Translation:Likutei Moharan/33

by Nachman of Breslov

“Mi HaIsh Hechafeitz Chaim (Who is the Person Who Desires Life), who loves days of seeing good.” (Psalms 34:13)

[Peace]

The principle is that a person should pursue peace. [He should see] that there is peace between Jews, and that each person is at peace with his attributes—i.e., he should not be conflicted within himself or over what happens to him. It should make no difference to him whether he experiences good times or bad, he always finds God in it. This is (Psalms 56:11), “When He is YHVH, I will praise His word; when He is Elohim, I will praise His word.”

By what means can a person find God whether in good times or bad? By means of the Torah, which is called peace, as is said, “and all her paths are peaceful” (Proverbs 3:17). And by means of tzaddikim, who are also called “covenant of peace.” As a result, he is able to love the peace in every situation, both in good times… And there can then be peace between Jews, with them loving one another.

[God's Glory]

Now, one must also know that “[God’s] Glory fills the whole world” (Isaiah 6:3), and there is no place empty of Him (Tikkuney Zohar #57, p.91b). He fills all worlds and surrounds all worlds (Zohar III, 225a). Thus, even someone who does business with non-Jews cannot excuse himself by saying, “It’s impossible to serve God because of the spiritual insensitivity and materialism” to which he always succumbs as a result of his being constantly involved with them.

Our Sages have already revealed to us that Godliness is to be found in all corporeality and in all the languages of the nations. For without His Godliness, they have no life-force or existence whatsoever. As is written, “You keep them all alive” (Nehemiah 9:6). It is just that this life-force and Godliness are there in a very contracted and limited manner: only enough to ensure its existence, to keep it alive and no more. For the Holy One contracted His Godliness through numerous and various contractions—from the very beginning of thought until the center point of the corporeal world, which is the abode of the evil forces. And the more His Godliness descends and the more it contracts, the more it becomes clothed there in many additional garments.

This is as our Sages revealed, opening a way for us so that the discerning will know and understand that all corporeal things have His Godliness and His life-force in them. As our Sages said: Tat in Coptic means two, pat in Afriki means two (Menachot 34b), indicating that every one of the nations’ languages contains His Godliness, which is what gives it life.

This is as is brought in the Jerusalem Talmud (Taanit 1:1): If anyone should ask you, “Where is your God?” answer him, “In the great city of Rome.” As it is said, “One calls to Me from Seir” (Isaiah 21:11).

We see, then, that this person who asked “Where is your God?” is certainly immersed in the abode of the evil forces. For he has disassociated himself from the community and denied God’s existence, saying: “Where is your God?” He supposes that there, where he is, there is no God. Therefore, answer him, “Even where you are! You are immersed in the abode of the evil forces, yet, there too you can find His Godliness.” This is because He gives life to everything, as in, “You keep them all alive.” And from there, you can attach yourself to God and return to Him in complete repentance. For “it is not remote from you” (Deuteronomy 30:11), just that there, where you are, the garments have multiplied.

Yet, the more a person goes from level to level, the more he draws closer to God and can know Him with greater understanding. This is because the higher the level, the fewer the garments and the less the contraction. Then, he is closer to God and can love Him with an exceptional love.

[Good Days / Bad Days]

Now, there are two types of days: good days and bad days. As is written (Ecclesiastes 7:14), “So on a day of good fortune enjoy the good fortune; and on a day of misfortune, look.” That is, a person has to look there very well. He will certainly find good days—i.e., Torah—there.

The days are called midot (attributes), as is written (Psalms 39:5), “[what is] the midah (measure) of my days.” And the attributes are the Torah, because the Torah is entirely comprised of the attributes of the Holy One. For the Torah speaks of love and fear and the other attributes. And with [the Torah] the Holy One created worlds, as is written (Proverbs 8:30), “I was with Him as a amone (nurseling)”—do not read this amone but oman (a craft) (Bereishit Rabbah 1:1). And the letters of the Torah are what give life to each and every thing.

However, the lower the level, the more the letters of the Torah there are contracted from what they were on the higher level. They do not shine as much as they did above, on the higher level, so as not to provide it with more light and life-force than is fitting. We see, therefore, that even in the abode of the evil forces—i.e., the bad days, which are the bad attributes and the languages of the nations—there, too, it is possible to find the Torah letters. But, because of the increased garments and the expanded contraction, the Torah letters—i.e., the good days—do not show through, due to the bad days and the darkness that rest upon them.

