Likutay Moharan - Torah-teaching 29

29 - This Man Who Goes to Request a Woman and They Did Not Give Him [הַאי גַּבְרָא דְּאָזֵל בָּעֵי אִתְּתָא וְלָא קָיָהֲבִי לֵהּ]

[In the language of our rabbi, of blessed memory]

This man [gavra (man)] who goes to request a woman [isesa (woman)] and they did not give him, what did he see that he goes to a place higher than her [dimidlay meena (higher than her)]? He took a peg [siksa (peg)] pushed it below, did not enter, lifted, pushed it above, entered. He said: This also happened to him, soulmate [bas mazalay (daughter of his constellation, i.e., the woman who shares his destiny)]. Rashi: To a place higher than her, that is designated from the first [i.e., a higher spiritual level]. And asks him, is there not for him to learn, since they did not give him the first, all the more this [i.e., if he was denied a wife at a lower level, how could he succeed at a higher one; cf. Talmud Bavli, Bava Metzia 59b]: Peg, receptacle: Pushed it, lowered his hand in a place that there is no hole in the wall and did not go up: Lifted, pushed it, raised his hand and stuck it in a place of hole and went up.

1. For not every speech is called speech, for speech that is not heard and received is not called speech, in the aspect of "There is no speech and there are no words without their voice being heard" (Psalms 19:4). And the main reason the speech is received is because of the good that is in it, for all desire good. And therefore, when there is good in the speech, then the speech is heard and received, but when there is no good in the speech, it is not received. And how do they make the good in the speech? It is by means of that they take the speech from the knowledge, then there is in it good, but when the speech is without knowledge, then there is no good in it, in the aspect of "Also without knowledge, a soul is not good" (Proverbs 19:2). Soul, it is the speech, as it is written "And the man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7), and its Targum: To a speaking spirit [leruach memalela (speaking spirit)].

2. And to establish and to elevate the knowledge, it is by means of praise of the righteous [shevach hatzadikim (praise of the righteous)]. When they praise and glorify the righteous [tzadikim (righteous)], by means of this, the knowledge is elevated, in the aspect of "As the eagle stirs up its nest" (Deuteronomy 32:11). Eagle, this is spirit [neshra da ruacha (eagle, i.e., spirit)] (as brought in Tikunay Zohar, Third Tikkun of the Eleven Tikkunim, 139b), this is the aspect of *tzadik* [tzadik], in the aspect of "A man in whom there is spirit" (Numbers 27:18), stirs up its nest, that he arouses the brains [mochin (intellects)] from their slumber, from the aspect of brains of smallness [mochin dekatnus (brains of smallness)], from the aspect of sleep. Nest, this is "Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding" (Proverbs 4:5), that they are the brains. And even angels, when they want to make speech that it should be heard and received with them, in the aspect of: Doers of His word to hear the voice of His word, then they praise and glorify Hashem, blessed be He, first, that He is the *tzadik* of the world, in the aspect of "Righteous is Hashem in all His ways" (Psalms 145:17). And after that, by means of this: Doers of His word to hear the voice of His word, that they make the speech that it is heard and received.

