Parshas Tazria Metzora-English

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Dei Chochmah LNafshechah Parshas Metzora

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Shalosh SeudosofParshas Tazria 5765

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Milah and the Purification of theMetzora

It is important to understand why the mitzvah of circumcision on the eighth dayis juxtaposed with the mitzvos of the purification of a new mother and the metzora. The

sages taught that this juxtaposition teaches us that milah takes precedence over

Shabbos.1 They mean to say that despite the great sanctity of the Shabbos, the holy

Torah nevertheless comes to teach us that the sanctity of milah is even higher. The

Arizal taught that while Shabbos is rooted in the spiritual world ofAtzilus, milah is

rooted in the higher world ofAdam Kadmon.2 This parallels another Talmudic concept:

While the harp used in the Sanctuary was of seven strings, the one that will exist during

the times ofMoshiach will be of eight. As the verse says, To the choirmaster, upon theeight-stringed harp

3The seven-stringed harp alludes to the Shabbos, to the attribute

to Chochmah and the world ofAtzilus, while the eight-stringed harp alludes to the

milah, for on the eighth day you shall circumcise the flesh of his orlah.

The Arizal explained that the phrase, If a man shall have on the skin of his

flesh a blemish of tzoraas, refers to the Adam HaElyon, the supernal man, the six

sefiros ofZeir Anpin that are reflected in the form of the human body.4

As the verse

says, I will be like the image of the supernal5

[Note: The human form is a reflection

of the order of the upper worlds and the sefiros.]Even though the laws of blemishes no

1Sanhedrin 59b

2Eitz Chaim, Shaar HaHonaah chapter 4

3Erchin 13b, based upon Tehillim 12:1

4Likutei Torah, Tazria

5Yeshayahu 14:14


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longer apply, that is only on the physical plane. On the spiritual plane, they do indeed

still apply.

TheArizal and theRashash explain that the inner meaning of all of the festivals

is to repair the sin ofAdam HaRishon.6 In our verse we also find an allusion to this

concept: ..." " If a man (Adam) shall have a blemish in the skin

of his flesh This is the blemish that affected Adam HaRishon after he fell and ate

from the Tree of Knowledge. Every single Jew was incorporated within the collective

body ofAdam HaRishon, and therefore every single Jew has a connection with that sin.

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The repair of the sin ofAdam HaRishon is the main task that one must fulfill in this

world, and this is all the more true during the festivals. It is also the core reason why we

have suffered in this exile for so long, for all of exile is a result of the obscuring of

Hashems presence. TheArizal taught the when Adam HaRishon sinned, he blemished

thepartzufor supernal image of the days, which parallels the middle triad ofsefiros of

Chessed, Gevurah, and Tiferes; and the partzufof the times, which parallels the lower

triad ofsefiros:Netzach,Hod, and Yesod. Despite the fact that the blemish reached both

areas, the main damage was incurred in the lower region ofNetzach,Hod, and Yesod. Soeven though one must work to repair the sin ofAdam HaRishon all year long (the days),

nevertheless the main area of work is during the festivals themselves (the times).

The Sin ofAdam HaRishon

First and foremost, we must understand the nature of the blemish that damaged

the sefiros ofNetzach,Hod, and Yesod. They parallel the three marks oftzoraas: seis,

sapachas, and baheres.8 Seis has the connotation of elevation and was a mental

blemish, in that Adam sought to aggrandize himself. Sapachas [which has the

connotation of making additions] is a flaw of self-promotion and splendor /Hod, while

baheres parallels the attribute of Yesod. These three flaws are very internal, and the

6Nahar Shalom 33a

7Shaar HaKavanos,Drush Birchas HaShachar, loc cit: Al ha omrim Elokai neshamah

shenasata bi tehora hi8Likutei Torah, Tazria


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Arizal explained that they are like two spies who infiltrate a persons avodas Hashem to

corrupt it from within.9

Even when a person is really serving Hashem with very lofty

avodos, these spies instigate a chain reaction that can bring a person to the lowest place.

(These spies are not to be confused with the holy spies who examine the avodos of

others in order to glean from them ever-expanding methods and paths to serve Hashem.)

Since the person suffers from the three flaws, his avodah is not for the sake of heaven,

and so he begins to scrutinize others and judge their avodah. His mind is preoccupied

with thoughts of others all day long until he descends to the level of the two dadim ofthe cattle that exist in the realm of the klippos, that are associated with the negative

manifestation of feminine energy. [Note: This aspect is known as the ishah zonah, the

inverse of the holy side of femininity, the eishes chayil. Just as the human place of

infant nourishment is located in the region of the heart, above the diaphragm, we find

that the place of animal nourishment is in the lower regions of the belly. This is a

symbol of the difference between nukvah dkedushah and nukvah dklippah.]

After a person begins to scrutinize the activities of others, like the sons of

Elokim who descended to examine the daughters of man, he ultimately falls into the sinof spreading slander about others in deed. And the starting point of all of this descent

was his failure to serve Hashem lshem shomayim. The end result is the appearance of

tzoraas. One could ask how great people could be afflicted by such signsbut when

we know that the outward marks are only signs of inner corruption that is rooted in

prideful attitudes, everything is made clear. And this entire process has its source in the

sin ofAdam HaRishon, for when he ate from the Tree of Knowledge his aspect ofDaas

fell from the level of the head to the level of the shoulders. This teaches us that the true

goal ofavodas Hashem is to return to the rectified state ofAdam HaRishon before the

sin. In the beginning, Adam only sought to hasten the redemption; he strolled through

Gan Eden and saw that everything is just a manifestation of the light and life-force of

Hashem. Every single Jew has hidden within him this level of the avodah ofAdam

9Ibid.


