״וְהָיָה מַעֲשֵׂה הַצְּדָקָה שָׁלוֹם וַעֲבוֹדַת הַצְּדָקָה הַשְׁקֵט וָבֶטַח עַד עוֹלָם״ (ישעיה לב, יז). לְהָבִין הַהֶפְרֵשׁ שֶׁבֵּין ״מַעֲשֶׂה״ לַ״עֲבוֹדָה״ וּבֵין ״שָׁלוֹם״ לְ״הַשְׁקֵט וָבֶטַח כו׳״

It is written, "The act of charity will be peace, and the service of charity will be quiet and security forever" (Isa. 32:17). One may understand the difference between an "act" and "service" and between "peace" and "quiet and security," and so on, The author of the Tanya points out that the verse is composed of two parts, and they are not identical. The first part speaks of an "act of charity," of giving charity in the form of an action, the reward for which is "peace." The second part refers to giving charity in the manner of a service, the reward for which is "quiet and security forever." What is the difference between an "act" and "service," and what is the difference between "peace" and "quiet and security"?

עַל פִּי מַה שֶּׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה(איוב כה, ב).

in light of our Rabbis' statement regarding the verse "He makes peace in His heights" (Job 25:2). It is clear that peace must be made below in this world, where there is envy, competition, and war. But what does it mean to make peace "in His heights"? What quarrel or fighting is there between the angels or between the supernal attributes that requires that peace be made above?

כִּי מִיכָאֵל שַׂר שֶׁל מַיִם וְגַבְרִיאֵל שַׂר שֶׁל אֵשׁ וְאֵין מְכַבִּין זֶה אֶת זֶה (דברים רבה פרשה ה, יב).

The Rabbis stated that Michael is the minister of water, and Gabriel is the minister of fire, and yet they do not extinguish one another (Devarim Rabba 5:12). The angels do not quarrel, but there are differences between them. The supernal reality is neither unequivocal nor uniform; there are differences there too, even contrasts. Michael and Gabriel are both holy angels. The angel Michael is the "minister of Israel," and in a certain sense the same is true of the angel Gabriel. Both are at the head of the "camps of the Divine Presence" that stand on the same side, the side of Israel. Yet they are so different that peace must be made between them. The image used to describe the difference between them is that one is the angel of water while the other is the angel of fire. Water and fire, even as spiritual essences, are two opposites that seemingly cancel each other out. In order for Michael and Gabriel to coexist in the same place and perform their service without interfering with each other and without contradicting each other, God must make peace between them.

כְּלוֹמַר, שֶׁמִּיכָאֵל שַׂר שֶׁל חֶסֶד, הַנִּקְרָא בְּשֵׁם מַיִם הַיּוֹרְדִים מִמָּקוֹם גָּבוֹהַּ לְמָקוֹם נָמוּךְ,

That is, Michael is the minister of Ḥesed , which is called water, because water descends from a higher place to a lower place, It goes without saying that in Heaven there is no actual water or fire. There are only spiritual essences: the essence of Ḥesed, of Kindness, and the essence of Gevura, of Restraint. Ḥesed is described as water, because it is the nature of water, like Ḥesed, to flow downward from a high point to a low point, from a place where there is water to a place where there is not.

וְהוּא בְּחִינַת הַהַשְׁפָּעָה וְהִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת הַחַיּוּת מֵעוֹלָמוֹת עֶלְיוֹנִים לַתַּחְתּוֹנִים

and Ḥesed is the flow and emanation of the life force from the higher worlds to the lower worlds. This is the essence of kindness, material or spiritual: that it descends from above to below, that one who has gives to another who does not have. It is the flow from the center to the periphery, from the inner essence to the outer essence.

וּבְחִינַת אֵשׁ, שֶׁטִּבְעָהּ לַעֲלוֹת לְמַעְלָה, הִיא בְּחִינַת הַגְּבוּרָה וְהִסְתַּלְּקוּת הַשְׁפָּעַת הַחַיִּים מִמַּטָּה לְמַעְלָה,

By contrast, the element of fire, whose nature is to rise above, represents the attribute of Gevura and the withdrawal of the flow of life force from below to above, By contrast, the attribute of Gevura operates in the opposite direction. It starts at the periphery and is pulled to the center and its influence flows from below upward. Of course, up and down should be understood here, not in the geographical sense, but in the spiritual one. Up and down are meaningful only when one assumes that "up" is the more important and fuller place, and "down" is the empty and deficient place, toward which there can be expansion. In terms borrowed from another realm, it may be argued that "up" is high energy and "down" is low energy. In this sense, Ḥesed is the flow from a high level to the low level, and Gevura is the opposite: It involves emptying out, as things on the periphery converge inward to their center point.

שֶׁלֹּא לְהַשְׁפִּיעַ רַק בְּצִמְצוּם עָצוּם וָרָב.

so that it flows only in an immensely constricted manner. As opposed to the attribute of Ḥesed, which bestows and flows outward, the attribute of Gevura constricts its influence toward the center. This constriction is not out of malice, but out of justice, to give only to those who are deserving. Gevura is the power to constrict and to concentrate on the manifestly most important and most significant point. To do so, one must cut off and exclude everything that is on the periphery, that is not at the center point.

וְהֵן מִדּוֹת נֶגְדִּיּוֹת וְהָפְכִיּוֹת זוֹ לְזוֹ,

These attributes of Ḥesed and Gevura contradict and oppose one another, The attribute of Ḥesed operates on the assumption that in a place of lack, there must be giving, whereas the attribute of Gevura operates on the assumption that in a place of lack, there need not be giving. One who is lacking is apparently unworthy and undeserving, and therefore matters should be left as they are, constricted to the center. The attribute of Ḥesed relates to the experience of "I lack," while the attribute of Gevura relates to the experience of "I deserve." These are two extremely different and opposing points of view.

וְהַיְינוּ כְּשֶׁהֵן בִּבְחִינַת מִדּוֹת לְבַדָּן.

when they are in their pure state as emotive attributes. When do these two attributes contradict each other? When these attributes are not exposed to the enlightenment of the intellect that gives rise to them, when they are restricted to a completely emotional reality, then they are uncompromising opposites. Intellects can understand other intellects. They can communicate and, in a certain sense, accept each other's existence. But between one disparate emotion and another, emotions such as love and fear, there can be no compromise. There can be no connection between them where they are able to act as a single unit.

אַךְ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בֵּינֵיהֶם, דְּהַיְינוּ עַל יְדֵי גִּילּוּי שֶׁמִּתְגַּלָּה בָּהֶן הֶאָרָה רַבָּה וְהַשְׁפָּעָה עֲצוּמָה מְאֹד מֵאוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא.

