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The matter of hefker [ownerless property] and the property of the ger, which is also ownerless after his death, and whoever comes first acquires it. For all the acquisitions of all things in the world are through da’as [knowledge/mind] — for through da’as, all the acquisitions in the world are made. For the essential acquisition is when it is made with full awareness. And for this reason our Sages of blessed memory instituted all the acts of acquisition for each kind of thing — such as movable property through meshichah [pulling] or hagbahah [lifting], and real property through chazakah [possession], and the like. For our Sages of blessed memory assessed that through such an acquisition, the da’as is drawn into the sale or the gift — that is, when he tells him “go, pull it, and acquire it,” and the buyer pulls the object, then the minds of the seller and buyer are surely settled that the transaction will be upheld and they will never retract. And so with all acts of acquisition — for the essential acquisition is through da’as, from which all things in the world are drawn, as it is written: “You have made them all with wisdom” (Psalms 104:24). And as our Sages of blessed memory said (Nedarim 41a): “If you have acquired da’as, what do you lack? If you lack da’as, what have you acquired?” And as it is written: “Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding” (Proverbs 4:5). And da’as is the Torah, which is called “the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). Thus, the essential existence of all the commerce in the world is through the Torah, which is the da’as that gives life to everything — through which all acquisitions are made, according to the law of the Torah, such as meshichah or hagbahah, etc. For through the da’as, which is the Torah, all the acquisitions in the world are upheld, as above. And therefore it is impossible to transfer any object to one’s fellow through sale or gift except through some act of acquisition according to the law of the Torah — for without the appropriate acquisition for that object, the da’as, which is the Torah, has not yet been drawn into that sale, and so on. And therefore the transaction is not yet upheld, as above. But the matter of hefker is the aspect of before the receiving of the Torah. For the essential existence of all the world is only through the Torah, as our Sages of blessed memory said (Shabbos 88a) regarding the “hei” of “hashishi” [the sixth] — that the entire world was suspended until the sixth of Sivan, when Israel received the Torah. And as it is written: “The earth and all its inhabitants were dissolving — I established its pillars, selah” (Psalms 75:4) — and our Sages of blessed memory expounded this regarding the receiving of the Torah, through which the world was established. But before the receiving of the Torah, the entire world was in the aspect of chaos and void, in the aspect of hefker. And even the existence of the world before the Giving of the Torah was only on account of the future, that Israel would receive the Torah. But without the Torah, the entire world is considered hefker, like a wilderness, and everyone can rule over it, G–d forbid. For in truth, both regarding the world in general before the receiving of the Torah, and regarding every individual person in particular, as long as he does not conduct himself properly, G–d forbid, and does not keep the Torah, G–d forbid — then the world and the person are in the aspect of hefker. For there is no greater hefker than when one does not think about his end and purpose, and what will become of him in the World to Come after his death. For it is impossible to escape death in any way — for even Mashiach himself will die, not as the world thinks, that when Mashiach comes, death will be nullified — for it is not so, as above. And if so, since one cannot escape this, and then there will be a long world, forever and for eternity of eternities — is there a greater mufkar [abandoned person] than one who follows the desires of his heart and abandons himself from eternal life? And as Rabbainu of blessed memory said — and it is printed in Sichos HaRa”N — that Rabbainu of blessed memory said that hefkeirus [abandon] is not needed for the service of Hashem, may He be blessed, for one can be a worthy person without hefkeirus. And he said: although in my view this is not hefkeirus at all — for on the contrary, in reverse, the one who is truly mufkar is one who does not abandon himself for Hashem, may He be blessed. But even so, even what the world calls hefkeirus, etc. — this too is not needed, for one can be a worthy person without hefkeirus — see there. Thus, in truth, one who does not walk in the ways of Hashem — this is truly mufkar. For there is no greater hefkeirus than abandoning eternal life and true, everlasting good for a fleeting moment, for the pleasures of this world which is like a passing shadow, and all its pleasures are mixed with bitterness, anger, grief, and pains. And there is no person who chases after this world who has contentment and pleasure in this world, for “all his days are anger and pains” (Ecclesiastes 2:23) — for this world is full of calamities and troubles and sufferings and worries and great bitterness at all times and every hour. And as is brought in the Shela”H: “There is no moment without affliction, no week, no shemitah,” etc. — see there. And as is explained among us elsewhere — that in truth, there is not found even one person who has “this world” at all. And certainly there is no good in a person except to pursue always the true purpose, the eternal purpose — which is to serve Hashem always, to turn from evil and to do good — which is true good for eternity of eternities. Thus, one who does not accept upon himself the yoke of Torah and mitzvos is the aspect of mufkar, and in truth he is hefker — for His protection, may He be blessed, departs from him and everyone can rule over him. And as we find regarding the totality of Israel: when they sinned in the days of the First Temple, the prophets prophesied to them that it would be like hefker and the nations would rule over them, as it is written in Jeremiah: “Behold, I proclaim for you freedom, says Hashem — to the sword…” (Jeremiah 34:17). And Rashi explains there: “Behold, I proclaim for you freedom from Me, that I am no longer your master, and you will be hefker to the sword,” etc. And similarly in many verses. And this is the aspect of the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash — for because of their sins, Hashem, may He be blessed, made the Bais HaMikdash hefker, until foreign hands ruled over it. For before the receiving of the Torah, and similarly when they abandon the Torah, G–d forbid, and do not keep it, G–d forbid — then the world is, G–d forbid, in the aspect of hefker, for the essential existence of the world is through the Torah. And Israel acquired the entire world and its fullness through the receiving of the Torah. And for this reason Israel received the Torah in the wilderness — for a wilderness is a place of hefker, to teach that Israel acquired the entire world from hefker through the Torah. For before the receiving