ספר הזוהר מביא את הגאולה יפקון בה מגלותא ברחמי | הרב מנחם מיידנצ'יק, ד' חשוון | אגרות הקודש סימן כ"ו

Today, Wednesday, we are beginning a new letter, Letter 25 in the Tanya. After discussing in the previous letter the concept of the Shechinah being clothed in exile within the*kelipot*( shells), today we will discuss—in Letter 25—how, due to the Shechinah's clothing in exile, there is muteness and concealment within the Torah, where the*kelipah*obscures the light of the Torah. The mission of the Jew who studies Torah is essentially to reveal the Divinity; the moment a person studies Torah and, through that study, understands what is kosher, what is invalid,

what is permitted, and so on, they are essentially separating the good from the evil. The moment they rule on what is permitted and what is forbidden, what is kosher, and so on, it means that even in the Torah there is clothing in good and evil, and the Jew must separate it, refine the good from the evil, and elevate the good.

Thus, the Alter Rebbe will begin to explain: he will bring a passage from the Ra'aya Meheimna in the Zohar, specifically from Parshat Naso, from which a misunderstanding could arise that the revealed part of the Torah is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, while the inner dimension of the Torah —which has been and will be revealed primarily in the future when Mashiach comes—is the Tree of Life. So, the Alter Rebbe will explain that this premise is incorrect, because the entire Torah is called the Tree of Life . So, what is the meaning in Ra'aya Meheimna regarding the revealed part of the Torah? Good and evil refers to the clothing of Divinity in good and evil; it is actually speaking about the matter of prohibition and permission, kosher and invalid.

And the moment a Jew studies Torah, they separate the good from the evil and refine the good from the evil. Let's see inside: In Ra'aya Meheimna, Parshat Naso, it speaks about the verse, "And the wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament." The Zohar says: In this composition of yours, the Book of Zohar , this composition will be tasted. The answer from the Zohar and the light of ...The Supernal Mother, which is*Binah d'Atzilut*, where the level of*Teshuvah *(repentance) resides—the supernal repentance at the level of*Binah*—in

these, in this composition, one does not need trials. According to this, it is written there in Ra'aya Meheimna that it refers to the children of Israel in the final exile, because it is written: "Many shall be refined, purified, and tested." Yes, those who are from the side of good will stand the test, and those who are from the side of evil will be among them, and the wicked will act wickedly.

Regarding this, he says that "the wise," those who will understand, those who will study, those who will comprehend, those who engage with the Tree of Life, with the secrets of*Binah*—which refers to the inner dimension of the Torah— these do not require trials. "And because of this, Israel is destined to taste of the Tree of Life, which is the Book of Zohar, and they will go out from exile with mercy"; meaning, through the study of the Zohar, one exits exile with mercy. He says that through the

study of the inner dimension of the Torah, it brings the redemption, as we know; therefore, it is very important to study Tanya and to study Chassidut, because this study essentially brings the redemption closer. A person can live the redemption through studying the inner dimension of the Torah, experiencing divinity with mercy, and the verse is fulfilled in them: "The Lord alone shall guide him, and there is no strange god with Him," meaning in the time to come, the people of Israel will not need the nations of

the world, whose angels and ministers are called " the other side." Blessed is He, who will Himself take the people of Israel out of exile and lead them to redemption; they will no longer have need of the nations of the world.

The Tree of Good and Evil, where there is forbidden and permitted, impurity and purity, will no longer dominate Israel. Their sustenance will not come from that side; their sustenance will be only from the Tree of Life, and they will have no difficulties from the side of evil, nor any conflict. There will be no difficulties and no conflicts from the spirit of impurity, for it is written regarding the future in the Book of Zechariah 13: "And I will remove the spirit of impurity from the land," so

that scholars will not need to be supported by the common people. Today, scholars receive from the common people, but in the time to come, it will not be from that side, but from the good side—eating purity and kosher, not from the "mixed multitude" that the Zohar says eat what is impure, disqualified, and forbidden.

The Zohar continues—and of course, we are translating it all—and in our time, when the Tree of Good and Evil rules the world, the scholars are like Sabbaths and festivals that have nothing of their own; they only have what the "common" people give them, just like the Sabbath, where one eats what they prepared on the weekday. As it is written: "Whoever exerts himself on the Sabbath eve will eat on the Sabbath." So, what does a person eat on the Sabbath? From what they worked on during the weekday. Right?

