Parshat Nitzavim - The Sly Plan of the Givonim

 BH

Standing Before Hashem at Year’s End

Parshat Nitzavim, read on the last Shabbat of the year, is short but rich in meaning. The opening words, “You are all standing today before Hashem” (Devarim 29:9), follow directly after the ninety-eight curses of Parshat Ki Tavo. The people were shaken: how could they endure such punishments if they failed? Moshe reassures them – “You are still standing.”

Rashi comments that the suffering itself is what gives the Jewish people strength to endure. Unlike the nations, who collapse under hardship, Israel remains standing. There is justice, yet there is also compassion. Even when strict judgment is deserved, Hashem tempers it with mercy.

Rebbe Nachman explains in Sichot HaRan that this paradox reflects a deeper mystery: when a Jew refuses to give up and keeps yearning to return to Hashem, even sins themselves can ultimately be transformed into merits. The most precious thing a Jew possesses is his ratzon, his desire. Even one who admits, “I only want to want,” but holds on to that yearning, will eventually succeed in reconnecting to Hashem.

Converts in the Covenant

Moshe continues: not only leaders, elders, men, women, and children are standing, but also “the convert in your camp, from the woodchopper to the water-drawer” (Devarim 29:10–11).

Rashi, citing the Midrash and Gemara (Yevamot 79a), distinguishes two groups. There are genuine converts, who join Israel out of love for Torah and Hashem. And then there are the Givonim (also called Netinim), who were Canaanites under the Torah’s command of destruction. Out of fear, they schemed to save themselves. Disguised as a distant nation, they tricked Moshe and later Yehoshua into accepting their conversion.

Once accepted, their status could not be undone – they had entered the covenant. Yet their origins as Canaanites made the situation complicated. They were allowed to remain within Israel but relegated to a low social tier, serving as woodchoppers and water-drawers. (Some opinions in Chazal maintain that this status was only for their generation, while others hold it remained in place permanently.)

Thus, within the covenant Moshe describes, we already see two types of converts: those drawn by love, and those driven by fear.

How Could the Givonim Convert?

The Torah is clear: the seven nations of Canaan were steeped in such corruption that they had to be utterly destroyed. Their impurity was beyond repair. Yet the Givonim, who came from this very stock, managed to join Israel – albeit through trickery. How could this be?

Chazal clarify that the mitzvah applied specifically to those who remained in the Land. If a Canaanite left for distant lands, he became like any other Gentile, and there was no obligation to kill him. The danger lay in their presence in Eretz Yisrael, where their influence would pollute its holiness. For this reason, the Torah commanded complete destruction.

Still, we see a paradox. These same nations, declared irredeemable, produced people who ultimately converted – accepted by Moshe, by Yehoshua, and even in King David’s time. Granted, restrictions were placed upon them, but they were not cast out. How can this be, if they are “total evil”?

Chazal give us parallels. There are creatures in the world – spiders, pigs, non-kosher animals – whose evil seems so overwhelming that their good cannot yet be accessed. Their spark of holiness is too deeply buried to be extracted by us. A pig, for example, is called chazir because in the future it will “return” (yachzor) and be rectified as kosher. For now, its mixture is beyond our reach.

So too with the Canaanites: they embodied a level of impurity that the Torah declared off-limits to rectification in our present era. Yet the mystery of the Givonim shows there is another factor at play – what Rebbe Nachman calls the Heichal HaTemurot, the Chamber of Exchanges.

The exchange chambers that confuse us with falsehood and concealment also contain opportunities for teshuvah and renewal.

The Mystery of Exchanged Souls

Rebbe Nachman revealed that sometimes souls are swapped between places. A person may be born into one family but carry a soul that doesn’t “belong” there. He gave the example of Napoleon, who rose from a family of servants to become emperor of France. How could such a meteoric rise happen? Rebbe Nachman hinted that Napoleon’s soul was not originally meant for him – it was exchanged.

This principle explains many mysteries. A baal teshuvah, raised in total secularism, may suddenly awaken with a burning yearning to reconnect to Torah and Hashem. Where does this come from? It is the power of a soul that was misplaced but eventually begins to seek its true home.

The same applies to the Givonim converts. Even if they come from nations considered irredeemable, the Chamber of Exchanges allows for holy sparks to be lodged there temporarily. At the right moment, through strange or even sly circumstances, these souls find their way back into Am Yisrael.

