ו' חשון – אגרת הקודש פרק כ"ו

However, if you look closely at the language used by רעים מהימנא—Raaya Mehemna, you will notice something important. He says, "ואילנא דטוב ורע דאיהו איסור והיתר"—the Tree of Good and Evil, which is the source of forbidden and permitted things. He does not say "the Torah of forbidden and permitted things" or "the laws of forbidden and permitted things."

This distinction is crucial. Raaya Mehemna is not saying that the Torah's teachings about what is permitted and forbidden themselves come from the Tree of Good and Evil. Rather, he is saying that the actual things—the objects or actions that are permitted or forbidden—derive from there. The Torah's teachings about them, however, are something else entirely.

In other words, the גוף דבר האסור ודבר המותר—the actual substance of what is forbidden and what is permitted—comes from the אילנא דטוב ורע, the Tree of Good and Evil. This is what is known in Kabbalah as קליפת נוגה—the intermediate shell, as explained in Etz Chaim.

This means that the physical things in this world, the things we deal with—whether they are permitted or forbidden—have their spiritual root in this realm of mixed good and evil, in קליפת נוגה. The Torah's discussion of these things is not what is being referred to here; it is the things themselves.

This is the meaning of the word אסור—forbidden. The term literally means "bound" or "tied up." When something is forbidden, it means that the klipah—the spiritual shell—rests upon it and binds it, so that it cannot ascend to holiness the way something permitted can.

In contrast, something that is מותר—permitted—is not tied down by the klipah. It is free and able to be elevated to holiness, depending on how it is used. The difference between forbidden and permitted is not just a legal status, but a reflection of their spiritual source and potential.

When it comes to things that are מותר—permitted, they can be elevated by a person who eats or uses them with the intention of serving G‑d. Even when a person eats without explicit intention, if he is a servant of G‑d and uses the energy from that food to learn Torah or to daven, then the letters of his Torah and tefillah, which ascend to G‑d, are powered by the energy he received from that food.

In this way, the physical becomes spiritual. The food, which comes from קליפת נוגה, is transformed into the energy for Torah and tefillah, and thus is elevated to holiness. The act of eating, when done for the sake of Heaven or even as part of a life devoted to G‑d, becomes a means of connecting the physical to the spiritual.

This process of elevating the permitted applies during the weekdays. But on Shabbos, there is a unique elevation that takes place. On Shabbos, קליפת נוגה itself, along with the external aspects of all the worlds, is elevated.

This is why there is a mitzvah to eat all kinds of delights on Shabbos, and to increase in meat and wine. Even though during the week, someone who indulges in these things excessively might be called a glutton or a drunkard, on Shabbos it is a mitzvah. The act of eating and enjoying physical pleasures on Shabbos is itself a way of elevating the physical, because the spiritual energy of Shabbos lifts up even the external aspects of creation.

But when it comes to something that is אסור—forbidden, it cannot be elevated—not on Shabbos and not during the week. Even if a person tries to use the energy from forbidden food to learn Torah or to daven, it does not help. The forbidden remains bound by the klipah and cannot ascend to holiness through ordinary means.

The only exception is in a case of pikuach nefesh—saving a life—where the Sages permitted it, and then it becomes truly permitted. In such a case, the act is transformed and the food can be elevated. But under normal circumstances, forbidden things remain spiritually blocked off, unable to be elevated through our actions.

However, when it comes to learning Torah—even the laws of what is forbidden and permitted, or the laws of purity and impurity—these are the Mishnayos and Beraisos in the Gemara, and the halachic authorities who clarify and decide the law in practice. All of these are called גופי תורה שבע"פ—the very body of the Oral Torah.

This is because they are rooted in the ספירת מלכות דאצילות—the sefirah of Malchus of Atzilus. As the Zohar says in countless places, the teachings of Torah Sheba'al Peh, the Oral Torah, are expressions of this highest spiritual level. The Torah's discussion and clarification of what is permitted and forbidden is itself pure holiness, completely separate from the realm of good and evil.

At the beginning of the Tikunei Zohar it says: "מלכות פה, תורה שבע"פ קרינן לה" ("Malchus is the mouth; we call it the Oral Torah," Tikkunei Zohar, Introduction). In Atzilus, it is said: "איהו וגרמוהי חד בהון" ("He and His attributes are one in them," Tikkunei Zohar, Introduction). This means that the Infinite Light of G‑d is united in Atzilus with perfect unity: He, His will, and His wisdom, all of which are clothed in His speech, which is called Malchus, are all one.

In other words, in Atzilus, there is no separation between G‑d and His attributes. Malchus, which is the source of the Oral Torah, is completely united with G‑d's essence. This is why the Torah, even when it discusses the details of what is permitted and forbidden, remains pure holiness, utterly distinct from the realm of good and evil found in the lower worlds.