28 This letter was written [by the Alter Rebbe] to his relative-by-marriage—the famous rabbi and Gaon, the G‑dly man, the holy man of G‑d,2 Lamp of Israel, pillar of the right hand, mighty hammer3—
כח מַה שֶּׁכָּתַב לִמְחוּתָּנוֹ, הָרַב הַגָּאוֹן הַמְפוּרְסָם, אִישׁ אֱלֹקִים קְדוֹשׁ ה', נֵר יִשְׂרָאֵל, עַמּוּד הַיְמָנִי, פַּטִּישׁ הֶחָזָק,
our master, R. Levi Yitzchak (may his soul rest in Eden), head of the Rabbinical Court of the holy community of Berditchev,
מוֹרֵנוּ וְרַבֵּנוּ הָרַב לֵוִי יִצְחָק נִשְׁמָתוֹ עֵדֶן, אַב בֵּית־דִּין דִּקְהִלַּת קוֹדֶשׁ בַּארְדִּיטְשׁוֹב,
to console him on the passing4 of his son, the pious rabbi, R. Meir (may his soul rest in Eden).
לְנַחֲמוֹ עַל פְּטִירַת בְּנוֹ הָרַב הֶחָסִיד, מוֹרֵנוּ וְרַבֵּנוּ הָרַב מֵאִיר נִשְׁמָתוֹ עֵדֶן:
“Why was the passage concerning the passing of Miriam5 adjoined to the passage concerning the Red Heifer6?
"לָמָּה נִסְמְכָה פָּרָשַׁת מִרְיָם לְפָרָשַׁת פָּרָה,
”To teach you that just as the Heifer effects atonement, [so does the passing of the righteous].”
לוֹמַר לְךָ: מַה פָּרָה מְכַפֶּרֶת וְכוּ'".
Now, it needs to be understood why [the passage concerning the passing of Miriam] was adjoined specifically to [the passage concerning] the Red Heifer
וְצָרִיךְ לְהָבִין, לָמָּה נִסְמְכָה דַּוְקָא לְפָרָה אֲדוּמָּה
(which was prepared outside the three camps,9 and as such was not a sacrifice proper, except that the Torah calls it10 a sin-offering),11
הַנַּעֲשֶׂה חוּץ לְשָׁלֹשׁ מַחֲנוֹת, אֶלָּא דְּחַטָּאת קַרְיֵיהּ רַחֲמָנָא [בכתב יד הנוסחא: ‘הַנַּעֲשֶׂה בַּחוּץ'. ומן תיבת "לשלש" עד תיבת "רחמנא" ליתא בכתב יד]
and it was not adjoined to the passage concerning the sin-offering that was prepared within, on the altar, [and as such effects] actual atonement.
וְלֹא נִסְמְכָה לְפָרָשַׁת חַטָּאת הַנַּעֲשֶׂה בִּפְנִים עַל גַּבֵּי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ – כַּפָּרָה מַמָּשׁ.
Alternatively, the Hebrew text could be understood to mean “on the actual altar of atonement,” or (preferably) that the sin-offering was “actual atonement,” unlike the Red Heifer, which was primarily a rite of purification.
To revert to the question concerning the juxtaposition of the two passages, the Alter Rebbe explains that an offering connoted an “arousal from below,” from the soul of the animal that derives from kelipat nogah. This, in turn, elicited a reciprocal “arousal from Above,” drawing down a finite order of Divine light that can permeate the finite world and be integrated and ingested within it. (This characteristic explains why offerings are referred to as the “food of the altar.”) Being finite, this contracted order of Divine light was only able to effect atonement of unwitting sins, those that derive from undue domination by the animal soul, which derives from kelipat nogah.
The Red Heifer, by contrast, produces the “sanctifying purification waters” (kiddush mei chatat); i.e., it draws down an illumination from the most supremely sanctified levels of Divinity (kodesh ha’elyon) that utterly transcend this world. This intense illumination can transform the darkness of Tohu into the light of Tikkun and secure purification for even the harshest degree of impurity (Avi Avot Hatumah), which is far lower than kelipat nogah.
