חלה

It follows that the essential greatness of tzedakah and gemilus chassadim lies in the waiting — through which one binds oneself to the aspect of above-time and annuls all the differences, and so on, as above. And therefore the sin of interest is exceedingly, exceedingly severe — for interest is agar netar: one takes payment for waiting with one's money that one has lent. And through this one greatly intensifies the grip of time and intensifies the evil that is seized in time — since one does not believe in the Blessed Lord to wait for one's fellow graciously and to act with kindness toward him. For through this one annuls time which is seized in money most strongly, as above.

And therefore the blemish of the sin of interest is very great and is reckoned as one who denies the entire Torah — for the entire fulfillment of the Torah depends upon this: to annul time, from which come all the differences, from which comes the entire grip of the evil inclination as above. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: that it is reckoned as one who denies the Exodus from Egypt. For at the Exodus from Egypt there was an overturning of all the cosmic orders through which time is governed. Therefore then there was the aspect of the annulment of time — as is cited in the words of our master, teacher and rebbe, of blessed memory, in the roshay p'rakim (outline) where it is stated that at the Splitting of the Sea of Reeds there was an annulment of time. And therefore on the Night of Vigil the night shone like the day — as our Sages of blessed memory said. For this is the aspect of the annulment of time, from which came all the signs and awesome wonders that Moshe performed — for he was above time, as is stated there in those roshay p'rakim. And through this they merited the giving of the Torah, through which one merits to be included above time, as above. And the one who lends at interest and takes agar netar is the very opposite of all this. And therefore he is reckoned as one who denies the Exodus from Egypt and the entire Torah, as above.

And this is the aspect of rising at chatzos (midnight) — to nullify the sleep from which comes the grip of time, from which come all the differences. And therefore "sleep" (sheinah) is of the same root as "change/difference" (shinyuy) — for through sleep and slumber, which is the aspect of the withdrawal of da'as, comes the essential grip of the trouble of time, from which come all the differences, as above. And therefore the Exodus from Egypt was at midnight — for the Exodus from Egypt came in the aspect of the annulment of time as above, which is the aspect of midnight (chatzos), when there descends from above the arousal from sleep — through "that voice that strikes with the wings of the rooster" (Zohar, Pekudei 197b), and so on. Through this one attains the aspect of the annulment of time — through which the differences are annulled, from which come all hatred and opposition and strife, and the exile that comes through those who strive and hate, as above.

And therefore rising at chatzos is propitious like a pidyon (redemption), as our master, teacher and rebbe, of blessed memory, said. For the pidyon is through coins of tzedakah given to the tzaddik and the upright man — for that is where the essential tikun (rectification) of tzedakah operates. For when one gives to a wicked or blemished person — all the more to a ba'al machlokas (one who incites strife) — on the contrary, it blemishes further, for he then draws the flow of abundance, God forbid, toward the differences from which come all blemishes, as above. Therefore the essential tikun of tzedakah is to endeavor to give to the tzaddikim and the upright, the men of true peace. And this is the essential pidyon — for through this all the afflictions are annulled that are drawn from the evil seized in the multiplicity of differences, as above.

And this is likewise the aspect of chatzos — when one rises from sleep at midnight and breaks through the sleep at the height of its intensification, at the moment when da'as has reached the uttermost diminishment and withdrawal — through this one annuls all the differences, and so on, as above. And therefore rising at chatzos is propitious like a pidyon, as above.

And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: that it is difficult to stand at the exact point of midnight — for this is impossible to attain. For the withdrawal of da'as, from which comes the root of free choice — since from there comes the error of imagining that there is time in the world, from which come all the troubles of time and its vanities, which confuse a person from thinking about his end and preparing provisions for his way that is exceedingly, exceedingly long — all of this is drawn from the initial tzimtzum (contraction) of the empty space (chalal ha-panu'i), which is the aspect of the withdrawal of chokhmah (wisdom) and da'as, as is cited elsewhere. All of this is impossible to attain except by the choicest individuals of the generation, such as Moshe and Dovid.

