Running Commentary on Torah 27 — Retzitza d'Meis (Expanded)

Beginner: **Opening ma'amar (same as T26)**: ***'retzitza d'meis b'bi'uso, heicha nafak rucha? Amar l'hu: b'hinu d'al'*** — 'a chick that died inside its egg — through where did its spirit depart? He answered them: at the very point where it entered' (Bechoros 8b, the Athenian elders questioning Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananyah). T26 unfolded this as the personal avodas-tefillah teaching (the tzaddik must give his nefesh at the precise place machshavos zaros enter). T27 is the *expanded* unfolding: the same Aramaic riddle now read as the cosmic process of *world-redemption* — drawing all the nations to *l'ovdo Shechem echad* — which can only happen via the chain shalom → tikkun habris → 13 middos → hadras panim → kol rinah → and only at the precise gateway of bris does Rabbeinu's 'b'hinu d'al' yield its global force. Intermediate: **Opening ma'amar**: 'retzitza d'meis b'bi'uso, heicha nafak rucha? b'hinu d'al' (Bechoros 8b). T27 = ha-girsa ha-ravchanis shel T26 — same chick-riddle, now as cosmic redemption (l'ovdo shechem echad → shalom → bris → 13 middos → hadras panim → kol rinah).

Beginner: **Ois א — *Drawing the whole world to serve Hashem 'shechem echad' is accomplished in every dor according to its measure of *shalom***. *Ki l'mishoch es kol ha-olam la-avodaso, l'ovdo Shechem echad* — 'to draw the whole world to His service, to serve Him with one accord' (the messianic future of Tzefanyah 3:9 — *'az ehepoch el kol ha-amim safah berurah, likro chulam b'shem Hashem, l'ovdo Shechem echad'* — 'then I shall turn the peoples to a clear language, that they all call upon the name of Hashem, to serve Him with one *Shechem* — one shoulder, in unison'); ***v'chulam yashlichu elilei kaspam u-zhavam*** — *and they all cast away their idols of silver and gold* (the Yeshayahu 2:20 imagery: 'on that day a man will throw away his idols of silver and gold... to the moles and bats') — *v'yispalelu el Hashem yisbarach l'vad* — *and pray to Hashem yisbarach alone* — ***zeh ha-davar na'aseh b'chol dor va-dor lefi ha-shalom she-ba-dor*** — *this matter happens in every generation in proportion to the *shalom* in that generation.* The redemption of the world is not a single eschatological event waiting at the end; it is a *graded* process realized in every dor at the level of shalom that the dor manages to attain. **The mechanism**: ***ki al yedei ha-shalom she-yesh bein b'nei ha-adam, v'heim chokrim u-masbirim zeh la-zeh ha-emes, al yedei zeh mashlich kol ish es sheker elilei kaspo, u-mekareiv es atzmo la-emes*** — *because through shalom between human beings — when they investigate and clarify the truth to each other — through that, every man casts away the falsity of his silver-idol and draws himself close to the truth.* Without shalom, every person remains locked in his own elilei kesef (his idolatries of accumulated value); with shalom and honest discussion, those idols dissolve as truth becomes visible. Intermediate: **Ois א**: ***Drawing kol ha-olam l'avodaso, 'l'ovdo Shechem echad'*** (Tzef 3:9 — kulam yashlichu elilei kasaf v'zahav, yispal'lu lo l'vad) ***na'aseh b'chol dor lefi ha-shalom ba-dor***. Mechanism: shalom bein b'nei adam → chokrim u-masbirim zeh la-zeh ha-emes → kol ish mashlich elilei kaspo (=sheker) u-mekareiv atzmo la-emes. Geulah ha-olam = mishtachpeles b'chol dor lefi midas ha-shalom ha-mu'sag.

