The Secret of the Infinite Light: The Virtue of the Union of a Groom and Bride and the Connection to the Foundation Stone

Class No. 106 | It is known that the union of a chosson (groom) and kallah (bride), in its supernal root, is very, very high. It is higher than Yom Kippur, as the Degel Machaneh Ephraim says, that a groom and bride are higher than Yom Kippur, very, very high. Therefore, we do not say Tachanun (supplication prayers), because their sins are already forgiven without falling on our faces (in the Vidui confession prayer). How are the sins forgiven? By receiving the mochin (spiritual intellect and awareness). For a person does not sin unless a spirit of folly enters him. So now, this is a time of seven days of Yom Kippur; there were 14 days of Yom Kippur here, which is high, very, very high above the high, where no thought can grasp it at all. No thought and no mind can absorb and understand to which worlds the groom and bride ascend. They ascend to hidden and concealed worlds, like Adam and Eve before the sin. As the Imrei Emes says in Parashas Vayikra, they ascend to the light of the Seven Days of Creation, the Hidden Light, and are concealed in supernal and hidden worlds. From there, they bring down abundance to everyone in their presence. All seven days, they bring down such an abundance of mochin, that through these mochin, all sins are forgiven. A person's mochin are completed through the dancing and the songs sung with the groom and bride. Through this, we become vessels for all the wondrous mochin that descend to the entire congregation, and especially to them—mochin for their entire lives. Because according to how much the groom and bride rejoice during these days—not sleeping, not eating, only rejoicing in Hashem, only feeling the supernal union, the dveikus (cleaving) to Hashem—so too are mochin bestowed upon him now for all 70 years. Every day corresponds to 10 years, so every hour is like two and a half hours... every hour affects two and a half hours. And all of this is the aspect of the aforementioned Torah teaching that was said at the wedding: "For the light of the blazing heart of a Jewish person is unto infinity." Every hour comes out to like half a day, two and a half hours is like a day, because the light of the blazing heart—his heart is from the root of his soul, because now they ascend to the root of the soul. Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 49, "that the light of the blazing heart of a Jewish person is unto infinity," that the soul ascends unto infinity. The soul of the groom and bride ascends unto infinity, ascending up to Binah (Understanding). The groom himself transforms into Binah, and they must elevate everyone in their presence. They elevate them to the Sefirah (Divine emanation) of Binah, to the Infinite Light. Now they literally ascend to the Infinite Light. Because Jerusalem is Malchus d'Atzilus (the Kingship of the World of Emanation). The Holy One, Blessed be He, swore that He would not enter the Jerusalem above until He enters the Jerusalem below. So the Jerusalem below is called Malchus d'Atzilus, and the Jerusalem above is called the Malchus of Ein Sof (Infinity), the Malchus of Adam Kadmon (Primordial Man). Now there is a union between Malchus d'Atzilus and the Malchus of Ein Sof, which is the groom and bride. It is as if he built one of the ruins of Jerusalem. For the man is the aspect of Atzilus, the man is the aspect of Ein Sof, and the woman is the aspect of Atzilus. So the man is the aspect of Malchus d'Ein Sof, the Jerusalem above, and the woman is the Jerusalem below, she is the Malchus of the Malchus, Malchus d'Atzilus, and he is Malchus d'Ein Sof. So now a union takes place, which means a ruin from the ruins of Jerusalem has now been rebuilt. Meaning, Jerusalem is built both above and below. Because if the groom and bride truly merit holiness and purity, then they merit to elevate the entire congregation together with them unto infinity, without limit, to draw down mochin for everyone. To draw down mochin for everyone, because now for 12 months, the Zohar says in Parashas Ki Seitzei, "Hashem builds Jerusalem." There is a Jerusalem above and a Jerusalem below. The Holy One, Blessed be He, swore that He would not enter the Jerusalem above until He enters the Jerusalem below. And Malchus d'Atzilus is called the Jerusalem below, while Malchus d'Ein Sof is called the Jerusalem above. And this is the union of the groom and bride. So here is the explanation of the prayer, a wondrous explanation on this: "Hashem builds Jerusalem." So we need to connect Malchus d'Atzilus with Malchus d'Ein Sof. The groom is Malchus d'Ein Sof and he needs to receive the light from the Ein Sof, to receive the mochin. His role is to receive the mochin and to bestow it upon the bride, who is called Malchus d'Atzilus. And the Zohar explains this in Parashas Ki Seitzei: "When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out to the army... and he shall gladden his wife whom he has taken." Let us look for a moment at the verse in Ki Seitzei: "When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out to the army... for any matter; he shall be free for his home for one year, and he shall gladden his wife whom he has taken." So they explain "he shall be free"—it is written in all the Chassidic books, free from all desires. The first year, they are clean from all desires. The first year, they live only from the Infinite Light, only from dveikus (cleaving) to Hashem. For a year, such a light descends, such a light, that on the contrary, they are cleansed of all desires. And therefore it is called Kiddushin (betrothal/sanctification), not just marriage, not just a wedding. It is called Kiddushin, because the groom and bride are sanctified in the first year with such holiness, with such holiness. And this is what the Zohar says in Ki Seitzei (277b), that this is the concept of the 12 months. The 12 months, he