כתובות ב

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord, my benefactor; there is none above You.”

Based on the Torah \"Oovi'Yom HaBikurim\" — Likutay Moharan I, §56 & Hilchos Gitin, Halacha 1

The matter of the parasha (Torah passage) of the sotah (the suspected adulteress — a married woman who has secluded herself with another man after her husband's warning) — that the commandment is to write the passage and erase it into the water, and through this the sotah is examined — is according to the Torah teaching mentioned above (in Hilchos Gitin, Halacha 1) and "Oovi'Yom HaBikurim" (in §56). The general principle is: through the Torah, which is the Name of the Holy Blessed One (Sh'ma Dikudsha Brich Hoo), one calls upon the Living of all lives (Chay haChayim) and draws down vitality. That is: through da'as (spiritual knowledge and connection) one knows that even within the concealments (hastoros), Hashem is clothed and present there — and then the concealments are transformed into da'as and Torah. And then the Torah proclaims before them, etc. And corresponding to malchus dikudsha (the kingdom of holiness) there is malchus harisha (the wicked kingdom), which is the kingdom of Amalek. But malchus dikudsha has the power to extract from the wicked kingdom all the holy sparks (nitzotzos dikudsha) that it has swallowed, and to make from them da'as and Torah, etc. — see there carefully.

