Rabbi Akiva said: When you reach the stones of pure marble, do not say water wat

Likutay Moharan Volume 1: Torah 51 Rabbi Akiva said: When you reach the stones of pure marble, do not say water water, as it is said: "One who speaks falsehoods shall not be established before My eyes." (Chagigah 14b) [See this Torah in 51 from the handwriting of our master, of blessed memory, himself] For **falsehood** [sheker] damages the eyes both physically and spiritually, in the aspect of (Isaiah 3:16): "And deceptive eyes" [or "lying eyes" - u'mesakros ainayim]. (Although in the verse itself, this phrase refers to winking seductively or painting the eyes with makeup, the root of the word (שקר) is the same as falsehood (שקר), and the Torah here interprets it based on this root meaning.) For when the eyes are dim, they become **deceptive/lying** [mesakrin], meaning they do not show the thing as it is. For example, regarding a large thing, it shows it as small; and regarding one thing, it shows it as two – the opposite of the truth. For the eyes become dim from tears, as the saying of our sages, of blessed memory (Shabbat 151b): "And the clouds return after the rain" – this refers to the sight that goes after crying. And tears are from the excesses of the **black bile** [marah shchorah] that nature pushes out through the eyes. And the black bile draws from the clouding of the **bloods** [damim - vital forces or spiritual energies]. And the clouding of the bloods is through falsehood. For it is impossible to speak falsehood until one clouds his bloods. And truth, it is impossible to speak except when one first purifies the bloods. For the main aspect of speech is the soul, as it is written (Song of Songs 5): "My soul went out when he spoke." And the soul is the blood, as it is written (Leviticus 17): "For the blood, it is the soul." [Thus], when one speaks falsehood, he has clouding of the bloods. And from this comes the black bile, and from the excesses of the black bile, tears are formed. And through this, [causing] the eyes to become dim. (Job 30): "The gatherers of saltwort by the bush." **Saltwort** [malluach, from root מלח - salt], this is the aspect of tears, which are salty waters that come through conversation. And this is the aspect of: "do not say water water" [mayim mayim, hinting at the deceptive doubling of falsehood], which is a warning concerning falsehood [as he concluded there, as it is said: "One who speaks falsehoods shall not be established," etc.]. Water water [mayim mayim] is the aspect of falsehood, which is the aspect of tears, which are salty waters. For one who drinks water quenches his thirst.

But one who drinks salty waters, not only does he not quench his thirst, but he adds thirst to his thirst until he needs to drink other waters to quench his thirst. And therefore, falsehood is called "water water." And this is: "do not say water water," which is falsehood, as it is said: "One who speaks falsehoods shall not be established before My eyes." And the formation of falsehood, which is evil, which is impurity, is due to the distance from **One** [Echad]. For evil is opposition. For example, all that is against the will of a person is evil. And in One, there is no opposition, but it is all good. (Pesachim 50a): "On that day, Hashem shall be One, etc.," meaning that it shall be all good and beneficial. For in One, evil is not applicable, and therefore in the future there will be a fulfillment of "The language of truth shall be established forever" (Proverbs 12:19). For then it shall all be one, all good. For truth is one. For example, regarding a silver vessel, when they say concerning it that it is a silver vessel, it is the truth. But when they say concerning it that it is a gold vessel, it is falsehood. [Thus], truth is one, for it is impossible to speak truth except that it is a silver vessel, no more. But falsehood is many, for it is possible to say that it is a gold vessel, and a copper vessel, and other names. [It follows that] falsehood is in the aspect of: "They sought many calculations" (Ecclesiastes 7).

