Running Commentary on Torah 10 — V'eleh ha'Mishpatim (Dances and Clapping)

Beginner: Torah 10 opens with the same pasuk as Torah 7 — **"V'eleh ha'mishpatim asher tasim lifneihem v'chu'"** (Shemos 21:1) — but will develop it in a completely different direction: this is the Purim-Torah about **rekudim and hamcha'as kaf** (dances and clapping of hands) as the sweetening of dinim, Mordechai and Esther as yadayim and raglayim, and the tzaddik of the generation as the ruach that nullifies ga'avah. Intermediate: Same pasuk as Torah 7 — **"V'eleh ha'mishpatim asher tasim lifneihem"** (Shem 21:1) — but developed differently: Purim-Torah about **rekudim + hamcha'as kaf** as sweetening of dinim; Mordechai/Esther = yadayim/raglayim; tzaddik = ruach nullifying ga'avah.

Beginner: **Section One.** The foundational teaching: when divine judgments (*dinim*) are threatening Israel, the way to sweeten and dissolve them is through *rekudim* (sacred dances) and *hamcha'as kaf* (clapping hand to hand). This is not metaphor or pious sentiment — clapping and dancing are direct physical-spiritual operations that act on the very structure of divine judgment. Intermediate: **א. Dinim sweetened through rekudim + hamcha'as kaf** — direct physical-spiritual operations on din.

Beginner: The entire first teaching in a single devastating line. **"When there are, chas v'shalom, **dinim** (judgments) on Israel — through **rekudim** (dances) and **hamcha'as kaf el kaf** (clapping hand to hand) is made the **hamtakas ha'dinim** (sweetening of the judgments)."** This is not metaphor. The Rebbe will demonstrate that clapping and dancing are **direct physical-spiritual operations** on the din-side of reality. Intermediate: **"When there are dinim on Israel — through **rekudim and hamcha'as kaf** is made the **hamtakas ha'dinim**."** Not metaphor — clapping and dancing are direct physical-spiritual operations on din.

Beginner: **Section Two.** For this divine sweetening to work, Hashem's sovereignty must be recognized beyond the Jewish people — even the nations of the world must know that there is a God who rules. This is the very essence of Hashem's *greatness* (*gadlus*): He is truly great only when His kingship reaches even those who were furthest from Him. Intermediate: **ב. Ikkar gadlus Hashem** = even the nations knowing He rules. Only through this is divine greatness complete.

Beginner: **"The essence of the greatness of the Holy One blessed be He is that **even the nations** know that there is Elokim ruling and governing."** Source: Zohar Yisro 69b — **"When Yisro came and said **'ki atah yadati ki gadol Hashem'** (Shemos 18:11), **'kdein isyaker v'is'alah shma ila'ah'** — 'then the supernal Name was honored and elevated.'"** Hashem's name becomes *bigger* when a non-Jew who previously served his own idols recognizes His supremacy. The Torah's project isn't only Jewish piety; it is the expansion of Hashem's kingship into the field of the nations. Intermediate: **Essence of Hashem's greatness = even the nations know He rules.** Zohar Yisro 69b: when Yisro said **"ki atah yadati ki gadol Hashem"** (Shem 18:11), **"isyaker v'is'alah shma ila'ah"**. The Name becomes *bigger* when a non-Jew recognizes His supremacy.

Beginner: **Section Three.** Of the three Patriarchs, Yaakov expressed Hashem's universal sovereignty most fully. Avraham called the Temple-site a *mountain* — high and distant. Yitzchak called it a *field* — open but still remote. Yaakov called it a *house* (*bayis*) — a home among people, accessible even to the nations. Through Yaakov's *bayis*, Hashem's Name is elevated and glorified throughout the whole world. Intermediate: **ג. Yaakov = bayis** (accessible to nations; Avraham=har, Yitzchak=sadeh). Through bayis, Name is elevated universally.

Beginner: **"But the nations — it is impossible for them to know Hashem's greatness except through the aspect of **Yaakov**"** — as it is written: **'Beis Yaakov, lechu v'neilcha b'or Hashem'** (Yeshayahu 2:5). **"Yaakov revealed Hashem's Elokus more than the other avos — because 'Avraham called it **har** (mountain); Yitzchak called it **sadeh** (field)'"** (Pesachim 88a). **"And **sadeh** is more *graspable* and more *needed for the world* than *har*. Yaakov called it **bayis** (house) — which is a settled place for people more than a field. Meaning: Yaakov called the place of the Beis ha'Mikdash (the place of tefillah) a **bayis** — because he raised tefillah from *har* and *sadeh* to the aspect of **bayis**, which is graspable for people more than har and sadeh — because in the aspect of **bayis**, even the nations have grasp, as it is written: 'כִּי בֵיתִי בֵּית תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכָל הָעַמִּים' (Yeshayahu 56:7) — 'for My house shall be called a house of prayer for **all the nations**.' And when it is in the aspect of bayis, **then the supernal Name is exalted**, as above."** **"And this is the peirush (Tehillim 48:2): 'גָּדוֹל ה' וּמְהֻלָּל מְאֹד' — 'Great is Hashem and exceedingly praised.'"** The Rebbe reads the pasuk as a question and answer: **"i.e., when is Hashem 'gadol'? When He is 'mehulal **me'od**' — praised from the **side of Death** — which is the aspect of the nations (as our Sages said [Bereishis Rabbah 9] on the pasuk (Bereishis 1:31): 'וְהִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד' — **'me'od' — this is the angel of death**)."** The letters of *me'od* = the angel of death (*adam → me'od*); thus 'praised from *me'od*' = praised from the furthest reach, from the death-realm itself, from the nations who are under its rule. **"When He is praised from them — then He is **gadol**, for that is the essence of His greatness."** And when does that happen? The verse's continuation: **"'b'ir Elokeinu, har kodsho' — 'in the city of our G-d, His holy mountain' — i.e., when the aspect of **har** is transformed into **ir Elokeinu** (city), which is a human settlement — the aspect of **bayis** — which is more graspable than har and sadeh — i.e., when one raises the aspect of tefillah from the aspect of har to the aspect of ir and bayis, when the nations also have hasagah, as above — then precisely 'gadol Hashem,' for that is the ikkar of His greatness yisbarech, when even the far ones know of Him yisbarech."** The whole theology of Kiddush Hashem: Hashem's *greatness* is a function of how far His recognition reaches. A Hashem known only by the inner circle is not yet *gadol*; He is *gadol* precisely when the *me'od* — the furthest edge, where death rules — is forced to admit Him. Intermediate: V'l'akku"m ee efshar lahem leida gedulaso shel HKB"H ki im al yedei bechinas **Yaakov** ("beis Yaakov lechu v'neilcha b'or Hashem" Yesh 2:5). Ki **Avraham kara'o har, Yitzchak kara'o sadeh** (Pes 88a) — v'sadeh meishag v'nitzrach la'olam yoser me'har. V'**Yaakov kara'o bayis** = makom yishuv livnei adam yoser mi'sadeh. Haynu she'Yaakov kara es makom ha'beis ha'mikdash (makom ha'tefillah) **bayis**, ki he'elah ha'tefillah me'har v'sadeh l'bechinas bayis — yesh bo tefisah l'bnei adam yoser mei'har v'sadeh. Ki bi'vechinas bayis yesh gam l'akku"m hasagah ("ki beisi beis tefillah yikarei l'chol ha'amim" Yesh 56:7). U'kshe'hu bi'vechinas bayis, k'din **asyakar shema ila'ah**. V'zeh peirush: (Teh 48:2) **"gadol Hashem u'mehulal me'od"** — eimasi gadol Hashem? Kshe'hu mehulal **me'od mi'sitra d'mosa** = bechinas akku"m (Be"R 9 al "v'hineh tov me'od" Ber 1:31: **me'od=malach ha'maves**). Kshe'hu mehulal mehem, azai hu **gadol**, ki hu ikkar gedulaso. V'eimasi hu mehulal mehem? **"B'ir Elokeinu, har kodsho"** — kshe'bechinas har na'aseh ir Elokeinu=yishuv bnei adam=bechinas bayis (meishag yoser mi'har v'sadeh). Haynu kshe'ma'alin ha'tefillah me'har li'vechinas ir u'vayis, she'az yesh gam l'akku"m hasagah — az dayka gadol Hashem, ki zeh ikkar gedulaso yisbarech, kshe'gam ha'rechokim yod'im mimeno yisbarech.

Beginner: **Section Four.** This elevation of prayer — from *mountain* through *field* to *house* — can only be accomplished through the *tzaddikim of the generation*, the righteous teachers who possess the real inner understanding of prayer. Those who are too proud to approach the tzaddik and rely instead on their own prayers are called *Avimelech* — a name encoding the phrase 'I shall rule' (*ana emloch*) — claiming for themselves the power that belongs only to the tzaddik. Intermediate: **ד. Only tzaddikim can raise prayer har→sadeh→bayis.** Ba'alei ga'avah who bypass tzaddik = Avimelech ("ana emloch").

