Nachal novea; makor chochma -
A flowing river; the source of wisdom (Mish. 18:4)
In order for us to access the residue of the new Torah that our souls
acquired while in the upper worlds during our sleep, we must wash our
hands three times in the morning, alternating right-left-right-left,
etc. (left-handed person washes opposite) Washing in the morning
concentrates the residue of the spiritual energies of our souls' newly
acquired Torah, giving us the power to ward off new attacks from the
forces of evil and, to a small degree, defeat them, because, as
mentioned above, water contains and accesses the spiritual energies of
the Torah. [Note: Only a small residue of the great light of Torah, that
the infinite soul acquired while in the upper realms, can be drawn down
to the very limited human mind.]
The same thing happened to the two sons of Aaron the high priest, the
holy Nadav and Avihu. They offered the most holy of all offerings, the
incense offering, which enabled their souls to ascend to the level of
Hashem's infinite light, similar to that which Hevel had accomplished
through his offering. And like Hevel, Nadav and Avihu created too much
light, were ambushed by the forces of evil as they descended from the
lofty spiritual realms, and both died, as the verse says, "The sons of
Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, each took his fire pan, they put fire in them
and placed incense upon them [and their souls thereby ascended to the
lofty upper realms, generating a great amount of light]; and they
brought before Hashem an alien fire that He had not commanded them [and
thus became subject to the attacks from the forces of evil]. A fire came
forth from before Hashem and consumed them, and they died before Hashem
[because they lacked the skill needed to return from the upper realms
safely. They did not know how to reduce the great light they had
acquired from the upper realms, and place it into safe vessels.]" (Lev.
10:1, 2)
In another, related incident, the holy Rebbe Akiva and three of his most
worthy students, ascended to the upper realms, to a very high spiritual
area known as Pardes, the Orchard. None of them had any problem
ascending to this lofty area, but of all the members of this holy group,
only Rebbe Akiva had the necessary skills to return safely. Each one of
his three students was destroyed.
Concerning the spiritual ups and downs of life, King Solomon wrote, "Do
not be overly righteous, neither make yourself overly wise, why should
you destroy yourself?" [Through one's excessive righteousness, he
generates too much light, far beyond his current level. His inability to
condense that immense light into protective vessels within his mind
leaves him an open target to the attacks by the forces of evil, which
attempt to destroy him] (Eccl. 7:16) The next verse addresses the
opposite situation, when one has the expected fall after attaining a
higher level: "Do not be overly wicked. [If you have fallen into sin, do
not give up the ways of Hashem entirely. To fall is expected, it happens
to everyone.] You should neither be foolish [and sin even more than you
already have]. Why should you die before your time [and throw away
everything? Making a person feel that since he already sinned, he might
as well sin more is a common trick of the forces of evil.] (Eccl. 7:17)
(Lekutai Halachot: Orach Chaim: Hilchot Netelas Ya'die'yim Shachris
4:13-14, 16)
That Moshe brought down the Torah from Mount Sinai, most people take for
granted. However, it was an act which required great skill, courage, and
daring, and was not so easily accomplished. One reason why this incident
is recorded in the Torah is to illustrate to every person, that everyday
of our lives, we ascend and descend our own personal Mount Sinai, which
like Moshe's original climb and descent, is no easy task. The episode's
main point is that we will always have ups and downs throughout our
lives, successes and failures. Rabbi Nachman teaches that we should
disregard everything negative that happens and retain our firm
commitment to continue on the path that leads to Hashem, everything else
is just a diversion created by the evil inclination. Rabbi Nachman
emphasized that no one, not even the greatest Tzaddikim (saints), has a
smooth and straight path to reach Hashem, to reach the greatest possible
Good. Therefore, as Moshe's climb up Mount Sinai illustrates, nothing
should ever deter us from climbing the Mountain of Hashem, as the verse
says, "Who may ascend the mountain of Hashem [who wishes to attain
spiritual elevation and come close to Hashem]?..One who has...a pure
heart [who is determined that no matter what happens, even if he
committed the worst of sins, he will never be diverted from coming close
to Hashem. Amen]!" (Psalms 24:2)
Rebbe Shimon told Rabbi Nachman, "There should be no question that it
would be better to burn the book so that you can remain alive." Rabbi
Nachman and Rebbe Shimon continued to discuss what should be done and
Rabbi Nachman cried even more. The possible loss of this most precious
and exalted book was too much for him to bear. After discussing the
matter further, Rabbi Nachman ordered Rebbe Shimon to quickly travel to
his home, in far away Breslov, to burn the book. Rabbi Nachman warned
Rebbe Shimon not to try to be clever and go against his orders by trying
to hide part of the book instead of burning everything.