Beginner: **Ois ב — *Cannot reach shalom except via *ha'aras panim* and *hadras panim*; Yaakov is the bechina of shalom and Shechem***. *V'i efshar lavo li-bechinas shalom ela al yedei ha'aras panim, hadras panim* — 'and one cannot come to the bechina of shalom except by way of *ha'aras panim* (the lighting-up of the face) and *hadras panim* (the splendor/grace of the face)'. The verse-anchor: ***'va-yavo Yaakov shaleim ir Shechem'*** — 'and Yaakov came *whole/in-shalom* to the city of Shechem' (Bereshis 33:18, after Yaakov's reconciliation with Esav). The *isarrusa* (the awakening from below) of *l'ovdo Shechem echad* (Tzef 3:9 of Ois א) happens through ***shalom*** — and *shalom is via the bechina of Yaakov*, who is *ha'aras panim*. **Source for Yaakov = ha'aras panim**: ***'shufra d'Yaakov k'ein shufra d'Adam ha-rishon'*** — 'Yaakov's beauty was like the beauty of Adam ha-Rishon' (Bava Metzia 84a — the gemara comparing the beauty of the Avos and others); Adam's beauty was the unfallen luminous face that Hashem clothed him in, and Yaakov inherited that *shufra* / *ha'aras panim*. **And from Tehillim**: *'m'vakshei panecha Yaakov, selah'* — 'those who seek Your face are the *Yaakov-seekers*, selah' (Tehillim 24:6) — the seekers of Hashem's panim are coded in the verse as *Yaakov*, sealing that the *panim*-axis is the Yaakov-axis. **The cosmic linkage**: Shechem (the *city* of Shechem at which Yaakov arrived shaleim) is the same Shechem of *l'ovdo Shechem echad*. The literal arrival of the Yaakov-shalom at the city *Shechem* is the kabbalistic prefiguration of the messianic *Shechem echad* of all the nations. *Shalom*, the Yaakov-quality, brings the nations to *Shechem*. Intermediate: **Ois ב**: ***Ein shalom ela al yedei ha'aras+hadras panim***. 'Va-yavo Yaakov shaleim ir Shechem' (Ber 33:18) — isarrusa l'tzaf 3:9 'l'ovdo Shechem echad' al yedei shalom = bechinas Yaakov = ***ha'aras panim*** ('shufra d'Yaakov k'ein shufra d'Adam' BM 84a; 'm'vakshei panecha Yaakov selah' Teh 24:6). Shechem ha-ir = remez l'Shechem echad ha-asid.

Beginner: **Ois ג — *Hadras panim* = *drushei ha-Torah* (the homiletical drashos of Torah), through the *13 middos* drawn from the 12 *tikunei dikna***. ***V'hadras panim, zeh bechinas drushei ha-Torah*** — *and hadras panim is the bechina of the drashos of Torah*. **Why?** Because ***ha-Torah nidreshes b'13 middos*** — Torah is *expounded by the 13 hermeneutic middos* (the 13 rules of Rabbi Yishmael — kal va-chomer, gzeirah shavah, binyan av, etc.). And these 13 middos ***are drawn from the trei'asar tikunei d'dikna*** — *from the 12 (13 with the highest crown) tikkunim of the supernal beard*. The Zohar (Acharei 62a, the Idra material on the *dikna kadisha* of Atik Yomin) sets out the 12/13 strands of the supernal beard as the cosmic source of the 13 hermeneutic middos. The beard *is* the *hadras panim* — the literal splendor that frames the face — and *'v'hadarta p'nei zakein'* (Vayikra 19:32) — 'you shall stand up before the *zakein* (the elder/bearded one)' — locks the verbal link: *hadarta = hadras panim = the zakein-with-the-beard = the source of the 13 middos = the drushei ha-Torah*. So when the dor produces real, deep *drushei Torah* — exposition of the Torah through the 13 middos — it *literally* clothes itself in the supernal *hadras panim*, which is the precondition (Ois ב) for shalom, which is the precondition (Ois א) for *l'ovdo Shechem echad*. Intermediate: **Ois ג**: ***Hadras panim = drushei ha-Torah***. Ha-Torah nidreshes b'13 middos = nimshachim mi-trei'asar tikunei dikna (Zohar Acharei 62a — Idras Atik) = ***hadras panim*** ('v'hadarta p'nei zakein' Vay 19:32). Drushei Torah ↔ malbushei dikna ilaa.

