Higher
Than Intellect
Translated
by Avraham Greenbaum
Tzaddik: A Portrait of Rabbi Nachman
(Breslov
Research Institute), 150
Chayei Moharan
My friend R.
Naftali and I came into the Rebbe shortly before Shavuot 5565 (1805). He told
us that now he knew nothing at all. All he knew at this time, he continued, was
that because of the malicious gossip in the world the Tzaddikim cannot be
humble, as explained in Likutey Moharan 1, 197, and more than this he
did not know. He said explicitly, "Just like you don't know, in the same
way I really don't know anything at all now."
He said that now
he was living a simple life: he would get up in the morning and pray,
afterwards he would learn a bit, then he would recite psalms, and afterwards he
would eat his meal and lie down for a bit of a sleep. Later, he would get up,
speak, and plead with God in his own words. "And I have pity on
myself," he added. He said these words with such sincerity and broken-heartedness that anyone hearing them would have been able to see the
tremendous pity he had for himself, as if he was totally removed from God. He
then told us that he had had a dream that it was Shavuot, and we had all
gathered to be with him for the festival as we did each year. But he was unable
to teach Torah at all, and he castigated us angrily, telling us it was all our
fault because we were so grossly materialistic that it was impossible for him
to teach us. (In Likutey Moharan 1, 20:4, it is explained that the
Tzaddik's Torah is made from the people who gather to be with him.) His
admonitions inspired us all with feelings of remorse and repentance, and then
he gave a most awesome and wonderful lesson.
From what the
Rebbe said it was evident that in the dream the actual lesson he gave was
revealed to him. When Shavuot itself came and we went to be with him, he gave a
most extraordinary lesson on the verse, "And on the day of the first
fruits," in Likutey Moharan 1, 56. The lesson speaks about the
Malkhut, sovereignty, possessed by each Jew and how Malkhut is sometimes
revealed and sometimes hidden. There can be someone who to outward appearances
has no power at all, but in a hidden way wields power over the whole
generation. Afterwards, the Rebbe said explicitly of himself, "You think
the only influence I have is over you. But the truth is that I have power even
over all the Tzaddikim in the generation, only it is hidden."
The lesson ends
with a discussion about the impossibility of understanding the ways of God and
the paradox that even though the halakhic ruling of one Tzaddik is accepted and
that of another is rejected, we still say that "these and these are the
words of the living God" (Eruvin 13b). This paradox is impossible
to understand <intellectually, but only through simple faith>.
Later on in the
evening the Rebbe took this question up again when he was talking with his
followers. He said there are Kabbalistic works which try to explain the paradox
by saying that where one sage rules leniently and another strictly the one
ruling stems from the sefirah of Chesed, lovingkindness, the other from
Gevurah, severity, and this is why "these and these are the words of the
living God." However, the Rebbe said that
explanations like these are no answer at all for anyone who understands a
little, and he added, "Let somebody gird his loins and come to me with an
answer to this paradox." Such arguments are really no explanation at all
because if one authority rules that something is kosher and permitted for
eating and another rules the opposite, that it is forbidden to eat it, how is
it possible to understand rationally that both views are true, seeing that they
are in total contradiction to each other?
The Rebbe was
saying that explanations like these have no substance to them at all, not to
speak of the explanations given in philosophical works, which certainly have
nothing in them. The reason why the
Rebbe forbade us to read even the philosophical works that are unimpeachable on
religious grounds is because they raise very difficult problems about the ways
of God and go into them at length, but when they come to answer them, the
explanations they give are very weak and easily pulled down. Anyone who studies
these works and tries to answer the questions rationally can be led to atheism
when he realizes later on that the explanation is completely inadequate, while
the problem continues to trouble him.
The Rebbe told us
to rely only on faith. If someone finds he has questions about such matters he
should know that it is impossible to give any explanations, because with our
human minds it is impossible to comprehend the ways of God. All we have is
faith: we must believe that everything is certainly correct and right, only
with our minds it is impossible to understand God's ways. Even the few
explanations brought in genuine kabbalistic works written by holy Tzaddikim
with deep perception and genuine spiritual powers are unable to solve the
problems completely. Clearly the answers hang in the air and we have only faith
to rely on.
