The Holy Epistle: Epistle 06 – Part 4 – audio

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The Holy Epistle: Epistle 06 – Part 4 – video
The Holy Epistle: Epistle 07 – Part 1 – video

In answer to the question asked above, then, it is now clear that the way by which one can arrive at “G‑d’s truth” is by the arousal of Divine compassion.

אך התעוררות רחמים רבים לפני ה׳ צריכה להיות גם כן באמת

However, [this] arousal of G‑d’s great compassion also needs to be done in truth.

וגם כשהוא באמת שלו, איך יוכל על ידי אמת שלו לעורר רחמים עליונים מאמת ה׳

But even when it is true in mortal terms, how — by means of relative truth — can one arouse Supernal compassion from the truth of G‑d?

אך העצה לזה היא מדת הצדקה

The solution recommended for this is to practice the attribute of charity,

שהיא מדת הרחמים על מאן דלית ליה מגרמיה

which is the attribute of compassion for him who has nothing of his own,

להחיות רוח שפלים כו׳

to24 “revive the spirit of the lowly.”

ובאתערותא דלתתא, אתערותא דלעילא: ה׳ מעורר ישנים ומקיץ נרדמים

And the arousal from below elicits an arousal from Above: G‑d25 “rouses those who sleep and awakens those who slumber”;

הם בחינת רחמים רבים וחסדים עליונים הנעלמים

[i.e., He rouses His] great compassion and the Supernal attributes of kindness which are concealed,

As with a sleeping person’s dormant soul-powers, “sleep” and (more deeply) “slumber” here signify two degrees of dormancy in the essentially concealed states of Divine compassion and kindness.

לצאת מההעלם אל הגילוי והארה רבה

so that they emerge from concealment into manifestation and into a great illumination,

לאור באור החיים, אמת ה׳ לעולם

so that [a man is]26 “illuminated with the light of life” — with27 the “truth of G‑d unto the world.”

* * *

וזהו לשון זריעה הנאמר בצדקה

This, then, is the meaning of the idiom of “sowing” related to charity, as in the verse with which this epistle opened, “He who sows charity,” or as in the verse,28 “Sow for yourselves for charity.”

להצמיח אמת העליון, אמת ה׳

one [thereby] causes the Supernal truth, the truth of G‑d, to sprout, just as a plant that sprouts reveals that which was previously sown.

ובפרט בצדקה וחסד של אמת שעושים עם ארץ הקודש, תבנה ותכונן במהרה בימינו אמן

[This is achieved] especially through acts of charity and true kindness that are done for the benefit of the Holy Land (May it be built and established speedily in our days, Amen!),

לקיים מה שכתוב: אמת מארץ תצמח

thereby realizing the verse,29 “Truth shall sprout forth from the land,” where ‘land’ alludes both to the Land of Israel here below and to the Sefirah of Malchut Above,

על ידי זריעת הצדקה בה

by sowing charity in it.

וחסד ורחמים רבים הנאספים ונלקטים לתוכה

And the kindness and great compassion that are gathered into it and gleaned in it,

הם מעוררים גם כן חסדים עליונים הצפונים ונעלמים (בנוסח אחר: בה)

correspondingly arouse the Supreme graces that are hidden and concealed30,

כמו שכתוב: אשר צפנת כו׳

as it is written,31 “[How great is Your kindness] which You have hidden,”

לכוננה ולהקימה

so that [the land] is established and set up firmly.

Both Eretz Yisrael and the Sefirah of Malchut of Atzilut must be buttressed; the latter, because of its descent in order to serve as a source of created beings that are lower than the World of Atzilut.

וזהו שכתוב: בצדקה תכונני

And of this it is written,32 “Through tzedakah shall you be firmly established,” referring to the establishment of the “Congregation of Israel” here below, as well as to its spiritual counterpart Above — the Sefirah of Malchut of Atzilut, which is also known by the same name.

Footnotes 1.Verse 18, where the letters sin and chaf of שכר are each vocalized with a segol. 2.Bereishit 8:2. 3.Michah 7:20. 4.III, 131b. 5.“Cf. [Tanya], Part I, ch. 45.” ( — Note of the Rebbe.) 6.Menachot 29b; Yerushalmi, Chagigah 2:1. See also above, Epistle 5. 7.Parentheses are in the original text. 8.Malachi 3:6. 9.Parentheses are in the original text. 10.Tehillim 40:6. 11.Parentheses are in the original text. 12.Siddur Tehillat HaShem, p. 43. 13.“Cf. Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, ch. 7. However, we cannot assume that the Alter Rebbe is referring directly to this chapter, for then he would have stated so explicitly, as above (‘in Likkutei Amarim, Part II’). At any rate, this does not warrant a lengthy discussion at this point.” ( — Note of the Rebbe.) 14.Tanya, beginning of ch. 2. 15.See Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar, p. 10b; also elsewhere. 16.Siddur Tehillat HaShem, p. 171. 17.See Likkutei Amarim, Part I, ch. 14; Part II, Chinuch Katan. 18.Ibid., Part I, ch. 14. 19.Bamidbar 18:7. 20.Shabbat 55a. 21.Shmot 26:28. 22.Michah 7:8. 23.Tehillim 117:2. 24.Yeshayahu 57:15. 25.Siddur Tehillat HaShem, p. 166. 26.Iyov 33:30. 27.Cf. Tehillim 117:2. 28.Hoshea 10:12. See also below, Epistle 8. 29.Tehillim 85:12. 30.An alternative version adds here: “in it”. 31.Tehillim 31:20. 32.Yeshayahu 54:14.

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