The honor and fear of equalizing with the Creator relate primarily to that time, when he has already been rewarded with the Shechina<\/em> being clothed in his heart forever, for you should believe that your teacher\u2019s bodily matters are truly engagements of the soul. This is why our sages said, \u201cIt did not say, \u2018learned,\u2019 but \u2018poured,\u2019 implying that serving is greater than learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A student should be in true annulment before the teacher, in the full sense of the word, for then he unites with him and he can perform salvations in his favor. A student cannot adhere to his teacher\u2019s soul, as it is above his attainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As … may his candle burn, wrote me, he believes that the body of a righteous is as great as the soul of another. While he did not hear what he himself said, for he finished with … he still agreed with my trip to America. Had he heard what he had said, he would not have agreed so easily. However, it is true that the body of a true righteous is as great as the soul with which the righteous, the saints of the upper one, are rewarded. So may you be rewarded with adhering to my body, and then you will certainly see your world in your life. This is why our sages praised the service, as it is closer to Dvekut<\/em> [adhesion] of the student with the rav.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is hard for me to understand … for how can it be that after all the troubles I went through in his favor\u2014composing the handsome and comely composition, namely my book Ohr<\/em> HaPanim<\/em> [The Light of the Face<\/em>], with various adornments for him, on fine paper and with a clear type font, a complete introduction, and a general preface, index, and a list of acronyms? These have become the two great lights, properly illuminating and explaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, almost every single week I write him a long and elaborate letter, sometimes even two in the same week, as best as my fingers can produce. I cannot suspect that he is not a good guest, that he will not say, \u201cAll that the landlord has troubled himself with, he has troubled himself only for me.\u201d And yet, I find him sitting surrounded by the holy wall, for had he not sat outside the wall, he would certainly not equalize himself with his inclination, conducting this sapless custom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also fear that alongside that custom of his, he says to himself that he is adhered and connected to me more than all the friends, for the heart\u2019s aim follows the words, and the Creator seeks the heart. And since the point in his heart is adhered to me, he needs nothing more than to repeat the actions. These are needed and appropriate only for those of little knowledge, who have no other way. For a decorated (handsome) Jew like him, a good heart bests them all, so he no longer needs to display any actions with qualification or advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is true that I have not yet heard from all the friends any impressions from my book Ohr HaPanim<\/em>, except for … who wrote me praises and accolades galore from the bottom of his heart for every section I sent. I am therefore certain that it will help him … and he can more or less feel the value of the man and his work. This is why his heart is a human heart, which is at least behooved to be impressed, as I have already written in the interpretation of the verse, \u201cMy darling son, Ephraim.\u201d Yakir<\/em> [dear] is like Yakir<\/em> [know\/recognize], and Yakir<\/em>[know\/recognize] is like Yakir<\/em> [dear], meaning they are interdependent and are as one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember what … wrote me, admitting without shame that he understood that whole letter well, except for the issue of Yakir<\/em> and Yakir<\/em>, that he must insert an elephant through the eye of the needle [study hard]. He attributed it to the possibility that he needs more forewords and knowledge of the righteous. This is why he was able to write to me in the last letter that there is a hidden lock on my book, which he does not know or understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What could I reply to him? Therefore, I said to myself that what the mind does not do, time will do, and it will become clear to him that recognition is according to the appreciation. That is, the inspiration by and annulment before the real good. This is what raises and sustains the exaltedness and preciousness, and then the recognition is accumulated in him, followed by the raising of the preciousness. Thus they rise on the rungs of Kedusha<\/em> [holiness] until they are rewarded with satisfying the deficiency and correcting the wrong, up to the real and complete unification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In that letter, I wrote that Yakir<\/em> is like Yakir<\/em> on the Creator, but they are one and the same, as it is written, \u201cAnd they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses,\u201d and as our sages said, \u201cOne who doubts his teacher, it is as though he doubts the Shechina<\/em>,\u201d since the upper will [desire] is equal in matters that are measured and come in truly the same amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And what can I say to you, natives of the land, who believe that I am abroad and you are in the land of Israel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The holy Torah will testify on my behalf in what Moses commands us in the portion, Masa\u2019ey<\/em> [Journeys]: \u201cCommand the children of Israel … for you are coming unto the land.\u201d In these verses, he points out and clearly marks the borders of the land, in a way that anyone who comes to the land of Israel will no longer have any doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He decrees and says, \u201cIt shall be to you the side of the Negev …\u201d \u201cNegev\u201d comes from the word Negiva<\/em> [wiping], for \u201cThe salvation of the Lord is as a wet garden.\u201d Therefore, the departure from His light is called \u201cNegev.\u201d \u201cIt shall be\u201d implies joy, indicating the salvation of the Creator, which includes the letter, \u201cIt shall be to you the side of the Negev,\u201d meaning that they knew that the side of the Negev was considered a recognized side and boundary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is written, \u201cAnd you will soon perish,\u201d meaning from Zin Desert, by Edom. \u201cZin\u201d comes from the words Tzinim<\/em> and Pachim<\/em>, which our sages said are not in the hands of heaven, but rather by Edom, for as soon as Edom is involved, the Creator says, \u201cI and he cannot dwell in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why he says, \u201cAnd it shall be to you the boundary of Negev.