Thus, the Givonim are not simply a historical curiosity. They embody the paradox of impurity and holiness, of souls hidden in the wrong place until Hashem arranges their return.

The Sly Plan and the Hidden Exchange

The Givonim’s sly plan was not mere deceit – it was an enactment of the mystery of the Heichal HaTemurot, the Chamber of Exchanges. Though outwardly they belonged to the seven nations destined for destruction, inwardly their souls were not meant to remain trapped there. Through trickery, be’orma, they disguised themselves as strangers from afar, insisting, “We are not of this land.” In that very falsehood lay a hidden truth: their neshamot did not truly belong among the irredeemable.

Rebbe Nachman and Reb Noson teach that sometimes the only way a lost soul can return is through confusion and exchange. The Givonim had to act in this convoluted way because their sparks were lodged in a place of darkness; only by mirroring the “swap” of the exchange chambers could they emerge.

Choppers of Wood and Drawers of Water

Why does the Torah designate them specifically as “your woodchoppers and water-drawers”? This imagery is no accident.

• Woodchoppers – Their task is to cut and separate. Symbolically, they chop at the tangled roots of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the primal source of the world’s admixture. By cutting, they create distinction: good must be freed from evil, no longer bound together.
• Water-drawers – Once separation has been achieved, clarity follows. Only then can one draw from the pure waters of Torah. As the prophet promises, “You will draw water with joy from the wells of salvation” (Yeshayahu 12:3). The Givonim’s role hints to this process: to clear away confusion so that the refreshing flow of Torah wisdom can be revealed.

Thus, though relegated to a low social station, their work embodies a higher spiritual process. They remind us that the tikkun of humanity is to extract light from darkness and to open channels of Torah where once only mixture and doubt prevailed.

Hope in the Exchange

From here emerges a powerful message. Even those labeled as beyond repair – lo techaye kol neshama – may hold hidden sparks waiting to return. Through the strange twists of history, even through deception, Hashem arranges that such sparks be redeemed.

For us, the lesson is clear: never give up hope. The exchange chambers that confuse us with falsehood and concealment also conceal opportunities for teshuvah and renewal. If even the Givonim could be brought in, then no Jew, however lost, is beyond the reach of Hashem’s compassion.

Takeaways for Avodah

• Hold on to Ratzon: Even when blemished or broken, cling to your will to return. Hashem treasures it above all.
• Separate Good from Evil: Like the woodchopper, cut through the confusion. Seek the spark of good even in tangled situations.
• Draw Living Waters: Joy in Torah comes after clarity. Once you separate truth from falsehood, Torah insights flow like fresh water.
• Trust in Hidden Hope: Even when all seems lost, believe that Hashem has prepared a path back. The sly plan itself may be the vehicle for redemption.

Shabbat Shalom, Shana Tova u’metuka, Ketiva v’Chatima Tova. May we see the year open with mercy, may the nations recognize the greatness of Am Yisrael, and may they themselves help bring our people home to Eretz Yisrael with joy and simcha.

This article also appears on the BRI breslov.org website: https://breslov.org/the-sly-plan-of-the-givonim/ 

For a video presentation of this article: https://youtu.be/y1qY_JBrHC8

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Meir Elkabas

Parshat Ki Tavo - The Joy in Tithing

 BH

Ma’aser in the Land of Israel

Parshat Ki Tavo, Reb Noson would often write, is “Parashat Ki Tavo L’Uman” — “when you shall come to Uman.” From this point in the year, Breslov Chassidim traditionally began their journey to Uman for Rosh Hashanah. Fittingly, this parashah is also saturated with the theme of simcha, joy. The Torah describes both blessings and harsh punishments, and the refrain is clear: exile and suffering come because “you did not serve Hashem with joy.”

At the opening of the parashah, the Torah details the mitzvot of bikkurim (first fruits) and ma’aser (tithing). Farmers in the Land of Israel were commanded, within the seven-year Shemittah cycle, to set aside and tithe produce for Kohanim, Levites, the poor, and also for themselves to eat in Yerushalayim during the festivals. Twice in that cycle — after the third year and after the seventh — a person had to perform bi’ur ma’aser, clearing any remaining tithes from his possession by Erev Pesach, and then come to the Beit HaMikdash to recite the viduy ma’aser.