And because of this, in the future, evil shall be nullified, and opposition shall be nullified, and tears shall be nullified, as it is written (Isaiah 11): "They shall not hurt," etc.—that is the nullification of evil. And it is written (there): "And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the kid," etc.—that is the aspect of nullification of opposition. (There 25): "And Hashem G-d shall wipe away tears from all faces"—that is the nullification of tears, which are the aspect of falsehood, as mentioned above (see Tikun 22, folio 66b). For then, "Hashem shall be One and His Name One," which is all good, all truth, as mentioned above. And because of this, in the future, impurity shall be nullified, as it is written (Zechariah 13): "And the spirit of impurity I will remove from the land." And this is (Job 14): "Who can produce clean from unclean? Not one." [Explanation that the main grasping of purity and impurity is from the aspect of the distance from One.] For before the creation [briyah - creation, or the spiritual world of creation], when the creation was in potential, as it were, before He brought it out to action, it was all one, and all truth, and all good, and all holy. Even the name "clean" was not applicable to say, for "clean" is only applicable when there is impurity, as it is written (Ezekiel 36): "And you shall be clean from all your impurities." But when all is one, there is no aspect of "many calculations," which is the main aspect of evil and impurity, as mentioned above. For purity is the aspect of the median between the holy and the impurity, through which impurity is rectified, as it is written: "And you shall be clean from all your impurities." And it is the aspect of **choice** [bechirah], which is a median between two things. And this is not applicable before the creation, for then it was all one, for in One there is no choice, which is the aspect of purity. And when the Holy One, blessed be He, brought creation out from potential to action, then the aspect of purity immediately came into being. For when He brought out from potential to action, there were two things, as it were: the aspect of the One and the creation. And then choice is applicable, which is the aspect of purity, which is a median between the One, for it is close to Him and has not yet reached "many calculations," which is evil and impurity. However, it is an impression and sign of the chain of emanation, that it can be emanated and reach until it becomes evil and impurity. And therefore, it is written in the Zohar (Beraishis, folio 48b) that the main grasping of impurity is from the aspect of the **left** [sitra di-smala - Aramaic for the left side, associated with judgment in Kabbalah]. For purity indicates that there is impurity, and it is a sign that it will emanate until it becomes impurity. And therefore, it is possible to purify and to elevate impurity to purity, for it itself was chained from purity, as it is written: "And you shall be clean from all your impurities." [It follows that] the main grasping of impurity is from the aspect of purity, which is the aspect of choice, as mentioned above. And purity is the aspect of left, the aspect of **Levi** [Levi] (see Zohar Korach 176b), the aspect of: "And you shall purify the sons of Levi" (see Numbers 8). And Levi is the aspect of left, as is known. And therefore, the main grasping of impurity is from the aspect of left, for the left is the aspect of purity, from where the main grasping of impurity, as mentioned above. And all this—that is, the aspect of left, the aspect of purity, the aspect of choice from where the main chaining of impurity, which is evil and opposition, the aspect of falsehood, as mentioned above—is after the creation, after creation came out from potential to action, where then there were, as it were, two aspects, that is, the One and the creation, as mentioned above. [Thus], the main grasping of falsehood, which is impurity, etc., is because of the distance from One, as mentioned above, that is, from the aspect of after the creation, as mentioned above. And through the **supervision** [hashgachah] of Hashem, blessed be He, even after the action, when the Holy One, blessed be He, brought all things out from potential to action, they are in unity with Him. And evil sucks from the residue of the supervision, that is, from behind His shoulder, as is known (see Zohar Chukat 184b), and it is distant from One. And through truth, the supervision of Hashem, blessed be He, is upon him, as it is written (Psalms 101): "My eyes are on the faithful of the land." And through falsehood, which is evil, he removes from himself the supervision of Hashem, blessed be He, as it is written (there): "One who speaks falsehoods shall not be established before My eyes." And its vitality is only from behind the shoulder. [It follows that] whoever wishes that after existence and the action, which He brought out from potential to action, it should all be one, that father and son be as one, as it was before when it was in potential, should guard himself from falsehood. And through this, the supervision of Hashem, blessed be He, will be upon him, and then it is all one. And this is what Rabbi Akiva said: "When you reach the stones of pure marble." Pure marble (sha-yish, in Hebrew this also can mean, she-yaish - there is, thus it) is the aspect of after the action, which is existence, and then the name "pure" is applicable, as mentioned above. If you wish it to be as before the action, when it was in potential, that father and son be as one—and this is: "When you reach the stones" [אַבְנֵי, avnai - stones, hinting at av (father) and ben (son)]—which is the aspect of father and son being as one, which is the aspect of before creation when it was in potential, when all was one. "Pure marble" is the aspect of after the action, which is the aspect of existence and purity. If you wish to reach (-to bring) pure marble (she-yaish - that is), to the **stones** [avnai, or the spiritual foundations of creation] that represent father and son being as one, and not merely "pure marble" which signifies a state of being "after the action"] then "do not say water water"—which is the aspect of falsehood, as mentioned above, as it is said: "One who speaks falsehoods shall not be established before My eyes." For through falsehood, he removes from himself the supervision of Hashem, blessed be He, and he is distant from One. But through truth, the supervision of Hashem, blessed be He, is upon him, and through the supervision, it is all one, as it was before creation, as mentioned above. And therefore, the reward of the World to Come: "Eye has not seen, O G-d, besides You" (Isaiah 64, and see Berachot 34b). For since it will all be one, there will be no eye that sees, only "O G-d, besides You." And then [Rabbi Nachman] said that even in this there is a difficulty that cannot be understood. For if so, how will there be a distinction in the reward for each and every one according to his level and according to his service and toil in this world for the sake of Hashem, blessed be He? For certainly, even in the ultimate end, not all will be equal. And since it will all be one, how is a distinction applicable between one and another according to his level? However, there is a secret in this that cannot be understood, and the matters are ancient. [Applicable to above]. And because of this, falsehood damages the eyes. For through falsehood, one removes the supervision of the eyes of Hashem, blessed be He, and he damages the eyes, which are the aspect of supervision, as mentioned above. For falsehood is drawn from distance from One, from where the main grasping of impurity, which is evil, which is falsehood, as mentioned above.

And because of this very reason, one damages through falsehood in supervision and removes the supervision of Hashem, blessed be He, from himself. For through the supervision of Hashem, blessed be He, all is one after creation, just as before creation. And through falsehood, one damages in One, for falsehood is distant from One, as mentioned above. Therefore, he removes the supervision through falsehood and separates, G-d forbid, after creation from before creation, from where the main grasping of impurity, as mentioned above. But through truth, which is the aspect of all one, all good, through this he draws the supervision of Hashem, blessed be He, and then it is all one. For through the supervision, after creation is included in before creation, as mentioned above. And this is what Rabbi Akiva said, etc., as mentioned above. And in this, this saying is well connected: its beginning to its end, and its end to its beginning, and also in its middle. And understand well.