Letter
2
Tammuz
17,
Tav-Reish-Peh-Bet,
July
13,
1922
To
my
flesh
and
blood
...
the
exalted
and
glorified.
Now
I
have
come
to
reply
to
your
letter
from
the
33rd
of
the
Omer
Count
[Lag
BaOmer],
along
with
your
letter
from
the
15th
of
Sivan,
which
I
received
yesterday,
and
for
which
I
refrained
from
replying
to
your
letter
from
Lag
BaOmer,
as
I
had
hoped
you
would
inform
me
of
the
order
of
fixed
names
between
us
by
which
to
disclose
the
thoughts
in
our
hearts.
However,
I
received
the
argument,
“I
do
not
know”
...
and
for
which
now,
too,
I
will
not
be
able
to
elaborate
due
to
my
fear
that
you
would
misunderstand.
Therefore,
I
will
wait
for
the
third
letter;
perhaps
I
will
be
able
to
discern
a
clear
way
by
which
to
let
you
know
that
which
is
in
my
heart
and
I
will
not
miss
the
target.
I
regret
the
long
time
that
I
had
disappointedly
spent
in
vain
in
three
long
letters—the
first
from
the
22nd
of
Shevat,
in
which
I
wrote
you
a
good
poem
for
the
work,
which
begins:
Indeed,
let
my
tongue
stick
to
the
roof
of
my
mouth;
all
my
bones
are
dried
of
oil.
And
from
the
work
of
the
Lord
is
every
potion.
And
the
life
of
all,
in
Him
shall
it
be
believed.
Another
letter
from
the
10th
of
Adar,
in
which
I
interpreted
a
bewildering
Midrash
[commentary]:
“A
hegemon
asked
one
of
the
members
of
the
house
of
Selini.
He
said
to
him,
‘Who
will
take
the
kingship
after
us?’
He
brought
a
clean
piece
of
paper,
took
a
pen
and
wrote
on
it,
‘And
after
that
his
brother
came
out,’
etc.
They
said,
‘Look,
old
words
from
the
mouth
of
a
new
old
man.’”
I
had
explained
the
wondrous
truth
in
these
words.
A
third
letter
was
from
the
third
day
of
[the
Torah
portion]
VaYikrah,
in
which
I
explained
the
dispute
between
the
House
of
Shammai
and
the
House
of
Hillel
regarding
how
to
dance
before
the
bride.
I
also
said
a
true
and
pertinent
poem
that
begins:
Please
see,
whose
is
the
signature?
It
is
a
question
for
all
the
people
of
the
world.
And
for
the
burning
fire
As
a
wrongdoing
man
or
as
a
rebellious
woman.
I
find
no
flaw
in
them
that
should
have
caused
their
loss,
except
that
you
might
have
misunderstood
them
due
to
lack
of
clarity
between
us.
Therefore,
it
is
a
great
commandment
to
break
this
iron
wall
that
stands
between
us,
where
one
does
not
understand
the
language
of
the
other,
as
in
the
generation
of
Babylon.
And
what
you
have
proven
lengthily
in
your
letter,
to
evidently
show
that
the
foundations
of
our
love
are
based
on
“concealed
love,”
and
concluded
from
it
what
you
consider
a
clear
conclusion
that
there
is
no
fear
at
all
regarding
all
the
questions
I
had
asked
you,
these
are
your
words,
verbatim:
“However,
I
have
no
fear
at
all
regarding
your
question
concerning
me
regarding
you,
or
concerning
you
regarding
me.
They
are
all
annulled
and
canceled,
and
you,
too,
should
not
fear
at
all
or
look
at
the
façade,
but
at
the
internal
revealing
of
the
heart,
as
a
lover
who
hides
the
myriad
thoughts
rushing
through
his
heart
and
makes
them
one
piece,
good
and
strong,
to
repel
from
him
all
the
pickles,
piquant
foods,
garlic,
and
onion.
By
this
request
I
do
not
mean
to
increase
the
love
or
not
revoke
it,
for
the
love
stands
in
its
place,
perfect
and
whole,
completely
unchanged,
and
there
is
nothing
to
add
to
it
or
take
away.
“However,
to
not
make
you
sorry
needlessly—and
why
and
what
for,
and
by
your
sorrow
you
will
add
to
mine,
and
you
certainly
do
not
want
me
to
be
sad—I
have
therefore
hinted
those
two
hints
for
you,
for
they
are
true
and
simple,”
thus
far
your
words.
What
shall
I
do
if
I
cannot
lie
even
when
the
truth
is
bitter?
Therefore,
I
shall
tell
you
the
truth:
I
am
still
very
uncomfortable
with
all
your
lofty
words.