And this is what is stated there in tractate B'rachos: that Dovid rose at midnight and engaged in Torah, and in the morning they came to him and said: "Your nation Israel requires sustenance" and so on. And at first glance this is astonishing — what is the connection between one thing and the other?! But in truth the essential lack of sustenance and poverty is drawn from the multiplicity of differences that intensified through the sin of the first man — from which comes the grip of evil that blocks the flow of abundance, from which comes poverty in the aspect of "in toil you shall eat of it." And therefore through rising at chatzos — through which the differences are annulled as above — it is fitting that abundance and sustenance should flow. And therefore specifically after Dovid rose at chatzos, they came to him in the morning and asked about sustenance — for through chatzos which is the annulment of differences, sustenance flows, as above. And therefore he answered them: "Go and sustain yourselves one from the other" — that is, that there should be love and peace between them and they should act with kindness one toward the other until they sustain themselves one from the other. For the essential annulment of differences depends upon there being love and peace among the people of Israel and their acting with kindness one toward the other — upon which depends the essential drawing down of abundance and blessing. And therefore in truth the Holy One, blessed be He, found no vessel capable of holding blessing for Israel other than peace — as our Sages of blessed memory said. That is: even though one rises at chatzos, through which the differences are annulled and it would be fitting for sustenance to flow — still, one further needs there to be peace among Israel, which is the essential thing as above — and this is what "go and sustain yourselves one from the other" means, as above.

They said to him: "The fistful does not satisfy" and "the pit cannot be filled by its own clods" (B'rachos 3b) — that is, that the world had already been so confounded through the sin of the first man and the sins of the generations that most of the abundance is held by the nations of the world and the wicked and those who incite strife. Therefore even in the days of Dovid it was difficult for Israel to sustain themselves one from the other on account of the great abundance that was held by the nations and the divisive ones. He said to them: "Go and stretch out your hands against the troop" — that they must fight against the nations and those who oppose holiness, and take from them the abundance and restore it to the worthy people of Israel.

And therefore the passage "If you lend money" is read on Pesach, which is the Exodus from Egypt. For the essential purpose of the Exodus from Egypt — to go out from the exile — is through gemilus chassadim and gracious lending. For through this the enemies and opponents are annulled, from whom comes the exile, as above. And therefore interest is called by the name "neshech" (bite), as it is said: "neshech — any matter which may bite (yishach)" (Devarim 23:20) — in the aspect of "that bites (yishoch) without enchantment" (Koheles 10:11), which is a serpent. For this is the aspect of the severe sin of lashon hara (evil speech), which is the worst of all. For through lashon hara all strife comes — from which comes the essential grip of the evil inclination which is seized when strife is made through the difference of minds and they are not included in the One, as above — and this is the aspect of the blemish of ribbis (interest), as above. Therefore it is called "neshech" in the language of "if a serpent bites" — the aspect of the blemish of lashon hara and strife, as above.

And therefore the essential prolonging of this exile is through lashon hara and strife — through which one does not know where truth is, as above. And the essential redemption will come through peace — as it is said: "Eliyahu comes only to make peace in the world" (Mishnah, Eduyos 8:7). And through this the redemption will come speedily in our days, Amen.

And this is the aspect of Rosh Hashana — for "this day is the beginning of Your works" (Rosh Hashana liturgy): for on Rosh Hashana man was created, and he is the essential purpose of all creation. And then was the essential emergence of creation from potentiality into actuality, completed on the sixth day when man was created, who is the essential purpose of all creation. And therefore at that time the essential service of the true tzaddikim is to become included — after creation — in before-creation. This is a very great service: to sweeten and rectify the root of the grip of strict judgment from which the grip of falsehood — which is evil, which is impurity — descends, whose entire grip begins at the onset of creation the moment it emerged from potentiality into actuality. For even though there was then not yet, God forbid, any falsehood and impurity, nevertheless since there was already the aspect of two as above, there was an impression from which falsehood and impurity would descend, and so on, as above.

Therefore the essential completion of the tikun for all things in all of creation is only through those tzaddikim who have the power to ascend from there to the very beginning of creation — from which the grip of falsehood descends as above. For as long as the exceedingly subtle grip above — which does not extend into the mind at all, from which the descent of falsehood is seized — has not been rectified there on high, even if much has been rectified below in the matter of the grip of falsehood, the rectification is still not complete. Since it has not yet been rectified and sweetened at the root of its roots above.

And this is the greatness of the service of the great tzaddikim on Rosh Hashana — which is the day of the world's creation, when creation emerged from potentiality into actuality. And then one must rectify the root of the grip of the Sitra Achra, which is falsehood — whose entire root is from the onset of creation the moment it emerged from potentiality into actuality, as above. And therefore Rosh Hashana is the first day of the Ten Days of Repentance — for from there comes the essential arousal of repentance through the great tzaddikim, who reveal and illuminate the truth of emes in the world, and nullify the root of the grip of falsehood at the onset of creation — which is a very great service as above. For this is what one engages in on Rosh Hashana, which is the beginning of creation. And therefore it is the beginning of repentance, as above — for the essential teshuvah is in this mode: to raise and elevate, according to one's portion in the totality of creation, everything, and restore it to its first root — to return and be included, after creation, in before-creation. For this is the essential aspect of teshuvah: to restore everything to its first root — in the aspect of "an arrow that was shot returns to the place from which it was taken" (Zohar, Pekudei 213b), as is explained elsewhere.

