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And in it will be explained the matter of Sefiras HaOmer and Shavu’os, which is the receiving of the Torah. Based on the Torah teaching “Ashrai S’mimai Darech” in siman 1 — see there. And the general principle that emerges from there for our purposes is that the Jewish man must always look into the saichel [intellect] of every thing, to draw close through this to Hashem, blessed be He. For the saichel is a great light, the aspect of the sun, etc. And this is the aspect of the letter ches, for “wisdom gives life” (Koheles 7:12), etc. But since the light of the saichel is very great, it is impossible to merit it except through the aspect of nun, which is the aspect of Malchus, as it is written: “Before the sun, yinon [shall endure] his name” (Tehillim 72:17), etc. And this is the aspect of the l’vanah [moon], etc. And corresponding to this is the aspect of Aisav, who despised the birthright, in the aspect of: “A fool does not desire understanding, but only the revealing of his heart” (Mishlai 18:2) — the aspect of the wicked kingdom, etc. And this is the aspect of the yetzer tov and yetzer hara, etc. And one must strengthen the Malchus of holiness over the wicked kingdom — the yetzer tov over the yetzer hara, etc. And the essential thing is through the Torah, etc. And then the ches connects with the nun, and the aspect of chain [grace] is formed. And through this all the prayers and requests are accepted, and the grace and importance of Israel is elevated in the physical and the spiritual, etc. And this is the explanation of the teaching of Rabbah bar bar Chanah: “This wave that sinks [a ship],” etc. — “and there is seen a spark of white fire at its top.” For at first the yetzer hara clothes himself in mitzvos, etc. “And they strike it with clubs,” etc. — that is, the essential subduing of the yetzer hara is through the Torah, etc. For the transgressor is a madman, for a person does not commit a transgression unless a spirit of folly [ruach sh’tus] enters him, etc. And just as madmen need to be struck and have names [of holiness] placed upon them, etc. — so too through the Torah that one studies, one subdues and drives out the spirit of folly, which is actual madness. And then the Malchus of holiness is strengthened, which is the aspect of the contraction [tzimtzum] of the saichel — through which one merits to receive the saichel gradually and in measured proportion, which is the essential vitality and purpose, etc., as above. And this is the aspect of the mitzvah of the waving of the Omer of barley and Sefiras HaOmer, which are the beginning and preparation for the receiving of the Torah. For it is explained in the Kabbalistic writings that during all the days of the Sefirah one receives all the mochin [mentalities] of katnus [smallness] and gadlus [greatness], first and second, gradually and in measured proportion, on each and every day, as is well explained there — see there. One also receives all the five chasadim and five g’vuros and their general aspects, which are in the aspect of seven times seven, and one receives them during the seven weeks of the Sefirah. And it is explained there that on each and every day, the Malchus of Z’air Anpin illuminates the Malchus of the Nukvah — for example, on the first day, the Malchus within Chesed of the first [category] enters the Chesed that is his, and likewise the Malchus within G’vurah of the first enters the Chesed that is hers, and the Malchus of his illuminates the Malchus of hers. And on the second day, the Yesod within Chesed of the first enters the Chesed that is his, and the aspect of the Malchus is pushed into the G’vurah that is his, and likewise in the Nukvah, etc. And the Malchus that was pushed into his G’vurah illuminates the Malchus that enters her G’vurah, etc. And so on each and every day. It emerges that when you examine the kavanos [mystical intentions] well, you will see that the essential rectification on each day is in the aspect of the Malchus within each and every attribute — see there well, in the kavanos that are explained in detail for each and every night, at the end of chapter 7 of Sha’ar Sefiras HaOmer. That is, through the waving of the Omer and the counting on each day of the forty-nine days of the Sefirah, we begin to draw upon ourselves the holiness of receiving the Torah, which is the aspect of the drawing of the mochin — which is the essential aspect of receiving the Torah. And the essential thing is through rectifying the aspect of Malchus, which is the aspect of nun, which is the aspect of contraction and measure to receive the Chochmah and the mochin gradually and in measured proportion. For without the rectification of the aspect of the measure and the contraction, which is the aspect of Malchus, it is impossible to receive the Chochmah and the mochin because of the excess of light. For the light of the saichel is very great, and it is impossible to receive it except through the aspect of Malchus, which is the aspect of measure, the aspect of nun, as it is written: “Before the sun, yinon his name” — as is explained in the Torah teaching mentioned above. Therefore one must bring the Omer of barley, which