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Likutay Halachos – Hilchos Orla, Halacha 5

One must also guard the garments from stains and draw upon them whiteness from the mind (moach), so that they should be in the aspect of white garments, as all this is brought in the discourse Hai Man. And this is the rectification of the covenant as explained there. And this is the aspect of Raishis HaGez given to the Kohen. For the Kohen is the aspect of wisdom (chochmah), the aspect of holiness (kodesh). And through the first-portion (reishis) which one gives him, through this whiteness is drawn from the mind, which is the aspect of the beginning of wisdom (reishis chochmah). And from there whiteness flows to the garments made from the wool shearing and they become the aspect of white garments, as mentioned. And this is the aspect of b’chol eis yihyu vegadecha levanim v’shemen al roshcha al yechsar [at all times let your garments be white and let not oil be lacking upon your head] (Koheles 9:8) — for through the oil upon the head, which is the aspect of da’as, the aspect of holy anointing oil, the aspect of the Kohen anointed with oil, in the aspect of kashemen hatov al harosh yored al hazakan zekan Aharon [like precious oil upon the head flowing down upon the beard, the beard of Aharon] (Tehillim 133:2) — through this your garments shall be white, as mentioned.

For twenty-four matters one is excommunicated (menadin), and the essential basis of excommunication is for blemishing the honour of Torah scholars, or for blemishing against their words. For the Torah scholars bring peace into the world, for they decide the halachos, through which peace is made. And therefore one who blemishes against them is liable to excommunication — in the aspect of u’mitaivel yeniduhhu [and the world shall banish him] — that is, they expel him and separate him from the congregation, for he has blemished in the aspect of peace. And as brought in the discourse of the seals (ma’amar hachosamos) at its beginning (Siman 22): when the peace made through Torah scholars is blemished, a separation and strife is created, in the aspect of u’mitaivel yeniduhhu — and this is the aspect of excommunication, as mentioned. And therefore the excommunicated one is forbidden to speak, for he has no mouth. For the essential speech is from the aspect of peace, as it is written: adabrah na shalom [let me speak peace], as our Rebbe, may his light shine, explains (Siman 259). For malchus peh [kingship is the mouth] and the essential existence of the kingship is through the aspect of peace — in the aspect of havu mispallelim bishlomah shel malchus [be accustomed to pray for the welfare of the kingdom]. And therefore speech, which is in the aspect of malchus peh, is essentially through peace, as mentioned. And this one blemished in the aspect of the Torah scholars who multiply peace, as mentioned, and blemished the kingship. For man malchei — rabbanan [who are kings? — the rabbis]. For through the halachos that the Torah scholars decide, through which they make peace — through this they rectify the aspect of kingship, which is the aspect of halachah whose rectification is through peace. And this one who blemished against Torah scholars is therefore forbidden to speak, as mentioned. And therefore he is forbidden within his four amos [cubits]. For every person has four amos, and these four amos are in the aspect of kingship — in the aspect of the four amos of halachah — in the aspect of ein lo l’Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu ela arba amos [the Holy One blessed-be-He has nothing but four cubits etc.]. For the four amos of every person belong to him and are his domain — he is in the aspect of kingship over them. And when one is not separated from the kings — the rabbis — then one merits in one’s four amos through the Torah scholars who are the aspect of kingship, the aspect of the four amos of halachah. But when one blemishes against them and is separated from them, one’s four amos are blemished, as mentioned. And therefore the excommunicated one is obligated in the removal of the shoe (chalitzas haminal). For minal da itteta [the shoe is the feminine aspect] — and it is in the aspect of kasnos or [coats of skin], the aspect of Metat, which is the aspect of Mishnah, which is the aspect of permitted and forbidden etc. And therefore our Sages of blessed memory said: a person should always sell whatever he has and acquire shoes for his feet. For shoes are the aspect of extra protection, for they are at the feet where extra protection from the external ones is needed. For they are in the aspect of halachos, the aspect of Metat, as mentioned — the aspect of the shoe of Torah scholars. And therefore a Torah scholar is forbidden to walk barefoot. And therefore this one who blemished against Torah scholars who decide the halachos — therefore he is obligated in the removal of the shoe. And therefore one is excommunicated for twenty-four matters. For the kingship comprises twenty-four books, in the aspect of v’samti chadkod shimshosayich [and I will make your windows of rubies] (Kadkod in gematria = 24), as brought. And therefore one is obligated to tear [one’s garments] upon the dead, heaven forbid. For the aspect of death (sitra de’mosa) comes through the blemish of the Tree of Knowledge, through the blemish of the covenant — through which comes the blemish of the garments, as mentioned. And therefore one tears the garments, for the blemish of the garments comes through the aspect of strife (machlokes), from which the aspect of death comes, as mentioned. And this is the aspect of torn garments that are torn into two parts — this is the aspect of strife, as mentioned. And this is what our Rebbe, may his light shine, wrote: that garments must always be whole and not torn, for they are a protection (see Siman 127). For when they are whole and not torn into parts, they are in the aspect of peace. And then they are in the aspect of protection, as mentioned. And therefore the mourner must sit alone and be separated from the world, in the aspect of the aforementioned strife — for he is now far from peace, as mentioned. And therefore he has no mouth, as mentioned. For the blemish of the Tree of Knowledge — from which the aspect of death comes — is the aspect of the blemish of speech, the aspect of the tongues of the nations which are not called speech at all. For the essential speech is the aspect of the holy tongue (lashon hakodesh), as brought above. And therefore he must sit on the ground, in the aspect of yitein be’afar pihu [let him put his mouth in the dust], in the aspect of u’me’afar tishach imrascheich [and your speech shall be brought low from the dust] — which is the aspect of the blemish of speech as our Rebbe explains. And all this is through the filth of the serpent (zuhamas hanachash), in the aspect of v’nachash afar lachmo [and dust is the serpent’s food]. And from there the aspect of mourning — that is, the sadness (atzbus) drawn from the foundation of dust, as brought. And this is what our Rebbe wrote: that the essential bite of the serpent is sadness and sloth — see there. And therefore the mourner is obligated in the removal of the shoe, which is in the aspect of kasnos or [coats of skin], which is the aspect of the rectification of the blemish of the Tree of Knowledge, as mentioned. And therefore he is forbidden in marital relations, for the aspect of nirgan mafrid aluf [a whisperer separates the chief] has taken hold. And therefore he is obligated to overturn the bed (kefiyat hamitah). For the bed is in the aspect of kingship, in the aspect of hineh mitaso shel Shlomo [behold the bed of Shlomo] — the aspect of the rectification of the covenant — in the aspect of vayishtachu Yisrael al rosh hamitah [and Yisrael bowed at the head of the bed] — because his bed was complete. And now he is far from this, as mentioned. And therefore he is obligated to overturn the bed. And therefore others feed him his first meal (mavrinin oso se’udah harishonah), so that he should be considered as a pauper — to exchange the death, heaven forbid, for poverty. As it is written: b’yom achalcha etc. — da aniyusa [this is poverty]. And therefore he is forbidden to bathe, for the essential bathing is in hot water, and through this the evil of the seventy tongues is expelled so that they not take hold in the aspect of the holy tongue — in the aspect of yimotu aleihem gechalim [let coals fall upon them] — in the secret of bathing in hot water on Erev Shabbos. And now he is far from this, as mentioned. And therefore he is forbidden in anointing (sichah), which is the aspect of the mind (mochin), the aspect of v’shemen al roshcha etc., the aspect of the holy anointing oil — from which comes the rectification of the garments, the aspect of b’chol eis etc., as mentioned. And now the da’as is blemished through the blemish of the Tree of Knowledge, and through this the garments are blemished, as mentioned. And therefore he is forbidden in anointing. And therefore he is forbidden to launder his garment, for he does not now merit white garments, as mentioned. And all this is forbidden for all seven [days of mourning]. For the kingship comprises seven days, and there the external ones take hold in the aspect of seven days. And to leave the mourning completely is until thirty [days] — that is, a month of days — for each month the moon is rectified and made full, which is the aspect of kingship, and then the mourner is rectified. For all the mourning comes through the aspect of the blemish of kingship, which is the aspect of the holy tongue which was blemished through the Tree of Knowledge, from which the aspect of death comes, as mentioned. And therefore thirty days [is the period] for laundering and for haircuts — that is, he does not merit white garments completely until after thirty [days], for then the filling and rectification of the kingship which is the aspect of garments is complete, as mentioned. And therefore for all thirty days he is forbidden to sew up the tear, as mentioned. For he cannot rectify the aspect of the blemish of the torn garments until after thirty [days], as mentioned. And this is the prohibition of the haircut. For the hairs — from there the enemies nourish, that is, strife — as our Rebbe explains (Siman 69). And therefore ordinarily a haircut is every thirty days, for each thirty days when the kingship is filled and rectified, therefore one must cut the hairs so that the enemies not nourish from the aspect of kingship through excessively long hair. And therefore the mourner cannot rectify himself and cast off the hairs from upon himself until after thirty [days], for then is his rectification, as