Letter
39
17
Sivan,
Tav-Reish-Peh-Zayin,
June
17,
1927,
London
To
the
famous
Hassid
…
may
his
candle
burn:
Regards
to
you.
I
must
inform
you
that
I
just
received
a
very
distressing
letter
about
my
sacred
pamphlet
being
handed
over
to
external
ones
to
abuse
it
as
they
please.
Now
you
will
understand
my
stern
warning
to
keep
a
secret,
and
why
I
have
not
sent
the
pamphlets
until
now.
This
is
what
I
feared,
so
I
wanted
to
first
send
the
pamphlets
to
the
MARAN
and
to
the
rav.
Indeed,
that
which
I
dreaded
came
to
me,
and
the
hands
of
illiterate
have
betrayed
me,
doing
what
I
did
not
order,
after
my
stern
warning
not
to
disclose
my
secret
to
any
person,
whoever
he
may
be.
And
now
they
have
defamed
me
in
the
eyes
of
the
generation
and
have
failed
me
on
the
path
of
my
exalted
work
to
bring
contentment
to
my
Maker.
Who
can
forgive
them
this?
Heaven
will
testify
to
my
labor
in
all
my
strength
to
extend
His
holiness
to
that
generation.
And
yet,
the
Sitra
Achra
[other
side]
always
finds
her
people,
doers
of
her
missions,
setting
obstacles
before
me
wherever
I
turn
to
benefit
others.
Thus
far
are
my
words.
“Those
who
are
with
us
are
more
than
those
who
are
with
them,”
and
the
Creator
does
not
deny
my
reward.
Bit
by
bit,
I
am
paving
the
way,
at
times
less,
at
times
more,
but
always
with
profit
(reward),
until
I
am
rewarded
with
taking
down
all
the
enemies
of
the
Creator
with
the
help
of
His
great
and
terrible
name.
As
for
you,
do
not
fear
the
fear
of
fools.
Those
who
slander,
my
little
finger
is
bigger
than
their
waist.
So
the
Creator
desired,
and
so
He
made
me,
and
who
will
tell
Him
what
to
do
and
what
to
work?
The
merit
of
my
law
is
greater
than
the
merit
of
their
fathers.
Similarly,
the
contemporaries
of
Prophet
Amos
defamed
him
and
said
that
the
Creator
had
no
one
on
whom
to
instill
His
Shechina
[Divinity]
but
that
stutterer,
as
it
is
written
in
the
Psikta
[a
Midrash].
However,
it
is
written,
“A
truthful
lip
shall
be
established
forever,
and
a
lying
tongue
is
only
momentary,”
for
in
the
end,
the
truthful
people
are
the
winners.
Amos
remains
alive
and
existing
forever,
and
who
has
heard
or
knows
what
had
happened
to
his
adversaries?
So
it
is
here.
The
sayers
can
harm
only
their
own
kind,
so
it
follows
that
the
storm
swirls
on
the
head
of
the
wicked,
the
truth
lives
on
and
does
not
weaken
by
all
the
lies.
Instead,
it
grows
even
stronger
by
them,
like
a
sown
field
that
is
strengthened
by
the
manure
and
dung
that
are
thrown
in.
With
the
Creator’s
will,
the
blessing
of
the
field
increases
and
multiplies
by
them.
I
still
do
not
feel
the
harm
that
will
come
to
me
through
them
concerning
the
dissemination
of
my
teaching,
so
I
do
not
know
how
to
calculate
a
way
to
instill
light
and
save
it
from
their
evil.
And
yet,
it
is
certain
that
if
I
feel
any
harm,
I
will
take
my
revenge
against
them,
as
is
the
law
of
Torah,
and
I
will
contend
forcefully
with
them.
I
will
do
all
that
is
within
the
power
of
my
hand
to
do,
as
it
is
the
Creator
I
fear,
and
there
is
no
other
force
but
Him.
As
a
rule,
you
should
know
that
it
is
not
for
my
own
need
or
my
own
glory
that
I
composed
the
book.
