English translation — רשימת מאמר כי תשא תשי"א

[With the help of Heaven.

Shabbos of Parshas Vayakhel,

Parshas Shekalim,

Rosh Chodesh Adar-Sheini,

the year 5711*]

"When you lift up the head of the children of Israel,"

specifically Moshe Rabbeinu, the faithful shepherd, the faithful shepherd of the faith of the nations of the world

(Siddur)

the children of Israel,

encompassing, and it needs to be said "shepherd,"

in inwardness.

"When you lift up the head of the children of Israel according to their numbers, and they shall give..."

And it needs to be understood that it should have said "when you count the children of Israel," and what is "lift up" and specifically "the head"?

And to understand this: the content of the parshah is two matters: that Moshe should take from each one the half-shekel for the work of the Mishkan.

A commandment for generations to give each year the half-shekel to the chamber of the Temple, and from there they would offer the communal offerings, etc.,

and as is explained in the Mishnah of Shekalim.

Now, the first matter is not an eternal obligation, for Moshe was commanded to count the children of Israel and it is not a commandment for generations,

and on the contrary,

as per the statement of Yoav who evaded the counting of the children of Israel.

The second matter, that the half-shekels were taken for the sockets, was only once,

as is understood.

The third obligation, our Sages of blessed memory derived—and it is also proven from Divrei HaYamim II, chapter 24,

verse 9—an eternal obligation each and every year to give the half-shekel and to offer from it offerings, etc.,

and the counting of the children of Israel in this matter is not at all relevant to know their sum,

and it implies in many places that they also did not count them.

And if so, it is difficult, for from the simple language it implies that for all the matters of the parshah, the introduction of "when you lift up the head of the children of Israel" applies.

And the general concept of this in the service [of G-d] is,

that in order to offer the sacrifices upon the altar,

which they would offer and the supernal fire would consume the sacrifices, and because of this also the animal soul of each individual Jew was diminished and included in holiness, until each one would bind his intellect and understanding to the greatness of G-d to become nullified to Him,

and now this is accomplished through prayer, which they established corresponding to the sacrifices,

behold, there must first be a giving of power and assistance for this from above.

And this is the matter of "Moshe shepherds the faith" through Torah and acts of kindness,

and through this is accomplished the lifting and raising of the heads of the children of Israel,

the elevation from below to above through the sacrifices and prayer.

And to understand the relevance of this matter specifically to Moshe, the Faithful Shepherd,

to whom it was said,

"When you lift up the head,"

"This they shall give... the half-shekel,"

behold, he is called the Faithful Shepherd because he shepherds the faith, nourishing and sustaining it.

For faith in its own essence can be in a transcendent manner,

and "a thief breaks through the wall, [his heart] only trembles" [at the Name of Heaven],

and in subtlety one can find in every businessman that even though he believes that He is the One who gives you strength etc.,

nevertheless he delves into schemes that confuse him from Torah and prayer,

and the fixed times [for study] even for a baal habayis,

which is a contradiction.

And likewise with those who sit in the tent [of Torah], who believe that this is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He,

and when he succeeds in his study and accomplishes much, he takes pride in this, and needless to say when he studies for this purpose,

and consequently sometimes he will bend the matter so that his hand will be on top.

Therefore, one must draw the faith into the innermost parts of his soul's faculties so that they will conduct themselves in actual deed in accordance with his faith.

And this is accomplished specifically through his contemplation in the depth of his soul, and he must drive the nail strongly so that the result of this will not be false imaginings.

And in what is this contemplation?

Behold, the distinction is known between faith that comes through the wisdom of investigation, which is the faith of the pious of the nations of the world,

and the faith of the children of Israel.

[The distinction is between] He who fills all worlds and He who encompasses all worlds.

The life-force that is clothed and particularized into details,

and consequently the world has existence, except that it is nullified to the life-force that is clothed within it,

[this is] the Name Elokim.

He who encompasses all worlds is a general encompassing, above division and above particularization,

[this is] the faith of the children of Israel.

And this is also the reason they were not careful about [the prohibition of] partnership [in divine service].