Beginner: **Ois ד — *Per the purification of one's chochmah by the 13 middos, so is the kol-rinah purified***. ***U-lefi ha-hizdakchus chochmaso b'shalosh esrei middos eilu, kein hizdakchus kol rinaso*** — *and according to the refinement of his wisdom by these 13 middos, so is the refinement of the voice of his rinah*. The link: ***zakein = zeh kanah chochmah*** — 'an *elder* is one who has *acquired wisdom*' (Kiddushin 32b — chazal's etymology: zakein = ze-kanah). And ***ha-kaneh motzi kol*** — 'the throat (literally *kaneh* — reed-pipe) brings forth the voice' (Berachos 61a, on the anatomy; cf. Zohar Pinchas 232, 234, 235b — the kaneh is the cosmic windpipe through which the upper-voice issues). Same word *kanah*: the *kanah-chochmah* of the elder *is* the *kaneh-anatomical-voice-pipe*; whoever acquires wisdom *thereby* refines his voice-pipe. So the higher one's chochmah is purified by the 13 middos, the more refined the kol that issues from his kaneh becomes. **Source-verse**: ***'har'ini es mar'ayich, hashmi'ini es kolech, ki kolech areiv u-mar'ech naveh'*** — 'show Me your appearance, let Me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your appearance comely' (Shir Ha-Shirim 2:14). Rabbeinu maps: ***'har'ini es mar'ayich'*** = bechinas hadras panim, the zakein of Ois ג; ***'hashmi'ini es kolech'*** = the kol that issues *per* the wisdom of the drushei Torah refined by the 13 middos. And one final verse-seal: ***'dirshuni v'chyu'*** — 'seek Me and live' (Amos 5:4) — *'dirshuni'* = engage with the *drushei* Torah; ki ***'ha-chochmah techayeh es ba'aleha'*** — 'wisdom keeps its master alive' (Koheles 7:12). The chain is sealed: 13 middos → drushei Torah → refined chochmah → refined kanah → refined kol-rinah → life. Intermediate: **Ois ד**: ***Lefi hizdakchus chochmaso b'13 middos, kein hizdakchus kol rinaso***. ***Zakein = ze kanah chochmah*** (Kid 32b); ***ha-kaneh motzi kol*** (Ber 61a; Zohar Pinchas 232, 234, 235b). Same root: chochmah refines the anatomical kanah → refines kol. Pasuk: ***'har'ini es mar'ayich, hashmi'ini es kolech'*** (Shir 2:14) = mar'ayich/hadras panim + kolech/per chochmas drushei Torah. Sealed by 'dirshuni v'chyu' (Amos 5:4) ki 'ha-chochmah techayeh es ba'aleha' (Koh 7:12).

Beginner: **Ois ה — *When the kol is purified, by the kol alone (without dibbur) HKB"H saves a person in his tzarah***. ***U-kshe-niskakech kolo, az al yedei hashma'as kolo l'vad b'lo dibbur, ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu moshi'o b'eis tzaroso*** — once the voice is refined (per Ois ד, by the 13 middos via drushei Torah), then the *mere sound of his voice* — without any actual words — *brings about salvation* in the time of distress. **Verse-anchor**: ***'va-yar Hashem ba-tzar lahem b'shom'o es rinasam'*** — 'and Hashem saw their distress *upon hearing their rinah* (their melody/voice-cry)' (Tehillim 106:44, the verse from the great Tehillim review of Yisrael's history; cf. T42 which built the entire 'nigun mamtik dinim' Torah on this same verse). The Tehillim says *'b'shom'o es rinasam'* (upon *hearing* their voice-cry) — not *'b'kor'am eilav'* (upon their *calling out* to Him with words). **Hashem's seeing the distress is triggered by hearing the kol-rinah alone**, with no need for articulated tefillah-content. **Verse-decode**: ***'b'shom'o es rinasam'*** — *via hearing his kol*, HKB"H *sees who is afflicting him* — the upper Beis Din identifies which umah-sar is the source of the gezeirah and removes him. **And the dimension of *all 70 leshonos*** (which corresponds to the cosmic spread of the umos): ***'be'er heitev'*** — 'expound clearly' (Devarim 27:8, on the inscribed stones of the Yarden crossing) — Chazal (Sotah 32a, brought in Rashi there) read *be'er heitev = b'70 lashon* — *be'er* (well/expound) was done in *seventy languages* on those stones. And ***peirushei u-drushei ha-Torah*** are the source from which the kol issues (Ois ד); through them, *Hashem helps us against all 70 umos*. ***Bechinas 'b'shom'o es rinasam' — roshei teivos של בא"ר*** — *the initial letters of 'b'shom'o es rinasam' (ב + א + ר) spell בא"ר* — sealing that the salvation-via-kol is the same as the *be'er* of *be'er heitev = 70 leshon = drushei Torah*. The voice purified by drushei-Torah-13-middos-hadras-panim *is itself* the cross-linguistic salvation-frequency. Intermediate: **Ois ה**: ***Niskakech ha-kol → hashma'as ha-kol l'vad (b'lo dibbur), HKB"H moshi'o***. Pasuk: ***'va-yar Hashem ba-tzar lahem b'shom'o es rinasam'*** (Teh 106:44) — al yedei shmi'as ha-kol, HKB"H ro'eh mi metzar lo. ***'Be'er heitev' = 70 lashon*** (Sotah 32a; Rashi Dev 27:8) — peirushei u-drushei Torah = matzilim mi-kol 70 umos. ***R"T 'b'shom'o es rinasam' = בא"ר***.

