הלוואה ב

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

Based on the teaching "Chosam B'soch Chosam" [Seal within a Seal], Siman 22; see there. And it is explained there that it is impossible to draw close to holiness except through azus dik'dushah [holy boldness], in the aspect of "Be bold as a leopard" (Avos 5:20). For there are many brazen-faced people who prevent others from holiness greatly — they are the false leaders whose essential greatness and self-exaltation comes through azus [brazenness], for "azus is kingship without a crown" [malchusa b'la saga] etc. And it is impossible to be saved from them except through azus dik'dushah: everyone who wishes to draw close in truth to Hashem Yisborach must necessarily have the boldness to stand against the brazenness of the brazen-faced ones of the generation. And then he will be able to draw close to holiness — that is, to true tzadikim and upright people — in the aspect of: "You led with Your strength to Your holy dwelling" (Exodus 15:13). These are the totality of the shiv'ah ro'im [seven shepherds] of holiness, who are the true tzadikim, who draw emunah to Yisroel etc.

And then one merits to rectify the two chosamos [seals]. The chosam hayadayin [seal of the hands] is rectified through this emunah that one merits through azus dik'dushah etc., as is explained there. And through the emunah, the chosam haraglayin [seal of the feet] is guarded and rectified — which is the aspect of tochachah [rebuke/reproof] of the rebukers of the generation, who make peace between Yisroel and their Father in Heaven, who are the aspect of raglayin [feet] etc. For it is impossible to receive tochachah except through emunah, which is the aspect of yadayin [hands] — to receive through it the tochachah etc.; see there. And to merit azus is through simchah [joy], which one merits through the aspect of na'aseh v'nishma — which are the aspect of the two ornaments that crowned Yisroel at Chorev etc.; see all of this there well.

Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'uman

And through this it is possible to find a slight allusion to what Rabbeinu, of blessed memory, wrote in Sefer HaAlef-Beis HaChadash, under the entry Tochachah, Siman 3, and this is his language: "One who hears tochachah and does not accept it — let him know that he will need to borrow from others. And the sign for this: 'A servant will not be corrected by words' (Proverbs 29:19). And it is written: 'The borrower is a servant to the lender' (Proverbs 22:7)." End of his language.

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And these words are ancient, sealed and hidden until the time of the end. For all the words of the Alef-Beis HaChadash are exceedingly lofty and concealed from the eye of all the living. However, based on the aforementioned teaching, it is possible to find some slight allusion. For the one who does not accept tochachah — this is due to a blemish in emunah, which is the aspect of the chosam hayadayin, through which one receives tochachah. And when one blemishes emunah, which is the outer seal, the inner seal — the chosam haraglayin, which is the aspect of tochachah — is blemished.

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It emerges that one who does not accept tochachah has certainly blemished emunah. And the essential blemish of emunah is through the blemish of azus: he blemished the azus dik'dushah. For it is impossible to merit emunah except through azus dik'dushah, as is written there in the aforementioned teaching. And one who blemished emunah has certainly blemished the azus dik'dushah through which emunah is merited, as above.

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And therefore, this one who does not accept tochachah — which is due to the blemish of emunah, which is the blemish of azus dik'dushah — since he blemished the azus, therefore his punishment is that he is compelled to borrow from others and becomes "a servant-borrower to the lending man," and is subjugated to him. This is the aspect of the blemish of azus dik'dushah, in the aspect of "a person cannot be bold-faced before his creditor" [ain adam mai'iz panav bifnai ba'al chovo]. For because he blemished the azus dik'dushah — he was not bold as a leopard to stand with boldness against those who mock him in the service of Hashem, and to not be ashamed of them at all; rather, he should have had great boldness against them, and his forehead should have been strong against their forehead, like an iron pillar and a copper wall, to not listen at all to any confusion and mockery of those who scoff and ridicule the ways of the sincere and the upright — then, had he had such boldness, which is azus dik'dushah, he would have merited to be saved from false leaders and to draw close to true leaders, and he would have merited complete emunah through them, as above. And through this he would have merited to receive tochachah, for it is impossible to receive tochachah except through emunah. But since he blemished the azus, through which emunah was blemished, therefore his punishment is to be a servant-borrower to the lending man — which is the aspect of the blemish of azus dik'dushah, in the aspect of "a person cannot be bold-faced before his creditor," as above.

