Likutay Moharan - Torah-teaching 37

Likutay Moharan Volume 1: Torah 37

Seek Hashem and His strength, seek His face continually. (Psalms 105)

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

1.

The main [purpose] of creation is that they make Him known (Zohar Bo 42b), as it is written (Isaiah 43): For My glory I created it, I formed it, even I made it.

2.

Body and soul are the aspect of man and beast, coarse [matter] and form, wisdom and foolishness, the aspect of light and darkness (Ecclesiastes 2): As the advantage of light from darkness, etc. And as they said (our rabbis, of blessed memory, Berakhot 33b): Great is knowledge that was given between two letters, as it is said: For a G-d of knowledges is Hashem (Psalms 118): G-d Hashem and He has shone upon us, and it is written (there 82): They do not know and they do not understand. They are the aspects of life and death, as it is written (Ecclesiastes 7): Wisdom gives life, etc. And it is written (Job 4): They die and not in wisdom (see Bereishit Rabbah 26, 31; Eicha 3): In darkness He has made me dwell, etc. They are the aspects of forgetfulness and remembrance, as it is written (Psalms 31): I am forgotten like a dead man from the heart, and it is written (there 98): He has remembered His kindness. And this is what our sages said (Avot chapter 3): One who forgets one thing from his study, it is as if he is liable for his soul, as it is said: Only beware for yourself and guard your soul greatly lest you forget. They are the aspect of the wisdoms of the Torah, while external wisdoms are coarse [matter] and foolishness, and the aspect of beast, opposite the wisdoms of the Torah.

3.

Every man needs to subdue the coarse [matter] that is the aspects of death, the aspect of foolishness of the body of the four elements [arba yesodot], as it is written in the Zohar (Bereishit 27b): And Hashem G-d took the man—from whom did He take him? From his four elements, that He separated him from their desire. This is done through the fast that through the fast they weaken the four elements, and the coarse [matter] is nullified—the aspect of the coarse [matter], foolishness, darkness, forgetfulness, beast—and the aspect of the intellect is strengthened and elevated, and the form, the light, and the remembrance, man. And this is what our sages said (Berakhot 6b): The reward of the fast is tzedakah [charity], because tzedakah [charity] hints to light, as it is written (Malachi 3): And there shall shine for you who fear My name the sun of tzedakah [charity] (Lech Lecha 76a): Hearken to me stouthearted who are far from tzedakah [charity] who are far from the Torah (Numbers 19): This is the Torah a man—man, mem closed is the aspect of fast, which is the aspect of the world to come, that there is no eating and drinking in it (Tikkun 21); dalet, it hints to the four elements that are humbled through the fast; aleph, as it is written (Job 33): And I will teach you wisdom. And this is what is written in the Zohar (in the introduction 13b): Let us make man—through the fast there is formed the aspect of man; it is written here let us make, and it is written there: And the name of the man with whom I made—what there tzedakah [charity], so here tzedakah [charity] [explanation: for in the Zohar it explains there that through tzedakah [charity] he is in the image of man, and he learned there from this verse, Let us make man—it is written here making, and it is written there And the name of the man with whom I made, etc., for the matter of tzedakah [charity], etc.; and our master, of blessed memory, brings proof from this for the matter of fast because tzedakah [charity] and fast are one aspect, for the reward of the fast is tzedakah [charity] as above, and therefore it is explained from this that through the fast, which is the aspect of tzedakah [charity], they become in the category of man, which is the true knowledge of the Torah, which is the aspect of light and soul, etc.; for the subduing of the coarse [matter] and the body, the aspect of beast, etc., to the soul, which is the aspect of man, is through the fast, which is the aspect of tzedakah [charity] as above].

4.

But there are two aspects of tzedakah [charity], for there is tzedakah [charity] outside the land, and there is tzedakah [charity] in the land of Israel; and the tzedakah [charity] of the land of Israel, it is great and above the tzedakah [charity] outside the land (see Laws of Charity sign 251 sub 3). And so there are two aspects of Torah, for the Torah that comes out from breath that has sin in it is not similar to the Torah that comes out from breath that has no sin in it (Shabbat 119b), for the judgment is not sweetened, and the world is not sustained, except on the breath of the mouth of children (there in the introduction folio 1a): The buds appear in the land—these are the fathers of the world; The time of pruning has come—when the time comes to cut off the wicked from the world; And the voice of the turtledove is heard—this is the voice of the children of the rabbis who engage in the Torah (Song of Songs 1): Doves of gold, and it is written (Exodus 25): And you shall make two cherubim of gold—through the voice of the children of the rabbis, the fathers are revealed in the world to protect. It turns out, when you want that the fathers be revealed through you in the world in order to push away the judgment, and the darkness, forgetfulness, and foolishness, from the world, you need that you have breath that has no sin in it; and through tzedakah [charity] of the land of Israel you include yourself in the air of the land of Israel, which is the aspects of the holy breath that has no sin in it. And this is the explanation (Leviticus 26): And I will remember My covenant with Jacob, etc.—explanation: when will the fathers be revealed in the world? When The land I will remember—through the air of the land of Israel and through breath that has no sin in it, which is the aspect of the breath of their mouth of children; for so the children were blessed, as it is written (Genesis 48): He shall bless the lads and my name shall be called on them and the name of my fathers—that through the children the fathers were revealed to protect. Through tzedakah [charity] of the land of Israel, they are included in the air of the land of Israel, the holy air which is the aspect of breath that has no sin in it. And this is what our sages said, of blessed memory (Taanit 11b): One who sits in fast is called pious, as it is said: He who does kindness to his soul is a man of kindness—for the fast is bestowing kindness to his soul, that is to the Torah, as it is written (Psalms 19): The Torah of Hashem is perfect restoring the soul—because of this he is called a man of piety, for he nullifies the judgment and the darkness, and draws kindnesses in the world.