This applies to
all similar questions, such as the problem about how man can have free will if
God knows what he is going to do. There have been many attempts to explain
this, but anyone who has eyes to see can understand that it is impossible for
our minds to comprehend the answer at all. Therefore, we should not even begin
to try to look for solutions. The same applies to the problem raised at the
beginning of the Eitz Chaim, which the author of the Sha'arei
Gan Eden tries to answer.
Anyone with a modicum of intelligence can see that the answer is nothing,
because the final conclusion is that "beyond this it is forbidden to
speculate." If this were the
answer, would it not have been better to give it at the beginning instead of
entering the nether world of speculation only to find no answer at all at the
very end. Who knows if he will emerge from the speculation safely! Better to
stay with simple faith, because speculative questions like these, and in
particular the problems raised at the beginning of the Eitz Chaim,
cannot be answered with human reason at all and we should not go into them. We
should know that it is impossible to answer them with human reason. We must
depend on faith alone, for as the heavens are high above the earth, so His ways
are high above our ways and His thoughts are above ours (cf. Isaiah 55:9).
It is well worth
examining the Rebbe's teaching in Likutey Moharan 1, 21 relating to the
statement of the Rabbis that "in time to come the Tzaddikim will sit with
their crowns on their heads" (Berakhot 17a). There he explains that
all these intricate speculative problems have their source in the encompassing
wisdom beyond. This it is impossible to comprehend in any way at present.
Similarly, in the lesson "Come to Pharaoh" (Likutey Moharan 1,
64) the Rebbe explains how these problems have their source in the mystery of
the Empty Void, and this is why it is impossible to find any rational way of
solving them.
In the lesson on
"For those who love them will lead them" (Likutey Moharan 11,
7) it is explained that there are questions that are beyond time and cannot be
answered. Anyone who tries to answer them will simply be led on to even harder
questions until eventually he enters the realm of questions and explanations
which are beyond time - in the sense that there is not sufficient time
to explain all the questions and explanations there. We find similar teachings
in a number of places in Likutey Moharan. There is also the very
beautiful and convincing passage in Likutey Moharan 11, 52, where the
Rebbe says that there must be questions about God - questions that are
impossible to understand - because if there were not and if everything was
according to our rational understanding without any mystery, there would be no
difference between God's understanding and ours. This cannot be. There must be
questions about God profound questions that we are totally unable to
understand. The wisdom of God's ways is far beyond ours.
As a general
rule, wherever the Rebbe mentions philosophical speculation and questions like
these, it is not that he wants to give answers. All his teachings are Torah,
founded on the deepest wisdom. His concern is to show plainly and intelligibly
the source from which these problems arise - which in itself explains why it is
impossible to solve them and put them to rest. His aim is to show now and for
all time that one should on no account enter such speculation seeing as there
is no way of finding solutions. For "all who come in to her will never
return, or find the paths of life" (Proverbs 2:19). See His ways and grow
wise, and you will understand the wonders of God. If you want the truth, you
will understand for yourself from what he says that it is impossible to solve
these questions rationally, even through the methods of the Kabbalah. One must
rely on faith alone.
See Tzaddik 72,
107, 112, 283, 341; Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom, p. 98; Yemey Moharnat
44.
See Likutey
Moharan, loc. cit.
Sha'ar
HaGilgulim, 34.
Cf. Rabbi
Nachman's Wisdom, 189; Likutey Moharan 11, 46.
"The Tree of
Life," a work containing all major Kabbalistic teachings of the Ari, Rabbi
Isaac Luria (1534-1572).
"The Gates
of Paradise," authored by R. Yaakov Kopel ben Moshe Lipshitz of Mezritch
Koton. It contains explanations of the Kabbalah of the Ari. First published in
Koretz, 1803.
Cf. Chagigah
11b; also see Tzaddik 424 for a fuller discussion about these solutions.
See Likutey
Halakhot, Birkhat HaShachar 3:36.
