Is there tikkun for the sin of zera levatalah? (Part 1)

Know this well: “Both Torah rabbinical authorities of antiquity and later ones have affirmed that, the majority of the great tribulations that humanity has suffered, be it plagues, hunger, or war, truly have come from the ‘transgressions of the brit’ [Pogem HaBrit]. Any and all mitzvot and good deeds that the person fulfills while his brit is blemished, all goes to the sitra achra, may G-d have mercy… As such, if a man wants do come e serve Hashem, he should first properly rectify the ‘spiritual stains’ of his brit [which have occurred through the ‘spilling of semen in vain’] and later initiate his avodat Hashem. All transgressions against the brit, and the evil events that proceed from that are in fact alluded to in the admonitions of parshat Bechucotai. And that which is written – ‘But if you will not listen to Me’ [Vayikra 26:14] and ‘If you will not do all these commandments’ [ibid.] – does not insinuate that these individuals do not fulfill any of the mitzvot or that they do not study Torah. What is implied here is that, although these individuals study Torah and fulfill mitzvot, the principal is missing, for the brit, which is the most important is stained, and they have not rectified it! And once the brit is blemished and has not been rectified, all [i.e., Torah and mitzvot] is considered as being void and non-existent” (R’ Ya’acov Abuchatzera zt”l, Pituchei Chotam al HaTorah, Bechucotai; see the Ari”zal, Sha’ar HaKavanot, chelek sheni, Iniyan Sucot, Derush 7, on the subject of oneg-nega). HaRav Ya’acov also explains that, “As it is written in the Zohar, the person that has no fear of sin on the subjects of the brit has no fear of G-d in anything that he does. This is so, for his body, which is what fulfills the commandments is stained. Hence, all that he does is also stained! [He affirms that] in accordance to the Kabbalah [Zohar III:52b, Metzora], the pasuk, ‘Be afraid of the sword [a metaphor for the sexual organ]; for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, etc.’ [Iyov 19:29] refers to this [to wit, to the stains of the brit that cause severe Divine decrees to befall the person” (Ibid. Pituchei Chotam).

How does the sitra achra benefit from this spiritual energy?

As it is brought in Kabbalah, “For during all those [130] years that Adam kept away from his wife [Chava, to ‘know her’], unclean spirits came and conceived from him, and bore offspring, which are called ‘plagues of the offspring of Adam’ (Zohar I:169b, Vayishlach). The ‘unclean spirits’, known as sexual shedim (demons), are called Lilim y”s, and have origen in the feminine shed Lilit y”s. These are “impregnated” (see Avot d’Rebi Natan 37:3) from the spiritual energy of semen (spilled in vain) which was ‘not’ used in kedusha (and in this manner, impurify man) and give birth to the ‘plagues’ – another class of shedim – which flit about in the world ‘filling the atmosphere’ together with the other hordes, such as the mekatrigim (see Zohar I:190a, Vayeshev; III:196b, Balak; R' Chayim Palachi zt”l, Kaf HaChayim 240). Moreover, this progeny of shedim is very “special”, being that they are hybrid creatures of demoniac-souls (i.e., human neshamot that have no guf to be connected to, plus the Lilim y”s), which steal and so ‘starve these poor souls of their great vital energy’ (see Bamidbar Rabah 16:25) since each neshama that is brought down from its source above receive spiritual sustenance. 

Now, by Divine law, this plagues are as much considered the person’s children – for he was responsible for their fathering – as are their own children of flesh and blood in the world! These demoniac-souls then hunt their ‘causers of suffering’ (not the Lilim y”s, but their human parents that initiated all these sufferings for them), staying close to them and seeking to siphon their spiritual energy. And as it is written, “When a man goes to the side of the Left and walks in impurity, he draws to himself all kinds of impure spirits, and an unclean spirit clings to him and refuses to leave him, since these spirits cling only to those that cling to them first” (Zohar I:55a, Bereshit). This connection causes man great mental confusion and the machshavot zarot in his life, and vengeance from these plagues on the afterlife! Human beings are forbidden to father these “children”, for they profane the world and man, and seek to dominate humanity. This is contrary to G-d’s Law, which affirms: “Be fruitful, and multiply… and have dominion over the birds of the air” (Bereshit 1:28), to wit, all celestial creatures, for only “man was created in His image” (ibid. 27). It is good that man remembers in the image of Who he was created, so he can be one who is happy walking the straight path, “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the innocent shall remain in it” (Mishlei 2:21), amen.

