Introduction

Introduction
Remark from the transcriber [Rabbi Nachman
Goldstein of Teplik]: It is already well known and
publicized, from one end of the world to the other, the
greatness and wonders of his holiness, our master and
teacher and rabbi, light of lights etc., the rabbi, Rabbi
Nachman, of righteous blessed and holy memory; the
author of the books Likutei Moharan and Sipurei
Ma’asios [Tales from Ancient Times] and Sefer
HaMidos [The Book of Traits], and the other extremely
holy and awe-inspiring books, whose “line has gone
out through all the earth; and their words to the end of
the world” (Tehilim 19:5).
And behold, in addition to what can be seen by all who
study his holy books, the depth of his advice for
serving God, regarding which there is no piece of holy
advice which a person will not find in his sacred
books: “He gave marvelous counsel, and showed great
wisdom” exceedingly (Yishiahu 28:29); to strengthen
and encourage all the weak and tired souls, even those
who lie below, within the “Ten Crowns [i.e. powers of
the soul] of impurity” (Zohar, Pekudei 258), who
descended because of their sins to She’ol Tachtios [i.e.
 Introduction
the lowest level of the underworld]—and lower than
that. For all will be aroused and awakened and
enlivened not to despair (Heaven forbid) of receiving
compassion. And “Your words have upheld he that
stumbles, and feeble knees will be strengthened”
(Eeyov 4:4).
For he has grasped his blessed greatness and
benevolence, and his enormous compassion which is
unfathomable—even towards the extremely defiled
souls; and informed them of the aspect of “If I make
my bed in She’ol, behold You are there” (Tehilim
139:8), as is mentioned in the Likutei Moharan 6; and
also the aspect of “Awake and sing, dwellers in dust”
(Yishiahu 26:19). And God is with them and by them
and among them in all the places which they
descended to. And from there too they can return and
come back to Hashem Yisborach [i.e. God], as is
mentioned in the Likutei Moharan (II:7).
And he cried out with his holy voice, “Gevald! Zait
aeych nit mya’esh!” [Gevald! Don’t Despair!] And he
lengthened and stretched out the word “gevald,” to
teach and to signal to each individual in every
generation, not to despair for any possible reason, no
matter what happens to him.
 Introduction
And he hinted to us through his holy words, that his
entire [purpose] for which he came to this world was
only to rectify all the fallen souls, which are an aspect
of the filthy places. And once he said, “how
much...they were lying in the muck...and I extricated
them from there.” And also another time he said about
himself, “and I, my hands are dirty with blood, and
amniotic fluid, and the placenta in order to purify...”
(Brachos 4a).
And additionally, all of his suffering which he went
through in this world, and also all of the overpowering
concealment which hid his holy light from the world
(to the extent that there are many who did not merit to
benefit from his holy light), are only for this [purpose,
mentioned above], as he wrote in his letter printed in
the book Chayei Moharan. And this is his wording: “I
know, indeed I know, that also the work that I dealt
with concerning you, to extricate you from the teeth of
the Samech Mem, [i.e. Satan] indeed on account of all
of these things, his eyes glared and his teeth gnashed at
me. Therefore, my dear ones, my brothers and friends,
“be strong and courageous...” (Devarim 31:6) so that
my strenuous efforts shall not be for nothing. And keep
 Introduction
the Torah of Moshe (i.e. Moses) the servant of God, as
I taught you...” (see the source).
And so it was, more so and to a greater extent than all
of his holy students, he rested his hand on his holy
student Rabbi Nosson, of blessed memory, the author
of the holy books Likutei Halachos, and the books
Likutei Tefilos. And he gave him of his splendor, and
he laid his hand on him in order to inculcate his holy
wisdom through all sorts of talk which revives the soul
of all of the fallen and lowly, that they should
strengthen themselves and not despair under any
circumstances.
And behold, now in this period of the Footsteps of the
Mashiach [i.e. the Messiah], with the spread of
dreadful darkness, doubled and quadrupled, “formless
and void and darkness” (Bereshis 1:2), which also our
first prophets, of blessed memory, saw and indeed
were utterly puzzled by; [wondering] how could the
holy Children of Israel strengthen their awe of God
amidst such darkness. And thanks to God who [even]
before we received the injury, provide us with the cure,
and sent us a savior and rabbi, [whose name forms the
acronym] the flowing stream; the source of wisdom—
he is our holy master, teacher and rabbi, the righteous
 Introduction
one of blessed memory. And so he and his holy
disciples informed us of [God’s] great compassion and
benevolence—beyond understanding. However, their
holy words, with their powerful encouragement, are
dispersed throughout the holy discourses in the books
Likutei Moharan, and the books Likutei Halachos, and
not everyone can easily find within them what he
seeks. For this reason our teacher the rabbi and tzadik
[i.e. living saint] Rabbi Nosson, of blessed memory,
collected and gathered [the material into] the holy
book Likutei Etzos, whose content is alphabetized by
subject. And one who studies it can also find there his
greatly encouraging words, which emanate from his
holy books. And after him arose the holy Rabbi from
Tsherin, the tzadik of blessed memory; and he
collected and gathered all of the holy advice
which is scattered throughout the holy books of the
Likutei Halachos [into] the book Likutei Etzos
Chadash (whose content is alphabetized by subject).
One who studies it can also find words of
encouragement there which emanate from the holy
books of the Likutei Halachos. We have seen and
discerned now during the depth of darkness in the
period of the Footsteps of the Mashiach, that there are
many among the People of Israel who very much yearn
to serve God, but it seems to them that there is no hope
for them, Heaven forbid. Therefore we were inspired
to collect into one place the words of encouragement
which were printed in the holy books Likutei Etzos,
from the first and second editions, and in the holy book
Likutei Etzos Chadash, and print them in this small
booklet, so that each person can revive his soul, that
longs for the word of God, and will know that his hope
is still not lost, Heaven forbid. And we named this
booklet Meshivas Nefesh [Revive my Soul; literally,
Return of the Soul] because it is entirely Godly talk,
pure talk which has been refined seven fold, to
rejuvenate and revive all of the fallen souls, which is
an aspect of “the seven which restore reason” (Mishley
26:16), to the extent that it becomes an aspect of “a
tzadik falls seven times, and rises up” (Mishley 24:16),
as this can be understood in the teaching “Tiku
Emunah” (Likutei Moharan II,5). And may we indeed
merit to fulfill them in truth, until we shall merit to do
complete teshuvah [i.e. return to God] and return to
our land with the coming of the Mashiach speedily in
our days, amen.
 Revive My Soul
1

One who desires to return to God must be very

proficient in halachah, [lit. going] so that nothing in
the world can push him down or distance him,
neither while ascending nor descending. And no
matter what he goes through, he should strengthen
himself and fulfill “If I ascend up into heaven, You
are there: if I make my bed in She’ol, [the
underworld] behold You are there” (Tehilim 139:8).
Because even in the depths of the underworld one
can bring oneself closer to God, for there too
Hashem Yisborach [i.e. God] resides, which is an
aspect of “If I make my bed in She’ol, behold You
are there” (Likutei Moharan I,6). In Likutei Etzos
find this under the heading “Teshuvah” in the tenth
entry, and this is his wording there: “When a person
wants to proceed in the ways of teshuvah [i.e. return
to God] one must be proficient in halachah, and one
needs two areas of proficiency—proficiency in
running and proficiency in returning, which is an
aspect of ‘entering and leaving’ (Zohar II,213b): ‘If
I ascend up into heaven, You are there. If I make my
bed in She’ol, behold You are there.’” That is, he
who wants to return to Hashem Yisborach must
gather up his might to always strengthen himself in
the ways of God, both when ascending and
descending, for they are an aspect of :“If I ascend up
into heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in
She’ol, behold You are there.”
Whether one merits a certain ascension to a certain
level, great or small; nevertheless, he should not
stand in place, and not content himself with this.
One needs to be extremely proficient in this, to
know and to believe that he needs to proceed more
and more (etc.), for this is an aspect of proficiency in
“running” etc.
And also the opposite: that even if one falls (Heaven
forbid) to wherever one falls, even to She’ol
Tachtios [i.e. the lowest level of the underworld]
(Heaven forbid) even there one should never ever
despair—under no circumstances, no matter what
happens—he should just search for and seek out
God, and strengthen himself wherever he may be, in
any way he can. For even in the depths of She’ol
Tachtios Hashem Yisborach resides; and even from
that place one can bind oneself to Hashem
Yisborach. And this is an aspect of “If I make my
bed in She’ol, behold You are there,” an aspect of
proficiency in returning, because it is impossible to
merit to do teshuvah without proficiency in these
two types of proficiency. And in truth, this is a very
great proficiency, to merit to have the knowledge
that one always needs to toil and go through
difficulties in the service of God, and at every
moment anticipate arriving at a higher level. And
despite all this, he should not fall because of any
reason. And no matter what happens (Heaven
forbid); nevertheless, one should not get discouraged
at all; and one should fulfill: “If I make my bed in
She’ol, behold You are there,” as mentioned above.
And when he has these two proficiencies, he thus
goes on the pathways of teshuvah, and thus God’s
right hand is outstretched to receive his teshuvah,
and he merits the honor of God; and through this he
becomes a [complete] person to “sit on the chair”
(Yechezkel 1:26; Likutei Moharan I,6:5)—fortunate
is he.

2
Mainly what make’s God’s [name] great is when
also those extremely distant from Hashem
Yisborach, when they too draw close to his service.
And through this, God’s name is esteemed and
elevated, both above and below. Therefore a person
should not cause himself to despair of drawing close
to the service of God, because of his having
distanced himself very much from Hashem
Yisborach through his many sins, even if he did
many bad things, Heaven forbid. On the contrary,
especially through him, the glory of God will be
elevated, exalted, and greatly enlarged. But the main
drawing close of those who are distant from God is
through the tzadiks [i.e. living saints] of the
generation. (Likutei Moharan I,10)

3
It is fitting that the friends who are close to the true
tzadiks, and who bind themselves to them, should
encourage each other and motivate each other. And
the main encouragement is through the greatness of
the power of the True Tzadik, who is great to the
extent that he can also elevate extremely deficient
souls, which still have not moved away from the
profane to the holy even by a hair’s breadth—the
Tzadik, through his great power, can elevate and
renew them to a state of goodness. And this is the
main encouragement for every person. For even the
worst of the worst, no matter who they are, even if
now he goes through what he goes through—as long
as he binds himself to the True Tzadik, he has good
and wondrous hope for eternity. There is also a need
for each person to strengthen his friend; and they
should motivate each other and strengthen each
other in the service of God. And each person should
remind his friend of all of the good advice which he
knows and understands—every person in accordance
with what he received from their rabbi. (Likutei
Moharan I,13)

4
One needs to know that God is glorified even by
[apparently] “trivial” people among the People of
Israel, even by the transgressors of the People of
Israel—as long as the person is called by the name
“Israel,” through him there is individualized
glorification through which Hashem Yisborach is
glorified. Therefore it is prohibited for a person to
give up on God, even if the individual ruined and
defiled very much, Heaven forbid. For he has still
not ceased to be dear to Hashem Yisborach; (as
mentioned above) therefore he can still return to
God. And the main [means of success] is through the
people of truth, who are also able to find the good
and the glory which exists even in the worst of the
worst, and [they are able to] return everyone to
Hashem Yisborach. (Likutei Moharan I,17)

5
When a person needs to rise from level to level, he
must experience a descent before the ascent. For the
descent is for the purpose of the ascent. And from
this, every person can understand how much he
needs to strengthen himself in the service of God,
and never get discouraged from all of the falls and
descents in the world. For if he strives and
strengthens himself not to pay attention to this—
under any circumstances whatsoever—even if he
experiences hardship; in the end he will merit that all
of his descents will transform into great ascents. For
the descent is for the purpose of the ascent. And
there is a lot to discuss regarding this, for each
person who fell to the place where he fell, assumes
that these words do not refer to him. For he thinks
they don’t refer to me, rather they refer to those of
high standing, who rise every time from level to
level. But in truth, know and believe that all of these
words refer also to the smallest of the small and to
the worst of the worst—for God is always good to
all. (Likutei Moharan I,20)

6
Every person in the world, even a person who is on
an extremely low level, and even if he is really
inside of the earth; nevertheless, when he wants to
start serving God, he certainly will have to proceed
and rise from level to level. And each and every time
when a person goes from level to level, in
accordance with his own situation, at that point the
klipahs [lit. the husks] (which are the animalistic
cravings and delusions, and the thoughts and
confusion and obstacles) renew their attack; and they
threaten him very much, time after time, and do not
allow him to enter the gates of holiness. And
regarding this, the upright Chasids err greatly. For
when one sees that suddenly the cravings, confusion
and obstacles threaten him, it seems to him that he
has fallen from his level. Because previously these
cravings and confusions had not been so
overwhelming, and were somewhat dormant,
therefore he thinks that he has fallen, Heaven forbid.
But in truth, this is not a fall at all. Rather it occurs
because a person needs to rise from level to level in
accordance with his own situation. And because of
this, all of the cravings, confusions, obstacles and
distortions of the heart etc. [threaten] anew to
overpower him with great intensity. And each and
every time he needs to strengthen himself greatly,
and not become discouraged at all from this, until he
overpowers them and breaks them just like from the
start. (Likutei Moharan I,25)

7
And the advice for this: give charity to worthy poor
people. For the main greatness of the blessed Creator
is revealed through charity which one gives to a
worthy poor person. For through this, the Kadosh
Baruch Hoo [i.e. God] is [revealed to be] great and
glorified. And through this he will merit to subdue
the klipahs, which are the obstacles and confusion
etc. which strengthen at each and every level, as
mentioned. (Likutei Moharan I,25)
8
Another piece of advice for this, is that he should
make himself joyous, and be merry and jovial
because of his good point; that he merited to descend
from the People of Israel, and draw near to people of
truth, who bring him and guide him in the path of
truth. And through this, no matter what, he has good
hope for a positive future for all eternity. And
through this joy, he breaks the klipahs, which are the
obstacles etc. of every level. (Likutei Moharan I,25)

9
When a person strengthens himself and breaks the
obstacles etc., and time after time rises to the next
higher level in accordance with his situation,
through this he benefits his fellow who is located at
the same level which he is now entering. For his
fellow exits it and rises to a higher level. For it is
impossible for two people to be on one level. And
this is an aspect of haramah [i.e. lifting up]; where
one picks up and elevates his fellow, as was
mentioned above. (Likutei Moharan I,25)
When a person notices that impure thoughts come
into his mind, and he breaks his craving and distracts
his mind from them, this is his main teshuvah and
rectification for pagam habris [lit. defiling the
covenant; see glossary] which he defiled
previously—each person in accordance with his
situation. For this is definitely an aspect of teshuvah
in equal measure. Therefore he should not become
discouraged when he sees that evil and very awful
thoughts beset him. For on the contrary, this
specifically is his rectification and teshuvah; for
specifically through this, that these thoughts come to
him, and he overcomes them—through this
specifically he receives his main rectification and
teshuvah, as mentioned. And through this he
extricates the sparks of holiness which fell through
pagam habris etc. (Likutei Moharan I,25)
10
One needs to know that “the whole earth is full of
his glory” (Yishiahu 6:3) and “there is no place
vacant of Him”; and “He fills all the worlds and
surrounds all the worlds” (Zohar, Raiya Mehemna,
Pinchas 225). And even a person who has business
dealings with gentiles, cannot excuse himself and
say that it is impossible to serve Hashem Yisborach
because of the coarseness and base urges which
constantly weigh down on him because of the
business dealings which he always conducts with
them. For in everything material, and in all of the
languages of the gentiles, he can find his Divinity
within them. For without any of his Divinity, they do
not have any life force or existence at all. Just that to
the degree that something is on a lower level, the
greater is his Divinity constricted and more clothed
within garments. (Likutei Moharan 33)

11
Therefore, you do need to know, that even if you are
sunken in the realm of the klipahs and you are at a
very low level—to the point where it seems to you
that it is no longer possible to draw near to God,
because you have become distanced from Him very
much—despite this, know that even from your
location, there too you can find his Divinity; and
from there you can bind yourself to the Blessed One,
and return to Him in complete teshuvah. For “it is
not far off from you” (Devarim 30:11). Just that in
your location, the [concealing] garments have
become numerous. (Likutei Moharan I,33).

12
There are those who committed so many sins, that
they fell into an aspect of “concealment within
concealment.” And because of this it seems to them
that they no longer have any hope, Heaven forbid.
For one “who transgressed and repeated the
transgression, feels as if it has become permitted”
(Yomah 86b). This is an aspect of one concealment.
But when a person sinned more (Heaven forbid),
then God conceals Himself in the aspect of
“concealment within concealment.” And then it is
extremely difficult to find The Blessed One. But
through the aspect of engagement in Torah [study],
it is possible to awaken him too, and impart to him
knowledge of Hashem Yisborach, that he too has
hope—until he returns to the truth and draws near to
God.
For truly, through the power of the true tzadiks, it is
always possible to draw near to God, at every
moment, whatever one’s situation, in every location.
(Likutei Moharan I, 66).

13
In the extremely low places, far removed from
Hashem Yisborach—in those places specifically is
clothed a very lofty life force, which is an aspect of
the secrets of Torah. Therefore, a person who fell
very much (Heaven forbid) needs to know this: that
in that place, especially in his location he can
approach Hashem Yisborach very successfully. For
in that place specifically is hidden a very lofty life
force. And when he merits to return to God, high
Torah insights will be revealed specifically through
him (that is, the secrets of Torah). (Likutei Moharan
I,66)

14
If a person has an awakening to do teshuvah, then
when he wants to enter into the service of God and
travel to the Tzadik; each time a bigger yetzer ha’ra
[i.e urge to do wrong] besets him. Therefore each
time there is a need for more will-power and
renewed strength against the new yetzer ha’ra,
which threatens him every time.

And because of this it occurs that sometimes when a

person is aroused to travel to people of truth—he has
great desire; and afterwards when he begins to
travel, his desire weakens. And sometimes when he
comes to the Tzadik himself, he loses his desire
completely. All of this is rooted in the aspect which
was described above. For immediately after he is
aroused to travel to the True Tzadik, he thus killed
his yetzer ha’ra which he had before. And afterwards
when he wants to travel, a new yetzer ha’ra forms,
stronger than before. For “whoever is greater than
his fellow, his yetzer ha’ra is greater” (Sukah 52a).
Therefore, a person who truly wants to draw close to
God needs to strengthen himself anew each time
against the new yetzer ha’ra which renews itself
against him continuously. (Likutei Moharan I,72).

15
For there are a number of aspects of the yetzer ha’ra.
And for most people of the world, their yetzer ha’ra
is very lowly and coarse—really a spirit of
foolishness. And a person who possesses a bit of
refined da’at, [i.e. inner unified knowledge] and
fathoms a little in his heart the greatness of the
blessed Creator—certainly for him this yetzer ha’ra
is definitely great foolishness and insanity. And for
him even a temptation of craving for fornication is
silliness. And this does not require any increased
will-power to counteract it. Just that he has a
different yetzer ha’ra, much higher than this. But for
a person who at least has some true intellect, the
yetzer ha’ra of most people is truly really silliness.
(Likutei Moharan I,72)

16
And there are those for whom their yetzer ha’ra is
like a fine husk [i.e klipah]. And this yetzer ha’ra
does not incite anyone except for a courageous
person who is on somewhat of a high level. But this
still is not the yetzer ha’ra of the true tzadiks. For
their yetzer ha’ra is truly a holy angel.
(Likutei Moharan I,25)
17
Also concerning the matter itself of drawing close to
God, there is a big yetzer ha’ra. That is, sometimes
becoming overly excited beyond what is appropriate
originates from the yetzer ha’ra. And this is an
aspect of “lest they break through to ascend to God”
(Shmos 19:21). And a person needs to request
compassion to be saved from this too. (Likutei
Moharan I,72)

18
A person upon whom there are deens [i.e. Heaven
has decreed that they must be held accountable for
misconduct; lit. judgments] (Heaven forbid), and
who in consequence experiences some kind of
hardship (Heaven help us), such a person needs to
see to it to use his will-power and strengthen himself
exceedingly to be saved from the yetzer ha’ra. For
then the yetzer ha’ra besets him very much. For the
main root of the yetzer ha’ra is the powers of
gevurah [i.e the strict aspect of Divine providence;
lit. forcefulness] and deens, Heaven help us.
(Likutei Moharan I,25)

19
Also depression is very harmful, and it adds strength
to the yetzer ha’ra. Therefore a person needs to
bolster his will-power very much to make his soul
joyous by means of all of the types of advice
mentioned in various places. For one’s main
strengthening is through joy and happiness, as is
written, “For the joy of God is your strength”
(Nechemiah 8:10). (Likutei Moharan I,72)
20
Being distanced is the beginning of drawing near.
That is, when a person wants to draw near to God,
then usually the individual is visited with many and
enormous deens, suffering, and obstacles. And it
appears to him as if they are distancing him. But all
of this is for the best, for the purpose of drawing him
near. And one needs to strengthen oneself, and
overcome, and make a strong effort, and stand up to
this test; so as not to become distanced (Heaven
forbid) by the suffering and obstacles and
distancing. And he shouldn’t mislead himself by
saying that they are distancing him (Heaven forbid).
He should just know and believe, that everything he
goes through—it’s all for his good, so that he will
overcome and draw closer. For the distancing is only
for the purpose of drawing near. (Likutei Moharan
II,48)
 21
Advice for strengthening oneself is speech. That is,
even if a person fell to the place where he fell;
nevertheless, there too he should strengthen himself
to speak words of truth—that is, words of Torah,
prayer, and fear of God. And he should converse
with his Maker; and he should converse with his
friend—and even more so, with his rabbi. For
speech has great power to remind a person about
Hashem Yisborach, and to strengthen him always,
even in the places very far from holiness.
(Likutei Moharan I,78)

See in Likutei Etzos what was said on “Speech” (19)

and this is what is said there: “Also, speech is an
aspect of ‘Mother of the children’ (Tehilim 113:9),
that is, just as the mother always goes with her
children, even to the filthy places; and she does not
forget them; likewise, speech always goes with a
person, even in the filthy places, and always reminds
him about Hashem Yisborach.” That is, even if a
person is situated (Heaven forbid) at an extremely
low level (God forbid); nevertheless, from such a
place, through speech he can always remind himself
about God. That is, wherever he may be, if at any
rate even from there he strengthens himself to speak
holy words of Torah, prayer, and conversation
between him and his Maker—or with his rabbi or
friend in subjects relating to awe of God—he can
always remind himself about Hashem Yisborach.
Even there, in the places very distant from God,
which are an aspect of filthy places, even if he fell to
the place where he fell…Heaven help us. For speech
does not allow him to forget Hashem Yisborach.
Understand this well, the greatness of the power of
speech. And this is wondrous and awe-inspiring
advice for a person who truly seeks not to
completely lose his place in [this and the next]
world, Heaven forbid. (Likutei Moharan I,78)

22
One always needs to be joyous, and one should
always serve God in joy. And if sometimes a person
falls from his level, he needs to strengthen himself
by remembering the earlier period, when a certain
inspiration enlightened him a little bit. And now he
should hold on to the motivation and enlightenment
which he had had in the past previously. (Likutei
Moharan I,222)

23
A person who has dealings among gentiles, that is he
has work and business dealings with them, needs to
guard himself with extreme care so that they do not
damage the holiness of his Judaism. For he can
easily get caught in their net, God forbid. And he
needs to strengthen himself very much, to remind
himself frequently about the holiness of his Judaism;
and he should request from God a lot that he
shouldn’t learn from their deeds and ways.
(Likutei Moharan I,244)
24
Gevurah is mainly in the heart. For he whose heart is
strong does not fear any person or any thing. And he
can do awe-inspiring acts of gevurah, and win great
wars through the strength and courage of his heart
which does not fear. He can run into the midst of a
fierce battle! And likewise, it is just like this with the
service of God. Understand this well. (Likutei
Moharan I,249)

25
When a person falls from his level, he should know
that this is ordained from Heaven, for being
distanced is for the purpose of being drawn close.
Therefore he fell so that he will become more
motivated to drawing close to Hashem Yisborach. It
is advisable for him to begin anew to enter into the
service of God as if he still hadn’t ever begun at all.
And this is an important principle in serving God
that one really needs to begin anew each day.
(Likutei Moharan I,261)

26
When a person begins to look at himself, and he sees
that he is far from goodness, and full of sins; then he
can fall because of this, and not be able to pray at
all. Therefore he must search, request, and find some
good within himself. For how is it possible that he
didn’t do some mitzvah or good deed his whole life?
But when he begins to look at this good deed which
he did, he sees that the good itself is full of wounds,
and it has no wholeness—for the good is mixed up
with a lot of ulterior motives and waste. Despite all
this, it can’t be that there isn’t within this slight
goodness, some good point. And moreover, he
should search and seek until he finds within himself
something else good. Even though this goodness is
also mixed up with a lot of waste, while taking this
into account, at any rate, there is some good point
within him. And thus he should search and seek
longer, until he finds additional good points within
himself. In this way, by finding some merit and
goodness within himself, through this he truly exits
the domain of guilt and enters the domain of merit.
And this is how he can do teshuvah. And through
this he can revive himself and cheer himself up, just
as he is. And then he will be able to pray and sing
and give thanks to God. (Likutei Moharan I,282)

27
And a person needs to be very careful to follow this
path, for it is an important foundational and general
principle for a person who wants to draw near to
God, and not lose his place in the world completely,
Heaven forbid. For the main thing is to distance
oneself from depression and melancholy as much as
possible. For most of the people who are far from
Hashem Yisborach, their main distance is because of
melancholy and sadness. And because they become
discouraged when looking at themselves, how
deficient they are—for most of their actions are
lacking, in accordance with what each person knows
in his soul, the afflictions and hurts of his heart. And
because of this they become discouraged; and most
despair completely (Heaven help us) and do not pray
with concentration at all. And they do not do in their
service of Hashem even what they could still do.
Therefore a person needs to be very clever
concerning this, for many souls sank because of
this—for despair (God forbid) is the hardest of all.
Therefore one needs to strengthen oneself very much
to walk in this path (mentioned above) to seek
within oneself good points time after time, so as to
revive oneself, and always strengthen oneself. And
by this means one can always pray with desire,
liveliness and joy. And one can truly return to God,
as mentioned above. (Likutei Moharan I,282)

28
There are souls which have fallen, and one needs to
enliven them and revive them with all kinds of tasty
morsels which revive the soul. And by igniting the
mind, which is an aspect of tefilin, through which
one merits to break the tide of impure thoughts (as
mentioned in Likutei Etzos, Bris, 26), through this
upright speech is created to enliven and revive these
fallen souls. (Likutei Moharan II,5)

29
It is prohibited for a person to cause himself to
despair, God forbid. And even if he fell to the place
where he fell (God forbid) and is situated in She’ol
Tachtios (Heaven help us); despite all that, he should
not cause himself to despair of Hashem Yisborach
under any circumstances whatsoever. Because from
there too he can draw near to God, for “the whole
earth is full of his glory” (Yishiahu 6:3). And the
True Tzadik is not called a tzadik unless he has this
power to revive and raise up those who fell
extremely deeply—to strengthen and encourage
them, to motivate them and awaken them, and to
reveal to them that God is still with them, near them,
among them, and close to them, for “the whole earth
is full of his glory.” And also the opposite: the tzadik
must show those who are on an exalted level, that
they still don’t have any knowledge at all of Hashem
Yisborach, which is an aspect of “what did you see?
what did you look for?...” (Zohar, Intro. 1b). (Likutei
Moharan II,7)

30
When a person falls from his level, and sometimes
his fall and descent is extremely great (Heaven help
us), for there are those who fall into very awful
places, which are called an aspect of the filthy
places. And he falls into doubts and very wicked,
awful, and alienating thoughts, and into much
confusion; and his heart is dizzy; for the klipah
distorts his heart and spins it around with enormous
distortions and confusion: “es far dreht das hartz” [it
spins around his heart]. Even though in those places
it is impossible to find God; nevertheless, in that
place too, there is great hope, by means of his
searching for and seeking Hashem Yisborach from
there. And he should ask and request, “where is the
place of his glory?!” (source from the Sabbath and
fest. liturgy).
And the more he sees how he is very far from God’s
glory, the more he should feel his anguish, and ask
and request, “where is the place of his glory?!”
And through this itself, that he seeks and requests
and yearns for God’s glory, and feels his anguish
and cries out and asks and requests “where is the
place of his glory?!”; through this itself he rises to
the ultimate ascension, because he merits to ascend
to the aspect of “Ayeh” [i.e. where?!] which is an
extremely lofty level of holiness. And this is the
main aspect of teshuvah, that he should always
search and request “where is the place of his
glory?!” Through this, the descent transforms into a
great ascent. And this is an aspect of, “the descent is
for the purpose of the ascent” which is cited in all of
the holy books, and read within them and understand
it there well, for it is deep. (Likutei Moharan II,12)
31
One needs to be very stubborn in one’s service of
God; and understand this well, for every person who
desires to enter into the service of God, even the
smallest of the small, it must happen that he will
experience innumerable ascents and descents, and
various kinds of falls and slides. For sometimes it
occurs that they intentionally push one down from
service of God. And concerning all this one needs to
strengthen oneself greatly, without measure, as is
mentioned above a little bit. And in a number of
instances he needs to strengthen himself and hold
on, just through stubbornness; and one needs
extremely great stubbornness concerning this. And
remember this matter well, for you will be in great
need of this. (Likutei Moharan II,48)

32
And know, that one must go through all of these
falls and descents and confusing events etc. before
one enters the gates of holiness. And all of the
tzadiks and truly God fearing went through all of
this. (Likutei Moharan II,48)

33
And if you are extremely far away from God, and
you think that really at every hour you are defiling
things in opposition to Hashem Yisborach; to
counteract this, know that for such a person who is
so coarse, every single movement where he
disconnects himself little by little from his base
desires—even the slightest movement where he
moves away from his base desires towards Hashem
Yisborach—this is extremely great and precious
from the perspective of God. And in this way he
runs thousands upon thousands of miles in the upper
worlds. (Likutei Moharan I,72)

34
And the main thing is to strengthen oneself with
joyfulness through various types of advice. Because
depression is very harmful. Therefore one needs to
make a big effort with all one’s might to distance
and drive away depression and melancholy, both by
searching and finding within oneself good points
which still remain, and by [remembering] that He
did not create me as a gentile. And in most cases it
is impossible to cheer oneself up without using
laughter and frivolity etc. Just as we wrote all of this
in Likutei Etzos, under “Joy,” see the source there.
(Likutei Moharan II,48)

35
And know, that in this world, a person needs to pass
over a very narrow bridge, and the overriding and
main principle is don’t be afraid at all. (Likutei
Moharan II,48)

36
In light of the greatness of Hashem Yisborach and
his eminent loftiness, even the slightest motion of
any kind and any sort of gazing which is not
befitting of God’s glory—it would be befit that
[because of this wrongdoing,] things would happen
to a person that he deserves, God forbid.
However Hashem Yisborach is full of compassion,
and the whole world is full of kindness, and God
very much desires the [success] of the world.
Therefore, my dear brother, you who are reading
this, my heart and soul, be very strong and
courageous, and trust in God, for He will not leave
you, since everything which you go through, it is all
for your good. Rely on his immense compassion,
without measure. For Hashem Yisborach is very
great, and his greatness is unfathomable, and there is
a [reality] that everything transforms into goodness,
and deliberate sins transform into merits—just be
strong and courageous. (Likutei Moharan II,49)
37
And when a person still has a yetzer ha’ra, this is a
very good characteristic. For then he can serve God
specifically with his yetzer ha’ra. That is, he can
overcome [temptation] while the yetzer ha’ra is
heating him up, and draw it into some kind of
service in his service of Hashem Yisborach. And if a
person does not have a yetzer ha’ra, his service is
considered worthless. And because of this Hashem
Yisborach allows the yetzer ha’ra to spread through
a person so much—especially he who truly desires
to draw near to God. Despite that its large degree of
ever-presence and incitement brings a person to
what it brings him, to many great sins and much
defilement. Nevertheless, this is all worthwhile for
Hashem Yisborach, to enable positive movement.
While the yetzer ha’ra attacks a person,
he overcomes it through some movement, and flees
from it. For this is more precious to God than if he
served Him for a thousand years without a yetzer
ha’ra. Because all of the worlds were created for no
other purpose than for the human being, whose
entire greatness and importance is because he has
such a yetzer ha’ra, and he strengthens himself to
overcome it. Therefore, to the degree that it spreads
out more and more, in equal measure, the slightest
movement where he strengthens himself to oppose it
becomes more precious in the eyes of God. And
Hashem Yisborach Himself assists him with this, as
is said, “God will not leave him in his hand”
(Tehilim 37:33). (Likutei Moharan II,49)

38
The yetzer ha’ra knocks again and again, and evokes
him to what it evokes. And even if a person does not
listen to it, and turns his back on it; nevertheless, it
knocks again, and a second time, and a third, and a
fourth, and more. But if a person is strong in his
will, and stubborn against the yetzer ha’ra, and
doesn’t pay attention to it at all; then the yetzer ha’ra
withdraws and goes away. And also during prayer,
where thoughts come to befuddle him, this is also
really the case. When a thought comes a number of
times, time after time to distract him; one needs to
be strong and not pay any attention to it at all, under
no circumstances. And see the other sources
regarding this. (Likutei Moharan II,51)

39
When a person enters a high level of holiness, for
example when he draws near the True Tzadik or
something similar, sometimes specifically at that
time he will experience a nocturnal emission,
God forbid. Do not become discouraged because of
this; for on the contrary, sometimes this is a sign that
he is has approached holiness, and sometimes this is
very good. (Likutei Moharan II,117)

40
We have already discussed how there is absolutely
no despair in the world at all. And this itself, that he
views himself as very far from God, as far as he can
be; through this itself it is fitting that he revives
himself, since at any rate, he knows that he is distant.
For it would have been possible for him to be so
very distant, to the extent that he did not know at all
that he is distant. And since he at least knows about
his great distance; despite that this is true;
nevertheless, this itself is important to Hashem
Yisborach, that at least he knows that he is distant.
Through this itself, it befits that he revive himself
and strengthen himself in every way that he can.
41
Even the simple people, (who are called prastakes)
and even the wicked, and even the Nations of the
world (who are not in the same category as Jews)—
they all receive their life force from the Torah.
Therefore, even a simple person, for example one
who cannot study, or who is in a place where he
cannot study; nevertheless, also in that situation he
receives life force from the Torah. Therefore, even
in that situation, he needs to maintain his fear of
Heaven, in every way he can, even when he ceases
to study Torah, and even he who cannot study—for
everyone receives their life force from the concealed
Torah, through the Great Tzadik, who sometimes
behaves with simplicity, and study within [the
Likutei Moharan for more elaboration about this
subject]. (Likutei Moharan II,78)

42
And even a person who fell extremely far (God
forbid) and is situated in She’ol Tachtios (God
forbid); nevertheless, through the True Great Tzadik
he has much hope. For through him everyone can
receive their life force from holiness, wherever they
may be. Therefore truly, there is absolutely no
despair in the world at all (kayn ya-oosh iz gar nit
far handin). And somehow, even if he fell to the
place where he fell (Heaven help us); nevertheless,
since he strengthens himself even in something
small, he still has hope to return and come back to
God. And the main thing is “from the belly of She’ol
I cried out!” (Yonah 2:3); for crying out from She’ol
Tachtios also never ever goes to waste. And he
should cry out and cry out, and never give up on
crying out. He should just always cry out and beg
Hashem Yisborach, no matter what happens, until
God will look and see from heaven. (Likutei
Moharan II,78)

43
Even in She’ol Tachtios one can be adjacent to
Hashem Yisborach. (Likutei Moharan II,78)

44
If you believe that it is possible to destroy, believe
that it is possible to can fix. (Likutei Moharan
II,112)
Volume II
1
Sometimes there is a person who has already arrived
at the entrance to holiness, and he falls back; since
the Sitra Achera [i.e. the force of evil] and the Ba’al
Davar [i.e. Satan] rise up against him extremely
forcefully (Heaven help is); and they do not allow
him to pass through the entrance. And because of
this he gets discouraged and falls back completely,
God forbid. For this is the method of the Ba’al
Davar and the Sitra Achera. When they see that a
person is really adjacent to the gates of holiness, and
is just about to enter; then they engulf him extremely
forcefully (Heaven help us). Therefore at that point
one needs to strengthen oneself very stoutly against
them. One should stand one’s ground and not let
oneself be moved from one’s spot, and not pay
attention to the falls and descents and confusion
which one goes through. One should just strengthen
oneself immensely to overcome them, and do what
one can to serve God. And as the days and years go
by, he will enter securely with the help of Hashem
Yisborach into the gates of holiness. For God is full
of compassion, and greatly desires our service.
Know, that all of the movements and relocations,
where a person removes himself from the place he is
in and relocates to a new position; each time
[moving] a little bit from material desires towards
the service of Hashem Yisborach—they all gather
and join and bind together, and come to his aid at the
moment of need, that is when (God forbid) there is a
difficulty and time of misfortune, God forbid. And
know that there is a tree on which leaves grow. Each
leaf needs to grow for a hundred years. And it can be
assumed that during this century, certainly it goes
through what it goes through. And afterwards at the
end of the century, it fires off with a loud sound like
a firearm which they call “ormatia” [i.e. cannon].
And the metaphor can be understood on its own.
(Likutei Moharan II,48)

2
A person needs to strengthen himself in his service
of God in every way that he can, even if he is in the
state that he is. And he should rely on God’s very
plentiful and measureless compassion. For He
certainly will not abandon him, even if he went
through what he went through. The past is nothing,
and the main thing is from now on, he shall not do it
anymore, and he shall at least, not commit [sins]
anymore—both in action and in thought. For such
people’s thoughts are also as if they have acted, for
also in the world of Asiyah [i.e. action] there is
thought. And one needs to avoid transgressions in
deed and in thought, as mentioned above. And what
is done with him—whatever will be—he shouldn’t
worry, and he shouldn’t pay attention to it at all.
And know, that it is a necessity for him to go
through all of this (mentioned above) because this is
the main aspect of complete teshuvah: when a
person passes through those places and situations,
exactly as he did previously; and now he turns his
back on them, and forces down his yetzer so he will
no longer do what he did then, both in deed and in
thought. And this is the main aspect of complete
teshuvah. (Likutei Moharan II,49)

3
It was already mentioned above, concerning the
thousands and myriads of ascents and descents
without measure that a person must first go through
in order to merit to serve God with perfection, that
the great tzadiks also went through all of this. And
the main thing is to be very strong-willed to always
continue to serve God, and not pay attention to
anything in the world, and never put aside one’s
service of Hashem—even if one goes through what
one goes through (God forbid), all of the descents in
the world—nevertheless, he should strengthen
himself in serving God in every way that he can.
And the main thing is not to cause oneself to despair,
God forbid. Rather a person should begin each time
anew, as if he had still not begun at all to enter into
the service of Hashem Yisborach. Just right now, he
begins anew. And likewise each and every time—
always. And sometimes one needs to begin anew a
few times in a single day. (Likutei Moharan II,48)

4
When a person sees that he has been praying and
entreating and imploring very much for quite a long
time, that he should merit to draw near the service of
God; and despite that, they don’t look at him at all
and don’t listen to him—on the contrary, it seems to
him that they are distancing him from the service of
Hashem Yisborach, though all kinds of rejections, as
if they do not desire him at all—and because of this,
he gets discouraged, and relaxes his efforts to serve
God (God forbid): Then one should be embarrassed
about himself very much about this, that he had
[negative] thoughts about the character of Hashem
Yisborach. For in truth God is certainly forgiving
and merciful, and indeed He definitely wants to
draw him near, etc. Therefore he should again
strengthen his will to begin anew time after time, as
mentioned above. (Likutei Moharan II,48)

5
The Ba’al Davar besets and incites every person
constantly, in proportion to the degree that each
person wants to enter into the service of God. It is
like two people fighting each other: when one sees
that the other is overcoming him, he then strengthens
himself with all his might, and acts to overcome his
opponent. And because of this it occurs that
sometimes the Ba’al Davar incites a person very
much. And this is because evil sees that a certain
good has begun to emerge within a person; then he
strengthens himself even more against him.
Therefore, a person needs to be clever concerning
this matter, and make war and overcome the evil
though tricks each time through the powerful force
of will. (Sichos HaRan 10)

6
Sometimes it seems to a person that it is a distant
possibility that he could merit the life of the next
world because of his great distance from God;
despite that, he should be strong and courageous in
his mind, continuing to always yearn and long for
Hashem Yisborach. And he should cheerfully do
what he can in his service of God. And he should be
content to always serve God his whole life, even
without [eternal life] in the next world. And even if
it also seems like he will go to Hell (God forbid)—
whatever will be will be. He must [still] always do
what he needs to do, and engage in the service of
God as much as he can. [He should] snatch and do
some mitzvah, or study Torah, or pray, or something
of this kind; and God will do what is good in his
eyes. (Sichos HaRan 48)

7
Even if a person does not merit to serve God;
nevertheless, as long as he puts his hope in Hashem
Yisborach, he certainly also needs to strengthen and
encourage himself very much in just [hoping]. This
is an aspect of: “Be of good courage, and let your
heart be strong, all who hope in God” (Tehilim
31:28). And he shouldn’t become discouraged by
anything in the world, for there is no greater evil
than a fall, Heaven help us. Therefore each and
every person needs to strengthen his fellow, not to
become discouraged by anything in the world. Even
if he knows himself that he is in the state that he is;
nevertheless, one should strengthen his fellow. For it
is easier for his friend to strengthen him than it is for
him to strengthen himself, for “a prisoner does not
release himself...” (Brachos 5b). And when he shall
merit not to discourage his friend (God forbid), even
though he knows himself that he is far from his
service—on the contrary, he should strengthen him
with all kinds of encouragement; and he should
rejuvenate him and revive him through all kinds of
talk that revives the soul—by doing this it can be
that afterwards he himself will also merit to return to
the service of God. Read further in the source.
(Sichos HaRan 120)

8
Concerning the phenomenon of a few people who
draw near the service of God, and afterwards
distance themselves; despite this, their temporary
drawing near is also precious in the eyes of Hashem
Yisborach, even though afterwards what happens
happens, God forbid. (Sichos HaRan 123)

“Hope in God, be strong and He will give your heart

courage, and hope in God” (Tehilim 27:14).
“Strengthen yourselves, and He will give your heart
courage, all who hope in God” (Tehilim 31:25). “Did
I not command you, be strong and have courage, do
not fear and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your
God is with you wherever you go” (Yehoshua 1:9).

