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Laws of a Guarantor, Halachah 4 – Part 1 (§§1–5)

Based on Likutay Moharan I:15, "V'Atem Tihyu Li Mamleches Kohanim" ["And You Shall Be for Me a Kingdom of Priests"].

The matter of harsha'ah [power of attorney]. According to what Rabbeinu z"l [of blessed memory] wrote in the Torah beginning "V'Atem tihyu li mamleches kohanim" etc. — "Whoever wants to taste the taste of the or haganuz [hidden light]" etc. — see there, Siman 15. And the general principle for our purposes: Through mishpat [judgment], one elevates the fallen yiros [fears] to their root. For when there is no mishpat and no din [judgment] below, there is din Above, chas v'shalom. And when a person is judged with mishpat from Above, then the din clothes itself in all things, and all things become agents of the Makom [G-d] to execute upon this man "mishpat kasuv" ["written judgment"] (T'hilim 149:9), as Chazal said: "'L'mishpatecha amdu' ['All stand for Your judgment'] — then 'hakol avadecha' ['all are Your servants']" (T'hilim 119:91), to execute din upon this person. But through mishpat where the person judges himself — meaning, when a person secluded himself between himself and his Maker and considers his ways and examines his deeds and judges himself on every single matter: whether it is fitting for him to act this way and to spend his days, chas v'shalom, in such deeds — and he judges himself on his own — through his judging himself, he nullifies the din from Above so that it should not come upon him. For when there is din below, there is no din Above. And then the yirah [fear] and din do not clothe themselves in anything to arouse the person, because he himself has been aroused. And therefore through this, the yirah ascends from the k'lipah [husk]. That is, through the aforementioned mishpat — for at first the yirah was clothed in the k'lipah, meaning that a person fears some officer, or thieves, or other fears — this is the yirah clothed in that thing, etc. And all of this is because he did not judge himself, through which there is din from Above that clothes itself in all things, as above. But through mishpat, when he judges himself, through this there is no din Above, and then the din and yirah do not clothe themselves in anything. And then the fallen yirah ascends to its root, etc. And the root of yirah is da'as [knowledge], etc. And through the yirah ascending to its root, which is da'as, the da'as is completed. And through this one merits Torah sheb'nigleh [the revealed Torah]. And through Torah sheb'nigleh one merits t'filah [prayer] with m'siras nefesh [self-sacrifice]. And through t'filah one merits Torah sheb'nistar [the hidden Torah], which is the or haganuz [hidden light], etc. See there. And this is the aspect of ko'ach v'harsha'ah [power of attorney]: That one who has a din and mishpat against his fellow due to some claim, and he cannot sue him to mishpat himself, due to the distance of the way or some other reason — he has the ko'ach [power], as the claimant who has the mishpat, to make a mursheh [authorized agent], to transfer the din and mishpat to his fellow, and his fellow will sue him to mishpat through the ko'ach v'harsha'ah that he has from him. That is, exactly the matter explained above: As long as there is no mishpat, the mishpat has the ko'ach to clothe itself in all the things in the world, in the aspect of "l'mishpatecha amdu, azo hakol avadecha" as above. And therefore the claimant who has the mishpat has the ko'ach to transfer his mishpat and claim to whoever he wishes and give him ko'ach v'harsha'ah. And then [the agent] has his ko'ach, for this is the law of mishpat — that it has the ko'ach to clothe itself in every person and in all things in order to execute mishpat, as above. And therefore one can give ko'ach v'harsha'ah for all claims in the world, even for the claim of a loan where the fellow denies [the debt]. Even though through the law of haknayah [formal acquisition], one cannot convey such a claim to his fellow through any kinyan [act of acquisition], as is explained in the poskim — nevertheless, in the form of ko'ach harsha'ah, he can authorize him, as is explained there in the Sm"a and Shach. And the main point is as above: All of this is the ko'ach of the mishpat as above. For in truth, it is fitting that every person should judge himself, as above. And one who constantly judges himself on every matter will certainly never need to come to din before a bais din [court] to have money extracted from him by din, for he will certainly be the first to pay his fellow what he owes him according to the truth. For certainly it is fitting for every person to judge himself on every matter, especially in monetary matters — when he knows he has in his possession some money belonging to his fellow — he should judge himself on his own and pay his fellow before being sued to din. Similar to what Chazal said on the pasuk "Sonai vatza" ["haters of [unjust] gain"] (Sh'mos 18:21): "A judge from whom money is extracted by din is not a [proper] judge" (Bava Basra 58b). And the same is fitting