English translation — מאמר הללויה שירו להוי' גו' תשט"ז

With the help of Heaven.

Shabbat Parshat Matot and Masei,

Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av,

the year 5716*

(An unedited transcription)

"Halleluyah! Sing to God a new song, His praise in the congregation of chassidim,"

and it concludes,

"The exaltations of God are in their throat, and a double-edged sword is in their hand."

For in the verses after this, it explains what they will do with the sword, etc.

Now, it is brought in the Midrash Tehillim in its place that this psalm speaks about the future: Who are the chassidim? These are Israel.

Whenever they see the Holy One, blessed be He, they become chassidim, etc.

They saw Him at the sea, they became chassidim and said a song, as it is stated,

"Then Moshe sang," etc.

And when they see Him in the World to Come, they become chassidim, as it is stated, "His praise in the congregation of chassidim."

And so it is brought in the Mechilta and Yalkut on Parshat Beshalach that this song is for the future to come.

Therefore it says "a new song" in the masculine form,

while in many places it is stated "a new song" in the feminine form.

And even regarding the redemption from Egypt, it says "this song" in the feminine form.

And as it is explained in Shir HaShirim Rabbah

(on the verse "I am black but comely"):

A female takes a tenth of the property, etc. So Israel inherited the land of the seven nations, which is a tenth of the seventy nations, etc., they said a song in the feminine form, etc., as it is stated, "this song to God,"

But in the future, they are destined to inherit like a male who inherits all of his father's property, etc., they will say it in the masculine form.

And we need to understand the statement, "The exaltations of God are in their throat, and a double-edged sword is in their hand,"

for since it speaks of the future redemption,

then what is the matter of the sword?

For in the future it is written,

"And they shall beat their swords into plowshares... nation shall not lift up sword against nation."

2)

To understand this, we must first preface with what is stated in the Mishnah

(Shabbat, chapter 6, mishnah 4):

"A man may not go out

(on Shabbat)

with a sword,

nor with a bow, nor with a shield, nor with a club, nor with a spear, etc."

Rabbi Eliezer says: They are ornaments for him,

and the Sages say: They are nothing but [disgraceful], as it is said: 'And they shall beat their swords into plowshares.'

Now, in this Mishnah, five weapons are enumerated:

A *sayif* is a sword, which is a weapon,

and likewise a bow,

and also a shield, whose purpose is to protect against arrows and catapult stones, is also included in the category of weapons,

and likewise a club—the Gemara explains:

What is a club? A *kulpa*,

which is a staff used for striking, with a thick head,

and thus it is also a weapon.

And it is stated in the Yerushalmi

on the verse,

"And *chamushim* the children of Israel went up from the land of Egypt,"

that the word *chamushim* has two interpretations:

one interpretation is "five," and the other is "armed,"

meaning that they were armed with the five weapons enumerated in the Mishnah

(for this is the correct version in the Yerushalmi).

And we need to understand the difference between the redemption from Egypt and the future redemption,

for regarding the future redemption it is written, "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares,"

while in the redemption from Egypt, weapons were needed.

For seemingly,

since it is a matter of redemption,

then why were weapons needed?

3)

To understand this,

we must first preface the concept of the sword in spirituality.

For the Sages, of blessed memory, said:

"Whoever recites the Shema etc. is as if he holds a double-edged sword,"

implying that there is some particular virtue specifically in a double-edged sword.

And the explanation is,

as is stated in the Zohar:

"The sword is the Name Havayah,

the head of the sword is the Yud of Havayah,

the body of the sword is the Vav,

the Hei and Hei are its two edges,

the scabbard of the sword is the Name Adnut."

And the explanation is,

for it is written,

"Havayah will shatter His adversaries,"

meaning,

that there are those who wage war against Havayah,

and the victory of the war is specifically through the Name Havayah itself,

for "the sword is Havayah,"

and through the sword of Havayah, one vanquishes the war against those who wage war against Havayah.