1
By searching and requesting until one finds in one’s
self some good points to revive oneself and
strengthen oneself in the service of the Blessed One;
by this means all of the rectification made by the
[sacrificial] service of the Cohens is drawn [down];
[also] the [singing] on the stand of the Levites; and
the standing [in prayer] of the [tribes of] Israel; and
in addition all of the rectifications which were drawn
[down] by the sacrifices and the incense. (Likutei
Halachos, Hashkamat HaBoker 1:5)

2
Even in the very low levels, the Endless Light of
Hashem Yisborach shines forth, as can be
understood from the writings of the holy Ari.
However the [light] is very hidden within many
garments. But every person who wants to cleave to
God, can cleave [to Him] wherever he may be.
Concerning this it is said: “Praised is the man who
does not forget You, and the person who strives for
You” (Rosh Hashanah liturgy), because one needs to
strive and strengthen oneself immensely regarding
this. And the lower the level someone is on, one
needs to strengthen oneself and strive that much
more regarding this. For also within the thick
blackness, in the valley of the shadow of death, one
can draw the Endless Light upon oneself by closing
one’s eyes and annulling oneself for a time to
Hashem Yisborach. And concerning this it is said:
“Even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with
me” (Tehilim 23:4); and it is said “When I sit in
darkness, God shall be a light to me” (Micha 7:8).
(Likutei Halachos, Nitilat Yadayim, 4:1)

3
Every person needs to know that every time that
some sparks of Godliness light up [his mind] or if he
is aroused by some new awakening towards Hashem
Yisborach, they [i.e. negative spiritual forces] then
will provoke him more and more. And one needs to
be very strong not to fall because of this; and this
shouldn’t cause one to become discouraged, even if
this happens thousands and myriads of times, God
forbid. One just needs to strengthen oneself a lot
through the Torah; that is, one should make a big
effort to draw [down] true novel Torah ideas. And
even a person who does not merit to do this; at any
rate, he should strengthen his resolve to study Torah
with renewed energy. And he should fulfill all of the
words of the Torah with pure simplicity, and not
depart from the ways of the Torah, God forbid. For
even though, to the degree there is light and the
enthusiasm in his heart, he yearns to be completely
holy and withdrawn and set apart from the vanities
of this world, in accordance with the gleaming of
these sparks (and in truth it is fitting to be that way);
however, if his yetzer still overcomes him and—
especially at this point—incites him very much;
because of this, he shouldn’t fall completely, God
forbid. He should just strengthen himself anyhow
not to depart from the simple path of the Torah. And
he should fulfill what is written: “Do not be [too]
much of a tzadik...and do not be [too] much of a
wicked person” (Koheles 7:17-18). A person should
not be [too] much of a wicked person (God forbid)
because he wanted to be [too] much of a tzadik, but
was unable to. And thus, when he
will follow this path and be very strong in it, then he
will proceed securely on his way, and he will be able
to motivate himself time after time to [serve] God,
and each time avert his eyes from the [superficial]
appearance of this world, and annul himself to
Hashem Yisborach. And if from this point on, he
truly merits to annul himself, to completely depart
from the [superficial] appearance of the world,
genuinely as befits him; certainly this is beneficial.
And if not (God forbid), anyhow he should not
become discouraged in the least because of this. He
should just strengthen himself to be an upright
person, with complete simplicity, in accordance with
the path of the holy Torah. Because the Torah breaks
and annuls all of the Sitra Achera , which wants to
provoke us, God forbid. (Likutei Halachos, Nitilat
Yadayim, 4:16)

4
Someone who wants to draw near to God, needs to
always search for Hashem Yisborach in every place
where he may be, and connect and raise up the
aspect of the place where he is, to an aspect of
“higher than the place”; that is, to Hashem
Yisborach, who is “the place of the world” (Bereshis
Rabbah, Vayetse, 68). And then he will merit to
truly serve God, and no place will be able to prevent
him from doing that. And even a person who fell to
some bad place because of his sins, and even to a
very low and coarse and dirty place, God forbid,
Heaven help us; nevertheless, he needs to remind
himself of Hashem Yisborach, who is “the place of
the world” for there exists a space for each and
every person. Therefore there is no descent in the
world.
The principle is, that in all the places a person has
been cast to, he can return to Hashem Yisborach.
This is an aspect of, “And you shall request Hashem
your God from there” (Devarim 4:29). Especially
from there from the place where He is. (Likutei
Halachos, Tzitzis, 3:9)

5
Every action a person does is in a [certain] time and
place, and that is the main way the Sitra Achera
takes hold. But God is, so to speak, above time and
space. There, all is good, and there the Sitra Achera
has no hold at all. And all [harsh judgments] are
sweetened there. And this is an aspect of: “If I
ascend up into heaven, You are there...”; “days have
been formed and one of them is his” (Tehilim
139:16). That is, there is no place or time to run
away to, and give up on Hashem Yisborach (God
forbid), for all of the places of the world are with
Him. And he gives life to all of the places and levels
in the world; and also [gives life to the phenomenon
of] time. Therefore in every time and in every place
one can find God, for space in its entirety and time
in its entirety—it is all from Hashem Yisborach.
Therefore through teshuvah one can draw near to
God and ascend higher than space and time. (Likutei
Halachos, Tzitzis, 3:15)

6
To counteract all the confusion, cravings, and the
evil and distracting thoughts which pursue a person
and confound him at every moment, especially when
he is praying—and a person suffers greatly from all
this—the main [solution] is an aspect of arichas
apayim [i.e. patience] which is an aspect of emunah
[i.e. faith] as explained elsewhere. That is, he should
have emunah in God and in the upright and true
tzadiks, and strengthen himself in his service, and
not fall because of anything, and just not care and
not get upset about anything which confounds or
discourages him; which the Ba’al Davar wants to
inject into his mind—as if there was no hope, God
forbid. Because one shouldn’t pay attention to this at
all—just strengthen oneself immensely, because
there is absolutely no despair in the world at all. And
somehow, despite that he has already fallen into this
descent numerous times, without measure;
nevertheless, there is no despair in the world at all.
And one needs to strengthen oneself, and to begin
anew each time, and not descend at all into agedness
of the Sitra Achera .

For all of the descents in the world are an aspect of

agedness of the Sitra Achera, where one thinks to
oneself that one has grown old in one’s sins and
actions that one has become accustomed to, until
[one thinks that] one is unable to extricate oneself
from them under any circumstances, God forbid.
And in truth he needs to know and believe, that at
every day and every hour and every moment a
person has the strength to renew himself and truly
become a completely new being, for every day
Hashem Yisborach creates anew, and no moment is
similar to another.

Therefore one needs to strengthen oneself and begin

anew each time. And sometimes one needs to begin
a number of times in a day. And even if a person is
in the same situation for an extended period of time,
no matter what happens, he needs to remind himself
about God every hour and every moment. And he
should completely forget everything that he went
through up to that point, and from now on really
begin anew, as much as he can. And he shouldn’t
pay attention at all to any confusion or
discouragement. And all of this is an aspect of
arichas apayim, where a person needs to lengthen
his [breathing] spirit, and pass by all of the
confusions and obstacles, and not pay attention to
anything, and not become short of [breath/]spirit
because of everything which he goes through. He
should just cling strongly to Hashem Yisborach in
every way he can. For God is full of compassion at
all times, for “God’s chesed [i.e. benevolence] has
not ceased, and his compassion has not run out”
(Aychah 3:22). (Likutei Halachos, Tefilin 5:6)

7
The distance of most of the world from Hashem
Yisborach is only because of descents and
discouragement. For most made attempts a number
of times and began to serve God, and afterwards
they fell into what they fell, each person in
accordance with his descent, Heaven help us. And a
few of them aroused themselves and tried again, or a
few times—but later on when they saw that despite
everything they fell afterwards, they therefore gave
up on themselves. But in truth this is all the doing of
the Ba’al Davar himself, who is the “Old Man” of
the Sitra Achera, for he is called “the Old Man” and
“the Fool” (Koheles 4:13). And he wants to throw a
person down into agedness, and feebleness (God
forbid) as if one has already grown old from his sins
and deeds, to the point that [one thinks] it is
impossible to change any more. But in truth that is
not the case! For every day a person really is a new
being, as is shown by our making a number of
blessings on this in the morning blessings. Therefore
one needs to strengthen oneself at all times. And a
person should think about himself as if he were born
that day, as if today he were receiving the Torah
anew. (Likutei Halachos, Tefilin 5:6)

8
God and his Torah are without end or limit. Just as
there is no ascent relative to the greatness of Hashem
Yisborach, for He is higher than all heights etc.;
likewise, there is no descent in the world. For with
all of the descents (God forbid) there is an even
worse descent than that, God forbid. And since there
exists an even worse descent than that (God forbid),
one needs to strengthen oneself not to fall further,
God forbid. And the main source of encouragement
is through the power of the great tzadiks, who never
ever remained on the same level, and they ascended
time after time. And even when they arrived at a
very high level, even to a very awe-inspiring and
lofty level; nevertheless, they did not content
themselves with this. And they would say, “isn’t
Hashem Yisborach infinite? And who knows what
more one can attain in this world?” Therefore they
begin each time anew, until they truly arrive each
time at an extremely high and lofty level; and it’s a
never-ending process.

Therefore, through the power of these tzadiks, there

is hope for all of the fallen, and there is absolutely
no despair in the world at all. For even though that it
seems to him that from such a fall, it is impossible to
rise (God forbid); nevertheless, who knows the
generosity of God’s chesed? For there exists such
chesed from Hashem Yisborach that one can even
ascend from that location. And each and every cry
which he lets out, even in She’ol Tachtios, is never
ever lost, no matter what happens afterwards. For
these tzadiks acquire the awareness, that just as there
is no ascent in the world, likewise there is no
descent in the world which one cannot rise out of.
And in truth it is all a unity. For the more the Tzadik
rises to a higher level and acquires more awareness
of the greatness of God, the more he acquires
awareness of God’s chesed—which is the main
aspect of Hashem Yisborach’s greatness. For the
characteristic of chesed is called “greatness,” (as is
well known). Therefore those tzadiks who time after
time merit to acquire high understanding of the
greatness of God, that is, the greatness of his chesed;
in this way they merit to acquire understanding that
there is no descent and fall in the world. And there is
absolutely no despair in the world. For time after
time they become aware of such chesed, which is the
main aspect of the greatness of the Creator, to the
extent that by this means, everyone is capable of
ascending.

Therefore in truth, even the very low in [spiritual]

standing, and even if they fell into complete
wickedness (God forbid); nevertheless, as long as
their soul is within them, as long as they can move
one of the parts of their body, they need to have
arichas apayim [i.e. lengthen their
nose/breath/spirit] and to always anticipate
salvation. And they need to strengthen themselves,
and begin anew time after time, in every way they
can, no matter what happens. For there isn’t any
movement towards holiness, and no holy sigh,
crying out or yearning etc. which is ever lost at all.
“For God will not cast off forever” (Aychah 3:31).
For his compassion and chesed is bountiful,
extending to infinity and without limit, as mentioned
above. (Likutei Halachos, Tefilin 5:9)

9
Sometimes the descent and fall is for the purpose of
the ascent. For the most important part of the
descent is so that he will strengthen himself and
return and begin and renew his energy and mind.
And this is the main aspect of the work to be done,
to live out new life at every moment through one’s
service of Hashem Yisborach. (Likutei Halachos,
Tefilin 5:22)

10
Most people err about themselves and think that
their soul is not holy at its root, and that [therefore]
it is difficult for them to return to God and be a true
tzadik or upright person, like the other tzadiks and
upright people whom people generally talk about.
That is to say, when one discusses people who are
tzadiks or truly upright and God-fearing, this begins
[to evoke] thoughts of teshuvah, to also draw near
Hashem Yisborach—for all of the People of Israel
are always full of thoughts where one muses about
doing teshuvah and drawing near to God. However
afterwards, people immediately say, “Who is
capable of being like this this tzadik...for he had a
holy soul from the time of childhood.” As if the
righteousness of the tzadiks and the upright is only
based on their holy soul which they were born with,
which in truth is incorrect. For the main
righteousness of the tzadiks is only through their
striving and hard work in the service of Hashem
Yisborach for a multitude of many many days and
years of strengthening themselves and overcoming,
time after time. And he did not let himself fall under
any circumstances. And he prayed and supplicated
for an enormous amount of time until he merited
what he merited. And every person is capable of
being like them, for there is free will, as our holy
and blessed Sages wrote: “the crown of a good name
is laid...” (Pirkei Avos 4:17).
And in truth the issue of this mistake, where they
think that their soul is not rooted in holiness, and
because of this they do not strive to overcome [the
obstacles] and act in accordance to the deeds of the
tzadiks—this [mistake] is drawn [down] from the
aspect of the halls of transformation. Because from
there is an aspect of exchange, where the son of the
king was exchanged with the son of the slave, as
appears in the Sipurei Ma’asios, [i.e. Rabbi
Nachman’s Stories] where because of this, he fell to
where he fell, and went [down] evil paths, until he
himself was uncertain whether he was the son of the
king or the son of the slave. Likewise this [is the
case] with every person who is distant from God,
especially in the harsh end of this bitter exile, where
the Ba’al Davar besets us extremely strongly, to the
extent that a number of people cause themselves to
despair, as if their souls were completely incapable
of serving God. And all of this is only the seduction
of the yetzer. For in truth, a person needs to know
and believe that the soul of each individual of the
People of Israel is extremely lofty and precious.
They are all an aspect of sons of kings and are
capable of meriting very high levels of holiness, like
all of the tzadiks and the upright. For they too
experienced [negative] thoughts and
discouragements of many kinds and sorts. However
they were clever, and did not allow themselves to be
misled, and they overcame [the obstacles] and
strengthened themselves very much, until they
merited what they merited, praised are they. And
this is an aspect of “and his heart was lifted up in the
ways of God” (Divrei HaYamim II 17:6). (Likutei
Halachos, Birkos HaShachar 3:6)

11
The most important part of the blessing on the Torah
is that every person needs to bless God, who “chose
us from among all of the Nations, and gave us his
Torah.” And this is an aspect of the [Hebrew vowels
of] segulah and makif, for it is impossible to fathom
why He chose us above all others, just as the
heavenly minister of the Egyptians argued: “They
are idol worshipers...” (Zohar, Shmos 160).
Therefore the People of Israel are called “segulah.”
[“Segulah is charm that is higher than logic.] For the
drawing close of Israel more than all of the world to
our Father in heaven is just like a segulah, which is
higher than the intellect. And it is impossible to
fathom this; it is an aspect of the secret of the holy
point which includes all of the points of the People
of Israel [some Hebrew vowels are written as points,
such as segol which is a triangle of three dots]. And
this is an aspect of Moshe Rebeinu [Moses our
Teacher] of blessed memory, whose [soul] clothes
each member of the People of Israel. And this point
stands between spiritual destruction and finding
favor; and this point is the main difference between
the People of Israel and the Nations. For through it,
they merit to ascend from the evil of the Seventy
Nations, which is an aspect of spiritual destruction,
and enter into the completeness of the holiness of
Israel, which is an aspect of “finding favor.” And
therefore each member of the People of Israel—even
if he fell to the place where he fell, to the extent that
he is almost unable to distinguish between the
holiness of Israel and the contamination of the pagan
Nations, God forbid (because of being so very
severely damaged [by his own sins]); nevertheless,
he needs to strengthen himself regarding his Jewish
point which he has inborn within him; that he is a
descendent of Israel; despite that he almost doesn’t
feel the holiness of the People of Israel within
himself because he has declined to such an extent.
Nevertheless, one needs to believe this very much,
for this general holy point, which is an aspect of the
point of Moshe which is clothed within each and
every person (as mentioned above), this is a great
secret which is truly impossible to.
Therefore, on the contrary, he who has become
discouraged to such an extent, certainly needs to
give thanks and bless his lot, that he is a descendent
of Israel and that He didn’t make me a goy, and that
there is clothed within him a special point of
holiness, which is the main difference between the
holy People of Israel and the Nations. And through
this point, all can ascend from spiritual destruction
(God forbid) to favor. This is dependent however on
them not giving up on themselves; they shouldn’t be
an aspect of “and that you said, ‘we shall be like the
Nations’” (Yechezkel 20:32); which is an aspect of
the flaw in which they did not make the blessing on
Torah [study] beforehand, because they had become
extremely discouraged; since they knew how very
much they had declined, to the extent that because of
this it was hard for them to make the blessing over
Torah [study]; since they weren’t fulfilling its
strictures. And specifically this flaw caused the
destruction of the Beis HaMikdash [i.e. the Temple
in Jerusalem] and the Exile, as the blessed Sages
wrote. For somehow, nevertheless, it is prohibited
for a person to give up on himself (God forbid). Just
the opposite! He needs to bless his lot even more for
the holy point of his Jewishness, which the main
importance of the blessing over the Torah. And he
needs to search for the good points of the holiness of
the People of Israel which he still has, and
strengthen himself concerning them—until through
this, he can truly ascend from spiritual destruction to
favor. But to truly merit all of this, is mainly
possible through drawing close to the tzadiks, who
are an aspect of Moshe. And they revive us and
instill within us this point; and by this means they
sweeten all the harsh judgments, and raise us up
from spiritual destruction to favor.
(Likutei Halachos, Birkos HaShachar 5:7-8)

12
The main importance of the mitzvah of reading the
Shema, which is emunah that everything happens in
accordance with God’s will, is to draw [down] to
oneself this holy emunah each day anew, which is an
aspect of "Every day shall be new in your eyes”
(Sifrei Devarim 11). And [also] to draw [down] upon
himself the desire for holiness; and to connect all of
his thoughts, his heart, and his awareness to this
desire; so that all of his longing and yearning will be
only for the true ultimate purpose; and to
increasingly strengthen one’s desire for holiness
every day anew, each time more and more. And
even if he goes through what he goes through;
nevertheless, he shouldn’t relax his desire under any
circumstances in the world. And the main thing is
that he needs to have emunah that each day’s events
are completely new. Therefore one needs to wait and
wait, until the day of his salvation will arrive. For
Hashem Yisborach causes new salvations to sprout
every day. For every different new day that arrives,
ever greater holiness is added and renewed from
above. Since only for this reason does God maintain
his world, and through his goodness renew the act of
Creation every day, in order to motivate us to renew
ourselves each and every day [and provide us with]
new and strong desires for Hashem Yisborach.

And this is an aspect of purification of the defiled,

which is dependent upon days. For there are those
who require only that the sun set, that is the
completion of his purification and salvation is
dependent on the arrival of the next day [which
begins after sunset]. And there are those who require
seven days for their purification. And when the
People of Israel left Egypt, they counted seven
complete weeks until they merited to receive the
Torah. And the main thing is to strengthen oneself
during all those days when one still does not merit
completeness in one’s purification, which is an
aspect of receiving the Torah. Despite [one’s
situation,] each and every day one should strengthen
oneself in these days with strong and new desires;
and one should be extraordinarily strong in this,
despite everything one goes through, until one
merits to arrive at one’s day of complete salvation
and purification. And there are those who will only
merit the main completion of their purification after
their sun has set completely, that is, after they have
passed on from [this] world. This is an aspect of,
“and when the sun sets he will be purified, and
afterwards he will eat from the sanctified” (Vayikra
22:7), which is his good portion in the next world;
which he will merit immediately after the setting of
his sun. And he will not need to be reincarnated and
suffer what he needs to suffer—unlike he who did
not prepare himself at all during his entire lifetime,
and did not strengthen himself to draw [down] upon
himself the holy desires each and every day. For at
that point, on the last day, every positive thing which
he snatched in this world, and all of the positive
desires which he had every day during his entire
lifetime [are all] gathered together. And this alone is
his hope, and what provides him with an eternal
existence. (Likutei Halachos, Birkos HaShachar
5:41-42)
13
Those who are close to the True Tzadik, who is an
aspect of a holy aged man, are careful not ever to
fall down (God forbid) into agedness. And no matter
what, whatever a person goes through each day, they
have emunah that each and every day is something
completely new. For God always renews the act of
Creation every day, and certainly there is no day
which does not contain good, just that it is fenced in.
And they believe in his great benevolence, which
never ever ceases, until they draw [down] new
[expressions of] chesed to the world each day. And
by this means they merit to increase the light of
holiness and inner knowledge every day. And
through this, the revelation of [his] desire shines
forth every day more and more. (Likutei Halachos,
Birkos HaShachar 5:83)

14
Any person who wants to have compassion on
himself and take heed of his ultimate purpose; his
entire rectification is that somehow, somehow, he
will really be a new being in his own eyes each and
every day. For in truth every day a person is created
into a new being. And this is the reason that we bless
all of the morning blessings (as explained in the
Shulchan Aruch [Or. Chi. 4]). Therefore, somehow
the service one does every day needs to be
completely new for him. For every person of the
People of Israel does a number of mitzvahs every
day: tzitzis, and tefilin, and the like. But the main
thing is that he should see to it to contemplate every
day, how the day that he experiences has never
existed up to that point; and likewise, this day will
never ever exist again. And the service to God which
one needs to do on this day is completely new. And
the obligation of the day applies only to you, to this
person, who lives in this generation on this day—he
specifically needs to engage in this service, and not
an angel and not a seraph—and even the souls of the
tzadiks in the upper level of the Garden of Eden
cannot complete this service. Just: “The living, the
living! Today he will give thanks to You like
myself” (Yishiahu 38:19). Specifically “today...like
myself,” that is, as I am today, on whatever kind of
low level; nevertheless, since I live, I need to give
thanks to You specifically. On the contrary, to the
degree that a person knows in his soul that he is
awful and very degenerate, specifically through him
will his great name be greatly aggrandized and
sanctified when he draws near to Hashem
Yisborach, which is an aspect of: “When Yitro [i.e.
Jethro] came and said...then the name of the Kadosh
Baruch Hoo was raised up and honored...“ (Zohar,
Shmos 69a).

For the main aggrandizement of God is especially

when those who are distant draw near to Him. And
the main advice for following the Torah is to begin
each time anew, as mentioned above. And even if a
person isn’t able to do anything, because there is so
much provocation and overpowering [threat] from
the exile within the body and soul and one’s
finances; nevertheless, he should begin time after
time to prepare and invite himself to serve Hashem
Yisborach anew, which is an aspect of “Ayheyeh”;
this is, I will be in readiness for being (Zohar
Achray, 65b). And sometimes one needs to begin a
multitude of new starts in a single day, and even
more so every week etc. Until afterwards all these
beginnings join together (as mentioned above) and
come to assist a person because “no good desire is
lost” (Zohar, Shmos 150b). And in this way, he
merits afterwards to begin to finish his service
completely, as is fitting. And the main thing is that a
person needs to put out of his mind, every day and
every moment, everything which he went through up
till that day, and that hour. And all of the beginnings
from all of the service in which he started to serve
God up to that point should not be counted at all,
just as if he hadn’t yet ever begun at all. For the
main falls and descents of each person, are because
he imagines in his thinking that he had already
begun a little bit to serve God, and fell away from it.
And afterwards he strengthened himself and began
again, and fell another time—and indeed many
times. And therefore he gave up on himself
completely (God forbid) and slacks off from
beginning another time with his service.
Therefore the main advice is to forget every time
what he went through. And even though he already
had begun thousands and myriads of times, without
number, just at this moment, he should begin anew
completely, to prepare and invite himself to serve
Hashem Yisborach, in any way he can—whether to
scream out to God from the depths of his heart as is
fitting now at this moment; or whether to begin to
study and pray and do mitzvahs; or whether to cheer
himself up that He did not make me a goy etc.—and
indeed through all sorts of advice for serving God,
until through this, he will always be there to fulfill
the Torah. For in truth, even a person who sinned
during his whole life and did teshuvah at the end—
he is forgiven for everything, as the Sages said; and
this certainly holds true even more for a person who
has already begun a number of times to return to
God. And the main falls and discouragement from
this, is when people saw that they had already tried
and began a number of times, and fell—this is only
the doing of the Ba’al Davar, who wants to incite
them through this, and confuse them into despairing,
God forbid.
Therefore one needs to be very careful to go in the
above path, to begin anew in whatever way is
possible, and completely put out of one’s mind
everything which one went through. And all of the
new starts which a person had begun up to this point
should not be counted at all. Just at this moment, he
needs to begin anew completely; and indeed always,
until he merits to do complete teshuvah, and to begin
and finish completely as is fitting. And when he
merits strengthening himself with all of the above,
then he shall merit very high and lofty things. For
inspiration is drawn into him from three times [the
numerical value of the letters of God’s] name
Ayheyeh, and one time [i.e. the sum] of the name
Havayah, which Hashem Yisborach announced to
Moshe Rebeinu of blessed memory, at the time
when he asked Him, “and they say to me: ‘What is
his name?’”(Shmos 3:13). And additionally through
this he merits the song and the melody which will be
described in the future, which is
single-double-triple-quadruple (Tikunei HaZohar
21), and is woven into the name Havayah as a
quadruple which is [the Hebrew letters] Yud, Yud
Heh, Yud Heh Vav, etc. as is explained elsewhere.
(Likutei Halachos, Kriyat HaTorah 6)

15
Each member of the People of Israel who wants to
have compassion on his spirit and remove himself
from his [own] defilement, and draw near to the true
tzadiks (and his intention is truly to return to God),
needs to know that he will absolutely go through a
large number of crises and ocean waves [of
hardship] and tests and trials and refinements. And if
he does not abandon his spot despite all that he goes
through, he will certainly merit that in the end it will
be well for [him] eternally. And for all of this, one
receives strength from the True Tzadik alone, who is
an aspect of Moshe. And he engages in a number of
schemes through wondrous wisdom in order to
revive and provide for all of the souls which desire
to draw near to Hashem Yisborach. And this is an
aspect of how the tzadik sometimes takes leave of
his higher understanding and his cleaving to God in
order to revive and strengthen all of the simple
people who do not engage in Torah study, and also
[to revive and strengthen] the scholars during the
time when they need to take leave [of their studies].
For it is absolutely required that they ease off
sometimes, since the service needs to be an aspect of
“running and returning,” “entering and leaving.”
And this is an aspect of all of the ascents and
descents which every person needs to go through.
And this is an aspect of the space between each
portion in the Torah, which is an aspect of the easing
off, where time after time the tzadik eases off and
ceases his service in order to revive and strengthen
all the aspect of those who “ease off,” as mentioned.
And this is implied in the words of our sages: If the
breaks [between the portions of the Torah] served to
give Moshe a break...then all the more so do they
serve this purpose for the layman who learns from a
layman (Rashi, Vayikra 1:6). For the main ability of
the laymen to strengthen themselves during the time
of their easing off and descent is only through these
breaks. And by their strengthening themselves
despite everything which they go through, in this
way they refine an aspect of the Tree of Knowledge
of Good and Evil, from where all of a person’s tests
originate. And by this means one merits the
rectification of da’at; and by this means the three
aspects of mochin [i.e. the mind] are automatically
rectified; and one merits to have emunah in the
continual renewal of this world; and in the continual
renewal of the next world. (Likutei Halachos, Kriyat
HaTorah 38)
16
Just as God takes leave of all of the lofty beings and
angels and seraphs etc. and specifically desires the
service of embodied human beings; likewise, to the
degree that the level is low and insignificant, when
there is an awakening from there of some kind of
tiny awakening, this causes great delight on high,
which is an aspect of: “When Yitro [i.e. Jethro]
came and said...then the name of the Kadosh Baruch
Hoo was raised up and honored....” Therefore, by the
Great Tzadik elevating the very defiled souls,
specifically through this a wondrous unification is
made, and this is the secret of the snake’s biting of
the deer mentioned in the Zohar regarding the secret
of the parting of the Reed Sea [i.e the Red Sea]
(Zohar, Beshalach 52b). And the main unification is
done through the tzadik drawing [down] an
inspiration onto these souls, which is an aspect of
atik [i.e. the ancient], which is an aspect of what is
written there: “Why do you cry out to me?” This is
dependent on atik (Zohar, Beshalach 48a). For since
they are extremely spiritually sick and defiled;
therefore, it is impossible to provide them with
salvation—except through the very greatest tzadik,
who is able to inspire them in a very lofty way,
which is Oreita De-Atika [i.e. the Ancient Torah].
(Likutei Halachos, Nitilat Yadayim 6:40)

17
The Torah and the mitzvahs are extremely broad,
without end or finality. As is written: "Of every
finite thing I have seen the end; your
commandments are very broad" (Tehilim 119:96);
and it is impossible to fathom them. And this
method is the main way to strengthen oneself and
overcome—through knowing that one does not
know at all. For the main way of strengthening
oneself is by having emunah in the holy inner
knowledge with which the True Tzadik illuminates
us, that “the whole earth is filled with his glory...”
(Yishiahu 6:3). However, immediately when
skeptical questions come into one’s mind, and even
when one has difficult questions about oneself,
[thinking] that despite everything, one is [still] so
defiled and full of base cravings, and so distanced
from the holiness of the Torah—then he
immediately needs to flee from all of these skeptical
questions. Because if he wants to answer these
questions, then he will enter into even deeper
skeptical questions and descents. Therefore one
needs to silence one’s thoughts, and fulfill, “silence
is a boundary for wisdom” (Pirkei Avos 3:16). One
should just gird oneself with great daring to snatch
some good points; everything that one can: Torah
study and mitzvahs, and especially prayers and
supplications and conversation before one’s Maker;
and not pay attention to everything one is going
through. Because one needs to be extremely
stubborn in one’s service of God; for the truth is,
[we] don’t know anything at all—only how to fulfill
what Rebbeinu of blessed memory commanded us:
not to cause oneself to give up hope under any
circumstances, because there is absolutely no despair
in the world at all. Just pine and yearn and anticipate
God’s salvations at every moment, for the greatness
of Hashem Yisborach is unfathomable, as is
explained in many other sources (Sichos HaRan and
Likutei Halachos, Nitilat Yadayim 6:60)

18
Sometimes it seems to a person who hears or reads
in books, and sees the encouragement, whereby the
true tzadiks and their students who came after them
encouraged us, and informed us that despair does not
exist in the world at all; and if a person fell to the
extent that he fell (Heaven help us); nevertheless,
God is with him and by him and close to him and
next to him, for “the whole earth is full of his glory”;
and from that place too Hashem Yisborach awaits
his teshuvah, from whatever level he is on— but
because he is so discouraged with himself because
of his improper actions, for “a person knows in his
soul” (Brachos 61b), and it seems to him that he is
worse than everyone, and that these words don’t
refer to him—and the tzadiks also made clear
explicitly that they are even talking about the worst
of the worst—nevertheless it seems to him as if they
just want to deceive him and mislead him; that they
are just trying to make him feel better so that he
doesn’t descend even more, and become even worse,
Heaven help us. But in truth he [thinks that] he
knows the smallness and lowliness of his soul, and
that God is very far from him, and that hope is
already lost (God forbid), and other thoughts of
discouragement and descent like these, whereby the
Ba’al Davar wants to incite him and make him fall
away from the path of truth. But those who merited
to be included within the Holy Gathering, who bind
themselves to the True Tzadik, they really believe
with complete emunah that all of the words of the
tzadiks and their encouragement are not just words
to make one feel good, or deceit or trickiness (God
forbid), rather this is the truth and the whole truth.
For through the greatness of their enormous spiritual
awareness, they understand the truth, for God’s
compassion and benevolence is unfathomable; and
He thinks thoughts how no castaway shall be cast
away from Him, even someone who is already
completely cast away, God forbid. All of the words
with which the tzadiks strengthen us and console us
and motivate and awaken us to know, that God is
still with us and is really in the place where we are,
for “the whole earth is full of his glory.” These
words didn’t originated from the fancy of their heart;
rather these are really the words of God; and
Hashem Yisborach himself informed us of these
holy words by means of the tzadiks and their holy
students who remained after the tzadiks passed
away, to make known that Hashem Yisborach is still
with us in each and every generation; and will not
ever leave us, until He shall build Jerusalem’s
foundations and make it the praise of the earth. And
in the future time they will merit to see this with
their own eyes, which is an aspect of: “And the glory
of God shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall
see that the mouth of God spoke” (Yeshayahu 40:5).
(Likutei Halachos, Nitilat Yadayim 6:82)

19
Every person needs to know that when he wants to
draw near to God, and he sees that the obstacles and
barriers overwhelm him with great intensity; and
especially when he already has begun somewhat,
and sees that each time they rise up against him ever
more powerfully; and sometimes he sees that after a
few years when it seems to him that he has already
begun to purify himself a little, and he falls back and
descends; and the cravings and improper thoughts
threaten to overwhelm him by rising up against him
with great strength (Heaven help us); he needs to
know that all of this is the direct result of the fecal
garments, from which he still has not cleansed
himself. All of the obstacles and overwhelming
forces come from them. And because of the
enormous efforts which are required for this, to
completely remove these fecal garments from
himself—and not every person merits to withstand
this—from this originates all of what a person goes
through. And even someone who has already begun
to serve God somewhat, and has begun to purify
himself a little, and even if he already has ascended
a little from level to level, and each time refines
himself more; nevertheless, it may happen that
afterwards all of the cravings and impure thoughts
will come back and engulf him more intensely than
when he began—and this is all because of the fecal
garments, which he still has not completely removed
from himself, even though he has begun to purify
himself a little.
And this matter can be learned and understood well
from what one sees intuitively in the process of
refinement of bread, which is people’s sustenance.
Where one needs to process it through one
refinement after another; and one needs to plow, and
sew, and harvest; and afterwards clean the grain of
chaff and straw; and afterwards grind it, and separate
the bran and its admixtures from the flour. And all
this waste matter adhering to the grain, this is all
drawn [in] from the fecal garments which began to
cling to food from the moment when the act of
eating was defiled by the eating from the tree of
knowledge. We see therefore that all of these
refinements are to cleanse the grain of the influence
of the fecal garments. However, this is not the
completion of the refinement, for the main
refinement is at the moment of eating; and at that
point is the main effort to eat with holiness, and to
make the blessing over it with intention; so by this
means, the refined goodness within the bread
ascends and revives a person, so that he can thank
and give praise to God, and in this way become
unified with the Infinite, with the life of the Living
Blessed One. And thus the waste matter is pushed
out, and this creates real vomit [i.e. waste matter].
So we see that all of this process of refinement
which the bread goes through up to this point, from
the waste matter which is attached to it, is not
considered important at all in comparison to the last
refinement, at the very moment of eating;
specifically at that point the main refinement of the
fecal garments occurs. And this is really just like the
situation of all that a person goes through, for there
is one who has already begun to purify and refine
himself, and the refinement is an aspect of the
refinement of wheat from chaff and straw. For even
though this too is very good; nevertheless, there is
still a need for the refinement which is an aspect of
bran and its accompaniments, and all the rest of the
rectifications, until it becomes an aspect of bread,
and completely appropriate for a person [to eat].
However, even a person who has already merited all
this still needs to merit to finish the refinement
completely; that is, the aspect of the completion of
the refinement which is done at the moment of
eating. And he who does not merit overcoming and
strengthening himself and suffering through all of
the efforts which are required, then when he is
adjacent to the ultimate refinement, at that point the
impediments and veils and confusion may overcome
him much more than in the beginning. This is
because now, the fecal garments begin to really
influence his situation, which one needs to reject,
specifically during the moment of eating, which is
the moment of the completion of the refinement.
And this happens [both] on the private and general
level, for every person must go through all of this,
where one must strive to refine oneself through
refinement after refinement. And the final
refinement, which is an aspect of eating, is
sometimes more difficult than all the others. For at
that point one needs to refine the good and
completely eject the bad, the vomit [i.e. waste
matter] which is all the Sitra Achera and klipahs.
And also in the world in general, for someone who
wants to enter into the service of God, the main
striving exists now; and all of the enormous
bitterness of the exile which is overwhelming now
during the period of the Footsteps of the Mashiach
[i.e. the Messiah]—this is because now, we must
undertake the ultimate refinement completely, until
there will be complete salvation, after which there
will be no other exile. And this refinement is an
aspect of the refinement during the time of eating,
for this is the time of the main threatening influence
of the fecal garments.
Therefore now there has to be bitterness and much
hard striving before one merits something of
holiness. And especially [there is a need to] purify
oneself and cleanse oneself of cravings and improper
thoughts, which are really an aspect of vomit [i.e.
waste matter]. And at this point one needs to
strengthening oneself very much with all kinds of
encouragement, not to let oneself lose heart at all
because of this. One should just make efforts to
drive them away from oneself in keeping with the
ways and advice which the true tzadiks revealed to
us. For God already prepared for our healing before
we received the wound, through the holy books and
advice which have been revealed in the present
generations; so that by this means we can even now
strengthen and revive ourselves; and we can stand
our ground and draw ourselves towards Hashem
Yisborach time after time, until we shall merit to
purify ourselves completely from these fecal
garments. For the purification from all this is only
through the Torah, as the blessed Sages told us “they
extend like streams”—just as streams raise a person
up from impurity to purity, so too do the words of
the Torah (Bamidbar 24:6). (Likutei Halachos,
Bitsiyat HaPat 5:5-7)
20
Many faltered and fell when they arrived next to the
end point of their completion. For there are those
who were already at the entrance to holiness; and
they easily could have already entered into holiness
completely; but they turned back from there since at
that point the impediments and confusion rose up
against them so much, until it seemed to them that it
was impossible to stand up against them. And all of
this is because what was mentioned above. And the
main rectification and advice for this is to be
engaged in the Torah. And a person needs to be
extremely stout regarding this, not to be lazy
concerning the words of the Torah (God forbid), in
the midst of everything that one goes through. Then,
whatever one goes through, one will be able to
overcome it through the Torah. For all of the holy
rectifications and refinements, from the beginning to
the end, they are all only through the Torah. (Likutei
Halachos, Bitsiyat HaPat 5:38)
21
It is impossible to truly be a person of Israel, and to
serve god appropriately without great daring and
stubbornness in matters relating to holiness. For
each and every person must go through many
challenging events and ascents and descents without
number. And if one isn’t extremely stubborn not to
abandon the meager service which he had begun, it
will be impossible for him to maintain his [spiritual]
position. Especially when he wants to do something
important, such as traveling to the Land of Israel,
which is the main holiness of the person of Israel;
and this is the main victory of the war, as explained
elsewhere. Certainly then it is impossible to be
victorious in this war unless one has extremely great
stubbornness. And this is the main glorification by
which Hashem Yisborach is glorified by the People
of Israel—the main thing is the daring and
stubbornness of the person of Israel. For they push
him down time after time, and he strengthens
himself at every moment with great stubbornness,
and does not allow himself to be pushed down under
any circumstances. And the main receiving of the
Torah (which is the main glorification) is only by
this means (as the blessed Sages taught): “Why was
the Torah given to the People of Israel? Because
they are daring” (Baytsa 28b). All of the service of
the person of Israel—from the beginning to the
end—is all dependent on this. (Likutei Halachos,
Birkas HaMazon 4:12)

22
One needs to know, that just as the world cannot
ascend (for “his greatness is unfathomable” [Tehilim
145:3]; therefore, the True Tzadik, despite that he
merited an ultimately high level of awareness of
Hashem Yisborach’s Godliness; nevertheless, he
does not content himself with this. He seeks and
attempts to acquire even more. In equal measure, the
world cannot descend. That is, even if it seems to a
person that he is at an extremely low level, below
which there is nothing lower; nevertheless, one
needs to make efforts and request, “maybe there is
still hope.” For in truth there is no despair in the
world at all. For God’s compassion and chesed are
unfathomable. But one cannot merit this without the
True Tzadik, who is on the most absolute ultimately
high level, which is an aspect of the highest point.
Therefore he can truly inspire one with strength at
the most absolute of the ultimately low point. For to
the same degree that he acquires more awareness of
God’s greatness, which is the greatness of his
compassion and chesed, in this way he can provide
inspiration of the truth, even at the lowest possible
level—to also awaken them to [the fact that] they
have hope. But one must suffer a lot of humiliations
and spilling of one’s blood before one merits to draw
near to the True Tzadik. For the main connection of
this tzadik (who is an aspect of the highest point)
with this student (who is an aspect of the lowest
point) who wants to receive from him, is mainly
through the humiliations and spilling of blood which
one suffers in order to draw near him. For this is the
main part of his teshuvah and rectification. And on
the contrary, through this itself that humiliations and
spilling of blood come upon him because he
connects himself to the True Tzadik, because of this
itself it befits that he understand that he still does
have great hope and a good future in store for him.
Since he merits to suffer humiliations and spilling of
his blood in order to bind himself to the highest
point, this is his main rectification. For the tzadik
who is an aspect of the higher point is able to rectify
him wherever he may be. (Likutei Halachos, Birkas
HaPayrot 5:11)

23
The main strengthening of oneself, and proficiency
in this halachah (lit. going forward, fig. Jewish law)
of teshuvah, the main thing is through complete
emunah that God is one, the first and the last, and his
rulership is in every place. And everything a person
goes through, and which the entire world goes
through—light and darkness; night and day;
destruction and construction—one should connect
everything to Hashem Yisborach. And this is an
aspect of the connection between the lower point
and the higher point. And in this way he will merit
that not a single day of the days of his life will be
lost. And every day he will merit to find what had
been lost, which belongs to the root of his soul.
(Likutei Halachos, Birkas HaPayrot 5:15)

24
The tzadiks are the Chariot of God; and indeed each
member of the People of Israel in accordance with
the rectification of his [personal] teshuvah, he also
merits to complete an aspect of the Chariot, as is
written: “And your people are all tzadiks” (Yishiahu,
60:21). Just that one needs to strengthening oneself
very much concerning everything which one goes
through. For before one merits the aspect of the
Chariot, there is the aspect of the “storm wind” and
the “great cloud” and the “blazing fire...”
(Yechezkel, 1:4). And these are an aspect of all of
the klipahs and the Sitra Achera, from which are
drawn all of the impediments and cravings etc., and
all of the insults and humiliations from one’s
opposers. And when one strengthens oneself against
all of this, which is an aspect of the proficiency
mentioned above, which is an aspect of proficiency
in entering/proficiency in exiting—then one merits
complete teshuvah, and to be included as one of the
tzadiks, who are the Chariot of God. Because the
most important part of the beginning of teshuvah is
to hear oneself humiliated and be silent, through
which the blood in the left ventricle of the heart is
subdued, which is an aspect of the mitzvah of
circumcision (see elsewhere). Therefore, the
beginning of the holiness of the Chariot is an aspect
of chash-mal, which is the [Hebrew] letters chet,
shin, mem, lamed. That is, by means of silence [i.e.
chash], where one is silent in the face of one’s
humiliation, through this, the blood is subdued,
which is an aspect of the mitzvah of circumcision.
And through this one merits to do complete
teshuvah, and to gain awareness of the aspect of the
Chariot, until on merits to be included within “the
man who sits on the chair” (Yechezkel, 1:27).
(Likutei Halachos, Birkas HaPayrot 5:18)

25
Regarding how we see a number of people who are
extremely wicked for several years, and they commit
great and terrible sins (Heaven help us) and
afterwards they have an awakening and do teshuvah;
and they become complete ba'al teshuvas [i.e. newly
religious or newly pious], as this appears in a
number of stories in the Talmud and Midrashes, and
other holy books (like the story of Rabbi Elazar Ben
Dordaya and other such stories—very many in every
generation). And this phenomenon is apparently
surprising. Isn’t it that “one sin brings in its wake
another” (Pirkei Avos 4:2), and whoever commits
more sins falls into the hands of the Sitra Achera
even more? So how can it be that in the end one
overcomes the Sitra Achera and does teshuvah?
However the matter is that in truth, within each
individual of the People of Israel there is a precious
soul, which has great power to stand up to the yetzer
ha’ra and its minions. For if [a person] didn’t have
the power to stand up to the yetzer ha’ra, the God
wouldn’t have given him a yetzer ha’ra like that. For
the Kadosh Baruch Hoo does not have unreasonable
expectations from his creations. And God does not
create any obstacles for a person which one is unable
to stand up against.
However, the main sins and desires that entrap a
person, and the main craving, which is for
fornication (Heaven help us) which is the main
yetzer ha’ra (as Rebeinu of blessed memory said), it
is all mainly from foolishness, where a person does
not recognize his strength. And this is the main
aspect of small mindedness, for because of it, one
falls into cravings for fornication, which is the
archetype of all sins (Heaven help us). That is, one
becomes small-minded and one becomes
discouraged until one doesn’t know one’s own
strength, and one thinks that it is impossible to stand
up against this craving. For gevurah [one’s inner
strength] is mainly in the heart. And a person who
has a stout heart is able to stand up against all of the
cravings in the world, as we have seen with many
tzadiks and the upright, who stood up to big tests,
and all of this is by means of their wisdom and
awareness, which is the main strength of the person
of Israel, as is written, “Wisdom provides courage to
the wise man...” (Koheles 7:19).

