Running Commentary on Torah 23 — Tzivisa Tzedek Edosecha

Beginner: **Blank/structural marker.** This segment in the source is the blank opening page-break before the title heading. Intermediate: Source blank opener.

Beginner: **Opening — Savay d'Bei Atuna and "tell us lies."** Torah 23 opens the Savay d'Bei Atuna series — the "Elders of the House of Athens" who debated Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya in the Gemara (Bechoros 8b). In the Breslov tradition these aggadic riddles are understood as veiled Torah teachings against the wisdoms of the outside nations (here specifically their fixation on money). The specific exchange this Torah unpacks: **"Imru lan milei di-khdivi"** — "tell us words of falsehood." This challenge-to-tell-lies will itself become Rabbeinu's starting point. Intermediate: **Bechoros 8b**: Savay d'Bei Atuna → R. Yehoshua b. Chananya. Opening challenge: **"imru lan milei di-khdivi"** (tell us lies).

Beginner: **The riddle-stack: a mule that gave birth; a note of 100,000 zuz owed; salt that spoils; placenta of a mule.** Rabbi Yehoshua's "lie" to them: "We had a mule (kadnayta) that gave birth, and there was hanging on her a note (piska), and it was written on it that our father's house owes 100,000 zuz." They said: but does a mule give birth? He said: that is the lie. Then: "when salt spoils, with what do they salt it? With the silusa (placenta) of a mule." And is there a placenta for a mule? And does salt spoil? — a stack of self-refuting absurdities. **Rashi**: *milei di-khdivi* = lies; *kadnayta* = mule; *tala piska* = hung a document on the newborn's neck. Intermediate: **Ma'amar**: "kadnayta v'yaldah, piska talya 'bei abba chayav me'ah alfei zuzei' — mi yaldah kadnayta? hai ninhu milei di-khdivi — **milcha ki sarya, b'mai malchi lah? b'silusa d'kadnayta**. u'mi ika silusa l'kadnayta? u'milcha mi sarya?" (Bechoros 8b). Rashi: milei di-khdivi=shkarim; kadnayta=pirdah; tala piska=shtar.

Beginner: **Rashi continuation.** Rashi glosses: *tala piska* = a document on the neck of the newborn; *ha-i ninhu milei di-khdivi* = these are the lies. Intermediate: Rashi cont.: piska=shtar on neck of the velad; ha-i ninhu milei di-khdivi=these are lies.

Beginner: **Silusa = placenta; transition to "lashon rabbeinu z"l"; the opening pasuk.** Rashi: *silusa* = placenta. The Rebbe now begins in his own voice, and the opening verse is: "**Tzivisa tzedek edosecha v'emunah me'od**" — "You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness, and faithfulness exceedingly" (Tehillim 119:138). By the end of the Torah, *tzedek* will be decoded as a mitzvah done without concern about the money-loss it costs, and *emunah* as the higher state in which the money-loss is not even felt (because the mitzvah is so beloved). Intermediate: Rashi: silusa=shilya. **Leshon Rabbeinu**. Pasuk: "**tzivisa tzedek edosecha v'emunah me'od**" (Teh 119:138). Preview: tzedek=mitzvah w/o mamon-concern; emunah=no loss felt.

Beginner: **א. There are *panim d'kedushah*** -- which are **anpin nehirin** (luminous countenances) = the aspect of **life**, as **"b'ohr pnei melech chaim"** (Mishlei 16:15) -- 'in the light of the King's face is life'; the aspect of **simchah**, as **"sova semachos es panecha"** (Tehillim 16:11) -- 'abundant joys are before Your face'; and as **"va'techi ruach Yaakov avihem"** (Bereshis 45:27) -- 'the spirit of Yaakov their father revived' -- this is the aspect of simchah. **And there are *panim d'sitra achra*** -- which are **anpin chashukhin** (dark countenances) = **marah shchorah** (black bile/depression) = **avodah zarah**, as it says **"lo yihyeh l'cha elohim acherim al panai"** (Shemos 20:3) -- 'you shall have no other gods before My face' (see Zohar Yitro 87). **And these people who fall into ta'avas mamon (the desire for money)**, who do not believe that HKB"H is able to sustain a person by an easy cause, and who chase after their parnasah with great toils -- they are the ones who **eat bread in sorrow**: **"b'itzavon tochlenah"** (Bereshis 3:17) -- 'in sorrow you shall eat of it' -- and **atzvus is marah shchorah**. These people are bound up in panim d'sitra achra = elohim acherim = **choshech** (darkness) = the aspect of **misah** (death), as **"b'machashakim hoshivani k'meisei olam"** (Eichah 3:6) -- 'He has seated me in darkness like the eternally dead.' About them it says **"u'zhavam l'nidah yih'yeh"** (Yechezkel 7:19) -- 'and their gold shall be like nidah' -- the aspect of **avodah zarah**, as Chazal said (**Shabbos 86a**): **"minayin la'avodah zarah she'm'tam'ah k'nidah? She'ne'emar 'tiz'rem k'mo davah'"** ('from where do we know that avodah zarah defiles like a nidah? -- for it says "you will cast them out like a menstruous thing"' -- Yeshayahu 30:22). **But those whose transactions (masa u'matan) are conducted with emunah are attached to the ohr ha'panim d'kedushah.** Because **"ein emunah b'lo emes"** (no emunah without emes) as brought in the Zohar (**Balak 198b**): "hainu tzedek hainu emunah..." [and there it is concluded: **emunah is called [emunah] when emes is joined to it** -- so the essence of emunah is via emes]. **And emes is ohr ha'panim**, as is known. **This is what Chazal said (Shabbos 33b)** on the verse **"va'yichan es pnei ha'ir"** (Bereshis 33:18) -- 'and he graced the face of the city' (about Yaakov arriving at Shechem): **chad amar: matbe'a tikken la'hem** (one said: he instituted coinage for them); **v'chad amar: merchatza'os tikken la'hem** (one said: he instituted bathhouses for them). **Hainu hach v'lo pligi** (they are the same and do not disagree). **Because Yaakov = emes**, as **"titen emes l'Yaakov"** (Micha 7:20) = **ohr ha'panim** -- and immediately when he arrived, **emunah was rectified**. So: **"matbe'a tikken"** = he rectified **ta'avas mamon**; and when ta'avas mamon is rectified, the **pgam of avodah zarah** is rectified. And: **"merchatza'os tikken la'hem"** -- as in **"va'tered bas Paroh lir'chotz al ha'ye'or"** (Shemos 2:5), which Chazal darshen (**Megillah 13a, Sotah 12b**): **"lir'chotz -- mi'giluli beis aviha"** ('to wash -- from the idols of her father's house'). Thus **"va'yichan pnei ha'ir"** -- **pnei davka** (specifically 'face of'): these are the **panim d'sitra achra**, which is **matbe'a**, i.e., ta'avas mamon -- **because all avodos zaros are embedded in money**. **For this reason: MAMON (ממון) with its letters = gematria 140 (ק"ם)** -- corresponding to the **140 kolos** (voices/cries) with which the Shechinah cries: **"kalani me'roshi! Kalani mi'zro'i!"** (**Sanhedrin 46a**) -- 'it is heavy on My head! It is heavy on My arm!' -- over those who fall into ta'avas mamon, which is **avodah zarah kelulah from the avodos zaros of the 70 umos**. *(And therefore there are 140 kolos = 2 × 70 -- because the Shechinah cries **doubled kolos**: "kalani me'roshi / kalani mi'zro'i" -- which is the aspect of kolos kefulim = 2 × 70 kolos -- the Shechinah crying over those who fall into ta'avas mamon which is avodah zarah comprising all the avodos zaros of the 70 umos.)* **And this is what Chazal said (Pesachim 118a): "kashin mezonosav kiflayim ka'yoledes"** -- 'a person's sustenance is as hard as *double* childbirth.' Because the **yoledes cries 70 kolos** before birth, but here there are **140 kolos = 2 × 70**. **And this is (Avos 2:13) "al t'hi rasha bi'fnei atzmecha"** -- 'do not be wicked in your own estimation': **"bi'fnei"** = the aspect of **panim d'sitra achra** that comes through ta'avas mamon -- where one does not believe HKB"H is the one who feeds and sustains, and he thinks **"kochi v'otzem yadi asah li es ha'chayil ha'zeh"** (Devarim 8:17) -- 'my strength and the might of my hand made me this wealth.' And **"atzmecha"** = *l'shon* **"otzem yadi"** ('might of my hand'). Intermediate: **א.** **Panim d'kedushah** = anpin nehirin = chayim (**"b'ohr pnei melech chayim,"** Mishlei 16:15); simchah (**"sova semachos es panecha,"** Teh 16:11; **"va'techi ruach Yaakov,"** Ber 45:27). **Panim d'sitra achra** = anpin chashukhin = marah shchorah = **avodah zarah** (**"elohim acherim al panai,"** Shem 20:3; **Zohar Yitro 87**). **Ba'alei ta'avas mamon** (don't believe HKB"H can feed via easy siba, pursue parnasah with great yegi'os) = eat bread **"b'itzavon tochlenah"** (Ber 3:17) = atzvus = marah shchorah = bound to panim d'sitra achra = elohim acherim = choshech = misah (**"b'machashakim hoshivani,"** Eicha 3:6). About them: **"u'zhavam l'nidah"** (Yech 7:19) = avodah zarah metamei k'nidah (**Shab 86a**: "tiz'rem k'mo davah," Yesh 30:22). **Masa u'matan be'emunah** → devekim b'ohr ha'panim d'kedushah. **"Ein emunah b'lo emes"** (**Zohar Balak 198b**: emunah iskariya' when joined with emes). Emes = ohr ha'panim. **Shabbos 33b on Ber 33:18 "va'yichan pnei ha'ir"**: chad matbe'a tikken, chad merchatza'os -- hainu hach v'lo pligi. Yaakov = emes (**"titen emes l'Yaakov,"** Micha 7:20) = ohr ha'panim → m'taken emunah. **Matbe'a = tikken ta'avas mamon** (→ m'taken pgam avodah zarah). **Merchatza'os** = **"va'tered bas Paroh lir'chotz"** (Shem 2:5; Meg 13a, Sot 12b: "lir'chotz mi'giluli beis aviha"). "Pnei ha'ir" davka = panim d'sitra achra = matbe'a -- all avodos zaros embedded in mamon. **Mamon (ממון) + osiyos = gematria 140 (ק"ם)** = 140 **kolos** Shechinah cries **"kalani me'roshi, kalani mi'zro'i"** (**Sanh 46a**) over those fallen in ta'avas mamon = avodah zarah kelulah from 70 umos. *(140 = 2 × 70 = kolos kefulim; doubled voice.)* **Pesachim 118a**: "kashin mezonosav kiflayim ka'yoledes" -- yoledes 70 kolos, mezonos 140 = 2 × 70. **Avos 2:13** "al t'hi rasha bi'fnei atzmecha": **bi'fnei** = panim d'sitra achra from ta'avas mamon ("kochi v'otzem yadi," Dev 8:17); **atzmecha** = l'shon "otzem yadi."