So just as one eats from the weekday, in exile, we are still eating from the "secular" and the common people, but when the Tree of Life rules—when will the Tree of Life rule? That is in the redemption, when the Tree of Good and Evil is subdued. The Tree of Good and Evil will be humbled, and there will be no common people except those who are supported by the scholars. It will be the opposite: the scholars will support the common people, and only what they give them will exist, as if they were never in the world.

And the common people will be submissive to the scholars as if they had never existed at all. And thus, questions of forbidden and permitted, impurity and purity will not be drawn from the common people of the side of exile, for from their perspective, there is no difference between exile and the days of the Messiah except for the subjugation of the kingdoms; they will not taste from the Tree of Life. The common people— well, what is the difference regarding the days of the Messiah? After all, it

is said that we are in the days of the Messiah, for it is written: "There is no difference between the days of the Messiah...yes, there is no difference the kingdoms alone." And the fact that today a Jew anywhere in the world can keep the Torah and commandments anywhere, and no one interferes with him—that is a sign of the redemption, a sign that we are in the days of the Messiah.

Yes, and one must learn that they will need Mishnah and laws regarding the forbidden and the permitted, ritual impurity and purity. So far, in the Ma'amarei Admur HaZaken, so far we are essentially from the mountain of the Ma'amar. Let us continue: And now, the understanding at first glance, seemingly from the phrasing of this article for those lacking knowledge now, it is understood at first glance that those lacking knowledge and understanding believe that the study of the forbidden and the permitted and the order of purity laws,

yes, everything discussed there about what is impure and what is pure, etc., and matters of good and evil—aside from being a great wonder in itself. The matter in itself is a great wonder, that a part of the Torah is even called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

We will explain this later on. For seemingly, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil refers to the*Kelipat Noga*(the Shell of Brilliance). And it contradicts the literal verses and the teachings of our Sages, that the entire Torah revealed to us and our children is called the Tree of Life to those who hold fast to it. Indeed, the entire Torah was essentially called the Tree of Life to those who hold fast to it.

And not only the Book of Zohar is called the Tree of Life, but the entire Torah. Especially since the Zohar was concealed in their days. The Zohar had not yet been revealed, and also all the wisdom of Kabbalah was hidden in their days and concealed from all the Torah scholars, as a treasure. And furthermore—done in private and not in public.

It was also modest, the Zohar, and also there were only what are called unique, select individuals who studied it, as we see in the Gemara . As the Ari z "l wrote, that specifically in these final generations , it is permitted and a commandment to reveal this wisdom, the Ari. The z" l says now: We are approaching the redemption, and now, the generations need the hidden Torah, so he began to reveal the inner dimension of the Torah , the Ari z "l, and not in the

early generations, as he writes in the introduction to Rabbi Chaim Vital in the Sha'ar HaHakdamot and so on. And also Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said in the Holy Zohar that permission was not granted to reveal it except to his colleagues alone; they could reveal the inner dimension of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

And furthermore, this is a profound wonder according to this; according to this, there is a wonder or a question here (by the Admur HaZaken). At first glance in the Ma'amar, it seemingly appears that only the Book of Zohar is called the Tree of Life. The revealed part is called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Of course, we will explain this later on.

The study of the forbidden and permitted, and all the more so the civil laws, all kinds of disputes between a man and his fellow, did not push aside the prayer commandment which was established through the secrets of the Zohar and higher unifications. We know that prayer is not a simple matter, and the prayer books were established according to unifications and holy names and higher*Sefirot*. It is not just that they made texts out of nothing. It is very precise.

Therefore, it is forbidden for a person to change things , and everyone doing whatever they want . The Admur HaZaken, it is known that he made the prayer book of the holy Ari according to the Ari. He took many versions and made from it a prayer book according to the unifications, according to the letter combinations, which is called the Ari's prayer book, according to...according to what... according to the Admur HaZaken, and with this, Chabad prays.

