Running Commentary on Torah 54 — Va'yehi Mi'Ketz Sh'nasayim Yamim

Beginner: **Opening pasuk** — the Torah will unfold around the Yosef-and-Pharaoh chalom that opens parshas Mikeitz: ***'va-yehi mi-ketz sh'nasayim yamim, u-Pharaoh choleim, v'hinei omeid al ha-ye'or; v'hinei min ha-ye'or olos sheva paros, y'fos mar'eh u'briyos basar, va-tirena ba-achu...'*** — 'and it was at the end of two years of days, and Pharaoh was dreaming, and behold he stood by the *ye'or* (Nile/canal), and behold from the ye'or were rising seven cows, fair of appearance and fat of flesh, and they grazed in the reed-grass...' (Bereshis 41:1-2). Every word — *mi-ketz*, *sh'nasayim yamim*, *u-Pharaoh choleim*, *omeid al ha-ye'or* — will be decoded later (Ois ח, segs 18ff) as a coded map of the *koach ha-medameh* (the imaginative faculty), the corruption of the *kometz* of korbanos, the *shoneh halachos*, and the alternation of seven good years and seven bad. Hold the literal image: a king dreaming on the bank of his great river; out of his river rise his cows. Intermediate: **Opening pasuk**: 'Va-yehi mi-ketz sh'nasayim yamim u-Pharaoh choleim... v'hinei omeid al ha-ye'or; v'hinei min ha-ye'or olos sheva paros y'fos mar'eh u'briyos basar' (Ber 41:1-2). Every term — mi-ketz / sh'nasayim yamim / Pharaoh choleim / al ha-ye'or — will decode in Ois ח (segs 18ff): koach ha-medameh, pgam ha-kometz, shoneh halachos, sheva-sheva tov v'ra.

Beginner: **Second pasuk** — the Tehillim verse that names the *cosmic clothing* the Torah is about to expose: ***'Hashem Elokai, gadalta me'od; hod v'hadar lavashta. Oteh ohr ka-salma, noteh shamayim ka-yriyah'*** — 'Hashem my G-d, You have grown great exceedingly; *hod v'hadar* (splendor and beauty) You have donned. Wrapping in light as a garment, stretching out the heavens like a curtain' (Tehillim 104:1-2). Three keys for what follows: ***'Hashem Elokai'*** — the *full Name* (Hashem combined with the Elokim-aspect) is Rabbeinu's encoding of *olam ha-ba* (Ois א); ***'gadalta me'od'*** — *expansion within tzimtzum*, the precise mode in which the sechel may stretch into the upper madreigos hidden in this world (Ois ב, ה); ***'hod v'hadar lavashta'*** — the lower NH (raglayin) clothed in the splendor by which kedushah dresses itself in olam ha-zeh (Ois ב, ו). The whole Torah will return again and again to this verse as the master-frame. Intermediate: **Second pasuk**: 'Hashem Elokai gadalta me'od; hod v'hadar lavashta; oteh ohr ka-salma, noteh shamayim ka-yriyah' (Teh 104:1-2). 3 keys: **'Hashem Elokai'** = olam ha-ba (Ois א); **'gadalta me'od'** = expansion b'tzimtzum (Ois ב, ה); **'hod v'hadar lavashta'** = NH/raglayin clothed in olam-hazeh-splendor (Ois ב, ו). Master-frame for the Torah.

Beginner: **"α. Must guard **zikaron** very much so he doesn't fall into **shich'chah** (forgetfulness) = **misas ha'lev**. Ikkar ha'zikaron: **remember olam ha'ba constantly** — never think, cha'v, there is only one world. Via cleaving machshavah to **alma d'asi**, **yichud 'Hashem Elokai'** is made. (Hashem+Elokim = shem malei = olam ha'ba; Sabba Mishpatim 98 on this pasuk: **'Hashem Elokai=sh'rusa d'mehemnusa, s'liku d'machshavah d'alma d'asi.'**)"** Intermediate: **α. Guard zikaron** from **shich'chah=misas ha'lev**. Ikkar zikaron=**remember olam ha'ba constantly** → **yichud Hashem Elokai** (Sabba Mishp 98 "Hashem Elokai=sh'rusa d'mehemnusa, s'liku machshavah d'alma d'asi").

Beginner: **Section ב — Remembering olam ha'ba is *kl'lal+prat*.** **"U'bechinah zo, lizkor tamid b'olam ha'ba — d'heyno l'adbaka machshavta b'alma d'asi — hu bi'chl'aliyus u'bi'fratiyus"** — 'and this aspect (remembering olam ha'ba always — which is *to cleave one's thought in the world-to-come*) is in both *kl'lal* (general) and *prat* (specific).' **Kl'lal — morning practice**: **"Bi'chl'aliyus, kach ra'uy li'h'yos minhag yir'ei Hashem: teikef ba'boker b'hakitzo, kodem she'yaschil shum davar, yizkor miyad b'alma d'asi"** — 'in kl'lal, thus is the fitting practice of *yir'ei Hashem*: immediately upon waking — *before he begins anything* — let him *remember olam ha'ba at once*.' The first act of the day, before any mundane thought, must be *zechiras alma d'asi*. **Prat — reading the day's remazim**: **"V'achar kach ya'aseh zos b'pratiyus"** — 'and afterward he shall do this in prat.' How? **"Ki kol ha'olam ha'zeh, hu hislavshus madregos ha'tachtonos shel ha'kedushah, heyno bechinas raglin shel ha'kedushah, bi'bechinas 'v'ha'aretz hadom raglai'"** (Yeshayahu 66:1) — 'for all this world is the *enclothing of the lower madregos of kedushah* — the bechinah of *the legs/feet of kedushah*, in the bechinah of *the earth is My footstool*.' Olam ha'zeh = the *raglin* of the Divine Presence. **Upper madregos also present — but as *he'arah* only**: **"Af she'gam madregos ha'elyonos shel ha'kedushah, yeish mei'hem gam kein hisgalus b'olam ha'zeh, ach she'ein ha'hisgalus misla'beish b'etzem b'zeh ha'olam, ki im he'arah she'meir bi'bechinas raglin"** — 'although the *upper* madregos also have some revelation in olam ha'zeh — yet their revelation does *not enclothe itself in essence* in this world, only an *illumination* that shines in the aspect of *raglin*.' **"Aval bechinas raglin misgalin b'etzem b'zeh ha'olam"** — 'but the bechinah of *raglin* is revealed in *essence* in this world.' So olam ha'zeh is directly the body of the raglin-kedushah, with only reflected light from the mochin-kedushah. **Every day — machshavah, dibbur, ma'aseh — tzimtzum Elokus**: **"V'chol yom yeish bo machshavah, dibbur u'ma'aseh — v'HKBH m'tzam'tzeim Elokuso mei'Ein Sof ad ein tachlis, ad nekudas ha'merkaz shel olam ha'gashmi she'omed alav"** — 'and every day contains machshavah, dibbur, and ma'aseh — and HKBH *contracts His Elokus from Ein Sof down to the endless-tachlis*, down to the *central point of the physical world upon which [a person] stands.*' The tzimtzum is not a one-time cosmic event — it is renewed every day, contracting all the way down to the *nekudas ha'merkaz of each individual's life-location.* **"U'mazmin lo l'chol adam machshavah dibbur u'ma'aseh, l'fi ha'yom u'l'fi ha'adam u'l'fi ha'makom"** — 'and He *arranges for every person* a machshavah, dibbur, and ma'aseh — according to the day, the person, and the place.' Each person receives a custom-fit machshavah/dibbur/ma'aseh-set each day, calibrated to his own level and location. **Remazim inside the day's mental-content**: **"U'malbish lo b'zos ha'machshavah dibbur u'ma'aseh she'mazmin lo — remazim k'dei l'karvo l'avodaso"** — 'and [HKBH] *clothes within the machshavah/dibbur/ma'aseh* that He arranges for him — *remazim (hints)* — in order to draw him close to His service.' Every thought, word, and deed of the day is a *coded message* from HKBH. **The duty — decode them**: **"B'chein tzarich l'ha'amik machshavto b'zeh, u'l'hagdil binaso, u'l'havin mahu ha'remizos bi'fratiyus, she'm'lubash b'zos ha'machshavah dibbur u'ma'aseh shel zeh ha'yom she'hizmin lo HKBH"** — 'therefore one must *deepen his thought* in this, *enlarge his binah*, and understand what are *the specific hints* clothed in the machshavah/dibbur/ma'aseh of *this day* that HKBH has arranged for him.' **"Hein m'lachah o masa u'matan, v'chol mah she'mazmin lo HKBH b'chol yom — tzarich l'ha'amik u'l'hagdil machshavto b'zeh, k'dei l'havin remizosav shel HKBH"** — 'whether a craft, or a business matter, or *anything* that HKBH arranges for him each day — he must deepen and enlarge his thought in this, in order to understand HKBH's *hints.*' Every event of the day is a *daf-yomi of HKBH's personal Torah* to this individual. Intermediate: **Ois ב** — **Zikaron olam ha'ba = l'adbaka machshavta b'alma d'asi — bi'chl'aliyus u'bi'fratiyus**. **Kl'lal**: teikef ba'boker b'hakitzo, kodem kol, yizkor miyad b'alma d'asi. **Prat**: olam ha'zeh = hislavshus madregos tachtonos shel kedushah = **raglin**: **Yesh 66:1** **"v'ha'aretz hadom raglai."** Madregos elyonos — he'arah bi'bechinas raglin; raglin — misgalin b'etzem. **Tzimtzum yomi**: kol yom = machshavah/dibbur/ma'aseh; HKBH m'tzam'tzem Elokuso mei'Ein Sof ad nekudas ha'merkaz shel olam ha'gashmi. Mazmin l'chol adam l'fi ha'yom/ha'adam/ha'makom. M'labish **remazim** k'dei l'karvo l'avodaso. **Duty**: l'ha'amik machshavto, l'hagdil binaso, l'havin remizim bi'fratiyus — b'm'lachah, b'masa u'matan, b'chol mah she'mazmin HKBH b'chol yom.

Beginner: **"Expanding the sechel must be **b'middah** — not leaving the gvul of kedushah; only per his human sechel can he expand. Don't look beyond his madreigah — **'ba'mufla mim'cha al tidrosh'** (Chagigah 13a). **'Gadalta me'od, hod v'hadar lavashta'** = when taking anything from this world (=hod v'hadar=raglayin clothed in it), must be **'gadalta me'od'** = expansion **b'middah + tzimtzum**; **'me'od' = sitra d'smola** = tzimtzum."** Intermediate: **Expansion b'middah** (not beyond gvul). "Ba'mufla mim'cha" (Chag 13a). "Gadalta me'od, hod v'hadar" = expansion b'tzimtzum; **"me'od"=sitra d'smola=tzimtzum**.

Beginner: **Source-anchor — Sabba d'Mishpatim** on the Tehillim verse: ***'Hod v'hadar lavashta = ilein trei badei aravos'*** — 'splendor and beauty You have donned' refers to *the two willow-branches* (the *aravos*) of the lulav-set. The two aravos are *Netzach v'Hod* of the upper partzuf, and they are the *raglayin* (legs) of the system — the lowest two of the seven middos. So the *hod v'hadar lavashta* of Tehillim 104:1, mapped via the lulav-aravos, is precisely the **clothing of the lower NH/raglayin** by which Hashem makes Himself present in this world. This is the verse-source for the principle Rabbeinu has been building since Ois ב: kedushah's manifestation in olam ha-zeh is principally through the raglayin — and those raglayin are Hashem's own *hod v'hadar* clothing the Aravos-pair of Sukkos. The Sabba seals it. Intermediate: **Source-anchor — Sabba d'Mishpatim**: ***'Hod v'hadar lavashta = ilein trei badei aravos'*** — the two willow-branches of the lulav = NH = raglayin. Verse-source for raglayin-d'kedushah/olam-hazeh-clothing principle (Ois ב).

