Nachal novea; makor chochma -
A flowing river; the source of wisdom (Mish. 18:4)
The holy Ari was asked why he surpassed all of the other Tzaddikim (saints) of his generation in holiness. He answered that he fulfilled all of the commandments with great joy and with a full heart, whereas the other saints were unable to do this. Rav Noson the chief disciple of Rabbi Nachman observed the spiritual practices of both his holy father-in-law, Rabbi orbach and his mentor Rabbi Nachman. Rav Noson once asked Rabbi Nachman what was the difference between him and his father-in-law; why was Rabbi Nachman so much spiritually greater than his father-in-law. Rav Noson related that his fatherin-law hardly ever stopped studying and was very meticulous in observing every ST law. He spent all of his waking hours serving G-d, he felt that even Moses could not have done more. Rabbi Nachman said that the answer is the difference between a hot knish and a cold knish [a hot knish tastes better]. This means Rav Noson's father-in-law was very holy, but he did not serve G-d with the higher levels of joy (a flaw, lacking heart and feeling),, he strained and tortured himself to serve G-d. Conversely Rabbi Nachman served G-d with feeling and joy, which more completely connected his heart to G-d.
Rabbi Nachman says, based on the Talmud, that complete repentance depends on purifying and rectifying the heart. The Messiah will not come until we rectify our hearts so we can actually feel G-d, which allows us to be close to Him as the following verses say: "And I (G-d] will give you a new heart (in the Messianic Era], and a new spirit [attitude] will I put within you; and I will remove the heart of stone out of your body [which created a barrier between man and G-d, even amongst the observant individuals], and I will give you a heart of flesh [that is sensitive to loving G-d and man]" (Ezekiel 36:26). "And the L-rd your G-d will circumcise your heart [to let G-d into your hearts] ... to love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart ... " (Deuteronomy 30:6).
The heart is one of the most important organs in the body. (Current research in the field of mind/body medicine has demonstrated that the heart is much more than a mechanical pump - it is a seal of emotional energy.] Through the heart one can experience and come close to G-d as the verse says: "And he [King Jehoshaphat] lifted up his heart in the ways of G-d (that brought him close to G-d]" (2 Chronicles 17:6). Conversely one can fall very far away from G-d through a wayward heart as the verse says: "Beware lest your heart be seduced and you turn astray ... " (Deuteronomy 11:16).
Rabbi Nachman taught that just as G-d created this world in space, so each individual creates his own world in the space of his heart. If one has a wise heart and allows his good thoughts of his heart to influence his behavior then he builds a world of paradise for himself and if one is foolish and allows his bad thoughts to control his a--tions he destroys his world. (2 Lekutai MoHaran 49:4)
Rosh Hashana is the day that we renew our commitment to G-d and return to Him, it is the beginning of the repentance process, and requires the heart. But our hearts have become dulled aue to the activities of day to day living, so G-d instilled Rosh Hashana with the energy to inspire repentance and to renew the heart. And this requires the removal of what is called the "foreskin of the heart." Because of the importance of the heart, and especially during the days of awe, we are going to discuss, based on Rabbi Nachman's insights, some of the aspects of the heart to help us better utilize this vital tool in helping us to return to G-d on Rosh Hashana.
The heart contains two spiritual forces. The right side of the heart contains Divine holy sparks that stimulates a person to burn with a passion to come close to G-d. The left side of the heart contains the evil forces which pulls a person in the opposite direction to lust after the harmful pleasures of this temporary world. The Torah was given to us by G-d, and guides us in being moderate and compromising between the spiritual needs of soul and the physical needs of the body. Without the Torah's guidance, based on moderation, we would not know how to conduct our lives, for going to extremes, whether in the spiritual or physical areas, can be destructive to both the body and the soul.By properly studying the Torah, one can absorb the Torah's spiritual light and powers of moderation and peace into one's heart and mind. This is why the Torah is referred to as: "The tree of life [which offers beneficial guidance that leads to healing] for those who grasp it" (Proverbs 3:18). The Torah can be compared to a cooling agent that is added to a hot radiator, the heart. one who studies Torah causes the right side of his heart to cool down, reducing his passion to go to spiritual extremes. Torah study cools the left side of the heart as well, - reducing one's desire and lust for destructive pleasure (as opposed to positive enjoyment and fun).