Beginner: **Section 1 — money = the "faces" aspect; ta'avas mamon = anpin chashuchin / darkness / zohama d'dahava.** (This refers back to a section explained earlier in the original teaching.) Money is the aspect of *panim* (faces); hence Chazal (Bereshis Rabbah 91:5, cited in Rashi to Bereshis 41:56 on "v'ha-ra'av hayah al kol pnei ha-aretz"): **"pnei ha-aretz heim ha-ashirim"** — "the faces of the earth are the wealthy" — because money and wealth are the aspect of *panim*. Therefore the **desire for money (ta'avas mamon)** is the aspect of **darkness — *anpin chashuchin* (dark faces)** — see Zohar Miketz (193a) on the verse "**keitz sam la-choshech**" (Iyov 28:3): "He set an end to darkness" — *zohama d'dahava* — the slime of gold. Intermediate: Section 1 — **mamon = panim**: "pnei ha-aretz = ashirim" (BR 91:5, Rashi Ber 41:56). Ta'avas mamon = **choshech / anpin chashuchin** (Zohar Miketz 193a on "keitz sam la-choshech," Iyov 28:3) = **zohama d'dahava**.

Beginner: **Section 2 — tikkun ha-bris saves from anpin chashuchin; dam bris rectifies dam niddah (= ta'avas mamon); bor = t'chol = marah shechorah; bris = salt that sweetens the bitterness.** Through the rectification of the holy bris (covenant / sexual purity), a person is saved from **anpin chashuchin**. Through the **blood of the bris**, the **blood of niddah — which is the ta'avas mamon** — is rectified, as it is written: **"גם את בדם בריתך שלחתי אסירייך מבור"** — "by the blood of your covenant, I have sent forth your prisoners from the pit" (Zechariah 9:11; Tikkunei Zohar Tikkun 48). The **"bor" (pit) is the t'chol (spleen)**, the source of *marah shechorah* (black bile) — "בעצבון תאכלנה" — "in sorrow shall you eat it" (Bereshis 3:17). The **bris is the aspect of salt** that sweetens the bitterness and sorrow of sustenance, as the Zohar says: **"ilmalei milcha, lo hava alma yachol l'missvar m'rirusa"** — "were it not for salt, the world could not bear its bitterness" (Vayechi 241a). And this is: **"בריתי מלח עולם היא"** — "it is an everlasting covenant of salt" (Bamidbar 18:19), **"לא תשבית מלח ברית אלקיך"** — "you shall not omit the salt of the covenant of your God" (Vayikra 2:13). *Elokecha* — precisely — because through this one connects to divinity and separates from the worship of idols, "**ומבשרי אחזה אלוק**" — "from my flesh I shall behold God" (Iyov 19:26; cf. Bereshis Rabbah 48:2; Zohar Lech Lecha 94a; Tikkunei Zohar Tikkun 19 and Tikkun 24). For through rectifying the bris, one radiates for himself the light of *pnei ha-melech* — the light of the King's face, life. And Chazal (Kesuvos 66b): **"melach mamon chaser"** — the "salt" of money is its diminishing (i.e. through tzedakah); through salt, the desire for money is reduced. Intermediate: Section 2 — **tikkun ha-bris saves from anpin chashuchin**. Dam bris fixes **dam niddah = ta'avas mamon**: "gam at b'dam brisech shilachti asirayich mi-bor" (Zech 9:11; Tik"Z 48) — **bor=t'chol**=marah shechorah ("b'itzavon tochlenah," Ber 3:17). **Bris=melach** sweetens m'rirus parnasah (Zohar Vayechi 241a "ilmalei milcha… lo hava alma yachol l'missvar m'rirusa"); "bris melach olam" (Bam 18:19); "lo sashbis melach bris Elokecha" (Vay 2:13). "U-mibesari echezeh Elokah" (Iyov 19:26; BR 48:2; Zohar Lech Lecha 94a; Tik"Z 19, 24). Kesuvos 66b: **"melach mamon chaser"** — salt of money = its diminishing via tzedakah.

