(Many thanks to Reb Dovid Weiser for this translation).

On Friday evening, Layl Shabbos Kodesh, during the Seuda Rishona, Rabbi Eleazer Shick (Mohorosh) Shlita spoke awesome and wondrous words according to the sayings of Rabbi Nachman in Likutei Mohoron (I: 35) with reference to repentance and wisdom. He opened by saying that according to Rabbi Nachman Teshuvah (repentance) means returning a thing to the place from which it was taken; it is equivalent to what the holy Zohar calls “Throwing back the thing to the place from which it was taken. And what is that place? It is wisdom” (Tikunei Hazohar, 20). For wisdom is the root of all things, as it is written (Ps. 104) “How many are the things You have made, O Lord, You have made them all with wisdom.”

Mohorosh then explained that the heart of secret wisdom lies in the Hebrew letters kaf - chet - mem - heh which spell Chochma (wisdom) and also by transposition Koach-Ma, that is, “no strength.” That is to say, a person must know he has no strength apart from the strength of G-d. No person possesses a place of his own in this world, for only G-d’s glory is omnipresent while man without Him cannot be said to exist at all. That is how the Holy Arizal understands the verse (Isaiah 6) “The whole world is full (mem - lamed - aleph) of His glory,” reading the word m’lo (“full”) as meaning “from not.” If a human being is in the category of “not” (lamed - aleph) and equivalent to nothingness, then indeed “The whole world is full of G-d’s glory” (Sichot Haran, 136). For then he sees the Almighty’s glory everywhere, and that is the heart of wisdom: to realize that Chochma (wisdom) and Koach-Ma (no human strength) are one and the same. Then he can say, I have no strength in and of myself. All my strength derives entirely from the Eternal One. From this realization comes the essence of repentance, for sin is committed primarily when a person separates himself from G-d, forgetting the truth of His reality until sin becomes attached to him and causes him to act, G-d forbid, against Divine Will. However, as soon as a person totally nullifies his own being before the Almighty, acknowledging that he is powerless without Him, he returns and makes a complete repentance before his Creator, repairing the damage caused by his earlier transgressions. Such an action is in the category of what the Zohar calls “throwing back the thing to the place from which it was taken, and what is that place? Wisdom.” Since all of creation was by wisdom, man will merit to recognize that his own strength is nil compared to the Eternal One, and that all existence is merely pure Divinity. When man sins, he forgets that and consequently fails in one way or another. But when he repents and admits to himself this wisdom, that his own strength without the Eternal One is nothing, then he returns and repairs all things through a true and complete repentance before G-d. Such is the heart of perfection. Happy is he who attains it!

Then Mohorosh linked this matter to the week’s Torah reading in a most wonderful way, for here in Chukas (Numbers 19:1 - 21:35) we find the purification of one who is defiled by the greatest of impurities, contact with a dead body, by means of the ashes of the red heifer. When pride and self-conceit enter into a person, and he cuts himself off

from the Almighty, all the impurities of the world enter into him. At that very moment, behold, he becomes alienated from G-d. Then the Eternal One says of him “He and I cannot dwell in the same place” (Soteh, 5). Since he has separated himself from G-d, he clearly joins the ranks of the evil ones who are referred to as “dead.” Moreover, whoever dissociates himself from G-d is considered dead, even in his lifetime, because true life consists of cleaving to the Creator, Blessed Be He. As is written is Psalm 30, “life results from His favor.” As soon as a person transgresses this divine favor, he cuts himself off from life and is considered dead. The main part of his purification, then, is by means of the red heifer which has been burned to ashes. Those ashes are placed in water together with “some cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet yarn.” Rashi in his commentary asks “Why these?” He explains by teaching that he who exalted himself as high as a cedar, and cut himself off from the Almighty, "now will lower himself to dust and be like the hyssop and the worm” (which makes the scarlet yarn). By doing so, he brings back upon himself the shining of the Holy Presence, for the principle part of a person’s life is nothing but his inner humiliation. To the extent that he utterly nullifies himself before the Eternal One and does not even occupy any space in this world, to that extent he lives true, eternal life. That is the secret of repentance, as explained above, and the secret of wisdom, to know that a human being has no strength without the Almighty; it is He who revives, preserves, and sustains. Happy is the one who merits reaching this awareness!