Rebbe Shimon hired a carriage and traveled as fast as he could, because
he knew Rabbi Nachman's life was dependent upon this. But when Rebbe
Shimon came to Dashev, a town near Breslov, he suddenly fell ill and was
laid up in bed, simply unable to get up. He realized that this was the
work of the Evil One, who wanted to prevent him from carrying out his
mission. Rebbe Shimon gave orders to be placed in a coach and he
continued his journey despite his severely weakened state. As soon as
Rebbe Shimon arrived in Breslov he immediately recovered and went to
Rabbi Nachman's home and took the books, both the original and the copy,
and burned them. The burning of these books prolonged Rabbi Nachman's
life an additional year and a half. Rabbi Nachman said that the book had
to burned, but his other work, Lekutai MoHaran, would be printed and
spread throughout the world. One of Rabbi Nachman's intentions in
writing the "burnt book" was that the light that it contained would have
brought the Messiah much sooner. However, because of our many sins, it
was decreed from Heaven that the book should be burned. Rabbi Nachman
said that such a book would not come into the world ever again.
There yet was another book Rabbi Nachman wrote, even greater than the
burnt book, which was called the concealed book. It was hidden away.
Rabbi Nachman said that he had shed his very body when he wrote this
book. The concealed book is so lofty, it is beyond the grasp of any
human being. Only the Messiah will have the ability to explain it.
[Note: The probable reason why the concealed book was permitted to
remain, although it was greater than the burnt book, is that only the
Messiah would be able to understand it, and therefore it would remain an
essentially closed and concealed book. However, the burnt book would
have been understood by a select few sages of the highest caliber and
they would have been able to disseminate the information it contained,
thus causing the Messiah to come before his time. Perhaps this is why
this book had to be destroyed]. (Tzaddik: Breslov Research Institute:
1201 Beach 9th Street, Far Rockaway, N.Y. 11691)
Rabbi Nachman taught that a person should always focus his attention on
man's ultimate destination, the hereafter. In so doing, we draw the
spiritual energies of complete goodness and bliss of the hereafter to
ourselves, helping us diminish the suffering and pain of this world.
This is because our thoughts are the mechanism through which spiritual
energies are emitted and accessed. Rabbi Nachman says that drawing forth
the spiritual energies of the hereafter is best accomplished with the
eyes closed. The mind constantly draws to it spiritual energies from
both this world and the upper worlds. When one closes his eyes, he
blocks from his mind the energies of this world, which are filled with
pain and sorrow. Then, the mind absorbs only the spiritual energies from
the upper worlds, which resonate with joy and bliss and initiate healing
of all of one's afflictions. Thus, for the brief time that an individual
closes his eyes, he feels relief from his suffering, because he is
somewhat connected to the bliss of the hereafter. However, when one
reopens his eyes, he is greeted by an even stronger assault by the
forces of evil, because they resent his attempt to outmaneuver them, to
escape their grip in the realm of depression and suffering. This can be
compared to two men fighting. When one sees that the other man is about
to win, he fights even harder. [Note: The forces of evil are associated
with and nourished by the spiritual energies of sadness and are repelled
by the energies of joy associated with the hereafter.] Rabbi Nachman
says that the most effective means by which the forces of evil can be
overcome is joyful Torah study, because Torah study connects our minds
to the energies of the hereafter, the realm of joy. (1 Lekutai MoHaran
65)
During sleep, only a small fraction of the soul remains in the body,
just enough to sustain it, while the majority ascends to the upper
worlds. This is why when we sleep we are unconscious, almost lifeless.
Through sleep, the soul becomes refreshed and revitalized. It ascends to
the upper worlds where it basks in the spiritual energies of the
hereafter. The holy Ari says that this is alluded to in the verse, "No
[open human] eye had ever seen it [paradise--the reward of the world to
come (Talmud: Berachot 34a), implying that people who close their eyes
can see or experience the hereafter through their soul]." (Isaiah 64:3)
When we sleep, our eyes are closed, "non-seeing," which the verse
associates with the hereafter. The implication is that when we sleep,
our souls ascend to the hereafter, where we temporarily escape the
spiritual energies of harshness associated with the pain, suffering, and
confusions of this world.
Hashem placed man in this world so that man would come to learn more
about Hashem, and so that man could earn eternal reward by choosing to
serve Hashem. In order to attach his mind, i.e. his essence, to Hashem,
man must free himself from his constant struggle with his desires and
from the mental confusions inflicted upon him by the forces of evil.
