Likutei Moharan 12:5/ליקוטי מוהר"ן י״ב:ה׳

15. This is what Rabbah bar bar Chanah recounted: I myself saw Hurmiz the son of Lilit. He was running along the top of the wall of Machoza. A parasha (cavalryman) moving swiftly on a horse down below could not overtake him. Once, two mules were saddled for him. They stood on two bridges of the Donag. He leaped back and forth from one to the other, holding two cups of wine in his hands. And he morek (poured) from one cup to the other, without dripping any of it on the ground, though it was a day of “rising up to the sky and going down to the deeps.” The malkhut (government) heard about this and put him to death (Bava Batra 73a).

2I myself saw Hurmiz — Rashbam explains that this is a demon.

3the son of Lilit — A reference to the scholar-demon. This is the meaning of the son of Lilit. As the Midrash comments: When Moshe was in heaven, how did he differentiate between day and night? <The answer is> that when he was taught the Oral Law, he knew it was LayLah (night) (Shochar Tov 19). Hence he is the son of LiLit. For, essentially, a person is called a scholar due to [his knowledge of] the Oral Law.

4He was running along the top of the wall — This alludes to the tzaddik of the generation. The scholar-demon persecutes the tzaddik of the generation, who is likened to a wall, as our Sages taught: A [true] Torah scholar needs no protection (Bava Batra 7b). See there.

5A parasha (cavalryman) moving swiftly — Rashbam explains that he did so unintentionally. This PaRaSha is the Tanna who originated the teaching and PeRShah (explained) it <with his lips>. He clarified its obscurities. He, too, is persecuted, though unintentionally. For the scholar-demon does not intend to run after the Tanna. This persecution happens automatically.

6mounted on a horse down below — By studying of the Tanna’s teaching, the learned individual causes the Tanna’s soul to return to his body. This return of soul to body is similar to one’s being mounted on a horse: the horse is secondary to <the rider>. And this is the aspect of down below. Through their studying, those from below cause the Tanna’s soul to mounted upon his horse—his body, as in, “His lips move in the grave.” But:

7could not overtake him — For the Tanna cannot take his kisses, because “A carcass is better than he,” and, “The kisses of an enemy are profuse.” Thus the Tanna runs away from him. And should you wonder: How is it that the Tanna ’s teaching not only fails to bring the learned individual to repent, but on the contrary, he becomes even more haughty? And how does it happen that from the holy teaching of the Tanna, the learned individual is able to stumble? The answer is:

8Once, two mules were saddled for him — There are times when the Tanna lapses into some extremely minute oversight so that through it he can draw a twofold life-force to the world.

9For there are two types of life-force: spiritual life-force, which is “Length of days in her right hand”; and material life-force, which is “in her left hand are riches and glory.” The Tanna, because of his resolute cleaving to the spiritual life-force, does not, God forbid, detach himself from the spiritual vitality. But, as a result of his lapsing into <an aspect of oversight> for material life-force:

10They stood on two bridges of the Donag (wax). He leaped back and forth from one to the other — He is like a man standing on a bridge made of wax. It is impossible for him to remain there. He leaps over to the second bridge. But, because the second bridge is also made of wax, he has to leap to the first one—leaping back and forth. So, too, the Tanna. Primarily, his study is always for its own sake. However, because it is up to him to draw material life-force to the world, he is made to lapse into study that is not purely for its own sake. The aspect of lishmah is <taken> from him, and he leaps from purely- to not-purely-for-its-own-sake. Yet, due to his holiness, <he cannot bear the non- lishmah and so again> jumps to lishmah . This is because, for him, the aspect [not-purely-for-its-own-sake] is like the bridge of donag, which cannot be stood upon. So he leaps into purely-for-its-own-sake, <but> because there is a need to benefit the world he leaps from this bridge, which for him—at that particular moment—is like a bridge of wax. And he leaped back and forth from one to the other. As a result, his teachings have the aspect of “but the sinners will stumble in them.” [This leaping back and forth is thus] the rectification for all the above.

11holding two cups of wine in his hands — There are two aspects of wine: the aspect of Oral Law, which is “wine of Malkhut in abundance” (Esther 1:7) ; and the aspect of Binah /heart, the joy of the heart—“wine that makes the heart rejoice.”

12And he moReK (poured) from one cup to the other — He should draw out the line of YaRoK from <the aspect of Binah>…, as in, “And he YaReK his trained servants.” This is chibuk —accepting the persecution with love and rejoicing in the suffering. As a result, the Divine Presence/the Oral Law is in the aspect of chibuk, corresponding to, “I am the rose”—“YaRuKah (green) like a rose.” The chibuk is thus complete. And this is:

13without dripping any of it on the ground, though it was a day of rising up to the sky and going down to the deeps — This alludes to the Divine Presence residing between the two tzaddikim. The upper tzaddik corresponds to rising up to the sky ; <the lower tzaddik corresponds to going down to the deeps>. This is the aspect of neshikin, corresponding to, “they drip flowing myrrh.” How is neshikin /“they drip flowing myrrh” achieved? Through Chokhmah, as mentioned above. And thus:

14The malkhut (government) heard about this and put him to death — In other words, he will comprehend and hear the Oral Law—known as “Malkhut peh”—acquiring wisdom from the letter permutations coming from the scholar-demon. <That is, he will make permutations out of the abuse and insults, and turn them back into the permutations of law which they had previously been.> As a result:

15put him to death — For the main life-force of the evil forces and demons comes only from the sparks of the Divine Presence. As long as she is incomplete and has some lack, then they have life-force. <But,> when she is elevated to the aspect of Chokhmah —which is primarily where she is built up—and she is built up completely, through this the scholar-demon is put to death .