I AM the LORD thy God, Which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Ex. 20:2):

1. When a man knows that all the things that happen to him to him are for his good, this aspect is like the World to Come, as is written (Ps. 56): "In God (Elohim, a name corresponding to judgement) will I praise the word: in the LORD (YHWH, a name corresponding to mercy) will I praise the word." And this aspect is like the World to Come, as our Sages of blessed memory said (Pesachim 50): "In that day shall the LORD be one, and His name one." – and they argued: And now is He not one? And our Sages of blessed memory resolved: Now, one blesses upon the good "Who is good and beneficent," and on the bad "the Truthful Judge." But in the future it shall all be "Who is good and beneficent," that the name LORD and the name God shall be one unity:

2. And this aspect is impossible to attain except when one raises the aspect of the Malkhut (Kingship) of holiness from the exile from among the nations, for now the Malkhut and the rule is by the nations, and for this reason their service of idols are referred to as "Gods," for they nurse from the aspect of Malkhut, which is called God, as is written (Ps. 74): "God is my King of old;" and when one raises the aspect of Malkhut from among the nations, then is fulfilled: "For God is the King of all the earth" (there 47):

3. And it is impossible to return the Kingdom to the Lord, blessed-be-He, except through verbal confession before a wise scholar, and through this he repairs and raises the aspect of Malkhut to its root. And this is the explanation of (Hos. 14): "Take with you words (DeVaRim)..." – this is verbal confession, this is like Malkhut, like "One spokesman (DaBboR) per generation" (Sanhedrin 8). "Spokesman" is a term for leader and ruler. "...and return to the LORD" that they should repair and raise up the words, the aspect of Malkhut, like God, to the Lord, i.e. as mentioned above, like "In God will I praise the word: in the LORD will I praise the word," i.e. that one should know that all things that happen to him, they are all for his good and he shall bless upon all things "Who is good and the beneficent:"

4. And when one knows all this, it is called complete knowledge, for the main thing of knowledge is the unity of mercies and strengths, this is called knowledge, i.e. that one should not partition between mercy and judgement, and should bless upon all of them "Who is good and beneficent." And this is called "the Lord, one, and His name, one," as our Sages of blessed memory said, that in the future there shall be complete unity, that it shall all be "Who is good and beneficent."

And this is: The Lord, one, and His name – this is like God, Kingship, as is written (Sam. II 8): "And David got him a name:" One (EchaD = 13), gematria [see Appendix: Gematria] = love (AHaVaH = 13), i.e. whether it is LORD which is mercies, or whether it is His Name which is like God, like judgement – it is all for his good because of the love that the Lord, blessed-be-He, loves you, as is written (Prov. 3): "For whom the LORD loves He corrects." And the writing (Amos 3): "You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities."

5. And the sins of a man are upon his bones, as is written (Eze. 32): "but their iniquities shall be upon their bones," and every sin has a permutation of letters. And when one commits some sin, then an evil permutation is engraved on his bones, and through this he puts the aspect of the speech of this prohibition that he transgressed into the impurity, i.e. he puts the aspect of Malkhut, which is like "one spokesman per generation," he puts it into the nations, and gives them rule. For example, if he transgressed the speech of the prohibition "you shall have no..." then he destroys the good permutation of the speech and builds an evil permutation, and this permutation is engraved on his bones and takes vengeance on him, as is written (Jer. 5): "Your iniquities have turned away these things." And the writing (Ps. 34): "Evil shall slay the wicked." But through spoken confession go out from his bones the letters engraved upon them, and from them is made the speech of confession, for the speech goes out from the bones, as is written (there 35): "All my bones shall say;" and he destroys the building of the evil permutation, and builds from them the Malkhut of holiness.

And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said (Sotah 7): "While Israel walked in the desert, the bones of Yehudah were rolling, until Moshe said: "Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah," since Moshe asked of the Lord, blessed-be-He, that He should recall upon Yehudah the confession that he confessed, and so it was. And this is why specifically his bones were rolling, as in "but their iniquities shall be upon their bones," and through confession they were remedied and went up each one to its place. And Yehudah is like Malkhut; this is a clue, that the aspect of Malkhut is repaired through spoken confession, and this is done through Moshe, since Moshe recalled the confession, for so it must be, that the confession should be before a wise scholar, and every wise scholar is like Moshe, as they said: "Moshe, you have spoken well." And in this, that Moshe recalled the confession, it becomes as if he confessed now before Moshe, and through this is repaired the aspect of Malkhut, and the evil permutation is destroyed that was engraved on his bones.

