Likutay Moharan, Torah-Lesson 282 - Judging favorable and bringing people around to their best

HH

One of the most famous and fundamental Torah-lessons of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov

"AZAMRA"

282

I Will Sing To Hashem With My Very Last Bit

Know that it is necessary to judge every person favorably, and even someone who is completely wicked, it is necessary to search and find in him some bit of good, which in that bit he is not wicked, and through this that he finds in him a bit of good and judges him favorably, through this he raises him in truth to the favorable, and he (the onlooker) can return him in repentance.

And this is the aspect of (Psalms 37:10), “And a bit more and there is no wicked person, and you will contemplate on his place, and he is not there.” That is, that the verse exhorts to judge everyone favorably, and even though you see that he is completely wicked, even still you need to search and seek to find in him a bit of good, where he is not wicked. And this is, “And a bit more (/still remaining) and there is no wicked,” - that you need to seek in him “a bit more (/still)” of good, that he still has, where he “is not wicked,” because even though he is a wicked person, how is it possible that he does not have in him still a bit of good? Because how is it possible that he did not do some sort of mitzva or good thing in his life? And through this that you find in him “a bit more (/still)” of good, where “he is not wicked,” and you judge him favorably, through this you raise him in truth from guilt to merit, (even) until he returns in repentance through this. And this is, “And a bit more (/still) and there is no wicked” - through finding in the wicked person “a remnant” of good, where he is “not wicked,” through this, “and you will contemplate his place and he is not there” - that is, when you contemplate and look upon his place and status, “and he is not there” at his original place, because through this that they are finding in him still a bit of good, some sort of good point, and are judging him favorably, through this they actually extract him from guilt to merit. And this is, “and you will contemplate his place, and he is not there,” as explained above, and understand this.

And similarly a person needs to find also in himself. Because it is known, that a person needs to be extremely vigilant to be happy always, and to very extremely distance sadness (as this is explained by us numerous times), and even when one begins to look at himself and he sees that he doesn't have in himself any good, and he is full of sins, and the bal duvur (-litigator-evil inclination-Satan) wishes through this to make him fall into sadness and depression Heaven-forbid, even still it is forbidden for him to fall from this, just it is necessary to search and find in himself some bit of good, because how is it possible that he did not do any mitzva or good thing in his life? And even though when he begins to look at that good thing he sees that it as well is full of wounds and is incomplete, that is, that he sees that also the mitzva and the holy thing that he merited to do is also full of ulterior self interest, and extraneous thoughts, and many defects, nonetheless how is it possible that there isn't in that mitzva and holy thing some bit of good, for in any event however it might be, nonetheless there was some good point in the mitzva and good thing that he did. Because a person needs to search and seek to find in himself some bit of good in order to enliven himself and to come to joy, as explained above, and through this that he searches and finds in himself yet a bit of good, through this he actually goes out of the (measure of) guilt to (the measure of) merit, and it is possible for him to return in repentance, in the aspect of, “and a bit more (/still) and there is no wicked person, and you will contemplate upon his place and he is not there,” as explained above. That is, just like it is necessary to judge others favorably, even the wicked, and to find in them some good points, and through this one actually extracts them from (the measure of) guilt to (the measure of) merit, in the aspect of, “and a bit more (/still) etc. and you will contemplate etc.,” as explained above, it is the same by a person with himself, that he needs to judge himself favorably, and to find in himself yet, some good point, in order to strengthen himself so that he does not fall completely Heaven forbid, just on the contrary, he shall enliven himself and bring joy to his soul with the bit of good that he finds in himself, that is, what he merited to do in his days, some mitzva or some good thing. And similarly he needs to search “more,” to find in himself some “yet additional” good thing, and even though that good thing as well, is also mixed with a lot of dross, nevertheless he should take from there as well some good point.

And so he should search and collect “more” (the) good points, and through this are made melodies, as is explained elsewhere (in the homily “And it was the end,” in Likutay Moharan, Torah 54), the aspect of playing a musical instrument, which is the aspect of collecting the good spirit from the crushed spirit – sad spirit, see there. [And in summary; for holy melody is very extremely lofty, as is known, and the main melody is made through the culling of the good from the bad, that through the culling and collection of the good points from the midst of the bad, through this are made melodies and songs, see there well].

And therefore, through this that he doesn't allow himself to knock himself down, and he enlivens himself with what he searches and seeks and finds in himself some good points and collects and culls these good points from the midst of the bad and the dross in it etc., as explained above, through this are made melodies, as explained above, and then he can pray and sing and give thanks to Hashem. Because this is known, that when a person falls into dissuasion due to his physicality and his bad deeds, that he sees that he is very extremely far from true holiness, then usually he is not able to pray whatsoever because of this, and he can't open his mouth at all, because of the great sadness, and depression, and heaviness that falls upon him, on account of his seeing his great enormous distance from Hashem Yisburach. However, when he enlivens himself in accordance with the aitzu (advice, remedy, recourse) mentioned above, that is, that even though he knows of himself that he has bad deeds and very numerous sins, and he is very extremely distant from Hashem Yisburach, nevertheless he searches, and seeks, and finds in himself still some good points, as explained above, and he enlivens and brings joy to himself with this, because certainly it is befitting for a person to magnify his happiness very much, in every single good point of the holiness of Israel that he still finds in himself, and then when he enlivens and brings joy to himself through this, as explained above, then he can pray, and sing, and give thanks to Hashem.

And this is the aspect of (Psalms 146:2), “I will sing to my G-d with my utmost (-very last bit -remnant),” “With my utmost <remnant>” specifically, that is, through the aspect of my remnant, that I find in myself, the aspect of: “A bit more (/still there) and there is no wicked,” as explained above, through that point, through this I will be able to sing and give thanks to Hashem, as explained above. And this is, “I will sing,” specifically I will sing, that is, songs and melodies that are made through that which he collects the good points, as explained above.