for every person. It turns out that this one who is a defendant and did not pay his fellow on his own before coming to mishpat — he has blemished the mishpat. And when there is no mishpat — meaning, the person does not judge himself — then the mishpat has the ko'ach to clothe itself in all the things in the world, as above. And therefore the claimant has the ko'ach to transfer his mishpat to whoever he wishes and give him ko'ach v'harsha'ah, even for something that he cannot convey to his fellow as a complete haknayah. Nevertheless, through the law of mishpat, he can authorize him so that he can sue his fellow. And [the defendant] cannot say to him, "You are not my litigant," for in truth every person is his litigant when he receives ko'ach from the claimant. For this is the aspect of the ko'ach of mishpat — that it has the ko'ach to clothe itself in all things, in the aspect of "l'mishpatecha amdu, azo hakol avadecha," as above. And therefore every person is his litigant, even though he did not acquire the claim with a complete kinyan — nevertheless he is his litigant to sue him through the ko'ach v'harsha'ah that he received from the ba'al hamishpat [the owner of the claim], for the mishpat can clothe itself in all things, as above. And this is what Chazal said (Shabbos 63a): "'Va'asher lo tov asah b'amav' — this is one who comes with a harsha'ah." For one who comes with a harsha'ah — this is the aspect of the mishpat clothing itself in him. And when the mishpat clothes itself in something, this is the aspect of the fallen yiros, as above, from which comes the hold of the chitzonim [external forces]. And therefore all those in whom the mishpat is transferred and clothed to execute din upon a person are called chitzonim and mazikay alma [damagers of the world], for since the yirah of Above has fallen through the blemish of the mishpat and clothed itself in external things, the k'lipos [husks] have sustenance, chas v'shalom, from this, for the main sustenance of the k'lipos is from fallen holiness, as is known. And because of this very thing, a person must have mercy on himself and guard himself very, very much — to judge himself on his own, so that the din should not need, chas v'shalom, to clothe itself in whatever it would clothe itself. For then they will prevail, chas v'shalom. And chas v'shalom, there would be a cruel din, chalilah, for they are cruel and will not have mercy. And therefore one must guard himself greatly to judge himself, so that the din should not be transferred to whoever it would be transferred to, chas v'shalom, as above. And therefore one who comes with a harsha'ah, even though in truth he has the ko'ach to receive the ko'ach of the mishpat from the claimant and to sue the defendant and to execute mishpat upon him according to the law — nevertheless it is called "lo tov asah" ["not good he did"]. For certainly it is "not good," since the mishpat was transferred and chained down to another, which is the aspect of the fallen yirah, which is the aspect of the hold of the chitzonim, the mazikay alma, whose entire power is from the fallen yiros, as above. Therefore it is called "lo tov asah," as above. For there is no good except one [i.e., unity], as is brought in the words of Rabbeinu z"l many times — that the essential good is the aspect of echad [one], as Chazal said (P'sachim 50a) on the pasuk, "Bayom hahu yihyeh Hashem echad u'Sh'mo echad" ["On that day Hashem will be one and His Name one"] — that Chazal said that then it will be entirely good, that they will recite the b'rachah "HaTov v'HaMaitiv" ["Who is good and does good"] over everything. And all the troubles, evils, and decrees, chas v'shalom, are all drawn only from being distant from echad [the One]. For Hashem Yisbarach is good and does good to all, and the main hold of evil is only from the chaining-down and distance from echad, from which comes the main hold of the chitzonim — whose hold is from the aspect of "bikshu chishbonos rabim" ["they sought many calculations"] (Koheles 7:29), as Rabbeinu z"l wrote elsewhere, Siman 51. And therefore the main tikkun of the mishpat is when a person judges himself between himself and his Maker and requests of Hashem Yisbarach mercy and supplications that He should lighten His judgments and sentences upon him, and he justifies the din upon himself and says, "V'Atah tzadik al kol haba alainu, ki emes asisa" etc. ["And You are righteous regarding all that has come upon us, for You have acted in truth"] (Nechemyah 9:33), "L'cha Hashem hatz'dakah v'lanu boshes hapanim" etc. ["Yours, Hashem, is the righteousness, and ours is the shame of face"] (Daniel 9:7), and the like, and he prostrates himself and beseeches before Him Yisbarach that He act with him lifnim mishuras hadin [beyond the letter of the law]. And then, when he judges himself and the din from Above does not need to clothe itself in other things, then [the chitzonim] have no sustenance at all. And then Hashem Yisbarach judges him with mercy, with compassion and grace, or forgives him completely, for Hashem Yisbarach is gracious and merciful and