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Likutei Amarim
Chapter 24וְזֶה לְעוּמַּת זֶה, הֵן שס״ה מִצְוֹת לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא וְכָל אִיסּוּרֵי דְּרַבָּנָן, מֵאַחַר שֶׁהֵן נֶגֶד רְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ
Corresponding to the positive commandments are the 365 biblical prohibitions and all rabbinically mandated prohibitions since they are the opposite of God's will and wisdom The positive commandments are the most profound revelation of the divine will. They are God's ultimate desire, that which He wishes us to do. Their counterparts are the prohibitions, actions that God does not want us to do, even though, within the framework of our world, God gives us the freedom to choose.
וְהֶפְכָם מַמָּשׁ.
and are literally antithetical to them. Not only are the prohibitions not the will of God, but they are the exact opposite of His will. It is His desire that we choose not to do these actions.
הֵם נִפְרָדִים מִיִּחוּדוֹ וְאַחְדּוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ בְּתַכְלִית הַפֵּירוּד מַמָּשׁ, כְּמוֹ הַסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא וְהַקְּלִיפָּה הַנִּקְרֵאת עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וֵאלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים, מֵחֲמַת הֶסְתֵּר פָּנִים שֶׁל רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.
These prohibitions are literally and utterly separate from God's unity and oneness, just as the sitra aḥara and kelippa , referred to as idolatry and other gods, are separated from God due to the concealed countenance of God's supernal will, as discussed above (chap. 22). Every transgression, whether in violation of a biblical prohibition or a rabbinic decree, is essentially an act of idolatry, the worship of something alien, an entity that is not God. When a person commits a transgression, whatever its nature, he disconnects himself from the divine will, from the source of life, from all goodness and holiness. There is no neutral space: Either something is connected and united with God, or it is not. Everything in our lives belongs either to the sacred or to kelippa. There is no middle ground. Because a transgression is a part of the realm of kelippa, it incorporates within itself all the characteristics of kelippa: betrayal, disloyalty, and rebellion against the Divine. Although different degrees of gravity exist between one transgression and another as measured by halakhic standards or by the punishments that various transgressions incur, all transgressions share a common denominator: Every transgression causes disconnection from the Divine and association with the sitra aḥara. Because of this, every transgression is essentially a form of idolatry, a total abandonment of the realm of holiness.
וְכֵן ג׳ לְבוּשֵׁי הַנֶּפֶשׁ שֶׁמִּקְּלִיפַּת נוֹגַהּ שֶׁבְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁהֵם מַחֲשָׁבָה דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה הַמְּלוּבָּשִׁים בְּשס״ה לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא וּדְרַבָּנָן, וְכֵן מַהוּת הַנֶּפֶשׁ עַצְמָהּ הַמְּלוּבֶּשֶׁת בִּלְבוּשֶׁיהָ – כּוּלָּם מְיוּחָדִים מַמָּשׁ בְּסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא וּקְלִיפָּה זוֹ הַנִּקְרֵאת עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה.
Likewise, the three garments of a Jew's soul that stem from kelippat noga , which are the thoughts, speech, and actions that are clothed within the 365 biblically and rabbinically mandated prohibitions, as well as the essence of the soul itself that is clothed in its garments, are all literally unified with this sitra aḥara and kelippa , which is referred to as idolatry. When a person commits a transgression, the parts of his soul that are a partner to the deed – the faculties of speech, thought, and deed, as well as the soul that gives life to those forces – are unified with the realm of kelippa and sitra aḥara. When a person performs a mitzva, which is a limb of the King, he himself becomes a "limb of the King." He unites with God and becomes part of the world of holiness.
וְלֹא עוֹד, אֶלָּא שֶׁבְּטֵלִים וּטְפֵלִים אֵלֶיהָ,
Moreover, they are secondary and subordinate to the kelippa The person who transgressed has totally surrendered to kelippa. He is no more than a utensil, a tool, to actualizing the kelippa in the world.
וּגְרוּעִים וּפְחוּתִים מִמֶּנָּה מְאֹד, כִּי הִיא אֵינָהּ מְלוּבֶּשֶׁת בְּגוּף חוֹמְרִי,
and considerably inferior and lower than it because it is not clothed in a corporeal body. The kelippa is not a material reality and in itself cannot create anything in the world. But when a person clings to it, he gives it a physical and substantive body. He creates a palpable reality of actual evil. Therefore, when a person clings to the kelippa, he becomes even lower than the kelippa itself.
וְיוֹדַעַת אֶת רִבּוֹנָהּ, וְאֵינָהּ מוֹרֶדֶת בּוֹ לִפְעוֹל פְּעוּלָּתָהּ בְּמִשְׁלַחַת מַלְאֲכֵי רָעִים שֶׁלָּהּ שֶׁלֹּא בִּשְׁלִיחוּתוֹ שֶׁל מָקוֹם בָּרוּךְ הוּא חַס וְשָׁלוֹם,
It is aware of its Master and does not rebel against Him by performing its mission and employing its band of destroying angels without the directive of the Holy One, blessed be He, God forbid, There is another reason that a person who commits a transgression is lower than the kelippa. At the end of the day, the kelippa recognizes its Master. All the powers of evil – terror and destruction, death and idolatry – do not act on their own. They only fulfill a role, one that may not be pleasing or agreeable but that constitutes a part of the structure of the world, and its agents are among the servants of God, as the verse states, "The children of the great came to stand before the Lord, and the accuser too came among them" (Job 1:6). Yet when a human being connects with the powers of evil, the situation is different. By engaging in evil, a person is not acting as an agent of God. Rather, he is functioning on his own, voluntarily, in a manner directly opposed to God. A person can choose differently, and if he delivers himself to kelippa, he is essentially lower than the kelippa, because it is fulfilling its mission, but he is not.
