Posts
Now, the primary strengthening of the wicked dominion — which is Haman-Amalek — occurs when the Malchus d'Kedushah [malchus — sovereignty/kingship of holiness] is in a state of concealment, in the aspect of "I will utterly hide [haster astir]", as it is written: "And one nation shall be mightier than the other" [Genesis 25:23]. And therefore the dominion of Achashverosh [Ahasuerus] gained power through the sin and transgression of eating — in that [Israel] caused themselves to derive benefit from the feast of that wicked one. Through this he strengthened himself over them, for through the transgression of eating [comes] the concealment of countenance, in the aspect of "I will hide My face, and it shall be devoured" [Deuteronomy 31:17], as Rabainu, of blessed memory, wrote elsewhere [Likutay Moharan I:47]. Because through the transgression of eating — when it is not in accordance with kashrus [ritual dietary fitness] — one can fall, G‑d forbid, from the seventy faces of the Torah into the aspect of sleep [shaynah], which is the aspect of the concealment of countenance, as Rabainu wrote of this in the teaching "Rabbi Shimon opened and said: 'It is a time to act for Hashem — they have abrogated Your Torah'" [Likutay Moharan I:60], see there.
And therefore [Haman and Achashverosh] devised to make the feast at the end of the Babylonian exile — namely at the end of the seventy years of the Babylonian exile — for the seventy years of the Babylonian exile are in the aspect of sleep, in the aspect of "Is there one who sleeps seventy years?", as it says in the aforementioned teaching [Likutay Moharan I:60], [alluded to by] the verse: "The days of our years — with them are seventy years; their flood is sleep" [Psalms 90:10], [and] in the aspect of: "When Hashem returned the captivity of Zion, we were like dreamers" [Psalms 126:1] — which refers to the seventy years of the Babylonian exile, as Rashi, of blessed memory, explained.
And therefore at the end of the seventy years — when the overpowering of sleep was at its height, in the aspect of the aforementioned concealment — when Haman and Achashverosh saw that Israel had still not been redeemed and had not yet awakened from their sleep, they concluded that they would never be redeemed and awakened. For up until the seventy years there is hope for awakening from sleep, since they had not yet fallen from all the seventy faces [of Torah]. And therefore it was appropriate that the redemption should come immediately and at once at the end of the seventy years, without delay even for a moment, because if [the redemption] were to be delayed beyond seventy years and they were to fall, G‑d forbid, from all seventy faces — then it would be exceedingly difficult to awaken from the sleep, except through the aspect of hadaras panim [glory/splendor of countenance], which cannot come to pass except through Mashiach [the Messiah] who will come speedily in our days — he is the aspect of hadaras panim, in the aspect of "until the Ancient of Days came" [Daniel 7:22] — Atik Yomin [the Ancient of Days] is the aspect of hadaras panim (as it is written there in the aforementioned teaching "Rabbi Shimon opened", see there carefully).
And therefore, when they saw that [Israel] had not been redeemed at the end of the seventy years — because [Achashverosh] had erred in his calculation, as our Sages of blessed memory said — they therefore devised to increase the sleep over them and to cast them down from all of the seventy faces, which are the aspect of seventy years, through the eating — for through this they fall into the aspect of sleep as stated above. And therefore they made a feast at the end of the seventy years, so that Israel would benefit from them. For it is well known that all the feast of that wicked one was for the purpose of causing Israel to stumble through forbidden food, as stated above.
And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, [said regarding the verse]: "In those days, when King Achashverosh sat upon his royal throne, etc." [Esther 1:2] — "when his kingdom was established" [Megillah 11b] — for he calculated and erred, and so on, for through his error — in that he concluded that since the seventy years had already elapsed and they had not been redeemed, therefore they would never be redeemed, since they would fall, G‑d forbid, into sleep beyond seventy years as stated above — therefore he made a feast precisely in order to cause Israel to stumble, in order to increase the sleep upon them and cast them down, G‑d forbid, from all the aspects of the seventy years, which are the seventy faces of Torah — so that thereby his dominion would be established as stated above.
