Likutei Moharan
61
Rabbi
Shim`on was happy and said: "O LORD, I have
heard your speech, and was afraid" [Hab.
3:2] And he said: There it was proper for me to
fear. (Nasso 128)
1. Through faith in the Sages we can bring our mishpat’
(judgement, sentence) to light. For justice is the Central
Column (see Patach Eliyahu),
i.e. like the middle road, that does not lean right
nor left. And this we merit through faith in the Sages, which is like
(Deut. 17): You shall not stray from the word that they tell you, right or
left; therefore by this the sentence comes out clear, as mentioned above;
as in sentences... of truth (Ps. 19); i.e. all the teachings that a man
learns, he must receive and bring out from them sentences of truth, that it
should not be like crooked judgment, i.e. that he should receive and learn from
all the teachings that he learns, laws of conduct, that he should know how to
behave, whether for himself, or whether for others that conduct themselves
according to his opinion, each and every one according to his aspect, according
to the governance and authority he has, whether it is great or small. And
all this we merit through faith in the Sages, which is like "You shall
not stray" etc., and then he can bring out straight laws of conduct,
like judgements of truth, that he should not stray right or left, as
mentioned above.
But when
one blemishes the faith in the Sages, then he is judged in weariness of the
flesh, i.e. in extra waste, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Eruvin 21): Whoever mocks the words of the
Sages is judged with boiling feces, as it is written [Eccl. 12:12]: ... and
much study is a weariness of the flesh. And this is measure for
measure, for he did not believe in their words, and mocked them, and their
words were only extra waste according to him, therefore his is judged in extra
waste. And all the judgements are from the brain, like (I Kings 3): And
they were in awe before the King, for they saw that the wisdom of God was
within him, to perform justice. And the brain is according to the
food, and when the body is clean then the brain is clear, and then he can bring
out judgments of truth, straight ways of conduct. But when he is judged
in extra wastes by blemishing faith in the Sages as mentioned above, then the putrid
vapors go up to the brain, and mix up and confuse his mind, and then he cannot
bring out judgments of truth, and then he brings out crooked judgment, like (Hab. 1): For the wicked does compass about the
righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceeds; i.e. through the putrid
vapors surrounding and enshrouding the brain and confusing it -- through this
the crooked judgment proceeds, like (Ps. 147) and as for His judgments, they
have not known them, i.e. confusion of the brains.
And
Doeg, because his learning was in this fashion of
extra wastes, as in that which is said of Doeg (I
Sam. 21): Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day,
detained (ne`etzar) before the LORD; and his
name was Doeg etc. and Rashi
explained: He stops (`otzer) himself etc. to
delve in Torah; for his learning was in the way of stopping up, like extra
waste; therefore he could not bring out from this learning judgements of truth,
only crooked judgement. And therefore he judged
that David was not fit to come in to the community (Yevamot
76); and this was because his learning was from the extra wastes as
mentioned above:
2. And there are leaders who are called Rabbis, whose
learning is from these extra wastes. And not only are they unable to even
conduct themselves, as mentioned above -- and all the more so are they unable
to lead others -- but also they take the honor for themselves
to lead the world. And we must not ordain them, that they should have
authority and power, that they should not be called Rabbis, for they themselves
are not so guilty, for they have a great yetzer
harah to conduct the world, but we just need to
be very careful to not give them authority and power, for those who give them
authority and power and by whom they are ordained that they should be called
Rabbis -- they shall give judgement and account [for
it].
Because the semikhah
(ordination; laying [of hands]), that they somekh (ordain, lay [hands on]) a rabbi or a
writing -- they are one idea, for the semikhah is by hands, as is written (Deut.
34): And Yehoshua Bin Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moshe laid
his hands upon him. And this is the idea of writing, like the Writing
Hand [Tikkunei Zohar,
Tikun 56, folio 89, and see Zohar
Chadash I:47]. For
the writing is also like wisdom, for the letters of text -- by them were all
the worlds created, as is written (Ps. 33): By the word of the LORD were the
heavens made etc.; and it is written (there 104): ...in wisdom have you
made all of them, for there is in each and every letter a wisdom, that the
Blessed One 's wisdom required that one letter should be in such a form, and
through it should be created one world in this fashion, and to behave in this
conduct that this world has -- and likewise the other worlds in another fashion
and conduct, through the fashion of another letter, for this is the decree of
the Blessed One's wisdom.