But the Holy One, blessed by He, makes peace between them by means of a revelation, where a great illumination and an extremely immense flow from the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, is manifest in them. The peace established by God does not entail only the prevention of conflict. In order for water and fire not to extinguish each other, it would suffice to give each one its own space and limit each to its own realm and role. This is often done in politics, as well as in other areas: The parties are separated to the point that they cannot come in contact with each other and do each other harm. Yet the peace that God brings about is almost the opposite: Instead of separating them, He joins the opposites together, in peace and in a single wholeness.

אֲשֶׁר כִּשְׁמוֹ כֵּן הוּא, שֶׁאֵינוֹ בִּבְחִינַת מִדָּה, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם.

True to His name, the light of Ein Sof is without measure, God forbid. The author comments here on the term "the light of Ein Sof," which is associated with that name, the Infinite One, because it is infinite, unlimited, indefinite, and cannot be measured at all. Thus one cannot speak of it in terms of justice or kindness, Gevura or Ḥesed. The author of the Tanya's addition of the phrase "God forbid" comes to emphasize the severity of even raising the possibility of speaking about Ein Sof in terms of any designation or unit of measure. There are certain things that may not make sense when you think about them, but one can resonate with them at a certain level. There are other things, like attributing limits to Ein Sof, where the very utterance, even as a possibility that is rejected, is shocking.

אֶלָּא לְמַעְלָה מַעְלָה עַד אֵין קֵץ, אֲפִילּוּ מִבְּחִינַת חָכְמָה בִּינָה וָדַעַת, מְקוֹר הַמִּדּוֹת.

Rather, the light of Ein Sof is infinitely above and beyond the realm of divine attributes, even the attributes of Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at , the source of the emotive attributes. The light of Ein Sof is a supernal illumination, above and beyond the confines of reality that are characterized through the emotive attributes, and even above the source of those attributes. These attributes, the primary ones being Ḥesed and Gevura, are the attributes through which God relates to the world, and therefore they are the attributes and dimensions through which our world operates. Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at are the source of the attributes and the hidden source of our reality. Yet even Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, while they are the source of the attributes, have limitations. The author of the Tanya, then, adds that the light of Ein Sof is above even Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at to emphasize that in no sense whatsoever does it have a limit or measure.

וַאֲזַי הַמִּדּוֹת נֶגְדִּיּוֹת שֶׁל מִיכָאֵל וְגַבְרִיאֵל נִכְלָלוֹת בִּמְקוֹרָן וְשָׁרְשָׁן וְהָיוּ לַאֲחָדִים מַמָּשׁ, וּבְטֵלִים בְּאוֹרוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ הַמֵּאִיר לָהֶם בִּבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי,

Then, when the light of Ein Sof is manifest in them, these contradictory attributes of Michael and Gabriel are encompassed in their source and root and become truly unified and subsumed in God's light, which illuminates them in a revealed manner, When the illumination that is above even the source and essence of the attributes becomes manifest, all the attributes are subsumed and they become one essence, as they were originally in the divine unity, before they were manifest and activated in the world. Making peace, then, entails increasing the illumination that will bring things, and even push them, to their point of origin. This is also a description of the end of days, when "nation will not lift sword against nation" (Isa. 2:4). This will happen, not because people will be smarter or more cowardly, but because of the increase in illumination, when "all flesh will see together that the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isa. 40:5), when all essences will be brought together to the point that the differences and contrasts between them will no longer establish the essence of the relationship between them.

וַאֲזַי מִתְמַזְּגִים וּמִתְמַתְּקִים הַגְּבוּרוֹת בַּחֲסָדִים

and then the aspects of Gevura , the restraining forces, are tempered and sweetened by the aspects of Ḥesed, the quality of kindness, When things return to the source in a way that there is no more conflict between them, they may stop functioning entirely. The angel Michael and the angel Gabriel no longer act like one or the other; they are silent. The problem here is not how to silence things absolutely, but how to bring them to operate in a way that they do not act against each other but with each other. To do this, there must be a fusion between the attributes, Ḥesed and Gevura, in such a way that the restraining forces are sweetened by the forces of kindness. Gevura is harsh. It cuts things in a sharp, hard, and not always pleasant manner. The fusion with Ḥesed sweetens the Gevura, causing it to lean toward the side of Ḥesed in such a way that it is clear that the cutting and limiting are deliberate and for good. The moment a person understands that the challenge he is undergoing is for his own good, the harsh experience and the suffering are mitigated.

עַל יְדֵי בְּחִינָה מְמוּצַּעַת, קַו הַמַּכְרִיעַ וּמַטֶּה כְּלַפֵּי חֶסֶד, הִיא מִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים,

through an intermediating force, the determining factor between the attributes that leans toward Ḥesed. This intermediating force is the attribute of compassion, When these two attributes, Ḥesed and Gevura, touch each other, not in rivalry but in harmony, they reveal a new, intermediating attribute, the attribute of compassion. This attribute is essentially a synthesis of Ḥesed and Gevura, but as emphasized here, it is the determining factor, which does not stand precisely in the middle but rather leans toward Ḥesed.

הַנִּקְרֵאת בְּשֵׁם ‘תִּפְאֶרֶת׳, בְּדִבְרֵי חַכְמֵי הָאֱמֶת,

which is called Tiferet in the words of the scholars of truth, the scholars of Kabbala, Though the kabbalists identify the attribute of compassion with that of Tiferet, the latter is not a synonym for the attribute of compassion but rather has implications of his own. The connection between Tiferet and compassion is a deep connection that denotes additional meanings and facets, as will be explained below.

לְפִי שֶׁהִיא כְּלוּלָה מִ־ב' גְּוָונִין, לוֹבֶן וְאוֹדֶם, הַמְרַמְּזִים לְחֶסֶד וּגְבוּרָה.

for it is comprised of two colors, white and red, which allude to Ḥesed and Gevura. The name Tiferet adds to the attribute of compassion the facet of beauty and harmony. Harmony is never comprised of only one variety, one type, or one essence. It is always the product of a harmonious combination of opposite, or at least different, elements, whether sounds, colors, shapes, or mental processes. When in harmonious combination, the opposites do not contradict each other, nor do they cancel each other out, but rather they strengthen and beautify one another and act in complementary fashion as one essence toward one goal.