And this is why our Sages, of blessed memory, warned strongly not to lend without a sh'tar and witnesses, as is brought in the Gemara. And because of this — [failing to use a sh'tar] — he does not merit to receive tochachah; that even on Erev Shabbos one should not lend without witnesses and a sh'tar etc. For since this borrower has come to the point of being compelled to borrow from others — which stems from the blemish of emunah, the blemish of azus, as above — therefore it is very common that he will come, chas v'sholom, to some denial or repudiation. Since the azus dik'dushah and the emunah are blemished in him, as above, he can come, chas v'sholom, to repudiation and denial, which is the opposite of emunah. For one must conduct business with emunah [faithfulness/trustworthiness]. And the essential emunah depends upon money — when one is careful about the desire for money, not to touch, chas v'sholom, the money of one's fellow, even the worth of a p'rutah. And since this one who came to the point of borrowing — this stems from the blemish of emunah that comes through the blemish of azus dik'dushah, as above — therefore there is a concern that he will blemish emunah completely and deny his fellow, chas v'sholom, which is the opposite of emunah. And the essential thing is because the azus dik'dushah has been blemished in him, as above — through which, specifically, he can come to denial, chas v'sholom, which is the blemish of emunah, as above. And this is what Rabbah said: "Why did the Torah say that one who admits to part of a claim must take an oath? Because there is a presumption that a person does not have the brazenness to deny his creditor entirely" [ain adam mai'iz panav bifnai ba'al chovo]; "and this one wished to deny him entirely" etc. (Bava Metzia 3a). And at first glance this is very surprising: what kind of reasoning is this — that the Torah says one who admits to part must take an oath because "a person does not have the brazenness"? On the contrary — because of this, it would seem he should be believed without an oath! And indeed, Tosafos and the commentators noted this difficulty and explained it there with the principle of migo etc. But according to what was explained above, it is well understood. For specifically because he cannot be bold-faced before his creditor — because of this, we suspect him of denying his fellow's money and blemishing the holy emunah, as above. For the essential blemish of emunah is through the blemish of azus dik'dushah. For in truth, a person must weigh his ways very carefully in this matter of azus dik'dushah, as is explained at the end of the aforementioned teaching. For there is azus d'Sitra Achara, which is a very evil trait from which one must flee exceedingly — for "the brazen-faced goes to Gehinnom". And conversely, in holiness, it is impossible to draw close to holiness in any way except through azus, as above. Therefore every person must balance his ways and look to the truth: where one needs to strengthen himself to have boldness for the sake of holiness, one must strengthen oneself greatly in this, in the aspect of "Be bold as a leopard" etc., as above. And conversely, to distance oneself from azus d'Sitra Achara greatly. For there is bushah dik'dushah [holy shame] and azus dik'dushah, and conversely, there is bushah d'Sitra Achara and azus d'Sitra Achara. And these aspects of shame and boldness — of holiness and, l'havdil, of the Sitra Achara — exist in all contexts: both toward other people and toward Hashem Yisborach, as it were. And one must be very careful in this: to employ each trait properly, in holiness, and not to overturn the words of the living G-d, chas v'sholom. And we will explain a little of this, and from this the discerning will understand the rest, one thing from another. For toward Hashem Yisborach, certainly a person must have a great and awesome bushah before the great Ruler and Master, Root and Source of all worlds. And bushah is a very great virtue, through which one is saved from sins — because one is ashamed before Him, Yisborach, as it is written: "And so that His fear shall be upon your faces, so that you shall not sin" (Exodus 20:17). And our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "This refers to bushah." And as our Sages greatly praised the virtue of bushah. But nevertheless, a person must necessarily have great azus before Hashem Yisborach. For due to the magnitude of the shame before Him, Yisborach, he will be unable to lift his hand to do anything holy, and he will be unable to open his mouth at all to pray before Him for his needs — from the magnitude of the bushah. And as is explained in the words of Rabbeinu, of blessed memory, elsewhere: that during t'filah one must remove the bushah from his face and strengthen himself with great azus before Him, Yisborach, to be bold-faced to request from Him all his needs, as it is written: "In You our fathers trusted... in You they trusted and were not ashamed" (Psalms 22:5–6), as is explained (in Siman 30). And especially one who has stumbled, chas v'sholom, in