is the general aspect of all the contractions. That is, through the waving of the Omer of barley, all the contractions and the measures are rectified — which are the aspect of Malchus — so that we can through this receive the mochin gradually and in measured proportion. For without the rectification of the aspect of the measures and the contractions, it is impossible to receive the mochin, as above. And this is the aspect of the fifty days of Sefiras HaOmer, which are the rectification of Malchus, as is explained above — that the essential illumination and rectification on each and every day is in the aspect of Malchus, as above. And therefore they are fifty days, corresponding to the aspect of nun mentioned above, which is the aspect of Malchus, the aspect of “before the sun, yinon his name” — that is, before the sun — before receiving the mochin and the saichel and the Chochmah, which are the aspect of the sun, as is explained there — one first needs to rectify the aspect of Malchus, which is the aspect of nun, the aspect of “yinon his name” — which is the aspect of the nun days of Sefiras HaOmer, as above. And the general intent of the waving of the Omer of barley and the counting is to go out from the contamination and impurity of Mitzrayim and to merit the receiving of the Torah, which is the essential Chochmah and saichel — in order to merit to look upon the saichel that is in every thing and to draw close through this to Hashem, blessed be He. For everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, created, He created only for His glory — to merit to recognize Him and to serve Him through all the things in the world. But one does not merit this except through the holy Torah, as is explained in the Torah teaching mentioned above. For through the Torah one subdues the wicked kingdom, which is the aspect of foolishness and the spirit of folly, which are the generality of all the cravings and evil character traits, which are the spirit of folly and actual madness — for a person does not commit a transgression unless a spirit of folly enters him. And this is the essential contamination and impurity of Mitzrayim from which we need to purify ourselves during these days of the Sefirah, as we say in the Sefirah: “in order to purify us from our klippos and from our impurity,” etc. And therefore one brings the Omer of barley, which is animal food — which is the absence of da’as. For the essential sustenance of foolishness is from the aspect of the mi’ut hal’vanah [diminishment of the moon], which is the blemish of Malchus. For the Malchus — the aspect of the moon, the aspect of nun mentioned above — is the generality of all the contractions and measures of the saichel, without which it is impossible to receive the saichel, as above. It emerges that the essential rectification of the saichel is through the aspect of Malchus, which is the aspect of the generality of all the contractions and measures, as above. But since it is the aspect of contraction and measure, and every contraction is the aspect of din [judgment] — therefore sometimes the sustenance of foolishness, which is the complete absence of da’as, derives from there. Therefore one must first sweeten and rectify the aspect of Malchus through the waving of the Omer of barley — which is an offering of animal food, which is the aspect of the absence of da’as, the aspect of the contraction of the mochin, through which is the essential receiving of the mochin, as above. For in holiness, this aspect is very precious — that is, the aspect of b’haimah [animal/beast]: to make oneself like a beast, as if one has no da’as at all. As Dovid said: “And I am boorish and know nothing; I was like a beast with You” (Tehillim 73:22). And as Rabbainu, of blessed memory, wrote on the verse: “All to whom Hashem gave wisdom in the beast” (Shemos 36:1) — that it is a great wisdom to make oneself like a beast. For through this is the essential receiving of the true da’as and saichel. For this is the aspect of the contraction of the mind mentioned above, the aspect of Malchus, the aspect of nun mentioned above, which is the aspect of measure and contraction — that is, it is impossible to receive any true da’as and saichel unless one makes oneself like a beast, as if one knows nothing at all. As our Sages of blessed memory said: “The Torah endures only in one who makes himself as if he knows nothing.” And then through this specifically one merits to receive the saichel and the mind gradually and in measured proportion. And also when one receives some saichel and da’as, one must know each time that one still knows nothing at all, as Rabbainu, of blessed memory, wrote many times. And through this one merits to receive new mind and da’as each time. And this is the aspect of holy contraction and measure, the aspect of Malchus, the aspect of nun mentioned above — through which is the essential receiving of the mochin, as above. But “this corresponding to this G–d has made” (Koheles 7:14), and in every thing there is good and evil. And therefore sometimes the Sitra Achra overpowers and draws sustenance from the aspect of the contraction mentioned above, for their essential sustenance is from the aspect