נזקי שכנים א

--accent-light: #c4a24e;

Likutay Halachos, Choshen Mishpat. Based on Likutay Moharan II:4. Translated from the Hebrew. Continued from Part 5.

And this is what Rashi wrote — that Yitzchak was distressed at first and said: "Perhaps I acted improperly in that I blessed Yaakov first." But when he heard from him that he also sold him the birthright, then he said: "This is what I was distressed about, etc. — now, indeed, blessed shall he be." Meaning as above. For the main error of Yitzchak was that he thought that Eisav — even though he was a rasha — loved the talmid chacham and wished to support him. And therefore he needed to bless him with parnasah so that he could support the talmid chacham, as above. But when Yitzchak heard that Eisav HaRasha had sold the birthright — and in this he demonstrated his wickedness, that he did not desire the blessing, for he did not desire at all to be included in the Ratzon through the talmid chacham, which is the aspect of the birthright, the aspect of korbanos, as above, and he did not desire this aspect at all; rather, on the contrary, he sold his birthright to Yaakov for the sake of the desire of physical eating — therefore Yitzchak said: "This is what I was distressed about, etc. — now certainly, blessed shall he be as well." For certainly the blessing belongs only to Yaakov, for the blessing and the abundance are drawn from the source of the Ratzon, and this is the aspect of Yaakov. Only that I wished to bless Eisav — it was all for the sake of Yaakov, so that he could support [him], etc., as above. But now that you do not desire this — certainly the blessing and the birthright belong to Yaakov, etc., as above. And then "Vayisa Eisav kolo vayeivk" ["And Eisav raised his voice and wept"] (B'raishis 27:38) — "vayeivk" ["and he wept"] specifically. For the weeping is the excess of the melancholy, and this is the aspect of the intensity of the contamination of Asiyah, the aspect of "b'itzavon tochalenah." For sadness is melancholy, from which come the weeping and the tears. And therefore Eisav HaRasha — through his evil weeping he was arousing the intensity of the contamination of the serpent, the intensity of Asiyah, in which he was held. And he cried out a great cry that he should give him the desires of this world. And then Yitzchak was compelled to silence his mouth and gave him his evil desire. For at that time the world was not yet rectified, and the Sitra Achara still had a hold in the world. And as long as the Sitra Achara is not completely nullified, one must perforce give it its vitality, as is known. And therefore, when Eisav was aroused with the intensity of his hold in his root — which is weeping and sadness and melancholy, which is the intensity of the contamination of the serpent, the intensity of Asiyah — then Yitzchak was compelled to fill his belly, as above. And all the sufferings and the galus and the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash — everything was drawn through his evil weeping, as is known. For through his evil weeping he was arousing the contamination of the serpent, which is the aspect of "b'itzavon tochalenah," the aspect of the thirty-nine m'lachos of Asiyah, etc. — which are the blemish of the ratzon. And Eisav is the Samael himself. And therefore he overpowered through this until he introduced his contamination into the world and blemished the ratzon and introduced denials into the heart — until even some of Yisroel were caught in his net. For he is the main "forehead of the serpent," from whom all the predatory wild beasts that maul and tear — many from among our people — who are the heretics who introduce denials and foreign ideas even into some of the members of Yisroel — all of them draw nourishment from him. And through this he overpowered until he destroyed our holy House. For the main destruction was through the blemish of the ratzon, as above. And this is the aspect of: "V'hayah ka'asher tarid ufarkta ulo" ["And it shall be, when you are aggrieved, you shall break off his yoke"] (B'raishis 27:40). "Tarid" is an expression of wailing and sadness, as it is written (Y'shayahu 15:3): "Yoraid babchi" ["descending in weeping"]. And as Rashi explains there. Meaning, when you overpower, chas v'shalom, and introduce sadness into Yisroel — then "ufarkta ulo" ["you shall break off his yoke"]. For then you will be able to overpower, chas v'shalom. For the main overpowering of the Sitra Achara — which is the aspect of Eisav HaRasha — is through sadness, chas v'shalom — when they introduce, chas v'shalom, sadness into Yisroel. And the main sadness is the aspect of the blemish of the ratzon, as above. For the main simchah is when one knows that everything is through His ratzon, as above. And therefore the main overpowering [of the Sitra Achara] is