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Shalosh Seudos of Parshas Tazria 5765 ..." , - : - , , , (', - - - ..." ) ":', ":
Milah and the Purification of the Metzora It is important to understand why the mitzvah of circumcision on the eighth day is juxtaposed with the mitzvos of the purification of a new mother and the metzora. The sages taught that this juxtaposition teaches us that milah takes precedence over Shabbos.1 They mean to say that despite the great sanctity of the Shabbos, the holy Torah nevertheless comes to teach us that the sanctity of milah is even higher. The Arizal taught that while Shabbos is rooted in the spiritual world of Atzilus, milah is rooted in the higher world of Adam Kadmon.2 This parallels another Talmudic concept: While the harp used in the Sanctuary was of seven strings, the one that will exist during the times of Moshiach will be of eight. As the verse says, To the choirmaster, upon the eight-stringed harp3 The seven-stringed harp alludes to the Shabbos, to the attribute to Chochmah and the world of Atzilus, while the eight-stringed harp alludes to the milah, for on the eighth day you shall circumcise the flesh of his orlah. The Arizal explained that the phrase, If a man shall have on the skin of his flesh a blemish of tzoraas, refers to the Adam HaElyon, the supernal man, the six sefiros of Zeir Anpin that are reflected in the form of the human body.4 As the verse says, I will be like the image of the supernal5 [Note: The human form is a reflection of the order of the upper worlds and the sefiros.] Even though the laws of blemishes no

1 2

Sanhedrin 59b Eitz Chaim, Shaar HaHonaah chapter 4 3 Erchin 13b, based upon Tehillim 12:1 4 Likutei Torah, Tazria 5 Yeshayahu 14:14 3

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longer apply, that is only on the physical plane. On the spiritual plane, they do indeed still apply. The Arizal and the Rashash explain that the inner meaning of all of the festivals is to repair the sin of Adam HaRishon.6 In our verse we also find an allusion to this concept: "..." If a man (Adam) shall have a blemish in the skin of his flesh This is the blemish that affected Adam HaRishon after he fell and ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Every single Jew was incorporated within the collective body of Adam HaRishon, and therefore every single Jew has a connection with that sin.7 The repair of the sin of Adam HaRishon is the main task that one must fulfill in this world, and this is all the more true during the festivals. It is also the core reason why we have suffered in this exile for so long, for all of exile is a result of the obscuring of Hashems presence. The Arizal taught the when Adam HaRishon sinned, he blemished the partzuf or supernal image of the days, which parallels the middle triad of sefiros of Chessed, Gevurah, and Tiferes; and the partzuf of the times, which parallels the lower triad of sefiros: Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. Despite the fact that the blemish reached both areas, the main damage was incurred in the lower region of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. So even though one must work to repair the sin of Adam HaRishon all year long (the days), nevertheless the main area of work is during the festivals themselves (the times). The Sin of Adam HaRishon First and foremost, we must understand the nature of the blemish that damaged the sefiros of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. They parallel the three marks of tzoraas: seis, sapachas, and baheres.8 Seis has the connotation of elevation and was a mental blemish, in that Adam sought to aggrandize himself. Sapachas [which has the connotation of making additions] is a flaw of self-promotion and splendor / Hod, while baheres parallels the attribute of Yesod. These three flaws are very internal, and the
Nahar Shalom 33a Shaar HaKavanos, Drush Birchas HaShachar, loc cit: Al ha omrim Elokai neshamah shenasata bi tehora hi 8 Likutei Torah, Tazria
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Arizal explained that they are like two spies who infiltrate a persons avodas Hashem to corrupt it from within.9 Even when a person is really serving Hashem with very lofty avodos, these spies instigate a chain reaction that can bring a person to the lowest place. (These spies are not to be confused with the holy spies who examine the avodos of others in order to glean from them ever-expanding methods and paths to serve Hashem.) Since the person suffers from the three flaws, his avodah is not for the sake of heaven, and so he begins to scrutinize others and judge their avodah. His mind is preoccupied with thoughts of others all day long until he descends to the level of the two dadim of the cattle that exist in the realm of the klippos, that are associated with the negative manifestation of feminine energy. [Note: This aspect is known as the ishah zonah, the inverse of the holy side of femininity, the eishes chayil. Just as the human place of infant nourishment is located in the region of the heart, above the diaphragm, we find that the place of animal nourishment is in the lower regions of the belly. This is a symbol of the difference between nukvah dkedushah and nukvah dklippah.] After a person begins to scrutinize the activities of others, like the sons of Elokim who descended to examine the daughters of man, he ultimately falls into the sin of spreading slander about others in deed. And the starting point of all of this descent was his failure to serve Hashem lshem shomayim. The end result is the appearance of tzoraas. One could ask how great people could be afflicted by such signsbut when we know that the outward marks are only signs of inner corruption that is rooted in prideful attitudes, everything is made clear. And this entire process has its source in the sin of Adam HaRishon, for when he ate from the Tree of Knowledge his aspect of Daas fell from the level of the head to the level of the shoulders. This teaches us that the true goal of avodas Hashem is to return to the rectified state of Adam HaRishon before the sin. In the beginning, Adam only sought to hasten the redemption; he strolled through Gan Eden and saw that everything is just a manifestation of the light and life-force of Hashem. Every single Jew has hidden within him this level of the avodah of Adam
9