And therefore at that feast, the wicked Haman counseled to kill Queen Vashti — all of which was the counsel of the Sitra Achra [the Other Side], and its intention was that through this the matter would unfold and Esther would be taken into the king's palace — in order to bring the aspect of malchus [sovereignty] into a greater state of concealment among them. But in truth, Mordechai had the power to reveal the concealments (as Rabainu wrote there [Likutay Moharan II:56]), and furthermore he had the power to awaken them and raise them from the sleep and the fall from all the seventy faces — [the fall brought about] through the aforementioned transgression of eating. For Mordechai is the aspect of Rav Chesed [abounding in lovingkindness], the aspect of hadaras panim, the aspect of Atik Yomin, the aspect of sipuray ma'asiyos [stories of ancient deeds] — through which one can awaken from the sleep of all the aforementioned seventy faces. For Mordechai in gematria [numerical value] equals Rav Chesed [= 498], as presented in the aforementioned teaching [Likutay Moharan II:56].
And this is what we find — that the entire essential redemption then was brought about by Mordechai through the telling of a story, in the aspect of: "And Mordechai told Esther the queen" [Esther 4:9] — that he told the story of what had happened to Esther, she being the aspect of concealment, the aspect of sleep — in order to awaken from the sleep and to reveal the concealment thereby, as stated above. And so it was in the end: through this the redemption came, as it is written: "That night the sleep of the king was disturbed" [Esther 6:1] — "the sleep of the King of the Universe", as our Sages of blessed memory said [Megillah 15b]. And this came about through the stories of Mordechai, as it is written: "And he commanded to bring the book of records, the chronicles, etc., and it was found written — what Mordechai had told" [Esther 6:1–2] — they found the stories of Mordechai in the aspect of Rav Chesed, as stated above.
For through the stories of Mordechai that he told to Esther — she being the aspect of Knesses Yisrael [the Congregation of Israel] who had come into concealment of countenance, into the aspect of sleep, as stated above — through this he awakened them and roused them from sleep and turned them back in repentance [teshuvah]. Through this he caused the awakening from sleep Above, in the aspect of "the sleep of the King was disturbed" as stated above — for through the awakening from below [is'arusa d'lesata] comes the awakening from above [is'arusa d'le'ayla]. And this is the aspect of: "And Esther spoke to the king in the name of Mordechai" [Esther 8:12] — for the aspect of Esther, i.e., Knesses Yisrael, had an opening of the mouth to advocate well for Israel, because she told the King of the Universe and brought before Him Above the stories of Mordechai — through which came the awakening from sleep as stated above.
And this is the aspect of the reading of the Megilah [Megillas Esther] which they established for all generations — to read the Megilah every year. And it is the essential mitzvah [commandment] of Purim: in order to awaken Israel every year from the aspect of sleep, through the telling of the story of ancient days. This is the aspect of the Megilah — which is a most precious thing — and its entire essence is the aspect of the telling of a story, beginning with "And it came to pass in the days of Achashverosh" [Esther 1:1]. And so until the end of the Megilah, everything proceeds in the manner of a story — the story of Mordechai and Esther — which is the aspect of a story of ancient days, through which one is awakened from sleep every year, in the aspect of: "And these days are remembered and observed every year" [Esther 9:28]. For the story of these days brings one to the aspect of zikaron [remembrance] every year — which is the aspect of the awakening from sleep, which is the aspect of forgetfulness [shikchah], for sleep is the withdrawal of the intellect [mochin] — and this is the aspect of forgetfulness which Haman wished to increase over them in the aspect of "he cast a pur — that is, the lot" [Esther 9:24], which is the aspect of forgetfulness, as is known. And this occurs every year (as is cited in the holy books), and through the reading of the Megilah as stated above one nullifies the forgetfulness — the aspect of sleep as stated above.
And for this same reason our Sages of blessed memory said: "One must spread it [the Megilah] open like a letter [igeres]" [Megillah 16b], for it is like the telling of a story narrated from a letter about the events that occurred in the days of Mordechai and Esther — the aspect of a story of ancient days, as stated above.