Beginner: **Section ז — Even the one who *does* understand the remazim must still have *histapkus* — for two reasons.** Until now we spoke of the duty to decode HKBH's *remazim* clothed in daily machshavah/dibbur/ma'aseh. Now R"N opens a new dimension: even the *chachamim-b'remazim*, those who *do* hear HKBH's voice inside the day's events, must still train themselves in *histapkus* — contentment with the minimum — from olam ha'zeh. And this is true **'afilu l'mi she'yodeia ha'remazim' — *even for one who understands the hints*.** **Two reasons — the first: olam ha'zeh is *raglin* — a *makom miskein* surrounded by klipot.** **"Ki gam ha'kedushah ha'misla'beshes b'olam ha'zeh, hu bechinas raglin shel ha'kedushah, v'hein madregos ha'tachtonos shel ha'kedushah"** — 'for even the kedushah that enclothes itself in olam ha'zeh is [merely] the bechinah of *raglin*, the lower madregos of kedushah.' This is the very same kedushah whose remazim the decoder reads — but its *status-level* is raglin. **"V'ha'klipos sovavin osah"** — 'and the klipot surround it.' Raglin-kedushah is always adjacent to klipah; the descent brings it near to the *kav ha'gvul* of impurity. **The pasuk**: **Tehillim 49:6** **"Avon akeivai y'suveini"** — 'the iniquity of my heels surrounds me.' The *akeivim* (heels) — the lowest extremity, parallel to *raglin* — are *surrounded* by avon. King David identifies olam ha'zeh precisely as the place where the lowest madregah (akeivim) is encircled by sin. **"U'k'mo she'mevu'ar ba'Zohar"** — 'as is explained in Zohar.' Zohar consistently reads *akeivai* as the raglin-madregah at which the klipot gather. Hence olam ha'zeh = *makom miskein*: a pauper-place, the place most vulnerable to klipah. **Therefore one must *not* spread oneself in it — *histapkus alone*.** **"V'al kein tzarich l'histapek b'kol davar, v'lo l'harchiv atzmo yoseir mi'dai"** — 'therefore one must content himself in every matter, and not expand himself too much.' Even when the remazim are clear and one senses HKBH in the day — do not *expand* in olam ha'zeh. Keep dealings narrow. The wider one spreads, the more one engages the klipot that *surround* the raglin-kedushah. **Second reason: there is a *higher* avodah above the olam-ha'zeh-remazim.** **"V'od, ki yeish avodah gevohah yoseir — hi avodas Torah u'mitzvos"** — 'and moreover, there is a *higher avodah* — that is the avodah of Torah and mitzvos.' Decoding the day's remazim is *one* avodah, and a real one — but above it sits the avodah of Torah and mitzvos proper. If a man *expands* in olam ha'zeh even kosher-ly, he loses kochos for the higher avodah. Therefore histapkus frees his strength for Torah and mitzvos. **Definition — *histapkus* = being dressed in full-light.** **"V'histapkus hu bechinas 'oteh or ka'salmah' — k'mo she'kasuv (Tehillim 104:2)"** — 'and *histapkus* is the bechinah of *one who wraps himself in light as a garment* — as it is written.' The ba'al-histapkus is *clothed* in the *or* of Hashem Himself; that is his garment, his covering, his sustenance. He does not need to expand into olam ha'zeh because his wrap is *light.* **Who lacks histapkus — the rasha**: **Mishlei 13:25** **"U'veten reshayim techsar"** — 'and the belly of the wicked is *lacking*.' The rasha is built around *chisaron* — lack. He cannot be satisfied; whatever he has, the belly demands more. **"V'zehu mei'eiras Hashem b'veis rasha"** (Mishlei 3:33) — 'and this is *the curse of Hashem is in the house of the wicked*.' The *curse* is precisely this built-in *chisaron*, this inability to feel enough. **Who has it — the tzaddik**: **Mishlei 13:25 (first half)** **"Tzaddik ocheil l'sova nafsho"** — 'the tzaddik eats *to the satisfying of his nefesh*.' The tzaddik's eating itself is *histapkus* — an act of soul-sating, not belly-filling. **The ha'or — 'va'yar Elokim es ha'or ki tov' — and 'ein tov ela tzaddik'**: **Bereishis 1:4** **"Va'yar Elokim es ha'or ki tov"** — 'and Elokim saw *the light* that it was *tov*.' **Yeshayahu 3:10** **"Imru tzaddik ki tov"** — 'say of the tzaddik that he is *tov*.' Yoma 38b: **"Ein tov ela tzaddik."** Therefore *ha'or ki tov* = the *light that is the tzaddik.* The *oteh or ka'salmah* wraps himself specifically in the *or-tzaddik* — in the light of the tzaddik ha'dor, which is the tov-light of Bereishis. **Even from histapkus itself — separate tzedakah.** **"V'gam mi'zos ha'histapkus atzmah tzarich l'hafrish tzedakah"** — 'and even from this *histapkus* itself one must set aside *tzedakah*.' Even the minimal kosher intake must be further narrowed: from the little one already limits himself to, give. This is the deepest point: histapkus is not stinginess — it is *austerity for the sake of giving.* **Tzedakah = *noteh shamayim k'yeri'ah*.** **Tehillim 104:2** **"Noteh shamayim k'yeri'ah"** — 'He stretches out the heavens *like a curtain.*' The *yeri'ah* (curtain) — see **Tikkun ה"א (Tikkun 5)** — is the bechinah of tzedakah. **"Ki ha'aron ha'bris hu bechinas 'ani'"** — 'for the *aron ha'bris* is the bechinah of *ani* (pauper).' And the aron, containing the Shnei Luchos, sits *under* the yeri'ah. **"V'ha'yeri'ah mashpi'ah lo"** — 'and the yeri'ah [= tzedakah] bestows upon it [the aron-ani].' **Yichud tzaddik + k'nesses Yisrael**: **"V'zeh bechinas yichud tzaddik u'k'nesses Yisrael"** — 'and this is the bechinah of the *yichud of tzaddik and k'nesses Yisrael.*' The yeri'ah-tzedakah that covers and bestows on the aron-ani is the *yichud* of tzaddik (bestowing) with k'nesses Yisrael (ani/aron/receiving). **So when a man takes from his own histapkus and gives tzedakah, he is*, right there*, enacting the cosmic yichud: noteh shamayim k'yeri'ah al ha'aron, tzaddik al k'nesses Yisrael.** Intermediate: **Ois ז** — **Afilu l'mi she'yodeia ha'remazim** — *histapkus* mi'olam ha'zeh — 2 reasons: (1) **Ha'kedushah ha'misla'beshes b'olam ha'zeh = raglin = madregos tachtonos**; klipos sovavin osah. **Teh 49:6** **"avon akeivai y'suveini"** (Zohar). Makom miskein. Therefore **l'histapek b'kol davar, v'lo l'harchiv atzmo yoseir mi'dai**. (2) **Yeish avodah gevohah yoseir — avodas Torah u'mitzvos** — histapkus frees kochos for higher avodah. **Histapkus = "oteh or ka'salmah" (Teh 104:2)**. **Rasha**: **"u'veten reshayim techsar" (Mishlei 13:25) = "me'eiras Hashem b'veis rasha" (Mishlei 3:33)**. **Tzaddik**: **"tzaddik ocheil l'sova nafsho" (Mishlei 13:25); "va'yar Elokim es ha'or ki tov" (Ber 1:4) + "ein tov ela tzaddik" (Yesh 3:10, Yoma 38b)**. **Mi'ha'histapkus atzmah — l'hafrish tzedakah**. **"Noteh shamayim k'yeri'ah" (Teh 104:2; Tikkun ה"א)**: aron ha'bris=ani, yeri'ah=tzedakah mashpi'ah lo — yichud tzaddik v'k'nesses Yisrael.

Beginner: **Section ג — The hamon am (simple folk) who cannot decode the remazim: all this happens *automatically* for them via six daily-practices — *sheinah, tzitzis, tefillin, Torah, tefillah, masa u'matan*.** R"N now turns from the *yodei ha'remazim* (who must train in histapkus + tzedakah) to the *hamon am she'ein la'hem ha'sechel l'ha'amik*. They cannot consciously decode HKBH's hints. Yet **"na'aseh etzlam kol zeh mi'meila"** — 'all this [zikaron+histapkus+tzedakah] is effected in them *of itself*' — through six built-in avodos. Each of the six carries one of the ma'amar's earlier structural pieces. **1) *Sheinah* = *l'adbaka machshavta b'alma d'asi* (the kl'lal of Ois ב).** **"Ki ha'sheinah hi bechinas l'adbaka machshavta b'alma d'asi bi'chl'aliyus, bechinas Hashem Elokai ha'nal"** — 'for sleep is the bechinah of cleaving one's thought in olam ha'ba in kl'lal.' **"Ki bi'sh'as sheinah, ha'neshamah olah l'alma d'asi"** (Zohar Lech Lecha p.83) — 'for during sleep, the neshamah ascends to olam ha'ba.' The simple man may never have consciously focused on olam ha'ba — but every night his neshamah does exactly that, automatically. Sheinah fulfills the *kl'laliyus* of zikaron olam ha'ba on his behalf. **2–3) *Tzitzis + Tefillin* = 'Gadalta me'od' (Tehillim 104:1) = *hagdalas ha'sechel* + *tzimtzum*.** The phrase *gadalta me'od* = both 'You grew greatly' (hagdalah) and 'You reached the *me'od*' (ultimate constriction). **Tefillin = hagdalas ha'sechel**: **"Ki tefillin hein bechinas mochin"** — 'for tefillin are the bechinah of *mochin*' — the *enlargement of sechel* needed to decode the daily remazim. Even if the simple man doesn't consciously decode — the tefillin he wears *do the mochin-work on him*. **Tzitzis = bechinas tzimtzum = bechinas *me'od*.** **"Ki techeiles kursaya d'dina"** (Zohar Shelach 175) — 'for *techeiles* [the thread of tzitzis] is the *throne of judgment*' — i.e., tzimtzum. **Order of putting them on — tzitzis *before* tefillin**: **Shir ha'Shirim 2:6** **"Smolo tachas l'roshi, v'yemino techabkeini"** — 'His left hand beneath my head, and His right embraces me' (Midrash Rabba Shir). **"Ki s'mol hu bechinas din, bechinas tzimtzum, she'hu bechinas tzitzis"** — 'for left = din = tzimtzum = tzitzis' → comes *first* (under the head). **"V'yamin hu bechinas mochin, bechinas tefillin"** — 'and right = mochin = tefillin' → second (embracing). The very sequence of dressing — tzitzis beneath, tefillin above-and-around — is Shir ha'Shirim's *smolo tachas v'yemino techabkeini*. **4) *Torah* = *histapkus* (contentment).** **"Ki ha'Torah hi bechinas eitz ha'chayim, d'mazon l'chula bei"** (Zohar Bereishis 26a) — 'for Torah is the Tree of Life, *food for all is in it.*' **"Heyno she'yeish l'chol echad dei sipuko mimena"** — 'meaning each person has his *sufficient portion* from it' — *histapkus* built in. **And within Torah-study itself — histapkus**: **Avos 2:16** **"Lo alecha ha'm'lacha ligmor"** — 'it is not upon you to finish the work.' Every learner is already working with a ceiling of *enough-ness*. **And the simple folk who cannot learn?** **"Afilu ha'hamon, she'einam y'cholim li'l'mod, hein m'kaymim eisek ha'Torah b'mah she'korin Krias Shema"** (Menachos 99b) — 'even the commoners who cannot learn fulfill *eisek ha'Torah* through Krias Shema.' **5) *Tefillah* = 'hod v'hadar' = *chayei sha'ah* = *raglin*.** **"Ki tefillah hi chayei sha'ah"** (Shabbos 10a) — 'prayer is *temporal* life' — worldly-life needs. **"Heyno bechinas 'ha'aretz hadom raglai'"** — 'this is the bechinah of *the earth is My footstool*' — prayer corresponds to the *raglin* of kedushah clothed in olam ha'zeh. Tefillah attends to the ground-level material needs, exactly where the raglin-kedushah sits. **6) *Masa u'matan* = 'noteh shamayim k'yeri'ah' = *yichud tzaddik + K'nesses Yisrael*.** **"Ki tzaddik v'K'nesses Yisrael, heim bechinas masa u'matan"** — 'for *tzaddik* and *K'nesses Yisrael* are themselves *masa* and *matan*.' **The tzaddik = *masa***: **Bamidbar 11:12** **"Ka'asher yisa ha'omein es ha'yoneik"** — 'as a nurse *carries* the suckling.' The tzaddik *carries* the world. **He carries all brachos**: Mishlei 10:6 **"U'vrachos l'rosh tzaddik"**; Tehillim 24:5 **"Yisa brachah mei'eis Hashem."** **He carries the tipah zar'is of all neshamos**: Tehillim 126:6 **"Noseh meshech ha'zera"** — 'bearing the draw of seed.' **K'nesses Yisrael = *matan***: **Mishlei 31:15** **"Va'titein teref l'veisah v'chok l'na'aroseha"** — 'she *gives* food to her house and portion to her maidens.' The tzaddik bears and bestows; K'nesses Yisrael receives and gives forth to all. **How masa u'matan enacts the yichud — the shivrei ha'keilim mechanism**: **"Ki kol davar she'ba'olam, yeish bo nitzotzos ha'kedushah she'naflu bi'sh'as shevirah"** — 'every object in the world contains *kedushah-sparks* that fell during the shevirah.' **"U'shevirah, hu bechinas osiyos she'nishberu v'naflu l'chol davar v'davar mi'zeh ha'olam"** — 'and the shevirah = *broken letters* that fell into each and every object.' **"V'chol davar yeish lo sha'ah"** (Avos 4:3) — 'every thing has its hour.' **"V'tzarich la'vo b'sha'ah zo l'adam zeh, she'hu mi'shoresh echad im osan ha'nitzotzos she'yeish b'zeh ha'davar"** — 'and it must come at this hour to *this person* whose root is one with the sparks in that object.' The day's deal, the day's commerce, the day's merchandise — are *delivered* to the root-matched receiver. **When he uses the object, the broken letters integrate**: **"U'che'she'magia zeh ha'davar l'adam zeh, v'hu m'kabeil chiyus mi'zeh ha'davar, heyno mei'ha'osiyos ha'nishbarim she'yeish sham, al y'dei zeh nichlalin ha'osiyos ha'nishbarim b'zeh ha'adam, b'chiyus shelo, v'na'aseh mei'hem komah sh'leimah, u'misp'asheit b'chiyus shel kol ha'guf"** — 'when the object reaches this person, and he receives *life-force* from it — i.e., from the broken letters in it — *by this the broken letters are absorbed into this person, into his life-force, and from them a complete *komah* is built, spreading through the life-force of the entire body.*' The letters *regain sh'leimus* in him. **He must *linger* with the object**: **"V'tzarich li'sh'hot ha'davar eitzel zeh ha'adam l'hishtameish bo, ad she'nifsakin ha'osiyos v'ha'nitzotzos ha'shayachim l'shorsho"** — 'and he must keep the object with him and use it until the letters+sparks belonging to his root are *all extracted*.' Not rushed. **"V'achar kach yotzei mei'r'shuso l'adam acher"** — 'and then it leaves his domain to another person' whose root-letters are the remainder. **Sometimes the object returns**: **"V'lif'amim chozeir ha'davar u'va l'oso ha'adam she'hayah shelo mi'techilah"** — 'and sometimes the object returns to the very person who had it originally' — because at the earlier time he hadn't yet acquired the *cheilkei nefesh-ruach-neshamah* needed to complete those letters; now he has. **"U'vein kach, hechreiach li'sh'hot eitzel acher"** — 'and in the meantime it had to stay with another.' **When he completes the letters — an illumination comes to *tzaddik + K'nesses Yisrael***: **"U'che'she'mashlim ha'osiyos eilu, nisoseif lo he'arah b'nefesh-ruach-neshamah shelo, mi'chamas ha'aros osiyos eilu she'higi'u eilav v'nishl'mu etzlo. V'al y'dei he'arah zo, mei'ir b'shoresh nefesh-ruach-neshamah shelo — she'hu b'tzaddik u'k'nesses Yisrael"** — 'and when he completes these letters, an illumination is added to his nefesh-ruach-neshamah from the shining of these letters that reached him and were completed in him. And through this illumination, he *shines into the root of his nefesh-ruach-neshamah — which is in tzaddik and K'nesses Yisrael.*' Every honest business transaction — the birurim done with each object handled in the proper hour — feeds illumination upward, back to the *shoresh* in tzaddik+K'nesses Yisrael, thereby consummating their yichud. **This is why masa u'matan is the *noteh shamayim k'yeri'ah* for the simple man: he cannot consciously decode the daily remazim, but when he buys-and-sells *b'emunah* with objects that reach him by hashgachah, the shivrei-keilim mechanism *automatically* channels every act of commerce into the cosmic yichud.** Intermediate: **Ois ג** — **Hamon am** (ein la'hem ha'sechel l'ha'amik) — **na'aseh etzlam kol zeh *mi'meila*** via six: 1. **Sheinah** = *l'adbaka machshavta b'alma d'asi* bi'chl'aliyus (Zohar Lech Lecha 83 — neshamah olah b'sheinah). 2. **Tzitzis** = tzimtzum/me'od (**techeiles=kursaya d'dina**, Zohar Shelach 175). **Tefillin** = hagdalas ha'sechel/mochin. Order: tzitzis kodem tefillin = **"smolo tachas l'roshi v'yemino techabkeini" (Shir 2:6)**. 3. **Torah** = histapkus (eitz chayim d'mazon l'chula bei, Zohar Ber 26a; **"lo alecha ha'm'lacha ligmor" Avos 2:16**); simple folk via **Krias Shema = eisek ha'Torah (Men 99b)**. 4. **Tefillah** = *chayei sha'ah* (Shab 10a) = **raglin = "ha'aretz hadom raglai."** 5. **Masa u'matan** = *noteh shamayim k'yeri'ah* = yichud tzaddik + K'nesses Yisrael. **Tzaddik=masa** (Bam 11:12 ka'asher yisa ha'omein; Mishlei 10:6; Teh 24:5; Teh 126:6). **K"Y=matan** (Mishlei 31:15 va'titein teref). **Mechanism** — shivrei ha'keilim: every object = nitzotzos+osiyos she'naflu b'shevirah. Chol davar yeish lo sha'ah (Avos 4:3). Davar + adam by shoresh → nichlalin ha'osiyos b'chiyus ha'adam → komah sh'leimah → mei'ir b'shoresh NRN → tzaddik+K"Y yichud.

