חסידות אויף במדבר 24:20

2. And when da'at disappears, as seen above - in other words, no one knows, G-d forbid - that everything {in the world} runs only on the providence of Hashem Yisbarach, and {they} believe that things take their natural course, G-d forbid, this is the aspect of sleep, which is the absence of da'at, the aspect of night and darkness. The essence of the light of day is the aspect of da'at, as shown. In other words, light is only {from} Hashen Yisbarach, so to speak, in the aspect of (Psalms 27:1) "The Lord is my light and my salvation", corresponding to (Psalms 118:27) "The Lord is G-d, and He gave us light". This is the essence of the sun's light, the aspect of (Psalms 84:12) "For a sun and a shield is the Lord G-d". In other words, when one knows that Hashem Yisbarach rules the world only with providence, this is the essence of light. For the essence of light, in every place where light is found, like the light of the sun and similar {places}, is only the Light of Hashem Yisbarach, so to speak, that illuminates us, as explained above. When we fall, G-d forbid, from this knowledge and we attribute things to nature, G-d forbid, this is the aspect of the absence of light. Then it corresponds to night and darkness, G-d forbid. And this is the aspect of (Isaiah 13:10) "the sun has become dark in its going forth", etc., the aspect of (Joel 2:10) "the sun and moon darken", etc. and other similar verses like these. All of them were said regarding the time of the exile; in other words, because in exile it seems like the light of the sun has darkened because the exile is similar to night, as explained by Rashi. In other words, in the time of the exile, which is evoked only because we attributed things to nature, G-d forbid. Then 'the sun has become dark in its going forth' because immediately when we relied on nature, G-d forbid, then the light escaped from the sun, as if the sun actually darkened. For in reality, the sun has no light at all except from Hashem Yisbarach, as explained above. Therefore the exile resembles night and darkness. For the essence of the exile is only because we attribute things to nature, G-d forbid. The it is the aspect of night and darkness, the disappearance of the light, as explained above. This corresponds to sleep, the disappearance of da'at to know that everything is divine providence, which is the essence of the light, etc., as explained above. Therefore, at the time of sleep, the forces of evil descend upon a person, and the essence is on the hands, as is written in the Holy Zohar (Vayeshev 184b). For the essence of the Other Side is the aspect of the gentiles as is known, who draw nourishment only from the aspect of heresies, which is the essence of the Evil Inclination, which is called 'going after atheism', as is brought; in other words, they attribute {everything} to nature, as explained above. Then the aspect of the gentiles increases, the aspect of power of the exile which resembles night and sleep and which they absorbed from the aspect of the strengthening of nature, as explained above. This is the aspect of the spirit of impurity which rests upon a person {at night}. Therefore, the essence of the rectification of sleep in holiness is through faith, as is brought in the words of Rabbeinu, z"l (Likutei Moharan 35). In other words, when da'at disappears, corresponding to sleep, when man sees that his knowledge is confused and is not perfect, and he is not able to ascertain and to understand that everything is by divine providence from Hashem Yisbarach alone, as it is now in exile amidst the gentiles who resemble night and darkness, and when the knowledge of natural science has increased, G-d forbid - then it is incumbent upon every Jew to cast out and to remove his knowledge completely and to strengthen himself in faith alone, to believe with perfect faith that everything is only through divine providence alone and there is no nature in the world at all. This is the aspect of rectifying sleep through faith. In other words, at the time of sleep, as explained above one must enter into the midst of the aspect of faith, to rely on faith alone after his da'at has fled, just as now in the exile. We must always strengthen ourselves in faith alone, since now we have not elevated da'at perfectly to know that everything is done with divine providence. Therefore, one must clear his mind and rely only on faith alone, in the aspect of (Psalms 92:3) "and Your faith at night". And since at night, at the time of sleep, the disappearance of knowledge strengthens the knowledge of natural science, G-d forbid, which is the aspect of darkness, as explained above, in the aspect of (Genesis 15:12) "and a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold, a fright, a great darkness...", etc. This is demonstrated by the power of the exile. In other words, at the time of sleep, and deep sleep, the disappearance of da'at strengthens the power of the exile, from which