וּכְמַאֲמַר בִּלְעָם: "לֹא אוּכַל לַעֲבוֹר אֶת פִּי ה׳״ וגו׳ (במדבר כב, יח).
as Bilam stated, "I would be unable to violate the directive of the Lord my God, to perform a small or a great matter" (Num. 22:18). Bilam was connected to the depth of kelippa. He was the prophet of kelippa, the exact opposite of Moses. Yet even he knew that ultimately he was only an agent of God and that he himself possessed no intrinsic power, in neither his curses nor his blessings.
וְאַף שֶׁנִּקְרָא עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, הָא קָרוּ לֵיהּ אֱלָהָא דֶּאֱלָהַיָּא.
Although the kelippot are referred to as idolatry, they nevertheless refer to God as the "God of gods." The kelippa apparently proclaims itself to be a god, an independent being. Yet idolaters call God the "God of gods"
וְאֵינָם יְכוֹלִים לַעֲבוֹר כְּלָל עַל רְצוֹנוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, כִּי יוֹדְעִים וּמַשִּׂיגִים שֶׁהוּא חַיּוּתָם וְקִיּוּמָם שֶׁיּוֹנְקִים מִבְּחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים דַּאֲחוֹרַיִים שֶׁל רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בָּרוּךְ הוּא הַמַּקִּיף עֲלֵיהֶם.
They are incapable of transgressing God's will whatsoever because they know and apprehend that He is their life force and sustenance, for they suckle from the back side of the back side of God's supernal will, which encompasses them. Though the kelippot appear to be a source of power and strength, they cannot transgress God's will because He is the source of their life force. Yet they do not receive their life force from the inner aspect of the divine will since they do not express the divine will but rather constitute only the framework of the world – the back side of the divine will. They are the support beams but not the main structure, the primary purpose of the world's existence. This "back side of the back side" is so removed from the inner aspect of the divine will that not only do the kelippot, which they nourish, not perceive God, but they are unaware of this lack of perception. It follows that not only do they not serve God, but they serve foreign gods instead.
אֶלָּא שֶׁיְּנִיקָתָם וְחַיּוּתָם שֶׁבְּתוֹכָם הִיא בִּבְחִינַת גָּלוּת בְּתוֹכָם לְהַחְשִׁיב עַצְמָן אֱלֹהוּת,
Rather, the nourishment and life force within them are in a state of exile within them so that they regard themselves as divine, The kelippot do not draw sustenance from that inner place where the light is plentiful and creates a clear sense of dependency. Where the light is not plentiful, because the vitality flowing down is indirect, coming from the "back side of the back side," this generates the sense that the Divine Presence is in exile. The kelippa no longer senses the Divine Presence that is giving it life, so it experiences itself as an independent being. This is the Divine Presence in exile.
וַהֲרֵי זוֹ כְּפִירָה בְּאַחְדּוּתוֹ.
which is a denial of God's oneness. At the root of idolatry, there may be an acknowledgment that everything is dependent on the God of gods, but it is an indirect acknowledgment of God's existence that still allows for the existence of other entities. Although the act of idolatry does not deny God's existence, it denies His singularity. That God is one means that there is no other than Him. But idolatry allows for the possibility of an additional, independent entity that can act with its own autonomous motives.
אֲבָל מִכָּל מָקוֹם אֵינָן כּוֹפְרִים וְכִחֲשׁוּ בַּה׳ לְגַמְרֵי וְלוֹמַר "לֹא הוּא״, אֶלָּא דְּקָרוּ לֵיהּ אֱלָהָא דֶּאֱלָהַיָּא, דְּהַיְינוּ חַיּוּתָם וְקִיּוּמָם הַנִּמְשָׁךְ וְיוֹרֵד עֲלֵיהֶם מֵרְצוֹנוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, וְלָכֵן אֵינָן עוֹבְרִין רְצוֹנוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ לְעוֹלָם.
Yet nevertheless they do not completely deny or repudiate God by saying "He is not." Rather, they refer to Him as the "God of gods," meaning, they are aware that their life force and sustenance that issue forth and descend to them stem from His will. Consequently, they never transgress His will. Ultimately, no kelippa, not even idolatry, can ever be totally opposed to God. The kelippa has a sense of itself, yet somehow it knows that it has limitations. It may not know how to define those limitations, but neither can it act knowingly and directly against the divine will.
וְאִם כֵּן, הָאָדָם הָעוֹבֵר עַל רְצוֹנוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ הוּא גָּרוּעַ וּפָחוּת הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד מֵהַסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא וּקְלִיפָּה הַנִּקְרֵאת עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וֵאלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים, וְהוּא בְּתַכְלִית הַפֵּירוּד מִיִּחוּדוֹ וְאַחְדּוּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יוֹתֵר מִמֶּנָּה, וּכְאִלּוּ כּוֹפֵר בְּאַחְדּוּתוֹ יוֹתֵר מִמֶּנָּה חַס וְשָׁלוֹם,
If so, a person who transgresses God's will is exceedingly worse than and inferior to the sitra aḥara and kelippa , which are called idolatry and other gods. The sinner is utterly separated from the unity and oneness of the Holy One, blessed be He, more so than the kelippa, and it is as if he denies His oneness more than the kelippa, God forbid. When a person commits a transgression, whatever it may be, he sins against God's will. He rebels against the supernal will, against the God of gods, whom even the sitra aḥara and the kelippa of idolatry acknowledge and to whom they are subservient. His denial, then, is even more profound than that of kelippa. Idolatry denies that there is no other besides Him, but a person who commits a transgression denies God Himself.
וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּעֵץ חַיִּים שַׁעַר מ״ב סוֹף פֶּרֶק ד׳, שֶׁהָרַע שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה הַחוֹמְרִי הוּא שִׁמְרֵי הַקְּלִיפּוֹת הַגַּסּוֹת כו׳,
As it is written in Etz Ḥayyim 42, at the end of the fourth chapter, the evil in this material world constitutes the dregs of the coarse kelippot , and so forth, The evil that a person does in the world is not only of the kelippa but of the dregs, the concentrated and most foul distillation of evil, in comparison to which there is nothing coarser.
וְהוּא תַּכְלִית הַבֵּירוּר וכו׳,
and it is where the ultimate refinement occurs, and so on. Since the holiness within this evil is so concealed, here the ultimate purification process can take place. It is the very lowest level from which goodness can still be extracted.
וְלָכֵן כָּל מַעֲשֵׂה עוֹלָם הַזֶּה קָשִׁים וְרָעִים וְהָרְשָׁעִים גּוֹבְרִים בּוֹ וכו׳.
Therefore, all matters of this world are harsh and evil, and the wicked hold sway in it, and so forth. The physical world, where man exists and functions, is the lowest of all worlds. Here the divine light is so concealed that it can go completely unnoticed, and it is possible for a person to disconnect himself from the divine will and engage in evil so complete that it is lower than kelippa itself. A cholera bacteria may be an agent of evil, it may be fatal, but it is not intrinsically evil. Since it is part of the natural framework, it is connected, if only indirectly, to the divine will. Only man, who transgresses of his own free will against the divine will, can be lower than that. Because such a thing can exist in our world, it is the worst of all the worlds. Our reality is constructed in such a way that concealment is stronger than revelation, evil appears to prevail, and the wicked appear to dominate. Evil seems to grow ever stronger and the darkness ever thicker. Ours is not the best of all possible worlds. It would be more accurate to say that ours is the lowest of all worlds, but with one important caveat: It is the lowest of all worlds that can be rectified. Our world stands in a delicate balance, at the final verge. It is the lowest stage where the possibility of ascent still exists. Had it been just a little bit worse, ours would have been a world without hope, a world that is itself Gehenna. Judaism is said to be optimistic. That is so, but its optimism must be understood against this framework. It is an optimism that does not claim that this world is entirely fine and good. It acknowledges that the world is entirely black and evil. But this world can nevertheless be rectified. It still has hope – and that is true optimism.
וְלָכֵן אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זַ״ל (סוטה ג, א) עַל פָּסוּק (במדבר ה, יב):
Therefore, our Rabbis stated regarding the verse "If any man's wife goes astray" (Num. 5:12) that "a man commits a transgression only if a spirit of folly enters him" (Sota 3a). Even an adulteress, who is weak minded, would control her spirit of lust were it not for the spirit of folly within her that covers, conceals, and hides the latent love in her divine soul whose desire is to cleave to faith in God and His unity and oneness and not to separate from His oneness, God forbid, and commit idolatry, God forbid, even if it means losing her life. After concluding a lengthy discussion of both the revealed and concealed aspects of God's unity that spanned the previous few chapters,
וַאֲפִילּוּ בְּהִשְׁתַּחֲוָאָה לְבַדָּהּ בְּלִי שׁוּם אֱמוּנָה בַּלֵּב כְּלָל,
She would sacrifice her life even if she were compelled to perform a mere act of prostration without possessing an iota of idolatrous belief in her heart at all, Jews throughout the generations have given their lives not only to defend the fundamentals of their faith but even to avoid the most superficial of wrongdoings. From a Jewish perspective, all the idolatrous rites that violate our faith are meaningless. Yet in order to not be involved even in a mere ritual that they found meaningless, even the most frivolous of society would be ready to die. This is not only a theory. Many have done so throughout the ages. Men and women who during their lifetimes were debased sinners, to whom religion should have meant nothing, clearly showed that it was so important to them that they were ready to die rather than transgress.
וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן לִכְבּוֹשׁ הַיֵּצֶר וְתַאֲוַת הַנִּיאוּף, שֶׁהֵם יִסּוּרִים קַלִּים מִמִּיתָה, ה׳ יִשְׁמְרֵנוּ.
and all the more so would she be able to vanquish the evil inclination and the lust for adultery, which constitute suffering that is less severe than death, may God protect us. It is certainly easier to conquer one's physical drives than to die a violent death. Nevertheless, even though this woman is prepared to face martyrdom rather than worship a false god, when it comes to the prohibition against adultery, she does not attempt to conquer her lusts.
