Likutay Moharan - Torah-teaching 38

Likutay Moharan Volume 1: Torah 38

The chariots of Pharaoh and his army He has cast into the sea, etc. (Exodus 15)

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

1.

Every person needs to examine himself constantly to determine if he is attached to Hashem, blessed be He. The sign of attachment is tefillin [phylacteries], for tefillin are a sign of this attachment (see Chagigah Berakhot 6a, "From where do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, lays tefillin").

2.

It is impossible to attain the aspect of tefillin unless one elevates and rectifies his speech. Speech is the breath of the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is the aspect of kingship mouth [Malchut Peh, a Kabbalistic term for divine speech] (Petach Eliyahu). It is the aspect of the sea, into which all the rivers flow, as it is written (Ecclesiastes 1): All the rivers go to the sea (see Tikkun 11 from the later Tikkunim). This is the aspect of A-donai [My L-rd], as it is written (Psalms 51): A-donai, open my lips. When speech, which is A-donai, is damaged, the breath of His mouth becomes a storm wind. [This occurs because] the twenty-seven letters [of the Hebrew alphabet], each included from ten [yielding a gematria of 270], form the aspect of speech, that is, from the aspect of A-donai [whose letters, with gematria 1+4+50+10=65], the letters r"e [200+70=270], and storm s"h [60+5=65]. This is the aspect of (Psalms 148): Storm wind doing His word. They [the letters] rectify the speech and elevate it from the aspect of storm wind. This storm wind is the great accuser, from which all accusations and trials come. It is "after the words," which sucks from the speech when it finds an opening to suck, as it is written (Genesis 4): At the opening, sin, and (Micah 7): Guard the openings of your mouth, etc. (Vayera 119b). [It is also written] (Genesis 22): And it was after these words, and G-d tested Abraham (see Tikkunei Zohar Tikkun 18 [folio 35b]). All slander and evils spoken against a person come from the storm wind, from "after these words," for it is the aspect of the end of all flesh (Genesis 6), which brings termination to all flesh. People who judge others to the side of guilt and constantly investigate their faults are from the aspect of the end of all flesh (Job 28): An end He sets to darkness, and to every limit He investigates (see Zohar Miketz 193a). [This aspect] always seeks to bring destruction to everything, to awaken judgment, to slander, and to accuse, as it is written (Isaiah 57): And the wicked are like the driven sea, for it cannot rest. Every person needs to subdue the side of the end of all flesh under the speech of holiness, as it is written in the Zohar (Vayechi 238a): Binding his foal to the vine. The vine is the congregation of Israel (Psalms 80): And visit this vine, and (Genesis 49): And this that he spoke. When he subdues the storm wind, taking from it all the speeches that fell into it, then (Psalms 107): He raises the storm to silence.

3.

One needs to elevate the speech to its root, which is the arm, comprising the five fingers of the left hand, which are the five strengths [gevurot, a Kabbalistic term for divine attributes of judgment]. These are the aspect of the five outlets of the mouth, for the essence of speech is through the five outlets of the mouth, which are the strengths (Psalms 106): Who can utter the strengths of Hashem. Through these strengths, speech is formed (Psalms 145): And Your strength they shall speak, and (Jeremiah 23): Is not thus My word like fire, declares Hashem. The beginning of the elevation of speech is from its head, that is, from the choice truth within the speech, which is called head (Sanhedrin 97a). Truth is made flocks, as it is written (Psalms 119): The head of Your word is truth. Before its rectification, it was in the aspect of (Daniel 8): And it cast truth to the ground. It could not speak any word of truth because the storm wind confused it, as it is written (Psalms 107): They ascend to heaven, they descend to the depths. When it is rectified, there is no confusion (Pesachim 3a). The scripture twisted nine letters to avoid bringing out a contemptible thing from his mouth. This hints that when the storm wind rules, one cannot speak straightforwardly, for the wind confuses him, and he needs to twist the way.

4.