says, correspond to the 12 oxen. The basin of Solomon stood on 12 oxen. And some say this corresponds to the 12 oxen brought by the princes, which never died. And now the groom and bride receive such mochin of the resurrection of the dead; they can simply revive the dead. The groom and bride merit to cleave to Hashem now, and in this year, this is the entire year. In the seven days, the light of the Seven Days of Creation literally shines. They literally ascend to the Sefirah of Binah—the Supernal Mother. This is the Sefirah of Yom Kippur, and even higher than Yom Kippur, says the Degel. Higher, much higher than Yom Kippur. They draw down such mochin for all who accompany them, for all who participate with them, for all who rejoice with them. Such mochin that are greater than what is bestowed on Yom Kippur. And this is throughout all these seven days, and also throughout the entire year, such mochin are bestowed. They will not receive these mochin afterward for the rest of their lives, only according to what they received in the first 7 days. As we said, every two point four hours is called almost two and a half hours, it is a day—corresponding to a day—corresponding to a year—corresponding to a year—it is a day—it corresponds to 10 years. So two and a half hours corresponds to a year. And afterward, they have another 12 months where such mochin are bestowed upon them, mochin that they will not receive afterward in their entire lives, only according to what they merited to draw down in these 7 days, and in these 12 months. And this is the 12 oxen upon which the Sea of Solomon stands. For the Sea of Solomon reflects Malchus d'Atzilus, which stands on 12 oxen. This is the 12 months, 12 months. And the tikkun (rectification) of the bride is in these 12 months; he draws down mochin for the bride. The groom must draw down mochin for the bride. He must draw it down for her. He is the Malchus d'Ein Sof, he is obligated. And he is the basin of Solomon, he is considered the basin of Solomon, to bestow upon the bride who stands on 12 oxen, which is now 12 months, which is stated as "one year." What is this year? Is it one year of vacation? What is a year of vacation? It is a year where he must draw down mochin! It is not a vacation! For a year he must draw down such mochin now, such mochin, he needs to draw down in this year. And every month he receives a completely new mind, and he draws down mochin for the bride in these 12 months. He needs to draw down such mochin for her, such mochin that will fill her for her entire life, for all 120 years. These 12 months correspond to 120 years, corresponding to 120 years. And this is the awesome secret of these 12 months, that the Torah says "and he shall gladden his wife" for a full year. What is a full year? Why not half a year? Why not 9 months? Pregnancy is 9 months! Why not two years? Nursing is two years! Why specifically a year? Rather, 12 months, says the Zohar, contains awesome secrets. That the morning stands on 12 months, on 12 oxen is the Sea of Solomon. The groom is the Sea of Solomon, he is the aspect of King Solomon. He needs to bestow upon the 12 oxen, he bestows such mochin upon the 12 months. And this is a secret, and this is "the secret of the year." And there is an awesome secret in this: why is it a year? Why is it not 9 months? Why is it not two years? Why specifically a year? Because primarily, the groom needs to bring joy, he needs to bring joy! The groom might say, "Why should I make her happy? Let her make me a little happy too! What, do I need to just dance and sing all day? Am I a singer? Am I this? I want to sit quietly! Let her sing a little! Let her bring some joy!" So the Zohar says, no! That is a mistake! It does not say "and she shall gladden her husband," it does not say "and they shall both rejoice," it does not say "and they shall gladden one another." It says, "and he shall gladden his wife." This is his mitzvah! He might say after 7 days, he might say to his wife, "Listen my dear wife, I'm already tired of this, now you start making me happy a little." Then he transgresses a positive commandment! He transgresses a positive commandment! He transgresses a positive commandment! He wants to do a division of labor, he wants equal rights. There are no equal rights in the Torah. In the Torah, there are no equal rights. There are things that he is obligated to do, and there are things that she is obligated to do. And each one must, with mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice), do their role. His role is to draw down mochin for his wife. That is his role, says the Zohar, "and he shall gladden his wife." And it does not say they shall gladden each other, it does not say they shall rejoice together. It says "and he shall gladden his wife." The man needs to draw down mochin for the woman. He needs to have a mind. He needs to learn a lot of Gemara to have a mind! Because if he does not learn Gemara, he will not have a mind! He needs to start learning at 9:00 in the morning, the 8 hours, whether it's until 1:00, and then afterward from 3:00 to 7:00, the 8 hours. If not, he has no mochin! He has no mochin! Many women run away home after a month, they run away home. What, did they marry a wall? Did they marry a chair? A table? What did they marry? When they run away home after a month, the father comes, the mother comes, they appease them, and so on. But the man needs to be both a father, and a mother, and a brother, and a sister, and a friend, and also to bring joy, and he needs to be everything! He needs to be everything! Therefore he is a man! Therefore he is a man! She is the Sefirah of Malchus, and he has the 9 Sefiros. He needs to bring joy, and then she will be "a woman of valor, the crown of her husband." If he makes her happy, then she will ascend to Kesser (Crown). The woman jumps straight from Malchus to Kesser, and then she becomes the crown of her husband! "And he shall gladden his wife"—it