גזילה ד

By day may the LORD vouchsafe His faithful care, so that at night a song to Him may be with me, a prayer to the G-d of my life.

For it is stated in the words of Rabbainu of blessed memory — in the book Likutay Moharan, Part II, §26, and in the book Aleph-Beis HaChadash under the letter Shin — that through drunkenness the da'as [knowledge-consciousness] is stripped from the garment of Chassadim [Kindnesses], and it is clothed instead in harsh Gevuros [Severities], heaven forfend. It is also stated there that Moshe Rabbainu is clothed in every single limb of every single individual of Israel, and reminds each limb of the commandments that depend upon it. And through drunkenness one forgets the warnings of Moshe Rabbainu mentioned above.

The clothing of Moshe in the limbs is the aspect of the clothing of da'as in Chassadim. See there carefully. And this is the aspect of the prohibition of striking — to strike a Jew. For the two hundred and forty-eight limbs of every single individual of Israel are the aspect of the two hundred and forty-eight commandments of the Torah, and Moshe Rabbainu — who is the da'as — is clothed in every single limb, as mentioned above. And when one strikes his fellow in any limb, through the striking the blood is aroused and overpowered in that limb — for this is the nature of striking. Moreover, the essential act of striking is that it makes a wound (chavurah) in him, and the wound is caused by the blood that is aroused and moves from place to place. It follows that striking is the overpowering of the blood — especially when he injures him and removes a limb from him entirely. And through this he causes the blemish mentioned above — that he strips the da'as, which is the aspect of Moshe who is clothed in each limb, from the garment of Chassadim, and clothes it in Gevuros — meaning the overpowering of the blood that becomes overpowered and aroused through the striking and the wounding. For the essential blemish of drunkenness mentioned above is also primarily through the overpowering of the blood that becomes overpowered through drunkenness — as is perceptible to the senses, that through drunkenness the blood becomes overpowered. And as they said (Sanhedrin 70): "Do not look upon wine when it reddens — for its end is blood." And through this, that the blood becomes overpowered through drunkenness, through that very thing the da'as is stripped from the Chassadim and is clothed in harsh Gevuros, heaven forfend — meaning the overpowering of the blood, which are the aspect of Gevuros. And this is the aspect of the blemish of striking and wounding — that the blood becomes overpowered, etc., as mentioned above — especially when he removes a limb from him entirely. And then the da'as — the aspect of Moshe — departs from that limb, and it becomes clothed, heaven forfend, in Gevuros — which is the overpowering of the blood that becomes overpowered through the striking and wounding, as mentioned above. And therefore Moshe Rabbainu warns regarding this. And this is what is written: "And he said to the wicked one: why do you strike your fellow?" — for it is Moshe specifically who warns regarding this, regarding striking. That is: at every moment that someone wants to strike a fellow Jew, then Moshe — who is clothed in every single limb of every Jew — cries out and warns regarding this, in the aspect of "and he said to the wicked one: why do you strike your fellow?" — for Moshe warns regarding this always, because he is clothed in every single limb of Israel. And when someone strikes his fellow in any limb, the blemish reaches the da'as — the aspect of Moshe who is clothed in that limb — for through the striking, and all the more so when he removes the limb entirely, then the da'as — the aspect of Moshe — departs from there, and it becomes clothed, heaven forfend, in Gevuros, which are the overpowering of the blood that is overpowered through the striking, as mentioned above. For this is the essential purpose of the Exodus from Egypt and the Receiving of the Torah — to absorb the blood into the limbs, so that the da'as — the aspect of Moshe — should be clothed in Chassadim. As is brought in the holy writings, that the essential purpose of the Exodus from Egypt was in the aspect of birth — to purify the blood — the aspect of the five types of blood, etc. See there. That is: that the blood should be sweetened — the Gevuros transformed into Chassadim — which is the aspect of the blood being absorbed into the limbs, which are the aspect of Chassadim, the aspect of the two hundred and forty-eight positive commandments, etc., as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of what our Sages of blessed memory said regarding one who injures his fellow — that he pays damages (nezek), etc. — and they said that he is assessed as a slave. This alludes to the above — for the essential [purpose of] Receiving the Torah depended specifically on the Exodus from Egypt, as it is written regarding several commandments: the Exodus from Egypt — and as it is written at the beginning of the Ten Commandments, which are the summary of the Torah: "I am Hashem your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves." For the essential [purpose of] Receiving the Torah is to subdue the aspect of slavery — which is the aspect of the contamination of the serpent — the aspect of Cham, Canaan, servant of servants — as is brought [in our sources]. And therefore it was impossible to receive the Torah except after the Exodus from Egypt, from the house of slaves. And then we merited to receive the Torah which is the aspect of freedom (cheirus) — as it is written: "engraved upon the tablets" — and our Sages of blessed memory said: do not read charut [engraved] but rather cheirus [freedom] — for there is no free person except one who engages in Torah, etc. — for through receiving the Torah the contamination of the serpent ceased, and then they went out entirely from the aspect of the slavery of Egypt and received the Torah which comprises the two hundred and forty-eight commandments, etc., corresponding to the two hundred and forty-eight limbs. And every single limb — through the commandment specific to that limb — through this it goes out from slavery to freedom — meaning the contamination is cut off from it, which is the aspect of slavery, and it merits freedom which is the aspect of Torah, as mentioned above. And therefore Israel did not go out of Egypt until they were six hundred thousand souls — corresponding to the six hundred thousand letters of the Torah. For the Torah is the aspect of the komah [full stature] of a person, in the aspect of "this