Rather,
it
is
only
for
His
sake,
for
I
noticed
great
confusions
in
the
writings
of
the
ARI
because
the
ARI
did
not
write
or
arrange
them
by
himself
in
the
full
depth
of
this
sublime
wisdom.
When
Rav
Chaim
Vital
heard
and
wrote
the
words,
he
was
still
not
in
the
degrees
of
wholeness
necessary
for
attaining
those
words
at
their
root.
He
was
young
then,
thirty
years
old,
when
studying
with
the
ARI,
as
it
is
written
in
Gate
to
Reincarnations
(Gate
8,
p
49).
It
writes,
“Now,
in
the
year
Hey-Shin-Lamed-Aleph
[1571],
and
I
am
twenty-nine
...”
Then,
on
Passover
he
was
already
serving
the
ARI,
and
the
Rav
[ARI]
fell
ill
on
Friday,
July
21,
1572.
The
next
Tuesday,
on
the
Fifth
of
Av
[July
25,
1572],
he
passed
away.
You
therefore
find
that
at
the
time
of
his
demise,
he
[Chaim
Vital]
was
only
thirty,
and
the
ARI
lived
thirty-eight
years,
as
it
is
known.
And
he
wrote
some
more
there
(Gate
8,
p
71),
that
at
the
time
of
his
passing,
Rav
Chaim
Vital
was
not
by
his
side
[the
ARI’s].
These
are
his
words
verbatim:
“Rav
Itzhak
HaCohen
told
me
that
at
the
time
of
my
teacher’s
passing,
when
I
came
out
of
his
room,
he
(Rav
Itzhak
HaCohen)
entered
and
cried
before
him
saying,
‘Is
this
the
hope
that
we
all
hoped
in
your
life—to
see
great
good,
Torah,
and
wisdom
in
the
world?’
He
replied
to
him,
‘If
I
found
even
one
complete
righteous
among
you,
I
would
not
be
taken
away
prematurely.’
While
saying
it,
he
asked
about
me
(about
Rav
Chaim
Vital).
He
said,
‘Where
did
Chaim
go?
Has
he
left
me
at
such
a
time?’
He
was
very
saddened.
He
understood
from
his
words
that
he
had
some
secret
to
pass
on
to
me,
so
he
(Rav
Itzhak
HaCohen)
said
to
him,
‘What
shall
we
do
from
now
on?’
He
(the
ARI)
replied:
‘Tell
the
friends
in
my
name
that
from
this
day
on
they
are
not
to
engage
at
all
in
this
wisdom
that
I
taught,
for
they
did
not
understand
it
properly.
Only
Rav
Chaim
Vital
shall
engage
in
it,
alone,
in
a
whisper,
and
in
hiding.’
He
(Rav
Itzhak
HaCohen)
said,
‘But
is
there
no
hope
at
all?’
He
said,
‘If
you
merit,
I
will
come
to
you
and
teach
you.’
He
replied
to
him,
‘How
will
you
come
and
teach
us
if
you
are
now
departing
from
this
world?’
He
replied,
‘You
have
no
knowledge
of
the
concealed,
of
how
my
coming
to
you
will
be,’
and
he
promptly
passed
away.”
I
have
elaborated
in
copying
the
words
of
Rav
Chaim
Vital’s
book,
Gate
to
Reincarnation,
so
you
would
see
that
the
ARI
forbade
Rav
Chaim
Vital
to
teach
what
he
had
learned
to
others
because
at
the
time,
he
did
not
sufficiently
understand
what
he
had
heard
from
the
ARI.
This
is
why
he
would
not
even
arrange
the
writings
he
had
heard
from
his
teacher,
and
his
successors
arranged
them,
the
third
generation—Rav
Yaakov
Tzemach,
Rav
Meir
HaCohen
Paprash,
and
Rav
Shmuel
Vital.
Each
of
those
compilers
did
not
have
the
complete
writings
of
the
ARI
because
six
hundred
pages
from
the
writings
were
stolen
while
Rav
Chaim
Vital
was
alive.
