מתנה ומתנת שכיב מרע ב

Blessed is Hashem forever, Amen and Amen. 34 Based on what is explained in the words of our Rebbe, of blessed memory, on the verse: "And I pleaded to Hashem at that time, saying" [Deuteronomy 3:23], in the discourse that begins with the matter of the conduct of simplicity of the true tzadik [Likutay Moharan II, 78]; see there.

And the general principle is: all vitality comes from the Torah. But at a time when one is idle from the Torah, or [regarding] the simple folk who do not engage in Torah — from where do they receive vitality? After all, the essential vitality is only from the Torah! However, they receive vitality from the aspect of the mode of governance that existed before the giving of the Torah, when the world was conducted through His chesed [lovingkindness] — which is the aspect of otzar matnas chinam [the treasury of undeserved gifts]. For at that time the Torah had not yet been given; rather, the Torah existed in concealment within derech eretz [the way of the world / worldly conduct] — that is, within all the things of the world, all of which were created through the Ten Utterances. And within the Ten Utterances, the Ten Commandments are contained. It turns out that in every thing in the world there is a concealed Torah.

This halacha is built on Likutay Moharan I:6 (“Call Yehoshua”), which teaches that t’shuvah = Keser (Crown), and that the one who comes to purify himself is told “Wait” — a word whose root (k-t-r) is shared with Keser. One merits this through silence in the face of humiliation: the “back” of the Divine Name Ehyeh equals dam (blood, 44), which is transformed through silence (dom) into the aspect of Adam (man). 35

And then, before the giving of the Torah, the world was sustained through undeserved chesed, by means of the concealed Torah within everything. And this is the aspect of the path to Eretz Yisrael, for this is the aspect of: "In the beginning" — "the power of His works He declared to His people, in order to give them the inheritance of the nations" [Psalms 111:6, as cited by Rashi on Genesis 1:1] — so that [the nations] should not say, "You are robbers, for you conquered the land," etc. Therefore, "the power of His works He declared to His people, to give" etc. — "and by His will He gave it to them, and by His will He took it from them and gave it to us." See there, this matter at length.

Reb Nosson maps this onto the Pesach–S’firah–Shavuos arc with breathtaking precision. Pesach = the father taking the child’s hand (arousal from Above). S’firah = the father lets go; the child must walk on his own (seven “clean weeks” of purification from dam niddah). Shavuos = Keser, the ultimate perception, the silence that is above speech. 36