The rectification of speech is through the Torah, studied in distress, poverty, and constriction, which is the aspect of night, when the dominion of the end of all flesh prevails (Genesis 1): And to the darkness He called night (Chagigah 12b). One who studies Torah at night draws upon himself a thread of kindness during the day, which is the aspect of the morning of Abraham (Miketz 203a): The morning light. This is the morning of Abraham, and the men were sent away, these are the masters of judgments, they and their donkeys, these and every impure side, as it is written (Ruth 3): Lie down until the morning. Then, all the accusers that rule over speech fall, and the speech emerges in song, praise, and laud to the Holy One, blessed be He (Psalms 83): G-d, do not be silent for You, and (Psalms 30): So that glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. Then (Job 38): Together the morning stars sing, and (Psalms 122): Our feet were standing. Speech is called foot, as it is written (Isaiah 41): Charity shall call him to his foot, and (Psalms 58): Shall you speak charity within your gates, Jerusalem, through the Torah, as explained by Rashi (from the words of our rabbis, of blessed memory, Makkot 10a) [as brought in "Pri Etz Chayim" (Gate of Tefillin, chapter 7), on the verse: Set me as a seal upon your heart. Through the study of Torah at night, the head of kingship [the aspect of speech, as above] rises as the light of the morning and sits in the arm of Zeir Anpin [a Kabbalistic term for the divine persona of emotional attributes]. It receives the impression in the chest of Zeir Anpin, and Zeir Anpin receives its impression. Through prayer, new brains [intellectual insights] enter, and the impression emerges in the aspect of tefillin, etc.].

5.

When one elevates speech to its root, that is, to the strengths, and begins to speak between himself and his Creator in the flame of the strengths, arousing himself to the service of Hashem, blessed be He, then light enters the root of the strengths, which is the warmth of the heart [the emotional fervor of devotion]. [This is the aspect of the impression in the heart of Zeir Anpin that enters the head of Your word, truth, that is, the head of kingship, when it sits in the left arm.] The root of the strengths is in the heart, as it is written (Psalms 39): My heart was hot within me in my musing, etc. There lies the true root of the truth of speech, as it is written (Psalms 15): And speaks truth in his heart. He begins to speak in the warmth of the heart, words of truth in the heart. When he speaks words of truth between himself and his Creator in arousal and repentance, seeing his lowliness and the greatness of the Creator—for until now he cast his sins behind his shoulders and did not look at them—now, when he knows them, great shame enters him for the magnitude of his transgressions against the great and ruling principle and root of all worlds. [There are those who say that here one needs to copy the third note, as it is in handwriting, and all ascends in one reed, see "Pri Etz Chayim".] This shame is still not in action, that is, it is internal and not revealed on his face, as it is written (Psalms 69): Shame has covered my face. This shame precedes repentance. It is known that a villager is not like a city-dweller; the closer one is to the king, the greater his shame, and the more one knows the king’s glory, the more ashamed he is before the king. Before repentance, his knowledge is still limited, so his shame is not active on his face, for his sins dull his intellect and knowledge through the spirit of folly within him, as they said (Sotah 3a): A person does not commit a transgression, etc. [This is the aspect of Zeir Anpin being jealous in kingship and taking its impression.] But after repentance, when he removes the stupidity and gains intellect, he becomes more ashamed, and the shame is revealed on his face. This is the aspect where, through prayer, new brains come, and the impression emerges in the aspect of tefillin. Through shame, he prays and seeks forgiveness for his iniquities revealed on his face, on his forehead (Jeremiah 3): And the forehead of a prostitute woman you had, you refused to be ashamed. This is the explanation (Proverbs 2): Then you will understand the fear of Hashem, as brought in the holy Zohar (introduction to Tikkunim, folio 9a). Tefillin are the aspect of mother on son, And if to understanding you call (Proverbs 2). This is the explanation: Then you will understand, that is, through extra understanding in recognizing the Creator, there is fear of Hashem, which is the aspect of tefillin, as our sages said, of blessed memory (Berakhot 6a): And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of Hashem is called upon you, and they shall fear you. These are tefillin, for fear is shame, as it is written (Nedarim 20a): Fear of Hashem on your faces. This is the shame on the face, the aspect of tefillin, through understanding, which is mother on son. Our sages said, of blessed memory (Berakhot 11a), tefillin are called splendor, as it is said: Your splendor don upon you. Splendor is the generality of colors, for adorning is through the generality of colors, as it is written (Isaiah 49): Israel in whom I will be glorified (Zohar Yitro 90a). They are included from many colors, and we see that when a person is ashamed, he becomes many colors. Through this, we can understand if a person has fear of heaven, that is, shame, after the rectification of sin, when we look at his face, and fear and shame fall upon us. This means knowledge of the Creator’s greatness is drawn upon us, blessed be His name. This is the explanation: Then you will understand fear of Hashem. That is, through this, you will understand that he has fear of Hashem, and you will find knowledge of G-d. This is when knowledge of the Creator’s greatness, which is shame and fear, is found in you, as it is written: And all the peoples of the earth shall see, etc., and they shall fear you. That is, fear is drawn upon them also.

6.