Out
of
those,
Rav
Yaakov
Tzemach
compiled
the
majority
of
Tree
of
Life,
as
well
as
some
other
compositions.
Rav
Chaim
Vital
ordered
another
part
to
be
buried
along
with
him
in
the
grave,
and
so
they
did.
He
left
a
third
part
as
inheritance
to
his
son,
Rav
Shmuel
Vital,
from
which
the
famous
Eight
Gates
were
compiled.
After
a
long
time,
Rav
Yaakov
Tzemach
assembled
a
large
group
of
students,
who
dug
the
third
portion
out
of
the
grave.
From
them
the
first
and
next
editions
of
Tree
of
Life
were
composed,
as
well
as
Olat
Tamid,
and
other
compositions.
You
therefore
see
that
each
time,
the
compiler
had
only
a
third
of
all
the
writings,
which
together
make
up
one
entity
and
one
structure.
I
wish
it
were
enough,
but
since
they
had
only
a
small
portion
of
the
writings,
they
did
not
understand
the
depth
of
the
wisdom
at
that
time,
and
they
terribly
confused
the
matters
by
not
understanding
how
to
arrange
them.
Know
for
certain
that
since
the
time
of
the
ARI
to
this
day,
there
has
not
been
anyone
who
understood
the
method
of
the
ARI
to
the
fullest,
as
it
was
easier
to
attain
a
mind
twice
as
great
and
twice
as
holy
than
the
ARI’s
than
to
understand
his
method
in
which
many
hands
fiddled—from
the
one
who
first
heard
and
wrote
them
through
the
last
compilers,
while
they
still
did
not
attain
the
matters
as
they
are
in
their
upper
root.
Thus,
each
inverted
and
confused
the
matters.
And
now,
by
the
Creator’s
will,
I
have
been
rewarded
with
a
conception
[impregnation]
of
the
soul
of
the
ARI,
not
because
of
my
good
deeds
but
by
a
higher
will.
It
is
beyond
me,
too,
why
I
have
been
chosen
for
this
wonderful
soul,
with
which
no
one
has
been
granted
since
his
passing
until
today.
I
cannot
elaborate
on
this
matter
as
it
is
not
my
way
to
discuss
the
concealed,
but
I
did
find
it
my
duty
to
ease
your
mind
because
...
before
a
flow
of
great
water
from
servants
that
burst
out
at
their
master
and
expel
from
their
water
mire
and
dirt,
to
fall
under
the
work
that
their
animate
soul
has
worked,
since
they
still
did
not
completely
understand
how
to
separate
it
from
the
spiritual
soul.
You
should
know
that
one
must
not
fear
such
forces,
which
spring
forth
only
to
wash
away
all
holiness,
and
the
Creator
saves
us
from
them.
I
think
you
will
believe
me,
as
it
has
never
been
my
way
to
fabricate,
exaggerate,
or
pursue
respect
and
gain
a
name
among
the
fools,
which,
until
today,
I
have
tolerated
and
had
no
desire
to
even
fight
with
them.
To
reinforce
your
not
being
confused
by
their
armies
of
the
Sitra
Achra
[other
side],
I
will
give
you
a
clear
sign
that
we
received
from
the
ARI,
by
which
to
know
who
is
a
true
righteous
and
who
is
not
a
true
righteous,
but
is
worthy
of
being
righteous,
for
which
he
should
be
treated
respectfully,
too.
Do
you
believe
that
we
should
cast
lots
[flip
a
coin]
about
it,
to
know
who
is
serving
the
Creator
and
who
is
not?
After
all,
the
signs
and
the
tokens
do
not
determine
in
this
matter,
as
is
known
among
the
Hassidim,
so
it
is
a
lot
that
we
need,
God
forbid.
Rather,
know
that
Rav
Chaim
Vital
asked
the
ARI
that
question,
and
it
is
explained
in
the
book
Gate
of
the
Holy
Spirit,
the
seventh
of
the
Eight
Gates
by
the
ARI,
page
1.
