Likutay Moharan - Volume 2 - Torah-teaching 7

Likutay Moharan – Torah 7

And it came to pass at the end – For with compassion He will lead them

And it came to pass at the end of two years of days, and Pharaoh was dreaming etc. (Genesis 41:1).

1. For with compassion He will lead them (Isaiah 49:10) — this means that one who is compassionate can be a leader, because it is forbidden to have compassion on wicked people or on murderers and robbers. Likewise, one who does not know how to conduct himself with compassion might have compassion on a four-day-old infant by giving him food appropriate for an adult and not for such a small child, for a child that small must be nourished only through milk specifically. Therefore one must know how to conduct himself with compassion: for such a small child one must show compassion by giving him milk specifically, and for an adult the food he needs, and similarly for each and every person one must show compassion with exactly what he needs.

2. And such a compassionate one is only Moshe Rabbainu, because he was the leader of Israel and he will be the leader in the future, because “what was is what will be” etc. (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Moshe Rabbainu had true compassion on Israel: he gave his soul for Israel, cast his own soul aside completely, and had no concern for himself at all (Exodus 32:10) — even when Hashem said “And I will make you into a great nation,” he paid no attention to it at all, only said “If You will bear their sin…” (ibid.). He was compassionate and a true leader, occupied with the settlement of the world so that the world would be settled with human beings. For the essence of a human being is daas [spiritual knowledge/awareness of G-d], and one who has no daas is not part of the settlement and is not called “human” at all — he is merely an animal in human likeness. Moshe Rabbainu therefore had compassion and was engaged in settling the world so that it would be settled and filled with human beings — that is, people of understanding, as mentioned above. He opened for us the light of daas, as it is written (Deuteronomy 4:35): “You have been shown to know that Hashem — He is the G-d,” for Moshe opened daas and revealed to us that there is a G-d who rules upon the earth.

3. The essence of compassion is when Israel the holy people fall — Heaven forbid — into sins; may the Merciful One save us. This is the greatest compassion of all kinds. All the harsh sufferings in the world are considered nothing compared to the heavy burden of sins — Heaven forbid. When Israel fall into sins — Heaven forbid — this is an extremely heavy burden that cannot be borne at all, in the aspect of “Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Psalms 38:5). One who knows the holiness of Israel, from where they are drawn, and knows their spirituality and refinement, understands that Israel are completely distant from sin — sin has no relevance to them at all, not according to the greatness of their holiness from their root nor according to the greatness of their refinement and spirituality. Therefore all the sufferings in the world are not considered a burden at all compared to the heavy burden of sins — Heaven forbid, may the Merciful One save us. Even when a person has sufferings, if no sin is involved, they are not considered sufferings at all (Shabbat 55a): “There are no sufferings without sin” — meaning that when there is no sin in them they are not sufferings at all. The essence of sufferings is only when they fall into sins — Heaven forbid. This is therefore the essence of compassion: to have compassion on Israel the holy people to remove them from the heavy burden of sins. Therefore Moshe Rabbainu, peace be upon him, every time Israel fell into any sin would give his soul for them and pray for them — as with the spies and similar cases — because he knew that according to the holiness and refinement of Israel they are distant from sin and cannot bear at all the heavy burden of sin as explained. In truth, sins come — Heaven forbid — only through lack of daas, because a person does not commit a transgression unless a spirit of folly enters him (Sotah 3a). This is the greatest compassion of all: to have compassion on such a person by inserting daas into him, in the aspect of “Happy is he who considers the poor” (Psalms 41:2), for “there is no poor except from daas” (Nedarim 41a), and one must have compassion on him to insert daas into him.