And this is the aspect of deeds of sale and gift. For the essential [element of] the sale and the gift is that one must convey and transfer to his fellow the ko'ach [power/force] that he has in that parcel of land — for land cannot be passed from hand to hand, and the essential [element of] the sale and the gift is that he conveys and transfers to him the ko'ach that he has in that parcel of land. And therefore the field is acquired through a shtar [legal document/deed] — for the essential ko'ach that exists in every thing is the aspect of the twenty-eight letters [kaf-ches asvan] of Ma'aseh B'rayshis [the Act of Creation], through which this thing was created — which is the essential ko'ach and vitality of each and every thing in the world. And this is the aspect of the shtar — for the letters of the shtar are the aspect of the twenty-eight letters mentioned above. For the essential twenty-eight letters, which are the vitality of all things, are the aspect of the letters of the Torah through which the world was created — which are the aspect of the twenty-eight letters of Ma'aseh B'rayshis, which are the essential ko'ach and vitality of all things. And this is the aspect of the letters of the shtar, which are the aspect of the twenty-eight letters mentioned above. For the shtar is called a sefer [book/document], as it is written: "And I took the document of purchase, and the commandment" [Jeremiah 32:11], etc. And as it is written: "And write in the document and seal" [Jeremiah 32:44]. For the shtar is the aspect of a sefer, the aspect of Torah — for it must be written according to the laws of the Torah. It turns out that the shtar is the aspect of Torah. And therefore the letters of the shtar are the aspect of the twenty-eight letters mentioned above, which are the ko'ach and vitality of every thing. And therefore, through the letters of the shtar, one conveys to his fellow the ko'ach that he has in the field — for the shtar is the aspect of the ko'ach and the vitality, etc., as mentioned above. For the essential right that a person has in his property is only in the vitality that exists in the thing — which is the aspect of the ko'ach that exists in the thing, that it receives from the twenty-eight letters mentioned above. And when one transfers the thing to his fellow, the essential [element] is that he transfers to him the ko'ach and the vitality that exist in the thing. And therefore, all the wealth that a person has is called by his name, as if he himself made those possessions — as it is written: "He made all this wealth" [Genesis 31:1]. And as it is written: "For it is He Who gives you the power to make wealth" [Deuteronomy 8:18]. For through the fact that one merits the twenty-eight letters that exist in the thing — which are the vitality of the thing, which is the essential right that he has in the thing — therefore he is considered as if he made the thing. For the essential creation was through these twenty-eight letters, as mentioned above. And therefore Hashem, blessed be He, is called "the Acquirer of heaven and earth" [Genesis 14:19] — for acquisition is the aspect of the creation of heaven and earth, because the essential acquisition is through the twenty-eight letters through which heaven and earth were created, as mentioned above. It turns out that through the letters of the shtar — which are the aspect of the twenty-eight letters mentioned above, which are the aspect of the letters of the Torah, as mentioned above — through this, one transfers the ko'ach that is in his property to his fellow, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of the fact that the shtar serves as proof that the field is not stolen property in his hands. This is the aspect of what is brought in the discourse mentioned above — the teaching of our Sages of blessed memory: "So that [the nations] should not say, 'You are robbers.' Therefore, 'the power of His works He declared to His people, to give'" etc. And this is the aspect of the shtar mentioned above, which is the aspect of the twenty-eight letters, the aspect of "the power of His works" mentioned above — through which no one can challenge him and say "you are a robber." For the shtar — which is the aspect of the twenty-eight letters, "the power of His works," as mentioned above — testifies that he merited the field through "the power of His works," as mentioned above. For the fact that a piece of land or another item passes from one person to another through sale or gift — all of it is through the power of the acts of Creation. For according to the power of the acts of Creation, so does Hashem, blessed be He, arrange circumstances so that the thing is transferred from one to another — and everything is according to the power of the acts of Creation. And the shtar, which is the aspect of the twenty-eight letters mentioned above — the power of the acts of Creation — testifies that the twenty-eight [letters] mentioned above are now in his hand, for he merited the twenty-eight mentioned above — the aspect of "the power of His works" that is in this thing — through the letters of the shtar, as mentioned above. It turns out that the essential power of the shtar is through the fact that the letters of the shtar receive their power from the letters of the Torah, which are the vitality of every thing — and through this, the thing is acquired from one person to another. However, the aspect of a gift is, on the surface, distant from the Torah, and it has no root in the Torah, on the surface. For the essential [purpose of the] giving of the Torah was so that a person should merit to receive the reward of the World to Come as the reward for his service — and not receive an undeserved gift. For only for this reason did the neshamah [soul] descend into this world: so that it should not be nourished from nahama d'chisufa [the bread of shame] — but rather through the reward of the Torah that one fulfills. It turns out that the essential [purpose of the] Torah is only to receive the reward for one's service, and not to receive an undeserved gift. And it is known that every thing must have a root in the Torah, which is the vitality of every thing. And if so, the aspect of a gift — where one gives his fellow a gratuitous gift — from where is the root of this aspect of gift-giving, since the