3. And this is the aspect of white garments [begadim levanim (white garments, root: בגד)]—that is, rectification of the speech that is the aspect of kingship [malkhus (kingship, root: מלך)]. Mouth [peh (mouth)] is the aspect of white garments, for one needs to guard very much the garments, that he should not despise the garments, only to guard them as proper, that there should not come on them any stain [ketem (stain)] and blemish [revav (blemish)]. And everyone who is greater, more needs to guard the garments more, for everyone who is greater, they scrutinize with him more. And therefore, a disciple of a sage, that is found a blemish on his garment, is liable to death (Talmud Bavli, Shabbos 113a), for with him they scrutinize more, for the garments themselves judge him in the aspect of law of kingship [dina demalkhusa (law of kingship)]. For the garments, they are the aspect of *malchus*, for Rabbi Yochanan called his garment my honor [mechabdusa (my honor)] (Shabbos 113a), that this is the aspect of *malkhus*, the aspect of "King of glory [melech hakavod (King of glory)]" (Psalms 24:10). And they are the aspect of righteousness, holy kingship (Tikunay Zohar, Patah Eliyahu, 17a), that this is the aspect of the garments, the aspect of "Righteousness I donned" (Job 29:14). And the one who despises them, it turns out that he is as rebels in *malkhus*, and then law of kingship judges him. And by means of this, he makes separation [peruda (separation)] between the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah, in the aspect of serpent draws her to him and injects in her filth (Zohar Acharei 79a), in the aspect of blood of *niddah*, in the aspect of "Why red in your garment" (Isaiah 63:2). And this is the aspect of the stain and the blemish that is found on his garment, that by means of this is separated the aspect of the *malchus* aforementioned, that it is the Shechinah of His strength, from the Holy One, blessed be He, and then rules maidservant evil, that is kingship of the other side, in the aspect of "A maidservant when she inherits her mistress" (Proverbs 30:23), that it is evil woman, that it is the aspect of evil time [ais ra’ah (evil time)] (Zohar Trumah 155a), for there are כ"ח [twenty-eight] times, times for good, times for evil [the 28 times of Ecclesiastes 3:2–8]. And one needs to subdue maidservant evil, that it is evil time, in the aspect of "In every time let your garments be white" (Ecclesiastes 9:8), in every time precisely, your garments white—that is, without blemish, that is the aspect of purification of the Shechinah from her *niddah*, in the aspect of blood becomes turbid and becomes milk (Talmud Bavli, Bechoros 6b; Niddah 9a). And the wicked in their iniquities cause separation between the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah, for they cause for her blood of *niddah*, and then it is called city of bloods (Ezekiel 22:2; 24:6; Nahum 3:1). And on account of this, wicked are called men of bloods (Psalms 55:24), for 365 do-nots depend on 365 sinews [gidin (sinews, root: גיד)], that there is circulation of the bloods. And according to the aspect of do-nots that they transgress, so they arouse blood of *niddah* to the Shechinah, for how many kinds of bloods there are (Niddah 19a). Therefore, one needs to sweeten these bloods—that is, to rectify the do-nots, that they are the sinews, and to draw to them whiteness, in the aspect of: In every time let your garments be white, for all the whiteness is drawn from the brain [moach (brain)], in the aspect of: And flow from Lebanon, from whiteness of brain [libbuna democha (whiteness of brain)] (Zohar Pinchas 235a).

4. And to rectify all the transgressions in particular, they are very many and heavy upon the man, and it is impossible to rectify them, for there are many details and particulars in every do-not and do-not. Therefore, one needs to rectify the generality of the sinews [klaliyus hagidin (generality of the sinews)], which is the aspect of "And He declared to you His bris [בְּרִית (covenant, i.e., sexual purity)]" (Deuteronomy 4:13; see Zohar Vayishlach 176a). And then, by means of the rectification of the *bris* [bris], which is the generality of the sinews, all the do-nots that he transgressed are rectified automatically, and whiteness is drawn to them. And on account of this, it is called generality of the sinews, which is the holy *bris*, *Shaday* [Shaday (Almighty, i.e., breasts and shoots like an arrow)] (see Likutay Moharan 11:3), on account of that it breasts and shoots like an arrow (see *Rashi* on Berachos 64a s.v. Breasts and womb), whiteness and rectifications for every particular and particular, according to its need, and even to the narrow and thin places, for there are narrow and thin places that it is impossible to bring there any rectification except by means of the rectification of the general, which shoots whiteness and rectifications also to the narrow and thin places, in the aspect of "And Shaday shall be in your straits" (Job 22:25), that it breasts and shoots rectifications to all the narrow places. And on account of this, it is called *bris*: Splendor of the firmament [zohar harakia (splendor of the firmament)] (see Ma’oray Or), for before the rectification, then the firmament is in the aspect of "The heavens reveal his iniquity" (Job 20:27), and after the rectification, then it brightens and purifies the firmament, in the aspect of tongue of scarlet [lashon shel zehoris (tongue of scarlet)], which whitens their iniquities of the 365 do-nots (see Talmud Bavli, Yoma 67b–68a), and influences whiteness in the 365 sinews, in the aspect of "In every time let your garments be white" [as above]. And by means of rectification of generality of the sinews, the brains [mochin] are elevated, in the aspect of "As the eagle stirs up its nest" (Deuteronomy 32:11). Eagle, this is spirit [neshra da ruacha], which is the generality of the sinews, in the aspect of "And there arose no more spirit in any man" (Joshua 2:11; see Zevachim 116a), stirs up its nest, that he arouses acquire wisdom, acquire understanding, from the aspect of sleep. On its young it hovers, that he hovers and protects on the brains that were at first robbed, in the aspect of "Who robs his father and his mother" (Proverbs 28:24), they the brains, that they are father in wisdom (Talmud Bavli, Megillah 13a) and mother to understanding (Proverbs 2:3; Berachos 7a). And this is the aspect of infant sucking from breasts of his mother (Zohar Pinchas 258a), infant, that is, the brains of smallness [mochin dekatnus], that he sucks and grows from his smallness, by means of rectification of the general, that he is breasts and shoots like arrow. And this: His mother, this is assembly [kenesiyah (assembly)], as it is written "Do not despise because your mother is old" (Proverbs 23:25; see *Rashi* Proverbs 1:8 and *Rashi* Berachos 54a s.v. And says), that there are gathered and included all the rectifications.