does not say "and they shall rejoice" together, it does not say "and he shall rejoice," rather it says "and he shall gladden." "He shall bring joy to the bride." He is obligated to make her happy in this manner. And then, if he makes her happy, says the Zohar, there is joy in all the worlds. He might say, "What do I have to do with this bride? What do I have to do with this woman? We got married! Fine, she fell into the trap, she fell into the trap, what can I do? Can I make her happy all day? Dance? Sing? What can I do? I want to rest a little, sleep a little. I come home, I want to sleep! To rest! To sleep until the morning! In the morning I will get up and go about my business! We will barely meet on Shabbos!" So the Torah says, no! If you make your wife happy, then you make 12 worlds happy. There are 12 palaces above, that only receive joy from the fact that the man comes home with joy, with mochin, with Daas (knowledge). And therefore, "he shall be free for his home for one year." They also give him freedom. What is free? Free from the work of the king, but not free from the service of Hashem! He is free from all the king's labors, free from taxes, free from property taxes, free from the poll tax. He is also free from an optional war. A commanded war, which is pikuach nefesh (saving lives), he is not free from! But from an optional war he is free, free. "And he shall not go out to the army to wage war," because he needs to gladden the 12 palaces in heaven. There are 12 palaces, and every month the groom and bride enter a different palace. The groom and bride enter a different palace. "Joy is found above and below." Every month they need to enter... there are 12 palaces, and every month they enter a different palace, and there needs to be joy above and below. "And joy comes above." And through the fact that he gladdens his wife, he awakens joy in heaven. He literally gladdens the holy Shechinah (Divine Presence). Since she is Malchus d'Atzilus, and he is Malchus d'Ein Sof, she is called the Shechinah and he is the aspect of the Holy One, Blessed be He. And every single moment that there is joy in the home, there is light in the home, then there is another union between the Holy One, Blessed be He, and His Shechinah. Another union between the Holy One, Blessed be He, and His Shechinah. Therefore, these are the dances and the circles that they dance all the 7 blessings, and from this, it needs to be drawn down for the entire year. It should be drawn down all the time, drawn down for their entire lives, their entire lives. It says, "Fortunate," says the Zohar, "fortunate is the holy nation." Where is there such a Torah? Where are there such mitzvos? Where are there such revelations of secrets? No nation or tongue has merited this! Has not merited such revelations! Such secrets! Such secrets! No nation or tongue! "Fortunate is the holy nation," that they only reveal this to the Jewish people, to the Jewish people. As the Zohar says in Parashas Balak, the Zohar says when the Holy One, Blessed be He, it says, "Hashem came from Sinai and shone forth from Seir to them; He appeared from Mount Paran, and came with myriads of holy ones." First, Hashem needed to... what is the meaning of "Hashem came from Sinai and shone forth from Seir to them"? Hashem first went to Seir, right? And what is "and shone forth from Seir to them"? So the Zohar says in Balak, the Zohar says, when the Holy One, Blessed be He, went to the children of Seir so they would accept the Torah, He had a terrible fear: maybe they will accept it? Maybe they will accept it? Heaven forbid, if they accepted it, we would be lost! Hashem went in terrible fear. The Zohar in Balak says it wasn't for nothing, He went to Seir, He offered them the Torah! And what if they did accept it? Why not? What's bad about the Torah? There is Shabbos! You sleep, dance, eat three seudos (festive meals). So Hashem was afraid, Hashem will bring the Jews back in teshuvah (repentance), but the non-Jews, Hashem literally feared, maybe they will accept the Shabbos? Maybe, maybe, maybe, Heaven forbid... such joy of a groom, a bride, Sheva Brachos (seven wedding blessings), a year that one needs to rejoice, such secrets. Hashem had a terrible fear, a terrible fear. So the Zohar says, "Hashem, when You went forth from Seir, when You marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled." When the Holy One, Blessed be He, returned from Seir, He shone. He returned with such joy that they did not accept the Torah, with such joy He returned. Heaven forbid, if they had accepted the Torah, what would we have done? "What is meant by 'trembled'?" First the earth trembled, it was scared to death. And the same thing from Paran, "He appeared from Mount Paran." He appeared with joy from Mount Paran, because He immediately showed the non-Jews such a thing that they would not want. But He was afraid, maybe they will say to Him, "Show us something else, let's see, let's bargain, maybe You have other offers?" If a person is immediately shown something not to his liking, he already says, "I don't want it! I don't want it! I don't want it! Leave me alone!" Hashem was afraid maybe they would have a little more sense, they would say, "Is this all You have to offer? Maybe other things? Come, let's bargain, let's take some of the mitzvos. Let's take, if not 'Do not murder', then there are 613 mitzvos, they will take 612 mitzvos. They will say one mitzvah is hard for us, but give us the 612 mitzvos." So the Holy One, Blessed be He, immediately... it was such a joy for the Holy One, Blessed be He, that they immediately told Him they don't want it. There is such a mitzvah, they don't want the whole thing at all! Sometimes a person is shown a thing, they start showing him the thing they know he won't want, they mislead him from Heaven. So the Zohar says: "Joy was found above and below." So the Holy One, Blessed be He, came with such joy, such joy. And it wasn't