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HaRishon before the sin, he knows that all of reality is only Hashem and that He

orchestrates absolutely everything, that there is no existence but Him. This light of

awareness is mainly manifest within the realm of to work it and to guard it, the realm

of the positive and negative commandments. Hashem toldAdam HaRishon that he could

eat from all the trees of the garden, but not to eat from the Tree of Knowledgefor all

of a persons avodah really comes down to working it and guarding it, to listening to

Hashems voice and command. In reality, every single Jew has within him a powerful

longing and thirst for G-dliness, to love Him and fear Him, and to cleave to Himabsolutely.

The Seder of Drawing down Hashems Light

This is certainly the will of the Creator, that a person should be filled with

powerful longing and a fiery yearning for Him. Yet the primary element of avodas

Hashem is simply to work it and to guard it in the right order and manner. A Jew must

know that there is a certain order to the descent of Hashems light, and when it is

reversed and the light enters into a person out of order, it causes severe damage and

can confuse and corrupt the person completely.

The lights ofImma /Binah are the mentalities of longing to love and fear

Hashem and cling to Him, while the lights ofAbba /Chochmah are the mentalities of

self-nullification that an emanation has in relation to the One who brought it into

independent existence. [Note: It always feels as nothing when aware of its Creator.] This

latter light is the light of working and guarding it, it is the desire to hear and know the

will of Hashem. Sometimes, the emanation (the person), seeks to give precedence to the

lights ofdveikus (Imma), but he must know that the lights ofAbba, of selfless seeking to

hear and act upon the expressed will of Hashem, must always come first. The first step

in every matter is to nullify oneself through absolute dedication to the halachah and

before the tzaddikim of every generation. This is a very deep aspect ofavodas Hashem

that unfortunately even many otherwise worthy people either relegate to a secondary

position or ignore altogether. They make the error of giving pride of place to the


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emotional and spiritual experience of longing for Hashem and dveikus. They study

works that will enhance their prayer so that it will fulfill their own expectations and

vision, and consider that study for its own sake and bittul before the tzaddikim is more

of an additional avodah and not the main element.

This is why the Arizal taught that the attempt to bring in the lights ofImma

before the lights ofAbba was the main aspect of the sin ofAdam HaRishon, for he

wanted to bring the entire universe to repentance, even the more external spiritual forces

that were to ultimately bring vitality to the non-Jewish nations. However, the time forsuch work had not yet arrived and it was not in line with the true will of Hashem.

Therefore, when the festivals arrive and the time is again ripe to rectify the sin ofAdam

HaRishon, the main spiritual work is for a person to beg Hashems mercy so that he will

merit to fulfill all of His commands in simplicity, for this is the most important thing of

all. Such a prayer must be offered with an attitude of self-nullification and absolute

willingness to attend to Hashems voice and command and to obey the tzaddikim down

to the last detail. When a person acts in this way, he also merits to receive the lights of

Imma, the lights of longing and yearning for ever-higher levels of connection withHashemand when developed in this way, his yearning has genuine power and

significance.

Illusory and GenuineDveikus

All that we have said until now is the underlying reason why milah takes

precedence over Shabbos. The milah is the embodiment of the covenantal relationship

that the Jewish people has with Hashem, a relationship of total obedience. While the

light of Shabbos which is the light ofImma is very great, one must know that the light of

the milah which is the light ofAbba must take precedence. Before one experiences the

light ofdveikus, he must ensure that he is receiving it in the way of the Jewish people,

not in the way of the nations. The dveikus of the nations is a constant race after spiritual

experiences without the obligating covenantal relationship with Hashem. When the

milah takes precedence over Shabbos, it is our way of saying that we have no interest in


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the dveikus of the nations, and that we want to follow in the footsteps of the tzaddikim

who only sought to fulfill the will of the King. This is the main avodah of a Jewto

work and guard the garden and not to taste of the Tree of Knowledge, not to seek

dveikus divorced from obedience to the expressed will of the Creator.

Unfortunately, when a person delves into non-Torah works, even if connection

with Hashem is discussed there, he transgresses the Torahs command: You shall have

no false gods before Me. According to the Rambam, it is prohibited to delve into such

works even for the sake of heaven, and this is all the more true when the content is notfocused on spiritual growth. This prohibition also applies to the many people who err

and flaunt the rulings of the sages with the excuse that they are learning seforim

chitzoniim for the sake of heaven, in order to help other Jews. That may be all well and

good, but nevertheless they are not following the command of our King, for Hashem

said: One who listens and obeys is preferable to he who brings a fine sacrifice.10

Straight and simple obedience to Hashems word is the greatest service of all, even

when it appears as though the light he could attain through some other means is much

more powerful. It is important to remember that this light is an illusion, it is the light ofthe klippah of flashing fire of Yechezkels vision, it is the dveikus of the sitra achra.

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Any feeling of spiritual connection that comes without the elevated aspect of the bris

milah is tainted by the sitra achra, it is not genuine dveikus at all. Those who serve

Hashem while simultaneously defying the rulings of the sages are caught in the illusion

of the samech-mem; no real sanctity enlivens their actions and they have no connection

with the holiness of the Shabbos.

In order for a person to ensure that he is not beset by the blemishes of pride that

manifest as seis, sapachas, and baheres, he must take stock of himself and his

motivations and examine whether or not he is really nullified before the tzaddikim and

unquestioningly fulfilling every detail of the Shulchan Aruch. And the common

sentiment that pride is not really relevant today, since we have nothing to be proud of,

10Shmuel I:15:22

11Yechezkel 1:4


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is meaningless. A persons degree of pride is directly proportionate to the extent that he

disobeys the halachah and the tzaddikim. And even though this pride can be the result of

the persons genuine desire to connect with Hashem and pursue many lofty avodos, it

will still destroy his ability to attain true dveikus. If he only knew to what extent his

partaking of the Tree of Knowledge separates him from the Source of all life, from

being worthy of the Tree of Life, he would first work to attain the state of bittul before

attempting to receive the light ofdveikus. When the light ofAbba descends first, then

the light ofImma do not foster any pride or blemish in him and he is free of the plaguesofseis, sapachas, and baheres.

