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LIKUTAY HALACHOS — ORACH CHAIM, PART III
The Matter of the Four Parshiyos
Parshas Shekalim — the half-shekel donation commanded for the Mishkan (Shemos 30:11–16)
Parshas Zachor — the commandment to remember and blot out Amalek (Devarim 25:17–19), read on the Shabbos before Purim
Parshas Parah — the Red Heifer purification rite (Bamidbar 19:1–22)
Parshas HaChodesh — the sanctification of Nisan as the first month (Shemos 12:1–20), read on the Shabbos before or on Rosh Chodesh Nisan
Section 1 The matter of the Four Parshiyos that are read in Adar: the twelve months correspond to the twelve tribes of Y-H upon whom the holy kingship [malchus d'kedushah] stands — for the months are counted by the moon, which is the bechina (dimension/mode) of kingship, as is well known. And therefore the essential wholeness, fullness, and rectification of the months depends upon the rectification of the holy covenant [tikun habris] — for the essential blemish of the moon is through blemishing the covenant, as is known, in the bechina of yehee me'oros — me'oros written deficient, without a vav — the vav being the vitality and fullness, and the vav is the bechina of rectification of the covenant, as Rabbainu, of blessed memory, wrote (in §11). And when this vav — which is the bechina of the rectification of the covenant, which is the vitality — is absent, it is, G‑d forbid, me'oros deficient — which is the bechina of blemish and diminishment of the moon. And therefore there are twelve New Moons in the year corresponding to the twelve tribes of Y-H, as stated — for Rosh Chodesh is the rectification of the moon, in the bechina of "bring atonement for Me [on account of the moon]" — for then the moon begins to fill, and the essential filling and rectification comes through the rectification of the covenant. Therefore there are twelve New Moons corresponding to the twelve tribes of Y-H — which is the bechina of the rectification of the covenant upon which the holy kingship stands. For the essential sustaining and standing of the holy kingship is through the rectification of the covenant, and corresponding to this there are twelve New Moons — which are an atonement for all their generations — for every bechina of rectification of the covenant within them brings about the rectification of the bechina of holy kingship, which is the bechina of the moon, as stated. And the wicked kingship — which is the blemish of the covenant — which is the kingship of Amalek, which is the filth of the serpent [zuhamas hanachash] — stands opposite holy kingship and always clings after holy kingship to suckle from it. And the essential sustenance [yenikah — suckling] of the wicked is from the bechina of raglayin [the feet / lower extremities], in the bechina of "her legs, etc." — for the blemish of the covenant is the side of death [sitra d'mosa], and therefore Amalek always clings after the tribe of Dan — as it is written: "and he struck down all the stragglers at your rear" — as stated, all those who blemish the covenant. And as Rabbainu wrote on this in the teaching "U'v'yom HaBikkurim" (§56). For the tribe of Dan is the fourth and last of all the banners — for it gathers up all the camps, and it is the bechina of raglayin [the feet] — and therefore the kingship of Amalek clings behind it. And therefore, also in the bechina of the year, their essential strengthening is in the last season, which is the season of Teves — that is, the last three months of the year: Teves, Shvat, Adar — for the four seasons of the year of three months each correspond to the four banners into which the twelve tribes of Y-H were divided, as stated.
Thus it emerges that their essential strengthening comes in the season of Teves, as stated. And this is the bechina of: "And Esther was taken to the king in the tenth month, which is the month of Teves" — for Esther is the bechina of holy kingship (as cited in the words of Rabbainu, of blessed memory). And the essential strengthening of the wicked [power] is in the last and final month of the entire year, which is the month of Adar — and therefore Haman, who is the wicked kingship, the kingship of Amalek, grew powerful then. And therefore in the month of Adar the Four Parshiyos are read — for they are the bechina of the rectification of holy kingship, which is the bechina of dalet [the letter dalet = four] (as Rabbainu wrote). For the essential standing of kingship is upon four banners and four seasons, as stated. For these Four Parshiyos are the bechina of the rectification of the covenant — through which the bechina of kingship is rectified, as stated. For Parshas Shekalim comes to warn about the giving of the shekalim — that is, tzedakah [charity] — which is the essential rectification of the covenant and the fullness and completion of holy kingship, in the bechina of "tzedakah saves from death." And this is the bechina of "to atone for your souls" — written regarding the shekalim — meaning to atone for and rectify the bechina of kingship, which is the bechina of the soul [nefesh]. And especially the tzedakah of the shekalim which is for the sake of the Mishkan and the sacrifices — for all of this is in the bechina of rectifying the covenant and rectifying [the sin of] the Golden Calf, which is the blemish of the covenant (as cited above). Then one reads Parshas Zachor — for through the rectification of the covenant effected by tzedakah, one merits to subdue the kingship of Amalek as stated — who clings after the tribe of Dan, the bechina of raglayin — as it is mentioned there in Parshas Zachor: "and he struck down all the stragglers at your rear, etc.", as stated. And through meriting to subdue them, one then celebrates Purim — which is for the miracle of the downfall of Haman and Amalek. Then one reads Parshas Parah — for afterward, when one merits to conquer and subdue Haman-Amalek — the bechina of the blemish of the covenant, as stated — one then purifies oneself through the Parah [Red Heifer], which purifies from the impurity of a corpse — which is the avi avos [the root of all] impurity — the bechina of the blemish of the covenant, as stated. And this is brought about through the tzedakah in the bechina of shekalim cited above — in the bechina of "tzedakah saves from death" as stated. For through the rectification of the covenant, through this the purification and atonement flows through the Parah — in the bechina of "let the mother come and wipe up after her son" — the bechina of ima lavina [the supernal mother, Binah] — for [the menstrual] blood becomes turbid and then becomes milk — which is brought about through the rectification of the covenant, as stated — in the bechina of "as an eagle rouses its nest," as stated. For the Parah comes to rectify the sin of the Golden Calf — which is the bechina of the blemish of the covenant, as stated. And then, once the blemish of the covenant is purified and rectified and the side of death is removed and departed, one reads Parshas HaChodesh — for through all of this the months are rectified and filled, and then the month is sanctified in the bechina of: "This month is for you the head of months," as stated. And this is why the Four Parshiyos are read as maftir — for maftir is the bechina of kingship — for maftir is the seventh and last of all those who are called to the Torah, and this is the bechina of kingship. And all Four Parshiyos come to rectify and complete the bechina of kingship — which is the bechina of dalet [four], as stated — and to subdue the kingship of Haman-Amalek, which stands against holy kingship and is also comprised of all four wicked kingdoms (as Rabbainu, of blessed memory, wrote). And similarly, because of all this, four people are called up to the Torah on Rosh Chodesh — for then is the rectification of the kingship, which is the bechina of dalet, as stated.