[And Rabbainu of blessed memory strongly exhorted to go with this Torah (-lesson), because it is a great foundation for everyone who desires to draw close to Hashem Yisburach, and not to forfeit his (existence in the) world completely Heaven forbid. Because most people who are distant from Hashem Yisburach, their main alienation is due to depression and sadness, due to their falling into dissuasion because they see in themselves the enormity of their corruption that they defected in their conduct, each one according to what he knows of himself, the ailments of his heart and his hurting, and because of this they fall dissuaded, and most of them despair of themselves completely, and through this they don't pray with kavana (intention, meaning) whatsoever, and they do not do even what they are still capable of doing. Therefore a person needs to be extremely mindful of this matter, because all the fallings into dissuasion, even though it is due to bad deeds that he actually did, even still, the falling of his resolve, and the sadness, and the depression that falls upon him through this, everything is just the work of the bal duvur (-litigator-evil inclination-Satan), who weakens his resolve in order to make him fall completely Heaven forbid. Therefore it is necessary to strengthen oneself very much to go with this Torah, to search and to seek in himself, each time, some bit of good and good points etc., as explained above. And through this he shall enliven and bring joy to himself, and will still anticipate salvation, and he will be able to pray, and to sing, and to give thanks to Hashem, in the aspect of, “I will sing to my G-d with my utmost (-very last bit -remnant),” as explained above, and through this he will merit to return in truth to Hashem, as explained above].

And know, that whoever can make these melodies, that is, to collect the good points that are found in each one of Israel, even in the caustic sinners of Israel (poashay Yisroel), as explained above, he can pray before the lectern (-lead the service), because one who prays before the lectern is called “shiliach tzeeboor” (-messenger of the congregation), and it is necessary that he represent the entire congregation, that is, that he needs to gather every good point that is found in each and everyone of the supplicants, and all the good points are included in him, and he shall stand and pray with all this good, and this is a “shiliach <messenger, representative of the> tzibur <congregation> (-one who leads the service),” and it is necessary that he possess a lofty aspect such as this, for through this all the points will desire him, and they will be included in him. And he who can make melodies as those mentioned above, that is, that he can judge every person favorably, even the frivolous and the wicked, because he strives to search and to seek to find in all of them good points as explained above, that through this are made melodies as explained above, this tzadik who is holding at this level, he can be cantor (chazan) and shiliach tzibur, that is, to pray before the lectern, because he has in him this aspect which is requisite for the shiliach tzibur who is truly fitting, that he needs to have in him the aspect that all the good points desire him and will be included in him as explained above, because he is capable of gathering all the good points which are found in each and everyone of Israel, even in the caustic sinners of Israel, as explained above.

And know, that in every single generation there is a shepherd, and he is the aspect of Moshe, who is the “ra'yu <shepherd> mihemnu <loyal, faithful>,” and this shepherd, he makes a tabernacle. And know, the teenoakoas <infants, toddlers> shel <of the> bais <house> rabbun <their teacher> (-very young school children) receive the hevel <air, breath, dispensed speech expelled as breath> of their mouths which is free of sin (Talmud, Tractate Shabbos 119b) from this tabernacle, and therefore the infant when he begins to read and enter the (study of) Torah, he begins with (Leviticus 1:1), “Va'yikra <and He called (a=alef)> to Moshe” which is (written with) a small Alef (Yalkut brought down by the Kley Yukur), because (the book of) Va'yikra (-Leviticus) speaks of the completion of the erection of the tabernacle, which is when Hashem Yisburach called him and began to speak with him from the tabernacle, and therefore, from there the infants begin, because from there they receive the hevel (-breath see above) of their mouths, as explained above, and from there they begin to read and enter into the Torah.

And know, that all the tzadikim of the generation, each and every one is the aspect of shepherd, because in each and every one there is in him the aspect of Moshe, and each and every one according to his aspect, according to the aspect of the tabernacle he makes, so too he has infants that receive from there. It comes out, that each and every single one of the tzadikim of the generation has an amount of infants that receive the hevel (-breath see above) of their mouths from him, every one according to his aspect, as explained above. And this is the aspect of what our Sages of blessed memory said (Shabbos 33b) that the infants are caught (-taken) on account of the sin of the generation, as it says (Song of Songs 1:8), “and pasture your kids on the mishkanoas (-dwellings-collaterals-tabernacles) of the shepherds,” that they are taken just like collaterals on account of the (sins of the) shepherds, and this is, “on the mishkanoas (tabernacles) of the shepherds,” for they receive the hevel (-breath) of their mouths from the aspect of the mishkanoas (tabernacles) of the shepherds, that is, the tzadikim of the generation, for each one makes a mishkan (tabernacle), as explained before.

However, to know all this, that is, to know every single tzadik, which infants are associated with him, and how much they receive from him, and to know all the aspects that are in this, and the generation that will come to the end – know, he who can make melodies mentioned above, he can know all this. And this is the secret of what our Rabbis of blessed memory said in the Mishna (Shabbos 1:3; 11a – regarding the prohibition of reading alone by candle light on Shabbos lest one comes to move the candle), “In truth they said, the chazan (cantor) sees where the infants are reading.” “The chazan (cantor),” that is, he who can make the melodies mentioned above, so that he can be chazan and shiliach tzibur (messenger/representative of the congregation) to stand before the lectern (-to lead the prayer), as explained above, he “sees” and knows “where the infants are reading,” that is, by which tzadik they receive the hevel (breath) of their mouths, through which they read and enter the Torah, as explained above.

Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!