Moses merited the light of the tefillin, as it is written in the Zohar (omissions Bereishit 262a): And they stripped themselves of their ornaments. This is tefillin. And Moses would take the tent, meaning he took those lights, from the language of (Job 29): When His lamp shone over my head (see Zohar Bereishit 52b, Ki Tisa 194a) (Exodus 34): For the skin of his face shone, on the name of one horn he had on his forehead (Chullin 60a). This is the aspect of tefillin, which is on the forehead, and through this, And they were afraid to approach him, for he illuminated fear upon them, as it is written: Then you will understand fear of Hashem, etc. Our rabbis said, of blessed memory (Berakhot 12b), one who commits a transgression and is ashamed of it, they forgive him immediately, for the transgression inserts a spirit of folly in the person. Through shame, he returns the brains, as it is written: Then you will understand fear of Hashem, as above. Our sages said, of blessed memory (Nedarim 20a): One who has impudence, it is known that the feet of his fathers did not stand at Mount Sinai, for Adam the first damaged the aspect of tefillin, which is the aspect of the tree of life, as it is written (Isaiah 38): Hashem upon them they shall live (see Menachot). He attached himself to the tree of death, and through this, And He drove him out from the garden of Eden (Genesis 3). For impudence of face leads to Gehenna (Avot chapter 5). When he returns in repentance, it is written (Genesis 3): And He made for them coats of skin. This is tefillin (as brought in Tikkunim Tikkun 69, folio 105a). This is the explanation (Chullin 60a): The ox that Adam the first offered had one horn on its forehead, for through the offering, that is, through repentance, he merited the aspect of tefillin, which is the shining of the skin of the face. Cain, who was from the filth of the serpent (Tikkun 69, Bereishit 4a): Why has your face fallen, which is the aspect of the light of the tefillin, the shining of the skin of the face. Cain brought from the refuse (Bereishit Rabbah 22), seeing guilt in everyone. It is brought (Midrash Tanchuma, parsha Bereishit): And Hashem set for Cain a sign, that a horn shone for him, as above. This is written by Cain (Genesis 4): And he dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden, meaning he did not merit Eden because he damaged the light of the tefillin. East [kidmat] is the initials of "forehead that does not lay tefillin" (see Rosh Hashanah 17a). Our sages said (Taanit 7b): One who has impudence, it is known that he stumbled in a married woman, for Cain stood on the twin of Abel, as it is written (Genesis 4): And it was when they were in the field (Tikkun 69). Israel, who stood at Mount Sinai, their filth ceased, that is, the filth of the serpent, but the nations who did not stand, their filth did not cease (Shabbat 146a). This is known that the feet of his fathers did not stand—feet precisely, for they have no feet, as it is written (Genesis 3): On your belly you shall go (Zohar). And Hashem set for Cain a sign, [Rashi explains]: He restored his fear upon them, as it is written: And all the peoples of the earth shall see, as written in the Zohar: When he returns in repentance, And Hashem set for Cain a sign (Tikkun 69, 108b).

7.