Beginner: **Section ד — Guarding zikaron — beware of *ra ayin* (evil eye) = *misas ha'lev* (death of the heart) = *shivrei luchos* = *shichchah* (forgetfulness).** Having built the full positive apparatus (zikaron, histapkus, tzedakah, and the six mi'meila-avodos), R"N now turns to the *danger* — what specifically destroys zikaron. The destroyer is not ignorance or laziness — it is a specific pathology: **ra ayin**, which traces directly to *misas ha'lev*, which = *shivrei luchos*, which = *shichchah*. **Zikaron depends on the eye**: **"Ki ikar ha'zikaron talui b'ayin"** — 'for the *main* of zikaron is *suspended in the eye*.' **Shemos 13:9** **"U'l'zikaron bein einecha"** — 'and for a *remembrance between your eyes*' (said of the mitzvah of tefillin at Yetzias Mitzrayim). Zikaron is located *at the eyes*. Whatever damages the eye's faculty damages zikaron. **Shichchah comes from ra ayin, which = *misas ha'lev***: **"Ki ha'shichchah ba al y'dei ra ayin, al y'dei misas ha'lev"** — 'forgetfulness comes through ra ayin, through misas ha'lev.' **Tehillim 31:13** **"Nishkachti k'meis mi'lev"** — 'I am forgotten as a dead man from the heart.' The pasuk itself equates shichchah with death-from-the-heart. **Why eye and heart are one bechinah**: **"Ki ra ayin u'misas ha'lev heim bechinah achas, ki shuryana d'eina b'liba talya"** (Avodah Zarah 28b) — 'for the *sinew of the eye hangs on the heart.*' The Gemara says physiologically that the eye's vein/nerve is tied to the heart — R"N reads this as the metaphysical reality: what the eye *sees* is actually the heart's life; ra ayin is simultaneously heart-death. **Naval — classic example**: **"V'al kein Naval she'hayah ra ayin, ne'emar bo"** **Shmuel I 25:37** **"Va'yamos libo b'kirbo"** — 'therefore regarding Naval — who was *ra ayin* [refused food to David's men] — it says: *and his heart died within him*.' His stinginess of eye killed his heart *literally*; the pasuk hangs the two facts together. **Misas ha'lev = shivrei luchos**: **"U'misas ha'lev, hi bechinas shivrei luchos"** — 'and misas ha'lev is the bechinah of *broken tablets.*' Why? **"Lev, hu bechinas luchos"** — 'the *heart* is itself luchos.' **Mishlei 3:3** **"Kasvem al luach libcha"** — 'write them on the *tablet of your heart*.' Torah is written on the heart-luach; when the heart dies, the luach *breaks*. **Shichchah from shivrei luchos**: **Eruvin 54a** **"Ilmalei lo nishtab'ru luchos ha'rishonos, lo haysah shichchah ba'olam"** — 'had the *first luchos* not been broken, there would be no forgetfulness in the world.' The shivrei luchos are the *source* of shichchah. Since misas ha'lev = shivrei luchos, and shivrei luchos = shichchah, R"N closes the chain: **ra ayin → misas ha'lev → shivrei luchos → shichchah**. Thus whatever zikaron was being built is being eaten from the other side by ra ayin. **Avshalom — whose eye was *evil at his father's kingship***: **"V'Avshalom she'haysah eino ra'ah b'malchus aviv, al y'dei zeh ne'emar bo misas ha'lev"** — 'Avshalom, whose eye was evil at his father's kingship, therefore of him is said *misas ha'lev*.' **Shmuel II 18:14** **"Va'yikach shloshah sh'vatim va'yis'ka'eim b'leiv Avshalom"** — 'and [Yoav] took three staves and *thrust them into Avshalom's heart*.' The ra ayin → heart-pierced directly. **Avshalom had no *ben zachar*** (Sotah 11a): **"V'al kein lo hini'ach ben zachar"** — 'therefore he left *no male heir*.' Why? **"Ki pagam b'zikaron, al y'dei ra ayin"** — 'because he *damaged zikaron* via ra ayin.' *Zecher* (remembrance) and *zachar* (male) share a root; damaging zikaron damages the capacity to leave *zachar*. Avshalom's ra ayin → misas ha'lev → shivrei luchos → shichchah → no zachar. **David — during Avshalom's rebellion**: David fled from Yerushalayim, and Shimei ben Gera cursed him. David responded: **Shmuel II 16:12** **"Ulai yireh Hashem *b'eini*"** — 'perhaps Hashem will see *through my eye*' — **"b'eini dayka"** — 'specifically *through my eye*.' The choice of word *eini* is the tip-off. David was precisely confronting the ra-ayin threat — Avshalom's ra ayin had cascaded into Shimei's curses. David's prayer names the battlefield: *the eye itself*. **Practical divergence — flee or fix**: **"Mi she'ro'eh she'nofel l'ra ayin — im eino margish b'atzmo she'yuchal la'amod ba'zeh l'hinatzel mimenu — tzarich li'vro'ach mimenu"** — 'one who sees that he is falling into ra ayin — if he does *not* feel in himself that he can stand against it and be saved — *he must flee from it.*' This is *David's* position: cannot fix, must flee Avshalom's domain. **"Aval mi she'yachol l'takein, azai tzarich l'takein"** — 'but one who *can* repair — he must repair.' **How to tikkun — identify the specific *bechinah* of ra ayin**: **"V'tzarich lir'os mahus bechinas ha'ra ayin, k'dei leida ha'shoresh she'tzarich l'takein al y'do, ki yeish kamah bechinos ra ayin"** — 'one must *see* what kind of ra ayin this is, in order to know *the root* through which to fix it, for there are many bechinos of ra ayin.' Ra ayin is not monolithic — there is ra ayin of gluttony, of lust, of stinginess, of jealousy. Each has a different shoresh. **The specific case R"N treats — ra ayin of *hisnas'us* (self-elevation)**: **"U'ch'she'nofeil l'ra ayin shel hisnas'us — she'eino tzarah b'hisnas'us shel chaveiro — tzarich l'hachnia b'ha'shoresh shel ha'hisnas'us"** — 'when one falls into ra ayin of hisnas'us — where his eye *begrudges his friend's elevation* — he must subdue [this] *at the root of hisnas'us.*' **"Heyno b'shoresh ha'malchus, she'hu bechinas Moshiach"** — 'this is at the *root of malchus*, which is the bechinah of *Moshiach.*' **Moshiach is the shoresh of malchus**: **Shmuel I 2:10** **"Va'yitein oz l'malko, v'yarem keren *m'shicho*"** — 'and He gives strength to His king, and lifts the horn of His *Moshiach*.' The pasuk itself couples *melech* with *Moshiach* — proving that *Moshiach is the root of malchus*. Going to Moshiach means climbing *above* the individual hisnas'us-contest to the cosmic keren-malchus where all elevation is HKBH's gift. **Moshiach's description — *yefeh einayim v'tov ro'i***: **Shmuel I 16:12** **"Yefeh einayim v'tov ro'i"** — 'of beautiful eyes and good of appearance' (said of *David*, who is *Moshiach*). **"V'hu bechinas tov ayin"** — 'and he is the bechinah of *tov ayin*.' So Moshiach = tov ayin = the *inverse* of ra ayin. Subduing hisnas'us-ra-ayin at its shoresh = drawing from Moshiach's *tov ayin* = David's *yefeh einayim*. When one touches the shoresh (Moshiach-malchus-tov-ayin), the derivative ra ayin falls. Intermediate: **Ois ד** — Guard zikaron from ra ayin. **Zikaron talui b'ayin**: **Shem 13:9 "u'l'zikaron bein einecha."** Shichchah ← ra ayin ← misas ha'lev: **Teh 31:13 "nishkachti k'meis mi'lev."** **Shuryana d'eina b'liba talya (AZ 28b)**. **Naval**: **ShmI 25:37 "va'yamos libo b'kirbo."** **Misas ha'lev = shivrei luchos**: lev=luchos (**Mishlei 3:3 "kasvem al luach libcha"**); **Eruvin 54a** shivrei luchos = shichchah. **Avshalom**: eino ra'ah b'malchus aviv → **ShmII 18:14 "va'yis'ka'eim b'leiv Avshalom"**; no ben zachar (Sotah 11a) — pagam zikaron → pagam zachar. **David b'richas Avshalom**: **ShmII 16:12 "ulai yireh Hashem b'eini"** — b'eini dayka. **Rule**: ein yachol la'amod — livro'ach; yachol l'takein — l'takein. Lir'os mahus bechinas ha'ra ayin. **Ra ayin of hisnas'us** — tikkun bi'shoresh ha'malchus = **Moshiach**: **ShmI 2:10 "va'yitein oz l'malko v'yarem keren m'shicho"** → **ShmI 16:12 "yefeh einayim v'tov ro'i"** (David) = **tov ayin**.

Beginner: **Niddah 24b**: **"Tanya: Abba Shaul omer: kover meisim hayisi. Pa'am achas niftechah mi'arah mi'tachtai, v'amadti b'galgal eino shel meis, ad chotmi. Ke'she'chazarti l'achorai, amru: ein shel Avshalom hava."** 'I was a burier of the dead. Once a cave opened under me, and I stood up to my nostrils in the eye-socket of a corpse. When I returned, they said: it was Avshalom's eye.' Intermediate: **Nid 24b Abba Shaul**: cave opened, stood in meis's eye-socket up to nose — said it was **Avshalom's**.