2
Now, the primary strengthening of Haman was in the month of Adar, when he wished to prevail, because he saw that Moshe [Moses] died then — Moshe who was the essence and the principle of receiving the Torah, for through the Torah the concealments are revealed, as is written in the aforementioned teaching "And on the Day of the First-Fruits". And he concluded that since Moshe had died, the power of Torah study was thereby nullified, and it would no longer be possible to reveal the concealments. On account of this he strengthened himself then, for he stands against the Malchus d'Kedushah; and when the Malchus d'Kedushah is in the aspect of concealment — because there is no occupation with Torah — then the aspect of Haman-Amalek gains strength. And this is the aspect of: "The voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Esav" [Genesis 27:22] — "when the voice is the voice of Yaakov, the hands [of Esav] have no power, etc." [Gittin 57b], for through the voice of Yaakov — which is the occupation with Torah — through this the concealments are revealed, and then the wicked dominion — which is the aspect of the hands of Esav, the dominion of Haman-Amalek who is of the seed of Esav — has no power.
And this is the aspect of "he cast a pur — that is, the lot" [Esther 3:7], for Above all is good, and there [at the root] even the Sitra Achra at its root is good, but below they are divided into right and left — which are the holy side and the Other Side. And from Above there flows the abundance of life constantly, which is entirely good. And one must make vessels to receive the vitality — and this is accomplished through Torah study, which is the aspect of the days and the middos [divine attributes], through which one receives the vitality into the vessels and the middos (as is explained there [Likutay Moharan II:56]). But when there is no Torah study, G‑d forbid, then the Sitra Achra enters, G‑d forbid, and receives the vitality flowing from Above, in the aspect of: "A slave when he reigns, and a maidservant when she dispossesses her mistress, etc." [Proverbs 30:22–23].
And the lot [goral] is the aspect of olam ha-ba [the World to Come], as it is written: "and you shall rest, and arise for your lot at the end of the days" [Daniel 12:13], as is alluded to in the words of Rabainu, of blessed memory, elsewhere. And there, in the aspect of olam ha-ba, there is one lot — entirely good — for there it is entirely good, entirely one, and there is no evil whatsoever. And below there they are divided into two lots: "one lot for Hashem and one lot for, etc." [Leviticus 16:8] — which is the aspect of the power of free choice [bechirah] — that every person has the power to choose for himself his lot and his portion. Therefore one must guard the zikaron [remembrance] very much — which is to adhere one's thought to olam ha-ba. For below, in the aspect of the days, in the aspect of this world, it is very difficult and burdensome for a person to choose the good lot, because two paths stand before him, and one may also sometimes err, G‑d forbid, and exchange good for evil or evil for good. But when one attaches his thoughts to olam ha-ba — where all is good, one lot, all for Hashem — then certainly his steps will not falter, for from there he can draw for himself the good path to walk upon in this world, and choose for himself the path of life and good even within the days of this world — through his thought being constantly cleaved to olam ha-ba, from which all paths proceed, as stated above.
And this is the aspect of: "See — I have set before you today life and good, etc. — u'vacharta ba-ba-cha-yim" [Deuteronomy 30:15,19] — the patach under the letter ב in ba-chayim points to the well-known life, which is olam ha-ba, the source of life. That is: since two paths stand before you, the counsel is that you should cleave your thought to olam ha-ba and choose life — the well-known life, the eternal life — from there you will be able to draw for yourself a true path, the path of life, to walk upon in this world.
And this is what King David, peace be upon him, gloried in — that the good lot fell to him from Above — meaning that he merited to have flow to him from the supernal lot, the aspect of olam ha-ba which is entirely for Hashem as stated above, drawn also below — that his lot would be good in this world, to be in the portion of the Holy One, Blessed is He. And this is: "Hashem is my allotted portion and my cup" [Psalms 16:5], that he merited to be in the portion of Hashem, may He be blessed: "for You support my lot" [Psalms 16:5]. "Atah" [You] — this is the aspect of olam ha-ba, the aspect of "You — You are Hashem the G‑d" [Nehemiah 9:7] — which is the aspect of olam ha-ba, which is entirely good, the aspect of "Hashem is the G‑d". And this is: "You support my lot." "Tomich" [You support] — is a language of lowering and descending, as Rashi explained there [Psalms 16:5] — meaning that from the aspect of "Atah", the aspect of olam ha-ba, from there my good lot descended and flowed to me, to be "Hashem is my allotted portion", as stated above. And all of this is through the Torah — through which one draws the life into the days and the middos, that is, one draws the life from the source of life, from olam ha-ba, into the days and the middos in order to merit the good lot, as stated above.
