TORAHS AND FAIRY TALES

How can you tell if you really know and understand a Torah in "Likutei Moharan"? One way to determine this is to see whether you can explain it in a very simple way. For example, write a fairy tale about it.

I once tried this method, so here is a fairy tale I wrote about Torah 21:

"Once upon a time, there lived Makif and Makif-DeMakif. Whenever Makif wanted to invite Makif DeMakif, he would shout, "A-a-a-a!" And Makif DeMakif always came. Makif also had another friend, whose name was Pnimi. When Pnimi wanted to see Makif, he would light seven candles in his house, and Makif would come right away."

Of course, Torah 21 is long and complicated, and my little fairy tale doesn't really do it justice. But still, I find that the practical advice of this Torah is very clear to me, which is not always the case with the other ones. Maybe I should write more fairy tales...

Praise HY over all the evil schemes

HH Psalm 117 the shortest Psalm and I think Chapter in Scriptures.

Praise Hashem all nations, extol Him all peoples, for His kindness has surmounted upon us, and the truth of Hashem is eternal, hallelujah.

Why should the Non-Jews praise HY for His overwhelming kindness to us (if "us" is understood to be refering to the Jews, but it could easily be refering to everyone)?

The Sages and commentaries offer different answers, one time I saw an explanation that only the nations know how much they schemed against the Jews, so only they can fully appreciate their salvation.

Today, more and more "conspiracy theories" are being exposed, and it is not just the Jews who are the target... It is truly astonishing the extent of evil and corruption being perpetrated, there is so much for us to praise HY for our continued salvation with Na NaCh NaChMa NaChMaN MAyUMaN

This lady - Webb has quite a handle on some of the evils - unlimitedhangout.com

Na NaCh NaChMa NaChMaN MAyUMaN 

Blossoms of the Spring - Letter 131

Volume 2

Letter 131[1]

In honor of the seeker and searcher of the palace of truth, Mr. Z. Shazar. Much peace.

My sweet brother, hold yourself – don’t let go of yourself. You[2] should be strong and we should be strong, and we shall not be like an elephant and a camel – even when the mouse pulls him by his nose, he will not kick it. And this is all because of the insanity that he doesn’t know of his power. But, my shrewd and strong soul, gird your waist now like a warrior, and gird your loins with might to fly like an eagle to the True Tzaddik who is the aspect of Moses Messiah who heals any sickness, and a man of pains, blind and crippled, leprous and infected who extracts souls from the depths of hell, [who] reverses descents to ascents and willful sins to merits.

Fortunate is one who merits to draw close while he is still alive to the True Tzaddik, fortunate is he, fortunate is his portion. Because the Baal Dovor [Litigator / evil inclination / Satan] focused his heart upon this very much so right now – to mix up the world; for the Jewish people are currently extremely close to the end, and the Jewish people now have massive yearnings and great longings to God, blessed He – that which hasn’t been so in the days of yore, and each person longs surpassingly to God, blessed He. Therefore, the Baal Dovor shrewdly deceives, and he inserted strife between the Tzaddikim, and he established many renowned ones of falsehood [i.e., that which they’re famous for is false] in the world until there isn’t [any]one who knows where the truth is. Therefore, one must extensively [engage] in prayer and supplications very much so in order to merit to draw close to the True Tzaddik.

Truth and falsehood are the aspect of a King and a slave. Know that there are two kinds of palaces – in one of them lives a King, and in the second lives a slave. And they are both completely similar to each other and it is difficult to differentiate between them. Because there are a number of souls that bond together until a house and palace is made from them, for they bond one to another and one to another until a foundation is made from them, and afterwards a tent is made – until a house and an abode is built from them which therein resides the truth. And one who wants to find the truth, he will find it in this house and palace of these souls, which from them was made an abode for the truth. And correlating to this are many souls that bond together, and a house is made from them – which therein is the residence of the falsehood which is the aspect of a slave. And behold, it is possible to err between the two aforementioned houses, that is, between the truth and the falsehood. Because the falsehood simulates itself to the truth; for there as well exists an attachment of many souls, to the extent that it is extremely difficult to discern between the truth and the falsehood, and it is possible for the person to err, and he doesn’t know where the truth is and to where he should draw himself close.

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[1] Letter 14 (19 Elul [5]718) contains much of this letter.

[2] See Likutei Moharan, “A Pleasant Song”.