And the explanation is,

that the nourishment of the *chitzonim* (external forces) can come from two manners.

The first manner is from the multiplicity of *tzimtzumim* (contractions),

for when the Ein Sof light shines in a manner of revelation, they cannot receive,

because the indwelling of the Ein Sof light is only in a state of *bittul* (self-nullification),

but in a state of *yesh* (somethingness), there cannot be a revelation of the Ein Sof light,

for "I and he cannot dwell together,"

and therefore the *kelipot* (husks), which are *yesh* and a separate entity, cannot receive from the state of revelation,

but when it is contracted into a multiplicity of *tzimtzumim*,

they can receive nourishment,

because they still have a small measure of *bittul*,

for they call Him "Eloka d'Elohin" (God of gods),

except that they also maintain their own existence,

but a small measure of *bittul* is within them,

and therefore they can receive nourishment from the multiplicity of *tzimtzumim*.

And the second manner is that they receive their nourishment from elevation and exaltation,

namely from the world of *Tohu* (Chaos) that preceded *Tikkun* (Rectification),

where place does not apply at all,

and "like darkness, like light"

are equal,

and as it is written,

"The spider seizes with hands, and it is in the king's palaces,"

for since it is found in the king's palaces, where place does not apply at all,

therefore even the spider seizes with hands.

And this is what is written,

"If you elevate yourself like an eagle,"

for they elevate themselves very high,

like the way of the eagle in the heavens.

Now, this very matter—that they can receive nurture through these two modes—

depends on the service of man.

For it is written,

"Yaakov is the rope of His inheritance."

As a parable,

a rope whose one end is tied above and the other end below—

when the lower end is moved, the upper end also moves.

And so it is in the service of the souls of Israel,

that according to the manner of man's service below, so it is made above.

That is, when a person lowers himself into material things,

instead of his inner will being for G-dliness in Torah and prayer,

he lowers himself into material things,

thereby causing above an increase of tzimtzumim until nurture for the external forces can come from this.

And likewise, when a person elevates himself in a manner of haughtiness and arrogance,

even though he knows well his own lowliness,

nevertheless he elevates himself without reason or knowledge,

then "spirit brings spirit,"

causing nurture for the external forces from a very high place.

And this is the matter of Pharaoh, the letters of "the back of the neck" (HaOref),

who receives from the aspect of the back of the neck of Arich,

which is a very high level,

and this matter depends on service,

that when "they turned to Me their back and not their face"

(as stated in the Haftarah),

then through this the aspect of Pharaoh is drawn, who nurses from the back of the neck of Arich Anpin,

where "as the darkness, so is the light," etc.

And this is the matter of the double-edged sword,

to cut off their nurture from both modes.

D)

And to understand the matter in detail,

it is explained in the books of Kabbalah and Chassidus, in the discourses on Egypt and the Exodus from Egypt,

that Egypt (Mitzrayim) is the straits of the throat,

for in the throat there are three aspects,

the windpipe, the esophagus, and the jugular veins,

which are the three ministers of Pharaoh,

the chief cupbearer, the chief butcher, and the chief baker.

And behold,

just as there is Egypt and the three ministers of Pharaoh in the side of impurity,

so too there is Egypt and the three ministers in holiness.

For the chief cupbearer is the drawing down of pleasure,

since water causes all kinds of pleasure to grow,

and this is the matter of drawing down the Divine pleasure throughout the entire order of the chain of descent.

And in the human body, this is the windpipe,

for in the windpipe there are the nerves of the brain, and through the nerves, pleasure is drawn from the brain throughout the entire body,

as our sages, of blessed memory, said,

"There are three windpipes; one branches to the heart, one branches to the lungs, and one branches to the liver,"

which are the general organs,

and this is the aspect of the windpipe, which draws pleasure from the brain through the nerves of the brain throughout the entire body.