And this is: "Boundary-lines have fallen to me in pleasant places" [Psalms 16:6] — that I merited the pleasant portion through: "yea, a goodly heritage has come to me" [Psalms 16:6] — through the aspect of Torah which is "nachalas shofrah" [a goodly heritage], the aspect of "sayings of beauty [imrei shafer]", for the Torah is the aspect of Tiferes [beauty/glory], as is known.
And this is the aspect of: "And Aharon placed upon the two goats lots" [Leviticus 16:8], for in order to draw the lot of the Name [of G‑d] to the right and the lot of the left to the left, it was therefore necessary to lift and raise both lots — which are right and left — both of them to Hashem, where at their root all is good. And then one can draw from there as one wishes, to give to each his portion and lot as fitting — and not interchange or exchange them, G‑d forbid — so that the one belonging to the Name would not be to the left. This happened when the High Priest was unworthy and was not able to cleave his thought to olam ha-ba. And therefore the wicked Haman cast a pur — that is, the lot — wishing to cast the lot, literally to bring down [le-hapil] — he wished to topple the lot which is the source of life, to draw it to himself, to his portion and lot, G‑d forbid — to draw the lot and the life to the Sitra Achra, G‑d forbid, as stated above.
And this is the aspect of casting the pur, which is the aspect of forgetfulness, as is known and as stated above — it is the side of death [sitra de-mota], the aspect of: "I have been forgotten like a dead man, out of mind" [Psalms 31:13]. He wished to draw the aforementioned lot to his portion, G‑d forbid — below — which is the aspect of forgetfulness, the side of death, the aspect of casting the pur — the opposite of the lot, the aspect of olam ha-ba which is the source of life, the aspect of zikaron, as stated above. For he wished to draw the lot below to his portion — to the aspect of pur, the aspect of forgetfulness, as stated above. And his error succeeded [only] in the month of Adar — for there Moshe died, and he concluded that the power of Torah had been nullified, as stated above — and he thought that then he could draw the lot to himself, G‑d forbid, as stated above.
And this is: "He cast a pur — that is, the lot — from month to month, the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar" [Esther 3:7], as is brought in the teaching "And these are the ordinances" [Likutay Moharan I:10]. But in truth, Mordechai — who was also the aspect of the Torah — had the power to reveal the concealments and to subdue [Haman] and to extract from him all the vitality he had drawn from holiness, and to make from this a new Torah, in the aspect of: "wealth he swallowed and he shall vomit it up" [Job 20:15], as Rabainu wrote there. That is: he had the power to subdue the evil and to raise the vitality within it up to the root of their nourishment from the source of life — and then the vitality that had been in [the realm of] exile would return and be transformed, and a new Torah would emerge from this, as stated above.
And this is what Rabainu wrote there — that by subduing the atzbus ruach [spirit of melancholy], which is the impurity of the serpent, which is the aspect of Amalek — through which comes the aspect of the itzavon yadayim [toil of the hands], the aspect of: "the hands of Moshe were heavy, etc." [Exodus 17:12] — through subduing it, one is then able to raise the hands, in the aspect of: "I lift my hand to heaven" [Deuteronomy 32:40], and from there one receives utterances in the aspect of: "both these and those are words of the living G‑d" [Eruvin 13b], see there. That is: through subduing the aforementioned evil, one raises the hands — the right hand and the left hand, from which the Sitra Achra draws its grip — raises both of them Above to the aspect of olam ha-ba. This is the aspect of shamayim [heaven] — fire and water together — the aspect of "both these and those are words of the living G‑d", all good and all one, the aspect of: "He established the heavens with understanding" [Proverbs 3:19] — which is the aspect of: "Who can understand the thunder of His mighty deeds?" [Job 26:14] — "mi yisbonan" [who can understand] specifically, the aspect of Binah [understanding], olam ha-ba, where all is one — these and those, etc. — as stated above. And up to there one must raise the aforementioned hands, and from there a very great da'as [knowledge/divine consciousness] flows — which is the aspect of the new Torah that emerges from the aforementioned concealment — in the aspect of "wealth he swallowed and he shall vomit it up", as stated above. For this Torah is very high and sublime (as is explained there). And this is the aspect of the Megilah — which is made from this aspect, for through Haman's gaining strength, there was then an exceedingly great concealment, the aspect of haster astir. Through this, afterward, when they merited to defeat him, a new Torah was made from this aspect of concealment — which is the aspect of the Megilah, a new Torah that emerged from this, as stated above. (As is written above in Laws of the Reading of the Torah, see there.) And on account of this it is called megilah — see there — for it emerges from the hisgalos [revelation] of the concealment, as stated above.
