Likutay Moharan - Volume 2 - Torah-teaching 66

The tzadik is compelled to do teshuvah on behalf of Yisrael.

The tzadik [tzadik – righteous one] is compelled to do teshuvah [teshuvah – repentance] on behalf of Yisrael, namely, when one goes out of line and casts off the yoke, then the tzadik is compelled to do teshuvah for him. By way of a parable: Once, two people were traveling with a frightened and crazed horse, and the horse carried them and threw them from the wagon. And one stood and began to hit the horse with his fist, and he struck it a lot. And the second laughed at him and said to him, “Are you not hitting your hand, and what benefit does this striking do to the horse? Only you need to take a strap, with which horses are struck, to hit it.” And he went and did so, and took a strap and began to hit the horse. And the horse stood and ran in great panic and fled, and carried them and threw them into mud and mire, and the horse fled away.

It is found that this too is not good advice. And they advised him to do thus, that he should take a good rope and tie the horse to some tree and hit it a lot, and with this, he will teach it to behave well. And he did so, and struck the horse a lot and became exhausted, and saw that this too is not good advice, because the horse is not worth all the effort and frustration that he has through the striking. And there is no remedy for such a horse except to shoot it with a firearm. And this is painful to him.

So too, when one goes out to the outside and does not behave according to the line, they cannot find advice what to do with him. For it would be possible to punish him himself or through an agent or in another way. But all the punishments touch the tzadik himself, as we find with Hashem, “In all their distress, He is distressed” (Isaiah 63:9). For they are a portion of Divinity from above, and therefore, when they have distress, G-d forbid, He is distressed, so to speak. So too with the tzadik, also, “For also punishing the tzadik is not good” (Proverbs 17:26). For the punishment that one punishes another touches the tzadik himself.

(Zohar, Genesis 27b) Fire, wind, water, dust, and all these four elements are drawn from the simple foundation, which is the aspect of the tzadik, the aspect of (Proverbs 10:25): “The tzadik is the foundation of the world,” that the tzadik is the aspect of the simple foundation, from which all the four elements are drawn, in the aspect of (Genesis 2:10): “And a river went out from Eden to water the garden,” and from there it divided and became four heads. “A river went out from Eden” – this is the aspect of the tzadik, the foundation of the world, the aspect of the simple foundation, from which “it divided” – the four elements, which are the aspect of four heads, as mentioned above.

It is found that all are drawn from the tzadik. And therefore, if he punishes one, it touches the tzadik himself. And therefore, “Also punishing the tzadik is not good,” as mentioned above. And this is what the masters of Mussar said, that when one comes to the tzadik and sees him, in the aspect of (Isaiah 30:20): “And your eyes shall see your teachers,” it is fitting that he find himself within the tzadik, that he look at himself regarding all the attributes, how he holds them through seeing the face of the tzadik. For all the attributes are drawn from the aforementioned four elements, as brought (in Mishnat Chassidim) [see Likutay Moharan 1, Torah 4, section 8].

And therefore, when he sees the tzadik, who is the aspect of the simple foundation, from which all the four elements are drawn, it is fitting for him to look and feel through this how he holds all the attributes that come from the four elements that are drawn from the tzadik, who is the aspect of the simple foundation, as mentioned above. And this is: “And your eyes shall see your teachers,” an acronym: Eish Ruach Mayim Afar [fire, wind, water, dust], which are the four elements, from which all the attributes are drawn, all of which are drawn from the tzadik, as mentioned above.

And therefore, when one sees the tzadik, which is the aspect of: “And your eyes shall see your teachers,” through this, one sees in himself how he holds all the attributes that come from the four elements – fire, wind, water, dust – that are drawn from the tzadik, as mentioned above. And this is why the world calls the day after Yom Kippur “Shem Hashem” [the Name of G-d]. For after Yom Kippur, then the aspect of the Name of G-d [Shem Hashem] is revealed. And this is why they were immediately commanded the day after Yom Kippur regarding Shabbat. For the day after Yom Kippur, Hashem, blessed be He, was reconciled with Yisrael and warned them regarding the work of the Tabernacle. And then Moshe gathered them and warned them regarding Shabbat so that they would not err to say that the work of the Tabernacle overrides Shabbat (as brought in Rashi, Parashat Vayakhel).

It is found that immediately the day after Yom Kippur, they were warned regarding Shabbat. And Shabbat is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He (Zohar, Yitro, 88b). For then, after Yom Kippur, the aspect of the Name of G-d [Shem Hashem] is revealed. For when one punishes one, they uproot him from the root of his vitality. For even other punishments are called an aspect of death, as it is written (Exodus 4:19): “For all the men who sought your life are dead.” And our sages, of blessed memory, said (Avodah Zarah 5a), that they became poor. And Hashem is the vitality, in the aspect of (Genesis 2:7): “A living soul, it is His Name.” And His Name is shared with our name, so to speak (Yerushalmi, Taanit, Chapter 2; Rashi, Joshua 7:9, Jeremiah 14:7; Yalkut Shimoni, Joshua 7).

And therefore, when Yisrael has some punishment, G-d forbid, it touches Himself, blessed be He, so to speak. For the essence of the punishment touches the vitality, which is Hashem, and His Name is shared with our name, as mentioned above. And therefore, when Moshe said: “And if not, erase me, please” (Exodus 32:32), and Hashem, blessed be He, answered: “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will erase him,” etc. (ibid.), Moshe requested that He act for the sake of His great Name that is shared with our name (see Berachot 32a; Midrash Rabbah, Shemot, Parashat Tisa, section 6; Rashi, Ecclesiastes). For since His Name, blessed be He, is shared with our name, it is found that when He punishes them, it touches Himself, blessed be He, so to speak, as mentioned above.

And therefore, our sages, of blessed memory, said (Megillah 10b): He does not rejoice, etc., for it touches Himself, blessed be He, so to speak, because His Name is shared with our name, as mentioned above. It is found that when the Holy One, blessed be He, was reconciled with Yisrael on Yom Kippur and said: “I have forgiven according to your words” (Numbers 14:20), then, so to speak, His Name, blessed be He, that is shared with our name, was magnified, as mentioned above. And therefore, they were immediately commanded after Yom Kippur regarding Shabbat, as mentioned above. For Shabbat is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, as mentioned above. And therefore, they call the day after Yom Kippur “Shem Hashem,” for after the forgiveness and pardon that was done on Yom Kippur, the Name of G-d [Shem Hashem] is magnified, as mentioned above.