Basi LeGani 5718downloads.simplychassidus.com/Basi_LeGani_5718.pdf3 ינגל יתאב ה"ד Section One This ma’amar was said by the Rebbe in 5718 (1958) and is based on the eighth

כדבע

Basi LeGani 5718

(Second Ma’amar)

- י"תשח -

לגני באתי

( ב מאמר )

ב"ה

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Simply Chassidus releases one ma’amar of the Rebbe each month with

English translation and commentary. Each ma’amar is divided into

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participants can finish one ma’amar per month, with time to review the

ma’amar on Shabbos Mevarchim.

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Chinuch, and is reprinted here with permission.

3 לגני באתי ה"ד

Section One

This ma’amar was said by the Rebbe in 5718 (1958) and is based on the

eighth chapter of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar Basi L’Gani from

5710 (1950). The Frierdiker Rebbe wrote a four-part hemshech (series)

of ma’amarim based on the possuk “Basi L’Gani”, each ma’amar

consisting of five chapters, for a total of 20 chapters. The Frierdiker

Rebbe completed the hemshech for publication and instructed that the

first part should be distributed on Yud Shvat 5710 (1950) for the

yartzeit of his grandmother, and provided specific days to distribute

the following sections. (The second section, which includes chapter

eight – this year’s chapter – was distributed on 13 Shvat, the yartzeit of

the Frierdiker Rebbe’s mother.)

On that Yud Shvat 5710, the Frierdiker Rebbe passed away, and the

hemshech Basi L’Gani became his last instructions to the next

generation.

When the Rebbe accepted the nesi’us (leadership) one year later on

Yud Shvat 5711, the Rebbe said a ma’amar (Basi L’Gani) which

explained this ma’amar of the Frierdiker Rebbe. This was the first of

38 years in which the Rebbe said a Basi L’Gani ma’amar; these

ma’amarim followed a twenty-year cycle of explaining each of the 20

chapters of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar.

Even though we are no longer able to hear a new ma’amar directly

from the Rebbe (may we merit to hear one this year!), we continue the

twenty-year cycle of learning the ma’amarim that correspond to that

year’s chapter. The following pages contain a translation and

explanation of the ma’amar from 5718. (The Rebbe said two

ma’amarim this year – one on Shabbos and one on motzei Shabbos.

This translation is the ma’amar from motzei Shabbos.)

4 י"תשח'ה(, ב מאמר) שבט א"י, בשלח' פ ק"מוצש

As is customary for these ma’amarim, the Rebbe first reviews the key

points of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar before going into a detailed

explanation of this year’s chapter.

לגן אין כתיב כאן אלא 3ואיתא במדרש, 2לגני אחותי כלה 1באתידעיקר שכינה בתחתונים , עיקרי בתחילה' למקום שהי, לגנוני, לגני

,בבריאת העולמות' כפי שהי, היתה

The ma’amar is based on a possuk from Shir HaShirim (5:1) in which

Hashem says, “I have come to my garden, my sister, [my] bride.” This

ma’amar focuses on the term, “גני” (my garden).

The Midrash interprets the use of the word “ ינג ” (My garden) rather

than “ ןג ” (a garden) to indicate something that is more significant than

an ordinary garden. Whereas a regular garden is a public place that

anyone can enter, “ ינג ” (My garden) implies a more intimate

connection between this “garden” and Hashem.

The Midrash explains that the word “ ינג ” (my garden) should be

interpreted as “גנוני”, the Aramaic word for a chupah, the canopy which

is held over a chassan and kallah at a wedding. For example, the

Gemara in Brachos (16a) says “ ליה קטרין קא הוו יסא ורבי רבי אמיאלעזר לר׳ גננא ” (Rebbi Ami and Rebbi Asi were fastening a chupah for

Rebbi Elazar). In addition to the fact that Hashem calls it “My garden,”

the interpretation of “ ינג ” (My garden) as “גנוני” (My chupah) shows us

that this possuk is describing a very deep connection between Hashem

and His world, similar to how the chupah is a special place reserved for

the marriage of a chassan and kallah.

The Midrash explains that Hashem came into this “chupah” when His

presence was revealed in the world at the time of the building of the

Mishkan. However, the world was already “His garden” (His “chupah”)

from the moment the world was created; because His presence was

initially revealed within the physical world, this place already had a


special intimate connection to Him. In the words of the Midrash, “ikar

shechina b’tachtonim hai’sa” (In the beginning of creation, Hashem’s

presence was revealed in the lowest world).

However, Hashem’s presence was not revealed here for long:

', הא י חטא עץ הדעת נסתלקה השכינה מן הארץ לרקיע"כ הנה ע"ואחי החטאים שלאחריו נסתלקה השכינה מרקיע לרקיע עד לרקיע "וע

י עבודתם המשיכו את השכינה "כ הנה הצדיקים ע"ואח, השביעישהוא , עד למשה רבינו, כ למטה יותר"ואח', לרקיע הו' מרקיע הז

' שהמשיך את השכינה מרקיע הא, 4וכל השביעין חביבין, השביעי .לארץ

The sin of the Tree of Knowledge was the initial sin that resulted in the

concealment of Hashem’s presence in the physical world. Additional

sins of the following generations made this concealment even more

intense, and eventually drove Hashem’s presence through seven

stages of concealment.

When Avraham Avinu began to serve Hashem, this process was

reversed and Hashem’s presence started to become revealed again

within the physical world. Avraham brought it from the seventh stage

to the sixth, and this continued through the tzadikim of the next

generations until Moshe (the seventh, and “all seventh ones are

beloved”) came and completely reversed the concealment, revealing

Hashem’s presence once again in His “chupah” (the physical world) at

the time of the construction of the Mishkan. This final step of

revelation was the ultimate goal which all the previous steps led up

to – the revelation of Hashem’s essence within the physical world.

We see this “return of Hashem’s presence to the physical world”

reflected in the pasuk in which Hashem tells the Jews to build the

Mishkan:


עיקר שכינה ' שיהי, ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם 5ש"וזהו מ .לגנוני, כאשר באתי לגני' כמו שהי, בתחתונים

From the fact that Hashem said, “Make for Me a Mikdash and [through

this] I will dwell within them”, we see that the construction of this

physical place enabled Hashem to come back to His “garden” and

reveal His essence within the physical world just as it was revealed at

the beginning of creation.

Furthermore, from the fact that the possuk says “I will dwell within

them” (rather than “it”, which would refer to the Mishkan), we see that

the Mishkan enables Hashem’s essence to be revealed within each and

every Jew – and through them, within the entire physical world.

The way that this is accomplished is by following the “model” of serving

Hashem that was established through the construction and operation

of the Mishkan:

' בחי 6שהם משכינים וממשיכים, י עבודת הצדיקים"וענין זה נעשה עי עבודתם "והוא ע, בגילוי למטה' שיהי 8עד מרום וקדוש 7שוכן

, 9ה בכולהו עלמין"ז אסתלק יקרא דקוב"שעי, א"באתכפיא סטה שהוא בכולהו עלמין "היינו היקרא דקוב, וכהדיוק בכולהו עלמין

, שבזה אין עולם דומה לחבירו, שאין זה אור הממלא כל עלמין, בשוהוגילוי . הרי כולהו עלמין הם בשוה' שלגבי, כי אם אור הסובב כל עלמין

'.י ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי גו"זה נמשך ע

The Frierdiker Rebbe explains that the revelation of Hashem’s essence

is brought into the Mishkan (and into the Jews) through the service of

“tzadikim” (which in this context refers to every Jew) who draw down

the level of “He who dwells forever, exalted and Holy,” by serving

Hashem with eskafia (resisting one’s selfish desires).

Regarding eskafia, the Zohar says, “when one causes the sitra achra

(force of evil) to be subdued through eskafia, G-dliness (the “glory of

the Holy One, blessed be He”) is revealed in all worlds”. Specifically,

the phrase “revealed in all worlds” refers to the level of G-dliness


which is revealed (and not only where the G-dliness is revealed, which

would be referring to mimalei kol almin, a limited level of G-dliness

which is revealed within each world according to that world’s

limitations). The G-dliness which is “revealed in all worlds [equally] is

the level of sovev kol almin (which here refers to unlimited level of

G-dliness) which is equally incomparable to all worlds, and is

therefore revealed equally within all of them.

It is this level which is drawn into the worlds when the Jews serve

Hashem following the “model” of the Mishkan – “make for Me a

Mikdash [Mishkan] and I [My essence] will dwell within you.

The Frierdiker Rebbe then continues to explain three aspects of the

Mishkan which teach us how to serve Hashem in this way:

, היינו העבודה המיוחדת)שזהו שאחת העבודות , 10וממשיך בהמאמרבמקדש הוא ענין עבודת ' שהי( 11שהרי פירוש אחת הוא מלשון מיוחד

וענין קרבנות הוא , 12ס"רזא דקורבנא עולה עד רזא דא, כי, הקרבנות, 14כ ריח ניחוח"ז נעשה אח"ועי(, ע העלאה"שהו) 13'קירוב הכחות כו

, עד שנעשה ושכנתי בתוכם, ע ההמשכה למטה"שהו, 15'ר לפני כו"נח ,16בתוך כל אחד ואחד מישראל

The first aspect that the Frierdiker Rebbe explains is the service of

korbanos, which was “one of the services” (meaning, the most

significant service) in the Mishkan. The service of korbanos reaches

the essence of G-dliness, as the Zohar says, “the secret of korbanos

ascends to the secret of the ein sof”. Within a person’s service of

Hashem, this “ascent of korbanos” refers to the refinement of his

natural abilities by using them for the service of Hashem.

This “ascent” of the korbanos (or their equivalent within a Jew’s service

of Hashem) then draws down G-dliness into the physical world. This

drawing down of G-dliness into the physical world is represented by

the phrase used to describe Hashem’s pleasure from korbanos, “rei’ach

nichoach” (a pleasing scent, referring to Hashem’s appreciation


(“nachas”) that His command was fulfilled), as the word “nichoach”

(“pleasing”) is also related to the word “nachos” (“a descent”).

It was this service of korbanos in the Mishkan that was able to cause

Hashem to “dwell within you” – within each and every Jew.

The Frierdiker Rebbe then explained how the concept of korbanos

applies to every Jew’s service of Hashem:

שכשם שהיתה עבודת הקרבנות בשעה , וכפי שמבאר בהמאמרכ ישנו גם הענין דאדם כי יקריב "כמו, קיים בגשמיות' ק הי"שביהמ

כללות ( ער טוט דורך מיט זיך)שפועל בעצמו , 17'קרבן להוי מכם .הענין דעבודת הקרבנות

Commenting on the pasuk, “When a person will bring from you a

korban to Hashem”, the Alter Rebbe points out that the words are

written out of order. Instead of saying, “When a person from you will

bring,” it says, “when a person will bring from you” to teach that a Jew

needs to bring a korban from himself.

The word “korban” comes from the root word “karav”, which means “to

bring close”. When a Jew takes his natural abilities and “brings them

as a sacrifice” to Hashem, he resists his own selfish desires (eskafia)

and refocuses them on (brings them “close to”) the service of Hashem.

(This can even be done to such an extent that his own desires become

completely transformed (eshapcha) to naturally focus on G-dliness.)

The Frierdiker Rebbe then explains a second aspect of the Mishkan

which teaches us how to bring Hashem’s essence into the physical

world:

דשטים הוא , המשכן מעצי שטים דוקא' שלכן הי, 18וממשיך לבארדבכללות קאי על , כי תשטה אשתו 19ש"וכמ, מן הדרך' מלשון סטי

מלכו , דרך המלך, הנשמה הישראלית כאשר היא סוטה מדרך הישר .ז"ע השטות דלעו"והו, של עולם


The purpose of the Mishkan is also expressed by the fact that the

Mishkan was built with shittim wood. The word shittim is related to the

word “sti’ah” which means to “turn away” from a path, as it says

(regarding a sotah) “if a man’s wife turns away (sisteh) [from the path

of modesty and secludes herself with another man]”. On a spiritual

level, this “wife” refers to the Jewish soul when it “turns away” from the

correct path, the “path of the King of the world”.

This type of behavior – veering from the proper path of serving

Hashem – is referred to as “the shtus of kelipah” (unholy irrational

behavior, as the “rational” path of the soul is to only serve Hashem).

[The word “shtus” is also grammatically related to the word “shittim”

and “sisteh”.]

The Frierdiker Rebbe then explains how to counteract the shtus of

kelipah:

א המביאה לאתהפכא "ועל זה צריכה להיות העבודה דאתכפיא סטז עושים שטות "שמשטות דלעו, חשוכא לנהורא ומרירו למיתקא

ז הוא נעשה בן עולם "שעי, 20לסבא' שטותי' וכמו אהני לי, דקדושהשזהו הענין שמעצי שטים בונים את המשכן שבו שורה עיקר , הבא

.21שכינה

In order to counteract the “ruach shtus” of unholy irrational behavior,

a Jew needs to resist his desires (eskafia) and eventually “transform

darkness into light and bitterness into sweetness” by using his

“capability to be irrational” to behave with “shtus d’kedusha” – holy

irrational behavior.

In order to explain this, the Frierdiker Rebbe quotes a Gemara that

describes the benefit of serving Hashem with shtus d’kedusha:

“It was said about Rebbe Yehuda bar Rebbi Illai that he would

take a myrtle branch and dance before a kallah. Rav Shmuel

bar Rav Yitzchok would dance with three of them. […] When

Rav Shmuel passed away, a pillar of fire appeared that


separated him from everyone else [to show that he had

reached an incomparably higher level in olam ha’ba]. When

Rebbi Zeira [who had previously criticized Rav Shmuel’s

behavior] saw this, he remarked, ‘His shtus benefited him!’

This tremendous accomplishment of shtus d’kedusha is represented by

the fact that the Mishkan was built with shittim wood, as both the

construction of the Mishkan and serving Hashem with shtus d’kedusha

bring Hashem’s essence (the “ikar shechina”) into this world.

This concludes the summary of the first five chapters of the Frierdiker

Rebbe’s ma’amar. The Rebbe now summarizes chapters six and seven,

which begin to discuss why the Torah calls the beams of shittim wood

“krashim” (“beams”), the third aspect of the Mishkan which teaches us

how to reveal Hashem’s essence within the physical world:

, מה שעצי המשכן נקראים בשם קרשים 22לבאר וממשיך( בשהרי ידוע ]וענינם הוא , ן"ש ושי"ף רי"קו, אותיות' שבתיבת קרש יש ג

, שהם ממשיכים גילוי אור, 23שאותיות התורה הם מלשון אתא בוקר[, ומזה מובן שהאותיות עצמם מורים על תוכן הדבר שנקרא בשם זה

אתוון דאתחזיאו על סטרא בישא הם' ר' שאותיות ק 24כדאיתא בזהר' ז יהי"שעי, בגווייהו' ובגין לאתקיימא נטלי אות ש(, ז"אותיות דלעו)

.25כי לולי זאת הרי שיקרא לא קאי, להם חיות מהקדושה

The Frierdiker Rebbe explains the significance of (the letters of) the

word “קרש” (keresh, “beam”), as “letters” represent the overall concept

of revelation, as the phrase “asa boker” (literally, “morning has come”)

can be interpreted as “asa” (meaning “letter” in Aramaic) results in

“morning”, the revelation of light. This also implies that the letters

which make up the name of something “bring to light” the significance

of that thing.