וְלָכֵן סְתָם שֵׁם הֲוָיָ"ה בָּרוּךְ הוּא שֶׁבְּכָל הַתּוֹרָה מוֹרֶה עַל מִדַּת הַתִּפְאֶרֶת, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזּוֹהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ (חלק ג יא, א),

Therefore, generally, the blessed name of Havaya as it appears throughout the Torah represents the attribute of Tiferet, as stated in the holy Zohar (3:11a), As is explained in several places, the names of God relate to the sefirot: the name El to the attribute of Ḥesed, the name Elokim to the attribute of Gevura, the name of Havaya to the attribute of Tiferet, and so on. Elsewhere, it is noted that the name of Havaya is unique among the divine names in that apart from its association with the sefira of Tiferet, it is also the essence of all the divine names. It is the name that expresses the essence itself, as opposed to the attributes through which the Divine is expressed. In other words, it expresses the light that is enclothed in the vessels of the sefirot, while the other names represent the attributes or vessels that contain that light. Therefore, the name of Havaya is found in combination with other divine names, such as Havaya Elokim and Havaya Tzevakot, which together give expression to the combination of light and vessel. But when the name of Havaya appears alone, without another divine name, it represents the light and its own unique vessel, the sefira of Tiferet.

לְפִי שֶׁכָּאן הוּא בְּחִינַת גִּילּוּי אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא, הֶאָרָה רַבָּה בְּיֶתֶר שְׂאֵת מִשְּׁאָר מִדּוֹתָיו הַקְּדוֹשׁוֹת יִתְבָּרַךְ.

because here, within the attribute of Tiferet, the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, is manifest with a great illumination in a greater magnitude than the rest of God's holy attributes. What is unique about the sefira of Tiferet is that it reveals within it a light that is greater and deeper than that of the other attributes. As explained above, in order for something to truly mediate between different sides, it must be greater and more inclusive than either one of them. It must stem from the root that preceded the contrasts, from the place where they are still one. In a certain sense, the light must not only be greater, but also without limitations, so that its illumination negates all boundaries.

וְהִנֵּה אִתְעָרוּתָא דִּלְעֵילָּא לְעוֹרֵר גִּילּוּי הֶאָרָה רַבָּה וְהַשְׁפָּעָה עֲצוּמָה, הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל, מֵאוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא, לַעֲשׂוֹת שָׁלוֹם הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל הִיא בְּאִתְעָרוּתָא דִּלְתַתָּא,

The awakening from above, which evokes the aforementioned great illumination and immense flow from the light of Ein Sof to make the aforementioned peace between the attributes of Ḥesed and Gevura, is caused by the awakening from below, To make peace between the heavenly attributes, there must be an awakening of the light of Ein Sof from above, which will effect that peace. The awakening from above, in turn, depends on an awakening from below. The awakening from above comes from far above, from the Creator Himself, the primary source, while the awakening from below comes from man who inhabits in this world and performs his service down here below. This is not service performed through heavenly forces, but with his own limited human power. Why is this the case? It is because this is what the supernal will desires, that the lowly agent below should awaken the great light, the true Agent above. Small as he may be, making almost no difference in his own space, man has great impact, provided that his actions emulate the divine attributes that flow from above.

בְּמַעֲשֵׂה הַצְּדָקָה וְהַשְׁפָּעַת חַיִּים חֵן וָחֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים, לְמַאן דְּלֵית לֵיהּ מִגַּרְמֵיהּ כְּלוּם וּלְהַחֲיוֹת רוּחַ שְׁפָלִים כו׳.

through the act of charity and the bestowal of life, graciousness, kindness, and compassion to one who has nothing of his own, reviving the spirit of the lowly and the heart of the downtrodden. The awakening from below that brings about peace above comes about through charity and through "the bestowal of life, graciousness, kindness, and compassion." The act of charity involves not only giving money, but also entails kindness and compassion, both with respect to the manner in which the money is given and also as an expression of those feelings in themselves, because sometimes a person needs kindness and compassion no less than he needs the money. As stated above, the vessel that makes peace is the attribute of compassion, and in order to awaken compassion from above, one must express the attribute of compassion below. One must give to the person who has nothing, because he is lowly and downtrodden. This is the essence of compassion. When a person shows compassion below, he is shown compassion above. This is what the Sages say regarding the verse "And He will give you mercy and be merciful to you" (Deut. 13:18): that God gives you the attribute of mercy, and when you use it, He will have compassion on you.

וּמוּדַעַת זֹאת מַה שֶּׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה, עַל הָעוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה לִשְׁמָהּ: מֵשִׂים שָׁלוֹם בְּפָמַלְיָא שֶׁל מַעְלָה וּבְפָמַלְיָא שֶׁל מַטָּה (סנהדרין צט, ב).

It is well known that our Sages state concerning one who studies Torah for its own sake, "He introduces peace into the heavenly entourage above and into the earthly entourage below" (Sanhedrin 99b). Another way of bringing down this supernal attribute of compassion and Tiferet is through Torah study, which also expresses the attribute of Tiferet. According to our Rabbis, studying Torah for its own sake draws illumination from the light of Ein Sof, making peace among the heavenly entourage and among the earthly entourage. This entourage is a system of forces that contains opposites, such as left and right. For the system to operate properly, there must be peace between its constituent elements. There is such a system at the root of things that is hidden above, and there is such a system below.

‘פָּמַלְיָא שֶׁל מַעְלָה׳ – הֵם הַשָּׂרִים וְהַמִּדּוֹת הַנִּזְכָּרִים לְעֵיל,

The "entourage above" comprises the aforementioned heavenly and divine attributes, which are the supernal chambers in the world of Beria that are mentioned in the holy Zohar . The "entourage below" comprises the lower chambers found in the lower worlds, The entourage above refers to the heavenly ministers, Michael and Gabriel, who are mentioned in the talmudic passage cited above along with their attributes. In the Zohar, it is further explained that they are the heavenly chambers in the world of Beria. The entourage below are the lower chambers found in the lower worlds of Yetzira and Asiya. It consists not only of our material world, but also of various spiritual worlds that relate to it. The entourage below, of the lower chambers, is defined by the fact that they are derivative chambers that stand below the supernal chambers and are in the position of recipients in relation to the supernal chambers above them.

וּבִפְרָט עוֹלָם הַזֶּה הַשָּׁפֵל, הַמְעוֹרָב טוֹב וְרַע מֵחֵטְא אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן

particularly this lowly physical world, which, since Adam's sin, is comprised of both good and evil intermingled together, The essential definition of this world is not its being a material world or connected to a material world, nor is it at all dependent on the dimensions of space and time, but on a unique phenomenon that exists in this world and does not exist in any other world: the intermingling of good and evil. This intermingling of good and evil exists since the time of Adam's sin. Adam's sin did not create evil, but rather it created the mixture of good and evil in this world so that they are no longer distinct from each other.

