תּוֹרָה כג - צִוִּיתָ צֶדֶק

Tzivisa Tzedek — "You Have Commanded Righteousness" · Opening: · "You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness" · [Psalms 119:138] · Likutay Moharan Part I, Toirah 23

There are holy faces [ panim d'k'dushah ] which are luminous faces [ anpin n'hirin ] — the aspect of life — as it is written: "in the light of the King's face is life" [Proverbs 16:15] — the aspect of joy. And this is the aspect of truth [ emes ] and faith [ emunah ] — and therefore through this one merits length of days. And the reverse: falsehood shortens days — for falsehood is in the aspect of dark faces [ anpin chashuchin ] — the face of the Other Side — melancholy [ marah sh'chorah ] — idolatry — alien gods — the aspect of death — the aspect of sadness [ atzvus ], may the Merciful One spare us.

And those people who fall into the desire for money — and do not believe that the Holy One, blessed be He, can sustain a person through a light cause — and pursue their livelihood with great toil. And they eat bread in sorrow and are full of sadness and melancholy. These people are bound to the faces of the Other Side as above — which are dark faces, melancholy, sadness — the aspect of death, may the Merciful One spare us. But those people whose commerce is in faithfulness — and who strengthen their minds to be joyful in their portion — and who know and believe in truth and complete faith that the primary livelihood and wealth comes only from Hashem Yisborach alone — only that His will, may He be blessed, is that a person makes some light cause in the world — but the primary livelihood and wealth is from Hashem Yisborach alone — they are attached to the holy light of the face — the luminous faces — the aspect of life — the aspect of joy.

And one who is immersed in the desire for money — which is idolatry — does not worship just one idolatry, but worships all the idol-worships of all the seventy nations. For all the idol-worships of all the seventy nations are contained in money. And therefore the idol of the nations is engraved on coins — and over them the Shechinah cries out twice seventy — which is one hundred and forty voices — corresponding to the numerical value of momon [money] together with its four letters. And these are two kinds of voices: "Kalanee mei-roshi! Kalanee miz'ro'ee!" ["I am in pain from my head! I am in pain from my arm!"] [Sanhedrin 46a]. And each voice is in the aspect of the seventy voices of the woman in labour who must endure birth-pangs and cry out seventy voices before the birth (see above, §21) — for "one's livelihood is twice as hard as childbirth" [Pesachim 118a].

And before one earns money, one must go through and pass through and be tested and refined through these one hundred and forty voices — and cry out and pray greatly to Hashem Yisborach to pass through them in peace and be saved from them. For in truth every profit is called birth — and all the blessings flow only from the breaking of the desire for money — which is the aspect of truth — the aspect of kushta ka'ei [truth stands] [Shabbos 104a] — as our Sages of blessed memory said: "the substance that is at their feet" [Deuteronomy 11:6] — "this is a person's money which stands him on his feet" [Pesachim 119a] — and upon which one stands through truth. But falsehood does not stand — for falsehood is idolatry — the desire for money. As our Sages of blessed memory said: "One who changes his word is as one who worships idols" [Sanhedrin 92a]. And therefore through falsehood — which is the desire for money — his livelihood has no stability or standing — for idolatry, the alien god, "is castrated and bears no fruit" [holy Zohar, Part II, 103a]. That is, the falsehood — they imagine they are profiting but they are not — and they pursue money all the more. And even when they have money temporarily — in truth their money is no money at all — for they have no enjoyment from it, unable to satisfy their desire in their lifetime. And the more they profit, the more they lack. And afterwards they die as debtors. Therefore it is impossible to draw down abundance and earn money — that is, holy money — so that one is satisfied with one's portion — which is the primary wealth as our Sages of blessed memory said [Avos, chapter 4] — except through breaking the desire for money, which is the aspect of truth. One's commerce must be in truth and faithfulness — and to break and nullify all the thoughts, confusions, and desires for money that come upon one during commerce — so that all one's intention be solely for Hashem Yisborach — in order to merit through the money one earns to serve Hashem Yisborach, and to give charity to support those who serve Hashem Yisborach in Torah and divine service, and to raise one's children in Torah study and the like — the other needs of the commandments.

Know: through the rectification of the holy bris one is saved from the faces of the Other Side — which is the desire for money, idolatry, darkness, dark faces, death — as above. And one attaches to the divine in the aspect of: "from my flesh I shall behold G-d" [Job 19:26]. And one merits: "fullness of joys before Your face" [Psalms 16:11] — for the light of the King's face shines and illuminates upon him, as above. And the primary path is through drawing close to the true Tzadikim — who guard their bris in the ultimate completeness. Through this one is saved from the desire for money.