Beginner: **"And this matter — to raise tefillah from the aspect of **har and sadeh** to the aspect of **bayis** (the aspect of 'Ir Elokeinu'), so that His Malchus be revealed also to the nations — is impossible to be done except through the **tzaddikei ha'dor**."** Chazal: **"'Mi sheyesh lo choleh b'soch beiso, yelech etzel chacham, vi'vakesh alav rachamim'"** (Bava Basra 116a) — 'one who has a sick person in his house, let him go to a chacham and request mercy for him.' **"For the essence of tefillah — only the tzaddikei ha'dor know."** **"For there are **ba'alei ga'avah** who do not want people to go to tzaddikim, and they say that *they themselves* can pray, and they prevent others — when they have tza'ar or a sick person — from going to tzaddikim. Of them it is said: **'hashev eishes ha'ish... ki navi hu, v'yispalel ba'adcha'"** (Bereshis 20:7) — 'restore the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you.' Now the Rebbe unpacks **Avimelech** as a cipher for the ba'al ga'avah: **"This ba'al ga'avah is designated by the name **Avimelech** — **avi** is a lashon of **ratzon** (desire), for he **wants** to rule; that is the meaning of 'Avimelech.' Because in truth **tzaddik moshel bi'tefillaso** (a tzaddik rules with his prayer), as it is written: **'tzaddik moshel [yiras Elokim]'** (Shmuel II 23:3) — but this ba'al ga'avah is haughty within himself, saying *he* is the one able to pray, *he* is the one who has the memshalah — therefore he is called Avimelech: **'ana emloch'** — 'I shall rule.'"** Every person who refuses the tzaddik and insists he can pray for himself is playing Avimelech — claiming the throne the tzaddik actually holds. Now the verse's cipher: **"And this is peirush: **'hashev eishes ha'ish'** — **eishes (אשת) = r"t **'Adonai s'fasai tiftach [pi u'fi yagid t'hilasecha]'"** (Tehillim 51:17) — this is the aspect of **tefillah**. I.e., **return the 'eishes' — the aspect of tefillah — to the tzaddik, 'ki navi hu'** — 'because he is a prophet.' For **'HKB"H mis'ta'eh li'tefillasan shel tzaddikim'** (Chullin 60b) — 'Hashem desires the tefillah of tzaddikim' — and He dispatches a tefillah **s'durah (arranged/fluent)** in the tzaddik's mouth, so that He may take pleasure in his tefillah."** **"And this: **'ki navi hu'** — lashon **'niv s'fasayim'** (fruit of the lips) — as Chazal said (Berachos 34b): **'borei niv s'fasayim'** — 'He creates the fruit of the lips' — **'if his tefillah is **shaguras b'fiv** (fluent in his mouth)' etc."** Prophecy and fluency are linked: the tzaddik's tefillah is *shagur* because Hashem put it in his mouth. **"And this: **'hashev' (השב) = r"t **har, sadeh, bayis** — this is a remez that the tzaddik's tefillah is in **sh'leimus** (completeness), raising it from the aspect of har and sadeh to the aspect of bayis, as above."** Three letters of the verb *hashev* — ה-ש-ב — encode the entire ladder: *hei* for *har* (the mountain of Avraham), *shin* for *sadeh* (the field of Yitzchak), *beis* for *bayis* (the house of Yaakov) — the movement the tzaddik performs with every tefillah. Intermediate: V'inyan zeh — l'ha'alos ha'tefillah mi'bechinas har v'sadeh li'vechinas bayis=bechinas ir Elokeinu, k'dei she'yisgaleh malchuso gam l'akku"m — ee efshar la'asos ki im al yedei **tzaddikei ha'dor** (B"B 116a: "mi she'yesh lo choleh b'soch beiso, yelech etzel chacham v'yivakesh alav rachamim"). Ki ikkar ha'tefillah einam yod'im ki im tzaddikei ha'dor. Ki yesh **ba'alei ga'avah** she'einam rotzim she'yelchu l'tzaddikim, v'omrim she'hen b'atzmam yecholim l'hispallel, u'monim gam acherim — alehem ne'emar "hashev eishes ha'ish...ki navi hu" (Ber 20:7). Ki ha'ba'al ga'avah mechuneh bi'leshon **Avimelech**: **avi** lashon ratzon, ki hu rotzeh limloch. Ki be'emes **tzaddik moshel bi'tefillaso** ("tzaddik moshel yir'as Elokim" ShB II 23:3), v'hu misga'eh b'atzmo she'yachol l'hispallel v'yesh lo ha'memshalah — al ken mechuneh b'shem Avimelech: "ana emloch." V'zeh peirush "hashev eishes ha'ish": **eishes=r"t "Adonai s'fasai tiftach"** (Teh 51:17)=bechinas tefillah. Haynu hashev eishes=bechinas ha'tefillah la'tzaddik, ki navi hu. Ki **"HKB"H mis'ta'eh li'tefillasan shel tzaddikim"** (Chul 60b), u'meshager tefillah s'durah b'fiv k'dei she'yehaneh mi'tefillaso. V'zeh **"ki navi hu"**=lashon **niv s'fasayim** (Ber 34b: "borei niv s'fasayim — im shaguras tefillaso b'fiv"). V'zeh **hashev=r"t har-sadeh-bayis** — remez she'tefillas ha'tzaddik bi'sh'leimus, she'ma'aleh osah mi'bechinas har v'sadeh li'vechinas bayis.

Beginner: **"But these *ba'alei ga'avah* hold back the *ta'avah* of Hashem yisbarach — for they *do not ask tzaddikim* to pray over them — because they think: we have *fasted and afflicted ourselves*, and by this we are tzaddikim."** The prideful faster believes his *own* self-affliction is his own *kaparah* — no need to bother the tzaddik. Rabbeinu cuts right through it: **"But the truth is not so. For all the *ta'aniyos* they have fasted is only like a *sack that has many holes* — and when one empties the sack, nevertheless the holes remain."** The sack-of-holes image: fasting *drains* the ta'avos for the moment, but because the sack is *full of holes* (bad middos, unresolved roots), the next morning the ta'avos re-enter through the same openings. *Ta'anis without tzaddik = leaking sack.* **"And the body is called a *sack*, as the Tanna said (Shabbos 152a): 'שִׁינָּנָא, שְׁרִי שַׂקָּךְ' — 'sharp-toothed one, untie your sack'"** — Rabi Yehudah ha'Nasi in old age addressing the body as *sakach* (your sack). The body itself *is* a *sak*. **"And if they looked at themselves [honestly], they would see — after all the ta'aniyos — all their ta'avos are *still bound into their sack*, meaning into their body."** **"And not only their *own* ta'avos remain bound in their body — but also *their father's ta'avos*, which are with them *from the hour of conception*, because *their father did not sanctify himself at the time of zivug* — that too is still bound in their body."** A shattering point: some of the ta'avos in a person are *not even his own*. They are *inherited ta'avah-tangles* from the un-sanctified moment of his conception, *still tied into his sack-body*. Fasting cannot touch what was never even *generated* by this person. **"And certainly if they saw all this, a *great trembling* would fall upon them — for they would see how they stand at a *base and low madreigah*."** Seeing the sack-of-holes and the *paternal-ta'avos-you-inherited* would *paralyze* the ga'avah. The only cure is the tzaddik who *alone* can re-stitch the sack-holes and uproot the paternal-ta'avos. **"And this is the *peirush* (Bereshis 42:35): 'וַיְהִי הֵם מְרִיקִים שַׂקֵּיהֶם, וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ צְרוֹר כַּסְפּוֹ בְּשַׂקּוֹ'"** — "and it was, as they were emptying their sacks — behold, each man's bundle of silver was in his sack." The story of Yosef's brothers discovering their money returned to them inside their emptied sacks — Rabbeinu reads it as a *prophetic parable of the ba'al ta'anis*. **"After all the ta'aniyos — which is the *meirikah-of-the-sack* (emptying), aspect of the body — *still* — *v'hineh ish tzror kaspo* — his *kesef* (money, but also from *kisufa*=longing/ta'avah) and his *ta'avah* is *tied-and-bundled* into his sak, into his body."** **"*'Va'yiru es tzroros kaspeihem, heimah va'avihem'* — meaning: not only were their *own* bundles of kesef [ta'avos] still there; but *heimah va'avihem* — *they and their father* — meaning the ta'avos of their *father* are also with them — *heimah va'avihem* — they too did not fall off them."** The pasuk says *"heimah v'avihem"* ("they and their father") — which *on p'shat* means *'they and their father *saw* them'*, but Rabbeinu reads *heimah* as *'the kaspei-ta'avos of them *and of their father*'* — both layers, the personal and the inherited, appear *inside* the emptied sack. **"'*Va'yira'u*' — for *trembling* fell upon them. And then *they did not want to rule and be kings*"** — the seeing-of-sack-with-paternal-ta'avos produced *fear* (cognate to *yir'ah*) which *cured* their ga'avah. They *stopped wanting to be king*. The ba'al ta'anis who *saw* what the tzaddik sees *gives up ga'avah* and runs *to* the tzaddik. Intermediate: **"Ta'anis without tzaddik = sack-with-holes"**. • Ba'alei ga'avah don't ask tzaddik to pray — think their own ta'aniyos = tzidkus. • Reality: body=sak (**Shabbos 152a** "שיננא שרי שקך"), full of holes; ta'aniyos empty it but ta'avos re-enter. • Bound-in: own ta'avos + **father's ta'avos from moment of conception** (aviv lo niskaddesh b'shaas zivug). • Prophetic parable **Ber 42:35** "ויהי הם מריקים שקיהם והנה איש צרור כספו בשקו": meirikim=ta'aniyos; tzror kaspo=ta'avos still bundled in sack-body. • "ויראו את צרורות כספיהם *המה ואביהם*" = their ta'avos + **their father's** still present; *vayira'u* = trembling → they stop wanting to rule. • Moral: see sack truthfully → give up ga'avah → run to tzaddik.

