# Torah 23 - You Have Commanded With Righteousness

> מקור: https://rabenu.app/books/kitvey-en/23/torah-23/

a) There is a face of holiness which is a bright face, an aspect of life, as it says, "In the light of the king's countenance." (Proverbs,16,15) which is happiness. This is an aspect of truth and faith. Therefore, by this we merit to longevity. On the other hand, falsehood shortens one's life, for falsehood is an aspect of a dark face which is the face of the Other Side, depression, idol worship, other gods, death and sadness, Heaven save us.

b) Those people who fall into the craving for money and don't believe that the Holy One can provide them with an income easily and thus chase after an income with great effort, they eat their bread with sadness; they are full of sadness and depression. These people become attached to the face of the Other Side, as mentioned, which is a dark face, depression, idol worship, other gods, death and sadness, Heaven save us. However, those who carry out their business affairs with faith, strengthen their minds to be happy with their portion in life. They know and believe with truth and perfect faith that their main livelihood and wealth comes only from G-d. It is just G-d's desire that a person make some simple means to acquire it but the main livelihood and money of a person comes from the Holy One alone. Such people cleave to the light of the countenance of holiness which is the bright face, aspects of life and joy.

c) Someone who has sunk into the craving for money which is idol worship, serves not only one idol but all the idols of all the seventy nations, for each idol worship of the seventy nations has its source in the desire for money. That is why the idol worship of each nation is engraved on their coins. About such people the Shechinah shouts twice seventy which are a hundred and forty screams, for this is the numerical value of the word 'money' ('m'mon' – 'm' 40, 'm' 40, 'o' 6, 'n' 50) with its four letters (136+4=140). These are the two kinds of voice that the Shechinah screams out, as it says, "Woe is my head, woe is my arm." (Sanhedrin,46). Each voice is an aspect of the seventy voices that a woman screams out while she is enduring the pains of birth. She has to scream seventy times before the birth (See Torah 21). That is what the Sages said, "a livelihood (m'mon, 140) is twice as hard as a birth (70 screams)" (Pesachim,118).

d) Before a person earns money he has to go, pass through, be tested and purified by means of these hundred and forty screams and to shout out and pray a lot to the Holy One to merit to pass them without trouble and to be saved from them. For the truth is that every time a person earns money it is like a birth. All the bounty that a person receives is only from breaking the craving for money, for that is the Truth, and "truth stands and lasts" (Shabbat, 104). This is as the Sages taught, "the sustinence at your feet" (Deut.11: 7), "this is the money that puts a person on his feet"(Pesachim, 119) and they stand on truth. But lying doesn't stand; it is idol worship, the craving for money. This is what the Sages said, "Someone who changes his word, it is like he worshipped idols." (Sanhedrin,92). Therefore, by telling lies, which is a craving for money, there is no permanence to a person's livelihood. For idol worship is another god; it is barren and doesn't produce fruit. (Zohar,Pt.2,103). That's to say, the lie makes it appear that they are gaining money, but they are not gaining, and so they run after money even more. Even when they have money, temporarily, the truth is that they haven't got it at all, because they haven't got any pleasure from it because they can never get enough. However much more they earn, they feel that they are lacking even more. Afterwards they die as debtors. Therefore it is impossible for them to draw down abundance and earn holy money so that they are happy with their portion, (for this is the main wealth, as the Sages said in Perkei Avot, 4), other than by breaking the craving for money; this is an aspect of truth. A person's business affairs must be carried out with truth and faith in order to break and nullify all the thoughts, confusions and cravings for money which come to a person during his business affairs. Rather, all a person's intention should be that it is for G-d only, in order to serve G-d with the money that he earned, to give charity and support those who serve G-d through Torah and prayer and to raise his children to study Torah, etc. and other expenses for mitzvoth.

e) Know that by guarding the holy covenant, one is saved from the face of the Other Side which is the craving for money, idol worship, a dark face and death, as mentioned. And one becomes attached to Godliness, as it says, "From my flesh, I will see G-d." (Job,19). Then he will merit to fulfillment and joy in the face of G-d, for the Face of the living G-d shines and radiates upon him. The main thing is to attach oneself to true tzaddikim who guard the brit in utter perfection, for then he will be saved from the craving for money.

f) This being the case, when someone opposes the true tzaddik, and the Holy One wants to drive away the enemies of the tzaddik, so He makes them fall into the craving for money, and there is no greater fall than that, Heaven preserve us. Thus, the rule is that when there is controversy, whoever guards his brit more, can make his fellow fall into the craving for money. All Israel are called tzaddikim because they are circumcised (Zohar 1:93.). The main thing is the true tzaddik who guards his brit with total perfection; all those who are attached to him can make their fellows fall from their level and the fall is into the craving for money. Therefore one must be very careful when there is controversy against someone that one shouldn't fall into the desire for money, Heaven forbid.