Ibid. 5

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HaRishon before the sin, he knows that all of reality is only Hashem and that He orchestrates absolutely everything, that there is no existence but Him. This light of awareness is mainly manifest within the realm of to work it and to guard it, the realm of the positive and negative commandments. Hashem told Adam HaRishon that he could eat from all the trees of the garden, but not to eat from the Tree of Knowledgefor all of a persons avodah really comes down to working it and guarding it, to listening to Hashems voice and command. In reality, every single Jew has within him a powerful longing and thirst for G-dliness, to love Him and fear Him, and to cleave to Him absolutely. The Seder of Drawing down Hashems Light This is certainly the will of the Creator, that a person should be filled with powerful longing and a fiery yearning for Him. Yet the primary element of avodas Hashem is simply to work it and to guard it in the right order and manner. A Jew must know that there is a certain order to the descent of Hashems light, and when it is reversed and the light enters into a person out of order, it causes severe damage and can confuse and corrupt the person completely. The lights of Imma / Binah are the mentalities of longing to love and fear Hashem and cling to Him, while the lights of Abba / Chochmah are the mentalities of self-nullification that an emanation has in relation to the One who brought it into independent existence. [Note: It always feels as nothing when aware of its Creator.] This latter light is the light of working and guarding it, it is the desire to hear and know the will of Hashem. Sometimes, the emanation (the person), seeks to give precedence to the lights of dveikus (Imma), but he must know that the lights of Abba, of selfless seeking to hear and act upon the expressed will of Hashem, must always come first. The first step in every matter is to nullify oneself through absolute dedication to the halachah and before the tzaddikim of every generation. This is a very deep aspect of avodas Hashem that unfortunately even many otherwise worthy people either relegate to a secondary position or ignore altogether. They make the error of giving pride of place to the
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emotional and spiritual experience of longing for Hashem and dveikus. They study works that will enhance their prayer so that it will fulfill their own expectations and vision, and consider that study for its own sake and bittul before the tzaddikim is more of an additional avodah and not the main element. This is why the Arizal taught that the attempt to bring in the lights of Imma before the lights of Abba was the main aspect of the sin of Adam HaRishon, for he wanted to bring the entire universe to repentance, even the more external spiritual forces that were to ultimately bring vitality to the non-Jewish nations. However, the time for such work had not yet arrived and it was not in line with the true will of Hashem. Therefore, when the festivals arrive and the time is again ripe to rectify the sin of Adam HaRishon, the main spiritual work is for a person to beg Hashems mercy so that he will merit to fulfill all of His commands in simplicity, for this is the most important thing of all. Such a prayer must be offered with an attitude of self-nullification and absolute willingness to attend to Hashems voice and command and to obey the tzaddikim down to the last detail. When a person acts in this way, he also merits to receive the lights of Imma, the lights of longing and yearning for ever-higher levels of connection with Hashemand when developed in this way, his yearning has genuine power and significance. Illusory and Genuine Dveikus All that we have said until now is the underlying reason why milah takes precedence over Shabbos. The milah is the embodiment of the covenantal relationship that the Jewish people has with Hashem, a relationship of total obedience. While the light of Shabbos which is the light of Imma is very great, one must know that the light of the milah which is the light of Abba must take precedence. Before one experiences the light of dveikus, he must ensure that he is receiving it in the way of the Jewish people, not in the way of the nations. The dveikus of the nations is a constant race after spiritual experiences without the obligating covenantal relationship with Hashem. When the milah takes precedence over Shabbos, it is our way of saying that we have no interest in
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the dveikus of the nations, and that we want to follow in the footsteps of the tzaddikim who only sought to fulfill the will of the King. This is the main avodah of a Jewto work and guard the garden and not to taste of the Tree of Knowledge, not to seek dveikus divorced from obedience to the expressed will of the Creator. Unfortunately, when a person delves into non-Torah works, even if connection with Hashem is discussed there, he transgresses the Torahs command: You shall have no false gods before Me. According to the Rambam, it is prohibited to delve into such works even for the sake of heaven, and this is all the more true when the content is not focused on spiritual growth. This prohibition also applies to the many people who err and flaunt the rulings of the sages with the excuse that they are learning seforim chitzoniim for the sake of heaven, in order to help other Jews. That may be all well and good, but nevertheless they are not following the command of our King, for Hashem said: One who listens and obeys is preferable to he who brings a fine sacrifice.10 Straight and simple obedience to Hashems word is the greatest service of all, even when it appears as though the light he could attain through some other means is much more powerful. It is important to remember that this light is an illusion, it is the light of the klippah of flashing fire of Yechezkels vision, it is the dveikus of the sitra achra.11 Any feeling of spiritual connection that comes without the elevated aspect of the bris milah is tainted by the sitra achra, it is not genuine dveikus at all. Those who serve Hashem while simultaneously defying the rulings of the sages are caught in the illusion of the samech-mem; no real sanctity enlivens their actions and they have no connection with the holiness of the Shabbos. In order for a person to ensure that he is not beset by the blemishes of pride that manifest as seis, sapachas, and baheres, he must take stock of himself and his motivations and examine whether or not he is really nullified before the tzaddikim and unquestioningly fulfilling every detail of the Shulchan Aruch. And the common sentiment that pride is not really relevant today, since we have nothing to be proud of,
10 11