some blemish against Him, Yisborach — all the more so if he sinned, chas v'sholom, an actual sin — all the more so, as there are many people who are soiled with exceedingly many transgressions. Certainly they must be very ashamed before Him, Yisborach, for having sinned against Him. But they must be very careful not to fall in their spirits, chas v'sholom, on account of the bushah. That is, that on account of the bushah — that they are ashamed to lift their faces before Him, Yisborach — their mouths will become completely closed, chas v'sholom, and they will not ask for forgiveness at all, and will not confess their sins and transgressions — because they are ashamed before Him, Yisborach. From this one must be very careful. For in truth, even though one certainly must be very ashamed before Him, Yisborach, for the magnitude of his transgressions, nevertheless one must strengthen himself greatly with great azus dik'dushah to be bold-faced before Him, Yisborach, to confess before Him his transgressions and to ask for atonement and forgiveness — for this is His will, Yisborach, as it is written: "One who covers his transgressions will not succeed; but one who confesses and forsakes will receive mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). And this is what we say in the Viduy [confession]: "We are not so brazen-faced and stiff-necked as to say before You, Hashem our G-d and G-d of our fathers: 'We are righteous and have not sinned.' Rather, we have sinned..." etc. And at first glance this is very surprising: why do we need to explain that we are not brazen-faced etc. to say "we are righteous and have not sinned"? After all, we are confessing the sins explicitly — so why do we need to first state the negative formulation, that we are not brazen-faced etc.? Rather, before the Viduy we offer an apology for the great azus of forehead that we have before Him, Yisborach, in coming before Him with our sins and confessing before Him and saying "we have sinned" etc. For how can we lift our faces and open our mouths before Him to speak this — to detail our sins before Him, that we sinned against the One Who is good and does good to all, Who has done us such kindnesses and favors, and Whose greatness is unsearchable, and all who dwell above and below all tremble before Him, and all do His will in awe and fear and love? How can it be that one born of woman, a putrid drop, should rebel against His holy will, chas v'sholom? We should fall on our faces to the ground and not open our mouths before Him at all to confess before Him our sins. And in truth, so it should be for every person of understanding, and more. But nevertheless, this is not His will, Yisborach — that our mouths should be sealed completely, chas v'sholom, on account of the bushah. For one must detail the sin explicitly. And therefore one must strengthen himself to come to great azus from within the great bushah that he has before Him, Yisborach. And as is explained in the aforementioned teaching: that azus dik'dushah is drawn specifically from bushah dik'dushah. That is, even though he has great bushah before Him, Yisborach, nevertheless he should trust in His abundant mercy beyond measure and remove the bushah from his face and be bold-faced before Him, Yisborach, and confess before Him all his sins and ask for forgiveness — for such is His will, Yisborach, as above. For if he remains, chas v'sholom, in the bushah — that is, if he is ashamed before Him, Yisborach, and does not confess at all and does not ask for atonement and forgiveness at all on account of the bushah — then, on the contrary, this is the essential azus: that he is bold-faced before Hashem Yisborach and does not admit the truth before Him, as it is written: "Behold, I will judge you for your saying, 'I have not sinned'" (Jeremiah 2:35). And also, if he does not strengthen himself to ask forgiveness and to pray before Hashem Yisborach to save him from his sins, chas v'sholom, he may stumble in future sins — which is the essential azus d'Sitra Achara: being bold-faced before Hashem Yisborach to commit some sin, chas v'sholom. And as we find many people who stumble in this, who overturn the words of the living G-d: first he sins against Hashem Yisborach, and he has such azus to commit a transgression, chas v'sholom, in defiance of the eyes of His glory, chas v'sholom. So he has very great azus. And afterward, after committing the sin, he falls in his spirits greatly, and it seems to him that this is within the category of bushah — that he is very ashamed before Him, Yisborach, until he cannot even pray at all or do anything holy — on account of the great fall in his spirits from the transgressions in which he stumbled. And from this come all the falls of many, many people who fall to where they fall, Rachmana litzlan. And all of this is due to the great bushah they have after the sin — and because of this they fall in their spirits and are ashamed to do anything holy, and through this they descend further and further, until they come to where they come, Rachmana litzlan. And