כלאי בגדים ג

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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.

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Likutay Halachos · Yoreh De’ah, Part Two

Laws of the First Shearing

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.