The Lights ofTeshuvah

Chazal taught that during the first three days after the childs birth, he sees from

one end of the earth to the other (some say even during all seven days before the bris).

This is the vision and light to which every Jew must aspire, the light of Kesserthat is

hidden within the Torah itself. This is the light that the four who entered the Pardes

sought; with this light it is possible to rectify the entire world. We find that Adam

HaRishon did penance for 130 years after his sin and even then he failed to draw down

the light of the redemption, and this is because he never sought to reach the essence of

teshuvah. What is it, then? The essence of teshuvah is faith in the sages, absolute

devotion to the true tzaddikim, and it makes no difference whether what they say makes

sense to the person or not. All the while that a person feels he is only willing to obey

that which he understands intellectually, he remains in the state of pride and cannot

complete his atonement properly. For the main way to ascend to the place of absolute

atonement and forgiveness is to enter the primal light ofKesserthat shines from one end

of the earth to the other. One must have a childlike desire to fulfill Hashems will, like

an infant who understands one thing only: that Hashems will is his own. Then the light


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of Kesser, of the Name EHYeH that is associated with the newborn state of total

repentance, shines upon the person.12

The First Two Cups of the Seder

Now we can better understand the teaching of the Arizal, that the sin ofAdam

HaRishon caused Daas to fall from the level of the head to the level between the

shoulders. The shoulders are the place where the child expresses his lack of will, his

eini rotzeh. In this sense, the place where the shoulders are shrugged is the symbol of

the relinquishing of personal will, and the concept of the childlike state of mind is one in

which the person has no will of his own, but is only interested in the will of his Source.

This can be seen on Sedernight, when we drink two cups of wine before we partake of

the matzah. Wine is associated with the light ofImma and the matzah represents the

mochin ofAbba. We first drink two cups to acknowledge that without some degree of

longing and yearning for dveikus, we will never get to the mochin dAbba at all. Even

so, the meal really begins with the matzah, with the light of self-nullification ofAbba/

Chochmah. Afterward, we continue the work we have begun with another two cups, we

receive another infusion of the light ofImma/Binah and longing for dveikus.

This is why we call the avodos of that night the Seder. Because there is a

proper order in which one comes to serve Hashem: first one works up the willingness to

strive for bittul, then one enjoys the complete experience ofdveikus as expressed in the

culmination of the Seder, the recitation ofShir HaShirim. Itbegins, May He kiss me

with the kisses of His mouth for this is the true will of, King Shlomo, the King to

Whom peace belongs. Even so, there is an established order how one can come to this;

if a person confuses the order, he can bring upon himself terrible plagues and can fall

into the sin oflashon hara.

This is really the root of our long exile, this terrible baseless hatred. And it can

all be attributed to the simple fact that we are insufficiently interested in what Hashem

12Likutei Moharan II:12


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wants from us, for the Torah itself tells us not to hate our brother in our heart, that we

must be unified and be on friendly terms with everyone. Anyone who is not on speaking

terms with another Jew transgresses this commandment and he is well aware of it, but

one day follows another and he continues to go to shul and put on his tallis and tefillin,

and he doesnt pay any attention to the fact that he is sinning. How can this be? It

happens when a person distorts the meaning ofYiddishkeitinto putting on his tallis and

tefillin rather than becoming nullified before the will of Hashem. If we really were so

nullified, we would never fall into the sin of baseless hatred which is the root of thisexileand this is actually the hardest thing, to never harbor resentments against other

Jews. Granted, there are 150 reasons to be angry with another person and it is difficult to

understand how the Torah commanded us not to bear a grudge. One can accept that the

Torah commands us to study Torah, pray, and do good deeds, but how could it

command us to do something as difficult as living without resentments? We see from

here that the main thing is coming to the state ofbittul to Hashems will, because then it

really is possible to fulfill this mitzvah. Then one becomes worthy of the primordial light

of creation that illuminates the world from one end to the other.In truth, the Ribbono shel olam wants to give everything good to every single

Jew and wishes to bestow His Shechinah upon us; He doesnt burden us with tasks that

are beyond our ability. The Medrash teaches that Hashem said to the Jewish people,

The entire Torah is easy to fulfill and I only ask of you that which is within your

human ability to fulfill. Even the holyAvos were only expected to do what they could.

Why, then, are we not worthy of experiencing prophecy? The Ribbono shel olam wants

to restore prophecy to the Jewish people. The reason why we arent worthy is because

we have yet to repair the sin ofAdam HaRishon, and all of our avodas Hashem is

twisted. Instead of realizing that the main thing is just to obey Hashems will, we think

that we have to do these very lofty types of avodos that will bring Him satisfaction. But

this is an error; the main way to bring Hashem nachas ruach is by simply longing to

nullify our will before His with every single motion and serve Him wholeheartedly. This


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will bring us to the mochin dAbba, and we will then be worthy of true longing and

dveikus, of the mochin dImma. Then we will come to true Daas so that at the end of

the Sederwe will be able to recite Shir HaShirim and really emerge fromMitzrayim like

the true tzaddikim.

It is possible to come to this state all year long, that Hashem will reveal to us

the inner meaning (taam, or taste) of the twelve breads,13 that we will taste the

sweetness of the twelvepartzufim of the world ofAtzilus. For Hashems will is that His

children come to enjoy all of the lights of the world ofAtzilus and that each and everyJew merit to cleave to Him and experience the light of prophecy and the Shechinah.

