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Baal HaSulam / The Lots on Yom Kippur and with Haman

33. The Lots on Yom Kippur and with Haman

I heard on Terumah 6, February 12, 1943

It is written (Leviticus 16:8), “And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel.” Concerning Haman, it is written (Esther 3:7), “they cast a pur, that is, the lot.”

A lot applies where there cannot be a scrutiny in the mind because the mind does not reach there so they can sort out which is good and which is evil. In that state, a pur is cast, when they rely not on the mind but on what the lot tells them. It follows that when using the word “lot,” it comes to tell us that now we are going above reason.

Regarding the seventh of Adar [sixth month of the Hebrew calendar], on which Moses was born and on which Moses died, we must understand what Adar means. It comes from the word Aderet [mantle], as it is written about Elijah (Kings 1 19:19), “and cast his mantle upon him.” Aderet comes from the word Aderet Se’ar [hair], which are Se’arot [hair] and Dinim [judgments], which are foreign thoughts and ideas in the work, removing one from the Creator.

Here there is a matter of overcoming them. Although he sees many contradictions in His guidance, he should still overcome them through faith above reason and say that they are guidance in the manner of “The Good Who Does Good.” This is the meaning of what is written about Moses, “And Moses hid his face.” This means that he saw all the contradictions and held them through exertion by the power of faith above reason.

It is as our sages said, “In return for ‘and Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look,’ he was rewarded with ‘and the image of the Lord does he behold.’” This is the meaning of the verse, “Who is as blind as My servant, and who is as deaf as My angel?”

It is known that Eynaim [eyes] are called “reason,” “mind,” meaning the mind’s eyes. This is because with something that we perceive in the mind, we say, “But we see that the mind and the reason require that we say so.”

Hence, one who goes above reason is as one who has no eyes, and he is called “blind,” meaning pretends to be blind. Also, one who does not want to hear what the spies tell him and pretends to be deaf is called “deaf.” This is the meaning of “Who is as blind as My servant, and who is as deaf as My angel?”

However, when one says, “They have eyes but they see not; they have ears but they hear not,” it means that he does not want to obey what the reason asserts and what the ears hear, as it is written about Joshua the son of Nun, that a bad thing never entered his ears. This is the meaning of Aderet Se’ar, that he had many contradictions and judgments. Each contradiction is called Se’ar [hair], and under each Se’ar there is a dent.

This means that one makes a dent in the head, meaning the foreign thought fissures and punctures one’s head. When one has many foreign thoughts, it is considered having many Se’arot, and this is called Aderet Se’ar.

This is the meaning of what is written about Elisha: “And he went from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth; and Elijah passed over unto him and cast his mantle upon him” (Kings 1, 19). (Yoke means pairs of Bakar [oxen], since they would plow with pairs of oxen together that were tightened. This is called a yoke of oxen.) Bakar means Bikoret [criticism], and twelve refers to the completeness of the degree (like twelve months or twelve hours).

This means that one already has all the discernments of Se’arot that can be in the world, and then an Aderet Se’ar is made from the Se’arot. However, with Elisha, it was in the form of the morning of Joseph, as it is written, “As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.”

It means that one has already been rewarded the light that rests over these contradictions, since through the contradictions, called criticism, when wanting to overpower them, it is by drawing light on them. It is as it is written, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

Because he already drew the light on all the criticism, and he has nothing more to add, since all the criticism has been completed in him, then the criticism and the contradictions in him end by themselves. This follows the rule that no act is in vain, since there is no operator without a purpose.

Indeed, we must know that what appears to one as things that contradict the guidance of “The Good Who Does Good” is only to compel one to draw the upper light on the contradictions, when wanting to prevail over the contradictions. Otherwise, one cannot prevail. This is called “the exaltedness of the Creator,” which one extends when having the contradictions, called Dinim [judgments].