וְהַהֶפְרֵשׁ שֶׁאֶצְלָהּ בֵּין אִיסּוּר נִיאוּף לְאִיסּוּר הִשְׁתַּחֲוָאָה לַעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה הוּא גַּם כֵּן רוּחַ שְׁטוּת דִּקְלִיפָּה הַמַּלְבֶּשֶׁת לַנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית,
The distinction she makes between the prohibition against adultery and that against prostrating to an idol is also due to the spirit of folly stemming from kelippa , which clothes the divine soul Even though adultery conceals the divine unity as much as idolatry does, a spirit of foolishness tells a person that the two are not the same. It persuades the woman that committing this act of adultery will not detach her from the source of holiness, that she can still remain connected. As absurd as the proposition may be on a cognitive level, she believes that she can sin and still remain a faithful Jew. She foolishly persuades herself that even though she is rebelling against the divine will, she remains an upstanding Jew, no different from one who convinces himself that he is a kettle or a goose.
עַד בְּחִינַת חָכְמָה שֶׁבָּהּ וְלֹא עַד בִּכְלָל, מִפְּנֵי אוֹר ה׳ הַמְּלוּבָּשׁ בְּחָכְמָה כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.
up to but not including the faculty of wisdom within it on account of the light of God that is clothed within the faculty of wisdom, as mentioned above (chap. 19). The spirit of foolishness can clothe and conceal the divine soul. But the foolishness can only reach so far and cannot conceal the soul completely. There is a point in the soul, one point, where there is an identification between man and God. At this point of contact, there is no barrier, no garment concealing the soul from the light of God. When this point is reached, there is a sort of explosion. The structure of falsehood collapses, garment after garment falls away, and a person stands naked before one stark choice: life and goodness as opposed to death and evil, connection to the source of life or severance from life. There is no room for compromise or discussion, for emotions or calculations. People who have reached this point have acted in ways that defy all rational calculation, all estimations of whether or not the action is worthwhile, in practical or even in spiritual terms. Contradicting all the principles they held throughout their lives, their actions now flow solely from the reality of this point, and thus they went forward to meet the most horrible of deaths as martyrs. As the author of the Tanya has said earlier, the definition of a Jew is that there exists within his soul, whether in a revealed or a concealed state, a point of connection with the source of life, with Ein Sof. Whenever a Jew, no matter who he may be, touches this point, he is literally transformed into a part of the Divine.
אֲבָל בֶּאֱמֶת לַאֲמִיתּוֹ, אֲפִילּוּ עֲבֵירָה קַלָּה, הֲרֵי הָעוֹבְרָהּ עוֹבֵר עַל רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וְהוּא בְּתַכְלִית הַפֵּירוּד מִיִּחוּדוֹ וְאַחְדּוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, יוֹתֵר מִסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא וּקְלִיפָּה הַנִּקְרֵאת אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וַעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה מַמָּשׁ.
But the truth of the matter is that even one who commits a minor transgression transgresses the supernal will and is utterly separated from God's unity and oneness even more than the sitra aḥara and kelippa , which are referred to as other gods and actual idolatry, As noted above, a person who commits a sin is even lower than kelippa itself. At its root, kelippa is a part of the larger structure of existence, whereas a person who commits a sin is no longer a part of the holy reality but a contradiction to it. In the larger framework of reality, there are not only angels, seraphim, and holy ḥayot but also demons and all kinds of beings that harm man. As long as a person leaves these negative forces alone, they do no more than preserve the framework of reality. They pose a threat, but they are not actively evil. In one sense, these forces of evil are comparable to a policeman on his beat. He holds no interest to the law-abiding citizen, to whom he is no different from any other person on the street. But to a criminal, the policeman is an agent of punishment, instigating terror and flight.
וְיוֹתֵר מִכָּל הַדְּבָרִים הַנִּשְׁפָּעִים מִמֶּנָּה בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, שֶׁהֵם בְּהֵמוֹת טְמֵאוֹת וְחַיּוֹת וְעוֹפוֹת טְמֵאִים וּשְׁקָצִים וּרְמָשִׂים,
and more than all things that issue forth from kelippa in this world, such as impure domesticated and undomesticated animals, impure birds, detestable things, and crawling creatures, An impure worm is not as impure as a person committing a sin. As long as one does not eat the worm, it does not cause evil. Even if someone eats it, this creature is not to blame. Similarly, a pig is an animal created by God. It is the Jew who eats pork who defies God's will.
וּכְמַאֲמַר: "יַתּוּשׁ קְדָמְךָ״ (סנהדרין לח, א).
in accordance with the Sages' statement "The mosquito preceded you" (Sanhedrin 38a). The Sages ask why man was created last during the six days of Creation, on Friday afternoon. They answer that if a man grows proud, he can be told, "The mosquito preceded you in the acts of Creation." The simple meaning of this statement is that the mosquito was created before man and so has a better lineage than does a human being. A human being's superiority is not dependent on the order of creation. Rather, it is dependent on his doing the will of his Creator. If he sins and loses that unique superiority, he becomes a creature like any other, and then he is inferior even to the mosquito, which was created before he was. This is the simple understanding of this talmudic statement. The author of the Tanya will soon examine this saying more deeply and teach that "the mosquito preceded you" refers not only to the fact that it was created earlier but also to an essential superiority that even the kelippa of a mosquito possesses over any evil that a human being has committed.
פֵּירוּשׁ, דְּאַף יַתּוּשׁ שֶׁמַּכְנִיס וְאֵינוֹ מוֹצִיא, שֶׁהִיא קְלִיפָּה הַיּוֹתֵר תַּחְתּוֹנָה וּרְחוֹקָה מִבְּחִינַת הַקְּדוּשָּׁה הַמַּשְׁפַּעַת בְּתַכְלִית הָרִיחוּק,
This means that even a mosquito, which ingests but does not excrete, signifying the lowest and furthest kelippa from the realm of holiness, which gives sustenance even to that which is the most remote from it, The mosquito sucks in blood, but it does not excrete anything that is useful to others.
