English translation — בהר א

A.

By “acquisitions”¹

there is a rule — “A person cannot acquire something that has not yet come into the world”².

Therefore the law³ is

that “one who sells the fruits of a palm tree to another

(before the fruits have begun to grow)

may retract even after the fruits have come into the world”; only when one “transfers …

<b>the body for its fruits</b>”⁴

(“such as …

a tree for its fruits”⁵)

the law⁴ is

that “<b>this is not</b> acquiring something that has not yet come into the world,

for <b>the body is present</b> and he transfers

(the body)

for the fruits”.

The Rambam says⁶,

that “the law of consecration and the law of the poor and the law of vows is not like the law of a layman in his acquisition,

for if a person said: Whatever my animal gives birth to shall be consecrated …

I will give it to charity, even though it is not consecrated because it is not yet in the world, he is nevertheless obligated to fulfill his word, as it is said⁷

‘He shall do according to all that proceeds from his mouth’.”

D.

E.

Although upon the <b>object</b> that “is not yet in the world” consecration cannot take effect,

nevertheless an obligation takes effect upon the <b>person</b> “to fulfill his word” — from the law of <b>vow</b>⁸.

: "And since this is so, if a person commanded when he is a shichiv mera and said, 'All that this tree produces shall be for the poor' ..

the poor acquire them.

There are Geonim who dispute this matter and say that the poor acquire only through things that a layman acquires with them, and therefore they do not acquire something that has not yet come into the world.

And my opinion does not incline to these words,

for a person is not commanded to transfer ownership, but he is commanded to fulfill his words regarding charity or consecration, just as he is commanded to fulfill his vow."].

Already spoken several times,

that every halacha of the Torah,

in addition to its simple content,

also has a Torah,

a teaching in spiritual service,

and in the language of the Rambam¹⁰

an "advice" and a matter of "correction of opinions": most of the laws of the Torah are nothing but advice ..

to correct the opinions and to straighten all deeds.

And so in our matter: the specific laws mentioned above regarding acquisitions

(a)

The difference between "the seller of dates of a palm tree",

or "a tree for its fruits",

(b)

The difference of the Rambam between "the law of a commoner in his acquisition"

("that a person is not commanded to transfer ownership")

and "the law of consecrated property and the law of the poor"

(regarding which the person is "&lt;b&gt;commanded&lt;/b&gt; to fulfill his words" and therefore he is obligated to fulfill his word also in relation to a thing that has not yet come into the world)

There are in spiritual service of man to his Creator.

B.

The general content of divine service is — making a "&lt;b&gt;acquisition&lt;/b&gt;"&lt;sup&gt;11&lt;/sup&gt;,

The Jew acquires for himself himself and all that is his to the Supreme One&lt;sup&gt;12&lt;/sup&gt;,

that

(It should be evident that)

He and everything that he possesses are in the domain and ownership of the Holy One, blessed be He,

through that his conduct

(In deed, speech and thought&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;)

Is always according to the will of the Holy One, blessed be He.

"I was created to serve my &lt;b&gt;Koneh&lt;/b&gt;" — and not my &lt;b&gt;Creator&lt;/b&gt; — because through this,

"service" is actualized and the concept that the Almighty is "&lt;b&gt;Kono&lt;/b&gt;" is revealed;

And this, that a Jew is "His acquisition" of the Holy One, blessed be He, will come to be revealed in completeness in the future,

as stated in the promises of the redemption&lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;

— "On that day the Lord will add etc. &lt;b&gt;to acquire&lt;/b&gt; the remnant of His people etc."

And similarly in the days of your exodus from Egypt — "This people &lt;b&gt;You acquired&lt;/b&gt;"&lt;sup&gt;16&lt;/sup&gt;].

And in this "acquisition" — that a Jew acquires himself to the Above — there are two modes

(levels)

: acquisition of the <b>body</b> and acquisition of <b>usufruct</b>.

