שאלה א

Likutay Halachos - Sh'ailah 1

And this is what the Kohen Gadol prayed on Yom Kippur when he entered the Bais Kodesh Kodashim, to the place of the Even Sh’siyah — that Your people Israel should not need one another, nor another nation; and that a woman should not miscarry the fruit of her womb; and that rulership should not depart from the house of Yehudah.

For the fact that Israel are poor to the point that they need one another, or another nation, G–d forbid — this is drawn from the aspect mentioned above, from the blemish of emunas chachamim. Through which they cannot be incorporated in the aspect of the saichel hakolail, which is the aspect of the Even Sh’siyah, and cannot draw the abundance to each and every one through his own channel. And then the channels become confused through the machlokes, which is the blemish and the opposite of emunas chachamim. And then the abundance descends outward, to the nations, G–d forbid, as it is taught in the holy Zohar: that in the exile they receive most of the abundance, and Israel is sustained from the dregs. And this comes through the blemish of emunas chachamim, through which is the essential exile, as above. And even the small amount of abundance that descends to Israel is exchanged from one to another, for the channels have become confused through the blemish of emunas chachamim, as above.

And this is the aspect of the great virtue of tzedakah, about which the Torah warned many times. For one must give to the poor their share that they have in his abundance. For certainly also this poor and destitute person has a channel of abundance. And if the world were conducted properly, there would be no destitute person in the world, for the abundance would descend to each one from the saichel hakolail through his own channel and vessel. And as it will be in the future in truth, as it is written: “However, there will be no destitute among you, for Hashem will surely bless you,” etc. (Devarim 15:4). And as our Sages of blessed memory said: “When Israel does the will of the Omnipresent, destitution is among others,” etc. That is, as above — for then the abundance descends only to Israel, who received the Torah and fulfill it — for then they are incorporated in the saichel hakolail, and the abundance flows only to them, to each and every one through his channel, to receive abundant abundance. For each person of Israel has a portion in the Torah that goes forth from the saichel hakolail.

But the essential poverty is because they blemished the Torah through the blemish of emunas chachamim — through which the channels became confused and mixed up, as above. Through which most of the abundance descends to the nations, and the small amount of abundance that comes to Israel does not descend in proper order, until the abundance of this one is with that one. And therefore this one has great wealth and that one is poor and destitute. And in truth, at its root, the wealth of this one is mostly from the portion of the poor person — only through the blemish mentioned above the order became confused and it descended to this one. Just as with the essential abundance — which is all Israel’s — and now, due to our many sins, most of the abundance is with the nations. It emerges that the nations eat the abundance of Israel, in the aspect of: “And it was, when Israel sowed,” etc. (Shoftim 6:3) — as above. And as it is written: “The fruit of your land and all your toil a nation you did not know shall eat” (Devarim 28:33) — may Hashem, blessed be He, have mercy from now on. Just so, among Israel themselves, the wealthy eat the portion of the poor, as above.