Beginner: **Section — Decoding the Zohar-story: *Abba Shaul, kover meisim hayisi* — the full allegorical reading of ra-ayin tikkun.** The gemara/midrash-cited story (which Rabbeinu now decodes line-by-line) runs: *Abba Shaul said, I was a burier of the dead. One time a me'arah (cave) opened beneath me. I stood in the galgal ha'ayin (eye-socket) of a dead man up to my nose. When I turned back, they told me: it was the eye of Avshalom.* R"N now unpacks every phrase according to the ra-ayin / misas ha'lev framework of Ois ד. **'Abba Shaul, kover meisim hayisi' — 'I was a burier of the dead'**: **"Ki Abba Shaul hishtadeil l'takein tamid es ha'ra ayin, ha'nikra *misah* ka'nal"** — 'Abba Shaul constantly *labored to fix ra ayin*, which is called *death* as above.' The 'dead' he buried = the *meisim* of ra-ayin / misas ha'lev that he was constantly *burying* (= fixing, putting to proper rest). He was a full-time tikkun-specialist for eye-heart death. **'Pa'am achas niftecha me'arah mi'tachtai' — 'One time a cave opened beneath me'**: **Me'arah** = **bechinas *devekus***. **Melachim I 7:36** **"K'ma'ar ish v'liyos"** — 'as the union of a man and his surroundings' (a phrase the Gemara reads erotically for devekus, as a *joining*). So the me'arah opening beneath him = *devekus was suddenly opened beneath him*. **'Mi'tachtai' = *emes***: **"Mi'tachtai, heyno bechinas emes"** — 'from-beneath-me = the bechinah of *emes*.' **Tehillim 85:12** **"Emes mei'aretz titzmach"** — '*emes sprouts from the earth*' — i.e., from *beneath*. Why is the devekus-cave opened *from beneath (emes)* to the tikkun-of-ra-ayin man? **"Ki 'tov ayin hu y'vorach' (Mishlei 22:9)"** — 'for *the good-eyed one is blessed*.' **"V'ha'berachos heim bechinas emes"** — 'and brachos are the bechinah of *emes*.' **Yeshayahu 65:16** **"Ha'misbareich ba'aretz yisbareich b'E-lokei amen"** — 'the one blessed in the earth is blessed by *the G-d of amen*.' Amen = emes. Hence: tov-ayin → brachos → brachos = emes = *mei'aretz titzmach* → me'arah-devekus opens *mi'tachtai* = from the emes-layer beneath. **Summary of the opening sentence**: **"V'zeh she'amar Abba Shaul she'al y'dei ha'emes shelo, niftecha lo devekus"** — 'and this is what Abba Shaul said: through *his truthfulness*, devekus opened to him.' His sincere, constant work at fixing ra ayin produced an opening into the very *me'arah of devekus* — the cave where tzaddikim cleave. **'V'amadti b'galgal eino shel meis ad chotmi' — 'I stood in the galgal ha'ayin of a dead man up to my nose'**: **"Heyno mei'chamas ha'devekus, he'amadti atzmi b'sakanah li'kanes b'galgal eino shel meis, heyno b'ra ayin"** — 'because of the *devekus*, I placed myself *in danger* to enter the socket of the dead man's eye — i.e., *into ra ayin itself.*' The devekus gave him *koach* to descend into ra-ayin for the sake of its tikkun. Entering the galgal ha'ayin of a dead man = entering the *mechanism* of ra ayin (dead-eye = ra ayin) directly. **'Ad chotmi' — *up to my nose***: **"Ad she'hutzrachti l'hishtameish b'vechinas *Moshiach*, k'dei l'hachnia es ha'ra ayin"** — 'until I had to *use the bechinah of Moshiach* in order to subdue the ra ayin.' Why? **"V'zeh *ad chotmi*, she'hu bechinas 'ruach apeinu Moshiach Hashem' (Eichah 4:20)"** — 'and *up to my nose* is the bechinah of *the breath of our nostrils, Hashem's Moshiach*.' The *chotem* (nose) = the seat of *ruach apayim* = the verse explicitly identifies this with *Moshiach Hashem*. So *ad chotmi* = *I had to go up to the Moshiach-level to subdue this ra ayin* — exactly the principle of Ois ד (ra ayin shel hisnas'us → tikkun bi'shoresh ha'malchus = Moshiach). **'U'che'she'chazarti l'achorai, amru li *eino shel Avshalom haysa*' — 'when I turned back, they told me: it was Avshalom's eye'**: **"Heyno she'Avshalom nafal l'vechinas ha'ra ayin ha'zeh"** — 'meaning Avshalom had fallen precisely into *this* bechinah of ra ayin' (the hisnas'us type — exactly as Ois ד identified). **Why only *now* — after turning back — was he told?**: **"V'zehu *k'she'chazarti l'achorai* — heyno achar ha'tikkun, she'chazarti bechinas Moshiach li'm'komo, li'v'chinas achorai"** — 'and *when I turned back* — i.e., *after the tikkun* — I returned the bechinah of Moshiach to its place, to the bechinah of *achorayim (rear)*.' The *return* = restoring Moshiach to his rightful cosmic seat, which is the *achorayim*-configuration. **Why Moshiach's seat = achorayim**: **"Ki sham shoresh ha'Melech Moshiach, bi'v'chinas"** **Shir ha'Shirim 7:6** **"Melech asur ba'rehatim" — 'b'rahitei mochin' (Tikkun 6 p.21)"** — 'for there is the *root of the Melech Moshiach*, in the bechinah of *the king is bound in runnels* — [read] *in the runnels of the mochin*.' **"'Asur' — heyno bechinas *kesher shel tefillin*, she'hi bechinas achorai, k'ma'amar chachameinu zichronam livrachah"** (Berachos 7a) **"v'ra'isa es achorai — zeh kesher shel tefillin"** — 'and *asur* (bound) = the *knot of tefillin*, which is the bechinah of *achorayim* — as Chazal say: *and you will see My back — this is the knot of tefillin.*' The back-of-head knot of tefillin = the *achorayim* = the seat of Moshiach. **David coupling confirms it — 'tz'rurah bi'tz'ror ha'chayim'**: **Shmuel I 25:29** **"V'haysa nefesh adoni tz'rurah bi'tz'ror ha'chayim"** — 'and my lord's soul shall be *bound in the bundle of life*' (Avigayil's blessing of David = Moshiach). **"Heyno kesher shel tefillin"** (Zohar Lech Lecha 89b) — 'this is the *knot of tefillin*.' **"Ki tefillin heim bechinas chayim"** (Menachos 44a) — 'tefillin are the bechinah of *life*.' **"Kol ha'mani'ach tefillin zocheh l'chayim, she'ne'emar"** **Yeshayahu 38:16** **"Hashem alei'hem yichyu"** — 'anyone who dons tefillin merits *life*, for it says: *upon them [tefillin] they shall live.*' **Why he was told *only afterward***: **"V'al kein lo amru lo she'eino shel Avshalom haysah, ad she'chazar la'achorav — ki ilu hayah yodei'a mi'kodem mi'zeh, efshar lo hayah m'sakein atzmo kol kach li'kanes b'ra ayin ka'zeh, ki hu sakanah g'dolah"** — 'therefore they did not reveal to him that it was Avshalom's eye until *after* he had turned back — because if he had known *beforehand*, perhaps he would not have endangered himself so much to enter such a ra ayin, for it is a grave danger.' **The halachic-practical teaching**: R"N is teaching that Avshalom's ra-ayin-of-hisnas'us is *terrifyingly dangerous* to engage with directly. Even a tzaddik who has full mastery (Abba Shaul, fortified with devekus + emes + Moshiach-ruach-apayim-via-chotem + kesher-tefillin-achorayim) is in *sakanah g'dolah* when entering it for tikkun. The Heavens concealed Avshalom's identity precisely to draw him in — otherwise he would not have risked it. So: tikkun of Avshalom-ra-ayin requires the *full arsenal* — devekus, emes, Moshiach-breath, kesher-tefillin-achorayim — and even then, it is dangerous enough that one must not be told whose eye one is entering. Intermediate: **Zohar-story decode — Abba Shaul, kover meisim hayisi:** • **Kover meisim** = tikkun ra ayin (misah = ra ayin per Ois ד). • **Niftecha me'arah** = devekus (**MelI 7:36 "k'ma'ar ish v'liyos"**). • **Mi'tachtai** = emes (**Teh 85:12 "emes mei'aretz titzmach"**); **tov ayin y'vorach** (Mishlei 22:9), brachos=emes (**Yesh 65:16 Elokei amen**). • **Galgal eino shel meis** = entering ra ayin *b'sakanah* via devekus. • **Ad chotmi** = had to use Moshiach: **Eicha 4:20 "ruach apeinu Moshiach Hashem."** • **Eino shel Avshalom** = Avshalom nafal l'ra ayin shel hisnas'us. • **K'she'chazarti l'achorai** = after tikkun, return Moshiach to *achorayim*-seat. • **Shoresh Moshiach b'achorayim**: **Shir 7:6 "Melech asur ba'rehatim"** = b'rehitei mochin (Tikkun 6 p.21); **kesher shel tefillin** (Ber 7a v'ra'isa es achorai); **ShmI 25:29 tz'rurah bi'tz'ror ha'chayim** (Zohar Lech Lecha 89b); tefillin=chayim (**Men 44a; Yesh 38:16 Hashem alei'hem yichyu**). • **Told only after return** — otherwise would not have risked the *sakanah g'dolah*.

Beginner: **Section ה — Guard the eye from *koach ha'medameh* (the imaginative faculty). Even the *tov ayin* needs this guard. Medameh comes through *lashon hara* — because medameh is the *koach ha'behemiyus* (faculty of animality).** This is a new danger-vector: not ra ayin itself, but a more subtle corruption of the eye — *distorted perception via the imagination*. **Even tov ayin is vulnerable**: **"V'tzarich li'shmor es ha'ayin mi'koach ha'medameh. V'afilu mi she'hu tov ayin, tzarich li'shmor mi'zeh"** — 'one must *guard the eye from the power of medameh*. And even one who is *tov ayin* must guard against this.' Being generous-eyed (tov ayin) does *not* protect you from misperception; these are separate pathologies. **The analogy — visual distortion from distance**: **"K'mo she'anu ro'in, ki afilu mi she'yeish lo re'iyah yafah, yachol lit'os al y'dei she'ro'eh mei'rachok, v'nidmeh lo l'heifech min ha'emes"** — 'as we see: even one with *sharp* eyesight can *err* by seeing from a *distance* — and it *appears to him the opposite of the truth*.' Good eyes don't save you from optical illusion when you're too far from the object. **"Al kein tzarich sh'mirah y'seirah la'zeh"** — 'therefore an *additional* guard is needed for this.' The natural visual faculty itself requires supplementary shemirah beyond being tov ayin. **The cause of medameh — lashon hara**: **"V'ha'koach ha'medameh ba al y'dei lashon hara"** — 'the koach ha'medameh *comes via lashon hara*.' Why? **"Ki koach ha'medameh hu koach ha'behemiyus, ki gam b'heimah yeish lah zeh ha'koach ha'medameh"** — 'because medameh is the *koach ha'behemiyus* — for *even an animal has* this medameh-faculty.' This is precise Jewish philosophy: *medameh* (imagination) is what animals *do* have (they can recall images, associate, anticipate), whereas *sechel muskal* (conceptual intellect) is uniquely human. Medameh is the human/animal *overlap*. When medameh dominates, the human is functioning on the animal-level. **Why lashon hara strengthens medameh**: **"V'ha'motzi dibah hu nofeil l'vehemiyus, v'al kein nisgabeir alav koach ha'medameh, she'hu koach ha'behemiyus"** — 'the one who *brings out evil speech* falls into behemiyus, and therefore medameh — which is the animal-faculty — *strengthens upon him*.' Lashon hara is itself a behemic-act (animals bite/snarl at each other); engaging in it pulls one into the animal register; the medameh that corresponds to that register takes over. **The chain — lashon hara → kesil → loss of da'as → fall from love-of-Hashem to behemic-love**: **"Ki 'motzi dibah hu kesil'"** (Mishlei 10:18) — 'for *the speaker of evil report is a fool*.' Lashon hara = kesilus. **"U'che'she'ha'da'as nistaleik mimenu, nofeil mei'ahavas Hashem Yisbarach v'nofeil l'ahavas ha'behemiyus"** — 'and when da'as departs from him, he *falls from the love of Hashem* and falls into *animal-loves*.' The transformation is structural: lashon hara → kesilus → siluk ha'da'as → collapse of ahavah-d'kedushah → rise of ahavos behemiyos. **The pasuk**: **Hoshea 4:6** **"Ki atah ha'da'as ma'asta, va'em'ascha mi'kahein li"** — 'for you have *rejected da'as*, and I have *rejected you from serving Me as kohen*.' **Kohein = ahavah d'kedushah**: **Yeshayahu 41:8** **"Avraham ohavi"** — 'Avraham My lover' (Avraham = chessed = kohein-archetype). **Tehillim 110:4** **"Atah kohein l'olam al divrasi Malkitzedek"** — 'you are a kohein forever' (applied in kabbalah to the ahavah-d'kedushah aspect). **Vayikra 5:12** **"V'kamatz ha'kohein"** — 'and the kohein shall scoop a handful' (see Hakdamas ha'Tikkunim, Tikkun 19, Tikkun 70) — the *kometz* of the kohein in the mincha-offering is the kabbalistic sign of Avraham/chessed/ahavah. **The result — medameh rises**: **"V'az misgabeir alav koach ha'medameh, she'hu koach ha'behemiyus"** — 'then medameh overpowers him, which is the animal-faculty.' **"Bi'v'chinas (sham b'Hoshea): 'nidmu ami mi'bli ha'da'as' — *nidmu* heyno koach ha'medameh"** — 'in the bechinah of [the same passage in Hoshea 4:6]: *nidmu ami mi'bli ha'da'as* — *nidmu* = *koach ha'medameh*.' R"N's sharp reading: the word *nidmu* ('they are destroyed/silenced') is re-read as *they became medameh-dominated* — 'My people *are rendered medameh* from lack of da'as.' The same root that names 'imagination' names the collapse itself. **Summary chain**: lashon hara → kesilus → siluk da'as → fall from ahavah-d'kedushah (kohein/Avraham/kamatz) → fall to ahavos behemiyos → medameh rises → perception distorts even for the tov-ayin. **The practical upshot**: *guarding speech is guarding the eye*. One cannot be a shomer-ayin without being a shomer-lashon, because the koach ha'medameh that corrupts seeing is fed by the mouth that speaks evil. Intermediate: **Ois ה** — Shmiras ayin from **koach ha'medameh**. • Even **tov ayin** needs this shemirah (optical-illusion analogy: re'iyah yafah mei'rachok → *nidmeh l'heifech mei'ha'emes*). • **Koach ha'medameh = koach ha'behemiyus** (even animals have it). • **Cause: lashon hara** → motzi dibah = *behemi* → medameh rises. • **Chain**: lashon hara = kesilus (**Mishlei 10:18 motzi dibah hu kesil**) → siluk da'as → nofeil mei'ahavas Hashem l'ahavos behemiyos → **Hoshea 4:6 "ki atah ha'da'as ma'asta va'em'ascha mi'kahein li."** • **Kohein = ahavah d'kedushah**: **Yesh 41:8 Avraham ohavi; Teh 110:4 atah kohein; Vay 5:12 v'kamatz ha'kohein** (Hakdamas ha'Tikkunim; Tikkun 19; Tikkun 70). • **Nidmu = medameh**: **Hoshea 4:6 "nidmu ami mi'bli ha'da'as"** — *nidmu dayka* = koach ha'medameh.