The Frierdiker Rebbe begins by quoting the introduction to the Zohar,

which explains how each one of the 22 letters of the alef-bais came

before Hashem (starting with the last letter, “ת”, and continuing in


reverse alphabetical order) asking for the world to be created through

it. (The world is created through all 22 letters of the alef-bais, but each

letter wanted to be the main influence on creation.)

When it came time for the letter “ש”, which is the “letter of truth” (the

three branches represent Avraham, Yitzchok, and Ya’akov), Hashem

told it that even though it would be fitting to use for creating the world

on its own, it could not be the main letter because it partners with the

letters “ק” and “ר” to create the word “שקר” (lie). (Furthermore – the

Zohar points out that a lie is enabled by the support of “truth,” as the

word “שקר” starts with a letter of truth, and then builds the lie upon

it. From this perspective, the “ש” is even “worse” than the “ק” and the

This concept is also reflected in the statement of the Gemara, “a .”ר“

lie will not stand” [on its own, just like the all the letters in the word

([.”are “unbalanced” and don’t have two stable “feet ”שקר“

Even though all the letters of the alef-bais themselves are holy, the

letters “ק” and “ר” enable the existence of kelipah in the world. Since

kelipos don’t have any independent existence, as they are only a

concealment of Hashem’s existence, they can only receive their life

force from holiness. Therefore, in order to enable the existence of

kelipos, the letters “ק” and “ר” partner with “ש”, the “letter of truth”.

After the letter “ש” was rejected for being the main letter in creation

(which would have therefore also given strength to its “partners”, “ק”

and “ר”), they took the “ש” in-between them, creating a “קשר” (knot,

connection) of kelipah in the world.

The Frierdiker Rebbe then explained the significance of using the

keresh in the construction of the Mishkan:

.ז להיות קרש דקדושה"בודה הוא להפוך את האותיות דלעווענין הע

As explained above, the letters “ר“ ,”ק”, and “ש” enable the existence

of kelipah in the world. Therefore, by using them in the Mishkan (or,


their equivalent within a person’s own service of Hashem, as will be

explained later in the ma’amar), these “letters of kelipah” are

transformed into a “keresh of kedusha”.

The Frierdiker Rebbe then continued to explain how we see that the

letters “ק” and “ר” represent kelipah:

הן לנגד ' ר' ק, דהנה, ז"הם אותיות דלעו' ר' ומבאר הטעם שהאותיות ק '.מתדמה לאות ה' ואות ק' מתדמה לאות ד' שהרי אות ר', וה' ד

We can see how the letters “ק” and “ר” represent kelipah by comparing

them to the corresponding similar letters on the side of kedusha: “ד”

(which is similar to the “ר”) and “ה” (which is similar to the “ק”).

In the sixth and seventh chapters, the Frierdiker Rebbe focused on the

difference between the “ד” and the “ר”:

הן בדמותן והן , ז"זל( ועד שכמעט שוים)דומים ' ור' ואף שהאותיות דוכפי . ז"ים זמהרי הם הפכי, מ"מ, שהן מלשון דלות ועניות, בפירושן

הרי זה ' במקום ר' או ד' במקום ד' שאם יחליף ר', ור' שמצינו בנוגע לד' אלקינו הוי' שמע ישראל הוי 27וכמו בפסוק, 26ו"מחריב עולמות ח

הרי זה מחריב ' ו באות ר"ואם מחליפו ח', שצריך להדגיש את הד, אחדם וא', שצריך להדגיש את הר, 28ל אחר-וכן לא תשתחוה לא, עולמות

.הרי זה מחריב עולמות' ו בד"מחליפו ח

Even though the letters are similar (and almost identical) in both their

shape and in their meaning, they are actually polar opposites. The

words dalus (related to daled) and raish both mean “poor” (which

would seem to imply that they are similar), but the type of poverty is

completely different. The raish represents the “spiritual poverty” of

kelipos who are “poor” in terms of G-dly revelation, while dalus

represents the “holy poverty” of bittul when a Jew realizes that he has

nothing of his own, and everything comes from Hashem.


In fact, the Midrash says that “if someone exchanges a daled for a raish

he destroys worlds.” There are two key examples of this:

• If the “ד” of the word “אחד” in the Shema is switched to a “ר”

(spelling “אחר”, other, G-d forbid), instead of meaning

“Hashem is One” it means “another g-d” – the exact opposite

of what the Shema is all about.

• If the “ר” of the word “אחר” is switched with a “ד” in the pasuk

“You shall not bow down to another (“אחר”) g-d, it changes the

meaning to “You shall not bow down to the One G-d” – the

exact opposite of the intended meaning of the pasuk.

[This is the reason why halacha states that extra care should be taken

to pronounce these letters clearly.]

כמבואר בשער היחוד )וממשיך לבאר החילוק ביניהם בתמונתם שכל אות היא בתמונה מיוחדת פרטית המורה על ציור 29והאמונה

, ד מאחוריו"יש לו יו' שאות ד(, באות זו' ההמשכה והתגלות האור כומורה על , תד שהיא בציור של נקודה שאין לה התפשטו"וענין אות יו .ענין הביטול

The Frierdiker Rebbe then explained that although the daled and the

raish have very similar shapes, the difference between them is that the

daled contains a yud “on its back”, while the raish does not:

[In Sha’ar HaYichud Vha’Emuna, the Alter Rebbe explains that the shape

of each letter indicates the corresponding characteristics of the G-dly

revelation that is drawn down through that specific letter.]


This yud on the “back” of the daled represents the concept of bittul (as

yud is the smallest letter of the alef-bais – a single point which doesn’t

“spread itself out” in any direction).

This yud – representing bittul – is the entire difference between

kedusha and kelipah:

, שקדושה הוא דבר הבטל, ז"והרי כללות החילוק בין קדושה ללעו, ולכן. 30כמבואר בתניא, ע של ישות וגבהות ומציאות נפרד"ז הו"ולעו

' הנה עם היותו עדיין בבחי, ד מאחוריו"שיש לו יו' מצד הביטול דאות ד, ד מאחוריו"כ ללא הביטול דיו"משא. הקדושה' הרי הוא בבחי, דלות

.31ז"שהיא מאתוון דלעו', ר אזי נעשה אות

As explained in Tanya, the definition of kedusha is something that is (or

has the ability to be) bottul to Hashem. In contrast, the sitra achra is

characterized by a feeling of independent importance and

significance.

Therefore, even though the daled is “poor”, its poverty represents its

quality of “yud” (bittul – its readiness to recognize and admit that it has

nothing of its own), which makes it part of the side of kedusha.

In contrast, the raish doesn’t have the “yud” (the quality of bittul), and

is therefore part of the sitra achra.

', ק' א נעשה מר"שבסט', שנעשה מר' בא לבאר ענין האות ק 32ועתה .כדלקמן

Having completed the summary of the first seven chapters, the Rebbe

now analyzes the eighth chapter of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar

which explains how (on the side of kelipah) the letter kuf is created

from the letter raish.

[The following section will simply quote the Frierdiker Rebbe’s

ma’amar, which contains only a minimal amount of explanation. These

concepts will be explained at length in the subsequent sections.]


' דה', ה' והנה בקדושה נעשה מאות ד: בארזה מקדים ל ולהבין( גאלא שהוא ', והוא רגל השמאלי דאות ה, ד מלפניו"כ יו"הרי יש בו ג

' דאות ד, והיינו שמורה על אופן היחוד, הוא מאחוריו' ובד, מלפניוד "היו' ובאות ה, והוא יחוד אחור באחור, שקדם אליו' מקבל מאות ג

.יםשהיחוד הוא בבחינת פנים בפנ, מלפניו

The Frierdiker Rebbe writes:

Within the realm of kedusha, the letter daled becomes a hey [as

the letter “ה” is a “ד” with an added leg]. In addition to having

a yud on its back, the hey also has another yud on its front

side, as the leg of the hey is an inverted yud.

The significance of this is as follows: The yud on the back of a

letter represents the union of “back-to-back”, while the yud on

the front of a letter represents the union of “face-to-face”.

(This will be explained shortly in an editor’s note.)

First, the daled receives from the gimmel which precedes it, and

the unity between them is the lower level of unity of “back-to-

back” (as seen from the yud on the back of the daled, which

represents the unity between the gimmel and the daled and

therefore faces away from the daled). However, after this

unity is accomplished between the gimmel and the daled, it

enables the higher unity of “face-to-face”, represented by the

shape of the letter hey.

[Editor’s note: Chassidus explains that when people are back-to-back,

this indicates that they have no real relationship with each other, so a

“face-to-face connection” represents a connection where the two sides

enjoy and desire their connection and appreciate one another. In

contrast, a “back-to-back” unity represents a unity where the two


parties work together, but their connection is not motivated by this

desire and appreciation.]

דצדקה הוא צדק 33ל"וכדאיתא בכתבי האריז, י הצדקה"וזה נעשה ע ',מקבל מהג' שהד, גמול דלים' ד' ג 25ל"וכמארז', נעשה ה' שמאות ד', ה

'.ז נעשה אות ה"ועי

The Frierdiker Rebbe continues:

This higher level of unity represented by the hey is enabled by

the giving of tzedaka. This is reflected in the writings of the

AriZal, which says that “the word tzedaka is a combination of

”.as the hey is made from the daled ,”ה“ and the letter ”צדק“

This is also reflected in the statement of the Gemara that the

letters gimmel and daled (together) represent the concept of

“gomel dalim” (giving to the poor). We see from here that when

the daled (the “poor”) receives from the gimmel, this results in

the letter hey.

The Rebbe now begins to explain the words of the Frierdiker Rebbe,

starting with a detailed explanation of the letter gimmel:

ל "בענין צורת אות גימ אר הזקן"כפי שמבאר אדמו, הענין וביאור' שהוא קו א(, ת האותיות מורה על אופן המשכת האורל שצור"כנ)

ולכך , היסוד' וזה מורה על בחי, תחתיו' ו עם נקודה שהוא י"שהוא וא .דל' שגומל חסד ושפע למלכות הנק' פי, שהוא גומל דלים, ל"גימ' נק

The Alter Rebbe explains that the shape of the letter gimmel is made

up of a single vertical line – the shape of a vov, with a point underneath

it (the “foot” of the gimmel), which has the shape of a yud.

)קז, זח"ג רד, אלאדמו"ר האמצעי ל ביאורי הזהר בלקוראה תו"א נט, א. (א

.שלדדרושי חנוכה ס"ע אוה"תד(. ריש ע"


This yud at the bottom of the gimmel represents the sefirah of yesod,

and it is this aspect of the letter that causes it to have the name

“gimmel” related to the word “gomel” (“to give to” or “to bestow upon”).

The function of the sefirah of yesod is to “collect” the revelation of

G-dliness from the higher sefiros and “give” this revelation to the “poor”

sefirah which has “nothing of its own” – the sefirah of malchus.

Therefore, this quality of the sefirah of yesod (the “foot of the gimmel”)

causes the entire letter to be called “gimmel”.

The Alter Rebbe explains the relationship between the vov (the “body”

of the gimmel) and the yud (the “foot” of the gimmel):

ו הוא "אלא שתמונת אות וי, ו"הרי זה דוגמת אות וי, ד"ו יו"וענין הוי' ד בראשית השפע כו"להורות על פנימית הטפה דהיא יו, ו"ד וי"יו

, כ כידוע"ו אח"ונמשכה בשפע הוי

The vov and the yud (as included in the gimmel) are similar to the letter

vov itself, but the vov has a yud on top, representing the essence of

revelation which will (eventually) be transmitted to the receiver. This

essential revelation is then “drawn down” as it is being prepared to

transmit to the receiver, represented by the descending line of the vov.

[The physical representation of this is the seed as it (spiritually) exists

in the brain of the father, which is then spiritually drawn down through

the spine in preparation for the actual transmission of the seed.]

להורות על , ד למטה"ו למעלה והיו"הוי, ל הוא בהיפוך"כ גימ"משא' אחרי המשך האור והשפע מן המשפיע כו, סיום השפע במלכות

(.ל"עכ)

The gimmel, however, is arranged in the opposite manner: the vov is

above and the yud is below, representing the actual transmission of


the revelation from the sefirah of yesod into malchus. [This is

represented by the actual transmission of seed from the giver to the

receiver.]

[This concluded the Alter Rebbe’s explanation of the letter gimmel.]

The Rebbe explains this in greater detail:

ומורה . וממנו נמשך קו דק, ד"ו יש בראשו יו"דאות וי, והענין בזהכדי שיומשך מעליון , כי, בכללות על ההמשכה מלמעלה למטה

צריך העליון לצמצם את עצמו להיות , מהרב אל התלמיד, לתחתוןשזהו תחלת , ד שבראשו"שלכן נשאר רק היו, בערך התחתון

.ההמשכה

The shape of the letter vov begins with the letter yud at the top, and

then becomes more narrow as the line continues downward. This

“narrowing” represents the general process of drawing down a

revelation from above to below, as in order for a giver to give to an

(incomparably lower) receiver (like a teacher teaching an incomparably

lower student) the giver needs to conceal the revelation as it exists

within himself until it is appropriately tailored for the capacity of the

receiver. This represents the first step in preparing to transmit

something to the receiver.

הנה ככל שיורדת מלמעלה למטה , ולאחרי שההשפעה מדודה כברשלאחרי , ו"שזהו ציור אות וא, הרי זה באופן שמתצמצם ומתקצר

.ד שבראשו נמשך קו שהולך ודק"היו

After the giver dismisses his own perspective and focuses on

communicating his idea to someone else, it then needs to be “drawn

down” (adapted) until it is appropriate for the capacity of the receiver.

This “drawing down” of the concept is a gradual concealment

(tzimtzum) and reduction of the concept, represented by the line of the

vov which gradually decreases in width as it continues downward from

the “head” of the yud.


לפי ערך ' ויהי, הנה בכדי שיומשך להמקבל שאינו בערך, ולאחרי כןעומד 34שהמקבל, היינו, צריך להיות ענין של צמצום, כלי המקבל

וביטול זה הוא הכלי לקבל את , בתנועה של צמצום וביטול המציאות .השפע מן המשפיע

Even though the essence of the concept intended for the receiver has

been drawn down and prepared for transmission, the receiver is still

incomparably lower than the giver, and it would be impossible for the

receiver to receive the concept by basing his understanding on his

existing perspective. Therefore, there needs to be a “tzimtzum”

(complete bittul) of the receiver as well in preparation for receiving the

concept from the giver. This bittul makes the receiver an “empty

container” which is then able to receive the revelation from the giver.