If
that
pains
you,
truth
is
still
my
most
beloved.
It
is
written,
“Love
your
friend
as
yourself,”
and
“That
which
you
hate,
do
not
do
to
your
friend,”
so
how
can
I
leave
you
with
a
“sweet
thing”
if
it
is
not
real?
This
is
truly
loathed
by
me
and
I
shall
vomit
it
and
utterly
repel
it.
Especially,
regarding
the
most
important
matter,
called
“love,”
which
is
the
spiritual
connection
between
Israel
and
their
Father
in
heaven,
as
it
is
written,
“And
You
shall
bring
us,
our
King,
to
Your
great
name,
Selah,
in
truth
and
in
love,”
and
as
it
is
written,
“Who
chooses
His
people,
Israel,
with
love,”
this
is
the
beginning
of
the
salvation
and
the
end
of
correction
when
the
Creator
reveals
to
His
creations—which
He
has
created—all
the
love
that
was
previously
hidden
in
His
heart,
as
you
well
know.
This
is
why
I
must
disclose
to
you
the
flaws
that
I
had
tasted
in
your
two
dainties.
The
first
reason
from
the
threefold
string
that
is
far
more
valuable
than
worldly
love
of
friends,
you
were
very
wrong
in
this
allegory,
comparing
and
equating
rudimentary,
spiritual
love
with
love
of
friends
that
is
conditional—which
will
be
revoked
when
the
matter
is
revoked.
In
the
other
reason,
you
added
insult
to
injury
to
support
our
love
by
the
natural
love
of
equivalence
that
is
present
with
us
to
a
great
extent.
I
wonder,
“Abraham’s
master,
you
have
supported
the
lesson
without
a
source,”
that
our
love
is
rudimentary
and
everlasting,
dependent
on
the
love
of
natural
equivalence,
which
can
be
canceled,
and
“When
the
supporter
fails,
the
supported
falls.”
But
I
am
at
one,
and
who
can
answer
me?
And
I
shall
tell
you,
if
you
are
a
storyteller,
do
not
compare
the
rudimentary,
spiritual
love
to
love
of
friends
that
is
dependent
on
any
reason
that
is
to
be
ultimately
canceled,
but
rather
to
the
love
between
father
and
son,
which
is
also
rudimentary,
unconditional.
Come
and
see
a
wondrous
custom
in
this
love.
It
seems
that
if
the
child
is
an
only
child
to
his
father
and
mother,
the
child
must
love
his
father
and
mother
even
more,
for
they
display
toward
him
more
love
than
parents
who
have
many
children.
However,
in
reality,
it
is
not
so.
On
the
contrary,
if
the
parents
become
extremely
attached
to
their
children
by
their
love,
the
children’s
love
is
then
greatly
decreased
and
diminished.
Sometimes
it
even
becomes
apparent
among
children
of
this
sort
of
love
that
“The
feeling
of
love
has
been
quenched
entirely
in
their
hearts.”
This
is
a
custom
that
is
of
the
laws
of
nature
that
is
applied
in
the
world.
The
reason
for
it
is
simple:
The
father’s
love
for
his
son
is
rudimentary
and
natural.
As
the
father
wishes
for
his
son
to
love
him,
the
son
also
wishes
for
his
father
to
love
him.
That
craving
in
their
hearts
causes
them
constant,
incessant
fear.
That
is,
the
father
is
very
much
afraid
that
his
son
will
hate
him
in
any
extent,
even
the
slightest
of
the
slightest,
and
the
son,
too,
fears
that
his
father
might
hate
him
in
any
extent,
the
slightest
of
the
slightest.
This
“constant
fear”
causes
them
to
display
good
deeds
toward
each
other.
The
father
always
exerts
to
show
his
love
in
practice
to
his
son,
and
the
son,
too,
constantly
exerts
to
show
his
love
in
practice
to
his
father,
as
much
as
he
can.
In
this
way,
the
feelings
of
love
always
multiply
in
both
their
hearts
until
one
prevails
over
the
other
in
good
deeds
to
a
great
and
complete
extent.
In
other
words,
the
fatherly
love
of
the
father
appears
to
the
son
in
full,
such
as
to
which
there
cannot
be
addition
or
subtraction.
Upon
reaching
that
state,
the
son
sees
“absolute
love”
in
his
father’s
heart.
I
wish
to
say
that
the
son
has
no
fear
whatsoever
that
his
love
will
diminish,
nor
has
he
hope
that
his
love
will
grow.
This
is
called
“absolute
love.”
Then,
slowly,
the
son
grows
idle
in
displaying
good
deeds
before
his
father.