And in service, this is the study of Torah with pleasure,

for pleasure is the inwardness of the Torah,

and likewise, pleasure in prayer,

this is the aspect of the chief cupbearer.

And the chief butcher in service is the matter of the boiling of the blood in holiness,

which is the aspect of love like flames of fire,

for the chief cupbearer is the aspect of love with pleasures, which is love drawn like water,

and the chief butcher is love like flames of fire.

And the chief baker is Torah,

and this is so even though it was stated above that the chief cupbearer is Torah,

for that is the pleasure of Torah,

but Torah in general is the matter of the chief baker,

for Torah is called "wheat" (Chitah),

numerically equivalent to twenty-two,

the twenty-two letters of the Torah,

and from the wheat one must make bread,

as it is written,

"Come, eat of my bread,"

and in order for the wheat to become bread, this is through baking,

as it is written,

"And ten women shall bake your bread in one oven,"

where the oven is the heat of love like flames of fire,

and "one" is the Unique One of the world,

and "one oven" means the heat and flames of fire in the matter of the Unique One of the world,

thus there are two matters here,

the matter of the oven, which is the flames of fire,

and the matter of the Unique One of the world, which is most sublime,

and this is the aspect of the chief baker, which is the Torah,

which is the intermediary between the two lines of the chief cupbearer and the chief butcher.

And these three ministers in holiness cut off the vitality from the three ministers of the side of impurity.

For behold, also in the side of impurity there are three ministers of Pharaoh,

the chief cupbearer in the side of impurity is pleasure in material matters,

for even though it is the desire for that which is permitted,

nevertheless,

one who is immersed in them causes that he is not at all connected to a G-dly matter.

And the chief butcher is the boiling of the blood in material things and also in physical things.

And the chief baker is that his entire matter is not invested in Torah but in physicality.

And through the three ministers as they are in holiness, they cut off the nurture from the three ministers of Pharaoh of the side of impurity.

For behold,

through the chief cupbearer in holiness, which is the service of love with pleasures,

whose matter is the drawing down of pleasure in the chain of descent through the Sefirah of Chochmah,

which is the aspect of the windpipe,

"Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding,"

behold, through this he cuts off the nurture that they nurse from a high place,

for when the drawing down is through Chochmah, whose matter is self-nullification,

then they are unable to receive,

because,

what they nurse from the high place,

this is only when it is in the aspect of the encompassing light specifically,

but when it is drawn down internally,

then they are unable to nurse,

as is explained in Kuntres U'Mayan

at length.

And this is the matter of the chief cupbearer, who cuts off the nurture from the high place.

And through the chief butcher in holiness, he cuts off the nurture from the multitude of tzimtzumim,

which is caused by a person lowering himself into material things,

and this is that through the love like flames of fire and the boiling of the blood in holiness,

the boiling of the blood in the side of impurity is consumed,

which is what the Targum translates for the verse "chief butcher"

as "Rav Katulya" (chief slaughterer),

whose matter is as stated in the Gemara

on the verse,

"He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me,"

"Whoever slaughters his evil inclination," etc.,

meaning that through the boiling of the blood in holiness, he consumes the boiling of the blood in the side of impurity,

and consequently the nurture from the aspect of the multitude of tzimtzumim is nullified.

And this is the sword with two edges,

which is the matter of the service of love with delights and love like fiery sparks.

And in general, it is the difference between Torah and prayer,

for Torah is from above downward,

through which it cuts off the nourishment from the aspect of the encompassing [light],

and prayer is from below upward,

in a manner of war,

for the time of prayer is a time of battle,

and through this it cuts off the nourishment from the multitude of contractions.

And this is the sword of Havayah,

for both modes of the nourishment of the husks are cut off specifically by Havayah,

the nourishment from the aspect of the encompassing [light] is cut off by Havayah,

as it is written,

"If you elevate yourself like an eagle, from there I will bring you down, says Havayah,"

and also the nourishment from the aspect of the multitude of contractions is cut off by the name Havayah,

for the nourishment of the husks is specifically from the aspect of the multitude of contractions of the name Elokim,

and within this itself, it is not from the aspect of "Eileh,"

but rather from the aspect of "Yam,"

for from these 48 permutations the children of Cham, the earth, draw nourishment,

but from the aspect of the revelation of the name Havayah, the nourishment is nullified.

