אות - צב

When a soul descends to this world, its destined task is elevated.

For example, when the soul of a scholar is born, scholarship in general is uplifted in the world. It will continue to rise from the day of his birth until the day he dies. Likewise, when a royal soul is born, military strategy and similar governmental concerns are enhanced.

The type of scholarship advanced by the soul will depend on the type of scholar into which the soul develops. The same is true of a royal soul. It can produce a benevolent kingdom or a wicked one. In general, the task associated with a particular soul is uplifted from the day the soul enters the world.

In every man’s life, there are years of strength, years of stability, and years of decline. If a man lives seventy or eighty years, then the first third of his life will be his years of growth. The next third will be those of stability, and the last third, those of decline. For a third of your lifetime, you advance step by step along with all your powers and abilities. You then experience a phase where you stand still.

Then comes the third of life when you are in your years of decline.

Your years of stability are those of fullness, when all your powers are perfect and complete. You are then in the category of the opposition of the moon.

The new moon is very small. Then it waxes until it is opposite the sun, 153 Cf. Tosfot Yom Tov , Rosh HaShanah 2:6, 8. when it reaches its greatest size and remains stable. It then begins to wane and decrease in size.

Moisture is determined by the moon. As the lunar cycle progresses, tides begin to rise higher. 154 The highest tides during this cycle are called spring tides, and occur during the periods of the new and full moons. Toward the end of this cycle, the moon wanes and the tides are reduced.

The more people repeat a statement, the more benign it becomes.

Often the Talmud says, “It is what people say.” 155 Berakhot 2b, 5b, 48a, 62b; Shabbat 54a, 62b, 145b; Yoma 18a, 20b, 75b; Ta'anit 6b, 33a; Megilah 4a, 12a, 14b; Chagigah 2b, 15b; Moed Katan 9b; Yebamot 63b; Gittin 63b; Bava Kama 91a, 92b; Bava Metzia 59a, 85a; Bava Batra 5a, 16b; Sanhedrin 7a, 44a, 82a, 95b, 103a, etc. There are non-Jewish sayings that enter Jewish conversation. They are then elevated to become lofty concepts.

These sayings are like seawater. Seawater is too salty to drink. But when it travels through mountains of sand, it becomes fresh and sweet. Sand purifies water and makes it drinkable. [The Rebbe did not elaborate on this further.]