In the same way, the passing of a tzaddik draws down a Divine illumination that transcends the world, deriving as it does from that element within the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which is called the Tikkun of notzer. The name of this Tikkun, which comprises the same letters as ratzon, brings about an et ratzon, “an auspicious time,” and secures atonement for the sins of the generation, even those that are committed willfully and that derive from the three completely impure kelipot.
In this regard, the passing of a tzaddik is thus more akin to the Red Heifer than to a sin-offering.
Now,12 the mystical principle of the sacrifices offered on the altar is known from the sacred Zohar13 and from Rabbi Yitzchak Luria,14 of blessed memory:
אָמְנָם, נוֹדָע מִזּוֹהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ וְהָאֲרִיזַ"ל, סוֹד הַקָּרְבָּנוֹת שֶׁעַל גַּבֵּי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ –
They are an instance of the elevation of mayin nukvin (lit., “feminine waters”; i.e., a mortally initiated spiritual arousal) deriving from the animal soul, [which receives its life-force from] kelipat nogah,
הֵן בְּחִינַת הַעֲלָאַת "מַיִּין נוּקְבִין" מִנֶּפֶשׁ הַבַּהֲמִית שֶׁבְּנוֹגַהּ,
[this elevation ascending] to their root and source,
אֶל שָׁרְשָׁן וּמְקוֹרָן –
i.e., the forms of the four Animals of the Celestial Chariot which bear the Throne,15 as described in Ezekiel, ch. 1:
הֵן בְּחִינוֹת ד' חַיּוֹת שֶׁבַּמֶּרְכָּבָה הַנּוֹשְׂאוֹת אֶת הַכִּסֵּא,
the Face of the Ox, and the Face of the Eagle, and so on.
פְּנֵי שׁוֹר וּפְנֵי נֶשֶׁר וְכוּ',
The former level of Divinity is the source of the souls of all animals, and the latter is the source of the souls of all birds, these being the two categories of creatures from which offerings are brought. (The other two categories, the Face of the Lion and the Face of Man, are alluded to in the closing phrase, “and so on.”) Offerings thus constitute an elevation and an “arousal from below” from a willing recipient toward the level of Divinity (here called the four Animals of the Chariot, which is the Source of all things within the finite world and which hence has a connection with it.
As a result, reciprocating this arousal, the mayin duchrin (the “male waters” from the benefactor Above) are elicited and descend from the level of Divinity called (in Ezekiel) “the Man upon the Throne,” Who is [also] referred to as malka (“king”) and z’eyr anpin (i.e., the bracket of six “masculine” attributes preceding the recipient or “feminine” sefirah of malchut).
וְעַל־יְדֵי זֶה נִמְשָׁכִים וְיוֹרְדִים "מַיִּין דּוּכְרִין" מִבְּחִינַת "אָדָם" שֶׁעַל הַכִּסֵּא, הַנִּקְרָא בְּשֵׁם "מַלְכָּא" וּ"זְעֵיר אַנְפִּין".
The resultant illumination flows down to the world and becomes vested and integrated within it. Hence, as mentioned above, offerings are termed “food for the altar,” for they draw down a level of Divine light which can be spiritually ingested.
As for the burning of the Red Heifer, however, it is on account of the throwing in of the cedar wood and the hyssop, and so on, the function of both of which is hamshachah, i.e., drawing down sanctity from Above,16
אָכֵן, בִּשְׂרֵפַת הַפָּרָה אֲדוּמָּה, הִנֵּה עַל־יְדֵי הַשְׁלָכַת עֵץ אֶרֶז וְאֵזוֹב וְכוּ'
and [moreover] the placing of running water into the ashes,
וּנְתִינַת מַיִם חַיִּים אֶל הָאֵפֶר –
that in the Mishnah,17 [this process] is called the “sanctification (Kiddush) of the purifying waters.”