they nourished, in the aspect of the strengthening of natural science, as explained above. And this is why a spirit of impurity rests upon a person at the time of sleep, as explained above. Therefore, as soon as one awakens from sleep one must wash his hands with water, because the spirit of impurity rests mainly upon the hands, as it is written in the Holy Zohar. For the hands corresponds to heaven, שָׁמַיִם - fire and water, אֵשׁ וּמַיִם, on the right side and left side, corresponding to (Deuteronomy 32:40) "For I raise up My hand to heaven" as is brought in the words of Rabbeinu in another place (Likutei Moharan 56). This is the aspect of the grasp of the Other Side, the aspect of natural science, the aspect of hands, for they attribute causes to the arrangement of constellations, which corresponds to 'hands'. Therefore the essence of the strengthening of the Other Side is at the time of sleep, which corresponds to nature and is with the hands specifically, as explained above. Because the hands have 28 phalanges which correspond to the 28 letters of the act of creation, through which the heavens and the earth were created, in the aspect of (Isaiah 48:13) "Even My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand measured the heavens". And therefore the main way to subdue the forces of evil, represented by the gentiles of the world, the aspect of natural science through which they are strengthened, as explained above, the aspect of their submission is only through the hands of holiness, when one merits to elevate them to da'at. And this is the aspect of (Exodus 17:11) "It came to pass that when Moses would raise his hand, Israel would prevail, and when he would lay down his hand, Amalek would prevail", etc. which was said regarding the war with Amalek. Because Amalek is in general all of the gentiles and the other side, in the aspect of “Amalek was the first of the nations“ (Numbers 24: 20). And Amalek was the essence of atheism and completely attributed everything to nature, G-d forbid. They would discern the hours based on their astrology as is brought in the explanation of Rashi and as shown in the words of Rabbeinu z"l. Therefore, the essence of their subjugation is through the raising of the hands. The raising of the hands, the 28 phalanges that are in the hands, to the head, in the aspect of (Psalms 134:2) "Lift your hands in the holy place". In other words, when the hands, with their 28 phalanges, are raised to da'at to know that all is divine providence, because Hashem Yisbarach created everything through the 28 letters of מַעֲשֵֹה בְרֵאשִׁית, which are the aspect of the 28 phalanges, as explained above. And then they are elevated - the aspect of heaven, because they are also the aspect of the hands, as explained above - to their root which is in knowledge, in the aspect of the 28 letters, as seen above. Because everything was created by G-d with the 28 letters and He gives life and established the heavens and all of their hosts and the land etc. through His divine providence alone and there is absolutely no nature or influence of the arrangements of the constellations at all. And then Amalek and the Other Side are subdued, as seen above. And this is the aspect of (Exodus 17:12) "so he was with his hands in faith until sunset". The essence of the subjugation of Amalek is through faith in divine providence which is drawn down through raising the hands, as explained above. Therefore at the time of sleep da'at disappears, for then nature is strengthened, G-d forbid. This is the root of the Other Side that is on a person. Therefore the essence of its grasp is with the hands, as seen above. Then, immediately after one wakes from sleep one must wash his hands with water with corresponds to the waters of da'at, the waters of Chesed/Loving-kindness, the aspect of (Isaiah 11:9) "for the land shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea bed". In other words, through the washing one brings down the purifying waters of the waters of knowledge, in the aspect of "The whole world will know that then the world is filled with knowledge like water covers the sea bed". Then everyone will know that everything is only through divine providence alone, for {the concept of} nature will be nullified completely. And even now, at any time when one needs salvation and purification, to be saved from the midst of the Other Side, which is nourished from the aspect of the knowledge of nature, one draws down divine providence from the ends of the earth, as explained above in the lesson, as seem above. This corresponds to the water of washing the hands, which draws down the waters of knowledge from the ends of the earth, in the aspect of 'The whole world will know that then the world is filled with knowledge', etc. This is the aspect of Mikveh, which corresponds to the World of the Future (because Mikveh, מִקְוֶה, in Gematria is 151, corresponding to Binah, the World of the Future, as is brought). This