And when a sage who is fit for semikhah is ordained with the name Rabbi, whose conduct
is like sentences of truth as mentioned above, then through this
semikhah, which then receives its wisdom from the aspect of the hand of the
Lord, as in: And Yehoshua Bin Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom etc. as
mentioned above, then he brings revelation and power to our writing, which is
also the idea of wisdom, as mentioned above, as in (I Chr. 28): All this the
LORD made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, which is the idea
of semikhah -- through this he brings revelation and power to the writing, as
mentioned above. And this is like (Num. 11) and the spirit rested upon
them; and they were of them that were written; because since they were
ordained, therefore they received the spirit of wisdom,
through this they brought revelation upon the writing, i.e. on our handwriting,
as mentioned above. And then, not only is our handwriting not subject to their
justice, but even all their judgements of conducts -- all are by means of our
handwriting, like (Ps. 149) To do on them the judgment written.
But when we
ordain a rabbi who is not fit, through this our handwriting is weakened, and we
give authority to their writing, and all the sentences then need to be via
their writings specifically, which is like and as for His judgements, they
have not know them, like crooked judgment, as mentioned above.
And through this they decree to expel
3. And through this the wisdom of the processions of the
celestial spheres, to know all the changes and futures that come via the
celestial spheres, is taken away from us, and it is given over to them. For originally this wisdom was given over
only to us, as is written (Deut. 4) For it
is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples; and our Rabbis
expounded (Shabbat 75): which wisdom and understanding is in the eyes of
the peoples? -- you
have to say it is the calculation of seasons (tequfot)
and constellations (mazalot).
For in this
there is tact, that the secret should remain by us,
even though the wisdom is let known to them.
For certainly we must let them know the wisdom, so that they should know
of our wisdom, that we know this wisdom, as is written, For
it is your wisdom etc.; and therefore, since we let them know, it is no
secret, for now don’t they also know?
But there is a tact here, that we can let them
know the wisdom, and yet the secret remains by us. And this is like: For it is your wisdom
and understanding in the eyes of the peoples – in the eyes of the peoples specifically,
i.e. that it is in the eyes of the nations at the time we let them know, but
immediately after, they know not at all; they only know the secret is by us,
for we do not let them know this wisdom in essence, which is like the secret of
intercalation, only that there is in this a tact, that we can only show in
their eyes, so that they know that this wisdom is by us, but the essence of the
secret of the wisdom stays but us.
And
this is like the secret of intercalation, which is given over only to the
giants of the generation [see Rashi R.H. 20
& 22 BD”H tehe mesurah. And see
PDR”A 85 and in Rambam
Hil. Kid. Hachodesh 11:4] who have great souls, for the orbits of
the spheres is via the intellects, which are messengers/angels, and each and
every sphere has a unique intellect, i.e. an angel by which is it is conducted,
and through this is the variation of the orbits of the spheres, that one sphere
goes in a month and in this order, and
another sphere goes in a year or more, and there is a sphere that needs a great
time, several thousands of years until it goes around. And everything is according to variation of
the intellects, which vary according to their distance from the
And these great souls need to have a
body, as in (Isa. 4): The fruit of the earth, like the air of Eretz
And
this is what our Sages of blessed memory said (Ketuvot 112): And mine hand shall be upon the
prophets that see vanity… they shall not be in the assembly of my people [Eze.
13:9] – this is the
secret of intercalation; “neither shall they be written in the writing of
the house of Israel” – this is the semikhah; “neither shall they
enter into the land of Israel” – is like it sounds, i.e. as mentioned
above, “neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel”
– this is the semikhah; i.e. through semikhah, when they
ordain with the name “Rabbi” those who are not fit, through this we weaken the
Israelite writing, as mentioned above.
And this is: “neither shall they enter into the
4. And through this he never has complete counsel, and
is never able to give advice to himself, and he always doubts. For all his counsels are like boorish
counsels (Isa. 19), advice of women, for the filth of
the wastes goes up to the heart, like (Eze. 14): … brought up idols upon
their heart; and his heart was made filthy like the toilet-room, which is
the place of women’s advice, like Rabbi `Ilash said (Gittin 45): Women arrange all their words in
the toilet-room, since all their advice is there.
5. However for
one who is already sunken into these wastes, there is a water
that purifies from this filth, like (Eze. 36): Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your
idols, will I cleanse you. And then he comes to complete
counsel, like (there, 37): …neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms
any more at all. Neither shall they
defile themselves any more with their idols. For since they are purified from their idols
and the filth as mentioned above, and through this: neither shall they be
divided into two kingdoms (maMLaChot) – which is
like counsel, as is written (Dan. 4) Let my advice (MiLCi)
be acceptable unto you; i.e. one merits to complete counsel, for through
this water mentioned above complete advices are made with him, like (Prov. 20): Counsel in the heart of man is like deep
water.
