Likutay Moharan - Volume 2 - Torah-teaching 39

Likutay Moharan II
Torah 39

Come, behold the works of Hashem, Who has set shamos (names) in the earth (Tehillim 46 [Tehillim 46:9]).

For in truth, the matter is exceedingly wondrous and awesome, that Hashem Yisborach created the entire creation, in which there are so very many, many wondrous and awesome things—exceedingly, exceedingly so. How manifold are Your works, Hashem! And even in this world alone, the wonders of Hashem are mighty, for He created the inanimate, the vegetative, and so on. And who can estimate the greatness of Hashem that exists in the creatures of this world—how much more so in the other worlds!

And everything, just as everything, was created only for the sake of Yisrael. And Yisrael themselves—the main point of their creation—is for the aspect of Shabbos, which is the tachlis (ultimate purpose).

For Shabbos is the tachlis of the act of Heaven and earth, which is the aspect of the World of Souls (Introduction to the Zohar, fol. 1a; Zohar Terumah 136a), which is a world that is entirely Shabbos. And there they will attain Hashem Yisborach as is fitting, without any separating curtain and without any preventer; for then there will be complete unity accomplished, and each one will point with his finger: This is Hashem Whom we have hoped for—as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Ta'anis 31a), and this is the tachlis, for the sake of this Hashem Yisborach created the entire creation in its entirety.

And therefore, certainly in every single thing that was created in the world there is the aspect of the tachlis, for in every single thing there is a beginning and an end—that is, the beginning from the place where it descended in the chain of descent, until it became materialized and came into being in this form and image. And there is also in it the aspect of the tachlis and the end, for the sake of which it was created—that is, that Yisrael can deepen their contemplation and know and reflect upon the details of the creation: in the structure of the limbs and the building and stature and image and so on, of every single thing, to contemplate in them the greatness of the Creator, blessed be He, and to serve Him, blessed be He, through this.

And similarly, higher and higher, until the tachlis, where that thing attaches itself to the tachlis. For every single thing has a hold in the tachlis, for the sake of which it was created—that through this thing they can attain Him, blessed be He, and serve Him up to that tachlis, where that thing concludes and attaches to the tachlis.

And every person needs to deepen his contemplation in this, to know and recognize the greatness of the Creator in every single thing, in its structure and its image, in the particularity of its limbs and its building and the like, and to serve Him, blessed be He, through this—until he comes to the aspect of the tachlis of that thing, which is the aspect of Shabbos, the World of Souls, and so on.

And behold, those who possess intellect and have great intellect—they can do this. But those of small stature like us today, who are all in a very low level in the aspect of raglayim (feet/lower limbs)—how is it possible for us to come to this knowledge?

And therefore we need to yearn and long and desire exceedingly: If only we had a leader of the generation, a faithful shepherd, who would have this power—that he could illuminate even in us, in the aspect of raglayim, the aforementioned knowledge and attainment, so that we merit to come to the tachlis—like Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, who from the greatness of the intensity of his level was able to illuminate even in the lowest of the low, even in a maidservant, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Mekhilta Parashat Beshalach; and see Rashi there; and see Zohar Beshalach 55a, Vayikra 22a): “A maidservant saw at the sea what Yechezkel the prophet did not see.” Behold, even Yechezkel, who was such a great prophet, did not see what the maidservant saw in the days of Moshe. And all this was because of the greatness of the intensity of the level of the leader, who was Moshe Rabbeinu the leader, and he was able to illuminate even in the aspect of raglayim.

That even the raglayim, which are distant from the brain—nevertheless, they too can attain and know the tachlis, through the works of Hashem that He created in this lowly world, as mentioned above. For through the greatness of the leader he can draw the brain even to the raglayim, and then it can be that these raglayim are greater than another brain.

And this is: Come, behold—specifically “come,” that is, the aspect of the raglayim, which are the instruments of walking; they too will behold the works of Hashem Who has set shamos in the earth—that is, the actions of Hashem that He has placed in this earth, that is, in this lowly world, that through the works of Hashem that are in this lowly earth, they can know and attain the tachlis.

And this is: Who has set shamos in the earth—that is, that the tachlis, which is the aspect of “shamos” [names]—ראשי תבות (acronym): תכלית מעשה שמים וארץ (the tachlis of the act of Heaven and earth), in the aspect of (Bereishis 2[:19]): “the living soul, that is its shem” [name]; [and as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Berachos 7b): “Do not read shamos, but shemos”]—that is, the World of Souls, which is the tachlis, is clothed and grasped in this lowly earth, that through this lowly world—specifically through it—they are compelled to attain the tachlis, as mentioned above.

And in truth it is an exceedingly wondrous and awesome innovation, that the attainment of the tachlis, which is such a lofty matter to attain Him, blessed be He, depends specifically upon the creatures of the lowly world, and all the souls are compelled to pass through this world in order to attain the tachlis. For Mashiach ben Dovid does not come until all the souls in the body are completed (Yevamos 62a), for they are all compelled to come to this lowly world in order to attain the tachlis through it, as mentioned above. It turns out that they are all in the aspect of nitzrach (needing) the creatures—that they need the creatures of the world to attain the tachlis through them, as mentioned above.

And it is fitting for us to say this with weeping, with tears in threes, to cry and to long, to beseech and entreat before Him, blessed be He: When will we merit this—that we have this knowledge, that we can know and recognize the Creator, blessed be He, from every thing of this world in the details of details as mentioned above, up to the tachlis as mentioned above? And according to our present very low level, and we all have faces that are not beautiful at all, we need Hashem Yisborach to have mercy upon us, to give us a leader, a faithful shepherd, who can illuminate in us the aforementioned knowledge, so that we can serve Him, blessed be He, as is fitting and come to the tachlis as mentioned above.

The six days are the beginning, in which everything was created, and Shabbos is the end and the tachlis, and so on. And certainly there is a distinction among the creations, for certainly there is a distinction between what was created first and what was created on the sixth, which is closer to Shabbos. And it is brought in the books that “Six days Hashem made the heaven and the earth” (Shemos 31[:17]), that even the six days themselves were created, and they are in the secret of a circle to the inner point, which is Shabbos (Zohar Vayakhel 204a). Nevertheless, there are distinctions.

What our Rabbis of blessed memory said: It is better for a person not to have been created than to have been created (Eruvin 13b); and similarly what is written (Koheles 4[:3]): “And better than both is he who has not yet been”—the matter is astonishing: And if so, for what was he created? And certainly these words are said only in this world, that according to the troubles of this world and the sufferings that people endure in this world, each one—certainly it would have been better if he had not been created at all. But in the World to Come, certainly it is better that he was created, for specifically through this they come to the tachlis as mentioned above. And even in this world—one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world is more beautiful than all the life of the World to Come (Avos ch. 4).

Nissan is the New Year for kings (Rosh Hashanah 2a), and then they appoint all the kings Above, and certainly they give gifts to each one whom they crown. And may Hashem Yisborach give us also a king and leader, a faithful shepherd, who can illuminate in us and so on as mentioned above. And we are the people who are at Your feet—who go after Your counsel, who conduct themselves after the leader. And if only we had a leader like Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, and so on as mentioned above.

(All this pertains to Lesson 39)