Therefore “chochma” [i.e. “wisdom”] is formed by

the letters kaf chet [which form koach, i.e.
“strength”] and mem hay [which form mah, i.e.
“what”]. For the power of the mind creates cordons
which spread themselves out as a barrier to the
desire to fornicate—just that the main thing is that
one should believe in one’s own strength, and one
should know with perfect emunah that one’s intellect
and mind have the strength to stand up to all of the
cravings, and even against the desire to fornicate.
For the mind and the intellect are the soul, for the
soul of the person of Israel—even the least
significant of them—is certainly able to stand up
against the entire world and all of [its] cravings. For
it is not the way of humility for one to discount
one’s strength, and to say that one doesn’t have a
high soul like the tzadiks and the upright, as if he
had no capacity whatsoever to be an upright person
and tzadik. For this kind of humility is prohibited,
and it is false humility; it isn’t humility at all, just
smallness of mind, from which one needs to distance
oneself very much, because through it one falls into
all of the cravings, and mainly into the desire for
fornication, as mentioned above. On the contrary,
each person needs to say to himself that he has a
very high soul. For the soul of the most insignificant
of the People of Israel is also extremely high and
holy, and one must say to oneself that it doesn’t suit
one to be caught up by cravings (God forbid) and
even more so [it doesn’t suit one] to commit some
kind of sin (God forbid), as is written, "and his heart
was lifted up in the ways of God.” For one needs to
lift one’s heart up in the ways of God, and know that
each person of the People of Israel, at his root, is
extremely far away from sin. And each person of
Israel is very powerful and able to stand up against
the entire world and all of [its] cravings, just the
main thing is that he should merit to understand his
own strength.
Because the Sitra Achera constantly lurks in wait for
a person, and the more a person commits sins, the
more the Sitra Achera drains him, and swallows
more of him (Heaven help us). And therefore
sometimes the Sitra Achera swallows the person to
the degree that it arrives at the core of the internal
holiness of his Jewishness, and it strengthens and
girds itself to also swallow this [holy] point, and
bring the person to commit a terrible sin (God
forbid) in order to swallow him completely, Heaven
forbid. But just when it wants to swallow the
internal core of the holiness of his Jewishness, then
this [holy] point sits in the back of the Sitra Achera’s
throat—for this point of internal holiness is
extremely powerful. Therefore the Sitra Achera is
unable to swallow it under any circumstances. And
not only can’t it swallow it, additionally this good
point remains in the back of the throat of the Sitra
Achera, until it is forced to begin to vomit and expel
all of the holiness which it swallowed from this
soul.
And this is the explanation of how sometimes a
person has an awakening to do teshuvah after doing
a number of sins, as in the situation mentioned
above. For sometimes a sin brings a person to do
teshuvah. That is, when he is entrapped by some big
sin (Heaven help us), because of this his heart
becomes bitter and he gains motivation to do
teshuvah, until he makes complete penitence. And
all of this is from the strong potency of his [holy]
point, which is truly very powerful. And when it
sees that the Sitra Achera wants to swallow it up
completely (God forbid), then it fights back against
it until the Sitra Achera is forced to vomit up and
return the holiness that it had swallowed from him.
But certainly there is no person who can rely on this
(God forbid) for “he who says ‘I will sin and do
penance,’ he is not enabled to do teshuvah” (Yomah
85b). For sometimes the Sitra Achera becomes so
overwhelming to the point that it really swallows
one up completely, as we have seen with very many
wicked people who even at the end of their lives,
didn’t do teshuvah, and they were cut off and lost
completely, Heaven help us. For these are the secrets
of how free choice functions, which no person is
able to fathom. Certainly one needs to flee from sin
absolutely and completely. But after one has already
committed what one has committed (God forbid),
one needs to know and believe that there is
absolutely no despair in the world. And even if
thousands of times one had already desired to
overcome [temptation] and become an upright
person, and he was unable to; and he fell to what he
fell into; and even if he fell into complete and
terrible sins (God forbid); nevertheless, he still has
hope as long as his soul is within him. And the main
thing is emunah, that he has complete emunah in
God, and makes strong and valiant efforts to draw
near to the True Tzadik, and pour out his [heart] in
prayer to Hashem Yisborach, that He reveal to him
the True Tzadik, in order that he will merit through
his connection with him to have complete emunah.
And then there will certainly always be hope for
him, whatever happens. For the main power to stand
up against the yetzer ha’ra is through emunah, which
is the overriding and main principle of the entire
Torah. (See Likutei Etzos, Galus and Geula 6,
Tzadik 59)] (Likutei Halachos, Birkos HaRayach
4:1-2)
 26
And even when one is in material and spiritual exile,
and even if one has fallen into the ultimate descent
(God forbid), even there Hashem Yisborach
constricts Himself and conceals Himself in
fantastically wondrous ways, and reminds a person
[of his presence] time after time through a variety of
different hints, every day and in every location, in
order that one should return to Him. And then
everything transforms into goodness. For
specifically through the empowerment of the evil
eye and the Ba’al Davar and the Sitra Achera,
because of which the light becomes dim and
constricted, through this specifically great goodness
comes about, through which the great tzadiks can
raise up and elevate even the extremely fallen and
lowly. For since the light gets hidden so much
because of the multitude of constrictions, to the
point that it is hard to comprehend and understand
the signs; and the tzadiks through their great toiling
and self-sacrifice merited to have awareness of the
light during the overwhelming hiddenness; in this
way they merited to acquire higher awareness; to the
extent that through their great wisdom, they create
for us garments out of this light, through wondrous
constrictions; such that from his own position each
person can achieve a level where the signs and
advice and motivating influences are accessible to
him wherever he is, so that he can always bind
himself to God. For the invisibility is for the sake of
manifestation, as is mentioned in the writings of the
holy Ari. That is, the more the light is made invisible
and constricted in numerous constrictions, the more
it all transforms into goodness through the great
tzadiks. For specifically through this, they reveal and
beam the light of God to the People of Israel, so that
we can know and remember Hashem Yisborach in
every place. And this is an aspect of “a reduction
which follows a reduction only occurs for the
purpose of expansion” (Mish. Payah 6:10). For to
the degree that the light is made small and
constricted, in reduction after reduction; it is all in
order to expand the light and enlarge it, and beam it
into the hearts of the People of Israel, specifically
through this means. (Likutei Halachos, Birkas
HaRay’ee’ya 5:77)

27
When a person rises from level to level in the
service of God, this is an aspect of a new creation.
For he really becomes a new being, which is an
aspect of: “I have given birth to you today” (Tehilim
2:7), which is said regarding a person when he
becomes a bar mitzvah, that is when he is thirteen
years old, and becomes obligated to do the mitzvahs,
as is explained in the holy Zohar (Mishpatim 101).
Likewise it applies to every instance where a person
makes himself holy or purifies himself, and takes
upon himself to serve God to a great extent. Then it
is said regarding him: “I have given birth to you
today,” for he really has become a new creation.
Therefore, before he merits this, to rise from level to
level, where he comes a new being, beforehand he
must experience a descent, whose purpose is the
ascent. For the descent is an aspect of the
constriction of the Empty Space which was
necessary for the Creation, as is well known. And
this is an aspect of what the Sages said, “Tzadiks—
in the beginning they suffer; afterwards they have
tranquility” (Bereshis Rabbah, Toldos 66). For
suffering comes from the constriction preceding
creation, and this is an aspect of all of the obstacles
and delays which a person has before he merits to do
some mitzvah or holy act. For through every holy
act, one creates worlds, as is well known. Therefore
first there needs to be a constriction, and this is an
aspect of the impediments which precede something
holy. (Likutei Halachos, Tefilas HaMincha 4:5)

28
At the start, when a person begins to serve Hashem
Yisborach, at that point in most cases things go
easily a little bit, and he prays and studies and
occupies himself with the service of God. And this is
an aspect of Shacharis [the morning prayer service],
which is an aspect of chesed, for that is the time of
the entire regimen of the long prayers: the [recitation
of] the sacrifices and incense etc., and the Shema,
and the supplications. Likewise he also engages a lot
in the service of God—each person in accordance
with his own situation. But in most cases, afterwards
he falls from his service; and God begins to test him.
And the Ba’al Davar incites him, as is known to all
those who want to enter into the service of God; and
this stage is a person’s main test. And at that point
one needs enormous, immeasurable and boundless
strengthening—to strengthen oneself time after time
in the service of Hashem Yisborach, and not to fall
because of anything in the world. And the main
thing is, one needs to strengthen oneself against an
aspect of smallness of mind, which overcomes a
person at that stage; and it seeks to discourage him,
as if he has no more hope, God forbid. Or it tries to
prevent him from praying with intention and joy,
and other similar [tricks].
And this is all an aspect of afternoon, the time of
Minchah [i.e. the afternoon prayer service]. For then
is the main time when the smallness of mind takes
hold, and one needs to fulfill what the Sages said:
“One should always be careful regarding the
Minchah service” (Brachos 6b). That is, at that point
one needs to be extremely careful to strengthen
oneself in prayer and service of God, and not fall
because of anything in the world. One should just be
aware of, and believe in the words of the true
tzadiks, who cried out with a loud and strong voice,
that there is absolutely no despair in the world at all!
For the greatness of Hashem Yisborach is
unfathomable, and the largeness of God’s
compassion can completely transform everything
from evil to good and sins to merits through
teshuvah, as the blessed Sages said (Yomah 86b).
And in addition this applies regarding a person’s life
in general. The days of his life are called “day” and
his passing away is called “night and darkness,” as it
is written: “until the sun is no longer darkened
(Koheles 12:2).

Therefore, after half of one’s days have passed this

is an aspect of afternoon, the time of Minchah; and
in most cases, especially at this stage, the Ba’al
Davar becomes increasingly more powerful. For
certainly one needs to begin one’s main service
specifically during the days of one’s youth: “It is
good for a man that he bear a yoke in his youth”
(Aychah 3:27); “The time of youth is the beauty of
the rose” (Shabbas 152a). But even a person who
merited to begin his service of God in the time of his
youth; despite that, when he arrives at middle age,
and he wants to reach what he needs to reach, then
in most cases the Ba’al Davar becomes empowered,
and spreads out his influence very much to turn him
away from the path of life (God forbid). And even
more so, a person who did not begin at all during his
youth, and when he sees that most of his years have
gone by, and has thoughts of doing teshuvah, and
wants to begin serving God at that point—then
the Ba’al Davar immediately tries to overwhelm
him, and doesn’t want to allow him to free himself
from his cravings and the net in which he is trapped.
And regarding this the scriptural passage cries out:
“Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where do you
feed [the flock]? where do you [have it] rest at
noon?” (Shir HaShirim 1:7). Especially [at noon],
during the time of Minchah—and therefore one
needs to pray very much during the time of one’s
youth, not to ever fall from one’s service of
God.
For sometimes a person falls when he becomes
older, and especially when years have gone by, and
he arrives at middle age, and the sun begins to set—
at that point one needs to look at himself very much,
at his final end, to strengthen himself more and
more. For that stage is an aspect of afternoon, an
aspect of the time of Minchah, when one needs to be
very careful to sweeten the harsh judgments, which
are an aspect of the yetzer ha’ra, which takes hold
through smallness of mind, which is an aspect of the
time of Minchah—and [at that point one must]
attach oneself strongly to the true tzadiks, who are
an aspect of Moshe. And they specifically are able to
sweeten the harsh judgements of the time of
Minchah, from its root on high.
(Likutei Halachos, Tefilas HaMinchah 5:5; Likutei
Etzos, Tefilah 3)

29
It appears in the writings of the holy Ari, relating to
the wondrous constrictions of running and
returning, touching and not touching (Ets Chaim,
Gate Matey VeLo Matey) which existed before
Creation; when in the beginning He constricted the
light, and afterwards began to extend forth some
aspect of light; and afterwards the light returned to
its place, but only left some kind of remnant, since it
was still impossible to stand [the intensity of] this
light. And after that He again repeated the process
and extended forth an aspect of light, with a new
wondrous constriction, and again hid it—so that
there would not be an overload of light. And indeed
this happened many times etc., until the aspect of the
empty space was created. And after that, He
extended forth the light of the Kings [of Edom], and
they couldn’t receive the light, and they shattered
and died etc. until the world of rectification began.
And all of the shattering was because there was not
itaruta de’latata [an awakening from below].

And the main itaruta de’latata is specifically

through the human being, the possessor of free
choice. But from this itself is the entirety of the free
choice. For the entire power of the yetzer ha’ra is
from the shattering, and by overcoming the yetzer
ha’ra through one’s free choice, through this one
rectifies the shattering by means of itaruta de’latata.
Therefore the rectification of all of the worlds
depends on human beings; and therefore within
human beings, all of these aspects are manifested,
which are an aspect of the aforementioned
constrictions. That is, the burning light of the person
of Israel’s heart is an aspect of the infinite; for his
yearning is without limit and without end. And this
enthusiasm needs to be constricted, etc. And these
wondrous constrictions, which existed before the
entire Creation, they will all certainly be
experienced by a person, who is the ultimate
rectification and completion of Creation. For
everything else was only there for the sake of human
beings, who will rectify everything specifically
through itaruta de’latata. And this is an aspect of
how Hashem Yisborach shines his face [upon us] a
little bit, and afterwards hides it. And this is similar
to how the blessed Sages said regarding the verse:
“You are all standing this day” (Devarim 29:9;
Midrash Tanchuma)—this day, which [begins in]
darkness and then is lit up, so too in the future it will
be dark and then lit up for you.
And all of this happens in every generation and in
every person and at all times—and everything is for
the sake of free choice. Because free choice is
mainly through this: through revealment and
concealment, which is an aspect of all the ascents
and descents which a person goes through. And
because of this, a person who wants to walk in the
ways of God needs to be proficient in halachah;
proficient in entering and proficient in exiting;
proficient in going and proficient in returning. That
is, to strengthen oneself in God concerning
everything which one goes through, and to know
that concealment and constriction ultimately [lead
to] revealment. However, since the root of the
influence of the harsh judgments and the Yetzer
ha’ra is from there, and from them come all of the
evil thoughts which incite a person; therefore, one
needs to be very careful to flee from them and to
inculcate holy thoughts in one’s heart regarding how
to serve God. And through all of this one merits to
serve Hashem Yisborach to an appropriate degree
and measure; until in this way Hashem Yisborach’s
Godliness and kingship shall be revealed to all the
inhabitants of the world; and the world will be
completely rectified through the itaruta de’latata of
human beings specifically—the possessors of free
choice. And this is the main novelty of the daily
renewal of the act of Creation, whereby God darkens
and then lights up [the day]: “Who forms light and
creates darkness...” (Yishiahu 45:7). This is all
drawn [down] from an aspect of these constrictions
from the beginning of Creation, [on which is based]
all of the Creation of the world and its existence up
until now. And [this is all] mainly for human beings,
the possessors of free choice, to whom all was given
in order to draw forth his Godliness and kingship by
means of these constrictions, in accordance with his
choice. And the main thing is, that one needs to
constrict the light of the enthusiasm of one’s heart,
so that there will not be an aspect of “destroying”
[i.e. overstepping], God forbid. And afterwards one
needs to conscientious about overcoming evil
thoughts, and only bringing forth good thoughts—
until he shall serve Hashem Yisborach in a gradual
manner and in measure, which is an aspect of the
Creation and continued existence of the worlds.
And all of this also happens among the tzadiks at
every single level. For they too experience many
ascents and descents, just that it is with great
refinement, which is an aspect of the darkening and
lightening of the mind. And this too is with great
refinement, and great holiness. However there is a
very great need for these rectifications among those
who have already violated the mitzvahs of the
Torah, God forbid. And there is a need to do
teshuvah. And everything is through the power of
the great tzadiks, who draw [down] Hashem
Yisborach’s compassion onto those [people] too, and
inspire their hearts with deep advice and wondrous
encouragement time after time, such that they will
merit to do teshuvah time after time, from wherever
they may be. However, despite all this, it is
absolutely necessary that they have some kind of
itaruta de’latata. For without that, it is impossible.
And this is an aspect of all of the thousands and
myriads of ascents and descents which every person
experiences, even those who are far from God. For
they also experience an aspect of ascents and
descents, for also for them there is no day which is
similar to the next. And even within a single day
each person experiences many changes—without
number. And especially, there are those who have an
awakening to return to God and to draw near to the
true tzadiks. And they are very weak. And the Ba’al
Davar rises up against them and undermines them,
and wants to push them down, God forbid. And they
struggle to overcome it; and they go through
changes, which are an aspect of ascents and
descents—without measure. And this is an aspect of:
“They went up to the heavens, they came down to
the depths” (Tehilim 107:26). And therefore a person
needs great and extremely immense
encouragement—mainly through the power of the
tzadiks, who already withstood the battles of this
world as is fitting, in ultimate completeness. And
they proclaim to us that there is absolutely no
awakening towards Hashem Yisborach which is
lost—even from She’ol Tachtios, and below it. On
the contrary! In this way the great tzadiks make
wondrous rectifications, and they gather together all
of the good points from the aspect of these
awakenings, and they rectify them, and construct
wondrous rectifications from them. But the main
thing is, at least they should not be in opposition to
these tzadiks. On the contrary, they should fulfill
their instructions, and awaken each moment anew
[to draw near] to Hashem Yisborach. In this way, in
the final reckoning they will merit a good end. And
they will have a good portion, which is an aspect of
itaruta de’latata, through which all of the worlds are
rectified. (Likutei Halachos, Tefilas HaMincha 7:23)

30
In the works of the holy Ari it is written that the
beginning of Creation occurred through a number of
constrictions, which as it were, drew the light in
through some manner and afterwards concealed it;
and this happened quite a number of times, in a
number of various ways. And specifically in this
way the vessels which could receive the light were
formed. All of this is the secret of the death of the
Kings [of Edom]. And their rectification is that
specifically through the shattering and death, a
world of rectification was drawn forth with
additional wondrous light, as is written in the
sources. But mainly everything was dependent on
man, the possessor of free choice. For he was
supposed to have rectified everything through
itaruta de’latata, and therefore now too, the main
[rectification] is dependent upon teshuvah of man.
For certainly there will be at least some kind of
awakening, which is an aspect of itaruta de’latata.
Therefore “there is nothing which can stand up
against teshuvah” (Yerushalmi, Payah 1a,), and
“until the day of his death they shall await him”
(Yom Kippur liturgy). For even if he sinned to the
extent that he sinned, thousands of times; despite
this, each time when he has some kind of awakening
to return to God, there is no awakening at all which
is lost. As is written in the holy Zohar, “no good
desire is lost.” For through teshuvah, sins are
transformed into merits. The rectification is made by
means of what has been damaged. Since despite
everything which he damaged, and that he drew
[down] the light into the place where he drew it
[God forbid]—which is the primary damage—
afterwards when he has an awakening to do
teshuvah, he fulfills everything, and thus,
specifically through this, new vessels are created,
and new and wondrous light is drawn [down] into
them.
For by his drawing [down] light into the coarse
places etc., through this the vessels became crude;
and afterwards they can be refined, to the extent that
everything transforms into goodness. For
specifically through this, wondrous vessels will be
formed to receive the new light which they could not
receive beforehand. For it was not possible to form
the vessels by any means except for these. And this
is an aspect of “the descent is for the purpose of the
ascent”; “sins transform into merits” (Yomah 86b);
“distancing is for the purpose of drawing near.” And
all of this is an aspect of the rectification of the death
of the Kings. Specifically through their death and
shattering, the most immense “new light of Mah”
[see glossary] is drawn down, as appears in the
sources. But not every person merits all of this,
except through the merit of the great tzadiks, who
know this secret in depth. They are able to motivate
a person to do teshuvah, to strengthen everyone, and
elevate all sorts of little awakenings, every single
good point; and through this they rectify wondrous
vessels in a manner in which every person will be
rectified to an excellent degree.
Therefore a person must search very much for such a
tzadik, who is able to deal with his rectification. And
the searching and seeking itself does one very great
good for eternity, even if one damaged what one has
damaged. For the great tzadiks merited what they
merited through their itaruta de’latata, in absolute
and ultimate completeness. Therefore they made
very wondrous and awe-inspiring vessels, which are
capable of rectifying all of the damage to the world,
Heaven help us. But nevertheless, at least some kind
of awakening from the person himself is needed,
since without any awakening at all, it is impossible
to rectify him as is fitting. And for the sake of his
soul, he should at least be careful not to ridicule and
oppose (God forbid) the tzadik who busies himself
with his rectification. And this is an aspect of the
greatness of teshuvah, which the Sages lauded very
much: “That in the place where the people who have
done teshuva stand, complete tzadiks cannot stand”
(Brachos 34b). And the blessed Sages said: “that it
reaches up to the Throne of Glory” (Yomah 86b).
For especially because he descended to such low and
coarse places, and through the power of the tzadik,
he overcame and rose up from there, specifically in
this way wondrous vessels are created to receive the
wondrous light, such light which complete tzadiks
cannot receive, since they do not have vessels like
these.
And all of this cannot be merited without the power
of the great tzadiks, who are the main ba'al
teshuvahs [i.e. masters of teshuvah]. For they are
masters of teshuvah, and whoever has compassion
on his own life, and wants to do teshuvah, needs to
receive from them. For they, even though they didn’t
ever taste the taste of sin; nevertheless, they do
teshuvah on their previous level of spiritual
accomplishment time after time. And they also
intentionally descend to very low places, with the
intention of raising up the souls from there, and
bringing them to teshuvah, and this is an aspect of,
“and I, my hands are dirty with blood, and amniotic
fluid, and the placenta in order to purify...” (Brachos
4a). And through the power of these tzadiks, there is
hope for all those who hold onto them, that they will
rise up from the depths of where they have fallen, to
a great ascension. And specifically through this
[process], wondrous vessels are created to receive
the Endless Light as is fitting. Just the main thing is,
that he should listen to what they say, and go in
accordance with their ways, at least from this point
on. And he should shunt away his own wisdom, as if
he didn’t have any intellect; he should just nullify
his will to them completely. And then he certainly
will merit a good end. (Likutei Halachos, Tefilas
HaMincha 7:32, 7:52)

31
The Sages said in the Midrash (Bereshis Rabbah 32)
regarding the verse: “But I, through your great
chesed, shall enter your House...,” which appears
immediately after the verse: “You destroy speakers
of lies...,” which King David said about Do’eg and
Achitophel, who opposed him. And he concluded by
saying and I, “as they did to me, so have I done.”
But “through your great chesed, I shall enter your
house...” (Tehilim 5:7-8; Shoftim 15:11). And
indeed, every person needs to say this concerning his
individual soul, especially when within his soul he
truly knows the pain of his sins. At that point he
needs to revive himself and strengthen his soul
greatly, by [thinking about] the chesed that Hashem
Yisborach has done for him, that he merited to draw
near the True Tzadik, or at least that he doesn’t
oppose him, and merits to be included within the
holy yeshiva, and the holy house of study of the holy
gathering of the True Tzadik, and [he should] say to
himself, and I, just as the opposition did, so did I do
too; but nevertheless, through your great chesed
which was done towards me, “I shall enter your
House,” that is, the aforementioned house of study;
and all of my hope for eternity derives from this.
For in truth in every generation a yeshiva of students
with a rabbi of truth can be found, [students] who
occupy themselves with true novel Torah ideas in
their Beis Midrash [i.e study hall] and
draw all of the very distanced souls to Hashem
very much. And he wants to catch him in his trap,
and accosts a person at every moment. And this is
the main “evil encounter” [from the morning liturgy]
which we pray to be saved from every day. And the
blessed Sages said concerning this, “If this
despicable one accosted you, drag him to the Beis
Midrash” (Shabbas 88b). For this is the main
rectification, that a person should draw his thoughts
into this holy Beis Midrash. For by this means itself,
he will be reminded that he is counted among the
aforementioned gathering—by this means: “If stone,
it will melt...” (ibid). For from this Beis
Midrash flows a holy and pure spring, that is able to
purify all of the deeply fallen souls through the
profound advice and holiness which flows out of it,
and raise them up from the Valley of Tears, and
return them to Hashem Yisborach.
And therefore, he who merits to be included within
this Beis Midrash needs to strengthen himself very
much, and believe and know that every good point
and every awakening towards holiness, towards
which a person awakens constantly (to disconnect
oneself from bad thoughts, and to draw onto oneself
holy thoughts) and every striving which he makes
with all of his might to do something good (even
though he knows within his heart all that has
occurred with him, and that this had already
happened thousands of times); nevertheless—no
good point is every lost. For the True Tzadik, who is
the Rosh Yeshiva [i.e. the head of the yeshiva], the
Rosh of the holy Beis Midrash, raises up and
collects and gathers up all into the holy edifice, and
builds wondrous buildings out of them, by means of
raising up the aspect of itaruta de’latata—especially
from such low places. And this is the main
rectification of all of the worlds, which is dependent
on itaruta de’latata of human beings specifically,
the possessors of free choice. And the lower the
level is, the more it is precious and important when
some kind of holy awakening ascends from there.
And through this, the true tzadiks build an aspect of
the Tabernacle and the Beis HaMikdash in every
generation, and by this means the final Beis
HaMikdash will be built in truth and absolute
completeness, which shall last for eternity. (Likutei
Halachos, Tefilas HaMincha 7:65-69,82-83,87)
32
Our father Yaakov [i.e the patriarch Jacob] of
blessed memory, when he arrived at that place,
which was the location of the Beis
HaMikdash, merited there to acquire complete
awareness of the absolute wondrousness and
greatness of [even] a tiny bit of itaruta de’latata.
[And he understood] how specifically in this way, an
inspiration from above, an aspect of awakening from
above [itarutah de'la'ayla] is drawn down. [And he
acquired awareness of] how the awakening from
below [itaruta de’latata] and the awakening from
above [itaruta de'la'ayla] are combined within each
other. And this is an aspect of the archetype of all of
the unifications which occur through the [Godly]
service of the People of Israel. And these
rectifications and unifications occur in completeness
mainly in the Beis HaMikdash, as is explained
thoroughly in the sources. And then: “And Yaakov
awakened from his sleep, and he said: ‘Indeed, God
is in this place, and I did not know [it]’” (Bereshis
28:16). And in this way he enacted to impress into
the heart of all of the souls, for generations up till
today, that even the very fallen souls who think
(God forbid) that Hashem Yisborach is not present
where they are located and that the entire aspect of
their holy awakening is not valued at all; they too
shall know and believe with complete emunah, that
God is also present in their place, [as He is] in every
place in the world. For in truth, God is also present
in that place, for “the whole earth is full of his
glory.” Just that a person is not aware of the extent
of the concealment: “and I did not know [it].” But if
one awakens through some aspect of itaruta
de’latata, he will merit finding Him. And the main
thing is through the power of the holiness of the Beis
HaMikdash, for the root of all of the souls resides
there; and all of the rectification of all of the souls
and all of the worlds is dependent upon [the Beis
HaMikdash]; and [also] on the power of the holiness
of the true tzadiks, who engage themselves in its
construction in every generation. And from there an
aspect of awakening to teshuvah is drawn forth to
the entire People of Israel. However, despite all this
there also needs to be some awakening from below
[itarutah de’latata]. (Likutei Halachos, Tefilas
HaMincha 7:84-85)

33
“All beginnings are difficult” (Mechilta, Yitro) as
the blessed Sages said—especially regarding
teshuvah. For it is impossible to truly have an
awakening to teshuvah, unless it is because God
ignites one with his light in order for one to have an
awakening to do teshuvah. But one cannot
apprehend the shining of the light of the Blessed
One unless one [first] does teshuvah, for “no
outsider may eat the holy [foods]” (Vayikra 22:10).
And if so, from where does it begin? And sometimes
Hashem Yisborach has compassion on him, and
shines his blessed light into the depths of [the
person’s] darkness and great sunkeness, in order to
awaken him to teshuvah—but he cannot receive this
light; for since he is so very shattered into broken
pieces because of his evil acts, for him everything is
an aspect of being overloaded with light. And from
this it happens sometimes that a person has an
awakening to do teshuvah during a certain period,
and afterwards he falls from this [level], and indeed
this [may] occur a number of times. And all of this is
because he still has not rectified his vessels,
so that he will be able to receive motivational energy
as is fitting, and in this instance specifically.
And even regarding the People of Israel throughout
the generations, there is also an aspect of this, which
is an aspect of all of the exiles and redemptions—
and then they were exiled again, and this [repeated]
a number of times. However nevertheless, “the right
hand of God is uplifted” (Tehilim 118:16) and He
always has the upper hand. For nevertheless, from
every aspect of redemption, and from every time
when the People of Israel were in the Land of Israel,
many wondrous rectifications occurred. And despite
that afterwards the Ba’al Davar incited [them], and
they again declined; nevertheless, many impressions
of these rectifications remained, so that from this
power, we [are able to] live in exile, and we have the
strength to receive some degree of sparks of
awareness of Hashem Yisborach’s Divinity, and his
holy emunah. And likewise, this is really the case
during every time period and for every person. And
especially, despite that one begins innumerable
times to serve God, and falls from this, time after
time (even if the fall is extremely great, Heaven help
us; even a person who falls, God forbid, into real
transgressions, Heaven help us); nevertheless, as
long as he began some kind of good beginning each
time—this will never ever be lost.

For despite that at the time of the fall everything gets

ruined; nevertheless, a positive impression remains
from each and every act of service, and each and
every [new] beginning. And these impressions are
wondrous rectifications, and they are very needed
and necessary for the holy edifice which needs to be
built. For we now need the righteous Mashiach [the
Messiah] to come and bring our salvation, an eternal
salvation. And we need to erect the holy edifice, the
complete edifice, in a wondrous manner, such that it
will not ever be destroyed. And we need to gather in
all of the dispersed of Israel, and assemble them
together in the second holiness. And no spark or soul
shall remain cast away outside, for Hashem
Yisborach thinks merciful thoughts, so that no
castaway will remain thrown out (Shmuel II, 14:14).
And therefore this edifice requires many vessels,
without number. And an innumerably large number
of tools are needed for this. Therefore everything
which a person of the People of Israel does now,
some kind of holy act; whether it be Torah study, or
prayer, or charity or any other mitzvah—everything
is very precious in the eyes of God. And He is much
in need of the True Tzadik, who works to rectify all
of the souls, and to rectify all of the worlds, and to
construct the holy edifice which he is engaged in
building. And therefore this person who did an act of
holiness, or has already engaged in the service of
God a little bit over days or years, and despite that
afterwards he fell—even if this fall is very severe
(Heaven help us), and even if he again had an
awakening to serve God, and backslid and fell, and
this happened many times without number—no
matter what happens; nevertheless, know and
believe with complete emunah that there is nothing,
and no minor act of service which is ever lost. And
even a very small rise in motivation and a good
thought is never ever lost, as is written in the holy
Zohar “no good desire is lost.” For immediately after
one has an awakening, some small increase in
motivation—and even more so when one does some
holy act—then the True Tzadik immediately
snatches it; he who busies himself with the
rectification of the souls of the People of Israel in
every generation, and places it in the spot where he
places it, for the purpose of the wondrous and
awe-inspiring edifice which he works to build, in
order to bring all of the castaways of the world into
it—and not one of them will remain outside.

