Toras Menachem·Vol. 16 (5716·Part 2)·Shabbos Parshas Shemini·Shabbos Mevarchim Iyar·5716תורת מנחם·– טז – שנת תשט"ז – חלק שני·בס"ד. ש"פ שמיני·מבה"ח אייר·ה'תשט"ז

(Unedited transcript)

the early ones were called Sopherim

because they would count all the letters in the Torah,

that they would say the vav of gachon

is the middle of the letters of a Sefer Torah, etc.,

yicharsmenah chazir miya'ar,

the ayin of di'ar is the middle of Tehilim.

And the general concept in this is,

that gachon alludes to the primordial serpent

as it is written with a yud on your belly you shall go,

behold, the vav of gachon which is the half of the letters in the Torah,

divides against the primordial serpent,

and so too with the ayin of yicharsmenah chazir miya'ar,

for chazir stands for Esau

who is compared to a pig showing its hooves, etc.,

behold, the ayin of yicharsmenah chazir miya'ar which is the half of the letters in Tehilim,

divides so that vitality should not be drawn further to Edom

who is compared to a pig, and as the Maharsha writes in Chiddushei Aggadot in his place,

an explanation of the words of the Gemara briefly.

2b)

And there is to preface an explanation of the general matter

in the sequence of the verses

that "goes upon the belly," which speaks

of the matter of forbidden foods,

and therefore it says, "And you shall become defiled by them," and our Sages, of blessed memory, said:

"Transgression dulls the heart of man,

as it is said, 'And you shall not defile yourselves

with them and you shall become defiled by them'

(and [the word] 'and you shall become defiled' is written without an alef);

do not read [it as] 'and you shall become defiled,'

but rather 'and your heart is dulled,'

and this is that forbidden foods dull the heart of man.

in accordance with the discourse of our Rebbe the Zakein (Elder) n"e [nodev nishmaso Eden] starting with the concept of heart closure and mind closure,

where he explains there that heart closure is when his heart becomes like stone, and that is,

that although in his mind he grasps a Divine grasp and the grasp is absorbed by him, nevertheless,

behold, his heart is like a heart of stone that is not aroused at all.

And the matter is,

that behold, it is written: And my heart is void within me.

For this verse was stated not only concerning the level of the tzaddikim alone,

since David, the sweet singer of Israel, said this verse

on behalf of the generality of Israel,

and not specifically for the level of the tzaddikim.

And from this it is understood that also in the generality of Israel there must be: And my heart is void within me.

And the explanation of: And my heart is void within me (as it is in the generality of Israel) is,

that his heart is empty of all worldly matters,

so that then precisely it is a vessel for the blessing of Havayah,

as the saying goes: An empty vessel holds; a full vessel does not hold.

And this is the explanation of: And my heart is void within me, that it is an empty vessel.

And when it is an empty vessel, then the heart is a vessel for the mind's grasp, so that the grasp in the mind will act upon the heart.

However, the matter of heart closure is,

that instead of this, that there needs to be: And my heart is void within me, his heart is entirely closed up

and becomes like a heart of stone,

so that it is not a vessel at all for the Divine light.

And he continues in the discourse,

that the matter of heart closure is a fall from the heavens.

And that is, since in his mind he grasps a Divine grasp,

if so, behold, according to the order it should have been that from the mind's grasp arousal should come to the heart,

and therefore, behold, when his heart is closed like a heart of stone,

behold, this is a very great fall, a fall from the heavens.

based on this, it needs to be understood:

for behold, our Sages of blessed memory stated,

"Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven,"

and if so,

since the clogging (tamtum) of the heart is a fall from Heaven,

behold, this is not in his hands.

However, the matter is,

that there are several advice paths to fix so that his heart will not be like the heart of stone,

but rather that he will have a heart of flesh,

and these advice paths are in the hands of man.

And the matter

in this,

that behold, the remedy for the dullness of the heart

is as the saying of the Zohar:

"A tree that the light does not ascend in it, they beat it;"

a body that the light of the soul does not ascend in it, they beat it and it will give light.

