"Know that Mashiach must die, it's unfortunate, I'm sorry to say this"

A most powerful lesson speaking of the greatness of the tzaddik and the matter of King Mashiach, delivered by the holy Gaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a on Motzaei Shabbat Vayishlach, 17 Kislev 5779. These are his holy words.

According to Chayei Moharan 272.

"[-] Mashiach ben David, and therefore the connection of Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David is now 17 Kislev, a level, because they reached all the levels, they knew the entire Shas by heart and the Mishnayot by heart, and also [-] holiness is the soul, and therefore they say 'purify the filth of deeds,' because the tikkun (rectification) that a person does teshuvah (repentance) on 17 Kislev, that was now in Parshat Vayishlach."

"He said, 'I am the Elder of Elders.' The Rebbe revealed that he is the Elder of Elders, that he rectifies everything, and the beggar who was blind, because the ultimate purpose of a person is to be blind. A person comes into the world to be blind, that is his entire purpose, like Matya ben Charash, he took white-hot iron spits and put them in his eyes. A person comes into the world to stick in white-hot spits; a person needs to buy white-hot spits, and such a burner, and walk with a burner, and every time he wants to open his eye, to stick a white-hot spit into the eye, white-hot spits. And then when he is very old – that then he will merit to live until a thousand years. If a person does not open his eyes, he will live until a thousand years, like Serach bat Asher, who has already lived 3,000 years, because in her life she did not open her eyes. The work of a person is not to open the eyes, that is his work from the day he is born – not to open the eyes, that he was blind. And the eagle – 'your youth is renewed like the eagle,' because the eagle is the oldest, already 5,779 years, when it was 777 it was the most important number – that is the light of the waters of the firmament and another hundred blessings, a hundred Amens, which also comes out to 777."

"A person comes into the world to be the blind beggar, to be the most blind in the world, a person needs to be blind – to see nothing, there is nothing to see here, 'Grace is false and beauty is vain,' Shlomo says this, all beauty is from the Sitra Achra. The Rebbe says that the more beautiful a woman is, the more foolish she is; the intellect becomes disgusted by the beauty, the mind becomes disgusted by the beauty and she becomes foolish. The Rambam says that a foolish person has a beautiful wife, as it is brought in Shivchei HaRan, because all his intellect enters into her beauty, so a person needs to get used to not looking at the beauty of a woman, not to seek it at all, because it is all from the Sitra Achra. It is written that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya was the ugliest in the world, so the Emperor's daughter came and said: 'Why are you so ugly?' Also Shmuel was the ugliest in the world, so she burst and died. Because Shmuel was a reincarnation of Shaul, who was the most beautiful in the world, so he could not be nullified to Shmuel. A beautiful person cannot be nullified to the tzaddik. 'Grace is false and beauty is vain, a woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised' (Proverbs 31:30), not to see anything, to be blind."

"Until the great eagle told him that he is very old, if a person does not look – he will be blind, he will see nothing, therefore he came into the world – to be blind, and that is his entire work, that is his entire purpose, to rectify the sin of the Tree of Knowledge – 'and that it was a desire to the eyes,' so the more blind a person is, the more he merits that the light of Hashem shines upon him, therefore a person needs to be blind, and to be born blind, and to ask Hashem to be born blind, it is possible to still ask to be blind, he has not begun to live at all, so if a person is blind he has not begun to live at all, 'I have not yet begun to live,' because when a person comes into the world he has not begun to live at all, he has nothing to live for, he says every Friday night 'Grace is false and beauty is vain,' he does not fulfill it, he says 'a woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised.' And he was old against all the elders mentioned there, understand this matter a little. According to this, you will understand that the Rebbe is the Elder of Elders, if a person wants to be the Elder of Elders he must be completely blind, like Yitzchak was completely blind. It is written in the Gemara Shabbat that the Geulah (Redemption) will be in the merit of Yitzchak (Shabbat 89b) through Yitzchak Avinu. If a person wants to bring the Geulah he must be blind, a person comes into the world to be blind, a person is born to be blind, his purpose is to be blind, and then he can live a thousand years – two thousand years, like Batya the daughter of Pharaoh, Serach bat Asher, they have already been living 3,700 years."

"And he had not begun to live at all, and this elder was against all the elders mentioned. The Rebbe says: there are eight elders, one of them is the Noam Elimelech, and the Rebbe is the elder of elders, who had not begun to live at all, he had not begun to live at all."