For when a person draws himself near to holiness,

even just in an aspect of being a neighbor, like a
neighbor who lives temporarily in the building of a
property owner; nevertheless, also by this means, the
holy words of prayer add up, multiplying
exceedingly without measure or estimation or
number. And because of this, the result is great
delight in Heaven, without measure—despite that
afterwards the person becomes distanced (God
forbid), like the neighbor who afterwards leaves the
house of the property owner and distances himself
from him. And as one can see intuitively, for
example, when there are nine people, even if all of
them are great tzadiks; nevertheless, they are not
allowed to say [certain] holy [prayers] such as
Barechu, or Kadish or Kedushah. And when a
person walks in, even someone utterly unimportant
from the outside market, he is included in the
minyan [i.e. a prayer quorum of ten], and through
him the holiness becomes complete [and these
prayers can be said]. Despite that immediately
afterwards the moment passes and he returns to the
outside market; nevertheless, how much delight did
he caused to Hashem Yisborach! Because all of the
holiness reached completion through him. And
additionally, even if there were a few minyans
without the need for his presence; nevertheless, to
the degree that another soul of the People of Israel is
added to them, the holiness and honor of Hashem
Yisborach is increased more and more, for “the
king's glory is through a multitude of people”
(Mishley 14:28). On the contrary, to the extent that
[even] one soul is added to a great and holy
gathering, because of this, exceedingly wondrous
and awe-inspiring rectifications occur, as is
explained elsewhere.
See we find, that to the degree that a person does
even an insignificant act to serve Hashem
Yisborach, despite that afterwards what occurs
occurs with him (God forbid); nevertheless, that
[small] act is never lost, and it already has been
added to the wondrous edifice, and has caused a
great rectification in the holy edifice, and many
thousands and multitudes of words [of prayer or
Torah] multiply through it. And if he will strengthen
himself time after time, all the days of his life, to
begin serving God each time anew, even if he goes
through what he goes through—then, in the final
end, all of the rectifications which he caused through
all of his service and through every [new] beginning
will gather together. They will all be gathered to
aide him to truly return to Hashem Yisborach: “And
even if his [sic] beginning shall be small, his [sic]
end shall increase exceedingly” (Eeyov 8:7).
And at that point he will see what he had done
through every [small] holy act, for nothing at all is
ever lost. (Likutei Halachos, Tefilas Aravis 4:34)
34
The main thing which strengthens every person (for
somehow, he needs to strengthen himself not to fall
any more, God forbid) is through Hashem [lit. “the
name,” a term for God]. That is, through the name of
God, and the names of the true tzadiks whose names
are [rooted in] his name—for this is an aspect of the
name of God. For the name of God is combined in
their names. For this is the main source of
encouragement and happiness, that we merited that
“He did not make me a goy,” and “has set us apart
from those in error” (from the liturgy); and we are
called by the name “Yisrael,” which is an aspect of
the name of God, for his name is combined in our
name. And this is our main hope and salvation: “For
God will not abandon his people, for the sake of his
great name” (Shmuel I, 12:22). And this is our main
[source of] trust, “for we hoped in his holy name”
(Tehilim 33:21). And through this, one can
strengthen one’s motivation, even the least of the
least, and the worst of the worst—even Jews who
commit heinous sins; because he is still called by the
name “Yisrael,” he needs to strengthen his
motivation and revive himself very much because of
this.
And even more so, a person who merited to draw
near to the true tzadiks, through whom the main
aggrandizement of God’s name occurs, he certainly
needs to be very joyous that he merited to be called
by their name. For in truth, since we are called by
the name “Israel,” which is the name of God, we are
obligated to be happy all of our lives—always. For
we still have hope for all of the goodness and all of
the salvations, and for the forgiveness of sins, which
are the main source of worries and depression,
which is an aspect of, “I worry about my sin”
(Tehilim 38:19). For immediately when one
remembers the name of God, and this energizes one
very much, that one is called by the name of God
and the name of Israel—through this itself one
merits the forgiveness of sins. Since from that is
drawn forth the forgiveness and pardoning and
expiation of all of the sins. As it is said: “And atone
for our sins for your name's sake” (Tehilim 79:9).
For all of forgiveness and expiation is drawn forth
from the Thirteen Attributes of Compassion, which
are all drawn forth from the name of God. This is an
aspect of: “I will make all of my goodness pass
before you and I will proclaim the name of God
before you”; and through: “And I will be gracious
upon whom I shall be gracious...” (Shmos 33:19).
And it is said: “And He called out in the name of
God. And God passed before him and proclaimed...”
(Shmos 34:6). So through this is drawn forth the
entire revelation of the Thirteen Attributes of
Compassion, which is only for the sake of the name
of God which is combined with our name. (Likutei
Halachos, Shabbas 5:15)
35
A person is [sometimes] engaged in prayer and
service of God, and constantly loses his way and
falls from his service. And then, it is the method of
the Ba’al Davar to incite him. And it desires to push
him down from his service completely, since he sees
that he cannot finish his prayer and service
completely, because of the overwhelming
distractions, each time in a different manner.
Therefore a person needs to strengthen himself and
motivate himself very much to know and to believe
that the True Tzadik also elevates his small amount
of service and prayer, done in a distracted and
confused manner. For the main elevation of all of
the prayers and Torah study and mitzvahs—it is all
exclusively through the True Tzadik. For even a
person who engages in Torah study and mitzvahs
quite a lot, without the True Tzadik, he also cannot
elevate his service completely to the place where it
needs to be. And this tzadik also elevates all of the
prayers and good deeds done while one is distracted,
for he refines the small amount of good which is
within them, and elevates it, and he builds wondrous
edifices from them. And therefore one the contrary,
to the degree that a person sees that the distractions
become overwhelming, and his prayers and service
are done in a very small-minded manner; he needs to
strengthen himself more and more; to force himself
intensively to begin each time anew; and motivate
himself to pray and serve [God] so that through this,
there should be lots of bundles and bundles of good
points which exist within every single kind of
service. And then the tzadik will awaken with
exceedingly great compassion to raise up and elevate
the holy bundles of Torah and mitzvahs in which he
engaged. (Likutei Halachos, Shabbas 6:9)

36
There are three klipahs [i.e. lit. sheaths of the seed or
fruit; fig. forms of evil] which distance a person
from God. One comes to him and does damage to
his head, and inserts into his head and awareness bad
thoughts concerning money and the other cravings.
And one comes to him and does damage to his heart,
and inserts great desire into his heart, so that he will
greatly desire all of the cravings, Heaven help us.
However despite all this, it would have been
possible that there should still remain to him some
good point, through which he could straighten his
ways and overcome the cravings of the heart and the
thoughts in the head. But there is another third
klipah which is tougher then all of them, which
mainly concerns itself with pushing the person down
and weakening his will so that he will fall back
completely (God forbid) from Hashem Yisborach
and from the tzadiks. [And this] is an aspect of,
“they drew back” (Yishiahu 1:4). And it says to him:
“What business do you have to make big efforts [to
connect yourself with] the truly upright and
God-fearing, since you can see that you have already
been with them a long time, and the bad thoughts
and cravings of the heart are still compelling, and
why are you striving for no reason? Return to what
you had been doing, pursuing making a living and
[chasing after] money and similar things, like the
rest of the world.” And this klipah is tougher than all
of them. For as long as a person holds on somehow,
he can be rectified. For merely drawing near, that he
draws close to the God-fearing and upright, this
itself is very precious, even if he doesn’t receive any
holiness at all (God forbid); even if it appears to him
that he is worse now than to begin with—doesn’t he
know the truth, that it wasn’t his drawing near to
them which caused this to happen (God forbid). For
certainly, if he had listened to their advice, it
certainly would have been very good for him, in this
world and in the next. Just that since the power of
free choice is very great, and at any rate, that which
occurred with him occurred—so who knows what
would have happened with him if he hadn’t drawn
near at all, for certainly if he hadn’t drawn near at
all, he would have gotten worse and worse. And
don’t say “how could it be that the beginning of
[my] life was better than these [days]?” For a person
doesn’t know what will happen to him during his
whole life, for the waylayer awaits in ambush every
day, at every moment; and certainly he has already
been saved from many traps through the mere power
of his connection [with the tzadiks]. (Likutei
Halachos, Shabbas 6:12)

37
Most of a person’s falls are because he had already
awakened a number of times to God and had fallen
back from this. And actually it is the opposite, for
isn’t it that even someone who sinned his whole life
and didn’t awaken to do teshuvah at all; if he will do
teshuvah at the end, he is forgiven, as the blessed
Sages said (Kedushin 40b). Even more so when he
had awakened several times and backslid and
became distanced, and [this repeated] several
times—so certainly he has hope; and certainly it will
be easier for him to truly return to God, for “no good
desire is lost.” (Likutei Halachos, Shabbas 7:7)

38
During the period [following the] destruction [of the
Beis HaMikdash] and [during the period of our] fall,
we receive our life force specifically in a greatly
concealed way, which is an aspect of something
highly elevated, which is a secret, an aspect of
keesay demitkasaya [lit. the covered throne, fig. the
boundary of the unfathomable] etc. (Tikunei
HaZohar, Intro. 7). Just that the life force is not
drawn forth—just a very tiny bit, and in wondrous
concealment. And then one needs to search for
Hashem Yisborach very much, and strengthen
oneself, and wrangle with God: “Isn’t it true that
You are invisible among us at this moment too;
therefore please let us know—where is the place of
your glory? And don’t hide your face from us
anymore.” And this is an aspect of what the prophet
contended at the end of the lamentations: “You, O
God, remain forever; your throne is established
throughout the generations” (Aychah 5:19), which is
an aspect of the aforementioned chair. [The verses
continue:] “Why do You forget us forever...Restore
us to You, O God...” And through all of this, where
even in such a situation he seeks the glory of
Hashem Yisborach, he will merit that the descent
will transform into an ascent; and he will merit to
receive this higher life force in its revealed form and
in great abundance. (Likutei Halachos, Shabbas
17:23)

39
The main rectification of the reduction of the moon
is through strengthening oneself through joy, which
is an aspect of “for the joy of God is your strength”
(Nechemiah 8:10). And [it is noteworthy] that God
exhorted Yehoshua [i.e. Joshua] a number of times
to “be strong and courageous” (Yehoshua 1:6) for
Yehoshua is an aspect of the moon, as the blessed
Sages said. (Likutei Halachos, Shabbas 17:49)

40
The War on Amalek, which is the war on the yetzer
[ha’ra], is a very long war; and the main way of
subjugating it is by strengthening oneself, that
everything that a person goes through throughout his
whole life, he should be very strong and not allow
himself to be pushed down, under any
circumstances; which is an aspect of: “If I make my
bed in She’ol, behold You are there.” And there too
he should call out and scream to God until one’s
soul peters out, which is an aspect of “from the belly
of She’ol I cried out” (Yonah 2:3). And this is the
main way of doing teshuvah, a way that we busy
ourselves with drawing forth during the period of the
holy High Holidays: Rosh Hashanah and the Ten
Days of Teshuvah, and Yom Kippur. And this is the
main victory in the war that we are engaged in
during these days. For as long as a person does not
cause himself to despair, and strengthens himself
somehow to begin anew time after time, he is called
a victor of the war. For in truth, the war is God’s, for
it is impossible for a man to win it himself, as the
blessed Sages said: “If the Kadosh Baruch Hoo
didn’t help him...” (Sukah 52a) and as it is written:
“The war for [of] God on Amalek...” (Shmos 17:16).
Just that a person is required to strengthen himself
anew, time after time, not to fall back from this war,
and not to cause himself to despair, under any
circumstances.
And this is hinted at in the words of the holy Zohar,
which says: “Who is victorious? He who holds the
weapons of the battle in his hands” (Bereshis 63b).
For certainly in this war, one still doesn’t see
intuitively who is winning; for the war is still very
long, and the exile is overwhelming, and each
person goes through what he goes through.
Nevertheless, as long as we still hold the weapons in
our hands (and our main weapon is prayer, as was
explained elsewhere) and as long as we don’t cause
ourselves to despair from [fighting] this war (God
forbid) and still hold onto our weapons, we will
certainly be victorious. For each time a person
strengthens himself in prayer and cries out to
Hashem Yisborach, he is a victor of the war, for this
is the main victory. (Likutei Halachos, Shabbas
17:54)
 41
The main thing is emunah, which is an aspect of
Shabbas. For as long as a person has emunah, he
will certainly return to God in truth. Therefore a
person needs to strengthen himself by means of this
itself, that is by means of how the Ba’al Davar and
the Sitra Achera want to push him down (God
forbid)—through this itself, one should strengthen
himself. Since the Ba’al Davar harasses one’s very
being, in order to throw a person down at every
moment; because he injects into one’s heart [the
idea] that one defiled and ruined so much, to the
point that it is now impossible to do teshuvah and
rectify such sins and defilement—and especially
since there are people who truly did an enormous
amount of damage, as they know themselves that
they transgressed many great and serious sins, over a
period of days and years, Heaven help us. And there
are those who already began several times to do
teshuvah and serve God, and afterwards fell in the
manner that they fell, each and every person in
accordance with his fall (Heaven help us). And
therefore time after time, the Ba’al Davar injects
into their hearts that there is no hope, in proportion
to the enormous amount of this defilement. But in
truth, through this itself a person can revive and
strengthen himself, since he still knows and believes
that a sin is great defilement, through which one
defiles all of the upper worlds; if so, he still has
emunah. And since he still has emunah, then he
certainly still has hope—without a doubt. For since
he believes that [there is such a thing as doing
spiritual] damage, then [through this belief] it is also
certainly possible to rectify.
For it is well known that the apikoreses [i.e. the
apostates] and the philosophers do not believe at all
that they cause damage in the upper worlds through
sin. And from this it naturally results that they
provide nonsensical and untrue explanations for the
mitzvahs and sins in the Torah. But we are a holy
people, who believe that sin (God forbid) causes
extremely great defilement to the upper worlds etc.
And because of this, the Ba’al Davar wants to push
him down, God forbid. And he—on the contrary—
because of this itself, it is fitting for him to revive
himself, since he still has emunah. For the main
intention of the Ba’al Davar is that it wants to push
a person down to the extent that he pushes him into
complete heresy (God forbid), so that he will say:
“There is no judgment and there is no Judge”
(Bereshis Rabbah 26). And as the blessed Sages
said: “Today he tells him to do such and such...until
[eventually] he tells you to worship idols” (Shabbas
108b). And as we see in each and every generation,
how people sink to where they have sunk (Heaven
help us) through such falls and discouragements
which the Ba’al Davar injected into them.

Therefore, a person needs to be clever in his ways,

and have compassion on his life, and strengthen
himself at every moment in every way that he can,
no matter what happens. And through this itself, he
should strengthen himself that he still has emunah
that sins cause great defilement. For as long as he
has emunah, he has hope, and he certainly can
rectify everything, for “all of your mitzvahs are
emunah” (Tehilim 119:86). For the main [purpose
of] the mitzvahs is to arrive at complete emunah
through them, in order to get to know “He who
spoke and made the world” (Sotah 10b). And as long
as a person has a point of holy emunah, he still has
hope. For certainly there exists such advice whereby
he too can easily return to God, by means of some
solace that he could cause Hashem Yisborach
somewhere; through which he will merit to truly
return to Him, through the power of the true tzadiks;
until he can merit to do complete teshuvah—to the
extent that all of [his] sins will transform into merits,
as the blessed Sages said, as mentioned above.
(Likutei Halachos, Techumin 5)

42
[There are those] who fell (God forbid) into the
places which are very distant from holiness, until it’s
as if it’s impossible to find the Divinity of Hashem
Yisborach there, for regarding those places is it said,
“and my glory I will not give to another” (Yishiahu
42:8). But in truth, they too receive their life force
from God, just that the Divine life force which exists
there in those places is extremely closed off and
concealed; [this pertains to] the secret of the vacant
space [at the beginning of Creation]. And
specifically those places receive life force from an
aspect of a very lofty place, an aspect of the
closed-off statement [of the statements of Creation at
the beginning of the Torah]. And therefore, the main
advice for him is to look for and seek Hashem
Yisborach from that place too. For in truth, God is
concealed there too—just that it is impossible to find
Him there through any rational thought or idea; only
through requesting and seeking, which is an aspect
of, “where is the place of his glory?” And a person
who desires to enter into the ways of holiness in
truth, it is impossible for him to enter them
completely without him being tested, which is this
aspect of someone who has fallen into those places.
And when one strengthens oneself through the
above, then one will merit that the descent will have
been for the purpose of the ascent, as explained
elsewhere.
And the main way to strengthen oneself is to know
the deficiency of human understanding. For in truth,
we don’t have any intellect at all. As is written, “for
I am more boorish than any man...” (Mishley 30:2).
And we are required to annul and throw out our
intellect completely, and just believe in the words of
the True Tzadik. For in truth, there is Divine life
force even in the most extremely distant places; just
that it is impossible for any human intelligence to
find the glory of God’s Divinity there, since that
place is vacant of Hashem Yisborach’s Divinity;
which is an aspect of “and my glory I will not give
to another.” Just that one needs to search and
request, “where is the place of his glory?” and only
by this means will one ascend to the
highest ascension.
For the main life force and encouragement for those
who are extremely distanced, who fell into those
places which are an aspect of the vacant space, their
main life force is an aspect of softness. For one
doesn’t see any light, and it is extremely faint, and it
is repulsed and concealed by everything which has
entered into that place, in the way something soft
gets pushed away by anything. And there especially,
that is the main means of encouragement, through
this aspect of softness, which is an aspect of “desist,
and know that I am God...” (Tehilim 46:11). And
concerning this the blessed Sages said: “A person
should always be soft like the stalk of a reed, and he
shouldn’t be hard like a cedar” (Ta’anit 20b). For a
reed, even all of the winds in the world cannot move
it from its place, specifically by it being soft and
bending before all; and nevertheless, it is very strong
and bold at root, and the winds cannot uproot it from
its place; which would not be the case if it were hard
like a cedar, etc. And likewise, in places like those
which are an aspect of the vacant space—and the
storm wind of the Sitra Achera becomes very
overwhelming there—there it is prohibited to ponder
[philosophical] questions and explanations at all,
which is an aspect of: “Do not harden your heart”
(Tehilim 95:8). For there the main way to
strengthening oneself is by his being soft like a reed;
and regarding all of the questions and impediments
and [philosophical] difficulties and confusing
distractions, both from himself and from others,
concerning all of them he should not respond at all,
which is an aspect of: “And I was as a man who
does not understand and in whose mouth there is no
admonition” (Tehilim 38:15). For the [philosophical]
difficulties and confusing [questions] which
originate there cannot be answered. And despite that,
he should be very strong in emunah, like a soft reed
rooted in water, where even though it seems to be
bent down from the winds; nevertheless, it is very
strong at root. Likewise, a person needs to be strong
in his emunah which we received from our
forefathers and rabbis, and not pay attention to any
[philosophical] difficulty or confusing [idea] which
originate in places like those, and not respond to
them at all, as if there is nothing for him to retort;
until it seems to them as if he
has bent down before them, God forbid.
And in truth, this is the main way to strengthen
oneself, which is an aspect of being soft like a reed.
For there, in those places, if one wants to engage in
[philosophical] questions and answers there, then he
will remain in complete darkness. For it is
impossible to respond to the [philosophical]
difficulties and confusing [ideas] which originate
there. For that reason one needs to be soft there,
which is an aspect of being soft like a reed, and not
respond at all. One should just be strong in the root
one grows out of; that is, to strengthen oneself in
complete faith, and request and search for God from
that place too, which is an aspect of “where is the
place of his glory?” And then specifically, he will
merit the highest ascent. And the main and complete
rectification of the world which will be through
Mashiach ben [i.e. the son of] Yosef and Mashiach
ben David is only through this aspect of being soft
like a reed. Therefore Yosef is called “Avrech.” And
the blessed Sages interpreted this as “av” [i.e. father]
in wisdom and “rach” [i.e. soft] etc. (Bereshis
Rabbah 90:3). That is, even though he is [like] a
father in wisdom; nevertheless, he is soft like a reed.
And likewise with David it is said, “and today I am
tender and an anointed king” (Shmuel II 3:19). And
concerning this aspect of softness, there is much to
say, but it is impossible to explain this in writing.
And the clever man who seeks truth will understand
with his insight how one needs to be soft like a reed,
and despite that, be very strong at root. And on the
contrary—through softness—through it is his main
strength and resoluteness forever. (Likutei Halachos,
Techumin 6:8)

43
The tzadik is called “tamar,” [i.e. a date tree] which
is an aspect of “the tzadik shall flourish like a
tamar” (Tehilim 92:13). For tamar shares a root
with the word “temorah,” [i.e. transformation] for
the tzadik transmutes and transforms everything into
goodness, and transforms all of the kitrugs [i.e.
accusations from Heaven that one should be
punished for sin] into merits, which is an aspect of:
“If there is an angel over him, an intercessor, one out
of a thousand” (Eeyov 33:23)—specifically “out of a
thousand” for specifically [because there are] a
thousand accusers, the angel who testifies for him is
created. Since to the degree that the accusers become
more numerous, in this way, the more he testifies on
his behalf; since despite all [of the accusations] he is
[still able] to find within him a good point. For all of
the accusers of the person are also the same ones
who incited him to sin, as the blessed Sages said:
“He is the inciter; he is the accuser” (Baba Batra
16a). Therefore, when the heavenly accusers become
very numerous, the defending angel stands forth and
transforms everything to merit—specifically because
he asserts: “On the contrary, because there are so
many accusations against him, if so [he had to deal
with] many yetzer ha’ras and incitements [to do
wrong]. And if so—on the contrary—it is a great
wonder how such a person stood up to so many
inciters; and despite all this, snatched some good
point of some mitzvah which he did.” And this is
specifically an aspect of “an intercessor, one out of a
thousand.” Specifically because there are a thousand
accusers, through this itself he intercedes for him.
For if so, it is not such a surprise that he sinned so
much, since he had so many inciters as these. On the
contrary, this is a special accomplishment, that he
overcame and was able to do some small good deed,
because such legions stood against him. Therefore
the tzadik who used this method is called “tamar”
who mamir’s [i.e. transforms into] and switches the
kitrugs with merits. (Likutei Halachos, Techumin
6:15)

44
The main being of a person, and what strengthens
one in serving God, is through his combining
together these two methods mentioned above in
chapter 42 and 43. And this is an aspect of: “Two
are better than one...for if one of them falls, his
friend will lift him up” (Koheles 4:9). For they
strengthen every person, so that one doesn’t fall
under any circumstances. For sometimes one
strengthens oneself through the good points which
one still finds in oneself. And sometimes one falls
from this too (God forbid) to the extent that one
cannot revive oneself from anything at all because of
the great hiddenness and concealment and darkness
and heaviness of the heart which comes upon him.
And at that point one needs to revive oneself by
means of seeking and searching for Hashem
Yisborach, which is an aspect of “where is the place
of his glory?” as mentioned above. And through this
method, the Ba’al Davar cannot confuse him and
push him down through any trickery in the world.
For despite that he inserts into his mind (God forbid)
that there is absolutely no hope, since the person
caused so much damage; and despite that this is the
truth; and even now he is in the state that he is;
nevertheless, since the true tzadiks revealed the truth
to us that even in the places very distanced from
holiness, [distanced] to the degree that they are an
aspect of the filthy places, regarding which it is said,
“and my glory I will not give to another”;
nevertheless, one needs to seek and search for God
from there too; and rise by this means to the highest
elevation, which is an aspect of “ayeh” [i.e. where?!]
which is an unfinished statement, [of the statements
of Creation] as mentioned above. Therefore, he
certainly will always stand tall.
And additionally, it is also impossible to
permanently and consistently just follow this aspect
of the method of “ayeh,” for one needs to rise up
completely out of these aforementioned place [and
ascend] to holiness, to the place of the revelation of
his glory; for this is the main substance of holiness,
whereby God’s holiness is revealed (as explained in
Likutei Moharan II, 12 “Ayeh”). However,
automatically, when he revives and strengthens
himself through this aspect of “ayeh,” in so doing,
he will merit that Hashem Yisborach will have
compassion on him, and will enlighten his eyes, so
that he will again find the good points which he still
has, which are an aspect of the revelation of Hashem
Yisborach’s glory. And this method of looking for
the good points, is an aspect of Avraham [i.e.
Abraham]. And the method of seeking and searching
“where is the place of his glory?” is an aspect of
Yitzchak [i.e. Isaac]. And Yaakov Avinu [i.e. our
father Jacob] is the linchpin who includes both of
these methods, and concerning him it is said, “and a
three-stranded cord will not quickly be broken”
(Koheles 4:12). For by this means, one merits to
stand in holiness forever. (Likutei Halachos,
Techumin 6:19)

45
Specifically during the time of overwhelming
darkness and descent and concealment within
concealment, at that point specifically is the primary
time of drawing near and awakening to do true
teshuvah (refer to Likutei Etzos, Rosh Chodesh, 13).
And this is the wording there: “When one arrives at
the ultimate descent and concealment (God forbid),
at that point specifically one is close to Hashem
Yisborach in ultimate nearness, so to speak. For
there in the ultimate concealment and descent (God
forbid), [in that situation] is enclothed God Himself
as it were, without concealing garments, which is an
aspect of: “and I passed through the land of Egypt...”
(Shmos 12:12) “I and not an angel,” as is well
known (from the Haggada of Passover). Therefore at
that point specifically, when one merits to reveal
what is concealed, one can truly draw near to
Hashem Yisborach. For at that point specifically one
is right next to Him. Therefore then specifically one
can draw near to God and do teshuvah. However one
needs a great deal of inner knowledge to know this,
and [one needs] to take advantage of the moment
when one arrives at the highest degree of
concealment, and know that specifically at that
point, one is very close to Hashem Yisborach; for by
this means one transforms concealment into inner
knowledge. Because if one doesn’t know this, the
concealment really can become overwhelming (God
forbid) to the extent that one falls [away] from
awareness completely and becomes very distanced,
God forbid. For the concealment, which is an aspect
of the empowerment of the Sitra Achera, all of this
is drawn from an aspect of the breaking of the
vessels which happened because they were
overloaded with light.
We see then, that despite that the concealment is
certainly a very great descent, since the Divinity of
Hashem Yisborach is hidden and invisible to us,
God forbid; but even bearing this in mind, since all
of this happens because of an aspect of being
overloaded with light, it turns out that truly, clothed
in that place specifically is a very great and
awe-inspiring light, for it is as if God Himself is
enclothed there. Therefore there needs to be a
wiseman of very great and exalted stature who shall
merit such inner knowledge, to the extent that he is
able to reveal all of the concealments—even the
concealment within concealment—and transform
them into deep knowledge. And specifically at that
point, he will draw the People of Israel near to their
Father in Heaven, and he shall bring them to do
teshuvah.

And this is an aspect of the Exodus from Egypt. For

then, as is well known, they arrived at the ultimate
descent. And this is an aspect of “go down there”
(Bereshis 42:2) whose [Hebrew letters] add up to
210, as is discussed by our blessed Sages [210 is the
number of years they were in Egypt]. That is, at that
point, they arrived at the ultimate descent. However
Moshe Rebeinu merited such inner knowledge, to
the extent that specifically at that point, he merited
to reveal what was concealed and transform it into
deep knowledge; and through this, they were
redeemed specifically at that point.
And this is an aspect of the sanctification of the
[new] month, which the great Sages had engaged
themselves in; for they were experts in the secret of
the renewal of the moon [which marks the beginning
of a new month]. For the sanctification of the new
month [via the sighting of the new moon] is also an
aspect of revealing what is concealed at the moment
when it is at its ultimate state of deficiency. For the
moon is an aspect of [the Sferah of] Malchus [i.e.
kingship]. And the deficiency of the moon is an
aspect of concealment, from which the Sitra Achera
receives its sustenance (as is well known). And the
main life force of Malchus is an aspect of light of
inner knowledge and wisdom which is drawn forth
from the life of life (Tikunei HaZohar 119a). And
this is an aspect of how the moon receives its glow
from the sun, which is an aspect of inner knowledge,
as mentioned above. And specifically, when it is
very close to the sun, and is situated across from it in
the highest degree of closeness, then it is at the
highest degree of concealment and smallness, and
doesn’t shine on the world at all (as is well known).
And then, when it arrives at the ultimate degree of
smallness and concealment, then it immediately
begins to fill out, and at that point it is an aspect of
the new moon, as is well known. And therefore,
great wisemen had dealt with this, for this requires a
high degree of inner knowledge which can transform
the ultimate concealment and descent into an aspect
of inner knowledge. And therefore the sanctification
of the new month is the first mitzvah the People of
Israel were commanded to do, and it was spoken
about within the context of the Exodus from Egypt,
for it is all one matter. Therefore, the root of
teshuvah is on Rosh Chodesh [i.e. the Festival of the
New Moon] as explained elsewhere. For the
revelation of what is concealed is the main source of
awakening to do teshuvah. Therefore it is customary
to arouse to do teshuvah on the day proceeding [the
evening that] Rosh Chodesh and Yom Kippur Katan
is observed. For at that point the moon is in its
ultimate smallness and concealment; therefore
[people] do teshuvah then and return to God.
(Likutei Halachos, Rosh Chodesh 3:2)

46
On the eve of Rosh Chodesh the moon is in its most
small state. And then specifically, immediately on
Rosh Chodesh it begins to fill out. And this
symbolizes the entire People of Israel which, like it,
will be renewed in the future, as is recited in the
blessing of the sanctification of the moon. For all of
[our] days in the world we are engaged in the
rectification of the deficiency of the moon. And each
time we rectify it, little by little, until the time in the
future when the deficiency will become completely
filled out, and it will have no deficiency at all, etc.
And despite that, on the material plane, we still do
not currently see any rectification, for each month
[the cycle] repeats and it becomes small like it was
to begin with. Nevertheless, we believe that our
efforts are not fruitless (God forbid) and that it
certainly is getting rectified on a spiritual plane
every time, until in the future we will see this with
our very own eyes, that the reduction will have been
filled out through the holy service of the tzadiks and
all of the People of Israel. And likewise this is so
with each person of the People of Israel, for he has
ascents and descents his entire life without measure,
to the extent that a person thinks that he has not
accomplished anything, since each time it goes back
and becomes small, or deficient, God forbid.
Nevertheless, there is no effort which is fruitless,
God forbid. And the main thing is utter simplicity, to
strengthen oneself in the ways of the utter simplicity
of the true tzadiks, by which means there is hope for
every person always. (Likutei Halachos, Rosh
Chodesh 3:2)
The Tzadik does not need the world at all for his
own needs—for on the contrary, from him comes all
influence and all wealth in the world, as the blessed
Sages said (Brachos 17b). Therefore whatever
someone gives him is received back to a degree
thousands upon thousands, and myriads upon
myriads times greater—in this world and the next
world. Therefore, everyone who makes bodily
efforts to serve him and draw near him, this is also
called tzedakah [i.e. charity]. And this is a general
principle, and an aspect of itaruta de’latata. For the
Tzadik ascends and enlarges himself greatly through
itaruta de’latata of the People of Israel, who make
strong efforts to draw near to him, and this is
considered to be like tzedakah. (Likutei Halachos,
Rosh Hashanah 6)

47
An overriding reason why people become distanced
from God, each and every person from the great to
the petty—the main cause is agedness of the Sitra
Achera; that it appears to each person as if
everything continues on as it had been doing, and he
is already aged in his ways and it is impossible for
him to discontinue from them, as is written “He will
not believe that he shall return from darkness”
(Eeyov 15:22). And this is all through the agedness
which the yetzer ha’ra imposes on him, which is
called, “an old and foolish king” (Koheles 4:13).
And therefore, the entire rectification is through the
wisemen, the true tzadiks who renew themselves
like an eagle, which is an aspect of "those who put
their hope in God shall renew their vigor...”
(Yishiahu 40:31). And by this means, they merit to
come up with true and wondrous novel Torah ideas
constantly. For they strengthen themselves in their
service every day anew, as if they had not yet begun
to serve God at all. And through this, constantly
every day they acquire higher awareness of the
greatness of the Creator, and they author holy and
new books constantly. And all of this is to bring to
light and reveal the greatness of the blessed Creator
and the greatness of the holy Torah, and the
greatness of the holy souls of the People of Israel,
for “the Torah, and the Kadosh Baruch Hoo, and the
People of Israel are all one” (Zohar, Achray 73a).
And by this means they draw forth new chesed every
day and every moment, from which derives the main
hope to merit to do teshuvah, for all of those who are
extremely distanced, and have almost lost their hope
because of the great incitement and overwhelming
influence [of the Sitra Achera]. And this is an aspect
of: “So I said, ‘Gone is my life, and my expectation
from God’” (Aychah 3:18). But the main
encouragement: “God’s chesed has not ceased....It is
new every morning...” (Aychah 3:22-23). For
Hashem Yisborach’s chesed and mercy do not ever
cease or end; and furthermore, the chesed renews
itself every morning, and this is the main renewal of
Creation every day, which is an aspect of: “And his
goodness He always renews every day...” (liturgy).
And this is the entire consolation and hope of each
and every person, that Hashem Yisborach renews
new and wondrous chesed every morning, [and] in
accordance with the renewal of the chesed, there is
hope for all at every moment. And all of this is
drawn forth upon us by the great tzadiks, who renew
themselves all the time; and they draw [down] new
benevolence upon us every day and at every
moment; and they annul the agedness of the Sitra
Achera. And this is our entire hope, since they don’t
know at all how far his chesed reaches. For his
greatness is unfathomable. And his main greatness is
the greatness of his chesed. And Hashem
Yisborach’s chesed renews itself always, at every
moment, infinitely and endlessly. (Likutei Halachos,
Rosh Chodesh 7:17)

48
When a person becomes distanced from Hashem
Yisborach (God forbid) and even more so, when he
falls into debased cravings and sins (Heaven help us)
then she has become an aspect of “Rachel cries for
her children...” (Yirmiahu 31:14). For the Shechinah
[i.e. the feminine revelation of Divinity] which is the
holiness of the People of Israel, is called “a ra’chel”
[i.e. a ewe] (as is well known) and then she is an
aspect of “muted like a ewe before its shearer”
(Chagigah 15b). Because the klipahs and the Sitra
Achera shear her and take away (so to speak) her
splendor and beauty, and she is [caught] between
them and muted. And thus she is an aspect of: “What
does the Shechinah say? ‘I am pained in my
head...’” (Sanhedrin 46a). And when this person
who is very far away arouses in the midst of his
great distance and doesn’t cause himself to despair
under any circumstances, and always cries out and
screams to God, this is an aspect of: “A voice is
heard on high, lamentation, bitter weeping.” For the
holiness of his soul cries with extremely great
bitterness, and “she refuses to be comforted...for
they are not” (Yirmiahu 31:14). For [the soul] sees
that it has been so distanced from Hashem
Yisborach for a very long time. But nevertheless,
since it still encourages itself by always screaming
and crying to God, at that point the mercies of
Hashem Yisborach are awakened, and they shine
enlightenment and encouragement from on high
upon [his soul], which is an aspect of: “Thus says
God: ‘Refrain your voice from weeping and your
eyes from tears, for there is a reward [i.e. sachar] for
your work....And there is hope for your future’”
(Yirmiahu 31:15-16).

And God makes all of this known exclusively

through the Tzadik of the Generation, who is on an
extremely high level, and who is an aspect of
Issachar [whose name in Hebrew is similar to the
word sachar (“reward”)]. That is, he shines upon
every soul of the People of Israel and makes known
to them that there is still “sachar” [i.e. payment]. For
there is absolutely no despair in the world, for there
is no word [of prayer] and no crying out which is
lost, even crying out from She’ol Tachtios is never
lost. And even when the cravings and obstacles
become overwhelming and rise up before him very
much, so much that he cannot escape from them;
and nevertheless, even then, when he thirsts and
yearns for Hashem Yisborach at every moment, and
does not ever stop desiring and yearning, this is all
very precious in the eyes of God, as is explained in a
number of places in this text. (Likutei Halachos,
Pesach 9:12)

49
Many many moments are experienced by each
person of the People of Israel, good moments and
bad moments (God forbid) which are the [Hebrew
letters of] Kaf-Chet [i.e. Koach, strength; which is
numerologically equal to 28], [which are the 28]
moments mentioned in the book of Koheles
[Ecclesiastes] (3:2-9). And these include all of the
moments which each and every person goes through
from the day he is born until the day he dies, about
which King David supplicated: “My moments are in
your hands; rescue me from the hands of my
enemies and from my pursuers” (Tehilim 31:16).
And this is the main completeness of the Tzadik of
high spiritual stature, who teaches Torah and [inner]
knowledge to the People of Israel; like Issachar, who
is able to shine upon each person of the People of
Israel, so that he will be able to strengthen himself,
and maintain his position during all of the times and
moments which he goes through, which is an aspect
of: “And of the sons of Issachar, those who had an
understanding of the moments, to know what Israel
should do” (Divrei HaYamim I 12:32); so that each
member of the People of Israel will know what to do
at each and every moment: how to strengthen
himself and revive himself in each and every
moment in accordance with that [specific] moment
and time—sometimes through Torah study,
sometimes through prayer, sometimes through
charity, sometimes through screaming and shouting
out [to God] and supplications and crying,
sometimes though happiness and joy, sometimes
through speech, sometimes through silence. And
there is a time when one needs to—is compelled to–
take a break from the [holy] service, which is an
aspect of “the cessation of Torah study enable its
existence” (Minchos 99:2). For there is a moment
when one needs to eat or sleep in order to maintain
one’s body, or to talk to people in order to perk up
one’s mind, or many other such things—and
everything depends on the [type of] moment which a
person is experiencing. For it is utterly certain that a
person will experience many many different types of
moments. And furthermore, regarding King David,
when he passed away it was said, “and the moments
which he and the People of Israel experienced”
(Divrei HaYamim I 29:30). And the true Tzadik of
the Generation shines upon each person of the
People of Israel, so that he will know how to
strengthen himself in God during each and every
[type of] moment. (Likutei Halachos, Pesach 9:5)
50
Just as a person needs to stand up to the test of not
chasing after his cravings, both the permitted and the
prohibited (God forbid); likewise one needs to
strengthen oneself to stand up to the test if he has
already failed (God forbid), and one went through
what one went through—not to fall completely on
account of this, God forbid. It happens that many
people become discouraged and say that it is
impossible for them to ever again walk on the
straight path. This is only because of their cravings
and their yetzer ha’ra, which seek a pretext and
excuse to depart from the way of the Divine (God
forbid) in order to chase after their evil cravings,
God forbid. For there are a multitude of pretexts and
stories which the Ba’al Davar finds for every
person, and every person [tells himself] particular
stories—most of them concerning the difficulty in
making a living and the impediments preventing
[progress] etc. But nevertheless, the soul of every
person of the People of Israel is bitter because of
this, because it knows that it will have to give a full
accounting, and therefore its goodness overcomes
[the obstacles] time after time, and it awakens to
return to God. But there is nothing for which it finds
itself a pretext and excuse as much as through these
aforementioned ruses of the Ba’al Davar, who
discourages him time after time, and demonstrates to
him that (as if) there is no hope (God forbid). For [a
person] sees with his eyes that he had already made
efforts a number of times to return to Hashem
Yisborach, and fell afterwards—each person to the
degree that he had fallen—and so this happened
several times, without number. And therefore he
thinks to himself that he is exempt from making
more efforts to return to Hashem Yisborach.
But in truth, all of such ideas and thoughts of
descent, they are only the doing of the Ba’al Davar,
who contrives an excuse for him to depart from
Divine service, as mentioned. For in truth, there is
absolutely no despair in the world at all, and each
person needs to go through an enormous amount
before he merits to enter into holiness. And who is
greater to us than Adam, who separated from his
wife and did complete teshuvah for 130 years. And
especially during those 130 years, spirits came to
him and heated him up etc. as our sages of blessed
memory told us. And he certainly became
discouraged by this each time, and certainly the
Ba’al Davar waylaid him and wanted to weaken his
resolve completely, time after time. But he overcame
all of this each time and did not abandon the paths of
teshuvah which he engaged in, until he merited at
the end of 130 years to father Shet [i.e. Seth] from
whom the world was built up [i.e. hushtat]. And
from him issued the Patriarchs and Moshe and the
Mashiach... And Adam himself was also a tzadik
and holy man, and was known as a good man when
he passed away. And despite that in every generation
we still need to rectify what he defiled; nevertheless,
if he hadn’t overcome and strengthened himself to
rectify what he rectified, then the rectification
certainly would have been extremely difficult even
for the tzadiks who followed after him.
Likewise, this is so with every person, even now.
Because this is a person’s main test, that he should
strengthen himself amid all of the falls that can
possibly happen (Heaven help us), amidst everything
which he goes through. And he should accustom
himself to begin anew every day, and imagine as if
he were born today etc. And then, that which he
merits to rectify in himself through his complete
teshuvah, certainly that is valuable. And that which
he does not merit to rectify, the rectification will
certainly occur through the power and merit of the
holy tzadiks, who have the power to transform
everything to goodness. But on the condition that he
does not let himself despair from being expectant of,
and hoping towards the Holy Name—with hope
after hope, and to invest much effort in crying out,
and requesting, and supplicating before Hashem
Yisborach, “for chesed is with God, and much
redemption is with Him...” (Tehilim 130:7). (Likutei
Halachos, Pesach 9:11)

51
Sometimes a person becomes discouraged because it
seems to him that the people he knows his own age
are much better than him; even though it is certainly
a good characteristic to be lowly in spirit before
every person, and to regard every person as better
than he is. But if he becomes discouraged because of
this (God forbid), this is not humility—on the
contrary, this is a very inappropriate sense of
self-importance, that he doesn’t like it that [his
fellow] does some service for the sake of Hashem
Yisborach, while he is so far away, and the people
he knows have already merited what they have
merited. For in truth, it is forbidden to pry into the
matters of God, and who knows from which place he
is from [i.e. the origin of his soul] and into which
places he was drawn because of his deeds. Because
no person is similar to another at all.
And this is an aspect of what the Sages said about
the Counting of the Omer: “‘And you counted
lachem,’ [i.e. to you] and you counted for
yourselves” (Vayikra 23:15; Minchos 65b). For
whoever comes to purify himself and merit to take
upon himself the yoke of Torah (which is an aspect
of the Counting of the Omer, which is the
preparation for receiving the Torah), he needs to
count the days to himself specifically. And [the
success of] his fellow shouldn’t cause him to fall at
all (God forbid) and this is an aspect of, “Avraham
was one" as explained elsewhere (Yechezkel 33:24).
That is, he always thought that he was the only one
in the world, and he didn’t pay attention to any
obstacle or impediment or cause of confusion in the
world. For in truth, just as there are a number of
impediments from wicked people who want to
prevent one [from accomplishment] through several
concealments and seductions and mockery etc., or
by inciting people into conflicts with him; likewise,
sometimes there are a number of impediments and
discouragements, even from one’s truly dear and
upright friends.

And all of this is impossible to explain well in

writing, but the intelligent person with genuine
desire will understand this on his own, for in order to
overcome all of these impediments, one needs to go
in the above path of, “Avraham was one,” and not
look at one’s fellow at all, which is an aspect of
“‘and you counted to you’—for yourselves”; and
[one needs to] behave in the manner of simplicity;
and always be happy, even in poverty and great
deprivation—and also [when] one’s service and
prayer are not complete at all. In spite of everything,
one should always be happy with one’s lot, and not
look at [other people in] the world at all, for there
are many who have plenty of wealth, and also in the
realms of Torah and prayer it appears to him that
they are greater than he by thousands of levels. And
despite that one didn’t see that they had made great
efforts, and he did make such strong efforts, and
didn’t merit this, and [despite that] he is in great
poverty and lowliness—materially and spiritually.
Nevertheless, he should not become discouraged
because of this at all, and he should be happy in his
lot, and revive himself at every moment in any way
that he can. And every good point which he earns
sometimes should be very precious in his eyes. And
he should give thanks to God who has done
wondrous chesed towards him, allowing him to
merit this. And what does he care that his fellow is
higher and better than him—“God is good to all”
(Tehilim 145:9). And as we see in the Story of the
Simple Man, who when asked about why other
people take a higher price for their handiwork, was
accustomed to respond: “What do I care about this?
That is his doing and this is my doing” (Sipurei
Ma’asios 9). And he would delight in, and be very
joyous from his work; despite that it wasn’t done
with the proper completeness, and also [despite] the
small profit which he earned after exerting a very
great effort—and he didn’t look at others at all.
(Likutei Halachos, Pesach 9:22)
52
Concerning how, at the time when a person is in an
aspect of descent, an aspect of exiting, at that point
especially a very high level of holiness hovers over
him and guards him, which is an aspect of “a mother
who hovers over her children,” (Tikunei HaZohar,
Intro. 51b) which is the secret of the “complete
sukah”, which is an aspect of the encircling clouds
of glory which surrounded the People of Israel while
they were going through the desert, which is a place
of snakes and vipers and scorpions. (See Likutei
Etzos Chadash, Elul, Rosh Hashanah etc. 74.)