וְהָרַע שׁוֹלֵט עַל הַטּוֹב,

with the evil dominating the good, In this world, the mixture of good and evil is not even, but rather the evil dominates and prevails over the good. From the time that good and evil became intermingled, evil has had a certain advantage in its ability to triumph over good. When a righteous and a wicked man, meet, it is the nature of this world that the evil man has the advantage. In the book of Ecclesiastes, there is a parable about "a small city, but few men in it, and a great king came against it and surrounded it, and built great siege works against it. A poor and wise man was found in it, and he saved the city in his wisdom" (Eccles. 9:14–15). The "great king" is the evil inclination, and the "poor and wise man" is the good inclination. This is the relationship between them when they meet in the "small city," in this world: the "poor man" as opposed to the "great king," with the advantage that a king has over a poor man. Elsewhere, the Talmud says that were God not there to help him, man would not be able to overcome the evil inclination. Were the matter to depend only on the balance of natural forces, the evil inclination would prevail.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַט הָאָדָם בְּאָדָם כו׳״ (קהלת ח, ט), ״וּלְאוֹם מִלְאוֹם יֶאֱמָץ״ (בראשית כה, כג).

as it is written, "Whenever man controlled man, it was to his detriment" (Eccles. 8:9), and "One nation will prevail over the other nation" (Gen. 25:23). When the "man of kelippa " controls the "man of holiness," it is ultimately "to his detriment" – to the detriment of the man who is on the side of kelippa. Nevertheless, this situation of kelippa prevailing over holiness is the reality of our lower world, in which evil is intermingled with good and can prevail over it. The verse from Genesis, "One nation will prevail over the other nation," refers to the struggle between Jacob and Esau. As explained in Likkutei Amarim, this verse also speaks of an internal battle within a person, between his divine soul and his animal soul, between good and evil.

וְכַנִּרְאֶה בְּחוּשׁ בָּאָדָם הַתַּחְתּוֹן הַנִּקְרָא בְּשֵׁם ‘עוֹלָם קָטָן׳, שֶׁלִּפְעָמִים הַטּוֹב גּוֹבֵר וְלִפְעָמִים לְהֵיפֶךְ, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם,

We see this empirically in mortal man, who is called a miniature world, where sometimes the good within him prevails and sometimes the opposite, God forbid. Man is a microcosm, encompassing within him the entire world. In order to know and understand what is happening in the world at large, both in the material world and even more so in the spiritual worlds, a person can look inside himself and see there what is contained in the worlds: which forces are at work, how they relate to each other, what is their purpose and significance. The advantage that the small world has over the larger world is that we know the small world from within ourselves, by way of our senses, directly and not through intermediaries.

וְאֵין שָׁלוֹם בָּעוֹלָם עַד עֵת קֵץ,

Therefore, there is no peace in the world until the end of time, Both in man and in the world, the duality of good and evil is part and parcel of the basic structure of reality. Therefore, true and essential reconciliation is impossible within reality as it is. Only at the end of days, after time and the reality of this world will be over, when the entire structure of reality will change, will peace also come to the world.

שֶׁיִּתְבָּרֵר הַטּוֹב מֵהָרַע לִידָּבֵק בְּשָׁרְשׁוֹ וּמְקוֹרוֹ מְקוֹר הַחַיִּים בָּרוּךְ הוּא. וַאֲזַי יִתְפָּרְדוּ כָּל פּוֹעֲלֵי אָוֶן וְרוּחַ הַטּוּמְאָה יַעֲבוֹר מִן הָאָרֶץ, כְּשֶׁיִּתְבָּרֵר מִתּוֹכוֹ

when the good will be extracted from the evil to become attached to its root and source, the source of life, blessed be He. Then all evildoers will be scattered, and

בְּחִינַת הַטּוֹב הַמְחַיֵּיהוּ.

he spirit of impurity will be removed from the earth, when the element of good that gives life t to the spirit of impurity will be extracted from it. The problem of this world is the intermingling of good and evil, and therefore the world's rectification will involve the extraction and separation of good from evil. What will happen after the extraction? The good will rise and become attached to its root and source, God, the source of life. As for evil, all the evildoers will be scattered, and the spirit of impurity will be removed from the earth, because the element of truth that sustains that spirit of impurity will be extracted from it. Evil, the spirit of impurity, sucks all its life and existence from the good that is intermingled with it. But at the end of days, when all good will be extracted from it, and the good will be absolutely extracted from the evil, the very existence of evil will be obliterated from the earth. In order for transgression to exist, for a person to commit sin, it must have an aspect of good. If non-kosher food were not tasty, no one would eat it, and the same is true of other offenses. To the good side belong all the good things: beauty, grace, pleasantness, and purpose. To the bad side belong all the other things. But in our reality, they are intermingled. This intermingling, which began with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, is the life force of all evil in the world, and when the work of extraction and separation between them is complete, the existence of evil in the world will also come to an end.

וּבֵירוּר זֶה יִהְיֶה גַּם כֵּן עַל יְדֵי גִּילּוּי אֱלֹקוּתוֹ לְמַטָּה בְּהֶאָרָה רַבָּה וְהַשְׁפָּעָה עֲצוּמָה. כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "כִּי מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ דֵּעָה אֶת ה'" (ישעיה יא, ט), ״וְנִגְלָה כְּבוֹד ה׳ כו׳״ (שם מ, ה).

This extraction of good from evil at the end time will likewise be caused by the manifestation of the Divine below with a great illumination and an immense flow of divine light, as it is written, "For the earth will be filled with knowledge of the Lord" (Isa. 11:9), and "The glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will see together that the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isa. 40:5). The complete and absolute extraction of good from evil can occur only through a great and immense revelation of the Divine beyond all that is usually revealed in the world. When the great light shines, it draws into it all the smaller lights, as depicted by the well-known parable of the candle flame that is extinguished by the flame of a great fire. When "the glory of the Lord will be revealed," all the sparks and bits of holiness will be drawn out from where they can be found in the husks of impurity and concealment, in the materiality and vitality of the mundane, and they will ascend and cling to Him. At that moment, evil will be completely abolished and will no longer be able to exist. This revelation, which clarifies the good from the evil, will create peace in the world, when all the divisions and chasms in the world will merge and complete each other. This is why this illumination is called a "tabernacle of peace." Like a sukka, or tabernacle, this revelation will cover and surround the world to the point that all aspects of reality will become subsumed in it, and all the divisions and contrasts between them will be eliminated.

וְזֶהוּ בִּכְלָלוּת הָעוֹלָם לֶעָתִיד,

This applies to world in general and its state in the future, With respect to the world as a whole, this process of extraction will reach completion only in the future, at the end of time, when the service of all generations will come to its conclusion.

