גזילה ג

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Based on the Torah teaching “Va’eschanan” (in Likutay Tinyana, siman 78) — see there, regarding the matter of the otzar matnas chinam [the treasury of the free gift] that the true Tzaddik receives from it at the time of his simplicity [p’shitus]. Which is the aspect of chesed chinam [free kindness] that was sustaining the world before the giving of the Torah. Which is the aspect of the hidden Torah concealed within the Ten Utterances [Asarah Ma’amaros]. And this is the aspect of the derech l’Eretz Yisroel [the path to the Land of Israel] — through revealing that Hashem, blessed be He, created the world with the Ten Utterances. Through which one conquers Eretz Yisroel, in the aspect of what Rashi explained on the verse “Beraishis” — that the Torah began with “Beraishis” for this reason: that if the nations of the world say “You are robbers [listim atem],” etc., we answer them: “He created it, and by His will He gave it to them, and by His will He took it from them and gave it to us.” And likewise now, Israel sometimes comes to places that were distant from holiness, and they want to conquer the place and sanctify it with the holiness of Israel, which is the aspect of Eretz Yisroel. And the Sitra Achara would be able to say “You are robbers,” etc. But through believing and revealing that Hashem, blessed be He, created the world, they no longer have any opening of the mouth. For everything is ours — for the world was created for our sake — and by His will He gave it to them, and by His will He took it and gave it to us, etc. See there, all of this, well. For the essential guarding is from the aspect of the mazikay alma [damaging forces of the world], from which are drawn all the thefts, all the losses, all the unavoidable circumstances, and all types of damages in the world. And the essential guarding is through the Torah, as it is written: “Counsel will guard you” [m’zimah tishmor alecha] (Mishlai 2:11). And it is written: “When you lie down, it will guard you” [b’shochb’cha tishmor alecha] (Mishlai 6:22). For the essential power of the damaging forces of the world to cause harm and loss, G–d forbid, is only through the matter explained above in the Torah teaching mentioned above — that is, through what they say “You are robbers” [listim atem]. For the k’lipos, which are the damaging forces of the world, say that, G–d forbid, everything belongs to them. For this is a principle: the shell [k’lipah] precedes the fruit. And therefore all the bestowals of abundance in the world all pass first through the k’lipos — because of necessity the shell must precede the fruit. (And as is explained in the Torah teaching “Tik’u Emunah,” in Likutay Tinyana siman 5 — that when the abundance comes to the world, it passes through the spirits [shaidim], etc. — see there.) And therefore all things need birur [clarification/refinement] — to refine them from their grasp. And when the thing comes to the hand of a person, as long as he does not properly refine it according to the Torah, they say “You are robbers, who conquered something that does not belong to you” — because initially the thing was in their domain, as above. And then they are able to incite and damage that thing, G–d forbid, through some theft or loss or unavoidable circumstance, or the like. And therefore the essential guarding from them is through the holy Torah. For the Torah is entirely emunah, as it is written: “All Your commandments are emunah” (Tehillim 119:86). That is, through the Torah one reveals the holy emunah that Hashem, blessed be He, created everything and everything is in His domain alone, as it is written: “In the beginning, G–d created the heavens and the earth” (Beraishis 1:1). And since we reveal that He, blessed be He, created everything, the k’lipos no longer have any opening of the mouth to say “You are robbers” and to damage through this, G–d forbid. For we answer them: He created it; by His will He gave it to them, and by His will He took it from them and gave it to us. For in truth, what the thing was initially in their domain was all according to His will, blessed be He. For it is the rectification of the world that the shell should precede the fruit, in order that there should be free choice, etc. But in any case, everything was according to His will, and by His will He gave it to them, and by His will He took it from them and gave it to us. For what was initially with them — everything was for our sake, so that afterward we should take it from their hands to ourselves. For such is the order of Creation — that everything was created for our sake. It is only that it is His will, blessed be He, that initially all things should be in their domain, and afterward He should take from them and give to us. And since through the Torah they no longer have any opening of the mouth to say “You are robbers,” they no longer have any power to damage or harm — since they no longer have any grasp on this thing. For we have already merited to reveal through the Torah that everything belongs to Hashem, blessed be He, and He in His mercy gave it to us. For what was initially in their domain, that was only as long as the holiness of the holy emunah that He, blessed be He, created this thing was not yet revealed in this thing. But as soon as we reveal the true emunah that Hashem, blessed be He, created this thing, they no longer have any power or grasp in this, and they can no longer cause harm. For they can only cause harm in what they have some grasp — which is drawn to them from the blemish of the Torah, G–d forbid, when one blemishes some letter of the Torah. And the essential blemish is the blemish of emunah, as above. But as soon as one reveals the holy emunah