How Will I Convey the Great Truth?

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I am thirsty! I thirst for my God like a deer alongside the streams.

Oh, who will give tongue to my hurt, who will be the harp to the songs of my moaning, who will express my bitter voice, the pain of my self-expression, broader than the broadest oceans?

I am thirsty for truth. Not to attain truthBI already ride its heavens! I am entirely immersed in the truth! Rather, my entire being is filled with anguish that comes from the painful effort to express myself. How will I convey the great truth that fills my entire heart? How will I reveal to everyone, to the worlds, to created beings, to the fullness of everything, to nations and individuals, the flashes filled with treasures of light and heat that are contained within my soul? I see them, flames rising and leaping up to the highest heavens. And how will I make others aware of it? How will I describe their power?

I am not a divine warrior, one of those mighty men who find the entirety of universes within themselves and to whom it is of no consequence whether or not anyone knows of their abundance. Their attitude is: “Those flocks of sheep that walk on two legs—what good will it do them if they know about the stature of a man, and what harm will it do them if they do not?”

But I am connected to the world and to life. People are my fellow-beings. Many parts of my soul are intertwined with them. And so how can I illuminate them with my light? Whatever I say merely covers my radiance and dims my light.

My suffering is great and my pain is great. Oh, my God, help me in my hurt, create means of expression for me; give me lips and speech of the lips.

Amongst the masses, I will tell my truths—Your truth, God!


Chadarav

How Will I Convey the Great Truth?

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I am thirsty! I thirst for my God like a deer alongside the streams.

Oh, who will give tongue to my hurt, who will be the harp to the songs of my moaning, who will express my bitter voice, the pain of my self-expression, broader than the broadest oceans?

I am thirsty for truth. Not to attain truthBI already ride its heavens! I am entirely immersed in the truth! Rather, my entire being is filled with anguish that comes from the painful effort to express myself. How will I convey the great truth that fills my entire heart? How will I reveal to everyone, to the worlds, to created beings, to the fullness of everything, to nations and individuals, the flashes filled with treasures of light and heat that are contained within my soul? I see them, flames rising and leaping up to the highest heavens. And how will I make others aware of it? How will I describe their power?

I am not a divine warrior, one of those mighty men who find the entirety of universes within themselves and to whom it is of no consequence whether or not anyone knows of their abundance. Their attitude is: “Those flocks of sheep that walk on two legs—what good will it do them if they know about the stature of a man, and what harm will it do them if they do not?”

But I am connected to the world and to life. People are my fellow-beings. Many parts of my soul are intertwined with them. And so how can I illuminate them with my light? Whatever I say merely covers my radiance and dims my light.

My suffering is great and my pain is great. Oh, my God, help me in my hurt, create means of expression for me; give me lips and speech of the lips.

Amongst the masses, I will tell my truths—Your truth, God!


Chadarav

Why Do You Cry Against Me, My Heart?

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

Why do you cry against me, my heart?

Behold, I am filled with a thirst for the living God, a fire flames up within me.

“Give me a consuming fire!”—a fire with which I will slake my thirst, deeper than the fathomless depths and higher than the magnificent mountains.

Chadarav

My Spirit Thirsts for Hashem

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

My spirit thirsts for Hashem.

True, at times this thirst is placed in an exile of imagination adulterated with dross.

It cries out for redemption, to be raised to its proper place, to the level of pure mind with clear knowledge, until it will be a power of rectified deed that brings about salvations in the midst of the land.


Chadarav

Shall I Cast Away the Source of Love?

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

Shall I cast away the source of love and the wellspring of endless delights?

Shall I distance myself from that source—higher than all being and all non-being, than all nothingness and than all void—in its great radiance and exaltedness?

I constantly thirst for its light, and it is sweet on the palate. It always slakes my thirst, even as it increases yearning and amplifies thirst, elevating and refining, together with its refined humility within which my soul within me melts.

Mine is my secret, and my secret is my light, and my secret is with me, the treasure of my life.

[You are] august and sublime, living forever. Forever and ever I am filled with strength, with the glory filling Your being eternally—gladness and tranquility and eternal salvation.

And my eye is aware of every oppressed person. “You save an impoverished people”—the glory of repentance and the secret of worship and the hidden wisdom, whose gates are ever opening to pour forth many streams “in the breadths, streams of water.”


Chadarav

I Am Filled with Love for God

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I am filled with love for God. I know that what I seek, what I love, is called by no name. How can that which is greater than everything, greater than goodness, greater than quality, greater than being, be called by any name?

And I love, and I say: I love God.

The light of the Infinite One dwells within the expression of the Name, in the expression of the divine, and in all of the names and cognomens that the heart of a man teaches and expresses when his soul is lifted ever upwards.

I cannot satisfy my soul with the love that comes from chains of logic, from the search for the light of God via the world, via an existence that penetrates into the eyes.
In our soul are born divine lights—from the perspective of our spirit, many gods.
There is one true God—and higher than one, in the depth of His truth.
God is revealed, He rules over us, He conquers all of our spirits, the spirit of all existence.

Wherever there is idea, feeling, thought and will, wherever there is noble, spiritual life, the divine light rules, governs, conquers, scintillates, is magnificent, gives forth splendor and beauty, vivifies, elevates—all of it out of a clarity of the light of being. It rules—and it dies.

That rule is limited as long as it comes from the world, from being.
At times the light waxes. One desires a light that is more refined, more inward, more true, which is in its very essence more energetic.

The light overwhelms the vessel, thought overwhelms being. The structure cannot hold, the inner content is not congruent, the vessels shatter, the kings die, the gods die, their soul rises, soars to the heavens. The bodies descend to the world of separation, existence stands bare, isolated, torn away, scattered.

It contains within itself, hidden and concealed, an eternal desire for the supernal light.

The eternal love has placed within the shattered vessels its light, its sparks.
In every movement, in every content of life, in every quality is being. There is a spark, a spark of a spark, faint, exceedingly faint, the inner light, the light of the supernal God, building and setting a foundation, gathering the scattered, rectifying forever, organizing and joining together.

The eternal sovereignty is revealed from the light of the Infinite One that is within the soul. From God to the world a new light is born: the light of the radiance of the glory of the face of God.

Chadarav

This Great Distress

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook
Is this great distress that I am not permitted to pronounce God’s Name as it is written an empty thing? Is it not a holy fire, burning and blazing in my soul, which indicates the depth of the hidden longings within it for the light of the true God, the God of Israel, Who makes the precious light of the truth of His manifestation shine only with the holy Name as it is written?

All the holy Names are general— they express a concept of divinity that anyone with intelligence in his mind and with feeling in his heart can express and yearn: to desire Him and to be connected to His being.

But “who is like Your nation Israel, a unique nation upon the earth”— connected to the truth of divinity, which is revealed only in a miraculous, wondrous fashion, in a way of total truth coming from the supernal holy spirit of the “clear lens”?