Beginner: **Section 3 — all Israel are tzaddikim because of the bris; the guarder-of-bris has the power to fell his fellow into ta'avas mamon.** This section refers to the earlier verse "**ויגרש מפניך אויב ויאמר השמד**" — "He drove out the enemy from before you and said, Destroy" (Devarim 33:27). For **all Israel are called *tzaddikim* on account of the bris.** Therefore anyone who guards the bris more than his fellow is, vis-à-vis his fellow, the aspect of a *tzaddik* — *anpin nehorin* (radiant faces) relative to him. And "He drove out the enemy from before you" applies to him as well — he has the capacity to cast his fellow out. Therefore, **one must be extremely careful when there is a dispute against him that he not fall into ta'avas mamon** — for perhaps his opponent is *anpin nehorin* against him and has the power to cause him to fall, and the "fall" is precisely that they cause him to fall into the desire for money. R' Nosson adds: "I heard then from his holy mouth explicitly, that he said: all Israel, because they are circumcised, are therefore all called *tzaddikim*." Intermediate: Section 3 — **kol Yisrael tzaddikim** (b'zchus ha-milah); "va-y'garesh mi-panecha oyev va-yomer hashmeid" (Dev 33:27). Shomer ha-bris > fellow = **panim nehorin** → can fell fellow into ta'avas mamon. Machlokes = beware lest opponent be panim nehorin and fell you. R"N: heard explicitly — kol Yisrael mulim → nikra'im tzaddikim.

Beginner: **Section 4 — mezuzah; Shaddai = "amar l'olamo dai" = sameach b'chelko; Artaban and Rabbi (Yerushalmi Peah 1:1; BR 35:3); salt-spoiling = idolatry.** "**והיה שדי בצריך וכסף תועפות לך**" — "and Shaddai will be your strength, and silver shall be to you as multitudes" (Iyov 22:25) — for **Shaddai is the aspect of the bris** (as explained earlier). And this is the aspect of **Shaddai** — the Name of Him Who said to His world *"dai"* (enough) — meaning that one is joyful in his portion and says *"dai"* to what he has and does not desire more, which is the aspect of breaking ta'avas mamon, which one merits through guarding the bris. Also pertinent to Section 4: through the **mitzvah of mezuzah, covetousness of money is nullified**. Therefore, **"וכתבתם על מזוזות ביתך"** — "and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house" (Devarim 6:9) — corresponds to **"לא תחמוד"** — "you shall not covet" (Devarim 5:21 in the Second Dibros). Now come and see the wonders of Hashem: the **Yerushalmi (Peah 1:1) and Bereshis Rabbah (35:3)** tell that Artaban sent to Rabbi a fine pearl, and Rabbi sent him a mezuzah in return. Superficially — why specifically a mezuzah rather than some other mitzvah? But according to what our Rebbe revealed in this Torah, the matter is perfectly clear: **a mezuzah specifically nullifies the covetousness of money.** Artaban sent him a pearl — i.e. wealth and money — from which he made the essence of importance; therefore Rabbi sent back a mezuzah, which nullifies chemdas mamon. **"מלחא כי סריא"** — "when salt spoils" — refers to one who has *fallen to the stench of ta'avas mamon*; and the expression *ki sarya* echoes the language used for idolatry: **"סרו מהר מן הדרך"** — "they have quickly turned aside (saru) from the way" (Shemos 32:8). For one immersed in money serves every idolatry — and therefore on every coin is engraved the idolatry of the nations. By these words, the discerning reader can unpack the entire Gemara of "the gold acquires the silver, the silver does not acquire… the copper acquires" (Bava Metzia 44a–46a) — the whole structure of *kinyan kesef / chalifin / all that is minted is considered money* follows from this Torah (with a few additional hakdamos). Intermediate: Section 4 — "**v'hayah Shaddai b'tzarecha v'chesef to'afos**" (Iyov 22:25). **Shaddai = bris** (alt.: "amar l'olamo dai") = sameach b'chelko = shvirat ta'avas mamon. **Mezuzah nullifies chemdas mamon**: "u-chsavtam al mezuzos beisecha" (Dev 6:9) ↔ "lo sachmod" (Dev 5:21). **Artaban → Rabbi: pearl → mezuzah** (Yer Peah 1:1; BR 35:3) — ratio decoded: mezuzah specifically nullifies chemdas mamon. "**Milcha ki sarya**": ki sarya = lashon AZ ("saru maher min ha-derech," Shem 32:8); every coin = engraved AZ. Ramifications: entire BM 44a–46a sugya (zahav koneh kesef / kesef eino koneh / kol ha-nistabea matbea kesef hu).