53
Sometimes there is a person who has fallen from all
of the Ten Crowns of Holiness, and the Ten Crowns
of the Sitra Achera have overcome him, Heaven help
us. And then he certainly cannot pray at all, and his
prayer is an aspect of “bitterness of the soul,” an
aspect of, “and her soul is very bitter to her”
(Malachim II, 4:27); “And her rival would
frequently anger her” (Shmuel I, 1:6). That is, even
if he wants to strengthen himself and concentrate
during his prayer, at that point the persecutor of
prayer (which is an aspect of Chanah [i.e. Hanna],
and her persecutor is the Sitra Achera) overcomes
the prayer, and angers it, and through various types
of confusing distractions, confuses the person who is
trying to pray. And Hashem Yisborach has
compassion on him and thinks about ideas of how
none of the dispersed shall be dispersed, and gives
him advice, that he should draw himself towards
truth, and be careful to speak the words of prayer in
a forthright manner, on whatever level he may be,
and remember [and/or] make himself remembered
by God, who is an aspect of: “I am the Lord your
God” (Shmos 20:2); for Hashem Yisborach is in
every place. And by drawing himself towards the
truth, then he will be adjacent to Hashem Yisborach,
for truth is God himself. And in this way, he can rise
up from all of the falls and descents in the world,
which is an aspect of: “I will go down with you to
Egypt, and I will also bring you up” (Bereshis 46:4).
And this is an aspect of: Am I not better to you than
ten sons?” (Shmuel I, 1:8). That is, when one
remembers the aspect of “I am the Lord your God”
this is better than all of the ten children. For despite
that all of the Ten Crowns of Impurity have become
overwhelming, since he had defiled all of the levels
of holiness, all this falls under the category of: I am
better to you than everyone. For Hashem Yisborach
resides in every place and “God is near to all who
call Him, to all who call Him with sincerity”
(Tehilim 145:18). (Likutei Halachos, Chanukah 6:8)

54
The latent good within each person (in the place
where it is suppressed) needs to be informed
specifically of its name. It should to be reminded
very clearly that [a person’s] name is included in the
holy name of Yisrael [i.e. Israel]. For as long as he
remembers his name well, he can still easily be
taken out of the place which he has fallen into. And
the main forgetfulness, that is, how sometimes the
good is suppressed to the extent that [a person]
completely forgets his greatness—this happens when
one forgets one’s name. And this is an aspect of how
a dead person forgets his name [in the next world]
when he wasn’t a truly upright person. Because the
main thing is the name, which is rooted in the name
of God. And one needs to remind oneself repeatedly
that he is called by the name of the People of Israel,
and that God has private glorification from him,
even if he is in the state that he is.
And he who reminds himself of this very often can
easily return to Hashem Yisborach, for the good
does not completely forget its high standing, since it
remembers that its name is Yisrael, and all of the
worlds were created only for us... (Likutei Halachos,
Behema veh Chaya 4:14)

55
He who looks at the root and the ultimate purpose
(which is the essence of truth, which is the blessed
Creator, who created all, something from nothing,
and all return back to Him, to go back and be
included within Him at their end, at the time of the
renewal of the universe); he who pays attention to
this, certainly no lie will hold sway on him, and he
will be able to return to truth and holiness from all
kinds of evil and impurity and lies, which is Hashem
Yisborach; since wherever he may be, he knows that
everything is from God, and that Hashem Yisborach
is always in every place, which is an aspect of: “If I
ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my
bed in She’ol, behold You are there...”; “Also even
darkness will not obscure from You” (Tehilim
139:11). And therefore, he who always believes in
this, certainly absolutely no darkness or lie or evil or
impurity in the world will be able to distance him
from Hashem Yisborach and his Torah and his true
Tzadiks, who are each the essence of truth. And to
the degree that the Ba’al Davar increases his lies
and deceit in order to distance him from the truth, he
will draw closer and closer to the truth, specifically
through this, which is an aspect of the descent is for
the purpose of the ascent. For the root of the
influence of lies is an aspect of the ultimate
beginning of all things, where all is included as a
single unit: silver and gold, tin and lead; which is an
aspect of dust, an aspect of, "all came from the
dust...” (Koheles 3:20). Therefore the lies can
become overwhelming through this, by switching
and changing, and saying that silver is gold, etc. And
this is the main way to subdue and annul the lies,
because when the People of Israel look at everything
exclusively from its ultimate beginning, which is
God, who is the ultimate beginning of all; and
Hashem Yisborach is the essence of truth, through
this the lies fall and are wiped out and annulled from
the world, and one merits to ascend to the ultimate
heights. (Likutei Halachos, Behema veh Chaya 4:25)

56
There are two types of holy processes of refinement.
The first refinements are the great wondrous
refinements and rectifications which are done by us,
the possessors of free choice, that is, through all of
the mitzvahs and good acts which we do through our
itaruta de’latata. And the second refinements are the
wondrous and awe-inspiring rectifications which are
done at every moment by Hashem Yisborach
Himself, which is an aspect of itarutah de'la'ayla.
For Hashem Yisborach Himself engages in this, to
rectify and refine all of the worlds. And in truth,
both of these processes of refinement are actually
one, because itaruta de’latata is stimulated from
above (Zohar, Bereshis 235,244). Indeed all of the
power of our itaruta de’latata is only through God
Himself, but it is impossible for us to arrive at the
level to grasp and understand all of this completely;
because this is the secret of the matter of knowledge
and free choice. Because in truth, both of them are
one, but it is impossible for us to arrive at the level
to grasp and understand all of this, and specifically
through this [paradox] is the main potency of free
choice.
And therefore, a person who walks in the path of
simplicity will never fall, as is said: “He who walks
in simplicity walks securely” (Mishley 10:9); for
through simplicity and emunah he fulfills the entire
Torah with its laws, with all of their details and fine
points, for he believes that the rectification of all of
the worlds is dependent on us alone, that is, through
that we should merit to fulfill all of the mitzvahs
with all of their fine details, through our itaruta
de’latata; and despite that, when we fall (God
forbid) because of some misdeed or sin, we
shouldn’t become discouraged because of this (God
forbid); and he should strengthen himself to do
teshuvah, because he knows that there is an aspect of
the higher refinement, which is an aspect of itarutah
de'la'ayla, and no defilement reaches there at all,
which is an aspect of: “If you sinned, what do you
do to Him?” (Eeyov 35:6). And there he is able to
rectify everything, and all of the sins will transform
into merits through teshuvah, for the thoughts of
Hashem Yisborach are very deep, and from all of the
ruination he can extract great rectifications. And
therefore, because he knows and believes all of this,
he will always remain steadfast in the service of
God, no matter what happens.

For all of the descents and distancing from Hashem

Yisborach are drawn forth from the confusion which
exists within the two aspects of the refinement
process, as mention. There is the person who has not
begun to serve God at all, or who does just the
opposite, God forbid. And this is drawn forth from
how the yetzer ha’ra wants God’s universal
knowledge to overcome free choice, as if a person
does not have free choice at all, and everything is
only dependent on Hashem Yisborach’s universal
knowledge, and [as if] God doesn’t want the service
of human beings at all, which is an aspect of the
false knowledge of the heretics and the totally
wicked, who throw off the yoke completely, as is
well known.
And even people full of cravings, who commit sins
and do not enter into such philosophical
investigations; nevertheless, the entire power of their
yetzer ha’ra is drawn forth from this aspect; because
the yetzer ha’ra is mainly drawn forth from heresy,
as explained elsewhere. And also there is the
opposite. For there are those people who already
began to serve God somewhat, but afterwards
backslid from their small amount of service, and
because of this they became extremely discouraged.
And because of this there are many who completely
despaired of serving God, since they saw that they
had awakened to serve God several times, and they
weren’t able to etc. And this bad phenomenon is
well known among a number of youths. And this
yetzer ha’ra is the opposite. It also draws its
sustenance from the aforementioned confusion, and
it wants free choice to overcome God’s universal
knowledge, as if everything was dependent only on
the individual alone, without Hashem Yisborach at
all. And therefore, because he fell and defiled—he
again no longer has any hope (God forbid). But a
person who walks in simplicity believes that
everything is certainly dependent on us—but
nevertheless, everything is from Hashem Yisborach;
but still, everything is dependent on us (despite that
this is impossible to understand). And therefore this
person certainly won’t become distanced from God,
and will never fall.
For certainly we need to serve God with all our
might, because everything depends on us, for “the
earth He gave to human beings” (Tehilim 115:16).
And despite this, there is absolutely no fall and
despair in the world, because Hashem Yisborach
always finishes. And in the final end He will finish
everything as He desires. For: “You O God remain
on high forever”; “but God's plan—that shall stand”
(Tehilim 92:9; Mishley 19:21). And any good a
person does is never ever lost. And the good act
certainly has a complete effect. Even though one
sees afterwards that things didn’t work out well for
him, and events happened to him that happened, this
is impossible to understand. And as our blessed
Sages said concerning the matter of the mitzvah of
sending off the mother bird, and honoring one’s
father, “for his father told him....
Where is his length of days [that the Torah promised
as a reward for fulfilling these two mitzvahs]?
...Rather in the the world [to come] which is
completely lengthy” (Kedushin 39b).
And likewise there are a number of mitzvahs which
the Torah discusses which are a segulah to be saved
from sins and to draw near Hashem Yisborach, such
as tzitzis and tefilin. And there is a person who puts
on tzitzis and tefilin, and despite that, the yetzer
ha’ra overcomes him and brings him to sin, God
forbid. If so will he throw off the yoke completely
and not fulfill [the mitzvah of] tzitzis and tefilin,
God forbid? But in truth, all the words of the holy
Torah and all of the words of our sages of blessed
memory are true and strongly based etc. Just that
there are several things which we are unable to
understand completely. And certainly the power of
the mitzvah of tzitzis is very strong, and it can save a
person from the yetzer ha’ra and from his cravings,
as appears in the story from the Talmud of the
person whose tzitzis whipped his face (Minchos
44a). But despite this, not every person is equal, and
there is a person who is drawn towards his yetzer
ha’ra to the extent that even if he wears tzitzis, it is
hard for him to stand up against the yetzer ha’ra.
And despite that, the reverse is true: he specifically
needs to be extremely careful to wear tzitzis, and
likewise with all of the mitzvahs. And it is good for
him that at any rate, the merit of tzitzis and its like
should remain to him, and that he shouldn’t be
completely lost, God forbid. And as time goes by,
perhaps the merits of the mitzvah of tzitzis and all
the other good points which he has will gather up
together to the point that he will merit to overcome
his yetzer completely. And no matter what, at any
rate, when a person does some good act, this is never
ever lost, despite all of the things which are done to
a person afterwards. And also concerning this there
are several aspects and several matters which are
concealed from people, and this is all for the sake of
free choice.
And the general principle is that every person,
somehow, is obligated to do what he can do, and
engage in serving God all the days of his life. And if
despite that (God forbid) he does not merit complete
holiness and purity; nevertheless, “no good desire is
lost.” And if he sees in some book that a certain
mitzvah or practice is a segulah to merit a certain
spiritual level or achievement, and because of that he
becomes motivated to fulfill this mitzvah, and sees
that despite that, he did not merit in this way to rise
to this level, he should not become discouraged
because of this at all. Because who knows the ways
of God? Perhaps Hashem Yisborach elevated this
mitzvah or deed for the purpose of a more wondrous
rectification. For God’s thoughts are very deep, and
it is prohibited to ask any skeptical questions at all
about [the conduct of] God, nor of all of the words
of the Torah and the words of the blessed Sages.
(Likutei Halachos, Behema veh Chaya
4:31,38,42,48-49)
 57
[Sometimes] a person falls to the very low levels,
which are an aspect of the filthy places where it is
impossible for [him] to receive life energy, which is
an aspect of the revelation of Hashem Yisborach’s
glory. And all of the Ten Statements [by which the
world was created] where for this purpose, since
regarding them (that is, regarding these places) it is
said “and my glory I will not give to another”
(Yishiahu 42:8). And their life force is only from the
invisibility and concealment of the closed-off
statement of Bereshis [i.e. Genesis] which is an
aspect of “where is the place of his glory?” When a
person falls to these places (God forbid), and merits
to have compassion on himself, because he sees that
his place is far from the glory of God, and if so, they
are not called by the term “place” at all, because the
main [concept of] “place” is where there is
indwelling of holiness and revelation of the glory of
God’s Divinity, which is called “place” as is well
known, which is an aspect of “The Place of The
World” (Bereshis Rabbah, Vayetse 68). But the
filthy places are not called by the term “place” at all,
which is an aspect of: “For all tables were filled with
vomit and excrement, without place” (Yishiahu
28:8); and as it is said, with no place (Yishiahu 5:8).
Therefore, when a person falls to that location (God
forbid) he doesn’t really have any place at all, and he
“wanders upon the earth” (Bereshis 4:14). For when
a person sins (God forbid) and distances himself
from the glory of Hashem Yisborach, the individual
causes a situation as if he returns the world to
desolation and chaos, and it is as if he destroys the
world completely. And therefore he doesn’t have
any place at all. But when he at least merits to
recognize the truth, and see his defilement and great
ruination, that he destroyed the whole world, so
much that he doesn’t have a place in the world at all,
and has compassion on himself and asks and
requests, “where is the place of his glory?!”—for
certainly regarding those places too, it must be that
they have some kind of life force from Hashem
Yisborach, just that it is very concealed, which is an
aspect of, “where is the place of his glory?”
Therefore by asking for and requesting the glory of
God in that location too, in this way he ascends to
the ultimate height, to an aspect of the holiness of
the closed-off statement (mentioned above) which is
an aspect of ayeh [i.e. where?!] and there he is an
aspect of “higher than the place.”
We see then that [in] his descent he fell to such a
level to the extent that he was in an aspect of “lower
than the place” because he was [in] an aspect of
“formless and void” (Bereshis 1:2) and he didn’t
have a place at all. And from now on, through
requesting and searching, in this way he ascended to
a high ascent, to an aspect of higher than the place,
and thus all of his sins are forgiven. And from this
aspect of ayeh, which is an extremely high level of
holiness, from there originates all of the forgiveness
and exoneration of all of the sins, which is an aspect
of: “For forgiveness is with You...” (Tehilim 130:4).
Specifically “with You,” for ayeh is an aspect of
Keter, [i.e. the Sferah of the crown] which is an
aspect of the Thirteen Attributes of the Beard, which
are the root of the Thirteen Attributes of
Compassion, and from there is the main source of
forgiveness and exoneration. And this is an aspect
of: “If [they] prove to be like crimson, they will
become white as snow” (Yishiahu 1:8). For these
filthy places are an aspect of the klipah of the worm,
which is a very hard and strong klipah, and it comes
on strongly every day to destroy the world
completely (God forbid) as explained in the [holy
Ari’s] writing on intention during prayer. And from
this aspect of klipah is drawn forth all kinds of vile
critters and crawling creatures which are prohibited
to be eaten—strictly prohibited—because they are
extremely distant from the glory of God, which is an
aspect of, “and my glory I will not give to another.”
But through requesting and searching for the glory
of Hashem Yisborach from that place too, by this
means one ascends to the ultimate height, and one
draws forth forgiveness and exoneration, which is an
aspect of the Thirteen Attributes of the Beard, which
are an aspect of wool, as is well known. And this is:
“if they become as red as crimson dye, they shall
become as [white] wool” (Yishiahu 1:18).

And regarding this the blessed Sages spoke about

worms which form in fruit that is separated from its
tree, [worms] which are not prohibited until after
they have separated themselves from the fruit. For a
person who falls to those places (mentioned above),
and then sees that he has no place whatsoever in
holiness, at that point the main thing is not to
abandon his place and not to let himself fall into
despair and separate himself and go to the outside
(God forbid), like what happened with many many
people who, because they themselves saw their great
fall, because of that they despaired completely and
separated themselves from holiness and went to the
outside (God forbid), and desired to maintain for
themselves a place outside of holiness (God forbid),
and wanted to defile themselves in the earth and
make a life in this world, like those who said: “I will
go and enjoy this world” (Chagigah 15:1), since he
has no inheritance in the next world (God forbid).
And they are certainly completely impure and totally
prohibited, because this is an aspect specifically of
the “creeping creatures that creep upon the earth”
(Bereshis 7:21), because at that place is the main
influence of the snake and impurity (God forbid).
But in this case this worm, that is, a person who fell
into an aspect of the filthy places, which is an aspect
of a worm, stays fast in his place, and at least it does
not go outside. Because he knows that in truth, there
certainly is no place to escape and hide from his
countenance (God forbid), as is written, “to where
shall I flee from your countenance? If I ascend up
into heaven, You are there...” (Tehilim 139:7-8).
And what good will it do for him to go even farther
and chase after the cravings of his heart, will it not
be bitter for him in the final end? And at that point it
will certainly be a great consolation for him—as a
person who has found a treasure trove—everything
which he did to save himself from the Sitra Achera,
even a tiny bit.
And [it is fitting that] a person contemplate all of
this, and for all that he sees that he is distant from
the glory of Hashem Yisborach, then he knows that
he doesn’t have a place at all, for all of the places
which are far from the glory of Hashem Yisborach
are not called “places” at all. And therefore he asks
for and searches for and requests the glory of
Hashem Yisborach from that place too, which is an
aspect of: "where is the place of his glory?!” which
is an aspect of: “And you shall request the Lord your
God from there”—specifically “from there.”
For at least he doesn’t separate himself and go
outside (God forbid)—the opposite—he doesn’t
abandon his place, which is an aspect of: “If the
spirit of the Ruler ascends upon you, do not leave
your place” (Koheles 1:4). By this means he can
merit that the descent will transform into a great
ascent, and he will rise up to an aspect of “above the
place.” And from being an aspect of a “worm”
[tolah] he will become an “elevated one,” [olah] an
aspect of the daily and nightly elevation sacrifice
[olas tamid] which expiates sins committed during
the day and the night, and overcomes and annuls this
klipah of the worm, which is an aspect of worms
which form in fruit that is separated from its tree are
permitted until after they have separated themselves
from the fruit. For as long as they didn’t go outside
and crawl on the earth, and make themselves a place
on the ground, which is the place of the influence of
the Sitra Achera (God forbid)—the opposite—from
their location they search for Hashem Yisborach,
then the descent can transform into a great ascent.
(Likutei Halachos, Tolah’im 3:1-3)

58
There are very weak souls, which are an aspect of
“eggs,” and the main power of the Sitra Achera/the
klipah of Amalek is over them, as is written, “and he
came at you from behind, [at] the weak ones who
followed after you” (Devarim 25:18). And the true
tzadiks also engage themselves in rectifying these
souls in every generation. And this is the reason for
the lengthening of the Exile, in order to also rectify
the weak souls. And these souls, when they merit to
come to the true tzadiks and begin to be rectified,
they certainly must go through an enormous quantity
of hard efforts and suffering and bitterness: in body,
spirit, finances; and many other aspects, as is
explained elsewhere (in Likutei Halachos,
Nitilat Yadayim 6:17).
And their main purification is that they should
strengthen themselves immensely, and not ever
despair. They should just always hope for salvation,
as is written: “I hope for You all day long” (Tehilim
25:5). For in truth, it is impossible for any person, in
general or individually, to arrive at his dear hope,
without [enduring] great pain, suffering, and
bitterness. And this is an aspect of how a person
needs to be very bitter over the destruction of the
Beis HaMikdash—and mainly over our great
distance from Our Father in Heaven. And every
individual person also needs to be very bitter over
the exile of his soul, which is so far from its Father
in Heaven. And evil keeps rising up strongly, time
after time, so that it is possible to err and say,
“expectation for the next world is lost, what hope
have I?” God forbid (Aychah 3:18). But one needs to
greatly strengthen oneself and console oneself time
after time, and be among the prisoners of hope,
regarding which it is said: “Return to the stronghold,
you prisoners of hope” (Zachariah 9:12).
“Prisoners” specifically, because a person needs to
be imprisoned and tied to the true hope of ultimate
bonding, and not ever abandon his hope, “for God’s
chesed has not ceased.” And his benevolence renews
itself every morning; therefore: “It is good that one
should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of
God” (Aychah 3:22,26). For it must happen that
every person who truly desires to draw close to
holiness will certainly experience immense and
measureless bitterness, just that the main thing is
that he be strong in hope for holiness.

This is hinted at in what the blessed Sages said about

the signs of a pure [i.e. kosher] egg. If both ends are
rounded or pointy, they are certainly impure. For
this is the way of the wicked and all who are far
from the truth, that when they experience some pain
and suffering, they do not console themselves at all
and they do not hope to escape from this situation, as
is written: “He will not believe that he shall return
from darkness” (Eeyov 15:22). And they remain
sunken in deep worry and depression, and cause
themselves to completely give up on God. And
sometimes the opposite occurs, when they
experience something good, like eating or drinking
and the like, then they fill their mouths with laughter
and turn all of their days into a holiday, and don’t at
all turn their hearts to their final end. And this is an
aspect of “two round ends” which hints at their
overwhelming depression and mourning, which is an
aspect of being round like a jar, as is explained
elsewhere (Shulchan Aruch, Y.D. 83:7). Or both of
the sides are pointy: this hints at their laughter and
joy, as if all happiness is in this world (God forbid),
and concerning this type of joy it is said, “and joy,
what does it accomplish?” (Koheles 2:2). But the
upright are an aspect of “one end is round and one is
pointy” (Yad, Ked. Ma’ach. 3).
For among them, pain and suffering are bound up
with hope and consolation, for they are prisoners of
hope. For they know that one cannot arrive at the
ultimate dear hope without suffering. And also
during their suffering, they strengthen and revive
themselves through hope, and by this means they
truly merit a good final end. However, even if “one
end is round and one is pointy,” one still cannot rely
on that to eat them.
For sometimes this situation can also be found
among the wicked, who endure enormous suffering
and bitterness for some hope of sating the cravings
of this world, to acquire money by this means, or
honor, or the like. And during their suffering, they
console themselves by how afterwards they will
acquire their worldly cravings in this way. And this
kind of suffering and this kind of hope is certainly
not good, since it is all for worldly cravings.
Therefore even if one end is rounded and the other
pointy, one cannot eat it—until one knows that it is
from a pure species, that is, that the suffering and the
hope is only for the ultimate purpose. (Likutei
Halachos, Baytsim 5)

59
Concerning strengthening oneself to begin anew
time after time in the service of God, see Likutei
Etzos Chadash, Yirah and Avodah 54; Bushah and
Azoot 3; (see text omissions).

60
[Concerning] all of the confusion of every person
who desires all of the base cravings, and despite that,
wants to know and understand everything with his
coarse intellect, and time after time he has skeptical
questions about God, and about the tzadiks, etc.; and
even if he has skeptical questions himself, this also
isn’t good, for this is also the work of the Ba’al
Davar, who discourages him through the skeptical
questions which he asks about himself: “how do you
want to pray with concentration and enthusiasm;
didn’t you do such a thing an hour ago...” and
similar things; [there are] many confusing things,
without measure. And all of this is drawn forth from
the contamination of the snake, which confused the
mind of a person who wants to understand
everything. For in truth, we don’t know anything at
all, and even King Shlomo [i.e. King Solomon] of
blessed memory said: “For I am more boorish than
any man, neither do I have man's understanding”
(Mishley 30:2), and also in Tehilim it is said: “but I
was brutish and I did not know; I was [like] a beast
with You” (Tehilim 73:22). And this is millions and
hundreds of millions more true concerning regular
people, especially in these generations. And the
main principle is that a person doesn’t know at all,
and he just needs to begin anew in the service of
God time after time: “Whatever your hand attains to
do [as long as you are] with your strength, do”
(Koheles 9:10). And then it is good for you in the
world, and in the final end you will arrive at the
ultimate and eternal good in this world and the next.
(Likutei Halachos, Basar Bechalav 4:12)

61
All of the harassment and incitement and urging of
the yetzer ha’ra and its hordes incite every person
every day at every moment. And this is all drawn
forth from an aspect of the klipah of Lavan [i.e.
Laban], Esav [i.e. Esau], and Egypt and the Four
Kingdoms, which all rise up in each and every
generation against every person of the People of
Israel to annihilate them, God forbid. And there is no
advice through which one can be saved from them
except complete emunah in God, for it is an aspect
of renewal of holiness, an aspect of: “They are new
every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Aychah
3:22). That is, that a person knows the absolute truth
that he doesn’t know anything—nothing, nothing,
nothing at all. He should just strengthen himself in
holy emunah which we received from our holy
ancestors and Sages, and he shouldn’t let anything in
the world confuse him. For we don’t know anything,
only just what the blessed Sages taught us. For they
said, and said, and said that one needs to break all of
the worldly cravings absolutely and completely—
even the slightest movement which is not the desire
of the blessed Creator, one needs to flee, and
distance oneself from this as far as one can get, for
this greatly defiles both the soul of a person of Israel
and all of the worlds which are dependent upon him.
And they said that even if a person transgressed
what he transgressed, even if a person transgressed
the entire Torah thousands of times, Heaven help us;
nevertheless, there is absolutely no despair in the
world, and one needs to begin anew time after time
to strengthen oneself in the service of God. For
Hashem Yisborach gets pleasure and delight from
the worst of the worst—for actually, this is the main
way that God’s greatness becomes known: when the
very distant draw near Him, and acknowledge Him,
and strengthen themselves in emunah, and give
thanks and praise Him, “for your chesed which is
with us every day, and your wonders at every
moment...” (liturgy, Modim). And the main purpose
of the Creation of heaven and earth was just for this,
that a person should begin anew time after time,
from the beginning [i.e. reshis], as if he were born
today, and as if today were reshis, the very start,
which is an aspect of: “In the beginning [i.e.
Bereshis] God created”—specifically “Bereshis,”
which is an aspect of the aforementioned aspect of
“reshis” [i.e. first of all] (Bereshis 1:1). And indeed,
even now in his goodness Hashem Yisborach always
renews Creation [i.e. Ma’aseh Bereshis] every day.
And everything is for this, for this [personal]
renewal, where each and every person, in
accordance with his level, [can] begin to enter into
the service of the Blessed God every day anew. And
this is an aspect of the mitzvah of bikurim [i.e. first
offerings] and the confession of bikurim as
explained elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos, Basar
Bechalav 4:11)

62
Each and every day Hashem Yisborach sends new
salvation to save a person from the Sitra Achera,
which rises up against him daily, and this is an
aspect of, “announce his salvation from day to day”
(Tehilim 96:2). And also in the Shmonah Esray
prayer one says, “and for your miracles which are
with us every day....” And indeed as the blessed
Sages said: “Each and every day a person’s yetzer
rises up against him, and if the Kadosh Baruch Hoo
didn’t help him...” (Sukah 52b). We find then that
each and every day completely new things are made
to happen to a person, and the God helps him and
saves him every day. Therefore, a person shouldn’t
get himself upset at all from day to day, because
who knows how great the new salvation will be
which Hashem Yisborach will send him today if he
merits to strengthen himself and to begin anew.
(Likutei Halachos, Basar Bechalav 4:12)

63
It is stated elsewhere that a person needs to be
extremely stubborn in his service of God, and this
stubbornness strengthens a person wondrously not to
ever fall, under any circumstances. And this is an
aspect of: “She fears not for her household from
snow, for all her household is dressed in crimson”
(Mishley 31:21). And said the blessed Sages, “Don’t
read it as ‘shaneem,’ [crimson] rather ‘shnayeem’
[two]” (Midrash Mishley). “Give, you shall surely
give”; “open, you shall surely open”; “provide, you
shall surely provide” (Devarim 15:10-11,14). [This]
is an aspect of the stubbornness on which the entire
fulfilment of the Torah is dependent, that he should
strengthen himself to repeat and double every good
action, whether Torah study, or anything else that he
had begun to accustom himself to; that he should
strengthen his will to go back and do the same holy
act time after time, even a thousand times, even if he
went through what he went through, for this is the
main fulfillment of the Torah; that one needs to be
extremely stubborn in one’s service of God, and to
do holy acts, even to force oneself, even thousands
of times, without paying attention to any
discouraging thoughts, with which the Ba’al Davar
and the Sitra Achera and the demons of mockery
discourage him— and this is the main strengthening
in holiness, and by this means, he will have no fear
of the hell of snow. [Perhaps this is also alludes to
the verse: “if they become as red as crimson dye,
they shall become as [white] wool.”] For there is a
hell of fire and a hell of snow, as the blessed Sages
wrote, the hell of fire comes as a result of getting
heated up to do a sin related to animalistic cravings
(God forbid). But the hell of snow is from his
discouragement afterwards, when he regrets what he
has done, for “they are all full of regrets,” as the
blessed Sages said (Shevet Musar 25; Nederim 9b).
But in most cases the main obstacle to doing
teshuvah is because of feeling discouraged, where a
person thinks that it has become impossible for him
to do teshuvah because of [his] enormously large
number of sins. And because of this he despairs
completely of approaching God. This is especially
the case concerning those who have already begun
to serve God a little bit, and afterwards fell from
this. And this is mainly from becoming discouraged,
and from the “coldness” [i.e. lack of motivational]
which the Ba’al Davar induces in him. Therefore
because of this, one is sentenced to the terrible and
bitter coldness of the hell of snow. However, by holy
daring and stubbornness, and by the aforementioned
strengthening of will, without allowing oneself to be
moved from one’s place under any circumstances,
[one escapes this fate]. One should just fulfill the
Torah, and again fulfill the Torah and the mitzvahs
as much as possible; to snatch in this way the
passing shadow, every day of his life, even if he
goes through hardships. And he cannot allow
himself to get cold (God forbid) in his fulfillment of
Torah and mitzvahs, no matter what happens. And
this way, he certainly will not be sentenced to the
hell of snow and cold, and this relates to: “She fears
not for her household for snow, for all her household
is dressed in crimson.” (Likutei Halachos, Basar
Bechalav 4:27,29)

64
Despite that a person has fallen like he has fallen
(God forbid), if he is strong in his desire and yearns
for absolute truth, he can ascend specifically by
means of the descent to a very high place. And this
is an aspect of “the descent is for the purpose of the
ascent”; see elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos, Heksher
Kaylim, 4:22)
 65
Even the worst of the worst, whoever they may be,
need to strengthen themselves and make strong
efforts to turn to God in hope and anticipation,
without ever easing off or being lazy about
maintaining their will to do good. And in this way a
person will certainly merit to bring to fruition much
true and eternal good, which the holy People of
Israel have already done quite a lot of, through their
holy daring and strong desire for holiness. And by
this means we left Egypt, and He split the Red Sea,
and we merited to receive the Torah, and many other
similar genuine salvations which the People of Israel
merited in every generation through the forcefulness
of their will for holiness, and through true self-
sacrifice. And by remembering all of this time after
time, by this means we also have the strength
currently to strengthen ourselves in hope and
anticipation, and desire for holiness, until thus we
will merit to break down all the obstacles and to
arrive at the ultimate good. And this pertains to:
“Strengthen yourselves, and He will give your heart
courage, all who hope....” Specifically “all who
hope,” which is an aspect of strengthening of the
will/desire. For even though much time has passed
where one hasn’t merited the good; nevertheless,
one anticipates and hopes and expects [to receive
salvation] from Hashem Yisborach, unto He will
look out, and God will see from heaven, and this is:
“all who hope,” specifically “all”—whoever it may
be. (Likutei Halachos, Heksher Kaylim 4:26-29)
66
One needs daring and temerity and enormous
strength in the numbered and fleeting days of this
world, in order to stand up against everything which
holds one back etc. For the Ba’al Davar wants to
push one back (God forbid) at every moment. And
the main thing is, through its deluded deductions, by
which it depicts light as its opposite (God forbid), by
this means it incites a person to transgress (God
forbid), and causes one to think that the prohibited is
permissible and that a transgression is a mitzvah.
And afterwards when a person has already faltered,
it comes another time and dresses itself up as
mitzvahs; and it wants to trip up the person and push
him away completely [from holiness,] God forbid.
And all of this and its like is drawn forth from the
klipah and the Sitra Achera. And this is mainly
through an aspect of the klipah of Bila'am, which
wants to depict the light of the Torah as the opposite.
Therefore one needs enormous daring and
strengthening against it, without measure; and
concerning this it is said: “Fortunate is the man who
has strength in You, in whose heart are the
highways,” whose [Hebrew] initials form the
acronym “Bila’am,” as is explained elsewhere
(Tehilim 84:6). (Likutei Halachos, Yayin Nesech
4:28)

67
Sometimes a person falls very much and becomes
distanced from Hashem Yisborach because of the
truth. For he knows the truth that he has greatly
defiled and ruined, and now too he is in the state that
he is, and therefore he completely despairs of
himself. But in truth, a person needs to distance
himself from such truth, etc. (See Likutei Halachos,
Ribis 27,30.)
 68
The enormity of the greatness of Hashem
Yisborach’s compassion and chesed is to the point
of infinity and endlessness. And it is utterly
impossible to gain understanding of the essential
true intentions of Hashem Yisborach, even amidst
the flaring up of his anger and fury (God forbid). For
then too it is God’s desire that we entreat and pray to
Him, and He truly desires to save us with complete
salvation. And therefore, in that situation too one
needs to strengthen oneself in prayer, and supplicate
to God, and rely on his great compassion and
chesed, which is utterly impossible to understanding.
And like we found with Moshe Rebeinu of blessed
memory, after the Sin of the Golden Calf, and He
said He would destroy them (God forbid). And then
Moshe understood (without paying attention to the
literal meaning of what God said, that it was as if He
wanted to destroy them, God forbid). But the actual
truth is this was not so; it was all in order to energize
him so that he would strengthen himself in prayer to
sweeten the judgements and heavenly accusations,
and cause them to be removed from the People of
Israel. Therefore Moshe then strengthened himself in
prayer very much, until God was appeased by
Moshe, and “God reconsidered the evil
[punishment]...” (Shmos 32:14). And then He taught
him the order of prayers and He revealed the
Thirteen Attributes of Compassion to him. And there
He revealed to him the ultimate truth, that the true
essence of God was his great compassion and chesed
for all eternity, which never ever ceases. And this is
an aspect of, “benevolent God, who is
compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and
abundant in chesed and truth...” (Shmos 34:6). That
is, this is the essence of Hashem Yisborach’s truth,
that his compassion and chesed never ever run out,
no matter what happens; and prayer, supplication,
and screaming and crying out to God are always
effective. For after all of the angering, when people
anger Hashem Yisborach, his true mercies never
ever run out.

And in every generation there are tzadiks and the

upright who always strengthen themselves in prayer;
and by doing so they sweeten all of the judgments in
the world, and annul all of the evil decrees [which
beset] the People of Israel. And they inculcate true
inner knowledge into the People of Israel, which is
to always strengthen themselves in prayer and
supplication. For this is the main absolute truth, as it
is written: “God is near to all who call Him, to all
who call Him in truth” (Tehilim 145:18). And it is
written: “But, as for me, may my prayer to
You...answer me in the truth of your salvation”
(Tehilim 69:14). Specifically “in truth,” because I
believe that it is an absolute truth that even now,
after I have done what I have done, and I have gone
through what I have gone through, still, still, You
desire to bring me salvation. Therefore I strengthen
myself and pray “answer me in the truth of your
salvation.” And understand this extremely well, how
very very much one needs to always strengthen
oneself in prayer, no matter what happens. (Likutei
Halachos, Ribis 5:33)

69
All of the battles in the world mainly symbolize the
war against the yetzer ha’ra. Because even the
battles that an individual has in the material world
against one’s antagonists and enemies, these are all
wars with the yetzer ha’ra; as the blessed Sages said:
just as a person has antagonists down below, in
parallel to them he also has antagonists up above.
Therefore the main war is the war with the yetzer
ha’ra. And this is what the Cohen cautioned before
they went to battle in a war of God, to overcome the
enemies and the Sitra Achera which surround
holiness, which are an aspect of the pagan nations
which surround the Land of Israel, which represent
all of those who are stumbling blocks and obstacles
to acquiring holiness. And when a person engages
them in battle, great heavenly accusations rise up
against him, and they want to completely push him
down from his service, God forbid. And this is the
main war, wherein a person needs to strengthen
himself to stand up on his feet and not fall from his
service of Hashem Yisborach, God forbid. And then
he will certainly merit to be victorious over them,
and break them, and annul them.
But on what will he firmly place his trust, so that he
does not fall from his service of Hashem Yisborach,
God forbid? The main thing is just holy emunah, so
that since he is strong in holy emunah, he certainly
will not have to fear any war and any test in the
world. And this is what the Cohen told them: "Hear,
O Israel, today you are approaching the battle”
(Devarim 20:3). And the blessed Sages interpreted
this as meaning: “Even if you have no merit other
than that you say ‘Hear, O Israel’ [i.e. Shema
Yisrael] every day, you are fit to be victorious over
your enemies...” (Sotah 42a). And this relates to the
above. For in the merit of “Shema Yisrael” alone,
that is, in the merit of holy emunah, through this
alone you can enter into battle, both materially and
spiritually. Because you are strong in faith in God,
you no longer need to fear any battle in the world at
all. And this pertains to: “Let your hearts not be
faint; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not be
alarmed, and you shall not be terrified because of
them” (Devarim 20:3). And the blessed Sages
interpreted this to mean, do not be afraid of the
stamping of the horses, and the clamor of the troops,
and the sounding of the horns; that is, the tactics
used by the enemy to scare and threaten those who
oppose them. And all of these things exist in the war
against the yetzer ha’ra. And this is known by he
who has begun somewhat to enter into the service of
God and the war against the yetzer ha’ra, even a
completely simple person. For it is the way of the
Ba’al Davar to threaten and scare a person very
much, and to make his service of God extremely
tiresome. And because of this, there are many who
are deterred from starting to enter into the service of
Hashem Yisborach, because of these threats and this
heaviness and the like. And this is an aspect of the
stamping of the horses, and the clamor of the troops.
But the most important thing in the service of God is
not to be afraid at all, as explained elsewhere; that in
this world, a person needs to pass over a very narrow
bridge, but the main thing is that a person not be
afraid at all.

And the main way of strengthening oneself to pass

safely over the narrow bridge without fear, is this
holy emunah. This is an aspect of: "Hear, O Israel,
today you are approaching the battle.” That is, in the
merit of Shema Yisrael, which is holy faith, then
again: “Let your hearts not be faint...”; “For the Lord
your God is the one who goes with you...to save
you...” (Devarim 20:3-4). This is an aspect of “God
is for me; I shall not fear.” Since I believe in
Hashem Yisborach in complete faith, for “the whole
earth is full of his glory.” And God is always with
me, so then again: “God is for me; I shall not fear.
What can a person do to me?” (Tehilim 118:6).
Since a person has strong emunah in God, he will
certainly be victorious in all of the battles, and in the
final end, he will truly return to Hashem Yisborach.
And this is an aspect of: “This I reply to my heart;
therefore I have hope” (Aychah 3:21). “This” is an
aspect of Malchus of emunah, as explained
elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos, Geeluach 3:9)

70
Concerning the releasing of vows through regret,
from this one can understand the enormous chesed
of God—infinite and without end—and how there is
absolutely no despair in the world at all. For the
vows, where a person vows and prohibits something
from himself, this is a very high aspect, which rises
to the place of the vow, which is an aspect of the
holy makifs [i.e. the surrounding spheres of mind].
And these are the roots of the Torah, as explained
elsewhere. However, despite that vows are such a
high aspect; nevertheless, one can release them
through regret which one expresses in front of a
Torah sage; and this is an aspect of teshuvah.
Because the main part of teshuvah is regret, for in
that, there is an aspect of the makifs; there it is an
aspect of “the ultimate knowledge which we shall
not know” (Bechinas Olam 13:45). And there,
chesed is infinite, and one can always regret and do
teshuvah, no matter what happens.
For in truth, teshuvah is something wondrous, and it
is higher than our understanding, higher than the
holy Torah (so to speak) as explained elsewhere.
Therefore, the power of teshuvah never ever ceases,
under any circumstances. And even a person who
begins to do teshuvah and falls (God forbid), and
even if he began several times and fell each time
into what he fell; nevertheless, he needs to
strengthen himself and begin anew time after time—
for the power of teshuvah never ever ceases.
For there, chesed is infinite.
And we see this in the releasing of vows, where a
vow can be annulled through regret. And this is an
aspect of teshuvah through the power of a Torah
sage. Even though the vow is an aspect of something
extremely lofty, an aspect of the makifs, which are
higher than our understanding, an aspect of the roots
of Torah, an aspect of teshuvah—nevertheless there
is an even higher aspect, where the vow is annulled
through regret. Likewise, in every service to Hashem
Yisborach, from every person, on every level, and at
every time, there is wondrous chesed from God,
higher than high, which the mouth cannot speak of,
nor the heart think of. And even though Hashem
Yisborach behaved towards him benevolently, and
raised him out of the dumps, and returned him to
Him, and [still] the person did not have compassion
on himself, and also defiled this wondrous chesed a
number of times; nevertheless, there is chesed above
chesed, up to infinity, such that all are able to draw
near to God wherever they are, through the power
and merit of the great and wise tzadik of the
person’s generation; if they will listen to him and
walk in his holy paths. (Likutei Halachos, Nedarim
4:7)
71
In that the Great Tzadik is able to enlighten those on
a high level, who are an aspect of “dwellers above,”
and inform them that they still don’t know anything
at all about the greatness of Hashem Yisborach, by
doing this alone he can draw near the distanced and
very lowly, and strengthen their heart not to despair
of receiving compassion, God forbid. For God is still
with them and among them, for “the whole earth is
full of his glory.” (Likutei Halachos, Nedarim 4:14-
16; Likutei Etzos Chadash, Garim 14)

72
There is a need for a person to strengthen himself,
since one needs to know that it is impossible under
any circumstances to know in this world where one
stands and at what level one is on; and this is his
main free choice and test. One just needs to
strengthen oneself in emunah, and also believe in
oneself, that there is not any positive movement of
his which is lost, God forbid, as the blessed Sages
said (Zohar, Shmos 150b). (See Likutei Etzos
Chadash, Emunah 101)

73
[Let] a person look with a true eye on how time
disappears, and how time passes and flits away, and
it never rests—even for a moment. For in truth, time
does not exist at all. However, because of the
smallness of our minds, it appears to us as if there is
some aspect of time, just as it seems to a person who
sleeps and dreams for a quarter of an hour, that in
his dream seventy years have passed, and this is all
because of the smallness of our minds at that time.
For doesn’t he see clearly immediately afterwards
when he wakes up that no more than a quarter of an
hour had passed by? Likewise, this is just like how it
seems to him, that there truly is some kind of aspect
of time. And in reality time does not exist at all, as is
explained elsewhere. And if a person examines this
truthfully, then he will certainly put all of his heart
into annulling the nonsensical [illusion] of time, and
put all of his hope on an aspect of being above time.
Also, in this way, that he believes in an aspect of
above time, in this way he will never fall because of
any possible kind of descent, no matter what
happens, because he will remind himself that there
exists the aspect of: “I have given birth to you
today” (Tehilim 2:7), which is said regarding
Mashiach, who is an aspect of above time. And there
everything becomes rectified; and all the time which
passed by is completely annulled. And it is as if he is
really born today, through the aspect of being above
time, which is a level that the true tzadiks attain,
who are an aspect of Mashiach. And this is the main
hope and strength to do teshuvah from all of the
defilements which a person fell into, each person in
accordance with his own situation. [And these
defilements] are all drawn forth from the aspect of
the evil deeds done under the sun and over time. A
person wants to purify himself from his
contamination and return to God in truth, and be
included in an aspect of above time, for teshuvah is
mainly an aspect of above time, as is explained
elsewhere. But how is it possible to transform and
rectify all of the days and periods which passed by
him in such defilement?
Therefore, his main hope and rectification is through
an aspect of above time, for there, all is rectified, as
if today he is born anew. And for as long as a person
has a “point” of emunah, where he believes in God
and the next world, and the coming of the Mashiach
(who is an aspect of above time, which is said
regarding Mashiach), through this he will always
have hope. And somehow, since he strengthens
himself to some degree, then there is hope for his
final end, through an aspect of “I have given birth to
you today,” which is the holiness of Mashiach. And
from there, holiness and rectification is drawn forth
upon all of the converts and penitents.
For even a convert who is born from the defilement
of the Akum, when he comes to convert, the blessed
Sages said regarding him, that a convert who
converts is like a newborn child, which is an aspect
of: “I have given birth to you today,” since he now
comes to enter into the holiness of the People of
Israel. And this is even more the case regarding a
Jewish penitent, who was born into the holiness of
Israel. Even though he went through what he went
through, Heaven help us. Nevertheless, when he
wants to truly do teshuvah and enter completely into
the holiness of the People of Israel, then every day
and every hour he needs to regard himself as if he
were really born anew. And this is drawn forth from
the holiness of the tzadiks, who are an aspect of
Mashiach, regarding whom it is said: “I have given
birth to you today.” And this is the main entrance
into the holiness of the People of Israel. But when he
will manifest this aspect, and always feels as if he
were born now, even if he goes through what he
goes through; and if he will strengthen himself time
after time, and thinks in his heart that he has been
born now; then certainly, in the final end he will
merit to draw near to Hashem Yisborach, and then
all shall be rectified.

