גזילה ה

Crushing my bones, my foes revile me, taunting me always with, “Where is your G-d?”

According to the Torah teaching "And Hashem G-d built the tzela [rib/side]" — in Likutay Moharan, Part I, §67 — see the entire Torah there carefully from beginning to end.

The general principle in brief, as it pertains to our subject: The soul is exceedingly precious, and one must guard it greatly. Therefore one must be very careful to receive honor in great holiness, for His Name blessed be He — for honor is the aspect of Em kol chai [Mother of all life], and it is the root of all souls. When the soul departs, it departs into the honor, which is its root, in the aspect of "Your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of Hashem shall gather you in" — for the departure and gathering of souls is into the honor, since there is their root, as above.

Ma teeshtoachachee nafshee ooma tehemee ulluy hoacheelee lailoaheem key oad oadenoo yishoo-oas punniy vailoahuy.

And therefore when new honor comes to a person, one must take care and be vigilant — for perhaps the honor has come, heaven forfend, on account of departure, so that the soul should depart to the honor which is its root, as above. However, the attribute of good is greater [than the attribute of punishment], and therefore in most cases the honor comes for good — that is, when a new soul comes to a person, it comes clothed within the honor, which is the Em kol chai, as above. One must see to it that there be a "face toward the honor," and this is attained through breaking the desire for eating, etc. — see there.

Why so downcast, my soul, why disquieted within me? Have hope in G-d; I will yet praise Him, my ever-present help, my G-d.

But when one blemishes, heaven forfend, through the desire for eating, then the honor is blemished and has no "face," etc. And then all the honor is seized by the impudent ones of the generation, etc. And when kingship and honor fall to the impudent ones, heaven forfend, then the kingship is in the aspect of tzedek [harsh judgment], etc., and then it is in the aspect of "her feet descend to death," etc.

Psalm 59 · פרק נט

One must raise the honor and kingship from them — that is, from the impudent ones who are the idolaters and the wicked, etc. — and this is accomplished through charity, in the aspect of "charity saves from death," etc., for charity is the aspect of the five Chassadim [Kindnesses], etc. And therefore through charity one raises and rectifies the kingship and honor, and transforms tzedek [judgment] into tzedakah [charity/righteousness]. Corresponding to this, the word tzedakah is mentioned five times in the Torah, etc. And then the honor returns to those of understanding mind, etc.

1 לַמְנַצֵּחַ אַל-תַּשְׁחֵת לְדָוִד מִכְתָּם בִּשְׁלֹחַ שָׁאוּל וַיִּשְׁמְרוּ אֶת-הַבַּיִת לַהֲמִיתוֹ And then, when new honor comes to a person and within it is clothed a holy soul as above, one must see to give birth to the soul with ease, without the difficulty of birth pangs, etc. And afterward, when the soul is born, one must raise the soul. These two aspects — birth and raising — are accomplished through awe and love, which are the aspect of the two hands: the "mighty hand" and the "great hand." For the birth is accomplished through the aspect of the mighty hand, which is the aspect of awe, as it is written: "trembling seized them there, pangs like a woman in labor." And after the soul is born, one raises it through love, which is the aspect of the great hand, etc.

Lamnatzai-ach al tashchais liduveed meechtum beeshloa-ach Shu-ool vayeeshmiroo es habayees lahameesoa.

And sometimes the soul experiences fatigue, etc., and one must revive it through the aspect of "cold water upon a weary soul," etc. And cold water is made through giving honor to an elder who has forgotten his learning — as our Sages of blessed memory said: "Be careful with an elder who has forgotten his learning, to honor him," etc. — see all of this there carefully.

For the leader; al tashḥeth. Of David. A michtam; when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to put him to death.

Fortunate are the ears that hear such things; fortunate are the eyes that see such things.

And this is the aspect of the great prohibition of striking and injuring one man against his fellow — for one who injures his fellow blemishes the honor of his fellow and the soul of his fellow, which are in truth one, for the soul's root is in honor, as above. This wicked one who injures his fellow is as if he takes his soul — for he literally takes the soul from that very limb in which he wounds him, as our Sages of blessed memory said regarding the matter of sheves [loss of work]: "One who wounds there — on what account is he liable? On account of the taking of the soul [neshamah] within that limb." It follows that one who injures and strikes his fellow literally takes the soul of his fellow.

2 הַצִּילֵנִי מֵאֹיְבַי א-להי מִמִּתְקוֹמְמַי תְּשַׂגְּבֵנִי The primary blemish is what he blemishes most severely in the honor of his fellow — that he greatly shames him through the striking — for the shame is the primary blemish and the greatest transgression. As our Sages of blessed memory said (Bava Metzia 59): "One who whitens the face of his fellow in public has no share in the World to Come." And this is even if he shamed him with words alone — how much more so when he shames him through actual physical striking. It follows that he blemishes the honor of his fellow Israelite and also literally takes his soul with his own hands through the striking and wounding, which is the aspect of the departure of the soul from that limb, as above.

Hatzeylainee mai-oyiviy Eloahuy meemeeskoamimiy tisagvainee.

These two blemishes are related to one another, for one depends upon the other, for the soul's root is in honor, as above. And when one blemishes the honor of his fellow even by shaming him with words alone, it is also considered as if he takes his soul — for the soul's root is in honor, as above, and when one blemishes and robs the honor of his fellow, it is as if he takes the soul that is clothed within the honor. And therefore one who whitens the face of his fellow is considered as if he literally sheds blood, as our Sages of blessed memory said (Bava Metzia 58b) — for the blood is the soul, for the blemish of honor is the blemish of the soul whose root and vitality is in the honor, as above. How much more so when one blemishes the honor of an Israelite through actual striking — it follows that he robs the honor and soul of his fellow that is clothed in the honor, literally with his own hands. And therefore his transgression is too great to bear, as our Sages of blessed memory said, that even by raising the hand one is called wicked.

And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: "One who whitens the face of his fellow in public has no share in the World to Come" — for the primary aspect of the World to Come is the aspect of honor, in the aspect of "your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," which is said regarding the souls of the righteous after their departure — that the righteous who merit it depart at the time of their death into the honor which is the garment and root of the soul, and through this they merit in the World to Come what they merit, for it is impossible to come to the life of the World to Come except through the soul's being included within the aspect of the glory of Hashem, to which the souls of the righteous are gathered in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as above.

Save me from my enemies, O my G-d; secure me against my assailants.

(For even though in the Torah above it is stated that it is not good when the soul departs through honor — the intent is that one must guard oneself when honor comes, lest the soul depart before its time, heaven forfend. But when the time of a person's visitation comes to die, it is certainly a great good and merit for the person when he merits that his soul depart into the honor, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," which is said of the departure of the souls of the righteous — fortunate are they.)

3 הַצִּילֵנִי מִפֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן וּמֵאַנְשֵׁי דָמִים הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי And therefore one who whitens the face of his fellow, etc., who blemishes the honor of his fellow Israelite — and when one blemishes the honor of Israel one blemishes the honor of Hashem blessed be He, for the Holy One blessed be He and Israel and Torah are all one, for Israel is His honor blessed be He, as cited elsewhere. And as it is written: "Upon Israel is His grandeur" — His greatness and grandeur and honor blessed be He is upon Israel. And therefore this one who whitens the face of his fellow, who has blemished the honor, is therefore punished measure for measure — if he does not appease his fellow, so too in the future he will not merit that his soul enter and be included within the honor, and thereby he has no share in the World to Come — for it is impossible to merit the World to Come except through the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as is known. For this is the secret of the chaluka d'Rabbanan [garment of the Sages], which is the aspect of the honor within which the soul is clothed to behold the pleasantness of Hashem, etc.

Hatzeylainee meepoa-alay uven oomai-anshay dumeem hoasheyainee. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: "One who glorifies himself through the disgrace of his fellow has no share in the World to Come" — for this one who glorifies himself through the disgrace of his fellow, who wishes to take honor for himself through the disgrace of his fellow, thereby this and that are taken from him, for the honor flees from him and he does not merit that his soul be included within the supernal honor in which the souls of the righteous are included, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as above. And thereby he has no share in the World to Come, as above.

Save me from evildoers; deliver me from murderers. And this is why the Torah obligated one who injures his fellow in five matters — damages, pain, healing, loss of work, and shame — for this one who struck his fellow and blemished the honor of an Israelite for the sake of his own honor, wishing to take all honor for himself, this is the aspect of the fall of honor to the impudent ones of the generation, who are the idolaters and wicked who rule over the poor people for naught, as mentioned in the Torah above. For most quarrels and disputes — and particularly strikings and injuries — come through the impudent ones of the generation, who are either gentiles, or wicked wealthy men who lord over the poor for naught and degrade them with all manner of degradations. And when the poor man answers back with even a slight word, he strikes him on the cheek and wounds him because the poor man blemished his honor. Woe to his soul, woe to him that arrogance overcame him to such a degree — for not only did Hashem blessed be He grant him good and give him wealth, but he also wishes to dominate over the poor, who are the "broken vessels" that the Holy One blessed be He loves, etc. And it does not suffice him, all the honor that he has in his wealth, but he wishes to degrade all the rest of the common people — the upright ones — and particularly the truly poor, so that all shall be bent beneath him, as though all honor belongs to him alone.

The rule is: certainly anyone who comes to this great transgression of striking his fellow, heaven forfend, it is because of the great arrogance within him, that he wishes to take all honor for himself — for most quarrels and disputes are over honor, when it seems to him that his honor has been impinged upon, and because of this he comes to striking and injuring his fellow. For he is exceedingly impudent, and it is as though all honor is owed to him from Heaven, to the point that it seems to him that his fellow impinged on his honor, and because of this he struck him. It follows that the strikings and injuries come through the aspect of the blemish — the fall of honor to the impudent ones of the generation.

