מתנה ומתנת שכיב מרע א

Key shum shi-ailoonoo shoavainoo deevray sheer visoalulainoo seemchu sheeroo lunoo meesheer Tzey-oan.for our captors asked us there for songs, our tormentors, for amusement: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

Based on what has been explained above numerous times — the words of our Rebbe, may his light shine — that all nefashos [souls] are rooted in wealth. And because of this, one who robs his fellow is as if he takes his nefesh [soul/life-force] and the nefesh of his sons and daughters, for they are dependent upon wealth. See there, in the discourse on Robbery [Likutay Moharan I, 69].

And behold, according to this, it would have been fitting that it should be greatly prohibited also to give one's fellow a gift willingly — since the nefesh is dependent upon one's money, how could a person be permitted to give his fellow his money? After all, he is taking his own nefesh! However, in truth, the primary virtue of wealth is that it magnifies the shem [name/renown] and the nefesh — for the shem is the nefesh — and then everyone yearns to cleave to his nefesh. And the main point is that wealth serves as a protective wall against anger, through which one "tears his soul in his wrath" [Job 18:4], G-d forbid — for anger is the opposite of wealth. See all of this well, at the end of the discourse: "Why are the eyes of the Tarmodians bleary?" [Likutay Moharan I, 59].

4 אֵיךְ נָשִׁיר אֶת-שִׁיר-יי עַל אַדְמַת נֵכָר Therefore, on the contrary — this is the primary virtue of wealth: that one should open his hand wide and give gifts to the poor, and even to the wealthy, with good will, in order to acquire love and friendship with many souls, in the aspect of: "The lovers of the wealthy are many" [Proverbs 14:20]; in the aspect of: "And every friend to a man of gifts" [Proverbs 19:6]. And then his shem and his nefesh will be greatly magnified through the love and the klalus [inclusion/unity] — that he becomes included with the many who love him and cleave to him through his generous hand of giving. And as brought there — that the primary magnification of the shem and the nefesh is that many should yearn for him, so that he will be able to make converts. See there. And this is through his generous hand of giving, as mentioned above.

Aich nusheer es sheer Adoanuy al admas naichur. As it is written: "A man's gift makes room for him, and leads him before the great" [Proverbs 18:16]. And Rashi explained: that he has a shem [reputation] that he is wealthy and generous. It turns out that through gifts, the shem — which is the nefesh — is magnified.

How can we sing a song of the LORD on alien soil?

