Tinyana

Tinyana And G-d Spoke All These Words, Saying "And G-d spoke all these words, saying" [Exodus 20:1].

Know that true connection to true tzadikim [righteous ones] is of very, very great benefit, for through this one merits complete repentance and atonement for sin, and judgments are sweetened and completely nullified. And through this, a unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah [Divine Presence] is made. For it is stated in the holy Zohar: "For behold, the kings met" [Zohar, Vayigash 206a]—two holy worlds, the upper world and the lower world, etc., when they are connected as one, then all faces shine, and all sins are removed, etc., see there.

For know that there are two aspects of wisdom: upper chochmah [wisdom] and lower chochmah . And lower chochmah is drawn from upper chochmah and receives and draws from there. And it is like the teacher and the student, for what the teacher teaches with his student, and the student receives from him, is the aspect of upper chochmah and lower chochmah . And upper chochmah , which is what the teacher teaches to the student, is the aspect of yud [the Hebrew letter י]. And what the student receives from him, which is the aspect of lower chochmah , is the aspect of lamed [the Hebrew letter ל], which is the aspect of a tower soaring in the air [Chagigah 15b, see Rashi there]. For the heart soars in the air and hears what the teacher says, and through this, the person who hears understands. For the essence of the student’s understanding is through the heart, for the teacher must say things that settle on the heart, and to contemplate what the teacher said, as it is written: "To acquire wisdom, but there is no heart" [Proverbs 17:16]. And therefore, what the student receives is the aspect of lamed, the aspect of a tower soaring, as above. And this is the aspect of lamed, the language of a student who learns from the teacher. Thus, the teacher and the student, who are the aspect of upper chochmah and lower chochmah , are the aspect of lamed yud [ל-י]. And know that the entirety of the holy Torah is the aspect of upper chochmah , and all the wisdoms in the world are drawn from the aspect of lower chochmah . And when the wisdoms in the world that draw from lower chochmah are separated from the Torah and from Hashem [G-d], from the aspect of upper chochmah , like the student who does not want to understand what the teacher says, this is the aspect of the diminution of the moon, the aspect of the exile of the Shechinah. For every person, wherever he is, must connect his intellect from the place where he is to the Torah and to Hashem, who is the aspect of upper chochmah . But if he separates his intellect and his wisdom, Heaven forbid, from Hashem, this is the aspect of: "And a complainer separates the Chief" [Proverbs 16:28], who separates the Chief of the world and causes, Heaven forbid, the diminution of the moon, by not connecting lower chochmah with upper chochmah , that is, by not connecting the wisdoms of the world to Hashem and to the Torah, which is the aspect of upper chochmah , as above.