6. And this is like returning the Malkhut to its root, for the root of Malkhut is fire, as our Sages of blessed memory said (Sanhedrin 101): Why did Nebat err? -- he saw fire issuing from his member. And the Torah is called fire, because from it is Malkhut, as is written (Jer. 23): "Is not my word like as fire?" And the written (Prov. 8): "By me kings reign," and the main thing of Torah is wise scholars, as our Sages of blessed memory said (Makkot 22): "How foolish are those who stand up before a Torah scroll and do not stand up before a rabbinical scholar."

And this is (Num. 31): "And every thing that may abide the fire, you shall make it go through the fire," Thing -- is like Malkhut, which is drawn into the impurity, into the heat of the [evil] inclination, as in (Kiddushin 81): "the fire of `Amram." You shall make it go through the fire – its repair is through fire, i.e. through spoken confession before a wise scholar as mentioned above. And this is the root of the word `AVeRaH (transgression), since the permutation of the transgression passes (`AoVeR) into his bones from side (`AeVeR) to side. But mitzvah (commandment) is a term for connection. When one makes bundles and bundles of commandments (Midrash Rabbah Acharei 21), then his bone fragments get connected, as is written (Ps. 34): "He keeps all his bones"

7. And this is the explanation (Prov. 16): "The wrath of a king is as messengers of death" for the wrath of the Lord, blessed-be-He is because of the Malkhut, that one cast down by his sins; "but a wise man will pacify it," i.e. like the wise scholar, like Moshe, he shall make atonement for him, as is written (Mic. 7): "and passes by the transgression of the remnant" – of one who considers himself as remnants (Rosh Hashanah 17). Hence, when he comes before the wise scholar and brings out all his permutations before the wise scholar, and the wise scholar is like Moshe, who considers himself like remnants, as is written (Num. 12): "Now the man Moses was very humble;" and through this he is called a wise man, as is written (Job 28): "But wisdom shall be found from nothingness" (see Sotah 21). And in this the wise scholar has power to appease, as is said: "but a wise man will pacify it."

And because of this, when Moshe prayed concerning the sin of the Calf, he said (Ex. 32): "Yet now, if you will forgive their sin — ; and if not, blot me, I pray;" for it is from the [realm of] impossibility, that a man should not have some haughtiness, when he hears his praise told, all the more so when a great king praises and glorifies the man, then it is certainly from the impossible, that he should not have some haughtiness. But one needs for this the nullification of all his feeling and materiality, then the man can hear his praise, and he will not have any haughtiness, like Moshe Rabbeinu, who saw it written in the Torah: "And the LORD spoke unto Moshe; And the LORD said unto Moshe;" and Israel reads every day in the Torah the praise of Moshe, and he himself tells them his praise; and Moshe did not have any glory or haughtiness from this, as is written: "Now the man Moses was very humble," and certainly through his humility there was power in the hand of Moshe to atone the sin of the Calf, as is written: "but a wise man will pacify it."

And this is what Moshe argued: "And if not," i.e. if You will not forgive their sin, by this you show that I do not have such humility, that I could atone for them the sin of the Calf, therefore I asked: "blot me, I pray" in order that I should not stumble in pride, since I see and hear all the time the telling of my fame and my praise in the Torah, for who can stand in this, that he should hear the telling of his praise and not be proud, if he is not greatly humble; and if I am humble, then you need it that you should forgive their sin, as is written: ): "and passes by the transgression of the remnant" etc.:

And this is: (Deut. 33) "And he was king in Yeshurun," i.e. the kingship went up to its root, as is written (Ps. 37): "But the meek shall inherit the earth," and earth is the law of the kingship, as is written (Job 20): "and the earth shall rise up against him:"

8. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said (Sotah 21): Parable of a man who is walking in the middle of the night and darkness, and is afraid of thorns, pits, thistles, wild beasts and robbers, and also does not know the road in which he is going. If a lighted torch is prepared for him, he is saved from thorns, pits and thistles; but he is still afraid of wild beasts and robbers, and does not know the road in which he is going. When, however, dawn breaks, he is saved from wild beasts and robbers, but still does not know the road in which he is going. When, however, he reaches the crossroads, he is saved from everything.

