Likutei Moharan, Part II 4:11/ליקוטי מוהר"ן·תנינא ד׳:י״א

111A. This relates as well to the battle between David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17).

2Goliath wanted to use his wisdom to demonstrate that everything transpires according to the laws of nature. He drew sustenance from Metzach haNachash , as in “a mitzchat nechoshet on his legs,” so that he attributed all causes to the inevitability of nature, which corresponds to the Serpent’s Brow, as discussed above. Thus, “he has defied the maARKhot (battalions) of the Living God” (ibid. v.26). [Goliath] wanted to demonstrate that everything takes place according to the maAReKhet (alignment of) the heavens, as dictated by the laws of nature, God forbid.

3But David was a man of valor and stood up to him, saying that he had once had an incident like this: {“David said to Saul, ‘ Your servant was a shepherd for his father’s flocks, and when the lion and the bear came and carried away a sheep from ha’eider (the flock), I went after it, and struck it, and rescued [the sheep] from its mouth. Then it attacked me, and I grabbed it by the zakan (beard) and struck it down and killed it. Your servant has slain both lion and bear; and that uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the battalions of the Living God! …[David] took out a stone and slung it. It struck the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank into his brow, and he fell face down upon the ground” (1 Samuel 17:34-36, 49) .}

4and when the lion and the bear came— This refers to the wild animals that claw and tear apart their prey. These are the deterministic scientists, as discussed above.

5and carried it away from ha’ eider— That is, from the absolute he’eder (nothingness); he carried away and removed it from the absolute nothingness. In other words, he denied that, following the absolute nothingness, God created everything through His Will, [claiming] instead that everything takes place according to the dictates of nature, God forbid.

6I went after it, and st ruck it— I would overpower him; I overcame and humbled him.

7Then it attacked me— Afterwards, he again came against me.

8and I grabbed it by the zakan— That is, I understood that all his strength and sustenance stems from the Serpent’s Brow, which feeds off the unworthy ZiKNei (elders of) the generation, as discussed above. This is why “I would grab it by the ZaKaN”—I grabbed hold of and seized the source of his sustenance, the elders of the generation.

9and st ruck it down and killed it— I defeated and humbled the deterministic scientists/wild animals by grabbing hold of their zakan, the source of their sustenance.

10Therefore, and that Philistine shall be like one of them— For he, too, is exactly like this. All his strength is from Metzach haNachash, as in “mitzchat nechoshet….” He is therefore like them, and so I am able to defeat and <humble him>.

11This is as it is written: the st one sunk into his brow— This alludes to the Serpent’s Brow, which he <humbled> by means of < Ratzon, > as in “a perfect stone is His ratzon” (Proverbs 11:1)—i.e., <the root of ratzon, the Brow of Divine Will>.

12And this is what Yishai warned David as he headed for there: “and redeem their ARuBah (pledges)” (1 Samuel 17:18). This alludes to the OReV (raven), charity. The essential devotion of charity <is> to be like the raven, as in “And I have commanded the ravens….” By giving charity he takes away the vitality of the Serpent’s Brow, which feeds off the elders of the generation.

13And know! even after a person has successfully defeated and refuted the ideologies of the deterministic scientists and has humbled them, if the revelation of Divine Will is not powerful and firm—if any doubt remains about Divine Will such that it is not decisively clear that everything is governed solely by <God’s> Divine Will—then even though the determinism has been defeated, nonetheless, since Divine Will is not yet [sufficiently] influential, there is the possibility, God forbid, that the Serpent’s Brow/determinism will reawaken and return to its original strength. This, too, requires the power of charity, because charity is always beneficial and always counters the Serpent’s Brow.

1411B. This is the explanation of: Rav Yehudah the Ethiopian related: Once we were traveling by sefinta (ship), and [in the water] we saw a precious stone that was being circled by a sea serpent. A bar-amorai (diver) descended to bring it. The sea serpent approached, wanting to swallow the ship. A Pushkantza bird came and chopped off its head. The water turned blood red. Another sea serpent came, took [the precious stone] and hung it on [the dead sea serpent] and returned it to life. It again came wanting to swallow the ship. Again the { Pushkantza } bird came and chopped off its head. [The diver then] took the precious stone and threw it intothe ship. We had with us m’lichei (salted) birds [for eating. When the diver] put the stone on top of them, [the birds returned to life,] took the stone and parchu (flew off) with it (Bava Batra 74b).