in truth they are overturning the path from reversal to reversal. For on the contrary, one must conduct oneself in the exact opposite manner. For at first, certainly one must have great bushah before Him, Yisborach, and the fear of Heaven should be upon him like the fear of a mortal — not to commit any sin or transgression against Him, Yisborach. But if the Ba'al Davar has already overpowered him and he stumbled in whatever he stumbled, chas v'sholom, he must strengthen himself to have very great azus before Him, Yisborach, and exert himself with all his might not to fall in his spirits at all. Rather, he should trust in His abundant mercy beyond measure, and strengthen himself to begin anew at every moment, and not look at all at what has passed until now. Rather, he should prostrate himself before Him, Yisborach, and request from Him and confess before Him his transgressions and ask for forgiveness, and implore before Him, Yisborach, for the future — that Hashem Yisborach should save him in His abundant mercy beyond measure. For in truth, this azus is [actually] bushah — for it is drawn from the aspect of boshes panim l'Gan Aiden [the shame-faced one goes to the Garden of Eden], from where the azus dik'dushah is drawn, as above. For through this azus, he will merit to be saved from sins in the future and to be as His will — which is the aspect of bushah: that from now on he will be ashamed before Him not to violate His commandments, Yisborach, in the aspect of "and so that His fear shall be upon your faces" — this is the bushah — "so that you shall not sin," as above. And conversely, the bushah d'Sitra Achara — being ashamed to speak before Him, Yisborach, and to raise oneself to His service on account of the magnitude of one's transgressions — this is the essential azus d'Sitra Achara, which is drawn from the bushah d'Sitra Achara. For through this bushah, on the contrary, he is being exceedingly bold-faced before Him, Yisborach, and is not serving Him at all, and chas v'sholom he may come to whatever he may come to, Heaven forbid, if he falls in his spirits, chas v'sholom, as above. And this is why we apologize before Him, Yisborach, for having such azus to confess before Him our sins and transgressions. For in truth, this azus is bushah, as above. And conversely, one who does not confess his sins — this is the essential azus, as above. And this is what we say: "We are not so brazen-faced and stiff-necked as to say before You... 'We are righteous and have not sinned.'" That is, sometimes due to bushah — being ashamed before one's fellow for having sinned against him — through this one denies it entirely and says "I have not sinned." But in truth this is the essential azus, as above — all the more so before Him, Yisborach, Who knows all hidden things. And this is what we say: "We are not so brazen-faced" etc. — meaning, in truth, the fact that we confess is not azus, chas v'sholom. For we are not brazen-faced to say "we are righteous and have not sinned" — for in truth, that specifically is azus: one who says "I have not sinned," even though it seems to him he says it out of bushah — but in truth that specifically is the essential azus d'Sitra Achara, as above. But we do not have this azus, chas v'sholom. Rather, we strengthen ourselves with azus dik'dushah to confess and say before You: "We have sinned" etc. And even though it is great azus, this azus is what You desire, and this azus is drawn from bushah dik'dushah, as above — for this azus is essential for the service of Hashem Yisborach, as above. And this is: "Why did the Torah say that one who admits to part must take an oath? Because a person does not have the brazenness to deny his creditor entirely" — for specifically because he blemished the azus dik'dushah until he came to the point of borrowing — which is the aspect of "the borrower is a servant to the lending man" — because of this he cannot be bold-faced before his creditor. And because of this specifically, we suspect him of denying his fellow's money entirely. For the essential blemish of emunah is through the blemish of azus, as above. And also according to the simple sense, this is understood. For in truth, even though certainly one should not be bold-faced before his creditor who did him such a favor — but if so, just because he cannot be bold-faced, should he deny him entirely? For certainly one who denies his fellow's money — for the most part it is because he does not have the means to repay, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said there: "He is merely stalling; he thinks, 'When I have the money I will repay him'" [ishtamutai hu d'kamishtemai]. But because of bushah — that he cannot be bold-faced before his creditor to say "Wait for me until I have money" — therefore he denies him entirely. It emerges that because of bushah, he comes to complete azus: to deny his fellow. And this is the essential blemish of azus dik'dushah, as above. For one needs the exact opposite: since you do not have the means to pay, it is better for you to be bold-faced before