סימן ב-ימי חנוכה

There — Letter Yud-Alef: "and this is the aspect of the battle of David and Goliath." And so on. The author says: this is what the Sages said — "and the Philistine drew near morning and evening" — in order to nullify them from the recitation of Shema in the morning and the evening — as elaborated in the discourse. And this is what the Sages said in the Midrash on the portion of Korach — regarding Dasan and Aviram — about whom it is said: "they went out standing — they went out blaspheming and reviling." And so on. And regarding Goliath it is said: "and he was blaspheming." And so on — as elaborated in the discourse.

There — in the above Letter: "'v'nasa zeh me'ha'eder' [and this one will carry from the flock]." And so on. One can say according to the plain meaning also — according to the reading [kri]: "v'nasa seh me'ha'eder" [and a lamb will be carried from the flock]. Meaning: the wild beasts wished to tear a soul from Israel — which is the aspect of tearing a lamb from the flock. And so on — as elaborated in the discourse. There — in the above Letter: "'v'nasa zeh me'ha'eder' [and this one will carry from the flock]." And so on. One can say according to the plain meaning also — according to the reading [kri]: "v'nasa seh me'ha'eder" [and a lamb will be carried from the flock]. Meaning: the wild beasts wished to tear a soul from Israel — which is the aspect of tearing a lamb from the flock. And so on — as elaborated in the discourse.

There: "'asa poshkantza' — meaning: charity." For the essential work of charity in the aspect of the raven [orev]. And so on. The meaning is: as above — that one must break the cruelty and convert it into compassion. And the beginning is — as elaborated in the discourse. There — in the above Letter: "know — and so on — if the revelation of the will is not strong and firm — meaning: if there is still doubt in the will." And so on — "the forehead of the serpent still has the power — G-d forbid — to swallow." And so on — as elaborated in the discourse.

There — in the above discourse — Letter Yud-Beis: "for the healing of the wound comes through several aspects." And so on. At first glance: the content of this passage and its connection to this above discourse is completely incomprehensible. And so on — as elaborated somewhat further below. And so too Rashi on Megillah 13, on the words "and if he was arrogant." Especially since the well-known Rabbinic teaching states: "If there is no Torah, there is no bread" — it follows that poverty in Torah leads to material poverty as well. There — same Letter — "For there is a way that seems straight to a person, but its end is the ways of death" [Proverbs 14]. This means: even if one has already merited to rectify all the character traits deriving from the four elements — nevertheless, as long as one has not confessed before the Torah scholar, one has not yet rectified what one damaged prior to this point. The evil buildings and configurations built through one's sins — committed before one merited to draw close to the Tzaddik — are still standing, and the Sitra Achra still has a hold and draws nourishment from them. Therefore one still does not know which path one is walking, for "there is a way that seems straight" — for the Sitra Achra can still overpower one and bring one down from one's level.

And this is the aspect of the washing and rinsing of the blood — that there should be no corruption or cloudiness in it. Meaning: that there should be no doubt at all in the will. For sometimes even when the wisdom of nature is subdued — and it seems that the will is revealed in its completeness — even so: sometimes there are still some droplets of blood — meaning: some trace of doubt remains in the will. And so on — as elaborated in the discourse. But when one confesses before the Torah scholar, through this the evil buildings and configurations are destroyed, and from them the Malchus d'Kedushah is built.

It has already been elaborated above: that this discourse was said on Shavuos 5569 which fell then on Monday. And on Motza'ei Shabbas — the first night of Shavuos — Rabbainu told a wondrous story. And so on — and the details of this will be elaborated somewhat below. There — in the above discourse — Letter Yud-Beis: "for the healing of the wound comes through several aspects." And so on. At first glance: the content of this passage and its connection to this above discourse is completely incomprehensible. And so on — as elaborated somewhat further below.

And see there further in the above conversation — where he concluded: "only there is something that improves as it ages — namely: another matter." And so on. In my humble opinion the meaning is: in the manner of what the Sages said — and so on — that there are things that improve as they age. And so on — as elaborated in the discourse. And the essential matter — the connection of this to the above discourse — seems in my humble opinion: for through this Rabbainu revealed the general connecting thread of the entire discourse — how this is connected and interwoven — this matter with that — and why it is fitting to say the matter of the healing of the wound here in the context of this discourse. And so on — as elaborated below.

📋 Translator's Summary — Likutay Tinyana Siman 4 (V'Es HaOrvim) Then the Tzaddik clarifies and separates for one the straight path according to the root of one's soul — as is also explained below in the aspect of: "I will lay waste mountains and hills… and I will lead the blind by a way they knew not." Section 6 of the discourse: "For the root of Malchus is fire [aish] — perhaps this means…" — as is explained in the [Kabbalistic] writings, that the essential building of Malchus is from the gevuros [forces of judgment], which are the aspect of fire.

