Хасидус к Дварим 4:4

The third level "acts of lovingkindness" - that behold in the upper worlds God set 'Compassion', which is love and 'beloved' that is the the Holy Blessed Name loves the righteous because of the righteous' holy deeds on the earth, yet in this world they are called 'lovingkindness', that even for a person who is not decent, the Holy Blessed Name does lovingkindness freely, providing for that person's needs. Nevertheless, the righteous who attain the level of rising up every physical thing, which is rising the holy sparks that exist in corporeality, which is in one's eating and drinking and so on, and all one's thoughts in the time of doing physical things are only to rise the holy sparks in them, and a righteous person such as this one does not need lovingkindness, meaning, free lovingkindness as explained above, giving the things needed in this world from the side of lovingkindness, because the Holy Blessed Name showers [the righteous] with their needs according to the deserved letter of the law because of their good deeds. And this is the explanation for "deeds of lovingkindness [roots g.m.l./kh.s.d.]": from the expression "the weaning [g.m.l.] of Yitzchak" (Genesis 21:8) - there is no need for the levels "lovingkindness" [חסד] just what is deserving to the righteous through the love of the Blessed God for the righteous, and through that the righteous connects him/herself above above to the eternal life, even while in this world the righteous attains the higher pleasure of the eternal life, and this is the explanation for the gemara "you will see your world in your lifetime" (Berakhot 17a), that through one's deeds and movements which are all done in holiness and purity and clinging to God and happiness and love and awe, from that one attains pleasures of the higher worlds in this world. And there is to say that this is also the intention of the verse "and y'all who cling to Hashem you God are all alive today" (Deuteronomy 4:4) . Meaning, through clinging that y'all cling to the Blessed Creator y'all will get eternal life, even "today", in this world, as explained above.

And the reason is that the concept of a king can only exist over one who has a semblance of similarity to the king. For is it conceivable that a person would be called a king over animals that have no similarity to him? Rather, only one who is king over human beings like himself is called a king. Therefore, it is also not appropriate that the Holy One, blessed be He, be uniquely established as King over flesh and blood who have no comparison to Him at all and no similarity whatsoever. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, in His abundant mercy and abundant kindness, desired to uniquely establish His Kingship specifically over Israel, His holy people, as the verse states (Isaiah 44:6): "Thus says the Lord, King of Israel, etc."—specifically Israel, who are called "adam" (Yevamot 61a), an expression of "I will be like (adameh) the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14), the aspect of similarity to the aspect of supernal holiness, for they are stripped of physicality and cleave to His attributes, blessed be He, as the verse states (Deuteronomy 4:4): "And you who cleave to the Lord." And our Rabbis of blessed memory expounded (see Shabbat 133b, Sotah 14a, Tanchuma Vayishlach 10, Vayikra Rabbah 25:3, see Mekhilta Shirata 3): "Cleave to His attributes—just as He is merciful, so too you be merciful, etc." Meaning that through this they are somewhat similar to the supernal aspect. And through this, the Holy One, blessed be He, uniquely establishes His Kingship over us and gave us the Sabbath. But a gentile who keeps the Sabbath is liable to death (Sanhedrin 58b), for the gentile has no similarity to the aspect of holiness. And when he observes the Sabbath, he makes himself similar to the aspect of holiness, for the Sabbath is the aspect of resemblance. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, did His work for six days and on the seventh day rested, so too Israel do likewise—they rest on the seventh day and remove their minds from physicality as if all their work is done, and they attach their thoughts to the aspect of holiness. And this is what the verse says (see Exodus 31:17): "It is a sign between Me and the Children of Israel, etc." Meaning that it is an aspect of similarity, as it were. That is, since Israel are in the aspect of holiness and stripping away of physicality, therefore they can also receive and observe the Sabbath in the aspect of resemblance and acceptance of the Kingship of Heaven completely. But a gentile who observes the Sabbath is like a blemished person who makes himself similar to the king, and it is a disgrace to the king—so too, as it were, against His Kingship, blessed be He. Therefore, when a gentile makes himself similar to the King and keeps the Sabbath, he is liable to death.