And these waters are like disputation, like (Deut. 20): waters of strife. And therefore dispute is called pelugta, like (Ps. 65): the
For there
are many books now, and there shall also be many more books to come, and the
world needs all of them. And in the
beginning, when he did not have faith in the Sages, then all the books were
like nothing by him, for he mocked them, as is written (Eccl. 12): of making
many books there is no end; and much study etc., i.e. he mocks that there
are so many books, and then they are like nothing, in his view. And when he comes back in return on this,
then each time a book is renewed by him, for all the books that were like nothing
in his eyes come back and are valued by him.
And all is according to the dispute, for he looks and meditates on the
dispute, as to why they are arguing so, with these words, and not in another
way, and through this he understands how to come back in return and repair the
faith in the Sages, for that is where the dispute is drawn from, through
blemishing faith in the Sages. And
according to the return, according to the dispute, so he comes back to the
faith in the Sages, and likewise a book is renewed by him, for it returns and
is valued in his eyes, that which before in his eyes was like nothing. And likewise each time according to the
dispute, so is the return, that he returns to faith in the Sages, and likewise
another book is renewed by him, for some other book comes back and is valued in
his eyes, that before he would mock and which was like nothing in his eyes, as
mentioned above. And this is like (Job.
31): Let whoever contends with me write a book – since through argument
and dispute a book is made.
And there are righteous
of the generation, whose faith is certainly complete, and despite this there is
dispute upon them; it is like (Isa. 53): and he
bare the sin of many etc.; he shall bear their iniquities; i.e. he
bears dispute for the sake of the world.
And through the dispute that is upon him, through this he repairs the
faith in the Sages by the multitudes of people.
And there are those who have dispute upon them because they do not have faith in themselves,
and they do not have faith in their Torah-revelations that they invent, and
they do not believe that Hashem Yitbarakh
has great amusement from their revelations, and because of this, that they do
not have faith in themselves, through this they back down from their
revelations, and therefore dispute comes upon them, but through this they come
back in Return and review, and their revelations become esteemed by them, and
they repeat and invent, and from this produce a book.
And sometimes a
book is made from this on high, for through this that someone asked and posed a
difficulty, and this one came back in return, through this he answers and
solves and through this a book is made on high, like (Mal. 3): Then they
that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and
heard it, and a book of remembrance was written.
6. And through this all the constrictions are sweetened, which are the strict
judgments. And any place that has some
judgment and constriction, is sweetened through this, and through repair of
faith in the Sages, through this the books of holy Torah are multiplied. For all the sweetenings
of all the constrictions and judgements are through the intellect, for all were
created in the thought (see Zohar Pikudei daf 254B). For the mind is the root of
the judgments, and there the judgments are sweetened. For a judgement can
only be sweetened at its root (`Etz Chayim Shaar 3 Ch. 11), and
each judgement and constriction needs to be sweetened
by the intellect pertaining to it, for its root is from there. And each and every construction has an intellect,
through which it is sweetened.
But there is
an Upper Wisdom, where all the wisdoms are included and from which they
receive, and therefore all the judgements are sweetened there. For the particular intellects cannot be
sweetened except by the intellect pertaining to that constriction specifically,
which is its root; but through the aspect of the Upper Wisdom which is made up
of all of them – there all the entire constrictions and judgements are
sweetened.
And the
Torah which goes out from the Upper Wisdom, for “Torah goes out from the Upper
Wisdom” (Zohar Beshalach
daf 62), and which cannot receive from the Upper
Wisdom unless it has completion – and completion of the Torah is through the
Oral Torah, for the Written Torah does not have wholeness except through the
Oral Torah, and therefore through the books mentioned above, which are renewed
through the dispute, like: “Let whoever contends with me write a book,” like
“of making many books there is no end,” and through this the Torah is
completed, and then the Torah is like (Ex. 24): tablets of stone, which
receives its illumination from the aspect of the Foundation Stone, for each
think in the world has a different
constriction in quantity and quality, and all the constrictions in the world,
all of them are inscribed in the Foundation Stone, from which the world was
drawn forth, and they all receive from it, and there all the judgements are
sweetened, for it is like the Upper Wisdom, like the Holy of Holies.
For the
intellect is called The Holy (see Zohar Acharei 61), and they all receive and are included in
the aspect of Holy of Holies, which is like the Upper Wisdom, which is made up
of all of them, and from there is the sweetening of all the judgements, in
particular and in general. For also when
the judgements are sweetened in particular by some intellect of some
constriction, it also needs to draw power from the Upper Intellect mentioned
above, so that this particular intellect should have power to sweeten the
judgment. And also in general, to
sweeten all the judgements that may be from some constriction, is impossible
except by the aspect of the Upper Intellect, like the Holy of Holies, like the
Foundation Stone as (see Zohar Wayechi daf 231, and Tanchuma parashat Eikev) as mentioned above.