15Once we were traveling by sefinta— This alludes to the root of Divine Will. That is where Moshe, who passed away in the root of Divine Will, is buried, as discussed above. This is the significance of SeFiNta, as in “for there the lawgiver’s plot is SaFuN (hidden)” (Deuteronomy 33:21).

16we saw a precious st one— This is as in “a perfect stone is His ratzon,” alluding to the aforementioned Divine Will.

17that was being circled by a sea serpent— This refers to the Serpent’s Brow, which envelops and overpowers Divine Will, as discussed above.

18A bar-AMoRai descended to bring it— This alludes to the holy sage, as in “EMoR (Say) to wisdom: You are my sister” (Proverbs 7:4). The holy sage wants to increase his efforts and elevate will, to bind it to its root.

19The sea serpent approached, wanting to swallow the ship— In other words, the Serpent’s Brow, the root of determinism, came and wanted to swallow the sefinta, the root of Divine Will, as in “for there the lawgiver’s plot is safun.” The Serpent’s Brow wanted to also overpower the root of Divine Will and inject blemish and heresy there, God forbid.

20A Pushkantza came— This refers to a raven.

21and chopped off its head— The explanation is: The raven—which conceptually alludes to charity, since the essential devotion of charity is to be like the raven, as in “And I have commanded the ravens…”—comes to transform the instinct of cruelty into compassion. Through this we triumph over the Serpent’s Brow/deterministic ideology, because from the very forest itself comes the [handle of] the ax, as discussed above.

22This is the meaning of “A Pushkantza came”—i.e., a raven/charity—“and chopped of its head.” It cut off <and defeated> the head of the serpent. This refers to the Serpent’s Brow, which it defeated and killed by means of charity.

23The water turned blood red— In other words, overcoming the Serpent’s Brow, the root of determinism, defeats and quiets the roaring of the wild animals that prey upon many of our fellow Jews. Then, the festival’s proclamation, which is the revelation of Divine Will, is heard. And then, “The righteous one will rejoice when he sees revenge…,” as discussed above.

24“The water turned” alludes to the roaring of the wild animals, as in “my roaring pours forth like water” (Job 3:23). “Blood red”—this is as in “The righteous one will rejoice when he sees revenge, he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked one.” By quieting the roar of the <enemies>/wild animals, “The righteous one will rejoice when he sees revenge…,” for the festival’s proclamation is heard, as discussed above.

25Another sea serpent came, took it and hung it on [the dead sea serpent] and returned it to life— The Serpent’s Brow came and “took it,” the precious stone. It took the precious stone, as in “a perfect stone is His ratzon.” “And hung it”—i.e., it raised doubt about it. This is “and hung it,” as when something hangs in doubt. It raised doubt about Ratzon, the “perfect stone.” Through this it “returned it to life”—determinism/the Serpent’s Brow was revived. Determinism returned and gained influence on account of the doubt raised about Divine Will, as discussed above.

26And this is: It again came wanting to swallow the ship— The sea serpent/Serpent’s Brow again came “to swallow the ship”—<i.e., to blemish> the root of Divine Will, <God forbid>.

27Again the Pushkantza bird came and chopped off its head— In other words, the raven/charity came back “and chopped off its head.” It killed the Serpent’s Brow and defeated it, because charity always defeats the Serpent’s Brow, as discussed above.

28He took the precious stone and threw it into the ship— After completely subduing the Serpent’s Brow/determinism, he took the precious stone/Divine Will—“a perfect stone is His ratzon.” “And threw it into the ship”—he threw it into the root of Divine Will, in which all the wills are bound.

29We had with us m’lichei birds. [When the driver] put the st one on top of them, [the birds returned to life,] took [the st one] and parchu (flew off) with it— The explanation is: “We had with us m ’lichei birds”—this alludes to the souls of Israel, our fellow Jews who mistakenly followed after the deterministic scientists, those wild animals that prey upon many of our fellow Jews, as discussed above.

30This is the meaning of “m’lichei birds,” for they are “as birds trapped in a snare” (Ecclesiastes 9:12). M’LiChei (salted) connotes meMuLaCh, i.e., confused. They, too, were confused by the aforementioned wild animals and mistakenly followed after them. However, now “they flew off” and emerged safely as a result of the precious stone—i.e., Divine Will that has now been revealed <through charity>, as discussed above.

31And when Divine Will is revealed, it leads to fear of Heaven, through which we are able to receive lovingkindness, as discussed above. PaRChu (flew off) alludes to this as well, as in “and behold! the staff of Aharon the Levite PaRaCh (had blossomed).” This refers to the bestowal of lovingkindness produced by the fear of Heaven when Divine Will is revealed.