The verse, “This is My name forever,” is actually written, “This is My name: to be concealed.”

It is impossible for us to pronounce it within this darkened world as long as the light of Israel has not manifested itself in its holy location, in the House of its life: in the eternal Temple.

A thirst for truth flares up, and the longing for that essential expression to be impressed into this world is great. “I have been silenced, quiet. I have been silent, lacking good, and my pain is stirred up.”

Chadarav

A Passionate Yearning

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

My spirit yearns passionately for the supreme light, the infinite light, the light of the God of truth, the God of my life, the living God, the Life-force of all universes.

This passionate yearning consumes my physical and spiritual strength. I have neither the ability nor the proper training to satisfy the totality of this great, passionate yearning.

I am filled with utter self-abnegation before the Monarch of all universes, Who opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living being.

Satiate my desire. Satiate me in the light of Your manifestation, and fill my thirst for Your light.

“Make Your face shine, and we will be saved.”

Chadarav

Who Can Know Me?

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

Who can know me, who knows the fervor of my heart, which burns in truth with the fire of a supernal love of God?

“My spirit expires for You; my heart and my flesh sing to the living God.”

Who can realize that I am unable to take interest in any limited matter because of my great yearning for the eternal delight of the infinite expanses—that I am sick with love?

And not only do others not know me, but I myself do not know myself.

How much must I battle against myself, to keep hold of an inner faith in the greatness of my soul? And that greatness has nothing to do with deeds; it is intrinsically great, because of what it is. It is a supernal freedom, and all teachings and mitzvot only serve to make a measure of its worth clear to it.
Chadarav

I Must Recognize the Holy Fire

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I must recognize the holy fire that blazes in my heart—my yearning that burns ceaselessly within it for the living God—as a great and mighty ability.

I am obligated to honor that holy illumination, which constantly appears to me and at times gains in strength, all in accordance with the amount of deed and learning and in accordance with the amount of the depth of thought, freedom of mind and health of body—and the joy of the heart that is dependent on all of these.
Chadarav

The Crucial Point of the Inner Quest

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

Is it possible that I will not find what I seek, at the time that my search wells from the depths of truth?

And what do I seek if not myself, my true essence—not my physical or spiritual garments, all of which are acquisitions, which come and serve the essence? If my essence, my essential being, is beyond me, how will any of these devices help?

That is the crucial point of the inner quest, which requires true might so that a person may be strong as he engages in it.

And that constant endeavor to find my essence is also at the root of finding the existence of the entire Jewish people and of humanity in its broad sense, and of finding all existence in its inner sense and in its breadth.

And that is the gate of Hashem to finding the eternally sought: the God of the universe, the Source of all quests, for Whom every spirit yearns, and without Whom there is nothing to seek.

Behold, that search is the purest and most wholehearted quality. It harasses the spirit and seizes all inner spiritual proclivities, making them unable to find their path as long as the fundamental position of what one is essentially seeking is not based upon the spiritual foundation that incorporates all the movements of life.

To this end comes the entire wealth of Torah learning, all intelligent activity, and all spiritual awakening in its multitudinous movements in life—in a human being and in the world.

“Fortunate are all those who wait for Him.”
Chadarav

The Speech of Creation

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I have subjugated myself to teachings, to deeds, to relationships, to a variety of different obligations—and as a result, no thought of mine is finished and mature.

Supernal illuminations fall away like blossoms that drop after having appeared, before their time to ripen has arrived, because of a storm wind.

And so the time has come to break the chains that my own hands placed upon all the limbs of my soul, upon all the parts of my spirit. I have no obligation to focus on obstacles outside myself. Salvation is firmly placed within me, within my heart.

The wellspring of tranquility pours forth and flows unceasingly. The kindness of Hashem fills the world.

All that I have to do is to attend to that autonomous awareness, to listen to the secret of the speech of creation in its inner chambers.

I will hear, and my spirit will live.
Chadarav

My Inner Gaze

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I have no need to reject my inner demand to gaze at everything from the essence of my spirit.

At the same time, I am summoned to strengthen myself and broaden my perspectives, expressed in spirit and in deed, in accordance with the understanding that comes from outside myself: from friendship, mingling with others, reading books and other life experiences.

And afterwards, everything returns so as to be mixed into my very spirit, and I return to my inner gaze.
Chadarav

My Spirit Yearns to Burrow Into Its Inner Chambers

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

My spirit yearns to burrow into its inner chambers.

I struggle to draw matters forth from the light of the Torah and from the light of the world.

But I find that all the roots of these pure objects that I seek must be found in the depths of my own spirit, whose light is taken from the light of the Torah and from the radiance of the world.

If I return from the midst of Torah and from the midst of the world to my spirit, I increase my life-force when I then re-enter the chambers of the Torah and the chambers of the treasuries of the world.

And so every bright revelation is divided into three: that of the spirit, that of the Torah and that of the world.

“Speak, my tongue, your words, for all of [God’s] commandments are righteousness.”

Chadarav

How Can I Have Anything to Say to Others?

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

How can I have anything to say to others if I say nothing to my own spirit?

How can I express an opinion about the spiritual and physical world without first seeking a key to the treasures gathered within me?

“Gates, swing open,” I shall say to the chambers of my spirit, to my heart and to my “kidneys,” my source of counsel.
Chadarav

I Constantly Seek

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I constantly seek that which is in the midst of my soul.
Outer servitude distracts my mind from that inner search, bringing me to seek in vain at the far-flung corners of the earth for that which has not been found in the depths of my spirit.

Chadarav

I Must Speak of Myself

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I must speak of myself a great deal.

Matters of my essential being must become extremely clear to me.

When I understand myself, I will understand everything—the world and life—until my understanding will reach the Source of life.
Chadarav

From Within Myself

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

From within myself, from my wellsprings, I must always take the hidden treasures.

I am always connected to a holy suffering that results from my search for supernal perfection.

That search is never fulfilled. Indeed, it has no need to be fulfilled.

This is the nature of such ever-lasting yearning: its foundation is divine thirst. Nothing in the world can slake that thirst except that which it seeks: the on-going revelation and ever-growing experience of the thirst itself.

That itself is transformed into the source of all pleasure, into the platform for all spiritual delights, into the radiance of the Almighty.

Chadarav

The Water in Which Faith Grows

by R. Nachman of Breslov

It is important to dig and find the water in which faith grows.

And that “water” corresponds to solution-oriented ideas, out of which faith grows.

This is related to the verse, “I will praise Your name, for You have done something that comes out of nowhere; solutions from afar, deeply faithful” (Isaiah 25).

Such solutions correspond to the depth of the heart.

