Chasidut su Levitico 20:78

This is not the case with hasidism, which shines into the vessels themselves and whose primary point is to reveal that the essence of even the lowly is holy. Therefore, one’s avodah is not to subjugate nor to quiet the body lest it harm and interfere, but rather to reveal its holiness and elevate its inclinations to lofty avodah. Even one’s bad traits are founded upon the light of holiness. The great Maggid ³²⁸That is, R. Dov Ber, Maggid of Mezeritch. says about the verse “and a man who takes his sister, it is hessed,”³²⁹Lev. 20:17. that even the awakening of an evil love to sin and take his sister, may Heaven help us, is founded upon the supernal sefirah of Hessed, which has descended and become corrupted in him.

Lust is the body’s strongest impulse. At the same time, lust is a mask of a Heavenly and soulful force, chesed, the desire to spread out and connect with others.¹²¹In Lev. 20:17, the Torah states, Ve-ish asher yikkach es achoso bas aviv o vas immo... chesed hu ve-nichresu le-einei benei ammam, “A man who marries his sister, daughter of his father, or daughter of his mother... it is chesed, and they will be cut off before their nation. ” The Baal Shem Tov explained that the verse included the word chesed to teach that lowly lustful desires are a misapplication of the Heavenly drive for chesed. The verse is bemoaning the disgrace saying, “Lust? How could you do that, to misapply chesed, the most radiant and important of character traits?” Lust is when I seek to connect with them for my own selfish pleasure. Chesed is the elevated form of this urge; the desire to connect with others in order to give and to help them and an urge to attach oneself to God. Lust as the most virulent bodily desire teaches that generous giving is the most powerful urge of the soul. The body’s lust drive is enormously powerful; that should teach us how deeply the soul desires chesed.

In the works of the Ari, may he be remembered in the coming world, he explains that the prayer of this day is not like the prayer of tomorrow, until the coming of the Messiah. This is the meaning of the mishna (Berachot 28b): "One who makes their prayer regular, it is not considered a supplication." Now, I heard in the name of my master a wonderful teaching about this about the foreign thoughts that come to you in the middle of your prayer, reflecting the mystery of the breaking of the vessels, and the 288 sparks that one is required to discern each day. They come to you in order that you repair and elevate them. And the foreign thoughts of today are not like the foreign thoughts of tomorrow, and this is clear to one who pays attention to them. This is what I learned from my master on the matter of repairing foreign thoughts: if they are thoughts of sexuality, one can elevate them and bring them to their root of hesed, which is the secret of the verse (Leviticus 20:17) "If a man takes his sister... this is hesed." Thoughts of idolatry are rooted in a flaw in tiferet. But this is enough on this subject.

On the subject of wars between nations and needless bloodshed, the Rebbe said, “Many of the misguided follies which people in previous eras believed in, such as primitive cults like child-sacrifice to Molekh (Leviticus 20:2) and so on, have now disappeared. But so far, the pursuit of war—misguided error that it is—has not been abolished.” The Rebbe had contempt for the scientists who developed new weapons, saying, “What great sages they must be to figure out how to make a wonderful weapon that can kill thousands of people at once! Is there anything more foolish than to kill so many people for nothing!”