For this is known, that all the bad attributes and their derivatives are drawn from the four elements, from the four biles, as brought in Mishnat Chasidim: Depression and its derivatives are drawn from the inanimate, evil lusts and their derivatives are drawn from the vegetable, wasteful words and their derivatives are drawn from the animal, pride and its derivatives are drawn from the speaking; and whoever wants to walk in the holy way, must break all the evil traits and shall tell before the wise scholar, i.e. spoken confession, and the wise scholar shall lay out and select for him a way according to the root of his soul. And there are three aspects in approaching tzaddikim, through which three roads everything is repaired. And these are the three aspects:

The first aspect, is when one sees the Tzaddik, as is written (Isa. 30): "but your eyes shall see your teachers;" and this aspect annuls the bad traits, that are drawn from the two elements inanimate and vegetable, i.e. depression and its derivatives and evil lusts, for the Tzaddik of the generation is called Mother, because he nurses Israel in the light of his Torah, and the Torah is called milk, as is written (Song 4): "honey and milk are under thy tongue." And this we see tangibly, when the infant is in depression and laziness, when he sees his mother, he awakes in great haste towards his mother, i.e. to his root.

Also we see tangibly, when a child is busy with his things of nonsense, even though he has great lusts for this, despite this when he sees his mother, he throws all his lusts behind his shoulders and draws himself to his mother. Hence, the evil traits of the two elements inanimate and vegetable are annulled through seeing the face of the Tzaddik.

And this is: and is afraid of thorns – which is like the vegetable; and pits – which is like inanimate. If a lighted torch is prepared for him – this is the wise scholar, who is ablaze in the light of the Torah, and through this he is saved from evil traits of the two elements inanimate and vegetable, and so he is saved from the thorns and from the pits.

The second aspect, is the tzedakah that one gives to the wise scholar, through which he is saved from the evil traits of the two elements animal and speaking, which are like the wild beasts and robbers, which are wasteful words and pride and their derivatives, for through wasteful words and slander comes poverty, as is written (Ex. 4): "for all the men are dead" – this is poverty. Also regarding pride they said (Kiddushin 49): "A sign for presumptuousness is poverty," but through charity one becomes rich, as our Sages of blessed memory said (Gittin 7): "’Though they be in full strength and likewise many, even so shall they be sheared off and he shall cross. And though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more’... [Heaven] will not again show him signs of poverty."

And this is: When, however, dawn breaks, he is saved from wild beasts and robbers. Dawnbreak hints to charity, as is written (Isa. 58): "when you see the naked, that you cover him... then shall thy light break forth as the morning." Hence, through charity one is saved from evil traits of the two elements animal and speaking, which are like the evil beast and robbers.

The third aspect, is when one confesses spoken confession before the wise scholar, through which the wise scholar directs him on a straight path according to the root of his soul, and this is: "he reaches the cross-roads," and our Sages of blessed memory said (Sotah 21): This is the wise scholar, and the day of death, this is like spoken confession before the wise scholar; the day of death hints to confession, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Sanhedrin 43): "Whoever is to be put to death confesses," and this is called a crossroads (PaRaShat DeRaKhim), for the wise scholar defines him a way (maPhRiSh lo DeReKh) according to the root of his soul, then he is saved from all of them, for before he confessed, even though he was by the wise scholar and gave him money, yet he did not know which road he was on, for "There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Prov. 14), but when he arrived at the crossroads, which is a wise scholar and the day of death, i.e. spoken confession before a wise scholar, then he is saved from all of them.