Now the concealments are themselves the very power of the wicked kingdom. For when malchus dikudsha is in a state of concealment, the wicked kingdom has power, God forbid. But through the Torah — which is the Name of the Holy Blessed One — the concealment is revealed and transformed into Torah. And this is itself the subjugation of the wicked kingdom, the kingdom of Amalek, as above. And this is accomplished through the Torah, which is the Name of the Holy Blessed One, as above. For it is "one corresponding to the other" (ze likumas ze): the wicked kingdom — which stands against malchus dikudsha — is in the aspect of the blotting out of the Name (mechiyyas shem), in the aspect of "you shall blot out the memory of Amalek" — and its vitality draws from the aspect of the erasure of the Name, God forbid. For when the Name is complete, it is subjugated, as above. But its power, God forbid, is only when the Name is not complete — in the aspect of "for the hand is upon the throne of God (keis Yah)" — that His Name is not complete until its memory is blotted out. It therefore follows that its vitality derives from the incompleteness of the Name, God forbid — that is, the aspect of the erasure of the Name — which is the aspect of the concealments: they are the aspect of the erasure of the Torah, which is the Name. For concealment is the aspect of something becoming, as it were, permitted — that what was forbidden has been reversed and made permitted. And sometimes even this is not known — that is, the aspect of concealment within concealment (hastara shebisoch hastara) — which is in the aspect of the erasure of the Torah, God forbid — that one knows nothing at all of the Torah through the concealments, like something that has been erased of which one cannot know what was written in it. And this is the aspect of the erasure of the sotah passage — which is a passage of the Torah. For the husband is obligated to warn her (likanie lah) — that is, to rebuke her and caution her — which is the aspect of the rebuke that every person who holds the aspect of malchus is obligated to give, as is brought there. And when he rebukes her and she does not listen to him, and she secluded herself (vinistara), etc. — then she is in the aspect of concealment, the aspect of the strengthening of the kingdom of Amalek through the sin of the sotah, which is the blemish of the covenant (pigam habris), as is brought there — for it grows strong through that very blemish. For when he warned her and cautioned her — that is, when he issued a warning (kina) to her: "do not seclude yourself" — and she did not listen to him and returned to her folly and secluded herself again, this is the aspect of avar vishana (repeated transgression, which becomes) as though permitted — which is the aspect of concealment, as is brought there. And this: "and she secluded herself" — "vinistara" specifically — is the aspect of the above-mentioned concealment, through which malchus is in concealment. And then when there is concealment, God forbid, the truth is in hiding and obscurity. For this is the essential concealment — the aspect of "and I shall hide My face" (vihistarti fanai) — and the panim (face) is the truth, as Rabbeinu, his light shall shine, wrote many times. For concealment means that the Torah has been reversed and hidden until what was forbidden has been made as though permitted, God forbid — and this is the hiding of the truth. For the Torah is the aspect of Toras emes (the Torah of truth) — and it has entered a state of concealment until it has been made as though permitting what is forbidden — which is the aspect of falsehood (sheker). And it is necessary to reveal the concealment — that is, through knowing that even within the concealment Hashem is clothed there, as above — and then the concealment is revealed and the truth is made manifest. And when the truth is revealed, then the Torah proclaims before them: "How long will you simpletons love simplicity?" ("ad mosay p'sa'im te'ahavu fesi", Mishlei 1:22), etc. And then there is justice and judgment in the world. For right now the truth is hidden — and therefore the wicked succeed and the righteous suffer afflictions. But in the future, when the truth will be revealed: "And you shall return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked" (Malachi 3:18) — and then there will be the downfall of the wicked through the revelation of the truth. For when the truth is revealed, the world is conducted in truth — the wicked will fall and the righteous will rejoice in the goodness of Hashem. And as Rabbeinu, of blessed memory, wrote (§66) — that the downfall of the wicked is through the revelation of the truth. It therefore follows: when the concealment is revealed and Torah is made from it — and the truth is made manifest — then the Torah proclaims before them. And then there is an end and a conclusion: either they return in repentance through hearing the proclamation and the warning of the Torah that calls out before them, as above — or if they still do not listen, then the Torah takes vengeance upon them. For it has now warned them and they did not listen — in the aspect of "one may not be punished unless one has been warned" (ein onshim ela im kain mazhirin). Therefore, until now, when it was a state of concealment and the proclamation and warning of the Torah were not heard, punishment and vengeance did not come immediately. But now that the concealment has been revealed and the Torah proclaims and cries out before them and warns them — therefore when they do not listen, it takes vengeance upon them. For now the truth has been revealed — through which vengeance is immediately enacted upon the wicked, as above. For the letters of the Torah are active and perform all the deeds in the world — and it is their nature to give life to those who uphold them, and conversely to those who do not. Only when it is in the aspect of concealment, the truth is hidden and the letters of the Torah are reversed, God forbid — and therefore judgment and vengeance are not enacted through them immediately, as above. And therefore in the case of the sotah — where the aspect of concealment has come about as above, and the truth has been hidden so that one does not know whether she has been defiled — it is therefore necessary to reveal the concealment. And this is through knowing that even within the concealment the Name of Hashem is clothed there — that is, the Torah. Therefore one writes the passage and erases it into the water. For this is the aspect of the erasure of the Name, God forbid — the aspect of concealment — that is, one shows her the blemish she committed: the aspect of concealment she caused. For through the sins by which one comes to regard what is forbidden as permitted, it is as though one erases the letters of the Torah — that is, those letters of that prohibition and of that passage that speaks of this sin. And through transgressing them, it is as though one has erased that passage — which is the aspect of concealment, the aspect of avar vishana as though permitted, etc., as above. Therefore here in the case of the sotah this is enacted in deed — they erase her passage. And this is the aspect of the concealment from which the power of the wicked kingdom derives, as above. But through this very act — taking the letters of the Torah and erasing them — through this very act we demonstrate that even within the aspect of the erasure of the Name, God forbid — the aspect of concealment — even there the letters of the Torah are clothed and present. For we see plainly that this erasure was made from the letters of the Torah. It therefore follows that even here the letters of the Torah are clothed within. And when one knows this, the concealment becomes da'as — that is, Torah. And this is what it means that one erases the passage into the water: for water is the aspect of chesed (loving-kindness) and da'as — the aspect of the mikveh that is brought there in the Torah teaching, especially holy water (mayim kedoshim) sanctified in the kiyor (laver). And then from the aspect of the erasure of the Name — the aspect of concealment — da'as is made, the aspect of holy water. And then when the concealment is transformed into da'as, the truth is revealed. And then the water examines her — that is, the da'as and Torah that have been revealed from within the concealment, which is the aspect of Toras emes — clarifies the truth: if she has been defiled, it takes immediate vengeance upon her through the revelation of the truth from within the concealment, as above; and if not, life and goodness are increased for her through this. For through the revelation of the concealment, life and length of days are drawn to malchus dikudsha, as it is written there. And therefore the Kohen says the oath (shvua) with full and explicit speech, and specifies his words: "if you have gone astray and if you have not gone astray" ("im satis v'im lo satis"), etc. — in order to reveal the concealment through speaking out the words of the Torah and declaring explicitly the words of the passage: "if you have gone astray and if you have not gone astray." For concealment means that the words of the Living God (divrey Elokim chayyim) are reversed and the forbidden is made as though permitted, God forbid. But the Kohen clarifies the truth and reverses the concealment, as above. And this is the aspect of "when a man's wife goes astray" (ki sishteh ishto). And our Sages of blessed memory expounded (Sotah 3a): a person does not commit a transgression unless a spirit of foolishness (ruach shtus) enters him. For she has distanced herself from the vitality — which is da'as, as above — and therefore she is called a fool (shota): the aspect of the spirit of foolishness, opposite to vitality which is da'as. For "wisdom gives life" (ha-chochma tichayeh), as it is written there. For all her vitality comes from her husband, as above — for he draws vitality and da'as to her, as above. And when she strays to another, she separates from her vitality — and therefore she is in the aspect of the spirit of foolishness, opposite to the vitality which is da'as, as above. And therefore all this applies only in the Temple (Beis HaMikdash) and through the Kohen. For the Temple is the aspect of da'as, as Rabbeinu, his light shall shine, wrote (§13) — as our Sages of blessed memory said (Brachos 33a): whoever has da'as — it is as though the Temple was built in his days. And therefore the law of the sotah can only be administered there — for there one can reveal the concealment through the da'as of the Temple. And through the Kohen — the man of chesed (ish chesed) who is the aspect of wisdom (chochma) and da'as — for da'as is dependent upon chesed, as is explained there. And therefore the Torah was given over to the Kohanim in greater measure, as it is written (Devarim 33:10): "They shall teach Your judgments to Yaakov." And as it is written: "For the lips of the Kohen shall guard knowledge and Torah, etc." (Malachi 2:7). And therefore through their meriting Torah, they are able to reveal the concealment, as above. May it be the will of Hashem that the Temple be built speedily in our days, Amen. Chazak chazak v'nis-chazayk — "Be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened!"