\u201d \u201cBoundary\u201d is the end, where the above-mentioned wiping ends, \u201cFrom the end of the Dead Sea eastward\u201d means as soon as you begin to touch the edge of the kingdom of heaven. \u201cEastward\u201d is like \u201cas before\u201d [the two words contain the same letters in Hebrew], the wiping will promptly end, and the abundance of the goals of His might will begin to appear before you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It adds further, \u201cAnd your border shall turn from Negev.\u201d That is, because the beginning of sunrise was after the \u201cwiping,\u201d and \u201cin its boundary,\u201d the narrow turns outward and twists to the north of the world diagonally, as RASHI interpreted, to The Ascent of Akrabim [scorpions]. In other words, this is why scorpions are coming up before you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd pass along to Tzina [Tzin].\u201d Terrible Tzina<\/em> [chill] spreads through the bones, bursting forth from Zin Desert on the east, for he is Tzin<\/em>, and she isTzina<\/em>. It is translated [into Aramaic], \u201cfrom the south to the ascent\u201d of Akrabim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd pass along to Tzin,\u201d as our sages said, \u201cEven if a serpent is wrapped around his heel, he will not stop.\u201d But according to everyone, a scorpion does stop. Therefore, \u201cAnd his outcomes shall be from the south to Rekam Ge\u2019ah [Kadesh-Barne\u2019a],\u201d because envy consumes like fire in front of the scorpions until he must come to Kadesh-Barne\u2019a, which is Rekam Ge\u2019ah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, his thoughts take on a clothing of pride, extraordinarily, until \u201cAnd it shall go forth to Hatzar-Addar,\u201d for although he boasted with a mantle of hair and will not cause to sin, like those who are first to the kingship, he still feels he is standing in the court, standing outside. This is why that place is called Hatzar<\/em> [court] Addar<\/em>, meaning that they contradict one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd pass along to Atzmona,\u201d Atzm-on-ah. He is Etzem<\/em>, and he is Atzmon<\/em>, and she is Atzmona<\/em>, for the place causes, and it becomes like a hard, unbreakableEtzem<\/em> [bone\/object]. Likewise, the elephant does not have joints in its bones and cannot turn its head back. When it wants to look back, it must turn itself entirely, from head to tail, as is known to those who know the nature of animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He concludes and says, \u201cAnd the border shall turn for you from Atzmon to the brook of Egypt,\u201d meaning that Atzmona returned to being Atzmon. This is why he returned to the brook of Egypt, of which the Creator said, \u201cYou shall not return that way henceforth.\u201d However, it is still not the actual exile in Egypt, but rather the edge of that exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd its exit shall be at the sea.\u201d That is, once it was taken and sickened in the brook of Egypt, it is rewarded from there with the offspring of wisdom, to roam in the sea of wisdom. RASHI interpreted it: \u201cThat strip that protruded to the north was from Kadesh-Barne\u2019a to Atzmon, and from there on the narrow grew shorter … to the brook of Egypt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interpreting his words: It is written in the name of the ARI in The Brightness of the Firmament<\/em>, and I believe in Gate to Introductions<\/em>, as well, that the world was initially created with a Bet<\/em> This is the meaning of the words of our sages, \u201cBut it could be created in one utterance,\u201d that Mem<\/em> is one utterance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Hochma<\/em> could not expand because that At that time, the Hochma<\/em> expanded to be given as a reward for the righteous, which is why \u201cthe world was created in ten utterances, to avenge the wicked who are destroying the world, which was created in ten utterances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the border turned from Atzmon to the brook of Egypt, as it is written, \u201cI saw the wicked buried, and they came,\u201d and as it is also written, \u201cI was at ease and He shattered me, and He has grasped me by the neck and broken me to pieces. And He set me up as His target.\u201d It is all because of the above-mentioned strip, where the Yod<\/em> expanded into a Vav<\/em> to the north of the Bet<\/em>, and the border was necessarily made shorter for the brook of Egypt. This is why all the enemies of Israel are lost there, and the children of Israel come to the sea to draw the fountains of wisdom [Hochma<\/em>] to renew the world as before, meaning to \u201cgive good reward to the righteous, who establish the world, which was created in ten utterances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The writing ends, \u201cAs for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea.\u201d This is the primary source for being granted with the great Hochma<\/em>, called \u201cthe Great Sea.\u201d From there begins the drawing of the air of the land of Israel, which the Creator has sworn to give to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To rush us toward that thing, the text repeats and says, \u201cThis border shall be your western border.\u201d That is, all the exits from the sea of wisdom are only that border, meaning the great sea, the sea of the land of Israel, Mochin<\/em> de Gadlut<\/em>! It is impossible to be rewarded with them unless they have traversed all ten borders. This is the meaning of \u201cand changed my wages ten times,\u201d after which one is rewarded with settling in the land of Israel, a land flowing with milk and honey, and a good, broad, and pleasant land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Behold, I have given you horses. If you can place riders on them, you will come to settle in a good, broad, and pleasant land for all eternity. Until then, do not say that I have journeyed from the land of Israel. Rather, you are negligent in this and do not properly long to sit in it together with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because I read the portion to you, I will conclude with the prophet: \u201cHear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. … Who say to a tree, \u2018You are my father,\u2019 and to a stone, \u2018You gave birth to me.