5. And this is the main approaching of Israel to their Father in Heaven—that is, by means of rectification of the *bris* [bris]. By means of this precisely, "And I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me" (Exodus 19:4). Eagle, this is rectification of the general [klaliyus (generality)], that it is the aspect of: And there arose no more spirit in any man [as above]—that is, rectification of the *bris*. By means of this precisely, "And I brought you to Me," that they approached to Him, blessed be He, for the main of the approaching to Hashem, blessed be He, it is by means of rectification of the *bris* [as above].

6. And in this depends sustenance without toil, that it is the aspect of "Bread from heaven" (Exodus 16:4)—that is, by means of rectification of the general [klaliyus], that it is rectification of the *bris*, that it is the aspect of "The way of the eagle in the heavens" (Proverbs 30:19). And this is "And the manna like seed of *gad* it is" (Numbers 11:7), seed of *gad*, this is white drop [tipa chivarta (white drop)] (Tikunay Zohar, Tikkun 21, 52a)—that is, the aspect of: And flow from Lebanon, from whiteness of brain [as above], that this is the aspect of rectification of the *bris*, that in this depends sustenance without toil, that it is the aspect of manna, the aspect of: Bread from heaven [as above]. For sustenance that it is in toil and in heaviness, it is because of that he did not rectify rectification of the general, that it is rectification of the *bris*, for one who throws crumbs of bread, poverty pursues after him, all the more one who throws crumbs of brain (Zohar Pinchas 244a).

7. And this is the aspect of falling sickness [choli nofel (epilepsy, spiritual affliction)], Heaven forbid, that is, when the bloods prevail and they spatter to the brain [moach], and by means of this, the brains [mochin] are pressed, and by means of the pressing of the brains, the limbs tremble, for the brain is the commander of the army, and when the enemy comes upon the commander of the army, then all his armies tremble, for they all depend on him. And then the Shechinah falls, Heaven forbid, in the aspect of "The booth of (sukas) David that is fallen" (Amos 9:11). And by means of the rectification of the general [klaliyus], which awakens the brains [as above] and draws whiteness to the sinews in the aspect of "In every time let your garments be white" (Ecclesiastes 9:8), then it is healed from the sickness of falling. And then "She has fallen and shall no more, rise virgin of Israel" (Amos 5:2). And then the speech is permitted, in the aspect of "Open your mouth" (Zohar Vayikra 79a). And this is "You shall not go talebearing, nor stand upon the blood of your fellow" (Leviticus 19:16), your fellow, that is, the brains, which are two fellows that do not separate (Zohar Va'yikra 4a), when they do not stand and are nullified from doing their function by means of the prevailing of the bloods that press the brains. By means of this, you shall not transgress on "You shall not go talebearing", for then the speech is permitted, in the aspect of "Open your mouth", in the days of Rabbi Shimon [as above].

8. And this is the aspect of "Indeed, the wine betrays" (Habakkuk 2:5), betrays, that is, the aspect of the sinews [gidin (sinews, root: גיד)] aforementioned, by means of which he goes talebearing, revealing secret, in the aspect of "Wine entered, secret exited" (Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 38a), for the wine is the aspect of the sinews, the prevailing of the bloods, in the aspect of "Look not upon the wine when it reddens" (Proverbs 23:31), for its end is blood (Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 70a). And on account of this, it is called tirosh [new wine], and our rabbis, of blessed memory, learned from this (Talmud Bavli, Yoma 76b): If he merits, it becomes head [rosh (head)], if he does not merit, it becomes poor [rash (poor)], that is, when he does not merit, that he does not purify the bloods, by means of this he becomes poor, that he has no bread from heaven [as above], but if he merits, it becomes head, in the aspect of brains [mochin], that is, the aspect of drawing the whiteness from the brains, in the aspect of "And flow from Lebanon" (Song of Songs 4:15) [as above].