Key heenai urivoo linafshee yugooroo ulliy azeem low feeshee vilow chatusee Adoanuy.

Therefore one must give the five matters above — for to raise the honor from the impudent ones is through charity, which is the aspect of the five [heh], etc., as above. And corresponding to this, the one who injures his fellow must give five matters — five types of monetary payment — corresponding to the heh of charity above, through which one raises and rectifies the honor from the blemish of the fall of honor to the impudent ones, as above.

For see, they lie in wait for me; fierce men plot against me for no offense of mine, for no transgression, O LORD;

And one may suggest an allusion — for the five matters that the one who injures gives correspond to the five aspects mentioned in the Torah above, all of which are aspects of the rectification of the soul and the honor, which is the root of the soul. For it is explained there that the soul's root is in honor — and this is one aspect. And one must rectify the honor, to raise it from the impudent ones — and this is attained through charity — and this is a second aspect. And when the honor returns to holiness, to those of understanding mind, one must see to give birth to the soul and raise it through the two hands mentioned above — the mighty hand and the great hand — and this is a third and fourth aspect: the rectification of the two hands through which one gives birth to the soul and raises the soul. And sometimes the soul experiences fatigue and one must revive it through cold water, which is attained through the honor one gives to the elder who forgot his learning — and this is a fifth aspect. And corresponding to this, the one who injured, who blemished the soul and the honor as above, must give five matters, which correspond to the five of charity, through which one raises the honor from the impudent ones as above. And this is the general level. And also on the particular level, the five matters of the one who injures allude to the five aspects above:

5 בְּלִי-עָוֹן יְרוּצוּן וְיִכּוֹנָנוּ עוּרָה לִקְרָאתִי וּרְאֵה Damages [nezek] is the aspect of the restoration and rectification of the soul — as it is written in the Torah portion of one who injures: "And you shall give soul for soul, eye for eye," etc., and our Sages of blessed memory expounded: money — for the money of damages that he pays is on account of the blemish of the departure of the soul that he took from his fellow through the taking of the limb in which he wounded him. It follows that the money of damages is the aspect of rectification and repayment for the blemish of the taking of the soul, as above.

Bilee uvoan yirootzoon vi-yeekoanunoo ooru leekrussee ooray.for no guilt of mine do they rush to array themselves against me. Look, rouse Yourself on my behalf!

Pain [tza'ar] that the one who injured pays — this is the aspect of charity, for the payment of pain is the aspect of charity. As our Sages of blessed memory said regarding one who injures, that he is liable for the pain even in a place of damages — for even though he gives him the value of his hand, this does not exempt him from the pain, to say that since he has purchased his hand he may cut it however he wishes. Rather, we say he must devise means to cut it with a drug so that he does not suffer so much, etc. It follows that the payment of pain that the Torah commanded is from the aspect of charity — for Hashem blessed be He has compassion upon creatures, and therefore the Torah decreed that even though he has purchased his hand through payment of damages, nonetheless he is obligated to ease his pain, that is, to devise means to cut it through a drug so that he does not suffer. And this is the aspect of charity, for charity too is from the compassion of Hashem blessed be He, who had mercy upon the poor — for even though they are obligated by His just and upright judgment to endure poverty, nonetheless His mercies are great upon them, and He decreed and commanded us to provide for them generously and to have great mercy upon them. And when one gives charity to a poor person, he eases his pain, in the aspect of "fortunate is he who considers the poor" (Tehillim 41) — for one must consider and devise means for the poor and needy who are in great pain and suffering, to procure their livelihood and ease their pain, for poverty is the aspect of pain and suffering, as it is written (ibid. 69): "and I am poor and in pain." And this is the aspect of pain that the Torah obligated to pay to the one who was injured, even in a place of damages — for even though he purchased his hand, nonetheless he is obligated to ease his pain, as above.

Healing [ripuy] and loss of work [sheves] are the aspect of the mighty hand and the great hand, through which one gives birth to the soul and raises the soul — for healing is the aspect of the birth of the soul, for the striking and wounding is the aspect of the departure of the soul, as above. For in the place of the blow, there is the departure of the soul from that place of wounding. And when one heals the wound so that it shall live, this is the aspect of the birth of the soul — one wishes to return and give birth to a new vitality in that place from which the portion of the soul departed. And therefore healing is called by the name chiyus [vitality], as it is written: "and You shall sustain me and revive me." And as it is common in the language of our Sages of blessed memory: the healing of a wound is called "the wound has lived" — for the healing of a wound is the aspect of new vitality, which is the aspect of a new soul, the aspect of a living soul. It follows that healing is in the aspect of the birth of the soul, and therefore all healings come through the aspect of the mighty hand, from which comes the birth of the soul as above, as it is written: "I have struck and I will heal." And our Sages of blessed memory said that with the same hand with which the Holy One blessed be He strikes, He heals — as it is written: "struck and healed," etc. That is, healing comes through the hand with which the Holy One blessed be He strikes, which is the aspect of the mighty hand, from which comes the grasp of all judgments and punishments, heaven forfend, as is known. And therefore all healings come through bitter drugs and suffering, because the healing comes through the aspect of the mighty hand, from which come all the afflictions and blows, heaven forfend. And therefore the healing that comes from there must also come through suffering and bitter drugs, for there is the grasp of the judgments, as is known. And this is the aspect of the birth pangs — that the woman in labor must give birth through severe suffering which are the birth pangs. And this is because the birth draws from the aspect of the mighty hand, through which is the birth of the soul in the aspect of "trembling seized them there, pangs like a woman in labor," as above. And therefore it is necessary that the birth be through suffering — for this draws from the aspect of the mighty hand, as above. And therefore the woman in labor has the same law as one who is ill regarding the desecration of Shabbos and Yom Kippur, as is explained in the legal authorities — for healing is in the aspect of the birth of the soul, as above.

Loss of work [sheves] is the aspect of the raising of the soul — for the sheves is that he must pay him for his being prevented from his work all the days of his illness until he is fully healed. This is the aspect of the raising of the soul — for the soul and vitality that is drawn to the ill wounded person through the healing, which is the aspect of the birth of the soul as above, must tarry until it grows, and then he will return to his former strength as before. And because of this absence he gives him sheves. It follows that the sheves he pays for his being prevented from work until he is fully healed is the aspect of raising the soul. For at the beginning of the sprouting of the healing, this is the aspect of the birth of the soul and vitality in the place of the blow, as above. And afterward all the days of his illness until the completion of the healing, this is the aspect of the raising of the soul — that he cannot rise from his illness and return fully to his former state until the soul has fully grown as it should. And because of this absence he gives him sheves. It follows that sheves is in the aspect of the raising of the soul.

Vi-attu Adoanuy Eloaheem Tzivu-oas Eloahay Yisru-ail hukeetzu leefkoad kul hagoyeem al tuchoan kul boagday uven sellu.

Shame [boshes] that he pays — this is the primary rectification, that he must rectify the honor he blemished. And therefore he must pay him shame for having blemished his honor and shamed him — for this is the primary and greatest blemish. And through this shame that he pays and appeases him, as our Sages of blessed memory said, he rectifies the aspect of the rectification mentioned in the Torah above — which is the aspect of the rectification of the fatigue of the soul through the honor that one gives to the elder who forgot his learning. For every single individual of Israel has some portion in the honor, and likewise has a portion in the holy Torah — for every soul of Israel is the aspect of Torah, whose root is in honor, as is explained in the Torah "Seek out Hashem and His strength" (§37), where it is explained that through the honor one gives to Israel, the shining of one's soul is thereby revealed again, and the Torah within one's soul is revealed — see there. And conversely, when one shames one of Israel and blemishes his honor, thereby the shining of his soul is concealed, heaven forfend, and one can cause him the forgetting and concealment of Torah, heaven forfend.

You, O LORD G-d of hosts, G-d of Israel, bestir Yourself to bring all nations to account; have no mercy on any treacherous villain. Selah.

And therefore this injured one — when he appeases him and returns his honor through giving him the money of shame and appeasing him with words — this honor that he returns to him is the aspect of the honor that one gives to the elder who forgot his learning. For through the wounding, which is the blemish of the honor of the Israelite, he caused the forgetting of Torah from the soul of Israel whose root is in honor, as above. And now through the money of shame he returns the honor to its root, and thereby he returns the honor to the aspect of the elder who forgot his learning — for this is the general principle: every single individual of Israel, even the lowest of the low, his root is in a very elevated place, and he is rooted within the aspect of the holy elder [Zaken dikdushah] according to his portion of soul. And according to the blemish that the one who injured blemished the honor of the soul of the injured Israelite, so did he blemish the aspect of the root of his soul, which is rooted in the holy beard [dikna kadisha], and caused the departure and concealment of Torah there, heaven forfend, which is the aspect of the elder who forgot his learning. And through the money of shame, which is the rectification of the honor, he thereby rectifies this blemish, in the aspect of "be careful with the elder who forgot his learning" — that is, he returns the honor to the soul, and thereby returns the honor and Torah to the aspect of the elder, etc., as above. And through this the fatigue of the soul is rectified, as above. It follows that the five matters are in the aspect of the rectification of the five aspects above.

And this is the aspect of what happened at the beginning of the redemption from Egypt — when Moshe began to take to heart the suffering of Israel, the first event that he saw was the strikings and injuries inflicted upon Israel, as it is written: "And he went out to his brothers, etc., and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man, one of his brothers," etc.