נִקְרָא בְּשֵׁם "קִידּוּשׁ מֵי חַטָּאת" בַּמִּשְׁנָה,
This relates—not only etymologically—to kodesh ha’elyon (“the supreme sanctity”), referred to as Tala Dibedulcha (lit., “the Dew of Bdellium”; cf. the Torah’s descriptions of the manna18).
וְהִיא בְּחִינַת "קֹדֶשׁ הָעֶלְיוֹן", הַנִּקְרָא בְּשֵׁם "טַלָּא דִבְדוּלְחָא",
Unlike the heavenly benefactions that are termed “rain,” for rain results from an “arousal from below” (as it is written, “And a vapor rose from the ground and watered…”19), the above-described “dew” is a spontaneous “arousal from Above” that transcends dependence on any antecedent “arousal from below.”
As stated in the sacred Zohar,20 this [Tala Dibedulcha] is an expression of the supreme chochmah and the mocha setimaah of arich anpin; i.e., it is the level of chochmah within keter which entirely transcends the world.
כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזּוֹהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ, שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת "חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה" וּ"מוֹחָא סְתִימָאָה" דַ"אֲרִיךְ אַנְפִּין",
Of this [level of chochmah and mocha setimaah], it is said in many places in the sacred Zohar that “through chochmah they are refined” and rectified21;
וַעֲלָהּ אִיתְמַר בְּדוּכְתֵּי טוּבָא בַּזּוֹהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ: "בְּחָכְמָה אִתְבְּרִירוּ",
and then, when by means of the “sanctification of the purifying waters,” Divine light is drawn down from this level, darkness is converted to light, that is, [to] the World of Tikkun,
וְ"אִתְהַפְּכָא חֲשׁוֹכָא לִנְהוֹרָא", דְּהַיְינוּ עוֹלַם הַתִּיקּוּן,
which becomes refined and rectified by means of the mocha setimaah of arich anpin;
שֶׁנִּתְבָּרֵר וְנִתְתַּקֵּן עַל־יְדֵי "מוֹחָא סְתִימָאָה" דַ"אֲרִיךְ אַנְפִּין",
[i.e., the World of Tikkun is refined and rectified] from the World of Tohu and the breaking of the vessels [whose sparks] fell into [the Worlds of] Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah, and so on,
מֵעוֹלַם הַתֹּהוּ וּשְׁבִירַת הַכֵּלִים, שֶׁנָּפְלוּ בִּבְרִיאָה־יְצִירָה־עֲשִׂיָּה וְכוּ',
as is known.
כַּנּוֹדָע.
The spiritual task of the Jew is to extract, refine, and elevate these sparks.
This is why [the Red Heifer] purifies one from defilement [contracted by contact] with a corpse,
וְלָזֹאת – מְטַהֶרֶת טוּמְאַת הַמֵּת,
even though this [corpse] is the ultimate degree [of impurity] and far, far lower than nogah.
אַף שֶׁהוּא אֲבִי אֲבוֹת וְכוּ', וּלְמַטָּה מַּטָּה מִנּוֹגַהּ:
For the “sanctification of the purifying waters” is drawn down from the supreme chochmah and the mocha setimaah of arich anpin, an illumination that transcends the world so utterly that it is able to transform the world’s darkness into light.
The Alter Rebbe will now explain how this relates to the passing of a tzaddik, for this likewise draws down a degree of illumination that utterly transcends the world, transforming its darkness into light and bringing about atonement for the sins of the generation.
Now, it is known22 that abba (lit., “father,” a Kabbalistic name for the sefirah of chochmah) draws its sustenance from the eighth mazal.
וְהִנֵּה, מוּדַעַת זֹאת, דְּ"אַבָּא" יוֹנֵק מִמַּזָּל הַשְּׁמִינִי
I.e., the eighth in the Torah’s enumeration of the Thirteen Attributes of Divine Mercy,23 which correspond to the thirteen “tufts” of the celestial “beard,” the individual hairs of which are conduits for the emanation of a tenuous flow of life-force.
This24 is the tuft of notzer chesed that appears in the above listing: notzer chesed la’alafim (“He guards chesed for thousands [of generations]”).