The Tanna said (Bekhorot 57b): A cedar fell in our place, and sixteen wagons passed over it on its tip. It is known that the tzadik [righteous person] who serves Hashem with great attachment and intellect, when he falls to a lower level, even though this level is great compared to other tzadikim, according to his value, it is a fall. He is ashamed in this level as if he sinned and repents for it, as if he sinned. Through this, he comes to great shame, which is the aspect of tefillin, the aspect of: Then you will understand fear of Hashem. He attains new knowledge and recognition. The main illumination of the tefillin comes through the tablets, as brought (Zohar Bereishit and Ki Tisa, as above). When Israel said (Exodus 24): We will do and we will hear, they merited the girding of the upper weapon, and Moses merited the shining of the skin of the face from the light of the tablets, for they are the brains themselves. Through sharpening the intellect in the Torah, the brains are sharpened, recognition is added, and he is more ashamed. The tablets are the root of the Torah, called Y"V [gematria of 10+6=16, symbolizing the Ten Commandments], their length vav and width vav (Bava Batra 14a). The tzadik is called a cedar in Lebanon [as it is written (Psalms 92): The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, like a cedar in Lebanon he shall grow]. The Tanna told in praise of the tzadik who was a tzadik in his generation and fell in our place, for certainly the Tanna’s level was great, but according to the tzadik’s value, it was a fall (Exodus 12): And Hashem will pass to plague Egypt. Onkelos translated: And Y"V is revealed, sixteen wagons on its tip. Through sharpening his intellect and its innovation through the Torah, called Y"V as above, the shining of the skin of the face is revealed, that is, shame, the aspect of tefillin (Bereishit Rabbah 68). This is the explanation: Fell in our place, meaning he fell to perceptions of divinity according to our perception. Although our perception is great, according to his value, it is a fall. He returns in repentance and is ashamed in our perception. This is the explanation (Genesis 1): In the beginning, fear, shame (Tikkunei Zohar Tikkun 7), for fear is shame, there heads, there daughter, These are the heads of their fathers’ houses (Exodus 6). This is the three colors of the eye, daughter of the eye (Tikkun 4, 13a), and the three colors of the eye and daughter of the eye are four portions. This is the explanation (Isaiah 58): If you hold back your foot from the Sabbath, doing your pleasure on My holy day. Sabbath is the aspect of shame, your foot. First, one needs to rectify the speech, called foot, doing your pleasure on My holy day, for the filth of the serpent caused thirty-nine curses (Tikkun 64), thirty-nine labors. Every person needs to draw the holiness of Sabbath to sanctify the weekdays, as in the Mechilta: Remember the Sabbath day, remember it from the first in the Sabbath. According to the holiness with which he sanctifies the weekdays, the filth of the serpent, the end of all flesh, which is the aspect of storm wind, is pushed away. Through this, the speech ascends, doing your pleasure, when you do your pleasure in the weekdays on My holy day, as if the weekdays are My holy day, and you sanctify them from thirty-nine labors. This is (Chagigah 12b): Rabbi Yosei says, woe to the creatures, they see and do not know what they see. The earth stands on pillars, that is, understanding, the land of the living, from which come the tefillin, as above. Prayer is called a pillar, as it is written (Psalms 106): And Phinehas stood. Pillars, the aspect of prayer, are on the water, that is, the heart, as it is written (Lamentations 2): Pour out your heart like water before the face of Hashem. Water on the mountains, this is the aspect of Torah, through which the kindness of Abraham is aroused, for mountains are Torah, elevated, as it is written (Proverbs 8): Through me kings reign. Abraham is called a mountain, as it is written (Genesis 19): To the mountain, escape (Bereishit Rabbah 50, brought in Rashi). Mountains on the wind, that is, the breath of the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, the aspect of speech. Through the Torah of kindness, the speech is elevated, as above, as it is written: Lie down until the morning. Wind on storm, the aspect of the end of all flesh, is the aspect of after the words, it sucks from the speech and becomes a storm wind, as above. Storm on the arm of the Holy One, blessed be He, for creatures need the end of all flesh, as it is written: And behold, it was very good, this is the angel of death (Bereishit Rabbah, parsha 9). Their chain is from upper strengths, for it is very good. This is storm in arm, arm, these are five strengths, from there its vitality, until the time death is swallowed up forever (Isaiah 25). This is the explanation: The chariots of Pharaoh and his army, that is, the aspect of tefillin, as brought in the Zohar (Vayigash 210a). Pharaoh is the mother from which all lights are repaid and revealed. Tefillin are called chariots, as it is written (Deuteronomy 33): Rider of the heavens. Heavens, fire, and water are the aspect of colors, for tefillin flow from the upper mother. He has cast into the sea, cast, they are the strengths [explanation: cast, yara, with inclusive gematria, equals strength]. Into the sea, the aspect of speech, when you bind and elevate the speech to its root. How can you elevate the speech to its root? Through the study of Torah at night, which draws a thread of kindness, and then the morning light, etc. Then the speech ascends and becomes the daughter of Abraham, as they said (Bava Batra 16b): Abraham had a daughter, and bakol was her name, sea, gematria bakol. This is: And the choice of his officers were sunk in the sea. The Torah is called threefold Torah (Shabbat 88a), and choice is Abraham, as it is written (Nehemiah 9): Who chose Abram. Through the Torah, the attribute of Abraham is aroused, rectifying the speech, and the end of all flesh shall sink in the hole of the great deep, sunk in the Sea of Reeds. Reeds are the aspect of the end of all flesh, attached to the sea of speech, which shall sink in the hole of the great deep through the morning of Abraham, aroused through the Torah, as above. [This Torah is the secret of the intentions of tefillin, as explained within the words of this Torah. As noted in the margin, all intentions of tefillin are included here, understood by the wise. A broad explanation is still needed to clarify the matter well. If G-d is with me, it will be explained elsewhere with the help of Hashem, blessed be He. I heard from his holy mouth that he calculated many Torahs, saying all are the secret of the intentions of tefillin, namely the Torah "With trumpets and the sound of the shofar," "I am Hashem your G-d," "Call Joshua," etc., and the Torah "Who is the man who desires life," "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests," "And I will give grass" 39, "These are the journeys" 40, "Dances" 41, "And he saw distress" 42, "To distance from" 43, 44, "Happy is the people zarka," and this Torah "The chariots of Pharaoh," etc., and more great Torahs I do not now recall to detail. He said all are the secret of the intentions of tefillin.]