שמורה על סיום (, ל"שבתמונת אות גימ)ו "ד בסוף הוא"וזהו היו, כלום' מגרמי' להמקבל שלית לי( איבערגיין)כשצריך לבוא , ההמשכה

.35'ע הד"שזהו

This final preparation of the concept to be transmitted to the receiver

is represented by the yud at the bottom of the vov (within the letter

gimmel). The receiver can then receive this concept from the

(incomparably greater) giver by having “nothing of his own” (complete

bittul) – the concept of the daled.

Having traced the revelation from the “head” of the gimmel through its

final transmission to the daled, the Rebbe points out that this is also

represented in the literal mitzvah of tzedaka:

משפיע לעני ודל , שהעשיר שיש לו, וזהו גם ענין גמול דלים כפשוטול שממנה "ואופן ההשפעה נרמז באות גימ, כלום' מגרמי' דלית לי

.ת"נמשך לאות דלי


When a rich person who has wealth gives to a poor person who has

nothing of his own (“gomel dalim”), this is also represented by the letter

gimmel which is drawn down to the daled.

The Rebbe continues to explain how this action of giving tzedaka

(either in a spiritual or physical way) causes the daled to develop into

a hey:

תבי כמבואר בכ, והענין בזה'. ה' מעשה הצדקה נעשה מד י"ועעל ענין גל"שדרשוהו רז, יש מפזר ונוסף עוד 36על הפסוק בל"האריז

(, אם ראית אדם מפזר מעותיו לצדקה הוי יודע שהוא מוסיף)הצדקה הוא הנקרא גבאי , א"או היסוד עצמו דז, א"כי היסוד דאימא שבתוך ז

כ הוא הנותנו ומחלקו לעניים שהם "ואח, הגובה כל האורות, צדקהוהנה הצדקה שנותן לה הם החסדים היורדים ביסוד . המלכות' מבחי

'.א כו"ז

Commenting on the pasuk, “There are those who [seem to] spend

excessively but [actually] gain”, the Gemara says that this refers to the

giving of tzedaka; even though it seems that a person is spending

excessively on tzedaka, you should realize that his giving of tzedaka will

actually end up increasing his wealth.

The AriZal interprets this on a deeper level, explaining that the sefirah

of yesod within binah (as all sefiros are inclusive of all ten) as it is

revealed within ze’ir anpin (the sefiros of chesed through yesod), or the

sefirah of yesod itself, are referred to as a “gabbai tzedaka” (someone

who collects funds from the community to distribute to those in need).

This term is applied to the sefirah of yesod because it describes its

function: it “collects” the revelations from the higher sefiros of ze’ir

.ראה' שער המצוות וטעמי המצוות פ( ב

(.רמז תתקמז) כד, ש משלי יא"יל( ג


anpin and distributes them as “charity” to the “poor” – the level of

malchus (who “has nothing of her own”).

The AriZal continues:

ולכן , א"ז נתמעטו אורות החסדים מן ז"נראה שעי' היוכפי הסברא ', כו' נוסף עוד ממה שהי' ומחמת הפיזור הי' הודיענו כי יש מפזר כו

כי גם אם יראה , ז"עד' והנה הנותן צדקה גם הוא יהי .א"שנגדל גופא דז .אינו אלא מוסיף ממונו, בעיניו שהוא מפזר ממונו

Logically, it would seem that “giving away” the revelations of the

chassadim of ze’ir anpin (the revelation of G-dliness within these sefiros)

would decrease their own level of G-dly revelation. Therefore the

pasuk tells us, “there are those who spend excessively [referring to the

revelation of G-dliness from ze’ir anpin into malchus”], but this

“irresponsible spending” actually results in an increase in revelation –

“the ‘body ‘of ze’ir anpin becomes greater” (meaning: by revealing

G-dliness into malchus, it reveals an even greater dimension of ze’ir

anpin which cannot be revealed to a lower level).

This applies on a literal level as well: even though it might appear that

someone is decreasing his wealth by giving tzedaka, he is actually

increasing it.

The Rebbe continues to quote a second explanation of the AriZal

regarding the mitzvah of tzedaka which focuses on the letters of the

word “צדקה”:

דע כי אות צדי שבתיבת : ומוסיף לבאר עוד כוונה אחרת בענין הצדקהן "ד ונו"יו', וזהו ציור אות צ, ן אחור באחור"מורה על היות זו, צדקה

.כפופה הפוכות פניהם זו מזו ועומדים אחור באחור

The first letter of the word, tzadik, refers to the union of ze’ir anpin and

malchus in a way of “back-to-back”. This is evident in the form of the

letter as well:


The left side and bottom of the tzadik is the shape of a bent nun, and

the top right section is a yud. However, the letters nun and yud are not

facing one another, representing the unity of “back-to-back”.

The AriZal continues to the second letter of the word tzedaka, “ד”:

'.מורה על היות אז הנקבה דלה ועני', ואות ד

The letter tzadik is then followed by the letter daled (related to the word

dalus, “poverty”), showing that the recipient is “poor and impoverished”

when the unity is “back-to-back” (the recipient doesn’t have any true

pleasure from its unity with the giver due to the lack of understanding

of the giver’s true qualities).

מורה על היות רגלה הארוך מתפשט ויורד בקליפות , ואות קוףן הם אחור באחור הרי זה זיווג "ומסיים שכאשר זו(. ח"כדלקמן ס)

של ' ע אות ה"ווג העיקרי והאמיתי שזהוזי' ולכן צריך לתקן שיהי, גרוע (.כ"ע)צדקה

This type of “back-to-back” unity then results in the letter kuf, as the

additional revelation which is brought about through the unity can

descend “below the line of holiness”, giving energy to the kelipos (just

like the left leg of the kuf (ק) descends lower than the other letters of

the alef-bais).

This negative “back-to-back” unity then needs to be corrected by

transforming it into a “face-to-face” unity, represented by the hey at

the end of the word tzedaka, as the left leg of the hey doesn’t descend

“below the line of kedusha”. (This parallels the overall theme of this

section of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar – the transformation of the


letters of kelipah into kedusha – represented by the krashim of the

Mishkan.)

(This concludes the explanation of the AriZal.)

We are now able to understand the parallel between the explanation

of the AriZal quoted by the Frierdiker Rebbe and the statement that

preceded it:

[The Frierdiker Rebbe only quoted a few words from the AriZal, making

it very difficult to understand the flow of the ma’amar.]

שמורה , ד הוא מאחוריו"היו' שבאות ד, וזהו גם מה שמבאר בהמאמרשהיחוד הוא , ד הוא מלפניו"היו' ובאות ה, על יחוד אחור באחור

.בבחינת פנים בפנים

First, the Frierdiker Rebbe stated (referring to the difference between

the letters daled and hey) “on the letter daled, the yud is on its back,

representing a ‘back-to-back unity’, while the hey has the yud in front,

referring to a ‘face-to-face unity’.

He then quoted the teaching of the AriZal, which explained how a

“back-to-back unity“ is transformed into a “face-to-face unity”:

ע "שהו, כלום' מגרמי' י נתינת הצדקה למטה למאן דלית לי"שע, והיינואזי נעשה גם הענין דגמול דלים , גמול דלים, ת"ל לדל"ההשפעה מגימ

ד "ע היו"שניתוסף הרגל השמאלי שהו', ה' ז נעשה מד"ועי, למעלה .היחוד בבחינת פנים בפנים' שיהי, מלפניו

Through the actual giving of tzedaka to someone who has “nothing

of his own”, which represents the revelation from the gimmel to the

daled (as explained above), this also causes a parallel effect to

happen in the higher worlds (there is an additional revelation of

G-dliness into malchus, which brings additional G-dliness into

creation).


Furthermore, this transforms the daled into a hey – it brings about a

true “face-to-face unity” (represented by the yud in front of the hey)

between the creation and the revelation of G-dliness, creating a dirah

b’tachtonim (represented by the transformation of kelipah into the

krashim of the Mishkan).

The Rebbe skips to a later section of this chapter in the Frierdiker

Rebbe’s ma’amar which explains the concept of the kuf and the hey

according to Chassidus (as the previous section was according to

Kabbalah):

הקוין שבאות ' ג, דהנה, לבאר הענין בלשון החסידות וממשיך( דבראתיו , ע"עולמות בי' מורים על סדר ההשתלשלות שנחלק לג' ה

.37יצרתיו אף עשיתיו

Chassidus explains that the three parts of the letter hey correspond to

the three levels of G-dliness which are revealed in the three worlds

that make up the “limited creation” of Briyah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah (as

Atzilus is a world of G-dliness and is fundamentally different than the

three lower worlds which experience their existence as an entity that

exists “outside” of G-dliness).

These three worlds are represented by the pasuk, “I have created him

(barasiv, representing Briyah), I have formed him (yatzartiv,

representing Yetzirah); I have even made him (asisiv, representing

Asiyah).

לבושי ' הם ג' הקוין דאות ה' שג(, 38שהרי מבשרי אחזה)וענינו באדם ולכן קנה השמאלי הוא נפסק מהשני , 39הנפש מחשבה דיבור ומעשה

להורות (, קו העליון וקו הימני שמורים על המחשבה ודיבור)קוין אף , ש אף עשיתיו"שזהו מ, שהמעשה הוא נפסק מדיבור ומחשבה

.הפסיק הענין

These three worlds are also reflected within a person (as it says, “from

my flesh I perceive G-d”): The three parts of the hey refer to the three


“garments” of the soul (the three methods that the soul can use to

express itself): thought, speech, and action.

The top line of the hey corresponds to thought, and the right leg of the

hey (which is attached to the top line) corresponds to speech. The left

leg of the hey, which is detached from the other two parts, refers to

action.

The left leg, which corresponds to action, is detached from the other

two parts to show that action is separate and distinct from the other

two garments (as will be explained shortly).

This “detachment” can also be seen in the pasuk referring to the three

worlds: before referring to Asiyah (the physical world of action), the

pasuk says “I have even made it”, using the word “af” (even) to make a

division between the world of Asiyah and the previous two worlds.

The Rebbe explains why action is fundamentally different than the

other two garments:

בלבושים , מ"מ, בלבדאף שמחשבה דיבור ומעשה הם לבושים , דהנהשאינם נעשים נפרדים לגמרי מן , גופא יש חילוק בין מחשבה ודיבור

שהרי בענין , לענין המעשה שנעשה נפרד לגמרי מן האדם, האדםכח האומן שישנו בהכלי שנעשה על , המעשה ישנו כח הפועל בנפעל

,ידו

Even though thought, speech, and action are all (only) garments of the

soul, there is a fundamental difference between the garments of

thought and speech and the garment of action.

Thought and speech never become completely separate from the

person (meaning, a thought stays within a person’s mind, and words

of speech can’t independently remain in existence after the person has

finished speaking). Action, on the other hand, can become completely

separate from the person, and has an effect on the object on which


the action was performed. For example, if a person makes a container,

that container was affected by his action.

כ "משא, שענין המעשה ישנו גם במין החי שאין בו שכל כלל, ועוד זאתשלכן נקרא בשם , מחשבה ודיבור שהם מיוחדים למין האדם דוקא

.מדבר

Furthermore, even animals – who have no intellect at all (their

thoughts are only able to help them practically obtain their own

natural desires) – are able to perform actions. In contrast, thought and

speech (which express intellect or emotions) are unique to human

beings, which is why the Torah refers to humans as “medaber” (“one

who can speak”).

As explained above, the letter hey represents the side of kedusha. After

explaining the significance of the three sides of the hey within a person,

the Frierdiker Rebbe then explains how these three garments of a Jew

create a “hey of kedusha” (and not a kuf, as will be explained later):

לבושי הנפש ' א בקדושה הוא כאשר ג"שאות ה, ומבאר בהמאמרשאז הנה , מחשבה דיבור ומעשה הם ממולאים מאור הקדושה

,מחשבתו דיבורו ומעשיו הם כדבעי

The letter hey in kedusha (as expressed within a Jew) is when the three

garments of the soul – thought, speech, and action – are full of the light

of kedusha (complete bittul to Hashem), as this is the way that the three

garments are as they should be.

The Frierdiker Rebbe then explains what it means to have “all three

garments full of the light of kedusha”:

צ שצריך לעסוק בהם לא יחסר בהם והם "שכל הענינים דתומ, והיינופ התורה "ע, וגם בשעה שעוסק בעניני העולם, אצלו בשלימות

, 40הנה כל עשיותיו הם לשם שמים, ע"כמבואר בשו


First of all, a person needs to be involved in Torah and mitzvos without

missing anything, ensuring that he fulfills them completely.

Additionally, when he is involved in making a living and performing

everyday activities, which he does according to the directives of the

Torah as explained in the Shulchan Aruch, everything that he does is

for the service of Hashem.

, 41לא רק הענינים שהעבודה בהם היא באופן דבכל דרכיך דעהו, והיינואלא גם שאר הענינים , ד אכילת שבת"ע, עצמה היא מצוה' שהעשי

.שהם בבחינת הכשר לענין המצוה הבא לאחרי זה

Not only does a person need to perform mundane activities for the

sake of Hashem in situations that fall under the “know Him in all your

ways” category, when the action itself is a mitzvah (such as eating on

Shabbos) – a person also needs to perform his mundane activities

(which are not a mitzvah) in a way that they become a hechsher mitzvah

(a preparation for a mitzvah).

The Rebbe quotes the examples that the Frierdiker Rebbe provided in

his ma’amar (with added explanation):

הכוונה בהריוח הוא "ש, מ"וכמו שמביא בהמאמר הדוגמא מעסק מוח "וכמו במצות צדקה וגמ, שיוכל לקיים את המצוות לשמור ולעשות

והן שאר , הן מצד הצדקה, י הריוח עצמו מקיים מצוות"שזהו שע)אלא צריך , 43במגנא, שאינם צריכים להיות בחנם 42כידוע, המצוות

' ו מוחו ולבו פנויים לעסוק בתורה כווכן בכדי שיהי (,לקנותם בדמים (.ד הכשר מצוה"שזהו ע" )ועבודה שבלב בתפלה

The Frierdiker Rebbe provided the example that “the intent of the

profit [that the businessman makes] is in order to perform mitzvos,

such as the mitzvah of tzedakah or gemilus chassadim (other ways of

helping a fellow Jew in a material way).” In this example, the profit

itself is used to perform a mitzvah. This applies to both tzedaka and

other mitzvos which need to be purchased with money. (The AriZal


explains that using money to pay for mitzvos has a similar advantage

to using money to give tzedaka, so it is important that they are not “for

free”.)

Then, the Frierdiker Rebbe explained that a person’s intent in earning

a profit should be “so his mind and heart are free to focus on learning

Torah and on the service of the heart – davening.” In this case, the time

and clarity of mind which he is able to free up due to the profit that

he earned is used for the performance of a mitzvah, which makes his

work like a hechsher mitzvah.