Beginner: **"And this is the peirush: **'Vayomer lahem Yaakov avihem: osi shikaltem, Yosef einenu...v'Shimon einenu, v'es Binyamin tikachu, alai hayu chulanah'"** (Bereshis 42:36). Yaakov's cry over his sons — **"'osi shikaltem, Yosef einenu'** — this is a hint to the **tochachas ha'sechel** — the rebuke of the intellect to the ba'alei ga'avah who want to aggrandize themselves."** **"Yaakov is the aspect of **sechel** — as Onkelos translates (Bereshis 27:36): **'vayak'veni'** as **'v'chakmani'** ('he outsmarted me'). And: **'avihem'** — **'av b'chochmah'** (Megillah 13a). I.e., the sechel rebukes them and says: **'osi shikaltem'** — you have made me childless of chochmah — because **'kol hamisga'eh, chochmaso mistaleket mimenu'** (Pesachim 66b) — 'whoever becomes haughty, his wisdom departs from him.'"** **"'Yosef einenu'** — this is the aspect of **tikkun ha'me'us** (fixing the coinage/currency) — i.e., you have **not yet repaired the coinage**, which is in disgrace and contempt, and you should be embarrassed because of it. For the tikkun ha'me'us is the aspect of Yosef — on the name: **'asaf Elokim es cherpasi'** (Bereshis 30:23) — 'Elokim has gathered in my disgrace.'"** The ba'al ga'avah still has untikkun-ed *me'us* clinging to him — the **cherpah** that Yosef-energy is designed to gather away. **"'V'Shimon einenu'** — i.e., by means of **not having the aspect of Yosef, you have no aspect of Shimon.** And Shimon is the aspect of **'ki shama Hashem ki s'nu'ah anochi'"** (Bereishis 29:33) — 'for Hashem heard that I was hated' — **"because **you are not hated** — for on account of your not having fixed yourself, certainly you cannot rebuke others, for they will say to you: **'koshet atzmecha t'chilah'** (Bava Metzia 107b) — 'first adorn yourself.' And therefore you are not hated — for **the rebuker is hated**, as Chazal said (Kesubos 105b): **'hai tzorva me'rabanan d'me'rachami leh bnei masa — lav mishum d'ma'ali t'fei, ela mishum d'lo mochach l'hu b'milei di'shmaya'** — 'if a Torah scholar is beloved by his townspeople — it is not because he is better, but because he doesn't rebuke them on matters of heaven.' It turns out that **the rebuker is hated** — and you, unable to rebuke, are *not* hated — therefore you do not have Shimon."** The syllogism is biting: No self-tikkun (no Yosef) → no rebuking others → no being hated → no Shimon. The very popularity a ba'al ga'avah enjoys is diagnostic of missing Yosef. **"'V'es Binyamin tikachu'** — this indicates **gadlus** (grandeur/greatness) — for Rashi explains (Bereshis 35:18): Binyamin — on the name of Eretz Yisrael, **'ben yamin'** (son of the south/right), and **Eretz Yisrael is the highest of all lands** (Zevachim 54b). I.e., it is not enough that you lack all these aspects (Yosef, Shimon) — on top of that, **'v'es Binyamin tikachu'** — you take for yourselves **gadlus**!"** You've failed the tikkun, failed the tochachah, and now you're grabbing the Binyamin-crown of greatness. **"And this is the sealing-word of the sechel rebuking them: **'alai hayu chulanah'** — 'upon me has it all fallen' — for all of it falls upon me, because **kol ha'misga'eh, chochmaso mistaleket mimenu**"** — when the ba'al ga'avah rises, the sechel (which is Yaakov/aveihem) goes into mourning: *osi shikaltem* — you have bereaved me of my own children (my Yosef, my Shimon, my rebuke-ability). *Alai hayu chulanah* — the ga'avah-collapse of chochmah falls on the sechel itself. Intermediate: V'zeh peirush: "vayomer lahem Yaakov avihem: osi shikaltem, Yosef einenu" (Ber 42:36) — remez al **tochachas ha'sechel** la'ba'alei ga'avah ha'rotzim l'hisgadel. Ki Yaakov=bechinas **sechel** (Onkelos Ber 27:36: "vayak'veni"="v'chakmani"). V'"avihem"="av b'chochmah" (Meg 13a). Haynu ha'sechel mochiach osam: "osi shikaltem" — ki "kol hamisga'eh, chochmaso mistaleket mimenu" (Pes 66b). "Yosef einenu"=bechinas **tikkun ha'me'us** — adayin lo tikkantem ha'me'us she'hu l'cherpah u'l'kalon, v'yesh lachem l'hisbayesh me'chamaso, ki tikkun ha'me'us=bechinas Yosef ("asaf Elokim es cherpasi" Ber 30:23). "V'Shimon einenu" — al yedei she'ein lecha bechinas Yosef, ein lecha bechinas Shimon="ki shama Hashem ki s'nu'ah anochi" (Ber 29:33). Ki atah einecha s'nu, ki me'chamas she'lo tikkanta es atzmecha bodai einecha yachol l'hochiach acherim (ki yom'ru lecha: "koshet atzmecha t'chilah" B"M 107b). V'al ken einecha s'nu, ki **ha'mochiach s'nu** (Kes 105b: "hai tzorva me'rabanan d'me'rachami leh bnei masa — lav mishum d'ma'ali t'fei, ela mishum d'lo mochach l'hu b'milei di'shmaya"). "V'es Binyamin tikachu"=moreh al **gadlus**, ki Rashi (Ber 35:18) peirush Binyamin al shem EY, "ben yamin," v'EY gavohah mi'kol ha'aratzos (Zev 54b). Haynu lo dai she'ein lachem kol ha'bechinos ha'llu, im kol zeh — v'es Binyamin tikachu, she'atem lokchim l'atzmechem **gadlus**. V'haynu d'sayem ha'sechel ha'mochiach osam: "alai hayu chulanah" — ha'kol nofel alai, ki **kol hamisga'eh, chochmaso mistaleket mimenu**.

Beginner: **"ה."** **"The **eitzah ha'ye'utzah** (advised counsel) to nullify **ga'avah — which is avodah zarah** — as it is written: **'to'avas Hashem kol gvah lev'** (Mishlei 16:5) (as Chazal expounded Sotah 4b) — **the main way is through hiskarvus l'tzaddikim**."** Source from Tikkunim (tikkun 21, 48b): **"'bi'teru'ah d'ihu rucha, is'avir el acher'** — 'with **teru'ah** (the shofar-blast) which is **ruach**, the **el acher** (strange god) is nullified.'"** **"And tzaddik is the aspect of **rucha**, as it is written: **'ish asher ruach bo'** (Bamidbar 27:18) — and through him is subdued **ruach gevoha** (the high spirit), **el acher** — and from **acher** is made **echad** (**אחר → אחד**), because he is the **kotza d'os daled** (the thorn of the letter dalet) (Tikkun 21, 55b) — from which are the four ruchos, as it is written: **'me'arba ruchos bo'i ha'ruach'** (Yechezkel 37:9)."** **"And this language of **teru'ah** is lashon of **'tero'em b'shevet barzel'** (Tehillim 2:9) — breaking them."** Intermediate: **Eitzah against ga'avah-as-AZ** ("to'avas Hashem kol gvah lev," Mishlei 16:5; Sotah 4b) = **hiskarvus l'tzaddikim**. Tikkun 21 48b: **teru'ah = ruach; through ruach, el acher is nullified**. Tzaddik = ruach ("ish asher ruach bo," Bam 27:18). **אחר → אחד** by adding the **kotza d'os ד** (Tikkun 21 55b), from which arise 4 ruchos ("me'arba ruchos bo'i ha'ruach," Yech 37:9). **Teru'ah** also = **"tero'em b'shevet barzel"** (Teh 2:9) — breaking.

Beginner: **Section Six.** The mechanism: the *ruach* (spirit) living in the heart of the tzaddik. This inner ruach flows through all twelve joints — six in the arm, six in the leg — generating both the dance of the feet (*rekudim*) and the clapping of the hands (*hamcha'as kaf*). Through the tzaddik-as-ruach, the feet are elevated (nullifying pride and idolatry) and the illumination of the hands is revealed (nullifying heresy and unbelief), thereby sweetening all divine judgments. Intermediate: **ו. Ruach shebalev generates rekudim+hamcha'as kaf** via 12 joints. Tzaddik=ruach → feet elevated (bitul ga'avah/AZ) + hands revealed (bitul k'firos) → dinim sweetened.

