entire intention of Yaakov was for the sake of the contemplation one merits through holy wealth as mentioned. And so it was that he then began to take for himself all the speckled, spotted, and streaked of the flock. And through this he merited immensely great wealth, as it is written there: "And the man increased greatly" and so forth (Bereishis 30:43). For the essential holy wealth is in the aspect of flock (tzon), the aspect of "v'ashterot tzonecha" [and the ashterot of your flock] as mentioned. And this is what Yaakov said to Lavan regarding the wealth of the flock that he had rightfully gained from him: "I was there by day..." (Bereishis 31:40) — "and my sleep departed from my eyes" — "my sleep departed" specifically — for the essential holy wealth is drawn through the awakening from sleep, the aspect of "and my sleep departed from my eyes" as mentioned. And therefore Yaakov did not go to Lavan until he had first sat fourteen years in the house of Ever, and did not sleep at night and occupied himself with Torah — which is the aspect of awakening from sleep and occupying oneself with Torah: that is, he received there the seventy faces of Torah which are the opposite of sleep. And then he encountered that place, which is the aspect of yirah, as it is written there: "How awesome is this place!" And there Hashem Yisbarach promised him regarding livelihood and wealth, as it is written there: "For I will not forsake you," and so forth, as Rashi explained there. And this is the aspect of what he saw there in a dream: a ladder standing on the ground with its top reaching the heavens. Sulam [ladder] in gematria equals mamon [money], as is brought — that is, there he grasped that there is money and holy wealth in this world through which one merits great contemplation — the aspect of "and its top reaching the heavens." And therefore then Rachel and Leah were joined to him — who are the aspect of isha yiras Hashem [a woman who fears Hashem] — through whom he merited great holy wealth through the flock as mentioned. And therefore he occupied himself then with tending the flock in the secret of tefillin, as is brought — for tefillin are the aspect of mochin and contemplation drawn through the wealth he received then while tending the flock as mentioned. And therefore the essential [reception of] tefillin one merits to receive in the morning light through awakening from sleep — for it is stated in the writings of the holy Ari of blessed memory that the essential drawing of the mochin of tefillin one merits through rising at midnight and occupying oneself with Torah, and so forth. See there. The rising at midnight is the aspect of awakening from sleep, through which one merits the contemplation drawn through wealth as mentioned — for tefillin are the aspect of the light of the face (or hapanim), that is, the glory of the face (hadras panim), which one merits through awakening from sleep — that is, through rising at midnight as mentioned — through which one merits to loosen the mouth of the mute, to loosen the mouths of the barren. And therefore tefillin is a term of speech (lashon dibur), as Rashi explained on the verse "and as frontlets between your eyes" (totafos) — that it is a term of speech. And this is the aspect of "and you shall teach them sharply to your children" (v'shinantam l'vanecha) stated in the tefillin [parasha]. And therefore the tidings of children are mentioned in all four parashiyos of tefillin: for in the parasha of Kadesh it is said: "And you shall tell your son..." (Shemos 13:8). And so too in the second parasha: "And it shall be when your son asks you..." (Shemos 13:14). And so too in the parasha of Shema and v'hayah im shamo'a: it is said — "and you shall teach them sharply to your children" — "and you shall teach them to your children" (Devarim 11:19) — "so that your days shall be multiplied and the days of your children," and so forth. For within the words of the warning and the commandment stated in these parashiyos, He announces to them about the children they will have — as Rashi explained in parshas Bo on the verse: "And it shall be when your children say to you..." (Shemos 12:26), after which is written: "And they bowed and prostrated themselves." And Rashi explained there: about the tidings of offspring, and so forth. Similarly in these four parashiyos, He mentions commandments dependent on children as mentioned, and thereby announces to them the tidings of offspring — which is the aspect of the birth and visitation of the barren. And through this one merits yirah as mentioned. And this too is the aspect of tefillin, which are the aspect of yirah, as it is written: "And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the Name of Hashem is proclaimed over you, and they shall fear you" (Devarim 28:10). And our Sages said: these are the tefillin of the head. And through yirah one merits length of days — which is the aspect of tefillin, as it is written (Menachos 44a): "One who puts on tefillin merits life," and so forth. And therefore at the conclusion of the four parashiyos — that is, at the end of v'hayah im shamo'a — it is said: "so that your days shall be multiplied and the days of your children" — that is, length of days that one merits through tefillin in the aspect of yirah, in the aspect of "Yiras Hashem tosif yamim." And therefore the tefillin of the arm precede the tefillin of the head — for the tefillin of the arm are on the left, which is the aspect of the aforementioned wealth — the aspect of (Mishlei 3:16): "In her left hand, wealth and honor" — through which wealth one merits the aforementioned contemplation, which is the aspect of the