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Therefore the Torah warned greatly to return and give the poor person his share, with a good heart and with joy and with a pleasant countenance, as it is written: “And let your heart not be grieved when you give to him, for on account of this thing Hashem your G–d will bless you,” etc. (Devarim 15:10). For in truth it is a great benefit for the wealthy person when he gives much tzedakah and returns to the poor person his share. For then, to the degree that he fulfills the mitzvah of tzedakah, he in turn reopens the channels of abundance so that the abundance flows through them in proper order. Since he returns to the poor person his share — and especially since the essential mitzvah of tzedakah is to give generously to the Torah scholar who engages in the Torah in truth — and this is the essential emunas chachamim. For the essential emunah depends on money — when one disperses his money to the true Torah scholar, in this he demonstrates his complete emunah in the true sages. And through emunas chachamim the channels return to go in proper order, etc., as above. And then the abundance descends in great ease to each and every one. For even the wealthy person who now receives most of the abundance — but when it is not in proper order because of the confusion of the channels, then his bestowal of abundance will not endure with him for a long time, and also for the most part there are many delays because the abundance does not descend in proper order. But when he gives tzedakah and then the channels are opened and the abundance descends properly, in order — then the abundance descends to each one in great ease, forever, since it descends in proper order as is fitting. And this is: “For on account of this thing Hashem your G–d will bless you,” etc. — “therefore I command you, saying: you shall surely open your hand,” etc. (Devarim 15:11). “You shall surely open” [pasoach tiftach] specifically — for through this the channels are opened. And through this: “Hashem your G–d will bless you” — for through this the abundance descends in great blessing, in proper order, without any delay at all, as above. And therefore in the place of Kodesh Kodashim, which is the Even Sh’siyah, the aspect of the saichel hakolail — there specifically the Kohen Gadol prayed on Yom HaKippurim that Your people Israel should not need one another, etc. That is, that Israel should merit to receive the abundance from there, from the Even Sh’siyah, from the saichel hakolail — that each one should receive through his own channel, so that Israel should not need one another, so that the channels should not be blocked and confused, as above. And not another nation — that the abundance should not descend, G–d forbid, to another nation, through the confusion and the blockage of the channels, as above. And this is: “and a woman should not miscarry the fruit of her womb.” For the miscarriage of stillbirths comes, G–d forbid, through the blemish of machlokes, which is the aspect of the blemish of emunas chachamim, in the aspect of: “And when men quarrel and they strike a pregnant woman” (Shemos 21:22). And as is understood in the Torah teaching on this verse (in siman 20 in Likutay Tinyana) — for through the machlokes, people become famous before their time and cause what they cause, as is explained there. And then the world is not conducted properly, and through this the false famous ones intensify entirely — and this is the essential blemish of emunas chachamim. And therefore he prayed in the place of the Even Sh’siyah: “and a woman should not miscarry the fruit of her womb” — for this is rectified through the saichel hakolail, which is the aspect of the Even Sh’siyah, as above. And this is: “and rulership should not depart from the house of Yehudah” — from which Mashiach ben Dovid will come forth, through whom is the entire essential rectification. For the aspect of Dovid Mashiach is the aspect of emunas chachamim, the aspect of the Torah Sheb’al Peh, the aspect of: “the faithful kindnesses of Dovid” (Yeshayahu 55:3) — the aspect of “Hashem is with him, that the halachah is according to him in every place.” Through whom will be fulfilled: “and they shall not be divided into two kingdoms anymore” — which is mentioned in the Torah teaching above. For then the Aron with the Luchos HaEven will be returned to their place, upon the place of the Even Sh’siyah — which Dovid labored all his days to find the place of the Even Sh’siyah, where the Luchos HaEven stand, through which everything is sweetened, as it is written: “If I go up upon the couch of my bed, if I give sleep to my eyes,” etc. — “until I find a place for Hashem,” etc. (Tehillim 132:3–5). And therefore through the rulership of the house of Yehudah, which is the aspect of the shining-forth of Mashiach ben Dovid, through this everything mentioned above is rectified. And then the abundance returns to each one properly, as it is