9. And this is every time when one comes to a wise scholar and tells before him all his heart, and the wise scholar is like Moshe, who is like nothingness, as is written: "But wisdom shall be found from nothingness;" and through this you are included in the Infinite. And this is like: "Zarka [a cantillation mark for Torah reading, where the voice is thrown from a lower to higher pitch], since it is thrown back to the place that it was taken from," since you shall return the Malkhut to the Infinite One, which is the desire that is in all desires.

For the Malkhut, which is like the letters of speech, each and every letter has clothed in it the will of the Lord, blessed-be-He, since the will of the Lord, blessed-be-He, was that this letter should have such an image, and another letters, should have another image. Hence, the wills, i.e. the images of the letters, are the revelation of his Kingship, blessed be his Name, and all these wills, i.e. the images, are drawn from the will of the Infinite One, in whom is no image, and all the things and the existence in the world are from the letters, i.e. from Malkhut, for existence is because of the Malkhut, since the Lord, blessed-be-He, wanted that his Kingship should be revealed in the world, and through this he created the world from nothingness to existence, and all the desires, i.e. the images, and all the existence, i.e. the aspect of Malkhut, receives its life from the will of the Infinite One, as they said (Megillah 31): Wherever you find the greatness of the Holy One, blessed-be-He, there you find his humility, i.e. the will of the Infinite One.

And this is like putting off the materiality, for when one wants to include oneself in the will of the Infinite One, he must annul his existence. And this is that which is written in the Zohar (Yitro, page 84), that the passing away of Moshe was on Shabbat at the time of Minchah, which is the time of revelation of the Ra`awah d’Ra`awin [Aram.] (Will of Wills), which is like the will of the Infinite One, from which all the wills receive their life. And this is because Moshe annulled all his existence, as is written (Ex. 16): "and what are we." This is the explanation of: And he buried him in a valley (Deut. 34) –- this is like nothingness, as is written (Isa. 40): Every valley shall be exalted; in the land of Moab this is like Malkhut, as David comes from Moab, since Moshe passed away into the Infinite, into the Will of Wills, into the Ra`awah d’Ra`awin, which is like the will of the Infinite that is clothed in the wills, in the images of the letters, in the aspect of Malkhut, as they said: Wherever you find His greatness, i.e. Malkhut, like wills, there you find the will, the Will of the Infinite One.

And this is: over against Beit-Pe`or, for our Sages of blessed memory said (an anecdotal explanation brought in Tosefot Sotah 14): "Why was it called Pe`or? because it opens wide its mouth," for when one blemishes in Malkhut, then it has power to open wide its mouth in evil permutations; but Moshe, who repaired the aspect of Malkhut, through this Pe`or did not have the ability to open wide its mouth. And this is: but no man knows –- even Moshe did not know, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Sotah 14), for he was annulled in the Infinite. And all this was in his death, but certainly also in his life he had putting off of materiality, and would cleave himself to the light of the Infinite, but the putting off was like: "And the living creatures ran and returned;" for the Holy One, blessed be He, wants our service, as is written: "but you desire praise from bodies of dust, from lumps of clay." And because of this one must not remain so (annulled), only until the time when the Holy One, blessed-be-He, himself comes and takes up his soul.

And this is that which we see, that sometimes a man flames up inside during prayer and says several words in great ardor, this is by the pity of the Lord upon him, that the light of the Infinite is opened to him and shines for him; and when a man sees this sparking, even though he does not see, his mazal (guardian angel) sees (Megillah 3), immediately his soul flames up to great cleavage, to cleave itself to the light of the Infinite, and according to the measure of the revelation of the Infinite, according to the count of words that were opened up and sparked up, all these words he says in great cleavage and in great devotion of soul in nullification of his powers, and when he is annulled against the Infinite, then he is like: but no man knows, even he himself does not know of himself.

But this aspect must be "running and returning," in order that his existence should endure. Hence, when he is like "and returning," then he must show also to his mind, for at first, at the time of cleavage, the knowledge was annulled, as is written: but no man knows; and when he is like "and returning," when he returns (to his mind) to his existence, and he returns to his mind; and when he returns to his mind, then he knows the unity of the Infinite and His goodness, and then there is no difference between Lord and God, between the trait of judgement and the trait of mercy, for in the Infinite One is not applicable, God forbid, a change in will, for the changes are only in changes of the images, but through the cleavage of a man to the Infinite, where there is not change of will, for there is simply will, and afterwards there remains in him his impression from this unity, and afterwards he becomes like "and returning," then his impression shows to the mind, that it should know that it is all good and all one.