What is the spiritual aspect of semen?

Against a ruach rah (evil spirit) David HaMelech sang: Lo iegurechah rah va’atsape, “Evil shall not dwell with You” (Tehillim 5:5). And regarding he who impurifies himself with the pleasure in the evil that profanes men the most, to wit, in the hotza'at zera levatalah (spilling the seeds in vain), it is thus said: “He will not come inside the masach [curtain] of the Holy One, blessed be He, and behold the presence of Atik Yomim” (Zohar I:188a, Vayeshev). Why it is that semen has such power to bring tumah? For the spiritual law of zeh l’umat zeh asah Elokim, “What G-d created in the side of kedusha He equally created in the side of tumah” (Kohelet 7:14) establishes that, semen is as much the rawest and most naked ‘creative energy’ that exists in the physical universe, the actual corporification of an aspect of the Ohr Ayin Sof through which even the neshamot of the tzaddikim are brought down to this world, as well as the potential source for the greatest spiritual degeneration that there is, implying on the direct strengthening of the sitra achra, chaz v’shalom. Hence, such a precious and powerful energy must be transported and used with the greatest care and discretion in order not to allow that, “They shall profane My secret place; for the robbers shall enter into it, and profane it” (Yecheskiel HaNavi 7:22). And the appropriate manner to maintain this energy hidden, and thus protected, is through its ‘exclusive’ use in the procreation of life – when the love of a man and his wife act as a spiritual barrier against the chitzonim – the insatiable “robbers” from the side of profanity.

Now, if the person transgresses the commandments of Lo Tirtzach, Lo Tinaf, Lo Tignov, Lo Ta’ane Bereacha Ed Shaker, “Do not kill; Do not commit adultury; Do not steal; and Do not bear false witness” (Shemot 20:13), and in this way becomes a “rebellious prince and companion of thieves... Therefore said the L-rd, the L-rd of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah! I will ease me of My adversaries, and avenge me of My enemies” (Yeshayahu HaNavi 1:23-24). And this is why this perversity is so vile, for it implies on the transgression of so many Divine commandments: “Do not kill”, since it is said that “Your hands are full of blood” (ibid. Yeshayahu 15. The previous Zohar 188a explains that this verse alludes to zera levatalah. See also Rashi on Yecheskiel HaNavi 23:37; R’ Chayim Vital zt”l, Sha’arei Kedusha, Chelek Beit, Sha’ar Chet), and truly, each seed could have generated life, but it only result in death (thus, tumat hameit). “Do not commit adultery”, for instead of increasing the powers of Good in the world, this person giver power to the “lover”, i.e., all that is external to the kedusha, chaz v'shalom (see Kitsur Sefer Chareidim, Chai Adam, in the subject of not being Mnof by himself, by spilling seed). “Do not steal”, for the person becomes a direct accessory to stealing the Ohr Ayin Sof, causing tzaarot [sufferings] to the world. Finally, “Do not bear false witness”, for as it is written, “The L-rd your G-d will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed” (Devarim 30:6), which means that, whatever happens to man also happens to his offspring, be it for good or not. And “when a man dies, the progeny of mashchitim [spiritual destroyers] that he fathered [through the energy of his semen that fed the ‘spiritual lover’, the sitra achra] also follows after the bier [together with his earthly children], expressing great sorrow [and ‘bearing false witness’ to the ‘generosity’ of his father which, after all, begot them]. But all this grieving [and false witnessing] is a terrible disgrace for the deceased’” (R’ Nachman of Breslov zt”l, Likkutei Moharan I:141). May Hashem spare us from such punishments.

End of Shovavim 5769

We have just ended another Shovavim period, a time of tikkun habrit. It is advisable that during Shovavim we study Mishnah, specifically, Masechet Ohalot, for it deals with the laws of tumat hameit (impurity from contact with a ‘human corpse’). Moreover, it deals with the effect of such tumah in a domain as in an ohel (a tent). As such, it figuratively refers to the purity of “man’s tent” – his sechel, the neshamah’s ohel from where it governs all of the guf. As it is written, “‘No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling’ [Tehillim 91:10], and R’ Chisda said in the name of R’ Yermiyah: ‘This means that you will not be disturbed either by nightmares or by machshavot zarot, e thus no calamity shall come near your tent” (Talmud, Berachot 55b). I intend to go deeper, and explain how the brit relates to both kedusha and tumah and the dangers of being pogem habrit (i.e., transgressions with the sexual organ).