And Mohorosh observed that this is a clarification of the Mishnah given in Pirkei Avos (Sayings of the Fathers), chapter 3:1: “Akavyah ben Mahalel said, ‘Reflect on three things, and you will not come into the grip of sin: Know whence you came, where you are going, and before Whom you will have to render account and reckoning. Whence you came -- from a putrid drop. Where you are going -- to a place of dust, decay, and vermin. Before Whom you will have to give account and reckoning -- Before the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.” It is incumbent on us to pay attention to the three repeated phrases: “Whence you came . . . where you are going . . .Before Whom you will have to give an account and reckoning.” Why did Akavya ben Mahalel say these phrases twice? He could have expressed the idea just once, but the repetition serves to teach us by emphasizing the virtue of humility and self-abasement that a devout person must attain. He must be completely inconsequential in his own eyes so that no thought of pride and self-conceit can come into his mind. Even when he has merited to become completely attached to Him, Blessed Be He, and does not distract his mind away from Him at all, nevertheless there is still a great danger lest he fall into thoughts of pride by gloating that he has actually reached such an exalted level. In this context it worth noting how the Holy Baal Shem Tov interpreted a verse from Psalm 32: “Happy is the man whom HaShem does not think guilty, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” He construes the Hebrew of the first phrase as saying “Happy is the man who merits to attain a level at which if he ‘does not think HaShem,’ even for a moment, ‘he will be guilty.’ That would be his greatest sin, for such a lofty person does not separate his mind from G-d at all. However, all this is on condition that in his spirit “there is no deceit,” meaning no prideful thoughts. Otherwise he would cut himself off from the Almighty, G-d forbid, and that is what Akavya the Sage has just told us: “Know whence you came ...where you are going,” and so on. You have come from the Creator, and you will return to Him, for the soul of man which descended from supernal heights, just below G-d’s throne of glory, is destined to ascend there once again. But if notions of pride creep into the human mind, saying “Behold, I have attained great achievements, for I know indeed that all things are G-d’s infinite existence, and that every thing comes only from Him,” then the Sage reminds us that after all we came from a putrid drop, and are going to a place of dust, decay, and vermin. Remembering these vivid physical limitations will inevitably help to prevent ideas of self-conceit from penetrating our mind as we continually contrast our base, earthly nature, on one hand, and the infinite greatness of the Creator on the other. May the Almighty, Blessed Be He, grant that we truly gain the virtue of modesty and humility, and that we be totally absorbed into the Almighty, Blessed Be He, now and forever. Amen.

SHABBOS MORNING

On Shabbos morning, at Kiddush, Mohorosh spoke very awesome, wondrous words about one of the tales of Rabbi Nachman, namely “The Story of the Humble King,” which is the sixth in his collection of stories. It begins as follows:

There was once a king, and he had a wise counselor. Said the king to his counselor, “There is another king who signs himself as a great hero, a man of truth, and a modest person. That he is a hero I know because his kingdom is surrounded by a sea, and on that sea is a fleet of warships armed with cannons that do not let anyone approach. Across from that sea is a great swamp of quicksand that surrounds the other side of his kingdom. Only a small path runs through it, and only one person at a time can walk on it, but there too the cannons stand ready to fire on anyone who would wish to do battle. There is no access. But I do not know if he really is a ‘man of truth and a modest person’ as he signs himself. I want you to bring me his portrait.” For although the first king had portraits of every other king, neither he nor any other monarch had the portrait of the second king who signed himself as heroic, truthful, and modest. The latter always hid himself from all other human beings, sitting behind a curtain and keeping himself remote from his countrymen.

Mohorosh began by saying that this story relates to the kingdom that exists in every single son of Israel, for as the Talmud states, “Every Israelite is the son of kings” (Soteh, 67). As for the “wise counselor,” it also states that the disciples of the wise especially wear the garments of majesty, and our blessed sages call them “equivalent to great kings” (Gittin, 62). Mohorosh then commented on these excerpts from the story:

“There is a king that signs himself as a great hero, a man of truth, and a modest person. That he is a hero I know,” for a man’s might really is an aspect of his conquering the evil inclination, as is pointed out in Sayings of the Fathers, 3: “Who is a hero? He that conquers his own inclination.” This can readily be recognized in a person when we see the great efforts he makes in serving Hashem, as well as the limitations that he sets himself lest he fail, G-d forbid, by doing that which is prohibited.