And when the Torah has completion through the books as mentioned above, then it receives
from the Upper Wisdom, like the Stone Tablets, like the Foundation Stone, and
then it bestows on all the Wisdoms, and all the judgements are sweetened, like
(Ps. 20): He shall send your help from the Holy, since the main help and
salvation, which is like the sweetening of judgments, is from the Holy, i.e.
through the intellect which is called The Holy, as is known [Zohar part 3, 61]. And this is why the letters of SheTiYiaH (Foundation) are an acrostic for: Hen Tawi Shaddai Ya`aneni
(the text of Job 31: behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me
[or: the marks of the Almighty answer me]; Let whoever contends with me write a
book). Hen TaVI
[marks of] Shaddai… – i.e. the aspect that the
impressions of all the constrictions are sweetened through coming into shetiyah [setting, making, placing, drinking], like the Foundation Stone mentioned above – is
the reason for …Ya`aneni (answering me), like
sweetening, like: He shall send your help from The Holy, as mentioned
above.
And this is: Behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me;
Let whoever contends with me write a book, for through him writing a book as mentioned
above, i.e. abundance of books that are made through the dispute as mentioned
above, after which the Torah has completion, and received from the General
Intellect, from the Upper Wisdom, which is like the Foundation Stone as
mentioned above, and through this Behold, the marks of the Almighty would
answer me – like sweetening, through the aspect of the Stone Tablets, which
receive from the Foundation Stone as mentioned above:
7. And this is the concept of why we go on Rosh
Hashanah to Tzaddikim. For Rosh Hashanah is the Judgment Day of the
whole year, and each and every one comes with his holiness and his
constrictions to the Tzaddik of the Generation, who
is like the Holy of Holies, like the Foundation Stone, like (I Shm. 2): for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he has set the world upon them (see Yoma 38b), Sanh.
26b), which are the Tzaddikim, for upon them the
world was founded, and through this all the judgments are sweetened, through
the aspect of the Foundation Stone as mentioned above. And this is like the stones of Yaakov, where all of them were amassed into the foundation
Stone (B”R Wayetze P. 68, see Zohar daf 58, Wayechi 231), for the souls are like stones,
as is written (Job 4): Let the stones of The Holy be poured out; and all
of them come and are included inside the Tzaddik of
the Generation, who is like the Foundation Stone, and through this all the
constrictions are sweetened, as mentioned above.
8. And through this, that all the souls are included
together as mentioned above, through this joy is made, like (Prov. 13): The light of the righteous shall rejoice. For the souls is like a candle, like (Prov. 20): The candle of the LORD is the soul of a man; and
when all are included as one a light is made from them and through this joy is
made, like: the light of the righteous shall rejoice.
And this is the explanation of: Rabbi Shim`on was happy and said: "O
LORD, I have heard your speech, and was afraid" And he said: There it
was proper for me to fear. For Habbakuk said this prophecy regarding Rabbi Akiva and his friends, who died because they did not have
love in them, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Yev.
62): For they were in the way of strengths and constrictions, and were not
included as one, and were not sweetened.
But Rabbi Shim`on and his friends who were
their rectification, and who therefore said: We depend on affection,
i.e. the aspect of love and unity, that they were united together, and through
this is the sweetening and the remedy as mentioned above. And from this comes the aspect of: Rabbi Shim`on was happy, i.e. the aspect of joy, which is
made through the inclusion and the love, like: the light of Tzaddikim shall rejoice.
He opened and said: A tale-bearer goes and reveals a secret [Prov. 11:
13] – A tale-bearer goes etc. – for his spirit is not an enduring
spirit, i.e. a spirit of wisdom; and it is not faithful, i.e. faith in
the Sages as mentioned above, for because there is no faith in the Sages in
him, there is no spirit of wisdom in him, for he is judged in extra wastes as
mentioned above. And reveals a secret
– this is like nullification of our handwriting, for we cannot receive the
light of the intellect from the hands of semikhah as mentioned above,
like (Job 36): Upon the hands he covered light; for the letters must
receive the light of the intellect from the hands of the semikhah as
mentioned above, but through blemish of faith in the Sages, which is like a
tale-bearer goes, through this he reveals a secret, for the light of
the intellect is exiled and removed as mentioned above, and through this they
shall not be in the assembly of my people, as mentioned above. “But he that is of a faithful spirit
conceals the matter – for the enduring spirit is in him” – through the aspect
of faith in the Sages, through this he conceals the matter, like: Upon the
hands he covered light as mentioned above:
http://nissim.lbox.org/breslev – Nissim’s Breslev translations
http://breslov.com/library/ -- many Breslov books online in Hebrew