"And therefore the Rebbe said that he did not do anything until he knew its secret, 'until he knew the secret in this conduct, and likewise in other conducts he did not begin to do anything.' The Rebbe, every movement, every action, was according to a secret. Like Yosef, he was angry at his father, why was Yosef angry at his father? Where did he bury his mother? On the road, on the road, why? Because it costs a lot of money, because they need to pay, it costs ten thousand dollars, ten thousand euros and the Chevra Kadisha, he didn't have money so he buried her on the road, he said here no one will demand money, because if he had buried her on the side then the owner of that plot would demand money, everyone has plots – fields, so he buried her on the road, no one will ask for money, he saved the burial fees. How old was Yaakov when he buried Rachel? At the age of ninety-nine. At what age did he pass away? One hundred forty-seven. So how much is from ninety-nine to forty-seven? Forty-eight. From ninety-nine to one hundred is a year and another forty-seven – forty-eight years he has a question on his father, Yosef has questions, why does father bury mother on the road? In the middle of the road, what? He doesn't have money? He was the richest in the world, he couldn't buy her a beautiful plot? He couldn't bring her to Beit Lechem? Let him bring her to Beit Lechem, what is it? Initially he should have taken her to Chevron which is sixty kilometers, that is a bit difficult. But to Beit Lechem also not?"

"What does Yaakov say to him? 'And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died upon me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still a stretch of land to come to Efrat' (Genesis 48:7), 'stretch' – Rashi says this is two thousand cubits, two thousand cubits is ten minutes, at most twelve minutes, two thousand cubits a person does in a run five kilometers an hour, fast walking four kilometers, medium walking three kilometers, so two thousand cubits is a matter of twelve minutes, he didn't worry at all to bring her in. He says: 'No, I know, maybe you will say there was rain, that there was snow.' Not rain and not snow, nothing was there, it was dry – like a sieve, the land was dry like a grid, it was already hollow from so much dryness, the air was dry air, there was beautiful weather, it was not hot, it was not cold, in Cheshvan it is already not hot, already a bit cool, there was wonderful air, I could easily have brought her into Beit Lechem, but I didn't want to, because it was all according to the word, 'Whatever the tzaddik does, everything is according to the word, every movement of the tzaddik is according to the word, every movement, everything the tzaddik does, everything the tzaddik speaks, everything the tzaddik thinks – everything is according to the word, every movement of the tzaddik is all according to the word, wherever the tzaddik goes it is according to the word!'"

"Therefore the Rebbe says that the entire work of a person is always to know that Mashiach needs to come every moment, Chayei Moharan 275, Mashiach needs to come every moment, but: 'Know that Mashiach must die, it is a pity, I am sorry to tell you this, I know it is hard to hear, but what can be done, we must tell the truth, Mashiach will die.' Where do we learn this? It is written in the Rambam, it is written in the Rambam that Mashiach will die and his son will die. The Rambam here, that in the days of Mashiach the worries will cease, there will be no subjugation of kingdoms, but the world will continue as usual, only there will be no subjugation of kingdoms, Mashiach will rule the world, 'And wisdom will increase as it is said, for the earth will be full of knowledge as the waters cover the sea, and wars will cease as it is said, and nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and Mashiach... it is not pleasant to say this, the Rebbe says: Mashiach will die, his son will die. Why does the Rebbe say that Mashiach will die? The Rambam writes this here in the introduction to Perek Chelek – the tenth chapter, that when Mashiach comes the world will be as usual, Mashiach will come, there will be an evil inclination, everything the same. Only a person will not commit Torah prohibitions of stoning or burning, he will not go with a married woman, but with his wife he will have great trials, if he is with his wife like a rooster then he will turn into a rooster, he will be a rooster, he wants to be a human being, he needs to be holy of holies. The Zohar says that in the future the evil inclination will be like Rachel and Leah, not like the daughters of Lot, the daughters of Lot committed a sin, they thought the world was destroyed, go look, take a trip outside, you will see the world stands."

"The Rambam says: 'Mashiach will die, and his son will die' – his son who will reign in his stead, and his grandson, after that there will be his grandson, 'And this matter is already brought in the prophets,' this is already hinted at in the words of the prophets, 'He shall not fail nor be crushed until he sets justice in the earth, and he will prolong his kingdom for many days.' People will live a hundred years, 'For the youth of a hundred years shall die,' a hundred years will be a normal thing. Today there are only a hundred people in all of Eretz Yisrael who live a hundred years – who passed a hundred, one was Rav Shach, and one was Rav Elyashiv, and the father of Bibi, maybe a hundred people, in the whole world there are maybe four hundred people barely who passed a hundred, maybe in the Caucasus there in Paz people passed a hundred and forty, and people will live long lives, and there will be no worries, we see that what the Rebbe says is all written, on one hand what the Rebbe says are new innovations, but what the Rebbe says is written in some book, the Rebbe says things, people think that maybe the Rebbe is exaggerating, maybe the Rebbe is inventing..."