Beginner: **Ois ו — *To reach hadras panim, one cannot except via *tikkun ha-bris****. ***U-l'hadras panim ha-na'l i efshar lavo, ela al yedei tikkun ha-bris*** — *and one cannot reach the aforementioned hadras panim except through tikkun ha-bris* (the rectification of the covenant of sexual purity). The whole tower built in Oisos א-ה — l'ovdo Shechem echad → shalom → ha'aras panim → hadras panim → drushei Torah → kol rinah — rests on the foundation-stone of bris. **Verse-anchor**: ***'hod v'hadar l'fanav, oz v'chedvah bi'mekomo'*** — 'splendor and beauty are before Him, strength and joy are in His place' (I Divrei Ha-Yamim 16:27). Rabbeinu reads: ***'hod v'hadar l'fanav'*** is conditional upon ***'oz v'chedvah bi'mekomo'*** — splendor-and-beauty (the very *hadras panim* of Ois ג) appears *only when* there is *oz and chedvah in His place*. **And what is that 'place'?** It is ***bris*** — the covenant of yesod — *which is called Bo'az* — *Bo'az = bo oz* ('in him is *oz*') — bris is named after the *oz* that resides in it. (The name *Bo'az* attaches to the right pillar of the Beis HaMikdash, which is the *yesod*-pillar; cf. Pri Etz Chaim, Sha'ar Ha-Zemiros, perek 1.) ***V'hu chedvah d'matronisa*** — *and bris is the joy of the matronisa* (the kabbalistic name for the Shechinah, who rejoices when the bris is rectified, since the entire flow from yesod to malchus then runs unobstructed). So the verse decodes: when 'oz' (bris/Bo'az) and 'chedvah' (the matronisa's joy at intact bris) are 'in His place' (i.e., when the yesod-channel is *l'fanav* / facing properly toward the source) — *only then* does *hod v'hadar* (the hadras panim of Ois ג) actually become 'before Him.' Bris is the mechanical prerequisite of the entire avodah-system. Intermediate: **Ois ו**: ***Hadras panim al yedei tikkun ha-bris***. Pasuk: ***'hod v'hadar l'fanav, oz v'chedvah bi'mekomo'*** (DH"A 16:27). Hadras panim ('hod v'hadar') tnai b'oz+chedvah = ***bris*** (=Bo'az = 'bo oz'; chedvah d'matronisa, PEC Sha'ar Zemiros 1). Bris = isod of kol ha-tower.