abounds in doing good. But when one does not judge himself, then there is din Above, and then, chas v'shalom, the din clothes itself in other things, and from Above they give ko'ach v'harsha'ah to whomever they give, to execute upon him "mishpat kasuv." And the more the din and mishpat descend and clothe themselves, from this [the chitzonim] have more sustenance, chas v'shalom. And then, since the destroyer has been given permission, chas v'shalom — may Hashem Yisbarach have mercy and save all of Yisroel from such judgments, Rachmana litzlan, Rachmana lishaizvon [may the Merciful One save us, may the Merciful One rescue us]. And this is what David HaMelech, alav hashalom, requested: "Shafaini Hashem...milfanecha mishpati yaitzai" ["Judge me, Hashem...from before You let my judgment go forth"] (T'hilim 35:24, 17:2). And elsewhere he says, "Al tavo v'mishpat es avdecha" ["Do not come in judgment with Your servant"] (T'hilim 143:2). And as Chazal raised the contradiction. But according to the above, it is resolved well and correctly. For David HaMelech, alav hashalom, requested that his mishpat should be from Hashem Yisbarach Himself, as it is written, "Shafaini Hashem, milfanecha mishpati yaitzai" etc. And then certainly the mishpat will be with mercy and great compassion, and the mishpat will not clothe itself, chas v'shalom, in other things, as above. And this is: "Al tavo v'mishpat es avdecha" — which is the aspect of Hashem Yisbarach coming in a clothed manner, in the aspect of "Hinai Anochi ba ailecha b'av he'anan" ["Behold, I come to you in the thickness of the cloud"] (Sh'mos 19:9) — the aspect of clothing. For in truth, Hashem Yisbarach — "m'lo chol ha'aretz k'vodo" ["the whole earth is full of His glory"] (Y'shayah 6:3), and "lais asar panuy minai" ["there is no place devoid of Him"]. And when a person remembers Hashem Yisbarach and does not forget Him even for a brief moment, he is always close to Hashem Yisbarach and he judges himself at all times before Hashem Yisbarach Himself. And then his mishpat goes forth only from Hashem Yisbarach Himself, and then certainly he is saved from all judgments and sentences, as above. And this is what David HaMelech, alav hashalom, requested: "Milfanecha mishpati yaitzai" etc., as above. But when a person does not seclude himself between himself and his Maker to consider his ways and to judge himself on every matter, it turns out that Hashem Yisbarach is far from between his eyes, and he forgets, chas v'shalom, before Whom he will eventually give a din v'cheshbon [judgment and accounting]. And as he distances himself from Hashem Yisbarach, so too, kiv'yachol, Hashem Yisbarach distances Himself from him, chas v'shalom, for "yom ta'azvani yomayim e'ezveka" ["a day you forsake Me, two days I will forsake you"]. And then, at the time the mishpat reaches him, then, kiv'yachol, Hashem Yisbarach clothes Himself and comes to him in din and mishpat like one who comes from afar and clothes himself in other garments, so that the person does not recognize him. Similarly, Hashem Yisbarach, Who has been distanced from him through his deeds — because he did not consider his ways and did not judge himself at all times — He Yisbarach comes to him in mishpat, like one coming from afar, in the aspect of "Hashem b'mishpat yavo" ["Hashem will come in judgment"] (Y'shayah 3:14). That is, the mishpat clothes itself in other things, as above, and then it is difficult to recognize Him. And one must then look well to recognize Him Yisbarach. For in truth, even if a person did not merit to examine his deeds and judge himself beforehand — before the din came upon him, chas v'shalom — he must, at least afterwards, return to the One Who struck him and elevate all the fallen yiros to Hashem Yisbarach. That is, he should contemplate that there is nothing that can frighten and terrify him or bring din and suffering upon him, chas v'shalom, except through the mishpat from Above, through the Divine vitality clothed in that thing — which is the aspect of the exalted yirah that descended from its throne due to his sins and clothed itself in those things from which he has fear and suffering, chas v'shalom. And then, when he contemplates all of this well, in truth and sincerity, and examines his deeds and judges himself now at least, and repents fully to Hashem Yisbarach — then he merits to elevate all the fallen yiros to their root, as above. But in truth, it is very difficult then to elevate and sort them, except with great effort and abundant mercy. As Chazal said (Sanhedrin 17[=44b]): "One should always precede t'filah before trouble" etc. And especially, who knows if he will merit to be aroused then to repent in truth. For sometimes, even when suffering comes upon a person, chas v'shalom, nevertheless he does not merit to return to Hashem Yisbarach. And sometimes the suffering distorts his heart further from Hashem Yisbarach, chas v'shalom, for they are the aspect of the fallen yiros from which comes the hold of the chitzonim, as above. And therefore, sometimes, if he does not merit to prevail, they mislead and distort his