Sichos HaRan
Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom

by Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov

#100.

When Joseph refused Potifar's wife, it is written, 'And she grabbed him by his garmentÓ (Genesis 39:12). The forces of the Other Side and the Evil One grab a man by his garment. The necessity of obtaining garments and clothing can disturb a person greatly and prevent him from serving God. Therefore, 'she grabbed him by his garment.Ó

If you are a master of your soul and have your heart strongly bound to God, you will pay no attention to this. You may have no clothing to wear, but it will not disturb you, for you do not allow yourself to be distracted by such things.

It is written, 'And he left his garment with her and fledÓ (ibid.). You must leave your worries of garments and clothing behind and flee from the forces of evil. Pay no attention to what you lack. Do what God requires of you and serve Him to the best of your ability.

#101.

Many times the Rebbe said that no sophistication is needed in serving God. All that is required is simplicity, sincerity, and faith.

The Rebbe said that simplicity is the highest possible thing. God is certainly higher than all else. And God is ultimately simple.

#102.

It is written, 'He beholds no sin in Jacob, nor sees evil in Israel, the Lord his God is with him, and the King's trumpet blast is within himÓ (Numbers 23:21). We heard the Rebbe's explanation of this verse, but the main idea was lost. The following, however, was retained.

A trumpet blast is a TeRuAh. This literally means breaking. Thus it is written, 'You shall TeRoAm (break them) with an iron staffÓ (Psalms 2:9). Take the verse, 'The King's trumpet blast is within them.Ó Substitute the literal meaning and the verse then reads, 'The broken pieces, the King is in them.Ó

When atheism is smashed, the King is in the broken pieces. The Divine King is even in atheism, for His life-giving power permeates all things.

The Rebbe said that the secularists have no life, even in this world. As soon as things go against them they are left with nothing. They depend completely on nature and have no place to turn. When troubles strike, they are left without any source of inspiration.

A man of faith believes in God and has a very good life. When trouble strikes, his faith still inspires him. He trusts in God and knows that everything is for the best. If he must suffer, he realizes that it will atone for his sins. If this is not necessary, these troubles will ultimately bring him a much greater benefit. No matter what happens, he realizes that God ultimately only does good. The man of faith therefore always has a good life, both in this world and the next.

The secularists, however, have no life, neither in this world nor the next. It is well known that their lives are always filled with suffering. No matter what happens, things never seem to go their way. Actually, it is impossible that it should, for they have chosen this world, a realm of suffering and trouble. All that their chosen world has to offer them is pain and worry.

This world never gives a man all that he desires. He who ignores his true purpose and seeks worldly pleasure will only find a world filled with suffering. He will constantly encounter trouble and anxiety, and through it all, will have nothing to console him.

If you have faith, you have hope in the Future World. You therefore have a very good life. You know that all things are good. Even your suffering is for the best, either to remind you to repent or to atone for your sins. Ultimately, it all will allow you to attain the everlasting good of the Future World.

You may suffer because of your faith. The sins and other wrongs you may have committed may cause you great anguish. You may suffer the greatest agonies of regret. Still, this is for your good.

It is written, 'The fear of God increases one's daysÓ (Proverbs 10:27). The agony of regret is not evil, for it increases your days and adds to your life. A man's troubles and anxieties shorten and destroy his life. The secularists therefore have no life, for their troubles and anxieties destroy it completely. But 'the fear of God increases one's days.' When a man's troubles and anxieties stem from his fear of God, they actually add to his life.

You may have great pain when you regret your sins. You may contemplate God's greatness and cringe because of your wrongdoings. Or you may recall that God punishes, and tremble with anxiety. In either case, your suffering comes from your fear of God and is included in the verse, 'The fear of God increases one's days.Ó This is suffering and anxiety that adds to your life.

If you are a person of faith, you will find it easier to repent. True repentance must be teshuvat hamishkal {balanced penitence}. It must include pain and suffering in equal measure to the enjoyment derived from the sin. If you truly believe in God, you can never have perfect enjoyment from any sin.

Whatever wrong you do will be with mixed feelings and full knowledge that it will be bitter in the end. You are aware of the severe and bitter punishment for each sin, and are filled with regrets even while sinning. You may be overcome by temptation, but your enjoyment is minimal. It is therefore very easy for you to repent and balance out your pleasure. You need not endure any suffering, for the pleasure from your sin was never very great.

The person engaged in philosophy will find repentance very difficult. He has been well taught to sin without guilt or remorse and does not suffer when he transgresses. His repentance must therefore balance this unmitigated pleasure.

Look carefully in the Shelah in the section called Mesekhta Shavuot. There you will find the stern prohibition against becoming involved in philosophy. He writes that one who studies philosophy can lose his portion in the Future World and be eternally damned. He also quotes the opinion of many earlier sages, all agreeing that this is among the worst possible sins. This is also discussed in many other sacred works.

#103.