Hashem Himself pleads with us not to be foolish, but rather to look upon reality as it is

truly and see that He orchestrates absolutely everything and we are in very close

proximity to holiness. All He wants is that we do our best to fulfill His will with every

movement and make an effort to learn Shulchan Aruch every day, since this is the main

rectification of every Jew. When a Jew studies Shulchan Aruch with the simple intention

of learning the details of Hashems will for him, he merits to experience the light of

Imma and the primordial light of creation open before him so that he can see from oneend of the world to the other.

Let Your Soul Know Wisdom

This is the meaning of the phrase: " " Let

your soul know (dei) wisdom (Chochmah), and it will be a crown (Kesser) for your

head.14

It is brought in the Arizals writings that the mistake ofAdam HaRishon was

that he attempted to draw down the supernal lights from below to above, he preceded

the light ofAbba with the light ofImma. In reality, one must first come to the mochin

dAbba and only afterward the mochin dImmaand one comes to the mochin dAbba

by obeying the tzaddikim who have already perfected their own aspect ofAbba and

Imma. One should follow the ways of the tzaddikim who have rectified the two spies

13From the Shabbos zemerof theArizal, Asader lSeudasa.

14From the Shabbos zemerDror Yikrah, based onMishlei 24:14.


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and only examine others in order to learn from them, to see the light that shines from

their faces because of the intense love and fear of Hashem that is within them. And even

if it seems as though a certain tzaddikis not acting in accordance with Hashems will,

one must immediately decide in his mind that he really is nullified before Hashem with

every single movement. One must accept that only the greatest sages of the generation

are arbiters of the avodos of other people, since they have mastered the thirteen means

of interpreting the Torah and know exactly how the mochin are bound with one another,

how on one occasion one must follow the opinion of a certain poseikin order to be ableto fulfill the halachah in accordance with a differentposeikon another occasion. All of

this is possible because the sages possess a rectified power of discernment and the

ability to make certain that the halchah suits each place and time.

Let your soul know (dei) wisdom (Chochmah), and it will be a crown (Kesser)

for your head. When the festivals, which are the inner essence of the entire year, arrive,

they are the aspect ofChochmah. Therefore, one must nullify himself completely before

the will of Hashem in order to repair the sin ofAdam HaRishon.

Now we can better understand why the Jewish people are so exceedinglyscrupulous about even the barest hint of chometz on Pesach. As the Baal Shem Tov

taught, even though it is best to refrain from extra stringencies all year long since they

can interrupt a persons dveikus, nevertheless anyone who adopts additional restrictions

on Pesach is considered praiseworthy. (It is important to bear in mind that the Likutei

Moharan taught that in these later, weaker, generations one should not adopt extreme

stringencies, and each of their opinions are correct based on the place and the time.)

However, everything must be in exact accordance with the halachah, and G-d forbid

that anyone should make light of it because the halachah must be the foundation of all

of a Jews avodah. Such devotion proves that the person is nullified before the tzaddikim

of every generation and before his ancestors customs; he should never make light of the


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chumros practiced in his family: Do not reject the Torah of your mother.15

We have

no idea how great this self-effacement is in the eyes of Hashem.

Let your soul know wisdomthe essence ofChochmah is self-nullification

before the will of Hashem. Guard the mitzvos of your Holy Onefulfill the

commandments in simplicity and you will come to guard your holy Shabbos, to

experience the light of dveikus symbolized by the Shabbos. May Hashem make us

worthy now of seeing His glory revealed. Then all flesh will see together that the

mouth of Hashem has spoken, with the arrival of our righteous redeemer in mercy.Speedily and in our days, amen.

Translated and Adapted by Rav Micha Golshevsky.

15Mishlei 1:8


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Nesiv Chaim 17

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Nesiv Chaim 17

Nesiv Mitzvosecha,Nesiv Emunah,Pathway 3:8:

"Know that it is impossible for any angel to be completely nullified in the

aspects ofayin because it would cease to exist entirely, and so it is impossible for

there to be anyyichudorzivug above through them; rather, it is accomplished by

Yisrael the holy people who have the ability to achieve the state ofayin, to be

completely nullified, literally nothing, completely and utterly nullified. And they

arouse all of the worlds to return to the aspect ofayin, and the yichud is

accomplished. For all of the aspects ofyichud and zivug are an ascent until the

aspects ofEin Sof, and all of the worlds would be nullified and would revert to

complete ayin to the aspects ofEin Sof, except for the fact that at this [level of]

bitul, Yisrael the holy people is also included, and they necessariliy have a body and

a vessel andyeishus and theani that is necessary foravodah, and so they draw all

of the worlds so that they should not completely cease to exist"

We have already explained that there are a number of degrees ofbitul:Malchus

is the bitul of acceptance of the Divine yoke;Ze'ir Anpin is the bitul ofdveikus;Binah is

the bitul of the yeish, which is humility; Chochmah is the bitul of reality, in that

everything in the world appears to the person to be the Divine light and nothing more;

the level ofKesseris absolute bituleverything that the person sees and encounters, all

the obstacles he faces and all of the mitzvos that he fulfills, are disassociated from

himself and all nullified to Hashem. Whether he succeeds or fails, no what happens to

him, he only becomes more nullified before Hashem.

It is to this degree ofbitul that the Komarna Rebbe refers when he says that it is

beyond the grasp of any angel, because that level of bitul would cause it to cease to

exist. The corollary of this is that no yichudon high can be accomplished by any angel;

rather, the yichud is brought about by Yisrael, the holy people, because we have the


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Nesiv Chaim 17

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potential to reach absolute ayin. The absolute ayin is accomplished through the human

experience of facing obstacles and nullifying one's will absolutely. This is the nature of

Yisrael, which is " " . [Note: See Nesiv Chaim, Lesson 12, for a detailed

explanation of the concept of " " .] Even when a Jew is in the state ofyeish and

suffering, or when he has a sense of having accomplished many things, his ani [still has

the potential to be] encompassed within the absolute ayin. This is something that

transcends logic. The light ofChochmah and its nullification of the individual's sense of

distinct reality other than Hashem would seem to contraindicate the capacity for yeish.A Jew, therefore, must reach the bitul ofKesser, beyond reason, where the bitul is so

absolute that even the existence of his ownyeish does not form a barrier to feeling ayin.