corresponds to (Jeremiah 14:8) "O hope, ,מִקְוֶה of Israel, his Savior at time of trouble". Because all of the troubles and tribulations are only due to the lack of knowledge, in the aspect of the knowledge of nature, as explained above. In other words, they do not know, G-d forbid, that everything is divine providence, etc. This is the essence of the impurity, as seen above. Therefore the salvation from the trouble and the purification from the impurity is through Mikveh, which is the aspect of 'the World of the Future', the aspect of the waters of wisdom, the aspect of 'for the land shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as water', etc. Through entering the mikveh and occluding the eyes it blocks out the world and one ignores {the world} and covers himself there in the waters of the mikveh, which is the aspect of the waters of knowledge, the aspect of 'the Future World'. Through this one is included within the aspect of da'at, in the aspect of providence for he covers his eyes to the world which strengthens the errors of the wisdom of nature, from whence comes all trouble and impurities. Through this the eyes are damaged, whose root and vitality are from the aspect of the Eyes of G-d, which are the aspect of divine providence, as is understood in the lesson above. And when one falls from da'at and believes that there is nature, G-d forbid, this is the aspect of the damaging of the eyes and from this come all the troubles, etc., as seen above. Therefore one must cover his eyes completely from what goes on in this world and to lose himself and be included in the waters of the mikveh, which is the aspect of the knowledge of the World of the Future. For then the divine providence will be revealed and nature will disappear completely. And through this divine providence will be drawn down from the ends of the earth, in the aspect of mikveh. And through this salvation will come to him, for everything that he needs, the aspect of 'Hashem is the hope of Israel, his Savior in times of trouble', etc. This is the aspect of the washing of the hands in the morning, which draws down purified water which comes from the aspect of mikveh. Through this he purifies his hands, which are the aspect of the 28 phalanges, the aspect of the 28 letters of the act of creation. The essence of the defect of the aspect of the knowledge of nature, which is strengthened through sleep at night, and darkness afflicts them specifically, as seen above. For through the knowledge of nature the 28 letters are flawed, as seen above, and one associates with the order of the universe, G-d forbid, as seen above. This is the aspect of impurity which takes hold in the hands specifically at the time when da'at flees; in other words, at the time of sleep, as seen above. Therefore, we purify them through the waters of knowledge drawn down from the aspect of 'the World of the Future', etc., as explained above.

In the al hanisim text of Chanukah, [one finds,] "You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, and the many into the hands of the few." And that is the essence of the miracle, as it is contrary to nature. But afterward, we say three phrases, "the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the insolent into the hands of those occupied with Your Torah." But this is irrelevant to the greatness of the miracle! However it is [actually] all one idea — that God, may He be blessed, delivered the Greeks into the hands of the Jewish people. Yet the idea of the three [different] things that it mentioned are that the sources of husks are jealousy, desire, and honor, the roots of the husks of Esau and Ishmael, from which branched out 35 on the right and 35 on the left, as ARI, may his memory be blessed, said. The husk of Ishmael is called chamor [donkey]. For the two lads that were with [Abraham] at the binding were Ishmael and Eliezer, as it is written in Rashi's commentary, and it is [sourced] in Midrash Rabbah (Emor 20:2). And our father Abraham, peace be upon him, said to them, You stay here with the donkey (Genesis 22:5), a people that is similar to a donkey, as it is taught (Yevamot 62a:14). And this is the husk of desire, as it is stated, whose flesh is the flesh of donkeys, etc. (Ezekiel 23:20). Whereas Esau is the husk of the ox, as it is found (Berakhot 62a:4), "And don’t we see that it causes damage and bites and kicks?" And the ox that gores is the husk of jealousy and murder. And Amalek is the husk of the dog, as it is written (Zohar 2:65a), "A husk comes out of their might which is called, dog, and that is the most insolent of all of them." And that [is supported by] that which the middle letters of donkey [chamor] and ox [shor] are vav, mem vav, the numerical equivalent of dog [kelev, as Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote. And that is the husk of haughtiness and honor. And Scripture says about him, The proud, insolent man, scoffer is his name (Proverbs 21:24). And it is as they