4. And even when the time arrives for him to depart and the soul ascends and cleaves to the place where it ascends in the upper worlds, this is not the purpose and perfection — that the soul should be only cleaved above. The essence of the soul’s perfection is that when it is above it should also be below. Therefore one must leave after him a blessing — a son or a disciple — so that his daas remains below also when he departs above. As our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Bava Batra 116a): “Who have no changes for them” — one said “son” and one said “disciple,” for the disciple receives the daas of the teacher. Certainly there is nothing worse than when a wicked son remains — Heaven forbid. The essence is to leave a son who is also in the aspect of disciple, who receives from him his intellect and daas. On the other hand, the one who said it is enough with disciple alone — since the essence is that his daas remain in the world, a disciple alone is also sufficient. This is the essence of perfection: that his daas remains in this world even at the time of departure when the soul ascends above. One who knows even a little of His daas, blessed be He, knows that the essence of the pleasures and delights of Hashem, blessed be He, is only that we — from this lowly world — magnify and sanctify His name, blessed be He. This is the essence of Hashem’s pleasures and delights, as it is written: “And I desired praise from clods of dust, from lumps of clay” etc. Although Hashem, blessed be He, has seraphim, holy living creatures, wheels, and upper worlds that serve Him, blessed be He, nevertheless the essence of His pleasure and delight is when the service from this lowly world ascends above. Therefore one must leave after him a son or disciple so that his daas remains below to illuminate the people of this lowly world. When his daas remains below through a son or disciple, it is considered as if he himself actually remains in the world. Every person can fulfill this by establishing disciples: when two speak together in fear of Heaven and one illuminates his fellow with some speech, the fellow becomes — in relation to him — in the aspect of disciple. Sometimes it reverses: later he receives some speech from his fellow and then becomes in the aspect of disciple to him. Every person must be careful, strive, and engage in this, because “Not for chaos did He create it, to dwell He formed it” (Isaiah 45:18). Everyone must engage in settling the world so that the world becomes filled with human beings, as it is written (Genesis 1:28): “And fill the earth.” This is the essence of settling the world — when it is filled with human beings, that is, people of understanding, for one who has no daas is not a human being at all, as explained above [that is, just as a human is commanded to establish children in the world for the existence of the world, so he is commanded to insert daas and fear of Heaven into his children and disciples. This is the essence of the commandment to establish offspring for the existence of the world — the essence is to establish offspring specifically from the species of human beings, not from the species of animals and beasts in human likeness. Therefore as long as daas does not illuminate human beings, and they do not know and feel His divinity, blessed be He, and His rule, they are not in the category of human beings, since they lack daas to know Hashem — and this is the essence of the definition of a human being. Thus the world is considered chaos and void, and concerning this it is said: “Not for chaos did He create it, to dwell He formed it.” One must settle the world specifically with human beings — that is, people of understanding who know Hashem, blessed be He. This is also the commandment “And fill the earth”: one must fill the earth with human beings — that is, every person is commanded to speak with his fellow in fear of Heaven in order to insert daas into his fellow. This is the essence of settling the world — that the world should be settled with human beings, that is, with people of understanding who know Hashem, blessed be He, as above]. Therefore every person must engage in this: to insert daas and fear of Heaven into his fellow. Through this his fellow becomes in the aspect of disciple to him. Then, when his days are completed and the time of his departure arrives, he will clothe himself in the speech he inserted into his fellow, and it will be considered as if he himself actually exists in this world, as it is written: “Who have no changes for them” — one said son, and one said disciple. Thus when a son or disciple remains after him, there are “changes” for them — meaning he has “changes” (continuation), because his daas remains after him through son or disciple as above. The essence is daas, and when daas remains after him through son or disciple, it is considered as if he himself actually remains existing in the world. This word changes is an acronym for: My mouth shall speak wisdoms and the meditation of my heart understandings (Psalms 49:4), because the essence is daas — the aspect of “My mouth shall speak wisdoms and the meditation of my heart understandings.” This is the essence of what remains and the “changes” that remain from a person after him — that is, what he spoke of wisdom and understanding with his fellow and inserted into him true daas and fear of Heaven as above. Therefore “My mouth shall speak wisdoms and the meditation of my heart understandings” is an acronym for changes, because this is the essence of the changes and the remaining as above. In truth, son and disciple are entirely one: the son is also a disciple as above, and the disciple is in the aspect of son, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Sanhedrin 99b, and see there folio 19b): anyone who teaches his fellow’s son Torah is considered as if he made him, for it is considered as if he also made the body of the disciple. Previously he was not called “human” at all, since he had no daas and was only in the likeness of a human. Thus through teaching him Torah and inserting daas into him, he becomes a human being — therefore it is considered as if he actually made him. Hence the disciple is also in the aspect of son.

5. However, one who wants to speak with his fellow in fear of Heaven as above must have fear of Heaven himself so that his words will be heard by his fellow, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Berakhot 6b): “Anyone who has fear of Heaven in him, his words are heard.” Also so that his words will endure with his fellow — because sometimes one speaks with his fellow and immediately the speech passes from the heart of his fellow and does not endure with him at all. Therefore fear of Heaven is needed for this, for “one whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom endures” (Avot ch. 3 mishnah 9) — meaning there is endurance to his words with his fellow. Thus one who wants to insert daas into his fellow needs fear of Heaven so that his words will be heard and will endure. “Who have no changes for them, and they did not fear G-d” (Psalms 55:20) — that is, when his daas does not remain after him through son or disciple (which is the aspect of “changes” as above), this is a sign that they did not fear G-d, for through fear his daas remains after him as above.

6. And through engaging to speak one with his fellow to insert in him daas and fear of Heaven and to establish disciples as above — through this the surrounding lights enter. That is, he merits to understand and know what he did not understand and know at first (see Avodah Zarah 35b). What a person understands and attains with his intellect is the aspect of internal, because that intellect enters into his intellect. But what he cannot bring into his intellect — that is, what it is impossible for him to understand — is the aspect of makifim [surrounding lights/concepts that encircle the mind until they can be internalized]. That thing surrounds his intellect and he cannot bring it inside his intellect because he cannot understand it — therefore it is surrounding to him. But when he engages to speak with people and inserts his daas into them, his mind becomes emptied of the intellect and daas that he had. Through this the surrounding intellect enters inside — because his intellect was emptied by inserting his daas into his fellow, the surrounding enters inside, and he merits to understand the aspect of the surrounding intellect — that is, he understands what he could not understand at first as above. There are several levels in makifim: what is surrounding to this person is internal to his fellow who is on a higher level, and so on higher and higher. There is intellect that is surrounding to this one, but to another that same intellect is even lower than internal because he is on a much higher level. Through speaking with his fellow in fear of Heaven and inserting his daas into him, his surrounding enters inside as above — and so on higher and higher, each one according to his level: his surrounding enters inside through speaking with his fellow and disciple and inserting daas into him as above. This is (Deuteronomy 30:14): “For the thing is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart to do it.” “For the thing is very near to you” — to bring near to you the thing that is in the aspect of “very” — the aspect of makifim that are hidden and very distant from the person — to bring them near to enter them inside depends on “in your mouth and in your heart to do it.” “In your mouth and in your heart” is the aspect of “My mouth shall speak wisdoms and the meditation of my heart understandings” — that he reveals his wisdom and understanding to his disciples as above, “to do it” is the aspect of “as if he made him” as above. Through this he can bring near the makifim that are in the aspect of “very” to enter them inside as above. Higher than all are the upper makifim of the sage of the generation, the Rebbe of the generation. Through this Rebbe and sage of the generation speaking with his disciples and inserting his daas into them, his makifim enter inside. His makifim are the aspect of length of days and years, because his makifim are the aspect of the World to Come — a day that is entirely long (Kiddushin 39b; Chullin 142a) — because there he is above time. All the time of this entire world — what was and what will be — is nothing and naught compared to one day, and even compared to one moment of the World to Come that is a day entirely long and has no time at all, because it is above time. Only the order of times that exists there is the aspect of attainments of the makifim: there are makifim that are the aspect of days, and makifim that are the aspect of years — the aspect of “circuits of the days” (1 Samuel 1:20), “circuits of the years” (Exodus 34:22; 2 Chronicles 24:23). These makifim that are there are the aspect of the order of times there and the attainments of these makifim. This is the essence of the pleasure and delight of the World to Come — happy is one who merits to attain them. This is the aspect of the purpose of daas that we do not know, because these attainments of the makifim that are the aspect of the delight of the World to Come are the aspect of “How great is Your goodness that You have hidden for those who fear You” (Psalms 31:20) — they are great good, hidden, concealed, and sealed from every eye. “How great is Your goodness” — how specifically? Because they are the aspect of “what” — the aspect of “What did you see, what did you whisper” (Hakdamat Zohar 4b) — the aspect of the purpose of daas that we do not know. This is the aspect of the abundance of the crown, because crown is the aspect of surrounding, as it is written (Judges 20:43): “They surrounded Benjamin” etc.