For the early days will fall away, and everything will
be transformed into goodness through his complete
teshuvah. And all will be included into an aspect of
above time, which is an aspect of Mashiach, an
aspect of “I have given birth to you today.” And this
is an aspect of: “You bring man to the crushing
point” (Tehilim 90:3). And the blessed Sages
interpreted this to mean, “till the decline of the soul”
(Talmud Yur., Chagigah 2a). Nevertheless, teshuvah
is useful even then, which is an aspect of, “and You
say, ‘Return, O human beings’" (Tehilim 90:3). And
all of this is through an aspect of above time which
is an aspect of: “For a thousand years are in your
eyes like yesterday, which passed...” (Tehilim 90:4).
And likewise when one begins the Mizmor, “O God,
You have been our dwelling place”; “Before the
mountains were born...and from everlasting to
everlasting, You are God” (Tehilim 90:1-2). And all
of this is an aspect of above time. Because
specifically in this way one merits to always do
complete teshuvah, no matter what happens. And all
of this Mizmor deals with this issue, see elsewhere.
(Likutei Halachos, Mila 4:17-19)

74
Concerning how one can merit, through
strengthening oneself at the time of a fall, that the
descent transforms into an ascent, and how
specifically through this, one will become
affirmatively renewed with wondrous renewal, see
Likutei Etzos Chadash, Tiltul OoNisiyah 10.

75
The mitzvahs relating to impure skin diseases hint at
great encouragement for a person. Sometimes when
one reaches the ultimate descent, then one merits to
receive purity and a rectification for his soul, and to
do teshuvah, for this is an aspect of how the disease
of Baheres contaminates at the size of an oat, but if
it spreads to the entire body, one is pure. (See
Likutei Etzos Chadash, Yirah 87.)
 76
Sometimes through God’s grace a powerful light is
opened up to a person, and it seems to him that he
will certainly become an upright person as is fitting,
and afterwards it suddenly becomes dark to him, as
if the sun has set, really suddenly and not in its
proper time. And this is an aspect of what is said
regarding Yaakov, “and he arrived at the place”
(Bereshis 28:11). For with Avraham it was said,
“and he saw the place from afar” (Bereshis 22:4),
but Yaakov Avinu merited to really meet up with the
Place [i.e. with God] as is stated in the holy Zohar.
And despite this, it is written afterwards that he slept
there because the sun set; and the blessed Sages
interpreted this to mean that it did not set in its
proper time, as mentioned above. And after that they
informed him in a dream that this was all an aspect
of, “and behold! a ladder was set up on the ground,
and its top reached to heaven.” For this is all of the
service of a person: that he needs to go from level to
level like one ascending a ladder; “and behold,
angels of God were ascending and descending upon
it” (Bereshis 28:12). That is, the tzadiks, who are
called “the angels of God,” need to have a multitude
of ascents and descents. And before the ascent, there
needs to be a descent; and the descent is for the
purpose of the ascent. Therefore, a person should not
be shocked and never ever become discouraged
because of everything which he goes through. For
even when he is in an aspect of ascent, where he
sees some kind of salvation and gleams of light, he
shouldn’t err to think that the light is already his. He
should just know that he is still very far. And by this
means, he will not fall when he sees afterwards that
for him, the light has turned to darkness, which is an
aspect of descent. For in truth, despite everything,
the light which had already shined upon him was not
extinguished, and will not depart from him, God
forbid. For the light of Hashem Yisborach’s chesed
always shines upon him. Just that everything is an
aspect of “she brings her food from afar” (Mishley
31:14), and an aspect of, “and he saw the place from
afar.” But in the final end, God will finish what He
began, and will do good for Klal Yisrael [i.e. the
totality of the People of Israel], and for each
individual person. Just one needs to always expect
redemption, as is said, “for we hope for your
salvation all day long” (liturgy). (See Likutei Etzos
Chadash, Yirah VeAvodah 89; Likutei Halachos,
Shiluach HaKen 5:10)

77
There are those who may err because they see how
very far they are from the light. Therefore
depression and melancholy may descend upon them
(God forbid), which does great damage—more than
everything, as is well known. Therefore, he who
truly has compassion on himself needs to transform
everything into happiness. For specifically, through
seeing and understanding how distant the light is
from him, specifically because of this, he will
delight and be very joyful. For despite everything,
isn’t it that he sees that the light is truly with him?
For don’t we, despite everything, ignite the holy
light of Chanukah candles right in our home? And
also Tefilin, which are very lofty lights, and we wrap
them on our arms and on our heads—could there be
more nearness than this? And if we know that the
light of Tefilin is still very far from us—on the
contrary—this is our joy, that they heal us with
precious and wondrous medicines such as these,
which come from so very far away. And in this we
have great hope, for God will certainly extricate us
from all our problems, and will draw us near to Him
with compassion.

And since at every moment we see these distant and

lofty lights, which are really with us; and if we are
still distant from them, on the contrary, [we should
be happy about this even more so]. One needs to
realize all of this in order not to get discouraged
when he sees that he goes through what he goes
through. Even though he wraps Tefilin, and lights
the Chanukah candles, etc. etc. For he needs to know
that the light is still very far away from him; but
nevertheless, one needs to transform everything to
happiness. For despite all, this distant and lofty light
is really right with me and in my home; and this is
an aspect of Halel and the joy from the remarkable
miracles which were done for us on all of the
holidays. And this is all in order to become
strengthened through this, to always expect
salvation, which is an aspect of: “He made a
memorial for his wonders” (Tehilim 111:4). And in
order that we be trusting and strong, that just as his
chesed had overcome us, in doing such miracles for
us, so that we merited such wondrous lights which
come from afar—“she brings her food from afar”—
in order to heal the afflictions of our souls; through
this we are trusting with strong trust that He will
certainly bring us to merciful salvation, and will
continue to do new and wondrous miracles for us,
until we return to Him in truth. And He will finish
what He began, for “the word of our God shall last
forever” (Yeshayahu 40:8), and as it is said: “But
You remain on high forever, O God” (Tehilim 92:9).
(Likutei Halachos, Shiluach HaKen 5:11)

78
The main drawing near of those distanced from God,
of converts and penitents, is through their knowing
and recognizing by themselves how far they are
from Hashem Yisborach, in light of their state; and
nevertheless, that they also know and believe the
opposite, that they are really adjacent and nearby
God, in light of his wondrous and measureless
compassion. And this is an aspect of what our
blessed Sages said; one says to a convert who comes
to convert: “What did you see which caused you to
want to convert?” (Yebamos 47a). And if he says, “I
know, and I know that I am not deserving”; that is,
that he also recognizes in himself how very
distanced he is, just that nevertheless, he desires to
draw near to God, trusting on his great compassion,
for Hashem Yisborach loves converts too—then he
is welcomed into the fold.
And this is an aspect of what Naomi told Rut [i.e
Ruth]: four methods of capital punishment were
granted to the court, and she said: “The way you die,
I will die” (Rut 1:17). This seemed like this was
distancing, since Rut was so modest, and wanted so
badly to convert, and she tells her, perhaps you will
be culpable of a sin [punishable by one of] the four
capital punishments, God forbid. And Rut herself,
why did she respond: “The way you die, I will die”?
That is, she was satisfied with this possibility. It
would have been more appropriate for her to
respond: “I am certain in my purity and
righteousness that I won’t incur the death penalty,
God forbid.”

But this is all related to the topic above, for the main
drawing close of the distanced is through an aspect
of distancing and drawing near, and this is an aspect
of, “peace to the far and to the near” (Yishiahu
57:19). Because right after he misleads himself to
say that he is already close to God, then he will
know for certain that in truth, he is far from God—
and this caused all of the destructions, Heaven help
us. For also during the time of the Beis HaMikdash,
when it certainly was a period of nearness of the
People of Israel to their Father in Heaven—
especially when they merited to stand in the Beis
HaMikdash itself, which is the ultimate place of
being drawn near (and even more so in the First Beis
HaMikdash where the Ark and the Tablets etc. were
still there); despite this, they needed to know how
far away they still were from God and from the
holiness of that awe-inspiring place. They just
needed to transform everything into happiness and to
trust in the chesed of Hashem Yisborach, who also
draws all of the distanced near [to Him], as we saw
in the Beis HaMikdash itself, where Hashem
Yisborach constricted the indwelling of the
Shechinah [i.e. the Divine presence] in the Beis
HaMikdash, for: “Behold, the heaven and heaven of
heavens cannot contain You” (Malachim I, 8:27).
And indeed through the enormity of Hashem
Yisborach’s compassion, He commanded that coarse
beasts be elevated [as offerings] into a pleasant
fragrance. And because they defiled this, and
thought that all goodness was in their hands, and that
they were already very near through their own
accomplishment, therefore their heart became
haughty; thus “they forgot Me” (Hoshea 13:6), and
in this way they caused the entire destruction, which
is an aspect of: “Turn away your eyes from me, for
they have made me haughty,” in accordance with the
interpretation of Rashi (Shir Ha Shirim 6:5).

Therefore Naomi also spoke to Rut in this way, for

even though right now your heart burns to draw
near to holiness, at any rate, who knows what will
be later on? Perhaps you will be found guilty of
capital punishment from a rabbinical court. And Rut
the tzadikah, even though she certainly took upon
herself in her mind to be a complete tzadikah, and
not to be found liable for capital punishment from a
rabbinical court (God forbid); nevertheless, she
responded in the innocence of her righteousness, that
she certainly is not sure whether she will be
permanently righteous, and who knows in what way
I may eventually fall, God forbid. Just, no matter
what happens, even if the Ba’al Davar becomes
overpowering (God forbid) and he brings me to do
what it brings me to do, so that I will be liable for
the death penalty (God forbid); nevertheless, I truly
take upon myself the holiness of the People of Israel,
and whatever will happen to me so be it, and “the
way you die, I will die.” So then Naomi really drew
her near whole heartedly, and she became a great
tzadikah, to the extent that she merited that
Mashiach descended from her, who will return the
entire world to the proper path. And indeed this is
the case with every person who seeks to draw near
to the truth, that the main drawing near is through
being pushed away. And even afterwards when he
has drawn quite close, time after time one needs to
remember how one [also] gets pushed away. Just
one shouldn’t truly [allow oneself] to be pushed
away because of this (God forbid)—on the
contrary—being pushed away needs to assist one’s
goal of drawing close, which is an aspect of “peace
to the far and to the near.” (Likutei Halachos,
Shiluach HaKen 5:16-17)

79
Each member of the People of Israel [struggles]
amidst the harsh difficulties and stress, and the
enormity of the soul’s distress and exile, to the
degree that each and every person feels in his soul;
nevertheless, one needs, specifically from that place,
to see and observe hopeful and [optimistic] thought
[i.e. sever] for the redemption of one’s soul and
return to God. This is an aspect of “Yaakov saw that
there was ‘grain’ [i.e. ‘shever’] being sold in Egypt”
(Bereshis 42:1). The blessed Sages interpreted this to
mean, “there was ‘shever’”: “Now Joseph had been
brought down to Egypt.” [Shever here means “grain”
but the interpretation derives from its additional
meaning of “breakage.”] Because “there was sever”:
“Now Joseph was the ruler.” [“Sever” meaning
“optimistic thoughts” is related to “shever” since the
Hebrew letters of “shever” can also be pronounced
as “sever.”] Because “there was ‘shever’”: “and they
will enslave them and oppress them.” Because
“there is sever”: “and afterwards they will go forth
with great possessions....” (Bereshis 39:1,15:13-14;
Midrash Rabbah, Miketz). For this is the truth, that
amidst the great shever [i.e. turmoil] and distress
(Heaven help us), one needs to always look forward
to salvation, and the sever [i.e. optimistic thinking]
and the great hope which is enclothed in it. And
indeed, this is so regarding each person individually,
and this is an aspect of “being distanced is for the
purpose of being drawn close, and descent can be for
the purpose of ascent.” And this is an aspect of "I
will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also
bring you up” (Bereshis 46:4). And in the books it is
understood that this verse discusses the entire secret
of the People of Israel’s Exile, and all of the ascents
and descents which the person of Israel goes
through. And the main thing is strengthening
oneself, for one needs to strengthening oneself
enormously in the midst of the overwhelming
bitterness of the descent, where specifically from
there, God will have compassion and will grant a
person salvation and draw him near to Him: “For
God will not forsake his people...” (Shmuel I 12:22).
And as is written: “If I said: ‘My foot has slipped,’
your kindness, O God, supported me” (Tehilim
94:18). And additionally there are many other verses
and discussions by the blessed Sages, for Hashem
Yisborach transmutes the blow into healing for the
People of Israel.

And here in this verse, "I will go down with you...”

there are thirty letters [in Hebrew] which are divided
into three groups, each one comprised of ten letters.
And this forms the holy name discussed in the book
Sha’aray Tzion which is learned from the verse "I
will go down with you,” which forms the acronym
“Ami Netzeh...” [“My people, we shall depart...”]
That is, the first letter of the first group, which is
Aleph, and the first letter of the second group, which
is Mem, and the first letter of the third group, which
is Yud of the word “anochi” [I]; from these are
formed the name “Ami”; [and then correspondingly,
the second letter of each of the three ten-letter
groups is taken to form the next segment of the
acronymic name, and so on following this pattern.]
And from this, one is able to very much take heart,
how in the beginning of the descent, which is
alluded to in the words of "I will go down with you,”
which comprise the first ten letters, and additionally
within the full severity of the Exile itself, which is
an aspect of the word “Mitsraymah” [“to Egypt”]
and [the second appearance of] “anochi” [“I”],
which comprise the ten words of the second group,
which alludes to, and immediately joins together
with the [phrase] sprouting of the horn of salvation
of the ultimate ascent, which is an aspect of the
“Yud” of “anochi,” and the words “I will also bring
you up” and the Yud of “anochi,” (from which
derives the main ascent, as explained elsewhere);
this joins together with the Aleph of the first
“anochi,” which is the beginning of the descent into
the Exile, and with the Mem of “Mitsraymah” which
is the Exile itself—all of this is in order to teach that
even from the beginning of the descent and the
Exile, the aforementioned “Yud” immediately stood
up to guard us and save us, so that we would not get
stuck there, God forbid; rather, the descent would be
for the purpose of ascent (see Sha’aray Tzion 22-
24). And this is alluded to in the words of the
blessed Sages, who said in the Midrash regarding
the verse: “Now it came about at that time that
Yehudah [Judah] was demoted by his brothers”
(Bereshis 38:1). For even before the first Exile, the
final redeemer was born, who is Peretz, etc. as
mentioned above [in that Yehudah’s decline was the
beginning of a chain of events which lead to the
dynasty of King David and the future Mashiach.]
(Likutei Halachos, Shiluach HaKen 5:22-24)
80
The words of the true tzadiks, which strengthen us to
always be strong in God, and proclaim to us that
there is absolutely no despair in the world at all—
these words need to be heeded by us; they need to
enter into our hearts like “dew and rain” (liturgy).
And this is an aspect of what Moshe Rebeinu of
blessed memory said to us in the song “Ha’azinu,”
which is entirely strong admonition and energization
and strengthening, never to give up on crying out to
Hashem Yisborach, even if “a sharp sword is laid on
a person’s neck” God forbid (Brachos 10a). “For
God will not forsake his people,” for Hashem
Yisborach’s mercy is bountiful, as explained
elsewhere. Therefore He cautioned them very much
to listen intently to all of this: “My lesson will drip
like rain; my word will flow like dew” (Devarim
32:2). For just like the dew and rain in which a drop
of rain enters into the earth, and afterwards
wondrous plants grow because of this; likewise, one
needs to amply insert these words deeply into the
heart, until they germinate in the heart, and they
bring forth fine fruits. For these words, to always
strongly hold on to God, one needs to listen to them
intently and understand their inner meaning. One
needs to understand the allusions of the Tzadik, how
very much one needs to always strengthen oneself,
because it is utterly impossible to explain how much
all of these things are needed, which is an aspect of
what King David, of blessed memory, said after he
talked about all of his hardships, how it is absolutely
essential to always just roar and cry out to God all
day long, which is an aspect of: “For this let every
pious man pray to You at the time that You are
found, only about a flood of vast waters [that]
should not reach him.” And he concluded afterwards
with: "I will enlighten you and instruct you which
way [to go]; I will wink my eye to you” (Tehilim
32:6,8). For it is still impossible to explain the
details of this to you very much, just that I signal to
you with my eyes, not to look at anything which
pushes you away, where [you feel] you are being
distanced from Hashem Yisborach, neither at
thoughts which arise from within yourself, nor at
what pushes you away, the source of which is other
people. Don’t pay any attention to any of these
things. Just understand my words, that I teach you
the way which I communicate with my eyes, that you
should always strengthen yourselves in crying out
and roaring to Hashem Yisborach. Then it will be
good with you. (Likutei Halachos, Arla 4:16; Likutei
Etzos Chadash 139-140)
 81
The main Chinuch [i.e. “education”; also, “making a
dedication”] for serving the blessed Creator is
through an aspect of thanksgiving and thankful
praise, which is an aspect of Chanukah [i.e. the
holiday; also, “to make a dedication”; the word
shares the same root as “Chinuch”]. For [when one
considers] what each and every person goes through,
the enormous suffering and difficulties, and
obstacles and confusion and cravings etc., it
certainly should be difficult to carry on until one
merits complete salvation, that is, until one truly
becomes an upright person to the proper degree, for
this is an aspect of complete salvation. And therefore
in reality, quite a number of people began serving
God, and there are those whose service extended
over days and years. But afterwards, they no longer
could bare the bitterness and heaviness of the Ba’al
Davar, and each person fell in the manner they fell,
Heaven help us. But he who desires in complete
truth to have compassion on his own life, his main
ability to carry on is through the aforementioned
aspect. [It is through realizing that] everything
which he goes through, no matter what happens,
even if he sees that he himself is absolutely guilty of
doing deeds which aren’t good etc.; nevertheless,
even the worst of the worst certainly [can realize
that] God does him great and wondrous chesed
every day, as it was instituted to say, “for your
miracles which are with us every day, and for your
wonders and favors of every moment...” [Chanukah
liturgy].

And certainly the words of the blessed Sages are

straightforward and genuine, that we all need to
believe in this very much, that Hashem Yisborach
certainly works miracles and wonders and
benevolence on each and every person, every day
and every time and every hour. And if a person
wants to look, he will see a lot with his eyes, and he
will remember his situation very well, how much
exalted benevolence is done for him by God, for
everything which a person merited to do (a mitzvah,
or some good point [i.e. a small positive deed])
certainly is never ever lost. And the entire world
with all of its worldly pleasures and suffering and
nonsense does not measure up to a single point of
one mitzvah which each member of the People of
Israel merits every day. One needs to accustom
oneself, that whatever one goes through, no matter
what happens, one should remind oneself at all times
about the goodness and the wonders which God has
done for him up to this time. In this way he will
become motivated to always cry out and pray to
Hashem Yisborach, which is an aspect of “give
thanks for the past, and cry out regarding the future”
(Brachos 54a). And by doing this, he will merit in
the final end to truly return to Hashem Yisborach.
And therefore, through this specific aspect, one
becomes educated [i.e. “mitchanchim,” which
shares the root of the words “chinuch” and
“Chanukah”] to serve God. For just as the service
that a person does while he is a child, despite that it
doesn’t have complete wholeness, especially since it
serves to reason that immediately afterwards he will
do some juvenile or childish act; nevertheless, every
small positive movement which he makes at that
point is very cherished, since this is the way he
becomes educated in the service of God. Likewise,
this is even the case with a person of standing or
with a broad personality. As long as he doesn’t merit
the proper completeness, and even if he is very far
away; nevertheless, every good point and movement
towards holiness which he then does is also very
precious, for it is an aspect of chinuch, [i.e.
education/dedication] and chinuch is mainly through
giving thanks for the past. In this way, he
strengthens himself to cry out the next time, until by
this means he merits to do complete teshuvah.
(Likutei Halachos, Clay Behema 4:9; see also
Likutei Etzos Chadash, Shabbas 130)

82
The main way to become strengthened is through
emunah (see Likutei Etzos HaChadash, Emunah
112).
 83
The blessed Sages said one doesn’t strengthen
anyone but those who are strengthened, and one
doesn’t provide motivation to anyone but to the
motivated. And this seems puzzling, for if this were
so, where does the process begin? And we have
already explained elsewhere, that there are a few
things in the service of God which are dependent
upon each other, and it isn’t known where the
beginning lies. But in truth, every beginning and
middle and end, and our ultimate direction, it is all
through the True Tzadik of every generation, who is
an aspect of Moshe Rebeinu, who was the first
Rabbi of all of the People of Israel, and from him is
the beginning, and from him we gain our ultimate
direction and in him is our hope: “For what has been
is what will be (Koheles 1:9), as the blessed Sages
said. And the beginning of the True Tzadik, an
aspect of the Moshe himself, is certainly impossible
for us to fathom at all, and it is not for us to
contemplate this at all, how a human being of flesh
and blood merited to acquire spiritual knowledge
such as this, etc. However, since we already merited
to receive the Torah through Moshe Rebeinu, and to
draw forth his holy inner knowledge into every
generation through the true tzadiks of every
generation; through this, with thanks to the Blessed
God, we have from where to begin. For from our
youth, they raise us with the holiness of the People
of Israel, and they circumcise a child immediately on
the eighth day, and afterwards educate him in Torah
and Mitzvahs. And certainly we have with what to
strengthen ourselves; with God’s help, in that we
merited to be born and raised with the holiness of
the People of Israel, and that we believe in the Torah
of Moshe and the words of all of the true tzadiks
who followed him, and who strengthen us to trust in
the chesed of God. And despite that we have already
gone through what we’ve gone through, in general
and individually; nevertheless, they caution us not to
cause ourselves to despair, and to trust in Hashem
Yisborach. For God is with us—have no fear—for
still, still, God is with us and among us, and very
close to us for “the whole earth is full of his glory,”
and still his fondness is for us, and our fondness is
for Him.

And through that we merit to believe and strengthen

ourselves in the true words of the genuine tzadiks,
who have already labored and toiled for us
enormously, to draw us close to the service of
God—in this way we can also merit a holy
inspiration of desire, so that our desire will be
extremely strong and courageous, to desire and
yearn for Hashem Yisborach with intensity and
extremely great longing.

And then, to the degree that one’s desire grows and

expands, in this way, we merit to become extremely
strong—for the main strengthening is through one’s
desire. For the desire is always free to do as it wants.
For no matter what happens, despite everything, our
desire and yearning for Hashem Yisborach is very
strong—to do his desire and truly fulfill his
mitzvahs. And in this way, by strengthening oneself
exceedingly in this manner, one merits a more
complete inspiration, from the sense that God is
pleased, which in turn strengthens a person even
more, and the cycle repeats itself. And truly, this
inspiration from [God’s] being pleased, which is an
aspect of awe, as explained elsewhere, can easily be
merited by every person, for the desire is always free
to do as it likes; just that one needs to be heroic, and
very strong in this. But each aspect is dependent on
the other, because only those who have been
strengthened get strengthened.

And the beginning is only through the strength and

merit of the true tzadiks, who toiled so much in their
service of God, until they drew forth such inner
knowledge, by which means all people can
strengthen themselves and merit inspiration from
[God’s] satisfaction; and in this way become
exceedingly strong; and the cycle repeats itself, as
mentioned above.

And therefore Moshe expressed this well when he

said: “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your
God demand of you? Only to be in awe of the Lord
your God” (Devarim 10:12). And the blessed Sages
said regarding Moshe, “awe [of God] is something
small?” (Brachos 33b). That is, now after I have
already labored and toiled for you so much (as
explained in the previous sections) to the point that I
merited to acquire such a high level of spiritual
experience and knowledge—so that awe [of God]
became something small for Moshe. Therefore you
also have a strong foundation and a good start
through which you will be able to strengthen
yourself to such an extent, through the inspiration
from my inner knowledge which I shine upon you,
such that you will also merit inspiration from
[God’s] satisfaction and great awe of God, which is
drawn forth from the inspiration from the inner
knowledge of the True Tzadik. This brings about that
in truth, we too can also easily merit this spiritual
level right now, that awe of God will be a small
thing for us too, by means of our meriting to truly
strengthen ourselves. And this is possible through
the power of the beginning which Moshe Rebeinu
made, and that of all of the true tzadiks who came
after him. (Likutei Halachos, Pidyon Bachur 5:36)
 84
Even a person who fell very far (God forbid), even if
he fell into sin (God forbid), he also needs to have
great awe of Hashem Yisborach, to strengthen
himself regarding each and every good point
so that he can bring his soul out of evil, and draw
himself towards some degree of good, and not
exempt himself, [saying to himself that] since he has
already fallen so much, if so, everything is
permissible for him, Heaven help us. God forbid;
there will not be such a person of the People of
Israel, for “there is no darkness and no place of
gloom where the workers of iniquity can hide”
(Eeyov 34:22). For even in She’ol Tachtios, and
underneath it, one needs to have very very great awe
of God, for his sovereignty is in every place. (Likutei
Halachos, Bachur Behemah Tehorah 4:14; see
Likutei Etzos Chadash, Yirah 104)

85
The blessed Sages said: “Such is the method of the
yetzer ha’ra—today, it tells you to do such and
such...” (Shabbas 105b). And this is an aspect of
“one sin brings on another” (Avos 4:2), and it is
written: “Woe to those who draw wickedness with
ropes of nothingness...” (Yishiahu 5:18). And in
truth, in accordance with the ways of the yetzer
ha’ra, regarding those people who don’t stand up
against it in their youth, [it would be as if] there
certainly is no hope, (God forbid) for most of the
world; as it is written: “If one pampers his slave
from childhood, he will ultimately be a ruler”
(Mishley 29:21). But Hashem Yisborach has
compassion on us in every generation. And he thinks
thoughts about how no one will be lost to Him, and
he sends help from above through the great and true
tzadiks of the generation, who are an aspect of
Mordechai. And they know very well what is
happening to each and every person, which is an
aspect of: “And Mordecai knew all that had
happened.” And they awaken the People of Israel to
do teshuvah, which is an aspect of, “and he went out
into the midst of the city and cried [with] a loud and
bitter cry” (Esther 4:1). And they make known to the
entirety of Knesset Yisrael, which are an aspect of
Esther, not to let themselves give up on receiving
compassion, and she [i.e. Knesset Yisrael] should
come before the king, even though she is so
distanced that she has “not been called to come
before the king for thirty days”—for at any rate the
People of Israel need to come before their Father in
Heaven at least once a month (Esther 4:11). Despite
everything, they need to knock on the doors of
compassion; perhaps He will have pity and
compassion.
Until afterwards, Knesset Yisrael receives inner
knowledge from the True Tzadik, and she says, “I
shall come to the king [in a manner] not in
accordance with the law” (Esther 4:16). And the
blessed Sages interpreted this to mean: not in
accordance with the law of Torah. For I know myself
that in accordance with the strictures of the Torah, I
am certainly not worthy to come before the king and
pray before Him, because of what I know about my
sins and transgressions. But nevertheless: “I shall
come [before him in a manner] not in accordance
with the law, and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16;
Megillah 15a). That is, if God forbid, my prayer and
personal supplication is not favorable now to Him
because of my many flaws,” if I perish, I perish,”
and Hashem Yisborach will do with me as He will—
I will always hope and cry out to Hashem
Yisborach, perhaps He will have compassion. And
then God has compassion on his people Israel, “and
the king extended to Esther the golden scepter”
(Esther 5:2). This is the secret of the inspiration
from, and being drawn nearby to God, which
sometimes happens to a person who is very low;
where despite that [he is low], from afar God sends
him [an inspiration] to draw near, which derives
from the secret of the extension of the golden
scepter, which miraculously extended out a number
of feet, as mentioned by the blessed Sages (Megillah
15b). That is, even the person who is very far from
God, when he listens to the advice of the Tzadik not
to cause himself to despair; nevertheless, somehow,
somehow, he turns to God with self-sacrifice and
self-nullification, and comes before the King of the
Universe to supplicate before him. Then Hashem
Yisborach has compassion on him, and shines upon
him wondrous inspiration from very far off, for He
shines lofty inner-knowledge upon him, which is an
aspect of the highest and most lofty awe, until the
very distant person merits complete awe, which is an
aspect of awe together with inner knowledge. And in
this way he will truly draw near to Hashem
Yisborach. (Likutei Halachos, Bachur Behemah
Tehorah 16:17)
86
There are many people who study books of musar
[i.e. self-improvement books which contain
approbation], which discuss the terrible defilement
caused by sins, and the incredible bitterness of the
punishments of hell, and the like—they scare people
very much. But in this way the Ba’al Davar incites
them and pushes them down into deep depression—
more than before—to the extent that sometimes this
causes them to fall very low, God forbid. And there
are those who fall so low that they adopt beliefs of
complete apostasy, God forbid. And all of this is
because they did not merit to receive the true inner
knowledge from the true tzadiks, to revive and
strengthen themselves. And it seems to them that
they have already sunken down into their ways to
the extent (God forbid) that it is impossible for them
to ever do teshuvah. Therefore, the more they think
about the fear of the punishment, their opinion of
themselves declines more and more, and this is the
main aspect of the war against Amalek in every
generation, as explained elsewhere.

But God has compassion on his people, and sends us

wondrous inspiration through the Tzadik of the
Generation, which is an aspect of the awe of the
Mashiach, who will draw forth awe from the higher
intellect, to the extent that the awe will become
benevolence, even for the worst of the worst, where
even the extremely distanced person will have true
inner knowledge to discern the truth, that he too has
hope, for the compassion of Hashem Yisborach is
enormous. And therefore the fear of punishment
won’t cause him to fall—on the contrary—the fear
of punishment will cause him to strengthen himself
to find good points within himself, and to cheer
himself up that, at any rate, he is a descendent of the
People of Israel. And specifically through the fear of
punishment, he will achieve great joy. For the fear of
punishment will force him to fulfill the words of the
true tzadiks, who strongly warn the worst of the
worst to always keep themselves in a happy state, by
means of [the] holy advice [of the tzadiks]. And we
certainly need to be very God-fearing, to listen to
their true words and truly fulfill them. And
therefore, at the end of the [portion of] rebuke [in the
Torah], which is fear of punishment, it is written,
“because you did not serve the Lord your God with
happiness” (Devarim 28:47). Therefore it can be
deduced that one needs to be very fearful of
punishment, to the extent that this will cause one to
fulfill the words of the true tzadiks who warn the
worst of the worst to cheer themselves up through
the good points which [they] still find within
themselves, and to serve God with happiness.
(Likutei Halachos, Bachur Behema Tehorah 17:20)
87
One needs to know that everything which is written
in the book Rayshees Chochma and the rest of the
holy books concerning holiness and purity, and the
severity and enormity of the defilement and
punishment for every sin and indiscretion—even
something tiny—their intention in all of this is not to
distance a person from his service of the Blessed
God, and to greatly discourage him, God forbid.
Rather their positive intention is only to draw near
the People of Israel and to warn them, that they
should be holy and pure and distance themselves
from the slightest indiscretion, for that is certainly
appropriate for them, as befits their great holiness at
their root. But nevertheless, even a person who
defiled to the degree that he defiled (heaven help
us), certainly needs to fulfill what is written: “Don’t
be overly wicked” (Koheles 7:17). And like the
blessed Sages said, a person who eats garlic and
emits an odor, and eats garlic again, emits even more
of an odor (Shabbas 31b). And a person certainly
needs to always revive and strengthen himself at
every moment, no matter what happens, for we need
to be careful not to receive fear of Heaven and
ethical admonishment in a negative way (God
forbid) and not to become greatly distanced because
of it. Rather a person should have fear of God
specifically in a manner which strengthens his life;
that is, in a way which causes him to draw close to
God by means of fear of Heaven and ethical
admonishment, and not to become distanced, God
forbid. On the contrary, through strong fear of
Heaven, he should strengthen himself to fulfill the
words of the blessed Sages, who admonished us to
believe in the chesed and goodness of Hashem
Yisborach, which never ever ceases. And he should
strengthen himself at every moment to begin anew
in the service of God. (Likutei Halachos, Bachur
Behemah Tehorah 17:28)

88
When we see what the Torah commanded
concerning a Hebrew slave: “If he comes [in] alone,
he shall go out alone” (Shmos 21:3), in this we see
the compassion of Hashem Yisborach, in that He
contemplates how none of the dispersed shall be
dispersed. For is it not so, that even a slave who fell
to such a low level, to the point that the Torah
permitted his master to give him a Canaanite slave
woman, which is [ordinarily] a serious sin, if so one
could say that his body is forfeit and that he has no
hope anymore—but in truth this is not the case. For
we see that also concerning the slave, there are a
number of laws and warnings where the Torah
warned us to have great compassion on him, and not
to treat him with complete abandon, God forbid.
And we also see this in how the Torah warned: “If
he comes [in] alone, he shall go out alone....” That
is, if he doesn’t have an Israelite wife, in order that
he not be lost completely, (God forbid), it is
prohibited for his master to give him a slave woman
as a wife. Since if he already has a connection and
bond with a God-fearing woman of the daughters of
Israel, then despite that, because of his utterly lowly
level of being a slave, it has become permitted for
him to marry a slave woman; nevertheless, he has
hope. But if he still has not connected to an Israelite
woman, then if he were to marry a slave woman—
which is the complete opposite—he would be utterly
lost. Therefore the Torah prohibited that he be given
a slave woman, even though he fell into slavery. For
even regarding he who has fallen into complete
slavery, which is the main contamination of the
snake, an aspect of Amalek; nevertheless, the
compassion of God penetrates even into there, and
He thinks thoughts that they should not be cast off
completely, God forbid. (Likutei Halachos, Bachur
Behemah Tehorah 17:26)

89
One needs to always strengthen oneself in God, in
order not to cause oneself to despair under any
circumstances—just always know that “the whole
earth is full of his glory” and God is still with him
and nearby him etc., until he eventually merits to
strengthen himself while he is eating, so that he can
acquire an inspiration of Divine desire, where
specifically while eating, a strong and extremely
intense desire and yearning for Hashem Yisborach
will rest upon him. And this is the exact opposite of
what causes most people of the world to fall,
because most of the descents come from eating, that
is, they get very discouraged because of their eating,
which isn’t as holy as it should be.
And in truth, despite that certainly each person of
the People of Israel needs to eat with complete
holiness; nevertheless, he is prohibited from getting
discouraged for any reason, rather—on the
contrary—time after time he needs to encourage
himself, especially while he is eating, when it is
prohibited to be lazy. Rather he needs to be a
soldier; that is, not only is it prohibited to get
discouraged from one’s eating, on the contrary, one
needs to know and believe that the eating by a
member of the People of Israel is very precious,
since his eating is in accordance with the Torah; at
any rate, he doesn’t eat prohibited food (God
forbid), rather it is all in accordance with the Torah.
And he also does the blessing before and after
everything, and by this means each person of the
People of Israel makes many refinements [of the
holy sparks from the klipahs] through his eating, and
he should eat with happiness and with strong [faith]
in Hashem Yisborach, and know that “the whole
earth is full of his glory,” and God is with him, as
mentioned above. Until he merits an inspiration of
Divine desire specifically while he is eating, where
then, he yearns for Hashem Yisborach with highly
exalted desire, which is the main holiness when the
People of Israel eat. For this is the way whereby an
ultimate and complete refinement of all of the sparks
within the food takes place; and in this way they
ascend to their supernal root in completeness, as
explained elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos, Chalah 4:3)

90
The Kadosh Baruch Hoo does not withhold the
reward from any creature (Baba Kama 38b), and
every good act which a person does without ulterior
motives for the sake of Hashem Yisborach, whether
it be big or small, nothing at all will be lost from it
in the future, even if he transgressed (God forbid)
against the precepts of the entire Torah a number of
times. For even though the holy books discuss how
if a person is wicked, he adds strength to the klipah
through his good acts, and there is truth in this which
cannot be explained very well in writing; however,
the overarching principle is that whoever wants to
have compassion on himself, so that he won’t lose
his world entirely, and whoever yearns to return to
God, then even though he doesn’t merit to do
teshuvah to the degree appropriate to him;
nevertheless, whatever he does in the realm of
holiness, no matter what happens, certainly nothing
from it will be lost, even if he doesn’t merit to do
complete teshuvah in truth, God forbid. And even
more so, in most cases, when he will be strong in his
desire and accustom himself little by little in
the ways of holiness, then in the final end he will
merit to return in complete teshuvah to God. For
there is absolutely no despair in the world at all, as
has already been explained a number of times.
(Likutei Halachos, Trumos U’Ma’aseros 3:2)

91
When a person is in difficult straits, and the cravings
and the [forces of] the Sitra Achera rise up against
him strongly, until he can’t even turn right or left,
which is an aspect of, “all her pursuers overtook her
between the straits,” (Aychah 1:3) until it seems that
there is no hope, God forbid; and amidst his great
constraint and the straits of his spirit, he turns to
Hashem Yisborach and cries out to Him from his
straits, which is an aspect of: “From the straits I
called God” (Tehilim 118:5)—even though he only
turns to Hashem Yisborach to the extent of a hair’s
breadth; nevertheless, this is precious in the eyes of
Hashem Yisborach, and from “straits,” [i.e. metser]
is created “wool,” [i.e. tsemer] which is an aspect of
the hairs of Diknah Kadishah [i.e. the Holy Beard].
That is, all of the Thirteen Attributes of [God’s]
Compassion are awakened and are drawn down
upon him, which are the Thirteen Rectifications of
Diknah Kadishah. And in that place, all is
compassion and goodness, and there everything
transforms into goodness and merit, as is well
known. And this is an aspect of what is explained in
the intentions [for daily prayers written by the Holy
Ari] for [the verse] “From the straits I called God,”
(Ets Chaim, Gate 16) where “metser” has the same
letters as “tsemer,” which is an aspect of the
Rectifications of the Diknah, etc. as mentioned
above. And this is an aspect of the thread of wool on
Yom Kippur which would turn the sins of the entire
year white, which is an aspect of: “if they become as
red as crimson dye, they shall become as [white]
wool.” For the main forgiveness of sins on the Day
of Atonement [i.e. Yom Kippur] is drawn forth
through this aspect, through that God finds in the
People of Israel—even in sinners (Heaven help
us)—a multitude of good hairs. That is, to the extent
that a number of times they disconnect themselves
from evil and connect to goodness by a hair’s
breadth, even that too is very precious to Hashem
Yisborach, until in this way, the holy supernal hairs
shine forth, which is an aspect of the Rectifications
of the Diknah, an aspect of wool, through which all
of the sins are forgiven. (Likutei Halachos, Rayshees
HaGayz 4:2)

92
[The angel] Michael the High Priest always finds the
good intentions in everything that the People of
Israel do (Shmos Rabbah 18:5). And all of the merits
that are found in the People of Israel are through this
aspect of hairs, mentioned above. For by this means,
even in the worst of the worst, one can find merit.
For in each person there exist a number of good
hairs, in that they draw themselves from evil to good
a number of times by a hair’s breadth. And through
the mitzvah of the Giving of the First Sheep
Shearing to the Cohen, in this way an aspect of the
wool is rectified at its root, which is an aspect of the
supernal hairs. In this way chesed is drawn down
upon the People of Israel, through the good hairs
which are found amongst them, as mentioned above.
(Likutei Halachos, Rayshees HaGayz 4:3)