In other words, when a person’s faith is damaged and it falls, when even crying out does not help him—i.e., not even a simply outcry without words—then a person has to cry out from his heart only, as in the verse, “Their heart cried out to Hashem” (Lamentations 2). In that case, only the heart cries out, without a sound, as in the verse, “From the depths have I called out to You, Hashem” (Psalms 130)—from the depths of the heart.

And the depth of the heart corresponds to solution-oriented ideas, as in the verse, “Deep waters are solutions in the heart of a person” (Proverbs 20).

And so, when crying out does not help because one’s faith has fallen, then one has to cry out from the heart alone, without a sound, only from the depth of the heat.
And as a result, the solutions are revealed, which correspond to “deep waters are solutions….”

And when such solutions are revealed in the world—i.e., when people know how to solve their problems—then faith grows. “Solutions from afar, deeply faithful.”
Likutei Moharan II 5:2

The Sabbath is a Time of Joy

by R. Nachman of Breslov

When a person’s communication is complete, that corresponds to the Holy Tongue.

All human languages are incomplete and lack perfection, and are called “barbarous speech” (Isaiah 32:4).

Only the Holy Tongue possesses perfection. And the Holy Tongue is connected to the Sabbath. Thus, our Sages comment on the verse that includes the phrase, “and speak a word” (ibid.), which speaks of the Sabbath, “that a person’s speech on the Sabbath should not be the same as his weekday speech” (Shabbat 113).

Similarly, our sages state that the phrase “Thus shall you bless” (Numbers 6:23) means, “in the Holy Tongue” (Sotah 38). The Holy Tongue incorporates blessing and holiness, due to the fact that it is associated with the Sabbath, which is described as possessing blessing and holiness, as in the verse, “and He blessed … and He sanctified” (Genesis 2:3).

And so by means of the Holy Tongue a person is connected to the Sabbath.

Therefore, by means of perfecting one’s speech, which corresponds to the Holy Tongue, a person draws the joy of the Sabbath to the six days of the week.

The six weekdays are associated with depression, for “the angel Metat rules in the weekdays” (Tikunei Zohar 18, p. 33b), and Metat is a servant, which corresponds to depression.

But the Sabbath corresponds to a son, when “there is rest for those in heaven and those upon the earth.” Then joy is awoken. At that point, all of the commandments that a person performed during the six days of the week are raised and elevated from depression; instead, rest and joy are drawn onto them. This is alluded to by the verse, “A son was born and his name was called Noah, for it was said, ‘This one will comfort us from our deeds and from the weariness of our hands” (Genesis 5:28-29).

That corresponds to the Sabbath, which corresponds to the son, corresponding to Noach, “Rest (i) for those in heaven and those upon the earth” (see Tikun 70 at the end and Zohar Bereishit 58, 59), which comforts and gives joy to everyone instead of depression—thus, “this one will comfort us….”

When a person attains the level of the Holy Tongue, which is connected to the Sabbath, he draws down the holiness and joy of the Sabbath into the six days of the week.

Since the Holy Tongue is connected to the Sabbath, through it the joy of the Sabbath is drawn to the six days of the week. Thus, the verse states, “The Mighty One, God, Hashem, spoke.” The numerical value of this phrase in Hebrew (plus the number of words of which it is composed) is equal to that of the word, simchah, joy. By means of a perfect speech, which is the Holy Tongue, joy is drawn down.

Likutei Moharan II 2:5

We and God Together Seek Atonement on Rosh Hashanah

by R. Nachman of Breslov

When a person sits down to talk with someone else, that can be said to correspond to Rosh Hashanah.

This is because Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgment; and when a person sits down to talk with someone else, he has a tendency to judge him.

A person must be very careful in this regard and look at himself well, to see if he is competent to judge someone else.

The verse states that “judgment belongs to God” (Deuteronomy 1:7)—meaning that only God is competent to judge someone.

Also, our Sages state, “Do not judge someone until you come to his place” (Pirkei Avot 2). But who can know and come to someone else’s place except for God? “He is the Place of the world, and the world is not His place” (Bereishit Rabbah, Veyeitzei 68, cited by Rashi on the verse hinei makom iti—Tisa). Each individual has a place with God. And so, only God can judge someone.

**

He is the Master of compassion, Who certainly “judges every individual favorably” (Avot 1).
We can see His compassion in the fact that He set the date for Rosh Hashanah, which is a day of judgment, on rosh chodesh—the new month. That is a great kindness—for how else would we dare lift up our faces to seek atonement from God? He did us the great kindness of setting the Day of Judgment, Rosh Hashanah, on rosh chodesh, for at that time God Himself (as it were) seeks atonement. We learn that God says in regard to rosh chodesh, “Bring an atonement on My behalf” (Shavuot 9a, Chullin 60b).

We learn that from the following Talmudic passage.

R. Shimon ben Pazi contrasted two verses. One states that “God made the two great lights”—the sun and moon—implying that they were of equal size (Genesis 1); and the other describes the sun and moon as “the large light and the small light.”

The solution to this contradiction is as follows.

Originally, the sun and moon were of equal size, but the moon complained to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the universe, is it possible for two kings to make use of the same crown?”

God replied to the moon, “Then make yourself smaller.”

She said to Him, “Master of the universe, because I raised a reasonable point to You, should I then make myself smaller?”

God attempted to appease the moon in various ways, but she refused to be reconciled. Seeing this, He said, “Bring an atonement on My behalf for having made the moon smaller.”

And so on the Day of Judgment we are not ashamed to seek atonement, since God Himself seeks atonement at that time.

Also, when God Himself must, as it were, state, “Bring an atonement on My behalf”—i.e., because He did something that He must regret—we are not ashamed to come before Him with our sins in order to seek atonement for them and regret them, since He Himself has done something that He needs to regret.

And so we see the greatness of God’s compassion—i.e., that He set the date for Rosh Hashanah on rosh chodesh.

Only He is fit to judge the world, for only He knows the place of each individual. This is because all places are with Him, since “He is the Place of the world, and the world is not His place.”

**

We find that God’s Presence rested in certain sites, such as the Temple. But that is not to say (heaven forbid) that God constricted His Divinity (heaven forbid). As Solomon stated, “Behold, the heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain You—certainly not this house” (Kings I 8:26).

But there were felicitous matters there—e.g., we learn that the Temple was in the form of the Work of Creation and in the form of the Garden of Eden (see Introduction to the Tikunim). Therefore, God drew His holiness into it.

But as for God Himself, the world is not His place—rather, He is the Place of the world.
God can make Rosh Hashanah, which is the Day of Judgment, because He represents the concept, “Do not judge someone else until you come to his place,” because God is the Place of the world.

The verse states that “holiness is felicitous in Your House, Hashem, for length of days” (Psalms 93:5).

That is to say, God drew His holiness into the Temple, since it had felicitous things there. But as for God Himself, the world is not His place—rather, He is the Place of the world.