Beginner: **Section ו — Koach ha'medameh = *ruach blo guf* (spirit without body) from erev Shabbos bein ha'sh'mashos, seeking a klei to dwell in. It lodges specifically with *shonei halachos* (halachah-repeaters) — and their resulting chiddushim are 'nice and accepted' (in Yiddish, *glaichlech*), but **'ha'ra she'bo yoseir mei'ha'tov'** (the *ra* in them exceeds the *tov*). These distorted chiddushim create *r'kiin d'shav* (false heavens) and *bring famine* to the world.** **Medameh seeks a vessel**: **"V'zeh koach ha'medameh, hu m'vakeish tamid klei li'shkon sham"** — 'medameh constantly *seeks a vessel to dwell in*.' Medameh, as *ruach blo guf*, is a homeless spirit — it *needs* to clothe itself. **"V'al kein hu machzir tamid li'sh'ros al pi *shonei halachos*"** — 'therefore it continually *circles to rest upon the mouth of halachah-repeaters.*' *Shonei halachos* = those who repeat/study halachah as a discipline. Medameh specifically targets these mouths. **Their chiddushim appear charming (*glaichlech*)**: **"V'al kein im hein m'chadeshim davar ba'Torah, hu chiddush na'eh u'mis'kabeil — bi'l'shon Ashkenaz: גליך (glaich)"** — 'therefore when they innovate a thing in Torah, it is a *lovely, well-received chiddush* — in Yiddish: *glaich* (smooth/apt).' **"Ki hu ba mi'koach ha'medameh, she'hu m'dameh milsa l'milsa"** — 'because it comes from the medameh-faculty, which *likens matter to matter*.' The medameh's core operation = analogical pattern-matching. This is precisely what *produces* a glaich-chiddush: a crisp this-is-like-that. **But — *the ra exceeds the tov***: **"Ach she'ha'ra she'bo hu yoseir mei'ha'tov"** — 'yet the *ra* in [such a chiddush] exceeds the *tov*.' Because the *source* is behemic-medameh, not sechel muskal, the chiddush carries more distortion than truth — however attractive it sounds. **Effect — famine in the world**: **"V'eilu ha'chiddushim mazikim la'parnassah"** — 'such chiddushim *damage parnassah*.' This is the first concrete damage. Why? **Chain of reasoning — chiddushei Torah create heavens-and-earth**: **"Ki al y'dei chiddushei Torah nivra'im shamayim v'aretz"** — 'through *chiddushei Torah*, heavens and earth are *created*.' **Yeshayahu 51:16** **"V'lomar l'Tziyon *ami atah* — al tikrei *ami* ela *imi*: mah Ana avdei sh'maya v'ar'a b'miluli, af atah b'miluli"** (Zohar Hakdamah p.5) — 'and to say to Tziyon *you are My people* — read not *ami* but *imi* (with Me): as I made heavens+earth through My word, *so you too* through your word.' Every authentic chiddush is world-creation. **"V'al y'dei zeh ba'im kol ha'hashpa'os v'ha'brachos la'olam"** — 'and through this *all bounties and brachos come to the world*.' **Devarim 28:12** **"Yiftach Hashem lecha es *otzaro ha'tov* es ha'shamayim"** — 'Hashem will open for you *His good treasury — the heavens*.' Heavens (created by chiddushim) = the *otzar ha'tov* from which parnassah comes. **Corrupt chiddushim create *r'kiin d'shav***: **"Ach k'she'ha'chiddushim heim al y'dei koach ha'medameh — azai nivra'in *r'kiin d'shav*"** (Zohar Hakdamah 5) — 'but when the chiddushim come from medameh — *false heavens* are created.' And **"V'al yadam ba ra'av la'olam"** — 'and through them, *famine enters the world.*' Because the heavens are false, the otzar ha'tov cannot be opened through them — instead of parnassah, famine. **But there's some tov in them — and that's the tragedy**: **"V'af she'yeish ba'hem gam kein tov, she'heim divrei Torah, she'hein bechinas *sova*"** — 'though there is *also* tov in them — since they are divrei Torah, which are the bechinah of *sova* (satisfaction).' Divrei Torah = *sova*. **"Ach mei'chamas she'ha'ra yoseir mei'ha'tov, al kein ha'ra goveir v'ha'tov nisbatel"** — 'but because the *ra* exceeds the *tov*, the ra overpowers and the tov *is nullified*.' **The pasuk that captures this overpowering — Pharaoh's dream of the cows**: **Bereishis 41:21** **"V'lo noda ki ba'u el kirbenah"** — 'and it was *not known* that they had entered their bellies' (the seven thin cows devoured the seven fat ones yet appeared unchanged). **"She'misgabeir, chas v'shalom, bechinas *sheva shnei ha'ra'av* al bechinas *sheva shnei ha'sova*"** — 'meaning, Heaven forbid, the *seven years of famine* overpower the *seven years of satiety*.' **"She'hu bechinas hisgabrus ha'ra al ha'tov"** — 'this is the bechinah of *ra overpowering tov*.' **"Ad she'ein nikar ha'tov mi'p'nei ha'ra"** — 'until the *tov is no longer recognizable* on account of the ra.' Pharaoh's dream = the exact cosmic pattern of medameh-chiddushim: tov-Torah-material is there, but the ra-medameh-frame swallows it invisibly, and the world goes hungry. **Why medameh specifically targets *shonei halachos***: **"U'mah she'machzir ha'koach ha'medameh li'sh'ros al pi shonei halachos — hu mi'p'nei she'hu nivra b'erev Shabbos bein ha'sh'mashos, v'kidush alav ha'yom, v'lo nivra lo guf"** — 'and why medameh circles to rest upon the mouth of shonei halachos — is because *it was created on erev Shabbos bein ha'sh'mashos*, and Shabbos *sanctified over it* [before its body was finished], and no body was made for it.' **Zohar on *asher bara Elokim la'asos***: **Bereishis 2:3** **"Asher bara Elokim la'asos"** — 'that G-d *created to do*' — the open-ended last word of the creation narrative. **Zohar Bereishis 47-48 + Terumah 155b**: the *klipos* — which are the koach ha'medameh — *were created on erev Shabbos bein ha'sh'mashos, and before their bodies were finished, Shabbos sanctified and they remained ruach blo guf*. This is the scriptural fact of their condition. **Therefore medameh seeks bodies**: **"V'al kein zeh koach ha'medameh, she'hu bechinas ha'klipos, she'hu *ruach blo guf*, hu m'vakeish l'atzmo guf li'sh'ros bo"** — 'therefore medameh (= klipos) — being *ruach without body* — *seeks a body for itself to dwell in*.' **Why the *mouth of shonei halachos* is the ideal body**: **"V'holeich eitzel ha'shonei halachos — ki heim bor'im ha'kol b'divrei Toraso"** — 'and it goes specifically to *shonei halachos* — because *they create everything through their Torah-words* (ami→imi creative power).' **"Al kein hu holeich v'shoreh eitzlam, k'dei she'yeh'yeh nivra lo guf l'hislabeish bo al yadam"** — 'therefore [medameh] goes and rests with them, *in order that a body be created for it through them, to clothe itself in.*' **The mechanism is chillingly precise**: medameh is a half-finished cosmic creature that was never granted a body. It discovered a workaround: *piggyback on Torah-scholars whose words have creative power*. Their halachic chiddushim become the *body* that medameh was denied in creation. That is why their chiddushim come out *glaich* — they are medameh's *housebuilding* masquerading as Torah. And this is why R"N is so fierce against them: a medameh-built chiddush is not just a mistake — it is an *incarnation of a klipah* in Torah-material. Intermediate: **Ois ו** — **Koach ha'medameh** (= klipos = ruach blo guf) seeks klei → lodges with **shonei halachos**. • Their chiddushim = **glaich** (Yiddish: *na'eh u'mis'kabeil*) — but **ra yoseir mei'ha'tov**. • **Medameh = m'dameh milsa l'milsa** → produces crisp analogical chiddushim. • **Damage: parnassah**. Chiddushei Torah bor'im shamayim v'aretz: **Yesh 51:16 "v'lomar l'Tziyon ami atah"** → *imi* (Zohar Hakdamah 5 — *Ana avdei sh'maya v'ar'a b'miluli, af atah b'miluli*); **Dev 28:12 "yiftach Hashem... es otzaro ha'tov es ha'shamayim."** • **Medameh-chiddushim → r'kiin d'shav → ra'av** (Zohar Hakdamah 5). • **Tov swallowed** — Pharaoh's dream: **Ber 41:21 "v'lo noda ki ba'u el kirbenah"** = 7 ra'av overpower 7 sova. • **Why shonei halachos**: medameh=klipos nivra b'erev Shabbos bein ha'sh'mashos, kidesh alav ha'yom, nisha'ar ruach blo guf (**Ber 2:3 "asher bara Elokim la'asos"**; Zohar Ber 47-48; Zohar Terumah 155b). Shonei halachos bor'im b'divrei Toraso → medameh gets its missing body via their mouth.

Beginner: **"**'V'al ha'shanos ha'chalom'** (Bereshis 41:32) = chalom (= koach ha'medameh) **striving to rest on shoneh halachos**. **'Nachon ha'davar mei'im ha'Elokim, u'mmaher ha'Elokim la'asoso'** — bechina of **'asher bara Elokim la'asos'** — prepared erev Shabbos bein ha'shmashos, kidesh ha'yom, Elokim rushed to make b'lo guf; hence medameh constantly circles seeking shoneh halachos. **'Chalom Pharaoh echad hu'** — Pharaoh's chalom = koach ha'medameh = **bateil** (**'kol chayil Pharaoh,'** lashon batel)."** Intermediate: **"V'al ha'shanos ha'chalom"** (Ber 41:32): chalom/medameh seeks shoneh halachos. **"Asher bara Elokim la'asos"** — b'lo guf. "Chalom Pharaoh echad hu" — medameh=bateil.