אַךְ בָּאָדָם הַתַּחְתּוֹן בְּכָל עֵת מְצוֹא, זוֹ תְּפִלָּה,

but with regard to mortal man, at every auspicious time, which is during the time of prayer, Every person is a microcosm, which contains not only the geography and zoology of the larger world but also its history. Every person contains within him the events of the past, such as the exile in Egypt and the exodus, as well as the future events of the great revelation, when "the earth will be filled with knowledge of the Lord." These historical events do not manifest in their full force and full scope, as the exodus from Egypt was in its time and as the redemption will be in the future, but only partially, and within the human aspect that relates to it, and even then, only at certain times. The author of the Tanya pinpoints such a time: Every person can merit experiencing the extraction of good from evil at an auspicious time, which refers to any time that man finds God, which is during times of prayer. The time of prayer is a time of divine revelation and illumination that is reminiscent of the great revelation that will occur at the end of time. It is a time when the glory of God is revealed to a person, similar to the way it will be revealed in the future. The time of prayer, both on account of the time, which is a time fit for praying, and the act of prayer, is a time of clarity, when good is refined from evil and opposites will be reconciled with each other.

אוֹ שְׁאָר עִתִּים מְזוּמָּנִים לְהִתְבּוֹדֵד עִם קוֹנוֹ,

or other times designated for secluding oneself with one's Maker, A person can achieve such clarity, not only through prayer, but also in other ways. There is the path of seclusion, where a person turns away from everything and isolates himself with God. Such seclusion is not connected to any particular place, time, or action that the person performs, but only to the fact that he is occupied with nothing else, that he is found in his thoughts exclusively with God and he is not engaging in anything else that will interfere with the light of truth revealing itself in him.

כָּל אֶחָד לְפִי מַעֲשָׂיו זוֹכֶה לְמֵעֵין בֵּירוּר זֶה עַל יְדֵי עֵסֶק הַתּוֹרָה לִשְׁמָהּ,

every individual merits a semblance of this extraction of good from evil in accordance with his deeds, through the revelation that comes about through Torah study for its own sake. Another way to experience the clarity resulting from the extraction of the good from the evil is through Torah study for its own sake. The essence of studying Torah for its own sake is that a person engages in something that is pure and clean, that illuminates all of reality with the clarity that is found within it. But if he studies Torah for other purposes, for his own interests, if he defiles the Torah itself, it will not bring him such clarity.

וְכֵן עַל יְדֵי הַצְּדָקָה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ (בבא בתרא י, א) רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר יָהֵיב פְּרוּטָה לְעָנִי וַהֲדַר מְצַלֵּי, דִּכְתִיב: ״אֲנִי בְּצֶדֶק אֶחֱזֶה פָנֶיךָ״ (תהלים יז, טו).

Likewise, one may achieve such clarity through charity, as the Rabbis stated (Bava Batra 10a), "Rabbi Elazar would first give a peruta to a poor person and only then would he pray. He said: As it is written,'I will behold Your face through charity' (Ps. 17:15)." Yet another way to attain the clarity that can be arrived at through prayer is through the giving of charity. Charity itself does not evoke a revelation of divine light, but it serves as a starting point from which one can go out to pray and reveal that light. This is a common Jewish practice, to give charity before prayer, as preparation and training for the revelation and transcendence of prayer. This applies to any deed that does not require preparation, such as showing respect to the elderly, that it can serve as that initial spark, but it applies particularly to the act of giving charity. It is the nature of charity to open boundaries, whether between one person and another, or between one person's property and that of another, and when boundaries are opened below on earth, even just a little, they open above as well, to illuminate for him the lights of his portion of the World to Come already in this world.

הִיא בְּחִינַת גִּילּוּי הֶאָרָה וְהַשְׁפָּעַת הַדַּעַת וְהַתְּבוּנָה, לְהִתְבּוֹנֵן בִּגְדוּלַּת ה' וּלְהוֹלִיד מִזֶּה דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים כַּנּוֹדָע.

This revelation that a person experiences during prayer is a manifest illumination and a flow of knowledge and understanding, so that one may contemplate God's greatness and generate from it an intellectual fear and love of God, as is known. The illumination that is revealed to a person while he is engaged in prayer is first and foremost an illumination of knowledge and understanding, of contemplating the greatness of God as it becomes manifest through contemplation of the worlds. As explained in many hasidic texts, this contemplation may give rise to an intellectual love and fear of God, to emotions that are connected to the contemplation of God's greatness and other subjects of contemplation and knowledge that develop from them.

וְעַל יְדֵי זֶה נִבְרָר הַטּוֹב לַה' וְנִפְרָד הָרַע,

Through this, the good is thereby extracted for God, while the evil is separated, These feelings of love and fear serve to extract the good from the evil. The intellect alone cannot achieve this extraction by itself. It lacks the mental involvement in reality, the ability to operate within it. Neither can emotion alone achieve this extraction, since it cannot distinguish between good and evil, nor does it discern where the reality that one experiences in such a concrete manner is headed, what the next step will be, what direction it will take, what will lead to good and what will lead to evil. Only through the intellectual fear and love of God can the good be extracted and separated from the evil.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״מַצְרֵף לַכֶּסֶף וְכוּר לַזָּהָב וְאִישׁ לְפִי מַהֲלָלוֹ״ (משלי כז, כא), פֵּירוּשׁ

as it is written, "The refining pot is for silver and the crucible for gold, and a man is according to his praise" (Prov. 27:21), meaning, according to his praise of God during prayer, by contemplating God's greatness with the depths of the mind to generate fear and love of God, the good is thus extracted and the evil is separated, like the extraction and separation of dross from silver and gold through the refining pot and crucible. Gold has a crucible to extract it from the dross, silver has a refining pot, and man has prayer. Just as gold is extracted from the dross through the fire of the crucible, so the good in a person is extracted when he praises God in his prayers. Prayer is man's service through contemplation in the depths of his mind, which gives rise to the love and fear of God. It is known that silver symbolizes love, and fear represents gold. In other words, they are the aspects of silver and gold in the human soul, the essence of his goodness, and they are clarified during prayer and set the person on the side of holiness.

וְהִנֵּה מוּדַעַת זֹאת שֶׁיִּשְׂרָאֵל בְּטִבְעָם הֵם רַחֲמָנִים וְגוֹמְלֵי חֲסָדִים, מִפְּנֵי הֱיוֹת נַפְשׁוֹתֵיהֶם נִמְשָׁכוֹת מִמִּדּוֹתָיו יִתְבָּרַךְ, אֲשֶׁר הַחֶסֶד גּוֹבֵר בָּהֶן עַל מִדַּת הַדִּין וְהַגְּבוּרָה וְהַצִּמְצוּם. וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״גָּבַר חַסְדּוֹ עַל יְרֵיאָיו״ (תהלים קג, יא).