And therefore when someone disputes the true Tzadik — and the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to expel the enemies of the Tzadik — He causes the enemy to fall into the desire for money. For there is no greater fall than this, may the Merciful One spare us. And the general principle: when there is dispute, whoever guards the bris more than his fellow can cause his fellow to fall into the desire for money. For all of Israel are called Tzadikim through being circumcised [holy Zohar, Part I, 93a] — but the primary one is the true Tzadik who guards his bris in ultimate completeness. And all those close to this Tzadik can cause their opponents to fall from their level — and the fall is that they fall into the desire for money. Therefore when there is dispute upon a person, he must be careful not to fall into the craving for money, G-d forbid. [For perhaps his fellow who disputes him is holy faces [ panim d'k'dushah ] against him — and has the power to cause him to fall into the desire for money.]

And the desire for money is in the aspect of: "and I find more bitter than death the woman" [Ecclesiastes 7:26] — which is the spleen, which is Lilit, the mother of the Erev Rav , the laughter of the fool. For all the money and wealth of the wealthy who are not as they should be — who do not give charity as is appropriate for their wealth — and who are immersed in the greed for money and the bustle of time: all their money and wealth is in the aspect of the laughter of the fool — where money plays with him as one plays with an infant with coins — and afterwards the money itself kills them. As explained in Tikunim [Tikun 3, among the last eleven tikunim]: "the laughter of the fool: who is the fool? — the alien god etc. — and it is croup [ askara ] to children who are the wicked — it laughs at them with wealth in this world and afterwards kills them. And why are they called 'children'? Because they lack the wisdom to save themselves from it. But a wise heart is saved from it — for there is the Tzadik." (Rendered from the Aramaic: It is croup to the children who are the wicked — it laughs at them with wealth in this world, and afterwards kills them. And why are they called children? Because they lack wisdom to save themselves from it. But the wise of heart is saved from it, for there is the Tzadik.) And the secret of the matter: "one who is good before G-d will escape from her, but the sinner will be caught by her" [Ecclesiastes 7:26]. For the true Tzadik merits wisdom and da'as — and knows how to save himself from this. For even great people require very great wisdom and da'as in this matter of the burden of money and livelihood — not to waste and exhaust their life-days through this, G-d forbid. For most of the world has been snared by this (see Bava Basra 165a: most through robbery — Rashi explains that they permit themselves things in commercial dealings and stumble through robbery). And they suffer very great bitterness all the days of their lives through this — and lose both worlds through this. For know: this world is full of immeasurable bitterness — in the aspect of m'rirusa d'alma [the bitterness of the world] [holy Zohar, Vayechi 241a]. And the primary bitterness is the worry and burden and desire for money and livelihood — which comes through blemishing the bris , may the Merciful One spare us. And were it not for the power of the great Tzadikim — who are the true guardians of the bris — who are called a covenant of salt for eternity [ bris melach olam ] — the world could not exist at all from the extreme bitterness of the above-mentioned desire for money. Therefore each person — in proportion to how much he merits to draw close to the true Tzadikim — sweetens from himself the above-mentioned bitterness. But one who is far from Tzadikim — and himself is far from the rectification of the bris as he knows within himself — and all the more so when he even disputes and opposes, G-d forbid, the true Tzadik and his people — upon him the bitterness of the world strengthens more and more — the worry and burden of money — until it consumes the days of his life, may the Merciful One spare us. Set your heart well to these matters — for many, many souls have drowned in this. Perhaps you can flee to the true Tzadikim to save yourself from these mighty waters of the desire for money that come through the desire for immorality — so that they do not reach you. And your life will be your treasure — and you will merit true life in this world and in the World to Come.

And holy livelihood [ parnasah d'k'dushah ] is in the aspect of: "he who has found a wife has found goodness" [Proverbs 18:22] — which is the aspect of the true Tzadik — as it is written: "say of the Tzadik that he is good" [Isaiah 3:10]. For livelihood is in the aspect of a wife — as our Sages of blessed memory said: "One who encroaches on his fellow's livelihood is as if he goes in to his wife" [Sanhedrin 81a]. And "goodness" is nothing but light — as it is written: "and G-d saw the light that it was good" [Genesis 1:4] — the aspect of the light of the face — the faith of His divinity, may He be blessed — as it is written: "and upon you Hashem will shine" [Isaiah 60:2]. And faith is the ultimate end of days — for upon it stand all the character traits — as our Sages of blessed memory said [Makkos 24a]: "Chavakuk came and established them all on one: 'the Tzadik shall live by his faith'" [Chavakuk 2:4] — which is the foundation and root of all holiness. And through truth one comes to faith. And this is the aspect of commerce in faithfulness — which is merited through strengthening and drawing close to the true Tzadik specifically.