In this proclamation, the farmer declared that he had distributed all that was due, keeping nothing for himself — and he had done so with joy. The Torah makes simcha a condition for the mitzvah to be complete.

The Uniqueness of Eretz Yisrael’s Produce

Reb Noson explains that the produce of Eretz Yisrael is unlike any other. Though a cucumber in Israel may look the same as one in the Diaspora, the inner quality is worlds apart. The produce of the Holy Land absorbs and channels the ten levels of holiness rooted in the land itself. Eretz Yisrael is the conduit between creation and the Infinite Light, and its produce reflects that holiness.

Living in the Land is therefore a privilege, and eating its produce is a form of spiritual nourishment. But this holiness does not spread automatically. The light within the fruit requires a vessel for it to be released. That vessel is the mitzvah of tithing: separating terumot and ma’asrot to their rightful recipients — Kohanim, Levites, the poor, and oneself in Yerushalayim. When done properly, the energy in the produce radiates outwards, blessing the entire world.

In this way, the Torah teaches that the bounty of the Holy Land is not for personal hoarding. Only when a Jew fulfills the mitzvah of tithing with joy does the produce achieve its cosmic role — becoming a channel of blessing for all creation.

Simcha as the Vessel for Infinite Light

Rebbe Nachman in Likutey Moharan 24 teaches that to receive the Ohr Ein Sof — the Infinite Light — the prerequisite is simcha. Joy is both the vessel that allows a person to approach Hashem’s boundless goodness and also the gift that flows back once the light is revealed. Reb Noson explains that there is an initial simcha that enables access, and then a simcha yetera, an added joy that comes as a result.

The entire purpose of life’s trials, he writes, is to bring us to ever-greater levels of joy. Hashem’s intent in creation is to bestow good, and our ability to receive that good is measured by our joy. Thus, joy is not secondary but central — it is the very expression of connection to Hashem and the vessel for His light.

Applied to Eretz Yisrael, this means that the holiness of the Land and its produce requires joy to activate it. The farmer who works the soil is constantly reminded that his livelihood does not depend on his own strength. Hashem sustains him directly, and the work of farming is really to enable the mitzvah of tithing: giving to Levites, Kohanim, the poor, and also eating the produce in holiness in Yerushalayim. When these gifts are given in joy, the holiness within the produce shines forth, radiating blessing to the entire world.

Even today, Jews living in Eretz Yisrael attest that life here is saturated with miracles. Livelihood is not measured in purely natural terms but depends on Hashem’s providence. This reality obligates simcha all the more: to live in the Land is to live in constant awareness that one’s sustenance flows directly from Hashem’s hand.

Viduy Ma’aser and the Third-Year Cycle

The Torah formalizes this joy through the mitzvah of viduy ma’aser — the declaration made on Erev Pesach at the conclusion of the third and seventh years of the Shemittah cycle.

The verses in Ki Tavo (Devarim 26:12–14) describe this process: “When you finish tithing all the tithes of your produce in the third year, the year of tithing…” Rashi notes that some crops planted in the third year are only harvested after Sukkot of the fourth year. Therefore, Pesach of the fourth year serves as the clear cutoff: by then, everything from the third year must have been tithed and distributed.

At that point, the farmer would declare before Hashem that he had given all that was required: to the Levi his portion, to the ger (resident stranger), the yatom (orphan), and the almana (widow). Not only had he given, but he ensured that these recipients ate and were satisfied. The Torah insists that the giving be generous enough that the poor truly benefit, not a token gift that leaves them hungry.

When the farmer completes this with nothing left hoarded in his house — no leftover grain, dried fruit, or produce — he then comes to the Beit HaMikdash to make his proclamation. Central to this declaration is that it was all done with joy. Only then does the produce fulfill its cosmic role as a channel of blessing to the world.

The Five “No’s” of Viduy Ma’aser

The Torah requires that after completing the cycle of tithing, the farmer stand in the Beit HaMikdash and make a declaration before Hashem. This viduy ma’aser is not a confession of sin, but rather a testimony of careful observance. It highlights what the person did not do — a set of five “no’s” that safeguard the sanctity of the mitzvah.