"In Chayei Moharan, item 275, it is written: that Mashiach will die and his son will die, and you need to accept this with love, what can be done?! You want Mashiach to live forever? True, the Rambam says that everything will be the same: a person will have to exert himself to study, he thinks that when Mashiach comes it will be easy for him, no, he will have the same difficulty, what exists today will be then, only there will be no burden of parnassah (livelihood), but to study, to activate the intellect, to remove the screens from the intellect, this will be even harder than today, it will be even harder, so there will be no heresy, there will be no apostasy, people will not commit sins with a married woman but they will need to distance themselves from desires, otherwise a person cannot study Torah, 'And depart from evil,' and when he does this, the human matter will be perfected in him, Mashiach will be the perfection of the human species, and separated from the animal, he will not have any point of animality, of desires, and when he is a perfect person and departs from evil, he has no preventer, there will be no trials of Sabbath desecration but there will be trials to overcome desire, until the time of the resurrection of the dead, at the resurrection of the dead we will already receive a new body but we need to fight with desire all the time, if a person is immersed in desire he cannot study."

"He has no preventer that his soul will live and exist in the known existence, and this time is the World to Come, and what is written that there will be a World to Come, the intention is that there will be a world without desires, 'Do not be like a horse,' the Rambam brings the verse of Michtam LeDavid 'For I have taken refuge in You,' 'Do not be like a horse, like a mule, without understanding,' which means: do not be animals and do not sink into desires, when a person is inside desire he is an animal, therefore we say in Psalm 32, 'To the conductor, a Psalm of David,' at the end of the Psalm: 'Do not be like a horse, like a mule, without understanding,' that a person should be far from desires, 'with bit and bridle his adornment to curb, lest he come near to you,' because the animal has no control over itself, it behaves by instincts – reflexes, just as the preventer from the animal is something from the outside, because the animality is something that is outside. Because now we see how Yosef prophesies about the sheaves, 'And behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright, and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf,' that all the sheaves bowed down to the sheaf of Yosef, and it is not fitting that a person should be so, but his preventer will be from him and from himself, which is the human form, the person is the Divine form, the form that we received is a Divine form, a person receives the Divine form, and he will already break this desire, when it is perfect it will prevent us from those things that prevent us from perfection, because today parnassah (livelihood) interferes a lot with a person, he needs to return money, he needs this, so it is hard for him to concentrate on studies, but then parnassah will be in abundance, the bread will grow on the trees, a person will be able to live from the fruits alone, everyone will have a few goats and a few sheep, he will have milk in abundance, not the milk of today which is poison, everything will already be something else. And they are called bad traits, and therefore Mashiach will already be the exclusive perfection that there is no perfection after it, that he will be clean from every desire, and it will urge him and push him to what will bring him to perfection, and nothing will prevent him from perfection, if only he wants, a person needs to reach perfection to be clean from desires, and these are the good traits."

"And I will further connect and bring many more proofs of what is Mashiach, what are the days of Mashiach. And I will reveal completely new things, the homilies, what is from the homilies according to their literal meaning and what of them are parables and what of them were in a dream and they remembered it in a simple absolute statement, as if it were while awake, and in that same composition I will explain to you many arts and there I will explain all the things that I gave you from them, how the world continues as usual, they will need to overcome the evil inclination, even then there will be an evil inclination but not the evil inclination of today that incites a person to commit actual sins, and one should not challenge me."

"On what came in this article of mine, then he now has an introduction to the thirteen attributes, the thirteen attributes he says: I measured it, I sifted it sieve by sieve and every word here is precise, in the thirteen attributes – thirteen foundations, and I shortened as much as I can shorten, even though one needs to elaborate on this, and what I waived in a few words and matters that the wise ones seize upon, because I waived this lesson to understand for those who did not have prior education in anything of this honorable matter which not all people attain. Whoever wants to understand what are the thirteen attributes, that Moshe is 'mouth to mouth I speak with him,' that Moshe is a truly Divine matter, the tzaddik is a truly Divine matter, there is no body in him nor any imagination of a body, and he already tore and nullified all matters of the body completely, and this is the seventh foundation that the tzaddik who is the aspect of Moshe, he already nullified all matters of the body, nullified completely, the artificial level, he reached the level of angels, and was included – this is the language of the Rambam, that every word of his here is precise, and as much as he shortens he needed to explain a little, and was included in the level of angels, he already nullified the body completely, this is the matter of Moshe Rabbeinu, this is in choice in work, and was included in the level of angels, and no screen remained that he did not tear, and no bodily preventer prevented him, and no deficiency was mixed into him, the body has no influence on him, no screen remained that he did not tear it and no prevention from the body prevented him, no prevention from the side of the body prevented him, and no deficiency was mixed into him between great and small, he has no deficiency between great and small, and all the powers were nullified from him, Moshe who is the tzaddik, he nullified all the bodily powers, and all the imaginative and sensory and providential powers, he already has no senses, and all the foundations of the body, and his awakening power was separated, and all the powers of desires which are the awakening and longing power – the tzaddik nullified everything, he has no body and no matter of body, no desire of body, and only intellect remained, the tzaddik who is Moshe, he remained only intellect, he nullified all the matter of the body, all the bodily matters, and on this matter it was said about him that he was speaking with Hashem, he was seeing Hashem face to face, as a man speaks to his friend, he already had no body, he nullified all matters of the body, so he could see Hashem face to face, without intermediaries from the angels."