And this is the sword of Havayah,

which is a sword with two edges to cut off their nourishment in both modes.

And in [divine] service, it is the service of Torah and the service of prayer,

and there is an advantage in prayer, which is from below upward, over Torah, which is from above downward,

like the advantage of subjugation over transformation,

and like the advantage of the penitent over the righteous,

therefore Mashiach comes to bring the righteous to repentance.

And this is "whoever recites the Shema... is as if he holds a sword with two edges,"

for the Shema is called a double-edged sword to cut off the nourishment from the three ministers of Pharaoh,

through which is the exodus from Egypt,

and therefore the Shema concludes "I am Havayah your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt."

5)

And the explanation of the matter of the five weapons in particular in the service of the heart, which is prayer:

The sword corresponds to Pesukei Dezimra,

from the term "to cut down the arrogant,"

meaning that through contemplation on the matter of "they shall praise the name of Havayah, for He commanded and they were created,"

he cuts down the arrogant.

And the bow is Shemoneh Esrei,

as it is written,

"With my sword and with my bow,"

and it is translated "with my prayer and with my supplication,"

for the advantage of the bow is that it also acts at a distance,

and this is by drawing the string,

for the more one draws the string downward, the farther the arrow will reach,

and there is another advantage of the bow over the sword,

that it also kills an enemy who does not see him.

And so too in the service of Shemoneh Esrei,

for Shemoneh Esrei is a request,

the more one feels his lack,

then the request and the fulfillment of the request will be in greater depth,

meaning that the more he becomes embittered over his distance from G-dliness,

which is drawing the string downward more,

through this the fulfillment of the request will be in greater depth.

And furthermore,

it also kills an enemy who does not see him,

which is the matter of subtle evil,

for before prayer, "the way of a man is straight in his eyes,"

for he has not transgressed positive or negative commandments,

and especially if he has learned a little Torah and fulfills commandments, he is righteous in his own eyes,

however,

when he comes to the service of Shemoneh Esrei,

he feels that he has evil within him and regrets it,

which is the request in Shemoneh Esrei, "forgive us,"

and after Shemoneh Esrei we say "we have trespassed, we have betrayed," etc.,

in all the details of the 22 letters,

through which they extract the vitality from the 22 letters from which the husk draws nourishment,

as explained elsewhere.

And all this is because the revelation is greater,

for in Shemoneh Esrei we say "Blessed are You, Havayah,"

which is the matter of the drawing down of Havayah that is above the chain of descent,

and the drawing down is into "our God, King of the world,"

therefore, from the aspect of the abundance of light, they also remove the subtle evil,

as it is written,

"And also the hornet... a great and awesome God,"

for because He is a great God,

therefore even the subtle evil is cut off.

And "Eileh," which is a goad for prodding,

its matter in [divine] service is as our sages said,

"A person should always incite the good inclination against the evil inclination,"

and the explanation of "always" is that the root of evil and good is from the aspect of gevurot and chassadim,

and from the aspect of gevurot there must always be the matter of anger.

And the lance is the Shema,

for "Romach" [lance] is the 248 words of the Shema,

and the vav alludes to the six words of "Shema" and "Baruch Shem."

And the difference between the goad and the lance is,

that through the lance the vitality is completely removed,

unlike the goad, which is merely a strike.

And its matter in [divine] service,

for in the emotions there are two aspects,

permitted emotions and forbidden emotions,

the forbidden emotions must be utterly destroyed by the lance,

unlike the permitted emotions, which require the goad,

to strike them and use them in holiness.