But when someone subdues his evil inclination—i.e., the bad days, the bad attributes—the evil is then completely unsettled by the good days they contain, so that the letters are more prominent and show through more brightly. For, initially, they did not shine all that much. This was because they had not received light from Above, so that the bad days would not receive more than necessary for their minimal survival. But now that the evil is eliminated and the Torah letters are all that remain, they receive abundant light from Above.

Thus it is that when the person who subdues his inclination—i.e., subdues the bad days—talks to non-Jews or sees their behavior, then immediately the evil that rests upon the good/the Torah letters is eliminated and falls away, and the Torah letters become more prominent. Then, he knows the Torah in that thing.

{“Bless God, O His angels; mighty ones who do His word, so as to hear the sound of His word” (Psalms 103:20).} This is as is written in the holy Zohar (I, 90a): “Bless God, O His angels; mighty ones who do His word”—these are those who overcome their inclinations, who are literally comparable to angels. “Who do His word”—they make this word; “so as to hear the sound of His word”—they merit hearing voices from Above. For the Torah is called “word,” as is written (Psalms 105:8), “the word He commanded for a thousand generations.”

And the more the letters of the Torah contract and become clothed in further contractions and garments, the more the Torah is concealed and hidden. However, the person who removes the Torah letters from the garments is thus comparable to one who builds the Torah.

For example: There are Torah letters that are so scattered and spread out in the languages of the nations that no one knows of them because they are obscured and covered over by the bad days. Now this person—who is “like an angel of the God of Hosts” by virtue of his subduing his inclination/the bad days—when he comes, then the evil/the nations’ languages are subdued and eliminated completely in his presence. As a result, the Torah letters are left more prominent.

And when they are stripped of the corporeal garments—of the languages of the nations/bad attributes/bad days—then these Torah letters receive a greater light than they originally received. Originally, they received only commensurate with the life-force appropriate for that place—so as not to provide [the evil forces] with greater sustenance than is befitting them.

As is recorded in the writings of the Ari: Until he cannot tell the difference between cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordekhai (Megillah 7b) —that is, the sustenance he draws to the evil forces should be only enough to ensure their existence and no more.

{See Pri Etz Chaim, Kavanot Purim 6, where it is explained that we have to draw life-force to the holiness concealed within the evil forces, but that this must be a very constricted life-force; this being the deeper meaning behind the drunkenness of Purim. See there.}

But when the letters are removed from the evil forces, they then receive abundant light from Above. This is the meaning of “who do His word, so as to hear the sound of His word.” When we make and build the Torah, which was originally scattered and spread out in the nations’ languages and in the bad attributes and bad days, then it is “so as to hear the sound of His word,” and we merit hearing voices from Above. That is, the word, which is the Torah, receives abundant light from Above.

This is hearing the Torah. And this is the aspect of “we will do and we will hear” (Exodus 24:7). For, initially, we make and build the Torah letters, so that the letters become prominent and come together. Then, afterwards, “we will hear”—we merit hearing voices from Above. That is, the Torah letters receive greater life-force and more abundant light than they received initially, when they were clothed in the nations’ languages and the bad days.

[Lovingkindness]

This is known! inherent in the Torah—the attributes/days—is God’s love, as is written in the holy Zohar (III, 191b): “Daily God commands His lovingkindness” (Psalms 42:9). For the lovingkindness—which is love, as is written (Jeremiah 31:2), “I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I extend lovingkindness to you”—is the day that goes with all the days, i.e., the attributes.

For the attributes are contractions of his Godliness, so that we might be able to comprehend Him by means of His attributes. As is written in the holy Zohar (II, 42b): “So that we might know Him.” For without His attributes, it is impossible to comprehend Him.

And because of the love with which He loved Israel and He wanted them to attach themselves to Him and to love Him from this corporeal world, He clothed His Godliness in the attributes of the Torah. This is the aspect of the 613 commandments: God calculated in His Daat (Knowledge) that by means of this [or that] mitzvah we would be able to comprehend Him. Because of this, He contracted His Godliness specifically in these 613 commandments.

For example, He calculated in His Daat the mitzvah of tefilin, that this mitzvah has to be such: four portions of the Torah, four compartments of leather, [hand] written, and straps of leather. For this is what He calculated in His Daat, that by means of this contraction we would be able to comprehend and serve Him. He therefore did not command that there be four compartments of silver or gold. But this is what He calculated and measured by virtue of His love.

We see, therefore, that by virtue of His love with which He loved Israel, He clothed Himself in the attributes of the Torah. Thus it is that in each and every attribute there is love; the love which the Holy One has for Israel. Consequently, that person who removes from the Torah the garments of the evil forces by subduing His inclination, is then close to peace. As is written, “and all her paths are peaceful.”

