THE 13TH GATE [#17728]

What is the “13th gate” (the all-inclusive path of serving Hashem) of the Arizal? Does the “13th gate” give one the ability to take on different customs of different communities? Can a person take from the best of all the different ways of serving Hashem?

13 is equal to the word echad (1). The external understanding of it is that the 13th gate takes a part from every gate and that is how it unifies all the gates together. But the inner understanding is that the 13th gate is the root of all the other gates (ways of serving Hashem), and that enables one to take on many different customs from different paths of serving Hashem. However, this requires daas (sense) because if done incorrectly, one will only confuse himself and mix everything up, like the idea of the Erev Rav, a mixture that mixes everything together in a state of ruination. Daas is needed in order to mix everything together properly. It also needs great wisdom, and expansive, deep knowledge.