Shmuel I:15:22 Yechezkel 1:4 8

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is meaningless. A persons degree of pride is directly proportionate to the extent that he disobeys the halachah and the tzaddikim. And even though this pride can be the result of the persons genuine desire to connect with Hashem and pursue many lofty avodos, it will still destroy his ability to attain true dveikus. If he only knew to what extent his partaking of the Tree of Knowledge separates him from the Source of all life, from being worthy of the Tree of Life, he would first work to attain the state of bittul before attempting to receive the light of dveikus. When the light of Abba descends first, then the light of Imma do not foster any pride or blemish in him and he is free of the plagues of seis, sapachas, and baheres. The Lights of Teshuvah Chazal taught that during the first three days after the childs birth, he sees from one end of the earth to the other (some say even during all seven days before the bris). This is the vision and light to which every Jew must aspire, the light of Kesser that is hidden within the Torah itself. This is the light that the four who entered the Pardes sought; with this light it is possible to rectify the entire world. We find that Adam HaRishon did penance for 130 years after his sin and even then he failed to draw down the light of the redemption, and this is because he never sought to reach the essence of teshuvah. What is it, then? The essence of teshuvah is faith in the sages, absolute devotion to the true tzaddikim, and it makes no difference whether what they say makes sense to the person or not. All the while that a person feels he is only willing to obey that which he understands intellectually, he remains in the state of pride and cannot complete his atonement properly. For the main way to ascend to the place of absolute atonement and forgiveness is to enter the primal light of Kesser that shines from one end of the earth to the other. One must have a childlike desire to fulfill Hashems will, like an infant who understands one thing only: that Hashems will is his own. Then the light

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of Kesser, of the Name EHYeH that is associated with the newborn state of total repentance, shines upon the person.12 The First Two Cups of the Seder Now we can better understand the teaching of the Arizal, that the sin of Adam HaRishon caused Daas to fall from the level of the head to the level between the shoulders. The shoulders are the place where the child expresses his lack of will, his eini rotzeh. In this sense, the place where the shoulders are shrugged is the symbol of the relinquishing of personal will, and the concept of the childlike state of mind is one in which the person has no will of his own, but is only interested in the will of his Source. This can be seen on Seder night, when we drink two cups of wine before we partake of the matzah. Wine is associated with the light of Imma and the matzah represents the mochin of Abba. We first drink two cups to acknowledge that without some degree of longing and yearning for dveikus, we will never get to the mochin dAbba at all. Even so, the meal really begins with the matzah, with the light of self-nullification of Abba / Chochmah. Afterward, we continue the work we have begun with another two cups, we receive another infusion of the light of Imma / Binah and longing for dveikus. This is why we call the avodos of that night the Seder. Because there is a proper order in which one comes to serve Hashem: first one works up the willingness to strive for bittul, then one enjoys the complete experience of dveikus as expressed in the culmination of the Seder, the recitation of Shir HaShirim. It begins, May He kiss me with the kisses of His mouth for this is the true will of, King Shlomo, the King to Whom peace belongs. Even so, there is an established order how one can come to this; if a person confuses the order, he can bring upon himself terrible plagues and can fall into the sin of lashon hara. This is really the root of our long exile, this terrible baseless hatred. And it can all be attributed to the simple fact that we are insufficiently interested in what Hashem

12

Likutei Moharan II:12 10

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wants from us, for the Torah itself tells us not to hate our brother in our heart, that we must be unified and be on friendly terms with everyone. Anyone who is not on speaking terms with another Jew transgresses this commandment and he is well aware of it, but one day follows another and he continues to go to shul and put on his tallis and tefillin, and he doesnt pay any attention to the fact that he is sinning. How can this be? It happens when a person distorts the meaning of Yiddishkeit into putting on his tallis and tefillin rather than becoming nullified before the will of Hashem. If we really were so nullified, we would never fall into the sin of baseless hatred which is the root of this exileand this is actually the hardest thing, to never harbor resentments against other Jews. Granted, there are 150 reasons to be angry with another person and it is difficult to understand how the Torah commanded us not to bear a grudge. One can accept that the Torah commands us to study Torah, pray, and do good deeds, but how could it command us to do something as difficult as living without resentments? We see from here that the main thing is coming to the state of bittul to Hashems will, because then it really is possible to fulfill this mitzvah. Then one becomes worthy of the primordial light of creation that illuminates the world from one end to the other. In truth, the Ribbono shel olam wants to give everything good to every single Jew and wishes to bestow His Shechinah upon us; He doesnt burden us with tasks that are beyond our ability. The Medrash teaches that Hashem said to the Jewish people, The entire Torah is easy to fulfill and I only ask of you that which is within your human ability to fulfill. Even the holy Avos were only expected to do what they could. Why, then, are we not worthy of experiencing prophecy? The Ribbono shel olam wants to restore prophecy to the Jewish people. The reason why we arent worthy is because we have yet to repair the sin of Adam HaRishon, and all of our avodas Hashem is twisted. Instead of realizing that the main thing is just to obey Hashems will, we think that we have to do these very lofty types of avodos that will bring Him satisfaction. But this is an error; the main way to bring Hashem nachas ruach is by simply longing to nullify our will before His with every single motion and serve Him wholeheartedly. This