Then, the Frierdiker Rebbe explained the impact that this focus has on

the work itself:

הנה מלבד זה אשר מרויח זמני , כאשר עושה כן"ש, ומוסיף עוד עניןהנה עוד זאת , נפשו ממש ומאירה באור התורה והתפלה' הלימוד ומחי

דבמילא , הוא כדבעי( ש"כאשר הוא לש)מ שלו "אשר עצם העסק מודהרי יודע אשר כל אלה שנא , ה נזהר מאונאה וגזל מרמה ושקר"ה

.היפך אלקות ואיך יעשה דבר אשר', הוי

The Frierdiker Rebbe wrote, “When he behaves in this way, in addition

to the fact that he gains additional time to learn and literally enlivens

his soul and illuminates it with the light of learning Torah and davening,

the work itself (when it is done for the sake of serving Hashem) will

also be done properly. It will naturally follow that he will carefully

avoid any deception, theft, trickery, or lies, as he knows that Hashem

hates all these practices – and how could he possibly do something

which contradicts G-dliness?”

The Frierdiker Rebbe continued:

וגם מאיר אצלו בגילוי האמונה פשוטה הקבועה בכל לב איש ישראל העסק ראוי ' והברכה תבוא רק כאשר יהי, 44היא תעשיר' דברכת הוי '"לברכת הוי


“Additionally, the simple faith that is implanted within every Jew shines

within him that “the blessing of Hashem is what makes one wealthy”,

and this blessing can only come when his business practices are an

appropriate “container” for the blessings of Hashem.”

The Rebbe explains the opposite situation:

שנוסף על , מושקע בעניני הפרנסה ומוטרד בהם' כ אילו הי"משא)שמורה על המחשבה דכחי ועוצם ידי , גופא הענין הבלתי רצוי שבזה

הרי זה גם גורע בהענינים ודרגות ומעלות , 45עשה לי את החיל הזה '(.י עסקו בעבודת התפלה וקיום התורה ומצוותי"שהגיע אליהם ע

This is not the case when someone is excessively involved in and

preoccupied with making a profit. In addition to the fact that this itself

is a problem, as it shows that he thinks that “my abilities and the

strength of my own hands has brought me this wealth”, it also has a

negative effect on the level which he is able to reach through his

involvement in davening and his fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos.

The Rebbe explains this issue in greater detail based on a ma’amar of

the Mittler Rebbe:

ר האמצעי בארוכה בהקדמתו "כפי שמבאר אדמו, בזה והענין( השישנם כאלו שאינם מוצאים יראת חטא בעצמם לפי ערך , לדרך חיים

שהסיבה , ט"י עבודתם בתפלה ותורה ומע"יראת אלקים שבקרבם עמצד טרדת עומק לבם ודעתם בפרנסה ועסקי הזמן , לזה היא

וזהו , 'קים ויראת היראת אלשמבלבלים ועוקרים מעט מעט השרשת '.סיבת הנפילה לרוב ההמון כו

In the introduction to Derech Chaim, the Mittler Rebbe explains that

there are some people who don’t have the fear of sin that would seem

appropriate for their level of fear of G-d which they developed through

their davening, learning, and performance of mitzvos.

He then explains that the reason for this inadequate fear of sin is due

to their excessive preoccupation in the depths of their hearts and


minds about earning a living and keeping up with the tasks of day-to-

day life which distract them, and, little-by-little, uproot their fear of

Hashem.

This is the cause for the failure of the majority of the population [in

this area].

שהיגיעה היא , 46שהעסק בפרנסה אינו באופן דיגיע כפיך, והיינוואילו בעיקר המוחין עסוק הוא בהענין דאני לא נבראתי , בכפים בלבד

,אלא באופן שגם ראשו נעשה שקוע בזה, 47אלא לשמש את קוני

The root of this problem is that he doesn’t approach earning a living

with the attitude of “[you shall earn your living through] the toil of your

hands”, which means that his focus on earning a living should be

limited to practical concerns about what needs to get done, and the

main focus of his mind needs to be “I was not created for any other

reason than to serve my Creator.” Instead, he has his entire mind

(meaning, his entire focus) “sunk” into earning a living.

בדאגות ( ער פארלירט זיך)ועד שנעשה מושקע בכל מציאותו עס )מכלה 48באופן שהדאגה פן יחסר לחמו, וטרדות הפרנסה

הנה לא זו בלבד שבשעת מעשה אינו , שאז, את כל מציאותו( צורייבטי "שזה מחסר וגורע מהענינים שהגיע אליהם ע, אלא עוד זאת, כדבעי

ועד שנחסר גם ', ה והשגה כוהבנ', עבודתו בתפלה ותורה ומצוותי .בהענין דיראת אלקים ואפילו ביראת חטא בהנוגע לפועל

This can reach such an extent that he loses control over himself,

investing his entire being in worries about and preoccupation with

making a living, and the concern of “maybe I will lack bread” erodes his

entire being. When he reaches this point, in addition to the fact that

his attitude while at work isn’t proper, it also begins to detract from the

levels which he has attained through his davening and performance of

Torah and mitzvos, including his understanding and comprehension

of Torah, his fear of Heaven – and even his practical fear of sin.


The Rebbe continues to summarize the ma’amar of the Mittler Rebbe:

בשמאלה 49דהנה כתיב, וממשיך לבאר ענין כללי בשרש הפרנסה .ולכאורה אינו מובן למה חילקם לשתים, עושר וכבוד

In order to explain a general principle regarding making a living, the

Mittler Rebbe brings the pasuk (which we say when the Torah is lifted

into the air at the conclusion of the Torah reading), “at [the Torah’s] left

side is wealth and honor.” What is the meaning of listing both wealth

and honor separately? Shouldn’t having wealth automatically bring

honor?

The Mittler Rebbe explains that there are two approaches to earning a

living:

מה 50ל"כמארז', אופן הא, אופנים בפרנסה' שיש ב, אך הענין הואהרי , וכיון שעצה זו נאמרה בתורה]יעשה אדם ויתעשר ירבה בסחורה

שמרבה בקניית ריבוי , והיינו[, מובן שגם בקדושה יכול להיות סדר כזהשלא לפי ערך הכח והיכולת , סחורה הרבה יותר מכפי מעותיו

.ד שלוה גם ממונם של אחריםע, והמדידה והגבלה שלו

The first way is to follow the advice of the Gemara: “What should a

person do to become wealthy? He should buy a lot of merchandise.”

(Since this method is mentioned in the Torah, it is obvious that this

approach exists within the realm of kedusha.)

This means that a person should buy a large amount of merchandise

– even more than he can afford, and more than would seem

appropriate for his abilities and limitations – even to the extent that he

needs to borrow money from others in order to finance his purchase.

פ דרכי "נמשכת לו הפרנסה ע' וכל זה הוא לפי שמצד איזה טעם שיהיצריכה להיות , הוספה וריבוי בפרנסה' כדי שיהי, ולכן, הטבע דוקא

זקוק , וכיון שהקרן והכלים שלו אינם מספיקים, הוספה וריבוי בכלים '.הוא גם לכלים של אחרים שמלוה מהם ממון כו


The reason why a person needs to go takes these steps in order to

become wealthy is because – for some reason – it has been

determined that he needs to earn his living according to the limits of

nature. Therefore, in order for him to have additional and abundant

income, he needs to have additional and abundant “containers” to

earn this income. His existing wealth and merchandise are not enough

of an investment, so he needs to borrow “containers” from others by

borrowing their money.

.הגבול דקדושה' סדר זה הוא רק בבחי, אמנם

However, this entire approach to building wealth is based on the

limited aspect of the realm of holiness. Alternatively, there is another

method – the method of “wealth and honor” (from the pasuk quoted

above):

( אלא, לא רק עושר סתם)והוא הנקרא , בפרנסה' שנו גם אופן הבאך י, היא תעשיר' שאפילו במיעוט סחורה הנה ברכת הוי, עושר וכבוד

כיון שזוהי הצלחה , שנותנים לו הצלחה מופלגה שלא לפי ערך הכלים .למעלה מדרך הטבע

The method of “wealth and honor” enables a person to become

wealthy even by doing a minimal amount of business to merit “the

blessing of Hashem brings wealth”. In this case, Hashem grants him

unbelievable success that is disproportionate to the amount of effort

that he invested, as this type of success is beyond the limits of nature.

The Mittler Rebbe explained how a person can merit this:

ועול ' כל המקבל עליו עול תורה מעבירין ממנו כו 51ל"ועל זה אמרו רז. ועול דרך ארץ' וכל הפורק ממנו עול תורה נותנים עליו כו, דרך ארץ

שכח ההעמקה הבנה והשגה , שכאשר פורק ממנו עול תורה, והיינוהרי הוא מושקע , צריך להיות שייך לעניני תורה בלבד' והסברה שהי

,נסה עד לדיוטא היותר תחתונהאצלו בעניני פר


The Mishna in Pirkei Avos states, “One who accepts upon himself the

yoke of Torah is exempted from […] the yoke of worldly concerns; but

one who casts off the yoke of Torah is saddled with the yoke of […]

worldly concerns.”

On a simple level, “casting off the yoke of Torah” means that a Jew

doesn’t learn Torah as he should. However, on a deeper level, it also

means that he utilizes his mental energy and focus – which should only

be invested in learning and understanding Torah – and invests it into

contemplating all the possible ways that he could make more money.

שפרנסתו היא באופן שצריך , היינו, אזי נותנים עליו עול דרך ארץשבשביל , היינו, ועד שזהו אפילו באופן של עול', להרבות בסחורה וכו

, כי אם בדרך עול, הפרנסה עושה ענינים כאלו שאין להם מקום בשכל .ולא עול דקדושה, ז"עול דלעו, אלא שזהו עול שהוא בצד ההפכי

Since he has “cast off the yoke of Torah”, he is therefore “saddled with

the yoke of worldly concerns”. Simply put, this means that his capacity

to build wealth is limited to natural means, and he has to follow the

method described above (to borrow money and buy a tremendous

amount of merchandise) in order to become wealthy.

In doing this, he can become so involved in his business that it

becomes a “yoke” for him, bringing him to do things that are irrational

in order to increase his wealth (as the concept of a “yoke” is a

commitment which is beyond reason). This “yoke” is the yoke of the

sitra achra, and not the yoke of kedusha.

The Mittler Rebbe offers guidance on what a person should do if he

has fallen into this situation:

פ "שאע, והיינו ,והעצה לזה היא שיקבל עליו עול תורה ועול מצוותהנה מצד המצור ומצוק שמצד החומריות , שבמעמדו ומצבו עתה

כ "אינו שייך להבנה והשגה ועאכו, או אפילו מצד הגשמיות שלו, שלוער ווארפט זיך )הרי הוא מוסר ונותן עצמו , מ"מ, שאינו שייך להעמקה

,כ עול עבודת התפלה ועול מצוות"וכמו, לקבל עליו עול תורה( אריין


In order to fix his situation, a Jew needs to accept upon himself the

yoke of Torah and the yoke of mitzvos. Even though this requires him

to invest his mind’s focus into understanding and deeply

contemplating the Torah that he learns, and his current

overinvolvement in worldly matters has made him coarse (or at least

distracted by material concerns), making him “unqualified” to focus on

spiritual matters with this level of depth, nevertheless, he needs to

completely throw himself into accepting the “yoke of Torah”, as well as

the yoke of davening and the fulfillment of mitzvos.

, אם באופן של דרך הטבע, הרי זה פועל שפורקים ממנו עול דרך ארץלו ' שבכלים מועטים תהי, או אפילו בהצלחה שלמעלה מדרך הטבע

.פרנסה מרובה

When he does accept upon himself the “yoke of Torah”, he is

“exempted from the yoke of worldly concerns”. This can happen in a

natural way (that he begins to have a normal amount of success in

business), or even in a supernatural way – that he is able to earn a

living which is disproportionately greater than the investment that he

makes in his business.

The Rebbe continues to analyze the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar:

לבושי ' שג, א בקדושה"בהמאמר בביאור ענין אות ה ומוסיף( ושאז הנה כל , הנפש מחשבה דיבור ומעשה ממולאים מאור הקדושה

: ובדרך ממילא הרי עצם הפועל הוא כדבעי, עשיותיו הם לשם שמיםד גבאי צדקה "שהוא ע)שמצד מעלתו ", וכמו גבאי צדקה והדומה"

יכול להיות אצלו הרגש של (ג"ל ס"כנ, א"ע יסוד ז"שהו, למעלה ,הרי דבריו הם בנחת ובקירוב הדעת, "מ"מ, מציאות

Regarding the concept explained above that when all three “garments”

of the soul are filled with the light of kedusha this causes all of his

actions to be “for the sake of heaven”, and also ensures that he

conducts his business with the proper focus and according to the

directives of Shulchan Aruch, the Frierdiker Rebbe adds an additional


example of a gabbai tzedaka (someone who collects funds from the

community to distribute to those in need).

Even though his important position (which reflects the importance of

the “gabbai tzedaka” in the higher worlds – the sefirah of yesod, as

explained above in the previous section) could cause him to

experience a feeling of ego, nevertheless, the Frierdiker Rebbe says

that “he will always speak gently and with sincere attentiveness (to

whom he is speaking)”.


ועד שלפעמים צריך להיות ענין של ]ואף שלפעמים הוא בחוזק גדול , ללעמוד על איזה דבר בתוקף גדו[ 52כמו מעשין על הצדקה', כפי

ז הנה מדבר בנחת "ובכ, נעשה הדבר ההוא בהידור והדומה' שיהי ".ומתרחק מהגאוה עד קצה האחרון, ודברי טעם

“Even though the gabbai tzedaka sometimes needs to address

an issue with great intensity [even to the point where he must

force people to comply, such as a case when they are

obligated to give tzedaka], or to take a strong stance on a

certain issue to ensure that it is performed in the best way

possible (or other similar situations), nevertheless, he speaks

gently and logically while completely distancing himself from

any feeling of pride.”

The Rebbe connects this to a teaching of the Ba’al Shem Tov:

כל שאור וכל דבש לא 54על הפסוק 53ט"וכמבואר בתורת הבעשדכיון , דלכאורה יש בזה סתירה' )קרבן ראשית תקריבו גו' תקטירו גו

(,למה מביאים מהם קרבן ראשית, דשאור ודבש אינם רצויים

The Ba’al Shem Tov quotes the following pesukim:

No meal offering that you sacrifice to

Hashem shall be made [out of anything]

נח ל־המ ר הכ אש יבו קר ה לא יי ל ת ש ע ת


leavened. For you shall not cause to [go up

in] smoke any leavening or any honey, [as]

a fire offering to Hashem;

ץ מ י ח אר כ ל־ש ל־ כ וכבש ירו ד א־תקט ל ו נ מ ה מ ש :יי ל א

[However,] you shall bring them as a first

[fruit] offering to Hashem; nevertheless,

they shall not go up on the altar as a

pleasing fragrance to Hashem.