for nothing, he says, Esau could have said to Him, "Why did You offer me such a proposition? This was a bit of a trick here." He could have complained afterward. So Hashem said to him: "Maybe nevertheless? Maybe nevertheless? Maybe nevertheless you will accept it?" He says, "No! If there is such a thing, I don't want it. I'm already done, this whole matter is already disqualified for me. I've already lost all desire for this whole matter." So Hashem said to him: "Maybe nevertheless? Maybe nevertheless?" And several times Hashem tried to entice him, so he wouldn't say, "You just offered me a proposition for nothing, you just enticed me for nothing, you just tricked me for nothing. Why didn't you show me other things?" So Hashem returned, returned every time, returned and returned and returned. So the Holy One, Blessed be He, "shone forth from Seir to them, He appeared to the Jewish people from Mount Paran... holy ones." He said, so the Holy One, Blessed be He, came, He skipped straight to "Do not murder." And He went to the Samael, the ministering angel of Esau, and said to him, "Maybe nevertheless you will accept the Torah? What? All my vitality is only wars? What does Esau do? Wars! Conquering countries! If I don't conquer countries, what will I do? I will go crazy from boredom! What does he have to do? Does he learn Torah? A person learns 8 hours, what does he have to do for 16 hours now? He already worked 10 years, he is already going crazy. He goes and makes wars, conquers countries, makes weapons of destruction, dreams of conquering countries. At least he dreams about it, he can't yet, it's impossible to see because Hashem arranged that the other country will also have the same weapon of destruction, so it's impossible to activate the weapon of destruction. But everyone dreams, maybe nevertheless the other will be a little weak, maybe nevertheless I will have a little courage. So everyone, all their lives, only dreams of when they will finally go conquer countries. From this he... so this is all the vitality of Esau. That even though in practice we see a world war happens once in a while, so it was, and it ended in '17, they already started in '39 after 22 years, after eighteen, after 21 years they already started a world war. Now, thank Hashem, it's already 55 years without a world war. It's impossible to know what will be in another moment. In any case, the dream of a world war, just in this dream, it's such a pleasure, it's such vitality. For Esau, 'I already have such and such, Russia already has 30 thousand atomic missiles, and America on the other hand surely also has 30 thousand atomic missiles, and everyone counts their missiles, and whenever I want I can conquer the world, and I am simply just having mercy, I am going beyond the letter of the law, I am being a little considerate of the world, I am a little... but whoever annoys me, I will show them who I am.' And just all this nonsense is all the vitality of Esau! This is all his vitality! He has no other vitality! Does he get vitality from a cup of tea?" So Esau says, "This is all my vitality, I dream of wars. If I don't make wars, I dream of wars! From this I live! You want to take this vitality from me? This vitality?" So what will he do? So He said to him, "Maybe nevertheless you will accept? Maybe nevertheless? Maybe nevertheless?" He said, so He said, "So to whom shall I give it?" So Hashem arranged it like this, so Esau said, "Give it to the children of Jacob, the children of Jacob, give it to them!" And he thought in his heart, for them it will be good. The children of Jacob will accept the "Do not murder" and they won't make wars, and if they make wars then He will remove them from the world. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him, "But aren't you the firstborn? Aren't you the firstborn? You deserve it!" He said, "What? I already sold my birthright a long time ago! And I already conceded the blessings, as it is written, 'And he blessed him there.' And I already conceded the blessings, and the birthright already belongs to Jacob." So Hashem orchestrated that he would once again concede the blessings and the birthright. "And I already sold the birthright, and I agree that he will be the firstborn, just, just don't give... just, just let them give the Torah to Jacob." After that He went, so the Holy One, Blessed be He, said, "Listen, give Me advice. Look, you don't want it, 'Do not murder' doesn't find favor in your eyes. I will go to them, something won't find favor in their eyes either. What, there are 613 mitzvos here, am I already sure they will accept? I... you already disappointed Me, now give Me advice. I am afraid of these Jews, these Jews. I will come to them, I will tell them Shabbos, so they will say they want to travel to the sea. Oneg Shabbos (Shabbos delight) is traveling to the sea! I know what they can say, like the secular people say today!" So they didn't claim this because they had the mochin, they saw the mochin of Shabbos, they saw the Shabbos. But the moment a person doesn't see the mochin of Shabbos, then for him Oneg Shabbos is to travel there, 6 hours to the Kinneret, and to roast there in the sun, and the food falls into the sand, and to fight there, and all the children are crying and screaming, "Why did we travel?" And this he calls Oneg Shabbos. And the steak burns there on the fire, completely burns, nothing is left, barely anyone knows. Everyone just... they simply told me exactly how it goes. And after that they have to return 6 hours, and tomorrow, tomorrow, they come to work, they don't even know how they are working. Legs get caught in the cars, hands get cut, fingers get cut, they don't even know what is happening anymore. It's not enough that for 6 days he is already exhausted, the seventh day is equivalent to all the 6 days. It's literally like the Gemara says, the 6 days, the seventh day is equivalent to all the six. He was so exhausted, and