Beginner: **Decoding the *Savi d'vei Asuna*** (the Elders of Athens, Bechoros 8b-9a) — Rabbeinu reads their cryptic riddle-dialogue with Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya as a compressed cosmology of ta'avas mamon. **"Amru lanu milei d'k'deiva"** — 'the Athenian elders said to us: *speak us a word of falsehood.*' **"Zeh bechinas sheker, bechinas avodah zarah"** — 'this is the aspect of sheker, the aspect of avodah zarah' — as Chazal said (Sanhedrin 92a): **"kol ha'machlif b'diburo k'ilu oveid avodah kochavim"** — 'one who switches [lies in] his speech is as one who worships idols.' The request 'tell us falsehood' is the request for avodah zarah itself. **He answered them**: **"Havi lan kadnisa v'yalda"** — 'our mule gave birth.' **Kadnisa = perdah** (a mule). **"Zeh bechinas akum, d'sarya b'pruda"** — 'this is the bechinah of akum, which *dwells in separation.*' As the Zohar (Mishpatim 95a) says: **"sha'ari b'chiburah v'sayim b'pruda"** — 'begins in union and ends in separation.' **Mule = hybrid = the quintessential *pruda* beast.** **"V'yalda — zeh bechinas ruach, ha'm'chuneh b'shem leidah"** — 'and gave birth — this is the aspect of *ruach* (spirit), which is called *leidah*.' **They retorted**: **"V'kadnisa mi yalda?"** — 'and can a mule give birth?' **"Ki akum el acher astaris v'lo avid parin"** (Zohar Mishpatim 103a) — 'the *el acher* is castrated and does not bear fruit.' No, a mule cannot give birth. **He answered**: **"Hei nihu milei d'k'deiva"** — '*this* is the word of falsehood.' **"Heyno ha'sheker she'nidmeh la'hem she'marvichim — u've'emes einam marvichim"** — 'the sheker is that it *seems* to them that they are profiting — but in truth they are not profiting at all.' The fundamental avodah-zarah illusion: that attachment to mamon *produces* gain. The mule-that-cannot-give-birth is the economic fantasy of the idol-server. **"Tala lei pitka b'tzavara d'havi masik bei Abba me'ah alfei zuzei"** — 'and he hung a note around its neck saying that *in my father's house, a hundred thousand zuzim are owed.*' **"Bei Abba — zeh avodas alilim"** — 'my father's house = avodas alilim' — **Yirmiyahu 2:27**: **"ha'omer la'etz 'avi atah'"** — 'one who says to the tree: *my father*!' Avodah-zarah is called *avi* — hence *bei abba*. **"Va'avodah zarah hi *chovah*"** (see Rashi on Bereishis 14:15 **"va'yirdefem ad Chovah"** — 'the place called *Chovah* hints at avodah zarah') — **"she'machria'as es ha'kol l'chaf chovah"** — 'it tips everything to the *scale of guilt/debt*.' **Chovah = guilt and debt** — one word for two meanings, both scales of the same matter. **"V'chol ha'misdabkim bah hem ba'alei chovos"** — 'and all who cleave to it become *debtors*' — **"k'mo she'anu ro'im b'chush, she'zeh ha'masa taluy b'tzavar b'nei adam, she'ein mistapkim b'mamonam u'lovin mamon me'acheirim, v'nidmeh la'hem she'hem mishtakrim schar harbeh, v'achar kach *meisim ba'alei chovos*"** — 'as we see plainly, that this burden hangs around men's necks — they are not satisfied with their money, borrow from others, imagine they are earning much, and *die in debt*.' **"V'im einam meisim ba'alei chovos, hem b'chayeihem ba'alei chovos"** — 'and if they don't die in debt, they *live* as debtors' — 'straining themselves with enormous strain, endangering themselves in dangerous journeys — for *little profit* — to pay *their father's debt*, the debt of avodah zarah.' **"Ki 'mitzvah l'kayeim divrei ha'meis', v'zeh ha'davar la'hem k'mo tzava'ah me'avihem, she'yishal'mu chovosav"** — 'because it is a mitzvah to fulfill the words of the deceased — and this matter is like a *will* from their father [avodah zarah] that they pay his debts.' The pitka b'tzavara is the *inherited will* from the avodah-zarah father demanding endless debt-payment. **Maharsha**: **"tala lei pitka b'tzavara — shtar tzava'ah"** — 'hung a note around its neck — a *will-document.*' **Then they asked**: **"Malcha ki sarya, b'ma'i malchi lah?"** — 'when salt rots, with what do you salt it?' **"Ki tikkun shel ta'avas mamon, hu tikkun ha'bris, *melach*, ka'nal"** — 'the rectification of ta'avas mamon is the rectification of the bris, which is *melach* (as above in this Torah).' **"V'sha'alu oso: zeh she'tikein briso — im nafal l'sirachon ta'avas mamon, b'ma'i tikkuno?"** — 'and they asked him: one who has fixed his bris — if he falls into the *rot* of ta'avas mamon, what rectifies him?' (Since the melach-tikkun itself has now rotted.) **He answered**: **"Bi'silusa d'kadnisa"** — 'in the *silusa* (placenta/root) of the mule.' **"Ki be'emes yeish od tikkun l'ta'avas mamon — heyno she'yistakel l'shoresh she'misham ba kol ha'mamon v'chol ha'hashpa'os"** — 'there *is* another tikkun for ta'avas mamon: gaze at the *root* from which all the money and all the shefa come.' **"V'al yedei histaklu'so sham, yisbatel ta'avaso. Ki sham b'shorsho, ha'shefa kulo or tzach u'metzuchtzach, v'ta'anug ruchani — v'ein misaveh ella l'matah"** — 'through looking at the root, desire is nullified — because *at the root*, all shefa is pure dazzling light and *spiritual ta'anug*, and one desires [coarse material ta'anug] *only at the bottom*.' **"U'mi hu ha'pesi yasur henah, l'hashlich ta'anug ruchani v'likach ta'anug av?"** — 'and who is the fool who would turn aside here — to throw away a spiritual ta'anug and take a thick one?' **But this root-gaze requires prior bris-tikkun**: **"Aval l'zos ha'histaklus, i efshar lavo ella ad she'y'sakein briso"** — **Iyov 19:26**: **"mi'b'sari echezeh Eloah"** — 'from my *flesh* I shall see Elokah' — **"she'b'tchilah tzarich l'sakein *b'sar kodesh*, v'az yuchal l'histakeil b'Elokus"** — 'first fix the holy flesh, then one can gaze at Elokus.' And for this reason: **"ikar ha'tikkun shel ta'avas mamon hu al yedei bris — u'kh'she'm'sakein briso, i efshar lipol l'ta'avas mamon, ki al yedei melach, ta'avas mamon chaser"** — 'through melach [the bris], ta'avas mamon diminishes.' **Silusa = *shoresh ha'hashpa'os***: **"V'shoresh ha'hashpa'os hu m'chuneh b'shem *shilya* — she'sham munach ha'v'lad"** — 'the root of shefa is called *shilya* (placenta) — because there the fetus is placed.' **"Ki ha'shilya hu bechinas *daltei viten*, ki yeish *shnei daltos* l'ishah"** (Bechoros 45a) — as **Iyov 3:10**: **"ki lo sagar daltei vitni"** — 'for He did not close the doors of my belly.' **"V'na'aseh mi'shnei daltin tzuras *mem setumah*, she'sham munach ha'v'lad — v'hu bechinas *mem yom* shel y'tziras ha'v'lad"** (Niddah 30a) — 'the two *dalet*s form a *final mem*, and there the fetus is placed — corresponding to the 40 days of the formation of the v'lad.' **"V'chein yeish l'ma'alah *daltei shamayim*, she'misham noldim hashpa'os"** — **Tehillim 78:23**: **"daltei shamayim pasach, va'yamter aleihem mon le'echol"** — 'He opened the doors of heaven and rained down mon for them to eat.' The heavenly daltos are the macrocosm; the daltei-viten is the microcosm; both are the *silusa* — the root where shefa-offspring is placed before descent. **So his answer decoded**: **"Bi'shilya d'kadnisa"** — 'in the *shilya of the mule*' — **"hu tikkuno shel zeh ha'shomeir ha'bris, k'she'nofel l'ta'avas mamon"** — 'this is the tikkun for the bris-guardian who fell into ta'avas mamon: root-gazing.' **Their final objection**: **"V'amru lei: mi ika shilya l'perdah?"** — 'but is there any *shilya* for a mule?' **"Ki akum ein la afilu *beis v'lad*"** — 'the akum side does not have even a *beis v'lad* (womb-chamber)' — the sitra achra has *no* silusa at all. **"Amar la'hem: u'malcha mi sarya?"** — 'and does salt *rot*?' **"Ki be'emes mi she'tikein ha'bris, eino nofel l'ta'avas ha'mamon"** — 'the bris-guardian, *in truth, does not fall to ta'avas mamon at all.*' The melach-salt of a true bris-guardian simply does not rot. The whole question about shilya-d'kadnisa is academic because the premise never occurs. Intermediate: **Savi d'vei Asuna (Bechor 8b-9a)** — riddles = cosmology of ta'avas mamon: (1) **"Milei d'k'deiva"**=sheker=a"z (San 92a **"kol ha'machlif b'diburo k'ilu oveid kochavim"**). (2) **"Kadnisa v'yalda"**=perdah (akum) d'sarya **b'pruda** (Zohar Mishpatim 95a **"shari b'chibura sayim b'pruda"**). Yalda=ruach. Objection: akum=astris, lo avid parin (Zohar 103a). Answer: *hei nihu milei d'k'deiva* — ha'sheker she'nidmeh la'hem she'marvichim. (3) **"Pitka b'tzavara... 'bei Abba' masik me'ah alfei zuzei"**=av-chovah (Yirm 2:27 **"ha'omer la'etz avi atah"**; Rashi Ber 14:15 **Chovah**=a"z). **Chovah=guilt+debt**. Masa b'tzavar: meisim/chayim ba'alei chovos, mi'tzava'as-av-a"z. Maharsha: **shtar tzava'ah**. (4) **"Malcha ki sarya, b'ma'i malchi lah?"**=bris-guardian she'nafal l'ta'avas mamon=tikkun? Answer: **bi'silusa d'kadnisa**=histaklus la'shoresh (or tzach u'metzuchtzach, ta'anug ruchani; *mi pesi yasur henah*). Tnai: Iyov 19:26 **"mi'b'sari echezeh Eloah"** — tzarich tikkun b'sar kodesh kodem la'histaklus. (5) **Silusa=shilya=shoresh ha'hashpa'os**=daltei viten (Iyov 3:10; Bechor 45a) → shnei daltin=**mem setumah**=40 yom y'tziras ha'vlad (Nid 30a). Daltei shamayim=Teh 78:23. Bi'shilya d'kadnisa=tikkun ba'al bris she'nafal. (6) **"Mi ika shilya l'perdah?"** — a"z ein la beis v'lad. Answer: **u'malcha mi sarya?** — shomer bris b'emes eino nofel → ha'k'lalah akademis.