expounded (Shemot Rabbah, Yitro, 27:6), "Strike the scoffer (Proverbs 19:25), this is Amalek," who is the scoffer. That is, as all the peoples heard, they shuddered [alluding to Exodus 15:14], once they saw open and explicit miracles, and they could not deny [God's power]. But this one came from haughtiness, that it could not be that there would be something hidden from his intellect and higher than his comprehension. And from this, he became a scoffer and denied everything through mockery. And that is [the meaning of], Amalek is the head of the nations (Numbers 24:20), it is the head of the husks, since its root was the seduction of the snake — and you shall be like God (Genesis 3:5). And that is the culmination of haughtiness, and it is like it is stated about Nebuchadnezzar and Hiram. Moreover, that is the source of the evil impulse. And this is by way of the shattering of the vessels and the primordial kings that died, which was through the haughtiness of, "I shall reign," as is well known. And it is like we said, that it is from that which God, may He be blessed, dresses Himself with this garment, as it is written, The Lord is king, He is robed in pride [geut, which also means haughtiness] (Psalms 93:1), that man increases it (and as it will be explained, Vayera at the end of essay 1). And it is found [about] Greece (Bereishit Rabbah 2:4), "And darkness (Genesis 1:2) – this is the Greek kingdom, which darkened Israel’s eyes, etc." And it is written in the holy books that darkness [choshech] is [composed of] the first letters of shor, chamor, kelev, the three husks mentioned. As the husks of the Greeks were [based in] heresy, and that is the source of all the husks, as it [all] comes from haughtiness. As their hearts made them haughty, to be sages in their own eyes; from that, they came to heresy. And through this, they also arrived at the [other] husks, which are jealousy and desire. For their wisdom is the opposite of the Torah's wisdom. As it is found (Kiddushin 30b), "I have created the evil impulse, and I have created the Torah as an antidote." And that is the light of Torah, which saves from these three husks. As corresponding to the husk of desire, they said there, "If that scoundrel confronts you, drag him to the study hall, etc." And the evil impulse of desire is called a scoundrel, as it is learned (Shabbat 152a), "A woman is a flask full, etc."; and in the Midrash Neelam (Zohar 1:128b), "[The evil impulse] will not be as roguish, etc." See there. And it said, "drag him to the study hall, etc.," that one should pull this passion to the words of Torah, as it will be in the future, that there will be a craving for Torah (as it is written there, Zohar 1:138a). And corresponding to the husk of jealousy, it is found in the Tikkunei Zohar (in the Introduction mentioned above), "When it is taken from Might, it is called the Oral Torah, as so have the masters of the Mishnah established it — the Oral Torah was given from the mouth of the Almighty." And that is as it is written (Taanit 4a), "When a young scholar gets heated up, it is the Torah that is heating him up, as it is stated, Is not My word like fire (Jeremiah 23:29). So the anger of Torah scholars is good for all the sides." And likewise, the essence of the words of Torah are acquired with lowliness and through words of Torah that are connected to the head of thought. The head [bereishit, which also means, In the beginning] is for the sake of the Jewish people which is called the head. And that is corresponding to the head of the husks, the head of the nations, the husk of haughtiness. And their wisdom, which is darkness, the opposite of the light of Torah, brings one to the husks of desire and jealousy, the powers of the evil impulse. And this is [the meaning of] that which is written, "the impure into the hands of the pure," corresponding to the husk of desire. For the main thing called impurity is impurity that comes out from a person's body, and that is a genital flow [zivah], which comes from the power of desire. As it is written (Zavim 2), "We check one with a genital flow [for its cause] in seven ways, etc. By way of fantasies." And [although gentiles] do not have impurity, the sages made them like those with a genital flow in every matter, because their bodies are full of the pollution of this impurity, which is the pollution of the snake that it put into Eve, which has not left them. And that is why they said (Bereishit Rabbah 80:11), "One who engages in sexual relations with an uncircumcised man, it is difficult to pull away." As he puts this pollution of desire into her. And that is the husk of Ishmael, which is the leftovers of our father Abraham, peace be upon him. As he was the trait of love in holiness, since all of his love and passion was only for the Holy One, blessed be He. And the holy power to separate from desire is called purity. And it is like King David, peace be upon him, wrote in that psalm, when he came, etc. — which