And this is what Moshe said to his generation (Deut. 4): "You have been shown in order to know that the LORD, He is the God;" for Moshe is like nothingness, and his generation that cleaved to him, it was proper for them to know, i.e. to show to the mind, the aspect of the Infinite, the aspect of the Will of Wills, the aspect of: "The LORD, He is the God:"

And this is the explanation of: Said Rabbah bar Bar Channah: Once we were travelling on board a ship and saw a kawra (fish) in whose nostrils a mud-eater had entered (and the fish died). And the water cast it up, and threw it upon the shore. Sixty towns were destroyed thereby, sixty towns ate therefrom, and sixty towns salted [the remnants] thereof, and they filled from one of its eyeballs three hundred kegs of oil. On returning after twelve months of the year, we saw that they were sawing rafters from its bones and proceeding to rebuild those towns.

Rashbam: Kawra – a fish. Mud eater -- a small creeping thing. In whose nostrils – the creeping thing entered into the nostrils of the fish. And the water cast it up – the water cast it up and threw it onto dry land, in the way of the sea, which does not tolerate a dead thing. Sixty towns were destroyed thereby – since the water threw onto sixty towns and broke all of them, since it was so big. Sixty towns ate therefrom – while it was still moist. And sixty towns salted [the remnants] thereof – other towns, which were far from there, salted from it and took it to their place. From one of its eyeballs – from its eyeball they took three hundred kegs of oil. They were sawing – to rebuild from the bones of the fish those same cities that it leveled.

And the explanation: A ship (sfinah) – a term for importance, like Malkhut, since Rabbah bar Bar Channah investigated with his intelligence after the Malkhut, how mankind raise her. And saw a kawra (fish) – Israel are named fish, as is written (Gen. 48): "and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." In whose nostrils a mud-eater had entered – this is like the prayer of Israel, as is written (Isa. 48): "For my praise will-I-restrain-[My-anger] (eCheToM [like ChoTeM, nose]) for you;" since a creeping thing, i.e. impurity, got mixed with his prayer and service and confused him, and this Israelite man was not able to perform his service completely. What did this man do? he performed the three aspects mentioned above, i.e. tying oneself to the Tzaddik and giving charity and spoken confession.

And this is the explanation: And (the fish) died and the water cast it up, and threw it upon the shore; and [he] mentioned the three aspects from top to bottom: And (the fish) died – this is like spoken confession, as they said: "Whoever is to be put to death confesses;" And the water cast it up – this is like charity, as is written (Eccl. 11) "Cast your bread upon the waters," and the written (Isa. 32): "Happy are you that sow beside all waters;" And threw it upon the shore – the Tzaddik is called "shore (GoDa)," a term for fence (GaDer), since he fences the breaches of Israel (Eze. 22, Isa. 58), and this is: "And threw it upon the shore," since he offered-[charity of]-himself/drew-himself-close to the Tzaddik.

And through these three aspects: Sixty towns were destroyed thereby – since through the death, i.e. the spoken confession, he raised the Malkhut from among the Sitra Achora (Other [Evil] Side), and the Tzaddik shows him the straight way, as is written in the Haftarah of Bereishit (Isa. 42): "I will destroy mountains and hills..." -- hinting to destruction of the rule of the nations, "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not" – this is like the Tzaddik showing him a straight way, this is like a crossroads, as mentioned above, and "sixty towns" hints to rise of the Malkhut, of which it is written (Song 6): "There are sixty queens (melakhot)." And sixty towns ate therefrom hints to the two evil traits of animate and speaking [kingdoms], through which comes poverty as mentioned above, but through charity one repairs them and draws down the flow. And this is: "they ate from it." And "sixty towns" hints to the aspect of sixty mighty men, from which comes livelihood, as they said: "strengths of the rains" (Berakhot 33, Ta`anit 2, see there).