7. And this sage who merits to these makifim mentioned above — the aspect of the abundance of the crown — needs to have the aspect of “all,” the aspect of (1 Chronicles 29:11) “For all in the heavens and in the earth,” and its Targum: “that unites in heaven and earth” (Zohar Bereshit 31a and Tikkun 22). That is, he must grasp and sustain the two worlds — the upper world and the lower world — that are the aspect of heavens and earth. For the tzadik and the sage mentioned above must grasp both to sustain each one in its aspect, because there are dwellers above and dwellers below — that is, the upper world and the lower world, the aspect of heavens and earth. The tzadik must show to the dwellers above that they do not know at all in His daas, blessed be He — this is the aspect of attainment of “what,” the aspect of “what did you see, what did you whisper,” the aspect of “where is the place of His glory.” And the opposite: he must show to the dwellers below that on the contrary “the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah 6:3), because there are dwellers of dust — human beings placed on the lowest level who appear to themselves to be very distant from Him, blessed be He. The tzadik must arouse them and awaken them in the aspect of “Awake and sing, dwellers of dust” (Isaiah 26:19) and reveal to them that G-d is with them and they are close to Him, blessed be He, because “the whole earth is full of His glory,” and strengthen them and arouse them so they should not despair themselves — Heaven forbid — for they are still by Hashem, blessed be He, and close to Him, because “the whole earth is full of His glory.” This is the aspect of “all” that the tzadik has — the aspect of “For all in the heavens and in the earth” that unites heaven and earth — that is, he grasps and sustains the two worlds: the upper world he grasps and sustains in the aspect of “what,” the aspect of “where is the place of His glory,” and the lower world he sustains in the aspect of “the whole earth is full of His glory.” [And see below [sign 68], where this matter is also explained with a little more explanation. The general principle is that the essence of the tzadik’s perfection is when he has these two aspects mentioned above — that is, that he knows how to speak, teach, and illuminate each one: the dwellers above and the dwellers below, the upper ones and the lower ones, the heavens and the earth — that they are the aspect of great and small. That is, to the great in level, the people of ascent, the aspect of dwellers above, the tzadik must have the power to show them and reveal to them that they still do not know at all from Hashem, blessed be He — the aspect of “what did you see, what did you whisper” etc. This teaching and attainment he must illuminate and insert into the great in level who are the aspect of dwellers above. And the opposite: there are people placed in the very lowest level until they completely despair themselves — Heaven forbid — because it seems to them that they are very distant from Hashem, blessed be He, and they have already lost their eternity and their hope from G-d. The tzadik must have the power to arouse them and awaken them so they should not despair themselves in any way in the world, however it may be, and to show them and illuminate in them that still G-d is with them and by them and close to them — even actually in the earth, even if one fell to the lowest hell — Heaven forbid — nevertheless there precisely is found His glory, blessed be He, because “the whole earth is full of His glory.” And this is the aspect of “all” that the tzadik has etc., as above.]