This means that the contradictions can be annulled if one wants to overcome them, only if he extends the exaltedness of the Creator. You find that these Dinim cause the drawing of the exaltedness of the Creator. This is the meaning of what is written, “and cast his mantle upon him.”

It means that afterward he attributed the whole mantle of hair to Him, to the Creator. That is, now he saw that the Creator gave him this mantle deliberately, in order to draw the upper light on them.

However, one can only see this later, after one has been granted the light that rests on these contradictions and Dinim that he had had in the beginning. This is so because he sees that without the hair, meaning the descents, there would not be a place for the upper light to be there, as there is no light without a Kli [vessel].

For this reason, he sees that all the exaltedness of the Creator he had obtained was because of the Se’arot and the contradictions he had had. This is the meaning of “The Lord on high is mighty.” It means that the exaltedness of the Creator is awarded through the Aderet, and this is the meaning of “let the exaltedness of God be in their mouth.”

This means that through the faults in the work of the Creator, it causes him to rise up, as without a push one is idle to make a movement and agrees to remain in the state he is in. But if one descends to a lower degree than he understands, this gives one the strength to overcome, for one cannot stay in such a bad state, since one cannot agree to remain like that, in the state to which he has descended.

For this reason, one must always prevail and emerge from the state of descent. In that state, he must draw upon himself the exaltedness of the Creator. This causes him to extend higher forces from above, or he remains in utter lowliness. It follows that through the Se’arot, one gradually discovers the exaltedness of the Creator until one finds the names of the Creator, called “the thirteen attributes of Mercy.” This is the meaning of “and the elder shall serve the younger,” and “the wicked will prepare and the righteous will wear,” and also, “and you shall serve your brother.”

This means that all the enslavement, meaning the contradictions that there were, which appeared to be obstructing the holy work, and were working against Kedusha [holiness]. Now, when granted the light of the Creator, which is placed over these contradictions, we see the opposite—that they were serving the Kedusha. That is, through them, there was a place for the Kedusha to clothe in their dresses. This is called “the wicked will prepare and the righteous will wear,” meaning that they gave the Kelim [vessels] and the place for the Kedusha.

Now we can interpret what our sages wrote (Hagigah 15a), “Rewarded—a righteous. He takes his share and his friend’s share in heaven. Convicted—a wicked. He takes his share and his friend’s share in hell.” It means that one takes the Dinim and the foreign thoughts of one’s friend, which we should interpret over the whole world, meaning that this is why the world was created filled with so many people, each with his own thoughts and opinions, and all are present in the same world.

It is so deliberately, so that each and every one will be incorporated in all of one’s friend’s thoughts. Thus, when one repents, there will be benefit from this Hitkalelut [mingling/ incorporation].

It is so because when one wants to repent, he must sentence himself and the entire world to the side of merit, since he himself is incorporated in all the foreign notions and thoughts of the entire world. This is the meaning of “Convicted—a wicked. He takes his share and his friend’s share in hell.”

It follows that when he was still wicked, called “convicted,” one’s own share was of Se’arot, contradictions, and foreign thoughts. But also, he was mingled with one’s friend’s share in hell, meaning he was incorporated in all the views of all the people in the world.

Therefore, when later he becomes “Rewarded—a righteous,” meaning after he repents, he sentences himself and the entire world “to the side of merit, he takes his share and his friend’s share in heaven.” This is because he must draw upper light for the foreign thoughts of all the people in the world, too, since he is mingled with them and must sentence them to the side of merit.

This is precisely through extending the upper light over these Dinim of the general public. Although they themselves cannot receive this light that he had drawn on their behalf because they do not have Kelim that are ready for this, but he drew it for them as well.

Yet, we must understand according to the famous rule that one who causes extension of lights in upper degrees, they say that to the extent that one induces light in the upper one, one receives from these lights, too, since he was the cause. Accordingly, the wicked, too, should have received a part of the lights that they induced in the righteous.