your creditor and remove the bushah from your face and say to him: "It is true that I borrowed from you and you did me a great favor, but what can I do — I do not have the means to pay now. Wait for me until I have the means, and I will repay you." It emerges that specifically because of the blemish of azus — because he cannot be bold-faced — because of this specifically, he denies him. And as above, regarding azus before Hashem Yisborach, as it were — for the blemish of azus is the blemish of emunah, as above. And therefore, because of this specifically, he must take an oath — because "a person does not have the brazenness to deny his creditor entirely," and because of this he may deny entirely, on account of bushah — which is the blemish of azus dik'dushah, through which emunah is blemished, as above. And therefore it is forbidden to lend without witnesses and a sh'tar. For the witnesses clarify the truth and guard the holy emunah, which is the aspect of emes [truth]. As is written elsewhere: the two witnesses who speak truth are drawn from the aspect of the two ornaments [adayim] explained in the aforementioned teaching — which are the aspect of na'aseh v'nishma, which is the totality of the Torah that is called aidus [testimony], as it is written: "The testimony of Hashem is trustworthy" (Psalms 19:8). For from the two aforementioned ornaments, the azus dik'dushah is drawn, through which one merits emunah — as Rabbeinu, of blessed memory, brought there this verse, "the testimony of Hashem is trustworthy," regarding this matter; see there. And therefore the two witnesses who testify truthfully are the aspect of the two aforementioned ornaments, through which emunah is guarded. And they save from falsehood — that one should not deny his fellow — for the essential rectification of azus dik'dushah, which is the rectification of emunah, is through the two aforementioned ornaments, which are the aspect of two truthful witnesses, as above. And therefore the essential thing is when the witnesses sign their hand-signature on the sh'tar — then is the essential guarding of emunah. For then he cannot deny at all. But lending with witnesses without a sh'tar is lending by oral agreement, and [the borrower] can claim "I have repaid." For the essential guarding of emunah is in the aspect of yadayin [hands], the aspect of the chosam hayadayin, the aspect of "and his hands were emunah" (Exodus 17:12), as above. And this is the aspect of the hand-signatures of the witnesses. For the two seals of the two witnesses — this is the aspect of "chosam" and "chosam b'soch chosam" [seal and seal within a seal], through which the essential guarding of emunah and tochachah is accomplished — which is the rectification of the loan, which is the blemish of tochachah, the blemish of emunah, the blemish of azus — through which we suspect that he might deny his fellow entirely, chas v'sholom. And through the signatures of the two witnesses, which are the aspect of the two aforementioned seals, all of this is rectified, as above. For the witnesses encompass both aforementioned aspects: the aspect of the chosam haraglayin and the chosam hayadayin. For "testimony can only be given while standing" etc. "And the two men shall stand... before Hashem" etc. (Deuteronomy 19:17). This is the aspect of raglayin, the aspect of the chosam haraglayin. And the hand-signatures of the witnesses — this is the aspect of the chosam hayadayin. And therefore the essential protection from falsehood — that one should not deny his fellow — is through the sh'tar that the witnesses sign with their hands. For the essential guarding of the two aforementioned seals is through the chosam hayadayin, which is the aspect of emunah, as above, as is explained there; see there. It emerges that the chosam hayadayin encompasses both seals — the chosam haraglayin and the chosam hayadayin. For the essential thing is emunah, which is the chosam hayadayin, which guards everything. And this is the aspect of the hand-signatures of the two witnesses, which are the aspect of the chosam hayadayin, in which both aforementioned seals are encompassed — seal upon seal. And this is the aspect of specifically two signatures, of two witnesses, corresponding to the two aforementioned seals that are encompassed in the chosam hayadayin, which is the aspect of emunah — through which is the essential protection from denial and repudiation, which is the opposite of emunah, as above. And this is the aspect of Sh'kalim, about which Moshe had difficulty, until the Holy One, Blessed be He, showed him a coin of fire and said to him: "This they shall give" (Exodus 30:13). And at first glance, the matter is surprising. Granted, regarding Kiddush HaChodesh and the construction of the Menorah, it is fitting to have difficulty — for there are great and deep wisdoms involved. But Sh'kalim — that each and every one must give a half-shekel each year — what difficulty of understanding is relevant here? But in truth, the giving of Sh'kalim to atone for Yisroel is the aspect of the rectification of azus