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will bring us to the mochin dAbba, and we will then be worthy of true longing and dveikus, of the mochin dImma. Then we will come to true Daas so that at the end of the Seder we will be able to recite Shir HaShirim and really emerge from Mitzrayim like the true tzaddikim. It is possible to come to this state all year long, that Hashem will reveal to us the inner meaning (taam, or taste) of the twelve breads,13 that we will taste the sweetness of the twelve partzufim of the world of Atzilus. For Hashems will is that His children come to enjoy all of the lights of the world of Atzilus and that each and every Jew merit to cleave to Him and experience the light of prophecy and the Shechinah. Hashem Himself pleads with us not to be foolish, but rather to look upon reality as it is truly and see that He orchestrates absolutely everything and we are in very close proximity to holiness. All He wants is that we do our best to fulfill His will with every movement and make an effort to learn Shulchan Aruch every day, since this is the main rectification of every Jew. When a Jew studies Shulchan Aruch with the simple intention of learning the details of Hashems will for him, he merits to experience the light of Imma and the primordial light of creation open before him so that he can see from one end of the world to the other. Let Your Soul Know Wisdom This is the meaning of the phrase: "" Let your soul know (dei) wisdom (Chochmah), and it will be a crown (Kesser) for your head.14 It is brought in the Arizals writings that the mistake of Adam HaRishon was that he attempted to draw down the supernal lights from below to above, he preceded the light of Abba with the light of Imma. In reality, one must first come to the mochin dAbba and only afterward the mochin dImmaand one comes to the mochin dAbba by obeying the tzaddikim who have already perfected their own aspect of Abba and Imma. One should follow the ways of the tzaddikim who have rectified the two spies
13 14

From the Shabbos zemer of the Arizal, Asader lSeudasa. From the Shabbos zemer Dror Yikrah, based on Mishlei 24:14. 12

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and only examine others in order to learn from them, to see the light that shines from their faces because of the intense love and fear of Hashem that is within them. And even if it seems as though a certain tzaddik is not acting in accordance with Hashems will, one must immediately decide in his mind that he really is nullified before Hashem with every single movement. One must accept that only the greatest sages of the generation are arbiters of the avodos of other people, since they have mastered the thirteen means of interpreting the Torah and know exactly how the mochin are bound with one another, how on one occasion one must follow the opinion of a certain poseik in order to be able to fulfill the halachah in accordance with a different poseik on another occasion. All of this is possible because the sages possess a rectified power of discernment and the ability to make certain that the halchah suits each place and time. Let your soul know (dei) wisdom (Chochmah), and it will be a crown (Kesser) for your head. When the festivals, which are the inner essence of the entire year, arrive, they are the aspect of Chochmah. Therefore, one must nullify himself completely before the will of Hashem in order to repair the sin of Adam HaRishon. Now we can better understand why the Jewish people are so exceedingly scrupulous about even the barest hint of chometz on Pesach. As the Baal Shem Tov taught, even though it is best to refrain from extra stringencies all year long since they can interrupt a persons dveikus, nevertheless anyone who adopts additional restrictions on Pesach is considered praiseworthy. (It is important to bear in mind that the Likutei Moharan taught that in these later, weaker, generations one should not adopt extreme stringencies, and each of their opinions are correct based on the place and the time.) However, everything must be in exact accordance with the halachah, and G-d forbid that anyone should make light of it because the halachah must be the foundation of all of a Jews avodah. Such devotion proves that the person is nullified before the tzaddikim of every generation and before his ancestors customs; he should never make light of the

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chumros practiced in his family: Do not reject the Torah of your mother.15 We have no idea how great this self-effacement is in the eyes of Hashem. Let your soul know wisdomthe essence of Chochmah is self-nullification before the will of Hashem. Guard the mitzvos of your Holy Onefulfill the commandments in simplicity and you will come to guard your holy Shabbos, to experience the light of dveikus symbolized by the Shabbos. May Hashem make us worthy now of seeing His glory revealed. Then all flesh will see together that the mouth of Hashem has spoken, with the arrival of our righteous redeemer in mercy. Speedily and in our days, amen.

Translated and Adapted by Rav Micha Golshevsky.