To understand this, we must present the matter of the lots. There were two lots, as it is written, “One lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel.” It is known that a lot is a matter of above reason. Hence, when the lot is above reason, it causes the other to be for Azazel.

This is the meaning of “It shall whirl upon the head of the wicked.” It is so because through these contradictions, he extended the upper light. You find that in this manner, the exaltedness of the Creator increases, and for the wicked it is a drawback since their whole desire is only within reason. When the light that comes based on above reason increases, they wither away and become annulled.

Hence, all the wicked have is their help to the righteous to extend the exaltedness of the Creator, and then they are annulled. This is called “Rewarded—he takes his share and his friend’s share in heaven.” (Author’s comment: This implies that only one who helped make the correction of creating the reality of appearance of the light through good deeds, hence this act remains in Kedusha. One receives what one induces above to make a place for the expansion of the light. In that state, the lower one receives what he causes to the upper one. However, the contradictions and the Dinim are canceled, since they are replaced by the exaltedness of the Creator, which appears over the above reason, while they want it to appear specifically on Kelim of within reason. This is why they are annulled. This is how we can interpret.)

However, the foreign thoughts, too, which the public caused to draw exaltedness over them, that light remains for them. When they are worthy of receiving, they will receive what each causes the drawing of the upper light on them, too.

This is the meaning of “A path that runs through the split of the hair,” brought in The Zohar (Part 15, and in The Sulam [commentary], Item 33, p 56), which distinguishes between right and left. The two lots that were on Yom Kippurim, which is repentance from fear. Also, there was a lot on Purim, which is repentance from love.

This is so because it was then prior to the building of the Temple, and at that time they needed repentance from love. But first, there had to be a need for them to repent. This need causes Dinim and Se’arot [pl. of hair]. This is what it means that Haman was given authority from above, by way of, I place government over you, that he will rule over you.

This is why it was written that Haman “had cast pur, that is, the lot,” on the month of Adar, which is the twelfth, as it is written “twelve oxen,” written about Elisha. It is written, “two rows, six in a row,” which is the month of Adar, as in Aderet Se’ar, which are the biggest Dinim.

By this Haman knew that he would defeat Israel, since Moses died on the month of Adar. However, he did not know that Moses was born on it, as in, “and they saw that it was good.” It is so because when one strengthens in the toughest situation, one is granted the greatest lights, called “the exaltedness of the Creator.”

This is the meaning of “fine twined linen.” In other words, because they have been granted “the path that runs in the split of the hair,” “two rows, six in a row,” then “twined,” from the words “a stranger removed.” It means that the stranger, meaning the Sitra Achra, is annulled and gone because he has already completed his task.

You find that all the Dinim and contradictions came only to show the exaltedness of the Creator. Hence, with Jacob, who was a smooth man, without Se’arot, it was impossible to disclose the exaltedness of the Creator, since he had no cause or need to extend them. For this reason, Jacob could not receive the blessings from Isaac, as he had no Kelim [vessels], and there is no light without a Kli [vessel]. This is why Rebecca advised him to take Esau’s clothes.

And this is the meaning of “and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel.” This means that although he did not have any hair, he took it from Esau. This is what Isaac saw and said, “The hands are the hands of Esau, but the voice is the voice of Jacob.” In other words, Isaac liked the correction that Jacob did and by that his Kelim for the blessings were made.

This is the reason that we need such a big world with so many people, so that each will be incorporated in his friend. It follows that each individual is incorporated in thoughts and desires of an entire world.

This is why a person is called “a small world” in and of itself, for the above reason. This is also the meaning of “not rewarded.” That is, when one has still not been rewarded, “He takes his share and his friend’s share in hell.” It means that he is incorporated with his friend’s hell.

Moreover, even when one has already corrected one’s own part of hell, if he has not corrected his friend’s share, meaning he has not corrected his part that is incorporated with the world, he is still not considered whole.