mentioned. And therefore the festival (regel) cancels the mourning. But the Shabbos, even though mourning practices do not apply on it, does not cancel [the mourning] — for the essential ascent of the kingship is on the festivals, as our Rebbe explains very well in the discourse Meishera d’Sakina (Siman 30) — see there. For Shabbos is complete rest, and then there is no clarification at all, as brought. And therefore all melachos are forbidden on it. But on Yom Tov there are some melachos that are permitted, such as the preparation of food, and then there is some clarification. And through the holiness of Yom Tov the kingship is elevated from the sitra achra, from the four kingdoms. It turns out that on Yom Tov there is a great subjugation of the sitra achra and an elevation of the kingship. For Yom Tov depends upon the actions of those below, as it is written: asher tikr’u osam [which you shall call] — do not read osam but atem [you yourselves] — as brought in the words of our Rebbe (Siman 135). But Shabbos is fixed and established, and it is holy of itself and does not perform any clarification, and all are tranquil and quiet and there is no battle at all. And therefore Shabbos does not cancel the mourning, for Shabbos is very far above and does not subdue the sitra achra — only the sitra achra has no grip then, for then there is no clarification and action at all, for hayom la’asosom [today to do them] is written — and Shabbos is the aspect of the world-to-come. But on Yom Tov which is the aspect of the battle of Amalek and then they are subdued and the kingship elevated — therefore it cancels the mourning, for then they fight and nullify and subdue the sitra achra from which the mourning comes, and the kingship is elevated, as mentioned. Chazak. For even one who is guarded from the aspect of the evil eye (ra ayin) must still guard himself from the aspect of the medameh [the imaginative faculty], which is the spirit of animality (ruach habehamiyus). And this medameh always seeks to dwell upon one who recites halachos etc. — see there. And because of this, when one innovates something it is a beautiful and pleasant matter etc. and one must subdue the medameh and merit the aspect of holy love (ahavas dikdushah), the aspect of the Kohen — in the aspect of v’kamatz hakohen etc. See there all this well. And this is the aspect of Raishis HaGez which one must give to the Kohen. For the shearing of the flock (gizas hatzon) alludes to the aspect of halachos, as our Sages of blessed memory expounded on the verse u’ch’Rachel lifnay gozezehah — that they shear from her halachos — in the aspect of kevasim lilvushecha. For from the shearing of the flock, garments are made, which allude to the aspect of chalukah d’rabbanan formed from Torah novellae (chidushei Torah), the aspect of kevasim lilvushecha, as our Sages expounded. And therefore one must guard the shearing — which is the aspect of halachos, the aspect of novellae — from the force of the medameh, which always dwells upon one who recites halachos. And therefore one must give Raishis HaGez to the Kohen, man of kindness (ish hachesed), who is the aspect of holy love, which is the opposite of the medameh — in order to subdue the medameh and merit that the shearing be holy, so that one may merit that the garments made from the shearing — which allude to the aspect of Torah novellae, the chalukah d’rabbanan — be made from the aspect of holy knowledge (da’as dikdushah) brought about through the Kohen, who is the aspect of holy knowledge and holy love, as explained in the aforementioned discourse. And this is the aspect of the matter of the shearing of the flock mentioned in our holy Torah and in the Prophets many times. As it is written, at the time Yaakov fled from Lavan, it is said: v’Lavan halach ligzoz es tzono [and Lavan went to shear his flock]. And precisely then Yaakov fled from him. And likewise in the story of Yehudah and Tamar, from which was born the lineage of Mashiach, it is said: vaya’al Yehudah al gozezei tzono [and Yehudah went up to his sheep-shearers] etc. For the guarding of memory (shemiras hazikaron), which means clinging thought to the world-to-come — that is, enlarging knowledge (da’as) in all things in the world, knowing the divine hints contained therein, meaning the divine vitality (chiyus eloikus) clothed in every single thing of this world — this aspect is the aspect of the revelation of the holy kingship (malchus dikdushah). For when one knows His divinity, blessed-be-He, so-to-speak, as clothed in every thing of this world, then His kingship, blessed-be-He, is revealed, and one knows that His kingship rules over all, and that He, blessed-be-He, gives life to all. And when the holy kingship is revealed, then the kingship of Mashiach is revealed. For the essential kingdom of Mashiach, who will come speedily in our days, is only to reveal His kingship, blessed-be-He, so-to-speak. And then the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem etc., and then every person will be able to enlarge his knowledge to know and grasp His divinity as clothed in all things of the world. And then will be fulfilled: v’yeda kol pa’ul ki atah pe’alto v’yavin kol yetzur [and every creature shall know that You made it, and every formed thing shall understand] etc. It turns out that the aspect of memory — that is, the enlarging of da’as — is the aspect of the revelation of His kingship, the aspect of the kingship of Mashiach, as mentioned. And therefore when the aspect of memory is blemished, heaven forbid, it is a blemish of the kingship of Mashiach, heaven forbid. And perhaps one may say that this is why our holy Rebbe, may his memory be for a blessing, mentioned the kingship of Mashiach in that discourse — for he took up precisely the evil eye of arrogance (hisnashus), whose rectification is through the root, the kingship of Mashiach. And Avshalom who blemished through arrogant evil eye, and therefore Dovid fled from him. For one who blemishes through arrogance — which is the aspect of kingship — blemishes the aspect of the kingship of Mashiach, which is the root of kingship. And therefore its rectification is precisely through the kingship of Mashiach, through which the blemish of the arrogant evil eye is rectified — and through this memory is rectified — and then the da’as is enlarged — and then the holy kingship in the world is revealed, the kingship of Mashiach — and understand this. Returning to the matter: the guarding of memory is through subduing the medameh, as explained there. And subduing the medameh requires great purification at the time of the shearing of the flock. For the essential shearing is to make garments from the wool — so that what grows on the animal through the shearing becomes the garments of the human being, which are the aspect of da’as, the aspect of makifin [surrounding lights]. And one must elevate and rectify the shearing from the aspect of the medameh, for the wool grew on an animal, which is the aspect of the medameh. And one must shear the wool and elevate it from the aspect of animality to the aspect of human garments, which are the aspect of chalukah d’rabbanan. For the essential rectification and clarification of the medameh is through subduing the animal spirit and elevating from the aspect of animal to human, as explained above many times. And because of this the Patriarchs were shepherds — in order to clarify da’as from the medameh, to reveal the holy kingship which is revealed only through the enlargement of da’as in the aspect of memory, merited through clarifying the medameh. And therefore it is said of Dovid (Tehillim 78:71): me’achar alos hevi’o liros b’Yaakov amo [from after the nursing ewes He brought him to tend Yaakov His people] etc. For the kingship of Dovid is the kingship of Mashiach, revealed through subduing the medameh, as mentioned. And Dovid merited this through being a shepherd of flocks, meriting thereby to subdue the medameh and clarify da’as. And therefore in the case of Yaakov, who tended flocks at Lavan’s house for many years — all of this was in order to clarify da’as from the medameh, who is the aspect of Lavan the Aramean. For the medameh is the aspect of dream and sleep, which is the aspect of the Aramaic language (lashon Targum), which in gematria equals tardemah [deep sleep], as explained elsewhere (Siman 19). And the Aramaic language is the language through which Lavan the Aramean strengthened himself, through the medameh in the aspect of tardemah. And this is what Yaakov said when he was at Lavan’s house: vatidad shenas me’einai [and my sleep fled from my eyes] (Bereishis 31:40) — this being the aspect of subduing the medameh which is the aspect of sleep and deep slumber. And therefore when the time came for Yaakov to leave Lavan’s house, it is said: v’Lavan halach ligzoz es tzono [and Lavan went to shear his flock]. And precisely then Yaakov fled. For precisely then at the time of the shearing the medameh is able to strengthen itself. And since Yaakov no longer wished to undergo further clarification in Lavan’s house — for everything has its appointed time — he was therefore compelled to flee at the time when Lavan went up to shear his flock, so that the medameh should not strengthen itself, heaven forbid, through Lavan’s shearing. And conversely, through the shearing of Yehudah’s flock, the kingship of Mashiach was revealed — as it is written: vaya’al Yehudah al gozezei tzono. And then the lineage of Mashiach was born. For through Yehudah’s shearing he subdued the medameh and clarified da’as. And through the enlarging of da’as, the kingship of Mashiach was revealed. And therefore when Naval rebelled against Dovid, that incident too occurred at the time when he sheared his flock, as is plain from Scripture. And likewise when Avshalom rebelled against his father, the incident too unfolded through the shearing of his flock, as it is written: hineh gozezim l’avdecha [behold, shearers are at your servant’s] etc. For they wished to rebel against the kingship of Dovid, which is the kingship of Mashiach, and wished to strengthen themselves through the medameh, which strengthens itself at the time of the shearing of the flock. For precisely then at the time of the shearing one must clarify the medameh. And one who does not clarify it — on the contrary, the medameh is able to strengthen itself then, heaven forbid. And this is the aspect of all the aforementioned events which occurred precisely at the time of the shearing of the flock. And this is the aspect of Raishis HaGez which one must give to the Kohen — in order to subdue the medameh through the Kohen, man of kindness, as mentioned. And as explained in the aforementioned discourse — see there well.