“Because his kingdom is surrounded by a sea,” which means that he encircles himself with the teachings of the Holy Torah, constantly studying it with great diligence and enthusiasm.

“And on that sea is a fleet of ships armed with cannons that do not let anyone approach,” for not only does he learn the ways of wisdom, but he also puts what he has learned into practice, being extremely cautious and always standing prepared with all kinds of weapons and military strategies to overcome the evil inclination.

“Across from that sea is a great swamp of quicksand,” for no one merits to approach Holiness with ease, but only by enduring very much can one merit to enter into the sanctuary of Holiness. Around it there are all kinds of thick mud and quagmire that test a person with challenges and trials to see if he is truly determined to come close to Holiness. Here he falls and is stained with sand and dirt, while different types of cannons fire away at him, and the evil inclination shoots his arrows at him too. But in Heaven

there is a desire to see if he will endure and not give up his service of G-d in any way. When it appears that a person stands firm fearless, he is surely recognized as a great, invincible hero.

“But I do not know if he really is ‘a man of truth, and a modest person,’” for the qualities of truth and humility cannot be ascertained by anyone through external observation; only the Creator, Blessed Be He, can recognize them. On the outside, a person can completely deceive others and present himself as sincere, speaking in the name of truth. Yet he may actually be a liar and a hypocrite who misleads everyone with his words. The virtue of humility, therefore, is not detectable at all in a person’s appearance. A man may walk hunched over, full of seriousness, so that others will say, “Behold this modest person.” Yet he may actually be full of the worst sort of pride, though his sole intention is to be considered by others as modest and self-effacing.

In contrast, a man who truly cleaves to G-d and walks with confidence, standing tall,

may actually feel within himself that his heart is broken, like a shattered potsherd, yet people will still say of him, “Behold this vainglorious person.” For this is a thing that pertains to the heart and is impossible for human beings to detect at all. That is why the king told his counselor “I do not know if he really is ‘a man of truth, and a modest person.’” This matter cannot be settled by mere appearances.

“I want you to bring me his portrait,” for the image of a man and his likeness, his face, his intelligence, and his wisdom, all are contained in his writing (Likutei Mohoran, I: 192), and by examining his handwriting it is possible to recognize his essence and his real image.

“The latter always hid himself from all other human beings, sitting behind a curtain and keeping himself remote from his countrymen.” This fact in itself is a testimony to the king’s truthfulness and modesty. For whatever a man conceals from other people’s eyes, and whatever work he does quietly and modestly, is a sign that there is much truth and humility in him; he is not concerned with publicity and simply wants to cleave to G-d

which, as Rabbi Nachman has instructed us, is exactly the purpose of meditation. A man must walk alone, on his own path, in a place where no one can see him. There he is alone with the Holy One, Blessed Be He, and reveals to Him all that is in his heart. Whoever engages in this constantly will be inscribed with truth and genuine humility, for the person who cleaves to Him Who is the very essence of all truth, who shuns whatever glory human beings can give while all his desire is for His glory, Blessed Be He -- that person possesses the authentic virtue of humility. Therefore, when the king hides himself from others and is concealed by a curtain, that in itself is an absolute indication of his possessing the virtues of truth and humility. Certainly, when the wise counselor approaches this king and sees his image, he will recognize the greatness of his truth and humility. May HaShem, Blessed Be He, grant that we attain these holy virtues in purity and truth, Amen.

At the Seuda Shlishis (Third Festive Meal) Mohorash spoke very wondrous and awesome words according to the sayings of Rabbi Nachman in Lekutei Mohoran (I:38)

which deal with cleaving to G-d, tefillin (phylacteries), and proper speech.