Beginner: **Ois ז (continued) — *'Ozi v'zimras Kah va-yhi li li-shu'ah'* unfolded: bris (ozi) + kol (zimras) → yeshu'ah; the Krias Yam Suf as model***. ***'Ozi v'zimras Kah, va-yhi li li-shu'ah'*** — '*My strength* and *my song* are Yah, and He has been my *salvation*' (Shemos 15:2 — the opening of Az Yashir, the song at the Yam Suf). Rabbeinu maps each clause: ***'ozi'*** = *bechinas bris* (the *oz* of bris/Bo'az from Ois ו); ***'zimras'*** = *bechinas kol* (the kol-rinah of Ois ה — *zimras* is literally song); ***'va-yhi li li-shu'ah'*** = the same yeshu'ah that the verse *'va-yar Hashem ba-tzar lahem b'shom'o es rinasam'* of Ois ה describes. So the entire pasuk-formula of *yeshu'ah* — bris + kol — is laid out in five Hebrew words at the start of Az Yashir. **And Chazal (Sotah 30b)**: ***k'she-alu Yisrael min ha-yam, nasnu eineihem lomar shirah*** — 'when Yisrael came up from the sea, they fixed their eyes (on the Shechinah) to say song'. **Why specifically at the yam was the bris-revealed?** Because *al ha-yam nis'galeh bechinas bris* — at the sea, the bris-aspect was revealed — as Chazal said: ***'ha-yam ra'ah va-yanos — Yosef ha-tzaddik ra'ah va-yanos / va-yetzei ha-chutzah'*** (Midrash Rabbah Vayeishev parshah 7 — *the sea fled because it 'saw' the merit of Yosef, who himself fled out from Eishes Potiphar — 'va-yetzei ha-chutzah'* — the paradigmatic shomer-bris). The yam fled at sight of the supernal *Yosef-bris*. **And on that exact moment**: ***nasnu eineihem*** = bechinas hadras panim (the *eyes* are the locus of hadras panim, per Bereshis 3:7 *'va-tipakachna einei sheneihem'* — Rashi: *'on account of chochmah'*); ***lomar shirah*** = bechinas kol nigleh al yedei chochmah; and as Chazal close (Sotah ibid.), ***'olalim v'yonkim amru zeh Eli v'anveihu'*** — '*even infants and nurslings* said "this is my G-d and I shall glorify Him"' — ***'zeh' = bechinas bris*** ('zeh lecha ha-os' Shemos 3:12 — the same *zeh*-pointing-finger of the yetzi'as Mitzrayim *os*); ***'v'anveihu' = bechinas hadras panim*** (anveihu = 'I shall make Him a *navah* / dwelling-of-beauty'). So at Krias Yam Suf, in one instant, all four elements of Rabbeinu's tower converged — bris, hadras panim, kol-shirah, yeshu'ah — *and* infants and nurslings could speak the verse. **Mishlei seal**: ***'ro'eh zonos y'abed hon'*** — 'one who consorts with harlots loses *hon*' (Mishlei 29:3). What is *hon*? *Hon = bechinas kol*, as Chazal said: ***'kabed es Hashem mei-honecha — al tikra mei-honecha ela mi-gronecha'*** — 'honor Hashem from your *hon* (wealth) — read not *mei-honecha* but *mi-gronecha* (from your throat)' (Pesikta brought in Be'er Heiteiv OC 53; the same gemara appears in the rishonim's siddurim around the chazan's role). So *the one who is poreitz-bris (zonos) loses his hon = his kol* — the inverse of Az Yashir's bris-yields-kol-yields-yeshu'ah. The Mishlei verse and the Yam Suf verse are exact mirror-images of one principle. Intermediate: **Ois ז (cont)**: ***'Ozi v'zimras Kah va-yhi li li-shu'ah'*** (Shem 15:2): ***ozi=bris*** (=Bo'az, Ois ו); ***zimras=kol*** (Ois ה); li-shu'ah = 'va-yar ba-tzar... b'shom'o es rinasam' (Teh 106:44). **Sotah 30b**: 'kshe-alu Yisrael min ha-yam, nasnu eineihem lomar shirah' — al ha-yam nis'galeh bris ('ha-yam ra'ah va-yanos — Yosef ra'ah va-yanos / va-yetzei ha-chutzah,' MR Vayeishev 7); 'olalim v'yonkim... zeh Eli v'anveihu' = ***zeh***=bris ('zeh lecha ha-os' Shem 3:12) + ***v'anveihu***=hadras panim. Mishlei 29:3 'ro'eh zonos y'abed hon'; ***hon=kol*** ('kabed Hashem mei-honecha = mi-gronecha,' Pesikta b'BH OC 53).