The difference between "body" and "usufruct" in man is: "<b>Body</b>" — is his soul and body and their powers

(including — the intellect in the brain and the emotions in the heart¹⁷

and all the powers

— includes the power of thought,

speech and action)

; and "fruits" are the actions through the limbs and "garments of the soul" — the thoughts, speeches and deeds&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;

of man

(and as our sages, of blessed memory,&lt;sup&gt;19&lt;/sup&gt;

"the fruits of the righteous are commandments and good deeds"),

which "grow" out of the intellect, emotions and powers of man.

And this is the difference between "acquisition of fruits" and "acquisition of the body" in the service of man to his Maker:

Acquisition of fruits means,

that a Jew "acquires" for the Most High all his thoughts, speech, and actions,

which are the "fruits" of the soul and its faculties and garments; he is completely guarded in all of this,

that his thought, speech, and action should always be in accordance with the will of G-d,

And in the language of the Tanya²⁰

— regarding the level of a "Beinoni": "He never committed a transgression in his life and will never commit one, and he is never called a wicked person even for one hour or one moment all his days";

But the "body" — his essential intellect,

the emotions and faculties — has not been "acquired" for the Most High: his mind and heart are not freed from the possibility of evil thoughts and emotions and desires²¹

(which awaken in the heart and arise²²

in the mind etc.),

only he has control over the evil inclination and does not allow the evil emotions and desires to come into actuality,

to expression in thought, speech, and action²³.

And the acquisition of the body is,

the service of a tzaddik,

which is "acquiring" for the Most High

(also)

the essence of intellect and emotions,

through that which he nullifies the essence of his evil inclination and of the essence of intellect and evil emotions &lt;b&gt;in the heart&lt;/b&gt; and all the faculties,

until he desires only matters of good and holiness&lt;sup&gt;21&lt;/sup&gt;.

And since he "acquires" the "body"

(of his intellect and emotions in the heart etc.)

his "fruits"

(thought, speech, and deed)

&lt;b&gt;automatically&lt;/b&gt; are acquired for the Most High,

he does not need to wage war not to do an action

(in deed, speech, or thought)

against the will of God,

because by him there is initially no will &lt;b&gt;and desire&lt;/b&gt; for it in the heart.

This is also one of the explanations why a tzaddik is called "&lt;b&gt;servant&lt;/b&gt; of God"&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt;

— because servitude is a matter of "acquisition of the body",

&lt;b&gt;the body&lt;/b&gt; of the servant is acquired for his master,

&lt;b&gt;and automatically&lt;/b&gt; — "

(all)

what a servant acquires, his master acquires"&lt;sup&gt;25&lt;/sup&gt;.

Analogously, this is the service of a tzaddik who has acquired his essence and being

("his body")

for the Most High,

for the Most High.

3.

Based on this one will understand the content of the matter of "a person cannot transfer ownership of something that has not yet come into the world"

(like "dates of a palm tree")

— in the service of man:

One who does not hold at the level of "acquisition of the body",

but only at "acquisition of fruits",

he can only "transfer ownership" of his thoughts, speech and actions to the Holy One, blessed be He

(but not his "body",

the intellect and the emotions of the heart etc.)

— must know²⁶,

that he has the power to dominate

(through war)

only over the actions, speech etc. with which he occupies himself <b>now in actuality</b>; he is, however, not a master to be able now to "transfer ownership" of a "thing that has not yet come into the world":

When he now makes a resolution that <b>in the future</b> he will do a good deed etc. — with this a "kinyan" has <b>not</b> been completed,

because there is not the certainty²⁷

that the future deed will be done in accordance with the divine will

(It is a situation where "he can retract").

For since his "body" is not acquired for God and "the essence and substance of evil is in its full strength..

and nothing has passed and gone from him"²⁸,

he must each time anew wage war with the evil inclination in his heart and mind not to allow that the desire and will of the evil inclination should descend in thought, speech and deed.

Consequently it can be,

that when it will come to actualization,

the evil inclination will overpower, may G-d forbid, and not allow that the good resolution be carried out in practice.

4.

But nevertheless,

also the one who does not yet have the power to accomplish the matter of "acquisition of the body"

(to completely transform the emotional attributes of the heart and the will of the mind so that they should be acquired to God)

— he has advice how to "acquire" his "fruits that have not yet come into the world,"

through that he "acquires &lt;b&gt;body&lt;/b&gt; for its fruits ..

such as ..

a tree for its fruits"

(i.e.,

that is,

that although the body itself he cannot acquire to the Holy One, blessed be He,

he can, however, acquire the "body

(only in relation)

for its fruits").