he toiled so much, and he suffered so much, all the six. Sunday arrives, he doesn't even know what is happening anymore. So nevertheless they call it Oneg Shabbos. I know what, there are all sorts of concepts that we don't, don't know them. So the Holy One, Blessed be He, says, "I will come to the Jew to accept Shabbos, they will say they want to travel to the sea. I know what, what they can say to Me! So give Me advice to bribe them. I know, I need to come to them with mochin, I need to come show them some lights. I can't just tell them Shabbos! Shabbos! What, on Shabbos we don't travel to the sea? We don't go on trips? What is this here? We can't even pick up a phone? What is happening here? So I want to bribe them!" So the Samael said: "Master of the Universe, all the lights that I have," he said, "all the lights that I have, I am giving them to You now. Show them to the Jewish people, give them to the Jewish people. The main thing is that they accept the Shabbos, the main thing is that they accept the Torah. All... I am stripping off all the lights, I will be blacker than black, I am willing to be complete darkness. The main thing is, leave me alone, give the Torah to the Jews." The Samael stripped himself of all his lights, says the Zohar here, in section 192, Balak, he stripped himself of all his lights, and Hashem came with a bounty of lights. He came with lightning, thunder, a bounty of lights. They saw all the lights in the world, and all the lights that the Samael had, Hashem brought to the Jewish people. Because he says, and this is the root, the Samael donated from his own so that the Jewish people would see such lights, Shabbos with such lights, with such experiences, to feel such things that there is absolutely no thought not to accept Shabbos, not to accept the Shabbos. After that Hashem went to Ishmael, He said to Ishmael, "Do you want to be bribed? Take the light and give from all the hosts of heaven and give it to them so they will accept." After that He went to Ishmael... He went to the Arab, He said, He said to the Arab, "Well, what is your opinion on the Torah?" He immediately showed him what the Ishmaelites, Hashem have mercy, He showed them, He showed them what He showed them. They said if there is such a thing, they are not, not willing, not willing! He said, "Why? For what reason? What is it?" He started to beg, He started to beg, the Holy One, Blessed be He, started to beg. He said, "What, I want only you to accept." He said, "No, give it to Isaac, give... Ishmael, his brother is Isaac, give it to the sons of my brother." He said, "Why? But aren't you the firstborn? You are the firstborn?" "I give up the birthright, I give up everything, just give it to the sons of Isaac, not to me! Not to me! Not to me!" So He appeared from Mount Paran. What is He appeared from Mount Paran? So, so Hashem said, "And what will I do if they don't agree, just like you don't agree, maybe they won't agree either?" He said, "Take, take, take all my lights, all the bounty of lights that I have, all the lights, and give them to the Jewish people." So—the Holy One, Blessed be He, appeared with more lights. He had all the lights of the Samael, all the lights of the Arab, all the lights. All the lights were stripped away, they remained in complete darkness, complete darkness. And all, all these lights Hashem appeared with at Mount Sinai. This is "shone forth from Seir to them." He shone like the sun, He came from Mount Seir like the sun. Because the lights of the Samael are more than the sun, an angel shines more than the sun. So "shone," they saw such lights more than the sun, because "and shone," He took all, all the lights that the Samael had and with this He appeared. After that He took all the lights that the Arab has, there were a little fewer lights there, so He only appeared, only appeared. And the light is also called Yifa'as (appearance). The light is called... so He appeared, and not only that, "and came with myriads of holy ones." What is myriads of holy ones? And so He went to the ministers of all the nations of the world before Hashem arrived at the mountain, to Israel. He went to the ministers of all the nations of the world. To everyone He offered what He offered, to everyone He offered the Torah. And everyone found some flaw, that this is 'Do not steal', and this is like this, this is 'Do not lie', and this is... and in each and every one, this is 'Do not wrong one another'. Everyone just found some thing that didn't suit him. So, so the Holy One, Blessed be He, also said to him, "So how will I give it to them? Who says they will agree?" So every angel said, "I am giving You all my lights, all my lights, give it to the Jews, just, just leave me alone!" And so Hashem came with a bounty of lights, "came with myriads of holy ones." He took all the lights of all those appointed over the rest of the people of the world, and so He came with a bounty of lights to Israel. They completely, completely forgot that there is a sea, that there is this, they only saw the lights, they only saw the mochin. And in every mitzvah they saw the lights, they saw the mochin that is in every mitzvah, and the lights that are in every mitzvah. So says, so says the Zohar, "Fortunate is the holy nation that the Holy One, Blessed be He, reveals to them such secrets." That what is "and he shall gladden"? What are the seven days of the feast? What are the 12 months of gladdening a groom and bride? That the man puts the mochin! It is an obligation upon him! After seven days the man might say, "I am already tired, now let my wife make me a little happy!" He says, "No! This is your obligation for the 12 months! And through this you gladden all the palaces above. And fortunate is the nation to whom they reveal, reveal such secrets, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, rejoices in them, and they are meritorious in this world, and they are meritorious for the World to Come."