When one sees that his efforts in avodas Hashem are not bearing fruit, the main

reason is because he is a distinct and self-focused aspect ofyeish; if he were to succeed

at his spiritual goals, his yeish would only grow [and he would fall into pride]. Hashem

has mercy on him, and causes him to fail so that he can learn just who he really is. There

are those who don't even have the merit [to be deflated by Hashem in this way]. Such a

person's successes cause his yeish-aspect to blow up, and then "he and I [Hashem]cannot live together as one" But when one is worthy, Hashem saves him from this.

Even so, when he struggles further and attaches himself to the absolute ayin, he no

longer needs to fall so much anymore in order to be saved from pride. If, later, he should

happen to fail, he will attach himself to the holiness of total ayin. One does the spiritual

work here not by removing the obstacle that caused him to fall, but in focusing himself

on the absolute ayinby knowing that there is nothing but the Creatortranscending

reason and understanding. He must go not with the level of the light and clarity and

vitality of Chochmah, but with the higher power of Kesserself-sacrifice to serveHashem with total bitul, both physical and spiritual. This will allow him to enjoy the

lofty delight of the level ofKesser.

This is why the truth ofyichudcan only be accomplished by the Jewish people,

becauseyichuddepends on being encompassed within Hashem, and this is only possible


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Nesiv Chaim 17

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with bitul. The beginning level ofbitul is that ofMalchus: acceptance of His will as it is

revealed in His holy Torah. Later, the heart begins to feel Hashem's reality, and the

mochin begin to achieve dveikus with HisElokus.

It is this power of bitul and yeishthe capacity of Yisrael for yichudthat

keeps all of the worlds from reverting to Ein Sof. Every Jew contributes to the light of

yichudin his own way, however the yichudis really accomplished in its fullness by the

greatest of tzaddikim. We see this dynamic when it comes to communal prayer. Each

person does his own avodah to the best of his ability, but the avodah of the true tzaddikis what uplifts andbinds all of the prayers of the souls of the Jewish people together as

one. This is the real meaning of binding oneself to the tzaddik: to apply oneself to the

avodah as the tzaddiktaught, and then his own avodah will be united with the avodah of

the tzaddikso that it can rise to the place on high where it will accomplish all that it

needs to, and arouse the trueyichud.

Nesiv Mitzvosecha,Nesiv Emunah, Pathway 3:9

"Know that the aspects ofElokus, oneness, Ohr Ein Sof[extends] until the

end ofAsiyah, for there are within them the aspects ofAni and Ayin, to beencompassed within the Ohr Ein Sof. Even while there are millions and billions and

trillions of vessels, nevertheless every Divine spark and holy aspect of G-dliness

within each of them is what enlivens it, and it is nullified as it if it nothing, and it

becomes one in unity with the Ohr Ein Sof, and in absolutebitulit becomes united

fully with G-dliness, literally without any distinction between them. He and His

vitality are one within them.

"However, theklippos and the evil have only the aspect ofani andyeishus

and materiality, he grasps it all to himself, and this is idolatry, the three impure

klippos, until they made themselves into Elokus. This is pride, which is literally

avodah zarah, a self divided and putrid, and anyone who is prideful is himself a

kind of idolatry, as we see in Sotah 4. 'A foreign god, a strange god, another god,

disgusting and abominable, boiling excrement.' But the ani of holiness does not


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grab hold of self for any reason other than that it should not cease to exist entirely,

and [only in] the degree that is necessary to serve Hashem. The King's scepter is

pride, and with His pride, 'I dwell with the downtrodden,'1

'and the lowly of

spirit,'2

and 'the brokenhearted'3"

There are the three lower worlds ofBeriyah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, and each of

them have different natures. Beriyah is mostly good and it has a minority of evil;

Yetzirah is evenly split between good and evil; andAsiyah is mostly evil and only partly

good. Paralleling the three worlds in holiness, there are theBY"A aspects within klippah.When a person falls into bad middos, when he seeks his own honor, he falls

away from the aspect ofAtzilus. While it is true that we are not possessed of the aspect

ofAtzilusthe Vilna Gaon already taught that Daniel "Ish Chamudos" only attained the

uppermost degree ofAsiyah4

andAtzilus is a level of which only the greatest tzaddikim

of the generations are worthynevertheless, all of the levels from Adam Kadmon until

Asiyah apply to each person in his own way. Whenever a person devotes his thoughts to

the Creator and feels incorporated within Hashem, this is his personal world ofAtzilus.

When he falls into considerations of his own honor, he falls to Beriyah. When he fallsinto material desires, he descends to Yetzirah. And when he falls into jealousy, he enters

Asiyah. Each of these descents has further ramifications. Yet one should not imagine

that, in falling, one is any more distant from Hashem, because the Ohr Ein Sofexists

everywhere and it is possible to reveal Hashem's glory anywhere, by accessing the

Divine spark that exists within the lower worlds ofBY"A when one is united with the

Ein Sof.