To
the
extent
of
the
diminution
of
good
deeds
and
displays
of
love
in
the
son’s
heart
toward
his
father,
to
that
very
extent
the
sparks
of
“rudimentary
love”
that
has
been
engraved
in
the
son’s
heart
by
nature
quench.
A
second
nature
is
made
in
him,
close
to
hatred,
for
all
the
good
deeds
his
father
does
for
him
are
low
and
little
in
his
eyes
compared
to
the
obligation
of
“absolute
love”
that
has
been
stamped
in
his
organs.
This
is
the
meaning
of
the
words,
“I
am
not
worthy
of
all
the
mercies
and
of
all
the
truth,”
and
delve
deeply
in
this
for
it
is
profound
and
long.
And
since
it
is
always
my
way
to
praise
nature’s
systems,
which
the
Creator
has
imprinted
and
set
up
in
our
favor
all
the
days,
I
will
tell
you
the
reason
for
instilling
that
boundary.
It
is
not
that
He
has
ill
will.
On
the
contrary,
it
is
all
the
multiplication
in
spirituality,
for
the
main
thing
desired
of
the
servants
of
the
Creator
is
Dvekut
[adhesion],
and
there
is
no
Dvekut
unless
from
love
and
pleasure,
as
it
is
written,
“And
bring
us
closer,
our
King,
to
Your
great
name,
Selah,
in
truth
and
love.”
With
what
love
did
they
say?
With
complete
love,
since
the
complete
cannot
be
on
the
deficient,
and
complete
love
is
“absolute
love,”
as
said
above.
Therefore,
how
can
there
be
multiplication
in
the
desired
Dvekut
that
rises
and
is
obtained
by
all
the
adventures
that
have
come
upon
them?
This
is
the
meaning
of
the
Creator
clothing
a
soul
in
the
body
and
in
the
murky
matter,
which
finally
found
out
that
it
needs
to
actually
display
love,
and
the
deficiency
of
the
display
of
love
in
his
own
heart,
for
the
nature
of
the
substance
is
to
promptly
quench
any
feelings
of
love
that
it
has
already
acquired.
In
this
manner,
“The
complete
is
over
the
complete,”
and
there
is
absolute
knowing
in
complete
and
absolute
love
on
the
part
of
the
intellect.
And
yet,
more
love
can
be
added,
and
if
he
does
not
add
love,
he
will
certainly
subtract
and
quench
all
the
possessions
he
has
already
acquired.
This
is
the
meaning
of
“And
the
land
shall
not
be
sold
forever.”
These
are
all
sincere
and
true
words,
and
you
should
treasure
them
for
the
end
of
days.
Now
you
will
understand
my
thoughts
about
you,
as
I
see
that
you
do
not
fear
that
my
love
for
you
will
cool
and
that
my
love
for
you
is
absolute
love.
You
wrote
explicitly
that
our
love
will
always
stand,
“without
adding
and
without
taking
away.”
But
in
the
end,
our
spirituality
is
clothed
in
matter,
and
the
nature
of
matter
is
to
cool
because
of
absolute
love.
This
is
an
unbreakable
law.
Hence,
moreover,
if
you
feel
our
love
as
complete,
you
must
now
begin
to
perform
actual
actions
“to
display
love”
due
to
the
fear
of
cooling
that
rises
out
of
the
feeling
of
absolute
love,
negating
any
fear.
In
this
way,
the
desire
and
the
love
increase
twofold.
This
is
called
“multiplication.”
My
words
are
said
by
seeing,
and
“A
judge
has
only
what
his
eyes
see,”
and
no
scrutiny
and
doubt
will
repeal
my
words.
If
you
do
not
feel
my
words
in
your
heart,
it
is
due
to
being
troubled
with
your
own
loss.
But
when
you
find
the
loss
and
the
trouble
is
removed,
look
into
your
heart
and
you
will
find
it
vacant
from
any
feeling
of
love
due
to
the
lack
of
actual
actions
to
display
the
love,
and
this
is
clear.
Even
now,
the
shackles
of
our
love
are
being
very
slightly
shaken
due
to
“lack
of
fear”
because
of
the
knowing
that
is
in
absolute
love.
I
wrote
you
all
this
to
let
you
know
my
honest
opinion,
for
how
can
I
deny
you
a
word
of
truth?
However,
it
is
not
at
all
concealed
from
me
that
these
words
are
currently
disagreeable
to
you,
and
are
long
and
tiresome
for
you,
and
seem
like
chatter.
But
hear
me
out
and
you
will
always
be
happy,
for
there
is
none
so
wise
as
the
experienced.