Beginner: **Essence of emunah is in money; "v'emunah me'od" = mamon; full decoding of the Athenians' "milei di-khdivi."** **The essence of emunah is in money itself** — when a person breaks ta'avas mamon, *anpin nehorin* are revealed. **"Emunah me'od"** — for *me'od* = money, as it is written **"ובכל מאודך"** — "with all your *me'od*" (Devarim 6:5), which Chazal (Berachos 54a) render as **"with all your money."** Now the explanation of what the Savay d'Bei Atuna said — "**imru lan milei di-khdivi**" — "tell us words of falsehood" — is the aspect of **sheker = avodah zarah**, as Chazal said (Sanhedrin 92a): **"kol ha-m'shaneh b'diburo, k'ilu oved avodah zarah"** — "whoever changes his word is as if he serves idolatry." **"Havi lan kadnayta v'yaldah"** — we had a mule that gave birth: **kadnayta (mule) = avodah zarah**, "which begins with joining and ends with separation" (Zohar Mishpatim 95a). ***V'yaldah*** (gave birth) = the aspect of profit, which is called *birth*. **"u-mi yaldah kadnayta?"** — does a mule give birth? — for *avodah zarah* — *el acher* — is sterile and does not produce fruit (Zohar Mishpatim 103a: **"istaras v'lo avid peiros"**). Rabbi Yehoshua replied: **"ha-i ninhu milei di-khdivi"** — *these are the lies* — that is, the falsehood is their own illusion that they are profiting when in truth they profit nothing. **"Piska talya lah… bei abba chayav me'ah alfei zuzei"** — a note hangs from its neck: "our father owes 100,000 zuz." **"Bei abba" = avodas elilim** (the "father's house" of idolatry), as it is written **"אומרים לעץ אבי אתה"** — "saying to a tree: you are my father" (Yirmiyahu 2:27). Avodah zarah is *chov* (debt) — Rashi (Bereshis 14:13) — which subjugates everyone under the scale of debt. All who cleave to it are *ba'alei chovos*: we see in reality that this trade hangs as a yoke on people's necks; they are never satisfied with their money, borrow from others, seem to make great profit, and then die as debtors. And even those who don't die as outright debtors are debtors in their lifetimes — troubling themselves with heavy toils and endangering themselves in road-journeys for trivial profits, in order to pay the debt of their father — the debt of avodah zarah — for there is a "mitzvah to fulfill the words of the deceased," and the whole matter is to them like a will from their father that they must pay his debts. As the Maharsha explained: *talya piska al tzavar* = a will-document. Next: **"milcha ki sarya, b'mai malchi lah?"** — when salt spoils, with what do they salt it? Because the rectification of ta'avas mamon is the rectification of the bris = salt. So if one *has* fallen to the *stench of ta'avas mamon* — what then? Rabbi Yehoshua answered: **"b'silusa d'kadnayta"** — with the placenta of a mule. Meaning: even then there is a path — the person must **look to the root (*shoresh*) from which all money and all abundance come.** Through looking there, his *ta'avah* is nullified — because *there at its root*, the abundance is entirely pure and polished light — spiritual delight — and only downward does it become gross material. Who is so foolish as to turn here to cast aside spiritual pleasure and grab coarse pleasure? But to come to this looking — *"u-mi-bsari echezeh Elokah"* (Iyov 19:26) — one must first rectify his flesh (the bris). Intermediate: **Me'od = mamon** ("u-b'chol me'odecha," Dev 6:5; Ber 54a). Ikar emunah = b'mamon. Decoding Athenians: **sheker = AZ** (San 92a "m'shaneh b'diburo k'ilu oved AZ"). **Kadnayta = AZ** (Zohar Mishpatim 95a "shari b'chibura v'sayim b'piruda"). **V'yaldah** = revach (profit=leidah). **"Mi yaldah kadnayta?"** — AZ sterile ("istaras v'lo avid peiros," Zohar Mishpatim 103a). **Bei abba = avodas elilim** ("omrim la-etz avi ata," Yir 2:27); AZ=chov (Rashi Ber 14:13); ba-alei chovos chayim u'meisim; Maharsha: tala piska al tzavar=shtar-tzavaah. **Silusa d'kadnayta** = **looking to shoresh**: or muflaz ohr taanug ruchani; cannot reach without rectifying bris ("u-mibesari echezeh Elokah," Iyov 19:26).