קוֹדֶמֶת לָאִישׁ הַחוֹטֵא, בְּהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת וִירִידַת הַחַיּוּת מֵרָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בָּרוּךְ הוּא.
precedes the sinner in the chain of progression and descent of the life force that emanates from God's supernal will. From the viewpoint of the divine will, a mosquito is higher than a sinner. Although it is a lowly creature that does base things, it does not rebel against God, because the mosquito is a necessary part of the structure of the world, unlike the sinner. The person who transgresses is only a possibility that exists in the structure, and this possibility is subservient to a person's free will. If he chooses to sin, he does so not in order to fulfill his mission but voluntarily, of his own choice, in rebellion against the divine sovereignty.
וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן שְׁאָר בַּעֲלֵי חַיִּים הַטְּמֵאִים, וַאֲפִילּוּ חַיּוֹת רָעוֹת, שֶׁכּוּלָּם אֵינָם מְשַׁנִּים תַּפְקִידָם, וּפְקוּדָּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ שָׁמְרָה רוּחָם,
All the more so is the sinner lower than the other impure animals, and even wild, predatory beasts, none of whom deviate from their purpose in this world, as their spirit preserves God's command. The leopard is not evil. Although it preys on other animals, though it kills and maims, it is only doing the will of the Creator, following the role it has been assigned.
וְאַף עַל גַּב דְּאִיהוּ לָא חָזֵי.
Although they do not see it, their spiritual root does see it, This statement was cited in the previous chapter in reference to people. In the present context, the author of the Tanya extends the dictum to include animals. In this world, the leopard lacks the intelligence to know that it is serving as an agent of the Divine. But at its root and source in the upper world, it has that awareness. Thus, as it roams this world, where it carries out tasks and missions on God's behalf, it cannot actually damage that which is holy since its actions all derive from the power of holiness. If it injures a person, it is because that was the divine will. The leopard is the agent, the executioner, that must carry out God's decree against that particular person. Although the leopard is not aware of this, it is impelled to act as it does, because it always carries out the will of God.
וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "וּמוֹרַאֲכֶם וְחִתְּכֶם יִהְיֶה עַל כָּל חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ״ (בראשית ט, ב),(סנהדרין לח, ב).
as it is written, "And fear of you and dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth" (Gen. 9:2), regarding which our Rabbis explain that "a wild animal does not have power over a person unless that person seems to the wild animal like an animal" (Sanhedrin 38b). It would seem from the verse that animals should be afraid of man. So why do they sometimes prey on people? An animal will harm a person only if it does not recognize him as a human being. The animal does not discern as we do. When a person conforms to the will of God, when he thinks and speaks of divine wisdom, he manifests the divine image in which he was created, instilling fear in the animal. But if a person has made himself a part of the zoological matrix, he becomes subject to the laws of zoology, laws such as survival of the fittest, at which point the wild animal may fearlessly attack him. It does not know that the person has a doctorate or that he was the subject of a newspaper article. To the animal, here is just another type of gorilla on whom it may prey.
וְהַצַּדִּיקִים שֶׁאֵין צֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים מִסְתַּלֵּק מֵעַל פְּנֵיהֶם, כָּל חַיּוֹת רָעוֹת אִתְכַּפְיָין קַמַּיְיהוּ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזֹּהַר (חלק א קצא, א) גַּבֵּי דָּנִיֵּאל בְּגוֹב אֲרָיוֹת.
But in the presence of the righteous, from whose visages the image of God never departs, all wild beasts are tame, as it is written in the Zohar (1:191a) regarding Daniel in the lions' den. When a person is not a part of the framework to which animals relate, he is no longer their prey. Daniel did not need a special angel to be sent to protect him from the lions. His personality was sufficient in itself. Since he was clearly created in the image of God, the lions would not harm him. It is not that animals rationally understand such a thing, but their spiritual root knows that their mission does not pertain to such a person, that their mission concerns other things and other places.
וְאִם כֵּן, הַחוֹטֵא וְעוֹבֵר רְצוֹנוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ אֲפִילּוּ בַּעֲבֵירָה קַלָּה בִּשְׁעַת מַעֲשֶׂה – הוּא בְּתַכְלִית הָרִיחוּק מִקְּדוּשָּׁה הָעֶלְיוֹנָה, שֶׁהִיא יִחוּדוֹ וְאַחְדּוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ יוֹתֵר מִכָּל בַּעֲלֵי חַיִּים הַטְּמֵאִים וּשְׁקָצִים וּרְמָשִׂים הַמּוּשְׁפָּעִים מִסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא וּקְלִיפַּת עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה.
This being the case, one who sins and transgresses the will of God even with a minor transgression is, at that moment, at the furthest point from the supernal holiness, namely, God's unity and oneness, more so than all the impure animals, detestable things, and crawling creatures that receive their sustenance from the sitra aḥara and the kelippa of idolatry. A sin is a disconnection from holiness, an attack on the oneness of God. Every sin is an act of idolatry, an act of rebellion, where a person casts off the yoke of Heaven and removes himself from the source of life. From this standpoint, there is no difference between a major or a minor rebellion, between an insignificant misdemeanor or a grave betrayal. When there is an act of rebellion, it makes no essential difference what the specific deed entails.