written there in the psalm mentioned above: “This is My resting place forever,” etc. (Tehillim 132:14) — that is, in the place of the Even Sh’siyah that he merited to find through his exertion. And then: “Her provisions I shall surely bless; her destitute I shall satisfy with bread” (Tehillim 132:15). For through the holiness of the Even Sh’siyah, where the Luchos HaEven stand — through this the poverty and destitution are nullified. For the abundance descends to each one in proper order, in great ease, as above. “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your G–d: your heads, your tribes, your elders,” etc. — “to every man of Israel” (Devarim 29:9–10). And it enumerates ten categories, which correspond to the ten levels of holiness in Eretz Yisroel, which are the totality of holiness. That is, before Rosh HaShanah this passage is read, to make known that all the souls of the house of Israel — great and small and in between, etc. — which are included in the ten categories mentioned above — all must gather and be included together in love, within the supernal holiness, within the aspect of Kodesh Kodashim, the Even Sh’siyah, the saichel hakolail, which is the aspect of Moshe, the aspect of the true Tzaddik, to whom one must travel for Rosh HaShanah, etc., as above. And this is the aspect of the rectification of emunas chachamim, through which the holy books are multiplied, through which the Torah is completed, etc., as above. And through this, that they are incorporated in the aspect of the Even Sh’siyah, the saichel hakolail, as above — through this each and every person merits to enliven his saichel, until he can sweeten all types of dinim and contractions through the saichel hakolail, from which the life-force and the saichel are drawn to each and every soul, and to each and every place, and to each and every day. For all the variations in person, place, and time — from which is all the hold of the dinim, from which is the hold of all the sins, G–d forbid, and all the blemishes and confusions and crookedness of the heart, etc. — all is sweetened and nullified through the saichel hakolail, where is the root of everything. And one merits this through the teshuvah that one does regarding emunas chachamim, through which one is incorporated there in the saichel hakolail. And from there the sweetening is drawn for each and every one, in his place, on his day and his hour — so that each one will know, according to how he finds himself in his place, in his home or on the road, in whatever place he is, and according to how he finds himself on that day and in that hour and that moment — that in that moment and hour he can attach himself from his place where he is, to Hashem, blessed be He, etc. And this is: “You are standing today” — this is the aspect of person, place, and time. “You” — that is, person, the aspect of the totality of the souls. “Standing” — the aspect of place. “Today” — the aspect of time. “All of you, before Hashem your G–d” — that all of you, in every place where you are standing in your place, on that day and that hour — all of you must know that you are standing today before Hashem your G–d, as above. And this is through the inclusiveness in the true Tzaddik, who is the aspect of Kodesh Kodashim, the Even Sh’siyah. And this is the aspect of: “your heads, your tribes,” etc. — which are the ten categories corresponding to the ten levels of holiness. For through being incorporated together in love, they are incorporated in the Even Sh’siyah, where is the root of the ten levels of holiness, the root of the Torah, etc., as above. And this is: “to pass you into the covenant of Hashem,” etc. (Devarim 29:11) — that is, to draw upon oneself the totality of the Torah from its root, from Chochmah Ila’ah, from the saichel hakolail, etc. — “which I am cutting with you today” — the aspect of: “Today, if you will hear His voice,” as above — to persevere to begin anew each day and each hour and each moment, as above. And this is: “And not with you alone,” etc. — “for both those who are here with us,” etc., “and those who are not here with us today” (Devarim 29:13–14). For each person must know, on each day and each hour and moment of the days of his life, that all the souls of all the generations destined to come forth from him depend upon him, and upon them depend all the souls of the house of Israel — for all of Israel are guarantors for one another. And one must draw upon oneself rectification and sweetening through the saichel hakolail, which one merits through emunas chachamim, and the essential thing is through Rosh HaShanah, etc., as above. For each person is obligated to say: “The world was created for my sake,” as our Sages of blessed memory said. And when a person merits, he merits for himself and for his generations and the generations of his generations until the end of all the generations — and conversely the reverse, may the Merciful One save us — as our Sages of blessed