A profound article explaining the secret of the Infinite Light that descends to the world through the union of a groom and bride, which is even higher than Yom Kippur. Through the secrets of the Giving of the Torah and the connection to the Foundation Stone, it is explained how the nullification of one's own intellect and Hisbodedus (secluded prayer) lead a person to Godly attainments and the tikkun (rectification) of his soul.

It is known that the union of a groom and bride in its supernal root is very high, even higher than Yom Kippur, as the Degel Machaneh Ephraim says. Therefore, we do not say Tachanun (supplication prayers), because sins are forgiven without the need for falling on our faces (in the Vidui confession prayer). How are the sins forgiven? By receiving the mochin (spiritual intellect and awareness). After all, a person does not sin unless a spirit of folly enters him, and now, during the seven days of the wedding feast, the light of Yom Kippur shines. This is a state that is high above the high, where no thought can grasp it at all. The groom and bride ascend to hidden and concealed worlds, exactly like Adam and Eve before the sin, and as the Imrei Emes says, they ascend to the light of the Seven Days of Creation, to the Hidden Light.

From there, they bring down abundance to everyone in their presence. All the dancing and songs sung with the groom and bride turn us into vessels to receive these wondrous mochin. Just as the groom and bride rejoice during these days, cleaving to Hashem and feeling the supernal union, so too are mochin bestowed upon them for all seventy years of their lives. Every hour during these days influences many years ahead. All of this is connected to Torah 49 in Likutey Moharan:

"For the light of the blazing heart of a Jewish person is unto infinity."

The soul of the groom and bride ascends unto infinity, up to the Sefirah of Binah (Understanding), and they elevate the entire congregation with them.

The Building of the Jerusalem Above and the Jerusalem Below

The groom and bride rebuild one of the ruins of Jerusalem. The Jerusalem below is the Sefirah of Malchus d'Atzilus (Kingship of Emanation), and the Jerusalem above is Malchus d'Ein Sof (Kingship of Infinity). The holy Zohar says:

"The Holy One, Blessed be He, swore that He would not enter the Jerusalem above until He enters the Jerusalem below."

The groom is the aspect of Malchus d'Ein Sof, and the bride is the aspect of Malchus d'Atzilus. The role of the groom is to receive the light from the Ein Sof and to bestow the mochin upon the bride.

Regarding this, it is stated in the Torah: "He shall be free for his home for one year, and he shall gladden his wife whom he has taken." Chassidic books explain that "free" means clean from all desires. In the first year, they live only from the Infinite Light and from dveikus (cleaving) to Hashem. Therefore, it is called Kiddushin (sanctification), because they are sanctified with immense holiness. The Zohar in Parashas Ki Seitzei explains that these twelve months correspond to the twelve oxen upon which the Sea of Solomon stood. The groom, who is the aspect of King Solomon, must bestow mochin upon the bride during these twelve months, mochin that will fill her for all one hundred and twenty years of her life.

And He Shall Gladden His Wife - The Husband's Obligation

The Torah says "and he shall gladden his wife" for a full year. Why specifically a year? Because in this year, the groom is obligated to bring joy. The groom might say: "Why should I be the only one to make her happy? Let her make me happy too! I want equal rights." But the Zohar says this is a mistake. It does not say "and she shall gladden her husband," nor does it say "and they shall both rejoice," rather "and he shall gladden his wife"—this is his mitzvah! In the Torah, there are no equal rights in this sense; everyone has their own role to fulfill with mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice).