And so the verse ends, “Hashem, for length of days.” That is to say, since God is the Place of the world, He can make Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgment, which is called for halachic reasons a “lengthy day” (Beitzah 4 and 6; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 393).

**

A person who grasps the level of the Throne of Glory—which is the level of the roots of souls—corresponds to the Place of the world. That corresponds to the verse, “He endows [such people] with a seat of honor as an inheritance, for Hashem’s are the pillars of the earth, upon which He set up the world” (Samuel I 2:8).

That is to say, by coming to the level of the Throne of Glory, the roots of souls, such people function as the place of the world, the level of “upon them He set up the world.”

And thus such a person can make Rosh Hashanah.

Likutei Moharan Tinyana 1:14

The Flow of Abundance

By R. Nosson of Nemirov

The lust for money is the result of a lack of faith that God can bring a person an income via an easy means, without toil. Lacking this faith, a person constantly chases after his income. He is filled with depression, worry and bitterness, and borrows a great deal of money because he does not believe that God can provide him with his income in its proper time without toil, via a simple means.

And all of this is drawn from and connected to time. God transcends time and place, “Israel rose first in the [divine] thought,” and “the Holy One, blessed be He, the Torah and Israel are all one.” And so Israel also transcends time.

And all the service of Israel in this physical world, which rests within time and space, is solely to raise and connect the reality of time and space to the reality that transcends time and space—i.e., to raise, connect and incorporate all of creation into that which preceded creation.

And the essential thing is faith. As the verse states, “All of Your commandments are faith.”

This is because via faith, via believing that God created everything with His will, and that all time and space come from Him, from the reality that transcends time and space, we raise and connect time and space to the level that transcends time and space. And then all of creation is on the level that transcends time and space—on the level of providence.

And that is the aspect of trust in God. And in truth, essentially a person grows depressed and worries over earning a living because he fails to trust in God.

In essence, this blemish and lack of trust in God derive solely from the level of time and space.

God causes His good abundance to flow constantly, without interruption for even a moment. But that flow of abundance enters this physical world, which is within time and space, and so it must be clothed in time and space.

And so the flow of income and abundance comes down only within a specific time and space.

In essence, worry over earning a living comes from the fact that at times the flow of a person’s income is interrupted. Then the worry over making a living rises in his heart and he grows concerned over what he will eat tomorrow.

As a result, he invests a great deal of toil in earning a living. But in the end he does not attain an income until its proper time arrives.

But if this person possessed a true intelligence and believed that everything is from God but that it is necessary to wait until its time comes, he would not chase after his income so much, knowing that God will give him his income in its time, via an easy means.

It is necessary for a person engage in some slight action for the sake of earning a living, as our sages state regarding the verse, “I will bless you in all that you do”--for it can be drawn down into this world only via vessels. Thus, it is necessary to engage in some industry and business, for in this way one makes vessels and conduits to receive the abundance.

But in truth, the work is not the main thing at all. Rather, the essential income comes from God, from His providence alone, for no person knows how he will earn a living.

And so a person should not urgently pursue his income with great toil--as though, heaven forbid, his income depends on that alone. To the contrary, as a result his income will decrease, because “whenever a person forces the moment, the moment forces him back.” A person needs to engage in business and industry only to fulfill the commandment of engaging in business faithfully, in order to make a vessel and conduit to receive the abundance--and whatever he does in this will suffice.

And thus, “I will bless you in all that you do”— in whatever a person does, even something slight and small, Hashem will bless him. Most people pursue an income repeatedly and with great effort yet do not succeed in earning a profit, and achieve nothing in their toil--yet then God has pity on them and brings them an income--sometimes even great wealth—via a very simple means, in an almost supernatural fashion. The world is filled with stories of this kind, which are very common among those who engage in business.

So if a person had intelligence and from the beginning relied on God and did not worry at all, he would have no need whatsoever for unnecessary toil. When the time came, God would give him his income via a simple means.

Not only does a person not earn anything as a result of his worry, depression and exaggerated toil and overwhelming efforts, but to the contrary, he loses the abundant flow of great income.

This is because the essence of the flow of income comes from above, from that which transcends time and space--except that in this world, income has to clothe itself in time and space, and so a person must engage in some activity and business for the sake of income, in order to make a vessel in which abundance can clothe itself in this world.

When a person believes that time and space are connected to that which transcends time and space, he has abundant income because he is connected to the source of abundance that flows from above by means of his faith and trust in Hashem.

But when a person runs after his income with great toil, he is drawn after and powerfully connected to the level of time and space. He disconnects time and space from the level that transcends time and space. As a result, he is distanced from the root of flowing abundance, and so it is difficult for him to earn a living. And even when he receives a little income, it necessarily comes with a great and overwhelming toil.

As a result of his income coming with excessive toil, he is drawn even more to into constriction, into time and space.

And so his income comes with excessive toil, which is drawn from the level of time and space.

Our sages state that “when a person forces the moment, the moment will force him back, but when a person allows himself to be forced back by the moment, the moment will be forced back by him.”

That is to say, a person who is excessively drawn after time and tries to force the moment is connected in an excessive manner to time and space, and is greatly distanced from the aspect that transcends time and space. As a result, he is distanced from the source of the flow of abundance.

As a result, “the moment will force him back,” since he is so greatly connected to the aspect of time.

And so this person suffers even greater pressure, because his income is pushed off to a further time and place. Because he has put so much effort into time and space, his income is pushed off in time and space.

But when a person allows himself to be “forced back by the moment,” when he believes that everything is from God and that when his time comes his income will come of itself, via a simple means, he is tied strongly to that which transcends time and space.

And so “the moment will be forced back by him,” because in this way he reduces time and space, and God sends him his income in a short period of time and in close proximity to himself.

This is because he is close to and connected to the aspect that transcends time and space.

As a result, he does not need to engage in great exertion for the sake of his income.

This is because the essence of exertion is drawn from the aspect of time and space.

If a person had very strong trust, he would not even have to engage in any means at all in order to earn an income.

In essence, it is necessary to engage in some simple means to earn an income in order to make a conduit and vessel to receive the abundance that flows down from above. But if a person had strong trust, he would make the vessel and the conduit with that trust itself.

This is because by means of the trust he makes a vessel to receive the flow of abundance.

Likutei Halachot, Yoreh Deah, Ribit 3:1

Faith and the Red Heifer

The law of the red heifer is said to be a chukah, an ordinance that transcends human reason. But the Be’er Mayim Chaim and other works point out that R. Moshe Hadarshan explains that the purpose of the red heifer was to make it possible for the Jews to gain attainment following the sin of the golden calf. Why, then, is this law referred to as a chukah?

The author of Yismach Yisrael (Terumah) quotes his father, the holy Admor, who in turn cites our holy rebbe of Worke, with an answer to this question.