וּמַה שֶּׁפִּקּוּחַ נֶפֶשׁ דּוֹחֶה שְׁאָר עֲבֵירוֹת, וְגַם "יַעֲבוֹר וְאַל יֵהָרֵג״,
Although we find that saving a life overrides other prohibitions, and also that one must transgress a prohibition rather than be killed, In essence, no distinction can be drawn between minor and major sins. But if that is so, why does saving a life override the Sabbath to the extent that one may desecrate the Sabbath or engage in other transgressions in order to save a life? If Sabbath may be overridden in certain cases, does this mean its desecration is not so stringent? If there can be no distinction between types of sin, why is it that for idolatry, forbidden sexual relations, and murder, the law is that one must choose death rather than commit the transgression, while for other sins, the rule is that one should transgress rather than be killed?
הַיְינוּ כְּפֵירוּשׁ חֲכָמֵינוּ זַ״ל: אָמְרָה תּוֹרָה, חַלֵּל עָלָיו שַׁבָּת אַחַת כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּשְׁמוֹר שַׁבָּתוֹת הַרְבֵּה (שבת קנא, ב, ויומא פה, ב),
this must be understood in light of our Sages' explanation that " the Torah says: Desecrate one Sabbath on his behalf so that he will observe many Sabbaths" (Shabbat 151b; Yoma 85b) Saving someone's life overrides the Sabbath, not because violating the Sabbath is not as important as saving a human life but because in the long term the Sabbath itself profits, as it were. If a person were to die because the Sabbath could not be violated on his behalf, he would not be able to keep many future Sabbaths. This is not a comparison of the worth of one commandment with that of another, but the calculation of the gain and loss with regard to a specific mitzva. If the holiness of the Sabbath had not been desecrated on his behalf this one time, many future Sabbaths will not be sanctified by him.
וְלֹא מִשּׁוּם קַלּוּת הָעֲבֵירוֹת וְחוּמְרָן
and not in terms of the leniency or stringency of the relevant prohibitions. The reason that one should commit certain sins rather than give up one's life, while one should choose death rather than commit certain other sins, is not that there are minor and major sins. There is no objective scale for the relative severity of sins. There are only calculations that at times justify committing a certain sin for a certain purpose and at other times do not justify transgressing. But these calculations have no connection to the essential nature of the sin. Each sin is inherently as serious as idolatry.
[תֵּדַע שֶׁהֲרֵי שַׁבָּת חֲמוּרָה וּשְׁקוּלָה כַּעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה לְעִנְיַן שְׁחִיטַת מוּמָר לְדָבָר אֶחָד, בְּיוֹרֶה דֵּעָה סִימָן ב׳,
(Know that this is true, because desecration of the Sabbath is a severe violation and tantamount to idolatry with regard to the halakhic status of ritual slaughter performed by one who habitually violates one particular Torah precept, as stated in Shulḥan Arukh, Yoreh De'a 2 . An animal that is ritually slaughtered by a person who rejects the entire Torah is not kosher, and it is just as if it had been slaughtered by a gentile. What if a person acts as a gentile regarding just one commandment? In that case, his ritual slaughter is kosher. However, there is an exception: If the one sin he commits involves either the public desecration of the Sabbath or idolatry, such a person is considered like one who has rejected the entire Torah. Though he may fulfill all the other mitzvot, he is regarded as an apostate, and his ritual slaughter is regarded as if it were performed by a gentile.
מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בְּמוּמָר לְגִילּוּי עֲרָיוֹת,
This is not the case concerning one who habitually violates prohibitions against illicit relations. A person who transgresses the laws of prohibited sexual relations commits a grave transgression, regarding which one must choose death rather than sin. Yet this sin in itself is not sufficient to place him in the category of a person who has rejected the entire Torah and whose ritual slaughter is not kosher.
וַאֲפִילּוּ הָכִי, פִּיקּוּחַ נֶפֶשׁ דּוֹחֶה שַׁבָּת וְלֹא גִּילּוּי עֲרָיוֹת.
Yet, nevertheless, halakha dictates that saving a life overrides the Sabbath but not the prohibitions against illicit relations. The desecration of the Sabbath is more egregious with regard to ritual slaughter than the sin of illicit relations, yet the Sabbath prohibitions may be overridden to save a life. We see that there is no single scale for determining the relative gravity of sins. With regard to defining a person as an apostate, one who is no longer considered a member of the Jewish community and who has rebelled against God, violating the Sabbath is literally as grave as idolatry, and it is worse than illicit relations. But in another respect, illicit relations are more severe: One can violate the Sabbath to save someone's life, whereas one cannot engage in illicit relations for this purpose. It is clear that the legal distinctions between sins is not connected with the relative leniency or gravity of the sin.
אֶלָּא דִּגְזֵירַת הַכָּתוּב הוּא.]
Rather, it is only because of a Torah edict that the prohibitions against illicit relations cannot be overridden to save a life.) The author of the Tanya suggests a resolution to the apparent inconsistencies with regard to the various halakhot mentioned. He posits that the reason one should choose death rather than commit illicit relations is not by virtue of the egregiousness of adultery in relation to other prohibitions. Essentially, no distinctions are made between prohibitions, since each transgression constitutes a spiritual death of sorts, and a Jew must feel that he is going to die by transgressing a particular prohibition. Rather, the distinctions made in these halakhot are a result of a biblical decree, beyond human logic.