1. Lo avarti mi’mitzvotecha — “I did not transgress Your command”

Rashi explains: I did not switch one crop for another when taking tithes. The tenth of strawberries must come from strawberries themselves, not from apples or wheat. Each species carries its own sanctity; replacing one with another undermines the precision of Hashem’s command.

2. Ve’lo shachachti — “I did not forget”

This means: I did not forget to bless Hashem when separating the ma’aser. Even this agricultural act demands a berachah, acknowledging that the produce — and the mitzvah — are gifts from Hashem.

3. Lo achalti be’oni mimenu — “I did not eat of it in my mourning”

Certain years required the farmer himself to bring Ma’aser Sheni to Yerushalayim and eat it there in holiness. The Torah prohibits eating this portion while in a state of aninut — the grief period between death and burial of a relative. Holiness cannot be mingled with mourning; eating in sadness contradicts the joy required of the mitzvah.

4. Ve’lo bi’arti mimenu be’tameh — “I did not remove it in impurity”

Tithes had to be handled in purity. One may not touch or transfer ma’aser while in a state of tum’ah, for this could render it unfit for the Kohanim or Levites. Rashi emphasizes: the produce must be guarded carefully so that the sanctified food is always given in tahara.

5. Ve’lo natati mimenu la’met — “I did not give of it for the dead”

The ma’aser cannot be used to purchase coffins, burial plots, or shrouds. Its purpose is consecrated: to feed Kohanim, Levites, the poor, or oneself in Yerushalayim. All of these are described as “eating from Hashem’s table.” To divert the holy gift toward death, rather than life and joy, is a distortion of its intent.

Completing the Declaration

After affirming these five safeguards, the farmer concludes: “I listened to the voice of Hashem my God; I did all that You commanded me.” Rashi adds that this includes not only fulfilling the mitzvah precisely, but doing so with joy, and ensuring that others — Levites, converts, orphans, and widows — were also gladdened through the giving.

Thus, the viduy ma’aser affirms that the mitzvah was carried out with both integrity and simcha, ensuring that the sanctity of the tithes remained intact and their purpose fulfilled.

Ma’aser is a system that cultivates the vessels of simcha, enabling the fruits of Eretz Yisrael to radiate blessing to the entire world.

The Five “No’s” as Five Joys

On the surface, the viduy ma’aser is a technical checklist of what the farmer did not do wrong. But each of these “no’s” hints at a deeper joy-discipline. The restrictions ensure that ma’aser is not misused, and they simultaneously guide us toward the five ways of cultivating true simcha.

1. Lo avarti mi’mitzvotecha — Joy within oneself, not at another’s expense

Taking tithes from one crop to cover another is like sourcing joy from the wrong place. Rebbe Nachman distinguishes between holy silliness and mockery. Holy silliness — joking, acting lighthearted, even “faking it” — is permitted because it helps a person rise from heaviness to authentic joy. But leitzanut, making fun of others to amuse oneself, is forbidden. It humiliates another while producing false laughter. This is akin to “taking ma’aser from a foreign crop.” Real joy must come from within your own “produce,” not at someone else’s expense.

2. Ve’lo shachachti — Joy of thanksgiving

“I did not forget to bless You.” This “no” corresponds to the joy of hoda’ah, thanksgiving. When a Jew says a blessing over his crops, he acknowledges that everything comes from Hashem. Gratitude pulls a person out of self-absorption and sorrow, lifting him to a new plane. In that moment of thanks, the difficulties of life fade, replaced by joy in Hashem’s kindness. Forgetting to bless would mean forgetting to thank, and thereby losing one of the most powerful engines of simcha.

3. Lo achalti be’oni mimenu — Joy of movement and music

The Torah forbids eating ma’aser in a state of mourning (aninut). A mourner is prohibited from dancing, singing, or listening to music. This links to the simcha of dance, song, and clapping, one of the pathways of joy Rebbe Nachman describes. Joy must be expressed in movement. Just as ma’aser cannot be consumed in sadness, spiritual “produce” must not be eaten in lethargy or heaviness. True joy demands outward rhythm, energy, and song.

