Letter 14
10 Shevat, Tav-Reish-Peh-Hey, January 25, 1926, Warsaw
To... may his candle burn:
... And scrutinize well in a thousand weekdays, for they are the paths of the river of knowledge. It is as Samuel said, “The paths of heaven are clear to me,” in the state of Shabbat [Sabbath], as the paths of the river of knowledge, the weekdays. That is, “One who did not labor on the eve of Shabbat, from where will he eat on Shabbat?” Thus, all the lights of Shabbat are set up in lights that are gained during the weekdays. This is the meaning of “a thousand weekdays.”
By this you can understand the verse, “Come to Pharaoh.” It is the Shechina [Divinity] in disclosure, from the words, “and let the hair of the woman's head go loose,” as it is written in The Zohar. The thing is that to the extent that the children of Israel thought that Egypt were enslaving them and impeding them from serving the Creator, they truly were in the exile in Egypt. Hence, the Redeemer’s only work was to reveal to them that there is no other force involved here, that “I and not a messenger,” for there is no other force but Him. This was indeed the light of redemption, as explained in the Passover Haggadah [story].
This is what the Creator gave to Moses in the verse, “Come to Pharaoh,” meaning unite the truth, for the whole approaching the king of Egypt is only to Pharaoh, to disclose the Shechina. This is why He said, “For I have hardened his heart,” etc., “that I may place these signs of Mine within him.”
In spirituality, there are no letters, as I have already elaborated on before. All the multiplication in spirituality relies on the letters derived from the materiality of this world, as in, “And creator of darkness.” There are no additions or initiations here, but the creation of darkness, the Merkava [chariot/structure] that is suited to disclose that the light is good. It follows that the Creator Himself hardened his heart. Why? Because it is letters that I need.
This is the meaning of “that I may place these signs of Mine within him, and that you may tell ... that you may know that I am the Lord.” Explanation: Once you receive the letters, meaning when you understand that I gave and toiled for you, as in, do not move from “behind” Me, for you will thoroughly keep the Achoraim [posterior/back] for Me, for My name, then the abundance will do her thing and fill the letters. The qualities will become Sefirot, since before the filling they are called “qualities,” and upon their fulfillment for the best, they are called Sefirot, sapphire, illuminating the world from one end to the other.
This is the meaning of “that you may tell.” I need all this for the end of the matter, meaning “And you shall know that I am the Lord” “and not a messenger.” This is the meaning of the fiftieth gate, which cannot appear unless the forty-nine faces of pure and impure appear in one opposite the other, in which the righteous falls [forty-nine in Gematria] before the wicked.
This is the meaning of the words, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might ... but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me.” That is, as it is written, “There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land.” Miscarrying or barren are the same thing, except “barren” means the deficiency and the letter itself, and “miscarrying” is the filling that the Sitra Achra [other side] gives to fill that deficiency, which is unsustainable, short-lived, and full of anger. At the time of correction, it becomes evident that that miscarrying becomes understanding, and the barren becomes “Know Me.”
This is what the prophet instructs us: “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, or the mighty man of his might,” since all the being and presence that a person feels in himself holds no spirit, neither for the upper ones nor for the lower ones. It is so because there are no innovations in any being or lights. This is the meaning of “maker of light,” meaning that there is no innovation in the light but the making, when one can affect moves over the letters and disclose the shapes of the upper ones.
However, “and creator of darkness,” for created means elicitation existence from absence, as Nachmanides wrote. There is no innovation here but darkness, like the ink for a book of Torah. By the exertion of the servant of the Creator to bring contentment to his Maker and to complement the Creator’s will, the miscarrying and the barren appear. By accepting the burden of the kingdom of heaven to the fullest, which is the meaning of “this,” he is rewarded with seeing the real forms of “maker of light,” through questions and troubles. Then he is rewarded with boasting of the knowledge, and it is known that this is a true gain, praised and desirable in the initial thought.
By this we understand the verse, “And he said to them, ‘May it be so, the Lord is with you’ ... and He drove them out from Pharaoh’s presence.” The whole strengthening of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was only in the “little ones” who did not know Joseph, who fed them with bread according to the “little ones.” The “little ones” means abundance that is restricted at the time of Katnut [smallness/infancy], as our sages said, “Why do infants come? To give reward to they who bring them.”
This is why he demonstrated his strength on the little ones and said, “See that evil is before your faces. Not so, go now, you who are men,” since one should be thankful for the sparks of Gevurot [pl. of Gevura] in the work of the Creator, and which come through the Creator. But for the sparks of evil before your faces, it cannot be said that it comes from the Creator.
This is why he said, “For it is her that you seek,” meaning that your whole intention is to enhance the sparks of Gevura and enhance the sparks of evil, and how can you unite the evil sparks with the Creator? By this they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
By this we will understand the plague of the locust, as was said, “And it covered the eye of the earth, etc., and ate that which remained.” That is, because the Creator saw that all the gripping of the king of Egypt (until he expelled them) was in sorting the men and repelling the infants (as in, “for that is what you desire”), the plague robbed them of the quality of men, as well, and they lost all the sparks of Gevura, as well.
By this you will understand the verse of redemption: “This month is to you the beginning of the months.” In Egypt, the month was called Sivan, as they said about Mount Sinai, that Sinaa [hatred] came down from there, like the hard labor in Egypt being called, in general, Sivan, like Shanaan, meaning Sinaa Shelanu [our hate], as in, “for it is her that you seek,” and all their efforts were only to delete the letters because they hated them.
And by the light of redemption, when they were rewarded with Alphey [thousands of] Shanaan, that Hidush [initiation (sounding similar to Hodesh—month)] was made the very first. Then, instead of Sivan, the letters joined to form Nissan, meaning Nissim she Imanu [miracles that are with us]. This is what RASHI interpreted about this verse: “‘This month’ indicates that the Creator showed Moses the moon in its beginning,” and the words are ancient.
Yehuda Leib