was about the blemish of desire — Create for me a pure heart, etc. (Psalms 51:12). And the sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Sukkah 52a), "By inference, there is an impure one!" And this is [the meaning of] that which is written, "into the hands of the pure." As it is written, The fear of the Lord is pure, abiding forever (Psalms 19:10). And it is through this fear that they separate from desire, as it is stated, As I said, surely there is no fear of God in this place, etc. (Genesis 20:1), and as a result, they were full of desire. And when our father Abraham, peace be upon him, had the test of the binding, He said to him, Now I know that you are someone who fears God (Genesis 22:12). For the clarification of the completeness of his love for God, may He be blessed, was when another love came against it, as it is written, your son, etc. who you love (Genesis 22:2). Whereas in the previous tests, it was only against wishes of this world, which were like nothing in the eyes of our father Abraham, peace be upon him, in opposition to his love for God, may He be blessed. But his love for our father Isaac, peace be upon him — which was because of his holiness and because he was promised that a holy nation would come out from him — in this test, it was clarified that he feared God. As He thought that since he is his son, it is possible that it is from the angle of the love of any father for his son. So this is the clarification of the completeness of the love of holiness, when he fears God and his heart is pure of any foreign loves that are from the husks of Ishmael. And this is [the meaning of] "into the hands of the pure." For the Jewish people is the woman that fears the Lord [alluding to Proverbs 31:30]. And they are the ones that fear and are pure. "And the wicked into the hands of the righteous" — that corresponds to the husk of Esau, according to that which is written in Midrash Rabbah (Bereshit Rabbah 75:1, the beginning of Vayishlach), "Deliver my soul from that wicked one, who is Your sword through whom You subjugate the world." And it is written, Let favor be shown to the wicked (Isaiah 26:10), which they expounded (Megillah 6a) about Esau, "As Isaac said, 'Let favor be shown, etc.'" And it is written, The wicked draw their swords (Psalms 37:14); and it is written, and they shall be called the border of wickedness (Malachi 1:4). And the trait of holy might is to be mighty as one who conquers his [evil] impulse [alluding to Avot 4:1]. And Joseph is Esau's opponent (as it is written in Bereishit Rabbah 73), as Joseph was also mighty in conquering his impulse. And because of this, he was more distinguished [for this role] than all of the brothers. As that is why he was given the appellation, the righteous one. And this is the distinction between a righteous person and a pure one, as a pure one is completely pure by being filled with a love of holiness. Whereas a righteous one is someone who conquers it with his might, that he strengthens himself against it, so that he is a chariot for the trait of Righteousness [Tzaddik], and that is with the holiness of Like a firstling bull in his majesty, etc. with them he gores the peoples (Deuteronomy 33:17). And that corresponds to the husk of Esau, who is a goring ox. So that is the meaning of "the wicked into the hands of the righteous." And "the insolent" corresponds to the husk of honor, which is arrogance and conceit, as is stated, The proud, insolent man, scoffer is his name (Proverbs 21:24). And that corresponds to the holiness of the Torah, which is called with holiness, honor, as it is said (Chullin 133a), "There is no honor besides Torah, as it is stated, The wise shall obtain honor (Proverbs 3:35)." And this was merited by our father Jacob, peace be upon him, whose image was engraved into the Throne of Glory, since he sits in tents [alluding to Genesis 25:27), meaning to say, the tents of Torah. Moreover, the voice is the voice of Jacob [alluding to Genesis 27:22] in Torah. And that is the trait of the truth is for Jacob [alluding to Micah 7:20], as it is said (Berakhot 5b), "Truth is Torah, as it is stated, Buy truth (Proverbs 23:23)." And the main spread of the Oral Torah was at the time of the Hasmoneans, and God made one corresponding to the other [alluding to Ecclesiastes 7:14]. So alongside the growth of the Oral Torah, there was the growth of Greek wisdom, which is the opposite of the wisdom of the Oral Torah. And Aristotle was then the head of the sages of the Greeks. And besides their wisdom, they had arrogance and conceit, and they mocked all of the earlier faiths, even idolatry and sorcery. However, they also wanted to eliminate the holy Torah and the word of prophecy. As they said, if prophecy was real in the world, such that God, may He be blessed, speaks with people, they would have grasped it. But because they did not grasp the words of Torah through their wisdom, they did not believe in the words of Torah. As