"My desire was to explain this wonderful matter and to open the lock from all the verses of the Torah that speak of this matter: 'mouth to mouth I speak with him' and in a vision and not in riddles and the image of Hashem he beholds, 'mouth to mouth I speak with him' for which one needs to nullify all matters of the body completely, 'mouth to mouth I speak with him' and the whole verse in its own matter, were it not that I saw that these matters will need very many proofs, and we would need many propositions and introductions and parables, to explain to you what is Moshe, then we will write for you hundreds of pages, hundreds of pages to explain what is the matter of Moshe that he nullified every matter of body, he has no shadow of a body, and that we complete explaining what are the angels and what is the tzaddik who is higher than the angels (Sanhedrin 93b), and that we explain at the beginning the existence of the angels and the change of their levels from the Creator, blessed be His name, because the prophets are included in the Creator, blessed be His name, and that we explain the soul and all its powers and the circle will expand until we speak of the forms that the prophets mentioned that are fitting for the Creator and the angels, Moshe reached a level that he was closer to the Creator than the angels. And this will include the measure of stature and its matter and it will not suffice in this matter alone, and everything I write is in the absolute brevity of brevity, because one needs to write hundreds of pages what is the tzaddik, he has no form of a body nor matter of a body, nor form of a body, and even if it will be shortened in the absolute brevity a hundred pages, and therefore I will leave it to its place whether in the book of homilies that I intended to compose or in the books of prophecy that I am engaged in, so the Rambam wrote books of prophecy – how one merits prophecy, and all the pages that I will write how one merits prophecy, this will not explain what is the tzaddik, and all the books of prophecy that I wrote and I will write that I am engaged in – that I am going to compose a book on the matter of prophecy, or in the book that I will compose in my explanations of these foundations."

"And I will return to explain and clarify what is the seventh foundation, that he has neither body nor form of a body nor senses of a body, and I say that the prophecy of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, is separated from the prophecy of all the prophets in four things: The first, that all the prophets prophesy in a mirror that does not shine and this is called through an intermediary, but Moshe is without an intermediary, as it is said 'mouth to mouth I speak with him' and a vision and not in riddles, he sees Hashem face to face, without an intermediary as it is said 'mouth to mouth I speak with him.' And the second matter is that all the prophets do not prophesy except when they are asleep, and Moshe even while awake, because every prophet, the prophecy will not come to him except when he is asleep, as it said in places 'in a dream of the night, in a vision of the night,' and many others of this matter, or in the day after a deep sleep falls upon a person in a matter that all his feelings are nullified from him and his thought remains free, because a regular prophet needs to be asleep because at that moment the senses are nullified, he needs to be asleep, like the matter of a dream, and this matter is called a vision, 'in a dream I speak with him,' 'the word of Hashem was to Avram in a vision,' this is called in a vision and appearance, and on it was said 'in visions of God,' it is written in the Chariot 'visions of God.' And Moshe does not receive prophecy in a dream when he is asleep, but the speech comes upon him in the day and he is standing between the two cherubim, the whole matter of the two cherubim that for this is the whole Tabernacle and this is the whole Ark, that Moshe receives the prophecy, he enters the Holy of Holies, every day he enters the Holy of Holies, every day, in the day, in the evening, in the afternoon, every hour, between the two cherubim, as Hashem, blessed be He, will testify 'and I will meet with you there from between the two cherubim from above the cover,' Hashem tells him twice 'from above the cover,' 'not so My servant Moshe, mouth to mouth I speak with him,' not so My servant Moshe. All the prophets prophesied in a vision of the night, whereas about Moshe it is said 'mouth to mouth I speak with him.'"