8. Also this sage of the generation mentioned above needs to know which makifim he needs to draw and which makifim he does not need to draw. For this reason there are things that are not permitted to reveal before the disciples, because if he reveals those things other makifim will enter into his intellect as above, and sometimes there is no need to receive those makifim. For example, when the rabbi speaks with his disciple some simple matter in Gemara, Perush, Tosafot, and in the midst of his words he comes upon some difficulty — and that difficulty was at first in the aspect of surrounding to him because he did not know it at first — and immediately when this difficulty falls into his intellect he says it before his disciple. And while he is explaining the difficulty to him, a resolution on the difficulty falls into his intellect — it turns out he attains another surrounding, that is, the resolution on the difficulty — and then he also says the resolution before the disciple. But when he reveals the resolution also before the disciple, then another surrounding enters into him, and through this the intellect that now comes upon him causes the difficulty to return to its place — and on the contrary, now the difficulty is stronger and broader than at first. It turns out that by revealing the resolution before the disciple — through which another surrounding entered into him, that is, new intellect — the difficulty returned to its place with greater strength because now the difficulty is stronger and broader than at first. Similarly in attainments there are things that are forbidden to reveal, because if he reveals this resolution before the disciple a new surrounding will enter into him through which the difficulty will become stronger and broader than at first — until he can enter into attainments of makifim that are above time, such that time is not sufficient to explain the difficulties and resolutions there because they are above time. For every time he reveals some intellect — difficulty or resolution — a new intellect enters into him that is the aspect of surrounding as above. Therefore if he is not careful in his words to be precise which thing to reveal and which not to reveal, through this he will enter into difficulties and resolutions that time is not sufficient to explain because they are the aspect of makifim that are above time as above. Therefore the sage is forced to make a fence around his words — to be precise and careful what to reveal and what not to reveal — in such a way that he attains only those makifim that need to be attained and does not come to attain makifim that do not need to be attained. This is the aspect of what our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Menachot 29b): When Moshe ascended on high he found the Holy One, blessed be He, tying crowns to the letters. He said to Him: “Master of the world! Who is holding back Your hand?” He said to him: “There is one in the future who will arise — Akiva ben Yosef is his name — who will expound on every tittle heaps and heaps of laws.” He said to Him: “Master of the world! Worthy that the Torah be given through him!” He said to him: “Be silent! Thus it arose in thought.” And it would seem difficult — why did Hashem, blessed be He, say to him “Be silent” etc.? Had he not already stated the difficulty? And what is this silence after he had already asked the difficulty? But immediately when Moshe stated the difficulty, a resolution on the difficulty fell into his intellect. But if he had stated the resolution, another surrounding would have entered into him and would have brought a difficulty stronger and broader than at first. “Be silent” concerning the resolution — that is, he should be silent and not reveal the resolution so as not to come upon a difficulty stronger than at first. That is, immediately when the inner intellect is revealed, another new intellect arises in thought because another surrounding enters inside. Therefore one must be silent in order not to come to makifim that do not need to be attained as above. And this is: “Be silent! Thus it arose in thought” [Moshe was above thought, therefore he knew the resolution because he attained the aspect of the secrets of the crowns (as in the first printing by Moharnat z”l) of the letters and the sealed matters, because this matter was not well explained], as above. And this is the explanation of “Be deliberate in judgment, establish many disciples, and make a fence to the Torah” (Avot ch. 1 mishnah 1). “Be deliberate in judgment” is the aspect that the sage mentioned above needs deliberation to know how to speak with each one: before the aspect of dwellers above he reveals to them the attainment of “what,” the aspect of “what did you see” etc., and before dwellers below he reveals the attainment of “the whole earth is full of His glory.” This is the aspect of judgment, the aspect of justice — the aspect of “for G-d is judge; this one He lowers and this one He raises” (Psalms 75:8) — that the high ones he must lower to show them that they do not know at all in His daas, blessed be He, and the small ones — the aspect of dwellers of dust — he must raise, arouse them and awaken them so they do not despair, because “the whole earth is full of His glory,” as above. And this is: “establish many disciples” — because when he merits such an attainment, to illuminate in great and small etc. as above, certainly he establishes many disciples, because all need him, for he has the power to teach all of them as above. And this is: “make a fence to the Torah” — the aspect of “silence is a fence to wisdom” (Avot ch. 3 mishnah 13) — because he needs to make a fence around his words, to be silent sometimes in the aspect of “Be silent! Thus it arose in thought,” as above. Because through that he merits to establish many disciples, through this he merits to attain the makifim — that is, he attains and understands what he was not able to attain at first. Therefore he must make a fence around his words and be silent sometimes in order not to enter makifim that are above time such that time is not sufficient to explain the difficulties and resolutions there as above. And these two aspects — dwellers above and dwellers below — that is, the attainment of the aspect of “what” and the attainment of the aspect of “the whole earth is full of His glory” — are the aspect of the attainment of the aspect of son and the attainment of the aspect of disciple. Although son and disciple are all one as above (the son is also disciple as above and the disciple is also in the aspect of son, because he is considered as if he made him as above), nevertheless there is a difference between son and disciple. The son who is a disciple is on a higher level than disciple alone, because the son is entirely drawn from the father — from his head to his foot — and there is no hair in him that is not drawn from the father’s brain. Therefore the attainment of the son is greater in level than the attainment of the aspect of disciple. This is the aspect of the difference between the prophecy of Moshe Rabbainu and the other prophets: Moshe saw in a clear lens, and they saw in a lens that does not illuminate (Yevamot 49b). This is the aspect of the difference between the attainment of dwellers above and the attainment of dwellers below that are the aspect of son and disciple. (Exodus 33:20): “for no human can see Me and live” — this is the aspect of the attainment of “what,” the aspect of “what did you see” etc. — this is the attainment of dwellers above, the aspect of son. And Yeshayahu, who was on a lower level than Moshe, said (Isaiah 6:1): “and I saw Hashem” — this is the aspect of the attainment of dwellers below, the aspect of disciple, the aspect of “the whole earth is full of His glory.” Although Yeshayahu knew that there is the attainment of the aspect of “what,” nevertheless he said according to his level that he was in the aspect of the attainment of “the whole earth is full of His glory,” the aspect of “and I saw Hashem” (see Zohar Vaera 23a). Thus son and disciple are the aspects of dwellers above and dwellers below — that is, the attainment of “what,” the aspect of “what did you see, what did you whisper,” the aspect of “where is the place of His glory,” the aspect of “for no human can see Me” — this is the attainment of the son, the attainment of dwellers above. And the attainment of “the whole earth is full of His glory,” the aspect of “and I saw Hashem” — this is the attainment of the disciple, the attainment of dwellers below. Because the son is entirely drawn from the father’s brain, therefore he merits the attainment of the father himself — that is the aspect of “what,” which is the attainment of the Rebbe and the sage of the generation as above. But the disciple receives only the aspect of the attainment of dwellers below — that is the aspect of “the whole earth is full of His glory” etc., as above.

9. And one must include the worlds — upper in lower and lower in upper — so that the son is included from the aspect of disciple and similarly the disciple is included from the aspect of son, in order that they should have fear. Because the son, who is in the aspect of the attainment of “what,” the aspect of “what did you see” etc., if so he would have no fear at all since he does not see His glory, blessed be He, at all. Therefore the son must be included from the aspect of disciple to show to the aspect of son also a little from the attainment of the aspect of disciple — that is the aspect of “the whole earth is full of His glory” — so that he should have fear. And similarly the disciple, whose attainment is the aspect of “the whole earth is full of His glory,” if so he could become nullified in existence — therefore one must show him a little from the attainment of the aspect of son — that is the aspect of “what” — so that he should not become nullified in existence and he should have fear.