15

Mishlei 1:8 14

Nesiv Chaim 17

Nesiv Chaim 17
Nesiv Mitzvosecha, Nesiv Emunah, Pathway 3:8: "Know that it is impossible for any angel to be completely nullified in the aspects of ayin because it would cease to exist entirely, and so it is impossible for there to be any yichud or zivug above through them; rather, it is accomplished by Yisrael the holy people who have the ability to achieve the state of ayin, to be completely nullified, literally nothing, completely and utterly nullified. And they arouse all of the worlds to return to the aspect of ayin, and the yichud is accomplished. For all of the aspects of yichud and zivug are an ascent until the aspects of Ein Sof, and all of the worlds would be nullified and would revert to complete ayin to the aspects of Ein Sof, except for the fact that at this [level of] bitul, Yisrael the holy people is also included, and they necessariliy have a body and a vessel and yeishus and the ani that is necessary for avodah, and so they draw all of the worlds so that they should not completely cease to exist" We have already explained that there are a number of degrees of bitul: Malchus is the bitul of acceptance of the Divine yoke; Ze'ir Anpin is the bitul of dveikus; Binah is the bitul of the yeish, which is humility; Chochmah is the bitul of reality, in that everything in the world appears to the person to be the Divine light and nothing more; the level of Kesser is absolute bituleverything that the person sees and encounters, all the obstacles he faces and all of the mitzvos that he fulfills, are disassociated from himself and all nullified to Hashem. Whether he succeeds or fails, no what happens to him, he only becomes more nullified before Hashem. It is to this degree of bitul that the Komarna Rebbe refers when he says that it is beyond the grasp of any angel, because that level of bitul would cause it to cease to exist. The corollary of this is that no yichud on high can be accomplished by any angel; rather, the yichud is brought about by Yisrael, the holy people, because we have the
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potential to reach absolute ayin. The absolute ayin is accomplished through the human experience of facing obstacles and nullifying one's will absolutely. This is the nature of Yisrael, which is [ ." "Note: See Nesiv Chaim, Lesson 12, for a detailed explanation of the concept of ]." "Even when a Jew is in the state of yeish and suffering, or when he has a sense of having accomplished many things, his ani [still has the potential to be] encompassed within the absolute ayin. This is something that transcends logic. The light of Chochmah and its nullification of the individual's sense of distinct reality other than Hashem would seem to contraindicate the capacity for yeish. A Jew, therefore, must reach the bitul of Kesser, beyond reason, where the bitul is so absolute that even the existence of his own yeish does not form a barrier to feeling ayin. When one sees that his efforts in avodas Hashem are not bearing fruit, the main reason is because he is a distinct and self-focused aspect of yeish; if he were to succeed at his spiritual goals, his yeish would only grow [and he would fall into pride]. Hashem has mercy on him, and causes him to fail so that he can learn just who he really is. There are those who don't even have the merit [to be deflated by Hashem in this way]. Such a person's successes cause his yeish-aspect to blow up, and then "he and I [Hashem] cannot live together as one" But when one is worthy, Hashem saves him from this. Even so, when he struggles further and attaches himself to the absolute ayin, he no longer needs to fall so much anymore in order to be saved from pride. If, later, he should happen to fail, he will attach himself to the holiness of total ayin. One does the spiritual work here not by removing the obstacle that caused him to fall, but in focusing himself on the absolute ayinby knowing that there is nothing but the Creatortranscending reason and understanding. He must go not with the level of the light and clarity and vitality of Chochmah, but with the higher power of Kesserself-sacrifice to serve Hashem with total bitul, both physical and spiritual. This will allow him to enjoy the lofty delight of the level of Kesser. This is why the truth of yichud can only be accomplished by the Jewish people, because yichud depends on being encompassed within Hashem, and this is only possible
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with bitul. The beginning level of bitul is that of Malchus: acceptance of His will as it is revealed in His holy Torah. Later, the heart begins to feel Hashem's reality, and the mochin begin to achieve dveikus with His Elokus. It is this power of bitul and yeishthe capacity of Yisrael for yichudthat keeps all of the worlds from reverting to Ein Sof. Every Jew contributes to the light of yichud in his own way, however the yichud is really accomplished in its fullness by the greatest of tzaddikim. We see this dynamic when it comes to communal prayer. Each person does his own avodah to the best of his ability, but the avodah of the true tzaddik is what uplifts and binds all of the prayers of the souls of the Jewish people together as one. This is the real meaning of binding oneself to the tzaddik: to apply oneself to the avodah as the tzaddik taught, and then his own avodah will be united with the avodah of the tzaddik so that it can rise to the place on high where it will accomplish all that it needs to, and arouse the true yichud. Nesiv Mitzvosecha, Nesiv Emunah, Pathway 3:9 "Know that the aspects of Elokus, oneness, Ohr Ein Sof [extends] until the end of Asiyah, for there are within them the aspects of Ani and Ayin, to be encompassed within the Ohr Ein Sof. Even while there are millions and billions and trillions of vessels, nevertheless every Divine spark and holy aspect of G-dliness within each of them is what enlivens it, and it is nullified as it if it nothing, and it becomes one in unity with the Ohr Ein Sof, and in absolute bitul it becomes united fully with G-dliness, literally without any distinction between them. He and His vitality are one within them. "However, the klippos and the evil have only the aspect of ani and yeishus and materiality, he grasps it all to himself, and this is idolatry, the three impure klippos, until they made themselves into Elokus. This is pride, which is literally avodah zarah, a self divided and putrid, and anyone who is prideful is himself a kind of idolatry, as we see in Sotah 4. 'A foreign god, a strange god, another god, disgusting and abominable, boiling excrement.' But the ani of holiness does not

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grab hold of self for any reason other than that it should not cease to exist entirely, and [only in] the degree that is necessary to serve Hashem. The King's scepter is pride, and with His pride, 'I dwell with the downtrodden,'1 'and the lowly of spirit,'2 and 'the brokenhearted'3" There are the three lower worlds of Beriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and each of them have different natures. Beriyah is mostly good and it has a minority of evil; Yetzirah is evenly split between good and evil; and Asiyah is mostly evil and only partly good. Paralleling the three worlds in holiness, there are the BY"A aspects within klippah. When a person falls into bad middos, when he seeks his own honor, he falls away from the aspect of Atzilus. While it is true that we are not possessed of the aspect of Atzilusthe Vilna Gaon already taught that Daniel "Ish Chamudos" only attained the uppermost degree of Asiyah4 and Atzilus is a level of which only the greatest tzaddikim of the generations are worthynevertheless, all of the levels from Adam Kadmon until Asiyah apply to each person in his own way. Whenever a person devotes his thoughts to the Creator and feels incorporated within Hashem, this is his personal world of Atzilus. When he falls into considerations of his own honor, he falls to Beriyah. When he falls into material desires, he descends to Yetzirah. And when he falls into jealousy, he enters Asiyah. Each of these descents has further ramifications. Yet one should not imagine that, in falling, one is any more distant from Hashem, because the Ohr Ein Sof exists everywhere and it is possible to reveal Hashem's glory anywhere, by accessing the Divine spark that exists within the lower worlds of BY"A when one is united with the Ein Sof. Nesiv Mitzvosecha, Nesiv Emunah, Pathway 3:10: "This is the inner meaning of the spies that were sent by Moshe, the supernal Da'as. Eretz Yisrael is the aspect of, 'I am yirah.' Whoever truly grabs

