כלאי הכרם וכלאי אילן א

And this is what our Sages of blessed memory taught — and it is brought in Rashi's commentary [to Job 28:14] on the verse: "the deep said: 'It is not with me,' and the sea said: 'It is not with me'" [Job 28:14] — that at the time of the giving of the Torah, the adversary [Satan] came before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said to him: Where is the Torah? He [G-d] said to him: It is with the son of Amram [i.e., Moshe]. He went to the son of Amram, and said to him: Where is the Torah? He said: It is with the sea. He went to the sea, and said to him: Where is the Torah? He said: It is not with me — go to the son of Amram. He went to the son of Amram and said to him: Where is the Torah? He said: It is with the deep. He went to the deep, and said to him: Where is the Torah? He said: It is not with me — go to the son of Amram. He came to the son of Amram and said to him: Where is the Torah? He said: It is with the Holy One, blessed be He. And this is what Iyov [Job 28:14] said: "the deep said: It is not with me, and the sea said: It is not with me; it cannot be given in exchange for the finest gold, etc.; Destruction [Avadon] and Death said" — and Rashi explained: those who destroy and kill themselves over it [the Torah] said: "with our own ears we have heard its fame" — that one who labors in it, it is established within him [Rashi to Job 28:22].

Now, anyone who sees this aggadic teaching will be astonished by its words, for it is very wondrous from beginning to end. For at its beginning, a difficulty arises: what does the Adversary want asking the Holy One, blessed be He, about the Torah? Is he a Torah-lover?! Is he not the very one who hates those who keep the Torah and provokes them mightily?! And also — why did the Holy One, blessed be He, need to answer him and tell him to whom He had entrusted the treasures of His storehouses — was it He Who gave counsel to a king?! [i.e., when has a king ever disclosed his treasury to an adversary?] And most wondrous and astonishing beyond all else is: what did Moshe see that led him to mislead him [the Adversary] and say it [the Torah] was with the sea, and afterward that it was with the deep — and how did he utter a "falsehood" from his mouth, Heaven forbid?! And also — did he not know that the Adversary would afterward return to him?! And also, afterward — how did he say it was with the Holy One, blessed be He, when in truth Hashem, may He be blessed, had already given it to him?!

