פקדון וד' שומרים א

Likutay Halachos – Choshen Mishpat II – Pikadon v'Arba'ah Shomrim, Halacha 5 (Part C: §§16–21)

The order of inheritances: The son and all his descendants take precedence over the daughter, etc. The father takes precedence over all his descendants, etc. And the matter of the firstborn who takes a double portion.

It is explained there that the essential thing is tefillah [prayer]. For the essential weapon of Mashiach, and all the wars that he will wage, and all the conquests that he will conquer — everything is from there, etc. And it is explained there that Yosef, who guarded the bris, merited the bechorah [birthright], which is the aspect of the service of tefillah. For the bechor takes pi shnayim [a double portion]. Pi shnayim is the aspect of tefillah, which contains the arrangement of the praises of the Omnipresent and the requesting of one’s needs, etc. — see there. And this itself is the aspect of the bechor taking pi shnayim. For Rabbeinu of blessed memory did not explain there anything more than that the bechor’s taking of pi shnayim is the aspect of the service of tefillah. But this itself — why the bechor takes pi shnayim — its reason and its significance was not written there. And also, what is the connection of the pi shnayim of the bechor to tefillah, which contains two aspects: the arrangement of His praises and the requesting of one’s needs? But the matter is as follows. The fact that tefillah contains two aspects — the arrangement of the praises of the Omnipresent and the requesting of one’s needs, as our Sages of blessed memory said: “A person should always arrange the praises of the Omnipresent first, and afterward request his needs” (Berachos 32a) — this is the aspect of what our Sages of blessed memory said: “A woman makes a covenant only with the one who makes her into a vessel” (Sanhedrin 22b). For tefillah is the aspect of: “A woman who fears Hashem — she shall be praised” (Mishlei 31:30), as is brought. For the essential purpose of tefillah is to complete the kli [vessel] for receiving the shefa [flow of Divine abundance] in completeness, as is known and as is explained in the Torah “V’atem tih’yu li,” etc. (in siman 34). For Hashem, blessed be He, desires to bestow good and wants to pour forth His goodness and kindness always. But He cannot draw the shefa except through the actions of those below specifically — that is, through the children of Israel, to whom He gave the dominion, through their completing the kli of the shefa in completeness through proper tefillah. And the essential completeness of tefillah is through emunah [faith], for emunah is the aspect of tefillah, as is explained many times. As it is written: “And his hands were emunah” (Shemos 17:12) — and its Targum is: “spread out in prayer.” And the emunah must be complete in all aspects. Without this, the tefillah has no completeness and does not become a kli to receive the shefa. For the essential kli that is completed through the words of tefillah is through complete emunah — which is the essential kli to receive all good. That is: just as one needs to have complete emunah in Hashem, blessed be He — that He is the Creator of all and directs and rules and supervises, and it is in His hand to alter nature as He wills and to bestow all good — so too one needs to have emunah in oneself, to believe with complete emunah that Hashem, blessed be He, hears and listens and attends to every single word of every member of Israel, even the worst of the worst. For He, blessed be He, hears the tefillah of every mouth. And every member of Israel has the power to accomplish his request with mercy before Him, blessed be He, if he prays in truth to Him, blessed be He, as it is written: “Hashem is close to all who call upon Him” (Tehillim 145:18), etc. And as long as one does not have emunah in oneself — that one also has the power to draw the shefa through one’s tefillah — one still does not have a kli to receive the shefa. For one has no place and no kli in one’s heart to receive the shefa, since according to one’s own understanding one is far from receiving and drawing the shefa, since one does not believe in oneself that one’s tefillah makes an impression. Therefore, the essential formation of the kli through tefillah — to draw and receive the shefa and to accomplish one’s request — is through the completeness of emunah in all aspects: that one believes in Hashem, blessed be He, that He is all-powerful, sovereign, ruler, and directs as He wills; and that He is gracious and compassionate and hears the tefillah of every mouth, as above. And for this reason, one needs to arrange the praises of the Omnipresent first, and afterward request one’s needs. For through the arrangement of the praises of the Omnipresent, the emunah is strengthened in completeness, as above. And therefore, at the beginning of tefillah, in the arrangement of His praises, we mention the merit of the Avos [Patriarchs] — to strengthen the emunah that He, blessed be He, bestows good kindnesses always and performed great kindnesses with our forefathers and heard their tefillah always, and through their power and merit we strengthen ourselves that He will hear our tefillah as well and fulfill our requests with mercy. And this is the general nature of the arrangement of His praises, blessed