תּוֹרָה מב - וַיַּרְא בַּצַּר לָהֶם

Vayar Ba-Tzar Lahem — "And He Saw Their Distress" · Opening: Psalms 106:44 · Likutay Moharan Part I, Toirah 42

Through melody [ n'ginah ] the judgments are sweetened. For the voice of melody is the three colours of the rainbow [ keishes ] in the voice — fire, water, and wind — which are the three Patriarchs. And they are the three illuminating colours that are the garments of the Shechinah — which is the rainbow [Zohar Part III, 215a and Chagigah 16a]. And the three colours of the rainbow are the Patriarchs. And when it [the Shechinah ] is clothed in illuminating garments — then: "and I will see it to remember the eternal covenant" [Genesis 9:16]. And then: "and the king's wrath subsided" [Esther 7:10]. And one who sings the letters of prayer — which is the Shechinah — as it is written: "Adonai — open my lips" [Psalms 51:17] — for speech is the Name Adonai — and it is called a bow [ keshet ] — the language of request [ bakashah ] — as Rashi explained: "with my sword and with my bow" [Genesis 48:22]. And through the voice of the melody that is in great clarity and purity — he thereby clothes the Shechinah — that is, the letters — in illuminating garments. And the Holy One, blessed be He, sees it. And then: "the king's wrath subsided." And this is what Rashi explained: "when He heard their cry" [Psalms 106:44] — in the merit of the Patriarchs — as above — for the garments of the Shechinah are in clarity and illumination — then: "and He was comforted according to His great mercies" — and the judgments are sweetened.

Also through faith in the Sages [ emunас chachamim ] — believing that all their words and deeds are not simple but contain mysteries — through this the rainbow is clothed in illuminating garments as above — and the judgments are sweetened. For the Tzadik is the aspect of a rainbow — as Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai said to Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi: "has a rainbow appeared in your days?" etc. [Kesubos 77b and the holy Zohar there]. For the Tzadik illuminates in all his deeds to the Shechinah — and strips away the plain dark garments from her — adorning her in illuminating garments of the colours of the mysteries of Torah — for the light of Torah is called mystery. And through this: "I will see it to remember the eternal covenant" — and the burning anger of His son subsides: "and the king's wrath subsided" — and the judgments are sweetened.

And also through making a beautiful garment [ levush na'eh ] for the Tzadik — the above-mentioned rectifications are made.

And also through the t'ki'as shofar on Rosh Hashonah the judgments are sweetened. For t'ki'ah , sh'vorim , t'ru'ah are the Patriarchs. And your mnemonic is keshet [rainbow] — that is, t'ki'ah etc. And they are the three names of the unity: "Hashem is our G-d — Hashem" — which are 14 letters — the aspect of the above-mentioned colours — the aspect of the 14 of Shaddai . And the Patriarchs are the three branches of the tree — which are the shin of the Name Shaddai . And this is the explanation of: "and Shaddai shall be your security" [Job 22:25] (and see all this in the holy Zohar, Part III, 230a–231a) (and see this in Likutay Halachos , Laws of Presumptive Ownership of Movable Property, law 5). 📜 Translator's Summary — Toirah 42 [from the Translator] Central theme: The rainbow is the Shechinah clothed in illuminating garments — and the Patriarchs are its three colours. Melody, faith in the Sages, a beautiful garment for the Tzadik, and the shofar blasts — all clothe the Shechinah in these illuminating garments — causing G-d to see the rainbow and remember the eternal covenant — and the divine anger is stilled. Melody as Patriarchal invocation (§1): The voice of song contains three qualities — fire (Avraham/chesed), water (Yitzchak/g'vurah), wind (Yaakov/tiferes). When these are present in a melody with clarity and purity, the letters of prayer are clothed in the rainbow's three colours, the Shechinah is adorned, and G-d sees her and softens. Faith in the Sages as adorning the rainbow (§2): Believing that the Tzadik's deeds contain hidden depth — rather than dismissing them as mere surface behaviour — strips away the dark garments of literal/plain reading and clothes the Shechinah in the illuminating garments of Torah's mysteries. The shofar and the Name Shaddai (§4): The t'ki'ah-sh'vorim-t'ru'ah sequence corresponds to the three branches of the letter shin of Shaddai — which are the three Patriarchs. The 14 letters of Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokainu Hashem correspond to the 14 of Shaddai 's inner name — completing the cosmic structure that sweetens judgment.