4. Ve’lo bi’arti mimenu be’tameh — Joy of finding good points

Purity is required in handling tithes. Impurity (tum’ah) suggests fixation on flaws, while purity (taharah) represents focusing on good. This corresponds to the Azamra practice of finding nekudot tovot — good points within oneself and others. When a person sees only impurity, he cannot separate ma’aser in holiness. But when he chooses to emphasize the pure and the good, even if small, he maintains the sanctity of the gift and unlocks joy.

5. Ve’lo natati mimeinu la’met — Joy of the future

The fifth restriction prohibits using tithes for burial needs — coffins, graves, or shrouds. On the surface this seems obvious: consecrated gifts are for Hashem’s table, not for death. But there is a deeper link: this “no” corresponds to the simcha le’atid, the joy of the future.

Burial itself is not an end but a storage, a waiting room for techiyat ha-meitim, the resurrection. Cremation rejects that hope; burial affirms it. Even as the body decays, something remains — the rekav, the holy residue from which the body will be rebuilt. This is the positive lens of death: a pause until the great day when all will rise and reunite with parents, ancestors, and tzaddikim — Avraham, Moshe Rabbeinu, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the Baal Shem Tov, Rebbe Nachman, etc..

In times of utter collapse, when no other joy is reachable, one can always hold onto the joy of the future. Everything will one day be rectified; the wicked will be punished, the righteous rewarded, every struggle repaid. Knowing and believing this, we can already taste simcha in the present. Thus the Torah says: “I did not give my ma’aser to the dead.” I did not channel holiness into despair. Instead, I linked it to hope, to the eternal future.

The Simcha in Tithing

We now see that each of the five “no’s” of viduy ma’aser corresponds to one of Rebbe Nachman’s five pathways of joy:

1. No switching crops → joy from within oneself, not at another’s expense (holy silliness vs. mockery).

2. No forgetting → joy of thanksgiving, blessing Hashem for His gifts.

3. No eating in mourning → joy of music, song, and dance, movement that breaks heaviness.

4. No giving in impurity → joy of finding good points, choosing purity over self-condemnation.

5. No giving to the dead → joy of the future, hope in resurrection and ultimate redemption.

The Torah thus encodes joy into the very fabric of tithing. Ma’aser is not just distribution of resources; it is a system that cultivates the vessels of simcha, enabling the fruits of Eretz Yisrael to radiate blessing to the entire world.

Takeaways for the Week

• Check your source of joy: build it from within through holy silliness, not by mocking others.

• Bless constantly: gratitude transforms perspective and lifts you above pain.

• Move for Hashem: dance, sing, and clap to break heaviness and invite joy.

• Seek purity: focus on good points within yourself and others; let them be your tithes.

• Anchor in the future: when all else fails, remember the end of the story — geulah and resurrection.

Bracha

May the mitzvah of ma’aser, and the simcha it awakens, illuminate the holiness of Eretz Yisrael and spread joy to the four corners of the world. May our tithes, our gratitude, and our hope release hidden sparks of light until all creation recognizes the greatness of Am Yisrael and hastens the final redemption.

This article also appears on the BRI breslov.org website: https://breslov.org/the-joy-in-tithing/ 

For a video presentation of this article: https://youtu.be/IfxAvijF9vw

Help support Breslov Therapy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/breslovtherapy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This class is based on Likutey Moharan lesson 24. For more on this lesson: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠linktr.ee/breslovtherapy_lesson_24 If you have been inspired by this class/lecture please share it with your friends. Thank you. Follow us: 

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Shabbat Shalom u’mevorach.

Meir Elkabas

Parshat Ki Teitze - The Exchange of Kil'aim

 BH

The Five Prohibitions of Kila’im

Parshat Ki Tetze introduces us to a few of the intricate laws of kila’im — forbidden mixtures. The Torah delineates five distinct prohibitions:

1. Kil’ei ilan — grafting two species of trees, such as producing a nectarine from a peach and a plum. Though the act of grafting is forbidden, once the fruit exists one may derive benefit from it.

2. Kil’ei ha-kerem — mixing seeds within a vineyard. As the verse states, “Do not sow your vineyard with kila’im” (Devarim 22:9). Rashi explains this as planting wheat, oats, and grapes together, or planting crops too close to a vineyard.

3. Kil’ei zera’im — planting different crops together in a field, such as cucumbers and tomatoes in close proximity, or sowing mixed seeds at once. With grapes, the prohibition intensifies, combining vineyard law with general planting mixtures.