But true tzadikim connect lower chochmah with upper chochmah , for the conversation of true tzadikim , who speak and tell mundane stories, is very, very precious, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: "The conversation of Torah scholars needs study" [Avodah Zarah 19b]. For the true tzadik builds destroyed worlds and elevates lower chochmah and connects it to upper chochmah through his conversation and stories of his words, which he speaks with the masses. For the intellect of the masses, who do not connect it to Hashem, is separated from upper chochmah . But the true tzadik connects the intellect of the masses, even the intellect and wisdom of the wicked, to Hashem. And this is the matter of the tzadikim speaking with people who are not proper or even with idol-worshippers [but when he speaks with an idol-worshipper, then the tzadik extracts the good from him, and he remains empty and void, which is the aspect of what Moses did when he killed the Egyptian]. For when the tzadik speaks with the wicked and elevates their intellect and connects it to Hashem, then he elevates and connects their intellect from the place where they are to Hashem. For the true tzadik contracts his intellect and speaks with them with wondrous wisdom and with great effort and connects all the words to Hashem. And through this, he brings them to repentance. And this is the aspect of: "And they are beaten to your feet, they bear your words" [Deuteronomy 33:3]. And our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded: "These are Torah scholars who go and weary their feet from city to city and engage in the words of the Place" [Bava Basra 8a]. For the true tzadikim sometimes speak with the wicked and tell them about matters of wars and the like, matters of the world, but he clothes in this the great light of the Torah, for he clothes the light of the Torah in different garments, one from another, until he clothes it in these matters. And the light of the Torah is clothed in different combinations. For if the tzadik were to speak Torah explicitly with the wicked, he could become more corrupt and become more wicked, for: "The righteous walk in them, and transgressors stumble in them" [Hosea 14:10]. For if he merits, it becomes for him a potion of life; if he does not merit, it becomes for him a potion of death [Yoma 72b]. And therefore, if they were to reveal Torah to him as it is, he would become more corrupt, for it would become for him a potion of death, Heaven forbid, because he is far from the Torah. And therefore, the tzadikim must clothe the Torah in different combinations. And as we find with King Ptolemy, when he seated seventy-two elders, and Hashem placed in the heart of each one to clothe the Torah in different combinations, and they wrote: "G-d created in the beginning," etc. [Megillah 9a], as Rashi explained there, for if they had written the Torah as it is, he would have become more corrupt, etc. And therefore, the true tzadikim must speak mundane conversation with the masses and clothe the Torah in them, and they connect them through these words from the place where they are, for they are not far from these words and stories that the tzadik speaks with them. And through this, he connects them and elevates them to Hashem. And this is the aspect of his engaging in the words of the Place, that is, he speaks with each one according to his place, in the place where he is, and he bears those words and gives them to Hashem, for he connects them to their root, to the aspect of upper chochmah . Thus, the true tzadik connects lower chochmah with upper chochmah . And because of this, when the tzadik passes from the world, Heaven forbid , then there is great sorrow to Hashem, for Hashem does not desire the death of the wicked, but their good, that they merit to return in repentance. And the tzadik was connecting them and elevating them to Hashem and was returning them in repentance, as above. For he connects lower chochmah with upper chochmah , as above. And [in Sotah 13b]: When Moses our teacher died, the Holy One, blessed be He, cried out: "Woe, who will stand for Me with evildoers"—specifically for Me, the aspect of upper chochmah and lower chochmah , which are the aspect of lamed yud , the aspect of "li" [for Me]. That is, who will stand and elevate and connect the aspects of "li," which is lower chochmah with upper chochmah , with evildoers, that is, he elevates the lower chochmah from all the evils and wicked in the world and connects them to Hashem and elevates it to upper chochmah , which is the aspect of "li," the aspect of the connection of lower chochmah with upper chochmah , as above. For Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, certainly was very able to elevate the aspect of lower chochmah from all the evils and wicked in the world, as above. And therefore, the essence is to connect oneself to true tzadikim , for the tzadik elevates and connects lower chochmah to upper chochmah , as above. And then, from the diminution of the moon, the filling of the moon is made. And this is: "For behold, the kings met, they passed together"—when the kings are joined together in one will, then all the masters of judgment are subdued and removed from the world, etc. [Zohar, Vayigash , as above]. And then it is the aspect of: "And the wisdom of Solomon increased" [I Kings 5:14], and its translation: "And the moon increased," that is, the diminution of the moon is filled, as above. And then all judgments are sweetened, and all sins are atoned for [as brought in the Zohar above and in several places, that the essence of the sweetening of judgments and atonement of sins and the completion of all lights and the repair of all worlds is all through the connection of the lower world with the upper world, which are the aspects of lower chochmah and upper chochmah , as above, and all this is through the tzadik who connects lower chochmah with upper chochmah through his conversation that clothes the light of the Torah in stories of matters, as above]. And this is: " Vaydaber Elokim es"—the language of pairing and connection, as in: "They saw her speaking" [ Kesuvos 13a]. " Elokim es"—this is the aspect of lower chochmah and upper chochmah . " Elokim " is the aspect of lower chochmah , as is known. "Es" is the aspect of upper chochmah , the aspect of: "Es hashamayim " [see Tikkun 22]. That is, to pair and connect lower chochmah with upper chochmah , this is done through the aspect of: " Hadvarim ha’eleh leimor "—that is, through the tzadik who clothes these words, that is, the words of the Torah, he clothes them in stories of matters. " Leimor "—the language of clothing, as it is written: "He performed His word" [Lamentations 2:17], which means clothing. And through the tzadik clothing the light of the Torah in stories of matters, through this he connects lower chochmah with upper chochmah , as above. Blessed is Hashem forever, Amen and Amen.