Beginner: **The deeper consequence: *ha'mushka'im b'mamon* — the more wealth, the more atzvus and marah shchorah.** Rabbeinu continues: **"al kein eilu ha'mushka'im b'mamon, kol mah she'yeish lo ashirus yoseir, yeish lo de'agos v'atzvus u'marah shchorah b'yoseir"** — 'therefore, those who are sunk in money — the more wealth one has, the *more* worries, sadness, and black bile he has.' This is counter-intuitive to the world: the world thinks wealth removes worry; Rabbeinu reveals that, for the *mushka b'mamon*, wealth *manufactures* atzvus. **Why**: **"ki ha'mamon v'ha'ashirus shelo hu bi'bechinas 'b'itza'von toch'lenah'"** (Bereishis 3:17) — 'his money and wealth are the bechinah of *in toil shall you eat it*' — the curse of Adam after the eitz ha'da'as, which is **"bechinas atzvus u'marah shchorah, anpin chashuchin, misah"** — 'the bechinah of sadness and black bile, dark countenances, death' (as established in the prior seg: mamon is rooted in the *sitra achra*, Elokim acheirim, choshech, misah — the opposite of *or p'nei melech chayim*). Mamon itself is *built of* atzvus-substance; so the more mamon, the more atzvus is accumulated. **Proof-text from Chazal**: **Avos 2:7**: **"marbei n'chasim, marbei de'agah"** — 'one who multiplies possessions, multiplies worry.' Rabbeinu explains: **"ki ha'n'chasim shelo hem b'atzman bechinas atzvus"** — 'because his possessions *themselves* are the very bechinah of atzvus' — so naturally, multiplying them multiplies the atzvus. **Practical consequence — wealth kills**: **"ha'mamon v'ha'ashirus hu m'katzer u'm'chaleh yamav v'chayav shel ha'adam"** — 'money and wealth shorten and consume a person's days and life.' The medical proof: **"ki ein davar she'mafsid ha'chiyus k'mo ha'de'agah v'ha'atzvus, k'yadua l'chachmei ha'rofim"** — 'for there is nothing that ruins life-force like worry and sadness, as is known to the wise of the doctors.' (Rabbeinu invokes standard medical knowledge of his era — the physical body deteriorates under sustained anxiety; modern medicine agrees.) And since mamon *generates* de'agah and atzvus, mamon *is* the killer. **Mystical mechanism — *mekasher b'pnim d'sitra achra*: "ki hu m'kasher b'pnim d'sitra achra — Elokim acheirim, choshech, she'hu bechinas misah, hafech 'or p'nei melech chayim'"** — 'for he binds himself to the *pnim d'sitra achra* — other gods, darkness, which is the bechinah of death, the *opposite* of the light of the face of the living King.' The verse **"b'or p'nei melech chayim"** (Mishlei 16:15) contrasts with the mushka b'mamon's state: while the truly holy face radiates *chayim*, his face is *anpin chashuchin* = misah. **"al kein ha'mamon meimis oso"** — 'therefore the money itself kills him' — mamon is a *misah-substance*, and sustained attachment to it transmits misah-ness into the person's body and soul. **Pasuk — afar=mamon**: **Bereishis 3:14**: **"v'afar toch'al kol y'mei chayecha"** — 'and dust shall you eat all the days of your life' (said to the nachash). Rabbeinu reads: **"afar — zeh bechinas ha'mamon, k'mo she'kasuv 'v'afros zahav lo'"** (Iyov 28:6) — 'afar is the bechinah of money, as it says *'and dusts of gold are his'*' (Iyov using *afros* = dust-form for gold). So: **"ha'mamon v'ha'ashirus she'hu bechinas afar, 'toch'al kol y'mei chayecha' — ki ha'mamon hi ocheles u'm'chaleh kol y'mei chayav shel ha'adam"** — 'money and wealth which are the bechinah of *afar*, 'you shall eat all the days of your life' — for mamon devours and consumes all the days of a person's life.' The verse that seems to curse the nachash actually describes mamon's role: *afar-eating* is mamon-preoccupation, and the curse is that the money-eater is himself eaten by his life. **Tikkunei Zohar 70, 122b** — **afar=tchol**: **"afar ihu kar v'yaveish — hachi tchol kar v'yaveish"** — 'afar (dust) is cold and dry — so too the *tchol* (spleen) is cold and dry.' Astrological-physiological correspondence: dust has the qualities of cold-and-dry, which match the *tchol* (spleen). **"u'mi'ha'tchol nimshach ha'atzvus, ka'yadua"** — 'and from the *tchol* comes atzvus, as is known' — in classical/Kabbalistic medicine, the spleen is the seat of *marah shchorah* (melancholia/black bile). So the chain: **afar (mamon) → tchol (spleen) → atzvus**. Tikkunim's closing: **"u'b'gin da: v'afar toch'al y'mei chayecha"** — 'because of this: *and dust shall you eat your days of life*' — confirming the identification. **Tikkun 3 — tchol = Lilis = ima d'eirev rav = s'chok ha'kesil**: **"t'chol da Lilis, ima d'eirev rav, s'chok ha'kesil. Ma'an kesil? Da el acher... v'ihu askara l'ravya d'inun chiyavya"** — 'the *tchol* is Lilis, mother of the *eirev rav*, the laughter of the fool. Who is the fool? That is *el acher* (the alien god)... and it [the tchol] is the *askara* (croup-disease) for the children who are the sinners.' **Lilis** = the dark feminine klipah; **eirev rav** = the mixed-multitude spiritual lineage of those attached to *el acher*; **s'chok ha'kesil** = the 'laughter of the fool' (Koheles 7:6) = *el acher* itself; and askara is the disease that strangles children. **The devastating mechanism**: **"chikis bahon b'osher b'hai alma u'l'vasar k'tilas lon"** — 'she [Lilis=tchol] plays/toys with them with wealth in this world, and afterward kills them.' This is the core revelation: **Lilis gives wealth as bait**. The reshayim get their olam-ha'zeh share of mamon precisely as the hook by which she eventually consumes their life. The very wealth that looks like reward is the *killing apparatus* — *k'tilas lon l'vasar* = she kills them afterward. **"Motzei ani mar mimaves es ha'isha" = tchol**: **Koheles 7:26**: **"motzei ani mar mimaves es ha'isha"** — 'I find *more bitter than death* — the woman.' **"V'da tchol"** — 'and this is the *tchol*.' The negative isha of Koheles is identified with the tchol-spleen-mamon-atzvus-Lilis complex. The "woman" here is not a literal woman but the *anti-isha* — the mamon-klipah personified as feminine-devouring. **Contrast — parnassa d'kedusha**: **"parnassa d'kedusha hi bechinas 'matza isha matza tov'"** (Mishlei 18:22) — 'the sustenance of holiness is the bechinah of *he who found a wife found good*' — **"she'hu bechinas ha'tzaddik"** — 'which is the bechinah of the tzaddik.' There is a *dual* isha: the mamon-Lilis-tchol-isha of *mar mimaves*, and the Shechinta-tzaddik-isha of *matza tov*. The same word *isha* carries both poles. **The tzaddik alone escapes**: **"ki ha'tzaddik ha'emes nitzol mi'zeh, ki ein ha'mamon mazik lo"** — 'for the true tzaddik is saved from this, because the mamon does not harm him' — **"ki alav ne'emar: 'tov lifnei ha'Elokim yimaleit mimena'"** (Koheles 7:26) — 'for about him it is said: *the one who is good before God shall escape her.*' The same pasuk that warns of the killing-woman specifies the *only* exception: the one who stands *tov lifnei ha'Elokim*. **Tikkun 3 deepening — why they're called *ravya* (children)**: **"v'amai iskariu ravya? — b'gin d'lais bahon da'as l'ishtizava minah"** — 'and why are they called *children* [susceptible to the askara]? — because they have no da'as to escape from her.' The money-trapped are called *ravya* (children) precisely because they lack da'as; **"aval lev meivin ishtiziv minah — d'taman tzaddik"** — 'but a *lev meivin* (understanding heart) is saved from her — for there [in the lev meivin] is the tzaddik.' **Raza d'milsa**: **"'tov lifnei ha'Elokim yimaleit mimena, v'choteh yilached bah'"** — *the good-before-God escapes; the sinner is trapped.* **The chachmah requirement**: **"ki tzarich chochmah v'da'as gadol l'zeh, she'lo yazik'enu ha'mamon, she'lo y'chaleh y'mei chayav"** — 'for one needs great chochmah and da'as for this, that the mamon not harm him, not consume his days.' **"Ki rov ha'olam nilkedu b'zeh, heyno b'ta'avas mamon, v'ha'mamon horeges u'm'mis osam"** — 'most of the world is trapped in this — in ta'avas mamon — and the mamon kills them.' **The only rescue**: **"v'ei efshar l'hinatzel mi'zeh ki im al yedei ha'tzaddik she'ne'emar alav 'tov lifnei ha'Elokim yimaleit mimena'"** — 'and it is impossible to be saved from this except through the tzaddik about whom it is said *the good before God shall escape her*.' **"Ashrei lo"** — 'praised is he.' **R' Nosson's closing wonder**: **"u're'ei nifla'os, eich atah she'patach Rabbeinu z"l es eineinu v'gilah lanu es ha'hakdamos ha'chadashos ha'niflaos ha'm'vo'aros l'eil b'ha'Torah ha'zos, atah atah m'vo'arim heitev divrei ha'Tikkunim ha'nal"** — 'and see the wonders: now that Rabbeinu z"l has opened our eyes and revealed to us the new and wondrous hakdamos explained above in this Torah, *now now* the words of the Tikkunim are well explained.' R"N testifies: the Tikkunim were always saying this, but without Rabbeinu's hakdamos we couldn't read them; *now* with Rabbeinu's chiddushim, the Tikkunim open up. **Tikkun 70 cross-reference**: **"im zachah... ezer, v'im lo — k'negdo"** — 'if he merits [she is] an *ezer*; if not — *opposing him*' (Yevamos 63a; Zohar on Bereishis). **"Alah itmar: motzei ani mar mimaves es ha'isha, v'da tchol Shabtai"** — 'about this it is said: I find more bitter than death — the woman; and this is the tchol, Shabtai' — **"heyno bechinas atzvus u'marah shchorah, she'hu bechinas tchol. Shabtai, patya achma, ka'yadua"** — 'meaning the bechinah of atzvus and marah shchorah, which is tchol. Shabtai [Saturn] — the black disc, as is known' (in classical astrology/Kabbalah, Saturn = cold-dry-melancholic = *patya achma* = the black planetary disc, aligned with Lilis-tchol). **"Ezer da Shechinta, alah itmar 'matza isha matza tov v'yafek ratzon me'Hashem' — u'b'gin da havu amrei marei matnitin: 'matza' o 'motzei'"** — 'the *ezer* is the Shechinah, about which it is said *he who found a wife found good and draws out favor from Hashem*; and therefore the masters of the Mishnah used to say [the debate in Berachos 8a]: *matza* or *motzei*' — meaning the entire Bavli dispute over which verse to greet a chosson with (the Eretz-Yisraeli *matza* or the Bavli *motzei*) is itself a dispute about which isha he married — Shechinta (matza=tov) or tchol (motzei=mar mimaves). Intermediate: **Ha'mushka'im b'mamon → more wealth = more atzvus/marah shchorah**: kol mah she'yeish lo ashirus yoseir, yeish lo de'agos u'marah shchorah b'yoseir. **Ta'am**: ha'mamon hu b'chinas **"b'itza'von toch'lenah"** (**Ber 3:17**) = atzvus, anpin chashuchin, misah. **Avos 2:7**: **"marbei n'chasim marbei de'agah"** — ha'n'chasim b'atzman b'chinas atzvus. **Ha'mamon m'katzer chayim**: ein davar she'mafsid ha'chiyus k'mo ha'atzvus — u'mamon m'ravah atzvus. Hu m'kasher b'pnim d'sitra achra, Elokim acheirim, choshech = misah, hafech **"or p'nei melech chayim"** (**Mishlei 16:15**). **Afar=mamon**: **Ber 3:14** **"v'afar toch'al kol y'mei chayecha"** + **Iyov 28:6** **"afros zahav lo"** — ha'mamon (afar) ocheles y'mei chayim. **Tikkunim 70, 122b**: **"afar ihu kar v'yaveish, hachi tchol kar v'yaveish"** — mi'ha'tchol nimshach atzvus. **Tikkun 3 b'hi"a tikunim acharonim**: **"tchol da Lilis, ima d'eirev rav, s'chok ha'kesil — ma'an kesil, da el acher... v'ihu askara l'ravya d'inun chiyavya. **Chikis bahon b'osher b'hai alma u'l'vasar k'tilas lon**"** — Lilis-tchol *baits* them with wealth and kills them afterward. **Koh 7:26**: **"motzei ani mar mimaves es ha'isha" = tchol**. Parnassa d'kedusha = **"matza isha matza tov"** (**Mishlei 18:22**) = tzaddik. **Ha'tzaddik nitzol**: **"tov lifnei ha'Elokim yimaleit mimena"**. **Tikkun 3**: ravya=ein bahon da'as l'ishtizava, aval **lev meivin** ishtiziv — d'taman tzaddik. **Raza d'milsa**: **"tov... yimaleit mimena, v'choteh yilached bah."** Rov ha'olam nilkedu; ein l'hinatzel ki im al yedei tzaddik. **R"N — chasimah**: atah she'gilah Rabbeinu es ha'hakdamos, m'vo'arim divrei ha'Tikkunim heitev. **Tikkun 70 — im zachah/ke'negdo**: **"motzei... tchol Shabtai (patya achma)"** — *mar mimaves* = tchol. **"Ezer da Shechinta — matza isha matza tov"** — u'm'chamas zeh marei matnitin amru **"matza" o "motzei"**.