And the shield, whose matter is to protect against arrows and catapults,

its matter in [divine] service is the wearing of tefillin before prayer and during prayer,

for during prayer there is an arousal of the husk to distract him from his service,

as it is brought in Tanya,

that it is like the parable of an uncircumcised one standing before him to distract him from his service,

and for this is the matter of wearing tefillin,

which become garments for the soul to protect against the arrows, etc.

6)

And now the reason will be understood for what they said that on Shabbat a person should not go out with a sword,

for in the service of the six weekdays, the time of prayer is a time of battle to fight with the evil in his soul,

however, on Shabbat eve at dark, the evil separates from the good,

and as the statement,

"And all judgments are removed from her, and there is no dominion... and she separates,"

therefore on Shabbat the matter of the aforementioned war does not apply,

and this is what they said: a person should not go out with the aforementioned five weapons,

for on Shabbat it is not the time for the aforementioned war.

But Rabbi Eliezer says that nevertheless they are ornaments for him,

meaning that the clarifications of the six weekdays, on Shabbat they are ornaments with which to adorn oneself,

for the prayers of the weekdays ascend in the prayer of Shabbat,

and it is an adornment for the person who prevailed during the weekdays.

And the Sages say they are not ornaments,

and the proof for this,

for in the future it is written "and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,"

and if they were ornaments, they would adorn themselves with them in the future,

but they are not ornaments at all,

and on the contrary, etc.,

and the reason for this is that whoever wrestles with a filthy person becomes filthy as well,

therefore it is not an ornament at all.

And based on this, the difference between the redemption from Egypt and the future redemption will be understood,

that although regarding the future redemption it is written "and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,"

nevertheless,

regarding the redemption from Egypt it is written "and the children of Israel went up armed,"

and this is because regarding the future it is written,

"and the spirit of impurity I will remove from the land,"

but not so regarding the redemption from Egypt, where evil was still at its full strength,

as explained in Tanya

regarding the matter of "for the people fled,"

that this is because evil was at its full strength,

except that since the redemption had to be in the blink of an eye,

they did not want to engage

(occupy themselves)

with this,

and since there was still evil, therefore they needed weapons,

but not so regarding the future, when "the spirit of impurity I will remove from the land,"

then "they shall beat their swords into plowshares."

And behold, in the future redemption there will be,

in general,

two levels,

in time and also in the soul.

For the people of the land, or as stated in Igeres HaKodesh regarding the mixed multitude,

and at the beginning of the time of the redemption it will be so for all of Israel,

in the manner of the statement of our Rabbis, of blessed memory,

"There is no difference between this world and the days of Moshiach except subjugation to the kingdoms alone," and there will be a need for a sword, etc.,

however, Torah scholars, and as stated in Igeres HaKodesh regarding Israel who are not of the mixed multitude,

and afterward it will be so for the general public,

when "the spirit of impurity I will remove from the land," they will not need a sword,

and concerning this it is said "and they shall beat their swords into plowshares," etc.

And this is the meaning of the verse "the exaltation of G-d is in their throat and a double-edged sword in their hand,"

for although it speaks of the future to come,

as stated at the opening of the psalm "Sing to G-d a new song, His praise in the assembly of the pious," and as mentioned above,

nevertheless, at the beginning of the time of the redemption there will be a need for weapons.

And concerning this it says that there will be "the exaltation of G-d in their throat and a double-edged sword in their hand,"

"to execute vengeance upon the nations,"

that the nations will still exist before they are refined to serve Him with a united shoulder,

and also in the manner explained in Likkutei Torah

on the verse "all nations surrounded me,"

which refers to "the nation that is within you,"

the body and the animal soul,

and they will need a double-edged sword in their hand.

And afterward, in the completeness of the redemption, "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, etc., and nation shall not lift up sword against nation,"

for "the spirit of impurity I will remove from the land,"

"and I will grant peace in the land,"

through the Prince of Peace,

Dovid,

the King Moshiach,

in the future redemption,

speedily in our days.