This constant struggle wearies the soul. Therefore, Hashem created
sleep, a safe haven through which the soul can become refreshed, so it
can effectively continue in its struggle to attach itself to Hashem the
following day. Without this respite, the soul would never be able to win
its struggle, because the spiritual energies of harshness would
eventually overwhelm the weakened and weary soul. Just as in the case of
the aforementioned reopening the eyes, upon awakening in the morning,
the forces of evil are there to greet the person with renewed and more
intense ferocity, for as mentioned above, the forces of evil fight
harder when they see that their intended victim tries to escape. This is
why, by law, we are required to wash our hands three times alternately,
immediately upon waking in the morning. Water accesses the energies of
the Torah, which are associated with the joy of the hereafter, as the
Talmud teaches, "Rebbe Chanina bar Idi said, '... the words of the Torah
are compared to water, as it is written, 'Ho! Everyone that is thirsty,
go to the water [the waters of the Torah]." (Isaiah 55:1) (Talmud:
Taanis 7a), and in yet another verse it says, "Behold, days are coming
says Hashem, G-d, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of
bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Hashem."
[The words of Hashem are in the Torah. Therefore, the verse implies that
in the future, there will be thirst for Torah akin to thirst for water.]
(Amos 8:11) As mentioned above, the waters of the Torah help diminish
the power of the forces of evil.
When we sleep, our souls ascend to the upper worlds where they study
Torah on ever higher levels, levels which cannot possibly be attained on
earth. Through this, our souls encounter the spiritual energies of joy
and true life, derived from the hereafter, the results of which are that
in the morning, we awaken with a totally new and fresh mind. To counter
our increased mental awareness, the forces of evil, in turn, renew their
efforts with all sorts of new tactics to drag us down into the realm of
sadness, in the attempt to destroy our minds. To this, we must respond
with greater and newer weapons of our own, derived from an enhanced,
deeper appreciation and awareness of our Torah knowledge, as the sages
teach, "At the time when someone studies Torah, the evil inclination has
no power over him." (Otzar Medrashim 569). To negate the escalating
assaults from the forces of evil, the Torah urges us to daily renew our
efforts to learn and understand Torah, to consider that Hashem gives us
a brand new Torah each day, as the verse says, "And these words [of
Torah] that I (Hashem) command you this day shall be upon your heart."
[Each day that you study Torah, its teachings shall be new to you as
"this day", the day when the Torah was first given.] (Deut. 6:6)
To further defeat the forces of evil throughout the day, we must fortify
our minds with new knowledge and perceptions of Hashem, because the
forces of evil are repelled by greater awareness of Hashem. This is an
important reason we don the talit (fringes), the tefilin [two square
black boxes that contain Biblical verses, one worn on the head and the
other on the weaker arm], recite the Shema, and pray the Amidah. These
all enable us to renew and expand our minds, so that throughout the day
to can continue to repel the forces of evil which try to destroy our
minds, i.e. our main link to Hashem. Therefore, just as Moshe ascended
Mount Sinai to bring down the Torah in the desert, each person ascends
his own personal Mount Sinai nightly, and returns with new Torah
knowledge that enables him to come close to Hashem, despite the attacks
by the forces of evil. (Lekutai Halachot: Orach Chaim: Hilchot Netilas
Yadayim Shachris 4:1, 2)
Rav Noson points out that it is very difficult for the soul to ascend to
great heights in the spiritual realms, and it is more difficult for the
soul to return safely with the spiritual fruit it has gathered there. He
cites several examples: The verse says, "Hashem turned to Hevel (Abel)
and to his offering." (Genesis 4:4) The offering that Hevel brought
raised him to very lofty spiritual realms, his soul merging with rays of
Hashem's infinite light. However upon his soul's return from the upper
realms, because of Hevel's great achievement, the jealousy of the forces
of evil was inflamed, and through the agency of his brother, Ka'yin
(Cain), they rose up and killed him. Hevel did not know how to draw down
the awesome perceptions of Hashem that his infinite soul had while in
the upper realms, to a level where his more limited human mind could
grasp it. Too much spiritual light (ribui ohr) nourishes the forces of
evil, enabling them to do great harm. Thus it is important to take lofty
spiritual concepts, which generate very great light, and dilute them by
placing the light into smaller vessels, i.e. the finite human mind. When
light is contracted into vessels, the forces of evil cannot be nourished
from it and so, cannot cause harm. This knowledge would have enabled
Hevel to repel the attacks from the forces of evil. However, Hevel
lacked such skill, so the forces of evil swallowed him up and he
perished.