Beginner: Now the heart of Purim. **"This is the aspect of **rekudin u'hamcha'as kaf** (dancing and clapping) — because rekudin and hamcha'as kaf are drawn from the aspect of the **ruach in the lev** (spirit in the heart) — as can be seen empirically: through **simchas ha'lev** (joy of the heart) one dances and claps hand to hand."** **"As brought in the Tikkunim (Tikkun 21, 51b): **'v'hai rucha nashiv b'shis prakin d'd'ra'a u'v'shis prakin d'shokin'** — 'and this ruach blows through the six joints of the arm and the six joints of the leg' — and this is the aspect of hamcha'as kaf and the aspect of rekudin."** **"And this is the aspect of: **'libo nasah es raglav'** (Bereshis Rabbah, Vayetzei 70) — 'his heart lifted his legs' — i.e., by means of the ruach in the heart come the dancing. That is, by means of the **tzaddik** (who is the aspect of ruach, as above), **ga'avah is nullified** — as it is written: **'al tevo'eni regel ga'avah'** (Tehillim 36:12) — 'let not the foot of pride come against me' — and **avodah zarah is nullified**, as it is written: **'v'rachatzu ragleichem'** (Bereshis 18:4) — 'and wash your feet' — **'zeh avodah zarah'** (Bava Metzia 86b, and brought in Rashi there)."** The legs are the vehicle of both ga'avah and avodah zarah; when the ruach in the heart lifts them into dance, both klipos are washed off. **"And when the **raglayim are elevated** by means of the rekudin — the aspect of **'nasah libo es raglav'** — and **ga'avah is nullified** (i.e., avodah zarah) — by this, **dinim are sweetened**. Because **'kol zman she'yesh avodah zarah ba'olam, charon af ba'olam'** (Sifrei, Re'eh) — 'whenever there is avodah zarah in the world, charon af is in the world' — and when avodah zarah is removed, charon af is removed and chasadim are drawn; then the raglayim are in the aspect of **'raglei chasidav'** (Shmuel I 2:9) — 'the feet of His pious ones' — i.e., in the aspect of **chasadim** — aspect of **'chasdei David hane'emanim'** (Yeshayahu 55:3) — **'ne'emanim' dayka** — for the heresies and denials have been nullified."** *Ne'emanim* is the signature: once minus is gone, the chasadim become *faithful*, because there is no heretic-voice left to contradict them. **"And this is also the aspect of **hamcha'as kaf** (clapping). Because by means of the ruach, the **illumination of the hands** is revealed — as it is written (Shir ha'Shirim 5:2): **'kol dodi dofek'** — 'the voice of my Beloved knocks' — **'dofek'** is the aspect of **ruach**, as brought in the Tikkunim (Tikkun 25, 68a). And next to it: **'dodi shalach yado min ha'chor'** (Shir ha'Shirim 5:4) — 'my Beloved sent His hand from the hole' — this is the aspect of **the revelation of the illumination of the hands** — i.e., the aspect of **hamcha'as kaf** — and then **avodah zarah** (i.e., **k'firos**, heresies) **is nullified**."** The very image — *kol dodi dofek* (voice knocking = ruach/pulse) directly followed by *dodi shalach yado* (hand extending through the chor = hisgalus yadayim) — is Shir ha'Shirim's encoding of the pulse-to-hand-flash event that happens in clapping. **"And this is the aspect of **'va'yehi yadav emunah'** (Shemos 17:12) — 'and his hands were faith' — at Amalek's defeat."** Moshe's raised hands weren't magical — they were the hisgalus yadayim that kills k'firos. **"It turns out that by means of the **tzaddik** (the aspect of **ruach shebalev**), the illumination of the hands and feet is revealed — i.e., the aspect of rekudin and hamcha'as kaf — and **ga'avah v'kefiros are nullified**, and **emunah is multiplied**; and then it is fulfilled: **'ragli amdah b'mishor'** (Tehillim 26:12) — 'my foot stands on even ground' — which is the aspect of **emunah**. Because **minus is the aspect of 'natayu raglai'** (Tehillim 73:2) — 'my feet were nearly slipping' — as Asaf said there — about whom it is said there that his heart was drawn to minus, as explained there; and **'ragli amdah b'mishor'** indicates emunah — and then it is fulfilled: **'va'yehi yadav emunah.'**"** The whole Purim-circuit: ruach in heart → raglayim elevated (rekudin) + yadayim revealed (hamcha'as kaf) → ga'avah + k'firos annihilated → emunah confirmed → Moshe's hands, Asaf's feet, David's pulse — all aligned. Intermediate: V'zeh bechinas **rekudin u'hamcha'as kaf**. Ki rekudin v'hamcha'as kaf nimshachin mi'bechinas **ruach shebalev**, k'nir'eh b'chush, ki al yedei simchas ha'lev hu merakeid u'makeh kaf el kaf. V'ka'muva b'Tikkunim (Tik 21, 51b): "v'hai rucha nashiv b'shis prakin d'd'ra'a u'v'shis prakin d'shokin" — hi bechinas hamcha'as kaf u'vechinas rekudin. V'zehu bechinas: **"libo nasah es raglav"** (B"R Vayetzei 70) — al yedei ha'ruach shebalev ba'im ha'rekudin. Haynu al yedei ha'tzaddik she'hu bechinas ruach, nisbatel ha'ga'avah ("al tevo'eni regel ga'avah" Teh 36:12), v'nisbatel ha'avodah zarah ("v'rachatzu ragleichem" Ber 18:4=av"z, B"M 86b). U'kshe'nis'aleh ha'raglin al yedei ha'rekudin (bechinas "nasah libo es raglav") v'nisbatel ga'avah=av"z — al yedei zeh **nimtakin ha'dinim**. Ki "kol zman she'yesh av"z ba'olam, charon af ba'olam" (Sifrei Re'eh); u'kshe'nis'aveir ha'av"z, nis'aveir charon af v'nimshachin chasadim, v'azai ha'raglin b'bechinas **raglei chasidav** (Sh"A II 2:9) = chasadim = bechinas **"chasdei David ha'ne'emanim"** (Yesh 55:3) — "ha'ne'emanim" dayka, ki nisbatlu ha'minus v'ha'k'firos. V'gam zeh bechinas **hamcha'as kaf**: al yedei ha'ruach nisgaleh **he'aras ha'yadayim** ("kol dodi dofek" SS 5:2; "dofek"=ruach, Tik 25 68a; u'samich lah "dodi shalach yado min ha'chor" SS 5:4=hisgalus he'aras ha'yadayim=hamcha'as kaf), v'azai nisbatel av"z=k'firos. V'zeh bechinas **"va'yehi yadav emunah"** (Sh 17:12). Nimtza, al yedei ha'tzaddik=ruach shebalev, nisgaleh he'aras ha'yadayim v'ha'raglayim=rekudin u'hamcha'as kaf, v'nisbatel ga'avah v'k'firos v'nis'rabeh emunah. V'azai nis'kayem **"ragli amdah b'mishor"** (Teh 26:12)=bechinas emunah. Ki ha'minus=bechinas **"natayu raglai"** (Teh 73:2) — ne'emar sham al she'hisi'o libo l'minus; "v'ragli amdah b'mishor" moreh al emunah, v'azai nis'kayem "va'yehi yadav emunah."

Beginner: **Section Seven.** Torah itself has the same hand-and-foot structure: the *revealed* dimension of Torah (*nigleh* — the explicit laws, engraved on the Tablets) corresponds to the *hands* ('my Beloved sent His hand...'), and the *hidden* dimension (*nistar* — Kabbalah, like the thigh that is concealed) corresponds to the *legs*. The totality of Torah is called *lev* (heart) — the seat of the ruach that flows through both. Intermediate: **ז. Torah = yadayim (nigleh) + raglayim (nistar).** Totality = lev; ruach flows through both dimensions.

Beginner: **"And the Torah is also the aspect of **yadayim v'raglayim**, because there is in the Torah **nigleh v'nistar**."** **"**Nigleh** is the aspect of **yadayim** — as it is written: **'dodi shalach yado min ha'chor'** (Shir HaShirim 5:4) — '**min ha'chor**' = **'charus al ha'luchos'** (Shemos 32:16 — 'engraved upon the tablets') — which is in nigleh."** **"And **nistar** is the aspect of **raglayim**, as Chazal said (Sukkah 49b): **'chamuki yerechaich'** — 'the curves of your thighs' (Shir 7:2) — **'mah yerech b'seter'** — as the thigh is hidden — etc."** **"And the totality of the Torah is called **lev** — which begins with **beis** and ends with **lamed** (ב...ל = lev) — for there is the **mishkan ha'rucha** that blows through the six joints of the arm and the six joints of the legs — i.e., through **nigleh v'nistar**."** Intermediate: **Torah = yadayim + raglayim** (nigleh + nistar). Nigleh = yadayim (**"dodi shalach yado min ha'chor,"** Shir 5:4; chor = **charus** on the luchos, Shem 32:16). Nistar = raglayim (**"chamuki yerechaich,"** Shir 7:2; Sukkah 49b: "mah yerech b'seter"). Totality = **lev** (בית→למד); the ruach blows through 12 joints = nigleh+nistar.