of the Torah, everything was considered like the wilderness, which is hefker. And therefore hefker takes effect through a mere verbal declaration, without any act of acquisition. For when one gives a gift or sells an object to his fellow, as long as the fellow has not performed an acquisition, the sale and gift are nothing, and one can retract. But with hefker, as soon as one declares it ownerless, the hefker takes effect and he cannot retract, even though no one has yet taken possession of it — unless he himself goes back and takes possession of it, like any person who acquires from ownerless property. But the hefker takes effect immediately without any act of acquisition. For all the acquisitions are in the aspect of da’as, which is the aspect of the Torah, as above. But hefker is drawn from the aspect of before the receiving of the Torah, which is the aspect of hefker. And before the receiving of the Torah, there is still no da’as at all, for the essential da’as is the Torah. And therefore no act of acquisition at all pertains to hefker — which is the aspect of da’as — for hefker is in the aspect of before the drawing of the da’as, which is before the receiving of the Torah. For a person at all times has the free will to keep the Torah, which is the aspect of receiving the Torah, or, G–d forbid, the opposite — which is the aspect of hefker, as above. And this is the aspect of the property of the ger, which is hefker. For the ger — Israel acquires him from hefker, for before he converts and accepts upon himself the Torah and mitzvos, he is in the aspect of hefker, as above. And it is impossible for the ger to convert except through Israel — for before Israel received the Torah, everything was hefker, and every person had the right to receive the Torah, and through this he would have acquired the entire world and its fullness from hefker. But as soon as Israel merited and received the Torah, they acquired the Torah and the entire world and its fullness that depend upon the Torah — and then everything is ours. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: “He saw and released the nations” (Habakkuk 3:6) — that at the time of the receiving of the Torah, He released their money to them. For everything is ours through the receiving of the Torah, as above. And now that we have merited to receive the Torah, whoever wants to convert and accept the Torah upon himself cannot convert except through Israel — that is, through a beis din of Israel, as is explained in the Shulchan Aruch. And if the ger wishes to keep all of the Torah and mitzvos by himself, without converting through Israel — he is not considered a ger and has not yet entered the holiness of Israel, and is as distant from Hashem, may He be blessed, as before. For now that we have already received the Torah, it is impossible for any ger to convert and enter into the holiness of the receiving of the Torah except through Israel — for we have already acquired the Torah and it is ours, and whoever wants to convert must come specifically to us, as above. And as I heard from Rabbainu of blessed memory regarding the drawing close of Jews to Hashem, may He be blessed: that before there exists a true tzaddik in the world, anyone who wants to draw close to Hashem, may He be blessed, can draw close. But after there is already found a true tzaddik, a true leader of Israel — then it is impossible for any person to draw close to Hashem, may He be blessed, except specifically through him. Thus, Israel acquires the geirim from hefker. And therefore his property is hefker for Israel after his death — for Israel acquired him and his property from hefker, through his accepting the yoke of Torah upon himself through them. For everything depends on the Torah, as above. And this is the aspect of the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash and all the exiles, that Israel is exiled from exile to exile. For since they transgressed the Torah, they became the aspect of hefker, G–d forbid, until the nations ruled over them and exiled them to places distant from holiness, which is the aspect of a wilderness — which is a place of hefker. But in truth, even so, there is no orphaned generation, and in every generation — even after the destruction — there are found tzaddikim and worthy people who keep the Torah. And then they return and acquire the Torah, and the entire world that depends upon it, from hefker — and they transform wilderness into settlement. Just as Israel originally received the Torah in the wilderness specifically — to teach that they acquire everything from hefker, for the entire world before the receiving of the Torah is in the aspect of hefker, like a wilderness, as above — so too now, in every generation, the true tzaddikim, who illuminate the Torah for us in every generation and draw Israel close to Hashem, may He be blessed, through their counsel that they reveal to us in their Torah-novelties — through this they transform wilderness into settlement, and elevate and uplift all the desolate places to which Israel was exiled. For they acquire all those places from hefker, and uplift everything to Hashem, may He be blessed, in the aspect of: “And he too shall remain for our G–d” (Zechariah 9:7). For this is the essential secret of the exile, as is brought — until we merit speedily in our days the coming of our Mashiach, and then the entire world and its fullness will be returned to our hands and our domain, for everything is ours through the keeping of the Torah that we have merited to keep in all the exiles, as above. And this is the aspect of Shemitah and Yovel. And the entire exile was decreed on account of the neglect of Shemitos and Yovlos, as it is written: “Until the land was appeased of its Shabboses” (II Chronicles 36:21), etc. — and as Rashi explains there. For during Shemitah and Yovel, everything is hefker — for this is the essential mitzvah of Shemitah and Yovel, that all the produce should be hefker. And therefore, through blemishing this, the exile was decreed, as above — for the exile is the aspect of hefker, as above. For Shemitah and Yovel are the aspect of Shabbos, which is the aspect of teshuvah, as is brought elsewhere. And therefore everything is then hefker — in order to repair all the sins that each person committed against the Torah, through which he is in the aspect of hefker, as above. And through the mitzvah of the hefker of Shemitah and Yovel, which are the aspect of teshuvah, one repairs the blemish of the hefker that one caused through one’s sins, as above. For it is known that in every thing there is good and evil. And therefore the essential exile, which is the aspect of hefker, was decreed through the blemish of Shemitah and Yovel, which are the aspect of hefker of holiness, as above — which is the aspect of teshuvah. For one who wants to return in teshuvah — his essential repair is through the tzaddik who abandoned himself for Hashem, may He be blessed, with great hefkeirus. And this is his repair for having initially abandoned himself for his desires. And this is the aspect of Shemitah and Yovel, as above. And there was more to say about this, but it was forgotten.

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