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WORDS OF
RABBI NACHMAN
1
"Because I know that Hashem is great
and our Master (is greater than) all gods (Psalms 135:5)." King David
r.i.p. said, "because I know," specifically I know,[1] because the greatness of the
Creator blessed He is impossible to relate to one's friend, and even to oneself
it is impossible to relate from one day to the next day according to what
shines for him and flares for him on that day, he cannot tell over to himself
on the second day the brilliance and the sparkling illumination of His
greatness blessed He that he had yesterday. Therefore he said, "because I
know," specifically I[2] know, because it is
impossible to relate whatsoever.
And he said that what is written
afterwards: "All that Hashem desired He did in the Heavens and the Earth
etc.," This is a completely different matter, and completely divergent
from the praise of "because I know." Because his intent with these
words "because I know" is impossible to relate whatsoever, and it is
very, extremely high, "high above high (Koheles 5:7)," what is
impossible for a mouth to relate, just specifically I know as explained above.
And as it is written in the Zohar (volume 1 page 103): "known in the gates
is her husband (Aishes Chayil - a woman of valor, Proverbs 31:23)," -
'Everyone according to the falcons of their heart', as explained elsewhere (see
Likutay Moharan 72, and Likutay Halachos, Rosh Chodesh 3:11, and Pirya Virivya
3:16).
2
It is very good to throw oneself upon
Hashem Yisburach and to rely upon Him. And my way is: when the day comes, I
give over all the movements of mine end of my children and does all those
contingent on me upon Hashem, that all should be as His desire blessed He, and
this is very good. Also then there is no need to worry and to think whatsoever
if the behaviour is proper or not, since it is reliant upon Him blessed He. And
if He blessed He desires in a different way - he is complaisant to behave in a
different way as He desires blessed He.[3]
And similarly, when Shabbos or Yom Tov
arrive, then I give over all the behaviour and all the matters and all the
movements of that Shabbos or Yom Tov to Hashem Yisburach, that everything
should be as His will blessed He. And then, however the conduct is on that
Shabbos or Yom Tov no longer thinks or worries whatsoever maybe he did not
fulfill the obligation in the conduct of the Holiness of that day, since he
already gave everything over to Hashem Yisburach, and relied upon Him blessed
He alone.[4]
3
And he spoke of the inordinate dramatic greatness of the Creator blessed
is His Name, and it is impossible to explain this in writing. And he said[5]: That to the greatness of the
Creator blessed He there is no measure, because there are awesome things
happening in the world, extremely wondrous and awesome and they are not known
whatsoever, that is, that we still do not know any knowledge whatsoever,
absolutely nothing. And also what is brought (Bicheenoas Oalum[6]) “the apex [tachlis]
of knowledge [ha-yideyuh] is that we will not [sheloa] know [naidah][7][8],” that is also applicable to every
single (level of) knowledge, that is, that even when one reaches the apex of
that knowledge, that is, not to know, even still this is not the apex. Because
this apex is just in that knowledge, but in the knowledge higher than it, he
still has not started in it whatsoever, and so forth higher (and) higher. Hence
never will one know anything, whatsoever not, and even still this is not the
apex, because he still hasn’t started whatsoever to know of the knowledge above
this knowledge that he has reached its apex of not knowing etc..[9][10]
Also he spoke of the inordinate dramatic greatness of the virtue of
repentance, and even when one falls drastically Heaven forbid, and everyone
falls to where they fall may the Merciful One save us, even still it is
forbidden to give up on oneself, because repentance is higher, above the Torah[11], therefore there is not any
despair in the world, because if one merits there will be made from his sins an
entirely different affair, just as our Sages o.b.m. said (Yuma 86: regarding
repentance out of love) that the sins are turned around into merits. And there
is in this matter secretive secrets[12], just the general principle
is that from all the falls and descents of the world may the Merciful One save
us, it is possible to return to Him blessed He easily, “because to His
greatness there is no measure (Psalms 145:3).[13]” And the main thing which
all is contingent upon, is that one should despair of himself from screaming to
Hashem and to supplicate and to pray to Him blessed He always.[14]
[1]
In the Psalms (145:6) of
Ashray, recited three times a day, the verse (6) says, “And the might of Your
awesomeness they will say, and Your greatness I will relate.” Here too, when it
comes to the greatness of Hashem, the verse reverts to the singular, I will
relate, whereas regarding the awesomeness of Hashem the verse writes, they, the
many (However the Targum renders both to the many, possibly viewing the aleph
as extra, as is found often, or perhaps interpreting: what I will relate they
will relate). The question is, what is the difference between the awesomeness
that can be discussed by the many, as opposed to the greatness which cannot?