Mohorosh opened by citing Rabbi Nachman’s words that “Every person must examine himself at all times to see if he really cleaves to G-d, and the sign of such cleaving is the tefillin.” He explained that this meaning of wearing the tefillin is taught by our Sages (Yoma: 7) who state that a man must not let his attention be distracted from the Almighty and, even more so, from the head tefillin that he wears. For that is a constant reminder (Exodus, 28) “And Aaron shall wear it on his forehead,” from which it is forbidden for him to divert his attention. For the tefillin contain twenty-one warnings about forgetting G-d, and the main point of the leather ? from which they are made is to bring a person to the point where his mind will not be distracted from the Holy One, Blessed Be He, but will always concentrate on Him and be aware of the reality of Divine Truth. Indeed it is well known that the entire purpose of all creation was just this recognition of G-d through all the details of His handiwork. All the levels of creation (mineral, vegetal, animal, and human) are integral to His essence and a revelation of His being which clothes itself in their forms. Man’s main purpose in life is to reveal that there is Torah in every detail of creation and to discover the hidden processes in all of these things so that through them we can cleave to G-d. As soon as a person finds Torah revealed in the details of creation, he begins to cling to the Almighty, and thais the idea of cleaving to Him through the tefillin. Wherever he goes, he finds G-d’s Presence and does not ever divert his attention away from Him, especially when he actually merits wearing the holy tefillin and wears them like a royal crown. Then he feels the tremendous force of attachment, and his intellectual faculties become stronger and more clear as he recognizes HaShem more and more.

Rabbi Nachman continues by saying, “It is impossible to attain the holy aspect of tefillin unless a person purifies and exalts his words, for the power of speech represents spirit from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed Be He, and has the characteristic of an “Oral Kingdom” (see Petach Eliyahu) symbolized by the image of the sea. As it is written in Koheleth (Ecclesiastes, 1), “All the rivers go down to the sea,” and this in turn is linked to the idea of G-d as is expressed in Psalm 51, “Adonai, open my lips.” Mohorosh commented on this that certainly the level of holy tefillin, in which a person’s min is totally absorbed into G-d, cannot be reached without carefully guarding one’s tongue. A person must guard the words of his mouth so as to avoid speaking of trivial and empty things, and even more so to avoid forbidden language such as slander, dissension, and gossip. Whoever fails to control his speech is cut off from G-d and confuses his own mind to such an extent that he can no longer cleave to Him at all. For speech has an aspect of a kingdom as explained in the Tikunei Zohar (Petach Eliyahu). It is through human speech in prayer and in Torah that we take upon ourselves the yoke of divine kingdom. To the extent that a man sanctifies the words of his mouth, to that extent he takes on the yoke of divine kingdom, and by means of his speech he comes to merit the holy faith which is known as “the ascent to the kingdom.” That is because the principle part of G-d’s kingdom is revealed through faith, and it is referred to as a “sea” because it resembles endless waters. A person must enter into holy faith each time, as it were, anew; he must reflect upon himself the light of holy faith by a light that is entirely new. That is why the Hebrew word for “sea” is numerically equivalent to one hundred, the total sum of the ten emanations which are each equivalent to ten. For the opening portal to all these supernal sacred emanations is holy faith; to the extent that a person sanctifies the words of his mouth and gradually admits to himself the kindling of holy faith, to that extent he merits to ascend the rungs of the supernal emanations, one by one, until he attains the level of Kesser (Crown), the loftiest of all, at which he becomes completely attached to the Holy One, Blessed Be He. The basis of all this therefore begins with speech, which has the characteristics of Adonai and of divine kingdom, and recognizes that He is Master of all things; such speech opens and broadens the supernal gates in the sense of Psalm 51: “Adonai, open my lips.”

Rabbi Nachman continues by saying “When a person damages his speech which is Adonai, the breath of his mouth becomes a stormy wind, for each of the twenty-seven letters of the aleph - bet is included in the ten which by Gematria (numerical equivalence) equals resh - ayin and becomes an aspect of speech which corresponds to Adonai. And the word for “storm” being sa’ara divides into sa which represents Adonai

and ra which represents “A storm wind executes His command” (Psalm 148), so that when one acts to correct one’s speech and changes it, etc.” This teaching of Rabbi Nachman should be studied carefully.