Excessive and fanatical devotion to G-d can be very destructive to one's body and soul. Eventually, the fanatic burns himself out, and sees that he is unable to continue with his extreme pace in serving G-d, because of the limitations of his body. Then he becomes discouraged and looses his self-confidence, causing him to fall into despair and away from G-d. The Vilna Goan said that we often see a person who is new to religion and his enthusiasm drives him to study Torah intensely for long hours and then just as suddenly as he was turned on to long hours of Torah study he abruptly stops and discontinues altogether. The Goan says that the enthusiast has violated the Talmudic teaching of: "He who grabs too much [at one time] has secured or grabbed nothing [for he won't be able to sustain the excess causing him to lose everything)."
Even those who are estranged from G-d can fall into the category of religious extremism and fall into despair. Every sinner knows the extent of his sins. The right side of the heart which contains the Divine sparks that yearn for G-d does not let the sinner rest. These sparks constantly gnaw at him making the sinner feel guilty and ashamed of his lack of effort and distance from G-d. He knows it is very difficult to overcome the urges of the body and based on this logic and misconception he feels that he needs to eternally torture himself and fulfill difficult rectifications to repair the spiritual carnage and damage that he has done. Based on these misconceptions the sinner feels that only extreme measures can help him return to G-d, such excessive and unrealistic demands will prevent him from attempting anything at all. Regarding this scenario the wise King Solomon said: "Don't be overly righteous", [so you won't come to what] the very next verse teaches: "Don't be overly wicked" (Ecclesiastics 7:16-17). Extremes in anything, even in good things, comes under the jurisdiction of the realm of evil and is only a trick from the Satan. For the verse says: And G-d saw everything that He had made .[at the conclusion of creating the world], and behold, it (the creation] was very good" (Genesis 1:31). The Medrish tells- us that "it was very good" refers to the angel of death, who is the Satan and the forces of evil. Rav Noson says that this teaches us that anything that is "very good", meaning extreme good, is connected to evil. The forces of evil are nourished by the spiritual light that we draw to ourselves when we do G-d's will. As long as a person serves G-d at his personal level in moderation, he is able to hold G-d's light, allowing the forces of evil to barely sustain themselves from the residue of this light. Every person makes himself into a vessel which can contain Divine light. The size of the vessel is determined by the spiritual growth that the person has achieved. Therefore, if one does too much good, meaning that he has drawn more Divine light to himself than his vessel can hold. Then the Divine light overflows to the forces of evil, which grow big and strong from being fed so much light. These healthy and well fed evil forces in turn come to dominate and cause the extremist to fall away from G-d.
Therefore, a person who is very far from G-d, if he will have any chance to draw closer, must be made aware of these metaphysics so that he will take the slow and patient approach back to G-d. Many non-observant Jews truly desire to become closer to G-d, but they are daunted by their misconceptions that the Torah demands are too burdensome, too restrictive, and too overwhelming. This is a trick of the Satan because in truth every brief prayer, good intention, minute of Torah study, yearning for G-d, sigh, every penny to charity is very valuable and precious to G-d. One does not have to be a saint or 100% pure to bring glory to and serve G-d. Serving G-d does have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. Every big or small deed done for G-d's honor will never be forgotten by Him. We must do what we can, even if we are unable to do everything. If you can't do an entire good deed, than do half. The main point is that we must never be tricked by the Satan to fall into despair because of our seemingly lack of accomplishment, for despair traps a person into the realm of evil.
One should never expect to become completely righteous overnight, for this attitude will keep one distant from G-d. Illustrating this point, the sages tell us the following true incident about Jeravom ben Navot, Jeravom was responsible for leading the ten tribes of Israel astray, causing them to rebel against the Divinely ordained Davidic King and G-d, as well as worshiping idols. Since he was responsible for causing the majority of Jews to become estranged from G-d, all of their sins were placed upon him, making him one of the most far from G-d Jews in history. "G-d approached Jeravom ben Navat and figuratively grabbed him by his clothing and said: 'Do penance and you, and the son of Jesse [King David] and I will stroll in paradise together.' I [Jeravom asked] Who will lead (lit. who will be at the head]?' G-d answered, 'The son of Jesse will lead.' Jeravom responded, 'If this is the case, I will not repent.'" Rav Noson asks: "How could Jeravom possibly ask G-d who would be greater, he or King David?
Jeravom had led almost all of Israel into sin and King David had faithfully served G-d all of his life. Did the wise Jeravom really expect that he had any chance of being at the lead and given a place higher than the holy King David in Paradise?" The answer is that when G-d Himself appeared to Jeravom, his desire for G-d was kindled making him long for G-d with such an intense passion that, at that moment, his desire elevated him above the level of even the great King David. This tells us that it is possible for any Jew, even the worst of sinners to elevate themselves to high levels of holiness, when they decide to return to G-d, as the Talmud teaches: "Rav Abbahu said: 'In the place where penitents stand even the completely righteous cannot stand"' (Talmud: Berachoth 34b). However, Jeravom implied by his question to G-d, "who will lead", that he would only repent if he could be assured a position of greatness, otherwise he felt it would not be worth his trouble to repent. G-d responded to this attitude and told Jeravom that it would be worth being close to G-d even if he would not be able to obtain a high position. Jeravom rejected this answer, refused to repent and lost his share in the world to come.