Perhaps, awesomeness is of the aspect of constrictions, whereas greatness is
the aspect of kindness which is unconstrained. This differentiation can explain
the verse quoted here by Rabbainu. As Rabbainu points out, regarding knowledge
of the greatness of Hashem it says I, whereas the end of the very same verse
speaks of “our”, “Our Master is greater than all the gods,” because when talking
about gods, that is, foreign powers, there is already a multiple presence in
the world, unlike the absolute unity which is the paradigm of the beginning of
the verse. This is the secret of ani (-I, the Malchus) having the same
letters as ain (-nothing, the highest paradigm of Kessehr), of ain
the verse says (Deuteronomy 32:39) there is no god with me. This is explained
at length in Adir Bamurom (Michon Ramchal 361-).
Even still this verse seemingly refutes what
Rabbainu says here, because the verse says that he will relate the greatness,
whereas Rabbainu explained that it is impossible. Perhaps the answer is that for this
reason the verse doesn’t use the simple conjugation: asapehr – I will relate,
but: asaprehnuh – which is translated as, I will tell it over, however in
Hebrew we find that the letter Nun at the end of the word comes to lessen and
downgrade, so the verse is really saying I will tell a little of it over,
because to tell it all over is impossible, but still whatever can be told over
must be told over.
[2]
In article 3, Rabbainu
explains the concept of the apex of knowledge which is to not know. The subject
in the aphorism is “we”, even though Rabbainu applied it to himself, it is
possible that is only because he was relating it over, whereas just for
himself, perhaps it is possible that the apex of knowledge can be actual
knowledge, because it would be in attainment of absolute unity with G-d, and
G-d and His knowledge are one (see Likutay Moharan, Torah-teaching 65 that a
person in prayer can reach, for some limited time, the tachlis of one). However,
this knowledge itself is called not knowing, as explained in Likutay Moharan,
Torah-teaching 4:9. That being said, it is probable that this apex of not
knowing, is really referring to the aforementioned state of prayer and
abnegation which is the aspect of not knowing. This is the secret of raising ani
(-I, Malchus) to ain (-nothing, Kessehr), as mentioned previously in the
notes. Also see the note on article 3 which gives a Kabbalistic label to that
apex of not knowing as Raisha diloa isyaadah, see there.
[3]
Here Rabbainu shows how to go
in the Way of Unity (of Hashem, Derech Ha-Yichud) of before the sin of Adam,
which will be the way of the future. See Adir Bamaroam of the Ramchal (page
414, Spinner): “because originally they were almost like angels whose behavior
is after the root, so it was that besides from the mitzva they were commanded,
they were to go just according to the movement of the root. And this is the
secret of (Yichezkel 1:12) ‘to where there will be the spirit going they go’.
And then they were literally like someone who goes with closed eyes leaning on
someone who brings him (see the Legendary Story of Ancient Times of The Seven
Beggars, the fifth day, tells of a blind person guiding the moon). And
therefore, then (Genesis 2:15) ‘and He placed him <va-ya-nee-chayhoo> in
the Garden of Eden’, in the secret of ‘menoocha’ (-same root as the placement,
meaning rest, and connotes prophecy), because he was behaving just according to
the supernal illumination reaching him every second, and according to what he
received, that is what he did.” See all of this awesome revelation at length
there, and the Ramchal states explicitly that this is achievable even today,
just that it doesn’t come easy.