Therefore,
I
shall
advise
you
to
evoke
within
you
fear
of
the
coolness
of
the
love
between
us.
Although
the
intellect
denies
such
a
depiction,
think
for
yourself—if
there
is
a
tactic
by
which
to
increase
love
and
one
does
not
increase
it,
that,
too,
is
considered
a
flaw.
It
is
like
a
person
who
gives
a
great
gift
to
his
friend.
The
love
that
appears
in
his
heart
during
the
act
is
not
like
the
love
that
remains
in
the
heart
after
the
fact.
Rather,
it
gradually
wanes
each
day
until
the
blessing
of
the
love
can
be
entirely
forgotten.
Thus,
the
receiver
of
the
gift
must
find
a
tactic
every
day
to
make
it
new
in
his
eyes
each
day.
This
is
all
our
work—to
display
love
between
us,
each
and
every
day,
just
as
upon
receiving,
meaning
to
increase
and
multiply
the
intellect
with
many
additions
to
the
core,
until
the
additional
blessings
of
now
will
be
touching
our
senses
like
the
essential
gift
at
first.
This
requires
great
tactics,
set
up
for
the
time
of
need.
This
is
the
meaning
of
the
words,
“In
those
days
they
shall
say
no
more,
‘The
fathers
have
eaten
a
sour
grape,
and
the
children's
teeth
are
made
blunt.’
...
Any
man
who
eats
the
sour
grapes,
his
teeth
shall
become
blunt.”
That
is,
as
long
as
they
did
not
come
to
know
it—that
a
display
of
love
is
required—they
could
not
correct
their
father’s
sin.
This
is
why
they
said,
“The
fathers
have
eaten
a
sour
grape,
and
the
children's
teeth
are
made
blunt.”
But
once
they
come
to
that
awareness,
they
are
promptly
rewarded
with
correcting
their
father’s
sin,
and
any
flaw
that
they
will
find,
they
will
know
that
they
will
sin
with
displaying
love,
as
was
said
above.
Therefore,
each
day
will
be
as
new
in
their
eyes,
as
in
the
first
time.
To
the
extent
of
the
display
of
love
on
that
day,
they
will
draw
the
light
until
it
is
sensed.
And
should
they
feel
only
a
little,
it
is
due
to
eating
the
unripe
fruit
of
that
day,
for
on
that
day
they
did
not
display
love
sufficiently
and
ate
prematurely.
This
is
why
it
lessened
in
their
senses,
for
it
is
not
as
on
the
first
time.
The
words
are
primarily
a
law
for
the
Messiah,
but
it
also
applies
to
this
world,
since
by
exerting
the
heart
to
display
love
between
him
and
his
Maker,
the
Creator
instills
His
Shechina
[Divinity]
on
him
in
remembrance,
as
in,
“In
every
place
where
I
mention
My
name,
I
will
come
to
you
and
bless
you.”
When
the
remembrance
increases
by
the
very
work,
the
desire
and
longing
increase,
as
in
“And
spirit
draws
spirit
and
brings
spirit,”
and
so
forth.
Finally,
the
remembrance
increases
and
grows
by
the
craving
and
ascends
in
good
deeds,
for
“All
the
pennies
join
into
a
great
amount.”
This
is
the
meaning
of
“Behold,
this
one
comes
and
His
reward
is
with
Him,
and
His
work
is
before
Him.”
I
have
been
lengthy
about
it
although
the
intellect
is
short
in
studying.
However,
it
takes
a
long
time
to
acquire
this
intellect
until
it
is
absorbed
in
the
organs.
And
yet,
this
is
all
the
awakening
from
below—that
the
speed
of
the
correction
during
the
corrections
and
the
measure
of
multiplication
after
the
end
of
correction
during
the
work
on
the
desirable
side
depend
on
the
extent
to
which
it
is
possessed.
You
should
not
doubt
my
words,
for
otherwise
“The
proselyte
is
in
the
earth
and
the
citizen
is
the
heaven,”
for
the
measure
of
love
is
voluntary,
dependent
on
the
heart;
it
is
not
intellectual.
Therefore,
how
can
it
be
displayed
at
the
top
of
all
the
intellectual
degrees,
as
I
have
elaborated
on?
But
all
who
taste
and
see
that
the
Lord
is
good
witness
all
those
things,
since
we
are
dealing
with
Dvekut
[adhesion]
with
the
Creator
here,
and
His
uniqueness
includes
all
the
discernments
in
the
world.
Still,
there
is
no
doubt
that
there
is
nothing
corporeal
about
His
uniqueness,
and
therefore
no
step
outside
of
an
intellectual
object.