essential [purpose of the] Torah is only not to receive an undeserved gift, as mentioned above? However, the essential root of the aspect of a gift is from the aforementioned aspect that is explained in the aforementioned discourse — namely, from the aspect of the mode of governance that existed before the giving of the Torah, when the world was conducted through His chesed, in the aspect of otzar matnas chinam, as mentioned above. And also now, even after the receiving of the Torah, the essential sustenance of the world is through this aspect of undeserved gift. For there are many simple folk in the world, and there are many wicked people in the world, who would have had no sustenance through the Torah — since they do not engage in Torah, etc. Rather, their essential sustenance is through the aspect of undeserved gift, as the matter is well explained there in the aforementioned discourse. And from there, the aspect of gift-giving also cascades down between one person and another — for it is necessary that this aspect of undeserved gift exist in the world, for without it the world would have no sustenance, as mentioned above. And in truth, also before the giving of the Torah, when the world was conducted through His chesed with an undeserved gift — even then, the Torah was in existence, only it was concealed. For the Ten Commandments were contained within the Ten Utterances, which are the power of the acts of Creation, as is well explained in the aforementioned discourse. It turns out that the aspect of a gift, whose root is from the aspect of the mode of governance before the giving of the Torah — which is the aspect of the otzar matnas chinam, as mentioned above — there, the Torah is concealed in hiddenness, as mentioned above. And this is [the reason] that our Sages of blessed memory ordained that one must write in a deed of gift: "kisvu'hu b'shuka v'chasmu'hu b'vara" — "ki haychi d'la lehevay k'milsa dit'mirsa" [so that it should not be like a hidden matter]. For the aspect of a gift must of necessity be publicized — in order to bring forth from concealment to revelation. For there, in the aspect of a gift, the Torah is concealed in hiddenness and obscurity, as mentioned above. And therefore, specifically, one must publicize and reveal and write the deed of gift in the marketplaces and the streets — in order to publicize that also there, in the aspect of a gift, there is also concealed Torah. And through this is the essential sustenance of the gift — for the gift has no sustenance except through the letters of the Torah, which are the vitality of every thing, through which is the essential right that one acquires from another, as mentioned above. And therefore the gift has no sustenance except when [the deed of gift] is publicized and revealed — through which one brings forth the aspect of the concealed Torah that is there, from concealment to revelation. And then, specifically, the gift is sustained — for as long as the Torah is in concealment, the world has no sustenance, in the aspect of: "He saw that the world could not endure" [see Rashi, Genesis 1:1; Midrash]. For the essential sustenance of the world is through the revelation of the Torah — for even though the world was conducted through His chesed before the giving of the Torah, nevertheless, the entire world was suspended and standing [in a precarious state] until the day of the receiving of the Torah, as our Sages of blessed memory said [Shabbos 88a]. And therefore the gift has no sustenance except through the publicizing and the revealing, etc., as mentioned above. And therefore one must write in a deed of gift: "kisvu'hu b'shuka v'chasmu'hu b'vara" — in order to publicize and reveal that also there, in the aspect of a gift, there is Torah. For the letters of the shtar are the aspect of the letters of the Torah. And then, specifically, the gift is sustained — for the essential sustenance is through the Torah, that is, through the revelation of the Torah. For also before the giving of the Torah, the Torah was in existence, only it was in concealment, and then the world was tottering and suspended and standing [in a precarious state] until the day of the receiving of the Torah, when then the Torah was revealed and emerged from concealment into revelation, etc., as mentioned above. This halacha explains the spiritual reason why a deed of gift must contain the clause "write it in the marketplace and sign it in the open" — without which the deed is void. The teaching is drawn from Likutay Moharan II, 78, which discusses the conduct of simplicity of the true tzadik. The core framework: All vitality in the world comes from the Torah. But what sustains those who are idle from Torah study, or the simple folk? They receive vitality from the mode of governance that preceded the giving of the Torah — when G-d sustained the world through pure chesed (lovingkindness), called the otzar matnas chinam (treasury of undeserved gifts). Before the Torah was given, it was concealed within all things — the Ten Commandments embedded within the Ten Utterances of Creation. The deed (shtar) and the 28 letters: Every thing in the world has a life-force derived from the 28 letters (kaf-ches asvan) of the Act of Creation. The letters of a legal deed correspond to these 28 letters — i.e., the letters of Torah through which the world was made. The deed is therefore called a sefer (book), a form of Torah. Through it, one transfers the spiritual "power" embedded in the property to another. The paradox of gifts: The Torah was given so that man could earn his reward, not receive a free gift (nahama d'chisufa — "bread of shame"). So a gift — a gratuitous transfer — seemingly has no root in Torah. Its root lies instead in the pre-Torah governance of chesed, where the Torah existed but was concealed. Why "write it in the marketplace": Since a gift draws from the concealed Torah, it must be revealed and publicized to be valid. Writing the deed openly in the markets and streets draws the concealed Torah out of hiddenness into revelation — which is the only way the gift has spiritual and legal sustenance. Just as the entire world was in a precarious state before the Torah was revealed at Sinai, so too a gift remains unstable until its concealed Torah-root is brought to light through public documentation.