And this is

through that he contemplates his standing and his state in what he is laid out

(what he is lying in),

that all his matter is only in eating and drinking, and he is like a beast indeed,

that all its matter is in eating and drinking and it does not know of any other matter at all,

and all the difference is only that the beast eats hay (hey) and he eats other foods,

but all his matter and his business is in eating and drinking

or how to attain the matters of eating and drinking,

and if so, behold he is like a beast indeed,

instead of this that he should need to refine himself and to reach some level (to stand at a level).

And even though it is explained in many places, and also in the previous discourse, that the service does not need to be for his own sake, in order to reveal light in his soul, but rather through the way of accepting the yoke, to make a nachas ruach to Him, blessed be He,

nevertheless, behold, at the beginning of the service, and especially in order to be saved from evil,

he can make an accounting in his soul that he needs to ascend in levels, etc.,

as explained regarding the matter of a Torah scholar that he should have one in eight in an eighth etc., and it is adorned for him like a hair for a wheat stalk.

And this is the matter of "they beat it," that through the contemplation of his standing and his state he will be very embittered in his soul,

for this bitterness is in the left cavity,

and through this, behold, afterwards there will be joy in his soul in the right cavity,

and he will have a heart of flesh.

And there is another remedy for the dullness of the heart,

and it is through contemplation in lofty matters, and that is, since in his intellect he grasps a Divine apprehension and the apprehension is absorbed by him,

except that his heart is dull,

but in his intellect he belongs to apprehension,

therefore, when he contemplates the wonder of the Ein Sof, blessed be He, and lofty matters in general, behold, the abundance of light will break through (it will split through) also the heart of stone,

and that is, that through the da'at, which is the key that includes six, he will fix his traits at least regarding thought, speech, and action.

And there is another remedy for the dullness of the heart,

and it is the matter of uttering the letters of the Torah,

for the Torah is light, it is the aspect of wisdom,

behold, the light of the wisdom of the Torah will reach also into the heart of stone, that even the heart of stone will melt and melt away.

3c)

Indeed, when he does all the above matters

(saying the letters of the Torah, contemplating elevated matters,

and the contemplation of his standing and state which is the matter of "dambatchin li"),

and nevertheless all the advice did not help,

this is an indication that not only is his heart blocked,

but furthermore, that he also has a blockage of the brain,

meaning that his mind is not a vessel in which the light can be recorded,

and since the blockage is also in the brain,

therefore all the above advice did not help.

the aforementioned advice.

And the explanation

in this,

is that behold, the reason for the dulling of the mind is from

the excess of immersion

in desires, even in permitted

desires,

since from this he is not a vessel for receiving and absorbing the Divine light.

And this will be understood from the matter of the fiery river (nahar dinur)

and the pillar that is between world and world,

that in order that he be able to receive the light of Garden of Eden (Gan Eden),

there needs to be first the immersion in the fiery river (nahar dinur)

to forget about the sight of this world (chazu d'hai alma),

for as long as one still pertains to the sight of this world (chazu d'hai alma) he is not a vessel at all for the revelation of the light that is in Gan Eden.

And similarly to what they said about Rabbi

Zira that he fasted several upon several fasts

to forget about Talmud Bavli

in order that he be able to learn Talmud Yerushalmi,

and this is that even in Torah itself,

behold when he went up to the Land of Israel,

where the learning there is in a manner that is higher,

since in the Land of Israel they were connected man from mouth to man until Moses our Teacher,

and the learning is in the ultimate clarity and in the ultimate nullification—

which is that every master from the Land of Israel is a master (rav) with the addition of a yud,

for the yud added to the master (rav) is the aspect of the nullification of wisdom—

behold, when there needed to be for him the manner of learning that is higher,

which is the learning of Talmud Yerushalmi,

he needed to forget first about Talmud Bavli,

"in dark places He has made me dwell," and it is found that even in Torah itself the lower level confuses the grasping of a higher level.

And from this will be understood the explanation of the matter of the fiery river (nahar dinur),

that as long as one still pertains to the sight of this world (chazu d'hai alma) he does not pertain at all to the revelation of the light that is in Gan Eden.

And from this will be understood that desires are a cause for the dulling of the mind,

a fortiori (mehachomer v'kal) from the matter of the fiery river (nahar dinur),

for since Gan Eden is only a revelation of a mere ray, which is the aspect of enjoying the splendor of the Divine Presence (ziv haShechinah),

and nevertheless the sight of this world (chazu d'hai alma) confuses the revelation of the ray that is in Gan Eden,

and if so, it is understood a fortiori (mehachomer v'kal) regarding the revelation of the Torah and commandments (Torah u'Mitzvos) in this world which is the aspect of the essence,

that certainly the immersion in desires confuses the revelation,

that when he is immersed in desires then he is not a vessel for the revelation of the light.

