Likutay Moharan -Volume 2 - Torah-teaching 33

Likutay Moharan II, Torah 33: And Yitro Rejoiced Over All the Good

“And Yitro yichad [rejoiced] over all the good…” (Exodus 18:9) (Sanhedrin 94). And our Sages, of blessed memory, said that his flesh became chidudin chidudin [goosebumps]. For all simchos [joys] are only at their time, for example, the simchah of a wedding or a bris [circumcision, symbolizing sexual purity], the simchah is only at their time. And if one looks at the end, there is no simchah in the world, for the end of a person [is to die], and so forth (Berachos 17). But if one looks at the end of the end, then one has to rejoice very much, for the end of all ends, that is, the ultimate purpose, is very good. And behold, this is only from the side of the neshamah [soul], for from its side, death is very good, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Bereshis Rabbah, Parsha 9): “And behold, it is very good”, this is [the angel of death], and so forth. For it is very good, for through it one comes to the ultimate good. But one who is a tzadik [righteous one], and even his body is very pure and holy, then he can rejoice also with his body, even if he looks at the end, since his body is also pure and holy (Psalms 56:5) “In G-d I trust, what can flesh do to me?” That the flesh, that is, the body, cannot do him any harm. And as it is written: “Also my flesh shall dwell securely” (Psalms 16:9). That the tzadik is confident that also for the body it will be very good. And therefore, he can rejoice also with his body, even when he looks at the end. But one whose body is not so holy, especially a convert, even though his neshamah is very lofty, nevertheless his body was formed from an impure drop. And how is it possible to change this? It is found that this person, whose body is not so holy, especially a convert, cannot rejoice with his body when he looks at the purpose. And this is: “And Yitro yichad over all the good”. That Yitro was sameach [joyful] over all the good, meaning, even when he looked beyond the good. And this is: “over all the good”, above and beyond the good. Even though he looked at this, that is, beyond the good, that is, at the end, nevertheless he was very sameach. For from the side of the neshamah, even when one looks at the end, it is very good, as mentioned above. But his flesh became chidudin chidudin, specifically his flesh, that is, the body. For since he was a convert, his simchah was not in his body when he looked at the end, as mentioned above.