Beginner: **Two dalets form closed mem; mem = 40 days of formation; doors of heaven; decoding "silusa d'kadnayta" and "mi ika silusa"/"u-milcha mi sarya"; R' Nosson's insertion begins at the bottom.** From the two *delasos* (doors) — two ד's — is formed the **closed mem (ם)** — the shape of two dalets joined, which is the vessel within which the embryo is placed. This is the aspect of **mem = 40 — the days of the formation of the *velad*** (Niddah 30a). So too **above**: there are **"doors of heaven"** from which all abundance is "born," as it is written **"דלתי שמים פתח וימטר עליהם מן"** — "doors of heaven He opened, and rained down upon them manna" (Tehillim 78:23). So Rabbi Yehoshua's answer "**b'silusa d'kadnayta**" is truly the tikkun for one who guards the bris yet fell into ta'avas mamon: look to the silusa (root/doors). They retorted: **"u-mi ika silusa l'kadnayta?"** — does a mule even have a silusa/womb? — for AZ has no womb. He answered: **"u-milcha mi sarya?"** — does salt spoil? — in truth, one who rectifies the bris does not fall to ta'avas mamon at all. **"אנשי דמים ומרמה לא יחצו ימיהם"** — "men of blood and deceit shall not halve their days" (Tehillim 55:24) — i.e. a *ba'al machlokes* falls into ta'avas mamon, and his days are consumed in pursuit of surpluses. And: *"lo yechetzu yemeihem"* as Chazal say (Koheles Rabbah 1:13): **"ein adam meis va-chatzi ta'avaso b'yado"** — "no one dies with half his desire fulfilled." Thus *they do not halve their days* — because they never reach *half* their desires. **[Until here is Rabbeinu's own language — the rest is R' Nosson's extension based on what he heard further.]** The verse continues: **"ואני אבטח בך"** — "but I trust in You" (Tehillim 55:24) — the opposite of ta'avas mamon. One immersed in the desire for money does not trust Hashem — he serves every avodah zarah. But *"va-ani evtach bach"* — You can prepare my sustenance by any simple means, and I will be joyful in my portion. Therefore those immersed in money — **the more wealth they accumulate, the more worry, sorrow, and marah shechorah they have**; for their wealth is in the aspect of *"b'itzavon tochalenah"* = sadness / marah shechorah / anpin chashuchin = death. Wealth thus shortens and consumes a person's days and life — for nothing destroys vitality like worry and sorrow (as the wise physicians know). Money and wealth increase worry and sorrow, and therefore consume the one who pursues them — for they are connected to the face of the sitra achra, other gods, darkness — the opposite of **"באור פני מלך חיים"** — "in the light of the King's face is life" (Mishlei 16:15). Thus money kills its pursuer: it is death, sadness, as above — all aspects of *ta'avas mamon*. And this is **"ואוכל כל ימי חייך"** read on money: "**ועפר תאכל כל ימי חייך**" — "dust shall you eat all the days of your life" (Bereshis 3:14/17) — *afar* = *mamon*: **"ועפרות זהב לו"** — "and dusts of gold are his" (Iyov 28:6). And in the Tikkunim: *afar kar v'yavesh; t'chol kar v'yavesh; and from the t'chol is drawn eitzavon* (Tik"Z Tikkun 70, 122b). And in Tikkun 3 of the 11 *Tikkunim* at the end: **the t'chol is Lilith, mother of the erev rav, "laughter of the fool," the "other god"** — diphtheria (*askarah*) for children — it smiles at those who are guilty with wealth in this world, and afterward kills them. Intermediate: 2 delasos → **mem setumah (ם)** = **mem=40** = y'mei yetzirat ha-velad (Nid 30a). Above: **dalsei shamayim** "patach va-yamter aleihem man" (Teh 78:23). **Silusa d'kadnayta** = tikkun l'shomer ha-bris she-nafal. They: u-mi ika silusa l'kadnayta (AZ=no womb). He: u-milcha mi sarya (shomer bris lo nofel). "**Anshei damim u-mirmah lo yechetzu yemeihem**" (Teh 55:24) = ba'al machlokes → ta'avas mamon → ein adam meis va-chatzi ta'avaso b'yado (KR 1:13). **[R"N inserts from here.]** "V'ani evtach bach" = heifech ta'avas mamon. **More wealth → more da'agah / itzavon / marah shechorah / anpin chashuchin = mavet** (heifech "be-ohr pnei melech chayim," Mish 16:15). Dust=mamon ("afros zahav lo," Iyov 28:6); afar kar v'yavesh / t'chol kar v'yavesh / itzavon (Tik"Z 70, 122b); **t'chol=Lilith, em erev rav, s'chok ha-ksil, el acher** (Tik"Z 11 tikkunim — tikkun 3) — askarah la-yeladim; mesacheket b'osher ba-olam ha-zeh then harag.