Yes, like Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his colleagues, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai— to them were revealed the secrets and the unifications, and upon this, the prayer is based. It is not a matter, Meaning, it is not a regular matter. The point is that, effectively, the Admor HaZaken is going to ask here— and with God's help, he will answer in the coming days, of course—about how we view the Written Torah regarding what is called the matter of forbidden and permitted. As it is stated in the Gemara, that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his colleagues, and anyone whose Torah is their craft—" whose Torah is their craft "means someone whose profession is Torah, who lives the Torah, yes?

That it is his business, his vitality, his life—they do not interrupt for prayer. They would not interrupt for prayer, even when engaged in civil laws, like Rav Yehuda, whose entire study was in Seder Nezikin; since his whole study was in Seder Nezikin, he would not interrupt. And even then, he would not pray except every 30 days, when he would review his study—he would pray from 30 days to 30 days, yes? Rather, every 30 days he would review his studies.

As it is in the Gemara and the Jerusalem Talmud, first chapter of Berakhot, it is the opinion of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai that even for the Shema, one only interrupts if it is from the Mikra; only from the Written Torah do they interrupt for the Shema, and not from the Mishnah. That is to say, he says: Mikra is preferable to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and he did not distinguish between Seder Zeraim, Moed, Kodshim, Tahorot, or Nezikin—he did not distinguish. Yes, yes, that one should not interrupt. This is stated regarding the study of the orders, that they should not interrupt.

Yes. That is to say, even in Nezikin. So the Admor HaZaken, seemingly and incidentally, contradicts his own opinion elsewhere in Ra'aya Mehemna, where he says that the Mishnah, compared to the Mikra, is like a maidservant. This means that the Mikra, ostensibly, is more important.

So why is it that for the Mishnah one specifically does not interrupt? And the Mikra, which is the Torah of Moses, is surely preferable. The Mikra, which is the Torah of Moses, is surely preferable to Kabbalah, to the Matronita in Ra'aya Mehemna; it is called Matronita, a queen, and the Written Torah is a queen, it is a level of King—seemingly more important, so seemingly Rabbi Shimon holds that the Mikra of the Torah. Written is more important even than Kabbalah, yet here it turns out that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai holds that the Mishnah is more important than the Mikra, and that for the Mikra one does interrupt for the Shema.

For the Mishnah, one does not interrupt. So the matter of the Queen, the Admor HaZaken says in brackets: that is, the foundation of the Father ( Abba) clothed in Zeir Anpin, as he wrote. The Ari z" l, as it is possible to elaborate on this more, and also the pilpul of questions and answers, according to what is written in Ra'aya Mehemna, from the side of the spirit. This means that not only the Mishnahs regarding the laws themselves, but also the pilpulim, the questions, and the answers in the laws, we find that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai engaged in them.

We desire that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai engaged in them extensively, even while he was in the cave—although it does not concern the final halachic ruling, especially in civil laws, particularly when he was in the cave, and on the contrary, by virtue of the suffering. The cave, and on the contrary, by virtue of the suffering of the cave, he merited this, of course. In the Gemara, he merited all the divine revelation, Rabbi Shimon and all his transcendence, and he would say to Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair: for

every question of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, he would give him 24 answers, 24 chapters. He said: Had you not seen me in this state, meaning, if I had not reached the suffering of the cave, I would not have attained such a high spiritual level that I could provide you with 24 answers to every question.

And also, truly, he was compelled, he dwelled in the cave, yes? The main study in the cave was the Mishnaic Torah, which, before it was arranged, consisted of 600 orders of Mishnah that were in the nation, until our Holy Rabbi arranged the six orders of Mishnah; before that, there were 600 orders. The Zohar and the Tikkunim could have been finished in two or three months because, surely, he did not say the same thing twice; he certainly...perhaps occupied...surely they were constantly engaged with the orders of Mishnah in public. And our Sages also said: Since the destruction of the Temple, the Holy One, blessed be He, has only the four cubits of Halacha .

This means the four cubits of Halacha are, in essence, in place of the Temple . So how can it be said, according to the explanation at first glance—and of course we will answer this in the coming days—that the study of the laws of prohibition and permission is a matter of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? How can one say this regarding the matter of prohibition and permission? The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and we will see this later on.

In any case, we will effectively answer in the coming days the question of how we call the study of Torah a matter of good and evil.