1 2

Yeshayah 57:15 Mishlei 29:23 3 Tehillim 34:19 4 Safra d'Tzniusa, Addenda 18

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hold of humility transforms the ani to ayin and only requires yirah to inhabit the 'heel' levels, which of necessity sometimes descend to the place of dinim and klippos to uplift the souls to the light of life. One needs yirah in order not to fall downward, and this is the, 'on the heels of humility is fear of G-d.' So too, when he returns on high to the supernal ayin, he maintains a hold on a small degree of 'I am yirah' at his 'heels' [lower extreme] so that he should not cease to exist completely" It is important to know that the avodah of yirah is not one of sadness and melancholy, even when one learns of the punishments of Gehinnomwhich are truly horrifying, even more so than they are depicted in the holy works. It is not G-d's will, however, to think about such things too much; only to the extent that it brings one to genuine yirah. [Note: The word yirah contains the same letters as the word re'iyah, which means vision. Genuine, life-giving yirah is the awareness that I am in the constant view of the Creator, and the concomitant thought that comes with this awareness is that everything I do is significant if the Creator of the universe is attentive to it. This is the basis of healthy "yirah l'chaim" which is necessary in avodas Hashem.] The main avodah is to focus on dveikus and to only make use of the quality of yirah as a preventative and protection against falling into sin. And if one did fall, yirah also can inspire him to do teshuvah. All this, however, is only the aspect of the "heels" and is not the "head" of avodah, where one must place the greater part of his mind and energy. The head and the focus of the thoughts should be in joy and dveikus. We certainly do not mean this is the sense of those who claim that the main avodah is dveikus and they fall away from yirah altogether, G-d forbid. This attitude leads a person to fail to make distinctions between mitzvos and sins. There is no doubt that the tzaddikim have yirah and fear, but it is in the "heels"because their thoughts are preoccupied with joy and dveikus. This is the deeper meaning of, "On the heels of humility"humility parallels Leah and the contemplation of G-dliness, and the heels parallel Rachel, which is the lower form of yirah. Therefore, even when one enters into the state of bitul and dveikus, he still needs the aspect of yirah to "ground" him at the

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"heels" so that he should not cease to exist altogether. There are many levels to this, but in terms of that which applies to us, we mean that no matter how deeply one seeks the inner essence of avodah, he must never lose his simple yirah. We fine this echoed in the warning written by Rav Chaim Vital at the beginning of Eitz Chaim: when one enters the inner dimension of Torah, he requires even more protection and additional safeguards. While it is true that Rebbe Nachman of Breslov discouraged the adoption of additional stringencies and said that they are unnecessary when it comes to Divine service, he meant excessive chumros that wind up being obstacles to dveikus. When it comes to personal sanctity and one's avodah, however, certainly one must add whatever he can. Surely when a person is occupied with the inner dimension of Torah, he naturally wants to distance himself from worldly desires and sanctify himself, and fulfill the mitzvah, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." While it is true that there are endless levels to this, at the very least the person who has begun to learn the Torah's secrets will have the yirah to avoid luxuries, just as one has yirah to avoid that which is forbidden. The beginning is to have a longing to rise out of his base material place. Even though the main avodah is the search for dveikus, he needs yirah at his "heels." "The matter is that the sending [of the spies] is for the sake of Moshe, because the deeper works explain that in the ultimate future, at the time of Moshiach, Malchus will merit to reach the level of yechidah, the uppermost aspect of Atzilus. At that point, Malchus-Ani will rise to the head of Ayin, to Reisha d'lo Isyadah, and bechirah will cease to exist. The knowledge, to know what exists above that head, will be revealed, as explained in Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar Arich, at the end of Chapter 2. This allows you to understand the greatness of Malchus in the future, for it is the 'crown at the head of each tzaddik,'5 and it will be, 'the cornerstone.'6 In the future, its light will be greater than that of the sun, for Malchus will rise to the head of Ayin, to Reisha d'lo Isyadah"
5 6

Sanhedrin 111b Tehillim 118:22 20

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There are sparks of Moshe Rabbeinu and the true tzaddik within each and every Jew, and this means that everyone has some of the avodah of Moshe Rabbeinu to perform to help reveal the light of the redeemer in the world.7 This is the way that each person fulfills the mission of his portion of the soul of Moshiach. During recent generations, we find so much in Reb Nosson of Breslov and Rav Tzaddok HaKohen's writings about the importance of realizing that Hashem orchestrates every event, and that all sins can be rectified through faithand that this is the light of Moshiach. This is what is meant by Malchus rising to Reisha d'lo Isyadah. When Moshiach comes, emunah will be revealed to such an extent that it will be possible to rectify everything through it. At the same time, this emunah-knowledge will require yirah together with it to be really complete. This means avoiding sin as much as possible, and if one fell, then doing teshuvah with all his might at all times. Once a person has yirah "in his heels," he can bind his mind and thoughts to the emunah that it is possible to rectify everything through the light of Hashem's knowledgethis is the light of Moshiach. But if a person lacks yirah in his "heels," talk of Hashem's orchestrating all events and absolute faith only confuse him and distract him from dveikus. However, when a person does have this yirah he has the potential to be a complete tzaddik and live with the knowledge that everything is from Hashem. This is the "stone that the builders rejected," that became the "cornerstone." With this mentality of the future worldbeing so bound up with emunahwe will see the Shechinah everywhere and in every situation. This will naturally keep us from sin and bring us to total teshuvah. "And you shall see it, to remember the everlasting covenant"when one sees and binds himself to the light of emunah and yichud, one merits the everlasting covenant. The Zohar says, "When there will be bright shining colors in the rainbow, 'the fury of the King is calmed.'"8 The rainbow represents the covenant. The rainbow in all its colors represents binding oneself to Hashem and relying on Him with complete trust
7 8

Likutei Moharan I:2,4,9; II:72 Zohar, Pinchas 215 21

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through every situation, and turning to Him at all times just as Dovid HaMelech did. Dovid HaMelech said, "And I am prayer"he did not move a muscle without asking permission of the Creator. Such a state of dveikus and trust is only possible when one has great yirah in his "heels," without any melancholy or sadness, with the great Da'as of Moshiach.