אֶלָּא שֶׁלְּאַחַר מַעֲשֵׂה הַחֵטְא,
However, after the sin has been committed, The differences that nonetheless exist between various types of sins may be considered after the sin has been committed. Before that, when a person is on the verge of committing a sin, he faces a choice: Is he for God or against Him? If he is against God, he is rebelling against God's sovereignty at that moment, and it makes no difference whether his rebellion is big or small. There are situations, as in wartime, when people are killed for the most minor offenses. If a person does not acknowledge a password, if he disobeys an order, he is shot, regardless of whether he had a reason for his action or not. No one will give him a hearing, and the question of extenuating circumstances is of no interest to anyone. There is no room for flexibility, no place to distinguish between a major and a minor misdeed, between one person and another. Everyone must be completely alert and totally responsible, because any deviation will result in the collapse of the entire system. In such a situation, the system itself acts as judge and jury. If the offender was not summarily punished, then after the fact, when the war is over, he is court-martialed. He is entitled to defend himself, and the court will determine his guilt or innocence based on the circumstances of the case. In this sense, when a person is about to sin, when he is in the midst of the battle, he faces one question only: What side am I on? Am I connected to holiness or to kelippa? Here there is no middle ground, no rationalization of minor and major. But after the sin has been committed, when the individual is no longer transgressing, there is room to distinguish between one sin and another.
אִם הִיא מֵעֲבֵירוֹת שֶׁאֵין בָּהֶן כָּרֵת וּמִיתָה בִּידֵי שָׁמַיִם, שֶׁאֵין נַפְשׁוֹ הָאֱלֹהִית מֵתָה לְגַמְרֵי וְנִכְרֶתֶת מִשָּׁרְשָׁהּ בֵּאלֹהִים חַיִּים, רַק שֶׁנִּפְגָּם קְצָת דְּבֵיקוּתָהּ וַאֲחִיזָתָהּ בְּשָׁרְשָׁהּ בְּחֵטְא זֶה,
if it was one of the transgressions that incurs neither karet nor death at the hand of Heaven, in which case his divine soul does not die completely nor is utterly severed from its root in the living God, but rather its connection and attachment to its source has been slightly damaged by this sin, then the animal soul can still elevate itself and connect with the Divine. With every sin that a person commits, he severs the connection between himself and God. There are certain grave sins for which the punishment is karet – excision from the World to Come or premature death – and death at the hand of Heaven, because by committing such transgressions one causes a total disconnection. Other sins cut off only a part of that connection. In Iggeret HaTeshuva,
הַגָּהָה: וּלְפִי עֵרֶךְ וְחִלּוּקֵי בְּחִינַת הַפְּגָם בַּנֶּפֶשׁוּבְשָׁרְשָׁהּ בָּעֶלְיוֹנִים,
Gloss: Corresponding to the degree and distinction between various types of blemishes in the soul Once a sin has been committed, it is possible to make distinctions about its nature. A sin that incurs karet or death by the hand of Heaven indicates that the sin was such that the perpetrator's soul becomes completely severed from its divine source. On the other hand, there are sins that do not cause a complete severance, but only a slight nick in the cord connecting the soul to its divine source. The question is, why is this information necessary after the fact? What difference does it make to know the severity of a sin and the damage it incurred once it already happened? Here the author of the Tanya will explain that this information is imperative in order for the person who committed the act to know how to make his way back to his pristine original state. The ability to rectify one's ways and return is only possible when a person knows how far he strayed. Every transgression damages the soul. Because each mitzva corresponds to a particular limb, each transgression damages that limb and the corresponding part of the soul. Moreover, the transgression not only damages the soul in the body but also the root of the soul in the higher realms. The transgression affects the entire framework of the worlds, from the loftiest heights to the lowest depths. The nature and force of that impact depends on the nature of the transgression.
כָּךְ הֵם חִלּוּקֵי בְּחִינוֹת הַמֵּירוּק וְהָעוֹנֶשׁ בַּגֵּיהִנֹּם אוֹ בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, לְכָל עָוֹן וְחֵטְא עוֹנֶשׁ מְיוּחָד לְמָרֵק וּלְהַעֲבִיר הַלִּכְלוּךְ וְהַפְּגָם.
are the various types of scouring and punishments that the soul must undergo either in Gehenna or in this world. For each category of iniquity or sin, there is a specific punishment the soul must undergo in order to scour and remove the filth and blemish. Just as each physical disease causes a different type of physical damage, and each has its specific remedy (though some medicines can treat a number of related illnesses), so too regarding spiritual illnesses, the rectification for one transgression is not the same as that for another.
וְכֵן בְּחַיָּיבֵי מִיתָה וְכָרֵת – אֵין פּוֹגְמִין כּוּלָּם בְּשָׁוֶה.
Similarly, those sins that are liable for death by the hand of Heaven or by karet do not inflict equal degrees of damage to the soul. As the author of the Tanya explains in Iggeret HaTeshuva,
הֲרֵי גַּם נַפְשׁוֹ הַחִיּוּנִית הַבַּהֲמִית הַמְּלוּבֶּשֶׁת בְּגוּפוֹ, וְכֵן גּוּפוֹ – חוֹזְרִים וְעוֹלִים מֵהַסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא וּקְלִיפָּה זוֹ, וּמִתְקָרְבִים לִקְדוּשַּׁת נֶפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית הַמְּלוּבֶּשֶׁת בָּהֶם הַמַּאֲמִינָה בַּה׳ אֶחָד.