7 יָשׁוּבוּ לָעֶרֶב יֶהֱמוּ כַכָּלֶב וִיסוֹבְבוּ עִיר For the essence of the Egyptian exile — which is the first exile, and likewise all the exiles included within the Egyptian exile, as is explained elsewhere — is the aspect mentioned above: that the honor and kingship fell to the impudent ones of the generation, who are the idolaters and the wicked, etc. And the impudent ones seize for themselves all honor and kingship, from which is drawn the kingship and honor of the nations, who have all the honor and kingship, while Israel are lowly and despised. And not only do Israel have no honor — when in truth all honor and kingship rightfully belongs to Israel, for everything was created for their sake, as is known — but the impudent ones grow stronger still through the blemish of honor mentioned above, and take for themselves all the honor of Israel, until they wish to subjugate the souls of Israel in exile among them. For when they take the honor for themselves, the souls are thereby drawn to them as well — for souls are drawn after the honor which is their root, as above. And this is the aspect of the Egyptian exile and all the exiles — for in exile all honor and kingship is with the nations, and through this they grow stronger until they subjugate even the very souls of Israel in exile, through the great arrogance by which they seized all honor and kingship, and through this they subjugate, heaven forfend, all souls in exile, for their root is in honor, as above.

Yushoovoo lu-erev yehemoo chakullev veesoavivoo eer. And therefore it was a great good for Israel when Yosef descended first to Egypt and merited great honor there and became king — and through this the souls of Israel were drawn to Egypt, as it is written: "Tell my father all my glory in Egypt, etc., and hurry and bring my father down here." For Yosef merited in Egypt to the honor of holiness, having raised the honor and kingship from the filth of Egypt, and it returned to holiness to Yosef. And through the holy honor that he merited there, he drew to that place all the souls of the house of Yaakov — for souls are drawn after the honor which is their root, as above — in the aspect of "tell my father all my glory," etc., that it was specifically through honor that their souls were drawn and descended there. And it was a great good for the souls of Israel — for had it not been so, Israel would have been forced, heaven forfend, to descend to Egypt through the honor and kingship of Egypt itself, which would have drawn the souls of Israel to Egypt against their will. As our Sages of blessed memory said: "Yaakov our father deserved to descend to Egypt in iron chains, etc." But now they merited to descend to Egypt through the holy honor of Yosef, which drew their souls there, as above. And through this they had the strength and endurance to be in Egypt and to come out from there.

They come each evening growling like dogs, roaming the city. For everything was through the power of Yosef the righteous — for even though afterward, when Yosef died and all his brothers, etc., the Egyptians grew stronger and drew all the honor to themselves, until they subjugated the souls of Israel in exile — nonetheless, they already had the strength to endure the bitterness of exile, since the primary coming to Egypt had been through the holy honor of Yosef. For the primary vitality of souls is through holy honor, which is their root, as above.

8 הִנֵּה יַבִּיעוּן בְּפִיהֶם חֲרָבוֹת בְּשִׂפְתוֹתֵיהֶם כִּי-מִי שֹׁמֵעַ And therefore when Moshe Rabbainu began to take his heart to the suffering of Israel — who were subjugated in exile for so many years, and the exile was drawn from the honor and kingship that had fallen to the impudent ones who are the kings of the nations, etc., who take all honor and kingship for themselves, and through this subjugate the souls of Israel in exile, as above — therefore the first event that he saw and took to heart was that they were striking Israel, as it is written: "and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man," etc. For the strikings and injuries are themselves the aspect of the blemish of honor and soul — which is the aspect of exile, as above. And this is: "And he went out on the second day, and behold two Hebrew men were quarreling, and he said to the wicked one: why do you strike your fellow?" etc. And he said: "Indeed the matter is known." And Rashi explained: "Indeed the matter is known, which I had wondered about — what sin did Israel commit among all seventy nations to be oppressed with crushing labor? But I see that they are deserving of this." At first glance this is very puzzling — can it be that because of this sin of quarreling and strikings that he found among Israel, they deserve exile more than all seventy nations? After all, the nations are full of sins and transgressions far greater — they are full of wars and quarrels and murders and injuries and many other evil deeds! It is still difficult: what made Israel different that they should be in exile, etc.?

But in truth, the primary honor and kingship and greatness belong only to Israel — for everything was created for their sake, as it is written: "For My glory I created him," etc., and Israel are called His honor, as Rabbainu of blessed memory wrote elsewhere. And had there been no quarrel among Israel themselves, the nations would have had no power at all to take the honor and kingship for themselves — rather, the primary source of their power is that the honor is blemished among Israel themselves through the quarrel and the strikings and injuries, whereby the impudent ones of the generation grow stronger and take all honor for themselves, and contend with the honor of the true righteous and upright, degrading them with all manner of degradations.

Heenay yabee-oon bifeehem charuvoas biseefsoasaihem key mee shoamai-a. And through this — that the honor is blemished among Israel themselves — the honor falls entirely, until it falls to the nations who grow stronger over Israel, destroy the Holy Temple, and subjugate Israel in exile, due to our many sins. As our Sages of blessed memory said: the destruction of the Second Temple was only on account of baseless hatred. And likewise now, at the end of the exile, when Hashem blessed be He waits each day to bring our righteous Mashiach — the primary delay is through the quarrel among Torah scholars, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "In the generation when Ben David comes there will be dissension among Torah scholars." For this is the primary impediment to the coming of Mashiach. For the Adversary focuses greatly on this — he sees that the time of Mashiach is near, for ultimately he will come and not be delayed. And since he sees that the days of Mashiach are drawing near and coming, he therefore intensifies greatly to delay it. It is like two people fighting one another — when one sees that his fellow is gaining over him and is very close to defeating him and seizing him, he intensifies greatly against his fellow. Similarly, since the Adversary sees that the coming of Mashiach is very near and the redemption is about to arrive, he has therefore given himself full breadth to delay it, heaven forfend. And the primary delay is through the great quarrel that he has now brought into the world exceedingly — and all the world is full of quarrel, and above all the great quarrel among all the righteous and Torah scholars, until no one knows where the truth is. For the primary cause of the prolonging of exile is through the quarrel among Israel themselves — for through the quarrel, Israel themselves blemish, heaven forfend, the honor of their fellow Israelites, and through this the honor is blemished further. For since Israel are deeply grasped and rooted in the holy honor — for the honor is theirs, as above — therefore the honor is blemished through them more severely. That is, when one of Israel blemishes the honor of his fellow, the honor is thereby blemished more severely, since the blemish comes through Israel themselves, who are portions of the supernal honor, etc.

They rave with their mouths, sharp words are on their lips; [they think,] “Who hears?”

For the primary wholeness of the holy honor of Israel is that each individual of Israel nullify himself greatly before his fellow, and nullify his honor before the honor of his fellow — and this is the primary wholeness and rectification of the honor. As our Sages of blessed memory said (Avos, ch. 4): "Who is honored? One who honors the creatures, as it is written: 'For those who honor Me I will honor,'" etc. For the honor of Israel is the honor of the Omnipresent blessed be He. How much more so the Torah scholars and righteous and upright ones of the generation — they are certainly deserving to honor one another even more, since they have a greater portion in the holy honor. For whoever is greater in stature has a greater portion in the holy honor. And therefore when, heaven forfend, there is quarrel among Torah scholars and one blemishes the honor of his fellow, heaven forfend, the honor is blemished very greatly — since the blemish comes through the Torah scholars themselves, who are the primary honor, and through this the honor is blemished further, until the honor falls, heaven forfend, to the nations who subjugate Israel in exile. And this is the aspect of the prolonging of exile, as above.

And this is what Moshe said when he saw two Hebrew men quarreling and one striking his fellow — and also that there were informers among them who contend with the true righteous one and wish to hand him over, as it is written there: "do you intend to kill me?" etc. — therefore he said: "Indeed the matter is known" — certainly. For certainly the matter has become known to me, about which I had wondered — for I see that they are deserving of this, since there is quarrel and informers among them, and they blemish one another's honor, and particularly they blemish the honor of the true righteous one, who is Moshe. And since they themselves blemish the honor, the honor is thereby blemished further until it falls to them, and through this they subjugate Israel in exile, as above. For their primary hold is through the quarrel among Israel themselves, as above. And therefore, even though the nations are full of quarrel and murders far more than Israel — nonetheless their blemish is not so great, since they have no portion in the honor, and therefore the honor is not so greatly blemished through their own quarrel among themselves. The primary blemish is through the quarrel among Israel themselves, etc.

9 וְאַתָּה יי תִּשְׂחַק-לָמוֹ תִּלְעַג לְכָל-גּוֹיִם And the essence of the Egyptian exile — which is through the blemish of honor that fell to the impudent ones, etc., as above — was drawn through the blemish of the desire for eating, as is explained in the Torah above. And this is the aspect of what is found in all the books: that the Egyptian exile was due to the sin of Adam the first man — for the sin of Adam was the aspect of the blemish of the desire for eating, for he ate from the Tree of Knowledge, and through this the honor fell to the impudent ones. From this was drawn every manner of quarrel in the world — for whoever wishes to seize the name and honor seizes it for himself, and whoever is most impudent seizes more honor for himself and becomes a leader and ruler over the downtrodden people for naught. And this is the aspect of "And Kayin rose against Hevel his brother and slew him" — which is the first quarrel and striking and murder in the world, which was drawn through the sin of Adam the first man, as is known. For through the sin of Adam, which is the aspect of the blemish of the desire for eating as above, the honor fell to the impudent ones, as above — until quarrel arose between Kayin and Hevel, for Kayin wished to take all honor for himself. And all this was only through arrogance, and through this "Kayin rose, etc., and slew him" — for all this was through the blemish of honor that fell to the impudent ones through the blemish of the desire for eating, which is the aspect of the sin of Adam the first man, as above.