of the absence of da’as, from the aspect of contractions that are the aspect of dinim, as is known. And when they draw sustenance from there — which is the aspect of the diminishment of the moon — then they invert the matter from the opposite to the opposite, as it is written: “They who invert the paths of uprightness and are crooked in their ways” (Mishlai 2:15). For in truth, one must use every thing and every attribute in its place and at its time, in holiness and purity as is proper. That is, in truth a person must be very careful not to do animal-like deeds, G–d forbid. For the boundary of a person is that he should be far from animal-like deeds, which are all the evil cravings — which are foolishness and folly and madness, the aspect of an actual beast. And for this purpose Hashem, blessed be He, graces man with da’as — so that he should distance himself from animal-like deeds. For the da’as — which is the boundary of man — is the opposite of all the cravings, which are the aspect of beastliness, foolishness, and folly. And when one merits to drive out the beastly cravings, then one’s saichel is strengthened and elevated. To the degree that the beastly cravings are subdued, so is one’s saichel elevated — for when this one falls, this one rises. And then, when one reaches the saichel, one must know the truth: that one is still far from wisdom, in the aspect of: “I said I would become wise, but it is far from me” (Koheles 7:23) — that the essential wisdom is to realize that the wisdom is far from him, as Rabbainu, of blessed memory, wrote. And then one must specifically make oneself like a beast — like Dovid HaMelech, peace be upon him, who was certainly a great and true sage, and said: “And I am boorish and know nothing; I was like a beast with You.” And this is the aspect of “beast” in holiness, the aspect of: “Man and beast You save, Hashem” (Tehillim 36:7). As our Sages of blessed memory said: “People who are clever in da’as like Adam HaRishon, yet make themselves like a beast.” It emerges that a person must not do animal-like deeds, G–d forbid — and then his saichel is complete. And then specifically he must know that he is far from da’as, and he should be in his own eyes like a beast that has no da’as, as above. And this is the aspect of Malchus of holiness, which is the aspect of measure and contraction of da’as — which is the aspect of “beast” in holiness, that one contracts his da’as as if he knows nothing at all — through which is the essential receiving of the da’as and saichel, as above. But regarding the cravings, he does not do any animal-like deed at all, G–d forbid, as above. But the Sitra Achra and the klippos incite a person from the opposite to the opposite, G–d forbid. As we find many people who are sunk in all the cravings, as they themselves know, and they do actual animal-like deeds — and yet they want to know wisdoms, and they are wise in their own eyes and understanding in their own sight. And they want to cast a blemish upon the holy, G–d forbid — to find difficulties and deficiencies in the great true tzaddikim and the genuine righteous, as if everyone needs to learn saichel from them. Especially the great wicked ones who are the group of the philosophical investigators, who occupy themselves with external books and their languages — whose wickedness is well-known to all, and who are sunk in all the evil cravings and are suspected of all the transgressions in the Torah, as is well-known. And they are worse than beasts in the abundance of the contamination of their evil cravings. And they brazenly push forward their faces like dogs, and say that they are wise and understanding, and call the genuine righteous and truly G–d-fearing ones by the name of fools and simpletons and dupes — and turn the dish over on its face. And they interpret the entire Book of Mishlai, etc. — which disparages the fools — they interpret it as referring to the righteous and G–d-fearing who truly follow the Torah. Woe to them! Woe to their souls! And regarding them it is said: “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and understanding in their own sight” (Yeshayahu 5:21). And it is written: “Behold, they have despised the word of Hashem — and what wisdom do they have?” (Yirmeyahu 8:9). The general principle is that these wicked ones invert the paths of uprightness from the opposite to the opposite. For they do actual animal-like deeds and yet they are wise in their own eyes and want to investigate and know all things — how the Holy One, blessed be He, conducts His world — and they raise difficulties and investigations against Hashem and against His true tzaddikim and His truly G–d-fearing ones. And all of this derives from the blemish of the measure and the contraction mentioned above, which is the aspect of Malchus. For to the degree that the aspect of Malchus is blemished — which is the aspect of the moon, etc., as above — to that degree the darkness and the klippah strengthen, which inverts the truth from the opposite to the opposite, as above. To the point that this blemish and error extends even among the somewhat righteous, who say wisdoms of vanity while they have not yet departed from animal-like deeds. And yet