If one has not committed a sin that incurs karet or death by the hand of Heaven, then, after he repents, both his vital animal soul, which is clothed within his body, as well as his body itself, return and ascend from this sitra aḥara and kelippa and draw closer to the holiness of the divine soul that is clothed in them and believes in the one God. When a person commits a sin, he is situated within kelippa, gives expression to kelippa, and channels life force to the powers of evil. But after the fact, when he disconnects from the sin, and certainly after he repents completely, his animal soul and body return to the holiness of the divine soul. This process must be seen within a matrix of four dimensions – the three spatial dimensions and time. At the time of the sin's commission, at a certain point of time within this matrix, the sinner is completely disconnected from God and is a part of the other side, the sitra aḥara. This point remains as a stain both within his own existence and within the world's existence. At the next juncture, in the coming moment, he returns to his original state, to the side of life, perhaps as a fine, honest, and even holy person.
וְגַם בִּשְׁעַת הַחֵטְא הָיְתָה בְּאָמְנָה אִתּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ,
Even at the moment the sin was committed, the divine soul remained faithful to God, The divine soul within a person never strays. It is the point at which God may be found within every person. Whatever one does, even while committing a transgression, one cannot remove this single point in which God resides.
רַק שֶׁהָיְתָה בִּבְחִינַת גָּלוּת מַמָּשׁ תּוֹךְ נֶפֶשׁ הַבַּהֲמִית מִסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא הַמַּחֲטִיאָה אֶת הַגּוּף וּמוֹרִידָתוֹ עִמָּהּ בְּעִמְקֵי שְׁאוֹל,
only it was in an actual state of exile in the animal soul, which stems from the sitra aḥara that causes the body to sin and drags it down with it into the abyss of the netherworld, We cannot say that only a part of a person performs a mitzva or commits a sin. The divine soul is a part of the person, and when a person sins, the divine soul is forced, as it were, to participate in that sin. Thus, even the core of the soul that believes in the one God is dragged along, against its will, together with the other parts of the soul. Exiled, concealed, faint, semiconscious, it descends with the animal soul, with the body, to the depths of the netherworld.
לְמַטָּה מַטָּה תַּחַת טוּמְאַת הַסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא וּקְלִיפַּת עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, ה׳ יִשְׁמְרֵנוּ.
to the deepest depths, even lower than the impurity of the sitra aḥara and the kelippa of idolatry, may God protect us. As mentioned above, the powers of evil in and of themselves, and even idolatry, are not as debased as the person committing a transgression. Even the kelippa of idolatry knows that it is not an independent entity. It knows that there is a "God of gods," and it never goes so far as to rebel against Him. But a sinner, who rebels against God, not only joins the side of evil, he even outdoes it. He descends even lower than the depths of the impurity itself.
וְאֵין לְךָ גָּלוּת גָּדוֹל מִזֶּה "מֵאִיגְּרָא רָמָה״ כו׳ וּכְמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר לְעֵיל דְּשֹׁרֶשׁ וּמְקוֹר נַפְשׁוֹת כָּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא מֵחָכְמָה עִילָּאָה, וְהוּא יִתְבָּרַךְ וְחָכְמָתוֹ אֶחָד וכו׳,
You do not find an exile of greater magnitude than this, which entails a descent from a high roof to a deep pit. As was explained above (chap. 2), the root and source of all the souls of the Jewish people stems from God's supernal wisdom, and God and His wisdom are one and the same, and so forth. Within the divine soul, the wisdom of God reveals itself, and within that wisdom, the very light of Ein Sof is revealed. When a person sins, he takes the spark of his soul in which the light of Ein Sof is revealed, in which he identifies with God, and drags it down with the body into the sin.
וְהוּא כִּמְשַׁל הָאוֹחֵז בְּרֹאשׁוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ וּמוֹרִידוֹ לְמַטָּה וְטוֹמֵן פָּנָיו בְּתוֹךְ בֵּית הַכִּסֵּא מָלֵא צוֹאָה שֶׁאֵין לְךָ עֶלְבּוֹן גָּדוֹל מִזֶּה,
This sinful act is analogous to one who grabs the king's head, pushes it down, and buries it in a latrine full of excrement, the ultimate disgrace, The sin not only disgraces the sinner, but it also disgraces God. The divine soul is not only a part of the world, one of God's servants doing His will, but an extension of God Himself. When a person sins, it is as if he pulls God down and forces Him, as it were, to participate in the sin. The outrage, whether for the one causing shame or for the One being shamed, is the greatest possible.
אֲפִילּוּ עוֹשֶׂה כֵּן לְפִי שָׁעָה,
even if he does this only for a moment, Even if one does not drag down the head of the king continuously but only from time to time, when his evil disposition overpowers him, once a day or once a month, that does not mitigate the disgrace. Since the outrage is so great, nothing can excuse, explain, or alleviate it. Here the nature of the sin, whether it is of greater or smaller measure, whether significant or insignificant, is of no relevance. Every sin, at any time, to any degree, and in every situation, is an unparalleled disgrace.
שֶׁהַקְּלִיפּוֹת וְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא נִקְרָאוֹת "קִיא צוֹאָה״ כַּנּוֹדָע.
for the kelippot and sitra aḥara are referred to as "vomit and excrement," as is known. These terms used to refer to kelippa and sitra aḥara