Beginner: **Section — Summary chain + decoding Hoshea's prophetic sequence + Pharaoh's decree on *male children*.** **Summary of the chain**: **"Nimtza al y'dei histalkus ha'da'as, she'ba al y'dei lashon hara, she'hu bechinas 'motzi dibah hu kesil' — d'heyno she'nistaleik mimenu ha'da'as. Al y'dei zeh nofeil mei'ahavas Hashem Yisbarach l'ahavos ha'behemiyus. V'az misgabeir alav koach ha'medameh, she'hu koach ha'behemiyus. V'al y'dei ha'koach ha'medameh, nifgam ha'zikaron v'nofeil l'shichchah"** — 'So: through *siluk ha'da'as* (which comes via lashon hara, for *motzi dibah hu kesil* = da'as departs from him), through this he *falls from the love of Hashem into animal-loves*. Then medameh — the animal-faculty — strengthens upon him. And through medameh, *zikaron is damaged and he falls into forgetfulness*.' **The full chain in one line**: lashon hara → kesilus → siluk da'as → nofeil mei'ahavas Hashem l'ahavos behemiyos → koach ha'medameh goveir → p'gam ha'zikaron → shichchah. This is the *complete* etiology of forgetfulness. **Decoding Hoshea 4:6 word-by-word**: **"V'atah bo u'r'eh mah tov u'mah na'im atah kesher kol ha'mikra ha'zeh, 'nidmu ami' v'chulei ha'nal"** — 'now come and see how *good and pleasant* is now the *linkage of this whole pasuk*: *nidmu ami,* etc.' R"N is about to demonstrate that Hoshea 4:6 is a *complete* statement of the chain we just built. **(1) *Nidmu ami mi'bli ha'da'as***: **"She'al y'dei pegam ha'da'as, misgabeir koach ha'medameh ka'nal"** — 'through *pegam ha'da'as*, medameh strengthens' — *nidmu* in the pasuk = medameh-domination from da'as-lack, exactly as above. **(2) *Ki atah ha'da'as ma'asta, va'em'ascha mi'kahein li***: **"Ki al y'dei pegam ha'da'as, nofeil mei'ahavos d'kedushah, she'hein bechinas *kohein* ka'nal, v'az misgabeir alav ha'koach ha'medameh, bechinas 'nidmu ami' v'chulei"** — 'through pegam ha'da'as he *falls from kedushah-loves* (= *kohein*), and then medameh strengthens upon him — *nidmu ami*.' Middle of the pasuk: the ahavos-d'kedushah to ahavos-behemiyos inversion. **(3) End of same pasuk — *va'tishkach Toras Elokecha***: **"V'zehu she'siyeim sham ba'pasuk zeh: *va'tishkach Toras Elokecha*. V'atishkach va'dai!"** — 'and this is what the pasuk *concludes*: *and you forgot the Torah of your G-d*. And forgot indeed!' **"Ki al y'dei pegam ha'da'as, she'al y'dei zeh misgabeir ha'koach ha'medameh, al y'dei zeh nifgam ha'zikaron u'va li'shichchah ka'nal"** — 'for through pegam ha'da'as, which strengthens medameh, which damages zikaron — he *comes to shichchah*.' The pasuk's own sequence — da'as-loss → kohein-rejection → Torah-forgetting — is exactly the ma'amar's chain. **(4) *Eshkach banecha gam Ani***: Hoshea 4:6 continues: 'also I will forget your children.' **"Ki al y'dei she'pogeim b'zikaron v'nofeil l'shichchah, al y'dei zeh ein lo *ben zachar*, k'mo she'muva l'eil l'inyan Avshalom, she'lo zacha l'ven zachar mi'chamas zeh she'pagam ba'zikaron ka'nal"** — 'because one who damages zikaron and falls into shichchah — *has no ben zachar* (male child), as brought above regarding Avshalom, who merited no male heir precisely because he damaged zikaron.' Hence: *eshkach banecha gam Ani* = your p'gam ha'zikaron produces the lack of *zachar* at the human level; *gam Ani* means HKBH mirrors it cosmically. **Pharaoh's decree — exclusively on *zecharim* (males)**: **"V'al kein gazar Pharaoh al ha'zecharim dayka"** — 'therefore Pharaoh decreed specifically on the *males*.' Why? **"Ki Pharaoh hu bechinas ha'koach ha'medameh, she'hu koach bateil ka'nal"** — 'because Pharaoh = koach ha'medameh, which is a *nullifying force*.' **"She'hu misgabeir al ha'zikaron, she'hu bechinas ben zachar ka'nal"** — 'which strengthens upon zikaron (= ben zachar)*.' **"Ki koach ha'medameh k'she'misgabeir, chas v'shalom, hu pogeim u'm'vateil, chas v'shalom, es ha'zikaron"** — 'for medameh, when it overpowers, *damages and nullifies zikaron*.' **The pasuk — *ha'yeora tashlichuhu***: **Shemos 1:22** **"Va'y'tzav Pharaoh... kol ha'bein ha'yilod ha'yeora tashlichuhu"** — 'and Pharaoh commanded... every son born shall be cast *into the Yeor*.' **"Ha'yeora dayka"** — 'specifically *into the Yeor*.' Why specifically Yeor? **Yeor = Pishon = *pi shoneh halachos***: **"Ki Yeor Mitzrayim — zeh Pishon (k'muva b'Rashi Parshas Bereishis)"** — 'for the Yeor of Egypt is *Pishon* (per Rashi on Bereishis, on the river-names of Gan Eden — Pishon flows to Mitzrayim).' **"Heyno bechinas *pi shoneh halachos* (Zohar Bereishis 26b; Tikkun 55)"** — 'i.e., the bechinah of *the mouth of the halachah-repeaters* (pi-shoneh-halachos — a pun: *pi-shon* and *pi shoneh halachos*).' **"She'sham shoreh ha'koach ha'medameh ka'nal"** — 'where medameh dwells.' **Pharaoh's complete strategy**: **"Heyno she'ratzah li'fgom ha'zikaron, she'hu bechinas ben zachar, al y'dei ha'koach ha'medameh, ha'shoreh al pi shoneh halachos ka'nal"** — 'meaning he wanted to *damage zikaron* (= ben zachar) *through koach ha'medameh that dwells on the mouth of shonei halachos.*' **Rabbeinu's stunning reading**: Pharaoh's decree 'throw every male into the Yeor' is not crude genocide — it is *kabbalistic warfare*. Pharaoh = koach ha'medameh. His target = zikaron = zachar. His weapon = Yeor = Pishon = pi shoneh halachos. He is *drowning the zachar of Klal Yisrael in the corrupt medameh-chiddushim of distorted Torah-repeaters*. The literal Egyptian riverbank scene is a projection of the cosmic pattern: whenever medameh (Pharaoh) domiciles itself in pi-shoneh-halachos (Yeor), it kills the *zikaron-zachar* of Israel. The only counter-move is fixing the source: restore da'as (by guarding lashon), expel medameh from the mouth of Torah-scholars, recover zikaron, recover zachar. Intermediate: **Chain summary**: lashon hara → **"motzi dibah hu kesil" (Mishlei 10:18)** → siluk da'as → nofeil mei'ahavas Hashem l'ahavos behemiyos → koach ha'medameh goveir → pagam ha'zikaron → shichchah. **Hoshea 4:6 full decode**: • **nidmu ami mi'bli ha'da'as** = pagam da'as → medameh. • **ki atah ha'da'as ma'asta va'em'ascha mi'kahein li** = fall from ahavos-d'kedushah (kohein). • **va'tishkach Toras Elokecha** = shichchah (consequence). • **eshkach banecha gam Ani** = pagam ha'zikaron → no *ben zachar* (Avshalom). **Pharaoh's gzeirah on zecharim**: • Pharaoh = koach ha'medameh = koach bateil. • Medameh attacks zikaron = ben zachar. • **Shem 1:22 "ha'yeora tashlichuhu"** — ha'yeora *dayka*. • Yeor Mitzrayim = Pishon (Rashi Ber) = **pi shoneh halachos** (Zohar Ber 26b; Tikkun 55) — where medameh dwells. • Strategy: drown the zachar of Yisrael in medameh-distorted halachah-chiddushim.

Beginner: **Section — To subdue *koach ha'medameh*: via *yad* = *simchah* = *klei zemer* (musical instruments). Prophecy descends when a *yodei'a nagein* (knower-of-playing) gathers the *ruach tovah* (good spirit) out from the mixture with *ruach ra'ah* (evil spirit).** **Principle — tikkun via *yad***: **"U'l'hachnia ha'koach ha'medameh, hu al y'dei bechinas *yad*"** — 'to subdue medameh is *via yad* (hand).' **Hoshea 12:11** **"B'yad ha'n'vi'im adameh"** — 'by *the hand of the prophets I am likened [adameh]*.' The word *adameh* (from the same root as *medameh*) — in the pasuk — is governed by the *yad*-of-the-prophets. Hence *yad* = the tool that controls/subdues medameh. **Yad = *simchah***: **"V'yad, heyno bechinas *simchah*"** — 'and yad is the bechinah of *simchah*.' **Devarim 12:7** **"U's'machtem b'chol mishlach *yedchem*"** — 'and you shall rejoice *in all the labor of your hands*.' Simchah is literally located *at the hand* in Torah's own wording — specifically in the hand's engaged *work*. **And yad = *klei zemer***: **"V'zeh bechinas klei zemer she'm'nagnin ba'yad"** — 'and this is the bechinah of *musical instruments*, which are played by *hand*.' Stringed instruments, harps, tambourines — all played by yad. Hence klei zemer = yad = simchah. **Prophecy descends via music**: **"She'al y'dei zeh shorah ha'nevu'ah al ha'n'vi'im, k'mo she'kasuv"** **Melachim II 3:15** **"Kechu li m'nageyn" v'chulei"** — 'through this [yad-simchah-klei-zemer] *nevu'ah descends on the prophets*, as Elisha said: *bring me a musician* [and when the musician played, the hand of Hashem came upon him].' **Why music enables nevu'ah — mixed-ruach theory**: **"Ki ha'klei hu *his'asfus ha'ruach*, v'hu m'ora'v tov v'ra"** — 'for the vessel [instrument] is *a gathering of spirit*, and it is *mixed tov and ra*.' Musical instruments *collect* ruach (wind/spirit — literally the breath that moves through them, spiritually the ruach she'ba'olam that is drawn into the sound). But this gathered ruach is *mixed*: good and bad together. **Types of ruach**: **"Ki yeish atzvus ruach, ruach n'che'ah"** (Mishlei 15:13; Yesh 54:6; 43:10) — 'there is *sad-spirit*, *beaten-spirit*.' **"Ruach ra'ah, ka'ne'emar b'Shaul (Shmuel I 16:14): 'u'vi'asaso ruach ra'ah'"** — '*evil spirit*, as said of Shaul: *an evil spirit tormented him*.' **"V'yeish ruach tovah, k'mo she'kasuv (Tehillim 143:10): 'ruchacha tovah tancheini b'eretz mishor' — v'hu bechinas *ruach nevu'ah, ruach ha'kodesh*"** — 'and there is *good-spirit*: *Your good spirit leads me in a plain land* — which is the bechinah of *ruach nevu'ah, ruach ha'kodesh*.' **The problem — mixed-ruach prevents true nevu'ah**: **"Ach k'she'hu m'ora'v tov v'ra, eino yachol l'kabeil nevu'os emes"** — 'but when [the ruach] is *mixed*, one cannot receive *true prophecies*.' **Shaul as the failed case**: **"V'al kein kasuv b'Shaul"** **Shmuel I 10:10-11** **"Va'yisnabei v'chulei va'yipol arom — u'feireish Rashi: l'shon *m'shuga*"** — 'so of Shaul it is written: *he prophesied... and fell naked* — and Rashi explains *arom* as *m'shuga* (mad).' **"Ki hayah m'ora'v b'ruach sh'tus, atzvus ruach"** — 'because he was *mixed with ruach-sh'tus, atzvus-ruach*' — Shaul's ruach-nevu'ah was contaminated with ruach-sh'tus and atzvus-ruach, hence his prophesying looked like madness. **The *yodei'a nagein*'s job — extract ruach tovah from the mixture**: **"V'zeh she'm'nageyn ba'yad al ha'klei, hu *m'kabeitz u'm'lakeit ba'yad* es *ha'ruach tovah, ruach nevu'ah, mi'toch atzvus ruach*"** — 'one who plays with the hand upon the instrument *gathers and collects with the hand* — the *ruach tovah, ruach nevu'ah, out of atzvus ruach*.' The musician's act is not mere production of pleasant sound — it is *separation*, *birur*, sorting the ruach-particles one by one. **Skill required**: **"V'tzarich li'hyos *yodei'a nagein*, she'yeida l'kabeitz u'l'laket v'li'm'tzo chelkei ha'ruach achas l'achas, k'dei li'v'nos ha'nigun, heyno ha'simchah"** — 'and one must be *a knower-of-playing* who knows how to gather, collect, and *find the parts of the ruach one by one* to *build the nigun* = to *build the simchah*.' **"Heyno li'v'nos ha'ruach tovah, ruach nevu'ah, she'hu heifech atzvus ruach"** — 'that is, to build the ruach tovah, ruach nevu'ah, which is the *opposite* of atzvus ruach.' **Physical up-and-down of the hand**: **"Ki tzarich la'alos v'laredes b'yado al ha'klei she'm'nageyn, k'dei l'chavein li'v'nos ha'simchah bi'sh'leimus"** — 'for one must *rise and descend with his hand* on the instrument he plays, in order to intend *the building of simchah in completeness*.' The up-strokes, down-strokes, attack and release — these physical gestures are the separating-and-building motions that *construct* the ruach-nevu'ah. **The navi receives**: **"U'k'she'ha'navi shomei'a zeh ha'nigun mei'ha'yodei'a nagein, azai m'kabeil mimenu ruach nevu'ah, she'kibeitz zeh b'yado mi'toch ha'atzvus ruach"** — 'when the *navi* hears this nigun from the yodei'a-nagein, he then *receives from him the ruach nevu'ah* that was gathered by the hand from the atzvus ruach.' The yodei'a-nagein does the birur; the navi inhales the purified ruach-product. **The pasuk that captures the filtering**: **Shmuel I 19:9 (reading applied to 16:23)** **"V'nigein b'yado *v'tov lach*"** — 'and [David] played with his hand, *and it shall be well for you*.' **"V'tov lach dayka"** — 'and *well for you* precisely' — **"She'm'laket u'm'tzareif ha'*tov* mi'toch ha'*ra*"** — 'meaning he *collects and refines the tov from within the ra*.' The *ach tov* in the pasuk is a technical marker: the musician's output is *isolated tov*, tov-separated-from-ra. Shaul's ra-contaminated ruach was being drained, and tov was being re-deposited by David's hand. **Ikar = *yad***: **"V'ikar ha'hiska'btzus u'vinyan ha'ruach nevu'ah, hu al y'dei ha'yad. Ki sham *pikdonos ha'ruchos*"** — 'the *main* of the gathering and building of ruach nevu'ah is through *the hand*. For there are *the depositories of the spirits*.' **Tehillim 31:6** **"B'yadcha afkid *ruchi*"** — 'into *Your hand I entrust my spirit*.' **Iyov 12:10** **"Asher *b'yado* nefesh kol chai *v'ruach* kol b'sar ish"** — 'in *His hand* is the nefesh of all living and the *ruach* of all flesh of man.' The cosmic ruach-storehouses are located specifically *in yad* — therefore the human yad on the instrument is the operative handle into that cosmic deposit. **Closing pasuk — Elisha's scene**: **Melachim II 3:15** **"V'hayah k'nagein ha'm'nagein, va'tehi alav *yad* Hashem"** — 'and it happened as the musician played, the *hand of Hashem came upon him*.' **Yad Hashem** precisely — the pasuk names it in yad-terms. When the human yad plays the klei and refines the ruach, the *yad-Hashem* responds in kind and descends as nevu'ah. Intermediate: **L'hachnia koach ha'medameh** — via **yad**: • **Hosh 12:11 "b'yad ha'n'vi'im *adameh*"** — yad governs *adameh* (=medameh). • Yad = **simchah** (**Dev 12:7 "u's'machtem b'chol mishlach yedchem"**) = **klei zemer** (played by yad). • Nevu'ah descends: **MelII 3:15 "kechu li m'nageyn."** **Theory**: klei = his'asfus ha'ruach, m'ora'v tov+ra. **Types**: atzvus ruach / ruach n'che'ah; ruach ra'ah (**ShmI 16:14 u'vi'asaso ruach ra'ah** — Shaul); ruach tovah = ruach nevu'ah (**Teh 143:10 ruchacha tovah tancheini**). **Shaul**: **ShmI 10:10-11 "va'yipol arom"** = m'shuga (Rashi) — m'ora'v ruach sh'tus/atzvus. **Yodei'a nagein**: m'kabeitz+m'lakeit ba'yad cheilkei ha'ruach tovah mi'toch atzvus — builds *simchah* = ruach nevu'ah. La'alos v'laredes ba'yad al ha'klei l'chavein bi'sh'leimus. **Navi mekabeil**: **ShmI 16:23 "v'nigein b'yado v'tov lach"** — tov lach *dayka* (m'laket ha'tov mi'toch ha'ra). **Pikdonos ha'ruchos = yad**: **Teh 31:6 "b'yadcha afkid ruchi"; Iyov 12:10 "asher b'yado nefesh kol chai v'ruach kol b'sar ish"**; **MelII 3:15 "k'nagein ha'm'nagein va'tehi alav yad Hashem."**