they are wise in their own eyes and say opinions and wisdoms of falsehood in the ways of Hashem. And this is the aspect of what Rabbainu, of blessed memory, wrote at the end of the Torah teaching mentioned above, on the teaching of Rabbah bar bar Chanah: “And there is seen a spark of white fire at its head,” etc. — that the adversary clothes himself in mitzvos, etc. But in truth he is a destructive angel. And this is the aspect of all the wisdoms of vanity found nowadays, which are all the devices of the yetzer hara and the klippah, which distorts their hearts and clothes himself in mitzvos. For example, [they say] that it is a mitzvah to pass the time of Sh’ma and tefillah in order to pray with a clean body — and they spend most of their days on cleanliness and pass the time of Sh’ma and tefillah every day. And in the end they do not pray with a clean body at all, let alone that they do not pray with clean and pure thoughts at all — to the point that for the most part they do not know what they are saying. And many great tzaddikim have already cried out about this. Especially Rabbainu, of blessed memory, who said explicitly that it is a great error and foolishness and a seduction of the yetzer hara to waste precious time on foolish stringencies like these. And this is not the intent of the Shulchan Aruch and the Poskim at all, as is understood to one who examines their words well — for on the contrary, in most places they are very, very lenient about this. And if in some places one can err regarding some stringency about this, one must follow the majority of Poskim, most of whom are lenient about this, as is explained elsewhere at the beginning of siman 92. And as we have seen from all the great ones of earlier generations, who did not practice this foolish and vain stringency. But this is not the place to elaborate on this. And similarly in many matters the adversary clothes himself in mitzvos — all of which derives from wisdoms of vanity, which derive from the aspect mentioned above: that they invert the truth — doing animal-like deeds and wanting to know wisdoms and inventions. And in truth this one depends on that one. For all the sustenance of the Sitra Achra is from the blemish of Malchus, from the aspect of the diminishment of the moon, as is known — that is, from the aspect of the blemish of the contraction mentioned above. That is, through all the cravings and transgressions, G–d forbid, one blemishes the Malchus in the aspect of the contraction mentioned above. And when the contraction is blemished and damaged, through this one is unable to contract his mind to receive the true da’as gradually and in measured proportion. And then his da’as goes beyond bounds, and through this he is misled and confused by wisdoms of foolishness and vanity — because he has no contraction to receive the true mind and saichel, which are impossible to receive except through the rectification of the contraction, which is the aspect of Malchus, through which one receives the saichel gradually and in measured proportion — which is the essential rectification of the saichel, as above. Therefore, when one goes out from Mitzrayim, one must bring the Omer of barley — which is animal food, which is the aspect of the generality of all the contractions, as is brought in the kavanos — in order to sweeten and rectify the aspect of the contraction and the measure and the boundary of the da’as at its root, in order to merit the aspect of “beast” in holiness. That is: not to do animal-like deeds, and yet to know that one is far from the saichel, and to be in one’s own eyes like a beast, as above. And this is the aspect of: “And he shall wave the Omer before Hashem,” etc. (Vayikra 23:11) — that one must wave the aspect of the Omer, the aspect of the generality of the measures and contractions, the aspect of “beast” of holiness — to wave everything to Hashem, to conduct oneself in this according to His will, blessed be He, and not the opposite, G–d forbid, as above. And through this waving of the Omer, one nullifies the foolishness and the spirit of folly, so that it has no sustenance at all from the aspect of the contraction, from the aspect of Malchus, from the aspect of “beast.” For one waves it to Hashem — not to use the aspect of the contraction, the aspect of “beast,” except for the sake of Hashem, blessed be He, as above. And this is the essential preparation and beginning for the receiving of the Torah, which is the da’as. For it is impossible to receive the da’as except through the rectification of the measure and the contraction, which is rectified through the waving of the Omer of barley, as above. And then one begins to count the nun [fifty] days, which is the aspect of the nun mentioned above — which is the aspect of the contraction, the aspect of Malchus, the aspect of “before the sun, yinon his name,” as above. And through this we go out from impurity to purity. And the essential intent of the Sefirah in its straightforward sense is that one must know that a person’s days are numbered and counted, in number and in count, each and every day. And the person will need to give an accounting for each and every day, for no day goes to waste, G–d forbid. And