"The third matter is that every prophet at the hour that he receives the prophecy then all the senses are nullified in him, and he trembles, and he falls on his face, and even though he is in a vision and through an angel, all the powers are exhausted, he is nullified from all his senses, and he is corrupted, and his whole structure falls apart, and he is corrupted, he receives terrible fear, and great fear will come to him until his soul almost goes out from him, as it said in Daniel when Gavriel spoke with him in a vision, Daniel received all the prophecies through the angel Gavriel in a vision, like Avraham 'and the word of Hashem was to Avraham in a vision saying,' and Daniel said 'and no strength remained in me,' no strength remained in him, 'and my splendor was turned into corruption,' so says Daniel 'and I did not retain strength,' and he says 'I was falling asleep on my face and my face to the ground,' he lies on the ground and his face to the ground, and he says 'in the vision my pangs were turned upon me.' And Moshe, he can speak with Hashem while standing when all the senses are alert in him, and not like the other prophets about whom it is said 'and my splendor was turned into corruption and I was falling asleep on my face and my face to the ground' and it is said about them 'in the vision my pangs were turned upon me.' But Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, was not so, he had no trembling and shaking, it is forbidden that there be trembling and shaking, it is forbidden when receiving prophecy, a person must be alert, clear, bright mind, without trembling and shaking in any way."

"As it is said 'and Hashem spoke to Moshe face to face as a man speaks to his friend' (Exodus 33), meaning just as it does not happen to a person anxiety, he has no anxiety just as a person speaks with his friend without anxiety, so was he, Moshe, peace be upon him, speaking with Hashem and he was not anxious from the speech, and even though he was face to face and he has no anxiety and shaking and trembling, he saw Hashem face to face, and this is for the strength of his attachment to the intellect as we mentioned."

"And the fourth matter is that all the prophets, the spirit of prophecy does not rest upon them at their will, except for Moshe that whenever he wants he receives prophecy, Moshe wants prophecy, he receives prophecy, as he says 'stand and I will hear what Hashem will command for you,' he receives prophecy every day. The prophet receives the prophecy when Hashem wants suddenly, 'And Hashem said suddenly to Moshe and to Aharon and to Miriam,' only at the will of Hashem that He will inform him the matter in prophecy and he will stand until he prophesies or after days and years, to play on harps and drums and he does not receive prophecy, there are prophets who spend whole days preparing themselves to receive prophecy, and he will stand until he prophesies after days or after months, and it will not help him, he prepares himself for months that he will receive prophecy and it will not help him, in any way, and there were already sects of them who were preparing themselves and purifying their thoughts, that all the prophets go and play like Shaul who encountered a band of prophets who are trying to prophesy, trying, not succeeding, they said: 'Is Shaul also among the prophets?' He fell on his face to the ground, they prepare themselves for years upon years to play on harps until he receives some prophecy after days or after months, or they will not inform him in any way, and there were already sects of them who were preparing themselves, like Shaul who encountered a band of prophets who are trying to prophesy, preparing themselves and purifying their thoughts like Elisha did, as it is written (II Kings 3) 'and now take me a musician,' the first thing is the melodies, whoever plays will eventually merit prophecy, the first thing that a person will start to play, this is the first thing, this is A, before everything, 'take me a musician' and then the prophecy comes to him. And it is not so with Moshe – with Moshe prophecy must come, Moshe Rabbeinu every moment enters the Holy of Holies, every second between the cherubim, and Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, at any time he wants, it is written by the daughters of Tzelofchad 'and he brought their case near' that they merited to the fifty gates of understanding – the fifty with a large letter, he receives prophecy at any time he wants, 'stand and I will hear what Hashem will command for you' – he says to the daughters of Tzelofchad: stand, a second stand, I am entering the room, I am coming out, I will tell you what Hashem said to you."

"Because the Gemara says: What? They didn't know that a daughter inherits? Everyone knows that if there are no sons the daughter inherits, so this Moshe doesn't know? He just didn't know, he forgot, when does the daughter inherit? When there are no sons, if there are no sons she receives the entire inheritance, and here there were no sons, what? During forty years were there not those who had only daughters who received the jewelry, the ornaments? So what is Moshe doubting? So one explanation is the portion of the firstborn, if they are entitled to the portion of the firstborn of their father maybe it belongs to the brothers, and the second explanation says Tosafot that the spies and the congregation of Korach lost their portion in the land, so now the question is if maybe they also lost their portion, because he did a terrible thing – he gathered wood on the Sabbath, so the Gemara says: No, that he gathered wood on the Sabbath, it was not a rebellion against Moshe, on the contrary; he wanted to show the law that there is stoning, people don't know that if you put a branch on a branch then you are liable for stoning, they didn't know this, even though they learned they didn't believe, so he showed them that he is putting a branch on a branch, because on the Sabbath it is forbidden to pile, if oranges fall it is forbidden to put one on top of the other, suddenly a mountain of oranges is spilled or a crate so it is impossible to put one on top of the other, they need to sweep them to the corner and leave them like that scattered, it is impossible to make a building – one on top of the other, this is called 'piling' – a prohibition of stoning, so he came to show them that if you place a branch on a branch there is a prohibition of stoning, to teach, on the contrary he didn't come to disagree with Moshe at all, but he came to strengthen Moshe, but whoever disagrees with Moshe – with the tzaddik did not receive a portion in the land, only Kalev and Yehoshua received the portions of everyone."