רב ית ןק אש יבו ר קר ת ם ח יי ל את זב ל־המ וא

יח לא־י עלו יח לר :ח נ

Seemingly, these two pesukim are contradictory: If leavened

substances and honey have some quality which makes them

unacceptable, why should they be brought as “first fruit” offerings?

The Ba’al Shem Tov explains:

רק קרבן , י גבהות"לעבוד ע' נו אשה להאמר הכתוב לא תקטירו ממ י מותר להיות בגבהות "ראשית ההתקרבות להש, ראשית

The pasuk is teaching you that, ultimately, Hashem must be served

without any pride at all (as a leavened substance rises and “puffs up”,

representing pride). This ultimate level of bittul is referred to as a “fire

offering”.

However, a “first fruit” offering represents the beginning of a person’s

service of Hashem, which can start with an aspect of pride.

ח צריך שיהא בו אחד משמונה "ת 56ל"במארז 55ד המבואר"וע]' בבחי' אם לא יהי, כי, הוא בתחלת העבודה שענין זה, שבשמינית

לא יערב לבו לגשת אל העבודה באמרו מי אנכי ומה , הגבהה כלללעולם 58ל"כמארז, ע התענוג"ז בנוגע לדבש שהו"ועד .57עבודתי

[,שלומד מצד התענוג שבשכל התורה, היינו, ילמוד אדם שלא לשמה

[This is similar to the statement of the Gemara that “a Torah scholar

should have a tiny amount (“one sixty-fourth”) of pride”, as this only

refers to the beginning of one’s service of Hashem. If a person didn’t


have any pride at all, he would be too timid to approach the service of

Hashem, claiming “who am I, and what is my service worth?”

Similarly, “honey” represents enjoyment, and a person should begin

his study of Torah even if he is motivated by his intellectual

appreciation of the Torah, as it says, “a person should always learn

even if he is learning for selfish reasons, [as he will eventually come to

learn for Hashem’s sake].]

However, this aspect of pride is only used to at the beginning a

person’s service of Hashem:

שאין נחת רוח ', כ אל המזבח העליון לא יעלו לריח ניחוח לה"אבל אחלא )אפילו בכל דהוא , 59כל גבה לב' כי תועבת ה, ו"ת חבגבהו' לפניו ית

(.56מינה ולא מקצתה

Once a person is serving on the “altar” (he has reached a higher level

in his service of Hashem), then leavened substances (pride) and honey

(motivation for personal enjoyment) cannot be brought as a “fire

offering” (be part of his service of Hashem), as “anyone with a proud

heart is disgusting to Hashem” – even the tiniest bit (in the words of

the Gemara, “neither it [pride] nor a part of it [as even the smallest bit

is disgusting to Hashem]).

The Rebbe continues to analyze the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar:

לבושי ' שג, א בקדושה"שכל זה הוא אות ה, בהמאמר וממשיך( זואינם , הנפש מחשבה דיבור ומעשה הם ממולאים באור הקדושה

זן ניט צו)מניחים כל עניני חושך שמחסרים וגורעים ומנגדים ( זיי לא .על אור דקדושה ועניניו

All of the concepts which we explained in the previous section applied

to the letter hey, as it represents the three “garments” of the soul –

thought, speech, and action – as they are completely full of the “light


of kedusha”. This complete involvement in kedusha prevents

“darkness” (kelipah) from interfering with a Jew’s service of Hashem.

ש "דאות רי, ש"ונעשה מאות רי, ז"מ דלעו"ף הם המחדו"אות קו, אמנם , ז"הוא מחשבה ודיבור דלעו

However, the letter kuf represents thought, speech, and action of the

sitra achra, as it is created from the letter raish (which doesn’t have a

yud on its back, representing its lack of bittul). Furthermore, the left

leg of the kuf (representing action) is a direct result of the fact that it

was created from a raish – the fact that a person’s thought and speech

were involved in kelipah.

וכן בדיבורים אשר , ן בישיןדכאשר הוא מלא ממחשבות זרות והרהורי, ר רכילות והדומה"לה, לא מבעי דיבורים האסורים, המה' לא להוי

ף שהוא "ז קנה הקו"הנה נעשה עי, אלא גם ריבוי דברים בטלים ל"והיינו שנופל במעשה לא טוב ר, המעשה

When a person’s mind is full of distracting and inappropriate thoughts,

and when a person’s speech is not focused on serving Hashem (which,

in addition to forbidden speech such as gossiping and tale-bearing,

also includes needless chatter that has no purpose), this “creates” the

long left leg of the kuf (which descends into the realm of kelipah). This

means that a person’s involvement in thought and speech of kelipah

are the cause of his negative actions.

The Rebbe clarifies:

ז עצמם הם שלא "שלא זו בלבד שהמחשבה ודיבור דלעו, והיינו)ד "ע, שהם מביאים גם למעשה בלתי רצוי, אלא עוד זאת, כדבעי

שהם מחסרים וגורעים גם , האמור לעיל בנוגע לדאגות הפרנסה (.י עבודתו הקודמת"בהדרגות שהגיע אליהם ע

In addition to the fact that the negative thought and speech are a

problem in their own right, they also cause a person to have negative


actions as well. This is similar to the problem of overinvolvement in

making a living explained earlier: not only is the overinvolvement itself

a problem, it also detracts from the levels of service of Hashem which

he has already reached through his prior efforts.

The Rebbe connects this to a teaching of the Maggid on the following

possuk:

He did not slander with his

tongue; he did his neighbor no

harm, nor did he cast disgrace

upon someone close to him.

ג א־ר נו | לל ה על־לש ש א־ע ל הו ע ה לר ע ה ר רפ א וח ש א־נ על־ ל

:קרבו

, לא רגל על לשונו 61על הפסוק 60וכמבואר גם בתורת הרב המגידאז ההבל והקול ההוא עולה ,שכשמדבר דברים בטלים או לשון הרע

והקול וההבל , כ דברי תורה"ם ההוא לומד אחוכאשר אד, ומקטרג עליורק הקול וההבל הראשון דוחה את השני , כ עולה"מדברי תורה ג

.מלעלות ומקטרג עליו

Commenting on the words, “He did not slander with his tongue”, the

Maggid explains that when someone chatters uselessly or speaks

negatively about someone else, [the spiritual impact of] these words

ascends to the higher worlds and prosecutes him when the

opportunity arises.

Therefore, later, when he learns words of Torah, these words also

begin to ascend to the higher worlds – but the first (negative) words

push them away, “prosecuting” them and preventing them from

ascending as they should.

אבל הרשע , ל הצדיק אינו מלשין על עצמו"ר, וזהו לא רגל על לשונומלשין ומקטרג על לשונו של ' דהיינו דיבור הרע הא, מלשין על עצמו

.כ"ת שלמד אח"ד


This is the meaning of the pasuk, “He did not slander with his tongue”:

A tzadik doesn’t “inform on” or “prosecute” himself [meaning, he

doesn’t speak any negative words which could later cause problems

for the ascent of his own Torah learning], but a rasha does “inform on”

himself – his negative speech “prosecutes” the words of Torah that he

learns.

The Rebbe explains this in greater detail:

לשון האדם הוא באופן שנתתי לפניך את החיים , דהנה, והענין בזה, שיכול לדבר דיבורים דקדושה, 62ואת הטוב ואת המות ואת הרע

ויכול לדבר גם , שכללותם הם אותיות התורה ואותיות התפלה .פ דברים בטלים"דיבורים האסורים או עכ

A person’s tongue was created in a way that “I [Hashem] have placed

before you life and good, and death and evil” (the concept of free

choice). A person has the freedom to choose to speak words of

kedusha, which (in general) are the letters of Torah and davening, or he

can choose to speak about forbidden or useless things.

כאשר מדבר לא רק דיבורים האסורים אלא אפילו דברים , אמנםהנה דיבורים אלו עולים למעלה והולכים רכיל ומקטרגים על , בטלים

'.הדיבורים בתורה ובתפלה כו

Therefore, when a person speaks about forbidden things – or even

about useless things – these words ascend above, “gossiping about”

and prosecuting his words of Torah and tefillah.

שלא , היינו, ועבודת הצדיק צריכה להיות באופן שלא רגל על לשונויהיו על לשונו דברים בטלים שהולכים רכיל ויכולים למנוע את

הרי , אבל כאשר אינו נזהר בזה. הפעולה של דברי תורה ודברי תפלה, ועד שנופל במעשים בלתי רצויים, בעניניו הקודמיםזה מחסר וגורע

.ועד למעשים האסורים


The approach of a tzadik (the correct approach) is to ensure that he

does not speak about useless things, as these words will ascend and

“gossip” about the person, preventing his words of Torah and tefillah

from having their proper effect.

However, if a person is not careful regarding this, it takes away from

the levels which he has previously achieved through his service of

Hashem, and can cause him to fall into negative – and even forbidden

– actions.

The Rebbe continues to analyze the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar

regarding the shape of the letter kuf:

וכפי שמבאר , ף שיורד למטה"שזהו קנה הקו, בהמאמר וממשיך( חהרגלים הם ' אלא שבאות ה', דומה בתמונתו לאות ה' שאות ק, ז"לפנ

יורדות ' ע רגלי"שזהו, הרגל השמאלי הוא יורד למטה' ובאות ק, בשוה ,ף"שהוא קנה הקו, 63מות

As explained earlier in the ma’amar, the left leg of the kuf extends

“below the line”, in contrast to the similar letter on the side of kedusha

– the hey – which has both legs resting “on the line”. The Frierdiker

Rebbe then stated that this descent of the left leg “below the line”

represents the concept (mentioned in a pasuk) of “and its legs descend

to death” (as will be explained below).

ירד גבריאל ונעץ קנה בים ועלה בו שרטון ועליו נבנה 64ל"והוא משארזהנעשה בקליפה ' והוא קנה הק(, י"רש, שהוא מיצר לישראל)כרך גדול

.וזה הוא המיצר לישראל, א"וסט

The Frierdiker Rebbe also connected this concept to the following

Gemara (paraphrased below):

At the time when Shlomo married the daughter of Pharaoh,

the angel Gavriel descended [from heaven] and stuck a reed

into the sea. A mound of land formed around it, and it was on


this mound that the great city of Rome (the great persecutor

of the Jews) was built.

This “reed” which Gavriel “stuck into the sea” represents the left leg of

the letter kuf which gives energy to the kelipah and sitra achra, which is

the “great persecutor of the Jews”.

The Rebbe explains these concepts based on the teachings of the

Tzemach Tzedek:

נעץ הבפירוש מאמר הזהר דצ"ר הצ"כפי שמבאר אדמו, בזה והעניןויונק ממלכות דקדושה , שקנה הוא דכורא דקליפה, קנה בימא רבא

.ימא רבא' הנק

Commenting on the Gemara quoted above, the Zohar states that

Gavriel “stuck a reed into the Great Sea”. The “reed” represents the

male aspect of kelipah (the energy of kelipah), which receives its energy

from the level of malchus of kedusha, which is referred to as the “Great

Sea”.

The Tzemach Tzedek explains how kelipah is able to receive energy

from malchus of kedusha:

וממנה , יורדות מות' רגלי( ימא רבא)ספירת המלכות דאצילות , דהנהי הנפילה "ע(, נעץ קנה בימא רבא)א "יכול להיות נמשך היניקה לסט

עד שעליו נבנה כרך גדול , שמוסיף כח בקליפות', טוב כו אלבמעשה לא נתמלאה צור 65ל"שזהו שאמרו רז, של רומי שהוא מיצר לישראל

.ושליםאלא מחורבנה של יר

As mentioned above, the “legs” (the lowest point of the influence of)

malchus “descends to death”, meaning that malchus (the “Great Sea”)

is the level in kedusha which enables the transfer of energy to the

.ב, קמאתולדות ת"אוה (ד

.ב, ג רנא"ח (ה


kelipah. This transfer of energy is made possible by the negative

actions of the Jews (the “reed” which Gavriel stuck into the “Great Sea”

due to the actions of Shlomo), as these actions add energy to the

kelipos – even to the extent that “the great city of Rome was built upon

the mound which formed around this reed” (which is a tremendous

source of persecution for the Jewish people).

This is also reflected in the statement of the Sages, “[the city of] Tyre

[representing kelipah] only attained its full power when Yerushalayim

was destroyed.”

The Rebbe continues to explain this in greater detail based on another

ma’amar of the Tzemach Tzedek based on the following pesukim:

But if a man finds the betrothed girl

in the field, and the man

overpowers her and lies with her,

then only the man who lay with her

shall die.

ד ש ם־ב מצ הוא א אי ת־ יש ה אמא (כתיב הנער) ההנ ער ש ה הר

חז יק־ב א ה וה כ יש ה בוש מ ה עמ א תו כ יש ה ר־ש באש מ ה ע

ו :לבד

Whereas to the girl, you shall do

nothing; the girl did not commit a

sin deserving of death, for just as a

man rises up against his fellow and

murders him, so is this case.

לא־ (כתיב ולנער) הולנ ער עש ב הת כתיב ) הלנ ער יןא רד

תמ טאח (לנער ר יכ ו ק כ אש ו םיע יש א ח הו על־ר רצ ןכ ש פ נ ו ו

ב :הז ה רהד

Because he found her in the field.

The betrothed girl had cried out,

but there was no one to save her.

ד יכ א הבש עק ה מצ ההנ ער הצ מא (כתיב הנער) ש ה ין וא הר

:ל ה יע מוש

ואם בשדה 66בפירוש הכתוב ושמבאר בארוכהכפי , ובפרטיות יותרכי בשדה מצאה צעקה הנערה המאורשה ' ימצא איש את הנערה וגו

.ואילך ב, קמגתולדות ת"אוה (ו


מדבר (, 67ק"ש הרד"כמ)ש כאן שדה פירושו מדבר "דמ, ואין מושיע לה .68אשר לא ישב אדם שם

When the pasuk refers to a “field”, it is implying a place which was

completely uninhabited, as this is the reason why no one heard the

cries of the girl in distress. This same concept is also referred to by the

term “desert”, a place where no one lives. (The Radak comments that,

even though this pasuk uses the term “field”, it is actually referring to a

“desert”.)

The Tzemach Tzedek then explained the significance of an

“uninhabited place”:

דירה נאה , 69כתפארת אדם לשבת בית' עבודת האדם היא שיהי, דהנהשקאי על הנשמה 71ז"כדאיתא בתקו, 70אשה נאה וכלים נאים

ז נעשה כתפארת אדם "שעי, צ שהם באופן נאה"ועבודתה בתומ .לשבת בית

A person is meant to “settle”, as it says, “the beauty of man is to settle

in a house” (this is a non-literal interpretation of the pasuk), and to have

(as the Gemara states) “a beautiful house, a beautiful wife, and

beautiful possessions”.