be He, that we say at the beginning of tefillah, as we say: “Our G–d and G–d of our forefathers, G–d of Avraham, etc., the great G–d, etc., Who bestows good kindnesses, and acquires all, and remembers the kindnesses of the Avos,” etc. That is, we mention in His praises, blessed be He, that He is the G–d of our forefathers, Who bestowed kindness with them and heard their tefillah always — through which His Name was unified upon them. And He remembers the kindnesses of the Avos and brings a redeemer to their children’s children — which is us, His people in every generation — for we are destined for a complete redemption speedily, and to receive all good, etc. And through our mentioning all this in His praises — for this is the essential praise, when one mentions His goodness and kindness, for this is the essence of His greatness, blessed be He, as is known — through this our hearts are strengthened to pray wholeheartedly to Him, blessed be He, for our needs. For through this, the emunah is strengthened within us — the emunah in ourselves — that He will have mercy also upon us and hear our tefillah and bestow upon us all good, just as He heard the tefillah of our forefathers and unified His Name upon them, as above. And through this, a kli is made for us to receive the shefa, as above. Thus, the arrangement of His praises before the requesting of one’s needs is for the sake of completing the kli in completeness to receive the shefa, as above. And therefore, at the conclusion of the requesting of one’s needs, we conclude with the brachah of “Shomei’a Tefillah” [Who hears tefillah]. For this is the essential completeness of tefillah — when we believe that He hears the tefillah of every mouth; through this is the essential completeness of the kli to receive the shefa, as above. And we strengthen ourselves in this emunah — that He, blessed be He, hears tefillah — through our having arranged His praises, blessed be He and exalted, first: that He is the G–d of our forefathers and remembers the kindnesses of the Avos and brings a redeemer, etc., as above. But one still needs great toil and effort to be strong in this emunah in completeness — to believe in oneself that one has the power to accomplish anything through one’s tefillah. For there are many kinds of discouragement in a person’s heart regarding this matter, as each person knows within himself. Most people imagine that they have no power for this, and therefore they do not strengthen themselves in tefillah. And the essential toil is at the beginning — that is, at the time when one begins to strengthen oneself to pray with kavanah [intent], in the aspect of “all beginnings are difficult.” For then one has not yet seen any result through one’s tefillah. But when one merits to overcome with all one’s strength to pray with kavanah until one merits to accomplish something through one’s tefillah — for instance, one prayed about some matter and was answered — then one is strengthened through this, to believe also in oneself that one has the power to accomplish through one’s tefillah, since one sees that Hashem, blessed be He, has already heard one’s tefillah as well, and was answered. And then a kli is made to receive the shefa. For the essential formation of the kli is through emunah — that is, through believing also in oneself that Hashem, blessed be He, hears one’s tefillah as well, as above. And this is the aspect of the bechor. For from there the begetting of the bechor is drawn. For all begettings and all bestowals of shefa are drawn only through tefillah. And therefore, the begetting of the bechor is drawn from this aspect — from the aspect of the first result that a member of Israel accomplishes through his tefillah. For through this, his emunah is strengthened to pray always. And from there the begetting of the bechor is drawn — which is the first begetting. And all the subsequent begettings — each of them contains a portion from the begetting of the bechor, as is brought in the writings of the Ari z”l. That is, all the subsequent tefillos — through which come all the begettings — each contains a portion from the first result that one accomplished through one’s tefillah. For through this, one’s emunah was strengthened to pray always, through which is the essential formation of the kli to draw the shefa, as above. And therefore, the bechor takes pi shnayim, corresponding to the pi shnayim in tefillah — which are the arrangement of His praises, blessed be He, and the requesting of one’s needs. For they are literally one and the same aspect. For the arrangement of His praises before the requesting of one’s needs — which is the strengthening of emunah in order to make a kli, etc., as above — the bechor essentially receives this aspect, for he is the aspect of the first result accomplished through one’s tefillah, when one needed to strengthen oneself greatly to believe in oneself, since one had not yet seen any result through one’s tefillah. But afterward, once one has already accomplished the first result through one’s tefillah, then one can easily strengthen oneself each time to believe in oneself, since one has already seen that one accomplished through one’s tefillah. Thus, all the subsequent begettings and all the bestowals of shefa — each of them contains a portion from the first result, which