is the Torah: a person" (Bamidbar 19:14). And as it states in the Tikkun: "In the Torah there is a head and eyes and limbs and a body, etc. — so it is in Israel, etc." And as long as Israel had not been completed to six hundred thousand, the aspect of the holy komah of a person — which is the aspect of Torah — had not been completed. And therefore they were not yet able to go out from slavery to freedom — for it is impossible to go out from slavery to freedom, meaning to subdue the contamination of the serpent, except when the aspect of komah of a person is complete, which is the aspect of Torah — through which specifically one goes out from slavery to freedom, as mentioned above. For in Egypt the blood had not yet been purified — until they went out — as is brought [in our sources]. And this is the essential aspect of the slavery — through the overpowering of the blood — which is the essential exile and slavery, in the aspect of what is stated in the Tikkun regarding the soul: "and when it was exiled to the liver, of it was said: 'the work shall be made heavy'" etc. — and the liver is full of blood. For the essential slavery — the aspect of "let the work be made heavy" — which is the aspect of the contamination of the serpent — is the aspect of the overpowering of the blood that comes from the liver which is full of blood, as mentioned above. For the contamination of the serpent is the aspect of impure blood — the aspect of menstrual blood — which Chavah brought upon herself through eating from the Tree of Knowledge, as our Sages of blessed memory said. And through Torah — which is the two hundred and forty-eight commandments corresponding to the limbs of a person — through this the blood is absorbed into the limbs, and then the da'as — the aspect of Moshe — becomes clothed in Chassadim, which are the aspect of limbs. And through this was the essential redemption — and then they are redeemed and go out from slavery to freedom, as mentioned above. And therefore when one injures his fellow and removes a limb from him, through this he strips the da'as from that limb, and the blood becomes overpowered, heaven forfend, through the wounding — which are the aspect of Gevuros — and then, when he removes a limb from him and the da'as — the aspect of Moshe — departs from there, heaven forfend, then the aspect of the slavery of Egypt reasserts itself, heaven forfend, since a limb is missing from him — which is as though a commandment is missing from him. For in every limb Moshe is clothed and warns regarding the commandment belonging to that limb, and when the limb is missing, the da'as departs from there — and it is as though a commandment is missing from him. And then the komah of a person is not complete in him — in the aspect of Torah which comprises the two hundred and forty-eight limbs, as mentioned above. And when his limbs are not in the aspect of the complete komah of a person in the aspect of Torah, as mentioned above, then the aspect of slavery reasserts itself, heaven forfend — for slavery is subdued only through the two hundred and forty-eight commandments of Torah which are the aspect of a person, as mentioned above. And therefore he is assessed as a slave — as a slave specifically, as mentioned above. And this is: "any who has a blemish shall not approach" — for when a limb is missing from him, a commandment is missing from him — meaning the illumination of da'as mentioned above, the aspect of Moshe who is clothed in every limb — and therefore he lacks the wholeness of the komah of a person to draw close to Hashem and serve Him in a perfect service. For the essential service of the sacrifices (korbanos) is to subdue the animal spirit — which is the aspect of the contamination of the serpent — the aspect of slavery. For a slave resembles an animal, as our Sages of blessed memory said — for in many places Scripture equates them: "your slave and your maidservant and all your animals." And as it is written: "with the donkey" — meaning a people that resemble a donkey. And through the sacrifices one elevates from animal to human — which is the essential purpose of the sacrifice, as is brought elsewhere. And the essential service was through the Kohanim — who are the aspect of da'as, in the aspect of (Malachi 2:7): "for the lips of the Kohen shall guard knowledge and Torah," etc. And the essential holiness of the Kohanim comes through Moshe — who is the first Kohen who served during the seven days of inauguration — as it is written (Tehillim 99): "Moshe and Aharon among his Kohanim." And it was he who anointed Aharon the first Kohen and his sons with the holiness of priesthood to perform the service. For Moshe is the da'as, through whom is the essential service to elevate from animal to human — which is the aspect of da'as. For Moshe erected the Mishkan and knew how to lift each beam into its beam, for the Mishkan is the aspect of the komah of a person, as is understood from the words of Rabbainu of blessed memory elsewhere. And therefore "any who has a blemish" — and then the [aspect of Moshe] is not clothed in that limb — it is forbidden for him to perform the priestly service. For he is not able to elevate from animal, from the aspect of slavery, to the aspect of a person. And therefore the acts of the sacrifices are called by the name avodah [service/work] — for through them the aspect of slavery is subdued and one merits the aspect of a person, the aspect of da'as, which is the opposite of slavery — which is the aspect of animality, contamination of the serpent, the spirit of foolishness. For this is the essential purpose of the sacrifice — to atone for the sin that comes from the spirit of foolishness, which is animal behaviour — and to ascend to the aspect of da'as, the aspect of a person, as mentioned above. And this is the aspect of the five matters that the one who injures his fellow pays — corresponding to the five types of blood mentioned above. For through the wounding he blemishes the blood, as mentioned above. And therefore he must pay him five types of blood — that is: nezek [damages], tza'ar [pain], etc. — for damim [blood/money] has a double meaning. And through the five payments of blood mentioned above, he returns and rectifies and sweetens the five types of blood mentioned above, and the blood returns and is absorbed into the limbs. And the da'as becomes clothed in Chassadim — that is: in the limbs, which are the aspect of Chassadim. For the blood — which are the Gevuros — is sweetened, etc., as mentioned above. And then the da'as is pure and clear, in the aspect of "from the side of the right — white brain like silver," etc.