even a single hour and moment does not go to waste, G–d forbid. In the aspect of: “Seven complete weeks shall they be” (Vayikra 23:15) — that the seven weeks, which are the days of the Sefirah, must be complete and whole in the service of Hashem, and not a moment of them should go to waste, G–d forbid. For the seven weeks allude to all the days of a person’s life, which are comprised within the seven days of the week. For all the days of the world are comprised within the seven days of the week — which are the seven days of creation — for there is no day in the world other than the seven days of the week, which cycle repeatedly for all the days of the world. Therefore all the days of a person’s life are comprised within the seven days, which are the aspect of the seven days of the week. And each day is comprised of all seven days. Therefore they are the aspect of seven weeks, which are the forty-nine days of the Sefirah. The mitzvah is to count each and every day — in order to know and remember the days of his fleeting life, that all the days that he is alive upon the face of the earth are numbered and counted in number and in count, as it is written: “For years of number shall come” (Iyov 16:22). And “if like the days of a hired worker are his days” (Iyov 7:1). And it is written: “The number of the days of his fleeting life” (Koheles 6:12). And it is written: “To count our days, thus make known” (Tehillim 90:12), etc. And therefore it is forbidden for a person to push himself from day to day. Rather, one must know well that this day will never come to him again for all the days of his life. For tomorrow is an entirely different matter, and it would be well if he pays in its time — that he should merit tomorrow to fulfill his obligation for what he needs to pay to Hashem, blessed be He — the obligation of the time of tomorrow itself. But in any case, it is utterly forbidden to deceive oneself by pushing off from day to day. And as Rabbainu, of blessed memory, wrote on the verse: “Today, if you will listen to His voice” (Tehillim 95:7) — that the essential service for one who wants to listen to His voice, blessed be He, and to cleave to Him: the essential thing is to know that the essential thing is “today.” “Today” specifically, etc. — as is explained there (in siman 272 — see there). And this is the aspect of the mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer, which is the beginning and preparation for receiving the Torah — to teach that it is impossible to receive the Torah unless one knows that the essential thing is this day in which one stands, and not to push off from day to day. For all the days of a person are numbered and counted, as above. And this is the aspect of: “Today, if you will listen to His voice” — that is, if you want to listen to His voice and to receive the Torah, it is impossible for you to receive except through the aspect of “today” — to know that the essential thing is this very day, as it is written: “This day I command you to do” (Devarim 7:11) — “this day” specifically. And it is written: “That which I command you today.” And many similar — “today” specifically, as above. For through counting and enumerating seven complete weeks before the receiving of the Torah — which are the aspect of the generality of a person’s days, as above — through this one goes out from impurity to purity, and draws truth and holiness upon oneself. That one should always know, each and every day, that the essential thing is this very day, as above — which is the essential aspect of the receiving of the Torah, which is comprised of all the days and the measures, as it is written: “And what is the measure of my days” (Tehillim 39:5), as is explained in the Torah teaching “U’v’yom HaBikkurim” (siman 56). For before the receiving of the Torah, at the time when we need to purify ourselves from the contamination of Mitzrayim, we need to count the days aloud, in order to remember this well: that a person’s days are numbered and counted. For because of the contamination of Mitzrayim, the Sitra Achra and the klippos can confuse the mind, G–d forbid, so that one deceives himself as if today is not fitting for the service of the Creator, blessed be He, and wants to push off from day to day. Therefore one must count the days aloud, for speech has a great power to remind a person even at a time when he is not clean from his contamination, as it is written: “Whenever I speak of him, I remember him still” (Yirmeyahu 31:19), etc. — as is explained (in siman 78). But once we have counted the forty-nine days of the Sefirah and have merited to go out from the contamination of Mitzrayim and to receive the Torah on Shavu’os — then we no longer need to count the days aloud every day during the rest of the year. For on our own we merit to remember this every day — since we have already drawn upon ourselves the holiness through the mitzvah of Sefirah and the receiving of the Torah, as above. For this is the essential holiness: to remember each and every day that this day is numbered and counted, and one must fulfill the obligation of the day — on this very day, specifically, as above.

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