The essence of the sin of the golden calf was lack of faith. Faith operates when the intellect is not illuminated and the mind is not clear. (As the verse states, “Your faithfulness is in the nights.”) When the people of that generation were deprived of the presence of Moses for a short while and their intellect did not shine for them sufficiently, they lacked faith and made the golden calf.

The rectification for that is an equivalent measure of repentance—i.e., a strengthening of faith, of believing simply (even if we do not know and understand with our intellect) in the commandments of God.

And that is the meaning of the words of R. Moshe Hadarshan: although the law of the red heifer is a chukah without reason and we cannot understand it with our intellect, nevertheless we keep it. Therefore it is a rectification for the sin of the golden calf, the lack of faith—i.e., this red heifer comes, which lacks human reason and in which everything is from the aspect of faith, and grants atonement for the sin of the golden calf, which was a lack of faith.

Esser Zechuyot

Walking with God

The holy Yismach Yisrael (Vayigash) cites a teaching of our holy rebbe, the holy elder of Worke, regarding the baraita at the end of Berachot that “whoever reviews halachot every day is assured a place in the world-to-come, and the verse states of him, ‘His are the pathways of the world.’”

This is speaking of a person who attains Torah and clings to God, so that he does not make even the slightest motion with any limb without it being solely for the sake of God. Everything that he does is called halachah, which means walking—i.e., he walks in the ways of God.

And that is the meaning of this baraita: “whoever reviews halachot every day”—i.e., everything that he does the entire day is only walking in this fashion.

“And the verse states of him, ‘His are the pathways of the world.’”

That is to say, the entire world was created only to join together with this person, who with his deeds satisfies the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah.

When a person merits to be on such a level, so that all of his deeds, movements and feelings are solely for the sake of God and not for any other purpose, he clings to the Torah constantly. Then all of his deeds are the Torah of Hashem.

And this is the intent of the Torah: that a person should cling to God. And all of the 613 commandments are aids to attain that level.

And he said that (in this sense) the holy tzaddik R. Dovid of Lelov reviewed halachot every day.

Esser Zechuyot

How a Physician Became a Complete Tzaddik

I heard from the famous and pious Torah scholar, R. Yitzchak Meir (chief judge of Alexander and the brother-in-law of our master) how R. Chaim Dovid (of blessed memory), a physician of Pietrekov, became a complete tzaddik.

R. Chaim Dovid was a great and famous physicians—and, like all of the doctors, he was irreligious.

One time a gentile nobleman set for him from a distance, for he was ill.

R. Chaim Dovid traveled to him in his carriage, and the route took him through the city of Lelov.

When he came to Lelov, it was late at night and a torrential rain began to pour, and he could not continue further.

He wanted to spend the night in some house, but it was pitchblack everywhere.

Then, from a distance, he saw a house where a light was shining, so he went there. This was the home of the holy tzaddik, R. Dovid of Lelov. R. Dovid greeted him warmly and told his wife, “Make a good meal, for we have a good guest.”

He ate there, and when the rain quieted down he left him.

And as they were parting, the holy R. Dovid told him, “Know that when a person is in a time of trouble, heaven help us, it is good to pledge gold to charity. That is an excellent remedy.” But R. Chaim Dovid didn’t understand what he was telling him.

That was the time of the great war between the Poles and the Russians. And as he was on his way, the Russians swooped down and joyfully took him prisoner, and they took him to be hanged, because they thought that he was the commander of the Polish forces.

When he saw that he was in such great trouble, he recalled what the man from Lelov had told him. He had a golden rendel sewn into his hat (as gentlemen do), and he pledged that rendel to charity.

Immediately, the head of the brigade said, “Behold, since we have captured the commander of the Poles, it is only proper that we inform our own commander, so that he will come and execute you himself.” And everyone agreed to that.

So they sent for their commander.

But when he came, he told them immediately, “You made a mistake, for this is not the man”—for he recognized the Polish commander. And so they let him go in peace.

When he saw this, he realized that the man of Lelov is a holy man.

He went to him and repented and became a whole-hearted penitent and a follower of the holy rebbe. He went to him on a regular basis and became his hasid, until people said of him that he was on a high spiritual plane and that divine inspiration rested on him. And at the end of his life, he accepted kvitlech, petitionary notes.

Esser Zechuyot

An Encounter with the Evil One

The book A.I. tells that near Worke lived a person in a village who, on Hoshana Rabbah morning, made himself a hoshana (a bundle of willows), and set out to Worke, to be with our holy rebbe and pray there.

As he was holding the hoshana in his hand, a gentile nobleman met him and asked him, “What is in your hand?”

He told him, “A hoshana.”

And he said, “Call it a meitla [a disparating term?],” and struck him cruelly so that he would say that. But he refused and insisted on saying “hoshana.”

The nobleman then asked him, “Where are you going?”

He told him, “To the rebbe of Worke.”

He told him, “Call him Yutzke [a colloquial version of the rebbe’s first name]!” and struck him again with murderous blows.

But he cried out, “To the rebbe!”

And then the nobleman vanished.

When he came to Worke, our holy rebbe asked him, “What happened to you on the way?” And he told him the entire story.

Our holy rebbe told him, “Know that this nobleman was the Evil One, and he wanted to destroy you, heaven forbid, in two ways: first, that you should show contempt for the mitzvah, and second, that you should call your rebbe by name. And you experienced great miracles and withstood the test. And so a heavenly decree against you was torn up and changed from evil to good. And may you be written and sealed for a good life.

And so it was that he had a good year.

Esser Zechuyot

It Is Impossible Not To Love Hashem

It is completely impossible not to love Hashem.

And it is completely impossible that this power of sweet, necessary love will not blossom into action, into a love of engaging in deeds that relate to goodness, in terms of attaining the light of Hashem.

It is impossible not to love the Torah and the commandments, which are so connected to the goodness of Hashem.

It is impossible not to love that which is honest and just, that good and excellent order which brings good to all, which is well-connected to the truth of existence and to the thought of the heart, with an excellent connection that is so great and splendor that we call it “the desire of Hashem.”

But higher than all this and unique beyond all this, bringing pleasantness to the soul of all, beyond the plane to which any thought can rise, it is impossible not to be filled with love for every creature, because the flow of the light of Hashem shines in everything, so that everything is a revelation of the dearness of the pleasantness of Hashem.

“The kindness of Hashem has filled the earth.”

Orot Hakodesh IV, p. 390

The Secretary in the Forest

I heard the following story from a reliable person, who heard it from someone who had met an exceedingly old man who possessed remarkable strength.

That [old man] told a story about the holy Worke rebbe, when the holy rebbe was young and a secretary in a forest [in a lumber operation]. And there was also a treasurer there there. And [this old man] was a worker there--called a gei’avi—and there were other workers there as well.

One time, the treasurer suspected the gentiles of stealing wood from the forest. So he told the servants to watch for thieves in the forest that night, and if they caught a thief they would be given half of the fine [that the thief would have to pay]. And that is what they did they did.