הוּא תִּיקּוּן "נוֹצֵר חֶסֶד",
[The Hebrew word] notzer (“guards”) is composed of the same letters as [the Hebrew word] ratzon (“Divine favor”).
"נוֹצֵר" אוֹתִיּוֹת "רָצוֹן",
This is the et ratzon (“the time of Divine favor,” i.e., “the auspicious time”) that becomes revealed and radiates in a manifest way, from above downward, at the time of the passing of tzaddikim of stature,
וְהִיא עֵת רָצוֹן הַמִּתְגַּלֶּה וּמֵאִיר בִּבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי מִלְמַעְלָה לְמַטָּה, בְּעֵת פְּטִירַת צַדִּיקֵי עֶלְיוֹן,
who serve G‑d out of love, surrendering their soul to G‑d during their lifetime every evening and morning when reading the Shema.
עוֹבְדֵי ה' בְּאַהֲבָה, בִּמְסִירַת נַפְשָׁם לַה' בְּחַיֵּיהֶם עַרְבִית וְשַׁחֲרִית בִּקְרִיאַת־שְׁמַע,
For thereby they would elevate mayin nukvin (lit., “feminine waters”; i.e., they would initiate a spiritual arousal expressing their desire to receive a flow of Divine energy) to abba and imma (i.e., to chochmah and binah) during the Reading of the Shema, as is known.
שֶׁעַל־יְדֵי זֶה הָיוּ מַעֲלִים "מַיִּין נוּקְבִין" לְ"אַבָּא" וְ"אִימָּא" בִּקְרִיאַת־שְׁמַע, כַּיָּדוּעַ.
(25The same applies to their study of the Torah, which derives from chochmah; this, too, results in an elevation of mayin nukvin toward chochmah.)
(וְכֵן בְּתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה דְּמֵחָכְמָה נָפְקָא),
Thereby, the mayin duchrin (lit., the “masculine waters” which thereupon flow from above) were elicited and drawn down from the tuft of notzer chesed since it is from this Divine attribute that chochmah draws its sustenance, as stated above.
וְעַל־יְדֵי זֶה הָיוּ נִמְשָׁכִים וְיוֹרְדִים בְּחִינַת "מַיִּין דּוּכְרִין" מִתִּיקּוּן "וְנוֹצֵר חֶסֶד",
And, indeed, it is these [illuminations] that radiate in a manifest way at the time of the passing [of tzaddikim].
וְהֵם הֵם הַמְּאִירִים בִּבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי בִּפְטִירָתָם,
The illuminations that are drawn down through the self-sacrifice of tzaddikim during their lifelong recitation of the Shema and their Torah study become revealed at the time of their passing.
For as is known, all the effort of man, in which his soul toiled during his lifetime [and which remains] above, in a hidden and obscured state,
כַּנּוֹדָע – שֶׁכָּל עֲמַל הָאָדָם שֶׁעָמְלָה נַפְשׁוֹ בְּחַיָּיו לְמַעְלָה בִּבְחִינַת הֶעְלֵם וְהֶסְתֵּר,
is revealed and radiates in a manifest way, from above downward, at the time of his passing.
מִתְגַּלֶּה וּמֵאִיר בִּבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי מִלְמַעְלָה לְמַטָּה בְּעֵת פְּטִירָתו.
Thus, all the unseen spiritual effects of the tzaddik’s Reading of the Shema and of his Torah study are revealed in the world below at the time of his passing.
Now, by the illumination from the tuft of notzer chesed that is revealed at the time of the passing [of tzaddikim],
וְהִנֵּה, עַל־יְדֵי גִּילּוּי הֶאָרַת תִּיקּוּן "וְנוֹצֵר חֶסֶד" בִּפְטִירָתָן,
the chesed of G‑d radiates from world to world—from the World of Concealment down to the World of Revelation—over those who fear Him,26
מֵאִיר "חֶסֶד ה' מֵעוֹלָם עַד עוֹלָם עַל יְרֵאָיו",
and “effects salvations in the midst of the earth,”27 to atone for the sin of the generation,
וּ"פוֹעֵל יְשׁוּעוֹת בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ", לְכַפֵּר עַל עֲוֹן הַדּוֹר,
even for the deliberate sins which are of the three impure kelipot that are inferior to nogah, for kelipat nogah can give rise only to unwitting sins, whose atonement is secured through sacrificial offerings.