Were not Your Torah my delight, then I would have perished in my poverty: When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe (Exodus 28:1), "Now you shall bring forward your brother Aharon," it was difficult for him. [Hence] the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, "The Torah was mine and I gave it to you. For were it not for it, I would have destroyed My world." To here is the language of the Midrash. The idea is that it is written (Leviticus 16:3), "after the death of the two sons of Aharon, when they came near before the Lord, and died; Speak to Aharon your brother, that he come not at all times into the holy, etc. With this (Bezot) shall Aharon come into the holy." For through their perfect service and righteousness, Nadav and Avihu had perfected their spirits and gave themselves over to death in their attachment, with an amazing attachment, to the point that their souls remained attached to the Supernal Light in the secret of the feminine waters. So their souls departed like one. And this is [the meaning of], "when they came near before the Lord, and died": That they came so close and attached themselves with so much attachment and great desire to the point that their souls were stored away and attached above. It is true that one who serves with such a service of amazing attachment also brings down a flow of life from above upon himself while he is living, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 4:4), "and you that are attached to the Lord, your God, are all living today." On account of the attachment, life is added; for that is His will, may He be blessed, who gives life to the living. Nevertheless, since they had an obstructing sin - according to the words of the Sages, may their memory be blessed, when they said they were drunk, etc.; or they instructed the law, etc. - the bringing down of that flow was prevented from them in the light coming back to them, such that their souls remained attached there in the secret of the feminine waters. Hence he warned Aharon and said [that] "he come not at all [times], etc." This means to say that truly all of the service of the righteous must be in this way, to give up their lives in the secret of the feminine waters. And that is [the meaning of] "that he come not at all times." For it is impossible "to come at all times to the holy," but rather "With this shall he come, etc." - with this aspect of his sons who were in the secret of the feminine waters. However not in the way that his sons died and remained stored away there, bur rather to increase the the flow of life and holiness upon him through this. And that is [the meaning of] "so that he not die" - in the way that his sons died. And that is why when the Holy One, blessed be He told our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, "among My close one will I be sanctified," he said, "I thought He would sanctify the Temple either through me or through you." For he had a longing to be in the secret of the feminine waters. However this was not how the Holy One, blessed be He, placed him. As it is known that the main arousal must be from the lower towards the above, the secret of the female towards the male, as it is written (Genesis 3:16), "and your desire will be towards your husband." However our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, is called the husband of the matron. Hence he is in the secret of the male. And it is only possible for the desire for one's elevation in the secret of the feminine waters be from the lower levels that are called the poor. They need to desire and elevate themselves and be aroused like a female towards the male. Yet Moshe, to whom the Torah was given - and it is called the Torah of Moshe - is in the secret of the male, the husband of the matron. If he had elevated himself in the secret of the feminine waters, the poor levels would have been lost and would not have elevated themselves. For they are as nothing in comparison to him. And that is why when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, "Now you shall bring forward your brother Aharon," Moshe saw that Aharon would also approach his dimension and would be equal to him, and both of them would not be for the dimension of the feminine waters - so it was hard for Moshe. For he thought "It would either be with me or with you." Nevertheless, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "The Torah was mine and I gave it to you" - you are on the level of Torah, the secret of the male, the husband of the matron. And it is impossible [for you] to rise up to the secret of the delight of the feminine waters which the Holy One, blessed be He, desires. For there is a need for the arousal of the female towards the male. And this is [the meaning of] "Were not Your Torah my delight": For had I not given you the Torah, you would have been my delight. However with the Torah, it is impossible. Since "then I would have perished in my poverty, etc." And it is already know that Pinchas is Eliyahu, and that is the [same soul] as Nadav and Avihu. For they were together in Pinchas, as it is known. It comes out that Eliyahu is the secret of the feminine waters of Nadav and Avihu. And that is why our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 3a) about Rabbi Yosei when he went into a ruin to pray, "Eliyahu came and guarded the entrance for me and waited at the entrance." Meaning to say, that the main prayer of the righteous is to raise their souls through the letters of the secret of the feminine waters, the dimension of Eliyahu. That is [the meaning of], "and Eliyahu came immediately and guarded the entrance for me and waited at the entrance." That is the entrance of the body, which is the mouth and speech. And that is why our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said, "If dogs are playing, Eliyahu is coming to the city." For when the joy and delight from the souls of the righteous arise in the secret of the feminine waters, the dimension of Eliyahu, all of the harsh judgements and accusers are sweetened. And when there is joy in the house of the King, even the house of the army is joyful. And that is why our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said, "If dogs are playing" - those are the accusers and the husks. For among the lowest levels, joy is aroused, and all of the harsh judgements are negated. And that is why Scripture states, "With this shall Aharon come into the holy." It means to say, with the feminine waters, the secret of Eliyahu, who is the dimension of Nadav and Avihu. With this one must approach the holy.