For more letters

מכתב קלא

 

לכבוד הדורש ומבקש הפלטין של אמת מר ז.שזר שלום רב

זיסער ברודער האלט זיך, לאז דיך ניט אפ {אחי המתוק אחוז עצמך היטב אל תעזוב עצמך ואל תרפה}, חזק ונתחזק ואל נהיה כפיל הגדול וכגמל, אפילו כשמשכיהו בחוטמו העכבר, לא יבעט בו. וכל זה מחמת שטות שאינו יודע מכוחו, אבל נפשי הפקחת וחזקה, אזור נא כגבור חלציך, וחגור בעוז מתניך לעוף כנשר אל הצדיק האמת שהוא בחינת משה משיח, המרפא כל חולי, ואיש מכאובות, עור ופסח, צרוע ונגוע, מוציא נפשות משאול תחתיות מהפך ירידות לעליות, וזדונות לזכיות; אשרי למי שזוכה להתקרב בעודו בחיים חיותו לצדיק האמת אשרי לו אשרי חלקו, כי הבעל דבר שם לבו על זה מאד עכשיו לבלבל את העולם, כי ישראל הם עכשיו קרובים אל הקץ מאד, ויש עכשיו לישראל גיעגועים גדולים וכיסופין גדולים להשי"ת, אשר לא היתה כזאת בימי קדם. וכל אחד נכסף מאד להשי"ת, ע"כ הערים הבעל דבר והכניס מחלוקת בין הצדיקים, והקים בעולם מפורסמים הרבה של שקר עד שאין אחד יודע היכן האמת. ע"כ צריכין מאד להרבות בתפלה ותחנונים מאד לזכות להתקרב להצדיק האמת: אמת ושקר הם בחינת מלך ועבד, דע שיש שני מיני פלטין, באחד דר מלך ובהשני דר עבד, ושניהם דומים זה לזה לגמרי, וקשה מאד להבחין ביניהם, כי יש כמה נפשות שמתקשרין עד שנעשה מהם בית ופלטין, כי מתקשרין אחד באחד, ואחד באחד, עד שנעשה מהם יסוד, ואחר כך נעשה אהל עד שנבנה מהם בית ומדור ששם דר אמת, ומי שרוצה למצוא אמת ימצא בבית ופלטין זה של אלו הנפשות שמהם נעשה מדור לאמת, ויש כנגד זה שמתקשרין כמה נפשות ונעשה מהם בית ששם דירת השקר שהוא בחינת עבד, והנה בין שני הבתים הנ"ל אפשר לטעות היינו בין האמת והשקר, כי השקר מדמה עצמו להאמת, כי גם שם יש קשר מנפשות רבים עד שקשה מאד להבחין בין האמת והשקר ואפשר לאדם לטעות ואינו יודע היכן האמת ולהיכן יקרב עצמו.

WHAT SHOULD BE IN A PERSON'S HEART

It says in Torah 15, "ועקר הדעת הוא בלב" ("The main knowledge of Hashem is in the heart.")

It just occurred to me that here possibly lies the key to conquering our negative emotional states. It takes conscious and dedicated effort to put awareness of Hashem into the place where there used to be despair, emptiness, loneliness, anger, and so on, but the results are really worth it, especially if we merit to persevere in this.

HOW JUDGEMENT WORKS

Rabbeinu says in Torah 15 that a person should judge all their actions during hisbodedus.

Baruch Hashem, I have found that this is a very powerful piece of advice, which begins to work even before you get to the stage of the actual judgment. Just knowing that you'll have to speak about your day before Hashem helps you to refrain from many bad (or even questionable) actions and to do much more good!

WHY DO WE NEED THE TZADDIK?

Since I became a Breslover, many people have asked me the same question, "Why do we need the tzaddik if we already have Hashem?" Now, it doesn't always convince others, but for myself I do have the perfect answer.

We all know, and it says so in the Chumash, that Hashem is our Father. But Rabbeinu adds in Torah 4 that the tzaddik is called the mother of the Jewish people. So it's kind of obvious to me that, just as a person needs both a father and a mother for their optimal physical and emotional development, the same has to be true in the spiritual realm as well.

What's more, for me this is not just theory but my actual life experience. When I first did teshuvah, my life changed, of course, but really not that much, especially on the inside. Now I realize that before I started doing hisbodedus, I wasn't really connected to Hashem, despite all my mitzvah observance and voracious religious reading. It was only when I found Rabbeinu (or rather when he found me) that my teshuvah became complete and I started truly growing. So now I'm absollutely convinced that spiritually, too, a person does need both "parents"!