10. And through the inclusiveness of son and disciple, one who is a man of valor and not the opposite [what people call bad luck, shlimazel] can receive at the time of eating the illumination of the will — that is, the will illuminates for him at the time of eating and he yearns and longs greatly to Him, blessed be He, with an extraordinary will without any knowledge, not knowing at all what he wants (Psalms 145:16): “and You give to them their food in its time.” “In its time” is the aspect of the illumination of the will mentioned above, the aspect of (Numbers 23:23): “at this time it shall be said to Yaakov and to Israel, what has G-d wrought,” as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Jerusalem Talmud Shabbat ch. 2): in the future the tzadikim will have a partition before the ministering angels. Partition is the aspect of makifim — they are the partition of the intellect. And in the future the partitions of the makifim of the tzadikim will be higher than the makifim of the ministering angels, and then their attainment will be the aspect of “what,” the aspect of “what has G-d wrought.” And this illumination that is the aspect of “what” is the aspect of illumination of the will that is higher than all, and it is revealed at the time of eating in the aspect of “and You give to them their food in its time” — precisely “in its time” is the aspect of illumination of the will that is the aspect of “what,” the aspect of “at this time it shall be said to Yaakov and to Israel, what…” etc., the aspect of the makifim mentioned above that are the aspect of “what” — this is the aspect of illumination of the will as above. And that the illumination of the will is revealed specifically at the time of eating — know that whoever wants to gird his loins to be a sustainer, to give sustenance to those dependent on him, must be a man of valor and not the opposite [what people call bad luck, shlimazel], because he needs a little dominion — for all sustenance is drawn from kingship (see Zohar Terumah 153a and in the place “king” there, and see also 140b) — as it is written concerning a king (Daniel 4:17): “the tree that you saw that grew and became strong etc. and sustenance for all was in it — you are that king.” Therefore whoever wants to receive sustenance must have a little dominion so that he has some connection with kingship (Ruth 2:14): “At the time of eating approach here” — “here” is nothing but kingship (Zevachim 102a). He needs dominion — the aspect of kingship — at the time of eating, because through this sustenance is drawn as above. Therefore when the husband girds his loins opposite his wife and obligates himself to sustain her as written in the ketubah: “and I will work and honor and sustain” etc., then they give him a little dominion, as it is written (Genesis 3:16): “and he shall rule over you” — because through the dominion he can draw the sustenance as above. Similarly all princes — anyone who needs to give sustenance to many people dependent on him — needs more dominion so that he can draw the sustenance through kingship as above. And kingship receives the sustenance from the aspect of the hands that are in the sea of wisdom — that is, the hints that are the aspect of hands (Proverbs 1:24): “I stretched out my hand and no one listened,” and Rashi explained: that is hints — because when the wise man reveals his wisdom he sometimes says a speech that contains hints to his disciples — that is, what cannot be explained explicitly with his mouth, only through the hints in the speech they understand his intention. And these hints are the aspect of hands — the aspect of “I stretched out my hand” as above. This is the aspect of the hands that are in the sea of wisdom, in the aspect of (Psalms 104:25): “this is the great and broad sea with hands,” and from these hands the aspect of kingship receives the sustenance in the aspect of (Psalms 145:16): “You open Your hand and satisfy the will of every living thing.” That is, the sustenance is drawn from the aspect of the hands mentioned above, and “satisfy the will of every living thing” is the aspect of illumination of the will that is revealed within the sustenance as above in the aspect of “and You give to them their food in its time” as above. Because kingship receives the sustenance from these hands that are in the sea of wisdom, therefore within the eating and sustenance there is revealed the illumination of the makifim that are the aspect of illumination of the will as above — because the makifim illuminate in the sea of wisdom that the wise man reveals as above. This is the aspect of “this is the great and broad sea with hands” etc. “Leviathan this You formed to play with” — leviathan is the aspect of kingship as it is written (Isaiah 27:1): “Leviathan the straight serpent, Leviathan the crooked serpent,” and Rashi explained: kingship — “to play with” is the aspect of grinding, because there they grind the manna (Chagigah 12b) — that is, sustenance. That is, the kingship — the aspect of leviathan — receives the sustenance from the hands that are in the great and broad sea with hands as above. And when the sustenance reaches the kingship, there it is ground and crushed to give each one his portion of sustenance as fitting for him. This is “to play with” — the aspect of grinding, because there they grind the manna — because the sustenance that is the aspect of manna is ground and crushed by the aspect of kingship that is the aspect of leviathan that receives the sustenance from the aspect of “this is the great and broad sea with hands” — that is, from the hands that are in the sea of wisdom that are the aspect of hints as above. And this is: “all of them look to You to give their food in its time” — because all gaze and wait for sustenance, and kingship gathers and collects all these bitachons of all the people of the world — all that they wait and gaze for sustenance. And with these bitachons kingship ascends and receives sustenance from the hands mentioned above. This is: “all of them look to You” — that is, through these bitachons mentioned above that all look to Him and wait and gaze for sustenance — through this sustenance is drawn through kingship as above. And this is: “to give their food in its time” — precisely “in its time” is the aspect of illumination of the will that is revealed within the sustenance that is the aspect of “at this time it shall be said to Yaakov and to Israel what has G-d wrought,” the aspect of “and You give to them their food in its time,” the aspect of “You open Your hand and satisfy the will of every living thing,” as above. And this is “because Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your face because You desired them” (Psalms 44:4). “Your right hand and Your arm” is the aspect of the hands mentioned above in which is revealed the illumination of the makifim that is the aspect of illumination of the will as above. And this is: “and the light of Your face because You desired them” — because the makifim are the light of the face, and “because You desired them” because they are the aspect of illumination of the will as above. And this is: “Happy are you, land, whose king is a son of free men and whose princes eat in due time” (Ecclesiastes 10:17) (see Zohar Lech Lecha 95a; Cha'yay Sarah 124a). Freedom is the aspect of Yovel that is the aspect of inclusiveness of son and disciple, because Yovel is the letters “and all your sons are taught of Hashem” (Isaiah 54:13) — that is, inclusiveness of son and disciple, because “your sons” is son, “taught of Hashem” are disciples. And from the inclusiveness of son and disciple that is the aspect of Yovel, the aspect of freedom — from there kingship receives the sustenance as above. And this is: “Happy are you, land, whose king is a son of free men” — that kingship receives the sustenance from the aspect of freedom, the aspect of Yovel etc. as above. And this is: “and your princes eat in due time” — “in due time” is the aspect of revelation of the will that is revealed at the hour of eating, the aspect of “at this time it shall be said” etc. as above (see Zohar Terumah 175a and in Adar Ner 21). And this is the aspect of (Ta’anit 5a): one does not converse at a meal, because then — at the hour of the meal — the illumination of the will illuminates that is the aspect of illumination of the makifim that are the aspect of silence, the aspect of “Be silent! Thus it arose in thought,” as above.