4. Kil’ei behemah — crossbreeding animals, such as creating a mule, or plowing with an ox and donkey together (Devarim 22:10). The act itself is prohibited, though benefit from the result is permitted.

5. Kil’ei begadim (shatnez) — wearing wool and linen together, whether stitched, woven, or even hidden in linings. This too appears in our parashah.

Three of these five — vineyard, animals, and clothing — are in Ki Tetze, while the others are taught in Parshat Kedoshim. Together, they reveal the Torah’s deep concern with boundaries and purity in creation.

The very word kila’im bears layers of meaning. On one level it means mixture, but its root also echoes kele, a prison. A prison confines and traps; so too forbidden mixtures represent a constriction, a confusion of categories, a locking-up of the Divine order. To uncover this further, we turn to the insights of Rebbe Nachman.

The Chamber of Exchanges

Rebbe Nachman, in Likutey Moharan 24, introduces the concept of the Heichal HaTemurot, the Chamber of Exchanges. Though spoken of in plural, there is essentially one chamber — but at every spiritual level, a person encounters it again in new form.

The Chamber of Exchanges is the power of the yetzer hara to confuse opposites: light for dark, sweet for bitter, good for evil, and evil for good. This swapping deceives a person, holding him and the holy sparks he seeks to elevate, prisoner in spiritual kele-prison, unable to distinguish truth from falsehood.

This state of admixture traces back to Adam’s sin with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Originally, good and evil were distinct. By eating from the tree, Adam — as the root of creation — internalized the mixture of opposites into himself, thereby releasing it into the fabric of the world. Ever since, creation itself is an admixture, where sparks of good lie trapped in shells of evil.

Our avodah as Jews is to resist the Chamber of Exchanges. By refusing to be fooled by its swaps, and by holding onto emet-truth, we separate the good from the evil. Each time we uncover a point of truth, we free the good from its captivity, restoring clarity and harmony to creation.

Joy as the Key to Escaping the Chamber of Exchanges

Rebbe Nachman reveals in Likutey Moharan 24 that the only way to overcome the Heichal HaTemurot — the Chamber of Exchanges — is through simcha. The yetzer hara traps a person in confusion, exchanging good for evil and light for darkness, by drawing him into sadness, worry, and despair. Depression and anxiety lock a person into kele, a prison of the soul. But joy is the key that breaks the lock.

True joy is not fleeting pleasure. As Reb Noson emphasizes, the only real happiness is the eternal joy of connecting to Hashem through Torah and mitzvot. When a Jew works to be b’simcha, even while confused and tested, he resists the power of the Chamber of Exchanges. Joy lifts him above the fog, enabling him to extract the good sparks that lie trapped within creation.

This explains the severity of the five prohibitions of kila’im. By mixing trees, seeds, animals, vineyards, or clothing, one creates a state of admixture that locks holiness inside the Chamber of Exchanges. These prohibitions are not merely agricultural or ritual; they reflect spiritual realities. When transgressed, they imprison holy sparks so deeply that they are extraordinarily difficult to retrieve. In most cases, the Torah allows some benefit from the results — such as fruit from grafted trees, crops from mixed seeds, or produce plowed by forbidden animal pairings. But kil’ei ha-kerem — mixtures of the vineyard — are unique: they remain forbidden forever. The vineyard must be destroyed, with no possibility of benefit. The Torah signals here the most dangerous form of admixture, a total trapping of holiness with no release.

The Five Joy-Tools Against Kila’im

What, then, do these five categories of prohibited mixtures represent on the inner level? They correspond to the five pathways of joy that counteract the Chamber of Exchanges. Reb Noson elaborates in Likutey Halachot, connecting them to the five voices of joy listed by the prophets: kol sason, kol simcha, kol chatan, kol kallah, kol omrim hodu laHashem ki tov ki le’olam chasdo.

These five voices parallel five practical methods to generate joy:

1. Silliness and jokes — Breaking one’s dignity to laugh, act silly, and shake off heaviness. By lowering oneself in this way, a person rises to true simcha.

2. Music, dance, and clapping — Physical movement and melody ignite holy momentum, lifting the soul out of sadness. Nigunim and dance bring warmth and joy.