Blossoms of the Spring - Letter 130

Letter 130

Baruch Hashem. Sunday, 26 Elul, [5]733 (Sep. 23, 1973).

In honor of the third president of Israel, the delight of my eyes and heart, Mr. S. Z. Shazar – who has merited to comprehend and taste the blissfulness, secrecy, awesomeness, [and] greatness of our Master, [the] Gushing Stream who goes before us in order to save us from the trappers’ snare and to rectify and heal our souls in completeness. [May you have] a good and blessed year from the Source of Blessing with all the salvations, in body and soul – for good and long life, and for peace of no end.

From the straits I have elevated my voice, and I call out to you from the depths of a melted and broken heart, and all my bones are screaming out to you: Please, my brother, arouse now anew the strong love of yours which you have loved me in truth, with all the friendship and brotherhood; and you did with me wondrous loving-kindness with immense self [/soul]-sacrifice beyond measurability or boundaries, for what is now sixteen years. And therefore, I beg and plead from his exalted honorable prominence that he should act with me now as well with his trait of goodness and humbleness within the line of strict justice [i.e., more lenient], and he should judge me favorably, and he should forgive and pardon me a complete forgiveness for all my faults, and it should not be bad in his eyes, and his wrath shall not burn on me whatsoever, over any faulty matter – [rather, he] should solely fulfill in me, “In the midst of wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). For a person is not held responsible [for what he says] while in pain [lit. for his pain] – because since I underwent the operation, I am extremely sick all the more so – throughout my whole body, in all my limbs, and tormented with immeasurable, harsh, bitter, and embittering suffering and agony – you should be spared. I lie almost always in bed, and I have no connection whatsoever with the world – I only pour out my heart before God, blessed He, with hisbodedus [and] warm words so that He should have mercy upon us and rescue us within the Collective Jewish people.

Please, please overcome through the power of your wisdom and straight intellect in order to wage war against [lit. with] the Satan and to subdue him so that he shouldn’t be able to accuse and rule over us in order to bring about separation between us, God forbid – for this is a great loss for us etc., for all of our rectification and hope and the rectification of many souls depend in this.

For more letters

מכתב קל

 

ב"ה יום א' כ"ו אלול תשל"ג

לכבוד נשיא ישראל השלישי מחמד עיני ולבי מר ש.ז.שזר אשר זכה להבין ולטעום נועם סוד נוראות גדולת אדונינו נחל נובע ההולך לפנינו להצילנו מפח יוקשים ולתקן ולרפאות נפשנו בשלימות, שנה טובה ומבורכה ממקור הברכה בכל הישועות בגוף ונפש לחיים טובים וארוכים ולשלום אין קץ.

מן המצר הרימותי קולי ואקרא אליך, מעמקי לב נמס ונשבר וכל עצמותי צועקים אליך, אנא אחי עוררה נא מחדש אהבתך החזקה אשר אהבתני באמת בכל חיבה ואחוה ועשית עמדי חסדים נפלאים במסירת נפש עצום בלי שיעור ובלי גבול זה שש עשרה שנה. ובכן אבקש ואתחנן מכבוד מעלתו הרם שיתנהג עמי גם עכשיו במידת טובו וענותנותו לפנים משורת הדין וידין אותי לכף זכות וימחול ויסלח לי מחילה גמורה על כל אשמותי ולא ירע בעיניו ולא יחרה אפו עלי כלל על שום דבר אשמה, רק לקיים בי ברוגז רחם תזכור, כי אין אדם נתפס על צערו, כי מעת שעברתי הניתוח אני חולה גדול ביותר בכל גופי, בכל אברי, ומיוסר ביסורים וכאבים קשים ומרים ומרורים בלי שיעור לא עליך. אני שוכב כמעט תמיד במיטה ואין לי שום קשר עם העולם, רק אני שופך את לבי לפני השם יתברך בהתבודדות בדיבורים חמים שירחם עלינו ויושיענו בתוך כלל ישראל.

נא ונא התגבר בכח חכמתך ושכלך הישר ללחום עם השטן ולהכניעו שלא יוכל לקטרג ולמשול עלינו להפריד בינינו חס ושלום כי זה נזק גדול לנו וכו', כי כל תיקוננו ותקותנו ותיקון הרבה נפשות תלוי בזה.