And there is to add,

that the reason for the dulling of the mind

is not only because now he is immersed in desires,

but even when now he is no longer immersed in desires,

nevertheless,

behold, the desire that was with him previously, it confuses the revelation of the light,

and that is because even though now he does not feel the desire,

nevertheless, behold, truly the desire remained with him in concealment,

and therefore his mind is not a vessel for the revelation of the light.

And this will be understood by way of example

from a person who learns a certain tractate and becomes expert in it

and afterwards begins to learn another tractate,

behold, also the previous tractate remained with him in concealment by virtue of his memory,

and proof to this,

for behold, he can remember what he learned previously,

and that is that even at the time when he is not engaged in studying the previous tractate,

this is not in a manner that the previous matter was nullified within him,

but rather that it remained in concealment by virtue of his memory.

And likewise it will be understood also regarding desires,

for since previously he was immersed in desires,

the desire remains with him forever in concealment at least,

and since the desire remained with him, therefore he is not a vessel at all

for the revelation of the Divine light, which is the reason for the dulling of the mind.

1 d)

the remedy to be rid of the dullness of the mind

is through Kaf HaKela.

And the meaning

of this,

as explained in Akeidah and Ikkarim,

is that just as one slings a stone from place to place,

so they sling the soul from place to place.

And this means that for a moment they sling it into divine delight

(for since its root is in Divinity it has a connection to divine delight),

and for a moment they sling it into physical yearnings

(since from the aspect that he was once immersed in desires he is connected to physical delights),

and back and forth,

and this is great pain for the soul.

And this means that since it has a connection to delight in Divinity,

when they sling it into physical delights it is in great pain,

and likewise to the other side,

that since it has a connection to physical delights,

when they take them away from it, then it is in great pain.

However, all this is when initially

(before there was in him the immersion in desires and dullness of the mind)

he was connected to delight in divine contemplation,

such that then the matter of Kaf HaKela applies to sling it into divine delight, etc.,

but when even initially there was no divine delight in him,

then the matter of Kaf HaKela does not apply to him in the aforementioned manner,

rather the matter of Kaf HaKela for him is in a lower manner.

And the meaning of this,

as the Shla states in the name of Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, is that the matter of Kaf HaKela is that they sling the soul from Eretz Yisrael to Chutz LaAretz.

For behold,

the matter of Eretz Yisrael in spirituality

is as the saying, why is its name called Eretz, because it wanted to do the will of its Creator,

and "Yisrael is to Me a head",

and see there: "For you have striven with God, etc.",

and this is the fulfillment of Torah and Mitzvos in actuality with acceptance of the yoke.

And regarding this, this also applies,

that even though it is not connected to delight in divine contemplation,

nevertheless it is connected to the fulfillment of Torah and Mitzvos.

And upon this is the matter of Kaf HaKela for him,

that they sling him from Eretz Yisrael to Chutz LaAretz,

for Eretz Yisrael is Malchus of Atzilus,

which is the matter of nullification to the blessed Creator's will,

and from there they sling him to Chutz LaAretz, which is the 150, which is the matter of immersion in permitted desires.

And behold,

one who was not connected even to the matter of Eretz Yisrael in spirituality—that it wanted to do the will of its Creator—

behold, for him the matter of Kaf HaKela is in a yet lower manner,

and this is as our Sages of blessed memory stated, that they sling him from the end of the world to its end, that in the world (physically) itself they sling him from the end of the world to its end,

for the world is six extremities,

and in general is divided into two lines which are south and north,

that is, the matter of expanse and the matter of constriction,

and this is that they sling him from the end of the world to its end,

that for a moment they sling him into the motion of expanse,

and for a moment they sling him into the motion of constriction.

However,

all this is when the dullness of the mind comes by way of permitted desires,

but when it comes by way of forbidden desires,

behold, for this Kaf HaKela alone is not sufficient,

rather for this Gehinom is specifically required, as stated in Tanya.