The role of the man is to draw down mochin for the woman. He needs to learn a lot of Gemara to have a mind! Because if he does not learn Gemara, he will not have a mind! He needs to be a father, a mother, a brother, and a friend to her. If he makes her happy, she will ascend from the Sefirah of Malchus to the Sefirah of Kesser (Crown), and she will be "a woman of valor, the crown of her husband." When he gladdens his wife, he awakens joy in Heaven and gladdens twelve supernal palaces, bringing about the union of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and His Shechinah (Divine Presence).

The Secret of the Giving of the Torah and the Hidden Lights

The holy Zohar in Parashas Balak reveals awesome secrets about the Giving of the Torah. When the Holy One, Blessed be He, went to offer the Torah to the children of Esau and the children of Ishmael, He had a terrible fear that they might agree to accept it. After all, if the nations had accepted the Shabbos and the holiness of the Torah, what would have been left for us? But when they refused, the Holy One, Blessed be He, returned with immense joy:

"Hashem came from Sinai and shone forth from Seir to them; He appeared from Mount Paran."

The ministering angel of Esau (the Samael) and the ministering angel of Ishmael saw that the Holy One, Blessed be He, was worried that the Jewish people might not want to accept the Torah—for example, the Shabbos, which forbids them from traveling and taking trips. Therefore, the ministering angels of the nations of the world offered the Holy One, Blessed be He, to take all their spiritual lights and give them to the Jewish people as a "bribe," as long as they accepted the Torah and left them alone. Thus, the Holy One, Blessed be He, appeared at Mount Sinai with a bounty of immense lights, "and came with myriads of holy ones"—with all the lights of the angels appointed over the nations of the world. The Jewish people saw the mochin and the lights contained within each and every mitzvah, and they accepted the Torah with joy. Fortunate is the nation that merited the revelation of such secrets!

The Connection to the Foundation Stone and the Nullification of One's Own Intellect

In order to merit these lights, we need vessels. When the Holy Temple stood, the light would descend through constrictions: the Menorah, the Table, the Golden Altar, and the Altar of the Burnt Offering. But today, in the depths of the exile, when we have descended to low places and to the fifty gates of impurity, we cannot receive vitality through these vessels. Now, we must receive the light directly from the "Foundation Stone"—the Holy of Holies, the comprehensive intellect, the Infinite Light in all its glory.

However, in order to receive from the Even HaShetiya (Foundation Stone), a person must nullify their "independent intellect." Until a person throws away their independent intellect—their own advice, ideas, and opinions—it is absolutely impossible to build the Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple). The entire essence of the Beis HaMikdash is the nullification of one's independent intellect. Therefore, we remove our shoes (as on Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av), because shoes symbolize tzimtzumim (constrictions). We connect directly to the Even HaShetiya, to a very lofty holiness that can illuminate even an impure person who is at the lowest spiritual level.

An Hour of Hisbodedus: Standing Before Hashem

How does one nullify their independent intellect? Through Hisbodedus and Chatzos. A person must flee with mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice), hide in a corner, and stand for an hour before Hashem. An hour of Hisbodedus transforms a person's mind. He stands for an hour before Hashem and asks for a new mind and a new intellect, because he understands that his current intellect is completely crooked.

Even if a person did not manage to do Hisbodedus for a full hour, the main thing is the yearning and longing. He must cry over the fact that he did not merit this hour. And if he does wake up for Chatzos or does Hisbodedus, he must be careful of pride. If a person feels pride that he woke up for Chatzos compared to someone else who is sleeping, then it was not a true Chatzos. Chatzos and Hisbodedus must bring a person to a broken heart, to humility and lowliness, to feel that he is the worst of all.

Specifically from this lowliness, from the straits and the fifty gates of impurity, Hashem reveals Himself to a person with immense mercy, in the aspect of "I and not an angel, I and not a seraph." Hashem reveals Himself to him in order to pull him out of the impurity, and this is the ultimate ascent that grows out of the deepest descent.

Part 4 of 4 — Lesson No. 106

→ Previous Part

All parts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 (Current)