3
And this matter occurs in every generation and with every individual among Israel when one does teshuvah in truth as fitting. For this is the aspect of teshuvah [repentance] — that one who strays from the good path and has chosen for himself an evil portion and lot, G‑d forbid — it is impossible for him to be rectified and to return to the good path except through teshuvah, which is the aspect of Shabbos, the aspect of olam ha-ba, as is known. That is: he is compelled to be tested and tried upon the path he walked, in the aspect of teshuvah ha-mishkal [proportionate repentance], as is brought above. That is: he is compelled to return and walk and be upon all those evil paths he had been on previously — in order to break his desire and turn aside from them and depart from them — he must traverse all those paths until he returns to his place, to the mother of the road [aim ha-derekh], the root of the two paths, where all is good, and from there onward the two paths branch and divide, as stated above.
And this is the aspect of: "Set up waymarks for yourself, set up signposts for yourself, set your heart to the highway, the road on which you went" [Jeremiah 31:20], which refers to teshuvah, as our Sages of blessed memory explained — that one must set one's heart to the highway and road on which one walked previously, in order to return and retrace that same path to Hashem, may He be blessed, in the aspect of teshuvah, as stated above. And therefore one must erect waymarks and signs for oneself, lest one stumble and go astray upon them, G‑d forbid — since one has already strayed upon them — for they are exceedingly wandering and bewildering paths. One must guard oneself greatly and make signs and markers lest one be caught in them again, G‑d forbid. And this is: "set up signposts for yourself" — meaning the bitterness of heart that one endures when returning and traversing those exceedingly bitter paths, to return through those paths to the mother of the road as stated above. One must endure great and very difficult bitterness until passing through all those bitter paths — to return to one's destination in peace, to the mother of the road as stated above, which is the aspect of Binah, olam ha-ba, which is the aspect of teshuvah as stated above. And on account of this it is called teshuvah — on account of the fact that there all things return and revert to their root, for there all is good, as stated above.
And the general principle: the essential aspect of teshuvah is that one must restore and return and elevate even the left-hand path to its root, as stated above. This is accomplished through returning and going and passing through those paths, as stated above — for through this one raises the vitality from there — namely the holy sparks [nitzotzos] that fell there through one's sins — and returns them to their root, which is the aspect of teshuvah as stated above. And then, when all the corrupted paths return to their root in the aspect of teshuvah as stated above, there they revert and become from all the sins and those paths a new Torah, in the aspect of "wealth he swallowed and he shall vomit it up", as stated above — from which emerges an aishes chayil [woman of valor], a new Torah, as stated above. And so Rabainu wrote elsewhere — that from the sins of Israel who will merit in the future to the aspect of true teshuvah, from them a new Torah will be made.
4
And this is the mitzvah of remembering Amalek, as it is written: "Remember what Amalek did to you, etc." [Deuteronomy 25:17]. For all the deeds of Amalek — meaning the strengthening of the Sitra Achra over those weak in Israel, those whom the cloud [of glory] has cast out, causing them to stumble — therefore one must lift them and return them to their place, to the aspect of teshuvah, which is the aspect of the ananay kavod [clouds of glory], the aspect of the sukkah [tabernacle], the aspect of ima d'mesachcha al benin [the mother who spreads shade over the children]. And this is the aspect of: "Remember what Amalek did to you, etc." — "zachor" [remember] specifically, for one must return the deeds of Amalek to the aspect of zikaron [remembrance], which is the aspect of olam ha-ba, the aspect of teshuvah, as stated above.