9. And this is the aspect of business dealings in faith [massa umattan be’emunah (business dealings in faith, root: אמן)], for one who does not do business dealings in faith [emunah (faith)] and is immersed in the desire for money, and robs his fellow, then he arouses the bloods aforementioned, in the aspect of "Why red in your garment" (Isaiah 63:2) [as above], and causes blood of *niddah* to the Shechinah, in the aspect of "And their gold for *niddah*" (Ezekiel 7:19; see Talmud Bavli, Megillah 14a; Chiddushay Aggados Shabbos 139a s.v. For your hands). That is, blood of *niddah* by means of the money, for on account of this, robbery is called a garment, as it is written "And with a garment traitors betray" (Isaiah 24:16; see Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 94a), that is, the blemish of the garments [begadim (garments, root: בגד)] aforementioned, in the aspect of that is found a blemish [revav] on his garments [as above]. Plunderers and plundered of plunderers [bazuzi ubazuzi debazuzi (plunderers and plundered of plunderers)], that is, the aspect of desire for money, that the more he has, the more he desires (Kohelet Rabbah 1:31). And this is the main rectification of the business dealings, that he should intend in every step and step, and in every speech and speech, that he goes and speaks at the time of the business dealings, that his intention is in order that he should profit in order to give charity [tzedakah (charity)]. And this is the aspect of the rectification of the general of the bloods, for the charity is the aspect of the generality of the sinews [klaliyus hagidin], in the aspect of "Sow for yourselves for righteousness [tzedakah]" (Hosea 10:12), in the aspect of seed of *gad*, that is, the white drop [tipa chivarta (white drop)] [as above], that by means of this rectification, the brains are elevated, in the aspect of white brain like silver [mocha chivarta kekaspa (white brain like silver)] (Tikunay Zohar, Tikkun 70). And on account of this, it is called business dealings [massa umattan (business dealings)], to indicate that there is in it rectification for the aspect of garments [begadim] aforementioned, for the aspect of bloods aforementioned. Business [massa (business)], this is the aspect of "For my iniquities have passed over my head, like a heavy burden they are heavy for me" (Psalms 38:5), which are the 365 do-nots aforementioned, that prevail over the head, which is the brains, in the aspect of "Nor stand upon the blood of your fellow" [as above]. And this is the aspect of blemish of the garments [as above]. And heavy, they are heavy, that is, the aspect of the King of glory [melech hakavod] [as above], heavy, that is, the aspect of the bloods, for the liver is full of blood, which is the aspect of blood of *niddah* [as above]. And giving [mattan (giving)], this is the aspect of the rectification of the general, which is the charity, in the aspect of "The gift of man makes room for him" (Proverbs 18:16), in the aspect of the bow of the *bris* [bris], which is the *tzadik* [tzadik], in the aspect of "The *tzadik* is gracious and gives" (Psalms 37:21). And this is what our rabbis, of blessed memory, said (Talmud Bavli, Rosh Hashanah 6a): In your mouth, this is charity, for then the speech is permitted.

