Likutay Moharan - Torah-teaching 101

101 - Bikrov Alai Merayim [When My Adversaries Draw Near to Me]

[In the language of the companions]

"When my adversaries draw near to me to consume my flesh, my oppressors and my enemies against me, they have stumbled and fallen" [Psalms 27:2]. The matter is as follows: It is written, "With Yah, Hashem is the Rock of worlds" [Isaiah 26:4], that is, "In the beginning, He created" [Genesis 1:1]. For through the Torah, which is called rayshis [beginning], He created the worlds [Bereishis Rabbah 1:1]. For the letter י (yud) represents the seichel [intellect] of the Torah, and the letter ה (hay) represents the letters of the Torah, which are the five books of the Torah, corresponding to the five outlets of the mouth [lips, teeth, palate, throat, tongue]. Thus, "With Yah, Hashem is the Rock of worlds" means through the Torah, which is the aspect of Yud-Kay [the Divine Name YH, symbolizing wisdom and understanding], as mentioned above, He created all the worlds, as stated above.

It is written, "You are adam" [Ezekiel 34:31]. Our rabbis, of blessed memory, expounded [Yevamos 61a]: You [Israel] are called adam [human], but the nations are not called adam. For there are anpin nehirin [illuminated faces] and anpin chashuchin [darkened faces]. There are two forces, as our rabbis, of blessed memory, expounded [Yoma 72b] on the verse, "This is the Torah that Moshe set" [Deuteronomy 4:44]: If one merits, it becomes for him a sam chayim [elixir of life]; if one does not merit, it becomes for him a sam maves [elixir of death]. The sam chayim is the aspect of anpin nehirin, and the sam maves is the aspect of anpin chashuchin, as it is written, "In darkness He has made me dwell, like the dead of eternity" [Lamentations 3:6]. From the anpin chashuchin, the nations draw their sustenance. Each nation possesses all evil traits, but each nation is particularly bound to one specific evil trait more than others. This is the meaning of, "He shone forth from Mount Paran" and so on [Deuteronomy 33:2], for the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to give the Torah to all creatures, but each one refused to accept it because they heard that the Torah prohibits the specific trait they are bound to [Sifri, Parshas Zos HaBracha; see Zohar, Balak 193a].

Anyone who possesses evil traits is subdued under those nations that are bound and connected to those evil traits. This is the meaning of [Pirkei Avos 3:2]: Whoever casts off from himself the yoke of Torah, they place upon him the yoke of malchus [sovereignty, oppression] and the yoke of derech eretz [worldly ways], that is, subjugation in physicality, which is the aspect of malchus, and also worldly conduct, that is, the evil traits of the nations, which is the aspect of derech eretz. For by casting off the yoke of Torah, which is the aspect of anpin nehirin, the aspect of anpin chashuchin—the subjugation and evil traits of the nations, which is the aspect of malchus and derech eretz—gains strength over him, as mentioned above. However, whoever accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah, they remove from him the yoke of malchus and derech eretz. That is, one who studies with iyun [deep analysis], delving deeply and understanding the wisdoms of the Torah, which is the aspect of anpin nehirin, as it is written, "The wisdom of a person illumines his face" [Ecclesiastes 8:1]. Through this, the yoke of malchus and derech eretz is removed from him, for the subjugation and the desires and evil traits of the nations, which are the aspect of anpin chashuchin, are nullified through his acceptance of the yoke of Torah, which is the aspect of anpin nehirin, as mentioned above.

For all that a person attains with his seichel is the aspect of anpin nehirin, and what he does not attain is the aspect of anpin chashuchin. Therefore, when one merits to delve deeply in the Torah until he attains the wisdoms of the Torah, then he is in the aspect of anpin nehirin. Then the traits and desires of the nations, which cling to the aspect of anpin chashuchin, are subdued, as mentioned above. This is the aspect of, "He sets the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel" [Deuteronomy 32:8]. L’mispar [according to the number] is an expression of sapir [sapphire] and illumination, as in the aspect of, "A pavement of sapphire" [Exodus 24:10], that is, following the anpin nehirin, which are the aspect of the number of the children of Israel. After them, He sets the boundaries of the peoples, who are the aspect of anpin chashuchin, as mentioned above.