dik'dushah. For the essential azus is connected to money, in the aspect of "the rich man answers with boldness" (Proverbs 18:23), in the aspect of "the rich man's wealth is his strong city" (Proverbs 10:15). And Yisroel came to the sin of the Golden Calf, which is a very great azus — and the essential cause was through the abundance of gold they had, as it is written: "and Di Zahav" (Deuteronomy 1:1), and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "From the abundance of gold that You bestowed upon them" etc. And the Sh'kalim that are given for the construction of the Mishkan and for the communal offerings are the rectification of this sin, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: that the essential Sh'kalim and the donation of the Mishkan were to atone for the sin of the Calf. It emerges that Sh'kalim are the rectification of azus dik'dushah. And regarding this, Moshe had great difficulty. For at first glance, they should distance themselves from azus to the very furthest extreme, since through azus they came to this sin. But in truth this is not so. For even though one must distance oneself from azus greatly — for "the brazen-faced goes to Gehinnom" — nevertheless, one necessarily needs azus dik'dushah, and it is impossible to draw close to holiness except through azus dik'dushah, as above. And therefore one must weigh his ways very carefully: that he should have azus dik'dushah specifically, and yet not stumble, chas v'sholom, in azus d'Sitra Achara. And as is explained at the end of the aforementioned teaching: regarding this the Tanna prayed: "May it be Your will that Your city be rebuilt speedily in our days" (Avos 5:20). For these are two things that seemingly contradict each other: "the brazen-faced goes to Gehinnom" etc. — and in truth, in holiness one specifically needs azus, in the aspect of "Be bold as a leopard" etc. And regarding this the Tanna prayed: "May it be Your will that Your city be rebuilt" etc. — that one should merit azus dik'dushah, from which Yerushalayim, the faithful city, is built etc., as is explained there; see there. And therefore Moshe Rabbeinu had difficulty about this: how to achieve this and instill this path in Yisroel. For Sh'kalim — that they give from their money for the donation of the Mishkan — and money is the aspect of azus, through which they came to the aforementioned sin, as above. And therefore it would have seemed fitting now to distance money — which is the aspect of azus — completely, and not to make use of it at all. But Hashem Yisborach commanded the opposite: specifically through the thing with which they damaged, through it they shall be rectified. And He commanded them that specifically through money — which is the aspect of azus — they should rectify their sin. For through the tz'dakah that they give from their money for the donation of the Mishkan, through this all their money will be rectified and restored to holiness, and through this the azus that is drawn from there will be rectified, and they will merit azus dik'dushah. And likewise it is alluded to there in the aforementioned teaching: that tz'dakah is the aspect of azus dik'dushah. For it is found there that all voices are the aspect of azus. And Rabbeinu, of blessed memory, said then explicitly that also the sound of the jingling of coins of tz'dakah money is the aspect of azus dik'dushah, as is explained in the supplements that have not yet been printed. And likewise it is seen and understood from experience. For wealth — a person of great wealth — has great azus. And when he does not merit to rectify his deeds, he has azus against upright people and against worthy poor people and the like. And this is azus d'Sitra Achara. And such wealth is "wealth hoarded by its owner to his detriment" (Ecclesiastes 5:12). And such money is literally the aspect of avodah zarah [idolatry], as is explained elsewhere — for it is the blemish of emunah that is blemished through the blemish of azus, that is, through azus d'Sitra Achara, as above. But when one strengthens himself to give abundantly in tz'dakah from his money, then all his money is rectified, and through his money he merits azus dik'dushah, in the aspect of "the rich man's wealth is his strong city" — that is, to stand with his boldness against the wicked and against those who prevent others from the true paths of Hashem, to save the weak who are pursued, to save them from the hand of their pursuers etc. — according to the true ways of Hashem. And this is azus dik'dushah, through which the essential rectification of the holy emunah is accomplished, as above. It emerges that Sh'kalim — that is, tz'dakah — is the aspect of azus dik'dushah. And therefore they are called Sh'kalim [from the root "to weigh"]. For there is a great weighing here: one must weigh his ways very carefully in this — not to stumble, chas v'sholom, in azus d'Sitra Achara, but rather to strengthen oneself to tip the scale toward holiness, to elevate all the azus to holiness, in the aspect of "a half-shekel as a contribution to Hashem" etc., as above. And