This also might be the difference in the level
of Baal Shem Tov and his successor the Magid of Mezritch. Because we know that
the Maggid did every single movement, however tiny and infinitesimal, according to Divine unifications, so in what
way did he pale before his master the Besht? Maybe it had to do with this concept
of abnegating oneself completely to the root.
[4] This entire article is brought in
article 238, where it preceded by something tangential.
[5]
See The Life of Our Leader
Rabbi Nachman, article 67, this was said on the way from Breslov to Uman. Rabbi
Nachman said, “Hashem Yisburach is extremely great and it is not known at all
etc.” and Rabbi Nussun questioned him, that he had already said previously that
he had come to the knowledge of the apex of knowledge is not knowing, and
Rabbainu answered him, “from when I left Breslov until here I already also do
not know.” Rabbi Nussun points out there the awesome alacrity of the Rabbainu’s
growth and ascent, that in such a short span of time, while travelling, he had
reached the apex of a completely knew level of knowledge.
[6] This is a holy work of ethics by
Rabbi Yidaye-yuh son of Avrohom Hapneenee known as Bedehrshee (1270-1340) it is
styled with chapters and verses somewhat like Proverbs and Koheles.
The
verse referred to here is in Part 8, Chapter 2, Verse 19/16:
ותכלית מה שנדע בך שלא נדעך – And the utmost of what we can know of
You (is) that we can/will not know You.
[7] The subject in this aphorism is
“we”, see the note about this at the beginning of the very first article.
[8]
It is my impression that this
is what the Kabballah calls Raisha [head] diloa [that is not] Isyaadah [known].
Just to give a very brief and rudimentary idea of this head, I will write a few
lines. Every paradigm at every level is composed of ten sfiros. These ten
sfiros can be classified as five Divine Countenances [partzufim]. The highest
Countenance, of Kesser – Crown, is Ehrech (-long-healing-ruling) Anpin (-countenance).
However, there is an even higher Countenance which crowns Ehrech, that of Atik.
The seven lower sfiros of Atik are enclothed in Ehrech, they correspond to the
seven thousand years of the world. The higher sfiros remain above Ehrech, and
they are called in the Zohar and in the Lurianic Kabbala, Raisha Diloa Isyaadah.
Rabbi Chaim Vital discusses at great length the intricacies of the “sfaikoas” –
doubts – of this head. The Ramchal revealed the nature of these doubts and why
they are so important. The Ramchal says (Klach Pischay Chuchmah 86, Adir
Bamurom, Michon Ramchal 303) that they are not simple doubts due to obscurity,
rather on the contrary, this head processes the infinite possibilities of
associations of all of time, mixing and matching them, and creates from them an
eternal paradigm where are the particles of time shine. Thus, it is impossible
in time to actually grasp these processes, and one who attempts will be
confronted with the aforementioned doubts. Thus, this head is the bridge
between the highest level of one paradigm, taking it up into the paradigm above
it. When a person merits to have conception of this head, on whatever level he
is on, he will truly not know, and he will be preparing to rise to a higher
paradigm altogether, whose lowest level encompasses and dwarfs the entire
entity of the lower paradigm.
See also the notes on The Praises of Rabbi
Nachman, cited below, which cites Likutay Moharan, Torah-teaching 83, that the
apex of not knowing is the place of the world, see there.
[9] See The Praises of Rabbi Nachman,
Part II article 35 and my footnotes there.
[10]
It comes out, that one who
knows, is really far from knowledge, whereas one who does not know is much
closer. This is a little similar to a rule given by the Baal Shem Tov (Tzufnas
Panayach 112:4, Letter to his son, Toldoas Yaakov Yosef on Mishpatim 69:4) that
one who feels/thinks he is close to Hashem is far, and one who feels far is in
reality close. See Restoration of the Soul, article 78.