"So here we see that Moshe says to the daughters of Tzelofchad: stand and I will hear what Hashem will command for you, and it is said (Leviticus 16) 'speak to Aharon your brother and let him not come at any time into the Holy,' and Moshe can come at any time."

[1] Chayei Moharan 272

"One time it came out of his holy mouth about himself and he said in this language: I am the Elder of Elders. And if you look and understand in the terrible story of the seven beggars in the story of the first beggar who was blind, that the great eagle told him that he is very old, and even so he is nursing and had not begun to be at all, etc., and he was old against all the elders mentioned there, you will understand this matter a little. And likewise from the other matters of the aforementioned story you will be able to understand a little of the greatness of our Rebbe, of blessed memory, and to the wise in a hint."

[2] Nedarim 50b

The daughter of the Emperor said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya: "Torah is glorious in an ugly vessel." He said to her: "Learn from your father's house, in what do they keep wine?" She said to him: "In earthenware vessels." He said to her: "Everyone in earthenware, and you in earthenware? You should keep it in silver and gold vessels." She went and put wine in silver and gold vessels and it spoiled. He said to her: "Also Torah is so." "But there are beautiful and learned ones?" He said to her: "If they were ugly they would be more learned."

[3] Nedarim 50b

A certain woman came before Rav Yehuda of Nehardea for judgment and she was found liable in the judgment. She said to him: "Did Shmuel your teacher judge thus?" He said to her: "You knew him?" She said to him: "Yes, short and his belly is large, black and his teeth are large." He said to her: "You have come to insult him? May that woman be under a ban." She burst and died.

[4] Shabbat 89b

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: What is the meaning of the verse "For You are our Father, for Avraham did not know us and Yisrael did not recognize us, You, Hashem, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is Your name"? In the future to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to Avraham: "Your children have sinned against Me." He will say before Him: "Master of the Universe, let them be erased for the sanctification of Your name." He will say: "I will tell Yaakov, who had the pain of raising children, perhaps he will seek mercy for them." He will say to him: "Your children have sinned." He will say before Him: "Master of the Universe, let them be erased for the sanctification of Your name." He will say: "There is no sense in the elders and no advice in the children." He will say to Yitzchak: "Your children have sinned against Me." He will say before Him: "Master of the Universe, my children and not Your children? At the time that they preceded 'we will do' to 'we will hear' before You, You called them 'My firstborn son,' now my children and not Your children? And furthermore, how much have they sinned? How many are the years of a man? Seventy years. Subtract twenty that You do not punish for, fifty remain. Subtract twenty-five of the nights, twenty-five remain. Subtract twelve and a half of prayer and eating and the restroom, twelve and a half remain. If You bear all of them, good, and if not, half on me and half on You. And if You say all of them on me, behold I have offered my soul before You." They opened and said: "For You are our Father." Yitzchak said to them: "Until you praise me, praise the Holy One, blessed be He." And Yitzchak showed them the Holy One, blessed be He, in their eyes. Immediately they lifted their eyes to the heavens and say: "You, Hashem, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is Your name."

[5] Chayei Moharan 273

Our Rebbe, of blessed memory, boasted that he did not begin to do anything in the world before he knew the secret that is in it. And even what they are accustomed to raise tobacco smoke by means of a pipe and tinder (which they call tobacco smoking) he did not begin in this until he knew the secret in this conduct. And likewise in other conducts he did not begin to do anything until he knew the secret of the matter. And even though he, of blessed memory, knew the secret in the matter of tobacco smoke, even so he warned us much to distance ourselves from this very much, and one time he spoke much about this matter that the world is accustomed to smoke tobacco and said that it is great foolishness, and regarding cleanliness it does not help at all. And likewise the snuff tobacco which is even worse, as this conversation is explained in another place.