And this occurs every year in the aspect of: "and these days are remembered and observed every year — family by family, province by province, city by city" [Esther 9:28] — that every individual, when he merits to vanquish the war of Amalek and merits to return in teshuvah, then the days return — they being the aspect of the middos where choice resides, for there are good days and evil days — and they all return to their place, which is teshuvah, which is the aspect of zikaron as stated above, which is above the days, the aspect of all-good, as stated above. And there they are renewed and made anew — and good days emerge from them, namely Torah, as stated above. And this is the aspect of: "Return us to You, Hashem, and we shall return; renew our days as of old" [Lamentations 5:21]. When one merits to return to Him in the aspect of teshuvah as stated above, there the days are renewed as before, as stated above. And this is the aspect of the reading of the Megilah every year — for every year the miracle of the downfall of Haman-Amalek is re-enacted, as is known, and then one observes Purim and reads the Megilah, which emerges from this, as stated above.
5
And therefore one must specifically write it [the Megilah], and if one read it by heart one has not fulfilled the obligation — even though its essence is for the purpose of pirsumay nisa [publicizing the miracle], and it would have sufficed to publicize the miracle orally. But based on what we have written above, that the essence of the Megilah emerges through the revelation of the concealment as stated above — that is, through returning and restoring even the aspect of the concealment, namely the Sitra Achra, to its place and root as stated above — and this is the aspect of the raising and elevation of the hands through which the revelation comes about as stated above (as is explained in the aforementioned teaching). For the primary grip of the Sitra Achra is in the hands, in the aspect of itzavon yadayim [labor/toil of the hands] (as is explained there). And through the sighing and groaning when one sighs, regrets, and repents of one's evil way — through this one raises the hands to the heavens, to the aspect of teshuvah, as stated above.
And this is the aspect of: "For I lift my hand to heaven and say: 'As I live forever'" [Deuteronomy 32:40]. "Chai anochi" [As I live] — this is the aspect of olam ha-ba, the source of life, the aspect of: "I am Hashem your G‑d who took you out of the land of Egypt" [Exodus 20:2]. For it is to there that one must raise the hands — namely the right hand and the left hand, from which the Sitra Achra draws its grip, as stated above — and then there new utterances are made and one draws from there very high Torah, as stated above. And then one receives the utterances from the hands as stated above (as is explained there, see there).
It turns out that the aspect of the Megilah — which is made from the utterances received from the hands through raising them to the aspect of teshuvah, olam ha-ba, where the root of the hands lies, through which one receives utterances from the hands — namely the new Torah that emerges from the sins and the Sitra Achra that was transformed to good as stated above — this is the aspect of the Megilah that emerges from this, as stated above. And therefore one must specifically write it — in order to bring the utterances to the hands, to receive them from the hands literally, as stated above.
And this is the aspect of: "Write this as a memorial in the book" [Exodus 17:14] — referring to the war with Amalek, and alluding to the redemption, as our Sages of blessed memory said. "Kesov" [write] specifically, "zikaron" [memorial] specifically — for the war of Amalek and its victory — which returns and becomes the aspect of zikaron as stated above — one must bring this into writing, to draw the utterances to the hands and to receive them from there as stated above, in order to reverse the matter from its opposite to its opposite [me-hefech el hefech]. For the primary grip and nourishment of [Amalek] was from the hands, in the aspect of: "the hands of Moshe were heavy" [Exodus 17:12], written in [the passage of] the war with Amalek. And this is the aspect of: "the voice is the voice of Yaakov, and the hands are the hands of Esav" — "and the hands" specifically, for his primary grip is there as stated above, when the voice is not the voice of Yaakov, as stated above. And therefore one must retrace and return in literal teshuvah ha-mishkal and retrace and raise the hands as stated above — and receive from there the utterances, which is the aspect of "kesov" [write], as stated above. And this is the aspect of the writing of the Megilah specifically, as stated above.
It turns out that proper teshuvah — when one merits to the aspect of "kesov" — is to draw utterances through the raising of the hands and to receive them from the hands in the aspect of "kesov" as stated above. And this is the aspect of: "[one] shall write his hand for Hashem" [Isaiah 44:5] — these are ba'alay teshuvah [penitents]: "yichtov yado" [shall write his hand] specifically — for this is the essential aspect of teshuvah ha-mishkal, as stated above.