that Hashem, blessed be He, created everything, they no longer have any grasp on this thing — for they can no longer say “You are robbers,” etc. For we have already publicized through the Torah that Hashem, blessed be He, created everything, and by His will He gave, etc., and by His will, etc., as above. And therefore in truth, one who engages in the Torah always does not need any guarding, for the Torah guards him, as above. And as our Sages of blessed memory said: “Torah scholars do not need guarding” [talmidai chachamim ainam tz’richim n’tiros]. However, it is impossible for a person to be attached to the Torah always, day and night, without cessation even for a moment — even those who are very diligent in the Torah, as is explained in the Torah teaching mentioned above. All the more so, there are people who learn little and are idle much. All the more so, simple people who do not learn at all — and if so, from where will they receive guarding? But their essential life-force and their guarding, in body and soul and money, is only through the great Tzaddik, who is sometimes a simple man, etc., as is explained in the Torah teaching mentioned above. For he sustains himself during his time of simplicity through the derech l’Eretz Yisroel, which is the aspect of the sustaining of the world before the giving of the Torah — which is the aspect of the hidden Torah concealed in the Ten Utterances, which are the aspect of derech eretz, etc. That is, he knows that every thing was created with the Ten Utterances, in which are concealed the Ten Commandments that are the totality of the Torah, etc. And with this he sustains himself during his time of simplicity. And this is the aspect of the derech l’Eretz Yisroel, the aspect of what the Torah began with “Beraishis,” etc., the aspect of “by His will He gave,” etc., as is explained there in the Torah teaching mentioned above. It emerges that the great Tzaddik reveals, even during his time of simplicity, the aspect mentioned above — the aspect of “by His will He gave,” etc. On the contrary — specifically during his time of simplicity he gives more life-force to all the people of the world. For they have no connection or relevance to him except through his simplicity, when he lowers himself to them and draws to them life-force from the aspect mentioned above, which is the aspect of the otzar matnas chinam, etc., as is explained there. And therefore this Tzaddik guards the entire world always from all the damaging forces of the world — through revealing that everything is ours, for He, blessed be He, created it, and by His will, etc. And therefore the Tzaddik is called a “shepherd and a guardian” [ro’eh v’shomer], for he guards Israel always through the aspect mentioned above, as above. And also as is explained in the Torah teaching “V’es Ha’orvim Tzivisi” (siman 4 in Likutay Tinyana) — that all the trade and the labors are the aspect of is’ar’rusa dil’sasa [arousal from below], through which one arouses the power of the Ma’aseh Beraishis [the act of Creation], the aspect of: “The world is built with chesed” [olam chesed yibaneh] (Tehillim 89:3) — etc., see there. And therefore the essential rectification of trade and labors is through abundant tzedakah and acts of kindness [g’milus chasadim]. For since one engages in trade and labors, he has no life-force except from the chesed chinam that was sustaining the world before the giving of the Torah, as above in the Torah teaching mentioned above. Therefore he must increase in tzedakah and chesed, in order that he should have the power to arouse the chesed chinam — through which is his essential life-force. For the essential life-force is from the Torah, and since he is idle from words of Torah and engages in trade, he has no life-force except through tzedakah — which is the aspect of chesed — through which he draws upon himself life-force from the chesed chinam that was sustaining the world before the giving of the Torah, as above. And even one who engages in Torah abundantly must also give tzedakah — since it is impossible for him to be engaged in the Torah always, as above, and of necessity he must be idle sometimes, and then all his life-force is from the chesed chinam. Therefore he must increase in tzedakah and chesed, as above. All the more so one who is idle much from the Torah. All the more so one who does not engage in Torah at all — he has no life-force except through the tzedakah and acts of kindness that he does, as above. And the essential tzedakah must be given to tzadikim and upright people who are closer to the great Tzaddik, who sustains the entire world during his time of simplicity through the otzar matnas chinam that only he can receive from it and sustain the entire world through it. For the more one draws close to him through tzedakah and chesed that one gives to him and to all those who are attached to him, through this one can draw more sustenance from the chesed chinam that he draws — through which is all one’s life-force and one’s endurance in this world and in the World to Come, as above. And this is the aspect of the four guardians, whose laws differ. For the shomer chinam [unpaid guardian] is exempt from everything; and the sho’ail [borrower] is liable for everything, even for unavoidable circumstances; and the shomer sachar [paid guardian] is liable for theft and loss and is exempt from unavoidable circumstances. For the shomer chinam is exempt from everything. For since he is a guardian for free and does chesed chinam with the owner of the object and guards for him for free — therefore the responsibility for the thing is not upon him, and the damage is not attributed to him. For from his side there is no damage, since he did chesed chinam — from which is the essential