[6] Rashi, Genesis 48:7

"And as for me, when I came from Padan, etc.," and even though I am troubling you to take me to be buried in the land of Canaan and I did not do so for your mother, for she died near Beit Lechem. "A stretch of land," a measure of land, and they are two thousand cubits, like the measure of the Sabbath boundary, according to the words of Rabbi Moshe the Darshan. And do not say that rains prevented me from taking her and burying her in Chevron. It was the time of the drought, that the land was hollow and perforated like a sieve. "And I buried her there," and I did not take her even to Beit Lechem to bring her into the land, and I knew that you have a grievance against me, but know that according to the word I buried her there, that she should be a help to her children when Nevuzaradan will exile them, and they were passing through there, Rachel went out on her grave and weeps and asks for mercy for them, as it is said: "A voice is heard in Ramah, etc.," and the Holy One, blessed be He, answers her: "There is a reward for your work, says Hashem, etc., and the children shall return to their border."

[7] Chayei Moharan 275

The world thinks that when Mashiach comes they will not die, it is not so, even Mashiach himself will also die. And he said this in public.

[8] Rambam's Introduction to Perek Chelek, heading "And now I will begin"

...However, the days of Mashiach are a time when the kingdom will return to Yisrael and they will return to Eretz Yisrael, and that king will be very great and the house of his kingdom in Zion will grow, his name and his memory will be full of the nations more than King Shlomo, and all the nations will make peace with him and all the lands will serve him due to his great righteousness and the wonders that will be through him, and whoever will rise against him, Hashem, blessed be He, will destroy him and deliver him into his hand, and all the verses of the Scripture testify to his success and our success with him, and nothing in reality will change from what it is now except that the kingdom will return to Yisrael, and this is the language of the Sages (Berachot 34b): "There is no difference between this world and the days of Mashiach except for the subjugation of kingdoms only," and there will be in his days rich and poor, strong and weak against others, but in those days it will be very easy for people to find their sustenance until with little effort that a person will exert he will reach great benefit, and this is what they said (Shabbat 30b): "Eretz Yisrael is destined to bring forth fine flour and woolen garments," because people say when a person finds something ready and prepared, "so-and-so found baked bread and cooked dish," and the proof of this is what is said "and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers," to inform that there is seed and harvest, and therefore this wise man who said this statement was angry at his student (ibid.) when he did not understand his word and thought it was literal, and he answered him according to his attainment, and that answer was not the true answer, and the proof that he did not answer him according to its truth is what he brought as proof "do not answer a fool according to his folly." And the great benefit that will be in those days is that we will rest from the subjugation of kingdoms which prevents us from doing all the commandments, and wisdom will increase as it is said "for the earth will be full of knowledge," and wars will cease as it is said "and nation shall not lift up sword against nation," and there will be in those days great perfection and we will merit in it to the life of the World to Come, and Mashiach will die and his son will reign in his stead and his grandson, and the prophet already explained his death "he shall not fail nor be crushed until he sets justice in the earth, and he will prolong his kingdom for many days," and the lives of people will also be prolonged because when worries and sorrows cease, the days of man will be prolonged, and one should not be surprised that his kingdom will exist for thousands of years, because the Sages said that good gathering when it gathers it does not separate quickly. And we do not desire and hope for the days of Mashiach for the abundance of crops and wealth nor that we will ride on horses nor to drink wine with types of music as the confused of mind think. But the prophets and the pious desired the days of Mashiach and their longing for it was great for what will be in it of the gathering of the righteous and the conduct of good and wisdom and the righteousness of the king and the abundance of his integrity and the greatness of his wisdom and his closeness to God, as it is said (Psalms 2) "Hashem said to me, You are My son, today I have begotten You," and the doing of all the commandments of the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, without negligence and laziness nor force as it is said (Jeremiah 31) "and they shall no longer teach each man his brother and each man his neighbor saying, Know Hashem, for they shall all know Me from their small to their great, etc., and I will put My Torah in their heart, etc., and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh," and many of these verses are in this matter. And in these matters the world will attain the World to Come with a strong attainment. And the purpose is the World to Come and compared to it is the effort, and therefore this wise man who is established in the knowledge of the truth looked at the final purpose and left what is other than it, and said "all Yisrael have a portion in the World to Come," and with it being the sought purpose it is not fitting for one who wants to be a servant out of love that he will serve to attain the World to Come as we explained in what preceded, but one should serve in the way that he says, and this is that when he believes that there is wisdom and it is the Torah that reached the prophets from the Creator, blessed be He, who informed them in this that the good traits are the commandments and the bad traits are the transgressions, it is fitting for him from the aspect that he is an upright person in temperament that he will do the good and depart from the evil, and when he does this, the human matter will be perfected in him and he will be separated from the animal, and when he is a perfect person it is the nature of the perfect person who has no preventer that his soul will live and exist in the known existence and this is the World to Come as we said, and this is what is said (Psalms 32) "Do not be like a horse, like a mule, without understanding, with bit and bridle his adornment to curb," just as the one who prevents animals from being unrestrained is something from the outside like the bit and the bridle and it is not fitting that a person should be so, but his preventer will be from him and from himself, I mean the human form when it is perfect it will prevent him from those things that prevent him from perfection and they are called bad traits, and it will urge him and push him to what will bring him to perfection and these are the good traits, this is what is clarified to me from the totality of their words in this honorable and exalted matter.