Beginner: **Section Eight.** The Purim story is this entire Torah enacted in history. Haman literally made himself a divine idol — he embodies the *avodah zarah* of this Torah. Moshe Rabbeinu is the cosmic nullifier of all idol-worship — his very name in gematria equals *charon af* (divine wrath), meaning he absorbs and stills that wrath. Mordechai represents the *hands* of Torah (freedom, *dror*), Esther represents the *legs* (hidden, like the thigh). Together they re-enact the yadayim-and-raglayim circuit that defeats Haman's AZ. Intermediate: **ח. Purim = AZ-vs-tzaddik Torah in history.** Haman=AZ. Moshe=charon af nullifier (gematria). Mordechai=yadayim (dror/freedom). Esther=raglayim (nistar/hidden).

Beginner: **"And this is the aspect of *Mordechai and Esther, and Haman* — aspects of *Purim* — aspect of the *goral* that Haman cast — aspect of the *omer seorim*"** — Rabbeinu suddenly turns the entire Korach / ba'al-ga'avah shiur into a Purim-shiur. **"For Haman is the aspect of *avodah zarah*, as Chazal said (Megillah 10b) — that *he made himself avodah zarah*."** Megillah 10b on Haman's decree to bow to him: *mi'ez panav v'nasa atzmo k'avodah zarah* — Haman *literally* paraded himself as a god. Haman = AZ-in-human-form. **"And for this he cast *pur hu ha'goral* in the *month that Moshe died* (ibid. 13b)"** — Megillah 13b: when Haman's lot landed on *Adar* he rejoiced, for *Adar is the month in which Moshe Rabbeinu died*. **"Because *Moshe nullifies avodah zarah*"** — Moshe is the cosmic-counterweight to AZ. **"And for this he was buried *mul Beis Pe'or* — in order to nullify the avodah zarah that is in Pe'or, as Chazal said (Sotah 14a) — and see there in Tosfos"** — Sotah 14a: Moshe's gravesite was deliberately placed *opposite* the shrine of Pe'or (the most degraded AZ, Bamidbar 25) so that *each time Pe'or ascends to accuse, Moshe's grave arises and *silences it*. The gravesite is an *eternal AZ-neutralizer*. **"For *Moshe = gematria charon af* (as brought in *Megaleh Amukos*, ofan 137)"** — משה = 345; חרון אף = 345 (the sum of *charon*=264 + *af*=81 in the Megaleh Amukos's accounting). Moshe *is* the *charon af* — he *neutralizes* the divine wrath by *absorbing it*. **"Because he *nullifies the charon af of avodah zarah*"** — AZ causes *charon af* in the world (Devarim 6:14-15 *pen yichareh af Hashem*); Moshe = the built-in *af-nullifier*. **"Because he *received the Torah*, which is the aspect of *yadin v'raglin* (hands and feet), as above — through which avodah zarah is nullified, as above."** Torah's hands-and-feet structure (the 248-eivarim-mirrored structure) is the very *anti-AZ* mechanism — for AZ is precisely *useless-hands* (Tehillim 115:5-7 *yadayim lahem v'lo yemishun*). Torah-yadin = *real* yadin; AZ-yadin = *false* yadin. **"And therefore he cast *pur in the month that Moshe died* — for he thought *Moshe has already died, the nullifier of the power of avodah zarah — and there is no longer anyone who can nullify the power of avodah zarah*."** The Haman-lottery-logic is decoded: Haman understood his AZ *could only be defeated by a Moshe-type anti-AZ-tzaddik*. When the *pur* fell on *Adar-the-Moshe-death-month*, Haman *exulted* — for he believed the *anti-AZ-force had been structurally vacated from the cosmos*. **The Purim-story is, for Rabbeinu, structurally *the same* story as the ba'al-ta'anis story**: a ga'avah-AZ-power (Haman parading as god) meets the tzaddik's ruach (Mordechai-Esther below) which *resurrects* the Moshe-anti-AZ function. The ba'alei-ga'avah-fasters of ois 7 are *internal Haman-figures*; the tzaddik they refuse to approach is the *internal Moshe*. Intermediate: **Mordechai/Esther/Haman/Purim as the AZ-vs-tzaddik shiur**. • Haman=AZ: **Megillah 10b** — made himself AZ. • Pur fell on month Moshe died: **Megillah 13b** (Adar). • Moshe=AZ-nullifier; buried **mul Beis Pe'or** to nullify Pe'or-AZ (**Sotah 14a** + Tosfos). • Moshe=gematria **charon af** (*Megaleh Amukos* ofan 137): משה=345=חרון אף. • Moshe nullifies charon-af-of-AZ because he received Torah=yadin+raglin (anti-AZ — AZ=useless-yadim **Teh 115:5**). • Haman's logic: cast pur in Moshe-death-month, thinking the anti-AZ-force is structurally vacated. • Parallel to ois 7: ba'alei-ga'avah-fasters=internal Haman; tzaddik they refuse=internal Moshe.

Beginner: **"But Mordechai and Esther had the power to nullify Haman's avodah zarah — and for this, in their days **Israel received the Torah anew** — as Chazal said (Shabbos 88a): **'kimu v'kiblu — kimu mah she'kiblu kvar'** — 'they established and accepted — they established what they had already accepted.'"** **"And this: **'kimu v'kiblu'** — **'kimu'** (they established — from *kam*, 'to stand') is the aspect of **raglayim** (legs), and **'kiblu'** (they received) is the aspect of **yadayim** (hands) — and this is the aspect of the **Torah itself**, as above."** Legs do the *standing*; hands do the *receiving* — the Purim second-reception of Torah is the re-acquisition of yadayim and raglayim in their Torah-capacity. **"And this is the aspect of Mordechai and Esther. **'Mordechai = mar dror'** (Chullin 139b) — 'pure myrrh' — and **'dror' = lashon cheirus (freedom)** — this is the aspect of **yadayim**, as it is written: **'dodi shalach yado min ha'chor'** — 'my Beloved sent His hand from the chor' — as above. And **Esther** is the aspect of **shokayim** (thighs/legs) — **'mah yerech b'seter'** — 'like a thigh, in concealment' — as above."** Mordechai-dror = hand/freedom; Esther-seter = leg/concealment — the Purim pair rebuilds the yadayim-raglayim circuit that carries ruach ha'kodesh. **"And this is the lashon of **Purim** — i.e., the nullification of avodah zarah — as it is written: **'purah darachti l'vadi u'me'amim ein ish iti'** (Yeshayahu 63:3) — 'I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no man was with Me.'"** Purim = *purah* = Hashem's solo winepress-stomp of the nations — the cosmic event that Mordechai and Esther localize in Shushan. **"And through the illumination of Mordechai and Esther — i.e., the aspect of **yadayim v'raglayim** — the **k'firos were nullified** and **emunah increased** in the world through them — as it is written (Esther 2:7): **'va'yehi omen es Hadassah'** — 'and he was raising/nursing Hadassah' — and of her it is written (2:20): **'ka'asher haysah b'omnah ito'** — 'as when she was in his upbringing' — for **both of them are the aspect of emunah**"** (see Tikkun 21, 57–58, and Midrash Rabbah Shir ha'Shirim on 'zos komaseich'). **"And this occurred by means of the **ruach**, as above."** **"And this is the aspect of (Megillah 7a): **'Esther b'ruach ha'kodesh ne'emrah'** — 'Esther was said with ruach ha'kodesh' — i.e., the aspect of **'libo nasah es raglav'** — because the ikkar of akku"m depends on her, for she is the aspect of **raglayim**, as it is written: **'ragleha yordos maves'** (Mishlei 5:5) — 'her feet go down to death' — and therefore the **ikkar tikkun of avodah zarah is through her**."** Which is why Chazal's statement **'Esther b'ruach ha'kodesh ne'emrah'** is so pointed: **"Although in truth tikkun of avodah zarah is also through Mordechai as above, only because the ikkar of avodah zarah hangs on her, therefore through her is the ikkar of the tikkun. And for this reason the **Megillah is called by Esther's name** — and therefore specifically **'Esther — ruach ha'kodesh ne'emrah'** — because the ruach is in the lev, and through it the illumination of the hands and feet is revealed, but the ikkar depends on the feet — the aspect of Esther."** **"And this is the aspect of **omer se'orim** (barley omer). **Omer** — this is the aspect of **Mordechai — 'ayin mar, mar dror'** — dror is lashon cheirus — i.e., the aspect of **'charus al ha'luchos'** (Shemos 32:16) (see Tikkun 55, 88b) — as Chazal said (Eruvin 54a): **'al tikra charus, ela cheirus'** — 'do not read engraved but free' — which is the aspect of the **Torah revealed (b'nigleh)** — which is the aspect of **'ayin b'ayin'** (Bamidbar 14:14) — 'eye to eye.' **Se'orim** is the aspect of **Esther b'ruach ha'kodesh**, as it is written: **'ki'se'irim alei desheh'** (Devarim 32:2) — 'like storm-winds upon the grass' — which is lashon **ruach**."** Barley-omer cracked open: **omer=ayin-mar**=Mordechai's bitter-myrrh pupil (ayin=eye) reading the *charus* of the Torah; **se'orim=se'ir**-winds=Esther's ruach ha'kodesh. One lifted sheaf holds the entire Purim. **"And for this, when Haman came to Mordechai, he found him engaged in **omer se'orim** — and [Mordechai] said to him: **'your *omer se'orim* has come against me'** — and [Mordechai] defeated him and his sons, as explained in the Midrash (Esther Rabbah 10, Megillah 16a). Because by means of **omer se'orim** — which is the aspect of **yadayim v'raglayim**, the aspect of **hamcha'as kaf u'rekudin** — avodah zarah (which is the aspect of Haman, aspect of ga'avah) is nullified, as above."** **"And for this Haman commanded to make a **tree 50 amah high** — because he wanted to nullify the **power of the fifty days of sefiras ha'omer**, which is the power of Mordechai and Esther."** The gallows is not arbitrary height: 50 cubits = the 50 days of sefirah that are Mordechai-Esther-omer-se'orim. Haman built a counter-omer, and it turned out to hold him. Intermediate: Aval Mordechai v'Ester hayah lahem **koach l'vatel avodah zarah shel Haman**, u'vishvil zeh bi'y'meihem kiblu Yisrael ha'Torah mei'chadash (Shab 88a: "kimu v'kiblu=kimu mah she'kiblu k'var"). V'zeh kimu v'kiblu: **kimu**=bechinas **raglayim**, v'**kiblu**=bechinas **yadayim** — bechinas ha'Torah b'atzmah. V'zeh bechinas Mordechai v'Ester: **"Mordechai=mar dror"** (Chul 139b). Dror=lashon **cheirus**=bechinas yadayim ("dodi shalach yado min ha'chor" SS 5:4). V'Ester=bechinas **shokayim** ("mah yerech b'seter"). V'zeh lashon **Purim**=bitul av"z ("purah darachti l'vadi u'me'amim ein ish iti" Yesh 63:3). Al yedei he'aras Mordechai v'Ester=bechinas **yadayim v'raglayim**, nisbatlu ha'k'firos v'nisrabah emunah al yedeihem ("va'yehi omen es Hadassah" Es 2:7; "b'omnah ito" 2:20; shneihem bechinas emunah; ayen Tik 21, 57-58; M"R ShS al "zos komaseich"). V'zeh na'aseh al yedei ha'ruach. V'zeh bechinas (Meg 7a): "Ester b'ruach ha'kodesh ne'emrah"=bechinas "libo nasah es raglav," ki ikkar av"z taluy bah, she'hi bechinas raglayim ("ragleha yordos maves" Mish 5:5), v'al ken ikkar tikkun av"z al yadah. V'al ken nikreis ha'Megillah al shem Ester. V'zeh bechinas **omer se'orim**: **omer**=bechinas **Mordechai — ayin mar, mar dror**=lashon cheirus=**charus al ha'luchos** (Sh 32:16, Tik 55 88b; Eruv 54a: "al tikra charus ela cheirus")=Torah b'nigleh="ayin b'ayin" (Bam 14:14). **Se'orim**=bechinas Ester b'ruach ha'kodesh ("ki'se'irim alei desheh" Dev 32:2=lashon ruach). U'vishvil zeh, k'she'ba Haman l'Mordechai, metza'o osek b'omer se'orim, amar lo: **"omer se'orim dilchu asi"** v'nitzach oso v'es banav (Esther Rabbah 10, Meg 16a). Ki al yedei omer se'orim=bechinas yadayim v'raglayim=hamcha'as kaf u'rekudin, nisbatel av"z=bechinas Haman=bechinas ga'avah. U'vishvil zeh tzivah Haman la'asos **eitz gavoha 50 amah**, ki ratzah l'vatel **koach shel 50 yom shel sefiras ha'omer**=koach Mordechai v'Ester.