guarding, which is drawn through the true Tzaddik, who guards and sustains everything through the chesed chinam, etc., as above. And therefore conversely, the sho’ail is liable for everything, and the entire responsibility of the object is upon the borrower. For we do not attribute the damage to the lender [mash’il]. Since the lender did chesed chinam with the borrower and lent him his object — it emerges that the lender is now holding, in this object, the aspect of chesed chinam, from which is all the guarding, as above. And therefore certainly the damage did not come from the side of the lender, since he is in the aspect of chesed chinam, as above. Therefore the entire responsibility is upon the borrower — for all the benefit is his, and he did not do any chesed with this object. And therefore the shomer sachar is liable for theft and loss and is exempt from unavoidable circumstances. For it is already explained that the essential guarding is from the Torah, through which they cannot say “You are robbers,” etc. But it is impossible to engage in the Torah always, and one must be idle sometimes. But during the time of idleness from the Torah, one receives life-force from the hidden Torah, etc., from the aspect of the chesed chinam. And this is the aspect of guarding from the two types of damages mentioned above — theft and loss, and unavoidable circumstances. For one who blemishes the Torah entirely, G–d forbid — from there are drawn the aspect of unavoidable circumstances, for the damaging forces of the world overpower and rob from him the thing by force. For they say the opposite — that he is the robber and the bandit, the aspect of “You are robbers.” For since he does not engage in the Torah and does not draw emunah into the world, they have the power, G–d forbid, to say “You are robbers,” as above. And through this they overpower and take from him the thing by force, G–d forbid. But when one engages in the Torah, he is guarded from them. For they no longer have the power to say “You are robbers,” etc., as above. But because it is impossible to engage in the Torah always, and of necessity one must be idle sometimes — and then one must sustain oneself with the hidden Torah, etc., with the chesed chinam, as above. And one who blemishes this, G–d forbid — who forgets and distracts his mind from the Torah and from Hashem, blessed be He, during his business dealings, and he is then completely distant from the Torah — from this come, G–d forbid, thefts and losses, which come through distraction [hesach hada’as]. For the thief comes only at the time of sleep, or when no one sees or knows about him — the aspect of distraction. And likewise a loss comes through distraction. And this is drawn from having blemished and distracted his mind from the Torah entirely during his business dealings. From this comes his punishment of theft and loss, which is also through the departure of the da’as, as above. But one who is connected to the true Tzaddik — even during the time when he is idle from the Torah and engages in trade, he is connected to the Torah. For he sustains himself with the hidden Torah, as above. Then he is saved even from theft and loss, which come through distraction of the mind — since he does not distract his mind from the Torah at any time. For even during the time of idleness he receives life-force from the hidden Torah, etc., as above. [continued:] And therefore the shomer sachar is liable for theft and loss and exempt from unavoidable circumstances. For the shomer sachar does not do chesed chinam with the owner of the house, and also the owner of the house does not do chesed chinam with him. Rather, his guarding is in the manner of law and judgment — for he guards the object for the sake of his wages. And this is the aspect of the guarding of the Torah, whose guarding is for the sake of the reward of the World to Come, as it is written: “And you shall observe,” etc. — “which I command you today to do them, and tomorrow to receive their reward” (Devarim 7:11). And therefore he is exempt from unavoidable circumstances if he guarded properly. For since he guarded properly according to the Torah, the unavoidable circumstances no longer have the power to come from his side. For the Torah guards from unavoidable circumstances — for they do not have the power to say “You are robbers,” etc., as above. But for theft and loss he is liable. For since he took upon himself the guarding in the aspect of the guarding of the Torah, and he did not do chesed chinam with the owner of the house — therefore he is liable for theft and loss, which come from the aspect of the idleness from Torah, when one does not merit to connect oneself then to the chesed chinam, the aspect of the hidden Torah, etc., as above. For this damage we attribute to the shomer sachar, since his guarding is in the aspect of the guarding of the Torah, and it is known that it is impossible in any way not to be idle from the Torah for even a moment. Therefore one must of necessity sustain oneself with the chesed chinam, as above. And therefore this shomer sachar, who did not do chesed chinam and took upon himself guarding in the aspect of the Torah — therefore we attribute to him the damage of theft and loss. For it is impossible for a person to take upon himself the guarding of the Torah without cessation even for a moment except through the chesed chinam, through which he sustains himself during the time of idleness. And one who blemishes this — from there come thefts and losses. Therefore we attribute the damage of theft and loss to the shomer sachar, who did not do chesed chinam and took upon himself guarding in the aspect of the guarding of the Torah, as above.

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