מעקה ושמירת הנפש ב

"And you shall not place blood in your house" — for the dominance of blood is the opposite of intellect — for the dominance of blood is the aspect of anger [ka'as], from which come all the harms. For from it comes the spirit of foolishness [ruach shtus] of all the sins that come from the dominance of blood, as is brought in another place. And they are the aspect of the spirit of animality [ruach ha'behemiyus], which is the opposite of the aspect of sukkah — as is explained in the aforementioned Torah [Likutay Moharan I, §266]. See there.

And therefore our Sages of blessed memory said: "Great is m'lachah [work], for the Holy One, blessed be He, warned about it — to do m'lachah." For m'lachah is a great thing and a very great tikun, for it sifts the good and completes the work of the Creator, blessed be His Name, which did not have completeness except now through him [the worker]. And this is the aspect of: "Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day is Shabbos," etc., "for six days Hashem made," etc. And the commentators asked: why did He need to write "six days you shall do m'lachah" — is not the essential mitzvah only to rest on Shabbos?! But in truth the Torah warns that a person should engage in m'lachah during the six days of action, for it is a tikun and completion of His work, blessed be He. And this is: "for six days Hashem made," etc. And therefore we too are warned to engage in m'lachah and craftsmanship during the six days of action, in order to complete and fill up ma'aseh Beraishis which Hashem made in the six days of Beraishis, which do not have complete wholeness except through the aspect of "six days you shall do m'lachah" — that is, through the crafts and trades of those below, as above.

And this is: "Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day is Shabbos" — for from this is made the aspect of Shabbos. For Shabbos is a cessation [sh'visah] when there is no birur, for Shabbos is the aspect of kulo tov [entirely good]. And the Shabbos is made through the six days specifically, in the aspect of (Avodah Zarah 3a): "One who toiled on Erev Shabbos will eat on Shabbos," in the aspect of: "Today to do them, and tomorrow to receive their reward" — which is the day that is entirely Shabbos. For through the doing of m'lachah during the six days, through this one sifts and gathers the good from the bad, and then Shabbos is made, which is the aspect of kulo tov. For the birur — the aspect of kulo tov — has already been accomplished through the good being sifted from the bad during the six days. For at first good and bad were intermingled, and through the birur of the six days of action, the aspect of kulo tov is made, which is the aspect of Shabbos, as above.

And therefore one who walks in the wilderness counts six days and makes Shabbos on the seventh day. For the Shabbos always comes after the six days of action, for through the birur of the six days of action the aspect of Shabbos is made, as above.