It is written, 'A fool believes all thingsÓ (Proverbs 15:15). It is good to be such a fool. If you believe even that which is false and foolish, you will also believe the truth. You are better off than he who is sophisticated and skeptical of everything.

One can begin by ridiculing foolishness and falsehood. Eventually he will ridicule everything and end up denying even the truth. As one of our greatest sages once said, 'It is better that I be called a fool all my life and not be wicked even one moment before GodÓ (Eidiyot 5:6).

#104.

Regarding the Evil Urge, the Talmud teaches us, 'If this disgusting one greets you, drag him to the house of studyÓ (Kiddushin 30b).

Sometimes the Evil One worships inside a man. The man becomes like a synagogue with the Evil One worshipping inside him. The Evil One can also study Torah inside a man. The man is then like a study hall with some one studying inside him. In such a case, study is better than prayer.

When you bring the Evil One into the Study Hall, our Rabbis teach us, 'If he is a stone he will be melted, if he is iron, he will be shatteredÓ (ibid.). 'If this disgusting thing greets you.Ó 'Greets youÓ in Hebrew is paga bakh. The Talmud teaches us that the word paga means to pray. bakh literally means 'in you.Ó We can then read the statement as, 'If this disgusting thing worships within you.Ó

'If this disgusting thing worships within you, drag him to the house of study.Ó If you are like a synagogue with the Evil One worshiping inside you, drag him to the house of study. Make yourself his study hall and you will eventually destroy him.

#105.

Those who approach God are called, 'Those who have power to stand in the King's palaceÓ (Daniel 1:4). There is a King's Palace on high. Here below, the King's Palace is speech.

Palace is Adonoy. {See #96.} It is written, 'Adonoy (Lord), open my lipsÓ (Psalms 51:17). The Divine name Adonoy refers to speech. You must have 'the power to stand in the King's palace.Ó (This comes from the power of the tzaddik....) You must have the power to stand when a tzaddik opposes you and speaks against you.

#106.

It is written, 'To declare...Your faith by nightÓ (Psalms 92:3). Faith is a light. You can obtain faith through the wisdom of the Torah. Through such scholarship you can attain some understanding of God, and this is certainly good. But better still is the faith that shines by night. This is pure faith, without any sophistication or proof. This true faith is a light 'Your faith by night.Ó

A man can be well versed in the Torah and still have no faith in God. Such faithless scholars are like those infected with a brain disease called raatan. It is written, 'And my heart saw much wisdomÓ (Ecclesiastes. 1:16). True wisdom includes faith and is called sight. Sight is RAiah. On the Other Side it becomes RAatan, an affliction of the brain.

A scholar without faith is said to be infected with raatan. Rashi comments that 'they have a worm in their brains.Ó You must keep far away from those tainted with raatan. Their very breath can cause you harm and arouse your sexual desires.

It is written, 'And Adam knew his wife, EveÓ (Genesis 4:1). Holy intercourse is called knowledge. The knowledge of those contaminated with raatan is tainted and degraded. 'They have a worm in their brain.Ó Their sexuality is therefore caught up with the forces of the kelipot {evil husks}. These faithless scholars are therefore in the category of sexual immorality. Their mind is filled with filth and skepticism. Such immorality is a perversion of sight.

Sight is true wisdom. It is an aspect of eyes. It is written, 'I have made a covenant with my eyesÓ (Job. 31:1). This speaks of a true scholar. But those infected with raatan are immoral and pervert the eyes. It is written, 'And you shall not stray after your heart or after your eyesÓ (Numbers 15:39). The Talmud explains that 'after your heartÓ means atheism and 'after your eyesÓ is sexual immorality (Berakhot 12b). One is dependent upon the other. The best protection against such immorality is wisdom together with faith.

#107.

The Talmud teaches us that Esther was of average height, neither tall nor short (Megillah 13a). The reason is as follows.

Our Rabbis teach us, 'Because of Rachel's modesty, she was worthy of being a forebearer of Saul. And because of Saul's modesty he was worthy of having Esther as a descendantÓ (ibid. 13b). Regarding Rachel it is written, 'Rachel, your little daughterÓ (Genesis 29:18)–small in stature. Regarding Saul it is written, 'He was a head taller than any of his fellowsÓ (1 Samuel 9:2). Esther stood between Rachel and Saul. Therefore she was of average stature.

#108.

The study of Zohar is extremely beneficial. Through studying the Zohar, you can attain enthusiasm for all your sacred studies. The very language of the Zohar is so holy, it can motivate you to serve God. The Zohar uses most forceful expressions in seeking about our duty toward God.

When speaking of a person who does good, the Zohar says 'Zakai...Worthy is he!Ó On the other hand, it cries out against a sinner, 'Vy...Woe! Woe is to him! Woe is to the soul who strays from serving God!Ó Reading such expressions can greatly influence you to serve God.

#109.

When he used it in the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai made the Aramaic language so holy that even other things written in this language have the power to arouse a person toward God.