The discourse Tik'u Emunah was said on Rosh Hashonoh 5570 which fell then on Monday and Tuesday. And there are many wondrous accounts connected to this matter of the discourse — and a portion of them will be elaborated below. There: "for the wisdom of nature — and so on — those who cling to the wisdom of nature for their own benefit." And so on. In my humble opinion the meaning is: for according to this — it follows: that the will they have for the wisdom of nature — and so on — is not from the root of the will at all. For it is only from their own benefit and self-interest. And so on — as elaborated in the discourse. See also the commentary on the liturgical poem HaMamlikh Melochim [He Who Crowns Kings] — in which the Name of the angel appointed over fire is alluded to. There — Section 9 of the discourse — "In the land of Mo'uv — this is the aspect of Malchus, for Dovid came from Mo'uv…" — Perhaps this alludes to the fact that through Moshe being buried there, from this was drawn the subduing of the Sitra Achra and the rectification of Malchus d'Kedushah — to the point that specifically from Mo'uv itself Dovid emerged. There — Section 9 — in the discourse of Rabbah bar bar Chanah: "He sat while clay was being fed into his nostrils — and this is the aspect of Israel's prayers…" For prayer is the aspect of Malchus, as is known. And the essential completion of prayer is when one merits, during prayer, hispashtus hagashmiyus [divesting of corporeality] — as is explained in Shulchan Oruch, Siman 98 — and to cleave oneself at that moment, at minimum, to the light of the Infinite. This too is the aspect of returning Malchus to its root as above. And as long as one has not merited to rectify Malchus and return it to its root, one is certainly still distant from the perfection of prayer and cannot perform one's service completely. There: "And he mentioned the three aspects from above downward…" — It seems the reason i s that these rectifications of vidduy [confession] and tzedakah [charity] must be engaged in constantly — even when one is not in the presence of the Tzaddik — only that one should be in hitkasherus [bond of connection] with the Tzaddik. There: "As it is said in the Haftorah of Bereishis [Isaiah 42]: 'I will lay waste mountains…'" — It seems this alludes to the fact that all of the Act of Creation was solely in order to reveal His sovereignty, as is explained elsewhere. And immediately thereafter it is written: "And the earth was tohu and vohu…" [Genesis 1] — and the Sages in Bereishis Rabbah, ch. 2, taught that this alludes to the four kingdoms of the Sitra Achra. The rectification is through "the spirit of G-d hovering" — this is the spirit of Mashiach — meaning: the Tzaddik who is the aspect of Moshe-Mashiach rectifies the Malchus and elevates it to its root, destroys the kingdoms of the Sitra Achra, and clarifies for each person the path according to the root of his soul — this is the aspect of "I will lay waste mountains and hills… and I will lead the blind by a way they knew not." And this is the aspect of "G-d said: Let there be light… and He separated…" — and so on through the entire order of Creation: showing each element of Creation its path according to its supernal root. There: "And sixty mechoz'in [cities] — an allusion to the sixty letters of Birkas Kohanim [the Priestly Blessing]…" — Perhaps this alludes to the merit of the blessings one receives in the presence of the Tzaddik, for his blessing is the aspect of: "The blessing of Hashem enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it" [Proverbs 10]. For ordinary wealth — the more one has, the more one desires and the more one is sorrowful — as the Sages taught: "One who has a hundred desires two hundred" [Koheles Rabbah 1:34], and: "More possessions, more worry" [Avos 2]. But through the blessing of the Tzaddik, which is the aspect of the blessing of Hashem, the sadness and desires are nullified. [See the author of Binyan on Bava Basra 116, who brings support for the custom of receiving the blessing of a sage and Tzaddik from the teaching: "Let him go to a wise man and ask for mercy for him, as it says: 'And a wise man will appease it'" [Bava Basra 116].] There: "But through the Israelite being aroused to repentance by the small creature in his nostrils… through his repentance he causes even those wicked ones to become a throne for holiness." — This means: this Israelite, before he merited to draw close to the Tzaddik, presumably had not yet rectified all the character traits deriving from the four elements. Yet he was not greatly troubled by this — only because he yearned to pray with kavvanah and could not, due to the confusions. Through this he was aroused to draw close to the Tzaddik, and thereby merited automatically to all the lofty and wondrous levels above — which had not even occurred to him. For he merited to rectify all the character traits of the four elements, and merited to destroy all the evil configurations in Malchus d'Sitra Achra and build from them specifically the building of Malchus d'Kedushah. And he merited to be included in the light of the Infinite, to cleave to Him in the aspect of ratzo v'shuv [running and returning] — until he merited to draw down the light of the oneness of the Infinite and His goodness, until he attained complete knowledge in the likeness of the World to Come. And through all this he caused a great rectification in the world at large — to the extent that even the wicked, who are at the back of holiness, became a throne for holiness, standing in service to the servants of Hashem that they may build the buildings of Malchus d'Kedushah. There: "For all four elements are beneath the sphere of the moon, and the moon is called by the name 'servant'…" — It seems: the evil within the four elements draws in its root from the aspect of the diminishment of the moon [mi'ut halevonah], as is known. And through this same source comes the even greater damage to Malchus — the aspect of the diminishment of the moon.