Suddenly that night this worker saw the secretary going through the forest. And he was very surprised, because it is not normal for a secretary to look for thieves at night. So he kept an eye on him and saw that he was going to a pit filled with worms and muravkes (leeches[?]). The secretary took off his clothes and went in naked, until blood streamed from his entire body. And near by was a pit filled with water, and he immersed in it and went home.

The worker discreetly kept an eye on the secretary the next night and the following nights, and the secretary did the same each night. And the worker kept this matter hidden in his heart, considering the secretary to be a holy man but not revealing it to anyone.

One time the treasurer celebrated his new-born son’s circumcision, and before the circumcision he gathered all of the workers and gave them pastries and vodka, as is the custom.

Afterwards, he asked them to bless him that the boy should grow up.

They asked him, “What particular blessing do you want us to give you?”

He told them that whenever he had had a son, either before or immediately after the circumcision the baby passed away.

This worker could not contain himself and told the treasurer, “I have to tell you that the only person who can help you is our secretary. He will help you, because he is a holy man.” And he told him the whole story.

So the treasurer sent for the secretary and gave him pastry and vodka. And then he brought him into a room and closed the door. And he said, “Please bless me.” And he told him of his trouble.

The secretary said to him, “What do you want from me? Am I a rabbi or a rebbe?”

The treasurer told him, “Don’t conceal yourself from me, for I have learned that you are a holy man.” And his wife also wept before the secretary, out of the bitterness of her soul, and she said, “Save me, my master!”

And since the secretary saw that he had no alternative, he sat on the seat and held his holy hands before his face for a few minutes. And then he said to the treasurer, “Once when you were a boy you were playing with other children, and you took a ring and put it on the twig of a tree and said, ‘Behold, you are betrothed to me.’ One of the beings from the Side of Evil was sitting there, and it is she who is killing your babies.”

The treasurer remembered the episode. He wept and asked the secretary what to do.

The secretary asked for paper. He made lines and wrote some text on the paper, and he told the treasurer to go to a tree that he would point out and tell the tree, “I give this to you as divorce papers.”

And the secretary stood there by the window and gazed out until the treasurer finished and returned to him.

And the secretary told the treasurer, “You have already been saved.”

And so it was.

And this worker was standing there and saw all this. And since he realized that this was a propitious moment, he said to the secretary, “Bless me too.” And the secretary blessed with him with long life.

And then the secretary left the area, since he saw that people were beginning to notice him.

And that secretary was our holy rebbe of Worke.

Esser Zechuyot

The Essence of Learning Torah

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

The essence of learning Torah “for its own sake” can only come about via this preparation of understanding accompanied by feeling of how all of the details of the Torah are beloved with a holy love, and how the universal light, which is filled with life and which brings life to the world, penetrates all of [the Torah’s] details.

Orot Hatorah 2:7

Learning Torah

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

The foundation of learning Torah “for its own sake” depends upon the enhancement of the strength of the Congregation of Israel, which is concealed within us.

The more we draw forth from [the Congregation of Israel and] into actuality branches of perceptions and breadth of feelings, the more do we enhance its power and cause it to shine.

And in so doing, we enhance the Torah itself, which is the spiritual aspect of the true life of the Congregation of Israel, which is concealed within us and hidden within the entire Torah and in each of its details.

Orot Hatorah 2:6

We Raise in Holiness, and We Do Not Bring Down

by R. Nosson of Nemirov

“We raise up in holiness and we do not bring down” (Berachot 28).

Would it occur to anyone to bring holiness down, heaven forbid?

But the following is the meaning of this statement.

There are some holy people who are so truly great that because of their essential holiness they cannot bear people, and because they are so incredibly holy, they push away and push down people whom they are angry at, because they cannot tolerate their corrupt actions.

But this is not what God wants, for “He desires kindness,” and he wants those who are righteous to have compassion on the Jewish people constantly and bring them close, however they may be.

And even if He Himself is very angry at them because of their wicked deeds, He wants the righteous people to pray for them and bring them close.

Thus, when Moshe removed his tent from the camp (Exodus 33) because the Jews had sinned so much, our sages teach that God said, “If I am angry and you are angry, they who will bring them back?”

So do we find regarding a number of prophets and saintly men to whom God Himself complained about His great suffering, as it were, because of the many sins of the Jews—yet when they ratified His worlds and did not defend the Jews, He grew very stern with them.

That was the case with Hosea (Pesachim 87) and Elijah, who said, “I have been exceedingly zealous…” Kings 19), to which God responded, “Anoint Elisha son of Shefat as prophet in your place”—meaning, state our sages, that God told him, “I do not want your prophecy, because you accuse the Jews” (Yalkut Shimoni).

This is because God wants us only to defend the Jews and have compassion on them, even the lowest, bringing them all to God, like Moses, who was entirely dedicated to help the Jews, and who said, “And if not, then wipe me out…” (Exodus 32).

And so “we raise in holiness”—the more we toil and reach holiness and come closer to understanding the divine, the more souls must we raise up, and not bring down—i.e., we must take care not to lower other souls due to our own holiness—i.e., we should not grow unforgiving of the Jews even if we attain great holiness and awareness of God, which makes it impossible for us to tolerate lowly people, until we might grow angry at them and might lower them, heaven forbid…

Rather, we must “Raise in holiness and not lower,” for when a person comes to a higher level and achieves greater understanding, he must shrewdly make new constrictions, utilizing wondrous strategies, so that he will be able to bring many people ever closer, and heal even the lowest and the very ill.

Likutei Halachot, Orach Chaim, Hashkamat Haboker 4

The Good of the Entire World

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

There are some tzaddikim who are so great and mighty that they are unable to restrict themselves to the Congregation of Israel, but are constantly worried and concerned about the good of the entire world.

Nevertheless, they too are connected at their inner core to the Congregation of Israel, because the Congregation of Israel is the essence of the good and the most elevated of the entire world. And when the Congregation of Israel receives love and goodness, it surrounds all creation.

Such tzaddikim cannot be “nationalistic” in the external sense of the world, for they cannot tolerate any hatred and any injustice, any constriction or limitation of goodness and kindness. Instead, they are good to all, in accordance with the traits of the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is good to all and Whose compassion extends to all of His creatures.

Nevertheless they are mighty as they gaze toward salvation, for they know clearly and believe with the entirety of their pure being that the salvation of Israel, the salvation of Hashem, is the salvation of the entire world and everything in it, from the highest heights to the lowest depths.

And these supernal tzaddikim, these supernal pious people, who are connected to the ropes of lovingkindness and the light of truly supernal love, hold onto their great trait, the trait of a supernal lovingkindness, and they seek constantly the good of every individual and all creation.

And in the midst of that drive, they involve themselves devotedly and with a wondrous soul connection to the needs of Israel, in all generations and in all seasons, in all ways, in all frameworks and in all avenues.