10. And behold, the general rule is that one needs to rectify first the rectification of the general [tikkun haklali (rectification of the general)], and by means of this, automatically everything is rectified in particular. And even though the rectification of the general is higher and more elevated than the rectification of every thing in particular, nevertheless, because the rectification of every thing depends on the brain [moach], that is, to draw whiteness from the brain, in the aspect of "And flow from Lebanon" [as above], and to elevate the brain, it is impossible except by means of the rectification of the general, in the aspect of "As the eagle stirs up its nest" (Deuteronomy 32:11) [as above]. Therefore, one needs to go first to the highest level, that is, the rectification of the general, in order to rectify and elevate the brain, and by means of this, everything is rectified automatically [as above]. And this is the explanation: This man [gavra (man)] who goes requests a woman [isesa (woman)], and they did not give him, that is, the aspect of "A woman who fears Hashem" (Proverbs 31:30), that is, one who blemished in iniquities and caused blood of *niddah* to the Shechinah [as above], by means of this, the serpent draws her to him and so on, and there is made a separation between the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah. And this is: And they did not give him, in the aspect of "He shall roar, roar over His habitation" (Jeremiah 25:30) [as above]. What did he see that he goes to where they hang from her, that is, when he wants to purify the kingship [malchus (kingship)] from the bloods, he goes to the highest level, that is, the rectification of the general, which is above a woman who fears Hashem, in the aspect of "A *tzadik* rules in the fear of G-d" (II Samuel 23:3), for the *tzadik*, who is the aspect of the rectification of the general, is above and rules in the fear of G-d, which is the aspect of *malchus*, as it is written (Avot 3:2): Were it not for the fear of kingship [mora’ah shel malchus (fear of kingship)]. And this is: He took a peg [siksa (peg)], pushed it below and so on, peg, they are stakes and nails, as *Rashi* explained, that is, the aspect of words of Torah, as it is written "The words of the wise are like goads and like nails" (Ecclesiastes 12:11). Pushed it below, that is, the aspect of the lower levels, when there is no rectification of the general, in the aspect of: After Rabbi Shimon passed away, for then the speech is forbidden and did not enter, that is, that it was impossible then to speak words of Torah [as above]. Pushed it above and entered, that is, the aspect of in the days of Rabbi Shimon, who is the bow of the *bris*, which is the rectification of the general, for then the speech is permitted, that is, that he showed to them that it is impossible to rectify the speech except by means of praising the *tzadikim* [shevach hatzadikim (praise of the righteous)], which is the rectification of the general for the speech. And the same law, all things are impossible to rectify except by means of the rectification of the general in order to lift the brain, from where is drawn all the whiteness [as above]. And this is: This also happened to him daughter of his constellation [bas mazalay (daughter of his constellation, i.e., intellects, *mochin*)], that is, the aspect of brains [mochin], in the aspect of "And flow from Lebanon", that is, that he took for them as an example the speech and showed to them that it is impossible to rectify except by means of the rectification of the general. And the proof is that in the days of Rabbi Shimon, the speech was on its rectification, and after he passed away, it was said: "Do not put your mouth" and so on [as above]. And likewise, all things need to be rectified by means of the rectification of the general that pertains to it, such as business dealings by means of charity [tzedakah], and so all of them, one needs to rectify every thing by means of the rectification of the general that pertains to it, and this is because one needs to lift the brains [mochin] to draw from there the whiteness to rectify and whiten all the blemishes, and this is impossible except by means of the rectification of the general [as above]. And this is the aspect of: This also happened to him daughter of his constellation [bas mazalay], in the aspect of "And flow from Lebanon", from the whiteness of the brain [libbuna democha (whiteness of the brain)] [as above], "Silver chosen tongue of *tzadik*" (Proverbs 10:20). [The explanation of this matter and what connection there is for this verse to this Torah will be explained in another place.]

[Pertaining to section 8] And therefore, a woman whose bloods are many and she has no fixed time [veset (fixed time)], even though wine harms her [as above], in the aspect of "Look not upon the wine when it reddens" (Proverbs 23:31), that its end is blood, in the aspect of "Wine entered, secret exited" (Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 38a) [as above], even so, her remedy is by means of wine that a true righteous one [tzadik (righteous)] looked at it. For the eyes, they are the aspect of hairs [se’arot (hairs, root: שער)] (Tikunay Zohar, Introduction, 12a; Tikkun 70), they are the aspect of "Seven locks of his head" (Judges 16:13). And they are the aspect of the brains [mochin (intellects)], for the hairs, they are superfluities of brains. And therefore, they are the aspect of seven locks and so on, the aspect of seven attributes that pass and go in the thought that is in the brain, for the thought that is in the brain, it is according to the attributes that are in the person, and according to the attribute that the person holds in it, so pass and go over him the thoughts that are in the brain. And this: Seven locks of his head, language of passed and went [as above]. And when they blemish in the hairs, the sight is blemished, that it is seven layers of the eye. And therefore, Samson, who blemished in seven locks of his head, it is said regarding him: And Philistines gouged out his eyes (Judges 16:21). And therefore, by means of seven layers of eye, they rectify the aspect of seven locks of his head, that they are the hairs, in the aspect of "And the hair of his head like pure wool [tzemer (wool, צמר)]" (Daniel 7:9), in the aspect of tongue of scarlet [lashon shel zehoris (tongue of scarlet)], that it whitens the redness that is of the 365 sinews [gidin (sinews, root: גיד)], in the aspect of "If they be red like scarlet, like wool [tzemer] they shall be" (Isaiah 1:18). It turns out that is rectified by means of this the redness, that it is the aspect of blood of *niddah* [as above]. And this is the aspect of "From the narrow [metzar (narrow)] I called Yah" (Psalms 118:5), letters צמר [tzemer (wool)], as brought in the intentions, see there.