In the Blink of an Eye, the Wicked Turns into a Tzaddik

"And he smelled the smell of his garments" (Bereishis 27:27)

"When Yaakov arrived at Yitzchak dressed in Esav's garments, Yitzchak smelled Yaakov's clothes—'And he smelled the smell of his garments.' When Yitzchak smelled the scent of Yaakov's clothes, he was terrified!! 'The smell of his garments' (*begadav*)—who are 'his garments'? The Midrash Rabbah explains: do not read 'begadav' (his garments), but 'bogdav' (his traitors)! 'His garments' refers to the wicked! Yitzchak saw that traitors and wicked people would emerge from Yaakov's seed! He saw all kinds of evildoers, may Hashem have mercy; he saw terrible wicked people descending from Yaakov and he was shaken!"

"Afterwards, Yitzchak looked a bit further ahead and saw that these wicked people transform into Tzaddikim in the blink of an eye! Suddenly, Hashem showed Yitzchak that the most terrible evildoers who ever existed in the world suddenly turn, in the blink of an eye, into the greatest Tzaddikim. Every soul wants to do teshuvah (repentance); within every person there are treasures—one only needs to illuminate them, one needs to remove the layer of dust. In every son, in every daughter, and in every Jewish soul, there are endless treasures. The Jewish soul burns for Hashem and blazes for Hashem. Every soul of a Jew wants to do teshuvah! Every Jew has a heart burning for Hashem Yisbarach that could burn down the entire world. Every Jew is a flame of fire; in the inner depth of every Jew, a fire burns: 'A fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually; it shall not go out.'"

"Every single Jew can bring the whole world back in teshuvah. Even the greatest evildoer can return in teshuvah, because the greater the sinner he is, the more power he has! He has a greater soul. Just as the Midrash Rabbah relates regarding Yossi Meshita, who denied Hashem! He denied everything! And he joined the Romans. In that era, anyone who kept Shabbos, anyone who circumcised their children, anyone who kept the Mitzvos—they crucified him! The Nation of Israel underwent terrible suffering!"

"Yossi Meshita saw that the Nation of Israel was lost, wiped off the face of the earth, and he fell into despair! So he said, 'Why do I need to be a Jew? I will be a Roman.' He went with the Romans to burn the Holy Temple; he threw torches along with them. Before the Temple was completely burned, the Romans said to him, 'Wait one moment! Who will enter the Sanctuary to bring out the Menorah?' They told him, 'You enter! Take something!'"

"The whole world knew that whoever enters the Sanctuary is burned! Whoever enters the Holy of Holies will be burned! Everyone was afraid to enter! So they told him, 'Whatever you bring out first will be yours.' Yossi Meshita entered, grabbed the golden Menorah there, and came out with it. They told him, 'Give us that Menorah!! You cannot take that, it is too expensive! Take a goblet for yourself, take a spoon, but not the Menorah!' At that moment, the Jewish spark ignited within him! Suddenly the spark lit up! The holy Menorah kindled the spark within him! He saw that the Menorah was entirely light, entirely holiness."

"Yossi Meshita held the Menorah very tightly and said, 'You are not getting the Menorah.' They said to him, 'What do you mean we won't get the Menorah? We will slaughter you! We will cut you into pieces!' He told them, 'I am not giving the Menorah! You will not take the Menorah out of my hand! I will die with the Menorah!' They told him, 'It doesn't belong to you! It belongs to the Emperor! We need to bring the Menorah to Titus.' He said to them, 'You will not receive the Menorah under any circumstances; I will die together with it.'"

"Then Yossi Meshita became entirely a flame of fire! Entirely a fire burning for Hashem! 'I am returning to Judaism! I am beginning to be a Jew!!! Cut me into pieces, but you are not getting the Menorah!!' They said, 'Fine.' They grabbed him, placed him on a carpenter's table used for sawing wood, and began to cut him. They sawed him into pieces! The moment he began to suffer, he felt such delight! With every saw stroke, he felt pleasure! He was entirely seized with joy, entirely filled with enthusiasm, saying, 'I accept teshuvah upon myself! I accept the tortures upon myself with love!'"

"'Master of the World, it is good that they are sawing me! It is good that they are cutting me! Forgive me for all the sins—how did I join these wicked Romans who murdered millions of Jews? How did I not know that the Nation of Israel is eternal? How did I not know that a Jew is eternal?! Baruch Hashem that they are sawing these rotten bones of mine! Baruch Hashem that they are sawing these poisoned bones that caused me to sin and dragged me to where they dragged me.'"

"Yossi Meshita is entirely singing to Hashem, entirely happy! And while they are sawing him, he continues to sing; he feels no pain! He sings, 'My soul is sick with Your love.' They are sawing him, and he is lovesick for Hashem! He feels nothing but Hashem. All the hope of the Geulah (Redemption) is to convert the whole world [to belief in Hashem], all the hope of the Geulah is to bring the whole world back in teshuvah, because it is a shame!! Any generation that does not bring the world back in teshuvah is considered as if it, itself, causes them to sin!"

"The greatest thing is to bring people back in teshuvah! But how does one do this? How does one merit this? Only if a person merits *hadrat panim* (a majestic countenance)! Only if he has a shining face, a holy face! People will just look at his face and automatically be awakened to teshuvah. Just as they tell of Rabbi Aharon of Karlin—it is written on his tombstone that he brought eighty thousand people back in teshuvah. How did they return? Did he go and give classes and lectures!? Rather, they merely saw his shining face, his *hadrat panim*, and everyone returned in teshuvah."