And it is they who tend toward lovingkindness, who love to justify people and have no desire to condemn them, who love justice and hate evil, who cling to the trait of our patriarch Abraham.

And in the midst of a broad love of all creation, a wondrous love of Israel enters their heart. And since it is constricted into a concentrated place, after having been greatly spread out in an immense breadth, it is exceedingly mighty and powerful, and causes great waves to pass through the soul, until it has the power to warm many souls and to place the holy fire of the love of Israel into the depths of their heart and soul, in a great and mighty measure that leads to deed—even without any action on their part.

Their soul streams forth a wondrous love of Israel. And out of the great flame of their spiritual light comes the life power of all the good deeds of the nationalists, those who are truly dedicated to the affairs of the nation. This is because the root of all life and all goodness is to be found in the soul of the supernal tzaddikim, who stand beyond all the trivial matters that regularly fill the heart of most people.

And in the concealed place of their spirit, the seeds of ideals grow. And from their aristocratic spirit these spread in every direction. And each seed takes root in its proper place, where it sprouts. “And the sprout of Hashem will be a thing of pride and beauty for the remainder of His nation.”

Orot Hakodesh III pp. 349-350

The Passover Seder's Fifteen Sections

By R. Moshe Grunwald (author of Arugat Habosem)

Kadesh. A person who wishes to sanctify (kadesh) himself and return to God should not be frightened by the words of the evil inclination that he cannot repent—rather, he should trust that God will help him purify himself.

Urchatz—as related to the word rachitz, to trust. And “when a person accepts the yoke of Torah, the yoke of the government and the yoke of earning a living are removed from him” (Avot 3:5). That brings us to:

Karpas. The commentators state that this can be read as perekh samech (the hard labor of 600,000). And so:

Karpas yachatz. One should break–yachatz—the yoke of the samech-mem—the evil inclination—by sanctifying oneself and trusting in God, accepting upon oneself the yoke of His rule. Then:

Maggid rachtza. It is not enough to sanctify oneself, but one should accept the obligation to teach others (maggid) the ways of God and to tell them to wash (rachtza) and purify and remove the evil of their deeds. “No sin comes about through a person who improves others” (Avot 5:18). And our sages state as well that the verse, “When Hashem approves of the ways of a person, then even his enemies make peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7), refers to the evil inclination(Bereishit Rabbah 55:1)—a person who teaches the Jewish people to cleanse themselves of their sins will find that in the end even his evil inclination will make peace with him and he will not have to battle against it. And so:

Motzi matzah—he will remove (motzi) any conflict (matzah) he has with it.

One might therefore say, such a person will then be dependent on others, seeing that he does not work to earn a living—and our sages state, “The dove said to the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘I would rather have my livelihood as bitter as an olive ... [than depend on others]’” (Eiruvin 18b). But the Peleh writes on the verse, “They call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20), that such a person makes the bitter sweet and the sweet bitter—such a person turns the whole world around (Panim Yafot, Beshelach, L’maan anasenu). For example, the entire world was sustained because of the sage Chanina. And so:

Maror Korech. That bitterness (maror) will be covered over (karuch). And the reason is that he does not depend on another. To the contrary:

Shulchan orech. Others are fed because of him. And if you say that as a result, his reward in the world-to-come is diminished, we learn:

Tzafun barech. As the Peleh comments, we say in the Grace After Meals, “he has mercy and life and peace and everything good”—yet nevertheless, we continue, “he does not lack the eternal good.” (That which is hidden in the world-to-come will continue to be blessed.)

And just as a person works to increase the praise of God in this world, so will he praise Him in the world to come: Hallel Nirtzah (praise that is accepted).

Kadesh Urchatz Redux

On this night, when it is a mitzvah to tell of the exodus from Egypt and to guide people to serve God, this list indicates how a person who wishes to be a leader should act. First:

Kadesh urchatz. Sanctify and cleanse yourself as in the verse, “Adorn yourself …” Zephaniah 2:1; cf. Bava Metzia 107b). Then:

Karpas yachatz. Break your desires and corporeality. And then:

Maggid—tell others:

Rachtza—wash in the waters of awareness.

But one must guard oneself from three things:

Motzi matzah—not to say things that might arouse conflict. And also:

Maror Korech—and not to explicate things that are bitter but wrap them in words of Torah that are sweeter than honey. And also:

Shulchan orech-as Rashi says in Mishpatim: “Do not say I will teach them two or three times and not bother myself to make them understand the reason for things. The verse states ‘Place before them’—i.e., like a prepared table set for a meal.” And another piece of advice:

Tzafun barech—as Alshich comments on “when you reprove a fool he will hate you, reprove a wise person and he will love you” (Proverbs 9:8): “and when you reprove someone, don’t call him evil—to the contrary, say, ‘Is it possible that someone as wise as you should do such a thing?’” As our sages say, “when a person rebukes someone for his sin, he should bless from the depths of their heart that it is good. As the verse states “Their hearts did not turn back …’ (Psalms 44:19). And then:

Hallel nirtzah. They will praise his deeds and he will be accepted by God.

Wearing the Kittel on Passover

By R. Moshe Grunwald (author of Arugat Habosem)

For the Pesach seder, it is the custom to wear a kittel, as the Magen Avraham writes (472:5). From his words, it appears that the purpose is that a person’s heart should be humbled. And I have come upon a reason for this, which is related to our sages’ comment on “and they became there a nation”—teaching that the Jews had their own independent character as a nation there. And our sages state that the sages in Bavel had their own character as a people—i.e., that they wore white clothes(Shabbat 145a). As we learn, the rabbis are called ministering angels (Nedarim 20), for they are outstanding, like ministering angels, of whom the verse states ‘wearing white garments’ (Ezekiel 9:11).

To recall that, we too wear the white kittel.

We learn in Divrei Shmuel of R. Shmelke of Nikolsberg that a person should visualize that he is already in the world of truth and he has been shown his sins throughout his entire life, and he himself judged himself.

As we find in Avot (3:1), “Before Whom will you have to give an accounting of yourself?”—in the world-to-come, our commentators say, a person judges his own deeds. And he is given the choice as to whether to return to this world to correct his deeds.

And certainly after such a visualization and realization, a person will take great care and correct that which he did wrong. And thus it is the custom to wear the kittel: as though one was already in the world-to-come, and one returned to this world, sent to correct himself.

And as a result one should be joyful and happy and give thanks for having received such an opportunity, and then one should rise from level to level.

And an allusion to this may be found in our sages’ statement that “the [greens] are brought before him, he dips the chazeret until he comes to the condiments of the bread” (Pesachim 114a). Yet afterwards the mishnah states, “They brought before him matzah and chazeret and charoset.” That being so, the first phrase is unnecessary.