And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: that he killed him over the extra twin [ta'omah yeseirah] — for a woman is in the aspect of Chavah, Mother of all life, the aspect of honor, as is explained in the Torah above on the verse "and Hashem G-d built the tzela into a woman," etc.: that the woman is the aspect of honor, the aspect of Em kol chai. And therefore it was on account of the woman, who is the aspect of honor, that Kayin killed Hevel — for he wished to take all honor for himself, which is the aspect of the woman, as above.

And therefore through the sin of Adam — which is the aspect of the blemish of the desire for eating — the Egyptian exile was drawn, for through this the honor fell to the impudent ones, from which the exile was drawn, as above.

And this is the aspect of the fast of the twentieth of Sivan, when we fast over the killing of the holy ones — the many thousands and tens of thousands of holy souls of Israel who were killed in the year 5408 [1648] for the sanctification of Hashem. For it is commonly said — and certainly this is the truth — that then in the year 5408 it was a time of divine visitation for the coming of Mashiach, as is alluded in the holy Zohar (Toldos 139) on the verse "with this shall Aharon come," etc., and likewise regarding the matter of bnei Ches, etc. — see there. At first glance the matter is very puzzling: why was the whole thing reversed from one extreme to the other? For not only did we not merit that Mashiach come then — in addition, due to our many sins, it was reversed so that the visitation occurred for bad, and thousands and tens of thousands of souls of Israel were killed. But according to the Torah above, the matter is clearly explained, eye to eye — for the primary honor belongs to Israel, for everything was created for their sake, as above. And the primary honor of Israel will be at the time of the coming of our Mashiach speedily in our days, when the glory of Hashem will then be greatly magnified — as it is written: "and the glory of Hashem shall be revealed." And as it is written: "and His glory shall be seen upon you" — and similarly in many verses, regarding the great extent of the honor that Israel will have then, as it is written: "and kings shall be your nurturers, and their princesses your wet-nurses, they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth," etc.

And then, when the visitation will be truly for good in its completeness, when the time of true redemption arrives speedily in our days, there will be the ingathering of exiles through the great honor that shall come to Israel — for through the great new honor that shall then come to Israel, all the souls of Israel shall be called and drawn toward the honor, and they shall return and gather into the Land of Israel and Jerusalem, where the primary honor of Hashem is. And this is the aspect of "bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth — all who are called by My Name and for My glory," etc. — for the gathering of the souls of Israel, in the aspect of "bring My sons and daughters," will be through the great honor that will be revealed then. For it is the honor that is the root of souls, and to it all souls are drawn and come, as above. And then the honor will come to us with many new souls — and through this Israel will multiply greatly then, as it is written: "the smallest shall become a thousand, and the youngest a mighty nation; I am Hashem, in its time I will hasten it" — for when honor comes for good, many new souls are drawn through it, as is explained in the Torah above.

And therefore in the year 5408, when there was a time of divine visitation for the coming of Mashiach — that is, the honor was prepared to come to Israel — but since Israel were still not worthy then of redemption, the matter was therefore reversed. For the honor seized and gathered to itself many souls of Israel who were killed then for the sanctification of Hashem — which is the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as mentioned in the Torah above. For the souls killed for the sanctification of Hashem, which is for the sake of the honor of His Name, are gathered and included within His honor blessed be He — for through those killed for the honor of His Name, for the sanctification of Hashem, His honored Name blessed be He is thereby further magnified and sanctified and glorified above and below. And therefore, in every era when Hashem blessed be He wished to magnify the holy honor and the time of complete redemption had not yet arrived, it was necessarily so that souls of Israel would die for the sanctification of Hashem. And this is the aspect of "and I will be sanctified through My glory" — said at the erection of the Mishkan. For the primary holy honor — the glory of Hashem — is in the Mishkan and the Holy Temple, as it is written: "and the glory of Hashem filled the Mishkan" and "the glory of Hashem filled the House." And therefore at the time of the erection of the Mishkan — when the honor descended below to cause the divine presence to dwell among Israel — since then the blemish of honor had not yet been fully rectified (for the sin of the golden calf had not yet been completely rectified then — they had severely blemished His honored Name by making an idol and saying "these are your gods," etc., thereby greatly blemishing His honor, for they gave the honor to the idol) — therefore, since then the blemish of honor had not yet been fully rectified, it resulted that at the time when honor came to Israel, at the erection of the Mishkan, two holy souls were then gathered to the honor — Nadav and Avihu, who died at the time of the erection of the Mishkan when the honor descended and came to Israel, for the honor gathered them to it, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as above. And this is the aspect of "I will be sanctified through My glory" — said regarding the departure of the souls of Nadav and Avihu at the time of the erection of the Mishkan — "I will be sanctified through My glory" precisely: for specifically through the honor that descended then, they departed, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as above.

For this is the general principle that emerges from the beginning of the Torah above: that when one does not merit to draw and receive the honor in completeness, then when honor comes to a person it gathers souls to itself and souls depart through it, heaven forfend. And conversely, when one merits to receive and draw the honor in completeness, then the honor brings new souls — for the honor is the root of souls, and therefore either it gathers souls, heaven forfend, or it brings souls, etc. — so it is explained there. And everything depends on whether one merits to rectify the honor or blemish it, heaven forfend, as above.

And therefore when David carried the Ark to its place, Uzza died — this too is the aspect of "I will be sanctified through My glory" above. For the death of Uzza and the death of Nadav and Avihu are one aspect, as is known — for the primary honor is in the Holy Temple, as above, and even more so in the specific place of the Ark, for there the glory of Hashem rests. And therefore when they carried the Ark to its place — which is the primary aspect of the drawing of the glory of Hashem — Uzza therefore departed, for he departed through the honor, as above. And this is the aspect of: before the site of the Holy Temple was revealed in the days of David, there was a plague beforehand, and many thousands of souls of Israel died, heaven preserve us, as is explained there in the verse — for at the time of the plague the site of the Holy Temple was revealed to David, as it is written there: "and David said: this is the house of Hashem the G-d," etc. For the primary honor of Hashem and Israel is in the site of the Holy Temple, where the primary honor of Hashem rests, as it is written: "the glory of Hashem filled the House." For as long as the Holy Temple was not built, the honor of Hashem and Israel was not yet complete, as is understood from the verses — as it is written: "and I have been walking from tent to tent," etc. — until they merited in the days of David and Solomon that the Holy Temple was built, which is the resting place and inheritance, when there was the primary honor of Hashem and Israel. And therefore when David wished to reveal the site of the Holy Temple, which is the primary honor — souls departed at that time, and all through the honor, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as above.

And all this is because the honor had not yet been fully rectified — and as long as the honor is not fully rectified, there is still a hold for judgments and the side of death within the honor, heaven forfend. Therefore, when the great honor comes, they are then strengthened, heaven forfend, and cause souls to depart to the honor — for in truth, as long as the honor has not been rectified in completeness, when one needs to draw the holy honor downward to magnify His honored Name blessed be He, it is impossible to magnify His honor except through the departure of souls of Israel for the sanctification of Hashem. For since the time has not yet come for the honor to completely emerge from the sitra achra in full perfection — the honor therefore gathers souls to it, heaven forfend, when it comes to the world, as above, because it still has within it a hold of "her feet descend," etc. But in truth, through this very fact that holy souls are gathered to the honor, the honor itself is thereby greatly magnified — for the primary magnification of the holy honor is through the multitude of holy souls included within it who departed for the sanctification of Hashem, for the honor of His Name blessed be He. Through this His honored Name blessed be He is further glorified and sanctified and honored above and below, as above.

And this is the aspect of the death of Nadav and Avihu on the day of the erection of the Mishkan — the aspect of "I will be sanctified through My glory," as above. And likewise the death of Uzza when they carried the Ark to its place. And likewise the death of Israel when they found the site of the Holy Temple. For all of this was through the honor that came then, as above. And through the departure of these holy souls, the honor was thereby magnified above and below and drawn to the Holy Temple and the Mishkan, and without this it would not have been possible for the honor to be revealed, since then the honor had not yet been fully rectified, as above. For holy honor was blemished in the beginning through the sin of Adam the first man, as above, and likewise through the sin of the golden calf, etc. And then it was said:

"And on the day of My visitation, I will visit," etc. — that when there will be a visitation for the honor to come below, then, heaven forfend, "I will visit" — causing the visitation of many souls through this, heaven forfend, as above. And this is the aspect of the great killing in the year 5408 — for then there was a divine visitation for the coming of Mashiach, meaning that the honor was prepared to return to Israel. But nonetheless the honor had not yet been fully clarified and completed at that time. Therefore the honor gathered to itself many souls who were killed then for the sanctification of Hashem, as above — which is the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as above.