Beginner: **Section Nine.** The Rabbah bar bar Chana story about the swallowed ones of Korach — decoded as the final proof of this Torah. Korach was a heretic, the embodiment of AZ. The wool-fleece (*omer*) soaked in water (*se'orim* / Esther), held on the spear-tip (the tzaddik-as-ruach), penetrates the nostrils of Gehinnom's divine wrath — and even the deepest heretics are forced to confess: 'Moses is true and his Torah is true, and we are liars.' Intermediate: **ט. Rabbah bar bar Chana story = final proof.** Korach=min=AZ. Wool=omer (Mordechai). Water=se'orim (Esther). Spear=tzaddik-ruach. Confession: "Moshe emes v'toraso emes."

Beginner: Eighth Rabba bar bar Chana ma'amar. **"Amar Rabba bar bar Chana: said to me a certain Arab: 'Come, I will show you **blu'ei d'Korach** (those swallowed of Korach).' I went and saw two cracks emitting smoke. He took a **gabba d'amra** (piece of wool), dipped it in water, placed it on the tip of his spear, and inserted it there. When he pulled it out, it came out singed. He said to me: 'Listen! what do you hear?' And I heard them saying: **'Moshe emes v'toraso emes, v'hein bada'in'** — 'Moshe is true and his Torah is true, and we are liars.' He said to me: 'Every 30 days Gehinnom returns them here like meat in a pot, and they say thus: Moshe and his Torah are true, and we are liars.'"** (Bava Basra 74a). Intermediate: Eighth ma'amar: Arab shows **blu'ei d'Korach**. Two smoking cracks. Took **gabba d'amra** dipped in water on spear tip, inserted — came out singed. Listened: **"Moshe emes v'toraso emes, v'hein bada'in."** Every 30 days Gehinnom returns them like meat in a pot (Bava Basra 74a).

Beginner: **Rashbam's gloss:** **baz'ei** = cracks, as it is written: 'va'tibaka ha'adamah' (Bamidbar 16:31); **kitra** = smoke; **shakil gabba d'amra** = took wool-fleece and steeped it in water; **acharech acharuchei** = these fleeces [came out burnt], even though he had soaked them in water; **atzis** = listen; **u'sh'ma'as dekaamrei** = for indeed they went down alive to She'ol; **kol tlasin yomin** = every Rosh Chodesh; **b'kalachas** = like they turn a pot over so the [food] is cooked. Intermediate: Rashbam: **baz'ei** = cracks ("va'tibaka ha'adamah," Bam 16:31); **kitra** = smoke; **gabba d'amra** = wool-fleece soaked in water; **acharech** = burnt (despite soaking); **atzis** = listen; **kol tlasin yomin** = every R"Ch; **b'kalachas** = turned like food in a pot.