Beginner: So: by **playing with the hand upon the keli zemer**, one **sifts the tov-ruach from the ra-ruach** -- which is the aspect of **ru'ach nevuah**. All of this is the aspect of **subduing the medameh (imagination)** -- which is the ru'ach ra'ah, the ru'ach shtus that wishes to damage and confuse the ru'ach tovah, the ru'ach nevuah. The medameh is subdued and annulled by the **simchah** that comes from the menagen be'yad (player with the hand). **Why simchah subdues the medameh:** The essential empowerment of the medameh is through **atzvus** -- because the medameh is the aspect of **"atzvus ruach, ruach nechei'ah, ruach ra'ah"** (despondent spirit, crushed spirit, evil spirit), which confuses the ru'ach tovah, the ru'ach nevuah -- which in turn is the aspect of **zikaron** (remembrance) discussed above, the aspect of **"l'ad'b'ka machshavta b'alma d'asi"** (clinging one's thought to the World to Come). **Therefore one cannot receive ru'ach nevuah, ru'ach ha'kodesh, except via simchah** -- the aspect of menagen be'yad: **"v'hayah k'nagen ha'menagen va't'hi alav yad Hashem"** (Melachim II 3:15) -- 'and when the player played, the hand of Hashem came upon him'; the aspect of **"v'nagen b'yado v'tov lach"** (Shmuel I 16:16, 23) -- 'let him play with his hand and it will be good for you.' **The player must be skilled (yode'a nagen), and the keli must be whole (b'sheleimus)** -- so that not all the ruach (which mixes good and evil) comes out at once. The player must know how to raise and lower his hand, to sift and aim the nigun properly -- sifting the ru'ach tovah (= simchah = ru'ach nevuah) from ru'ach of atzvus (= ru'ach ra'ah). When the keli is not whole, or when one does not know how to play -- one does not know how to raise and lower his hand to sift tov-ruach from ra-ruach -- about such a one it says: **"Kol rucho yotzi kesil"** (Mishlei 29:11) -- 'the fool releases all his spirit' -- meaning he emits all the ruach at once, and then certainly the nigun is not built. Because **the essence of the sweetness of nigun is formed through the sifting of the ruach** (which is the air from which sound emerges, as the masters of music know). That is: the essential aspect of nigun is through the sifting of ru'ach tovah from ru'ach ra'ah. When all the ruach comes out at once, it comes out as it is -- mixed good and evil -- and then neither nigun nor simchah is built, and the medameh is not subdued. **This is Tehillim 146:4**: **"tetze rucho yashuv l'admaso"** -- 'his ruach departs, he returns to his earth [*admaso*]' -- **"l'admaso"** is the aspect of the **medameh**. That is: when all the ruach goes out [unsifted], it returns to the medameh -- the medameh is not subdued, because he could not gather and sift the ru'ach tovah; all the mixed ruach went out together. But when a person has the aspect of the **yad** that gathers and sifts the ru'ach tovah from the ru'ach ra'ah, then he subdues the medameh -- as in **"u'v'yad ha'n'vi'im adameh"** (Hoshea 12:11) -- 'and by the hand of the prophets I am likened/imagined' -- because **the essential aspect of nevuah is from the yad** that sifts the good ruach from the evil ruach, thereby subduing the medameh (which is the ru'ach ra'ah mixed into the ru'ach tovah). **Mishlei 30:4**: **"Mi alah shamayim va'yarad? Mi asaf ruach b'chafnav? Mi tzarar mayim ba'simlah? Mi hekim kol afsei aretz?"** -- 'Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth?' 1. **"Mi alah shamayim va'yarad"** = the **menagen**, who ascends and descends in the nigun -- for he must rise and fall in the measure of the strings (nimin) according to the weight of the song, in order to gather the ruach. 2. **"Mi asaf ruach b'chafnav"** = literally, in his **palms** -- which are the *yadayim* -- for there is the root of the ruach, the essential aspect of ruach is in the hands, where the deposits of ruach rest. 3. **"Mi tzarar mayim ba'simlah"** = **mayim = lev** (heart), as **"shif'chi ka'mayim libeich"** (Eicha 2:19). Through gathering the ruach, he 'binds the mayim in the simlah' = he **guards the heart** so that the medameh not dominate it. 4. **"Mi hekim kol afsei aretz"** = through this he establishes the aspect of the **raglayim** (legs/feet) that are clothed in this world. **"Afsei"** = raglayim, as in **"va'ya'avireini mei afsayim"** (Yechezkel 47:3) -- 'he led me through ankle-deep [waters].' Because through nigun ba'yad the medameh is subdued, and then one merits the zikaron above -- the aspect of knowing and grasping all the hints contained in every thing in the world, which are the aspects of **chiyus Elokus**, **raglei ha'kedushah** clothed within all the things of this world. That is: **"mi hekim kol afsei aretz"** -- he raises and establishes the raglei ha'kedushah clothed in this world. Intermediate: **Menagen be'yad sifts tov-ruach from ra-ruach = ru'ach nevuah**. All this = hachna'as ha'medameh (= ru'ach ra'ah/shtus confusing ru'ach tovah/nevuah = **zikaron** = l'ad'b'ka machshavta b'alma d'asi). Subdued by **simchah** of menagen. **Why:** medameh's ikkar hisgabrus = via **atzvus** (= atzvus ruach, ru'ach nechei'ah). Therefore ru'ach nevuah/ha'kodesh received only via simchah = menagen be'yad -- **"k'nagen ha'menagen... yad Hashem"** (Mel II 3:15); **"v'nagen b'yado v'tov lach"** (Shmu I 16:16,23). **Requirements**: menagen must be **yode'a nagen** + keli must be **shalem** -- so entire ruach (mixed tov/ra) not emitted at once. Must raise/lower hand in measure of nimin. Not so: **"kol rucho yotzi kesil"** (Mishlei 29:11) -- fool releases all at once -> nigun not built. **Essence of nigun's sweetness = sifting of ruach** (air → sound, per chachmei ha'negina). **Teh 146:4 "tetze rucho yashuv l'admaso"** -- "admaso" = **medameh**; unsifted ruach returns to medameh = not subdued. But **yad** that gathers and sifts = **"u'v'yad ha'n'vi'im adameh"** (Hoshea 12:11) -- ikkar nevuah from the yad that sifts. **Mishlei 30:4** -- four clauses: 1. **"Mi alah shamayim va'yarad"** = menagen ascends/descends in nigun, raises/lowers on nimin. 2. **"Mi asaf ruach b'chafnav"** = literally palms/yadayim = root of ruach (deposits of ruach). 3. **"Mi tzarar mayim ba'simlah"** = mayim = lev (**"shif'chi ka'mayim libeich,"** Eicha 2:19) -- guards lev from medameh. 4. **"Mi hekim kol afsei aretz"** = afsei = **raglayim** (**"mei afsayim,"** Yech 47:3) -- raises **raglei ha'kedushah** (= chiyus Elokus clothed in every worldly thing, recognized via zikaron) after medameh subdued.

Beginner: **Section — Final application: *Va'yehi mikeitz sh'nasayim yamim* (Bereishis 41:1) — decoding Pharaoh's dream + Yosef as the tikkun. Yosef's hand on the eyes = guarding the ayin from koach ha'medameh.** **'Va'yehi mikeitz sh'nasayim yamim' — 'and it was at the *end of two years of days*'**: **"Sh'nasayim yamim, hu bechinas motzi'ei dibah, ha'ne'emar ba'hem"** **Bamidbar 14:34** **"Yom la'shanah yom la'shanah"** — '*two years of days* is the bechinah of *motzi'ei dibah* (evil-speakers/spies), of whom it was said: *a day for a year, a day for a year* (the 40-day spying corresponded to the 40-year desert-wandering).' **"She'al yadam nisk'ekel v'nifgam bechinas ahavah d'kedushah, she'hu bechinas 'v'kamatz ha'kohein' ka'nal"** — 'through them [the meraglim's lashon hara on Eretz Yisrael] the bechinah of *ahavah d'kedushah* — = *v'kamatz ha'kohein* — was *spoiled and damaged*.' **'Mikeitz' = *pegam ha'kamatz***: **"V'zeh *mikeitz*, she'hu bechinas pegam ha'*kamatz*"** — 'and *mikeitz* is the bechinah of *pegam ha'kamatz*.' The word *mikeitz* shares consonants with *kamatz* — Rabbeinu reads it as 'from the damage of the kamatz.' The kamatz of the kohein (= ahavah d'kedushah) was damaged by the two-year/day lashon-hara count. **'U'Faroh cholem' — 'and Pharaoh dreams'**: **"Heyno *koach ha'medameh* ka'nal"** — 'this is *koach ha'medameh*.' Pharaoh's dreaming *is* the medameh-activity that now floods in since the kamatz was damaged. The dream is not incidental to the narrative — it is the textual marker of medameh-domination. **'V'hinei omeid al ha'Yeor' — 'and behold he stands over the Yeor'**: **"Ha'Yeor, zeh Pishon. Heyno bechinas pi shoneh halachos, she'misgabeir alei'hem ha'koach ha'medameh ka'nal"** — 'the Yeor = Pishon = *pi shoneh halachos*, upon whom medameh dominates.' Pharaoh stands *on* precisely the river that represents the corrupt scholars' mouth. He is rooted in his chosen medameh-lodging. **'V'hinei min ha'Yeor...' (the seven cows)**: **"Heyno she'al yadam ba *sheva shnei sova v'sheva shnei ra'av* — heyno tov v'ra ka'nal"** — 'meaning through them [Yeor = shonei halachos] come the *seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine* = tov and ra.' Every medameh-chiddush carries some tov (it is Torah-material) and preponderant ra (its source is klipah). The dream-pair expresses this dual output. **'V'lo noda ki ba'u el kirbenah'**: **"V'ha'ra misrabeh v'goveir al ha'tov, bi'v'chinas 'v'lo noda ki ba'u el kirbenah'"** — 'the ra multiplies and overpowers tov — *and it was not known that they had entered their bellies*' (Bereishis 41:21). The ra-swallowing-of-tov pattern in Pharaoh's dream = the corruption-invisibility pattern of medameh-chiddushim. **The tikkun = Yosef**: **"V'tikuno hu *Yosef*, bi'v'chinas"** **Bereishis 30:23** **"Asaf Elokim es cherpasi"** — 'and the tikkun is Yosef, in the bechinah of *Elokim has gathered-up my disgrace* [Rachel's words at Yosef's birth].' The name *Yosef* / *Asaf* = *he who gathers up / removes / lifts off*. **"She'hu *mamtik* es ha'ra, she'hu bechinas ha'ra'av"** — 'who *sweetens* the ra = the famine.' **Yosef ends the *cherpas ra'av***: **Yechezkel 36:30** **"Asher lo *tikchu od cherpas ra'av* ba'goyim"** — 'that you will no longer bear the *disgrace of famine* among the nations.' Yosef's mission = end *cherpas ra'av*. **"V'hu bechinas *asaf ruach*"** — 'and he is the bechinah of *asaf ruach* (gathering of spirit).' **Bereishis 41:38** **"Ish asher ruach Elokim bo"** — 'a man in whom is the *spirit of Elokim*' (Pharaoh's own acknowledgment). Yosef is the one with gathered/collected Divine-ruach — exactly the antidote to Pharaoh's mixed-ruach-medameh. **'V'Yosef yashis *yado* al einecha'**: **Bereishis 46:4** **"V'Yosef yashis yado al *einecha*"** — 'and Yosef shall place his *hand upon your eyes*' (HKBH to Ya'akov as he descends to Mitzrayim). **"She'al y'dei ha'yad, nishmar ha'ayin mi'koach ha'medameh ka'nal"** — 'through the *yad, the ayin is guarded from koach ha'medameh*.' The entire Ois ו arc — yad subdues medameh, yad=simchah=klei-zemer, yad gathers ruach-nevu'ah, yad holds pikdonos-ha'ruchos — crystallizes here. Yosef, placing his hand on Ya'akov's eyes, is the living embodiment: hand-protecting-eye = the cosmic formula. When Yosef is active, medameh cannot distort perception. **Closing reference**: **"Ayin b'Sava"** (Zohar Mishpatim 98a) — 'see in the *Sava* (the old man = the long discourse of Sava d'Mishpatim)' — **"Mah she'darash al ha'pasuk *Hashem Elokai gadalta me'od* v'chulei"** — 'what he expounded on the pasuk *Hashem Elokai, You have grown exceedingly great* (Tehillim 104:1)' — the opening pasuk of the entire ma'amar. The Sava of Mishpatim gives the deep version of *gadalta me'od* = the twin-motion of *gadalta* (hagdalas ha'sechel = tefillin-mochin) and *me'od* (tzimtzum = tzitzis-techeiles-kursaya-d'dina), which is what the whole ma'amar has been unfolding. R"N closes by *pointing back* to the Sava as the underlying kabbalistic source for the structural insight he has been building out. Intermediate: **Va'yehi mikeitz sh'nasayim yamim — decoded**: • **Sh'nasayim yamim** = motzi'ei dibah (**Bam 14:34 "yom la'shanah yom la'shanah"**) — pagam ahavah d'kedushah = *v'kamatz ha'kohein*. • **Mikeitz** = pegam ha'*kamatz*. • **U'Faroh cholem** = koach ha'medameh. • **Omeid al ha'Yeor** = Yeor=Pishon=pi shoneh halachos. • **Seven cows** = sheva shnei sova + sheva shnei ra'av = tov+ra. • **V'lo noda ki ba'u el kirbenah** (Ber 41:21) = ra goveir al tov. **Tikkun = Yosef**: • **Ber 30:23 "asaf Elokim es cherpasi"** — mamtik ha'ra'av. • **Yechezkel 36:30 "lo tikchu od cherpas ra'av ba'goyim."** • **Asaf ruach** — **Ber 41:38 "ish asher ruach Elokim bo."** • **Ber 46:4 "v'Yosef yashis *yado* al einecha"** — yad guards ayin mi'koach ha'medameh. **Closing**: **Zohar Sava d'Mishpatim 98a** on **Teh 104:1 "Hashem Elokai gadalta me'od"** — the Sava's derashah is the kabbalistic foundation of the whole ma'amar.

