“Rabbi Hiyya said, ‘Anyone who is settled in his wine has the knowledge of seventy elders. Wine was given in seventy letters, and a secret was given in seventy letters; when wine enters, a secret exits’” (Iruvin 65). RASHI interpreted “settled in his wine,” that “He drinks wine but his mind does not become unsound.” A secret exists, since one whose secret did not come out is tantamount to a Sanhedrin of seventy.
We should ask:
1) According to this, one who wants to be tantamount to the Sanhedrin does not need to labor in Torah and work, and has the simple way of drinking wine while seeing that his mind stays clear.
2) What is the answer that his “secret did not come out”? Does one obtain the same wholeness as the Sanhedrin for not letting out his secret? And what if he did let out his secret? Does one who lets out his secret commit such a grave transgression as to say that for this he loses his value, that he is no longer regarded as the seventy Sanhedrin? And if he keeps himself from letting out, does he have the same value as the Sanhedrin?
We should understand that in ethics. The path of Torah is for one to believe in the Creator without any knowledge or attainment, but only above attainment and reason. Then, when he engages in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], he is regarded as a Jew. Conversely, one who wants to be a servant of the Creator only in a manner of knowing and attainment, this is regarded as idol-worship (as explained in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] in several places).
Even when he is later rewarded with attainment and knowledge, he must not take this as support for the work, meaning to say that now he is delighted that he has attainment, that he has become liberated from the burden of faith, that he had work having to go above reason, that it is a great effort and now he is happy that he does not need to exert over faith and is freed from carrying that load called “as an ox to the burden and as a donkey to the load.”
Rather, he must understand that being rewarded with attainment, now he is happy that he sees that the path he was on before, the path of faith, which is the view of Torah, is the real way. And the proof is that now he has been rewarded with nearing the Creator, that the Creator has given him the attainment.
Hence, now he receives strength from attainment so he can continue to walk on the path of faith. It follows that the attainment is support for faith in a way that he continues to walk on the path of faith.
This is not so. To the contrary, if he takes faith as support for attainment, meaning that faith is a means to be rewarded with attainment, so when he achieves the goal he throws away the means. Therefore, he kicks out the faith and takes to himself the way of going only where he has attainment. This is not the Jewish view.
As Baal HaSulam interpreted, there is the matter of the herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. The herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle are called “Abraham’s possessions.” This is the quality of faith, as Abraham is called “the father of faith.”
“Herdsmen” means nourishments, which means that the attainment and reason that he receives are in order to strengthen the faith, that the attainment is proof that we must walk in the above-mentioned ways, meaning he takes it as proof. It follows that when we walk on the path of faith, the Creator brings him closer and gives him the light of Torah.
This is not so concerning the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. “Lot” means a curse, from the word Latia [Aramaic: cursed]. This means that one who receives attainment in order to be able to serve the Creator within reason, from this extends a curse, meaning that the light of Torah departs from him and he remains bare and destitute.
The reason we must walk in the ways of faith is that there is the matter of reception in mind and in heart, and reception in mind is called “knowing,” thus far the gist of his words.
With all the above, we can interpret the words of Rabbi Hiyya, “Anyone who is settled in his wine.” “Wine” means the wine of Torah, as it is written in The Zohar, meaning the light of Torah, which is considered that he is being shown the secrets of Torah. This is regarded as attainment and knowledge.
“Anyone who is settled in his wine” means that by receiving the light of Torah, his mind does not become unsound, meaning the reason that he had before he received the wine of Torah is not lost, meaning it does not disappear from him. On the contrary, the reason that he had before becomes settled within him.
By obtaining the wine of Torah, his mind becomes settled. This requires walking in the ways of faith, that he took from here a proof that the way of faith is the real way, and the evidence of this is that the Creator has brought him closer and has given him the light of Torah. It follows that through the light of Torah, the mind that he had prior to being rewarded with wine becomes settled within him.
This is the meaning of “When wine enters, a secret exits.” A secret is called “faith,” since something in which there is no attainment or reason is considered a secret. Hence, when wine, which is attainment, enters, a secret comes out, for the Torah is regarded as revealing, which is the opposite of the secret.
For this reason, one who has been rewarded with the light of Torah and does not let out a secret, meaning that the faith he had had before does not come out of him and he continues to walk in a manner of secret, he is tantamount to seventy Sanhedrin. By the quality of faith growing stronger in him, he becomes similar to the Sanhedrin.
Although they were regarded as “the eyes of the congregation,” for they have been rewarded with the wisdom of the Torah, they still maintained themselves in the quality of faith. Hence, a person who has been rewarded with the wine of Torah and does not let out the secret, and remains with his view to continue to walk in the manner of the secret although now he has revelation and attainment, he is like the seventy Sanhedrin.
This is the meaning of “Wine was given in seventy letters, and a secret was given in seventy; when wine enters, a secret exits,” since in every thing there is Panim [face/anterior] and Achoraim [back/posterior], which are regarded as light and Kli [vessel]. That is, the full quality of the light must be implied in the Kli, since the Kli is the instrument that will be able to draw the light within it.
This is why it is called “seventy,” as in “seventy faces to the Torah,” which means that when he works in the manner of “secret,” which is faith, he must imagine and depict to himself that he will serve the Creator with the same vigor as though he has been rewarded with the wine of Torah, called “seventy faces of the Torah.” “Eye” implies knowing, and seeing with the mind is called “the eyes of the congregation,” referring to the sages of the congregation.
When he maintains himself in this manner, even when he has room to receive seeing and attainment, he is tantamount to the Sanhedrin.
This is similar to one who believes in the Creator, that He hears a prayer, although each day when he prays and does not see that the Creator hears a prayer, he still believes that the Creator hears a prayer. But when he is rewarded with the Creator answering all his requests, he no longer needs to believe that the Creator hears a prayer, since he sees with his own eyes that the Creator is giving him what he wants.
Hence, the place where he must believe is called “a secret,” and the place of the revelation is called “the wine of Torah.” Man must strengthen himself in faith even in a place where he can receive the revelation that the Creator hears a prayer.