Now, the Torah has two aspects: the revealed aspect and the hidden aspect. This hidden aspect is the Torah of Hidden Ancient One, which is destined to be revealed in the Future. And, when this Torah of the Hidden Ancient One will be revealed, then the peace in the world will be wondrous. As is written (Isaiah 11:6,9), “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the kid…. They will do nothing evil or vile in all of My sacred mountain, for the land will be filled with the knowledge of God.” For then the love in His Daat will be revealed.

[Love in Potential]

For there are two types of love. One, is the love in the days. As mentioned above, “Daily God commands His lovingkindness”—the day that goes with all the days. Every day, i.e., each and every attribute, has in it God’s love for Israel. This [love] is actual.

But there is also a love in potential. This is the love that existed between Israel and their Father in heaven prior to Creation, when Israel was still in His Daat and Mind.

For example, there is the love that a father has for his son. This is a love that every person can grasp. But the bond and the love that exists between son and father when the son is still in the father’s mind, before birth—this bond and love we cannot grasp at present. For presently we can only comprehend things within time and attributes, whereas the love in his daat and mind is above time and attributes and is not clothed in any garment.

But in the Future, with the revelation of the Torah of the Ancient Hidden One, the teaching of our Sages (Taanit 31a) will be fulfilled: The tzaddikim will in the Future point with their finger, as is written (Isaiah 25:9), “This is God; we trusted in Him.” For, then, the Holy One will remove His garments and “the land will be filled with the knowledge of God as water covers the sea.” The love that is in Daat —which is the inner essence of the Torah, i.e., His Godliness inherent in the Torah and the attributes—will be revealed. For at present, this garment covers over His Godliness—i.e., the inner essence of the Torah.

And when the inner essence/His Godliness is revealed, then peace increases. As is written, “They will do nothing evil or vile in all of My sacred mountain, for the land will be filled with the knowledge”—the love that is in Daat will be revealed.

And this is the meaning of “There will be one day, known to God” (Zechariah 14:7). There will be a revelation of the love, which is called “day,” as in, “Daily God commands His lovingkindness.” This refers to the inner Torah, which was hidden. As is written (Genesis 1:4), “God saw that the light was good,” and our Sages taught: It is good to hide it away (Chagigah 12a), because the world does not deserve to benefit from the light of this Torah. And the Torah is called good, as it is said (Proverbs 4:2), “For I have given you good instruction, [do not forsake my Torah].” It is also called light, as is written (Proverbs 6:23), “and the Torah is a light.”

There are also tzaddikim who are hidden and concealed, from whom the world does not deserve to benefit. And the tzaddik is called good, as is written (Isaiah 3:10), “Hail the tzaddik, for he is good.” He is also called light, as is written (Psalms 97:11), “A light is sown for the tzaddik.”

Thus, when the hidden tzaddikim and the hidden Torah are revealed, then great peace will be revealed in the world. All opposites will unite as one, as in, “The wolf will dwell with the lamb…” For then, the love that is in Daat —which is called “one day, known to God”—will be revealed. In other words, the love that is in Daat, which is neither day nor night—this love is above time and above the attributes.

[Daat / Knowledge]

And even in the attributes themselves, each one in its aspect is an aspect of Daat with regard to the aspect below it. As our Sages taught: That which wisdom made a crown for her head, humility made a heel for her sandal (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:9).

Consequently, the least level of the World of Formation is an aspect of Daat for the World of Action below it. Thus it is that one person’s love for God within his attributes and within time is an aspect of love that is in Daat, which is above time, for a person who is on a lesser level than he.

This is as our Sages taught: “For the priest’s lips shall keep daat (knowledge), and they should seek Torah from his mouth” (Malachi 2:7) —provided the teacher is like an angel of the God of Hosts (Moed Katan 17a). That is, he subdues his inclination and so “is like an angel of the God of Hosts.” As is written in the Zohar: “Bless God, O His angels; mighty ones”—these are those who overpower their inclinations… For by virtue of this that he subdues his inclination, the Torah letters become more prominent and come together. He then corresponds to “we will do and we will hear,” because he makes and builds the Torah letters. And he merits hearing the voice of the Torah from Above. So, certainly, from this teacher “they should seek Torah from his mouth.” For he surely knows the Torah, and even from the corporeal he gathers the letters of the Torah.