Beginner: **Hisbodedus and the night-music of David**: ***'ezk'rah n'ginasi ba-laylah, im levavi asichah, va-y'chapes ruchi'*** — 'I will *remember my melody* in the night; with my heart I will converse, and my spirit *searches*' (Tehillim 77:7). Each phrase carries the avodah-axis Rabbeinu has been building. ***'Ba-laylah'*** — *night* — for night is the time of **pikdonos ha-ruchos**, the 'deposit of the spirits' (Berachos 5a on *'b'yad'cha afkid ruchi'* — 'into Your hand I commit my spirit'); during the night, all spirits are gathered up, deposited, and re-sorted before being returned to their owners at dawn. ***'N'ginasi'*** — *my melody* — and now we recall Ois ז-ח: nigun is the very tool of *yad-ruach* by which the *ru'ach tovah* (the prophetic spirit) is sifted out from the *ru'ach ra'ah* (the spirit of imagination's chaos). ***'Im levavi asichah'*** — 'with my heart I converse' — this is the classic Breslov **hisbodedus** — alone, at night, speaking out one's heart aloud. ***'Va-y'chapes ruchi'*** — 'my spirit *searches*' — actively going through the entrapped ruchos within, identifying which is from kedushah and which is from medameh, sifting one from the other. ***This is the ikkar time of hisbodedus***: alone with one's lev, in the darkness of night when all spirits are gathered up, doing the labor of nigun-search until the tov-ru'ach is freed and the ra-ru'ach falls. *And via this, the zikaron is guarded* — for the medameh-chaos that produces *misas ha-lev / shich'chah* (Ois ד) is precisely what the night-search dissolves. Intermediate: **Hisbodedus**: 'ezk'rah n'ginasi ba-laylah, im levavi asichah, va-y'chapes ruchi' (Teh 77:7). Ba-laylah = pikdonos ha-ruchos (Ber 5a 'b'yadcha afkid ruchi'); n'ginasi = sifting tov-ru'ach via nigun (Ois ז-ח); im levavi asichah = hisbodedus; va-y'chapes ruchi = active ru'ach-search. **Ikkar zman ha-hisbodedus** — al yedei zeh nishmar ha-zikaron (mevatel medameh she-megareh shich'chah).

Beginner: **Ois ι — *kimah b'chatzos ha-laylah* (rising at midnight); David's kinor that played by itself**. The night-search of Ois ט acquires its precise time-coordinate here: ***bechinas kimah b'chatzos ha-laylah*** — the bechina of rising at *chatzos* (the midpoint of the night, the spiritual fulcrum at which night turns toward day). **Source-Chazal** (Berachos 3b — the famous gemara of David's harp): ***David's *kinor* was hung above his bed*** (over the head of his couch), ***and when chatzos arrived, the *ru'ach tzfonis* (the north wind) blew on it and it would play by itself***, awakening David, who would then rise to engage with Torah and tehillim until dawn. The *kinor d'kedushah* of David is the cosmic *yad-on-keli-zemer* operation (Ois ז) made literal: the wind is the upper *ru'ach ha-shareis*, and the strings of David's kinor sift the *ru'ach tovah* (kedushah) from the *ru'ach ra'ah* (medameh) precisely at chatzos. ***Therefore chatzos is the *time to arise for avodas Hashem + hisbodedus*** — *avodas Hashem* (Torah, Tehillim, the structured side) and *hisbodedus* (the personal night-conversation of Ois ט) — both rest on the same kinor-energy that David's harp embodies. The Breslov practice of *kimas chatzos* (rising at midnight to learn or to do hisbodedus) is the literal continuation of David's harp. Intermediate: **Ois ι (kimah b'chatzos)**: bechinas kimah b'chatzos ha-laylah. Berachos 3b: David's kinor above his bed; ru'ach tzfonis blew at chatzos → kinor played by itself → David rose. Kinor David = yad-on-keli-zemer (Ois ז) at chatzos = sifting ru'ach tovah/ra'ah. ***Lachen chatzos = zman avodas Hashem + hisbodedus*** (Ois ט).

Beginner: **Reb Nosson's editorial bracket — Torah said on Shabbos Chanukah, with Rabbeinu's own framing**. *'This Torah was said on Shabbos Chanukah. After saying it, he said: "I have just told over how to light the Ner Chanukah'* — and then he gave the kabbalistic frame: ***bechinas 'l'amshacha meshach revus kadshah u-l'adlaka botzina'*** — 'to *draw down the oil of the supernal anointment, and to kindle the lamp'* (the Lurianic kavanah-formula for ner Chanukah, drawing on Zohar Bereshis 31a and other sources). The *meshach revus kadshah* — the oil of holy anointing — is ***'shemen mishchas kodesh'*** (Shemos 30:25, the verse for the *shemen ha-mishchah*), and ***shemen mishchas kodesh = da'as***. So lighting the Ner Chanukah is *hagdalas ha-da'as* — the *expansion of da'as* — which in this Torah's framework *is* **zikaron**, since shich'chah (= misas ha-lev = ra ayin = medameh) is the bechina of *katnus ha-mochin*, and zikaron is the bechina of *gadlus ha-mochin / da'as / shemen ha-mishchah*. **Rabbeinu deliberately stopped there** without unfolding it further: 'and he did not explain more.' Reb Nosson preserves the cryptic note because the link is meant to be received as a *remez* — Chanukah's lights, the shemen of the Beis HaMikdash, the *hagdalas ha-da'as* of zikaron, and the whole T54 architecture of medameh-vs-da'as are one fabric. The Torah's place in the Shabbos Chanukah cycle is not incidental; it is part of the lesson. Intermediate: **R"N bracket**: Torah said Shabbos Chanukah. Rabbeinu added: lighting Ner Chanukah = ***'l'amshacha meshach revus kadshah u-l'adlaka botzina'*** (Zohar Ber 31a + Lurianic kavanos) = ***shemen mishchas kodesh*** (Shem 30:25) = ***da'as***; ergo Ner Chanukah = ***hagdalas ha-da'as = zikaron*** (= central thesis of T54: zikaron vs medameh = gadlus vs katnus ha-mochin). Lo peirsh yoseir.

Beginner: **Connecting verse — the *yad gathers ruach*, the ruach yields *mayim*, the *mayim* are the *lev***. *Mishtayech la-na'l* — 'this connects to the above': namely the Ois ז-ח / 19-20 mechanism of yad-on-nigun-keli that gathers ruach and yields nevuah-tovah. Two source-verses combine: **(i)** ***'mi asaf ru'ach b'chafnav, mi tzarar mayim ba-simlah'*** — 'who has gathered the wind in his palms? who has bound up the waters in a garment?' (Mishlei 30:4 — Agur's rhetorical questions). **(ii)** ***'yashev rucho, yizlu mayim'*** — 'He sends back His wind, the waters flow' (Tehillim 147:18). The verses interlock perfectly with Rabbeinu's mechanism: ***'asaf ru'ach b'chafnav'*** = the *yad gathers the ru'ach* (Ois ז — *yad ha-neviim* gathering ru'ach into the kinor); the act of gathering produces ***'yizlu mayim'*** = *the waters flow* (the gathered ru'ach is released as flowing water). And what are the *mayim* that flow? They are the bechina of **'tzarar mayim'** = *ha-lev* — *'shifchi ka-mayim libech, nochach pnei Hashem'* — 'pour out your heart like water before the face of Hashem' (Eichah 2:19). The lev *is* the *mayim* that the kinor-gathered ru'ach releases. So the full chain: yad on the keli → gather the chaotic upper ruchos → sift tov from ra → the freed tov-ru'ach pours through your *lev* like water in tefillah/hisbodedus before the face of Hashem. The night-music of Ois ט-ι is the *technology* by which the lev's water is poured. Intermediate: **Mishtayech la-na'l** — 2 pesukim: (i) ***'mi asaf ru'ach b'chafnav, mi tzarar mayim ba-simlah'*** (Mish 30:4); (ii) ***'yashev rucho, yizlu mayim'*** (Teh 147:18). Yad gathers ru'ach (Ois ז) → yizlu mayim. Ha-mayim = ha-lev ('shifchi ka-mayim libech, nochach pnei Hashem' Eichah 2:19). Mechanism: yad-keli → bererus tov-ru'ach → mayim/lev poured nochach pnei Hashem b'tefillah/hisbodedus.

Beginner: **Closing klal — *ein adam dan gzeirah shavah mei-atzmo*; the chain to Moshe as the safeguard against medameh**. ***Klal*** — the closing principle of the whole Torah. Chazal (Pesachim 66a; Niddah 19b — and parallels): ***'ein adam dan gzeirah shavah mei-atzmo'*** — 'a person does not derive a *gzeirah shavah* (a hermeneutic linkage between two verses sharing a common word) on his own.' ***Why?*** Rabbeinu now ties the gemara into the central thesis of the Torah: because a self-derived gzeirah shavah ***could be from koach ha-medameh*** — the imaginative faculty that, by its very nature, *compares thing to thing* (Ois ה-ח — medameh is the cognitive operation of likeness, which is exactly what a gzeirah shavah is). **Therefore it is forbidden to derive a gzeirah shavah on one's own** — the linkage may *look* like Torah but actually be the medameh dressed up in halachic clothing. ***Only*** if one ***received it from his rav, who received it from his rav, in an unbroken chain all the way back to Moshe Rabbeinu mi-pi ha-Gevurah*** (from the mouth of the Almighty at Sinai) — only then is one *saved from koach ha-medameh*. The mesorah-chain is the sole defense; in absence of it, the cleverest cross-reference is suspect of being a Pharaoh-chalom. The Torah closes on **U-Vin** — 'and understand' — the standard Lurianic sign-off, inviting the reader to absorb that the entire architecture (zikaron / olam ha-ba / hisbodedus / nigun / chatzos / Chanukah / shemen mishchas kodesh) sits over the foundation that medameh is real and powerful, and the *only* secure ground is what came down from Moshe. Intermediate: **Closing klal**: ***'ein adam dan gzeirah shavah mei-atzmo'*** (Pes 66a; Nid 19b). Ta'am (per Rabbeinu): efshar she-hi mi-***koach ha-medameh*** (= medameh = mlasa-l'mlasa, Ois ה-ח). Lachen ***asur la-dan g"sh mei-atzmo*** ela im kibel mei-rabo, mi-rabo de-rabo, ad Moshe mi-pi ha-Gevurah — *l'hinatzeil mi-koach ha-medameh*. Mesorah = ha-shemirah ha-yechidah. ***U-Vin***.