And in truth, this too is for good — for certainly He will avenge the blood of His servants that was shed, and specifically through this the redemption will come. For ultimately the complete visitation will be for good speedily in our days, for through those holy ones who were killed, the honor is rectified in completeness, and now the honor is prepared to come upon us speedily for good, and bring us many new souls in the aspect of "the smallest shall become a thousand and the youngest a mighty nation; I am Hashem, in its time I will hasten it" — which is the aspect of the ingathering of exiles through the honor, in the aspect of "bring My sons and daughters," etc., "all who are called by My Name and for My glory," etc., as above. Amen and amen. And this is why we fast on the twentieth of Sivan — for the fast is the aspect of the breaking and rectification of the desire for eating, through which the honor rises from the impudent ones, as above. For the primary cause of the great suffering and killing that occurred then in the year 5408 was through the blemish of honor that fell among the impudent ones — which is the very essence of exile. And therefore we rectify this through the fast, which is the rectification of the desire for eating, so that through this the honor rises from them, as above. And this is the aspect of all four fasts that we observe over the destruction of the Holy Temple — they too are for this reason, to rectify the blemish of the desire for eating, in order to raise the honor from the impudent ones, who are the nations, etc., to whom the honor fell, from which the exile is primarily drawn, as above. And therefore one must give much charity on a fast day, as our Sages of blessed memory said: "The reward of a fast is the charity," as it is written: agra d'ta'anisa tzidketa. For the primary elevation of the honor is through charity, as above — for charity raises the honor from the aspect of "her feet descend to death," in the aspect of "charity saves from death," as is explained there — meaning it saves from the side of death that comes through the sin of Adam the first man, which is the aspect of the blemish of the desire for eating, as it is written: "for on the day that you eat from it," etc. — through which blemish the honor is blemished, as above. And then it is possible, when the honor comes, that it cause the departure of the soul before its time, heaven forfend, as above — which is what caused the killing of the twentieth of Sivan and all the killings and all the exiles, as above. And charity saves from this and raises the honor from the impudent ones. And then when the side of death has no hold at all in the honor, the honor comes only for good — as it will be in the future in the days of Mashiach speedily in our days, when the honor shall come for good, bringing many souls, etc., as above. And this is the aspect of traveling to the graves of the righteous. The primary purpose — as is known — is for the rectification of the holy covenant [Bris kodesh]. As I heard from the mouth of Rabbainu of blessed memory, that it is a great rectification for the blemish of the covenant — for it is written: "the righteous shall inherit the earth" — meaning the righteous inherit the Land of Israel, for they merit that the place of their holy burial is in the aspect of the Land of Israel. And the Land of Israel is a great rectification for the blemish of the covenant, so I heard from his holy mouth. And according to the Torah above, the matter is somewhat explained — for the primary blemish of the covenant is the aspect of blemishing the honor. For there is no shame except in a place of nakedness [ervah] — shame is the blemish and opposite of honor. And this matter is cited several times in the words of Rabbainu of blessed memory elsewhere. For all souls emerge through this holy channel, which is the holy covenant — for from there comes the birth and drawing of all souls, as is known. And the soul is clothed within the honor, which is the aspect of the Em kol chai — the woman who fears Hashem, as above. And therefore when one blemishes, heaven forfend, the covenant and blemishes the drops of the mind which are the aspect of holy souls, those souls are called naked souls [nefashos artilayin], as is known — meaning they are stripped of the garment of honor in which they should have been clothed, as above. For the soul has no vitality without the garment of honor, from which comes its primary vitality, as above. And the rule is: the primary blemish of the covenant is the blemish of the honor, which separates the soul from the honor through the blemish of the drops of the mind in vain, heaven forfend — may the Merciful One protect us. And likewise when one blemishes, heaven forfend, through forbidden relations, or a menstruant woman, a maidservant, a gentile woman, a harlot — may the Merciful One protect us — through this one lowers the honor to the impudent ones, through the Jewish soul being clothed within the honor of the nations, heaven forfend, or the reverse. And likewise with all other forbidden relations and blemishes of the covenant, the severity of the prohibition in each corresponds to the extent of the blemish of the honor. For one must sanctify oneself greatly — even in what is permitted — in order to merit that the soul be clothed in honor, and not be brazen in his actions like a dog — which is the aspect of "and the dogs are fierce of soul," etc. As cited in the holy Zohar: that through this the honor descends, heaven forfend, to the impudent ones, who are the aspect of "the dogs are fierce of soul," as is explained in the Torah above. How much more so when one actually blemishes the holy covenant through a complete transgression, heaven forfend — may the Merciful One protect us — he certainly greatly blemishes the soul and the honor mentioned above. And therefore the primary rectification of the covenant is through the true righteous ones, when one comes to their holy graves — for there the primary rectification of the holy honor is found. For their departure and holy burial is through the holy honor, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in" — which is said regarding the departure and burial of the righteous, called "gathering." As is explained in the first chapter of Sotah in the Mishnah: "Not only regarding Moshe was this said, but regarding all the righteous, as it is written: 'your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of Hashem shall gather you in.'" For the righteous are gathered and buried within the glory of Hashem — fortunate are they, as above. For at the time of departure, when the time of a person's visitation arrives to depart, it is a great good and a great merit for the person when he merits to depart through the glory of Hashem. For what was said above — that one must guard oneself lest one blemish the honor, so that one not depart through the honor, etc. — this refers to guarding against causing one to depart, heaven forfend, before one's time, through having blemished the honor, as above. But at the time of a person's destined visitation, it is a great good as above. And on the contrary — one who blemishes the honor through pursuing honor, or through other blemishes that damage the honor of Hashem, until causing the honor to come upon him for bad — to bring him out of the world, as above — then, even though he departs through the honor, since the soul is drawn after the honor, as above, it is only temporary. For even though he cannot see it, his [spiritual] "fortune" can see it. And since the honor has come upon him for bad, it causes his soul to be taken, heaven forfend — but nonetheless he is not permitted to enter and be included within the glory of Hashem, since he blemished it, until he rectifies what he has damaged. For no one merits to be fully included within the holy honor in complete perfection except the truly righteous ones who guard the covenant and flee from honor and nullify all desires and diminish their own honor and increase the honor of the Omnipresent — as it is written (Tehillim 24): "who shall ascend the mountain of Hashem, and who shall stand in the place of His holiness?" etc. The mountain of Hashem and His holy place is the aspect of the glory of Hashem, as it is written: "the glory of Hashem filled the House" — which is the mountain of Hashem, as above. And it is impossible to be included there in complete perfection except for the truly righteous ones in the aspect of "clean of hands and pure of heart," etc. And therefore the righteous one at the time of his departure merits to depart in great holiness to the glory of Hashem, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in." And therefore at the place of his holy burial — where he is gathered — the glory of Hashem rests there, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as above. And all the souls who merit to come there are included within the glory of Hashem, and through this comes their primary rectification — and particularly the rectification of the covenant. For all blemishes in the world are the blemish of the honor of Hashem — for all of Torah is for His honor blessed be He, as Rabbainu of blessed memory wrote elsewhere. And when one blemishes through any sin in the world, heaven forfend — and particularly the blemish of the covenant, which is the primary one of all — one blemishes His honor blessed be He, and the soul becomes distanced from the honor. And according to the blemish, so is the distance. And so the honor falls, heaven forfend, to the nations and the wicked — for there are countless aspects in this matter, regarding the blemish of the honor and the distancing of the soul from the honor, etc., and all according to the blemish, heaven forfend. And therefore at the graves of the true righteous ones, where the glory of Hashem rests, there is the primary rectification — for there one merits that one's soul be included within the glory of Hashem, and through this one merits to pray with a whole heart, as is explained in the Torah above — for through this, that the soul returns and draws near to the honor, one prays from the heart. See there. And this is why one is greatly stirred at the graves of true righteous ones and prays there with great awakening of the heart — for there the soul draws near to the honor more, from which prayer from a whole heart is drawn, as is explained at the end of the Torah above. See there. And therefore Kalev went and prostrated himself at the graves of the Patriarchs, as it is written: "and he came to Chevron." He went to the graves of the Patriarchs so that he should not be drawn after the counsel of the spies — for the spies blemished the Land of Israel, where the primary honor of Hashem is, as above. For the primary dwelling of His Presence and His honor blessed be He is in the Land of Israel, where the site of the Holy Temple is, where the glory of Hashem rests, as above. And since they blemished the honor of Hashem, through this they caused their own death and the death of the entire generation of the desert — through the honor precisely, through the aspect mentioned above. And this is what is written there in the Torah portion of the spies, regarding the decree — that Hashem blessed be He decreed upon them that they all die in the desert — it is written there (Bamidbar 14): "and the glory of Hashem shall fill all the earth, for all the men who see My glory, etc., shall they see the land," etc. And Rashi struggled there with the explanation of "and My glory shall fill," etc. — see there. But according to the above it is well explained: "and the glory of Hashem shall fill" — for all the men who see My glory, etc., shall not see. For they shall depart and die through the honor precisely — which shall fill all the earth — for since they blemished the honor, they therefore caused themselves to depart before their time through the honor, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as above. And therefore Kalev, who wished to be saved from the counsel of the spies — so that he should not blemish the honor of the Land of Israel, which is the honor of Hashem, as above — therefore went to the graves of the Patriarchs and prayed there, and through this he merited to be included in the glory of Hashem in great holiness, as above. For the primary holy honor of Hashem is at the graves of the