The Tikkunei Zohar explains that the “man” referred to in this pasuk is

the soul, and the “beautiful things” which it should acquire refer to its

beautiful performance of Torah and mitzvos. It is through this

“beautiful” performance of Torah and mitzvos that a person achieves

“the beauty of man [the soul] is to settle in a house [perform Torah

and mitzvos beautifully].”

We now contrast this “settled” state with the uninhabited “desert”:

היינו שאדם , אבל ענין המדבר הוא ארץ שממה אשר לא ישב אדם שם .אינו יושב שם 72העליון שעל הכסא


A “desert”, on the other hand, is a desolate land and “a man doesn’t

settle there”. This “man” (also) refers to the “Supernal Man on the

throne” (the revelation of G-dliness), which “doesn’t settle there” (due

to the fact that the person didn’t “settle” there with the performance

of Torah and mitzvos).

We are now able to understand the deeper meaning of the pasuk:

שבשדה ישנו עשו , היינו', נ ואם בשדה ימצא איש את הנערה גו"ועזהנער , ושם מוצא את הנערה, ז דקדושה"שהוא הלעו, 73איש שדה' גו

והחזיק (, א דקדושה"היינו שחסר ענין הה) 74דלא קבילת דכר', חסר העד שצעקה הנערה ו, לפי שעה' שיש לו שליטה עלי, היינו', בה האיש גו

ואין מושיע לה

When the pasuk says, “and if a man finds a girl in the field”, this means

that the girl (referring to the soul) was in a spiritual situation of a “field”

(a “desert” without Torah and mitzvos), which made her vulnerable to

the “man” (referring to Eisav, known as a “man of the field”,

representing kelipos).

We also see this from the fact the Torah writes the word “הנערה” (the

girl) as “הנער” (without a “ה” at the end), representing the fact that the

Jew is lacking the hey of kedusha (known as the “receiving of energy

from the masculine force” in the language of Kabbalah, as this girl was

only “betrothed” and was not yet fully united with her husband), which

represents the thought, speech, and action that are full of the energy

of kedusha (as explained above).

This is why the man is able to “overpower her”, meaning that the force

of kelipah is able to rule over her actions temporarily – even to such an

extent that “she cries out and there was no one to save her.”

, במעמד ומצב שאור הקדושה ממלא את כל עניניו' כ אילו הי"משא) (.שםארץ אשר לא ישב אדם , מגיע לשדה' אזי לא הי


(However, if the soul was in a situation where its thought, speech, and

action were filled with the light of kedusha, then it would have never

ended up in the “field” (the “uninhabited place”) where it would be

vulnerable to the influence of kelipah.)

However, even if the soul finds itself in the “field”, it is still able to return

to Hashem:

לבדו ולנערה ' ש ומת האיש גו"שזהו מ, 75בל ידח ממנו נדח, כ"ואעפכי יתברר , הפירוש דלבדו 76צ"ר הצ"כפי שמבאר אדמו, לא תעשה דבר

שישאר הרע לבד ויוציאו ממנו כל הניצוצים דקדושה שהיו בו עד ,וממילא יפול

“No one is ever completely pushed away from Hashem.” This is why

the pasuk says, “and the man [the kelipah] alone shall die… and

“nothing should be done to the girl [the soul]”.

The Tzemach Tzedek explains that the pasuk says that the “man alone

shall die” because all the sparks of kedusha which were trapped within

the kelipah were refined and released (when the Jew “cried out” to

return to Hashem), leaving the kelipah “alone”, which automatically

makes it cease to exist.

ד "וע]לפי שכללות החיות שלהם הוא מצד ניצוצות הקדושה ,והיינו, ולכן'[, ר' ן נעשה קיום לאותיות ק"י אות שי"שע( א"ס)ל "משנת

חיל בלע ויקיאנו 77ש"כמ, כאשר מוציאים ממנו כל ניצוצות הקדושה .אזי ומת האיש ההוא לבדו, ונשאר הרע לבד, ל-מבטנו ירשנו א

This is because the general life force that keeps the kelipah in existence

comes from kedusha (which parallels the concept explained at the

beginning of the ma’amar regarding how the shin – the letter of truth –

enables the kuf and raish – the letters of kelipah – to remain in

existence). Therefore, when the sparks of kedusha are removed from

the kelipah, as it says, “He swallowed up wealth [referring to the energy

of kedusha “swallowed up” within the kelipah] and vomited it out [when


the kelipah is refined]; Hashem will remove it from his gut”, and only

kelipah remains, then “the man (kelipah) will die [because he is] alone.”

' ויש לה קימה מנפילתה וירידתה בבחי, אבל ולנערה לא תעשה דבר, 78אבל כבודי לאחר לא אתן, יורדות מות' והיינו לפי שרק רגלי, שדה

.ולכן נשארת היא בשלימותה

But “nothing should be done to the girl (the soul)”, and it is able to raise

up again after it fell into the “field”. This is because only its “legs

descend to death” (the lowest level of the soul), but “My glory [the

higher levels of the soul] I will not give to another [referring to the

forces of kelipah], so the higher levels of the soul remain untouched.

However, the Jew’s negative behaviors did have an impact:

אזי נעשית היניקה , כיון שלפי שעה ישנו הענין דבשדה מצאה, מ"ומלפי שאור שכל זה הוא, ף שיורד למטה"ע קנה הקו"שזהו, ז"ללעו

.הלבושים מחשבה דיבור ומעשה' ממלא את ג' הקדושה לא הי

Since the soul was temporarily “found in the field”, it caused an

increase in energy to the forces of kelipah. As explained above, this is

represented by the left leg of the kuf which “descends below”, and this

entire problem was caused by the fact that the Jew didn’t fill his

thoughts, speech, and action with the energy of kedusha.

The Rebbe continues to explain the next section of the Frierdiker

Rebbe’s ma’amar:

דישנו , הבור ריק אין בו מיםו 79וזהו דכתיב: בהמאמר וממשיך( טמעין 80ש"וכמ, ף קאי על הנשמה"דבאר באל, ו"ף ובור בוא"באר באל

ז הוא "ועי, דכשם שהבאר נובע מתתא לעילא, גנים באר מים חייםאבל , י ירידתה בגוף שהוא בירא עמיקתא"כן הנשמה ע, ריבוי המים

נשמה הנה מזה דוקא נעשה עליית ה, ל"כאשר עוסק בתורה ומצוות כנ ,ביתר שאת בעילוי אחר עילוי

The Frierdiker Rebbe wrote:


This is the meaning of the pasuk [regarding the pit which

Yosef’s brothers threw him into), “and the pit was empty –

there was no water in it.” We can understand the significance

of a pit (“בור”) by comparing it with a spring (“באר”), two words

which are identical except for the middle letter.

The word “באר” (spring) has an alef in the middle, which refers

to the soul, as seen in the pasuk, “[The soul is like] a spring in

gardens, a well of living waters.” Just like a spring brings forth

water from below to above, and this is what causes a

tremendous amount of water to be given forth by the spring,

so too, when the soul descends into the body (known as a

“deep pit”) and involves itself in Torah and mitzvos, this brings

the soul to tremendous heights.


, י שהנשמה בבחינת באר הנובעת בגילוי לאלקות"דע, וזהו מעין גנים, הנה מזה נעשה המעין בהגנים, ב"י העבודה בבירור וזיכוך הגוף ונה"ע

, ע"שבג' המדרי' נים הם בוג', גן בעדן כו' ויטע כו 81ש"וכמ, ע"דגן הוא גשנעשה , נחל התענוג, דמיא' והוא שקי, גן עדן התחתון וגן עדן העליון

'.ע בעלותם למעלה כו"לנשמות בג

And this is the meaning of a “garden spring”: When the soul

acts like a “spring”, flowing strongly toward G-dliness through

its service of Hashem, refining and purifying the body and the

animal soul, this makes a “spring in the gardens”.

In this context, a “garden” refers to Gan Eden, as it says “and

Hashem planted… a garden in Eden”, and the plural form of

“gardens” refers to both the higher and lower levels of Gan

Eden. This [revelation of G-dliness from the soul’s service of

Hashem] is a “stream of water”, a “river of pleasure” which is

made for the souls to enjoy in Gan Eden when they ascend

there.


The Rebbe begins by asking how it is possible that the soul’s service in

this world could add G-dliness in Gan Eden:

ע "ג, ע גן עדן"דכיון שגנים הו, דלכאורה אינו מובן, בזה והענין, י באר מים חיים"איך אפשר שע, ע העליון"ג, ויתירה מזה, התחתון

, הוספה בהגנים' יהי, דקאי על העבודה שבירידת הנשמה למטה .ה המעיין בהגניםשנעש

As explained in the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar, the “gardens” refer to

Gan Eden – both the lower and higher levels of Gan Eden. If this is the

case, how is it possible that the “spring of living waters” (the soul’s

descent to serve Hashem in this lower world) can add to the G-dliness

in Gan Eden by becoming a “spring” (which brings additional G-dliness)

into the gardens?

דע מאין 82ל"בביאור מארז זש"ר מהר"ש אדמו"פ מ"וביותר יוקשה עולאן , ע העליון"מאין באת מג 83ת"שפירש בלקו, באת ולאן אתה הולך

הא 84מלשון, אן הוא לשון מקום, ע התחתון"ג' תה הולך הוא בחיא ננ ך פ דות י ז ענין ולאן "ועד, המקום הגשמי' שלשון זה נופל על בחי, מע

להיותו קשור עם )ע התחתון שנופל עליו לומר שם מקום "ג' היינו בחי (.ז שהוא בגדר מקום וזמן"עוה

This question is further supported by the explanation of the Rebbe

Maharash on the Mishnah from Pirkei Avos, “Know from where you

came and to where you are going.” In Likkutei Torah, the Alter Rebbe

explains that “from where you came” refers to the higher level of Gan

Eden, while “to where you are going” refers to the lower level of Gan

Eden.

[The Alter Rebbe learns that “to where you are going” refers to the

lower level of Gan Eden due to the use of the Hebrew word, “לאן” (l’an,

“to where”), as it is used to refer to a physical place, as in the pasuk, “to

which place is your face directed”. Even though the lower level of Gan

.ח ואילך"נז פ"תרל וככההמשך (ז


Eden is not truly a physical place, it can be referred to as a physical

place due to its connection to the physical world, a place where the

limitations of space and time exist.]

אין יש בו ' שבחי, ש שההפרש בין אין לאן"ר מהר"וכפי שמבאר אדמו, 85ב"ד שבו נברא העוה"היו' והוא בחי, ד"ותיבת אן היא בלא יו, ד"יו

ד דחכמה נברא "וביו, בינה' ע העליון הוא מבחי"וגם ג, בינה' בחי .ב"העוה

The Rebbe Maharash explains the difference between the two words

that the Mishna uses to mean “where” – “אין” (“from where”) and “אן”

(“to where”) – pointing out that the word “אין” has a yud, while “אן”

does not have a yud. This yud represents the fact that “the World to

Come was created with the letter yud”, as the World to Come

corresponds to the level of binah, which is also the level of the higher

Gan Eden (the higher Gan Eden is in the world of Briyah, which

corresponds to the first letter hey in the four-letter name of Hashem,

representing binah). Since the yud of chochmah creates the World to

Come (binah), therefore, we see that the letter yud is connected to the

World to Come.

The Rebbe concludes the question based on these teachings of the

Rebbe Maharash:

שתרד הנשמה ' היתה כזאת מלפניו יתלמה , אמנם לפי זה צריך להביןולמה ירדה בגוף , אין' הלא קודם ירידתה היתה בבחי, להתלבש בגוף

והלואי תהא השבתה למעליותא , 86מאיגרא רמה לבירא עמיקתא .87וכל הדרכים הם בחזקת סכנה, כמקודם

Why would Hashem make the soul descend from the level of ayin

corresponding to binah and the higher level of Gan Eden, which ,”אין“)

is “from where you came”) into a physical body – from “a high roof to

a deep pit”? Wouldn’t it be better if it stayed on this higher level rather

than facing the near-certain danger of descending to this world and

facing its challenges?


ע "שזהו, ע התחתון בלבד"עלייתה רק לג' ומה גם שלאחרי כל זה תהי .ולאן אתה הולך

Furthermore, even if it succeeds in its mission, it only ascends to the

lower Gan Eden (“אן”, “to where you are going”)!

What benefit does the soul have from descending into this world?

The Rebbe explains:

יפה שעה אחת בתשובה ומעשים 88ל"דהנה אמרו רז, הענין הוא אךב כולל כל עולמות עליונים "דחיי עוה, ב"ז מכל חיי העוה"טובים בעוה

.ז הם נעלים יותר"ט בעוה"נ שתשובה ומע"ועז, ע העליון"וביחוד ג

We can understand the benefit of the soul’s descent into this world by

analyzing another Mishnah from Pirkei Avos: “One moment of teshuva

and good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to

Come”. When the Mishnah uses the term the “World to Come”, this

refers to all the higher spiritual worlds – especially the higher level of

Gan Eden – and nevertheless says that one moment of teshuva and

good deeds in this world is even better than the higher Gan Eden.

The Rebbe Maharash explains:

ע כמו שהוא מצד "הוא ג' הב, ז"הוא עוה' הא, דרגות' שישנם ג, ומבארויניחהו 89ש"וכמ ,י עבודת הגן"ע ההוספה שמוסיפים ע"הו' והג, עצמו

וכמו , ע"י העבודה מוסיפים בג"שמשמע שע, בגן עדן לעבדה ולשמרהי עבודת הגן שלמטה מוסיפים שיגדלו הפירות בטוב "בגשמיות שע

ע ולשמרה זו "ח מ"לעבדה זו רמ י"שע, ע ברוחניות"כן הוא בג, יותר .ע"וריבוי אור בג' נמשך תוס(, תרגום יונתן' כפי)ת "ה ל"שס

There are three levels: This physical world, Gan Eden as it exists on its

own, and Gan Eden as it exists with the added revelation which results

from the service of the Jews in this world. This additional revelation is

hinted to in the pasuk, “and Hashem placed him [Adam] in Gan Eden


to work it and to guard it”, implying that Adam brings added revelation

to Gan Eden by “working” and “guarding” the garden.

Just like by tending a physical garden a person improves the fruit that

grows there, so too in a spiritual sense, when a Jew “works” – referring

to the 248 positive commandments – and “guards” – referring to the

365 negative commandments (according to the explanation of Targum

Yonasan on the pasuk) – it adds an additional revelation of G-dliness in

Gan Eden.

The Rebbe explains the general difference between these three levels:

90ש"כמ, המדות' שבנין העולם הוא מבחי, וכללות החילוק ביניהםששת ימים 91כתיב שלכן, וחסדיך כי מעולם המה' זכור רחמיך הוי

.ולא כתיב בששת, את השמים ואת הארץ' עשה הוי

The physical world corresponds to the level of the midos, as it says,

“Remember your mercies, Hashem, and Your kindnesses, for they

have been forever.” (Instead of interpreting the word “mei’olam” as

“forever”, we interpret it as implying the connection of the midos –

mercy and kindness – to the word, “olam”.) This is also why it says, “six

days Hashem made the heavens and earth” (referring to how Hashem

made the world with the six midos) and not “in six days”.