through sadness, chas v'shalom, which is the blemish of the ratzon. And behold, in truth, Yisroel, a holy people, should always rejoice, for they are drawn from the source of simchah, which is the aspect of ratzon. For, praise to the living G-d, blessed be His Name forever — we have reason to rejoice all our days forever: "asher bara'anu lichvodo v'hivdilanu min hato'im," etc., "v'lo sam chelkainu kahem," etc. ["Who created us for His glory and separated us from those who go astray, and did not make our portion like theirs"]. But since our Beis HaMikdash was destroyed — which is the aspect of the illumination of the Ratzon, which is the simchah of Yisroel — and through this the sadness and the weeping of Eisav HaRasha overpowered, chas v'shalom — therefore we are compelled to mourn every day over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, and especially during Bein HaM'tzarim, and to weep very, very much over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, in order to nullify through this the weeping of Eisav HaRasha. For "the din is not sweetened except at its root," and "from within it and from itself, let the axe come against it." For all his overpowering is through the contamination of Asiyah, which is the aspect of the thirty-nine m'lachos, the aspect of sadness and melancholy and weeping — all of which is the opposite of the ratzon, as above. And therefore we must mourn and weep over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, and through this we sweeten and nullify the weeping and the sadness through the weeping itself. For "from within it and from itself, let the axe come against it." For in truth, in every matter there is good and evil — "v'yesharim darchei Hashem, v'tzaddikim yailchu vam, uphosh'im yikashlu vam" ["the ways of Hashem are straight; the righteous walk in them, and the sinners stumble in them"] (Hoshaia 14:10). For in weeping there are two aspects: good and evil. For the essence of the weeping and the sadness is from the Sitra Achara, from the aspect of Eisav, which is the aspect of Asiyah, where is the main sadness, as above. For all the weeping of Eisav HaRasha was over the desires of his evil heart — for all his desire was that his father should give him all the desires of his heart, and he wept over this. And this weeping is the ultimate contamination, which is the intensity of Asiyah, which is the essence of sadness, etc., as above. But the weeping of Yisroel, the holy people, is the exact opposite. For all our weeping is over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash — that we have been distanced from our Father in Heaven, and we do not merit the illumination of the Ratzon that was shining in the Beis HaMikdash. And the main weeping is that each and every person weeps over his sins. For "what was, was" — for the Beis HaMikdash has already been destroyed, and the past is gone. Rather, the weeping is that each and every person must mourn and weep very, very much over his sins and his evil deeds, which cause the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash in every generation. For "whoever in whose days the Beis HaMikdash is not rebuilt — it is as if it was destroyed in his days" (Y'rushalmi Yoma 1:1). It emerges that the main weeping of Yisroel is the aspect of ratzon. For we weep and grieve over having been distanced from His ratzon, Yisbarach, and we yearn and long with a strong ratzon to return to Him Yisbarach in truth. And this is the entire main element of our weeping. And therefore the weeping of Yisroel is the aspect of ratzon. It emerges that they are transforming the weeping — which is the aspect of Asiyah, as above — transforming it into Ratzon. And they sweeten the din at its root. For they transform the weeping into ratzon — for they weep from the intensity of the ratzon that we have to return to Him Yisbarach and to His service and to our Beis HaMikdash, etc. And it is from the opposite to the opposite of the weeping of Eisav HaRasha, who wept for the sake of the desires of Asiyah, as above. And therefore through the weeping specifically one nullifies the power of the weeping of Eisav, which is the aspect of Asiyah. For we transform the weeping, the aspect of Asiyah, into Ratzon. And therefore the weeping of Yisroel is very great and precious in the eyes of Hashem Yisbarach, as it is written: "B'vchi yavo'u uv'sachanumim ovilaim" ["With weeping they shall come and with supplications I will lead them"] (Yirmiyahu 31:8). For the weeping of Yisroel is the aspect of the inclusion of Asiyah in the Ratzon, and this is the main tachlis, as above. For the main weeping of Yisroel should be like an infant who weeps from the greatness of the yearning that he has for his father — as I heard from Rabbainu z"l. And this is the aspect of: "V'hineh na'ar bocheh" ["And