The Blog @ Breslov.org

Week of Malkhut, Third Day

Major sefirah: Malkhut/Royalty-Kingship; minor sefirah: Tiferet/Splendor

There’s a time to be frugal and a time to be lavish. For my family and myself, we don’t have to a tent made from crocodile skin, imported from the Far East. It’s enough if our tent is decent quality canvas from wherever—frugal.

But when it comes to making a tent for God—the Mishkan—then whatever it costs to import the finest giraffe hides from Africa is what we’ll pay. To publicize and enhance the splendor and glory of God’s kingdom, is where we ought to spend our money. If honoring God is going to cost a few more drachmas or gold dinars, let me know. I’ll untie my purse and give you what I’ve got.

I’ve noticed something beautiful about tzaddikim and budding tzaddikim. They’re balanced. They always seem poised, knowing that when making a decision they aren’t just figuring out what is the best option in front of them. They’re weighing more than just possible outcomes. They’re weighing what’s going into that decision, what parts of them are involved in choosing what should be done.

So they don’t let their anger or haste overwhelm other voices that are speaking. Nor do they let their pity run away with the show. They have some sort of internal debate or dialogue, “weigh” all the input and choose. That’s a golden balance! That’s a splendid way for a Jew to live.

Our patriarch Yaakov was known for his truthfulness and honesty. Even when he worked for Lavan, one of the biggest double-talking, bald-faced liars and cheats of all-time, Yaakov Avinu showed up on time for work, every day. Never took what wasn’t coming to him. I’m going to strive to be that honest. I’m going to keep my word in business. I want every shekel I give to charity to be 100% kosher!

When I daven (pray) the Shemonah Esrei blessing Refaeinu (Heal us #8) I will try to make amends for seeking perfection and glory at the expense of God’s honor. I now find that idea nauseating. My actually having done certainly makes Mashiach ill.

Ozer Honesty, Sefirat HaOmer, Shemonah Esrei, charity, money Amidah, Avodas Hashem, God, Honesty, Mashiach, money, sefirah, Shemonah Esrei, teshuvah, truth

Week of Yesod, Seventh Day

Major sefirah: Yesod/Foundation; minor sefirah: Malkhut/Royalty-Kingship

You know, even in the darkest days in Egypt, we always had the tradition that the Redeemer would come, a towering tzaddik. And we were fortunate. Many of the ancients, the founders of our tribes, the children and grandchildren of our third patriarch Yaakov, lived long lives. Then the saintly Aharon the Levite shepherded us for so many years until his brother Moshe returned. We were fortunate because we always knew with certainty that they were genuine tzaddikim and that they were destined to lead us.

But what will be in the future? Perhaps some other extraordinary genius with a noble lineage will declare himself to be our true leader. How will we know to distinguish correctly? What can we do so that God will help us choose correctly that we align ourselves, at all times, with genuine tzaddikim? I must pray for siyata d’Shemaya, Divine assistance, in this.

I remember that in Egypt-land, even among us slaves, there were some who were poorer than others. Those poorer ones had complaints against the Creator. It took more than just sharing the precious little we had to get them to feel better and re-consider their bitterness. We had to comfort them, bring them to a more relaxed state of mind so that would understand that there was a better way to relate to God. I pray that I never lose the generosity of spirit and that way with words which helped them.

It’s been many years that we have been led, ruled really, by a Levite. I wonder how long that will continue. Our parents and grandparents always spoke of Yehudah and his tribe as being leaders, courageous in so many ways. And of course, Yosef the Tzaddik and his family were royalty here in Egypt itself. I will pray that whichever of our tribes that God picks, and whomever of that tribe that he selects to rule over us in the future, will establish his kingdom in order to establish God’s kingdom. Amen!

Ozer Sefirat HaOmer, Shalom/Peace, Torah, money, prayer charity, Mashiach, redemption, sefirah, Tzaddik, Tzaddikim, tzedekah

I don’t know why, but within the last 48 hours I heard something that I had never heard in the past. To wit, that 29 Tammuz (Monday night and Tuesday, July 20th and 21st of ‘09) is Rashi’s yortzeit (anniversary of his passing). I never knew that. Then my 18 year old daughter asks, “Where’s Rashi buried?”

“Nobody knows,” I answered.

“How come?”

“Well, if we did, we’d probably all be davening (praying) at his gravesite and Moshiach would come.”