Mohorosh elucidated the teaching given above by saying that when a person damages his speech by uttering slander, dissension, or gossip, he creates a stormy wind in his own mind. He can no longer concentrate his mind on cleaving to the Creator, Blessed Be He, now that his mind has become unquiet, raging and wandering like a ship in the center of a storm-tossed sea. Rabbi Nachman here reveals how all of this process is situated within the Hebrew word for storm, sa’ara. This is a compound word whose four letters can be transposed into two separate units, sa and ra’. The first of these (sa) consists of the letters samech and heh so that it is numerically equivalent to Adonai, the name of G-d, which in turn represents the power of speech as explained previously. The second part (ra’) consists of the letters resh and ayin and is equivalent to twenty-seven, the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, twenty-two simple letters plus five special letters used only at the ends of words. Now, each letter in the alphabet “is included in the ten” meaning that it can be vocalized in ten different ways, with one of the nine different vowel sounds or with none of them. Finally, twenty-seven times ten yields two hundred seventy, and that is numerically equivalent to the word ra’ which means “evil.” When a person sanctifies his speech with the holy words of Torah, prayer, faith, and fear of G-d, then as Psalm 148 states “A storm-wind executes His command” meaning that such speech calms and mollifies the stormy wind so that it does not do harm. But if he fails to do that, G-d forbid, then his words create such a stormy wind that his mind becomes totally confused. For this reason a person’s main task in this world is to sanctify the words of his mouth and to be engaged in the holy sayings of Torah and prayer as much as possible. Meanwhile he must be extremely cautious to avoid idle and forbidden words. Following that approach will enable him to bring upon himself the illumination of holy faith at all times, and he will truly be able to cleave to the Almighty, Blessed Be He. Happy is such a person, and fortunate is his lot!

Mohorosh connected this matter to the week’s Torah portion, Parshas Chukas, in a wondrous way. For in this portion we find the episode of the waters of Meribah, when

Moses sinned by striking the stone when he ought to have spoken to it. By speaking he would have sanctified HaShem, as it is written (Numbers, 20): “Take the staff, and assemble the community, you and your brother Aaron; and then speak to the rock before their very eyes, and it will yield its water; you shall produce water for them from the rock and provide drink for the community and their livestock.” But instead of doing that, Moses spoke harshly to the people and struck the rock. At first it may seem hard to grasp why Moses was so much at fault here, but in the context of what we have been discussing it becomes much more understandable. For in this episode the Holy One intended primarily to teach the Children of Israel how great and precious is the power of speech, and how many things can be effected through the words of our mouth. G-d wished to demonstrate before the eyes of all Israel how mighty are the words of a Zaddik, a holy person who zealously guards his tongue. If Moses had only spoken to the rock, he would have extracted all the water he needed! But when the water did not pour out right away, and the people began to murmur against him, he lost his patience with them and exclaimed: “ ‘Listen, you rebels shall we get water for you out of this rock?’ Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, and water gushed out in abundance for the community and their livestock to drink.” That is how Moses impaired his faculty of speech, and as a result the people could not witness how all-powerful the words of a Zaddik can be. Nevertheless, when Moshiach comes to redeem us there will be a complete rectification. For the letters that spell the name of Moses (mem - shin - heh) also stand for the words written in Koheleth (Ecclesiastes: 1): “That which shall be is that which already was.” As the first redeemer was, so shall be the last. And when our Holy Moshiach comes, he shall reveal and disseminate through all the world how great is the power of virtuous speech. Then shall the prophecy be fulfilled (Zephania 3:9) “For then I will turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon HaShem,” and all creatures will begin to speak to Him and to accept upon themselves the yoke of His kingdom.

Mohorosh then added that this a clarification of what is taught in the Sayings of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot 3:2): “Rabbi Chaninah, the assistant of the high priests, said ‘Pray for the wellbeing of the kingdom, for were it not for the fear of it, men would swallow each other alive.’” This ‘wellbeing of the kingdom” corresponds to the virtuous speech which can be called “kingdom” as explained above, and no one can pray to the Holy One, Blessed Be He, unless there be peace in the kingdom -- that is to say, unless he achieves a

perfect purity of speech. For the essence of speech comes from peace (see Lekutei Mohoran I:239), as it is written in Psalm 122: “I shall speak peace.” Therefore, when a person has purity of speech he can pray with a mind that is both clean and receptive. But that cannot occur when damage is done to the power of speech and the mind is filled with a stormy wind, even to the point that “men would swallow each other alive.” No one can pray at all when the mind is enraged and confused with trivial, vengeful and malicious thoughts which prevent the mind from contracting towards and cleaving to the Almighty through holy meditation. Only when a person is at peace with others and himself can he

attain purity of speech in the sense of “wellbeing of the kingdom.” Only then can one achieve all things through the words of one’s mouth. May HaShem, Blessed Be He, enable us to attain true purity and perfection of our speech so that we will cleave to Him all the days of our lives, now and forever, Amen.