6
And this is the aspect of: "A person is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim until one does not know the difference between 'Cursed is Haman' and 'Blessed is Mordechai'" [Megillah 7b]. For one must ascend then to the aspect of zikaron, in the aspect of "remember what Amalek did to you" as stated above — to the supernal lot, the root of all lots, where all is good, and there is no evil whatsoever. Only from there and below do the two lots divide — the entire aspect of "cursed is Haman" and "blessed is Mordechai", as stated above.
7
And this is the matter of the Purim feast [seudas Purim]. For now that the da'as [divine consciousness] has been rectified and one merits to the aspect of machlokas l'shaim shamayim [controversy for the sake of Heaven] — which is the aspect of the utterances received from the hands (as is explained there [Likutay Moharan II:56]) — which is the aspect of the downfall of Haman-Amalek and the reading of the Megilah, which is the aspect of da'as through the revelation of the concealment as stated above — therefore one now merits to the aspect of lechem min ha-shamayim [bread from heaven], the aspect of eating manna, the aspect of matzah [unleavened bread], as is explained there. And therefore it is specifically a mitzvah to eat and to increase at the feast — for the eating of this day is the aspect of da'as, the aspect of bread from heaven, the aspect of machlokas l'shaim shamayim which is the completion of the da'as (as is explained there). And through the eating of this Purim feast the transgression of eating — that [Israel] derived benefit from the feast of that wicked one, through which the da'as was greatly damaged and the concealment was strengthened, as stated above — is rectified. But this eating is the opposite of that, for it is the aspect of the completion of da'as as stated above.
And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said [Megillah 16b]: "For the Jews there was light — this is Torah" [Esther 8:16]. For through Torah study the concealments were revealed — which is the miracle of Purim, as stated above. And this is the aspect of matanos la'evyonim [gifts to the poor] — for according to the greatness of one's da'as, so is the greatness of one's compassion [rachamanus] (as is explained there). And this is the aspect of the charity of matanos la'evyonim — that one merits compassion through the da'as. Furthermore, charity is the aspect of peace, in the aspect of: "one who increases charity increases peace" [Avos 2:7]. And all of this depends on the completion of da'as — through which compassion and peace are increased (as is explained there, see there). And therefore one sends mishloach manos [portions of food] even to the wealthy — all for the purpose of greatly increasing peace — since they merited to very great da'as as stated above. And also through charity one subdues the dominion of Haman-Amalek, which opposes the holy dominion and gains strength through the desire for wealth (as is explained there in the aforementioned teaching). And through charity one subdues the desire for wealth, as is explained in the teaching "Ashrei ha-am" [Likutay Moharan I:13].
This halacha expounds the mystical foundations of Purim and the reading of the Megilah, woven entirely around themes of sleep, concealment, remembrance, and the power of Torah to awaken and redeem. The key threads:
- The feast of Achashverosh was a calculated spiritual assault: by luring Israel into forbidden food, Haman hoped to plunge them from the seventy faces of Torah into the "sleep" of concealment — making redemption impossible.
- Mordechai = Rav Chesed (by gematria): He represents the power of stories of ancient deeds to awaken the soul from spiritual slumber and draw from the supernal lot where all is good.
- The Megilah as new Torah: Just as teshuvah converts sins into new Torah, the triumph over Haman transforms the darkest concealment into the luminous new Torah of the Megilah.
- The writing of the Megilah is essential, not merely oral, because the act of writing represents lifting the hands (which Amalek grips) to the heavenly realm where new utterances are drawn down — a form of teshuvah ha-mishkal (proportionate repentance).
- The obligation to become intoxicated until one cannot distinguish "cursed Haman" from "blessed Mordechai" represents the ascent to the supernal root where good and evil have not yet divided.
- The Purim feast rectifies the transgression of Achashverosh's feast; eating on Purim with holiness is "bread from heaven," completing the da'as. The four mitzvos of Purim — reading the Megilah, feasting, mishloach manos, and gifts to the poor — all flow from this single wellspring of restored divine consciousness.
No comments:
Post a Comment