tefillin of the head as mentioned. And therefore the tefillin are enclosed in houses of leather and straps of leather — for the houses and straps of leather are the aspect of: "And Hashem God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin and dressed them" (Bereishis 3:21). Which are the aspect of stories of deeds (sipurei ma'asiyos) in which the light of Torah is concealed and clothed — for originally [the word was] "kosnos or" [garments of light, spelled with alef], and after they sinned [it became] "kosnos ohr" [garments of skin, spelled with ayin], and so forth. That is, after the sin — through which they fell into the aspect of sleep, the withdrawal of the face and the mochin — they were then obligated to clothe the face of the Torah in garments of skin, which is the aspect of stories of deeds in which the face of the Torah is concealed and clothed as mentioned. And this is the aspect of the houses and straps of leather of the tefillin — for the essential [drawing of] tefillin comes through awakening from sleep, drawn through stories of ancient years, which are the aspect of the glory of the face (hadras panim) as mentioned. And therefore the strap (retzu'ah) in gematria equals shin-ayin [370], which is the aspect of the 370 lights (shin-ayin nhorin) of the light of the face, as is brought — for the light of the face, that is, the aspect of the seventy faces of Torah, is concealed and hidden in the leather straps, which are the aspect of the garments of skin — which is the aspect of the clothing of the face of Torah in stories of deeds — through which one merits tefillin as mentioned. And therefore through the straps the tefillin are bound — for it is impossible to receive and draw and bind the tefillin and the contemplation to a person except through the aspect of the leather straps, which are the aspect of stories of deeds through which comes the awakening from sleep as mentioned. Through this one merits yirah, which is the aspect of the strap (retzu'ah) as is known. For there was a harp (kinnor) hung above the bed of David — and when midnight arrived it would play by itself, and then David would rise from sleep and occupy himself with Torah. This melody is the aspect of hadras panim, from which all the seventy faces of Torah are drawn — for melody is the aspect of the cantillation marks (te'amim) of the Torah: that is, the musical notations, which are the highest of all four aspects — cantillation marks (te'amim), vowel points (nekudos), crowns (tagim), and letters (osiyos). For the cantillation marks — that is, the melody — are highest of all, and they are in the aspect of the light of the face, and there are concealed and hidden all seventy faces of Torah (and see in the Kavanot regarding the subject of cantillation marks, vowel points, crowns, and letters, and you will understand that the cantillation marks, being the aspect of melody, are drawn from the most supreme and elevated da'as, which is the aspect of the light of the face). For in truth, in the melody one does not understand any face of Torah, and even the form of the letters is not comprehended there. And yet in truth it is highest of all, and there all seventy faces of Torah are concealed and rooted. And this is the aspect of stories of ancient years — even though one understands nothing in them, yet in truth all seventy faces of Torah are concealed in them. And therefore through the melody, which is the aspect of stories of deeds, one is awakened from sleep at midnight. And through rising at midnight one merits tefillin as mentioned. And therefore the essential Exodus from Egypt began at midnight — which is the aspect of the awakening from sleep. Through this they merited to go out with great property — that is, the aforementioned wealth drawn through the awakening from sleep as mentioned. Through this they merit contemplation, which is the aspect of tefillin in which the Exodus from Egypt is mentioned. And this is what our master of blessed memory mentioned there — the matter of "min hamuttar l'ficha" [what is permitted to your mouth] (Sanhedrin 101a) that is said concerning tefillin — he mentioned it there in connection with stories of deeds. See there. For all the aspects mentioned in the aforementioned discourse are all the aspect of tefillin, which are the aspect of mochin — that is, the aforementioned contemplation as mentioned. And this is what our Sages connected the matter of livelihood to the harp of David — as they said there: and when morning light came, all Israel came to David and said to him: "Your people Israel need livelihood," and so forth. For through the harp of David — which is the aspect of awakening from sleep — livelihood and great wealth were drawn as mentioned. And this is the aspect of (Tehillim 57:9): "Awake, my glory! Awake..." — glory (kavod) is the aspect of wealth, which is called kavod, as it is written regarding Yaakov: "And from what belongs to our father he made all this glory (kavod)." And as it is written: "wealth and honor (osher v'chavod)" — for through awakening from sleep through the harp of David, glory and great wealth were drawn as mentioned. And this is the aspect of the Song of the Sea (Shiras HaYam) — for there they merited all of this: great wealth and the aforementioned contemplation. Therefore they merited there to song — for all the aforementioned aspects are drawn from the aspect of song, of melody, of the harp of David as mentioned. And this is the aspect of "And it was in the morning watch — this is the morning of Avraham" — for by the merit of Avraham was the splitting of the Sea of Reeds — for Avraham is the man of kindness, the aspect of