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This post is an excerpt from the book The Praises of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, article 24, in honor of Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid.
Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman!
This post is an excerpt from the book The Praises of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, article 24, in honor of Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid.
Also they understood from his words that he spoke with them, that in
his youth when he toiled and labored for the service of Hashem, he had many
(many) types of mortification, and according to what was heard and understood
from his words, (that) he had all types of mortifications that there are in the world,
be it rolling in the snow[1]
etc. and so forth[2]. And
he said, that the mortification of restraining oneself not to scratch oneself
at all, this is the overly greatest mortification, that is, when a person is
being bit (-irritated) by the things found close to his skin, and it is the way of
everyone to scratch themselves whenever they feel the biting (-itching); and he
accepted this as a mortification, to force himself not to scratch at all, not
with his hand, and not with his body, and not with any limb, and he said, that
this is a very great mortification, for the person is inert, and then the
biting/itching grows stronger, and he is forbidden to move his hands or any
limb, just to feel every bite in his mind, and it is a very great
mortification. (And I have already heard this from other people, that this is a
very great mortification). And he of blessed memory did everything, all the
types of mortifications that there are in the world, and everything - with
temeemus (unfeigned wholesomeness,
wholeheartedness, simplicity, sincerity) and truth, until he merited to
what he merited, fortunate is he.
[1] See
Samuel (2:23:20) and the Talmud, Brachos
18b. The Arizal revealed some secrets regarding this mortification in Shaar
Ruach Hakodesh, rectification 22 (R.A.K.). The
Rishash revealed more secrets about it, and there are various allusions to this
in the Scriptures. A famous rabbi once told me that the main intent of this
mortification in particular and many of them in general is to shock the body so
that the soul breaks free. However, various places in the holy teachings of our
Sages and Rabbainu prove that the pain and self-sacrifice itself is the main
goal. However, see Likutay Moharan 170, that through suffering the soul is
enlarged.
[2] This
needs further study, because there are some very wild mortifications brought
down in the holy books which Rabbainu was definitely aware of, e.g. Rabbi
Yehuda Hachasid (Sefer Chasidim 167) praises
someone who stood naked by a beehive and was stung all over his body, and when
he recovered he did it again. This would be almost impossible to do without
anyone knowing. Perhaps Rabbainu did this on a lower scale, or there is a
secret to this perhaps on the lines of what is revealed in Likutay Moharan,
Torah-teaching 193, that a person can visualize upon himself the four capital
punishments so vividly and realistically, that he will actual feel the
suffering, and will be in actual mortal danger of dying.
After some contemplation B.H. it occurred to me that
the aforementioned mortification brought down by Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid was done
as an atonement and rectification for adultery, and all similar drastic
mortifications especially when they are life threatening probably do not come
under the category of regular “segufim” (mortifications) which are done to
weeken the physical desires of the body and so forth, whereas these severe
tasks were intended literally to flirt with death to absolve the person of the
sin, culpable of death, which he transgressed, even open to the possibility that
he might in fact die. Thus we can assert that Rabbainu did not mean that he did
mortifications of that sort.
Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman!