Beginner: **Ois ז (continued — Marah, Shabbos shalom, the bitter coating of refuah)**: ***V'davka b'Marah kiblu Shabbos shalom*** — *and specifically at *Marah* (the bitter waters of Shemos 15:23-25, immediately after Az Yashir) Israel received Shabbos and shalom* (per chazal that mitzvas Shabbos was given at Marah; Shabbos 87b — 'asarah devarim nitzta'avu Yisrael b'Marah'). **Why davka b'Marah?** ***Ki kein derech ha-shalom l'his'labesh b'marah*** — *because this is the way of shalom — to clothe itself in bitterness*. Verse: ***'hineh l'shalom mar li mar'*** — 'behold, for shalom, bitter to me, bitter' (Yeshayahu 38:17, Chizkiyahu's psalm of recovery from illness — the very verse where shalom and marah explicitly meet). ***Just as all refuos are by way of bitter medicines*** — *kein ha-shalom she-hu refuah l'chol ha-devarim* — *so too shalom, which is the medicine for everything*: ***'shalom la-rachok v'la-karov, amar Hashem, u-refasiv'*** — 'peace to the far and the near, says Hashem, and I have healed him' (Yeshayahu 57:19). Shalom is named together with refuah; it is the universal medicine. **And sometimes the chalishah (the patient's weakness) overpowers** so that the *cholehs* cannot bear the bitterness of the refuos — *az ha-rofim moshchin yedeihem min ha-choleh u-meya'ashim oso* — 'then the doctors withdraw their hands from the patient and despair of him.' **Spiritually**: when *avonos* (which are the *chala'im* of the nefesh) overpower so massively that the person can no longer endure the bitterness of teshuvah — *az 'ein shalom amar la-resha'im'* (Yeshayahu 48:22, 57:21). **Chizkiyahu's praise** of Hashem (Yeshayahu 38) is precisely that *Hashem cast all his sins behind His back* so that the shalom would not have to be clothed in *too much* marah — *'lo yivash li-shlali mar lo mar'* (38:17 — 'behold, for shalom, bitter, bitter to me') — Chizkiyahu acknowledges shalom's intrinsic bitterness, but *'v'atah chashakta nafshi mi-redes shachas'* — *You desired my soul not to descend to the pit* — *ki yadata she-ein bi koach lisbol mararus k'fi chata'ai* — 'because You knew there was no strength in me to bear bitterness commensurate with my sins' — *v'hishlachta achar gevecha kol cha'tai'* — *and You cast all my sins behind Your back* — *kdei she-yislabesh ha-shalom b'marirus k'fi yecholti* — *so that the shalom could clothe itself in only as much bitterness as I was able to bear*. Chizkiyahu's recovery is the model of shalom-medicine calibrated to capacity. Intermediate: **Ois ז (Marah)**: ***B'Marah kiblu Shabbos+shalom*** (Shab 87b, asarah devarim b'Marah). ***Derech ha-shalom l'his'labesh b'marah*** — Yesh 38:17 'hineh l'shalom mar li mar.' Refuos b'samim meririm; shalom = refuah la-kol (Yesh 57:19 'shalom la-rachok v'la-karov... u-refasiv'). Im chala'im gov'rim → 'ein shalom la-resha'im' (Yesh 48:22). Chizkiyahu (Yesh 38): HKB"H hishlich kol cha'tav achar gevo k'dei she-yis'labesh ha-shalom b'marirus k'fi yecholto (Yesh 38:17 'lo yivash mar mar'; 'v'atah chashakta nafshi mi-redes shachas').

Beginner: **Ois ח (closing) — *Shalom b'gufo, b'mamono, b'toraso*; final peirush of *retzitza d'meis* on the world-redemption axis***. **Three dimensions of *shalom*** — Chazal (Shabbos 33b) on *'va-yavo Yaakov shaleim'* (Bereshis 33:18, the same Yaakov-arrival-at-Shechem verse of Ois ב): ***'shaleim b'gufo, shaleim b'mamono, shaleim b'toraso'*** — *whole in his body, whole in his money, whole in his Torah*. **(i) *Shalom b'gufo*** — ***b'arba marot she-lo tisgaber achas al chaverta*** — *in the four humours (the medieval/ancient model: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile), that not one should overpower the other*. (Bodily health is precisely *shalom* among the four marot.) **(ii) *Shalom bi-mamono*** — *she-lo yihyeh ba zeh v'achal es zeh* — *that one (kind of expense, or one creditor) should not come and consume the other* — as Bas Nakdimon ben Guryon famously said when she was reduced to picking grain from animal-dung