And the meaning of this,

that in permitted desires, since this is not forbidden and bound by the husks (Kelipos),

behold, what is wrought thereby in the soul is only dust alone,

and upon this Kaf HaKela helps, which is akin to shaking off the dust, etc.

But in forbidden desires,

since it is bound and tied by the husks,

behold, thereby a stain is made in the soul,

and therefore Kaf HaKela does not help,

rather for this Gehinom is specifically required,

for Gehinom means Gei Ben Hinnom,

for Gei is a valley,

that is, a receptive vessel,

that in place of this that there needed to be a receptive vessel for holiness (as mentioned above regarding an empty vessel),

there was made a receptive vessel for the husk (Kelipah),

Gei Tzalmavet,

which is a great pain for the soul,

and thereby they remove the stain.

1 h)

the advice to remove the dullness of the intellect in divine service,

is through the three matters

that need to be prior to prayer, as is known.

Giving tzedakah (charity),

as the saying goes: one should give a perutah to a poor person and then pray,

for tzedakah is the totality of the mitzvos,

and the performance of the mitzvos is the advice to remove the dullness of the intellect.

And that is,

that the advice for the dullness of the heart is the utterance of the letters of the Torah

(as mentioned above at the end of siman 2),

which is the matter of speech;

however, for the removal of the dullness of the intellect

the matter of speech is not sufficient,

rather there is needed for this the matter of action specifically.

And the reason is,

because everything that is highest descends the lowest,

and therefore specifically through action, which is the highest, is it possible to remove the dullness of the intellect.

And also there needs to be immersion in a mikveh

prior to prayer,

for immersion is the letters of bitul (annihilation),

meaning the nullification of identity,

and in the language of the Rebbe: to dunk oneself in a mikveh,

and this is that this is not merely to pass from impurity to purity,

but that one must know that the mikveh is a place of purity,

as it is written: "nevertheless a spring or a cistern, wherein is a gathering of water, shall be clean",

and at the time that one is found there, behold, he is essentially in a raised standing and state,

and upon leaving there he departs from this state, which is that immersion is the letters of bitul, which is the matter of the nullification of identity.

And that is,

that regarding the matter of the dullness of the heart we mentioned above

that the advice is the contemplation of "they crush him",

whereby there is made a broken heart (er vert tzubrokhn),

but nevertheless he remains in his identity;

however, for the removal of the dullness of the intellect there needs to be nullification and complete transformation of identity,

which is also the matter of teshuvah (repentance), which is the transformation of identity, as is known. v)

of the matter is,

that behold, well and good regarding the matter of the dullness of the heart,

it is understood that by virtue of the fact that one has not performed his service in clarifying and refining his soul,

behold, inevitably his heart becomes dull,

and how is it possible that it should not be so (farvos zol bay im nit zayn keyn tumtum haleiv)?א

And similar to what is explained in Tanya

regarding the matter of extraneous thoughts,

that when one is not self-deluded and knows his standing and his state,

then he knows that he is not clarified and refined, and consequently extraneous thoughts befall him,

and how is it possible that it should not be so (farvos zol bay im nit zayn keyn machshavos zaros)?א

For behold,

the matter of service is that one must clarify and refine oneself to be in the standing and state of "my soul hath said, the portions of Havayah",

and as explained in the previous discourse concerning what is stated in the Midrash

about a king who entered a province and with him were dukes and eparchs, etc.;

one said, "I take the dukes,"

and another said, "I take the eparchs;"

there was one wise man there who said, "I take the King," —

and that is, that the nations of the world worship the ministers,

for since in the order of the chain of worlds (hishtalshelus) the influx passes through the ministers,

therefore they consider them a reality;

however, the wise man among them,

which refers to the souls of Israel,

said, "I take the King,"

for all of them change and the King does not change,

and that is,

that even though now it is not discernible,

behold, the truth is that all of them change,

and like the parable in physical terms, that at the time of rains one does not know what is primary, the stalk or the wheat,

but when the rain has passed and gone, behold, at the time of the threshing floor one sees what is primary.

And similarly in the concept, that the wise man among them

recognizes that even though the influx passes through the ministers,

behold, this is not the primary thing,

rather the primary thing is the Ein Sof (Infinite) who is above the chain of worlds.