And sixty towns salted [the remnants] thereof – this hints to repair of the two evil traits, inanimate and vegetable, through his drawing close to the Tzaddik, for the Tzaddik is "an everlasting covenant of salt. Also depression and lusts come from foul blood, but through salt one extracts the bad bloods, and "sixty towns" clues to the sixty letters in the Priestly Blessing, which are in the hand of the Tzaddik, as is written (Prov. 10): "Blessings are upon the head of the righteous."

And they filled from one of its eyeballs three hundred kegs of oil. Kegs of oil – this is like knowledge, for "holy anointing oil" (Ex. 30), this is like intelligence. And "three hundred," this is like Moshe, who is like the Tzaddik diminishing himself in the aspect of "what." In three aspects it is necessary to diminish the self, as is written (Jer. 9): "Let not the wise man... mighty man... rich man glory."

Hence, in each aspect from these three aspects he is made "what," and through this he has putting off of materiality, and clings to the light of the Infinite, where there is no change of will, rather the Lord he is the God as mentioned above, i.e. it is all "the good and the beneficent." And this is like "one of its eyeballs," as brought down in the Idra (Nasso 137): "And in the future there will be found one eye of compassion," this is like ‘it shall all be "Who is good and beneficent.’" Hence, when the Tzaddik makes himself "what," he cleaves himself to the one eye of compassion, i.e. to the Infinite; and afterwards, when he returns, as in running and returning, then he draws down from the light of the Infinite the unity of the will that extends there through his "what," and from "what (MaH)" is made "hundred (MeaH)," as they said: "Do not read it as what (MaH), but hundred (MeaH)," and from the three MaH are made three MeaH, and he draws this light to his mind and intelligence, i.e. "kegs of oil," which is like intelligence as mentioned above. "You have been shown in order to know," since he draws down the light of the Infinite to his mind, that he should know the unity, that the Lord, he is the God, and should bless "the Good and the Beneficent" upon everything as in the future to come.

On returning after twelve months of the year, we saw that they were sawing rafters from its bones and proceeding to rebuild those towns. For behind the holiness, which is the Twelve Tribes, through which is repaired the Malkhut mentioned above, and behind them is the impurity, and there are people, who go out from the holiness. And this is what the Tannah (the Mishnaic scholar, i.e. Rabbah bar Bar Channah) told, that he paid respect and returned to inquire after these who are after twelve months of the year, who are behind the Twelve Tribes of holiness, who go out from the category of Israel through their evil deeds. And he saw they were sawing rafters from its bones, i.e. through their evil deeds, engraved upon their bones, the engraving passes from side to side just like a saw mark. But through the Israelite man mentioned above waking up in repentance through the small creeping thing in his nostrils, by feeling a small impurity that confuses him, through his repentance he causes, that also these evil ones are made into a seat for holiness, and should be "for rebuilding those towns" as mentioned above.

And this is the explanation: I am the LORD your God – meaning, whether it is LORD or your God, understand that all this is I, i.e. that you should fulfill: "In God will I praise the word: in the LORD will I praise the word," i.e. that all should be "Good and Beneficent" as mentioned above; Which have brought you out of the Land of Egypt, since it says in the commentary (Bereishit Ch. 16): "for all the exiles are named by the exile of Egypt (MiTZRaIM), since they afflict (M’TZeRIM) Israel," i.e. through the Tzaddik the kingship and rule of the nations are annulled, for through this the Malkhut of holiness goes up out of them, as mentioned above.

From the house of slavery this hints to nullification of the evil traits of the four elements which are named by the title "slaves," for all the four elements are under the moon orb, and the moon is called by the title "slave," as brought in the Zohar (Wayishev 181): "’Behold, my slave will become intelligent’ – this is the moon," meaning through the Tzaddik the Kingship goes up from the Other Side, and the evil traits are annulled, and through this the man comes to the aspect of the World to Come, to the aspect of: "In God will I praise the word: in the LORD will I praise the word:" (:^>

Appendix: Gematria (Letter-Number System)

http://nissim.lbox.org/breslev – Nissim’s Breslev translations
http://breslov.com/library/ -- many Breslov books online in Hebrew.