The explanation of this:

The service of a Beinoni is not limited only²⁹

to his "garments of the soul" — that every time when in his heart etc. is aroused a desire and will, he only fights to prevent the "spreading" of the desire and will into thought, speech and deed³⁰

— rather the service is also²⁹

effective upon the midot and intellect themselves,

that he subdues

(and until it makes an impression

(at least)

also regarding the future)

— the evil <b>that is in his heart</b>³¹

and mind.

As the Alter Rebbe³²

explains,

that during prayer a Beinoni arouses in himself love of Hashem with revelation of his heart³³

which effects that the evil in his heart should then be "like a person <b>who is asleep</b>"³⁴

(and this love of Hashem during prayer leaves an impression upon the person which gives him strength and power "to overcome and rule over this evil that desires desire"³⁵).

And in particular — since the attribute of love of a Beinoni during prayer is with him with a truth³⁶,

that "

(Sfas Emes)

<b>established forever</b>"³⁷

— he has the power to arouse this love for Hashem

(and through this "lull to sleep" the evil in his heart)

"during prayer <b>every day</b>"³⁶

— it turns out,

that a Beinoni has a

(certain)

dominion also over the "essence and substance"

(the attributes etc.)

of the evil inclination³⁸.

And this gives an additional explanation in that which the Alter Rebbe says²⁰

about a "Beinoni",

that "he never committed a transgression in his life <b>and will never commit a transgression forever</b>".

That

is,

from the perspective of his state <b>in the present</b>³⁹

he is certain that "<b>he will never commit a transgression forever</b>",

that also in the future he will surely be able to dominate the evil inclination and not commit any transgression —

Because a Beinoni has control also over the middot⁴⁰

etc. from the evil inclination,

But not over the essential middot &lt;b&gt;in themselves&lt;/b&gt;,

Only in relation to their extension

("fruits")⁴¹

In thought, speech and action.

And this is the concept of "acquires the body for its fruits" in the service of man:

Even if one

does not hold at the level to be able to change the <b>essence</b> of the attributes etc. that are in his heart

(that one should not have any desires etc. at all)

— it is however in his power to effect

(a coercion etc.)

upon his attributes etc. at least in relation to their "extension"

("body to its fruits")

; and then also "its fruits"

(thoughts, speech, and actions)

that have not yet come into the world are acquired for God — he is in a state of "<b>shall not pass forever</b>".

5.

In other words it means:

Even though not everyone can attain the level of "servant of G-d",

that "his body is acquired" for G-d — but every Jew is a <b>messenger</b> of the Most High who has the powers to carry out the purpose of creation to make for Him a dwelling place <b>in the lower realms</b>,

because

"A person's messenger — the Most High⁴²

— is like him",

and "like the sender himself"⁴³.

And as discussed several times,

that the highest level in shlichus is⁴⁴,

that not only the action of the shliach,

or even the power of his action,

is attributed to the sender,

but <b>the entirety of the existence</b> of the shliach is "like the sender himself"

(<b>and consequently</b> the action of the shliach is accounted as the action of the sender).

who has no existence of his own at all — his entire body is acquired to his master; but by a shliach — even in the highest level of shlichus,

that the shliach himself

(not only his action or power of action)

is "like the sender himself" — it is only in relation to the matter of shlichus

(similar to "a body for its fruits"),

but not regarding his other matters].

It turns out,

that every Jew has the power to surrender his entire existence to the Above,

to carry out His mission as an agent of G-d to fulfill the purpose of creation,

through which, by means of the general "zeal"

(at least in the manner of "the body for its fruits"),

all his particular actions become &lt;b&gt;automatically&lt;/b&gt;

(and his words and thoughts)

"acquired" for G-d,

in accordance with the will of the sender.

6.