through this specifically one merits atonement and forgiveness for all one's transgressions, in the aspect of "to atone for your souls" — which is stated regarding the Sh'kalim. For one who has stumbled in transgressions, chas v'sholom, cannot draw close to Hashem Yisborach in any way and merit atonement and forgiveness except through azus dik'dushah specifically. For the preventers and obstructors intensify against him greatly, and the brazen-faced and the scoffers provoke him all the more — to prevent him from the true path of life. And also in his mind he can fall greatly on account of the magnitude of his transgressions. And also he must endure thousands of ascents and descents. And because of all this and more — if he does not have azus dik'dushah, and he is, chas v'sholom, a wretched person of misfortune [what they call a shlimazlnik], and he is nullified before all who prevent him — because it seems to him that they are better and more righteous than he — certainly he will not be able to draw close to Hashem Yisborach in any way. For even though certainly one must consider every Jew as better than oneself — and especially one who has actually sinned — but nevertheless, sometimes the Ba'al Davar overpowers against the distant one who comes to draw close to Hashem Yisborach, and it clothes itself specifically in some person who is better than him, until this person wants to prevent him from the path of life. And this matter is very, very common — especially now, in these generations. Therefore the distant one who comes to draw close must have very, very great azus dik'dushah — which is drawn from bushah specifically — and he should say in his heart: "Just because you are better than me, do you wish to prevent me, chas v'sholom, from the path of life? For this is not His will, Yisborach, Heaven forbid! On the contrary — if you were truly good as one should be, you would certainly exert yourself with all your might to draw me close to Hashem Yisborach and not to distance me, chas v'sholom — as we saw with Moshe Rabbeinu, alav hashalom, and with all the great true tzadikim, who constantly gave over their lives specifically for the distant ones who come to draw close to Hashem Yisborach." Therefore one who wishes to return to Hashem Yisborach — especially in these generations — cannot draw close to holiness in any way and merit forgiveness and atonement except through azus dik'dushah: he must strengthen himself with very great boldness to stand against the preventers from the ways of Hashem. And [he must also have] azus before Hashem Yisborach: not to be ashamed to strive constantly to draw close to Him — even though he has done what he has done; even though he has already started many times and wanted to draw close to the service of Hashem Yisborach and afterward fell; even if he fell to where he fell; even if this happened many, many times without number; even though he promised Hashem Yisborach many times that he would not do again what he had done, and did not keep his word and was worse than at the beginning — for such is the way of the Ba'al Davar, for "whoever is greater than his fellow, his inclination is greater" — nevertheless, he should not look at this at all. He should remove the bushah from his face and be bold-faced before Hashem Yisborach each time, and prostrate himself and request from Him at every moment constantly — that He should draw him close to His service, Yisborach, and return him in complete t'shuvah before Him — until He looks down and sees from the heavens; perhaps He will have compassion, perhaps He will have mercy. And as we pray every single day, three times: "Return us, our Father, to Your Torah... and bring us back in complete t'shuvah before You." And if he has such azus — and more than this, for it is impossible to explain everything explicitly — then he will certainly merit that Hashem Yisborach will forgive all his transgressions, in the aspect of "to atone for your souls" — which one merits through Sh'kalim, which are the aspect of tz'dakah, the aspect of azus dik'dushah — through which specifically one will draw close to Hashem Yisborach and return to Hashem, and He will have mercy upon him. Amain v'Amain. And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said regarding the verse: "And ten thousand talents of silver I will weigh out" etc. (Esther 3:9) — that the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: "Wicked one! Their sh'kalim have already preceded yours" etc. For the essential power of Haman-Amalek is through azus, which is "kingship without a crown" [malchusa b'la saga]. For Amalek was exceedingly brazen-faced, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "A parable of a boiling bath... along came a worthless person and jumped in" (Tanchuma, Ki Saitzai). So he had exceedingly great azus, more than all the nations — that he dared to engage Yisroel first, at the time of their greatness. And likewise Haman the wicked, yimach sh'mo — the essential power of his wickedness was through azus d'Sitra Achara, that he was exceedingly