Here
are
his
words,
word
for
word:
“The
sign
that
my
teacher
gave
me
was
to
see
if
all
his
words
come
true,
or
if
all
his
words
are
for
the
Creator,
and
he
will
not
be
wrong
in
even
one
of
his
words
(relating
to
a
letter
that
he
learns
from
his
friend,
that
he
needs,
etc.,
as
it
is
known
to
those
who
know
the
wisdom
of
the
hidden).
He
should
also
know
the
secrets
of
Torah
and
how
to
explain
them,
and
then
we
can
definitely
believe
in
him.”
Rav
Chaim
Vital
ends
with
this
sign,
and
these
are
his
words,
verbatim:
“According
to
his
words
we
can
know
and
recognize
his
greatness
and
merit
to
the
extent
of
his
knowledge.”
The
explanation
is
as
previously
written,
that
when
a
person
is
righteous
and
Hassid,
and
engages
in
Torah
and
prays
intently,
angels
and
holy
spirits
are
created
out
of
him.
This
is
the
meaning
of
“One
who
performs
one
Mitzva
[commandment]
has
acquired
for
himself
one
advocate.”
The
follies
that
come
out
from
his
mouth
become
a
chariot
to
the
souls
of
the
first
righteous,
to
go
down
to
teach
Torah
to
that
man.
He
also
says
there
that
if
the
Mitzvot
[commandments]
are
incomplete,
incomplete
angels
and
spirits
are
made
of
it,
which
are
called
“tellers.”
It
is
about
that
that
he
gave
the
above-mentioned
sign
that
if
the
Torah
and
Mitzvot
are
complete,
he
is
rewarded
with
complete
attainment
and
knows
how
to
explain
all
the
secrets
of
Torah.
If
he
is
lacking
in
it,
meaning
knows
how
to
explain
only
some
of
them,
his
works
are
certainly
incomplete.
Indeed,
all
those
who
can
be
my
adversaries,
it
is
because
they
do
not
even
understand
my
words,
so
how
can
they
be
deemed
complete
righteous?
Thus,
I
have
given
you
a
clear
sign.
I
have
already
written
you
that
my
book
needs
no
endorsements
because
I
did
not
add
even
a
single
word
to
the
words
of
the
ARI,
and
I
have
also
given
references
to
every
single
concept,
showing
their
place
in
the
writings
of
the
ARI,
and
the
ARI
does
not
need
the
endorsement
of
our
contemporaries.
I
did
this
deliberately,
seeing
the
ways
of
the
Sitra
Achra
against
me
in
advance.
My
own
work
and
additions
in
all
those
two
commentaries
are
hardly
recognizable.
Thus,
how
will
they
hold
out
the
campaign
against
this
notebook?
If
they
do
have
complaints
about
my
teaching,
and
I
am
more
proficient
in
the
writings
of
the
ARI
than
they
are,
this
is
not
an
argument.
They
should
not
have
spent
their
time
on
vanities;
they
had
time
to
study
the
words
of
the
ARI,
and
since
they
folded
their
hands
idly,
now
they
will
eat
their
own
flesh.
My
regards
to
you
and
to
...
and
...
Tell
him
that
all
his
ways
are
as
this
deed,
whose
intention
is
good
but
the
deeds
are
not
good,
and
everything
follows
the
act.
But
what
can
I
do
to
him?
He
is
my
flesh
and
blood.
Therefore,
let
him
inform
me
in
great
detail
the
whole
story
and
how
it
unfolded
from
beginning
to
end,
and
I
will
reply
to
him.
I
also
ask
that
you
will
let
me
know
your
thoughts
about
this
letter,
and
more
of
what
is
happening
among
them
in
great
detail
and
elaborately,
for
I
need
to
know
all
the
details
in
order
to
maintain
the
shield,
for
the
work
of
the
Creator
is
no
small
matter.
Yehuda