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ב"ה

Article Summaries of Editors' Picks

Teshuva and the Final Solution
The Zohar
When G-d comes to judge Israel, He is filled with mercy on their behalf because He is like a father who feels merciful towards his children. Thus no sins remain to be given to the authority of strict judgment.
Emanations of Evil
The Holy Ari
The Jewish people were commanded to "place the blessing on Mt. Gerizim and the curse on Mt. Eval" when they cross the Jordan River and enter the land of Israel.

The Levites were to pronounce eleven curses there. The number ten signifies completion, balance, and holiness, whereas the number eleven indicates destructive excess, as the Sages say: "whoever adds, detracts."
A Greater Joy
Mystical Classics
"in joy and with a glad heart"

G-d's commandments should appear to us as if they had only been issued on that very day, to enable us to perform them with eagerness, as one performs a task newly assigned.
On Language
Chasidic Masters
"And you shall write on the stones all the words of this Torah, well explained."

The letters of Torah house the revelation of G-d's infinite light as stones form a house. Stones which are created by G-d correspond to the Holy Tongue, whose letters and words contain and express the energy of the objects and ideas they house.
Eleven Curses for Eleven Tribes
Contemporary Kabbalists
"The Levites must speak up, saying to every individual of Israel..."

There are eleven specific curses here, corresponding to all 12 tribes except Simeon, whom Moses did not want to curse explicitly as he was planning not to bless him explicitly when he blessed all the tribes, either.

Sadness, Joy, Descent, and Ascent
Ascent Lights
"And you will rejoice in all the good which G‑d gives you".

One who serves G‑d out of joy will eliminate punishment for his sins, for our happiness stimulates happiness Above, whereas one who lacks joy is defenseless against retribution. The bottom line: don't worry, be happy!
A Deep Slumber
Mystic Story
The Baal Shem Tov sat at the head of the table. Surrounded by his chasidim, he began to expound upon the Kabbalistic meditations that accompany the ritual immersion in the mikvah.

"But Rebbe," one of his chasidim called out to him, "Does not the holy Ari of Safed, of sainted memory, explain these meditations otherwise?"
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