memory said there. And all of this is impossible to rectify — as each person knows in his soul how far he has strayed, etc. — except through the true Tzaddik, the aspect of the saichel hakolail, etc., as above. For there all the souls are incorporated — both those who are here and those who are not here. And this is: “with us today” — for the essential rectification is through the aspect of “today,” the aspect of: “Today, if you will hear His voice,” which is explained in his words, of blessed memory, in siman 272, and is brought above — that one must know that a person has nothing in his world except that day and that moment alone, as it is written: “And You visit him each morning; each moment You test him” (Iyov 7:18). And as our Sages of blessed memory said, and is brought in the commentary of Rashi in several places, on the verse: “Today I command you” (Devarim 26:16) in Parshas Tavo, and in Kri’as Sh’ma on the verse: “which I command you today” (Devarim 6:6), and in other places — where Rashi explained that “each day they should be in your eyes as new.” And if you examine closely throughout Sefer Devarim, you will find that in every place where he warns Israel regarding the fulfillment of the Torah, he mentions each time the word “today” — to teach and awaken each person that the essential thing is to begin to draw close today, that is, on each day and hour where one stands, as above. And this is: “And Moshe spoke,” etc., “to all Israel, saying: Listen and hear, Israel! This day you have become a people” (Devarim 27:1,9). And Rashi explained there as well, even more clearly: “Each day it should be as though today you entered the covenant with Him” — that is, as above. And this is: “Listen and hear” [haskais ush’ma] — which means “incline your ear and hear well, very well.” That is, this matter requires one to incline one’s ear and heart to hear and understand and receive it in one’s heart well — that “this day you have become a people,” that is, each day and each hour, as above. And this is the aspect of what our Sages of blessed memory expounded on this verse — “Haskais” [means]: “Has” [be silent] and then “k’sais” [crush]. The interpretation of which is that in all the studies of the holy Torah, one must first learn and afterward examine well, the aspect of: “first learn, and then analyze.” And therefore this verse “Haskais” is juxtaposed to the verse “This day you have become a people” — to make known that this matter — “this day you have become a people” — to know and remember each day and each hour that “this day you have become a people,” etc., as above — this matter one must listen to and remember well, in the aspect of “Has” and then “k’sais.” For one must receive it in its totality, in simplicity, and then crush and examine it well — at each hour and moment — to know at each hour that is now passing, an hour from the days of his life, and to remind himself that there is a saichel hakolail that can sweeten and rectify everything. And through this he can draw upon himself to fulfill: “This day you have become a people unto Hashem your G–d” — “today” specifically, and so each day and hour and moment, in the aspect of “each moment You test him,” etc., as above. And this is the aspect of the service of the entire holy and very awesome month of Tishrai. For we have already explained that this is the aspect of Rosh HaShanah, as above. For then we engage in sweetening the dinim through being incorporated in the saichel hakolail — through returning in teshuvah regarding the blemish of emunas chachamim, through which the holy books are multiplied and the Torah is completed, etc. And this is the aspect of the blowing of the shofar, which awakens the sounds of the giving of the Torah, in order to draw the aspect of the completeness of the Torah, the aspect of the saichel hakolail, which sweetens everything, etc., as above. And therefore one travels to the tzadikim for Rosh HaShanah, for they are in the aspect of the saichel hakolail, the aspect of the Even Sh’siyah, Kodesh Kodashim, etc., as above. And afterward, during all the Ten Days of Teshuvah, one engages in this — returning each day in teshuvah regarding the blemish of emunas chachamim, which is the foundation of everything. And the more one returns in teshuvah, the more the emunah is completed, and the more the holy books are multiplied, as is explained in the Torah teaching “Chadi Rabbi Shimon” mentioned above — that through each teshuvah, the books are multiplied further, and one is incorporated more and more in the aspect of the saichel hakolail. And this is the aspect of what is taught in the kavanos: that during all the Ten Days of Teshuvah, the Malchus [Kingship] is being sawed off each day and her form is being built in completeness. For Malchus is the aspect of emunah, which must be built in completeness in all the limbs. For one needs emunah in all the limbs, from head to heel, as is explained elsewhere, in the Torah teaching: “And his hands were emunah until the sun set” (Shemos 17:12; siman 91). Until on the eve of Yom Kippur the building of the emunah is completed. And then on the holy Yom HaKippurim, one merits to draw more inward sounds from a very lofty and awesome place (as is explained in the kavanos). That is, for then one receives the sounds of the giving of the Torah from a place most lofty and exalted. For then the Torah is completed more and more, in the ultimate completeness — until one merits then to draw the Luchos HaEven down below. For on Yom HaKippurim the Luchos HaEven were given. For then is the essential completeness of the inclusiveness in the aspect of the Even Sh’siyah, Kodesh Kodashim. And therefore then the Kohen Gadol enters lifnai v’lifnim [to the innermost place], to the place of the Even Sh’siyah, Kodesh Kodashim — to atone for Israel. For then they are incorporated there in completeness, as above. And this is the aspect of: “Three books are opened on Rosh HaShanah. Tzadikim are inscribed and sealed immediately for life; r’sha’im immediately for death; bainonim are suspended and stand until Yom Kippur.” And the commentators have already wondered about this statement, and most of them explain that the essential intention is regarding eternal life. But according to our approach, it will be explained well, with Hashem’s help. For all those who merit emunas chachamim and travel to the true tzadikim for Rosh HaShanah — all are called by the name “tzadikim,” on account of the Tzaddik to whom they are close. For one who is attached to the pure is pure. And therefore they are sealed immediately for life. For the true Tzaddik incorporates them immediately on Rosh HaShanah in the saichel hakolail, in the aspect of Kodesh Kodashim, as is explained in the Torah teaching mentioned above. For the true Tzaddik has more power than the Kohen Gadol who enters lifnai v’lifnim, as our Sages of blessed memory said: “It is more precious than pearls” (Mishlai 3:15) — that the true sage is more precious than the Kohen Gadol who enters lifnai v’lifnim. And through this they are sealed immediately for life. For from there all types of dinim in the world are sweetened, as above. For they merit true life in certainty, whose essential nature is when one merits to derive upright practices and true judgments from everything one learns. For he is saved from the putrid fumes that distort the mind, etc. — since he merited emunas chachamim and is close to the tzadikim, as above. For the essential death is drawn from the sin of Adam HaRishon who blemished emunas chachamim, as above — through the blemish of the eating, from which time putrid fumes were drawn that distort the heart, from which is the death, the aspect of: “For on the day you eat of it, you shall surely die” (Beraishis 2:17). The meaning of which is: even though he did not die for many hundreds of years, nevertheless, since immediately upon eating from the Aitz HaDa’as the eating was blemished, the death began from that day — for he was bound to die through the corruption of the eating, as above. Only the true tzadikim and those who attach themselves to them rectify this blemish in their lifetimes, and merit to derive upright practices and judgments from every place where they learn — which is their life, the aspect of: “For it is your life” (Devarim 30:20). Only in the end they are compelled to die because of the counsel of the serpent, or because not everyone fully rectifies this great blemish. But at the very least they live true life in this world and in the World to Come — since the putrid fumes have no power to distort their hearts, and this is the essential aspect of the death, as above. And therefore, conversely, complete r’sha’im — who are those who completely dispute the true Tzaddik, who are the essential r’sha’im since they are the opposite of the true Tzaddik, for the opposite of a tzaddik is a rasha — and therefore they are certainly sealed immediately for death. For when they dispute the Tzaddik and do not have emunas chachamim, they are in the aspect of death always, for they have no life at all — since the putrid fumes distort their hearts, from which is the death, as above. Bainonim are those who are not close to the true tzadikim, but do not dispute them either. They are suspended and standing until Yom Kippur, when the Kohen Gadol enters lifnai v’lifnim, to the Even Sh’siyah, Kodesh Kodashim, the saichel hakolail. And then, if they merit to return, the din is sweetened from upon them through the Kohen Gadol, from the aspect of the saichel hakolail, etc., as above. For the essential sweetening and the life are from there, from the aspect of the saichel hakolail — for: “There Hashem commanded the blessing, life” (Tehillim 133:3). Only those who are close to the Tzaddik, who are called tzadikim, are incorporated there immediately on Rosh HaShanah. And the bainonim are suspended until Yom Kippur, when the Kohen Gadol enters there, as above.