גביית מלוה ב

Behold, Yisroel merited the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh [the Holy Tongue], through which we were elevated above every language; see there. For "Your people Yisroel are all Tzadikim" (Isaiah 60:21) — which is the aspect of shemiras hab'ris [guarding the covenant], which comes through the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh, as is explained there.

And therefore kofair bakol [one who denies everything] is exempt from the oath. For when he is modeh b'miktzas [admits to part], it is found that he is in the aspect of the Aitz HaDa'as Tov VaRa [Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil] — the aspect of Targum, which is a mixture of good and evil. For falsehood and denial are the zuhamas hanachash [filth of the serpent], which is the encompassing evil of the languages of the nations — the blemish of the covenant, in the aspect of "children of falsehood, seed of an adulterer" (Isaiah 57:4). And therefore the non-Jews are all full of falsehood, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said.

But "the remnant of Yisroel shall not do iniquity and shall not speak falsehood" (Zephaniah 3:13) etc. For they are all seed of truth — the aspect of those who guard the covenant, the aspect of "and Your people Yisroel are all Tzadikim," as above — which is the aspect of the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh. And therefore we do not suspect a Jew of complete falsehood — that he would deny everything, which is the encompassing evil entirely. And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "There is a presumption that a person does not act with brazenness before his creditor." For azus [brazenness] is also the zuhamas hanachash, entirely evil — the aspect of the blemish of the covenant, the aspect of "and the forehead of a harlot" (Jeremiah 3:3) etc. And as is brought, that there is the essential chutzpah and azus, the opposite of holiness — which is the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh, which is the aspect of boshes panim [shame of face], the aspect of yir'ah-boshes [reverence-shame]. And certainly a Jew is not suspected of lying and acting brazenly — which is the intensity of the zuhamah of the aspect of the languages of the nations — and especially against his creditor, who did him a kindness. And he would be brazen against him and be ungrateful? For this is the aspect of the blemish of the zuhamas hanachash that came through the sin of the Aitz HaDa'as, the aspect of: "The woman whom You gave to be with me" (Genesis 3:12). And our Sages, of blessed memory, said that he was ungrateful (Avodah Zarah 5b). For then he denied the essential — the aspect of kofair bakol. But Yisroel, who stood at Har Sinai — their zuhamah ceased. For they merited the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh, through which He chose us then from every language. And therefore they are presumed not to be ungrateful, and they will not be brazenly false in their entirety. But when he is modeh b'miktzas — it is found that in part he admits to the truth, which is the aspect of good; and in part he lies, which is the evil. And it is found that he is in the aspect of the Aitz HaDa'as Tov VaRa, the aspect of Targum — which is always bound to Lashon HaKodesh, the aspect of the holiness of Yisroel. And therefore the Merciful One casts an oath upon him, so that he should confess [ki haichi d'lodai]. But it is remote that a Jew should fall, chas v'sholom, from the great height etc. — that is, from the holiness of Yisroel, the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh — to the evil entirely, that is, kofair bakol, Rachmana litzlan. And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Bava Metzia 3a): "He wishes to admit to all of it, and he wishes to deny all of it" — this is the aspect of the Aitz HaDa'as, which is a mixture of good and evil. And it is the aspect of a maskelah [balance-scale], as is brought there — that it tilts this way and that. For it is close to holiness, and from below it is close to the Sitra Achara, for it is between them both. And therefore he is obligated in an oath — for the oath is the aspect of the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh. And as is written above in Hilchos Sh'vuos: the aspect of the oath is that one connects the dibur [speech] to holiness, and then it is impossible to alter it — in the aspect of "he shall not profane his word" (Numbers 30:3): he shall not make his word profane, as they said there. For the oath is in the aspect of Malchus, as is brought — which is the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh. And this is the aspect of "I have sworn by My holiness" (Psalms 89:36) — that the essential oath is that one connects the dibur to holiness, which is the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh, as above. And therefore, since he is in the aspect of Targum, the aspect of the Aitz HaDa'as, as above — therefore through the oath, which is the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh, he will certainly confess to the truth. For it is the way of the Targum to ascend toward Lashon HaKodesh — that is, the evil is subdued and nullified, and the good ascends toward Lashon HaKodesh, as is written there. And this is the aspect of the oath to contradict the witness [sh'vuas hak'chashaso aidav] — which is also an oath from the Torah. For the essential testimony is through two [witnesses], who are the aspect of the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh, the aspect of pi sh'nayim [a double portion]. This is the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh, the aspect of "let a double portion [pi sh'nayim] be [upon me]" (II Kings 2:9), the aspect of "sh'nayim Mikra" [reading the weekly portion twice], as above. And therefore they have credibility — that they speak truth — for the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh is the aspect of emes and emunah. But when there is one [witness] alone, he is in the aspect of Targum — in the aspect of "v'echad Targum" [and one, Targum]. For the essential holiness — the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh — is in the aspect of sh'nayim Mikra, the aspect of pi sh'nayim, as above. This is the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh: that the lashon — which is the dibur — is connected to the kodesh, which is the chochmah, the aspect of ruach ila'ah and ruach tata'ah, in the aspect of the connection of emes and emunah — which is the essential holiness. And then falsehood, which is the evil, has no grip at all. But when he is one, separated, and his second — his counterpart — is not there, then he is in the aspect of echad Targum, the aspect of the Aitz HaDa'as. For when the aspect of holiness descends and becomes separated from above, then it becomes clothed below, and they take hold of it — and from this comes the aspect of the Aitz HaDa'as, which is a mixture of good and evil. And this is the aspect of "two are better than one" (Ecclesiastes 4:9) — for "it is not good for man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18). And therefore when there is a single witness, the truth is not clear — for when he is one without a second, they have a grip, chas v'sholom, as above. And likewise