And although this is above the chain of worlds,

behold, the souls of Israel recognize the Ein Sof who is above the chain of worlds,

because their root is from there,

which is the matter of "the portions of Havayah hath said my soul."

And in this matter a person must contemplate

and perform his service as is proper,

but when he does not perform his service as is proper,

behold, it is understood that there naturally comes about with him the dullness of the heart,

and for this there are the aforementioned advices (siman 2),

and they suffice to remove the dullness of the heart.

However, the dullness of the intellect is a matter that touches upon his very self and identity,

for behold, the soul of man is an intellectual soul,

and when the dullness is in the intellect and mind,

then the dullness is throughout his entire identity.

And therefore there is not sufficient for this the advice of "they crush him," a broken heart,

rather there needs to be a complete transformation of identity,

whereby he removes also the dullness of the intellect.

And the point of the matter is,

that even though our Sages of blessed memory said that a transgression dulls the heart of man, behold, through drawing down an exceedingly elevated light that acts to transform his identity, then the dullness is nullified. z)

And based on this

will be understood the matter of thevav in the wordgachon (belly)

which divides the vitality of the primordial serpent,

and that is, that the primordial serpent is the cause of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge

which is the source for all sins,

and thevav ofgachon, which is the exact middle of the letters in the Torah, divides it.

And the matter in this is,

that behold, Torah is from the root of instruction (horאה),

to distinguish between the tamei (impure) and the tahor (pure),

permitted and forbidden, kosher and disqualified,

which are two lines.

And the middle [letter] in the Torah is the middle line uniting the two lines,

and that is because it is above both of them.

And this is the matter of thevav ofgachon, which is the middle of the Torah in letters,

for the lettervav denotes drawing down,

and thevav, which is the middle of the Torah in letters, denotes the drawing down of an exceedingly elevated light, the middle line.

And therefore it divides the vitality of the serpent,

which is the cause for forbidden matters,

and that is, as stated above, that the removal of the dullness of the intellect is through drawing down an exceedingly elevated light that effects a transformation of identity,

and similarly will be understood regarding thevav ofgachon, which is the drawing down of the middle line, an exceedingly elevated light, which divides the vitality of the serpent.

And similarly it is also with the suspendedayin in the verse "The boar out of the wood doth ravage it,"

which is the exact middle of Psalms,

that this matter divides Esau, who is likened to a swine,

which in general is the matter of the exile of Edom,

and the removal of its vitality is specifically through the exact middle of Psalms.

8) And to understand

this, one must first preface

the difference between Torah and Tehilim,

for the nature of Sefer Tehilim

is songs and praises

regarding the redemption of Israel and the days of Moshiach,

and it is like the service of prayer.

For behold, generally

there is a difference between Torah and prayer,

that Torah is from above to below,

and prayer is from below to above.

Yet within Torah itself,

behold, Sefer Tehilim,

whose nature is songs and praises,

is like the matter of prayer,

and generally it pertains to the matter of fear of Heaven.

And the matter is,

for behold, our Sages of blessed memory said: Any person who has Torah and does not have fear of Heaven

is like a treasurer to whom they delivered the internal keys

and the external keys they did not deliver to him.

And this is that Torah is the aspect of internality,

and fear of Heaven (and included in this is also the matter of prayer) is the aspect of externality.

And behold, the general matter of internality and externality exists in every single level,

for everything lower is more external relative to what is higher than it.

And this will be understood, for example, in the powers of the soul,

for the power of action is external relative to the power of speech,

and specifically more so, behold, within action itself there is also internality and externality,

for the power of throwing, which has no enclothed intellect, is external

to the power of action, for after all, even an animal has the power of throwing,

whereas writing and drawing are the internality of the power of action.

And truly, behold, even in writing and drawing, writing is not like drawing,

for writing is external relative to drawing,

for the influence of the intellect through writing is only to one who is essentially a master of intellect,

whereas in the power of drawing, behold, even to one who has no sense for drawing, there is revealed not only the body of the drawing but also the internality and vitality within the drawing.

Yet the general power of action is an external matter relative to the power of speech.

And in speech itself there are also several levels,

for the matter of speech is not alike when letters are emitted from his mouth without any intention at all,

which is completely external relative to speech that one speaks with intention,

meaning that he speaks some intellectual matter that he already understood,

and especially what he is understanding now,

that then he has more vitality in the speech,

until there is an aspect in speech where his soul goes out in his speaking.