5.

And this is the explanation (Sanhedrin 96b): Three warnings that Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira warned from Netzivin—beware of an elder who forgot his learning because of his compulsion, and beware of veins like Rabbi Yehuda, and beware of the sons of the people of the land, for from them Torah will come out. For these three aspects, they all hint to the elevation of the soul, and the intellect and the Torah, and the remembrance. Elder—this who forgot his learning because of his compulsion, he is the aspect of death, and foolishness, because of forgetfulness (Nedarim 27b). And Rabbi Yehuda warned to honor him, that through the honor the forgetfulness will be nullified from him and the soul will be revealed, that is the remembrance of the Torah; for the root of the Torah is the glory of the Name, blessed be He, as it is written: For My glory I created it, etc. And as our sages said, of blessed memory (Avot chapter 6): There is no glory but Torah.

6.

And this is: Beware of veins like Rabbi Yehuda—for the blood is the soul that comes in reincarnation, and the slaughterer needs to intend to elevate the soul that is in the blood. Also the main lack of sustenance that has diminished in these generations—this is only through the slaughterers who are not proper (Avot chapter 3): If there is no Torah there is no flour—Torah is the aspect of soul as above; through this there is no flour, the sustenance has diminished. And because of this the knife is called eater, as it is written (Genesis 22): And he took the eater—for there is a proper slaughterer who feeds and sustains Israel; for the proper slaughterer he clothes the soul that is in the living in the speaker, that is in the speech of the blessing that he blesses. And the speech is the aspect of Shechinah [divine presence], as it is written (Petach Eliyahu): Kingship mouth (Isaiah 34): A sword for Hashem filled with blood, for the Shechinah [divine presence] is called a sword for Hashem (as brought in the holy Zohar, and in Pardes); and it is the aspect of speech, which is the aspect of a sword of two edges, language of mouth, as it is written (Psalms 149): High praises of G-d in their throat and a sword of two edges, etc. And when the soul comes inside a sword for Hashem, inside the speech, in the aspect of mayim nukvin [female waters, a Kabbalistic term for spiritual arousal from below]—then the Shechinah [divine presence] mates through the mayim nukvin [female waters] that it has, in the aspect of: See with what creation I am coming (Zohar Vayikra 13a). And this is A sword for Hashem filled with blood, from souls that ascend in it in the aspect of mayim nukvin [female waters]. And through the mating, it receives sustenance for Israel. And this is the explanation (Lamentations 5): With our soul we bring our bread because of the sword of the wilderness—that is when the slaughterer is not proper and does not elevate the soul, in the aspect of mayim nukvin [female waters]. And when he stands with the knife to slaughter the living, he stands like a murderer of souls; and his knife is the sword of the wilderness, and not a sword for Hashem, which is the sword of the speaker. And there is pain to the soul of the living that cries in a bitter voice (Song of Songs 5): My soul went out—when it went out in order to enter in his speech of the blessing, in the aspect of mayim nukvin [female waters]. I sought him but I did not find him, I called him but he did not answer me—for he is not there at the time of the blessing, and thinks a thought of piggul [disqualified offering]. The watchmen that go about the city found me, they beat me they wounded me, they took away my veil from me—that is the elevation that there was to the soul in the aspect of living, also this he took from it; for now it has no rest for the sole of its foot. Woe to this slaughterer! Woe to the soul, that he killed the soul and delivered it into the hand of its enemies; and there is no mayim nukvin [female waters] for the Shechinah [divine presence], to draw prey to its house. And through this, With our soul we bring our bread in toil and great trouble. And this is what our sages said, of blessed memory (Pesachim 118a): Difficult is the sustenance of man like the splitting of the Red Sea—for the Red Sea was split into twelve splits (Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer chapter 42 and in Tikkun 21), opposite twelve inspections of the knife (Rosh Chullin chapter 1 sign 24)—that through them the sustenance of man is difficult, etc. And this is what our sages said, of blessed memory (Berakhot 55a): A table is similar to an altar—for the measure of defects of the knife, like the measure of defects of the altar (Chullin 17b). Also on the slaughtering, gematria 337; and with the sweat of your face you shall eat bread (Genesis 3), initials gematria 337 [with the four words]—to hint the lack of sustenance through slaughterers who are not proper. And this is the explanation (Psalms 111): Prey He has given to those who fear Him—for prey has two meanings: language of invalid (as brought in the Zohar end of Mishpatim folio 121b), and language of food—to hint, when Israel guard themselves from invalid, through this they have sustenance. And this is the explanation (Shabbat 104a): Mantzepach—the watchers said mantzepach; it is the aspect of veins, the aspect of riv din [riv din – contention of judgment]. And watchers, these are prophets whose suckling is from the aspect of cherubim, the aspect of children, the aspect of breath that has no sin in it, the aspect of the air of the land of Israel, that there they receive the holy spirit, as brought in the Zohar (Lech Lecha 85b): And Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish. And these watchers, that is these who are in the aspect of breath that has no sin in it—they illuminate in veins, riv din, in mantzepach; and elevate the soul in the aspect of mayim nukvin [female waters]; and draw influx. And the influx is called saying—for at first it is light, and afterward it becomes water, and afterward firmament. And when they sweeten the mantzepach, and make from mantzepach, A-donai—for from riv there is made the form of aleph, and there is made A-donai. And A-donai is speech, it is the Shechinah [divine presence], as it is written (Psalms 51): A-donai open my lips. And from this breath, that is A-donai, comes out the influx, and is divided to each one according to his aspect (Psalms 68): A-donai gives the saying, the women who bear tidings are a great host—to each one according to his aspect. And this is what our sages said, of blessed memory (Sanhedrin 104b): The eaters of my people have eaten bread they have not called upon A-donai. Rav said these are the judges and Shmuel said these are the teachers of children—one said one, and one said one and they do not disagree. Rav said these are the judges, that is riv din who do not elevate the soul in the aspect of mayim nukvin [female waters] who do not make from riv din A-donai—hint to the slaughterers who are not proper who spoil the judgments that is riv din mantzepach the bloods which are the souls, they are five letters opposite five bloods as known—hint to five aspects that there are to the soul, as our sages said (Berakhot 10a): These five bless my soul opposite whom, etc. And Shmuel said these are the teachers of children who spoil the breath that has no sin in it—when the speech and the breath of the slaughterer is not in the aspect of breath that has no sin in it, the aspect of the air of the land of Israel—through this, The eaters of my people, the sustenance has diminished; for when the slaughterer has the aspect of breath that has no sin in it, the aspect of a sword for Hashem, the aspect of tzedakah [charity] of the land of Israel, the aspect of soul, the aspect of Torah as above—also the soul that ascends from the living to his speaker also then is elevated in these aspects that are mentioned.