In this, the Rambam innovates further,

that "the law of consecration ...

is not like the law of a common person in his acquisition,

for if a person said, 'Whatever my animal gives birth shall be consecrated ...

he is obligated to fulfill his word' — which in spiritual service can be explained to mean:

When someone does not even hold at the level to be able to carry out the acquisition "body for its fruits" — he has no control over the "body" of his attributes

(even not in relation to "for its fruits"),

so that he is seemingly not connected to "acquiring" his "fruits"

(his actions)

that have not yet come into the world

(and consequently — in every action etc. he must go through again a war with the evil inclination that it should be an action according to the will of his Maker)

So in what matters are these words said,

when it speaks about acquisition of a commoner,

that "a person is not commanded to fulfill his words",

i.

e.

about matters of permission of a person; but when it speaks about "the law of consecration",

holiness-related matters,

good resolutions in matters of Torah and commandments

(that "he is commanded to fulfill his words")

— then indeed, even if no acquisition takes effect on his resolution — in the object itself

(in the thing external to the person),

it nevertheless creates an obligation in the person — in the subject

(and consequently also an assistance and giving of power and help)

to fulfill his words.

And the explanation in this:

The⁴⁶

permitted actions of man are primarily connected with nature

(his body and)

his animal soul,

which desires them for the sake of its existence and vitality⁴⁷,

only the G‑dly soul can effect that the deeds be done "for the sake of Heaven"⁴⁸.

But even afterwards,

they remain "deeds of⁴⁸

(of man),

permitted actions

(i.e.

that is,

actions that are from the body etc.).

In contrast, matters of Torah and mitzvos are from the outset actions that are from the side of &lt;b&gt;the soul&lt;/b&gt;.

The evil inclination only tries to &lt;b&gt;disturb&lt;/b&gt; the Jew from fulfilling the mitzvah.

And the performance of the mitzvah comes about through the soul &lt;b&gt;coercing&lt;/b&gt; the inclination,

until "his inclination is weakened"&lt;sup&gt;49&lt;/sup&gt;,

so that &lt;b&gt;it&lt;/b&gt;

(the soul)

may fulfill the mitzvah&lt;sup&gt;50&lt;/sup&gt;.

And this is the reason for the difference between "common" and "consecrated":

When a Jew accepts good resolutions in connection with his mundane matters

("acquisition of the profane"),

is since that these matters are primarily actions of body and animal soul — and the man does not yet have any control over the "body" of his evil inclination — there has not arisen here any obligation of "and subjugation",

because it is a thing that is not in his possession⁵¹

But not so in matters of holiness — Torah and commandments — which are primarily actions of the soul

(one only needs to nullify the hindrance of the evil inclination)

— the good resolution itself that comes from the soul already obligates

And subjugates the soul⁵²

to carry out the resolution.

— A "jealousy" in actuality

(in the object of the action)

cannot be,

because the evil inclination can interfere in it and consequently there is no certainty that it will come to fruition;

But regarding the soul,

since it is prepared by nature⁵³

to carry out the matters in actual deed

(since they are <b>its</b> actions,

it is “in its authority and ownership”)

— there applies <b>upon it</b> an obligation and commitment <b>to fulfill his words</b>

(although it has not yet come <b>into the world</b> outside of it),

And a command and obligation from the Torah also includes <b>assistance and help from above</b>,

that the soul should be able to overcome the obstacles from the body etc. and carry out its resolution <b>in actual deed</b>⁵⁴.

7.

And may it be His will,

that through this engagement in the laws of acquisition,

one should merit very soon the fulfillment of the prophecy¹⁵

"On that day the Lord will again <b>acquire</b> the remnant of His people etc." — there will be fulfilled the "

(Until¹⁶

pass over, O Lord)

until a people which You have <b>acquired</b> passes over"⁵⁵,

the Almighty will acquire "His people" in completeness⁵⁶,

and through this — also the other "acquisitions" that "the Holy One, blessed be He, acquired in His world"⁵⁷,

until the acquisition of "the Holy Temple, the <b>one</b> acquisition"⁵⁷,

the third Beis HaMikdash,

may it be built speedily in our days, literally.

(From sichos of Shabbos Parshas Vayechi 5746,

after Shabbos Parshas 5722)