Beginner: The Rebbe's decoding of Rabbah bar bar Chana's story of the swallowed ones of Korach. **"'Blu'ei d'Korach'** — as brought in the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 18; Yerushalmi Sanhedrin perek Chelek): **'Korach min hayah'** — Korach was a heretic — the aspect of **avodah zarah, minus**."** **"'V'chazai trei baz'ei d'havu nafik minayhu kitra'** — 'and I saw two fissures from which smoke was issuing' — this is the aspect of **charon af** caused by **minus** — as Chazal said: **'kol zman she'avodah zarah ba'olam, charon af ba'olam.'** And **'trei baz'ei'** is the aspect of the **two openings of the nostrils** from which smoke issues — as it is written: **'alah ashan b'apo'** (Tehillim 18:9) — 'smoke rose from His nose.'"** **"'V'shakil gabba d'amra'** — 'and he took a tuft of wool' — this is the aspect of **omer** (sheaf/wool), as above. **'U'mashyei b'maya'** — 'and dipped it in water' — this is the aspect of **se'orim** (barley) — the aspect of **Esther b'ruach ha'kodesh** — which is the aspect of **raglayim**, as above. Because **raglayim are afikei mayim** (channels of water) — for they are the aspect of **arvei nachal** (willows of the stream), as Chazal said (Sukkah 53a): **'raglohi d'bar nash inun arvin leh'** — 'a man's feet are surety for him' — **'arvin'** is the aspect of **arvei nachal**, afikei mayim — i.e., the aspect of Mordechai and Esther, the aspect of **yadayim v'raglayim**, the aspect of **hamcha'as kaf u'rekudin**, as above."** The wool-dipped-in-water is no random visual — it's the entire Purim apparatus compressed into one gesture: fleece (omer) soaked in raglayim-waters (se'orim=Esther=feet=afikei mayim), held up against the nostrils of Gehinnom's charon af. **"'V'anachas b'reisha d'rumcha'** — 'and placed it on the head of a spear.' **Rumach (רומח)** = **ruach (רוח) + mem (ם)** — for the **mem is from the four winds** of the ruach. For the **mem** is **arba ruchos** (four winds) — which is the aspect of the **ruach of the tzaddik** that blows in the yadayim and raglayim, as above. And the **head of the rumach is the tzaddik** — because from him issues the ruach — as it is written: **'ish asher ruach bo'** (Bamidbar 27:18), as above."** Rumach decoded: **rumach = ruach + mem**; *mem* = 4 winds (the final *mem* is closed and four-sided); *ruach* = tzaddik's ruach. The spear-head is the tzaddik, the shaft is the four-winds-ruach blowing through yadayim and raglayim — and the wool-and-water (omer-se'orim) rides on it straight into the nostrils of Gehinnom. **"'V'afikinhu, v'acharech acharuchei'** — 'and he pulled [the wool] out, and it was scorched/aged.' **'Acharech'** is a lashon of **chayim v'arichus yamim** (life and length of days), as Chazal said (Eruvin 54b): **'lo yacharoch remiyah tzeido'** (Mishlei 12:27) — **'lo yichyeh v'lo ya'arich'** — 'he will not live and he will not prolong.' And this is **'v'icharech icharuchei'** — lashon **chayim v'arichas yamim**. Because by means of the **nullification of ga'avah** (i.e., avodah zarah), **chochmah is in its tikkun**, as above — and by means of chochmah one lives and prolongs days, as it is written: **'ha'chochmah t'chayeh'** (Kohelet 7:12) — 'chochmah gives life.'"** What looked like a blackened wool-tip was actually *longevity* — Torah-arichus-yamim granted by the very chochmah that ga'avah-cleared. **"[Rabbah bar bar Chana] said to me: 'Listen to them, and hear what they say: **Moshe v'toraso emes**' — 'Moshe and his Torah are true' — for **they admit the truth**. Because when one draws himself close to tzaddikim in order to receive the ruach from them — and by this ga'avah and avodah zarah are broken — then even these (who are from the **sitra d'mosa**) **recognize the greatness of the Borei** yisbarech, as above."** The ultimate admission: Korach's swallowed heretics, catching a whiff of the tzaddik-ruach through the wool-soaked spear, are forced to confess — *Moshe is true, his Torah is true, we are liars.* **"And he said to me: 'Every 30 days Gehinnom returns them to here, and they say this: Moshe v'toraso emes' — Rashbam explains: **every Rosh Chodesh**."** Why this monthly rhythm? **"For every thing has a root, and the **root of teshuvah is Rosh Chodesh** — for on Rosh Chodesh HKB"H said: **'havi'u alai kaparah'** — 'bring atonement upon Me'"** (Chullin 60b / Shavuos 9a) — **"and this is the aspect of teshuvah; and this teshuvah was enchained in all creatures on Rosh Chodesh, and because of this even Korach and his edah are compelled to some regret on Rosh Chodesh."** **"But the teshuvah does not help them, because the ikkar of teshuvah is only in olam ha'zeh, as it says: **'mi she'tarach b'erev Shabbos'** etc. (Avodah Zarah 3a) — 'one who exerted himself on Shabbos eve' — and it turns out that certainly they are not absolved by this admission — that they regret and admit out of the compulsion of Gehinnom — and therefore Gehinnom returns them to here, for they are not absolved by this."** **"And even so — there is no Gehinnom on Rosh Chodesh as on other days"** (see Zohar Terumah 150b) — **"and the Gehinnom of Rosh Chodesh is nothing other than the regret itself, that they regret and admit and are ashamed — this itself is their Gehinnom. And this is the precision: **'m'had'ra l'hu Gehinnom l'hacha'** — i.e., what returns them to here (that they return and admit) — that *itself* is their Gehinnom."** The teaching's final sharpness: *the admission that Moshe is true is the Gehinnom.* There is no separate fire for them on Rosh Chodesh; their own forced confession is the flame. Intermediate: **"Blu'ei d'Korach"** — Korach min hayah (B"R 18; Yer San perek Chelek)=bechinas av"z, minus. **"V'chazai trei baz'ei d'havu nafik minayhu kitra"**=bechinas charon af she'gor'min b'minus ("kol zman she'av"z ba'olam, charon af ba'olam"); trei baz'ei=trei nikvei ha'af she'yotzei mehem ha'ashan ("alah ashan b'apo" Teh 18:9). **"V'shakil gabba d'amra"**=bechinas omer; **"u'mashyei b'maya"**=bechinas se'orim=bechinas Ester b'ruach ha'kodesh=bechinas raglayim. Ki ha'raglayim afikei mayim=bechinas arvei nachal (Suk 53a: "raglohi d'bar nash inun arvin leh")=Mordechai v'Ester=yadayim v'raglayim=hamcha'as kaf u'rekudin. **"V'anachas b'reisha d'rumcha"**: **rumach=ruach+mem**, she'hu **me'arba ruchos** ba'i ha'ruach (ki ha'mem arba ruchos)=bechinas ruach ha'tzaddik d'nashev b'yadin v'raglin. V'rosh ha'rumach=ha'tzaddik, ki mimenu totz'os ha'ruach ("ish asher ruach bo" Bam 27:18). **"V'afkinhu, v'acharech acharuchei"** — **acharech** lashon chayim v'arichus yamim (Eruv 54b: "lo yacharoch remiyah tzeido" Mish 12:27 = "lo yichyeh v'lo ya'arich"). Haynu: al yedei bitul ga'avah=av"z, ha'chochmah al tikkunah, v'al yedei chochmah yichyeh v'ya'arich yamim ("ha'chochmah t'chayeh" Kohelet 7:12). **"Amar li: atzis l'hu u'shma'is d'amrin: Moshe v'toraso emes"** — she'modin al ha'emes. Ki k'she'mis'karev atzmo l'tzaddikim k'dei l'kabel mehem ha'ruach, v'al yedei zeh nishbar ga'avah v'av"z, azai makirin afilu elu she'hen mi'sitra d'mosa es gedulas ha'Borei. **"Kol shloshim yomin m'had'ra l'hu Gehinom l'hacha"** — peirush Rashbam: b'chol Rosh Chodesh. Ki kol davar yesh lo shoresh, v'shoresh ha'teshuvah hu R"Ch, ki b'R"Ch amar HKB"H: **"havi'u alai kaparah"** (Chul 60b; Shev 9a)=bechinas teshuvah. U'b'R"Ch hayu gam Korach v'adaso muchrachim l'eizeh charatah. Aval ha'teshuvah einah mo'il lahem, ki ikkar teshuvah rak b'olam ha'zeh ("mi she'tarach b'erev Shabbos" A"Z 3a). V'al ken m'had'ra l'hu Gehinom l'hacha, ki ein nifatrin b'zeh. V'af al pi chen, ein Gehinom b'R"Ch k'mo b'she'ar yamim (Zohar Terumah 150b), v'Gehinom shel R"Ch eino ela ha'charatah she'mischar'tim u'modim u'misbayshim — zeh b'atzmo Gehinom shelahem. V'zehu d'daykes: m'had'ra l'hu Gehinom l'hacha — mah she'chozrim u'modim, hu ha'Gehinom shelahem.

Beginner: **"י."** The Rebbe now reads the opening verse of parshas Mishpatim as the signature of the whole teaching. **"'V'eleh ha'mishpatim asher tasim lifneihem'** (Shemos 21:1) — 'and these are the judgments that you shall place before them.' For it is brought in the Mekhilta: **'asher tasim lifneihem — hishvu ishah l'ish l'chol dinim sheba'Torah'** — 'they equated woman to man for all judgments in the Torah.'"** **"Peirush: for all **dinim** in the Torah that need **sweetening** (*hamtakah*), one must **hashva'ah** (equating/leveling) — i.e., **yichud: Kudsha Brich Hu u'Shchintei** — which is the aspect of **ishah v'ish** — the aspect of **Mordechai v'Esther**."** *Hishvu ishah l'ish* is now read kabbalistically: every din-sweetening is a yichud of the masculine and feminine principles — and the historical embodiment of that yichud is the Purim pair. **"And this is peirush: **'v'eleh'** — **'every place where 'v'eleh' is said, it adds on the previous ones'** (Bereshis Rabbah, Noach 30) — the aspect of **tosefes and ribui** (addition and multiplication) — the aspect of **ga'avah, avodah zarah** — as it is written: **'lo me'rubchem chashak Hashem bachem'** (Devarim 7:7) — 'not because of your multiplication did Hashem desire you' — peirush: **ga'avah** (see Rashi and Chullin 89a). And this is the aspect of **'mosif al ha'rishonim'** — which is the aspect of **Haman-Amalek**, as it is written: **'reishis goyim Amalek'** (Bamidbar 24:20) — 'the first of nations is Amalek.'"** 'V'eleh' = tosefes-ribui = ga'avah = the pride-excess that is itself Amalek/Haman, the prime adversary. **"And its **tikkun**: **'ha'mishpatim'** — the aspect of **ruach** — as it is written: **'u'l'ruach mishpat... m'shivei milchamah sha'arah'** (Yeshayahu 28:6) — 'and [Hashem is] a spirit of judgment...and the might of those who turn the battle at the gate' — because by means of the **ruach**, **ga'avah and avodah zarah are tikkun-ed**, as above."** The very word *mishpat* carries *ruach* (Yeshayahu's verse), and *ruach* breaks *mosif al ha'rishonim* (Amalek's pride-bloat). **"And by means of this: **'asher tasim lifneihem'** — i.e., **'hishvu ishah l'ish l'chol dinim sheba'Torah'** — i.e., the aspect of **hamtakas ha'dinim** — because **'kol zman she'yesh avodah zarah ba'olam, charon af u'dinim ba'olam'** — and by means of the aforementioned **ruach**, **Kudsha Brich Hu u'Shchintei are unified, and dinim are sweetened, and charon af is removed from the world**."** The final summary of the entire torah: **"And behold, the klal of these matters: by means of the **tzaddik**, who is the aspect of the **ruach**, **El Acher** (the Other god — k'firos) **is made to pass** (*is'aver*) — and by means of the ruach come **rekudin v'hamcha'as kaf** — for by means of the tzaddik (the aspect of the ruach) the **raglayim are elevated**, and the **illumination of the yadayim is revealed**, and **emunah is multiplied** — as explained above."** **"And therefore it is written about **Yosef**, who is the aspect of the tzaddik (Bereshis 41:44): **'u'biladecha lo yarim ish es yado v'es raglo b'chol eretz Mitzrayim'** — 'and without you no man shall raise his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.' Because **without the aspect of Yosef** — which is the aspect of the **tzaddik** — **it is impossible to elevate and raise the yadayim and raglayim**, as above."** Par'oh's proclamation to Yosef — the seemingly political line about hand-foot authority in Egypt — is revealed as the operative metaphysics of the entire teaching: *no tzaddik → no raised hands → no raised feet → no hamcha'as kaf → no rekudin → no ruach → no yichud → no sweet dinim → no nullification of Amalek's mosif-al-ha'rishonim.* The whole chain hangs from the tzaddik who holds the ruach. Intermediate: **י.** V'zeh peirush: **"v'eleh ha'mishpatim asher tasim lifneihem"** (Sh 21:1). Mekhilta: "asher tasim lifneihem=hishvu ishah l'ish l'chol dinim sheba'Torah." Peirush: l'chol dinim sheba'Torah she'tzarich l'hamtikam, tzarich l'hashvos=l'yached **KB"H u'Shchintei**=bechinas **ishah v'ish**=bechinas **Mordechai v'Ester**. V'zeh peirush "v'eleh": "kol makom she'ne'emar 'v'eleh,' mosif al ha'rishonim" (B"R Noach 30)=bechinas tosefes v'ribui=bechinas **ga'avah, av"z** ("lo me'rubchem chashak Hashem bachem" Dev 7:7; peirush ga'avah — Rashi v'Chul 89a). V'zeh bechinas "mosif al ha'rishonim"=bechinas **Haman-Amalek** ("reishis goyim Amalek" Bam 24:20). V'tikkuno: **"ha'mishpatim"**=bechinas **ruach** ("u'l'ruach mishpat...m'shivei milchamah sha'arah" Yesh 28:6), ki al yedei ha'ruach nis'takan ga'avah v'av"z. V'al yedei zeh: "asher tasim lifneihem"="hishvu ishah l'ish l'chol dinim sheba'Torah"=bechinas **hamtakas ha'dinim**. Ki "kol zman she'yesh av"z ba'olam, charon af v'dinim ba'olam"; v'al yedei ha'ruach nis'yached KB"H u'Shchintei v'nimtakin ha'dinim, v'nistalek charon af min ha'olam. Klal ha'devarim: al yedei ha'tzaddik=bechinas ha'ruach, **is'aver El Acher** (k'firos), v'al yedei ha'ruach ba'im **rekudin v'hamcha'as kaf** — ki al yedei ha'tzaddik=bechinas ha'ruach **nis'alu ha'raglin**, v'nisgaleh **he'aras ha'yadayim**, v'nisrabah ha'emunah. V'al ken k'siv b'Yosef (bechinas ha'tzaddik, Ber 41:44): **"u'viladecha lo yarim ish es yado v'es raglo"** — ki bil'adei bechinas Yosef=bechinas ha'tzaddik, ee efshar l'ha'alos v'l'harim ha'yadayim v'ha'raglayim.