[9] Ibid.

The seventh foundation, the prophecy of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, and it is that we believe that he is the father of all the prophets who were before him and who arose after him, all of them are below him in level, and he was the chosen one of all the human species who attained from His knowledge, blessed be He, more than all that any person attained or will attain who exists or will exist, and that he, peace be upon him, reached his elevation from humanity to the angelic level and was included in the level of angels, no screen remained that he did not tear and entered from it and no bodily preventer prevented him and no deficiency was mixed into him between great and small, and the imaginative and sensory and providential powers were nullified from him and his awakening longing power was separated and only intellect remained, and on this matter it was said about him that he was speaking with Hashem, blessed be He, without intermediaries from the angels. My desire was to explain this wonderful matter and to open the lock from the verses of the Torah and to explain the reason of 'mouth to mouth I speak with him' and the whole verse in its own matter, were it not that I saw that these matters will need very many proofs and we would need many propositions and introductions and parables, and that we explain at the beginning the existence of the angels and the change of their levels from the Creator, blessed be He, and that we explain the soul and all its powers and the circle will expand until we speak of the forms that the prophets mentioned that are fitting for the Creator and the angels, and this will include the measure of stature and its matter and it will not suffice in this matter alone even if it will be shortened in the absolute brevity a hundred pages, and therefore I will leave it to its place whether in the book of homilies that I intended to compose or in the books of prophecy that I am engaged in or in the book that I will compose in my explanations of these foundations, and I will return to the intention of this seventh foundation and I say that the prophecy of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, is separated from the prophecy of all the prophets in four things. The first, that no prophet who was, Hashem, blessed be He, spoke to him except through an intermediary, and Moshe without an intermediary as it is said 'mouth to mouth I speak with him.' And the second matter is that every prophet, the prophecy will not come to him except when he is asleep, as it said in places 'in a dream of the night, in a vision of the night' and many of this matter, or in the day after a deep sleep falls upon a person in a matter that all his feelings are nullified from him and his thought is free like the matter of a dream, and this matter is called a vision and appearance and on it was said 'in visions of God,' and Moshe the speech will come upon him in the day and he is standing between the two cherubim as Hashem, blessed be He, will testify 'and I will meet with you there,' and Hashem, blessed be He, said 'if there will be your prophet, etc., not so My servant Moshe, mouth to mouth I speak with him, etc.' The third matter is that the prophet when the prophecy comes to him and even though he is in a vision and through an angel, his powers will weaken and his structure will be corrupted and great fear will come to him until his soul almost goes out from him, as it said in Daniel when Gavriel spoke with him in a vision, he said 'and no strength remained in me and my splendor was turned into corruption and I did not retain strength,' and he says 'I was falling asleep on my face and my face to the ground,' and he says 'in the vision my pangs were turned upon me,' and Moshe, peace be upon him, was not so but the speech will come to him and trembling and shaking will not attain him in any way, as it is said (Exodus 33) 'and Hashem spoke to Moshe face to face as a man speaks to his friend,' meaning just as it does not happen to a person anxiety from the speech of his friend, so was he, Moshe, peace be upon him, not anxious from the speech, and even though he was face to face and this is for the strength of his attachment to the intellect as we mentioned, and the fourth matter is that all the prophets, the spirit of prophecy does not rest upon them at their will but at the will of Hashem, blessed be He, that He will inform him the matter in prophecy and he will stand until he prophesies or after days or after months or He will not inform him in any way, and there were already sects of them who were preparing themselves and purifying their thoughts like Elisha did as it is written (II Kings 3) 'and now take me a musician' and the prophecy comes to him and it is not from the necessity that he will prophesy at the time that he intends for this, and Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, at any time he wants, he says (Numbers 9) 'stand and I will hear what Hashem will command for you,' and it is said (Leviticus 16) 'speak to Aharon your brother and let him not come at any time into the Holy,' our Sages said (Torat Kohanim, beginning of Parshat Acharei) Aharon in 'let him not come' and not Moshe in 'let him not come'."