we find that a person is forbidden to go out alone at night, but two are permitted (Berachos 43b) — for when they are two, they are guarded from them, for they have no grip on them, in the aspect of "two are better," as above. And therefore a single witness does not have complete credibility — for he is in the aspect of echad Targum, which is a mixture of good and evil, as above. And also the litigant cannot deny him entirely, since he is close to holiness and there is good there, as above. And therefore [the litigant] must swear against him. And through the oath he is believed to contradict the witness — for the oath is the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh, which is above the Targum. For the oath is the aspect of pi sh'nayim — that one connects the dibur to holiness, as above. And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: that when one repeats his words, it is the language of an oath regarding sh'vuas bituy — for the repetition of words is the aspect of pi sh'nayim, the aspect of sh'nayim Mikra, the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh, which is the aspect of the oath, as above — the aspect of "seven times a day I praise You" (Psalms 119:164) — that is, the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh, which is the aspect of praises and prayers to Hashem Yisborach. And therefore through the oath — which is the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh, the aspect of pi sh'nayim — he is believed against the witness, who is in the aspect of echad Targum, as above. And in the later generations they enacted even for kofair bakol the oath of heseis. For in the severity of the exile — that the Sitra Achara has overpowered, that is, the languages of the nations, the aspect of falsehood — since Yisroel have been exiled among them, therefore they enacted an oath even for one who denies everything. For now it is possible that even complete falsehood, chas v'sholom, may take hold of him, as above — that is, the languages of the nations, as above. And therefore he needs an oath. And therefore they called it sh'vuas heseis — for it is against the zuhamas hanachash, which is complete falsehood, and which is called maisis [the inciter]. And therefore our Sages, of blessed memory, incited against it and provoked it and enacted an oath so that he should confess — in order to subdue it. For certainly through the oath he will confess, for he is not suspected of swearing [falsely] — even though he denies everything. As our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "He is merely evading" [ishtamutai ka mishtamit]. And also because perhaps he has an old loan outstanding against him. See the poskim for these laws. For even in the exile, when even the completely evil overpowers, as above — that is, the languages of the nations, as above — they cannot overpower except through the small amount of good that is among them; that is, it shows him a seeming permission even in the completely evil. And even though in truth this is no permission at all, nevertheless since the initial opening to seduce him is through this — it is found that there is there also a little, a minimal bit of good. And therefore there is power to subdue it, since its overpowering is only through the aspect of the small amount of good that is there. And therefore when the truth is revealed — the aspect of holiness and good entirely — then the evil is subdued and falls completely. And therefore, even one who denies everything — since even now we do not suspect a Jew of denying entirely except through some seeming permission, as above; and this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "perhaps an old loan" etc. — for certainly there must be there a little good, as above — therefore, through the oath, which is the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh, he will certainly confess to the truth. And then the evil is subdued even more — in the aspect of "a time when a man ruled" etc. (Ecclesiastes 8:9), as is brought. For this very one over whom the evil and falsehood overpowered, as above — now confesses to the truth through the oath, and nullifies the words of falsehood that he spoke before. But certainly, when it becomes clear to us that he is denying without any seeming permission, we do not give him an oath — for one who denies a pikadon [deposit] is suspected regarding the oath. For the completely evil — that is, complete falsehood — cannot be turned toward holiness, that is, toward truth, through the completeness of Lashon HaKodesh. Rather, by default we seek to find merit for him and find him a seeming permission — the aspect of a little good, as above. And then it is possible to turn him toward holiness — that is, toward truth — through the oath, which is the aspect of Lashon HaKodesh, as above. This is the aspect of the Targum language ascending toward Lashon HaKodesh. For now, through the overpowering of the languages of the nations over Yisroel — through the small amount of good among them — through this, the languages of the nations are transformed into the aspect of Targum, since they have conquered Yisroel, who are the aspect of good, among them. It is found that they are in the aspect of a mixture of good and evil — the aspect of Targum. And through this very thing we have the power to subdue them — in the aspect of the Targum language: subduing the evil within it, and the good ascends to holiness. And this is the aspect of "a time when a man ruled" etc., as is brought and as above. For because they rule over the man of holiness — through this very thing they are subdued, since there is much good among them, [and therefore] there is power to overcome and subdue the evil and extract the good. And this is the aspect of the many mitzvos that do not apply in chutz la'Aretz from the Torah — for example, commandments dependent on the Land. Yet our Sages, of blessed memory, enacted that they should be observed also in chutz la'Aretz. For chutz la'Aretz, which is the land of the nations — certainly it is not fitting that mitzvos should apply in their land, for they are entirely evil, as above. Only since Yisroel dwell among them — therefore through this, good is now found even there. And therefore they enacted even there the commandments dependent on the Land. And as I heard from our Master, our Teacher and our Rebbe, his light should shine [nero ya'ir]: that because now Yisroel dwell near specific non-Jews, through this the evil of those [nations] is weakened and subdued. May Hashem Yisborach hasten our redemption — a complete redemption, speedily in our days, Amain v'Amain, so may it be His will. I heard from our Master, our Teacher and our Rebbe that there is a tikla [trap/stumbling-block] in which many great ones of the generation have been ensnared. And therefore sometimes they pray properly, in the manner of the great ones, and also do much good. Yet sometimes the opposite, chas v'sholom. And this is due to a certain nation that captured and conquered the province. And the true Tzadik — it was a help for him to be saved from this, through the fact that also previously he was close to the border. But now, since many Jews dwell among them, through this it is not as evil as before. May Hashem guard us and redeem us speedily, Amain.