11. And this is the aspect of Chanukah. Know concerning the matter of Chanukah that each person according to what he merits to accomplish with his request on Yom Kippur — that is, the request “forgive please” — so he has Chanukah, because through “forgive please” Chanukah is made. Because Moshe Rabbainu requested (Numbers 14:19): “forgive please the sin of this people” concerning the sin of the spies, and through the sin of the spies they caused the destruction of the Temple (as our Rabbis of blessed memory said, Ta’anit 29a) — Hashem, blessed be He, said to them: “You cried a needless cry; I will establish for you a cry for generations,” because that night was the night of the ninth of Av in which the Temple was destroyed. And Moshe Rabbainu requested concerning this “forgive please,” because in this sin and defect all sins depend — because through this defect the Temple was destroyed. And in the time when the Temple existed we were clean from sins, as it is written (Isaiah 1:21): “justice lodges in it,” and Rashi explained: because the tamid of the morning atoned for the transgressions of the night and the tamid of the afternoon atoned for the transgressions of the day — because Israel are a holy people; according to the greatness of their spirituality and refinement they cannot bear upon themselves the burden of sin even for one day. Therefore we need the Temple that atones for us every day. And from the time that our Temple was destroyed we cannot cleanse ourselves from sins because there is no one to atone for us. And Moshe Rabbainu, peace be upon him, knew all this — therefore he gave his soul for Israel and requested: “forgive please the sin of this people” etc. — because he knew that in this sin the destruction of the House depends, which includes all the sins as above. And when he merited that his request be fulfilled, from this was made the aspect of dedication of the House — the aspect of Chanukah — the opposite of the destruction of the House. And similarly every person according to what he merits to accomplish with the request “forgive please” on Yom Kippur — through which the defect of the destruction of the House is repaired — similarly he makes the aspect of dedication of the House — the aspect of Chanukah. Thus Chanukah is made through “forgive please” as above. And therefore Moshe Rabbainu, peace be upon him, hinted at the combination of Chanukah in the verse “forgive please” — because “forgive please the sin of this people according to the greatness of Your kindness and as You have borne…” is the acronym Chanukah, because Chanukah is made through “forgive please” etc. as above. And similarly all the aspects mentioned above are all included in the Temple, because the Temple is included from the aspects of son and disciple. Because our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Ta’anit 16a): Why is its name called Mount Moriah? Because from it instruction (hora’ah) goes forth to Israel — this is the aspect of disciple. Also our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Midrash Song of Songs on “our couch is green”): Why is its name called Chamber of the Beds? Because through it Israel are fruitful and multiply — this is the aspect of son. Therefore the Temple is in the place of the threshing-floor (2 Samuel 24) — this is the aspect of sustenance that is drawn through the inclusiveness of son and disciple as above. And this is the aspect of the Showbread that was in the Temple — this is the aspect of eating and sustenance that is drawn through the inclusiveness of son and disciple in which are revealed the lights of the makifim that are the aspect of the light of the face as above. Because the light of the face is the aspect of 370 lights, as is known, and 370 is two times surrounding, as brought (Psalms 104:15): “to brighten the face from oil, and bread sustains the heart of man” — that is, within the eating is revealed the illumination of the makifim that is the aspect of “to brighten the face from oil and bread” etc. And therefore the mitzvah of Chanukah is with oil, because Chanukah is the aspect of dedication of the House through which sustenance is drawn and the light of the face is revealed — this is the aspect of Showbread, the aspect of “to brighten the face from oil and bread” etc. as above (Numbers 6:25): “May Hashem illuminate His face to you and be gracious to you” — “and be gracious to you” is the aspect of Chanukah, because through it the light of the face is revealed, the aspect of “May Hashem illuminate His face” etc. as above. And Moshe Rabbainu merited the secret of Chanukah through giving his soul for Israel and setting his heart upon them to look at their distress, because he was compassionate and a true leader as above. And the essence of the distress of Israel is the burden of sins — Heaven forbid — as above. Therefore he requested for them “forgive please” as above, and through this was made the aspect of Chanukah — the aspect of dedication of the House — in which depends the repair of all the aspects mentioned above as above. And this is “Chanukah encamped 25” (Tikunay Zohar Tikun 13) — that is 25 in Kislev. Kislev is the letters “and Hashem saw that he turned to see” (Exodus 3:4), because Moshe Rabbainu set his heart to look at the distress of Israel. And this is “that he turned to see” — language of turning aside and anger (1 Kings 21:4) (and see Midrash Rabbah Exodus ch. 2). And the essence of their distress is the burden of sins — Heaven forbid — as above. And when Hashem, blessed be He, saw that he set his heart upon this, He called to him and said “Moshe, Moshe,” and he said “Here I am.” “Here I am” to priesthood, “here I am” to kingship, as our Rabbis of blessed memory expounded (Midrash Rabbah Exodus parasha 2). “Here I am” to priesthood is the aspect of dedication of the House, because Moshe served during the seven days of consecration, as it is written (Psalms 99:6): “Moshe and Aharon among His priests” (Zevachim 102a). Also priest is the aspect of inclusiveness of son and disciple, because concerning a priest it is said (Leviticus 10:11): “to teach the children of Israel” — “to teach” is language of instruction, this is the aspect of disciple; also “to teach” is language of conception, the aspect of son. “Here I am” to kingship is the aspect of kingship mentioned above, that through it sustenance is drawn as above.