is the aspect of the begetting of the bechor. And therefore, the bechor receives pi shnayim of everything found, for he has a share corresponding to each and every one, as above. And see in the writings of the Ari z”l, where it is explained in the manner of his holy secrets that the pi shnayim that the bechor takes is in the aspect of “a woman makes a covenant only with the one who makes her into a vessel” — which is the aspect of the “spirit that he cast into her” [hahu rucha d’shadei b’gavei], which is the aspect of the secret of yibum. For from the spirit that he cast into her in the first union — from there all the begettings of all the children need to receive. And the bechor essentially receives, and all the subsequent children receive through him. Therefore, he receives pi shnayim — see there. And all these matters are now explained according to our approach in the simple and practical way — to strengthen oneself in tefillah always, as above. And in truth it is all one, for also the inner intention of the Ari z”l is to bring to practical action. (And regarding this matter there is much to discuss until some spark is grasped in the heart of each person according to what he can perceive in his heart, and here is not the place for it.) And therefore, the bechor does not take from what is anticipated [ra’uy] as from what is in possession [muchzak]. For when the shefa is merely anticipated to come, the kli has not yet been completed. And the essential superiority of the bechor is with what is in possession — that is, with the shefa that has already been drawn below in completeness through the completeness of the kli, until it has been firmly established. For in the matter of the completeness of the kli mentioned above, the bechor has a greater share corresponding to each and every one, as above. But when it is merely anticipated — when the kli has not yet been completed — the bechor has no superiority regarding it, as above. Therefore, he does not take pi shnayim from it, as above. And therefore, you will find that in most tefillos we begin by recounting the praise of the Omnipresent regarding what our forefathers already accomplished through their tefillah. As it is written: “O G–d, with our ears we have heard… You wrought a work in their days, in the days of old” (Tehillim 44:2), etc., until: “Command salvations for Yaakov” (Tehillim 44:5), etc. That is: just as You wrought in the days of our forefathers and performed for them great miracles and salvations — so too, command salvations for Yaakov also now. And similarly: “They trusted and You delivered them; they cried to You and were rescued” (Tehillim 22:5–6), etc., and many similar examples. For it is impossible to accomplish through one’s tefillah except when one strengthens one’s mind with the knowledge that we have the power to accomplish through our tefillah — through which one makes a kli to receive the shefa, as above. However, sometimes the adversary can discourage one’s mind — that even though our forefathers and our teachers accomplished much through their tefillah, “but a lowly person such as yourself — how is it possible that you should accomplish through your tefillah?” But in truth it is not so, for Hashem, blessed be He, hears the tefillah of every mouth, as is known and as above. However, at the beginning, before one is accustomed to tefillah, one needs much strengthening for this. But afterward, when one has already accomplished something through one’s tefillah at times — then one’s heart is strengthened to believe in the truth: that Hashem, blessed be He, also hears one’s tefillah, since one has seen that Hashem, blessed be He, has already heard one’s tefillah, as above. And this is the aspect of what David HaMelech, peace be upon him, said: “I sought Hashem and He answered me” (Tehillim 34:5), etc. “This poor one called, and Hashem hears” (Tehillim 34:7), etc. He cries out and says: “This poor one called, and Hashem hears!” For he was exceedingly humble and said about himself: “This poor one called” — and nevertheless, “Hashem hears.” And through this, he strengthens himself to cry out and to pray always to Hashem, blessed be He, as above. And this is the aspect of the bechor, which is the aspect of the service of tefillah, as above. And similarly, in the tefillah of Yonah HaNavi: “From the belly of the grave I cried out; You heard my voice” (Yonah 2:3), etc. “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Hashem, and my tefillah came to You” (Yonah 2:8), etc., and many similar examples. Understand well, and set your heart well to this, until you believe in yourself. And remember each time how many times you called from distress to Hashem, etc., and He answered you and saved you. And through this, you too will be strengthened in tefillah, and Hashem will save you, as above. And this is the aspect of a son taking precedence over a daughter. For the essential purpose of creating the world was to reveal His compassion and His goodness in the world, as is known. But Hashem, blessed be He, placed the entire world and all that it contains in the hands of human beings, as it is written: “And the earth He gave to the children of man” (Tehillim 115:16). For human beings, according to their deeds, draw the shefa from above, to enliven and sustain all the worlds. As it is written: “And every plant of the field was not yet… for Hashem G–d had not caused it to rain, and there was no man” (Bereishis 2:5), etc. And Rashi explains: until man came and prayed, etc. For the essential drawing of the shefa is through the tefillah that Israel prays. And the more a member of Israel increases in tefillah and draws more shefa and abundant good for the house of Israel — so too he enlivens and sustains all the worlds more. And His greatness and goodness is revealed more — which is the essential delight and pleasure, as it were, of the blessed One. For “more than the calf wants to suckle,” etc. For He desires kindness and wants to bestow good always. But it is impossible to draw the shefa except through the tefillah of Israel. Therefore, the more Israel increases in the world and draw more shefa, His Will, blessed be He, is fulfilled more. For all His desire, blessed be He, is to bestow good upon Israel always, and this is all His delight and pleasure, as above. And for this reason the member of Israel was created — so that he should engage in Torah and tefillah and draw shefa into the world. Through this, His G–dliness, blessed be He, is revealed in the world, as it is written: “May G–d be gracious to us and bless us; may He cause His face to shine upon us, Selah — to make known on earth Your way” (Tehillim 67:2–3). And as Rashi explains there: “May He cause His face to shine” — to show a smiling countenance, to give dew and rain; that is, the drawing of shefa. Through this: “to make known on earth Your way… they will acknowledge You…” etc., until: “and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him” (Tehillim 67:8), etc. For through the drawing of the shefa through Israel — through this, all will recognize and know His ways, blessed be He, that He hears the tefillah of every mouth. And through this, all will acknowledge Him and all the ends of the earth will fear Him — for this is why everything was created, so that His G–dliness would be revealed in the world. And the essential revelation is through seeing that Israel accomplishes through their tefillah and draws shefa and abundant good, as above. And this is all of a person’s service throughout all the days of his life — to draw shefa and abundant good through his good deeds, and principally through tefillah, through which is the essential drawing of the shefa, as is known (and as is explained in the Torah “V’atem tih’yu li,” etc., in siman 34 — see there). And even when a person departs from the world, he must see to it that the channel of shefa that he drew into the world should not be cut off. And therefore, he must leave behind children in this world, so that they will fill his place and draw shefa into the world. And so from generation to generation, forever — so that the shefa is never cut off. And because the essential shefa that is drawn through tefillah cannot be drawn except through tzedakah — through which is the essential completeness of tefillah, as is explained in the Torah mentioned above, that the essential completeness of tefillah is through tzedakah — therefore, after a person’s passing, they mention before his bier especially the mitzvah of tzedakah, and they call out and cry before him: “Tzedakah saves from death!” For through tzedakah one merits tefillah, through which is the essential drawing of the shefa, through which one is saved from the side of death. For each person, according to how much he merited to increase in tzedakah, so too he drew the shefa through his tefillah, and so too he merits life forever. For the drawing of the shefa is the vitality and sustenance of all the worlds — and through this, certainly good and long life is drawn upon him forever, as well. And therefore, the inheritance is due to his male sons. For the male is the aspect of mashpia [influencer/bestower], and through him the shefa is drawn more, from generation to generation — which is the essential hash’arah [endurance] of a person, as above. And therefore he receives the inheritance. For through receiving the inheritance from his father — that is, the good shefa of his father — through this he can draw abundant shefa and goodness even more, for the blessing does not rest upon an empty thing, as our Sages of blessed memory said, as it is written: “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” (Melachim II 4:2), etc. And this also derives from the aspect mentioned above that we wrote above regarding the bechor — that through a person seeing that he has already accomplished something through his tefillah, through this his heart is strengthened more to pray. And therefore, when there is some thing upon which the blessing can rest — it is easier to draw the shefa. For that thing was drawn from some tefillah, since there is nothing in the world that is drawn except through tefillah. And therefore, it is then easier to draw more shefa, since there is already some shefa that was drawn through tefillah — from which comes the strengthening of the heart to pray more, as above. And therefore, through the inheritance that the children receive — through this they draw the shefa more and more, for the sake of which is the essential creation and sustenance of a person in this world, as above. And therefore, the son takes precedence over the daughter. For the essential drawing