after her father's wealth was lost (Kesubos 66b — *'mishtarei sh'la-bi'a, akli'ah le-aver'* — the bills owed by my father were eaten by the creditors). **(iii) *Shalom bi-toraso*** — *bi'lo kushiyos* — *without contradictions* (an undisturbed flow of Torah-understanding without the friction of unresolved kushiyos blocking integration). **Then** — once the threefold shalom is in place — *az 'va-yavo Yaakov shaleim ir Shechem'* — *then Yaakov arrives whole at Shechem*, and the cosmic Shechem of *l'ovdo Shechem echad* becomes accessible. **The closing peirush of the opening ma'amar**: ***retzitza = bechinas kaneh ratzutz*** — 'retzitza' (chick) is reread as *kaneh ratzutz* (a *broken reed*, the same root r-tz-tz). ***She-heim ha-akum, she-heim rechokim mi-bechinas 'zakein = zeh kaneh chochmah'*** — these are the *akum* (the gentile nations sunk in idolatry), who are *far from the bechina of 'zakein = ze kanah chochmah'* (Ois ד) — *u-d'veikim b'kaneh ratzutz* — *and cling to a broken reed* — ***'ga'ar chayas kaneh'*** — 'rebuke the beast of the reed' (Tehillim 68:31, the verse asking Hashem to rebuke the wild beasts of the reed-marshes — the gentile umos). ***'D'meis b'bi'uso'*** — *'died in its egg/in its prayer'* — ***heinu l'hamis u-l'vatel be'usam u-tzelosam mi-l'vakesh od mei-Elokim acherim, ela likro chulam b'shem Hashem*** — *to mortify and nullify their *be'usa*/their *tzelosa* (their prayer-supplication, the same word as in T26's tzlosa-and-ba'usa — but here used as the prayer of the akum) so that they *cease to seek other gods* and instead *all call upon the name of Hashem* (the Tzef 3:9 verse closes the loop with Ois א). ***'Heicha nafak rucha?'*** — *and how does this shift happen?* — *ein efshar ela al yedei tikkun bris* (Ois ו), bechinas ***'v'lo kamah od ru'ach b'ish'*** — 'no spirit rose any more in any man' (Yehoshua 2:11, said by Rachav after the spies' visit — describing exactly the moment when the akum's *ru'ach* dropped at sight of Yisrael's bris-power). ***V'eich mafik u-motzi nitzotzei ha-kedushah she-naflu al yedei pgam ha-bris?*** — *and how does one extract the sparks of holiness that fell through pgam ha-bris?* — Rabbeinu's final teshuvah: ***'b'hinu d'al' — b'zeh she-nichnas bo ru'ach (heinu ru'ach shtus, hirhurei zenus) v'hu m'shabber ta'avaso, b'zeh hu mafik u-motzi'*** — *'at the very gate where it entered' — meaning, at the precise place where a *ru'ach* (a *ruach shtus*, the spirit of foolishness — the *hirhurei zenus*, the lustful thoughts) entered him, *and he breaks his ta'avah (his desire) right there* — through that very breaking he extracts and brings out (the fallen sparks)*. The closing of T27 returns us to the same answer T26 closed with — *the gate of entry is the gate of ascent* — but now scaled to global redemption: every personal moment of breaking a hirhur-zenus at the gate of entry is the personal correlate of the cosmic breakage of the kaneh-ratzutz of the akum, the cosmic shalom-Marah-Shabbos, the cosmic hadras panim of drushei Torah, and the cosmic *l'ovdo Shechem echad* of Tzefanyah. T27 is the world-Torah of the same chick-riddle T26 used as the personal-Torah. Intermediate: **Ois ח (chosem)**: ***Shalom b'gufo, b'mamono, b'toraso*** (Shab 33b al 'Yaakov shaleim'): (i) gufo = 4 marot (humors) lo tisgaber achas; (ii) mamono = lo yavo zeh v'ya'achal zeh (Ket 66b — bas Nakdimon); (iii) toraso = b'lo kushiyos. Az 'va-yavo Yaakov shaleim ir Shechem.' **Peirush ha-ma'amar**: ***retzitza = kaneh ratzutz*** = ha-akum ha-rechokim mi-'zakein=ze kanah chochmah,' d'veikim b'kaneh ratzutz ('ga'ar chayas kaneh' Teh 68:31). ***'D'meis b'bi'uso'*** = l'hamis u-l'vatel be'usam mi-vakshei elohim acherim, likro b'shem Hashem (= Tzef 3:9, sgirah l'Ois א). ***'Heicha nafak rucha?'*** = ein ela al yedei tikkun bris (Yehoshua 2:11 'v'lo kamah od ru'ach b'ish'). ***'B'hinu d'al'*** = b'mkom she-nichnas bo ru'ach shtus (hirhurei zenus) v'hu m'shabber ta'avaso, sham hu mafik nitzotzei ha-kedushah (chazara l'sium T26).