behold, a youth was weeping"] — immediately "vatachmol alav" ["and she had compassion on him"] (Sh'mos 2:6), as is stated in the Tikkunim. For when Yisroel weep like an infant weeping to return to his father, then certainly "vatachmol alav." For this is the aspect of ratzon — that they transform Asiyah into Ratzon. Through which they arouse His good ratzon and His compassion upon us, as above. And therefore, after the mourning and the weeping of Bein HaM'tzarim and Tishah B'Av, one merits afterward Shabbas Nachamu — "Shabbas Nachamu" specifically. For Shabbos is the main consolation, for the main consolation is the illumination of the Ratzon, as above. And this one merits through the weeping. [As] Chazal [said]: "Whoever mourns over Y'rushalayim merits to see her in her joy." For through the weeping of Yisroel, through this one merits ratzon, which is the aspect of simchah. For the main simchah is through the ratzon, as above. For they weep to return to Him Yisbarach, and through this they transform the weeping into ratzon. And through this itself they transform the mourning and the weeping into simchah — the aspect of "sisu itah," etc., "kol hamisablim," etc. ["Rejoice with her...all who mourn over her"] (Y'shayahu 66:10). For the main simchah is through the illumination of the Ratzon, and this is the aspect of the simchah of Yom Tov, as above. And therefore, two people who borrowed from one person — each becomes a guarantor on behalf of the other. For all of Yisroel are guarantors for one another. For the generality of the fulfillment of the Torah and the mitzvos is the aspect of arvus, as above, as it is written: "B'ni im aravta l'rai'echa," etc., as above. For the guarantor obligates himself that the borrower should return and pay off [his debt to] the lender — and this is the aspect of the inclusion of Asiyah in the Ratzon, which is the aspect of the generality of the Torah and the mitzvos, for everything is the aspect of the illumination of the Ratzon, to include Asiyah in the Ratzon, as above. And therefore all of Yisroel are guarantors for one another. For it is impossible to fulfill the Torah and the mitzvos except through the aspect of ratzon, for the main avodas Hashem is the aspect of the ratzon, as above. And each person, according to how much he accustoms himself to strengthen his ratzon and his longings and his yearnings for Hashem Yisbarach with a ratzon that is ever stronger — correspondingly he merits to draw near to Hashem Yisbarach and to His Torah and His mitzvos. And all the ascents from level to level and from height to height that every member of Yisroel must ascend at all times — everything is according to the intensification of the ratzon, for the main thing is the ratzon, as above. And the main tachlis is the ratzon, for also the main tachlis is to be included in the ratzon shebar'tzonos, in Ra'ava d'Ra'avin, as above. For the beginning of drawing near to Hashem Yisbarach and the end of the tachlis — everything is the aspect of ratzon, for the beginning and the end — everything is the aspect of ratzon, as above. And to be included in the Ratzon is impossible except through unity and love and peace — that all of Yisroel should be included together in great love and unity. For the main illumination of the Ratzon is according to how much one merits to be included in the simple Oneness, Yisbarach. For the main illumination of the Ratzon is through emunah — meaning through believing that everything is conducted only through the ratzon of the simple Oneness alone, and there is no ratzon in the world except the one ratzon of the singular Creator, blessed be His Name, Who alone conducts His world through His unique ratzon — "and as He wills He acts with the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand" (Daniel 4:32). And according to one's emunah in the ratzon of the Oneness, Yisbarach — correspondingly each person merits ratzon, meaning to yearn and to long with a strong ratzon to draw near and to serve Him Yisbarach, as above. It emerges that the main illumination of the Ratzon is the aspect of unity. And therefore, the more that Yisroel are included together — the more they merit to be included in the Oneness, which is the aspect that they are included in the Ratzon, as above. And therefore "v'ahavta l'rai'acha kamocha" ["love your fellow as yourself"] is a great principle of the Torah. For the main element of the Torah is the ratzon, and it is impossible to merit the ratzon except through love and unity — in order to be included in the ratzon of the Oneness, Yisbarach, as above. And therefore Yisroel, a holy people, who are in the aspect of unity — as Chazal said, that Yaakov had seventy souls and they are called "nefesh" in the singular, and Eisav had sixteen souls and they are called "nafshos" in the plural — for Yisroel are from the source of unity, and all of Yisroel are considered as one person. Therefore they merited to receive the Torah on Shavuos, which is the aspect of ratzon. For on Shavuos He was revealed to them as an Elder — which is the revelation of the Ratzon, the aspect of Ra'ava d'Ra'avin, which is the aspect of the dikna kadisha, the aspect of the mei'tzach haratzon, as is explained in the aforementioned Torah. For through the wondrous unity that was among them then, as it is written: "Vayichan sham Yisroel neged hahar" ["And Yisroel encamped there opposite the mountain"] (Sh'mos 19:2). And Chazal said: "Vayichan" — all of them as one, in great unity, etc. And therefore they merited to be included on Shavuos in Ra'ava d'Ra'avin, through which they received the entire Torah, which is the aspect of ratzon, as above. And therefore all of Yisroel are guarantors for one another regarding the fulfillment of the Torah and the mitzvos. And at first glance the matter is puzzling: why should each person be obligated to be a guarantor on behalf of his fellow? Is it not enough to extricate himself? And it is also difficult: does not your guarantor need a guarantor? For each person is not confident even for himself — that he will merit to emerge in peace from this world — so how can he also take upon himself the obligation of a guarantee on behalf of his fellow? But in truth, it is impossible to fulfill the Torah and the mitzvos except through the arvus — that each person becomes a guarantor on behalf of his fellow. For the main fulfillment of the Torah — which is the aspect of the ratzon, as above — is through the unity, as above. And therefore whoever wishes to accept upon himself the yoke of Torah and mitzvos — which is primarily through the intensification of the ratzon, as above — must be included in the generality of Yisroel, in great unity, as above. And therefore at the time of the receiving of the Torah, they certainly immediately became guarantors for one another. For as soon as one wishes to receive the Torah, one must immediately be included together — all of them as one — in order to be included in the Ratzon, as above. And then certainly each person is a guarantor on behalf of his fellow, since all are considered as one. And specifically through this — that each person is a guarantor on behalf of his fellow, which is the aspect of unity — through this specifically they can fulfill the Torah. And without this, it would not have been possible at all to fulfill the Torah. For the main fulfillment of the Torah — which is the aspect of the ratzon — is through the unity, that they are all considered as one, as above. It emerges that specifically through the arvus — which is the aspect that they are all considered as one — through this specifically is the main fulfillment of the Torah, as above. For love and unity is the aspect of ratzon, as it is written: "B'ahavah uv'ratzon" ["with love and with ratzon"]. For the main love and unity is in the aspect of the ratzon — that each person is agreeable to his fellow and there is no difference of ratzon between them, and they are all included in one ratzon. Through which they are included in the supernal Ratzon, which is the ultimate unity, as above. And in truth, also the arvus itself — that each person is a guarantor on behalf of his fellow — also in this it is impossible to fulfill and to discharge one's obligation of the arvus except through the ratzon. For the main arvus — that each person is a guarantor on behalf of his fellow — is that each person is obligated to rebuke his fellow, as is explained in the words of Chazal. And in truth, who can rebuke his fellow? For he does not know what his fellow lacks. And also, who knows if his fellow will listen to his words? And even if he listens, who knows if he will be able to overcome what he needs to overcome to return to Him Yisbarach? Therefore it is certainly very difficult to fulfill the mitzvah of tochachah [rebuke] and to discharge the obligation of one's arvus, for which one has become a guarantor on behalf of all of Yisroel. As Chazal said: "Not every person is fit to rebuke," etc. And since we do not merit to fulfill the mitzvah of tochachah and to discharge the obligation of the arvus — and if only we could extricate ourselves! — therefore we cannot fulfill this mitzvah except through the ratzon: that our ratzon should be very strong to see the welfare of our fellows and the welfare of all of Yisroel. Meaning, that they should all merit the true and eternal good — that they should merit to return to Hashem in truth and to draw near to Him Yisbarach. For only this is true welfare and success, and aside from this everything is vanity. For in truth, even the mitzvos that it is possible to fulfill — we cannot fulfill them except through