heart even more, chas v'shalom. Therefore it is good for a man to hasten to judge himself beforehand, as above, so that the din should not need to clothe itself, chas v'shalom. And this is: "Al tavo v'mishpat es avdecha" — that the mishpat should not come, meaning, that it should not clothe itself in other things distant from Him Yisbarach. For then certainly "lo yitzdak l'fanav kol chai" ["no living being will be justified before Him"]. But when one is close to Hashem Yisbarach and the mishpat is from Him Yisbarach Himself — through the person's judging himself — then the mishpat is only mercy, compassion, and grace, for "mishpat hu rachamay" ["mishpat is mercy"], as it is stated in the holy Zohar. And this is the aspect of Bain HaMetzarim [the Three Weeks], during which we mourn the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash from the seventeenth of Tamuz until the ninth of Av. For the main destruction of the Bais HaMikdash was through the blemish of the mishpat, as it is written, "Hahofchim lala'anah mishpat" ["Those who turn justice to wormwood"] (Amos 5:7). And as it is written in many p'sukim. And as Chazal said that the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash was due to the delaying of din and the perversion of din, etc. For the Bais HaMikdash was comprised of all the aforementioned aspects spoken of in the aforementioned Torah. For in the Bais HaMikdash was the main tikkun of mishpat, for there the Great Sanhedrin sat, from whom mishpat tzedek went forth for the entire world. And through this, the yirah ascends, which is the aspect of the Bais HaMikdash, which is called yirah, as it is written, "Vayikra Avraham shaim hamakom hahu, Hashem yireh" etc. ["And Avraham called the name of that place 'Hashem will see'"] (B'reishis 22:14). And as Yaakov said, "Mah nora hamakom hazeh" ["How awesome is this place"] (B'reishis 28:17). And for this reason Yerushalayim is called "yirah shalaim" ["complete fear"], as Chazal said. And through yirah one merits da'as, which is the aspect of the Bais HaMikdash, for "whoever has da'as, it is as if the Bais HaMikdash was built in his days," as Chazal said (B'rachos 33a). And through da'as one merits Torah sheb'nigleh, for the main revelation of the Torah was in the Bais HaMikdash, from which went forth Torah "between judgment and judgment and between blood and blood," as it is written, "V'kamta v'alisa el hamakom...al pi haTorah asher yorucha v'al pi hamishpat asher yomru l'cha ta'aseh" ["And you shall rise and go up to the place...according to the Torah which they teach you and according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do"] (D'varim 17:8–11). And through Torah sheb'nigleh one merits t'filah in its completeness, which was in the Bais HaMikdash, for there was the main t'filah, as it is written, "Ki vaisi bais t'filah" ["For My house is a house of prayer"] (Y'shayah 56:7). And through there all t'filos ascend, for one who prays must direct his heart toward the Bais HaMikdash, as Chazal said. And through t'filah one merits Torah sheb'nistar, which is the aspect of the Bais HaMikdash, the aspect of kodesh [holiness], which is "sisray Oraysa" ["the secrets of Torah"], as is explained there in the aforementioned Torah on the pasuk "Har zeh kansah y'mino" ["This mountain His right hand acquired"] (T'hilim 78:54), see there. It turns out that the Bais HaMikdash was comprised of all the aforementioned tikkunim. And all the aforementioned aspects all depend on the mishpat, upon which everything depends, as was explained above — that the main beginning is from mishpat, meaning hisbod'dus [seclusion] between himself and his Maker etc., as above. Through this, the yirah ascends, for the fallen yiros are nullified. And through this one merits da'as and all the aforementioned aspects. And therefore, because they blemished the mishpat as above, through this the Bais HaMikdash was destroyed and all the aforementioned aspects were nullified, for the din and yirah clothed themselves in the wicked kingdom of Bavel [Babylon], and they were given permission to destroy it. And everything was through the blemish of the mishpat, as above. And this is what is written, "M'kom hamishpat shamah haresha" etc. ["The place of mishpat — there is the wicked one"] (Koheles 3:16). That is, as above — for the wicked one comes in the place of the mishpat. For because they did not make mishpat and blemished the mishpat, the mishpat clothed itself in the wicked one — N'vuchadnetzar and his fellows — and "in the place of mishpat, there is the wicked one." For he comes in the place of the mishpat, with the ko'ach v'harsha'ah that he received from the mishpat, just like one who comes with a harsha'ah who comes in the place of the claimant — so too, he comes in the place of the mishpat, for the mishpat clothed itself in him, as above. And this is why they decreed four fasts over the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash. Also, the custom is to mourn during Bain HaMetzarim and to say chatzos [the midnight lamentation] to weep over the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash, and