Nesiv Mitzvosecha,Nesiv Emunah, Pathway 3:10:

"This is the inner meaning of the spies that were sent by Moshe, the

supernalDa'as. Eretz Yisrael is the aspect of, 'I am yirah.' Whoever truly grabs

1Yeshayah 57:15

2Mishlei 29:23

3Tehillim 34:19

4Safra d'Tzniusa, Addenda


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hold of humility transforms the ani to ayin and only requiresyirah to inhabit the

'heel' levels, which of necessity sometimes descend to the place ofdinim andklippos

to uplift the souls to the light of life. One needsyirah in order not to fall downward,

and this is the, 'on the heels of humility is fear of G-d.' So too, when he returns on

high to the supernalayin, he maintains a hold on a small degree of 'I amyirah' at

his 'heels' [lower extreme] so that he should not cease to exist completely"

It is important to know that the avodah ofyirah is not one of sadness and

melancholy, even when one learns of the punishments of Gehinnomwhich are trulyhorrifying, even more so than they are depicted in the holy works. It is not G-d's will,

however, to think about such things too much; only to the extent that it brings one to

genuine yirah. [Note: The word yirah contains the same letters as the word re'iyah,

which means vision. Genuine, life-giving yirah is the awareness that I am in the

constant view of the Creator, and the concomitant thought that comes with this

awareness is that everything I do is significant if the Creator of the universe is attentive

to it. This is the basis of healthy "yirah l'chaim" which is necessary in avodas Hashem.]

The main avodah is to focus on dveikus and to only make use of the quality ofyirah as apreventative and protection against falling into sin. And if one did fall, yirah also can

inspire him to do teshuvah. All this, however, is only the aspect of the "heels" and is not

the "head" ofavodah, where one must place the greater part of his mind and energy. The

head and the focus of the thoughts should be in joy and dveikus.

We certainly do not mean this is the sense of those who claim that the main

avodah is dveikus and they fall away from yirah altogether, G-d forbid. This attitude

leads a person to fail to make distinctions between mitzvos and sins. There is no doubt

that the tzaddikim have yirah and fear, but it is in the "heels"because their thoughts

are preoccupied with joy and dveikus. This is the deeper meaning of, "On the heels of

humility"humility parallelsLeah and the contemplation of G-dliness, and the heels

parallelRachel, which is the lower form ofyirah. Therefore, even when one enters into

the state ofbitul and dveikus, he still needs the aspect ofyirah to "ground" him at the


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"heels" so that he should not cease to exist altogether. There are many levels to this, but

in terms of that which applies to us, we mean that no matter how deeply one seeks the

inner essence ofavodah, he must never lose his simpleyirah. We fine this echoed in the

warning written by Rav Chaim Vital at the beginning ofEitz Chaim: when one enters

the inner dimension of Torah, he requires even more protection and additional

safeguards.

While it is true that Rebbe Nachman of Breslov discouraged the adoption of

additional stringencies and said that they are unnecessary when it comes to Divineservice, he meant excessive chumros that wind up being obstacles to dveikus. When it

comes to personal sanctity and one's avodah, however, certainly one must add whatever

he can. Surely when a person is occupied with the inner dimension of Torah, he

naturally wants to distance himself from worldly desires and sanctify himself, and fulfill

the mitzvah, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." While it is true that there are endless

levels to this, at the very least the person who has begun to learn the Torah's secrets will

have theyirah to avoid luxuries, just as one has yirah to avoid that which is forbidden.

The beginning is to have a longing to rise out of his base material place. Even thoughthe main avodah is the search for dveikus, he needsyirah at his "heels."

"The matter is that the sending [of the spies] is for the sake of Moshe,

because the deeper works explain that in the ultimate future, at the time of

Moshiach,Malchus will merit to reach the level ofyechidah, the uppermost aspect

ofAtzilus. At that point, Malchus-Ani will rise to the head ofAyin, to Reisha d'lo

Isyadah, andbechirah will cease to exist. The knowledge, to know what exists above

that head, will be revealed, as explained inEitz Chaim, Sha'ar Arich, at the end of

Chapter 2. This allows you to understand the greatness ofMalchus in the future,

for it is the 'crown at the head of eachtzaddik,'5

and it will be, 'the cornerstone.'6

In

the future, its light will be greater than that of the sun, forMalchus will rise to the

head ofAyin, toReisha d'lo Isyadah"

5Sanhedrin 111b

6Tehillim 118:22


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There are sparks of Moshe Rabbeinu and the true tzaddikwithin each and every

Jew, and this means that everyone has some of the avodah of Moshe Rabbeinu to

perform to help reveal the light of the redeemer in the world.7

This is the way that each

person fulfills the mission of his portion of the soul of Moshiach.

During recent generations, we find so much in Reb Nosson of Breslov and Rav

Tzaddok HaKohen's writings about the importance of realizing that Hashem orchestrates

every event, and that all sins can be rectified through faithand that this is the light of

Moshiach. This is what is meant by Malchus rising to Reisha d'lo Isyadah. WhenMoshiach comes, emunah will be revealed to such an extent that it will be possible to

rectify everything through it. At the same time, this emunah-knowledge will require

yirah together with it to be really complete. This means avoiding sin as much as

possible, and if one fell, then doing teshuvah with all his might at all times. Once a

person hasyirah "in his heels," he can bind his mind and thoughts to the emunah that it

is possible to rectify everything through the light of Hashem's knowledgethis is the

light of Moshiach. But if a person lacks yirah in his "heels," talk of Hashem's

orchestrating all events and absolute faith only confuse him and distract him fromdveikus.

However, when a person does have this yirah he has the potential to be a

complete tzaddikand live with the knowledge that everything is from Hashem. This is

the "stone that the builders rejected," that became the "cornerstone." With this mentality

of the future worldbeing so bound up with emunahwe will see the Shechinah

everywhere and in every situation. This will naturally keep us from sin and bring us to

total teshuvah. "And you shall see it, to remember the everlasting covenant"when one

sees and binds himself to the light of emunah and yichud, one merits the everlasting

covenant. TheZoharsays, "When there will be bright shining colors in the rainbow, 'the

fury of the King is calmed.'"8

The rainbow represents the covenant. The rainbow in all

its colors represents binding oneself to Hashem and relying on Him with complete trust

7Likutei Moharan I:2,4,9; II:72

8Zohar, Pinchas 215


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through every situation, and turning to Him at all times just as Dovid HaMelech did.