Beginner: **"And behold, from all these matters you understand that **nigleh = yadayim, nistar = raglayim** — the aspect of Mordechai and Esther. And although **nistar is higher than nigleh**, nevertheless the **revelation of nigleh** is in the higher place (yadayim), and the **nistar** is in the raglayim (which is below the yadayim). And the matter is deep — but it is the matter written in the Zohar: **Tannaim in the shokayim, and Amoraim in the yadayim**. And although Tannaim are higher than Amoraim, nevertheless they are in a place that is below the place of the Amoraim. And likewise Nevi'im and Kesuvim. And the resolution of this is already explained (see the commentary printed at the end of the Tikkunim, p. 10, where this matter is explained)."** Intermediate: **Recap**: **nigleh=yadayim, nistar=raglayim = Mordechai/Esther**. Though nistar > nigleh, nigleh's revelation is in the higher place (yadayim), nistar in the lower (raglayim). Zohar: **Tannaim in shokayim, Amoraim in yadayim** (though Tannaim > Amoraim). Same for Nevi'im/Kesuvim. Tosfos Tikkunim p. 10.

Beginner: **"(Moreover, I saw this in a handwriting of our Rebbe, of blessed memory, himself, regarding the above Torah — and this is what it says:)"** Reb Nosson's editorial bracket: what follows is recorded in Rabbeinu's own handwriting. Intermediate: Reb Nosson: **"I saw this in Rabbeinu's own handwriting regarding the above Torah — and this is what it says:"** Following is Rabbeinu's own hand.

Beginner: **"'V'eleh ha'mishpatim asher tasim lifneihem' (Shemos 21:1) — *ga'avah* is known throughout the whole earth that it is a *middah megunah* (disgraceful trait), and one must flee from it."** Rabbeinu opens the closing section with a universal datum: *everyone* knows ga'avah is ugly. **"But there are people who *chase after kavod and want to rule and lead the world* — and they say they have the hand-of-God-power to *make pidyonos and pray tefillos*"** — the precise profile: they do not deny Torah, they do not deny tefillah; they claim to be *producers-of-pidyonos* and *performers-of-tefillah*. They set themselves up as *pseudo-tzaddikim*. **"And on them it is said (Bereshis 20:7): 'הָשֵׁב אֵשֶׁת הָאִישׁ כִּי נָבִיא הוּא וְיִתְפַּלֵּל בַּעַדְךָ וֶחְיֵה'"** — "return the man's wife, for he is a *navi*, and *he shall pray for you, and you shall live*" — Hashem's command to Avimelech regarding Avraham. The pasuk is the *gold standard*: *only the navi-tzaddik* prays *for* someone and *the someone lives*. The pasuk does not say *you* pray for yourself; it says *he* prays for you. **"For this is known — [*lacuna*; and thus it should read:] *that the Holy One, blessed be He, *desires the tefillos of tzaddikim*, and one must go to them, that they pray over him*"** — the standard printings have a gap; Rabbeinu's *kesav-yad* completes: **HKB"H *mis'aveh l'tefillason shel tzaddikim*** (cf. Yevamos 64a, Chulin 60b: *mipnei sh'HKB"H mis'aveh l'tefillasan shel tzaddikim*). Hashem structurally *craves* tzaddik-tefillah over non-tzaddik-tefillah. Therefore: *one must go to them*. The *hiskarvus l'tzaddikim* (of ois 4–5) is not a pious extra — it is the *only* *mazal-transfer-mechanism* Hashem built into the system. **"But *ba'alei ga'avah* do not go to tzaddikim to ask them to pray over them — and moreover, *they do not let other people go to the tzaddikim to pray over them* — for these ba'alei ga'avah say: *we too are tzaddikim and we can pray — and there is no tzaddik in the land *greater than us*."** The *double-blockage*: (1) they themselves don't go; (2) *they actively prevent others from going*. The ga'avah is not a private sin; it is a *public klipah* that *seals up the community's access to the tzaddik*. **"And in this they are called by the name *Avimelech* — *avi* is a *lashon ratzon* (language of desire/willingness), like *'ve'lo avah Hashem Elokecha [lishmo'a el Bil'am]'* (Devarim 23:6)"** — the Torah's word *avah* (Devarim 23:6 about Hashem *refusing* to hear Bil'am) shares the root with *avi* = *to desire/will*. *Avi-melech* therefore decodes as: *one who desires-to-be-melech*. The Avimelech-archetype = *he who wants to be king* = the ba'al ga'avah who *desires kingship* and therefore *blocks the only real King's channel of tefillah-through-tzaddikim*. **Structural closing of the torah**: Avimelech-in-the-pasuk *had* to send Sarah back *and* be told *navi hu v'yispalel ba'adcha v'chi'yeh* — i.e., he had to *publicly submit to tzaddik-tefillah as the only life-giving route*. By contrast, the *ba'al ga'avah of Rabbeinu's generation* is an *Avimelech-who-refuses-the-submission*, who would rather suffer than let the tzaddik daven for him. The whole torah — from the *krechtz* of ois 1 all the way to *avi-lashon-ratzon* here — has taught the reader one thing: **you must *want* (avah) to let the tzaddik daven for you, and you must *not want* (avi-melech-ratzon-l'melech) to daven-as-yourself-instead.** The final word of the torah is *v'chai'ye'h* — *and you shall live* — precisely because *ta'avah-shel-HKB"H-l'tefillas-tzaddikim* = the krechtz-ta'avah of ois 1 = the ruach-chayim that completes every chisaron. Intermediate: **Closing: ga'avah blocks hiskarvus-l'tzaddikim = Avimelech-archetype**. • Ga'avah universally known as disgrace, yet some chase kavod and claim power for pidyonos+tefillos. • **Ber 20:7** "השב אשת האיש כי נביא הוא ויתפלל בעדך וחיה" = standard of *navi prays for you, you live*. • Lacuna restored (**Yevamos 64a / Chulin 60b**): HKB"H mis'aveh l'tefillas-tzaddikim → must go to them. • Ba'alei-ga'avah: (1) don't go (2) block others from going; claim "ein tzaddik gadol mei'itanu". • =Avimelech: *avi*=lashon ratzon (**Devarim 23:6** "ולא אבה ה'") → *avi-melech*=desires-to-be-melech. • Closing thread back to krechtz (ois 1): HKB"H's ta'avah for tzaddik-tefillah = the chesron-completing ruach-chayim. *V'chai'ye'h* = the final word.