Knowing the difficulty of ascending to heaven and returning safely, King
Solomon, through Divine inspiration, praised Moshe (Moses) for his
awesome feat and skill in coming back unharmed, after climbing to the
most awesome and lofty spiritual realms, bringing the Torah down to
earth with him, as the verse says, "Who ascended to heaven and
descended? Who gathered wind in his fists? Who wrapped the waters in a
garment? Who established all the ends of the earth?" (Proverbs 30:4)
This verse can be interpreted as follows: "Who ascended to heaven and
descended [safely like Moshe (Rashi) and who took the Torah away from
the angels (Mezudath David) who were angered by this act and who sought
to harm Moshe]? Who gathered wind in his fists? [referring to the spirit
of Divine inspiration that is contained in the Torah, as the verse says,
"And the Divine Presence (lit. wind) hovered over the face of the waters
(i.e. Torah, as mentioned above)." (Genesis 1:2) The fists refer to the
Ten Commandments that Moshe held in his hands. (Rav Noson)] Who wrapped
the waters in a garment [again, an allusion to the Torah. Moshe's
garment refers to the small vessels i.e. the human mind, in which Moshe
was able to place the great light of the Torah that he had condensed,
thus preventing the forces of evil from attacking him. Moshe's garment
is the tzitzes (the commandment to place one fringe on each corner of
every four cornered garment). The entire light of the Torah is condensed
into the tzitzes, in small, concentrated amounts, which influence the
vessels of the mind to increase its perception of Hashem. This light of
the Torah enables one to repulse the attacks from the forces of evil, as
the verse says, "They shall make themselves tzitzes on their
garments...[wear them]...So that you may remember and perform all My
commandments [indicating that the tzitzes contains the light of the
entire Torah in a condensed form] and be holy to your G-d [this
condensed light enables the wearer to safely ascend to high spiritual
levels and repulse the attacks from the forces of evil, enabling him to
safely attain holiness.]" (Numbers 15:37, 40) Thus Moshe was able to
bring down the infinite light of the Torah and reduce it so that it
could be absorbed by the mind in a safe way. (Rav Noson)] Who
established all the ends of the earth? [The sages teach that if the Jews
would not have accepted the Torah, the world would have been destroyed,
therefore it is Torah study that sustains the earth's existence. (Rav
Noson)]" (Proverbs 30:4) In other words, King Solomon praised Moshe for
his great skill in safely bringing down the entire Torah from its lofty
spiritual realms. Similar efforts had resulted in the destruction of
other holy men, who lacked Moshe's great expertise. Moshe was able to
avoid the most severe attacks from the forces of evil ever launched,.
Therefore, Moshe's accomplishment was one of the greatest feats in the
history of the world, considering that he faced the most awesome
opposition from the forces of evil that anyone had ever faced.
BY THE FORCES OF EVIL
Based on all of the above, Rav Noson cautions that when a person is
worthy to have a spiritual elevation, the great light that it creates
causes the forces of evil to attack with greater ferocity, just as
happened to the holy men mentioned above. This can cause a person to
fall soon after he attains a measure of spiritual growth. Rav Noson says
that even if one has fallen tens of thousands of times, after every
spiritual climb, he should totally ignore the falls and continue to
observe as many commandments as he can. No matter what has happened, he
should continue to do whatever he can to serve Hashem. The main thing is
just not to allow one's spiritual ups and downs to let him fall
completely away from Hashem. Hashem expects a person to fall on a
regular basis, and does not hold one accountable for this. However,
Hashem does require that one should not totally give up completely, when
a fall does occur. Then, one may ask, what purpose is there in trying to
come closer to Hashem, if in the end he will fall away? Rav Noson
answers that after all the spiritual ups and downs, a portion of the
light that one accessed during his ascent remains with him, accumulating
in his soul. That accumulated light eventually empowers him to rise
above the filth of this world and merit the hereafter.
It is very difficult to reach high spiritual levels and attach oneself
to Hashem's infinite light. It is even more difficult and even dangerous
to return with very lofty spiritual fruit, gathered from the upper
worlds (In the year 1807 after the holiday of Succoth Rabbi Nachman
traveled to Lemberg to receive medical help and for other unknown,
mysterious reasons. When Rabbi Nachman arrived in Lemberg he was in very
critical condition. However, through Hashem's mercy, his condition
improved. Several months after Rabbi Nachman arrived in Lemberg, he
called for his attendant, Rebbe Shimon. Rebbe Shimon entered the room
where Rabbi Nachman was staying and he found the Rebbe crying. With
tears running down his cheeks Rabbi Nachman sighed and said, "There is
no one to ask for advice." Rabbi Nachman told Rebbe Shimon that he had
written a holy book, which was kept in his house, for the sake of which
he had lost his wife and children and had, himself suffered greatly.
Rabbi Nachman knew that if he did not burn the book, he would die, but
he did not know whether it would be better to burn the book or for him
to die, due to the great benefit the book would bring the world. There
is no way of explaining how awesome was this book.