the ratzon. For example, the mitzvah of tzitzis and t'filin and engagement in Torah and tz'dakah, etc. — certainly one who believes and knows a little of the greatness of each and every mitzvah knows that all the mitzvos are very, very distant from us. And therefore, in truth, we have many hindrances and obstacles before we merit to fulfill some mitzvah as it should be. For at first there are many hindrances and obstacles and confusions before one puts on the tallis and t'filin. And afterward, even when one puts them on, it can be that one's mind is still confused with foreign thoughts, to the point that one does not know at all that one is wearing the garments of the King, in the wings of the mitzvah of the holy tallis and the holy and awesome tzitzis, and crowned with the crowns of the King, with the crown of the glory of the holy and awesome t'filin — and one's heart is very far from their k'dushah. It emerges that we are very distant from fulfilling a mitzvah in completeness, even the most habitual mitzvos. All the more so the mitzvos that are not so habitual every day — certainly there are innumerable hindrances upon them before one fulfills them. And even when one fulfills them, one needs a great z'chus to fulfill them as they should be. Therefore certainly we cannot fulfill the Torah and the mitzvos — even the habitual mitzvos — except through the ratzon, as Rabbainu z"l said, as above: that the main thing is the ratzon — to yearn always with longing and a strong ratzon to fulfill His mitzvos, Yisbarach. And in the meantime, one learns as if one learns, and one prays as if one prays, and one does mitzvos as if one does mitzvos. And he said in this language: "Nor velin — der vayil davint men klamersht; der vayil lernt men klamersht; der vayil tut men mitzvos klamersht" ["Only desiring — meanwhile one prays, so to speak; meanwhile one learns, so to speak; meanwhile one does mitzvos, so to speak"]. And all this — even regarding the habitual mitzvos that it is possible to fulfill — also the main thing is the ratzon, as above. All the more so the mitzvos that are not in a person's power to fulfill, such as the aforementioned mitzvah of tochachah — certainly it is impossible to fulfill it except through the ratzon, as above. For each person is obligated to love his fellow and all of Yisroel literally as himself, as it is written: "V'ahavta l'rai'acha kamocha." And just as a person himself — certainly if he has a brain in his head, it is certainly fitting for him not to want any other ratzon except to merit to draw near to Him Yisbarach, for only this is true welfare, and aside from this there is no welfare in the world at all. And likewise, every person is obligated to yearn and to long that all of Yisroel should merit to draw near to Him Yisbarach. And in the meantime, if it is possible for him to speak some word with his fellow about the matter of avodas Hashem — certainly how good and how pleasant. For every member of Yisroel is obligated to speak with his fellow about yiras shamayim [awe of Heaven], as Rabbainu z"l wrote in several places. But the main thing is the ratzon, as above. As it is written in the Ra'aya M'haimnah regarding Mosheh Rabbainu, alav hashalom: "Uv'gin dahavyas chashiv b'chayecha d'ilu havah efshar lach haveis m'hadeir kula alma t'chos Kudsha B'rich Hu," etc. — see there, where the tremendous greatness of Mosheh's level is explained because of this — that he was thinking all his days that if it had been possible for him, he would have returned the entire world to Hashem Yisbarach. It emerges that even Mosheh Rabbainu, alav hashalom — the main mitzvah of tochachah he was fulfilling through the ratzon — that he was yearning always to return the entire world to good. And through this he merited what he merited. And this is the aspect of what Chazal said: "One does not rebuke a person except close to death — for so Mosheh did not rebuke them except close to death, and so Yaakov Avinu," etc. (Sifrai, D'varim 2). Meaning, for the main tochachah — which is to fulfill the mitzvah of arvus — is through the ratzon, as above. For the main aspect of the arvus is to include Asiyah in the Ratzon, as above. And therefore the main tochachah is only close to death, for then one begins to be included in the Ratzon, and then the ratzon shines in him even more — because he is close to the histalkus. For the histalkus of the tzaddik is that he departs and is included in the aspect of Ratzon — like Mosheh Rabbainu, alav hashalom, who was included at the time of his death in Ra'ava d'Ra'avin, as above. And because close to his death the aspect of the Ratzon begins to shine in him — therefore specifically then he can rebuke them. For the main tochachah, the aspect of arvus, is the ratzon, as above.

--border: #d4c9a8;

--highlight: #f5eed9;