3. Finding good points (Azamra, LM II:282) — Even in the midst of failure, a person can uncover small sparks of goodness within himself: “another little bit, another good point.” This constant search transforms despair into song.

4. Thanksgiving — Not only recognizing personal good points but also seeing the good in Hashem’s creation and expressing gratitude for it. Hoda’ah draws joy by shifting focus from lack to abundance.

5. Joy of the future (simcha d’le’atid) — Anchoring happiness in the certainty of the ultimate redemption: Mashiach, resurrection, the Third Temple. By borrowing this light and joy of the future, one brings hope into a broken present.

Each of these five joy-tools is a weapon against the Chamber of Exchanges. Just as kila’im confuses and traps holiness in admixtures, these five paths of simcha unmask falsehood, liberate sparks, and restore clarity.

Notice where you’re “mixing species” in life, such as roles, times and goals

Mapping the Five Joy-Tools to the Five Prohibitions

Rebbe Nachman’s five pathways to simcha have precise inner parallels in the Torah’s five prohibitions of kila’im. Each joy-tool repairs a specific kind of forbidden mixing that otherwise traps holiness in the Heichal HaTemurot.

1) Sanctified silliness ↔ Kil’ei begadim (shatnez)

Clothing conveys kavod. Chazal note that Rabbi Yochanan called his garments mechabdutei — “my honorers” — because what we wear presents dignity. Halacha therefore expects a talmid chacham to keep clothing clean and respectable.

Shatnez — mixing wool and linen — symbolizes a broken honor, a dignity cobbled together from what should remain apart. On the avodah level, this is the person who refuses to use mili d’shtuta — lightheartedness and jokes — when he desperately needs that lift to avoid sinking into sadness. “It’s beneath my dignity,” he says, preserving a brittle kavod instead of saving his life with jokes and laughter.

That refusal is a kind of shatnez: stitching an image of honor from the wrong fibers. Rebbe Nachman teaches that at times one must lower dignity to raise joy. Sanctified silliness isn’t frivolity; it is a halachic-soul garment woven correctly — a permitted “fabric” that protects from the kele, the prison of sadness. When used at the right time, it keeps us out of the Chamber of Exchanges. When rejected out of pride, the person’s “honor” becomes a forbidden blend that traps him there.

2) Dance and rhythm ↔ Kil’ei behemah and plowing with mixed species

Movement is power. The Torah forbids plowing with an ox and a donkey together (Devarim 22:10) and crossbreeding species. On the inner plane, this warns against misdirected momentum — dancing and moving one’s body for illicit ends versus moving for holiness.

Reb Noson famously transmitted: “If you dance every day, you won’t see Gehinnom.” Until today, Breslov communities grab hands and dance daily after tefillah because rhythm shakes off the gloom that feeds the Chamber of Exchanges. But there is a counterfeit dance, an animal-drive that couples “ox and donkey,” harnessing energy to passions that pull in opposite directions. That is the inner kil’ei behemah.

David HaMelech models holy movement: he danced with joy before the Holy Ark wearing a simple linen garment. Michal, his wife, called it beneath royal dignity, but David answered he would become “even more light” for the honor of Hashem. That is dance as avodah — separating species, directing all force toward Torah and the Shechinah. Join the wrong “team” in your dancing, and you yoke opposites that don’t belong, slipping into the Chamber of Exchanges’s confusion. Dance for Hashem, and you disentangle motion from lust and return its power to simcha.

3) Azamra good points ↔ Kil’ei ha-kerem

Vineyards are different. Wine draws out what is inside: nichnas yayin, yatza sod. Both yayin and sod equal seventy, hinting that wine expresses the inward secret. In avodah, wine corresponds to Azamra — discovering and singing one’s nekudah tovah, the inner point that can be pressed for joy [like a grape].

The blemish of kil’ei ha-kerem is to refuse that small inner good and to keep mixing it with other “improvements.” “One pure grape? Not enough — toss in wheat, barley, extras.” Such mixing betrays an all-or-nothing perfectionism that blocks growth. Rebbe Nachman warns: until a person rejoices in even one tiny good point, the gates of holiness remain closed. The Torah underscores the gravity here: unlike other mixtures where benefit may remain, vineyard mixtures stay forbidden. Spiritually, when I won’t accept my little good point/grape, I neutralize the very spigot from which inner joy could have flowed. The result is total isur — no benefit — because I have invalidated the instrument of my own encouragement.