righteous, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," as above. And through this he was saved from the blemish of honor, which is the blemish of the Land of Israel where the primary honor of Hashem is. And this is what is written (there): "and Yehoshua ben Nun and Kalev, etc., lived." And Rashi explained: what does "they lived" teach us? Rather, it teaches that they took the portion of those who died and arose in their stead to life. It follows that Rashi explains "they lived" to mean that vitality was added to them through this — meaning as above. For the spies and those who listened to them died and departed through the honor, having blemished the honor of the Land of Israel, which is the primary holy honor of Hashem and Israel, as above — for the honor gathered them, as above. But Yehoshua and Kalev, who withstood the test and did not blemish the honor — on the contrary, they fulfilled [the word of] Hashem and greatly completed the honor, for they cried out and told the great praise of the Land of Israel, as it is written (there 13): "and Kalev silenced, etc., we shall surely go up," etc. — therefore they merited, through the honor, the opposite for good. For they merited through the holy honor to receive new vitality in the aspect of "and Yehoshua ben Nun and Kalev, etc., lived" — "they lived" precisely, for new vitality was added to them, which is the aspect of a new soul that they merited through the honor they had completed, as above. For the soul is the vitality, as it is written: "a living soul," etc. For the honor is the aspect of the scales of justice [matekla], the aspect of scales of righteousness [moznai tzedek], as is explained in the words of Rabbainu of blessed memory elsewhere (§131) — that when honor comes to a person, one must be very careful and vigilant not to blemish it, not to take it and not to use it for oneself, heaven forfend, but only to return all honor to Hashem blessed be He, not to make use of the honor except for His Name blessed be He and for His honor in truth. And it is explained there that the honor is the aspect of scales of righteousness [moznai tzedek], and then one is weighed in the scales, etc. — see there. That is, as above — as explained in the Torah above — for certainly it is the aspect of scales of righteousness, for one can depart before one's time, heaven forfend, through the honor as above. And when one merits to receive it as one should, one can merit new vitality and a new soul through the honor, as above — which is the aspect of "and Yehoshua and Kalev lived," etc., as above. And this is the aspect of what Yosef the righteous charged his brothers: "G-d will surely remember you, and you shall bring up my bones from here with you," etc., and so they did — as it is written: "and Moshe took the bones of Yosef with him, for he had surely made [them] swear," etc. And it is found in the holy Zohar that the primary redemption was through the bones of Yosef that Moshe took and attached himself to. This is the aspect of the extraordinary greatness of the merit of the graves of the righteous — that it benefits a person greatly for the rectification of his soul, to bring him out of his heavy exile, that is, the exile of the soul, which is the primary exile. It is the aspect of the Egyptian exile which includes all exiles — in the aspect of "and Moshe took the bones of Yosef with him" — for the primary redemption from Egypt was through the bones of Yosef, which he took to be buried in the Land of Israel. For the coffin of Yosef that they carried at the time of the Exodus from Egypt is the aspect of the grave of the righteous — there is the primary honor, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," etc. And this holy honor went before them, and all the souls of Israel were drawn after this honor and went out from there in life and in peace. For when one merits that the honor comes for good, then one can be drawn after the honor and be included within it and remain alive — on the contrary, one is further given a new soul and new vitality through the honor that comes for good, as above. For Yosef the righteous merited to rectify the holy honor — and on this account Yosef is named, on account of the rectification of honor, as it is written: "G-d has gathered [asaf] my disgrace." He gathers the disgrace — which is the opposite of honor — for he merited to raise and rectify the honor through having withstood the test and conquered his inclination regarding the wife of his master, not wishing to sin and draw, heaven forfend, his holy soul into the honor of the sitra achra — a harlot woman, a gentile maidservant, a harlot, another god — through which one gives power, heaven forfend, to their honor, and through this they can overpower the holy honor and draw it to themselves, heaven forfend. And Yosef withstood the test and fled from this — and through the great extent of his test he merited, on the contrary, to raise the honor from the sitra achra and merited to great honor in Egypt. And he was called "the firstborn of his ox — glory is his" (Devarim 33) — an expression of honor and glory — as is explained in the Torah regarding the great honor he merited through this, as it is written: "and he had him ride in the second chariot, etc., and they called before him," etc. And as is found in the holy Zohar: "Yosef took from his own," etc. — for since he withstood the test and did not wish to strengthen, heaven forfend, the honor of the sitra achra through the blemish of the covenant as above, he therefore merited, on the contrary, to raise the honor from them. And through this he merited great honor in Egypt precisely — for he raised the honor from the impurity of Egypt, from the nakedness of Egypt, to holiness. And through the great rectification of honor that he merited there, this was the primary vitality and endurance of Israel from the day they descended to Egypt until they went up from there, as above. For the beginning of the descent of the seventy souls of the house of Yaakov to Egypt was through the honor of Yosef, as it is written: "tell my father all my glory in Egypt, and hurry and bring my father down here" — "tell all my glory" precisely, for it was specifically through the honor that their souls were drawn and descended there, as explained above. And since Yosef rectified and raised the honor at that time, through this they descended there and did not descend there in chains — for it was through the honor of the side of holiness, not through the increased power of the honor and kingship of the sitra achra from the beginning. Rather, from the beginning they descended there with honor, through the honor of Yosef, etc., as above. Through this they were able to endure through all the days of their being there in Egypt in exile. For even though afterward the Egyptians grew stronger and subjugated them in heavy exile, since the rectification and completion of the honor that was blemished through the sin of Adam the first man was not yet complete — the Egyptians and the sitra achra therefore grew stronger to magnify their own honor and subjugated Israel in exile — nonetheless they were able to endure, since Yosef had already begun to rectify and raise the honor, through which the sitra achra did not have so much power to overpower them. And as is cited in the books: the primary endurance of Israel in Egypt in the days of exile was through Yosef, who had first subdued the sitra achra there — and without this they could not have stood against the intensity of their impurity in the days of exile, until they would not have been able to come out from there. And all through the rectification of honor that Yosef merited through the test — which is the rectification of the souls of Israel — as above. And likewise through this they merited to come out from there, as it is written: "and Moshe took the bones of Yosef with him," etc., as above. For the coffin of Yosef, which is the aspect of the grave of the righteous, there is the primary honor, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem shall gather you in," etc., and this holy honor went before them, and all the souls of Israel were drawn after this honor and came out from there in life and in peace, as above. And this is the aspect of the Clouds of Glory that went always before the camp of Israel, as it is written: "the pillar of cloud did not depart by day, etc., before the people" — for the holy honor, the aspect of the Clouds of Glory, went before the camp of Israel always, and they were drawn and went after the honor which is their root, and through this was the primary redemption, as above. And this is why the taking up of the bones of Yosef is juxtaposed to the Clouds of Glory at the beginning of the portion of Beshalach — as it is written: "and Moshe took the bones of Yosef, etc., and they journeyed from Sukkos, etc., and Hashem went before them by day in a pillar of cloud," etc. That is, as above — for even the verse "and they journeyed from Sukkos" alludes to the Clouds of Glory, which are the aspect of Sukkos [booths], as is known. And therefore the first journey when Israel left Egypt was from Ramses to Sukkos — for the name carries the meaning, to indicate that immediately upon their departure they were drawn after the aspect of Sukkos — which is the mitzvah of Sukkah, the aspect of the Clouds of Glory. And this is the aspect of the clouds of honor, which is the aspect of holy honor — through which was the primary going out, as above. And therefore Yosef merited to strengthen the seven years of plenty over the seven years of famine — for famine is the aspect of the desire for eating: one is hungry to eat and has no satiation in his innards, as is explained in the words of Rabbainu of blessed memory elsewhere, that famine is the aspect of the desire for eating. And it is drawn from the blemish of the sin of Adam the first man, which is the aspect of the blemish of the desire for eating, as above — through which the famine in the world was drawn, for the earth was cursed on account of him: "in toil shall you eat it," etc. It follows that famine is the aspect of the blemish of the desire for eating, which is the blemish of the honor. And therefore it was specifically through the famine that it came about that our ancestors descended to Egypt, as it is written: "and the famine was heavy in the land, and Yaakov said to his sons," etc. For the primary Egyptian exile was through the blemish of honor, as above, which is the aspect of famine, as above. But Hashem blessed be He in His mercy sent the remedy before the affliction — "He sent a man before them" — and Yosef the righteous was sent before them, and through his test he merited to raise the honor from the sitra achra and subdued the honor of the sitra achra. And through this he merited to strengthen the seven years of plenty over the seven years of famine — which is the aspect of the rectification of the honor, the aspect of "the righteous one eats to satisfy his soul" mentioned in the Torah above — which is the aspect of "the satisfied one sleeps and no evil shall visit him" — for through the aspect of "the righteous eats to satisfy his soul" — the aspect of the rectification of the desire for eating, the aspect of the seven years of plenty — through this there is no appointment or visitation for evil and the sitra achra, as is explained there — see there. And through this Israel was able to endure in Egypt against their impurity, as above. And through this they merited to come out from there through the holiness of his bones, which is the aspect of the holiness of the grave of the righteous, as above. And therefore when Moshe saw that there was quarrel and strikings and injuries among Israel themselves — which is the aspect of the blemish of honor, as explained above — he therefore said: "Indeed the matter is known" — for the primary exile is through this, as explained above. Therefore Moshe then fled to Yisro and took the daughter of Yisro, and Yisro converted and added a Torah portion, and his portion was juxtaposed to the Torah portion of the giving of the Torah — for the primary giving of the Torah was through the coming of Yisro, as is cited in the holy Zohar. And the giving of the Torah is the very essence of the Exodus from Egypt — for the primary Exodus from Egypt was in the merit that Israel would receive the Torah, as Rashi explained on the verse "when you bring the people out of Egypt, you shall serve G-d upon this mountain" — see there. For Moshe Rabbainu, when he saw that the honor was greatly blemished among Israel themselves — that there was quarrel and strikings among them — through which the exile is primarily prolonged as above, therefore devised plans to raise the honor from the sitra achra and greatly magnify it, so that through this everything would be rectified. Therefore he went to Yisro and spoke with him at length until he enlightened his eyes, until the truth was revealed to him and he returned to Hashem blessed be He and converted. And through this the Name blessed be He was greatly magnified and exalted, and His honor was greatly increased. For it is found in the holy Zohar: "When Yisro came, then the Name of the Holy One blessed be He was elevated and glorified above and below." And as it is written: "Hashem is exalted above all nations, above the heavens is His glory" — that His glory is exalted to the heavens when He is exalted above the nations, meaning when the nations return to Him and convert — as is explained in all of this in the words of Rabbainu of blessed memory (§14). It follows that through Moshe going to Yisro and causing him to convert, he thereby raised the honor further from the power of the sitra achra. And this is the primary rectification of the raising of the honor — when one merits to raise the holy honor from the power of the sitra achra: that is, when one strives to bring those who are very far from Hashem blessed be He back to Him — whether Israelites, whether converts. And through this one raises the honor and rectifies it greatly — for one raises it from the power of the sitra achra, and through this the honor of the sitra achra is subdued. And they come out from exile, as above. And therefore Moshe Rabbainu strove for this greatly, and therefore went to Yisro and converted him — for he saw that the sitra achra had grown stronger and wished to blemish the holy honor, and through this had grown stronger over Israel themselves — until they themselves blemished the honor, which is the aspect of the striking and quarrel he saw then, as above, through which the exile is primarily prolonged. Therefore what did Moshe Rabbainu do? He went and did the opposite, fulfilling "with the crooked You show Yourself subtle" — and did to the sitra achra measure for measure. For he went to the very power of the sitra achra — which is Yisro, who left no form of idol worship that he had not served, as our Sages said — and spoke with him at length until the truth was revealed to him and he returned to Hashem and converted. And through this the Name blessed be He was greatly elevated and glorified, and His honor greatly increased. It follows that Moshe raised the honor from the power of the sitra achra — the very opposite of the intention of the Adversary, who wished to overpower Israel themselves so that they themselves would blemish the honor, heaven forfend, through quarrel, etc., as above. For on the contrary, Moshe merited to raise and magnify the honor from the power of the sitra achra through the conversion of Yisro. And through the great extent of this raising of the honor, the blemish of honor that had been among Israel themselves through the quarrel was thereby somewhat nullified. As it is written: "go, return — for all the men who sought your life have died" — informing Moshe that the men who had increased quarrel among Israel and blemished the honor had already died, having become poor and their power nullified — for they are considered as dead, and they no longer have power to increase quarrel and blemish the holy honor of the true righteous one. For the true righteous one — the aspect of Moshe — had already merited to rectify and greatly magnify the honor, putting all his effort into drawing those very far from Hashem blessed be He to return to Him and convert converts. And through this the blemish of honor that had been among Israel themselves through the quarrel was somewhat nullified — through the great extent of the honor he merited to raise through drawing near the distant, as above — which is the aspect of the conversion of Yisro that Moshe strove for. And through this everything was rectified, and they merited redemption then, as above. And because of this Moshe Rabbainu took the daughter of Yisro — for it is already explained from what was said above that a woman who fears Hashem is the aspect of holy honor, which is the aspect of Chavah Em kol chai, as above. And conversely, a harlot woman, a daughter of a gentile, is the aspect of the honor of the sitra achra. And Moshe Rabbainu through his great power merited to convert Yisro and his daughter, until he merited to raise the honor from within the power of the sitra achra and took her to himself. For he raised the honor from the power of the sitra achra to holiness — and through this was the primary redemption from Egypt, as above. And through this he rectified the blemish of the strikings and injuries — which is the aspect of the blemish of honor drawn from the sin of Adam the first man. From this was drawn the first striking and murder in the world — which is what Kayin did to his brother Hevel. For it is explained in the writings of the holy Ari, of blessed memory, that Tzipporah, the wife of Moshe, was the reincarnation of the extra twin of Hevel for whose sake Kayin killed him, as our Sages said. And it is also found there that the Egyptian whom Moshe killed over the matter of the striking was from the reincarnations of Kayin — see there. And therefore through Moshe taking Tzipporah daughter of Yisro and raising the honor from the power of the sitra achra, he thereby rectified the blemish of the murders and strikings, as above. And through converting Yisro and raising the honor from the power of the sitra achra — until he was able to take his daughter and return the honor to holiness — through this everything was rectified, and through this he merited to redeem Israel. For the primary redemption was through the rectification of the honor, as above. And see in the writings of the holy Ari, of blessed memory, what is found there regarding all of this according to his hidden approach — and you will understand how Hashem blessed be He helped us to find all this according to our approach in his words of blessed memory, which are only for practice and deed. And you will see wonders. And therefore the Torah portion of the spies was juxtaposed to the Torah portion of "and Aharon and Miriam spoke against Moshe." For they spoke regarding the Kushite woman he had taken — who is the daughter of Yisro — as though, heaven forfend, Moshe had blemished the honor through this. And through this they blemished the honor of Moshe, which is holy honor — the honor of Hashem — as it is written: "and why were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moshe?" As Rashi explained: "A servant of the king is like the king." And therefore the Torah portion of the spies was juxtaposed to this — for these wicked ones saw and did not take a lesson, as Rashi explained there. For they too blemished the holy honor through spreading slander about the Land of Israel, where the primary holy honor is, as above. And this is the aspect of the mitzvah of guarding the soul of Israel — which is the mitzvah of maakeh [the parapet]. For this mitzvah of guarding the soul is stated specifically in the context of building a house, as it is written: "when you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, and you shall not place blood in your house, for the fallen one may fall from it." And our Sages of blessed memory said: from here that it is forbidden to keep a rickety ladder, etc., in one's home. For a person's house is his honor — for the primary honor of every person is in his home. And this is the aspect of "like the glory of a person is to sit in a house" — that the primary glory and honor of a person is in his home, in the aspect of (Tehillim 45) "all the honor of the princess is within" — for there is the aspect of his dominion and honor, for "every man rules in his own home" (Esther 1). And one must see to draw the honor into the home in great holiness, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem filled the House" — for when one merits to sanctify one's home through Torah and divine service and welcoming of guests, etc., the glory of Hashem dwells within one's home. And then one's home is in the aspect of a miniature Holy Temple, as is understood from the words of Rabbainu of blessed memory in the Torah of Bereishis (Likutay Tinyana, §67) — that the holiness of the homes of Israel is in the aspect of the Holy Temple, where the primary honor is, in the aspect of "the glory of Hashem filled the House," as above. And this is what Rabbainu of blessed memory wrote (§266): that a Sukkah is a segulah for building a home, as it is written: "and Yaakov traveled to Sukkos, and built himself a house" — for a Sukkah is the aspect of the Clouds of Glory, the aspect of holy honor, which is the primary rectification of the home. And therefore it is a great danger to build a home — for the primary purpose of building is to draw the honor, for his home is his honor, as above. And when honor is drawn to the person, he is then in great danger — for he is weighed in the scales, in the aspect of scales of righteousness, as above. For sometimes the honor can gather some soul, heaven forfend, when one does not merit to guard receiving it properly. And therefore whoever builds becomes impoverished, and our Sages said that they endanger their owners — as they expounded on the verse: "and he built store cities for Pharaoh." And therefore Sukkah is a segulah for building a home — for the Sukkah is the aspect of the rectification of the holy honor, the aspect of the Clouds of Glory, through which one is saved from danger to life. For on the contrary, when one merits to rectify the honor and draw it into one's home in holiness as it should be, one can then merit new souls through the honor that comes for good, as above. And this is the aspect of (Tehillim 128): "Fortunate is everyone who fears Hashem, etc. — your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your home, your children like olive shoots around your table" — "in the innermost parts of your home" precisely. For the one who fears Hashem merits, specifically through the home, to children like olive shoots around his table — for the children are the aspect of souls that one merits to gain through the honor that is the aspect of the home, which comes to him for good, as above. And this is what the Torah warned the person: "when you build a new house" — the aspect of drawing the honor — you must then be particularly careful and vigilant to greatly guard the soul, that no soul of Israel should be lost and depart, heaven forfend, through the honor being drawn, which is the aspect of the house being built. And this is: "and you shall make a parapet for your roof, and you shall not place blood in your house" — "in your house" precisely — for the house, which is the aspect of the honor, there one must guard the soul more, that it not depart, heaven forfend, through the honor that is being drawn. And through fulfilling this mitzvah of making a parapet, etc., one rectifies one's home — the aspect of the rectification of honor. And then one can merit that, on the contrary, one gains new souls through the honor that comes for good, as above. Amen and amen. And therefore when Israel went out of Egypt, they were immediately commanded regarding the sanctity of the firstborn, as it is written: "sanctify to Me every firstborn," etc. For the Exodus from Egypt was the aspect of birth, as is cited — the aspect of the birth of souls explained in the Torah above: that when one merits that the honor comes for good, one must then give birth to the soul and raise it through the two hands — the mighty hand and the great hand, etc. For this is the aspect of the Exodus from Egypt — that the honor rose from the sitra achra and the honor returned to them for good. And they merited that their souls greatly multiplied. And therefore also in Egypt during the time of exile there was the growth of the horn of salvation — through their souls greatly multiplying, as it is stated: "and the children of Israel were fruitful and swarming and multiplying," etc. For all