Dovid HaMelech said, "And I am prayer"he did not move a muscle without asking

permission of the Creator. Such a state of dveikus and trust is only possible when one

has great yirah in his "heels," without any melancholy or sadness, with the greatDa'as

of Moshiach.

We will now return to where we were holding in our study of the Otzros Chaim.

We learned earlier that the light that emerges from the "ear" ofAdam Kadmon

extends until the fullness of the beard; the light that emerges from the "nose" extends

until the level of the chest; and the light that extends from the "mouth" descends and

extends until the level of the navel. From the mouth emerges the world ofAkudim, and

its light exits, is revealed, and then returns and is hidden. This is the avodah of longing,

of living and yearning to cleave to one's Source and be subsumed within it so that one

can receive a greater degree of light. This is the light that we seek, and we long that our

existence and the revealed reality in which we exist should be subsumed within

Hashem. At the level ofAkudim we yearn that all of our yeishuseven our Torah and

prayershould return and be bound to Hashem so that we merit greater and greater

degrees ofbitul, and more and more diligence in Torah study. The world ofAkudim and

longing is that ofmati v'lo mati"touching and not touching"where one yearns for

more and more dveikus, and the dveikus that one achieves only leaves one yearning for

more.

We learned that, in this rule, the general dynamic is that the lower down a level

is, the more light it receives, because distance generates yearning. This is expressed by

Malchus having emerged first; because it is lowest, its longing is greatest and the light is

received in accordance with the yearning.


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After Malchus, the level ofYesodemerged. The aspect ofYesodis that of the

tzaddik"the tzaddik is the foundation-yesod of the world"he has this quality of

Yesodwhich includes all of the levels. All of the middos ofChessed-Gevurah-Tiferes-

Netzach-Hod influence Yesod. The Zoharteaches that the tzaddikis one who "guards

the covenant"the avodah of personal purity is a general avodah that is the foundation

of all others and the key to dveikus. Anyone who sanctifies the area ofYesodwill find

that he has the potential to enter into all avodos that exist.

The Zohar Hakadosh also teaches that Yesod is associated with the lettertzaddik, and Moshe Rabbeinu is also known as "My servant, Tzemach." The future

redemption will also occur via the nature of the letter tzaddik. [Note: Moshiach is also

called Tzemach, and the redemption is described as "sprouting"the "sprouting of the

keren of Dovid."] The exodus was associated with the letter pei "I shall

surely remember," but the final redemption will be associated with the letter tzaddik.

The Zoharexplains that the tzaddikis built of two letters: a nun [inclined] to one side,

and ayudbehind it, facing the other direction. The Ramak taught that the letter indicates

the Holy One [yud] and His Shechinah [nun, which indicatesMalchus

9

]. Each of them isdistinct from the other and is looking away from the other. The avodah of the tzaddikis

to turn them around so that they can face each other and join together.

In the realm of personal sanctity, there is an aspect of both "turning from evil"

and "doing good." Turning from evil means abandoning all pleasure that does not derive

from Hashem's existence. Doing good means that even when one feels distant from

Hashem, he does not fear and holds strong to his dveikus. "Say [to] the tzaddik, 'It is

good'"the tzaddik says that there is good. The Baal HaSulam explained that the

avodah of the tzaddik is to be matzdikto justifyHashem's actions; he knows that

Hashem only does good. The "do good" part of kedushah is the trust in and search for

Divine goodness in situations that are the opposite of pleasurable. When one enters into

this avodah, it serves as a gateway to all others, because all of the middos influence

9Likutei Moharan I:1


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Yesod. By sanctifying himself with the holiness ofYesod, one merits access to all of the

holy middos.

There is a Yesodlevel in each and every world. In the world ofAkudim, we said

that the greatest level is Malchus, since faith and the acceptance of the Divine yoke is

the main thing. The second avodah in the world ofAkudim is that ofYesod, which is the

pursuit of personal sanctity.

"Now, at first, Malchus emerged in the aspect ofnefesh, and afterward,

when the aspect ofYesodemerged, it was not revealed within Yesod, rather only theaspect ofnefesh alone. However, there was an additional illumination within

Malchus, that the ruach-aspect had been revealed within it. The reason for this is

since ruach comes from the six extensions [is associated with the sixmiddos from

Chessed to Yesod], therefore when Yesod came, the ruach-aspect began to be

revealed within Malchus, but it was not completed until all of the six extensions

emerged, which is Yesoduntil Chessed. It was only then that the ruach-aspect of

Malchus was completed. When each one came, another extension of theruach-

aspect was revealed withinMalchus, as explained in theZohar,Parshas Terumah."It is already known that Yesod is not one of the six extensions, because

there are only fivechassadim from Chesseduntil Hod, but Yesoddoes not take a

personal portion of Chessed to itself, rather all of the five extensions are

encompassed within it. This means that this all-encompassing aspect ofruach is

what was revealed withinMalchus when Yesodcame, but whenHodorNetzach or

another of thesefiros emerges, then the aspects of the extremities ofruach actually

emerge withinMalchus. All of this is that which applies to Malchus, but when it

comes to the six extremities ofZe'ir Anpin, it occurs in this way. When Yesod

emerges, the totality of the five extremities ofZe'ir Anpin in their aspect ofnefesh

alone, are revealed. But whenHodcomes, one extremity ofnefesh ofZe'ir Anpin is

revealed, and so it continues until all of the six extremities are completed."