We will now return to where we were holding in our study of the Otzros Chaim. We learned earlier that the light that emerges from the "ear" of Adam Kadmon extends until the fullness of the beard; the light that emerges from the "nose" extends until the level of the chest; and the light that extends from the "mouth" descends and extends until the level of the navel. From the mouth emerges the world of Akudim, and its light exits, is revealed, and then returns and is hidden. This is the avodah of longing, of living and yearning to cleave to one's Source and be subsumed within it so that one can receive a greater degree of light. This is the light that we seek, and we long that our existence and the revealed reality in which we exist should be subsumed within Hashem. At the level of Akudim we yearn that all of our yeishuseven our Torah and prayershould return and be bound to Hashem so that we merit greater and greater degrees of bitul, and more and more diligence in Torah study. The world of Akudim and longing is that of mati v'lo mati"touching and not touching"where one yearns for more and more dveikus, and the dveikus that one achieves only leaves one yearning for more. We learned that, in this rule, the general dynamic is that the lower down a level is, the more light it receives, because distance generates yearning. This is expressed by Malchus having emerged first; because it is lowest, its longing is greatest and the light is received in accordance with the yearning.

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After Malchus, the level of Yesod emerged. The aspect of Yesod is that of the tzaddik"the tzaddik is the foundation-yesod of the world"he has this quality of Yesod which includes all of the levels. All of the middos of Chessed-Gevurah-TiferesNetzach-Hod influence Yesod. The Zohar teaches that the tzaddik is one who "guards the covenant"the avodah of personal purity is a general avodah that is the foundation of all others and the key to dveikus. Anyone who sanctifies the area of Yesod will find that he has the potential to enter into all avodos that exist. The Zohar Hakadosh also teaches that Yesod is associated with the letter tzaddik, and Moshe Rabbeinu is also known as "My servant, Tzemach." The future redemption will also occur via the nature of the letter tzaddik. [Note: Moshiach is also called Tzemach, and the redemption is described as "sprouting"the "sprouting of the keren of Dovid."] The exodus was associated with the letter pei" I shall surely remember," but the final redemption will be associated with the letter tzaddik. The Zohar explains that the tzaddik is built of two letters: a nun [inclined] to one side, and a yud behind it, facing the other direction. The Ramak taught that the letter indicates the Holy One [yud] and His Shechinah [nun, which indicates Malchus9]. Each of them is distinct from the other and is looking away from the other. The avodah of the tzaddik is to turn them around so that they can face each other and join together. In the realm of personal sanctity, there is an aspect of both "turning from evil" and "doing good." Turning from evil means abandoning all pleasure that does not derive from Hashem's existence. Doing good means that even when one feels distant from Hashem, he does not fear and holds strong to his dveikus. "Say [to] the tzaddik, 'It is good'"the tzaddik says that there is good. The Baal HaSulam explained that the avodah of the tzaddik is to be matzdikto justifyHashem's actions; he knows that Hashem only does good. The "do good" part of kedushah is the trust in and search for Divine goodness in situations that are the opposite of pleasurable. When one enters into this avodah, it serves as a gateway to all others, because all of the middos influence
9

Likutei Moharan I:1 23

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Yesod. By sanctifying himself with the holiness of Yesod, one merits access to all of the holy middos. There is a Yesod level in each and every world. In the world of Akudim, we said that the greatest level is Malchus, since faith and the acceptance of the Divine yoke is the main thing. The second avodah in the world of Akudim is that of Yesod, which is the pursuit of personal sanctity. "Now, at first, Malchus emerged in the aspect of nefesh, and afterward, when the aspect of Yesod emerged, it was not revealed within Yesod, rather only the aspect of nefesh alone. However, there was an additional illumination within Malchus, that the ruach-aspect had been revealed within it. The reason for this is since ruach comes from the six extensions [is associated with the six middos from Chessed to Yesod], therefore when Yesod came, the ruach-aspect began to be revealed within Malchus, but it was not completed until all of the six extensions emerged, which is Yesod until Chessed. It was only then that the ruach-aspect of Malchus was completed. When each one came, another extension of the ruachaspect was revealed within Malchus, as explained in the Zohar, Parshas Terumah. "It is already known that Yesod is not one of the six extensions, because there are only five chassadim from Chessed until Hod, but Yesod does not take a personal portion of Chessed to itself, rather all of the five extensions are encompassed within it. This means that this all-encompassing aspect of ruach is what was revealed within Malchus when Yesod came, but when Hod or Netzach or another of the sefiros emerges, then the aspects of the extremities of ruach actually emerge within Malchus. All of this is that which applies to Malchus, but when it comes to the six extremities of Ze'ir Anpin, it occurs in this way. When Yesod emerges, the totality of the five extremities of Ze'ir Anpin in their aspect of nefesh alone, are revealed. But when Hod comes, one extremity of nefesh of Ze'ir Anpin is revealed, and so it continues until all of the six extremities are completed."