It is known that the Jewish people by nature are compassionate and kind since their souls are drawn from God's attributes, wherein the attribute of Ḥesed prevails over the attribute of judgment, Gevura, and constriction, as it is written, "His kindness prevails over those who fear Him" (Ps. 103:11). The Jewish people by nature are compassionate and kind, because their souls are derived from God's attributes, wherein the attribute of Ḥesed prevails over the attribute of Gevura. Regarding the supernal attributes of Atzilut, as well as all the attributes on the side of holiness (and in the soul of man), the midline between the right array of attributes, those that align with Ḥesed, and those of the left array, which align with Gevura, is not exactly in the middle. Rather, it leans to the right. There is more right than left, more Ḥesed than Gevura. In a certain sense, the side of holiness belongs entirely to the right side, whereas the left side is subject to the right and serves it.

שֶׁלָּכֵן נִקְרֵאת הַנְּשָׁמָה ״בַּת כֹּהֵן״, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזּוֹהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ (חלק ב צה, א).

This is why the soul is called the "daughter of a priest," as stated in the holy Zohar (2:95a). Regarding the verse "And if the daughter of a priest is married to a non-priest" (Lev. 22:12), the Zohar states that "daughter of the priest" is the soul, and being "married to a non-priest" refers to its descent into the world to be clothed in a body and an animal soul, the natural soul that animates the body. The entire portion there can be explained along these lines. For our purposes, the "priest" in all contexts is the side of Ḥesed (as opposed to the Levite, who represents Gevura ), and therefore the "daughter of the priest" is the supreme divine soul, which belongs to the side of Ḥesed, just like the holy, supreme attributes, which lean in general to the side of Ḥesed.

וְהִנֵּה הַצְּדָקָה הַנִּמְשֶׁכֶת מִבְּחִינָה זוֹ נִקְרֵאת בְּשֵׁם ״מַעֲשֵׂה הַצְּדָקָה״, כִּי

The charity that issues from this element of kindness ingrained in

שֵׁם ‘מַעֲשֶׂה׳ נוֹפֵל עַל דָּבָר שֶׁכְּבָר נַעֲשָׂה, אוֹ שֶׁנַּעֲשֶׂה תָּמִיד מִמֵּילָא, וְהִיא דָּבָר הַהוֹוֶה וְרָגִיל תָּמִיד.

a Jew's nature is referred to as the act of charity, because the term "act" applies to something that has already been done or that is always done by default, which is something that happens regularly and constantly. When a person gives charity because it is his nature to be compassionate and kind, and in a certain sense he cannot do otherwise, then his giving of charity is called an "act of charity." As will be explained below, the distinction being made here is between an act and service. An act is a mechanism that is implanted in the soul, a fixed process that may affected by different variables but at its essence remains the same. It was done in the past and is done again in the present.

וְאַף כָּאן, הֲרֵי מִדַּת הַחֶסֶד וְהָרַחֲמָנוּת הוּטְבְּעָה בְּנַפְשׁוֹת כָּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל מִכְּבָר, מֵעֵת בְּרִיאוּּתָן וְהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּתָן מִמִּדּוֹתָיו יִתְבָּרַךְ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו כו'" (בראשית ב, ז), ״וְאַתָּה נְפַחְתָּ בִּי״; ״וּמַאן דְּנָפַח כו׳״.

Here too, the attribute of kindness and compassion are already ingrained in the souls of the entire Jewish people, from the time they were created through their evolvement from God's attributes, as it is written, "And He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life" (Gen. 2:7), and as we say in the morning blessings, "You blew it into me," and "one who blows, within himself he blows." The author of the Tanya explains elsewhere that in contrast to the entire world, which was created through speech, the divine soul was given to man through breath. A person's speech does not constitute his actual spirit, but merely represents assorted forms that he creates with what emerges from his mouth, whereas his exhalation of air is the very spirit of life that he breathes from within him. In this sense, the human soul that God blew into his nostrils is literally a portion of God from above, whereas the entire world is merely speech, an external expression of the divine essence. For this reason, the very traits that are found in the supernal attributes, where the attribute of Ḥesed prevails over the attribute of Gevura, are implanted within the souls of Israel.

וְגַם בְּכָל יוֹם וְיוֹם בְּטוּבוֹ מְחַדֵּשׁ מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית, וַ״חֲדָשִׁים לַבְּקָרִים כו׳״ (איכה ג, כג).

Likewise, every single day God in His goodness constantly renews the act of Creation, and also the breath of the soul is "renewed every morning... " (Lam. 3:23). Like all of creation, this blowing of the soul into the nostrils of man is renewed every day and at every moment, and together with it is the implanting of the supernal attributes and the empowerment of the soul where the attributes of compassion and Ḥesed prevail. Just as the whole of creation is not an independent, fixed reality but rather a reality that is made anew every day, so too the attributes imbued in the soul, like the attribute of Ḥesed, do not exist and operate on their own. A person must practice them each time anew. It is not enough that the attribute of Ḥesed is part of his nature, but rather he must go forth and give charity, to perform an act of kindness. This is not self-evident, and it can also be difficult, when the act runs counter to the other attributes, such as the attribute of justice and Gevura, which are also holy attributes. Yet the capacity to do so, the ability to prevail even in the face of obstacles, is implanted in the human soul, and a person need not do anything against his nature or beyond his nature. This is similar to God renewing the act of creation. Every day the world is created anew. Every day there is a new world, even though the world of today is no different by its nature than the world of yesterday.

אַךְ לְשׁוֹן עֲבוֹדָה אֵינוֹ נוֹפֵל אֶלָּא עַל דָּבָר שֶׁהָאָדָם עוֹשֶׂה בִּיגִיעָה עֲצוּמָה נֶגֶד טֶבַע נַפְשׁוֹ, רַק שֶׁמְּבַטֵּל טִבְעוֹ וּרְצוֹנוֹ מִפְּנֵי רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בָּרוּךְ הוּא, כְּגוֹן לְיַיגֵּעַ עַצְמוֹ בְּתוֹרָה וּבִתְפִלָּה עַד מִיצּוּי הַנֶּפֶשׁ כו׳.

But the term "service" applies only to something a person does with immense effort, that goes against his soul's nature, yet he sets aside his nature and will in the face of God's supernal will, for example, exerting himself in Torah study and prayer, to the extent that he squeezes out the soul, and so on. When a person engages in service, he acts against his nature and habits, so that he must change and correct his nature, which requires great effort. An example of such service is studying Torah by exerting great effort. It is certainly possible that a person may naturally want to study Torah and even enjoy it. But when a person learns in this manner, he is occupied in the act of study and not in its service. When a person feels that he has no desire to study, that he is no longer able to do so, yet he continues to study because that is what God wants of him, that is service. When a person prays because he cannot help it, that is not the service of prayer. But when he nullifies his will and being and envelops them in the will and being of God, that is service.

וְאַף כָּאן בְּמִצְוַת הַצְּדָקָה, לִיתֵּן הַרְבֵּה יוֹתֵר מִטֶּבַע רַחְמָנוּתוֹ וּרְצוֹנוֹ, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה עַל פָּסוּק: ״נָתֹן תִּתֵּן״ (דברים טו, י) – אֲפִילּוּ מֵאָה פְּעָמִים וכו׳ (ספרי שם).