This is the meaning of “For the priest’s lips shall keep daat.” “Priest” is an aspect of lovingkindness. “Shall keep daat”—that is, through this teacher the love that is in Daat —which according to your level is a love higher than time, namely, “one day, known to God”—will be revealed.

[Binding the Heart]

Thus every person, each one commensurate with his aspect, is capable of having a taste of the light of the love that is in Daat even now, within the days. This is when he binds his heart to his daat. For each and every Jew knows in a general sense that there is a God. But the wicked are controlled by their hearts, and the attributes and days are encompassed in the heart. As our Sages taught: The Compassionate One wants the heart (Zohar II, 162b); and, provided he directs his heart to Heaven (Berakhot 5b). For the heart is the essence of the attributes.

We see, therefore, that when a person binds his heart to his daat, he knows in a general sense that there is a God whose “Glory fills the whole world” and he also knows the Torah’s knowledge. Thus, when he subjugates his heart to this daat which he has—i.e., he has control of his heart—then the attributes in his heart are encompassed in his daat and so the attributes receive the light of the love that is in Daat. He thus sees and grasps the hidden light commensurate with his aspect. In other words, when he subjugates his heart to Daat, the heart, which is the root of the attributes, receives the tzaddikim and Torah that were hidden and concealed from him until now. And he receives the light of the love that is in Daat. This is the love between the Holy One and Israel that existed in potential prior to Creation.

[Desires Life]

And this is [the explanation of the opening verse]: “Who is the person who desires life, [who loves days of seeing good.]”

desires — corresponds to the heart, because desire is in the heart.

life — This is an aspect of Daat, as is written (Proverbs 16:22), “Wisdom is a fountain of life to those who have it.” That is, when one binds the heart to Daat — he has control of his heart, he subdues his inclination — then, commensurate with his aspect who loves days — he draws the love from Daat into the days and into the attributes.

of seeing good — He sees and grasps “that the light was good” and hidden away. He grasps the light — i.e., the hidden Torah and the hidden tzaddikim.

[Meditations of Lulav]

{I heard in [Rebbe Nachman’s] name that he said this lesson encompasses the kavanot - meditations of lulav. I did not, however, merit hearing an explanation of the matter. Yet I delved into it and found a bit.

The essence of the meditations of lulav is to draw all the benevolences to the chest, to shine them into Malkhut. Thus we shake [the lulav] in the different directions in order to draw the light from the root of the benevolences in Daat to the benevolences that are spread out in the body, to amplify them with a great light from their root in Daat. See there, in Pri Etz Chaim, Shaar HaLulav. Also explained there is the intent behind the verse, “Daily God commands His lovingkindness” — that it does not say “day” but “daily,” because [this day] goes with all of them. See there.

All this is explained above in this lesson, in Rebbe Nachman’s awesome way. For it is explained there that by subduing the inclination one merits revealing the love, which is the lovingkindness, the day that goes with all the days. In other words, the love, which is the lovingkindness, is clothed within all the attributes… And there it is explained that there is love that is in Daat which is above time and the attributes. Thus, by binding his heart to his daat, he has control of his heart… then the attributes receive the light of the love that is in Daat …, as explained.

As mentioned, all this is the esoteric meditations of lulav, which is to draw radiance from the root of the benevolences in Daat, this being the aspect of love that is in Daat, into the benevolences in the body. The latter encompass all the attributes, because clothed in all [the attributes] are benevolences, which are an aspect of love, as explained. And all this is in order to shine into Malkhut (Kingship), which is the etrog — i.e., to reveal His Kingship to the entire world, to find His Godliness in all the languages of the nations, in all corporeality, and in all the abodes of the forces of evil. For all this is an aspect of “His Kingship rules over everything” (Psalms 103:19).

And all this is accomplished by the tzaddik who subdues his inclination. This is because he corresponds to the lulav, which, as is known, is an aspect of tzaddik, corresponding to “The tzaddik blooms like a date-palm” (Psalms 92:13). For on Sukkot we work to reveal His Kingship to the entire world, even in the seventy languages of the nations. This is the deeper meaning behind the seventy oxen we sacrifice on Sukkot on behalf of [the nations].

And this is why after taking the lulav and making the hakafah - circuits with it, we say: “so that all the peoples of the earth will know that God is the Lord, there is no other” (1 Kings 8:60).

All this is clarified in this lesson, as is explained in greater detail above. Yet, deeper study is still required in order to fully explain all the meditations of lulav based on the above lesson. May God enlighten us in his teaching, so that we merit understanding his awesome and wondrous words and allusions.}