Within every person himself, there is the aspect of anpin nehirin, which is the aspect of the holiness of Israel, a holy people, whose root is distant from all evil traits and desires. Yet there is also within him an attachment to the seventy nations, which are the aspect of anpin chashuchin, the aspect of evil traits and desires, all of which stem from the aspect of the seventy nations, which are anpin chashuchin, as it is written, "They mingled with the nations and learned their deeds" [Psalms 106:35]. This means that he becomes mixed with the evil traits within himself, which are drawn from the nations, as mentioned above. When a person commits a sin, Heaven forbid, the sin and iniquity are engraved upon his bones, as it is written, "Their iniquities shall be upon their bones" [Ezekiel 32:27]. It is impossible for him to escape this except through the Torah, which is the aspect of anpin nehirin, which is the opposite of all desires and traits that are the aspect of anpin chashuchin, from which all sins are drawn, Heaven forbid.

For a person must toil in the Torah and mortify himself for its sake, as our rabbis, of blessed memory, said [Berachos 63b] on the verse, "This is the Torah: a person who dies in a tent" [Numbers 19:14]: The Torah is only sustained by one who mortifies himself for it. That is, his selfhood [ego, physical desires], which is the aspect of evil traits and desires from which all the blemishes engraved upon his bones stem, as mentioned above. For he must toil in the Torah until he merits to understand it, that is, to emerge from the aspect of anpin chashuchin, which is the aspect of darkness and concealment of knowledge, to the aspect of anpin nehirin, which is the aspect of knowing and attaining the Torah, as mentioned above.

Then he is called adam, in the aspect of "This is the Torah: adam", that is, through the Torah, he is called adam, in the aspect of "You are called adam, and the nations are not called adam". For the essence of the name adam is attained through the Torah, which is the aspect of anpin nehirin, the opposite of all evil traits and desires. Because of this, they are called adam, in the aspect of "This is the Torah: adam". But the nations, who are distant from the wisdoms of the Torah, from anpin nehirin, for they are in the aspect of anpin chashuchin, being immersed in all evil traits and desires, are therefore not called adam, as mentioned above.

For the essence of the aspect of adam is the aspect of true seichel, which one merits to attain, that is, the wisdoms of the holy Torah. For there are three levels of seichel: simple seichel, which is the aspect of chochmah [wisdom], as in the aspect of, "All of them You made with wisdom" [Psalms 104:24]. When one studies and understands, this is called binah [understanding]. And afterward, when one knows the Torah, this is called da’as [knowledge], as is known. These three levels of seichel are the aspect of the hands of the Torah, the aspect of the great hand, the strong hand, and the uplifted hand [symbolizing divine strength and redemption], through which the Torah is received. These three seichlim [intellects] are the aspect of three times Yud-Kay, for Yud-Kay represents chochmah and binah, which are terayn ray’in d’lo misparshin [two companions that do not separate] [Zohar, Vayikra 4a; Ha’azinu 293a], included in each of the three seichlim mentioned above. Three times Yud-Kay equals the gematria of adam [numerical value 45]. Thus, the essence of the name adam is the aspect of true seichel, that is, the wisdoms of the Torah, which is the aspect of anpin nehirin, the aspect of removing and breaking all evil traits and desires, as mentioned above.

This is the meaning of "When my adversaries draw near to me": This is the aspect of terayn ray’in d’lo misparshin [two companions that do not separate], which is the aspect of Yud-Kay, the wisdom of the Torah, the aspect of adam. "To consume my flesh" means to consume and mortify my selfhood [ego, physical desires], for the Torah is only sustained by one who mortifies himself for it, as mentioned above. Then, consequently, "My oppressors and my enemies against me, they have stumbled and fallen", for all the oppressors and enemies that cling to the aspect of anpin chashuchin stumble and fall. For the aspect of anpin chashuchin is nullified, and one merits to anpin nehirin, which is the wisdoms of the Torah, the aspect of Yud-Hay [the Divine Name YH, symbolizing divine wisdom], the aspect of terayn ray’in d’lo misparshin. Because of this, Israel is specifically called adam, as mentioned above. Then all the oppressors and enemies that cling to anpin chashuchin, to evil desires and traits, stumble and fall, for one has merited to anpin nehirin, as mentioned above.