I heard on Adar 13, February 23, 1948
“And Moses answered and said: ‘But, they will not believe me,’” etc. “And the Lord said to him, ‘What is it in your hand?’ And he said, ‘A staff.’ And He said, ‘Cast it on the ground…’ and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it” (Exodus 4).
We should interpret that there are not more than two degrees, either Kedusha [holiness] or Sitra Achra [other side]. There is no intermediary state, but the same staff itself becomes a serpent if thrown to the ground.
In order to understand this, we will first bring the words of our sages, that He had instill His Shechina [Divinity] on trees and rocks. Trees and rocks are called things of inferior importance, and specifically in this manner He placed His Shechina. This is the meaning of the question, “What is it in your hand?”
A “hand” means attainment, from the words, “If a hand attains.” A “staff” means that all his attainments are built on the discernment of inferior importance, which is faith above reason.
(Faith is regarded as having inferior importance, and as lowliness. One appreciates things that clothe within reason. However, if one’s mind does not attain it, but it rather opposes one’s mind, then one should say that faith is of superior importance to one’s mind, it follows that at that time he lowers his mind and says that what he understands within reason, that he resists the path of the Creator, faith is more important than his own mind. This is because all the concepts that contradict the path of the Creator are worthless concepts.
Rather, “They have eyes but they will see not, they have ears but they will hear not.” It means that he annuls everything he hears and sees. This is called “going above reason.” And thus it seems to a person as lowness and Katnut [smallness/infancy].
However, with the Creator, faith is not considered lowliness, since man, who has no other choice but to take the path of faith, considers faith as lowliness. However, the Creator could have placed His Shechina on something other than trees and rocks.
Yet, He chose this way, called faith, specifically. He must have chosen it because it is better and more successful. You find that for Him faith is not regarded as being of inferior importance. On the contrary, specifically this path has many merits, but it appears lowly in the eyes of the creatures.)
If the staff is thrown to the ground and one wants to work with a higher discernment, meaning within reason, degrading the above reason, and this work seems low, one’s Torah and work immediately become a serpent. This is the meaning of the primordial serpent, and this is the meaning of “Anyone who is proud, the Creator tells him, ‘He and I cannot dwell in the same abode.’”
The reason is, as we have said, that He has placed His Shechina on trees and rocks. Hence, if one throws the discernment of the staff to the ground, and raises oneself to work with a higher attribute, this is already a serpent. There is no middle; it is either a serpent, or Kedusha, since all the Torah and the work that one had from the discernment of a staff, all has now entered the discernment of a serpent.
It is known that the Sitra Achra has no lights. Hence, in corporeality too, the will to receive has only deficiencies, but not satisfaction of the deficiency. And the vessel of reception remains forever in deficit, without fulfillment, because one who has one hundred wants two hundred, etc., and one does not die with half one’s wish in one’s hand.
This extends from the upper roots. The root of the Klipa [shell] is the vessel of reception, and they have no correction during the six thousand years. The Tzimtzum [restriction] is placed on them; hence, they do not have lights and abundance.
This is why they entice one to draw light to their degree. And the lights that one receives by being adhered to Kedusha, since abundance shines in Kedusha, when they entice one to draw abundance to their state, they receive that light. Thus, they have dominion over a person, meaning they give him satisfaction in the state he is in so he will not move from here.
Hence, one cannot go forward through this dominion since he has no need for a higher degree. Since he has no need, he cannot move from his place, even a slight movement.
In that state, he is unable to discern if he is advancing in Kedusha or the other way around. This is because the Sitra Achra gives him power to work more strongly, since now he is within reason and can therefore work not in a state of lowliness. It follows that thus one would remain in the authority of the Sitra Achra.
In order for a person to not remain in the authority of the Sitra Achra, the Creator made a correction that if one leaves the discernment of the staff, he immediately falls into the state of a serpent. He immediately falls into a state of failures and has no power to hang on, unless he accepts the discernment of faith, called lowliness, once more.
It follows that the failures themselves cause one to take upon himself the discernment of a staff once more, which is the discernment of faith above reason. This is the meaning of what Moses said, “But they will not believe me.” It means that they will not want to take upon themselves the path of working in faith above reason.
Then the Creator told him, “What is it in your hand?” “A staff.” “Cast it on the ground,” and then, promptly, “it became a serpent.” It means that there is no intermediary state between the staff and the serpent. It is rather to know if one is in Kedusha or in the Sitra Achra.
It turns out that in any case, they do not have any other choice but to assume the discernment of faith above reason, called “a staff.” This staff should be in the hand; the staff should not be thrown. This is the meaning of the verse, “The staff of Aaron budded.”
It means that all the budding he had in serving the Creator was based specifically on Aaron’s staff. This means that He wanted to give us a sign to know if we are walking on the path of truth, or not. He gave us as a sign to know only the basis of the work, meaning what basis one is working on. If one’s basis is the staff, it is Kedusha, and if the basis is within reason, this is not the way to achieve Kedusha.
However, in the work itself, meaning in the Torah and in the prayer, there is no distinction between one who serves Him and one who does not serve Him. This is because there it is to the contrary: If the basis is within reason, meaning based on knowing and receiving, the body gives fuel for work, and he can pray and study more persistently and more enthusiastically, since it is based on within reason.
However, when one takes the path of Kedusha, whose basis is bestowal and faith, he needs much preparation so the Kedusha will shine for him. Without preparation, the body does not give one the strength for work, and one must always exert extensively, since man’s root is reception and within reason.
Therefore, if his work is based on earthliness, he can always be fine. But if the basis for the work is on the discernment of bestowal and above reason, he needs perpetual efforts so as not to fall into his root of reception and within reason.
One must not be distracted for a minute, or he will fall into his root of earthliness, called “dust,” as it is written, “for dust you are, and to dust shall you return.” And that was after the sin of the tree of knowledge.
One examines if one is advancing in Kedusha or to the contrary, since another god is sterile and does not bear fruit. The Zohar gives us that sign, that specifically on the basis of faith, called “a staff,” is one imparted fruitfulness and multiplication in the Torah. This is the meaning of “the staff of Aaron budded”: The budding and growing come specifically through the staff.
Therefore, as one rises from one’s bed daily and washes oneself to purify his body from the filth of the body, so one should wash oneself from the filth of the Klipa, to examine himself if his quality of staff is in completeness.
This should be a perpetual examination, and if one is distracted from it, he immediately falls to the authority of the Sitra Achra called “self-reception.” One immediately becomes enslaved to them, as it is known that the light makes the Kli. Hence, as much as one works in order to receive, to that extent he needs only a desire to receive for himself and becomes remote from matters concerning bestowal.
Now we can understand the words of our sages, “Be very, very humble.” What is that fuss that it says, “very, very”? It is because one becomes needy of people by having been honored once. At first one receives the honor not because he wanted to enjoy the honor, but for other reasons, such as the glory of the Torah, etc. One is certain of this scrutiny since he knows about himself that he has no desire for honor whatsoever.
It follows that it is reasonable to think that he is permitted to receive the honor. However, it is still forbidden to receive since the light makes the Kli. Hence, after he has received the honor he becomes needy of the honor, he is already in its dominion, and it is hard to break free from the honor.
By this one acquires one’s own reality, and it is now hard to annul before the Creator since through the honor he has become a separate entity, and in order to obtain Dvekut [adhesion] one must annul one’s reality completely, hence the “very, very.” “Very” is that it is forbidden to receive honor for oneself, and the other “very” is that even when one’s intention is not for himself, it is still forbidden to receive.