ז' חשון – אגרת הקודש פרק כ"ו

Let’s look closely at the wording used by the ר"מ—the Ra'aya Mehemna—quoted above. He says, ואילנא דטוב ורע דאיהו איסור והיתר כו'—the Tree of Good and Evil, which is the source of forbidden and permitted things, and so on. Notice, he does not say, "the Torah of forbidden and permitted things" or "the laws of issur v’heter."

This distinction is important. The Ra'aya Mehemna is not talking about the halachos—the laws—of what is forbidden and permitted, but about the actual things themselves: the objects or acts that are forbidden or permitted. The language is precise, and the Alter Rebbe is drawing our attention to that precision.

What does this mean? The intent is that the essence—the actual substance—of something forbidden or something permitted comes from the אילנא דטוב ורע—the Tree of Good and Evil. This is the spiritual source known as קליפת נוגה—the shell of Nogah, as explained in עץ חיים—Etz Chaim.

So, when we talk about the status of something as forbidden or permitted, we’re talking about its root in the spiritual worlds, and that root is in the realm of Nogah, which is a mixture of good and evil.

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 kelipah—the spiritual shell—rests upon it, and it cannot ascend upward to holiness the way something permitted can.

In contrast, something permitted is not bound by the kelipah and can be elevated. The forbidden object is tied down by the kelipah, unable to rise to a higher spiritual state.

However, something permitted can be elevated by a person who eats it with the proper intention, for the sake of Heaven. Even if a person eats without explicit intent, but he is a person who serves G‑d, and the energy from that food is used to learn Torah or to daven, then the letters of Torah and tefillah that ascend to G‑d are powered by the energy refined from that food.

So, the act of eating permitted food, when used for holy purposes, transforms the energy of the food into something that rises upward, becoming part of the spiritual ascent through Torah and prayer.

This process applies during the week. But on Shabbos, there is an elevation of קליפת נוגה itself, together with the external aspects of all the worlds. That’s 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 does so would be called a glutton or a drunkard.

On Shabbos, the spiritual reality changes. The very source of physical pleasure is elevated, so indulging in these pleasures becomes a mitzvah, not a negative trait.

But when it comes to something forbidden, it cannot be elevated—not on Shabbos and not during the week—even if a person learns Torah or davens with the energy from that food. The only exception is if the forbidden food was eaten for pikuach nefesh—to save a life—where the Sages permitted it, and it becomes completely permitted.

In that case, the status of the food changes, and it can be elevated. But otherwise, forbidden things remain bound by the kelipah and cannot ascend.

However, when it comes to learning Torah, even the laws of forbidden and permitted, of purity and impurity—these are the Mishnayos and Beraisos in the Gemara, and the poskim who clarify and determine the law in practice—these are all the very body of the Oral Torah, which is the ספירת מלכות דאצילות—the sefirah of Malchus of Atzilus. As the Zohar says in countless places, the source of Torah Sheba’al Peh is in Malchus of Atzilus.

So, even though the subject matter is about forbidden and permitted things, the Torah itself—its words, its laws—are rooted in the highest spiritual world.

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

This is a unique oneness that only exists in Atzilus, where G‑d’s essence, His will, His wisdom, and His speech are all completely unified, without any separation or division.