חלק ב — תורה 2

4. And when a person merits thanksgiving/ halakhah, the light of truth is revealed and illuminates [his] speech. At first, when the blood flooded the heart, truth was blemished, as in “Bloodthirsty men despise the innocent” (Proverbs 29:10). But afterwards, when he emerges from danger—this being thanksgiving/ halakhah—the truth shines, as in “Ascribe truth to Yaakov, kindness to Avraham” (Micah 7:20). “Kindness to Avraham,” i.e., halakhot, causes the truth to shine and perfects speech. Perfection in speech comes primarily through truth. For truth stands… (Shabbat 104a), and even falsehood is perpetuated only because of truth (as in Rashi’s explanation of the verse “and it does indeed flow with milk and honey”; Numbers 13:27).

It follows that speech is founded and perfected by means of truth, which illuminates speech through three Holy Names, as in “El Elohim YHVH (Almighty, the Lord, God) spoke” (Psalms 50:1). These three Holy Names are the source of truth, and through them truth illuminates speech—namely, in fourfold speech, the four categories of speech.

Speech is fourfold. When the Jewish people were in exile, and the faculty of speech, too, was exiled, it is said of Moshe: “I am not a man of words, also not since yesterday, also not since the day before yesterday, also not since You first spoke to Your servant…” (Exodus 4:10). This alludes to fourfold speech, the four categories of speech.

There is charitable speech, as in “Who speaks with charity” (Isaiah 63:1). This alludes to the faculty of speech that makes man superior to the other living creatures and classifies him as a human being. It also alludes to charity; that he does kindness for people. This defines him as human, whose nature is to do kindness, which is not the case for animals. This is why it is written: “naASeh (let us make) the human” (Genesis 1:26), and “The name of the man with whom ASiti (I did) today…” (Ruth 2:19). Just as [the subject] there is charity, here, too, it is charity (Zohar, Introduction, p.13b). By giving charity he is called “human,” because charity, from which speech is derived, is the definition of a human being. This is the significance of “I am not a man of words.” It refers to charitable speech, as in “Good is the man who is gracious and lends; he arranges his words” (Psalms 112:5)—i.e., benevolence and charity.

There is penitential speech, as in “Take words with you and return to God” (Hosea 14:3). This is the significance of “also not since yesterday,” which is penitential speech, as it is written (Psalms 90:3-4), “and You say, ‘Repent, O sons of man.’ For in Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday.”

There is also the speech of affluence. This refers to the wealthy, who are close to malkhut (the government). They correspond to “the three SaRIGIM (tendrils)” (Genesis 40:10), which our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded as “three SaReI GeiIM (prominent officials)” (Chullin 92a) —i.e., the wealthy, who are close to the government (as Rashi explains there). They possess the faculty of speech, as in “his speech is gracious, he has the Melekh (King) for his companion” (Proverbs 22:11) —i.e., the speech of those who are close to malkhut. This is the significance of “also not since the day before yesterday,” which refers to the three sarigim —i.e., the speech of the wealthy who are close to malkhut.

And there is the speech of Malkhut, as in “Malkhut is the mouth” (Tikkuney Zohar, Introduction, p.17a). This is the significance of “also not since You first spoke,” as in “Your throne stands firm from the first” (Psalms 93:2).

Truth illuminates fourfold speech by means of the three Holy Names: El, Elohim, YHVH, which signify prayer, Torah and matchmaking/marriages.

El corresponds to prayer. This is because El connotes strength; that [God] is powerful and omnipotent. And through prayer, Israel is called “El, ” as in: How do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, called Yaakov “El ”? It is stated (Genesis 33:20), “and called him El.” (Megillah 18a). Through prayer we take God’s strength for ourselves, as it were, and so can nullify His decrees. This shows that we have strength. The Jewish people are therefore called “El, ” on account of prayer, which signifies strength.

This is as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: “ El is not a man, that He should be false” (Numbers 23:19)—it was not a mortal that made the words of God as if they were false (Yerushalmi, Taanit 2:1). Through prayer we nullify God’s decrees, and then Israel is called “ El.” This causes speech to shine, as in “and because of Your might they will speak” (Psalms 145:11). In other words, strength and might—namely, El, which connotes strength—induce speech to radiate with truth. For prayer is only through truth, as it is written (ibid., :18) : “God is near… to all who call to Him in truth.” {“He will serve as your spokesman to the people; and it will be that he will serve as your mouth, and you will be for him an elohim (lord)” (Exodus 4:16).}

Elohim corresponds to Torah, as it is written, “and you will be for him an elohim,” which in Targum is rendered as “rabbi.” This is the meaning of “he will serve as your mouth.” Elohim /Torah illuminates the mouth—namely, speech—because the rabbi teaches his student an unswerving path in His Torah. This is “if you extract the precious from the vile, you will be like My mouth” (Jeremiah 15:19). It also signifies truth, as in “The Torah of truth that was in his mouth” (Malachi 2:6).

YHVH corresponds to matchmaking, as in “From YHVH this thing has come” (Genesis 24:50), and “an intelligent woman comes from YHVH” (Proverbs 19:14). It also corresponds to truth, as in “Who guided me on a true path” (Genesis 24:48). Through this [truth] speech is perfected. This is because: Ten measures of speech descended to the world. Women took nine portions and the entire world took one (as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught; Kiddushin 49b). As long as there are no marriage bonds, speech lacks perfection. But when marriage bonds are made, the categories of speech are combined and completed.

It follows that truth perfects speech by means of the three Holy Names— El, Elohim and YHVH, which correspond to prayer, Torah and matchmaking. As discussed above, it is particularly fourfold speech that is perfected through truth.