It emerges that m'lachah is the aspect of birur hatov [sifting out the good], and therefore it is in the aspect of nigunim [melodies]. For the nigun [melody] is the aspect of birur hatov, in the aspect of "and he played with his hand, and it was good for you" (Shmuel I 16:16), as above. And this is the aspect of: "The labor of your palms, when you eat — happy are you, and it is good for you" (Tehillim 128:2). "And it is good for you" specifically — for it is the aspect of birur hatov, as above. And this is the aspect of: "He was the father of all who grasp the harp and the organ; and Tzilah also gave birth to Tuval-Kayin, the sharpener of every smith of copper and iron" (Beraishis 4:21-22). For they are of one aspect, and therefore they are placed adjacent to each other. For every craftsman-smith is in the aspect of nigunim, in the aspect of one who plays the kinor [harp], in the aspect of "and he played with his hand, and it was good for you," as above, and as is explained well in the teaching "VaYhi MiKaitz" — see there (siman 54). And this is why craftsmen customarily sing while engaged in their work, for the m'lachah is in the aspect of nigunim, as above. And this is the aspect of: "Remove the dross from the silver, and a vessel comes forth for the smith. Remove the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness" (Mishlai 25:4-5). For the sifting of the silver from the dross to make a vessel is the aspect of subduing the wickedness through the aspect of birur hatov from them, in the aspect of nigunim, as above, in the aspect of "yet a little while and the wicked is no more," etc., as above in Hilchos M'kabail es HaSadeh — see there. And therefore the Torah warned to give the wages of his labor on his day. For these sparks [nitzotzos] and good points that the worker sifts through his work, as above, are gathered within the money [mamon] that he earns through his labor. For all good and all holy sparks are within the mamon, as is brought in the words of Rabbainu, may his light shine. And this is the mamon that the worker receives for his labor — which is the aspect of the sparks that he sifted, and they are gathered within the mamon. And therefore he earns mamon through his labor, as above. And the mamon is the completeness of his soul [nefesh], for the nefesh has its root in wealth [ashirus], as Rabbainu, may his light shine, wrote (siman 69). That is, through his work that he labored, through this he sifts and gathers and collects sparks which are portions of his soul that were scattered there. And through having rectified and gathered them through his work, through this he merits the mamon that he earns, where all the good is gathered. And then he receives the mamon and completes his soul, as above. And therefore one must give his wages on his day. For all the birurim [siftings] and tikunim are according to the day and according to the hour, as is brought at the beginning of the teaching "VaYhi MiKaitz" (siman 54). And therefore, this one who worked for him on this day and merited mamon through sifting and gathering the sparks, the portions of his soul, as above — and these sparks that he sifted are according to that specific day — therefore one must give the wages of his labor on his day, in order to complete his soul on this day. For this tikun and birur belongs to that specific day, as above. And therefore the essential strictness is on the first day, and immediately once the first day or first night has passed, one no longer transgresses. For this is the essential warning: since he sifted and gathered the good on this day, he must therefore complete his soul on that very day through the wages of his labor, as above. For the birur is according to the day, as above, and if he gives him the wages of his labor on another day, his soul will not be completed, for the completeness is according to that specific day on which he worked, as above. And therefore, once the first day has passed, one no longer transgresses. And therefore the measure [shi'ur] is one onah — that is, either a day or a night. That is, if his employment was completed during the day or at the end of the night, which is the beginning of the day, he has the entire day. And similarly, if his employment was completed at night or at the end of the day, which is the beginning of the night, he has the entire night. For the day and the night — in them the seasons [onos] change, as we say: "With understanding He changes the times and alternates the seasons." And therefore the day or the night are called in the language of the Poskim an onah, for each one is a specific time and season, as above. For the day is an aspect where new nefesh and new mochin [mental faculties] are drawn, and at night the opposite — that then the n'fashos ascend. It emerges that each one's time is different from the other. And therefore one must give his wages in its time, on his day or on his night, for the birur and the tikun are according to the time and the hour. And when the day passes and night comes, it is a different time, and it does not have the completeness of the day that passed, for everything is according to the day and the hour, as above. And this is what Rashi explained: "And to it he carries his soul" — what prompted this one to hang from a tree, etc.? That is, he gave over his soul [mesiras nefesh] for the sake of the wages. And seemingly this is difficult — do all workers give over their souls? For most types of work do not involve mesiras nefesh, and yet one still transgresses "you shall not hold back." But in truth, even in all types of work where there is no mesiras nefesh or danger in the physical sense, nevertheless it is in the aspect of danger and mesiras nefesh literally. For this worker who does work must descend to the depths of asiyah [the world of action] to sift from there the sparks. For these sparks that are sifted through doing work are very hidden and concealed in the depths of asiyah. And therefore great exertion and craftsmanship and labor of the hands is needed to do the work of a smith, in order to elevate the sparks that are there. For the m'lachah is the aspect of a completely new creation. For at first, even though the thing was created, it was not in its rectified state and was not rectified and its creation was not completed until now, through his craftsmanship. And therefore it is difficult work and great exertion, for one must descend to the depths of asiyah to finish and complete the asiyah through the works of his hands and the toil of his palms literally. And therefore it is in the aspect of mesiras nefesh literally, for it is great danger, since he descends to the depths of asiyah where the sitra d'mosa [side of death] is. And when he descends there, it is in the aspect of the departure of the nefesh. But this descent is for the purpose of ascent — in order to ascend and sift from there the sparks. And therefore, immediately when he merits completing his labor and emerging from there, one must immediately return to him his nefesh — that is, the money of the wages of his labor, which is the root of the nefesh, which is the completeness of his soul, as above. And this is what Rashi explained: "And to it he carries his soul — what prompted this one," etc., for it is in the aspect of danger and mesiras nefesh literally, as above. And this is why the Torah was strict about the wages of a hired worker, to give them on his day, and one transgresses several negative and positive commandments. And the Torah was not so strict about other money that is owed to a person from his fellow, that its day should not pass. For the essential strictness is regarding the wages of a hired worker, which is the completeness of the nefesh to the greatest degree through m'lachah, as above, and it came to him through mesiras nefesh, as above. And therefore he needed to be hired out to his fellow, like a servant, which is a great descent — and all for the sake of the mamon, which is the elevation and sifting of the sparks and the completeness of the nefesh, as above. And therefore one must give it on his day, as above. For even mamon that one earns through business dealings — although it is also in the aspect of birur — nevertheless, one did not hire oneself out as a servant and did not descend into asiyah to such a degree. Rather, it is a birur of something already made, that one sifts it from this to that, extracting and sifting from domain to domain. But the worker who hires himself out as a servant and does m'lachah, who makes with his hands something completely new and produces a finished vessel — therefore he is in the aspect of mesiras nefesh literally. And therefore one must give his wages on his day, to restore his soul on his day and in his time, as above. And this is what is brought in the writings of the Arizal: "B'yomo titain s'charo" [On his day you shall give his wages] — the initial letters [roshay taivos] spell Shabbos. For it is literally the aspect of Shabbos, which is a cessation from birurim, as is brought, etc. For as long as he was hired and enslaved to his fellow, he was making birurim, etc. And when his labor is complete and he goes out to freedom, then he is in the aspect of Shabbos. For the birur is completed and the good has been extracted, which is the aspect of Shabbos, which is kulo tov. And then there is the cessation, as above. And therefore one must give him his wages on his day immediately, so that the birur will be completed and there will be the aspect of Shabbos, the aspect of sh'visah [cessation], as above. For as long as the good — that is, the wages of his labor — has not returned to its place, there is not yet completeness.