This incident teaches us that a person should not be proud and arrogant and say that he will only serve G-d on a high level and only do the big things, otherwise he won't do anything at all. One must serve G-d even if he is able only to do the small things, for even the small things are very precious in Gd's eyes. How many multitudes of people have fallen away from G-d, just as Jeravom ben Navat had, because they felt that if they were unable to do everything, or the great things, that it wasn't worth doing anything. Therefore, we should do whatever we can, even the little things, which will entitle us to our full portion in the hereafter.
The spiritual power of food heats up both the right and left sides of the heart. When Adam ate the tainted fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he caused both sides of his heart to become inflamed in the negative sense, thus causing damage to his heart. The left side of his heart burned with excessive passion for pleasure and the right side of his heart burned with an excessive and fanatical passion to come close to G-d. Both of these realities were no good. The extremely wicked Esau asked his holy father Issac how one is to tithe straw and salt. This is doing something in the extreme, for the Torah does not demand or desire such a tithe. This tells us that extremism was a large part of Esauls wickedness. When he did something good, he went overboard. The Torah warns against extremism in the verse: "Do not add to it [the laws andbe good in the extreme] and do not subtract from it" (Deuteronomy 13:1). We can see from the wicked Esau that extremism is harmful, even when one wants to do good.
Rabbi Nachman warned against unnecessary and excessive strictness and stringencies in the performance of the commandments. The most basic and fundamental way of serving G-d is to be simple and upright. Serve G-d with simplicity, without sophistication, excessive stringencies, and hairsplitting.
Making a service complex can actually cause a person to fall away from G-d. Rabbi Nachman advised that one should fulfill the basic requirements prescribed by the law with utter simplicity, without looking for perfection, for no human could ever expect to do anything perfectly. This attitude thinking that one could ever hope to serve G-d in a perfect way, in itself is arrogance. Simplicity is the best way to fulfill G-d's will as related by the following teachings: "You shall live by them [the laws of the Torah]" (Lev. 18:4). The Sages comment: "Live by them - and do not die by them [don't torture yourself when serving G-d by being overly strict this drains the joy and life out of a person]" (Talmud: Yoma 85b). "G-d does not rule over His creatures with tyranny (so too you shouldn't treat yourself with tyranny by being too strict on yourself]" (Talmud: Avodah Zara 3a). "The Torah was not given to the ministering [near perfect] angels (but to imperfect humans, therefore you are not expected to serve G-d with perfection]" (Talmud: Berachoth 25b). A person who is overly strict does not have any life at all. He is always depressed and worried that he is not fulfilling his obligation properly. This leads to depression, and he does not have any life from his observance. (2 Lekutai MoHaran 44)
Therefore, as we are about to stand before G-d on Rosh Hashana, the day of intensive judgement, which is very serious indeed, we may think about our shortcomings and lose hope. Therefore, Rabbi Nachman taught that we must be bold and, despite what we have done wrong, insist on returning to G-d, for this is what G-d wants. This is why G-d gave us the gift of Rosh Hashana and the Ten Days of Repentance, that we should do what G-d expects, return to Him as best as we can, no matter what we have done wrong, as the verse says: "Is not Efraim [the tribe who had led the majority of Jews to rebel against G-d and had violated the entire Torah] a dear son to Me [G-d]? or a child that I (G-d] delight in? for whenever I speak of him, I truly remember him [fondly]: therefore My insides are moved for him: I will surely have mercy upon him (when he tries to repent] so says G-d" (Jeremiah 31:19).
Rabbi Nachman teaches that repentance is mainly dependent on purifying the heart, which influences a person to seek out G-d. If we truly desire G-d in our hearts. their is nothinq that can stand in the way of even the worst sinner returning to G-d. Remember, we should not be too harsh on ourselves on Rosh Hashana and expect to return to G-d all at once (this is a unrealistic goal which is prompted by the Satan). As we mentioned above, this is a very slow process. If we will only commit to changing our hearts and improving our deeds slowly and steadily, this moderate and slow approach will surely produce the best and longest lasting results Amen! (Lekutai Halachoth: Yora Dayah: Hilchoth Terumoth U'Masroth 3:1-4)