ע ענין ההבנה "שלכן יש בג, ע המוחין"שהו, ע"ולמעלה מזה הוא ג. 92עולם ברור ראית, וההשגה באופן שרואים את הענינים לאמיתתם

שלכן אינו מועיל שם ענין , ע"ממכ' ע הוא מבחי"גם הגילוי שבג, אמנםשבאותו מעמד ומצב , והיינו, ע דוקא"סוכ' שהוא מצד בחי, התשובה

כי , נשארים כן, ו להיפך"או ח, 92באופן ותלמודו בידו, ע"ם לגשבאי .93באופן שכל ענין על מקומו יבוא, ע"ע מאיר רק אור הממכ"בג

The next level is the level of Gan Eden, which corresponds to the level

of the mochin (the intellectual sefiros of chochmah, binah, and da’as).

This is why in Gan Eden the soul is able to understand and grasp the

true nature of G-dliness, as Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi told his son (who


passed away and then came back to life), “You saw a world where

everything is clear.”

However, even the level of Gan Eden is from the level of mimalei kol

almin (a limited revelation of G-dliness), which is why a soul is not able

to do teshuva after it leaves this world, as teshuva is from the level of

sovev kol almin (an unlimited revelation of G-dliness, which enables

teshuva, reaching above the limits his connection to Hashem through

the rules of Torah and mitzvos to achieve forgiveness).

Therefore, whether a person arrives there in a way of “fortunate is he

who arrives here with his learning in his hand”, or the opposite (G-d

forbid), this is how he remains while he is in Gan Eden. This is because

Gan Eden is from the level of mimalei kol almin (G-dliness which is

revealed in a way that is tailored for each level of creation), so each

person is placed at the level which is most appropriate for his current

status.

ר לפני "ז נעשה נח"שעי, י העבודה דלעבדה ולשמרה"ע, אמנם' ע קיום הרצון העליון שלמעלה מבחי"שהו, 15שאמרתי ונעשה רצוני

.ע"אזי ממשיכים תוספת אור זה בג, ע"סוכ' דהיינו בחי, ע"ממכ

However, the service of Torah and mitzvos (“to work it and to guard

it”), which gives Hashem the pleasure of “I said what I want done and

My will was done”, reaches the level of His ultimate will (sovev kol

almin) which is beyond the level of mimalei kol almin. Since this reaches

a higher level than Gan Eden (which is only mimalei kol almin), it is able

to bring an even greater revelation (the revelation of sovev kol almin)

into Gan Eden.

שהרי לא ניתנה , צ למטה"י העבודה דקיום התומ"וענין זה נעשה עאלא דוקא לנשמה כמו שהיא מלובשת בגוף , 94תורה למלאכי השרתז הגשמי שהוא התחתון במדריגה שאין תחתון "בהעלם והסתר דעוה

ועובדת עבודתה מתוך מיצר (, 95כמבואר בתניא)למטה הימנו .א"א ואתהפכא סט"באופן דאתכפיא סט, אודוחק


This can only be accomplished through the fulfillment of Torah and

mitzvos in this physical world, as “the Torah was not given to the

ministering angels”, and it specifically needs to be done by a soul who

descends into a body and faces the struggles of the physical world, a

world in which G-dliness is completely concealed – and no greater

concealment is possible. The soul faces these struggles and serves

Hashem with eskafia and eshapcha, fulfilling the ultimate purpose of

creation.

We are now able to understand why the soul descends from the higher

Gan Eden to the (dangerous) physical world, even if it will only ascend

to the lower Gan Eden afterwards:

, ז"ט בעוה"י העבודה דתשובה ומע"שדוקא ע, וזהו ולאן אתה הולך (.ע העליון"ע ג"שהו)ב "האין שיתעלה למעלה מחיי עוהפועלים גם ב

This is the meaning of “to where you are going” – a Jew needs to know

that he is going to serve Hashem in a physical limited world (implied

by the word “אן”, as explained above), and that through his “teshuva

and good deeds in this world” he is able to draw down an even higher

level of G-dliness into the place where he came from (represented by

the word “אין”), as it is a higher revelation than the “life of the World to

Come” (which is the higher level of Gan Eden).

We are also to able to understand how the soul is like a “spring in

gardens”:

ניתוסף , ע העליון"ע התחתון ואפילו ג"ג, שגם בהגנים, וזהו מעין גנים .ע"ממכ' דהיינו אור הבלי גבול שלמעלה מבחי, ענין המעיין

When the soul serves Hashem in this world and draws down His

ultimate will (sovev kol almin, an unlimited revelation of G-dliness) it is

an “(unlimited) spring bringing forth a revelation of G-dliness” in both

“gardens” – the lower Gan Eden and the higher Gan Eden (which are

both on the level of mimalei kol almin).


דקאי על עבודת הנשמה כפי , י באר מים חיים"וענין זה נעשה עכמשל המים המלוחים , ז הגשמי"שעוברת בהמיצר ודוחק דעניני עוה

ז "שעוברים את המיצר והדוחק של העפר הגשמי שבגידי האדמה ועי .96נעשים מים חיים

And, as the pasuk concludes, the soul can become a “spring for

gardens” when it is a “spring of living waters”. This refers to the soul

as it goes through the challenges and pressures of this physical world,

just as salt water filters through the earth deep underground and

becomes a “spring of fresh water” (having been “purified” through its

“struggle”).

This concluded the explanation of the “באר” (spring), which referred

to the soul. The Rebbe now continues to analyze the Frierdiker

Rebbe’s explanation of a “בור” (pit):

' ק' ינו אותיות רהי)דרק , 79אבל הבור רק: בהמאמר וממשיך( יולא , ו"בור בוא' )הוא בור כו( שהם אתוון דאתחזיאו על סטרא בישא

(.ף"באר באל

The Frierdiker Rebbe stated (with additional explanation from the

Rebbe):

In contrast to “באר” (which has an alef, representing the soul),

the “pit is empty” (in Hebrew, “הבור רק”). On a deeper level,

this means that the letters “ר” and “ק”, the letters which

represent the sitra achra, are active because the Jew resembles

a “pit” (his soul is not being expressed, as seen by the lack of

the alef).

This also gives us insight into a statement of the Sages on this pasuk:

, איני יודע שאין בו מים, ממשמע שנאמר והבור ריק 97ל"וזהו שארזמים אין בו אבל נחשים ועקרבים יש , לומר לך, ל אין בו מים"ומה ת


מים אין בו אבל הוא ממולא , ב"ובור שהוא הנה, דהבור ריק, בו ',ות וכומנחשים ועקרבים שהם מחשבות זר

The Sages say, “[Why does the pasuk need to say that ‘there

was no water in it’?] Isn’t it obvious that there wasn’t any water

in it from the fact that it says, ‘the pit was empty’? What do the

[seemingly extra] words ‘there was no water in it’ come to

teach us? They come to teach us that there wasn’t any water

in the pit, but there were snakes and scorpions in it!”

On a deeper level, the term “the pit” refers to the animal soul.

Since it doesn’t have any “water” [referring to Torah] in it, it

[automatically] will be full of “snakes and scorpions” – referring

to distracting or inappropriate thoughts.

The Frierdiker Rebbe continued:

, דאדם הוא מחשבה דיבור ומעשה, 98שהם כקוף בפני אדם, ף"וזהו הקו, אדם אבל קליפה הם רק כקוף בפני ,דיבור ומעשה' מ' ד, מחשבה' א

ז "א ממולא ממח"ובסט, מ ממולא מאור הקדושה"דבקדושה המחדו '.כו

And this is the concept of the kuf, as reflected in a phrase used

by the Sages (in various places), “like a monkey (kof, related to

the letter kuf) compared to a human.” [For example, the

Gemara (Bava Basra, 58a) says that Sarah was so beautiful that

comparing the beauty of everyone else to Sarah’s beauty is like

comparing a monkey to a human.]

The word for person, “אדם”, represents the concept of

thought, speech, and action, as “א” represents thought, and “ד”

and “מ” represent speech and action (dibur, and ma’aseh,

which begin with the letters daled and mem, respectively.

However, this represents a person as he should be directed –

by his soul.


However, if he is under the influence of kelipah, then

comparing him to the proper state of a person is like

“comparing a monkey to a person”, as his garments should all

be expressing kedusha, but instead, he is full of distracting or

inappropriate thoughts due the influence of the sitra achra.

The Rebbe explains the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar in greater detail:

הוא אדם , 99ש אדמה לעליון"ע, עיקר ענינו של אדם, דהנה, והענין בזהואילו ענין הקליפה אינו אלא שמתדמה לקדושה כקוף בפני , דקדושה

ש "ל בפירוש מ"כנ)כי אם איש שדה , ואינו אמיתית ענין האדם, אדם '(.צא האיש את הנערה גוואם בשדה ימ

The true expression of a person, adam, is an expression of kedusha, as

in the pasuk, “I will compare myself (adameh) to the Supernal One”

(meaning, I will express G-dliness). Therefore, if a person expresses

kelipah, he only resembles a person “like a monkey compared to a

person” – but he doesn’t reflect the true nature of a person. Rather,

he resembles “a man of the field” [referring to Eisav – and the force of

kelipah in general, as explained above regarding the pasuk, “if a man

finds the betrothed girl in the field”.]

The same is true regarding his soul’s “garments”:

' א, שזהו ענינו של אדם, וכן הוא גם בנוגע למחשבה דיבור ומעשהשאמיתית ענינם (, 100ת"כמבואר בלקו)דיבור ומעשה ' מ' ד, מחשבה

ושה שהם בקד, הוא כפי שנמשכים ממחשבה דיבור ומעשה דלמעלה .א אינם אלא כקוף בפני האדם"מ דסט"ואילו המחדו, בלבד

The expression of the soul through its three garments (“א”

representing thought, “ד” representing speech, and “מ” representing

action) is a reflection of how G-dliness is revealed in a way of “thought,

speech, and action” in the higher worlds (as explained by the Alter

Rebbe in Likkutei Torah), which shows that the only true expression of

“adam” is when a Jew’s thoughts, speech, and action express kedusha.


Therefore, if his garments are not expressing kedusha, then he can’t

truly be called “adam”. Rather, comparing him to a true adam is “like

comparing a monkey to a person”.

The Rebbe analyzes the implications of the way that the Frierdiker

Rebbe explained that the three letters of adam correspond to thought,

speech, and action:

' א, ש שאדם הוא מחשבה דיבור ומעשה"עדיין צריך להבין מ אך, היינו, 101ם"ד' שחלוקה זו היא באופן דא, דיבור ומעשה' מ' ד, מחשבה

ובאופן , בפני עצמו( דיבור ומעשה)ם "בפני עצמו וד( מחשבה' )א ,ם"את הד' מחי' שהא

The Frierdiker Rebbe stated that “אדם” represents the concept of

thought, speech, and action, as “א” represents thought, and “ד” and

represent speech and action. This explanation divides the word ”מ“

“ and ”א“ in to ”אדם“ ם"ד ” in a way that the “א” (thought) gives energy

(“light”) and directs the “ ם"ד ” (speech and action).

This seems to contradict a point which was explained earlier in the

ma’amar:

ששני הקוין ', בענין אות ה( ד"ס)ל "הרי זה בסתירה למשנת, דלכאורהורגל השמאלי שמורה על , הם מחוברים, שמורים על מחשבה ודיבור

.ף עשיתיוע א"שזהו, הוא נפסק, המעשה

Earlier, when the Frierdiker Rebbe explained the significance of the

letter hey (ה), he explained that the top line and its connected right leg

refer to thought and speech, while the disconnected left leg refers to

action. This “detachment” was also hinted to in the pasuk referring to

the three worlds: before referring to Asiyah (the physical world of

action), the pasuk says “I have even made it”, using the word “af” (even)

to make a division between the world of Asiyah (action) and the

previous two worlds (thought and speech).


Therefore, we are presented with a contradiction: Is action the

garment which is separate from the other two, (as implied earlier

regarding the hey), or is thought the garment which is separate from

the other two (as implied by the word “adam”)?

The Rebbe explains this apparent contradiction based on a teaching of

the Rebbe Rashab:

' בענין ג חע"נ( ב"מוהרש)ר "ק אדמו"כפי שמבאר כ, אך הענין הואשכללות החילוק ביניהם הוא , לבושי הנפש מחשבה דיבור ומעשהיבור הוא לבוש הנפרד ולבוש ד, שלבוש המחשבה הוא לבוש המיוחד

.אופנים' שיש בזה ב ,ולבוש מעשה הוא חיצוניות דחיצוניות, חיצוני

The Rebbe Rashab explains that, in general, the difference between

the three types of garments is that thought is a “garment which is

united with the person”, speech is a “separate and external garment”,

and action is “the external of the external”.

There are two contexts in which we can describe these garments,

which result in the two different groupings that the Frierdiker Rebbe

refers to in his ma’amar.

שאז המחשבה היא ענין בפני , שהוא מצד הנפש עצמהכפי ', אופן האוהיינו לפי (, ם דאדם"ד)ודיבור ומעשה באים יחד (, דאדם' א)עצמו

כשם שכחות , ולכן, שמחשבה היא לבוש המיוחד עם כחות הנפשולא באופן דכלבוש תחליפם )הנפש נמצאים באדם בתמידות

.כ גם המחשבה היא תמידית"כמו(, 102ויחלופו

The first context describes the function of the garments with regards

to the soul itself. In this context, thought is in its own category (the

.(מג ואילך' ר ע"מ אעת"סה) ר"לך אעת' ה ויאמר גו"ד (ח


of the word adam), and speech and action are in their own category ”א“

(the “ ם"ד ” of the word adam).

The reason that we divide them this way within the context of the soul

itself is because the garment of thought is united with the soul’s

abilities (intellect and emotions), so just like the soul’s abilities are

always present, so too a person’s thought is always present.

[However, there is a difference: as we will explain in the next

paragraph, thought is always present, but in a way that one thought is

always replaced by another thought. The soul’s abilities, in contrast,

are all present constantly.]

הרי זה רק מה שאפשר להחליף , הלבושואף שיש במחשבה ענין אבל המחשבה עצמה היא משוטטת , ממחשבה זו למחשבה אחרת

כיון שהיא מיוחדת עם כחות , הפסק במחשבה' ואי אפשר שיהי, תמיד .הנפש

Even though thought is still a garment (and not part of the soul itself,

which would seemingly make it more similar to speech and action), the

reason why it is called a “garment” is because it is possible to switch it

with another thought (much like a person switches his clothing), and

this refers to each specific thought. Thought itself, however, is

always active – it is impossible to stop thinking – due to its unity with

the abilities of the soul.