For
this
reason,
all
who
are
rewarded
with
adhering
to
Him
grow
wiser,
as
they
adhere
with
simple
intellect.
During
the
Dvekut,
the
worshipper
is
adhered
to
the
worshipped
by
the
mere
strength
of
displaying
his
will
and
love.
But
in
Him,
the
will,
intellect,
and
knowing
are
in
simple
unity,
without
any
difference
of
form,
as
in
the
laws
of
corporeality,
and
this
is
simple.
Therefore,
obtainment
of
the
disclosure
of
His
love
is
the
very
blessing
of
the
intellect.
Come
and
learn
from
the
complete
worker
(complete
even
in
awakening
from
above).
Ask
your
elders
and
they
will
tell
you
that
the
Complete
One
is
complete
in
everything
and
has
complete
knowledge
in
the
“blessing
in
his
future.”
And
yet,
it
does
not
weaken
him
at
all
because
of
it—from
the
labor
in
Torah
and
the
searching.
On
the
contrary,
none
exert
in
the
Torah
and
in
searching
as
much
as
he.
This
is
for
a
simple
reason:
His
labor
is
not
so
much
to
bring
the
good
future
to
himself.
Rather,
all
his
labor
is
about
displaying
love
between
him
and
his
Maker.
This
is
why
the
feelings
of
love
grow
and
multiply
each
day
until
the
love
is
completed
in
the
form
of
“absolute
love.”
Afterward,
it
leads
him
to
double
his
wholeness
by
way
of
awakening
from
below.
And
by
the
way,
I
will
clarify
for
you
the
meaning
of
the
charity
for
the
poor,
which
is
so
praised
in
The
Zohar,
the
Tikkunim,
and
by
our
sages:
There
is
an
organ
in
man
with
which
it
is
forbidden
to
work.
Even
if
the
smallest
of
the
small
desires
to
work
with
it
still
exists
in
man,
that
organ
remains
afflicted
and
stricken
by
the
Creator.
It
is
called
“poor,”
for
its
entire
sustenance
and
provision
are
by
others
working
for
it
and
pitying
it.
This
is
the
meaning
of
“Anyone
who
sustains
a
single
soul
from
Israel,
it
is
as
though
he
sustains
an
entire
world.”
Since
the
organ
depends
on
others,
it
has
no
more
than
its
own
sustenance.
And
still,
the
Creator
regards
it
as
though
he
sustained
an
entire
world,
and
this
itself
is
the
entire
blessing
of
the
world
and
everything
in
it,
multiplied
and
completed
solely
by
the
force
of
that
poor
soul,
which
is
sustained
by
the
work
of
other
organs.
This
is
the
meaning
of
“And
He
took
him
outside
and
said,
‘Look
toward
the
heavens
...’
and
he
believed
in
the
Lord
and
regarded
it
to
him
as
righteousness.”
That
is,
by
taking
him
outside,
there
was
some
desire
to
work
with
this
organ;
this
is
why
He
forbade
him
the
work.
It
was
said,
“Look
toward
the
heavens.”
At
the
same
time,
he
was
given
the
promise
of
the
blessing
of
the
seed.
These
are
tantamount
to
two
opposites
in
the
same
carrier,
since
all
his
seed,
which
is
to
be
blessed,
necessarily
comes
from
this
organ.
Thus,
when
he
is
not
working,
how
will
there
be
a
seed?
This
is
the
meaning
of
“And
he
believed
in
the
Lord,”
meaning
he
accepted
those
two
receptions
as
they
were—the
complete
prohibition
on
the
work,
and
the
promise
of
the
blessing
of
the
seed.
And
how
did
he
receive
them?
This
is
why
he
concludes,
“And
[he]
regarded
it
to
him
as
righteousness,”
meaning
as
the
form
of
charity
[Tzedakah
means
both
“charity”
and
“righteousness”],
for
a
poor
[person]
is
sustained
by
the
work
of
others.
This
is
the
meaning
of
the
two
sayings
of
our
sages:
One
[person]
thought
that
the
Creator
would
treat
him
with
righteousness
and
will
keep
and
sustain
him
without
work,
and
one
thought
that
Abraham
would
act
with
righteousness
toward
the
Creator.
Both
are
the
words
of
the
living
God,
for
prior
to
the
correction,
that
organ
is
in
heaven,
and
the
charity
is
attributed
to
the
lower
one.
At
the
end
of
his
correction,
it
is
not
in
heaven,
and
then
the
giving
of
the
charity
is
attributed
to
the
upper
one.
Know
and
sanctify
for
it
is
true.
Yehuda