Now we understand that although Jacob himself was smooth, without Se’arot, he still held the heel of Esau. It means that he takes the Se’arot by being incorporated with Esau.

Hence, when he is rewarded with correcting them, he takes his friend’s share in Heaven, referring to the measure of the exaltedness of the upper light that he had extended over the Se’arot of the general public. He is rewarded that, although the general public still cannot receive because they lack the qualification for it.

Now we can understand the argument of Jacob and Esau. Esau said, “I have enough,” and Jacob said, “I have everything,” meaning “two rows, six in a row,” meaning within reason and above reason, which is the will to receive and the light of Dvekut [adhesion].

Esau said, “I have enough,” which is a light that comes in vessels of reception, within reason. Jacob said that he had everything, meaning two discernments. In other words, he was using the vessels of reception, and also had the light of Dvekut.

This is the meaning of the mixed multitude that made the calf and said, “this is your god oh Israel,” meaning Eleh [these] without the Mi [who], meaning that they wanted to connect only to the Eleh, and not to the Mi. It means that they did not want both, which is the Mi and the Eleh, which together make up the name Elokim [God], meaning enough and everything. This they did not want.

This is the meaning of the Cherubim, which are Kravia and Patia. One Cherub on the one end, which is the discernment of enough, and one Cherub on the other end, which is the discernment of everything. This is also the meaning of “the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim.”

But how can this be? After all they are two ends, opposite from one another. Still, he had to make a Patia [fool] and thus receive. And this is called “above reason”: One does what one is told although he does not understand anything that he is told.

Regarding the “everything,” called “above reason,” one should try to work with gladness since through gladness the true measure of the everything appears. If one has no gladness, then one should feel sorry that he has no gladness, since this is the primary place of the work, to discover the gladness that he is working above reason.

Hence, when one has no gladness from this work, he should afflict himself for it. This is the meaning of what is written, “whose heart makes him willing,” which means being sick and tormented over not having gladness from this work.

This is the meaning of “because you did not serve the Lord your God with gladness because of the abundance of all things.” Instead, you left the everything and took only the enough. Hence, in the end you will be far below and without anything, meaning you will lose the enough, too. However, to the extent that one has the “everything,” and he is glad, to that extent he is imparted the “enough.”

Accordingly, we should interpret the words, “women weeping for Tammuz” (Ezekiel 8). Rashi interprets that “They had idolatry, that he had lead inside his eyes, and they were heating it to melt the lead out of the eyes.”

We should interpret the matter of crying, meaning that they have no gladness because there is dust in the eyes. Dust is Behina Dalet, meaning the kingdom of heaven, which is faith above reason.

This discernment bears the form of dust, meaning it is unimportant. And this work has the taste of dust, meaning it is only as important as dust. The allegory about the women weeping for Tammuz is that they burn this idolatry so that by heating, the dust will come out from the lead.

It implies that they are crying over the work that they were given to believe above reason that His guidance is good and does good, while within reason they see only contradictions in His guidance. This work is the work of Kedusha, and they want to remove the dust, meaning the work of above reason, called “dust.” However, the eyes, called “sight,” imply seeing His guidance, being within reason; this is called “idolatry.”

This resembles a person whose craft is to make pots and vessels from earth, whose work is to make clay pots. The order is that first he makes round balls of clay, and then cuts and makes holes in the balls. And when the young son sees what his father is doing, he cries, “Father, why are you ruining the balls?” The son does not understand that the father’s primary goal is the holes, since only the holes can become receptacles, and the son wants to close the holes that the father made in the balls.

So it is here. This dust inside the eyes, which blocks his vision, so that wherever he looks he finds contradictions in Providence, this is the whole Kli by which he can discover the sparks of unconditional love, called “a joy of Mitzva.” It is said about this, “If the Creator does not help him, he cannot overcome it.” This means that if the Creator had not given him these thoughts, he would have been unable to receive any ascension.