In the previous section we examined the severity of the sin of hotzaas zera levatalah (wasting seed) and the way it is repaired through proper teshuvah in krias Shema she'al hamitah, the Shema recited at bedtime. Now we turn to the comparison the Alter Rebbe draws between this sin and forbidden relations (bi'os assuros), and to the relationship between the sheer intensity of the tumah (impurity) and the difficulty of repairing it.
About this sin the Alter Rebbe writes:
אף שחמור מהן, וגדול עוונו, מבחינת ריבוי הטומאה והקליפות שמוליד ומרבה מאוד מאוד בהוצאת זרע לבטלה, יותר מביאות אסורות
"Even though it is more severe than they are, and his sin is greater, in terms of the abundance of tumah and kelipos that he generates and multiplies exceedingly through wasting seed, more than through forbidden relations." In other words, in wasting seed the intensity of the impurity that is generated is far greater.
This raises an obvious question. Why is it precisely forbidden relations, where the level of tumah is seemingly lower, that are harder to repair, to the point that krias Shema she'al hamitah does not suffice and what is needed is teshuvah out of great love, or else waiting until "his day will come", while in the sin where the tumah is far greater the repair is actually easier?
The Alter Rebbe answers with two reasons that depend on one another: the first in the body of the chapter, and the second in a hagahah (a gloss he added).
The reason in the body of the chapter:
רק שבביאות אסורות מוסיף כוח וחיות בקליפה טמאה ביותר, עד שאינו יכול לעלות משם על ידי תשובה
"Only that through forbidden relations he adds strength and vitality to a kelipah that is more impure, to the extent that it cannot rise up from there by means of teshuvah." In forbidden relations the impurity is indeed not of such overwhelming intensity, but it becomes attached to something that holds it tightly. Both sins belong to the three entirely impure kelipos, but in wasting seed the vitality is not caught in the most impure kelipah, and therefore it is easier to extract it from there.
It is worth clarifying that the discussion here concerns forbidden relations from which no child was born. Relations from which a mamzer was born are a further matter, and graver still, as will be explained at the end of the chapter.
The hagahah: 'nukva dekelipah':
In the gloss the Alter Rebbe adds a point of explanation:
מפני שנקלטה ביסוד דנוקבא דקליפה המקבלת וקולטת החיות מהקדושה, מה שאין כן בזרע לבטלה שאין שם בחינת נוקבא דקליפה, רק שכוחותיה וחילותיה מלבישים לחיות שבטיפות, כידוע ליודעי חן
"Because it has been absorbed in the yesod of the nukva of kelipah, which receives and absorbs the vitality from holiness; this is not so with wasted seed, where there is no aspect of nukva of kelipah, but rather its powers and hosts merely clothe the vitality that is in the drops, as is known to those familiar with the hidden wisdom."
Just as on the physical plane forbidden relations are exactly what the words say, the transgression being carried out together with the nukva, the female who receives the vitality, so too above there is an aspect of 'nukva dekelipah', the vessel that receives and absorbs the vitality drawn from holiness. Once the impurity has been absorbed there and caught in a vessel, releasing it from there is a difficult matter.
With wasting seed, by contrast, there is no aspect of 'nukva dekelipah'. Physically there is no one who receives the seed, and the same is true spiritually above: there is no absorption into a vessel; the powers and hosts of the kelipah merely clothe the vitality that is in the drops.
The analogy of light and vessel:
Everything has in it an or (light) and a kli (vessel), a concept used constantly in chassidus. When a teacher conveys intellectual ideas to his student, the ideas themselves are in the category of 'the light of the intellect', and the student's mind that absorbs them is the 'vessel'. As long as the matter remains in the category of light, before it has descended and been absorbed into a vessel, it is loftier; once it descends into a vessel the light is necessarily constricted, since the student cannot possibly receive the full intensity of the light as it exists in the teacher. On the other hand, it is precisely through the descent into the vessel that the thing actually takes effect.
The same is true on the side of kelipah. In forbidden relations the light has descended into the vessel and become clothed in a body of kelipah. On the one hand the intensity of the impurity is thereby constricted, as happens with anything that descends into a vessel; on the other hand, once it has been absorbed in a vessel it has already accomplished its effect, and there is now something holding on to it.
Therefore with wasting seed, since the matter is not absorbed into a vessel and remains, as it were, only in the category of light, the impurity is present in enormous abundance, to the point that it is brought that it holds back the redemption; yet since there is no vessel gripping it, it is easier to repair. Both of these sides are precisely reflected in the Alter Rebbe's wording here.