Here too with regard to the mitzva of charity, the service of charity means giving much more that one's natural compassion and will dictate, as our Rabbis stated regarding the verse "You shall give him" (Deut. 15:10), that one should give "even one hundred times... " (Sifrei ad loc.). When a man has compassion for an impoverished person and his heart aches for the needy, and he has the means and is able to give him, he gives the amount that his compassion obligates him to give. But if he gives beyond his means, even though he does not want to, this is the service of charity. Here lies the difficulty: When a person comes asking for charity, one is inclined to show him compassion and give him willingly. When he returns the next day and asks again, and then again and again, the compassion diminishes and the patience slowly runs out. When the Torah says, "You shall give [naton titen ] him," which the Rabbis understood as implying that one must give him "even a hundred times," this means that one must give his fellow Jew as much as he needs, even though there is no longer any compassion or desire to give.

וְזֶהוּ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״וְהָיָה מַעֲשֵׂה הַצְּדָקָה״, שֶׁגַּם הַצְּדָקָה הַנִּקְרֵאת בְּשֵׁם ‘מַעֲשֶׂה׳ וְלֹא בְּשֵׁם ‘עֲבוֹדָה׳, אַף עַל פִּי כֵן, בְאִתְעָרוּתָא דִּלְתַתָּא אִתְעָרוּתָא דִּלְעֵילָּא מְעוֹרֵר גִּילּוּי אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּהֶאָרָה רַבָּה וְהַשְׁפָּעָה עֲצוּמָה, וְנַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו, וְגַם בְּפָמַלְיָא שֶׁל מַטָּה.

This is the meaning of the verse cited at the beginning of the letter, "The act of charity will be peace," that even the kind of charity that is called an act and not service still serves as an awakening from below that causes an awakening above, evoking the revelation of the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, with a great illumination and an immense flow of divine light. Thus peace is made in His heights, in the entourage above, as well as the entourage below, in this world. Even the kind of charity that is called an act and not service is considered charity. Whenever a person performs an act of charity below, when he gives and benefits others, not in accordance with what they deserve but as an act of kindness, he awakens in turn a revelation of the divine light over and beyond the illumination of the worlds through justice. Through such illumination peace is achieved above and also below.

רַק שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, הַשָּׁפֵל, לֹא יִתְגַּלֶּה הַשָּׁלוֹם וְהַבֵּירוּר וּפֵירוּד הָרַע מֵהַטּוֹב עַד עֵת קֵץ, וְלֹא בִּזְמַן הַגָּלוּת כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל,

However, in this lowly physical world, the peace resulting from the extraction of good from evil and the separation of the evil from the good will not be revealed until the end of time and not in the era of the exile, as mentioned above, Our world is not only the world most distant from the divine light, but also a world in which there is a distortion of the supernal light, created by man and his sins. As long as the impression left by human sins is evident in the world, which is essentially during the entire period of exile, that illumination will not be revealed in the world.

רַק בְּ׳עוֹלָם קָטָן׳ הוּא הָאָדָם בְּכָל עֵת מְצוֹא זוֹ תְּפִלָּה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "בְּצֶדֶק אֶחֱזֶה פָנֶיךָ" (תהלים יז, טו), כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.

but only in the miniature world, meaning a person at every auspicious time, which is the time of prayer, as it is written, "I will behold Your face through charity" (Ps. 17:15), as mentioned above. Even if the illumination is not revealed in its entirety in the reality of the larger world, it is partially revealed within man, who is a miniature world. Even then, it is not revealed at all times and not in the entire being of man, but only at auspicious times, such as the time of prayer. Through an act of charity below, a great light is awakened above, only this great light does not penetrate all the way down to be revealed in this lower world and in the daily reality in which we live. There are, however, certain areas within reality where the screen is not so opaque, and it opens partially from time to time. One such area is prayer, and in a certain sense also the Sabbath. Prayer is like a semblance of the Sabbath every day, and the Sabbath itself is a semblance of the World to Come. For this reason, through prayer, and even more so through the Sabbath prayer, there may be the clarifications of peace, not only "in His heights," but also "upon us." This is the meaning of the verse "I will behold Your face through charity" (Ps. 17:15): that the illumination above, which is awakened by an act of charity performed below, becomes revealed through prayer.

אַךְ אַחַר הַתְּפִלָּה יוּכַל לִהְיוֹת הָרַע חוֹזֵר וְנֵיעוֹר בְּקַל וּלְהִתְעָרֵב בַּטּוֹב, כַּאֲשֶׁר יִתְהַלֵּךְ בְּחֶשְׁכַת עוֹלָם הַזֶּה.

But after prayer, it is possible that the evil will easily reawaken and become intermingled with the good once more, as a person walks in the darkness of this world. The time of prayer is a clear window, when it is obvious to the person what is good and what is evil, what should be done and what should not. But after concluding his prayer, he once again reverts to a reality that does not allow for such clarity. This world returns to him, with all its affairs and troubles. Once again, things begin to intermingle and blur, and very quickly a person finds himself in the same place he was before. In other words, when charity is performed as an act of charity, which a person performs without deviating from his nature, the illumination it awakens will also not deviate from the nature of the world, nor will it change it in a concrete manner.

אַךְ הַצְּדָקָה בִּבְחִינַת ‘עֲבוֹדָה׳, הִנֵּה מֵאֲשֶׁר יָקְרָה וְגָדְלָה מַעֲלָתָהּ בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד,

Yet the kind of charity that is a service, inasmuch as its quality is exceedingly precious and great When charity is given in the form of service, with an extraordinary effort to break and change one's nature, this service is exceedingly precious and great within the soul of the giver.

בִּהְיוֹתוֹ מְבַטֵּל טִבְעוֹ וּרְצוֹנוֹ הַגּוּפָנִי מִפְּנֵי רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בָּרוּךְ הוּא וְאִתְכַּפְיָא סִטְרָא אָחֳרָא

in that one sets aside his nature and bodily will in the face of God's supernal will, thereby subduing the sitra aḥara It is the nature of every person, even a man of virtue, to serve his own interests. His own body is more important to him than those of others. In everyone's life, there are crossroads, when a person must decide: Does he take more for himself or give to others? When he decides to set aside his nature and will in deference to God's will, and he gives to another, this is the service of charity. By virtue of the fact that a person sets aside his own will, he subdues the sitra aḥara, the other side. If a person does not break his nature and engage in service, there is, in turn, no subjugation. Within the nature of every member of Israel, there is a certain side of good and compassion. An act of doing good, of giving to another, does not necessarily involve a mental struggle or crisis, because that is his nature. For example, there are animals that at certain times are pleasant and delightful, and at other times they scratch. These two states do not constitute a deviation from the creature's nature but are part of its nature and essence. Similarly, in every person are implanted certain characteristics and desires that are part of his nature and heredity, and as long as he acts within that framework, he does not coerce his nature and does not break anything within himself. But when he engages in service, he comes into conflict and confrontation with the other sides of his nature, and since he cannot persuade them to yield, he must coerce them. This is what it means to subdue the sitra aḥara.