[11]
In a very general sense,
repentance is attributed to the Sefirah of Beenah whereas Torah is attributed
to the Sefirah of Tiferess, which is third below Beenah. Also see the Zohar
(Vayikra 69b), When HY created the world He wanted to create people, He sought
the counsel of the Torah etc., the Torah responded saying how man would sin and
anger Gd, and in the continuation of the Zohar there, it says how HY created
Repentance before the world so that when man sins they can repent. And see a
similar inference in the Psikta of Rav Kahana (25), which seemingly favors the
approach of repentance over the approach of Torah. See also Likutay Halachos,
Orach Chaim, Laws of the Night Prayer 4:9, that through repentance one merits
to abnegate to the tachlis (ultimate purpose) which is above the Torah, for all
the Torah comes from there, see there.
This needs further explanation because there
are aspects of Torah which are much higher than Beena and which can also bring
one to complete abnegation, and these teachings themselves are Torah. Rabbainu’s
generalization is referring to the role of the “Mishpat” (-laws of the) Torah being
the ruling force of this world. This is the aforementioned sefirah of Tiferess
which takes on the full countenance (-partzuf) of Zair Anpin (-the Small Countenance),
and is represented by the letter vav in YHVH, under the V is the letter H (-the
female partzuf of Rachel), which corresponds to all of G-d’s kingdom in this
world. Thus this world’s affairs are directly ruled by these last two letters
VH. Above these two is another H (-the female partzuf of Mother), this is the paradigm
of repentance, and it encompasses the last two. Thus even though a person in
this world is directly governed by the Laws of the Torah, ultimately both the
Laws of the Torah and the person, are governed by the realm of Repentance.
The secret of how this works, very possibly the
secrets Rabbainu referred to here, is explained in a few places by the Ramchal
(particularly beautifully in Adir Bamarom, Michon Ramchal 335-). The ruling of
the world under the Laws of the Torah allows for a person to have becheera
(-free choice) to do bad, just as HY allowed for the presence of the appearance
of evil in the world, but ultimately HY is pure goodness, and everything will
be reverted to be good. This very system of the Torah was with this tachlis
(-end goal), to be reverted to complete goodness. Even though the system of “Mishpat”
and free choice seemingly could not be guaranteed to turn out good, it is
steered in this direction by the upper realms, where there is never a trace of
evil, and these realms dominate the lower realms bringing them to this
realization. Thus, ultimately everything will turn out for the best, and the
main thing is to just hold out with prayer to HY.
[12]
Rabbainu can be referring to
many concepts here. In the previous note I explained one underlying secret which
explains why the bad doesn’t define the person trying to return, because he is
on the path of pure goodness, see there. In the holy books of Breslov many
reasons are given to explain the gains that are only made possible by being G-d
forbid in a fallen and bad place. Sometimes this can trigger a person to make
an amazing and complete comeback. Sometimes it could be to help save and rescue
other souls stuck there. Sometimes it could be to test and prove his tenacity,
ultimately bringing him much higher. When in such a state G-d forbid, even the
slightest nuance and attempt to do good is incredibly powerful. These and
others can be found in Restoration of the Soul.
[13]
This might be the link between
the two paragraphs of this article. In the first paragraph Rabbainu spoke of
the greatness of Hashem, and then in the second he went on to speak of the
greatness of repentance, possibly because the latter is contingent on the
former, the amazing nature and ability to repent is due to the greatness of
Hashem.
The greatness of Hashem facilitating repentance
can refer to different aspects. Primarily it means that He is readily found
everywhere, even in the most impure places one can find Him, because nothing
exists outside of Hashem, so anywhere in existence, no matter how impure, exists
only by G-d’s sustenance, and therefore no matter where a person is he can find
Hashem and make an instantaneous complete transition to holiness. The greatness
of Hashem also means that He is forgiving, and it means that He is looking out for
the sinners best interest in infinite ways.
[14] See The Life of Our Leader Rabbi
Nachman article 565: Providing they do not despair of themselves
from screaming and prayer and requesting etc., just to engage in screaming and
prayer and supplication etc. and not to tire ever etc. because the main
repentance is screaming and crying out to Hashem Yisburach.
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