v'rav chesed as mentioned, the aspect of Kohen, as it is written (Tehillim 110): "You are a Kohen forever." And therefore he merited the tikkunim of Atik as mentioned, and the aforementioned wealth, as it is written: "And Avraham was old, having come into his days, and Hashem had blessed Avraham with everything," and so forth — as is explained there at the beginning of the aforementioned discourse. And therefore by his merit was the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, which is the aforementioned contemplation that one merits through wealth as mentioned — which is what Hashem Yisbarach promised Avraham: that Israel would merit this, as it is written: "And afterward they shall go out with great property" — that is, wealth as mentioned — through which one merits great contemplation for the receiving of the Torah as mentioned. And this is what Avraham said to the king of Sodom: "From a thread to a sandal-strap (sro'ach na'al), I will not take" (Bereishis 14:23) — "lest you say, I made Avram rich." For our Sages expounded: that by merit of this his children merited the strap of tefillin — by merit of saying: "until the sandal-strap." And this is: "until the sandal-strap, lest you say I made rich," etc. And Rashi explained: for Hashem Yisbarach had already promised him to make him wealthy — that is, Avraham said: Hashem Yisbarach has already promised me that I would merit holy wealth, which is the aspect of tefillin, the aspect of the sandal-strap (sro'ach na'al). Therefore I do not want your wealth. And this is: "until the sandal-strap, lest you say I made rich" — for Hashem Yisbarach has already promised me holy wealth, which is the aspect of the sandal-strap, the aspect of the strap of tefillin, through which one merits great contemplation as mentioned. Amen, amen. This pertains to what was said above. Yaakov merited, at the time of tending his flock, great wealth and contemplation — the aspect of tefillin — for Yaakov is the aspect of yirah: as [the Sages] said: "v'hanora" [and the awesome] — this is Yaakov; and as our Sages said: "b'yirascha" [in Your awe] — by the merit of Yaakov who said: "How awesome is this place!" And there is an allusion that this is the aspect of akudim, nekudim, berudim [streaked, spotted, speckled] — this is the aspect of the three lines of yirah through which one merits wealth and the aforementioned contemplation: [first,] the one who fears Hashem Yisbarach from the greatness of his contemplation of the greatness of the Creator Yisbarach; [second,] the yirah of the disciple who fears the teacher; and [third,] the yirah of the son, which is the yirah of father and mother. Berudim — this is the aspect of the yirah of the teacher (rav) — for berudim: the whiteness penetrates from side to side, as Rashi explained. This is the aspect of machsof halavan [the bared white] — which is the aspect of the supernal white (loven ha'elyon), which is the aspect of the revelation of the greatness of the Creator Yisbarach, which the true rav and tzaddik merits through the greatness of his wisdom and understanding and da'as — through which he merits yirah as mentioned. And the revelation is the aspect of the supernal white, the aspect of machsof halavan, the aspect of berudim — for the whiteness of his mind (levanus hamochin) is the aspect of the whiteness of the mind (levona d'mocha) penetrating from side to side — for his mind is open in wisdom and he has great recognition of the greatness of the Creator Yisbarach and His exaltedness, through which he merits the awe of the exaltedness (yiras haromemut) as mentioned. Nekudim — this is the aspect of the yirah of the disciple who receives from the teacher. And the disciple, relative to the teacher, is in the aspect of a point (nekudah) alone — as it is written (Avos ch. 6): "All my days I grew up among the wise, and I found lacking in my teachers only as a drop from the sea" — for the lower level, the aspect of the disciple, relative to the teacher who is in the aspect of the higher level, is only the aspect of a tiny point alone. And this is the aspect of nekudim. Akudim — marked on their feet, as Rashi explained — this is the aspect of the yirah of the son — for bera kara d'avuha [a son is the leg of his father]. The aspect of the feet (raglin) — the aspect of akudim. And through the three parts of yirah that were in him in their completeness — which is the aspect of akudim, nekudim, berudim — through this he merited great wealth. For the essential wealth of Yaakov came through the fact that the flock bore akudim, nekudim, berudim — which are the aspect of yirah — through which one merits wealth and the contemplation of tefillin — the aspect of machsof halavan asher al hamaklos [the bared white that is on the rods]. The rods (maklos) are the aspect of yirah — for from there the aspect of rod and strap (makel u'retzu'ah) for governing derives. For through this is the essential yirah — for the essential yirah one merits through fear of punishment, which is the aspect of rod and strap. Through this one comes to the higher yirah, through which one merits wealth and contemplation as mentioned. Which are the aspect of tefillin that are alluded to in the aspect of the rods with which Yaakov occupied himself, as is known — the aspect of "And Yaakov set up the rods which he had peeled in the troughs (bi'rhatim)" — in the troughs of the mind (b'rahatei mohin) — the aspect of tefillin — the aspect of "the King is held captive in the troughs" (Shir HaShirim 7:6). For the yirah and wealth and contemplation that Yaakov merited then while tending the flock as mentioned — for this is the aspect of tefillin as mentioned.