However, the language of the sages contains an important lesson: that before one opens one’s mouth to tell the story of the exodus from Egypt, one must make an accounting of oneself and consider before God all that has occurred to him in his entire life. And thus his heart will be broken and humble—and not only because of unseemly deeds, but also because of his treating meaningful things lightly, even if he engaged in mundane activities with no higher purpose (as we find in Chovot Halevavot [Shaar Avodat Ha’elokim 84).

The word chazeret is related to the word chazor, review and repent. And that is before he is brought matzah and chazeret—i.e., he reviews all he had done “until he comes to the condiments of the bread”—and Tosafot Yom Tov states that the word for condiments is related to “I was at peace and He shattered me” (Job 16:12)—i.e., a person should repent until he breaks his heart and so deeply contemplate such thoughts until even in regard to the bread which he utilizes to sustain himself he humbles and shatters his heart.

And then the opening of his lips will be straight: “and may the expression of my lips be acceptable before the Master of all created beings.”

Another possible reason for the custom is related to the verse, “he removed his garments and put on other garments” (Leviticus 6:4). Our sages state: “a person should not give a cup to his master in the same clothes that he cooked his master’s food” (Shabbat 114a). And this is an allusion to the garments of the soul—the “rabbinical garments”—that the soul wears in the world-to-come (as referred to in the passage we recite before wrapping ourselves in the prayer shawl).

And here too when he comes to pour the cup for his master, he should not do so in filthy garments that he wears the entire year, but he should remove them with thoughts of repentance and garb himself in garments of regret for the past and a confident heart toward the future.

The Difficult Birth

Before Pesach, when every Jew cleans the house and carries outside all of the furniture, the holy rebbe, R. Meirel, himself would work with great effort until he was sweating.

One time he worked very hard before Pesach to take a large pot [?] (toptshan) through a window, for it wouldn’t fit through the door. But it was also very hard to get it through the window, for it was very big and the window too small, in keeping with the small rooms.

His gabbai asked him, “Dear rebbe, why do you have to work so hard to take it out?” But the holy rebbe did not respond.

They worked at this for a long time until they finally got it through the window.

Suddenly a messenger arrived from a shtetl with a pidyon contribution from a woman who was having a difficult childbirth. The holy tzaddik answered him immediately, “Go home, the child was born healthy at the moment that Meir got the pot through the window.”

And that was what had happened, just as the holy tzaddik had said.

When the messenger left, the holy rebbe said to the gabbai, “Just think what a fool you are. Meir worked with all his strength so that the child should come out of his mother’s womb without any problem and you, fool, wanted to give Meir advice that the child should be born with broken feet!”

See and understand that he did all simple work with deep intention for a great purpose with his holy good traits, and he saw and knew everything with his holy divine inspiration.

May his merit stand by us always in all matters, physical and spiritual.

Shivchei R. Meir

What Makes Matzah Kosher?

One year before Pesach, Rabbi Israel Salanter as usual took great care to prepare his shmurah matzah, spending a great deal of money to carry out his stringent requirements. He had a man reap some wheat by hand, dry it and thresh it. Rabbi Israel usually put the kernels in a box and then grind the grain in a handmill and oversee the bakers (Or Israel).

But that year, Rabbi Israel realized that he would be unable to be present during the matzah baking. Some of his students noticed Rabbi Israel's distress, and they approached him. “Rabbi, tell us what you are particularly concerned about during the baking of the matzah, and we will make sure that it is done.”

Rabbi Israel answered, “I ask only one thing. In your zeal, don’t rush the woman kneading the dough, because she is a widow, and the Torah tells us, ‘You shall not oppress the widow.’” He added, “The kashrus of the matzos is not made complete when you care for even the most stringent Pesach halachah, but only when you are scrupulous about the halachos of Choshen Mishpat—treating other people in business correctly.”

cf. Tenuat Hamusar

I Am Filled with Love for God

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

I am filled with love for God. I know that what I seek, what I love, is called by no name. How can that which is greater than everything, greater than goodness, greater than quality, greater than being, be called by any name?

And I love, and I say: I love God.

The light of the Infinite One dwells within the expression of the Name, in the expression of the divine, and in all of the names and cognomens that the heart of a man teaches and expresses when his soul is lifted ever upwards.

I cannot satisfy my soul with the love that comes from chains of logic, from the search for the light of God via the world, via an existence that penetrates into the eyes.

In our soul are born divine lights—from the perspective of our spirit, many gods.

There is one true God—and higher than one, in the depth of His truth.

God is revealed, He rules over us, He conquers all of our spirits, the spirit of all existence.

Wherever there is idea, feeling, thought and will, wherever there is noble, spiritual life, the divine light rules, governs, conquers, scintillates, is magnificent, gives forth splendor and beauty, vivifies, elevates—all of it out of a clarity of the light of being. It rules—and it dies.

That rule is limited as long as it comes from the world, from being.

At times the light waxes. One desires a light that is more refined, more inward, more true, which is in its very essence more energetic.

The light overwhelms the vessel, thought overwhelms being. The structure cannot hold, the inner content is not congruent, the vessels shatter, the kings die, the gods die, their soul rises, soars to the heavens. The bodies descend to the world of separation, existence stands bare, isolated, torn away, scattered.

It contains within itself, hidden and concealed, an eternal desire for the supernal light.

The eternal love has placed within the shattered vessels its light, its sparks.

In every movement, in every content of life, in every quality is being. There is a spark, a spark of a spark, faint, exceedingly faint, the inner light, the light of the supernal God, building and setting a foundation, gathering the scattered, rectifying forever, organizing and joining together.

The eternal sovereignty is revealed from the light of the Infinite One that is within the soul. From God to the world a new light is born: the light of the radiance of the glory of the face of God.

Chadarav

A Holy Fire, Burning and Blazing in My Soul

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

Is this great distress that I am not permitted to pronounce God’s Name as it is written an empty thing? Is it not a holy fire, burning and blazing in my soul, which indicates the depth of the hidden longings within it for the light of the true God, the God of Israel, Who makes the precious light of the truth of His manifestation shine only with the holy Name as it is written?

All the holy Names are general— they express a concept of divinity that anyone with intelligence in his mind and with feeling in his heart can express and yearn: to desire Him and to be connected to His being.

But “who is like Your nation Israel, a unique nation upon the earth”— connected to the truth of divinity, which is revealed only in a miraculous, wondrous fashion, in a way of total truth coming from the supernal holy spirit of the “clear lens”?

The verse, “This is My name forever,” is actually written, “This is My name: to be concealed.”

It is impossible for us to pronounce it within this darkened world as long as the light of Israel has not manifested itself in its holy location, in the House of its life: in the eternal Temple.

A thirst for truth flares up, and the longing for that essential expression to be impressed into this world is great. “I have been silenced, quiet. I have been silent, lacking good, and my pain is stirred up.”

Chadarav