brazen-faced, as it is written: "And Memuchan said" (Esther 1:16). And our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded: "This is Haman. From here [we learn] that a commoner jumps to the head" (Megillah 12b). This is the aspect of azus d'Sitra Achara, which is "kingship without a crown" — that he jumped to the head before all the ministers. And therefore he boasted of his wealth and wished to overpower Yisroel, chas v'sholom, through his wealth — which is the aspect of azus, as above. And therefore he said: "And ten thousand talents of silver I will weigh out" etc. For the essential power of his aggression was through this — through the abundance of money, where all the azus resides, as above. For he thought that all the azus was on their side, since he had great wealth, where all the azus resides, as above. And he thought that Yisroel, chas v'sholom, had no azus at all. And therefore they would not be able, chas v'sholom, to stand against him — for it is impossible to stand against the brazen-faced of every generation except through azus dik'dushah. And they [the brazen-faced] think that all the azus is on their side, and that the upright and sincere Jews have no azus at all, since they walk in sincerity and simplicity. Therefore the brazen-faced think that the truly upright have no azus, and therefore they wish, chas v'sholom, to overpower them with their evil boldness, to confuse them from their service, chas v'sholom. Therefore Hashem Yisborach said to Haman — who is the aspect of the brazen-faced of the generation: "Wicked one! Their sh'kalim have already preceded yours!" For the giving of Sh'kalim, which is tz'dakah, is the aspect of azus dik'dushah, as above. That is, Yisroel have already preceded and given Sh'kalim, through which they merited to receive azus dik'dushah, in the aspect of: "The G-d of Yisroel — He gives strength and might to the people" etc. (Psalms 68:36), in the aspect of: "Hashem will give strength to His people" (Psalms 29:11). That is, on the contrary — the upright of Yisroel have very great azus, namely, azus dik'dushah. For it is impossible to receive the Torah and to enter holiness except through azus — as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "Why was the Torah given to Yisroel? Because they are bold" (Beitzah 25b), as above. And therefore, through their azus dik'dushah, they can certainly stand against Haman the wicked, and likewise against all the brazen-faced of every generation — the scoffers and mockers who prevent others from the ways of Hashem. For it is impossible to stand against them except through azus dik'dushah, as above. And therefore the essential cause of the final downfall of Haman was when Esther said: "A man who is an adversary and an enemy — this wicked Haman!" (Esther 7:6). This is the aspect of very great azus dik'dushah — that she was exceedingly bold-faced against him and said to his face and before his eyes, in the presence of the king: "A man who is an adversary and an enemy — this wicked Haman!" — as above. For the essential cause of his downfall was through azus dik'dushah that Yisroel possesses — which is the aspect of "their Sh'kalim have already preceded yours," as above. This halachah (9 osiyos) applies LM I:22 — "Chosam B'soch Chosam" (Seal within a Seal) — to the laws of lending. The core concept: azus dik'dushah (holy boldness) vs. azus d'Sitra Achara. One cannot approach holiness, emunah, or true tzadikim without boldness to stand against the brazen-faced of the generation. This azus → emunah (seal of the hands) → tochachah (seal of the feet). When azus is blemished, emunah is blemished, tochachah cannot be received, and one falls into debt — "the borrower is a servant to the lender" — literally unable to face his creditor. The halachah's center of gravity is the remarkable Os 4: a profound teaching on bushah (shame) and azus (boldness) before Hashem. The great paradox: after sinning, the sinner is overwhelmed with shame and cannot even pray or confess — which seems like holy shame but is actually the most dangerous azus d'Sitra Achara, because it prevents t'shuvah. The opposite is needed: one must have bold-faced azus before Hashem to confess, which seems like brazenness but is actually holy bushah. This is what the Viduy means: "We are not brazen-faced to say we haven't sinned" — the truly brazen act would be denial, not confession. Os 8 extends this to Sh'kalim: money = azus (the rich man answers boldly); the Golden Calf came from excess gold/azus; the rectification is specifically through money given as tz'dakah = azus dik'dushah. Moshe's difficulty with Sh'kalim: how can the very thing that caused the sin (money/azus) be the rectification? Answer: "through the very thing they damaged, they shall be repaired." Os 9 brings it to Purim: Haman's power was wealth/azus d'Sitra Achara; "their Sh'kalim preceded yours" = Yisroel's azus dik'dushah through tz'dakah; Esther's bold denunciation of Haman to his face = the ultimate azus dik'dushah that brings his downfall. Based on Likutay Moharan I:22 — "Chosam B'soch Chosam"