\u2019 For they have turned their back to Me, … and where are your gods, which you have made for yourself? Let them arise if they can save you in the time of your trouble …\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it even conceivable that our holy fathers at the time of the Temple and the prophecy were fools, calling the tree and the stone, \u201cMother and Father\u201d? Only fools who make others fools could think so about our fathers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather, the tree is the tree of life, and the stone is the tree of knowledge. That is, what is revealed to a person, it is tested and tried that it is the counsel of the Creator, since through those tree and counsel he extends the light of the upper life, called \u201cthe tree of life.\u201d What is hidden from human concepts and tactics\u2014while he is still doubtful whether it is a good tree or a bad one in the eyes of his Master, to be favored by Him\u2014is called \u201cthe tree of knowledge of good and evil,\u201d or Even<\/em> [stone], from the word Avin<\/em> [I will understand], meaning I will observe and see if it is a good counsel or a bad one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One who sits and regrets a long time is also called Meducha<\/em> [mortar\/issue], as our sages implied, \u201cProphet Hagai sat on this Meducha<\/em>.\u201d It is called Meducha<\/em>because it is ready for the fools to grind and crush their bones there, as it is written, \u201cIf you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle … his foolishness will not depart from him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should ask, \u201cHow is the fool placed under the pestle in the mortar in fervent Dvekut<\/em> [adhesion], yet does not depart from his folly whatsoever?\u201d Also, although he sees for himself that the fool is killed like a moth, he will not depart from his filth? But the fool finds for himself a reason even while sitting inside the mortar and seems to find contentment in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need not be surprised at it, for it was said about such matters, \u201cDo not judge your friend until you are in his shoes.\u201d This is why this god is called \u201cgods of stone,\u201d or a \u201cfigured stone,\u201d for it does not reward its worshippers whatsoever, who worship it devotedly, and they have no one to save them in their time of trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opposite the gods of stone are those who worship the tree, who settle for the slight illumination they can salvage for themselves. As the hand of the Creator is too short to save them in their time of trouble, they do not move from the tree that they see because it seems to them that the landlord, too, cannot save his vessels from there because that tree is already tried and tested by them as the father of life. Thus, they forget, or pretend to forget, that holiness is increasing, not decreasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a sign of sanctification and sanctity, as it is written, \u201cDo not say, \u2018The first days were better than these,\u2019 for it is not out of wisdom that you ask this,\u201d as those who serve another god are sterile and do not bear fruit, and wane and diminish like the fruit of the festival. They will die without wisdom and always feel that \u201cthe first days were better than these.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is what the prophet complained about them, for after all their days in the above-mentioned foreign works, as the disgrace of a thief who has been found, \u201cthey say to a tree, \u2018You are my father.\u2019\u201d That is, as though saved from a fire, they delight in their lot, for that tree is to them like the father of life. \u201c… and to a stone, \u2018You gave birth to me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And once they have received their lot, the prophet compares them to people placed between the mortar and the pestle. The prophet asks further, \u201cAnd where are your gods which you made for yourself? Let them rise, if they can save you at the time of your trouble.\u201d That is, \u201cThink how much those gods have given you and how much they have saved you from your troubles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He continues and asks about them saying, \u201cAccording to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah.\u201d That is, in each awakening, these invocators were stubborn and confident compared to the above-mentioned sides\u2014the tree or the stone. Finally, all the kings of the east and the west could not disrupt the works from you, and each city becomes Godly to you, like the word of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do write me and clarify how much of this long letter you understand, and how much you do not. Specifically, detail at length all ten boundaries that I have depicted for you, and interpret for me more than I wrote in it, for I wrote succinctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And most of all, do not be ashamed to let me know all that you do not understand, and all your interpretations, for then I \u201cwill respond to the grain, to the wine and to the oil,\u201d and not one of your words shall be returned empty handed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yehuda<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" July 25, 1927, London To the honorable students, may the Creator be upon them. As I prepare myself to return […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":6225,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"topic":[25],"class_list":["post-10128","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-baal-hasulam"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n . It is known that there is a dot in the middle of the Bet<\/em>, which is Hochma<\/em> [wisdom], and the north side is open (see RASHI, Beresheet<\/em>). Afterward, that dot of Hochma<\/em> in the Bet<\/em> expanded like theVav<\/em>
and returned to the north of the Bet<\/em>, like this,
, and became a blocked [final] Mem<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
is a blocked letter in all four directions; hence, the Hochma<\/em> was restricted once again as a dot in the middle of the Bet<\/em>
, like the Vav<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n