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Chapter 8
And there is this further point about forbidden foods. They are called by the name “issur,” a binding, for this reason. Even one who ate a forbidden food without knowing, for the sake of Heaven, in order to serve Hashem (God) by the strength of that eating, and who also carried it out and did so, and read and prayed by the strength of that eating, the life in it does not rise and clothe itself in the words of the Torah and the prayer as the permitted food does, because of its being bound in the hands of the sitra achra (the other side) from the three unclean kelipot (husks that hide holiness). Even if it is a binding from the rabbis. For the words of the scribes are more severe than the words of the Torah, and so on (Eruvin 21b). Therefore the evil yetzer (the urge) too, and the power that craves forbidden things, is a demon from the foreign demons. It is the evil yetzer of the nations of the world, whose souls are from the three unclean kelipot. It is not so with the evil yetzer and the power that craves permitted things, in order to fill its craving. That is a demon from the Jewish demons, because it can return to holiness, as above. But in any case, before it has returned to holiness it is sitra achra and kelipah. And afterward too, a trace from it remains clinging in the body, because from every food and every drink, blood and flesh of his own flesh are made at once. Therefore the body needs the beating of the grave, to clean it and to purify it from its uncleanness, which it took in through the enjoyment of this world and its pleasures, from the uncleanness of kelipat nogah and the Jewish demons. This is so unless it is one who never took enjoyment from this world all his days, like our holy teacher.
And for idle words that are permitted, for example an unlearned person who is not able to study, he needs to purify his nefesh (the lowest level of the soul) from this uncleanness of this kelipah by its being whirled in the hollow of the sling, as it is written in the Zohar, portion Beshalach, folio 59. But for forbidden words, such as mockery and evil talk and the like, which are from the three kelipot that are wholly unclean, the hollow of the sling [alone] does not avail to purify and to remove his uncleanness from the nefesh. Rather, it needs to go down to Gehinnom. So too one who is able to occupy himself with Torah and occupies himself with idle things. The hollow of the sling alone does not avail for his nefesh, to scour it and to refine it. Only severe punishments avail, which punish the neglect of Torah in particular, besides the general punishment for every neglect of a positive mitzvah (a commanded deed) because of laziness, in the Gehinnom of snow, as explained in another place. So too one who occupies himself with the wisdoms of the nations of the world is counted among idle things, in the matter of the sin of neglecting Torah, as I wrote in the Laws of Torah Study (Shulchan Aruch of the Rav, Laws of Torah Study, 3, 7).
And there is this further point. The uncleanness of the wisdom of the nations is greater than the uncleanness of idle words. For he clothes and makes unclean only the traits that come from the holy element of wind in his nefesh elokit (the soul from God), with the uncleanness of kelipat nogah that is in idle words, which come from the evil element of wind in this kelipah, in his nefesh bahamit (the life-soul of the body), as above, and not the aspect of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in his nefesh. For they are words of folly and of ignorance, which even fools and unlearned people are able to speak. It is not so with the wisdom of the nations. He clothes and makes unclean the aspect of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in his nefesh elokit, with the uncleanness of kelipat nogah in these wisdoms, which fell there in the breaking of the vessels, from the aspect of the back of the wisdom of holiness, as is known to those who know hidden wisdom. This is so unless he makes them an axe to cut with. That is, in order to earn his living from them with ease, so as to serve Hashem, or he knows how to use them for the service of Hashem or for His Torah. This is the reason of the Rambam (Maimonides) and the Ramban (Nachmanides), of blessed memory, and their company, who occupied themselves with them.
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