93
All of the reproofs with which God admonishes the
People of Israel, and all of the disgrace which He
causes them, sometimes by means of humiliation—it
is all of very great benefit, in order to evoke and
make noticeable their merits and their acts of chesed,
so that they will return to Him in truth. For
sometimes the People of Israel’s actions become
extremely ruinous, to the extent that one is almost
unable to recognize the small amount of goodness
within them because of the enormous growth of their
evil deeds and ruinous acts, Heaven help us. And if
Hashem Yisborach wants to highlight their merits
through the small amount of goodness within them,
this would evoke the spiritual accusers, God forbid;
and in opposition to this [merit], they will find the
opposite thousands of times over, God forbid, [and
highlight their sins instead of their merits]. But
Hashem Yisborach desires chesed, and despite
everything, He desires his people, and wants to
incline towards chesed regarding them. Thus,
through his wondrous goodness and wisdom, He
Himself disgraces the People of Israel, to the point
of utter disgrace, until He says regarding them that
they are considered by Him (God forbid) like all the
Nations, since they acted so ruinously. And
immediately when God reverses [his stance], and
says of the People of Israel that they are exactly like
the Nations; then specifically in this way the genuine
good points within them are immediately revealed
and stand out.
For certainly, initially their goodness didn’t make
any impression whatsoever, to the extent that it
almost couldn’t be seen at all. For definitely, in
accordance with the holiness of the People of Israel
at their root, even if one didn’t defile anything one’s
whole life, just to the degree of a hair’s breadth, this
too is enormous and terrible defilement. For the
People of Israel are completely distanced from sin
and from all sorts of defilements; and even more so,
when they defile more than a hair’s breadth, God
forbid; and even more so when they commit very
numerous ruinous acts and sins, Heaven help us—to
the extent that the small amount of goodness isn’t
noticeable at all, especially since the small amount
of goodness itself is mixed up with much dross.
Then certainly, when Hashem Yisborach wants to
look at their enormously large number of ruinous
deeds, in the context of the holiness of the People of
Israel, in accordance to what befits them, then
certainly there is almost no hope whatsoever, God
forbid. However, God is abounding in chesed and
truth, and desires the continued existence of the
world, and He alone knows our yetzer, and how this
world subjugates a person etc. Therefore in his
enormous compassion, He himself reverses the
situation for the benefit of the People of Israel, and
begins to compare them to all the Nations, which is
an aspect of: “Are you not like the offspring of
Cushites to Me...” (Amos 9:7). And immediately
when He imagines that they are comparable to the
rest of the Nations, then certainly all will admit and
say very clearly that there is still a great and
extraordinary difference, as the east is distant from
the west, between the worst of the People of Israel
and the [idolatrous] gentiles. For in comparison to
the [idolatrous] gentiles, there are always some hairs
and good points extant among the People of Israel,
thousands and myriads of them; for “even the
wicked of the People of Israel are full of mitzvahs
like a pomegranate,” as the blessed Sages wrote
(Eruvin 19a).
We see that specifically since the People of Israel
are considered to be like [idolatrous] gentiles and of
the nation of Cush, in this way specifically all of the
merit and goodness within them is revealed and
shines forth for all to see. For when contrasted to the
[idolatrous] gentiles, certainly: “Your people are all
righteous” (Yishiahu 60:21), for we all don tallis and
tefilin every day, and fast on Yom Kippur etc.
Therefore, after the prophet said: “Are you not like
the offspring of Cushites...,” in midsentence he
recants and finishes with something positive, as it is
said there: “Surely I will not utterly destroy...”
(Amos 9:8); [and then]: “On that day, I will raise up
the fallen Tabernacle of David...” (Amos 9:11). For
specifically by reversing the situation, by
considering the People of Israel as if they were
[idolatrous] gentiles (God forbid), in this way
specifically a large number of good points which
they have in contrast to the [idolatrous] gentiles are
revealed and made apparent. And in this way
Mashiach will come, and he will raise up the fallen
Tabernacle of David. For Mashiach is an aspect of
Atik [i.e. the Ancient, see glossary], which is an
aspect of “and he came up to Atik Yomin [i.e the
Ancient of Days]” (Daniel 7:13). And he knows how
to find the merits of the People of Israel, to find all
of [their] good hairs, which is an aspect of the
abounding chesed of the aspect of Atik. And this is
also an aspect of: “Name him Lo-ami [i.e. “Not My
People”], for you are not my people...” (Hoshea
1:9). And he immediately recants: “Instead of saying
to them: ‘You are not my people,’ it shall be said to
them: ‘The children of the living God’” (Hoshea
2:1). That is, as mentioned above, that specifically in
this way the extremely lofty status and magnificence
of the People of Israel in contrast to the Nations is
revealed. (Likutei Halachos, Rayshees HaGayz
4:4-5)
94
Sometimes a person becomes so discouraged that it
is impossible for him to revive himself by any
means; as if he has no good within him at all. In
such a case, one also needs to reverse the situation,
and begin from the other end (as mentioned above),
and to think in his mind: if indeed as I think, I am
completely and totally bad, and I don’t have any
good within me at all—and specifically at that point
he begins to feel the good points within himself
which are still within him. For when contrasted to
complete awfulness and evil, he will certainly find
within himself, even in his utterly terrible state,
dozens of good points. And in this way he will
revive himself. And this is also true concerning his
fellow. For one needs to judge everyone favorably,
and find the good within his fellow, which is an
aspect of: “A short while longer and the wicked man
is not here” (Tehilim 37:10), as explained elsewhere.
(Likutei Halachos, Rayshees HaGayz 4:6; Likutei
Etzos Chadash, Shalom 26)
 95
Initially the yetzer ha’ra seduces a person through its
lies, where it deceives him through a variety of
ruses. And afterwards, when a person decides that he
wants to do teshuvah, it weakens his will and injects
into his heart that God has already left him, and that
he is so distant that it has become impossible for him
to do teshuvah. And in truth, just the opposite is true.
For: “His reign is in every realm” (Tehilim 103:19),
even over the Ten Crowns of Impurity, Heaven help
us. As it is written, “which dwells with them amidst
their impurity” (Vayikra 16:16); and the blessed
Sages interpreted this to mean that “even when they
are impure, the Shechinah is among them” (Yomah
56b). And this is the main method of teshuvah which
Moshe did over the last forty days, from the
[beginning of the month] of Elul until Yom Kippur.
For the main thing is to know that God is still
present with each and every person, even with the
worst of the worst, which is an aspect of: “If I make
my bed in She’ol, behold You are there.” And each
time that a person reviews this in his mind and
truthfully injects this into his heart, this [becomes]
an aspect of the warning: “And you shall know this
day...for God is the Lord in heaven above and on the
earth below” (Devarim 4:39). That is an aspect of:
“If I ascend up into heaven, You are there. If I make
my bed in She’ol, behold You are there.” Therefore
he certainly has immense hope to merit to take the
path of true teshuvah all the days of his life. For this
is the main way of doing teshuvah in the month of
Elul, which is an aspect of, “who made a way in the
sea” (Yishiahu 43:16), which is the secret within the
meditations of the prayers of Elul, as discussed [in
the writings of the holy Ari].
And the simple prayer meditation which can be
deduced by this for use by every ordinary person is
to know that even within the depths of the sea where
the waters crash over a person just like the many
waves of the sea, which is an aspect of: “And You
cast me into the deep, in the heart of the seas”
(Yonah 2:4); nevertheless, in that place too there is
always a pathway and trail to return to Hashem
Yisborach; by means of the aspect of: “If I make my
bed in She’ol, behold You are there,” which is the
secret within the prayer meditations of Elul, which is
an aspect of the above pathway. For every person
can always merit it, from wherever he may be,
especially during Elul—if he believes in this truly
and with simplicity. (Likutei Halachos, Aydoot 5:9)

96
The blessed Sages said: “And I will call to testify for
myself trustworthy witnesses, Uriah and Zechariah”
(Yishiahu 8:2). Uriah signals Zachariah, for just as
the prophesy of Uriah was fulfilled, who prophesied
about the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, thus
also the prophesy of Zachariah will be fulfilled, who
prophesied about the Redemption and the building
of the Beis HaMikdash. And this is a general
principle [which also holds true] on an individual
level regarding the redemption of the soul of each
single person of the People of Israel, and the
rectification of their deeds. For this is an aspect of
the building of the Beis HaMikdash on an individual
level. For it is the nature of a person to believe in the
damage, that is to believe that through his wrong
actions, he caused much damage and defilement,
which is an aspect of the destruction of the Beis
HaMikdash. But because of this he becomes very
discouraged, until it seems to him that hope is lost,
and that it is now impossible for him to still do
teshuvah and rectify his deeds. And this is simply
the work of the Ba’al Davar; because of this he
defiles more every time, God forbid. And in truth,
one needs to know and believe, that just as one can
do damage, likewise one can rectify and improve
one’s deeds and return in complete teshuvah, until
one rectifies everything which one had damaged. On
the contrary, “the measure of goodness outweighs...”
(Sotah 11a). And we need to strengthen ourselves
time after time with immense trust in the plentiful
chesed and compassion of God. For in the final end,
we will certainly merit to return to God in truth, and
the Beis HaMikdash will be built, just as we were
promised by a number of prophets and tzadiks, as is
explained elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos, Aydoot
5:11)

97
The Torah is called “Testimony,” which is an aspect
of “the Two Tablets of the Testimony” (Shmos
31:18)—specifically two, because two witnesses are
required [in a Rabbinical court], which parallels the
two aspects mentioned above in chapter 95; that is,
an aspect of the higher point and the lower point,
which is an aspect of heaven and earth, to make
known that “his kingship rules over all” (Tehilim
103:19), “in heaven above and on the earth below”
(Devarim, 4:39), which is an aspect of: “If I ascend
up into heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in
She’ol, behold You are there....” And this is the main
aspect of teshuvah, which is completed on Yom
Kippur, as mentioned above. And this is an aspect
of, “and I will call upon the heaven and the earth as
witnesses against them” (Devarim, 31:28).
Therefore the Two Tablets of the Testimony were
given on Yom Kippur specifically, for the Torah is
an aspect of the Two Tablets of the Testimony. They
are trustworthy witnesses, who remind and exhort a
person time after time not to give up on receiving
compassion. Because it was for this reason that the
Tablets of the Testimony were given on Yom
Kippur, which is a time of favor, and a day of
forgiveness and exoneration, the day on which the
path to teshuvah is finished, as mentioned above.
This is to testify to the People of Israel the truth of
Hashem Yisborach’s goodness and chesed, for the
holy Torah, the Tablets of the Testimony, were
given on Yom Kippur on this basis, which includes
the two aforementioned points. That is, a person
certainly needs to be extremely careful about
preserving his spiritual wellbeing by keeping the
Torah carefully, and to not defile it, even by smallest
degree; for even a slight movement defiles and
damages very much when it inclines away from the
way of the Torah, God forbid. On the contrary, a
person needs to improve his deeds time after time,
and to rise time after time from one level to a higher
one, which is an aspect of: “If I ascend up into
heaven, You are there,” which is an aspect of the
higher point. Nevertheless, just as one needs to
believe that if one violates the words of the Torah,
one defiles and damage immensely, and one causes
great destruction in all the worlds, God forbid;
likewise, one also needs to believe the opposite, that
a person has the power to rectify everything which
he has defiled. For God is still with him and nearby
him, which is an aspect of: “If I make my bed in
She’ol, behold You are there,” an aspect of the lower
point; for the right hand of God is always extended
to help us do teshuvah, and to draw us near [Him] by
means of the path of teshuvah that ends on Yom
Kippur. And this path itself includes these two
points, which is the main path of teshuvah. Just that
we need to take heart of this and believe in it
at every moment. And this is an aspect of, “the
testimony of God is faithful, making the simple one
wise” (Tehilim, 19:8).
For in truth the holy Torah wants to make [people]
wise, even the fool. That is, even he who has already
been seduced by his yetzer, and has strayed to the
place that he has strayed; nevertheless, the Torah
announces and gives testimony before him that if he
does teshuvah immediately, God will receive it
willingly, and will draw him near with great love.
And the Torah itself testifies before him about the
path of teshuvah by which the fool too can become
wise. Just the obstacle originates in the difficulty for
him to believe in himself, that he still can make
amends. And regarding this the writings call out and
announce that “the testimony of God is faithful.” For
it is certainly extremely faithful in its testimony
when it testifies regarding the kingship of Hashem
Yisborach: “His kingship rules over all”; “in heaven
above and on the earth below.” And if you have faith
in its testimony regarding defilement and ruination,
God forbid; then even more so should one have faith
in its testimony regarding the power of rectification.
For certainly “the measure of goodness
outweighs....” And this is also an aspect of: “Your
testimonies are very faithful to your house” (Tehilim
93:5). That is, despite that such a long time has gone
by in which we look forward to the building of the
Beis HaMikdash, which is the completion of
teshuvah and the rectification, and that we still have
not been completely redeemed; nevertheless, we still
need to strengthen ourselves immensely in our hope,
for certainly: “Your testimonies are very faithful.”
(Likutei Halachos, Aydoot 9:9-12,14)

98
The yetzer ha’ra and its minions are an aspect of
false witnesses, which inculcate into a person’s heart
the opposite of all the above. For it is the inciter, the
one who draws a person away, the accuser. For in
the beginning it incites a person and brings him to
where it brings him, and afterwards it accuses and
finds fault in him, above and below. And just as he
incites and finds fault above, to distance the mercy
of Hashem Yisborach from the People of Israel (God
forbid); likewise, it intensively incites the heart of a
person himself, and weakens his resolve, as if there
was already no hope, God forbid. And regarding this
the writings cry out, “for false witnesses have risen
up against me!” (Tehilim 27:12) which are the Sitra
Achera, which wants to testify the opposite of the
truth to the heart of a person, and to distance him
exceedingly, God forbid. Therefore God gave us two
witnesses, which are circumcision and tefilin, or
circumcision and Shabbas. For as long a person has
these two trusty witnesses, they testify for him and
protect him at every moment, “that He still cherishes
us” (Tikunei HaZohar 2a), since we still merit to
have two such holy witnesses. And in this way we
have the power to annul and subjugate those false
witnesses, by means of the path to teshuvah, which
is also included within an aspect of two trusty
witnesses, which is an aspect of the [two] Tablets of
the Testimony. (Likutei Halachos, Aydoot 9:14)
99
Every person of the People of Israel needs to be very
careful not to cause himself to despair during all of
the evil days and bad times which he goes through.
On the contrary, to the degree that the evil days
(which are the bad character traits and the like)
threaten him more and more, he needs to strengthen
himself exceedingly to search and seek within them
too, until he finds the letters of the Torah and Divine
energy clothed within them also. For in truth, there
is not any lowly and base place in the world, and not
any day or moment or time in the world in which the
words of the Torah and Divine life force do not exist
(in a concealed and constricted form) which
provides life force to that place and time. Sometimes
God intentionally pushes a person down into those
places, to test whether he will strengthen himself as
befits him to seek and search for the good which is
enclothed there within such an evil place and time.
And then his descent will be for the purpose of
assent, as explained elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos,
Halva’a 5:5-6)

100
When a person is far from the holiness of God, and
he wanders from place to place like a vagabond, and
they push him away from his holiness, without him
ever being able to find his footing, Heaven help us—
but despite everything, if he is strong and
courageous in requesting and seeking out and
searching; endeavoring at every moment to yearn
and hunger for and request what his heart and soul
desires; that is, to merit to find Hashem Yisborach;
then, despite the many days and years that are still
passing him by, and that he hasn’t merited to find
God and to draw near Him; nevertheless, he should
know and believe that in every single moment, by
means of every act of seeking out and searching,
through every single effort made where he seeks out
and looks for and searches for the glory of Hashem
Yisborach’s holiness, by any means of every gaze
and yearning desire, where he gazes and turns his
eyes towards Hashem Yisborach’s compassion;
through each and every movement in which he turns
towards holiness, through all of this he merits to
break down the iron walls and bronze gates time
after time. And even though afterwards they
overwhelm him again and again, Heaven help us;
nevertheless, there is no striving for nothing, God
forbid. And there is not any movement in the
direction of holiness which is lost, God forbid. And
if he is strong and courageous in seeking and
searching further, then even if he goes through what
he goes through, in the final end he will certainly
merit to find God.
And certainly a person will have to go through a
multitude of difficult tests; many [hard] days and
rivers and abysses and raging waters must be
experienced by him. And he must go through many
deserts full of large and fearsome snakes and
scorpions—until he truly merits to enter into the
gates of holiness. And this is entirely impossible to
describe, the degree that a person needs to
strengthen himself. Even though, with God’s help,
we’ve already discussed this at length; nevertheless,
there is still a need to make this known; because
every person thinks that we are not talking about
him, because “he” has such obstacles, and is caught
by his cravings and his trap to the extent that for
someone like him, it is “impossible” to truly return
to God. For he has already been caught for many
days and years in this trap, until: “He will not
believe that he shall return from darkness.”
This is what everyone thinks.
And Rebbeinu the holy blessed tzadik strongly
opposed this way of thinking, and said, “Ah! Don’t
cause yourselves to despair!” And in Yiddish,
“Gevald! Seit euch nit meya’esh!” And he stretched
out the word “gevald.” Because in truth, every
person can merit to draw near to God, even solely
through this advice; that is, he should search for and
seek and strain and yearn to return to Hashem
Yisborach; and in the final end, in this way he will
be drawn near to Hashem Yisborach. And then they
will see that there is no movement in the direction of
holiness which is ever lost, God forbid. And through
every movement and striving, where he attempts to
draw near to the glory of God, he merits to make
some rectification, until he merits to ascend to the
ultimate ascent.(Likutei Halachos, Geviyat Chov
M’hYitomim 3:17)

101
It is prohibited to ever let oneself despair, and one
needs to strengthen oneself immensely with strong
desire and yearning for holiness, and believe that
desire in and of itself is also good, and that through
it, one can merit to do complete teshuvah, until the
distancing becomes the main means of drawing near,
and the descent [reveals itself to have been for]
ascent. (See Likutei Etzos Chadash, Ratson 27-29)
102
One needs to strengthen oneself immensely, and do
quite a lot of supplication and crying out and
hitbodedus (i.e. spontaneous informal personal
prayer). And even though that it appears to a person
as if he engages in this, but doesn’t see any result at
all; nevertheless at any rate, it is an aspect of protest
against the Sitra Achera, so that in this way, it
cannot ever take hold of his inheritance, God forbid.
(See Likutei Etzos Chadash, Hitbodedus 29)

103
A person has four cubits [surrounding him]
wherever he is, just as the blessed Sages said: “A
person acquires his four cubits...” (Baba Metsia
10a). And these four cubits are an aspect of the four
letters of the Tetragrammaton [i.e. Havayah, the
holiest name of God, whose acronym is Yud, Heh,
Vav, Heh], as is written in the sources. That is,
within every person is his name Havayah, blessed be
He, as is written in the holy Zohar. And the name of
God is an aspect of the light of the truth, an aspect
of, “God is my light,” “or the truth of God is eternal”
(Tehilim 27:1;117:2). In every person in every place
he may be, even in the lowest plane, which is an
aspect of Reshus harabim [i.e. public area], in which
the external forces have a hold; nevertheless,
certainly there too there is still a good point rooted
in it. And this point is an aspect of his name
Havayah, blessed be He, rooted within every person,
which is an aspect of the light of the truth. And from
this light is drawn forth the four cubits which every
person has, which he acquires—even in a Reshus
harabim. For even if a person is in the place of the
external forces, an aspect of Reshus harabim, even
there he has a place, and there can be no obstacle or
nullification of this; for there too he has four cubits,
which are drawn forth from an aspect of the light of
the truth. And in this way he sees all of the openings
within the darkness and the Sitra Achera, and he
merits to refine and extract all of the holy sparks
sunken within it. And in this way he acquires all of
the acquisitions, as explained elsewhere.
And this is also an aspect of the four cubits which a
person has [i.e. in which he is allowed to carry] in a
Reshus harabim on Shabbas. And indeed, even a
person who leaves the tchum [i.e. boundary for
traveling on Shabbas] has four cubits; for they are an
aspect of Reshus hayachid [i.e. a private enclosure];
[in parallel to] the One Of The World; for they are
drawn forth at their root from the name Havayah,
blessed be He, which is an aspect of the light of truth
which shines upon a person in every place, even if
he exited from the boundary of holiness because of
his sins; nevertheless, he has a place there too, and
from that place also he can cleave to and return to
Hashem Yisborach. And the main thing is that
somehow, despite everything, he pulls himself with
all of his strength [straight] to the point of absolute
truth. Then the truth will shine upon him into the
darkness, and he will merit to see the opening, how
to enter into holiness. And he will break down all of
the impediments and [overcome all of the] delays
and confusion that are drawn forth from the klipahs,
which are the guards at the gateway stationed at the
entrance of holiness, which is an aspect of “at the
entrance, sin is lying” (Bereshis 4:7). And they dim
a person’s eyes to the extent that he cannot see the
opening, and he thinks that there isn’t any opening
before him to enter into holiness, because of the
enormity of the obstacles laid out before him. And
therefore, the main rectification and advice for this is
just truth. For by pulling himself towards the truth,
he will see that there is no obstacle whatsoever, and
that [the obstacles] are all just an illusion. And he
will merit to see the opening into holiness and enter
into it safely. And this is an aspect of the four cubits
which a person has outside of the entrance, which
allow him to put down what he is carrying, as
explained elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos, Chalukat
Shutafus 4:3-6).

104
Sometimes a person enters into the service of God,
and begins to ascend from level to level, and
suddenly it seems to him that he is very distanced,
which is an aspect of “the distant ends of the earth
and the far off sea” (Tehilim, 65:6). Because he sees
that he keeps having thoughts and cravings and
impure musings, etc.—things which hadn’t come up
in his mind for several days or years. One’s heart
shouldn’t falter because of this, because sometimes
this is for his ultimate completion and benefit. For
he has already arrived at the level where he is really
at the doorstep of holiness, and he wants to enter
into inner holiness; therefore, it is impossible to
enter into there until he goes back and passes
through the defiled places where he was to begin
with, and rectifies what he defiled, and goes back
and refines and raises up all of the holy sparks which
he had lowered into that place because of his sins.
And then from this, great rectifications are made,
which is an aspect of Ketorehs [i.e. the incense of
the Beis HaMikdash]. And then he will truly merit
to enter into inner holiness. Because this is the main
pleasure and delight of Hashem Yisborach, when the
holy sparks are raised up from the depths of the
klipahs.
And it may be that when a person becomes
extremely distanced, and despite that, he draws
himself towards God time after time, [then] Hashem
Yisborach will have enormous peace of mind from
him. Since he is in the very far-off places, and he
draws himself to God from there; therefore, with
each and every movement, and each and every
drawing [towards holiness], he causes great delight
to Hashem Yisborach. And if he will be strongly
decisive and always draw himself to God no matter
what happens. Then in the final end, God will be
forgiving towards him, and specifically by means of
this [process], he will enter deeply and internally
into the house of holiness. See elsewhere. (Likutei
Halachos, 5:7-8; see Yirah 123)

105
The main thing is the truth. For certainly, if one
looks at the absolute truth, one will certainly strive
to approach God, until a person truly returns to Him.
For no matter what happens, what will his end be? In
the final end he will be forced to be rectified through
hard and bitter punishments—therefore isn’t it better
that he do teshuvah immediately? For in truth, there
is absolutely no despair in the world at all, as
mentioned here several times. For all of the descents
and despair in this world are only because of
distance from the truth, where a person deceives
himself into thinking that he can no longer do
teshuvah, as it is written: “He will not believe that he
shall return from darkness”; he doesn’t believe that
it is possible to return from darkness. And all of this
is because of falsehood, because he is looking for an
excuse to exempt himself from serving Hashem
Yisborach. For every person has evil in his nature
which prevents him from serving God. And one
needs to go through suffering and enormous striving
to break the evil. Therefore time after time he seeks
to excuse himself from the service of God because
of the evil in his nature.
But nevertheless, “woe to him from his yetzer, woe
to him from his yetzer” (Brachos, 61a). For the
threat of judgment is upon him—what will he do on
the day of reckoning? But when he sees that he
begins a number of times to somewhat draw himself
towards God, and he us unable to stand up to any
easy test, then he finds for himself an excuse,
saying, What can I do? I truly would like to return to
Hashem Yisborach, but my yetzer overpowers me
time after time. And what power do I have to keep
hoping? Since I’ve already been caught up in deep
exile, so much that it is impossible to do teshuvah
anymore, God forbid. But in truth, all of this is
seduction of the yetzer ha’ra and the incitement of
the Ba’al Davar, because of the great evil in its
nature, which wants to exempt itself and separate
from Hashem Yisborach by pushing the [thoughts of
teshuvah] away and by [promoting] this error. And
in truth, he deludes himself, because when all is
done with, what will be at the end? For “there is no
darkness and no place of gloom where the workers
of iniquity can hide.” And certainly he will be
compelled to give a full accounting before Hashem
Yisborach, and they won’t let a single thing slide.
And even if he just has a tiny bit of inner
knowledge, it befits him not to let himself delude
himself. For in truth there is absolutely no despair at
all, and somehow, he must strive and seek his rescue
and escape from the lowest depths of She’ol—and
from underneath it. And if he sees that even though
he strives to approach God for days and years, and
he still has not turned away from error; nevertheless,
he needs to be extraordinarily stubborn. He needs to
grasp on to his service of Hashem Yisborach with
stubbornness, as explained elsewhere. And he
should always raise his eyes on high [for advice] on
how to be saved at that moment at least, from what
he needs to be saved from—every person in
accordance with his specific situation.
And it befits a person with inner knowledge to be
satisfied, that even if he doesn’t accomplish
anything through all his efforts and striving, where
he makes strong efforts in his service of God, and
things don’t completely work out for him, just that
in this way he at least merits to be saved just once
during his entire life from a single defilement, from
a single sin, or a single thought and craving, and the
like—that is, that he merits through his work and
prayer and his hitbodedus, etc., that by doing this he
has one less sin on his account of sins than he would
have had if he had not acted and prayed to be saved
from them—this is enough. For in the final end,
nothing will remain of all of a person’s labor and
strivings in this world except for how he sometimes
merited to be saved from evil and sin, and
sometimes snatch some mitzvah or good deed. And
it is impossible to discuss this enough, the extent to
which a person always needs to strengthen himself
in yearning for God and not ever abandon his desire.
And the main thing is the truth. For he who doesn’t
want to deceive himself, and who gazes upon the
truth, [the importance of] not to losing [one’s portion
in] the eternal world, he will certainly return to God
from wherever he may be, “for the truth of God is
eternal.” (Likutei Halachos, Shluchin 3)

106
When a person wants to draw near to God and do
teshuvah, he must go through thousands and myriads
of descents, without number. And he needs to be
heroic and strong, to strengthen his heart time after
time, and not waver despite every possible descent.
And all of these ascents and descents which every
person of the People of Israel goes through are an
aspect of the overall wars and hardships which all of
the People of Israel have gone through from time
immemorial, as explained elsewhere. (See Likutei
Etzos, Galus and Geula 18.) And the main thing is to
strengthen oneself to always be strong, even if one is
[lacking] as one is, and to believe with complete
emunah that there is absolutely no descent at all,
because one can find Hashem Yisborach in every
place, which is an aspect of: “If I ascend up into
heaven, You are there: If I make my bed in She’ol,
behold You are there.” Because even if he falls to
She’ol Tachtios, Heaven help us; nevertheless, one
needs to always strengthen oneself not to ever cause
oneself to despair, because there too God can be
found, which is an aspect of: “If I make my bed in
She’ol, behold You are there.” And this is the main
principle in the service of God, and the foundation
on which everything depends: not to ever become
discouraged, no matter what a person goes through.
And all of the tzadiks who ever lived, who merited
what they merited—praised are they and praised be
their lot—they all didn’t arrive at wholeness without
[applying] this aspect, that they never let themselves
despair. For they also went through many descents
and falls, just that they strengthened themselves time
after time, even though they went through what they
went through. And by their strengthening themselves
(which is called der haltin sich) they merited what
they merited—praised are they. (Likutei Halachos,
Ona’a 3:1)
 107
The main method of strengthening oneself, so that
one will always merit to remain steadfast in one’s
position, and always hold fast to God during every
possible descent and fall—even into She’ol Tachtios,
God forbid—is through prayer, by which a person
certainly will not ever despair, because
teshuvah is mainly through prayer, as explained
elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos Ona’a 3:2; See Likutei
Etzos Chadash, Hitbodedus 32-35)
108
We have discussed a number of times that Chasids
renew themselves every morning, as it is written:
“They are new every morning....” This is even more
so each week, and each month, and each year; and
even more so, in each generation. For in the final
end, the chesed of Hashem Yisborach will
overpower us, and will bring us our righteous
Mashiach. And the closer it gets to the arrival of the
Mashiach, God draws forth his chesed upon us to a
greater extent, which is an aspect of, “and He does
chesed for his Mashiach” (Tehilim, 18:53). For
Mashiach will draw down the chesed in
completeness. And through these various types of
chesed, we always have hope to draw near to
Hashem Yisborach—even the worst of the worst.
But all of this enormous chesed which God wants to
draw down upon us at every moment—there is no
one who knows about this fully except the True
Tzadik. And whoever has drawn near him, he makes
known to them the great mercies and goodness of
God. For these are unfathomable. And in this way,
every person can prepare himself, from this moment
onwards in some fashion, to receive from Hashem
Yisborach’s freely given reservoir. And the main
thing is through faith and desire to know the truth in
complete emunah concerning [the limitations and
ultimate purpose] of this world, and to always
strengthen one’s strong desires to return to God, and
to strive with all one’s might to draw near to the
tzadiks and to the upright, who know how to
strengthen one and give one correct and true advice,
until one merits to “return to God who shall have
mercy upon him...” (Yishiahu 55:7). (Likutei
Halachos, Matanah 4:8; See Likutei Etzos Chadash,
Yirah 132)

109
Certainly a person needs to go through many many
ascents and descents, since it is impossible to ascend
from one level to the next without the descent which
precedes the ascent; therefore, the descent is for the
purpose of the ascent. Nevertheless, there are many
who fell [lastingly] because of the descents which
they went through. Therefore you need to know, that
one needs a lot of strengthening and a large amount
of stubbornness—without measure. And all this is an
aspect of holy daring, where before one merits to
enter into the chamber of holiness, [one must apply]
the aspect of: “You led [them] with your might to
your holy abode” (Shmos 15:13). And the main
power to strengthen oneself must be received from
the tzadiks who are on a very high spiritual level,
who merited the aspect of the genuine Torah of God
and the genuine Prayer of God; for in that place the
chesed and charity are unlimited, which is an aspect
of “for God’s chesed has not ceased.” And this
chesed is drawn down in an especially large degree
on Rosh Hashanah, as explained elsewhere.
And in truth, it is completely impossible to
understand and acquire knowledge about the chesed
and charity which is drawn forth from there, for this
is an aspect of the Prayer of God. For Hashem
Yisborach Himself, as it were, prays for this, to draw
forth and reveal this wondrous and hidden chesed.
And in this way, all are able to strengthen
themselves at every moment, since they believe the
words of the blessed Sages, who revealed to us that
there is “Prayer of God,” where God Himself, as it
were, prays: “May it be my will that my compassion
will overpower my anger...” (Brachos 7a). And in
that place, the chesed and charity is endless, and it is
an aspect of the very lofty concealments within
concealments, about which it is impossible to gain
knowledge—except for the great and exceptional
tzadiks who merited this [knowledge]. And they are
able to awaken and draw down upon us this
wondrous chesed and charity. And through their
power, all are able to strengthen themselves and
overcome [obstacles] with holy daring, and return to
God. (Likutei Halachos, Matanah 5:6; Likutei Etzos
Chadash, Yirah 134).

110
The main purpose of the creation of man, and his
descent into this material world that is full of klipahs
and incitement etc., is so that he can bring out the
highly concealed chesed from the world and reveal
it, and this is the main [revelation of] the greatness
of Hashem Yisborach, for the characteristic of
chesed is called “greatness,” and to the extent that
one brings out his chesed from concealment to
revelation, his greatness is more revealed. And this
itself is also related to the idea of the descent being
for the purpose of the ascent. For by also
strengthening himself during the time of descent,
through faith in God’s enormous chesed, without
end or limit—in this way one extracts the concealed
chesed and reveals it, and this is the main revelation
of Hashem Yisborach’s greatness. And by this
means, one merits to ascend to a very high level, and
acquire higher knowledge of Hashem Yisborach’s
greatness. And this is also an aspect of “in the place
where penitents stand, a complete tzadik cannot
stand” (Brachos, 34b). For through them, the
greatness of God’s chesed and goodness is
especially revealed. (Likutei Halachos, Matanah
5:15)

111
It is impossible to [rely on] charity and chesed [from
Above] without any requirement of giving
something in return; for if so, one doesn’t
accomplish anything, God forbid. On the contrary,
one will do whatever one’s heart [yetzer ha’ra]
desires, God forbid, and a person will rely on God’s
chesed, and this is not the path of the holy Torah.
But also to walk in the path of justice alone is also
impossible, because the world cannot exist in
accordance with strict justice alone, as the blessed
Sages said. And as one can see intuitively, that many
fell and became distant because of too much justice
and strict judgment, where they were very strict on
themselves, until they said in their hearts, that there
is no hope (God forbid) in accordance with their
many and enormous sins and ruination and
defilement. And even if it is true that they defiled
and ruined a lot; nevertheless, one needs to rely on
the chesed of God and his compassion, which never
ever run out; still, still there is hope every day and
every hour and every moment all the days of his life,
even if he is [flawed in] the way he is: “God’s
chesed has not ceased” (Aychah 3:22). And
concerning this [King] Shlomo said: “Do not be
[too] much of a tzadik...and do not be [too] much of
a wicked person”; and the blessed Sages said: “If
you acted evil a little, don’t act evil a lot” (Shabbas
31b). And even if you have already acted evil a lot
(God forbid); nevertheless, don’t add to this by
acting much more wickedly. And to the degree that
one somewhat minimizes the amount of evil one
does, this certainly contributes to one’s eternal
wellbeing; and also in this way one can ultimately
merit to return to God completely. For there is
absolutely no despair in the world at all, for “the
measure of [God’s] goodness is greater than the
measure of [his] intention to punish” (Sotah, 11a).
And when a person defiles or commits a sin, God
forbid, Hashem Yisborach checks and looks at every
single detail, as it is written: “If a person conceals
himself in a hiding place, will I not see it?”
(Yirmiahu 23:24); and it is written: “From his
established dwelling place He oversees...who
understands all their deeds” (Tehilim 33:14-15). And
this is definitely even more the case concerning the
trait of goodness [i.e. that God looks over and
rewards good deeds], for certainly there is no
movement towards goodness which is ever lost. And
therefore, a person who wants to rely only on
freely-given chesed, and throws off the yoke
completely (God forbid), this is an aspect of the
klipah of Yishmael [i.e. Ishmael], the offspring of
Avraham, whose main trait was chesed and charity.
And the opposite is also true: there are those who
fall because of inordinate adjudication and strict
judgment and excessive stringencies, and bitter
moods which drag a person down. This is an aspect
of the klipah of Esav, the offspring of Yitzchak [i.e.
Isaac], whose trait was strict judgment and
adjudication. For that reason he asked his father:
“How does one tithe hay and salt?” (Midrash
Tanchumah, Toldos 8)—excessive stringencies, as
mentioned above. For excessive stringencies are
sometimes also a great defilement, as elaborated
elsewhere. And the main wholeness is when justice
and charity are included together, which is an aspect
of Yaakov, an aspect of, “judgment and
righteousness [You made] in Yaakov” (Tehilim
99:4). Therefore Yaakov’s bed was complete; see
elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos, Matanah 5:37-38)

112
A way of strengthening oneself in the service of God
is by a person keeping well in mind that he has
nothing except the very moment and minute that he
is currently in, and there is no need at all to think
from one moment about the next. (Likutei Etzos
Chadash, Yirah 135-137)

113
As long as a person doesn’t cause himself to give up
seeking all of the many things he has lost, and has
this through good and strong desires and intense
yearning for Hashem Yisborach—then he still has
hope that they will completely return to him what he
has lost. (Likutei Etzos Chadash, Ratson 38)

114
It is prohibited to cause oneself to despair (God
forbid), even if a person has been wandering like a
lost lamb, because there is absolutely no despair in
the world at all, which is an aspect of: “If I make my
bed in She’ol, behold You are there.” And this is the
main content of teshuvah, as explained elsewhere.
And this is an aspect of the mitzvah of returning a
lost item, specifically before [the owner] has given
up hope of getting it back. (Likutei Halachos, Avda
OoMetsia 2:2)

115
One needs to always strengthen oneself to draw near
to God, no matter what one goes through, in body or
soul or financially. For there is the person who
deceives himself, [saying] that he cannot draw near
to Hashem Yisborach because of the great suffering
and hardship and financial difficulty which he goes
through. And if he looks with a true eye, he will see
that all of the suffering which he goes through is
[actually] great chesed, and it didn’t befall him in
order to distance him from Hashem Yisborach, God
forbid—the opposite—it is for drawing him very
close and awakening him to do teshuvah, and to
redeem him from harsh punishments (Heaven help
us) and from the punishment of Hell [God forbid]
and to merit the next world. And especially since
within the difficulty and suffering itself he can find
within it great relief [lit. “expansion”], which is an
aspect of “in my distress You have relieved [lit.
“expanded”] me (Tehilim 4:2), as explained
elsewhere.
And therefore there is he who deceives himself,
[saying] that he cannot draw near to Hashem
Yisborach because of his enormous number of
defiling acts, which caused him to become very
distanced from God. And it has already been
explained at length that it is prohibited for a person
to cause himself to despair, God forbid. For even if
he is [flawed in] the way he is; nevertheless, he can
still snatch up Torah and mitzvahs and merit, a good
place in the next world. And one needs to strengthen
oneself immensely through the good points which
one can still find within oneself, and one needs to
know and believe that he still has hope to return to
God in truth. And he tells the truth, that the suffering
comes as great chesed, and I also still have good
points, but despite all that, what can I do? For the
many defiling and ruinous acts overwhelmed me so
much, to the extent that it is hard for me to bear even
this small amount of suffering, [nor can I bear] the
great small-mindedness and discouragement that I
have in my heart, because of my many defiling and
ruinous deeds. Nevertheless, by strengthening
himself and by looking at the chesed and the easing,
and also at the good points, in this way he can, at
any rate, strengthen his heart and pour out his
conversations and prayer before God with passion
and much supplication, until Hashem Yisborach will
provide him with complete salvation, and will rescue
him from all of the suffering, and will forgive him
for all of his sins, and will cause him to merit to do
complete teshuvah. (Likutei Halachos, Prikah
ooTeh’eenah 4:13)

116
Every person, even if he fell and became distanced
like he has; nevertheless, he should strengthen
himself to snatch something good at every moment,
at least to study halachahs from the laws of the
Torah, and lend one’s ears to listen and cleave to the
great and awe-inspiring voice of God, who calls on
the heart of a person every day and every moment so
that he will return to Him. And every person needs
to lend his ears and open his heart to hear the voice
of God, so that at least he will have a strong desire
and great yearning for Him, which is very precious.
And the main thing is to be joyous with great daring,
and to bless and give thanks and praise Hashem
Yisborach at every moment for the wondrous and
awe-inspiring chesed which He has done for us, that
He chose us from among all of the Nations, and gave
us his “beloved and hidden-away” Torah, which is
our life... (Zohar Chadash Mid. Rut).
And regarding the blessing on the Torah this is the
main thing which a person needs to be very careful
about, as the blessed Sages said, that is to give
thanks and bless God at every moment for the tiny
good points that he still has within him from the
holy Torah. And the main reason for the destruction
of the Beis HaMikdash and the Exile of the People
of Israel was only because of this, because they
didn’t fulfill what was mentioned here. And this is
an aspect of: “Why has the land been lost?...Because
they have forsaken my Torah” (Yirmiahu 9:11-12);
that is, that they abandoned it completely and
weren’t careful to snatch at least a little Torah study
every day. And this is, “and they did not listen to my
voice” (Bamidbar 14:22), that is, they didn’t prick
up their ears to listen to the voice of God, who calls
out into their hearts at every moment. And the main
thing was, “and they did not walk in it” (Yirmiahu
9:12). And the blessed Sages interpreted this to
mean that they didn’t say the blessing over the Torah
before [studying it]; as mentioned above. And
specifically it is mentioned, “and they did not walk
in it,” for drawing oneself near to Hashem Yisborach
involves walking and [traversing] a wondrous path,
throughout all manner of falls and descents of every
type, by means of the aspect of blessing over the
Torah; that is at every moment to make the blessing
to God for the pleasantness of our lot and destiny,
that we merited this very holy Torah. And somehow,
somehow, despite everything, every day we merit to
grab some sparks and good points from the holy
Torah. And in this we need to make our souls very
glad, and strengthen our hearts in Hashem
Yisborach. And if they had gone on this path at that
time they wouldn’t have arrived at such descents
(Heaven help us) which occurred during the period
of the First Beis HaMikdash: sexual misconduct,
idol worship, etc.... As the blessed Sages said: “And
they wouldn’t have had such misfortunes and
exiles...” (Yomah 9b). And now, all of our hope to
return to our land and to our Beis HaMikdash is only
through this, for “there is nothing on which the
matter depends other than on teshuvah” (Zohar,
Shmos 12a). And this is the main way of doing
teshuvah. (Likutei Halachos, Prikah ooTeh’eenah
4:35)

117
There exist such secrets through which one can draw
near to God—even the most distant people. And this
is an aspect of the secrets which the great tzadiks
reveal secretly in a whisper. And it is all only for the
rectification of the world, so that all of those
distanced will draw near to the service of Hashem
Yisborach. And the reason for saying these things
secretly and in a whisper, this is the secret of why
one says “baruch shem kavod malchuso le’olam
va’ed” [i.e. “blessed is the name of the glory of his
kingship forever and ever”; the phrase said after the
Shema] specifically in a whisper. And a person who
truly believes in the secret of God, which is for those
who fear him, he will always have hope to escape
from the snare which has been set for him. And this
is an aspect of: “The secret of God is with those who
fear Him....My eyes are always to God for He will
take my feet out of the net” (Tehilim 25:14-15).
(Likutei Halachos, Hefker vehNechsay Hagair 4)
 118
In the intentions for prayer [of the holy Ari] it is
elaborated that on Pesach (i.e. Passover) and during
the Counting of the Omer one is forced to receive
the mentalities in a disorganized fashion. That is,
one receives the greater mentalities before the
smaller mentalities. And in that source one can find
what is written regarding the wondrous changes that
occur during those days, from day to day, regarding
the drawing forth of these mentalities. And it is
explained there that the reason that one is forced to
receive the mentalities in a disorganized fashion is
because of the hold which the Sitra Achera has,
which is the defilement of Egypt, which still has a
hold on them. And this is the reason one is forced to
receive the mentalities in a disorganized fashion.
Indeed, though it is explained there how the only
time one receives the mentalities in an improper
order is during those days, because of what is
mentioned above; generally one always receives the
mentalities in their proper order. Despite this, it is
necessarily understood that all of this pertains to the
drawing down of the mentalities generally, which
occurs by means of the service done by Klal Yisrael
[i.e. the totality of the People of Israel]. But on an
individual level, as long as a person isn’t clean of his
sins and needs to do teshuvah, which is an aspect of
the personal Exodus from Egypt; then during the rest
of the year he also needs to receive the mentalities in
an improper order, in accordance with his aspect of
Exodus from Egypt; that is, [his Exodus] from the
defilement of his sins.
And the overriding principle regarding all of the
drawing down of the mentalities and wisdom and
intellect, is to know and recognize God and to draw
near Him, which is the essence of the ultimate
purpose. And every day there is a special wisdom
and intellect, which is the primary goodness of each
individual day, and it is the primary light of the day
and the sun which shines on it, but “every day has a
fence around it, so that not every person will enter
into that [day’s] specific goodness, like darkness
which covers up the light,” as elaborated in the holy
Zohar (Nosah 123a). And this is an aspect of the
klipah [literally “peel”] which precedes the fruit,
which is an aspect of the totality of all of the life
determinants and events which a person goes
through each day, and [an aspect of] the growth and
expansion of the confusion that [threatens to]
overwhelm a person each day, to the point that each
time it seems to him that on this day, it is impossible
to serve God. And a person wants to procrastinate in
his service of God from day to day—and this is a big
prohibition, because one needs to use will-power
and make an effort each and every day to break
down the fences and obstacles which [threaten to]
overwhelm a person, and to find the good within this
specific day, and to draw down the special
mentalities and the intellect of this specific day, and
to get to know Hashem Yisborach by this means, in
accordance to the aspect of that specific day. And all
this is explained elsewhere at length. (See Likutei
Etzos Chadash, Yirah 143, Pesach & Sferah 157-
158.)
And thus to the degree that the mentalities which an
individual needs to receive every day are drawn
down; likewise, in equal proportion, an aspect of the
barriers and the veils and the obstacles which cover
up the goodness of every single day, rises up
forcefully against him. For in proportion to the
changes of the holy mentalities, likewise there are
many changes without number in the barriers and
partitions which restrict each individual day. And
from this is drawn forth the frustration and
confusion which come upon a person every day.
Therefore a person’s heart shouldn’t sink if he sees
that on the previous days he prayed with some
concentration, and he had a little bit of a break from
the confusion, etc.; and now the confusion and
impediments are [threatening to] overwhelm him.
Because it could be that the earlier days where an
aspect of drawing forth the expansive mentalities for
him, over which the external forces, which are the
obstacles and the confusion, don’t have so much of a
hold. And now he also needs to receive an aspect of
the constricted mentalities. And sometimes they are
an aspect of constriction of constriction, over which
the Sitra Achera has a strong hold. Therefore it
seems to him that it is hard to stand up against the
obstacles and delays of that day. But in truth, one
needs to believe that certainly on this day too there
exists goodness, just that one needs to break down
each day’s specific barrier in order to merit this
goodness of this specific day.
Therefore one needs to strengthen oneself each and
every day, in accordance with [the aspect of] each
day. And if sometimes they rise up against him
exceedingly, to the extent that it is absolutely
impossible for him to pray properly; nevertheless,
one needs to know and believe that this day is also a
day, and it is reckoned and counted among the days
of his life. Therefore, if it is absolutely impossible
for him to pray properly on that day, he should make
a strong effort to do some different service: other
supplications and pleas with concentration, or
conversation between him and his Maker, or
additional study, or mitzvahs and acts of chesed.
“For the Kadosh Baruch Hoo wanted to provide
merit to the People of Israel; therefore, He provided
them with plenty of Torah and mitzvahs” (Makos
23b). And thanks to God, we have with what to
revive ourselves every day: various types of study of
the holy Torah, and various types of mitzvahs, etc.
And the main thing is to make a strong effort not to
err (God forbid) by thinking that one’s day is lost
and can no longer be utilized. Because every day
one needs to think that one doesn’t have anything
except just that very day, which is an aspect of,
“today, if you listen to his voice” (Tehilim 95:7).
(Likutei Halachos, Pikadon 4:5-8)

119
Despite that a person needs to make haste in his
service of Hashem Yisborach, and to pay off his
debts on time, specifically through the service of
God; nevertheless, one also needs to greatly
strengthen oneself, and wait for and expect the
salvation of God. Even though he sees, that he is still
very far from serving God; nevertheless, he should
not release himself from always hoping and waiting
for God’s salvation. And specifically in this way, he
will merit his complete salvation. (See Likutei Etzos
Chadash, Yirah 145, Pesach & Sferah 160)
120
The main completeness of faith [i.e. “emunah”] in
the wise sages is to strengthen oneself to the extent
that one also believes in oneself; because through
the enormous power of the righteousness of the true
tzadiks, they will also raise him up to higher and
higher heights—and at this moment, also the act of
drawing near itself, where one draws near to them
and believes in them, this is also very good and
precious. And emunah is mainly what one doesn’t
understand through the intellect, as is well known.
And likewise, concerning this too, despite that
according to one’s own intellect and knowledge, one
is still very distant from God; nevertheless, one
needs to believe with emunah that certainly even
one’s few good points are very precious in the eyes
of Hashem Yisborach. (See Likutei Etzos Chadash,
Emunah 155.)
121
There is absolutely no despair in the world at all, and
Hashem Yisborach constricts himself from infinity
to the greatest extent [imaginable]; and through
hints, He signals to a person to draw near to his
blessed service; signaling to every person in
accordance with what befits him now, in his place
and moment. And in this way one can always
remember God, in every place and in every hour,
and on whatever spiritual level one finds oneself.
(See Likutei Etzos Chadash 155.)