And also through the commandment of the mezuzah , the desire and greed for money is nullified — and through this one's livelihood flies toward him and comes to him easily. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory expounded: "the Ten Commandments are in Krias Shema , and the commandment 'do not covet' corresponds to 'and you shall write them on your doorposts'" [Yerushalmi Berachos, chapter 1] — for through the commandment of the mezuzah , the greed for money is nullified. And for this reason the affixing of the mezuzah is in the upper third of the doorpost — for our Sages of blessed memory said [Bava Metzia 42a]: "a person should always divide his money into thirds: a third in commerce" etc. And the upper third is the third in commerce — as our Sages of blessed memory said: "fifty that work [and profit] are better than two hundred that do not work" [Yerushalmi Peah, chapter 8]. And the primary faith must be in commerce — as our Sages of blessed memory said: "Did you conduct commerce in faithfulness?" [Shabbos 31a]. Thus the primary place of money — where faith is most needed — is in the upper third which is the third in commerce.

All the commandments a person performs without money — that is, without wishing to lose money for the sake of the commandment — the commandment is still not complete, for it is not yet in the aspect of faith. But when the commandment is so beloved to him that he feels no loss of money — and he spends and distributes money for the commandment — this aspect is called faith. For the primary faith is in money — when one breaks the desire for money — and there are the holy faces as above.

And those immersed in the desire for money — the more wealth one has, the more sadness, melancholy, and worry one has — in the aspect of: "he who multiplies possessions multiplies worry" [Avos, chapter 2]. And therefore money shortens and ruins his days and life — for there is nothing that ruins vitality like worry and sadness as physicians know. And therefore he is bound to the faces of the Other Side — alien gods — death — which is sadness and idolatry called Chovah [debt] (see Rashi on Lech-Lecha on the verse "until Chovah" ) — which tips everything to the scale of debt [ kaf chovah ]. And all who are attached to it are always in debt — as we observe: this burden hangs around the necks of people who are not satisfied with their money — who borrow money from others — imagining they profit greatly — and afterwards they die as debtors. And even if they do not literally die as debtors in the sense of owing money to others — they are still debtors to their own desire — which is the idolatry that craves ever more money. As we actually observe — that even those who have money sufficient for their sustenance, and even wealthy magnates — they pursue all their days to profit with great toil. And they endanger themselves with dangers of travel and great upheavals — and burden themselves with great burdens for the sake of money — as if some great debt hung on their neck to pay off. And the debt is only what they owe themselves — their desire — the idolatry that is so bound to the craving for money that it is as if they owe a great debt. Thus they are in debt all their days and die in debt to their desire. For all their days are insufficient to pay this debt they owe their desire — for it is without measure or limit — for "no person dies with even half his desire in his hand" [Midrash Koheles, Seder 1]. And this is: "they will not halve their days" [Psalms 55:24] — but "as for me, I trust in You" — for one immersed in the desire for money does not trust in Hashem — for he worships idolatry. But "as for me, I trust in You" — that You will provide my livelihood through a light cause — and I will be satisfied with my portion. And I will not be immersed in the desire for money.

And in truth there is yet another rectification for the desire for money — to look at the root from which all money and all blessings flow. And through gazing there, one's desire is nullified. For there at its root the abundance is entirely pure, polished light and spiritual delight — and one desires only below. And who is the fool who turns here to cast away spiritual delight and take coarse delight? But it is impossible to come to this gazing except through first rectifying one's bris — as it is written: "from my flesh I shall behold G-d" [Job 19:26] — one must first rectify the holy flesh — and then one can gaze at the divine. And therefore the primary rectification for the desire for money is through the rectification of the bris — and when one rectifies one's bris , it is impossible to fall into the desire for money. 📜 Translator's Summary — Toirah 23 [from the Translator] Central theme: The desire for money is the idolatry of all idolatries — containing within it the evil of all seventy nations. It is bound to the dark faces of the Other Side — sadness, melancholy, death. The antidote is truth, faithfulness in commerce, and the rectification of the bris through the Tzadik. The faces of light and darkness (§1–§2): Two worlds: the person who trusts G-d for his livelihood and is joyful in his portion is attached to the luminous faces — life, truth, eternity. The one who chases money through toil is attached to dark faces — sadness, the Other Side, death. Money is all idolatries combined (§3): The Shechinah cries 140 voices over those trapped in money-desire — 2×70, matching the numerical value of momon plus its four letters — two voices mirroring the labour-cries of childbirth. The bitterness of the world and the Tzadik (§7): One of the most sober and compassionate passages in the entire Likutay Moharan — the world is saturated with immeasurable bitterness from the pursuit of money. Only closeness to the true Tzadikim sweetens this bitterness. Distance from them deepens it without limit. The mezuzah and commerce (§9): The upper third of the doorpost corresponds to the third of one's money placed in commerce — where faith is most needed. The physical placement of the mezuzah encodes the teaching that true faith must penetrate into commerce itself. The ultimate rectification (§12): The deepest remedy for money-desire is to gaze upon the root of all abundance — where it is pure light. But this gaze requires the rectification of the bris first — only through holy flesh can one behold the divine.