to practice abstinence from meat and wine and the like, each person according to his custom. For all the fasts and self-afflictions that the G-d-fearing practice are all in the aspect of the aforementioned mishpat — that they judge themselves before the din from Above comes, chas v'shalom — in order to nullify the din from Above through the mishpat by which one judges himself, as above. For sometimes a person sees that words alone are not enough, through which he judges himself. And then he himself gives a mishpat upon himself — that he should fast and afflict himself such-and-such for his deeds that he did. And even though in truth, certainly this does not suffice, not even one part in a thousand, against what he blemished — for all our days would not be enough to fast and afflict ourselves for the blemish of a single foreign thought or hirur [improper musing], for one who believes in the enormity of the blemish that reaches the place that it reaches, as above — how much more so one who committed some avairah, chas v'shalom, how much more so one who did very much damage, chas v'shalom, as is common now in these generations, b'avonosainu harabim [due to our abundant sins]. And if so, seemingly, what will these fasts and afflictions help him against his deeds? Yet nevertheless, he can merit atonement for his sins through them. For the main tikkun is the mishpat — meaning, that he himself judges himself. And therefore, since he himself judges himself and does not wait for the din from Above, through this he can nullify the din from Above through his fasts and afflictions. Since he himself judges himself — for when there is din below, there is no din Above, as above. And this is the aspect of how a person can be saved through a single affliction or fast from very harsh and bitter judgments. And also merit through them the life of the World to Come. For it is taught that all the suffering in the world — if it were all gathered upon one person for all seventy years, chas v'shalom — it is nothing compared to a single moment, compared to a single burn of Gehinnom. How much more so when they judge a person twelve months in Gehinnom. How much more so when there are sins, chas v'shalom, for which they descend and never ascend. How much more so when there are many types of harsh and bitter punishments worse than the suffering of the severe Gehinnom, as is brought in the s'farim. And nevertheless, for everything, t'shuvah is effective in this world. And the main t'shuvah is the aspect of the aforementioned mishpat — for through a person secluding himself between himself and his Maker and judging himself on all his deeds and arousing himself to the service of Hashem Yisbarach each time — through there being mishpat below, there is no din Above, as above. And especially if he merits to be aroused to the point that he actually makes mishpat upon himself — meaning, he fasts and afflicts himself, even though it does not amount to anything compared to his deeds, as above — nevertheless, since he himself executes the din on himself, through this he nullifies all the judgments from Above, even though he did thousands and myriads more, without measure or estimate — nevertheless he nullifies them all through his mishpat by which he judges himself, as above. For when there is din below, there is no din Above, as above. And this is the aspect of the fasts and mourning — that one afflicts oneself with fasts and abstinence from meat and wine and washing, etc., on account of the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash. For the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash was due to the blemish of the mishpat, as above. Therefore we now do t'shuvah and rectify this, and we execute mishpat upon ourselves and fast and afflict ourselves in order to nullify the din from Above, as above. For the main tikkun of a fast is the aforementioned mishpat — meaning, that one should consider his ways and judge himself on every matter, as above. As it is written, "Halo zeh tzom evcharaihu, patai'ach chartzubos resha, hatair agudos motah" etc. ["Is this not the fast that I choose: to loosen the chains of wickedness, to untie the bands of the yoke"] (Y'shayah 58:6). That is, the main purpose of the fast is to judge oneself and to loosen and untie all the knots and chains of the wickedness hidden within him, which is the main aspect of the aforementioned mishpat — to judge himself on every matter, as above. And therefore the practice on a fast day was to say divrai kibbushin [words of chastisement and arousal] to the people, and to examine and oversee the rectification of all the problems in the city, and to search whether there are, chas v'shalom, any sins and transgressions in the city, to rectify them — as Rashi explained on the pasuk "Karu tzom" ["they proclaimed a fast"] in the matter of Navos (M'lachim Alef 21:9). For this is the main tikkun of a fast. And similarly, every person must do the same every single day, and especially on a fast day — to judge himself on every matter, which is the main tikkun of a fast, as above.