אַף גַּם עַל הַזְּדוֹנוֹת שֶׁהֵן מִג' קְלִיפּוֹת הַטְּמֵאוֹת שֶׁלְּמַטָּה מִנּוֹגַהּ,
For the mazal of notzer chesed is of the mochin setimin of arich anpin, i.e., the chochmah of keter, which is the source of the task of beirurim, the refinement of the material world by extracting and uplifting the Divine sparks within it.
לְפִי שֶׁמַּזָּל דְּ"נוֹצֵר" מִ"מּוֹחָא סְתִימָאָה" דַ"אֲרִיךְ אַנְפִּין" מְקוֹר הַבֵּירוּרִים,
The darkness incurred by the breaking of the vessels is thereby converted into the light of the World of Tikkun.
וְאִתְהַפְּכָא חֲשׁוֹכָא דִשְׁבִירַת הַכֵּלִים לִנְהוֹרָא דְעוֹלַם הַתִּיקּוּן.
This light is therefore able to atone even for the deliberate sins that derive from the three impure kelipot—the lowest level that resulted from the breaking of the vessels.
This is not the case, though, with the sacrifices that are [offered] upon the altar.
מַה־שֶּׁאֵין־כֵּן בַּקָּרְבָּנוֹת שֶׁעַל גַּבֵּי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ,
They atone only for inadvertent sins, which come about because of the strengthening of the animal soul [whose life-force derives] from nogah,
שֶׁאֵינָן מְכַפְּרִים אֶלָּא עַל הַשְּׁגָגוֹת, שֶׁהֵן מֵהִתְגַּבְּרוּת נֶפֶשׁ הַבַּהֲמִית שֶׁמִּנּוֹגַהּ,
as is stated in Likkutei Torah of the Arizal, Parashat Vayikra.
כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּ"לִקּוּטֵי תּוֹרָה" פָּרָשַׁת וַיִּקְרָא.
This, then, is why [the passage concerning Miriam] was adjoined expressly to the passage concerning the Red Heifer:
וְלָכֵן נִסְמְכָה לְפָרָשַׁת פָּרָה דַּוְקָא –
“[To teach you that] just as the Heifer [effects atonement, so does the passing of the righteous].”
"מַה פָּרָה וְכוּ'".
The Yalkut, Parashat Shemini, [for “the Heifer”] reads “the waters of purification….”
וּבְיַלְקוּט פָּרָשַׁת שְׁמִינִי הַגִּירְסָא "מֵי חַטָּאת וְכוּ'":
This is more in keeping with the explanation provided above, for the Red Heifer’s atonement and its impact on the three impure kelipot is not a result of burning the Heifer, which is spiritually symbolic of elevation, but a result of the “sanctification of the purifying waters,” an act which draws down benefactions from above, just as water flows downward from above—from supernal holiness and chochmah of keter, the source of refinement and purification.
In the previous epistle, written to console the Chasidic brotherhood after the passing of the saintly R. Mendele Vitebsker, the Alter Rebbe quotes from the Zohar to the effect that a tzaddik is even more accessible in this world after his passing than while he was still alive. Moreover, after his passing, his Chasidim continue to receive from him both spiritual benefactions, which enhance their Torah study and Divine service, and protection in material matters.
Following that epistle the sons of the author1 placed the present epistle, which the Alter Rebbe wrote by way of consolation to his illustrious colleague, relative-by-marriage, and dear friend, R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, following the tragic passing of his son. Here, the Alter Rebbe explains how the passing of a tzaddik “effects salvations in the midst of the earth,” atoning even for intentional sins.