122
Through the holy Torah we the People of Israel are
always connected to Hashem Yisborach. And the
holy Torah descends even to the depths of the abyss,
to arouse to God even the most insignificant of the
insignificant. By means of Torah study, every person
can draw near to God, even those who have already
sunken into the realm of death, God forbid; and “the
words of the Torah never ever take on impurity”
(Brachos 22a). The opposite is true: they elevate a
person from impurity to purity. (See Likutei Etzos
Chadash, Torah 102.)

123
The root of the Ba’al Davar and the Sitra Achera,
that is, the root of their successive evolution [which
explains] how they receive their sustenance, is an
aspect of the beginning of the constriction of the
Vacant Space [which God created at the start of
Creation]. As it were, He hid and concealed the light
of his wisdom for the purpose of free choice. And
this hiding and concealing, as it were, is like an
aspect of trickery [literally “theft”]. For on the level
of absolute truth, Hashem Yisborach is there, just
that He hides and conceals Himself as it were, which
[makes possible] the [moral] test of free choice,
which is an aspect of: “Indeed, You are a God who
conceals Himself” (Yishiahu 45:15). And just like
the blessed Sages said, that the Caesar said: “Your
God is a trickster” [literally “a thief”] (Sanhedrin
39a). And he responded to him that this is for the
best; and the metaphor is explained in the source.
And from there derives the root of the trickery and
deceitfulness and chicanery of the Ba’al Davar, who
is the leader of all of the con artists, and he comes to
a person with great cunning and deceptiveness, as is
written: “He sits in the lurking-places....he lurks to
seize a poor man” (Tehilim 10:8-9). And therefore
the main rectification is through truth, by knowing
that in every place God is hidden. Even within the
overwhelming darkness of the yetzer ha’ra and its
minions; nevertheless, there too one can draw forth
onto oneself the light of truth, until it enlightens one
[with inspiration] to go out from within the darkness
and gloom, and to overcome what one needs to
overcome, for the Empty Space is also full of
Hashem Yisborach’s Divinity. And therefore, when
one pulls oneself towards the absolute truth, then
certainly “there is no darkness and no place of
gloom to hide” (Eeyov 34:22), for darkness will not
darken one’s [way], as it is written: “When I sit in
darkness, God shall be a light to me.” And then, not
only will one merit to come out from within the
darkness, also one will merit to free all of the
goodness that had been locked up there previously.
And the greater the extent that the darkness
overwhelms him, he should know that he needs to
strengthen himself even more to pull himself
towards the truth. And then to a larger and larger
degree he will merit to free the goodness which is
locked up, which is an aspect of a thief: when the
theft is found on him, he pays double. And if he
slaughtered it or sold it, then he pays four-fold or
five-fold, as explained elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos,
Genayvah 5:9-10; see Likutei Etzos Chadash, Emes
77-78.)
 124
The main holiness of the People of Israel every day
is tzitzis and tefilin, which are aspects of the light of
truth, as explained elsewhere. And they are an aspect
of an ox and a lamb. And sometimes the Sitra
Achera becomes so overpowering to the extent that
it also steals the aspect of the ox and the lamb (God
forbid), and slaughters them or sells them. That is, it
injects defilement or annuls them completely, God
forbid—even one’s primary holiness, which is tzitzis
and tefilin. And he, he too needs to overcome,
without causing himself to despair; and at least from
that moment onwards he needs to pull himself
towards the absolute truth, and to seek and to strive
to return to God in truth. For in the final end, what
will be with him? And at any rate, he should from
that moment onwards search and seek and strive for
his eternal ultimate purpose, until Hashem
Yisborach will help him to find the thief. And then
he will exact from him double and quadruple
[damages], which is an aspect of four-fold and five-
fold payments, as mentioned above. (Likutei
Halachos, Genayvah 5:15) And here is another great
source for strengthening oneself, which is how all
people can draw near to God by means of the true
light, which also shines forth in the midst of the
black night. And this is an aspect of the aravis
prayer service, which is done at night. For then there
is no [mandated] time for tzitzis and tefilin. (See
Likutei Etzos, Emes 80.)

125
As long as a person maintains complete emunah etc.,
then there will always be hope for him. (See Likutei
Etzos, Emunah 177.)

126
Even though everyone who wants to approach
holiness is forced to evoke the staff of power of their
service, that is, the power and merit of their good
points, and specifically the power and merit of the
true tzadiks who guard over them; this is only for the
sake of subduing the evil within him. That is,
because the Ba’al Davar comes to disrupt a person
even from his small amount of service, and to
weaken his will because of the great damage the
person has done and his many defilements;
therefore, he is forced to search within himself for
some kind of good points, in order to revive and
strengthen himself, which is an aspect of: “A short
while longer and the wicked man is not here,” as
explained elsewhere. But before God he should
stand like a penniless pauper, and pour out his heart
like water, only with requests for compassion and
supplications. And he shouldn’t justify [his requests]
on the basis of any merit at all; and he also shouldn’t
ever push too hard before the proper time, etc. And
this is an aspect of what was said regarding David,
“the gentle one of hard wood” (Shmuel II, 23:8).
And the blessed Sages interpreted this to mean that
when he goes to war, he hardens himself like wood,
and when he engaged in the words of Torah, he
would make himself as pliant as a worm. (See
Likutei Etzos, Talmud Torah 104.)

127
There is much to discuss related to how one cannot
force a matter before its proper time, even with
regards to drawing near to holiness. Rather one
needs to wait a long time and look forward to God’s
salvation, until one merits to clearly express oneself
before Hashem Yisborach very well, with requests
for compassion and supplications, until one merits to
receive hot words, like the embers of a fire. And
afterwards one needs to wait much longer, until
one’s request will be fulfilled, and until one draws
near to God completely. And despite all that, also
during the time of waiting and biding one’s time, it
is prohibited to forget about and become sidetracked
from longing and yearning and having precious
desire for Hashem Yisborach. (See Likutei Etzos,
Hitbodedus 47, Yirah 166, Pesach 165-166.)
128
Every person needs to know that a hair’s breadth is
very very precious, and that at every moment he is
dependent upon a hair’s breadth. For a person can do
a lot of damage because of a hair’s breadth, God
forbid. And even more so, one can rectify a lot
through a hair’s breadth, for “the measure of
goodness outweighs the measure of retribution”
(Sotah 11a), for a hairs breadth of holiness is
extremely precious. And Hashem Yisborach in his
compassion privileged us with many mitzvahs every
day. Each and every day every person of the People
of Israel pulls himself away from evil towards good.
For he goes from his house and his activities to the
synagogue, and he dons his tallis and tefilin and
prays, etc. And in all of this, there are certainly quite
a few good points which are an aspect of holy hairs
which are extremely precious to God.
And additionally there are the cravings and impure
thoughts which [threaten to] overwhelm a person
every day. And certainly someone who is a little bit
of an upright person suffers from this immensely,
and at every moment he combats these wanton
musings and impure thoughts. And every movement
by which he detaches himself from them by a hair’s
breadth, is extremely precious in the eyes of God.
Because He knows our urges etc. and He knows how
the yetzer ha’ra [threatens to] overcome each and
every person. Therefore in the eyes of Hashem
Yisborach, every single movement is precious—
even if it is really just a hair’s breadth—where a
person pulls himself away from the Sitra Achera
towards holiness.
For a person exists in the world of Asiyah [i.e. the
lower material plane], which is full of klipahs, and
they bind themselves to people with great intensity.
And if the Kadosh Baruch Hoo didn’t help a person,
he would fall into their hands, God forbid. Therefore
every person needs to be clever in his ways at every
moment and guard himself very well so that his
thoughts do not begin to exit the borderline of
holiness, God forbid—even by a hair’s breadth.
Since through a defilement by a hair’s breadth,
where he strays from the good path (God forbid),
one can stray greatly towards complicated paths.
And each person knows within his soul that his main
ruination and defilement and sin (Heaven help us)
all began from a hair’s breadth, because he wasn’t
careful to begin with to guard his thoughts very well,
and he was drawn towards the Inciter little by little
(Heaven help us), as it is written: “Woe to those who
draw the wickedness with ropes of nothingness, and
like cart ropes is the sin” (Yishiahu 5:18), and like
the blessed Sages said: “Today he tells him to do
such and such...” (Shabbas 108a). And if the
overpowering force of the yetzer ha’ra on a person
was the only think taken into account, there would
be no hope, God forbid. But “the measure of
goodness outweighs...,” for a hair’s breadth towards
holiness is extremely precious. Therefore a person
needs to also keep the opposite in mind: that when
they try to overcome him with powerful force, and
he thinks that he has already strayed so much, to the
degree that it is impossible for him to stand up
against them, he needs to know and to believe that
every single movement where he detaches from
them and pulls himself away from them—even by a
hair’s breadth—this is very precious in the eyes of
God, without measure. And as time goes by these
hairs will collect together, and through them he will
merit to acquire knowledge of Divinity, which is
drawn forth by means of constrictions of holiness,
which are an aspect of hairs, which are created
through the aforementioned aspect of hairs. That is,
a member of the People of Israel pulls himself from
evil towards good time after time, which is mainly
dependent on a hair’s breadth—for even great
tzadiks are dependent at every moment on a hair’s
breadth—which is an aspect of, “and around Him it
storms furiously” (Tehilim 50:3), as the blessed
Sages said (Yebamos 121a). (Likutei Halachos,
Nizikin 4:3; see Likutei Etzos, Tzadik 74)

129
The most important thing in Judaism is dependent
on strengthening oneself, which is an aspect of holy
daring, where every person who strengthens himself
time after time, even by a hair’s breadth [merits
this]. Likewise, he enters into the borderline of
holiness, which is an aspect of: “You led [them]
with your might to your holy abode” (Shmos 15:13).
And he will get closer to the Torah, prayer and the
true tzadiks. And the more Torah and prayer that he
merits, he likewise merits a greater amount of holy
daring and strengthening. And the cycle repeats,
until in this way he can arrive at very high levels in
Divine service—if he always merits to make himself
strong and courageous at every moment, and to be
daring like a tiger in every aspect. Additionally he
should have holy daring towards his coarse body,
which is full of chutzpah regarding the cravings.
And he should also have holy daring towards all
sorts of people of the generation with chutzpah, who
constitute all of the obstacles and inciters who cast
one away from the absolutely true path. And also the
opposite occurs, God forbid: by losing one’s nerve
somewhat, one can become discouraged, and in this
way become distanced from Torah and prayer, and
in turn he can become extremely discouraged, God
forbid. And the cycle can repeat itself, to the point
that because of this, many fell completely.
And concerning this the blessed Sages said: “a
person’s urges [threaten to] overwhelm him every
day, and if the Kadosh Baruch Hoo wouldn’t help
him...” (Sukah 52a). For its main method of
attacking a person is to weaken his heart through its
plotting. And if the Kadosh Baruch Hoo wouldn’t
help him every day, so that the true tzadiks
strengthen our heart through their Torah and
conversations, which are extraordinarily wondrous,
awe-inspiring, and exceedingly deep; [without that,]
the situation would be what it would be, God forbid.
And therefore the main ladder by which one ascends
from level to level in the service of God is only
through strengthening oneself in holy daring, as
mentioned above. (Likutei Halachos, Ma’akeh
ooShmirat Nefesh 4:2-3)
130
Each time one wants to ascend from level to level, it
certainly is a requirement that there be a descent
before the ascent. And at that point a person is
certainly in great danger, and there are battles waged
over him, and one needs to strengthen oneself
immensely, until one eliminates the partition which
divides, and the darkness before the light, which is
an aspect of the descent before the ascent—until the
descent transforms into an ascent. And this is the
service of the tzadiks and the upright all the days of
their life. Because every person in the world goes
through all of this, for even someone who is on an
extremely low level, and even if he went through
what he went through, and even if he is [flawed in]
the way he is; nevertheless, in every moment that he
awakens and makes some kind of small movement
to draw near to something holy, then in accordance
with his own situation, he immediately has a lot of
ascents and descents, as befits his level of
motivation to draw near God. For even a person who
is really sunken in the earth, even in She’ol Tachtios
and beneath it (Heaven help us) even from there,
when one has an awakening to arise from there, in
that place too there certainly are quite a lot of levels,
without measure. As, for example, in the material
world, just as there are many steps from the [ground
level] to the second floor, and from story to story,
and even more so if a person could imagine how
many steps there are from the earth to heaven, and
even more regarding [the steps] from heaven to the
loftier and most elevated planes—likewise, within
the coarse earthen body there are certainly quite a
number of steps. If one can imagine lots of pits and
tunnels in the depths of the earth, certainly if one
wants to rise out of there from the depths of the pits
and the tunnels, it is definitely required that one
proceed and rises step by step. And then when one
wants to rise from some level to a little bit of a
higher level (even though this level is also still very
deep within the earth); nevertheless, at that spot,
time after time many [obstacles] rise up against a
person.
Therefore time after time a person has great battles
and many obstacles when he wants to begin doing
some holy service. And occasionally because of the
enormity of the battles, he fails and sometimes
doesn’t stand up to the test, God forbid. And then
one needs to begin anew. Therefore one needs great
and extremely immense self-strengthening time after
time, every day and every moment, to have
compassion on oneself and to think about one’s
ultimate purpose and final end very often. For at the
very end, what will be with him? Whatever happens
and whatever the situation, he is obligated and
locked-in to fight the battles of God every way he
can. For the struggling itself, that one at least
struggles and strives time after time to exit and arise
from one’s lowly level, this too is extremely
precious in the eyes of Hashem Yisborach. And if he
struggles and strives and prays every day to God that
He free him from these places which he fell into,
certainly his final end will be well. For in the final
end everything will transform into goodness, and all
of the descents will transform into great ascents,
which is an aspect of, “the descent is for the purpose
of the ascent.” (Likutei Halachos, Ma’akeh
ooShmirat Nefesh 2:5)
131
He who is concerned about his true and eternal life,
then whenever he sees that the Sitra Achera (which
is an aspect of the chambers of transformation)
overwhelms and rises up and comes against him
more and more—to the same degree he fights back
and struggles and hastens to drawing near to God;
since he sees that they want to push him away
completely (God forbid). And this is an aspect of:
distancing is for the purpose of drawing near;
descent is for the purpose of ascent. And this is an
aspect of what the blessed Sages said concerning
Mamrey, who gave [Avraham] advice about
circumcision. Mamrey is an aspect of the chambers
of transformation which [threaten to] overwhelm
and rise up against a person, and specifically
because of this he was advised to completely
circumcise his heart. (Likutei Halachos, Eeshoot
4:19)
 132
When a person wants to enter into holiness, then the
Sitra Achera, which constitutes the chambers of
transformation [threatens to] overwhelm him and
rises up against him exceedingly. And to the degree
that he gets close to the borderline of holiness, they
[threaten to] overwhelm him and rise up against him
more and more, to the extent that there are many
who were already next to the opening, and turned
back (Heaven help us) since they didn’t know that
they were already by the opening or because [the
Sitra Achera] rose up against them very strongly, to
the point that it was hard for [them] to break down
[the oppositional forces]. But the truly upright
person bides his time and waits and lingers many a
day next to the opening of holiness. And despite that
during the time that he lingers next to the opening,
and hopes and looks forward to entering within, the
yetzer ha’ra heats him up with great intensity;
nevertheless, he does what he needs to do and bides
his time and waits next to the opening of holiness,
and isn’t willing to turn back under any
circumstances.
And this is an aspect of “and he sat by the opening
of the tent” (Bereshis 18:1). The word “sitting” [i.e.
yeshiva] is related to the word for “lingering,” as the
blessed Sages said: “in the heat of the day” (Bereshis
18:1) alludes to the heat of the yetzer ha’ra. Despite
that, he doesn’t want to delude himself and he thinks
honestly about his ultimate purpose, and he doesn’t
turn back under any circumstances, no matter what
happens. He simply sits and waits and lingers by the
opening of holiness many a day, as many as it takes.
And even though they don’t allow him to enter into
the opening, and the heat of the day, which is the
heat of the yetzer ha’ra, scorches him badly;
nevertheless, he doesn’t budge, and he sits and
lingers at the opening of the tent of the tzadiks and
the upright, until he receives mercy from heaven.
And this is also an aspect of, “Yehoshua the son of
Nun, a lad, would not depart from the tent (Shmos
33:11), as explained elsewhere. (Likutei Halachos,
Eeshoot 4:19)

133
The main relief from all of the constrictions and
strict judgments is through the intellect. And each
constriction has an aspect of an individual intellect,
and specifically through this intellect the
constriction is eased. However there is an aspect of
the general intellect, an aspect of the higher wisdom,
where all of the constrictions and strict judgments
are eased. But it is impossible to receive from there,
only through the multiplying of holy Torah books, as
explained elsewhere.
And this is the main reason why the bond between a
man and a woman, who are an aspect of intellect and
constriction, is primarily through the scroll [lit.
“book”] of the ketubah or kidushei shtar [i.e. a
preliminary wedding contract]. And also the
separation between them is also enacted specifically
through the scroll [lit. “book”] of separation, for
regarding connection and separation, both are
impossible until one rises to that place, to this aspect
of the general intellect, which one receives from
there through an aspect of a book. And because of
this it sometimes happens that there are arguments
and quarrels between a man and his wife, to the
point that they come to a Rabbi to arrange for a gett
[i.e. the book of separation/bill of divorce]. And then
specifically they become agreeable and placate each
other, and the love and connection between them
strengthens greatly. And this is because an
inspiration is drawn down upon them through the
easing effect of the general intellect, from where all
of the harsh judgments and all of the quarrels in the
world are relieved. However, since in most cases
they don’t have the strength to completely receive
the relief from there; therefore, usually the gett is
enacted because they don’t have the strength to
completely ease the quarrels between them. The
opposite occurs: They ascend to that place to
completely annul the connection and bond at its
higher root, which is an aspect of a gett. (See Likutei
Etzos, Zeevoogim etc. 27-28.) But Hashem
Yisborach desires chesed, and already chose us from
among all the Nations at the receiving of the Torah
by Mount Sinai, which is call “the day of his
wedding,” as the blessed Sages said: “‘the day of his
wedding,’ this is the Giving of the Torah” (Shir
HaShirim 3:11; Ta’anit 26b). And it was already
sworn to our forefathers and to us that He will never
ever distance us, God forbid.
Therefore, even though a number of times God
employs, so to speak, language of distancing and
disconnection towards us, his intention is none other
than to draw us near, as the blessed Sages said:
“There is a parable of a king who was angry at his
wife, and he sent for the scribe to write them a gett,
and meanwhile they made up. He said to the scribe,
‘double [the amount of money of] her ketubah’”
(Rashi, Hoshea 2:1). That is as mentioned above, the
distancing and disconnection (God forbid), the
annulling of the connection which they already have
with each other, this cannot be done unless one
ascends to an aspect of higher wisdom, which is an
aspect of the general intellect. And Hashem
Yisborach is full of compassion; and immediately
when one ascends to there, then God [cannot help
but] reveal his compassion. And then the matter
reverses, and not only is the connection there not
annulled—the opposite occurs—a great inspiration
is drawn down from there to annul all of the
constrictions and all of the harsh judgments in the
world. And all of the anger and all of the grudges
which He ever had against the People of Israel,
generally and privately, He eases and annuls all of
this through the aspect of higher wisdom, which is
evoked to draw down an inspiration from that place,
because of the disconnection and because of the
book of separation [i.e. the gett], God forbid [which
had been written]. For now the matter has become
reversed to the extent that a switch has occurred—a
great easing has been drawn forth from there, which
is an aspect of what he told the scribe, “double her
ketubah”; that is, a great inspiration is drawn forth
from there for the purpose of strengthening the bond
and love and peace.
And this is an aspect of, “distancing is for the
purpose of drawing near.” For all of the principle
intention of Hashem Yisborach, in that as it were,
He called the scribe to write the gett, that is, He
employed language of distancing (God forbid); his
entire intention was for a greater good, for the
aforementioned drawing near. And this is an aspect
of: “Instead of saying to them: ‘You are not my
people,’ it shall be said to them: ‘The children of the
living God.’” Specifically “instead of,” for
specifically instead of distancing, which is an aspect
of the gett he wanted to write (God forbid) which, as
it were, draws down the intellect of disconnection
and distancing (God forbid), specifically instead of
this, the reverse occurs, and [the power to] relieve
everything is drawn forth from that place, to the
extent that He will say: “The children of the living
God,” for from that place specifically, all of the
easing in the world is drawn forth. (Likutei
Halachos, Gitin 3:4-6; see Likutei Etzos, Torah 112)
134
In the harsh exile, with the hard descent of the soul
of the person of Israel, when he falls so much (God
forbid) into the forces of impurity, in that specific
situation he cannot receive life energy from any
private holiness; rather, only from an aspect of a
very lofty holiness, which is also able to hide and be
invisible even in the completely impure places, and
revive those who have fallen into them (God forbid),
which is an aspect of “‘I will pass through the land
of Egypt...’; I and not an angel” (Haggadah on
Shmos 12:12), as is well known. And therefore in
truth, sometimes [sic] the descent is for the purpose
of the ascent, since at any rate, in truth during the
time of the descent and exile one receives
[sustenance] from extremely lofty holiness;
therefore, there is absolutely no despair in the world
at all, because from all of the evil and impure places
in the world it is possible to return to God. But on
the contrary, specifically in that place, extremely
lofty holiness is enclothed and hidden and unseen.
Therefore if a person is able to remember this in the
midst of his deep descent and fall, and if he believes
this with complete emunah, that specifically in his
place Hashem Yisborach hides Himself in order to
revive him, and He sends him [signs and] hints from
afar to come back to Him, to [at least] just stop
violating prohibitions; then [if he believes this] he
certainly can merit to draw near to God from
wherever he may be, and to transform the descent
into an ascent, as explained elsewhere. That is, that
he can merit to do complete teshuvah, which is an
aspect of Yom Kippur. For on that [day] one ascends
to that place—which is an aspect of the
aforementioned lofty holiness—arriving at the
ultimate ascent. For by doing complete teshuvah, a
person becomes fit to ascend to there and receive
from that place great plenty and abundant goodness,
[also] for the House of the People of Israel, and to
ease all of the constrictions and harsh judgments—to
the extent that sins are transformed into merits.
(Likutei Halachos, Gitin 3:21-22)

Strength strength, and let us be strengthened!

Bless is He who gives strength to the tired,
and vigor to the weary.
Ended and done. Blessed be God
the Creator of the world.
Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman
 Glossary
Achitophel: Ahitophel; an advisor to King David
who joined a revolt against him
Akum: The pagan gentiles
Amah: A unit of measurement, by one estimation
21.25 inches (53.98 centimeters)
Amidah: The silent devotion of primary importance
in daily prayer services
Anochi: I
Apikores: An atheist; a person with an orthodox
Jewish education who becomes an apostate
Aravis: The evening prayer service
Ari: Rabbi Yitzchak Luria ben Shlomo Ashkenazi,
5294-5332 (1534-1572); the Kabbalist whose
works form the basis of most Kabbalistic
teachings today
Arichas apayim: Literally lengthening of the nose;
patience, forbearance
Asiyah: Literally action; the material world, the
lowest of the five universes
Atik: Literally ancient; short for Atik Yomin
Atik Yomin: Literally the Ancient of Days; when the
Sferahs are manifested in the form of
Partsufim [see the teachings of the holy Ari];
the Sferah of Keter is termed Atik Yomin
Avinu: Our father; the patriarch
Avraham: Abraham; the first of the three founding
Patriarchs of the People of Israel
Avrech: Title of Yosef [Joseph] in Egypt; today, a
married student in a yeshiva
Aychah: The Book of Lamentations
Ayeh: Where; a word with connotation of yearning
Ayheyeh: Literally I will be; a name for God
Ba’al Davar: The forces of evil
Ba’al teshuvah: Literally, the master of return; a
nonobservant Jew who becomes observant; a
 Jew who becomes more pious or improves
his ethical conduct
Baheres: White marks on the skin caused by tsara'at
[a form of leprosy]
Bamidbar: The book of Numbers
Barechu: The Call to prayer in the morning and
evening daily prayer service
Beis HaMikdash: The Temple in Jerusalem
Beis Midrash: Literally the house of study; a study
hall for studying Torah
Bereshis: The Book of Genesis; the phrase “in the
beginning”; the Creation of the world
Bikurim: The first agricultural produce of the year
(following the holiday of Shavuos [the
Festival of Weeks]) which is given to a
Cohen in Jerusalem. The mitzvah applies to
the Seven Types of Produce for Which the
Land of Israel is Praised.
Bilaam: Balaam; in the Torah, a gentile mystic with
great spiritual power who desired to curse the
People of Israel, but was forced by God to
bless them
Chanah: Hannah; the mother of the Prophet Shmuel
[Samuel] whose prayer at the Tabernacle was
used as a model for the method of prayer
used in the Amidah
Chanukah: Literally dedication; the eight-day
festival on which candles are lit
commemorating the miracle of a day's worth
of lamp oil lasting eight days which occured
after the expulsion of the Seleucid Greeks
from the Beis HaMikdash
Chariot: Certain spiritual powers which, when
working in unison, allow for a full revelation
of the Divine presence in the world
Chasid: A pious person; a member of the movement
which developed from the teachings of the
Ba’al Shem Tov
Chesed: Benevolence, giving, loving kindness; one
of the Sferahs
Chinuch: Education; to make a dedication
Cohen: A descendent of the High Priest Aaron who
are charged with sacrificial tasks in the
Tabernacle and Beis HaMikdash
Counting of the Omer: The fifty-day period from the
holidays of Pesach to Shavuos in which the
quantity of an omer of grain was counted
each day during the time of the Beis
HaMikdash
Da’at: Inner knowledge acquired when one's
intellect is in proper connection with one's
emotions
Deen: literally judgement; a decreed from Heaven
that one must be held accountable for a sin
Devarim: The book of Deuteronomy
Diknah Kadishah: Literally the Holy Beard; certain
spiritual powers relating to the Thirteen
Rectifications of the Beard (which parallel
the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy) that are
symbolized by and embodied in the beard
[see the teachings of the holy Ari]
Divrei HaYamim: The Book of Chronicles
Do’eg: An advisor to King Shaul [Saul] involved in
the persecution of David by King Shaul
Eeyov: The Book of Job
Elul: The Hebrew month preceding the High
Holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur
and Sukos
Emunah: Faith; nonintellectual knowledge similar to
the aesthetic sense
Esav: Esau, the evil brother of the Patriarch Yaakov
[Jacob]
Four Kingdoms: Four kingdoms mentioned in The
Book of Daniel which rule over the People of
Israel in their exile: (1) Babylonia, (2) Persia,
(3) Greece, and (4) Rome (i.e. including their
Christian successors)
Gett: A bill of divorce
Gevald: An interjection denoting a passionate crying
out
Gevurah: Inner strength or stamina, forcefulness;
the strict aspect of Divine providence; one of
the Sferahs
Ha’azinu: The song sung by Moshe (Moses) at the
end of his life
Halachah: Literally going forward, figuratively
Jewish law
Halel: A collection of Psalms sung on some holidays
Haramah: lifting up
Hashem: Literally the name; a term for God
Hashem Yisborach: Literally the Blessed Name; a
term for God
Havayah: Term for the Tetragrammaton which
highlights God's association with the concept
of being
Heh: A Hebrew letter equivalent to “h”
Hitbodedus: Literally being alone; spontaneous
informal personal prayer recommended by
Rabbi Nachman
Hoshea: The Book of Hosea
Itarutah de'la'ayla: Literally awakening from above;
the service of God which one does after
receiving a strong inspiration from Above
Itaruta de’latata: Literally awakening from below;
the service of God which one does without
receiving a strong inspiration from Above

Kadish: The Aramaic prayer said after Torah study,

prayer services, etc.
Kadosh Baruch Hoo: Literally The Holy One
blessed be He; a term for God
Kedushah: A recitation said in unison during group
prayer which includes verses from the
revelation of Yishiahu [Isaiah] and
Yechezkel [Ezekiel]
Kedushin: The legal process of marriage
Keesay Demitkasaya: Literally the covered throne; a
silent state linking one to the unfathomable
(see Likutei Moharan I 6:3)
Knesset Yisrael: Literally the congregation of the
People of Israel; the entirety of the souls of
Israel which are an aspect of the Shechinah
Keter: Literally crown, or surrounding; the highest
of the Sferahs; a superconscious level of
mind
Ketorehs: Literally incense; incense of the Beis
HaMikdash
Ketubah: Marriage contract enumerating the rights
of the bride
Kitrug: Accusation from Heaven declaring that a
person or group should soon be punished for
some sin
Klal Yisrael: The totality of the People of Israel
Klipah: Literally sheath peel or shell of seeds or
fruit; forms of evil
Koheles: The Book of Ecclesiastes
Lachem: to you
Lavan: Laban, the deceitful father-in-law of the
Patriarch Yaakov [Jacob]
Levite: Members of the Israelite tribe of Levi
charged with doing non-sacrificial tasks in
the Tabernacle and Beis HaMikdash
Likutei Halachos: Main commentary on the Likutei
Moharan written by Rabbi Nachman's most
important disciple Rabbi Nosson of Nemerov
Likutei Moharan: Rabbi Nachman’s main book of
Torah teachings
Mah: Literally what; the name of God whose
numerological sum is 45; the name is derived
by calculating the numerological sum of the
Tetragrammaton when the letters are written
out as words using the letter Aleph
Makif: Literally something which surounds; the
aspects of one's own mind which lie beyond
one's awareness and potentially can enter
into one’s mind
Malachim: The Book of Kings
Malchus: Literally kingship; the lowest Sferah
characterized by a complete capacity to
receive
Mashiach: The Messiah
Mashiach ben David: Literally the Messiah who is
the son (i.e. descendent) of King David, i.e.
 the primary Messiah (see Mashiach ben
Yosef [Joseph])
Mashiach ben Yosef: Literally the Messiah who is
the son (i.e. descendent) of Yosef (Joseph);
the Messiah who precedes the main Messiah
(Mashiach ben David); Mashiach ben Yosef's
role is to make changes in the world that are
preparatory to the arrival of Mashiach ben
David
Micha: the prophet Micah
Midrash Rabbah: An important compendium of
Midrashes
Midrash: Ancient commentaries on Biblical texts in
the form of stories
Minchah: Literally a present; the daily afternoon
prayer service named after the afternoon
offering in the Beis HaMikdash
Minyan: A prayer quorum of ten men aged thirteen
years or older
Mishley: The Book of Proverbs
Mitsraymah: To Egypt
Mitzvah: Literally, one of the 613 commandments of
the Torah; a good deed
Mochin: The mind; one’s mental state
Moshe Rebeinu: Moses our Rabbi
Musar: Literally ethics; self-improvement teachings
which contain criticism of wrongdoing
Nechemiah: Nehemiah
Olah: A sacrifice which was entirely burnt on the
altar
Olas Tamid: A sacrifice offered twice daily in the
Beis HaMikdash
Oreita De-Atika: Literally Torah From Ancient
Times; the hidden depths of the Torah
Pagam habris: Literally defiling the covenant;
denoting a man's spilling of the seed in any
situation other than conjugal relations; any
unclean thoughts
Pesach: The holiday of Passover
Pirkei Avos: Section of the Mishnah with ethical
sayings
Rashi: Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 4800-4865 (1040 -
1105 CE), a sage who wrote the most widely
used commentaries on the Torah and Talmud
Rebeinu: Our rabbi; our teacher
Reshis: The beginning; first of all
Reshus harabim: Open space used by the public
Reshus hayachid: Literally a private enclosure; a
closed in area
Rosh Chodesh: Minor holiday celebrated at the
beginning of every month, on or close to the
appearance of the new moon
Rosh Hashanah: The New Year holiday observed in
solemn communal prayer
Rosh Yeshiva: The Rabbi with chief authority at a
yeshiva
Rut: The Book of Ruth
Sachar: Payment; reward
Samech Mem: Satan
Segulah: Hebrew vowel written as a three-dot
triangle pointed upwards which denotes /ɛ/;
a charm whose source of power is mysterious
Seraph: A type of angel
Sever: Literally explanation; it connotes the good
will received by someone offering an
explanation
Sferah: In Kabbalah, one of the categories by which
all being and awareness is categorized
Shacharis: The morning prayer service
Shechinah: The Divine presence in the world which
is a feminine revelation of Divinity
Shema: The declaration said in the morning and
evening: Hear O [People of] Israel, God is
our Lord, God is one
She’ol Tachtios: The lowest level of the Underworld
She’ol: The Underworld
Shet: Seth, the son of Adam
Shever: Broken, breakage
Shir HaShirim: The Song of Songs, Canticles
Shlomo: King Solomon
Shmonah Esray: The Amidah
Shmos: Numbers in the Pentateuch
Shmuel: The Book of Samuel
Shoftim: The Book of Judges
Shulchan Aruch: The most widely used
compendium of Jewish law
Sipurei Ma’asios: Rabbi Nachman’s book of stories,
Tales From Ancient Times
Sitra Achera: The force or forces of evil
Sukah: A hut roofed by branches built for the
holiday of Sukos; a tractate of the Talmud
dealing with that subject
Tablets of the Testimony: The two stone tablets of
the Ten Commandments given to Moshe
Tamar: A date; a date tree
Tchum: Boundary beyond which traveling is
forbidden on Shabbas
Tefilin: Two black leather boxes with leather straps.
The boxes contain parchment with portions
of the Torah. During prayer, one is attached
to the forearm and the other set on the
forehead.
Tehilim: Psalms
Temorah: Exchange, transformation
Teshuvah: literally, return; repentance and return to
the proper path in the service of God
Tetragrammaton: The most exalted name of God
written with the letters yud, heh, vav, and
heh. Today the name is not said out loud.
The letters are an acronym for an esoteric
name of God.
Thirteen Attributes of Mercy: God's words to Moshe
(Vayikra 34:6-7) which correspond to God's
 thirteen traits of compassion, and which are
said in prayer services to evoke God's mercy
Thirteen Rectifications of Diknah Kadishah: see
Diknah Kadishah
Tolah: Literally a worm, used also to designate all
the insects which Jews are prohibited to eat
Tzadik: In Chasidism, a person who has achieved an
extraordinarily high spiritual level
Tzadikah: A female tzadik
Tzedakah: Charity
Tzitzis: Tied threads worn on the corners of
garments with four corners
Vayikra: The book of Leviticus
World of Asiyah: The least spiritual of the five
levels of the world; it constitutes the material
plane
Yaakov: Jacob, the third patriarch of the People of
Israel, also called Yisrael
Yechezkel: Ezekiel
Yehoshua : Joshua; the Book of Joshua
Yeshiva: Literally sitting; a men's Torah seminary
Yetzer ha’ra: The urge to do wrong
Yetzer: Abbreviation of Yetzer ha’ra
Yirmiahu: The Book of Jeremiah
Yishiahu: The Book of Isaiah
Yishmael: Ishmael, the son of Avraham and the
brother of Yitzchak
Yisrael: The Jewish people
Yitro: Jethro, the father-in-law of Moshe
Yitzchak: Isaac, the second patriarch of the People
of Yisrael
Yom Kippur Katan: Literally, the Small Yom
Kippur; A day of fasting and repentance
observed by some on the eve of Rosh
Chodesh
Yom Kippur: The Day or Repentance; by fasting
and repenting on this day God forbids Jews
 for all sins other than those committed
against other people
Yonah: The Book of Jonah
Yud: A Hebrew letter equivalent to “y” or “e”
Vav: A Hebrew letter equivalent to “v” or “u”