this was through Yosef, who is called ben poras [fruitful son] — for the primary drawing of souls was through him, through having merited to raise and rectify the holy honor, through which was the primary redemption, as above. And this is the aspect of the sanctity of the firstborn — for the firstborn is the first birth: the first soul born from the aspect of the honor, which is the Em kol chai. And therefore one must sanctify it and give it to the kohen, where the primary holy honor is. For the primary holy honor is with the kohanim, who are the sons of Aharon the Kohen — in whose merit were the Clouds of Glory, which is the aspect of holy honor, as above. And therefore the Torah commanded to greatly honor the kohen, to give him all holy honor — as it is written: "and you shall sanctify him." To open [read] first, and to bless first, etc., as our Sages said. And therefore one must give to the kohen the firstborn — the first birth of a soul — in order to draw upon it the holiness of honor from its root, which is the primary vitality of the holy soul. For the primary vitality of the holy soul is from the aspect of holy honor — the aspect of the kohen, as above. And the primary is the firstborn — for it is found that every soul has a garment, and the firstborn takes the primary garment from its mother, and all the souls born after it are all secondary to its garment — see there in the writings. And the garment is drawn from the aspect of honor, which is called a garment — for Rabbi Yochanan called his garments "my honors" [mekhavdusai], as above. And therefore since the primary garment — the aspect of honor — is with the firstborn, and the rest of the souls receive through it, one must therefore sanctify it and give it to the kohen where the primary honor is, in order to draw upon it the holiness of honor from its root, to sustain its holy soul, as above. And therefore the primary redemption of the firstborn depends on peter rechem [the opening of the womb of its mother] — for the honor is the aspect of Em kol chai, and because of this one must redeem the firstborn from the kohen in order to rectify the garment of his soul that it received from its mother, which is the aspect of honor, as above. And therefore one must give the kohen five sela'im — this is the aspect of charity, for the primary rectification of the rising of the honor is through charity, as above. And therefore one gives him five sela'im precisely, corresponding to the heh of charity, which is the aspect of the five Chassadim, as above. And therefore the Torah portion of the sanctity of the firstborn was juxtaposed to the Exodus from Egypt — for the primary Exodus from Egypt was through the rectification of the honor, which is the aspect of the sanctity of the firstborn, as above. And therefore Israel went out from Egypt through the plague of the firstborn — for Hashem blessed be He struck the firstborn of Egypt and saved the firstborn of Israel. This is the aspect mentioned above — He subdued and nullified the honor of the sitra achra, which is the aspect of the firstborn of Egypt, and raised the holy honor, which is the aspect of the firstborn of Israel, who were then sanctified, as above. For the firstborn is the aspect of kingship, the aspect of honor, as it is written: "I also shall appoint him as firstborn," etc., as above. And therefore the primary Exodus from Egypt was through the aspect of a mighty hand, as it is written: "for with a mighty hand He shall drive them out and with a mighty hand He shall expel them from his land" — and similarly in many verses. For the Exodus from Egypt is the aspect of birth, as above, and the birth is through the aspect of the mighty hand, as above. And at the splitting of the Sea of Reeds it is stated: "and Israel saw the great hand" — for after the souls of Israel went out from Egypt, where they had been in exile in the aspect of a fetus, their going out from there is the aspect of the birth of the soul. And afterward, what they experienced of pain and suffering at the sea was the aspect of the pain of the raising of children, heaven preserve us — the aspect of the pain of raising the soul, like an infant who is born and then afterward experiences some afflictions, which is called the pain of growing. And therefore they were saved from the pain of growing through the great hand — which is the aspect of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, when they were saved from the pain after the birth, which is the aspect of raising the soul, for which the great hand is needed — the aspect of Avraham. And therefore at the splitting of the Sea of Reeds the aspect of the great hand was revealed, as it is written: "and Israel saw the great hand," etc. — for the splitting of the Sea of Reeds was in the merit of Avraham, as our Sages said. And incidentally, since I merited to occupy myself with this Torah above, Hashem illuminated my eyes to explain the conclusion of the verse "And on the day of the first fruits" [uv'yom habikkurim] — for this Torah was stated on Shavuos regarding this verse. But we did not merit to hear the explanation of the verse itself according to this Torah. Only afterward did I hear from his holy mouth some explanation — only regarding the beginning of the verse: "And on the day of the first fruits" — which is the aspect of the birth of the soul and the raising of the soul, as is explained there. Mikra kodesh [holy convocation] — this is the aspect of the honor, which is the aspect of holiness, as it is written: "I will be sanctified through My glory" — it calls, etc. — see there in the book. And it seems to me to explain the rest of the verse: "And on the day of the first fruits" — this is the aspect of the raising of the soul and the birth of the soul, as above. "When you bring a new meal-offering to Hashem" — this is the aspect of charity, as Rabbainu of blessed memory explained elsewhere (Likutay Tinyana, §4) — that very verse regarding charity, in the aspect of "those who bring an offering in righteousness." Mikra kodesh — this is the aspect of the raising of the honor, in the aspect of "righteousness calls to his steps" — as is explained there, that the honor which is the aspect of holiness calls to the feet [i.e., it draws those who have fallen to rise] — which is the aspect of the rectification of honor as above, and this is accomplished through charity, which is the aspect of the new meal-offering, as above. And through this — through rectifying the honor through charity — one merits to receive a new soul through the honor. And this soul one must give birth to and raise, which is the aspect of "And on the day of the first fruits," as above. "No labor of service shall you do" — this is the aspect of the nullification of the impurity of the serpent, which came through the sin of Adam the first man — the blemish of the desire for eating — through which the thirty-nine labors arose, in the aspect of "in toil [itzavon] shall you eat it," the aspect of "in the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread," etc. For since the honor was blemished through the desire for eating — the sin of Adam the first man — through this the honor fell, whence comes sustenance and eating, in the aspect of a royal table [shulchan melachim], which fell to the sitra achra — the aspect of the fall of honor to the impudent ones, as above. And therefore great toils are required — the aspect of the thirty-nine labors — until one clarifies one's sustenance from the impurity of the serpent, from within the kelipos [husks]. And all this because the honor fell, etc., as above. But in the future, when the sin of Adam the first man will be rectified and the honor will rise from the sitra achra, then all thirty-nine labors will be nullified — for it will be a day that is entirely Shabbos, etc. And this is: "No labor of service shall you do" — this is the aspect of the rising of the honor from the sitra achra, which is the aspect of the nullification of all thirty-nine labors that came from the blemish of honor, as above. And this is the aspect of the honor of Shabbos and Yom Tov, which one must greatly honor — and the primary honoring of Shabbos and Yom Tov is to honor them with eating and drinking, which is called the honor of Shabbos and Yom Tov. As our Sages said regarding Shammai, who used to eat all his days for the honor of Shabbos, etc. — if he found one more beautiful, he would say: "This one is for the honor of Shabbos and Yom Tov." For the eating of Shabbos and Yom Tov is holy — for then the thirty-nine labors are nullified, and then eating is in holiness, in the aspect of the showbread [lechem hapanim]. One merits nesias panim [elevation of countenance/favor] through the eating of Shabbos and Yom Tov, as is explained in the Torah above — that through holy eating one is in the aspect of nesias panim. And therefore the eating of Shabbos and Yom Tov is called by the name "honor" — for eating in holiness is the aspect of the rectification of honor, as above. And therefore one goes particularly to the graves of the righteous on the eve of Rosh HaShanah — for the primary aspect of Rosh HaShanah is to raise and magnify the honor and kingship of holiness, as we say in all the prayers of Rosh HaShanah: "And so give honor, Hashem," etc., and "reign, You Hashem," etc., "reign over the whole world in Your glory" — the aspect of "King of Glory" that is mentioned many times on Rosh HaShanah. It follows that on Rosh HaShanah, all our service is to raise and magnify the honor — which is the rectification of all sins, for they are the blemish of His honor blessed be He, as above. And therefore the primary holiness of the Land of Israel — where the primary holy honor is, as above — is drawn on Rosh HaShanah, as it is written: "always the eyes of Hashem your G-d are upon it, from the beginning of the year," etc. For on Rosh HaShanah is the primary raising of the honor, which is the very essence of the holiness of the Land of Israel, as above. And therefore the custom is to go to the graves of true righteous ones on the eve of Rosh HaShanah — for the primary rectification of honor is through the graves of the righteous, as above, where the primary honor is. And then is the primary time of the gathering of Israel — for Israel gather then in all places to magnify, honor, and sanctify His Name blessed be He through prayers and supplications. And the more upright people who gather together, the more His Name is glorified and magnified — for b'rov am hadras melech [in the multitude of people is the King's glory], for the primary honor and glory of the King is more so in a great multitude of people. And therefore in the days of Rosh HaShanah it is especially propitious to gather together at the graves of the true righteous ones — for then is the primary raising of the honor, which is magnified even more through a multitude of people. And the more the honor is magnified, the more one's soul is rectified — for the primary blemish of one's soul is through having distanced it from the honor of His Name blessed be He through the blemish of one's sins, which are the blemish of the honor. And therefore at the time when the honor is raised and magnified — that is, at the time of the gathering on Rosh HaShanah — through the magnification of the honor, even one's distant soul can be included within the great honor that is now being magnified. And this is the primary rectification, as above. And one will merit to return to Hashem — to merit also to be included within the holy honor, to merit to magnify and honor His Name blessed be He from this time onward through Torah and prayer and good deeds. Amen. And this is what Rabbainu of blessed memory wrote (§14) — that to bring people back in repentance is a rectification for seminal emission [keri] — see there. For it is certainly a rectification for the blemish of the covenant when one strengthens and strives to speak to the heart of people to bring them back to Hashem blessed be He. For the primary blemish of the covenant is the blemish of the honor, as above. And through bringing the distant back to Hashem blessed be He, this is the primary magnification and raising of the honor — for "when Yisro came, then the Name of the Holy One blessed be He was elevated and glorified above and below," as above. Therefore through this comes the primary rectification of the covenant, as above.