, שהוא נפרד מכחות הנפש, כ לבוש הדיבור הוא לבוש הנבדל"משא, כ כח המעשה"ועאכו. 103ולכן עת לדבר ועת לחשות מלדבר

פ שאין "אע, אלא גם במין החי, ל שישנו לא רק במין המדבר"כמשנת, הרי חרש שוטה וקטן שאין להם דעת, וגם במין המדבר. הם דעתל

.104מ יש להם מעשה"ומ

Speech, however, is a “separate garment” which is separate from (not

united with) the soul’s abilities. Therefore, “there is a time to speak

and a time to be silent” (which shows that a person can stop speaking,

as speech is not united with the soul’s abilities).


This is true to an even greater extent with the garment of action, as we

explained above that even animals (which don’t have any intellect) are

able to perform actions. Also, people who don’t have da’as (the

capacity to understand and analyze a situation) such as a deaf-mute

(from birth), a mentally ill person, and a minor, can also perform

actions. [Since action doesn’t require a connection to da’as – one of

the abilities of the soul – we see that it is separate to an even greater

extent than the other two garments.]

The Rebbe Rashab summarizes this concept as follows:

ללא , שמחשבה היא גילוי העלם העצמי לעצמו, וכללות החילוק הואהדיבור הוא שכל ענין, כ במעשה וכן בדיבור"משא, שייכות להזולת

שריחוק הערך דדיבור , ומזה מובן. בשביל לגלות את הענין לזולתוומעשה לגבי מחשבה הוא כמו ריחוק הערך של הזולת לגבי האדם

.עצמו

A person’s thought reveals his soul’s activity to himself, and has no

connection to anyone else. On the other hand, speech and action are

connected to someone else, as the entire purpose of speech is to

reveal one’s ideas and feelings to someone else.

Therefore, it is appropriate in this context to separate thought (alef)

from speech and action (daled and mem), as the contrast between

thought and the other garments is as extreme as the contrast between

the person himself and someone else. [This concluded the first

context in which we can consider the garments of thought, speech,

and action.]

The Rebbe Rashab then explains the second context:

, הענינים דמחשבה דיבור ומעשה' הוא לאחרי שישנם כבר ג' ואופן הבהענינים דמחשבה ' שהיא אות אחת שיש בה ג', וכמו בהציור דאות ה

,דיבור ומעשה


The second context describes the three garments as they are all active

(and compares them to each other, and not based on the degree to

which they are connected to the soul). This is expressed within the

form of the letter hey, which is one letter that has three parts,

representing thought, speech, and action. [In other words, they are all

in one category of “garments” – as reflected in the fact that they are all

part of one letter – and the form of the letter itself shows their

differences.]

שהרי ענין הדיבור הוא שמדבר , הנה אז המחשבה והדיבור הם ביחדהרי , כ כח המעשה"משא, ז"פ מה שחשב לפנ"או עכ, מה שחושב עתה

, ובענין שלא עסק בו מעולם, לעשות מעשה בלי כוונה כלל אפשרשאף , ד כח המעשה במין החי"ע, המעשה בלי סדר' אלא שאז יהי

.יש להם ענין המעשה, שאין להם מחשבה ודיבור

When we consider the garments in this context, then thought and

speech are connected, as the concept of speech is that it reveals what

a person is currently thinking about (or at least what he has thought

about previously).

Action, on the other hand, doesn’t require any connection to thought,

as an action can be performed mindlessly – even if one hasn’t done it

before. (This will lead to disorganized execution of the action, but it

will be performed nonetheless.) This is similar to the action of an

animal, who can perform an action despite the fact that it can’t talk or

think intelligently.

The Rebbe continues to analyze the final section of the eighth chapter

of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s ma’amar:

ונטלין '( ר' בנוגע לאותיות ק)בזהר ' וזהו שא: בהמאמר ומסיים( יאשהוא מה שלוקחין הארה דהארה מהארת החיות דקדושה , ן"אות שי

(,ל"עכ)וזהו הקיום שלהם

The Frierdiker Rebbe concluded:


And this is the concept explained in the Zohar (regarding the

letters of kuf and raish), that they took the letter shin (in order

to maintain their existence), which means that they took a “ray

of a ray of the ray of the energy of kedusha”, and this is the

energy that keeps them in existence.

כ בקליפה הרי זה "משא, ל שכל הענינים לאמיתתם הם בקדושה"וכנ .רק כקוף בפני אדם

This statement of the Frierdiker Rebbe continues the theme of the idea

explained above that the true state of existence reflects kedusha,

whereas kelipah is like a “monkey compared to a person”.

The Rebbe returns to the overall context of the ma’amar – the

transformation of the sheker of the world (kelipah) into the keresh of

the Mishkan (kedusha):

, ובענין זה היא העבודה להפוך את החשוכא ומרירו לנהורא ולמיתקועד שמת האיש ההוא , ל-להוציא החיל שבלע מפיו ומבטנו ירשנו א

(,ח"ל ס"כנ)לבדו

The task of a Jew is to transform the “darkness and bitterness” (of

kelipah) into “light and sweetness” (of kedusha), extracting the “wealth

which [the wicked] has swallowed, Hashem will remove it from his gut”,

until “the man (kelipah) will die [because he is] alone” [without any

sustenance from kedusha].

שכל הענינים ממולאים , א"ף יחזור להיות ה"שפועלים שהקו, והיינוהקוין דתורה עבודה ' י עבודת התשובה בכל ג"ע, מאור דקדושה

ז מהפכים את השקר דעולם והקשר דעולם לקרש "שעי, 105ח"וגממהפיכת , היינו, קרשים שנעשים מעצי שטים עומדים, דקדושה

, ד"ע העבודה שלמעלה מטו"שהו, ז לשטות דקדושה"שטות דלעוהשנעשה , ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם, ז בונים את המשכן"ועי

.106דירה לו יתברך בתחתונים, כתפארת אדם לשבת בית


This means that a Jew turns the “kuf” into a “hey”, filling all his thoughts,

speech, and action with the energy of kedusha by doing teshuva in all

three areas of Torah, davening, and the performance of mitzvos.

This transforms the “שקר” (lie, concealment of G-dliness) of the world

and the “קשר” (the strong connection to kelipah) of the world into a

of kedusha. And these krashim are made (beam of the Mishkan) ”קרש“

of “standing beams of shittim wood”, showing that we need to turn the

shtus d’kelipah (unholy irrational behavior) into shtus d’kedusha (holy

irrational behavior), serving Hashem beyond the limitations of reason

and logic.

This enables us to “build the Mishkan” (meaning, reveal Hashem’s

essence within the physical world), as when we serve Hashem

following the model that we learn from the construction of the

Mishkan, then “I [Hashem] will dwell within them”, making “the beauty

of man [referring to G-dliness] is to settle in a house”, a home for the

revelation of Hashem’s essence in the physical world – a dirah

b’tachtonim.


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Footnotes from Original Hebrew

.ת"מאמר זה מיוסד בעיקרו על פרק השמיני מהמשך באתי לגני השי 1

.א, ש ה"שה 2

.פ"ר עה"שהש 3

.יא, ט"ר פכ"ויק 4

.ח, תרומה כה 5

.ב, ט"ר פי"ו לב"מהרז. ב, ג"ר פי"ו לבמדב"כ ומהרז"ראה מ 6

(.טו, נז' ישעי)שוכן עד וקדוש שמו : ר שם"ובשהש. ט"נוסח התפלה דשבת ויו 7

.נ"וש(. רסו' מ שבט ע"מ סה"תו)ד "א ס"ה באתי לגני תשי"ראה ד 8

ת שם מציין גם "ובלקו)ב , ב קכח"פ פקודי מציין לזהר ח"ת ר"לקווב( א, לד)ז "בתניא פכ 9 .ג, ת חוקת סה"לקו. ד, א ויקהל פט"וראה גם תו(. א, וראה גם שם קפד. ב, לזהר שם סז

.ב"פ 10

מ שם "תו) 22ד הערה "ב ס"ה באתי לגני תשל"וראה ד. א, מנחות יח –ה עד אחת "ראה תוד 11 .ועוד(. שסט' ע

.ב, ג כו"ח. א, טב רל"ראה זהר ח 12

.נ"וש. 29' ט ע"מ תש"ראה סה 13

.ועוד. ח, פינחס כח 14

.פ"י עה"ספרי ופירש 15

פ "אלשיך עה(. ה ושני פסוקים"ד)ו קרוב לתחלתו "ראה ראשית חכמה שער האהבה פ 16. ב, שכו. ב, כ תרומה שכה"חלק תושב. א, רא. א, ה סט"של"(. שמעתי לומדים)"תרומה שם

.מ"ובכ. ב"סע, ת נשא כ"לקו

.ב, ויקרא א 17

.ג"פ 18

.יב, נשא ה 19

.א, כתובות יז 20

.ה"ראה בהמשך פ 21

.ו"פ 22

.ועוד. ג, ת במדבר יא"לקו. ב, א מב"וראה תו. יב, כא' ישעי 23

(.ב, ב)בהקדמה 24

.א, שבת קד 25

.ב, ט"ר פי"ויק 26

.ד, ואתחנן ו 27


.יד, תשא לד 28

.ב"פי 29

.ועוד. ה"פל. ב"פכ 30

.ז"תשי'ה-א"תשי'ה באתי לגני ה"ר עד כאן ראה דבכל הנאמ 31

.בסעיף ח 32

הערת )צדק ' א מע"וראה מאו. מ"ובכ. הלקוטים שם' שער המצות וס. ראה' טעמי מצות פ 33 (.ת כאן"שי'מ ה"א בסה"ר שליט"ק אדמו"כ

6ע "ט ס"מ חי"תו)ד "ב ופ"ה באתי לגני דאשתקד פ"ראה גם ד –צמצומים אלו ' בענין ב 34 (.ואילך 10' ע; ואילך

(.ואילך 12' מ שם ע"תו)ו -ה"ה באתי לגני שם פ"ראה גם ד 35

.כד, משלי יא 36

.ז, מג' ישעי 37

.כו, איוב יט 38

.א ואילך, ת בלק סז"לקו. ב ואילך, א צה"א מג"ראה תו 39

.ב"ב מי"ראה אבות פ 40

.ו, משלי ג 41

.ראה מצות הצדקה' ראה טעמי המצות פ 42

.א, ב קכח"ראה זח 43

.כב, משלי י 44

.יז, עקב ח 45

.מ"ובכ. ג, חוקת סו. ד, ת שלח מב"וראה לקו. ב, תהלים קכח 46

אוסף כתבי היד של תלמוד )י "ס כת"פ הגירסא בש"ע)משנה וברייתא קידושין בסופה 47 (.ועוד. ה במלאכת שלמה למשניות קידושין שם"וכ(. ד"ירושלים תשכ –הבבלי

.יד, נא' פ ישעי"ע 48

.טז, משלי ג 49

.ב, נדה ע 50

.ה"ג מ"אבות פ 51

.ח"ד סרמ"י לטויו"ראה ב 52

.כתר שם טוב סימן שצג 53

.יא ואילך, ויקרא ב 54

דחג ' שיחת יום ב. ואילך 34' חוברת טו ע" רשימות. "32הערה 162' ב ע"ש חכ"ראה לקו 55 .ועוד(. ואילך 151' ג ע"מ ח"תו)א "השבועות תשי


.א, סוטה ה 56

.ג, ת במדבר טו"לקו. ב, א צא"א מג"תו 57

.נ"וש. ב, פסחים נ 58

.ה, משלי טז 59

.ט"א סרי"לקו(. ער' ו ע"בהוצאת תשס)ת סימן רד "או 60

.ג, תהלים טו 61

.טו, נצבים ל 62

.ה, משלי ה 63

.ב, שבת נו 64

.כג, י תולדות כה"רש 65

.כז-כה, תצא כב 66

.ת שם"הובא באוה –בשרשים ובמכלול 67

.ו, ב' ראה ירמי 68

.יג, מד' שעיי 69

.ב, ברכות נז 70

(.ב, כב)תקון ו 71

.מ"ובכ. ג, ת נשא כ"ראה לקו 72

.כז, תולדות כה 73

.ב, ב לח"זח 74

.יד, ב יד-פ שמואל"ע 75

.ב ואילך"סע, שם קמד 76

.ג, א חיי שרה טו"וראה תו. טו, איוב כ 77

.תתכח'ע א"צ ס"ת שמע"וראה אוה. ח, מב' ישעי 78

.כד, וישב לז 79

.טו, ש ד"שה 80

.ח, בראשית ב 81

.ג"אבות רפ 82

.א, במדבר ב 83

.כא, יחזקאל כא 84

.ב, מנחות כט 85

.ב, חגיגה ה –ל "פ לשון חז"ע 86


.ג, ת אחרי כה"וראה לקו. ד"ד ה"ירושלמי ברכות פ –ל "פ לשון חז"ע 87

.ז"ד מי"אבות פ 88

.טו, בראשית ב 89

.ו, תהלים כה 90

.יא, יתרו כ 91

.א, פסחים נ 92

.א, פ ע"דרושים ליוהכ. ג, ת פינחס עה"לקוראה 93

.א, קדושין נד. ב, ברכות כה 94

.ועוד. ו"פל. ה"ראה פל 95

.תתקיא ואילך' ע. תתמז' ת חוקת ע"ראה אוה 96

.א, שבת כב 97

.שנח' לתהלים ע( יהל אור)ת "אוה. ב, ב קמח"ראה זח 98

.ועוד. ב, כ. א, ה ג"וראה של. יד, יד' לשון הכתוב ישעי 99

.ג, העלותך לאב 100

.ת שם"וראה אוה. א, ה כא"ראה של 101

.כז, תהלים קב 102

.עת לחשות ועת לדבר(: ז, ג)ובקהלת . ח"מ בדא"כן מובא הלשון בכ 103

.ועוד. ו"ח מ"טהרות פ 104

.ב"א מ"אבות פ 105

.מ"ובכ. ו"תניא רפל. ו, ג"ר פי"במדב. ג"ר ספ"ב. נשא טז. ראה תנחומא בחוקותי ג 106

ב"ה

לע"נ

הרה"ח הרה"ת אי"א נו"נ עוסק בצ"צ

ע"ה דניאל יצחקר'

בן יבלחט''א ר' אפרים שליט''א

מאסקאוויץ

שליח כ"ק אדמו"ר זי"ע

למדינת אילינוי

אדר שני ה'תשע"ד נלב"ע ב'

ת.נ.צ.ב.ה

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DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF

RABBI DANIEL ל"ז MOSCOWITZ

LUBAVITCH CHABAD OF ILLINOIS

REGIONAL DIRECTOR

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המלך מלאכת את ואעשה ואקום ...נהייתי דניאל ואני

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Documents

Basi LeGani 5718downloads.simplychassidus.com/Basi_LeGani_5718.pdf3 ינגל יתאב ה"ד Section One This ma’amar was said by the Rebbe in 5718 (1958) and is based on the eighth