Section 2 And this is what we heard from Rabbainu, of blessed memory — that the time for giving tzedakah for Eretz Yisrael is in the month of Adar — for that is the time to give tzedakah in order to subdue the bechina (spiritual dimension) of Haman-Amalek, who clings after the feet [raglayin] of holiness — which is the bechina of Adar, which is the end of the year, as stated. And our Sages of blessed memory likewise said: on the first of Adar one makes announcement regarding the shekalim, as stated. And especially the tzedakah for Eretz Yisrael — through which one is included all the more in holy kingship, which is the bechina of guarding the covenant [shmiiras habris]. For Eretz Yisrael is the bechina of "a woman who fears Hashem" and is divided into twelve borders corresponding to the twelve tribes of Y-H — which are the bechina of the twelve months, as stated — upon which holy kingship stands, as stated. And when one gives tzedakah for Eretz Yisrael, one is included in the atmosphere [avira] of Eretz Yisrael, as Rabbainu wrote (in §44) — and through this one merits guarding the covenant, which is holy kingship, as stated. And therefore the time for this is at the end of the twelve months of the year — which is Adar, as stated.
Section 3 And this is the bechina (dimension) of the commandment of matanos l'evyonim — gifts to the poor — on Purim. For through tzedakah one subdues the shell [klipah] of Haman, as stated — which is the bechina of the blemish of the covenant, as stated. And therefore Haman sought to nullify the righteousness of Israel — as it is written: "and ten thousand talents of silver I will weigh out to the king's treasury" — in order to nullify the power of the shekalim, as is known. For since he knew that the essential means of subduing him — who is the avi avos of impurity, the blemish of the covenant — is tzedakah, as stated — he therefore sought to nullify the tzedakah by channeling its power to other places. But Hashem, blessed be He, foiled his counsel and ruined his plan — on the contrary, He gave additional power to the tzedakah of Israel to subdue him and nullify the power of the ten thousand talents of silver — as our Sages of blessed memory said: "their shekalim already preceded yours." And all of this was brought about through the power of Mordechai — who stands against Haman of the klipah, and Mordechai stands against him precisely in holiness. For Mordechai is the elder [zaken] in holiness — the bechina of Atik Yomin [the Ancient of Days] (as cited in the words of Rabbainu, of blessed memory, elsewhere) — and he has the power to subdue and break the shell of Haman-Amalek cited above, and to merit Israel to the rectification of the covenant. Amen.
Translator's Summary
This brief but dense piece — just three sections — provides the Likutay Halachos framework for the Four Parshiyos, positioned in the source text immediately before the six Purim halachos.
The central axis is the correspondence between moon / kingship / covenant. The moon represents malchus d'kedushah (holy kingship); its monthly cycle of waxing and waning reflects the state of the bris (covenant). The twelve months = the twelve tribes; the twelve New Moons are twelve annual moments of atonement and rectification of the covenant-blemish.
Amalek / Haman is the inverse of holy kingship — the "wicked kingship" that feeds off the covenant-blemish. Its hold is on the raglayin (the lower extremities / the tribe of Dan, the last banner), and its peak power comes in the final three months of the year (Teves–Shvat–Adar) — the "winter season," corresponding to the fourth and last banner.
The Four Parshiyos form a single arc of rectification:
Shekalim → tzedakah → rectifies the covenant → restores holy kingship's vitality
Zachor → Amalek (the covenant-blemish incarnate) is identified and weakened
Purim → the actual downfall of Haman (between Zachor and Parah)
Parah → purification from the deepest impurity (the death-impurity = the covenant-blemish). The Red Heifer's ash-and-water ritual is decoded as ima lavina (the supernal Binah-mother) cleansing: blood → milk, death → life
HaChodesh → the months are now fully rectified; Nisan — the first month — is sanctified
Section 2 adds a practical instruction attributed directly to Reb Nachman: giving tzedakah for Eretz Yisrael specifically in Adar is the prime vehicle for this rectification — since Eretz Yisrael in its twelve-border structure embodies the twelve tribes / twelve months / holy kingship.
Section 3 ties the thread to the Purim mitzvah of matanos l'evyonim and explains Haman's counter-move of offering ten thousand silver talents — a direct attempt to overwhelm and displace Israel's tzedakah power — which Hashem foiled, since Israel's shekalim "preceded" Haman's.
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