4) Thanksgiving ↔ Kil’ei zera’im

Hoda’ah is a step beyond Azamra: not only “I have a good point,” but “the world is full of Hashem’s good” — and I say thank You for each separate gift. Kil’ei zera’im — mixing diverse crops in one field or planting them too close — reflects a rushed, constricted mindset: no space, no pause, always adding, never stopping to thank for each discrete blessing.

Why does a farmer throw different seeds together? Often because he feels squeezed — no time, no acreage, no patience. That inner tzimtzum parallels a life with no gratitude breaks. Hoda’ah requires margin and attention: to notice a particular kindness, give it its row, and bless Hashem for this bounty before I sow the next. When I collapse everything into one hurried plot, I forfeit the refinement that thanksgiving brings and I re-enter kele — holiness jammed together and locked up. Separation of species here is the discipline of appreciation.

5) Joy of the future ↔ Kil’ei ilan (grafting trees)

Creation’s story begins with trees: the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life. Adam’s sin blended good with evil and flooded the world with admixture. Our long arc of history is to separate again so we may taste the Tree of Life at the end.

Grafting different trees reenacts the primordial blend. “Not satisfied with what Hashem made — let’s splice lemon with orange, peach with plum.” Once done, halacha permits benefit, but initiating it expresses an itch to improve on creation by re-mixing categories. The repair for this impulse is simcha d’le’atid — borrowing light from the certain future when Mashiach comes, the dead rise, the Third Beit HaMikdash stands, and the mixture is finally sifted. Anchored in that end, I can wait, work, and not force a premature fusion of unlike species. Future-joy cools the urge to graft now. It says: trust the process; don’t break the borders; let each tree be what Hashem made it to be until the great rectification.

Why These Laws Are Chukim and How We Access Them

Moshe calls these laws chukim — decrees beyond human reason. Their inner logic belongs to Keter, the super-conscious crown that stands above intellect. Rebbe Nachman teaches that simcha draws from Keter. That’s the secret: we don’t “solve” the Chamber of Exchanges with cleverness. We out-radiate it with joy that descends from beyond the mind.

Keter’s light approaches us indirectly; when we touch it, we feel the betisha — the push-back. The Chamber of Exchanges weaponizes that push: it swaps sweet and bitter, confident and anxious, holy and profane. Our answer is the fivefold discipline of joy:

• Lower dignity and act silly when needed to rescue the heart

• Move the body for holiness until joyous warmth returns

• Locate the smallest point of good until it becomes a melody

• Name and thank for specific gifts so gratitude takes root

• Stand in the future’s sunlight and import its hope into today

Practiced patiently, these disentangle mixtures and release sparks from their prison. Each success lifts us a rung — Keter received indirectly — preparing us for the day when all sparks are gathered and the Chamber of Exchanges itself loses power.

Takeaways for the Week

• Guard dignity by using it rightly: when heaviness hits, choose sanctified silliness over brittle honor; avoid the “shatnez” of fake kavod.

• Move daily: a few minutes of dance or rhythmic clapping after tefillah realigns momentum with holiness.

• Azamra journal: write one concrete good point each day and sing it — don’t add “extras.” Let the “grape” be enough.

• Gratitude rows: list three distinct kindnesses and thank Hashem for each separately — give every “seed” its own field.

• Future-light practice: spend one minute visualizing geulah — Third Beit HaMikdash, techiyat ha-meitim, universal clarity — and borrow that joy into the present test.

• Boundary awareness: notice where you’re “mixing species” in life — roles, times, goals — and restore healthy separations.

Bracha

May Hashem grant us the courage to choose joy from Keter, to refuse the confusions of the Chamber of Exchanges, and to free every spark entrusted to us. May our laughter, movement, songs, thanksgivings, and future-hope gather light for Am Yisrael until we merit the complete geulah, bimheirah b’yameinu. 

This article also appears on the BRI breslov.org website: https://breslov.org/the-exchanges-of-kilaim/ 

For a video presentation of this article: https://youtu.be/1SnZJEPv6jg

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This class is based on Likutey Moharan lesson 24. 

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Shabbat Shalom u’mevorach

Meir Elkabas