g) The craving for money is an aspect of what it says, "I find more bitter than death the woman" (Eccl.7:26) for this alludes to the spleen, which is Lilit, the mother of the Erev Rav, which is mockery and foolishness. For all the money and wealth of the rich who are not proper and don't give charity as they should according to their wealth, and are deep into the desire for money and the pressure of time, all their money and wealth is nothing; it is only mockery and foolishness, for the money plays with them like one plays with a baby with coins. Afterwards the money itself kills them. In the Tikkunei Zohar it says that "foolishness is another god, it laughs at them for their wealth in This World and, in the end, kills them; only the tzaddik escapes whereas the sinner is trapped in it (Eccl. Ibid). For the true tzaddik merits to wisdom and understanding and so knows how to escape from all this. Even the greatest people need very great wisdom and understanding in order to escape from the time consuming effort of making a living, so that they won't spend and waste all the days of their life on this; for most of the world are trapped in this.(See Baba Batra,165. Most of the world are trapped into stealing, for, as Rashi explains, they say to themselves in business affairs that it is permissible and stumble into theft.) As a result, they suffer very great bitterness all their lives by this and lose both worlds through this. Know that This World is full of bitterness, beyond measure, an aspect of "the world's bitterness" (Zohar Chadash,V'Yechi,241), and the main bitterness is the bother and worry of getting money and the craving for money and a livelihood, which comes as a result of blemishing the brit, Heaven save us. If it weren't for the power of the great tzaddikim who truly guard the brit, and who are called the covenant of salt of the world, the world couldn't continue to exist because of its immense bitterness, as mentioned, which is the craving for money. Therefore, each person, according to the degree that he is attached to the true tzaddikim, sweetens from himself this bitterness. On the other hand, a person who is far from the tzaddik and who himself is far from the rectification of the brit, as he knows within his soul, and especially if he opposes the true tzaddik and his followers, the bitterness of the world will overcome him more and more with its worry and efforts for money until he wastes all his life on it, Heaven save us. Take careful note of these things for many people have sunk into this. Maybe you can flee to true tzaddikim and save yourself from these stormy waters of craving money which is a result of the craving for sex; maybe they won't reach you. Then your soul will be a saved treasure and you will merit to true life, in This World and the World to Come.

h) A holy livelihood is an aspect of what it says, "He who finds a wife, finds a good thing." (Proverbs,18,22). This is like the true tzaddik about whom it says, "Say of the tzaddik, he is good." (Isaiah,3:10). A livelihood is like a woman, as the Sages said, "Anyone who takes away from the income of his fellow, it is as if he came upon his wife."(Sanhedrin,81). There is no good other than light, as it says, "the light is good" (Genesis,1). This is the Esssential Light, belief in G-d, as it says, "G-d will shine upon you." (Isaiah,60). Faith is an aspect of the End of Days, for upon it rest all the other attributes, as is written (Makot24), "Chabakuk came and made everything rest upon one thing – a tzaddik lives by his faith (Chabakuk, 2)." This is the root and foundation of all holiness. By truth one comes to faith and this is an aspect of conducting business with faith to which one merits specifically by strengthening oneself and coming close to the true tzaddik.

i) Through the mitzvah of mezuzah one can also nullify the craving and desire for money. By this, one's income comes easily. This is what the Sages said, that the Ten Commandments are in saying 'Shma' and the command of "Don't desire" parallels the command of "and you should write it on the doorposts" (See Jerusalem Talmud,B'rachot,Ch.1), for through the mitzvah of the mezuzah one nullifies the desire for money. Because of this one has to fix the mezuzah in the top third of the doorframe (Menachot, 33); the Sages said (Baba Metzia, 42) that a person should always divide his money into three. The top third of the doorframe corresponds to the third of the money in business. Most of one's faith has to be in business, as the Sages said, the first question in the World to Come is "Did you do business with faith?" (Shabbat, 31). This means that the main money in which one needs faith is the top third which is in business matters.

j) All the mitzvoth that a person performs without money, meaning that he doesn't want to lose money for the sake of performing the mitzvah, is not a perfect mitzvah because it is not yet in the category of faith. But, when the mitzvah is so precious that he doesn't feel any lack of money and he spends freely on the mitzva, this aspect is called faith. For a person's main faith has to be in money affairs; when he breaks the craving for money, there is the Face of Holiness, as above.

k) Those who are deep in the desire for money, however much more wealth they have, they are more sad, depressed and worried, as it says, "Whoever has more possessions, has more worries." (Perkei Avot,Ch.2). This being so, money shortens and wastes a person's days and life; nothing wastes a person's energy like worry and sadness, as the doctors know. Such a person is connected to the face of the Other Side, other gods and death which is sadness and idol worship, called 'debt' for it decides everything to the side of obligation. All those who are attached to it are always in debt like we see how the burden hangs on their neck and they are never satisfied with what they have but always borrow from others. It always seems to them that they are gaining a lot but they die in debt. Even if they don't die literally in debt to others, they certainly die in debt to their own cravings; it is idol worship that one wants a lot of money. We see that in reality even those who have money to support themselves and even the very rich, they chase after money all their lives with great efforts. They endanger themselves on the roads by traveling a lot and make huge efforts to make money as if they had a huge debt upon their head to pay back. The truth is that the debt is only to themselves, to their craving and idol worship which is tied to the desire for money so much that it is as if they had to pay back a huge debt. It turns out that they are debtors all their lives and die as debtors to their cravings. All their lives aren't enough to pay back the debt to their desires for they are without limit or bounds, as it says, "a person dies with only half of his desire in his hand"(Midrash Ecclesiastes,1). That is what it says 'they don't live half of their lives.' (Psalms,52). But "I will put my trust in You." But someone who is deep in the desire for money doesn't trust G-d for he serves idol worship. However, says David, "I will put my trust in You" that You can supply me with a livelihood very easily, and I will be happy with my portion so I won't be stuck in the craving for money.

l) The truth is that there is another rectification to the craving for money which is to look at the source from which all money comes and all the bounty. By looking there this nullifies the craving. For in its source the bounty is totally a pure light and a spiritual delight such that one doesn't crave for the crude physical money in the world below. Who is the fool who will throw away this spiritual delight for the sake of a gross worldly pleasure. However, to acquire this way of looking one needs to rectify the brit, like it says, "from my flesh I will see G-d." (Job,19). First one has to sanctify the holy flesh, then one can look at the G-dliness. Because of this, the main rectification for the craving of money is by rectifying the brit; and when one rectifies the brit, then it is impossible to fall to the craving for money.