וַאֲזַי אִסְתַּלֵּק יְקָרָא דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא כו׳,

and causing the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, to then be exalted throughout all the worlds, The Sages taught that when God sought to create man, the ministering angels protested, "What is man, that You are mindful of him?" Why create such a creature, who is weak, dangerous, and prone to calamity? Yet God created man nevertheless. Ever since then, man's creation has been constantly subject to a test. God, as it were, gambled on man, believing and investing in him. Every time a person reaches a point of confrontation and emerges victorious, subduing the sitra aḥara, he elevates the glory of God even higher.

וְ״כִּיתְרוֹן הָאוֹר מִן הַחֹשֶׁךְ״ (קהלת ב, יג) דַּוְקָא כַּנּוֹדָע.

like the "advantage of light over darkness" (Eccles. 2:13), specifically where the light emerges from the darkness, as is known, The light that emerges from the confrontation with the sitra aḥara and the victory over it is light that emerges from the darkness. This light not only repelled the darkness, but in a sense emerged from it, and therefore this light has a great advantage over the ordinary light found in the world. Such light reveals within it an essence that is higher and more transcendent than anything found within the world.

אִי לָזֹאת, אֵין הָרַע יָכוֹל לִהְיוֹת עוֹד חוֹזֵר וְנֵיעוֹר בְּקַלּוּת כָּל כָּךְ מֵאֵלָיו

in that case the evil is no longer able to reawaken so easily on its own When one performs a mitzva (or gives charity or prays) in accordance with his nature, when he finds his prayer sweet and beautiful, when he offers it without struggle, then after he has finished praying, he returns to his routine life, to the same place he was before. The spiritual elevation he attained during prayer did not effect a permanent change but was only for a limited time. This is not the case when the charity or prayer falls into the category of service. Even if the illumination that he had acquired will not continue to illuminate for him in the same way, a certain change took place in his essence, which remains even after prayer. The person after prayer is not the same person he was before. He has changed to the point that he no longer identifies with the evil forces that dominated him before he prayed.

רַק אִם הָאָדָם יְעוֹרְרֶנּוּ וְיַמְשִׁיכֶנּוּ עַל עַצְמוֹ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם.

but only if the person awakens it and draws it down on himself, God forbid. The person is now in a different atmosphere. He is no longer subject to the same forces as he was before. Yet he still retains his free choice. He may not be aware of it, but he can always decide, for one reason or another, that he is going to sin. A person may be able to get out of a swamp and take a straight, dry path, where the slime no longer adheres to him, but nothing prevents him from jumping back into the muck. In this sense, even the greatest act of charity does not provide a person with permanent immunity. On the other hand, a change took place. A new equilibrium was created within his life, which is neither canceled nor easily washed away by the stream of life.

וְזֶהוּ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״הַשְׁקֵט וָבֶטַח עַד עוֹלָם״. ״הַשְׁקֵט״ הוּא מִלְּשׁוֹן ״שׁוֹקֵט עַל שְׁמָרָיו״, דְּהַיְינוּ שֶׁהַשְּׁמָרִים נִפְרָדִים לְגַמְרֵי מִן הַיַּיִן וְנוֹפְלִין לְמַטָּה לְגַמְרֵי, וְהַיַּיִן לְמַעְלָה זַךְ וְצָלוּל בְּתַכְלִית.

This is the meaning of the second part of the verse, "And the service of charity will be quiet and security forever." The word for quiet, hashket, is related to the word shoket in the phrase "it is settled [shoket ] on its sediments." That is, the sediment is completely separated from the wine and falls all the way down, leaving the wine above perfectly pure and clear. In the early stages of wine preparation, the yeast is intermingled with the wine, and even after the fermentation process ceases, the yeast continues to float on top of the wine for a certain amount of time. At this stage, the wine is cloudy and does not taste good. Only after the wine has sat quietly for a while, without fermentation or other processes taking place, does it become "settled on its sediments," where the yeast and other solid material settles to the bottom of the container and the wine becomes perfectly pure and clear at the top. Thus the use of the word al, "on," in the phrase "it is settled on its sediments." The wine is not mixed with the sediments, but rather it rests on top of them.

וְעַל דֶּרֶךְ זֶה הוּא בַּעֲבוֹדַת הַצְּדָקָה: הַשְּׁמָרִים הֵן בְּחִינַת תַּעֲרוֹבֶת רַע שֶׁבְּנַפְשׁוֹ נִבְרָר וְנִפְרָד מְעַט מְעַט, עַד שֶׁנּוֹפֵל לְמַטָּה לִמְקוֹרוֹ וְשָׁרְשׁוֹ,

So it is with the service of charity: The sediment represents the evil intermingled in a person's soul, which is extracted and separated little by little, until it falls below to its source and root, The yeast in the soul, which elsewhere is called the "yeast in the dough" (Berakhot 17a), is the evil inclination that agitates a person, changing and distorting his essence. Through the service of charity, it becomes extracted and separated little by little, until it falls below to its source and root. Separating the yeast from the wine is a metaphor for the separation of the evil from the good. The yeast is the waste and evil that falls down, while the wine is the holiness that rises up. Man's problem is not the reality of evil, but rather the mixture of good and evil, that evil is found within life, within everything that man does and thinks. For this reason, rectification lies in the separation of the good from the evil. The good becomes better, clearer, and holier, while the evil, if it remains, becomes coarser and more repulsive. The person merits "quiet and security," an inner quiet in which good and evil are no longer intermingled. Yet it is always possible to stir the wine in which the sediments have settled to the bottom and raise them back into the wine. But from now on, this will depend on the voluntary act of the person, where he chooses to bring the evil, but the evil will no longer leap at him and come to him against his will.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״וְתַשְׁלִיךְ בִּמְצוּלוֹת יָם כָּל חַטֹּאתָם״ (מיכה ז, יט).

as it is written, "And You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea" (Mic. 7:19). When the sins are cast to the depths of the sea, the water becomes clear. The emphasis here is on "the depths of the sea," from which it is impossible to ascend. This is what a person merits for his service of charity. The illumination and clarity that he achieves is not temporary but permanent. The clear water cannot easily become sullied once the evil has been cast into the depths of the sea, into a place from which it cannot readily rise again.