But in truth, everything is well resolved. And the essential principle is: it is impossible for every person in every era to receive the Torah — that is, to merit to fulfill the Torah and to understand the paths of the Torah in their proper place — which is the essential aspect of receiving the Torah in general and in particular for every individual. All of this is impossible except through great exertions: one must break mighty obstacles before each person merits the aspect of receiving the Torah — as our Sages of blessed memory said: "I labored and I found — believe it; I did not labor and I found — do not believe it" [Megilah 6b]. Now, the Adversary — to whom Hashem, may He be blessed, gave power to provoke against those who wish to receive and fulfill the Torah — for the essential fulfillment of the Torah depends on this: that through the existence of the Adversary who prevents and entices, there is free will. For without free will there is no place for the Torah — which is why the Torah was not given to the angels but to human beings, because they have free will. And the essential free will is through the Adversary who entices and prevents. And therefore he has power to accuse [katreg] always, as is well known from the words of our Sages. And because of this he had the power to come before Hashem, may He be blessed, and ask him where the Torah was — for he understood that Hashem, may He be blessed, was engaged in giving it to Israel, and he wanted to accuse regarding this: that they are not yet worthy of receiving the Torah. For in truth the Torah was given ahead of its time, as our Sages of blessed memory said regarding the verse: "a word He commanded to a thousand generations" [Psalms 105:8] — [it was destined for the thousandth generation but was given at the 26th] [Shabbos 88b]. And therefore he certainly had power to ask Hashem, may He be blessed, about this — for he is appointed for this: to ask and to accuse. Hashem, may He be blessed, answered him: it is already with the son of Amram; if you have an argument with him and wish to provoke him as to why he received it — go to him. He went to the son of Amram and asked him: Where is the Torah? — as if to say: Where is the Torah that you received to transmit to Israel? Is this not against the law, for they are not yet fitting to have the Torah transmitted to them?! And Moshe Rabbainu understood the import of his words — how far they reached — and he understood that it was difficult for him to answer him. For in truth he had many arguments and accusations — that Israel was not yet fully worthy to receive it. Moshe answered him wisely: It is with the sea. His intention was: I have not yet transmitted it in complete wholeness to Israel — rather, the Torah is still with the sea — that is to say: you have no grounds yet to accuse Israel regarding its reception, for the Torah is still "with the sea" — meaning: no one can attain the Torah and fulfill it properly except one who is willing to endure mighty exertions and give his soul to descend into the depths of the sea for it. Only one who is in this state — he certainly deserves to receive it. And therefore the Adversary immediately ran to the sea and asked it: Where is the Torah? For he was mistaken and thought the matter was literal — that the Torah was within the sea and one had to descend into the sea to receive it from there. And therefore he asked the sea: where is the Torah? For if it is truly within the sea, he would stand by the sea to accuse and prevent all those who wished to descend into the sea to receive it from there — for he has power to stand as a tempter and preventer and hindrance wherever the Torah is found, in order that there should be free will, as stated above. And the sea answered him: the truth — it is not with me! Immediately the Adversary returned to Moshe and asked him again: Where is the Torah? — since the sea says it is not with him. Moshe said to him: It is with the deep. That is, he wanted to save himself from the accusation of the Adversary and answered him: What do you want to provoke about this — the sea said "it is not with me"? The truth is, yes! For even one who gives his soul in the aspect of descending into the sea still does not merit the full understanding of the Torah — except when he descends into the very deep. For there are paths of the Torah that can only be attained by one who is able to descend into the very depths. Immediately he ran to the deep and asked it: Where is the Torah? — in order to accuse those who descend into the depths for the sake of the Torah. The deep answered him: It is not with me! He returned to Moshe and [Moshe] said to him: It is with the Holy One, blessed be He. That is: Moshe revealed to the Adversary the inner meaning of what he had said at first — that the Torah is with the sea and the deep. His intention was not as the Adversary had mistakenly assumed — that the Torah was literally inside the sea and the deep and one had to go down to receive it from there. For that was not his intention. Rather, the essential intention was: that even though he had received the Torah, it is still even now with the Holy One, blessed be He. For no one knows the inner dimension of the Torah and its ways and how to bring the fulfillment of the Torah into the world, except Hashem, may He be blessed, alone — as it is said: "G-d understood its way" [Job 28:23]. Rather, what he said — that the Torah is with the sea and the deep — his intention was that it is impossible to come to the aspect of receiving the Torah in truth at every time except for one who endures mighty exertions and breaks great obstacles — like one who descends into the depths of the sea and descends to the very deep. And therefore there is nothing for you to accuse — for one who has broken such obstacles has certainly earned the right to receive the Torah. And this is: "it cannot be given in exchange for the finest gold, etc." — for it cannot be acquired with great riches, etc. — "only Destruction and Death said: with our own ears we have heard its fame" — that is: those who destroy and kill themselves over it said: "with our own ears we have heard its fame" — that one who labors in it, it is established within him. That is: the essential receiving of the Torah and its fulfillment is with one who kills and destroys himself over it, enduring mighty exertions and breaking all obstacles through the force of will and yearning. And this was his intention in saying that it was with the sea and the deep — that the intention was not that a person should literally descend into the sea and the deep to extract it from there. Rather, the essential [thing] is the will and yearning: to truly be willing to endure self-sacrifice, even to descend into the very sea and deep for it. But immediately when one is willing to do so with truly strong will, Hashem, may He be blessed, helps one to receive it at once — for through the will one breaks all obstacles and merits to receive it properly, as stated above. And he also thereby repelled the Adversary so that he had no further ground to accuse regarding the receiving of the Torah — for it is still essentially with the Holy One, blessed be He, and it requires great exertions to break mighty obstacles before each person merits it properly. And therefore what do you want to accuse — for you are already doing your part in fullness: you send mighty obstacles at every person from every direction, and especially through great people in whom you clothe yourself to entice and prevent each person. And these obstacles are the greatest of all. And if there are some people who have compassion for their souls and look upon the truth and break the obstacles through the force of their yearning and will — they have certainly earned the right to receive the Torah in proportion to the obstacles they break through the force of their will, as stated above. And this is what is concluded there in the above response: "then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out, etc." [Job 28:27] — and Rashi explained: He counted its letters — doubled and simple [referring to the final forms of letters], the first, the middle, and the last: truth [אמת] — aleph, mem, tav — which is the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He. For the essential thing is truth — for one who looks upon the truth truthfully and does not wish to deceive himself will certainly merit to know where the truth is. And he will certainly have truly strong will — until he breaks all obstacles, as stated above.

And this is [the meaning of]: "It is not in the heavens... nor is it beyond the sea... etc." [Deuteronomy 30:12–13]. And as Rashi explained there: if it were in the heavens, you would have needed to ascend after it; and if it were beyond the sea, you would have needed to cross over after it. But in truth the matter is very near to you — "in your mouth and in your heart to do it" [Deuteronomy 30:14] — for the essential [thing] depends upon the will that is in the heart and in the mouth, for one must speak out the will and the yearning with one's mouth in order to bring from potential into actuality. And the moment one is truly and sincerely willing — even to give one's life to ascend to the heavens and to descend into the depths of the sea for the sake of the Torah — one immediately merits it, for the Holy One, blessed be He, does not deal with His creatures with unreasonable demands, and the Holy One, blessed be He, does not send against a person obstacles that he cannot break if he wills it. The essential [rectification] is through the force of will, as stated above. Thus it emerges that all the words of Moshe Rabbainu to the Adversary were truth and righteousness — both what he answered at first, that [the Torah] is with the sea and the deep, and what he said at the end, that it is with the Holy One, blessed be He — for everything is truth: that essentially it is still with Hashem, may He be blessed, and it is impossible to draw it [to oneself] properly in every person and in every generation except through strong will with self-sacrifice, until one is willing to descend into the sea and the deep as stated above. And through the will one will merit to break all the obstacles that spread before him like a sea and deep in actuality, and will merit to pass through everything in peace, as stated above.