Yet the general power of speech is an external matter relative to the power of thought,

for speech is a separate garment,

as there is a time to be silent and a time to speak,

whereas thought is a specialized garment,

therefore it always roams.

And in thought itself there are also several levels:

there is a thought where one thinks about a matter that does not concern him,

or he thinks about an old thing,

or he thinks about a matter that concerns the essence of his soul.

Yet the general [thought-speech-action] is an external matter relative to the attributes and the intellect.

And in the attributes and intellect themselves there are also several levels,

yet in general, behold, thought-speech-action are externality, and the attributes and intellect are internality.

And the reason for the matter is because thought-speech-action are mere garments, like a changing garment,

that one can strip them off and put them on,

for not only in the power of speech, but even in the power of thought,

he is able to strip away from this matter to another matter,

whereas in intellect and attributes, behold, in order to change the attributes

and especially the intellect,

this requires much labor and toil.

And likewise this will be understood above,

that from speech were formed worlds that are revealed down to this physical world,

and from thought were formed hidden worlds down to the world of Beriah,

and all this is externality,

whereas the ten Sefirot of Atzilut are the aspect of internality because they are unified—He and His life are one, He and His forms are one.

And this is that Torah is the aspect of internality and fear of Heaven (and prayer) is the aspect of externality,

for Torah is from above to below,

meaning the drawing down of Atzilut,

and therefore it is the aspect of internality,

whereas prayer, which is from below to above, the service of created beings, behold it is the aspect of externality,

since the general category of created beings is an aspect of externality, because they are not unified.

And through this is understood what is stated in the Gemara:

"The count of the verses of a Torah scroll is exceeded by Psalms by eight,

and Chronicles falls short of it [the count of a Torah scroll] by eight."

And the meaning in this,

is that the Torah, which is an extension from above downwards,

is indeed in a tremendously elevated degree above Chronicles, which is the aspect of the worlds.

And the greatness of the Torah's elevation over Chronicles

is in the number eight, which is higher even than the matter of the seven days of the cycle, as explained elsewhere.

Indeed, also the Torah,

which is an extension from above downwards,

is nevertheless within limitation;

for even though it is "longer than the earth is the measure, and broader than the sea,"

nevertheless it is also within measurement and limitation,

except that the measurement is an extremely great measurement, to the extent that it is "longer than the earth is the measure."

And higher than this is the Book of Psalms,

whose matter is songs and praises concerning the redemption of Israel and the days of Mashiach.

And this is that this is not comparable to Chronicles, which is the aspect of the generation of the worlds;

whereas Psalms is the aspect of the elevation of the worlds through the divine service of the souls of Israel from below upwards.

And therefore it is higher than the Torah,

because the matter of elevation reaches higher than the matter of extension,

since the elevation is through the service of the souls of Israel, and the souls of Israel are higher than the Torah,

as is known regarding the matter that "the thought of Israel preceded everything," even the thought of the Torah.

And this elevation too is in the number eight, as mentioned above.

9)

And based on this, the reason will be understood

that the midpoint of the letters in the Torah interrupts

the vitality of the primordial serpent (Nachash HaKadmoni),

and the midpoint of the letters in Psalms interrupts

the vitality drawn to the exile of Edom.

And the matter in this:

Behold, the primordial serpent is the cause and root for all sins,

and since this is the root of the matter,

therefore the cessation of its vitality is also

through the midpoint of the letters in the Torah,

which is the drawing down of the light from above as it is in its root.

However, the exile of Edom

is as it is drawn down afterward in the chain of development

through the seventy ministers,

and the cessation of the vitality of the exile of Edom drawn to the seventy ministers

is through the hanging 'ayin in the midpoint of the Book of Psalms,

which is the aspect of service of awe of Heaven in a manner of ascent from below to above.

And greater is the virtue of the service from below to above that it reaches higher,

and therefore through the service of prayer and awe of Heaven

is made the matter of songs and praises for the redemption of Israel and the days of Mashiach,

that then there will be a harp of eight strings,

and then will be fulfilled the prophecy

And the glory of Hashem shall be revealed and all flesh shall see together that the mouth of Hashem has spoken,

so may it be for us in the future redemption through Mashiach our righteous one.

1.