12. And this is the aspect of the balanced temperament of the lung. When the lung is in the balanced temperament it is included from all the aspects mentioned above, because the lung illuminates the eyes, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Chullin 49a) — this is the aspect of disciple whose attainment is the aspect of “and I saw Hashem.” Also through the lung sleep comes [as explained above in Torah 5] — this is the aspect of the attainment of the son, whose attainment is the aspect of “what,” the aspect of “what did you see” etc. — this is the aspect of sleep, the aspect of (Isaiah 64:3): “Eye has not seen G-d besides You.” And the spirit of life that is within the lung is the aspect of the makifim mentioned above — the aspect of “circling, circling goes the spirit” (Ecclesiastes 1:6), the aspect of “and a spirit passed over my face” (Job 4:15) — the aspect of the light of the face. And when the oils of the lung are in the balanced temperament, through this the light of the face illuminates in the aspect of “to brighten the face from oil” — that is, through the oils of the lung the light of the face illuminates, the aspect of makifim. And the hands mentioned above that are in the sea of wisdom as above — in them is revealed the light of the face, the aspect of makifim that are the aspect of illumination of the will, in the aspect of “You open Your hand” etc., as above. And this is the aspect of “cut” that is the end-letters of “You open Your hand” — that is the name of the sustenance, as brought “spirit” — that is, in these hands mentioned above is revealed the aspect of the makifim that are the aspect of “circling, circling goes the spirit,” the aspect of “and a spirit passed over my face” as above. “And human hands from under their wings” (Ezekiel 10:21) — this is the aspect of the wings (lobes or auricles) of the lung where the spirit circles, the aspect of makifim from which is drawn the aspect of illumination of the hands as above. And this is the aspect of “A man’s spirit sustains his illness” (Proverbs 18:14) — “a man’s spirit” is the aspect of the spirit of life mentioned above that is the aspect of “circling, circling goes the spirit,” the aspect of makifim from which sustenance and support is drawn, the aspect of “sustains” etc. as above.

13. And therefore when one examines and speaks concerning some innovation that the sage of the generation innovated, then fear falls upon the one who speaks and examines the innovation — because when they repeat the innovation, then the sea of wisdom is aroused and revealed from which kingship receives sustenance. Then the aspect of kingship comes to draw sustenance, and the essence of fear is in kingship because kingship is the source of fear, as they said (Avot ch. 3 mishnah 2): “Were it not for the fear of kingship…” And then the fear of the sage who innovated this innovation is aroused, because everything depends on fear — he needs fear so that his words will be heard and so that his words will endure as above. And therefore when they repeat the innovation then the aspect of kingship comes to receive sustenance from there, and kingship is the aspect of fear as above — and through this the fear of the sage mentioned above is aroused. Therefore fear falls upon the one who examines the innovation. And this is the explanation of the incident of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua who were traveling in a ship. Rabbi Eliezer was sleeping and Rabbi Yehoshua was awake. Rabbi Yehoshua trembled and woke Rabbi Eliezer. He said to him: “What is this, Yehoshua? Why did you tremble?” He said to him: “I saw a great light in the sea.” He said to him: “Perhaps you saw the eyes of Leviathan, as it says: ‘His eyes are like the eyelids of dawn’” (Bava Batra 74b). Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua are the aspect of son and disciple. Rabbi Eliezer is the aspect of son whose attainment is the aspect of “what,” the aspect of “what did you see” etc., the aspect of “no human can see Me,” the aspect of “eye has not seen G-d besides You” etc. as above. And this is the aspect of Rabbi Eliezer because Eliezer is the acronym: eye has not seen G-d besides You will do etc. — that this is the aspect of son as above. Rabbi Yehoshua is the aspect of disciple whose attainment is “the whole earth is full of His glory,” the aspect of “and I saw Hashem” — that this is the aspect of the attainment of dwellers below that needs to arouse them and awaken them so they do not despair themselves as above in the aspect of “Awake and sing, dwellers of dust” and to show them that “the whole earth is full of His glory.” And this is the aspect of Rabbi Yehoshua because Yehoshua is the acronym: “Your dead shall live, my corpse shall arise — awake and sing, dwellers of dust.” And Moshe Rabbainu who is the aspect of the sage of the generation who illuminates in son and disciple as above — therefore he had a son whose name was Eliezer and a disciple whose name was Yehoshua. Because Eliezer son of Moshe is the aspect of the great Rabbi Eliezer mentioned above as brought in the Midrash (Numbers parasha 19) on the verse “and the name of the one was Eliezer” — the one, the unique — because Moshe Rabbainu requested concerning this that Rabbi Eliezer should come forth from his loins, and it was fulfilled. And this incident of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua etc. — “incident” is “what” 370 as brought in the writings — that is the aspect of the makifim mentioned above that are the aspect of 370 lights of the light of the face, the aspect of “what” as above. And this — that they were traveling in a ship — that is, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua who are the aspects of son and disciple were walking in the sea of wisdom where the lights of the makifim are revealed. And this is the aspect of ship — language of hidden and concealed — the aspect of the makifim that are hidden and concealed from every eye [because they are the aspect of “How great is Your goodness that You have hidden for those who fear You” as above] (Proverbs 31:14): “She is like merchant ships” — language of encircling — the aspect of makifim that are the aspect of ship as above. And this: Rabbi Eliezer was sleeping and Rabbi Yehoshua was awake — because the attainment of Rabbi Eliezer who is the aspect of son is the aspect of sleep, the aspect of “eye has not seen G-d besides You” etc., the aspect of “what,” the aspect of “what did you see” etc. as above. But the attainment of Rabbi Yehoshua who is the aspect of disciple, the aspect of dwellers below, is the aspect of awake, the aspect of “and I saw Hashem,” the aspect of “the whole earth is full of His glory,” the aspect of “Awake and sing, dwellers of dust.”