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There is the level of Chochmah, at which one learns Torah and gains Torah wisdom. Binah is when one contemplates this wisdom. Da'as is when one understands the ways of the Torah and applies his mind to it and remembers it and unites his mind to it. He takes all that he learned during the day and joins his mind to it when he prays. Within Da'as there are five chassadim; they are the root of the love that Da'as engenders. There are also five gevuros, and they are the root of the yirah engendered by Da'as. These five chassadim and five gevuros are the aspects of Chessed-GevurahTiferes-Netzach-Hod. All of them influence the all-encompassing middah, which is Yesod, and it includes also the love rooted in the five chassadim, as well as yirah rooted in the five gevuros. All of them are included within the middah of Yesod, because it is a middah of inclusion and totality. It does not take any "personal" Chessed for itself; rather all of the five extremities are included within it. When the nefesh-level within Yesod emerged, it bestowed a general ruach within Malchus. Afterward, when each and every middah emerged in its nefesh-aspect, it shone another extremity of the ruach-level within Malchus. In avodas Hashem, at the beginning one must enter into avodah generally, and afterward one begins to work specifically on love of Hashem, fear of Hashem, dveikus, trust and gratitude. It is said of the great Maggid that, after his marriage, he worked on a different middah every day. On Sunday he bound himself to love of the Creator; on Monday he focused on fear of the Creator, and so on. On Erev Shabbos, he served Hashem through the middah of Yesod, and when Shabbos came, the light of all of the middos shone with the brightest of lights. On Shabbos,, the mochin are revealed in accordance with the extent to which one has worked on the middos during the week. And the main light that shines on Shabbos is that of emunah. Now we can better understand what Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught, that when there is tikkun ha'bris [Yesod], "whiteness and rectification is drawn into all of the sinews."10 One must begin by working on sanctifying Yesod, and this will pave the way
10

Likutei Moharan I:29 25

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so that he can rise to all of the middos. The opposite is also true; when a person works on his love of Hashem, he will also merit to attain greater personal sanctity, because Chessed shines its influence to Yesod. While Yesod is, on the one hand, the totality of all of the middos, the opposite is also true: every middah shines its influence into Yesod with a new light. When one expends effort in Torah study and prayer, this also helps him to gain greater sanctity, because all of the middos influence Yesod. "There is another difference between Yesod and the other five extremities. When Hod comes, it gives the totality of its force anew into the nefeshaspect of Yesod alone, and this is true of all of them until Chessed emerges. When it leaves, it too gives the totality of its force into Yesod [in a manner] unlike the other five extremities. [With the others,] when one comes it does not add anything additional to its fellow at all because all of them are equal. It is only when all six are completed [when Chessed goes out] then we find that all of the nefesh-aspect of Ze'ir Anpin is completed. "Afterward, the nefesh-aspect of Binah emerges alone, and its ruach-aspect goes to Ze'ir Anpin, and its neshamah aspect goes to Malchus. Then the nefeshaspect of Chochmah emerges alone; its ruach-aspect goes to Binah; its neshamahaspect goes to Ze'ir Anpin; and its chaya-aspect goes to Malchus. Then the nefeshaspect of Kesser emerges alone; its ruach-aspect goes to Abba; its neshamah-aspect goes to Binah; its chayah-aspect goes to Ze'ir Anpin; and its yechidah-aspect goes to Malchus. We see, then, that when Kesser comes, the last one of all, it only emerges with its nefesh-aspect. And this is the deeper meaning of the verse, 'Hashem swore with his nefesh" as we have already explained.11 Even this aspect of the nefesh of Kesser did not remain in the world of (Nekudim) Akudim as described; rather, it returned and was hidden and remained bound up with its place within the One that emanated it forth"

11

See Nesiv Chaim, Lesson 15. 26

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For our purposes, the main lesson from this teaching in the Otzros Chaim is that, in the world of Akudim, the beginning of avodah is to yearn for emunah, which is the aspect of Malchus. Afterward, one must year for the light of the Torah, which is the aspect of Ze'ir Anpin. The preliminary stage of yearning for Torah is to long for the holiness of the Torah, which is Yesod. This then brings one to long for dveikus, yirah and love of Hashemthis is the completion of Ze'ir Anpin with all of its elements. Afterward, Binah emergesthis is the avodah of yearning to contemplate G-dliness, and this is what bestows completion to ruach, which is Ze'ir Anpin. What this means practically is that when a person yearns for the avodah of Binah, he finds that his bond with the Torah and his bond with emunah is deeper. Further on, as he longs for the bitul of Chochmah, everything else that he does is also being uplifted. Eventually he longs to absolute mesirus nefesh and total bitulthat he should have no existence at alland this is the level of Kesser. This bestows ruach to Abba, neshamah to Binah, chayah to the Torah, and yechidah to Malchusin short, all of his avodos are uplifted, and his emunah is complete. The Otzros Chaim then says that afterward, the nefesh-aspect of Kesser returns to its source, because it is not satisfied with the avodah of longing alone which is the realm of the mouth. It wants to rise to something higher, which is the aspect of the nose, where one actually feels ["senses"] G-dliness, and the level of the ear, where one contemplates G-dliness, and the level of the eyes where one actually sees G-dliness. Beyond that is the actual place of the Kesser, where one merits to actually be incorporated within Hashem. But the beginning of this entire process is the mouth, which is the place of longing, and speaking out one's yearning before Hashem at all times. The more one speaks to Hashem, the more he will yearn for G-d, and this is what will uplift him to all of the levels. Blessed is Hashem forever, amen and amen.

Translated and Adapted by Rav Micha Golshevsky.

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