they said that the only wisdom in the world was what they grasped. And that is why they were called the insolent ones. And our father Jacob, peace be upon him, merited Torah by his lowliness in his own eyes, as it is stated, I have been too little for all, etc. (Genesis 32:11); and it is stated, Jacob since he is little (Amos 7:5). As words of Torah leave alone a high place and go towards a low place. So a sign for conceit is poverty in Torah (Kiddushin 49b). And they said (Sotah 21b), "Words of Torah only survive with someone who makes himself as if he were not." And that is [the meaning of] "the insolent ones," which is the husk of haughtiness. And in the blessing of the heretics and all of the insolent ones, it ends, "who humbles the insolent," since they are the source of heresy that comes from haughtiness. "Into the hands of those those occupied with Your Torah," as the Jewish people is called those occupied with Your Torah. For this is always the expression [used] — "anyone who is occupied with Torah." And, likewise in the blessing over the Torah, the formula is "to be occupied with words of Torah." And that is that one's occupation be Torah, as man is born to toil, so that he be occupied and not go around wastefully. And in truth, he was created to be occupied with Torah, and "happy is one who is privileged, who is a receptacle for Torah" (as it is said in Sanhedrin 99b). And in any event, one who is required to also be occupied by the toil of the way of the world, should nevertheless know that he was created only to serve his Maker. It is just that I have committed evil actions, etc. (Mishnah Kiddushin 4:14); that after the corruption, Adam the first man was cursed with, you shall eat bread by the sweat of your brow (Genesis 3:19). So his main intention [in his work] should be that he be able to fix times for Torah [study]. And one who is incapable of such should have the intention that he should raise his children to Torah study. And it is like that which Rambam, may his memory be blessed, wrote, that by way of fulfilling, In all your paths know Him, (Proverbs 3:6), such that all of his actions should be for the sake of Heaven, all of his actions will be commanded actions, since the intended goal is for the service of God, may He be blessed. And that is [the meaning of] "those who are occupied with Your Torah." And also all commanded actions are included in being occupied with Torah. And that is like what we said about the Gemara (Sota 21a), "The verse (Proverbs 6:23) associates the commandment with a lamp and the Torah with light, etc. to say to you [that] just as a lamp only gives light temporarily, etc." And the Gemara explains that the lamp of a commandment is like the lamp of oil and a wick. When it is kindled and lit, it gives light temporarily. But in the holy Zohar (2:166a), it is found that the commandment being like a lamp means a lamp which is oil and a wick without a flame, and a lamp without a flame is nothing. But the Torah is light is that it is the light from which the lamp is lit; see there. And at first glance they contradict one another. But we said that it is all one. And that is that with all of the commandments, the commandment itself, the raw act, is only oil and a wick without any light at all. However in each commandment there is the light of Torah, and that is the intention of the commandment to be for the sake of Heaven, such that it not be like the commandment of someone doing it by rote, but rather to do as the Lord my God has commanded me [alluding to Deuteronomy 4:5]. That is the light of the Torah that is in a commandment, and it is, "the light from which the lamp is lit," which is written in the holy Zohar. And [regarding] the commandment of Torah [study], the study itself is a commandment like all of the positive commandments, and it too is the lamp of a commandment, a lamp without light. And the intention for the sake of Heaven in the Torah study — that is the light of Torah in the commandment of Torah [study]. And the distinction between a commandment and Torah is that the light of Torah in a commandment, meaning the holiness and the intention for the sake of Heaven that is in it, gives light temporarily, whereas this is not the case with the light of the Torah in the commandment of Torah study, which gives light forever. And this is [the meaning of] that which is written in the Gemara, that a commandment only gives light temporarily like a lamp, but Torah gives light forever. And it is well known that every Jew, even one who is not occupied with Torah at all, as he is incapable of it at all and does not have children to raise them for Torah study, is nevertheless at least occupied with commandments. And there is the light of Torah in the commandments as well, that being the intention and the holiness in the commandment. So any occupation with the commandments is the light of Torah, and all of the Jewish people are "those who are occupied with Your Torah."