אסור לשון קשור, מותר לשון שיכול לעלות | הרב מנחם מיידנצ'יק, ו' חשוון | אגרות הקודש סימן כ"ו

Today is the 6th of Cheshvan, we are on page 286, continuing with Igeret HaKodesh. But in truth, when we examine the language of the Ra’aya Mehemna in the Zohar, the Admor HaZaken explains and clarifies that the language of the Ra’aya Mehemna implies that it is not the laws and the study of the Torah regarding forbidden and permitted matters, Heaven forbid, that can be called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Rather, the intention is that the matters of prohibition and permission receive their vitality from the Kelipat Nogah, just as we have learned that Kelipat Nogah is mixed— it is good and evil, yes? So Kelipat Nogah is the Tree of Good and Evil, so it is mixed with good and evil.

As the Admor HaZaken will explain below the language of the Ra’aya Mehemna of the Zohar. The Admor HaZaken says: "And the tree of good and evil," the tree of good and evil, "is prohibition and permission." The tree of good and evil is prohibition and permission, and he did not say the "Torah of prohibition and permission." He does not say that the study of the laws of prohibition and permission, that the study or the laws of prohibition and permission are, Heaven forbid, the Tree of Knowledge of

Good and Evil; he does not say that about them. Rather, he refers to them by saying "prohibition and permission," meaning the very thing that is forbidden and the thing that is permitted—in other words, the essence of the matter discussed in these laws, what is permitted and what is forbidden , is from the tree of good. And when we engage with a forbidden thing, it is connected to the tree of good and evil, to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which is Kelipat Nogah, as

it is written in Etz Chaim.

And this is the meaning of the word "assur"(forbidden/ bound). Why do we say a thing is "assur "? "Assur" is a term meaning bound, bound to the not-good thing. A thing that is forbidden for you to eat from, it is bound, for the kelipah rests upon it and it cannot be elevated upward like a permitted thing.

There is a thing that is permitted, so we elevate it upward, but a thing that is forbidden and bound cannot be elevated upward. So there are things that can be elevated upward to be used for holiness , but there are things that cannot be elevated upward. Their breaking is their rectification, their nullification. Meaning, what is the meaning of "mutar"(permitted)?

When we say a thing is permitted, it is not bound and caught in the kelipah such that it cannot be elevated upward. Therefore, we call it "mutar." And it can be elevated by the person eating it with the intention for Hashem. When a person eats, he must eat with intention . The intention to serve Hashem—when a person makes a blessing and has intention—then he elevates all the food to holiness.

And even generally, when he eats simply without having intention at the moment of the act, any person who serves Hashem with the strength gained from the food—even if he did not intend to (it is better to intend from the outset, but if a person did not intend, and through the strength of the food he studied Torah and performed commandments, then he elevates it to holiness). If he went to prayer by virtue of the food and he felt vitality in prayer because he drank coffee and tasted

something and had vitality in prayer, then he elevates all the coffee, all the cake, and all the matters he ate to holiness. And it turns out that the letters of the Torah and prayer are elevated to Hashem through the strength extracted from that food; from that same power of what he ate—the Kelipat Nogah—he elevates it to Hashem. And this is on a weekday; meaning, on a weekday, one must rely on Torah study and prayer in order to elevate the food.

But on Shabbat, when there is an ascent of the kelipat nogah on its own with the externality of all the worlds—on Shabbat, there is a concept of the elevation of the worlds, both the soul and the food; therefore, it is a mitzvah to eat all delights on Shabbat. The eating itself on Shabbat, even if one does not intend it, even if he did not study Torah or perform mitzvot, is inherently a mitzvah. That is to say, even if he did not, through this eating , pray or study Torah. One should increase meat; there is a concept of increasing meat and wine on Shabbat.

Although in general, on a weekday, if a person seeks to eat meat and drink wine , he is called a glutton and a drunkard . But on Shabbat, when he eats for the sake of Shabbat delight, it is a mitzvah. In any case, a permissible thing that is not connected to the kelipah has the ability to be elevated to holiness, as explained in chapter seven of the first part of the Tanya. This is not the case with a forbidden thing—a thing that is forbidden to eat; a person goes to a non-kosher place, a non-kosher restaurant, he cannot elevate the food to holiness.

He is eating a forbidden thing, not on Shabbat and not on a weekday, and even if he prays; a person prays all day, ate something non-kosher, prayed all day—he cannot elevate it to holiness, even if he studied Torah, because the non-kosher thing is connected, it is forbidden, connected to the kelipot. If not, when can he? If he ate for the sake of pikuach nefesh to save his life , which the Sages permitted, and it becomes completely permissible. However , the study of Torah, even the laws

of forbidden and permitted, impure and pure, is not that the things themselves are forbidden and impure, permitted and pure, which they discuss in the laws, which are the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but the laws themselves that study these things, which are the Mishnah, the Baraitot in the Gemara, the authorities who clarify, clarify, and clarify these things, the Mishnah and the Baraitot, into practical law, they are essentially the essence of the Oral Torah, which is the Sefirah of Malchut of Atzilut, as is stated

in the Holy Zohar in countless places and in the beginning of Tikkunim.

Yes, it is the lowest level in Atzilut, it is Malchut of Atzilut, which influences below. It is written, so what is written? That the Malchut is the aspect of the mouth, the Oral Torah, and that is why they are called so. In Atzilut, they are light, yes, it is the Infinite Light and its essence, and these are its vessels and its attributes—they are all one thing.

That is to say, the Infinite Light, blessed be He, is unified in Atzilut in the ultimate unity, that He and His will and His wisdom clothed in His speech, which is called Malchut, everything is one, everything is one thing. So there, it is not applicable to speak of the concept of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but rather, it is the ultimate unity of Divinity. Thus, the laws of the Oral Torah, the Mishnah, the Baraitot, and the authorities, which are the aspect of the

Malchut of Atzilut, are in the unity of the Malchut of Atzilut, and it is not applicable to call them the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, but rather as he will explain further, with the help of God, in the coming paragraphs. That is one aspect regarding the matter of Malchut of Atzilut as it is in Atzilut, but regarding the matter of the laws of the Torah which are in the aspect of Malchut of Atzilut, how it already comes in manifestation below, it is not only

the laws of the Torah that come in manifestation in the worlds and then can be subject to concealment and hiddenness, but also Malchut of Atzilut as it manifests, yes , yes, it is also called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, because it is clothed in Kelipat Nogah.

Meaning, it is not that it is evil, rather it is clothed in Kelipat Nogah. It is clothed in a shell that is comprised of good and evil. And our role, of course, is to clarify and elevate, God willing. Yeah.