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There is the level of Chochmah, at which one learns Torah and gains Torah

wisdom.Binah is when one contemplates this wisdom. Da'as is when one understands

the ways of the Torah and applies his mind to it and remembers it and unites his mind to

it. He takes all that he learned during the day and joins his mind to it when he prays.

Within Da'as there are five chassadim; they are the root of the love that Da'as

engenders. There are also five gevuros, and they are the root of the yirah engendered by

Da'as. These five chassadim and five gevuros are the aspects of Chessed-Gevurah-

Tiferes-Netzach-Hod. All of them influence the all-encompassing middah, which isYesod, and it includes also the love rooted in the five chassadim, as well asyirah rooted

in the five gevuros. All of them are included within the middah ofYesod, because it is a

middah of inclusion and totality. It does not take any "personal" Chessed for itself;

rather all of the five extremities are included within it.

When the nefesh-level within Yesod emerged, it bestowed a general ruach

withinMalchus. Afterward, when each and every middah emerged in its nefesh-aspect,

it shone another extremity of the ruach-level withinMalchus. In avodas Hashem, at the

beginning one must enter into avodah generally, and afterward one begins to workspecifically on love of Hashem, fear of Hashem, dveikus, trust and gratitude.

It is said of the great Maggid that, after his marriage, he worked on a different

middah every day. On Sunday he bound himself to love of the Creator; on Monday he

focused on fear of the Creator, and so on. On Erev Shabbos, he served Hashem through

the middah ofYesod, and when Shabbos came, the light of all of the middos shone with

the brightest of lights. On Shabbos,, the mochin are revealed in accordance with the

extent to which one has worked on the middos during the week. And the main light that

shines on Shabbos is that ofemunah.

Now we can better understand what Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught, that

when there is tikkun ha'bris [Yesod], "whiteness and rectification is drawn into all of the

sinews."10

One must begin by working on sanctifying Yesod, and this will pave the way

10Likutei Moharan I:29


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so that he can rise to all of the middos. The opposite is also true; when a person works

on his love of Hashem, he will also merit to attain greater personal sanctity, because

Chessedshines its influence to Yesod. While Yesodis, on the one hand, the totality of all

of the middos, the opposite is also true: every middah shines its influence into Yesod

with a new light. When one expends effort in Torah study and prayer, this also helps

him to gain greater sanctity, because all of the middos influence Yesod.

"There is another difference between Yesod and the other five

extremities. WhenHodcomes, it gives the totality of its force anew into thenefesh-aspect ofYesodalone, and this is true of all of them until Chessedemerges. When it

leaves, it too gives the totality of its force into Yesod[in a manner] unlike the other

five extremities. [With the others,] when one comes it does not add anything

additional to its fellow at all because all of them are equal. It is only when all six

are completed [when Chessedgoes out] then we find that all of thenefesh-aspect of

Ze'ir Anpin is completed.

"Afterward, thenefesh-aspect ofBinah emerges alone, and itsruach-aspect

goes to Ze'ir Anpin, and its neshamah aspect goes to Malchus. Then the nefesh-aspect ofChochmah emerges alone; itsruach-aspect goes toBinah; its neshamah-

aspect goes toZe'ir Anpin; and itschaya-aspect goes toMalchus. Then thenefesh-

aspect ofKesser emerges alone; itsruach-aspect goes toAbba; itsneshamah-aspect

goes toBinah; itschayah-aspect goes toZe'ir Anpin; and itsyechidah-aspect goes to

Malchus. We see, then, that whenKesser comes, the last one of all, it only emerges

with itsnefesh-aspect. And this is the deeper meaning of the verse, 'Hashem swore

with hisnefesh" as we have already explained.11

Even this aspect of thenefesh of

Kesser did not remain in the world of (Nekudim) Akudim as described; rather, it

returned and was hidden and remained bound up with its place within the One

that emanated it forth"

11SeeNesiv Chaim, Lesson 15.


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For our purposes, the main lesson from this teaching in the Otzros Chaim is

that, in the world ofAkudim, the beginning ofavodah is to yearn for emunah, which is

the aspect ofMalchus. Afterward, one must year for the light of the Torah, which is the

aspect ofZe'ir Anpin. The preliminary stage of yearning for Torah is to long for the

holiness of the Torah, which is Yesod. This then brings one to long for dveikus, yirah

and love of Hashemthis is the completion ofZe'ir Anpin with all of its elements.

Afterward, Binah emergesthis is the avodah of yearning to contemplate G-dliness,

and this is what bestows completion to ruach, which is Ze'ir Anpin. What this meanspractically is that when a person yearns for the avodah ofBinah, he finds that his bond

with the Torah and his bond with emunah is deeper. Further on, as he longs for the bitul

ofChochmah, everything else that he does is also being uplifted. Eventually he longs to

absolute mesirus nefesh and total bitulthat he should have no existence at alland

this is the level ofKesser. This bestows ruach toAbba, neshamah to Binah, chayah to

the Torah, and yechidah to Malchusin short, all of his avodos are uplifted, and his

emunah is complete.

The Otzros Chaim then says that afterward, the nefesh-aspect ofKesserreturnsto its source, because it is not satisfied with the avodah of longing alone which is the

realm of the mouth. It wants to rise to something higher, which is the aspect of the nose,

where one actually feels ["senses"] G-dliness, and the level of the ear, where one

contemplates G-dliness, and the level of the eyes where one actually sees G-dliness.

Beyond that is the actual place of the Kesser, where one merits to actually be

incorporated within Hashem. But the beginning of this entire process is the mouth,

which is the place of longing, and speaking out one's yearning before Hashem at all

times. The more one speaks to Hashem, the more he will yearn for G-d, and this is what

will uplift him to all of the levels. Blessed is Hashem forever, amen and amen.

Translated and Adapted by Rav Micha Golshevsky.

Parshas Tazria Metzora-English

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