And therefore one must travel to the most elevated tzaddikim for Rosh Hashana — for there is no one who knows how to engage in this tikun except the tzaddikim who are very great in stature, as above. And even the great tzaddikim do not merit to do this in completeness during their lifetimes, but only after their passing. And therefore people go to the graves of tzaddikim on Erev Rosh Hashana — for the essential completion of this tikun is only through the great tzaddikim after their passing, when they attain the fullness of their stature: when they restore their souls to the place from which they were taken at the beginning of the highest root of their root. Through this they restore all of creation that depends upon them to its root, and include after-creation in before-creation, and rectify and sweeten and nullify the grip of falsehood that is seized there.

For only for this reason was man, the possessor of free choice, created — for all his choosing comes from there, at the onset of creation's emergence from potentiality into actuality, as above in that Torah discourse. And when a person stands the trial and chooses the good as is proper, and rises from level to level until he ascends to the beginning of creation and rectifies there — so that falsehood can no longer seize its grip from there, as above — this is the essential tikun of all creation, as above. And this is what the first man was meant to rectify on the day he was created. And through his ruin at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, by the counsel of the serpent — which is the essential falsehood that is seized from there — and the first man did not prevail to nullify it, death was decreed upon him for the generations and falsehood gained a very strong grip. And through this the following is explained somewhat: the difficulty that arises at first glance — from where did man come to the stumbling-block of this sin, to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, since the evil inclination had not yet existed in the world?! As is cited in the sacred books and as is explained explicitly by Rashi: that the evil inclination was not given to them until they ate from the Tree of Knowledge. If so, how did they come to this sin?

But in truth: even though the evil inclination of today had not yet existed in the world, its uppermost root-grip had already come into being — that is, the aspect mentioned above: the aspect of purity which is the aspect of free choice, the aspect of the root-grip of strict judgment, which is the aspect of Levi and so on — from which comes the impression that falsehood, which is impurity, will descend, as above. And this very subtle uppermost root had certainly already come into being the moment creation emerged from potentiality into actuality, as above in that Torah discourse. And the first man at his creation was very, very lofty in stature, and was meant to rectify and sweeten this aspect. And through his becoming lax in this rectification, the serpent took counsel and misled man with a very subtle falsehood — for it drew from there. And therefore its entire stratagem was to seduce the woman first — for the woman is in relation to the man as the aspect of after-creation in relation to before-creation, for each level that is higher than its fellow is the aspect of before-creation in relation to after-creation. For the higher level is closer to before-creation — and therefore it is considered in relation to the level below it as the aspect of before-creation, while the lower level is the aspect of after-creation. And this is the aspect of man and woman, soul and body, man and animal — for the man is the aspect of soul, the aspect of the human being (adam), the aspect of before-creation in relation to the woman, who is the aspect of body, the aspect of the animal, the aspect of after-creation.

And therefore in the matter of the union of man and woman lies the essential battle and trial and free choice and refinement of the human being in this world — for the woman was taken through sleep and slumber, which is the aspect of the withdrawal of da'as, which is the aspect of the beginning of the tzimtzum: the contraction and withdrawal of da'as through which came the essential emergence of creation from potentiality into actuality. For had there not been the aspect of tzimtzum and withdrawal of da'as, it would have been impossible for creation to emerge from potentiality into actuality — everything would have remained in potentiality as in the beginning, as is understood from the sacred writings. And this is the aspect of the construction of the woman from the man through the deep sleep — which is the withdrawal of da'as from which comes the aspect of the root of the grip of falsehood, as above. And therefore the serpent incited the woman and misled her with an error of the most subtle subtlety — as is understood from the Torah portion: it first pushed her until she touched the tree, and so on, until she tested it and sinned in deed and ate from the Tree of Knowledge. And at once she misled the man — for the essential misleading is through human beings who have already stumbled, for they have greater power to mislead, as above.

And on Rosh Hashana, when the world was created — that is, the first man — and through it he sinned, and the Blessed Lord in His mercy helped him begin teshuvah — therefore on Rosh Hashana one must engage in this tikun as is cited. And this tikun is impossible except through the great tzaddikim mentioned above, and they complete the tikun most fully after their passing, as above. Therefore one goes to the graves of tzaddikim on Erev Rosh Hashana, as above.