"Let us fulfill the Rebbe's will—to merit *hadrat panim*, a shining countenance. Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 27 that this is achieved only through studying the holy Gemara! Because it is impossible to bring people back in teshuvah if there is no intellect, if there is no Da'as (knowledge). A person needs to have great intellect, as the Rebbe says, 'I wanted you to have such great intellect that there has not been such intellect for several generations.' Why miss out on the Rebbe's desires? Let us do what the Rebbe wants!"

"The Rebbe does not want us to just wander around and dance aimlessly. The moment a person learns Gemara, learns Poskim (Halachic rulings), he will receive such light! He will possess the '370 myriad lights,' he will have a shining face, and everyone will run after him! Everyone will throw away their heresy! All their questions will be answered! He will come with such light, with such a shining countenance, with such radiance—'A man's wisdom illuminates his face.' People see such light, such happiness, such joy on the face, and then they return in teshuvah!"

"What do people want? People want joy! And the moment they see that joy is found with someone who learns Torah, with someone who learns Poskim, and his face shines like the sun—everyone returns in teshuvah! The main purpose of Torah study is to teach others, as it is written, 'And put into our hearts... to learn and to teach.' This is the main thing—the moment a person knows Torah, he must teach it to others. The true Tzaddik never learns for himself; he only learns in order to teach Torah to others."

"The Torah a person learns is measured by how much kindness and how much *mesirus nefesh* (self-sacrifice) he is willing to perform in order to teach others. After a person has learned for 8 or 10 hours, he must show that he has the power, the light, the strength to bring others back in teshuvah. This is the primary outcome of all the learning. Everyone can bring thousands back in teshuvah; a group of a hundred people can bring a thousand people back in teshuvah. Within a few years, the entire Nation of Israel will do teshuvah."

"If we begin bringing people back in teshuvah, then the nations of the world will also return in teshuvah. Our goal is to bring the whole world back in teshuvah, even the gentiles. This is what Hashem loves; Hashem is waiting for you to bring the entire Nation of Israel back in teshuvah, and all the nations of the world back in teshuvah: 'And all flesh shall call upon Your name, to turn all the wicked of the earth toward You; all the inhabitants of the world will recognize and know...' Why do we say these verses? We need to draw close those who are most distant. So that everyone will call upon the name of Hashem, even gentiles!"

"But first, let us bring the Jews back! If we start with the Jews, we will be able to bring back the gentiles as well; everyone will do teshuvah and draw close to the faith of Israel to serve Him with one accord. Once, one could see who was a Breslover and who was not a Breslover! They would see a shining face! Fire, a flame of fire! They would say, 'This is a Breslover!' About Reb Nosson, they said he drinks; they said, 'Reb Nosson *a-trink a-trink* (had a drink, had a drink),' because he had a shining face, such a flame of fire! They said, 'He must be drinking.' Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 101 that if you learn Torah in depth (*Iyun*), if you learn Gemara, then you will have shining faces! *Anpin Nehirin*! When do faces shine!? Only when one learns Gemara and Poskim! 'A man's wisdom illuminates his face.'"

"If a person begins to learn Gemara, begins to learn in depth, he will suddenly see that when they speak to him about guarding his eyes, he will immediately begin to guard his eyes! When they speak to him about the desire for food, he will have the strength to work on the desire for food! If a person learns Torah without depth, if a person does not learn Gemara, then when he arrives home, he arrives broken! He comes with *anpin chashuchin*! Darkened faces! He does not have a shining face! He comes broken, and he also breaks his wife! He saddens his wife! He also saddens himself! But if you learn Gemara in depth! If you learn Torah with intellect! You will have *anpin nehirin*! You will have a shining face! You will come home with joy! You will bring light into the home! Your wife will receive joy, the children will receive joy!! The Shechinah (Divine Presence) will dwell in the home! You won't even need to speak to your wife; she will just see your shining face! She will already run to do everything in the world for you! And not only that, but you will have silver and gold, you will have everything! Because 'Whoever accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah, the yoke of government and the yoke of worldly cares are removed from him.'"

"'First to arrive and last to leave.' What is the difference between a Jew and an Arab? The Arab also prays; the Arab also stands in Jerusalem and screams! Rather, 'You are called Adam (Man), and the idolaters are not called Adam.' But when do you begin to be a Man? The Rebbe says it is specifically when entering the 70 *anpin nehirin* of the holy Torah! When he listens during the classes, and reviews the classes, and understands the new insights taught in the classes! He doesn't say 'I have no strength to learn, it's hard for me to learn, I'm leaving in the middle'—coming last and leaving first, and running out 10 times in the middle! If he doesn't put his head into the learning, and all his 248 limbs and 365 veins into the holy Torah, then like this, he will never be a Breslover, he will never succeed!"

"Start learning, and nothing will hurt you anywhere. Why does a person not feel well? He is in pain and cannot learn, he cannot concentrate—because you are not learning! Why are you tired? Because you are not learning! The Rebbe says that all of a person's blemishes, weaknesses, and pains come entirely from the fact that he does not learn. This is the true bread of a human being; when a person learns Gemara, from this he receives a shining face, from this he becomes a human being in truth, from this he becomes a Neshamah (soul), from this he becomes a Nefesh, from this he becomes a Ruach. From the learning, he receives a heart, he receives *mochin* (intellect/higher consciousness), and this is the human being!"

Courtesy of Tzama Nafshi