And this is: Rabbi Eliezer was sleeping and Rabbi Yehoshua was awake as above. Rabbi Yehoshua trembled and woke Rabbi Eliezer. Waking Rabbi Eliezer is the aspect of inclusiveness of son in disciple, because one must include son in disciple to show to the aspect of son the attainment of the disciple as above so that he should have fear. And he woke Rabbi Eliezer — that is, Rabbi Eliezer who is the aspect of son, the aspect of sleep as above, was included in the aspect of disciple whose attainment is awake as above. He said to him: “What is this, Yehoshua?” — “what” precisely — this is the aspect of the attainment of the aspect of son that is the aspect of “what” as above. This is the aspect of inclusiveness of disciple in son, because the disciple must be included in the aspect of son — that is the aspect of “what” — so that he should have fear as above (Deuteronomy 10:12): “What does Hashem your G-d ask from you except to fear” — “what” precisely, because he must be included in the aspect of “what” so that he should have fear as above. “What is this, Yehoshua” — that is, Rabbi Eliezer brought Rabbi Yehoshua to the aspect of the attainment of “what” so that Rabbi Yehoshua who is the aspect of disciple should be included in son as above. “Why did you tremble — that you saw a great light in the sea of wisdom?” He said to him: “Perhaps you saw the eyes of Leviathan” etc. Leviathan is the aspect of kingship, the aspect of “this Leviathan You formed to play with, all of them look to You” etc. as above. That is, he answered him that he saw the eyes of Leviathan — that is, the aspect of kingship that gathers and collects all the bitachons of all the people of the world — all whose eyes are dependent and waiting for sustenance. And kingship — the aspect of Leviathan — collects all these bitachons and enters with them into the sea of wisdom to receive sustenance from there. And through this Rabbi Yehoshua trembled, because fear fell upon him from entering the sea of wisdom where the aspect of kingship that comes to receive sustenance is revealed — this is the aspect of the eyes of Leviathan as above. And through this fear falls because kingship is the source of fear as above. And this is: “And it came to pass at the end of two years of days and Pharaoh was dreaming” etc. “Two years of days” is the aspect of circuits of days, circuits of years mentioned above that are the aspect of the World to Come — a day entirely long — that is above time, where the order of times is the aspect of makifim as above that are all the pleasures and delights of the World to Come as above. And Pharaoh is the aspect of Yovel, as brought in the Zohar (Vayigash 210a) that all lights are repaid and revealed from her [and the rest was not explained]. And this is the aspect of the burial of Moshe that is the aspect of the makifim that are concealed from every eye. And this: upper ones appear to them as below and lower ones appear to them as above — that was said concerning the burial of Moshe as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Sotah 14a). This is the aspect of all mentioned above — the aspect of “For all in the heavens and in the earth” — that the tzadik who merits these makifim mentioned above must have the aspect of “all” as above to show to the upper ones — that they are below — that they do not know at all in His daas, blessed be He — the aspect of “what did you see” etc. And the opposite: lower ones appear to them as upper because they attain that “the whole earth is full of His glory,” the aspect of “and I saw Hashem.” Still there are many hidden matters in this, and only a little — a little — headings of chapters were explained, because Moshe Rabbainu was humble (Numbers 12:3) and humility is greater than all, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Avodah Zarah 20b). And there is still the combination of Chanukah that is hinted in the verse (Deuteronomy 34:9): “And Yehoshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moshe laid his hands upon him” — in the end-letters there is the combination of Chanukah, because in this verse all the aspects of the teaching mentioned above are hinted. “Full” is the aspect of “and fill the earth” explained above. And similarly “spirit of wisdom because Moshe laid his hands” etc. — all this is explained above in the teaching mentioned above. Also concerning the matter of fear — because there are five strengths that are five terrors that our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Shabbat 77b), and there are one thousand four hundred and five strengths that are brought in the holy Zohar (Numbers 137b) that are included one in another until one thousand four hundred and five. And all these matters were not explained at all, because these matters were said etc. This Torah speaks of all the ten sefirot: the abundance of the crown, wisdom and understanding, hands, also fear. Also our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Ketubot 96a): one who withholds halachah from the mouth of a disciple is as if he withholds kindness from him and removes from him fear of Heaven. Also son and disciple — son — there in the holy Zohar (Yitro 79a): “What is His name? This is wisdom. What is the name of His son? This is Tiferet. Disciples — they are taught of G-d, this is Netzach Hod. All - this is Yesod. And kingship as mentioned above. The lung is the inner limbs, and there are sefirot that it speaks of several times. [Happy are the ears that hear thus.]