7.

And this is the explanation: Beware of the sons of the people of the land—for this is known, that the precious souls [the oppressed] inside the balance, that is said in the Zohar (Saba Mishpatim folio 113a, and in other places), in shells of nogah [klipot nogah – shells of radiance, a Kabbalistic term for intermediate spiritual husks] and shells of nogah want that the soul be sunk there—then it gives them inside the drop of his mating of the people of the land in order that that soul be defiled more. It turns out that the sons of the people of the land they are precious souls but they are like birds caught in the snare (Ecclesiastes 9)—from where do we know their splendor their glory but through their Torah when we see that they are Torah scholars, it is known that they have a precious soul. And all the Torah that they reveal, it is all revelation to the slaughterer—for the soul is [the aspect of Torah] as above; and the Torah that they reveal the sons of the people of the land, they are the aspect of sparks [nitzotzot – divine sparks, a Kabbalistic concept of holy fragments in the material world] and ascends to the Shechinah [divine presence] in the aspect of mayim nukvin [female waters], in the aspect of: See with what I am coming with creation. And because of this one needs to honor them—for through the honor the Torah will be revealed more from its concealment that is the soul; for the root of all is the glory, as it is written: For My glory I created it, etc. And the soul longs to be included in Him in its root. And this beware of the sons of the people of the land to honor them in order that the Torah long, which is the soul, to be included in its root, which is the glory; and through this, from them Torah will come out. And this is the explanation: Seek Hashem—through what wisdom can you expound Him? The splendor explains, and His strength—that is through the Torah and not through other wisdoms which are foolishness and darkness, opposite the wisdoms of the Torah. And through what will you merit to the wisdoms of the Torah? Seek His face continually, through tzedakah [charity] of the land of Israel (Bereishit Rabbah parsha 44, Kohelet Rabbah order 1). There is no seeking of face but tzedakah [charity] as it is written (Psalms 85): Charity shall go before Him; and there is no continually but the land of Israel ("Shocher Tov" Psalms 105 and see "Reishit Chochmah" Gate of Repentance chapter 6) as it is written (Deuteronomy 11): Continually the eyes of Hashem your G-d are upon it.