As to the question whether we are speaking of an unintentional sin or a deliberate one: the essential matter is the same, and teshuvah is relevant even for a deliberate sin.
The Alter Rebbe concludes:
אלא אם כן יעשה תשובה מאהבה רבה כל כך, עד שזדונות נעשו לו כזכויות
"Unless he does teshuvah out of such great love that his deliberate sins become for him like merits." This qualification refers to forbidden relations. For wasting seed, proper teshuvah in krias Shema she'al hamitah suffices; for forbidden relations the Shema at bedtime is of no avail, and instead either "his day will come", or he must do teshuvah out of great love.
"Which is the defect that cannot be repaired?":
To sharpen the point, the Alter Rebbe concludes:
ובזה יובן מאמר רבותינו ז"ל: איזהו מעוות שלא יוכל לתקון? זה שבא על הערווה והוליד ממזר
"With this one can understand the saying of our Sages: which is the defect that cannot be repaired? This is one who had relations with a forbidden woman and fathered a mamzer." In such a case, even if he does teshuvah of the greatest sort, he cannot raise the vitality up to holiness, "מאחר שכבר ירדה לעולם הזה ונתלבשה בגוף בשר ודם" - "since it has already descended into this world and become clothed in a body of flesh and blood." Here the impurity is not merely absorbed in the yesod of the nukva of kelipah, but in a living body existing in the world, whose entire identity is that of a mamzer, so that the three impure kelipos have been absorbed into a reality that stands in existence. The repair in such a case is therefore far harder.
Still, something must be added. The Previous Rebbe, in his introduction to the Mitteler Rebbe's booklet "Poke'ach Ivrim", brings a long and wonderful story, well worth reading in full and at length. The Alter Rebbe charged a certain rav, Reb Yosef of Bishenkovitz, that for the good of his soul he ought to be a wagon driver, and the man did not grasp the depth of the instruction. One day, in his old age, they came to offer him the position of rav of the city, and then he understood that he had to carry out his Rebbe's directive, and he became a wagon driver. In his travels he would lodge in various places, praying and reciting krias Shema, and in one place he happened to stay with a Jew who had stumbled in forbidden relations and had fathered a mamzer son. That Jew was so profoundly awakened to teshuvah by the chassid's krias Shema she'al hamitah that in those very days word reached him that his mamzer son had died.
There is no contradiction here to what the Tanya says. The Tanya is speaking about raising the vitality up to holiness. Teshuvah can indeed bring about the departure of the body, but it does not thereby raise the vitality up to holiness. Once there is no longer a body, the matter returns to the status of an ordinary forbidden relation, and renewed teshuvah, or teshuvah on a different level, is required in order to elevate the vitality.
A closing note: 'yodei chen':
The expression "כידוע ליודעי חן" appears many times in Tanya, and the simple reading is that 'ch"n' is an abbreviation for 'chochmah nistarah', the hidden wisdom. The Rebbe makes a simple observation about this: if that is indeed the intent, then we have an abbreviation inside an abbreviation, for "ליח" stands for 'liyodei chen', and 'chen' itself stands for two words. Had the Alter Rebbe meant three words, he should have written "ליח"ן" and not "ליח".
The Rebbe therefore says that one can explain that 'yodei chen' is not an abbreviation of 'chochmah nistarah' at all, but a title for those who study Kabbalah. Proof for this comes from the verse "וה' נתן את חן העם בעיני מצרים", "And G-d gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians", about which the Midrash states: "chen means nothing other than ruach hakodesh." It emerges that the word 'chen' on its own, without being an abbreviation, alludes to a lofty level of ruach hakodesh, and in our context to those who study Kabbalah.
In summary: in this section we learned that although wasting seed multiplies tumah and kelipos far more than forbidden relations do, it is precisely forbidden relations that are harder to repair, because there the vitality is absorbed into the most impure kelipah, in the yesod of the nukva of kelipah which receives and absorbs the vitality from holiness. We explained this with the analogy of light and vessel: whatever descends into a vessel is constricted but takes hold, while whatever remains in the category of light is of far greater intensity yet has nothing gripping it, and its repair is therefore easier. We further learned that forbidden relations require teshuvah out of great love, such that deliberate sins become like merits, and that "a defect that cannot be repaired" is said of one who fathered a mamzer, where the vitality has already descended and been clothed in a body of flesh and blood. We brought the story of Reb Yosef of Bishenkovitz and how it fits with the words of the Tanya, and we closed with the explanation of the expression 'yodei chen'.
In the next section we will continue with the next chapter of Tanya, chapter 8.