of the shefa is through the male son, for the woman is the aspect of a receiver, the aspect of din [judgment]. And this too is needed — to receive the shefa in gradual measure, so that it is not poured outward, G–d forbid. But the essential thing is the man, through whom is the essential drawing of the shefa. And therefore, our Sages of blessed memory said: “A woman is not blessed except from the fruit of her husband’s body” (Yevamos 62b). And therefore, the mishpachah [family] is called only by the father’s name. For the essential mishpachah is the aspect of the totality of the tzinor [channel] of shefa that was established through this family. And therefore, all the mishpachos of Israel all encamped around the Mishkan. For the Mishkan traveled among them and they all had a share in the Mishkan. For the Mishkan is the aspect of the totality of the tefillah of Israel, as is explained there in the Torah mentioned above. And the Mishkan was built from many and varied particular things — for it has many planks and clasps, crossbars and pillars and sockets, etc., loops and cords, upper and lower curtains and the hangings of the courtyard, etc. And all the vessels of the Mishkan — the table and the menorah and the altars, etc. And all the details that were in each vessel — such as the knobs and flowers and cups, etc., in the menorah; and the frame of the table and its dishes and its spoons, etc. And each and every detail is the aspect of the tefillah of Israel. For there are many and varied tefillos of Israel that join together, and from them is made the aspect of a plank of the Mishkan. And there are others from which is made the aspect of a socket of the Mishkan, etc. And this is the aspect of the mishpachos of Israel surrounding the Mishkan. For the totality of this family is the aspect of this particular part of the Mishkan. And another family is the aspect of another particular part of the Mishkan. And the essential thing is the tefillah, which is the essential aspect of the building of the Mishkan, as above. And each person, according to his tefillos, is thus rooted in the mishpachos of Israel, which are the aspect of the totality of the Mishkan and its vessels, as above. And therefore, the mishpachah is called only by the father’s name, for the essential drawing of the shefa is through the male, as above. And therefore, the mishpachah is called only by the father’s name, for the essential drawing of the shefa is through the male, as above. And therefore, when one does not leave progeny, the inheritance returns to his family. And the father takes precedence over all his descendants. For the mishpachah, which is the totality of the tzinor, needs to receive the shefa of his inheritance that he left behind. And through the shefa returning and reaching them, they repair in his place the tzinor that he was supposed to repair — in the aspect of: “Either his uncle or his uncle’s son shall redeem him” (Vayikra 25:49). For the shefa flows through many channels, and each channel then divides into many more channels, and so onward. And the more channels are established, the more abundantly the shefa flows — and this is all His delight, blessed be He, as above. And each and every mishpachah is the totality of one channel that divides into many channels according to the number of members of the family. And when one of them departs, G–d forbid, without children — the family members closest to him, such as his brother, his uncle, etc., need to receive his shefa. And they will repair his deficiency, since they are all drawn from one channel. And therefore, the father takes precedence over all his descendants. For the father is the root of the totality of the channel of all his children and his generations who descend from him — and therefore the essential repair is through him. And therefore, even the daughter takes precedence over all the members of the family. For when the inheritance needs to return upward, G–d forbid, to the members of his family, because he did not leave progeny, G–d forbid — this is the aspect of dinim [judgments]. For or hachozer [returning light] is the aspect of din. And therefore, certainly the daughter takes precedence. For the daughter is the aspect of din and tzimtzum [constriction], as is known. And as our Sages of blessed memory said on the verse “And you shall transfer [v’ha’avartem]” (Bamidbar 27:8): that the Holy One, blessed be He, is filled with evrah [wrath] against one who does not leave a son to inherit him. And therefore, the son takes precedence over the daughter, because the son is the aspect of chesed, the aspect of mashpia — which is the essential thing, as above — and the daughter is the aspect of tzimtzum, etc., as above. But when there is no son, certainly the daughter takes precedence in receiving the inheritance over all the members of the family. For even when the inheritance returns to them, it is the aspect of dinim, the aspect of or hachozer. And therefore, he can certainly be strengthened through her more — since in any case she is of his own descendants and was drawn from him. For the essential repair is that the shefa should be drawn downward from generation to generation, and not that it should return upward, G–d forbid — for then the repair is much more difficult, as above. [Continued in Part B: §§9–25]