Beginner: **Mutza / motze; the good wife; the tzaddik escapes; kashim m'zonosav kiflayim k'yoledah — 70 → 140 calls; emes koshta kai; yekum.** They are connected to **anpin chashuchin**, to *el acher*. Thus *"afterward it kills them"* — certainly the money (= spleen = sadness) kills them, because money is in the aspect of death, of anpin chashuchin. And in Chazal: **"mutza / motze"** (Berachos 8a). For **ta'avas mamon** is: **"ומוצא אני מר ממוות את האשה"** — "and I find (*motze*) more bitter than death: the woman" (Koheles 7:26). Tik"Z 70 (122b): "u-motze ani mar mi-mavet es ha-ishah v'ha-i t'chol." But **sustenance of holiness** is the aspect of: **"מצא אשה מצא טוב"** — "one who found (*matza*) a wife has found (*matza*) good" (Mishlei 18:22) — this is the aspect of **the tzaddik**. For the true tzaddik is saved from this: money does not harm him, as it is said of him: **"טוב לפני האלוקים ימלט ממנה"** — "the one good before God shall escape from it" (Koheles 7:26). And Tikkun 3: *"And why are they called 'yeladim' (children)? Because they have no da'as to be saved from her; but a heart that understands is saved — that is the tzaddik."* It takes great chochmah and da'as that money should not harm a person, not consume his days — many in the world are ensnared in this, and money kills and destroys them. It is impossible to be saved from this except through the tzaddik, of whom it is said **"tov lifnei ha-Elokim yimalet mimena."** See there in Tik"Z 70 and Tik"Z Tikkun 3 (of the 11 at the end) — and you will see wonders, how now Rabbeinu's new introductions open our eyes to that entire passage. **"קשין מזונותיו של אדם כפליים כיולדה"** — "a person's sustenance is twice as hard as a woman in childbirth" (Pesachim 118a) — the *yoledes* raises **70 kolos** (calls) — and here there are **140 kolos**. The reason: one must be tested and refined through ta'avas mamon before meriting to engage in *masa u-matan b'emunah* — to earn and bear fruit of holy money. One must strengthen himself when trading that he not fall at all into ta'avas mamon, but conduct his trade in truth and faith, to break and nullify every thought and *bilbul* of ta'avas mamon that arises in him — and his whole intention shall be for Hashem alone, so that he may merit to serve Hashem through the money he earns and to give tzedakah and support talmidei chachamim. The 140 kolos are two times seventy: **"Woe to Me from My head, woe to Me from My arm"** (Sanhedrin 46a) — two types of kolos (from head, from arm) — each the aspect of the 70 kolos of the yoledes, making 140. For *kalani* is from the language of *kol* (voice). All profit — all money, all abundance — is drawn only from the breaking of ta'avas mamon, which is the aspect of **emes (truth)**. And this is **"קושטא קאי, שיקרא לא קאי"** — "truth stands, falsehood does not stand" (Shabbos 104a). For Chazal said: **"וכל היקום אשר ברגליהם — זה ממונו של אדם שמעמידו על רגליו"** — "and all the *yekum* (standing-substance) that was at their feet — this is a person's money which establishes him on his feet" (Pesachim 119a). Therefore the essence of the *standing* of sustenance — the money that establishes one on his feet — is through **emes**, which is the breaking of ta'avas mamon. Intermediate: Ba'alei mamon = anpin chashuchin = el acher → mamon harag otam. **"Mutza / motze"** (Ber 8a): ta'avas mamon = "u-motze ani mar mi-mavet es ha-ishah" (Koh 7:26; Tik"Z 70, 122b = t'chol). **Parnasas kedushah** = "matza ishah matza tov" (Mish 18:22) = **tzaddik**. "**Tov lifnei ha-Elokim yimalet mimena**" (Koh 7:26; Tik"Z 3: yeladim ein da'as, lev mevin=tzaddik). **"Kashim m'zonosav kiflayim k'yoledah"** (Pes 118a): yoledes 70 kolos → parnasah 140 kolos. 140 = 2×70 = **"kallani me-roshi, kallani mi-zro'i"** (San 46a; kallani=lashon kol). **Emes = breaking of ta'avas mamon**. **"Kushta kai, shikra la kai"** (Shab 104a); "kol ha-yekum asher b'ragleihem" = mamon ha-ma'amid al raglav (Pes 119a).

Beginner: **Koshta kai = emes has standing = money endures; shikra la kai = falsehood has no standing = money doesn't endure.** This is the aspect of **"קושטא קאי"** — truth stands: through emes one has money, which is the aspect of *standing* that establishes a person on his feet. But **"שיקרא לא קאי"** — falsehood does not stand — for falsehood is avodah zarah (the essence of ta'avas mamon), as Chazal said: **"kol ha-m'shaneh b'diburo k'ilu oved avodah zarah"** (Sanhedrin 92a). Therefore through sheker, which is AZ / ta'avas mamon, there is no endurance and no standing — he has no money that can be called **yekum** (standing). Intermediate: **Koshta kai** = via emes → mamon → amidah (yekum). **Shikra la kai** = AZ=ta'avas mamon → no amidah, no yekum. (San 92a).

Beginner: **Shikra la kai in full; the sterile idolatry; true wealth = sameach b'chelko; the teaching concludes with the 1874-added paragraph on milei di-khdivi.** **"Shikra la kai"** — falsehood does not stand, because **avodah zarah — *el acher* — is sterile and bears no fruit** (Zohar Mishpatim 103a, as explained above). Typically, those who pursue ta'avas mamon excessively die *with debts*, nothing in their hand. Even if they do not die as outright debtors, in their lifetime they are *debtors to their desire* — running and toiling and endangering themselves to fulfill an insatiable desire, as if there were a great debt to pay (the debt of avodah zarah). And all their days they cannot fulfill their desire or pay its debt — "ein adam meis va-chatzi ta'avaso b'yado" — no one dies with half his desire in his hand (Koheles Rabbah 1:13). Their money is therefore *not* money, for they have no enjoyment from it — *el acher* is sterile and bears no fruit. Therefore it is impossible to draw *shefa* and *parnasah* and to earn money that can be called *money of holiness* (*mamon d-kedushah*) — to be joyful in one's portion, which is the main wealth: **"eizehu ashir? ha-sameach b'chelko"** (Avos 4:1) — without first breaking ta'avas mamon = emes. From there alone is the essence of *shefa* drawn. And this is why **"kashim m'zonosav kiflayim k'yoledah"** — for one must pass through and break the 140 kolos of ta'avas mamon; only via this can money be earned, because the essence of abundance is drawn from emes = breaking ta'avas mamon. With this the Torah closes upon itself. **[Inserted paragraph, appearing as early as the 1874 printings]**: Now it is well-understood regarding "imru lan milei di-khdivi" — "tell us lies" — that Rabbeinu called the ta'avas mamon itself *milei di-khdivi* — lies, avodah zarah — for certainly it is the aspect of falsehood: it appears to a person that he profits and profits, and in the end nothing remains in his hand, as we observe empirically. All the time he has money, he is not alive, for he takes no pleasure in it; he lacks more at every moment and is always a debtor. Therefore Rabbi Yehoshua replied: *"ha-i ninhu milei di-khdivi"* — *these* are the lies — it seems to them they profit, when in truth they do not. For they die as debtors, or are debtors to their desire throughout their lives. The essential point: **understand these matters well, in truth, practically, to strive to save your soul from the "bitterness more than death" which is ta'avas mamon.** Intermediate: **Shikra la kai** = AZ sterile ("istaras v'lo avid peiros," Zohar Mishpatim 103a). Rodfei mamon: meisim b'chovos or ba'alei chovos b'chayim ("ein adam meis va-chatzi ta'avaso," KR 1:13). Eizehu ashir? ha-sameach b'chelko (Avos 4:1). **Ikar shefa** = emes = sh'virat ta'avas mamon. **1874 insertion**: ta'avas mamon = milei di-khdivi (sheker/AZ); nir'eh-lahem mishta-khrim → ein b'yadam klum. **"Mar mi-mavet"** = ta'avas mamon — hatzilu nafshoseichem.