And all of this is primarily specifically through the love and the will — that one gives with good will. For then, even though he diminishes his money — which is a diminishing of the nefesh — nevertheless, on the contrary, through the love and the will, his shem and nefesh are magnified, because everyone yearns for him and loves him, as mentioned above. And as our Rebbe also wrote in another place — that the primary virtue of giving tzedakah [charity] is that through it one acquires friends and loved ones. See there well, in the discourse "And it was as they were emptying their sacks" [Likutay Moharan I, 17]; see there. And therefore, in this aspect, even when one gives a gift, one acquires loved ones, and his shem and nefesh are magnified, as mentioned above. And likewise it is found in the words of our Rebbe, may his light shine, in another place [Likutay Moharan I, 67] — that love magnifies the nefesh; see there. And this is the primary virtue of wealth — that it guards against anger, which is rage and hatred. But wealth is the aspect of love and will — the opposite of anger. It turns out that when one gives gifts, on the contrary — this is the primary virtue of wealth, which is love and will, as mentioned above. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: "A giver — gives with a generous eye [b'ayin yafah]." For certainly the one who gives a gift does so with a generous eye and with very good will — because without this, he would not have been able to give at all, for he would be diminishing his nefesh, and it would be as if he kills himself, G-d forbid. And the primary tikun [rectification] of a gift is the love and the will, as mentioned above. And therefore, he certainly gives with a generous eye, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of what is written regarding tzedakah: "And let your heart not be grieved when you give to him, for because of this thing Hashem your G-d will bless you" [Deuteronomy 15:10]. "Because of this thing" — precisely! That is, through the fact that your heart will not be grieved, and you give with a generous eye, with love and with will — through this, "He will bless you". For through love and will, his shem and nefesh are magnified, as mentioned above, and the primary magnification of the nefesh and the shem is through wealth, as mentioned above. It turns out that automatically he will be blessed with wealth through his giving with love and without his heart being grieved, as mentioned above. And therefore, when they coerce him to give a gift — even though he did not lodge a formal protest — nevertheless, it is not a gift at all, and it is outright robbery. Since he did not give with love and good will, it turns out that he diminished his nefesh through this gift just as in actual robbery — for the nefesh and the shem are not magnified and completed except through love and hiskalilus [inclusion/becoming unified], as mentioned above. However, with a sale it is the opposite. For certainly, through selling one's possessions, his shem and nefesh are not magnified at all — for the shem and the nefesh are magnified only through a gift, as mentioned above, and as is apparent to the senses. It turns out that the primary rectification and completion of the deficiency — that one diminishes his nefesh through selling his possessions — is through the money that he receives in exchange for the item, through which he returns and completes his nefesh. And therefore our Sages of blessed memory said: "A seller — sells with a begrudging eye [b'ayin ra'ah]." For the sale is not for the sake of love for his fellow, to magnify his name as mentioned above — rather, it is due to financial duress, as mentioned above. And therefore our Sages of blessed memory said: "A seller is sorrowful." It turns out that all sales, too, are only under duress, as mentioned above. And therefore, even if they coerced him into the sale, the sale stands — since all sales are also not out of love and will, but rather the deficiency of the nefesh is rectified through receiving money for the sale. Therefore, even under actual coercion, the sale stands, since he received money — which completes the deficiency of the nefesh. However, a gift — in which he does not receive payment to complete the deficiency of his nefesh, and the nefesh is not completed except through love and will, as mentioned above — therefore, when it is given under coercion, it is actual robbery, as mentioned above. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said regarding a seller: "What is the reason? Because the seller received payment, [while] the giver did not receive [payment]," etc. For since the giver did not receive payment, the nefesh is not completed from its deficiency except through will and love, as mentioned above. And therefore, even a mere disclosure of intent — that the gift is not given with good will — invalidates the gift, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of: the gift of a healthy person is [valid only] when he retains [something]; and when he does not retain [anything], it is the gift of a sh'chiv mayra [a dying person]. For certainly, when his intention is to give as the gift of a healthy person during his lifetime, he certainly must retain for himself at least some minimal amount — of necessity — in order to retain at least a root for his nefesh. For even though through the gift itself his nefesh is magnified, as mentioned above, nevertheless, a root — even a minimal one — must remain for his nefesh, so that it has something to hold onto. That is, he should retain for himself some remnant of his possessions, which are the roots of his nefesh, as mentioned above. And therefore, when one gives away all of his possessions completely, without any retention whatsoever, it is certainly the gift of a sh'chiv mayra — that is, [intended for] after his death, specifically. For he certainly would not kill himself while alive by giving away all his possessions completely, leaving himself no root for his nefesh — he would then be considered as dead! And therefore, his intention is certainly for after his death. And now the words of our Sages of blessed memory — that they required retention [shiyur] — are very well-founded. And the reason given is that certainly a person does not impoverish himself to the point of leaving nothing for himself. But on the simple level this is puzzling — for according to this, a large amount should be required for the retention! Can one support himself with retaining a mere single zuz [coin], the smallest amount? But the truth is that the primary purpose of the retention is so that a root for his nefesh will remain, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of: the words of a sh'chiv mayra do not require a kinyan [formal act of acquisition]. For all kinyanim [acts of acquisition] serve to transfer the matter from one's own domain to the domain of his fellow. Since the nefesh is rooted in one's money, it is difficult to transfer the matter from one person to another, and therefore a complete kinyan is needed for this — such as kinyan sudar [acquisition through a cloth] and the like — so that through this, the matter exits from the root of his nefesh to his fellow. And this is the aspect of all kinyanim. And therefore the strength of the kinyan is through writing — for writing is the inner dimension of the root of the nefesh. And when he writes the kinyan to his fellow, he then reveals the inner dimension of the root of his nefesh — that he is agreeable to the kinyan — and then the matter exits completely from the inner dimension of the root of his nefesh. And therefore the kinyan is most effective through writing, as all of this is explained above, in Hilchos Halva'ah [Laws of Lending]. And therefore, the sh'chiv mayra — whose gift is only for after his death, and at that point the nefesh departs and separates from the wealth — as it is written: "For in his death he shall take nothing" [Psalms 49:18], etc.; and: "What is his desire in his house after him?" [Job 21:21] — meaning that no desire or will remains for him — which is the aspect of nefesh — in "his house after him," that is, in his household and his domain, which are his possessions and wealth. And therefore, through mere speech, the gift is acquired by his fellow in the gift of a sh'chiv mayra — for the matter easily enters the domain of his fellow after the death of the sh'chiv mayra, since the root of his nefesh is no longer there, as mentioned above. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: "The words of a sh'chiv mayra are considered as if written and delivered." For they are indeed as if written and delivered, literally — because through writing and delivery, the matter exits completely from the inner dimension of the root of his nefesh, as mentioned above. And therefore, the gift of a sh'chiv mayra — since the possessions automatically depart from the inner dimension of the root of his nefesh after his death, as mentioned above — therefore, his words are as if written and delivered, literally. And through mere speech it passes to the domain of his fellow, since the root of his nefesh is no longer there at all, as mentioned above. Above, in the discourse "And it was as they were emptying their sacks" [Likutay Moharan I, 17], it also speaks regarding converts — that the giving of tzedakah is effective, because through it one acquires loved ones and friends, and through this, converts are made; see there. And this is also the aspect of a gift, as mentioned above. And this — this is the virtue of wealth: to magnify the nefesh and the shem, to make converts, as it is written there; see there. This halacha explains the deeper spiritual mechanics behind the legal distinction between a gift given under coercion (which is invalid) and a sale under coercion (which remains valid). The teaching draws on multiple discourses from Likutay Moharan to establish the following chain of ideas: Core principle: The nefesh (soul) is rooted in one's wealth. Therefore, parting with money is, in a sense, parting with one's very soul. One who robs another steals not just property but life-force itself. The paradox of giving: If wealth is bound to the soul, how can giving be permitted? The answer: the primary virtue of wealth is that through generous giving, one magnifies his shem (name/renown), which is the nefesh. Giving with love and will creates bonds of affection with many, and this very inclusion with others expands the soul rather than diminishing it. Gift vs. Sale: A gift is driven by love — the giver's soul is replenished through the love he generates. A sale is driven by financial necessity — the seller's soul is replenished by the payment received. Therefore: a coerced gift (where there is no love) destroys the soul with no compensation — it is robbery. A coerced sale still stands, because the payment restores what was lost. Retention (shiyur): A healthy person must retain at least a minimal amount when giving, to preserve a root for his soul. If he gives everything, he has effectively "killed" himself, and the gift is presumed to be a deathbed bequest. The sh'chiv mayra needs no kinyan: Normally, transferring property requires a formal act of acquisition — because the soul clings to its possessions. But after death, the soul has departed from the wealth, so mere speech suffices.