That was my immediate response, and I think it’s true. In Sichot HaRan (aka Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom) #223, the Rebbe zal says, “You may not realize it, but Rashi is like the brother of the holy Torah. Every Jew, from childhood on, studies both the Written and Oral Torah with Rashi’s commentary. Think of this and you will understand Rashi’s outstanding greatness.”

So, let’s start a bit to practice this eitzah (suggestion) of Rebbe Nachman and ponder Rashi’s greatness, and the debt we owe him. How much of the Torah would be a closed book without his guidance, how much insight he adds with a single word said—or unsaid. It’s over a thousand years now that Jews of every sort, in every locale, have been learning Rashi. Rashi has generated so much Torah, starting with the Baalei Tosfot. (Well, maybe starting with his family. Two of his sons-in-law and three grandsons were among the Baalei Tosfot. Some Shabbos table they must have had!)

Another big feature of Rashi is his simplicity. We all know that Rashi’s comment here doesn’t always agree with his comment elsewhere. But part of Rashi’s greatness is to be here now, to unlock the Divine Will with how the Torah is being manifested right in front of us.

An overlooked feature is the unity Rashi engenders. Not only the unity among Jews across the globe and across time—that the Jews are one—but the unity of the Torah herself, despite her seeming contradictions. One of the rebbes of Nadvorna zal, once commented that those who abandon the study of Chumash and Rashi, even great Torah scholars, end up with an erosion of faith, a loss of their oneness with God.

And let us consider the choice of Rebbe Nachman’s words. Rashi is the brother of the Torah. In Hebrew the word for brother, ach אח, has the same root as the word for one, echad אחד. Rashi and the Torah have the same “parents,” the same roots in the worlds above. You can’t see me shrugging and raising my hands open-palms up—can such a human being be described? I’m at a loss for words to do so.

So it’s no wonder that Rashi’s burial site is hidden. His “parentage” makes him like Moshe Rabbeinu! The Talmud (Sotah 14a) tells us that no one knows where Moshe Rabbeinu is buried. One of the reasons is (according to the Ein Yaakov) is that if we knew, Jews would ensemble en masse and plead for the immediate arrival of Moshiach—and be heard. In the merit of the tzaddikim may we soon unite and greet the goeil tzedek, the righteous Redeemer. Amen.

© Copyright 2009 Breslov Research Institute

Ozer Torah, Tzaddik Ein Yaakov, Mashiach, Moshe Rabbeinu, Rashi, Sichot HaRan, simplicity, Tammuz, the Jewish people, Torah, unity

Based on Likutey Moharan I, Lesson #13:2

“Receiving the Torah depends essentially on seikhel (mind), Moshe-Mashiach, as is written (Proverbs 21:22), ‘The sage scaled the city of warriors.’ One who manifests Moshe-Mashiach-ness is capable of receiving the Torah and of drawing her light to teach it to others.”

What is this seikhel that Rebbe Nachman wants us to cultivate? Seikhel is that part of us which is higher, greater, than the angels. The nature of seikhel is as far from sin and sensual-desire as can be.* The purpose of seikhel is to perceive Reality, in its parts and its wholeness, as it genuinely is.

Obviously, we cannot expect to cultivate seikhel if we intoxicate ourselves with liquor or drugs. To the contrary—the damage to seikhel they can cause may be irreparable (for example, if one becomes addicted, God forbid). In our world, we are at risk of become addicted to all manner of pleasures, pastimes and emotions. Too much dependence on any of them prevents us from seeing Reality as it genuinely is. Even a Torah addiction (being a Gemara junkie, for example) can blur one’s perception.

Our first step in cultivating seikhel is self-control. We take that first step when our desire for God is so strong that its pull, our love of God, lifts us—even a tiny bit, even momentarily—so that we see that there is more to the Torah’s stories and mitzvot than meets the eye.

When Rebbe Nachman talks about receiving the Torah, he means gaining a new, more comprehensive understanding of the Torah than one had previously. This receiving of the new depends upon how well one listens to the current Torah. The Torah is sometimes called musar, instruction/reproof (Proverbs 1:8). Very few like instruction and no one likes reproof. But our reticence can be weakened, and even removed, when we recognize that the Torah speaks to us out of pure love.

When we make the love reciprocal, when we lovingly follow the Torah’s wise, well-meaning advice, our seikhel becomes clearer, more capable of perceiving and receiving the Torah’s secrets—and secret secrets.

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!

© Copyright 2009 Breslov Research Institute

*Seikhel is not IQ.

Ozer Uncategorized alchohol, drugs, Dvar Torah, junkie, Mashiach, musar, Shavuot